What Caught My Eye Today

Rhode Island - The mayor of Providence wants to slap a $150-per-semester tax on the 25,000 full-time students at Brown University and three other private colleges in the city, saying they use resources and should help ease the burden on struggling taxpayers. Back in my day, they called it something different--tuition, I think it was called. If enacted, it would apparently be the first time a U.S. city has directly taxed students just for being enrolled. The proposal is still in its early stages. But it has riled some students, who say it would unfairly saddle them with the city's financial woes and overlook their volunteer work and other contributions, including money spent in restaurants, bars and stores. And let's not forget those other contributions like traffic school fees and bail bonds. If I were a betting man, I'd say that those same college students are kicking in their fair share on both counts.

Swine Flu - Anyone curious about how the flu pandemic is coming along? There are now 33 countries reporting an estimated total of 6,080 confirmed swine flu cases, including 3,009 in 45 U.S. states, 2,446 in Mexico and 358 in Canada. But the death total is relatively low — 65, of which 60 were in Mexico, three in the U.S., one in Canada and one in Costa Rica. Those don't seem like global pandemic numbers to me. So what up? Mexico has tested about 9,000 sick people, working through a backlog of samples taken before and after the virus was identified as swine flu — and found that Mexico's dead represents 2.5% of confirmed cases, suggesting the virus is not as deadly as initially feared. There is a danger the virus will mutate into something more dangerous — perhaps by combining with the more deadly but less easily spread bird flu virus circulating in Asia and Africa. I see. It's not the cases we already know about that is the problem. It's the cases we don't know about yet. Yeah, that's a comforting thought.

Bethlehem - What's this about Bethlehem in May? Christmas is more than 7 months away. Is the Pope in town or what? Pope Benedict XVI made a powerful plea for a Palestinian state, mixing prayer and politics at Jesus' birthplace and expressing solidarity at a refugee camp with "all the homeless Palestinians who long to be able to return to their birthplace." Wow. So he is. The Vatican has long supported a Palestinian state. Christians are a tiny minority among the 3.9 million Palestinians who live in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In a trend seen throughout the Middle East, their numbers have dwindled as Palestinians weary of occupation seek out new opportunities abroad. Imagine that. Palestinians picking life abroad rather than death at home. Go figure. I am somewhat at a loss as to why the Vatican is expending some much effort on a region where the Christian population is almost non-existent.

Kenya - I'm a bit late on reporting this item, but it is just too good to pass over. Hundreds of Kenyan women abstained from sex for a week to protest the bickering of their nation's political leaders. The political rivals who both claimed to have won last year's presidential election have been feuding since they formed a coalition government to end post-election violence. But wait. As hard as it may be to imagine, the story gets better. A Kenyan man sued the women's activist group, claiming the sex boycott it organized affected his marriage and caused him stress. Umm, so does he think this stunt is likely to improve his chances for a conjugal visit from the missus? In the lawsuit, the man says the boycott caused symptoms that included headaches and insomnia. Dude, those so-called symptoms you claim you have; the rest of the world has another word for--it's called "life".

Cycling - Day #5 of the Giro d'Italia is in the books. Levi's looking strong while Lance's has fallen off the pace a bit.Russia’s Denis Menchov won the 125-km fifth stage of the Giro d’Italia while Lance Armstrong slipped back after a punishing mountain climb. Seven-times Tour de France winner Armstrong, who made a bright start to the Giro having only just recovered from a broken collarbone, found the stage tough and is three minutes 34 seconds back in 22nd place overall. Meanwhile, Levi Leipheimer finds himself in fourth place just 43 seconds out of the lead. Oh and this just in. Armstrong may find himself in unfamiliar territory pretty soon, that of rider/owner. Armstrong has a lot on his mind given he is considering taking over Astana so they can guarantee participation in July’s Tour de France. The Kazakh-funded team failed to pay all their riders last month and have been threatened with having their Pro-Licence stripped. Armstrong indicated last week that he was talking to U.S.-based sponsors about taking over the team himself. That might be his only solution if he wants to go for an eighth Tour de France title in July. Somehow, I don't see him having that hard of a time securing a sponsor.