What Caught My Eye Today

Racial Demographics - I used to think that when you filled out a survey or application, picking your racial profile ranked up there with gender for degree of difficulty. And then I read this... A medical student says he was suspended from New Jersey's University of Medicine and Dentistry for insisting that he is a white African-American. Dude isn't stupid, I swear. The man was born in Mozambique before moving to the United States, and described himself in a class assignment on identity as "white, African, American." Technically all true. He claimed that student and faculty berated him, saying no whiter person could call himself an African-American. When her persisted he was suspended for two years. He is now suing the school. Amazingly, enough, I bet he'll win. I'm a bit curious how a institution of high learning such as this was unable to open its mind to the possibility that a white person could be both "African" and "American."

Sri Lanka - Sri Lanka declared total victory in one of the world's most intractable wars, after killing the separatist Tamil Tigers' leader and taking control of the entire country for the first time since 1983. In a climactic gunbattle, special forces troops killed Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran as he tried to flee the war zone in an ambulance early today. I don't have anything particularly poignant to say, but when a 26 year civil war comes to an end, I'd say that's newsworthy. And unless you happen to be a fan of the BBC or NPR, chances are you'll never hear about it.

Somalia - Are you familiar with the saying, "No matter how bad things seem, they could always be worse." I give you "worse". Somalia is only nominally a nation. The former British colony has not had a functional government since 1991. Some 1.3 million of Somalia's 9 million citizens are "internally displaced," living in squalid refugee camps or roaming the country, homeless, searching for food. About 3.2 million Somalis depend on food rations, fewer than a quarter of its children go to school, and its maternal mortality and illiteracy rates are among the highest in the world. Warlords and armed gangs control much of the country. Since neighboring Ethiopia invaded Somalia in 2006, at least 10,000 innocent civilians have been killed. Given that background one can understand why piracy seems to be a growth industry. These guys seriously have nothing to lose and everything to gain. One successful ship seizure and ransom can make a pirate crew instant millionaires.

New Zealand - One word can describe this next item--Eww. A six-year, $12 million scientific study has identified the flavors in New Zealand's signature Sauvignon Blanc as a combination of passion fruit, asparagus, and... (here it comes) cat urine. A researcher associated with the study said, "If you had a whole lot of cat's pee it obviously wouldn't be great, but it's amazing what a little can do." That just ain't right, especially seeing as I've put away my fair share of the stuff. Of course, on the bright side, the next time I have a bottle that doesn't taste so good, I will take pride in the fact that when I declare to my dining companions that the wine "tastes like piss," I'll be right.

Sports - Busy weekend is sports. Here's my take on just a few of the highlights.

Horse Racing - Rachel Alexandra won the Preakness Stakes. The headline here is that Rachel is a filly and fillies have only won a Triple Crown race 11 times...ever. Of course, this means we won't have a Triple Crown contender at the Belmont Stakes...again. But who really pays attention to this stuff anyway? Besides me, I mean.

Hockey - Two months into the Stanley Cup playoffs, we have the Conference Finals underway. In the West, we have the (2) Detroit Red Wings going against the (4) Chicago Blackhawks in a matchup of Original Six teams and in the East, we have the (6) Carolina Hurricanes taking on the (4) Pittsburgh Penguins. I'll take the Red Wings and Penguins--both in 7 games.

NBA - Not to be outdone by the NHL, we have the NBA Conference Final matchups set. In the East, (1) Cleveland Cavaliers will face (3) Orlando Magic in what is technically a best of 7 series. I doubt the Magic will manage to stretch this to a fifth game. Over in the West, we have a 1-2 matchup between the L.A. Lakers and Denver Nuggets. I'll take L.A. in 7. Like it really matters. LeBron James and the Cavs have got this thing in the bag.

Soccer - Guess what? I follow European Football--otherwise known as soccer--too. Two of the powerhouse European leagues have crowned familiar teams as champions. For the third consecutive year, Manchester United has claimed the English Premier League title and for the fourth consecutive year, Inter Milan has won Italy's Serie A title. Okay then, moving on...

Cycling - It's a rest day on the Giro d'Italia, so we have time to catch up on the last couple of stages. Since we last left the Giro (stage 6, I believe), the peleton hit the mountains in earnest. The top American riders continue to be Levi Leipheimer (+51") and Chris Horner (+1'25"). Lance Armstrong is in 25th place, four and a half minutes off the overall lead. All 3 riders race for Astana, which if you remember hasn't paid its staff or riders since February. This has prompted Armstrong to seek out U.S. sponsorship for the team, so he can ride in the Tour de France in July. Oh, and by the way, the times from Stage 9 were thrown out, because the riders were protesting the dangerous conditions of the course that nearly claimed the life of a Spanish rider on Saturday's eighth stage. Wouldn't it be nice, if we could actually see this race someplace other than the Internet?