What Caught My Eye Today

Afghanistan - Threats of Taliban violence and rumors of fraud cast a shadow over Afghanistan's election, in which millions of voters will choose a new president to lead a nation plagued by armed insurgency, drugs, corruption and a feeble government. I don't mean to make light of a serious situation (yeah, right), but how is that any different from the job that that Obama guy won last November? International officials predict an imperfect outcome for a vote that they hope Afghans will accept as credible. Always a safe strategy--set the bar so low that any outcome will be viewed as a success. Heck, I play that card with my boss on a daily basis. President Hamid Karzai, who has held power since the Taliban was ousted eight years ago, is favored to finish first among 36 official candidates. Thirty-six candidates? Admittedly, I am an underachiever, but who in their right mind would want this job?

Norway - Norway's ambassador to the United Nations has accused Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon of weak, ineffective and at times counterproductive leadership during recent crises. I'd expect that sort language from the likes of...well, the United States comes to mind, but Norway? What up with that? The letter comes just days before Ban visits Norway, an advocate of active multilateral diplomacy which has worked with the United Nations on a number of peace initiatives including the now collapsed Oslo accords between Israel and the Palestinians. Way to roll out the old welcome mat, guys. The letter said said Ban had failed to make the United Nations a relevant voice during the financial crisis; that Ban was a mere "passive observer" after Myanmar's arrest of opposition leader Aung Sang Suu Kyi and that his visit there to meet hardline generals was "fruitless"; that Ban was "helpless" in trying to curb atrocities during the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka earlier this year; and that in other "crisis areas" such as Darfur, Somalia, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Congo, Ban's "passive and not very committed appeals seem to fall on deaf ears. Dude, that's harsh. Completely spot on, but harsh nevertheless.

This next item, probably isn't going to make Ban any more popular with the Norwegians.

Zimbabwe - According to the United Nations, the "humanitarian situation remains serious" in Zimbabwe amid cholera, starvation and a continuing economic crisis. Cholera thrives in areas without clean water and proper sanitation, and the United Nations has said 6 million people in Zimbabwe -- more than half the population -- have limited or no access to safe water and sanitation in rural and urban areas. It also estimates more than 5 million in the nation face starvation. Now here's the kicker. All this stuff is going down despite the fact that Zimbabwe is one of the few nations in Africa not dealing with an armed conflict. So basically, even under the best conditions that one could hope for in a situation like this, the U.N. finds itself unable to make any meaningful progress to deal with these issues. You know, maybe the Norwegians are onto something here.

Mortality - It's the headline that amuses me most. "CDC says life expectancy in U.S. up, deaths not." The U.S. life expectancy has risen to a new high, now standing at nearly 78 years. The increase is due mainly to falling death rates in almost all the leading causes of death. Isn't that a bit redundant? Honestly, it seems to me rather obvious that if people are living longer, then death rates would have to be falling. Am I missing something here? The United States continues to lag behind about 30 other countries in estimated life span. Japan has the longest life expectancy — 83 years. Heart disease and cancer together are the cause of nearly half of U.S. fatalities. The death rate from heart disease dropped nearly 5%, the cancer death rate nearly 2%, and the HIV death rate dropped 10%. Progress has been made; of that there is no doubt. But just because people are living longer doesn't necessarily mean that they are happy about it. Bear with me on this one. If the day comes that my plumbing cannot function without a good deal of help (and that day will come), I'm not so sure that I'll be in the mood to celebrate the fact that I'll have to deal with that for several years. I know it's easy to say this now (most of my body parts are still fully functional), but I'm thinking once the pipe start leaking (or worse yet get completely clogged up), I'm not sure that I'll be that eager to call in the Roto-Rooter guys.