What Caught My Eye Today

World War II - So where were you 70 years ago today? On a wind-swept peninsula where shells lobbed from a German battleship ignited World War II 70 years ago. Poland's leaders marked the hour the German battleship Schleswig-Holstein shelled a tiny Polish military outpost housing the navy's arsenal. It was the war's opening salvo. As much of a history buff as I claim to be, I have to confess, I did not know that this was the first battle of the war. The blitzkrieg on Poland launched nearly six years of war that engulfed the world and left more than 50 million people dead as the German war machine rolled over Europe. European leaders vowed never to forget the lessons of the 20th century's bloodiest conflict. I don't know about you, but I've got all my fingers and toes crossed and rubbed every lucky rabbit foot that I could find hoping that these leaders don't merely not forget those lessons, but actually learn something from the war that will help them avoid another such conflict.

Libya - Okay, if 70 years is too far back for you to remember, how about 40 years ago? Libya celebrated the 40th anniversary of the coup that brought Colonel Moammar Gadhafi to power with a parade, lavish dance spectacles and fighter jets streaking overhead. I'll get back to the story in a moment, but here's something rather curious to ponder. Most of the success coups that I've read about result in a general assuming leadership of the nation. Yet here we have a lowly Colonel calling the shots. You would think that after 40 years, Gadhafi would have given himself a promotion by now. I'm just saying. Gadhafi came to power with a military coup in 1969, and was ostracized for decades over accusations of supporting international terrorism. More recently, Gadhafi has tried to restore his country's standing in the world and transform it from a pariah state to a member of the international community. Gadhafi surprised the world by agreeing to dismantle his country's weapons of mass destruction programs. Despite Gadhafi's attempts to restore his international reputation, human rights groups say he has failed to grant Libyans greater freedoms and rights. I think we can all agree that Libya's behavior has improved markedly over the past couple of years, but after 40 years of being a "pariah" it's not terribly surprising that the international community is looking upon Libya with suspicious eyes. Maybe when Gadhafi celebrates his 80th anniversary, if Libya is still playing nice with the other kiddies in the sandbox, we'll be willing to cut the country a bit more slack.

Child Welfare - The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has released a survey showing that America has some of the industrial world's worst rates of infant mortality, teenage pregnancy and child poverty, even though it spends more per child than better-performing countries such as Switzerland, Japan and the Netherlands. I'm sure it isn't that bad. Honestly, these countries always top these sorts of lists. Infant mortality in the U.S. is the fourth-worst in the OECD after Mexico, Turkey and Slovakia. American 15-year-olds rank seventh from the bottom on the OECD's measure of average educational achievement. Child poverty rates in the U.S. are nearly double the OECD average, at 21.6% compared to 12.4%. Okay, perhaps I am mistaken...it really is that bad. Pity. It just goes to show that while you have the "most" there is no guarantee that you have the "best". Of course, we're not the only ones with problems. Britain is plagued by high underage drinking and teenage pregnancy rates. British teen drunkenness top the charts at 33%, far above the OECD average of 20% and the 12% rate recorded in the U.S. That's because their booze is better than ours.

Iran - Iran's top nuclear negotiator offered an opening for possible compromise with the West, saying the Islamic regime is ready to hold talks with world powers over its nuclear program. But? One can only assume when talking about Iran there must be a "but". But Iranian lawmakers also sent a message of defiance to the world community — displaying strong support for President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's nominee for defense minister even though he is wanted by Argentina for the bombing of a Jewish community center in 1994 that killed 85 people. And there you have it. Leave it to Ahmadinejad to go and screw up the works again. Western nations and others worry Iran is moving toward development of nuclear warheads. But Iranian leaders say the country only seeks reactors to produce electricity. President Barack Obama has given Iran a deadline of the end of September to agree to nuclear talks or risk harsher sanctions. Last year, Iran was offered economic incentives in exchange for suspending uranium enrichment, but Iran's leaders responded by saying they would never give up control of the production of nuclear fuel. My guess is that Iran is trying to work its way out of a bluff as gracefully as possible. Still I'm with the rest of the world on this one. I'll believe Iran's motives when there are tangible actions on Tehran's part to back them up.