What Caught My Eye Today

Fred's Note: Should you be looking for comment on Tiger Woods personal life or Obama's war strategy for Afghanistan, you will have to look elsewhere. It's not that I don't care about the Afghanistan story, but if you have access to the same news outlets that I do, you've heard enough analysis in the past 24 hours to last the rest of this year...and probably most of next year as well. As for Tiger Woods and his alleged extra marital affair; we've heard this story before and we all know how it ends.

World Hunger - A depressing subject got even more depressing last week. Some 60 heads of state gathered in Rome for a summit on food security rejected a United Nations call for rich nations to commit billions of dollars to develop agriculture in countries where hunger is widespread and also shot down the U.N.'s call for a pledge to end hunger by 2025. I realize that resources are limited and there is not an endless supply of money to fund every philanthropic endeavor, but this seems like a pretty worthwhile cause that could yield tangible results rather quickly as compared to ending global warming or ridding the world of nuclear weapons. About 1 billion people--almost one out of every six people on the planet--are underfed and a child somewhere dies of hunger every six seconds. Seriously, what am I missing here? How much more urgency is needed to justify some action on this?

Mexico - As if we needed another indication of just how bad the global recession has hit the United States. Now it appears that we're taking hand outs from our neighbors south of the border. Mexicans have begun sending money to their relatives north of the border, instead of the other way around. The so-called "reverse remittances," once extremely rare, are becocming more common as Mexicans who moved to the U.S. for work have lost their jobs. Banks report that money sent from Mexicans in the U.S. back home say that amount has dropped more than 13% in the past year. Lucky for Mexico it has a thriving drug trade that can help fill in for all that lost revenue from the U.S.

Nepal - A quarter-million aminals were slaughtered in a festival honoring Gadhimai, a Hindu goddess of power. That shreik you just heard came from the folks at PETA, who clearly had a very, very bad week. The festival is held every 5 years in Hindu communities areoud the world. The Nepal gathering is the largest. Following the ritual slaughter--mostly of buffaloes, goats, chickens and pigeons--the meat was taken back to villages for local feasts. The meat of animals consecrated to Gadhimai is said to protect Hindues from evil. Animal-rights activists reportedly encouraged pilgrims to substitute coconuts and other fruites for the sacrifice, but met with little success. Big surprise. Think about it. What self-respecting diety would be satisfied with a ritualistic sacrifice of fruit salad?

Potpourri - More head scratchers from--you guessed it--the world of juris prudence.

• Good Deeds - A Pennsylvania Boy Scout who spent more than 200 hours clearing a hiking trail in a city park has drawn the ire of a municipal union. A spokesperson for the Service Employees International Union threatened to file a grievance, saying only union members can work in the park.
  I guess the saying is true--no good deed goes unpunished.
• Marriage - A California man is suing the San Francisco International Airport for $15 million, claiming that the airport noise ruined his marriage. The man says his marriage "went downhill almost immediately upon moving" into the house in 2003 and he blames airplanes for driving his wife of 13 years to leave him.
  Hey, Einstein. When you were shopping around for houses, were you completely oblivious to all those airplanes flying around you? I'm not sure I'd blame the airport for your marital problems. Perhaps you should look for a different source. Might I suggest taking a look in the closest mirror?