What Caught My Eye Today

Haiti (Part I) - At last check the estimated death toll from the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti 11 days ago stood at 111,000. As this next item points out, Haitians are no strangers to natural disasters. Last week's earthquake came in the wake of 4 hurricanes and tropical storms in 2008 that killed hundreds. The earthquake is officially the 15th natural disaster to hit Haiti since 2001. That just ain't right.. Prior to the earthquake, more than 3,000 Haitians had died in natural disasters since the turn of the century and hundreds of thousands had been displaced. The island has the misfortune of being located directly in a geological fault zone, making it susceptible to earthquakes, and its location in the Caribbean makes it a sitting duck for hurricanes. And if that isn't bad enough, the country has endured 33 coups since its inception back in 1804. So not only are Haitians getting no sympathy from Mother Nature, but they have no competent government to help them "weather the storm".

Haiti (Part II) - If this has not come up before, let me go on the record by stating Pat Robertson is an ass. Last week on the Christian Broadcasting Network, Pat Robertson, the TV evangelist said the earthquake that hit Haiti and claimed over 100,000 lives is the Haitians own fault, presumably for practicing voodoo. In his narrow fundamentalist view, Robertson is making a First Commandment argument: When the God of Israel thunders from his mountaintop that "you shall have no other gods before me," he means it. This God rains down disaster on those who disobey. I don't know about you, but one of these days, God is going to rain down of morons like Robertson, and I, for one, won't be shedding a single tear when that day comes.

Canada - As you read this item, substitute your own nation in whenever you see the word "Canada" and your version of the legislative branch of government whenever you see the word "Parliament". Canada does not need its Parliament, according to a Maclean's editorialist. Two week ago, Prime Minister Stephen Harper declared that Parliament should that a two month recess. The editorialist wonders "Would 3 months be any worse? Or 4? Or even 6 months?". The real work of governing is done by the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. The legislature's votes on the governments proposed laws are always along party lines anyways, so really, all that is really needed is for the party leads to vote. With Parliament abolished, we would just vote for a party instead of individual legislators, and the party that won the most votes would form the government, saving the nations millions of dollars a year. Dude poses any interesting hypothesis, doesn't he. Of course, once you step back and realize that he is effectively advocating the type of government that Russia has, his suggestion seems a bit more serious.

Movies - This is a topic of frequent conversation between the missus and me whenever all time movie box office tallies make the news. At $504.9 million (in domestic gross, so far), "Avatar" may well be on track to pass "Titanic" as the top grossing film of all time. But that picture looks very different when you adjust box office numbers for ticket price inflation. By that measure, "Avatar" ranks 34th, just ahead of Disney's animated classic, "Pinocchio". Adjusted for inflation, these are the top ten grossing films of all time:

1. Gone with the Wind - $1.49 billion
2. Star Wars - $1.31 billion
3. The Sound of Music - $1.05 billion
4. E.T. - $1.04 billion
5. The Ten Commandments - $$963 million
6. Titanic - $943 million
7. Jaws - $941 million
8. Doctor Zhivago - $912 million
9. The Exorcist - $813 million
10. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs - $801 million

Potpourri - In this edition, one of my favorite subjects--statistical trivia

• Space Transportation - Want your very own space shuttle? NASA has cut the price on the '70s era spaceships, which will go out of service late this year, from $42 million to $28.8 million apiece.
  Speaking strictly for myself, I'm holding out for them to show up on eBay before I put my bid in.
• Football - In the 174 minutes of the average football game telecast, viewers see 60 minutes of commercials, 75 minutes of players milling around, 17 minutes of replays, and 11 minutes of actual football.
  So if my math is correct, you could watch an entire season of "actual football" for your favorite team on your DVR in just two minutes longer than a single telecast. Better hope the missus doesn't figure this out, or your Sunday afternoons will be hosed next season.
• Twitter - 32 of the nation's 50 governors use Twitter. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has the most followers with 1,609,285. In second place is Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal with 37,147.
  The state economy may be in tatters, but to heck with that. This is something that all Californians can take pride in.

What Caught My Eye Today

Haiti - If this is the first you are hearing the horrific earthquake that hit Haiti last week, you need to seriously consider paying more attention to the world around you. We're barely two weeks into 2010, and the story of the year (perhaps even the decade) is revealing a human catastrophe that almost defies comprehension. A powerful 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the poor island nation of Haiti last week, the strongest to hit the area in at least 200 years. The quake crushed thousands of structures, from shacks and hospitals to the National Palace and the U.N. peacekeeping headquarters. The International Red Cross said a third of Haiti's 9 million people were in desperate need of emergency aid. Troops, doctors and aid workers are pouring into Haiti even while victims of the quake that killed an estimated 200,000 people still struggled to find a cup of water or a handful of food. European nations pledged more than a half-billion dollars in emergency and long-term aid, on top of at least $100 million promised earlier by the U.S. Even if you are not able to contribute to the relief effort, take a few brief moments to reflect on all the good things in your lives, that all too often we seem to take for granted. And if nothing else say a short prayer for the Haitian people. No one deserves suffering like this. No one.

Okay, that was pretty deep. We need to lighten up the mood a bit, don't you think?

Nigeria - Thousands of protesters marched on the National Assembly building in the Nigerian capital demanding to know who was running the country. I ask myself that same question almost every day. Apparently, there are some folks in Washington who are allegedly attempting to run the country but, at the risk of stating the obvious, I'm skeptical. For the past seven weeks, President Umaru Yar'Adua has been in a Saudi Arabian hospital undergoing treatment for a hear condition and there have been rumors that he had died. Yar'Auda gave a BBC interview this week to assure his nation that he was "getting better" but gave no indication of when he would return home. Meanwhile, Nigeria has been in a constitutional crisis, because Yar'Auda has not officially turned over power to the vice president. Okay, I'll admit that I'm not much of an expert when it comes to Nigerian constitutional law, but one questions just how useful that constitution is when it provides no guidance on what to do when the president is incapacitated with a heart condition...outside the country, no less.

Canada - Depression among Canada's public servants has reach epidemic proportions, according to a recently released report from the Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Mental Health. The report says that mental health claims account for nearly half of all disability claims by public workers, including teachers, nurses, police, military and government bureaucrats. The report suggests that depression can set in because bureaucrats often end work each day feeling that they have accomplished nothing. My apologies if this comes off sounding a bit insensitive...Get over yourselves, you wankers! Find me a job where someone feels as if they are actually accomplishing something, and I'll show you someone who has are really good stash of hooch. Lighten up for crying out loud.

Japan - Tsutomu Yamaguchi has died at 93. So what? you ask. Well I'll tell you. This was, depending on how you look at it, either the luckiest or unluckiest dude in the history of humankind. On August 6, 1945, Yamaguchi survived "Little Boy," the atomic bomb that killed 140,000 people in Hiroshima. Three days later, in Nagasaki, he lived through its successor, "Fat Man," wich killed another 70,000. Although there were believed to be about 165 people who survived both blasts, he was the only one officially recognized by the Japanese government. He died of stomach cancer, likely caused by atomic radiation. Rest in peace, my man. Rest in peace..

Humor - Finally, a quick joke that will hopefully leave you with a bit of a smile... A man walks by an old lady at an ATM. Removing and replacing her glasses, she's clearly having a hard time reading the screen. So she asks the man, "Please, dear, could you check my balance for me?" "Sure," he replied. Then he pushes her over. Until next time.

What Caught My Eye Today

Potpourri - In this edition we highlight the best sort of trivia--fascinating, but utterly useless

• Information - According to a recent University of California, San Diego study, the average person spent 70% of his or her waking hours (about 11.8 hours a day) consuming information. This works out to about 33.8 gigabytes of data and 100,564 words. Over the course of the year this amounts to 3.6 zettabytes and 10,845 trillion words.
  Doesn't it make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside know that you are such enlightened creatures?
• Innocence - Internet security firm Symantec released a list of top terms searched by kids in 2009 (at the risk of stating the obvious, the results aren't terribly promising). "Porn" was in the top 4 for kids ages 7 and under, just ahead of "Club Penguin"
  If that isn't enough to make you scratch your head. I checked the full list for tweens (8 to 13) and teens (13-18). Porn didn't crack the top ten for tweens and only managed to rank 6th among teens. Both of these groups seem more interesting in "doing it" rather than "watching it" as "Sex" ranked 4th in both age groups. Should you be curious, "Google", "Youtube" and "Facebook" were the top 3 terms for all 3 age groups.
• Call signs - As you may or may not know, the US Secret Service assigns "call signs" for POTUS (that would be the President to you civilian folk) and other high ranking government officials under its protection. See if you can guess which recent POTUS matches up with these call signs. I'll give you the answers at the end of this posting--Trailblazer, Rawhide, Volunteer, Deacon, Eagle. Searchlight, Passkey, Timberwolf.

Terrorism - I'm a bit late on this one, but if you didn't catch this one on the news, then its news to you, isn't it? A Slovak man unwittingly carried a hidden explosive on board a flight from Slovakia to Dublin, Ireland, after a Slovak airport-security test went awry. Slovak officials had placed different bomb components in the check-in luggage of 9 passengers to see if security screeners would spot the contraband. One of the bags containing 3 ounces of explosive got through. Slovak authorities expressed profound regret to Ireland. Gee whiz, that's awfully big of them. Let me see if I've got this straight. Apparently, it isn't enough of a challenge trying to prevent people who actually want to blow up planes from getting past security. No no. let's get some poor unsuspecting slob to smuggle the stuff. Oh sure, dude might get detained by authorities and locked up for being a terrorist all in the name of testing security...but so what?

Mexico - It's traditional in Mexico for women to buy new underwear on New Year's Day for good luck. Most by red ones, which are said to help the wearer find love in the new year. This year, yellow--which symbolizes wealth--out sold red by a margin of two to one. Mexico's economy was the hardest hit in all of Latin America in 2009, shrinking by more than 7%. Not surprisingly, Mexicans are seeking money instead of love. So many thoughts come to mind, but I'll limit myself to one that is suitable for all audiences (yes, even those sex-crazed 7 year olds). Love is a wonderful thing, no doubt about it. But let's be real here. It don't pay the rent and it don't put food on the table.

France - It's the fact that this story comes out of France that makes me chuckle. France may soon make it a crime for couples to insult each other. The French government is drafting a law banning "psychological violence" between married or cohabited couples. French officials say verbal abuse often leads to physical abuse. They hope the new policy will prevent domestic abuse by catching potential abusers before they move from words to fists. Critics say the measure would be impossible to enforce. Do you think? Admittedly, I derive pleasure out of mocking the French (as I'm sure they do mocking Americans), but honestly, if these morons pass this law, France will become, without question, a nation of mutes. On a more serious note, I'm a firm believer in not keeping one's emotions bottled up. This rarely ends well. You can only absorb so much before you reach a breaking point--which more than likely will result in more than a few choice words spoken in an elevated tone.

South Africa - President Jacob Zuma got married last week...for the fifth time. Here comes the interesting part. South Africa now has three first ladies. The 67-year old Zuma lost one wife to divorce and one to suicide and has another fiancee for who he has already paid a dowry. Zuma, father of 19 children said, "there are plenty of politicians who have mistresses and children that they hide so as to pretend they're monogamous. I prefer to be open." Yeah, way to take the high moral ground there, sparky. For the record, polygamy is legal in South Africa and practiced among Zuma's fellow Zulus.

Potpourri (Part II): Alright then. Let's see how well you matched up the President with his call sign.

• Trailblazer: George W. Bush
• Rawhide: Ronald Reagan
• Volunteer: Lyndon B Johnson
• Deacon: Jimmy Carter
• Eagle: Bill Clinton
• Searchlight: Richard Nixon
• Passkey: Gerald Ford
• Timberwolf: George H. W. Bush

Should you be interested in more Secret Service code name (I know I am), click here.

What Caught My Eye Today - 2010 Winter Olympics Preview

Fred's Note: Faithful readers are well aware of my interest for less mainstream sports--at least in the US--as evidenced by frequent postings from the world of motor sports (NASCAR, F1), football (aka soccer), cycling (go Lance) and, of course, yachting (hey, billionaires can be athletes too). Add to that list, the Olympics.

Winter Olympics - For those of you in the know, it comes as no big surprise that the US is not exactly known for its prowess in winter sports. I have gone on record as suggesting that it will be a major accomplishment if the US manages to break the top 10 in medal count at the upcoming Olympic Games being hosted in Vancouver, British Columbia next month. That being said, it turns out that the good ol' US of A is actually second (Norway tops the list) in total medals awarded at the Winter Olympics (click here), though it is worth mentioning that only 12 nations have participated in all 20 Winter Olympic Games that have been conducted. I also have to give props to the Stars and Stripes for its performance at the 2006 games, where we came in second (Germany took first) in total medals with 25 (9 gold, 9 silver and 7 bronze). So where am I going with all this? Glad you asked. I did some digging and found some predictions on how well the US might do this time around.

• Biathalon: 0 medals
  Seeing as we've never won a medal in this sport...ever...not much of a surprise that this year won't be any different.
• Alpine Skiing: 4 medals (2 gold)
  Two words for you--Lindsey Vonn.
• Cross-Country Skiing: 0 medals
  Unlike the biathalon, we've actually managed to score one medal...back in 1976.
• Freestyle Skiing: 3 medals (no gold)
  Seeing as we sort of invented the sport, you would hope that we walk away with some hardware.
• Snowboarding: 6 medals (3 gold)
  Pretty much the same deal as freestyle skiing, plus we still have our boy Shaun White tearing things up at the ripe old age of 22.
• Ski Jumping: 0 medals
  The fact that experts would consider a top 20 finish as a victory shows just how far the US has to go before it can even dream about getting a medal.
• Nordic-combined : 1 medal.
  Surprisingly, the US has some dude winning some World Cup events this season who may be able to claim a medal for the US for the first time ever.
• Bobsled: 2 medals
  Seriously, is this like one of the coolest sports to watch or what?
• Skeleton: 1 medal
  Ditto.
• Luge: 0 medals
  Not to sound like a broken record, but ditto.
• Figure Skating: 1 medal
  The US runs a serious risk of taking home no medals for the first time. It's best hope for hardware is ice dancing. Ice dancing? But we suck at ice dancing.
• Speed skating: 4 medals (2 gold)
  This event sort of reminds me of swimming or track and field. Given all the distances that are contested, we should be able to pick up a few medals.
• Short track: 3 medals (1 gold)
  This totally reminds me of roller derby, but on ice. Look for Apolo Anton Ohno to hang up his dance shoes and bring home some precious medal.
Hockey: 2 medals (1 gold)
Apparently, the US women's team is the surest bet for gold the US has this year.
• Curling: 1 medal
  I don't really understand why, but I turn this on and the next thing I know I've lost 3 hours out of my day. Something about men with brooms, I guess.

By my calculations, if these predictions play out, the US will pick up 27 medals (9 gold). If so, this would be a slight improvement over the 25 medals it took home from Turin in 2006.

What Caught My Eye Today - 2010 Predictions

Fred's Note: I'm getting off to a late start this year (and, I guess decade). As I did last year, I'm going to start off with some expert predictions, followed by some of my own.

2010 Predictions (Part I) - This according to the "experts".

1. The start of WWIII. The war will begin in November of 2010 and will end in October of 2014. Will start as a normal war, then will include usage of nuclear and chemical weapons.
   I got this from some Russian prophetess named Baba Vanga. Nuclear holocaust aside, doesn't saying the name "Baba Vanga" make you chuckle...just a little bit?
2. One or two US Supreme Court justices may become seriously ill or die by 2010.
   Yeah, I can see that, what with the average age of Supreme Court justices being up there with the discovery of dirt.
3. One or two more elderly Senators will die by the end of the year.
   Death...the ultimate term limit.
4. Confusion over leadership leads to the collapse of the North Korean government.
   What's this I hear? Some doubt over the succession of Kim Jong Il to 'junior'. Shocking.
5. At least 3 Democrats will lose their seats to Republican or Independent candidates in the next election.
   If it is only 3 I, for one, will be stunned.
6. Somalia will become a deadly battleground for the US.
   Would that be before or after we start fighting in Yemen?
7. The Pacific Ring of Fire will trigger many storms and threats of a typhoon and/or tsunami damaging the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam, and China.
   In other words, what has been happening for the past few years, will continue in 2010.
8. An assassination attempt will be made on Afghanistan President, Hamid Karzai.
   Sadly, that doesn't seem very far-fetched.
9. Tiger Woods attempts suicide.This on the other hand...not going to happen.
10. The Dow Jones Industrial average will finish the year under 9000.
    In an election year? I seriously doubt it.

2010 Predictions (Part II) - Okay my turn...

1. Olympics: The US will make the top 10 in medal count...barely.
2. Economy: The US unemployment rate will drop to 9.5%
3. Economy: The Dow Jones Industrial average will finish above 11,750. I'm an optimist.
4. International: Greece will be dissolved after it defaults on its national debt. Okay, not really, but I'm betting Greece will default on its international debt obligations.
5. International: Queen Elizabeth II will celebrate her Diamond Jubilee (60 years as queen). Sorry, Chuck.
6. Soccer: The US will make it into the knock out stage in the World Cup. Due mostly to the fact that they lucked out with a relatively easy draw (Algeria, England, Slovenia, US).
7. Cycling: Lance Armstrong will win his 8th Tour de France title.
8. Golf: Tiger Woods will win at least one major. What with that nasty upcoming divorce and lack of endorsement deals, dude will have to rely on his winnings to make rent.
9. Pop Culture: Brad Pitt and Angela Jolie breakup. Something tells me Pitt just isn't a "'one woman for life" type of guy. (Thanks to CK for pointing out to me that Brangelina are not actually married).
10. Pop Culture: A female will win this year's American Idol. After two years of all male finalists, it's about time, don't you think?