Oil Spill - For those of you keeping count, we are up to Day 57 of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill that began with the April 20 explosion and fire on the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon. In a newly optimistic tone, President Barack Obama promised that "things are going to return to normal" along the stricken Gulf Coast and the region's fouled waters will be in even better shape than before the catastrophic BP oil spill. Whew. That's a relief. I was really starting to worry that the Gulf Coast would be hosed for years. So what's the plan, Mr. Prez? The pledge was reminiscent of George W. Bush's promise to rebuild the region "even better and stronger" than before Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Bush could not make good on that promise, and Obama did not spell out how he would fulfill his. I see. There is no plan, just promise. Lovely. In related developments, the White House said it had wrested apparent agreement from BP PLC to set up an independent, multi-billion dollar compensation fund for people and businesses suffering from the spill's effects. This is a pre-cursor to the beat down, Obama has planned for later this week, when he meets face-to-face for the first time with BP executives. I'm guessing he's figured out whose ass he plans on kicking.
Afghanistan - Talk about hitting the mother lode... Geological surveys discovered large quantities of iron and copper as well as valuable deposits of lithium in Afghanistan that may be worth more than a trillion dollars. Lucky bastards. The discovery of mineral wealth will not provide an overnight solution. It would take years to build a large-scale mining industry and unless there is peace, it will be hard for investors to guarantee security. Pish posh. What's a few bullets compared with a trillion dollars. ONE TRILLION! That's a one followed by like a zillion zeroes. With so much more to fight for, it may also make a peace deal harder to forge. If Afghanistan's strategic value suddenly increases, so too might the battle for influence between regional giants India and China, and the United States. So what else is new? I say we focus on the positive. For the first time, Afghanistan might actually become an exporter of something legal.
The Moon - Speaking of untapped resources... The moon's interior may harbor 100 times more water than previous estimates, according to a new study that took a fresh look at samples of moon rocks collected by Apollo astronauts nearly 40 years ago. Researchers determined that the lunar water likely originated early in the moon's formation history, suggesting that it is, in fact, native to the moon. Scientists said it is likely that the water was preserved from the hot magma that was present when the moon began to form some 4.5 billion years ago. Even with this newly discovered windfall of water, it turns out the moon is still pretty dry. I point this out in order to work in this next bit of useless trivia...which as you all know, is what I'm all about. If all the water that is locked up in Mars was put on the lunar surface, it would cover the moon to a depth of just under 1 mile. And, if the same is done for all of the water inside the Earth, it would cover the entire lunar surface to a depth of 155 miles. In the meager attempt to tie this back to something relevant, I think this finding could actually support President Obama's recent decision to shelve plan's for NASA to go back to the Moon and instead focus on propulsion systems and technologies that would enable manned explorations further away. While widely criticized for this change in strategy, I believe Obama might be onto something here. The Moon is cool and everything, but facts are facts...it doesn't have anything that we need or want.
World Cup - Predictably, the teams that I thought were supposed to win didn't get my memo. Here's a quick rundown of the first set of games in group play.
- Host South Africa managed a tie with Mexico in Group A.
- The U.S. beat England 1-1 in Group C play (That was the headline, I swear. You see, England was supposed to beat the U.S., but ended up with a draw due to a deflection of the English goalkeeper that somehow managed to find the back of the net).
- Ghana in Group D is the only one of the six African nations in the tournament to record a victory.
- France and Italy could manage only draws in their respective openers (I bring this up because they played in the 2006 World Cup final--Italy won--and because, naturally, I thought they would win their opening matches)
My winning percentage so far: 36% (4 for 11)
