What Caught My Eye Today

Belgium - What would be a humiliation for many turned into a party for Belgium today as the country's citizens marked 249 days without a government, a figure that they are treating as a world record in political waffling. Good for them. This certainly sounds much more appealing that what's been going on in Egypt, Bahrain, Libya, Yemen, Jordan, Algeria... At the heart of the political deadlock is an attempt to broker a new constitution with increased regional autonomy to reflect that the two language communities have increasingly grown apart. Richer Flanders wants as much autonomy as possible, while the poorer Francophone region wants to hold on to a much larger sense of national unity which also guarantees more financial solidarity. Nevertheless, Belgium remains one of the wealthiest nations in the world, giving people the luxury to take things with a chuckle. My pappy always said that laughter was the best medicine, but it certainly appears that having money doesn't hurt either.

Australia - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard rejected a fresh call to ditch the national anthem, "Advance Australia Fair", in favor of the more uplifting "I Am Australian". "Advance Australia Fair", whose hymn-like words talk of a country "girt by sea", has been hotly debated since being adopted as the national anthem in 1984, with many people favouring familiar Outback ditty "Waltzing Matilda". "I Am Australian" written by The Seekers in 1987, describes Aboriginal life, the arrival of British convicts and the outlaw Ned Kelly, among other cultural touchstones. Note to the Australian people: Whatever anthem you did on is fine...just don't ask Christina Aguilera to sing it (if you saw the Superbowl pre-game, this will make sense; otherwise, just move on to the next story).

Sun - A series of massive solar flares that have erupted from the sun in recent days could trigger a dazzling show of the northern lights for stargazers in the northern United States, but they could also have far more serious consequences, including the disruption of power grids and communication systems across the globe. According to China's official Xinhua News Agency, electromagnetic activity from the solar flares have already jammed shortwave radio communications in the southern part of the country. Fascinating how only China seems to have been impacted by this phenomenon. I bet some of those regime's in the Middle East and North Africa wish they could have had the same "bad luck" that China did.

Potpourri - Let's file this edition under the category of "I did not know that"

• Weight - It is estimated that roughly 10% of the global population, around 500 million adults, is considered obese as measured by body mass index
  And on a completely unrelated note, another study concluded that 90% of the global population was suffering from malnutrition.
• Super Bowl - 111 million viewers watched the Green Bay Packers defeat the Pittsburgh Steelers in this year's game, the largest TV audience in U.S. history.
  I'm curious. How many of those 500 million obese adults reside in the U.S.?
• India - The Indian government is trying to give each of its 1.2 billion citizens a "universal identity number" that will have biometric markers, such as an iris scan. Fingerprint markers may not work because many Indians' fingerprints are worn off by years of manual labor.
  I suppose it is all a matter of perspective, but if it was me, I'd be investment my resources into finding ways for my citizens to keep their fingerprints.