Monday Newsbreak: 1/26

--By far the biggest story this week has been Tuesday's changing of the guard at the White House, with Barack Obama assuming presidential duties for the next four years. He has quickly moved to place a deadline for closing the Guantanamo Bay detention center and ordered interrogations of detainees to be performed according to the rules expressed within the Army Field Manual. And he has a very ambitious agenda planned for the economy. Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton was confirmed as Secretary of State by the Senate in a 96-2 vote.

--Hillary Clinton's vacated Senate seat went to upstate New York Representative Kirsten Gillibrand after Caroline Kennedy (who might not have been selected anyway) withdraw her name from consideration. Gillibrand's sometimes conservative stand on issues (e.g. anti-gun control) may help her statewide in the 2010 special election to retain that seat. But first she may have difficulty winning her own party's nomination, as one of Gillibrand's House colleagues has already said that she would be challenging her then.

--Last week I omitted commenting on the passing on January 13 of one of television and film's great actors: Patrick McGoohan. He was best known for his role as "Number Six", the British spy imprisoned in a mysterious resort-like place called "The Village" in the seventeen-episode cult classic series The Prisoner (one of my all-time favorite series). But he excelled in whatever role he played, which was usually the "villain". My favorite McGoohan villain roles occurred in the movies Escape From Alcatraz and Silver Streak. He also excelled in a couple of Columbo episodes as the "heavy". His death saddens me.

--Just as suddenly as they invaded and occupied the Gaza Strip, Israel declared a unilateral cease-fire and left the territory. Leaving Hamas to make some hard decisions about what direction they need to go in: work for peace and the dignity and rights of the suffering Palestinians, or resume firing missiles into Israel and bring more destruction down upon Gaza and its people. Unfortunately, anyone who is brave enough to step out to make a case for peace is certain to be branded as a traitor and would then be a target for arrest (or worse).

--One of the relatively overlooked areas in University of Florida athletics has been the women's basketball team this year. Already nationally ranked at #15 in one poll, they improved their record to 18-2 yesterday with a solid 75-54 home Southeastern Conference win over Mississippi. I attended the game with my wife and daughter. UF's coach is Amanda Butler, her first year here on the job. Their leading players are seniors Sha Brooks and Marshae Dotson. During yesterday's game, Brooks was an excellent ball-handler and passer while Dotson was great under the boards, scoring Florida's first nine points of the game and giving them a clear lead that they never relinquished. The entire team saw plenty of action, as the game's outcome was pretty much decided early in the second half. I'm looking forward to more great things from this team this year!