The Smell of Napalm in the Morning

Maybe it was realy the smell of rain, and change. Woke at 6 to lightning flashes and thunder.

A huge storm was rolling in, just in time to hit commuters trying to get to work. Fortunately, my commute was less than 20 feet to hit my study and check the weather radar on the computer.  It was easier than wading through 4-6 inches of downpour.

Pres. Bush met with Mr. Putin today in Bratislava, Slovakia, the place where L's oldest son Jon did a work study. Tense meeting. Russia has been backsliding on democracy and pitching opponents into jail, helping Iran build a nuke plant, etc. My concern is that they have the most small nukes of any country - over 10,000 and not all secured that well. Needless to say, you have to wonder if Putin would care a lot if a terrorist got one that was used against the U.S. It certainly would give the ex-KGB leader a big leg up on the U.S. which is already spending inself into a financial hole. Putin would love to make Russia an empire again, so he wouldn't be sad to see us fall (and perhaps provide a secret shove in that direction). Our future dealings with Russia are as critical as what happens in Iraq, China, etc. because the zealots like bin laden are sitting near Russia's back door.

While Bush yakked with Valdimar, I was making an unscheduled run to the vet with Lexie, the wonder dog, who developed a bad cough in the past few days. She's rarely sick so it was obvious she needed attention. 

Hundred pound Henri would insist on going too, so we had to trick him into staying in the house while we got Lex in the car and off to the vet for an examination. Turns out, she had an infection, so Lex got pills instead of giving a press conference on doggie democracy. She is so friendly with the neighborhood kids she could charm the Russian wolf hounds. Henri the Big Dog would just eat them, especially if they weren't nice. I guess they are the "good cop," "bad cop" team.

It appears to be a whole new G Bush in Europe, trying to make friends with France and Germany. Better late than never.  Especially with Russia looking like a wolf in sheep's clothing. 

We'll need all the friends we can get to worldwide avoid even worse potential terrorism coming to the U.S.  Recent TV shows like "24" and "Dirty War" have finally addressed how it could happen --a dirty bomb or nuke meltdown caused by terrorists in the U.S. I've been writing and warning about this since before the first bombing of the WTC. It's good to see the media is catching up.

I hope that the possibility of a nuke attack in the U.S. remains fiction -- but we have to change our ways and get a lot smarter (fast) to avoid worse days ahead. Diplomacy and intelligence are as vital as bullets in the outcome.