What Caught My Eye Today

Cold War - President Barack Obama has said Russia must understand that "old Cold War approaches" to relations with the US belong in the past and said he would convey this to Vladimir Putin during talks in Moscow next week. Unless I'm very much mistaken, I think Putin knows that Cold War is over. Obama said the former Russian president - now prime minister - "still has sway" in Russia. That's one way to put it; "complete control" would be another. Obama said Putin was someone who has "one foot in the old ways of doing business and one foot in the new". The president said the U.S. was developing a "very good relationship" with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev , who succeeded Putin last year. That's good, because Obamo's relationship with Putin doesn't look too promising right about now. The issue of reducing both countries' nuclear weapons will be high on the agenda during Obama's visit, which begins next week. I've got my fingers crossed, rubbing the rabbit's foot and any other lucky charm I can find in order to give these talks a boost.

Swine Flu - The United Nation's top health official opened a forum in Mexico on combating swine flu by saying that the spread of the virus worldwide is now unstoppable. Some people will do or say anything to hog the spotlight. Honestly, is it really that bad? As the summit opened, the United Kingdom alone was projecting more than 100,000 new cases of H1N1 a day by the end of the summer. As the peak of the flu season approaches in South America, some areas have declared a public health emergency and Paraguay has reported its first death. Hmm. Yeah, that sounds bad. The World Health Organization says most H1N1 cases are mild, with many people recovering unaided. Then again, if the cases are mild... It has been more than two months since the initial alert over swine flu. Since then, the H1N1 virus has entered more than 100 countries, infected more than 70,000 people and killed more than 300 worldwide. Oh, for heaven's sake. Let's call it a push, shall we?

Afghanistan - U.S. Marines suffered their first casualties of a massive new military campaign Thursday as they engaged in sporadic gunbattles along 55 miles of Taliban-controlled heartland in southern Afghanistan. One Marine was killed and several others were injured or wounded on the first full day of the assault, the largest military operation in Afghanistan since the fall of Taliban government in 2001. I've heard that about gunbattles--sometimes those bullets hit something with a heartbeat. An immediate goal is to clear away insurgents before the nation's presidential election in August. The Pentagon is deploying 21,000 additional troops to Afghanistan in time for the elections and expects the total number of U.S. forces there to reach 68,000 by year's end. That is double the number of troops in Afghanistan in 2008 but still half as many as are now in Iraq. In my line of work, when I do something well (rare as that is) I get a pat on the back and the occasional monetary bonus. I guess in the military when you succeed in stopping the bad guys from shooting at you, your reward is to going someplace where they are still shooting. I think I'll stay put.

Honduras - The head of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza, said he plans to travel to Honduras on Friday to insist on the restoration of President Manuel Zelaya, who was ousted in a coup earlier this week -- a mission he said is likely to meet rejection, bringing diplomatic and economic punishment for the impoverished Central American nation. How about a little "glass half full" perspective, Mr. President? With a lousy attitude like this, you are bound for disappointment--as if you needed any more help. The interim government of has so far shown little willingness to do so, arguing that the army acted legally — on orders of Congress and the Supreme Court — when it raided Zelaya's house amid the rattle of gunfire and deported him, still in his nightshirt. I take it from this report, Zelaya wasn't expecting visitors, which begs the question if Congress and the Supreme Court were involved, don't you think the President would have had some inkling that something was going on?

Cycling - As if I had to remind you. The Tour de Lance--I mean France--starts on Saturday. Yeah, baby.

Tennis - And if that wasn't enough excitement for you, we have an all Williams final (Serena and Venus), again, in the ladies singles championship at Wimbledon. I know my track record at picking winners is far from stellar, but I think this time around, I'm on safe ground. I'm going with Williams to win it all.