Now everyone wants to be a cowboy - the BBC World News reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin has threatened neighboring Georgia with unilateral military action if it fails to do a better job in eliminating the Chechen rebels who are holed up within the former Soviet republic's borders, in the remote Pankisi Gorge. Most commentators see this ultimatum directed less at Georgia and more towards the United States and its impending all-but-declared war against Iraq, as in his letter informing the United Nations of the demand, Putin employs the same language and logic as can be found in Bush's "justification" for going after Saddam Hussein, accusing the Georgian government of harboring terrorists in violation of international agreements and U.N. anti-terror resolutions. He may chill my bone to the marrow, but Vladimir Putin is one shrewd operator, and perhaps the specter of a world full of trigger-happy buckaroos unconcerned with global cooperation will give the United States pause before it embarks upon its "you're either with us or against us" crusade versus the Iraqi regime.

All this political hoo-hah is giving me a headache. Might be time for a Slurpee. Mmmmm. Too bad my local 7-Eleven no longer has Vanilla Coke Slurpee on tap, because that's what I was really jonesing for. Damn that tasty Vanilla Coke!