A plague-bearing mouse

Hi. I may not be updating for the next couple days. I have a busy dance card (read: I’m actually leaving the house), so I’ll try to get back here by Sunday. I’m not done with my Salon blog essay. Again, Sunday.

However, I did want to post this story about the dead bird found on the White House lawn testing positive for the West Nile virus. You know, in the midst of all this foot-stomping and huffing about protecting this country from evildoers and corporate pirates, this is a bit of a needed wake-up call that the next big threat may not be someone raiding a pension fund or some lunatic walking into Times Square with a dirty bomb. Instead, it might be a simple organism with no agenda or grudge…something that can’t be arrested or blown up with a military strike.

While West Nile virus isn’t the lethal superflu from Stephen King’s novel, "The Stand," the symbolism of a disease-ridden bird on White House property shouldn’t be lost on Mr, Bush, the mansion’s current occupant. As author Laurie Garrett points out in her fascinating book, "Betrayal of Trust," the public health system has been rotted to the core, leaving the world open to a fast-spreading pandemic that could cut a scythe through the population, akin to the1918 flu epidemic. Even as we gear up to fight the threat of chemical and biological attacks, Garrett reasons, we have to be ready for the next natural outbreak. As ancient battle tacticians once noted, a plague-bearing mouse inside the fortress can be more damaging than a 100 elephants charging at its outer walls.

Just some food for thought. Off to see "Goldmember" with my darling wife and our friends.

French Word of the Day

Betise (bay teez): nonsense; foolishness; stupidity