EN ROUTE TO ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA

I'm writing this on board the Regent Seven Seas Navigator, somewhere in the Baltic Sea. We began our journey (with about 40 KOGO listeners) in Copenhagen, Denmark. Tomorrow we arrive in St. Petersburg (once known as Leningrad) for three days. Many in our group will join us for a side trip to Moscow (a whirlwind adventure that includes a couple of edgy Russian airline flights, checking to make sure Lenin is still dead and other Red Square hotspots). Of course Russia is buzzing about the G-8 summit that will happen in the St. Petersburg Friday. Big item on the agenda: What to do about North Korea. Following the Russian stops we'll be off to Estonia, Finland and Sweden.

WHILE I'M AWAY: Thanks to Glenn Beck, Victoria Taft and Marc Bailey for sitting in on the Larson weekday show. I'm back live, in-studio on Wednesday July 19. (Through the miracle of electronics...ooooh... I WILL be on the Sunday shows from 12-1PM.)

RESONATING OVER HERE: Justice Anthony Kennedy's Friday ruling to uphold the stay on the Mt. Soledad Cross. This battle is far from over, but the Supreme Court Justice's move is another positive development in the process... especially from the unpredictable Kennedy. Just the fact that Jim McElroy (attorney for the offended athiest) is "surprised and disappointed" is extra satisfying at the moment.
signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060708-9999-lz1n8cross.html

LET'S STOP WORRYING...about offending the terrorists. Here's an op/ed piece in today's Times of London that gets it right.
www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,24392-2261812,00.html