the united states of earth

as i write this, i'm listening to george w. bush's state of the union address. it's been 30 minutes and he hasn't stopped talking about iran, israel, india, china, north korea, and the 122 democracies that exist in our planet today. i understand that, as the world's superpower, the united states and its leader should be concerned about foreign policy and the country's relationship with countries x, y, and z.

however, i don't think that 30 minutes of his annual address to the nation should be about how zimbabwe hasn't become a democracy. this is a state of the union address, not a full-fledged report on what is necessary in other countries and what the united states will do to shape the world.

it is scary to realize that as the wanna-be president of the united states of earth addresses one single country on the state of affairs in the entire planet and how his presidency will be devoted to reshape things worldwide, the whole house receives the news warmly with applause and a standing ovation.

top players at the top

these top tennis players are not afraid to be at the top! literally!

the dubai duty free men’s open is a tier ii championship of the wta circuit. of course, the world's best meet here to chill in such a great city -- and of course, the $1m-award to the winner is not negligible! and of course, rogi won the championship for the third year in a row! (in passing, let me add that he just broke pete sampras's record of 102 consecutive weeks as the world's #1, so now he's third in the record holders' list, just behind jimmy connors (160 weeks) and ivan lendl (157 weeks)).

anyway, mytili sent me these pictures of federer and agassi having a fun game in the world's highest tennis court -- on the heliport of the world's most luxurious hotel in dubai. aren't these pix insane???!?