What Caught My Eye Today

Russia - President Bush and new Russian President Dmitry Medvedev stood united on issues like Iran and North Korea at the G8 Summit in Japan. But for all their handshakes and smiles, it is clear that thorny issues like missile defense are in a holding pattern until a new U.S. president takes office. In their first sit down as heads of state, Bush called Medvedev a "smart" guy who is well versed in foreign policy. High praise indeed. I'm sure Medvedev must have gushed over those remarks. Medvedev casually referred to Bush as "George." Or perhaps not. The two presidents only glossed over Russia's anger about the U.S.'s missile defense plans for Eastern Europe. And they both brushed off the fact that their official relationship will expire in fewer than 200 days when the Bush presidency ends. That's probably because neither one cares. Bush is gone in 200 days, so why should he give two shakes as to what Medvedev thinks of him. As for Medvedev, Bush is gone in 200 days, which basically renders Bush irrelevant to future discussions on anything of long term importance.

Zimbabwe - This week, the U.N. Security Council is due to discuss a U.S. and British-based proposal for financial and travel restrictions on Mugabe and his top officials as well as an arms embargo on Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe urged the world to accept President Robert Mugabe's re-election and said any move to impose U.N. sanctions on his government would hurt everyone involved. Like who? As far as I can see, the only downside here is for Zimbabwe and the general population is already in dire straits as a result of the antics of Mugabe's government. Economic sanctions aren't going to seem that bad compared to the abuse that the people have suffered at the hands of the ruling party. The sanctions are aimed at punishing Mugabe and his closest aides for holding a presidential run-off election last month that was boycotted by challenger Morgan Tsvangirai, who accused Mugabe of deadly attacks on his supporters. Mugabe was sworn in for a new five-year term after election authorities declared he had won a landslide victory. Election authorities that were on Mugabe's payroll. And they wonder why the international community is reluctant to officially recognize the election results. I think the answer is rather simple--it was rigged.

Tourism - According to a recent international survey, the French are now considered the most obnoxious tourists from European nations, and behind only Indians and the last-place Chinese as the worst among all countries worldwide. The French also finished second to last among nations ranking the popularity of their own tourists who vacation at home. Well gee, that's a relief. Here I was thinking that the French were just annoying to outsiders. It's nice to see that they consider themselves to be just as irritating as we do. French travelers landed 19th out of 21 nations worldwide, far behind the first-place Japanese, considered most polite, quiet and tidy. Following the Japanese as most-liked tourists were the Germans, British and Canadians. Americans finished in 11th place. Americans wind up as the biggest-spending and best-tipping tourists and rank as the loudest, most inclined to complain, and among the least polite. Maybe you've heard this one before--"Attitude reflects leadership." If I come off as rude and obnoxious, it's because I'm following the lead of my government.

Tennis - What a great weekend of tennis. Even if you are just a casual sports fan you had to be impressed by the finals action this past weekend. Rafael Nadal dethroned five-time champion Roger Federer as king of Wimbledon on Sunday with an epic 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-7 (8/10), 9-7 win in one of the greatest Grand Slam finals of all time and the longest final in Wimbledon history. In doing so, Nadal added a first All England Club title to his four French Opens. He also shattered Federer's dreams of an historic sixth successive Wimbledon trophy. Nadal's victory over Federer has seen him close the gap on the world number one to 545 points in the latest ATP rankings. And all this happened after a pretty good showing by Venus and Serena Williams on Saturday which saw Venus beat her younger sister in straight sets to capture her fifth Wimbledon singles title then back that up 3 hours later by pairing up with Serena to win the women's doubles championship.