person of the year

putin was named as time's person of the year for 2007. that's right, putin.

vladimir vladimirovich putin.

for all you bono and hady mirza fans out there, my hearts mourns with you. putin is undoubtedly an interesting choice, considering time's person of the year recognition is not an accolade and but an acknowledgement of an individual's impact as a global force, and in that right we can see how putin may have justified his selection. his strong hand has steadied a ship that has long been wandering in the open seas without any direction and one that has struggled to shrug off the long shadows of its communist past. however, in direct contrast to the very merry yeltsin, putin is a throwback to the russian (and even communist) leaders of old, and it remains to be seen whether his style of leadership will lead to another era of repression reminiscent of stalin and brezhnev.

however, a strong russia on the world map is and always has been a welcomed option. its geopolitical significance can never be underestimated, and its eventual resurrection will offer the world an alternative to american hegemony. such promising signs can even be seen in the current iranian and north korean issue, with russia having a major say in the former by continuing the shipment of nuclear materials to iran and brokering deals with the latter. with putin at the helm or with him pulling the strings for his successor in his capacity as the premier, the world can be assured that russia will once again rise from the ashes as it once did.

but i've always thought that gore would have clinched the title though. not that i like him or anything, in fact i do think he impresses me as some twat from a disney commercial gone wrong, but he has raised awareness for our current environmental dilemma and popularized the term 'climate change'. the impact he has had on the international political arena has been unprecedented at the very least. the world has never seen environmental issues having a major say in scuplting the dynamics of international relations, and even though these effects cannot be attributed to gore directly, we cannot deny that he had a major say in making the world stand up and take notice.

in other news, hady mirza won asian idol (cues nationalistic glee). even though i'm starting to suspect that our dear idol's vocal abilities are indeed a tad suspect and that taufik might have done a better job, this writer urges one and all to set aside the conspiracy theories and bask in the fact that singapore actually beat the other countries in a SINGING competition.

hey at least it wasnt joakim gomez representing us-