I have a question about this whole military coup affair taking place in Figi. Why the heck does Figi have a military? And why does the US send $2.5 million in aid for military weapons purchasing?

Governors make for good Presidential candidates - so its exciting to have a Governor enter the race for the Democratic nomination for 2008. Tom Vilsack, Governor of Iowa has launched an exploration into running for the nomination - though admittedly he doesn't have much mindshare yet nationally. But thats ok, I think its great he's giving it a shot - a President from the Midwest could be a good thing. I would love to see a women in office, but I just don't feel like I can trust Hillary. And as inspiring as Obama can be, is he Presidential material just yet?! I'm not sure.

Canuck Hunks

Oh la la Paris links to the Calgary Sun's Sexiest Canadian Man Alive - apparently they weren't all that thrilled with Clooney winning again. When will his saggy ass go away?! I'm just sayin'. Anyway, Ryan Reynolds takes home the crown - gotta love that!! Ryan Gosling takes second place - yummy!

CNN joins in on 'pushing' the Zune - sort of

CNN is hit or mishttp://beta.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifs in my opinion, but this little clip of their Zune review is definitely a hit shall we say. Watch it through to the end for the real humdinger!!

Gay Marriage in South Africa

South Africa has become the fifth nation in the world to advance human rights and dignity to all its citizens, no matter whom they love. This is an amazing advance for a country where just two decades ago was steep in apartheid. I must admit when the news stories first came out about the possibility of this legislation passing I was quite skeptical - perhaps its my 'american' impressions of what Africa is really like.

Rumsfeld Resignation

Original link via TUAW.

Rural Minnesota

I'm in rural Minnesota today, on the old homestead. Last night I went out with some old friends to a little bar/restaurant in a tiny little village. The whole place was full of hunters in from a long day and trekking through the woods trying to shoot stuff. Deer season is in full swing around here, and boy I sure don't miss it. (Full disclosure: I've been on those hunting excursion in the past when Dad still thought I could be a 'real' boy) I get nervous when I go into realms of super-manhoodism - I wonder if one wrong look on my part will change my life for good. I've never had any such problems, but I've read enough horror stories in the news to know better. Of course, I'm a nervous kind of fellow anyway, so that doesn't help all that much.

But I'm actually down here doing some last minute volunteering for a friend of mine running for re-election. I'm looking forward to Wednesday morning to read how all of the elections come out. I don't pay much attention on election night - I learned my lesson during the Gore/Bush election. I went to bed and everything was just fine, then I woke to hear my roommate shouting in glee as it was reported Bush won the election. This has certainly been an interesting election year - the republicans certainly seem to have a lot of skeletons in the closet, including themselves in some cases. I've been fortunate to be off most politicians lists this year - hardly a brochure in my mailbox and not a single phone call. Its been nice!

Ford Surprises

I am certainly no fan of Ford vehicles - the Mustang is a weak exception. Lately though Ford has been showing off its CUV concept - the Fairlane - and this morning Autoblog is reporting the production model will be almost identical to the concept model seen above. I'm not saying you'll ever see me owning one of these, I'm committed to Mini, but this is certainly an attractive new model. Its got a little bit of a Land Rover look to it, but I especially like the concave lines along the side.

Up, up and away

Looks like Apple had a very good quarter, this morning IDC puts Apple's US marketshare at 5.8% and Gartner puts it at 6.1%. Not too shabby. I recall reading somewhere that each one percent gain was akin to $1 billion in revenue - something like that anyway.

Uh oh! Air America files for Chapter 11. Its still going to be on the air, so thats good. Hopefully they can finally get thier financial house in order - its a decent network but I'm still pissed they didn't keep Marc Maron on the air.

Its time for some learnin'

It has been four years, some good and some bad, since I walked up on stage and received my undergraduate diploma. And as challenging as school can be, with the deadlines and huge papers, I always liked learning. Since graduating I've known I wanted to continue with my education, and so I started graduate school classes this week. I am both nervous and excited about the adventure that lies ahead for me - but I'm boldly confident I will succeed.

I'm doing classes online, though not with the giant online school I shall not name. I wanted flexibility, both in time and geography, and also quality - which I think I've found. Its going to be an exciting two years!!