So, can anybody give me an English translation of this? Because I can't make any sense out of it.

It's official! Barack Obama is President of the United States!

I watched the inauguration ceremony on CNN. I felt good watching this historical event unfold on TV. Of course, there were a few hitches. Obama flubbed the oath. I also had reservations on Rick Warren giving the invocation, since he supported Proposition 8. Still, I guess it's good I have a few small things to criticize Obama for. The guy's human and he's not perfect.

Seeing Dick Cheney being wheeled out in that chair kinda made him look like a James Bond villain. Kinda appropriate, I guess.

While I'm glad to see Obama become President and I have hope for the future for the first time in years, I'm trying to stay realistic. He's not gonna work miracles. And we're not gonna see significant improvements in even the first 100 days of his term. The economy and all the other problems facing the nation right now...None of that happened overnight and it certainly won't be solved overnight. These problems are gonna take years to fix. I hope the public bears that in mind. Though given how fickle they tend to be, I doubt it.

I smiled at seeing Obama and Joe Biden accompanying George W. Bush and Cheney out of the nation's Capitol and towards their retirement. Ladies and gentlemen, our long national nightmare is over! (Been waiting 8 years to say that!)

When I first heard about that Marcus Schrenker guy faking his own death, my first reaction was, "This guy's watched too many movies." Really, that's the sort of thing that can only work in the movies. Faking your own death is nearly impossible in real life. Everything's electronically tracked and there's so much documentation. Did this guy really think he could get away with it?

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/11/28/state/n123739S87.DTL&tsp=1

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/11/28/2008-11-28_worker_dies_at_long_island_walmart_after.html

At least, I was warm and snug in my bed at 5AM instead of getting shot or trampled just to save a few bucks.

Peace on Earth. Good will towards men.

This is a clip from Fox News' flop "comedy" show The Half Hour News Hour (Their response to The Daily Show). Let's be thankful that this is not what January 2009 has in store for us.

Apparently, there are already "Impeach Obama" places popping up on the internet.

Look, sorry if you were unhappy with the election results, but come on! You have nothing to bitch about until January when he's sworn in. At least, wait 100 days into his first term to say he sucks.

Yay! Obama wins! That's gonna Bush's exit in January is gonna be all the more sweeter!

I was pleased with McCain's dignified concession speech. For one brief moment, I saw the McCain I once admired.

Unfortunately, the California gay marriage ban has kinda soured this victory. Well, someday, it'll be back. After all, history has repeatedly demonstrated that you can't hold back progress.

I voted today around noon. To my surprise, there weren't any lines.

Here's hoping that later tonight, we'll be able to use the words "President-Elect Barack Obama!"

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I watched the Vice Presidential Debate Thursday night. I went in with very low expectations for both Joe Biden and Sarah Palin and watched mainly because I expected two hours of unintentional comedy.

I was really impressed with Biden. He got off to a slow start, stumbled here and there and played around with the facts somewhat (I read the fact-checking reports after the debate). But overall, he did a really good job.

Palin started out strong and got worse as the debate went on. Her confidence went away, her voice started cracking and she spent a lot of time looking down at the index cards she had. For all her claims about "Talking straight to the American public," she barely gave a straight answer, or any answer for that matter, to most of the questions she was asked. I got the impression she had about 20 phrases memorised and a few more written on her index cards, which she played mix and match with all night. I rolled my eyes when she responded to questions about resolving the Iraq war and what promises from her campaign she might not be able to keep with "I wanna talk about energy." And if I played a drinking game with the number of times she used the word "maverick, " referenced Alaska or told some story about her family, I probably would've got alcohol poisoning halfway through.

Overall, she came across like a middle school student giving an oral report she had only half-prepared for. As inappropriate as Biden's occasional exhasperated sighs were, I could empathise with him.

What amazes me is that the media has been so lenient on Palin's performance. And it wasn't just the usual Fox News drones who thought she killed that night. I saw countless articles saying she "held her own." Huh? Did these people watch the same debate I did? The only explanation I can come up with is that everybody expected her to be a complete disaster and she wasn't. Therefore, they were grading her on a curve.

The day after the debate, I was talking with my mom about it. She throught that Palin did a good job and held her own very well. I was stunned. I brought up all the criticisms I mention above. She admitted that Palin sounded, "A little rehearsed." Right. And the Hindenburg just hit a little turbulence while landing. Regarding her avoiding valid questions with "Let's go back to energy," my mom said that energy is very important and that Palin's a very smart woman who knows a lot more about energy than the other three candidates. It just astounds me how people will just stand by their guy (Or gal, in this case) no matter what.

I'll admit that Sarah Palin did better than I expected. However, "better than expected" is not what I want in somebody aspiring toward the second-highest office in the United States. I want somebody I can be confident in in case, God forbid, something happened to the President and the VP had to take over. Between the Katie Couric interview and this debate, it's clear to me that Palin doesn't have a single thought of her own and has to be coached through everything. That's not somebody I want as Vice President.

Something I saw at Peter David's blog:

DEAR AMERICAN:

I NEED TO ASK YOU TO SUPPORT AN URGENT SECRET BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP WITH A TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF GREAT MAGNITUDE.

I AM MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY OF THE REPUBLIC OF AMERICA. MY COUNTRY HAS HAD CRISIS THAT HAS CAUSED THE NEED FOR LARGE TRANSFER OF FUNDS OF 800 BILLION DOLLARS US. IF YOU WOULD ASSIST ME IN THIS TRANSFER, IT WOULD BE MOST PROFITABLE TO YOU.

I AM WORKING WITH MR. PHIL GRAM, LOBBYIST FOR UBS, WHO WILL BE MY REPLACEMENT AS MINISTRY OF THE TREASURY IN JANUARY. AS A SENATOR, YOU MAY KNOW HIM AS THE LEADER OF THE AMERICAN BANKING DEREGULATION MOVEMENT IN THE 1990S. THIS TRANSACTIN IS 100% SAFE.

THIS IS A MATTER OF GREAT URGENCY. WE NEED A BLANK CHECK. WE NEED THE FUNDS AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE. WE CANNOT DIRECTLY TRANSFER THESE FUNDS IN THE NAMES OF OUR CLOSE FRIENDS BECAUSE WE ARE CONSTANTLY UNDER SURVEILLANCE. MY FAMILY LAWYER ADVISED ME THAT I SHOULD LOOK FOR A RELIABLE AND TRUSTWORTHY PERSON WHO WILL ACT AS A NEXT OF KIN SO THE FUNDS CAN BE TRANSFERRED.

PLEASE REPLY WITH ALL OF YOUR BANK ACCOUNT, IRA AND COLLEGE FUND ACCOUNT NUMBERS AND THOSE OF YOUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN TO WALLSTREETBAILOUT@TREASURY.GOV SO THAT WE MAY TRANSFER YOUR COMMISSION FOR THIS TRANSACTION. AFTER I RECEIVE THAT INFORMATION, I WILL RESPOND WITH DETAILED INFORMATION ABOUT SAFEGUARDS THAT WILL BE USED TO PROTECT THE FUNDS.

YOURS FAITHFULLY MINISTER OF TREASURY PAULSON

I caught bit of Hillary Clinton's speech at the Demoncratic National Convention. Although she tried to rally the troops, it was pretty clear she wasn't happy with the whole situation. She's just not the great liar Bill was. She really wanted to be President. She especially wanted to make history by becoming the first woman President. This was something she'd been working toward since the day she and her husband moved into the White House. And this was her one big shot. Sure, she could run again. But if Obama gets elected and does eight years, that's gonna make it very difficult for her. Especially since by then, she'd be only three years younger than McCain is now. She's probably hoping that McCain ends up winning so that she can run again in four years.

I couldn't help but cringe at Obama giving his speech on a stage made up like a Greek temple. I like the guy, but that was just ridiculously overblown. When you're the party's nominee and you're giving your big speech, you really want the speech to speak for itself. And giving that speech on a stage that looks like something out of a Vegas show kinda distracts people from what you're saying. He could've given the best speech in history and the stage would've still overshadowed him.

I wonder just what the point of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions is supposed to be. As far as I can tell, they just seem like glorified pep rallies. There's also this feel of phoniness about this year's DNC. Hillary and Bill don't like Obama but they pretend they do. Obama doesn't like Hillary but he pretends he does. Of couse, phoniness and politics go hand in hand. George Bush, Sr. attacked Reagan for his "voodoo economics." When he became Reagan's running mate, he was like, "Hey, voodoo economics isn't so bad!" And ther's gonna be the same phoniness at the Republican National Convention. Especially from the arch conservatives who don't like McCain, but act like they do.

McCain announced his running mate today: Sarah Palin. Pretty shrewd move on McCain's part. He peobably figured it was the best way to win over the Hillary Democrats who won't support Obama.