-Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 2 has gone hip on us! In a public appearance, she officially unveiled her new web site. Actually it is a site for the royal family of England and has links to you tube, virtual tours and if the Royals are coming to your neck of the woods. I had a great deal of fun on it. Just click here to accept Her Majesty's invitation.

-for those who are quick to glorify President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, there is a disturbing story in last weeks New York Times about the increasing wave of anti-Semitism sweeping the Caracas. No actions are being taken by the government to combat it and in fact, they are attempting to sweep it under the rug.

-there were reports last week that the wife of Ponzi scheme crook Bernard Madorff withdrew $15 million from the bank before all hell broke lose. Can't you imagine her standing in line at the bank and going to the bank teller window and saying, "I would like to make a withdrawal, please!"

-well this cleaver 'team of rivals' bit in Washington seems to have gotten us no where. The Democrats held up and compromised the stimulus package and received not one vote in the House and only three in the Senate. Does anyone remember that Lincoln's 'team of rivals' were from the same political party?

-in the "we could have told you that all along" department, Senator Judd Gregg decided to withdraw from being Secretary of Commerce. He stated that his positions were not compatible to President Obama's. Duh? Let's start appointing quality, progressive Democrats and get this show rolling.

-enough. It is time to seat Al Franken (photo) as the Senator from Minnesota. Clearly former Senator Norm   Coleman is going to lose this seat by over 200 votes. The Republicans are dragging this out to keep us further away from that sixty votes. You lost Norm, get over it.

-with the Republicans facing an uphill battle in the elections for Senate in 2010, they had hoped to present a serious challenge to Senator Byron Dorgan (D-North Dakota). Their "knight in shining armor" was to be Republican Governor John Hoeven. Scorecard reported this week that Dorgan leads Hoeven by a 22 point margin. The Republican's knight's armor appears to be somewhat rusty!

-our hearts go out to all the families and friends who lost loved ones on Flight 3407 flying into Buffalo. This site especially mourns the loss of Alison Des Forges from Human Rights Watch Africa's Division. This amazing woman dedicated her life to fighting genocide in Africa. She spent four year in Rwanda documenting their genocide and has done important work in the Congo. She will be very, very missed.

-Kyle Bailey has let me know of a great event taking place in New York City this coming weekend. The National Stonewall Democrats with the Young Democrats of America will be honoring openly gay Young Democrat President David Hardt and Vice President Chris Anderson. The event will be held on February 21st and you can get more information by clicking here.

-speaking of great New York City events, GMHC will be hosting their annual 'Savor" event honoring Robert Bank on March 9th at the Skylight Studio. You can order your tickets by clicking here. I would do it soon since it is expected to be a sell out.

-kudos to Towleroad.com for in these hard times for setting up a "Job Board" on his site. This was badly needed. Thank you Andy.

-you think President Obama has devoted followers. According to the BBC, the President of Madagascar spoked to a crowd over 40,000 people in an open air arena in a raging tropical cyclone. This promising nation appears to be on the brink of civil war and the consequences could be catastrophic.

-am I the only one that thinks the United States drone attacks on Pakistan will push that nation even closer to the terrorists and home grown Taliban? The latest strike killed thirty people and according to reports this drone was on target and did hit Taliban sites. Just can't imagine that the idea of the good ole USA dropping bombs on Pakistan is going to sit well with its people.

-the London Times empowered a panel of eight experts on America to pick the greatest and worse American Presidents. The top five winners in order are Lincoln, Washington, Franklin Roosevelt, Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt. The bottom was held by James Buchanan. George W Bush placed just behind Hoover at 37 and Bill Clinton only made it to 23 on the list. See the entire list by clicking here.

-if the economy does better, the math for the US Senate looks good for the Democrats in 2010. Already we have retiring Republican Senators in Missouri, Florida, Ohio, New Hampshire and Kansas. The Republicans have 19 seats up to the Democrats 17 seats.

-Chris Brown's father says he is feeling 'remorseful'. That is not what Rihanna is feeling!

-on the davidmixner.com poll this week, 47% of you are very concerned about the escalating war in Afghanistan. Only 17% are not concerned at all.

-as Australia mourns, don't forget that in 1871 in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan the Peshtigo Wildfire killed 2,400 people. It ranks right up there with the Galveston Hurricane, Hurricane Katrina and the Johnstown flood as this nation's greatest disasters.

Finally, an amazing little youtube clip sent to me by Jonathan Stoller. This song is performed by Amy Dixon-Kolar and was written right after President Obama's victory. You will love it.