This Toddlin' Town

I've returned from a internet-less weekend in Dubuque, Iowa. I can only say that I continue to fail to see a reason for Iowa and Western Illinois (along with most of the Midwest, for that matter) to exist at all.

Maybe that makes me a liberal elite. Too bad I'm not liberal.

In any case, the NYTimes has an interesting "Editorial Observer" article on drunk dialing. Drunk dialing is something I personally have never done, though I have indeed been on the receiving end a drunk dial numerous times. Not sure why drunk dialing is newsworthy, but then again, I'm not sure why SpongeBob is newsworthy, either, and he seems to be getting no small amount of press lately.

Apple was recently named the world's most influential brand, followed by Google, Ikea, Starbucks, and Al Jazeera. I don't know what it says about me that of these top five, four are a part of my daily life. (I'll soon be sitting in on my Ikea bed in my apartment, listing to music on iTunes while sipping a Venti Chai from Starbucks and checking my Google Mail). As for the fifth--well, I don't speak Arabic and am somewhat okay with a western "bias" in my news (if that means news that values democracy, rights, a world free of terrorism, and equality for women) but I think a diversity of news is generally a good thing, so kudos to Al Jazeera even though I won't be one of their clients any time soon.

Say what you will about the war in Iraq, we should all be happy that today's voting has gone well. Whether we agreed or disagreed with the rationale for war, or initially agreed and then felt horribly betrayed as the deceit of this administration became apparent to us, we should all be happy that the Iraqi people are now able to vote, and that this marks the first large milestone in getting Americans--and Iraqis--out of harm's way. Besides, the actions of failed states have a disproportionately bad effect on blue states, anyway.

In local news, I'm hugely bouyed by the revelation that Alan Keyes is ineligible to run for governor of Illinois in 2006, because of the residency requirement (three years). Let's hope the conservatives of downstate don't run someone only slightly better than he.

Well, I guess that's it for now. I should stop blogging and be productive...