I think Al-Jazeera captures the WTF state of my brain trying to wrap itself around the idea of Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. What it doesn't really explain is the dark underbelly of the "Why?" Is the a show of strength or a show of weakness?

I hope history will prove me absolutely wrong on this one, but I have to go with the second choice and not the first. For all the talk of frenemies being the new black, the fact of the matter is that Obama didn't win support within the Democratic Party unless he had to give up something.

And by the looks of it, it was control of national security both in the foreign and domestic arena. Here's a magical mystery tour of the country's "new" National Security Team :

Attention women of New York City : If you are in the technology, media, finance, non-profit, marketing or education fields and are looking to network and brainstorm with like-minded women, then She's Geeky East is for you.

It will be two-and-a-half days of unconferencing.

Yes, it will be an unconference.

(Take your time.)

You don't know what an unconference is? Ah, well, let me use Kaliya Hamlin's own words to describe it. She is not only an expert on this sort of "brain swap" gathering, she also happens to be the founder of She's Geeky.

"An unconference is a facilitated participant-driven face-to-face conference around a theme or purpose. [ ... ] The name "unconference" arose to describe conferences that step outside of the more traditional model -- that is, presentations selected months beforehand, sponsors buying speaking slots, boring panels of talking heads, and high fees."

I cannot tell you how much Gene Simmon's hair vexes me. It just looks all sorts of wrong. I mean, what is it supposed to be doing? It's kind of helmetish, like it just sits there. It's too frizzy but it ain't quite.

Dude should just get those nappies relaxed or something. It looks like a bird's nest. Or am I supposed to read that situation happening in the front of his skull as plugs gone rogue? Somebody needs to help me here because my eyes are a-bleeding.

And don't even get me started with how awkward is just his whole face and skin. I mean, he's never "read" to me as being "white". His looks confuse me. I expect him to break out on a hard rock rendition of "Am black and proud". 

There's got to be some mandingo love hiding in the background of this guy's family tree and I don't care how white you say his hassidim family is. The hair will set the truth free my friend and that is as nappy a hair as the one covering my negritude.

I have always been a fan of Japan. I have been there four times, including on my honeymoon. I even had the pleasure of living for a year in Kyoto working at Kyoto University. It is, in many ways, a wonderful place and I do hope to go back when time and money permit. I even am teaching my son what little Japanese language I still remember.

But there are always strange undercurrents in Japan. Korean and Chinese friends of mine cannot understand why I ever would visit Japan. They have an anger towards Japan that Americans have a hard time understanding. The presence of the yakuza (Japanese mafia) in Japan is omnipresent, once you are aware of it, which seems strange for an otherwise so law abiding nation. When World War II comes up in conversation, many Japanese still think Japan was justified in its imperialism and that America should apologize for the nuclear bombings and for the occupation. It is a constant source of scandal that Japanese leaders frequently downplay and misrepresent Japanese imperialism in Asia. I was amazed at how unresolved WW II seems in Japan and in Asia.

On Thanksgiving, The Dallas Cowboys beat the Seattle Seahawks 34 to 9. And the day before, when Bush spared two innocent lives, he achieved his own victory of 16 to 1. When Bush pardoned Pumpkin AND Pecan, who were about to meet the same fate as the turkeys televised behind Sarah Palin, he could boast of having 16 presidential poultry pardons under his belt. But Bush has also compassionately conserved human life, once. During his six-year governorship and eight-year presidency, Bush has pardoned one death row inmate, denied clemency over 50 times, and signed death warrants for 155 people, many of whom were innocent, mentally retarded, juveniles, recipients of unfair trials, and/or represented by incompetent and often narcoleptic lawyers.

My regular readers will know that I usually give my thoughts on the ambiguous meanings of Thanksgiving, and this year is no different. I think, though, that the election of a black man named "Barack Hussein Obama" to the Presidency gives us a bit of a good feeling this year that the often ambiguous ideals of America, celebrated in holidays like Thanksgiving, are closer to fulfillment than ever before. This year my thoughts on Thanksgiving are not that much different than last year's (unlike my recent Columbus day diary, which had some new info), but my thoughts this year do have a certain sense that America has taken a huge, historic step forward in fulfilling the ideals it was founded on. The election of Obama as President has caused even people like Black Nationalist Muhammed Yungai to reassess his generally angry feelings towards the US:

And now we have a President Obama! The mold has been irrevocably broken! The possibilities of opportunity in American life have been exponentially expanded.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, this is excerpted right from Daily Kos. It is a cause I have focused on before and I chipped in again this year. From Daily Kos:

Many of you know the story of Kossacks' involvement with saving the Pretty Bird Woman House, which is a women's shelter on the South Dakota side of the Standing Rock Reservation. Last fall we conducted a fundraiser thatraised enough money to buy the shelter an entire new house. Since this week is the beginning of the holiday giving season, I want to give you an update on the shelter and some ideas for donating if you are so inclined...

We are still fighting for one more Senate win. Jim Martin is running to unseat despicable, anti-Vietnam Veteran sleaze ball Saxby Chambliss. Here is Jim Martin's latest ad:

Anyone can help win this Senate seat and stand up for our Veterans. If you want to help, you can phone bank to get out the vote. Win this one for Max Cleland! Win this one for our Vietnam Vets!