The clock starts.

Pundits, detractors and supporters alike will watch with scrutiny as the USA struggles with some of its most challenging circumstances in modern history.

But today, at least for a short moment, we can inhale the pride, the hope and the sense of progress this inauguration represents.

After a chaotic 2008 that has the U.S. economy on the brink of a depression, 2009 surely can’t get any worse…can it?

Sure we had some bright spots in 2008.  Michael Phelps historic Olympic feat and of course the historic election that will place Barack Obama in the White House in about 20 days were all memorable moments.  However, the unemployment, bankruptcies, foreclosures, bailouts and deficits will forever be tattooed to 2008.

2009 will be a rebuilding year and like in sports, it won’t be pretty.  But, the Bush administration will be gone!  Hopefully the Iraqi War can be wound down and by this time next year our financial health will be improving.  It won’t be pretty and more casualties are sure to result, but like those rebuilding sports team, at least the ugliest season is over.

That arrogance has been a staple of the hawkish draft deferment politician.

Now, in what is being dubbed as an “exit interview”, Cheney’s arrogance is once again emerging from that infamous “undisclosed location” as the VP talked to ABC NEWS.

Photo Parody - This is not a real cover

While denying that the Bush Administration engages in torture, ABC’s Jonathan Karl elicited what some are calling a war crimes confessional from Cheney.

KARL:Did you authorize the tactics that were used against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?

CHENEY: I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared, as the agency in effect came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn’t do. And they talked to me, as well as others, to explain what they wanted to do. And I supported it.

KARL:In hindsight, do you think any of those tactics that were used against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others went too far?

CHENEY: I don’t.

The water-boarding techniques used on Mohammed and others at Abu Ghraib Prison has been condemned by both President-Elect Obama and his former Republican opponent John McCain as well as many others as torture.  Cheney’s non-chalant admission to supporting it, helping push for it and in essence authorizing it should be cause for criminal indictment.

Cheney’s interview also surprisingly admitted what most anti-war thinkers knew from day one.  That the Bush Administration was on a course to engage Iraq and Saddam Hussein regardless of intelligence, regardless of WMD’s or lack thereof and regardless to any possible ties to 9/11.

KARL: You probably saw Karl Rove last week said that if the intelligence had been correct we probably would not have gone to war.

CHENEY: I disagree with that. I think – as I look at the intelligence with respect to Iraq, what they got wrong was that there weren’t any stockpiles. What we found in the after action reports, after the intelligence report was done and then various special groups went and looked at the intelligence and what its validity was. What they found was that Saddam Hussein still had the capability to produce weapons of mass destruction. He had the technology, he had the people, he had the basic feed stocks.

Still marketing BS Mr. Vice President?  You may still have the capability to emote a compassionate thought, but most of us don’t see that as anything imminent!

Cheney inists now that the “So?” was to the reporter looking for a question instead of a comment on the will and opinion of the American public.

Revisionism is a common trait with this evil man. Good Riddance.  Now go crawl into some undisclosed location for good.

Eli Manning was shooting blanks against Dallas without Plaxico Burress.

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In a short time the Internet has evolved and exploded into ever facet of our lives.  One of the most popular sectors is in social media.  This blog would be considered part of the social media arena.  There are millions of blogs in cyberspace. Most are admittedly more popular than this one, but each have something to say and each has someone that reads what is said.

I never got the MySpace bug.  I assume it was after my time age wise.  I recently signed up for Facebook just to check out my 16 year old son’s page and lo and behold, my best friend’s sister from high school contacted me from across the country.  We exchanged a few posts to catch up and even discussed her and her brother visiting next spring, so it served a vital real world purpose.

I have actively posted on message boards (politics, crime, etc.) since about 1998 and this is where I have met the bulk of my “online” acquaintances.  The resulting debates, PM’s (personal messages) and external communications can evolve into soap opera-like reality shows at times.  I recently signed up to Twitter to follow Election coverage.  I’ve now expanded my “following” to other interests there as well.

Why is social media so popular?  I watched my son sit in a restaurant with a girl he knew sitting at an adjacent table.  They nodded but never said a word to each other.  As soon as the girl left the restaurant, my son received a text message from her!  I find myself checking PM’s, and Tweets regularly via my iPhone.

Do “texts, “status” postings, “tweets” or “wall writing” bring us closer together, or further apart?  Are we relegated to real world anti-socials and cyber-popular? Can the two exist on a level plane?

Does reading that Brook is washing her car, or Jen is going to bed without her laptop tonight make us voyeurs? Is letting everyone know where you are via GPS and services such as Loopt make you safer and more connected?  Or does it sacrifice all your privacy? Does social media force people to invent themselves to compete with others?  Myspace and Facebook often appear as a beauty contest where females try to out do each other with “sexy” pictures.  Guys are guilty as well, posting macho profiles and graphics. Alias and nics on message boards are changed like underwear to play both sides of a debate or to garner “secret dirt” on another user.

I guess the point is, does the social media outlet allow us to be who we want to be, or force us to be something we are not?

Your comments, insights and experiences are welcome.

Billionaire Gates gave a speech at George Washington University in D.C. and later an interview to CNN where he lobbied for a major stimulus program as Barack Obama has suggested.

“Spending is the only way we’ll ever come out of this downturn, and with businesses, state governments and consumers pulling back, the federal government must step forward,” Gates told the crowd. - Source CNN.com

OK, I know the rich geek has given away billions through his Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and spent most of of his life in the Pacific Northwest, land of grunge and Starbucks, but back in 1999-2000 he was sending his politcal contributions to the GOP!  Sure his parents were Rockefeller Republicans, but Gates (besides being rich & shrewd) doesn’t fit that image.

Has he gotten over the Clinton era Justice Department wrangling over anti-trust allegations towards the software giant?

Is his focus just on philanthropy now?  Or is his competitiveness kicking back in and he simply doesn’t like losing his 13 year crown as World’s Richest Man (according to Forbes) to Obama consultant Warren Buffet?

Could it be that he wants a stimulus package to help boost the markets and allow people to buy computers with Microsoft Vista or cars with Microsoft Auto (formerly Sync) that his old company is investing so much on?  Never rule out his desire for dominance and money, just ask his competitors.

Perhaps he just has enough money and time to open the window and step into the political arena to start flexing his muscle more openly.

The 20th Anniversary of WAD continues the fight against such ignorance and discrimination.  AIDS is a global epidemic and it can and does affect humans of every sex, color, race, creed and lifestyle.  Over 33 million people worldwide are living with the HIV/AIDS virus, including 2 million children.  While advances in treatments and prevention exist, over 2 million people died in 2007 from the disease bringing the total deaths since 1981 to over 25 million.

The frontline battle against AIDS involves efforts to provide access to life sustaining drugs to countries hampered by socioeconomic challenges.  Almost 10 million people are in need of life saving drugs while only about 3 million are receiving them.   (Source: Avert.org)

Today, as activist, physicians, health organizations, politicians and government recognizes the epidemic, take a moment to remember that AIDS is still out there, that whether you are HIV+ or know someone that is is irrelevant to your participation in helping educate, erase discrimination and provide assistance to this global challenge. Even though you may think AIDS is a world away from you, remember we all share the world.

For more information visit: World AIDS Campaign