There's a lot of buzz about this new dating sim for the DS called Love Plus. This one takes the virtual girlfriend idea a step further than most — getting the girl is one step, but one you're officially an item, you're supposed to engage with your new girlfriend in real time by taking her out on dates, making plans, and planning things together. Some men have become so hooked on it that their wives are complaining publicly about it — one husband even sleeps with Love Plus near his pillow, and takes his virtual girlfriend into the bathtub with him. On online discussion boards, these complaints have spawned debates on whether "cheating" with a virtual girlfriend is the sign of a bad husband or not.Very interesting... Love Plus main page (Japanese) IT Media article in Japanese titled "Which is more important, me or your Love Plus?!" Posted at 01:03 PM in Games TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341c5d3253ef0120a56e6f35970b

Effective leaders must possess, according to Aristotle, not just wisdom but practical wisdom. Practical wisdom has “nothing to do with calculating magnitudes”, notes Aristotle, but instead is concerned with how conditions in society and organizations could be made better. In other words a leader with practical wisdom is not as wholly concerned with disciplinary skills such as writing, facts or knowledge of science and theory, but instead possess a more robust view of the world; one that is as much magnanimous as it is earnest. For Aristotle, this practical wisdom is the foundation of “moral excellence” or specifically, is the sine qua non of leadership. However, recent technological developments have begun to crack the foundations of moral excellence in leadership. Specifically this seems to be the case in social media, and the cultural and social shifts that are taking place as a result. Social media inspires the educated to communicate in ways that would have had any self respecting citizen thrown out on their ear a century ago. It has created a vast repertoire of knowledge through blogs, articles, and websites from individuals with no formal training in the concepts with which they now purport to be experts. The concept of an Aristotelian moral in leadership seems to be fading as quickly as a Boy George pop hit. In a world increasingly enamored with gilded realities, today’s leader appears to be the one with the highest Google rank, previously known as the loudest voice or the biggest stick. No more...

According to a Russian website, John McCain's campaign solicited a Russian U.N. Ambassador for campaign funds. What is odd about this revelation is not the request itself (this election year, and given McCain's recent decisions, it wouldn't surprise me that much) but the fact that the letter appears to be asking for up to $5,000.

Now, if you're really going to ask a country the size and economic strength of Russia to help fund your campaign would you really 1) send "proof" of your request by letter that was personally signed? and 2) only ask for $5,000? Sounds pretty fishy to me. Read the excerpt from the article below and then vote in the poll - Do you believe John McCain requested campaign financing from the Russian Ambassador to the U.N.?

UNITED NATIONS, October 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's permanent mission to the UN has received a letter from U.S. Republican presidential candidate John McCain asking for financial support of his election campaign, the mission said in a statement on Monday.

"We have received a letter from Senator John McCain with a request for a financial donation to his presidential election campaign. In this respect we have to reiterate that neither Russia's permanent mission to the UN nor the Russian government or its officials finance political activities in foreign countries," the statement said.

According to Ruslan Bakhtin, press secretary of the Russian mission, the letter dated September 29 and signed by McCain, was addressed to Vitaly Churkin, Russia's envoy...

Just when you thought it was safe to read a political news blog, or open an internet news page, you realize that not only has the Palin craze gotten beyond incedible, but that it has taken a turn never expected in the history of politics.

Yes, at long last, you too can find out what your name would have been, had you been lucky enough to be part of the Palin brood. Not to be taken lightly, this tell-all tool is something that will lend itself well if Palin wins her bid for the VP spot this November; one never knows when another Palin will be secretly announced a few days before arrival.

So for all the curious (and I know you wanna know) here would have been MY baby name, had they been so lucky to have been graced with my eagerness to please this October 3 (yes, you can send cards if you wish, but please no money, I'm getting kick-backs from John McCain already):

Hose Hotrod Palin

Hmm... not so dignified huh. Maybe I'm only destined for a Mayoral race.

Clearly if its good enough for McCain, it should be good enough for Obama right?