Bush taps former NYC Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik to be the new Czar of Homeland Security. He took care of business during and after 9/11 and went to Iraq to train the Iraqi police force. Not a job for the timid as they seem to get blown up quite a bit.

So, despite being a Republican, he seems like an excellent choice. Maybe he will be more interesting than Tom Ridge. Hopefully more effective too.

And, the Canadian iTunes music store is now officially open, eh? Sorry, my wife has relatives from Canada so I can make fun of them. They are funny after all. However, I really do like some things about Canada. . . Give me a minute . . . Well, moving on . . .

Also, Microsoft launched their new blogging service called MSN Spaces. Unfortunately, it has a few drawbacks. Among them is the fact that some words are censored by the site, including words on the famous Seven Dirty Words list. Also, a few random other words or phrases that don’t necessarily have a logic to them.

The worst part though it that everything you post there is owned by Microsoft, as evidenced by this terms of use statement:

“For materials you post or otherwise provide to Microsoft related to the MSN Web Sites (a “Submission”), you grant Microsoft permission to (1) use, copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, modify, translate and reformat your Submission, each in connection with the MSN Web Sites, and (2) sublicense these rights, to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law. Microsoft will not pay you for your Submission.”

I think I’ll stick to Typepad where I can use words like dick, fuck, shit and asshole and own what I write.

Dammit!