Well, the thought that the Daily Show will still have plenty of material for the next two years has been the one bright spot that's helped me accept the results of the election. Hopefully, both parties will pay more than lip service to the idea of working to bridge the gap between them.

If not, then this Modest Proposal may start to make more and more sense. I'm not sure if its funny because it is bleak or because its so crazy that it just might work.

If you're into maps, there are two maps of the election results that show we're not so red vs blue. Where all kind of purple inside by State or by County.

New Statesman - Hands off our gas!

The battle is not really over gas, but over who calls the shots in Bolivia. And remarkably, it is the mass-based organisations, representing indigenous and peasant populations, which are setting the political agenda. Next year a constituent assembly will draw up a new constitution to incorporate them in Bolivia's political institutions. This is revolutionary change, yet it remains, so far, constitutional, dem-ocratic and largely non-violent.

The fact that indigenous organizations are leading such change must be making the elite in power quite nervous. However, I wouldn't be so quick to rush to the conclusion that this is really solely a popular and democratic revolution. There are many indigenous leaders who can manipulate the masses for their own personal gain as well.

This is primarily for my father-in-law, a list of links to useful and free software for windows PCs:\

• Viewing PDFs: Adobe Acrobat Reader, the Download page
• Opening Compressed Zip Files: 7Zip

Jason Lefkowitz also has The Big List O' Quality Software and I've also recommended software before Behold the Flash Drive of Wonder.