Those who expect a television counterpart to Air America when they flip over to Al Gore’s Current TV will be really disappointed.

But the network may, in the long run, surprise on the upside.

Current, and their excellent website give one the distinct vibe of MTV in the early days.

And let’s be realistic: Today’s version of youth entertainment is little more than yesterday’s version of soft porn – which is exactly why forty year old men are a lot more excited about MTV than 12 year olds who, in their days of unscrambled access to a constant flow of sexuality, have been desensitized to the occasional shaking ass.

Current TV is youth entertainment without the constant effort at sexual titillation. And in this day and age, that’s groundbreaking.

It’s not perfect, that’s for sure. But it is interesting and it has been improving since the first day when a new father shared the inside of a full diaper with an unsuspecting audience.

Most important, it has a feel. It’s the feel of something that could be pretty damn big. And you can quote me on that in a decade or so.

While many of us cool kids are busy talking about the wonders of Web 2.0 (and rightly so), it probably pays to ask this question:

Why are so many massive companies still unable to get out of beta when it comes to Web 1.0?

I tried to buy some of those delightful, wrinkle-free khakis from BrooksBrothers.com the other day. No go. First the site was temporarily down – ever wonder why they can’t tell you they’re down before you enter all of your details and go through the order tunnel. And besides, it’s the web and you’re a big brand. You’re not allowed to be down.

So I tried again. It worked this time. Sort of. I got a message that the site was unable to confirm my sale but that someone would email me once things were back online.

Did they? Nope.

How can they figure out the nano-tech required for wrinkle-free pants but not be able to master an online shopping cart?

So at least, I thought, if pants are out of the question, I should at least be able to score some Nordstrom underwear. After all, there is a product that, for me, is really what ecommerce is all about.

I only wear Nordtrom underpants (and only inside-out while we’re on the topic). That means a special trip just for underwear. But not in 2005, right?

Well, I went through the order tunnel at Nordstrom.com only to find that they only had two packs of white underwear in my size.

Two packs?

I often go through two packs of underwear during the authoring of a single blog post.

Hey, I’m no logistical expert, but even Apple wouldn’t run out of underwear when there was sufficient demand in the marketplace.

All of this is simply to say that the ecommerce experience really hasn’t improved much when it comes to a lot of major stores.

Remember how sure we all were that Bezos had to get profitable quickly before he was eaten alive by the dinosaurs coming online?

Well it’s ten years later, folks, and I just got back home from buying underwear (speaking of which, this was a long post, I likely need a costume change).

Republican Senator Chuck Hagel on talking to and about Iran:

You’ve got a new president, a new opportunity to do something bold here. Why not take that opportunity and do something bold? Iran is going to be a major influence in the future of Iraq. It already is. Who are we kidding when we think that they’re not? They are.

I would start engaging with American face-to-face dialogue. We’re not at negotiations yet, but opening that dialogue. This is a process. This needs to work. Every side has to give something here.

Uh, yeah.

If you haven’t already, try to see the Comedy Central Roast of Pam Anderson.

Even though Comedy Central sort of ripped off the Friar’s Club on this format (down to the roasters, so maybe it’s a co-production?), the show really does represent the best (her shirt) and the worst (Courtney Love and Tommy Lee orating) of what this world has to offer … Along with some pretty good jokes and Bea Arthur reading from Pam’s novel.

W has booked a reservation to take a bike ride with Lance Armstrong.

Come on. When you take the access to really big weapons and the full time cooking staff and the private movie theater out of the equation, this is what being president is all about.

It’s like you get to be Tom Cruise without the crazy.

Former Colin Powell chief of staff Lawrence Wilkerson reflects on the Powell UN speech and describes it as the lowest point in his life.

I wish I had not been involved in it. I look back on it, and I still say it was the lowest point in my life … (Powell) came through the door … and he had in his hands a sheaf of papers, and he said, “This is what I’ve got to present at the United Nations according to the White House, and you need to look at it.” It was anything but an intelligence document. It was, as some people characterized it later, sort of a Chinese menu from which you could pick and choose.

If this was the lowest point in his life, what was the next lowest? Waiting a few years to share that sensation with the rest of us?