Hello, everybody. It has become a "Week of Weeks", where everything has went by so much it's best to break them down one by one.

First up...the third and final presidential debate on Monday, where Bob Schieffer grilled President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney on foreign policy. And then after that, with two weeks to go came the all-out final campaign push as early voting has started in several more states including Alaska (our three electoral votes won't mean diddly squat as it'll go to Romney anyway). Obama campaigned for 48 hours straight in his America Forward! Tour targeting Colorado, Florida, Virginia, and Ohio; those four states will no doubt decide the presidency. In between, he made a pit stop at "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and then cast his early vote ballot in Chicago.

Romney also hit the key states himself, and several polls show him either trailing behind Obama or gaining above. And now comes what was Donald Trump's "bombshell" announcement that if the president releases his college transcripts and passport applications, Trump promises to give $5 million to Obama's charity of his choice.

Well...we don't buy it, and so isn't Barbara Walters, who said openly to Trump that he is making a fool of himself and urges him to, in the words of Mike Ditka, "Stop it!" Meanwhile, major newspapers such as the Washington Post and the New York Times have ramped up their endorsements for Obama; Romney has yet to get one. With the debates already over and not a single day to lose till November 6, it's all or nothing as we could be headed for a race that will be tighter than, to paraphrase Dan Rather one time, the rusted bolts on a 1969 Plymouth. There is the off chance that Romney will win the popular vote, but it's all about the electoral votes that really matter: 270, and Obama may be expected to reach that number once again. But you may never know, because in elections like these, there are no guarantees; someone will victor, and someone will be vanquished.

Halloween may be next Wednesday, but already, retailers have started running the first commercials for the upcoming holiday shopping season. And on Tuesday, we got a head start on what will be on gift lists everywhere as Apple introduced the iPad Mini. This compact-size version of the world's #1 tablet comes in light of heavy competition with Amazon's new Kindle Fire HD and Samsung's Galaxy Note, and it will have the exact same features as its big brother. Pricing starts at $329 and is expected to be quite the ultimate stocking stuffer this year.

And last but not least...there was also Taylor Swift's new album "Red" dropping on Tuesday as well, but we here in Fairbanks closed off the week with Jerry Seinfeld performing to a packed Carlson Center Friday night; I was right there on the front row. And he was not alone, as Mario Joyner (who some of you may know from MTV's "1/2 Hour Comedy Hour") preceded him.

The master of his own comedy domain  -- even if he sounded hoarse -- had us in hysterics for a good hour or so, much like his hit show which continues to play in reruns around the world. He riffed on almost everything including 5-Hour Energy, smartphones, OnStar (sorry, he didn't touch Siri), drug ads filtrating the airwaves, and even social media like Twitter and Facebook. One joke that was already embedded into my brain: "If you want five hours of energy, go to sleep!"

I told you before that Seinfeld was a huge make-up for missing out on Elton John, though unlike him, it wasn't literally a sell-out as tickets continued to be available right up until showtime, with an almost capacity crowd a few minutes after 7:30. As for notable figures in attendance? I spotted my good friend Glen "Glenner" Anderson; not sure if Jerry Evans was there as well.

All in all, 13 years after I was humorously traumatized, Jerry Seinfeld was the sure antidote even if he didn't resort to crude language. And now that we've finally got an A-list comedian here, all I got to say is...BRING ON RAY ROMANO (hey, he had a hit TV show, too)!!!! So long and stay strong.

Hello, everybody. Well, the first Presidential debate between incumbent Barack Obama and Mitt Romney was the only thing that headlined this week's news. And oh, man, did Romney give Obama a lynching or what?

Or...despite all of the congratulatory "Romney deserves this debate fair and square" babble from the lamestream media, was it really the other way around? Okay, so the president (and on the 20th anniversary of wedded bliss with Michelle, nonetheless) wasn't really at his best while Romney shook off the cobwebs stemming from that hidden camera video released the other week and his "47 percent" complaint.

Now I know a lot of you have been X-raying the facts during the debate, though Jim Lehrer's head should've been X-rayed as well. He has been moderating these debates since 1988 (when the just established Commission on Presidential Debates took over from the League of Women Voters) and you could tell he was getting sick and tired. Obama and Romney talked and talked while Lehrer did his best to do what those NFL replacement refs couldn't: Keep things under control. Wish they got Bernard Shaw out of retirement instead.

But who was the real winner? Has to be PBS, thanks to Romney saying that as President, he will eliminate funding for it. That remark has made one certain "Sesame Street" character flapping his wings in anger: Big Bird! 

Sesame Workshop in response said that as the non-profit organization also behind "The Electric Company", "3-2-1 Contact", "Square One TV", and "Ghostwriter", they receive very minimal funding from PBS and that"We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization. We do not comment on campaigns, but we’re happy we can all agree that everyone likes Big Bird!"

PBS themselves went on the defensive: "The federal investment in public broadcasting equals about one one-hundredth of one percent of the federal budget. Elimination of funding would have virtually no impact on the nation’s debt." 

Like most of you, I grew up with PBS, even if their "Downton Abbey" won only one measly Emmy this year. How are we going to live without "Nova", "Antiques Roadshow", "Austin City Limits", "Arthur", "Nature", "PBS Newshour", or even Bob Ross (though he's been dead for dozens of years)? We don't want to be stuck with Honey Boo Boo as one of the new alternatives; the only ones that can help prevent Romney getting his grubby hands on PBS are, you guessed it...viewers like you! (Thank you.)

Anyway...Obama's wounds from debate #1 were quickly healed with his approval rating up to 54%, the highest in three years. That would be followed by the unemployment rate now at 7.8%, the lowest since he took office. Heh, so much for Romney's claims about 23 million out of a job when it's actually 12.5 million.

He may have had his butt handed to Romney on Wednesday, but come the second debate on October 16, Obama will come out swinging like never before. But before that, we have Joe Biden vs. Paul Ryan in the one and only Vice Presidential showdown this Thursday. With virtually one month to go now and early voting already underway in several states including the make-or-break Ohio, something's got to give. And in debates like these, the only thing that would aid you to either an additional four years' paid rent at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue or an unfortunate upset by the man who vows to end PBS as we know it is not a teleprompter, but your brain. So long and stay strong.