Hello, everybody, as we're getting closer and closer to Thanksgiving weekend.

First up...Washington is rocked by the latest scandal, and this time it isn't from the White House or Capitol Hill. CIA director David Petraeus resigned from his post last week in the wake of an extra-marital affair the FBI uncovered between him and his biographer Paula Broadwell, with salacious e-mail exchanges traced to June being the smoking gun. Marine Corps Gen. John Allen (absolutely no relation!) is also involved in this, as he has allegedly sent salacious e-mails to D.C. socialite and Petraeus family friend Jill Kelley, who has also received e-mails from Broadwell in May. And if things don't get interesting, we have a third man: Frederick Humphries, who according to sources, have sent shirtless photos of himself to Kelley.

On Friday, Petraeus in a closed-door hearing at the Capitol testified that al-Qaeda had something to do with the Benghazi, Libya attack in September. But back to the scandal for a moment: On a scale of Watergate to Lewinsky, I give it a Salahi (for those of you not in the know, they were the couple who were anonymously invited to a White House state dinner years ago behind security's back).

In about a week or so, we'll have the fifth and final round of Sexiest Woman of 2012. But in the meantime, "People" magazine this week named their Sexiest Man Alive for 2012: Channing Tatum, who drove female audiences wild  this year in "Magic Mike."

Now I know some of you ladies have mixed feelings about their decision, and there have been some worthy choices suggested like Gerard Butler, Chris Hemsworth, Justin Bieber, or even Robert Pattinson or Taylor Lautner. But there are also those from outside the box, like...

• Jimmy Kimmel (Adam Carolla told the Huffington Post that People should've looked at him because Adam looked at Kimmel naked some times)
• Justin Timberlake (who cares if he recently married Jessica Biel?)
• Austin Butler (Justin and Selena Gomez may be no more, but he still has Vanessa Hudgens!)
• Cristiano Ronaldo (he's like David Beckham minus the tattoos...and Victoria)
• CBS Evening News anchor Scott Pelley (He's more understandable and pleasing to watch than Brian Williams, even if he's #3 in the ratings)
• Any from "Dancing With The Stars" (with the exception of Len Goodman)
• Tom Bergeron (now there's a man who, unlike Mario Lopez on "The X Factor", knows how to ad-lib intelligently whenever things go wrong)
• Bruno Mars (okay, so he didn't make the cover spread, but his style and looks have won him some ardent gals)

So there you go. Oh, and by the way...the editors probably don't know who I am, which is why I got snubbed once again as well!

And last but not least...as we near the final month and a half of 2012, we have lost some greats that have held dear to our hearts; Dick Clark being the biggie. And right now, add Twinkie the Kid to the mix.

On Friday, Hostess Brands announced that they were ceasing operations effective immediately due to a Bakers Union strike and that they were going to sell off their assets, including their legendary snack cakes (Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Ho-Ho's, etc.) and Wonder Bread. As a result, 18,000 employees have already collected their last checks.

For generations like myself who gorged on these treats, this truly is the end of an era as supermarket shelves have been running dry of Hostess products, thinking this is it....or is it really? Since the news of Hostess' bankruptcy, some big companies have been named to pick up the remnants, including Kellogg's (which bought Pringle's from Procter & Gamble), Kraft Foods, ConAgra, Nestle, General Mills, and Unilever. So far...no takers.

I sure am going to miss the days of enjoying cream-filled bliss, though I wouldn't mind a Twinkie, Donette, or a Wonder Bread sandwich just one more time. So long and stay strong.

Hello, everybody. Well, another presidential election has come and gone, and our choice for the next four years was President Barack Obama, as he has defeated Mitt Romney for a second term in what was one of the tightest and heart-stopping battles I've ever seen. And on Saturday, he has also won Florida, as all 100% of the votes there were in. The final score (in electoral votes): Obama 332, Romney 206.

It was quite a see-saw battle, with Romney having the advantage winning much of the South (including Texas), the Dakotas, and the battleground North Carolina. But after polls closed in the Northeast (including Romney's home state of Massachusetts), parts of the Midwest (Iowa, Minnesota, and Illinois), and in the West (including Colorado, New Mexico, and California with its big 55 electoral votes), they were all Obama. It was all over the moment Ohio went into the President's inventory, and McCormick Place in Chicago went crazy. Okay, so it was a sharp contrast to Grant Park four years ago, but the volume of jubilation was the same.

Meanwhile in Boston, Romney had only a victory speech prepared in case of a last-minute Hail Mary by the voters, but ad-libbed his concession speech thanking wife Ann, Paul Ryan, and his supporters for a feasible 5 1/2 minutes. Shortly after that, it was Obama's turn to address the world on his second victory.

The Senate will remain under Democrat control, thanks to wins by Claire McCaskill (Missouri), Elizabeth Warren (Massachusetts, defeating incumbent Scott Brown), and Chris Murphy (Connecticut, defeating former WWE CEO Linda McMahon in her second chance); Republicans will still own the House. And in Colorado, they don't call themselves the Mile High State for nothing, as marijuana use has been legalized there.

About 67 million viewers watched it all unfold across various networks, though NBC was tops on the broadcast side and CNN having the #1 cable coverage. NBC had their usual cast of characters (Brian Williams, David Gregory, Chuck Todd, Tom Brokaw), ditto for CNN (Wolf Blitzer, Anderson Cooper, John King), and CBS (which I watched mostly) was headlined by Scott Pelley -- his first election night -- and Bob Schieffer.

And then, there was ABC, which probably stood for "Absolutely Buzzed Coverage" and for good reason: Diane Sawyer appeared to have stolen Tom Brokaw's Ambien and infused it into her Jack Daniels (she is from Kentucky, after all)! I mean, she became the Lindsay Lohan/Amanda Bynes of election night, with her alleged drunkenness burning up Twitter and even mispronouncing Obama's last name as "Orama-bama" one time. It's like watching Jessica Savitch and Anna Nicole Smith at the 2004 American Music Awards reincarnated into one!

Now, Diane's Twitter bio says that she likes her drinks caffeinated. I guess she had to make two quick runs to Starbucks and then the liquor store before hitting the air. Okay, seriously...it was sleep deprivation that made her seem a little off, and ABC wasn't saying anything either. And now that he and Selena Gomez are (finally) no more, let's not hope next time, Diane pulls a Pat O'Brien by leaving X-rated voicemails to Justin Bieber behind husband Mike Nichols' back.

So in the end, it was an election that was out of the ordinary. Romney did everything he could to earn four years, but President Obama with the help of the same tactics (as well as a slew of celebrity support, fueled by Eva Longoria as one of the campaign's national co-chairs) earned four more, vowing to continue to shape America for the better even if unemployment rates are still up and down all over the board. As for Mitt Romney, he is moving forward alright...into obscurity.

We are also moving forward as well...to the holiday shopping season. And one person who's so ready is Oprah Winfrey, as her "Favorite Things" is back after a one-year hiatus with a special on OWN November 18 with military spouses having no idea they were in for the treat of their lives.

On this year's list: A Jetson E-Bike, Julep nail polish set, the new Microsoft Surface tablet (powered by the new Windows 8), the Dyson Pedestal Fan, the Bose VideoWave II (at $5,000, the Cadillac of home theater systems/HDTVs), Beats by Dr. Dre Powerbeats earphones, gourmet pigs in blankets from Brooklyn Piggies, blue velvet cakes from Carousel Cakes, a month's supply of Dark Secret chocolates, tequilas from Cara Dragones and Milago that will be the hit at a certain news anchor's holiday party, and...truffle butter, truffle sausage, truffle oils, truffle pastas, and goat cheese with -- you guessed it -- black truffle! Maybe this "60 Minutes" piece on truffles must've gave Oprah some gift ideas.

But before you start maxing out your cards in advance, we still have Ellen DeGeneres and her "12 Days of Giveaways", which will be in December. I expect to be the Microsoft Surface, the iPad Mini, and the new Nintendo Wii U to be featured.

And last but not least...George Lucas' Lucasfilm studio, the home of Star Wars and Indiana Jones, was recently acquired by The Walt Disney Company for $4.05 billion. Now in light of this news...the Angry Birds are at it again!

Yes, the Pac-Man of smartphone/tablet games has come out with a "Star Wars" edition, and if you're like me, we have had enough of the Angry Birds craze with merchandise (toys, calendars, clothing, the whole nine yards) and even the spinoff game Bad Piggies. And why is that? Unlike other popular games like Where's My Water? (also by Disney) and Infinity Blade, they're not universal apps (i.e., made for iPhone and iPad).

Another is that with the fifth generation iPhones/iPod Touches and the latest iPad out, TV-based apps like GetGlue, IntoNow, and Zeebox are becoming more popular; I'm sure they were all used a whole lot during election coverage.

There will be some time before Angry Birds-mania is fizzled out. For now though, we can still enjoy sling-shooting those birds to our hearts' content...unless if we see a knockoff called "Angry Diane Sawyers" (okay, I'll stop)! So long and stay strong.

It's all over but the voting!

Hello, everybody.

Tomorrow...it all ends.

In less than 24 hours and change, the 57th Presidential election between incumbent Barack Obama and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney will be over but the celebration on either side, and both candidates have been in the final mad dashes of their lives. Obama wants to earn an additional four years' paid rent at the White House, but Romney has been doing his damnedest to give the president the eviction notice.

For the last month, Obama and Romney have been in a see-saw-battle in numerous polls, though Mitt got a much deserved boost after the first debate. The economy is once again the main factor, with rising energy costs that have cost Fairbanks two longtime family-owned businesses this year: Hope Hallmark and Somethin' Special, though Pier 1 Imports have recently returned after nearly 30 years.

In the first four years, Obama has accomplished a lot of things, including complete withdrawal of our troops from Iraq with Afghanistan next, signing the Affordable Health Care Act, saving the U.S. auto industry from extinction, and of course, the permanent end of Osama bin Laden's reign of terror. Romney, on the other hand? His Bain Capital put legendary typewriter maker Smith Corona out of a business, but we can give you this: He help bring the 2002 Winter Olympics to Salt Lake City.

But there's more than just the highest office in the land that's at stake. The entire House (all 435 seats) is up for grabs, plus 33 Senate seats (including former WWE CEO Linda McMahon's second chance in Connecticut), 11 gubernatorial races, and hundreds of local and state races and issues to be decided all over the country. Among them are ballot measures ranging from marijuana legalization in battleground Colorado to even mandatory labeling of genetically modified foods in California.

In the end, it'll be either Obama or Romney with the X Factor. The forecast may call for Romney to win the popular vote, but the electoral vote is the only thing that matters. And with the help of early voting and grassroots campaigns in the crucial make-it-or-break-it states like Virginia, Ohio, and Florida, Obama may be reaching the 270 mark yet again, but not by much as compared to 2008.

So...after all the months of drama with Big Bird this and "Don't boo; vote!" that, the final chapter of this heated presidential election will be written in voting booths everywhere tomorrow. Because after all...it's your choice. So long and stay strong.