Nightwing

How are you going to "rule" the United States? Odd term to use there. o.0 McCain talking about the strategy succeeding. Let's see how hard Obama can hit him on this...

How the hell does this CNN "Audience Reaction" thing supposed to work? And seriously, do we really need to see the a slight bump when McCain says "dividends"? And as someone who is just getting here, did I miss anything particularly important?

In all honesty, I thought Phyllis was going to quit after she called Wallace.

I'm predicting Anaheim to be the 8th seed. Their team is just looking less and less appealing. I think that the West is getting a bit top-heavy with a big rift between the tops and the lows, and you might see them as high as 6th (Where I have them in my prediction), depending on where Edmonton lands. But Minnesota is going to implode this year (They've done nothing but lose people), Colorado doesn't have the defense to support their goalies, and Nashville is just a sad case of bad luck.

1. Who will win the Hart Trophy? Nick Lidstrom. He's going to get at least one before his career ends, and this really feels like his year. 2. Who will win the Vezina Trophy? Henrik Lundqvist. He probably should have won it this year... 3. Who will win the Calder Trophy? Steven Stamkos. Mostly as a result of the Offensive Heaven he's going to be in in Tampa. 4. Who will win the Art Ross Trophy? Alexander Ovechkin, though I think Datsyuk will make a run on him this year with Hossa in the lineup. 5. Who will win the Richard Trophy? Ovechkin again. 6. What team had the best offseason? Chicago Blackhawks. They added crucial pieces and restored faith in their fanbase that they are actually here to win and not just collect money. 7. What team had the worst offseason? Vancouver Canucks. The nose-dive continues. 8. Which team will be the most improved over last year? Chicago Blackhawks. They're a much more complete team than they were before. 9. Which team will be the biggest disappointment? Anaheim Ducks. People talk about Detroit being old, but Anaheim is ossifying quicker and quicker. They beat out Minnesota, who looks like its about to crumble at any second. 10. What was the best offseason move? Hossa to Detroit. There really isn't anything that beats it. 11. What was the worst offseason move? Jeff Finger to Toronto. While others might be simply overpaid, this is just baffling. 12. Who will make the playoffs that didn't last year? Chicago, Edmonton, and my BOLD PREDICTION. The last order in the east will shift a bit, but I think it'll stay the same. 13. Who will not make the playoffs that did last year? Colorado, Nashville, and Minnesota. 14. Who would make your All-NHL first team? Alexander Ovechkin, Pavel Datsyuk, Sidney Crosby, Nicklas Lidstrom, Zdeno Chara, Roberto Luongo 15. Who will be the division winners? Detroit Red Wings, Dallas Stars, Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins, Washington Capitals, Montreal Canadiens 16. Eastern Conference Final: Montreal Canadiens vs. Philadelphia Flyers (Canadiens Win, 4-3) 17. Western Conference Final: Detroit Red Wings vs. Dallas Stars (Red Wings Win, 4-2) 18. Stanley Cup Final (and winner): Detroit Red Wings vs. Montreal Canadiens (Red Wings Win, 4-2) 19. Who will win the Conn Smythe Trophy? Pavel Datsyuk. I feel like this is going to be a career year for him. 20. Make one bold prediction. The Columbus Blue Jackets, on the back of Rick Nash, actually manage to make the playoffs. They make it to the second round before being eliminated by the Red Wings.

Since we are nearing the end of the second round so soon, I figured I should make this. Any awards talk, trades, Free Agent signings, speculation on Brunnstrom and Toronto's GM position goes here.

A reason to love Chris Osgood...

Holy shit. Seriously, I'm absolutely speechless. I can't believe Bill Jr would be the straw to break the camel's back. I still can't believe this.

I'm Bush Gator Palin. So many ways to take that...

Could someone upload the full runs of Mighty Avengers and New Avengers?

How is the "Coach Feedback" Thing? Does it actually give good advice and feel natural? Have you experienced any backlash yet? Any more you can tell us about "Be a Pro" mode would be appreciated.

Article claims it's a Detroit burb, and the suggestion is that a lot of the foreclosed are black. You know the area well? Yeah, I live just over its border in St. Clair County (Where former Minority Whip David Bonior used to be from). It's a Detroit 'burb, and there are certainly a black population (Mount Clemens springs to mind), but (if wikipedia is to be believed, and it certainly would confirm my own experience) it's only 5.6% black (I'd wager it's around 89-90% White). Oakland County (Which is the fourth richest in the country and used to be the second) has 5 times the black population. I don't understand this at all. Macomb County Voters are well-known enough to be known by the national media; these guys are the quintessential Reagan Democrats. Union men who have conservative values and likely members of the NRA. Right now they've been hard hit due to the Auto Companies getting nailed (Glad to know that both candidates are going to help that out after we've been fucking ignored by Bush for the last 8 years), so most of those foreclosures are going to be white. These guys are the guys who are going to swing Michigan for the Republicans if it is going to happen. This might mean that they are not nearly as secure in this county as they once were. I can't see any reason why they would do this.

Uh, isn't that what "Likely voter" polls are supposed to take into account? And depending on "New Voters" never works; if that were true, we'd have President Kerry today. While new voters might actually come out this year since Obama actually has appeal and charisma and isn't a "Shit, we really need a candidate this year!" like Kerry was, it seems like every year someone is talking about "new voters" pushing them to victory, and it doesn't happen. But didn't Obama already demonstrate the ability to bring new voters out in the primaries (where people vote in far lower percentages to begin with)? Not saying I necessarily agree with nocal, but yeah. Hey, Clinton had something to do with that, too. Having the most competitive and watched primary (Between a black man and a woman, no less) of all-time does help all that. While I have no doubt that Obama has interested more people, I'm not sure that isn't being shown in the polls, or that it will give him some sort of out-of-nowhere victory. Youth vote, new voters... again, it's not something I'll buy as a "deal breaker" on election day until it actually manages to happen. ... I'm fully prepared to eat my words, though. Wow, the Michigan Republican Party is a helluva lot stupider than I thought. It's not like they're doing it in Detroit or someplace where they might actually take away votes. Nope, they're doing it one of the counties where the Democrats will swing Republican. And it's not the rich, wealthy Republicans, it's the working class guys who are being foreclosed on. Jackasses.

I'd be a bit more optimistic than the last two debates. Those were horrid. And I won't vote for a soundbite (God help me, if I hear someone tell me about how Obama admitted that he was a Muslim or McCain stated that he knows nothing about the economy (Or the $5 Million Middle Class), I'll scream), but I do like to see the candidates be able to directly challenge each other a bit. Plus, debate time is late enough where I'll feel comfortable sticking to a candidate to vote for.

Uh, isn't that what "Likely voter" polls are supposed to take into account? And depending on "New Voters" never works; if that were true, we'd have President Kerry today. While new voters might actually come out this year since Obama actually has appeal and charisma and isn't a "Shit, we really need a candidate this year!" like Kerry was, it seems like every year someone is talking about "new voters" pushing them to victory, and it doesn't happen.

Well, this law is on the unknown, no matter what. But I do agree with your view, though all us Pro-Lifers aren't ridiculous religious nuts. Some of us are logical enough to realize you can't be Pro-Life and expect abstinence actually work, or that you can do away with abortion and then not fund the mothers who have these kids. At the very least, I'd rather see this on state ballots rather than in the Supreme Court, so we don't have to worry about "OMG HE'LL APPOINT PRO-LIFE/CHOICE JUSTICES!" It's like the only thing people seem to care about concerning the Supreme Court. But regardless... Is anyone waiting for the debates to decide? I personally am leaning towards Obama, but I'd like to hear them both go at it at the debates before making a final decision.

I disagree. I assume when you say "Built in cut-off", you're talking about , right? Well, that came out a month before the fillers started. I don't know how much communication there is between Kubo and the Anime team, but I doubt it's enough to change course of a planned arc within a month. Hell, they were right on his heels at that point. The anime attempted to give Kubo a year with the , and it's given four or five months after that with scattered fillers, and I'd wager that the anime, if it started today, could be caught up with him in maybe 5 or 6 months if they started back on new material now. It's not a matter of breaks. It's a matter of giving the anime actual material. I mean, throughout this time he hasn't been delivering an absolutely fantastic manga. Hell, the last arc is passable, maybe good if you want to be generous. But it dragged on forever. Let's compare to the Soul Society Arc. The Soul Society was almost double it, give or take. But characters were changing, the fights were faster, and the plot was moving along. At the very least, you could be excited for the next chapter. Heck, I could accuse Kubo of drawing out things to make more money, too. The fact of the matter is, he hasn't delivered anything truly great outside of the , and that wasn't too long. Kubo needs to actually move the damned plot along and stop indulging himself in overly-long and underwhelming fights and give the anime something that they can branch off of.

Apparently Zetterberg is God is not the biggest Zetterberg fan out there.

Or Kubo needs to learn how to manage his characters correctly. The whole arc was ruined by Kubo concentrating on one character or one "trick" (You know, the whole "I have unbeatable move X!" and by the end, that advantage is neutralized) per chapter. The anime gave him something like a year or so to put distance between him and the show, and he just wasted by drawing out every fight he could pack in, one at a time.

Glad that's definitively put to rest.

I'm not as concerned for the whole 17-year old deal, and I agree that will have a public backlash if people keep concentrating on it. It's not similar to Edwards; Edwards made the choice himself to cheat on his wife, while even good parents can't prevent stupid kids from having sex if they are truly determined to have it. Worse has happened. At the very least, there are so many more pertinent issues like corruption, inexperience, etc... I have to wonder what's going to happen to the Republican Party after this. They've basically been stripping McCain of all his good points to try and appease them for whatever reason, and now they basically forced him into one of the worst VP picks ever. I have to wonder if there isn't going to be a revolution against the Limbaugh contingent for continually trying to fuck up an election that somehow happens to remain close.

No one communicated with each other on that situation. 1) Dent did it as a tactic to try and reveal the Joker, hence all the cover and the SWAT guys. They took the obvious route so the Joker would be able to find them (which covers that plot hole) so they could nail him. 2) Gordon initially "killed" himself so he could operate without his family being in danger. The situation obviously offered a great opportunity, which is why he (secretly) became involved. 3) Batman definitely wasn't involved in it. Bruce was ready to reveal himself at that meeting, so he wasn't working with Dent. And, as noted, he was angry about Gordon's "death". The reason that he was there was, just as everyone had figured out, the Joker was almost definitely going to be there, and that he was going to make a move on Dent.

Selanne is back for the Ducks. With Burke over a barrel, I think someone might get a pretty good deal for Schneider. Have the Kings filled up that defensive veteran opening yet?

You have to be kidding. What Russia does abroad has a big influence on US Security and relations, especially when they are invading a country with the only non-Russian oil Pipeline out of the Caspian Sea. If they take that, they can completely starve Europe for oil whenever they want. That will affect us, even if it isn't directly. Talk to Czechoslovakia about that. And let's get one thing straight: Russia was always going to invade Georgia, simply for the reason I outlined above. Georgia aligning with NATO is the only thing stopping it from becoming a Russian province. NATO hasn't blundered into anything; rather, they forced Russia's hand well early because of their expansion East. Russia is in a miserable spot; they aren't going to be able to hold anything in Georgia for much longer, and they've sped up the Ukraine's membership bid as well as guaranteed a NATO presence in Georgia. It IS strengthening NATO, since most of the original NATO members are less and less likely to go to war, unlike places like Poland who are more than willing to send troops to places that NATO needs them. NATO also has helped strengthen struggling democracies like Lithuania and such (mostly because they don't have to worry about the threat of Russian absorption again). Your critique is pretty off-base on that. As a final note, Russia's "support" on issues like Iran and North Korea has always been up in the air, and would hardly be a guarantee if we just gave them Georgia. This idea of "Let them deal however they want with their former satellite states as long as they help out our initiatives" is stupid and wrong on a whole bunch of levels. Maybe, though context is really everything.