jesse_ewiak

So, I'd like to come to chat, but everytime I try, I get this lovely message. Connecting to irc.phazenet.com Firewall: Closed Connection Any ideas folks? I double checked my anti-Virus and the blocking of mIRC is stopped, and the only thing I can think of is that the University firewall is blocking things. Any ideas on how to get around it?

Short answer. It's beaucratic, slow, and has many, many problems. However, compared to Europe, our immigration system isn't so bad. After all, look at what the European model is. "Guest workers" who never truly become citizens, and are radicalized by living as second class citizens where they may be second and third generation living in that country. The worse thing a mass grouping of "illegal" immigrants has done is march in LA and wave some Mexican flags. A lot worse could have happened - after all, no cars were burned in the march. :-)

Smarks Board Name: jesse_ewiak Wrestlers Name: David Cross Height: 6' 5" Weight: 269 lb. Hometown: Oil City, PA Age: 27 Face/Heel: Face Stable: N/A Ring Escort: N/A Weapon(s): nada Quote: Looks: GENERAL: Cross is a decent enough looking guy with shoulder length black hair and dark green eyes. He's ruggedly handsome, with a very good physique, not that Cross is really looking to attract the ladies. Long scar above his right eye, cause unknow. Also, small tatoo of a 'cross in the heart' with 'Joan' on his right arm in tribute to his mother. ATTIRE: Wears blue jeans, plain white t-shirt along with a small cross around his neck. Completes the ensamble with a well worn leather jacket. NOTE: Cross and jacket given to him by now deceased parents. Not responsible for death or dismemberent if you steal 'em. Ring Entrance: The lights go dim and a slight strobe effect begins as the crowd buzzes a bit. “...he stands six foot five inches tall and weighs in at 269 pounds! Originally from Oil City, Pennsylvania, he now resides in Salem, Oregon! Please welcome back to the SWF a former tag team champion...DAAAAAAVID CROSS~!” #DESTROY# 'S*kt It Up' by (hed) PE screams over the PA as the crowd cheers for the returning former 'Fallen Angel.' As the song continues, Cross walks out on an SWF ramp for the first time in over a year to a big pop as he raises his black-gloved fist to the air as he comes to the ring. Cross looks much the same as he did when he last came was in the SWF. Same leather jacket, same black hair, same five o'clock shadow, and the same cross around his neck. He slaps a few hands as he comes down to the ring and rolls in the ring and raises his arms to another loud pop as he begins his pre-match ritual. Stats: ¯¯¯¯¯ Strength: 6 [suprisingly strong, can suplex 350 pounders easy] Speed: 3 [Agile and quick reacting, but not too fleet once in the air.] Vitality: 7 [Extensive training and just pure stubborness leaves him with a 2nd and 3rd wind] Charisma: 4 [Good enough in one on one conversation, but not that great at getting 20,000 to support him through words instead of actions.] Style: A powerhouse Angle-lite suplex/takedown artist with a bit of martial arts training in his past. Generally likes a build of chain wrestling escalating to suplexes and his finishers on opponents. About as good a flier as The Undertaker on a bad day, but if pissed, can brawl from here to Yemen and back. Doesn't cheat, but will used a cheater's weapons against him (ie. Big Boot into chair opponent is holding.) Signature moves: In order they're most often used EVERY MATCH Yazuka Kick - Can be finisher if hit at the right moment, comes out of nowhere Short Arm Lariato- Pulls opponent right into his arm stiffly. Spinebuster - Arn Anderson style - main transistion move. Choke Slam - Quick and hard, no holding people up for 30 seconds. Brainbuster - Regular or Top Rope kids... Explodah~ Half Nelson Suplex Snap Powerslam - Cross & his opponent go off their feet and come crashing to the mat in a nasty way Powerbomb into a STF - Kick to the gut -> High Knee -> Crescent Kick combo DA POUNCE~ - Yes, the pounce. Hey, it works. NO HANDS PLANCHA OF DOOM~ - Pulled out as an absolute last ditch desperation move Common moves: Forearms and kicks Basic Amateur Takedowns Big Boot DDT's, all creeds and colors Bellly-to-Belly ; overhead and regular Gutwrench Suplex Lariat German Suplex La Majistral - Surprise move Fisherman's Suplex Top Rope Clotesline Spear Jumping Bulldog Finisher(s): Cross to Bear - Death Valley Driver position into Brainbuster. Kills cruisers dead. Infinite Justice - Double-choke Sitdown Powerbomb - Kills most people dead. Very, very Rare Finishers (as in ask me first): Black Mass: Goes into a quick powerbomb, but when the opponent is in the 'rana position drops and hits a pitch-perfect spinebuster. Very stiff, and his usual finish for anyone 300 lbs. or under. 'Holy Trinity': Usually called just The Trinity Sequence, it's German, then a Dragon, then a Straightjacket suplex. Notes: Cross knows martial arts...but not a lot. Generally just enough to give hus kicks some more power and helps his agility a bit. Also has built a little more of a ground game than before. Will easily get outclassed by actual wrestlers with technical skills, but can surprise pure brawlers or fliers who are on the same level technically. Bio: David Cross was born David Tadwell on a small farm in a rural area of northwestern Pennsylvania called Corry. He had a simple, rural life. Fishin' on the stream, playing with buddies on the next farm, helping his Mom & Dad on the farm, going to school & church, all that. All that changed when David was twelve, when his parents got in a car wreck. His Aunt took him in, but David was never the same. He became more insular and introverted. Even as he hit his growth spurt and played Defensive Line for the local high school team, he wasn't the typical 'jock.' He'd be more likely to have his nose in a book, or watching TV, than going to a party. That helped when he graduated. Usually, a country boy from the middle of nowhere wouldn't get into a top-flight university, but a 3.7 GPA, a 1270 on his SAT's, plus being 8th all time on the state sack record gave him a full ride to Florida State. But, the good times wouldn't last for long... In his second game, David's knee gave out. Simple freak accident. But his football career was done for. In a heavy depression, he sought out a new career. That's when promoter Frank Gray comes in. Gray was running a small Florida indy, CCW. David went to a show, was noticed by the wrestlers, and after hearing his story, Frank began training him. After nearly a year of training at the Gray Training School in Satellite Beach, Florida, he began his wrestling career. He chose the name David Cross as a tribrute to a cross his Mom gave him when he was seven. In the SWF, Cross had a decent run in the Summer & Fall of '03 with the SJL, then came back in '04 in the actual SWF and had a tag title run and a boiling feud with Sean Davis over their shared past. However, David left due to a contract dispute and Sean Davis getting injured. Now, Cross has come back but to what ends?

What the articles that have been posted lack is context. From what I've read and looked up, "The Shire," the area of Sydney to which Cronulla belongs, is the most racially homogenous, conservative and..well, slightly backward upper middle class area in Sydney. A place where a mxed race couple is still a bit of an oddity. I'm not saying anyone is innocent here. Like any ethnic group, there are unsavoury elements in the Lebanese community I'm guessing, but I'm also betting Whitey is still #1 on the arrest lists. The problem is that with many of the young and foolish in the Shire being of a somewhat xenophobic bent to start with, they were more likely to take offense at the macho tribal behaviour of Lebanese blokes on their local beach (making crass comments about girls, antagonising equally boneheaded white local boys, and so on). This, combined with it look likes the media beating up of a largely harmless brawl between "men of middle eastern apprearance" and some local boys the week before, led to a "show of solidarity" by locals at Cronulla beach, which, fuelled by beer, a mob mentality, and outright stupidity, resulted in the bashings of several people of middle eastern appearance by large mobs of racist drunk morons. The Lebanese retaliation was only to be expected; it would not me remiss to say that they are a combative people. The extremes to which they went in revenge is perhaps above and beyond what other ethnic minorities in Sydney may have been capable of, but you certainly can't say that their rage was unjustified. I gave an example of a lone guy getting bashed by many, but there have been far worse images in the media from what I've seen in the last couple of days over here. There were images of a VISIBLY PREGNANT woman of middle eastern appearance being chased by a mob. I don't care how unacceptable you consider the behaviour of Lebanese men on your beloved local beach to have been. When a pack of you are chasing a visibly pregnant woman because of her ethnicity, you deserve to be fucked to death by an angry elephant. Would seeing something like that make me want to break a few windows if I was Lebanese? You bet it would. The real problems stemming from these incidents are worse than a few bruised idiots of either race and some vandalised cars. The problem is that the emphatic Lebanese response to the racist bashings will polarise those Australians who were sitting on the fence between racial tolerance and xenophobia, and this will make life tougher for the majority of the muslim community who have done nothing wrong in the past week. The other problem is that the rest of multicultural, racially tolerant Sydney has been hugely embarrassed by the actions of a few hundred Shire residents, and this will make life tougher for Cronulla locals who condemn the actions of their racist neighbours, but will be looked down upon by other Sydneysiders for years to come. All in all, as usual with stuff like this, a truly fucked up situation.

The thing is, looking at the current roster, who would the Philly fanbase crap on? Let's just go over a few names. Faces: Dudleys/Raven/Sabu/Rhino - ECW Legends - Couldn't get booed if they raped the corpse of a twelve-year-old in-ring Monty Brown - Who doesn't love Monty Brown? C'mon, who can boo a large black man killing people? Jeff Hardy - This is the only trouble spot I can really see. If he's motivated though... Naturals - Might get Dynamic Dudes heat. On the other hand, hot match w/ AMW or Team Canada - who knows. Ron Killings - Um, it's the Internet fans who want Killings pushed more. Konnan - Goofy charisma. The shoe thing should be in no way over. B.G. James - Eh, again goofy chairsma. Lance Hoyt - OK, he might get crapped on. Heels: Jeff Jarrett - A 'Fuck Jarrett' chant would be music to his ears. He's the lead heel, the whole point is for the crowd to hate him - and the Philly crowd will. Just make sure he's not in the main so they won't leave before his match. AMW - Supertalented so even though they might start out ehh, they'll still get over. Kip James - Eh, maybe two years ago he'd get slaughtered in front of a Philly crowd, but he's been not unwatchable in TNA. Abyss - Yes, weird scary men using weapons to main and destroy never get over in Philly. Team Canada - X-Division types X-Division: A.J. Styles Christopher Daniels Samoa Joe Austin Aries Elix Skipper Petey Williams Alex Shelley Chris Sabin Sonjay Dutt Matt Bentley Roderick Strong Shark Boy Shocker Um, do I really have to go over why none of these people will have any problems getting over in Philly? Hell, Shark Boy might get the loudest pop on the show.

Wait, I thought MikeinSC said it was going to be a horrible failure?

If they're all terrorist or terrorist supporters, then why has the government released numerous detainees? Obviously, we should've shot those people in the head too, ignoring the fact they obviously weren't guilty enough to need further detainment. Also, good job going to war in Iraq to get rid of terrorism has done, considering it's gone up every year since the war started. Bravo. Great job.

Just call me 'Mr. October'... Contact Hitting - 6 Power Hitting - 7 Strike Zone Judgment - 5 Defense - 2

Er, Mike, Roemer wasn't turfed out because he was pro-life. He was turfed out, because he was a member of a right-wing think tank. After all, Harry Reid is the bleepin' Minority Leader. So, as far as that goes, call me when Arlen Specter becomes the leader of the GOP, then we can talk about it. Not that it matters, as far as the Democrats should be concerned, if Repubs say we're making a mistake, we're on the right track. If Repubs say we're being reasonable, we're making a mistake.

Let me get this straight... So apparently, a CNN news executive, at worst repeats something false at a conference, none of which was recorded, was aired, or was printed on any site. So at worst, Jordan was a victim of the Right's new speech code for playing to the audience with a lie. More likely, the CNN guy exaggerated. This is what is such s huge "scandal". Ironic, but the Right has become the new champions of Political Correctness. So, um, the GOP guy was a fake reporter who got White House press credentials with a fake name to lob softballs at Bush and McClellan, registered website names dealing with gay prostitution while writing stories advancing the Right's anti-gay agenda, and when he cowardly quit, purged all his stories from the sites in which they lived. I mean, let's just say for example, if some guy with alleged ties to male prostitution were given unprecendented access to the White House, and given a White House press pass that didn't even have his real name on it, in order to throw fake softball questions at the press briefings to help make the president look good. Now imagine that president were named Bill Clinton. Now imagine what would happen next? * Congressional hearings in the House and Senate. * Demands for a Justice Dept. investigation - how did this man get past security, who let him in, what were his ties to these male prostitute URLs, and who else on the White House staff may have done something? * Demands for a slew of firings of White House staff. * Never-ending questions about Hooker-gate directed to the White House staff and the president from the Washington media. * And non-stop 24-hour coverage on CNN and FOX.

December 26, 2004 11:00 PM Somewhere between Tucson and Nowhere I can hear his steps, feel his breath before he's even aware I'm there. Sure, it's a full bar and the place isn't exactly a place for you local yuppie to hang out, but I expected something more. "David?" he asks, a moment later. So, he still has it in him. "In the flesh. What's the deal meeting in this middle of nowhere honkytonk?" "Well, you look like a biker, I just look like an old bastard, we fit right in." Well, he's right about the second part, even though he was an old bastard probably he was twenty three. Men like him always are. "So, are we going to sit down, or stand up like idiots for the rest of the night?" Ah, gotta love the direct approach. "Lead the way. You know this place better than me." We weave our way through the drunks, meth freaks, George Jones fans, and future prison muscle. All sizing us up, then backing down when they see the look in our eyes. Well, more him than me. They realize I may look the brawn, but the skinny short haggard looking guy in the bomber jacket is the one they need to worry about. We find a darkened corner booth, and we have a couple of drinks immediately. "They know you here?" I ask, already knowing the answer before it leaves my lips. "I've been here a time or two." "Now that we're situated, why the subterfuge? Ya' know where I was, and could've been in my house even if I locked it tight." "Easy...you're not completly safe." I shoot him a look. "You pissed off some major people in Miami, son. Especially when you mailed back the pieces, but not all of them." I shrugged. Evil fucks don't get a good ending a large portion of the time. I was just speeding up the process that was going to happen when they told their boss they lost the package. "Oh, don't get me wrong. They could care less about the foot soliders you turned into shark chum. The problem is, you made it public...at least in the underground. Hernandez doesn't like it when the whisper stream picks up not only did he lose a girl he picked up personally, but one lone guy took care of four of his top soliders. Remember, to men like that, people are expendable. Respect isn't." I've heard this before. Moscow, Bucharest, a small town in the middle of Cambodia. A long four year, that seemed to be pure night. He warned me then too. "I could be cleared out of that place in fifteen minutes. It's under one of my twelve false names, and they don't know my face really. They'll never find me again...unless I want to be found." Let 'em find me. See if that ends well for them. "I know that look, son. Regardless of what you think, you're not invincible. Sooner or later, you'll screw up. It happens to everyone, hell, it happened to me." "I'm done though. Look, what I did was a favor to an old friend who did a lot for me when I was at my rock bottom. I'm done otherwise. Next week, I've got a meeting with Pleh in the SWF to rework my contract." "I've never seen what you see in that glorified soap opera." "A little exercise, a little justice, little revenge, and some old memories." "Them?" "Yeah. I was beginning things before. Now, it's time to move on to the next phase." "You sure about this?" "No, but it is what has to happen. You never did say why we're here?" At that, he simply got out a small envelope, and slid it over to me. I knew from the bulge, and the plain wrapping what it was. "I told him that I didn't need -" "I'm just the messenger, son. Drop it off on a collection plate if ya' feel that guilty about it." As soon as his last words were spoken, he was gone. I'll probably see him again, when I least expect it. The Colonel was always like that. TWO HOURS LATER Moonlight is a great thing in the desert. It's an odd thought as you begin the next phase of a plan to destroy a life, but I was never normal. I pull out my phone, and dial the numbers. "Rashelle?" A slight pause before she recgonizes me. "Yeah, it's that David. Look, I've heard some things you've been thinking about doing...." She thinks it's an old friend from college who she ran into years later. I wonder...has she told him who I _really_ am yet? We shall see. The blacktop is wide open as I look across the horizon. New year is coming, and some old scores will be settled.

I hate techno music. Not because I think it's terrible music or I have some sort of weird predjuice against those who preform it, but for one simple reason...it means if I hear it, I'm stuck in a club. A club, where I'm mostly likely not there for the reasons most people are there. I don't drink, don't use drugs, and don't have the time to hook up with anybody when I'm there. Of course, when you've just left a wrestling federation on a eight-week leave of absence and only told a temp as you walked out the door of the arena, a good reason is always helpful. Well, the good reason's name is Allison and she's the reason I'm here. Not because I know her, or even have talked with her before, but there's this weird honor thing I have going on. Gets me into all sorts of trouble. Like, walking out of your job because an old friend calls you up and tells you his sixteen year old neice has gone missing. So who does he call? No, not the police or FBI because the sick fucks who did this already threatened him, so he gets a hold of me. How do we know each other? Let's just say it was a while ago, when I still thought I could make a _real_ difference. That of course is done now, but I could never turn down a true friend. Well that, and I was in the area anyway. Miami, Florida. South Beach. Lil' Havana. All the fun of a banana republic with the added bonus of corrupt police. I've been traveling idiot #1 and idiot #2 over in the corner there in the really overpriced suits and slicked back hair thinking their in The Sopranos or something. Idiot #3 is by the bathroom door, his gun just about showing, not that it matters. After all, this place looks D.C. look clean. Speaking of which... "Hey pal, are you going to nurse that drink all night or going to actually buy something else?" God, how I hate bartenders. I hand him a fifty, and tell him not to bother me for the rest of the night. I check the scene again, only three obvious goombahs, which is pretty light when you've got a kidnapped teenaged girl at a dance club, where there's only seventy six girls who look the same. Not that I mind them making this easier. As Doorwatcher attempts to chat up a brunette who's fifteen if shes a day, I begin to make my commotion. Heading for the wannabee gangsta dealer, I begin Operation Save Girl and Screw With a Dealer in The Process. "Hey man, what you want?" says the white kid as he pulls out something from his pocket. He never sees my left foot swinging around and hitting his temple, knocking him down to the ground, gone to the world. That brings his muscle immediate, and well...they fall pretty quick to a throat strike and a combo kick which makes one of them hold their knee like it just gave out. Now, I'm really attracting attention as a few club kids go after the scattered drugs and I go 'running' heading toward for the front door (and the bathroom.) Doorwatcher, who's been watching me head toward him for a few seconds finally draws out his weapon. I knock him to ground with a slightly modified Yazuka Kick before the modified semiauto is out of his jacket. It falls to the floor, and through a miracle, the safety was actually on and I don't have to avoid bullets flying around like a bad cop show. At this point, all hell has broken loose and I see several large bouncers heading my way. Thankfully, their path is blocked by hysterical customers heading for the door, including the bathrooms emptying. That's when I see her. Deep blue eyes, red hair, soft face of an angel. I simply call out her _real_ name, and she goes rigid in surprise. I continue by telling her to run as I boogie, with dumb and dumber rising from their table to chase after us. They never have a chance as fight + weapons draqing + large crowd = chaos. We slip out through a side entrance, dragging the girl more than anything else as we slide into the rented SUV. I ask a gruff, "are you OK?" which she nods as I pull out into the street. After a few moments where it seems the coast is clear, I turn to her. She's still shaking. "Don't worry, we'll get ya' back home in a couple days here. The accomodations won't be the Hilton, but they'll work." Still shaking. "What's wrong?" "Th-th-ey told me if I ran, they - they - they'd find me and se-se-sell me to the first street gang they saw who could buy me as their wh - wh - wh...." Deep breaths, David. Kill the fury while its still small. The girls here, you can find them later. "Don't worry about it, Alli. I got their names, faces, everything but what their favorite color is. They'll be taken care of by time we get home." "What about my dad?" "He's a little out of it, but he'll be a happy SOB when he sees his lil' girl." "Ya' know, I didn't mean to do this. The guy online -" "You don't need to defend yourself to me. It happens to the best of us." A flash of nearly a decade ago. You'll take care of that too, David. Now's not the time to dwell on the past. "Who are you, anyway? I don't remember seeing you ever with my father." I pause for a moment...then tell the truth. "You can call me a fallen angel." With that, the road continues on. It's a thirty hour drive back home, and the girl's already asleep. I still got miles to go, and things to take care off. Old friends...old enemies.

From washingtonmonthly.com

Alexis Bledel? - Rory Gilmore on The Gilmore Girls Jaime King? Actress/model Clive Owen? Arthur in King Arthur last summer

In the last ten years, the 'doom' date has moved into the future three years. And that's basically with using the projection of the US economy being slightly lower than average for the next forty years. Medicare is the biggie, it's estimated in about 2050, it'll take up 9.5% of the GDP instead of the current 2.5%. By the same token, GDP used for SS will move from 2.5% to 4.5%. But, Social Security provides Republicans with a chance to introduce a conservative nostrum that they've long pined for: private accounts. We don't need them, and they won't actually do anything to solve whatever problems Social Security might have, but an invented crisis is a good excuse to introduce them anyway. Conversely, there's no way to plausibly pretend that private accounts will save Medicare, so why bother? After all, let's say we go with private accounts. How can there be an economy where... a). Social Security goes broke but... b). investment returns are at 7% which is the basic rate the stock market has risen overall. Also, the system isn't going to break... The below is the Social Security Trustee 75-year financial estimate. To do this, they make estimates of population growth, life expectancy, economic performance, and so forth, and then add them all up into an overall estimate of long-term solvency. In fact, they make three estimates and the one you hear about in the news is the middle one. In that projection, Social Security starts running a deficit in 2042. The assumptions in the middle projection from 2015 forward are the following: Labor force growth: 0.2% per year. Productivity growth: 1.6% per year. Average hours worked: no change. Equals: GDP growth: 1.8% per year. This growth is lower than normal, but that's because GDP growth = population growth + productivity growth. Since population growth is slowing down, so will GDP growth. Still, what if you assume that things will be a little more robust than this? After all, this is America, land of engenuity. If you project GDP growth of around 2.6% per year, you end up with Estimate I, and in that scenario Social Security never runs out of money. In fact, if you project GDP growth just a few tenths higher than 1.8%, Social Security stays solvent for the next century. In other words, if GDP growth averages, say, 2.3% over the next 75 years, Social Security is in good shape and we don't have to do anything. So here's the puzzler: for private accounts to be worthwhile, they need to have long-term annual returns of at least 5%, and 6-7% is the number most privitixation advocates use. But are there any plausible scenarios in which long-term real GDP growth is less than 2% but long-term real returns (capital gains plus dividends) on stock portfolios are well over 5%?

Yeah, that'll work.

I'd make it pretty simple...if there's only one undefeated team, then the one-loss teams play a "playoff" game for the right to face them. I realize there may be more than two one-loss teams, so limit it to the top 3 rankings. After all, in most of cases of the "wrong" one loss team going to the National Title game, there's only one other team that was the "rightful" choice. If there's two undefeated teams, well, there ya' go. If there's three, then the team that's gone the longest without losing gets the "bye." If there's four, then there ya' go again. Amazingly simple, and could draw megabucks as you at the end of the day, there will only be _one_ undefeated team.

Well, not to be flippant, but I'm guessing if Hispanics were suicide bombing "white" areas , I doubt many Hispanic-White marriages would hold up.

kkk, I'm not sure if you're being facetious or not, but you do realize that for the most part, "blue" states send more to Washington than they get back and "red" states get more than they send?

Again, Mike, you're acting as if Kerry got blown out by twenty points. He was 200,000 votes away from being President. 48% of America voted for the "Most Liberal Senator" in America.

Two quick points... 1. The exit polls first showed up at 'The Corner', also known as The National Review's blog. Not exactly a left wing blog. They were then pretty much sent out among all the blogs, if Bush had been shown winning in those polls, I bet LGF would've hyped them more than dailykos. 2. The Democratic Party's portion of the popular vote dropped one percent. I know Mike dreams about a world with 65 GOP Senaters and 300 GOP House Rep's with the Democratic Party being kept around like the Washington Generals, but it's not going to happen anytime soon.

Mike, it was also the first election since '88 not to have a major 3rd party candidate. Whoever won was going to get 50%+1. Perot in '96 and Nader in '00 weren't exactly like Perot's run in '92, but they still drew enough to make the win a pularity. Second of all, those are the plain facts. Not rationalizations, but the simple numbers. Yes, your side won. But it wasn't some huge victory. It was a lousy 3%. Closest race period outside of 2000 since 1976 and the closest with an incumbent involved since Truman. You got the fundies out to vote their hate and they outnumbered the lazy college kids. That's all.

I don't get why anybody is thinking that the Democrat's are dead and buried. Let's look at the facts... Well, 1% more than 50% is not a mandate but a bare, thin, majority. Remember, this is the first election since '88 w/ no real 3rd party presence. I expected whoever won to get over 50%. But, if you told someone around 11-11-01, that Bush would barely win reelection you'd be laughed at. Bush blew a guaranteed ten-fifteen point win and a LBJ-like landslide. After all, assuming Bush gets New Mexico and Iowa, he will have gotten the lowest percentage of electoral votes (54%) of any incumbent running for reelection since Wilson. If those two states should swing Kerry's way out of a electoral miracle, it'll be even lower. He will have won with the lowest percentage of the popular vote (51%) of any incumbent running for reelection since Truman...OK Clinton, but again...Perot. He will have won by the lowest margin of the popular vote (3.5M) of any incumbent running for reelection since Truman (2.1M, and back then only 50M voted). He will have won the three states that put him over 270 (OH, NM and IA) by abotu 175k combined. A win...sure. Mandate? Nah. It'll be a 50/50 election in 2008.

On Kentucky, six weeks Bunning was up by 15. Now I've seen a couple of polls saying the race is tied.

Meh. It's a prediction. I could be totally wrong or right. I'm not saying that's what will happen, it's just my current feeling. At least I haven't been saying the race is over since August. Yeah, I don't want eight weeks of lawsuits and counter lawsuits. Whoever wins, I hope wins by at least a few percentage points and by a healthy margin in the EC.