I just watched a group of punch drunk commission members debate whether to order a _manual recount_ of all ballots in Palm Beach County. They voted 2-1, and unless this is overturned (?), they will begin planning the recount effort on Monday. The count of a sample of 1% of the votes took all of today, so the count of 100 times as many total ballots will presumably take on the order of 100 days. Perhaps they can farm it out to temps and secretaries and get it done in just several weeks. They analyzed the "chads" and counted 33 additional votes for Gore, 14 for Bush. So this would imply about 19 additional votes for Gore over Bush. Then, extrapolating to the full population, 1900 additional votes for Gore over Bush (modulo statistical fluctuations). Of course, the Republicans will have to call for a manual recount of Duval County and all of the other counties where the same statistical examination should turn up votes for THEM. What a cluster fuck. Punch drunk, dazed burrowcrats triggering this train wreck. I will not forget this week, and not forget watching this latest event live, as it happened. Kind of the the "moon landing" of political train wrecks. --Tim May -- ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, ComSec 3DES: 831-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, "Cyphernomicon" | black markets, collapse of governments.