McCain concedes, acknowledges historic achievement

By BETH FOUHY, Associated Press Writer Beth Fouhy, Associated Press Writer

Play Video AP – McCain concedes, congratulates Obama
Slideshow: Sen. John McCain


AP – Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., gestures as he addresses a rally with supporters on election night in Phoenix, …

PHOENIX – With a gracious nod to Barack Obama, John McCain acknowledged defeat and urged his supporters to move beyond partisan differences to put country first — an echo of his campaign theme.

"I wish godspeed to the man who was my former opponent and will be my president," McCain said as he conceded the presidency he has sought for a decade.

The four-term Arizona senator added: "These are difficult times for our country. And I pledge to him tonight to do all in my power to help him lead us through the many challenges we face."

Flanked by his wife Cindy and his running mate Sarah Palin, McCain stepped before supporters at the Biltmore Hotel on a balmy Tuesday evening shortly after telephoning Obama to offer his congratulations and concede the race. He implored his backers to fall in line behind Obama and put aside partisan bickering. And, he pushed back on a smattering of boos and shouts of "No-Bama! and "Reverend Wright," a reference to Obama's incendiary former pastor.

"Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans," McCain said. "No association has ever meant more to me than that."

After an intensely negative campaign, McCain went to lengths to take the high road in his concession speech and acknowledged the historic nature of Obama's barrier-breaking accomplishment.

"His success alone commands my respect for his ability and perseverance," McCain said, adding that he "deeply admired" Obama for inspiring the hopes of people "who had once wrongly believed that they had little at stake or little influence" in electing a president.

"This is an historic election, and I recognize the special significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight," McCain said, adding that the U.S. had moved "a world away" from its racist past by electing the nation's first black president.

He allowed that disappointment was natural but said that starting Wednesday "we must move beyond it and work together to get our country moving again."

"We fought as hard as we could. And though we feel short, the failure is mine, not yours," McCain said.

Also, he praised Palin as "one of the best campaigners I have ever seen, and an impressive new voice in our party for reform."

By McCain's own admission, it was a disappointing end to a quest he began sketching 10 years ago before his first run for president in 2000. He was vanquished that time by George W. Bush in the Republican primaries, but won the affection and respect of many voters who admired his independent streak and dedication to honor and service as a former Naval officer and prisoner of war in Vietnam.

McCain entered this campaign as the perceived GOP front-runner but saw his effort nearly implode in July 2007 amid staff tension and vast overspending. He was able to rebuild his candidacy by grinding out key wins in the New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida primaries.

He faced long odds from the start of the general election, running as the GOP successor to President Bush who had become deeply unpopular amid a troubled economy and two wars. But then McCain put the little-known Alaska governor on the GOP ticket and polling shortly after the Republican convention found McCain pulling slightly ahead of Obama.

Then the global financial crisis hit, and McCain's hopes were dashed. Voters usually punish the party in power when the economy tanks, and this year was no different.

In the campaign's final days, the GOP nominee maintained a grueling campaign schedule while being well aware of the odds against him. He stumped across Colorado and New Mexico after a 24-hour cross country journey across battleground states that ended after midnight Tuesday.

But McCain also acknowledged he'd made mistakes in his campaign and that he had let his supporters down.

"I don't know what more we could have done to try to win this election. I'll leave that to others to determine," he said.

Guitar Hero has never looked so good.

The Evolution of Al Pacino’s Yelling and Speaking Voice

from http://unrealitymag.com

Published by Nattyb

I think we can all agree that Al Pacino has a reputation for being a yeller on film. But when did this reputation become so in tact? At what point were all the comedians imitating his on screen outbursts? When can we conclusively say that if you’re a director and you want to hire a guy who screams a lot that you call Al Pacino? In fact there’s even an article that teaches you how to yell like Pacino!

Granted Pacino yelled in his early days, I don’t think he really developed his signature “almost to be made fun of” yelling style until Scent of a Woman. However I think that Sea of Love and Glengarry Glen Ross really began this train of “automatic” outbursts on film. But then something really weird started happening to his “s” pronunciation as he got much older. And now he just sounds strange. It’s like he’s impersonating himself.

The proof is in Two for the Money and Ocean’s Thirteen and it’s very disturbing. There’s also hints of it in The Insider (where I think the “s” stuff originated). In any event, here is a compilation of videos that display how Pacino’s voice has developed over the years. It’s truly remarkable.

Al Pacino’s Trials for Godfather

A young, soft sounding Pacino. We sure as hell don’t notice that yelling nature this early in his career. Just a calm natured guy. No yelling. Boo.

Serpico

It’s high pitched but it just isn’t quite “hoo hah” now is it?

Godfather 2 Slap Scene

Here’s the crazy yelling baby! It might be just one line but man that’s a taste of the future right there.

Scarface

Pick a scene, any scene. Still though, the voice is kind of high. And here’s where we take the turn…

Sea of Love

1989 baby. This is when Pacino started to get a little older and that voice became even more dominant. And wait until we get to Scent of a Woman but not before….

Glengarry Glen Ross

Great outburst here.

Scent of a Woman

This is a weird version with sound effects but damnet if Pacino isn’t 100% Pacino right here.

Heat

This one’s just funny. Great ass!

The Devil’s Advocate

Pacino is just full blown yelling machine at this point in his career.

The Insider

His “s” is starting to change. The age is starting to show.

Any Give Sunday - Peace by Inches

One of the better sports movie speeches. But still, listen to that “s.” Even his “p’s” have something strange to them as compared to his early days.

Two for the Money

It’s almost as if he was Al Pacino impersonation Al Pacino at this point. This is pretty much embarrassing.

Ocean’s Thirteen

Come on Al! Just yell dude.

* I refuse to show anything from Righteous Kill

from http://unrealitymag.com

Philadelphia Phillies Sign Former Batboy as GM

By PATRICK WALTERS, Associated Press Writer

PHILADELPHIA (AP)—With the enviable task of repeating as World Series champions ahead of them, the Phillies turned to a former bat boy to take over as their general manager.

Ruben Amaro Jr. signed a three-year contract Monday to become general manager of the Phillies a quarter-century after he was handing lumber to Hall of Famers Mike Schmidt and Steve Carlton as a starry-eyed teenager.

Amaro just completed his 10th season as assistant Phillies GM and replaces the retiring Pat Gillick, who will remain with the team as an adviser. The team announced the move five days after beating the Tampa Bay Rays its second title in franchise history.

“Pat, you’ve made it a little tough for me, a tough act to follow,” Amaro told Gillick at a news conference.

The 43-year-old Amaro, whose father Ruben Amaro Sr. was a Phillies shortstop from 1960-65 and first base coach for the club, recalled being around Schmidt, reliever Tug Mcgraw and shortstop Larry Bowa as a bat boy from 1980-83—in 1980 the Phillies won the only other championship in their 126-year history.

He later spent parts of eight seasons as a major league player, including a stint with the 1993 Phillies team that lost to Toronto in the World Series.

Amaro worked under former GM Ed Wade for seven seasons and the last three with Gillick. He was considered the front-runner for the job after Gillick said this would be his last season—despite pleas from ownership to get him to stay.

“Our goals will remain the same and that’s to bring championships here to Philadelphia,” Amaro said. “The biggest challenge is to repeat. That’s the biggest challenge in baseball.”

Amaro got the nod over Mike Arbuckle, another assistant GM who spent the last 15 years with the Phillies. Arbuckle, who led the team’s scouting efforts, will not be returning next year, team president Dave Montgomery said.

Arbuckle oversaw a farm system that produced much of the Phillies current core, including shortstop Jimmy Rollins, second baseman Chase Utley, first baseman Ryan Howard and pitcher Cole Hamels, the World Series MVP.

Montgomery said he had a “difficult” conversation with Arbuckle on Saturday, telling him that Amaro would be getting the job. Arbuckle said he wanted to be a general manager and would be pursuing other opportunities.

Under Gillick, the Phillies won two division titles before advancing to the World Series this year. The 71-year-old has a long track record as GM of Toronto (1978-94), Baltimore (1996-98), Seattle (2000-03) and Philadelphia. He won two titles with Toronto, including the 1993 win over the Phillies.

In Philadelphia, he traded for closer Brad Lidge last offseason and made a late move for Oakland starter Joe Blanton. Lidge was perfect in save situations in both the regular and postseason, while Blanton went 2-0 in three postseason starts.

But not all of Gillick’s trades worked so well, notably the acquisition of the very expensive pitcher Freddy Garcia, who won just one game before being shut down with a shoulder injury.

Amaro has many decisions to make as he gets ready to head to this week’s general managers’ meetings in Dana Point, Calif.

He will have to decide whether to bring back left fielder Pat Burrell and soon-to-be 46-year-old pitcher Jamie Moyer. He will also have to consider possible long-term contracts for Hamels and MVP candidate Ryan Howard.

Burrell, who hit .250 with 33 homers and 86 RBIs in the regular season, wants to return. So does Moyer, who had a team-best 16 wins.

The 32-year-old Burrell made $14 million this season, and will likely get a more lucrative free-agent offer from another team.

Amaro, a Stanford University graduate whose father wanted him to be a doctor or a soccer player, said he was still trying to soak it all in.

“It’s a little surreal,” he said. “For the life of me, I would have never thought I would have been in this position.”

Comcastic P4P trial shows 80% speed boost for P2P downloads

By Nate Anderson |

Comcast engineers have just released the first-ever real-world data on P4P technology—and it appears to be a massive success. While only a trial, the results do show that P4P's iTracker technology can increase P2P download speeds by 80 percent on ISP networks without materially increasing the network load.

P4P, which is being designed under the aegis of the Distributed Computing Industry Association, is meant to "localize" peer-to-peer transfers. P2P users generally grab data from all around the world, putting tremendous cost and bandwidth pressure on ISP peering and transit links with other networks. P4P uses an iTracker server to keep those transfers within an ISP's own network when possible, with the goal of boosting speeds for users and lowering peering-point loads for ISPs.

(Note that P4P has little to do with network neutrality, though companies sometimes suggest that it does. While it can decrease the financial hit ISPs take from sending traffic over transit links, P4P isn't designed to lower the total bandwidth on an ISP's network. In fact, by directing P2P users to "local" network sources, it might actually be expected to increase an ISP's local network traffic. More on that below.)

Comcast engineers have just filed the results of the first major P4P trial as an "Internet draft" with the IETF. The trial involved Pando, Yale, three (unnamed) ISPs, and Comcast, and it took place over the summer. It used a special, Pando-provided P2P client that is set up to check in with "iTracker" servers when searching for download locations in a BitTorrent swarm. The test used a 21MB video file (which was "licensed," in case you were worried), and measured the results of using the P2P client in order to see how the use of iTrackers affected uploads and downloads.

Data source: Comcast

Results were hugely positive. Compared to a random swarm, the use of any iTracker provided substantial speed boosts to Comcast network users, ranging from 57 to 85 percent above default behavior. For consumers, this would obviously be welcome news, but how does it affect Comcast?

Not too much, it turns out. "We did notice that download activity in our access network increased somewhat, from 56,030MB for Random to 59,765MB for P4P Generic Weight and 60,781MB for P4P Coarse Grained," wrote the Comcast engineers. That's a small increase, especially given that it reduced Comcast's "incoming Internet traffic by an average of 80 percent at peering points."

But uploads proved even more surprising. "It did not appear that P4P significantly increased upstream utilization in our access network," note the engineers. "In essence, uploading was already occurring no matter what and P4P in and of itself did not appear to materially increase uploading for this specific, licensed content."

Further good news came from a close examination of the various iTrackers. The fine-grained tracker provided detailed topology information about Comcast's network, and it took significant time to set up. "It was a detailed mapping of Comcast backbone-connected network Autonomous System Numbers (ASN) to IP Aggregates which were weighted based on priority and distance from each other," says the report. "Included in this design was a prioritization of all Peer and Internet transit connected ASNs to our backbone to ensure that P4P traffic would prefer settlement free and lower cost networks first, and then more expensive transit links."

Sounds like a lot of work. But Comcast found that it wasn't even necessary; simpler iTrackers provided even better results. The best results came from the coarse-grained iTracker, which featured 22 iTracker node identifiers and "resulted in a 1,461 line configuration file."

iTrackers can run on lightweight servers; for good results, every ISP should run one. While every network that deploys an iTracker will see good results, the system gets "dramatically" more impressive as more ISPs deploy it.

Comcast wants the iTracker mechanism made an IETF standard; more impressively, it recognizes that iTrackers should be "opt-in" mechanisms that each user can control. "The use of ISP-provided iTrackers should probably be an opt-in feature for P2P users, or at least a feature of which they are explicitly aware of and which has been enabled by default in a particular P2P client," say the engineers. "In this way, P2P users could choose to opt-in either explicitly or by their choice of P2P client in order to choose to use the iTracker to improve performance, which benefits both the user and the ISP at the same time."

Win/win scenarios haven't been common in the P2P wars, and it's important to note that this was only a preliminary test. But if P4P shows the same promise in larger trials and if P2P clients start to embed the technology into their software, faster downloads and lower-traffic peering points could be had simply by running some inexpensive servers.

First look at Tom Hanks in Da Vinci prequel Angels & Demons

By Lina Ritchie

It is set to break all box office records when it is released next year.

For now, however, we'll have to console ourselves with these exclusive pictures from Angels & Demons, the eagerly anticipated prequel to The Da Vinci Code.

Tom Hanks, who was reportedly paid £25m for the role, returns as Robert Langdon, the world-renowned Harvard symbologist, who this time is on a mission to prevent a terrorist act against the Vatican.

Scroll down to watch the trailer...

Angels & Demons: Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) and Vittoria Vetra (Ayelet Zurer) work together to prevent a terrorist act against the Vatican

In this outing, directed once more by Ron Howard, Hanks is joined by Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgard and newcomer Ayelet Zurer.

Angels & Demons, based on the third novel by Dan Brown, starts with Langdon being summoned to a Swiss research facility (CERN) to analyse a mysterious symbol seared into the chest of a murdered physicist, Leonardo Vetra.

Armin Mueller-Stahl and Ewan McGregor play Straus and Carlo Ventresca respectively in the eagerly anticipated prequel to The Da Vinci Code

While there, he discovers the rebirth of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati, the most powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth.

Langdon and Vetra's daughter, Vittoria, played by Zurer, embark on a search for the secret brotherhood, as well as a new destructive weapon that could kill millions.

Langdon discovers the rebirth of an ancient secret brotherhood known as the Illuminati, the most powerful underground organization ever to walk the earth

The Da Vinci Code upset Catholic leaders throughout the world when it was released in 2006 for suggesting that Jesus was a married father when he died.

However the controversy didn't harm its takings - the film took over $200million at the US box office alone.

While filming Angels & Demons in Italy, Hanks and Howard attracted opposition again and were forbidden from filming in two Roman churches by Rome's diocese.

Enlarge

While filming Angels & Demons, Hanks and Howard were forbidden from filming in two Roman churches by Rome's diocese

At the time a spokesman for the diocese said: 'It's a film that treats religious issues in a way that contrasts with common religious sentiment.

'We would be helping them create a work that might well be beautiful but that does not conform to our views.

Enlarge

The film's makers once again met with religious opposition - just as they had done on The Da Vinci Code

Angels & Demons will be released in the UK on May 15, 2009.

Watch the trailer here for Angels & Demons...

Nine of the best candies of all time

Now that Halloween's over, it's time to empty out your goodie bag!Everyone’s got the candy of their generation, their neighborhood, and their tastes. What sugary delights sent young minds to greats heights when you were a kid? Well, let’s share. Here are some highlights from fourth grade:

9. Lotsa Fizz. Also known by its more convenient nickname ‘Fizz’, these candies masqueraded as a regular ol’ hard candy, the kind you might find in a doctor’s office or a crystal dish in your grandma’s front foyer. Other than the snake-like packaging, linking individually-wrapped pieces together, there appeared to be nothing special about them. However, once you crunched into them, they released a tingly, carbonated bubble-liquid that sizzled and frothed on the tongue. A real advancement in the candy surprise effect.

8. Massive, fist-sized Jawbreakers aka Dinosour Eggs. The big question here was who could fit these in all the way? Occasionally, a local big mouth would manage to squeeze it up in there, and then proceed to nearly suffocate while trying to simultaneously breathe and speed-suck the jawbreaker down to a smaller size with drool flying everywhere. It wasn’t pretty. You were actually watching them OD right in front of you. Of course, others would simply leave the giant jawbreaker on their night table and have a few licks before bedtime, spending a year or so patiently turning the smooth sphere it into a faded, rubbed-out rainbow of dried spit and sugar. Whatever you think about these things, they definitely came out on top of the Total Candy Minutes Per Dollar ranking.

7. Pez. Was it just me, or did Pez have a kind of weird taste? Don’t get me wrong — the dispenser alone was enough for some great memories, despite some questionable versions over the years.

6. Tear Jerkers aka Sour Balls. At the time, Tear Jerkers were a futuristic advancement in Artificial Souring Technology. They caused a massive sugar high epidemic at my grade school, with kids running over to the variety store at lunch to grab a new bag, daring each other to eat two or three at a time. The gum that remained after the sour powder was gone was always a wet, syrupy disappointment, and usually ended up in the trash to make more room in your mouth. But that sour powder packed a punch and it often left the insides of your cheeks all inflammed and torn up for the rest of the week. And of course, there was always the big question: who has the guts to eat the leftover patch of sour powder in the corner of the bag?

5. Fun Dip aka Lik-M-Aid. Fun Dip was an entirely new way to eat your candy: Lick an edible candy stick and then use your own spit as glue to collect all the sugar-powder below. Well, it was a great long-lasting treat, as long as your stick didn’t come broken when you bought it. If that happened, you had to dive in with your wet finger instead. But you had to be careful, because it was that mark of the stained, purple finger that gave away why you weren’t hungry at dinner time. A lot of people would finish off by eating the actual stick itself for good measure which is sort of like eating your fork after finishing your pie.

4. Hot and Cold Nerds. Nerds was always a decent backup selection — it filled up the candy bag but was rarely the first pick. Sure, that little box of tiny, hard, asteroid-shaped candy offered two flavors in one box, but there was nothing too special about picking up Watermelon and Grape or Strawberry and Lemon. That is, until Nerds came out with the temperature-themed Hot and Cold Nerds box in the late 80s. Sure, maybe it was just bright, red cinnamon and bright, blue wintergreen, but it sure was fun alternatingly burning and freezing sensations in your mouth. Of course, there were always two kinds of Nerds kids — the slow, tantric, shake-it-in-your-hands-and-savor-it kids, and the minute men who instead preferred the all-in-one-go, head-tilt, box-shake manouver.

3. Bizarre Forms of Gum. Remember the glory days where gum came in so many different forms? There was baseball card gum, shattering and cutting the inside of your mouth like glass when you bit into it. There was Big League Chew, the shredded chewing tobacco gum. And of course there were Bubble Jugs, Bubble Tape, and even Bubble Gum Squeeze Tubes, which you pushed into your mouth like toothpaste, though with the exact opposite effect.

2. Pixy Stix. I always admired the straight-shooting style of Pixy Stix. Unlike the other candies, they didn’t dress up and pretend to be anything besides sugar. They were the real deal, straight up, just sugar in a straw. You want something gummy, sticky, sour, or chewy? Try the other guys. Now, if you want plain sugar, you’ve come to the right place. Available in regular size and occasionaly a Super Jumbo Straw version. Just be careful you don’t get dry-throat and gag on it when your brother pours a strawful down your throat.

1. Popeye Cigarettes. These ones were the real deal, before they took off the red tip at the end and rebranded them as ‘Popeye’s Candy Sticks.’ Yes, after a dark, moody stint with the patch, Popeye managed to finally kick the habit. But good thing, or he probably wouldn’t be with us today.

Yes, finding and chowing down on some of the candies you grew up with is like sucking on sugary memories. Because how did it feel walking out of your local corner store with a wide smile pasted across your face, an empty wallet, and an armful full of candy?

I think we all know the answer to that.

AWESOME!

The 28 Most Ravishing TV Wives

28. Linda Evans

Linda Evans plays the new wife of Blake Carrington on soap opera from the 80’s, Dynasty. Family Guy spoof Linda Evans career with the following conversation between Stewie and Olivia at an acting school:
Stewie: Well, fine! Refuse my offer. Get booted out of this place (acting school) and wind up like Linda Evans.
(Flash to supermarket scene)
Intercom: Linda Evans, we have a spill in Aisle 9. Linda Evans, spill in Aisle 9.

27. Meredith Baxter
Meredith played the wife of Steve Keaton, Elyse on Who’s The Boss? After Family Ties, Baxter made apperances on Spin City, 7th Heaven,

26. Marcia Strassman
Strassman was the wife of Gabe Kotter on Welcome Back, Kotter. Marcia was one of the main characters on Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Honey, I Blew Up The Kids.

25. Mary Tyler Moore
Mary played the wife of Rob Petrie on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Moore was on That 70’s Show for 3 episodes and appeared on Oprah earlier this year.

24. Lois Griffin
Lois is the wife of Peter Griffin on Family Guy. Alex Borstein plays her voice. Lois teaches the piano to help sustain the family’s income and raises 3 children throughout the show. Lois and Peter’s youngest child despises his mother to the point where he plots ways to get rid of her mostly throughout Season 1.

23. Joanna Kerns
Joanna plays Maggie Seaver on Growing Pains. Joanna also made apperances in Knocked Up, Girl, Interrupted, and The A-Team. Joanna directed a couple of Scrubs and ER episodes.

22. Elizabeth Montgomery
Elizabeth played the nose-twitching witch wife of Darrin Stephens between the 60’s and 70’s. In the 90’s before her passing, Montgomery appeared on The Dennis Miller Show, The Hollywood Squares, Entertainment Tonight, and many other TV shows.

21. Lucille Ball
Lucille is best known for playing Lucy Ricardo, wife of Ricky on I Love Lucy. There have been countless spin-offs from the original show such as Lucy Calls the President, Life with Lucy, The Lucy Show, Lucy in London, etc.

20. Patricia Richardson
Patricia is best known for playing the Tool Man’s wife on Home Improvement. Richardson also had a recurring role on The West Wing and Strong Medicine.

19. Eva Gabor
Eva played Lisa Douglas, wife of Eddie Albert on Green Acres. Eva is the younger sister of Zsa Zsa Gabor.

18. Edie Falco
In the Sopranos, Edie was the wife of Tony Soprano, Carmela. Edie has a recurring role on 30 Rock as Celeste Cunningham. Edie is one out of four actresses that received a Golden Globe, an Emmy, and an SAG award in the same year.

17. Kelly Rowan
Kelly played the role of Kirsten Cohen, wife of Seth Sandy on The O.C. Kelly also made appearances in Growing Pains, War of the Worlds, Hook, Three to Tango, and C.S.I.

16. Joely Fisher
Joely plays Joy Stark, wife of Eddie Stark on ‘Til Death. Joely is the half-sister of Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia on Star Wars). Joely had appearances on Ellen, Normal, Ohio, and Desparate Housewives. She also played the role of Dr. Brenda Bradford / RoboBrenda in the Inspector Gadget movie.

15. Cheryl Hines
Cheryl plays the wife of Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm. Cheryl was Rob Reiner’s personal assistant at one point and studied with Lisa Kudkrow at The Groundlings Theater.

14. Megyn Price
Megyn plays Claudia Finnerty, wife of Sean on Grounded For Life. Prior to this role, she also was a commentator on VH1’s I Love the 80s and I Love the 90s. Megyn also played the role of Audrey on Rules of Engagement.

13. Kellita Smith
Kellita was the wife of Bernie McCullough on The Bernie Mac Show. Kellita also made appearances in House Party 3, The Crossing Guard, Masquerade, Kingdom Come, Nash Bridges, Fair Game, Roll Bounce, and Feel The Noise.

12. Helen Hunt
Hunt played the role of Jamie Buchman, wife of Paul on Mad About You. Hunt also was in the films Twister, Cast Away, What Women Want, As Good As It Gets, and Pay It Forward.

11. Perry Reeves
Perry plays the wife of Ari Gold on Entourage. Prior to this role, she played Will Ferrell’s wife on Old School. Reeves also had apperances in Mr. and Mrs. Smith, American Dreamz, The X-Files, Kicking and Screaming, and Child’s Play 3.

10. Elise Neal
Elise played the wife of Darryl Hughley, Yvonne on The Hughleys. Elise also had roles in the movies Hustle & Flow, Mission to Mars, Scream 2, Money Talks, How to Be a Player, and Malcolm X.

9. Courtney Thorne-Smith
Courtney plays Jim’s wife on According to Jim. Courtney is also known for playing the role of Alison Parker on Melrose Place and Georgia Thomas on Ally McBeal.

8. Suzanne Somers
Suzanne played the wife of Frank Lambert, Carol on Step by Step. Currently Somers as her own products being sold on the Home Shopping Network. Somers has written two autobiographies, two self-help books, and four diet books. Somers also starred in Three’s Company.

7. Patricia Heaton
Patricia won two Emmys for playing the wife of Ray Barone on Everybody Loves Raymond. Heaton also made appearances in the shows Alien Nation, Matlock, Party of Five, The King of Queens, and Danny Phantom.

6. Jenna Elfman
Jenna plays the role of Dharma Montgomery, wife of Greg on the show Dharma & Greg. Elfman also made appearances in Grosse Pointe Blank, Can’t Hardly Wait, EDtv, and Clifford’s Really Big Movie.

5. Leah Remini
Leah plays the wife of Doug Heffernan on the CBS sitcom, The King of Queens. Leah is also known for playing the love interest of Zack Morris on Saved by the Bell when the gang was working at the Malibu Sands Beach Club. Leah also had appearances in Friends, Cheers, Who’s the Boss?, and Old School.

4. Ali Larter
Ali plays the role of Niki Sanders, an Internet stripper with super strength and is married to D.L. Hawkins in the hit show, Heroes. Before that show, Larter had roles in Dawson’s Creek, Varsity Blues, House on Haunted Hill, Final Destination, and Legally Blonde.

3. Lori Loughlin
Lori was best known acting as Rebecca Donaldson-Katsopolis, wife of Uncle Jesse on Full House. Since then Lori has been involved with the new version of 90210 and even played the voice of a character on Grand Theft Auto IV.

2. Eva Longoria Parker
Eva plays Gabrielle Solis, wife os Carlos on the show, Desparate Housewives. Longoria was FHM’s 14th “Sexiest Women 2008″ poll.

1. Jessica Simpson
Jessica was married to Nick Lachey at one point. They both had their own reality show called Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica. About 3 years after the first episode aired, the two filed for divorce.

First Black President

Obama Elected President as Racial Barrier Falls

Damon Winter/The New York Times

Senator Barack Obama with his wife, Michelle, and Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. with his wife, Jill, in Chicago on Tuesday night.

By ADAM NAGOURNEY

Published: November 4, 2008

Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics with ease as the country chose him as its first black chief executive.

Multimedia

Video

Barack Obama’s Victory Speech

Video

John McCain’s Concession Speech

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Complete Results: President

The election of Mr. Obama amounted to a national catharsis — a repudiation of a historically unpopular Republican president and his economic and foreign policies, and an embrace of Mr. Obama’s call for a change in the direction and the tone of the country.

But it was just as much a strikingly symbolic moment in the evolution of the nation’s fraught racial history, a breakthrough that would have seemed unthinkable just two years ago.

Mr. Obama, 47, a first-term senator from Illinois, defeated Senator John McCain of Arizona, 72, a former prisoner of war who was making his second bid for the presidency.

To the very end, Mr. McCain’s campaign was eclipsed by an opponent who was nothing short of a phenomenon, drawing huge crowds epitomized by the tens of thousands of people who turned out to hear Mr. Obama’s victory speech in Grant Park in Chicago.

Mr. McCain also fought the headwinds of a relentlessly hostile political environment, weighted down with the baggage left to him by President Bush and an economic collapse that took place in the middle of the general election campaign.

“If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer,” said Mr. Obama, standing before a huge wooden lectern with a row of American flags at his back, casting his eyes to a crowd that stretched far into the Chicago night.

“It’s been a long time coming,” the president-elect added, “but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment, change has come to America.”

Mr. McCain delivered his concession speech under clear skies on the lush lawn of the Arizona Biltmore, in Phoenix, where he and his wife had held their wedding reception. The crowd reacted with scattered boos as he offered his congratulations to Mr. Obama and saluted the historical significance of the moment.

“This is a historic election, and I recognize the significance it has for African-Americans and for the special pride that must be theirs tonight,” Mr. McCain said, adding, “We both realize that we have come a long way from the injustices that once stained our nation’s reputation.”

Not only did Mr. Obama capture the presidency, but he led his party to sharp gains in Congress. This puts Democrats in control of the House, the Senate and the White House for the first time since 1995, when Bill Clinton was in office.

The day shimmered with history as voters began lining up before dawn, hours before polls opened, to take part in the culmination of a campaign that over the course of two years commanded an extraordinary amount of attention from the American public.

As the returns became known, and Mr. Obama passed milestone after milestone —Ohio, Florida, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Iowa and New Mexico — people rolled spontaneously into the streets to celebrate what many described, with perhaps overstated if understandable exhilaration, a new era in a country where just 143 years ago, Mr. Obama, as a black man, could have been owned as a slave.

For Republicans, especially the conservatives who have dominated the party for nearly three decades, the night represented a bitter setback and left them contemplating where they now stand in American politics.

Mr. Obama and his expanded Democratic majority on Capitol Hill now face the task of governing the country through a difficult period: the likelihood of a deep and prolonged recession, and two wars. He took note of those circumstances in a speech that was notable for its sobriety and its absence of the triumphalism that he might understandably have displayed on a night when he won an Electoral College landslide.

“The road ahead will be long, our climb will be steep,” said Mr. Obama, his audience hushed and attentive, with some, including the Rev. Jesse Jackson, wiping tears from their eyes. “We may not get there in one year or even one term, but America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there. I promise you, we as a people will get there.” The roster of defeated Republicans included some notable party moderates, like Senator John E. Sununu of New Hampshire and Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut, and signaled that the Republican conference convening early next year in Washington will be not only smaller but more conservative.

Mr. Obama will come into office after an election in which he laid out a number of clear promises: to cut taxes for most Americans, to get the United States out of Iraq in a fast and orderly fashion, and to expand health care.

In a recognition of the difficult transition he faces, given the economic crisis, Mr. Obama is expected to begin filling White House jobs as early as this week.

Mr. Obama defeated Mr. McCain in Ohio, a central battleground in American politics, despite a huge effort that brought Mr. McCain and his running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska, back there repeatedly. Mr. Obama had lost the state decisively to Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York in the Democratic primary.

Mr. McCain failed to take from Mr. Obama the two Democratic states that were at the top of his target list: New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. Mr. Obama also held on to Minnesota, the state that played host to the convention that nominated Mr. McCain; Wisconsin; and Michigan, a state Mr. McCain once had in his sights.

The apparent breadth of Mr. Obama’s sweep left Republicans sobered, and his showing in states like Ohio and Pennsylvania stood out because officials in both parties had said that his struggles there in the primary campaign reflected the resistance of blue-collar voters to supporting a black candidate.

“I always thought there was a potential prejudice factor in the state,” Senator Bob Casey, a Democrat of Pennsylvania who was an early Obama supporter, told reporters in Chicago. “I hope this means we washed that away.”

Mr. McCain called Mr. Obama at 10 p.m., Central time, to offer his congratulations. In the call, Mr. Obama said he was eager to sit down and talk; in his concession speech, Mr. McCain said he was ready to help Mr. Obama work through difficult times.

“I need your help,” Mr. Obama told his rival, according to an Obama adviser, Robert Gibbs. “You’re a leader on so many important issues.”

Mr. Bush called Mr. Obama shortly after 10 p.m. to congratulate him on his victory.

“I promise to make this a smooth transition,” the president said to Mr. Obama, according to a transcript provided by the White House .“You are about to go on one of the great journeys of life. Congratulations, and go enjoy yourself.”

For most Americans, the news of Mr. Obama’s election came at 11 p.m., Eastern time, when the networks, waiting for the close of polls in California, declared him the victor. A roar sounded from the 125,000 people gathered in Hutchison Field in Grant Park at the moment that they learned Mr. Obama had been projected the winner.

The scene in Phoenix was decidedly more sour. At several points, Mr. McCain, unsmiling, had to motion his crowd to quiet down — he held out both hands, palms down — when they responded to his words of tribute to Mr. Obama with boos.

Mr. Obama, who watched Mr. McCain’s speech from his hotel room in Chicago, offered a hand to voters who had not supported him in this election, when he took the stage 15 minutes later. “To those Americans whose support I have yet to earn,” he said, “I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your president, too.”

Initial signs were that Mr. Obama benefited from a huge turnout of voters, but particularly among blacks. That group made up 13 percent of the electorate, according to surveys of people leaving the polls, compared with 11 percent in 2006.

In North Carolina, Republicans said that the huge surge of African-Americans was one of the big factors that led to Senator Elizabeth Dole, a Republican, losing her re-election bid.

Mr. Obama also did strikingly well among Hispanic voters; Mr. McCain did worse among those voters than Mr. Bush did in 2004. That suggests the damage the Republican Party has suffered among those voters over four years in which Republicans have been at the forefront on the effort to crack down on illegal immigrants.

The election ended what by any definition was one of the most remarkable contests in American political history, drawing what was by every appearance unparalleled public interest.

Throughout the day, people lined up at the polls for hours — some showing up before dawn — to cast their votes. Aides to both campaigns said that anecdotal evidence suggested record-high voter turnout.

Reflecting the intensity of the two candidates, Mr. McCain and Mr. Obama took a page from what Mr. Bush did in 2004 and continued to campaign after the polls opened.

Mr. McCain left his home in Arizona after voting early Tuesday to fly to Colorado and New Mexico, two states where Mr. Bush won four years ago but where Mr. Obama waged a spirited battle.

These were symbolically appropriate final campaign stops for Mr. McCain, reflecting the imperative he felt of trying to defend Republican states against a challenge from Mr. Obama.

“Get out there and vote,” Mr. McCain said in Grand Junction, Colo. “I need your help. Volunteer, knock on doors, get your neighbors to the polls, drag them there if you need to.”

By contrast, Mr. Obama flew from his home in Chicago to Indiana, a state that in many ways came to epitomize the audacity of his effort this year. Indiana has not voted for a Democrat since President Lyndon B. Johnson’s landslide victory in 1964, and Mr. Obama made an intense bid for support there. He later returned home to Chicago to play basketball, his election-day ritual.

Elisabeth Bumiller contributed reporting from Phoenix, Marjorie Connelly from New York and Jeff Zeleny from Chicago.