The vast majority of the political entries on Snopes tends to be negatory, which should not be a surprise. After all, most of the political rumors out there are simply mass produced hitjobs against one candidate or political figure or another. That's why when you actually run across something true, it's not only a surprise but, in this case, incredibly entertaining as well.

Claim: The numbers 6-6-6 were the winning combination in an Illinois lottery the day after Election Day 2008.

Status: True.

One of the more interesting (if obscure) coincidences connected with the 2008 U.S. presidential election had to do with lottery numbers in Illinois. On 5 November 2008, the day after Election Day, the winning numbers in that state's Evening Pick 3
lottery draw were 6-6-6 — a string of digits traditionally held to represent the "Number of the Beast" as described in the New Testament's Book of Revelation. When one considers that the winner of the previous day's presidential election was Barack Obama, who began his political career in Illinois and represents that state in the U.S. Senate, and who was the subject of a spurious election year rumor positing that he matched the Book of Revelation's description of the anti-Christ, well ... it might all seem a bit eerie.

You know, if he does turn out to be the anti-christ (and the jury's still out on that), then this'll get a lot of play as an early sign in any tv movie about the topic. I hadn't heard of this particular point of fact before finding it on Snopes and I can only hope that it's getting a good deal of circulation. In addition to being funny, I sort of like the idea that there might be some evangelicals out there using it as a talking point. Hell, the enemy of my enemy is my friend, right?

On a sidenote, I never thought I would have the opportunity to use the '666' tag again. How many times does that come up as a topic of discussion after all. Not to segway too much, but I really wish I could clean up the lj tags a little better sometimes. It just looks like a mess with so many that only have a single entry. Not to mention I'm hardly consistent and I only started tagging a few years into blogging. I tried back-tagging but gave up after a while. It's incredibly tedious to go through old entries trying to tag them all and i'm not sure it serves a real purpose anyway.

All of a sudden I'm reminded of a night court episode from way back. A nutjob comes into the court and claims if you play a certain album backwards it was a message from satan. He plays it and of course it sounds like gobbilygook but he claims it says, 'I am the devil, the devil is good.'.

What does that have to do with anything? Zilch. But at least it's devil related on 6:66 of 6/6/6.

On a sidenote, I thought this was sorta amusing. It looks like moms are avoiding this hardly auspcious day for childbirth.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Around the country, some superstitious mothers-to-be took steps Tuesday to make sure their babies were not born on the most bedeviling of dates, 6-6-6.

In New York, "people are canceling left and right because of what today represents," said Liza Washington, an administrative assistant at Children's Hospital of the New York-Presbyterian Medical Center. More than a dozen deliveries were postponed because of 666, which is said to be the "Number of the Beast" in the Bible's book of Revelation.

Julie Haley, 33, of Reading, Massachusetts, went into labor Monday. As of Tuesday afternoon, she still had not given birth.

"We were going to try to get it out before midnight or I was going to keep my legs closed," she said. "I don't want her to have that stigma for the rest of her life. When she gets older, her friends would say that anything bad would be because of her birthdate."

Party in Hell planned for 6-6-06

Saturday, June 3, 2006; Posted: 8:40 p.m. EDT (00:40 GMT)

HELL, Michigan (AP) -- They're planning a hot time in Hell on Tuesday.

The day bears the date of 6-6-06, or abbreviated as 666 -- a number that carries hellish significance.

And there's not a snowball's chance in Hell that the day will go unnoticed in the unincorporated hamlet 60 miles west of Detroit.

Nobody is more fired up than John Colone, the town's self-styled mayor and owner of a souvenir shop.

"I've got `666' T-shirts and mugs. I'm only ordering 666 (of the items) so once they're gone, that's it," said Colone, also known as Odum Plenty. "Everyone who comes will get a letter of authenticity saying you've celebrated June 6, 2006, in Hell."

Most of Colone's wares will sell for $6.66, including deeds to one square inch of Hell.

Live entertainment and a costume contest are planned. The Gates of Hell should be installed at a children's play area in time for the festivities.

"They're 8 feet tall and 5 foot wide and each gate looks like flames, and when they're closed, it's a devil's head," Colone told The Detroit News for a Saturday story.

...

The 666 revelry is just the latest chapter in the town's storied history of publicity stunts, said Jason LeTeff, one of its 72 year-round residents -- or, as the mayor calls them, Hellions or Hell-billies.

Now that sounds like it could be entertaining. Of course, it's a wee bit extreme to have to travel all the way to farging michigan on a lark. There should be a Hell, New Jersey to make things more convienant and if there isn't one, then Newark should be renamed. Not only would it be fun, but many would argue that it would be a far more apt name anyway for that cesspool.

Considering how small the town seems to be, I can also see this as the start for a new reality tv show. 'Trapped in Hell!' where you grab a buncha urbanites and make them spend a year there and see who goes completely insane from the boredom first.