2. George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush would be the first father/son pair of presidents since John Adams and John Quincy Adams. The younger Adams's administration was ineffective and he was defeated after one term.

3. G.W. says, "I will swear to uphold the dignity of the office." In Britain's conservative Spectator, Philip Delves Broughton notes that G.W. "still finds breaking wind in front of his friends hilarious."

4. As a youth, G.W. inserted firecrackers in frogs and watched them explode.

5. While president of Yale fraternity Delta Epsilon Kappa, G.W. defended its practice of branding new pledges, causing second-degree burns, saying this left "no scarring mark physically or mentally."

6 In Texas, G.W. "has fried so many convicts they shouldn't call him Governor, they should call him the Colonel." -- Jay Leno.

7. G.W. on how he deliberates about executions: "I get the facts, weigh them thoughtfully and carefully, and decide." According to a New York Times examination of G.W.'s schedule, this takes about 15 minutes.

8. G.W. signed a Texas law permitting the use of concealed weapons.

9. He told a reporter in 1994 that only Christians will go to heaven.

10. He bought a house with a deed restricting ownership to "white persons only."

11. He has been endorsed by Newt Gingrich. Also by aliens, according to the National Enquirer. And by right-wing activist Paul Weyrich, who is grateful for an advisory role in the Bush campaign: "Jack Kemp already knew everything. Bob Dole was cynical. George Bush has a certain naivete that is refreshing."

12. The Bush tax-cut plan: A family making US$80,000 a year will get less than US$20 a week off its taxes, calculates economist Paul Krugman. A family making US$1-million gets US$1,000 a week.

13. G.W. says he will "do anything I can to defend the power of private property and private property rights." He and his partners in the Texas Rangers baseball club used the power of the state to seize private property for a new stadium and surrounding land for office and retail development.

14. Bush-speak: "Families is where our nation takes hope, where wings take dream." "I know how hard it is for you to put food on your family." "We ought to make the pie higher." "Reading is the basics of all learning."

15. Texas ranks 41st among all states in per capita spending on public education. Asked to identify some schools where Mr. Bush's touted educational reforms could be witnessed, a spokesman for the Texas Educational Authority told Britain's Financial Times: "We don't know what the [Bush] campaign is talking about when they talk about reforms. You had better ask them."

16. Texas ranks 48th in spending on public health, and first in the number of children not covered by health insurance.

17. Texas leads the United States in the number of factories that are violating clean-water standards, in toxic chemical accidents and in cancer-causing pollution.

18. G.W. once sold US$848,560 worth of stock in an energy company only two months before it disclosed a huge drop in profits, causing its stock to tumble, and failed to report this insider trading to the Securities and Exchange Commission for eight months, saying the paperwork had been misplaced.

19. He once served on the board of a company that produces slasher movies.

20. English/Dubya lexicon: "Subliminable" for subliminal, "terriors" for tariffs, "vile" for viable, "Slovenian" for Slovakian, "Grecians" for Greeks.

21. G.W. says the United States should prod "our European friends to become the peacekeepers," insisting it's time they shouldered some of the burden in the Balkans. They already provide more than 80% of the troops and 90% of the funding for that mission.

22. On how he would deal with an international crisis: "I would get in touch with all the officials, both here and at home."

23. "If you're sick and tired of the politics of cynicism and polls and principles, come and join this campaign." -- G.W.

24. As managing general partner of the Texas Rangers, he signed off on the trade of slugger Sammy Sosa for journeyman Harold Baines.

25. Favourite movie: Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. G.W. cracks up friends with his impression of Dr. Evil, but says his real affinity is with the character's miniature clone, Mini Me.

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