Bambikiller240

AFAIK, the Voltage Regulator switches based on voltage, not amps. I doubt it cares about the amperage much. (But I am no expert)

What are you talking about??

There is a way to fix it. we just missed a huge chance to fix it. nw we are stuck waiting for another 4 years (barring a plane crash, and a heart imploding) before another opportunity. I guess you guys don't like analogies, but here's mine. The good ship America is a sound vessel, but the rudder is broken and a mad man is in the Wheelhouse. I hope the rudder can be fixed and the captain replaced before the ship runs aground and is dashed to bit on the rocks. The reef grows ever closer. The Grand Lady deserves a better fate than that. Andrew: The pictures disturb me also, but millions of people sitting comfortably in their living rooms in the USA, Britain, AND EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD should think about those pictures and realize exactly what waging this war means to the people closest to it. Families of military, the general population that gets caught in the middle of firefights, etc. There are few winners. (Bechtel, Halliburton, etc)

,, 20 mil wouldn't even start to get her wet. see THIS SITE May I mark you down for the first contribution?

Hi Rick: You most certainly are far from being an uncultured Aussie, but I completely understand your curiousity about the Electoral process. There are many in the USA who don't understand it's workings, and in some cases they don't even know it exists. Rather than stumbling over my own words, I found the following information that should explain it better than I can. I hope it answers your question. Current Workings of the Electoral College The current workings of the Electoral College are the result of both design and experience. As it now operates: Each State is allocated a number of Electors equal to the number of its U.S. Senators (always 2) plus the number of its U.S. Representatives (which may change each decade according to the size of each State's population as determined in the Census). The political parties (or independent candidates) in each State submit to the State's chief election official a list of individuals pledged to their candidate for president and equal in number to the State's electoral vote. Usually, the major political parties select these individuals in their State party conventions while third parties and independent candidates merely designate theirs. Members of Congress and employees of the federal government are prohibited from serving as an Elector in order to maintain the balance between the legislative and executive branches of the federal government. After their caucuses and primaries, the major parties nominate their candidates for president and vice president in their national conventions - traditionally held in the summer preceding the election. (Third parties and independent candidates follow different procedures according to the individual State laws). The names of the duly nominated candidates are then officially submitted to each State's chief election official so that they might appear on the general election ballot. On the Tuesday following the first Monday of November in years divisible by four, the people in each State cast their ballots for the party slate of Electors representing their choice for president and vice president (although as a matter of practice, general election ballots normally say "Electors for" each set of candidates rather than list the individual Electors on each slate). Whichever party slate wins the most popular votes in the State becomes that State's Electors - so that, in effect, whichever presidential ticket gets the most popular votes in a State wins all the Electors of that State. (The two exceptions to this are Maine and Nebraska where two Electors are chosen by a statewide popular vote and remainder by the popular vote within each Congressional district). On the Monday following the second Wednesday of December (as established in federal law) each State's Electors meet in their respective State capitals and cast their electoral votes - one for president and one for vice president. In order to prevent Electors from voting only for "favorite sons" of their home State, at least one of their votes must be for a person from outside their State (though this is seldom a problem since the parties have consistently nominated presidential and vice presidential candidate from different States). The electoral votes are then sealed and transmitted from each State to the President of the Senate who, on the following January 6, opens and reads them before both houses of the Congress. The candidate for president with the most electoral votes, provided that it is an absolute majority (one over half of the total), is declared president. Similarly, the vice presidential candidate with the absolute majority of electoral votes is declared vice president. In the event no one obtains an absolute majority of electoral votes for president, the U.S. House of Representatives (as the chamber closest to the people) selects the president from among the top three contenders with each State casting only one vote and an absolute majority of the States being required to elect. Similarly, if no one obtains an absolute majority for vice president, then the U.S. Senate makes the selection from among the top two contenders for that office. At noon on January 20, the duly elected president and vice president are sworn into office. Occasionally questions arise about what would happen if the presidential or vice presidential candidate died at some point in this process. For answers to these, as well as to a number of other "what if" questions, readers are advised to consult a small volume entitle After the People Vote: Steps in Choosing the President edited by Walter Berns and published in 1983 by the American Enterprise Institute. Similarly, further details on the history and current functioning of the Electoral College are available in the second edition of Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections, a real goldmine of information, maps, and statistics. More Information can be found at the Jackson County Election Board

Sadly, by the time politicians are sujected to the vagaries of the Electoral college, they have all become well versed in all of the things you have mentioned. And even more sadly, most of the citizens who do vote (51%) don't understand the Electoral sytem, and as judged by recent examples, they haven't learned how to vote well either. In reality his name is George Walker Bush, though he's more commonly called "Dubya", which is how the "W" is pronounced with a Texas accent. It also just seems to fit the pronunciation challenged little worm.

There are at least 3 sizes of T.O. bearing collars out there. Throw-Out bearing collar information can be found at THIS WEBSITE

But you do not break down the front door of a peaceful family who has been living in the USA for over 10 years, has never been in any kind of trouble, own their own peaceful and lawful business, and who came to this country as political refugees to get away from the repression that you describe. You don't lock them (adults and children} in a federal Detention center without access to legal representation, withhold food and medical atention from them and keep them there indefinately. You don't force an American Citizen (born and raised here, but with an Arabic name) to strip naked in an airport for no other reason than their name sounds Arabic. Both situations have happened more than once. You don't send undercover police into a peaceful demonstration and allow them to MACE the peaceful protesters in order to incite a riot. You don't allow the same undercover police to infiltrate a group organizing a peaceful demonstration and have those officers suggest setting up fake bombs to scare the public, or to suggest that the demonstrators gang-up and attack the uniformed police along the parade route. All of this (and more) has been done under the name of the Patriot Act. Did anyone come into North America and "free" us from our oppressor? What happened the last time we tried to export our way of governemnt to another country? I am not a fan of Saddam, but there are many people in Iraq who do not want the form of government that we have chosen for them. Are there any other democracies in the region? NO. Is this not a foreign concept to their culture? YES! Remember, these people are from a far different culture than ours, they have different beliefs than ours. We should look at it from their viewpoint. I must diagree. I think we are forcing it upon them. The leaders of the intrim government are dodging bullets because many of their own people do not want this process to continue. Yes, there are people from other countries fighting against us in Iraq. That should tell you something. Not only are we failing to acheive our goal in Iraq, we are making more enemies in other countries. The "plan" (if you can really call it a plan) is FAILING on many levels. Democracy works relatively well here (I'm relatively satisfied with it, but there sure as hell is room to improve!), but that is absolutely no guarantee that it will work or is appropriate in Iraq or anywhere else. And why should we care if there is democracy in Iraq? Our executive branch doesn't seem to care if there is a democracy in North Korea, China, Russia, or countless other countries around the world who oppress their citizens. Interesting how this one country was "chosen" to receive the gift. Perhaps people should ask the question, Why do these countries not agree with our stance? Are we right all the time? Are they wrong all the time? We are viewed in a different light by other countries than how we perceive ourselves. Not all of the countries who feel we are wrong in this situation were benfiting through the backdoor. Some were, to be sure, but not all. By far, not all. Take a look around the world. We are rapidly running out of friends. There is a reason. Nap time, G'night

If this war is not about religion, why have so many innocent people of Middle Eastern extraction been victimized by the "Patriot Act"? It seems that "someone" thinks it's about religion. Yes, the Middle East is capable of financing just about anything they wish to. They are also capable of governing themselves in what ever manner THEY choose. So why do we insist they live in a democracy, and try to stuff it down their throats? Much of what 280z says has been corroborated by people in the Pentagon, Intelligence Agencies, and the 911 Comission. He's not as misinformed as some people would like to think. If we are so right in the path that our leaders have chosen, why doen't the majority of the rest of the world agree with what we are doing? Are we right and they are all wrong? Talk about a narrow-minded approach to things. (I'm talking about our government here, not anyone in the discussion) No wonder we are called Arrogant Americans! Last but not least, in regard to mistakes made..........it all depends on IF they are really "mistakes" and not part of a hidden agenda to accomplish other things. Warnings were sounded about many of the "mistakes" by people in our own government, intelligence agencies, and military and yet the "mistakes" were implemented without regard to the warnings.

Marty: Here is their website. It's really just a contact page (they say new site is coming soon) but there is a 800 number you can call for information. http://www.stracing.com/

Whenever foolish statements are made I will continue to point them out. You are free to ignore them.

Love the avatar Michael! Bill, get real. The reason Bush got more votes than anyone in history is that the number of people of voting age, and excercising their franchise is growing. This happens every four years, and will continue to happen. It means nothing. I suspect that Kerry received more votes than any other losing candidate also.

Would you have said the same thing if the election had turned out differently? I think not. It would have been the same democracy in action.

Mike: You are wrong. The thread has been here for a year and a half. It was not political. My post urging people to vote may have appeared to be political since voting is political, but I never suggested that anyone vote for any one person. Just that they vote. I've said repeatedly on this site that I don't like Bush or Kerry and neither of them got my vote. If you think differently, fine. I couldn't care less. You can have your opinion as I have mine. If you think that terrorists are not here, you are sadly mistaken. They have been here for many years (long before 9-11, and they are still here). If you think fighting them "far away from US soil" wil prevent them from continuing to come over here you are very sadly mistaken. It encourages them. Either way, we will likely be fighting them for decades. Most likley here AND there. It isn't like they have to ship an army halfway around the world to attack us. That has been proven several times. Having our armies deployed around the world does nothing to prevent their arrival. It encourages them. However, in case you hadn't noticed, the "terrorists" who implemented 9-11 didn't come from Iraq, and weren't financed by Iraq either. That honor goes to our allies Saudi Arabia. But the longer we are in Iraq, it becomes more likely that Iraqi's will attack us at home. If you were in the military, then you know that the soldiers voluteered to be in the armed forces to protect and defend our country, they most assuredly do not volunteer to wage this war, they go where they are ordered. Many of our soldiers in the Middle East joined the National Guard with little expectation that they could be shipped thousands of miles away (2 or more tours of duty in some cases). Many of the soldiers did not expect their enlistment to be extended far beyond the contract they signed, they also didn't expect to be called back to the service YEARS after having performed their obligation and been honorably discharged

I voted last week and mailed in my ballot. I am set up as a permanent absentee voter because they keep changing my voting location, and my work schedule was making it difficult to get to the polls. Like GunnerRob, I have voted in every election since 1970 when I became old enough to vote.

You sure got that right, Steve! (Thanks, Will)

Which makes their sacrifice even more worthy of note. But make no mistake, not all of them support the decisions that put them there. (51% is a statistical majority) The bullets and bombs that take their lives don't select them based on their personal politics. These men and women are sacrificed for someone elses politics. And they have mine. In spite of my lack of support for the politics (of BOTH parties) that put them there and will keep them there.

I don't know, Vicky. I'm watching the news on NYC TV stations and they are already saying that results in some "key" states are coming in. I think that statements will be made, but I'm not so sure that they will really mean much until tomorrow at the earliest. As for the mechanics of voting, I must agree with you. I preferred the punch cards. Even as an absentee voter (without the machine) I had no real problems making sure the "chads" were completely detached. On the news radio this morning, someone was saying that there were voting machines in PA that had votes for one candidate already in memory before the polls opened. That kind of stuff, and the lack of checks and balances, a paper trail, etc concern me greatly. Computer glitches happen, and with no way to verify/recreate data some votes may not be counted, others may be counted twice and we will never know.

It's all HORSESHIT to me

Finding a unused garage is not a bad idea, but it is very difficult to do in a college/university/tourist town like Santa Cruz. Marc's concerns about noise/access issues are quite valid. When I was in the Navy, a friend and I rented a garage and noise of parking late at night was a huge issue.

So then what was the point of your post? This thread was about deaths to Military personnel. Discussion of disease and accidents was/is off topic. Your political commments added in your subsequent posts go a long way toward explaining your agenda. PS, since I started this thread and have maintained it, it is MY thread. Start your own Dr Schweitzer!

Will: I think that Monica would disagree....didn't she say he had a little appendage? Yes, he is gone, but Republicans everywhere still grouse about him. He's sitting home laughing that even though he's been out of power for 4 years now, he's still got some peoples shorts all bunched up. Oh, and I cannot let it pass without pointing out that while true that Bill didn't grasp the concept of "IS", GWB's pal Carl "The Thug" Rove couldn't answer questions about if he knew someone without the word "KNOW" being defined for him. All to make the point that there are scumbags all over the place. You just have to make an effort to look for them.

Vicky: Have you read, or otherwise learned of all the problems with the electronic voting systems that are being used? These issues make the "chad" thing look like a minor thing. The sad part is that the people in governemnt know about the problems and have chosen to use these systems anyway. This election could easily be stolen by one or the other of the parties. (these problems are not just in FL, but in several other states/localities as well.)

The pupose of this thread is and was to honor these men and women. I encouraged people to vote (I didn't/don't care who you vote for) with the memory of their loss in mind God knows why Tom took exception to to this thread. Then wanting to find a way to equate their sacrifice with accident victims, and people who are aflicted by disease. The big difference is that their deaths could have been avoided by one single decision having been made differently. A decision that many experts (even the CIA) say was flawed. No one gives a $^!# who someone from another country would vote for. The citizens of THIS country can control their own destiny. It's just a lot easier to do when you are well informed, and not blinded by smokescreens put up by people with another agenda. Tom: Notice that neither candidates name was ever used in this thread by me. (and neither got a vote from me). It was you that polluted this thread with politics.