panzwami

2

C (colors on inner portion reverse places. red becomes brown, yellow becomes grey. shape turns 180 degrees) edited to show my work.

First of all, don't get me wrong, I'm glad the Electoral College was there in 2000. Even so, I still think it should go away. Second, neither of those is an accurate example of the way the Electoral College works. The Presidential election is a one-shot, winner-take-all race. It's not a seven-game series played out over two weeks. If you want to liken it to a sporting event, try the Super Bowl. One shot, most points wins. You don't win best-of-four-quarters. The difference is that the Presidency is a national office. Senators, Representatives, Governors - these are all limited to certain states or districts. Someone living in the Texas 5th District doesn't get to vote for a Congressman in the California 14th. But, they both have the option of voting for the same Presidential candidate. The fact that a nationally-elected office could be filled in a manor other than that which reflects the will of the people is wrong IMHO. According to the State Department's website, the Framers shied away from a direct election because communication was poor and they were afraid people would only vote for people they knew locally: The framers of the U.S. constitution pondered several options for how to elect a president, including a direct popular vote. They rejected this procedure on the grounds that, given the poor state of communications and the large physical distances that separated the states, voters were likely to be familiar only with candidates from their state, and victories for a number of "favorite sons" might prevent the emergence of a single candidate. Either that, or the largest states would always dominate the process. Obviously, given today's technology and instant communications, that's no longer a very big concern. In addition, simply because the majority of the people in a state vote for a certain candidate, there's no guarantee that the electors chosen by that state will actually vote that way. It has happened in the past where electors have voted for someone other than the person for whom they were supposed to vote. I know it's rare and may seem trivial, but it's a realistic possibility and just adds one more way that the will of the people might not be done.

You have the Electoral College to thank for that one. Personally, I think the entire institution is outdated and should be removed completely, but that's another thread.

The LA Times came out with a poll a few days ago that showed Kerry leading Bush 48% to 42% with Nader in the race, 51% to 44% with Nader out of the race. Major news organizations immediately jumped on the story with headlines such as "Kerry Increases Lead over Bush." The only problem is that the poll, which was purported to be an accurate representation of the will of the public, was actually anything but accurate: It's plainly obvious that this poll doesn't show anything, except that Democrats like Kerry, but it was still being taken entirely at face value and proclaimed the voice of the people. Once again, the media feels a need not to let facts stand in the way of a good story.

you're with me? Actually, I think it's completely appropriate that it has received the coverage that it has. I'm wondering if there are those out there that disagree, and if so, why.

in response to something surprising: "well dip me in honey and throw me to the lesbians!"

Given all the commentary that has been publicly offered recently, does anyone honestly think that the coverage of President Reagan's memorial has been excessive? Dan and Tom and Peter have felt the need to pontificate on the subject, but I'm wondering if anyone feels it's actually the case.

yeah, it seems like nowadays the prudent course of action is to check with Snopes before posting something like that. It's pretty much assured that if you don't, the next post will be from someone who did.

Not supposed to go around bombing hospitals and ambulances. But troops in the field could be on fire with their colon falling out, but if they're trying to get away, finish them off. I think is has a lot to do with the situation. You're not allowed simply to shoot POW's, but if an enemy POW under your guard suddenly reaches for your gun, he goes from non-combatant POW to combatant enemy, and you are allowed to drop him with extreme prejudice.

Well, it is well-established common knowledge that the members of the United States Armed Forces love nothing better than killing innocent civilians without any cause whatsoever. Don't you read American newspapers? [/sarcasm]

Is it an actual speed limit sign (white with black lettering), or just an advisory sign (yellow with black lettering)? If the former, she was speeding. If the latter, she can argue it in court, because those yellow signs merely suggest safe speeds, but are not concrete speed limits.

2:0:0 2 - Life is good 0 - too busy boxing up my life 0 - no jumps, no firsts Moving to ATLANTA on Thursday! Woohoo!!

If you're serious, that's about the most naive thing I've ever heard. Tell you what, I'll let you figure it out. Seriously, though, how does this not outrage the entire world? Are there civilized people out there that think this is acceptible? And if not, why aren't other countries jumping up and saying "enough is enough"?

It's time to throw the ROE's out the window and let the Marines inflict some pain. Serious, no kidding, pound-me-in-the-ass pain. Mr. Car Battery, meet Mr. Testicle.

That's precisely my point. There is absolutely *zero* accountability for actions such as these. Why should someone bother going to work and putting forth any effort when it is so much easier to let someone else pay for it? The concepts of shame and dignity have taken a back seat to unbridaled laziness.

I'll be there!

Both my parents are former Air Force officers. My father graduated from the Academy in 1969 and retired in 1999 as a Colonel, and my mother went to OTS after school after her brother, an F-4 back-seater, was shot down and captured in Vietnam. Both went to Southeast Asia. They made absolutely sure that on my 18th birthday I was in line at the Post Office registering for the draft. If the call was issued, I would report for duty, no question.

It just makes one wonder at what point society no longer has a duty to make up for someone else's mistakes. Will there ever be a line drawn beyond which people are forced to take responsibility for themselves?

Yep, same here. I've got a 150 main but a 170 reserve, which I plan on keeping.

1:4:0

"Good afternoon, thank you for calling Hell." "Why yes, sir, as a matter of fact we have frozen over."

Does this mean that you've previously done 90 riser turns on final with bad landings?

He definitely shared something. I dunno if you'd call it "feelings", though.

1:2:1 1: Damn she was hot 2: Only got 8.5k, but good skydives still 1: Landed off for the first time. Beer money was ready before I even got back to the hangar.