Tracking voter trends and results can be interesting prior to and after the polls close.  For pre vote day info try:  http://www.electoral-vote.com/
To follow local results try: http://www.clintoncountypa.com/voter.htm
There will be many sites for state and national tracking.
 

	Remember Freedom Isn't Free Make Time To Vote

Even knowing that DR. DAVID R. KAMERSCHEN was not the author of this lesson I didn't change my mind about posting the story.  I thought it might stir some passions and responses.

The lesson...
Some politicians and journalists exclaim; "It's just a tax cut for the rich!" and it is just accepted to be fact.

But what does that really mean?  Just in case you are not completely clear on this issue, I hope the following will help. Please read it carefully.  Let's put tax cuts in terms everyone can understand.

Suppose that every day, ten men go out for dinner and the bill for all ten comes to $100.  If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this: 

The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.

The fifth would pay $1.

The sixth would pay $3.

The seventh would pay $7.

The eighth would pay $12.

The ninth would pay $18.

The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that's what they decided to do.

The ten men ate dinner in the restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve.

"Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20." Dinner for the ten now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes so the first four men were unaffected.  They would still eat for free. But what about the other six men - the paying customers? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his 'fair share?'

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody's share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to eat their meal.

So, the restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man's bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:

The fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% savings).

The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).

The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).

The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).

The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).

The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

"I only got a dollar out of the $20," declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man," but he got $10!"

"Yeah, that's right," exclaimed the fifth man. "I only saved a dollar, too. It's unfair that he got ten times more than me!"

"That's true!!" shouted the seventh man. "Why should he get $10 back when I got only two?  The wealthy get all the breaks!"

"Wait a minute," yelled the first four men in unison. "We didn't get anything at all. The system exploits
the poor!"

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn't show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn't have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how our tax system works. The people who pay the highest taxes get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start eating overseas where the atmosphere is less taxing.

Shannon could hear the footsteps behind her as she walked toward home.
The thought of being followed made her heart beat faster.  "You're being silly," she told herself, "no one is following you." To be safe, she began to walk faster, but the footsteps kept up with her pace.  She was afraid to look back and she was glad she was almost home.  Shannon said a quick prayer, "God please get me home safe."
She saw the porch light burning and she leaned against the door for a moment, relieved to be in the safety of her home.  She glanced out the window to see if anyone was there.  The sidewalk was empty.  After tossing her books on the sofa, she decided to grab a snack and get on-line.  She logged on under her screen name ByAngel213.  She checked her Buddy List and saw GoTo123 was on.  She sent him an instant message:
ByAngel213: Hi.  I'm glad you are on!  I thought someone was following me home today.  It was really weird!
GoTo123: LOL You watch too much TV.  Why would someone be following you.  Don 't you live in a safe neighborhood?
ByAngel213: Of course I do.  LOL I guess it was my imagination cuz' I didn't see anybody when I looked out.
GoTo123: Unless you gave your name out on-line.  You haven't done that have you?
ByAngel213: Of course not.  I'm not stupid you know.
GoTo123: Did you have a softball game after school today?
ByAngel213: Yes and we won!!
GoTo123: That's great!  Who did you play?
ByAngel213: We played the Hornets.  LOL.  Their uniforms are so gross!  They look like bees.  LOL GoTo123: What is your team called?
ByAngel213: We are the Canton Cats.  We have tiger paws on our uniforms.  They are really cool.
GoTo123: Did you pitch?
ByAngel213: No I play second base.  I got to go.  My homework has to be done before my parents get home.  I don't want them mad at me.  Bye!
GoTo123: Catch you later.  Bye Meanwhile......  GoTo123 went to the member menu and began to search for her profile.  When it came up, he highlighted it and printed it out.  He took out a pen and began to write down what he knew about Angel so far:
Her name: Shannon Birthday: Jan.  3, 1985, Age: 13, State where she lived: North Carolina, Hobbies: softball, chorus, skating and going to the mall.
Besides this information, he knew she lived in Canton because she had just told him.  He knew she stayed by herself until 6:30 p.m.  every afternoon until her parents came home from work.  He knew she played softball on Thursday afternoons on the school team, and the team was named the Canton Cats.  Her favorite number 7 was printed on her jersey.  He knew she was in the eighth grade at the Canton Junior High School.  She had told him all this in the conversations they had on-line.  He had enough information to find her now.
Shannon didn't tell her parents about the incident on the way home from the ball park that day.  She didn't want them to make a scene and stop her from walking home from the softball games.  Parents were always overreacting and hers were the worst.  It made her wish she was not an only child.  Maybe if she had brothers and sisters, her parents wouldn't be so over protective.
By Thursday, Shannon had forgotten about the footsteps following her.  Her game was in full swing when suddenly she felt someone staring at her.  It was then that the memory came back.  She glanced up from her second base position to see a man watching her closely.  He was leaning against the fence behind first base and he smiled when she looked at him.  He didn't look scary and she quickly dismissed the fear she had felt.
After the game, he sat on a bleacher while she talked to the coach.  She noticed his smile once again as she walked past him.  He nodded and she smiled back.  He noticed her name on the back of her shirt.  He knew he had found her.  Quietly, he walked a safe distance behind her.  It was only a few blocks to Shannon's home, and once he saw where she lived he quickly returned to the park to get his car.  Now he had to wait.
He decided to get a bite to eat until the time came to go to Shannon's house.  He drove to a fast food restaurant and sat there until time to make his move.
Shannon was in her room later that evening when she heard voices in the living room.  "Shannon, come here," her father called.  He sounded upset and she couldn't imagine why.  She went into the room to see the man from the ballpark sitting on the sofa.
"Sit down," her father began, "this man has just told us a most interesting story about you." Shannon sat back.  How could he tell her parents anything?  She had never seen him before today!
"Do you know who I am, Shannon?" the man asked.
No," Shannon answered.
"I am a police officer and your online friend, GoTo123."
Shannon was stunned.  "That's impossible!  GoTo is a kid my age!  He's 14 and he lives in Michigan!"
The man smiled.  "I know I told you all that, but it wasn't true.  You see, Shannon, there are people on-line who pretend to be kids; I was one of them.  But while others do it to find kids and hurt them, I belong to a group of parents who do it to protect kids from predators.  I came here to find you to teach you how dangerous it is to talk to people on-line.  You told me enough about yourself to make it easy for me to find you.  Your name, the school you went to, the name of your ball team and the position you played.  The number and name on your jersey just made finding you a breeze."
Shannon was stunned.  "You mean you don't live in Michigan?"
He laughed.  "No, I live in Raleigh.  It made you feel safe to think I was so far away, didn't it?"
She nodded.
"I had a friend whose daughter was like you.  Only she wasn't as lucky.  The guy found her and murdered her while she was home alone. 
Kids are taught not to tell anyone when they are alone, yet they do it all the time on-line.  The wrong people trick you into giving out information a little here and a little there on-line.  Before you know it, you have told them enough for them to find you without even realizing you have done it.  I hope you've learned a lesson from this and won't do it again.

As an example, one of our home computers started, just ever so gradually, to make a sound while it was on.  At first, it was just a quiet little hum, but as time went on, it increased.  And so did our tolerance.  Funny how a gradual graying of the hair isn’t noticeable as you look in the mirror each morning but when you’re about to go to a high school reunion and get out some old pictures, you realize how much you’ve changed!  Well, the hum was somewhat like that – a little more each day, barely noticeable. 

When my husband took the computer apart to add a video card, he thought he may as well blow out the dust, while he had the cover off.  Well, guess what!  When he put the case back on and turned it on, NO NOISE!  The fan had been working overtime to push the dust around that was hanging on it.  And if the fan stops, your computer will eventually get too hot and burn up a chip, rendering it useless.

I’m sure you have all heard, if it “ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”  So, if nothing is wrong and the computer seems to be running with no problems, don’t do too much tinkering.  However, here is a list of little things you can do to prevent future problems or even improve performance when you didn’t know it could be improved.

1. Keep dust away from the computers and everywhere around them.

2. Keep wires and leads tidy and out of harm's way as much as possible.

3. Make sure each computer case has plenty of ventilation around it, and that it is standing on a firm base.

4. Don't let your computer workspaces get cluttered up.

5. Don't eat or drink anywhere near the computer, printers, scanners, or keyboards. (Difficult I know, but any crumbs in the keyboard or spilled drinks on the case or keyboard can do a lot of damage.)

6. Don't move the computers around when they are switched on. If you have to move them, shut them down first.

7. And, if your computer is more than a year old, it will have dust in it that should be removed.  The little fan(s) inside bring air in and back out again to cool the chips.  The newer the computer the hotter the chips run and the better the possibility for it to have 2 or even 3 fans.  If you can carefully take the cover off and carefully BLOW the dust out – do not vacuum it out – that will go a long way to keeping these fans working efficiently.  Canned air is good for this job, but at least blowing with your breath and picking dust out is better than ignoring the dirt.

There may be other similar steps you can take, but the essence is, keep the computer area clean and clutter-free.

As to software and the operating systems themselves, there is much more you can do. 
1. Keep the computers virus free and protected by firewalls.  This is the most important.  Your anti-virus program must be updated almost daily.  If you don’t have yours set to automatically update, then go to the program and update the “virus definitions” every time you go on the Internet.  We’ve talked with people that think, because they have a new computer with an anti-virus program already loaded, that it doesn’t need updated.  Unless you bought your computer from a friend that installed and updated the program the day you bought it, by the time you get a computer from the store, there are many days of updates that should be downloaded.

2. Keep the computer Operating Systems (OS) up to date.  Microsoft recently extended their support to the public for Windows 98, 98SE, and Windows Me. You can read it here: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?pr=LifeAn1

3. Get rid of any unwanted or temporary files.

4. Keep the files you intend to retain on your computers tidy and easier to access by the OS.

5. Make sure you and your children understand the "best practices" for Internet surfing, downloading and sharing files, viewing emails, and
installing applications.

6. Install Anti-Adware protection and Spyware protection.  Adware places annoying "pop-ups" on your computer, advertising whatever they are meant to advertise. They also place programs on your computer that record your surfing habits, so they can target the ads you get when you visit web sites. I think the best anti-adware program around is Ad-Aware by www.lavasoftusa.com. It is free. Again it needs its definitions updated regularly, and the computers scanned, but perhaps not so often, say once a month.

7.  You also need spyware protection. Spyware also spies on your surfing habits, but can steal details from you. There are two anti spyware products, both free, and they compliment each other. They are Spybot Search & Destroy from www.spybot.info/en/index.html.   Download an install, check for updates and scan regularly, and Spyware Blaster, from www.javacoolsoftware.com/ Again, download and install, and update it. You don't perform scans with this program. It immunizes your computer in a different way, but it needs updating regularly.

Understand what you are doing, and keep up the housekeeping regularly. Community forums and technical forums are a great source of information if you have any problems or difficulties, and all of the moderators are keen and experienced in what they do and the advice they give.  If you are uncomfortable with any of the maintenance items I have suggested, call a repair center or call KCnet’s repair department.  Anyone who works on computers can schedule you for maintenance to keep your running and trouble-free.

Until next week...

KCnet Board Of Directors Officers:   President Judy Yoho, Vice President Bill Raco, Secretary Donna Lannan, and Treasurer Don Miller.    Other members of the board:  Carsten Jon Ahrens, Fred Bierly, R.  Keith Kelly, Paul Korn, Amy Lapriola, Tom Livingston,  Ray McGill,  Bob Rolley, and Rich Wykoff.