To be fair I only really watch it now, for research purposes, or to check something out.
2018 Presidential Election
- Thread starter Marky Bunny
- Start date
MaxGerke01
Banned
Anything on the NFL in general and Superbowls in particular ? Also were the Olympiads held in the same years and locations? Any differences to Star Trek and Star Wars ? Did Facebook become a thing or is it Myspace or something else ?
For example, if you had just typed "Olympics" into a search of this thread, you would have found that I had made a post three weeks ago that would have linked to the complete lists for the Olympics in the "notes" section.
I've seen some sources stating that Reagan's incapacitation began in August and some in September. What is the definitive answer?
August. I must have gotten mixed-up doing Bush's infobox since he has a September birthday.
I think it was written that Reagan went into hospital in July, then had a stroke in August (Saturday August 17th 1985) is the date I had.
Someone posted about Toby wiritng a book about the crisis which was called "Sunday August 18, 1985." Bush's infobox says his tenure began the 19th of September. In the real world, Reagan did undergo suregry on July 13, 1985 and IRL Bush was acting president for the day. Perhaps we could use an IRL event for POD and say there was a problem with the anesthesia that caused the stroke (which does happen sometimes).
That's where I got the Saturday August 17th date from. It's just a mis-type on the Bush Wki-box which lord caedus has explained. Those dates do make sense.
Here is the history of the Scottish Parliament including an update from 2016.
The Scottish Parliament
In 1996 the Scotland Act was passed by the House of Commons, and following a referendum that the Scottish public voted overwhelmingly in favour of the establishment of the parliament, the first elections were held in May 1997. The parliament terms were altered from the initial 4 year length in 2001 to five year terms so that the Welsh and Northern Irish elections would also occur at the same time. Therefore the elections have been held in 1997,2001, 2006 and 2011. In that time, the Labour party had a Lab-Lib coalition from 1997-2001, a minority government from 2001-06, and entered coalition with the SNP as the largest party in a shock result after the 2006 elections. In 2011, the SNP remained the largest party, and entered coalition talks with first the Lib Dems and then the Labour Party. These broke down due to clashes with the leadership. Subsequently the SNP governed a minority government relying on support from the Liberal Democrats, then Greens, Socialists and occasionally Labour.
The party make up is a more diverse than the UK spectrum, due to the semi-proportional system used in the Scottish elections. Labour were the largest party historically, and survived turbulent periods, but struggled as time went on, as the fortunes of the national party faltered so too did the Scottish Labour Party. The SNP have gone from strength to strength at each election, and have seen increasing support since Rob Kelly was elected their leader in 2003.
In terms of third party support, it has fluctuated. Initially the Lib Dems had strong support, picking up seats in the regional vote, and also their strong holds in the Highlands and Orkney and Shetland. The Conservatives have performed badly in the past, with a handful of MSPs but saw an increase at the 2001 elections under the leadership of Bill Donaldson. Since then however they had a split in 2010, when four Conservative MSPs left the party lead by Mark McCullum and founded Scotland’s Future (ScF to distinguish it from Sinn Fein) which was in favour of Scottish Independence, but not in line with the SNP on other economic and social policies.
Other Parties who have seen representation are the Green Party of Scotland, which is separate from the rest of the UK’s Green movement, and favours independence. Also, the Scottish Socialist Party won seats in 2006, which were not held in 2011. Since then the party has merged with the Socialist Alliance and is expected to do well at the upcoming elections. For the first three Scottish Parliaments the seat of Glasgow Anniesland was represented by the independent MSP Robert Innes. Formerly a Labour city councillor, he failed in his bid for selection of his party, and ran as an independent in protest at the candidate parachuted in. Popular for the entirety of his time in the Parliament, he died in 2007. Though his widow won the subsequent by-election, at which the Lib Dems and Socialists stood aside, she did not run in 2011 and the seat was won by the SNP.
A crisis ensued in 2012 when several SNP MSP’s left the party to be ‘Independence Scots’ over arguments with the leader Rob Kelly about a referendum on independence. The six ScFand three Green MSPs would have given the SNP a majority in the Parliament, and enough to push for a referendum bill in Westminster. Kelly and much of the SNP, however, were opposed to working with the “right-wing nutters” in ScF even to gain a referendum. This lead to six SNP MSPs leaving the party, and Kelly resigned as First Minister. This meant that the SNP had to formally agree to certain Labour demands in order to be viable as a government.
List of First Ministers of Scotland
1997 - 1999, Duncan Napier – Labour:
Former MP and campaigner for devolution, who served in various shadow and cabinet positions throughout his time as an MP. He resigned in 1999 due to his diagnosis of cancer, and died that same year.
1999 – 2006, Bill McNair – Labour:
Elected leader of Scottish Labour and thus First Minister in 1999 and lead the party to its highest point in 2001. He resigned as leader of Labour after the SNP beat them in 2006. Keir McKay was chosen as his successor and was Deputy First Minister under Rob Kelly.
2006 – 2012, Rob Kelly – SNP:
Elected leader of the SNP after long-time leader Jack McDonald stepped down in 2003. Won the 2006 election and entered coalition with Labour, but the fractured and highly public disagreements in the coalition meant in 2011, despite increasing their number of seats were unable to formalise a coalition. Elected First Minister with Lib Dem support, but resigned the following year after the defection of the six Independence Scots.
Jan 2012 - July 2012, Jill Austin (Acting First Minister) – SNP:
Following Kelly’s resignation in 2012, Austin led the SNP whilst the leadership election took place, and held the party together enough to avid it splitting. She also negotiated the support of Labour for the Scottish budget, which meant the government survived.
July 2012 to May 2016 Calum Bowie – SNP:
Elected in a tight race to succeed Kelly. Whilst he has struggled to hold the government together, needing support from other parties, often on a case by case basis, he has prevented the government falling, but announced in 2015 that he would not fight the 2016 election and remain First Minister until then, saying “the SNP need a new face to take our case to Scotland”. His successor was elected in March 2016 as Karen Kilgore.
May 2016 to Present Stuart Rossi-Labour:
Became Leader of Scottish Labour in 2012, and became First Minister in May 2016 after sweeping the SNP out of office making 14 gains, although it was six seats short of an outright majority, Rossi entered into an informal agreement with the Socialist Alliance and the Scottish Greens. Rossi has remained reasonably popular although the administration has come under attack following it's handling of the Scottish Exam results, which resulted in many students getting the wrong results.
The Scottish Parliament
In 1996 the Scotland Act was passed by the House of Commons, and following a referendum that the Scottish public voted overwhelmingly in favour of the establishment of the parliament, the first elections were held in May 1997. The parliament terms were altered from the initial 4 year length in 2001 to five year terms so that the Welsh and Northern Irish elections would also occur at the same time. Therefore the elections have been held in 1997,2001, 2006 and 2011. In that time, the Labour party had a Lab-Lib coalition from 1997-2001, a minority government from 2001-06, and entered coalition with the SNP as the largest party in a shock result after the 2006 elections. In 2011, the SNP remained the largest party, and entered coalition talks with first the Lib Dems and then the Labour Party. These broke down due to clashes with the leadership. Subsequently the SNP governed a minority government relying on support from the Liberal Democrats, then Greens, Socialists and occasionally Labour.
The party make up is a more diverse than the UK spectrum, due to the semi-proportional system used in the Scottish elections. Labour were the largest party historically, and survived turbulent periods, but struggled as time went on, as the fortunes of the national party faltered so too did the Scottish Labour Party. The SNP have gone from strength to strength at each election, and have seen increasing support since Rob Kelly was elected their leader in 2003.
In terms of third party support, it has fluctuated. Initially the Lib Dems had strong support, picking up seats in the regional vote, and also their strong holds in the Highlands and Orkney and Shetland. The Conservatives have performed badly in the past, with a handful of MSPs but saw an increase at the 2001 elections under the leadership of Bill Donaldson. Since then however they had a split in 2010, when four Conservative MSPs left the party lead by Mark McCullum and founded Scotland’s Future (ScF to distinguish it from Sinn Fein) which was in favour of Scottish Independence, but not in line with the SNP on other economic and social policies.
Other Parties who have seen representation are the Green Party of Scotland, which is separate from the rest of the UK’s Green movement, and favours independence. Also, the Scottish Socialist Party won seats in 2006, which were not held in 2011. Since then the party has merged with the Socialist Alliance and is expected to do well at the upcoming elections. For the first three Scottish Parliaments the seat of Glasgow Anniesland was represented by the independent MSP Robert Innes. Formerly a Labour city councillor, he failed in his bid for selection of his party, and ran as an independent in protest at the candidate parachuted in. Popular for the entirety of his time in the Parliament, he died in 2007. Though his widow won the subsequent by-election, at which the Lib Dems and Socialists stood aside, she did not run in 2011 and the seat was won by the SNP.
A crisis ensued in 2012 when several SNP MSP’s left the party to be ‘Independence Scots’ over arguments with the leader Rob Kelly about a referendum on independence. The six ScFand three Green MSPs would have given the SNP a majority in the Parliament, and enough to push for a referendum bill in Westminster. Kelly and much of the SNP, however, were opposed to working with the “right-wing nutters” in ScF even to gain a referendum. This lead to six SNP MSPs leaving the party, and Kelly resigned as First Minister. This meant that the SNP had to formally agree to certain Labour demands in order to be viable as a government.
List of First Ministers of Scotland
1997 - 1999, Duncan Napier – Labour:
Former MP and campaigner for devolution, who served in various shadow and cabinet positions throughout his time as an MP. He resigned in 1999 due to his diagnosis of cancer, and died that same year.
1999 – 2006, Bill McNair – Labour:
Elected leader of Scottish Labour and thus First Minister in 1999 and lead the party to its highest point in 2001. He resigned as leader of Labour after the SNP beat them in 2006. Keir McKay was chosen as his successor and was Deputy First Minister under Rob Kelly.
2006 – 2012, Rob Kelly – SNP:
Elected leader of the SNP after long-time leader Jack McDonald stepped down in 2003. Won the 2006 election and entered coalition with Labour, but the fractured and highly public disagreements in the coalition meant in 2011, despite increasing their number of seats were unable to formalise a coalition. Elected First Minister with Lib Dem support, but resigned the following year after the defection of the six Independence Scots.
Jan 2012 - July 2012, Jill Austin (Acting First Minister) – SNP:
Following Kelly’s resignation in 2012, Austin led the SNP whilst the leadership election took place, and held the party together enough to avid it splitting. She also negotiated the support of Labour for the Scottish budget, which meant the government survived.
July 2012 to May 2016 Calum Bowie – SNP:
Elected in a tight race to succeed Kelly. Whilst he has struggled to hold the government together, needing support from other parties, often on a case by case basis, he has prevented the government falling, but announced in 2015 that he would not fight the 2016 election and remain First Minister until then, saying “the SNP need a new face to take our case to Scotland”. His successor was elected in March 2016 as Karen Kilgore.
May 2016 to Present Stuart Rossi-Labour:
Became Leader of Scottish Labour in 2012, and became First Minister in May 2016 after sweeping the SNP out of office making 14 gains, although it was six seats short of an outright majority, Rossi entered into an informal agreement with the Socialist Alliance and the Scottish Greens. Rossi has remained reasonably popular although the administration has come under attack following it's handling of the Scottish Exam results, which resulted in many students getting the wrong results.
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Monday, September 7th 2020
Saddam's eldest son executed
Baghdad — Uday Hussein, the oldest son of the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, was executed via hanging today by the government of Iraq for treason, rape, murder and several other offenses. Hussein, who as a young man had been his father's heir apparent until he sustained serious injuries in an assassination attempt in 1996, was arrested shortly after current president Rashid Khalid al-Faruq seized power in the wake of Saddam's death last month. The trial was closed to the public, and Iraqi state media has not disclosed when the trial begun or when the verdict was reached. Experts and defectors who have spoken to ACN have said it is almost certain that Hussein was given a show trial with a predetermined verdict.
Grainy footage of the execution has made its way online, made on what appears to be a cell phone camera from someone present. The footage shows Hussein alternating between threatening his executioners and pleading with them before abruptly being hung to scattered cheers from others off-screen.
Even among the Iraqi regime, Uday Hussein was noted for his volatility, sadism and brutality. Accounts describe him as erratic and volatile, with reports of him beating an Iraqi officer to death who refused to let the younger man dance with his wife, another of him shooting another military officer who failed to salute him, and frequently waving his gold-plated Kalashnikov around while driving at high speeds through Baghdad in one of his many luxury vehicles. He frequently ordered and participated in brutal torture, including of members of the Iraqi men's soccer team, when they failed to perform according to his expectations. And he was a prolific and vicious rapist, frequently attending parties and selecting women or girls as young as 14 years old to be kidnapped and brought to him in order to be raped.
Exile organizations, such as the Iraqi National Group (ING) and the Iraqi National Congress (both based in Washington, D.C.) have been careful to celebrate the death of "one of the most brutal monsters of the Ba'athist regime", in the words of an ING press release, while not praising the post-Saddam government. Qusay Hussein, Saddam's second son and former heir who lost the power struggle after his father's death, remains under arrest and on trial for treason and mismanagement of state funds.
OOC: Mark was kind enough to get back to me quickly with the actors for the remaining First Ministers of Scotland, so here they are in wikibox form:
Cast
Ian Bannen as Duncan Napier (new casting)
Sylvester McCoy as Bill McNair
Bill Paterson as Rob Kelly
Tilda Swinton as Jill Austin (new casting)
John Hannah as Calum Bowie (new casting)
Tony Osoba as Stuart Rossi
Cast
Ian Bannen as Duncan Napier (new casting)
Sylvester McCoy as Bill McNair
Bill Paterson as Rob Kelly
Tilda Swinton as Jill Austin (new casting)
John Hannah as Calum Bowie (new casting)
Tony Osoba as Stuart Rossi
- Since Austin wasn't first minister in her own right, she technically presided over the last six months of the second Kelly government rather than heading her own government.
- Neither of the agreements Kelly (after 2011) or Rossi made with other parties were either a formal coalition or supply-and-confidence agreements, both Kelly (after 2011) and Rossi technically led minority governments.
- McTavish is the only deputy first minister (DFM) that's new; Garner & McDougall were established in McNair's infobox and McKay was established as Scottish Labour's leader after the 2006 elections, which would have made him DFP in the SNP-Labour government that formed afterwords.
Thursday, September 10th 2020
Seaborn returns to California as state battles record fires
Sacramento — President Sam Seaborn returned to his home state of California today to offer his support as the Golden State fights fires that have burned a record 2 million acres in 2020. Meeting with Governor Abbie Heilemann (D), Seaborn said the scenes of fires raging across California were "horrifying" and discussed efforts the federal government has made to help overwhelmed state and local officials, including: shutting down all of the state's national parks to prevent the possibility of further fires, dispatching National Guard units, and releasing federal disaster relief funds to fund feeding and sheltering evacuated residents.
"The destruction that these fires have unleashed serves to remind us that we are stewards of the environment, not its masters," Seaborn said. "If we do not want to continue the trend of fire seasons becoming more destructive and harder to contain every year, we seriously must begin to tackle climate change in a way that we have not been able—or willing—to do before."
The fires have also greatly disrupted the supply of power to other areas of California, which has prompted Heilemann to issue a state of emergency for all of California. Political campaigns for many US House and state legislative seats have been suspended by both parties owing to the dangers posed by the fire and power outages caused by the burning of power lines.
Friday, September 11th, 2020
NBS Election HQ: House ratings update
Less than two months remain before the 2020 midterm elections and, as the first post-Labor Day polls begin to come in, we feel confident enough to adjust the ratings for several House races.
Only eight House races have shifted in our assessment, but future updates will certainly see a much larger shift as voters begin to make up their minds as we get closer to Election Day. Our forecast now has a majority (219) of races either being safe for the Republicans, or have their candidate as the likely winner of the seat. Parsing through polls and the results of our models for each race, the clear shift is in a more Republican direction—but not always. Three districts (California's 31st, Kentucky's 3rd and New York's 17th) have moved in a more Democratic direction, fitting their status as districts whose fundamentals favor the Democrats.
Please note that NBS Election HQ does not distinguish between the regular election in Oregon's 1st district and the concurrent special election to fill the seat for the remainder of the 116th Congress. Both major party candidates are running in the regular and special elections.
In parentheses are the changes in both the nationwide popular vote and projected seat totals from our previous House rating update.
Nationwide popular vote
Republican: 47% (+2)
Democratic: 44% (+1)
undecided/other: 9% (-3)
Projected seat totals*
Republican: 219 (+2)
Democratic: 189 (±0)
Toss-up: 27 (-2)
*-Includes both 'safe' and 'lean' seats
SEATS WITH CHANGED RATINGS
CA-31: TOSSUP to LEAN DEM
CO-03: TOSSUP to LEAN REP
FL-03: TOSSUP to SAFE REP
KY-03: LEAN REP to TOSSUP
NJ-05: LEAN DEM to TOSSUP
NY-17: LEAN REP to TOSSUP
NY-21: TOSSUP to SAFE REP
VA-02: TOSSUP to LEAN REP
SAFE DEM
NJ-09 (Sheare)
NC-06 (open)
LEAN DEM
CA-20 (Howard)
CA-21 (Gorman)
CA-24 (Wade)
CA-31 (Portillo)
CA-36 (Lopez Estudillo)
CA-53 (open)
DE-AL (Mathis)
FL-09 (Baker)
FL-24 (Montero)
GA-02 (Hayward)
IL-17 (Kramer)
MD-06 (Phelps)
MN-03 (Granholm)
MN-08 (Samuels)
MT-AL (Price)
NH-01 (open)
NY-04 (Tuccinelli)
NY-18 (Powell)
OH-02 (Reese)
OR-01 (open*)
PA-08 (Cipriani)
TOSS-UP
AZ-02 (Reilly)
AZ-09 (Avila)
AR-02 (Stanton)
CA-10 (Pittman)
CA-45 (Perrin)
CO-05 (Wellsley)
CT-02 (Mazur)
FL-18 (Johnson)
FL-19 (Gelsey)
KY-03 (Townsend)
MN-07 (Grunder)
NJ-03 (Branson)
NJ-05 (Perry)
NY-02 (Dellinger)
NY-03 (Tucker)
NY-11 (Rosen)
NY-17 (open)
NY-24 (Rivers)
OH-01 (Ferris)
PA-01 (Nelson)
PA-17 (Gatwood)
SC-04 (Barclay)
TN-05 (Helton)
TX-23 (open)
VA-09 (Gellman)
WA-03 (Ohanko)
WI-08 (Henderson)
LEAN REP
CA-26 (Hightower)
CO-03 (Sweet)
FL-25 (Judge)
IL-14 (Davis)
KS-03 (open)
NM-02 (Oswald)
NC-13 (Schreibman)
PA-07 (open)
VA-02 (Donovan)
SAFE REP
AR-01 (open)
FL-03 (Fearon)
MN-01 (open)
OH-10 (DiMarco)
SC-07 (Bamber)
TX-32 (open)
UT-01 (open*)
WV-02 (open)
*- Vacant
NJ-09 (Sheare)
NC-06 (open)
LEAN DEM
CA-20 (Howard)
CA-21 (Gorman)
CA-24 (Wade)
CA-31 (Portillo)
CA-36 (Lopez Estudillo)
CA-53 (open)
DE-AL (Mathis)
FL-09 (Baker)
FL-24 (Montero)
GA-02 (Hayward)
IL-17 (Kramer)
MD-06 (Phelps)
MN-03 (Granholm)
MN-08 (Samuels)
MT-AL (Price)
NH-01 (open)
NY-04 (Tuccinelli)
NY-18 (Powell)
OH-02 (Reese)
OR-01 (open*)
PA-08 (Cipriani)
TOSS-UP
AZ-02 (Reilly)
AZ-09 (Avila)
AR-02 (Stanton)
CA-10 (Pittman)
CA-45 (Perrin)
CO-05 (Wellsley)
CT-02 (Mazur)
FL-18 (Johnson)
FL-19 (Gelsey)
KY-03 (Townsend)
MN-07 (Grunder)
NJ-03 (Branson)
NJ-05 (Perry)
NY-02 (Dellinger)
NY-03 (Tucker)
NY-11 (Rosen)
NY-17 (open)
NY-24 (Rivers)
OH-01 (Ferris)
PA-01 (Nelson)
PA-17 (Gatwood)
SC-04 (Barclay)
TN-05 (Helton)
TX-23 (open)
VA-09 (Gellman)
WA-03 (Ohanko)
WI-08 (Henderson)
LEAN REP
CA-26 (Hightower)
CO-03 (Sweet)
FL-25 (Judge)
IL-14 (Davis)
KS-03 (open)
NM-02 (Oswald)
NC-13 (Schreibman)
PA-07 (open)
VA-02 (Donovan)
SAFE REP
AR-01 (open)
FL-03 (Fearon)
MN-01 (open)
OH-10 (DiMarco)
SC-07 (Bamber)
TX-32 (open)
UT-01 (open*)
WV-02 (open)
*- Vacant
OOC: This is the third time that you've posted this exact same picture and tried to get us to create a role for Ted Danson.
I guess Mark was too indirect and polite (since he's English) when he asked you to PM him about discussing Ted Danson rather than post it here, so let me be blunt (since I'm an uncouth American): please stop posting about Ted Danson in this thread. We are not going to use your prompts about what kind of character (ex-Secretary of State, Deputy Secretary of Commerce, EPA head, etc.) you feel Danson should portray as jumping off points, nor are having characters portrayed by actresses who Danson has had romantic relationships IRL with indications that you should keep obliquely asking us to do so.
If you have a character that Danson could play, or an idea for a story you would like to write, please DM either myself, @Marky Bunny or @MountainDew17 so that we can make sure it fits within the established story and doesn't clash with any upcoming plot lines or events. But any further inquiries about Danson in the thread itself are going to be ignored.
Saturday September 12th 2020
Duke attacks President Seaborn as an"environmental fundamentalist" as he calls climate change a "hoax"
In what looks like a first speech of a Presidential run former Oklahoma Senator Alan Duke took aim at President Seaborn whilst campaigning for Peter Gault in the Kansas Senate race today.
Speaking at a Gault rally in Wichita, Duke attacked the President's speech on Friday which was in response to the Californian wildfires "This President is an environmental fundamentalist. Not content with wanting to take away your guns, or allowing abortion on demand, he wants to stop you driving your car as well. We need Peter (Gault) in the Senate to help fight this lunacy, which is based on the hoax of climate change".
Duke has been making several campaign appearances for conservative Republican candidates fighting for seats in the House, Senate and gubernatorially in the past couple of months. He has been campaigning in Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Florida all key early battleground states in the presidential primaries. Despite losing his Senate seat in 2014, and falling out of favour with the state party in Oklahoma, Duke is still popular with the core Conservative base of the Republican party and his increased profile and trips to vital primary states to any 2022 presidential bid has been taken by many observers that Duke is now almost certain to run for the Republican Presidential nomination.
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MaxGerke01
Banned
In other words dont ruffle feathers here .I did the same and have been schooled. Its too bad I wanted to learn more and possibly contribute here as well but Im done with that notion.Sorry
I am sorry but that is wrong. I will answer your questions:In other words dont ruffle feathers here .I did the same and have been schooled. Its too bad I wanted to learn more and possibly contribute here as well but Im done with that notion.Sorry
- In the near 12 years of this story over the course of two threads, I have never stopped people joining in and contributing that is after all how both @lord caedus and @MountainDew17 got involved in the story.
- I have only asked people check with one of us regarding on going storylines and plots as have the like of @Excelsior and @KingCrawa who read and follow the thread whilst making the occasional contribution to the storylines and offering advice and help to us.
- On a number of occasions I have personally answered you questions about the storyline regarding the history of the UK, @lord caedus answered many detailed questions from you and @KingCrawa answered questions regarding the history of the Papacy in this timeline.
- You are clearly not aware of the background of the post of the Ted Danson images to what @lord caedus was referring to. This has been going on now for several months.
- We do have a "rough" plan to the ongoing storylines for the next couple of years or so. But new ideas and contributions are always welcome, but we only ask that they done in private and understand that we do not take on board every idea, casting, plot idea, election result etc and that includes mine as well.
- For example my original plan for the result for the 2018 Presidential result was a 269-269 tie in the electoral college, it took a lot of back and forth but in the end we sketched out a different way (with Hunter getting the Vice-Presidency) and this was with the input of @disputed , @lord caedus and @MountainDew17 . I listened to the arguments put to me but the others and I was persuaded by those alternatives. I didn't throw out those arguments I listened to them, and changed my original planned outcome. I have said of all because I am personally a bit hurt by the notion that we don't welcome ideas because if that was the true the outcome of the 2018 election would have been very different.
- Anyone is welcome to contribute as long as you take on board and understand those brief and what I think are very fair and reasonable guidelines.
Mark
In other words dont ruffle feathers here .I did the same and have been schooled. Its too bad I wanted to learn more and possibly contribute here as well but Im done with that notion.Sorry
You didn't "ruffle feathers", you bombarded the thread with questions (thirteen in this post alone) and I asked that instead you try searching the thread (and its predecessor) first to find the answers yourself and, in general, limit the amount of questions you ask.
As Mark said, both the writing staff and other contributors answered many of the questions you asked, but the volume and frequency of questions that you were asking would have frankly cluttered and partially-derailed the thread if it had been allowed to continue unabated.