Re: your quoted text about UL:
 BJ> This is what I'm refering to and if you'll notice in your qoute  it
 BJ> states  that "The Manufacture/distributor Guarantees a refund" not that
 BJ> UL has  Approved the product. according to the "seal". I am not trying
 BJ> to argue a  point only to clear a misconception had by most folks,
 BJ> inculding myself. 
Up here in Canada, we have what is known as the CSA (Canadian Standards
Association): on the surface, it does much the same as what UL does for you
folks down there, with one exception: electrical products _without_ CSA
Approval cannot legally be used. In Ontario, our Ontario Hydro utility does
issue time-limited approvals on a select range of (electrical) contrivances
in lieu of a CSA Approval and listing. Such products must soon be able to
meet the full CSA criteria before it can be put to any wider a marketplace
(ie-beyond the Ontario borders) within the country.
CSA Approvals and Listings are available for non-electrical products as well.
We have come to regard CSA Approvals as having the "force of law" behind
them, and this aspect more than anything else practically assures that
products meet or exceed manufacturers' claims for performances and
diversities of applications. Obviously, a CSA Approval carries a lot
more weight than either UL or Good Housekeeping are capable of providing
Consumers.
To tell the truth, I look at UL as being on par with the "approvals"
given by (for example) our CMA (Canadian Manufacturers' Association). In
this instance, CMA is industry-driven and enforced, similar but not
quite to the same degree as Mil-Spec'd or NATO'd products: it is merely
a selection of predefined Standards that are met by manufacturers, no
more and no less.
To say that a product "meets GH Standards" is really pretty much the
same as determining that Stanley tools are somehow "better" that those
from Fuller Brush, for example. It boils down to a matter of (individual)
tastes...and requirements. It's all just a simple case of attractive
marketing !
Semper Fi
RTP
~~~ PGPBLUE 3.0 
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