Image Copyright 2006- Sons of Liberty Riders
October 19, 2006 ©I.M.R.A., Inc 2006
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SONS OF LIBERTY RIDERS E-NEWS
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Contents:
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1. ONLY IN AMERICA...
2. Liberty Dollar News Alert-Where do we go from here?
3. Bandidos Leader Sentenced to 20 Months
4. FBI director wants ISPs to track users
5. Harley-Davidson vrooms way into food business with jerky
6. Victimology
7. Florida - Mandatory State Helmet Law
8. Not It! Mass. Elementary School Bans Tag
9. Bike-builder Lane faces lawsuit
10. Results vs. process
11. Motorists more likely to be at fault in accidents with bikers
12. New Signs for Noise
13. MRFPac Endorses John Gard
14. Drop in drunk & motorcycle highway deaths in La
15. College students lack understanding of American government, history
16. ER visits increase with motorcycle popularity
17. Show your support for the fight.
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1. ONLY IN AMERICA...
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http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/83476_focus25.shtml
Sturgis, USA: Bikers' raunchy rally is closer to the mainstream than you think
Sunday, August 25, 2002
By DAVID HORSEY
MEMBER OF THE SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD
STURGIS, S.D. -- Old-time Seattle rocker Paul
Revere refuses to autograph women's breasts.
ONLY IN AMERICA...
I gathered that intriguing fact while standing
near him after the Paul Revere and the Raiders
performance on the big outdoor stage at Buffalo Chip Campground.
It was about the only instance of decorum or
restraint I witnessed during a weeklong immersion
in the world's biggest and oldest motorcycle
rally. Here, where the Great Plains give way to
the
Black Hills and the Midwest becomes the Wild
West, the prim and politically correct
sensibilities
of places such as Seattle are far scarcer than the buffalo.
A woman dropping her fringed leather bra to get
her chest inscribed by a rock musician is not
especially daring or unusual behavior -- not in
the world of bikers, where the great American
fixation with mammary glands reaches its zenith.
Even with their clothing in place, biker chicks
show more cleavage than a convention of crouching plumbers.
Everything is up front and uninhibited. Lewd
catchphrases that would never get past the editor
of
a family newspaper scream out in giant letters
from the front of T-shirts. Beer flows like a
river.
Rock 'n' roll blares from outdoor speakers only
to be lost in the din of roaring, rattling exhaust
pipes. Tough-looking men dress like land pirates
in black leather. Hard-looking women, costumed
in leather chaps and little else, straddle the
saddles of Harleys or stride along Main Street
past
half-mile-long rows of parked motorcycles.
On the surface, this rude and raucous biker
subculture looks as forbidding and unsavory as it
was
a quarter-century ago. But the reality is
different. Winnebagos and Harleys have crossbred,
and
the result is something far closer to a
mainstream American ethos than one might imagine.
Many of the tens of thousands of bikers who roll
in here every year arrive in big, expensive
recreational vehicles with their motorcycles
hitched behind. Many others get their bikes
shipped
and fly in on commercial airlines dressed in the
bland clothing of suburbanites.
On my flight to nearby Rapid City, I was seated
next to an exceedingly ordinary couple. He works
for Merrill Lynch; she is a happy housewife in
Savannah, Ga. They came for the fun of riding in
the open air past Devil's Tower and Mount Rushmore.
And, like just about everyone else -- from
corporate CEOs with luxury packages at hotels to
auto
mechanics and teachers camping in tents -- they
came to put on leather jackets and bandannas and
to taste a rare kind of freedom: the liberty to
do anything you damn well please.
Of all the places to cut loose at Sturgis,
Buffalo Chip Campground offers the purest
expression
of the libertarian ethic. The deep braying of
hollowed-out exhaust pipes slices through the wind
as Harley riders roll in from days on the road.
They come off South Dakota Route 34 and turn into
a vast, rudimentary campground carved out of the
prairie, a place that is much more than a spot
to pitch a tent.
It's a concert amphitheater, an open-air saloon,
a bizarre bazaar filled with vendors selling
everything from tattoos and tacos to leather underwear and nipple rings.
When they come to Buffalo Chip, normal people can
end up doing some crazy things. At the conclusion
of a concert by the heavy-metal band Poison, for
instance, a young woman stripped off her clothes
and jumped up on stage. It turned out she was a
reporter for the Rapid City Journal.
The man who runs the place is Rod Woodruff, known
to everyone as Woody. He's a soft-spoken, small-
town attorney who more or less inherited the
campground in 1982 from a notorious client who
jumped
bail and disappeared.
The demographic change in the biker community has
made life easier for Woody. No longer must he
mollify suspicious FBI agents and sheriff's
deputies while fending off the angry biker gangs
that
didn't like the idea of a lawyer taking over
their encampment. Yet his business model has
stayed
the same: Put on a great party and let the guests run free.
"It's a social event, like a family reunion with
a family you haven't met yet and one that you want
to go to instead one you have to go to," Woody says.
Woody plays host to folks from all walks of life
and all parts of the country who, when not riding,
spend their time ogling one another's bikes and
gawking at the periodic displays of outrageous
behavior.
"Some years we'll have people just walk around
naked all day long in the campground and, you
know, you
get used to it and who cares?" he says. "That's
what they want to do. When you say libertarian,
you
know, really, these are freedom-loving people
that want to be free to do whatever they want to
do, and
they're perfectly willing to let other people do
what they want to do as long as nobody's stepping
on
anyone else's toes."
An inveterate rebel, Woody is, nevertheless, a
fan of Ronald Reagan and a believer in unfettered
free
enterprise. In this, he has much in common with his customers.
Even the most notorious of the bikers have
shifted with the times. These days, apart from
their homicidal
proclivities, the Hells Angels are just a clan of
capitalist entrepreneurs. Their leader, Sonny
Barger,
was here in Sturgis signing his biography and
selling his new brand of beer at the Knuckle
Saloon
while his minions looked for venues to market
balloons filled with nitrous oxide. Their big
rebellion
is avoiding business taxes, which makes them not
unlike most major contributors to the Republican
Party.
If the 2000 presidential election had been held
only in the biker community, I have little doubt
that
sissy Al Gore would have been trounced by party
boy George W. Bush. The liberal nanny culture is
anathema to the biker world. These are veterans
and working men and women who fly the American
flag
proudly over their tents and from the backs of their bikes.
When Paul Revere and the Raiders ended their
performance with a soaring rendition of Lee
Greenwood's
"God Bless the USA," the crowd cheered and sang
along. That this is the same crowd that later
hooted
for the nearly nude contestants in the Miss
Buffalo Chip contest is only ironic if one fails
to grasp
the libertinism inherent in the libertarian urge.
For, if there is an overriding ethic for the new
breed of bikers, it is this: People should be
free to
do whatever they want as long as they're not hurting anyone.
When you think about it, that philosophy is so
ubiquitous throughout the history of our country
that it
is our true American motto and ought to be
inscribed on all our money. The biker just calls
the bluff of
those who mouth such traditional libertarian
beliefs and says, "OK then, let's party!"
Here's a scary thought for those of you who
believe a glass of chardonnay, the latest copy of
the Atlantic
Monthly and a little Vivaldi on the stereo are
the makings of a fine evening: Not only in
politics, but
also in cultural values, bikers are closer to the
U.S. mainstream than you are. In a pop-culture
nation
where blockbuster movies, prime-time television
and teen music are permeated with barnyard sex
and bathroom
humor, who can say the straight-out raunchiness of Sturgis is countercultural?
You won't find biker rallies in Iran or Saudi
Arabia or China -- only in the USA. To some, a
biker rally may
look like the end of American civilization, but
for better or worse, it may just be the gaudiest
expression
of who we are.
David Horsey is a P-I editorial cartoonist and
columnist and member of the P-I Editorial Board.
E-mail: davidhorsey@seattlepi.com
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2. Liberty Dollar News Alert-Where do we go from here?
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Time To Step Up And Demonstrate Real Support For
Real Money - The Liberty Dollar
Breaking News - We are hearing from our efforts to
leverage Congressional Inquiry that the US Mint
has received much more response from the public
than anticipated following their web posted
warning on September 14, 2006. It's time to
really let them know how much you value the
Liberty Dollar by calling or faxing the US Mint!
To make a call use (202) 354-7227, for sending a
fax use (202) 756-6200. After reading this
special News Alert please call or fax the US
Mint and in a very positive way ask if the
statements listed below are NOT true. Do not be
nasty or attacking; this gets us nowhere. Always
be respectful. Also, please distribute this
widely to everyone on your mailing list.
On With Other News
Over the last six weeks we have heard a lot of
support for the mission, goals and cause of the
Liberty Dollar and precious metal backed private
currencyŠReporters, Editors, Talk Show Hosts,
Calls and e-mails from listeners and readers who
had never before heard of the Liberty Dollar are
committing to "fight the good fight" for the
right to choose their method of payment for
goods and services. Liberty Dollar Merchants,
Associates and Regional Currency Offices, taken
aback from a malicious media assault, have been
gnawing on what it all means and how to move
forward.
It's time to regroup, shake off the debris of
fear and exchange your Federal Reserve Notes for
the Liberty Dollar. This is the support we need
now. Circulating (as in bartering), Accumulating
or Collecting: The three most effective ways to
do good, have fun and protect your purchasing
power.
If any of the following statements were illegal
or a federal crime, would there not have already
been arrests? Liberty Dollars are exchanged,
given out, presented and accepted hundreds of
times a day throughout the countryŠlots of
opportunities to make an example out of someone.
But once you wade through the citations and
legalese of the US Mint's warning(s), it becomes
very clear: THE LIBERTY DOLLAR CANNOT BE PASSED
AS "CURRENT MONEY" OR GOVERNMENT MONEY. NO ONE
SHOULD ACCEPT THE LIBERTY DOLLAR THINKING IT IS
GOVERNMENT MONEY. This, of course, would
contradict the goal of the Liberty Dollar!
1. Merchants CANNOT be prosecuted for
accepting the Liberty Dollar KNOWING that it is
private currency!
2. Merchants CANNOT be prosecuted for giving
out the Liberty Dollar in change if the customer
KNOWS it is private currency!
3. Users CANNOT be prosecuted for presenting
the Liberty Dollar to a Merchant when the
Merchant KNOWS it is private currency!
4. Regional Currency Offices, or anyone
else, CANNOT be prosecuted for exchanging
Liberty Dollars for Federal Reserve Notes when
the customer KNOWS it is private currency!
5. NO ONE CAN BE PROSECUTED FOR HAVING POSSESSION OF THE LIBERTY DOLLAR!
If any of these statements were false, then
having or using any of the hundreds of local or
currencies such as the Ithaca Hour, Disney
Dollar, Berkshares, Barter Bucks, etc., would be
a crime.
On September 14, just five weeks ago, our
website,
The wave of curiosity has died down and so has
the normal volume that the Liberty Dollar has
experienced over the last 12-18 months. I
believe the current lull is retrenchment from
those stinging from the national media assault
as well as caution on the part of the newly
introduced that are concerned over legal
repercussions. Consider the above statements
regarding the legality of the Liberty Dollar.
These are the conclusions of NORFED and its
Counsel.
Exchange your Federal Reserve Notes for Gold and
Silver Libertys and Certificates now. Circulate
(barter), Accumulate and CollectŠIt's the right
thing to do.
Is the US Dollar tanking?
Will there be a significant economic downturn?
Is a War right around the corner?
Is Peak Oil fact or fiction?
Will extreme weather knock out your power and
communications? What do you want to be holding
when significant change occurs? A Federal
Reserve Note Or Gold And Silver Private Currency
>From The Liberty Dollar?
Please visit the Liberty Dollar at:
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3. Bandidos Leader Sentenced to 20 Months
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/07/AR2006100700031.html
Bandidos Leader Sentenced to 20 Months
By GENE JOHNSON
The Associated Press
Saturday, October 7, 2006; 12:47 AM
SEATTLE -- The president of the Bandidos
motorcycle club was sentenced to 20 months in
prison
Friday in a deal that will allow him to retain
his position in the organization.
George Wegers, 54, was one of 32 people in
Washington, Montana and South Dakota indicted last
year as federal officials raided the Bellingham-based gang.
Members were accused of conspiracy to commit
murder, witness tampering, violent crime in aid of
racketeering, and drug and weapons offenses.
Wegers pleaded guilty in May to one count of
conspiracy
to engage in racketeering. Eighteen Bandidos
defendants have pleaded guilty in all.
In the agreement, Wegers acknowledged encouraging
his co-defendants to tamper with a witness and
to traffic in stolen motorcycles.
Wegers has already served 15 months since his
arrest in June 2005. When he is released, he will
face a $10,000 fine and three years of supervised
release, during which he will be allowed to attend
Bandidos events but cannot have contact with any co-defendants.
Wegers' lawyers said the sentence showed that the
original charges were overblown.
"He was looking at life in prison. Today, he's
looking at a sentence of 20 months," said attorney
Jeffrey Lustick.
At the time of the bust, the Bandidos had about
170 chapters in 14 countries, including 90 in the
U.S.
and 14 in Washington state. Membership was
estimated at 2,400 bikers, all of whom must ride
Harley-Davidson
bikes.
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4. FBI director wants ISPs to track users
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http://news.com.com/FBI+director+wants+ISPs+to+track+users/2100-7348_3-6126877.html?tag=nefd.top
FBI director wants ISPs to track users
FBI Director Robert Mueller on Tuesday called on
Internet service providers to record their
customers'
online activities, a move that anticipates a
fierce debate over privacy and law enforcement in
Washington
next year.
"Terrorists coordinate their plans cloaked in the
anonymity of the Internet, as do violent sexual
predators
prowling chat rooms," Mueller said in a speech at
the International Association of Chiefs of Police
conference
in Boston.
ISP snooping time line.
In events that were first reported by CNET
News.com, Bush administration officials have said
Internet
providers must keep track of what Americans are doing online.
June 2005: Justice Department officials quietly propose data retention rules.
December 2005: European Parliament votes for data retention of up to two years.
April 14, 2006: Data retention proposals surface
in Colorado and the U.S. Congress.
April 20, 2006: Attorney General Alberto Gonzales
says data retention "must be addressed."
April 28, 2006: Rep. Diana DeGette proposes data retention amendment.
May 16, 2006: Rep. James Sensenbrenner drafts
data retention legislation--but backs away from
it two days later.
May 26, 2006: Gonzales and FBI Director Robert
Mueller meet with Internet and telecommunications
companies.
June 27, 2006: Rep. Joe Barton, chair of a House
committee, calls new child protection legislation
"highest priority."
"All too often, we find that before we can catch
these offenders, Internet service providers have
unwittingly deleted
the very records that would help us identify
these offenders and protect future victims,"
Mueller said. "We must find
a balance between the legitimate need for privacy
and law enforcement's clear need for access."
The speech to the law enforcement group, which
approved a resolution on the topic earlier in the
day, echoes other
calls from Bush administration officials to force
private firms to record information about
customers. Attorney
General Alberto Gonzales, for instance, told
Congress last month that "this is a national
problem that requires
federal legislation."
Justice Department officials admit privately that
data retention legislation is controversial
enough that there wasn't
time to ease it through the U.S. Congress before
politicians left to campaign for re-election.
Instead, the idea is
expected to surface in early 2007, and one
Democratic politician has already promised
legislation.
Law enforcement groups claim that by the time
they contact Internet service providers,
customers' records may have been
deleted in the routine course of business.
Industry representatives, however, say that if
police respond to tips promptly
instead of dawdling, it would be difficult to
imagine any investigation that would be imperiled.
It's not clear exactly what a data retention law
would require. One proposal would go beyond
Internet providers and require
registrars, the companies that sell domain names,
to maintain records too. And during private
meetings with industry
officials, FBI and Justice Department
representatives have cited the desirability of
also forcing search engines to keep
logs--a proposal that could gain additional law
enforcement support after AOL showed how useful
such records could be in
investigations.
A representative of the International Association
of Chiefs of Police said he was not able to
provide a copy of the resolution.
Preservation vs. retention
At the moment, Internet service providers
typically discard any log file that's no longer
required for business reasons
such as network monitoring, fraud prevention or
billing disputes. Companies do, however, alter
that general rule when contacted
by police performing an investigation--a practice called data preservation.
A 1996 federal law called the Electronic
Communication Transactional Records Act regulates
data preservation. It requires
Internet providers to retain any "record" in
their possession for 90 days "upon the request of
a governmental entity."
Because Internet addresses remain a relatively
scarce commodity, ISPs tend to allocate them to
customers from a pool based
on whether a computer is in use at the time. (Two
standard techniques used are the Dynamic Host
Configuration Protocol and
Point-to-Point Protocol over Ethernet.)
In addition, Internet providers are required by
another federal law to report child pornography
sightings to the National
Center for Missing and Exploited Children, which
is in turn charged with forwarding that report to
the appropriate police
agency.
When adopting its data retention rules, the
European Parliament approved U.K.-backed
requirements saying that communications
providers in its 25 member countries--several of
which had enacted their own data retention laws
already--must retain customer
data for a minimum of six months and a maximum of two years.
The Europe-wide requirement applies to a wide
variety of "traffic" and "location" data,
including: the identities of the customers'
correspondents; the date, time and duration of
phone calls, VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol)
calls or e-mail messages; and the
location of the device used for the
communications. But the "content" of the
communications is not supposed to be retained.
The rules
are expected to take effect in 2008.
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5. Harley-Davidson vrooms way into food business with jerky
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http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2006-10-09-beef-jerky-usat_x.htm
Harley-Davidson vrooms way into food business with jerky
Posted 10/9/2006 11:51 PM ET
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Harley-Davidson (HOG) is selling
a new source of fuel, one that goes into mouths
instead of
gas tanks and comes in such flavors as teriyaki and pepper.
The iconic motorcycle maker is joining forces
with one of the largest U.S. packaged-foods
companies, ConAgra
Foods (CAG), to sell beef jerky and tap into the growing meat-snack business.
The companies plan to make the announcement today
in Las Vegas at the trade show for the National
Association
of Convenience Stores.
The product, thick slices of smoked lean steak,
will sell in packs of 3.25 ounces for $5.99 at
convenience and
grocery stores, Harley-Davidson dealerships and
truck stops. Shipments of the three varieties —
teriyaki, pepper
and original flavor — will begin Jan. 8, ConAgra said.
It's the first time that Milwaukee-based
Harley-Davidson has lent its name and
black-and-orange logo to a food
product, said Tom Parsons, general manager of general merchandise.
The company has considered making edible products
in the past, but nothing fit with the brand and
its image like
jerky, Parsons said. Riders look for good food on
the go, so the jerky will be billed as "Road
Food," he said.
"You put it in your pocket, keep on eating and keep on riding," Parsons said.
ConAgra, based in Omaha, makes several types of
jerky, including Pemmican jerky strips and Slim
Jim, one of the
best sellers. Sales of meat snacks rose 75% from
2004 to last year, when they reached $2.7
billion, according to
the National Association of Convenience Stores' 2006 survey.
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6. Victimology
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A long Read But Worth It
FOR THOSE OF YOU ON THE "CONSERVATIVE" SIDE OF THE FENCE, READ THIS AND LEARN
TO UNDERSTAND YOUR FEELINGS BETTER THAN EVER.
FOR THOSE OF YOU NOT ON THE "CONSERVATIVE" SIDE OF THE FENCE, READ AND LEARN
FROM A DIFFERENT VIEWPOINT.
Please take the time to read this; it ought to scare the pants off you!
We know Dick Lamm as the former Governor of Colorado. In that context
his thoughts are particularly poignant. Last week there was an
immigration overpopulation conference in Washington, DC, filled to
capacity by many of America's finest minds and leaders. A brilliant
college professor by the name of Victor Hansen Davis talked about his
latest book, "Mexifornia," explaining how immigration - both legal and
illegal was destroying the entire state of California. He said it would
march across the country until it destroyed all vestiges of The
American Dream.
Moments later, former Colorado Governor Richard D. Lamm stood up and
gave a stunning speech on how to destroy America. The audience sat
spellbound as he described eight methods for the destruction of the
United States. He said, "If you believe that America is too smug, too
self-satisfied, too rich, then let's destroy America. It is not that
hard to do. No nation in history has survived the ravages of time.
Arnold Toynbee observed that all great civilizations rise and fall and
that 'An autopsy of history would show that all great nations commit
suicide.'"
"Here is how they do it," Lamm said: "First, to destroy America, turn
America into a bilingual or multi-lingual and bicultural country."
History shows that no nation can survive the tension, conflict, and
antagonism of two or more competing languages and cultures. It is a
blessing for an individual to be bilingual; however, it is a curse for
a society to be bilingual. The historical scholar, Seymour Lipset, put
it this way: "The histories of bilingual and bi-cultural societies that
do not assimilate are histories of turmoil, tension, and tragedy."
Canada, Belgium, Malaysia, and Lebanon all face crises of national
existence in which minorities press for autonomy, if not independence.
Pakistan and Cyprus have divided. Nigeria suppressed an ethnic
rebellion. France faces difficulties with Basques, Bretons, and
Corsicans.".
Lamm went on: Second, to destroy America, "Invent 'multiculturalism'
and encourage immigrants to maintain their culture. I would make it an
article of belief that all cultures are equal. That there are no
cultural differences. I would make it an article of faith that the
Black and Hispanic dropout rates are due solely to prejudice and
discrimination by the majority. Every other explanation is out of
bounds.
Third, "We could make the United States an 'Hispanic Quebec' without
much effort. The key is to celebrate diversity rather than unity. As
Benjamin Schwarz said in the Atlantic Monthly recently: "The apparent
success of our own multiethnic and multicultural experiment might have
been achieved not by tolerance but by hegemony. Without the dominance
that once dictated ethnocentricity and what it meant to be an American,
we are left with only tolerance and pluralism to hold us together."
Lamm said, "I would encourage all immigrants to keep their own language
and culture. I would replace the melting pot metaphor with the salad
bowl metaphor. It is important to ensure that we have various cultural
subgroups living in America enforcing their differences rather than as
Americans, emphasizing their similarities."
"Fourth, I would make our fastest growing demographic group the least
educated. I would add a second underclass, unassimilated,
undereducated, and antagonistic to our population. I would have this
second underclass have a 50% dropout rate from high school."
"My fifth point for destroying America would be to get big foundations
and business to give these efforts lots of money. I would invest in
ethnic identity, and I would establish the cult of 'Victimology.' I
would get all minorities to think that their lack of success was the
fault of the majority. I would start a grievance industry blaming all
minority failure on the majority population."
"My sixth plan for America's downfall would include dual citizenship,
and promote divided loyalties. I would celebrate diversity over unity.
I would stress differences rather than similarities. Diverse people
worldwide are mostly engaged in hating each other - that is, when they
are not killing each other. A diverse, peaceful, or stable society is
against most historical precedent. People undervalue the unity it takes
to keep a nation together. Look at the ancient Greeks. The Greeks
believed that they belonged to the same race; they possessed a common
language and literature; and they worshipped the same gods. All Greece
took part in the Olympic games. A common enemy, Persia, threatened
their liberty. Yet all these bonds were not strong enough to overcome
two factors: local patriotism and geographical conditions that nurtured
political divisions. Greece fell. "E. Pluribus Unum" -- >From many, one.
In that historical reality, if we put the emphasis on the 'pluribus'
instead of the 'Unum,' we will balkanize America as surely as Kosovo."
"Next to last, I would place all subjects off limits; make it taboo to
talk about anything against the cult of 'diversity.' I would find a
word similar to 'heretic' in the 16th century - that stopped discussion
and paralyzed thinking. Words like 'racist' or 'xenophobe' halt
discussion and debate. Having made America a bilingual/bicultural
country, having
established multi-culturism, having the large foundations fund the
doctrine of 'Victimology,' I would next make it impossible to enforce
our immigration laws. I would develop a mantra: That because
immigration has been good for America, it must always be good. I would
make every individual immigrant symmetric and ignore the cumulative
impact of millions of them."
In the last minute of his speech, Governor Lamm wiped his brow.
Profound silence followed. Finally he said,. "Lastly, I would censor
Victor Hanson Davis's book "Mexifornia." His book is dangerous. It
exposes the plan to destroy America. If you feel America. deserves to
be destroyed, don't read that book."
There was no applause. A chilling fear quietly rose like an ominous
cloud above every attendee at the conference. Every American in that
room knew that everything Lamm enumerated was proceeding methodically,
quietly, darkly, yet pervasively across the United States today.
Discussion is being suppressed. Over 100 languages are ripping the
foundation of our educational system and national cohesiveness. Even
barbaric cultures that practice female genital mutilation are growing
as we celebrate 'diversity.' American jobs are vanishing into the Third
World as corporations create a Third World in America - take note of
California and other states - to date, ten million illegal aliens and
growing fast. It is reminiscent of George Orwell's book "1984." In that
story, three slogans are engraved in the Ministry of Truth building:
"War is peace," "Freedom is slavery," and "Ignorance is strength."
Governor Lamm walked back to his seat. It dawned on everyone at the
conference that our nation and the future of this great democracy is
deeply in trouble and worsening fast. If we don't get this immigration
monster stopped within three years, it will rage like a California
wildfire and destroy everything in its path, especially The American
Dream
If you care for and love our country as I do, take the time to pass
this on just as I did for you. Trust me NOTHING is going to happen if
you don't !
See Site...Do We Want Mexifornia?
http://www.city-journal.org/html/12_2_do_we_want.html
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7. Florida - Mandatory State Helmet Law
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http://www.cfnews13.com/StoryHeadline.aspx?id=19400
Mandatory State Helmet Law
An Oviedo High School student, who's father died in a motorcycle crash, is
now on a personal crusade for a mandatory state helmet law, and higher
insurance coverage.
Seventeen-year-old Erin Cloninger started the non-profit “Florida HELP”,
which stands for Helmets Ensure Life Protection.
Erin's father was not wearing a helmet when he died in a motorcycle
accident two years ago.
Since Florida's mandatory helmet law was repealed in 2000, there has been
an 81 percent increase in motorcycle fatalities.
Erin says insufficient insurance means taxpayers have to pay higher
hospital bills.
"The people left behind have to speak up they have to let people know that
they're hurting and that this affects people," Cloninger said.
Erin knows passing a helmet law is an uphill struggle, but she has met with
Governor Bush who supports her measures.
She still needs a lawmaker to sponsor her legislation.
For more information tune to Central Florida News 13. Only on Bright House
Networks.
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8. Not It! Mass. Elementary School Bans Tag
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http://wtop.com/?nid=456&sid=947059
Not It! Mass. Elementary School Bans Tag
ATTLEBORO, Mass. (AP) - Tag, you're out!
Officials at an elementary school south of Boston
have banned
kids from playing tag, touch football and any
other unsupervised chase game during recess for
fear
they'll get hurt and hold the school liable.
Recess is "a time when accidents can happen,"
said Willett Elementary School Principal Gaylene
Heppe,
who approved the ban.
While there is no districtwide ban on contact
sports during recess, local rules have been
cropping up.
Several school administrators around Attleboro, a
city of about 45,000 residents, took aim at
dodgeball
a few years ago, saying it was exclusionary and dangerous.
Elementary schools in Cheyenne, Wyo., and
Spokane, Wash., also recently banned tag during
recess. A suburban
Charleston, S.C., school outlawed all unsupervised contact sports.
"I think that it's unfortunate that kids' lives
are micromanaged and there are social skills
they'll never
develop on their own," said Debbie Laferriere,
who has two children at Willett, about 40 miles
south of Boston.
"Playing tag is just part of being a kid."
Another Willett parent, Celeste D'Elia, said her
son feels safer because of the rule. "I've
witnessed enough near
collisions," she said.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
9. Bike-builder Lane faces lawsuit
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061006/BREAKINGNEWS/610060334/1086
Bike-builder Lane faces lawsuit
BY JOHN A. TORRES
FLORIDA TODAY
The family of fatal accident victim Gerald
Morelock has filed a lawsuit against motorcycle
builder Billy Lane and DaimlerChrysler — which
provided him with the powerful truck that was
involved in the Labor Day crash.
There is no set dollar amount to the suit, only
that it is in excess of $15,000. The family is
trying to recoup loss of earnings of the
deceased, medical and funeral expenses, as well
as mental
pain and suffering.
Lane faces DUI and “driving with a suspended
license causing a death” charges in Brevard
County after
the Sept. 4 head-on crash on State Road A1A that
left Morelock – riding a motorcycle – dead.
“This case is one about decisions — bad
decisions: Mr. Lane decided to drink to excess,
he decided to
drive, he decided to speed and he decided to pass
in a “no passing zone,” said the family’s
attorney S.
Sammy Cacciatore.
“DaimlerChrysler decided to use Mr. Lane’s fame
to advertise it’s high performance Hemi RAM Dodge
Truck
for this purpose and provided Mr. Lane with the
means to cause havoc and death.”
Cacciatore is trying to hold DaimlerChrysler liable as well.
Tests by police showed that Lane had a
blood-alcohol level of .192, more than twice the
legal limit.
But Kepler Funk, Lane’s defense attorney, has
said that things are not always as they appear.
His team
is conducting its own investigation.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10. Results vs. process
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.washingtontimes.com/commentary/wwilliams.htm
Results vs. process
WALTER WILLIAMS
By Walter E. Williams
October 18, 2006
Democrats plan to trumpet the income and wealth
gap for political gain in this year's elections.
According to The Wall Street Journal article
"Democrats' Risky Strategy," Democratic candidates
blame Republicans for economic inequality.
This strategy might sell because, in addition to
envy, many people erroneously use income
inequality
as a measure of fairness. Income is a result. As such, results cannot establish
whether there is fairness or justice.
Let's look at it. Suppose Tom, Dick and Harry
play a weekly game of poker. Tom wins 75 percent
of the
time. Dick and Harry, respectively, win 15
percent and 10 percent of the time. Knowing only
the poker
game's result permits us to say absolutely
nothing as to whether there has been poker
justice. Tom's
disproportionate winnings are consistent with his
being either an astute player or a clever cheater.
To determine whether there has been poker
justice, the game's process must be examined.
Some process
questions we might ask are: Were Hoyle's Rules
obeyed, were the cards unmarked, were the cards
dealt
from the top of the deck, and did the players
play voluntarily? If these questions yield
affirmative
answers, there was poker justice regardless of
the game's result, with Tom winning 75 percent of
the
time.
Similarly, income is a result. In a free society,
for the most part, income is a result of one's
capacity to serve his fellow man and the value
his fellow man places on that service. Say I mow
your
lawn and you pay me $30. That $30 might be seen
as a certificate of performance. Why?
I go to the grocer and ask for 3 pounds of steak
and a six-pack of beer that my fellow man
produced.
In effect, the grocer asks, "Williams, you're
asking for something that your fellow man
produced; what
did you do for your fellow man?" I say, "I served
my fellow man by mowing his lawn." The grocer
says,
"Prove it." That's when I give him my certificates of performance, the $30.
Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page are
multi-billionaires. Just as in the case of my
mowing my
fellow man's lawn, they became very wealthy by
serving their fellow man. The difference is they
served
their fellow man far more effectively than I and
hence received more "certificates of performance,"
enabling them to make greater claims on what their fellow man produces.
Their greater income is a result of their
pleasing millions upon millions of their fellow
man. They created
wealth by producing a product that improves the
lives of millions upon millions of people all
around the
globe. Should people like Messrs. Brin and Page,
who have improved our lives, be held up to
ridicule and
scorn because they have a higher income than most
of us? Should Congress use the tax code to
confiscate
part of their wealth in the name of fairness and income redistribution?
For the most part, income is a result of one's
productivity and the value that people place on
that
productivity. Far more important than income
inequality, there is productivity inequality.
That suggests
that if there's anything to be done about income
inequality, we should focus on how to give people
greater
capacity in serving their fellow man, and we
should make sure there's a climate of peaceable,
voluntary
exchange.
Think back to my poker example. If one is
concerned about the game's result, which is more
just? Taking
some of Tom's winnings and redistributing them to
Dick and Harry, or teaching Dick and Harry how to
play
poker better?
Walter E. Williams is a professor of economics at
George Mason University and a nationally
syndicated columnist.
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11. Motorists more likely to be at fault in accidents with bikers
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.thetandd.com/articles/2006/10/15/news/doc453184a2657c7827887111.txt
SCDPS: Motorists more likely
to be at fault in accidents with bikers
By THOMAS BROWN, T&D Staff Writer
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Growing up in Mount Laurel, N.J., Ed Malphus saw many of the guys in his
neighborhood riding dirt bikes. He joined them once in a while. But to him,
the really cool guys were the ones riding motorcycles.
When he was 15 years old, he joined the cool guys. He worked and saved to
purchase his first motorcycle and with a little help from his parents, he
did so.
"My first bike was a Honda 125," the 48-year-old said. "The speedometer on
it registered 85 mph, I think. And it was great. I felt the freedom, the
unrestrained excitement. It was just as I thought it would be."
Malphus now rides a Kawasaki 1600. Its speedometer registers 130 mph. He
doesn't know if it will go that fast. The top speed on a bike is just a
number on the speedometer to him.
"I've never taken a bike as fast as it could go," Malphus said.
He has had some close calls but never an accident on a motorcycle. Having
ridden motorcycles for more than 30 years, Malphus attributes his stellar
record to caution and defensive driving.
"In Augusta (Ga.) last winter, I was approaching an intersection," Malphus
said. "I saw a guy in a truck barrelling down toward the intersection. I
knew if I couldn't stop, I would've been hit. But I managed to come to a
stop before I got into the intersection.
"And then, as recently as a week ago, I was coming down Old St. Matthews
Road when a guy in front of me went past the car in front of him," Malphus
said. "One of the drivers meeting us saw the two cars go past, so, he
started trying to make a left turn. He didn't see that there was biker
behind the two cars. Again, I managed to avoid getting hit by slowing to a
stop. As I said, you've got to be cautious and drive defensively."
Malphus warns that interstate highways are another danger zone for bikers.
He said drivers don't always see bikers because they're looking for
something larger or the biker might be in the driver's blind spot.
"And also on interstates, people don't always pay attention to what they're
doing," Malphus said. "They get comfortable or get on their cellphone and
start changing lanes without carefully looking first. That's why I keep my
bike loud. If they don't see me, they might hear me. My motto is: 'Loud
pipes save lives.'"
According to results from a study by the South Carolina Department of Public
Safety, Malphus is right to be concerned about motorists. The SCDPS study
revealed that "in two-vehicle collisions involving motorcycles, the
motorists are more likely to be at fault. Failure to yield is one of the
leading reasons motorcyclists die. It can be difficult to spot a motorcycle
in traffic or judge their speed."
The SCDPS released its findings in September examining a rise in motorcycle
fatalities that show more deaths among men over 35 years old. They found
that the average age of a motorcycle fatality victim, during the time period
studied, was 41 years old.
The SCDPS formed a task force to examine the facts behind each motorcycle
fatality investigated by the Highway Patrol in 2005 and the first half of
2006. The committee analyzed 114 motorcycle fatalities from January of 2005
until June of 2006.
Of the number studied, they found that 103 (90 percent) of those killed were
men; 75 (66 percent) were over the age of 35; 73 (64 percent) were not
wearing helmets; 61 (54 percent) involved speeding.
The SCDPS attributes the rise in motorcycle fatalities to the fact that men
over 35 years old are increasingly buying high-end, luxury cruiser
motorcycles but failing, in many cases, to get the necessary training or
licensing to ride such a motorcycle.
"Between 1990 and 2003, motorcycle ownership rates among baby boomers
increased 44 percent," according to the SCDPS report. "Middle-aged consumers
are responsible for the fastest growing segment of motorcycle registrations.
In South Carolina, motorcycle registrations have risen from 56,000 in 2001
to 85,000 in 2005."
To combat the lack of training among new motorcycle owners, the SCDPS has
spearheaded the Motorcycle Safety Task Force. Its goal is to bring together
law enforcement, motorcycle enthusiasts, safety advocates and the S.C.
Department of Motor Vehicles to work as a unit and find ways to increase
training and education opportunities for motorcyclists.
As a part of the task force, Trooper Trevor Clinton of Troop Seven of the
S.C. Highway Patrol said the Highway Patrol has joined with the state's
Harley Davison Dealers to recommend safety initiatives and demonstrations.
"A major problem is that motorcycle drivers don't have a class M license,"
Clinton said. "Later, we want to include Honda and Yamaha dealers in the
training segment of this initiative. Keeping motorcyclists and drivers safe
is our aim."
Malphus said a motorcyclist's greatest safety device is a clear mind.
"You've got to be a defensive driver and almost predict what's going to
happen, like a sixth sense," he said. "Don't expect the other driver to do
what he's supposed to do. Cars run stop signs and red-lights. ...
"The only way to make roads safer is for people to be more attentive and
observant and realize that they're not the only ones out there."
T&D Staff Writer Thomas Brown can be reached by e-mail at
tbrown@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5532. Discuss this and
other stories online at TheTandD.com.
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12. New Signs for Noise
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.azcentral.com/community/scottsdale/articles/1016sr-noisybikes1016Z8.html
By Thomas Ropp
Arizona - New signs will appear soon in Carefree and Cave Creek
encouraging motorcyclists to throttle down. Some believe the signs
will curb motorcycle noise.
Others say they are a "knee-jerk reaction." Major motorcycle
manufacturers, such as Harley-Davidson, Honda and Yamaha, will
provide the signs and distribute brochures. It is all part of an
effort to educate bikers about the benefits of being friendly
neighbors as they motor through the quiet streets of Carefree on
their way to the rowdy biker bars in Cave Creek. The program came
about after Carefree residents complained so vociferously about
excessive motorcycle noise that the town formed a Noise Enforcement
Advisory Committee to examine the issue. One of the committee's
recommendations was to work with motorcycle manufacturers and see if
they would be willing to police their own industry.
"The industry leaders recognize if they don't get ahead of this
problem, it's going to start affecting their business big time," said
Carefree Councilman Lloyd Meyer, head of the noise committee. Meyer
said some towns and cities are so fed up with motorcycle noise that
they are banning them from city limits. Carefree Councilman Bob Coady
said that Meyer's committee is a "knee-jerk reaction" to a problem
the town has been dealing with for the past four years through its
noise ordinance. "The fact is, we have a pretty good noise ordinance
in place," Coady said. "We just need to have it enforced better."
Noise can harm health The Carefree noise ordinance allows for a
maximum noise level of 85 decibels, about the noise level produced by
a garbage disposal. The Environmental Protection Agency considers 83
decibels and louder to be detrimental to health.
Maricopa County sheriff's deputies patrol Carefree with booms on the
tops of their cars to measure sound. Noise citations can run as much
as $50.
But since the Carefree noise ordinance was enacted in December 2002,
only 30 citations have been given out, Coady said. One of the
problems is that sheriff's deputies have never figured out how to
identify offenders who ride in a group, as many bikers do.
Meyer said his committee does not have a feel-good or knee-jerk
reaction bent.
"The noise ordinance has not been successful," Meyer said. "We're
being proactive and hoping we can get bikers to cooperate on a
voluntary basis."
Meyer said Harley-Davidson might use the Carefree program as a model
for other communities around the country.
It is unclear what options are available to Carefree if voluntary
compliance fails.
Like living near airport Biker Mark Bradshaw is the owner of the
Hideaway, a popular Cave Creek biker bar and restaurant. He said
Carefree also might spend some time educating its residents.
"Bikers have been riding up to Cave Creek long before most of the
complainers moved here," Bradshaw said. "And look where they built
their homes. They're living right on Tom Darlington Drive (the
northern extension of Scottsdale Road) and Cave Creek Road. They
should expect noise."
Bradshaw said the motorcycle complainers are similar to the people
who move next to airports, then go berserk over airplane noise.
He also is upset that the noise committee's efforts have only
targeted motorcyclists.
This conflict is not a new one.
Neighboring Cave Creek also considered a similar noise ordinance,
about the time Carefree passed its. However, Cave Creek rejected the
ordinance. There were legal concerns, and many Cave Creek businesses
have counted on revenues from motorcyclists.
Coady said nearly everyone surveyed in a newsletter he produces
called Carefree Matters responded that the volunteer program will
have little impact on motorcycle noise.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. MRFPac Endorses John Gard
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MRF E-MAIL NEWS
Motorcycle Riders Foundation
236 Massachusetts Ave. NE
Suite 510
Washington, DC 20002-4980
202-546-0983 (voice)
202-546-0986 (fax)
http://www.mrf.org (website)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jeff Hennie, MRF Vice-President of Government Relations
jeff@mrf.org (e-mail)
#06NR19 – MRFPac Endorses John Gard
October 11, 2006
For Immediate Release
The Motorcycle Riders Foundation Political Action
Committee (MRFPAC) has voted to endorse John
Gard in the contest for the open seat in the 8th
Congressional District in Wisconsin. John Gard
has been strongly supported by ABATE of Wisconsin
for man y years. Mr. Gard’s long history of
supporting motorcyclists through the legislative
activities of ABATE weighed heavily in the
decision.
The 8th congressional district of Wisconsin is
being vacated by Mark Green (R) who is running
for governor of Wisconsin. Green is a longtime
motorcycle supporter a recipient of the MRF
Congressional Champion award.
“We have every reason to believe that John Gard
will continue to be a tiresome advocate of
motorcycling in his soon to be future role in
Washington just as he has in the past” Said Jeff
Hennie, Vice President Government Relations.
The MRF has also agreed to support the Gard
campaign with a monetary donation that will be
presented by ABATE of Wisconsin members on behalf of the MRF PAC.
The MRF PAC is funded solely through individual
donations made directly to the PAC. MRF PAC
will consider any donation requests submitted to
MRF PAC by any supporting state motorcycle
rights organization.
The MRF is looking forward to working with the
Gard team during the election process and in
Washington D. C. after your victory.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
14. Drop in drunk & motorcycle highway deaths in La
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news-28/1160593783287410.xml&storylist=louisiana
Report: drop in drunk & motorcycle highway deaths in La
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The number of deaths from highway motorcycle wrecks
went down last year even though the number of such wrecks remained about the
same — a sign that the state's helmet law is working, says the head of the
Louisiana Highway Safety Commission.
"It's clear that the motorcycle helmet law is saving lives," Col. James E.
Champagne said. "With the increasing popularity of motorcycle ownership, I
hate to even think about how many more deaths we'd have had if the Legislature
had not passed the helmet law."
Motorcycle wrecks killed 74 people last year — the first full year for the
returned helmet law. That was a 7.4 percent drop from 80 in 2004. "In
comparing the trend without the helmet law,
we're happy to have a decrease," safety
commission planner Jamie Ainsworth said.
Overall highway deaths also are down — and the percentage of wrecks
involving drunk drivers hit an all-time low at 42
percent, Champagne said. "It's the
first time we've been within 3 percentage points of the national average," he
said.
The total number of fatal wrecks fell from 886 to 872 between 2004 and 2005,
and the number of people killed from 992 to 963, according to data from the
Highway Safety Research Group at LSU's Ourso College of Business.
In addition to the DWI reduction, part of the drop is probably due to the
loss of population in south Louisiana caused by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,
Champagne said.
He said there's also a worrying trend of reduced seat belt use: a survey
this past summer found just under 75 percent of
all front-seat occupants buckled
up, down from nearly 78 percent a year earlier. Champagne said he would ask
police to "rededicate" themselves to enforcement.
Although state law has required motorcyclists to wear helmets since August
2004, about 19 percent of the cyclists involved in highway wrecks last year
weren't wearing them, state figures show. That compares to about half in 2004.
Motorcycle deaths had risen steadily from 42 in 1999, the year Gov. Mike
Foster convinced the Legislature to repeal Louisiana's helmet law, to 83 in
2003. Motorcyclists have been required to wear helmets since August 2004.
Between 1994 and 1999 the state had averaged just over 30 highway motorcycle
deaths a year. Although the number of motorcycles registered in Louisiana
has risen about 7 percent a year, the total numbers of wrecks and of wrecks
with injuries were about the same number in 2004 and 2005, Champagne said.
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15. College students lack understanding of American government, history
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.purdueexponent.com/index.php/module/Section/section_id/4?module=article&story_id=2449
College students lack understanding of American government, history
By Kate DeWeese
Publication Date: 10/18/06
Assistant Campus Editor
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
But you might not know that.
A study released last month found that college
students have a poor understanding of American
government, politics and history. Purdue
professors agree that while this problem is not a
new
one, it is troubling.
"I think it's unfortunate," said Susan Curtis,
professor of history and American studies and
associate dean for interdisciplinary programs and
engagement in the College of Liberal Arts.
Curtis said from a historical perspective, there
is so much students can learn by seeing how
people in the past dealt with large-scale social problems.
"History reminds us that the most important
political and social changes occurred because
people
organized and lobbied," she said. "Studying
history gives us insight into things we could do
to
reclaim our role as citizens."
Bert Rockman, professor of political science,
said few people have much understanding of the
political system. A general level of specific
knowledge of these areas is weak in the
population.
"People have little reason to get deeply
involved," he said. "People don't understand how
the
decisions of few affect the many: How government affects lives."
Government and politics connect to people's lives
directly, Rockman said. A better understanding
of the subjects and how they relate can lead to a
more rational outlook. However, people tend to
get involved when they are concerned about issues
or social disturbance, not just to understand
better how the government works.
Many colleges across the country, including
Purdue, do not require basic history or political
science courses for all students. Rockman said if
students were given an opportunity to take a
critical look at these areas, they might be more
able to rationalize their views.
People get political news from all sources, and
Rockman said it is a problem because people get
far more opinion than news.
"Cable diminishes the openness of information,"
he said. "People with one point of view watch
one station, those with another point of view watch another."
Curtis said she thinks it would be worthwhile to
discuss the addition of core courses in American
government, politics and history and said
students often look to sources of information
that are
entertaining but not always good for concrete news.
"College-aged kids look at programs like 'The
Daily Show,' which are meant to be funny," she
said.
"But you may get a false understanding; you won't
get much historical grounding."
Students not having a good comprehension of
government, politics and history has been a
difficult
problem for a long time, Curtis said. It is
important for students, however, because it
affects
them directly.
"At a time we are facing so many issues and
challenges, both internally and as a player on the
world stage, it is vital for all citizens to be informed and participate."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16. ER visits increase with motorcycle popularity
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2006610180352
ER visits increase with motorcycle popularity
Ozarks hospitals see sharp rise in injured bike riders.
Amos Bridges
News-Leader
StoryChat Post Comment
As they have across the country, motorcycles are
becoming increasingly common on Ozarks roadways.
And motorcycle riders are becoming increasingly
common in Springfield hospital emergency rooms.
Both St. John's and Cox recorded a jump in
motorcycle-related trauma admissions during the
past year —
with Cox seeing its admissions nearly double.
The cause is unclear, but law enforcement
officers — and motorcycle owners — say it's
likely a
combination of factors. They point to inattentive
drivers who share the roadways with motorcycles,
inadequate safety equipment and an increase in
motorcycle purchases, which may mean more
inexperienced
riders are buying and riding the powerful machines.
Mark Phillips learned the danger of inattention
first-hand after a pickup truck pulled in front
of his
motorcycle in November at a Conway crossroads
along Old Route 66. He joins others in hoping the
trend
will stop.
"I saw her stop, and I thought she had seen me,"
said Phillips, a Springfield builder and Realtor.
Phillips had the right-of-way, but the pickup —
which had a stop sign at the crossing — pulled
into
the intersection directly in his path, he said.
Phillips emerged with minor injuries, but his
passenger,
girlfriend Tammy Vestal, suffered four broken
ribs, a punctured lung and other internal
injuries.
"It took three surgeries to get her back to
normal," Phillips said. "But this was a serious
accident,
and she's going to have complications for the rest of her life."
Phillips said the motorcycle, a Harley-Davidson soft-tail, is now for sale.
"We got back on it, but it's just not quite the same," he said.
Taking a ride together on the weekend used to be
a way to relax, he said, but now carries too many
bad memories. "It's not as fun as it used to be."
The accident has had one positive effect, however
— Phillips said he pays more attention to
motorcycles
when he's behind the wheel.
"I look three or four times now just to make sure
I'm not the idiot that (hits a motorcycle)," he
said.
"You don't understand it until it happens to you."
Tracking a trend
Pam Holt, trauma prevention education coordinator
at St. John's, has been tracking the unsettling
trend in Springfield.
In 2005, the trauma center at St. John's hospital
admitted 138 people with motorcycle-related
injuries.
"That's about 6 percent of our trauma admissions for the year," Holt said.
As of Sept. 14, the total for 2006 had reached 124.
"We had 48 admissions just in July, August and
September," she said. There were 13 in the first
14
days of September.
"So pretty much one a day ... and that's not just
a visit to the ER," Holt said. Each of those
admitted stayed in the hospital at least overnight.
The increase has been even more pronounced at Cox
South, where hospital admissions from motorcycle-
related crashes jumped from 41 between June 2004
and May 2005 to 82 during the same period in
2005-06.
"So we doubled," said Cox spokeswoman Donna
Barton. "And these were (injuries) serious enough
to be
admitted to the hospital — there could have been
others that were treated and released."
Brian Chandler, a traffic safety engineer with
the Missouri Department of Transportation, said
there
has been a slight increase in motorcycle-related fatalities statewide, as well.
"In the first six months of 2005, we had 34
(motorcycle-related) fatalities," he said. "In
the same
six months of 2006 we had 42."
Across the country, motorcycle sales have been
rising every year since 1992. Last year, 1.1
million
bikes were sold.
In the first half of 2006, sales were up 11
percent, according to Motorcycle Industry Council
in Irvine,
Calif.
Barton said Cox doctors could not point to any
specific cause for the increase, but Holt said she
thinks rising gas prices may be driving more people to buy motorcycles.
"Then they hop on it without any training or experience," she said.
Equipment can have an effect, as well.
Although surveys have shown that about three in
four Missouri motorcyclists wear helmets — as
required
by state law — not all are up to snuff.
"A lot of people are not wearing (Department of
Transportation) approved helmets, and that makes
a lot
of difference," Holt said.
More cycles
Howard Hensley, a retired truck driver from
Springfield who rides with his wife, Kathy, on
weekends,
thinks the spike in accidents is a result of more
riders and the drivers of four-wheel vehicles not
paying enough attention.
"I have seen more motorcycles on the road in the
last year than I have in my whole life, other
than at
Sturgis," he said.
And drivers in cars, trucks and SUVs don't appear
to be paying attention or helping the situation,
he
added.
"People pull right in front of you, or they
follow too close," said Hensley, 67. "It's just
people not
knowing any better, not caring or not paying
attention ... You have to figure everybody in
front of you
is out to run you over."
During a five-year period starting in 2000, about
44 percent of fatal motorcycle crashes involved a
motorcycle and another vehicle — of those, 40
percent were caused by the other vehicle,
according to
the Missouri Motorcycle Safety Committee.
Speeding by motorcyclists was found to be a more
common factor, however, cited in about 49 percent
of
fatal crashes. Failure to negotiate a turn was
another common cause for fatalities.
That means motorcycle riders need to take
responsibility, as well, Hensley said.
"What you really need to do if you're going to
ride a motorcycle is take one of these basic
motorcycle
riding courses," Hensley said. "That won't make
you a professional rider, but it will sure make
you pay
attention to what can happen to you. Just going
out and buying a motorcycle and taking off — I
wouldn't
recommend that to anybody."
Greene County Sheriff Jack Merritt said more
riders on the road is likely the primary cause
for the
increase in injuries.
"They're inexperienced riders and don't know how
to avoid collisions," said Merritt, who has been
riding
motorcycles for more than four decades.
Although new distractions — cell phones, for
instance --contribute to driver inattentiveness,
Merritt said
he does not think the danger level has changed.
"People just tend not to see motorcycles —
they're looking for cars and SUVs, trucks and
buses," he said.
"Any motorcyclist needs to really realize that
it's probably the most dangerous thing you'll
ever do. It's
very enjoyable, but you have to be mindful of that."
Merritt said he tries to attend an advanced
safety course every few years. "It's like
anything else — you
will develop some bad habits, so I take that
course to kind of get myself refreshed."
Donna Routh, co-owner of Southwest Missouri
Motorcycle Training Center, said she sees two
other reasons
for the increase in injuries.
"A lot of old riders who are coming back to
motorcycles don't think they need training,"
Routh said. But
even old pros may need to review.
"Otherwise they're not looking ahead, they're not
anticipating what other drivers are going to do,"
she
said. "Then when it comes time to brake they
don't know the proper braking procedures."
The second problem, Routh said, is that many
returning riders buy motorcycles that are much
larger and
have more horsepower than the bikes they used to ride.
More weight and more power can make a motorcycle
much harder to control, she said. "By the second
day of
the course there's usually someone saying, 'I may
be rethinking how big my bike needs to be.' "
Staying safe
Amanda Denney-Stehle, general manager at Denney's
Harley-Davidson in Springfield, said the
potential for
injury shouldn't be cause for alarm — just caution.
"I hate to see people get really worried and
think they're going to have an accident just
because they're
riding a motorcycle," Denney-Stehle said. "Even
in a car you've got to drive defensively — and
you've got
to ride defensively."
She said the dealership fields about a dozen
calls a week from riders looking for basic
training courses,
and counsels customers on helmets and other
safety gear. "The best thing you can do to
minimize the risks
is to be familiar with the motorcycle you're on and wear proper safety attire."
Routh, who spends most weekends conducting
motorcycle training in a parking lot at Ozarks
Technical
Community College, said she's had no problem
filling her basic and advanced rider courses
since opening
for business in January 2004.
During the hands-on portion of the course, riders
practice braking, cornering and other skills on
the range
at OTC.
A fresh coat of rain added an extra layer of
authenticity for Carrie Decker and other students
attending
the Saturday class a few weeks ago.
"Since I've been riding again, I haven't been in
the rain," said Decker, 32, as she watched a
fellow student
wipe out while trying to stop on the slick
pavement. "But I tell you what, I'd rather dump
one of these
little bikes than mine."
Decker said she rode motorcycles in high school,
but started riding again about two months ago.
"I took a hiatus after I had kids," she said. "I
just started again and decided to take the
course."
She said it's helped her redevelop the heightened
awareness she'll need when — rather than if — she
runs
into a dangerous situation.
"In the last month I've been cut off four or five
times," Decker said. "You may not be able to avoid
everything, but there's usually something you can do to avoid an accident."
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http://www.solriders.com/products/
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-- Later Hawk
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Anything can be accomplished, if it's planned right and you have the desire and creativity to execute it. Jesse "The Governor" Ventura
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