Air Schedule (updated 10/25/2010) Episode 1: October 12 - Midnight EST, 9:00PM PST Episode 2: October 19 - Midnight EST, 9:00PM PST Episode 3: October 26 - Midnight EST, 9:00PM PST Episode 4: November 2 - 12:30AM EST, 9:30PM PST Episode 5: November 9 - Midnight EST, 9:00PM PST Episode 6: November 16 - 1:30AM EST, 9:30PM PST
In the mid 90s stunt riding emerged as an aggressive street phenomenon. In 2006 the XDL Championship Series was born. XDL has vaulted itself into the ranks of the fastest-growing action sports in America, highlighted by its first demonstration in the 2010 Summer X Games. Inside XDL is a behind the scenes look at the 2010 season as our cameras follow the top contenders in their chase for the national championship.
Pirate News TV star David Boyd survived severing his nutsac: in Knoxville to go Pro at XDL in Nashville:
Throttle Nation, the best motorcycle magazine on the planet, is replacing the bankrupt 2-Wheel Tuner, poaches bikerbabe editor Beth Dolgner to give We The People what We want -- The Dragonater!
The Dragonater (far right) posing with 2010 XDL Champion porn kingpin Bill Dixon at King of the South 2010 in downtown Seymour TN
The County has stopped putting the e-mail address on the County Commission web site. In response to your requests, we are listing them below. PLEASE USE THEM TO MAKE YOUR FEELINGS KNOWN.
Tonya Burchfield tonyab@blounttn.org
Tab Burkhalter burkhalter.tab@gmail.com
Rick Carver rcarver@blounttn.org
Mike Caylor bmcaylor@ci.maryville.tn.us
Jim Folts jfolts@blounttn.org
Gary Framer farmerg@blountk12.org
Ron French rfrench@blounttn.org
Roy Gamble rgamble4012@yahoo.com
Tom Greene tom.greene@flec.org
Brad Harrison laharrison@ftb.com
Mark Hasty mhasty@blounttn.org
Scott Helton shelton@blounttn.org
Gerald Kirby GKIRBY@BLOUNTTN.ORG
Holden Lail hlail@blounttn.org
Peggy Lambert pklambert@blounttn.org
Mike Lewis lewism@greenecountybank.com
Ken Melton kmelton@blounttn.org
Jerome Moon jmoon@blounttn.org
Monika Murrell monika29@charter.net
Steve Samples ssamples@att.net
Gordon Wright gwright@blounttn.org
Careful, if they're like Knox County commissioners, they'll put a murder contract on your head...
New York City residents who want to own a gun may soon be denied permits if they are litterbugs, if they are bad drivers, or if they have fallen behind on a few bills.
Under proposed revisions to the police department's handgun, rifle and shotgun permit procedures, the NYPD can reject gun license applicants for a number of reasons, including:
If they have been arrested or convicted of almost any "violation," in any state; having a "poor driving history"; having been fired for "circumstances that demonstrate lack of good judgment"; having "failed to pay legally required debts"; being deemed to lack "good moral character"; or if any other information demonstrates "other good cause for the denial of the permit."
Critics say many of the restrictions are vague, have nothing to do with one's fitness to own a gun and are unconstitutional.
Supporters say the new restrictions will make gun purchasing more efficient and don't give the NYPD any more power than it already has.
According to a Report of the Governmental Affairs Division, the changes came about as the result of two recent Supreme Court decisions.
"In District of Columbia v. Heller the Court found that a District of Columbia law banning the possession of handguns in the home was invalid due to the rights conferred by the Second Amendment; in McDonald v. City of Chicago, Ill., the Court applied that right equally to the States," the report says.
As result, Councilman Peter F. Vallone Jr., chairman of the Public Safety Committee, introduced a proposal to lower the city's fees for gun permits to ones that more accurately reflect what the city spends to issue them.
"Now the fees are going to be much less and they're going to have a relationship to the amount of administrative costs that are involved, and in that way it will withstand the Constitution and the court challenge that most people expect will be coming down the road," Vallone told FoxNews.com.
The current $340 fee for all pistol licenses would be lowered to $70 for a premises license and $110 for a carry license. Rifle and shotgun permits would drop from $140 to $65. Costs for license renewals would also be significantly reduced.
With the lower fees, the New York Police Department also introduced revisions to the police department's gun permit procedures, which, unlike Vallone's bill, need only approval from the mayor's office, not the City Council.
"Although I do have oversight capability and I can have a hearing on it, I don't have any formal say in it," Vallone said.
Councilmember Dan Halloran says those revisions are intended to give the police more power to deny licenses, which could counter a possible spike in gun ownership triggered by the lower fees.
But Halloran and Vallone say the proposed restrictions give the NYPD so much authority that they violate the Second Amendment.
"The disqualification categories are downright scary. They're completely open to interpretation and they really don't measure anybody's fitness to own a gun," Halloran told FoxNews.com.
He pointed to a restriction stating applicants can be denied if they've "been arrested, indicted or convicted for a crime or violation, except minor traffic violations."
"So now the city can deny a permit for a building code violation, a sanitation ticket for failing to sweep the sidewalk … an array of non-criminal acts," Halloran said.
Another troublesome restriction, Halloran said, is one that allows permit denial if "the applicant has failed to pay legally required debts such as child support, taxes, fines or penalties imposed by governmental authorities."
"So people who are in foreclosure, or have credit card judgments, maybe filed bankruptcy, can now be legally denied," he said.
Applicants can also be denied, under the new restrictions, if they've "been terminated from employment under circumstances that demonstrate lack of good judgment or lack of good moral character."
"It seems to me it's more of an application to be pope than to be a gun owner," Vallone said. "I don't know anyone who would pass this thing. Anyone who has ever tried marijuana or has a bad driving history, lost a job regarding a lack of judgment – those are ridiculous criteria for gun ownership."
But Jason Post, a spokesman for Mayor Michael Bloomberg's office, said nothing in the proposal gives police a power they don't already have.
"The revisions will make the application process more efficient and give more clarity to applicants for gun licenses," Post told FoxNews.com in an e-mail.
Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, agreed, saying the changes appear to be a "fleshing out" of existing gun restrictions, and not an expansion of them.
"I think it's a good faith attempt by New York City authorities to make sure that their restrictions comply with the Constitution standards that the Supreme Court's adopted over the last two years," he told FoxNews.com.
While some restrictions, like paying legally required debts, may seem irrelevant to critics, Helmke says they are not.
"Child support, taxes, fines and governmental penalties I think are legitimate things. Basically, if someone's not complying with what the government requires of somebody, that's usually a sign that you can't trust them to follow the rules with something like a gun," he said.
As for whether the rule could apply to failure to pay a cable TV bill, as Halloran implied, Helmke said, "I think he's stretching it there."
Halloran said the biggest problem is that the rules are open to that kind of interpretation, and he pointed to the clause that reads that applicants can be denied for failure "to provide information requested by the License Division or required by this chapter" or "other information demonstrates an unwillingness to abide by the law, a lack of candor towards lawful authorities, a lack of concern for the safety of oneself and/or other persons and/or for public safety, and/or other good cause for the denial of the license," as the most obvious example.
"Could this be any more vague and open ended?" he asked. "Ask yourself, would any other constitutional right be subject to such vagaries? Imagine these requirements put to be eligible to vote, to have a lawyer, to be secure in your person or possessions, your right to a jury."
Former federal prosecutor and constitutional law expert Douglas Burns said that while the Heller and McDonald cases allow guns to be regulated closely, New York's proposal has some legal issues.
"If left unchanged, I think there could be some problems in court with it," Burns told FoxNews.com in an e-mail.
With a few adjustments, though, the proposal could be made to stand up in court, he said.
"I think like any proposed amendments, it has to be fine-tuned -- you can't leave in "violations other than traffic" because under NYS law a violation is not a criminal offense, so I think that's a problem. Also, as I said, the debt payment and job-firing language has to be fine-tuned; it is too broad.... I think the legislator does raise some valid concerns."
The council is due to vote on the price changes, which are expected to pass, and to advise the police department on the restriction changes Wednesday.
Should the department decide to go forward with the proposed changes, Vallone says he is "seriously considering having an oversight hearing on this topic"
The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment.
Dragonater Comment:This law brought to you by those nice copkillers who bombed NYC on 9/11...
Today I received a plea for help from the Tawakoni Area TEA Party. They have a Mayor that is out of control and hates the TEA Party too. He has fired 2 long time officers for no other apparent reason than the simple fact that they belong to the local TEA Party chapter.
West Tawakoni is a small town in East Texas, they don’t have a lot of TEA Party members and I am not sure how well connected to the media they are, but I know how connected I am, and I know that I have friends in the powerful, and LARGE Dallas TEA Party. I an certain that they will want to get involved in this.
This has been sent to Drudge, Breitbart, FOX and Friends, several local media here in the Dallas area, but I can’t stress this enough, the MEDIA needs to get ALL OVER this one. If you have ANY contacts in the media, send this to them.
The media, and most of Conservative America got their knickers in a twist over Juan Williams being fired by NPR, a case that was, in MY opinion, a libber reaping what he had sown, but if Conservative America can get involved and outraged over that, what will their reaction to this be?
I sincerely hope it’s not one of apathy.
Please, feel free to forward this to your email list and to ALL media that you may have contact with! It is that important!
From Lake Tawakoni Area TEA Party News
On October 20, 2010 Police Chief Jack Schultz was put on 10 days unpaid suspension at which time he will be terminated. This is a man that has served this city for twenty years and acts as a fatherly figure to his community while keeping us safe.
Sergeant John Becket has Proudly & Bravely served his community for over nine years and operates as a protector and referee of the law instead of a small town speed trap cop as the mayor has publicly announced he wants in he new police department.
These are the sole actions of Mayor Pete Yoho and are being done against the will of the majority of the city council.
A coup d’état ( or /ku de.ta/) or coup for short (French for overthrow of the state), is the sudden unconstitutional deposition of a government, usually by a small government’s surrender; or the acquiescence of the populace.
Sorry but WE THE PEOPLE do not ACQUIESCE !!! SOURCE
From Stormin’ Norman:
Re-Call Time For Mayor Yoho…run him out of town!
Mayor Pete Yoho has to go! The citizens of Lake Tawakoni have the right to re-call the mayor and fire him. They can do this at any time they see fit and apparently the time is fit! This has got to be the most un-American action taken by any mayor in the history of the country. Did the mayor of Chicago get rid of Barack Obama as a community organizer for Obama’s ties to the Communist Party USA? You just don’t fire someone for their political party affiliation…Oh, but we’re going to do that on November 2nd !!! ~ Norman E. Hooben
From Texas TEA Parties:
Police Chief Suspended and Police Officer terminated for affiliation with Tea Party-West Tawakoni, TX Friday, October 22nd, 2010 Subject: City Council Meeting in Tawakoni October 26, 2010 ATTENTION ALL TEA PARTY MEMBERS
As most of you all know Johnny Beckett was terminated as an Police officer in West Tawakoni Wednesday Oct 20th and Chief Jack Schultz on Suspension by the Mayor of West Tawakoni Pete Yoho. The main reason for this action is their affiliation with the Tea Party. During last Tuesday nights meeting the Mayor publicly slandered the LTATP, Jack Schultz, Johnny Beckett, Candy Schultz, Bill Creed, Ed Watson, Carol Soloman, Laura Beckett, and my self. We need all members of the Tea Party to be at the next meeting at city hall Tue, Oct 26th at p.m.. These men are great officers and deserve all of our support. Chief Schultz has been on the police force for many many years and he also served as a volunteer fireman when ever needed. Help is needed. SOURCE
From American and Proud:
Police Chief and Sgt Fired for Tea Party Activities? Posted on October 26, 2010 by Robert
From TexasFred by way of Lake Tawakoni Area News
This, if true is disgusting. Evidently these men were fired because of their tea party affiliations. They were exercising their 1st amendment rights to assemble and to speak their mind. They felt drawn to the Tea Party patriots and an idiot mayor decided they had to go for their actions? Fire up the torches boys we got a target in Lake Tawakoni!
Airline passengers might want to consider a trip to the gym before heading to the airport now that high-tech body scanners have been unveiled at Kennedy Airport.
Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano yesterday hailed them as an important breakthrough for airport security and the fight against terrorism.
Yet when it came to testing the devices - which produce chalky, naked X-ray images of passengers - she turned the floor over to some brave volunteers.
"These machines represent an important way to stay ahead of the ever-evolving threat that faces the aviation industry," Napolitano said.
About 300 of the Advanced Imaging Technology (AIT) machines are operational already at 62 airports across the country, and 450 will be in place by the end of the year, officials said.
Poll Results
Do you approve of the introduction of body scanners at the nation's airports?
Yes! They will improve security. 16% No! They're an invasion of privacy! 80% I'm not sure. 4%
JFK will have a "substantial" number, but officials would not reveal the exact figure.
Machines will be installed at Newark and LaGuardia airports within weeks.
The machines work by projecting low-level X-ray [actually deadly gamma ray] beams at the passenger's body to produce an image.
Any nonmetal objects hidden on the passenger's body that wouldn't be detected by the old-style scanners are easily spotted.
Going through one is optional for all travelers, but Napolitano hoped to ease any fears that airport staff would use them to leer at passengers.
"Those who read the images are not actually physically at the gate, so they cannot associate an image with an individual person at all," she said.
"And the machines are set so that no image is retained." [but all images can be sent over the internet and stored forever, hahahahaha]
Yesterday, I witnessed three separate armed robberies by biker gangs, in a 10 minute period. I didn't stop to render aid to the victims, since I didn't want to get killed. I didn't dial 9/11, since I didn't want to get involved. Everyone else did the same as me, just sped by the robberies thinking, "Thank God it wasn't me."
Video of this biker gang's armed robbery of The Dragonater
I was previously robbed by this biker gang, but I successfully fought off the mugger, caught on video tape.
View out my back door in Da Hood, building gutted by rival biker gang kingpin who calls himself Hutch
Maybe I should stop frequenting locations where biker gangs congregate, or move to a nicer neighborhood? Economy must be getting worse, since armed robberies are now a daily occurance in this city. This same biker gang was in the news for the large number of robberies, assaults, kidnappings, rapes and murders carried out by its gangmembers.
Biker gang sign at my backdoor ally after the biker gang stole my car
This is the same rough neighborhood (Da Hood) where this same biker gang stole my car. I filed criminal charges against the gang members, but they got lawyered up and escaped arrest. Gangsters know how to beat The System. Never did get my car back. This cartheft was retaliation for my investigation of the murder of one of the biker gangbangers, and the transcript of the arrest of the biker kingpin.
My home is the penthouse on the left
This is also the same Hood were my home was nearly incinerated by towering inferno. The biker gang threatened to kidnap me if I gave police my photos taken of the arsonist setting the fire, while holding a flame in his hand with a maniacal look on his face. Insurance fraud is a racket by this biker gang. Have you ever run into a towering inferno? I have.
Do I live in L.A, Miamai or Sturgis? Nope, just a little town called Knoxvile Tennessee. God damn those biker scum!
Reckless gangbanger crashed into parked car, a popular pasttime for this biker gang
THE DRAGONATER WINS IN TRAFFIC COURT AT DEALS GAP, RAISES SPEED LIMIT TO 65 MPH ON THE DRAGON - NOLLE PROSEQUI BY BLOUNT COUNTY ATTORNEY GENERAL. NO TESTIMONY, HEARING NOR TRIAL WHATSOEVER. 60 MPH SPEEDING TICKET DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, COSTS PAID BY THE STATE, IN BLOUNT COUNTY GENERAL SESSIONS COURT WITH JUDGE BREWER. THP TROOPER RANDALL HUCKEBY ADMITTED ON VIDEOTAPE DURING TRAFFIC STOP THAT ALL SPEEDING TICKETS NORTHBOUND ON US129 AT MILE MARKER 0.5 ARE FEDERAL JURISDICTION, NOT STATE JURISDICTION (VIDEO BY THE DRAGONATER). HUCKEBY WAS ALSO CAUGHT ON VIDEO SPEEDING AT 60 MPH ON THE DRAGON, WITHOUT THE MANDATORY EMERGENCY LIGHTS AND SIREN REQUIRED FOR IMMUNITY FROM PROSECUTION (VIDEO BY THE DRAGONATER). TDOT ADMITTED IN WRITING THAT THE MANDATORY TRAFFIC ENGINEERING SURVEY SPEED AUDIT WAS NEVER PERFORMED, IN VIOLATION OF TN CODE, THUS THE POSTED 30 MPH SPEED LIMIT ON THE DRAGON REVERTS TO THE DEFAULT 65 MPH IN TN CODE. THE DRAGONATER ALSO MADE VIDEO OF TROOPER HUCKEBY SPEEDING UP TO 60 MPH ON THE DRAGON IN A 30 MPH ZONE, WITHOUT MANDATORY EMERGENCY LIGHTS NOR SIREN, IN VIOLATION OF TN CODE, AND PERJURY IN HIS PERSONNEL FILE, WHICH SHOWED HIS $100,000+ SALARY. 2007 TDOT SAFETY AUDIT REPORT CONFESSED THAT THP'S JOB IS TO BAN ALL COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES ON THE DRAGON, SO THP TICKETS INCREASED 11,400% IN BLOUNT COUNTY. THP'S STALKER RADAR OPERATOR MANUAL CONFESSED THAT RADAR CANNOT MEASURE THE SPEED OF VEHICLES WITHIN 18 MPH OF ACTUAL SPEED. WATCH THIS SPACE FOR FULL EVIDENCE FILE. UPDATE 7 MARCH 2011
WHY DOES MY HARLEY-DAVIDSON® RUBBER MOUNTED MOTORCYCLE WEAVE, WOBBLE and REARSTEER™?
Erik Buell, teaches in patent No. 4,776,423 and No. 6,213,240 that Vibration Isolated Motorcycles MUST HAVE at least 3 stabilizer links connecting the power train unit to the frame to
PREVENT LATERAL INSTABILITY!
Harley-Davidson®, however, manufactures the Dyna with 1 stabilizer link, the FXR with 2 stabilizer links, the Touring Models (baggers) - 2 stabilizer links and the V-ROD with 1 stabilizer link CONTRARY TO THEIR PATENT. Only the BUELL and 2004 and later rubber mount Sportsters have 3 STABLIZER LINKS!
TRUE-TRACK™ (PATENTED)
a suspension stabilization device, acts to mitigate instability on vibration isolated motorcycles manufactured with LESS THAN 3 STABILIZER LINKS!
You felt that twitch or what you thought was a low tire before. The Dealer replied, "Never heard of that problem before". BULL!
Little did I know what my Sunday afternoon ride had in store for me. Cruising through the absolutely beautiful forest with gentle curves was ecstasy. Sunlight shafts were breaking through the trees and the smell of the pines, wow. I get goose bumps thinking about it. I was really into it.
So, I grabbed a handful and setup for the next sweeper, leaned it over a few degrees, rolled on the throttle and accelerated through until all HELL BROKE LOOSE. The rear wheel started to weave then wobble and actually steer the bike in a different direction than the front! The back of the bike started heading for the guardrail. I tried to correct with body English and push the handle bar to pull out of the inevitable. The back of the bike slid sideways first.The right saddlebag banged hard against the guard rail at about 60-65 miles per hour. Fortunately I didn't go down, but managed to turn into the guard rail and scrape off some speed until I straightened out. It scared the sh*t out of me, I had to use Handy Wipes later and clean up.
NO MAS! NO MAS! To make a long story short I came up with a solution that cured the "REARSTEER™", when the swing arm pivot mounts compress or move. A caged bracket that attaches to the bottom of a Dresser or Road King oil pan transmission (1993-2010), which mounts an isolated stabilizer link connected to a frame bracket. The rear tire now follows the front without changing direction. I call the device "TRUE-TRACK™" (PATENTED). It keeps the swing arm pivot anchored in position and therefore stable.
Oh, I forgot to mention. My contact with the guard rail cost me $2100.00 a new front fender, right fork leg (chrome gouged) replacement, new fairing cap, right floor board, scratched right tank, scrapes on the right bag, hardware and repaint. Now that does not include the trick $400.00 shocks I installed before to try and eliminate the wobbling at the rear. "TRUE-TRACK™" is simply cheap insurance for the inevitable!
The "TRUE-TRACK™" (PATENTED) kit consists of four mounting brackets, CNC machined from an 11 pound solid block of "BALLISTIC BILLET™" aluminum, adjustable stabilizer link, all stainless steel mounting hardware and installation instructions . . . available and always in stock!
See also:
Glide Pro solid motor mounts - Safety and performance are very important at Glide-Pro, it’s always a top priority with Jake Ore, the President and Designer of the Glide Pro Stabilizing System. Jake has maintained an FAA airframe and power plant license for the past 25 years and has held an FAA Inspector Authorization for the last 20. So he demands that the best materials, and workmanship go into each and every product he works on. Glide Pro is no exception. Jake’s experience encompasses building high performance composite aircraft, fabricating fibreglass and carbon fiber, and thorough aircraft maintenance, including sheet metal repairs and engine overhauls. After being very disappointed in his `03 Road King, Jake went to work and Glide-Pro was born. Anyone who has experienced the high speed wobbles, also known as tank slap, will want the Glide-Pro Stabilizing System on their bike. Glide-Pro is made in America and is both domestic and international patent pending. This product has been personally tested by Jake and many other avid riders for the past five years, with over 50,000 test miles accomplished before bringing it to the public. If you want to make your touring bike handle the way it should, you need the Glide Pro Stabilizing System.
Jim McMahon, a longtime Chicago firefighter and motorcycle enthusiast, broke down twice today as he testified in a Cook County courtroom about being paralyzed from the chest down in a motorcycle crash.
He could use only his thumbs to wipe away the tears.
McMahon, 53, is suing Harley-Davidson, claiming the company produced a faulty motorcycle that led to his 2004 crash on an Arizona interstate. A resident of Chicago's Mount Greenwood neighborhood, McMahon requires a wheelchair and around-the-clock care.
In his opening statement, McMahon's attorney, Scott Hooper, said his client's bike "weaved and wobbled" before it crashed.
"A weaving and wobbling motorcycle is not a safe motorcycle," Hooper said. "They sold it knowing there's a problem with it and knowing there's a way to fix it."
McMahon's motorcycle, a 2004 black and cobalt blue Screamin' Eagle Electraglide, sat in the middle of the Daley Center courtroom. The bike's left side was mangled and grass remained lodged in the wheel.
Many jurors stood up to get a better look when Hooper pointed to the bike and said that some critical bolts were loose before the crash.
Mark Kircher, representing Harley-Davidson, said the crash was caused by driver error, not a mechanical defect.
"A moment of inattention caused him to leave the road," Kircher said. "When the road turned, he didn't."
McMahon bought his motorcycle on New Year's Eve 2003. At the time, he was a lieutenant with the Chicago Fire Department.
On March 29, 2004, McMahon and some friends, many of them fellow firefighters, were riding near Benson, Ariz. One rider signaled he needed gas and McMahon accelerated to the front of the group to alert others to the planned exit.
That's when McMahon said the motorcycle, which had only about 900 miles on it, began shaking and wobbling. When he tried to slow down, he said he felt it getting worse, so he sped up.
"I didn't know what was happening," McMahon said. "I was trying to hang on for my life."
After he crashed, he was unconscious and without a pulse. Doctors placed him in a medically induced coma.
On Wednesday attorneys from both sides tried to use product tests done by Harley-Davidson to support their arguments. Kircher said Harley motorcycles underwent "extensive, rigorous" testing that proves they are safe. Hooper said company tests show a pattern of problems similar to the one experienced by McMahon.
Hooper said he is representing three other clients with similar issues with their motorcycles, and that McMahon's case is the first to go to trial.
Submitted by too many people to thank individually other than here!
High-Speed Wobble Defined
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP represents motorcyclists against Harley-Davidson in personal injury lawsuits allegedly as a result of what are commonly referred to as "high-speed wobble" (or "tank-slapper") accidents involving Harley-Davidson motorcycles. High speed wobble motorcycle accidents typically involve shaking or instability in the front end of the motorcycle. In certain cases, the front wheel can thrash from side to side, something bikers refer to as a "tank slapper" because the handlebars suddenly seem intent on battering the fuel tank into submission, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle.
Harley Cycles and High Speed Wobble
On September 13, 2002, the Raleigh, North Carolina News and Observer reported that a local police officer had l ost control of his Harley-Davidson motorcycle after its front wheel began to wobble as he was passing a tractor-trailer at 85 mph, and died. A spokesman for Harley's corporate office said the company "is not aware of any issues with any of our motorcycles at this time."
The News and Observer, however, stated that other sources noted stability problems with the FLH series of Harley-Davidson, also known as the Electra Glide, Road King and Ultra Classic, which are widely used by law enforcement officers nationwide. "A Harley, when you get it to high speed, has what you call a high-speed wobble," Sgt. R.N. Stallings of the North Carolina Highway Patrol was quoted as stating. In an otherwise glowing article in 1999, Motorcycle Consumer News described "an oscillation in the chassis that keeps the bike from feeling steady, both while cornering and at elevated speeds." The writer attributed the problem to an offset between the front and rear tires [see video below]. Riders of Harley motorcycles who suffered injuries allegedly due to high speed wobble and would like to learn more about their legal rights, please click here to contact an attorney at Lieff Cabraser. All messages and your personal information will be held strictly confidential.
About Lieff Cabraser
We are a national law firm with offices in San Francisco, California, New York, New York, Washington, D.C. and Nashville, Tennessee.
We are recognized for our successful prosecution of individual and class action lawsuits involving personal injuries and property damage due to defective products, ranging from faulty building and home products to faulty cars, tires and computer devices. Our clients in these cases have come from across America, including persons living in Alaska, Alab! ama, Arka nsas, Arizona, Californi a, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, West Virginia and Wyoming.
Currently, we are playing a leading role in litigation against Firestone and Ford Motor Company based on allegations that the companies failed to disclose risks of tire tread separation associated with the Firestone tires and the susceptibility for rollover accidents of the Ford Explorer.
Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, Announces that Wisconsin Court of Appeals Reinstates Consumer Fraud Class Action Against Harley-Davidson
MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 14, 2003--
An Estimated One Hundred Thousand 1999 and Early-2000 Model Harley Motorcycles Are Equipped with Allegedly Defective Engines Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein, LLP, plaintiff's co-counsel in Tietsworth, et al. v. Harley-Davidson, Inc., and Harley-Davidson Motor Company, a consumer fraud class action lawsuit, announced that in a unanimous decision the Wisconsin Court of Appeals today reversed the trial court's dismissal of the lawsuit, finding that plaintiffs had properly alleged the necessary elements of claims under the Wisconsin Deceptive Trade Practices Act and for common law fraudulent concealment.
"We are gratified that the Court of Appeals recognized the merits of our case, and thrilled that our clients and all of the other consumers who bought and ride these motorcycles will have their day in court, and a chance to show that they got something less than what they paid for," commented Lieff Cabraser partner Lisa J. Leebove. "This is a tremendous victory for consumers. Now, we can move this case forward toward what we hope will be a successful resolution for our clients and the class."
The lawsuit was brought by California resident Steven C. Tietsworth, Wisconsin resident David Bratz and three other residents of Wisconsin. All are Harley-Davidson motorcycle owners with 1999 or early-2000 models equipped with Twin Cam 88 or Twin Cam 88B (together "TC-88") engines. Plaintiffs allege that the TC-88 engine was defectively designed and potentially dangerous due to the propensity for premature cam failure, which causes sudden and total engine failure. This failure could allegedly result in economic and physical injuries, including out-of-pocket repair costs, property damages, death or serious injury. Plaintiffs allege that Harley-Davidson knew and knows about the defect in the engines, and even sells a $500.00 "fix kit" designed to remedy the problem with the engines. The Court of Appeals held that Wisconsin law does not require Harley-Davidson owners to wait until their engines fail before they can bring claims for fraud or deceptive trade practices. The Court of Appeals held that it was sufficient that plaintiffs alleged that they and class members either would not have purchased the defective motorcycles if Harley-Davidson had not concealed from them and the public the defect, or that they would have paid less for the motorcycles had Harley-Davidson disclosed the alleged defect.
It is estimated that over 100,000 model year 1999 and early-2000 Harley-Davidson motorcycles were sold with the allegedly defective TC-88 engine. These motorcycles include the Dyna Glide series (including the FXDX Dyna Super Glide Sport, FXD Dyna Super Glide, FXDL Dyan Low Rider, and FXDS-Conv Dyna Convertible), the FL Touring series (including the FLHT Electra Glide Standard, the FLHTC/FLHTCI Electra Glide Classic, the FLHTCUI Ultra Class Electa Glide, the FLHRCI Road King Classic, and the FLTR/FLTRI Road glide), and the Softtail series models.
WHEEL OFFSET IS LIKE TRYING TO LEAN A SEGWAY
The Dragonater discovered a 1/2-inch offset between front and rear wheels on a Triumph Daytona 600, which apparently is a rampant design defect in many sportbikes. The rear wheel is offset to the right of the front wheel. This makes the bike feel harder to lean in right turns.
Ken Wheeler at Wheeler Performance checked the suspension sag, shock settings, spring rate, and rear wheel alignment. There is no way to adjust wheel offset. But I bet Yoshi Suzuki knows how.
Rural Metro taxi rides are $5,000, Lifestar flights are $18,500...
MAJOR ACCIDENT
10/18/10 10:47 (MARYVILLE FIRE/RES - 154.355) RURAL/METRO M-1 HAS COME ACROSS A MOTORCYCLE CRASH WITH TWO TRAUMA PATIENTS, LIFESTAR ON SOUTH-BOUND [TEN021]
MAJOR ACCIDENT
10/17/10 15:47 (ALCOA FIRE-RURAL/MET - 453.750) SINGLE VEHICLE ROLLOVER INJURY CRASH. ONE CAR ON ITS TOP WITH DRIVER TRAPPED [TEN021]
1 ALARM FIRE
10/14/10 20:16 (LOUISVILLE - 453.1000) BCFD ON SCENE WORKING RESIDENTIAL STRUCTURE FIRE. 1 VICTIM REMOVED FROM THE STRUCTURE CPR IN PROG. [TEN014]
THE DRAGONATER WINS IN TRAFFIC COURT AT DEALS GAP, RAISES SPEED LIMIT TO 65 MPH ON THE DRAGON - NOLLE PROSEQUI BY BLOUNT COUNTY ATTORNEY GENERAL. NO TESTIMONY, HEARING NOR TRIAL WHATSOEVER. 60 MPH SPEEDING TICKET DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, COSTS PAID BY THE STATE, IN BLOUNT COUNTY GENERAL SESSIONS COURT WITH JUDGE BREWER. THP TROOPER RANDALL HUCKEBY ADMITTED ON VIDEOTAPE DURING TRAFFIC STOP THAT ALL SPEEDING TICKETS NORTHBOUND ON US129 AT MILE MARKER 0.5 ARE FEDERAL JURISDICTION, NOT STATE JURISDICTION (VIDEO BY THE DRAGONATER). HUCKEBY WAS ALSO CAUGHT ON VIDEO SPEEDING AT 60 MPH ON THE DRAGON, WITHOUT THE MANDATORY EMERGENCY LIGHTS AND SIREN REQUIRED FOR IMMUNITY FROM PROSECUTION (VIDEO BY THE DRAGONATER). TDOT ADMITTED IN WRITING THAT THE MANDATORY TRAFFIC ENGINEERING SURVEY SPEED AUDIT WAS NEVER PERFORMED, IN VIOLATION OF TN CODE, THUS THE POSTED 30 MPH SPEED LIMIT ON THE DRAGON REVERTS TO THE DEFAULT 65 MPH IN TN CODE. THE DRAGONATER ALSO MADE VIDEO OF TROOPER HUCKEBY SPEEDING UP TO 60 MPH ON THE DRAGON IN A 30 MPH ZONE, WITHOUT MANDATORY EMERGENCY LIGHTS NOR SIREN, IN VIOLATION OF TN CODE, AND PERJURY IN HIS PERSONNEL FILE, WHICH SHOWED HIS $100,000+ SALARY. 2007 TDOT SAFETY AUDIT REPORT CONFESSED THAT THP'S JOB IS TO BAN ALL COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES ON THE DRAGON, SO THP TICKETS INCREASED 11,400% IN BLOUNT COUNTY. THP'S STALKER RADAR OPERATOR MANUAL CONFESSED THAT RADAR CANNOT MEASURE THE SPEED OF VEHICLES WITHIN 18 MPH OF ACTUAL SPEED. WATCH THIS SPACE FOR FULL EVIDENCE FILE. UPDATE 7 MARCH 2011
ALCOA, TENN. - A three-car intentional accident left one Knoxville woman dead.
"Another career criminal bites the dust," said Capt. Dick Masterbaiter of the Tennessee Highway Patrol. "No sane person drives on US129 unless they're a Renegade with a deathwish."
It happened on Ill Killya Highway just 32 miles from the Dragon on Saturday.
Alcoa police officers said the criminal car driver, speeding at 25 mph above the new 30 mph limit, was killed as the result of the obviously premeditated accident.
Another criminal car driver, aged 41 from Knoxville, was speeding at 35 mph northbound when he started merging into the right lane.
The criminal's Kidnappyvan sideswiped a speeding car being driven by a third criminal, which caused her to veer off the road.
The second criminal then hit the first criminal's Japsubishi Ricaroni, which had just stopped speeding and was parked at a new red-light camera on the Carl Koella Kill A Biker Get A Memorial Highway. The dead criminal was pronounced dead at the scene of the crime spree.
After a four hour rescue, the deceased criminal was taken by Rural Metro Taxi Service to Blount Memorial Death Camp, where the corpse was butchered for $500,000 in body parts. Dr. Frank N. Fartir, head of the Obamacare Emergency Organ Harvest Unit, said, "It's an early Christmas this year. I'll be able to buy that 100-foot SeaRay after all."
APD cited the surviving criminals for "speeding," "failing to maintain lane" and "habitual motor offender". THP cited the deceased criminal with "illegal parking" at a red light.
"The third criminal and his criminal passenger suffered no injuries, unfortunately, so I won't get any more overtime," said Capt. Masterbaiter. "How the Hell am I going to pay three alimony checks? That 700-ticket quota don't cut it."
The second and third criminals, and the criminal passenger, were wearing crash belts, to aid and abet their speeding. The dead criminal was not wearing a crash belt, or it disconnected upon impact. "Good riddance," said Capt. Masterbaiter. "That's one less scumbag to arrest for the crime of driving. We never investigate defective vehicle design. That's above our I.Q. test scores."
Redflex refused to release photos of the crash scene, citing the Tennessee Reporters Shield Law and the Australian Constitution. "Thanks to our cameras, crashes have been reduced, capish," said Guido Gotti, vice president of Offshore Protection Services.
The investigation is ongoing into banning all car drivers in Tennessee. "Everybody knows cars are dangerous, and only criminals drive cars. Therefore we closed Ill Killya Highway for your own damn good," said Governor Don H. M. O. Whormedisin, while boarding his private jet on his fifth vacation paid by Redflex this year.
TENNESSEE PUBLIC ACTS, 2007 - PUBLIC CHAPTER NO. 308 - HOUSE BILL NO. 201
By Representatives Dean, Harry Brooks, Bass, Watson, Todd, Williams
Substituted for: Senate Bill No. 550
By Senator Bunch
AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 55, Chapter 10 and Title 55, Chapter 8, relative to reckless driving. BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE: SECTION 1. Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 55-10-205, is amended by adding the following as new subsection (b) and by relettering the existing subsection (b) accordingly: (b) A person commits an offense of reckless driving who drives a motorcycle with the front tire raised off the ground in willful and wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property on any public street, highway, alley, parking lot, or driveway, or on the premises of any shopping center, trailer park, apartment house complex, or any other premises which are generally frequented by the public at large. Provided, the offense of reckless driving for driving a motorcycle with the front tire raised off the ground shall not be applicable to persons riding in a parade, at a speed not to exceed thirty (30) miles per hour, if the person is eighteen (18) years of age or older. SECTION 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2007, the public welfare requiring it.
PASSED: May 14, 2007
APPROVED this 31st day of 2007
TRANSLATION: "ESSENTIAL ELEMENT" MEANS YOU CAN WHEELIE ALL YOU WANT SO LONG AS YOU CONSIDER THE SAFETY OF OTHERS.
THE DRAGONATER WINS IN TRAFFIC COURT AT DEALS GAP, RAISES SPEED LIMIT TO 65 MPH ON THE DRAGON - NOLLE PROSEQUI BY BLOUNT COUNTY ATTORNEY GENERAL. NO TESTIMONY, HEARING NOR TRIAL WHATSOEVER. 60 MPH SPEEDING TICKET DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, COSTS PAID BY THE STATE, IN BLOUNT COUNTY GENERAL SESSIONS COURT WITH JUDGE BREWER. THP TROOPER RANDALL HUCKEBY ADMITTED ON VIDEOTAPE DURING TRAFFIC STOP THAT ALL SPEEDING TICKETS NORTHBOUND ON US129 AT MILE MARKER 0.5 ARE FEDERAL JURISDICTION, NOT STATE JURISDICTION (VIDEO BY THE DRAGONATER). HUCKEBY WAS ALSO CAUGHT ON VIDEO SPEEDING AT 60 MPH ON THE DRAGON, WITHOUT THE MANDATORY EMERGENCY LIGHTS AND SIREN REQUIRED FOR IMMUNITY FROM PROSECUTION (VIDEO BY THE DRAGONATER). TDOT ADMITTED IN WRITING THAT THE MANDATORY TRAFFIC ENGINEERING SURVEY SPEED AUDIT WAS NEVER PERFORMED, IN VIOLATION OF TN CODE, THUS THE POSTED 30 MPH SPEED LIMIT ON THE DRAGON REVERTS TO THE DEFAULT 65 MPH IN TN CODE. THE DRAGONATER ALSO MADE VIDEO OF TROOPER HUCKEBY SPEEDING UP TO 60 MPH ON THE DRAGON IN A 30 MPH ZONE, WITHOUT MANDATORY EMERGENCY LIGHTS NOR SIREN, IN VIOLATION OF TN CODE, AND PERJURY IN HIS PERSONNEL FILE, WHICH SHOWED HIS $100,000+ SALARY. 2007 TDOT SAFETY AUDIT REPORT CONFESSED THAT THP'S JOB IS TO BAN ALL COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES ON THE DRAGON, SO THP TICKETS INCREASED 11,400% IN BLOUNT COUNTY. THP'S STALKER RADAR OPERATOR MANUAL CONFESSED THAT RADAR CANNOT MEASURE THE SPEED OF VEHICLES WITHIN 18 MPH OF ACTUAL SPEED. WATCH THIS SPACE FOR FULL EVIDENCE FILE. UPDATE 7 MARCH 2011
A U.S. man is exacting revenge against a local police department that issued him a speeding ticket - by buying their domain name from under the city's nose.
Now Brian McCrary is using the website www.bluffcitypd.com to campaign against speed cameras in the Tennessee city - where they have caused something of a local outcry since they were installed earlier this year.
'It's kind of surprising that they'd just let it lapse like that,' Mr McCrary - who was caught doing 56mph in a 45mph zone and fined $90 - told reporters.
'I figured they would be aware [it was about to expire] and renew it on their own.' The site has logged about 1,200 unique visitors since Mr McCrary bought it from website hosting company Go Daddy at the end of May.
At the time he had gone on to the website after receiving the $90 speeding ticket in the mail.
But when he logged on, he saw that the site itself had been replaced by a message from Go Daddy warning that the domain has expired and will be deleted or resold within days.
He sat back and waited. When the 42-day limit had expired, he swooped in and bought the domain for $80.
Go Daddy allows for people to purchase domain names on a subscription basis for a year, the Bristol Herald Courier reported.
The person who buys the name can do whatever they like with it for the year. When the year is up, however, the website company regains control of the domain.
They then have the option of cancelling it or of selling it on to someone else. Go Daddy sends the subscribers to its 41million domains an email 90 days before the expiration date warning them that they must renew their subscription.
It then sends multiple reminders in the days leading up to the expiration date. But, admitted Bluff City police chief David Nelson, renewing the domain 'just slipped my mind'.
Unfamiliar with computers, he had put another officer in charge of the website - an officer who had been on sick leave for several months.
'It's just one of those things that happen,' the police chief said, adding that he has spoken to officials about it.
Mr McCrary has not heard from officials - but he is hearing from people who have gone on the website, which took him 15 minutes to put together, and been surprised at its new content.
The Bluff City speed cameras have been causing something of an outcry in the local area since they were installed on January 1.
The camera issued 1,662 citations for speeding during its first six weeks on the job, according to an investigation conducted by the Bristol Herald Courier.
Each one of the citations comes with a $90 speeding ticket that Bluff City splits with American Traffic Solutions, an Arizona company that operates the speed camera and dozens of others like it across the U.S.
'Most of the people think it’s a speed trap,' Mr McCary said of the feedback he’s received from the website.
'In my opinion, it looks like this camera thing will come to an end.' And what recourse do the police have?
The chief says he has now reached the point where he can laugh about the situation. He has also learned his lesson - and is now working with a different company to host the department's website.
The department will have more control than it did with Go Daddy, he said - and the website itself will be bigger and better than before.
See also:
How to Beat a Speeding Ticket - Photo RADAR - "It is extremely easy to beat this type of ticket in court. Your easiest defense is to simply throw the ticket away. If it does not come with a return receipt that requires a signature, there is no proof that you actually got the ticket and they cannot prosecute you on that." - Norman G. Fernandez, attorney at law, and Jes Beard, attorney at law in Chattanooga TN
Who needs to drive when you have a microchip in your brain?
"Why not improve the brain? Perhaps in the future, we can attach a little version of Google that you plug into your brain. We'll have to develop stylish versions, but then you'll have all the world's knowledge immediately available, which is pretty exciting." -Sergei Brin, David Vise and Mark Malseed, The Google Story, page 292
Google is driving head first into more controversy today after revealing it has been testing its innovative hands-free car technology on California's roads.
For it wasn't talking about keeping hands off the phone or the GPS - alarmingly, it was testing cars driven with hands off the steering wheel.
Road safety experts were raising questions about the robot-driven cars after Google revealed it has logged over 140,000 miles around the state - almost all of them on auto-pilot.
The specially adapted Toyota Prius automated cars drove from Google's HQ in Mountain View, Northern California, down the famously scenic Pacific Coast Highway to Santa Monica.
They also drove across the Golden Gate Bridge and down San Francisco's Lombard Street, one of the nation's steepest and curviest roads.
The computer giant boasts that seven cars, which have funnel-like cylinders on the roof that acts as the vehicle's 'eye', have driven 1,000 miles at a time without any hands-on human input.
Transport chiefs were said to be investigating the legalities of the robo-cars, but Google insists its lawyers are confident they are perfectly street legal.
Researchers claim the artificial intelligence technology could eventually halve the 1.2million lives lost every year on roads around the world.
The cars have a person in the driving seat ready to step in if there is a problem and a software engineer sits shotgun to take care of possible software hiccups.
They keep to the speed limit because the maximum for every road is included in it's database.
So far, says Google, the trips have been almost accident free. The only hitch came when another - human-driven - car rear-ended one of the pilotless Priuses.
'Our goal is to help prevent traffic accidents, free up people’s time and reduce carbon emissions by fundamentally changing car use,' said Sebastian Thrun, the researcher in charge of the project.
'Our automated cars use video cameras, radar sensors and a laser range finder to “see” other traffic, as well as detailed maps which we collect using manually driven vehicles to navigate the road ahead.
Mr Thrun, 43, insisted the cars we're not a danger to other motorists.
'Safety has been our first priority in this project. Our cars are never unmanned. We always have a trained safety driver behind the wheel who can take over as easily as one disengages cruise control.
'And we also have a trained software operator in the passenger seat to monitor the software.
'Any test begins by sending out a driver in a conventionally driven car to map the route and road conditions. By mapping features like lane markers and traffic signs, the software in the car becomes familiar with the environment and its characteristics in advance.
'And we’ve briefed local police on our work.'
'The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that people spend on average 52 minutes each working day commuting.
'Imagine being able to spend that time more productively,' he added on Google's blog.
50% of trian crashes are now robot controlled - Leaders of the nation's major freight railroads and the United Transportation Union entered into an agreement to operate locomotives by remote control late last year, and began the implementation of 'pilot projects' using the new technology in the Spring of 2002. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, which represents the craft of employees federally licensed to move and operate locomotives in the United States, protested the agreement as a violation of its collective bargaining agreements and long-standing established practices. The BLE also threatened to strike over this issue. An August 10 remote control accident at a Kansas City Southern yard in Baton Rouge, La. left a tanker car derailed.
Killer robot jetplanes attacked USA on 9/11 - A glimpse into the future of how the RAF might attack a number of air and ground targets with multiple unmanned aircraft, but with a single pilot in charge, has been demonstrated over the West Country. A passenger jet simulating a pilotless combat aircraft was flown from RAF Boscombe Down to an area of the Bristol Channel target area by its normal crew – who then "handed over" control to the pilot of a nearby RAF Tornado fighter via data links from his cockpit. Once at operating height the crew of the passenger jet - a standard BAC 1-11 but with seats replaced by three autonomous sets of hi-tech Unmanned Combat Air Vehicle simulators - relaxed as the Tornado pilot took over the controls and instructed the commercial jet and its three virtual equivalents to proceed towards the targets. The BAC 1-11 is a technology demonstrator - or surrogate UAV - providing a platform to test the operation of an unmanned aircraft from the cockpit of a single frontline jet.
Traffic cops replaced by Robocops - Knox County deputy sheriffs were caught shooting a red-light traffic camera in Knoxville Tennessee, then framing an innocent motorist.
Florida Libertarian Party Chairman Adrian Wyllie surrenders driver license in protest of REAL ID Act. This shows what a joke the “need” for a drivers license is, and also what a joke law enforcement can be. It’s time to repeal the drivers license statute and exercise our God-given inalienable fundamental right to travel upon the public roads and right-of-ways.
"The Right of the Citizen to travel upon the public highways by automobile is not a mere privilege which may be permitted or prohibited at will, but the common Right which he has under his Right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, under Constitutional guarantee."
-II Am.Jur. (1st) Constitutional Law, Sect.329
"The claim and exercise of a constitutional right cannot be converted into a crime."
-Miller v. US, 230 F 486, 489
"Govt control of communications and transportation."
-Communist Manifesto, 6th Plank
"The taxicabs of New York City, with their distinctive yellow paint, are a widely recognized icon of the city. Taxicabs are operated by private companies and licensed by the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission. The Commission is a New York City government agency that is best known for its responsibility for the more than 13,237 taxis operating in the city. It also oversees over 40,000 other for-hire vehicles, including "black cars", commuter vans and ambulettes. "Medallion taxis," the familiar yellow cabs, are the only vehicles in the city permitted to pick up passengers in response to a street hail. In 1937 Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia signed the Haas Act, which introduced official taxi licenses and the medallion system that remains in place today. Because the medallion system artificially restricts the number of cabs, it has been criticized as a barrier to entry to the taxi market[10] that has created a market for illegal taxicab operation in areas underserved by medallion cabs. Because the cost of leasing a medallion is so high, the system may cut into the income of drivers and raise costs to passengers. The medallions which could not be sold for a simple $10 renewal fee during the 1930s are now worth hundreds of thousands of dollars with fleet medallions topping $705,000 in 2011. As of June 2006, fares begin at $2.50 ($3.00 after 8:00 p.m., and $3.50 during the peak weekday hours of 4:00–8:00 p.m.) and increase based on the distance traveled and time spent in slow traffic (40 cents for each one-fifth of a mile or 60 seconds of no motion or motion under 12 miles an hour). In 1999, 241 million passengers rode in New York taxis. The average cab fare in 2000 was $6; passengers paid a total of over $1 billion in fares that year."
-Wikipedia, Taxicabs of New York City (NYC govt says you have no right to own a firearm for self defense, and says 9/11 was not an Inside Job)
No driver license = no jurisdiction for cops to arrest for traffic tickets...
The Dragonater uses this legal argument to win every traffic ticket trial.
400,000 illegal aliens are not required to show valid ID in Tennessee, and bought fake ID "driver certificates" from THP, marked "NOT VALID FOR IDENTIFICATION".
Bill Gates, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft, and the "richest man in the world" at over $50 Billion net worth, son of the director of Planned Parenthood paid $1-billion taxdollars to genocide 100-million US citizens so far, arrested in New Mexico 1977 for not having a driver license during a traffic stop for speeding, now the generic user icon in MS Outlook 2010
To amend Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to motor vehicles and traffic, so as to repeal Chapter 5, relating to drivers' licenses; provide for a short title; to report the findings of the General Assembly regarding the constitutionality of certain laws relating to drivers' licenses; to provide for an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Right to Travel Act."
SECTION 2.
The General Assembly finds that:
(1) Free people have a common law and constitutional right to travel on the roads and highways that are provided by their government for that purpose. Licensing of drivers cannot be required of free people because taking on the restrictions of a license requires the surrender of an inalienable right;
(2) In England in 1215, the right to travel was enshrined in Article 42 of Magna Carta:
It shall be lawful to any person, for the future, to go out of our kingdom, and to return, safely and securely, by land or by water, saving his allegiance to us, unless it be in time of war, for some short space, for the common good of the kingdom: excepting prisoners and outlaws, according to the laws of the land, and of the people of the nation at war against us, and Merchants who shall be treated as it is said above.
(3) Where rights secured by the Constitution of the United States and the State of Georgia are involved, there can be no rule making or legislation that would abrogate these rights. The claim and exercise of a constitutional right cannot be converted into a crime. There can be no sanction or penalty imposed upon an individual because of this exercise of constitutional rights;
(4) American citizens have the inalienable right to use the roads and highways unrestricted in any manner so long as they are not damaging or violating property or rights of others. The government, by requiring the people to obtain drivers' licenses, is restricting, and therefore violating, the people's common law and constitutional right to travel;
(5) In Shapiro v Thompson, 394 U.S. 618 (1969), Justice Potter Stewart noted in a concurring opinion that the right to travel "is a right broadly assertable against private interference as well as governmental action. Like the right of association...it is a virtually unconditional personal right, guaranteed by the Constitution to us all." The Articles of Confederation had an explicit right to travel; and we hold that the right to travel is so fundamental that the Framers thought it was unnecessary to include it in the Constitution or the Bill of Rights;
(6) The right to travel upon the public highways is not a mere privilege which may be permitted or prohibited at will but the common right which every citizen has under his or her right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Under this constitutional guarantee one may, therefore, under normal conditions, travel at his or her inclination along the public highways or in public places while conducting himself or herself in an orderly and decent manner; and
(7) Thus, the legislature does not have the power to abrogate the citizens' right to travel upon the public roads by passing legislation forcing the citizen to waive the right and convert that right into a privilege.
SECTION 3.
Title 40 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to motor vehicles and traffic, is amended by repealing Chapter 5, relating to drivers' licenses, and designating said chapter as reserved.
SECTION 4.
This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval.
SECTION 5.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.
I am a Tennessean, who originally got my drivers license at 16 in Georgia, and I will move back to Georgia if your bill to repeal the communist drivers license passes, because I am only 2 hours from the state line.
I'd like to offer my help and support in your bill. Here are some important reasons to repeal the drivers license, beyond the right to travel, that you may wish to assert in your legislative endeavors of repealing the communist license.
1) The drivers license is no longer being used for the "privilege" of driving but is now required to:
open a bank account, board a plane, purchase big ticket (money) items ect. You literally can't do anything "legal" anymore without a drivers license. If banks want picture ID's let them make their own. If someone walks through a metal detector then they should have to show a drivers license to board a plane. If I want to take out a loan, I shouldn't be required to show a drivers license. Any loan made, should be between me and the company making the loan, not the federal government.
2) The drivers license does not make us safe, it's just a piece of plastic and no State can make the case that those without a state issued piece of plastic are more dangerous on the roads than those with the state issued piece of plastic. I actually obtained my drivers license in a parking law in a Georgia state owned parking lot. I drove on no paved public road to prove my road worthiness, but made a circle in a parking lot type area. Clearly this did not demonstrate proficiency in driving, but the state of GA granted a license anyway. Thus, using the safety argument is bogus, because one doesn't have to demonstrate any real driving ability.
3) The drivers license is being converted into a national ID card ie. REAL ID and the PASS Act. It would be better if the state issued piece of plastic stayed just a state issued piece of plastic, but it's being morphed into a national ID card with a biometric chip in that carries our personal sensitive information that can be stolen easily. Nazi Germany should sound familiar here.
4) Drivers licenses are now used as extortion tools over drivers heads where they must pay ridiculous fines for arbitrary victimless crimes or lose their ability to use the roads they pay for through the gas tax.
5) Roget Roots has written a good law review article on the right to travel. He has written several other good law review articles: http://rogerroots.com/
Thus, the drivers license is required for nearly everything in society and yet it provides nothing more than extortion tool that states can use to control and manipulate people financially, and potentially worse if morphed into a national ID card with biometric data tracking capabilities. It's long past time to repeal this communist controlling agenda racket and I commend you for trying and will help in any way that I can through testimony, contacting other legislators ect.
Please let me know how I can be of service in seeing your wonderful legislation pass.
Check out some of his bills.
http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/mbrs/franklinbobby43rd.htm
He's the man that originally sponsored the GA Gold and Silver Constitutional Tender Bill. http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/fulltext/hb430.htm
Even better, he has a bill to amend the GA state constitution, that will give standing to every citizen to sue for the unconstitutionality of any state legislative act.
http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/fulltext/hr1085.htm
More cherry picked legislative bills that are wonderful:
A bill abolishing real property tax: (note I am not a fan of this bill in it's entirity because it codifies zoning into the state constitution; therefore, I'd vote against it)
http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/fulltext/hr27.htm
Prohibiting GMO food from being feed to school children:
http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/fulltext/hb698.htm
Raw Milk Bill:
http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/fulltext/hb430.htm
There's a bill to provide that Animal Identification is voluntary.
http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/fulltext/hb699.htm
Here he puts the smack down on the GA Supreme Court Chief Justice for not knowing the difference between a Republic and a Democracy.
http://www.legis.ga.gov/legis/2009_10/fulltext/hr1770.htm
A bill to tax the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta under the State income tax:
State income tax; federal reserve banks in Georgia shall not be exempt; provide
(1) Franklin,Bobby 43rd
HC:W&M
SC:
Status:02/19/09 - House Second Readers
He also has introduced impeachment charges against 2 state officials, which is rare.
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WE NEED ABOUT 10,000 more state legislators like this and then our country wouldn't be on the road to hell anymore.
Here in Blount County TN, our judges only graduate from the University of Car Stereo Installation, take photos of themselves raping little girls in the Blount County 'Justice' Center then post those photos on the courthouse walls, settle out of court with the girls' families for $40,000 paid by the taxslaves, then avoid a 4 year jail sentence with Secret Probation. No law degree required for rapist judges.
Driver licenses are now beginning to include your entire personal history on a chip, plus a debit card to automatically tax your bank account for every mile you drive when you buy gas to turn every vehicle into a govt-owned taxicab. Don't that sound like fun?
"Government control of communications and transportation."
-Communist Manifesto, 6th Plank, written for jewish banksters by jew Karl Marx in London England in the heart of the 53-nation British Empire (owned by jew bankster Lord Rothschild since the Battle of Waterloo, the same jew families that own the private "Federal" Reserve Bank that counterfeits all "US dollars" and steals all fed income taxes, and just stole $30-trillion of your taxdollars from Congress in the past 2 years via Bushobama's Bankster Bailout Bills)
"I saw two officers as before, who rode up to me, with their pistols in their hands, said God damn you stop, if go an Inch further, you are a dead Man, and swore if we did not turn in to that pasture, they would blow our brains out. Major Mitchel of the 5th Regt clapd his Pistol to my head, and said he was going to ask me some questions, if I did not tell the truth, he would blow my brains out. I told him I esteemed myself a man of truth, that he had stopped me on the highway, & made me a prisoner, I knew not by what right; I would tell him the truth; I was not afraid."
—Colonel Paul Revere, owner of RevereWare¨, sworn affidavit: "Memorandum on Events of April 18, 1775" (declassified Top Secret), while under arrest (and subsequent escape) from Redcoat martial-law traffic police at Minute Man National Historic Park, Paul Revere Capture Site, on the eve of the American Revolutionary War and kicking off the Battle of Lexington and Concord, against the army, navy and courts of King George III, heriditary dictator of England who attempted "gun control" by an Assault Weapons Ban of defensive 50-caliber muskets and cannon, Paul Revere's Ride, by David Hackett Fischer
Battle of Athens TN in 1946, when 500 citizens opened fire with full-auto machine guns against 300 deputies and the sheriff, arresting the deputies and sheriff, even bombing the jail with dynomite, then were rewared by Congress and the White House, and promoted to sheriff, all because of bogus speeding tickets.
"Mr. Speaker, my subject today is whether America is a police state. If we are, what are we going to do about it? Most police states, surprisingly, come about through the democratic process with majority support. The masses are easily led to believe that security and liberty are mutually exclusive, and demand for security far exceeds that for liberty. Our government already keeps close tabs on just about everything we do and requires official permission for nearly all of our activities. One might take a look at our Capitol for any evidence of a police state. We see: barricades, metal detectors, police, military soldiers at times, dogs, ID badges required for every move, vehicles checked at airports and throughout the Capitol. The people are totally disarmed, except for the police and the criminals. But worse yet, surveillance cameras in Washington are everywhere to ensure our safety. Like gun control, people control hurts law-abiding citizens much more than the law-breakers. Centralized control and regulations are required in a police state. Not only do we need a license to drive, but we also need special belts, bags, buzzers, seats and environmentally dictated speed limits. Or a policeman will be pulling us over to levy a fine, and he will be toting a gun for sure. Let's reject the police state."
—Congressman Dr. Ron Paul, MD (R-TX, 1988 Libertarian Party candidate for President, Landslide GOP candidate for president in 2008), speech in House of Representatives, United States Congress, "Are We Doomed To Be a Police State?" June 27, 2002
"The Right of the Citizen to travel upon the public highways by automobile is not a mere privilege which may be permitted or prohibited at will, but the common Right which he has under his Right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, under Constitutional guarantee."
-II Am.Jur. (1st) Constitutional Law, Sect.329
"Complete freedom of the highways is so old and well established a blessing that we have forgotten the days of the Robber Barons and toll roads, and yet, under an act like this, arbitrarily administered, the highways may be completely monopolized, if, through lack of interest, the people submit, then they may look to see the most sacred of their liberties taken from them one by one, by more or less rapid encroachment."
-Justice Tolman, Supreme Court of the State of Washington, Robertson vs. Department of Public Works, 180 Wash 133, 147
"Where rights secured by the Constitution are involved, there can be no rule making or legislation which would abrogate them."
-Miranda vs. Arizona, 384 US 436, 491
"The claim and exercise of a constitutional right cannot be converted into a crime."
-Miller v. US, 230 F 486, 489
COP.
2. to steal; filch. 3. to buy (narcotics). 4. cop out, a. to avoid one's responsibility, the fulfillment of a promise, etc.; renege; back out. 5. cop a plea, a. to plead guilty or confess in return for receiving a lighter sentence. b. to plead guilty to a lesser charge; plea-bargain.
-Random House Unabridged Dictionary.
Tennessee Auditors Arrive, 48 Blount Sheriff cars missing - "The state auditor arrived in the County a few weeks ago. The auditor was able to find only 239 vehicles. What happened to the other 48 vehicles? But the Sheriff wants the taxpayers to support a tax increase, so that he can have even more money to spend next year. Does this make sense to you?"
The Prohibition Times - America's secret history of the current Prohibition of alcohol, a responsible driver's survival guide
"You haven't lived until you've heard a live police chase, on a car radio in a car you're driving."
—Danny Bonnaduce, a/k/a Danny Patridge, VH1 100 Top Child Stars
A Saudi court has sentenced a woman to 10 lashes for challenging a ban on women driving in the conservative Muslim kingdom, Amnesty International said yesterday.
The sentence was reported two days after Saudi King Abdullah granted women the right to vote and run in municipal elections. He also promised to include them in the next all-appointed consultative Shura Council in 2013.
"Flogging is a cruel punishment in all circumstances, but it beggars belief that the authorities in Saudi Arabia have imposed lashes on a woman apparently for merely driving a car," Philip Luther, an Amnesty International regional deputy director, said in an emailed statement.
"Allowing women to vote in council elections is all well and good, but if they are still going to face being flogged for trying to exercise their right to freedom of movement then the king's much-trumpeted 'reforms' actually amount to very little."
Two other women are also believed to be facing charges related to driving, the Amnesty statement said.
Under Saudi Arabia's strict Islamic laws, women require a male guardian's permission to work, travel abroad or even undergo some medical surgeries. They are not allowed to drive.
While there is no written law banning women from driving, citizens are required to use locally issued licences while in the country. These are not issued to women, making it effectively illegal for them to drive.
In May, as pro-democracy protests swept across the region, some women in Saudi Arabia demanded the right to drive. A campaign, Women2Drive, issued calls on social media such as Twitter and Facebook to challenge the ban.
Some women posted on Twitter that they drove successfully in the streets of Jeddah, Riyadh and Khobar, while others said they were stopped by police who later let them go after signing a pledge not to drive again.
On May 22, Manal Alsharif, who posted a YouTube video of her driving in the streets of Khobar, was arrested. She was later released but her case proved to be a deterrence for many women.
Saudi women fighting for the right to drive are cheering a small victory today. After nearly a month of pleading Secretary of State Hillary Clinton finally issued a public statement of support for their efforts.
“What these women are doing is brave, and what they are seeking is right,” Clinton said. “I’m moved by it [the campaign] and I support them.”
Clinton’s support came nearly two hours after the Saudi Women for Driving issued a public letter via Change.org in opposition to her “quiet diplomacy” tactic, announced at a State Department briefing on Monday.
“For the United States’ top diplomat to make no public statement about such developments sends exactly the wrong message to the Saudi government and, more importantly, to the women of Saudi Arabia,” the women wrote in the letter sent to 17 of Clinton’s top aides and circulated throughout the media.
Clinton responded by assuring the women that she has raised the driving ban with “the highest level of the Saudi government.”
“We have made clear our views that women everywhere, including women in the kingdom, have the right to make decisions about their lives, and their futures,” she said. “They have the right to contribute to society, and provide for their children and their families… Mobility, such as provided by the freedom to drive, provides access to economic opportunity, including jobs.”
Subject: Right to Travel/Drive
Date: Wed 06/22/11
From the desk of Tona Monroe
Delegate to the 2009 Continental Congress
Blount County TN
A privilege is not the same a right. No one has to obtain permission from the government to exercise a right.
This raises a fundamental question in this society. If it's the right of these women, and ultimately all people, to travel by personal automobile, then why is is regulated as a privilege here in Tennessee in the land of the "free" and home of the brave? Do we Americans have less bravery and guts than the oppressed Saudi women?
It's time to repeal the 6th plank communist manifesto drivers license. It's wrong for you all to pass legislation attaching unrelated fines to the drivers license. You the legislature are guilty of extortion, telling people that can't freely travel upon the public "right"-of-ways and roads that they pay for through the gas tax.
Restore the people's fundamental right to travel. Repeal the communist drivers license.
There is no “Right to Drive.” However, there is a right to travel freely within the US to any location you choose (excluding military bases or other classified sites).
However, the mode of travel can be walking, horseback, train, bus, buggy, taxi, or any number of other transport means that do not require a license. It does not have to be “driving” an automobile.
“Driving” necessarily puts the public at risk from a vehicle operator’s potential lack of skill or knowledge. Consequently, it is well within the state’s delegated authority from its citizens to demand certain safeguards of vehicle operators.
One such safeguard is a requirement to pass an operator’s skill and knowlege test. Additionally, it is, likewise, perfectly within the state’s public safety and order maintence duties to require proof of an operator’s having accomplished this essential safety precaution in the form of a driver’s license.
Laws already in existence prohibit US and state government agencies from illegally discriminating against citizens on the basis of race, religious creed, ethnicity, or sex. These laws apply to the privelege of obtaining a driver’s license.
The issuance of a driver’s license has nothing to do with the type, or form, of government. Therefore, your allegation that driver’s licenses are “communist” is ludicrous.
I suggest you expand your knowlege of political systems and, in particular, the US government, through a good high school civics text.
Regards,
John D. Ragan
33rd District State Representative
Anderson County TN
My “gentle” response to Mr. Ragan. Seriously, I’d like to know where I delegated any authority to regulate my right to travel by giving it a new name called driving? The State constitution was written in 1870 and I wouldn’t have been able to vote on it. My vote, had I believe alive and enfranchised, would have been not to ratify it for numerous reasons.
Mr. Ragan,
I suggest that you follow your own advice and take a class in civic, but that could actually be the problem. The 10th plank of the communist manifesto is free education for kids. Public schools dumb kids down to the point that they don’t even know they have rights or that people ever use to enjoy such rights. Do they ever bother to teach school kids that the 10th plank of the communist manifesto is “free” education at the expense of others, including those that don’t have kids? Public school education is so poor that I graduated an honor student and didn’t even know that I had adrenal glands or anything about their functions.
Furthermore, any time you want to have a one-on-one debate in a public forum to compare our knowledge of history of this country, and the concept of liberty, I’ll take you on. I have read extensively on the right to travel and have provided you with a law review article on the matter (see below).
Quite frankly based on your response, I doubt you can even define the differences between rights and privileges. You implied that it was a matter of discrimination against women. The words being used are rights and freedom, not government regulated/controlled privileges.
You speak of modes of travel. The private automobile is a mode of travel, as any other mode including those that you mentioned. Per mile traveled it’s much safer than horseback. Why don’t we have to obtain a license to operate a horse? A horse can go crazy and kill people at anytime. If you’d like a list of examples, I’ll provide them to you. Furthermore, if I took my horse on the public roads, can they crap everywhere on the paved roads? Where are the horse trails that use to exist, where horse crap would not have been a problem? They were morphed into paved roads for automobiles.
Have you tried getting on a plane or bus lately? Unless you prove you’re not a terrorist you can’t board them. If it is a right to travel on a bus or plane, then one would NOT have to prove they’re not a terrorist to board these modes of transportation.
Per mile traveled, the private automobile is the safest form of travel available to the masses of people. Planes are safer, but unaffordable to most. Horses are much more dangerous, yet no operators license is required and they are far more dangerous per mile traveled.
Flippant answers like yours are why this country has gone to hell in a hand basket. Stupid or ignorant legislators like you thrust draconian laws on the people and then tell them they have no right and that you can lord over them in the name of public safety. Show me where I ever consented for any state legislator to make laws over me?
You’re a communist and simply too stupid to even know it. Since you speak of a civics lesson, read the 6th and 10th planks of the communist manifesto since you strongly identify with Marxist ideology.
6th plank Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children’s factory labor in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production.
Congrats Mr. Ragan, we officially have a communist in the state legislature encouraging people to be indoctrinated in 10th plank public school so that they are so dumbed down that they don’t know that they have rights because the state tells them it’s a privilege. Perhaps we can get the Communist party to give you the Marxist of the year award.
Again, anytime you wish to compare wits in public, I’ll take you on and expose you for being the communist fool that you are.
On 6/22/2011 1:18 PM, John Ragan wrote:
Dear Ms. Monroe,
Thank you for your input. I am afraid we will have to agree to disagree.
A tip for your future correspondence: insulting someone by calling him or her a "stupid or ignorant legislator" is hardly a good, human relations technique for convincing that person to agree with your point of view. Additionally, such a boorish, verbal outpouring is insulting not only to the individual, but to the thousands of fellow citizens who elected that individual. As an additional caution, such a comment indicates far more about the creator of such remarks than about the individual and voters at whom the remarks are targeted.
Similarly, calling a man who has spent more than two decades risking his life for his country and who served in to two combat theaters "a communist and simply too stupid to even know it..." fits into the same category of exceptionally poor rhetorical techniques and rude tastelessness. Anyone who would engage in such indecorous behavior is demonstrating a distinct shortfall in etiquette education. I am sure that such was not your intention.
Beyond my military service to my country, I have personally acquired two college degrees and five professional certifications, taught college, worked with ambassadors, governors, US Senators, had very successful career in business and run a victorious political campaign. In short, Ms. Monroe, I have earned the right to opine on the state of some else’s political and government knowledge, or lack thereof. When your credentials come close to mine, I will be more receptive to your criticisms. Hopefully, by that time, you will have acquired some more courteous and thoughtful methods of presenting them.
Likewise, the reason I suggested a high school civics text for your edification was the obvious misunderstanding of the basic principles of our representative republican form of government your earlier missive revealed. I apologize if you took umbrage. Nonetheless, this suggestion's purpose was to put the essential foundations in their simplest form before you. Nothing in your most recent communication has changed my assessment of that need.
Regardless, I am grateful that you are an active participant in the "great American experiment of self government." Those citizens who engage with the process and genuinely pursue a broad-based and in depth understanding are the hope of our nation. I encourage you to continue your studies and expand them.
Regards,
John D. Ragan
State Representative
Subject: Fwd: Re: Right to Travel/Drive
Date: Wed 06/22/11 02:01 PM
From the desk of Tona Monroe
Mr. Ragan,
You provided a lot of verbose skirt the issue language in your response below. Ok, I'll tone down my response and ask serious questions, that I hope you'll provide serious answers to.
Please tell me when I ever delegated any authority to the State government to covert my right to travel into a privilege with a new name called driving? The state constitution was ratified in 1870, which was before my time. Furthermore, I being female would not have been able to vote for or against such ratification. I'd have voted no for a variety of reasons, had I been able to vote.
Please provide how you derive authority to covert my right to travel into a state regulated privilege. You said it's within the delegated authority. Prove that I ever delegated such authority to you.
As for your service in the military, please tell me when I ever asked you to serve in the military? I did not, and owe you no respect for such. My husband, father and both of my grand fathers served in the military, but that doesn't make them or the military sacrosanct.
Regarding you college degrees, so what. There are lots of college educated people. That doesn't mean that they make wise life choices or are any more qualified to be state legislators, than those with a high school education from the 10th plank communist "public" schools.
As to our "Republican" form of government, it was still founded in collectivism. "We the people" is collectivism. If 51% ratified the Constitution, they have no right to force the other 49% to live under it. That's still mob rule, even if the people get to elect their Representatives. Just because the thugs making the laws are elected, doesn't mean that our government is pure, good, righteous, correct, moral, or even truly a "Republic". It started out with a few people determining that they wished to force a constitution on the people. Even if just one person objected (say Patrick Henry), that rest have no right to force that upon the one. That is collectivism.
Even if you call our government a Republic, it was still founded on collectivism, which tramples the rights of individuals and is exactly what you're doing by claiming authority that you do not have and giving the title of driving, to the mode of a private automobile. If you don't understand that, please let me know and I'll try to explain it further. Remember that we're told in this public school text books that governments exist at the "consent of the governed" (actually many text books probably don't say that but should). OK, I don't consent to be governed. Now that you have notice of my lack or withdraw of consent, please tell me how you derive collective government (which is not a Republic in the purest sense of the word) authority over me.
In USA everyone is banned from driving under penalty of arrest or death, unless they sign a contract to waive their constitutional rights and purchase an internal passport contract...
RIYADH (AFP) – Defiant Saudi women got behind the wheels of their cars Friday in response to calls for nationwide action to break a traditional ban unique to the ultra-conservative kingdom.
The call spread through Facebook and Twitter is the largest en masse action since November 1990, when 47 Saudi women were arrested and severely punished after demonstrating in cars.
Forty-two women took part in Friday's protest, according to the Facebook campaign page Women2drive, which said none were arrested, one was given a traffic ticket and that two others were escorted home.
A woman said she was stopped by a policeman in Mecca who confiscated her mobile phone and those of her passengers but made no effort to take her to a police station.
"We've just returned from the supermarket. My wife decided to start the day by driving to the store and back," columnist Tawfiq Alsaif said on his Twitter page.
One of the women, Maha al-Qahtani, tweeted that she drove down one of the capital Riyadh's main arteries.
"I took King Fahd Road and then Olaya Street, along with my husband, I decided that the car for today is mine," Qahtani said on Twitter.
"This is a right for women that is not banned by any law or religion... I went out to establish this right, so that it would be up to me to drive or not," she told AFP by telephone.
Her husband Mohammed al-Qahtani tweeted that she carried some of her personal belongings to be "ready to go to prison without fear."
Businesswoman Azza al-Shamassi told AFP she took her six-year-old twins for a drive "to buy them sweets."
"I was scared but if all the women started driving I would feel reassured."
A handful of women uploaded video footage of themselves driving, while some said they passed police patrols without being stopped, in what could be an attempt by authorities to avoid embarrassment as the campaign attracted global media attention.
A woman started the posting with a video of her driving after midnight as the first woman to take up the protest. Veiled, she drove along nearly empty main roads until she parked at a supermarket.
"All that we need is to run our errands without depending on drivers," said the unnamed woman in the video. "I believe that the society is ready to welcome us."
Police patrols were at normal levels on the sleepy streets of Riyadh on Friday, the first day of the Muslim weekend, an AFP photographer reported.
Many Saudi women had pledged on Facebook and Twitter to answer the call to defy the deeply entrenched ban.
But instead of staging demonstrations, which are strictly banned in the absolute monarchy, women with driving licences obtained abroad were encouraged to take individual action.
Veteran women's rights activist Wajiha al-Huwaidar told AFP she did not expect a huge turnout as hoped for by sympathisers abroad because of the severe response by officials to women who have taken the lead in recent weeks.
"I do not expect something big as people abroad imagine," she said, adding that jailing activist Manal al-Sherif and others has scared some women off.
Sharif, a 32-year-old computer scientist, found herself behind bars for two weeks last month after driving in the Eastern Province and posting footage of her actions on the Internet.
Six other women were also briefly detained after being caught learning to drive on an empty plot of land in north Riyadh.
Women in Saudi Arabia face an array of constraints, ranging from having to cover from head to toe in public and needing a male guardian's permission to travel, to having restricted access to jobs because of strict segregation rules.
The main Facebook page campaign, dubbed Women2Drive, says the action will keep going "until a royal decree allowing women to drive is issued."
"Saudi Arabian authorities must stop treating women as second-class citizens and open the kingdom?s roads to women drivers," Amnesty International said Thursday.
There is no law banning women from driving in the oil-rich kingdom, but the interior ministry imposes regulations based on a fatwa, or religious edict, stipulating women should not be permitted to drive.
But the society that is constrained by strict Islamic rules on segregation is not all that welcoming despite many supportive statements.
A counter Facebook group was created urging men to beat every woman they spot behind the wheel.
The last mass protest against the ban was held in November 1990 when a group of women stunned Saudi men by driving around Riyadh in 15 cars before being arrested.
The women were provoked at the time by the sight of US female soldiers who were taking part in the first Gulf War driving military vehicles freely in their own country while they are banned.
But govt highway workers are exempt from driver license and vehicle registration on public highways
A new rule being proposed by the federal Department of Transportation would require farmers to get commercial drivers licenses.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, which is a part of DOT, wants to adopt standards that would reclassify all farm vehicles and implements as Commercial Motor Vehicles, officials said. Likewise, the proposal, if adopted, would require all farmers and everyone on the farm who operates any of the equipment to obtain a CDL, they added.
The proposed rule change would mean that anyone who drives a tractor or operates any piece of motorized farming equipment would be required to pass the same tests and complete the same detailed forms and logs required of semi-tractor trailer drivers.
Drivers would keep logs of information including hours worked and miles traveled. Vehicles would be required to display DOT numbers. A CDL in Virginia costs $64 for eight years, or $8 per year, not including the cost of an instructional class and the written test.
If the DOT reclassifies farm vehicles and implements as commercial vehicles, the federal government will have regulatory control over the nation’s farm workers, estimated at over 800,000, by requiring them to have commercial drivers licenses.
That possibility worries county farmers and others in Halifax County interested in agriculture.
“I have a CDL, but very few farmers have one,” said Nathalie farmer Ronnie Waller. “This is just another bureaucratic hurdle for the farmer.
“It’s hard enough fighting Mother Nature, insects and all…now we have to fight the federal government,” he added. “We’re getting more rammed down our throats, and I could see repercussions across the nation. This move is another inane gesture in my opinion,” Waller concluded.
Bruce Pearce, Halifax County Soil and Water Conservation district manager, agrees with Waller.
“It’s absurd, we’re being regulated out of business,” Pearce said. “I can see where you need to take precautions if you take these things on the interstate.”
Pearce said driving a tractor on a road is not like driving a semi-tractor trailer on the highway.
“If it passes, there will be a lot of citations written,” he said. “It’ll create a financial burden on the farmer.
“Many farm workers are migrant workers, and they don’t have drivers licenses,” he said.
“If this thing passes, it would be detrimental to the agriculture business,” said Jason Fisher, Halifax County Extension agent for Forestry and Natural Resources. “They’re going to get a bigger fight from other places.
“It would be stifling to agriculture,” he said. “For the producers here, we’re looking to do things to help them maintain their farms. CDLs would mean additional costs to the farmers.”
Scott Crowder, Halifax County Farm Bureau president, agrees with Fisher.
“I think it’s absurd,” he said. “It’s just more federal bureaucracy and another infringement on small business.”
Crowder said farm tractors and other machinery on county roads is a common sight in most rural areas.
“When you live in a rural community seeing farm equipment on the road is just something that’s a part of life,” he said. “If this thing passes, it will create more strain on small business, and that’s what farmers are. It will affect their bottom line. Call your congressman and senators,” he concluded.
That little plastic laminated card you’ve got in your wallet or purse – you know, the state’s permission slip for operating a motor vehicle? Ever stop to reflect how peripheral the driving part of a driver’s license is?
Because, of course, a driver’s license is in fact our national ID card.
It’s extremely hard to function in modern society without this national ID card – even if you never get behind the wheel. You can’t open a bank account, cash a check, visit the doctor, vote, board an airplane or even get a job without one.
Or at least, it is very difficult to do these things without one.
And none of these things, as such, have anything to do with the operation of a motor vehicle.
If it were merely a driver’s license, the main issue would be whether we’re sufficiently competent to get behind the wheel. There would be a meaningful test of one’s ability to handle a car. An actual road test on an actual road, in traffic – not the perfunctory drive around the cones in the DMV parking lot (and even that is only required of new/first-time applicants in most states) preceded by a sixth-grade-level written (well, touch-screen video) test of one’s knowledge of The Law.
A medium-smart Baboon could pass this test with a little coaching. Few ever fail it – baboons or otherwise. Most of us snicker at the absurdity of it. But it is only absurd from the perspective that assumes they are testing our ability to drive.
Rather, the object of the exercise is ascertaining our identity – in order that we may be kept track of via the interlocking system of data acquisition, indexing, recording and cross-referencing that is the Matrix of modern society.
It is about information – and control.
If it were not, “driver’s licenses” would not be linked to one’s Social Security number – the government-issued ear tag every calf (oops, citizen) is issued at birth. The SS number, in turn, is the number the government uses to make sure you pay your taxes, to keep track of where you work (and how much you earn), where you live, whom you marry, whether you have children (each of them to be issued their own ear tag in turn) and so on – all of which, again, have nothing to do with your competence as a driver.
But just try to get a “driver’s license” without presenting a Social Security card.
They will also likely want your birth certificate, a document (with your SS number) from your bank, or your mortgage holder, or something along those lines. Then, just to be sure, they will obtain “biometric” information – a fingerprint in some cases or merely a special photo that maps your face so that the Panopticon (those cameras that are increasingly everywhere) can register your presence and record your presence wherever you happen to be – which most of the time, of course, will be somewhere that’s not in your car.
I go too far?
Then consider the fact that even non-drivers must obtain what amounts to the same national ID card in order to be able to do the things mentioned up above. They must show up at the Department of Motor Vehicles and provide the same items – SS number and other documents confirming that number. They will then be biometrically cataloged, just like the other cows (er, “drivers”).
No one escapes the national ID card unless they are “off the grid” – a person who exists outside the system, as a de facto (if not de jure) outlaw.
Too far, you say?
Then try to cross the border, or board an airplane without your national ID card – or (lately) even attend a professional football game. Or buy cough syrup at Wallymart.
Your ID will be demanded.
Even a person merely walking down the street, having committed no crime, can be compelled to produce his ID. And if that person lacks an ID, that person will very likely be arrested on the spot and held until his identity is ascertained.
This is the reality of America.
You must have permission to move. You do not move freely.
Even if you are walking.
Eric Peters is the author of the books Automotive Atrocities and Road Hogs. He covers transportation news and the car industry from a libertarian perspective. Visit his website.
By Joel Rubin and Paloma Esquivel, Los Angeles Times
February 23, 2012
Wading into a divisive, politically charged debate, Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck said Wednesday that California should issue driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.
The chief becomes one of the most prominent local figures to support the idea that state lawmakers have battled over repeatedly in the last 15 years. And Beck's stance is certain to further inflame critics who are already angry at the chief for his efforts to liberalize rules on how his officers impound the cars of unlicensed drivers.
"My personal belief is that they should be able to" have licenses, Beck said in response to a question during a meeting with Times' reporters and editorial writers. "The reality is that all the things that we've done — 'we' being the state of California — over the last 14, 16 years have not reduced the problem one iota, haven't reduced undocumented aliens driving without licenses. So we have to look at what we're doing. When something doesn't work over and over and over again, my view is that you should reexamine it to see if there is another way that makes more sense."
Beck said he does not believe licenses for illegal immigrants should be identical to standard licenses. Saying "it could be a provisional license, it could be a non-resident license," he acknowledged that state officials would have to find ways to address widely held concerns that giving licenses to people who are in the country illegally could make it easier for terrorists to go undetected.
Such concerns, however, were outweighed for Beck by what he said would be improved safety on California's roads and the ability of police to identify the people they encounter. "Why wouldn't you want to put people through a rigorous testing process? Why wouldn't you want to better identify people who are going to be here?" he said.
Beck, for example, said he expected the number of hit-and-run accidents would decrease if illegal immigrants were licensed, because they would not have to fear being caught without a license at accidents.
In coming out in favor of licenses for illegal immigrants, Beck echoed his predecessor, Chief William J. Bratton, who also voiced support for the idea. Beck signaled a willingness to use his sway as a respected law enforcement leader to lobby for changes in state law that prohibits illegal immigrants from receiving licenses. "I want to be able to move this issue," he said.
Asked whether he would be permitted in his capacity as police chief to, for example, testify in support of the idea at a legislative hearing, Beck said he had "to follow the lead of the city's elected officials. The mayor is pretty good with me on that. I know he would support me doing that." Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa did not respond to calls for comment.
In a brief interview, Los Angeles City Atty. Carmen Trutanich joined Beck, calling it "a matter of public safety." Issuing licenses to illegal immigrants, he said, would help ensure that people on the road were capable drivers, although he added that insurance regulations would need to be tightened to combat uninsured drivers. Trutanich said he first voiced his position on licenses last year in La Opinion.
Beck's comments were embraced quickly by state Assemblyman Gilbert Cedillo (D-Los Angeles), who has been involved in repeated attempts since 1998 to pass a state law allowing licenses for illegal immigrants. The LAPD, he said, "is extraordinary … in that they have not allowed themselves to be politicized on the question of public safety vs. immigration. They truly put public safety first."
Critics of expanded rights for illegal immigrants were equally quick to condemn Beck for speaking out on the license issue. Bob Dane, a spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, challenged Beck's notion that allowing illegal immigrants to have licenses would improve road safety, saying the move would "represent a threat to public safety and national security." He added that issuing the licenses would be "providing a gold-plated membership card into society for people who are not here legally."
Beck's stance on the issue stems from his push in recent months to make controversial changes in the LAPD's vehicle impound rules for unlicensed drivers. Because illegal immigrants cannot receive licenses in California, they are presumed to make up a disproportionate percentage of the state's unlicensed drivers and, Beck believes, have been unfairly affected by the current impound protocols.
Under Beck's proposed changes, officers would continue to impound the cars of unlicensed drivers, but allow those who have auto insurance, a legitimate form of identification and no previous convictions for unlicensed driving to avoid a 30-day hold that carries stiff fees and fines. Drivers would also avoid having their cars impounded if a licensed driver was in the car or able to arrive "immediately."
The proposed changes set off an angry protest from police union officials and some Angelenos, who argued that the changes would reward people for breaking the law and allow potentially dangerous drivers to remain on the roads — claims that Beck rebutted. The department is delaying the new changes until city officials can review a recent legal opinion from state lawyers that questioned the legality of the moves.
The current battle over licenses for illegal immigrants dates to the late 1990s, when Cedillo and others picked up the issue. In 2003, then-Gov. Gray Davis signed a bill that gave illegal immigrants the right to licenses, but the move was so unpopular that it helped spur the campaign to recall Davis. With Davis ousted and opponents threatening a statewide referendum to repeal the law, Cedillo said he and other supporters agreed to repeal the license law. Incoming Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vowed to support a new law that included tighter restrictions and identification requirements, but went on to veto those laws multiple times, according to Cedillo.
Cedillo said he plans to introduce legislation again before he is termed out of office at the end of the year. Gov. Jerry Brown has expressed opposition to such a law.
THE DRAGONATER WINS IN TRAFFIC COURT AT DEALS GAP, RAISES SPEED LIMIT TO 65 MPH ON THE DRAGON - NOLLE PROSEQUI BY BLOUNT COUNTY ATTORNEY GENERAL. NO TESTIMONY, HEARING NOR TRIAL WHATSOEVER. 60 MPH SPEEDING TICKET DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE, COSTS PAID BY THE STATE, IN BLOUNT COUNTY GENERAL SESSIONS COURT WITH JUDGE BREWER. THP TROOPER RANDALL HUCKEBY ADMITTED ON VIDEOTAPE DURING TRAFFIC STOP THAT ALL SPEEDING TICKETS NORTHBOUND ON US129 AT MILE MARKER 0.5 ARE FEDERAL JURISDICTION, NOT STATE JURISDICTION (VIDEO BY THE DRAGONATER). HUCKEBY WAS ALSO CAUGHT ON VIDEO SPEEDING AT 60 MPH ON THE DRAGON, WITHOUT THE MANDATORY EMERGENCY LIGHTS AND SIREN REQUIRED FOR IMMUNITY FROM PROSECUTION (VIDEO BY THE DRAGONATER). TDOT ADMITTED IN WRITING THAT THE MANDATORY TRAFFIC ENGINEERING SURVEY SPEED AUDIT WAS NEVER PERFORMED, IN VIOLATION OF TN CODE, THUS THE POSTED 30 MPH SPEED LIMIT ON THE DRAGON REVERTS TO THE DEFAULT 65 MPH IN TN CODE. THE DRAGONATER ALSO MADE VIDEO OF TROOPER HUCKEBY SPEEDING UP TO 60 MPH ON THE DRAGON IN A 30 MPH ZONE, WITHOUT MANDATORY EMERGENCY LIGHTS NOR SIREN, IN VIOLATION OF TN CODE, AND PERJURY IN HIS PERSONNEL FILE, WHICH SHOWED HIS $100,000+ SALARY. 2007 TDOT SAFETY AUDIT REPORT CONFESSED THAT THP'S JOB IS TO BAN ALL COMMERCIAL BUSINESSES ON THE DRAGON, SO THP TICKETS INCREASED 11,400% IN BLOUNT COUNTY. THP'S STALKER RADAR OPERATOR MANUAL CONFESSED THAT RADAR CANNOT MEASURE THE SPEED OF VEHICLES WITHIN 18 MPH OF ACTUAL SPEED. WATCH THIS SPACE FOR FULL EVIDENCE FILE. UPDATE 7 MARCH 2011
