Preacher man enjoys ice-cold water from The Dragonater and TailOfTheDragon.com. Photos by The Dragonater.
Exclusive by The Dragonater
14 August 2012
DEALS GAP, TENN. -- Brent Matheson carries his cross on US129 "The Dragon".
His route began in Englewood, Tennessee, 250 miles away.
Blount County deputies illegally banned the preacher from walking on the Dragon.
So Matheson walked to Sevierville, to Gatlinburg, through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, crossed Newfound Gap to Cherokee NC, and reached Deals Gap NC via Hellbender NC28. Next stop, Cleveland TN.
No cop can stop a real biker from taming the Dragon.
Best way to learn this, is get to know me.I am a God feering man.I Have a goel to have a Owsome Moyor cycle Ministry.I minister threw art,and threw the biker comunity that have been and always will be family to me.With the shade of grace that God gives AKA Sonshlne.
-Brent Matheson Facebook
On Friday Brent Matheson bore his own rugged cross down the shoulder of Highway 411. “The Lord told me to build this cross and carry it,” Matheson said. The cross is made from spare wood Matheson found and gutter nails hold the structure together.
Does the Killboy Cult have images of this Hyundai (Tuburon RC2 coupe) tag 119-ROC? Unless the Huffington Post was wrong for the first time in history.
Holmes was apprehended by police in the movie theater parking lot and did not resist arrest. The car he was driving had Tennessee license plate.
TMZ spoke to three of the women Holmes supposedly reviewed. Hooker #1 told us she meets with lots of men and couldn't confirm she ever did business with James. Hooker #2 said Holmes "looked very familiar" but couldn't say for certain if he was a client. But Hooker #3 was POSITIVE she had met up with Holmes ... not once, but twice ... as recently as August 2011. The woman, who goes by the name "Tiffany" -- tells TMZ ... "I had no issues with him … he was really nice.”
"The only amendment left in the Constitution is the Second one. If you take away the right to due process, habeas corpus, the prohibition against cruel and unusual treatment because they now torture, if they can take all these away, they can take away the guns. Probably won't be much longer. They certainly have a Police State, it's in place, and we no longer have any rights. They can bring any kind of charges against anybody at any time. Or they can simply dissappear them. There's no longer any protection from being thrown in a dungeon for the rest of your life, without ever being told why you're there, hahaha, much less a court being told, or a jury, or any evidence presented. So, as far as I can tell, the Constitution no longer exists for any constraints on the power of government, and the page has turned, hahaha. Or they'll kill you with a drone."
-Dr Paul Craig Roberts PhD, Assistant Secretary of the US Department of the Treasury, WBCR 1470 am, 25 July 2012
A Chinese man is recovering in the hospital today after men broke into his home and stole his penis. Although emergency workers searched for the severed organ, they failed to locate it and believe it was taken away by the attackers.
McMINN COUNTY, TENN. -- The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation on Friday arrested two Niota Police Department officers on official oppression charges after they were indicted by the McMinn County grand jury earlier this week for an altercation with a subject they arrested last summer.
Officer Donald McCarter, 45, and Officer Jonathan Scott, 22, were each charged with one count of official oppression and one count of conspiracy to commit official oppression. On June 13, 2011, Scott conducted at traffic stop and pulled over Wesley Stewart, 53, for riding a motorized bicycle without a tag or registration. Scott stopped Stewart near Stewart’s residence and requested his license and registration. Stewart refused to produce the documents requested and when Scott returned to his patrol vehicle, Stewart walked home. McCarter arrived on the scene and he and Scott entered Stewart’s residence to arrest him when there was an altercation and Stewart was injured. Stewart was charged in the incident, but the charges were later dismissed in General Sessions Court.
TBI opened the investigation at the request of the District Attorney General in the 10th Judicial District. Both McCarter and Scott were booked into the McMinn County Jail Friday.
Dude you have a website cracking on cruiser riders pretty hard, you don't really have any ground to stand on to say "bad form" to people who crack on sportbikers for crashing at high speed.
-ETR
TN welcomes you, go directly to jail, do not pass The Dragon
DEALS GAP, TENN. -- More ethnic clensing on US129 by bankrupt public servants, where billionaire politicians own 5,000 acres for their VIP "Nature Conservancy" gated resort and maximum-security Top Secret private airport on the Dragon. The same politicians who renamed I-140 Pellissippi Parkway in honor of the crack cocaine kingpin convicted of the fatal hit-and-run of a sportbike tourist. More than $1-billion/year in cocaine flows through Blount County' international airport every year, according to court testimony by FBI agents published in newspaper reports. No drunk drivers were arrested in this DUI checkpoint, that appears to be illegal since no notice was published in advance as required by law, and was conducted on federal jurisdiction without participation of federal police. This appears to set a new world record for number of police required for a DUI checkpoint, which also set a new record in the hunt for Early Bird drunk drivers (10am). At least They didn't fly helicopters overhead blasting bikers with the theme song to COPS, like the last time at Deals Gap.
This "overtime" checkpoint was funded by countefeit "dollar bills" (private foreign "Federal" Reserve Debt Notes), literally counterfeited out of thin air, then borrowed by a bankrupt federal government from the private foreign "Federal" Reserve Bank Corporation (as "federal" as "Federal" Express and owned by the German Nazi queen of England).
No tractor trailers were impounded for violating NC law banning large trucks from the Dragon. None of the 40-million illegal aliens were apprehended nor deported by this DUI checkpoint, perhaps because THP sold fake I.D. to 500,000 illegal aliens (marked "NOT VALID FOR IDENTIFICATION"), who were not required to purchase a driver license in Tennessee. The Blount County sheriff was not arrested for stealing 48 police vehicles, nor for making terrorist threats to murder the family of a sheriff office employee, along with his growing list of confessed arsons and murders of random citizens and police officers.
As the Dragonater says on his radio show on WBCR 1470am in Blount County, East TN and West NC, all cops are career criminals and terrorists...that's THE LAW.
NC welcomes you, go directly to jail, hope your ride on The Dragon was worth it
Late Thursday afternoon July 5 a sudden storm ripped through eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina. The storm brought hail and straight line winds that toppled and snapped many trees like toothpicks. There were two resulting deaths which included one motorcycle rider and one tent camper.
In the aftermath many communities and business were left without power for as long as 24 hours. The Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap was one of those businesses. We started-up the generators and never missed a beat as tourists flooded in on Friday.
And then when things were getting back to normal on Saturday morning another storm rolled in. This one was brought on by our area law enforcement, those who are supposed to "serve and protect". At about 11 am some 40 or more LEOs from both Tennessee and North Carolina set-up road blocks at the state line for a so-called "sobriety check". In attendance were North Carolina and Tennessee Highway Patrol, Swain County NC Sheriff, Blount County Sheriff, US Forest Service, and inexplicably Jackson County Sheriff and Alcoa City Police, both well out of their jurisdiction by some 40 miles.
For the next three hours all who passed were asked if they had been drinking as a LEO stuck his face close to the citizen, well within ones personal space. Several riders dropped their bikes as they waited in line on a banked curve. Temperatures soared into the low 90s as riders in full leathers awaited the assault on their freedom while simply trying to ride a US highway.
It was embarrassing for this North Carolina business owner to look on as this senseless attack continued until 2 in the afternoon. We will certainly protest as loud as we can to the involved authorities and their elected officials. Who is responsible for this atrocity? We will get back to you when we find out.
Oh yes, how many drunk drivers/riders were apprehended? None that we know of, but we will get the actual statistics on Monday and let you know.
Any personal comments about the road block? We are also interested in any video or interesting photos anyone may have taken.
Update on the sobriety check point at the Dragon on Saturday - Sgt. Norvelle of the NC Highway Patrol advised that one citation was issued for no motorcycle endorsement. He advised that the operation was organized by Swain County (Bryson City area) Sheriff Curtis Cochran and only involved one NCHP unit. So far Tennessee Highway Patrol Officer Huckabee has not responded to our inquiery. Want to let Sheriff Cochran know what you thought about the check point? Here is his Facebook Page.
Good cop, bad cop with Killboy cult:
"Strictly speaking, a driver can register a BAC of 0.00% and still be convicted of a DUI. The level of BAC does not clear a driver when it is below the 'presumed level of intoxication.'"
-Tennessee Driver Handbook and Driver License Study Guide
"Even to non-lawyers, DUI checkpoints appear to be a blatant violation of our 4th Amendment rights. It is a stop without probable cause, so why is it permitted? How is it not a violation of our constitutional rights? The reality is that it IS a violation of the 4th Amendment, but some violations are permitted under the appropriate circumstances. Here’s why… In 1997 the Tennessee Supreme Court set out a three prong test in State v. Downey to determine whether a DUI checkpoint complied with the 4th amendment. The first two prongs are always satisfied – the critical question always boils down to the degree and reasonableness of the officer’s intrusion during the stop. For example, a DUI checkpoint does not permit an officer to indefinitely detain someone. Nor would it permit a search of the entire vehicle, or perhaps even a person. The US Supreme Court decision in Sitz stood for the simple proposition that DUI checkpoints are not invalid per se. In Tennessee however, courts must also look at the severity of the interference with an individual’s liberty. The average stop in the Sitz case was about 25 seconds – and the court found that reasonable. But, what if the average stop was 5 minutes? 10 minutes? 1 hour? There are certainly limits to a DUI checkpoint, but provided officers comply with the court’s decision in Downey, the checkpoints are valid."
-Shipman & Crim, Nashville DUI Lawyers Explain the Constitutionality of DUI Checkpoints
"The Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) has decided to take action in eliminating commercial activity along state right-of-way in the project area. This enforcement is intended to disallow persons from taking photographs of vehicles and motorcyclists with the intent of selling the photographs at a later date. The THP contends this activity is a hazard o public safety. It is recommended that signs be placed at the entrance of each end of the route advising this policy."
-Tennessee Department of Transportation, ROAD SAFETY AUDIT REVIEW, STATE ROUTE 115 (U.S. 129 at Deals Gap Dragon), BLOUNT COUNTY, 25 July
"I’ll burn your house down, set your dog on fire and there won’t be a member of your family left, do you understand me? I won’t hire it done, I will do it myself! Do you understand me?”
-Deals Gap Dragon sheriff James Berrong firing his secretary in the Blount County Justice Center, United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, Nuchols v. Berrong, No. 04-5645, July 11, 2005
"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?"
-Blount County Commissioner Jim Folts, Tennessee Auditors Arrive - 48 Blount Sheriff cars missing
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
"The city coffers are virtually empty and its debts are huge. Last week the pay packets of all its municipal workers – including firemen, police and the mayor – were slashed to the minimum wage of $7.25 (£4.70) an hour. That effectively equates a life-saving Scranton fire chief with a burger-flipper elsewhere in the US. Not surprisingly, many expect Scranton to go bankrupt soon. The city coffers are virtually empty and its debts are huge. Last week the pay packets of all its municipal workers – including firemen, police and the mayor – were slashed to the minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. That effectively equates a life-saving Scranton fire chief with a burger-flipper elsewhere in the US. Not surprisingly, many expect Scranton to go bankrupt soon. And Scranton is far from the only American community to face this dismal prospect. In the past month three Californian cities – San Bernardino, Stockton and Mammoth Lakes – have all gone bankrupt. Some experts have warned that a wave of municipal bankruptcies is set to sweep the United States as towns, cities and counties plunge into a fiscal black hole, collapsing under the weight of huge debts and reduced revenues. Last week Michael Coleman, a fiscal policy adviser to the League of California Cities, warned in the Los Angeles Times that some smaller cities in his state 'may cease to exist'."
-Londong Guardian, Scranton, Pennsylvania: where even the mayor is on minimum wage, 14 July 2012
"In advance of the presidential election of 2012, President Barack Obama is preparing to shutter nine Border Patrol stations, many of which are located in critical areas of the southern border. The announcement of the closures has met with resistance from local law enforcement, federal lawmakers, and those agents charged with securing the border with Mexico. There is legitimate concern that leaving these posts unguarded will give a green light to Mexican drug cartels and human traffickers to ratchet up their illegal activities across the border with the United States. Most of the affected stations are in areas that experience extraordinarily high movements of illegal immigration and narcotics. For example, the CBP (Customs and Border Protection) outpost in Amarillo, Texas, sits smack in the center of the I-40 corridor. "I-40 is a corridor for not only narcotics, but also for the human trafficking and we do use the Border Patrol quite a bit to come out and help us with those," Potter County, Texas, Sheriff Brian Thomas told a local television station. "They're the ones that have the authority to arrest them and detain them. We don't." "It could impact us tremendously since we've only got two agents up here now for 26 counties," Thomas told FoxNews.com."
-New American, Obama Admin. Plans to Shutter Nine Border Patrol Stations, 14 July 2012
DEALS GAP, TENN. -- About 11 citations were given out during a two-hour sobriety checkpoint Saturday on the “Tail of the Dragon” at the Tennessee-North Carolina border.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol, Blount County Sheriff’s Office and the Alcoa Police Department collaborated, as well as the Jackson County, N.C., Sheriff’s Office, North Carolina Highway Patrol, the U.S. Park Service and the U.S. Forestry Service.
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The citations included three for not wearing a seat belt; four for wearing a motorcycle helmet not approved by the Department of Transportation; one for an improper registration display; and three for no motorcycle endorsement.
Four vehicles were stopped on the Tennessee side of the line for further investigation during the checkpoint, but it was not revealed what they were specifically for.
About 16 Tennessee officers and deputies participated in the checkpoint, along with several North Carolina deputies and officers.
"That's yur 4th ammendment at work right there. Kind of looks like border checkpoints, doesn't it? What country is this "Tail of the Dragon" in? Russia? Germany?"
"Except they arent allowed to ask for your Imigration status now.It spans NC and TN on Highway 129."
"Well THAT'S a good thing...."
"If it makes the roads safer for me and my family, then I say go for it."
"Thank god you are Canadian."
"I can't imagine it taking that many police officers for one sobriety check point. I bet to a criminal it would be a good time elsewhere if they are all busy in the one spot. I have no sympathy for drinking and driving. Too many of my friends killed either as victims or the drunk. But this is excessive."
Does seem a bit like overkill but then again, the US certainly seems to have an excess of police.
"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." Benjamin Franklin 1775
+1000
The average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe.- H.L. Mencken
Lots of support for not enforcing drinking and driving laws on this thread.
That's a pretty unfair sumarization of what's being said. NO ONE has suggested that we abandon "reasonable" means of enforcing drinking and driving laws. Problem is, where does it end? Maybe we should put a checkpoint at the exit of every establishment selling alchohol... And then put a checkpoint at the end of every driveway. Seriously, let's stop the drunk before he even hits the street-mandatory breathalizers (sp?) installed on every ignition on every vehicle, planes, trains, automobiles, and motorcycles. Increase the cost and taxes for this "safety feature" and remove all vehicles from the roads without one installed. Or maybe we can just outlaw alchoholic beverages completely? Oh...wait...that didn't work too well the last time...
That sucks. Pretty much cuts down people running up and down the dragon all day long. I wouldn't want to keep going through the checkpoint. There's a nice bar not far from there. I'm sure word got out real quick up there on that one.
That's okay. My wife has had the same PO box for since 1985, but Homeland Security has determined that now every two years everyone who uses a PO box must fill out an application and present it in person with two forms of valid ID (credit cards and SSAN cards not valid) or your box will be closed and all mail returned to sender. Doesn't matter how long you've had the box, you have to "Prove up, Comrade!" Makes an old soldier sad and mad. I have no problem coming down hard on drunk drivers. I do have a problem with the increasing use and acceptance of methods that involve control and shaking down of the populace in general, that encroach on the letter and INTENT of the U.S. Constitution.
I love it when the paranoid conspiracy theorists (where you at Crazy Dave?) don their tin foil hats and start equating normal everyday practices to Big Brother trying to take over their lives. Exactly what essential liberty do you feel is being given up by driving through a DUI check point?
I have no problems with a DUI checkpoint either it was Just way Overkill for the 2 lane road it is on.They (TN) lost in Federal Court enforcing speeding tickets as it is FEDERAL land not county land and they arent Federal Officers. Google it and get the rest of the story.
Exactly. Driving is not a right. You must have a valid license, proof of insurance and a properly operating vehicle. I am certain if you wanted to you could walk right past any sobriety checkpoint and never be asked to stop. Stop confusing rights and privileges. Stop using 18th century law to support 21st century living. If you think you are being oppressed, take a look at other countries in the world and see how their law works. What liberties you would have. What you would give up.The constitution guarantees us life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. NOT the right to choose what laws we have and are being enforced.
"For years professionals within the criminal justice system have acted on the belief that traveling by motor vehicle was a privilege that was given to a citizen only after approval by their state government in the form of a permit or license to drive. In other words, the individual must be granted the privilege before his use of the state highways was considered legal. Legislators, police officers, and court officials are becoming aware that there are court decisions that disprove the belief that driving is a privilege and therefore requires government approval in the form of a license."
-Police officer Jack McLamb
"The use of the highway for the purpose of travel and transportation is not a mere privilege, but a common fundamental right of which the public and individuals cannot rightfully be deprived." Chicago Motor Coach v. Chicago, 169 NE 221
"The right of the citizen to travel upon the public highways and to transport his property thereon, either by carriage or by automobile, is not a mere privilege which a city may prohibit or permit at will, but a common law right which he has under the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Thompson v. Smith, 154 SE 579
The right to travel is a part of the liberty of which the citizen cannot be deprived without due process of law under the Fifth Amendment." Kent v. Dulles, 357 US 116, 125
"The right to travel is a well-established common right that does not owe its existence to the federal government. It is recognized by the courts as a natural right." Schactman v. Dulles 96 App DC 287, 225 F2d 938, at 941
"The state cannot diminish rights of the people." U.S Supreme Court, Hertado v. California, 110 US 516
"Statutes that violate the plain and obvious principles of common right and common reason are null and void." U.S Supreme Court, Bennett v. Boggs, 1 Baldw 60
"Where rights secured by the Constitution are involved, there can be no rule making or legislation which would abrogate them." U.S Supreme Court, Miranda v. 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, at 489
There can be no sanction or penalty imposed upon one because of this exercise of constitutional rights." Sherer v. Cullen, 481 F 946
So, how exactly do you folks think a police or nanny state happens? It happens in progressive stages, not overnight. Brush up on your history if your really concerned.
How incredibly naive of you. There's a small part of a very important document that says "Of the people, By the people, and FOR the people." It most certainly implies that we DO have the right to say what laws we have. The mere fact that so many complacent people have sat on their hands everytime some politician says "it's for the good of the people" when taking away a liberty is irrelevant. WE are supposed to be in control of this country (including the roads we pay for), not the people who generate revenue to keep their government entity alive. And if you think those checpoints, with all the officers, cost the county or state any money, think again. Checkpoints are a cash cow.
How about the protection from unlawful search and seizure? In any other area of your life, the police must have a warrant to search you or your possessions. They are not allowed to search everybody they come across for evidence of a crime. They must convince a judge that they have reasonable suspicion that you have committed a crime, and list what specific evidence they seek to support such an allegation, and from what specific location they seek said evidence. A sobriety, or any other kind of checkpoint, does not meet those requirements.
I guess you all didnt see where Congress and the FAA aproved the Use of unmanned Drones to Fly over all of the US then. Border protection is one thing but they wont enforce the Current laws.This far exceds their need to Know.
http://rt.com/usa/news/us-drones-border-patrol-489/
It's my opinion that vehicle checkpoints any place outside of our territorial borders are illegel. If I'm doing nothing wrong the government has no right to arrest me. When you are detained at a checkpoint you ARE under arrest. Don't think so? Try to leave or bypass one and find out. As for the video, what a waste. Why so many LEO's? How much money, tax money (probably federal kick backs) was spent and for what improvement on safety. You just can't rationally justify something like this. I will not knowingly spend a single dollar (tourist, mail order or otherwise) in any state that does this.
Let's talk a little bit about "Sobriety" checkpoints. Yes, "Sobriety" checkpoints sounds like a good idea till it stops being about "Sobriety" and more about collecting tickets. And that is exactly what those checkpoints really do. Did you see the little part where the officer checked the plate? I can tell you (whether you believe or not) that he was checking expiration AND state of origin. Why state of origin? Simple... The revenue generators (oops, I mean "officers") are encouraged to write tickets for out of state operators. That is usually an easy mark because they won't come all the way back to the state of the citation to fight the ticket. They will just pay up. And now if you see that the "checkpoint" is on a tourist destination it seems a little more plausible, doesn't it? And, yes, they will give tickets for any infraction they see. If the check was just about public safety, I might buy it. If they stopped people, checked to see if they were sober and then let them go on their way, I "might" be OK with it. Again, that's not what goes on at these checkpoints. These checkpoints use "safety" to lure in people who will say things like "If it makes the road safer for my family" to agree with the checkpoints. If they told the truth and said "The county needs more cash" then they would lose some support. I'm also against checkpoints in general. As I said before, it's something that Russia or Germany would do. It is not something that a FREE country would allow.
Some of us remember when we were told, "There will NEVER be a national ID for people." Now you have to have a SSAN by one year old and without that SSAN card you can't get legal work, have a bank account, or pretty much do anything that is a part of normal society in this country without your SSAN, a.k.a. your Taxpayer ID. How about instead of having a heavily manned checkpoint for "sobriety" at 10AM at one spot, spread those officers up and down the road at key points so they can be on the look out for speeders, people driving erratically or in otherwise reasonably unsafe manners. I say reasonably unsafe because to the mind of many people the mere act of riding a motorcycle is an unsafe act. Those officers could be better utilized along a larger stretch of roadway targeting those who are showing probable cause for a stop and not all lounging around like cats around a baby squirrel. But that's okay. A lot of people have gotten used to the little encroachments over the decades and just accept them. A lot of you younger folks have never lived without these and consider them normal. This is not normal and is a far cry from what we knew decades past. Always is the cry, "It's for safety, for the betterment of society, it's for the children." Battle cries for the expansion of government ownership and to fill the coffers of the corporations that feed by creating and filling the needs of bureaucracy. No, I don't worry about UN helicopters. The UN has sucked and failed at ever mission they've taken over anyway. I don't worry about cattle cars and death camps. I don't care who marries who within reason, or how many. Don't want religion of any kind shoved down anyone's throat. I do, however worry that the very thing I spent my time in the military to protect is being happily tossed away by the very citizens of this country, and all for a false sense of security. You want to live in Nanny land, pack your butt off to a nice socialist country like the many in Europe. Those of us who deeply value and took and oath the the Constitution of the United States have nowhere else to go.
Substitute the words United States for Great Britain and I agree with most of that..
The issue isn't whether the checkpoints are "reasonable." The issue is the Fourth Amendment. The Constitution says we are the be secure (safe) from searches without a warrant and from being detained without probable cause. Being stopped and checked for "sobriety" is unquestionably BOTH. I would ask those posters who say it is okay because it makes you feel safer, what are you doing on a motorcycle? Amos is right. We've come to accept incremental theft of our freedoms.
Checking your registration, insurance, and license IS a search. They can't do that without probable cause. Just driving through the checkpoint is NOT probable cause. We cannot in this country ask people for their papers just because they happen to be someplace that is legal to be at.
Just because you don't have a problem with it doesn't make it legal or constitutional. But if enough people don't have a problem with it, we'll be able to add the loss of 4th amendment protections to the long list of rights we are slowly losing, because most don't have a problem with it.
It's time to START having a problem with the way things are being done. We're turning into a nanny/police state that the founders would hardly believe. These are the kinds of things they fought and died over. They must be spinning in their graves now. For reference, the text of the 4th amendment states:
"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."
You don't see a problem with a violation of your right to free and unobstructed travel? Mmmm I bet you don't mind being forced to purchase something you don't want under the penalty of taxation either.
Yeah..about that..
Didn't the USA round up all the Japanese Americans in 1942 and lock them in concentration camps where they were given very little food.. I suspect the governments of our countries can change or suspend all laws if they want to.. For instance..Thou shalt not kill.. Unless we send you to war..
The unreasonable-ness of the request is not an opinion, it is a legal definition. To require someone to produce their papers without reasonable suspicion of a crime having been committed by that person, is unreasonable. That you may not think such a request is unreasonable is not the test. The definition of the term, as defined by case law, is what matters. If your neighbor comes home and finds his TV missing, the cops cannot go door to door searching every house until they find it. However, if there are fresh tracks in the snow from the back window of your neighbors house to your back door, that may constitute reasonable suspicion. Even then, the cops must first convince a judge to issue a search warrant before they can search your house. The rules are what they are because the founders saw the abuses of the country they left, and sought to put into place a legal system that would protect the citizens from those abuses in their new country. They saw how far the government was willing to take things and built protections into the constitution to prevent those abuses here. But because the government is able to convince folks that it's reasonable to whittle away at our liberties in the name of safety, we're on the path to losing those liberties. As has been mentioned, it's not going to happen overnight. But one day folks are going to look back at the way things were and ask themselves how the hell things got so bad. There won't be any one thing to point at, just a long series of small concessions on the part of the populace. The slippery slope biting us in the ass.
If adding a couple of minutes to my drive home ends up catching even one drunk driver, then no, I don't see a problem with it. If they don't catch anyone other than a few out of date registrations, I don't have a problem with that, either. If you're referring to health insurance, I believe that's a different arguement.
And that is the sad thing..you don't have a problem with giving up your rights.. so they will gladly take more.
No worries. I don't wear tin foil hats. I'll be okay.
keep believing that lie..
When you refuse to see the obvious, even after it's been pointed out to you, then you have no right to claim blindness later.
Agreed. A government doesnt know how to say "enough is enough." It just grows and grows until it becomes Leviathan.
Mmmm indeed..when is a tax not a tax?
Is it still a user fee when the government says EVERYONE must buy a park pass or the IRS will collect a penalty from you if you don't, equal to the price of the park pass plus a little extra?
Surely the demise of the Republic is close at hand when the truths that established it are ridiculed. The success of our enemies is obvious and evident.... I find no small irony that here, on a motorcycle "enthusiasts" forum, the idea of "liberty" is being ridiculed and equated with paranoia and lunacy. There was time when motorcyclists of ALL types were bonded by a common love of freedom and individuality, but apparently no more...
I thought they can ask, but ICE will not come out to pick up any illegals, and DHS will cut off your funding.
Does that mean that if I point to the sun and say "that's the sun" you won't be able to make the deduction that that is indeed the sun because I am telling you on an internet forum that doesn't focus on astronomy and I don't have credibility in your eyes? You don't believe what you see with your own eyes unless someone with credibility in your eyes points it out to you in an appropriately themed forum? The lack of critical thinking skills is what's killing this country. It's blinding otherwise smart folks to the things that are obviously detrimental to the country. Unless what those folks want is something very different than what the founders envisioned.
Hyperbole won't make your point. Some people just learn something and it's hard for them to unlearn it. For instance, some still believe in Santa Claues, the Toothe Fairy, the Easter Bunny, God almighty, etc. For them to learn that the earth isn't flat or the government isn't taking our freedoms away is just hard for them to do.
Perhaps you might examine why so many of us can see, the obvious, when you can't. You know it occurs to me that it is amazing, considering the content of this thread, that it is still here. This demonstrates a radical change in the moderation policy of the forum management. Either that or they just haven't seen it yet. lol
So, in essence, what you are saying is that you are OK with a strip search if someone in the group is carrying a gun? [or paid a parking ticket, or bought an airline ticket]
Here is how that works around here... The checkpoints are funded by Federal Highway Safety funds. (Click it or Ticket, Don't Drink and Drive ect.) Now the more people you put on the checkpoint the more money the agency gets and the more cops you can pay overtime. All those cops in the checkpoint are not just pulled off the street they are the fellows who woould have been off duty that day. In addition you get some pictures for the news paper and put on advertising and hopefully you cut the numbers of D/D and get some GOOD publicity for the department. In actual fact 10 minutes after you set up one of these the whole world knows where you are and the people who have been drinking all go some other road. Over the years I have found that these are LESS effective than a roving patrol but they aren't as good a PR thing. Knox County Sheriff Officer
don't claim to be a constitutional scholar, but I will agree that if you try to avoid a checkpoint it goes very badly for you, thus making one wonder about the whole "arrest" w/o probably caused. Just because you're driving down the road doesn't mean you should be allowed to be arrested for no apparent reason. However, unless you're really willing to stick to your guns and end up like this preacher. I bet you just reach in your wallet and give them what they want. At the end of the day you can hate it all you want, but you know you're not going to refuse compliance...
Are there requirements about sobriety checkpoints? Yes, there are certain guidelines that law enforcement must follow to ensure that checkpoints do not qualify as unreasonable search and seizure. Each state uses its own specific guidelines. The following guidelines are offered by the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration about sobriety checkpoints:
1. They must be part of an ongoing program to deter drunk driving.
2. They should have support from the judicial system (i.e. the district prosecutor)
3. There must be established procedures for how to properly operate a checkpoint.
4. The selection of checkpoints must be done in the interest of public safety and chosen for a specific objective (i.e. an unusual number of drunk driving accidents in that area)
5. Drivers should be sufficiently warned of an upcoming checkpoint.
6. Police presence should be obvious when approaching the checkpoint.
7. The logistics of chemical testing must allow expeditious transport of suspects to a chemical test site.
8. Any change in the original planning of a checkpoint must be well documented.
9. Detection and investigation techniques must be well-planned and standardized. These must be performed by qualified law enforcement. Investigation must take place without impeding the flow of traffic.
10. The public should be aggressively informed of sobriety checkpoints with ample warning so they can avoid them completely.
11. Feedback should be requested from citizens who are stopped to help determine if the program is effective.
Or try reading a book called "Ways the Government screws you from A to Z"
Most of us believe that we are safe in our own home from unwarranted invasion. On the basis of dubious tips by informants, federal and local police agents have done some of the following, usually in the name of the war on drugs: Boston police broke into the home of a 75-year-old retired minister, pushed him to the floor, and handcuffed him; he had a heart attack and died within minutes (no drugs were found in the man's home). In Everett, Washington, a police SWAT team rammed their way into the apartment of a mother of a 6-year-old girl, looking for her husband; even as she obeyed instructions to get down, she was shot in the throat and died in two minutes (later a judge determined that the charges against her husband were false). In Seattle, Washington, police broke into an apartment hoping to make a drug bust; the occupant of the apartment was fatally shot while sitting on the couch, when a policemen came in and saw a TV remote control in the man's hand (no drugs were found in the apartment). Scary? It should be. Because this is your government-the U.S. government. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Kidnapping your kids and calling it child abuse is another...
These check points are being forced on the states by the federal government. If they want access to certian funds they have to use a % of the money for checkpoints. Then the dumbest part is they have to advertise on the radio or wherever when and where the checkpoints will be. Kind of defeats the purpose. You would think they have better things to do.
Cite an example...... Is this a joke? Nazi Germany. Who gets the booby prize you for asking or me for anwering? (I'll leave out about a hundred others...you know since you only asked for one...)
"For the next three hours all who passed were asked if they had been drinking as a LEO stuck his face close to the citizen, well within ones personal space. Several riders dropped their bikes as they waited in line on a banked curve. Temperatures soared into the low 90s as riders in full leathers awaited the assault on their freedom while simply trying to ride a US highway."
-TailOfTheDragon.com
ell now, THAT SUCKS! Now that I think back, I've been caught in 2 check points in the last 8 years. They were nothing like that. Very quick. I showed my drivers license and moved on. I was a little resentful at first, but after that I never gave it another thought. Of course, today, I'm trying to behave. I wasn't always like that. If I were caught in this one, I'm sure I would be fuming! What do ya do? Today I have a choice, though. I can stomp by feet in protest, rebel against societies injustices, carry bitterness and hatred in my heart (which will carry over in other areas of my life), carry signs down at town hall, go on forums and bitch about it till I'm blue in the face, get drunk and belligerent, punch a cop and go to jail, etc. etc., or I can admit my powerlessness over the situation, and let it go. The later is what saves my sanity. I don't agree with the check points, but for my own sake, I have found a better way to deal with it. I do pray that law enforcement learns something from this, cause they will never admit when they're wrong. Oh yeah, and I DO think it was over-kill now that I have a some hind sight.
It's gonna be a sad day for you when you find those you mocked were right..and the consequences for not listening are evident..but hey, your choice.
Agreed. What if Jesse Ventura is right?? I hope I won't be around for it.
"Wow, sure is a lot of police officers there! DUI checkpoint? Seems to me they might have been looking for someone(s) in particular."
"Holy crap that's a lot of LEO's."
"Yeah, a road with 300+ turns, just where a drunk is going to drive on his way home at 10 am.........as Bill Cosby was wont to say.......rrrrrrriiiiigggggghhhhhhhtttttt."
"They were checking for donuts....must have been a shortage....but without any MoM's driving the dragon, fat chance that they are going to confiscate any:donut1::donut1::donut1::biggrin5:"
"I'll bet ya that after people went through the check point headed up the dragon there was a whole lotta speeding going on.."
"I really want to open a drive through dunkin donuts on the NC side at the top of the Dragon. I would have made a killing that day. :thumbsup::ihih::ihih:"
"I wonder if they would get pissed off if we stoped and gave them coffee and donuts when we are running the Dragon next year? I mean like a piece offering and a (cough) thank you for keeping the road safe while we enjoy the Dragon at the "posted" speed limit. :biggrin5::aureola:"
"Why the heck would you want to stop in a turn on the Dragon??? :donut1:"
"I have a better idea... I am going to fabrication some sort of metal slide/chute that goes out the passenger window a bit from inside the cabin. I will put a bag that includes a hot coffee (sealed top) and a donut on the slide. And then you go vrooming through the turn so the "package" shoots off of the slide and into the awaiting arms of the police officer."
"There's a report out tonight that 24-years ago I was apprehended in Kennebunkport, Maine, for a DUI. That's an accurate story. I'm not proud of that. I oftentimes said that years ago I made some mistakes. I occasionally drank too much and I did on that night. I was pulled over. I admitted to the policeman that I had been drinking. I paid a fine. And I regret that it happened. But it did. I've learned my lesson."
—Governor George W. Bush, CNN Larry King Live, November 2, 2000
"If you mean whiskey, the devil's brew, the poison scourge, the bloody monster that defiles innocence, dethrones reason, destroys the home, creates misery and poverty, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean that evil drink that topples Christian men and women from the pinnacles of righteous and gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation, shame, despair, helplessness, and hopelessness, then, my friend, I am opposed to it with every fiber of my being. However, if by whiskey you mean the lubricant of conversation, the philosophic juice, the elixir of life, the liquid that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes; if you mean Christmas cheer, the stimulating sip that puts a little spring in the step of an elderly gentleman on a frosty morning; if you mean that drink that enables man to magnify his joy, and to forget life's great tragedies and heartbreaks and sorrow; if you mean that drink the sale of which pours into Texas treasuries untold millions of dollars each year, that provides tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitifully aged and infirm, to build the finest highways, hospitals, universities, and community colleges in this nation, then my friend, I am absolutely, unequivocally in favor of it. This is my position, and as always, I refuse to compromise on matters of principle."
-Rep. Armon M. Sweat, Jr. Texas House of Representatives, 1952
"Rocky Top you'll always be
Home sweet home to me
Good ole Rocky Top, Rocky Top, Tennessee
Rocky Top, Tennessee.
Once two strangers climbed old Rocky Top
Looking for a moonshine still
Strangers ain't come down from Rocky Top
Reckon they never will."
-University of Tennessee official fight song
"Don't get a DUI. When a cop pulls you over..... shoot him!" (crowd cheered wildly)
-Christopher Scum, The Dirty Works, Rebel Scum movie premier at Patrick Sullivans saloon in Knoxville Tennessee
