Hey,
I mentioned events in the news. It’s nuts, and wonderful all at the same time. We’ve got projects running in every direction, but if we tried to make it to every event, we’d never complete anything. Thankfully, the Bikernet Team is growing, so the old man can stay in the shop, while the young guns attend the RSD Grand Opening, the Illusion open house today, the Long Beach Grand Prix, Viva Las Vegas, the Michigan Freedom Party, or Bike Week in Daytona.
Rogue is our official Daytona contributor, and East Coast tech writer. He’s looking to install the Baker Bully primary, and a JIMS twin cam head cooler. Let’s hit the news, then I’ll run down what’s stacked on the plate for next week.
MAN RULES CONTINUED–1. Whenever possible, Please say whatever you have to say during commercials.
1. Christopher Columbus did NOT need directions and neither do we…
1. ALL men see in only 16 colors, like Windows default settings..
Peach, for example, is a fruit, not A color. Pumpkin is also a fruit. We have no idea what mauve is.
1. If we ask what is wrong and you say ‘nothing,’ We will act like nothing’s wrong. We know you are lying, but it is just not worth the hassle.
1. If you ask a question you don’t want an answer to, Expect an answer you don’t want to hear..
1. When we have to go somewhere, absolutely anything you wear is fine…REALLY.
1.. Don’t ask us what we’re thinking about unless you are prepared to discuss such topics as baseball or motor sports.
1. You have enough clothes.
1 .. You have too many shoes.
1. I am in shape. Round IS a shape!
1.. Thank you for reading this. Yes, I know, I have to sleep on the couch tonight.. But did you know men really don’t mind that? It’s like camping…
Pass this to as many men as you can – to give them a laugh…
Pass this to as many women as you can – to give them a bigger laugh, because its true!
–Marc
–from Rogue
AVON MOTORCYCLE TYRES ANNOUNCES CONSUMER REBATE PROGRAM FOR THE NEW 3D ULTRA APRIL 1 THROUGH JUNE 30, 2012–
STOW, OH – Avon Motorcycle Tyres North America (Avon Tyres) is proud to announce a new consumer rebate program for new Avon 3D Ultra tires. Beginning April 1 through June 30, 2012, simply purchase two qualifying 3D Ultra tires and receive a $50 rebate by mail. Select from 3D Ultra Sport, Supersport and Xtreme for high performance and ultra-high performance applications.
The program is simple. Purchase two 3D Ultra tires April 1 through June 30 and submit your invoice with a rebate form to Avon Tyres. The invoice must show that the purchase was made in a single transaction within the specified date range to be eligible. Avon will then issue a rebate in the form of an Avon Tyres MasterCard® Gift Card for $50. The MasterCard® Gift Card can be used virtually anywhere MasterCard® debit cards are accepted.
This rebate program is valid only in the U.S. and Canada (excluding Quebec), and certain terms and conditions apply. For more information, visit http://www.avonmoto.com.
NEW BIKERNET SERVICE–We can now send you daily reminders of new content on Bikernet. There’s no charge, just enter your e-mail address and go. You’ll receive one brief e-mail a day.
http://www.bikernet.com/pages/custom/feedburner.aspx
Plus, if you don’t like it in a month, you can always turn it off. Try it out and let us know how it works out.–Bandit
POLICE SEIZE HA BIKE AT CANADIAN SHOW– Harley taken from World of Wheels — Gang member agrees to leave Angels
Winnipeg police continued their assault on the Hells Angels by stripping another member of his gang status and seizing the jailed president’s Harley-Davidson motorcycle from the World of Wheels trade show.
The Free Press has uncovered details on both events, the fallout from last week’s Project Flatlined, which resulted in the arrests of 11 prominent Hells Angels members and associates.
Sources say members of the organized crime unit went to the Winnipeg Convention Centre Friday night and seized a souped-up motorcycle that was on display. The bike belongs to Dale Sweeney, the current head of the Manitoba Hells chapter who was arrested earlier in the day at his lavish home in the Waverley West development.
“Apparently there was quite a commotion there when they seized it from World of Wheels,” a source said.
Friends of Sweeney were with the Harley, which had the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club logo on the side of it, when it was seized. Police had seized two vehicles belonging to Sweeney during his arrest, and sources say they will now focus on his upscale home under the Criminal Property Forfeiture Act, which allows authorities to take possession of the proceeds of crime.
“We’ll take that (house) if and when he’s convicted,” said a justice source.
The next phase of the police blitz occurred in a Winnipeg courtroom on Monday afternoon. Carmine Puteri, 39, a member of the Hells Angels, agreed to step away from the gang in order to gain his release from custody.
Puteri was among those arrested last Friday but was not actually facing criminal charges. Instead, police and justice officials obtained a rarely used peace bond against him under Section 810 of the Criminal Code. In court documents, police state Puteri was likely to “commit a criminal offence for the benefit of a criminal organization.”
Puteri agreed this was the case and chose not to contest the court order, which is traditionally used by officials against high-risk sex offenders or convicted killers who have served every day of an existing sentence and are about to re-enter the community. A peace bond was used against notorious killer Karla Homolka.
Sources say this is one of the first times Manitoba justice officials have used the tool to fight organized crime. Police will monitor Puteri and he has agreed to 14 separate conditions, including a midnight curfew and an order to not possess any gang clothing or paraphernalia.
Puteri has also agreed to have no contact with any Hells Angels member or associate in the province — a list of people that ran three typed pages in court and includes more than 50 names. Any breaches of the conditions would result in a stand-alone criminal offence and would be grounds for immediate arrest.
Police have also obtained the same peace bond against Sweeney’s brother, Rod. He has not decided yet whether to fight the application or consent to it, and remains in custody.
Sweeney and the other eight accused who were arrested last week are facing a litany of charges, including trafficking, proceeds of crime, money laundering and participating in a criminal organization. All remain behind bars and further arrests are expected.
By: Mike McIntyre
Winnipeg Free Press
MICHIGAN SET FREE–
Fiz called to let me know that they repealed their helmet law yesterday!!! ABATE of Michigan struggled with this issue for over 30 years–congratulations!
–Tiffany Latimer
Office Administrator
Motorcycle Riders Foundation, Inc.
GOVERNOR SIGNS HELMET CHOICE LAW–
Michigan joins 30 other states to allow adult choice on helmet use, toughens standards.
LANSING, After 46 years, Michigan now joins 30 other states in amending the mandatory helmet law in favor of adult choice. The Michigan legislature overwhelmingly approved SB 291 with broad bipartisan support, and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed Public Act #98 (SB 0291) into law today. The new law modernizes Michigan’s outdated mandatory helmet law, which was a holdover from bygone days leaving Michigan, in the minority one of only 20 states left enforcing an empty federal mandate.
The proposal to update Michigan’s mandatory helmet law was introduced in the Senate by Senator Phil Pavlov (R) St. Clair.
“Every year, millions of dollars leave our state because of Michigan’s outdated mandatory helmet law,” Pavlov said. “This bipartisan plan will keep our dollars here, attract even more tourists to Michigan and help our state in these tough economic times.” Pavlov’s bill also strengthened standards for allowing choice by mandating more stringent provisions then other helmet-free states.
To ride helmet-free, motorcyclists must:
* Carry at least $20,000 in additional medical insurance.
* Be at least 21 years old.
* Have at least two years of riding experience or undergo special safety training.
“We believe that the key to motorcycle safety, accident reduction and injury prevention lies in rider education, car driver awareness and license endorsement,” said Jim Rhoades, Legislative Director for American Bikers Aiming Toward Education, or ABATE of Michigan. “We plan to continue providing certified motorcycle rider safety courses across the state at affordable rates so every rider can be educated before hitting the road.”
The law was written with input from ABATE, a motorcycle association dedicated to improving motorcycle safety and car driver awareness of motorcyclists on the roads. The new law gives Michigan the strictest requirements for riding helmet-free of any state that has modified mandatory helmet laws for adult choice (30 states). Allowing motorcyclists to ride helmet-free could also generate more than $1 billion in direct and indirect revenue, according to a recent Michigan Consultants study.
“The problem is, helmet laws have done nothing to improve safety or reduce fatalities or the cost of insurance,” said Vince Consiglio, President of ABATE of Michigan. “Motorcycle accidents are a very small percentage of accidents overall. Data from other states has proven that states that remove mandatory helmet laws do not see an increase in insurance premiums, and states that institute helmet laws do not see a corresponding decrease in insurance rates. It’s never happened. In addition, the leading insurance lobbyist was videotaped testifying before a senate committee last session that residents in Michigan will not see any rate increase as a result of the passage of this bill. This is yet another reason that we garnered such a large support base from the Michigan legislature”.
Consiglio also wanted to extend ABATE’s gratitude to “all of the legislative officials and Governor Rick Snyder who courageously supported freedom in the face of an onslaught of baseless and emotional arguments perpetuated by our opponents”.
The Michigan Licensed Beverage Association is a statewide trade association representing bars, restaurants, convenience stores and other class C license holders that also supported a change in the law. “Every year we watch our customers ride into neighboring states and very few motorcycles ride in because of this law. Our members near the Michigan borders are ecstatic!” said Scott Ellis, the Executive Director of the MLBA.
ABATE Michigan has partnered with public schools and private driving instructors to teach more than 75,000 new drivers about motorcycle awareness, using resources donated by ABATE members.
Since 1975, ABATE members have lobbied legislators to modify Michigan’s outdated mandatory helmet law, which was a barrier to motorcycle tourism. At the same time, the previous law did nothing to reduce motorcycle injuries and fatalities.
* 36.5 years of age
* Married
* College-educated
* Average income:
$35,000/yr
$57,000/yr for members of American Motorcyclists Association
$80,000/yr for Harley Davidson owners
* Most are insured to operate a vehicle and a motorcycle
* Are responsible law-abiding citizens
* Have passed motorcycle safety courses
* Have experience on the road
* Pay taxes, registration and operating fees
* Capable of making his/her decision about whether or not he/she should wear a helmet
*American Motorcyclist Association
— Jim Rhoades (734) 578-6144
Http://www.abateofmichigan.org/
and Rogue
Truly an engineering and ingenuity marvel.
The colder the beer, the better the grip!!!
–from Scooter Grubb
BIG SHIPS TO USE BIOFUELS– To Cut Emissions, Spill Risks–Eventually
By John Voelcker John Voelcker
John Voelcker John Voelcker
Senior Editor BIO
John is Senior Editor for High Gear Media.
Three years ago, we noted that one giant cargo ship emits as much as 50 million cars.
Now, shipping lines are starting to experiment with biofuels, which offer several advantages: They contain no sulfur or so-called aromatics–emissions of which will be globally limited starting in 2015–and if spilled in the ocean, they are biodegradable.
In an informative blog post by green industry analyst Pike Research, author MacKinnon Lawrence notes that the UN agency that regulates global shipping adopted rules last year that will reduce emissions of greenhouse gases by even those ships traveling on international waters.
Some individual nations already regulate such emissions within their coastal jurisdictions, which are less than 250 miles offshore and sometimes as little as 12 miles.
The culprit in all of this is so-called bunker fuel, which may be the dirtiest liquid fuel around. It’s brown or black, and frequently so thick or sludgy it barely flows–consider it the equivalent of burning liquid asphalt, and you wouldn’t be far off.
The cargo ships that use it produce up to 2,000 times the sulfur emissions that are allowed from the diesel fuel used in road vehicles. Compared to bunker fuel, conventional gasoline is practically filtered spring water.
Lawrence’s article identifies two promising tests now underway for international cargo ships:
* Maersk Line, one of the world’s largest shipping companies, is testing algae-based biofuels in anticipation of 10 percent of the world’s shipping fleets utilizing biofuels by 2030.
* Solazyme currently has a contract to supply 450,000 gallons of algal biofuels for U.S. Navy testing ahead of its plan to deploy its “Great Green Fleet” by 2016.
Given that the first marine pollution treaty was signed in 1973, it will have taken 40 years to begin reducing the environmental damage from ocean shipping.
And if Maersk’s prediction that 10 percent of shipping fleets will use biofuels by 2030 proves accurate, that’s still a massively slower reduction in emissions than in the auto industry–which cut outputs of carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), and nitrous oxides (NOx) by more than 90 percent from 1970 to 2010.
Greenhouse gases? Well, that’s another story–although Europe, Asia, and North America are all in the process of adopting far stricter standards for either carbon emission reduction or improvements in fuel efficiency, which accomplish the same goal.
Meanwhile, today, just 20 giant cargo ships can create as much of certain types of airborne emissions as the world’s total fleet of 1 billion vehicles.
Did you notice that first line. One ship emits as much as 50 million cars. What does this say about the EPA trying to attack motorcycles, just ’cause they can. There are only 5 million motorcycles in the US. Fix one ship and we could all ride free forever. Incredible.–Wilburn Roach
AMA LEGISLATIVE REPORT–HB0930, which we amended today, which would make it illegal to use FEDERAL Funds to fund “Motorcycle Only” checkpoints went through the House on 3rd reading with a vote of 107-0 and 2 voting present.
The link below is the bill. Click on Full Text, then click on House Amendment 002, that is the new bill.
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=0930&GAID=11&GA=97&DocTypeID=HB&LegID=56718&SessionID=84
To see the Roll Call (VOTE Record) click on the word VOTE.
This will take a lot of calls to get it through the Senate Committee so get your friends and relatives all lined up to make calls when I tell you the time is right.
AND now to the FEDERAL SIDE.
Congress Considering Transportation Programs that Affect Motorcyclists Take Action!
Write Your Representative Today
Currently, Congress is working on the next version of a national transportation bill. This program covers everything from highway safety, to congestion mitigation, and tolling projects.
The House of Representatives is considering its options, but the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) is seeking passage of H.R. 7, the “American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2012.”
The AMA supports H.R. 7, because it contains many critical measures to address motorcycle safety programs, motorcyclist rights, and motorized recreational access. Additionally, H.R. 7 begins the tough process of modernizing the national transportation program by eliminating some wasteful spending programs and streamlining the project delivery process.
Of the many important programs for motorcyclists in H.R. 7, the continuation of the Recreational Trails Program (RTP) is a notable distinction. The RTP is funded by the fuel used for off-highway vehicle recreation — by snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, off-highway motorcycles and off-highway light trucks. In some states, a motorized trail program would not exist without the RTP. It is very important this program continue.
Additionally, H.R. 7 would require state highway safety programs to include initiatives that prevent motorcycle crashes while limiting the establishment of mandatory universal helmet laws. Moreover, the bill would prohibit the U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary from providing federal grants to states and local governments for discriminatory motorcycle-only checkpoints.
Furthermore, under H.R. 7, motorcycles and motorcyclists would be included in research and development of new technologies, called intelligent transportation systems, which riders have typically been excluded from in the past.
H.R. 7 also begins to eliminate the delay on transportation project delivery by streamlining review and approval processes. Therefore, the country can begin adding new capacity, improving safety, and reducing congestion at a much faster rate. Additionally, states would no longer be burdened with the mandate to spend tax revenue on “enhancements” that drain resources from the highway trust fund.
The AMA strongly encourages you to write your Representative today and urge them to pass H.R. 7, the “American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2012.” A pre-written letter is provided for your convenience. You can access it by simply clicking the “Take Action” option.
This bill contains many programs of significant importance to motorcyclists, and we believe is the best path forward for transportation in this country at this time. Please write or call your Representative today. The switch board ph # is (202) 224-3121
NEW BIKERNET READER COMMENT–On the Naked ATK GT250 Tested Article
http://www.bikernet.com/pages/story_detail.aspx?id=10374
I have a gt250 from 2008. It’s the carbie model and I have had no problems with it. Many comments when riding in a crowd and no complaints either. The 60 MPG range makes it appealing and a 88 dollar price tag for insurance for the year is appealing as well.
–Alex
Elyria, OH
THE MIDNIGHT RIDER CHECKED IN– through his on-board helmet communication system and we deciphered some of the transmission…The endless tunnel of darkness that is Texas is totally mind-numbing. There is no escape, just keep moving forward fast.
The winds kick up and ghostly shadows dance across the white stripes. There are long stretches of empty highway and I push 110 mph in a pathetic attempt to get to the next patch of distant light. Its 3:00 a.m. in and my lights go out. All my lights go out; the bike is still running but the dash, the running lights, headlamp, taillights and accessory HID ( High Intensity Discharge) lights…out, dead, nothing. The demons of darkness now caress the hairs on my neck…
The line then went dead. We’re anticipating more from the Midnight Rider-any minute now. Hopefully he’s ok. Check out follow up reports on BikernetBaggers.com.
BIKERS FACE TERRORISM CHARGES THANKS TO NOISY EXHAUST– Mexico City, Mexico – Being linked to a loud noise in Mexico could lead to terrorism charges.
This is a country, after all, traumatized by drug violence.
That is why a crowd in northern Mexico was sent into panicked stampede when the exhaust pipes of two motorcycles backfired, sounding a lot like gunshots. Now the two motorcyclists are facing terrorism charges.
It was the second time in less than a year that people have been charged in Mexico under terrorism statutes for spooking the populace in areas of the country hit by drug violence. Officials say state criminal codes often lack lesser but more appropriate charges to handle situations involving acts that may be irresponsible but are hardly criminal.
The two motorcyclists, Juan Ramon Munguia and Enrique Trevino Rívera, were leaving their workplace Saturday evening at a store near the main square of the northern city of San Luis Potosi, where an Easter week festival was being held.
The two got on their bikes and fired them up, and that is when the confusion began.
“There are two versions: They (the motorcyclists) say that is just where they usually warm up their engines,” said San Luis Potosi state spokesman Juan Antonio Hernández. “But there are witnesses who say they purposely continued to rev their engines , even after people had started to panic.”
Because the backfiring of the engines sounded like the popping of gunshots, hundreds of people in the main square who were celebrating a Holy Week event that involves the burning of paper-mache figures representing villains started to stampede out of the square, seeking cover.
But the streets were nearly blocked by vendor stalls selling traditional Mexican food, causing the crowd to pile up and resulting in some people getting trampled.
That, not the motorcycle engines, was the real problem, according to the state Human Rights Commission, which said it had launched an investigation into the arrests…
–Fox News Latino
–from Rogue
JAILING AMERICANS FOR PROFIT– The Rise of the Prison Industrial Complex
“Mass incarceration on a scale almost unexampled in human history is a fundamental fact of our country today—perhaps the fundamental fact, as slavery was the fundamental fact of 1850. In truth, there are more black men in the grip of the criminal-justice system—in prison, on probation, or on parole—than were in slavery then. Over all, there are now more people under ‘correctional supervision’ in America—more than six million—than were in the Gulag Archipelago under Stalin at its height.”—Adam Gopnik, “The Caging of America”
In an age when freedom is fast becoming the exception rather than the rule, imprisoning Americans in private prisons run by mega-corporations has turned into a cash cow for big business. At one time, the American penal system operated under the idea that dangerous criminals needed to be put under lock and key in order to protect society. Today, as states attempt to save money by outsourcing prisons to private corporations, the flawed yet retributive American “system of justice” is being replaced by an even more flawed and insidious form of mass punishment based upon profit and expediency.
As author Adam Gopnik reports for the New Yorker:
[A] growing number of American prisons are now contracted out as for-profit businesses to for-profit companies. The companies are paid by the state, and their profit depends on spending as little as possible on the prisoners and the prisons. It’s hard to imagine any greater disconnect between public good and private profit: the interest of private prisons lies not in the obvious social good of having the minimum necessary number of inmates but in having as many as possible, housed as cheaply as possible.
Consider this: despite the fact that violent crime in America has been on the decline, the nation’s incarceration rate has tripled since 1980. Approximately 13 million people are introduced to American jails in any given year. Incredibly, more than six million people are under “correctional supervision” in America, meaning that one in fifty Americans are working their way through the prison system, either as inmates, or while on parole or probation. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the majority of those being held in federal prisons are convicted of drug offenses—namely, marijuana. Presently, one out of every 100 Americans is serving time behind bars.
Little wonder, then, that public prisons are overcrowded. Yet while providing security, housing, food, medical care, etc., for six million Americans is a hardship for cash-strapped states, to profit-hungry corporations such as Corrections Corp of America (CCA) and GEO Group, the leaders in the partnership corrections industry, it’s a $70 billion gold mine. Thus, with an eye toward increasing its bottom line, CCA has floated a proposal to prison officials in 48 states offering to buy and manage public prisons at a substantial cost savings to the states. In exchange, and here’s the kicker, the prisons would have to contain at least 1,000 beds and states would have agree to maintain a 90% occupancy rate in the privately run prisons for at least 20 years…
No matter what the politicians or corporate heads might say, prison privatization is neither fiscally responsible nor in keeping with principles of justice. It simply encourages incarceration for the sake of profits, while causing millions of Americans, most of them minor, nonviolent criminals, to be handed over to corporations for lengthy prison sentences which do nothing to protect society or prevent recidivism. This perverse notion of how prisons should be run, that they should be full at all times, and full of minor criminals, is evil.
–By John W. Whitehead
Rutherford Institute
–from Rogue
We’re rockin at the Bikernet/5-Ball Racing Team interplanetary headquarters located in the heart of beautiful downtown Wilmington, the industrial port with a clear view of the world peeping due west. Peep closely with a good pair of binoculars, just over the horizon you will see the outskirts of Russia on a clear day. Might have been, look to the North? Not sure. Where the hell’s Alaska? Where the Hell’s Murph?
RSD Grand Opening
Late Friday evening under the glow of a red neon sign in the bikernet shop, the battery tender was hummin while charging the heart of the record setting 120-inch Panhead Salt Shaker. Destination Saturday afternoon, RSD Grand opening.
We arrived at the grand opening stylishly late, just in time to watch the caters wrappin the their portable kitchen while the band loaded and peeled out. No tacos today.
Seems we no sooner fired the hot rods for the short ride around Long Beach and noticed the D&D exhaust pipe moving around at idle, more than normal, just under the Baker transmission end cover securely mounted with 2) 5/16 inch bolts? Whoops, the bolts were secure, the custom exhaust mount bracket was fatigued and broke next to a weld.
Chinese fire drill.
Off with the cracked bracket, cleaned the painted area, beveled the edges, prepped a fresh beveled gusset and the Bandit welded the broken pieces. The Bandit says he can weld anything– anything but the crack of dawn or a broken heart.
The watch dogs were watching has the 8-foot wrought iron security gate rolled open, standing at the ready to defend the fort. We hung a left bouncing over the railroad tracks, in the middle of dodging assorted pot holes strategically located for your riding pleasure. Hauled ass to the nearest fuel stop four easy gears down the street, topped off the sweethearts with high-test and hauled ass to the RSD party.
96 inch Twin Cam/ 124 inch Bonneville Raycer
Sunrise Saturday the 28th, northbound 101. Juke box playin the blues.
Shower, fresh socks, gas and haul ass North in two weeks. Sat. the 28th, destination Salem to retrieve a 100% Rick Tedder rolling chassis. A straight-as-an-arrow, ready for shakedown passes June 3 & 4 in Mojave at the Mile event after the men at Hardtailz pull a small rabbit out of the hat. Tuesday morning the first day of May the plan is to deliver a 100% roller to the Hardtailz shop.
While in San Jose, load the hot rod 96-inch Dyna and head for home. Should have about a month on the Dyna to ride and report before heading to the Mojave mile for shake down passes on the Bonneville 5-Ball racing Team Twin Cam Turbo.
124 inch Parts List
Randy Torgeson/Hyperformance, R&R Cycle,Aerocharger Series 66 Turbo, R&R Stage 5 heads, S&S Twin Cam Cases, S&S 4 5/8 Lower end, DTH Performance oil pump, 3-Stage, TP Pistons, S&S .640 gear drive cams, S&S cam support, Screamin Eagle lifters and pushrods, R&R Roller Rockers, R&R billet rocker shaft support, ET Performance Krank Vents, Pure Power Oil Filter, HPI Throttle body, Daytona Twin Tec closed loop computer, Sharp Eye Jim’s 5 speed, Fisher Harmonic Balancer, Rivera-Primo Pro clutch w/Lock up pressure plate, Tsubaki primary chain and more.
Stay tuned for further reports, the finish line or the starting line is getting closer. Depends on how you look at life and the starting line sounds good to me.
See ya on the salt.
Haul Ass!
Ride for your Life!
–Ray c wheeler
Performance Editor
V.P. Cantina Security
wheeler@bikernet.com
If, however, the aim of the War on Drugs was to create a dynamic and vigorous black market, and provide an ever-expanding variety of drugs of increasing purity at lower and lower prices while enriching organized crime, bikie gangs and corrupt police, then drug prohibition has been an overwhelming success.
Whose problem is this?
Very interesting, but not your problem? Think about that again. If you have sons and daughters, brothers or sisters or nephews and nieces, then this is your problem. If you own property, pay insurance on your property and have expensive alarms, then this is also your problem.
If you feel uncomfortable about Australian soldiers in Afghanistan being shot at with guns and bullets paid for from the lucrative proceeds of opium sales, then this is your problem. If the idea that your compatriots dying of AIDS or cancer cannot get some relief from medical cannabis offends you, then this is also your problem.
What drug prohibition has achieved is make a bad problem much worse at great expense. Three-quarters of the funding of measures against illicit drugs is allocated to law enforcement. That is, to customs, police, courts and prisons. About 17% is spent on efforts to reduce demand with 10% going to education campaigns and 7% to treatment. Only 1% is spent on harm reduction, such as needle syringe program.
The rest is spent treating medical complications and miscellaneous costs. This 75: 17: 1 division is always referred to by our politicians as “a balanced approach.”
We don’t have much of an idea about the return on investment for drug law enforcement. But a 1994 RAND Corporation study on cocaine estimated that the return for US citizens on a US$1 investment was 15 cents for eradicating coca plants in South America, 32 cents for interdicting supplies of refined cocaine between South and North America, 52 cents for US Customs and police but $7.46 for treatment of US citizens with severe cocaine problems.
The same study found that 93% of US government spending was allocated to the three loss-making interventions while 7% was allocated to the only profitable response – treatment.
Not sound business
A big part of the problem is that governments rain gold bars on things that don’t work well while feeding small change to health and social interventions that are really good investments.
Remember the last time you heard a talkback radio commentator tell you that methadone doesn’t work? Well, it gives a return of $7 for every $1 invested. Needle syringe program send the wrong message? Every dollar spent saves $27 overall, including $4 in health-care costs.
Where do we go from here?
Some people will no doubt announce that any liberalisation of our drug laws will followed by a flood of cheap drugs. Leaving aside the fact that this is what has happened under drug prohibition, the international experience of drug law liberalisation has not resulted in increased drug use.
Switzerland, for instance, defined drugs as primarily a health and social issue 20 years ago. Drug treatment was expanded, liberalised and better funded. Between 1990 and 2002, the estimated number of new heroin users in Zurich fell by 82%, along with reductions in new HIV infections among injecting drug users, drug overdose deaths, crime and quantity of heroin seized.
What matters even more than avoiding increased drug use is achieving a reduction in the number of drug-related deaths, the number of people with diseases associated with drugs, crime and corruption.
It’s time Australia had an honest debate about how to manage illicit drugs in the real world rather than pretend that we can create a drug-free world.
Written by Alex Wodak Director, Alcohol and Drug Service, St Vincent’s Hospital at St Vincent’s Hospital, Darlinghurst, Sydney, Australia.
Alex Wodak is a member of the board of Australia21. He took part in the January 31, 2012 meeting on which is report is based as well as participating in the writing of the report
THE GIRLS OF THE LONG BEACH GRAND PRIX–
It was sunny all day.
A little cold in the shade or breeze.
But I was warm in my long sleeve shirt most of the day.
There are five different classes of cars that race here on the weekend.
Main Event – IZOD Indycar Series – Indycar
Then firestone Indy lights – FIL
American Le Mans Series – ALMS
Perilli World Challenge – PWC
Toyota Pro/Celebrity – Pro/Celebrity
Formula D Drifting – Drifting is exibition only
These car photos are all the IZOD Indycars
I can take the Harley and park across the street from the race entrance.
They have the first block,usually yellow loading zone, reserved for motorcycles, free.
Parking lots get $25 for the day and they are not that close!!
–Art Hall
Magnificant Quick Throttle Magazine photographer
Bikernet International Editor
HERE IS THE SUNDAY DEAL FROM THE BIKERNET CLASSIFIEDS!– A 2006 Dyna Street Bob! Vance & Hines exhaust, Vance & Hines tuner and intake, Badlander seat, detachable sissy bar not shown, 10k on the clock. Very sharp bike $9200!
GO CHECK OUT THE BIKERNET CLASSIFIEDS, WHERE THE ADVENTURE IS JUST WAITING TO BEGIN! YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU WILL FIND!
–MIKE the STEALTH
http://bikernet.sprocketlist.com/FLSTF-Fat-Boy/2548053/3-bikes-05-Fatboy-06-Streetbob-05-sportster.html
LAST MICHIGAN HELMET TICKETS–Ron and the The Motorcycle Lawyer with No Helmet Tickets for a ride “around the block”…Auburn Hills…Giddings and Taylor Road!
$110.00….Issued on April 9th……Law repealed April 13, 2012.
Photograph taken after Ron filmed a commercial for Jason Waechter, The Motorcycle Lawyer.
–Gary Maurer
Kustoms Inc.
THE HAMSTER SHERIFF MAKES IT TO AUSTIN–The cars of Austin.
— SHERIFF MEDIA GROUP
SWEDEN
http://www.facebook.com/SHERIFFMEDIAGROUP
THE SOUND TESTING CONTROVERSY–
Not sure if this is some poor reporting or confusion on the issue. It is in the May 2012 magazine written by a BOLT member(not Pan). I told the guy I would check with you and let him know
–John
John,
Anyone even casually involved in the rights movement would know this is not accurate information. The MRF does not support the SAE Sound Test as a National Enforcement Standard. The first time this issue came up was at the Sound Advice Working Summit that I represented the MRF on. A motorcycle manufacturer recommended it and when he couldn’t convince the committee members to include this as a working group recommendation he gave his seatup to an employee of the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) so they could do some additional lobbying, they were equally unsuccessful.
The MRF was adamantly opposed to this as a national enforcement standard then and remains so today.
This test was developed by the Society of Automotive Engineers at the encouragement of the MIC. Upon the tests development and completion the AMA has in fact been supportive of it.
Last year we, the MRF, publicly chose not to support this and during our SMRO Legislative Agenda Strategy Session at MOTM, our SMRO’s agreed.
At the recent 2011 MOTM that Chubby represented ABATE of WI at here is exactly what was presented and voted on by the SMRO’s.
The vote to have the MRF promote adoption of the SAE Sound Test as a National Enforcement Standard was: 0% in favor, 50% Opposed, and 50% monitor; since it is not a federal proposal at this time. We will honor this vote as we have in years past.
The reason I made my opening comment is that this has been covered in a MRF press release, printed in our MRF Reports, sent to the Executive Officers of the SMRO’s, printed in several SMRO newsletters, and even handed out during are own ABATE of WI’s Officer Training.
And lastly, no one consulted the MRF prior to publishing the letter to the editor, neither the author or the editor.
Additional questions let me know,
Kirk “Hardtail” Willard
President
Motorcycle Riders Foundation, Inc.
Washington D.C.
BIKERNET UNIVERSITY ENGLISH DEPARTMENT TARDY STUDENT WEEKEND VOCABULARY LESSON–
palladium puh-LEY-dee-uhm, noun:
1. Anything believed to provide protection or safety; safeguard.
2. A statue of Athena, especially one on the citadel of Troy on which the safety of the city was supposed to depend.
3. A rare metallic element of the platinum group, silver-white, ductile and malleable, harder and fusing more readily than platinum; used chiefly as a catalyst and in dental and other alloys. Symbol: Pd; atomic weight: 106.4; atomic number: 46; specific gravity: 12 at 20°C.
Trial by jury is the palladium of our liberties.
— Mark Twain, Roughing It
So, representative institutions are the talismanic palladium of the nation, are they? The palladium of the classes that have them, I daresay.
— Charles Kingsley, Alton Locke: Novels, Poems and Letters of Charles Kingsley
Palladium is related to the Greek word pallas meaning “little maiden.” The sense of a protective talisman comes from the name of a statue of Athena that guarded the city of Troy.
INCREDIBLE THE PALLADIUM OF LIFE–is the Bikernet mantra: Stay busy, away from redheads, and out of trouble. So, Monday I will launch the next Sweeps build article and send it to Cycle Source. You can win this bike. Then we will read fiction, write another Cantina Soap episode, work on the next Bonneville techs on two fronts: The Bonne Belle and the 5-Ball Raycer.
Peter Linney is after me to feature a wild Sportster chopper out of the past, and I can’t wait to publish the next Mike Pullin, Stealth Twin Cam café racer custom. It’s nuts. I’m trying to relax, since I feel sorta caught up. On the other hand, I’m working with Joe at Motion Pro on some mighty helpful cable-ordering techs, then with Scott, the tech wizard, at BDL/GMA on some new product techs and hints when ordering hydraulic brake lines. I keep running into strange issues, and hopefully these tech will help out a lot of builders.
In the meantime maybe we will ride over to the Chowder Barge to listen to the Signal Hillbillies play on the swaying barge. They rocked the RSD party yesterday.
Ride Forever,
–Bandit
