FLEXIBLE SUNDAY POST for June 10, 2018

Hey,

I don’t know how you feel about facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Wayn, etc? I’m busy and they slow me down. I love what I do on Bikernet and constantly wish we could do more.

At some point I needed to face how much we could produce with the funds we make and the resources we have. Every year I stumble into similar questions and they change and alter as the year flows along. I’ll try to make a couple of points. First, about flexibility and second, about life and what’s truly important.

I had the privilege to interview Jeff Bluestein, the CEO of H-D at one time. One of his comments about his position called for being flexible and alert. He had to deal with all the elements of the company from the toilet paper to labor issues and new models. He had to be on his toes 24/7.

Second, what’s life really all about? It’s really centered around the biker’s code or the code of the west. Relax and have a great run. It’s simple, but we make shit complicated. Cyril always wanted to beat everyone, be exclusive, be right and now he’s no longer around. So, what the hell? Let’s hit the news.

THE RED CROSS REPORT, GIVE BLOOD–When Jacqueline needed heart surgery at eight years old, there was a shortage of type O negative blood. Her surgery had to be postponed – a nightmare for her family. Thankfully, people came through with blood donations that would help save her life. Today, Jacqueline is healthy and thriving. You can help make sure all patients have blood when they need it. If you are able to, please make an appointment in your area.

More Motorcycle and Scooter Riders On the Road on Monday, June 18th This Year–
The 27th annual worldwide Ride to Work Day is expected to be one of the largest-ever, according to Ride to Work, the non-profit organization that coordinates this annual event.

On Ride to Work Day a much higher number of America’s 8,000,000 cycles and scooters are ridden to work. Some estimates put the numbers of added riders at over 1,000,000. Across equal distances, commuting riders can reach their destinations more quickly—in up to 20% less time than those using automobiles in some situations—and motorcycles and scooters consume less resources per person per mile, and they take up less space on roads and in parking areas.

“Many people do not always appreciate the societally positive value of transportational riding, and some don’t know there are also a few hidden deleterious ramifications from having almost everyone default to private autos. Cars are wonderful machines, and we love them, but the reasons to ride, when one can, go beyond stuff like energy or carbon footprints” states Andy Goldfine, an event organizer.

This Day is about more than traffic congestion, motorcycles and economics. Winston Churchill famously said: “We shape our buildings; thereafter they shape us.” Other thought-leaders have presented or expressed the same idea in different ways. It applies to things beyond our homes and buildings. It’s about all technologies, including our mobility tools.

That’s why riding and the annual Ride To Work Day event is important. This Day is not narrowly about encouraging the wider adoption of transportational riding…it’s about increasing the understanding of—and tolerance for—those who choose this form of mobility, and about providing support and encouragement to those who like to ride in transportation-centric ways.

The Ride to Work website includes forum areas, merchandise, information, and free promotional support materials.

AMERICA’S LOBSTER BOOM TURNING TO DOOM—According to Doom predictor scientist.

Science writer and biologist Christopher White’s fifth book “The Last Lobster: Boom or Bust for Maine’s Greatest Fishery?” (St. Martins), out now, lays out an alarming scientific case for the expected bust.

The Gulf of Maine, home to 250 million lobsters, a place more densely populated with them than anywhere else in the world, is warming faster than 99.9 percent of the world’s oceans. At first the warmer waters created ideal conditions for lobsters, who have multiplied in the favorable environment.

But as the water continues to warm, all of the positives turn to negatives — and White expects lobsters to either hightail it to colder waters or die off.

“There is little promise that the current boom will last long. The world of the lobster is heating up,” writes White. “The consequence for Maine could be catastrophic.”—Susanna Calahan, NY Post

BUT WAIT– Global temperature continues to drop from El Nino induced high

https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/06/global-temperature-continues-to-drop-from-el-nino-induced-high/

From Dr. Roy Spencer: UAH Global Temperature Update for May, 2018: +0.18 deg. C The Version 6.0 global average lower tropospheric temperature (LT) anomaly for May, 2018 was +0.18 deg. C, down a little from the April value of +0.21 deg. C: Some regional LT departures from the 30-year (1981-2010) average for the last 17…

— gReader Pro
Climate Depot

BIKERNET BAD JOKE LIBRARY IS ALREADY OPEN–This morning, around 7:00 AM, I went for my stroll around the marina.

I noticed a man with a long blade knife running down the dock towards me, dressed in Islamic clothing who shouted “Allah be praised!” and “Death to all Infidels!” Suddenly he tripped and fell into the water.

He was struggling to stay afloat because of the weight of all the explosives he was carrying, and I knew that If he didn’t get help he would surely drown!

Being a responsible citizen, and abiding by the moral code that requires a person to get help to those in distress, I contacted the Police, the Coast Guard, Homeland Security and even the Fire Department.

It is now 11:00 AM, the terrorist has drowned, and none of the authorities have responded.

I’m starting to think I just wasted four stamps.

–Mr. Wonderful

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF INDIAN MOTORCYCLES–
We were not happy when Indian landed this massive order with the NYPD in the ‘30s. After this took place, they say that people went missin’ outta’ Harleys marketing department…

–Adreas Dudda

Help Support ATK’s Laura Battle with Cancer–Laura, a friend of 47 years and employee at ATK Motorcycles has Stage 4 Cancer.

If you are in a position to help us financially through her families go-fund me account, we would be grateful.

Click Here: https://www.gofundme.com/q3k7t-support-laura

Childhood friends and good employees are hard to come by and we need Laura’s smiley face back here at ATK.

Thanks so much

–Frank White
ATK Motorcycles

California Farmer Has Guns Confiscated and Faces Felony Charges After Trying to Register Rifle–California residents attempting to comply with the Golden State’s ever-increasing swamp of firearms laws and regulations should take warning. According to a report out of Bakersfield, a good faith effort to obey the state’s labyrinthine firearm rules will not spare a gun owner in technical violation of the law from the wrath of the California Department of Justice.

Back on May 17, local NBC affiliate KGET reported on the case of farmer Jeffrey Scott Kirschenmann. According to the news outlet, the trouble started back in April when Kirschenmann attempted to register a rifle he owned with the California DOJ.

In California, “assault weapons,” or commonly-owned semi-automatic firearms with features the California State Assembly finds distasteful, are subject to registration. Pursuant to SB 880 and AB 1135, the California DOJ is now accepting registration of firearms lawfully owned prior to January 1, 2017 that fit the state’s new, stricter, definition of an “assault weapon” signed into law in July 2016. The change in definition targets firearms equipped with a “bullet button,” which allows the user to efficiently remove a fixed magazine with the use of a tool. The registration period runs through June 30, 2018.

The KGET report explained that during his attempt to comply with state law, Kirschenmann submitted photos of “an illegally modified” AR-15 to the California DOJ. This prompted an investigation by the DOJ that culminated in a raid of Kirschenmann’s home. Once inside the property, investigators allegedly discovered several unregistered “assault weapons,” a pair of suppressors, and what California terms a “multiburst trigger activator.”

Kirschenmann was arraigned on May 21 and given $150,000 bail. The farmer faces nine felony counts of unlawful possession of an “assault weapon,” two counts of possessing a suppressor, and one charge of possessing a “multiburst trigger activator.” There is nothing in the report to indicate Kirschenmann violated any federal laws or that he has misused his firearms in any manner.

The California DOJ’s persecution of Kirschenmann, following what appears to have been an honest attempt to obtain assistance in complying with state law, will sow further mistrust between the state government and gun owners.

The climate of distrust is understandable. Becerra and his predecessor, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), have been at the forefront of demonizing gun owners. At Becerra’s 2017 confirmation hearing he told lawmakers that he considered his NRA F- rating “a badge of honor.” Back in February, Harris told the media that Americans can’t take pride in their country due to what she considers insufficient gun control laws.

Many gun owners are already reluctant to comply with registration laws, as such schemes are quite accurately viewed as a means to facilitate firearms confiscation. Moreover, Kirschenmann isn’t alone in his alleged failure to conform to Sacramento’s mandates. As history shows, when faced with California’s increasingly onerous and byzantine gun laws, many decent folks have unwittingly broken the law, ignored new restrictions, or opted for civil disobedience.

Understanding this, California’s gun control laws have worked precisely as intended in Kirschenmann’s case. California officials have utilized them to remove firearms from one more benign American citizen and in doing so have inched closer to their goal of total civilian disarmament.

SMART Triple Play for 2018 Softail Models–
The newest version of Custom Dynamics SMART Triple Play is now available!–With a plug and play installation, convert rear (turn only) turn signals to Run/Brake/Turn on 2018 Softail models (2018 Low Rider and Heritage Classic)!

Designed to work with incandescent bulbs or LEDs, the built-in program mode allows for the running light intensity of the turn signals to be adjusted to match the running light intensity of the center taillight. Includes 10 User Selectable Flash/Strobe Patterns and SMART Function where Strobe/Flashing will be disabled on Turn Signals if simultaneous braking and turning. Sealed, Weather Tight Case with 5 Year Warranty. $99.95

For more information call Custom Dynamics toll free at 1-800-382-1388, visit www.customdynamics.com, or contact your local Drag Specialties dealer.

AUSTRALIAN CLUB REPORT–Inside Melbourne’s outlaw motorcycle clubs

The changing landscape of Victoria’s outlaw biker scene has seen old leaders toppled and a new set of bosses ushered in … so writes Anthony Dowsley from the Herald newspaper.

But the new breed are not following the lead set by high profile retired Bandido member Toby Mitchell (above), who flaunts his’ flashy lifestyle’ on social media.

They are armed, dangerous and retreating back beneath the radar.

Fortified clubhouses are becoming less common. Clubs now opt for plain industrial warehouses unadorned with large logos.

Victoria has also shaken its tag of “Switzerland” — a safe haven from tough laws that were created to dismantle clubs.

It has been years since any of Australia’s five big clubs have ridden through Melbourne’s CBD ‘in a show of strength’ at the end of a national run.

A series of clubhouses — many of them raided by police over the past decade — have closed as the biker congregate more secretly.

The clubs are now booking properties through Airbnb — mostly with large garages to store their Harley-Davidsons — to hold club meetings.

Their traditional strongholds were, in some cases, deemed to be an expensive burden to maintain and an easy way for police to find where the riders were.

There are also indications members have finally retreated en masse from open social media.

Regardless, the “big five’’ clubs remain the same — the Comanchero, Hells Angels, Rebels, Bandidos and Mongols.

And there are other clubs such as the reunited Finks, old-school Coffin Cheaters, Bros, Gypsy Jokers and Iron Horsemen, that still command police attention.

Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton this week stated the number of outlaw bikers in Victoria hovered between 1200 and 1400 members.

That figure shows that despite the arrests and convictions of hundreds of club members and their associates, many of them jailed, biker ranks have not dwindled.

Comanchero MC

Main interests: Security, gyms, tattoo parlours, brothels, standover tactics, debt collection and drugs.

Prominent members: Mick Murray and Hasan Topal.

The Comanchero are regarded as the most powerful club in Australia, and the most problematic by law enforcement officials.

Victoria Police’s anti-biker Echo taskforce has a unit dedicated to them and at least half the club’s members and associates have been imprisoned in the five years that dominant figure Mick Murray (above) has been at the helm, commanding them from Melbourne’s southeast.

Murray, indeed, is currently in jail after telling a secret commission he would not answer their questions. He has learned the art of negotiation from the likes of Mick Gatto and former Victorian president Jay Malkoun.

Sources say the Comanchero are a criminal organisation rather than a fully-fledged motorcycle club.

They have legitimate and illicit money-earning activities, relying heavily on security, debt collection and illicit drug and gun trafficking.

During 2016, Murray — a multi-millionaire facing bankruptcy as the Australian Taxation Office pursued him for $3.72 million — was meeting a wide array of friends and associates.

Among them was controversial biochemist Stephen Dank, who had become synonymous with the Essendon drug supplement saga.

Months before the Sydney meeting, Dank’s face was injured when a drive-by shooter sprayed his house with bullets.

Despite the Comanchero being prime suspects over the incident, it remains unsolved.

Murray, since being sentenced to eight months’ jail in March, has handed the reins to an underling and former Chadwicks model in his absence.

Hasan Topal, 28, has gone from “blue steel” poses to being captured on CCTV in a Canberra strip club smashing a glass on his own head and punching on with other “Como bikies”.

Since Murray’s jailing, his former right-hand man, Robert Ale, known as the “Crybaby Comanchero” after weeping in court during a bail hearing, has been shot in a tattoo parlour.

Police suspect it was an inside job. A warning to keep his mouth shut.

Comanchero members and their associates remain key suspects in murders and attempted murders.

They include the fatal shooting of two people wrongly identified as Mongols members.

Rebels

Main interests: Construction, transport, tattoo parlours.

Prominent members: Dean Martin.

Dea Martin (above), the president of the Victorian Rebels, handed over leadership of the club in a “peaceful” changeover on April 14.

Martin, the brother of exiled former Rebel biker Shane Martin and uncle to star Richmond footballer Dustin, has been a long-term Rebels leader and is understood to have remained within their ranks.

The handing over of the president’s badge occurred at a Whittlesea clubhouse followed by a party.

The Rebels are considered a “stable club” and boast the most members in Australia.

The Herald Sun understands the top spot at the Rebels has been taken up by the cousin of Norm Meyer — a prominent Comanchero and union figure.

An attack on Comanchero boss Mick Murray by the Rebels in Darwin sparked violence, raging from 2016 into last year involving bashings, drive-by shootings and fire bombings. Peace talks attempted to be brokered by Victoria Police were refused.

Tensions have since simmered between the “Comos” and Rebels, mainly because a series of raids last year on Murray and his crew resulted in significant charges and remands.

Finks

Main interests: Tattoo parlours, bars, standover tactics and drugs.

Prominent members: National president Kosh Radford, enforcer Brent James (BJ) Reker.

The national president of the Finks moved to Victoria earlier this year from NSW, with the club looking to re-establish a foothold in the state.

Kosh Radford, aka Koshan Rashidi, appeared in Parramatta Local Court late last year agreeing to post a second $10,000 surety so he could move to Endeavour Hills.

Radford’s lawyer, Asem Taleb, told the court his client had been forced to go back to look for work in the construction industry in Victoria, having previously held jobs there in the past.

Radford was in court facing six charges including resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer after he allegedly set his dog on two male constables at his home in Sydney’s northwest last November.

Just a few days earlier, on November 8, Radford was barred from entering Bali and sent back home to Sydney after Indonesian Police received a tip-off from Australian intelligence sources.

The Finks hit the headlines last week when the Frankston home of enforcer Brent James (BJ) Reker was a target in a shooting.

Following initial suggestions the Hells Angels might have been involved, the Herald Sun understands police are moving away from the theory that another outlaw motorcycle club was involved in that incident.

Radford took control of the Finks motorcycle club following their 2013 merger with the Mongols.

Reker’s house was sprayed with bullets while his baby slept inside. It is not known who shot at the house, but Reker was allegedly attacked at a Frankston pub weeks before the shooting.

Mongols

Main interests: construction, tattoo parlours, standover tactics, drugs.

Prominent members: Mohammad Keshtiar, Shane Bowden.

In-house issues and the threat of Comanchero violence have plagued Mongol unity. The new club on the block after the 2013 national “patch over” of the Finks has hit some bumps.

Their former Victorian leader, Frank Dieni, was ambushed in a Sydney meeting in 2014 and subsequently left.

The new regime, led by figures such as Sergeant-at-Arms Shane Bowden — a former Olympic cycle hopeful — and Greg Keating, made their presence felt but a lack of discipline hurt the club.

Not even getting Toby Mitchell down to their Port Melbourne chapter for the odd party helped their cause.

Bowden has served a stint in prison over a 2015 violent aggravated burglary in South Yarra that he committed with a celebrity nutritionist, Aysen Unlu. It involved Bowden being dressed in camouflage gear and using night goggles.

An alternate leader of the club, Mohammad Keshtiar, was paroled last year but was almost immediately returned to jail amid fears he was a target for a ‘hit’.

He is believed to have driven a recruiting boom from behind prison walls before his release but his standing within the club is unclear. It is also speculated he pushed for a quota system for club members dealing ice.

It is suspected a bullet meant for him killed 26-year-old plasterer Zabi Ezedyar, who was walking to the front door of the Narre Warren house where he was living. The murder remains unsolved.

It was the second case of believed mistaken identity in which a man was shot dead.

The fatal shooting, three months earlier, in Keysborough of Mohammed “Mo” Yucel also remains unsolved. Mr Yucel emerged from a garage to a hail of bullets.

That is believed to be another Comanchero-ordered killing in which the gunman identified the wrong target.

Other significant figures have either been jailed or left the club.

Founding Melbourne Mongol member Lachlan Floyd, who was kicked out of the club in “bad standing” in 2015, has since been convicted of murder.

Hells Angels

Main interests: Heavy haulage industry, guns, standover tactics, drugs, bars and security.

Prominent members: Peter “Skitzo” Hewat.

One of Melbournes original outlaw motorcycle clubs still has clubhouses and bike “runs”.

But it is understood numbers in recent runs, including the national run at Lorne earlier this year, have been lower than usual.

Unlike other clubs, the world’s most infamous club refuses to have any dialogue with police.

There was also the loss of former founding member Chris “Ballbearing” Coelho, who rockers Midnight Oil referred to as “Mr Ballbearing”.

Coelho was retired, leaving the club he had spent his life serving after noticing a more vicious breed enter the club’s ranks. He died after flipping his car near the Eastern Freeway earlier this year.

The Angels, of late, have kept out of the headlines. They are no longer believed to be on the list of suspects of putting the sergeant-at-arms of the re-emerging Finks club in a Frankston hospital last month.

In Melbourne’s north, East County chapter’s most notorious member, Peter “Skitzo” Hewat, remains an ‘ominous’ player in the towing industry.

Sources tell the Herald Sun Hewat has acquired a new heavy-haulage tow truck — despite not owning a heavy-haulage licence — and intimidates rivals.

The Hells Angels’ links to a prominent Middle Eastern Melbourne crime family have now ceased. That partnership was evident at funerals and gatherings and detected by police in phone taps.

Bandidos

Main interests: Extortion, drugs, tattoo parlours, gyms.

Prominent members: Australasian president Jason Addison, previously Toby Mitchell.

The Bandidos earlier this decade made headlines for all the wrong reasons. Their most notorious member, Toby Mitchell, was shot twice in a matter of years.

The ambush attack on him in Melton by members of the Hells Angels led to some tit-for-tat attacks, but was quickly quashed by police.

Mitchell left the club about five years ago in “good standing” but is believed to have harboured some disillusion at the direction of the Bandidos.

Four years ago a young man named Michael Strike was brutally bashed and died, his body dumped outside a cemetery.

His crime was to annoy a club member’s dog, named Trouble, tied up outside the Brunswick clubhouse.

But the Bandidos have had other troubles, too.

Among the most recent was the drive-by shooting of one of their club in 2017.

In an attack that remains unsolved, a Bandido riding in a convoy became a victim of a drive-by shooting as he crossed the Bolte Bridge.

Other issues have caused tensions within the club, including the suicide of a member inside the Brunswick clubhouse.

But one thing the club has relied on is stability.

Veteran member Jason Addison, a stonemason from Echuca, has moved up in the ranks to be the club’s Australasian president. His sons have also joined him, the young Bandidos becoming nomads of the club.

[page break]

A TASTE OF THE TRAILBLAZERS NEWS SCHEDULED FOR NEXT THURSDAY– AMERICAN FLAT TRACK

The next scheduled races are the Oklahoma City Mile on Saturday, June 16th. It will be held at Remington Park. On Saturday, June 30th is the Lima Half-Mile at Lima Ohio. Saturday, July 7th is the New York Short Track in Weedsport.

Don’t forget to look for the representatives from ROOKIE CLASS OF 79 AND FRIENDS. This fan-based 501 © (3) non-profit charity plays a critical role in providing injured competitors, and their families with a helping hand. Ask them what you can do to help.

VENTURA SPEEDWAY

Saturday, June 16 is Flat Track, Speedway and Quads. Saturday, June 23 enjoy AMA Speedway. Racing at 5:30 pm www.venturaraceway.com

SCFTA – PERRIS

Next race is Saturday, June 9th. It is Round 4 of the SCFTA Championship Series. Practice at 3:30 and racing to follow. On Saturday, June 23rd there will be Practice from 4 – 9pm

WWW.SOCALOTMX.ORG

So Cal Old Timers will race at Milestone Vet on Sunday, June 24th.Beginners to Masters. Over 40 to join.

SANTA ROSA SHORT TRACK

Saturday, June 30th , Round 3 at the Chris Beck arena

LODI MOTORCYCLE CLUB

Saturday, June 16th the Lodi Motorcycle Club presents the ½ Mile at Stockton Dirt Track

Saturday, June 30th is the Danny Knight Memorial TT

www.lodicyclebowl.com (209) 368 7182 5801 Morse Road. Lodi

THE MILLENIALS ARE KILLING EVERYTHING

–from Wayfarer

GUN NUT ALERT–New Jersey: Gun Control Bills Pass Legislature, Now Heading to the Governor–Today, the New Jersey Senate passed a package of gun bills which had been previously adopted by the Assembly. Two of the bills had to be returned to the Assembly for concurrence, and that was quickly done. These bills were passed despite overwhelming opposition from New Jersey gun owners. Again, this legislation will have virtually no impact on public safety and do little more than punish law-abiding gun owners.

S.102 by Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D) which reduces the minimum magazine capacity restriction from 15 to 10 rounds. The 15-round limit has had no demonstrated effectiveness on improving public safety and it puts law-abiding gun owners at a definite disadvantage in self-defense situations. There is a reason law enforcement is exempted. Criminals do not follow magazine capacity restrictions. A weak grandfathering provision has been adopted whereby gun owners can keep their magazines if they are permanently blocked and the firearm is registered. The bill passed the Senate on a vote of 23 to 13.

S.160/A.1181 would allow for suspension of gun rights by unaccountable “health professionals.” This bill goes so far as to allow marriage counselors, social workers and nurses to cause suspension of your legal rights. The bill passed the Senate on a vote of 30 to 5.

S.2376/A.2758 codifies New Jersey’s “justifiable need” standard for the issuance of concealed carry permits. The bill is a striking blow to the basic fundamental right to self-defense outside the home. It creates a standard so onerous that nobody can meet it, hence the issuance of permits in New Jersey is close to non-existent. The bill passed the Senate on a vote of 24 to 13.

S.2374/A.2757 would require background checks on all firearm transfers. Again, this is redundant because all transactions in New Jersey require a background check. The private transfer of long guns requires an FID card and the issuance of that card requires fingerprinting, a background check and references, among other things. This bill does nothing except add another layer of bureaucracy and fees to an already cumbersome and duplicative process. The bill passed the Senate on a vote of 31 to 3.

S.2259/A.1217 creates extreme risk protection orders whereby firearms can be seized and constitutional rights suspended with little to no due process. The bill fails to penalize those who fabricate accusations, and it does nothing to improve public safety. The bill passed the Senate on a vote of 32 to 5.

Thank you to all the NRA members who contacted their legislators. We will continue to provide more details and analysis of these measures as some of them were amended. The bills still need to be signed by Gov. Phil Murphy, and some of these bills are almost guaranteed to result in litigation. Gov. Murphy is expected to sign all of the bills, but it’s important that you contact the Governor and voice your strong opposition. Silence will only invite more bad legislation. Again, please contact Governor Phil Murphy at 609-292-6000 and strongly urge him to veto all of the above gun control measures.

TRUE—TRACK – The Innovators In Stability
Press Release: Again True-Track has picked up where Milwaukee left off. Got a big motor, or even a stock M8 set up? Keep that Harley motor stable.

Rubber gives and the motor assembly moves when not stabilized. Mitigate the lateral movement with our patented stabilizer, which in turn will also prolong the wear and tear of the front and rear isolators. The True-Track system utilizes two rear isolators, two front isolators, and one link to hold the motor vertical.

Check out the full line of True-Track stabilizers for all H-D rubber mounted bikes from 1980 to 2018 .

PN 20-00-17 – $429.00 – produces zero vibration.

True-Track is the leader in stability!

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true-track.com

We are working with Ronnie from True Track on a tech about the new M-8 touring configuration and what to look out for, if you hop-up your new bagger.–Bandit

The BEST GUARDIAN of Your Rights? You–
This caution comes from a New Jersey member: We should warn NMA members that their auto insurance company lawyers work to protect the interests of the insurer. The insured is wise to considering contracting an attorney for protection from . . . his own insurer.

Most of us aren’t naïve enough to believe that our insurers put our interests over theirs. But this member backs up his warning with an experience that drives the point home. In his words:

Many years ago a damaged vehicle-one that didn’t look safe to be on the road-passed me on the right so close that our side mirrors contacted. The other driver’s mirror broke. Mine was unscratched. She demanded we wait and have a state trooper make an accident report. While waiting, several times she offered to settle on the spot not for a few hundred dollars as nuisance value but for thousands.

The trooper arrived, took our statements, noted no injuries or significant vehicle contact, wrote something up and told us we both could leave. I left and described the incident in a report to my insurance company and highlighted that this might be an instance of insurance fraud.

Unbeknownst to me, the other driver stayed behind and called local police, an ambulance and a tow truck. My insurance company found no record of the trooper or his accident report. The only information available was that I hit her car and left her injured at the scene, backed by some eyewitness statements about seeing her being carried to an ambulance.

I was found guilty of leaving the scene of an accident. “My” insurance company lawyer agreed to pay damages to the other driver rather than to pursue a claim of fraud. My insurance coverage was dropped and a hard and lasting lesson learned.

There are certain steps to take after being involved in an accident if you are physically able, particularly if you believe it may have been a staged accident with you as the targeted victim. Among them:

· If you have a camera — a smartphone will usually serve the purpose — take photos of the cars and people involved to document the damage and physical condition of the others involved. Also capture the images of bystanders.

· Get names, contact information, driver’s license numbers, and auto insurance details from all parties.

· Call the police yourself, be satisfied that you are dealing with legitimate law enforcement, and be certain to get a copy of the police report before leaving the scene.

· Stay until the (real) police release you.

· Don’t trust people who pop up on the scene almost immediately after the accident to recommend help from specific towing companies, doctors, attorneys, or car repair shops.

· Do not sign a blank claims form.

· Advise your insurance company immediately after the accident of the details and of any suspicions of a scam.

· Never admit fault at the accident scene.

Assume that if you are in public view, anything you say will be heard and repeated.

The immediate aftermath of an accident is a trying time. Consider keeping a checklist like the one above in the vehicle with you and use it. It may help you from being victimized a second time by your own insurance company.

ARLINGTON NATIONAL CEMETARY RUNNING OUT OF SPACE–Arlington National Cemetery is reaching out to the public for suggestions after Congress asked to find the means necessary to keep the burial site open — despite estimates it could run out of space in approximately 23 years.

Army National Military Cemeteries Executive Director Karen Durham-Aguilera testified before a House panel on March 8 and warned about the grim future of capacity at Arlington based on current eligibility requirements, according to a press release.

“Without changes to the current eligibility requirements and physical footprint, Arlington National Cemetery will not be a burial option for most who served in the Gulf War – or any conflict since – regardless of their contribution, achievements, or valor,” she said.

The cemetery, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., was established during the Civil War in 1864. It includes the Tomb of the Unknowns, honoring U.S. service members whose remains have not been identified.

A survey conducted in July found that many of the 28,000-plus people who participated felt that keeping the iconic cemetery “open well into the future is paramount,” according to Arlington’s website.

Many who responded said that if it came down to eligibility, the cemetery should be limited to “those killed in action, Medal of Honor and other high award recipients, former POWs, and those active duty service members who die on operational missions.”

Although the requirements to be buried at Arlington are “the most stringent” of all national cemeteries, Army officials have said that most veterans with “at least one day of active service other than training, and who have been honorably discharged, are eligible for above-ground inurnment at the cemetery.”

Based on the results of the initial survey, Arlington officials have issued a second survey asking the public to share their thoughts. It can be found on the cemetery’s website.

“Your opinion matters – not only to us, but to our military and civilian leaders as they face a difficult future for our hallowed national shrine,” Durham-Aguilera said.

Officials at Arlington continue to struggle with the land available and the growing rate at which burials are requested.

–By Paulina Dedaj
Fox News

BIKERNET UNIVERSITY ENGLISH DEPARTMENT WEEKEND TARDY STUDENT WORD OF THE DAY–
congeries

[kon-jeer-eez, kon-juh-reez]

noun

1. a collection of items or parts in one mass; assemblage; aggregation; heap: From the airplane the town resembled a congeries of tiny boxes.

QUOTES

… each bud has a leaf, which is its lungs, appropriated to it, and the bark of the tree is a congeries of the roots of these individual buds …

— Erasmus Darwin, “The Loves of Plants,” The Botanic Garden, 1791

ORIGIN

English congeries comes directly from the Latin noun congeries “collection, pile, heap,” a derivative of the verb congerere “to collect, amass.” Congeries is a singular noun in Latin as it has always been in English. In the mid-19th century a new singular arose in English, congery, a back formation from congeries. Congeries entered English in the 17th century.

A BLAST FROM THE PAST—In 2007 we rode out to the SmokeOut West with Jeremiah Soto and Glen Priddle from Australia.

http://www.bikernet.com/pages/2007_Smoke_Out_West_Run_With_Bikernet_Crew.aspx

Check out the story from Glen on Bikernet.–Bandit

Don’t miss the 19th SmokeOut this year in RockingOut, NC

EXCLUSIVE–Pruitt Fires Back At DC In Denver Interview, Touts Regulatory Reform In West

Calling his agency’s approach in the past “wrongheaded,” Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Scott Pruitt fired back at Washington, D.C., rejecting the false choice between air and water quality and a growing economy in an exclusive interview with Western Wire.

Pruitt also spoke before hundreds of conservative activists at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver Friday. The convention is hosted by Colorado Christian University.

“The past administration had an unapologetic declared war on a sector of our economy,” Pruitt said, including fossil fuels, and manufacturers but also farmers and ranchers. “That just to me is so wrongheaded.”

“We have done such a great job advancing air quality since the inception of the Clean Air Act while growing our GDP,” Pruitt said. “Our CO2 footprint fell 20 percent from 2000 to 2014 through innovation and technology, not government mandates.”

This week, the EPA rolled out a “500 Days of American Greatness” campaign, touting its successes over the first year and a half in withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, reducing regulations that could save Americans $1 billion, repealing the controversial Clean Power Plan and Waters of the United States rules, and ending “sue and settle” abuses.

“The American citizen in our economy and what we’ve done to advance these key issues, we’ve done it better than anybody in the world,” Pruitt said. “Our job is to tell the story. We shouldn’t pick winners and losers. We shouldn’t use regulatory power to engage in a weaponization of the agency.”

“We’re fixing that,” Pruitt added.

“Washington is about putting on jerseys. You’re either for the environment or against the environment. You’re for jobs or against jobs. The American people deserve better than that,” Pruitt said.

In addition to his speech, Pruitt spent Friday afternoon speaking with his Region 8 staff and state delegations.

“I spent some time at our Region 8 headquarters meeting with state delegations from all six states,” Pruitt said, in a conversation with Region 8 Administrator Doug Benevento. The bulk of the discussions focused on air and water quality, along with Superfund efforts across the West.

“It was very constructive,” Pruitt said.

EPA’s Region 8 covers Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

“What I love about it is I’ve put a lot of emphasis on cooperative federalism to ensure we are interfacing with the states and actually trying to advance environmental outcomes through better use of state implementation plans,” Pruitt said. He pointed to the previous administration’s emphasis on enforcing federal implementation plans.

“There’s been an awakening of states that are very excited about revisiting the commitment to cooperative federalism,” he said. “These meetings are very important.”

Working with the West rather than against it is a sea-change from the previous EPA leadership.

“I think that’s missed from a Washington, D.C. perspective,” Pruitt said, noting his bipartisan work with the Western Governors’ Association and Democratic governors like Steve Bullock of Montana and John Hickenlooper of Colorado.

“I was there onsite, recognizing the failure of the agency,” Pruitt said, referring to the Gold King Mine spill initiated by the EPA in 2015 in southwest Colorado. “[T]hey caused the spill in the Animas River and then walked away from responsibility to private property owners in Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah.”

Pruitt said that now, the Western Governors’ Association is a “key partner” with his agency.

On Superfund cleanups, Pruitt said that 2017 saw a three-fold increase in delisting, and even more this year. He addressed farmers and ranchers in the West by tackling the Waters of the United States rule, which designated dry river beds and other questionable areas as “waters” and therefore subject to EPA rulemaking.

EPA.gov

“We are actually hearing from stakeholders. They say, ‘WOTUS killed us, fix it,’” Pruitt said. “We ought to be talking to those that we regulate.”

“The citizens across this country care about water and air quality,” Pruitt said. “There are bad actors in the marketplace, and we should prosecute those bad actors. But we shouldn’t start from the presumption that all industry, farmers, ranchers, don’t care about the environment.”

“To me what we’re doing is less deregulation, and more regulatory reform. We’re getting rid of the deficient rules and providing answers consistent with our authority, recognizing the role of states and private property owners,” Pruitt said. “It’s a glorious time to be serving.”

Rulemaking and Reducing State Backlogs

Yesterday the agency announced it would explore cost-benefit reform when evaluating its regulations in and advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM), “soliciting public input on whether and how to change the way it considers costs and benefits in making regulatory decisions.”

“It’s just a night and day difference in the sense of how we approach these issues,” Pruitt said.

“While the Obama EPA estimated the social cost of carbon to be an average of $36 per ton of carbon dioxide emitted, this EPA calculated an average of $5 per ton,” the agency said in a statement Thursday.

The Wall Street Journal editorial board blasted the previous administration regulatory push that repeatedly underestimated costs of proposed regulatory action to push through a large slate of new rules.

“Barack Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency jammed through an average of 565 new rules each year during the Obama Presidency, imposing the highest regulatory costs of any agency. It pulled off this regulatory spree in part by gaming cost-benefit analysis to downplay the consequences of its major environmental rules,” the board wrote.

The EPA “gamed” the system, the WSJ argued, by introducing “social costs” and “social benefits” calculations into the deliberation. They called these interjections “scientifically imprecise” and “irrelevant” to the analysis of various regulations, like the Clean Power Plan or the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards.

Partnerships with the states, and governors in particular, has been a key focus in his time at the helm of the agency, he said. Instead of interagency interfacing with state departments of environmental quality and the EPA, Pruitt said, “go to the governors” and work directly with the states and not just regulators.

Green Fellows To Sue EPA

Pruitt said that following and enforcing the law, rather than creating new regulations that lacked legislative backing, was a key difference between his EPA administration and that of his predecessors.

“I’m very sanguine about our ability to defend what we do because we do something the previous administration didn’t, we actually do what the statute requires,” Pruitt said.

“It’s 5th grade civics. When you’re in the executive branch you enforce the law you don’t pitch hit for Congress,” Pruitt said.

According to Pruitt, the difficulties and pushback experienced by the previous administration on issues like the Clean Power Plan and Waters of the United States was self-inflicted.

“They literally made it up,” Pruitt said. “That’s not editorial comment, that’s what the courts have said.”

But pushing back against Pruitt’s efforts has created a cottage industry of deep-pocketed legal fellows under the guidance of a former deputy secretary and chief operations officer at the Interior Department under both the Clinton and Obama administrations, David Hayes.

In March, Hayes, Executive Director of the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center at New York University School of Law, spoke at a Denver climate conference, touting the new law fellowship he spearheads aimed at pushing climate initiatives and a commitment to the “goals of the Paris agreement,” and suing the current administration, through friendly state attorney general offices.

“Let me talk about state AGs . . . there is a tendency to think of state attorneys general as, ‘whoa, I don’t know if we’re ready to talk to them,’” Hayes said in March. “Those guys are the law enforcement folks.”

“When it comes to climate change and clean energy, they are enforcing the law in the way that I think all of us in this room want them to—at least the progressive AGs,” Hayes said.

Last summer, NYU’s School of Law launched the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center with Hayes at the helm. The center’s mission includes providing underwritten law fellows to state attorney general offices thanks to $6 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies, named after the billionaire and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Western Wire has reported on the fellowship, noting that New Mexico’s attorney general office was among the first seven states, and first in the West, to receive the fellows, alongside Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Washington, and Washington, D.C. The states are all members of the ‘Green 20’ group of attorneys general. So far, at least 14 fellows have been placed through the NYU fellowship program.

The “special assistant attorneys general” will “fight against regulatory rollbacks,” with particular attention paid to the EPA.

Pruitt was unapologetic.

“We start with the statute, and then emphasize process with stakeholders having a say,” Pruitt said, pointing to the Administrative Procedures Act.

“If we do those things right, and we do it in a timely manner, which the agency has never done, we’ll be fine,” Pruitt said.

Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee Looks West

Pruitt’s efforts to promote scientific transparency and geographical diversity include appointing Dr. Larry Wolk and Dr. Tony Cox, both from Colorado, to the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) last fall.

Wolk, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and Chief Medical Officer for the state of Colorado, joined Cox, President of Cox Associates and an expert specializing in quantitative risk analysis, on the CASAC committee.

Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, tapped Wolk to head CDPHE in 2013.

As part of the seven-member CASAC, established under the Clean Air Act amendments of 1977, Wolk and Cox provide advisory recommendations to Pruitt on air quality and National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), serving for three years.

Courting Controversy

“I knew coming in to this position, this has been a place with a worldview that is antithetical to everything we’ve been talking about,” Pruitt said, including regulatory reforms and a shift in agency priorities.

Pruitt described the agency’s mindset prior to his arrival as fixed in the false choice between the economy and the environment.

“It was about picking winners and losers. We can’t be about job growth and environmental stewardship,” Pruitt said, acknowledging his embattled position and frequent controversy. “With great change comes great opposition.”

Pruitt compared today’s “enhanced rhetoric”—referring to the acrimony and attacks—to that of the Reagan era.

“This is a transformative time, and we have an opportunity to get things right for decades to come,” Pruitt said.

President Trump offered praise Pruitt Friday, saying his EPA chief “is doing a great job within the walls of the EPA. I mean, we’re setting records.”

While Trump said Pruitt is “being attacked very viciously by the press,” he added that his top environmental regulator wasn’t “blameless.”

“He’s a man of courage and he’s a man of results. And he expects that from those who serve in the cabinet,” Pruitt said of his boss.

Earlier in the day, Pruitt told the Faith and Freedom Coalition’s annual Road To Majority conference that he believed the current administration’s efforts would have a lasting impact.

“There are certain times in history that when you’re living in them you recognize that what’s happening is going to impact generations into the future,” Pruitt said. “We must embrace, we must advance, we must make change.”

“Under President Trump and Administrator Pruitt’s leadership the EPA has gone from being an agency directed against Americans to agency working for Americans. As a member of the transition team, it’s exciting to see many of the policy action items being implement,” said Independence Institute Executive Vice President Amy Oliver Cooke, who was part of the Trump administration transition team for the agency. “The list of accomplishments from rolling back the controversial, costly Clean Power Plan to withdrawing from the Paris Climate Treaty is impressive. Administrator Pruitt has proven that the President’s philosophy—that we can responsibly develop our natural resources, be great stewards of our environment, and enjoy a thriving economy—can and does work…”

— by Michael Sandoval with Elena Connolly

WORDS FROM THE BASE OF THE MOUNTAIN—Spring flowers and autumn moon, Summer breeze and winter snow

When the mind is free from worries, It is the best season of all.

–Ming Ball

LET’S RIDE—To me Scott Pruitt get’s it. This is not a war between the environmentalists and the rest of us. It’s about Americans and freedom and the environment. It works to work together for balance.

I’m feeling an awaking coming. I worked in the Magazine industry for a long time. We busted our butts to deliver the best issue every month. It was fun, exciting and ultimately creative. But at the end of the deadline, the job was done. We could have a beer, smoke a joint and go for a ride.

I feel that way about so much in life. I set goals, get the job done to the best of my ability and the resources I can muster, but I like a solid conclusion. This seems to be the year of unfinished business. That doesn’t sit well with me, and I’m in the process of dealing with loose ends.

Like I’ve made a solid effort to fight for motorcycling and the guys who would ban us for no good reason. I’m getting close to wrapping this effort up and taking a break.

I’ve also got an infrastructure notion I would like to share with my local congresswoman. I’m hoping to handle it by the middle of July and walk away.

I need to get back to my screenplay effort and wrap that puppy this year. Lisa Palmer (best selling author) recommended a book about screenplay writing, “Save the Cat.” I’m going to dig into it shortly, maybe this afternoon.