Hey,
Valeria Thompson survived the crash of a lifetime at over 300 miles an hour in perhaps the most Aerodynamic motorcycles on the planet built by Denis Manning. Incredible.
I spoke to Dave Perewitz in Daytona. He is done with Bonneville due to increased regulations and the cost of hauling teams to the salt. “We’ve set 18 records,” Dave said. “We’re done.”
In Daytona, Carl Morrow said, “I’ve sent 104 records. I’m done.”
Where us older guys will start to back off and retire, new guys are coming on to the tracks everywhere. It’s exciting, watching the transformation.
Let’s hit the news. I need to think about what I’m doing next. It’s not sitting still, that’s for sure. I’m going to dive into my Splintered Road screenplay effort next week. Hang on.
CLIPS ON VALERIE THOMPSON’S CRASH— With a crash of I believe they said over 300 mph. Is that a registered speed or do you have to stay up through the traps? Just have an inquiring mind, I guess.
That was a wreck at 343 mph. The question still stands.
–Gearhead
Hey, that speed doesn’t stand, unless it’s backed up with another pass. That pass wasn’t enough to take the record back, so it was just a pass, but a pass over 300 mph is damn impressive and raised the bar for Women riders. –Bandit
THIS JUST IN FROM MUSINK 2018– Apparently, somebody featured this bike around 2016/ 2017— from Sacred Steel Scrap Metal, Los Angeles. Jason Wilson, builder, I believe. It’s an S&S Pan. This was shot at MusINK this past weekend.
–Markus Cuff
Officially Certified Bikernet Feature Photographer
Also a shooter for:
American Iron
Cycle Source
Easyriders
QUICK, OPEN THE BIKERNET BAD JOKE LIBRARY–Reilly went to trial for armed robbery. The jury foreman came out and announced, ‘Not guilty.’
‘That’s grand!’ shouted Reilly. ‘Does that mean I can keep the money?’
Paddy’s in jail. The Guard looks in his cell and sees him hanging by his feet.
“What the hell you doing?” he asks.
“Hanging myself”, Paddy replies.
“It should be around your neck” , says the Guard.
“I know”, says Paddy, “but I couldn’t breathe.”
–from Joe Smith
THIS JUST IN FROM A STAFFER–We love our women but this was just too crazy not to share.
Love of a good woman is one in a million chance like being struck by lightning. You are in pain if you survive or you die.
GIVE HER THE RIDE OF A LIFETIME.
–Ujjwal Dey?Most Magnificent Editor
Bikernet Trikes
74TH ANNUAL TRAILBLAZERS BANQUET SATURDAY, APRIL 7, 2018
We have given you lots of information these past few months, but if you need more, contact Judy at mctrailblazers01@gmail.com or (951) 780 1978 or (909) 226 6038 cell.
In the last few weeks we have added over 200 new members to the roster and email list. The newsletter comes out about twice a month, no schedule, just whenever there is time and news. If you don’t wish to receive it, please email or call the above numbers.
The Trailblazers began 74 years ago as a way for Board Track racers to keep in touch after that era died. It continued with Flat Track, Road Racing and Scrambles and has evolved to include all forms of racing on two wheels. We focus on Southern California, but all are welcome. Our only function is to hold a banquet once a year and put out a newsletter. We hope you enjoy them.
Carson Center 1 Civic Plaza Drive, Carson, CA 90745 #405 Fry/Carson Blvd
BANQUET SCHEDULE
Noon to 2pm Sign in and push in for Bike Show participants
3 pm Reception and Tom Cates Memorial Bike Show start at 3PM
5 pm The Banquet doors open earlier than usual to accommodate larger crowd.
6:30 Welcome
6:50 Wine Toast
7:00 Dinner
8:00 Program begins
10:00 Group photo, on stage, of all Hall of Fame recipients. Don’t forget to wear your medal
BIKE SHOW PARTICIPANTS
Sign-in is from Noon to 2pm. Before you take your treasure into the patio, pick up your banquet ticket before you push your bike in. We will have security, but please bring a chain and lock, drip pan if needed and information on your bike. Your entry can be pristine or just off the track.
PEOPLES CHOICE DON’T FORGET TO VOTE
There will be a ballot in your ticket envelope so you can vote for your favorite motorcycle. Pick up a pencil at the banquet registration table. The filled in ballots are to be deposited in container at the Easy-Up in the bike show. Please put your pencil in the container provided also. Please, get your ballots in before 5:00 PM. ONE VOTE ONLY
NJ Autonomous Vehicle Bills–
I forgot to mention that in the fatal accident involving the pedestrian in AZ, and in the non-fatal accident with the MC Officer, both AVs had human drivers on board and they still were unable to avoid the collisions.
So, unless and until AV manufacturers can demonstrate complete compliance with our suggested verbiage, autonomous vehicles should have no place on any public NJ street, highway or thoroughfare.
–Jim Parker
I have thoroughly read both versions (Assembly & Senate) of the NJ autonomous vehicle bill (A1853 & S2149). In neither bill version is there any mention that an AV must be able to identify motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians or animals and that the adaptive cruise control, automatic braking system and crash avoidance system must be able to perform accurate corrective actions to avoid striking the four things mentioned above.
Frank, in light of the recent AV death in AZ and since ASW Pamela Lampitt is the Prime Sponsor of A1853, and you have a meeting scheduled with her, please ask if she will amend the bill to add verbiage similar to the following suggested text…
“Manufacturers of autonomous vehicles (AV) must certify that adequate testing has been done to ensure that while being operated in autonomous mode, the vehicle can accurately identify motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians and animals and that the AV will take appropriate corrective action to avoid a collision with a motorcycle, bicycle, pedestrian or animal.”
You also have a meeting with ASW Patricia Jones. She is a co-sponsor of A1853. She won’t amend the bill since she is not the Prime Sponsor, but you can and should discuss our serious concerns after the motorcycle officer in Phoenix was struck by an AV just a few days prior to the fatal collision with a pedestrian in Tempe, AZ by another AV.
— Jim
DID YOU KNOW ABOUT THE Hamster Highway Clean Up May 19th?–
Our Annual Hamster Highway Clean Up is Saturday May 19th. As you know we pick up trash along 2 miles of Interstate 90 just East of Spearfish to the Deadwood Exit.
This is our 10th year. We with meet for Lunch Saturday May 19th at Lucky 13( Holiday Inn) at 12 noon. After lunch we’ll cleanup I-90 (only takes about 2 hours). Then at 6:00 pm we’ll have Dinner at Guadalajara’s Restaurant (spouses or friends included).
We always have a good time and even get our picture in the local newspaper. RSVP to Ray Spellman 605-645-2566 or Paul Johnson 517-881-5045 ( if you can help us).
–Ray Spellman
BRAND New Bikernet Reader Comment!–
COLD SEASON BIKERNET WEEKLY NEWS for March 22, 2018
http://www.bikernet.com/pages/story_detail.aspx?id=13600
There is nothing weak about a Milwaukee 8 engine!
–Stealth
mikethestelth@hotmail.com
Charlotte, NC
I like to hear that. I would like to get my hands on one.—Bandit
BIKERNET UNIVERSITY ENGLISH DEPARTMENT OVER-WORKED STUDENTS LEAGUE WORD OF THE DAY–
oriflamme
[awr-uh-flam, or-]
noun
1.
any flag, banner, or standard, especially one that serves as a rallying point or symbol.
2.
the red banner of St. Denis, near Paris, carried before the early kings of France as a military ensign.
QUOTES
I was so afraid you might think we ought to sort of wave the oriflamme of our unfettered love.
ORIGIN
Originally an oriflamme was the banner or ensign that the French kings received before going into battle from the abbot of Saint-Denis, the site of a Benedictine abbey founded c626 in a city of the same name, located northeast of Paris, and named after Saint Denis, a martyr of the 3rd century who is venerated as a patron of the French people. Oriflamme means “golden flame” in Old French, from Latin aurea flamma “golden flame,” referring to the golden flames on the red background of the banner. Oriflamme entered English in the 15th century.
After six successful yearly events at Kenny Roberts’ ranch in Modesto, California, the True American Heroes Weekend–a fundraising event that benefits “Welcome Home Heroes” and the Cpl. Michael D. Anderson Jr. Memorial Foundation–moves to the Quail Lodge & Golf Club in Carmel, California, for 2018. The Seventh Annual True American Heroes Weekend will be held in conjunction with The Quail Motorcycle Gathering on the weekend of May 5-6, 2018.
Sponsors for the Seventh Annual True American Heroes Weekend are Cycle Gear, Dunlop Motorcycle Tires, Motion Pro, Saddlemen Motorcycle Seats and Components, PJ1 Brands, and Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A.
True American Heroes Benefit Dinner
The centerpiece of the Seventh Annual True American Heroes Weekend is the Benefit Dinner, which will be held on Saturday night, May 5, beginning at 6 PM at Quail Lodge & Golf Club. The gourmet meal will be prepared by the Quail Lodge & Golf Club’s Executive Chef Brian Kearns and his expert staff.
Joining three-time Motorcycle Grand Prix World Champion and 2017 Quail “Legend of the Sport” Kenny Roberts as Special Guests at the Benefit Dinner will be four-time Motorcycle Grand Prix World Champion Eddie Lawson, Motorcycle Grand Prix World Champion Kenny Roberts Junior, four-time AMA National Champion Bubba Shobert, AMA Grand National Champion Mert Lawwill, 2013 Pikes Peak Champion Carlin Dunne, and former AMA Superbike standout Thad Wolff.
Seating for the True American Heroes Dinner is very limited, and tickets are $400 per person, $600 per couple, or $3,000 for a table of 10 people. To attend, call Michael Utt at 209-765-9317 or send an email to Admin@KennyRoberts.com
True American Heroes Benefit Auction
Immediately following the True American Heroes Dinner on Saturday night, a live auction will be held to benefit Welcome Home Heroes. The showcase item at the Benefit Auction is a 2018 Yamaha XSR700 that was donated by Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A., and customized by Kenny Roberts and his expert crew, with assistance from renowned bike builder Jeff Palheghyi. The XSR700 has been customized to closely resemble Kenny’s famous TZ750 flat-tracker, the machine on which he famously won the 1975 Indy Mile.
“I may have once said about that TZ750 Miler that ‘they don’t pay me enough to ride that thing’ but this Yamaha XSR700 that my team and I put together is a bike that I’d want to ride again and again,” Roberts said. “And, I’m sure whoever bids the highest for it at the Benefit Auction will feel the same way about the bike as me.”
Along with the one-of-a kind, KR-customized Yamaha XSR700 up for bids, the Auction will also include Team Roberts memorabilia, other signed racing-related items, bronze statues, paintings, and other motorsports merchandise.
14th Annual Cpl. Michael D. Anderson, Jr. May Day Memorial Ride
As a special follow-up to the True American Heroes Dinner, the 14th Annual Cpl. Michael D. Anderson, Jr. May Day Memorial Ride will be held the next day on Sunday, May 6. The Ride will begin in the parking lot of the Quail Lodge & Golf Club.
Kickstands go up at 8 AM, and Kenny Roberts, Eddie Lawson, Kenny Roberts Junior, Bubba Shobert, Mert Lawwill, Carlin Dunne, and Thad Wolff will lead the Ride through and around the picturesque Monterey Peninsula where it will conclude at Moto Talbott Motorcycle Museum in Carmel Valley. Lunch will be provided at the Museum, and there will be a special Salute To Peacemakers, Peacekeepers and Protectors.
Admission to the 14th Annual Cpl. Michael D. Anderson, Jr. May Day Memorial Ride is included with your ticket to the True American Heroes Dinner, or $50 if you only want to participate in the Ride. Hundreds of Marines, soldiers, sailors, and airmen are expected to attend. To join the Ride, call Michael Utt at 209-765-9317 or send an email to Admin@KennyRoberts.com
About Welcome Home Heroes
Welcome Home Heroes is a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation organized to provide assistance to local Central California veterans of the U.S. military in their transition from active duty to private life. Last year, the True American Heroes Dinner and Cpl. Michael D. Anderson, Jr. Memorial Ride raised more than $130,000. For more information, visit TrueAmericanHero.org/ or WelcomeHomeHeroesFoundation.org
QUICK, New Bikernet Reader Comment!–Greene County Choppers For 2006
http://www.bikernet.com/pages/story_detail.aspx?id=1583
I have a Greene County Chopper and I love this bike. It looks just like the Berserker that is pictured here.
I would love to be able to talk to one of the guys there to get some information on it. Its a fast fun awesome bike.
If anyone could put me in contact with them please let me know. Be cool to know if it is the bike pictured above.
–Anthony McMullen
anthonymcmullen24@gmail.com
Marshalltown, IA
We will try to find out for you. That’s a Paughco gas tank.–Bandit
UNITED STATES FEDERAL COURT RULES FEMALES ARE FREE TO DISPLAY THEIR BREASTS IN PUBLIC–This has been ruled because there is no difference when it comes to male and female breasts. This ruling is something that will anger some and empower others.
In this modern day and age, it has been a battle, to say the least when it comes to whether a person should be granted the right to be nude in public or not.
Of course, this questions morals and ethics and is considered ‘dirty’ and profane by most. When you look at places like Europe there are select places a person could go and be in the nude without being judged and in other places like say Africa a person would (mostly women) be punished for going anywhere in their birthday suit.
Some places here in the United States have their own laws regarding being nude and even on how people should cover themselves in public.
As I am sure you have noticed there has been a rise from activists in recent times pushing for these laws to be done away with. The issue of sex and the body here in the United States is one that will not die off so easily.
Have you ever heard of the activist group Free the Nipple? They have staged many protests throughout different places, gathering topless and such. They believe as many others do that female breasts should not be sexualized.
This specific case was brought about because of a law that the Municipality of Fort Collins in the state of Colorado passed back in 2015. It was a law stating that unless a woman was breastfeeding or under the age of nine she was not allowed to be topless in public. This was discrimination at it’s finest. Their reasoning was that it would be seen as a distraction and disrupt order among the community. How pathetic is that?
This law was challenged in court not long after in 2016 by the group mentioned above Free the Nipple. They demanded an injunction on the law and stated how discriminatory and restrictive the law was against women in the city. The only way to make this law fair was to ban both men and women from showing their breasts or eliminating the law altogether. The city officials countered this by trying to say that male and female breasts were different and should be treated differently.
Of course, when everything was said and done and all the facts of the case had been presented before the court District Judge R. Brooke Jackson granted an injunction on the ordinance No. 134 on the grounds that the law is discriminatory against women and that it also sexualizes female breasts. This is a huge win for those who follow the Free the Nipple movement. The court stated that the main difference between male and female breasts is merely the ability to breastfeed. This is not significant enough to gain different treatment from the government.
Jackson wrote:
“I find that the ordinance discriminates against women based on the generalized notion that, regardless of a woman’s intent, the exposure of her breasts in public (or even in her private home if viewable by the public) is necessarily a sexualized act. Thus, it perpetuates a stereotype ingrained in our society that female breasts are primarily objects of sexual desire whereas male breasts are not,”
While this is not quite over yet, Jackson believes that this ordinance violated the Equal Protection Clause and that Fort Collins has discriminated against women. It appears the city is going to be reluctant when it comes to giving up on this case so we will have to wait and see just what happens in the times to come. What do you think about all of this? Do you think the nipple should be freed?
–Awareness act.com
[page break]
VETERAN NEWS–A deal collapsed Wednesday to include multiple Department of Veterans Affairs reforms in a spending bill that Congress formulated to prevent a government shutdown.
Earlier this week, the bill was set to contain a measure to overhaul the VA Choice program, which veterans use to access private-sector medical care. A deal reached between key House and Senate lawmakers on VA oversight also included an expansion of benefits for veteran caregivers, as well as a plan to initiate a systematic review of VA infrastructure, with the intention of disposing of aging and underused facilities nationwide.
When Congress unveiled its $1.3 trillion, 2,232-page bill Wednesday evening, the VA reforms had been omitted.
Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., and Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., leaders on the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, predicted earlier Wednesday that the reforms would not be included in the final version of the spending bill.
Tiffany Haverly, a spokeswoman for Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., the chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said Roe’s team worked to push for the VA reforms up until the bill was released.
House Democrats were opposed to the deal.
Griffin Anderson, a spokesman for Democrats on the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said they were against a measure to expand caregiver benefits because it didn’t provide a clear way to fund those changes.
Benefits such as monthly stipends, respite care and counseling are now only available to caregivers of veterans injured after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which veterans and advocates say creates an unfair discrepancy. Changes to eligibility have been stalled for years in Congress because of the high cost of expanding benefits to more families.
For Democrats, expanding the benefits is a top priority, but not without funding, Anderson said.
“Yes the program would be authorized, but there would not be any money to fund this expansion,” he wrote in an email.
Democrats also worried a measure to create an asset-review commission tasked with making decisions on VA facilities would severely limit Congress’ authority to oversee VA infrastructure. They argued the measure didn’t include funding to pay for infrastructure improvements.
Arguably the most pressing measure — and most debated — is the proposed change to the Choice program.
House Democrats believe the Choice overhaul included in the deal isn’t enough of a revamp from the current program, Anderson said.
The Choice program was created in 2014 in response to the VA wait-time scandal to ease demand on VA services by sending veterans into the private sector.
Negotiations of potential changes to the program have created disagreements and delays in Congress and highlighted divisions between VA leadership and White House insiders. The option of more choices in health care for veterans was a promise that President Donald Trump offered during his election campaign. The crux of the dispute is how far veterans’ health care should be pushed into the private sector.
Everyone involved in negotiations seems to agree the next iteration of the program should do away with the rules that allow veterans to go into the private sector only when they live more than 40 miles driving distance from a VA facility or have to wait longer than 30 days for an appointment.
But House Democrats think the Senate’s proposal — the one intended for inclusion in the spending bill — “makes virtually zero changes to eligibility from the current, arbitrary 30-day, 40 mile rule,” Anderson said.
Roe wrote a letter Tuesday to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., urging her to support the VA reforms.
The measures also had the backing of eight large veterans organizations, all of which signed onto a letter to congressional leaders Monday encouraging the deal. They described the moment as a “historic opportunity” to pass multiple VA reforms at once.
On Wednesday afternoon, when it appeared the deal was falling apart, Carlos Fuentes, legislative director for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said his organization was disappointed the VA reforms wouldn’t make the cut. The possibility of delaying the measures until summer or fall would be “unacceptable,” he added.
The Choice program was created in 2014 in response to the VA wait-time scandal to ease demand on VA services by sending veterans into the private sector.
Negotiations of potential changes to the program have created disagreements and delays in Congress and highlighted divisions between VA leadership and White House insiders. The option of more choices in health care for veterans was a promise that President Donald Trump offered during his election campaign. The crux of the dispute is how far veterans’ health care should be pushed into the private sector.
Everyone involved in negotiations seems to agree the next iteration of the program should do away with the rules that allow veterans to go into the private sector only when they live more than 40 miles driving distance from a VA facility or have to wait longer than 30 days for an appointment.
But House Democrats think the Senate’s proposal — the one intended for inclusion in the spending bill — “makes virtually zero changes to eligibility from the current, arbitrary 30-day, 40 mile rule,” Anderson said.
Roe wrote a letter Tuesday to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., urging her to support the VA reforms.
The measures also had the backing of eight large veterans organizations, all of which signed onto a letter to congressional leaders Monday encouraging the deal. They described the moment as a “historic opportunity” to pass multiple VA reforms at once.
On Wednesday afternoon, when it appeared the deal was falling apart, Carlos Fuentes, legislative director for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, said his organization was disappointed the VA reforms wouldn’t make the cut. The possibility of delaying the measures until summer or fall would be “unacceptable,” he added.
NEWS FROM TEXAS–108 today & at 468 on the 500 oil change. Had to decorate the battery since the covers don’t fit it. Still want to do the battery in a battery conversion.
–RFR
EPA UPDATE–We need to stay aggressive against the EPA and also make sure motorcycles are included–Rogue
The EPA has concluded that another Obama Climate Reg was just too aggressive for its own good. If you drive a car, you should be grateful that this one is going to get recalled, otherwise, you would probably be driving a vehicle that had a manual pedal power assist. The only way to get the fuel mileage needed by 2025 would be for you to get out and push it uphill, so to speak. Here is how you are dodging another bullet thanks to President Trump.
As Written and Reported By Michael Bastach for the Daily Caller:
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will revise Obama-era greenhouse gas emissions regulations on cars and light duty trucks, deeming them too aggressive for automakers to meet by 2025.
EPA has a draft decision on revising fuel efficiency regulations, two people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. A third source familiar with the matter confirmed this to The Daily Caller News Foundation.
EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt began reviewing the 2012 fuel efficiency regulation in 2017, which required the U.S. car fleet to get 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025. EPA finalized the rule in conjunction with the Transportation Department as part of the Obama administration’s climate agenda.
Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards were first put in place in the 1970s as a result of the Arab oil embargo. Though initially put in to save energy, the Obama administration turned them into another way to fight global warming.
The Obama EPA argued their standards would cut 540 million metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions and cut oil use by 1.2 billion barrels. The previous administration said the standards would help meet Paris climate accord goals and save consumers
–from Rogue
THE BUZZZZZ RAG BUZZ–Buzz Walneck is happy to bring you yet another FREE edition of the Buzzzzz Rag. Bigger and better than EVER!
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE COPY
That’s the good news…
The bad news is that this is the LAST free issue we’re sending out. The bills still have to be paid, you know.
Well, actually, there is some more good news. There’s no reason why you can’t keep getting the Buzzzzz Rag each month, with it’s fantastic full color ads from across the country, the vintage motorcycle road tests and reviews from your favorite old school motorcycle magazines, and one of the largest listings of motorcycle events in the country.
A one year subscription, available online from anywhere in the world, is just $1 per month. That’s a $12 annual subscription.
And right now, Buzz is throwing in a FREE photo ad for all subscribers. That’s usually a $25 charge – so post one ad and you’ve recouped the cost of two years of the Buzzzzz Rag.
Get your credit card out and head over to the Buzzzzz Rag website — just click here to subscribe.
Or got to http://BuzzzzzRag.com and click the SUBSCRIBE button.
Spring is coming! See you on the road!
Buzz & Pixie Walneck
THIS JUST IN FROM THE DEVIL IN HOUSTON–Just thought I’d send a few shots of my latest paintwork. Not bad for a welder, if I do say so myself, haha!
This one is deep, four layers of flames on the tank (brilliant black, red pearl, white ice pearl and a touch of metallic gray). It’s lotsa apple-candy, a touch of pearl and topped off with some high build clear. . . Plus serious rubbing in between coats, bit of a pain in the ass but it was for one hell of a good guy (and a war veteran) so it’s was worth every minute
–Kent Weeks
Lucky Devil Metal Works
Houston, Texas
ANOTHER PUBLICATION DOWN–Army prints its last Morning Calm newspaper in South Korea.
The final edition of the Morning Calm, the last surviving Army newspaper in South Korea, ran off the press Wednesday evening.
A peninsula-wide institution, the biweekly Morning Calm detailed the lives of soldiers from Busan in the south to Camp Casey near the Demilitarized Zone.
It went the same way as many struggling newspapers in a wired world of instant shares and likes when Eighth Army commander Lt. Gen. Michael Bills declined to renew its contract this month.
Closing the paper will give public affairs staff more time to focus on local news and communicate with communities online, Camp Humphreys spokesman Bob McElroy said.
“They all felt that the time they devoted to the paper would be better used to focus on their communities rather than producing articles and photos that were outdated by the time the paper came out every two weeks,” he said.
The newspaper, financed with advertising sold by its commercial publisher, didn’t cost the Army anything but, McElroy said, its production was time consuming. His shop alone spent 50 hours on each publication. That time will be better spent on digital apps and social media, he said.
The Morning Calm was the last of a long line of newspapers that provided command-approved news on the peninsula since before the Korean War.
When it launched in 2002, it absorbed older titles such as the Yongsan Garrison’s Seoul Word and the Southern Star in Daegu, sparing only the 2nd Infantry Division’s Indianhead, which became a monthly magazine in 2012.
The Morning Calm was the brainchild of Dennis Bohannon,” said John Nowell, who worked at the newspaper from 2002 to 2007. Bohannon, a public affairs officer, founded the Southern Star and then pushed for the country-wide newspaper, Nowell said.
“It was a challenge in that we would have to get input from all [of South Korea],” he said. “It got stories out that people were not aware of in the other areas.”
A peninsula-wide publication let people in Busan or Daegu know what was happening at Camp Casey, Red Cloud or Yongsan, said Nowell, adding that he’d miss the feel of a fresh Army paper without the Morning Calm.
“It was a great paper,” he said.
© 2018 the Stars and Stripes
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
BIKERNET BAD JOKE LIBRARY IS WIDE OPEN–
A couple is lying in bed. The man says, ‘I am going to make you the happiest woman in the world…’The woman replies, ‘I’ll miss you…… ‘.
When his son refused to get a job, the father insisted he join the Marine Corps. At the physical, the Doctor directed the reluctant recruit to read the eye chart across the room. “What chart doc?” the young man asked.
“The one on the wall!” the doctor said. “What wall?” said the young man.
Sensing he had a deadbeat on his hands, and wanting to fill the quota, the doctor asked his nurse to strip down and walk into the exam room. “Now what do you see son?”
“Doc, I can’t see a thing, I’m as blind as a bat.”
“Well, you may not see anything,” the doctor said, “but your penis is pointing straight towards Parris Island, South Carolina.”
“Welcome to the U.S. Marine Corps.”
–from Rogue and Sidehack Jerry
TESLA’S ELECTRIC TRUCK– ‘needs the energy of 4,000 homes to recharge’, say researchers
“This will blow your mind clear out of your skull and into an alternate dimension”, Elon Musk tweeted ahead of the launch of Tesla’s electric heavy-duty truck.
The much-anticipated launch of the Semi didn’t fall short of expectations. Its key statistics look promising: it has a range of up to 800 km, it can drive up a 5% gradient at a speed of 105 kph, while its acceleration allows it to go from 0 to 97 kph in just 20 seconds with a load of 36,000 kg.
Tesla also promised that a new megacharger would allow the truck a range of about 645 km (400 miles) after charging for just 30 minutes.
But a few weeks later, a respected group of Oxford university professors cast significant doubts over the viability of the Semi – all due to the amount of electricity needed for that megacharger to work.
The chief executive of Aurora Energy Research, John Feddersen, says the power required for the megacharger to fill a truck battery in just 30 minutes would be 1,600 kilowatts, according to the Financial Times.
That is the equivalent of providing power for 3,000 to 4,000 “average” houses, he said.
Such a fast and significant demand would put the grid under immense strain, and is not possible within the limitations of current technologies, he argued.
Feddersen used the Tesla example to highlight the debate around how grid infrastructure will need to be adapted to meet demand for electric vehicles. “Fully electrified road transport will need a large amount of new infrastructure,” he told the Financial Times.
Burgeoning demand
Tesla has not commented on the findings of Aurora Energy, but it is well aware of the need for bigger and better batteries to meet the projected expansion of the electric car market.
It already has a network of “superchargers” for its electric cars, which are partially powered by renewables.
The company is also experimenting with storage batteries to ease demands on the grid.
It recently helped Australia with its grid problems by building the world’s largest lithium ion battery, scaling up its technology for powering electric cars.
And it has built a giant battery factory in the Nevada desert known as the Gigafactory, where it plans to produce more batteries than the rest of the industry combined.
But if the Semi truck is to become a reality by 2019 as hoped, Tesla will almost certainly need to further develop its megabatteries as well as finding ways of managing the demand on the grid.
–from the Wayfarer
Supreme Leader and Editor
Bikernet Trikes
WHAT TRADE WAR–What stocks would get hurt in a trade war?
Markets are lashing out after tariffs announced
Casualties in a trade war fought with tariffs are not measured in lives but in the financial fallout that ensues.
The economic negatives of a trade fight often cause stock-price declines of innocent companies caught up in the spat, a market reaction that could put pressure on your 401(k) balance.
So with fears of a trade war on the rise after President Trump on Thursday proposed tariffs on about $60 billion of Chinese-made goods — and Beijing responded with a threat to impose $3 billion worth of tariffs on U.S. fruit, wine and other goods — here’s a list of U.S.-based investments that are vulnerable and under pressure.
U.S. exporters
When trade friction and tariffs are high, they make goods crossing borders more expensive, which crimps sales and curtails economic activity. And that’s bad news for big U.S. companies that sell a lot of stuff to overseas buyers and get a sizable chunk of their revenues abroad.
“U.S. companies with high exports seem most exposed,” Tobias Levkovich, Citi’s chief U.S. equity strategist, noted in a published Q& A with the bank’s clients. That list includes aircraft manufacturers, defense stocks and capital goods makers.
Boeing, for example, has been cited as the poster child for the type of stock that could be hard-hit by a trade war. Not only did the plane maker get more than half its sales last year from foreign markets, according to Morgan Stanley, but it also gets about 11% of its annual revenues from China. Boeing’s shares are down 10% since Trump first announced his tariffs Feb. 28.
Other multinational companies at risk are equipment makers Caterpillar and John Deere. Caterpillar
is down nearly 7% in March, while Deere has declined 8%.
Big exposure to China
In the event that the “protectionist push” gains more momentum, Morgan Stanley’s chief U.S. equity strategist Mike Wilson recommends selling stocks with “high revenue exposure to China.”
The Wall Street firm created a list of U.S. companies that get 10% to 30% of their sales from China.
Expeditors International, the transportation company that moves goods across the world, for example, gets 30% of its revenue from China. Its shares have tumbled 6.3% since Feb. 28.
Similarly, shares of Apple, which gets more than 22% of its revenues from China, have fallen more than 7%.
U.S. companies targeted
Keep alert for foreign nations slapping tariffs on well-known companies.
A good example is Harley Davidson, the iconic maker of motorcycles. After the U.S. announced tariffs on steel and aluminum, the European Union threatened to retaliate with tariffs of its own on Harley-Davidson and other all-American goods like bourbon and blue jeans. Since then, shares of the motorcycle maker have fallen more than 8%.
–Adam Shell
USA TODAY
–from Rogue
TAKING TOLLS ON TOLL ROADS–
On March 15th, a class action complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Pennsylvania by the NMA and the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) that is creating a tsunami-sized wave in the Commonwealth.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC), its officers, and the governor of Pennsylvania are defendants in the claim that PTC for years has been imposing excessive tolls on users of the turnpike.
At the heart of the complaint is the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution which:
a) Prohibits state actions that unduly burden interstate commerce,
b) Requires that user fees don’t discriminate against interstate commerce and travel,
c) Requires user fees to reflect a fair approximation of the use of the facilities and services for whose benefit they are imposed, and
d) Prohibits excessive user fees in relation to costs incurred by the imposing authority
That last item is particularly interesting because it is a matter of public record that the PTC has been obligated since 2011 to pay the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) the sum of $450 million annually. PennDOT earmarks those funds to finance off-turnpike road and bridge projects as well as transit operations.
As the complaint notes, the tolls imposed by PTC far exceed the value of the use of the turnpike facilities and services by vehicle operators. Conversely, those same excessive tolls are an undue burden on interstate commerce and an impairment on the right of persons to travel.
How much do the collected toll revenues exceed the cost of turnpike operations? Table 4 taken directly from the OOIDA/NMA filing make the answer startlingly clear.
By January 2018, PTC had paid PennDOT $5.875 billion for Act 44/89, or non-turnpike related, payments. Even the Pennsylvania Auditor General raised concerns. In his September 2016 Performance Audit of PTC, the AG found that “[a]nnual costly toll increases place an undue burden on Pennsylvanians.” No doubt that finding was influenced by the fact that Pennsylvania Turnpike cash tolls increased by over 200 percent since the mid 2000s and PTC’s own projection that another doubling will be needed by 2035 to fund Turnpike operations while also paying non-turnpike obligations to PennDOT.
The class action complaint asks that the defendants be enjoined from further collection and spending of funds in excess of those required to operate/maintain the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and to segregate into escrow excess toll revenue pending a final ruling of the action filed by OOIDA and the NMA. The suit also asks for a judgment that refunds to plaintiffs and putative class members “all payments of tolls imposed upon their use of the Pennsylvania Turnpike System in excess of what was reasonably necessary to pay for the cost of operating and maintaining the Pennsylvania Turnpike . . .”
An action of this magnitude will face many legal challenges and will take time to play out. In the meantime, other states that are planning to expand their own tolling operations best take notice. As NMA President Gary Biller noted to TheNewspaper.com,
“PennDOT has been extracting an annual payment from the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission of $450 million for many years, most of which is used for “general purpose” non-turnpike projects. Is it any wonder that the Pennsylvania turnpike toll rates have increased more than 200 percent since the mid-2000s, placing the burden of that debt on road users? At a time when other states are considering the tolling of more roads to raise funds, this suit sends a strong message that truckers and motorists are not willing to serve as ATMs for the government.”
INCREDIBLE—Next week will be a busy one with the screen play effort, wrapping up my Daytona Report with the Roadmaster Review.
Then I need to hook up with Larry Settle and work on his Trask Turbo bike feature. I need to reach out to Steve Massicotte at Pauchco and see about my run to Carson City, Nevada to pick up the Salt Shaker. I’m running out of days in March, not good.
I’ve been kicking around another book project based in Tombstone Arizona, but the Redhead worked as the manager of a Wilmington Marina for two years. There’s been murder, insanity, thievery, affairs, drunks and drug deals all in the same dinghy marina. Fuckin’ nuts. Chance Hogan could find himself embroiled in a serious problem with a redhead.
Hell, you never know what might happen next. I suppose that’s part of excitement around here. We just don’t know.
Rider Free Forever,
–Bandit
