Hey,
Happy Holidays, and avoid the Miracle Mung if possible. Markus Cuff had it for three weeks. I thought it was a 24-hour bug, but that was four days ago, and I still can’t talk. Maybe it’s a good day to watch football and drink whiskey.
Let’s hit the news:
SOMETHING FROM THE BIKERNET OFFICIAL BOOK REVEIWER–Bandit,
She is a Lakota Sioux, college educated journalist, the niece of my departed friend Melvin Miner. She edited my book and we are working to turn it into a screenplay.
It seems easier to review fictional violence and mayhem. However, I can’t bring myself to watch the final season of SAMCRO. Some of those guys remind me of old friends, ya know?
–Kevin Thomas
A Common Man (Ikce Wicasa) on createspace.com paperback
A Common Man (Ikce Wicasa) on Amazon.com paperback
THE BIKERNET BAD JOKE LIBRARY IS STILL OPEN—
1. The fattest knight at King Arthur’s round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.
2. I thought I saw an eye-doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.
3. She was only a whiskey-maker, but he loved her still.
4. A rubber-band pistol was confiscated from an algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.
5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it’ll still be stationery.
6. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.
7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
8. Two silk worms had a race, they ended up in a tie.
9. A hole has been found in the nudist-camp wall. The police are looking into it.
10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
11. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
12.Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: ‘You stay here; I’ll go on a head.’
13. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger, then it hit me
14. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: ‘Keep off the Grass.’
–from El Wags
BRAND New Bikernet Reader Comment!—
Akrapovic Full Moon Concept Bike
http://www.bikernet.com/pages/story_detail.aspx?id=12026
Reminds me of Joe Petrali’s streamliner Knuck.
–Sam
TX
There is that connection. Did you know that Joe made a better time with some of the fairing parts removed. But that’s not to say aerodynamics aren’t everything, when it comes to salt racing.–Bandit
Merry Christmas from CV Performance–All of us here at CV Performance want to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. As another year concludes we look forward to an exciting new year as we continue to grow and support those who love to ride.
Happy Holidays and Enjoy the Ride!
–Ken Mendelson
CV Performance
1430 S. Grand Ave #299
Glendora, CA 91740
NHTSA Chief confirmed by U.S. Senate—
The United States Senate has confirmed President Barack Obama’s nominee to head the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). In a late night Senate session, the confirmation was part of a large package of other non-controversial nominees. Mark Rosekind was nominated nearly a year after former NHTSA boss, David Strickland, stepped down. Rosekind was a National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) board member.
Rosekind, sleep scientist by training, has been on the NTSB’s board since 2010. Before that, he spent 13 years as the president of Alertness Solutions and also worked for NASA for several years. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx called Rosekind a “leader ready-made for this critical responsibility,” adding it would be his job not only to hold automakers accountable, but “raise the bar on safety.” According to the NTSB website, Rosekind is a leading expert in human fatigue.
Rosekind has his work cut out for him; NHTSA has suffered amid harsh criticism that the agency has sat on the sidelines concerning recent auto part failure recall, such as the GM ignition switch and the Takata Corp airbag recall. A troubled website and a botched attempt to alert the public about the potentially fatal airbags have left NHTSA reeling. To put things in perspective, Joan Claybrok, a former NHTSA administrator, and hater of all things motorcycle, called the current state of affairs at the safety administration “a total meltdown, a royal embarrassment and calls into question the trustworthiness of the agency.” These are harsh words from a longtime and very loyal supporter of NHTSA.
Still pending is the Senate confirmation of Presidents Obama’s pick to head the National Transportation Safety Board, Christopher Hart.
BIKERNET BAD JOKE LIBRARY OPEN ON SUNDAYS, OH, TO BE ITALIAN–An Italian man is drinking in a New York bar when he gets a call on his cell phone. He hangs up, grinning from ear to ear, and orders a round of drinks for everybody in the bar announcing his wife had produced a typical Italian baby boy weighing 20 pounds.
Nobody can believe that any new baby can weigh 20 pounds, but the Italian guy just shrugs, “Dat’sa about average backa home-a, like I saida, atsa my boy, a typical Italian bambino.”
Congratulations showered him from all around, and many exclamations of “WOW”….one woman actually fainted due to sympathy pains.
Two weeks later he returns to the bar.
The bartender says, “Say, you’re the father of that typical Italian baby that weighed 20 pounds at birth. Everybody’s been making bets about how big he’d be in two weeks. So how much does he weigh now?”
The proud father answers, “He’s a Fifteena poundsa.”
The bartender is puzzled, concerned, and a little suspicious. “What happened? He already weighed 20 pounds the day he was born!”
The Italian father takes a long swig of Sambuca, wipes his lips on his shirt sleeve, leans into the bartender and proudly says,
“We gotta him circumcised!”
NEWS FROM THE DEVIL–And now for something more interesting. . . . .here is a tail section I hammer formed from Aluminum sheet, thought you might get a kick out of it!
–Kent Weeks
BIKERNET INDIAN CHIEF PROJECT BIKE REPORT JUST LAUNCHED—We are about to launch our first report on our 2014 Indian Chief project bike. This tech covers our plans, the color scheme, and our first cross-country ride on a new Indian Chief.
We are working with Rich Worley and his crew from American Biker (an Indian Dealer) in Charleston, SC. Don’t miss the first tech tomorrow on Bikernet.
–Bandit
BIKERNET GUN NUT REPORT, Pro-Gun Protections Enacted Into Law–
Last week, Congress approved the Fiscal Year 2015 Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act. Included in the Act were a number of pro-gun provisions that prevent the Obama administration from implementing its anti-gun agenda.
This Act includes new provisions to stop the Obama administration’s efforts regarding Operation Choke Point, a program in which the Department of Justice intimidates financial institutions into refusing or severing financial services to legally-operating ammunition and firearms dealers. In addition, the Act prohibits funds for the Internal Revenue Service to target groups for scrutiny based on their political beliefs, such as the NRA.
Further, the Act contains a new provision to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency, or any other federal agency, from regulating the lead content of traditional ammunition and fishing tackle. For years, radical animal rights and environmental advocates have used all the tools at their disposal, including litigation, to attempt to ban lead ammunition. A ban on traditional ammunition would affect hunters, sportsmen, law enforcement, military, and target shooters – whether or not they hunt. There are currently no comparable alternatives to lead ammunition in terms of cost, ballistics, and availability. This provision would prevent a traditional ammunition ban and protect not just hunters, but millions of law-abiding American gun owners.
Moreover, the Act contains a provision to prevent the Department of Justice, or any government entity, from spending taxpayer dollars on “gun walking” programs like Operation Fast and Furious. The Act also prevents funds being used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the National Institute of Health to advocate or promote gun control.
Finally, the Act prevents funds from being used by the Obama administration to implement the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty.
HELP FOR FLORIDA HOMEOWNERS–Florida homeowners catch a break in courts.
The state Supreme Court revisited foreclosure court procedures after a Center report.
–By Alison Fitzgerald, Center for Public Integrity
Florida homeowners may soon find a more friendly reception in the state’s courtrooms after a state Supreme Court panel found that some judicial practices designed to speed up the cases may be improper.
The Court’s Local Rules Advisory Committee said last week that a judge’s order in Palm Beach County that allows banks to defeat homeowners’ motions to fight foreclosures in court simply by ignoring them went beyond the judge’s authority. The committee referred the rule to the state Supreme Court for review.
At issue is an order by the chief judge in Palm Beach County, and an accompanying order from a foreclosure judge, that deems a motion in a foreclosure case abandoned, essentially expired, if it hasn’t been heard within 90 days. The effect is that homeowners who ask judges to dismiss their cases, or disallow evidence, will automatically lose if the bank trying to foreclose doesn’t respond to the motion. Other Florida counties have similar orders in place.
“What they’re saying is you don’t have to hear those motions, just deny them,” said Thomas Ice, a Florida lawyer who took his opposition to the orders to the Supreme Court’s committee as well as to two state appeals courts. “I’m going to wave my judicial wand and they are all gone.”
The Center for Public Integrity reported earlier this year that Florida’s legislature and Supreme Court have instructed judges across the state to clear what they say is a critical backlog of foreclosure cases from the court system. The state set up a parallel legal system in which judges hear only foreclosure cases — often more than 100 motions per day. The courtrooms operate under rules that differ from those that guide civil law in other types of cases.
MOST UNBELIEVABLE GUN NUT REPORT—
Empty Cartridge Casing Lands Grade-Schooler Five-Day Suspension.
For many youngsters, an empty cartridge casing can serve as a souvenir from an exciting day spent at the range or hunting with their elders. For one student at Chanute Elementary School in Chanute, Kans., however, an empty cartridge case will likely be a reminder of the day overwrought school administrators threatened to turn his academic career upside down.
According to a report in the Chanute Tribune, on December 2, grade-schooler Camron Carlson spent the evening with his mom and her friend as they sighted in a deer rifle. At some point during the activity, Camron placed one of the pieces of spent brass in his pocket.
The following day at school, Camron recounted the event to his friends, during which the spent case came out of his pocket. School officials swooped in and detained Carlson in the school’s administration offices until his mother, Deana Carlson, could arrive. Carlson told reporters that the traumatic ordeal had reduced her son to tears, noting, “The principal made him feel that an empty shell was dangerous.”
Carlson went on to describe her encounter with Principal Gary Wheeler to the Tribune. Wheeler initially told Carlson that Camron could be suspended for 168 days, before the school district settled on a five-day punishment. Carlson told the paper, “I looked at [Wheeler] and I said ‘this is the wrong call.’” She added, “I could understand if there was a student who had multiple offenses [but] there was nothing dangerous about what he had done.” Wheeler dismissed Carlson’s concerns, telling her, “you need to just go on.”
In light of the Chanute Public Schools Unified School District 2014-2015 Elementary School Handbook, it is unclear why Camron faced such harsh discipline. The handbook’s weapons policy clearly bans “[a]ny firearm or ammunition for any firearm.” However, the document does not outline a position on inert components of ammunition. Chanute school officials targeting harmless ammunition components begs the disturbing question: Would a child be similarly punished if they brought to school an early American musket ball or a civil war-era Minie ball for history class or show and tell? How about just a single ball bearing?
Carlson and Camron’s grandmother, Mary Sue Carlson, suggested larger cultural reasons lurk behind Camron’s mistreatment. Carlson stated, “My son is being discouraged and looked down upon for being a boy.” Mary Sue added that she believes what happened to her grandson is an attack on the family’s hunting culture, stating, “Our family does a lot of deer hunting… This is hunting country. This child has been led to believe that that’s not okay.”
Summing up her son’s actions, Carlson stated that Camron “was just being a boy and bragging because it’s cool.” We have to agree. Sighting in a deer rifle and taking a piece of the spent brass that results is a safe, normal and wholesome activity, enjoyed by millions.
As for the frantic behavior of the Chanute Elementary officials, we would turn Principal Wheeler’s advice to Camron’s mother right back at him. Owning and shooting firearms is normal, as is carrying forward fond memories of it.
1. During cold and flu season, one popular folk remedy is to eat a spoonful of raw, chopped garlic cloves – or even to gnaw right on a fresh clove! We want to know, if a clove of raw garlic could knock out your cold – would you or wouldn’t you?
Garlic is a powerful antioxidant with antimicrobial, antiviral and antibiotic properties. For colds and flus, it also provides decongestant and expectorant effects. While none of garlic’s components have been isolated by science as the sole explanation for garlic’s flu-busting effects, vitamin C, a slew of enzymes, and minerals such as sulphur and selenium, definitely play a role.
Crushing fresh garlic – whether through chopping and letting minced garlic rest, or by chomping down on a clove with your own teeth – causes a chemical reaction that releases allicin. Allicin is a powerful antibacterial only present shortly after garlic is crushed and before it is heated! Eating fresh garlic in this state is purported to knock out that terrible feeling associated with the onset of a cold or flu. Some experts even recommend eating a clove or two every 3 to 4 hours until the bug is entirely knocked out!
There are two methods we find most often recommended:
NO HOLDS BARRED: This is as old-fashioned and potent as it gets: pop a whole clove of garlic and munch away. Definitely not for the faint of heart! May we suggest that folks with sensitive stomachs do not try this method on an empty stomach. One variation to this simple method is especially helpful for sore throats: take just a slice of the clove and suck on it for 15 minutes, letting the juices work their magic on any pain!
GARLIC WITH TRAINING WHEELS: The other more palatable method is to crush up to two cloves and let the minced garlic rest for about 15 minutes, letting the garlic’s enzymes activate. Add honey (also healing) or a touch of olive oil (some say it neutralizes the smell) to the minced garlic and top a small slice of bread or cracker with the mix. Bomb’s away!
2. Garlic—An All-Around Health Boosting Herb
The featured article in Medical News Today1 contains an impressive list of garlic’s historical use as a natural medicine, and modern research to back up the wisdom of such antiquated claims. Green Med Info has also assembled a list of studies demonstrating more than 150 beneficial health effects of garlic! For example, studies show that regular consumption of (primarily raw) garlic:
- May be effective against drug-resistant bacteria
- Reduces risk for heart disease, including heart attack and stroke
- Helps normalize your cholesterol and blood pressure
- Protects against cancer including brain, lung, and prostate cancer
- Reduces risk of osteoarthritis
It’s thought that much of garlic’s therapeutic effect comes from its sulfur-containing compounds, such as allicin, which are also what give it its characteristic smell. Other health-promoting compounds include oligosaccharides, arginine-rich proteins, selenium and flavonoids.
Research has revealed that as allicin digests in your body, it produces sulfenic acid, a compound that reacts with dangerous free radicals faster than any other known compound.
This is one of the reasons why I named garlic as one of the top seven anti-aging foods you can consume. Garlic is also a triple threat against infections, offering antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal properties.
Not only is it effective at killing antibiotic-resistant bacteria, including MRSA, but it also fights yeast infections, viruses and parasites. Garlic must be fresh to give you optimal health benefits though.
The fresh clove must be crushed or chopped in order to stimulate the release of an enzyme called alliinase, which in turn catalyzes the formation of allicin. Allicin in turn rapidly breaks down to form a number of different organosulfur compounds. So to “activate” garlic’s medicinal properties, compress a fresh clove with a spoon prior to swallowing it, or put it through your juicer to add to your vegetable juice.
A single medium size clove or two is usually sufficient, and is well-tolerated by most people. The active ingredient, allicin, is destroyed within one hour of smashing the garlic, so garlic pills are virtually worthless.
You also won’t reap all the health benefits garlic has to offer if you use jarred, powdered or dried versions. Worse yet, at least two supermarket-brands containing garlic powder imported from China have been found to be contaminated with high levels of lead, arsenic and added sulfites, according to a recent article by PreventDisease.com.
YOU’LL LOVE THIS—
New FEC chief on ‘dark money’ mission.
Ann Ravel says she’ll fight to out people behind secretive political cash, regardless of party
But do Obama, Congress care?
Regardless of what the FEC sets forth for itself in 2015, it shouldn’t expect much support or attention from Congress or the White House.
Congress largely ignored the FEC during 2014, even after the agency made a series of bipartisan requests at the end of 2013.
For example, commissioners unanimously asked Congress to require senators to file campaign finance reports electronically. Senators today still file them on paper, which takes time to process. Reports sometimes aren’t available for days after they’re filed.
Commissioners also unanimously petitioned Congress to ban all political committees — including congressional leadership PACs — from using funds for personal expenses. Lawmakers took no action.
And when Congress actually gave the FEC a new power in late 2013 — the ability to automatically punish more kinds of political committees and nonprofit groups for tardy financial filings — the agency failed to create a rule implementing the power.
In separate interviews, Commissioners Caroline Hunter, a Republican, and Weintraub said the commission has no immediate plans to address the issue.
Also of note: Ravel and Goodman are the only two FEC commissioners whose official terms have not expired.
The other four commissioners continue to serve despite the ends of their terms because President Barack Obama has not nominated, and the U.S. Senate has not approved, people to replace them. Ravel declined to comment on whether she believes Obama should float new commissioner nominees in 2015.
Republican Commissioner Matt Petersen, for example, joined the FEC in 2008, and took a turn as commission chairman in 2010. While his official term as an FEC commissioner expired in early 2011, he will serve as agency vice chairman in 2015.
Obama swept into the White House on an agenda headlined by political accountability and fighting against powerful special interests.
Today, he rarely speaks of reforming campaigns, corralling political dark money or the FEC as an agency.
Ravel says she’d welcome Obama’s support for her efforts as FEC chairwoman.
“The one thing that I’ve learned in my year in Washington is that this is a really complicated place. And if it’s complicated for me, it’s a million times — maybe more than a million times — more complicated for the president,” Ravel said. “I can’t be one of those people out there criticizing him for his failure to do this thus far. But I certainly would welcome his strong statements about some of the issues, in particular about the issues of disclosure that I care about.”
Regardless of whether she gets it, Ravel says joining the FEC has been worth a certain level of personal sacrifice, which includes commuting cross-country to California to visit her family, including a new grandchild and beloved family dog.
“I hear from people now about how important campaign issues are, about how they feel,” Ravel said. “It makes me realize people are really concerned about the issues that the FEC has oversight over. They care that there’s someone here speaking on behalf of the public. That makes me realize it’s worth it.”
–By Dave Levinthal, Center for Public Integrity
QUICK TECH, New Bikernet Reader Comment!—
Love Jugs Cool-Master Sets Record for Cooling Harley-Davidson Engines!
http://www.bikernetbaggers.com/pages/story_detail.aspx?id=12920
Interesting looking product. I will look into it further and probably order me one of them COOL-MASTERS.
–Steve West
Delray Beach, FL
BIKERNET BAD JOKE LIBRARY STILL OPEN–A sexual grievance – it’s no small thing…
After a week of this, the woman can’t stand it anymore. She takes her issue to a supervisor in Human Resources and asks to file a sexual harassment grievance against the guy.
The supervisor is puzzled and asks, “What’s threatening about a co-worker telling you your hair smells nice?”
“It’s Frank. The midget.”
FROM THE STATE GOVERNMENT WATCHDOG REPORT–The tales are sadly familiar to even the most casual observer of state politics.
In Georgia, more than 650 government employees accepted gifts from vendors doing business with the state in 2007 and 2008, clearly violating state ethics law. The last time the state issued a penalty on a vendor was 1999.
A North Carolina legislator sponsored and voted on a bill to loosen regulations on billboard construction, even though he co-owned five billboards in the state. When the ethics commission reviewed the case, it found no conflict; after all, the panel reasoned, the legislation would benefit all billboard owners in the state — not just the lawmaker who pushed for the bill.
Tennessee established its ethics commission six years ago, but has yet to issue a single ethics penalty. It’s almost impossible to know whether the oversight is effectively working, because complaints are not made available to the public.
A West Virginia governor borrowed a car from his local dealership to take it for a “test drive.” He kept the car for four years, during which the dealership won millions in state contracts.
When representatives of a biotech company took Montana legislators out to dinner, they neither registered as lobbyists nor reported the fact that they picked up the bill. They didn’t have to — the law only requires registration upon spending $2,400 during a legislative session. And in Maine, one state senator did not disclose $98 million in state contracts that went to an organization for which he served as executive director. The lack of disclosure was not an oversight; due to a loophole in state law, he was under no obligation to do so.
The stories go on and on. Open records laws with hundreds of exemptions. Crucial budgeting decisions made behind closed doors by a handful of power brokers. “Citizen” lawmakers voting on bills that would benefit them directly. Scores of legislators turning into lobbyists seemingly overnight. Disclosure laws without much disclosure. Ethics panels that haven’t met in years.
State officials make lofty promises when it comes to ethics in government. They tout the transparency of legislative processes, accessibility of records, and the openness of public meetings. But these efforts often fall short of providing any real transparency or legitimate hope of rooting out corruption.
That’s the depressing bottom line that emerges from the State Integrity Investigation (http://www.stateintegrity.org/), a first-of-its-kind, data-driven assessment of transparency, accountability and anti-corruption mechanisms in all 50 states. Not a single state — not one — earned an A grade from the months-long probe.
BIKERNET 2014 5-BALL RACING INDIAN–What do you think about this handlebar?? Thoughts?
–Rich
American Biker
Charleston, SC
They came out perfect! –Bandit
WHATTA WEEK THIS WILL BE—It’s like Stormin’ Norman flying at the holiday in a sea of mud. I’m sick, need to make appointments, see folks, prepare for Xmas, and can’t do any of these things. Plus, I would like to take a walk around the local canals with a girl and some friends and enjoy the lights, but I can’t talk. My voice is gone and I dare not breathe on anyone. So, WTF, over?
Don’t miss my first report on the new ARCH KRGT-1 motorcycle by Gard Hollinger. It’s amazing, and that’s just the first report.
I found, and spent all my Christmas earnings on another 45 flathead basket case from Snowman, who helped work out the shipping to Lee Clemens at Departure Bike Works. I need to order another fender blank, maybe from KraftTech. Does anyone have a connection over there? I’ve sent a couple of e-mails, but no response.
I know next week will fly. Just need to feel better, so I can keep up.
Have a helluva Holiday,
–Bandit
