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Sunday, May 31, 2015

USA - More from MRF on Ethanol

OFF THE WIRE
May 29, 2015
From Jeff Hennie
Motorcycle Rider Foundation, Vice President Government Relations and Public Affairs
A quick, short recess week saw little congressional or regulatory action. On Friday, Obama’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) dealt what could be the beginning of the end for ethanol fuel growth. The EPA has been sitting on a proposal for a year and, half to lower ethanol requirements for oil refineries. The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) is a law passed by Congress that mandates the amount of ethanol to be included in the nations fuel supply. Each year the RFS ticks up a little bit, until now.
The EPA has proposed that levels be slashed in 2015 and 2016 to the tune of about four and five million gallons, respectively. The drop in production requirements has angered those in the ethanol production world, and delighted those who do not want more ethanol in the fuel stream.
As for motorcyclists, the news is encouraging; the less ethanol being required will mean that the smaller amounts of ethanol will have to be spread thinner. This in theory, removes the need to increase the blend to E15 levels. The EPA knows that ethanol is unpopular and cites this as the main reason to lower production requirements. The market has spoken, and it is not in favor of ethanol.
Starting this Monday the short-term highway bill countdown begins. The new extension expires July 31. Look for another extension this summer, unless someone finds $550 billion dollars lying around in the next 60 days.
OFF THE WIRE
A different point of view. I guess the Waco Massacre is really a religious war.

Just a thought...The war on bikers is coming from Jeh Johnson, head of DHS & muslim convert. Bringing down bikers because most are Veterans, many are Militia and almost 100% are Patriotic Americans. He knows we will fight for our rights and freedoms. He's paying America back for Garland, Tx, both events. He used the regularly scheduled COC meeting to do it. Bring down bikers will silence those who will come together to fight for our country. Waco DA and PD are guilty for allowing themselves to be used for political gain as well. But Let's not forget waco DA is looking to move up to Texas AG. #WacoMassacre

Bee

~~~~~

Update by Brightbart with some MORE info.

https://silencedogood2010.wordpress.com/2014/06/12/human-trafficking-by-obama-holder-jeh-johnson/

BABE OF THE DAY

Saturday, May 30, 2015

Friday, May 29, 2015

The McLennan County Re-Education Camp



OFF THE WIRE
agingrebel.com
Neither the United States Department of Justice, the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, the Governor of Texas, the President of the United States nor any of the score of smurfs and fools currently running for President has so far dared to come to the defense of the scores of men and at least two women who remain unjustly imprisoned under cruel and unusual circumstances in the McLennan County Jail.
The Southern Nevada Confederation of Clubs has stated that the jail is desperately overcrowded, that some prisoners are not being fed and that others cannot get needed medical attention. A week ago a Bandido named Jeff Battey had to post a $1 million bond before he could go to a Dallas hospital to have bullet fragments removed from his arm.
Yesterday on its Facebook page, the Southern Nevada COC said it had received the following messages from “family members” of men who were rounded up in the indiscriminate mass arrests that followed the shooting deaths of nine men and the hospitalization of 17 more following a barrage of gunfire outside the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco on May 17.

Please Help

“Third world conditions – please help!”
“My husband still has a bullet in his chest and can’t use his right hand. He has a heart condition, has a stint and a-fib, and they are trying to change his medication. He is afraid he might bleed out in his cell.” “Heart meds not being disbursed. Has bullet in chest and cannot feel hand. Believes he has nerve damage but they will not treat him”
“My brother is type 1 diabetic and is not receiving insulin. His blood sugar is 550.” “Meds not being distributed – takes insulin”
“Blood pressure meds not being given”
“No blankets or pillows. Sleeping on cold floors”
“Husband just had back surgery and was on prescription meds for pain. Simply decided to go to the meeting to get out of the house. He was told he was being given a sleep med and instead they gave him ADHD /bi-polar medication. He has also not eaten anything for almost 10 days now since surgery”

Kenneth Carlisle

There are numerous accounts of men being illegally arrested and detained. For example, a plumber named Kenneth Carlisle was arrested because he was wearing a Harley-Davidson shirt. According to the San Antonio Express-News, Carlisle spends “most of his time raising money for multiple causes for ill children, cancer victims and survivors, wounded warriors, and cooks in barbecue competitions in which the proceeds are donated.”
Carlisle’s wife Lindsay told KABB-TV “He wasn’t wearing any vests, no colors, no bike, was in a vehicle and was in the wrong place, wrong time.” She said he had driven her car to the Confederation of Clubs Meeting and was arrested “eight minutes” after he arrived.
“This is has been beyond difficult. The worst nightmare of my entire life,” Lindsay Carlisle said. “What happened to innocent until proven guilty? In this case that’s not what’s happening.”

No Answers

So far, authorities in Waco have been oblique about how 26 men came to be shot; what part police played in the massacre, or why people who self-evidently had nothing to do with the shooting were arrested and charged with murder.
McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna has intimated that the bikers are being punished  for not telling police what police want to hear. In an interview with television station KXXV, Reyna said “I’ve heard enough about my person was a victim and most of the people were victims. Well, guess what? If they’re victims they shouldn’t have any problem coming to law enforcement and cooperating to be sure justice is done and the individuals solely responsible are brought to justice. And, through the first round of interviews we aren’t getting that.”
The hard news in this case portrays the city of Waco and McLennan County as rogue governments that have gone mad.
The Waco Tribune-Herald reports “McLennan County is spending $7,958 a day to house those jailed in the May 17 Twin Peaks shootout. So far, the county has spent more than $80,000 to arrest and incarcerate people who went to a brunch in Waco and then tried to avoid getting shot.
Only two men, Battey and Christopher Stainton have made bail so far. Neither man has a criminal record. Both are required to wear an electronic monitoring device and observe a curfew while they await their day in court.
As of this morning, 175 of the 177 people arrested in the vicinity of the May 17 shooting remain locked up. Thirty-four men have filed for a reduction in their bonds. About a score of those have bond reduction hearings set for either June 5, 12 or 19. Most of the prisoners haven’t filed for bond hearings because they do not yet have lawyers.
Seventy-five of the alleged murders have requested a public defender. There are only 29 lawyers in McLennan County qualified for the job. The County has 26 prosecutors.

USA - Cue The Clowns, The Iron Order Motorcycle Club



OFF THE WIRE
agingrebel.com
The Iron Order Motorcycle Club, the “law abiding motorcycle club” that has been involved in at least one murder, two shootouts and multiple, high profile brawls in the last year, finally found a drum to bang in the big Waco massacre jamboree.
John C. “Shark” Whitfield, who wears many hats – as a partner at a Madisonville, Kentucky law firm called Whitfield Bryson & Mason, LLP; as sometime City Attorney for Nortonville, Kentucky; “as Director of the Division of Legal Affairs” for the Iron Order; as current “spokesman” for the Iron order; and as a frequent police consultant – popped off about the recent events in Waco Wednesday in a free, weekly, alternative magazine called San Antonio Current.

Shark explains It All

Mark Reagan of Current editorializes that “after the Waco brawl, lawful motorcycle club members were left shaking their heads at the senseless violence while they’re left to deal with misconceptions about their brethren.”
Whitfield agrees. “I’ve talked to quite a few guys about it in our club,” Shark confides. “All this needless horrific violence, it’s because two clubs can’t get along. Secondly, it made me sick because the general public doesn’t know the difference between a lawful and an unlawful club.”
Current informs its readers, that a “sense of service runs true in the Iron Order, which boasts 280 chapters in 46 states and Washington D.C. That club is mostly made up of police officers, but also includes working professionals. Whitfield, who is a trial lawyer, doesn’t care much for outlaw riders such as those involved in the deadly Waco fiasco.”

Bad Guys

Whitfield agrees that what happened outside the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco on May 17 was not a massacre or tragedy but rather a brawl and fiasco. Whitfield also thinks the dead, wounded and imprisoned got what they deserved.
“They are bad guys. They are drug runners and criminals who don’t mind killing,” Whitfield told Reagan. “They don’t have much care for life.”
Whitfield explains the Iron Order, “mostly made up of police officers,” is very different. “There’s a huge contingent of guys who want to be involved in a club, but don’t want to be involved with lawlessness,” Shark said. “We just like to ride.”
You can read the entire Current article here.

(USA) Outlaw Biker Gangs Prize U.S. Soldiers, Feds Say

OFF THE WIRE
The ranks of the nation's most violent outlaw motorcycle gangs (OMGs) include active-duty soldiers who fly their biker colors while serving overseas and even commit crimes on American soil, according to a federal investigation.

And military-oriented motorcycle clubs not considered outlaws are starting to adopt the "traits and mannerisms" of their criminal counterparts, the report by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found.

"Even though only a small percentage of active-duty military personnel, DoD (Department of Defense) employees and contractors have been involved in the shootings or violent acts against adversaries, they belong to and/or (are) associated with OMGs and motorcycle clubs that are pulling the triggers," the report said.

The findings in the 2014 report — which was first made public by First Look Media after a biker clash in Waco, Texas left nine dead — came as no surprise to Charles Falco, who infiltrated three biker gangs as an undercover informant for the ATF.

As an officer of the Outlaws in California, he said, other members who were soldiers or contractors would send photos from Iraq and Afghanistan that showed them displaying gang regalia.

"Are they loyal to the government or are they loyal to the gang? They're more loyal to the gangs," Falco said.

The ATF report said the Highwaymen, Hells Angels, Bandidos, Warlocks and Mongols have created colors or T-shirts for members serving overseas.

The 40-page dossier does not give hard numbers for military participation in the 300 or so outlaw groups identified by the feds as "conduits for criminal enterprises." But includes names and photos of service members from all branches who ride with some of the dominant clubs and their support clubs.

A handful have been linked to weapons seizures or violent episodes. Three Army soldiers were sent to prison for the 2012 murder of an unarmed man who was tossed out of the Sin City Disciples Clubhouse in Colorado Springs, Colorado. One was the gang's sergeant-at-arms, and another was a three-tour Iraq war veteran.

Military members are considered prized prospects — which comes as no surprise given the gangs' mission of amassing as much territory as possible, Falco said.

"They're trained, they're great at conducting war and they have the ability to access weapons," he said. "The question is, why would the military allow current military folks to be in an active gang."

According to the Defense Department, military personnel cannot be involved in "extremist groups" or actively advocate "criminal gang doctrine," but the regulations do not explicitly prohibit membership in an outlaw motorcycle gang. Commanders have the authority to discipline or take criminal action against anyone who flouts the rule.

Gang recruitment isn't limited to the armed forces, according to the report, which said "the OMG community continues to spread its tentacles through all facets of government."

Although Falco said actual law-enforcement officers are generally banned, the report says gang prospects, members and associates include employees of police and fire departments and 911 call centers.

It notes that while the ATF's annual report on military gangs ties is labeled "law enforcement sensitive," it has been found at the Outlaws' Fort Lauderdale clubhouse and in Hells Angels email traffic.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/omg-motorcycle-gangs-recruit-military-soldiers-n364731

BABE OF THE DAY


Thursday, May 28, 2015

CA - Mongols Case Judge Quits

OFF THE WIRE
agingrebel.com
Federal District Judge Otis D. Wright II abruptly quit the Mongols Nation case yesterday afternoon. Prosecutors in the case, who were forewarned of his decision, are seeking to convict the club as a racketeering enterprise and seize the club’s name and unique logo.
The racketeering case was suggested to prosecutors by Judge Wright who was then “randomly” selected to preside over it. The trial was scheduled to begin next Tuesday, June 2.
United States of America versus Mongols Nation An Unincorporated Association had already begun to attract attention from the national press. The case is newsworthy because the Mongols insignia, which lawyers call indicia, are a special kind of trademark called a “collective membership marks.” Trademarks do not enjoy full First Amendment protection but collective membership marks do. Generally, the Mongols marks would be protected from government censorship unless the government could prove that wearing a Mongols patch was a “true threat.” Both Wright and prosecutors hoped to defeat the First Amendment by proving the Mongols club was an ongoing criminal enterprise and that both its word mark and picture mark were forfeitable assets.
The United States has been trying to seize the Mongols indicia since 2008. While announcing racketeering charges against 79 Mongols in a case called United States versus Cavazos et al., former United States Attorney Thomas P. O’Brien announced:
“The racketeering indictment seeks the forfeiture of the trademarked ‘Mongols’ name, which is part of the ‘patch’ members wear on their motorcycle jackets.
“In addition to pursuing the criminal charges set forth in the indictment, for the first time ever, we are seeking to forfeit the intellectual property of a gang,” O’Brien said. “The name ‘Mongols,’ which is part of the gang’s ‘patch’ that members wear on their motorcycle jackets, was trademarked by the gang. The indictment alleges that this trademark is subject to forfeiture. We have filed papers seeking a court order that will prevent gang members from using or displaying the name ‘Mongols.’ If the court grants our request for this order, then if any law enforcement officer sees a Mongol wearing his patch, he will be authorized to stop that gang member and literally take the jacket right off his back.”

Plea Deals

The Mongols Nation trial would have lasted at least three months. When Wright openly encouraged Assistant United States Attorneys Christopher Brunwin and Steven Welk to pursue a racketeering indictment against the club as a whole, he assumed the prosecutors could simply present jurors, or him, with plea deals signed by defendants. Wright and prosecutors thought those confessions, signed by men desperate to get out of jail and get on with their lives, would be all the proof anyone would need to find that the entire motorcycle club was a racket. The assumption may say more about Brunwin’s, Welk’s and Wright’s competence in the law than the case could ever say about the Mongols’ alleged criminality.
Wright started looking for a way out of the hot mess he had created when Mongols attorneys Joe Yanny and Elliot Min insisted that the club had the right to confront its accusers. The defense wanted to cross examine the former Mongols about their confessions and that threatened to open the Pandora’s Box that hides the evils of federal criminal justice.
During a sometimes bizarre, 90 minute hearing Wright hypothesized how he might rule if he stuck with the case.
Wright said that if he remained in charge he would be inclined to admit numerous plea agreements coerced out of defendants in the 2008 Cavazos case, even though such agreements are generally considered to be hearsay. He thought the agreements would be important evidence because of their “voluntariness.”
When Yanny argued that “Many if not most of these (potential) witnesses are indeed innocent because they got a better deal than they were facing” by agreeing to the plea deal, Wright responded that innocent people don’t take plea deals.

The Cavazos Pleas

In fact, all the defendants in the Cavazos racketeering case were overcharged and virtually every defendant pled guilty to “conspiring to conduct and participate in the conduct of the affairs of the Mongols through a pattern of racketeering activity.” They pled guilty because that racketeering crime carried a penalty of 20 years in prison and only prosecutors, not judges, had the power to reduce the sentence. “Conspiring to conduct and participate in the conduct of the affairs of the Mongols” actually meant a wide spectrum of acts that ranged from serving as a club officer to selling drugs or guns to an undercover agent while a member of the club.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which investigated the Mongols, has always used entrapments to make racketeering cases against motorcycle clubs. In 1991, ATF Agent Steve Martin begged a member of the Warlocks Motorcycle Club in Florida to supply him with guns so he would not be murdered by “Columbians.” Gun running then became one of the principal charges leveled against that club. In 2007, a confidential informant begged a Mongol named William Owens for methamphetamine to  repay a debt. If he couldn’t obtain the drug, the informant claimed, he would be killed. So Owens, a recovering meth abuser, got his club brother the crank the informant claimed he needed to live. And, more than a year later Owens was charged with conspiracy to distribute and distribution of that drug. The amount the informant begged for was not arbitrary. It was just enough to ensure that Owens would face a mandatory ten year sentence. It was an example of what lawyers call “sentence entrapment.”  So Owens could either take a plea deal or face up to 30 years in prison as a drug dealing racketeer.
In actual praxis, except for the very affluent, federal prosecutors act as judges, jurors and executioners. Virtually no one beats the system. In 2013, 97 percent of all federal cases were resolved with a plea bargain. More than 90 percent of those who insist on inconveniencing the federal courts by demanding a trial are punished with a guilty verdict.
In an article about plea bargains in The New York Review of Books last November, U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff wrote that mandatory sentences, like the mandatory sentence for racketeering or the mandatory drug sentence Owens faced, “provide prosecutors with weapons to bludgeon defendants into effectively coerced plea bargains. In the majority of criminal cases, a defense lawyer only meets her client when or shortly after the client is arrested, so that, at the outset, she is at a considerable informational disadvantage to the prosecutor. If, as is very often the case (despite the constitutional prohibition of “excessive bail”), bail is set so high that the client is detained, the defense lawyer has only modest opportunities, within the limited visiting hours and other arduous restrictions imposed by most jails, to interview her client and find out his version of the facts.”

The Colloquy

Other federal judges laud the “plea bargaining system” because of the efficiency with which it sends people to prison. Most of the defendants in the Cavazos case remained locked up, awaiting a trial that never came, until they “confessed” that the Mongols Motorcycle Club was a racket. The logic is loony. The reasoning is that a dog that is beaten until he learns to quack is unquestionably a duck.
In yesterday’s hearing, Wright cited the lengthy “outline” of questions contained in the Benchbook for U.S. District Court. Judges – what coconspirators in the federal judge racket call the Guilty Plea Colloquy – as proof that all the guilty pleas he accepted were genuine. The reading of the colloquy at plea hearings may be the most despicable public ritual in America:
“How far did you advance in school?”
“High School.”
“And, are you aware that you may be giving up certain of your rights, like the right to vote or own a gun or serve on a jury?”
“Yeah, sure.”
The reading of the colloquy always takes at least ten minutes. Judge Wright said yesterday that the answer to the final question of the colloquy must always be true because he took up to “a half hour” with each defendant.
“And are you in fact actually guilty?”
At that recurring moment in American justice, the defendant almost always turns to his public defender, as if at the last moment his public defender might save him, as if his public defender would bother to save him even if he could, and the two always exchange whispers before the accused confesses, “Uh, yeah. I’m guilty.”
Yesterday, Wright also characterized the men who had signed the Cavazos’ plea agreements as “pigs.”
Wright said that witnesses who might testify that their formal confessions were not voluntary might face additional charges of perjury.

You Lose

Then the judge finally ran out of angry words and quit the case.
Yanny formally asked Wright to withdraw 467 days ago, on Valentine’s Day, 2014.
That motion cited Wright’s conduct when previous Mongols’ attorney Bob Bernstein asked for a dismissal of the case on October 21, 2013
Wright characterized the Mongols’ bylaws, which forbid criminal activity, as “a joke, and you know it. I am surprised you even mentioned it. This is a criminal enterprise as evidenced by the admissions of same by no fewer than 40 people who appeared before me. I can’t speak to the other 40 who appeared before Judge Carter. This is a dangerous enterprise.”
“You are saying that it is no different than them having perhaps having been Lutheran and they are of doing all these criminal things and it is just coincidental that some of them were Lutheran; right,” the judge raged. “It is not the same
thing, is it? They are operating under the banner of the Mongols. It is that name, that reputation, that intimidation factor which enables them to do what they do, isn’t it?
Bernstein got as far as, “I can’t,” before Wright interrupted him.
“Go like that.”
“I can’t answer that, your Honor.”
“I can,” Wright said. “I have seen them, alright. They have all been here. I have seen them. And that is why they are fighting so hard to hang on to those colors. Those colors mean something…. If that organization is convicted, its interest in those marks is forfeitable to the government; right.”
Bernstein said, “I don’t agree. That is the rub.”
“You lose,” Wright told Bernstein and denied the motion for dismissal.

You Win

Yesterday, Wright confessed at length to a mostly empty courtroom, “Any reasonable person would have reason to doubt my impartiality…. I’ve got to be impartial…. Did you think I was in the pocket of the government…. I have to be biased in favor of a criminal defendant…. I care about how this court is perceived by the public…. I’m trying to gracefully move out of this thing…. I’m going to recuse myself from this case…. It looks horrible. You win. I am going to vacate the hearing on June 1 and the trial beginning on June 2.
The new presiding judge in the case will be the Honorable John Arnold Kronstadt. Kronstadt graduated from Cornell University and Yale Law School. He was appointed to the federal bench by President Obama on January 5, 2011 and confirmed by the Senate three months later. He had previously served as a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge and as an attorney in private practice. One of his specialties during his 24 years in private practice was copyright law.
No official in the United States District Court for the Central District of California could offer an estimate of what the Mongols Nation case has cost tax payers so far.

Feds' war on Mongols takes alarming turn

OFF THE WIRE

Mongols MC

Source: timesnews.net

. - President Obama is often credited with being a constitutional law professor. Actually, he was a “senior lecturer” at the University of Chicago Law School, but one might question which constitution he lectured about, given his administration’s departures from the U.S. Constitution.

The latest is a request by the Department of Justice that a federal judge outlaw a word — a clear violation of the First Amendment. If it prevails, the government would then set about seizing any property upon which the word is found, a clear violation of the due process clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth amendments.

The government says it has a good purpose in mind. It wants to shut down a violent motorcycle club. But it should never matter why government wants to stretch or even violate the Constitution. The more we allow it to be weakened, the more our rights will be taken away.

In 2008, the department issued more than 100 arrest warrants in four states for members of the Mongols motorcycle club, which is headquartered in California. As part of a plea deal, the club’s president “forfeited” rights to the Mongol trademark to the department. The registered trademark consists of an image of Genghis Khan wearing sunglasses and riding a motorcycle. The trademark does not contain the word “Mongols.”

Because the government then owned the trademark, a federal judge ruled that the Mongols “must surrender all products, clothing, vehicles, motorcycles, books, posters, merchandise, stationery, or other materials bearing the Mongols trademark.”

Another federal judge partially lifted that injunction a few years later.

Now the department has asked another judge to make it illegal for Mongols members to not only wear the trademarked patch, but to even display the word “Mongols.” The Mongols responded with a First Amendment defense, arguing in court papers that the “government’s sole purpose ... is to crush the Mongols Nation Motorcycle Club by seizing the intellectual rights to the ‘Rider’ and ‘Mongol’ marks and thereby quash the club and its members’ rights to freedom of expression and association.”

It may be that the Mongols are essentially a criminal enterprise. It may be that other motorcycle clubs associated with violence, such as the two involved in the recent Texas shootings — the Bandidos and the Cossacks — also are involved in illegal activities.

If so, government should do everything it can to shut them down — everything it legally can.

But government has no constitutional authority to in effect, seize a single word and outlaw it. Nobody “owns” the word “Mongols,” which describes an Asian ethnic group.

If government can ban a single word and confiscate anything the word is displayed on, what’s next? 

U.S. Transportation Regulators To Crack Down On Novelty Motorcycle Helmets

OFF THE WIRE
1helmet
 U.S. transportation regulators on Wednesday called for stronger rules for motorcycle helmets, proposing additional safety requirements in an effort to crack down on “novelty” helmets that do not meet federal standards. The Department of Transportation said such uncertified helmets are unsafe and do not protect riders in crashes despite being sold and marketed for use on the road.

Its proposal would further define what makes an acceptable motorcycle helmet, from its thickness to its compression ability, in an attempt to help riders and state law enforcement officials identify inferior helmets. Such proposed changes aim “to reduce fatalities and injuries resulting from traffic accidents involving use of motorcycle helmets” that fail to meet federal standards, Department of Transportation regulators said.
Deaths stemming from motorcycle crashes are disproportionately high, they said, in part due to the high number of motorcyclists wearing substandard helmets. Novelty helmets generally cover a smaller area of the head, have thin liners and lack the ability to absorb the force of a crash, the department said.
They are often sold with disclaimers stating that they are not for highway use “yet they are sold to highway users and used in great numbers by motorcyclists,” the regulators said.
2HelmetIt is not clear why so many riders use inferior helmets, but part of the problem seems to be that riders do not understand the risks, the regulators said. Novelty helmets can also be cheaper and appear “more comfortable or stylish,” they added.
Tougher standards are expected to help authorities prosecute sellers of noncompliant helmets in states where helmets are mandatory, regulators said.
The public can comment on the proposal for 60 days before the department moves to issue its final regulation.

COMMENT-
BY BG
The answer. NHTSA does not test helmets against the DOT standards before they can claim DOT certification; rather, each helmet manufacturer marketing their helmets for road use in the U.S. must test and self-certify the models they want to sell and then permanently affix the “DOT” emblem signifying compliance with FMVSS 218. NHTSA enforces the standard by acquiring random samples of the product and sending them to an independent testing lab to verify compliance. Penalties to manufacturers for marketing non-compliant products can be steep—up to $5,000 per helmet. FMVSS 218 sets standards in three areas of helmet performance: impact attenuation, basically energy absorption; penetration resistance; and finally the retention system effectiveness, and there are new product labeling requirements. The standard also requires peripheral vision to be not less than 105° from the helmet midline. Projections from the surface of the helmet (snaps, rivets, etc.) may not exceed 5 mm. The impact test measures acceleration of a headform inside the helmet when it is dropped from a fixed height onto a spherical and flat surfaced anvil. The standard allows a peak acceleration energy of 400 G (G being “gravity constant” or an acceleration value of ft. per second x seconds). The penetration test involves dropping a piercing test striker onto the helmet from a fixed height. The striker must not penetrate deep enough to contact the headform. The retention system test involves placing the helmet’s retention straps under load in tension. For this test the load is progressive; first a load of 22.7 kg (49.9 lb.) is applied for 30 seconds, then it is increased to 136 kg (299.2 lb.) for 120 seconds, with measurement of the stretch or displacement of a fixed point on the retention strap from the apex of the helmet. Some new standards in FMVSS 218 will go into effect in May 2013. As a result of confusion over the specifications in the test procedures for impact attenuation and the retention system, new test procedures have been put into place. The apparatus for testing a helmet retention system under DOT (FMVSS 218) standards. Those changes won’t be noticeable to the buyer—but one change will be: the DOT label that must appear on the helmet. Under the new standard, the simple “DOT” sticker of old won’t cut it. In an effort to make counterfeit labeling of non-compliant helmets more difficult and legally risky to those who do it, the DOT label displayed on the back of the helmet must now include, in order from top to bottom: The manufacturer’s name Model number or name “DOT” below the manufacturer’s name “FMVSS 218” centered below DOT The word “Certified” below FMVSS 218 For additional information, visit the National Highway Safety Administration. - See more at: http://cyrilhuzeblog.com/2015/05/21/u-s-transportation-regulators-to-crack-down-on-novelty-motorcycle-helmets/#more-148282

BABE OF THE DAY


Wednesday, May 27, 2015

USA - Feds Plan To Ban Biker Gangs From Wearing Logos

OFF THE WIRE
Federal law enforcement plans to ban fight back against biker gangs by banning them from wearing group logo patches on their jackets. Claiming that “the logo itself furthers a criminal enterprise,” prosecutors say that groups like the Mongols Nation should have the rights to their group’s logo seized by the federal government.
Police claim that if biker gangs could be stripped of their logos, this would in turn diminish their power.

Prosecutors say that this plan essentially seeks to claim rights to their logos. Without the logos, the government believes that their power will somehow wane.
A source told Fox News that “It not just stripping them of their identity, or robbing them of a recruiting tool, it’s taking the star off their helmet. The logo itself furthers a criminal enterprise.”
Donald Charles Davis, the author of the book Aging Rebel: Dispatches From The Motorcycle Outlaw Frontier, claims that this is being seen as “just a first step to what the government wants to do to all motorcycle clubs. They want to outlaw motorcycle clubs by taking their insignia away from them.”
To complicate this bizarre approach, the Mongols Nation badge was actually registered as a trademark in 2005, by the group itself. But it was prohibited in 2008 when the ATF arrested more than 100 members of the group.
The ban then was later lifted. But the government is still apparently planning on claiming rights to the logo and others once legal precedence is set with the Mongols.
The case is due to be heard in a Los Angeles court on June 2nd. We will keep you updated on the case and the implications it has for the rest of us who are not in biker gangs, who the government may nevertheless oppose.
(Article by M. David and Jackson Marciana)

Leaked Report Reveals Many Cops Are Members of Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs

OFF THE WIRE
Maybe this report isn't clear because the cops are undercover and creating the problems???

A newly-leaked report has revealed that there is a startling number of police officers who are members of “outlaw motorcycle gangs.”
The report says that among the numerous members of law enforcement agencies personally involved with such motorcycle clubs, there are also nuclear power plant technicians, senior military officers, FBI contractors and an employee of “a highly-secretive Department of Defense agency” who has a Top Secret clearance who are legitimate, off-duty members of these gangs.

The report cites over 100 individuals with sensitive military and government connections that are being investigated for their connection to these groups, in spite of their day jobs which would seem to preclude their involvement in any “outlaw” organization. The report calls them “Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs” or “OMGs”.
The lengthly Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives report was released long before the recent deadly Texas shootout that killed nine on May 17th.
The report documented the involvement of U.S. military personnel and government employees, particularly law enforcement officers in outlaw motorcycle gangs. A copy of the report (see below) was originally obtained by The Intercept.
The report detailed that officers are involved in these groups, as are members of “every part of the military.”

Not only that, members of federal law enforcement agencies are also members of these groups, and many have Secret or Top Secret clearances.

“The OMG community continues to spread its tentacles throughout all facets of government,” the report states.
The relationship between OMGs and law enforcement has come under scrutiny after it became known that law enforcement were on site in Waco bracing for conflict.

The 40-page report, “OMGs and the Military 2014,” was penned by the BATF’s Office of Strategic Intelligence and Information, last July. It specifically warned of escalating violence, stemming from what it called “their insatiable appetite for dominance has led to shootings, assaults and malicious attacks across the globe. OMGs continue to maim and murder over territory.”
So why would so many members of law enforcement be involved in organizations characterized in these terms?
The report forewarned of incidences like what recently occurred in Waco, suggesting that “as tensions escalate, brazen shootings are occurring in broad daylight.”
But the report did not seem to interpret why so many members of law enforcement themselves were involved, even while noting concern over it.
The report noted that OMGs “continue to court active-duty military personnel and government workers, both civilians and contractors, for their knowledge, reliable income, tactical skills and dedication to a cause.”
It added that, “through our extensive analysis, it has been revealed that a large number of support clubs are utilizing active-duty military personnel and U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) contractors and employees to spread their tentacles across the United States.”
An ATF spokesperson responded to questions about the report, saying, “this was supposed to be solely a law enforcement tool to help fight violent crime.”
In other words, we were never supposed to have seen it.
The ATF spokesperson added that, “it was not supposed to be out there in the ether for general consumption.”

Read the full report that “was not supposed to be out there” for you to see…

(Article by Jackson Marciana)

Introducing the official poster for "A Father's Journey"

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Introducing the official poster for "A Father's Journey" ! Our movie will be premiering in Las Vegas this weekend! Thank you all for the support and keep spreading the word and love on our movie!

The Biker Gang Protecting Veteran Funerals

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The Patriot Guard Riders are veterans who've made it their personal mission to honor servicemen and women who lost their lives in combat.

now the Patriot Guard is being called a gang.
http://www.msn.com/…/the-biker-gang-protecting-…/vi-BBk8ygM…

Texas House Passes Biker Safety Bill Days After Shooting

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Texas House Passes Biker Safety Bill Days After Shooting. Texas lawmakers approved motorcycle safety legislation on Friday that supporters say was going to be discussed at the biker’s meeting in Waco where a deadly shootout erupted last weekend. The bill, which now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott, would funnel some of the state’s motorcycle-related fees to state Department of Transportation campaigns that remind motorists to share the road and look twice for motorcycles. Some fees already help boost the Texas Department of Public Safety’s motorcycle education efforts. Three bikers who helped write the legislation are among about 170 people jailed following Sunday’s melee in Waco that killed nine people.

The basics always bear repeating. ‪#‎Motorcycle‬ Riding Tips via Motorcyclist Magazine

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The basics always bear repeating, especially when it comes to rider safety. Can you add to this list?

BABE OF THE DAY


Tuesday, May 26, 2015

TEXAS - Waco’s Little Big Man

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agingrebel.com
About 20 seconds into Arthur Penn’s 1970 film Little Big Man, 121-year-old Jack Crabb announces, “I am the sole white survivor of the Battle of the Little Big Horn popularly known as Custer’s Last Stand.” Last Saturday, about 12 hours into a long holiday weekend, the Washington Post, a paper known mostly for it’s insightful political gossip and one of America’s half dozen newspapers of record, published a solitary first person account of another massacre – the one in the Twin Peaks restaurant parking lot in Waco on May 17 that resulted in nine deaths, 27 injuries, 17 hospitalizations and something like 178 arrests.
The survivor, unnamed but identified as “president of a North Texas chapter” of the Cossacks “motorcycle gang,” told the Post that about 100 Bandidos materialized at a Texas Region Confederation of Clubs and Independents meeting and immediately lost their minds. The Cossack, the Post explained, “is a rare eye-witness speaking publicly about the Waco massacre.”

Plausibility

The Cossack’s account is plausible and there is a precedent for the tragedy. On September 30, 2012 five Warbird Warlocks (who are a preeminent club in Florida) rode into the Winter Springs, Florida staging area for a charity poker run sponsored by the Harpy Warlocks. The Harpy Warlocks were affiliated with a club that has roots in Philadelphia and included several members who had been expelled from the Warbird Warlocks and one member who had previously shot a Warbird Warlock. The Harpy Warlocks seem to have been convinced that the five Warbird Warlocks were a scout party for a much larger, hostile pack and when the five rode into the staging area the Harpy Warlocks lit them up. Three men died almost immediately and two, who shot back, were wounded but survived. The Harpy Warlocks acted, they later claimed to a man, in self defense. Four men were charged with murder. A jury convicted two of them and found two of them not guilty.
The Florida case was bizarre beyond the general public’s understanding but it was not incomprehensible to people who have some rudimentary knowledge of the motorcycle club world. The Waco massacre is much more difficult for anyone to understand without relying on the sort of stale biker clichés Hunter Thompson tried, and failed, to dispel a half century ago. That is one problem with the Post’s story. Tim Madigan and Kevin Sullivan, the feature story’s main authors are naïve.

Believability

The unnamed Cossack’s account is layered with and given the same credibility as ludicrous statements made by Waco police spokesman W. Patrick Swanton. The Post also has discovered the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives report, “OMGs and the Military 2014,” which was published last July 1 and first reported here last July 11. The Bandidos are mentioned 26 times in the report. The Cossacks are not mentioned once. The Iron Order, the “law abiding motorcycle club” is mentioned eight times. The Post uses the ATF report to substantiate a claim by the Waco police that “the Bandidos, the most notorious biker gang in Texas,” are arming themselves “with grenades and C4 explosives.” Not some Bandidos but “the Bandidos.”
The Post’s story raises at least as many questions as it answers.
For example, the Post states that two large packs of outlaw bikers travelled to Waco. The Post says there were 70 Cossacks and 100 Bandidos but it neglects to mention how many Texas Highway Patrol cruisers and how many Texas Department of Public Safety helicopters followed the packs. Anyone who has ever ridden in a large pack probably has the same question. Where were the helicopters? Where were the police who followed the big packs into the Central Texas Market Place shopping center?
According to the Post, the Bandidos made a disturbance at and shot up their own event. Whether the Bandidos is the preeminent club in Texas or not, the club thinks it is. The COCI meeting had at least the tacit approval of the Bandidos and most one percenter motorcycle clubs in the world, when placed in a similar situation, would assume responsibility for keeping the event violence free.
According to the Post: “A Bandido with a patch identifying him as sergeant-at-arms of the same chapter threw a punch at Richard Matthew Jordan II, 31, known as ‘Richie,’ who was from Pasadena, Tex. Jordan punched the guy back. ‘“At that point in time, the sergeant in arms shot Richie point-blank,’ the Cossack said.”
Really? In front of at least 22 sworn peace officers? In broad daylight? In a location that was obviously well-surveilled by video cameras?
“Then all the Bandidos standing in the parking lot started pulling guns and shooting at us,” the Cossack chapter president told the Post. Really? Without a thought to what their legal defense would be? In broad daylight in front of numerous police?
The anonymous Cossack told the Post, “Three of our guys went down instantly. They caught a couple more that tripped and fell, and Bandidos were shooting at them.” In other words, the police stood and watched as Bandidos executed five Cossacks? Does that pass the smell test?

Talk

Presumably, the Post verified that its anonymous source was actually a Cossack club officer and an eyewitness. But it is unclear how he escaped and it is equally unclear how and why he started talking to a freelance writer named Tim Madigan.
The Post’s story reads like a federal racketeering indictment so the biggest question of all is whether the source is working for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Has he been debriefed by the ATF? Is he under arrest now? Is he working for the government now? Was he working for the government eight days ago? Why is this man talking?




Alabama. Motorcycle License Bill Passes Legislature.

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Alabama. Motorcycle License Bill Passes Legislature. Alabamians will need to have a motorcycle classification on their license, and take a written exam or safety course, under a bill that has passed the state Legislature. Currently, only motorcyclists age 14 and 15 have to take a written test and get the M classification. Those older than that may get the classification, but don’t have to. Motorcyclists who already have the M classification will be grandfathered in. The law will become effective Jan. 1, 2016. Law enforcement will then be able to issue tickets to motorcyclists who don’t have the M classification. The bill also allows drivers to complete a safety course instead of the written test. There’s a $5 fee for the written test.

USA - US aims to crack down on 'novelty' motorcycle helmets

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Up until now there has been NO attempt to honestly regulate sales of non-conforming helmets to the public.
Law already protects the buying public as much, or more, than we need to be protected.
http://www.foxnews.com/…/us-aims-to-crack-down-on-novelty-…/

COMMENT
In California, it is against the law to sell a helmet claiming it is "DOT approved."
There are no DOT Approved products.

California Business and Professions Code makes it illegal to sell anything using false or misleading information.
The BOLT of CA website has the specifics.

Not exactly.
The DOT means "the manufacturer certifies that it is compliant."
In other words, legal until tested by a laboratory and proven non-compliant with federal standard. That is true in every state.

It's just that people in every state THINK the letters DOT means it has the DOT's approval.
CA law says you cant sell "snake oil" but isn't it (shouldn't it be) that way in all states?



Federal standard states when a manufacturer puts DOT on a helmet, it is the legal presumption the helmet is legal. It can only be shown to be illegal if the manufacturer "recalls" it, and/or if a government agency pats for an independent laboratory to conduct a scientific test described in 49CFR571.218 (FMCSS218).
Federal court for the 9 western states said it must also be proven the helmet wearer knew the helmet was illegal.
For a lab to test, 8 identical helmets (model # and size) are tested in various ways, which destroys all helmets. Tests must be performed on new helmets, not on previously worn helmets.


morocyclehelmets.jpg
U.S. transportation regulators on Wednesday called for stronger rules for motorcycle helmets, proposing additional safety requirements in an effort to crack down on "novelty" helmets that do not meet federal standards.
The Department of Transportation said such uncertified helmets are unsafe and do not protect riders in crashes despite being sold and marketed for use on the road.

Its proposal would further define what makes an acceptable motorcycle helmet, from its thickness to its compression ability, in an attempt to help riders and state law enforcement officials identify inferior helmets.
Such proposed changes aim "to reduce fatalities and injuries resulting from traffic accidents involving use of motorcycle helmets" that fail to meet federal standards, Department of Transportation regulators said.
Deaths stemming from motorcycle crashes are disproportionately high, they said, in part due to the high number of motorcyclists wearing substandard helmets.
Novelty helmets generally cover a smaller area of the head, have thin liners and lack the ability to absorb the force of a crash, the department said. They are often sold with disclaimers stating that they are not for highway use "yet they are sold to highway users and used in great numbers by motorcyclists," the regulators said.
It is not clear why so many riders use inferior helmets, but part of the problem seems to be that riders do not understand the risks, the regulators said. Novelty helmets can also be cheaper and appear "more comfortable or stylish," they added.
Tougher standards will help authorities prosecute sellers of noncompliant helmets in states where helmets are mandatory, regulators said. Just three of the 50 U.S. states - Illinois, Iowa and New Hampshire - do not require motorcycle riders to wear helmets, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a nonprofit research group.

The public can comment on the proposal for 60 days before the department moves to issue its final regulation.

Come on out to the Berdoo Annual Summerbash. July 12, 2015.

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Come on out to the Berdoo Annual Summerbash. July 12, 2015. It would be good to see as many of you as possible. Going to be a fun day for all. Any volunteers for the Dunk Tank ? Let us know. Have a great weekend. Stay strong!

BABE OF THE DAY


Monday, May 25, 2015

THE FINAL INSPECTION.....

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  1. THE FINAL INSPECTION
    The Soldier stood and faced God,
    Which must always come to pass.
    He hoped his shoes were shining,
    Just as brightly as his brass.
    ‘Step forward now, Soldier,
    How shall I deal with you?
    Have you always turned the other cheek?
    To My Church have you been true?’
    The soldier squared his shoulders and said,
    ‘no, Lord, I guess I ain’t.
    Because those of us who carry guns,
    Can’t always be a saint.
    I’ve had to work most Sundays,
    And at times my talk was tough.
    And sometimes I’ve been violent,
    Because the world is awfully rough.
    But, I never took a penny,
    That wasn’t mine to keep.
    Though I worked a lot of overtime,
    When the bills just got too steep.
    And I never passed a cry for help,
    Though at times I shook with fear.
    And sometimes, God, forgive me,
    I’ve wept unmanly tears.
    I know I don’t deserve a place,
    Among the people here.
    They never wanted me around,
    Except to calm their fears.
    If you’ve a place for me here, Lord,
    It needn’t be so grand.
    I never expected or had too much,
    But if you don’t, I’ll understand.
    There was a silence all around the throne,
    Where the saints had often trod.
    As the Soldier waited quietly,
    For the judgment of his God.
    ‘Step forward now, you Soldier,
    You’ve borne your burdens well.
    Walk peacefully on Heaven’s streets,
    You’ve done your time in Hell.’
    ~Author Unknown~

TEXAS - First Lawsuit Filed in Biker-Gang Shootout

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     DALLAS (CN) - A neighboring restaurant has filed the first lawsuit against the Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco where a deadly shootout between rival biker gangs broke out on Sunday.
     Don Carlos Restaurant and Waco-based franchisee DC Waco Restaurant, Inc. sued Peaktastic Beverage, LLC, which does business as Twin Peaks Restaurant, Addison-based corporate parent Front Burner Restaurants GP, LLC, and Twin Restaurant Investment Co., LLC in county court on Thursday.
     The plaintiff claims Twin Peaks "disregarded basic common sense and ordinary prudence" by inviting the armed rival gang members to a meeting where alcohol was served.
     "Twin Peaks has been repeatedly warned by law enforcement that such meetings were not wise, and that violence could likely result," the eight-page complaint states. "This was part of a nationwide program by the corporate franchisor that encouraged such events. Because of decisions that defy common sense, not only has the Twin Peaks lost its liquor license and franchise rights, but nine people are dead and at least 18 are wounded."
     The plaintiff argues it has suffered "as further fallout from these imprudent and unreasonable decisions." It has yet to open since the shootout, saying police closed businesses immediately surrounding Twin Peaks.
     "Patrons of plaintiff's place of business were trapped inside the establishment as thousands of bullet rounds were fired by law enforcement officials and gang members," the complaint states. "Law enforcement agents used plaintiff's porch and surrounding walls to protect themselves from incoming fire. At least four cars in the parking lot of plaintiff's place of business now have multiple bullet holes in them."
     Waco police have also criticised the Twin Peaks' Waco management for being uncooperative leading up to the shooting. Several armed police officers were present in the restaurant's parking lot in anticipation of trouble.
     The plaintiff says the Twin Peaks location is a "known destination" for motorcycle clubs and gangs due to its sponsored events.
     "Twin Peaks, through its operating partner, Jay Patel, hosted a special event on Sunday, May 17, 2015, for the biker clientele deemed the 'Texas Region 1 Confederation of Clubs and Independents Meeting,'" the complaint states. "This meeting was promoted by Twin Peaks through targeted advertisements, including photos of scantily-clad dressed women holding various firearms."
     Twin Peaks franchisor spokesman Rick Van Warner declined to comment on the lawsuit.
     "Since we have yet to be served and have not seen lawsuit, it would be inappropriate to speculate at this time," Van Warner told Courthouse News on Thursday.
     Touting itself as the "ultimate sports lodge," Twin Peaks sells comfort food and cold beer served by scantily-clad "Girl Next Door" waitresses, according to its website.
     It operates over 70 locations in 23 states.
     Don Carlos Restaurant seeks over $1 million in actual damages in lost profits and punitive damages for negligence and gross negligence. It is represented by Anthony G. Buzbee in Houston. 

CA - Oakland Settles Over Bust of Cop-Watching Journalist

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     OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) - The city of Oakland agreed to pay $9,500 to an independent video journalist known for documenting police misconduct, who claimed police officers wrongfully detained him with a "groundless" jaywalking ticket.
     Jacob Crawford, the founder of wecopwatch.org, said he was given the citation on July 19, 2013 for jaywalking in downtown Oakland after he took photos of police officers at a demonstration protesting the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin.
     Crawford said he also asked the officers to identify themselves.
     According to the suit, Crawford was handcuffed for several minutes after he received the citation, which was eventually dismissed in traffic court.
     Rachel Lederman, Crawford's attorney, said in a telephone interview that such a policy of "aggressive ticketing" has been a recent implementation of the Oakland Police Department.
     She said the officers particularly target demonstrators and journalists who are leaving the protest on bicycles and then try to catch the cyclists in technical traffic violations in order to gather their personal information.
     "It's all supposedly part of an effort to deter vandalism in connection with demonstrations, and that in and of itself would be a legitimate police goal, except the people being ticketed have nothing to do with the vandalism," Lederman said. "The practice really does nothing to stop property damage, but it's chilling to First Amendment activity to collect personal information about who's going to demonstrations."
     Lederman said that in some cases the citations are legitimate, but Crawford's was not.
     "The ticket was used to intimidate him and suppress his lawful First Amendment activity," she said. "If he hadn't had a lawyer to fight the ticket and get it thrown out, that would have been a $150 to $200 ticket. That's a lot of money for people who go to demonstrations."
     She said San Francisco's police department is generally effective at policing vandalism, but she said Oakland's tactics "actually have nothing to do with the people who are committing serious crimes."
     "They're just trying to give as many tickets as possible to people who are demonstrators or engaging in journalism of demonstrations," she said. "That deters the exercise of the right to free speech."
     Oakland's city attorney could not be reached for comment on Friday.
     Lederman's office is in Oakland.