Friday, June 30, 2017

CALIFORNIA - BREAKING: Gun Owners FORCED To Forfeit Or Go To Jail After What Dems Just Snuck In Overnight

OFF THE WIRE
By Amanda Shea
The crackdown on gun control had come to a screeching halt once Donald Trump took office, but that didn’t stop Democrats from getting their way. Without warning or knowing what was going on, gun owners are now waking up to horrible news about their Seconde Amendment right which has just been incredibly infringed upon in a way that’s beyond unconstitutional. Sneaky liberals plotted against Republicans and surprised everyone with what they were able to pass through the night, forcing law-abiding Americans into forfeiture or face jail time.
The old saying goes that “nothing good happens after midnight” and that’s certainly the case as people are realizing what Democrats did to people who legally and rightfully purchased their weapons. Starting on July 1, millions of people’s armories are going to change for the worse as they are being forced to turn in the simplest of magazines for their guns that renders them ineffective. Of course, this doesn’t apply to criminals who don’t follow laws that liberals or anyone else makes, they will get and keep their guns to use against the now defenseless.
Beginning July 1, 2017, Californian’s will be forced once again to give up more of their Second Amendment right to the state thanks to the state’s liberal leadership employing the use of fear mongering to get their way once again. They are asking the citizens to turn in their gun magazines that hold ten rounds or more. They are asked to forfeit all of their magazines that hold over ten rounds, to local law enforcement, an authorized gun dealer who might purchase them from the person, or they can ship them to someone in a state that don’t share similar laws.
While the people of California are being forced to give up magazines that they spent their hard-earned money on and once legally purchased, the state is also not offering any compensation to those who comply with the law. Although the forfeiture is voluntary, because law enforcement also doesn’t have the capital to search and seize the magazines, they are now criminal to own if and could lead to punishment if you’re caught in possession of them.
However, this is just the start of a long list of constitutional breaches in this particular area. Even though owners are allowed to have magazines that hold ten rounds or less, they may not be able to get any bullets to put in them.


According to The Sacramento Bee:
Starting in January, Californians who want to buy ammunition online or through catalogs will have to ship their purchases through a licensed dealer. In July 2019, ammunition buyers will have to undergo background checks at retailers. Under the existing rules, anyone age 18 or older (21 or older for handguns) can buy ammunition without a background check, and sellers need no special training or license.
“The gun controllers in California don’t care that none of these laws will stop criminals from getting high-capacity magazines or from getting ammunition without a background check,” the Federalist Papers reported. “Because these people don’t actually care about stopping criminals; they only care about controlling law-abiding citizens who simply want to practice their fundamental human right to self-defense.”
The government hits to the gun owner don’t stop there as today the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a law that would allow California’s citizens to apply for a concealed carry permit. The current law states that unless you have “good cause” to have a permit, you will be denied that right. Ordinary, law-abiding people, now not only don’t have the right to carry anything over ten rounds, they can’t conceal either unless they can convince the unrelenting government of their need and right to do so — a burden which is completely on the individual.
Justices Thomas and Gorsuch both state that the court should have reviewed the appellate ruling in this case. “Thomas said the decision not to hear the case ‘reflects a distressing trend: the treatment of the Second Amendment as a disfavored right’,” Fox News reported.
The liberal government of California continues to stifle the rights of gun owners in its state. It does this while it grants a safe haven for violent criminals in its sanctuary cities. The hard working taxpayers aren’t allowed to effectively protect their families because the “rulers” of the state continue to believe they have a better understanding of our constitution than our forefathers.

Proposed Law Will Jail Passengers for 4 Months for Riding in a Car Without an ID

OFF THE WIRE
Land of the fee, home of the slave..
Phoenix, AZ – The nanny/security state has reared its ugly head, again — this time in the form of a new law that requires passengers in a vehicle to carry identification – with violators facing up to four months in jail and a $750 dollar fine.

Last week, HB 2305 was introduced by Rep. Anthony Kern (R-Dist. 20), in hopes of reinstating an Arizona law that was struck down in 2002 after a judge ruled the statute as too vague to enforce.

Currently, Arizona law requires only requires that the driver of a vehicle carry identification.

The new law would require passengers in a vehicle to have evidence of identity, with failure to do so resulting in a misdemeanor charge, which allows for a penalty of up to four months in jail. The entire text of the bill can be read here.

There are no stipulations in the bill differentiating between children and adults. Thus, under the proposed law, if passed in its current form, parents would be ridiculously obliged to procure IDs for their children to be able to simply ride in a vehicle without breaking the law.

Furthermore, the way the bill is worded makes it potentially applicable to anyone riding a bicycle if officers felt like applying it in that manner.

Under established precedent, an officer is only allowed to request identification from someone if there is reasonable suspicion of a crime, or traffic infraction, to stop the driver of the vehicle.

Rep. Kern attempted to justify this absurd law by stating, “Police officers need to know who they are talking to, and we wanted to clarify it in statute for passengers also,” in reference to a previous court ruling that negated the old passenger ID law, which resulted in the dropping of possession of drug charges for a suspect who was arrested as a passenger for not having a valid ID and was not wearing a seatbelt.
READ MORE:  Fmr UN Secretary General Speaks Out, "The War on Drugs is a War on People" -- Legalize It All

The reality of the situation is that under established U.S. law, unless an officer has a reasonable articulable suspicion of a crime afoot, a citizen is under no obligation to provide identification. Make no mistake that there is no logic or reason in attempting to force passengers to carry ID under threat of imprisonment.

These actions are simply another means of providing the government with more control over individuals when agents of the state and citizens interact. The state is clearly attempting to tread upon the civil liberties/rights that are supposed to be inherent to all Americans.

Steve Kilar, spokesperson with the American Civil Liberties Union of Arizona, said the proposal would ascribe a harsh punishment for a minor violation.

“This proposal takes us one step closer to a society in which we’re required to carry identification whenever we leave our homes,” Kilar said. “Furthermore, it needlessly piles criminal penalties onto civil violations, which would lead to huge fines and fees for otherwise minor violations. We don’t need people branded criminals simply because they failed to carry—or do not have—an ID card.”

Federal judge blocks California ban on high-capacity magazines

OFF THE WIRE
A federal judge has temporarily blocked a voter-approved California law that would have forced gun owners to get rid of high-capacity ammunition magazines by this Saturday.
http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/article158965184.html

California lawmakers and voters passed a slew of new gun and ammunition laws in 2016 that will significantly affect the state’s more than 6 million firearms owners. Gun dealers say the overlapping laws have created confusion. Ryan Sabalow The Sacramento Bee


Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/article158965184.html#storylink=cpyBy Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/article158965184.html#storylink=cpy

BABE OF THE DAY

Wow...... is that a plug in air freshener or a night light ???
Image may contain: 1 person, text

Thursday, June 29, 2017

CALIFORNIA - ABATE Local 6 Meeting - July 2, 2017

OFF THE WIRE
MEETING NOTICE  


WHEN:      Sunday, July 2, 2017               TIME:  12:00 noon   
WHERE:    Kate Sessions Park – Pacific Beach

HAPPY 4th OF JULY    


Snowman is on his way to Hollister for his annual 4th of July Party, so I’ll take care of the meeting and hope a bunch of our members and friends will join me.

For the meeting this Sunday, we’ll cover some of our standard subjects plus whatever else anyone would like to discuss:
  • General Business                                                                                             
  • Treasury Report
  • Membership
  • Legislative and Judicial Updates
  • Phone Tree and E-Mail Alerts
  • Merchandise
  • Safety Report
  • Runs and Events
  • Political / PAC / Judicial / Legislative  
  • Webmaster   
  • Old Business
  • New Business  

ABATE MEMBERSHIP DRIVE RAFFLE TICKETS.  We have 100 raffle tickets to sell so if anyone would like to purchase a few, I’ll have them at the meeting.  What we don’t sell, usually the Local buys the rest.  We’ve won in the past and it’s a really good cause. 

RUNS AND EVENTS.  Be sure to check the Bailing Wire for ABATE events.  Here’s a couple to put on your calendar:
  • Final Option Breakfast – July 2 – Sweetwater HD – 8:00 a.m. to 11 a.m. – Upstairs.  Plenty of time to ride to Sweetwater, have a good breakfast, and then head up to Kate Sessions!
  • ABATE Local 11 Meeting – July 9  – Escondido Moose Lodge, 25721 Jesmond Dene Road, Escondido – 11 a.m.  Come for the meeting and breakfast … they have seats and you can come early and have breakfast, too. 
  • ABATE Board of Directors Meeting – July 29 – American Legion in Buena Park.  This is a new time and place.  A meeting notice is attached.  It you haven’t attended a board meeting, this one is close.

BAILING WIRE.  This is an electronic Bailing Wire month.  If you didn’t received it, it’s attached.

For future meetings, if you have any subjects or topics you’d like discussed, please email to let me know what you’d like covered.  We’ll do our best.  Also, please remember to let us know if you change membership information--address, telephone, email, etc.  Send requests and updates to nemecek@san.rr.com.
Thanks,
Nancy Nemecek
Vice President – Local 6
Email – nemecek@san.rr.com

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Monday, June 26, 2017

Tennessee Motorcycle Rally

OFF THE WIRE
There will be a bike festival in the general vicinity of Nashville in late September but it will not be the con game called Nashville Bike Week.
As briefly stated as possible, a convicted grifter with warrants out for his arrest in four states started selling the promise that there would be ten-day motorcycle rally near Nashville on November 24, 2015. The grifter’s name was Mike Leffingwell. He told people his name was Mike Axle. He incorporated as Superflow Entertainment. He trademarked the phrase “Nashville Bike Week” and tried to trademark the slogan “It’s Not A rally, It’s An Experience.”
Leffingwell promised the experience would last from September 14 through September 24, 2017 and it would be held at Loretta Lynn’s Ranch and Camp Grounds. And it was going to be the most terrific, beautiful, amazing motorcycle rally in history. Loretta Lynn backed out of the proposed rally because Leffingwell was sloppy and he didn’t pay people. Then Leffingwell promised the event would be held at Opryland. That did not work out either. Somehow, for some reason, a blonde named Janelle Roberts became a spokeswomen for the event a couple of months ago and it is anybody’s guess whether she is Leffinwell’s partner in crime or another of his many victims. After Leffingwell was arrested in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Roberts announced on television and in social media that Nashville Bike Week would be held 112 miles from Nashville at the American Rebel Mud Park near Waynesboro, Tennessee.

Bad News

The Mud Park is owned by Stan Chiras who told Nashville television station WKRN, “When I heard the Opryland venue fell through I reached out to the organizers and told them about my place. I talked to Mike that day, but he ended up getting arrested that afternoon.”
Some amount of money between $940,000 and $4.5 million has vanished into thin air. Chiras knows it and last week, on television, he promised to try to make things right. ““I’m trying to figure out what has happened. How much money came in. Where the money went. Who we have commitments to,” he said and it is anybody’s guess why he said that.
Yesterday Chiras backed out saying that there was “no way to meet promises made by Superflow Entertainment to its customers.”
What Leffingwell seemed to prove with his grand hoax is that there are many people who would like to attend a bike rally in the greater Nashville metropolitan area this September.

Better News

And, already another bike event that wants you to know that it “is not associated in any way with any other previous events in the area” has been scheduled. On June 6, Loretta Lynn distributed a press release that announced that her venue in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee, 60 miles west of Nashville was going to host the Tennessee Motorcycles & Music Revival from September 28 through the first of October.
Lynn’s ranch has hosted the American Motorcyclist Association Amateur National Motocross Championship for nearly 40 years
“We’ve been having motorcycles here forever with the AMA, and all year long thousands of people riding in to camp at the Ranch. This is what we do here, and I’m so excited for this new one to happen.” Lynn announced in her press release.
The event will feature “live music at multiple locations, a variety of entertainment, specialty food trucks, premium and primitive camping sites” and vendors.
One of the sponsors of the event will be Appleton Harley-Davidson of Clarksville, Tennessee. “There has been some drama in the local motorcycle event scene locally,” the dealership’s owners were quoted as saying. “We saw just how many people want to have a great time getting together to ride and enjoy each other’s company. We thank Loretta Lynn and her family for the chance to be a part of this event and truly look forward to hosting the motorcycle community near and far.”
Tickets start at $45. You can find out more about the Tennessee Motorcycles & Music Revival here.





Sunday, June 25, 2017

IRISH: THE FORGOTTEN WHITE SLAVES



OFF THE WIRE..
They came as slaves: human cargo transported on British ships bound for the Americas. They were shipped by the
hundreds of thousands and included men, women, and even the youngest of children.

Whenever they rebelled or even disobeyed an order, they were punished in the harshest ways. Slave owners would hang their human property by their hands and set their hands or feet on fire as one form of punishment. Some were burned alive and had their heads placed on pikes in the marketplace as a warning to other captives.
We don’t really need to go through all of the gory details, do we? We know all too well the atrocities of the African slave trade.
But are we talking about African slavery? King James VI and Charles I also led a continued effort to enslave the Irish. Britain’s Oliver Cromwell furthered this practice of dehumanizing one’s next door neighbor.
The Irish slave trade began when James VI sold 30,000 Irish prisoners as slaves to the New World. His Proclamation of 1625 required Irish political prisoners be sent overseas and sold to English settlers in the West Indies.
By the mid 1600s, the Irish were the main slaves sold to Antigua and Montserrat. At that time, 70% of the total population of Montserrat were Irish slaves.
Ireland quickly became the biggest source of human livestock for English merchants. The majority of the early slaves to the New World were actually white.
From 1641 to 1652, over 500,000 Irish were killed by the English and another 300,000 were sold as slaves. Ireland’s population fell from about 1,500,000 to 600,000 in one single decade.
Families were ripped apart as the British did not allow Irish dads to take their wives and children with them across the Atlantic. This led to a helpless population of homeless women and children. Britain’s solution was to auction them off as well.
During the 1650s, over 100,000 Irish children between the ages of 10 and 14 were taken from their parents and sold as slaves in the West Indies, Virginia and New England. In this decade, 52,000 Irish (mostly women and children) were sold to Barbados and Virginia.
Another 30,000 Irish men and women were also transported and sold to the highest bidder. In 1656, Cromwell ordered that 2000 Irish children be taken to Jamaica and sold as slaves to English settlers.
Many people today will avoid calling the Irish slaves what they truly were: Slaves. They’ll come up with terms like “Indentured Servants” to describe what occurred to the Irish. However, in most cases from the 17th and 18th centuries, Irish slaves were nothing more than human cattle.
As an example, the African slave trade was just beginning during this same period. It is well recorded that African slaves, not tainted with the stain of the hated Catholic theology and more expensive to purchase, were often treated far better than their Irish counterparts.
African slaves were very expensive during the late 1600s (£50 Sterling). Irish slaves came cheap (no more than £5 Sterling). If a planter whipped, branded or beat an Irish slave to death, it was never a crime. A death was a monetary setback, but far cheaper than killing a more expensive African.
The English masters quickly began breeding the Irish women for both their own personal pleasure and for greater profit. Children of slaves were themselves slaves, which increased the size of the master’s free workforce.
Even if an Irish woman somehow obtained her freedom, her kids would remain slaves of her master. Thus, Irish mothers, even with this new found emancipation, would seldom abandon their children and would remain in servitude.
In time, the English thought of a better way to use these women to increase their market share: The settlers began to breed Irish women and girls (many as young as 12) with African men to produce slaves with a distinct complexion. These new “mulatto” slaves brought a higher price than Irish livestock and, likewise, enabled the settlers to save money rather than purchase new African slaves.
This practice of interbreeding Irish females with African men went on for several decades and was so widespread that, in 1681, legislation was passed “forbidding the practice of mating Irish slave women to African slave men for the purpose of producing slaves for sale.” In short, it was stopped only because it interfered with the profits of a large slave transport company.
England continued to ship tens of thousands of Irish slaves for more than a century. Records state that, after the 1798 Irish Rebellion, thousands of Irish slaves were sold to both America and Australia. There were horrible abuses of both African and Irish captives. One British ship even dumped 1,302 slaves into the Atlantic Ocean so that the crew would have plenty of food to eat.
There is little question the Irish experienced the horrors of slavery as much (if not more, in the 17th Century) as the Africans did. There is also little question that those brown, tanned faces you witness in your travels to the West Indies are very likely a combination of African and Irish ancestry.
In 1839, Britain finally decided on it’s own to end its participation in Satan’s highway to hell and stopped transporting slaves. While their decision did not stop pirates from doing what they desired, the new law slowly concluded this chapter of Irish misery.
But, if anyone, black or white, believes that slavery was only an African experience, then they’ve got it completely wrong. Irish slavery is a subject worth remembering, not erasing from our memories.
But, why is it so seldom discussed? Do the memories of hundreds of thousands of Irish victims not merit more than a mention from an unknown writer?
Or is their story to be the one that their English masters intended: To completely disappear as if it never happened.


None of the Irish victims ever made it back to their homeland to describe their ordeal. These are the lost slaves; the ones that time and biased history books conveniently forgot.


Interesting historical note: the last person killed at the Salem Witch Trials was Ann Glover. She and her husband had been shipped to Barbados as a slave in the 1650's. Her husband was killed there for refusing to renounce catholicism.


In the 1680's she was working as a housekeeper in Salem. After some of the children she was caring for got sick she was accused of being a witch.

At the trial they demanded she say the Lord's Prayer. She did so, but in Gaelic, because she didn't know English. She was then hung.  


To learn more you can go to the following sources:

Political Education Committee (PEC)
                  American Ireland Education Foundation
                    54 South Liberty Drive, Suite 401
                         Stony Point  NY  10980
               
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
                              Bibliography
Aubrey Gwynn, S.J., Documents relating to Irish in the West
Indies -- Analecta Hibernica
     Page:     153
     Note:     1
Edward O'Meagher Condon, The Irish Race in America, New York,
A.E. and R.E. Ford, 1887
     Page:     15        41        38,9
     Note:     3         21        37
Arthur Percoval Newton, The European Nations in the West Indies
1493-1688, London, J. Dickens & Co, Reprint 1967
     Page:     163
     Note:     4
Richard S. Dunn, Sugar and Slaves, Chapel Hill, NC, U of NC
Press, 1972
     Page:     56, 122, 130   ?    133  160 
     Note:     5              13    24    25
     Page:     327  ?    131  141
     Note:     29   30   32   34
Maurice Lenihan, History of Limerick, Cork, Mercier, ?
     Page:     668,9    669
     Note:     6        26
John P. Prendergast, The Cromwellian Settlement of Ireland,
Dublin, ?, 1865
     Note:     9    17
Sir William Petty, Political Anatomy of Ireland, London, ?, 1719 
     Page:     19
     Note:     7
John Thurloe, Letter of Henry Cromwell, 4th Thurloe's State
Papers, London, 1742
      Note:     8
Thomas Addis Emmet, Ireland Under English Rule, NY & London,
Putnam, 1903
     Page:     101, vol I 101, vol I    211,2
     Note:     12           19           28
Joseph J. Williams, Whence the "Black Irish" of Jamaica, NY,
Dial, MCMXXXII
     Page:     17        17
     Note:     10        11
Anthony Broudine, Propuguaculum, Pragae Anno, 1669
     Note:     18
Dr. John Lingard, History of England, Edinburgh, ? ,1902
     Page:     336, vol X
     Note:     20
Abbot E. Smith, Colonists in Bondage, 1607-1776, Glouster, Mass,
Smith, 1965
     Page:     164  165  334  209  336
     Note:     2    16   23   27   36
C. S. S. Higham, The Development of the Leeward Islands Under the
Restoration, 1660-1688, London,
     Cambridge, 1921
     Page:     4         47
     Note:     14        22
Richard Ligon, A True and Exact History of Barbadoes, London,
Cass, 1657, reprinted 1976
     Page:     44
     Note:     31
Eric Williams, From Columbus to Castro, 1492-1969, New York,
Harper and Roe, 1971
     Page:     101
     Note:     15
Wesley Frank Craven, The Colonies in Transition, 1660-1713, New
York, Harper and Roe, 1968
     Page:     55        58

     Note:     33        35

Saturday, June 24, 2017

Thursday, June 22, 2017

Tennessee - Bike Week Scam

OFF THE WIRE
agingrebel.com
Nashville Bike Week promoter Michael Lewis “Mike” Leffingwell, who also answers to Mike Axle and Christopher Ashley, photo above, remains incarcerated in the Warren County Regional Jail in Bowling Green, Kentucky today after his arrest Monday.
Leffingwell is a convicted conman who had outstanding warrants for his arrest in Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Missouri. He had previous convictions for theft and perjury. In a 2006 fraud case, Leffingwell agreed to a plea agreement that sentenced him to 30 months in  prison; three years supervised release and 500 hours in a residential substance abuse program. He also agreed to pay his victims $249,000 in restitution.

He is being held without bail.

Long Con

Leffingwell has been selling tickets to his proposed event for the last 13 months. At least 4,700 people have bought advance tickets for what Leffingwell  has been calling “the newest 10-day rally in over 60 years.” Leffingwell claimed Nashville Bike Week would begin next September 14 and continue through September 24  Leffingwell, in an interview with Nashville television station WTVF, is the source for the 4,700 ticket sales statistic. He has also claimed to expect total attendance at the rally to exceed 150,000.
“The scenic state of Tennessee is within hours of more than a dozen other states and with so much to offer, Nashville Bike Week is more than just a rally; it’s an experience.” Leffingwell has written. His gullible victims expected to enjoy “101 bands on four stages with nine stunt shows daily.”
Nashville television station WZTV is reporting that Leffingwell “has already received more than a million dollars in ticket sales.”
In March Leffingwell claimed to have invested $900,000 in the proposed event. At the same time he said, “After discussing it with our attorneys, there is no refunds. Sell your ticket if you don’t want to come…. I don’t want you at our event if you are a whiner and a crier. How can you even ride a bike if you act like that?”
The scam began to unravel last February when Loretta Lynn’s Ranch and Camp Grounds in Hurricane Mills, Tennessee announced it was “cutting ties with Nashville Bike Week” for failing “to meet the financial terms of” an “agreement.”

Stop Believing

Last month, Leffingwell claimed to have a deal with the Opryland Hotel. After Opryland backed out he claimed to have a deal with a local campground.
Then he announced on Facebook, “As of Today due to Opryland Hotel and the Campground being harassed they Both have pulled out. Nashville Bike week has met with attorneys today and The Bands, Entertainment, staging, Vendors have been paid or paid in full. Which leads to option 1 let the Haters win and File Bankruptcy and everyone loses. Option 2 -Get us a place to throw this party! Option 3- Take legal hard against all parties involved ruining this event. We chose 2 and 3 ! We have figured out the permits as long as we don’t camp anymore than 5,000 on site over 18 hours we are good to go.”
Leffingwell did not explain why Nashville Bike Week would have “haters.”
Just today, the Nashville Bike Week Facebook page told ticket holders:
“DO NOT BELIEVE WHAT THE NEWS IS TELLING YOU. It is all FALSE.”
“Everyone who actually purchased a ticket KNOWS 10 day general admission including primitive camping as never costed more than $225 ( not including tax), and was even less expensive if you purchased tickets at an early bird rate. I also feel our camping accommodations were made more than affordable as you can also see below a 10 day 30 amp electric spot only costed $329.25. For the entertainment we have lined up for our customers, tickets and camping accommodations were made very reasonable!!!
“With that being said, we have a new venue locked down. A major announcement will be made very soon, but please trust and listen to what we the promoters and people putting this event on are telling you. We are the individuals working every day to put this on. I do not know why the media is so against us but enough is enough. STAND WITH US!!!! We are going to have one hell of an event!!!
“Please only get the facts from us! If you have questions you can reach us via Facebook or by emailing info.nbw17@gmail.com. Updates about our new venue will be made public any day!
“Thank you for your loyalty and support!!! We are a brotherhood, it’s time to act like it and stand up against discrimination!!!

“Please share!”



Share

Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Tennessee - Nashville Con Continues

OFF THE WIRE
agingrebel.com
Nashville Bike Week is still calling itself Nashville Bike Week even though it will now happen, if it happens, at the American Rebel Mud Park which is 12 miles north of Waynesboro, Tennessee. Waynesboro is 100 miles from Nashville.
Mike Leffingwell, the conman with several names who is stuck in jail in Bowling Green, Kentucky, agreed this week not to contest extradition to Tennessee, Georgia, and Missouri where he is a wanted man. Nashville Bike Week was Leffingwell’s dream but now the torch has been passed to Janelle Roberts – who is the blonde in the photo above and the video below – and Stan Chiras, also in the photo above, who used to sell snakes in Florida but now owns American Rebel Mud Park.
Chiras runs events called “Rockin on the River” at his mud park. There is one this weekend that will feature “mud wrestling, hill’n hole mud drags, dirt drags, hot wheels downhill,” “super burgers. nachos. dogs. crawdad boil” and a guy named Brad who will let you shoot his Barrett .50 caliber rifle if you pay him.

Bad News

The bad news is that the Nashville Bike Week has gotten off to a very rough start. Leffingwell sold tickets for a year and at least 4,700 people gave him money. A ticket receipt obtained by The Aging Rebel lists “early bird” ticket charges of $200 per person, an “RV parking” pass that cost $500 and a beer pass that cost $150.
The event was originally scheduled for Loretta Lynn’s Ranch and Camp Grounds, then for the Opryland Hotel and now for Chiras’ Mud Park. Chiras told Nashville television station WKRN, “When I heard the Opryland venue fell through I reached out to the organizers and told them about my place. I talked to Mike that day, but he ended up getting arrested that afternoon.”
At least a million dollars is missing and Chiras has no clue about where it might be. “I’m trying to figure out what has happened. How much money came in. Where the money went. Who we have commitments to,” Chiras said.
Earlier this year Leffingwell claimed to have invested $900,000 in the event. A Facebook page called Nashville Bike Week Scam claims to have helped disgruntled ticket holders get $80,000 in refunded credit card charges.

Janelle Roberts

Besides Leffingwell, the only Nashville Bike Week “organizer” anybody has been able to identify is Roberts and she denies it. She told WKRN, “she is an independent agent contracted to promote Nashville Bike Week. She also said Axle is no longer affiliated with the organization, though they are working to uphold some of the contracts he signed.”
“People are really excited about it,” she said on camera. “I think with it being so close to the event date people are excited to have somewhere to go first of all.”
She took a slightly different tone on Nashville Bike Week’s Facebook page. A follower complained that the Mud Park in Waynesboro is “kinda far” from Nashville.
The administrator of the page, and so far Janelle Roberts is the only suspect, answered “Yeah so do we, but bankruptcy is a lot further.”
The worst news about Nashville Bike Week is that every day this festival is starting to look like the biggest fiasco since the Celebration of Life Festival. That one was on the banks of the Atchafalaya River near McCrea, Louisiana in June 1971. This one is on the banks of the Buffalo River. That one, by all accounts, was a drug, violence and mud soaked hell. This one has high hopes.
The most obvious thing for Roberts and whoever else is neck deep in this scam would be to give back the money and walk away. The emerging mystery is why she will not do that.
This going to make a great movie!



Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Monday, June 19, 2017

You can thank A.B.A.T.E. of Michigan for this.

OFF THE WIRE
MOTORCYCLE ENDORSEMENT & REG. FEES                                              H.B. 4306 (H-3):
                                                                               SUMMARY OF HOUSE-PASSED BILL

                                                                                                         IN COMMITTEE
House Bill 4306 (Substitute H-3 as passed by the House)
Sponsor:  Representative Jim Tedder
House Committee:  Transportation and Infrastructure
Senate Committee:  Transportation

Date Completed:  6-14-17


CONTENT

The bill would amend the Michigan Vehicle Code to do the following:

 --    Increase the fee for an original motorcycle endorsement on an operator's or chauffeur's license, from $13.50 to $16.
 --    Increase the fee for a renewal of a motorcycle endorsement on an operator's or chauffeur's license, from $5 to $7.
 --    Increase the motorcycle registration tax from $23 to $25.
 --    Create the "Motorcycle Safety and Education Awareness Fund" within the State Treasury.
 --    Require $2.50 of each original motorcycle endorsement fee and $2 of each motorcycle endorsement renewal fee to be placed in the Fund.
 --    Require the Secretary of State (SOS) to spend money from the Fund for the purpose of creating and maintaining a "Look Twice - Save a Life" program.
 --    Increase, from $3 to $5, the amount from a motorcycle registration tax payment that must be placed in the Motorcycle Safety Fund for the Motorcycle Safety Education Program.

The bill would take effect 90 days after its enactment.

Motorcycle Safety & Education Awareness Fund

The Code requires every application for a motorcycle endorsement on an operator's or chauffeur's license for operation of motorcycles to include a fee in addition to any other original or renewal operator or chauffeur license fee. An original motorcycle endorsement on an operator's or chauffeur's license requires a fee of $13.50, while a renewal of a motorcycle endorsement on an operator's or chauffeur's license requires a fee of $5. Under the bill, an original motorcycle endorsement on an operator's or chauffeur's license would require a fee of $16, while a renewal would require a fee of $7.

The Code allocates the money collected from the motorcycle endorsement fees to the General Fund. Out of the fees collected, the SOS must refund to each county or municipality, acting as an examining officer or examining bureau, $3 for each applicant examined for a first endorsement to a three-year or four-year operator's or chauffeur's license, $2.50 for each original endorsement to a two-year operator's or chauffeur's license, and $1.50 for every other applicant examined whose application is not denied, for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of the Code. Ten dollars of each original motorcycle endorsement and $3 of each motorcycle endorsement renewal must be placed in the Motorcycle Safety Fund in the State Treasury and must be used only by the SOS for the Motorcycle Safety Education Program as provided under Section 811a. (Under that section, the SOS is responsible for the establishment and administration of motorcycle safety courses and must promulgate rules regarding teacher qualifications, reimbursement procedures, the establishment of the course, and other requirements.)

The bill also would require $2.50 of each original motorcycle endorsement and $2 of each motorcycle endorsement renewal to be placed in the Motorcycle Safety and Education Awareness Fund.

The Fund would be created within the State Treasury. The State Treasurer could receive money or other assets from any source for deposit into the Fund, and would have to direct the investment of the Fund. The State Treasurer would have to credit to the Fund interest and earnings from Fund investments. Money in the Fund at the close of the fiscal year would have to remain in the Fund and could not lapse to the General Fund. The State Treasurer would be the administrator of the Fund for auditing purposes. The SOS would have to spend money from the Fund for the purpose of creating and maintaining a "Look Twice - Save a Life" program that promotes motorcycle awareness, safety, and education.

Registration Tax Increases

Under the Code, the SOS must collect a certain amount of taxes at the time of registering a vehicle. For each motorcycle, a person must pay $23. The bill would increase this amount to $25.

The Code requires $3 of each motorcycle fee to be placed in the Motorcycle Safety Fund and used only for funding the Motorcycle Safety Education Program as provided for under Sections 312b and 811a.

Beginning on the bill's effective date, $5 of each motorcycle registration fee would have to be placed in the Motorcycle Safety Fund for the same purpose.

(Section 312b requires a person who is 18 years or older to pass a motorcycle safety course approved by the Department of State under Section 811a before he or she may be issued an original motorcycle endorsement on an operator's or chauffeur's license. The person must pass an examination, which includes a driving test. The SOS is responsible for establishing and conducting the driving skills test, and may enter into an agreement with another public or private corporation or agency to conduct the test.)

MCL 257.312c & 257.801                                           Legislative Analyst:  Drew Krogulecki

FISCAL IMPACT

The bill would increase revenue received by the Department of State as a result of the increased fees for original or renewal motorcycle endorsements. The bill would increase original motorcycle endorsement fees by $2.50 to $16, while renewal endorsement fees would increase by $2 to $7.  According to the Department, the increased endorsement fees would generate an estimated $250,000 in additional revenue from motorcycle endorsements.  The amount collected in FY 2015-16 totaled an estimated $720,000.  The additional revenue would have to be deposited in the proposed Motorcycle Safety and Education Awareness Fund,  the Department of State would have to use to create and maintain a "Look Twice - Save a Life" program to promote motorcycle awareness, safety, and education.  The remaining portion of the fees would continue to be distributed according to statute as in current law.


Additionally, the bill would increase the registration tax, or fee, for motorcycles by $2 to $25.  Currently, $3 of the current $23 registration fee is deposited into the Motorcycle Safety Fund to fund the Motorcycle Safety Education Program.  Under the bill, the additional $2 from the increase in fees also would be deposited into the Motorcycle Safety Fund, also to be used for the Motorcycle Safety Education Program.  In FY 2015-16, approximately 260,000 motorcycle registrations raised an estimated $5.98 million, of which $780,000 was deposited into the Motorcycle Safety Fund.  The $2 increase in the registration fee would raise an estimated additional $520,000.

                                                                                       Fiscal Analyst:  Joe Carrasco
This analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent.

Sunday, June 18, 2017

Friday, June 16, 2017

MICHIGAN - Finally! 5 Gov’t Officials Indicted for Manslaughter Over Flint Water Crisis

OFF THE WIRE
This is fantastic news!!
Flint, MI — (RT) Michigan’s attorney general has filed new, more serious charges of involuntary manslaughter against five officials in the Flint Water Crisis investigation, among them the head of Michigan’s health department.
Heath chief Nick Lyon was charged with two felonies, involuntary manslaughter and misconduct in office, for failing to alert the public about an outbreak in Legionnaires’ disease in the Flint area, according to AP.
Some experts linked the outbreak to poor water quality during the height of water crisis in 2014-15. Nearly 100 people were affected during the Legionnaires outbreak, 12 of whom died.

“Mr. Lyon failed in his responsibility to protect the health and safety of the citizens of Flint,” Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette told reporters on Wednesday about charges that are moving closer than ever to Governor Rick Snyder.
After being informed of the growing Legionnaires outbreak in Flint, Nick Lyon failed to inform the public of this health threat. A threat that cost of the life of Robert Skidmore.”
Skidmore was a great-grandfather with three sons, four grandchildren and four great grandchildren. He died from Legionnaires’ disease in December 2015.

Lyon’s was also charged for allegedly obstructing university researchers who are studying if the surge in cases was linked to the Flint River.
Lyon admitted he was aware of the Legionnaires’ outbreak for months but wanted to wait until investigators in the state Health and Human Services Department had finished their own probe.
Lyon, if convicted, could face up to 15 years in prison for the manslaughter and up to 5 years for the misconduct charge.
Four others were charged with involuntary manslaughter: former Flint Emergency Manager Darnell Early; former City of Flint Water Department Manager Howard Croft; Michigan Department of Environment Quality’s Drinking Water Chief Laine Shekter-Smith; and Water Supervisor Steven Busch – all for failure to act in the Flint water crisis.


Michigan’s medical executive chief, Eden Wells, was charged with a felony and misdemeanor for obstruction of justice and lying to a police officer and failing to protect the health and safety of the citizens of Flint.
“During the course of the investigation, Ms Wells withheld funding for programs designed to help victims of the crisis and then lied to an investigator about a material fact,” Schuette said.



Michigan Governor, Rick Snyder, issued a statement after the felony charges were announced and said he is standing behind the two top health department officials.
“Director Lyon and Dr. Wells have been and continue to be instrumental in Flint’s recovery,” Snyder said in a news release. “They have my full faith and confidence, and will remain on duty at DHHS,” according to Detroit Free Press.
Snyder said Lyon “has been a strong leader … and remains completely committed to Flint’s recovery.”

The problems began when the Flint’s water supply was switched to the Flint River in April 2014, while under state emergency management, but it was not treated to reduce corrosion. Lead from old plumbing leached into the water system, causing a massive lead contamination crisis.

Schuette said that while no charges are planned against Governor Rick Snyder, his investigation would continue.
“We have attempted to interview the governor [but] we were not successful,” Shuette said, according to Detroit Free Press.

The Michigan attorney general said his office had also released an interim report on the investigation. His team had interviewed 250 people, examined over 100 emails and issued 51 criminal charges and charged 15 current or former government officials in the probe that began in 2016.