January 29, 2006
Time is running out to get registered in time to vote in the Primary Election in March. Register, vote in the Primary and become a Delegate to your County/District Convention. Let’s Rock Warriors, no more excuses.
We just learned that in some fashion the Texas Turnpike Authority received the right to take up to 25% of dedicated Funds to be used for building Toll Roads. This cost us over $ 250,000 this year. We shall get some information on that in the very near future. Just another one of life’s little minor inconveniences. Hope it is not any harder to get the money back this time than it was the last time we had to address the dedication of our Rider Training Fund.
We had a doctor’s appointment for the 19th and had been having trouble with sharp pains in the left shoulder. We made the appointment and hoped the pain would quit (It didn’t) We attended the Houston Region COC and received a very warm reception. It was one of the largest meetings we have seen in Houston. Congressman Ron Paul was there to address the loss of Liberty especially under the Patriot Act. We had just gotten in our new shirts for the Patriot Act and they caught his fancy. We gave him a shirt he put it on right then and got up to speak. His was a welcome message and he received a standing ovation.
There was a man there, Eric Story, running for Congressman in District 22. That would put him up against Tom DeLay and Nick Lampson for that seat. This should make for a very interesting race that we plan to be involved with.
We spoke about the current issues and then explained that we would no longer be begging for financial support. We need memberships to carry the load financially. Gimme Jimmy then addressed the group and said “The COC has come a long way and we are the largest COC in the country. But if it wasn’t for TMRA 2 there wouldn’t be a COC. The COC needs TMRA 2 and TMRA 2 needs the COC. I want every member of the COC to join TMRA 2.” We signed up 10 new members and received $200 in donations. We handed out several applications. They then took up a collection to help pay travel expenses. That was a good thing too because the next time we tried to use the card it was over drawn.
We went back to the Dr. on Monday for the pain as it had spread throughout the left arm leaving the hand numb. Had to return on Wednesday and get some very strong medication. Came on back to the office and tried to catch up on all the necessary items. Unfortunately the medications we are receiving cause sleepiness,
fever, spasms and hallucinations. The normal things you always read on that type medication but it never happens. These medications live up to the warning and have still not stopped the pain.
Today we attended the Austin Region COC with Terry doing the driving. It was a pretty good turnout and Cindy’s Gone Hog Wild is a great place to get together. Dee was there to meet us and it was really good to see the Line Riders M/C show up from College Station. They will be starting up a new TMRA 2 chapter as soon as they decide who the district 15 District Advisor will be. They will have a presence at the Advisor meeting next month. We registered 7 new members and again passed out several member apps.
We will do our show Tuesday evening and if the arm isn’t better we shall go back to the doctor on Wednesday. Will get everything caught up as soon as we can get this little inconvenience under control.
Don’t forget the Rally at L&P Cycles in Groesbeck. Send in your pre-registration early to help cover the initial cost of putting on the Rally. Invite all your friends.
We need a new member from each of you also. We will be holding our Advisor Meeting at the State Office on March 11th at 1:00pm. Everyone is invited.
SB 2437
Introduced by Senator John Cullerton
This Bill amends the Illinois Vehicle Code. It provides that, during periods of traffic congestion, a person may, in a safe and prudent manner, operate a motorcycle between lanes of traffic or between adjacent lines or rows of vehicles. SB2437 also requires every operator and passenger on a motorcycle, motor driven vehicle, or motorized pedacycle to wear a helmet. The Bill has been sent to the Rules Committee. More slip slidding away.
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Subject: Patriot Act Creates New Federal Police Force
January 24, 2006
Patriot Act Creates New Federal Police Force
Patriot Police
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS
A provision in the "Patriot Act" creates a new federal police force with power to violate the Bill of Rights. You might think that this cannot be true as you have not read about it in newspapers or heard it discussed by talking heads on TV.
Go to House Report 109-333 -USA PATRIOT IMPROVEMENT AND REAUTHORIZATION
ACT OF 2005 and check it out for yourself. Sec. 605 reads: "There is hereby created and established a permanent police force, to be known as the 'United States Secret Service Uniformed Division'." This new federal police force is "subject to the supervision of the Secretary of Homeland Security."
The new police are empowered to "make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony." The new police are assigned a variety of jurisdictions, including" an event designated under section 3056(e) of title 18 as a special event of national significance" (SENS).
"A special event of national significance" is neither defined nor does it require the presence of a "protected person" such as the president in order to trigger it. Thus, the administration, and perhaps the police themselves, can place the SENS designation on any event. Once a SENS designation is placed on an event, the new federal police are empowered to keep out and to arrest people at their discretion. The language conveys enormous discretionary and arbitrary powers. What is "an offense against the United States"? What are "reasonable grounds"?
Many naive Americans will write to me to explain that this new provision in the reauthorization of the "Patriot Act" is necessary to protect the president and other high officials from terrorists or from harm at the hands of angry demonstrators: "No one else will have anything to fear." Some will accuse me of being an alarmist, and others will say that it is unpatriotic to doubt the law's good intentions.
Americans will write such nonsense despite the fact that the president and foreign dignitaries are already provided superb protection by the Secret Service. The naive will not comprehend that the president cannot be endangered by demonstrators at SENS at which the president is not present. For many Americans, the light refuses to turn on. In Nazi Germany did no one but Jews have anything to fear from the Gestapo? By Stalin's time Lenin and Trotsky had eliminated all members of the "oppressor class," but that did not stop Stalin from sending millions of enemies of the people" to the Gulag. It is extremely difficult to hold even local police forces accountable. Who is going to hold accountable a federal police protected by Homeland Security and the president?
Feds Seek Google Records in Porn Probe
By Associated Press
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The Bush administration, seeking to revive an online pornography law struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, has subpoenaed Google Inc. for details on what its users have been looking for through its popular search engine. Google has refused to comply with the subpoena, issued last year, for a broad range of material from its databases, including a request for 1 million random Web addresses and records of all Google searches from any one-week period, lawyers for the U.S. Justice Department said in papers filed Wednesday in federal court in San Jose.
The government contends it needs the data to determine how often pornography shows up in online searches as part of an effort to revive an Internet child protection law that was struck down two years ago by the U.S. Supreme Court on free-speech grounds. The 1998 Child Online Protection Act would have required adults to use access codes or other ways of registering before they could see objectionable material online, and it would have punished violators with fines up to $50,000 or jail time. The high court ruled that technology such as filtering software may better protect children.
The matter is now before a federal court in Pennsylvania, and the government wants the Google data to help argue that the law is more effective than software in protecting children from porn.
The Mountain View-based company told The San Jose Mercury News that it opposes releasing the information because it would violate the privacy rights of its users and would reveal company trade secrets. Nicole Wong, an associate general counsel for Google, said the company will fight the government's efforts "vigorously."
RECEIVED this article from Tiger Mike, President, ABATE of Oklahoma:::
ABATE of Oklahoma is currently reviewing its State By-Laws, and at our annual State Membership Meeting January 14, I proposed changing our ABATE acronym to once again represent A BROTHERHOOD AGAINST TOTALITARIAN ENACTMENTS, in the light of the current political climate in our Nation. The response on the part of our membership seems to be overwhelmingly positive, and our Revision Committee intends to include the recommendation as part of the By-Laws Review which will eventually be sent out to our Chapters for ratification this Spring. I feel this move will be worth printing up a few new business cards over, and will let you know if and when the name change officially takes effect.
You Go Bros.,
Ride Free - Ride Sober
Sputnik
