Illigal Drag Racing...Why are there not Law Enforcement Sponsored Programs???

In my many years of being exposed to motorsports.. both in the "Street Legal" levels and in the sportsman divisions of the NHRA. I am an avid supporter of regular "Street Legal" race nights at local drag strips. The many Law enforcement officials I have discussed the problems of road rage, and Illigal Racing come up on deaf ears.

There are programs out there at the local tracks.. Some are better than others at presenting a regular night. The problem is Law Enforcement does not make this a priority... I know I'll receive E-mails objecting to what i have already said.. So I'm going to pour some high octane in this fire, and mention a few agencies, tracks, and officials by name...

I had talked with a few of the law enforcement officials from the Fargo,ND, Moorhead, MN. And Clay County about the "Street Legal" Program and some tracks actually invite law enforcement to come and Bracket Race in a "Beat The Heat" series.. Those to my best knowlege that support this is Los Angeles County, LAPD, Rio Rancho, NM PD, I'm sure there is others.. But what about those who don't acknolage the problem? They sit there setting themselves for an unsafe situations. the article mentions the horrors that happen every week.

As a racer and motorsports fan, I don't buy the excuses that law enforcement gives out.

So the next time you get pulled over.. ask the nice officer if they will race you at a drag strip...

Let me know what they say.


[Thanks to MSNBC for the text]

(ACCOKEEK, MD)

Police in Maryland say an eighth person has died after a car roared into a crowd that was watching a drag race on a suburban highway.
Authorities say the driver accidentally drove into the crowd but wasn't part of the race. The spectators had just watched two other cars speed off.
Seven people died at the scene. Police say the latest victim died at a hospital. Six others were injured.

Witnesses said they had just watched two cars in the illegal street race speed past when the driver of a white Crown Victoria without any lights on came up behind them and veered into the crowd.
Police told WRC reporters in Maryland that the drivers involved in the race were doing burnouts, spinning their tires in place and kicking up smoke. The cars took off and the people moved into the roadway to watch as the cars traveled away from the crowd.
The driver in the Crown Victoria was traveling on Route 210 and couldn't see the crowd in the roadway because of the smoke around 3:40 a.m., police reported to the NBC affiliate in Maryland.
"There were just bodies everywhere; it was horrible," said Crystal Gaines, 27, whose father was among the dead.
Gaines said she grabbed her child but could not help her father, William Gaines Sr., 61.
"He wasn't breathing, he wasn't moving," she said. "His body was in pieces."
Also a tractor-trailer came by shortly afterward may also have struck someone on the road as it tried to avoid the crash.
A 200-yard crime scene"It's probably one of the worst scenes I've seen," Copeland said. "This is a situation that could have been avoided, and it's a very tragic situation."
Hours after the accident on the divided highway in Accokeek, bodies covered in white sheets were scattered along what police were calling a 200-yard crime scene. Some were in the road, while others were on the shoulder.
The sedan came to a rest on an embankment about 150 feet from where the crowd had been. It had a crumpled front and hood, and the roof had partially collapsed.
The driver of the white sedan had been interviewed and did not appear to be seriously hurt, but a passenger was among the dead, Police Capt. Donald Frick said.

Bush urges congress to revise wiretapping rules

(Washington, DC/Fargo, ND)

Communications companies have been the target of lawsuits (over 40 0f them) Due to the 2007 passing of "No Warrant Wiretapping" practices. The revision of the current anti-terrorist rules would create a police state that is tighter than the security showing after 9/11. Is this constitutional? Try this thought... Is Bush out of line - Most Definately!

I know this much that in a radio talk show on KFGO-am (790 am) in Fargo, ND - Cass County, ND Sheriff Paul Laney denied to callers that a no warrant search exists.

Well Mr. Laney sorry to tell you they do. A "Sneak and Peek" search was introduced and passed into law, not only that so has been wiretapping, a practice carried out by Both Cass County, ND, Clay County MN, Law enforcement officials have been using on a regular basis. (local and county)

This creates a trust barrier with the public, media, and cannot be written off as plausable denial.

And now all this has created an uproar nationally - not just from this locality but also in other places in the us.
Again this shows corruption in the gathering of evidence for crimes and can be abused to the extent that even the innocent can be upheaved by these practices and abuses.

FROM: cnn.com (a copyrighted story)

AT&T, Verizon and other companies are believed to have provided information to aid the National Security Agency's no-warrant wiretapping program. The program, which Bush authorized in the wake of the September 11, 2001, terror attacks, monitored communications involving suspected al Qaeda members and people in the United States.

Bush strongly defended retroactive immunity in his statement.
"If these companies are subjected to lawsuits that could cost them billions of dollars, they won't participate. They won't help us. They won't help protect America," he said. "Liability protection is critical."
But Rep. Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, and chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, said as negotiations with the Senate begin, "I plan to advocate strongly for the House bill, which contains important protections for the constitutional rights of Americans."
And the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee released a letter Tuesday that he sent to the White House saying immunity is not justified.

In his letter, Rep. John Conyers, D-Michigan, wrote that a file of secret documents recently provided by the White House "leads me to conclude that there is no basis for the broad telecommunications company amnesty provisions advocated by the administration."

Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and Attorney General Michael Mukasey have said they would recommend a presidential veto of any bill that doesn't include retroactive immunity, and the White House has indicated a veto would be likely.

The telecommunication firms are facing more than 40 lawsuits claiming that the privacy of their customers was violated when their records were allegedly turned over to the government. The companies have refused to comment on their activities related to the government.

Where is North Dakota's representation in all this, I'm certain they are voting.. And how about New Mexico Congresswoman Heather Wilson, R-NM. it makes it all look rather questionable.

All this makes the conservative North Central US media look like a bunch of panzies, when compared to how they believe such bull stories about laws.

I look forward to your comments...

Kickbacks, payola and the corrupt business

(Tucson, AZ - and other places across our corrupt country)

(Portions reprinted from The Wall Street Journal, 6-22-06)
Thanks to point of law.com - http://www.pointoflaw.com

When is a cash payment to someone an improper "kickback" or "payola"? Sometimes it is hard to discern the line. If you're a record producer who pays radio execs to spin a Jennifer Lopez disc, Eliot Spitzer will land on you with full force. But if you're a publisher who pays book chains to give prime display to your new hardcover thriller, you're safe. Economists and legal analysts typically consult a range of factors, including whether the person taking the payment owes some third party a duty of loyalty or independent judgment, whether an agent discloses his acceptance of a payment to his principal, whether a type of payment is accepted as customary in a given trade, and so forth.

Milberg Weiss lawyers have been in the forefront of efforts to define kickbacks broadly and punish them with rigor. The firm's Web site boasts that it "has sued major providers of private mortgage insurance for kickback violations, resulting in substantial settlements." Melvyn Weiss and others at the firm have expressed indignation at, and filed lawsuits over, alleged kickbacks in the contexts of Wall Street initial public offerings, mutual fund sales, insurance brokerage commissions and doctors' prescribing of pharmaceuticals.
Although there are many debatable cases, concealed payoffs to named plaintiffs in class actions aren't one of them: They're clearly improper under virtually any analysis. As the indictment states, both plaintiffs and their lawyers are under obligation 1) not to place a named plaintiff's interests above those of absent class members; 2) not to behave deceitfully or unethically toward the court or absent class members; and 3) not to withhold from the court "any fact" that might call into question the representativeness of the plaintiff (a financial dependence on the lawyer would be one such fact). As a class action proceeds, plaintiffs repeatedly swear under oath to these matters. Bonus payments to compensate named plaintiffs for their time and trouble are permitted at settlement, but they must be disclosed to absent class members and approved by the judge.These rules have a purpose. With other class members absent, named plaintiffs are one of the few watchdogs against self-dealing or misconduct by the lawyers—specifically, the pursuit of settlements that result in high legal fees, whether or not they serve the interest of the class. It's true that law firms do seek docile, loyal or merely clueless persons to serve as their named plaintiffs, which means it's rare (though not unheard of) for them to contribute an independent point of view in a case. But if the Justice Department's allegations are correct, Milberg was taking no chances on the watchdogs staying pacified: It threw regular chunks of raw liver into their cages. Significantly, Justice alleges that payoffs were computed not as a share of the class's eventual recovery, but as a share of Milberg's own fee haul—incentivizing the named plaintiff to side with Milberg's interests should the two clash.

Here is my point of view - especially the corrupt pharmaceuticals who try to gouge the consumer for every dime and yet extend gonga discounts if not free product to doctors insurance carriers and high volume pharmacies and pay certain ones to advertize their product in the form of swag, conference trips, conventions, meals, and in some cases vacations. All in the name of healthcare, and to help make the pharmaceuticals big bucks, without regard to anyone's health.

I have worked in both radio and the recording industry, although payola is still there. (new york state - sued several stations and labels for such activities) The under the table things like free music, swag, trips, & concert tickets, and travel and expenses for conventions and conferences all on the dime of labels... Which some of this is passed on to listeners. most of it stays with the management of the stations involved and it's kept to a mum.

My personal expierence... I'm insured, sure some of my medications are paid for but reciently the zero co-pay I had skyrocketed to 30% of the cash price on most meds. All the sudden I'm paying more than I get monthly for income - about a grand a month.

All this is blamed on a pharmaceutical lobby that is about as strong as the NRA, and why our legislators don't conger up the fortatude to challenge this?

Campaign contrabutions... another form of payola. "Why vote for my constituant's best interests... When I can get contributions to my campaign fund in the form of the cash, my pork projects, and fundraising dinners."

I have heard it all before...Business as usual. now many know why there is a war going on, instead of Disaster Relief, A universal child health care program, (S-CHIP) or even a universal health program like the one Canada has.

When some meds cost (cash price) over $2,000.00 for a months' supply. Hell... I'd rather die instead of paying something in the name of good health - when I can donate 8K (8 months salery) for my funeral planning.

The pharmaceuticals, State and Federal Insurance plans & HMO's - ALL can stick it up their collective asses.

This is my opinion. Call or e-mail your local legislators, and tell them what you want. Many voices speak louder than one.

Feedback is always welcome here.

"Terrorists Among Us" - My Prosperspective

(Fargo, ND - USA)

The past month I have found an abundance of government & intellegence information on the internet that gave me a flashback to a conversation with "Local Prophet" blogger and nationally distributed author Carl Aabye who wrote the book Terrorists Among Us. (Carl will correct me if this wrong) I read his book, and have had some powerhouse discussions about the access to intellegence information through the internet. I'll be honest folks... It's out there! and it's enough to be very scary. When you can look at America's stratigic bases, landmarks, and public places and count the cars, see the type of aircraft, and even find abandoned and current missle silos, it's enough to send chills through any red blooded american's skin to the bones.

The fact that the freedom of information act allows it to be in the wild, it is utterly amazing. Personally, as a registered and trained NWS storm spotter these resources are invaluable to determine location, direction and distance from here to there whatever it is. Sure I use GPS, but with the military able to jam them now they occasionally will be off when layed over a pc based map.

I also have chased Gas (helium/hydrogen) racing balloons cross-country... the maping of transponders / locators is just as key to positioning and following airborne competitions as they fly. Still, without the freedom of information act, I don't believe this would be as easy as it is today.

My personal opinion as a prior service soldier in our US Army, is that the US Government should take a hard and much closer look at what is out there and instead of the Department of Homeland Security, FBI and others sitting on it's proverbial ass. They should take a close and hard look at the Internet issues, Hate crime and other issues on the I-net. Encourage your Congressmembers and Senators to step up and not to forget why we are in Iraq, Afghanastan, & other place in the world. I have to think they are afraid that President Bush will veto any legislation introduced.

I urge you to vote - and think hard about the issues of the last 8 years which will take a decade to fix.

I really would like to hear your comments...