Edition 7-10-06

Respect the person who has seen the Dark side of motorcycling and lived.

"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter—’tis the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning." - Mark Twain

The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement.
The opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth.
Niels Bohr (1885-1962), physicist

"Beware the man of one book."
Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225 - 1274), Theologian, philosopher

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming:
WOW - What a Ride!"

"Consciously or unconsciously we all strive to make the kind of a world we like."
Oliver Wendell Holmes

"We Lakota have a close relationship to the buffalo. He is our brother. You can't understand about nature, about the feeling we have toward it, unless you understand how close we were to the buffalo. That animal was almost like a part of ourselves, part of our souls." Lame Deer, Lakota

Surprise Link of the Day.
Information provided purely for entertainment value.
This goes to prove that I have way too much time on my hands and need to get a life.

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From the Gov's newletter. RECORD NUMBER OF FLORIDIANS USING SAFETY BELTS On Thursday I announced that a record number of Floridians are using safety belts. The Preusser Research Group recently reported that 80.7 percent of drivers and their front seat passengers are using safety belts on Florida highways. Overall, safety belt usage rates in Florida have climbed more than 20 percent since 2000. A vast majority of Floridians are using safety belts. Wearing a safety belt saves lives. It is the single most effective way to prevent injuries and reduce fatalities in motor vehicle crashes.	By PATRICK WHITTLE Coast Guard orders county to destroy Nokomis railroad trestle The Coast Guard has ordered Sarasota County to demolish a Nokomis train trestle that is a crucial piece of the county’s $20 million rails-to-trails project. The train trestle is a boating hazard, said Barry Dragon, a Coast Guard bridges chief. The county will likely have until the end of the year to take the trestle down, he said. The county wanted the trestle, which spans Shakett Creek, to be part of a new 12.4-mile trail from near Clark Road in Sarasota to Caspersen Beach in Venice. Now the county must take down the trestle and build a new bridge, which will add money and time to the project, said County Commission Jon Thaxton. The new bridge could cost more than $1 million. The county and Coast Guard have been stuck in a protracted disagreement about what to do with the Shakett Creek trestle and nearby Roberts Bay trestle. “It’s a wrench,” Thaxton said.
Haiti Travel Warning July 07, 2006 This Travel Warning is being issued to remind American citizens of the ongoing security concerns in Haiti and to advise that they carefully consider the risks when traveling there. The Department of State has lifted the Ordered Departure of embassy employee dependents under the age of 21, but continues to advise U.S. citizens traveling to or residing in Haiti to exercise caution at all times and review basic personal security procedures. This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel Warning issued November 22, 2005.	Message from Secretary Colleen M. Castille Last month Governor Bush signed into law a bill that enabled the state to acquire the largest single land parcel in Florida’s history -- nearly 74,000 acres within the Babcock Ranch property in Charlotte County. The acquisition protects a valuable water recharge area and preserves miles of cypress domes, flatwoods and timberlands that are vital habitat for dozens of threatened and endangered wildlife species, and will provide visitors with a trail system that will take them on a journey through beautiful “old Florida” wilderness. Last week the state closed on another significant piece of property in north Florida -- a nearly 2,600-acre parcel within the 16,000-acre Upper St. Marks River Corridor Florida Forever project. The project encompasses three counties -- Leon, Jefferson and Wakulla -- and provides a buffer from development to help protect the water quality of the river and its destinations -- the Apalachee Bay, the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge and the Floridan aquifer.
Subject: True Story Bubba and Bo were standing at the base of a flagpole, looking up. A blond walked by and asked what they were doing. "We're supposed to find the height of the flagpole," said Bubba, "but we don't have a ladder." The woman took a wrench from her purse, loosened a few bolts, and laid the pole down. Then she took a tape measure from her pocket, took a measurement & announced, "Eighteen feet, six inches," and walked away. Bo shook his head and laughed. "Ain't that just like a dumb blond? We ask for the height, and she gives us the length. Bubba and Bo are currently supervising the reconstruction of New Orleans. Thanks Geri
Dusting Tip: Use paint brushes to dust cracks and hard to reach places in telephones, stereos, computer keyboards, etc. A small paint brush is also useful for cleaning difficult to reach areas.	The cooling coils on the back or behind the front grille of your refrigerator are dust catchers. Vacuum them regularly for peak efficiency and to extend the life of the compressor. Paint is cheaper than wallpaper. Use paint effects such as sponge painting, rag rolling, and stenciling to add pattern and interest to your walls.
Police Chief Explains Rally Patrols Friday, July 07, 2006 By Brett Rowland Hollister - While many locals and visitors have complained that it seemed that law enforcement officers, rather than hordes of bikers, staged an invasion of Hollister this Fourth of July, Police Chief Jeff Miller said Friday the swarms of officers patrolling downtown streets during the unplanned biker rally were part of the department's efforts to ensure public safety during an uncertain event. "We didn't know how many (bikers) where coming," Miller said. "Hindsight is always 20/20. Our goal was to make sure things were safe." Miller, who has come under fire this week from city officials and residents for what many perceived as overpolicing during the unofficial rally, said that dozens of rumors had police preparing for the worst-case scenario. "One rumor was that the bikers would all ride in at the same time and park their bikes in the middle of (San Benito Street), effectively closing down the street," Miller said. "We were also hearing that the Hell's Angels and the Mongols were coming to 'teach the city a lesson.' We had to have officers available to prevent the problems that everyone had been predicting." Hollister Mayor Robert Scattini told the Free Lance earlier this week that he was "embarrassed" to be the city's mayor after receiving dozens of complaints from local citizens and visiting bikers about overzealous law enforcement. Others have complained that bored cops punished the bikers with tickets and citations for coming to the canceled rally. Miller, who organized public safety for the rally, said law enforcement officials did their best to adapt once it became apparent that the crowds were smaller than expected. He said fewer officers were on patrol for this year's event than for the 2005 rally and that the number of officers on the street decreased each day after the hordes of bikers failed to materialize. "We adjusted each day to what we saw," Miller said. "But Friday was the big unknown." For most of Friday, police outnumbered motorcyclists, prompting some locals to drive around the city with a "Police Rally" sign on their truck. Hollister resident and motorcyclist Joe Love called the influx of police officers "massive overkill." "When you have police force of that size on the streets it puts a bad taste in your mouth," he said. "I was more nervous about having all the cops downtown than having all the bikers."
Published on Saturday, July 08, 2006. Cody police chief: Consistency key to biker rally By RUFFIN PREVOST Gazette Wyoming Bureau CODY, Wyo. -- With less than three weeks until the scheduled arrival of as many as 1,000 Hells Angels, Cody Police Chief Perry Rockvam said planning for the event is going well and bikers can expect to be treated the same as anyone else. Consistent enforcement policies have been a key part of Rockvam's management philosophy, he said, and would not change with the Hells Angels. "I have an expectation of professionalism, both in how our officers treat each other and how our officers treat citizens," he said. Rockvam said he has been in touch with George Christie of Ventura, Calif., a prominent member of the group, and discussed the planned World Run, a major Hells Angels event held in a different city every other year. "The last time I talked with him it was a good conversation," Rockvam said. "We're planning on meeting each other when he gets here." Rockvam has consulted with members of police departments from several communities that have hosted recent Hells Angels gatherings. "We will have a law enforcement presence here similar to what they've had at other Hells Angels runs," he said. "Our goal is to treat them the same as the local citizens," Rockvam said. "No worse and no better." During a May public information meeting about the event, Pete Lawrenson, the chief of police in Missoula during a 2000 Hells Angels gathering there, said he discussed ground rules with group leaders before the event. Rockvam and Park County Sheriff Scott Steward had said they would consider setting similar guidelines before the Cody event but have declined to discuss specifics of any such ground rules. Bikers pulled over for moving violations or equipment issues, particularly late at night, should not feel singled out, Rockvam said, since such measures are part of typical drug and alcohol enforcement efforts throughout the city. Rockvam said any perception of a sudden crackdown on drunken driving recently were unfounded, with numbers showing 126 arrests in 2006 for driving while under the influence, identical to the same period in 2003. "We are making more traffic stops, but we are writing about the same amount of citations," he said. "We're giving more warnings. In police work, most of our cases start in patrol." Cody Mayor Roger Sedam said enforcement efforts must be based on probable cause. Sedam said Rockvam and Steward had done an "excellent job with their planning" for the Hells Angels gathering. Sam Krone, a City Council member and the assistant county attorney assigned to prosecute District Court cases originating in Cody, said a traffic stop for a broken tail light or no light over a license plate might seem petty, but such stops are enforced consistently and often lead to larger cases. "You can't just profile people because you think they're using drugs or under the influence of alcohol, you have to be consistent in those stops, and I think the chief is doing an excellent job at that," Krone said. "There were several times in the last year where people were pulled over for routine traffic stops and we've gotten methamphetamine cases from those stops," he said. "That's a big part of combating the meth problem in Park County." Krone said that in three years prosecuting cases brought by the department, he could only recall "three or four" motions to suppress traffic stops, none of which was successful. "They've all been legal stops," he said. "I'm very happy with where the department is in their enforcement, and credit a big part of that to the efforts the chief is taking to make it more professional and consistent." Scott Kolpitcke, assistant city attorney, prosecutes the majority of Cody Municipal Court cases, including most drunken driving cases. "They're substantial cases that deserve being taken to court," said Kolpitcke, who has worked as assistant city attorney since April 2005. "I haven't seen anything that I would consider to be unwarranted or flimsy. I support their efforts to aggressively enforce the DUI laws." Kolpitcke said such enforcement efforts can't focus on specific types of drivers or vehicles but must be applied consistently. "You have to have the consistency in the enforcement that they have, otherwise it wouldn't be appropriate. You can't have unequal standards for different people," he said. Judge Ed Webster has heard Municipal Court cases in Cody since 1974 and said drug and alcohol cases "have always been serious problems." "I don't see any cases that don't appear legitimate to me," he said. "It doesn't make any difference who you are or how you're connected. Law enforcement has been even-handed."
From cnet If Floyd Landis wins the three-week Tour de France, it will be a victory for nanotechnology too. Landis, the leader of the Phonak team and one of the pre-race favorites, rides a bike that's been enhanced with carbon nanotubes. Although nanotubes have previously been sprinkled into cranks and other components to reduce weight and provide additional strength, the bikes ridden by the Phonak team have nanotubes swirled into the frame--a first, according to their Swiss manufacturer, BMC. As a result, the frame of the BMC Pro Machine SLC 01 frame weighs less than a kilogram (2.2 pounds). That makes it one of the lightest frames in the race and roughly 20 percent lighter than the BMC frame ridden by the team the year before. The whole bike weighs 14.74 pounds. Developed in the early '90s, carbon nanotubes are viewed by many as something of a miracle material. Nanotubes are essentially cylinders of carbon atoms arranged in hexagons; images from electron microscopes reveal that nanotubes look like spools of chicken wire. The unique structure, though, gives the tubes unusual properties. They are several times stronger than steel for their size (usually well under a millimeter), but far lighter. Nanotubes can also conduct electricity, act as insulators and transfer light signals. Over the next few decades, some believe that nanotubes will carry signals inside chips, convey medicines to specific cells in the body, or make planes undetectable by radar. But right now, the main industrial use has been to strengthen and reduce weight in items like car panels, golf clubs, tennis rackets and some bike components. Easton impregnates the resin with evenly distributed nanotubes (from Zyvex) to ameliorate the weakness. Easton already sells bike components made from the nanotube-enhanced weave. Naturally, BMC's bike is not cheap. The bike starts at $6,597 at current exchange rates and, with all the options, can sell for as much as $8,390.

	If you have knowledge, let others light their candles in it. --Margaret Fuller, Feminist and poet	Young riders pick a destination and go. Old riders pick a direction and go
If you have no enemies, you have no character. Taking a stand always creates opposition. Paul Neuman

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