Our Congress At Work

If you think our Congress is earning their 6 figure paychecks, just watch this video and decide for yourself if our tax dollars are being used wisely.



So while we all pay at the pump for environmentalist lobbying against drilling for American oil, we polute the environment with Mercury. Gosh, knowing our government, why does this not surprise me?

For all you Hilary supporters out there, consider this: As a member of Congress, Hilary Clinton holds the record in history for voting yes on the most bills that spend the most tax dollars for things such as this. Are you ready to forfeit even more of your paycheck to pay Congressmen/women for work like this?

It's time to force the government to acknowledge the term "public servant". What are YOU going to do about it?

Bravo Rep. Poe from Texas.

Tip of the day: Buy stock in Duct Tape.

Clarification on Scooters

In response to a few emails I've received resulting from my last post, I'd like to clarify the purpose of the post. It stemmed from the on-going discrimination the media has for American Bikers. So I'm gonna jump on my soapbox for a moment and vent.

I do not judge anyone on their ride. Many ride Vespas and the like. It is their preference for their two-wheeled pleasure, just as my Dyna is mine. Some prefer to tour the countryside in cages, but those of us who prefer the two-wheeled ride love it for a variety of reasons.

Each of us is unique in our preferences, and that includes our rides. Some like pink, some like chrome, and some like fast. To each his own.


I am sick to death of being "labeled" by the media as a "noise polluter", "rabble rouser", "drunk" and having a "death wish", simply because I ride a big cruiser. I enjoy my ride for many personal reasons, with fuel conservation being but one of those.

Ya, that's me, and I ride a big machine because I love the sound, the look, and the power. My pipes are after-market but are still within the limits of any noise ordinance. I have no desire to ride beyond the limits of the law.

What I ride doesn't mean I am a drunk, or a party animal, or have a "death wish". I hold an engineering position with a global company, have a family, and put my drawers on one leg at a time, same as anyone else.

Sure, there are always those few who cross the line. The "mean" drunk, who also happens to ride a motorcycle, wear leather and gets in a fight. Don't other mean drunks do that too? I'm a mother, and there are bad mothers out there. Does that make me one too? I lived in the Boston area for a time, and each year during sports playoffs, people died due to over-zealous fans, yet society tolerates sports fans as though it were a religion. Yet motorcyclists are lumped into one category and attacked from all directions; directly or indirectly.

In the article highlighted in my last post, the media seemed to take great delight in letting the public know of all these "energy conscious" individuals, who suddenly found the need to buy a two-wheeled conveyance, for whatever reason, and have become paragons of society by attempting to preserve energy. Excuse me? There are hundreds of thousands already out there doing that.

Yet, when a motorcyclist dies at the fault of an inattentive driver who violated their right-of-way, their death is blamed on not wearing a helmet, by the same reporters and online journalists who wrote this "feel-good" article.

We already deal with inaccurate statistics the government likes to use as reason for more regulation that etches away at our freedoms. Sadly, more untrained, unsafe, Moped riders will occupy the roadways because of the energy crisis, and many of them will die because our government refuses to acknowledge that the major cause of motorcycle deaths are those who drive cages and ignore simple driving laws.

Many journalists are now adding the terms "old, fat, balding, long beards, and/or long gray ponytails" to the description of "bikers". At 52 I may be labeled as "old" by some, but none of the other terms fit me, or many others. The media seems intent on stereotyping, and/or segregating out those who ride the larger more powerful machines as being a pariah of society. By labeling us this way, they take journalistic license in creating this "picture" for the rest of society who doesn't know any better.

In 40 years, if I live that long, that will be me in the cartoon, except I'll still be wearing my leathers, and piss on anyone who doesn't like it.

The American Biker IS a "Brotherhood". What they look like has nothing to do with anything. Riding free is just an extension of living free; being who you are, and not giving a rat's ass what others think. And once again, society (and the media) adds labels and descriptions because we aren't mainstream. I often feel as though the media would rather print, "another disgusting biker has been culled from this world", because many of their articles say the same in so many words.

Well, I know hundreds of bikers, and none of them are disgusting. They all have families and those who love them, and who they love. They hold positions of integrity in the working world, just as other non-riders do. With all the laws against hatred and bigotry in this country, it amazes me that our society allows this type of discrimination to continue and does not recognize it for what it is.

This "biker" is Richard Quigley, who successfully beat multitudes of court cases in his lifetime, all in the name of freedom. He had more integrity than anyone I know. HE would not stand for anyone taking away his freedom, or any other biker, and lived his life to that end.

I ride with clean-cut businessmen, long-haired, bearded, tattoo artists, women of all ages, mothers, daughters, sons and fathers. We ride in support of our troops, we ride to end the fight against breast cancer, and we ride for those of us who have fallen. I can't say the same for a good many other people in this world.

Does running out and buying a Moped to save you bucks at the fuel pump put you in that category? Not in my book. So why would I get all warm and fuzzy over that article? I'd rather go for the government jugular, for THEY put us into this energy crisis, not the American people, not the oil companies. Politically incorrect to the end, and proud of it.

No, I really don't care what you ride. I hope to leave a reader with a fire in your gut to stand up for what is rightfully yours; freedom to ride what you want, where you want, wear what you want, and be who you are.

And if it affects those rights, I'll write about it here, guaranteed.

If anything, part of my "personal war" is on the overwhelming state of apathy in this world. I love what I do, what I ride, where I live and work. And I'd fight to the end to keep it all, even if I have to personally object to stupid, narrow-minded journalists who spout propaganda that threatens those freedoms.

And I would inspire others to do the same.

"The price of apathy towards public affairs is to be ruled by evil men." ~ Plato

Two-wheeled Conveyence Saves Fuel? What a Concept!

While motorcyclists everywhere are discriminated against, bullied, scoffed at, and treated basically like a pariah, the on-going energy crisis is pushing more and more Americans to buy scooters. Not of the Harley variety, mind you, but of the Vespa kind.

An online Missoula, MT newspaper implies new scooter converts to be energy-conscious citizens. I guess that doesn't apply to those of us who ride "energy efficient" motorcycles of the expensive kind. We just prefer to ride something more flashy or unique, but we are no different really.

One such convert proclaimed that buying a candy-apple red scooter would make him visible to other drivers. Another proudly stated she wore an orange helmet for visibility, and she said, "People respect us." This just about made me choke on my coffee.

Are you getting the theme here? What we are going to see is a sharp rise in deaths as those who learn the hard and irreversible way that cage drivers don't see us, in spite of an orange helmet or a candy-apple red scooter. Add to that all the people riding scooters that don't require a motorcycle endorsement, and thus no rider course.

Of course, one of them had to make the comment that they ALWAYS wore their helmet. I'm guessing they have no clue that their helmet protects their head at speeds UP to 20 mph only? And should a cage mow them down at speeds above that, well, they'll be "Moped Roadkill" anyway.

And Montana only requires those over 18 to wear a helmet. Do you really think all Moped riders are going to wear one?

And what I also see happening is the statistics from the deaths of all these Moped fools will add to the fuel that our government ignites in favor of universal helmet laws, and the growing number of discriminatory laws aimed at motorcyclists.

God help us all. Either the general public is going to learn sooner than later that America's drivers have no respect for two-wheeled vehicles, or our lifestyle is going to become so regulated we'll all have to fore-go the Harleys in favor of a Moped.

Not likely, and over my dead body.

I guess I'll have to stop calling my ride a "scooter" now.

Florida Politicians Block Resources to End High Gas Prices

The next time you fuel up and don't like the prices, look to Florida politicians, Mel Martinez and Bill Nelson, for the blame. We (Floridians) have the greatest amount of offshore oil as yet untapped, and our own state politicians are standing in the way of harvesting it. High fuel prices are a huge threat to Florida's economy and tourism, not to mention the wallets of each and every one of us. But apparently, rich coastal residents are more concerned with the view out their balcony windows than ending our dependence on foreign oil.

I don't know about you, but this gets my hackles up. Add yet another item to the list of government interference that dips into the American peoples' pocket books.

Drill, Coast Haste
By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY Posted Friday, May 23, 2008 4:20 PM PT

Energy Security: With the prospect of an oil shortage and $12 [gallon] gas, the energy crisis is turning into a national emergency. One solution: Give states the option to develop offshore tracts.

Uncle Sam bans states from drilling in the Atlantic, Pacific and eastern Gulf mainly to protect the environment. Some 85% of the U.S. coastline is off-limits to energy production — including huge reserves off Florida's coast, which China is exploiting in Cuban waters.

China? We are letting China have our oil????

To change that, a lawmaker is offering a novel idea. Rep. Sue Myrick of the House Energy and Commerce panel wants to let coastal states decide whether drilling is environmentally risky. She has introduced a bill that would give coastal states that want offshore drilling the power to opt out of the Interior Department's offshore restrictions.

And as a powerful incentive, Myrick, R-N.C., proposes cutting them (and adjacent states) in on the federal revenues from leases. Washington now collects as much as $8 billion a year in existing Gulf royalties, a figure that would balloon as coastal regions opened for exploration.

Her Deep Ocean Energy Resources Act would give states the ability to control energy production up to 100 miles off their shores and would extend their territorial waters.

The biggest energy finds are off Florida's coast. But the state's congressional delegation in Washington has almost single-handedly kept the national drilling moratorium in effect for the past 25 years — while keeping potentially millions of additional barrels a day of supply off the market.

That was when gas prices were $2 a gallon or less. They've since doubled, and now threaten to hurt Florida's tourism industry. The governor, fearing high pump prices will spook tourists, is trying to slash the state's gas tax.

Tallahassee also faces big budget deficits from a statewide recession, and may warm up to the federal revenue-sharing idea. Under Myrick's bill, state legislatures can vote to end federal restrictions and allow drilling.

But the bill faces major hurdles. Even if Myrick can get the House panel's Democrat chair, Rep. John Dingell, to take it up, it would face stiff opposition in the Senate. Florida Sens. Mel Martinez and Bill Nelson have blocked previous attempts to lift the ban on drilling — although Martinez, a Republican, lately has shown signs of softening.

Foes have successfully cloaked their arguments against offshore drilling in eco-apocalypse, claim it will lead to oil spills. Fearing tar-ball-pocked beaches, the tourism industry has joined the greens in lobbying against such bills.

Wonderful. Our own tourism has joined with the tree-huggers. Look to Oregon and their screwed-up economy in an effort to save a field mouse. The government isn't the only one who needs to do their homework!

Their fears are unfounded. And politicians concerned about America's energy security ought to do a better job educating the public with the facts. For example:

• Less than one one-thousandth of a percent (0.001%) of the 7 billion-plus barrels of oil that Washington has allowed to be produced offshore over the past 25 years has been spilled, according to the Interior Department.

• A whopping 63% of petro pollution in North American seas comes not from offshore rigs, but from natural seepage from the sea floor. Source: National Academy of Sciences.

• There hasn't been a major oil spill from an offshore well since 1969 even though rigs since then have been lashed by Katrina and other major hurricanes.

Don't we pay our politicians to serve the public? And doesn't that include making intelligent decisions based on accurate research? When will the American public wake up and begin voting with some sort of logic? Why are we allowing these politicians to stay in office when they continue to rape us daily through their ignorance?

Today's drilling operations are safer and cleaner. Offshore operators are subject to at least 17 major permits and must follow 90 sets of federal regulations. Clean beaches can coexist with offshore production. The mammoth reserves can be captured with little risk to the environment.

In fact, the government estimates that 50% of our undiscovered oil lies offshore. It's time to let states go after it.

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Write to Rep. Sue Myrick and tell her you appreciate her efforts to help end the energy crisis.

Write to Rep. John Dingell and encourage him to support Rep. Sue Myrick.

Write to the overbearing, arrogant politicians below and express your views on this issue. Don't forget to tell them you vote, and they won't be getting that vote in the future should they decide to ignore you.

Senator Mel Martinez

Senator Bill Nelson

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Read more about the energy crisis here. That is, if you want to be informed. Lead, follow, or get out of the way.

Ride safe. Ride free.... if you can afford the gas.