The GUNNY'S SACK

This month there is a ton of information to pass on to all you good folks out there. The Gunny’s move into his own digs is nearly complete and I’m ever so grateful the chore is almost behind me. Moving is for young folks, certainly not for old farts like me. I hope this will be the last move in this lifetime for me!

I need to remind all that the National Coalition of Motorcyclists (NCOM) Convention is just around the corner. MAY 8-11, 2008 is the date and is particularly important as this year is an election year. There will be seminars and workshops the whole time folks, and every one of these events has an impact on the way we do things in our own backyards. The Confederations of Clubs meeting alone is worth the trip. We have won some and lost some this year, and the lessons learned will help us in our fights for freedom in our own states.

The 2008 NCOM Convention is in Houston, Texas, at George Bush International Airport, at the Sheraton North Houston Hotel, at 15700 JFK Blvd, Houston, Texas 77032. The reservation phone is: (281) 442-5100 and ask for the NCOM rate. Call right away to make your reservations before you wind up in an adjacent hotel and find yourself going back and forth. The days will be filled with enough work that you’ll want to stay in the same hotel as the Convention. Plus, all the fun kids will be there.

To register, look for flyers from your state Motorcycle Rights Organization, contact NCOM at 1-800-531-2424, or look online, at www.aimncom.com. But send your people, as many as you can afford. NCOM suggest at least two people from each group or club, so you can cover all the workshops and seminars that will be taking place. The three main days, Thursday - Saturday, will be some of the busiest you will encounter for some time, but the information you bring back to your people will help to guide your decisions forward. We’re losing our freedoms faster than we realize. We better get a handle on it soon or we won’t know what hit us when we wake up one day and find we don’t have any say in our lives, let alone our motorcycles.

NEWSBITS ‘N’ PIECES:

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL: The price of hair here must be awfully high. Two men on a motorcycle grabbed a woman on the street here and chopped off her 4-foot long hair with a machete. Police there said this sort of thing is happening more often. Hairpieces can cost upwards of $500.00, so long hair on a woman in Rio can be dangerous to wear. Thieves are quick on bikes, and apparently well aware of the value of the stuff.
VAIL, COLORADO: The word on the ski slopes here is helmets have cut injuries but not fatalities. We’ve been trying to convince our elected officials of that for years. According to the Vail Daily Newspaper, helmets were supposed to prevent deaths. Over the last NINE years that has been proven NOT TO BE TRUE. I’ll be damned, I coulda’ swore it wasn’t true.
BAGHDAD, IRAQ: It’s not all the seriousness of war here. Some of our soldiers have been drawing big crowds by popping wheelies on their motorcycles in parking lots. People here are looking for anything to take their minds off the killing. One of these guys said he wouldn’t do the stunts on the streets because security forces would think him a terrorist and probably shoot him off his ride.
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM: The Federation of European Motorcyclists’ Associations, FEMA, is proud to announce that 2008 marks 20 years of pro-active lobbying in Brussels and in Geneva, Switzerland. The anniversary will be celebrated with a series of events throughout the year. Congratulations to these folks who have worked so hard.
UNITED KINGDOM: I never thought I’d see this day. A Canadian inventor has been granted a patent on a motorcycle seat that protects riders from magnetic fields that some believe can cause cancer in some organs. I guess I’m lucky. I’ve ridden since 1948 and so far I’m cancer-free. I’m sorry folks, I just gotta take this one tongue-in-cheek. On the other hand, they could be right. They’ve also said that about cell phones.
WASHINGTON, DC: FBI Wiretaps Dropped Due to Unpaid Bills: This came to me from Jay Huber, State President of KMA/KBA in Kentucky. Telephone companies have cut off FBI wiretaps used to eavesdrop on suspected criminals because of the bureau's repeated failures to pay their phone bills on time, according to a Justice Department audit. How sweet it is.
PORTLAND, OREGON: Our AIM Lawyer, Sam Hochberg, reports that the city government here started a Motorcycle and Scooter Advisory Commission. He went to their February quarterly meeting, and says they’re just now getting off the ground. I think this is the only such commission in the nation. They have lots of info online, too, including a map of motorcycle parking! http://www.portlandonline.com/transportation/index.cfm?c=40219
NORTH CAROLINA: That federal helmet standard, “FMVSS-218,” has reared it’s ugly head again. As of the first of January, in North Carolina ya better have a valid DOT-certified helmet on yer noggin. The powers that do our safety thinking for us passed a new law that says so. If ya have questions about it or to see if yer bonnet is the correct one to wear, they supposedly have a list of “legit” helmets at the fed’s website for the NHTSA agency, at www.nhtsa.gov . I’ve been tellin ya, don’t turn your back on your elected officials. If ya do, they’ll take care of ya and ya won’t like it. Of course, the problem is figuring out what is “DOT-certified” and what isn’t, since the federal regs charge the lid manufacturers with testing and certifying. We challenged that through litigation here in Oregon back in the early 90's, when our AIM (Aid to Injured Motorcyclists) lawyer Sam Hochberg donated his time to appeal Oregon’s helmet law, as unconstitutionally vague. Ya couldn’t tell which helmets were legit from which they claimed weren’t. The net result was that at least here in Oregon, we now do NOT have FMVSS-218. A helmet is a helmet in Oregon. California is going through similar court challenges against their helmet law, coining the catchphrase: “No List, No Law!”


GUNNY AGAIN: Every month I remind ya that your AIM Attorney is your best friend if ya have any kind of a problem with the law. It’s good advice folks. Talk to your AIM guy if ya have a gripe. He will help you or refer you to someone who can. Call through AIM 24/7 at 1-800-531-2424.