Motorcycle Quotables

I have collected fun quotes and bits of wisdom for a while. I have not verified the citations, but supply them in the form I have seen it presented. Choose your favorites and share a laugh. If you do not see one of your favorites, I would encourage you to post it. I will add it to the list.


Great motorcycle quotes and wisdom...


Four wheels move the body. Two wheels move the soul.

“200mph, no hands. d**n that’d be cool right before the part where you die.”
– A. Duthie

“There are only three sports: mountain climbing, bull fighting, and motor racing. All the rest are merely games.”
– Ernest Hemingway

“Calling upon my years of experience, I froze at the controls.”
– Stirling Moss

“Most motorcycle problems are caused by the nut that connects the handlebars to the saddle.”

Seen on a motorcycle’s rearviews:
“Warning: objects seen in mirror are disappearing rapidly”

Got a $5 head? Get a $5 helmet.

“There’s the V-4 thing: there’s just something about it that inline 4s don’t have, and V-twins have too much of.”
– Murray Duncan

“Life may begin at 30, but it doesn’t get real interesting until about 150.”

If you’re going to lead, then lead. If you’re going to follow, get the hell out of my way!

“Faster, faster, faster, until the thrill of speed overcomes the fear of death...”
– Hunter Thompson

“Keep thy eye on the tach, thine ears on the engine, least thy whirlybits seek communion with the sun”
– John 4:50

“You start the game with a full pot o’ luck and an empty pot o’ experience... The object is to fill the pot of experience before you empty the pot of luck.”

“Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in one pretty and well preserved piece, but to skid across the line broadside, thoroughly used up, worn out, leaking oil, shouting GERONIMO!”

“Insisting on perfect safety is for people who don’t have the balls to live in the real world.”
– Mary Shafer, NASA Ames Dryden

“I believe in treating everyone with respect, but, first you have to get their attention.”

“Never trade the thrills of living for the security of existence”.

Everyone knows Honda’s attitude in the GP Paddock! “ Who will be behind us this weekend? “

“A zest for living must include a willingness to die.”
– R.A. Heinlein

If you think you don’t need a helmet, you probably don’t.

“Racing is living, everything else is just waiting”

“If you wait, all that happens is that you get older.”
– Larry McMurty

“Why are motorcycle dealers closed on Sundays? Because Sunday is for worship... Catholics go to church, Motorcyclists go to the track.”
– Justin Skalka

I want to leave this world the same way I came into it: Screaming and covered in blood.

Kansas: home of the highway with 318 miles and 11 curves.

What does a Harley and hound dog have in common ? They both spend most of their time in the back of a pickup truck. What differentiates the two ? The hound dog can get in and out of the pickup under his own power.

“98% of all Harleys ever sold are still on the road. The other 2% made it home.”

Midnight bugs taste best.

Saddlebags can never hold everything you want, but they CAN hold everything you need.

NEVER argue with a woman holding a torque wrench.

Never try to race an old geezer, he may have one more gear than you.

Home is where your bike sits still long enough to leave a few drops of oil on the ground.

Routine maintenance should never be neglected.

It takes more love to share the saddle than it does to share the bed.

The only good view of a thunderstorm is in your rearview mirror.

Never be afraid to slow down.

Bikes don’t leak oil, they mark their territory.

Don’t ride so late into the night that you sleep through the sunrise.

Pie and coffee are as important as petrol.

Sometimes it takes a whole tankful of fuel before you can think straight.

If you want to get a job, you may have to compromise your principals (you may even have to shave).

Riding faster than everyone else only guarantees you’ll ride alone.

Never hesitate to ride past the last street light at the edge of town.

Never mistake horsepower for staying power.

A good rider has balance, judgment, and good timing. So does a good lover.

A cold hamburger can be reheated quite nicely by strapping it to an exhaust pipe and riding forty miles.

Never do less than forty miles before breakfast.

If you don’t ride in the rain, you don’t ride.

A bike on the road is worth two in the shed.

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

Young riders pick a destination and go... Old riders pick a direction and go.

A good mechanic will let you watch without charging you for it.

Sometimes the fastest way to get there is to stop for the night.

Always back your bike into the curb, and sit where you can see it.

Work to ride & ride to work.

Whatever it is, it’s better in the wind.

Two-lane blacktop isn’t a highway – it’s an attitude.

When you look down the road, it seems to never end – but you better believe it does.

A rider can smell a party 5,000 miles away.

Winter is Nature’s way of telling you to polish.

A motorcycle can’t sing on the streets of a city.

Keep your bike in good repair: Motorcycle boots are NOT comfortable for walking.

People are like Motorcycles: each is customized a bit differently.

If the bike isn’t braking properly, you don’t start by rebuilding the engine.

Remember to pay as much attention to your partner as you do your carburetor.

Sometimes the best communication happens when you’re on separate bikes.

Well-trained reflexes are quicker than luck.

Good coffee should be indistinguishable from 50 weight motor oil.

The best alarm clock is sunshine on chrome.

Learn to do counter-intuitive things that may someday save your butt.

The twisties – not the superslabs –separate the riders from the squids.

When you’re riding lead, don’t spit.

If you really want to know what’s going on, watch what’s happening at least five cars ahead.

Don’t make a reputation you’ll have to live down or run away from later.

If the person in the next lane at the stoplight rolls up the window and locks the door, support their view of life by snarling at them.

A friend is someone who’ll get out of bed at 2 am to drive his pickup to the middle of nowhere to get you when you’re broken down.

If she changes her oil more than she changes her mind follow her.

Catching a yellow jacket in your shirt @ 70 mph can double your vocabulary.

If you want to get somewhere before sundown, you can’t stop at every tavern.

There’s something ugly about a NEW bike on a trailer.

Don’t lead the pack if you don’t know where you’re going.

Sleep with one arm through the spokes and keep your pants on.

Practice wrenching on your own bike.

Everyone crashes. Some get back on. Some don’t. Some can’t.

Beware the rider who says the bike never breaks down.

2 bikes is useful because at least one can be raided for parts at any given time.

Don’t argue with an 18-wheeler.

Never be ashamed to unlearn an old habit.

Maintenance is as much art as it is science.

A good long ride can clear your mind, restore your faith, and use up a lot of fuel.

If you can’t get it going with bungee cords and electrician’s tape, it’s serious.

If you ride like there’s no tomorrow, there won’t be.

Bikes parked out front mean good chicken-fried steak inside.

Gray-haired riders don’t get that way from pure luck.

There are drunk riders. There are old riders. There are NO old, drunk riders.

Thin leather looks good in the bar, but it won’t save your butt from “road rash” if you go down.

The best modifications cannot be seen from the outside.

Always replace the cheapest parts first.

You can forget what you do for a living when your knees are in the breeze.

No matter what marquee you ride, it’s all the same wind.

Patience is the ability to keep your motor idling.

Only a Biker knows why a dog sticks his head out of a car window.

Four wheels good, two wheels better

There are those who have crashed and there is those that will crash.

There are two types of people in this world, people who ride motorcycles and people who wish they could ride motorcycles.

Never ride faster than your guardian angel can fly

It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end.

Learning to ride at 41 (or 91) is better than never learning to ride at all!

West Nile: "Home, Home on Our Range"

Bad news on the doorstep:

From KBTX:

The explosion of human cases of West Nile continues in Brazos County. Friday, health department officials said they are now aware of seven possible cases of the disease.

Officials announced there are five people who are "presumptive positive" for West Nile in Brazos County. That's in addition to the two cases that the state have confirmed, which we first reported to you Thursday.

One of the most severly effected people, and the only one who has released his info, is a Bryan Police sergent. However, there's a lot of hope and prayers for this man.

There was a huge amount of rainfall in July last month, filling up streams and waterholes that are typically dry all August long. Also, a different breed of day-flying misquito just tested positive as a carrier in this county. I'm sure these factors have contributed this out break at least some.

"They had a big jump on us this year," said Texas A&M expert Jim Olsen of the mosquitoes in the area, "so we anticipated that if West Nile was going to pop, it was going to pop big, and it did."

At the press conference, the local West Nile experts laid out the oft-repeated but often necessary statements: West Nile is here, there and everywhere in the county.

"This is a preventable illness," Charles Williams with the county health department said. "The way you prevent the illness is not to be bit my mosquitoes."

You know, I wish they could just be that straight forward about STD's. "This is a preventable STD. The way you prevent the illness is not sleeping around."

In addition to the human cases, the first local horse has tested positive for West Nile. No word on where in Brazos County the animal is stabled. The health department is encouraging all horse owners to see their veterinarian to get vaccinations for the disease.

I did a quick google about vaccines for horses and found they've been around for approximately three years. The website for the CDC info on this hasn't been updated since 2003 so I presume that date is related. However, maybe there's hope that an effective human vaccine can be developed quickly since effective one for other animals is now available.

Math Joke for Friday

As I attempt to enlighten you to the joys and truth of math, I present to you the following:



The other day, I was speaking to a friend, Kimberly, and she said she planned to teach an art course dedicated to the math and functionality of art. Personally, I was truly confused. I had never heard math and art used in the same sentence before.

Computer Genius Am I

Hubby** and I learned all the in's and out's of Windows Operating System because of our then toddler son. At the time, he would reach up and grab the mouse, franticly moving it to and fro, hitting the button as fast as he could. He had to be fast because I was chasing him down right away! It was always a marvel to me to discover what damages and changes that boy could do to our computer because of 30 seconds of random mouse clicking.

However, it was my job to UNDO all those weird things. Hence, I learned Windows Operating System.

But here's another funny blog post, "Revenge", a story of the boy getting the hand up on his mother. I feel for this mother.

http://blogs.chron.com/mamadrama/archives/2006/08/revenge_1.html

**Hubby claims that he already knew everything and learned it in high school. I dispute this claim of his.

Are your kids reward dependent?

School's coming back and with it my home will accumulate a-hundred-and-one small junk toys ordered through the Oriental Trading Company, more of the same kindI just got rid of during this summer's garage sale. They're passed out at schools as prizes for every good behavior. At my children's elementary school, they get prizes for behaving in the lunch room, for staying straight in line, for being the best class in P.E., for good grades, if they wear an orange shirt on Wednesday... I can keep naming them forever.

Thankfully, I've been able to counter that public school culture at home. Hubby and I debated a long time what our parenting philosophy was going to be. Were we going to pay for chores done? Should they have a set allowance? What will their responsibilities be? How much control will I exert over their allowance spending once I "give it to them"?

My favorite parenting book, Kids are Worth It!, by Barbara Coloroso has this list to help clue you into if you're raising a reward dependent child:

The following is a checklist of warning signs that your child might be reward-dependent. Most children will exhibit some of these signs as they struggle to develop their own sense of self. It is the frequency, intensity, and persistence of these behaviors that would indicate a need for concern and intervention.

1. "Does to please" to win approval of those in authority.
2. Does what is told without questioning.
3. Lacks initiative, waits for orders.
4. Sense of self is defined externally; has dignity and worth when producing what adults want.
5. Who she is and what she does are one and the same. If she does something "bad," she sees herself as "bad."
6. Uses his history as an excuse for his behavior.
7. Is pessimistic, despairs easily.
8. Places blame outside self: "He made me do it." "It's not my fault."
9. Hides mistakes, feaful of adult's wrath.
10. Lies to avoid consequences and cover mistakes.
11. Feels controlled.
12. Feels worthwhile only when on top, when number one.
13. Is competative, gets ahead at the expense of others.
14. Needs to be perfect, views mistakes as bad.
15. Seeks approval and fears disapproval, fearful of rejection.
16. Is conformist. Goes along with the crowd.
17. Considers behavior by its consequences. "If I don't get caught, what is wrong with it."
18. Focuses on the past and the future, misses the moment. Worries about "What if..."
19. Experiences self-talk that is negative; parental injunctions keep playing over and over.
20. Has private reservations about public self; "If they really knew me..."
21. Uses only simple problem-solving skills to try to solve all problems.
22. Is always concerned about the "bottom line."
23. Says what she thinks other want to hear.
24. Is cautious, insecure.
25. Has a mercenary spirit; is selfish, self-centered, greedy, does good deeds to obtain rewards or avoid punishment.
26. Is cynical and skeptical; views world in terms of "us" and "them."
27. Swallows values without question from those in authority.
28. Frames deeds with "should."
29. Holds on to resentments.
30. Is oversensitive to criticism, diqualifies compliments.

"Rewards and punishment are the lowest form of education" - Chuang-Tzu

I would think the easiest problem to spot would be #9. This makes #8 & #10 side-effects of the #9 problem. If your kid is scared of you and in tears because he dropped his dinner plate, then you've got a real problem. If everytime an accident happens, your kid cries and lies, you haven't taught him how to deal with the problem. And when I say, "how to deal with it", I mean, to fix the problem rather than sobbing hysterically. For example, if the kids drops his dinner plate, he should think about cleaning it up. He'll probably still need your help cleaning it up but at least he's taken control of his mistake, his problem, and made it right. That's what you have to do in the real world too.

I think the worst side effects are the last four. If you're a kid whose looking for an authority to praise you, you can easily be sucked into a gang. You listen to your gangs values ("the gang family comes first"), you follow the gang's ideals ("He should be beaten for that look he gave me"), you never forgive any little thing, and instantly hate any teacher who gives you a criticism.

And oddly enough, I took a parenting class with that book at the very same school I was complaining about! Well, to be honest, they were quite a bit better about handing out prizes this year than last year.

Bug Trap

Unlike most people I know, and especially my mother-in-law, I LIKE spiders and bugs. Well, I don't roaches, no matter how clean entymologist tell me they are. And gnats and flies are definitely off the list too. Whenever I find a spider, I have my husband put it outside so that it can live and eat more of the bugs that I don't like.

This past March, my son received a bug house as a birthday gift. Now this must be the most annoying, worse bug house I have ever seen. At first I thought it cute with it's decorative bugs and inside lanscaping. It has a button you can push that plays the most annoying bug sounds I've ever heard. And inside are three bugs that light up. Instead of looking like fireflys, they look more and more like radioactive roaches to me.

Well, spring has come and so have the bugs. Some big wolf spider thought it would find a meal in my bedroom and, instead of tossing it outside, I decided to put it in this bug house. It was all for naught because the bug died a mere 24 hours later. All dead bugs are icky and nasty so I had to have my son clean it out.

And just a week later I found another large wolf spider! My kids were thrilled and hit that noise button a hundred times. I'm sure all that ambient noise drove the spider insane; either that or it was scared of the radioactive roaches that occupied it's cell. Whatever the cause, it found a hole in the handle and never came out. I'm sure it's shrunken body is still in the bug house.

It was only a day later when we discovered another spider! I put the spider in the bug house and instantly regretted it. This one was probably going to die too. I used to save spiders and now I'd inavertly been the cause of two deaths. A third death was quite forseeable. So I took the bug cage outside and put it on it's side with the top off. Surely the spider would crawl out and escape.

Six hours later the idiot spider was still there. It happily had strung a couple of web lines and was sitting on one of the radioactive roaches. Since I couldn't just leave the bug cage outside for the kids to steal, I decided that spider had to go by force. So I took the bug and shook it upside down- and the spider was still there! I banged it against the wall and banged it against the ground to get that spider out and back into it's natural habitat.

How does the story end? Well, I killed it of course. You see, as I banged the bug cage on the ground, the spider fell out. But I banged it again and accidently smashed the spider as I hit it against the ground.

So the bug house of death has been retired and I will no longer try to catch bugs for my kids to see. They'll just have to catch their own bugs.

The Search is Over

I have missed out on the opportunity to buy a couple of motorcycles since I couldn’t just go running off whenever I saw a deal. School has to come first, especially since it has been such a rough semester.

I finally had the time to go and look last weekend. Here is the description from the online Cycle Trader. The image was of a showroom lined with many rows of neatly lined bikes. I have seen that sort of thing before. Some places don't bother to keep up with photos of all the bikes they sell and just have a stock picture they use.

2001 YAMAHA FZ1, blue, 14K miles, very clean, new tires, $5,000, obo, All Texas Powersport, McKinney TX, 972-XXX-XXXX

I called and talked to a man about a bike. Sounded good. Not “too good to be true” good. It just sounded like a good deal. He described the bike as being in great shape with custom tribal graphics job. 14k on the odometer isn’t too bad either. He slipped and told me it was $4500, not the $5k from the ad. I took advantage of the offer and made arrangements to go first thing in the morning.

When I was about an hour away from the shop, I get a call. He asks me how much he had said it would be. I reminded him that he had told me $4500. He told me that the price he had quoted me was for another bike he had. He started to ask for me to meet him in the middle somewhere on the price, but changed his mind quickly and left it at, “If that’s what I told you, that’s what you’ll pay.”

Up to this point I have had different bells and whistles sounding off one warning after another, but I had determined to check this bike out all the way.

The shop is on the southbound feeder, but I saw it and the bike out front from the northbound lane before I exited and made the u-turn. Excitement mounted when I saw the bike, but then I realized something was amiss with this shop. It wasn’t a bike shop. They sell trailer homes there. There is a guy out front that likes to work on bikes and 4-wheelers and occasionally sells a bike or two. There is no showroom lined with bikes of any kind. Just a shack.

Remember the ad at the top? The description says “very clean.” When I walked up, this is the bike I found.

• Engine cases scuffed and gouged from a (some?) fall/slide(s).
• Fairing sanded off from sliding.
• Crash evidence on levers.
• Crash evidence on Jardine CF muffler.
• Worn, rusted, and un-maintained chain and sprockets.
• The clutch cable, likely the original piece, didn’t look like it had ever been lubed.
• Tires were low quality and improperly sized. Though claimed to be almost new with a couple of hundred miles on them, they had signs of wear and age.
• Brakes were poor. Though there was lots of pad left, they were probably aged or glazed to the point of not working, nevermind the fluid probably being the OEM stuff and needing to be flushed and bled. These brakes are straight off Yamaha’s finest performance motorcycles. This bike felt like it’s brakes were made of wood and had about as much stopping power as a jelly doughnut.
• The whole bike was covered in scuffs and scratches from someone probably stunting it and climbing around on it.
• Custom tribal graphics? More like stickers to cover more scratches.
• Behind the seat on the tail of the bike was an Evil Calvin peeing on something.

I took a test ride and can say that the motor is probably good, but that’s about it. We parted company after I explained that I didn’t want to buy a fixer-upper, especially so close to blue book value. His boss was probably just as happy that the bike didn’t sell so he could try to get more for it anyway.

With dark clouds hanging over us (literally and figuratively) we were homeward bound, empty-handed. We made a pit stop at a random fast food joint next to the highway and headed off again. I noticed a Harley Davidson dealership on the feeder next to the onramp and thought out loud that sometimes bike shops cluster together, and wondered if there happened to be a Japanese dealer nearby. Just after getting on the on-ramp, I saw it: a big red wing on the side of a large truck. That isn’t a common sight outside the realm of biking. I made it back around to the Honda dealership so I could look at something shiny and forget the earlier trauma.

When I walked into the Honda dealership there wasn’t much in the way of used bikes out. I asked if they had anything in the back. They didn’t, but they had another dealership about an hour north. About five minutes later the salesman comes back and tells me they have an ’02 FZ1, and if I was interested, they could have it at their shop in a couple of hours. I walked into a Honda shop and walked out with a Yamaha.

So, long story short(er), after all the hassle, I now have a shiny ’02 FZ1 in blue with a very noisy pipe. I’ll have to fix that one.

Mexican Women Want Their Men Back

I might have called it hillarious if it wasn't so true. Some Mexican women sent a letter in for publication stating they wanted their men to come back home. They wanted them home to help raise the child, till their corn fields, and work on the jewelry. The money they send home isn't worth living your whole life without your husband or your father.

Quote from FrontPageMagazine.com:

Not all Mexican women want to have “anchor babies” in the Unites States. The real Mexican women of Tecalpulco want their migrant men to come back home and take care of the babies they left behind. “Close the U.S. borders!” they say. “Send our men back home!”

Tecalpulco is a small village in Guerrero, Mexico, on Mexico’s southernmost border. It is just north of the city of Campuzano. Tecalpulco is famous for hand-made craft and jewelry. There is an internationally known artisans establishment there called ArtCamp. Vacationers know the place. The artisans run a coop, and they’re subject to the pressures of global market manipulation.

But their men don’t care. They’ve all moved norte, to join the mass trespassing movement in America. And the women of southern Mexico are tired of this nonsense. They have expressed their protest to BadEagle.com, where a number of pieces on Mexican issues have been posted in recent weeks. BadEagle.com has received direct mail from the artisanas campesinas, the women who make the famous jewelry.

I’ve gotten permission to post this correspondence. The women write from the heart in imperfect English, as one might expect.

Here is the first, from May 4, 2006:

When our men went to the United States they were young and adventurous; They have had their adventure, now we want them to come home to us and to their families and to their home country. Close the border so that the ones who are here do not leave. We have work now and the men can help us to sand-down and polish the jewelry.

Our group is of women from the village of Tecalpulco. The tradition of our village is handcrafted fashion jewelry. Since the men have left, we women have organized a good business of fashion jewelry production in cottage industry. The men can help us, they don’t have any excuse to stay [in America].

Thank you very much from the hearts of the women of Artesanas Campesinas.

Rosalinda Mejia Baron
Eva Albavera
Viveros, Contact Personealbavera@yahoo.com.mx
Telefonos:001 762 62 73481001
762 62 22758

Funny!

Copperfield Uses Illusion to Evade Robbery

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida — Illusionist David Copperfield magically escaped getting robbed.

After his show at a West Palm Beach performing arts center Sunday Copperfield was walking with two female assistants back to their tour bus when four teenagers pulled up in a black car and two armed demanded the group's belongings, according to police.

An assistant handed over $400 from her pockets while the other gave up her purse with euro200, $100, her passport, plane tickets and a cellphone. Copperfield refused to empty his pockets, the report said.

Copperfield says he turned his pockets inside out to reveal nothing in them, even though he was carrying his passport, wallet and cell phone.

Kitty Rescue!

Good news! That dang cat is safe!

Cat trapped for 14 days rescued in New York

NEW YORK — After 14 days trapped in the innards of a Greenwich Village building, Molly the cat finally emerged wearing a look on her face that said, "What's all the fuss about?"

As a crowd of reporters and onlookers jostled for a glance, the 11-month-old black cat appeared docile and unscathed despite her ordeal, which came to a happy end on
Friday after a volunteer pulled her to safety from a crawl space.

"I think you'll all agree that she is in great shape," said a proud Peter Myers, a delicatessen owner in the building who kept Molly in his store to catch mice.

Molly's distressed meows — audible from the sidewalk outside the building — became international news, and rescuers worked almost around the clock for her safe retrieval.

The activity began after the cat wandered into a narrow space between walls and got lost in the building's complex network of beams and pipes.

Those involved in the rescue effort drilled and hammered out bricks in the cellar of the 157-year-old edifice, trying everything from special cameras to traps to locate her and get her out. Kittens were used as bait to appeal to Molly's maternal side. A pet psychic and self-described "cat therapist" even stopped by to offer a hand.

But in the end, it was good old-fashioned elbow grease that got the job done.

Rescuers drilled a hole in the wall from inside the store, cutting through layers of brick to get to Molly, said Mike Pastore, field director for Animal Care & Control of New York City, a private organization with a city contract to handle lost, injured and unwanted animals.

Animal Care & Control will set up a link on its Web site for people to donate to help with repairs at the deli.

Molly was finally retrieved by Kevin Clifford, a tunnel worker at a project nearby who had been volunteering for the rescue effort.

"I gave what they needed, and lent a hand to it," he said.

The animal didn't come easily at first, said Pastore.

"It was twisting and turning, paws were flying everywhere," he said. "It took a little struggle to put her back in a cage."

Molly's first meal? Nibbles of roasted pork, sardines in oil and water, Myers said. Hearty fare, but perhaps not surprising for a feline who spends her time in Myers of Keswick, a deli specializing in meat pies, clotted cream and other British food specialties.

"I'm amazed at how well she looks," Myers said. "She always was a fit cat, otherwise she wouldn't have survived 14 days in that hole."

Dog attack gone to the dogs now

It's a dog attack. The dog has your child in it's jaws and won't let it go. You make a decision and decide to ________________. Remember, this is America so you have options. You don't have to call three diferent organizations nor sign any paperwork. Read the following story about a dog attack in England recently.

His mother Sherry, 23, said: "The dog had him by the back of his head and wouldn't let go. He was throwing Nicholas around like a rag doll. There was blood everywhere. If Nicholas had not covered his face with his hands, he could have been scarred for life."

Husband Michael said: "I kicked Mitch to get him off Nicholas. Then I ran into the kitchen, grabbed a bread knife and stabbed Mitch four times with it. The dog ran round the front and Sherry hit him with a broom."

Nicholas escaped briefly by climbing on to a car in a nearby car park. But the dog pulled him back and attacked him again, blacking his eye and biting him on his legs and body.

"By this time, a neighbour had called the police and there were 13 police cars outside," said Mr Andrea.

"The police dog-handler couldn't snare Mitch. They called a vet to give him a lethal injection but the vet didn't want to know.

"That's when the police armed response vehicle turned up. They got me to sign a statement saying I approved of them shooting Mitch."

Playing politics when a killer dog attacking a child is lose is sad.

I have a friend whose small dogs were attacked by large dog that jumped into the backyard. The neighbor is the one who used his belt and got control of the large dog. My friend called 911 because she was worried that the neighbor might shoot the dog! Ahh, a bit of a soft heart there still. :)

Take a Survey! Click here!

I took a social survey sponsered by Harvard Univerity and initially thought the questions were quite provoking. It started by asking my opinion on two short proposals for a pretend charity. The first part of the survey asked this:

There are many popular misconceptions about the backgrounds of people in need of public assistance. Contrary to what many people believe, the majority of the recipients are white (38%), followed by African Americans (37 %), with the remaining composed of all other minority groups (Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans, etc.). Therefore, it is mainly minorities who are helped by this program.

1. To what extent do you think that the above statement is well-written?
2. To what extent do you agree with the passage?
3. To what extent do you think that what the passage says is true?
4. To what extent do you think you would like to work with the author of the passage?

My answers were truthful. Yes, this info was true. But no, these facts did not inspire me to work with this charity.

The next sample was more general and the questions slightly different:

WELCOME TO THE WORKING FAMILIES PROGRAM

Our name defines two important challenges of everyday life: family and work. Sometimes these two things are in conflict, and this is can make life difficult. We are trying to change that. By working with families and organizations alike, The Working Families Program helps children, working parents and their employers find a better balance between responsibilities at home and work. By using a real world approach with practical solutions, we are making our vision a reality.

1. To what extent do you think that the above passage is well-written?
2. To what extent do you think the announcement would be affective in garnering support for the organization?
3. To what extent do you feel that you are in agreement with the goals of the organization?
4. To what extent do you think that some of the revenue from American taxpayers should support such an organization?

The rest of the survey dealt with my opinions about why the poor are poor. It is a social survey afterall. The end of the survey made me raise an eyebrow because it asked me if I was happy to white, thought my fate was tied to other white people, and then asked me if I was ashamed or not to be white. Well, I could care less about being white and definitely don't think my teachers or other friends were nicer to me just because I am white. I realized that this must be the meat of the survey- it's a race v. povery survey. The surveyors were trying to discover if my race had anything to do with my opinions of the poor. At least that's what I thought....

The survey ended with an article they called the "Debriefing Sheet." Reading it was rather shocking. I've never found this social stance to be true! I wonder who would take care of this

In this study we explore the relationship among political attitudes. Previous research shows that white Americans are more likely to support government policies that are perceived to benefit their own racial group (e.g. affirmative action for white women, but not blacks). Previous research shows that among American whites, support for social spending for public education and health care for the poor increases when subjects are believe the target of the help will be to their own group. We are curious as to what extent African-Americans are similar in showing an in-group favoritism in this regard. The proposed research seeks to understand the psychological mechanisms underlying the racial double-standard to social policy. We are hopeful that one day, society may benefit from a greater understanding of the process and cause of group double standards. If you would like more information about the theories motivating this research, specific hypotheses being tested, and more information on the investigators, upon completion of this research information will be posted at www.cdnresearch.net.

I feel cheated! I feel like I fell for their questions and fit their stereotypical white person. I said NO to the first program synopsis that spoke of race and helping mainly minorities but said YES to the program that would help in families in general with no mention of race. Now, I didn't say NO to the first synopsis because of race, but there are some researchers that will conclude that and I assume that this researcher will. After all, he already believes the statement that whites are mainly attracted to programs that help only whites. While he states that the main point of his research is to survey blacks and see if, as a race group, have a favoritism towards only their own race, he can easily publish the data and also state that his data backs up previous statement concerning whites.

*grumble grumble*

Louisiana criminals give Texas 2 thumbs down

Oh, sometimes after fighting the good and long hard fight against crime, you need to a honest reporter like this one to give the public a bit of truthful laughs. The following article highlights a Louisiana criminal who named himself "B-stupid" and really, really doesn't think of Houston, Texas as the new promised land anymore.

From the Houston Chronicle:

Harris is no stranger to violent crime, police say.

Records show Harris has been arrested several times in Louisiana on charges ranging from disturbing the peace to murder. However, he was never convicted of any serious crimes.

But Texas is a brand new world to the Louisiana criminal element! Read and enjoy!

Brian Harris said Ivory Harris probably will be tried in New Orleans before hecomes back to Texas. He said Texas authorities will provide information to Louisiana prosecutors to assist during the punishment phase of his trial. Or, he said, the situation could be reversed if he is tried in Texas.

"We certainly know, according to New Orleans detectives, that Ivory Harris doesn't want to come back to Texas," Brian Harris said.


Ivory Harris and Hampton were among 16 Hurricane Katrina evacuees from New Orleans who were targeted by HPD in recent months for violence that stemmed from rival housing projects' gangs. They are accused of slayings, robberies and drug-related offenses, authorities said.

"If you look at the very beginning of all the people who were wanted, we know it's down to quite a few," Brian Harris said.

He credited that with HPD's strategy of relieving witnesses of the fear of retaliation.

"Evacuees here didn't have to fear being intimidated or killed," said Brian Harris, whose squad was formed in January to address slayings in southwest Houston.

"What happened in New Orleans is they would arrest someone and in a couple of weeks he was released. People would say why should I be a witness if I had to live in the same (housing) complex with this guy."

He said that people eventually found out that there was a different justice system in Texas and that "you really do some time in Texas jails."

Television show receives fine for indecency

I received this email recently and am quite happy at the results. What I truly wonder about is the mindset of the producers, writers, and directors who thought that this kind of action was good. Did they think this was normal in people's lives? Did they think this kind of programming was the next big thing and they were going to be the first?

The fine has been levied on the television stations and so it should be. Ultimately, they are the ones responsible for their programming. But I wonder if the television stations have reason to sue the staff of Without A Trace. It's my understanding that the producers of the show are the ones who rate their own programs for television. For the producers to tell the television stations that this show was self-rated and found to be allowable for television, shows a serious misrepresentation of their product, not just a little flub.

From an email sent by American Family Association:

You did it! FCC fines CBS $3.6 million for 'Without A Trace'

In January, 2005, we asked you to join us in filing formal complaints against CBS and their affiliate stations for broadcasting Without A Trace, complete with an extended teen-age orgy scene. Within days, 165,997 AFA on-line supporters had filed formal complaints with the FCC.

This week, the FCC announced it agrees with you and is fining 111 CBS stations 32,500 each for broadcasting this indecency. This major accomplishment happened because you took action! This is the largest fine ever against the networks and their stations.

In addition, the FCC reaffirmed a $550,000 fine against CBS for Janet Jackson's "wardrobe malfunction" at the 2004 Super Bowl.

I want to thank you for taking time to get involved. This proves we can make a difference when we join together!

TAKS Test: First Attempt

This week my oldest child took her first TAKS reading test for 3rd grade. She's had plenty of practice tests and done rather poorly on them. She keeps falling for the almost correct answer. Oh, not that I'm worried if she passed, but getting three questions wrong freaks her out.

Here's a sample of the story test she brought home this week:

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am a ten-year-old girl. I live in the Ballard neighborhood. I want to start a new P-Patch on my street. You might think someone my age can't handle a P-Patch. That's why I am working with a group of neighbors. We all have the same dream.

There are 20 neighbors in my P-Patch Planning Group. Sixteen members are adults, and four members are kids. We have taken field trips to four Seattle P-Patches and talked with the gardeners. The gardeners showed us how they work in their gardens. I've learned a lot. For example, I know how important it is to have good soil. I've even learned to use a tiller to stir up the hard dirt.

I have also learned what happens to the food grown in P-Patches. Every year, up to ten tons of food goes to needy people. I think that's neat! I would feel very good knowing that I grew food to help others. Some people on my street don't have much money. They would like to use the garden to grow food for their own families. I think that's neat, too.

My group found the best place for a P-Patch. I know P-Patch gardens should be at least 2,000 square feet. A church at the end of our block has been closed for three years. Nobody takes care of it. There are weeds all around. It's ugly and dirty and makes our neighborhood look bad. It would be nice to have a P-Patch there. The garden would look nice there, and it would be a nice place for neighbors to spend time together. There are no tall buildings around the old church, so the area gets plenty of sun. The sunflowers I want to plant there would be so happy!

Four people in my group know about organic gardens and will teach the rest of us. They will pay special attention to the kids (including me). So, we will learn how to be responsible gardeners. This kind of teamwork is a great idea!

Every person on my P-Patch Planning Group is writing a letter to you, too. I hope you will see how eager we are. We take the P-Patch program very seriously. Our neighborhood needs it!

Thank you,
Ellie Lewis.

She got the main idea question wrong:

1)Ellie wrote her letter mainly to-

X- show how much she knows about
making a garden.

correct answer was: give reasons why her group should
be allowed to start a P-Patch.

So she got pretty close there.

This question I really didn't expect

12. In which word do the letters er mean the same as in gardeners?

X- Flowers

Correct answer- Builders

It's a good question because students need to know that but I don't remember that ever being taught.