Racin'
& Internet Stuff:
By Tom
Avenengo
Volume # 23
7/29/2010
First:
I caught glimpses of a few races on TV over
this past weekend. I would have loved to
have been a fly on the wall when NA$CAR had that little chat with Carl Edwards
and Brian Keselowski about what happened a week ago. On top of that, I would love to hear how both
drivers actually felt, not what they came out and said. As far as I’m concerned, it is my belief that
they were both given a stern warning – not about what happened, but about what
to say.
I was somewhat disappointed in a penalty
handed down to Helio Castroneves, for sure.
Second:
Peter Kessler, who is, in a way, an Historian for the
Orange County Fair Speedway in
"The Star-Spangled Banner" has been recognized as the U.S. National Anthem since
1931. U.S. Code § 301 addresses the proper etiquette for
Hand Over Heart
1. When the anthem plays, a
People should not mill around while the anthem plays.
Hat Protocol
2. A male should remove his hat (discounting religious headwear such as
a yarmulke) with his right hand and hold it over his left shoulder. Thus, the
hand holding the hat is placed over the heart.
Eating and Drinking
3. According to the Emily Post Institute,
a citizen should not eat, drink, smoke or chew gum during the national anthem. If possible,
he/she should set down his/her food containers so that there are no
items in his/her hands.
I have looked and looked, but I can't find an exemption for race car drivers, their crews, or anyone else in the
pits or infield at an automobile race track.
If OCFS management cares enough about our National Anthem to mount Our Flag in
the safety truck and circle the track during the playing of the anthem,
certainly you can care enough to see to it that the the "pitizens"
show similar respect.
What fans in the stands have had to witness EVERY WEEK is, frankly, low rent.
Note: I’m with Mr. Kessler
on this one. And maybe there are some
other track where this occurs, too, but might be out of eyesight for the fans
to see? You might want to check and see
what I have to say about this (OCFS’s part) in “Some of my thoughts”, below.
Some
of my thoughts:
While
we were watching a couple of races on Sunday, my son happened to make mention
that there were almost as many fans at the Indycar race, in Edmonton, as there
were fans at the Cup race in Indianapolis.
I was actually surprised that they constantly showed shots on TV that
showed how many seats were empty in Indy.
I would not be surprised that next year, at Indy, they actually close
off some of the stands – like they did at Daytona for the last July 4th
race, when the entire backstretch stands were closed.
One
thing I didn’t see was the last few laps of the Indycar race. After reading about the happenings via the
Internet, I figured I just had to watch “Wind Tunnel” on SPEED, Sunday night. Forgot to. Caught the replay on Monday
morning though. In case you
haven’t heard, Helio Castroneves was penalized for “blocking”. What would have been a win for him, turned
out to be a 10th place finish. Castroneves was caught on tape going
“ballistic”, and, I, for one, cannot blame him at all. Truly, as Dave Despain said one of the worst
ever calls in auto racing.
A
video of what happened, follows. Check out the “blocking” from about 2:28 to
2:56 in the video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmx6wp_cioY
With
all of the down force that’s built into a lot of today’s racecars, and with
most series now almost being “Spec”, it seems that good racing has kind of left
us. Any idea why? I have my own thoughts. Presently I usually attend two tracks a week
– Accord on Friday night and OCFS on Saturday.
Accord is a ¼ mile banked dirt oval.
OCFS is a large 5/8 mile track that, prior to the season, had a lot of
banking taken off the turns in order to make the racing more competitive, and
maybe slow the cars down some. Accord
allows “Side Panels” on their Modifieds.
OCFS doesn’t. I don’t know if
they would make any difference at OC. To
me, the racing is a lot better at Accord, with more side by side racing. The “Hot dogs” can get to the front over the
course of their feature races. At OCFS,
that’s very difficult to do. Lately,
it’s been almost impossible. He who
starts up front winds up front, as long as they have no problems. Heck, the leaders, at times, can’t even catch
the tail-enders. Most everyone is equal,
car wise. As far as slowing the cars
down at OCFS, look at the times for the Modified and Sportsman cars from last
Saturday to what they did last year, same weekend, from a post I put on a forum
over the weekend:
OCFS
Modified best time in feature, last night:
Best Lap Tm 21.712
In Lap 23
Best Speed 103.629
by Tim Hindley
Sportsman, last night:
Best Lap Tm 22.634
In Lap 20
Best Speed 99.408
by Joe Conklin
OCFS Modified best time from 7/25/09:
Best Lap Tm 21.180
In Lap 11
Best Speed 106.232
by Bruce Kline
Sportsman from 7/25/09:
Best Lap Tm 22.366
In Lap 13
Best Speed 100.599
by Mike Ruggiero
Basically it’s
about one half second difference, time wise, for both classes. Can you count to ½ a second?
I’ve come out
and said that I think OCFS would have better racing if made a little
smaller. Some agree,
some don’t. How about racing
today, on a 1/3 or 3/8 mile dirt track? Competitive? More so
than a larger track? Oh and don’t
forget, when time trials are involved and the faster cars start up front,
especially on a larger track – uh huh, you know what kind of race you’re in
for, again, especially on a larger track.
I’ve been there and have seen it.
Have you?
As for the way things
are at OCFS when our National Anthem is being played, somehow, I get the
feeling that after this years Eastern States Weekend
of racing, it won’t really matter. I
think you can see where I’m heading on that?
Oh, and while on the
subject of our National Anthem – the last two times I’ve heard it on TV – over
these past couple of weeks, both singers seemed to have changed one word:
"Whose
broad stripes and bright stars, thro' the perilous fight,"
The word "fight" has been changed to the
word "night". Any idea as to why?"
And why in the world do
some singers, usually female, have to raise their voices and sound pitch when
singing and lengthening the word “free”?
I don’t think it was written that way.
Maybe we should just use a Military band for all playings of our
National Anthem?
Going back, in time:
Note: Most of the following
information was found here:
http://www.wheelsofspeed.com/history.html
Covering the days of July 22nd to July 28th.
JULY 22
1980
Scott Dixon ... Born ...
Scott won the 92nd running of the
JULY 23
1936
Dave MacDonald ... Born
... MacDonald became noted on the West Coast for his performance in the sports
car circuits. He competed in seven NASCAR Grand National races, finishing
second in one race each in both 1963 and 1964. He was one of two drivers killed
during the 1964
JULY 24
1983
Tim Richmond won the
NASCAR Winston Cup Like Cola 500 over Darrell Waltrip
at the Pocono Raceway, Pocono, PA.
JULY 25
1911
Len Duncan... Born ... Len
Duncan, of
George Marshman... Born ... Race car driver, builder and promoter. Father of
Bobby Marshman, 1961
1959
Rodger Ward defeated the
creme of US sportscar racers when he won the Formula Libra race at Lime Rock in
an Offenhauser powered Kurtis midget.
1965
Johnny Roberts ... Died
... NASCAR Modified Champion died as a result of a crash at the Lincoln
Speedway in Hanover, Pa on July 24, 1965
JULY 26
1938
Bruce Craig... Born ... He
was a self-employed auto racing photographer, videographer, and historian who
was well known throughout the
1950
Rich Vogler ... Born ...
USAC Midget and Sprint Car driver. Inductee in the National
Sprint Car Hall of fame. First to win both the USAC
Sprint Car and Midget Championships in the same season. His 134 wins (95
Midget, 35 Sprint, and four Silver Crown wins) in national events is second only to A. J. Foyt's 169. [1] [3] Vogler had 170
total USAC wins, and won over 200 "outlaw" (non-USAC) midget races.
Five starts at Indy, best finish - eighth in 1989 driving a Penske. In the last
race of his life, July 21, 1990 during an ESPN "Saturday Night
Thunder" national broadcast, he was killed while leading a sprint car race
at the Salem (Indiana) Speedway with a little over a lap remaining. He was
posthumously declared the winner.
1952
Doug Wolfgang ... Born ...
He spent nearly twenty years criss-crossing the country as one of the world's
greatest race car drivers. But Doug Wolfgang's career came to an end after two
horrific accidents.
JULY 27
1963
Mario Andretti entered his
first road race. He won the race at Lime Rock,
Note: It is said that Ed “Dutch” Schaefer
“disappeared” from his car prior to the start of this race, while they were
working on Donahue’s car, getting it ready for the feature, and he “appeared”
just as they were finishing up working on the car. It was also the very first professional race
for Mark Donahue
1969
Mickey Shaw ... Died ...
USAC driver from the 1960's. Mickey Shaw died at a nearby hospital after
pulling into the pits during preliminaries of a USAC Sprint Car race at the
Eldora Speedway the day before complaining of chest pains.
1996
Jim Hall announced his
retirement as a CART team owner.
JULY 28
1985
Emerson Fittipaldi gets
his first win in a CART Indycar at the
Racing
on TV - http://www.racefantv.com/USTV.htm
Friday,
July 30th:
8:00
AM to 9:30 AM on SPEED – Formula 1 practice from
12:00
PM to 1:30 PM on SPEED – Cup practice from Pocono
3:30
PM to 5:30 PM on SPEED – Cup qualifying
5:30
PM to 7:00 PM on SPEED Truck final practice at Pocono
Saturday,
July 31st:
8:00
AM to 9:30 AM Formula 1 qualifying
9:30
AM to 10:00 AM on SPEED – Cup practice
10:00
AM to 11:00 AM on SPEED – Truck qualifying
11:00
AM to 12:30 PM on SPEED – Cup final practice
1:00
PM to 3:00 PM on SPEED – Truck race
3:00
PM to 5:00 PM on SPEED – ARCA race from Pocono
7:30
PM to 10:30 PM on ESPN2 – Nationwide race from
Sunday,
August 1st:
6:00
AM to 7:30 AM on SPEED – FIA GP2 race from
7:30
AM to 10:00 AM on SPEED – Formula 1 race from
1:00
PM to 5:30 PM on ESPN – Cup race
5:00
PM to 6:00 PM on SPEED – FIM World Superbike race # 1 from
6:00
PM to 7:00 PM on SPEED – FIM World Superbike race # 2 from
Note: There was a post on the SJDR’s message board
saying that the NASCAR Whelen Modifieds
will be on TV – on the Versus channel, on Wednesday, August 4th, a
200 lap race on the ¼ mile track in Riverhead, NY. That will be a tape of the race that would
have been run on the preceding Sunday. I
think there are about nine of those NASCAR Whelen Modified races that will be
telecast on Versus on a tape delay.
Track
news – (for tracks in my area):
Accord:
From their website for this Friday:
Joe Winne Memorial Race
$2500 to win 35 Lap
Modified Race
Joe Winne’s friends have added money to
the top five positions
1st will pay $2500, 2nd will pay $1500, 3rd will pay $1000, 4th
will pay $700 and 5th will pay $600
Joe Winne’s family has added an additional $55 to the top
10 positions
as
well as sponsoring a Modified Dash for
Cash Paying $200, $125, $100, $75 & $50
The ARDC midgets will return
on August 13th
RAINCHECKS WILL BE HONORED THIS FRIDAY
1. A REFUND WILL BE GIVEN FOR THE ADMISSION PRICE
DIFFERENCE OF $8
OR
2. INSTEAD OF A REFUND – ADMISSION
ON 7/30 PLUS A GENERAL ADMISSION PASS WORTH $12
OR
3. THE TICKET CAN BE USED ON AUGUST 13TH
OCFS:
From their website:
July
28th
// Pro Stock, Pure Stock, 50 Lap Sportsman Eastern States Qualifier
July
31st
// 358/SP/PRO/PS - 358s $2500 to win - Winner will get outside pole for
Eastern States 358 Championship - No Modifieds
358
Modified Hard Clay Challenge
Thursday,
August 5th 2010 - 7pm
Rain
Date: Thursday, August 12th 2010
$10,000 TO WIN! • $400 TO TAKE GREEN
From their website:
This coming Saturday, July 31st, gates open at 3:30 pm, with hot laps at 5:30 pm and racing slated to begin at 7 pm. Grandstand admission is just $5. A full schedule is available at www.bethelmotorspeedway.com, or call (845) 319-7908 for more information.
OVRP:
Karts and Slingshots on Saturday, and Bikes and Quads on Sunday.
Also, there will be a “Thunder” (money) race for the 350# Medium Kart class on Saturday.
Hamlin:
Along with the Micro Sprints, there is this, from their website:
Briggs & Stratton
Mid-Atlantic Slingshot Tour! Round Robin Time Trials,
30 Lap Feature. If 24 or more Regular Slingshots $500 to Win! Entry Fee
$50 Plus "NASCAR Crew Challenge II"
Note: Hamlin usually gets some NASCAR crewmembers,
and on occasion, a driver or two, to compete in Slingshots, when NASCAR races
at Pocono.
The
History of the Sport:
Here’s
another one from Peter Kessler:
1949, Part III
Stock car racing at Victory Speedway wasn’t a weekly event. There were only a handful of races in 1949. The season opened on April 17, Easter Sunday, and 3,000 fans attended. Chic DiNatale won it. There was another race scheduled for May 15, along with an appearance of the ARDC Midgets. For some reason, very few people showed up to see the races, and they were cancelled. They tried again on May 31, and Bob Disbrow took the feature.
Would be racers were slowly gathering the parts, bits, and pieces to build their new race cars. In 1949, new cars were still selling like hotcakes, and junkyards were chock full of coupes that would become the basis – and backbone – of what was to come.
From the
RUSS DODD PLACES SECOND IN FEATURE STOCK EVENT
Russ Dodd of
Not only did Dodd, driving a Ruffo Motors car, take second place monies in the second half of the 50-lap feature race, but he came in second in the first heat race.
Four accidents, one in the first heat race and three in the main event, brought the huge crowd to its feet. The crack-ups in the final were the most exciting.
On the 18th lap of the feature, Joe Carlson of
After the field was reversed, the second half of the event was started and on the second lap, Dodd produced a bit of the driving which gave him second place at the finish. Angelo Lombardi tried to spin him out in order to pass, but Dodd refused to cooperate.
Instead, the Flying Milkman gave Lombardi a broadside smash, sending him into a spin. The car went out of control, cut down one of the light poles and 15 or 20 feet of fencing, finally coming to a halt on its side.
The race was started again and one lap later, George Petryk went into a spin and tore down another pole at about the same spot on the backstretch. Petryk’s car was pulled back onto the track and he finished the race.
Everything went along smoothly until the 38th
lap, when Jack Camire of
Two laps later, Paul Barbiche, riding in second place, hit the same puddle and smashed into the rear of Camire’s car, sending it down the embankment. Barbiche continued down the embankment too and went right over Camire’s auto and into about four feet of water.
It was at this point the judges decided to end the race, according to regulations. The rule states that any race which is stopped after ¾ of the event has been finished will constitute a completed race.
Chick DiNatale, another
Rocky DiNatale’s number 36 car was purchased last night by
Vincent Kosuga of
It is hoped that by next week, cars will be readied from
Walden,
In the few photos I have seen of the “Little Track,” it appears that the racing surface was elevated about four to six feet above the level of the infield area.
Other observations: There must have been a plentiful supply of fencing and light poles. Also, puddles of water on the track didn’t seem to deter the drivers from going all out. Additionally, the writer of this news story probably believed that fans came to the stock car races to see wrecks.
Weekly Stock Car racing at Victory Speedway was still a year away. In a nation that had “Racing Fever,” the timing was perfect. With midgets running on Wednesdays, and Stock Cars on Saturdays, fans from this area got a healthy dose of wide open, slam bang action twice a week.
The “Big Car” race was still the big event of the year in
Former
Dirt Oval (
What with “Mother Nature” doing her thing last weekend, there isn’t much to report this week.
However –
At
At Wall Stadium, in double Modified features, Roger Coss had a 7th and a 2nd.
At OCFS, in the Sportsman feature, Keith Still was 3rd, Brian Krummel 6th, Joe Conklin 8th, Matt Janiak 10th, RJ Smykla 18th, Zack Vavricka 19th and Anthony Perrego 22nd.
In the Modified feature, Clinton Mills was the winner, with Danny Creeden 10th, Johnny Guarino 18th, Billy VanInwegen 19th, Tim Hindley 20th and Mike Ruggiero 25th. I read that Billy was 4th on the 29th of 30 laps when he spun, or was spun, after a restart, then ended up rolling over, after getting hit by another car.
Kyle Armstrong was 2nd, Kolby Schroder 7th, Alex
Bell 9th and Bobby Hackel, III, 20th in the Sportsman
feature at
Last night, at OCFS, in the 50 lap Sportsman feature, Anthony Perrego was 1st, Matt Hitchcock 7th, Rich Coons 9th, Kolby Schroder 12th, Brian Krummel 15th, Keith Still 16th, Joe Conklin 19th, Matt Janiak 20th, John Lodini 21st, and RJ Smykla 23rd. Non qualifiers shown were: Zack Vavricka, Mike Ruggiero and Doc Young.
And, last night at Kutztown, in the 270 Micro Sprint
feature, Tiffany Wambold was 11th.
More
racin’ stuff:
1: Question: Might it be possible for arm restraints, when a racecar is flipping, to somehow unhook the seat belts? Give that some thought. It kind of looks like that is what might have happened a couple of weeks ago at a track near by.
2: In years past,
when the fair was on at OCFS, I’d either go in the Drive-In or, back when you
got the cost of getting into the fair deducted from your race ticket, into the
stands. That’s back when these old legs
and back of mine would let me do the extra walking. Now, with the large enclosed trailers, it’s
hard to see the front stretch from the Drive-In, and today there’s even less
parking available as there was a few years ago, so I don’t go to the races when
the fair is on. Still, some do go. A friend of mine did go last Saturday, and he
told me this: “Halfway
through the modified feature it felt to me as if all the life had gone out of
the speedway. It was weird, as if I was witnessing the last breaths of a
dying friend in his hospital bed.” I
wonder, how many more might have these same feelings?
Note: Back in my column – Volume 12, from May 6th,
I had this to say:
“So now I’m wondering, are we slowly seeing
the death of a speedway that’s been around for oh, so many years? It was first used as a horseracing track back
in 1857. Cars first raced on it in 1919,
and except for a few years during WW II, there’s been car racing at
If,
indeed, this is the last season for racing at OCFS, where could/should the
blame be placed? Management? I don’t think so. After all, the place has been declining for
years now. The
lease/no lease with DIRTcar? Possible. The lack of real good side-by-side racing? Possible. Cutting back, then
doing away with the Small Block class? Possible. Heck, when
they only scheduled a couple of Small Block races for the 2010 season, I
consider it cutting the class out. Will
be interesting to see how many Small Blocks they get this coming Saturday. I’d be surprised if they drew twenty
legitimate Small Blocks. Your thoughts?
Of
course, I hope I’m wrong in what I’m feeling here.
Just
a little history for OCFS – did you know that it was at OCFS that the Atlantic
Coast Old Timers had their very first on track exhibition runs. That was on Saturday, May 21, 1983. And also, OCFS is the very first track that
the late Nick Fornoro, Sr. first flagged a race? Nick went on to become one of the best
starters ever.
3:
Watching TT’s for a Nationwide race a while
back, an announcer was making mention of a driver qualifying who is in the race
(the top 35 deal) and looking for a sponsor.
Announcer was saying how the driver could go to a prospective sponsor
and tell them “I’ll get your name on TV because I’m in the race”. Well, it doesn’t really work that way, sad to
say – especially when there are Cup drivers in the Nationwide
race.
Example: A few years ago, the late Kevin Grubb had a first
time sponsor’s companies name on his car.
Sponsor was at the track, in the pits, and was extremely proud to see
Kevin leading the race for quite a few laps, over 20, I believe, with his
companies name proudly displayed on the car.
He was also taping the race at home.
Yep, when he returned home and watched the tape, he was very
disappointed. His car was never shown
while Kevin was leading. It was shown,
ONCE, when it was passed for the lead.
He vowed at that time to NEVER sponsor another car in a NASCAR event. Seems that the cameras were focused on the
Cup drivers in that race, regardless as to where they were running, position
wise. Can’t say as I blame him!
4: I
take it that by now you’ve heard that NASCAR has fined two drivers, one with a
fine of at least $50,000.00, for some things that they’ve said? It’s been pretty well covered on the
Internet, but here’s what was on Jayski’s website:
“Report:
NASCAR fines unnamed drivers for comments: UPDATE: NASCAR has fined at
least two of its star drivers this season for making critical comments about
the racing series, The Associated Press has learned. People familiar with the
penalties told the AP the comments were considered disparaging to the sport.
The people spoke on condition of anonymity because NASCAR is not publicly
identifying the topflight drivers it fined. They say one driver was penalized
as much as $50,000. The decision to fine competitors for critical comments puts
NASCAR in line with many other professional sports leagues. The NFL and NBA
both routinely issue fines for criticism of officiating. It also backs up
NASCAR's season-long campaign to rebuild the slumping sport through an improved
on-track product and off-track promotion from its drivers.(Associated
Press/ESPN.com)(7-26-2010)
UPDATE: The Associated Press has learned that NASCAR warned teams during
the offseason that public criticism of the sport would no longer be tolerated,
and at least two star drivers have been fined-one as much as $50,000-for
comments that were deemed destructive to the industry. NASCAR spokesman Ramsey
Poston on Monday night confirmed some action had been taken, but would not
discuss details. "It is the sanctioning body's obligation on behalf of the
industry and our fans to protect the sport's brand," Poston said. "Any
action taken by NASCAR has nothing to do with the drivers expressing an
opinion-it's focused on actions or comments that materially damage the sport.
We have specifically discussed this in meetings with teams, drivers and
stakeholders." Drivers all declined to publicly discuss the policy, but it
shouldn't come as any surprise-considering NASCAR's heightened effort this year
to re-ignite interest in a sport that's been fighting sagging attendance,
declining television ratings and overall fan apathy for several seasons. NASCAR
has taken several aggressive steps toward improving the on-track product, but
its top brass decided that outstanding events aren't enough to overcome the
negative perception created every time a driver publicly blasts the series.(Associated
Press)(7-27-2010)”
5: Something I had an idea was going to happen,
has. Found this on the Internet:
“The United States Auto Club has announced several schedule
modifications to the 2010 Silver Crown Championship slate, including the
addition of the “Rollie Beale 150” at the
Note: I checked
the speedways website and there is nothing scheduled for 8/4/2010.
Other forums/message boards and websites:
You might find some interesting reading if you go to the links below.
Track
Forum: - http://www.trackforum.com/forums/
Frontstretch.com:
http://www.frontstretch.com/
Jayski:
- http://www.jayski.com/
Open
Wheel Racers3: http://www.openwheelracers3.com/
Race
Pro Weekly: http://raceproweekly.com/
For
My son, Eric has a Dirt Modified for
sale. Here’s some info:
2006 teo. Standard rack car. NOT
bowflex. Complete car minus engine. Winters rear, Kirkey full containmentr
seat, Parker pumper, Bert tranny, profile steering, Rear cockpit adjustable
panhard bar, Aluminum wheels. $6000 just need engine. Also have spare shocks,
wheels, complete sway away front axle minus calipers,springs,
spare front axles,and a few other spares. Everything for
$6500. spares wont go till car is gone.
And, it looks like he’ll be selling the enclosed
trailer, too.
You can e-mail him at: ema19us@yahoo.com
or me, at my address at the end of my column.
Video
time:
For
this week, something a little different:
The
person in this video, who I’m sure you’ll recognize, was born on August 4,
1961. In this video, he claims his
father had served in the Second World War.
His father was born on April 4, 1936.
Now maybe this person actually meant his stepfather? If so, his stepfather was born in 1935.
You
do realize the years that the Second World War was fought, right? Oh, you forgot? How about the years 1939, 1940, 1941, 1942,
1943, 1944 & 1945? You see where
I’m heading here, right? You do the
math, and figure out how old his father would have been and/or how old his
stepfather would have been during those war years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv4jnlkxOaw
His
fathers name: Barack Hussein
Obama Sr.
His stepfathers name: Lolo Soetoro
Yes, you can do an Internet search on both.
Is this true?:
Other
(non racing) news:
Yes,
the Sheriff is in the news, again. Seems
the county he’s Sheriff of has deported 26,146 “Illegals”. Me, I say GREAT JOB, Sheriff Joe!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_immigration_local_enforcement
83 percent of all
61 percent of Americans "always or usually" live paycheck to
paycheck, which was up from 49 percent in 2008 and 43 percent in 2007.
66 percent of the income growth between 2001 and 2007 went to the top 1% of all
Americans.
In 1950, the ratio
of the average executive's paycheck to the average worker's paycheck was about
30 to 1. Since the year 2000, that ratio has exploded to between
300 to 500 to one.
So,
Illegals try to rob you of your trailer and you CAN’T shoot at them? WTH??
http://www.kwgn.com/news/kdvr-elderly-man-shoots-thieves-txt,0,2612691.story
The judge also
delayed parts of the law that required immigrants to carry their papers at all
times, and made it illegal for undocumented workers to solicit employment in
public places — a move aimed at day laborers. In addition, the judge blocked
officers from making warrantless arrests of suspected illegal immigrants.
Note: Personally, I’m surprised that some of the
parts of the law were not passed. I can
see more coming on this. Maybe in time,
more people will come to side with
Even as BP
shareholders celebrate CEO Tony Hayward's impending departure, many have been
quick to raise concerns about how much the beleaguered executive will be paid
when he heads out the door. After
Robert
Nardelli, Home Depot (Package worth: $210 million). Unlike some of the other
executives who made this list, Robert Nardelli didn't exactly run his company
into the ground. Even though its stock price struggled, Home Depot expanded
substantially under Nardelli's watch. Still, Nardelli, once celebrated as a
disciplined leader who almost inherited the GE throne, is now equally
remembered for the shocking size of the compensation package he received when
he was forced out. Ironically, it was Nardelli's large paycheck--he made $38.1
million as part of his last yearly contract with Home Depot--that prompted
shareholders to call for his ouster.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/6unpopularceoswhostillcollectmillions
Closing with this:
A
guy shopping in a supermarket noticed a little old lady following him around.
If he stopped, she stopped. Furthermore she kept staring at him. She finally
overtook him at the checkout, and she turned to him and said, "I hope I
haven't made you feel ill at ease; it's just that you look so much like my late
son."
He
answered, "That's okay."
"I know it's silly, but if you'd call out "Good bye, Mom" as I
leave the store, it would make me feel so happy."
She then went through the checkout, and as she was on her way out of the store,
the man called out, "Goodbye, Mother." The little old lady waved and
smiled back at him.
Pleased that he had brought a little sunshine into someone's day, he went to
pay for his groceries. "That comes to $121.85," said the clerk. "How come so much. I only bought 5 items.
The clerk replied, "Yeah, but your Mother said you'd pay for her things,
too.
Do not trust all little Old Ladies..
May “Guardian Angels” sit on the shoulders of all of our race drivers and race fans, and guide them safely around the tracks!
Drive safe!
As usual, you can reach me
at: ygordad@yahoo.com