Racin' & Internet Stuff:

                                       By Tom Avenengo

                                            Volume # 32

                                                9/30/2010

 

First:

Well, I suppose our weather here in the Northeast will be well talked about over these next few days.  Fortunately, the Tornado Watch/Warning we had for the other day proved to have no Tornados actually form.

Now, over these next few days, we have what follows, as of 8:30 PM on Wednesday, to look forward to (my home town forecast):

 

WIND ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THURSDAY TO 6 AM EDT
FRIDAY...
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN UPTON HAS ISSUED A WIND
ADVISORY...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 11 AM THURSDAY TO 6 AM EDT
FRIDAY.
STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL DEVELOP BY THURSDAY AFTERNOON...AND
LAST INTO THURSDAY NIGHT. SUSTAINED WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH WITH
GUSTS OF 45 TO 50 MPH ARE LIKELY ACROSS THE ADVISORY AREA...
ESPECIALLY DURING PERIODS OF HEAVIER RAIN AND ACROSS THE HIGHER
ELEVATIONS.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A WIND ADVISORY IS ISSUED WHEN SUSTAINED WINDS OF 31 TO 39 MPH...
OR GUSTS OF 46 TO 57 MPH...ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. WINDS THIS
STRONG CAN MAKE DRIVING DIFFICULT...ESPECIALLY FOR HIGH PROFILE
VEHICLES. USE EXTRA CAUTION.
And:

Tonight: Cloudy skies with periods of rain late. Low 62F. Winds light and variable. Rainfall near a half an inch.

Tomorrow: Windy with rain, heavy at times. High 73F. Winds SE at 20 to 30 mph. Rainfall expected to exceed 2 inches.

Tomorrow night: Windy. Rain, heavy at times early. Low near 60F. Winds E at 15 to 25 mph. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.

Friday: Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. High 68F. Winds NW at 10 to 20 mph.

I imagine I’ll get a little water in one corner of my basement.  Here’s hoping none of my readers have water/wind problems where they live.

 

Second:

As you are probably aware, I was brought up, racing wise, by watching the ARDC midgets race here in the Northeast.  I’ve seen the good and the bad as far as how the competition was.  I’ve seen it go from full fields of cars at the events to short fields – both back in time and then more presently, although, since the ARDC has gone wingless, their fields have increased somewhat.  Today, it seems that to be somewhat competitive, one must still run an engine that’s fairly expensive.  The other day I found this, below, on the ARDC’s message board.  Might it give midget racing a boost?

 

 

“We are pleased and honored to have had a guest column written by RRE President Keith Iaia recently get published in “National Speed Sport News”.  For those of you who may have missed it, here is a reprint;

A legitimate new engine choice for Midget Racers
Guest Columnist - Keith Iaia

PASO ROBLES, Calif.
When it comes to American motorsports, no other form brings with it the history, tradition and reputation of midget racing. No other form is known to be the birthplace of so many great American drivers over so many years, and no other form can match the record of the mighty midgets  for consistently putting on spectacular short-track racing over the past seven decades.

Stock-car racers, drag racers, road racers — all of us agree — midgets are a gas. But right now midget racing is in BIG trouble. Many opinions have been expressed in this publication and elsewhere regarding  the cause of the problem, but the bottom line is that in today’s competitive market, an ever-increasing number of potential participants are deciding that midget racing does not represent a good value when compared to other forms of racing. Thus, midget racing is losing ground.

What many people do not realize, and in some cases what some people don’t seem to want to hear, is that midget racing is poised for a huge comeback. Anyone who doubts this statement is hereby invited to prove it  to themselves.

Just get in your car and drive until you see a car dealership — any car dealership. Ask a salesman what the No. 1 selling sedan on the lot is, and chances are when you look under the hood you will be staring at what could easily be a great midget engine — an all aluminum, twin-cam, four-valve engine of 2.3 to 2.5-liter displacement with modern features like variable valve timing, and highly accurate fuel and spark management technologies.

Virtually every car manufacturer on the planet makes an engine like this, and in most cases it is their No. 1 seller. Think about that for a  minute. Think about what this can do for the sport of midget racing — everything from the possibility of more manufacturer involvement, to attracting new fans, new sponsors and new teams based on the relevance of these modern engines to their respective lives, interests and businesses. And by contrast, think about how much ground midget racing has lost on account of the increasingly irrelevant, expensive engines currently in use.

Clearly, these modern engines are worthy of a closer look, but what locks these new designs in, as the path to a resurgent midget racing community, is far more basic. Simply put, when compared to the current inventory of midget engines, these new designs offer more power per dollar expensed. And they do it while offering improved drivability and greatly extended duty cycles.

In other words, these engines solve the problem that midget racing currently suffers from. And what is it that is holding us back? What prevents us from taking this step and moving forward into an era of more  affordable, reliable, powerful engines? The simple answer is — nothing.

Modern four-cylinder engines make more power per dollar invested because they feature superior engine controls that accurately time spark  and fuel events for maximum power, and can even position the camshafts in relation to those fuel and spark maps to further improve and extend power curves.

Traditional midget engines feature isolated subsystems, where the fuel injection has no communication with the ignition, which has no communication with the cams, etc. Modern engine management ties the whole engine together and allows each subsystem to perform at 100 percent under all conditions. And these more accurate engine controls result in greatly extended time between rebuilds since factors such as over or under fueling, detonation and overheating can be virtually eliminated.

Bigger purses, more sponsorship, better TV coverage and a whole laundry list of other items are all important considerations and deserving of scrutiny. But until the relationship between what it costs to operate a midget on a weekly basis and what it pays to run middle-of-the-pack can be brought at least within earshot of one another, one of our sport’s most valuable treasures will continue to slip away from us.

There is no other initiative that can turn this situation around as quickly as the move to modern, EFI-based four-cylinder engine technology  and there is perhaps no chassis formula in all of racing that is better  prepared to benefit from this technology than the midget.

An exciting new chapter in the great history of midget racing is upon  us. Now is the time to learn lessons from past mistakes and apply that knowledge in order to develop better guidelines and rules in order to maximize this great opportunity. Who will step forward, and who will sit  with arms folded?

— Keith Iaia owns and operates Revolution Racing Engines in Paso Robles, Calif.”

So, the question is:  Might a “Stock Block” division work with some of the midget clubs here in the US?  I know that NEMA has what they call NEMA “Lights” - midgets that use mostly Ford Focus engines and also Quad 4 engines, I believe.  They’re using that class as a stepping-stone for younger drivers.

 

Third:

Over this past racing season I’ve attended some new tracks and also some of my regular “haunts”.  Some of those tracks were for special shows, so it’s kind of hard to judge the attendance for them or for the tracks, themselves.

I’ve attended a couple of tracks quite a bit, and to be honest, the attendance, as far as what the stands hold, has been quite different – with one most always full and the other quite a bit the opposite.

I’ve also watched some racing on television, as maybe most of you have, too, and have noticed a ton of empty seats.  I was rather shocked when catching glimpses of the Cup race last Sunday, at Dover, with complete sections of stands covered over, and with the “usual” amount of empty seats in the rest of the grandstands.  If you recall, for the July 4th race at Daytona, the complete backstretch grandstand area was closed up.

OK, so maybe the economy is causing SOME of those empty seats, along with the cost of getting there, lodging, food and the price of the tickets, themselves.  So why am I writing this?  Well, the TV viewing, which I don’t think should be affected by the economy, is still down, as you can see from this, which I found on Jayski’s website:

“Dover TV Ratings: ESPN's live telecast of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Dover International Speedway on Sunday earned a final national household coverage rating of 2.8 (2.4 U.S. rating), averaging 3,965,722 viewers. Last year's race aired on ABC and earned a 3.1 U.S. rating [with 5.08 million viewers].
ESPN2's live telecast of Saturday's NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Dover earned a final national household coverage rating of 1.2, the same rating earned for last year's race that also aired on ESPN2. The telecast averaged 1,624,214 viewers, an 11 percent increase from last year. ESPN2's NASCAR Nationwide Series ratings have remained consistent all season and are slightly up from ratings at this point last year.(ESPN), see TV Ratings for 2010 and last 4 years on my 2010 TV Ratings page.(9-28-2010)”

Note:  It isn’t just racing folks.  Even some of the top teams in Major League Baseball are having problems drawing fans.

 

Some of my thoughts:

I saw some pretty good racing last Friday night at the Accord Speedway.  The place was packed, both with race fans and race teams.  Cars were parked along the road that leads to the speedway.  The races were run off in quick fashion, and with that, they did just manage to get the show in prior to that dreaded “Curfew time”.

There were 13 Junior Slingshots, 9 Senior Slingshots, 31 “Race engine” Sportsman and 52 Modifieds that ran in the qualifying heats.

So, what can I “nit-pick” about the show?  Just one thing, I believe.  During the regular racing season at Accord, the facilities are fine, but when a big race like this one is scheduled about the only thing I think they could use might be the addition of some “Porta Johns”.  It was a good thing it was a nice warm evening!  Somehow, cold weather makes more visits to the rest rooms a necessity.

I did hear one little rumor and I’m hoping that it might come true.  Keep in mind, now, I am saying RUMOR!   I heard that they might be adding some seats for the 2011 season.  If true, that would be great news.

 

 

Going back, in time:

Note:  Most of the following information was found here: 

http://www.wheelsofspeed.com/history.html

 

Covering the days of September 24th to September 30th.

 

SEPTEMBER 24

1936

Bobby Marshman ... Born ... Born in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, Marshman died in San Antonio, Texas from injuries sustained in a tire test in Phoenix, Arizona. He drove in the USAC Midget, Sprint and Championship Car series, racing in the 1961-1964 seasons, with 49 career starts, including each Indianapolis 500 contest in that span. He finished in the top ten 25 times, with one victory, in 1962 at Phoenix. His 7th place finish at the 1961 Indianapolis 500 earned him co-Rookie of the Year honors with Parnelli Jones.

1960

Johnny Thomson... Died ...ARDC/ AAA / USAC . He won the 1952 AAA Eastern division Midget championship. He drove in the AAA and USAC Championship Car series, racing in the 1953-1960 seasons with 69 starts, including the Indianapolis 500 races in each season. He finished in the top ten 43 times, with 7 victories. His best Indy finish was third in 1959. Roy Sherman, the first National Midget Champion, was his chief mechanic for several Indy 500s. He was the first driver to win a 100 mile dirt track race in less than an hour at Langhorne, Pennsylvania. His champ car's average speed was 100.174 miles per hour. Thomson was the 1958 USAC Sprint Car Series champion. He won the Eastern Sprint Car championship in 1954. He died at a sprint car event at the 1960 edition of the Allentown Fair when his car crashed through the fence and flipped into the infield. Thomson was inducted in the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame in 1996 and the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 1997.

Note:  Thomson was driving the same car that the late Bill Schindler drove when he was fatally injured at Allentown almost 8 years to the day, earlier on September 20, 1952.

 

1967

Gary Congdon ... Died ... USAC midget, sprint and Indy car driver. Congdon died in Terre Haute, Indiana in a crash in a midget car race.

1999

Kevin Gobrecht... Died ... Pennsylvania Sprintcar driver. Kevin Gobrecht was 30 years old when he was killed in a violent sprint-car crash at I-80 Speedway in Nebraska. Today, the World of Outlaws rookie of the year receives the Kevin Gobrecht Rookie of the Year Award, named for the driver known on the Central Pennsylvania circuit as The G Man. After a successful career racing micro sprints, Gobrecht won his first sprint-car feature in mid-1995, and in 1996, victories came more frequently. He posted victories driving for various sprint-car owners before he got the call from Dave Blaney to drive his World of Outlaws car in 1999. Gobrecht posted his biggest victory when he picked up the $100,000 top prize for winning The Big One at Eldora Speedway. It was his last victory.

 

SEPTEMBER 25

1910

Louis Durant... Born ... AAA driver 1939 to 1948

1952

George Tichenor won the AAA Midget race at the Huntsville VFW Speedway, Huntsville,AL.

1998

George Tichenor... Died ... AAA driver that raced in the 1950's

 

SEPTEMBER 26

1956

Steve Butler ... Born ... He won six national driving championships in USAC Sprint Car and Silver Crown open-wheel racing. Butler was highly regarded for his technical skills and performed chief mechanic duties on several of his winning race cars. He also communicated his view of racing to fans both as author and television commentator. Despite a relatively brief racing career (1981-1993), Butler is an inductee into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame. He retired at age 37 to pursue both an engineering career and more time with his growing family.

 

SEPTEMBER 27

2007

Nick Fornoro Sr... Died ... Nick was the American Racing Drivers Club (ARDC) driving champion in 1950, and he was the first NASCAR Midget driving champion in 1953. After retiring, he went on to be one of the best starters (flaggers) ever, starting out here in the Northeast and eventually ending up as the flagger for two hundred consecutive Championship Auto Racing Teams Indy Car Series races (CART), serving in that position from 1979 to 1992. In 1993 he was the honorary starter for the Indianapolis 500.

Note:  When they had the Memorial Service for Nick, I was honored to be asked to read what his family and friends had written about him, to those in attendance.  Later on, I was able to get those words and I did up a couple of articles on what was said.  If you’re interested, you can e-mail me and I’ll gladly send what was said, to you.  My e-mail address is at the end of my column.

Did you know that the very first track that Nick flagged at was OCFS?

  

2008

Paul Newman – actor/race driver/team owner and businessman also left us

 

SEPTEMBER 28
1920

Fred "Jiggs" Peters ... Born ... Jiggs started racing Midgets in 1948, winning the ARDC championship in 1951. He then moved into Sprint Cars. In 1955 he unsuccesfully attempted to qualify for the Indy 500 in a Scopa-Offy. Equally at home on dirt or asphalt, he tried to qualify for Indy again in the Lee Glessner Offy in 1957. Short on speed on the first weekend, he was fast enough on the second to qualify but he chose to come home to NJ to run locally to make money as opposed to sitting in Indy for the whole month of May without an income. He was very good in long distance races and won numerous times at long tracks like Trenton, N.J. and Langhorne, Pa. He was injured at Bedford Speedway in 1969 in a URC Sprint Car race and retired after that. He continued to stay involved by running the pit gate at Grandview Speedway for promotor Ed Darrell. He also was very involved in numerous Old Timer Clubs until his passing on December 25, 1993

1924

Russ Congdon ... Born ... USAC midget and sprint racer from the 1950's and 60's

1958

Rodger Ward won the USAC sanctioned Trenton 100 on the 1 Mile Paved Oval Trenton International Speedway in Trenton, NJ. Johnny Thomson was second followed by Tony Bettenhausen, Joe Barzda and Eddie Johnson.

Jimmy Reece... Died ... Reece was a Midget, Sprint driver and a 6 time veteran of the Indianapolis 500, with Top Ten finishes in 1952, 1956 and 1958. He died in a racing accident, on the last lap, during the champ car race at Trenton International Speedway.

 

SEPTEMBER 29
1905

Barney Oldfield won the AAA sanctioned Poughkeepsie Race on the 1 Mile Dirt Oval Hudson River Driving Park in Poughkeepsie, New York.

1923

Joie Ray ... Born ... He was one of the nation's pioneer open wheel and Stock car race drivers. His racing career spanned 17 seasons (1947-1963) as a Sprint, Midget, and Stock car driver. Ray was the first African American AAA license holder and ran in the Central States Racing Association (CRSA), The International Motor Contest Association (IMCA), United States Auto Club (USAC) and the Midwest Dirt Track Racing Association.

2001

Mickey Stavola... Died ... Along with his brother Billy co-owned Stavola Brothers Racing. The Stavola Brothers formed their NASCAR Winston Cup team in 1983 with veteran crew chief Harry Hyde and rookie driver Bobby Hillin, who was a high school senior at the time. Before closing the team at the end of the 1998 Winston Cup season when the team lost Circuit City as its primary sponsor, the brothers fielded cars for eight drivers, including Bobby Allison, Sterling Marlin, Jeff Burton and Dick Trickle. The brothers' primary business was Trap Rock Industries, a rock quarry in New Jersey that has an asphalt company as a subsidiary.

 

SEPTEMBER 30
1919

Cecil Green ... Born ... An American racecar driver from Dallas, Texas. Green won 34 races between 1948 and 1950 in Oklahoma and Missouri, and many more in Texas. He won the 1949 Oklahoma City and Southwest AAA titles. He won in seven different Offenhauser cars. Green place fourth in his first Indianapolis 500 in 1950. He finished 22nd in the 1951 Indianapolis 500. He died in a qualifying crash at Winchester Speedway in Winchester, Indiana in 1951, which became known as "Black Sunday". Green was inducted in the National Midget Auto Racing Hall of Fame in 2003.

1937

Don Brown... Born ... USAC Sprint and INDY Car driver from the 1960's and 70's. He was also one of the best car fabricators.

 

 

 

Track news – (for tracks in my area):

 

Bethel:  http://www.bethelmotorspeedway.com/BethelMotorSpeedway/Home_Page.html

October 2 & 3

October 2 & 3

 

BETHEL MOTOR MADNESS

Dirt Sportsman, Pro Stock, BMS Modified, Street Stock, 4 Cylinder, Legends and Bandoleros

50 point bonus for all divisions - Points End

 

October 2 & 3

OVRP – the dirt track:  http://www.oaklandvalleyspeedway.com/

 

A regular night of Kart and Slingshot racing on Saturday is on tap for the Speedway this coming weekend.  I’ve seen it posted that the practice session for the following Friday has been canceled.

 

 

The History of the Sport:

Back on the Labor Day weekend, I went to the Racing Expo that was held at the Hinchliffe Stadium in Paterson, NJ, with my daughter, Judy.  Yes, I’m in the process of finishing up an article about that visit, which should be finished by next week.  But I thought I’d let you know how some of the drivers that ran there did there during the years they held auto races at the stadium.

Racing started there in 1939 on a cinder track.  The midgets ran there in 1939, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49 & 50.  The track was paved between the 45 and 46 racing seasons.  They lat raced midgets there on January 1, 1950.

Bill Schindler leads the list of feature winners with 30 wins.  Art Cross was next with 16.  Al Keller had 10 feature wins. 

Next, in order were:

Johnny Ritter – 8, George Rice – 7, Mike Nazaruk, Rex Records, Lloyd Christopher and Bob Disbrow with 6, Don Morris – 4, Ted Tappett (Phil Walters), Babe Bower, Ernie McCoy, Shorty McAndrew and Perry Grim with 3, Tony Bonadies, Ed “Dutch” Schaefer, Jeep Colkitt, Len Duncan and Red Redmond with 2.

Dee Toran, Henry Renard, Stan Disbrow, Charlie Miller, Chet Gibbons, George Fonder, Charlie Breslin, Johnny Jars, Lew Volk, Jim Reed, Andy Van Huesen, Len Fanelli, Walt Fusco and Johnny Swier all had one victory to their names.  Adding them up, it comes out to 140 feature events over the years.

Schindler also led in second place finishes with 19, while Cross had 15.  Schindler had 3 thirds while Cross led in that department with 16.

As far as a driver getting top three finishes, the list is quite long, with 37 names being shown in the Hinchliffe book that the late Crocky Wright wrote.  That’s where this info came from, for your information.

From the drivers that ran at Hinchliffe, there were quite a few ran bigger cars like Sprint (Big) Cars, Indy cars, Stock Cars and Sports Cars, and they were:

Schindler, Cross, Keller, George Rice, Nazaruk, Records, Tappett, McCoy, Grimm, Bonadies, Schaefer, Duncan, Miller, Redmond, Jiggs Peters, Joe Barzda, Duke Nalon, Russ Klar, Tex Keene, Steve McGrath, Nick Fornoro and Paul Russo.

 

 

 

Former Dirt Oval (Oakland Valley Speedway) runners:

Davie Franek was 22nd in the 358 Sprint Car feature at Selinsgorve.

Johnny Guarino was 14th and 21st in the two Modified features at New Egypt, while Justin Grosz was 23rd in the ARDC feature.

At Accord, on Friday, Charlie Lawrence was 2nd in the Senior Slingshot feature.  Anthony Perrego won the Sportsman feature, with Brian Krummel 3rd, Mike Ruggiero 8th, Brad Szulewski 17th and Kyle Armstrong 20th.  In the 100-lap Modified (ROC) feature, Jamie Yannone was 12th and Greg Hastie 27th.  Danny Creeden, Clinton Mills and Anthony Perrego were DNQ’s.

On Saturday, in the Spec Sportsman 50 lap feature, Perrego was 5th, Kyle Rohner 8th, Krummel 20th and Bobby Hackel (IV?) 24th.

A special non-qualifiers 20 lap race was held and Matt Janiak won it with Matt Hitchcock finishing 5th.

Note:  From what I’ve read, on the Internet, it looks like young Mr. Hackel will be a regular next year at Accord in the Modified class.

In CRSA 305 Sprint Car action, from a week ago, Josh Pieniazek had a 4th place finish and Chuck Alessi a 13th at the Mohawk International Raceway.  This past weekend at Rolling Wheels, Chuck was the feature winner.

Michael Storms was 24th in the Modified feature at Fonda while AJ Filbeck was 15th in the Sportsman feature.

Brad Szulewski was able to pick up a ride in a 600 Modified for a race at Linda’s and after starting 22nd he ended up 8th in the feature.

Must note here on Brad – he probably had a top five car in the Sportsman race at Accord on Friday, but was taken out, under caution by a fellow competitor.  It wasn’t the first time said competitor took Brad out at Accord this year, either.  No idea what was/is on that drivers mind, and I know him, personally, too.

 

Looks like that’s it for this week.  Hope I didn’t miss anyone!

 

 

More racin’ stuff:

I’ve never been a fan of NASCAR’s new point system – the “Chase”, so from this column on, I hope to show points as I feel they should be (per Jayski’s website) and how the “Chase” points are, weekly.

2010 Sprint Cup Driver 'Classic' Points Standings:
[after Dover, race 28 of 36....the OLD way]:

 1) #29-Kevin Harvick, 3996
2) #18-Kyle Busch, 3788, -208
3) #24-Jeff Gordon, 3778, -218
4) #99-Carl Edwards, 3722, -274
5) #48-Jimmie Johnson, 3700, -296
6) #31-Jeff Burton, 3678, -318
7) #11-Denny Hamlin, 3650, -346
8) #2-Kurt Busch, 3626, -370
9) #14-Tony Stewart, 3613, -383
10) #17-Matt Kenseth, 3549, -447
11) #16-Greg Biffle, 3395, -601
12) #39-Ryan Newman, 3363, -633
13) #33-Clint Bowyer, 3354, -642
14) #1-Jamie McMurray, 3344, -652
15) #42-Juan Pablo Montoya, 3253, -743
16) #00-David Reutimann, 3190, -806

And, the “Chase” way:

 

  1. Denny Hamlin – 5368
  2. Jimmie Johnson – 5333
  3. Kyle Busch – 5323
  4. Kurt Busch – 5309
  5. Kevin Harvick – 5303
  6. Carl Edwards – 5295
  7. Jeff Burton – 5288
  8. Jeff Gordon – 5285
  9. Greg Biffle – 5228
  10. Tony Stewart – 5206
  11. Matt Kenseth – 5203
  12. Clint Bowyer - 5133

 

 

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/

Racing on TV - http://www.racefantv.com/USTV.htm

 

 

Video time:

Have you ever wanted to sing along with a song and or a music video but weren’t quite sure of the words?  Well then, here ya go!  

A sing along with Bonnie Tyler and “It’s a Heartache”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0CG4eN8SUQ&feature=related

 

 

Other (non racing) news:

 

From 9/23/10

 

Double-digit hikes for some Medicare drug plans

In part:

“WASHINGTON – Millions of seniors face double-digit hikes in their Medicare prescription premiums next year unless they shop for cheaper coverage, a new analysis of government data finds.

Premiums will go up an average of 10 percent among the top 10 drug plans that have signed up about 70 percent of seniors, according to an analysis of Medicare data by Avalere Health, a private research firm.

Marketing for next year's drug plans gets under way Oct. 1, and seniors will see some of the biggest changes since the Medicare prescription benefit became available in 2006. More than 17 million are enrolled in private drug plans offered through Medicare.”

Note:  When this program was first announced, and a lot of pitfalls and uncertainties came up, I opted not to sign up.  So, was I right in doing so, or not?

 

Texting Taking a Deadly Toll on Roads

In part:

“THURSDAY, Sept. 23 (HealthDay News) -- Distracted driving fatalities caused by cell phone use and texting soared in the space of three years, according to new U.S. government research released Thursday.

Texting alone caused more than 16,000 deaths in car accidents from 2001 to 2007, the researchers estimated. But auto deaths involving cell phones and texting while driving rose 28 percent in just three years, from 4,572 in 2005 to 5,870 in 2008.”

Note:  Like we couldn’t see this coming?  I, and probably you, have seen how addictive texting has become.  It ain’t gonna get better, folks.

 

23,207 Fraudulent Texas Voters Registered by SEIU Member

In part:

“http://www.texasinsider.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/texas-politics3.jpgTexas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas – Service Employees International Union (SEIU) member Steve Caddle of Houston, Texas has been caught registering 23,207 fake voters in Harris County alone due to the hard detective work of Catherine Engelbrecht and her “True the Vote” project.”

“The other registrations included:

One of a woman who registered six times in the same day

Registrations of non-citizens

So many applications from 1 “Houston Voters” collector in 1 day that it was deemed to be beyond human capability, and

1,597 registrations that named the same person multiple times, often with different signatures.”

 

“So what was the outcome of Engelbrecht’s hard work?

All of Harris County’s voting machines were torched in a three-alarm fire by person or persons unknown. Bet those shadowy firebugs hold SEIU membership cards, too!”

You can read about it here:  http://www.texasinsider.org/?p=34494

Note:  The above, believe it or not, was found on Facebook via a link.

 

 

Is this true? # 1:

I’ve received what follows, a couple of times, and I’m not too sure just how old it is, but, if true, it is quite sad.

Not Busy Nov 2 - Go VOTE!
 
 Don’t forget.  November 2 is “Take out the trash day” !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
 Please remember November elections are not far off. It's time to take back our country and pay back our representatives.

The following senators voted against making English the official language of America : (Republicans are in red)
 

                             Akaka (D-HI)
                              Bayh (D-IN)
                              Biden (D-DE)
                              Bingaman (D-NM)
                              Boxer (D-CA)
                              Cantwell (D-WA)
                              Clinton (D-NY)
                              Dayton (D-MN)
                              Dodd (D-CT)
                              Domenici (R-NM)
                              Durbin (D-IL)
                              Feingold (D-WI)
                              Feinstein (D-CA)
                              Harkin (D-IA)
                              Inouye (D-HI)
                              Jeffords (I-VT)
                              Kennedy (D-MA)
                              Kerry (D-MA)
                              Kohl (D-WI)
                              Lautenberg (D-NJ)
                              Leahy (D-VT)
                              Levin (D-MI)
                              Lieberman (D-CT)
                              Menendez (D-NJ)
                              Mikulski (D-MD)
                              Murray (D-WA)
                              Obama (D-IL)
                              Reed (D-RI)
                              Reid (D-NV)
                              Salazar (D-CO)
                              Sarbanes (D-MD)
                              Schumer (D-NY)
                              Stabenow (D-MI)
                              Wyden (D-OR)

Now, the  following  are the senators who voted to give illegal aliens Social Security benefits.   They are grouped by home state.  If a state is not listed, there was no voting representative.


Alaska :                  Stevens (R)
Arizona :                 McCain (R)
Arkansas :               Lincoln (D)            Pryor (D)
California :              Boxer (D)              Feinstein (D)
Colorado :               Salazar (D)
Connecticut :          Dodd (D)                Lieberman (D)
Delaware :               Biden (D)               Carper (D)
Florida :                  Martinez (R)
Hawaii :                   Akaka (D)               Inouye (D)
Illinois :                   Durbin (D)              Obama (D)
Indiana:                    Bayh (D)                 Lugar (R)
Iowa:                        Harkin (D)
Kansas:                    Brownback (R)
Louisiana:                Landrieu (D)
Maryland:                Mikulski (D)          Sarbanes (D)
Massachusetts:         Kennedy (D)          Kerry (D)
Montana:                  Baucus (D)
Nebraska:                 Hagel (R)
Nevada:                    Reid (D)
New Jersey:              Lautenberg (D)       Menendez (D)
New Mexico:           Bingaman (D)
New York:               Clinton (D)              Schumer (D)
North Dakota :         Dorgan (D)
Ohio :                        DeWine (R)            Voinovich(R)
Oregon :                    Wyden (D)
Pennsylvania :          Specter (D)
Rhode Island :          Chafee (R)              Reed (D)
South Carolina :        Graham (R)
South Dakota :           Johnson (D)
Vermont :                   Jeffords (I)               Leahy (D)
Washington :              Cantwell (D)           Murray (D)
West Virginia :           Rockefeller (D), by Not Voting
Wisconsin :                 Feingold (D)           Kohl (D)
 
THE ENTIRE POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES NEEDS THIS INFORMATION.....UNLESS THEY DON'T MIND SHARING THEIR SOCIAL SECURITY WITH FOREIGN WORKERS WHO DIDN'T PAY A DIME INTO IT.
 

Note:  Speaking about Illegals and them getting Social Security and Social Security cards – A little while ago I did an Internet search on my father.  One of the very first things that came up was this:  “U.S. Social Security Death Index”.

What I found was his date of birth and date of death AND his Social Security number!

Not only for my father, but also for any other Avenengo that has passed away that had a number.

 

Knowing how screwed up our government can be, I wonder – might those social security numbers be used – maybe along with the names?  Think about it.

 

Is this true? # 2:

 

From an e-mail I received this past Tuesday:

 

“Try balancing your checkbook if this gets passed, and according to Snopes, the bill does exist, but has no backers other than the author. Let's hope it stays that way.

 

Subj: 1% TRANSACTION TAX

This was checked out on Truth or Fiction and it is true.  The bill is HR-4646 introduced by US Rep Peter deFazio D-Oregon and US Senator Tom Harkin D-Iowa.  It is now in committee and will probably not be brought out until after the Nov. elections. Suggest that you pass this along and also to your state senator and representative and US Congressman and Senators.

 

President Obama's finance team is recommending a transaction tax. His plan is  to sneak it in after the November election to keep it under the radar. This is a 1% tax on all transactions at any financial institution i. e. Banks, Credit Unions, etc.. Any deposit you make, or move around within your account, i. e. transfer to, will have a 1% tax charged. If your pay check or your social Security or whatever is direct deposit, 1% tax charged. If you hand carry a check in to deposit, 1% tax charged, If you take cash in to deposit, 1% tax charged. This is from the man who promised that if you make under $250,000 per year, you will not see one penny of new tax. Keep your eyes and ears open, you will be amazed at what you learn.  

Some will say aw it's just 1%... remember once the tax is there they can raise it at will.

I checked this on www.congress.org and yes it is true.  The bill was introduced by Chaka Fattah, (D-PA 2nd) and went to committees for action on 2/23/10. There are related Senate Bills S.2965, introduced by Sen. John Ensign (NV), S.10 introduced by Sen. Harry Reid (NV) and S.2853 introduced by Sen. Conrad Kent (ND). These Senate bills mostly are concerned with the establishment of another federal agency which reports to the President, the Vice President and Speaker of the House and various other leaders of both chambers on the nation's long-term fiscal imbalances. The gist of HR-4646 is as stated above - a 1% tax on all transactions using a payment instrument, including any check, cash, credit card, transfer of stock, bonds or other financial instrument.  It also provides for a phasing out of the individual income tax and is offset by a nonrefundable income tax credit, so what you pay in the 1% fee will be a deductible item only up to the extent it does not exceed your income tax liability....very clever these politicians, giving with one hand and taking away with the other, or in this case with both.”

 

 

Closing with these:

Wisdom from Grandpa . . .

Whether a man winds up with a nest egg, or a goose egg, depends a lot on the kind of chick he marries.

Trouble in marriage often starts when a man gets so busy earning' his salt that he forgets his sugar.

Too many couples marry for better, or for worse, but not for good.

When a man marries a woman, they become one; but the trouble starts when they try to decide which one.

If a man has enough horse sense to treat his wife like a thoroughbred, she will never turn into an old nag.

On anniversaries, the wise husband always forgets the past -- but never the present.

A foolish husband says to his wife, "Honey, you stick to the washin', ironing, cookin' and scrubbing. No wife of mine is gonna work."

Many girls like to marry a military man -- he can cook, sew, make beds, is in good health and he's already used to taking orders.

Eventually you will reach a point when you stop lying about your age and start bragging about it.

Some people try to turn back their odometers. Not me, I want people to know "why" I look this way. I've traveled a long way and some of the roads weren't paved.

How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?

You know you are getting old when everything either dries up or leaks.

Old age is when former classmates are so gray and wrinkled and bald, they don't recognize you.

 

 

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