Racin'
& Internet Stuff:
By Tom
Avenengo
04/21/2011
First:
They say that “April Showers bring May flowers”, but why must it rain on weekends – especially on Saturday when that is our race night? A lot of racing got rained out last Saturday night. Oh, and the forecast for the next few days and through the weekend isn’t so nice, either, with Friday being the best, so far.
Second:
Well, one track, New Egypt Speedway moved their Saturday show up to Friday night. However, it was a no points night. Is there any particular reason why some tracks don’t use Sunday as a rain date?
Third:
While watching some racing from
Fourth:
It was also mentioned, on TV, that the backstretch at
Fifth:
While I was at Accord last Friday, I “splurged” and bought a 50/50 ticket. The young lady selling them had different colored tickets, and sold me a PINK one. I had to bust her chops a little when I made mention of its color. It was ticket # 870023. The winning 50/50 ticket, for the money, was a PINK ticket - # 870024. Now I wish I had bought two – would have paid for the two front struts I bought on Monday, for my car - with a few bucks left over!
Sixth:
Some problems with a certain driver (very well known) in Indycar racing? Sure looks that way from what’s being said.
To be honest, as long as they’re racing on road courses, I don’t watch their racing. But check this out:
"How Helio doesn't get penalized, I have no idea,"
"I just don't understand," he added. "He's obviously being given
free reign to go out and crash anybody he wants. I don't know if he's nervous
or trying to prove a point. I think Will is getting to him a bit. Obviously
he's waxing him on straight-up qualifying laps and things like that." -
Scott Dixon
Lots more, up to five pages worth, can be seen if you go here:
Seventh:
The “Road to Indy” – how times have changed.
I was reading about the great midget/sprint car owner
Mike Caruso on the
"Schindler had his sights set on the
Times sure have changed, haven't they? I'm willing to bet at least 95% of this years Indy 500 drivers have never been in a sprint car.
Eighth:
The CRSA 305 Sprint Cars have their first race scheduled for the Fonda Speedway this coming Saturday. If “Mother Nature” messes up things, then their first show will be the following week at OCFS.
Ninth:
Not racing, but NFL Football. How about this – The Giants vs. the Jets at 1:00 PM on December 24, 2011? And, I believe the season starts on 9/11.
Tenth:
Some forecasts for tracks this coming weekend – as of 9:00 PM on Tuesday – per Yahoo!
OCFS: Saturday: Rain. Highs in the low 60s and lows in the low 50s.
Accord: Friday:
Windy with times of sun and clouds. Highs in the low 50s and
lows in the mid 30s.
New
Eleventh:
If you recall, I made mention of me sending an e-mail to OCFS
regarding the situation with JP’s Snack Bar – as to whether it was just closed
on opening night or if it might be closed, and not to be re-opened. As of Wednesday, April 20th, I’ve
had no reply from OCFS. They say “No
news is good news”, but I kinda think in this case, it isn’t all that good.
Twelfth:
As of 12:30 PM on Wednesday, April 20th, there has been
no notice sent out from the New Egypt Speedway as far as them racing on Friday
night again this week, due to the rain forecasted for Saturday.
Thirteenth:
An interesting change on how
“New
Lineup Procedures and Bonus $ Package Go Into Effect Immediately, Handicapping
Process Dropped
April 14th, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – 4/14/11
Port Royal – A new attitude for a new decade of auto racing at Port Royal Speedway
has yielded a major change to how the speedway will conduct its weekly auto
racing programs for the balance of 2011.
PRS Promotions officials have announced that the track will launch a new heat
and feature alignment procedure beginning this Saturday, forsaking the long
entrenched handicapping system and associated penalty clauses at the oval.
“It’s our hope that this innovative new lineup process will help to bolster our
regular fields while at the same time adding excitement to our programs by making
every position more worthwhile in the heat races,” says PRS Promotions official
and speedway promoter Steve O’Neal.
“After receiving feedback from a host of competitors and considering the
current state of the economy, we realize that a lot of our regular racers
cannot afford to run weekly and this move should help all racers be able to
race with us whenever they are available because all penalizations have been
dropped and we’re not asking them to start out the night at what has become a
costly disadvantage,” O’Neal says.
The new heat
draw/feature redraw system will now be utilized for regular programs that
include 410 sprints, late models and pro stock divisions. Although most of
these programs will take place on traditional Saturdays, the new process will
be used for the divisions on a few other occasions during the course of the
season.
In a nutshell, the new procedure will see heat lineups set by draw with the top
two (2) heat finishers redrawing for preferred feature starting positions,
which could range (dependent on the number of heat races) from four (4) to
eight (8).
The rest of the cars in the feature will be started heads-up based on their
heat race finish. For instance, the third finisher in the first heat would
start fifth in the feature if two heats are contested or seventh if three heats
are run, etc.
As an added twist to the new system for the fans and
drivers, a financial bonus package has also been introduced.
If any one of the redrawn preferred position starters opts to give up his or
her chosen spot and take the feature green from the 11th spot on the starting
grid (or further back if more than one redrawn driver opts to try for the
bonus), he or she will be eligible for the following bonus money on top of the
regular winner’s share: 410 sprints – $300; late models – $200; and pro stocks
– $100.
Aside from the redrawn preferred starters, any other regularly scheduled
starter slated to go green from 11th to last-place in the field will be
eligible to claim the bonus bucks if they race into victory lane.
If any of the redrawn preferred position starters opt to move back in the field
to try for the bonus cash, the balance of the lineup in front of row six will
simply advance position accordingly to take the feature green flag.”
Note: If this proves successful, might other tracks
follow?
Fourteenth:
Coming
up in August, up at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, in
On
the 13th:
On the 14th:
Firestone Indy Lights 100 Oval - Firestone
Indy Lights and IZOD IndyCar 225 Oval - IZOD IndyCar® Series
Reading on the Internet, there are quite a few that say the
Whelen Modifieds, whenever they are there, always put on the best show of the
weekend. I feel it’s a shame that
they’ll be on Saturday while the Indy cars are on Sunday.
And don’t forget, the Vintage Race Car Meet is May 17th
to the 21st.
Fifteenth:
I really have no idea as to how the racing at both Daytona
and
Sixteenth:
“Major League
Baseball is taking the extraordinary step of assuming control of the Los
Angeles Dodgers, a team increasingly paralyzed by its owners’ bitter
divorce.
Once
among baseball’s glamour franchises, the Dodgers have been consumed by
infighting since Jamie McCourt filed for divorce after 30 years of marriage in
October 2009, one week after her husband fired her as
the team’s chief executive. Frank McCourt accused Jamie of having an affair
with her bodyguard-driver and performing poorly at work.”
Lots
more on this can be seen here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_ylt=AmIDJLj9Q2phKgq5iUedb7ARvLYF?slug=ap-mlb-dodgers
Found on Jayski’s website:
Mayfield claims
NASCAR forced SPEED to edit interview: Jeremy Mayfield accused NASCAR of forcing the SPEED
Channel to edit Mayfield's one-on-one interview with Steve Byrnes. Mayfield
said, " I had a great interview with the SPEED
Channel about a month ago with Steve Byrnes, the best one ever. It was going to
be great! I couldn't wait for them to air it. It was honest. From his point of
view, he was asking me honest questions that I could answer, he wasn't trying
to set me up...everything was great - and then NASCAR gets wind of it. Paul
Brooks (from NASCAR) calls the President of the SPEED Channel and says, "If
you air this show with Mayfield on it, it's going to jeopardize our
relationship." So, they took out everything I said, anything that amounted
to anything at all - took it all out and basically made me look like an idiot
on TV like I wasn't saying anything."(Captain
Thunder)(4-13-2011)
Note: In a way, I could see this happening, if
indeed it did. I’m willing to bet that
there’s quite a lot that NASCAR does that we, as race fans, are not aware of –
things that would make NASCAR look bad if things ever came out.
Bill Elliott
Uncertain about plans: Bill Elliott isn't sure when he'll be driving again. He started the
season with Phoenix Racing and had planned to run 17 races with the team
throughout 2011. But since his release from
Wood Brothers to
skip next three races: #21-Trevor Bayne and the Wood Brothers team, who have planned a
limited Sprint Cup schedule this year, will skip the next three Sprint Cup
races and return to the track on May 21 at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the
running of the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race with sponsorship from the Good Sam
Club. Bayne and the Woods are guaranteed a starting spot in the All-Star race
because of their victory in the season-opening Daytona 500.(Wood Brothers Racing)(4-20-2011)
Former
Note:
I’ve been away from
the track for a few years now, so it’s very possible that there have been other
drivers – other than those I make mention of, that have also gone onto bigger
forms or racing vehicles, so chances are real good that I do not know their
names. If you know of anyone that’s gone
onto bigger things, and had run at the Dirt Oval, how about dropping me a line
and let me know their names and where and with what they are now racing. Thanks!
Last week I missed
Nick Pecko coming in 4th in the Sport Modified feature at Mountain
Speedway.
Accord:
Modified
feature: Danny Creeden 3rd,
Michael Storms 8th, Anthony Perrego 19th and Clinton
Mills was a DNQ
Sportsman
feature: John Lodini was 5th
and Brad Szulewski 15th after being a victim of the first turn.
Spec
Sportsman feature: Matt Hitchcock was
the feature winner while Kyle Rohner finished 5th.
At Big Diamond, Mike Mammana won the Sportsman feature.
At New Egypt, Johnny Guarino was 7th in the
Modified feature last Friday night.
Going back, in time – in
racing history:
Note: Most of the following information was found
here:
http://www.wheelsofspeed.com/history.html
Covering
the days of April 22nd to April 28th.
April 22
1956
Walt Faulkner... Died ... AAA driver from 1949 to 1955. He also competed in
NASCAR races. In 1950 Faulkner became the first rookie to win pole position at
the
1975
Greg Moore... Born ... A
Canadian racecar driver who competed in the Indy Lights and CART World Series,
where he had great success with several wins in both series and a championship
in the 1995 Indy Lights series. However, his promising career and his life came
to an end on October 31, 1999, when he was fatally injured in a violent crash
on the 10th lap of the CART season finale, the Marlboro 500, at Auto Club
April 23
1936
Dick Atkins... Born ... One of
the best sprint car drivers of his era and was just begining to shine in the
USAC Championships when he was killed at
1961
Chris Kneifel... Born ... Cart
/ USAC driver from 1982 to 1984
1969
P.J. Jones... Born ... P.J. has
raced in NASCAR, the IRL, and Champ Car. He is the son of racing legend
Parnelli Jones, and brother of Page Jones.
1971
Dempsey Wilson... Died ... USAC driver from the 1950's and 60's.
April 24
1933
Billy Garrett ... Born ... USAC
driver 1956 to 1958
1967
Fred Lorenzen
, one of the most successful Stock Car drivers in history, announced his
retirement at a banquet in his honor. Suffering from ulcers, the 33 year old
driver said "I want to go out while I'm on top...".
The ulcers forced him to miss the North Wilkesboro and
1969
Hermie Sadler... Born ... NASCAR driver. His brother Elliott Sadler is also a
NASCAR driver.
April 25
1884
Arthur Chevrolet... Born ... AAA driver 1909 to 1920. One of 3 brothers that emigrated to
1928
Frank Lockhart... Died ... AAA driver 1925 to 1927. Won the
Indy 500 in 1926. He was killed in the crash of his Stutz Blackhawk
during a land speed record attempt on the beach at
1942
Wally Zale... Died ... Wally
Zale hailed from
1962
Fred Frame... Died ... AAA driver from the 1920's and 1930's. Ran the Indy
500 8 times and won in 1932.
April 26
1970
Lloyd Ruby outdueld Mario
Andretti and Al Unser to win the 200 mile USAC Championship race on the 1.5
mile peanut shaped Trenton Speedway in Trenton, NJ. At the start, pole winner
Al Unser took the lead followed by Ruby. Local favorite Wally Dallenbach got by
Ruby for 2nd on lap 7 and took the lead at the line on lap 34. Dallenbach
closely led A. Unser until lap 59, when Dallenbach lost it and spun into the
wall while lapping A.J. Foyt. Foyt spun to avoid and A. Unser's Lola-Ford
managed to slip by after just clipping Dallenbach's Eagle-Offy. The yellow flew
and the leaders pitted. Andretti's crew got him out first and Bobby Unser fell
from contention when his crew had trouble removing the right rear wheel.
Andretti and A. Unser swapped the lead 2 more times before Ruby made his
winning pass low into the right hand backstretch dogleg on the 104th of 134
laps. A yellow 2 laps later bunched the field, but Ruby pulled out a slight gap
on the restart. Ruby kept his turbocharged Drake-Offy powered Mongoose out
front, with Andretti closing to 1.4 seconds at the checkered. A. Unser finished
3rd, 3.6 seconds behind Ruby. A. Unser said nicking Dallenbach's car threw the
handling off. It was the 7th, and final, Indy Car win for the 42 year old
driver from
April 27
1914
Russ Klar ... Born ... He was a
race driver in the Northeast. He drove midgets ,
sprint cars and 'big cars' in the 1940s and '50s and late in his career
modifieds (stock cars). His daughter,
Anne, is married to Drew Fornoro, son of Nick and Bette. Anne is the PR person for the AJ Foyt race
team.
1933
Bob Bondurant... Born ... An American former sports car driver who also raced for
the Ferrari and Eagle teams in Formula One. He later started the
April 28
1957
Paul Goldsmith drove his Smokey
Yunick Ford to victory in the 250 lap NASCAR Grand National race at the
Greensboro Agricultural Fairgrounds 1/3 mile dirt track in Greensboro, North
Carolina. Jack Smith's factory backed Chevrolet finished 5 seconds behind in
second. Under pressure from the manufacturers association, Bill France banned
superchargers and fuel injection. Both had been legal because they were
available to the public.
News from the
AARN:
From their April 12th
issue:
It’s being said
that the sale of the Oswego Speedway is getting closer. The IMSA race that was scheduled for May 7th
has been postponed to a possible later date.
Opening is now scheduled for the Memorial Day weekend.
The North-South
Shootout (John Blewett, III Memorial) has been moved from the
It might be
possible for Bobby Santos, III to win both the NASCAR Whelan Modified Tour and
the USAC Pavement Sprint Car Series, in 2011, if things work out right.
Note: I think if he does that, he would be the
first ever?
Some weekend
dollars that get spent by top 20 teams that are running the Nationwide Series:
Engine lease: $30,000.00 – Tires $10,000.00 to $12,000.00
-$6,000.00 for motel rooms and $5,000.00 for plane tickets.
At the Waterford
Speedbowl, last week, some thieves took thousands of dollars worth of tools out
of some trailers while the teams were watching the races.
Chris Eggleston won
$75,000.00 when he won the Pro All Star Series (PASS) South race at
Steve Buckwalter
has a hauler that has a gas gauge that doesn’t work along with a speedometer
that doesn’t work. He says he drives for
three hours and fills up the tank, then again three hours later. As for speeding – he tries to keep up with
the flow of traffic.
Kimi Raikkonin, former Formula One driving
champion, is heading towards NASCAR. He
had his first run a week ago on a Kyle Busch Motorsports truck at
Rockingham. Unfortunately, we don’t know
much as far as the rest goes. It seems
that SPEED Formula One analysts Bob Varsha and Leigh Diffen were escorted off
of the property.
As of now, the “Prelude to the Dream” race
will be run in 2011 – on June 8th, a Wednesday night. Tickets for this event can be purchased on
line at: eldoraspeedway.com or via the
phone at: 937-338-3815.
Note:
if you recall, a few columns back, it was still up in the air as far as
this event being run, with some sponsors needed.
The Wayne County Speedway, out in
The Bethel Motor Speedway has a practice
session scheduled for April 23rd, with an opening night of racing on
April 30th. Classes that run
there are:
Dirt Sportsman, Pro Stock, Legends,
Bandoleros, Street Stocks, BMS Modifieds and 4 cylinders.. The track has been completely re-paved. Hoosier tires are the tires you need to run
there. The “Operations Manager” is Tracy
Chirico.
http://www.bethelmotorspeedway.com/BethelMotorSpeedway/Home_Page.html
Note:
One little piece of news out of
In 2012, for the Rolex 24 at Daytona, it has
been announced that the Grand Marshall will be A.J. Foyt. That race is on January 28th and
29th. The speedway office is
attempting to locate all Rolex 24 at Daytona overall race winning cars for a
big heritage display.
Note:
Last week I said I’d have more about the schedules that were shown in
the AARN..
One thing that caught my eye was a date
listed on the SpeedSTR schedule – July 27th – Accord Speedway
(Tentative). That’s a Wednesday night
show when they have Karts, Slingshots, Micros etc, etc. The SpeedSTR’s are not listed on the Accord
schedule, however, for that date.
I did inquire with the AARN to see if it
might be possible to have the schedules listed alphabetically, but that’s
almost an impossibility, since, say a track with the
beginning letter of “C”, might send in their schedule at the last minute. There are about 150 different
tracks/organizations that have their schedules listed in the AARN, and I know
of some tracks that aren’t listed, too.
More
racin’ stuff:
Erin Crocker Evernham took the lead
with about 5 laps to go and went on to win the USCS Sprint car race at
Note: There’s a little bit more on this story:
She wasn't
sure if that was the white flag or the checkers, so she staid on the gas in
turns one and two. Ray Evernham, her husband, was slowing because he knew it
was over He moved high, she hit his car and flew over the wall and down about a
30 foot embankment.
Asked what she was thinking as she flew out of the park..."I Hope that was
the checker!"
http://www.trackforums.com/forum/showthread.php?2651-Erin-Crocker-wins...then-flips
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/
(Must register to
post)
Victory
Yahoo Race History
Group:
http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/RacingHistory/ (when one posts something on an
e-mail to the group, they do have what is called the “Len Sutton rule” – you
put in your name and where you live. And, yes,
things are “policed” too.
Wheels of Speed: http://www.wheelsofspeed.com/
The
First Turn Pro: http://www.firstturnpro.com/
Vintage Sprint Car:
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=236178
Vintage Midget: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=337192
Briggs
Cunningham race team – history:
http://www.briggscunningham.com/race_history.html?YEAR=1955
Note: Disregard the “error” notice on top left.
Racing and
television:
Racing on TV - http://www.racefantv.com/USTV.htm
Some non-racing stuff:
In Financial Crisis, No Prosecutions of Top Figures
In part:
“It is a question
asked repeatedly across
Answering such a
question — the equivalent of determining why a dog did not bark — is anything
but simple. But a private meeting in mid-October 2008 between Timothy F.
Geithner, then-president of the Federal Reserve Bank of
“But several years
after the financial crisis, which was caused in large part by reckless lending
and excessive risk taking by major financial institutions, no senior executives
have been charged or imprisoned, and a collective government effort has not
emerged. This stands in stark contrast to the failure of many savings and loan
institutions in the late 1980s. In the wake of that debacle, special government
task forces referred 1,100 cases to prosecutors, resulting in more than 800
bank officials going to jail. Among the best-known: Charles H. Keating Jr., of
Lincoln Savings and Loan in
“Even civil actions
by the government have been limited. The Securities and Exchange Commission
adopted a broad guideline in 2009 — distributed within the agency but never
made public — to be cautious about pushing for hefty penalties from banks that
had received bailout money. The agency was concerned about taxpayer money in
effect being used to pay for settlements, according to four people briefed on
the policy but who were not authorized to speak publicly about it.”
Note: There’s a ton more info on this,
and you can read all about it here:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/In-Financial-Crisis-No-nytimes-220824617.html?x=0&.v=1
Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 10:41AM
In part:
“President Barack Obama held a
meeting on immigration attended by those he called “stakeholders” at The White
House on Tuesday.
The president snubbed many experts
who could contribute firsthand experience for addressing what he calls
immigration. Greta van Susteren at Fox News said not a single border governor
was invited. Wouldn’t you think those governors are the real ‘stakeholders’?
Among those included, according to
various media, were identity politics opportunist Al Sharpton and AFL-CIO
strongman Richard Trumka. The official White House readout did not even include
the names of those who attended.”
“The immigration system is in chaos,
and that condition is a direct result of failed
“Both parties know
More can be seen, here: http://www.theusreport.com/the-us-report/2011/4/20/obama-snubs-border-governors-on-stakeholders-immigration-mee.html
As Gas Prices Rise, Oil Companies Enjoy Multibillion-Dollar
Rise in Profits
In part:
“Pumped
up about skyrocketing gas prices? Many American motorists are.
According
to AAA,
the average
While
we’re paying more to fill up, the three largest publicly traded oil companies
based in the
Those three
companies – ExxonMobil, Chevron and ConocoPhillips – collectively pulled in an
eye-popping $58.3 billion in profits in 2010, according to financial figures
announced in January 2011. Mind you, that’s profit – the amount of money that
companies pocket after covering their expenses.”
“ExxonMobil:
$30.5 billion, up $11 billion from 2009. In a substantial understatement,
ExxonMobil’s vice president of investor relations, David Rosenthal, said he was
“very pleased” with the company’s financial results for 2010.
Chevron: $19 billion, up from $10.5
billion in 2009.
•ConocoPhillips: $8.8 billion, up from $4.9 billion in
2009.”
http://technorati.com/business/article/as-gas-prices-rise-oil-companies/#ixzz1K7FJrHU5
Is
this true?:
Maybe you’ve been sent this in an e-mail, as I was:
Just a few problems that come up with “Illegals” – Part 2:
"As you listen to the news about the student protests over illegal immigration, there are some things that you should be aware of:
He qualifies for food stamps..
He qualifies for free (no deductible), no co-pay) health
care.
His children get free breakfasts and lunches at school.
He requires bilingual teachers and books.
He qualifies for relief from high energy bills...
If they are or become, aged, blind or disabled, they qualify for
SSI.
Once qualified for SSI they can qualify for Medicare. All of this
is at (our) taxpayer's expense.
He doesn't worry about car insurance, life insurance, or
homeowners insurance.
Taxpayers provide Spanish language signs, bulletins and printed material.
He and his family receive the equivalent of $20.00 to $30.00/hour
in benefits.
Working Americans are lucky to have $5.00 or $6.00/hour
left after paying their bills AND his.
The American taxpayers also pay for increased crime, graffiti and
trash clean-up.
Cheap labor? YEAH RIGHT! Wake up people!
THESE ARE THE QUESTIONS WE SHOULD BE ADDRESSING TO THE
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES FOR EITHER PARTY. 'AND WHEN THEY LIE TO US AND DON'T DO
AS THEY SAY, WE SHOULD REPLACE THEM AT ONCE!'
THIS HAS GOT TO BE PASSED ALONG TO AS MANY AS POSSIBLE OR WE
WILL ALL GO DOWN THE DRAIN BECAUSE A FEW DON'T CARE
A big part of the problem:
OK, we all know how certain “groups” of people stick together,
right? So here’s someone that’s being
said is a big time crook, yet he’ll still draw a nice fat pension. Should he?
I say no, but there are ways that he will be able to get that pension
and we can’t stop it.
From the editorial in my local paper on Tuesday, April 19th:
Published: 2:00 AM - 04/19/11
The sentencing of Alan
Hevesi, former state comptroller, to one to four years in prison has released
another blizzard of promises to make a long-awaited change in the state pension
system, denying payments to those who use public office to commit crimes.
Hevesi
provides the most despicable example yet. He was the sole trustee of the
pension fund, responsible for investing billions of dollars, yet despite that
betrayal he will be able to collect his own pension because that's the way the
state laws and Constitution work.
Only
by changing those can New Yorkers get the justice they want.
So
how come nobody in the Senate or Assembly has been able to do any more than
draft some legislation and park it in a committee? You would think that with a
slam-dunk issue like this, with no evidence that anybody thinks that crooks are
entitled to a comfortable retirement, with several ripe examples of convictions
in just the past 12 months and several others waiting for court action, some
sort of pension-removal plan would be on the books.
The
only reasonable conclusion is that senators and members of the Assembly are not
that interested in punishing their friends.
As frustrating as that might be, it might not be all that
bad for the state. Those pension-denying bills collecting
dust in
The
bills contain detailed descriptions of crimes and activities that will take a
lot of court time and money to process. Those facing the loss of a pension will
have the presumption of innocence, as they should, and the state will have to
first win felony convictions, then show that the crimes were linked to the
performance of officials duties or the failure to perform those duties, then
hold hearings, then allow for appeals. All of this will take many years, and
the burden will fall on the state at every point.
In
the end, the state is very likely to end up paying more to deny these pensions
than it would have in pension payments themselves.
Even
those who will say that the cause of justice is worth the expense need to
understand that in
Unless
legislators broaden the definition of criminal activity, most of those who want
to abuse their power will be able to do so and stay well clear of any efforts
to remove pensions.
Although
it will not be as satisfying as taking away a crook's pension, New Yorkers
would be better served if legislators would act on some other bills they have
been avoiding, ones that would impose new and higher ethical standards
including full disclosure of outside income.”
Kinda
sucks, doesn’t it?
Video time - # 1:
At times it gets
a little difficult finding something that most that read my columns can enjoy.
Here’s one of someone that’s
“been there and done it” – quite successfully, I should add, and more than most
others, too, in almost every kind of racecar, too, as you’ll see. The great A.J. Foyt, in
action.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ij2WR38-Scs
Video time - #2:
Something cute – the kids
will like this one!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic4AjElA6uk
Closing with these:
With Easter coming
up, I thought these might fit in pretty well here. Thanks to my friend Elaine for sending them
via e-mail.
A father was approached by his small son who told him proudly,
"I know what the Bible means!"
His father smiled and replied,
"What do you mean, you 'know' what the Bible means?
The son replied, "I do know!"
"Okay," said his father.
"What does the Bible mean?"
"That's easy, Daddy..." the
young boy replied excitedly," It stands for
'Basic Information Before Leaving Earth.'
There was a very gracious lady who was mailing an old family
Bible to her brother in another part of the country.
"Is there anything breakable in
here?" Asked the postal clerk.
"Only the Ten Commandments."
answered the lady.
"Somebody has said there are only two kinds of people in the
world. There are those who wake up in the morning and say, "Good morning,
Lord," and there are those who wake up in the morning and say, "Good
Lord, it's morning."
A minister parked his car in a no-parking zone in a large city
because he was short of time and couldn't find a space with a meter.
Then he put a note under the windshield
wiper that read: "I have circled the block 10 times. If I don't park
here, I'll miss my appointment. Forgive us our trespasses."
When he returned, he found a citation
from a police officer along with this note "I've circled this block for 10
years. If I don't give you a ticket I'll lose my job. Lead us not into
temptation."
There is the story of a pastor who got up one Sunday and announced to his congregation: "I have good
news and bad news. The good news is, we have
enough money to pay for our new building program. The bad news is, it's still out there in your pockets."
While driving in
A Sunday School teacher began her
lesson with a question, "Boys and girls, what do we know about
God?"
A hand shot up in the air. "He
is an artist!" said the kindergarten boy.
"Really? How do you
know?" The teacher asked.
"You know - Our Father, who does
art in Heaven... "
A minister waited in line to have his car filled with
gas just before a long holiday weekend. The attendant worked quickly, but
there were many cars ahead of him. Finally, the attendant motioned him toward a
vacant pump.
"Reverend," said
the young man, "I'm so sorry about the delay. It seems as if everyone
waits until the last minute to get ready for a long trip.."
The minister chuckled,
"I know what you mean. It's the same in my business."
Sunday after church, a Mom asked her very young
daughter what the lesson was about.
The daughter answered, "Don't
be scared, you'll get your quilt."
Needless to say, the Mom was
perplexed. Later in the day, the pastor stopped by for tea and the
Mom asked him what that morning's Sunday school lesson was about.
He said "Be not afraid, thy
comforter is coming."
The minister was preoccupied with thoughts of how he was
going to ask the congregation to come up with more money
than they were expecting for repairs to the church building.
Therefore, he was annoyed to find that the regular organist was sick and a
substitute had been brought in at the last
minute. The substitute wanted to know what to play.
"Here's a copy of the
service," he said impatiently. "But, you'll have to think of
something to play after I make the announcement about the finances."
During the service, the minister
paused and said, "Brothers and Sisters, we are in great difficulty;
the roof repairs cost twice as much as we expected and
we need $4,000 more. Any of you who can pledge $100 or more, please
stand up."
At that moment, the substitute organist
played "The Star Spangled Banner."
And that is how the substitute became
the regular organist!
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!
Until next week!
As usual, you can reach me
at: ygordad@yahoo.com