We all have believed Cops have had quotas for traffic stops. After all they have to bring some money in to help pay their salaries. Finally a City which is not ashamed to admit their police officers, have quotas. they have not stated what the consequence is if you don’t meet the quota. ” What is the quota?” you ask. The quota is at least one “1” traffic arrest an hour. Gary’s Traffic Commander, mothy Tatum said this quota will remain in effect as long as he is “COMMANDER” . His actual edict says 10 traffic arrests per officer assigned to his traffic division per shift per day. Good Luck holding your job Timothy. I understand the prosecutors are already protesting your quota. They can always decide to NOT PROSECUTE. The voters probably will not appreciate your move. I’m not sure one cop can write 1o citations a day. I’m thinking what you are creating is an aura of “I have to meet my quota, so I’ll write up this poor guy driving the old car. He can’t afford to protest the stop, and pursue it in court”. Or “I’ll stop this guy, he’s from out of our area, and will just pay the fine.” Then, of course, there is the wealthy who will pay just because it is such a trifling amount it is not worth the time to go to court. Kind of sounds like everyone could be a victim of this QUOTA. I hope the traffic officers have enough pride in themselves to not make up violations to meet their quota. Or that an unreasonable stop does not end with injury to the cop or citizen. I know I will do my best to avoid Gary Indiana, and there goes my money I may have spent there. After all I’m sure they don’t need my money in this haven of high employment, and economy. It seems to me the “Quota” would be a valid defense, in court. But I’m not a Lawyer, or Judge. Hats off to Gary for admitting they have a traffic citation quota. Most places would not. That Is How I See It. UPDATE: UPDATE: Just in. Gary Mayor Rudy Clay Says Quota’s are over. Police Administration says never existed. Don’t know if Gary’s Traffic Commander, Timothy Tatum, is still Commander they have Views: 104
Author: Wayne Lawrence
Coca-Cola 600
Another boring “race’ from NASCAR. I appreciate the concept of 600 miles to test the endurance of both car and driver, BUT that was about the highlight of this race. Which with all the cars having no personality, of their own, (rules require all cars look alike, and run same equipment), leave little to the test of car endurance. Only a “freakish” part malfunction, usually will retire a car from the endurance end. And YES sportsfans, NASCAR, had a rare chance to give Earnhardt Jr. a long awaited win. It amazes me how often they will try this. Remember when all the drivers were being penalized for dropping a wheel below the yellow line and complete a pass? Except for Jr. There was clearly room for him to stay above the line, but he had all 4 wheels below it. NASCAR ruled he was below to avoid an accident. RIIGGHT! This time Jr. had a lead and looked like he could win a race. BUT! A crash which in any other circumstance would bring out the YELLOW, NASCAR chose not to. Why Jr. had a chance to win. I realize his riding on his father’s name has launched him into the FANS FAVORITE. I have nothing against him I kind of like him too. He just hasn’t matured as a driver yet, but is well on his way. I think getting away from Earnhardt Racing was a good move for him to try to step out of his Father’s shadow. I’ve seen a lot of improvement this year. His time will come. He will “EARN..” his own wins. I think if you have a rule it should be interpreted the same with no regard as to whom it may affect. Any how Jr. still did not get the win. So considering the rule for the yellow flag is for safety purposes, why did NASCAR decide to put that aside for this instance. One train of thought I had. Asks, if they did throw the YELLOW, as they should have and would have in any other set of circumstances, in NASCAR’s defense. I’m going pretty far out here for this defense. How many cars would have been able to finish if there were another GREEN, WHITE, CHECKER. We know that there were cars running short of gas. So did NASCAR not throw the Yellow, in the interest of the fans seeing more cars finish? Or to aid Jr. That Is How I See It. have been Views: 210
INDY 500 2011
Indy 500 was filled with controversy this year. One item on the controversy agenda was….DOUBLE CAR RESTART. Never having raced at the track, I see nothing wrong with a double row restart, after all the official start has them racing 3 abreast. So what is the big deal restarting with one less row? Seems to me you have more room than at the start of the race. Safety wise I see no harm here, except in the case of late race restarts, which would be safe except for the “I have to make a move now or else,” mentality of the driver, who is pressured by himself, his team, sponsors, and fans to finish the best he can. Preferably 1st. From the driver’s standpoint. Why should someone I passed be starting beside me. Actually, that is the only valid argument I can find. True INDY is a one groove track. But as my Dad would have told me. “Find a way to use the rest of the track”. I’ve never seen it in the rules, but doesn’t the lead car have the choice of his racing line for the restart. He can use that to his ability, and be in the groove for the restart. Back to the Car I Passed, scenario. If I am above the groove, then the cars in the line behind the leader has an advantage. From the Fans standpoint. I like it. Controversy number 2. The purchase of a ride by Michael Andretti from A.J. Foyt. If Andretti could not field a car capable of qualifying with Hunter-Reay, why should he be allowed to purchase a ride qualified by an obviously (by means of qualifying), better driver. I wonder if A.J. sort of choked when he talked about how INDY had made him. He sold Junqueria’s chance to make his name. Controversy number 3. THE PASS UNDER YELLOW! Yes. Hildebrand crashed. HOWEVER he did maintain forward motion. As the leader it is up to him to set the pace until the pace car arrives. Apparently this rule does not apply in all instances. The new track management seems to have deemed a disabled car cannot lead the race. How many times I wonder have cars either ran out of gas and coasted to a win. Or crashed just as they were about to cross the finish line. This seems to me to be a rule that needs more definition. As for me. Hildebrand is the true winner of the 2011 INDY 500 I’m sure you all have opinions on these 3 things. I invite you to post your comments here, and also let the people running the INDY 500 if they made the right calls. That Is How I See It. Views: 240
Is Autopen Signature What We Voted For?
Recently our Senators, and Representatives voted to extend the INTRUSIVE Patriot Act. Doesn’t this “Patriot Act need a little scrutiny. Is it really necessary to give the government all the police power it now maintains? It’s “intent’ was to give the government the ability to seek out terrorists, But how do we “The People” know it isn’t being used to monitor the law abiding average citizen. We DON’T. But, what this post is about is the fact that our President Obama, was once again traveling/vacationing. Has anyone else been able to vacation as much as he does? Other Presidents traveled but mostly for our Country’s business. Most of Obama’s travel appear to me to be more vacation than business. An important issue which affects the average citizen’s rights deserve the full attention of our elected leader. But where is he? Not in our country. He could not even come home to SIGN this important bill. Does this give him a sense of “I am not responsible for this bill”. Instead of being here to sign the bill, it was signed with an AUTOPEN. Autopens are mechanical means of FORGERY. They are usually used by politicians and others to sign letters to give them a more authentic look. The Autopen uses a real pen to “forge” / copy a persons signature. So if you get a letter that in other days would have been signed by a secretary, or rubber stamp. In other words the sole purpose is to fool people into thinking the politician or celebrity has taken the time to actually sign their name and give a more personal connection. Definition of Forge: To imitate (handwriting, a Signature, etc.) fraudulently; fabricate a forgery. My question is this. Is this forged signature CONSTITUTIONALLY acceptable? Does our President take his obligation to “WE THE PEOPLE” so lightly. Let me know what you think. Better yet let our Government know. That Is How I See It have been Views: 183
Memorial Day
Formerly called DECORATION DAY. MEMORIAL DAY is a day set aside to honor our Military men and women who died in service of our country. Celebrated on the last Monday of May. Established to honor the fallen soldiers of our Civil War, both Union, and Confederate. Later extended to all honor all our soldiers killed in defense of our country, the United States of America. Now days we also take this time to remember all our loved ones. I think many Americans have forgotten the reason we have Memorial Day. To many it has become a day off with pay. A day of outdoor grilling, and party. A long weekend for a mini vacation. And to some The Greatest Spectacle In Racing, The Indy 500. It is great we can have all these things. But let’s at least take a moment of this day to remember our fallen soldiers who by their death gave us this opportunity. That Is How I See It. Views: 144
Indiana Pacer Economics
It seems the Indiana Pacers, who was in last place in attendance, despite a more successful season than in several years past. Have come up with their own Economic Theory. Actually it is not an original theory. And I have discussed this before so forgive me if I occasionally repeat myself. For some reason the Pacers have decided if you can’t sell more tickets just raise the cost per ticket. What is the effect of this? Apparently they subscribe to the theory that if you charge more it increases the value of your product. How about decreasing overhead. I know Indiana is a small market, and to compete with the larger market teams, You have to pay players more to keep them. But there is always the path taken by the Chicago Cubs. Player development. What kept the Cubs going through all these losing years. Developing players for other teams. How many top players in the last 30-40 years were brought up by the Cubs only to go on to other teams. Think about it, I remember the rumors always that Wrigley made more money by taking players other teams wanted to develop, doing just that and collecting his money. As I have stated before the way to increase profit is to decrease ticket prices, which will put more people in your seats. This serves three purposes. 1 IMAGE. It looks better if you have seats filled. It gives the impression that you are more successful. 2. Increased CONCESSION, and SOUVENIR sales. Souvenirs equal ADVERTISING. 3. Do the math. 50% seats filled with a 9% ticket increase. or 100% seats filled without a 9% ticket increase. If you are filled to capacity every night then you can experiment with raising prices. That Is How I See It. several years Views: 116
Foreclosures Down
Government reports FORECLOSURES are down for the seventh straight month. Well that makes sense. After all the foreclosures began, what, 3 years ago at extremely high rates. The wealthy bought these foreclosures for pennies on the dollar. Three years of foreclosures, eventually the supply of houses to foreclose on has to drop. After 3 years of foreclosures we are probably getting down the the last of the people who still have jobs, and are able to make their payments. Let me point out that not all foreclosures were due to the actual mortgage payment. Many were due to our government greed. Like my house the government raised my taxable property value to twice the actual market value. Which meant I was paying 12.85 times more than my neighbors. I was told the reason my taxes were so much higher is because my house is brick. Not a brick facade, but 3 brick thick. This raised my mortgage payments by over $250.00 a month. Now my Income did not match that kind of increase. Eventually my attorneys, advised me to spend the money for an independent appraisal. This showed the true market value. I took it to the clerks office for an appeal. I won and they finally lowered my tax value to my market value. I was still paying more than my neighbors. Then a year ago,, they finally reached the levels my neighbors were paying. But now with property values falling all around. (In fact our county government raised our tax rate because the property values had fallen so much. But my house remained the same as 3 years ago when they agreed to the independent appraisal value. So my property tax is on the rise. (good thing I always pay extra to my escrow account), But back to the foreclosures, the report said that ONLY 69,532 houses were foreclosed last month. Isn’t that still quite a few houses. Fewer houses to foreclose equals fewer foreclosures. Now that the wealthy have the foreclosed houses, they are more people are renting. According to the recent report I read RENTS, are rising more than the cost of owning a house which is finally falling. We’ll just have to see where this trend takes us. Sorry if this was hard to follow. BUT anyway That Is How I See It. more than Views: 101
Illegal Aliens Protest, But Not Deported
I admit I am getting farther behind the NEWS, than I would prefer. There is just so much happening right now that I can’t keep up. Just remember I am not a professional writer, and know little of the art of writing, I do not have at my disposal all the tools the professional has. This is just a way to get things off my chest. So here I go again. Dateline Indianapolis Indiana. Undocumented (ILLEGAL) students, slipped into Governor Mitch Daniels office to protest SB 590 (I think it is), which would penalize businesses who hire illegal immigrants. Also HB 1402 which would deny lowered in state tuition rates for undocumented aliens. One of the Illegal aliens said she could afford the $8,00.oo tuition. (Good for her, I can’t), but felt she would not be able to continue her education if she had to pay the usual out of state tuition. Also SB 590 could prevent her from obtaining gainful employment upon graduation. (I can’t find gainful employment either). However these law breakers will not be deported, as they should be. Why? According to Immigration and Custom agents. “It isn’t the best use of our agencies resources”. You can form your own conclusion. I have stated mine. That Is How I See It. find find find Views: 241
Dancing With The Stars
I usually don’t watch this show. It’s just not my type of entertainment. But I love Kirstie Alley. I think many people do, and that is why she is still dancing. Kirstie Louise Alley. The tall (5 foot 8 inch) high school cheerleader from Kansas. Who wanted to be an interior designer. Some will remember her from the sitcom Cheers, as Rebecca Howe. A role that won her 3 Emmy Award nominations, and finally a much deserved EMMY AWARD. as well as being a GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD winner. Others may remember her as Vulcan Lt. Saavik, (Star Trek II: Wrath of Kahn). Or who can forget Mikey’s single mother Molly, in Look Who’s Talking. Yes, Kirstie is a very talented person. But a dancer? Sorry, She is as good a dancer as I am, and that isn’t saying much. So what is her secret to staying alive on the TV show. PERSONALITY! Even with all her success she still exudes that girl next door aura. The everyday person, maybe a neighbor, or relative, whatever, she still retains that approachableness (?) Is that really a word? It should be. No matter you all know what I am saying. So if not her dancing ability, what keeps her on the show, other than the above mentioned traits, which will definitely get her the audience vote. But how about the judges and producers, and other involved in the decision. MARKETABLILITY! If Kirstie were to get the axe, HOWE, (a feeble attempt on word play here, forgive me), many of you would tune out Dancing With The Stars. I know I would. After all I have already told you I don’t particularly care for the show in the first place. Thus we must discern, her secret is PERSONALITY, and MARKETABILITY. Keep dancing Kirstie. That Is How I See It. high school involved Views: 131
IMPORTANT UPDATE FOURTH AMMENDMENT
I just read in USA Today an article which states our United States Supreme Court by a vote of 8 to 1 voted to support WARRANTLESS ENTRY. Essentially, from what I understand, the 8 justices voted to leave it up to the individual POLICE , THE PEOPLE, no claim to the 4th Amendment. We all know what that means. Now I can’t say about all Law Enforcement Officers, in the area I live our Police feel they are above the law, as it is. This disturbing ruling just gives them more power they aren’t equipped to handle. How many times have we recently read where our people sworn to “SERVE and PROTECT” have overstepped their boundaries, and above the law. I can’t tell you how many have been caught and punished. But more have not been caught. I have seen them make arrests for underage drinking, confiscating the beverages, the late saw them selling to underage drinkers from the trunk of their cruiser. I know of one Chief of Police who became a cop because he was arrested in Florida for drugs. His father just happened to be mayor of his home town and convinced the Florida Police his son was a member of our local police force and was working undercover. When he came back he was on the police force. We all know of his continued involvement in drugs, but are helpless to do anything about it. A member of our County Sheriff’s department was investigating him. He was STRONGLY advised to “back off”. Our county commissioners are pretty much in the same boat. When I asked them about it I was told this. “If we act, we cannot be sure that our children or other family members may not be arrested for drugs. He has a reputation of planting drugs, on innocent people. Or in their vehicles or homes. Only Ruth Bader Ginsburg voted against this action stating the it was an affront to our constitutional 4th Ammendment Right. That Is How I See It. have been became Views: 157
