Category Archives: Law Enforcement

Law Enforcement

PHILIPPINES TO BAN HELMETS FOR MOTORCYCLE RIDERS

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8_ridersManila, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – In the U.S., the Helmet Law means bike and motorcycle riders are required to wear helmets to prevent head injuries in accidents.  In the Philippines, it means riders must take them off!

House Bill No. 4438, or the Helmet Ban Bill, will allow local government units in the Philippines to ban the use of helmets in their respective jurisdictions.  Bill author Celso Lobregat, representative from the province of Zamboanga, said that his measure is intended to curb crimes perpetrated by criminals riding-in-tandem (two to a motorcycle).

There has been a recent spate of incidents in which helmeted motorcycle riders snatch bags and purses from pedestrians.

“It is an easy choice for us,” Lobregat said, “we’d rather protect the purses and bags of pedestrians than the lives of motorcycle riders.  If they happen not to be criminals and figure in injury or fatal accidents, then so be it.”

An investigative report by The Adobo Chronicles shows that Lobregat himself was involved in a motorcycle accident when he was a teenager.  He wasn’t wearing a helmet and suffered serious injurious to his skull and brain.

Could there be a connection between the lawmaker’s accident and his idiotic bill?

Law Enforcement, Travel

CALIFORNIA MOTORISTS REQUIRED TO CARRY TAPE MEASURE AS PART OF NEW THREE FEET LAW

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t1larg.bikingSacramento, California (The Adobo Chronicles) – California Governor Jerry Brown has signed a new law requiring motorists to keep a buffer of three feet (1 yard) from bicyclists when passing by or slowing down.  Drivers will have to maintain the space to avoid getting fined for a violation.

The California Legislature  passed the Three Feet for Safety Act which became effective as of Tuesday, Sept. 16, in the State of California and has been passed in a bid to keep cyclists safe. Statistics reveal that over 150 cyclists were killed in the state in 2012.

A fine print in the new law also requires all motorists to carry with them a tape measure or a yardstick at all times so that they can accurately measure the required buffer between their cars and the cyclists.

A San Francisco motorist complained that with the high cost of car maintenance, insurance and gasoline, the tape measure or yardstick requirement is yet another expense that will cause a burden to motorists.  “I am seriously considering selling my car and just take public transportation,” he said. “I just want to first be assured that MUNI and BART will always run on schedule because I cannot afford to be late for work.”

Economy, Law Enforcement, Politics

MICHELE BACHMANN PROPOSES TO CREATE 51ST U.S. STATE FOR AMERICAN EXPATRIATES

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germany-usWashington, D.C. (The Adobo Chronicles) – There are approximately 7.6 Million Americans living overseas, and if they were to become a separate state of the U.S., they would constitute the 13th largest population, next only to the state of Virginia.

That is exactly what Michele Bachmann (R-Minnesota) is proposing in a new bill she filed today in the House of Representatives.

Bachmann filed H.R. 707 creating the 51st state of the U.S. and is calling it the “At-Large State.”  All Americans living abroad would automatically become voting citizens of the new state and they will be able to vote by absentee ballot for their representatives to Washington, D.C.  Currently, expatriates don’t have a voice in Congress, especially when it comes to taxation.

Michele Bachmann
Michele Bachmann

High taxes have become a hot button issue among American expatriates. The number of Americans giving up their citizenship mainly because of tax issues surged to 3,000 in 2013 – three times more than the previous year.(This is not to mention U.S.-based corporations moving their headquarters abroad to significantly reduce their tax liability).

Another point of contention among expatriates is a federal law called the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act or FATCO which compels foreign banks and other financial institutions to provide information to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service about Americans holding accounts. It is meant to catch American expatriates who don’t pay enough taxes, or not pay at all.

Bachmann’s bill is brilliantly crafted.  The senator had previously announced that she would not be seeking reelection to her Congressional seat in 2014.  Sources say she plans to move to Istanbul after her current term expires.  If her bill becomes law, she would automatically become a citizen of the 51st At-Large State and would be eligible to run for a seat in the House of Representatives or the Senate.

It would be the best of two worlds for Bachmann.