Did some horse trading the last few weeks with a tattoo shop in Las Vegas. Went built him a web site, and went down to meet the owner to check him out. Great guy, and a biker to the core.
now I have 2 things over my heart, in Ink: My wife and kids names, Scotland, and B.A.C.A.
One of my B.A.C.A. sisters in northern Utah sent me this the other day. Really moving story about how B.A.C.A. helped her abused daughter.
I love my brothers who’ve taken the commitment to do whatever it takes….. and I mean whatever it takes, to keep abused kids safe. They refused to leave when the cops showed (the abusers Father was a cop and set that up), and B.A.C.A. didn’t budge. They stood their ground, and a child stands strong because if it. We help them get therapy, protect them when theyre scared, and empower them to move on.
Heres how baca works:
| BACA Mission Statement |
| Bikers Against Child Abuse (BACA) exists with the intent to create a safer environment for abused children. We exist as a body of Bikers to empower children to not feel afraid of the world in which they live. We stand ready to lend support to our wounded friends by involving them with an established, united organization. We work in conjunction with local and state officials who are already in place to protect children. We desire to send a clear message to all involved with the abused child that this child is part of our organization, and that we are prepared to lend our physical and emotional support to them by affiliation, and our physical presence. We stand at the ready to shield these children from further abuse. We do not condone the use of violence or physical force in any manner, however, if circumstances arise such that we are the only obstacle preventing a child from further abuse, we stand ready to be that obstacle. |
| How BACA Works |
| Bikers Against Child Abuse, Inc. (BACA) is organized with a central contact person to receive calls from referring agencies and individuals. A recognized, authorized agency with which the child has had contact determines that the child is still frightened by his or her environment. The agency representative contacts BACA, or refers the individual to contact BACA and the name and address of the child is given to our BACA/Child Liaison. The Liaison determines that the case is legitimate, meaning that the authorities have been contacted, and the case in being processed within the system. The Liaison contacts the family and an initial ride is organized to meet the child at their home or in some other location. The entire BACA chapter rides to meet the child and he/she is given a vest with a BACA patch sewn on the back. The child is free to wear the vest or not, and we support their decision. The child is also given bumper stickers, and other gifts that are generally donated by the public. These initial visits generally last about a half an hour.
Following this initial contact, the child is given the name and number of two BACA members residing geographically closest to them, who then become the childs primary contact person(s). Prior to becoming the primary contacts for the child, the bikers are cleared for participation by clearing an extensive background check, have ridden with the Chapter for at least a year, and have received special instructions from the Licensed Mental Health Professional. Anytime the child feels scared and feels the need for the presence of his new BACA family, the child may call upon these bikers to go to the childs house and provide the necessary reassurance to feel safe and protected. BACA members and supporters also support the children by: providing escorts for them if they feel scared in their neighborhoods; riding by their homes on a regular basis; supporting the children at court and parole hearings; attending their interviews, and; staying with the children if they are alone and frightened. The BACA members never go to the childs house alone and never without the knowledge or permission of the parents. Our mission is not to be permanently engaged as the childs power. Our mission is to help the children and their families learn how powerful they can be. Our presence will be available as long as the child needs us. BACA also holds other functions for the children such as Bar-B-Ques, and parties. |
| Level 1 Intervention |
| Will consist of the organization deploying a ride, uniting as many BACA members as are able to attend. We will ride as a group to the child’s house where the parent(s) / Guardians will be present to assist us in presenting the child with a patch, stickers, and a Polaroid photograph of the child with his/her new biker family. If the child is afraid, it is our hope the child will use the photograph as a comfort to convey the message “I am not alone, and you don’t want to mess with my family.” |
| Level 2 Intervention |
| If Level one is not sufficient to deter further abuse or harassment, several BACA members will be sent for further exposure. This group of BACA members will create a presence at the home of the child, being visible at times when the family might be the most vulnerable. The purpose of BACA’s presence is to deter further abuse and to protect the children and the family, if necessary. |
| Level 3 Intervention |
| If the physical presence of our BACA members at the residence of the child’s home does not deter the abuser, a formal letter will be drafted by the Chapter President or Vice-President in the area in which the abuser lives. This letter will be written on BACA letterhead. The substance of the letter will be to explain to the perpetrator that we are prepared to take whatever steps are necessary to become the obstacle to further abuse. |
| Level 4 Intervention |
| While it is against the purpose of BACA to purposely engage a perpetrator, we will ask for the general geographical location of the offender, and conduct a “Neighborhood Awareness Ride” in which we will ride to the general location given to us and go door to door letting people know who we are, hand out stickers to kids, and distribute our literature regarding our mission and how we function. If the location or address of the perpetrator becomes known to any BACA Member, we will immediately withdraw our physical presence to avoid any contact. BACA does not condone, support or participate in the use of aggression, violence or physical force in any manner. If, however, ANY person should seek to inflict harm on one of our BACA Members, we will respond with commitment and loyalty to protect our Member. |
| Our Court Appearances |
| Occasionally we will attend court with our wounded friends. The sole purpose for our physical presence is to assist the child in being less intimidated and frightened, and subsequently give an accurate testimony regarding his/her abuse. If the child requests our presence in the courtroom, the parent or guardian for the child must petition the child’s attorney, who then will intercede on behalf of the child to the presiding Judge. Absolutely no physical confrontation of the perpetrator will be tolerated by BACA, and anyone acting in such a manner will be acting outside of the scope of BACA and will be held completely and solely accountable for his/her actions. When possible, the two bikers assigned to the child as his/her primary contacts should be in attendance. Given that it is not always possible for the primary contact bikers to be in attendance, a petition may be made to the general membership for their attendance and support. A listing of the court dates and times will be kept and updated on the BACA hotline at all times. |
| BACA Creed |
| I am a member of Bikers Against Child Abuse. The die has been cast. The decision has been made. I have stepped over the line. I wont look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.
My past has prepared me, my present makes sense, and my future is secure. Im finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need pre-eminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I dont have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by the faith in my works, and lean on the strength of my brothers and sisters. I love with patience, live by prayer, and labor with power. My fate is set, my gait is fast, my goal is the ultimate safety of children. My road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are tried and true, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I cannot be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of adversity, negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity. I wont give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and showed up for all wounded children. I must go until I drop, ride until I give out, and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me, for He will see my BACA backpatch and know that I am one of His. I am a member of Bikers Against Child Abuse, and this is my creed. Chief |
Bikers Against Child Abuse – B.A.C.A. Read More »
A Scotsman walking down the street sees a woman with absolutely perfect breasts.
He approaches her and says, “Miss, would ye let me bite ye breasts for $100?”
“Are you nuts?!!!” she replies, and keeps walking.
He turns around, runs around the block and gets to the corner before she does.
“Would ye let me bite ye breasts for $1,000 dollars?” he asks.
“Listen, I’m not that kind of woman! Got it?”
So the Scotsman runs around the next block and faces her again. “Would ye let me bite ye breasts just once for $10,000 dollars?”
She thinks about it for a moment and says, “Hmmm, $10,000 dollars; O.K., just once, but not here. Let’s go to that dark alley over there.”
So they go into the alley, where she takes off her blouse to reveal the most perfect breasts in the world.
As soon as he sees them, he grabs them and starts caressing them, fondling them slowly, kissing them, licking them, burying his face in them, but not biting them…
The woman finally gets annoyed and asks, “Well? Are you gonna bite them or not?”
“Nah”, says the Scotsman…. “Costs too much…”
Planning an Iron Butt 1500 with my B.A.C.A. buddy Loco from BACA for early fall. Gotta get Skeezix involved. More to come..
Yesterday Harley Davidson Unveiled its 2010 Models, with a few surprises. Quite a few actually, at least to me. 34 models all in all.
Anyway, check em out.
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2010 Harley Davidson Models Released Read More »
This morning first thing, our B.A.C.A. chapter went and made a presentation at the Local Chapter of the Exchange Club. Shots, our president did a great job of telling them about who we are and what we do. I’ll be honest, most people in my club don’t know that I have a lot of experience public speaking and I’m chomping at the bit to speak publicly about B.A.C.A. I’ve spoke in front of hundreds if not close to thousands of people before, and I love it. Someday, hopefully, Ill get my chance.
Anyway, my president did a great job and we found a great ally against child abuse in the Exchange club. Their platform is against child abuse as well, and they were very gracious. I’m really looking foward to working with them in the future.
The posted in on their blog: http://sgexchange.blogspot.com/2009/07/baca.html
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Mrs Zip sent me a text when the mail came, and apparantly I got a package from the Iron Butt Association:
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I also got a pin which I have already put on my vest. I’m a bit proud to be part of the Iron Butt Association. I’ll be more proud when I’m patched into B.A.C.A. Maybe the proudest I’ve ever been. I’ve never felt more aligned with an organization than Bikers against Child Abuse. It fills my thoughts more often than not. I really want to make a difference there.
Iron Butt Certificate Read More »
Affer from Across the pond turned me onto this one, and it just needs to have its own space:
Mrs Zip and the kids are gone this weekend, so I’ve busted out all my Bike movies to watch this weekend while I work.
Here’s my top 10 biker movies of all time.
Now I realize the historical significance of the Wild One, but I can’t stomach the movie. It’s overly corny and Inaccurate in what really happened at Hollister. Once they hit the town and stop riding, I quit watching. I left it off the list, because quite honestly I don’t like it. The only thing I can say good about it is I love those post war-era bobbers. I’ve never made it more than 3/4 of the way through that show.
Also, Wild hogs made me throw up in my mouth. Couldn’t even muster a smile.
Top 10 Motorcycle Movies of all time Read More »
Skeezix says I should listen to more country. Honest to God, I’ve tried. I just can’t stomach it. I love its simplicty, patriotism and sometimes even beat. But more often than not, you need to eat it with a big spoon because its so fucking corny. It’s almost embarrassing. Somewhere in my ego, I think I’m smarter than that. Skeezix certainly is smart, but good Lord, how many times can you wrap a song around a canned line, your truck, a tractor, or that your woman left you?
Now somehow I’ve managed to make a few exceptions, and the exceptions I truly Love. Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell and Maybe an Alabama song here or there. Here’s 2 more, and I’ll play the videos for you.
I love the Maveriks. Have a listen:
How in the world could you not just love that song? Great Riding song.
Dwight Yoakam is the 2nd Exception. I have no idea, because he reeks of twangy guitars and crying voice. I don’t know if it’s because dwight cut his teeth opening up for punk bands in the late 80s, or if his music just resonates with me because of songs like this: (I tend to think its the latter)
Dwight Yoakam ” A Thousand Miles From Nowhere”
At 70 mph out in the nevada or Arizona desert, drinking water by the gallon and going over my week, how could that song not hit home? I own a whole lot of Dwight Yoakam. Can someone please tell me the difference?
Toby Keith Urban can eat a bag of hell.
Country Freakin’ Music Read More »
All rides are good. Anything over 200 miles where you sleep somewhere new is memorable. Some are more memorable than most.
Early Friday afternoon I rode north to meet my brother Pat at Beryl Junction, about 50 miles away. He rode down from Salt Lake and it’d been a while since we’d ridden together. A few months. I was pretty glad to see him. I’ve said this before, but it’s pretty effortless to ride with him. We’ve settled into a good mixture of fun, beers, an occasional cigar, and busting each others chops. It’s always good company, and Pat is a rider to the core.
We rode the 50 miles to Caliente and stopped at the Knotty Pine for a brew and some burgers. We thought about staying in Caliente for the night, but decided to head on into Rachel Nevada, and I’m glad we did. We rode, Wyatt Earp Style. Great Fun.
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Rachel was great. we had supper there and a few more beers and The Little A’Le’Inn was a nice place to stay. Good Service, cheap prices and interesting people. We we smoked cuban cigars and drank 18 year old scotch as the sun set on the nevada desert. We crashed pretty early, watching Soylent Green on the VCR. Soylent Green, as you know, is people.
I gotta tell you, if you can’t have a good time riding to the UFO capital of the world on the edge of Area 51, smoking cuban cigars, 18 year old scotch and staying in a single wide trailer converted into a motel room watching Soylent Green…. well, your wick is wet. Have If you haven’t seen it, here’s a preview:
Chuck heston is the Shit. I swear the man does his own stunts, in a leisure suit no less! Charleton Heston is my president. I’m gonna be a dick and give you the spoiler right now. If you don’t want to know it, then don’t click this one:
Side note: There, I found the cure for a sore throat at 11 pm at night. A “Nuclear Bomb” is 3/4 shotglass of Tobasco sauce, and 1/4 shotglass of tequila. Instant cure.
The next morning we woke up, skipped breakfast and headed 50 miles to warm springs. Warm Springs Nevada i’ve been to a few times, but this time we checked out the hot springs and some of the old structures. Lots of ghosts there with some unknown stories. I’d still love to hear of someone who knows when warm springs was alive and kicking.
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From warm Springs we went into Tonopah and finally had cell service again, called our wives and had lunch, then moved onto Beatty.
Then we found Goldfield. I wished we’d spent more time there. At one time it was a town of 30,000 people as a Nevada Boom town from the turn of the 20th century. 400 people live there now, mostly because it’s still the county seat. Some neat old artifacts and really old buildings in great shape. I want to go back. Supposedly, the hotel is haunted, and we just drove right by it, not knowing.
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From there on, it was just hot. Well over 100, we opened up and made time. We still had to get to what was our loose destination, the Ghost town of Ryolite Nevada. We pulled in around 1:30 and gassed up, and found us a good bar to settle into to decide what was next. We decided to stay for the night. Our original plan was to ride to Mt Charleston, 100 miles away and tent for the night. We both realized that the 4th of july weekend would make it rough to get a camp spot. Besides, this was a pretty good bar! and there was 3 more next to it, and a hotel across the street where we could park the bikes and walk. We got a room, and then headed into Rhyolite.
Rhyolite Nevada is a ghost town I’d seen on the history channel a week earlier, and realizing it was not all that far away, wanted to go see it. We headed the 4 miles up the road to go check it out.
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Rhyolite started in 1904 when gold was discovered. by 1908 Rhyolite had 10,000 people, forty-five saloons, 3 of the most modern banks in the state, an opera house, a Stock Exchange, a slaughterhouse, two railroad depots, three public swimming pools and dozens of businesses. Rhyolite supported over 85 mining companies. It had power, piped water, telephones, sidewalks and entertainment.
By 1909, it had less than 1,000 people. By 1915, 20 people. by 1924 it’s last remaining resident died.
All that’s left is some of the most bitchen ruins I’ve ever seen. Including a house made up entirely of bottles, a full train depot, and crumbling buildings.
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We stopped and had a beer in the heat, and tripped out over the history and archetecture of a city who’s time had long since passed. It’s amazing to see that in only 100 years a town can disappear. Monolith’s to the history of man.
We took a dirt road deeper into Rhyolite to check out the old jail. When we pulled up, a woman approached us and explained she was making a movie and asked if she could use one of our bikes. I said no. I did not know this woman, and quite honestly, noone sits on my bike but me unless I know them pretty well. Pat was much more open and talked me into letting them use it in their movie.
So a girl got out of her car, walked up to my bike, and started taking off her clothes. It got pretty interesting, and I found that I was hasty in saying no so quickly. I’m a happily married man who is loyal to my wife. This was also not what I thought I’d find at Rhyolite. They were 5 kids from UCLA making a movie about a muslim woman. I started up the bike so they could get the full effect. I will say this, they have good taste in motorcycles. Fast women I think, can sense speed.
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We shook hands, got a picture or two and headed back to the bar to have dinner.
Beatty nevada was a pretty cool town for a town of 1100 people. We found a good spot that served a mean sandwitch, the right kind of beer, and listened to a classic rock band play songs directly from my Ipod and had a great time. Even the fireworks in beatty we’re pretty good. You could sense the town pride.
We staggered back to the motel and crashed. Pat headed out around 7 to make the long ride back to Salt Lake. Thats another nice thing about riding with my brother – we don’t get get butt hurt — either one of us — if we split off to do our thing. We’re both pretty self-contained. I realized he had to go, and he realized I was probably a bit hung over and was 3 hours from home. Around 9 I headed out of town, and made it home.
Great ride. Quite honestly, the whole weekend was great. Maybe my favorite ride I’ve done. Always wanted to stay in Rachel, and being with my bro just made it fun.
Go riding.
641 miles, 3 states, 3 days.
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Rachel, Beatty and Rhyolite Nevada Read More »