Billy Lane's Lead Attorney Steps Down

Two motions were heard today in the criminal trial for DUI Manslaughter case against motorcycle builder Billy Lane. Judge Allawas granted the motion to withdraw filed by Lane's lead attorney, Kepler Funk without explanation from the firm. Gregory Eisenmenger, new attorney for Billy Lane stated before the court that Mr. Lane had no problem with the substitution of counsel.

Attorney Keith Szachacz told Florida Today reporter, Keyonna Summers that there was a conflict of interest but his firms duties to Billy Lane would not allow him to disclose the nature of the conflict. Mr. Szachacz also felt it was in his better interest not to speak to this reporter and declined any questions from me.

Although Gregory Eisenmenger has been co-counsel for Lane for 2 months, he is requesting that the State answer his motion to compel discovery and deliver all documents from the case to his office. Mr. Eisenmenger stated that it is protocol in his office when taking over a case to do their own discovery setting aside the file of his predecessor and starting a new. Mr. Eisenmenger also said he has a expert witness looking at the FHP traffic homicide report that has requested measurements that do not appear on the report. He further remarked that his expert could not continue without the measurements. State Attorney Tom Brown said that he would contact the FHP about the measurements.

More updates and information on the criminal case against Billy Lane will be available as they come out on the MNO Blog. The civil trial against Billy Lane and Dodge appears to be moving along toward the target date set in August.

Someone Is Going to Win a Harley at NADA

@utoRevenue invites dealers to 'Come on and Take a Free Ride' in a Harley Motorcycle giveaway contest
LEE, Mass., Jan. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- @utoRevenue(TM) (http://www.autorevenue.com/), the leading permission-based marketing company in the automotive industry, along with Dealerskins, Dealer Specialties and XI Group, is giving away a 2007 Harley-Davidson Yellow Pearl Softail Motorcycle as part of the "Come on and Take a Free Ride" promotion at NADA 2007 in Las Vegas.
This will be the first year that the automotive industry's four Dominion Enterprises' companies - @utoRevenue, Dealerskins, Dealer Specialties and XI Group - exhibit together, according to John M. Miller, General Manager of @utoRevenue. "Our Harley giveaway plus our 90 x 50 ft. Dominion Enterprises exhibit (#1645) will draw a great deal of attention and give our four companies an excellent opportunity to showcase our dealership services and the synergies we offer," he said.
"To be eligible to win the Harley Softail, which is valued at $21,500, contest participants must visit three of our companies in the exhibit area and receive a sales presentation," said Miller. "Once they complete the presentations and complete their entry form, they will be entered in the contest to win this amazing new Harley."
The "Come on and Take a Free Ride" giveaway is open to all NADA-registered dealership owners, general managers and fixed ops personnel. The winning entry will be chosen in a random drawing 2 p.m. Monday, February 5 at exhibit, #1645. The winner must be present at the time of the drawing. The Dominion group of companies will continue to select entries until a winner is in attendance at the drawing.
NADA exhibitor registrants, employees and families of employees of any contractor of NADA, and employees and families of employees of Dominion Enterprises and its affiliates are all ineligible to participate in the Harley giveaway. Also ineligible are any incomplete entries received after the drawing or entries where valid dealership employment at the time of the drawing cannot be confirmed.
About Dominion Enterprises
@utoRevenue, Dealerskins, Dealer Specialties and XI Group are Dominion Enterprises companies. Since its founding in 1991 as Trader Publishing Company through its evolution into one of the nation's premier media companies, Dominion Enterprises has been a leader in providing resources, information, and web services in the automotive, real estate, apartment, specialty vehicle, employment, and travel industries. Dominion Enterprises is based in Norfolk, Va.; @utoRevenue is in Lee, Mass.; Dealerskins in Nashville, Tenn.; Dealer Specialties in Monroe, Ohio; and XI Group in Baltimore, Md.
For more information, contact Aleisha Gibbons, agibbons@autorevenue.com, 866.628.6245 or Diane N. Bates, dbates@batescommunications.com, 678.438.3674.
This release was issued through eReleases(TM). For more information, visit http://www.ereleases.com/.
Source: @utoRevenue(TM)

Playing the market for motorcycle blogs

I recently joined BlogShares and I have been playing with the game. I found it very interesting, really. The concept is a fantasy stock market game that is played with blogs, where shares can be traded for play money. From the site:
BlogShares is a fantasy stock market where weblogs are the companies. Players invest fictional dollars on shares in blogs. Blogs are valued by their incoming links and add value to other blogs by linking to them. Prices can go up or down based on trading and the underlying value of the blog.
Upon first inspection, the game looks pretty complicated but there is of course a help page and forum. When I first signed in, my blog at www.mikeodom.name was worth $1,000.00. I believe this is the starting point for all new blogs in the game until they are indexed and when buying and selling begin. I started the day with $53,ooo.oo went as low a $963.00 and ended out the day with over a million dollars in money.

I found out that the chips you can receive for participating in the game were valued at 10 million +, so I cashed one in to fuel my buying. I am buying stocks mainly in Motorcycle Blogs and trying to learn how to work with artifacts and ideas. This game can be kind of complicated at first, but as you learn, you will have more fun and make more money. The great thing is that while having fun, the game teaches you the value of links. I highly suggest taking a look at BlogShares and joining in the game. Click here to visit BlogShares now.

Emu Oil and Discoid Lupus, healing the skin

My wife, Cindi, has discoid lupus. For those who do not know what discoid lupus is, and many will not:

Discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) is a chronic skin condition characterised by reddened and round scaly patches that tend to develop in sun-exposed areas such as the face and hands. Sometimes, extensive lesions can develop across other areas of the body including the neck and upper back. It is unclear whether discoid lupus is a separate disease or a milder version of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), which can affect any of the body’s organs or tissues.

Around five per cent of people with discoid lupus progress to develop SLE, and around 20 per cent of people with systemic lupus develop discoid lupus. There is no cure, but the skin lesions can be managed with medication, and by avoiding exposure to sunlight.

The reason I say many will not know is lupus is not a high profile disease. This saddens me, not only because my wife is effected, but because it also effects 1.5 million other US Citizens. Most of which are women.

Recently I read that event the National Institutes of Health seems to neglect this disease as well. The NIH only allocated $88 million dollars to research for lupus. This may sound like it is a lot, but it is not enough. For instance the number of people diagnosed with the HIV/AIDS virus is 1 million. One half a million less then those with lupus, yet the NIH allocated $2,981 BILLION! to the research of those diagnosed with the HIV/AIDS virus. Doesn't seem fair.

OK, off of my soap box.

Now for the better news.

Back late September, I found some interesting articles about the healing effects of emu oil on the skin. The emu is a bird indigenous to Australia and kind of like the Turkey here in the US. The oil of this bird penetrates 100% into the skin and has remarkable healing abilities.

One of the main findings in my research on emu oil is that it is very important to get the product that is made from the Australian bird. There are many emu products and some come from the US or Canada. It is not recommended that these products be used for the quality will differ from that of the 100% Australian emu oil.

What is there a difference in emu oils?
First, notice that I am not attempting to sell anything here. I am telling this in hope to help those that need help. The Australian emu oil has helped Cindi skin heal after severe discoid lupus flares.
The difference is oils is relatively easy to explain. Remember that I said the bird is indigenous to Australia. One thing of course is the climate that the bird is in along with many other factors of just being raised in the home environment of the animal.
Add to that, when the same bird is raised here in the states, the requirements of anti-biotic injections, chemicals and additives in the food, etc. It is just not the same. Not to mention the price is not a value when produced here.

That brings me to the "how to" on purchase. Forget local health stores. They have it, if you want to pay upwards to $19.00 for 2.oz! Plus it is rather difficult to find the 100% pure and in the Australian line. So I did a little more research on where to buy the emu oil product at a reasonable price. I found a forum on acne and learned how and where to buy the oil at the right price. Turns out the emu oil is very popular to help those with acne as well.

Reading the discussion of these acne inflicted teens, I found the best place to purchase emu oil is on eBay. On eBay you can find 100% Australian emu oil in a 2 .oz bottle for around $7.50. Big difference over the local health stores. You will want to buy a small portion of the oil at first. Like every other medicine or product, your outcome may differ. I hope that when you try it, that it will help you as it did my wife. Once you know that it works for you, it is cheaper to buy it in larger quantities.

Cindi and I hope that this will help others that have discoid lupus. If it does, please write and let us know.

You may want to read my other posts on lupus:

Brevard County Lupus Support Group

Herbal Medicine: Cindi’s Lupus Tea

Looking for shuttle launch tonight

We hope to see the space shuttle Discovery take off from launch pad 39B this evening at 8:47. However, a lingering cold front has the winds here in Melbourne, Florida kicking up a bit. The temperature outside has warmed up quite a bit, but it is the wind that may play a factor in yet another delay in the launch.

Thursday, the thick low cloud ceiling caused a delay in the Discovery launch. We will have to see if this wind dies down and hope for a night launch tonight.

Veterans Every Day

Thanks to Rolling Thunder Central Florida Chapter VI for this video from the Veteran's Day event in Lakeland Florida 11/11/06 and to Tom and Dee Twigg from Bringing Home the Wall.

North Carolina Court says Billy Lane was not to be drinking and driving

As part of the provisions of the $1,000.00 bond that Billy Lane had been released on from the June DUI arrest in North Carolina, Billy Lane was not to drink and drive. This became a major issue today as Choppers Inc. Owner, Billy Lane appeared at the Rowan County Courthouse at 2 p.m. today.

A clean shaved Billy Lane appeared before the Judge today in a designer suit that covered all of his tattoos. With his dreads tucked under the suit, Billy Lane pleaded in his case for refusal to submit to a sobriety test after being pulled over by the North Carolina Highway Patrol. The arresting officer had pulled Mr. Lane over originally for driving on the wrong side of the road and not wearing a helmet. No further report of the courts action today have been reported.