The story of Hugh King and his grand television career spanning four decades has been told over and over. In fact he just completed another adventure for the History Channel in the cold snowy north‚ but the series is a secret. He has only one motorcycle and it’s this one built by 10 of the greatest builders of our time in a hidden desert location in an old machine shop outside of Laughlin‚ Nevada and across the Colorado River from Bullhead‚ Arizona.   “They built the bike under the constraints of a very short deadline‚” said Hugh. The master builders included Arlen and Cory Ness‚ Matt Hotch‚ Chica‚ Eddie Trotta‚ Hank Young‚ Kendall Johnson‚ Mitch Bergeron‚ Russell Mitchell and Joe Martin. Just up the dusty road roared the 2004 Laughlin River Run with all the temptations of Casino action including amazing food‚ entertainment‚ whiskey and girls. But the brothers stayed focused‚ almost. They faced a daunting 72-hour deadline. Each builder was recruited only three weeks earlier and given a specific assignment to supply a particular specialty to the project.   “Desperate men‚ united by a rebel spirit‚” said Kim Peterson‚ Senior Editor at Easyriders‚ “ worked together as a team for Discovery Channel’s Great Biker Build-Off X.” Just 72 hours out they gathered at Dan Jackson’s Fort Mojave‚ Arizona‚ Desert Powder coat shop. Arlen Ness was assigned the shop foreman title‚ while Kendall Johnson‚ engine and trans builder. Mitch Bergeron handled frame and billet down tube construction. Russell Mitchell dialed in the handlebars and controls. Matt Hotch hand built the fenders and the wild gusset under the frame neck. Cory Ness was responsible for paint and accessories procurement. Chica hand fabbed the gas tank‚ “but Johnny Chop helped‚” said Hugh‚ and Eddie Trotta worked over the forks and front-end trees. Hank Young built the oil bag‚ Joe Martin the nasty pipes and pinstriping. And a late arrival Danny Gray supplied the hand made manta ray-covered custom seat—amazing. The show had a design‚ but the King was only part of the scheme. “I wanted to depict the torment of the artists under extreme conditions.” Little did he know the bike would be turned over to him after he tortured the builders in the desert with hot iron pokers. “I wanted to convey what the process and skill level involved is in the making of a high-end custom motorcycle‚ and to show the builders lifestyle as well as the psychology of what drives the man who builds and creates.” As the executive producer sat overlooking the mayhem of the final assembly while fanned by Vegas hookers and sipping long Island Iced teas he wondered if the concept would work. “It didn’t at first‚” Hugh said. “There was a lot of tension‚ people went off in different directions. All of a sudden‚ it just coalesced. You could feel the energy in the room. Everybody was suddenly working together‚ headed in the right direction. I think Arlen had a tremendous impact as the shop leader and guiding light in a dark tunnel of torment. It was touch and go for a while. If one of them had walked‚ they would have all walked‚ but they didn’t. The rebels held together.”   See the next episode for more details about the Chopper King’s Chopper‚ which is now for sale to the highest bidder. “My one burning desire now‚ however‚ is to buy the X Bike back from myself‚” said the King with a tear in his eye. The post THE CHOPPER OF CHOPPERS FOR SALE‚ Part 2 appeared first on Bikernet Blog - Online Biker Magazine.

In the worst possible prosecution of Donald Trump‚ Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg spent a year spinning the thinnest of webs dealing with “hush money” paid to Stormy Daniels over an affair that took place almost two decades ago. No other prosecutor‚ despite having spent two years looking at the facts‚ would touch the case‚ but Bragg isn’t interested in law. It’s nothing more than political opportunism of the same kind that New York State Attorney General Letitia James displayed crowing on X/Twitter about her $sdfkjsj judgement against Trump. This is so unseemly. Is she prosecuting a case or running for higher office?Get mad. I don’t care. This is not the way to handle things. You won’t see Jack Smith tweeting like this. https://t.co/rzu8HJIbO0— Atticus Finch (of Georgia) (@Atticus59914029) February 24‚ 2024 So now that the former president has spent countless hours sitting in courtrooms hearing the same regurgitated stories against him‚ of how he ran his real estate company‚ he’s also subject to a bevy of gag orders‚ prohibiting him from speaking against certain witnesses. Bragg has asked judge Juan Manuel Merchan to order Trump not to speak about potential witnesses and jurors‚ as well as “statements meant to interfere with or harass the court’s staff‚ prosecution team or their families.” Listen‚ I understand that it’s wrong for Trump to go after the judge’s family‚ or jurors‚ or court clerks. It’s wrong for anyone to cause that kind of stress on people who are not responsible for politics. I have already gone on record that supporters need to stop with their threats against people who speak out against or prosecute Trump. Threats of violence‚ doxxing‚ and SWATting are never acceptable. But a gag order in a case dealing with things that happened nearly 20 years ago‚ with a cast of characters consisting of people Trump has dealt with for a long time‚ in a political sense‚ is not only stupid‚ but a trashing of the First Amendment. First of all: who is Trump going to talk to? He speaks at rallies. He posts on Truth Social. Then the media picks up his words and posts‚ and amplifies them to their audience. The media is protected by the First Amendment‚ but apparently‚ Trump is not. Many of the comments Trump makes are things he’s said for years. When he originally said them‚ they were fine‚ but now‚ they are unfairly targeting a prosecution. Second: The entire purpose of the prosecution is to tie up Trump and get some kind of felony conviction on him before the Republican National Convention this summer‚ where it’s almost a certainty Trump will be nominated. I am not a fan of Donald Trump; I never have been. But Democrats are nuts. Instead of the most straightforward way of keeping him out of the White House‚ by running a decent‚ physically and mentally able candidate against an incredibly unpopular former president; Democrats are sticking with President Joe Biden‚ the “Bruno” they don’t talk about–but they spend a whole lot of time talking about how it’s “taboo” to talk about Biden’s age or mental capacity. Beating Trump at the ballot box is not a difficult thing to do–Nikki Haley‚ having no chance at the nomination‚ still took nearly 40% of the Republican vote in South Carolina. Trump has underperformed his polling in every primary since the Iowa caucuses. A lot of people would rather not vote for Donald Trump‚ and they are willing to go to the polls‚ even when it makes no difference in the outcome‚ to register their choice. But no‚ Democrats have gone into full hammer-and-tongs mode‚ acting as if they are a junta instead of a political party. Letitia James went after Trump’s money–which is stupid because he funds his legal bills from political donors (this is legal‚ because his “leadership PAC” is set up to allow payments for anything other than presidential campaigns). Trump has already appealed the penalty. Fulton County‚ Georgia DA Fani Willis had a pretty good case against Trump for some kind of state election interference‚ but decided to go after the entire GOP on a racketeering case‚ in order to make Trump’s charges more serious. She was so stupid as to hire the guy she was sleeping with (who was married at the time)‚ and pay him over $600‚000 of the people’s money‚ while she took cruises and trips with him. Her case is about to crash. Federal special prosecutor Jack Smith is going after Trump‚ not for insurrection‚ but for fraud against the United States because Trump told supporters the election in 2020 was stolen. It’s a novel approach. And there’s the case in Miami where Trump kept classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and refused to return them to the National Archives. Of course‚ there’s classified stuff all over the place in presidential libraries‚ and there was classified in the garage of Joe Biden’s Delaware home. But Biden was too mentally incapable of being tried for it. This could have been solved at the ballot box‚ but Democrats want scorched earth. They want Trump in prison. Perhaps he deserves it‚ but not this way. And with gag orders‚ they won’t even let Trump say the stuff he’s said for a decade about people he’s talked about since 2015. Don’t they see? It won’t stop Trump from speaking. All it will do is make his chances of winning in November even better. Alvin Bragg‚ Letitia James and Fani Willis were never interested in the law. If Judge Merchan grants another gag order‚ he will only add his name to others who have trashed the First Amendment in order to get Trump. Follow Steve on Twitter @stevengberman. The First TV contributor network is a place for vibrant thought and ideas. Opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of The First or The First TV. We want to foster dialogue‚ create conversation‚ and debate ideas. See something you like or don’t like? Reach out to the author or to us at ideas@thefirsttv.com. 

The new vinyl edition of Jean-Luc Ponty's Life Enigma will be released in May