A new biker gang is roaming the streets of Richmond Hill, Queens. This crew of mostly teenagers can be seen riding along 103rd Avenue just west of the Van Wyck Expressway. The bikes roar, but the booming sound has nothing to do with engines — because there are no engines. They are ordinary bicycles, not motorcycles, although these contraptions look and sound more like rolling D.J. booths. They are outfitted with elaborate stereo systems installed by the youths.

“This one puts out 5,000 watts and cost about $4,000,” said Nick Ragbir, 18, tinkering with his two-wheeled sound system, with its powerful amplifier, two 15-inch bass woofers and four midrange speakers. It plays music from his iPod and is powered by car batteries mounted on a sturdy motocross bike.

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1. “If I’m the president of the United States, I walk right into Union Square, I set up my little presidential podium, and I say, ‘Listen, citizens of San Francisco, if you vote against military recruiting, you’re not going to get another nickel in federal funds. Fine. You want to be your own country? Go right ahead. And if Al Qaeda comes in here and blows you up, we’re not going to do anything about it. We’re going to say, look, every other place in America is off limits to you, except San Francisco. You want to blow up the Coit Tower? Go ahead.’” –after San Francisco voted to ban military recruiters from city schools, Nov. 8, 2005
2. I just wish Katrina had only hit the United Nations building, nothing else, just had flooded them out, and I wouldn’t have rescued them.” –on his radio show, Sept. 14, 2005
3. “I’ll tell you what. I’ve been in combat. I’ve seen it, I’ve been close to it… and if my unit is danger, and I’ve got a captured guy, and the guy knows where the enemy is, and I’m looking him in the eye, the guy better tell me. That’s all I’m gonna tell you. The guy better tell me. If it’s life or death, he’s going first.” –on his experience as a journalist covering firefights in South and Central America, Jan. 18, 2005
4. “So anyway I’d be rubbing your big boobs and getting your nipples really hard, kinda’ kissing your neck from behind…and then I would take the other hand with the falafel thing and I’d just put it on your p***y but you’d have to do it really light, just kind of a tease business…” –as quoted in a sexual harassment suit filed against him by a Fox News producer, 2004
5. “And guys, if you exploit a girl, it will come back to get you. That’s called ‘karma.’” –in his book, “The O’Reilly Factor For Kids,” 2004
6. “If the Americans go in and overthrow Saddam Hussein and it’s clean, he has nothing, I will apologize to the nation, and I will not trust the Bush Administration again, all right?” -on finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, March 18, 2003
7. “I was wrong. I am not pleased about it at all and I think all Americans should be concerned about this…What do you want me to do, go over and kiss the camera?” –on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” making good on his promise to publicly apologize if weapons of mass destruction were not found Iraq, Feb. 10, 2004
8. “Now it’s so bad that I spend an enormous amount of money protecting myself against evil.” –on being Bill O’Reilly, Oct. 18, 2005
9. “You know what’s really frightening? You actually have an influence on this presidential election. That is scary, but it’s true. You’ve got stoned slackers watching your dopey show every night and they can vote.” –to “Daily Show” host Jon Stewart, Sept. 22, 2004
10. “The ’shut up’ line has happened only once in six years.” –responding to a viewer who said if he was so concerned about public figures being bad role models for children, he should stop interrupting guests and telling them to shut up, Nov. 15, 2002 (click here to see a video collage)

Detroit made it as the #1 most dangerous city in America.

To put it in perspective: Detroit’s murder rate is more than 8% higher than the country’s second most murderous city, Baltimore, and eight times that of the least murderous metro. More people were murdered in Detroit than in San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas and San Jose combined–and each one of those cities has a bigger population than Detroit.

Link

It was Disability Awareness day and the folks at Fenway did a lot of great things for kids with challenges.This man with Autism, who was chosen to sing the National Anthem, got a case of the giggles half way through. Listen to how the Fenway Faithful helped him out.

Warner Music boss Edgar Bronfman this week conceded that the music industry is partly to blame for the proliferation of illegal music sharing and — in an apparent change of heart — suggested that his peers in the mobile industry could learn a lot from Apple.

Speaking at the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress in Macau this week, Bronfman warned mobile operators against making the same mistake that the music industry made.

“We used to fool ourselves,” he said. “We used to think our content was perfect just exactly as it was. We expected our business would remain blissfully unaffected even as the world of interactivity, constant connection and file sharing was exploding. And of course we were wrong. How were we wrong? By standing still or moving at a glacial pace, we inadvertently went to war with consumers by denying them what they wanted and could otherwise find and as a result of course, consumers won.”

MacUser, which reported on Bronfman’s comments, said the executive told mobile operators they presently face the same risk, as fewer than 10 percent of cell phone owners buy music on their phones, and the majority of those who do are only buying ringtones.

“The sad truth is that most of what consumers are being offered today on the mobile platform is boring, banal and basic,” he said. “People want a more interesting form of mobile music content. They want it to be easy to buy with a single click – yes, a single click, not a dozen. And they want access to it, quickly and easily, wherever they are. 24/7. Any player in the mobile value chain who thinks they can provide less than a great experience for consumers and remain competitive is fooling themselves.”

Bronfman, who had criticized Apple in the past over its iTunes pricing model and revenue share demands, even went as far as to suggest that operators follow the Cupertino-based company’s lead in simplicity and catering to the demands of consumers.

“For years now, Warner Music has been offering a choice to consumers at Apple’s iTunes Store the option to purchase something more than just single tracks, which constitute the mainstay of that store’s sales,” he continued. “By packaging a full album into a bundle of music with ringtones, videos and other combinations and variation we found products that consumers demonstrably valued and were willing to purchase at premium prices. And guess what? We’ve sold tons of them. And with Apple’s co-operation to make discovering, accessing and purchasing these products even more seamless and intuitive, we’ll be offering many, many more of these products going forward.”

The Warner Music chief went on to praise Apple for its “beautifully designed” iPhone which includes “brilliantly written software.” It has a “spectacular user interface” that “throws all the accepted notions about pricing, billing platforms and brand loyalty right out the window,” he said.

Sorry, I ‘ve been a little behind in my postings. My life is a bit crazy at the moment. I have accepted a new position with a really cool company that I’ll tell you more about later. Until then, take this opportunity to look through some of the archives.