Many hardened bikers become misty eyed when confronted with a classic motorbike. They are a thing of beauty to a biker, on a par with works of art. These vintage motorcycles were constructed in an age when craftsmanship was highly valued. The interest in them is reflected in the number of motorcycle museums around the world, in addition to the machines in private collections. Some of these bikes have been lovingly restored.

Motorcycles have been ridden for many reasons. For some owners, it’s a practical way to get to work, others love the social contact it brings and then, there are the military uses and the competition race bikes. Several owners clubs for bikers bring people and machines together, helping to maintain the legacy of the finest models. Unfortunately, some models of vintage motorcycles are lost to history and we are just left with the photographs.

There are many early examples of fine engineering, such as the 1908 Indian Twin Cylinder and Henderson, Traub and Hedstrom bikes from the World War I era. The use of mounted soldiers had all but disappeared by 1917 and the military made great use of motorcycles.  Especially during World War II when Harley Davidson, Crocker and Indian manufactured many thousands of machines.  After World War II, the servicemen returning to civilian life wanted an inexpensive means of transport to help them get around. Sales of bikes really took off, with models such as the 1948 FL Panhead and the 1949 Hot Rod Panhead.  Some people consider the 1940s and 1950s to be the golden age of vintage motorcycles.

Racing is another popular biking activity. It became a formalized event when the first wooden track was opened in 1909 in Los Angeles. Other circular tracks followed with steep banking and bikes thrilling the spectators with speeds of almost 100mph. The riders were celebrities and the sport was a boon to the manufacturers, each wanting to outdo the other.

The American Motorcycles Association (AMA) brought in Class C Racing and the number of events increased. The sport was dominated by Harley Davidson, Excelsior and Indian. There were some classic vintage motorcycles from this period, including the Harley Davidson 1935 Class C 1935 RLDR and the 1941 Class C WLDR with it’s stars and stripes tank.  Specialist speedway and hill climbing machines were also made and these events were very popular with the public. One of the vintage motorcycles that remain on view is the 1928 Indian Overhead 750. In fact, there were bikes for all aspects of life.

As a British citizen, I can look on the Stars and Stripes with an objective eye. The America flag certainly seems to be more important to the American people than the United Kingdom flag is in the UK. It’s significance seems to lie in its symbolism and it’s history. In the UK, we take our flag for granted. I’ve been to a lot of countries in the world and it’s safe to say that no other country flies it’s flag as often as in the US. The British tend to bring out the flag when there’s an important sporting occasion and we want to show our support for the team, usually for soccer, rugby or cricket. The America flag is flown on more public buildings and private homes too.

The symbolism associated with flags gives an insight into a nation’s consciousness. It’s been said that the stars of the America flag represent a goal to be reached and the stripes signify the sun rays coming down from above. The flag is tied in with the Pledge of Allegiance, the Constitution and the upholding of liberty. It has evolved over a number of years, having gone through 26 changes, into the flag we know today. The final America flag design was achieved in 1960, after Hawaii had joined the United States.

Images of the southern flag are still used today and a lot of southerners like to fly their old America flag as a display of their love of the south. Some people embrace this flag as a show of defiance, the south will rise again. Given it’s association with the slave trade and racial conflict of the south, a lot of people find the flying of this flag to be offensive.

There are numerous rules and guidelines covering the use and display of the America flag. Often, these guidelines are ignored. The flag is not supposed to be used to advertise anything, to be draped over vehicles or to be displayed on the side of garbage trucks etc. It should not be used on anything disposable like a cushion cover. Respect for the flag is paramount and the ultimate sin is to burn the flag. Anti-America protesters around the world have burned the America flag on occasion, as have anti-Vietnam War protesters within the US itself. A flag is a powerful symbol and none more so than in America where the citizens had to fight a war to gain their independence.

Over the last 60 years since it was invented, there has almost been a cult around the use of this product. Would you believe that it was created for the military during World War II?  Originally called “duck tape”, this tape was used to keep moisture out of ammunition boxes. It gained it’s name after the aquatic bird for obvious reasons. It was nearly waterproof and it resembles ‘duck canvas’. Soldiers started using it for a variety of purposes other than for ammo boxes. As we all know, there are a thousand things you can fix with duct tape. It is sturdy, strong and lasts a long time.

The name duct tape came to use after the war, when its color was also changed from army green to silver and was used to help attach and seal metal ducting in construction. Now of course, you can find it in a variety of colors since it is no longer used only for ducting.

Here is the official record of how duct tape is made. Duct tape is a strong tape that is composed of three layers. The top layer is a resilient plastic (Polyethylene). The bottom layer is a rubber based adhesive. The middle layer is a fabric mesh. Duct tape is manufactured by pressing these three layers together. I learn something new every day.

What product other than duct tape can claim fame to have being used for repairing flat tires to making women’s dresses? Police even occasionally use duct tape to restrain unruly prisoners. It would take a 100 pages to describe all the things you can do with this product. Moreover, what other product has a fan club?

Duct tape is one of those things that you learn to use at a very early age. There is nothing better for an older sister to use to perhaps control an unruly younger brother, but don’t tell her that! Kids have found it the perfect answer to broken notebooks and binders. Artists use it to make Christmas decorations and other holiday displays. Fashion is not only dresses with this tape. There are also pants, shoes and hats all made with the same material. And how about the woman that put it around her waist so that she would look better in her wedding dress?  There are festivals and contests, so if you have your own special duct tape story, you might be admitted in the Hall Of Fame.

When I was a child I had a book of Bible stories written especially for young children. One of my favorite stories was about Moses and his encounter with the burning bush in the wilderness.  As I remember it, Moses had been hiding out in the wilderness after killing an Egyptian whom he found beating upon one of the Israelite people. Moses let his anger get the better of him and he hit the Egyptian causing to him to die. Then Moses became a wanted man and he took off to hide in the wilds of the wilderness.

While he was hiding out, he came across the burning bush. Moses had never seen such a strange sight, the bush was on fire but it wasn’t being consumed by the flames.  So he crept a little closer to get a better look. Upon approaching he heard a loud voice and received his commission from God to lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and into the Promised Land.  Upon receiving his commission, Moses left the wilderness, returning to Egypt. The commission he had received upon his encounter with the burning bush, required that he approach Pharaoh and demand that the let God’s chosen people go.

Pharaoh was very uncooperative and his obstinate attitude resulted in ten plagues being brought upon the land of Egypt. As the plagues became increasingly harsh, God’s people were protected, while the Egyptians suffered.  Finally, Pharaoh relented when his own son was struck dead. Moses was able to carry out the instructions that he received from the voice issuing from the burning bush. The Israelites were freed from Egyptian bondage and allowed to leave the land.

Pharaoh soon came to change his mind once again. He set off in hot pursuit of the Israelites with war chariots and horses. It seemed that the Israelites would be trapped with the Red Sea on one side of them and the Egyptians barring their way to escape on the other. God parted the waters of the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to pass through on dry land. There were millions of Israelites crossing through that sea bed, and yet, every single one of them crossed to safety. The Egyptians and Pharaoh lost their lives when God allowed the waters to come crashing down upon them in their pursuit of the Israelites.  Moses served as leader of the Israelites until his death, continuing in carrying out the commission he received all those years before during his encounter with the burning bush in the wilderness.

If you are like most people in the United States of America, your first car, even if second hand, would have been a Japanese vehicle. This was especially true of the 70s and the early 80s and continues to be true today. Japanese vehicles constitute the majority of  vehicles running on American roads and the situation looks unlikely to change.

It all began in the early 70s, when the first lot of Japanese vehicles was imported into America. The then users, initially found these Japanese vehicles to be fascinating, of excellent quality and best of all affordable. Soon the ever increasing imports of Japanese vehicles were matching the sales of locally made vehicles. The sale of Japanese vehicles far outstripped the sales of local vehicles. It was at around this time that the Japanese set up a number of manufacturing facilities in traditional automobile areas like Detroit to further enhance the supply of Japanese vehicles to a hungry American population. Toyota, Nissan and several other manufacturers of Japanese vehicles set up shop on American soil and began to feed the demand for quality Japanese vehicles.

To be fair to the Japanese vehicles, they were much better than most of the vehicles available locally. Due to technological and manufacturing innovations, the Japanese vehicles were better designed and produced. The Japanese approach to quality control ensured that most Japanese vehicles, even if produced in Japan and shipped to America, were reliable performers with near zero quality concerns. Due to the economies of scale, they were far cheaper than American cars available at that time. After the Japanese vehicle manufacturers set up shop locally, the availability of spare parts and servicing options became factors which made the Japanese vehicles even more affordable. This was not possible and the Japanese viewed it as a threat to the growth and development of their business. There was a veritable boom, unlike anything ever witnessed before. And a shocked American auto industry found that the entire business had practically slipped out of their hands.

It was at this time that the American government had to step in to control the demand for Japanese vehicles. And they curtailed further acquisition of American manufacturing units, set up stiff import duties and gave the American auto industry a shot in the arm. While this practically nullified the earlier cost benefits of Japanese vehicles and enabled the American Industry to revive itself, it did little quench the demand for Japanese vehicles. A healthy second hand market in Japanese vehicles arose and Japanese vehicles continued to enjoy the support and money of the average American. And while Japanese vehicle manufacturers continued to innovate and to better the products they were making, the American auto giants had a stiff battle on their hands just to keep up.

In the end, it was the consumer who benefited. They were able to get access to a healthy second hand market in Japanese vehicles, while at the same time, getting better produced and more competitive American cars from the big manufacturers. Soon the technology differences were covered and manufacturers on both sides of the Pacific Ocean began to collaborate to produce vehicles that drive America today.

If you turn on the television set in your house, it is likely that you will be receiving hundreds of channels. While only a few of them are government owned channels and offer free services, the bulk of the channels are likely to be cable television channels. But have you ever stopped to consider what cable television actually is and how it differs from mainstream television? The former might be easy to answer but as far as the latter goes, most people today consider cable television as the default television. Free to air television has only been registering decreasing audience numbers ever since cable television appeared on the scene.

The cable television industry is not new. It is reputed to have begun in the year 1948, when it made an appearance as an alternative to the state owned and operated television stations. Initially though, cable television was little more than local channels operated by individuals to provide their community and the surrounding regions with news, views and activities that the national television channels would either not cover or skip altogether. In order to make the business viable, most cable television operators also screened movies. This is the humble service that has grown to become the Home Box Office or HBO that we know and enjoy today. Most of these early cable operators also operated a shopping channel where locally produced goods and services could be offered to local communities. This too has grown unimaginably to become the Tele Shopping Network of today.

The cable television world of today is a multi billion dollar industry. With hundreds of channels offering a variety of programs and entertainment to cater to differing and diverse needs, it has become a mammoth service that is a far cry from the video based programming of yester years. In fact, the innovations in technology have enabled cable television to become the medium of choice for the delivery of modern day content such as video on demand, interactive telephony and even high speed cable broadband internet services! Cable television is therefore no longer synonymous with video. It is a hub for entertainment, education and communication.

The National Cable and Telecommunications Association of America is the official body that monitors and controls the scores of independent cable television channels in our country. Not just that, they also lobby for increased number of channels, regulate the pricing and policies of cable television channels across the country and are also involved in research and development of the cable television industry. Nearly 90 percent of the cable television channels in the country come under the purview of this association making it the largest and most powerful association of cable television channel operators.

But this is scarcely the only association. Most states have their own cable television associations. And there are several national level organizations too. Since cable television today is a highly lucrative business, these organizations and associations enjoy a great deal of clout when it comes to pegging the advertising tariffs and program content on their network channels.

Boston, Massachusetts has many reasons to commend it for residents and visitors. The city has an interesting history, culture and fine dining. Boston shopping is also an important part of the city with chain stores and independent shops catering for every need.  Indoor shopping malls are a common sight in most urban centers and Boston has The Cambridgeside Galleria. This contains department stores, bookshops, clothing outlets, a Best Buy, a food court and the restaurant arm of a cheesecake factory. More luxury shopping is available at the Copley Place and Prudential Center, where there are also upscale restaurants and hotel complexes.

Bostonians know just where to go to get a bargain, fine food or everyday items. Certain Boston shopping districts have developed over the years. The Downtown Crossing is well known for its Filene’s Basement, an unusual store that is located underground. Overground stores here include a large branch of Macy’s, music stores, souvenir shops and a branch of Borders. There is also a discounted store called Bargain Alley. There are street vendors and fast food outlets and it’s ideal for a family shopping outing as no cars are allowed.

Savenor’s Market on Charles Street, is the place to go for gourmet, ready meals and desserts and they specialize in game.  Brownstone houses line Newbury Street, nicknamed The Rodeo Drive of the East. There are shops with a wide range of prices, which include Newbury Comics, selling vinyl records, CDs, books and posters. Harvard Square is an old district, situated in Cambridge on the other side of the river. In addition to browsing the many bookstores, restaurants and cafes, there’s the opportunity to go on a tour of the world famous Harvard University after Boston shopping outlets have been exhausted. The Grolier Poetry Book Shop is one of the oldest specialty, poetry bookstores in the United States.

The Voila store on Washington Street sells antiques and gifts, items for the home and European imports. Coolidge Corner is another well known destination for Boston shopping, located in Brookline. It has a rustic feel and friendly shops and restaurants. Faneuil Hall Marketplace has some charming stores, a food court and souvenir shops for tourists. Boston shopping reflects the general atmosphere of the city itself, which is refined and elegant but still contemporary. The modern amenities of a metropolis that people come to expect are mixed with the old charm of times gone by.

There are many iconic images of London - Buckingham Palace, red double decker buses and the Tower of London to name a few. The Big Ben Clock, housed in the clock tower of the Palace of Westminster is another familiar image around the world. The seat of government in the Houses of Parliament at Westminster was designed in a Gothic style during the Victorian era. The Tower stands 316 feet high and tilts a little, because of the ground conditions.

The clock once held the record for being the biggest four faced clock in the world up until the appearance of the Allen-Bradley Clock Tower in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The hour hand is 9 feet long and the minute hand is 14 feet long. The tower’s construction was completed in 1858 and the clock was set in an iron frame. It is the Great Bell that is actually called Big Ben but the Big Ben Clock is a nickname that stuck. In addition to the main bell, there are four quarter bells in the belfry and they have chimed across the city since 1859.

The current Great Bell was placed in the Tower in 1908, the previous bell having suffered damage and it rings out in the key of E. Each of the clock faces bears a Latin inscription and on translation, it reads “O Lord, Keep Safe Our Queen Victoria the First”. The clock is much admired for its reliability, even managing to keep perfect time during the Blitz of World War II as bombs were falling all around. The western clockface was actually damaged in a German bombing raid. Many turret clocks in the world have been inspired by the Big Ben Clock design.

The chimes have been a part of British life since the BBC first broadcast them in 1923, made possible by a microphone in the turret that connects to the broadcasting studios. They mark out the daily 6pm news bulletins on the radio and chime in each New Year after the countdown. They also have a more solemn duty in chiming at 11am on each Remembrance Day, when the nation remembers the dead from two world wars and other conflicts. Instantly recognizable throughout the world, the Big Ben Clock image has been used to represent the UK in a number of movies, including Independence Day, Mars Attacks! and The War of the Worlds. All those aliens and it still stands proud!

An ancestry search can be a both fun and exciting way to discover all kinds of things about who you are and where you come from. By looking into your genealogy, you can understand more about your family and where they come from, and ancestry searches are a good way to show your relatives that you care about the consanguineous people in your life. Besides that, an ancestry search can settle many unknown and unanswered questions about who you are and where you come from.

I first got the idea of an ancestry search from a simple question from my younger son. “Father,” he asked, “how did our family get over here?” In my family, it doesn’t take an ancestry search to answer certain basic questions about our genealogy. Everyone knows about Grandma Milton, and her epic struggle to get over the border despite having no money. She eventually went across the sea as a stowaway on the S.S. Martha, barely surviving weeks of sickness and near starvation. And everyone knows that she married a sailor, and that they later got rich through the maritime trade and the plentiful fishing in those days. But no one knows much about that sailor, besides his name. Where did he come from? We did an ancestry search to find out.

The ancestry search initially yielded very little information, and we had to pay big bucks for a more comprehensive search before we had anything to go on at all. But soon we had a family tree and found out that Grandpa Sal, as he was known, came from Wales. We even had several generations of his family roots in the old country but that is all that the ancestry search told us. To get the real answers we decided to go to Wales and research it ourselves.

One thing about internet ancestry searches is that they can’t do everything. Your ancestry search is only as good as the information available online. Much of the information is simply not currently available to ancestry searches. To do a proper ancestry search if it is very important to you to know just where you came from, as it is important to me, you might just have to go to the country and look for records yourself. We are currently pursuing our own ancestry search the old fashioned way – perusing town records for clues about the life of our ancestor. So far, our ancestry search has yielded some interesting results but it is far from over.

One of my friends works as a civil liberties attorney. In my family he is always viewed as a bit of a nut. Most people think that he is a little bit paranoid, you see. It is hard to believe that the government is out to get us as he says they are. Nevertheless, I checked out some of his allegations and they seem to have some grounds to them. I was really worried when I found out about background searches.

Most people are familiar with criminal background checks. A background search is a way for a potential employer to find out if you have had any nefarious dealings in the past. There are not that many people who would really object to background searches either. Most of us feel that the public has a right to know, after all. If you have been involved in illegal activities, why should it be hidden from everyone?

What I did not realize was just how much information a background search reveals. It can reveal your credit history, your criminal history and even the places that you have lived . It just does not make any sense to me. The background search seems like a way to destroy a persons privacy. I can understand why someone should have the right to know if some criminal is living next door to them but I think there are limits. I do not think someone should have a right to know if I have been married before. They should not be able to know everywhere I have lived, how much money I make, or what I spend it on. They certainly should not be able to know my credit history! Yet a background search gives you the right to do all of these things.

Of course, the companies that make money off of background search will defend their right to do this in the name of free speech. I don’t think it really is about free speech, however. I think it is all about money. There is money to be made helping people snoop on each other. Some times a background search is done for a legitimate purpose. They are used by law enforcement, for example, or by potential employers. I would be willing to bet that the majority of them, however, are used by paranoid people to snoop on each other. I don’t think that this is right. I think that our country demands at least some right to privacy.