Da Hawg Frog Blog

It does seem like you read about more and more murder and mayhem on the highway these days. Every time a motorcycle is involved you will invariably read a remark about the rider wearing helmet, or not. Personally I believe let the rider decide. If the accident is in the parking lot might at low speed then the helmet might help. But on the Interstate at 70 or 80 miles an hour it isn’t going to do much good. Upper body trauma is the major cause of death on the highway.

Here in Florida we’ve experienced a surge in motorcycle sales and accidents. Duh, more bikes on the road, more bikes in accidents. That makes sense to me. Especially when you consider all the inattentive people driving their cages while talking on the cell phone and eating an Egg McMuffin as they tune their radios.

People who have motorcycle accidents in Florida are six times more likely to die than automobile drivers.

The number of registered motorcyclists statewide was 582,740 in 2006, compared with 339,488 in 2002.

The number of fatalities also is rising steadily.

In 2002, 274 people died in motorcycle crashes; by 2006, the number was 521, according to the most recent statistics from the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. (Source: St Petersburg Times)

The media is trying to say that the dramatic increase in motorcyclist is because of the rising gas prices. But then if you look at their own statistics you see that there is a flaw in their reasoning. The increase in motorcycle ownership began before the gas crisis. But, then I believe there is some truth in it also. I know myself that I have several neighbors who bought motorscooters over the past year because they do get in excess of 100 MPG.

“You can come here and pay $3,600 for a new bike,” Bott said. “And you don’t have to have insurance in the state of Florida to ride a motorcycle.”

Along with the no helmet law, Florida is one of few states where insurance is not required to register a motorcycle. That changes when a rider is charged after a crash with injuries. The rider is financially responsible for bodily injuries and property damages to others.

Now I’m one of those live and let give guys. But I think that anyone who rides a motorcycle and doesn’t have insurance is a moron. After all, what if you are riding a $20,000 bike instead of a “$3,600″ bike. To take a chance on these roads with the crazy cagers we have without insurance is just plain stupid.

It interesting to note that most of these fatal accidents are among those younger riders new to the road and motorcycling. It is a shame that so many of them end up as hood ornaments before they have the opportunity to fully appreciate the riding life. They just start out on machines that are too fast and too powerful for novice riders.

I usually get a few hundred spams everyday on the email addresses I use. Gmail catches about 150 a day. The past couple days I’ve noticed a remarkable lack of spam in my inboxes. What a pleasure!

Apparently there has been a massive internet failure in Europe and Asia. It looks like these are the primary locations for most of the spam I get. Probably you too. Everyday I get messages about growing a bigger dick. Or all kinds of wonderful drugs I can get cheap for problems I don’t really have. The ones I really miss are all the Nigerians trying to give me money. It looks like we’re getting a few days respite from these dirtbags. Enjoy it while you can!

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (CNN) — High-technology services across large tracts of Asia, the Middle East and North Africa were crippled Thursday following a widespread Internet failure which brought many businesses to a standstill and left others struggling to cope.

Hi-tech Dubai has been hit hard by an Internet outage apparently caused by a cut undersea cable.

Industry experts are blaming damage to two undersea cables but it is not known what caused the damage.

Reports say that Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Bahrain Pakistan and India, are all experiencing severe problems.

This is also why we haven’t been getting all those phone calls from India. The ones where everyone is either George or Debbie and they speak English like they were from Mars or Uranus. The sub-continent of India is hard hit and they are desperately trying to reroute their gibberish to a Pacific cable.

There were concerns in India that an Internet slowdown could affect trading patterns at the country’s two major exchanges, the National Stock Exchange (NSE) in Delhi and the SENSEX exchange in Bombay.

Rajesh Chharia, president of India’s Internet Service Providers’ Association, explained that some firms were trying to reroute via Pacific cables and that companies serving the eastern US and the UK were worst affected, AP added.

Besides the Internet, the outage caused major disruption to television and phone services, creating chaos for the UAE’s public and private sectors.

The Du internal memo called the situation in Dubai “critical” and stated that the cable’s operators did not know when services would be restored. (Source: CNN)

What a shame. Maybe this will keep our gas prices the same for a few more days. Of course they’ll gouge us to pay for the damages as soon as they get back online. Might as well enjoy it while we can. As soon as they get everything back online the spammers will be back with a vengeance and the eastern markets will again trash the dollar.

Buell is the innovative builder of sports bikes working under the auspices of Harley Davidson. For years now Buell has been putting out a limited number of bikes for the Harley Davidson line of bikes. This year they are coming out with a model that may raise its numbers out of the doldrums. The Buell 1125R hits the road this year with the first engine for the line not made in America.

It’s also the first large Buell without a Harley engine, which is significant given that Harley-Davidson owns Buell. The 1125R sports a liquid- cooled V-twin made in Austria by BRP, a Canadian company.

Buell said Harley executives encouraged him to seek an outside engine supplier because Harley was too busy with its own projects. Had he waited, Buell said, the 1125R might have stayed on the drawing board. (Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel)

“This is a brand new motorcycle from the rider down,” Buell said. With a little luck, it will give the company a bigger share of the sport-bike market dominated by Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki.

Is it going to work? Who knows. The major draw to the Japanese sport bikes is not only their speed and handling, but also the price. Anything Harley has always been expensive. It is the price you pay for an American product. But then wait, this model has an Austrian engine, the bike is only constructed in Milwaukee. It will be interesting to see. Unfortunately over the past few years relatively few Buell bikes have been built.

The boutique company shipped 12,460 bikes in 2006 compared with Harley’s nearly 4.6 million.
Buell’s sales are strongest in Europe, where street bikes with Italian pedigrees share the narrow roads with Ferraris. Unlike Harleys, which are made for cruising down the highway, sport bikes are made for crouching and leaning into tight turns.
After testing the 1125R on a California track, motorcycle critic David Booth described the bike this way: “Any motorcycle that makes me feel both fast and comfortable at high speeds has to be the bike of the year.

Now my question is does it run on rice . . . or potatoes.

When I first saw the picture of Barrack Obama, hands in front, while Hilliary and Bill Richardson covered their hearts on the internet I just shrugged it off. It was said to be a picture of
Barrack during the National Anthem. I thought it was pretty bad, but then I heard other rumors also. I read that it was not actually the National Anthem, but America the Beautiful that was playing. I figured it was just right wing propaganda and ignored it. But then a little digging turned us a video of the event. And suddenly it was indisputable, Obama refused to honor the flag by covering his heart. If I had a beer for every email sent me by angry veterans forwarding the email I’d be set for life.A little investigation on Snopes revealed that yes, indeed, the photo was real.

The photograph itself is real, one of several images of the Iowa steak fry event published by Time, and shows Barack Obama standing with his hands clasped just below his waist, while New Mexico governor Bill Richardson, New York senator Hillary Clinton, and Ruth Harkin (wife of Iowa senator Tom Harkin) stand with their hands held over their hearts. It’s difficult to judge exactly what’s going on from a single still image (Source: Snopes).

But the video demonstrates it all. But after watching it I don’t know which is worse, Obama not covering his heart or Whitney Houston butchering our National Anthem. Maybe Obama just didn’t recognize it. After listening to Whitney’s caterwauling and shrieking of our beautiful song I really had to wonder myself. They should both be ashamed of themselves.

I remember back in the 1970s when I was stationed in Germany how many mopeds and motor-scooters were on the roads. I used to drive a deuce and a half to work in the morning. In the back I carried a dozen of my fellow soldiers. As we would wind through the traffic circles in the little town I was stationed outside of I felt like a behemoth in the midst of lilliputian motorists. Everywhere you looked there were gas sipping motorbikes. In the 70s gas was more expensive in Europe than it is in the United States today.

In the past couple years we have seen a tremendous growth in the motorcycling community on this side of the pond. It is not all because people are suddenly becoming motorcycle enthusiasts. Many are being driven to it by the high prices of gas. And yet even with the increasing numbers of bikes on the road the economy has taken a nose dive and sales are down.

The dollar has lost 26% of its value against the euro and 11% of its value against the yen since March 2003. Add escalating costs for the metals, plastics and other commodities used to manufacture motorcycles and the fuel needed to transport foreign models to the U.S. market, and you’ve got upward price pressures for the European and Japanese manufacturers in particular. That has makers looking to cut manufacturing costs rather than raise retail prices for consumers who, in the U.S., are continuing to tighten their belts.

Consumer prices are up. The stock market is down. The dollar has plummeted. And credit is tightening. So what does that mean for motorcycles — not only future sales, but also new model development, pricing and financing? Well, it appears the bad news has some good mixed in.

On the up side, motorcycle sales in 2007 were over the 1-million mark for the fifth straight year. Battery and tire sales indicate that ridership and enthusiasm for the sport remain high. The down side is that sales in 2007 failed to increase after 14 consecutive years of gains and were lower than in 2006. By how much, the Motorcycle Industry Council won’t say until summer, when it has complete sales figures. But some manufacturers’ representatives have estimated an 8% to 10% decline. The U.S. Department of Commerce, however, puts the decrease at 2.2% for the year. (Source: LA Times).

But unlike our European counterparts Americans like bigger bikes. The number of small, gas sipping motorcycles on our roads is in a decline. People are opting out for bigger bikes with more horsepower and speed. But even the big bikes, like Harley Davidson are feeling the heat.

Particularly hard hit have been sales of small-displacement dirt bikes, which have seen larger-than-average losses, and Harley-Davidson, which has taken a 21% hit on its stock since the start of 2008, as of Tuesday’s close. (Source: LA Times).

But when we examine gas prices across the globe today our situation does not look nearly as bad as our brothers in Europe. As long as the petro dollar is still in effect we will reap the benefits of cheaper gas. But once the OPEC nations decide to go to the petro euro the bottom is going to fall out of our economy and we will find our selves in the same situation as many foreign countries have been for decades. Paying through the nose for gas and being forced to downsize our vehicles or go broke. Compare what we pay to the rest of the world -

Netherlands Amsterdam $6.48
Norway Oslo $6.27
Italy Milan $5.96
Denmark Copenhagen $5.93
Belgium Brussels $5.91
Sweden Stockholm $5.80
United Kingdom London $5.79
Germany Frankfurt $5.57
France Paris $5.54
Portugal Lisbon $5.35
Hungary Budapest $4.94
Luxembourg $4.82
Croatia Zagreb $4.81
Ireland Dublin $4.78
Switzerland Geneva $4.74
Spain Madrid $4.55
Japan Tokyo $4.24
Czech Republic Prague $4.19
Romania Bucharest $4.09
Andorra $4.08
Estonia Tallinn $3.62
Bulgaria Sofia $3.52
Brazil Brasilia $3.12
Cuba Havana $3.03
Taiwan Taipei $2.84
Lebanon Beirut $2.63
South Africa Johannesburg $2.62
Nicaragua Managua $2.61
Panama Panama City $2.19
Russia Moscow $2.10
Puerto Rico San Juan $1.74
Saudi Arabia Riyadh $0.91
Kuwait Kuwait City $0.78
Egypt Cairo $0.65
Nigeria Lagos $0.38
Venezuela Caracas $0.12(Source: air-inc.com)

It looks like much of the new owners of motorcycles in this country are being driven not by the love of the sport, but rather by the economics of the times. Perhaps this is one of the reasons we’ve seen such an increase in motorcycle accidents and death. Thousands of inexperienced riders trying to beat the expenses of filling their Hummers and pickups by hitting the roads on bikes they are unfamiliar with. If trends continue and gas goes higher we may find ourselves in a situation much like it is in Europe. Streets will be clogged with small bikes. Then those still driving their big gas guzzling SUVs will be dodging the darting mini bikes and scooters in their rush from gas station to gas station.

John McCain is stumping in Florida right now. Unlike the Democrats in this state who’s votes won’t count for anything because they will have not delegates seated in the convention, the Republicans are going to pay attention to the voters. With Florida’s enormous veteran population, second only to California, John McCain is counting on a large turn out and victory.

“From here to Key West, Florida is one of the most patriotic states in America and that is why I am very proud to be here,” McCain says as he courts a constituency critical to his chances in Florida’s GOP presidential primary Tuesday.

Consider the numbers: Florida is home to an estimated 1.7 million veterans, second only to California. And veterans are a key element in McCain’s political strategy. (Source: CNN)

John McCain may very well carry the coveted veteran’s vote in Florida. Everyone is aware of his service to this country during the Vietnam war. They also know about his time spent in the Hanoi Hilton. He has a military record that is hard to dispute. He is also the only major candidate with sons serving in the military.

The son of an admiral, McCain is the only leading candidate in either party to have children who have served in the military. In the senator’s case, one son is in Iraq, the other at the Naval Academy. They get a mention in virtually every introduction of the candidate by wife Cindy McCain.

“I want my sons back like everybody else,” she says in Fort Walton Beach. “But I want them back having done their duty and with honor and in dignity and most of all in victory.”

But Senator McCain has one major flaw. It is his stance on Illegal Immigration. He supports granting amnesty and legalizing the illegals. As odd as it sounds he is walking hand in hand with Senator Ted Kennedy on this one. Yet, this stand is costing him dearly. Many are now referring to him as “Amnesty John”.

In 2007, much of America’s political oxygen was consumed by the two I-words: Iraq and immigration. If the former was supposed to boost John McCain’s GOP primary campaign, the latter was supposed to torpedo it. Not only did the Arizona senator favor a relatively liberal immigration policy, he had cosponsored legislation with left-wing lion Ted Kennedy to establish a temporary worker program and offer millions of illegal immigrants a path to citizenship. In the summer of 2005, the cover of National Review had assailed McCain as “Amnesty John.” In the late spring and early summer of 2007, McCain supported a comprehensive immigration reform bill that provoked furious opposition from conservative talk radio and the Republican base. It nearly destroyed his presidential bid. (Source: CBS).

His position on this one issue alone is enough to make many of us look elsewhere for a candidate. A candidate who puts America and Americans first. We don’t need a bunch of people who broke our laws to get here going to the front of the line and being legalized in front of all those legal immigrants who followed the law.

Only a Washington insider wearing blinders could possibly take the position John and Ted have taken. They are out of touch with their constituents and what is happening in their own states.

Rudy’s campaign is tanking in Florida. He’s invested a lot of time and effort in swaying the Republican population of this state to vote for him. But it isn’t working. Rudy was banking on the fact that there are an awful lot of transplanted New Yorkers in Florida. Didn’t he ever wonder why all those people left and came down here? Maybe it was to get away from the likes of Rudy.

Well he’s had some help in his downfall here in Florida. A group of very vocal of NY firefighters are following him around the state. They have an enormous blow up rat they call Rudy. And strange as it sounds, it bears a striking resemblance Rudy the Mayor.

Families of firefighters killed in the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center rallied in Orlando alongside a 16-foot rat Tuesday, urging Floridians to vote against Republican Rudy Giuliani for president.

“We’re not telling anybody who to vote for. We’re telling you not to vote for Rudy Giuliani — he is no hero of 9-11,” said Sally Regenhard, whose son, firefighter Christian Regenhard, died in the towers’ collapse.

These firefighters all remember the 343 of their brothers who gave their lives during the 9/11 attack. They hold Rudy personally responsible for many if not all of these deaths. Who are you going to believe? A weasel faced politician or the brave firefighters who rushed into the flames and smoke to save their fellow New Yorkers? I guess they are fed up with Rudy’s constant remindings that he was there.

Now I don’t want anyone to get me wrong. Frogs can’t even vote in Florida. And this frog is a registered Independent anyway. That’s just a nice way of saying I don’t like the offerings of either party this election season. Trust me, I’m going to unload on all of them sooner or later. After all they are politicians and if their lips are moving you can bet they are lying. I think the entire field of candidates in both parties stink. Although I do like Ron Paul.

But anyway, some of the firefighters made a slick video torpedoing Rudy’s claims. It is a little long, but interesting. Especially the part about as soon as Rudy had secured the gold from the Twin Towers he pretty much deserted the lost firefighters. The video is a pretty good hatchet job and probably is a good combination of propaganda and truth.

States are finding that if they want to control the tsunami of illegal aliens invading their states they must take actions into their own hands. The federal government simply refuses to enforce the laws already on the books. Arizona’s recent law made it illegal for employers to hire illegal aliens and levied heavy fines and the threat of loosing their license to do business in the state for repeat offenders. Now not only many states are enacting laws to stem the flow of uninvited guests in this country, but so are many cities. The latest is the Dallas suburb of Farmer’s Branch, Texas.

The measure requires the Dallas suburb to check a renter’s legal status with the federal government.

“The federal government will verify if the person is in the country legally,” Mayor Pro Tem Tim O’Hare said. “If not, we will notify that person as well as the landlord in writing that they do not have the right to be in the country.” (Source: CNN)

Naturally this will be challenged by those who would give our country away. The town of Farmer’s Branch is still struggling with the judicial system over another measure they took to stop the illegals from ruining their home. So far they have spent $770,000 in court trying to defend themselves.

The case is still in court after a federal judge blocked that law, finding that city officials were trying to control immigration differently from the U.S. government, according to The Associated Press.

Attorneys for Farmers Branch have said they believe the new ordinance clears up any constitutional questions. (Source: CNN)

It is going to be interesting to watch and see how the town fares in this latest legal battle to enforce the law of the land in their own community. Lord knows we here in Florida know how they feel. Last time I visited Dallas it was like being in Miami without the palm trees. I felt like a foreigner in my own country.

What the hell is going on over at the American Legion? Recently the National Executive Committee of the American Legion Riders passed a Resolution 35. Where did these guys come from? Well it looks like the American Legion has decided to bring the Riders into the fold and make them a part of the Charter. Sounds good doesn’t it. After years as the red haired step child of the American Legion the Riders are finally getting recognized and accepted as part of the Legion. But apparently not all is as it appears.

First off getting a bunch of, dare I use the term, bikers to agree on anything is like trying to herd cats. It just ain’t going to happen. Then the question arises of who the hell are these National and now State Directors and where did they come from. I’ve been a member of the Legion Riders for years and each summer we vote in our officers for the next year. Nobody I know of voted in any of these National and State officers, but here they are, suddenly appearing on the scene and trying to herd cats.

These self appointed leaders of the Riders are trying to define, coordinate and regulate the entire loose knit riders association. The same riders who got along fine for years with out interference and brought great pride to the American Legion by their dedication and efforts to make our veterans lives better. Now they want to step in, take over and change things.

I’ve been reading about Resolution 35 and actually think most of what is in there is pretty good stuff. Common sense and nothing to get all bothered about.

1. All members of The American Legion Riders shall be current members of The American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary or Sons of TheAmerican Legion

2. Each ALR member shall own a motorcycle

3. Each ALR member shall be properly licensed and insured as required by state law

4. All ALR members shall strive to maintain the image of The American Legion, at all times upholding The American Legion name and emblem,which symbolizes the integrity and principles of this great organization

5. All The ALR groups shall avoid the perception of being a “motorcycle club” or biker club”

6. The only recognized The American Legion Rider logo is that which is copyrighted and sold through The American Legion National Emblem sales

7. All Members will obey the motorcycle laws of their state

8. No use of rockers with the ALR patch because touching the patch violates trademark laws of the ALR patch

9. Sponsoring organization (Post and Department) will review liability insurance coverage to ensure that adequate coverage is available to cover the organization to include coverage for any specific special riding events; blah, blah, blah

No I can abide by most of this and think it is only natural that a rider should be a member of the American Legion and own a bike. And of course they should abide by the motorcycle laws of their respective states. The rocker policy is pure nonsense as far as I’m concerned. As long as no one sticks an MC patch back there rockers should be perfectly acceptable. They tell where the riders is from and his post affiliation. But then National seems concerned that they might be mistaken for a motorcycle club. They also fear for their safety in the MC community if they begin looking more like a club than an association. Shows you how out of touch the appointed decision makers are with the real world.

But then we hear nonsense coming from the ranks of the ALR itself. A prime example is this quote from the American Legion Riders forum.

We had a District ALR meeting on Sunday Jan 20th and this item is turning the Florida Riders upside down. Most of us view mandatory motorcycle ownership as discriminatory to our disabled members who cannot ride. We welcome all Legion, Sons and Auxiliary members who want to participate and support our chapter. There were several topics brought up at the Dist meeting that are disturbing. We have had six chapters disband over this. Most of the other Chapters have a wait and see attitude but will probably disband or lose members over this issue. We were advised that the Advisory committee pushed this through knowing that there is widespread objections to this part of the resolution. We also have a big problem with something like this being pushed through with no input or voice from the ALR membership. When I first got involved with the ALR program I said this is the best thing the Legion could do for bringing in new and younger members, now watch National get involved and screw it up! Too bad I was right. How will it look on the news if the American Legion gets sued for refusing membership to a Legion program based on a Legion members service connected disability ? And for general info I am a disabled Veteran , I have been riding motorcycles since I was a child and riding Harleys for 25 years and am currently riding. Our ALR Chapter has brought in members to all 3 of our other Legion groups and we continue to grow and I hope that we are still around after this blows over. blah, blah, blah.

What the hell is this foolishness. Discriminatory? You either ride or you don’t. What is the problem. Why would anyone want to be a member of something that they cannot and will not be able to participate in. If they want the patch just go to the American Legion store and buy one. Then wear it and let everyone know what a fool you are. Besides, who needs a bunch of people voicing their opinions about something they don’t have a clue about. Spare me the discriminatory crap.

What does scare me is item 9. Poker runs and benefit rides have always relied on “waivers of responsibility” being signed before entering one of these events. This means that the individual riders assumes the responsibility for himself and any consequences that might happen as a result of his entering the ride. If the post now has to assume the responsibility and provide insurance then these posts will be broke before you know it. Hell, down here in Florida our hurricane coverage alone is enough to nearly break the bank.

Enough of this frog’s rant. I admit I don’t know every thing that is going on in the political arena of the American Legion, but I do know a few things about “motorcycle enthusiasts”. And number one is they are as hard to herd as cats. So what the hell do you think?

Sometimes I read about stuff that is just so bizzare it is hard to believe. But I read an article today in CNN that brought one of these weird chapters back to life. I’m talking about the Liberian General Butt Naked. No, I’m not making this up. The guy is really Joshua Milton Blahy who gained fame in the 1990s as a rebel leader in Liberia. I remember in the 1970s we used to crack jokes in the barracks about the Dutch Army and their ear-ringed, openly homosexual soldiers. But, Butt Naked, excuse me, General Butt Naked, really takes the cake, so to speak.

The civil war, which killed an estimated 250,000 people in this nation of 3 million, was characterized by the eating of human hearts and soccer matches played with human skulls. Drugged fighters waltzed into battle wearing women’s wigs, flowing gowns and carrying dainty purses stolen from civilians.

Before he led his fighters into battle, wearing only a pair of lace-up boots, Blahyi said he made a human sacrifice to the devil.

The sacrifice was typically “the killing of an innocent child and plucking out the heart which was divided into pieces for us to eat,” he told The Associated Press on Saturday. He appeared before the commission Jan. 15.

Between the time he made a pact with the devil circa 1980 and began his rampage and the time he stopped fighting in 1996, he said “more than 20,000 people fell victim (to me and my men). They were killed.” (Source: CNN)

Now the General is worried. He is going before the Truth Commission and telling his story. He says talking about it makes him feel good. He wants to get it all off his chest now. He is a born again Christian and trying to get right with the Lord.

He became a born-again Christian and for a while, traversed the war-wracked streets of Monrovia selling cassettes of his sermons. (Source: CNN)

So now General Butt Naked wants to set the record straight, (smirk,) and let the world know that he is not really a bad guy. What he was doing is completely accepted in African society. What? And I thought we had it bad in basic training. My DI never asked any of us to dress up like prom queens and strut into battle.

The cross-dressing combatants blipped onto the Western press’s radar screen right around the time the Liberian Civil War started on Christmas Eve in 1989. During Taylor’s rebel siege on Monrovia in the ’90s, his band of dolled-up marauders—aka the National Patriotic Front of Liberia—put on one of the most disturbing horror shows the planet has ever seen. Between 1989 and 1997, 150,000 Liberians were murdered, countless others were mutilated, and 25,000 women and girls were raped. The NPFL’s shock-and-awe antics were apparent from the very start of the conflict. In an essay in Liberian Studies Journal, an administrator at Cuttington University College tells a story of Taylor’s forces storming the rural campus during the initial stages of the war in “wedding [dresses], wigs, commencement gowns from high schools and several forms of ‘voodoo’ regalia. … [They] believed they could not be killed in battle.” (Source: The Slate)

I wonder why human beings put up with this kind of activity. They should just take this psycho piece of garbage out and hang him. But, then again, he is born again. I guess some people can forgive anything. Those must be some damn good sermons he’s hawking. What do you think?