Re: the onion article ***THIS IS A JOKE**

[starstar starstar <starstars@xxxxxxxxx>]

- --- "Brad M. Lauchnor" <blauchno@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> By the way Brett my Favorite Zeppelin song is Hot
> Dog......will that keep me from getting run out of
> FBO on a rail? :) :) Oh yeah, and the 77 tour is THE
> BEST (that's got to help.)

**Yes, Hot Dog and the 77 tours are also my favorite (yikes, can't
believe i even typed that one), and did you hear the latest?  Bonham is
alive and well, and living with Elvis...they both are expected to make
a special, once in a lifetime appearence at the Taj Mahal concert where
Percy and Elvis will sing togethet (Elvis songs, of course)...stay
tuned for details....now back to your regularly scheduled program...
;-)** 
> 
> Led Zeppelin Bumper Stickers Now Probable Cause For
> Vehicular Search In 13 States
> 
>       SPRINGFIELD, IL--With the state legislature's
> passage of a bill last week allowing
> police officers to cite Led Zeppelin bumper stickers
> as probable cause for a vehicular
> search, Illinois became the 13th state to recognize
> classic-rock-related automobile
> decorations as grounds for waiver of a warrant. 
> 
>       "We've known for years that there was a direct
> correlation between the presence of a
> Led Zeppelin bumper sticker and the likelihood of
> that vehicle containing a controlled
> substance like marijuana," said DeKalb County
> Sheriff Ronald Bauer. "However, it wasn't
> until last Thursday that it was within our power to
> act on this knowledge to make a
> drug-possession arrest." 
> 
>       Illinois' action comes on the heels of the
> recent Supreme Court decision that the Fourth
> Amendment guarantee against unreasonable search and
> seizure does not require police to
> obtain a warrant if there is sufficient cause to
> believe the vehicle contains contraband. 
> 
>       Following the top court's ruling, a number of
> states, including Utah, North Carolina and
> Wisconsin, moved to specifically name Led
> Zeppelin bumper stickers as a factor in determining
> whether to conduct searches. 
> 
>       The decision, says Bauer, is supported by
> extensive data. Illinois state records show that in
> 1998, there were 362 cases in which a
> traffic-violation-related search of a Led
> Zeppelin-logo-adorned vehicle was found to contain
> illegal drugs or such drug paraphernalia as rolling
> papers, plastic baggies and metal pipes bearing a
> row of four cryptic symbols. 
> 
>       Yet before the passage of HB 1921, ill-defined
> definitions of probable cause have meant that an
> officer acting on this knowledge was
> entering risky legal territory. 
> 
>       "This is exactly what policemen have been
> asking for for years," said Bauer, who said the new
> law will precipitate a "considerable increase"
> in the frequency of drug-related arrests of
> motorists by Illinois police, especially in rural
> areas. "It used to be that if we spotted a car with
> that
> crazy-looking wizard on it, we had to just drive
> right past unless the longhairs inside were
> specifically doing something illegal." 
> 
>       Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan applauded
> passage of the bill. 
> 
>       "After the Supreme Court decision, it was just
> a matter of fine-tuning our interpretation of
> 'probable cause,'" Ryan said. "We've found that
> Led Zeppelin bumper stickers--or, for that matter,
> just the sound of "The Immigrant Song" or "Livin'
> Lovin' Maid" coming from an open
> window--is exactly the sort of smoking gun local
> authorities needed to establish a baseline for
> assessing that probable cause." 
> 
>       Ryan continued: "When it comes right down to
> it, though, prudent officers have always, to a great
> degree, relied on common sense. If a
> vehicle, especially a late-'70s American-made sedan
> with a vinyl top and some rust, also bears a Led
> Zeppelin sticker, what are the odds the
> driver is not in frequent possession of drugs or
> alcohol?" 
> 
>       Preliminary data seems to indicate that this
> logic is sound. In a Monday-afternoon field test,
> state troopers detained 100 Peoria-area
> motorists under the new Criminal Code 861.4/Section
> 8 (Probable Cause/ZOSO). Nearly 60 percent of the
> vehicles contained alcohol, drugs
> or drug paraphernalia, and nearly all contained
> suspected alcohol or drug abusers. 
> 
>       Rockford resident Doug Wojcek, charged Tuesday
> with possession of a quarter-ounce of marijuana, was
> among those arrested under the
> new law. 
> 
>       "I was minding my own business when some
> policeman pulls me over and searches my glove
> compartment," said Wojcek, 36. "It was just
> like when Robert Plant gets hassled by the cops in
> that one song 'Misty Mountain Hop.' Hey, what could
> I do?" 
> 
>       "This is bullshit," he added. "What about the
> kids with those Nine Inch Nails stickers? No one is
> going after them." 
> 
>       Despite such complaints, Illinois Gov. George
> H. Ryan spoke out in support of the law and
> advocated widening its scope. 
> 
>       "We might have to add provisions for the
> search of vehicles bearing the Pink Floyd
> rainbow-and-black-prism, the Blue Öyster Cult
> symbol, or maybe even the word Ozzy," said Gov.
> Ryan, noting that many other states had already made
> these changes. "We cannot allow this
> law to become discriminatory in practice. It must
> serve everyone equally."