Friend Kitty Mitchell sent this back in July and I meant to put it up then but never got back to it. Many on Ocracoke Island are opposed to offshore drilling for oil and Kitty paints the picture well. Here's what she said back in July - some things have changed since then, obviously, but the issue still needs to be addressed strongly.
I can see my house!!! They've done it again. I've said it before - I love maps, I hate Mapquest. Google maps came out with a much better system though it's still in "beta" - meaning it can only get better. And now they've added satellite images. Just type in your address, zoom in, and then click on "satellite" to see your picture. You can move the image around and follow roads or streams or whatever. My only complaints are that they don't have the higher resolution images for all areas so you may cross over into an area with lower resolution. And the images are not up to date - I'm thinking that the images of my area are at least 2 years old. But it's still great fun!
You might not have seen this article - it was on the obituary page of our paper. A Charlotte, NC man is fined $1000 for using veggie oil in his car. He is theatened with further federal fines and told to get a permit to use biofuel he has to put up a $2500 bond. OK - so our laws have not kept up with the times once again. And while I agree that if we're going to fund our roads with fuel taxes then everyone needs to contribute their share - I think the state needs to back off and stop harassing these people until they get the system figured out and let everyone know what the rules are. News and Observer article HERE (obsolete link) and an interesting Slashdot discussion HERE.
What a racket this morning! Not that I minded. Apparently both the wrens and the chickadees decided it was a good day for flying lessons. I didn't check but I suspect the wren family was the same one that had taken up residence in my kayak. I mostly heard them barking out their warnings and instructions. But the chickadees were like a circus act. It sounded like someone was tickling a family of munchkins. The parents flying back and forth to the several young who were doing high-wire acts of daring-do. A simple flight of 2 or 3 feet from one bouncy leaf to another would result in a miss and a fall and tumble to the next leaf only to result in a dramatic recovery on some thin twig that would bend and spring the young one off to another leaf which she would then somehow catch on the underside and spring off to yet another leaf and then a short flight to a higher branch and the whole routine would start again. All the while the parents are bringing tasty morsals and shouting encouragement. I tried to take pictures (this was all right outside my window less than 10 feet away) but I couldn't even follow their antics with the camera. Great fun, though! Wished I'd had a free disc in my recorder - the chatter was almost as good as the visuals. But I'd filled it up at a gig last week and haven't had time to off load it.
Every one of us has come in contact with someone who, even though he or she may be a total stranger, says or does something in such a kind and considerate way that it brightens even the darkest moments of our lives. Little acts of kindness. These days we need much more of that to counteract all the negativity and finger pointing and divisiveness in our society.
The RIAA is having a field day. New "royalties" are going to be imposed on internet radio broadcasting that will pretty much wipe out most stations and greatly reduce the diversity of music you can hear on the web. It isn't enough that payola is alive and well (albeit in a more "legal" form) in commercial radio greatly limiting who and what you get to hear on the airwaves. Now the RIAA has lobbied for and won exorbitant fees to be charged to Internet radio broadcasts that are way above what traditional broadcasting has to pay.
The changes will be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2006 so if they take effect they will bankrupt the many small internet radio stations that promote artists and serve listeners with diverse musical offerings. Please sign this petition NOW!
Check out my latest favorite Internet Radio which takes some of your musical preferences and generates a "station" that will introduce you to music you've never heard - much of which you will love (and some you will hate - but it's worth it!)
