I have already heard them, and they all sound the same.
"Gulf bottom still oily, scientist says
A University of Georgia scientist went public yesterday with video and slides showing how oil from the BP spill remains stuck on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. At a science conference in Washington, Samantha Joye aired early results of her December submarine dives around the BP spill site. She went to places she had visited in the summer, expecting the oil and residue would be gone. It wasn’t (AP)."
Related: Gulf spill payout chief is under fire as claims pile up
"Investigators are working to find out if weather or wave conditions played a role in a boat accident in the Gulf of Mexico that left four people dead, authorities said yesterday....
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Also see: Katrina victims still are without permanent homes
"D.C. is losing its Southern identity; Newcomers alter language, tone" by Steve Hendrix, Washington Post / January 27, 2011
WASHINGTON — The region’s Southern accent is also becoming measurably less pronounced, linguists say. The Confederate flag doesn’t fly much in these parts anymore. Korean barbecue has taken its place alongside the Southern pit-cooked variety in many neighborhoods....
In all, according to academics and cultural observers, the Washington area’s “Southernness’’ has fallen into steep decline, part of a trend away from strongly held regional identities. In the 150th anniversary year of the start of the Civil War, the region at the heart of the conflict has little left of its historic bond with Dixie.
“The cultural Mason-Dixon line is just moving farther and farther south as more people from other parts of the country move in,’’ said H. Gibbs Knotts, a professor at Western Carolina University who, with a colleague, conducted a survey of Dixie-named businesses as a way to measure the shifting frontiers of the South. (The Mason-Dixon line, which set the border between Maryland and Pennsylvania, was the symbolic divider between North and South in the Civil War era.) “From what we’re finding, D.C. and Virginia are not appearing very Southern at all these days,’’ Knotts said of the survey, published last year....
I thought we were all Americans, silly me.
Whether Washington should be defined as a Southern city has been a debate since the Civil War, when it was the seat of the Northern government but a hotbed of rebel sympathy. In modern times, the question has been more cultural than political. Washington’s split personality was forever summarized by John F. Kennedy’s worst-of-both-worlds description of it as a “city of Southern efficiency and Northern charm.’’
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Also see: Pipe break adds ice rink to D.C. Beltway
Into the great wide open:
"Va. bill likely to close abortion clinics" by Associated Press / February 25, 2011
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia took a big step yesterday toward eliminating most of the state’s 21 abortion clinics, approving a bill making rules so strict the medical centers would likely be forced to close, Democrats and abortion-rights supporters said.
Governor Bob McDonnell, a Republican, supports the measure, and when he signs it into law, Virginia will be the first state to require clinics that provide first-trimester abortions to meet the same standards as hospitals. The requirements could include structural changes such as widening hallways, increased training, and mandatory equipment the clinics do not have.
While abortion providers must be licensed in Virginia, the clinics resemble dentists’ offices....
And who ever wants to go there?
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"Authorities say Mara took more than $83,000 in the heists, starting in Richmond in 2008 and ending with a North Carolina holdup the day before his Aug. 11 arrest. He was captured after a six-hour standoff with police at his Baton Rouge, La., home....
And yet Wall Street steals trillions and no one goes to jail.
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Time for the Carolina County Ball:
"Officer dies after stun grenade blast
CHARLOTTE — A SWAT officer was securing a stun grenade known as a “flash-bang’’ at his home when it exploded, killing him, police said. Charlotte Police Chief Rodney Monroe said Fred Thornton, 50, had massive internal injuries after the grenade detonated Friday."
What was he doing securing a stun grenade at home?
Also see: N.C. police report says doctor left suicide note
Obama’s selection of N.C. city harkens back to ’08
Stepmother indicted in death of N.C. girl, 10
South Carolina teen said to shoot, kill father, aunt
2 New Englanders killed in S.C. plane crash
Plane crash kills pilot, woman on ground
Georgia on my mind:
Ga. inmate says execution drug has expired
Ah, Sweet Home Alabama:
Ala. man is accused of poisoning Auburn oaks
3d lawyer begs off tree-poisoning case
The skies may be blue but the trees are brown.
I wonder what color they are in Mississippi:
"Authorities report rise of new drug
FULTON — Authorities in several states say they are seeing a new street drug with terrifying effects. The drug is sold under such names as Ivory Wave, Red Dove, Bliss, White Lightning, and Hurricane Charlie. Authorities say the chemicals can cause hallucinations, paranoia, rapid heart rates, and suicidal thoughts. They are packaged as bath salts or even plant food and sold legally at convenience stores and over the Internet. Some say the effects are as powerful as abusing methamphetamine. Some states, including Mississippi and Kentucky, are considering banning their sale."
That must explain this:
"Group wants license plate honoring KKK leader" by Emily Wagster Pettus, Associated Press / February 11, 2011
JACKSON, Miss. — A fight is brewing in Mississippi over a proposal to issue specialty license plates honoring Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, who was an early leader of the Ku Klux Klan.
The Mississippi Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans wants to sponsor a series of state-issued license plates to mark the 150th anniversary of the Civil War, which it calls the War Between the States. The group proposes a different design each year between now and 2015, with Forrest slated for 2014.
“Seriously?’’ state NAACP president Derrick Johnson said when he was told about the Forrest plate. “Wow.’’
Forrest, a Tennessee native, is revered by some as a military genius and reviled by others for leading an 1864 massacre of black Union troops at Fort Pillow, Tenn. Forrest was a Klan grand wizard in Tennessee after the war.
Sons of Confederate Veterans member Greg Stewart said he believes Forrest distanced himself from the Klan later in life. It is a point many historians agree upon, though some believe it was too little, too late, because the Klan had already turned violent before Forrest left.
“If Christian redemption means anything — and we all want redemption, I think — he redeemed himself in his own time, in his own actions, in his own words,’’ Stewart said. “We should respect that.’’
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Also see:
Sisters out of prison, next face transplant
Transplant delayed for ex-convict sisters
Every time I see articles about transplants all I can think of is the worldwide Israeli organ-harvesting racket.
Time to hop aboard the Chattanooga Choo Choo:
"Tenn. legislator credits Hooters job" by Associated Press / February 9, 2011
NASHVILLE — A newly elected Tennessee legislator writes in the current issue of Hooters Magazine that her experience working in the restaurants known for waitresses’ skimpy outfits led to her later success in business and politics.
Republican state Representative Julia Hurley, 29, was elected in November after defeating incumbent Democrat Dennis Ferguson in a mostly conservative district west of Knoxville....
Hurley now works as a consultant and entrepreneur. She is a Southern Baptist and a member of the National Rifle Association and the Gun Owners of America....
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I must say I did like the service in the dining car -- especially the tasty Tea.
"Bills in 2 states target distracted pedestrians" by Associated Press / January 25, 2011
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Lawmakers in at least two states are looking to pull the plug on texting pedestrians and iPod-using runners, saying their diverted attention borders on disaster.
After targeting drivers who paid more attention to their phone calls and text messages than the road, lawmakers in Arkansas and New York are now looking to crack down on pedestrians equally distracted by their electronic gadgets.
Lawmakers in both states have proposed restrictions on using cellphones and music players such as iPods by people running and walking on the street or sidewalk.
The proposal in Arkansas would ban pedestrians from wearing headphones in both ears while on, parallel, or adjacent to a street, road, intersection, or highway.
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I don't like the tunes in Arkansas.
Also see: 4 Amish children killed when buggy flips over in flooded Kentucky creek
