10 Months ::

It's been around 10 months since my last post and I certainly didn't mean to be gone this long, but I'm wishing everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Consequences Of The Alabama Immigration Bill ::

During the spring, summer, and fall I buy vegetables at a small store run by a local vegetable grower, Steve, and his wife, Lisa. I generally pick up a few pounds of tomatoes each week as well as a bushel of okra and a bushel of butter beans later in the summer to put in the freezer. Steve and Lisa also sell my neighbor Hal's locally produced honey. I drove by their store this morning and noticed that there was a "For Lease" sign beside the road and I immediately thought that they, more than likely, have lost their pool of labor they used to pick the vegetables and will effectively be out of the growing business, at least for a while.

I know that Steve also ran a landscape business so the farm was not his primary source of income, but I'm terribly disappointed that I will not be able to buy fresh produce from growers that I have known for several years and with whom I have developed a very nice personal relationship!

I hope that it's not too late to reverse the travesty that this immigration bill has been from it's very inception, but I see nothing more than an uphill battle, at least for the near future!

Thieves Hitting Pharmacies ::

Looks as though this is not a good time to be working at a pharmacy in north Alabama given the rash of robberies that have occurred in the past few days. Thankfully no one has been injured, but it's probably just a matter of time.

Come to think of it, there have been a rash of robberies at several of the dollar stores also. I often wonder, with good cause, if the police even make any attempt to try to solve these crimes!

A Kos Poll ::

I thought the reference to Parker Griffith in the poll was interesting:



Needless to say my vote went to Griffith!

Artur Davis Running As A Republican? ::

I came across this on Talking Points Memo's twitter feed a few minutes ago:

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After coming out in support of voter ID laws and donating to Republicans, former Democratic Rep. Artur Davis is continuing his march to the other side of the aisle, telling the Washington Post he could run for office as an independent or even a GOP candidate.

I don't think that there are many progressives in Alabama who will be surprised by Davis' possibly switching parties, and I truthfully don't think that there are many who will care!

It will be interesting to see just what sort of political future Davis may have.

A Tragic Hunting Accident ::

The local news is reporting this story this evening:

A man has been shot to death and now investigators are trying to find the person responsible...
His wife found him lying next to his 4-wheeler and thought he'd had a heart attack. Doctors found he'd been shot once Hart got to the hospital.

"We're trying to find out who was maybe hunting in this area. At this point, we're investigating it as a hunting accident," said Jackson County Sheriff Chuck Phillips.

I haven't hunted in years and I've never owned a high-powered rifle as all of my hunting was for small game and ducks and I always made it a point to hunt with others who were safe. Unfortunately there are many who are very careless when it comes to the direction that their weapons are being fired. I remember fishing once with my wife in a small farm pond in the Hurricane Creek community of Madison County, Alabama when someone across the valley began target firing a high powered rifle with the result that we could hear the bullets whizzing over our heads. Believe me, a bullet traveling through the air makes a very distinctive noise. These bullets were well over our heads, but we decided that the better part of valor was to leave the pond.

I was also duck hunting one morning after Christmas with 2 friends and someone up in the woods was shooting a 22 rifle. I don't know what he was shooting at, but at one point a bullet went right through the reeds that camouflaged our blind just inches in front of us. We each fired off a round from our shotguns in order to alert this person that we were down in the bay. It was time to leave anyway so we gathered up our decoys and headed home.

It's hard to find real country these days and I live in a rural area where guns are often fired and it always makes me nervous! There are just far too many hunters out there who I don't trust to be responsible with a firearm!

Merry Christmas ::

Here's wishing each and everyone a very Merry Christmas. Shortly I'll be off to the Guntersville Dam in hopes of finding some Eagle photographs.

Everybody stay safe today!