SO over it

Ok, I know I am not the only one who is over this hot, sticky and extremely smokey days. They suck and if the smoke is this bad on the Banks, I can only imagine how bad and annoying it must be out in Tyrrell, Hyde and Washington. I mean poor Quinn has been working in Manteo since the fires began and his asthma is acting up like crazy. I feel bad for all of my family over in Manteo, Wanchese and Englehard because the smoke inhalation is giving me a serious headache and scratchy eyes so I can only imagine how they must be feeling. I was really hoping that the torentual downfall that came on Monday afternoon would at least help these fires, but it doesn't appear to have done a dern thing. Oh and if you didn't know our air quality here in Eastern North Carolina is so bad that they had to make a new color of the code chart.

And you know what else is annoying, We, in North Carolina, have two - count that, TWO- raging wildfires (the Evans Road and the Great Dismal Swamp) and neither one of them have made it to national headlines but God forbid precious California catch on fire and every major news station is not only reporting on the fire but they are on location for an up-to-the-date report. What? Are these news anchors scared to come down to "Hickville" North Carolina? Cause that is really the only excuse I can think of for not informing the American people of what's going on in their country. I guess this is just another example of how the news and journalist don't always give the full story ;)

Wildfire Part II

This fire is getting so out of control. If you are not a resident of the area, consider yourself lucky. The smoke paired with the disgustingly humid heatwave that just moved through the area has made life outside completely dreadful. Poor Quinn has been working in Manteo in this nasty heat with such heavy dense smoke that a "gas mask" type device was necessary to proficiently work. Not to mention, that the other day it was "snowing" ash across the Outer Banks which is quite aways away from the actual fire. Even residents as far as Wakefield, Virginia, which is more than 80 miles away can smell the smoke. The National Weather Service issued a dense smoke advisory for the coastal plain and as far west as Vance and Granville counties in the northeast Piedmont. As of today the fire has grown to 40,195 acres, or about 63 square miles and is still growing with every second near the Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. Last nights slight rain shower barely helped douse the raging flames.

These links are updated regularly with constants stats of the fire if you would like to check them out. This fire is damaging peoples farms and homes and recovering from this. Please keep the people of Eastern North Carolina in your prayers.

Wildfire

For all you hermit crabs, people who just woke up, haven't been outside and/or don't read the news, it smells like a giant ass bonfire out there, ya'll. There is a giant marsh/wild fire in Washington and Hyde counties that has burned over 10,000acres. They have already evacuated a neighborhood consisting of 40 homes in Washington County. And now, because of the wind, the smoke has become very heavy on the northern beaches so needless to say work in Duck should be interesting tonight with all these dumbass tourists. ;)

This morning the weather was telling me a clear pretty day but it looked so overcast from bed, but once i stepped outside I smelt and saw it. Once I got to work (next to the Currituck bridge) it was so "foggy". I didn't know what was going on until I listened to the radio and heard a statement that smoke was blowing into coastal areas, and urged residents and people visiting the Outer Banks to stay inside if they have trouble breathing. We need rain, BAD and unfortunately it doesn't look like we have any in the forecast. It looks hot and dry. Scary this is just right down the road. Please keep the families of Hyde and Washington in mind throughout this time.

Gay Pride.

June is Gay and Lesbian Pride time and as Americans, gay or straight, we all tend to take that freedom to for granted. This past weekend a handful of gay and lesbian Russians planned to have their first ever gay pride parade through Moscow to commemorate the 13th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in Russian in 1993, but days before they planned to march, the city had denied their request. An opinion poll showed 43% of Russians believe gay men should be incarcerated. Chief Mufti Talgat Tadzhuddin, a Russian Muslim leader stated that "If they come out on to the streets anyway they should be flogged," he said. "Any normal person would do that -- Muslims and Orthodox Christians alike [The protests] might be even more intense than protests abroad against those controversial cartoons." Shortly after they began parading through the city, protesters began throwing eggs and running into the streets to attack. There were even old ladies on the side of the road saying prayers for the Gay's. "We believe these perverts should not be allowed to march on the streets of Moscow, the third Rome, a holy city for all Russians," said Igor Miroshnichenko, who said he was an Orthodox believer who had come to support the riot police. "It (homosexuality) is satanic," he said. One man holding a crucifix threatened to beat up any gay person he saw. Riot Police were sent to break it up, arresting over 120 people both supporters and opponents, But if the cops don't tow the "politically-correct" line, they suffer retribution. A career-cop, Guy Adams, was suspended by his police department for his stance on homosexuality. He was threatened with termination if he continued to voice his concerns over gay-adoption and same-sex marriage. Adams' superiors went as far as investigating his political affiliations and activities which included working for conservative politician Dr. Alan Keyes.

Come on you dumbass commies, just let the people be who they are and let it all go. I don't see where someones sexual preference is another persons business. Let people be who they are. Attacking people for what they believe in or who they are attracted to is wrong. So out of all the things America has wrong at least one thing we have right is our rights and our freedoms. So maybe everyone should sit back and stop talking shit about their home Country during this crucial time in our history and start appreciating what little good is left in America. Although I do believe that even though we have the right to pretty much do and believe whatever, this Country has a long way to go before it will live up to its reputation as one of the best nation. So support the gays and lesbians this June and STOP THE HATE!

I don't know what this Judge in Texas is thinking! He is releasing over 400 children that were taken from their families a month or so ago when the Yearning for Zion "ranch" CULT was busted. Is SHE smoking crack? Yes, that's right it was a female judge that returned these children to their mothers. That is not a healthy or safe enviorment for these kids to be going back to. I am pretty bothered by this to be honest with you. I guess the plus side is that D.S.S. (Department of Social Services) will be conducting unannounced visits to the children where there will be medical, psychological and psychiatric examinations and, here is the big plus, the parents must attend and complete parenting classes. The families must remain in the state of Texas and notify the department within 48 hours of any trips more than 100 miles from their homes. Wow, its about time someone get these people intouchand up to date with 2008. That shit they are trying to pull is like living in 1808 or something. Their pathetic argument is that they are being persecuted for their religion, that even sounds like something some villager from the 19th century would have said. I feel like sitting them down and saying "Hey FREAKS the world thinks yall are wackfor forcing young girls to marry and have sex with men old enough to be their dads, that shit is wack!" Although I will never be able to share my dismay with these nut cases at least the whole country is having a good laugh at their expense and really that is the only upside to this scenario.

See what I am saying? This is not normal. No one dresses like that or treats their kids the way these people do. They really need to step into the 21st Century.

Here is a clip of a child being escorted off the ranch premises back in April.

Even sadder news: Universal Studios' Backlot went up into an inferno. This is the seven fire the studio has experienced since it was founded in 1915. Over 40,000 reels were destroyed in the vault but thank goodness nothing in the main vault, which contains the archival footage was destroyed. Not to mention historic sets, like the Courthouse from Back To The Future and New York street, which includes movie set-style buildings designed to look like the cityscape of New York City and the King Kong Exhibit on the lot were damaged. The set of "The Changeling," a film recently directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Angelina Jolie, was "completely destroyed" and two of the eight locations used by the CBS series "Ghost Whisperer" were affected. There was a commercial being shot on the Backlot of the studio where the fire began, and an investigation is under way. Big thanks to the fire fighters and volunteers who stopped what they were doing to help douse the blaze with water and save Universal. Below are a few shots of the inferno.

Disaster Over Yonder

As you may know (if you know me as well as you should ;)) I am a huge fan of storms. My whole life I always thought it would be so cool to be a storm chaser. I still believe that would be the coolest thing to do but its not very realistic.

Anyways, on Monday as I was pulling into work 94.5 started doing that severe weather alert buzzer noise thing. I was actually stoked when they said we were under a Tornado Watch. "Hell yeah," I thought. As long as no one gets hurt or no major damage is done I think tornadoes and hurricanes are beautiful, I know I am a little weird, ok. All night at work I was glued to The Weather Channel but I became quite distraught to learn that there had been some funnels sited near the border and then to learn that a couple hours later Suffolk, VA was hit and filed under a
The Tornado that hit was not a "cool" one in my book. It was catagorized as a F-3 which is pretty rare in Virginia on the and injured about 200 people but thankfully there were no fatalities. The city has been flattened pretty much. It is going to be a long while before the residents of Suffolk are able to rebuild their lives. I know it's been a couple days and you are probably wondering why I am blogging about this, but these people still need help repairing their city and their lives. And please note that the human citizens of the city were not the only ones effected by this, family pets and local wildlife need your help to. Animals were left behind at their homes as their families evacuated. Pets not only need homes, but they need food and some even surgeries. For information on how to help stranded wildlife, please visit the Wildlife SPCA. If you are able to help in any way with cleaning up or rebuilding then please volunteer your time or donate some money at The Salvation Army or Other Relief Organizations.

P.S. If you are a fellow OBX-er reading this, then you should definitely want to help because you know that if the situation was reversed and it was us that got hit, all the lovely Virginians would be doing everything they could to help us and our wildlife. :)