Over the summer months in 2008, I've spent a lot of time in the Carolinas, in particular, the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area (The Triangle) and also the Columbia, South Carolina area. Two cities which are as different as can be from a cultural and socio-economic perspective, but which do share something in common -- Barbecue.

Even if you are trying to shed the pounds like I am, when you travel, maintaining discipline can be extremely difficult, especially when you are surrounded by co-workers who want to go out and have a good time. And when you're in the South with a bunch of out-of-town males, particularly in the Carolinas, evening entertainment can usually be classified into two distinct areas -- ones which involve Pork and ones which do not. I'm not going to get into the details of the ones which do not, because that could get me in trouble with the wife.

Here are all my Carolina Barbecue sins exposed, some of which I am proud of and would repeat again, and some of which I would not.

Click on the "Read the rest of this entry" link below for more.

Allen & Son BBQ
6203 Millhouse Road, Chapel Hill NC
(919) 942-7576

If you're visiting the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill area, and if you ask anyone where the best Barbecue restaurant is, the answer will probably be "Allen & Son".  I have my own biased opinion of who makes the best pork BBQ in the Triangle, but I will say that Allen & Son makes some damned good pulled pork and is an experience that should not be missed, particularly if you are a Yankee like myself that has never experienced the REAL South.  The restaurant has been open for 30 plus years and has a devout following.

Allen & Son is a truly authentic North Carolina BBQ experience. Just getting there is half the fun, driving through back roads and passing beautiful farmland, particularly during the Spring and Summer months. However, like many barbecue restaurants, be advised that Allen & Son has limited hours -- closed Mondays, Tue-Wed 10am-5pm, Thu-Sat 10am-8pm. The first time I tried to get there was 5:30PM on a Tuesday afternoon after work and I was devastated when it was closed.

I've been told the home made desserts are excellent, but as this was going to be a total sin in terms of screwing my diet plans for the week, I decided to bypass them.

The interior of the restaurant looks like something out of a BBQ Americana exhibit at the Museum of Natural History, or a theme restaurant at the North Carolina pavillion at EPCOT, if one ever existed. The kitsch is REAL, folks.

The classic North Carolina BBQ menu. Pulled Pork, Ribs, and Chicken. As it should be. Click on the photo to enlarge.

Here's a plate of BBQ, with Brunswick Stew and Cole Slaw. My only major complaint is that the restaurant does not serve greens, which I think any self-respecting BBQ place should.

However, they do have awesome hush puppies which more than makes up for that glaring omission.

Diet Coke, in a nice big frosty mug. I was kind of hoping for a Ball mason jar, but that would have just made it over the top redneck.

Okay, maybe I spoke too soon.

This one doesn't sing. I'm guessing this Big Mouth Bass was noodled for real.

Jim's Famous BBQ
115 S Elliott Rd, Chapel Hill, NC
(919) 942-7427

Web Site: http://www.greatpigs.com

On the Tuesday night my co-worker and I arrived at Allen & Son when it was closed, we searched for other BBQ options in the local area. One place which was recommended to me was Jim's, which is a more family-style, mass market appeal BBQ restaurant. While I would be happy to have anything close to a Jim's back home in New Jersey, it was pretty standard issue for BBQ, and probably more smoked than I would like.

If Allen & Son is minimalist, then Jim's is all over the map in terms of the broadness of the BBQ styles it offers.

While the main menu gave me some pause, I was happy to see they had a nice array of sides.

The cornbread is skillet style. Texturally, it was pretty good, but I thought it was way too sweet. I'm more of a savory, corn taste type guy when it comes to cornbread. This tasted more like a corn muffin than cornbread.

Jim's Pulled Pork. It had a nice chop, but not much of a smoke flavor.

The greens weren't as cooked as I liked, but I did like the mashed cauliflower very much.

According to the server, these KC Cut Ribs were smoked for 8 Hours. They had a very overpoweringly smoked flavor, which any North Carolinian or skilled pitmaster will tell you is a no-no. I ordered my Ribs dry, but you can also get them sauced.

Here's what my co-worker, Karl ordered.

The Brunswick Stew was pretty heavy on the Lima Beans.

I will say this, the array of sauces and condiments is impressive.

And the atmosphere is definitely festive.

The Pit Authentic Barbecue
328 W. Davie Street, Raleigh NC
(919) 890-4500

What can I say about Ed Mitchell and the Pit That I haven't said already. He's a Barbecue Genius and a national treasure, and I am completely biased in my opinion that it's the best BBQ restaurant I have ever been to in all of the Carolinas. Nobody else does what he does, and nobody else can do it like he can do it. That's all that there is.

The Pit on West Davie Street.

Ed Mitchell firing up one of his custom built pits for cooking Whole Hog, a process that takes approximately 14 hours.

A 200 lb Hog being prepped for his 14-hour smoke.

And there he goes.

This may be a barbecue restaurant, but its no shack either. Its got a wine cellar and a comprehensive beverage program that includes select small batch bourbons.

Ed's Brunswick Stew is a meal in and of itself. In fact, it would be more appropriate to call this Barbecue Stew, because of all the smoked meats in it.

BBQ Chicken. While not the specialty of the restaurant, it's mighty fine.

A proper array of BBQ sides, all of which are excellent.

Whole Hog, Pulled Turkey and BBQ Ribs.

Hush Puppies and Biscuits

Maurice's BBQ
Columbia, SC (Various Locations)

Web Site: http://www.mauricesbbq.com/

So much has been written about Maurice Bessinger that I think that it would be a waste of bandwidth on Off The Broiler to go into verbose detail of what this man is all about. I'd prefer to let his food and his restaurants, and not his views on politics and race speak for itself.

While it certainly wasn't my preference to visit one of Maurice's restaurants -- I tried to go to the reportedly excellent Little Pigs on a weeknight (What is it with Mondays and Tuesdays in the South, anyway?) only to find it was closed due to to limited hours -- it was the only BBQ restaurant that was open in that part of town I was in, and I figured that for the sake of informational purposes, it would be a service to my readers to actually eat the food there, even if I had my reservations about patronizing the establishment of an avowed Racist, Segregationist and White Separatist. And I had another duty, which was to verify the findings of the local food media.  According to Columbia's local free weekly paper, the Free Times, which had a taste-off back in May of 2008, they voted Maurice's the #1 barbecue restaurant in the city. While I don't agree with this sentiment, you can read their tasting notes here.

It should be noted that the location I chose was actually one of the newest branches, not the original Piggy Park.  However, it's my understanding that the 'Q is pretty consistent between branches.

Okay, no obvious Ku Klux Klan symbology or Swastikas here. Looks safe enough. Maybe I was making a big deal out of nothing.

Prisoner transport vehicle parked in the lot. Oh, this is not a good sign.

Maurice's BBQ sauce, the very same that used to be stocked on Wal-Mart shelves before the company pulled it due to Maurice's insistence of vocalizing his racist beliefs. Vocalizing how, you ask?

Yep.

The components of Maurice's mustard-based BBQ sauce. The best way I could describe it is Mustard-flavored ice cream topping.

As you can see he's got gift packs of different flavors. No preservatives, but the stuff is full of HFCS and sugar. ROTFLMAO!

Yup, they voted him best in 2007 too.

I hear he does a pretty brisk mail order business. I didn't snap a photo as several very large good-ol-boy Department of Corrections cops were starting at me, but every employee in the establishment was white.

I like menus with pictures.

I'll say this for Maurice, his restaurant was immaculately clean.

The tomatoes were fresh and I liked the hush puppies. Green beans were overcooked. I couldn't even taste if the pork was smoked properly due to the overwhelming cloying sweetness of the BBQ sauce. You can't get your 'Q "dry" with the sauce on the side at Maurice's -- this is the default way it is served. Apparently some people actually ask for EXTRA sauce on top.

I'm not entirely sure exactly what battle this is supposed to depict from the Civil War (click on the photo to enlarge) but this looks like something from the opening scene of The Birth of a Nation. I took one peek at this and got really, really uncomfortable.

I'm telling you, I can't make this shit up.

I tried a takeout order of ribs. Decent smoke, but again, the cloying sauce totally ruins it.

And this is what Maurice calls "Brisket". Ugh.

Palmetto Pig Barbecue Restaurant
530 Devine Street, Columbia SC 29201
(803) 733-2556

After the culinary disaster that was Maurice's I needed to get some decent BBQ in Columbia, and fast. After doing a bit more research, I found out about Palmetto Pig, a great cafeteria-style BBQ place right in downtown Columbia. For $9, you get all you can eat Pulled Pork, Fried Chicken, sides, and Iced Tea. I don't think there is a better deal anywhere in the entire city.

Palmetto Pig restaurant on Devine Street.

Again, the limited hours. Don't go on a Monday or try to eat there after lunch on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

Palmetto has community-style seating. Everyone gets a pitcher of Iced Tea at the table. You can get sweetened or unsweetened ice tea.

The menu.

Everything is serve yourself. Grab a disposable plate and get right to it.

As if the place wasn't cheap enough, on Thursdays and Fridays, college students can eat for $7. Wow. Who needs a meal plan?

Pork Cracklins. Mmmmmmmmm. Crunchy porky good.

Pickles, Tater Salad, Cole Slaw.

Green Beans (overcooked, but hey, its the South) and fresh fried chicken, which is constantly being refilled. There's also "Hash" which I have been unable to determine the exact composition, but my understanding its pork and potatoes and ... stuff.

Plate #1. I admit, I had a few helpings, and at this place, its hard not to. Unlike Maurice's, the pork is juicy, in big pieces rather than completely shredded, and has the sauce ON THE SIDE. Palmetto offers a somewhat less sweet Mustard BBQ as well as a "Spicy" BBQ sauce. I like to mix the two.

Big T's BBQ
North Columbia, SC

Another trusted local source sent me over to Big T's, which has two locations, the original on Garner's Ferry Road, and also a satellite location in North Columbia on Congaree Road. My co-workers and I ended up at the North Columbia location, which doesn't actually do smoking on premises, but the food is still pretty good.

The staff at Big T's is friendly and eager to help.

The North Columbia location is in a strip mall... not much in terms of ambiance, but this is not why you're here.

Big T's has got everything you'd expect from a BBQ restaurant, and then some. In fact I'd say it has a full blown Soul Food menu.

Big T's hash, which is served over rice.

The BBQ pork, which is already lightly sauced.

My BBQ plate of Pork, Greens, Hash and Rice.

As you can see they also have ribs, which I didn't try, a co-worker ordered them and said they were good. Big T's has both Collard Greens AND Mustard Greens, so I ordered both. I actually preferred the more bitter taste of the Mustard greens, but both were excellent, and I drank the pot likker.

If she goes out and makes a mistake, that is something that [voters will] care about, and that's something that will haunt [McCain] for awhile, so I think this is a smart move.

There are only 59 DAYS left till election day. The American people have a right to see though interviews with Sarah Palin.
She's not ready to be Vice-President and she's definitely not ready to be President.

Don't let anybody insult your intelligence:

Here's someone who's ready to be Vice-President:

epic french toast

i was driving, no big deal.

jules was kinda scared.

jules likes to bake for me.

hood food.

so i guess the locals don't really like this spot, and can't believe we went there, but any friend i have that has toured the US swears by it! hah. i know a few people are jealous.

checked out this pretty cool record store. lunchbox records i guess they have shows here too.

i even cooked for jules heh.

The goal of this blog is to help out in the planning and communication of all things WC for the Grifton, NC project! More to come soon...

Hanna continues to pour rain and knock out power in some areas, but appears unlikely to do any major damage. To find the latest announcements for Hanna, please visit Hurricane Hanna Resources. 

If you live in Virginia or North Carolina, here are some basic tips for staying safe:

1. Keep listening to the radio or TV for official warnings.
2. Stay out of rivers and streams, which can have flash floods because of the heavy rains.
3. Avoid downed power lines and report them to your local utility.
4. Do not drive in flooded streets because you car could get stuck or even swept away.
5. Do not swim in or drink floodwater because it can carry diseases.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Ike continues to move toward the Gulf of Mexico.  The good news is the latest forecast shows it moving south of Florida.  The bad news is that same forecast shows it heading towards the gulf coast of Alabama, Mississippi or Louisiana, which are still recovering from Gustav last week.

This storm is a Category 2 Hurricane and could become a Category 3 as it moves into the gulf.  Storms of this size can cause a huge amount of damage when they make landfall, so keep watching.  We'll be following the storm all weekend.

Here are some good resources for following Hurricane Ike:

Storm Pulse

Accuweather

WX-Man

What is this?

One mustn't ask apple trees for oranges,
France for sun, women for love,
life for happiness.
-- Gustave Flaubert --

Here's one in particular that caught my attention. Looks like there won't be any soccer games this weekend.

By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer

ST. PAUL, Minn. - They embody four uniquely American stories. They offer messages of transformation with two distinct world views. They pursue one goal.

Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama and their respective running mates, Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, begin the final eight weeks of their historic and remarkably close presidential contest ready to rewrite national politics.

Race, gender and age barriers are at stake. A shifting political landscape will take the fight to previously ignored states. Advertising will suffocate the airwaves with intensely negative exchanges. Debates could be as decisive as the final Carter-Reagan debate of 1980. And more money will be spent by the hour in politics than ever before.

Armed with a bigger bankroll and a partisan Democratic advantage, Obama is competing in more states than John Kerry did in 2004, including typically Republican states like Virginia and North Carolina.

Soon, strategists predict, the number of states in play will narrow to nine or 10, resembling past elections with Virginia the new battleground in the mix.

As election day closes in, they say, McCain needs to shore up his position in previous Republican states and hope the only states left in play are Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

"Whoever wins two out of those three will probably win the election," said Scott Reed, a Republican strategist who managed Bob Dole's 1996 campaign and is close to the McCain camp.

Obama and McCain march into the fall campaign with their parties newly unified — tasks they accomplished by each reaching out to a female political figure. Obama joined hands with former rival Hillary Rodham Clinton and sealed the deal with many of her supporters. But McCain's selection of Palin proved most stunning and has the potential to change the game.

Obama sits atop a mountain of advantages. President Bush and the Republican Party remain highly unpopular, Democrats have displayed greater intensity, Obama has expanded the electorate, and he has set huge records for political money.

McCain, however, has managed to remain far more popular than his party or his president. Independent voters and even some Democrats remain unsure about Obama, either because of his race or his rapid rise from obscurity.

And while Obama's election would represent a monumental milestone for the nation by putting the first black man in the White House, Palin gives voters a chance to make history, too, by electing the first woman as vice president.

Size

Read the rest:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080906/ap_on_el_pr/
campaign_lookahead;_ylt=AiHUgWiis0TYlVezEgljFoms0NUE

Bellies filled with veg chili and corn muffins, a small group gathers on the front porch to watch a chess match between a couple of house mates. Later on, a few of us move on to the Westville Pub, across the street. The urban legend proves true, American girls cannot resist guys with French accents. It was a fun evening.

The Vance-Aycock Dinner has been an annual tradition for nearly a half century, rallying the faithful, serving as a touchstone for western Democrats and raising substantial amounts of money.

But it's named for two folks — onetime Confederate Zebulon Vance and 1898 race riot participant Charles Brantley Aycock — who have fallen out of favor with history.

I suggest they rename it the James Protzman Half-Million Dollar* Dinner

*Link provided only to show that Protzman is a rich, elitist leftist who should sell all his possessions and give them to the poor people he cares about so much. Or to working stiffs who haven't achieved elite status yet.

I knew when I saw this barn that I was going to convert it to black and white.  Sometimes you just have a feeling.  The sagging roofline and bowed walls just scream "take my picture and render it in shades of gray" ... at least to me.  When you look at the picture full size, I think you'll agree.

The barn was up on a a narrow, winding gravel road in the mountains of North Carolina.  The thing was, I think the people who own it still use it.  There do seem to be a few things stacked on the ground inside the barn.

The same can't be said for the house.

Even the "decorative" wagon wheel at the left side of the house can't put lipstick on this pig.  I'd swear I had the camera level when I shot this, but it's possible that the house is listing a bit to port.  It was on the same property as the barn, but I'm thinking they've pretty much given up on it.  The thing is, you know this house was once someone's home.  Kids played in the fields and mountains, when they weren't in school or working in those fields.  But no doubt, someone built a newer, bigger, fancier house nearby, and this one was just left to molder.

I think this one someone still uses.  It's at the base of the driveway leading up to Happy Hour Ridge.  There's stuff on the porch, and reasonably fresh tire tracks leading up to the cabin.  It doesn't get used a lot ... but it gets used.

OK ... I have about 5 minutes left to post this to get something up today, so I'm going for the "publish" button.  I'm working tomorrow, and Mom's finally here for good.  So there will be some moving of furniture the next couple of days.

That means I'd probably better be prone soon.

--scene--

Lucas 8:22-25

Puedes leer o es probable que conozcas esta historia de Jesus y sus discipulos.  Jesus les dice que tenian que cruzar un lago y cuando comenzaron a cruzar Jesus se durmio y despues comenzo una gran tormenta al punto que ellos ya se podian imaginar muertos.  Pero despues de tantos golpes puedo imaginarme en esa barca que alguien se golpio fuerta la cabeza y recordo que el maesto estaba en la barca y muy valientes tomandose fuerte de donde podian fueran hasta donde el maestro estaba dormido y con voz tranquila llaman al maestro.  "Maestro, maestro, perecemos."  Que traducido es morimos.  Es el final de nuestras hermosas vidas.

NO!  Ellos gritaran desesperados, "Maestro!  Maestro!  Perecemos!!!!  Morimos!!!!"  Jesus desperto, reprendio el viento y a las olas y todo esto quedo en calma.  La Palabra dice: "bonanza."  Tranquilo.  Como si nunca hubiera estado un gran viento y un gran tormenta.  Y Jesus les dijo: "Donde esta vuestra fe?"  Y no pudieron contestar porque estaban llenos de miedo y solo podian decir entre ellos maravillados y sorprendidos "quien es este que aun los vientos y las aguas manda, y le obedecen?!"

Yo no se en que barca estas ni mucho menos que tan fuerte esta la tormenta.  Si Dios te ha dad un llamado o te ha escogido como su hijo no veas que tan dificil es la tormenta.  Puedes decire tal vez como los discipulos que vas a morir, que tu problema no tiene solucion, que tu distancia entre tu y Dios esta muy lejos o que fallastes a Dios en tu ministerio, y todos te senalan y prefieres regresar a tras a la orilla de donde Dios te saco.

Dios te pregunta: "Donde esta tu fe?"

Los discipulos podian ver, me imagino al cuerpo del Senor fisico dormiendo en esa barca pero te pregunto a ti - crees que una persona puede dormir con tanto sangoloteo por las olas del lago en esa barca.  En mi opinion, pienso que Dios estaba totalmente despierto, pero permitio que todo eso pasara para probar la fe de sus discipulos.

Dios prueba nuestra fe, como nosotros ponoemos en practica dia con dia la palabra del Senor que comemos.  Dios no esta dormido, El esta a tu lado.  Tu eres el dormido.  Despierta, ya!!!  Basta de tanto suframiento y dolor.  Dios llevo todo sufrimiento y dolor en la cruz y rompio la cadenas de pecado que te tenian o te tiene atrapado. Solo permite que Dios tome el control nuevamente si antes conosias de su Palabra, y si es la primera vez, abre tambien la puerta de tu corazon y El traera esa bonanza a tu vida - la tranquilidad que tu alma y sobre todo a tu espiritu necesita - no estas solo, Dios esta contigo.  Dios te bendiga.

This has dramatically changed over the years.  Christian women are not all that influential unless they are politicians.  Christian women influence when everyone can hear them throwing a fit and loudly cussing out the women next to them in line at the “Christian conference.”  Ok, I’m generalizing — but the truth is, and women, we must acknowledge the truth — Christian women don’t live all that different than women in the world.  So now their influence has diminished.  Influence used to mean, all the grandkids were Christians because of "mama's prayers."  Are you that kind of Christian woman, praying over your family and children?

And we call that “liberation.”   Christian women are now more “liberated.”  And that’s why more “Christian” women are actually lost and don’t even realize it.

Christian women are actually quite crippled in today’s world.  They feel liberated, but their hearts are torn and their motivations are led by paycheck rather than piety.  Christian women need a true change.

I hear stories all the time of women who have the same stories:they feel like their marriage is failing, that their kids take all their energy, they would love to go back to school but they see no option as far as time and money are concerned. These are Christian women, but instead of praying and declaring that their marriage cannot and will not fail, in Jesus’ name, they give in to the world’s ideas of divorce or even fall into adultery.

Today’s modern Christian women is exhausted and stressed out.  It is good for these women to be part of a women’s ministry, a place where they can vent and share their sadness, woundedness, disappointments - and find strength for wholeness, healing, and restoration.

The problem is: a lot of women stop there.  They find sufficient support in the people around them and go about their daily lives.  The real problem is that some of that healing is only superficial.  Women feel better for a little while, but then comes the next wave of troubles.  So month after month the same women have either the same or augmented problems, but are really no better off a year later than they were this time last year.

Christian women ought to be different.  Christian women ought to know the healing, saving, and restoring power of the Lord in such a way that the problem comes — Satan tries to attack and wreak havoc — but the Christian woman has had experiences with the Lord and understands her Ephesians 6 armor - and the Christian woman might stumble for a second, shed a few tears, but then get a grip, and declare liberation and declare victory over that situation so that a year from now, when the enemy tries to throw the same wicked dart - the Christian woman stands firm and says, in Jesus’ Name - this time you can’t get me down, devil.  Every time, a little better.  Step by step. Leap by leap.  Women, it is time for a change in the American church.  Complacency needs to go out the window.  You’re busy with work — we all are.  Excuses are like intentions —- good ones pave the road to hell.  Your Lord is worth more than what you’re giving Him right now.  He gave His life for you.  Can’t you give Him an extra night a week to focus in prayer?  Can’t you pray with your children before they eat and go to bed?  How about waking your entire family up early in the morning dawn and give the firstfruits of prayer to the Lord?  What has happened to godliness with America’s Christian women?

What will it take for you to take back what the devil is trying to steal from you?  The devil is in every aspect of culture - why won’t you take your kids back from him?  Why won’t you monitor what they see on tv and teach them values and discipline?  For too many years, Christian women’s ministries have been all about what women want rather than what women need.  Women have wanted high tech presentations and follow all the conference speakers.  Women have wanted fancy breakfasts and lavish retreats on the beach.

This women’s ministry is for women who are ready for a change, who are hearing God’s voice call them to a greater commitment than ever before.   This women’s ministry is for a true Christian woman who desperately wants to cling to the hem of her Master, Jesus, and who wants to learn what it means to live in godliness in the Presence of the Almighty One.

Christian women need to stop acting like women of the world.  Will you step out on faith and be “set apart” for His glory?

If you live in Raleigh/Cary, North Carolina, we would love to meet you.  Won’t you leave a comment so we can get to know you and pray for and with you?

From the New York Times:

With wary eyes cast at Hurricane Ike farther out at sea, coastal Carolina residents on Friday morning prepared for gusting winds and torrential rain as Tropical Storm Hanna sped toward them. Hanna was expected to make landfall near the North Carolina-South Carolina border early Saturday morning.

As of 5 p.m., the storm was carrying sustained winds of 70 miles an hour, just under hurricane strength of 74 miles an hour. Hanna was moving rapidly northward just off the coast of Georgia at 20 miles per hour, offering hope it would move too quickly to cause the catastrophic flooding seen here in previous storms.

The National Weather Service said the storm should hit land near Oak Island, N.C., although the track has moved erratically north and south for more than a day.

Officials in both states called for voluntary evacuations of coastal communities; closed schools, colleges, libraries and museums; postponed high school football games; and opened shelters. But few expected significant damage, and most beachfront residents were not even taking the trouble to board up their windows.

From CNN:

On this track, Hanna's center would remain off the Florida and Georgia coasts Friday afternoon and evening and make landfall in the Carolinas in the early hours of Saturday, according to hurricane center projections.

A tropical storm warning extends from Altamaha Sound, Georgia, to Sandy Hook, New Jersey, including all of Chesapeake Bay, the tidal Potomac River, Washington and Delaware Bay.

The center said the storm is likely to strengthen only slightly but warned that it is still possible for Hanna to become a hurricane before hitting land.

Meanwhile, Ike -- "a small, but impressive hurricane" -- is still far out in the Atlantic, forecasters said, but they warned that it could come ashore in southern Florida as a Category 4 storm by Tuesday night.

A question that is being asked as the storm approaches is how will crops such as tobacco survive the storm?

From Reuters:

Tobacco and other crops still unharvested in North Carolina should not be severely impacted by Tropical Storm Hanna unless it produces large amounts of rain, officials said on Friday.

"Unless we get a substantial amount of rain, like 10 inches (25 cm) or something, I don't foresee it being a devastation," Natalie Sanchez, a statistician with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture, told Reuters by telephone from her Raleigh office.

More than half of the state's $500,000 tobacco crop is still in the field with soybeans, cotton and much of its corn still to be harvested, she said.

Andy was practicing for when he saw a real alligator.  Clearly he's unprepared.

Andy wants to be just like Pedro.

Caitlin just wants to be held.

She searched and searched for this hippo.  She was practicing for all the hippos she was bound to see in the Everglades.

Irish Pedro...one of the many Pedros of the World.

Andy loves a larger-than-life cock fight.

Caitlin has a very similar picture of this from when she was younger and they used to stay here.  Maybe if we all clap our hands really loud, her mom will find the picture for us!

So, even though we love South of the Border, we realize that is highly problematic in it's representation of Mexican people and culture.  We are very interested in knowing who first created South of the Border and what the original goal was.  In addition to the many Pedros and Mexican culture dispersed, there was an Africa Shop.  We found this to also be very problematic, however, there was a sign that we found very interesting.

This is the sign.

THIS is South of the Border!

• Multifamily
• Office Buildings
• Industrial Buildings
• Shopping Centers
• Hotels & Motels
• Senior Housing
• Retail
• Health Care
• Sports & Entertainment

$1.5M to no max.  A+ credit tenant (NNN), S&P preferred.  Assumable loans, amortized (not interest only) a big plus.  Very qualified group that can close quickly (cash buyer).

Properies need a 7+ minimum cap rate and a 7+ minimum cash-on-cash return.  No deals from loopnet or properties that have been shopped around.  Buyer is looking for pocket/off-market listings and motivated sellers.  Strong preference for properties in FL, GA, SC & NC.  They will consider other high traffic marketable areas such as CA, AZ, NY, NJ, CT & Eastern MA if the property is very strong.

If you have any properties that meet the above criteria, contact me at Lon @ cascadefallsinvestments.com.

North Carolina teenager drops out of high school to become professional Guitar Hero player.

Maybe there's hope for me to still become a professional Princess Saver.

--Ryan

I've lazed about the hostel all day, moving from bed to porch swing to a local café, journaling, daydreaming and browsing the internet. No doubt, I would not trade the past 21 days for another experience. I feel clearer, more focused, more intent and directed. And anxious to get home.

Word is there's a hostel-organized dinner this evening. After that, I may grab a drink with a couple of new friends, travelers from France. Then another night in my designated top bunk before I head back north. Ah, I can almost smell Baltimore from here.

No really. We need to work on that.

Source: By John Dolan -  AlterNet

Most people had never heard of Sarah Palin when she was named the Republican VP nominee. But I'd been hearing her name all too often, because I belong to a group called Defenders of Wildlife -- and in her time as governor of Alaska, Palin has used her position as governor of Alaska to ruin the Alaskan wilderness in every way she could.

Her most recent "victory" came on Aug. 26, when Alaska's voters defeated Measure 2, an initiative that would have banned hunting wolves from airplanes for sport.

Palin organized a campaign against Measure 2 and funded it with $400,000 of state money. For most of us, the idea of zooming around in a private airplane over snowbound wilderness just for the chance to spot a terrified wild dog and blow it apart with a high-powered rifle is insane. But there's a whole culture out there in love with the idea. Palin did her part by playing the tired old Alaskan pioneer card, saying that lower-48 naysayers who dared to object to the idea of dive-bombing wildlife didn't "understand rural Alaska."

Alaska isn't really very hard to understand. It consists of a minority that loves the wilderness and an overwhelmingly Republican majority that wants to squeeze all the cash it can get out of the state before the oil dries up, the fish die out and the wildlife disappears. Nowhere else does the Republican formula of manipulating the suckers by playing on their silly hatreds and even sillier vanities play out more clearly than in Alaska.

To get an idea of Palin's core constituency, just go to the home page of Safari Club International, one of the groups that fought hardest against Measure 2 -- and is now gloating loudest over this proud victory.

Even the name is a little skewed -- "safari"? When was the last time you heard that word? Most people are trying hard to forget the "safari" era, when rich white jerks had themselves carried into the African wilderness by nameless black servants, at vast expense, to kill animals they could barely identify.

But for Palin's core constituency, "safari" is still the dream. And Measure 2 would have interfered with that dream, the dream of strafing social canids from a Cessna plane. Alaska politics runs on the vast opportunities for graft offered by a small, easily manipulated constituency addicted to subsidies and self-delusion. Alaskans like to imagine themselves the last pioneers, hardy individualists, etc. -- which makes them classic suckers for Republican propaganda. And they also like the petty cash that trickles down to them from the mining companies, timber companies and hunting guides who make the real money. Palin, an undistinguished part-time sportscaster on a local TV station, was a perfect non-threatening mouthpiece for the companies that want to gouge as much oil, ore and timber from Alaska as they can -- while it lasts.

Palin is totally consistent in her anti-environmental stance. She not only wants to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling, but actually vowed to sue the EPA if it dared to declare polar bears an endangered species.

It's hard for most people to understand this sort of hatred for the great mammal species struggling to hang on at the edges of this continent. But then, Palin is an Alaska Republican. And Alaska's Republican politicians are the most corrupt, ignorant and generally loathsome political clique in America, bar none. The so-called "dean" of the gang is Sen. Ted Stevens, finally indicted this year after a lifetime of graft. One of the crimes of which Stevens is accused sums up the relationship between Alaska's Republican ruling gang and its big-money backers: a construction crew hired by an oil company called Veco jacked Stevens's house up on stilts and added a whole new floor featuring two bedrooms and a bathroom -- just returning all the legislative favors Stevens had done for it over the years.

Palin was one of the founding members of Stevens' 527 corporate slush fund, which skated around campaign finance laws to allow the senator to raise unlimited funds from big oil and other exploiters. Stevens' fund bore the self-parodying name "Ted Stevens Excellence in Public Service Inc." -- which is pretty droll, considering that Stevens is not only corrupt but one of the stupidest people in the Republican Party, no small feat in itself. In fact, Stevens' only claim to the attention of the American people before he finally met his fate was for defining the Internet as "a series of tubes." Thanks to YouTube, you can actually hear Sen. Stevens dithering for several minutes before uttering that famous phrase. A warning, though: Listening to Stevens will cure you forever of the idea that America is a meritocracy.

On Aug. 26, Alaska's Republican voters showed their ethical level by choosing Stevens, this utterly loathsome, brainless greed monster, as their nominee to represent the state for another six years. The fact that Stevens had been indicted for corruption four weeks before the election didn't faze them a bit.

Palin summed up her long, sleazy and profitable association with Stevens by saying that the two of them were "singing from the same sheet of music." Isn't that quaint, that "sheet of music" metaphor, with its hint of the hymnal and the pew? Well, that's Alaska's republicans for you: a thin coating of hokey populist rhetoric over a vast subterranean reserve of sleaze.

Palin's predecessor as governor was Republican Frank Murkowski, another nature hater who spent a long, sleazy career in the pockets of the oil, mining and "safari" industries. Murkowski's "endless ethical lapses" included an attempt to get the state to buy him a jet, and climaxed with his appointment of his daughter, Lisa Murkowski, to the U.S. Senate. That sort of unabashed nepotism was a bit much even for Alaskans and made Murkowski the most despised governor in the country, with an approval rating of 14 percent.

Lisa Murkowski has been busy in Washington, keeping up the family tradition of selling Alaska's natural resources as quickly and sleazily as she can. In 2006 she got an astounding 2 percent rating on environmental issues from Republicans for Environmental Protection.

In Alaska Republican Party circles, a rating like that is a badge of honor.

Palin fits right in with this slime. She has served the oil, mining and hunting interests from the minute she won the governorship. This summer, she showed herself willing to poison whole watersheds and destroy a huge, lucrative salmon fishery by opposing Measure 4. The proposal aimed to stop the proposed Pebble Mine, a huge operation, from discharging huge amounts of cyanide and mining waste into streams that flow into Bristol Bay, the site of the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery.

Of course, Sarah Palin did her best to ensure the mining interests won. At first she had a bit of a problem: Under Alaska law, the governor isn't allowed to take a position on ballot initiatives. Palin squirmed her way around that rule in classic Republican style, by speaking as a private citizen, with true George W. Bush eloquence: "Let me take my governor's hat off just for a minute and tell you personally: Prop. 4 -- I vote no on that."

As one of the supporters of the initiative said, Palin and the rest of the state's Department of Natural Resources staff were so comfortably in bed with the mining industry that they borrowed a propaganda slide show from their industry backers when making the case against Measure 4. "The slide show (DNR) had up on the screen is straight from the one (mining industry representatives) use in their presentations around the state," said Art Hackney of Alaskans for Clean Water. "I think it's absolutely outrageous -- and somehow, unfortunately, it doesn't surprise me."

The reason Hackney isn't surprised is that fronting for anti-environmental exploiters is what Palin does. It's her job. So naturally, she spewed up the necessary lie, proclaiming that she had "all the confidence in the world" in the integrity of the Department of Natural Resources that was using the mining industry's own slide show.

Perhaps the saddest aspect of Palin's disgusting record on environmental issues is the fact that it's hardly even being mentioned in the debate about her nomination. Most of the focus, for an audience of suckers weaned on celebrity gossip, seems to be about her mothering skills, her daughter's pregnancy and whether she was Miss Congeniality or just a runner-up in some beauty pageant. The fact that she makes her living helping to wipe out whole species, poison productive watersheds and play to the stupidest great-white-hunter fantasies of her constituency hardly seems worth a mention.

AlterNet is a nonprofit organization and does not make political endorsements. The opinions expressed by its writers are their own.

John Dolan is an editor of the Moscow-based English-language alternative paper, The eXile. He is the author of, most recently, Pleasant Hell (Capricorn, 2005).

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