David Theiss

It goes without saying that this BP oil spill is emotionally enraging, saddening, and frustrating all in equal measure.  The hands of all parties involved are, quite literally, stained: BP, the Obama Administration, non-stop Republican advocates for off-shore drilling, and the American public for not wising up and demanding the unqualified termination of this type of business enterprise.  Oil is an awful and dirty game to be involved in.  How many more oil spills will convince this country to either wake up and admit that we have to abandon oil altogether (Republicans) or ditch the appeasing political half measures and transition to other forms of fuel (Democrats).

This is a pox on all our houses.

A slideshow of the devastation.

Raw footage of the affect the spill is having on wildlife:

Watch it live:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Don’t you look stupid now:

I haven’t blogged in a good long while.  Every now and again you get a stretch where nothing warrants putting fingers to keys.  So, in preparation for one of these times happening again, I’ve created my own little series.  So now, every time I don’t have anything to say, I’ll have a go-to topic to just pull out and write about that, if nothing else, will at least satisfy me.  And places I want to visit is a list that will never, ever end.

The first entry is The Flora-Bama Lounge and Package.  As far as I can tell, this place feels as if it was built exclusively for me.  Once dubbed “America’s Last Great Roadhouse” it sits on the Florida coast, two hours east of the Alabama boarder and plays host to every wanderer, traveler, and beach bum that  ha spassed  through since 1964.  However these days, as evidenced by people like me knowing it by name, I’m sure its become something of a popular stop.

You can read more about it on the Wikipedia page dedicated to it – about how Hurricane Ivan laid waste to it in 2004 or how Jimmy Buffett basically wrote “Bama Breeze”  about it and places of the like.   But in the great traditions of bucket lists and fanciful life goals, I want desperately to get to the Flora-Bama.

Just to get an idea: