Say No to Oil Drilling in Florida Waters

On Saturday, February 13th 2010 thousands of Floridians will descend on their local beaches at noon in a peaceful protest against oil drilling off of Florida's coastline. Florida's beaches, while certainly a major attraction for tourism, is also home to many species of plant and animal life that depend on an ecosystem that is free of dangerous oil and chemicals.

Florida has hundreds of species of plants and animals that are listed as endangered, threatened or a species of special concern. Some of those most at risk from a catastrophic oil spill include the West Indian manatee, several varieties of beach mouse, and sea turtles.

Not only would oil drilling pose a potential environmental risk to the beaches, but it would mar an otherwise beautiful setting. In the background of photos of beach weddings, sunsets and family outings would be the not so distant profile of oil drilling platforms which could be as close as 3 to 10 miles offshore if pending legislation passes.

Please find time to come out to the beach this Saturday and join with others to help protect Florida's beaches. To find a beach near you just log onto Hands Across the Sand

Wow! Local Newspaper Hits New Low

As if there's not enough negativity in the news the local newspaper has now started producing a weekly supplement featuring full color mugshots and listing all of the local crimes committed over the past week. These are all stories that were already reported in the newspaper over the past week, but for the low fee of $1 readers can get them all bundled together in a convenient 24 page mini-paper. And here I thought they were being vultures just for photographing all of the local car accidents in hopes that they'd get a shot of blood or a decapitated limb. Go team! Not.