I am finding myself a little reluctant to blog lately. I am trying to find work, to create music, and to build an audience. Saying the wrong thing on my weblog could alienate me from someone, close a door that I need open. I think this is why so many people do not talk about politics, religion, or anything controversial.

But I started this blog to stir things up, to get you thinking, to shake you up a bit. When that happens, your first response may be to proclaim strongly your own basic beliefs which the stated opinion contradicts, if not outright ignores. But then, as you hear yourself speak your beliefs out loud to someone else, you might get the sense that you haven't thought out your presumptions well enough. You may redefine and correct yourself, or maybe abandon your old presuppositions for newer ones that make better sense.

The Loyola Institute for Ministry taught Thomas Groome's critical reflection method, which is basically what I'm writing about here. I guess that this is my calling, to try to engage you in a reflection of what we hold dear, and it would be great to make a living doing that. Critical reflection is too important in our lives to neglect. We need to check ourselves once in a while to make sure we are going in the right direction, or to check whether or not we need to take a detour.

How to Clean Up the Oil Spill? Y'all tell me what you think of this.

This just might work. http://www.wimp.com/solutionoil/

A disturbing set of images of the Gulf of Mexico from Mashable.com:
http://mashable.com/2010/05/21/oil-spill-pictures/

Drilling Off the Carolina Coast? Don't Let It Happen!

In a slap in the face to environmentalists who supported them, President Obama proposed new drilling off the U.S. Coast about a month and a half ago, and North Carolina Gov. Perdue says they're going to drill off the coast of N.C. and there's little point in protesting it. After seeing what can happen with offshore drilling (and we haven't seen the worst of the Gulf oil spill yet), we can't not protest. We can't let them drill off the coast of North Carolina.

Think I'm being alarmist or out of touch with our energy needs? Too often we tend to think that everything will be alright with a risky situation as long as nothing bad happens. Well, that means that we will continue to take chances until something bad happens, and then it will be too late.

Well, something very bad has happened out in the Gulf of Mexico near the Louisiana/Florida coastline. We all know about what is destined to be the biggest environmental catastrophe in U.S. history (did we really need to outdo the Exxon Valdez oil spill?). At this writing, oceanographers predict oil plumes miles long will get caught up in the loop current that goes around the Florida Peninsula, and that it will damage the 221 foot long Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, one of the longest coral reefs in the world, and may travel as far as Cape Canaveral on the eastern side.

In spite of attempts to contain, disburse, and collect the oil, it is too late to stop this spill. But there's a spill waiting to happen on the coast of the Carolinas, and the only sure way to stop it is to prevent a well being drilled there in the first place. You may think that this is an extreme measure, but if so, do you really think that we can trust the skill and the knowledge of the oil companies after so many tankers run ashore and so many spills in the ocean? How many spills are acceptable to us? Carolinians, would you accept a spill along the North Carolina Outer Banks as being perfectly acceptable? An oil spill on some of the best beaches along the Eastern Seaboard? An oil spill at Nags Head? Kitty Hawk? Cape Hatteras? Duck?! Duck, N.C., one of the last undeveloped and unsullied beaches of the North Carolina Outer Banks. It would be just our luck that, if an oil spill did occur along the Outer Banks, it would happen in Duck, N.C.!

No, this is unacceptable! We won't have it! We don't need it! It's time to use clean and green sources of energy. Diesel drivers, did you know that your engines can run on vegetable oil right now? See http://www.biofuels.coop/general-information/faq//. Why drill for oil off the Carolina Coast when some of the best winds to power a turbine can be found off of Kitty Hawk! Why drive if it's close enough to walk? Human beings lived without gasoline-powered engines for millennia, and while no one wants to go back to the 11th Century, we can learn to live simpler lives.

Now, here's Gov. Bev Perdue's address and email:

Office of the Governor

Constituent Services Office
116 West Jones Street
Raleigh, North Carolina 27603
Phone: (800) 662-7952 or (919) 733-2391
Fax: (919) 733-2120

governor.office@nc.gov

Write her and tell her that we do not want drilling off the coast of North Carolina. Also, her web address is http://www.governor.state.nc.us/forms/contact.aspx where you can write her the same message.

And don't forget the News and Observer:

http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/