Bee blight blamed on Bayer

By William R. Toler
A complaint filed by German beekeepers alleges a pesticide made by Bayer CropScience is responsible for the loss of millions of honeybee colonies on both sides of the Atlantic, according to the Raleigh News and Observer.
Opponents claim clothianidin, a neuro-active insecticide, is the chemical culprit behind Colony Collapse Disorder. Clothianidin and other neonicotinoids cause [...]

Paranormal paranoia

By William R. Toler
My belief in the paranormal and unexplained goes back to early childhood.
I’ve always been interested in ghosts, UFOs, cryptids and the like.
Through the years I’ve had brief experiences that strengthen my views, but nothing like the following account from April 2007:
There are some people who don’t believe in the paranormal.
Then there are those who do believe.
Then…there [...]

Obama currency causes controversy

By William R. Toler
A novelty note has raised a ruckus in the state of Washington.
Three dollar bills feauturing Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama as a Muslim have stirred up Republicans and Democrats alike in Snohomish County.
The mock money was sold for $3 each at a Republican Party booth at the Evergreen State Fair.
Complaintants on both [...]

Police padlock producer

By William R. Toler
The handcuffs on the First Amendment were tightened Aug. 27 when a producer for ABC News was arrested in Denver, Colo.
Asa Eslocker was manhandled by a cigar-smoking Denver police sergeant for taking pictures of Democratic leaders and high rollers leaving a secret meeting at the Brown Palace Hotel in the Mile-High City.
Officers on the scene [...]

Dial ‘1′ and watch your mouth

By Corey Friedman
Where telephones are concerned, the Tar Heel State has a hangup about ribald jokes and salty language.
North Carolina prohibits the use of  “any words or language of a profane, vulgar, lewd, lascivious or indecent character, nature or connotation” in phone calls, according to N.C. General Statute 14-196.
The ban on blue language is likely [...]

I.R. compatriot plays pirate…again

By William R. Toler
Trent Woods resident and friend of the Register’s founders David Carta will reprise his role as Captain Jack at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium for the home football games of the East Carolina University Pirates.
Carta, who began last season, said this year’s gimmick will include shooting a .45 caliber flintlock pistol.

Smokers’ ‘Truth’ or dare

By Corey Friedman
Dear Antismoking Lobby,
I hope you choke on your indignant, pompous rhetoric and cough yourselves sillier than a wheezing octogenarian after chainsmoking four packs of unfiltered Camels.
Your “truth” television ad campaign is anything but truth. It is counterfeit counterculture of the highest order, peddling pretend edginess to a nationwide audience of would-be hipsters.

I.R. founders bleed red, white and blue

By William R. Toler
Let it not be said that the three founders of the Independent Register are not patriotic.
To the contrary, we are patriots in the truest form.
We stand for the ideals this country was founded on. We excercise and defend the Bill of Rights.
We observe the happenings around the nation and report on infringements [...]

Wilmington ghosts seeing Redd

By William R. Toler
New Bern native Willam Redd is involved in some spooky cinema.
The filmmaker is now, also, a ghost hunter.
Redd is a member of Infinitus Paranormal, a ghost hunting team based in the port city, along with founder and fellow filmmaker Mike Roberts.
The Star News in recently feautred an article on the spectre specialists [...]

Olympic-sized thoughts

By Eric Voliva
Mention the word Olympics around me and I usually shrug, sigh, grunt, or use some other primitive gesture to express my general disinterest in the whole idea of competing for gold in games that involve wearing spandex, chucking spears and tossing oversized balls around.
Where’s the challenge, I ask?
I grew tired of the repetitious [...]