Hemp is cannabis; it's the same species as the plant called marijuana, but thanks to selective breeding and different cultivation techniques hemp contains little or no psychoactive elements sought by medicinal or recreational consumers.

Hemp has numerous industrial uses, by some accounts upward of 2,500, perhaps the oldest as a textile. Cannabis fiber has three times the tensile strength of cotton and was cultivated up to 8,000 years ago or more by the Chinese. Cannabis is a hollow fiber, more breathable than cotton, and that translates to more comfort for the wearer, and clothing made from hemp far outlasts its cotton competition. What's not to love about that?

The idea of a sales tax on services in North Carolina has been rearing it's ugly head again lately, and while I can see why some people would support such an idea, I can't.

You see, I happen own a tiny service business that would be adversely affected by such a tax. My business is a one-man operation totally dependent on my labor. After expenses, whatever is left is my personal income, on which I pay taxes like any other citizen. A sales tax on my services would amount to double taxation of my earnings. That's not fair by anyone's standard, especially in light of the fact that so many huge corporations today (some of them my direct competitors) avoid paying their fair share of our collective tax burden.

To anyone paying attention to the local news of the south-central Piedmont over the last couple of months, it's beginning to look more and more like another remake of The Dukes of Hazzard is being put together down in the Montgomery County town of Candor, and the roles of Boss Hogg, Sheriff Coltrane, and Deputy Enos Strate seem to have already been cast.