CAROLINA RAZORBACK ROAD HOGS

I heard this disturbing story, and its satisfying end with a comletely ridiculous statement by a guy from the Cato Institute, on the radio last night. Motorists in North Carolina who run their diesel engines on vegetable oil are being fined for failing to pay the highway taxes that are built into gasoline prices. The story implies similar laws exist elsewhere. I wonder how widespread they are. That's some forward-thinking legislation. It's time to crack down on those who don't burn gasoline in the quantities that good Americans are meant to. We had a little conversation here last year about the ethics of riding a bicycle on roads paid for with gasoline taxes. Maybe we cyclists are actually flaunting the law, in addition to good manners! Geez, aren't we living in a community here? I chose not to reproduce, but I'm happy to pay school taxes to educate the dazed litters that proliferate here like August midges. Stop bogarting the road, for chrissakes.
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illustration: STILL LIFE WITH BEETLES (2000) acrylic 20" x 26"