Rob Ford is the conservative mayor of Toronto, Ontario, Canada who has been in the news lately concerning his problems with chemical dependency. Few people know that his problem with dependency was first noted in South Florida.

Looking at the train wreck that Rob Ford has become, it isn’t surprising that chemical dependency is a problem with South Florida politicians.

Trey Radel, Congresscritter for district that includes Fort Meyers got busted buying cocaine, and like Ford, he claimed it was because he was an alcoholic, not a junky.

Get real, Radel was a Tea Party conservative talk-radio host when he ran for Congress. Does anyone really believe that any of those people could do that sober?

Of course, they will all head for rehab and come out ‘all better’, because that’s what conservatives do since it’s ‘not their fault’.

Oh, the apology to the family is gratuitous theater. If they are really a family they already know about the problem.

Position: 33.6N 52.4W [ 9PM CST 0300 UTC].
Movement: Northeast [050°] near 17 mph [28 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 50 mph [ 80 kph].
Wind Gusts: 65 mph [100 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 240 miles [390 km].
Minimum central pressure: 988 mb ↑.

Currently about 725 miles [1165 km] East of Bermuda.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

I made ‘Whatever soup’ over the weekend, which is basically using up whatever is in the fridge for vegetables added to a pound of protein and an appropriate stock.

The only new item was some small pasta to add some carbs to it. It is good cold weather food that gets better in the freezer.

Then today I baked a pumpkin cake, which essentially a pumpkin pie with some extra eggs and flour. It’s not bad, but cream cheese frosting covers a multitude of sins.