Category — Florida

In fairness I should mention that Pensacola’s Fiesta of Five Flags has also started. Next year marks the 450^th anniversary of the first attempt by the Spanish to settle in the area that has become the US. That attempt was interrupted by a hurricane, which is why St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied city [founded by Europeans] in the US.

They still use the wrong flags, but they have gotten better. I did notice that they use the wrong British flag at their Fiesta site, but the correct one on the city’s flag poles. At least Earl Bowden got them to use the proper flag for the Confederate year.

In order to generate “local excitement” [sell stuff] the chamber of commerce is once again annoying people with the Billy Bowlegs Festival. This year it runs from tomorrow and finishes up on Monday with a really annoying parade that screws up traffic and sends a lot of noisy people through my neighborhood.

Almost at bad as the Monday traffic jam are the Friday fireworks. I know a lot of people enjoy fireworks, but they probably have not seen what loud noises and flashes of light can do to people and aircraft – I am definitely not a fan.

[Read more →]

Mustang Bobby has been dealing with Real Estate Realities, chief among them is that the house he has been renting is in foreclosure.

Fortunately, he has found a two-car garage … oh, there’s also a house attached.

Well, for Okaloosa County, the Miami Herald is big time.

Gary Fineout of the Miami Herald write about a local voting effort: Web vote offered to military abroad

TALLAHASSEE — A small Panhandle county that is home to one of the world’s largest air bases is embarking on a sweeping experiment in Internet voting that could transform elections in the 21st century.

But the push by Okaloosa County Supervisor of Elections Pat Hollarn to use the Internet to make it easier for U.S. soldiers overseas to vote is drawing fire from voting activists who call her project “unsafe” and contrary to a new law that requires the state to use paper ballots.

Frustrated by the pace of overseas voting efforts undertaken by the Department of Defense in recent years, Hollarn has championed a plan that will let those living on, or near, three military bases in the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan cast ballots in the November election.

[Read more →]

Florida License Plates

Beneficiary

A weekend feature of Why Now.

First it was a lake burning and now a swamp, as CNN reports Florida Everglades fire scorches 33,000 acres

(CNN) — Almost 33,000 acres of the Everglades National Park were burning Sunday, fire officials said, the latest in a series of wildfires that have scorched parts of Florida in May.

The smoke cast a haze over parts of South Florida, including Miami, prompting a dense smoke advisory from the National Weather Service.

The fire, which threatened private property as well as an endangered bird, started Friday, the Southern Area InterAgency Management Blue Team said.

[Read more →]

Florida License Plates

Beneficiary

A weekend feature of Why Now.

CNN reports on the Wildfire battle continues as interstate reopens

(CNN) — Wildfires scorched two counties in eastern Florida Sunday, closing a major interstate and forcing the evacuation of some coastal residents.

Interstate 95 reopened Monday, in time for the morning rush hour. It had been shut down in both directions from U.S. Highway 192 to the Indian River County line.

Thick smoke continued to drift across the highway, according to CNN affiliate Central Florida News 13.

A state trooper told the station that visibility on the interstate was less than 10 feet.

[Read more →]

I reported earlier on the suicide attack of a spotted eagle ray, and now we learn of a pelican attack near St. Petersburg from the BBC: Pelican ‘bombs’ bather in Florida

A woman required 20 stitches to her face after a pelican crashed into her in the sea off Florida, apparently diving for fish.

The pelican is “pining for the fiords” as some would day.

If there was a Florida university with any money left, they might try to figure out why the wildlife is conducting suicide attacks on female tourists.

Florida License Plates

Beneficiary

A weekend feature of Why Now.

The Palm Beach Post reports that all of the smoke along the “Treasure Coast” is due to Lake Okeechobee burning. The level of the lake is down and two fires of suspicious origin have merged into a single large fire involving approximately 3500 acres of lake bottom. The fire is being limited by the dykes that would keep water in, if there were any water.

What the area really needs is something like a tropical storm to refill the lake and reduce stress on the watershed, but hoping for a tropical storm is not a universally acceptable solution.

I’m sending you this time-sensitive survey because our Party cannot defeat John McCain and claim victories up and down the ballot unless all Democrats who care about America’s future make their voices heard.

That’s the second paragraph from my latest missive from Howard Dean. I doubt Howard wrote it, even though it’s his faux signature on the bottom. It’s probably a clever plot by Mike Gravel to steal the nomination, or something.

Howard, the thing is, you have already made it extremely plain that you don’t want to hear from any of the four million or so Democrats from the state of Florida. You told us that we don’t count and won’t be counted. You dislike Democrats in Florida so much, that, instead of reducing our representation at the convention by half, as stated in the rules of the Party, you eliminated all representation. You told us to shut up, and we will. We will also shut our wallets.

By the way, Howard, I’m no longer a Democrat. Thanks to you and your DNC, I took the hint and left. Update your list.

Amie Parnes and Ben Smith ask in The Politico – Is Florida In Play For Dems?

Their question is based on the shift in the Hispanic population from majority Republican to majority Democratic registration.

A news flash – Gore won Florida in 2000. Without the confusion on the Palm Beach ballot it would have been by the thousands who accidentally voted for Pat Buchanan. With Ralph Nader no longer relevant it could have been even larger in this cycle without the shift among Hispanics.

Now, the question is if a Democratic candidate will even be on the ballot, and if they are, will they come in second or third.

The DNC has made a lot of enemies in Florida, and I don’t see them turning that around. The real effects of the Republican’s Amendment One will be obvious by November, and there is no reason to forgive the DNC for making it possible.

It was bad enough when a Florida site noticed, but it was echoed in Indiana, the Pacific Northwest, and Minnesota.

Yes, a Florida school district fired a substitute teacher for “wizardry” when a parent apparently complained about the teacher doing “magic” in class.

Come on, they didn’t burn him at the stake or stone him.

It’s not like they will be able to pay substitute teachers next year, so it just happened a little earlier. The cuts in K-12 are even worse than what is happening in the university system.