Did you hear about Charlie Crist saying he would keep the heath care bill and pass it and work to improve it? His fellow Republicans are not happy with Charlie. Everyone hates Charlie. Smile
I am no fan of Charlie Crist. I think he will do or say anything to get elected and that he wants to be President of the United States one day. (Many people believe he would be our first gay president. One of my sons thinks that Lincoln was our first gay president.)
So now Republicans are saying well look at Charlie Crist’s state (FL). They say it is in a mess because of him. (Keep in mind Crist is a Republican.) Florida is in a big mess and it is the fault of Republicans. It is because of Republican politics in the state.
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“A study by the nonprofit Transportation for America in Washington, D.C., lists the most dangerous metropolitan areas for pedestrians, and the worst four just happen to be in the Sunshine State: Orlando, Tampa, Miami and Jacksonville. It may seem like an astonishing find, but it’s not actually all that surprising: 490 pedestrians were killed by cars in Florida last year, the most in any state, and South Florida consistently ranks as one of the worst pockets for hit-and-run fatalities. ..”
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1942986,00.html?cnn=yes#ixzz0YM7vXvRX
If you live in Miami you know it just from getting the news…Young and old are run down and the driver will not even stop. I forget if it was the day I left Miami or a day or two before but an old couple were both killed crossing a street.
The report I think is saying that these cities and others are dangerous by design. To many high speed cars and little safety given, in design, to walkers and cyclists.
In Miami I am not sure that is the only reason. Someone should do a study and I do not think it would be hard… I think there are two additional reasons…Drivers that are not here legal and do not want to get in trouble with the police…Drivers that are not from the United States and in their nation you want to not have any contact with the police or you be robbed and beat by them. The other thing is that the police in Miami do not do traffic enforcement. You never see them stop a driver. The police in Miami need to get off their asses and start doing traffic enforcement.
I do not think people are going to stop taking vacations in FL because the police stopped them for speeding. I think people may stop visiting Miami when they find out they stand a good chance of being killed walking across the street to get to the beach. Not only that the driver that hits them will not even stop.
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One thing I will miss about FL is things like this… I walked up to Subway today and by a canal I saw this lizard. It must have been about two feet in length. I got my camera out and got this fast photo of him before he jumped into the canal.
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Ken and I went to the Miccosukee Indian casino. We have been a number of times. Why we go to it I never know. We never win… never see or hear about anyone winning.
I lost $60.00 tonight. If you come to Miami FL for vacation…Enjoy the weather, the beaches and everything here except, my advice, skip all of the casinos.
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I have not heard from the apartment people yet but I think I am counting down my last days in Miami FL. I am going to miss Florida. So I may sit in Fort Worth and dream of Florida and wish that I had done things when I was here for five years. I think I am to old to be moving back again. I am going to be 69 in March and I think it is time for me to pick a spot.
I almost never get a flu shot. I was not planning to get flu shots this year. But I hear that the flu is bad in Texas. I am not sure if it is the Texas media or if they do have problems. There is talk that they did not get enough vaccine. I wonder if someone someplace, in Texas, did not order enough because they do not believe in it or that they are not going to have someone in Washington telling them things… They might need to do an investigation. Hell…The governor of Texas has talked about Texas leaving the United States of America! What am I getting myself into going to Texas.
My insurance company has been contacting people and telling us to get our flu shot right away. The supply of vaccine is running out and there will be no more vaccine until next year.
The problem with all this is that more people will get the flu and more of them will pass it on to others.
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Here is a little video I made about moving to Fort Worth. When I am in Texas I can watch this video and remember the good old days.
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Yahoo! Real Estate has the list of America’s Most Expensive Cities for 2009.
Check out the article but here is the list starting with the most expensive; New York, Los Angeles, White Plains (NY), San Francisco, Honolulu, Miami (FL), Chicago, Boston, Houston (TX) and Washington DC.
Now that I look at the article I see it is Yahoo! got it from Forbes.
The list looks sort of correct to me but I just do not like some of the data they used to come up with the list.
I do know that Miami is a very expensive city but there are a lot of poor people that live here. There are a lot of people that live here and do not make much money but they party all the time.
It is a strange place.
I recommend Miami to come and visit and vacation …but I can not recommend it as a place to move to and try and live here.
The price of homes is down here. If you got the money you can get a real good deal on some homes. Homes and condos that cost $250K or $300K you can get for $100K or less. The problem is the association dues, taxes and insurance. Good luck getting insurance.
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I will try and make this the last one of these stories that I post because it happens all the time…You can fill a blog with these sad stories…
People grab a gun to defend their life or their home and they kill the wrong person.
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Today I walked up to Subway to get something to eat. One block from here I passed a tree next to the street. It had this flower growing out of the tree.
Do we have any tree or flower experts out there in ShowMeBlog land? What kind of flower is this? It appears to be part of the tree.
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The following is a comment from Dick Williams:
"Bad enough we can't reach the ISS without the Russians after the
Shuttle is mothballed next year – now the continued operation of the
ISS is in question. The commitment of the government and the public for
space exploration and even commercial use of a resource like the ISS is
waning fast. I read recently of Space X – a private launch service that
soon be able to handle manned launches under contract to NASA from
their launch site on an old pad at the Kennedy Space Center. Sounds
like a cheaper follow on to the Shuttle and maybe no higher than the 50
million per flight the Russians charge us. Would hate to see the ISS
abandoned – maybe the Europeans and Asians can become primary tenants.
From the Zarella report it sounds like our long term support is in
question. We struggled to get the Space Station completed – I'm not
sure it's complete yet. Very disappointed to hear talk already that it
may not be supported beyond 2015. Remember Skylab in the 70s. That was
allowed to come out of orbit and burn up it the atmosphere in July
1979. Skylab was never seen as a long term project the way the ISS has
been portrayed. All the scifi depictions of long term colonies in space
are looking a lot more like the "fi" than the "sci" part of scifi."
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“As thousands of jobless Americans lose their weekly unemployment checks, Congress is still debating who should qualify for a benefits extension. The House passed a bill last month extending benefits by 13 weeks. But the proposal has languished in the Senate. CNMoney reports Sen. Max Baucus is pushing legislation that would lengthen benefits for the jobless nationwide by four weeks… “ full story..
My grandson is one of those people that has had his unemployment money come to an end. It is extra hard for him to find work because he does not speak Spanish. He also does not have a car. It is not as hard here in Miami to find a job without a car because bus and rail service is pretty good. (Except from 0100 to 0500 hours. Smile)
I think they should keep the unemployment money going until the end of the year and then I think they should keep it going in areas with very high un-employment.
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“BY ALFONSO CHARDY
achardy@MiamiHerald.com
The Florida Department of Transportation formally committed itself Friday to building the first segment of a high-speed rail line from Miami to Tampa — so long as the federal government awards the state the $2.53 billion it wants for the project.
Competition is intense, but transportation experts said Florida is well positioned — along with California and Illinois — to share the $8 billion the Obama administration is offering to develop a national high-speed rail network. Awards will be announced in December…” Miami Herald
I think a high-speed rail line would be great for Florida and for the United States. I am 68 years old and I do not think I would live long enough to see it complete but I still think it would be great.
It would create some good jobs here and that is an extra.
It would be built in phases and the first would be Orlando to Fort Pierce, then Fort Pierce to West Palm Beach and then from West Palm Beach to Miami. The route would run from Orlando International Airport to Miami International Airport.
Just think you could fly down to Orlando for all that Orlando stuff and then get on the high-speed rail and pop on down to Miami for all our stuff. It would make this an even better place to visit for vacation. I hope it gets built.
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I have a milkweed plant out on the patio. A few weeks ago the monarch caterpillars ate all the leaves off the plant. They will grow back.
After that I saw a pod hanging from the flower pot. It was green. I been watching it for about two weeks. I should have been taking some photos. Today I looked outside and the pod looked dark. I went out and it was very thin and you could see the wings of the Monarch butterfly inside the pod.
About 15 minutes later I saw the Monarch butterfly outside of the pod and hanging on as his wings got dry.
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I will be moving in six months. I could move sooner if I find the right place. What is a very odd feeling …is that I can live anyplace in the United States…I am 68 years old and free to move anyplace and live anyplace.
I do like FL. I love the weather and the beaches.
I am looking at places to rent. Today I was looking, using Realtor.Com and I found a place with 400 sq ft. It is in Miami Beach, Fl and it rents for $650.00 a month. (I know $650.00 is a LOT of money for 400 sq ft.) All utilities are included. How much electric power could you use in 400 sq feet? Smile
Just think it is in Miami Beach and you can fish in your own backyard.
The lowest priced rental of the 37 listed was one for $450.00 with 400 sq feet but it has been listed for two months so I think they just have a number of rental units in the building and they just leave that same one up.
One nice thing about Miami Beach they are soon going to have free WiFi for the entire city.
Think of all the photos I could take for ShowMeBlog and it is just a short distance to Haulover Beach. I been in Miami for over five years and have not made it to Haulover Beach and if I got a place in Miami Beach I could walk to Haulover Beach everyday.
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What a great idea. Today is Museum Day and you and a friend can enjoy free general admission to hundreds of museums and cultural venues across the United States.
I wish I had found about this sooner. I checked and there are about six or seven events just in Miami. The Miami Zoo is one place taking part in this event. I think the normal price to get in the zoo is about $15.00 so you could save about $30.00 just at the Miami Zoo today.
This is a nation wide event check it out: Museum Day
Want to thank Dick Williams for bring this event to my attention.
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“WASHINGTON — With no end in sight to the country’s job market woes, the House has agreed to give the jobless in a majority of states another 13 weeks of unemployment insurance benefits.
The bill, which passed the House 331-83 , approves the extra three months of benefits for those jobless living in 27 states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, with unemployment rates topping 8.5 percent. Similar legislation is pending in the Senate. The longtime unemployed in states with lower levels of joblessness would not get the extension.
The job market appears to be the last to recover from a recession that officially began in December 2007. Jobless benefits have already been extended to record lengths through federal intervention.
States offer 26 weeks of benefits, with the average payment about $300 a week. But with federal help, including provisions from the economic stimulus bill, the unemployed in states hardest hit by the recession can receive up to 79 weeks of assistance…” AP News by Jim Abrams
Great news and great report by Jim Abrams of AP. Read the complete story for full details.
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My grandson’s unemployment benefits run out this month. He has been trying to find work for months. Part of his problem is that he does not speak Spanish. He also does not have a car and that does not help in finding a job when unemployment is high.
Russell is not the only one with unemployment benefits running out…He has a lot of company…more than a million jobless have it running out on them. This at a time when the national unemployment rate is at 9.7 and is the highest in 26 years.
The House is going to take up a bill today to help these people. It will extend benefits for those in states with a jobless rate higher than 8.5%.
The unemployment rate in Florida is 11%.
You can look up your state rate here: Unemployment Rate
See the CNN Money story for more details.
I hope they extend benefits for everyone and of course I hope it helps Russell. He has been trying to find work and he is going to school. He will have his two year degree soon. He will then go in the military or he will go on and try and get his four year degree.
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When I hear “Carnivorous Plants” I think of Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter and Glenn Beck. Those are not the sort of carnivorous plants I am talking about…
I am talking carnivorous plants that get most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming insects for food.
Over the years I would buy a Venus Fly Trap Plant about anytime I saw one for sale in WalMart or some other store. I never had good luck with them but I just love them for some reason.
My son in Texas it turns out has the same love of plants and of the Venus Fly Trap as I do. He got some seeds and is trying to grow them.
My son had a birthday the other day and he is 33 years old. I sent him the following four carnivorous plants; Red Pitcher Plant, Judith Hindle Pitcher Plant, Scarlet Belle Pitcher Plant and a Venus Fly Trap Plant.
He has not got them yet but I think he is going to like them.
I hope he will enjoy the plants. I hope one day I have a place here in FL and that Jimmy can come and live with me. It would be so great if it has a little green house and he would work with his plants.
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“Watch the dolphins at SeaWorld Orlandos Dolphin Cove as they artfully create and play with underwater bubble rings and hear what SeaWorlds trainers, educators and guests have to say about this fun and fascinating behavior.”
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We have a tropical depression forming in the Gulf of Mexico and heading towards the Alabama and Florida state line. Sounds like it will miss me here in Miami this time. But there are three other storms out there and they may head this direction.
If you are wondering if we are ready for a storm hitting…the answer is no…We have not been ready since we got here…We have no one to blame but our self…I am a big believe in being ready for everything…I am just so short of money all the time..I never have the money to get ready.
After the bad storm season we had back a few years ago.. Florida is asking everyone that lives in FL to have a enough basic needs to last for two or three days without expecting the state to supply you with food, water and ice. I agree that is very smart. That way the state can take care of real emergencies and get things done faster and better.
Last time we got hit… A lot of time and effort went into just getting food, water and ice to people. There seemed to me to be a lot of political crap entering in the entire effort… Where some areas that were poor getting the supplies etc. When you have to CYA (cover you ass) it just delays things and makes things not work as well.
I just got a feeling that these storms are not going to be a problem for the United States…But you never know and one of these days…soon this area is going to get hard with a hurricane. I hope I have a ham radio and to be truthful I hope I can afford to fly the hell out of here before it hits. Smile
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