The thoughts of the chairman - FloridaBrit's Blog!

From todays Sentinel -

IS it time to ban all these lobbyists etc.???  no wonder the people we elect to represent us rarely do ....

8-24-08

"What does it cost to get an audience with Gov. Charlie Crist? If your name is Big Sugar, the price doubled this year.

The Clewiston-based sugar giant's spending on Tallahassee lobbyists surged from a minimum of $252,000 for the first half of 2007 to at least $652,000 through this June.

State compensation reports show U.S. Sugar spent more to lobby the executive branch than any other company in the first half of 2008. The investment paid off in June when Crist announced Florida would buy out the company in a $1.75 billion transaction designed to help restore the Everglades.

But it wasn't just Sugar that upped its investment in good government. Big public hospitals, Shands Teaching Hospital in Gainesville and State Farm Insurance all spent far more to lobby Crist and executive-office agencies"

I read in the Sentinel today that my power supplier (Florida Power and light  gave $425,000  to the GOP  (and probably some to the Dems too)

I would also suspect that Florida Power too and most of the states electric compnies gave money,.

My point is this-FPL can give 425,000 to a political party yet on thier website they have a program called "care to share" where you can make donations to a fund for people who cant meet thier energy biils.

Now I dont know about you folks but we are ALL struggling with our energy bills, agreed some more than others, however, if they got 425k to  splash out   just to give away then surely they could of put that money in the fund !!

Folks we are gettting ripped off left , right  and center.

I also noticed  in my new propery tax assesment that I give a sum of money to the St johns water management  authority -what for ??  IM already paying for water and sewage and all the nice little taxes for them every month !

Just how much Volleyball  and  diving can you watch??

I saw a smidgen of discus,  , and     I saw the 100 metres, 200 and 400.

Has anyone seen Archery or  Pole vault or High jump ,long jump etc?

And what is it with the gymnastics scoring ?? how can a girl fall on her knees and still get a higher score   than  another  that finishes  without  a fall ???

For those of us  in the  24th District of Florida

the  free trip taking , abramoff buddy ,  do nothing poitician  is up for re-election soon.

I dont know know about       you guys but he's done NOTHING for this district at all.

I dont care   who takes over whether its a repub, a dem or  mickey mouse (he couldnt do no worse)

but lets get in someone who REPRESENTS US

 and does things for the constituency.-  its important for Feeney too, coz he can then take more free golfing trips to Scotland...

FEENEY OUT

So, I just been hit with a 400 dollar surcharge because we are short on funds to pay our expenses, this is due in part to

people paying thier fees late and (especially in my HOA) foreclosures.

Now while we have recourse to those that pay late etc as they are still in thier houses

how about the BANKS -the owners of the foreclosed properties- Should the BANKS while they are owners be paying thier  share of HOA fees??

Also as money is now getting tight for most of us- as we live on city streets in our HOA (and we pay city taxes etc)  can we drop our  landscaping company that cuts the grass on these city streets and FORCE the city to do it  (As we ARE paying city taxes)

just wondered....

They are raising (again )the price of admission into these parks

75 bucks a day per person

so a family of 4   will be "just" 300 bucks to GET IN !!  are they out of thier tiny minds?

then the overpriced food etc

and there's nothing like waiting 90 minutes in the heat and humidity for a 2 minute ride.

they may as well raise the price to 100 bucks a day-its not far off.

 I hardly go anymore,  and I warn all visiotrs about the prices.

See ya Diz and Uni-it was fun while it lasted.

Yet another politician  up   with charges -this time falsely reporting more than $250,000 in gifts and services he received from an oil services company that helped renovate his home.

Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska-- 

why do we keep putting up with these clowns?

Folks

You know Im no fan of HOAs

I know I got the deeds and all the rules before i bought etc

.

but can I legally get out of  it?

Ive had enough paying 900 bucks a year just to live somewhere and be told what i can and cannot do with my home that I am paying for...(I dont use the gym, pool, nature trail, tennis courts BB courts etc)

Heck, if sth carolina can do it -so can i ?

Or are HOAs just too darn powerful ....

on another note-IF im forced to live in a HOA then its time we all started to take the cities to task- after all If Oviedo  said NO to our wanting to be a gated community- and we live on CITY streets-shouldn't the CITY be cutting the common areas instead of me paying twice (city taxes and then HOA fee for landscaping)

I know i could have bought somewhere without HOAs but WHERE ? all new subdivisions have them.....and I liked the model....   :-(

Folks, the Floridabrit is on a well deserved week off , so on Monday we decided to go to the beach .

It was a nice day there  the water was not too cold, and the fresh sea air was  wonderful

however ...

 all over the  the sand - Ciggy butts.

absolutly nasty-  trying to build sandcastles- ciggy butts , trying to find a section of beach with  no garbage was impossible.

Now I not only blame the nasty slobs who use the beach as an ash tray but I NEVER saw ANY signs about   not  using the beach as an ashtray either so Cocoa Beach -please do something !

surely they can pull something behind a tractor on the beach to  filter sand from debri?

there was beer caps. Ciggy butts,  etc.

Anyone know of a beach where its not an ashtray?

Tomorrow marks the day when on 7-7-05  cowardly , muslims blew them selves up in London on the bus and  tube trains.

We've been blown up before by the Irish, the Germans etc. but this day it was our own citizens- British born  from Pakistani  etc parents.

While not   in the same size of  destruction or loss of lives as 911, it proves to us that extremist muslims  need to be eradicated.

(lets not bring this into a bush/clinton/obama thing.)

just remember the dead.

just read George Carlin has died

shame-I enjoyed his HBO specials.

June 18th, 2008, Paul McCartney celebrated his 66th birthday !

I want to publicly say   what a an absolute wonder his songs have been and continue to be.

almost everyone on the planet knows a Macca song !

whether it be

Yesterday

We can work it out

Get Back

Hey Jude

Eleanor Rigby

Band on the Run

Live and let Die

and many many more.

Happy Birthday Mate !

Lennon/McCartney-the worlds greatest modern  composers.

(With Jagger/Richards not too far behind)

This guy is evil- I hope we get to hang him high !

Jailed Muslim cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri has lost his High Court bid against extradition to the US where he faces terror-related charges.

The Egyptian-born preacher is currently serving a seven-year jail term in the UK for inciting murder and race hate.

Abu Hamza, 50, from west London, is wanted by US authorities on 11 charges, including sending cash to al-Qaeda.

I'm just curious-I always wondered how it works  with all the comings and goings in the  local tv stations markets -how do you get your jobs etc?

for most of us we have an interview or two, then get hired -and if all goes well  your in  until you decide to leave.etc.

but how about you guys?  is there a TV  news anchor help wanted section? how do you find other  places to work?

and I notice you all have contracts so is that how it works you  get a contract for a certain amount of years ?  then you have to re-negotiate etc?  and what happens if you dont get a new contract?  whats the average length of a contract?

do you all have agents to do that? who negotiates your salary?

Do you get paid like the majority of us  IE by weekly?

in your contract    do the company provide health care etc?  or do you pay through the nose?

how about bonuses etc??  or do you have stipulations that you must be on air a certain amount of time??

Just wondered how it all works !

Thanks.

:-)