The Way I See ItBy cj pollickClearwater's Coachman Park - July 4th fireworks in Clearwater was a hugely successful show. Kudos to the city event planners and all the many volunteers and sponsors. However, prior to the fireworks display, Clearwater also hosted a wonderful concert with several noted musical groups and singers. The concert at Coachman Park, near the downtown Clearwater waterfront, is a good example of how other downtown Clearwater concerts could be handled. Imagine, if you will, a time when scores of downtown Clearwater boat-slip owners will enjoy a Coachman Park concert from the privacy of their boats. The time will come when downtown Clearwater will be re-developed around Coachman Park. Harborview Center? It will be replaced. Highest Divorce Rate? - Clearwater also recently won the distinction of being called the "divorce capital of America." With a reported divorce rate of 18 percent, Clearwater was the leading city of the divorce-rate study. Could the high divorce rate in Clearwater be due to the wonderful weather? Circular beach roundabout? The "clear" fountain-of-youth water? Beach parking? Road rage? White sand beaches? Or, perhaps due to the great number of divorce attorneys that call Clearwater home? Whatever the reasons, Clearwater is number one in something other than the number of condominium units for sale. Belleair Beach Should Have Learned A Lesson - Pay a city manager about $100,000 to "manage," what is now only a few city employees (no more police officers to manage?) Waste of taxpayer's funds, say many citizens and some city officials who are looking at the city budget (with impending state cuts.) Of course, the city clerk is more than capable to handle the several "staff" management duties at a considerable savings to the city. Management for management's sake? All of this financial stuff sounded good in Belleair Beach until the city attorney reminded officials that the city manager's office was put into the city charter by the citizens of Belleair Beach and would require a city vote to remove the office of city manager. Yes, a citywide referendum to remove the office of city manager that was installed due to a city political issue. Big deal? Perhaps, but these types of city events occur when there is a need to address important financial and other changes that require a citywide vote to change the city charter (constitution.) Is it time for Belleair Beach to reconsider the office and expenses of the city manager in light of impending statewide budget cuts that would affect the slim city budget and tax base? Time will tell, but there are some city officials who believe there must be a cut in this expense item in the near future. Al Gore Talks, But refuses To Debate - Remember Al Gore, the self-alleged founder of the Internet and presidential candidate? Yes, the same Al Gore is now pushing a controversial global warming book regarding his technical scientific prognostications about global warming. Yep, the same Al Gore of Internet fame. What makes all of this global warming stuff interesting is the fact that most every liberal media source in the country is giving, emphasis on giving, Al Gore free television and print time to present his personal views on this topic. No debate, no other expert opinions allowed. Of course, there are those highly educated scientists who would like to debate Al Gore about his opinions on this subject and his alleged scientific facts about global temperatures. Yes, there are other opinions, but they are not being heard by the same media outlets. Why? There are people that believe Al Gore will use this controversial topic to engage in another run for the presidency and perhaps that is why he is leaving his schedule open for the next six months. Few people know what is really happening in Al Gore's political life, but avoiding debates with scientists on the subject of global warming is not good for America. One would think open debates on this topic should be welcomed by the media. Is there global warming? One scientist said that such a weather phenomenon (warming and cooling) had occurred throughout Earth's time . . . and will continue to occur. Can mankind cause the weather to change? Perhaps we should be hearing from learned scientists from MIT, Stanford, Oxford, Munich, Moscow, etc.? Shouldn't they have a better understanding of what is really happening? Joe Biden? - Sen. Joe Biden still recalls the horror of being caught in a form of plagiarism. That fact has probably caused Biden some support on his campaign trail. Nevertheless, Sen. Joe has called for citizens to call the White House to protest the commutation of sentencing for Libby. Libby, by the way, was found innocent of leaking any government information, but found guilty of a lesser charge of perjury. Thus, the prosecutor found no evidence of wrongdoing in the major case against Libby, but caught him in a lie. Remember when former President Bill Clinton boldly exonerated fugitive financier Marc Rich (whose wife Denise also gave funding for the Clinton Library) just because the Rich's gave generously to the Clinton campaign? That fact, of course, has somehow skipped the minds of Senators Joe Biden (D-Del.), Hillary Clinton, Obama Barack and Ted Kennedy (of Chappaquiddick fame.) People like Sen. Joe Biden should be talking about more important things instead of playing politics to continuously attack Republicans. Democrats could be talking about improving the dismal 19 percent citizen approval rating of our U.S. Congress, the lowest rating in history. Call the White House? Yes, perhaps people should call and tell the politicians that they need to enforce our illegal immigration laws, lower taxes, pass federal property insurance laws, fully fund social security, protect American industry and quit giving U.S. tax dollars to nations that are not our friends. Yes, Joe, maybe you need some calls. The next President? Heaven forbid someone like Sen. Ted Kennedy or Joe Biden. Same for some Republicans like Sen. John McCain. Folks, it is frustrating to observe the potential candidates for President. Unchained Melody - Anyone over age 55 remembers the popular 1965 hit song titled "Unchained Melody" sung by the Righteous Brothers. In fact, this classic song was used as one of the soundtracks in the movie Ghost. Folks over age 60 may also remember this song in a 1955 movie called Unchained. The lyricist was none other than Hy Zaret. Zaret died last week only a few weeks from his 100th birthday. Unchained Melody was one of many popular songs written by this successful songwriter - - Hy Zaret. Steroids And Chris Benoit - Studio wrestler Chris Benoit recently killed his son and wife before hanging himself. Many onlookers are attributing this horrendous act by Benoit as a part of his addition to steroid use over many years. Ironically, Benoit's mother recently stated from Alberta, Canada, that her son might be alive today if the DEA had acted sooner on its investigation of steroid use in America (where Chris Benoit's name was one of the steroid users being investigated.) Essentially, Benoit's mother has tried to blame others for her son's death. The way I see it, Mom should have noticed all the unusual muscle growth in her son over years and realized something caused abnormal muscle growth. Most Moms seem to have a feeling (called woman's intuition) when something is not normal with sons or daughters. In Benoit's case, his use of steroids was of epic proportions. In the past year, Benoit was reported by the DEA to have ordered about a year's worth of steroids every 3-4 weeks. What makes the case of Benoit so bad was the killing of his innocent son and wife in an apparent act of anger. If steroid use helped to push Chris Benoit over the edge, then every young athlete should think about why they would ever subject themselves to steroid side-effects. Anabolic steroids are destructive drugs and most athletic organizations are just beginning to understand why random testing is essential. Blame? What about the athletic organization that does not test for steroids? Then again, what about the athlete who made the choice to use such drugs? |