The Way I See ItBy cj pollickClearwater Celebrates July 4th - Clearwater Celebrates America will be held July 3rd and July 4th in Coachman Park (downtown Clearwater's waterfront park.) Gates will open for this annual festival on July 3rd at 4 p.m. and 2 p.m. on Friday the 4th. Admission is free. Mostly Pops Orchestra with John and Mary K. Wilson will headline holiday activities on Friday at 7:30 p.m. with fireworks to follow at 9:30 p.m. Don't miss this holiday event at Coachman Park in downtown Clearwater. Also Clearwater Beach Rec Center will host its annual fishing tournament for youngsters ages 6-12 on July 17th from 11 a.m. to noon. Prizes and awards will be available to winners of largest fish, etc. Call the Clearwater Beach Rec Center for more information. Largo Celebrates July 4th - City of Largo will host its annual July 4th fireworks at Largo Central Park at 9 p.m. Music, concessions, and other activities will begin at 7 p.m. Also don't miss "riding the train" at Largo's Central Park the first full weekend of every month from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free rides. Indian Rocks Beach In Trouble – During the past year the Clearwater Gazette published several articles referring to potential financial troubles at Indian Rocks Beach City Hall. Now that the current elected officials are admitting to financial losses at IRB, one can only wonder how this fact was not known by previous city administrators. Blame? That’s the least of IRB’s problems. The real problem is finding the money to cover financial shortfalls. Nancy Bostock – Nancy Bostock is unopposed in the August GOP primary for a Pinellas County Commission seat. Bostock is a former Pinellas County School Board member and favorite to win the County Commission seat. Devil Rays In First Place – Boston Red Sox fans thought that their team, the Red Sox, would sweep the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the current 3-game series and reclaim first-place. Didn’t happen. Tampa Bay won game one of the series 5-4 and is 1-1/2 games ahead of Boston. Go Rays – Beat the Sox! Who Owns My Mortgage? - There was an interesting article written that responded to the question: Who owns my mortgage? The answer was not as simple as one might have imagined. The writer stated that the financial lending institution that made the mortgage most likely did not currently own the mortgage, but might just be servicing the loan. The original mortgage loan could have been sold (transferred) to another lending institution due to many business reasons and might also be a part of a "trust" of packaged loans owned by several financial companies (not just one lender.) Therefore, when contemplating to negotiate better mortgage terms with your "bank," you might be surprised to learn that the actual mortgage owner is some company that you do not know. The solution? Talk to your banker or service company to learn more about who is the actual mortgage holder of your home loan. If you do not receive timely input, talk to a real estate lawyer who understands more about how these loans are packaged and transferred. Price Of Lunch With Warren Buffett? - $2.1 million. That was the winning price paid by a Chinese investment fund manager on e-bay to a charity in San Francisco, California. Mr. Zhao is expected to invite up to seven guests as a part of this winning bid to have lunch in New York with billionaire investment guru Warren Buffett. Will the lunch be worth the $2.1 million? (Imagine the value of just one stock pick from Warren Buffett!) Spain Beats Germany To Win European Cup - Soccer fans from around the world enjoyed the European Soccer Cup final between Spain and Germany last Sunday. Spain won by a score of 1-0. Hero of the game for Spain was a young striker named Fernando Torres who scored the only goal. Of course, it was the same Torres who earlier in the game narrowly missed a goal by hitting the goal post on a header. Spain reflected a better offense while Germany, as expected, played a strong defense. According to German star Michael Ballock, "They outplayed us." Spain had not won this coveted Soccer Cup for 44 years. Gone With The Wind - This week in 1936 Gone With The Wind, written by Margaret Mitchell, was published. This book about life in the south during the Civil War became an immediate best seller to which Mitchell was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1937. Mitchell was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1900 and spent several years, 1922-1926, as a reporter and writer for the Atlanta Journal newspaper while working on her book about the south during our nation's great civil war. Later a movie was made about the awarding-winning book starring Vivian Leigh and Clark Gable. Obama Supporter Questions Tax Increase Comments - During a political campaign it is not unusual for candidates to flip-flop on opinions about their plans for a better America. Both Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain have flip-flopped on political issues depending upon the direction of voter polls. However, one thing is clear: Sen. Obama plans to increase taxes. He has said such during his campaign and stands behind increasing taxes. McCain, on the other hand, has stated he would hold or lower taxes - - much like former President Ronald Reagan did when he was elected President. Nevertheless, one supporter of Obama replied that the tax increase proposed by Sen. Obama is a tax increase targeted for people that make over $250,000 a year, lower taxpayers would not have such a high tax bracket. All of which is true. However, that is not the manner in which former President Reagan helped to spur our nation's economy during his presidency (and after.) It is possible that tax increases proposed by Sen. Obama may not hurt the lowest tax bracket earners; however, Sen. Obama plans to increase taxes for average and higher wage earners. Strangely enough, there is always a non-profit enterprise that receives funding to perform studies to support or deny certain financial statistics proclaimed by political candidates. Readers will notice many television ads used by both presidential candidates in the next months paid for by special interest groups using names like "Americans For Truth" or "Honest Americans Speak" using statistics and poll results that differ from other “independent” studies. GOP Amnesty Supporter Loses To Newcomer - Pro-amnesty Rep. Chris Cannon (R-Utah) lost the GOP primary race to GOP political newcomer Jason Chaffetz. One issue separated the candidates: amnesty for illegal immigrants. Republican voters ousted Cannon and supported Chaffetz by a 60 percent to 40 percent margin. How important are issues such as amnesty, higher taxes, security in America, social security, healthcare and protection of our nation's borders? Rep. Chris Cannon now knows how Republicans feel about amnesty. |