The Way I See ItBy cj pollickSpyglass Hotel Is Gone – Whenever a multistory hotel is destined for implosion, movie-makers and Hollywood types use the occasion for personal/corporate gain. It’s a big deal, they say. So went the Spyglass Hotel on Clearwater Beach at 10 p.m. Wednesday. Now, if only new highrise hotels will be build on Clearwater Beach, as the private developers had stated. Here One Day, Gone The Next - Gone is the Sunny Motel on the corner of Coronado and Hamden on Clearwater Beach. The motel was knocked down and hauled away this week. Belleair Beach Adds New Signs – The City of Belleair Beach has added new street signs to all streets, the new signs are blue with a sea-shell motif. Largo Fire Inspections – If you run a business in Largo, you know that you will have a “Fire Department Inspection” at a fee of $35. Yes, the $35 inspection fee applies to every business in Largo. Imagine a highrise office building with, say 100 tenants, $3,500 fee from just one office complex . . . times all city-wide businesses. Another local fee (tax)! More Bank Failures - Two more banks failed last week and were taken over by the FDIC - - banking experts believe more bank failures will follow before year-end. Problem banks are not the only industry experiencing financial problems, last week Bennigan's and Steak & Ale filed for bankruptcy and more restaurant failures are likely to follow. Merrill Lynch has large financial problems as well as many other financial service companies. The price of oil remains high, the U.S. dollar is dropping in value and the price of gold is dropping, yet, with all of these huge financial problems Democrat leaders in Congress plan to increase personal income taxes. Republic Of Congo - In the Republic of Congo it has been estimated that 5.4 million people have been killed in local wars since 1998. The UN peacekeeping corps can't maintain the peace. Recently over 2,000 women in North Kivu, Congo, were raped as a part of tribal retribution. However, many more hundreds of rape cases have gone unreported, explained recent news reports from the Congo. It makes you wonder why there is not more support from the UN to help stop all of the massive killing in that small area of the world. 5.4 million people dead and many citizens of America do not even know about this massive problem in Africa! Why is the media concealing this enormous issue? Surely those innocent people need help, where is the outcry from the UN and other African nations? There are more people being killed in Africa than in any other place in the world. The Liberal Media Has Crowned Sen. Barack Obama King Of America - If you follow local and national newspaper/television coverage of the U.S. presidential election, Sen. John McCain does not exist. There is only one presidential candidate, Sen. Obama (D-ILL). In fact, the manner in which Sen. Obama is trying to acquire worldwide support, such as in Germany, one might think he was already president. Voters in America, on the other hand, will ultimately decide who will become our next president, not the voters in Germany, Iran, Saudi Arabia or Russia. With Sen. Obama stating he will increase taxes, do nothing about illegal immigration, do nothing to help define marriage (as between a man and a woman), create a huge federal bureaucracy for "national" healthcare (albeit Hillary's plan), increase taxes to American businesses, increase capital gains taxes, increase estate (death) taxes, appoint liberal judges to the bench, etc., etc., you can understand why liberals for the news media would like this candidate. As the most liberal voter in the U.S. Senate, second to none; Sen. Obama will, if elected president, lead our nation to the left (liberal) on most every important political and social issue. Perhaps that is where most Americans would like to shift, to the left of center. The GOP? They did little to obtain the respect of voters while in control of Congress. Now that Democrats are in control of Congress; it has, and this is amazing, remained in the same shape as with Republican leadership. Nothing has changed. However, support of this Democrat-led Congress is at an all-time low. Incumbent Democrats and Republicans in Congress could easily be kicked-out of office by voters in November and, why not? Amazingly, our choices in November are a political newcomer who has a strong liberal voting record in the Senate (Sen. Obama) and an aging politician (Sen. McCain) who has not decided if he is a Republican or an Independent (much like his good friend Sen. Joe Lieberman.) Yes, it is interesting to see that Sen. Obama has "movie-star" support in Germany, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the Middle East, but is that a good thing for us Americans? San Francisco, The Liberal Land Of Speaker Nancy Pelosi – U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R- Col.) finds it hard to believe U.S. Speaker Nancy Pelosi's home territory of San Francisco is allowed to continue as a sanctuary city for illegal immigrants. A recent event involving a previously convicted illegal immigrant killing three innocent people in San Francisco has caused Rep. Tancredo to ask for federal intervention in the trial of the illegal killer. Can't trust the liberal court system in San Francisco, states Rep. Tancredo. When illegal Edwin Ramos was caught in traffic and angered, he took-out his frustrations on a group of innocent passengers in another car by taking out an AK-47 and killing a father and two sons. Ramos was caught and awaits trial. Edwin Ramos had been living in San Francisco due to their open-arms policy to illegals. Ramos had also been arrested three times and convicted twice of felonies -- released, pending deportation (which never happened.) Ramos is proudly a member of a gang called Mara Salvatrucha. San Francisco's mayor, who has openly defied federal authorities by supporting sanctuary to illegals, is avoiding comment on the recent killings of innocent San Francisco citizens by an illegal with a prior criminal history. More sanctuary for illegals in various places throughout America? When things go wrong, such as in San Francisco, perhaps the city (taxpayers) should be liable for punitive financial damages to the remaining family members of the three people killed (due to intentionally breaking federal law.) One or two large financial settlements might cause taxpayers (voters) to rethink how their city leaders are handling (supporting) illegals. Further, it was recently noted that California universities (and others) have been allowing illegal immigrants to attend their universities subsidized by state and federal funds - billions of taxpayer dollars have already been spent on illegals. One group of Americans who became aware of this illegal use of U.S. taxpayer funds are suing. The estimated value of U.S. funds spent on illegal education? Billions of U.S. dollars. Imagine if California loses this court case! |