The Way I See ItBy cj pollickOne Way Streets Possible on South Beach - With the imminent opening of the Hyatt parking garage on south Clearwater Beach, Hamden and Coronado stand a very good chance of becoming one way. Hamden would be one way northbound while Coronado would be one way southbound. This conversation will probably take place at a city council meeting this month. Boat Race Weekend - For the many thousands of people that enjoy high-speed offshore boat racing, Clearwater will host an offshore high performance boat race this weekend. Entrants will begin bringing their racing boats to Clearwater on Thursday with the actual offshore race on Sunday. Interested people should visit Coachman Park in downtown Clearwater to observe many of the boats and racing teams on Friday and Saturday. Don't miss the fun and action of offshore racing - Clearwater Beach is the place to be on Sunday. Yes, this is similar to offshore racing found at Sarasota. Secede From Clearwater? - Clearwater Island communities of Sand Key, Clearwater Beach and Island Estates are trying to secede from the City of Clearwater and form their own small community, much like Belleair Beach, Indian Rocks Beach, etc. The task to form a new city is difficult since it includes several major hurdles. Those hurdles include such things as obtaining legislative support, voter support and financial support. However, the group of citizens that support this move has not relented to major obstacles. Those citizens are continuing to press forward with the goal of an independent city that will better serve their needs. New city of Clearwater Beach? Time will tell. Social Security In Trouble - If you receive Social Security checks or plan to receive Social Security checks in the near future, you must follow what is happening with the now defunct social security system in Washington. The nation's Social Security program will have multi-billion dollar deficits the next few years. That means our government must take funds from non-Social Security fund collections to fund current Social Security requirements/payments. Social Security taxes alone will not provide enough funds to meet current retiree demands. Where might federal officials obtain this money? With all of the discussion in Washington about creating a one-payer federal health plan, it makes you wonder why organizations such as AARP and others are not more worried about stabilizing our troubled Social Security system. If you are under Social Security or plan to be under Social Security in the next year or two, you should be concerned about the financial solvency of the current program. If Medicare has large financial problems, and Social Security Trust Fund has large financial problems -- two large government run programs -- why should we citizens believe another large government run healthcare program would not have the same financial problems. Perhaps that is why the majority of Americans do not support another government run program. No trust. Co-ed College Dorms - For those of us who attended college pre-1970's, dormitories still had dormitory "supervisors" who managed the activities of resident students. Both men and women dormitories had visiting hours, usually in the main lobby, and the dorm doors were locked after a certain hour, such as midnight. Fraternity "houses," however, had more lenient housing rules--hence, an appeal to pledges. Dormitory life changed in the 1970's for many college students and now there seems to be a new problem: roommate privacy rights. At Tufts University they resolved the issue of unhappy roommates (due to roommates in-room sexual activities) by supporting a new college dormitory policy. The Tufts policy? No sex in dorm room while other roommate is present. No sex activities that interferes with roommate's privacy. Now, that should solve the problem at Tufts. School Children Singing Songs Of Praise To Barack Obama? - It seems as though only Fox News has followed the story of young US public school children being taught songs of praise to Barack Obama. (See Fox News to review the full story.) Why did other news organizations avoid this story? Imagine if this story had happened under President Bush? Singing praises to the President by young school children is not a big deal; however, it is something every other President has avoided (for obvious political reasons.) Why? It reminds us of how other nations under a dictator force/mandate young children to sing songs of praise to their leader, such as Muanmar Gaddafi. Of course, when you recently heard Muanmar Gaddafi speak at the UN about why he believes Barack Obama should be President of the US "for life," some of these "songs" become disturbing. Even though President Obama did not request the singing of songs in public schools in support of him, most every other President would have immediately made a statement asking others to not follow that lead. The teacher who created that political atmosphere in the school? Time will tell if the school district handles the issue and the teacher. It Is The Economy, Stupid! - Those immortal words stated by a political consultant led to the downfall of former President Bush. The same words are being echoed by many Americans in just about every nook and cranny across this great nation. The nation's economy is bad and not getting better any time soon. Blame? Usually blame goes to those elected folks running the country. Since 2006 Congressional Democrats have been in charge of our nation's economy and spending habits in Washington. Money has been printed and spent in Washington at record levels and our federal deficit has reached record highs. The nation's economy is bad and there are economists who say that our economy has not hit bottom. Commercial property debt and credit card debt has not fully hit our large lenders and many small and regional banks are still in financial trouble. Over 400 banks are predicted to fail in 2009 (more than 400 bank failures are expected in 2010.) Much like the political consultant said during the Bush presidency, forget all other issues, "It' the economy, stupid." USF Won, But Unranked - USF won an important game against a ranked FSU in Tallahassee last weekend, but remains unranked in college football polls. Yes, USF is undefeated, but has only one major win this season (against a ranked FSU.) However, the same was true for Penn State, who lost to Iowa last weekend in its first true major game test ... and somehow remains ranked, even with the home-field advantage. Perhaps a win by USF against Syracuse this Saturday will help. Of course, and even though the Syracuse game is important, the following week USF will host highly ranked Cincinnati. And yes, Cincinnati is a very good team and predicted to win the Big East. Sell-out at Raymond James Stadium for the Cincinnati game? Tampa Bay fans will fill surely the stadium and show support for their USF BULLS. BULLS vs. CINCINNATI. Get your tickets by going online at the USF BULL website. Big East football at its best, go BULLS. Bret Favre At Age 40 - Let's face it. Bret Favre could care less if sports writers refer to him as "over the hill," "should have stayed retired," or any other string of unfavorable words. Bottom line on Bret Favre is that he is a future Hall of Famer who could be one of the best quarterbacks … ever. Minnesota fans saw "fantastic" Bret in action last Sunday. The winning touchdown pass was incredible and, yes, just like Bret Favre at age 25 (40.) "If a man yells 'You Lie' in a room full of politicians, how do they know who he's talking about?" |