FlaNative's Blog

Looks like maybe, just maybe, New Orleans has learned their lesson!!  Maybe they figured out the need to evacuate early!!  Maybe, just maybe, they learned THEY are responsible for the first 3 days after a disaster, because everyone knows and has always been told it will take FEMA that long to arrive (you can't stage rescue supplies and equipment in the anticipate disaster area)!!!!!

It seems their new govenor has taken charge and is trying to do things right.  I hope I'm right and whereever it hits, everyone will be ok.

 

First, let me be very clear.  I believe Casey knows a lot more than she is saying about her daughter and may be responsible for her death.

That said, what the police did with 6 cars showing up at the house to arrest her on a bad check charge  they have known about for several weeks is nothing less than grandstanding for the media.

They knew where she was.  Her attorney offered to turn her in.   I'm really beginning to wonder if these cops are competent. or have just been caught up in the media frenzy!  They knew the people outside would love to see Casey "taken away" in handcuffs.  They knew the media would eat it up.  So what exactly is their agenda???

Please delete my last post concerning Ms Thompson.  Didn't realize she had two posts with same subject.

Once again, the Democrats are backtracking, now saying they will give Fla and Mich FULL voting at the convention!!!

So, does that mean Fla will vote for Hillary?  What about Mich?  If both states vote for Hillary, does she have enough votes to win, or has there been a backroom deal where they are ONLY given their rights IF they vote for NoBama????

First, they deny the candidate with the popular vote the nomination (although it was wrong for Bush to win against Gore without the popular vote according to them).  Now, they are going back on their word about penalizing Fla and Mich.

What will they lie about next???

13 of 24 Road Rangers were given pink slips this week, effective mid Sept due to budget cuts.

You may have never used them,  but they have probably helped you.  When you DIDN'T hit that retread left in the middle lane of I-4 in the dark, it's probably because a Road Ranger had already cleared it.  When you DIDN'T hit that traffic backup on I-4, maybe it was because the Road Rangers had been on the scene helping clear the scene and direct traffic before you got there.

Road Rangers are in a way, like cops or firemen....you seldom think about them until you need them!!!

So next time you have to go out of town and the wife breaks down on I-4, and AAA has a 2 hour wait, think about how much safer she would have been had a Road Ranger been nearby to help!!

 

 

Well, looks like we are about to be bombarded with the coverage of the Democratic Convention next week. 

You know. the SAME DEMOCRATS that cried, whined and complained about Bush winning the election although Gore had won the "popular" vote.

So, my question is....Hillary won the popular vote during the Democratic nomination, but Barrak is the nominee.  Why hasn't there been the SAME OUTRAGE????  Where are the leaders of the DNC on the nightly news saying the election was STOLEN from Hillary?  Why no slogans of Barrack cheating his way into the nomination????

If (and that's a BIG "IF") the DNC had ONE OUNCE of integrity (yea, that's gonna happen) they would select Hillary as the nominee of the party!!!!!

 

 

Yet ANOTHER bad cop!!!  Yes, I know there are a lot of good cops...but there seems to be a lot of bad one lately!!!  My question is WHY???  Lack of good backgroud checks?  The "brotherhood" which does not allow cops to turn in bad cops until it's gone so far it's in the media?  Or are they just catching more of those that have been there all along?

This guy is GROWING marijuana, giving names of an undercover detective to his criminal group, putting lives in danger!!!!

What do you think?  Why all these cop arrests lately?

 

Nineteen people, including one police officer, have been arrested in a drug bust in Polk County, deputies from the Sheriff's Office said today.

Lake Wales Police Officer Keenan Colson, 50, of Bartow, was among those arrested in the investigation into the county's marijuana-distribution networks. Colson, who was arrested and fired today, was identified as an information source for Clayton Hoerler, a key player in distribution scene, deputies said. He and William "Big June" Cade, the boss of a "tight-knit" criminal group in Polk County, also were arrested this week, deputies said.

The multi-agency investigation known as "Operation Cast Cade" began last December, and detectives started listening to Hoerler's cell phone conversations in May. In one conversation, Colson allegedly gave Hoerler the name of an undercover detective who was monitoring the case. At one point, Hoerler promised to buy Colson's dinner to thank him for his help.

From May to August, deputies used wire taps and surveillance to gather evidence leading to the arrest of several people in connection with the drug transactions.

On Monday, detectives searched Cade's Haines City residence and found 35 cannabis plants, $2,000, and six firearms, including an AK-47 assault rifle Cade referred to as the "chopper." He and several of his associates were arrested.

The investigation led detectives to $60,000 and 20 pounds of marijuana.

Detectives said Cade considered himself part of the "gangsta" criminal culture. He told detectives that he had been in the drug trade since age 16 and that "dealing was all he knew how to do," a report shows.

Cade idolized the Al Pacino character in Scarface, they said. He had a large portrait of the fictional drug kingpin in his home. Five marijuana growing locations were also closed.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orl-polk-
drug-bust081308,0,1585597.story

Little Leage Championships are back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   I watched a regional game on ESPN Saturday night....11 innings between Ohio and Indiana!!  WHAT A GAME!!!  One kid had broken his nose in 4 places the night before on a bad hop while playing 2nd base, had found a face guard to wear the next night, and was out there playing!!  You think a major league player would ever do that??????

The Little League World Series will start this weekend.  The South is represented by a team from Tampa, FL (my hometown). 

If you want to watch REAL baseball and a refreshing look at the youth of today, check out a few games!!!

 

 

Why I'm Voting Democrat
 
I'm voting Democrat because I believe the government will do a better
job of spending the money I earn than I would.
 
I'm voting Democrat because freedom of speech is fine as long as nobody
is offended by it.
 
I'm voting Democrat because when we pull out of Iraq I trust that the
bad guys will stop what they're doing because they now think we're good
people.
 
I'm voting Democrat because I believe that people who can't tell us if
it will rain on Friday CAN tell us that the polar ice caps will melt
away in ten years if I don't start driving a Prius.
 
I'm voting Democrat because I'm not concerned about the slaughter of
millions of babies so long as we keep all death row inmates alive.
 
I'm voting Democrat because I believe that business should not be
allowed to make profits for themselves. They need to break even and give
the rest away to the government for redistribution as THEY see fit.
 
I'm voting Democrat because I believe three or four pointy headed
elitist liberals need to rewrite the Constitution every few days to suit
some fringe kooks who would NEVER get their agendas past the voters.
 
I'm voting Democrat because I believe that when the terrorists don't
have to hide from us over there, when they come over here I don't want
to have any guns in the house to fight them off with.
 
I'm voting Democrat because I love the fact that I can now marry
whatever I want. I've decided to marry my horse.
 
I'm voting Democrat because I believe oil companies' profits of 4% on a
gallon of gas are obscene but the government taxing the same gallon of
gas at 15% isn't.
 
I'm voting Democrat because I believe $4 a gallon for an abundant
resource is plenty low enough.
 
 

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the Republicans PREDICT higher unemployment if the minimum wage was raised???   In Florida, didn't the Republicans PREDICT higher than national average unemployment if voters approved a 1 dollar above the minimum wage increase, that passed????

So now, unemployment has increased (some the typical summer increase), and everyone wants to blame Bush!!!!!

Why have FOX, CNN, MSNBC, etc reported this???  The Republicans once again were correct...the Dems once again are trying to blame Reps for something THEY caused!!

 

Miami is now testing the "pay as you go" (also called Lexus Lanes) on I-95 and, if successful, I-4 may be next!!  Exceptions for paying the tolls include buses, motorcycles (I like that) hybrid cars and "registered" carpools of at least 3 people (how do you enforce that???) 

So, would you pay to use  the "Lexus Lane"?  Do you really think it would be faster?  After all, it would only take one people to slow it down for everyone!  Didn't MY tax dollars pay for that lane, yet now that want to charge me AGAIN to use it?

 

MIAMI - Pay-as-you-go express lanes may be coming to Florida's gridlocked highways if a $278 million transportation experiment works here.

It's a big if.

Crews have installed seven miles of slender, 42-inch poles to create two new High Occupancy Toll lanes on northbound Interstate 95 in Miami. The state's plan is eventually to create a 21-mile Miami-to-Fort Lauderdale zone that will give drivers who are willing to pay for it a 50-mph commute on a traffic-jammed highway that carries 280,000 motorists a day.

But even before the first toll is imposed, Miami's notoriously impatient and aggressive drivers are veering in and out of the new lanes like Olympic skiers on a slalom course.

On the first day, accidents tripled. Tie-ups and tempers flared. Dozens of the 1,700 skinny "candlestick" barriers that separate the inner two HOT lanes from four local lanes were mowed down like blades of grass. Hundreds more of the white pop-up poles, set 20 feet apart, were scuffed and nicked by drivers who jumped into the express lanes to avoid congestion or jumped out to get to their exit.

"What were they thinking?" said Jesus Urdaneta, a banker from Venezuela. "This might work in the Midwest or the Northeast but not in Miami."

Similar "congestion-priced" express lanes, sarcastically called "Lexus Lanes" by critics, are popular in states such as California, Minnesota and Colorado. Miami's will be the first in the Sunshine State. Tolls, deducted electronically by SunPass, may vary from 25 cents to $2.50 for the initial seven miles, rising and falling with traffic volume.

And if they work here, look for HOT lanes all over the state, including on Interstate 4, Central Florida's most congested road.

"That's why there is so much pressure for us to be a success," said Debora Rivera, manager of the Department of Transportation's 95 Express project. "We would have the ability to offer this option to folks in other parts of the state as an efficient congestion-relief strategy. Orlando could very well be a prime market."

But without enforcement, patience and a quick way to clear accidents, success is not a given.

Miami drivers are legendary for treating stop signs and red lights as optional. They use emergency lanes to pass slowpokes who dare to do the speed limit. They have well-callused palms -- from incessant horn-honking.

The question is not just whether they'll dig into their pockets to kiss gridlock goodbye. It's also whether they'll stay in the HOT lanes until one of the few authorized exits or entrances comes up -- or simply drive over the candlesticks to join the fastest-moving traffic.

That's what happened when the lanes opened earlier this month. The first day, accidents tripled, to 18, as drivers trapped in bumper-to-bumper traffic dove into the fast lanes. When accidents jammed the HOT lanes, motorists migrated back to the local lanes.

And that was without tolls, which will start later this summer.

"It's going to be a challenge to prevent people from lane-diving," acknowledged Pat Santangelo, a spokesman for the Florida Highway Patrol. "I don't know how you control that -- especially when the tolls start. People are going to jump out of the lanes as they approach a toll gantry and jump back in after."

New and better signage has since returned the accident rate to normal. And more of the poles, one every 10 feet, will be added. That should make it almost impossible to dart between the tubes, though determined drivers can still mow them down.

That poses a considerable challenge to the Highway Patrol, which now has just two troopers patrolling I-95 in Miami-Dade. DOT plans to pay three more troopers overtime just to hunt car-pool cheaters.

Registered carpools of at least three people can use the HOT lanes for free; so, too, can drivers of hybrid cars, motorcycles and buses. Trucks are not allowed.

Southbound HOT lanes will be added next year, and the concept will be extended north into Broward County in 2010-11. Like the initial HOT lanes, the others will be created by narrowing existing traffic and emergency lanes and combining that space with an underused carpool lane, known as the High Occupancy Vehicle, or HOV lane.

That's why engineers resorted to the "candlesticks" -- there isn't enough room to erect a permanent barrier to wall off the HOT lanes from lane-divers.

Still, Santangelo said, the express lanes are an "ingenious" idea, enabling officials to add capacity, reduce congestion and encourage carpooling at a fraction of the cost of widening the road.

"Let's hope it works, but it will be entertaining. Very entertaining," said Jim Murley, an urban planner who often commutes from Miami Shores to Broward. "Success will all depend on enforcement -- and what we can get away with."

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/state/orl
-lexuslane2108jul22,0,4364741.story

Seems where there is smoke, there is fire.  Apparently Fox reported the ref already caught made over 130 phone calls, mostly immediately before or after games HE betted on, to another ref!!!!

So, why didn't the NBA do a complete investigation last year?  Were they covering up, knowing there was more than one "rogue" ref?  Do you trust the NBA or the refs??

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2008Jul14/0,4670,BKNDo
naghyCalls,00.html

 

At the TAXPAYER expense, Tim Mahoney, D-Palm Beach Gardens, sent our flyers this 4th of July with a picture of a veteran wearing his medals  on the front.  Problem is, it was a SOVIET RED ARMY SOLDIER!!!   Maybe the Dems need to figure out which military they support!!

"Is a taxpayer-funded mail piece featuring a Soviet veteran who defended communism really the way that Congressman Mahoney wants to 'honor' our men and women in uniform?" Greer stated. "Floridian's hard-earned tax dollars should never be used to promote a communist veteran, whether it is a mistake or not, and it is time for Tim Mahoney to reimburse the taxpayers of Congressional District 16 for this ridiculous waste of money, not to mention his insensitivity and complete lack of understanding of veterans' issues."

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/jul/02/mahoneys
-office-apologizes-for-using-soviet-on/

Watching the news this morning, I heard Heidi talk about those flooded out by rising waters of the Mississippi River wouLD rebuild, with Federal assistance!!!

How many times have you heard this??  The Mississppi floods its banks, people lose their homes, the gov't bails them out, and they REBUILD IN THE SAME PLACE!!!!

Seems it happens every 10 years or so.  Sorry, if you rebuild next to the Mississippi we (taxpayers) should not bail you out time and again!!  Isn't that what flood insurance is for??

OK, I've never been accused of being the sharpest knife in the drawer, but I have a little bit of sense.  Does Obama support the decision or not???

I thought "Wild" Bill was bad about leading by opinion poll, but he seems to have had nothing compared to Obama!!

Obama said he has "always believed that the 2nd Amendment protects the right of individuals to bear arms, but I also identify with the need for crime-ravaged communities to save their children from the violence that plagues our streets through common-sense, effective safety measures."