11/30/2001
I was charmed and quietly proud to find the concrete 'gators of Christmas included among the distinguished tourist attractions featured by roadsideamerica.com.
Your Legislature in Action -- If you'e busted by the cops, simply have the police force disbanded. It may not work, but it sure will teach them a lesson about enforcing the law on the wrong people.
11/28/2001
See, it's not just Florida. California can still came close to us for screwy post-election stories. At least we didn't have Ballot box parts floating off shore. Or, at least, none that I know of.
11/27/2001
I've seen people get all territorial when fishing but this is the first fishing rage story I've come across. Man killed in fight over a fishing spot on a bridge.
11/26/2001
I know we should expect extraordinary security measures at airports. But a tank? Even that won't stop passengers in Miami from cramming oversized carry-ons into the overhead bins.
Oh, it's just a brief but I like the headline. Overdue recognition.
11/21/2001
In these ever-so-sensitive times there is something almost, well, refreshing, about Florida House Speaker Tom Feeney's up-front, you-got-a-problem-with-a-guy-making-a-living? unapologetic rent-a-speaker business. Editorialists, however, view with alarm and dismay.
11/20/2001
Where are the cheesy Florida roadside attractions of yesteryear? The writer of Unknown Florida knows. He appreciates The Presidents Hall of Fame wax museum (near the fabled Citrus Tower), recalls Museum of Tragedy in American History, and mourns Marineland.
11/19/2001
Urban sprawl. One day you're driving past a cow pasture; the next, it's a gated community, shopping center and Seven-11 and everyone's complaining about the county doing controlled burns, and what's that other smell, anyway? Here's an all-purpose rural sign courtesy of Myakka.net. No, I won't tell you where Myakka is. It would only encourage the wrong kind of visitor.
(It is, however, the home of Myakka fine sand, Florida's official state soil. That's, well, one fine sand.)
(It is, however, the home of Myakka fine sand, Florida's official state soil. That's, well, one fine sand.)
11/17/2001
Oh, there's a lot of swirling political spin in it and nobody seems to know who puts it out, but I do enjoy The Grapefruit.
He or she is a Republican and doesn't like Charlie Crist. That hardly narrows down authorship.
He or she is a Republican and doesn't like Charlie Crist. That hardly narrows down authorship.
Usually the only politicking at the Florida-Florida state game is in the president's box, but this year, the game is where a petition drive is kicking off to protect Florida's colleges from intereference from the partisans, moralists and yahoos of the Legislature. Get your copy here. (PDF)
11/16/2001
For the Florida policy wonk, there is no reading like The Florida Tax Handbook. The slender paperback published each year by the Legislature lists all 300-plus exemptions to the sales tax one by one. The ostrich-feed tax exemption, the fill-dirt exemption, the �fuels used to heat poultry structures� exemption, the Super Bowl ticket exemption . . . each is there along with the date when some lobbyist earned his keep and got it in the statute book. Sale of spaceships and satellites are also sales-tax free. Maybe the Ferengi will set up shop. For some reason sales of human organs are free of sales tax, too.
Looking for a link? Surely, you jest. We�re lucky it�s still a public document.
Looking for a link? Surely, you jest. We�re lucky it�s still a public document.
Our Legislature -- can't fund schools, can't make the budget balance, but they sure know how to jump into star-spangled micromanagement of every homeroom in the state. Thank you, Frank Cerbino for a cool column on your legislators in action during the past disastrous special session.
Won't somebody who can draw please save us from the dreary Florida quarter designs now being proposed! I'd like to see a smiling sun (with Ray-Bans), Weeki Wachee water skiiers in a human pyramid, Bok Tower, flamingos, jumping marlins and inner-tube boats offshore. Busy but do-able. Here's the worksheet from the Gov's office in pdf
