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FAA needs an upgrade

Earlier this week, there was a scare in the skies that reminds many people of the situation that happened on one infamous day in 2001.  Flights all across the north east, reaching as far west as O’Hare in Chicago, were affected when the FAA was forced to ground hundreds of flights, due to a cascade of computer problems.  The systems that failed were absolutely crucial to safety and function, and with them unable to function as they were designed, there was a very high risk for catastrophic events.  The problem simply highlighted the FAA’s need for an overhaul to prevent disaster.

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Florida retirement community has no ethics

Ugh! The more I listen to the news here in Florida, the more I wonder why I turned it on in the first place. We certainly do have some crazy stuff going on around here, ranging from children being dumped in trash cans only to be found states away, to children being kicked out of their homes because of their age.

It’s a crazy world that we live in people! Just take a good, hard look at Florida if you ever need a reminder.

Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look at the case of 6-year-old Kimberly Broffman.
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Fired for marrying the wrong person

Growing up we’re all conditioned to believe that someone, someday, will come along and take your breath away.  When this happens, love will show you new things you’ve never thought about and turn you into a new person, giving you grand new experiences and adding to the list of things people try to accomplish in a short life span.  In essence, marriage and love will change your life.

Most of the time that change isn’t being fired from your job. But such is the case in Fort Myers Beach when they fired one Scott Janke.

The Fort Myers Beach official was fired for a simple wrongdoing: marrying an adult film star, Anabela Mota Janke (stage name Jazella Moore) last October. When the Mayor and town council caught wind of the couple’s wedlock, Scott Janke was subsequently fired hours later.  The council even came out and said Mr. Janke did great work and had shown tremendous character and there were never problems, but that his marriage to a porn actress would impair his ability to function at his job.

It obviously didn’t affect his performance from the wedding to the date of his firing.

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Fearing free speech: The American way

Years ago, I used to listen to a radio “Shock Jock,” as they were called, named Bubba the Love Sponge.  His show was probably the most entertaining way to spend the morning drive anywhere in Central Florida, and even in other states where his show was syndicated.  It was borderline crude and blessed with gratuitous amounts of controversial topics, often skirting the line best displayed by cable TV and HBO.  It was refreshing in its own way.  All the things that may or may not have been important were discussed, but they were talked about in a way that made sense and at least made you think a little about a topic, sometimes making a listener more interested in something thought to be obscenely boring at first.

Then some pitchfork wielding soccer mom brigade accidentally flipped on the radio and listened to the show for a minute, and to their horror, their teenage children enjoyed the show.  And of course, no good parent would ever dream of letting their child think for themselves or find interest in anything that was not written on the 30-year plan set forth at birth by the parents for him to go to med school, marry a nice Catholic girl and live in the house next door with a white picket fence.  

God forbid the kid show interest in anything that delved into the moral gray area between normal people and the zealots that follow faith with blinders.

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Fresh look at Ann Coulter’s “Godless”

This is my second Coulter book, and, not surprisingly, I find myself again both entertained and amused by what I’ve read. The titles alone for her chapters, such as “The Passion of the Liberal: Thou Shalt Not Punish the Perp,” “The Creation Myth: On the Sixth Day, God Created Fruit Flies,” and “The Scientific Method of Stoning and Burning,” are interesting and witty. (No wonder the woman’s a lawyer.)

Essentially, Godless: The Church of Liberalism, is one giant argument against the concept of “American liberalism,” something Coulter considers without any scientific or factual basis whatsoever, and even goes so far as to call it a “primitive religion.” She bases this idea on how she sees liberalism in America possessing many characteristics that define religions around the world. She says that it has “its own cosmology, its own miracles, its own beliefs in the supernatural, its own churches, its own high priests, its own saints…” and so on. Basically, Coulter sees this “faith” as something like nature being god and men being apes, or monkeys.

In my opinion, a lot of what she has to say, what she uses to back up her argument here, makes sense.

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Food for the Fourth

Today is the Fourth of July, and that means it’s time to get that grill ready for some good ole American barbecue. Arguably, the best part of this day’s celebration is the food. (Forget the fireworks, the celebration of America’s independence and spending time with family and friends!)

Food can make or break any get-together. I can’t really help you if you think you’ll mess up the hamburgers or grilled chicken. Meat is not my thing. But, there are some incredible summertime recipes that will go great with whatever you’re making for your Fourth of July meal.

Here are a few of the best recipes that I’ve picked up along the way. They’ll go great with hamburgers, hot dogs, barbecue or soy burgers. Enjoy!!

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Fed court rules ‘cyber bullying O.K.’

We’ve reached an all new low: allowing a 50-year-old to manipulate children into wanting to kill themselves. The next time you want to create a fake MySpace page and harass someone to the point where they want to kill themselves, you can rest assured that you will not be persecuted at all. You can go ahead and violate the terms and conditions all you want.

Think back to 2006, when eighth-grader, Megan Meier, committed suicide after receiving harassing MySpace messages from, who she thought was, a peer. This case brought cyber bullying to a new level. Meier’s ex-friend’s mother, Lori Drew, created a MySpace page pretending to be a 16-year-old boy who lived nearby named Josh Evans. Meier quickly became friends with “Evans,” and the two would talk online daily.

After a few weeks of talking back and forth, Meier received an e-mail from “Evans” saying, “‘I don’t know if I want to be friends with you any longer because I hear you’re not nice to your friends.”

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FDA steps in on homeopathic nightmare

Could the homeopathic drugs you’re taking actually be hurting you?

Well, apparently they can.

Take, for example, the beloved cure-all Zicam. On Tuesday, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) told Zicam to stop marketing two of its products. The reason behind the demand is that hundreds of people have filed lawsuits claiming that these products have caused them to lose their sense of smell.

The two products in question are Zicam Cold Remedy Nasal Gel and Nasal Swabs. According to the Associated Press (AP), the FDA plans to test the safety of these two drugs before they’re allowed back on the market… if they’re ever allowed back on the market.

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Friendly North Korea: A joy to Americans

Looking for a summer vacation getaway? Let me suggest the beautiful, friendly North Korea, a.k.a. the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). There you can visit the beautiful Tumen River, which shares a border with Russia in the northeast, or swim through the Amnok River on your way from North Korea to China. Maybe, if you’re lucky, you’ll be able to experience a flood catastrophe like what happened in August of 2007 there.

If this isn’t enough reason for you to book your tickets right away, let me tell you more. You thought that the U.S. had a free, democratic government? Well, we don’t have it in our name like the DPRK does. As we have all learned before names of countries with the words “democratic” and “people’s republic” makes them instantly legitimately safe and intelligent.

Just don’t forget to get in touch with the DPRK’s tourism organization, called “Ryohaengsa” because it will get you set up with one or two permanent tour guides. (That is, as long as you’re not from the U.S. or South Korea, because if you are, you won’t be permitted to enter the country.)

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