Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot

That’s the title of a book… and the way I feel after hitting the AM dial today.

Rush Limbaugh was braying about how Obama is killing the entrepreneurial spirit. Well, as an entrepreneur, I heartily disagree. None of the entrepreneurs I know were struck with a stupid stick two years ago. None of the entrepreneurs I know quit having good ideas two years ago. No, what happened was this. The banks cut our $50,000 credit limits to $1,000. We can not sell our real estate holdings to self finance, because the mortgage companies are suddenly requiring 30% down payments. Obama did not show up at my house and tell me to cut back on my entrepreneurial activities…

I couldn’t stop having good ideas if I wanted to. The problem is, the business infrastructure in this country (I’m talking to you, Wall Street) has taken their toys and gone home. No financing, no lending, no new business start-ups.

No Rush, Obama has not killed the entrepreneurial spirit in this country. That spirit will never die, you couldn’t kill it by sitting on it… No Rush, Wall Street’s tight-fisted overreaction to systemic stress has slowed the pace of small business expansion and new business start-ups. Please get your shit straight.

I apologize, now back to our regularly scheduled tidbits…

Keep the cats indoors

Tyler Weinman has been released for the holidays. He can now leave his yard and visit with family in Orlando, says Judge John Thornton, Jr. Weinman is the accused South Dade cat killer.

Florida has a Tea Party

http://www.floridateaparty.us/ is registered with the Secretary of State and its candidates will appear on the ballot. Seems like the right wing is dividing itself into ever smaller, more hardline, little nuggets under smaller and smaller tents.

Crist would have voted for stimulus

In Spring of this year, Tim Dickinson interviewed Charlie Crist for a piece in Rolling Stone. According to Dickinson his final question centered on the stimulus package:

Rolling Stone: Just a final question: Had you been in the Senate, would you have voted with the other Republicans for the stimulus package?

Crist: Absolutely.

Offshore oil drilling

From the Panhandle to Brevard and Ft Myers, a group of Florida newspapers have published an in-depth look at oil drilling:

Florida Today oil drilling FAQ

Florida Today: Oil spills kill fish, birds and tourist reservations.

Ft Myers News Press: FSU experts say risk is low

Ft. Myers News Press Oil Drilling Section

Tallahassee.com Oil Drilling section with searchable energy industry political contributions

NW Florida Daily News: take a look at Texas

 

Rash of thefts

Boat and boat motor thefts are common in South Florida. Typically thieves will target a newish 25′ to 30′ boat with twin motors. The boat is stolen for use in human smuggling, drug running or stripped for parts. The thieves often use a SawzAll to simply cut out the parts they want, leaving the hull destroyed and abandoned in a field. A $100,000 boat can be completely destroyed in just a few hours.

Now, a rash of utility trailer thefts have hit St. Johns County. Maybe the South Florida thieves need something to tow their boat parts around in…

Couldn’t happen to a nicer bunch…

The Britney economy was once calculated at being worth $110 to $120 million per year. That’s one celebrity’s value to the media, photographers, agents, lawyers, etc. It seems like the media obsession with celebrity has run it’s course according to this Daily beast post. Not soon enough, if you ask me.

What took you so long

The Miami-Dade School Board may ban school bus drivers from texting while driving at the next meeting. You mean to tell me they didn’t ban this years ago? I wonder if other school boards need to take up this issue?

clerks v courts

In yet another stunning example of government efficiency, the Florida courts and the Florida court clerks can not even decide who is responsible for creating the website that will serve to host and store court records statewide. Anybody remember that phrase “there’s no ‘I’ in team?” Read about in in the Ocala Star-Banner.

Afghanistan=model for US government?

The extreme right has been on a tear about the Ft. Hood killings, blaming the FBI, the CIA the DOD and Obama for not recognizing Hasan’s threat. This is the same crowd that wanted to downisze our federal government until it was small enough to flush down a toilet. Then we’d have a country with no central government, just like Afghanistan. So is that what the extreme right wants? To make the USA more like Afghanistan?