The Supervisor of Elections in St Lucie County is a woman named Gertrude Walker. Gertrude is arguably the most popular woman in the county. Even more popular than Barack Obama.  How do we

know? In the last election Gertrude Walker, a registered Democrat, received 10,000 more votes than Barack Obama, a registered Democrat. Gertrude Walker also received on average 13,000 more votes than any other democrat running for the any of the five countywide seats that election. We’ve yet to meet anyone that can explain it or produce a statistical model where such an outcome is possible. (more…)

Senator Rand Paul  (TN–R) spoke for over 11 hours on the Senate floor the other day against massive unwarranted data collection by the NSA. A part of the Patriot Act which Congress was attempting to reauthorize prior to its sunset provision. The sunset provision is the only thing I like about the Patriot Act. Government has the unique knack of producing outcomes completely opposite of what the bills they pass say they’ll do or opposite of what they’re called. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) is not at all affordable. No Child Left Behind seems to have left them all behind. As a matter of fact if the government ran an ice cream store and they served you a two scoop cone of chocolate ice cream expect it to be only one scoop and expect that to look and taste exactly like vanilla. (more…)

Recently the NFL suspended New England Quarterback Tom Brady for 4 games without pay and fined the team a few $million and some draft picks. If you don’t follow football, the suspension and draft picks are a big deal. Four games represents a quarter of the season and losing your star quarterback can mean the difference between a winning and losing season. The money will not be missed as much as Brady. I’ve been trying to find a copy of the NFL report because I don’t like to report on hearsay. I like to review source documentation. Unfortunately I can’t find a copy of the report so we must go with what the NFL and all the news reporters reported, and didn’t report. (more…)

Here is the first of what I think will be many in a collection of posts and articles about education.  Education, because it deals with our children, grandchildren, and the future of our country, has  been and will continue to be a hot button topic, and one we need to follow.  –  Mike L.

March Madness! Everyone who enjoys basketball and its competitive nature understands that phrase. March is the month of the college basketball’s super bowl, the NCAA national championship. It is unfortunate that as a country we don’t have a similar passion for our K-12 educational system. In many states we have a grading system for our schools and school districts. This identifies the good from the not so good in public education. There really isn’t any competition within the system, just goals to be judged by. Would our schools be better if there were competition like a field of 64 defined down to #1, the CHAMPION? (more…)

Grassroots to be Trampled Underfoot by the GOP Marathon

  At the start of the NYC Marathon the Verrazano Narrows Bridge is full of people. Over 50,000 long distance runners come over the bridge. For all but a few, there is no chance of winning. For 99.99% it is just competing and running that brings them out. No other sight is like it. Except for the Republican presidential primary. First let me say I like the primary process. Unlike Harry Reid who said he hates primaries I think they serve a vital necessity. Reid would prefer that the party elite decide who you will vote for. So much so the Democrat party has Joe Biden tied to a chair in a basement somewhere. It is rare when the Vice President does not run for the open seat. I prefer that We the People make that decision. I just wish some sanity would come to the process. I wish that the GOP would learn from the mistakes of the past. They have plenty to choose from. (more…)

AAF Ridership Study is Out All Aboard Florida (AAF) produced their ridership and fare projection report and Nicole Rodriquez of our own TCPalm did a fine job of reporting on it. Here is a link to her article. (Rodriquez just happens to be one of the few bright spots at TCPalm, IMHO) The report was done by the Louis Berger Group, (LBG) a

multinational corporation of engineers and bean counters that issue reports on infrastructure projects around the world. The report was paid for by Florida East Coast Industries (FECI), parent of AAF. I have no doubt that the cost of the 150 page report was quite high, and when you pay a lot for something you have a pretty good idea of what you’re going to get in return. The report has a lot of information. LBG will tell the reader the numbers produced are assumptions. These assumptions amazingly fall in line with what AAF has projected all along. (more…)