Mexican Drug Cartels growing in this country

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Not only do we have a serious illegal immigration problem, we have over-the-border Mexican drug king pins who are targeting these immigrant communities in our country. And Obama is doing nothing.

In 2009 and 2010, the center reported, cartels operated in 1,286 U.S. cities, more than five times the number reported in 2008. The center named only 50 cities in 2006.

The numbers could rise in coming years. The Justice Department's National Drug Intelligence Center estimates Mexican cartels control distribution of most of the methamphetamine, heroin and marijuana coming into the country, and they're increasingly producing the drugs themselves.

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Wingnuts and The League of Cities

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On the agenda Tuesday is the last item under New Business--sending four of our commissioners to The League of Cities Conference being held in Hollywood this August. Party time! Great place to network, says the Vice Mayor. The League of Cities is a highly charged liberal political group.

Vice Mayor Maxwell, since 2010, has managed to politic up the ladder to become the 2nd Vice President in Palm Beach County's League of Cities. The League of Cities is a great place to spend/waste taxpayer money and it teaches its members on ways to keep constituents subdued and quiet even going so far as to join in on law suits against citizens. I will concede that it does compile some good data on cities.

The National League of Cities located in Washington, D.C. (and Scott Maxwell was just in Washington for The League it was said) instructs members on how to integrate immigrants into the community. Come on now, Scott.

Its mission in this regard: Far from being strictly a national concern, immigration and integration policies have both social and economic implications for cities. While different communities are affected in different ways, all are charged with ensuring that all citizens are engaged and included in civic life. Through research and technical assistance capacities, the Municipal Action for Immigrant Integration (MAII) program is focused on promoting civic engagement and naturalization among immigrant communities in cities throughout the United States. Come on now, Scott.

The City spends ridiculous amounts of money for commissioners to attend these types of conferences. Following are the annual dues taxpayers pay towards The League so that commissioners can rub elbows with all the other politicians wanting to keep you in your place:

 ICLEI-Lake Worth FL Annual Membership Dues for Population Under 50,000: $600

 Palm Beach County League of Cities Annual membership $12,011

 Florida League of Cities Annual Membership $3,397

At this convention will be the keynote speaker, John Avalon. He wrote a book entitled Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America. Below is a summary of the book.

What’s a Wingnut? It’s someone on the far-right wing or far-left wing of the political spectrum - the professional partisans and the unhinged activists, the hardcore haters and the paranoid conspiracy theorists. They’re the people who always try to divide us instead of unite us.

Wingnuts look at the outbreak of extremism in the opening years of the Obama administration – from the unprecedented government spending that spurred the Tea-Party protests to the onset of Obama Derangement Syndrome.

John Avlon explains how hate-fueled rumors take hold (one section is called “How Obama Became Hitler, a Communist and the Antichrist”), looks at the ‘hunt for heretics’ that is taking place inside both parties and details the rise of hyper-partisan media. Avlon profiles preachers who are praying for the president’s death, goes inside the growing “Hatriot” movement and parallels the “Birthers” and the “9/11 Truthers.” The book compares current merchants of political paranoia with past fear-mongers and finds that divisive demagogues have sold this snake oil before. But the two parties’ increased polarization and the echo-chamber of the Internet are helping the fringe blur with the base, making the Wingnuts more powerful than ever before.

We are allowing paranoids, hysterics and hyper-partisans to hijack our politics – but it doesn’t have to be this way. Avlon asserts that centrists need to stand up to the extremes on both sides and declare their independence. The book ends on a hopeful note – the conclusion is “How to Take America Back from the Lunatic Fringe.”

Now do we really need to spend money for this? The League of Cities is a union on to itself that tells elected officials how to do it, when to do it, and who do do it to. And now they are telling us that if we, the public, take a political stand, we are all whackos. We all need to be good, little sheep while our commissioners walk in lockstep with The League and its philosophies.

Letter from Commissioner Mulvehill Lake Worth

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I am bringing the attached charter amendment regarding building height to the commission for consideration as New Business item12B at the June 19th regular meeting and requesting that it be placed on the November ballot.

I believe that it is the right of citizens to have a voice in land use issues and redevelopment in their community.

Our community has consistently affirmed that the needed redevelopment in the designated downtown area be compatible with the existing historic character and human scale that exists now.

There continues to be strong sentiment in the community for a maximum building height of 35ʼ in the downtown area. The additional 10ʼ of building height from F Street to the bridge will allow for transit oriented development to prepare for the new train station downtown, a parking structure and additional retail tax revenue from a third or fourth floor. To address resident concerns regarding buildings that exceed the proposed heights, the ballot language includes a provision protecting existing buildings.

Because economic development is crucial to creating a vibrant, sustainable future for Lake Worth, the charter amendment I am proposing balances the need for economic development with the communityʼs desire to preserve our unique, seaside community.

Our charter amendment complements other beach communities that Iʼve researched that have passed charter amendments in recent years to maintain their character while creating jobs, growing tourism and preserving their culture and historic ambiance.

I hope the commission will agree that it is the right of the citizens to chart the course of their community and vote quickly and unanimously to put this amendment on the November ballot.

Please attend the meeting if you are able or email your Commissioners and Mayor to let them know how you feel.

Commissioner District 4
Suzanne Mulvehill

"It's the Economy, Stupid"

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Click to enlarge

As Bill Clinton once said, "It's the economy, Stupid." Okay then, why is it that some of you think Obama should be re-elected?

Day's End

Hurricane Seminar at ROLOH

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Some of the attendees
Yesterday's seminar organized by Robert Waples, President of the Residents of Lake Osborne Heights Neighborhood Association, was really interesting. I attended thinking it would be the same-o, same-o. It wasn't even close. Michael Ehrenberg of Channel 12 gave an interesting and informative talk.

2005 was our most active hurricane season with 5 major storms. This was also the year that we were without power for 12.5 days. That cold shower was not fun. This season, NOAA predicts 9 to 15 storms and 1 to 3 being major with a 24% likelihood of a major hurricane striking the East Coast.

September is the most crucial month for hurricanes with 95 recorded.

Michael Ehrenberg, Meteorologist, Channel 12
During a hurricane, after securing their own homes, Channel 12 has two shifts from 3 to 3. Food, water and all supplies are brought in to accommodate all their employees who are looking to inform us and to keep us as safe as possible.

After his presentation, a deputy from PBSO spoke. During a hurricane, they also work 12 hour shifts. Off the topic of hurricanes and now onto crime, he said if he lived in our city "I would not live in Lake Worth without a home security system." He also revealed that crime has dropped especially in the area of prostitution. Riviera Beach has more crime than Lake Worth.

FPL one of the bidders to be our Power Supplier in Lake Worth

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Florida Power & Light is one of the companies that has submitted a proposal to be our new energy supplier after we have finally exited All Requirements with FMPA. Our Commission will consider all the proposals this week. FPL has jumped on the hysteria bandwagon and said, "It would be open to a conversation about a potential acquisition of the city’s electric system.”

The sale of our electric Utility was brought up by mayoral candidate Tom Ramiccio last summer, one of the main reasons why he lost his election. A group of residents are still complaining about high power bills and even formulated a citizens Utility Board with the encouragement of the "Visionaries."

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Quotes of the Day and Yesterday on Obama's Executive Order

The change violates President Obama’s oath to uphold the laws of this land.
~ Lamar Smith

President Obama’s attempt to go around Congress and the American people is at best unwise and possibly illegal.
~ Senator Lindsey Graham of SC

We have representative government and I think right now this shows that we're getting away from government that's based upon the consent of the American people, and we're starting to live under a rule by edict or executive order.
~ Rep Allen West

Issuing Executive Orders is something President Obama has done on a regular basis since he was elected. These Executive Orders are issued by him unilaterally either because he cannot persuade Congress to agree to a particular course of action or because the Constitution of the United States prohibits him from doing whatever it is he wants to do and he feels it necessary to bypass, ignore or override it to implement his agenda. Or both.
~ Canada Free Press

President Obama understood our laws on this only a year ago. Today, the respect is gone. His reelection is the only thing that matters to him.

Muslims taking over the World

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An important message--take heed:

"If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel."

~ Benjamin Netanyahu

Tonight

Not spectacular but unique nevertheless!
That's what I like about sunsets.

Obama pandering to Illegal vote

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Flavia Franco of Lake Worth learned the news via text message--Obama had given backdoor amnesty to nearly 800,000 illegal immigrants.

Franco, 23, who has been volunteering for years with the Palm Beach Immigrant Coalition and Students Working for Equal Rights, said her 16-year-old brother, who came to the U.S. from Argentina at age 7, was recently told he couldn't join his high school football team because he didn't have a green card.

"There are hundreds of thousands of dreamers like my brother who will benefit now," she said. "Many of them want to study and they want to work and they want to give back what this country has given us."

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Sid Dinerstein head of the Palm Beach County Republican Party got it right when he said, "We used to be a country of laws." And Ms. Franco is wrong...it's about what illegal immigrants have taken from this country, not what we have given to them.

What Obama did is probably about as legal as his birth certificate. It is Congress that makes the laws and Obama completely circumvented the legally elected representatives of our country in favor of illegal aliens. Who would have thought...

Mack Bernard Speaks in South County

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Surprises are only for Birthdays says Allen West

Lake Worth Alumnus Reflects on our Baseball Fields' History

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Commissions always seem to change the names of things in our city.  They get elected and automatically they have brighter ideas. They give history no value. As D.D. points out in his blog below, the name changes have been to our ball fields. We have our centennial approaching and now we have a Commissioner, Scott Maxwell, even proposing to change the name of our City as well as heights within it.

By: Lake Worth High School Alumnus with the initials of R. (Dick) D.(who wants to remain anonymous) Class 1960

It has always surprised me how the City could remove or change a dedicated name of a field. I guess it was only an idea of the LW Youth Baseball Leagues. Somehow through all the paper work, the names of those fields were approved by the city. People have a way of forgetting or discounting history.

Dick Brown Field was the largest field and the one that Lake Worth High School used. Dick was a Catcher for the Cleveland Indians and caught for Herb Score before Herb got hit in the eye with a sharply hit ball which ended his career. Larry Brown (LWHS class of 58), Dick Brown`s younger brother, also played for the Cleveland Indians.

The Pony League Field was named Mayo Smith Field Manager of the Detroit Tigers. Mayo's daughter is Judith Smith (LWHS class of 1960). The Bronco League Field was named Dan Derringer Field. Dan died in a skin diving accident. He was a pitcher for LWHS.

The Mustang League Field was named Dale Morris Field. He volunteered much to the maintenance of all the fields. ( Trish Morris`s, father). The T-Ball Field was named after me, but I told them I didn't want that because there were so many more people that had done more for the Leagues.

The Lassie League, Girl Softball Field, was named Tom Nagel Field for the ex Police Chief of LW and who coached many years.

Our Leagues were a part of the Pony Boys Baseball Organization. The Home Base was Washington, Pa. We were world-wide like the Little League Baseball Organization, but never got as much promotion and had a few different rules.

Our 1974 Bronco League team won the World Series. The manager was Wally Alexander, the coach was Tim Shifflett, and the business manager was Ed McCoy. Robbie Thompson, one of the players on that World Series team, later played Pro Baseball for the San Francisco Giants. Note; Wally Alexander`s wife was Dennis Dorsey`s Secretary when he was Mayor. Tim Shifflett (class of 59) was a 4 Sport Athlete at LWHS. Coached and managed many years for our Leagues. Ole Tim loved the game of baseball and was a fantastic Coach. And I can't forget to mention Malcolm Caine, LW barber, who coached and volunteered many years to our leagues.

I will say being a part of that League for about 8 years was some of the best times in my life.

Seminar Reminder!

Hurricane Seminar

Today, June 16th at 1 PM

 Lake Osborne Presbyterian Church

Corner of 6th Ave South and Sunset

WE NEVER CAN KNOW TOO MUCH!

Proposed Charter Change in Lake Worth

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The Commission on Tuesday will discuss:

The proposed amendment to the City of Lake Worth Charter shall appear on the ballot as follows:

CITY OF LAKE WORTH

AMEND CHARTER FOR BUILDINGS

WITHIN DESIGNATED DOWNTOWN AREA TO HEIGHT LIMITATIONS, WITH EXCEPTIONS

Shall the City of Lake Worth Charter be amended for height limitation for buildings within “designated downtown area” west of F Street to A Street to 35 feet above grade and east of F Street to Golfview to 45 feet above grade, with exceptions, with “designated downtown area” boundaries being 1^st Avenue South as South boundary; Second Avenue North as North boundary; A Street N and S as West boundary; and Golfview as East boundary?

YES _______

NO _______

Obama relaxes Deportation Rules

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Obama leap-frogs the Dream Act. Congress voted it down and Obama says, "Screw you."

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Tonight on The Avenue

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Opening reception at 6:00 pm for Jill Karlin Art Works at Clay Art Stone Gallery Lake Avenue Lake Worth www.thedolphindream.com

Food, music, ART TONIGHT!

Our Pool: Really a Green Elephant

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Two Peas

Peter: I don't have any receipts!

Jeff: Don't worry about any damn receipts!
And shut up Cara.

Jeff: Will the Silly Putty hold?

 Peter: Don't worry. This white elephant is a knockdown.

Well no wonder the pool hasn't made any money. It's been closed for two plus years. Prior to that, the boys and girls in charge wanted to have a public/private partnership with Greater Bay. In other words, they wanted to just hand over our 19 acres to a "flipper" perhaps developer (no one knew what Greater Bay really was) to rid themselves of the so called "problem."

For several years, we were going through the scare of demolition of the casino property on a daily basis, thanks to Clemens, and a few of his boys. Periodically, they came up and drilled holes in the structure to prove the place was a disaster. That started with Mayor Romano. Then the economy took a tank...property values started to slide and we closed the pool for one-half year during high season, staff's solution of a wise expenditure cut. Never could figure that one out. The tourists are here in the Winter months wanting to swim in a fresh water pool sans the sand. Then we had the construction of our new Casino that closed the pool and as we are finding out, damaged it as well.

Any time a city is looking to implement austerity measures, they look to close down a city pool. That is numero uno. Well, everything else is getting to be Spanish these days. As said previously, this is no surprise. It was in the cards considering all the shenanigans going on back then and the close to $1 million that was  spent on our pool readying it for profit and fixing the screw-ups.

The City has made it nearly impossible for our public Olympic pool to be self-sustaining. Back then, even the flyers the pool lifeguards printed to advertise upcoming events were done on their own dime. It was pathetic. Who says that it should be self-sustaining anyway? Who says that everything we provide for our residents needs to make money? Do our other parks and facilities make money? Isn't that a main obejective of government-- to provide services to its residents? We moved the golfcourse out of an enterprise fund so that it could be relieved from the stress of making a profit as its only objective and allow our magnificent course to grow its membership, prosper and survive. Why is our beach and pool being treated differently?

The only legitimate end of government is to protect the citizen in the enjoyment of life, liberty, and property. This pool is our property, not theirs. We paid for it. How can a city government call it a White Elephant and want to permanently close it? City Manager? Is wishing it so make it so?

As we approach our Centennial, remember our pool has been here since 1922.  It is a big part of our history and pride. Protect our assets and market them accordingly. And like anything else, with the right management, our pool will be a "green" elephant and will be very successful.

Does this look like a White Elephant to you?
In the words of our local news editor: "Shame."

Two Faces - Obama and Governor Rick Scott

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Today I decided to have a brand new category to talk about--Hypocrisy

Two people are featured in this first blog--two face lying SOB's:

President Barack Obama
Attacking Governor Romney over and over again for being successful and wealthy as well as all the one percenters...then attending $40,000 per person fundraisers for his campaign. He just flew to New York on the taxpayer dime to attend a posh fundraiser that raised $2 million for his campaign given by celebrities (Stars) who want to rub shoulders with a President of the U.S.(Rock Star). Sickening.

Governor Rick Scott
Scott was elected Governor of Florida. One of his main campaign promises was: Get E-Verify implemented so that employers would have to check the legal immigration status of workers. Now he has made an exception to the agriculture business and said that he wouldn't support any effort to require use of the system in the upcoming year.