Well it’s time to leave behind the political scene, worrying and frustrating though our Washington (and Tallahassee) brethren can be, and return to more honest topics before passions get inflamed again. And since the title of this blog is A View From Florida, how are things here?

One of the great changes this week, at least in the Central Florida region that I live in, is the return to more “normal” weather, by which I mean warm weather. We’ve had below normal temperatures for weeks and even some nights of frost. That’s not why we came to Florida!

So despite all the “expert” propaganda about global warming, we’ve had one of the coldest winters we can remember here. Sure, it’s all relative and I’d much rather tolerate slightly colder weather in Florida than the lousy ice and snow conditions that I’ve seen the rest of the USA experience for the last few months. But the cool Florida weather has seemed to go on longer and temperatures have been lower than I remember for a few years.

I guess that’s why we’re now told to use the words “climate change” instead of global warming: if the science is screwed up and the con is losing it’s impact, change the terminology to perpetuate the myth.

One guy on one of this week’s television programs (I think it was an Australian scientist on Fox News) came out with a more balanced and reasoned perspective than I’ve heard from Al or any of his zealots: he pointed out that true climate change can only be measured over many hundreds or even thousands of years because the changes are so slow and subject to temporary diversions. Apparently the inconvenient truth is that the one hundred years or so available to Al in his laughable film would only be relied on by a snake oil salesman or someone who really doesn’t understand the reality. Even the most extreme global warming fanatic may soon have to own up to the real reasons for promoting their cult: an opportunity to increase taxation and to control people’s lives even more.

Anyway, back to Florida and the cold weather. The last few weeks have had a big impact on the plant life and yards everywhere look battered and sad. Together with the lack of rain, lawns look almost destroyed and it’s difficult to see much improvement over the next few weeks even with the warmer weather. It’s become so bad that a serious look at synthetic grass is in order just to preserve the look of the yards and to avoid an annual replacement of worn out sod. Only the initial cost of synthetic turf stops me going ahead - otherwise, no more weekly mowing, no costly weed and feed treatments and no more bugs and lawn pests to contend with.

As far as plants are concerned, many have shriveled and appear to be dead. But a hearty cutting back has already resulted in signs of new life. So maybe the cold wasn’t that bad after all and we should just get on with life like the plant world is - without moaning!

The strength of feeling and emotion in the last post has motivated me to spring into print.  It’s always a good idea to agree with your better half or at the very least to be tactful in disagreeing - but in this case there’s no need for any tact or diplomacy, because if anything, the Boss has understated it, I believe.

I think that the Washington Wackos need to enter some sort of addiction recovery program.  They are clearly out of their minds and can only react to any problem by throwing money at it.  Normal people give some sort of thought to budgeting - which to most folks means figuring out how much money they have coming in (usually from earnings at a job, but sometimes from investments too) and then deciding how much of that they can afford to spend.

First of all are the essentials such as buying food for the family, paying the utility bills to keep the home heated in the winter and cool in the summer.  Next is likely to be the mortgage or rent payment because they need a roof over their heads.  If they have car loans or credit card bills they come next.  And finally there is discretionary spending such as new furniture, a vacation or remodeling the bathroom.  For some, how to get out of debt is an added burden if they’ve overspent in previous months and years - but most people are responsible enough to accept their debts and try to repay them.

But none of this basic common sense approach seems to apply to the Washington Wackos, whether they are Representatives, Senators or even inhabitants of the White House.  They appear to have absolutely no regard for what they’re spending nor how it will be repaid.  They have no regard whatever for the effects of loading up current and future taxpayers with loan and interest payments.

Instead they seem to vie with each other for financial irresponsibility, and this latest incompetent White House numbskull looks as if he’s out to set the record for the most dumb decisions in the shortest space of time.

You might have thought that the previous White House incumbent, along with High Spending Hank from the Treasury made a foul up of things and who would argue with that?  But Tax Cheat Tim and Blundering Barack want to prove that anything W could do, they can do better.  Or in this case, a mountain-sized amount worse.

The whole bunch of them, White House and Congress, Blundering Barack, Nitwit Nancy and Hopeless Harry, are about as welcome and talented as a dose of bubonic plague.

Are none of this group of more than five hundred Wackos possessed of the least bit of any ability to think?  Are they so power-crazed, short sighted and self-absorbed that they can’t see the wood for the trees?  Will they wake up (or will the country just wake up and throw them out of office) before it’s too late and we’re all reduced to poverty?  Do these clowns think that “equality” means making everyone equally poor, except for the riches they bestow on themselves?

I guess only time will tell.

This is not a political blog nor do I normally voice my opinion on political matters to anyone other than family and friends but I am feeling so frustrated at the moment I had to get it off my chest.  I am incensed at the lies our politicians tell and the fact that they think they can get away with it.

I was able to vote for the first time in the 2008 election after becoming a US citizen in 2007.  It was an exciting time and I listened carefully to what the candidates had to say as I am not affiliated to any specific party.  All the candidates were promising “change” in one shape or form and I was particularly interested in those who promised to get rid of earmarks.  Earmarks or pork are not something that I was familiar with coming from the UK.

Everything was going great until the financial crisis hit in September 2008.  That turned everything on it’s head and then first of all President Bush and then the two candidates were promising to fix it for us.

Well here we are in March 2009 and it’s business as usual with big government, no perceived end to the amount of our money they are spending and nobody seems to have a clue how to sort it out. What happened to all the promises that were made not just in 2008 but also in 2006 when the House elections took place?  If I’m not mistaken we were promised the end of “sleaze”, more openness and transparency and an end to pet projects.  So far I haven’t seen anything to make me think things have changed. In fact just the opposite as there is as much sleaze and dishonesty in the present Congress as there has been in previous ones.  I’m reminded of the old joke “How do you know when a politician is lying? Answer:When his lips are moving”.

Barack Obama promised that his would be the most open, transparent Presidency ever and that everybody would have a chance to study any bills before he signed them onto the Statute but we are still waiting for that to happen.  Then there was the assertion that there would be no Lobbyists in the Cabinet but that’s another promise broken.  Then there was the promise that he would go through bills line by line and veto any earmarks whoops another promise broken.  In fact every week more promises are broken.  Then there are the Senators and Representatives of both parties who have said they wouldn’t vote for all these high spending bills that are being put forward but guess what they change their mind.

I am not naive enough to think that politicians don’t break their promises or downright lie but I am obviously naive in thinking that the man at the top should have more integrity and stick to his word.  I don’t know how these politicians sleep at night.  Do they have no conscience or do they think they can get away with anything because they are superior to everyone else?  I, and I’m sure the majority of people, were brought up to tell the truth because lies would always be found out and then the punishment would be harsher.  The majority of our politicians don’t even have the grace or morals to own up and apologize when they have been found out in a lie.  Obviously they don’t think the people will punish them and so far that seems to be the case going back to Bill Clinton when he told his bare-faced lies.

You may think I am just criticizing my adopted country and this administration but that is not the case.  The same accusations can be laid at the door of the British Government and I would suggest every other government in the world. It certainly seems to be the case that “power corrupts” and unfortunately where government is concerned it is us the people who suffer.

We need to reassert our moral principles and let the government know that we expect them to adhere to that moral code that made America great. It will be interesting to see whether in the future we can find some honest politicians who really are willing to stand up to their convictions.

It is a huge achievement to reach a 25th anniversary whether it is that you have worked for the same company for twenty five years or been married to the same spouse for that length of time.  This is especially true in today’s societies with a more mobile workforce and divorce seemingly accepted as a way of life.

In marriage a silver anniversary is a big milestone and one well worth celebrating.  When you take your marriage vows, be it in a church or an hotel or on a beach, one of the things you usually promise is to love and be with each other through good times and bad for the rest of your lives.  Unfortunately for some people the vows they take are just words that are said at the ceremony without any real thought taken as to what they actually mean and entail.  If you get married when you are young it is difficult to envisage reaching your 25th anniversary because it seems such a long time away.  But as you get older and your children, if you are lucky enough to have them, are growing up you realize just how quickly time passes and before you know it 25 years have passed.

This year my husband and I will have been married for 38 years and when we stood in church saying our vows “to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part” we both meant the words we were saying and still do. There have been bad times and good times and it hasn’t always been a bed of roses but the good times have far out weighed the bad and we are still each others best friend.

A lot of our friends have also celebrated their silver anniversary and we have all feel a great sense of achievement that we have weathered whatever storms have been sent our way.  But the thing I find really sad is those of our friends who having celebrated being together for a quarter of a century or more and then gone on to get divorced.  From a personal point of view I know that by the time we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary life was getting so much easier.  Our children were grown up, we both had careers we enjoyed, we didn’t have any money worries and we were enjoying being just a couple again.

My parents were married for 62 years so my husband and I have only got another 24 years to go to match them!