Here's The July 31 Chat -- Read A Transcript

Okay, we settled one thing in this week's live chat here on TroxBlog: the planet Mars will NOT look "as big as the full moon" later this month.

Other than that, there was talk today about the Pinellas County land deal, the presidential debates, Seminole and Miccosukee gambling, both property and auto insurance, and the latest trades involving the Tampa Bay Devil Rays -- among other topics.

To read the transcript of today's chat, click on the "Comments" link of this announcement, just a few lines below. You'll see what folks had to say and you'll find a form for adding your own thoughts or questions.

Thanks to everyone who took part or stopped by today. There will be NO weekly chat next Tuesday, Aug. 7, but I'll be back right after that, and hope you will consider stopping by for future chats here on TroxBlog.

Live Chat Tuesday, Noon - 1 P.M.

I hope you'll stop by to watch or take part in Tuesday's weekly live chat here on TroxBlog. From noon to 1 p.m. (or a little after) I'll be taking comments and questions about current events in the Tampa Bay area and our state of Florida.

To observe or take part in the chat, come to TroxBlog at noon Tuesday and look for a new announcement with the headline, "The July 31 Chat Is Open." Click on the "Comments" link of that announcement to see what folks have said so far, or to add your own thoughts. Just keep refreshing the comments page to see the latest.

As always, there's lots to talk about this week, ranging from the Pinellas County scandal to all the insurance rate hikes. Feel free to bring up a local or state subject you don't think has gotten enough attention, as well. And if you can't be here live, you can always come back later to read the chat transcript and still add your comments.

See you at noon Tuesday!

The Readers On The Cigar Tax

My Sunday column objected to the idea in Congress of imposing a 53-percent excise tax on cigars, with a maximum possible tax of $10 per stick. Among the several interesting e-mails in response:

The federal excise tax on a 12oz bottle of beer is 5 cents, an 8oz glass of wine is 7 cents, and a 1oz shot of liquor is 9 cents, which is why the current rate of 5 cents a cigar (or even twice the current rate at 10 cents a cigar) is reasonable and proportional to other, similar products. But, as you well noted, a 20,000% cigar tax increase is grossly disproportionate (especially when cigarette taxes will increase only 156%) and will destroy the cigar industry. Because federal excise taxes are imposed at the wholesale price level, we expect that a 20,000% cigar tax increase will cause retail cigar prices to increase 2.5 times. -- Drew Newman, Great-Grandson of the Founder, J.C. Newman Cigar Co., Tampa

If you don't believe the kids on the corners are smoking cigars; who do you think is buying the pineapple, raspberry, blueberry, etc. cigars, that are so commonly available in the convience stores? -- James Durkin

53% tax? I recall many decades ago seeing a study on 'ALL' taxes on a loaf of bread, from planting of the grain to the wrapping. I don't recall the actual  percantage, but the loaf of BREAD itself was practically free! Happy smoke rings -- Ol' Miller

The Readers: CO2, Sicko, The Times, In God We... What?

Here are some more excerpts from recent reader e-mail on various topics:

Here's a conspiracy theory on scant showings of the movie Sicko:

Will somebody tell me why Sicko is not being shown at our local theaters?? I called AMC and they gave me a weak excuse about "its limited availability" and therefore only one of their theaters in Tampa has it scheduled. Could it be pressure from insurance companies, drug companies or even the government that is limiting access??

Re: Sicko: I doubt there's a big conspiracy -- it's more a matter of Hollywood marketing and big chain ownership. There were similar complaints about Moore's Fahrenheit 911 and An Inconvenient Truth. If there were zero theaters showing it, I would call it an outrageous shame, but the fact is that documentaries are not going to get a fraction of the theaters as the latest Hollywood product.

I've gotten tons of e-mail about the Pinellas County Commission scandal -- thank you to everyone who wrote, and my apology for not being able to answer them all. Here's one with a different take, pointing out that the newspaper is just as responsible as the voters for the incumbents who are there:

You must remember Howard, the St. Pete  Times villified candidate Norm Roche, just for running against a long time incumbent...the democratic party mimicking the undemocratic position of "how can any democrat support a candidate, when we have a democrat in that seat, even if the candidate is a democrat too?  The Times made it their personal job, to protect Calvin Harris, who has sat on the board for a long time.  The people are tired of politics as usual, and want change.  Why would anyone stand up to run, when the Times gets in the game....of steering a race?  This was done...and the blogs are still full of it.  Your employer has helped the status quo to remain in office. -- HallahanFL

And here's a chain e-mail I've been getting about the new dollar coins, alleging that the motto "In God We Trust" has been deleted... see my follow-up afterward.

Please help do this.. refuse to accept these when they are handed back to you. I received one from the Post Office as change and I ask for a dollar bill instead.the lady just smiled and said way to go so she had read this e-mail.please help outour world is in enough trouble without this too!!!!! -- Jenny Ingram

Howard here. The reference is to a new series of $1 coins honoring U.S. presidents. In fact, the motto "In God We Trust'' is there on the EDGE of the new coins. You can argue that this is still kind of "demoting" the slogan, I suppose. Giving this claim even more credence is that some of the early Washington and Adams coins were missing the motto because of a minting error, which I imagine would make them more valuable.

For more on the coin rumors, check out my favorite hoax-busting Web site, www.snopes.com:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/religion/dollarcoin.asp

Lastly, on yet another story about a carbon monoxide poisoning resulting from a car left running:

WHY do cars NOT have automatic safety shut-offs after, say, a half-hour of unattended idling?  (A courtesy chime on the dash prior to shutdown would let the driver know to tap the gas if he wanted to keep idling). Otherwise, its absurd that the thing can sit and idle for hours upon hours by itself, until the tank is empty, like some kind of Kervorkian contraption. -- Tom

Makes sense to me, Tom. If they can make cars telling you to turn right at the next corner, after all...

Friday Morning Things: The YouTube Debate, The VA Hospital, Jim Smith

(1) I was struck by the quote in this morning's paper, originally printed in the Manchester (N.H.) Union Leader, from Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Romney (uh, that's him on the right) appears to be showing some skepticism about the CNN-YouTube debate scheduled for Sept. 17 in St. Petersburg:

I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than having to answer questions from a snowman.

The reference is to the format of the debate the other day among the Democratic candidates, in which YouTube viewers posed video questions to the candidates. A question about global warming was posed via the device of an animated snowman, speaking with a Mr. Bill kind of voice.

Actually, I thought the debate was novel enough to be worth it -- my only mild regret is that CNN screened the questions so there was STILL a mainstream filter of the process. So naturally the candidates were still able to spout out their rehearshed talking points whenever they could.

How fun it would be for the candidates just to stand there and take the next question off the top of the stack! Even if it were a nutball question about Martians or conspiracy theories or such, there would still be some value in seeing how the candidates dealt with it.

Anyway, does Romney really want to knock the entire YouTube thing, and by extension, the modern online world? What's next, expressing amazement at supermarket scanners?

By the way, there's also some question as to whether Rudolph Giuliani can attend the Sept. 17 debate, according to this morning's story.

(2) This ongoing story about the poor man who was not taken to the emergency room of the Bay Pines VA Medical Center and who then died is getting more and more confusing -- precisely because the people involved seem to be confused. Both county and hospital officials have given different statements about what the policy is. Part of the problem is that there seems to be a different standard for a non-vet simply showing up at the ER versus paramedics asking if they can bring someone. It makes sense to me to say that that our already-burdened vet hospitals shouldn't be used as general hospitals by the general public. So this is not to say that ANYBODY who shows up at the ER with ANY condition should be automatically treated. On the other hand, there ought to be a clear standard that paramedics can take anyone in an imminently life-threatening emergency to the nearest hospital that is capable of treating it.

(3) In the comments to my post yesterday about the Jim Smith mess in Pinellas, a reader named Mark predicts that the Times will be proven "completely wrong" on the story, which he defines as the grand jury not bringing any criminal charges. Check out his comment and my reply.

What's Wrong With The Jim Smith Deal

In this morning's paper, Pinellas Property Appraiser Jim Smith is quoted again as saying he believes he has done absolutely nothing wrong in this scandal over Pinellas County's purchase of his personal land for nearly four times its appraised value.

Smith probably believes that, too, which shows a considerable capacity for denial. Let's consider several possible problem areas:

* First and most importantly, there is just no circumstance in which the elected county property appraiser -- who sets the size of the county's tax roll -- should be benefiting from doing personal land deals with the county. The Pinellas County Commission, which operates on the basis of the tax roll set by Smith, has paid him personally to the tune of $225,000. It is an automatic conflict of interest -- on both sides. Smith calls this an "arm's-length'' transaction. In the case of the county property appraiser, there is no such thing.

* Second, either Smith's own office appraised his personal land at a ridiculously low price, or he asked a ridiculous amount for it, and the county obliged by paying nearly four times the tax value. Smith says that everybody knows his tax appraisals are below market value. But how many people in Pinellas County could sell their land today for four times its tax appraisal from Smith's office?

* Third, Smith repeatedly and personally lobbied, if not pressured, the county administrator, the county attorney and the chairman of the County Commission into buying his land.

* Fourth, it is a good question as to just how damaged the land was, given the delay between the alleged damage caused by county workers and Smith's demands that the county buy it, since he was advertising it in the meantime as such a wonderful site for building.

Of course, the other half of this scandal involves the county's actions. The administrator, the county attorney, the County Commission chairman and the full commission did not have to listen, did not have to do him favors, did not have to rush through a deal on shaky grounds that was not available to the average citizen. The county attorney CERTAINLY did not have to represent both sides of the deal in the transaction.

The grand jury should investigate the county's actions.

But as for Smith's denial, how many people can look at this sequence of events and agree with his, er, appraisal of the situation?

Here's my column from this morning's newspaper.

The TV Wars, Hillsborough and Pinellas

Looks like there are battles now on both sides of Tampa Bay over the proposal of county governments to eliminate public access cable channels, and in Hillsborough to eliminate funding for the educational access channel as well. In both cases, the government is favoring its own, government-run access channel.

I wrote about this in a column on July 17. Of course, broadcasting public meetings and the workings of our democracy is a good thing, but government TV often goes beyond that, and serves as a puff-piece propaganda mill, giving rosy coverage to existing elected officials. If we're cutting budgets, it seems like a prime target.

Last night, supporters of Access Pinellas asked the Pinellas County Commission to keep public access, and it was a better-than-average pitch. They even came up with their own, alternative budget proposal to keep public access going while making trims to the government station. The commissioners gave no indication of whether they were listening. In a meeting earlier this year, though, some of them said that public access was one of the first things they wanted to cut.

In the following two posts, I'm printing the text of letters addressed to the Hillsborough County Commission from Ann Goldenberg of the Tampa Educational Cable Consortium and from Louise Thompson, executive director of the Tampa Bay Community Network.

The Education Channel's Letter

Text of a letter from Ann Goldenberg of the Tampa Educational Cable Consortium to the Hillsborough County Commission, on proposed budget cuts:

Dear County Commissioners:

The County Administrator’s recommended FY 08-09 budget eliminates all funding for Tampa Educational Cable Consortium (TECC), which operates the local educational cable channels, helping thousands of Hillsborough students succeed academically by providing the educational material they need – like Mathematics Homework Hotline and college courses, promoting our local educational and cultural offerings, providing homebound seniors with quality arts programming, and televising the School Board meetings for the civic minded.

TECC has served the public with outstanding commercial-free educational programming for the last twenty years, has won the highest national award - Overall Excellence in Educational Programming - the last four years in a row, and has NOT received any increase in funding from the County for the last seven years . 

After twenty years of impressive service to this community, why is TECC being singled out for elimination?

Although the Administrator recommends modest reductions for many area non-profits, TECC is slated to be completely defunded. While the Administrator’s budget cuts off all funding - $519K - to TECC, Hillsborough County’s Communication Department, which operates the government’s channel, HTV22, is reduced a mere $82,410 in operations (-2%) and still maintains a budget of $4,152,51 for staff and a capital budget of   $238K.   Hillsborough County should not be favoring government programming at the expense of educational programming, but should seek a more just solution. Unlike HTV22, TECC did not benefit from any of the budget growth in the last seven years and should not take the full brunt of budget reductions this year, causing our community to lose these unique educational services.

Please reinstate TECC’s modest funding and keep The Education Channel alive and serving our community in Hillsborough County.

I would like to discuss this problem with all of you and will call your offices to set up a meeting.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Ann Goldenberg

Tampa Educational Cable Consortium

The Hillsborough Public Access Letter

Text of a letter from Louise Thompson, executive director of the Tampa Bay Community Network, to the Hillsborough County Commission on a budget proposal to eliminate funding for public-access television:

Dear County Commissioners: 

The County Administrator’s recommended FY 08-09 budget eliminates all funding for Tampa Bay Community Network, the public access cable television channel used by the residents of Hillsborough County to learn new and marketable skills and to produce programming that is not only important to them but is also protected by the First Amendment.

TBCN provides County residents with the training, equipment and facilities to produce their own programming.  This includes programming containing speech that is critical of our elected officials and local governments as well as programming that highlights our elected officials, local non-profit organizations and governmental agencies.  Please note that we are County Community Link Partners and please review our most current annual and quarterly reports [attached] for a detailed listing of all those we are serving.  Also, please note that staff from the Museum of Science & Industry recently completed our video production training and is expected to produce programming featuring MOSI on our channels in the very near future.

It appears that there is more than enough money to have kept TBCN in the budget.  Although the administrator’s budget cuts off all funding [$355K] to TBCN, it contains $900,000 in increases for the Tampa Sports Authority and Tampa Sports Commission as well as a $1.6 million increase to the Tampa Convention and Visitors Bureau and more than $300,000 over the next two years for the Tampa Convention Center.

Please note that TBCN has not received an increase in funding from the County for seven straight years.  Our budget has been stagnant at $355,443 per year although we have asked for increases during every two-year budget cycle.  Please also note that cable subscribers contribute a significant portion of the $27 million in revenue that the County collects from communications services taxes and should, therefore, be able to avail themselves of the services and programming provided by the public access channel.

We turn to you for help in assuring that the public’s voice remains on the cablewaves and is adequately funded.  Please reinstate funding to Tampa Bay Community Network at least at the level previously allotted – if not more.

I will call your offices to set up meetings with each one of you at your convenience.  Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

TAMPA BAY COMMUNITY NETWORK

Louise M. Thompson

Executive Director

Pinellas Land Deal Under Investigation

Given that the topic dominated today's weekly live chat, I thought I should point out here that my colleague Will Van Sant is reporting on The Buzz that Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe has, indeed, opened an investigation into the land deal between the Pinellas County Commission and county Property Appraiser Jim Smith.

Here's the link. Meanwhile, the County Commission is convening at 3 p.m. for its regular meeting; it will be interesting to see what is said about all this. The meeting is being broadcast live on Pinellas 18, the county government's cable channel.

Here's The July 24 Chat: Read The Transcript

Today's weekly live chat here on TroxBlog was dominated by the unfolding scandal involving the Pinellas County Commission and county Property Appraiser Jim Smith. Folks asked whether the county's purchase of Smith's property might have violated any laws, and whether there should be an external investigation. I raised the possibility that State Attorney Bernie McCabe should open a grand-jury investigation, with at least the idea of a presentment, or critical report, on the whole matter.

Other topics that came up included drivers and cell phones, the upcoming expiration of no-fault auto insurance (we'll be hearing a lot more about that), the passing of Tammy Faye Messner, and a recent executive order signed by President Bush about which I know absolutely nothing...

To read the transcript of today's chat or even to add your own comments after the fact, click on the "Comments" link of this announcement, just a few lines below.

Thanks to everybody who took part or stopped by to observe today's chat, and I hope to see you again next Tuesday!

Weekly Live Chat, Noon - 1 P.M. Tuesday

Heck's a poppin', and folks have had plenty to say the past few days about the Jim Smith scandal in Pinellas County, public access television and various other skulduggeries. Meanwhile, the Bucs have 234 quarterbacks, which approximately matches the number of runs the Yankees scored over the weekend versus the Devil Rays.

In short, there's a lot to talk about, so I hope you can stop by TroxBlog by from noon to 1 p.m. Tuesday for this week's live chat. I'll be taking comments and questions about current events in Florida and here in the Tampa Bay area.

To take part in the chat, look for a new announcement here with the headline, "The July 24 Chat Is Open." Click on the "Comments" link to see what others are saying or to add your own question or comment.

If you can't be here live, feel free to "pre-post" a question or remark in the "Comments" option of this announcement. As always, you can come back later to check out a transcript of the chat.

To Quote Jackie Gleason, Ad Hominem Hominem Hominem, Or, My Favorite Reader Comments Of The Week So Far (Although It's Early Yet)

Among the reader comments appended to Sunday's column:

New to the area ;I have a question , does the Times have drug testing policy? The reason I asked is because , you display some of the behaviors of an abuser of alcohol or other sudstances. I do not expect too see this in the blog , just an opinion. -- Sara

Just wanted to pass along an observation 950,000 people reside in Pinellas;your rantings generate 10 or 15 comments.Not a good indicator of a very large following;only the crazies read this stuff;time has passed you by,see you wouldn't wanna be you! -- Dave

I think Mr. Troxler used Goober, Opie and Gomer as a racist statement (dumb white hicks) Yeeeeeeee-hah. I agree that this land transaction should be reversed. However, I don't think it should be done with racial overtones. - Cindylu

The Mail, Part I: Goober, Opie, Etc

I've been remiss in not posting excerpts from the recent e-mail so I've broken today's installment into four posts. My apology for not being able to answer everyone individually...

Sunday's column, criticizing Pinellas County for buying land from its own elected property appraiser, drew a strong reaction from readers, all on the same side. If anybody thinks it was a good idea, now's a good time to speak up...

I just wanted to drop you a line telling you how proud I am of our county officials. Amid all the turmoil brought about by the tax cuts and the numerous little people that will be looking for jobs on October 1st, the county has remained dedicated to team work. The fine example I am referring to is the team work between the County Administrators office and the Property Appraiser to "satisfy" his complaint. It is certainly is more important to keep our Appointing Authorities satisfied than to squander that $225,000.00 keeping 3-4 little people employed!-- Dave H.

Thank you Mr. Troxler. At least there are two sane people in Pinellas County.  -- Terri Dluhy

Thanks, but I wouldn't jump to any conclusions based on just one column. :)

I have no doubt that this affair will have little or any impact on Pinellas politics unless the Governor was from Pinellas. Oh, wait a minute, he is from Pinellas. Hey, Charlieeeee! -- Robert Versandi

Being a resident of Tierra Verde myself, you are exactly right about wanting to incorporate, for the obvious reasons.  A county doing business with it’s own elected officials?  Yikes!  If this was Arcadia, or Mayberry, maybe we could say, well they didn’t know any better, but Pinellas County?  Keep up the good work! -- John A. Makholm

From a message with the topic, "You go, boy":

"Boy" is meant in no derogatory way. And I am old enough to be your mother, so you might find it excusable. -- Judith

Dear Judith: Of course.

The Mail, Part II: Public Access, E-Mail Scams

Here are two comments about last Tuesday's column on the decision of Pinellas County to eliminate its public-access cable channel, while keeping the county's own government channel running at full tilt:

What an outrage to lose all the views,attitudes,diversity and years of work dedicated and donated from this county. We are the "People's channel". -- Marilyn Westropp

Public access TV is characterized by programming from the Ku Klux Klan, people to the right of Vlad the Impaler, and Amateur Hour rejects.   If there was no public access channel, would it be worth $350,000 of our tax money to create one? -- Al G.

Dear Al G., there are two issues here, one being the merits of public access, and the other the merits of government-run TV. I'm all for running public meetings so the citizens can watch their democracy in action. As for all those gushing propaganda shows, featuring elected politicians, that's where I would cut part of the government station's $1-million-plus budget.

Besides all the many examples of e-mail scams that I got in response to my July 15 column, several readers also pointed out that there are a lot of hoax-busting and hoaxter-baiting sites on the web. Here's an e-mail with a summary of such sites:

There is a group of writers who correspond with scammers for months and months, tagging them along, getting their hopes up, encouraging them to send THEIR funds, and then have them drop down into the slime pit with their fellow scammers and con artists. Here are the references for some entertaining e-mail writing:

http://www.419eater.com/
http://www.scamorama.com/
http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/
http://www.ebolamonkeyman.com/Ablert_Fred1.html
http://www.bustedupcowgirl.com/scampage.html
http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Crimes/Business/nigerian.htm
http://www.scambusters.org/
-- Jimmie Vestal

The Mail, Part III: Gas Prices, Verizon's $2 Charge, Tony Dungy

On a rumor that Florida law prohibits gas prices above $3 a gallon:

If this law is on the books, then why hasn't it ever been mentioned in the media? It is very interesting that the price of regular unleaded has never exceeded $3.00 per gallon. - Bill P.

Dear Bill P.: I have never heard of such a law and can't find anything about it in Florida statutes. If anybody else can, speak up.

On Verizon's $2-a-month charge for long distance, whether you use it or not:

I did call to have it removed and was hassled by the lady on the phone from Verizon. She fi9nally did remove it but said I could be jeopardizing my long distance calls. Do you have any information on this charge and what it means if you drop it ? -- John A. Prokop

Dear John P.: Indeed, I had an earlier blog post about this. Here's the link to the explanation.

From a dissatisfied customer at last week's Tony Dungy book signing:

My wife and I just returned from the Border's advertised four to six p.m. signing by Tony. Every one was being turned away at the door. It seems they gave out 400 arm bands for the signing and were sold out of all 800 copies of his book, but we were welcome to come in and shop. Should we have been shocked or were we just naive not to know that a two hour signing was actually a show up early for an armband line up? --- Ron and Coni Cahoon

Dear Mr. and Mrs. C.: I don't know if shocked if the right word, but I'm not surprised... Tony Dungy remains incredibly popular here in the Bay area. I'd just chalk it up to "live and learn" for the next time. 

The Mail, Part IV: Save Our Homes, And Just Whom Do You Thinks You're Talking To?

A question about the proposed change to our state Constitution on property taxes that we'll vote on in January:

If I have owned a property for 10 years and it is valued at $500,000 and the place next door gets sold for $1,000,000 tomorrow what can happen to the appraised value of my property if I decide to go with the new homestead plan? Can they re-appraise my property the next year and assess it at the value of the home that sold for $1,000,000, thus making me end up paying more taxes than if I had kept the SOH cap? -- Garry, Clearwater

Dear Garry: If this plan passes in January, you can either keep your old Save Our Homes cap, 3 pct a year max increase in your home's tax value, or you can give up that protection for a new, "super homestead" tax exemption. You get a bigger exemption, but you are quite right about the tradeoff -- it's possible over time that the value of your house could go up enough to wipe out the benefit of the "super" exemption.

And these odds and ends:

After reading your intro on your blog, especially the part about “lives in St. Petersburg with no children”, I thought “THANK HEAVEN!” What more needs be said? -- Phillip Justice

Well, I'm not quite sure how to take that -- happy I live in St. Pete, or happy that I have chosen not to degrade the gene pool?

On the occurrence of a sentence in one of my columns beginning with the words, "Whom among us..."

Whom is the editor whom allowed that sentence to get into print this morning? -- Ed Merrick, retired editor, SP Times

My dear Mr. Merrick: I cannot name the editor, but I fear that the author was I.

Sunday Column: Goober, Opie and Gomer In Pinellas

For starters, and just for starters, I want my money back.

I want Pinellas County to sell back that land that it bought from the elected county property appraiser, Jim Smith.

I want Smith to give back the $225,000 that he got.

They should do it tomorrow. Either that, or Smith should resign.

Have they lost their minds?

Under what circumstance should a County Commission do land deals with the county's elected officers?

Under what circumstance should the county's property appraiser be doing personal land deals with the county?

Here's a hint: none.... [rest of column]

What State Farm OUGHT To Say

In the middle of reading this morning's news about State Farm dropping another 50,000 policyholders in Florida, I sat up and laughed out loud at this quote from company spokesman Chris Neal:

"This is not an action we take lightly. But if there is any good news, we are still committed to Florida."

Still committed to Florida? STILL COMMITTED? Under what circumstance is an insurance company canceling 50,000 policies allowed to say that?

If the man were on a vaudeville stage, he would be pelted with vegetables. If he were at the Apollo, he would get the hook. If he said in the town square, he would be run out of town on a rail.

This is what the company ought to say:

"Today we are announcing that we will no longer be a Good Neighbor to another 50,000 Florida homeowners. We are canceling them as of Jan. 1. We are abandoning them. We know that this is going to cause them hardship. We know that most of them will be dumped into the Citizens pool and will have to pay more money.

"This is a decision of hard dollars. We still think we have too much risk in Florida. We will keep reducing our risk as long as we think it is justified. But we are fully aware that this is a contradiction of the advertising, of the PR, of the way that we have always tried to portray ourselves. We also know that we have a lot of gall continuing to ask Floridians to be State Farm customers for other lines of insurance. But we are going to keep doing it anyway, because in the end, we can."

A TroxBlog Compendium Of E-Mail Scams

In my column last Sunday, I asked readers to pass along examples of e-mail scams, and boy, did they comply. I've been reading them all week and they've long since started running together. I think that one night I even dreamed about getting them. I've broken them down into general categories in the several following posts.

My thanks to everybody who took the time to reply. But as I said on the blog yesterday, you can stop sending them now. Please! At this point they seem to be variations on a few basic themes, all of which lead to an attempt to get you to supply your banking account, credit card or other vital information.

The list below doesn't even cover the additional universe of "phishing," in which someone tries to fool you by saying that your eBay account is messed up or that all customers of Bank So-and-So need to go to a special website. These are "narrative" scams, in which someone tells a story or yarn to try to lure in the recipient. Here's my breakdown:

I. Somebody is trying to get money out of their country

II. A business or investor wants to give you money

III. Someone has left you money

IV. Someone was killed or is sick and dying and you can have his or her money

V. You have won a lottery or a prize

VI. Miscellaneous scams

Check out specifics in the posts below. And again, thanks for submitting them!

E-Mail Scams, Part I: Somebody Is Trying To Get Money Out Of Their Country

This is far and away the most popular category of e-mail scam. It's hard to believe anybody ever falls for it, but they do. Apparently the world is filled with huge secret caches of millions of dollars -- and they tend to fall into the hands of people who, for some reason, aren't able to deal with it themselves and need the help of a friendly American stranger!

MY NAME IS MRS.LARISA SOSNITSKAYA, PERSONAL SECRETARY TO MR.BORIS MIKHAIL KHODORKOVSKY,THE ARRESTED CHAIRMAN/CEO OF YUKOS OIL AND BANK
MENATEP SPB IN RUSSIA WHO IS PRESENTLY IN JAIL.AFTER SEARCHING THROUGH THE BOOKS OF YOUR COUNTRY'S CHAMBERS OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRIES HERE IN RUSSIA I AM CONTACTING YOU TO ASSIST ME TO RE-PROFILE THE FUNDS AND EQUALLY INVEST SAME ON HIS BEHALF.THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF FUNDS TO BE RE-PROFILLED IS FORTY SIX MILLION DOLLARS (USD$46,000,000.00) AND YOU WILL BE PAID 20% FOR YOUR MANAGEMENT SERVICES.

Dear Friend, Greetings to you and your family. My name is  Ali Ibrahim I am a British and serving in the US Military in the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiments, Patrols Tail Afar, in Iraq. I am desperately in need of assistance and I have summoned up courage to contact you. I am presently working in Iraq and I found your contact particulars in an address journal. I am seeking your assistance to evacuate the sum of US$8.523 Million Dollars) Eight Million five Hundred Thousand And Twenty Three Dollars  to the States or any safe country of your choice,

Greeting,  Compliment of the season, you may be surprised to receive this mail from me since you do not know me personally I am CHAN LEE, the scrutiny officer of Bank of China offshore payment office in Hongkong. Due to the high rate of corruption going on in the world,we have been mandated to pay all overdue payment to all our foreign contractors, By virtue of my position in this committee, I and my colleagues has been able to negotiate out for our self the sum of USD$8.4 million united state Dollars which was packaged in a box and  deposited to a diplomatic courier company as a family valuable  which will be delivered through a diplomatic means out of the country.

Hello, > Do accept my sincere apologies if my mail does not meet your> personal ethics although, I wish to use this medium to get > in touch with you first because it's fastest means. I am an > external auditor of a well known Bank here in the United > Kingdom. > In one of our periodic auditing I discovered a dormant > accounts with holding balance of 10,000,000 (Ten Million > British Pounds) which has not been operated for the past > three years. From my investigations and confirmations, the > owner of this account, a foreigner by name Mr.Gregory > B.Wilson died in plane crash in July 19,2003 and since then > nobody has done anything as regards the claiming of this > money because he has no family members who are aware of the > existence of neither the account nor the funds. > I have secretly discussed this matter with a top senior > minister official of the federal ministry of finance here> and we have agreed to find a reliable foreign partner to > deal with us...

Hello, Although you might be apprehensive about my email as we have not met before,My name is Mr Song Li le I work with the Hang Seng Bank.There is the sum of $19,500,000.00 in my bank"Hang Seng Bank", Hong kong. There were no beneficiaries stated concerning these funds which means no one would ever come forward to claim it. That is why I ask that we work together so as to have the sum transfered out of my bank into your account.

Hello,  I am Mr. Niang Madicke, i work with one of the big banks here in Dakar,Senegal. My apologies if you find my mail intruding.I do not mean to offend you but only wish to use this medium to propose a business transaction to you which i believe would be of benefits to both of us if you agree to work with me.... [Assurances here that this is not a hoax] ...  The total amount involved is around (six million US dollars)and all i need from you is to help me get the funds over to you safely,i have everything all worked out and there would be no risk or danger in this transaction.

Dear Friend, Please take some time off your busy schedule to read and respond to this email as soon as possible. I am serving in Iraq (Mosul), I will need your assistance to take care of some financial matters for me, and of course you will be adequately compensated with 40% as your share for rendering this assistance. I have to urgently evacuate money, totaling US$33,700,000(thirty three million, seven hundred thousand US dollars) clean legal notes, and all in US$100 bills out of here to a safe place, having found a secure way to do so.

E-Mail Scams, Part II: Some Business Or Investor Out Of The Blue Wants To Give You Money

Isn't this just a glorified version of the "stuff envelopes at home, make thousands a week" scam?

Dear Sir/Madam, This is a Letter from Gulf Oil&Gas Company in Hong kong ... We know that you may be surprise on how we got your Email address,your email was picked at random by our Gmek System use to randomly select the right candidate for this position. We want to make you our Payment Agent there in your location and your reward is 10% Please contact us for more information.

British Petroleum Company seeks for resourceful individual as payment Officer. (Work From Home).You are to receive a commission of 15% from every payment been made to you.Payment are to be made cash and online wire transfer.No cheque,Draft and travel's Cheque payment.

I am Princess Osai Boma, a native of ABONNEMA in Rivers State. By introduction, I have served in various capacities as AIDE to the Governor of my State and in this present Government at Federal levels which has handed over to another elected democratic administration, on  May 29th, 2007. From the fore-going,I hope that, I have properly introduced myself. My reason for writing you is to solicit for a joint partnership Investment Venture in your country.

My Dear, I am a business consultant in London, UK. My clients is interested in investing with you or your company. Kindly forward all your company/personal profiles to me for immediate decision on the investment plan and how the investment funds will be handed over to you. Total amount to be invested is 95,000,000,00.USD {ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY FIVE MILLION DOLLARS ONLY}, and it is deposited with a Deposit House in Spain.

Goodday I am Mohammed Abacha. I need your assistance in taking custody of some funds for investment into viable business venture in your country in partnership with me.
Please view these websites and read their content carefully.

Dear Friend, Compliment of the season,I am Mr. Patrick Chan Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of the Hang Seng Bank Ltd, Hong Kong.I have a Business Proposal of ($30,000,000.00) for you to handle with me from my bank.I will need you to assist me in executing this Business Project from Hong Kong to your country. I need to know if you will be able to handle this with me before I explain to you in details.Should you be interested please send me your full 1,Full names, 2,Private phone number, 3,Current residential address.

Dear Friend, I am making this contact based on my committee (Department of Mineral & Energy) needs an individual/company who can help us with the transfer of a contract entitlement. This amount (US$14.5M) represents the balance of the total contract value executed on behalf of my Department by a foreign contracting firm. This amount we have gotten approval to transfer abroad to any foreign bank account.

Dear Sir/Madam,  Our company, Tao & Wang Associates based in People's Republic of China,is in need of representatives in Europe and North America to represent its interests with some companies that export products from China to this continents. We have mandated to seek individuals in North America for the purpose of being payment officers.We were able to get your email address with the help of marketing research based on your location.If you are interested and for moreinformation, please send an email with: 1.Your Full Name: 2.Age: 3. Sex: 4. Occupation: 5. Your Address: 6.Annual Income: 7. Your Telephone Number and/or Fax:

E-Mail Scams, Part III: Somebody Has Left You Money

NOTIFICATION OF BEQUEST: On behalf of the Trustees and Executor of the estate of Late Mr. Edwin Gabriel, I once again try to notify you as my earlier letter was returned undelivered. I hereby attempt to reach you again by this same email address on the WILL. I wish to notify you that late Mr. Edwin Gabriel made you a beneficiary to his WILL. He left the sum of Ten Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars (USD$10,500.000.00) to you in the codicil and last testament to his will.

My Dear Good Friend, How are you today? I am writing to inform you that  I have Paid the fee for your Cheque Draft. And  I went to the bank  to confirm if the Cheque has expired or getting near to expire and  Mr.Ahmed Zafa the Director of Central Bank of West African States(BCEAO) told me that before the cheque will get to your hand that it will expire. So I told him to cash the US$2.5MILLION US DOLLARS to cash payment to avoid losting this funds.

ATTN: HONOURABLE BENEFICIARY, I am ALHAJI BABAGANA KINGIBE; secretary federal government of Nigeria of Office of the Presidency. I have being directed by His Excellency, The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria UMARU MUSA  YAR'ADUA, to bring to your notice that this Government understands your Plight, the disappointment you have suffered in the past to get your Contract /inheritance fund paid to you.

REF:- INSTRUCTION TO CREDIT  YOUR  BANK  ACCOUNT This is to notify you about the statue of your fund right now in my desk. After due vetting and evaluation of your Inheritance file which The Ministry of Finance of the Federal Republic of Nigeria Forwarded and contracted us to see to your immediate payment. From our findings you have been going through hard ways by paying alot of charges to see to the release of your fund ($25, 000, 000, 00) which has been delayed.

E-mail Scams, Part IV: Somebody Was Killed Or They Are Sick And Dying And You Can Have Their Money

GREETINGS TO YOU IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.I AM MRS.SERAH IDAHOSA. A WIDOW TO LATE BEN IDAHOSA. I AM 58 YEARS OLD. I AM NOW A NEW CHRISTAIN CONVERT, SUFFERING FROM LONG TIME CANCER OF THE BREAST. [The short of this one is she wants help in donating $12 million to the needy in the U.S.]

When my late husband was alive he secured $15Million (Fifteen Million U.S. Dollars) with financial institution here in Cote D'Ivoire. Presently, this money is still with the financial institution. Recently, my Doctor told me that from all the test conducted on my health, I am not going to last long, expecially, due to my cancer and stroke. But what disturbs me most now is stroke. Having known my condition, I decided to donate this fund to churches or Christian individual that will utilize this money the way I am going to instruct.

Hello, This is Anne from Trinidad &Tobago. I am writing from the hospital in Cote D'Ivoire, therefore this mail is very urgent as you can see that I am going home. I was told by the doctor that I was poisoned and has got my lever damaged and can only live for some months. I inherited some money ($16,500,000 Million) from my late father and I cannot think of anybody trying to kill me apart from my step mother in order to inherit the money, she is an Ivorian by nationality.  I want you to contact my servant with this informations below...

E-Mail Scams, Part V: You Have Won A Lottery Or Prize

Sometimes the simplest scam is the best. Forget all that smuggling millions of out Iraq stuff -- just tell folks they have won something!

Your email address has won you $4.6M from the UK Lottery online draws held in Dubai on the 6TH of July 2007 Lucky Number:UJT:87829283.Contact Mr Ben Jyair with your official names,country,address, tel,date of draw on... for delivery of your winning cheque.

It gives us great joy to acknowledge you as the recipient of our yearly draw, held on the 16th day of July, 2007. You have therefore emerged as a recipient in the first category with an award of Two Million United States Dollar (US$2,000,000.00USD) United States dollars in this annual middle of year promo...

Dear Beneficiary, The Fondazione Di Vittorio, would like to notify you that you have been chosen by the board of trustees as one of the final recipients of a cash Grant/Donation for your own personal, educational, and business development.

The Russian Foundation for basic research would like to notify you that you have been chosen by the board of trustees as one of the final recipients of a cash Grant/Donation for your own personal, educational, and business development.

And I especially like these last two because they claim to be making reparations to victims of e-mail scams!

This is to bring to your notice that we are delegated from the UNITED NATIONS in Central Bank to pay 150  victims of scam $100,000 USD (One Hundred Thounsand Dollars) each. You are listed and approved for this payment as one of the scammed victims to be paid this amount, get back to this office as soon as possible for the immediate payments of your $100,000 USD compensations funds.

The Coalition to Protect Contractors is a Non-Government Organization (NGO) formed in March 2006 by a group of activists, patriots and like-minds to protect the rights of Foreign Contractors in Africa. We have also extended our scope to include pursuit of payments for money inherited from the deceased. We are operating from United Kingdom at the moment for tactical reasons and have resolved to ensure justice is done for the money being owed you for long because of the unscrupulous activities, misdeeds, irregularities, exploitation, extortion, mess and disappointments by many questionable and unscrupulous characters in these African countries.

E-Mail Scams, Part VI: Miscellaneous Scams

A couple of readers told me about some other unusual scams:

In follow up to your Sunday piece – my wife got a piece of mail from a company called RJM Acquisitions Funding Inc. claiming that she owed a past due bill to Fingerhut for a past due bill.  We get this solicitation once or twice a year and it is a known fraud.  We have never ordered anything from Fingerhut let alone had a charge account with them. I checked it out last time and this RJM Acquisitions Funding is a known fraud in NY State. I have enclosed a PDF of the letter.

i have received a different kind of scam , it seems it is targetting people selling there cars by owner. i first received an SMS  inquiring about my car , and it includes his email address to reply , then he sent me an email with about 15 questions about my car , and it seems he wants to email me a check more than the price of my car , in  order that i will give him my  car and the difference in cash .

Coming Thursday: The TroxBlog Handy-Dandy Compendium Of E-Mail Scams

Thanks to all who responded to my request in Sunday's column to forward some of the more entertaining e-mail scams they receive. On Thursday morning I'll post some of them here on TroxBlog by category.

Having said that, can I make a second request? You'll laugh at me. YOU CAN STOP SENDING THEM NOW. I swear, I have read so many that I am getting them in my dreams... dear honorable sir/madam, I know my message must come as some shock and surprise to you...

Wait, How Could I Leave Out THIS Name For The USF Sun Dome?

The Lou Pearlman Center

The USF Felony Dome

So the University of South Florida's Sun Dome isn't going to be named for a company headed by a controversial guy with a criminal background after all. Check out Jeff Testerman's story this morning saying that Academic Financial Services of Tampa has pulled out of the $3-million, five-year deal, saving USF a certain amount of embarrassment.

Company founder Wayne Morgan sounded offended that anyone would be offended at the idea. "I was trying to help the d--- Sun Dome," he says in Testerman's story. "It needs an overhaul. I was trying to do some good."

There were just a couple of teeny problems, including a shareholder lawsuit accusing Morgan of misappropriating $2.58-million of company assets for personal use. There also is his failure to disclose a criminal past on a name-change application (the year before he started his business) including safecracking, larceny and breaking and entering. He did reveal his past conviction for writing an $18,000 worthless check. Oh, and there's a Department of Labor investigation into the company's payroll withholding.

Morgan has built AFS into a big company with 275 employees, but there were some good questions about whether this is the name that USF wants on the signature structure on its Tampa campus.

Now, here is the question behind the news -- how did this proposed deal come about in the first place?

Well, there are a series of corporations involved. USF has its own outfit, Sun Dome Inc. Sun Dome Inc. hired a Tennessee company, Action Sports Media, which in turn was supposed to find marketing deals for the facility. Action Sports Media came up with the AFS deal, which apparently seemed like a good idea at the time -- to Action Sports Media, anyway.

Since money is all that seems to matter, this brings us to the...

Top Five Disreputable Company Names Still Available For The USF Sun Dome:

5. The BALCO Dome.

4. The (Now Defunct) Enron Arena.

3. Rupert Murdoch Gardens.

2. Trump: The Dome.

And the number one corporate name still available...

1. Halliburtonville.

Here's The July 17 Chat: Read A Transcript

Today's edition of the weekly live chat here on TroxBlog included exchanges about...

* The decision to cancel public-access TV in Pinellas

* The effect of budget cuts on our state universities

* Whether the Times has censored its archives because of pressure from a big-shot law firm (answer: no)

* The merits of the Devil Rays game announcers

Oh, we also got into a side dust-up over whether a member of Congress was out of line in making a comparison between the Bush Administration and Nazi Germany,  which is a little out of my state and local field. I didn't have too much taste for it, though, and asked folks to knock it off once we got into the who's-more-like-which-Nazi game.

To read a transcript of today's chat or to add your own thought, just click on the "Comments" link of this announcement.

Thanks to everybody who took part, and I hope to see you again at next Tuesday's weekly chat!

Live Chat Today, Noon - 1 P.M.

I hope you can stop by from noon to 1 p.m. today for this week's live chat here on TroxBlog. I'll be taking comments and questions about current events in Florida and here in the Tampa Bay area.

To take part in the chat, come back at noon and look for a new announcement here with the headline, "The July 17 Chat Is Open." Click on the "Comments" link to see what others are saying or to add your own question or comment.

If you can't be here live, feel free to "pre-post" a question or remark in the "Comments" option of this announcement. As always, you can come back later to check out a transcript of the chat.

Tuesday Column: Citizens Are Left To Watch, Not To Be Seen

Today's newspaper is filled with news of all the ways that citizens will suffer through service cuts if local governments are forced to cut their taxes. I didn't plan it this way, but it makes today's column about Pinellas County eliminating its public-access cable channel, while keeping its government propaganda channel, all the more timely....

Here is a tale of two channels on the TV dial, and why one must die so that the other can live.

The one to be axed is Channel 96, the "public access" channel on some of the cable TV systems in Pinellas County.

(Some cities have their own city channel and don't carry public access.)

Known as "Access Pinellas," Channel 96 features citizen-producers churning out their own programs - religious, cultural, book talk, dance, politics, personal rants.

But the Pinellas County government plans to eliminate Access Pinellas' budget as of Sept. 30.

There are tax cuts taking effect, see. Everybody has to tighten their belts.

This brings us to the other TV station. Pinellas 18 is the county government channel... [rest of column]

E-Mail Scams: Targeted At Churchgoers

Well, I asked for it in my Sunday column, and readers are sending in their favorite e-mail scams by the dozen. Most are funny, some are scary, and a couple are downright disgusting...

The Catholic Church Italy ... would like to notify you that you have been chosen by the board of trustees as one of the final recipients of a cash Grant/Donation for your own personal, educational, and business development. The Church, established in the year 1872, is one  of the biggest church  built for God in Italy.  In the year 1901, they started offering   collection for the sole aim of human growth, educational and Community development. In conjunction with the ECOWAS, UNO, and the EU, We are giving out a yearly donation of US$650, 000.00 each to 100 lucky recipients each year. These specific Donations/Grants will be awarded to 100 lucky international recipients worldwide; in different categories for their personal business development.

Dear Brother/Sister's in Lord Christ Jesus. Calvary greetings in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,I am former Mr Ahmedaliza Wasilat ,now Mr Christain Davis,,I am now a new Christian convert,suffering from long time cancer of the heart. From all indications, my condition is really deteriorating and is quite obvious that I may not live more than six months, because the cancer stage has gotten to a very severe stage.My late wife was killed during the Gulf war, and during the period of our marriage we had a son who was also killed in a cold blood during the Gulf war.My late wife was very wealthy and after her death,I inherited all our business and wealth. My personal physician told me that I may not live for more than six months and I am so scared about this. So, I now decided to divide part of this wealth, by contributing to the development of evangelism in Africa,America, Europe and Asian Countries. This mission which will no doubt be tasking had made me to recenlty relocated to Israel,where I live presently. I selected your church after visiting the website for this purpose and prayed over it, I am willing to donate the sum of $19.500,000.00 Million US Dollars to your Church/Ministry for the development of evangelism and also as aids for the less privileged around you.

This guy is based in "Bahamas"...

I am Hugh Herman.A business consultant based in Bahamas.
I have a transaction i will want to do with you.I got your
information
from the International Directory and will want to talk with you
before we could proceed with the transaction.
As soon  as i hear from you we shall proceed.
Looking forward to hear from you.

... while you would think that these guys would have something other than a Yahoo address.

We are presently searching for Representatives/Collection Agents who
can help us establish a medium of getting to our customers in the
America, precisely USA and Canada and Europe as well. If interested,
Please contact me on guangdongcorp@yahoo.com.cn 

Respectfully Submitted,

Mr. Hou Weijun
Gen.Manager
GUANG DONG LIGHT INDUSTRIAL
PRODUCTS IMP.&.EXP.CORP

E-Mail Scam: Appeal To Pity

I pray this letter touches you to be of help to my deplorable
condition which the latest crisis around our region has caused. I am Fatima Abbas Mahmoud
who until the last couple of months lived happily with my husband
and two kids in the region of tyre in Lebanon . My husband and two
daughters were killed on the same day during the Israeli raid on that region
leaving me to face the world alone without love and shelter for a
problem that we had no hand in, am unstable
emotionally and live at the mercy of those who can do little or nothing
to salvage my present condition. Our home and property were destroyed
and left in rubbles. This is a passionate plea to your conscience in
assisting me to live a life again though it can never be the same when at
twenty eight I have been turned into a helpless widow.

E-Mail Scam, Sinister Category: Someone Wishes You Harm

Most of these scams are pretty funny and appeal to greed. This one appeals to an even more basic instinct: fear. May this scammer get his just desserts.

This is the only way I could contact you for now,I want you to be very
careful about this and keep this secret with you until I make out  space
for us to see. You have no need of knowing who I am or where I am
from.I know this may sound very surprising to you but it's the
situation.i have been paid some ransom in advance to terminate you  with
some  reasons  listed to me by my employer.It's someone I believe you
call a friend,  I have followed you closely for a while now and have
seen that you are  innocent of the accusations he leveled against you.Do
not contact the  police or try to send a copy of this to them,because if
you do, I will  know,and might be pushed to do what I have been paid to
do.Besides,  this is  the 1st time I turn out to be a betrayer in my
job.I took pity on  you,that is why I have made up my mind to help you
if you are willing  to  help yourself.

E-Mail Scam: You're Named In A Will

I kind of liked this one -- it showed creativity, I thought. And she sounds like a good woman.

NOTIFICATION OF BEQUEST: On behalf of the Trustees and Executor of the estate of Late Mrs. Peggy Randy, I once again try to notify you as my earlier letter was returned undelivered. I hereby attempt to reach you again by this same email address on the WILL. I wish to notify you that late Mrs. Peggy Randy made you a beneficiary to her WILL. She left the sum of Fifteen Million One Hundred Thousand Dollars (USD$15,100.000.00 ) to you in the codicil and last testament to her will. This may sound strange and unbelievable to you, but it is real and true. Being a widely travelled woman, she must have been in contact with you in the past or simply you were nominated to her by one of her numerous friends  abroad who wished you good. Mrs. Peggy Randy until her death was a member of the Helicopter Society an