(1) Higher ed (2) Homeless (3) Dogs (4) Ron Paul

(1) See this story in the paper this morning about the Board of Governors increasing tuition. I know that it's a hardship for those paying -- but you get what you pay for, and we are paying cheapskate rates. Florida ranks low in both tax support of its universities and its tuition levels. Florida has the worst student-instructor ratio in the nation.

The Board of Governors is right to try to do something, and the Legislature ought to be butt-kicked for not doing enough. The Senate president, Ken Pruitt, accused the Governors of trying to "destroy the prepaid college tuition program in Florida." In other words, we have to keep the universities cheap and crummy so we don't have to pay any more. Pfffffffffffttt.

(2) Look, I am a bleedin'-heart guy, but does that mean I have support piles of unsightly crap in front of St. Petersburg City Hall? Folks were yelling "fascist" and "cowards" at the City Council for passing an ordinance saying there's no sleeping or stashing stuff on public property downtown. Since at the same time the city is going to provide safe and free storage at St. Vincent de Paul, we're not exactly talking 1930s Germany here...

(3) Bleedin'-heart or no, I might support doing to this guy what he did to those dogs. Okay, so I couldn't actually go through with it. But I'd make him believe I was going to.

(4) So, I was impressed with Ron Paul's no-nonsense answer last night when asked about this "stimulus" package during the Republican debate. We're racking up debt one way or the other. More than once I've found myself nodding along with the guy, especially on questions of debt and fiscal discipline. [AP photo]

Comments

[ALC]

Howard-- I'm sure your remark was in jest, but your comment about the animal brutality incident struck a chord.

You wouldn't actually do it, but you would make him believe you were going to?

Isn't that precisely what waterboarding does? You're not actually going to drown the detainee, but you're going to make him believe you would. It's one thing to be against it because it is ineffective (it is), but can we please have a dispassionate attempt at understanding whether it really constitutes *torture*? One that doesn't automatically assume that because something contentious is supported by the Bush administration, it must be wrong.

[Larry]

How in the world do you get from a nut burning his dogs in his car to waterboarding? You're right Howard, cept I'd go throught with it.

[20/20]

Howard,

I agree with your position on each of these. I disagree with a few of Ron Paul’s positions, particularly in the education arena, but I do find his direct and non-nonsense approach very refreshing. Unfortunately, he doesn’t seem to fit the stereotypical mold of the cutout, market tested and approved candidate and is struggling for attention. I also liked Huckabee’s comments on the matter. Something to the effect of; we’ll probably have to borrow the money from China to fund it, and use it to buy products made in China… so who’s economy will truly benefit from it?

I find the stimulus package, as well as the $240 tax break offered in Amendment 1, to be just fine in theory and core intent. But I think neither will “jump-start” our economy as pitched. To be certain, my $540 would go directly to my homeowner’s insurance premium, which jumped from 1K to 5K a-year.

I think we, as a nation, need to face the reality that we’re most likely heading into some hard times. An environment that most of us really have no experience in coping with. One thing for certain is that it will surely test our collective character. Maybe that’s a good thing, in an obscure way. I’m disappointed that those seeking to lead us through this are more apt to offer sound bites over substantive solutions.

Wow, I think I just bummed myself out… I’m going to lunch.

[guy]

Howard I take offense at that 1930's Germany remark.
See you can find people anti-anything you say.
So you think the "Times" will endorse Ron Paul"? lol
Vote "No" on money for schools if you are voting no on amendment #1.
That way our taxes will not rise again.
Hows that one Howard old pal????

[Howard Troxler]

Just expressin' some emotional revulsion to the animal cruelty, not making a political statement...

[Jim Johnson]

but its okay to shove grannies around.

[BbBbBbBbBbBbBb...]

I take offense to anyone who takes offence to anything considered offensive... so now we're suqare!

Sorry if that offended anyone!

[Jim Johnson]

With regards to tuition increases, I suspect we're close to discovering that necessities are becoming luxuries we can no longer afford.

We need to sober up and get a grip on what results we want from a state college. Or is the whole business of excellence all about training people for work in other states, or socialism for the elites in our state?

[Schauer]

As someone who has actually volunteered at the shelter I must say that I dismayed by the tactics of the current protests. First and most important there are way too many comparisons these days to Hitler and the fascists of the 1930's. Although I am not jewish I have been to actual concentration camps in Germany. I have studied the period and resent the comparisons because it diminishes the scope of the evil of that period. Only the survivors of that period could understand what those words truly mean. But to be in those places 60 years later and see the pictures and films - the shoes and glasses and the hair and the teeth of the victims is overwhelming. To compare the action or inaction of the city council to the death, destruction, rape and torture of that periods totally discredits their arguments.