Free Republic

I have prayed for your grandson and family and will continue to do so.

“Puerto Ricans are well known for selling fradulent documents to illegals”

Funny, My grandparents were Puerto Rican and I’ve never heard this before.

The article made no mention of illegal aliens either.

Sounds like some home-grown criminals and an inefficiently run bureaucracy with little accountability, particularly in this office.

These scum are Puerto Rican, native American. And since they are about my age, I guess they are 3rd or 4th generation American.

My Puerto Rican grandparents would have been Americans before the Italian ones that came in the late teens of the 10th century. FYI plenty of my mom’s cousins who stayed on the island served in the armed forces through the Second World War to the present. They are most definitely Americans.

Unfortunately scum come in all colors, nationalities and ethnicities.

Just stood in line for three and a half hours to vote in Palm Beach County (Boynton Beach). Everyone patient and calm. Though we didn’t overtly talk politics I believe I was an overwhelming underdog in supporting Romney. Many African Americans seemed to have voted early and appear to be overwhelmingly for Obama. I was going to wait until Tuesday but saw the long lines for today, the last day of early voting, and decided to take care of it now.

Paper ballot had five sides of state amendments and one for candidates. Had to mark six pages and scan three separate sheets. Amazingly awkward ballot. I miss New York.

All my friends were in two-income families. For most of us the position of primary breadwinner varied over time. In only 1 of 6 couples was hubby consistently prime breadwinner. That wife, incidently was one of only 2 who were not college grads. We lived in Westchester County, NY, where a family would need to earn close to 200K to manage with some hope of owning a single family home & college option for kids. Actual earnings would need to be higher for some sort of breathing room.

We wives worked to support our families, not to neglect our kids. Property taxes on my nearly 100 year old home were almost 18,000 last year. I resent the tone of the article. My education enabled me to make a very significant contribution to my family’s situation and not require my husband to kill himself working and missing our kids.

“any New Yorker knows that a mezuzah is more important in real estate than a good lawyer”

LOL! I kept the mezuzah left by the previous owner of my co-op. I figured it couldn’t hurt. I’m not Jewish & don’t know what prayer is said, but as I walked into my apt it reminded me to thank God for a roof over my head and a loving family.

Guess I’ll be in the minority here. Guy is obviously trying to cash in on the event (bike ride). Fine. If vendors are required to get a permit, that should apply to all. Dad is obviously hiding behind a kid too young to have any real interest in order to make a buck. If the food truck and guy with the cart full of ballons, glowsticks and other trinkets need a permit, Dad should get one too.

Saw HP last night in 3D. My 1st 3D movie ever. In a word, INCREDIBLE! From now on I will always opt to see an action movie in 3D.

I only read 1st four books and saw 1 previous movie. (Was several yrs ago & I took a gaggle of kids from ages 9 to 17 and didn’t get to relax & enjoy it).

Story was entertaining, special effects were outstandig. Will try to catch up on older movies now.

I have heard there may be some plan to return some money to those who leave before full vesting. Nothing is finalized. If you opt to switch to the investment plan vesting is 1 yr. If you go with the pension plan I believe vesting is 5 or 6 years.

With a non-contribution system, I understand vesting. I don’t know how you can withhold pay and not return it to the employee if they leave.

BTW, there are 6 technical positions open in my area. We are so swamped with keeping up with routine system & application patches and maintenance that new development is often stalled. This is not frivilous new development, but needed interfaces to financial institutions and justice partners, as well as new technology for vital records recording, retention and redaction and services to citizens, taxpayers, victims, jurors, etc. They have trouble filling these positions because the payscale is not competitive. In the past it was the benefits that levelled the playing field. No longer true.

I have heard there may be some plan to return some money to those who leave before full vesting. Nothing is finalized. If you opt to switch to the investment plan vesting is 1 yr. If you go with the pension plan I believe vesting is 5 or 6 years.

With a non-contribution system, I understand vesting. I don’t know how you can withhold pay and not return it to the employee if they leave.

BTW, there are 6 technical positions open in my area. We are so swamped with keeping up with routine system & application patches and maintenance that new development is often stalled. This is not frivilous new development, but needed interfaces to financial institutions and justice partners, as well as new technology for vital records recording, retention and redaction and services to citizens, taxpayers, victims, jurors, etc. They have trouble filling these positions because the payscale is not competitive. In the past it was the benefits that levelled the playing field. No longer true.

As an new employee of the FL courts I can verify that the absurd idea of carrying unused sick and vacation time for years was rampant. Many looked at is as additional retirement savings, some looked at it as a cushion in case of catastrophic illness (self or family member). It was crazy. To lay off 3 people, an additional person had to loose their job to pay this unfunded liability.

That ended this year as our office wisely forced everyone to take a onetime vacation/sick time buy-out and implemented a no carryover policy.

I moved to FL from NY 2 years ago and work (in IT) for the courts. After 28 yrs in the private sector and contributing 5% to my retirement plan, which I ELECTED to join, I was surprised to find I was AUTOMATICALLY enrolled in the Florida Retirement Sysyem (FRS). Not an issue since I wasn’t contributing anything. I would not have joined since the pay rates here are so abysmal (2/3 of my NY salary) and I have a nice nest egg with TIAA/CREF and don’t anticipate working here very many years. I unknowingly entered an environment where there been no salary adjustments for 3 years. Now I am COMPELLED to contribute to a program I CAN NOT OPT OUT of.

That is a pay cut. BTW, I don’t belong to any union or collective bargaining unit.

I know you are legally correct. But just like with DUI, the decision to do something that would impair your judgement (get intoxicated) should carry some weight as to one’s responsibility.

There are guys that will take advantage of a drunk girl, but some also will have impaired judgement themselves. However, it doesn’t change the outcome.

I know I made some bonehead decisions in college and put myself in a bad situation because I had been drinking. Like in Natalie Holloway’s case (and presumably that NY coed missing in Indiana), it can have fatal consequences. It went a different way for Bristol, but she put herself in that situation. “Blaming” someone else is immature & counter-productive. Putting it in print is just stupid.

Birth control pill for cramps? Yeah, yeah. Mom should have had her on the patch or implant since she obviously couldn’t handle taking one pill a day. You would think Bristol could have managed that particularly after she became sexually active. Boyfriend is a moron, but ultimately the woman is responsible for her own decisions. (Get drunk, sleepover with boyfriend, irresponsible with birth control.)

I feel worse for their son, Trig. He’s got two immature idiots for parents. They may ultimately mature and be halfway decent parents, but they won’t get much smarter.

Deported? Nothing in the article indicated he wasn’t a homegrown perverted sleezebag.

But I’d say he was effectively deported to the (hot) hereafter.

(From a 3rd generation spanish surnamed American)

I thought Mom was making a gift to her daughter of eggs should she need them in the future. If she were to choose the surrugate route she will already have the donor eggs (reducing the cost of the process), and some familial connection. Sounds like her siblings are too young to do this for her now.

Although if the condition is hereditary and not spontaneous, perhaps she should seek out unrelated eggs.

And to the other poster, my kids have my husband’s last name, not mine. Not all women change their last names upon marriage. Wasn’t a political statement, just wasn’t interested in doing it.

I agree, and I’m a New Yorker. NYers are direct, but friendly. Was there last weekend and random folks on streets, stores & subways will happily give directions and talk baseball, weather, etc. I thanked every sailor I saw (was “fleet week”). People here seem to be far less friendly, don’t strike up conversations while waiting in lines, etc. Could be the sucky economy. Also, many more transients. Most Floridians transplanted from somewhere else.

As an aside I’ve noticed folks tend to get married quickly and often here. Not nearly as high a percentage of long-term marriages as I’ve seen elsewhere. Probably related to the transient nature, economy and the higher average age.

Don’t believe the airlines! They’ve been talking about more routes to Tallahassee for years - and that’s the capital. No easy, cheap way there that doesn’t involve 7 hrs of driving each way. We call it “Tallanasty”. LOL!

If you fish or are a recreational boater, this is the place!

I relocated from NY to So FL two yrs ago after vacationing here often. I know the Destin, Ft. Walton & Tallahassee areas too. It is indeed beautiful, though I prefer So FL. Recreation is second to none and the weather better than north FL.

Don’t know if it matters to you, but it is very inconvient and expensive to travel to No. FL. No airline hubs. It is faster for me to visit my parents in NY (PBI - LGA) than my sister in Tallahassee.

I find parts is way too “redneck”. I was shocked by things & phrases said by people I would otherwise respect. There is also a pervasive condescending attitude towards professional women, “snowbirds” & Canadians (who sustain many town’s economies), Cuban Americans, and outsiders in general. I never heard the n-word more in my whole 50 yrs in NY than in the last 2 down here. (I am white, but find it offensive.) Its a close tie between sexism or racism as to which bothers me more! The state public school system is terrible and there is an amazing dearth of private higher educational institutions.

The government is Florida’s largest employer. Salaries are abyssmal; I’m making less than two-thirds of my NY salary (was over 100K) for same IT work.

On the up side, NO SNOW, low taxes, good time to buy property.

As a parent, Mr Lindh’s letter was heartbreaking to read. I had forgotten just how young (and obviously impressionable) his son was when he left to study Islamic culture and arabic language (in a pre- 9/11 world).

My son was also 18 when he left to join the US Army 2 yrs ago.

Young Mr. Lindh is now 30 and has served 10 years of his 20 year sentence. I will pray for him and his devastated family.