Florida is a "Ponzi Scheme"

CRChair found this first, but let me have the honor of posting it. NPR has up an interesting story claiming that the economy of Florida is one big Ponzi Scheme that has been relying on constant immigration into the state by tourists and new residents. Now that the Recession has hit, and Florida has seen its first net loss of residents since World War II, the state is wondering if it can survive with its current policies

It was bound to catch up with us. Gary Mormino, a distinguished historian of Florida, says our whole economy is more or less a big Ponzi scheme. The state funds its roads and schools by bringing in new investors — that is, new residents — to pay sales taxes and property taxes. When nobody can afford a condo in Boca, when tourists stop coming even for a week at Disney World, the Ponzi scheme collapses.

Now it seems as though everybody here knows somebody who has left, is leaving or wants to leave. Even the governor wants to leave — for Washington, D.C. He's running for the U.S. Senate after one term.

I have only been to Florida once for a Christian youth conference. I loved EPCOT and enjoyed the many anoles (small chameleon lizards) that infested the hotel windows. Otherwise, I never really understood the charm of living somewhere that is hazy, hot, and humid 365 days a year.

Buck at the Birdfeeder

Hat-tip to frequent commenter Shadowmom for this photo of a deer feeding at her bird-feeder the other week. Interesting to see these beautiful animals invading suburbia... even if they are eating all the flowers.

Commodore 64 reborn... on the iPhone!

Despite my current status of an Apple Fanboy, my first computer had no relation to Steve Jobs or Steve Wozniak. It was a Commodore 128 (a minor upgrade to the classic Commodore 64) - arguably less powerful than some Apple or IBM PCs of the day, but also far more affordable. It served me well until it was destroyed by careless use of the cartridge slot. It also took forever to load even simple games. But the simple games that it had were ground-breaking for the time in both graphics and playability, easily outdoing the gaming consoles of the day.

Now, the iPhone is bringing back the old days of the Commodore computer with a new third-party app that emulates these venerable computers and brings back some of the classic games. And unlike the original C64, these games load instantly. They even will be selling new games with in-app purchasing in the future.

Riding the Airline Trail

Yesterday, CRChair and I rode along the Airline Trail - a beautiful rail-trail that starts in East Hampton, CT and continues almost to the Massachusetts border. I thought my Mod-Blog friends might enjoy sampling a few of the sights. Click on the image below for the whole set.

Biking Update - September 5, 2009

Not a bad week for weight loss. Everything again stayed between 208 and 206 lbs. Not much biking got done outside, but plenty was done in the attic. We're hoping to bike on the Airline Trail today, so we may see more weight loss over the weekend.

Blogger attempts to get The "Express Written Consent of Major League Baseball"

C'mon, admit it. When you hear those warnings during baseball games about not allowing any rebroadcast "without the express written consent of Major League Baseball", you wonder what exactly it would take to get it. The Simpsons even made of this by stating they only had "implied verbal consent." Well, one blogger who wanted to describe a game to a friend on his cell, decided to find out.

I explained my situation to her and asked how to go about getting express written consent. She wanted to know if I was going to blog about the game or do a podcast, and I said no, I just wanted to describe the game to someone while sitting on my living room couch.

"How could anyone stop you from talking about the game in your own living room?" she said, taking my request as a joke.

I reassured her that it wasn't. While I doubted the MLB spies would be able to get to me, the disclaimer made it very clear that I'm not allowed to give my account of the game, so I wanted express written consent that gave me permission to talk about the game, and I would post a blog about how I went about attaining the consent. She said someone else from MLB would be calling me.

At the risk of spoiling the punchline, he never did get his "express written consent."

Call the Fire Companies!

From here.