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Advertised prices conform with Volkswagen pricing guidelines for advertising. As one of the largest volume VW stores in the U.S. (#3 for 2017, 2018 & 2019), Lindsay can offer additional savings not shown in advertised prices. These extra discounts are available with a call, email, text, online price request or by visiting our showroom. For your best options and pricing please contact us with the vehicle you're considering, as well as your eligibility for additional savings programs. Prices subject to availability and are limited to vehicles in inventory. New vehicle pricing assumes financing with preferred providers and may not be combined with special financing and or lease offers. Destination (factory transportation fees) are included in advertised pricing. Tax, Title, Tags, and $699 processing fee not included in vehicle prices shown and must be paid by the purchaser.
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Have you ever wondered why the rechargeable battery in your laptop is covered by a shorter warranty period than the rest of your laptop? The reason is very simple. The life span of a laptop battery is much shorter. After only one year many batteries provide half the capacity they had in the beginning. What […]
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[Laptop] Prolong Life Span and Capacity of your Battery
April 15th, 2009 J. ΞPSTΞÏN

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After you submit the IEEE Conference Application, IEEE requests confirmation of your conference sponsorship. If you have more than one sponsor for your conference, IEEE will send each sponsor a link to an online MOU form. The form is specific to your conference and is based on the sponsor information you entered in the IEEE Conference Application.
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IEEE creates the MOU using information you entered in your IEEE Conference Application.
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TT Fusion
LEGO The Hobbit listed for multi-platforms in 2014 – rumor
LEGO The Hobbit may soon be a thing, if an image posted on AGB is accurate. We're unsure where the scan came from, but a quick Google Image search brought us to the Animato Studios blog where the same picture is shown. The site notes the image appeared in the back of an instruction manual […]
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LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins dated for 3DS
LEGO City Undercover: The Chase Begins has been dated for European and American release on Nintendo 3DS. It's a prequel to the well-received Wii U edition.
Lego City: Undercover downloads may require external hard drive
The official product page for Lego City: Undercover warns that players will need an external hard drive to download a digital copy of the Wii U exclusive. The warning is a little mystifying, as it normally applies only to the Basic console's tiny 8GB hard drive and not the Deluxe's 32 GB offering, but in […]
LEGO City: Undercover reviews are go, all the scores here
LEGO City: Undercover reviews have begun. See how TT Fusion's first Wii U project has turned out in our score round-up.
Lego City: Undercover trailer introduces Game Pad functions
If you have trouble using the Wii U Game Pad in Lego City: Undercover, just give Ellie Phillips a ring; the requisitions and supply officer knows all the tricks.
Lego City: Undercover shows off vehicles, disguises
Lego City: Undercover is the first non-licensed adventure from Traveller's Tales, and you know what? It kind of looks like the best one yet. See the Wii U exclusive's vehicles and disguises ion action through the break.
LEGO City: Undercover TV spot has all the charm
LEGO City: Undercover has received a TV spot ahead of its Match 18th US release. The commercial follows Chase McCain as he attempts to take down Rex Fury, the buffest LEGO figure ever. It's all rather charming.
LEGO City Undercover: full completion may take 40-50 hours, says dev
LEGO City: Undercover developer Traveller's Tales Fusion reckons you're going to have to invest some 40-50 hours to 100% its Wii U platformer.
Lego City: Undercover trailer details Chase McCain's adventures
Lego City: Undercover is the first Lego game from Traveller's Tales without a license attached to it, but that doesn't mean it doesn't have personality, as this trailer more than demonstrates.
Lego City: Undercover screenshots and artwork show vehicles and terrain
Screenshots for Lego City: Undercover have been revealed, showing more of the vehicles that are in the game, ranging from cars to boats and tractors to helicopters, as well as a variety of terrain.
Spy Hunter to return this October
Spy Hunter is back, bringing a less-vague release date and first gameplay trailer for the classic property's portable reboot.
Spy Hunter reboot releasing on 3DS and Vita this fall
Warner Bros. has announced Spy Hunter for 3DS and Vita, citing the title as being a more thrilling and dangerous version ever of the original series.
LOTR: Aragorn's Quest to support Move on PS3
Warner Bros. has announced that Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest will make use of Move when released on PS3 this fall.
TT Fusion latest
Lego City: Undercover downloads may require external hard drive
LEGO City Undercover: full completion may take 40-50 hours, says dev
Lego City: Undercover trailer details Chase McCain's adventures
Lego City: Undercover screenshots and artwork show vehicles and terrain


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How Credit Ratings Affect Bond Valuations
There is widespread misunderstanding about what credit ratings really mean, and how they affect the returns that you earn and the overall riskiness of your portfolio.
Investors generally rely on bond ratings to evaluate the credit quality of specific bonds. Credit ratings indicate on a scale of high to low the probability of default; that is, the probability that debt will not be repaid on time in full. Failure to redeem principal at maturity would constitute a default. Failure to make interest payments on time (that is, to pay coupons to bondholders) would also constitute a default. In plain English, ratings answer two questions: How likely am I to get my money back at maturity, and how likely am I to get my interest payments on time?
All bonds are not subject to default risk. Any security issued directly by the U.S. government is considered free of default risk. Although these bonds are not rated, they are considered the safest and highest-quality securities that you can buy because a default by the U.S. government is deemed impossible. This includes all Treasury securities, as well as savings bonds.
Bonds issued by entities other than the U.S. government, such as corporate bonds and municipal bonds, are rated by a number of agencies that specialize in evaluating credit quality. The best-known rating agencies are Moody's, Standard & Poor's (S&P), and Fitch (now Fitch IBCA). Bonds are rated when issuers initially come to market, and subsequently, as issuers bring additional issues to market. Issuers pay the agencies for the rating.
|Table 1. Credit Quality Ratings and What They Mean
|Standard & Poor's
|Gilt-edged. If everything that can go wrong does go wrong, they can still service debt.
|Very high quality by all standards.
|Investment grade; good quality.
|Lowest investment-grade rating; satisfactory, but needs to be monitored.
|Somewhat speculative; low grade.
|Very speculative.
|Even more speculative. Substantial risk.
|Wildly speculative. May be in default.
|In default. Junk.
On a scale of the best credit quality to the lowest, Table 1 lists the symbols used by each of the major credit rating agencies. These symbols are on the left-hand side. The right-hand side of Table 1 is a translation into plain English of what the ratings mean. Standard & Poor's adds plus (+) and minus (-) signs to its ratings. A plus signifies higher quality; a minus signifies somewhat lower quality. For instance, a rating of B+ is slightly higher than a rating of B. A rating of B- is slightly lower than a B rating. Moody's adds a 1 to indicate slightly higher credit quality; for instance, a rating of A1 is a higher quality credit rating than an A rating.
In order to protect their investments, many individual investors limit their purchases to bonds that are at minimum rated "investment grade," which corresponds to BBB (Standard & Poor's) and Baa (Moody's). The term "investment grade" stems from the fact that fiduciary institutions, such as banks, are permitted by law to invest only in securities rated at the minimum "investment grade." That rating denotes a fair margin of safety. Note that some ads for bond funds use the term "investment grade" to imply extraordinarily high quality, which is misleading.
Why Ratings Change
Ratings are assigned on the basis of extensive economic analysis by the rating agencies mainly to determine revenues available to the issuer to cover debt service. The more money available to cover the debt service, the higher the rating.
When forecasting economic conditions for the next six months or for perhaps one year, experts stand on reasonably secure ground. But the further they predict into the future, the more imprecise and unreliable their forecasts become. Any prediction of economic conditions that goes out more than five years becomes guesswork. Bear in mind, however, that bonds are rated for their entire life, even if that is 30 years.
As a result, some forecasts turn out to be incorrect. When ratings are reviewed, they may change. As the economic fortunes of the issuer vary, so will the ratings.
Over time, changes in ratings can be major. For example, State of Louisiana bonds was rated AAA in the mid-1980s. In early 1990, they were rated barely investment grade. Occasionally, changes in ratings are more sudden. For instance, State of Massachusetts ratings went from AA to barely investment grade within the space of one year.
More dramatic rating changes sometimes occur in the corporate bond sector. For example, if a company buys another with debt, the amount of debt may increase sharply virtually overnight. And that increase would cause the rating to deteriorate virtually overnight as well.
Ratings and Interest Rates
Above all, credit ratings affect the cost of borrowing—that is, the interest rate that will have to be paid by the issuer to attract buyers. The interest cost to the issuer is the coupon you will earn.
The principle for this is easy to explain. Think of a bond as a loan and imagine that you are a bank that is lending to a borrower. You would ask a lot of questions relating to the probability of repayment. To whom would you rather lend money: to a struggling businessman with no collateral who wants to start a business, or to IBM? The answer is obvious. Now suppose you are the struggling businessman or John Doe. Chances are that if your banker turns you down, you will find a different banker, who will charge you higher interest costs. You may even go to your neighborhood loan shark (or equivalent), who will lend you the money, but charge you a much higher interest rate than the bank.
This is also true for bonds. The most creditworthy issuers—say, large states with diverse economies, blue-chip corporations with very little debt, or the U.S. government—borrow at a lower cost. Less creditworthy clients have to pay higher interest. Consequently, bonds with the highest quality credit ratings always carry the lowest yields; bonds with lower credit ratings yield more. Note that the yield, in a sense, provides a scale of credit-worthiness: higher yields generally indicate higher risk–the higher the yield, the higher the risk.
Ratings Changes & Price
If bonds are downgraded (that is, if the credit rating is lowered), the bond price declines. If the rating is upgraded, the price goes up. In fact, bond prices sometimes change if there is even a strong possibility of an upgrade or a downgrade. This is because anxious investors sell bonds whose credit quality is declining and buy bonds whose credit quality is improving.
Unless there is a genuine risk of default, however, price changes in response to upgrades or downgrades are far less major than those occurring due to changes in interest rate levels. With rare exceptions, ratings go up one notch or down one notch in the rating scale, and prices go up or down by perhaps 1% or 2% per bond in response to rating changes. The change in price corresponds to the amount necessary to bring the yield of a bond (and therefore its price) in line with other bonds rated at the same level. For bonds rated AA, for example, a downgrade to A+ may not make a noticeable difference in the price.
This point needs to be emphasized because many individual investors are needlessly worried about relatively minor downgrades and this fear is sometimes exacerbated by the financial press. For bonds that have very high credit quality (AA or AAA), a deterioration in the rating is not a major cause for concern. It would not result in a serious deterioration in the price of the bond. A more serious concern would be a series of downgrades, particularly if downgrades drop the credit rating to below investment grade.
There is one notable exception to the preceding statements. During the takeover craze of the 1980s, corporate bond prices were exceptionally volatile because of the possibility of downgrades due to takeovers.
Here are some questions and answers that deal with common investor concerns about bond credit ratings:
Doesn't a downgrade mean my bonds are no longer safe?
However, certain downgrades are more significant than others and should be viewed as red flags:
That is usually not the case. The rating scales used by the agencies are very conservative. Distinctions between rating levels are often based on nuances. Any bond rated investment grade or better continues to have good margins of safety, even after a downgrade.
- A downgrade that drops a bond rating to below investment grade;
- A downgrade of more than one notch (say from AA to A-);
- A string of downgrades in close succession.
If any of these occurs, you might want to review whether you wish to continue owning that security.
My bonds are insured, or AAA, or government guaranteed. Won't that guarantee that principal remains safe?
No. What is guaranteed is that interest payments will be made on time and that principal will be redeemed in full at the bond's maturity. There is no connection between that guarantee and what happens to the price (or value) of bonds due to fluctuations in interest rates. Changes in interest rates affect all bonds, whether they are those of Fly-by-Night airlines or obligations of the U.S. government. If interest rates rise, the value of your bonds will decline. If interest rates decline, the value of your bonds will rise. Period. No exceptions.
How frequently do defaults occur?
Default rates for junk bonds, which by definition are bonds rated below investment grade, are higher.
Note, however, that even when defaults occur, bond investors seldom lose 100% of the principal value of the bond. Defaulted bonds usually have some salvage value. There is a good deal of speculation in the bonds of defaulted or bankrupt issuers. That is because such bonds may be purchased very cheaply, perhaps as little as 10 to 30 cents on the dollar. Many defaults have taken the form of a suspension of coupon payments. Such bonds are said to be trading flat. If coupon payments are resumed, the price of the bonds can soar. Bondholders may also benefit from the sale of assets of issuers under bankruptcy proceedings. Finally, some bankrupt companies emerge successfully from bankruptcy proceedings, leading to a bonanza for anyone who purchased the bonds while the company was in default.
There is a gradation in risk of default. Any bond that is a direct obligation of the U.S. government is deemed to have zero possibility of default. Bonds issued by federal agencies, or most types of mortgage-backed securities, are deemed to have almost equally high credit quality. Municipal bonds come in a wide variety of ratings, but in the aggregate, they have low default rates. Corporates (particularly so-called junk bonds) are far less predictable. And the debt of so-called emerging markets is highly speculative.
That depends, of course, on the type of bond under discussion. But overall, if you consider primarily bonds that are at least investment grade in credit quality, default rates are relatively low. Since the Second World War, and despite a few well-publicized defaults in the corporate sector, no bonds have ever defaulted while currently rated AA. Only two defaults have occurred to bonds rated A. Similar statistics prevail for municipal bonds. (While some bonds that were initially highly rated eventually defaulted, these had been downgraded prior to the actual default. Hence, it is prudent to monitor the ratings of bonds in your portfolio.)
I want maximum income and maximum safety. My broker advises me to buy 30-year bonds with AAA ratings and just hold them to maturity. Isn't that the safest thing to do?
As a general rule, if you are concerned about the safety of principal and predictable income, it is usually safer to buy bonds with maturities of five to 10 years, rated at least investment grade or somewhat higher (depending on your preferences and tolerance for risk). Interest income from such bonds is likely to be close to (and occasionally higher) than that of AAA-rated bonds with long maturities so you will not be sacrificing income. But the risk to principal is dramatically lower.
Not necessarily. That can be a costly and high-risk strategy. It is costly because AAA-rated bonds yield less than bonds with lower ratings but with similar maturities. You are therefore sacrificing income. And it is high-risk for two reasons: One is that, as we have just seen, interest rate risk is far higher for bonds with longer maturities. If you need to resell your bonds before they mature, you might have to take a very costly hit to principal. But in addition, it is very difficult to predict how much you will really earn on bonds with the longest maturities because that will largely be determined by varying reinvestment rates earned on interest income.
Does all of this mean that I should ignore credit ratings?
No. Remember that ratings are opinions. The rating agencies do not have any connection to actual debt service payments, which are made by the issuer. Nor do the ratings constitute any kind of recommendation either to buy or sell a particular security. A low rating does not mean that default will occur; and a high rating guarantees nothing, not even that a downgrade won't occur.
A Ratings Summary
Here is a summary of what you will want to remember concerning ratings:
- When you purchase bonds, you should check credit ratings by the major agencies. Most of the time, ratings issued by the different rating agencies are close. If they are not, then to be safe, assume the lowest rating is accurate.
- Buy bonds rated investment grade (or higher), depending on your risk tolerance. A rating of A or better represents a sound rating, particularly for bonds with maturities under five years.
- Be sure that you understand the main reasons for the rating. What sources of revenue will pay the debt? What is the credit history of the issuer? Has it been upgraded or downgraded? Why?
- When you own a bond, monitor its rating. Ask your broker to let you know if any rating changes occur (and check periodically). If a significant downgrade occurs, and you feel uncomfortable holding, you may want to consider selling that security. Note that occasionally the price of some bonds drops in advance of a rating change. The market is sometimes ahead of the rating agencies in sniffing out that a particular security may face potential problems.
- Diversify. Don't put all your assets in one bond. If you have a total of $50,000 to invest, it is more prudent to buy five $10,000 lots than one $50,000 lot. Buy bonds of different issuers to diversify credit risk. And buy bonds with different maturities to diversify interest rate risk.


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A lot of things have been a stand out for me, a lot of our players are playing better than we thought. Melo finally stepping up his defensive game, JR Smith looking like a legitimate contender for 6th man of the year, Prigioni has played better than I thought he would, Marcus Camby barely playing is still something I don't understand.
MIKE WOODSON, the team is playing like it is because they love him. like when you were in school and there was a teacher you really liked, you didnt wanna let him or her down so you actually gave a crap and tried.
all other opinions like melos mvp campaign, sheeds defense can boil down to a coach that these guys WANT to play for
Melo play on defense .....diving for loose ball ...his over all play has been outstanding ...many thought he never play D ...he`s done more than any of us could have ask ......right now he has to be the MVP


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The list below contains the members of the board of directors. The board of directors are duly elected officers of the Eden Prairie Figure Skating Club according to the by-laws of the organization.
If you wish to contact the club in general or have any questions, please use the Contact Us button on the left side of every page.
Send a message to: Elise Hay


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What's your style? Whether it's loose tumbling waves, a daring fauxhawk or sleek, straight locks, our styling solutions help you make the best of your hair. We make them by hand using fresh, nourishing ingredients to tame and protect your crowning glory. So go ahead—style it up!
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In-Stock at My Store: TysonsIn-Stock at My Store: Tysons


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Archive for the 'Dream Act' Category
News Round Up In-Brief
August 6, 2011 Leave a comment
US News
- An editorial in the New York Times argues that Hispanic families are more vulnerable in economic downturns due in part to US immigration policy.
- The editorial is based on a recent report released by the Pew Research Center documenting how the recession widened the wealth gap between white, black, and Hispanic households in the United States.
- The Obama administration is moving forward with the Secure Communities project despite opposition from some states such as New York and Massachusetts. Read more…


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The concept of multithreaded programming goes back to at least the 1960s. Multithreaded programming development on UNIX systems began in the middle 1980s. While agreement existed about what multithreading is and the features necessary to support multithreading, the interfaces used to implement multithreading have varied greatly in the past.
For several years, POSIX (Portable Operating System Interface) 1003.4a worked on standards for multithreaded programming. The standard was eventually ratified and is now part of The Single UNIX Specification (SUS). The latest specification is available at The Open Group website. Beginning with the Solaris 10 release, the Solaris OS conforms to The Open Group's UNIX 03 Product Standard, or SUSv3.
Before the POSIX standard was ratified, the Solaris multithreading API was implemented in the Solaris libthread library, which was developed by Sun and later became the basis for the UNIX International (UI) threads standard. The libthread library was introduced in the Solaris 2.2 release in 1993. Support for the POSIX standard was added with the libpthread API in the Solaris 2.5 release in 1995, and both APIs have been available since. The libthread and libpthread libraries were merged into the standard libc C library beginning in the Solaris 10 release.
The libthread and libpthread libraries are maintained to provide backward compatibility for both runtime and compilation environments. The libthread.so.1 and libpthread.so.1 shared objects are implemented as filters on libc.so.1. See the libthread(3LIB) and libpthread(3LIB) man pages for more information.
While both thread libraries are supported, the POSIX library should be used in most cases. The threads(5) man page documents the differences and similarities between POSIX threads and Solaris threads.
This Multithreaded Programming Guide is based on the latest revision of the POSIX standard IEEE Std 1003.1:2001 (also known as ISO/IEC 9945:2003 and as The Single UNIX Specification, Version 3).
Subjects specific to Solaris threads are covered in the Chapter 6, Programming With Solaris Threads.


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By Dan Szematowicz, CNN
Follow on Twitter: @CNNDan
Editor's Note: CNN's Dan Szematowicz grew up in Florida and has a taste for the stranger news in life. Listen to the full essay in our player above, and join the conversation in our comments section below.
(CNN) – Five hundred years ago this week, Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon – a man I once impersonated for corporate parties in St. Augustine (don't ask) – landed on a pristine beach somewhere on the east coast of the Florida Peninsula.
On that day in 1513, he landed in a simpler Florida. The only residents were Native Americans, and historians have not yet found conclusive evidence that they had "$20 Spring Break Sink Or Swim" drink specials.
Legend tells that de Leon was on a quest to find the Fountain of Youth. History suggests he was hunting for undiscovered islands to claim.
Either way, de Leon set in motion a chain of events that culminated in Sunshine State headlines like these:
Over the last couple of decades, starting in the 1980's and, apparently, increased use of cocaine, Florida natives have made "weird" an art form.
For every oddball news item that you can send me about any other state, I bet I can send you three from Florida, all at least five times as strange.
The easiest way to comprehend this "Floridaness" is to think of the state as one big Mos Eisley Cantina, that bar in the very first Star Wars where Luke and Obi-Wan meet Han Solo and Chewbacca for the first time.
At Mos Eisley, countless species of aliens gathered to drink, make shady deals, listen to electronic music and fight. Droids were not welcome there.
Go to almost any public gathering place in Miami, Tampa or Orlando on any night and you'll see people doing all of the above, often at the same time.
That's the view of Florida that the rest of the country sees more often than not. It's an entertaining view, but it's not an accurate one.
7 wild ways to celebrate Florida's 500th
The key to all this is Florida's amazingly awesome diversity. It boasts an almost infinite array of cultures, nationalities, transplants and age groups.
Painting with a broad brush, you've got your diverse Latino and international community in the Miami area, retirement communities on both coasts, snowbirds from up north and traditional Southern rural communities in the center, north and Panhandle.
There's something about this mix that gives Florida that extra sizzle. Maybe it's the humidity. Maybe it's the stepping outside and having nature immediately try to eat you. Maybe it's the sun. Whatever it is, there's something about Florida that makes a person say, "Act my age? Hell no!"
And you know what? In most cases that's a pretty awesome way to think. As long as it's not overdone.
So yes, let's appreciate the amazing feats of drunkenness, the mystery monkeys and the roaches that can powerlift you.
But let's also recognize that the vast majority of Floridians have normal, non-headline-grabbing lives just like the rest of America.
As a Floridian, you become used to the otherworldliness that happens just down the road. You watch the news, see the crazies and sigh.
With all that weirdness, it's easy to forget about many of the things that still bring hundreds of thousands of new folks to the state every year: the beaches, the tropical weather and the never-get-old mentality.
No, Ponce de Leon didn't discover the Fountain of Youth in Florida. He did help create it though.
Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or Stitcher. And listen to CNN Soundwaves on our SoundCloud page.
I'm a native Floridaian, now living in Nevada. I've lived in Ohio, N Dakota & Maryland.
Nevadans are the weirdest people hands down. Everyone I know who's from here is a bi-polar alcoholic who thinks they are somehow connected to the local mob.
Native Floridaians are just simple people. For the most part were interested in having fun, raising kids. I never understood the term "career-focused" until I left Florida. I think we get a bad rap for not being very goal oriented. Were not bad drivers. It's the NYers whove never driven in their lives and all the sudden are forced to drive. U know how I can prove that point true? Cuz las Vegas is FULL of NYers causing accidents here too.
Being a 13 year old, I don't see a problem with eccentric varieties of people in Florida. I live in Florida myself, and I think its one of the greatest states in the country, just for the strength and personality of the array of immigrants inhabiting this place. If you have a problem with the state, then you must have a problem with the country. Because we are one, and when you mess with the bull you get the horns. So I suggest you keep your crude opinions to yourself.
Wish everyone did hate Florida, then it wouldn't be so flipping crowded. It's that Damn Mouse in Orlando!
You know, if you have a problem with Florida, please feel free to get the hell out. There are plenty of us who can actually see the beauty in this state. Go away and leave it for the rest of us to enjoy.
Carl Hiaasen makes his living spoofing the weirdness of Florida. No one seems to tear him apart so I don't understand why you're so ready to ream the article writer. It doesn't sound like he's grossly exaggerating anything especially if the 'proud Floridians' who are responding are any indication.
California gets spoofed and judged by the rest of the nation all the time too; I grew up there and I LOVE it. No giant cockroaches, a good mix of races, ideologies and politics, gorgeous temperate coastlines with low humidity and abundant wildlife. Every place with desirable weather is terribly overcrowded now; humans did that to ourselves; there is no one else to blame. But I would hope that wherever people live they are HAPPY there and content to inhabit their state.
Any place where people retire is going to fill up with eccentrics. Besides the retirees, who have had plenty of time to develop strong personalities, you get young people moving in to sell them stuff and services, and predators moving in to steal from young and old. Then the population booms and the streets fill up and the crazy begins. Arizona, California, Florida. and every other retirement area are weird places to live. Heck, any place where vets retire is going to get weird real fast.
While I can agree with most of what you said, I completely disagree about th evets comment. I live in an area full of verterans and am one myself and trust me most veterans are not that wierd. most of us sit back and look at the others and just laugh at them, and do our best to make our commuities a better place.
I grew up here on the Panhandle, Destin to be exact, left for parts all over the country, CA, Chicago, Charleston, Maine, Virginia, and now happily back in Sunny Florida on the most beautiful beaches in the world. Yes,we have our nut-jobs, but most of us locals are nice welcoming folks who are just trying to live a decent life mixed with ever crazy from up north that decides Florida is the place to go and act like a complete fool. We have to tolerate ignorant spring breakers that trash our towns and beaches, destroy things, just for fun, drive like they got their licenses from Cracker Jack boxes, and I won't even talk about how they dress and speak. Most of us love it here, and wouldn't live anywhere else. As for the commenter's that are complaining about our state, well, if you don't like it, leave, and don't come back. I promise we won't miss you.
I was not only born and raised in South Florida, but I have a love/hate relationship with it. What people are not realizing here is that the majority of florida is comprised of people from everywhere else! no wonder their 'crazy' they're probably from where you live. Tourism drive our economy and many of them decide not to leave.
My wife's family settled in Coral Gables in 1924 and we both love the State. Developers tried their best to ruin it and have almost succeeded. Thank God for the real estate bust! We miss Coconut Grove of the 70's with the Grove Pub, Mama Mangoes, the Tom Thumb restaurant, the Taurus,Monty's and the general laid back feeling. Our dock rent at Dinner Key was $50 a month including water and power.
Let's clarify this, everything north of Miami is where the weirdness occurs... Granted Miami is probably the fraud capital of the USA but that's as weird as it gets with the exception of the face eating incident (but that can happen anywhere if the right drugs are being consumed)... I have lived in Miami for 35 yrs born and raised and the only other place in the US I would consider living is LA.. Most of the serial killers in the US are from north Florida, I guess it's something in the water.. And for the ignorant people that say that there are no native Americans here we have the Seminole & Miccosukee tribes.. So please don't include the 305 in the weirdness category unless you want us to unleash the bathsalt face eating zombies on you....
I left FL back in the early 80's and have never regretted it. Each visit back to Miami confirms my decision. It's not just weird, Floridians are obnoxiously proud of their weirdness. They actually put Los Angeles to shame. Superficiality and shallowness is the new norm. At least when I was growing up in the 70's there were some genuine people left, most of those have have gone into hiding.
You can keep the Sunshine State. I'll take the Golden State any day.
I grew up in Bradenton ('68 to '83) and later lived in Orlando ('95) and Melbourne ('96 to '00). Florida used to be nice, as did California. Both were ruined not by the obvious influx of Hispanics, but by the less obvious influx of just plain way too many people. Almost 20 million there now. As the Eagles once sang, "Call some place 'paradise', kiss it goodbye".
there are no native americans living in florida that are native to florida . check you facts bub. the writer was talking about florida . i am white my family has been in florida since the early eighteen hundreds . we are more native than the seminoles . read your history books dufus !
Thank you so much for pointing out that the Native Americans in Florida now are not native to Florida. I'm not sure why that's so significant to you, though, considering that (a) it means all the Native Americans who WERE native to Florida are dead, and (b) it brings up the fact that all the Native Americans who are there now were either shipped there or chased there by Europeans. None of this makes me proud of my white skin. But hey, if it makes you proud, by all means thump your chest.
The first two paragraphs are so VERY racist. How can this article be published in today's top news sources? Are we so obtuse that we must dismiss thousands of years Native American civilization and assume that nothing important happened until white people showed up? Also THERE ARE STILL NATIVE AMERICANS LIVING THERE yet this article dismisses them as well. Let's start getting some quality in here.
i lived in FL for 6.5 yrs.
My best experience there occurred the day i left and moved to Minnesota.
Much better weather and nicer people and less crime.
My memories of those years include gunshots ringing out 2 blocks away, having my house robbed,
giant flying cockroaches, incessant humidity from May to October, having my vote lost in that infamous presidential election, and learning that there was an epa superfund site only 1/2 mile from my house
Haven't been back in 12 years, hope never to go back.
hey nedloh, shut up and go to bed
Okay whoever wrote this should stop writing, and for several reasons. Aside from the overbearing and obnoxious "jokes", (although calling them "jokes" creates a gross mockery of actual socially acceptable humor), the author's idea of the country's perception of Florida and his/her perception of Florida is also disturbingly inaccurate (you know, because Florida is TOTALLY a place with a "never-get old mentality" because there aren't an abundance of "snow bird" communities containing all of the North East's grandparents, who without a doubt "act their age".)To make the matter worse, he/she managed to drag the Catina from Star Wars into this "news-worthy" piece of garbage.
A little like California don't you think? Just don't judge us by our State Congress, they are for sure the dumbest bunch of carpetbaggers we have ever had.
ok its sticky and hot most of the time . plenty of white trash folk , i am one . bugs all over the place and birds too and they crap all over everything. wetbacks , smelly black folk and white too. yanks , rednecks , canadians , brits, everybody from everywhere. but its always above freezing most of the year. oh and did i mention queers too. so what the hell can we all agree the weather makes the place bearable.
I've lived in FL all my life, still do. I love it, mosquitoes and all. What I don't love are people who stereotype. Sure, there's weirdness here. But there's weirdness everywhere. If you don't want to come here, that's great. Stay where you are, by all means. We are running out of clean water, anyway, so the fewer people who come here the better.
Fla looks like a big droopy winkie with a drip.
This shit is racist. Natives were not simple people, unlike the ken of the author.
I'm going to use this article to explain to people why Orlando-born me will never, *ever* live there again, if I can help it. "Oh you're from Florida?! I'll bet you'll retire there!" Hell no. I miss my family, but not that freaky place.
You need to get away from the larger cities. I was raised in Orlando and saw the place go from some place nice to being a total toilet. The smaller cities such as Leesburg or St. Cloud can be quite nice
@Harvey, Leesburg and St Cloud??? nice places? yeah if you want to die
There are many places in FL that I would consider "nice" and Leesburg is not one of them.
I've been thinking about moving to Florida for a job and this article isnt helping! Although when I see 20 degrees on the thermostat my bags pack themselves! Hopefully more people from the west like me move too so there will be some decent people
Unless you have one lined up and it's rock solid stay the heII where you are at! Pay here is much lower than northern states by far and UE is high here.
There is one thing in Florida that makes it worth while; the fresh water springs. There are rivers that literally come out of the ground that are so pure it is safe to drink. With a mask and snorkel, visibility under water is a hundred yards. Google 'Florida Springs' for more informnation
You're kidding, right?! Florida used to have nice springs, until they started to dry up and what was left became polluted. If we had a Governor and Legislature who cared more about the environment and less about the next election or the money they rake in from special interest groups, the springs MIGHT still be able to be saved. I love Florida, but am loving it less and less these days.
Of course there is normal regular decent people there. I used to live in Orlando area, there are nice neighborhoods, I loved it because of the Parks, so close to the beach, lot of things to do. That you see weird people yes, and very often, it depends where you go, and also in 5 minutes driving you can switch from the pretty to the ugly. Take your time before buying a home, do lot of research and drive by the neighborhoods that you are interested in. It took me several months before I bought something nice, lot of redneck areas there. If it is Miami, you have to live in the very expensive neighborhoods.
I used to think Florida was full of crazies, but then I realized they were all transplants from up North. Most of us 'Natives" are just too even keeled to bother with you all northern 'immigrants' and your shenanigans who come down looking for a better way of life, oh and work. Leaving Florida? Excellent, take a friend.
I lived in Florida for five years and while many, many people there could be called weird, 'trashy', 'dim-witted' and 'disgusting' also apply.
I don't see the weirdness. It's certainly not worse than Long Island. It's cleaner here than Long island though and it's not like it is a crime capitol of the US like Detroit, ST. Louis, Oakland, Chicago, Baltimore or NY... I don't see it.
Thank you for using the past tense
Well now that your gone, they could probably loose a few of those names. You can take them where ever you moved too.
Spoken by a Florida educated individual I presume. Loose and lose are two different words. Learn the difference.
You both could learn the difference between "your" and "you're," as well as the difference between "too" and "to." I won't even address proper sentence structure. . .
I grew up in Ft Liqourdale, and lived there again for 10 years as an adult (30 years or so total). I've lived in several other US areas, including LA, and travelled world-wide, and I think South Florida is easily the weirdest place in the world. The books of Dave Barry & Carl Hiasson, and the music of Jimmy Buffet (plus Zevon's Mutineer album), provide additional weirdness substantiation. SoFla in the 1970's was a nice weird, a 'live & let live' place. Since the 1980's (cocaine cowboys & a continuing, massive economic refugee influx), it has been a mean kind of weird – a 'laugh at the incredible ways people find to hurt or kill each other' place. So, adding up the meanness, limited job opportunities, and the probablilty of Fla south of Lake Okeechobee being underwater eventually, I voted with my feet and moved to Seattle area. Still miss a few friends and the fishing, diving, lobster & stone crabs though.
Clearly you have never been to Michael Bloomberg's APT
I moved down here for grad school and was amazed at all the crazy news headlines. Buzzfeed.com for the past two years has gathered them up into an end of the year post. 2011 was the best, they pulled one a week and some of them were beyond ridiculous. I think a man attacked a woman with butter or someone.
I've lived here most of my life. This is normal to me.
It is not de León, it is Ponce de León...
There is poop in my butt.
You are clearly from a New England state sir. TY for sharing
As a former Floridian, the word "wierd" doesn't capture its essence for me. How about "dysfunctional", or "f'd up" or "dystopia" or "no-where's-land".
I think "depraved" sums things up most appropriately.
The only reason Florida sucks is because all of the Northerners came down and sullied the place with their "ways". Once you get skunk on you it takes a full tomato bath to get it off. I remember a simplier Florida, where people were nice to one another and we didn't have idiots driving on the road. If the Northerners would just stay at their residences during the winter and leave Florida alone, we'd all be a lot happier.
That's funny. On my one trip to Florida the only jerks were the locals. And it was obvious who they were based solely on how slutty they looked, dressed and acted in public.
Dave you didn't have any cloths on......I would have hated on you too.
Yep, might just sell mah trailer house and take mah mullet to Bammie.
Florida is still trying to get rid of it's GOP legislature so it can crawl out of the Dark Ages.
We are doing just fine with the existing government. At least we are not banning 20 oz. drinks and law-abiding gun owners like nanny-states up north.
No, you're just letting criminals back on the street because for some weird reason it's legal to shoot people there if you don't like the way they look at you!
Which "Northern state" is banning soft drinks (of any size) or "law-abiding gun owners"? None that I know of.
new york
Bloomberg is the mayor of NYC not NY state. Typical Floridian lack of education. Lived there 20 years ago. Sad, little redneck haven where ignorance, bigotry and guns abound. A true idiocracy.
One of the best mineral waters of the world, is located in North Port, Florida. It contains high amount of minerals, which may have healing qualities. Therefore, it can be dubbed the Fountain of Youth!
It is "The Fountain of Youth" (literally). Look up Warm Mineral Springs and its history and you will see that it is the very spring (fountain) that Ponce de Leon got killed over, by the Caloosa indians, when he tried to "discover" it.
It's better than that of New York. Keep your liberal policies to yourself (banning soda and shrinking your apartments to the size of a closet). I also really like no state tax.
Loved your article. I grew up in Tallahassee and lived in Fort Myers for five years; you've captured the craziness (animal and human) perfectly. My favorite parts: "you'll see people doing all of the above..." Yep. "stepping outside and having nature immediately try to eat you." Yep. "the roaches that can powerlift you" Yep. Let's not forget the 70 yr old ladies with perpetual surprised look on there face and gravity-defying 36DD chests. Let's write a book- "Florida Wild Life".
I lived for a time in Erie, Pennsylvania. I used to say there were two kinds of people in Erie. Those who were planning to move to Florida and those who had just moved back. I could never figure out whether it spoke ill of PA, that everybody wanted to leave, or of Florida that nobody wanted to stay.
You can't get any further "south" than Florida.
I miss it !
How about the guy on crack who was sitting naked by a lake and an Alligator tried to chew his arm off?
If you are looking for the hottest apartments, check findmybuilding com
Hottest aaprtments? That's the LAST thing you'd want in FL! No sale!
ive seen alot weired things happen in Los Angeles
I used to think California had the weird-market cornered. But more and more I see Florida in the news, with not just strange things happening, violence taken a whole new level. . What's wrong with these people
I don't know what's wrong with "these" people, but I know there's something wrong with you, why would you stereotype a whole state because the news likes to sensationalized stories. Yeah a guy eat someone else face, lol, but have you ever heard of Jeffrey Dahmer, he also liked to eat people, after he raped and torture them. The news stories that you are basing your opinion on are the Stand your groud case in Orlando, the Human Zombie and the election fiasco a few years ago. That's not really all that out of the ordinary compared to what goes on in most cities in this country.
I've been living in the treasure coast (hutchinson island) for almost two years now after 20 years on Long Island, NY. It's insanely clean and doesn't really fit the stereotypes. It's a fun state though with a lot to do.
its a weird thought but everyone i know has lived or comes from florida
and im in Massachusetts!
All states have their quirks. Florida has its crazies, here in Colorado, you'd think we have an ongoing competition to see who can shoot the most people in one go.
"That's the view of Florida that the rest of the country sees more often than not. It's an entertaining view, but it's not an accurate one." I totally disagree. In my opinion it is extremely accurate. The second I find a new job in a different state I am out of central FL.
I had to leave. After 5 years of insanity in the Sunshine state, I know know why the natives call it Flori-duh.
New York make's Florida look like chils play.
Florida IS New York with palm trees...lol
lol palm tree's and MORE jews. CRAZINESS
SEE: floridaorohio.tumblr.com
That's amazing, somebody else agrees with me that there exists a Florida/Ohio migratory axis of depravity. Didn't Casey Anthony and her family move to Florida from Ohio?
FLORIDA vs. OHIO – for weirdness, no other states can compete. granted a lot of Floridians are probably from Ohio so my guess is Ohio for the win.
Such and interesting and awesome state. The energy down their is palpable!
Any state that has it's own whole section in 'weird news' sites is really deserving of an 'ode to weird'.
Florida: Producing about 58% of the 'weird stuff' in America since statehood.
Florida in it's natural form is (was) a beautful place – not so much today because of over development...
Agreed. How can the residents stand to look at one more new Publix store, one more condo tower arising from filled swampland, one more twelve lane highway or one more tacky subdivision miles from anywhere?
I believe Dr. Drew and Adam Carolla used to do a bit called "Florida or Germany" where they would describe bizarre news stories and callers had to guess where they took place.
I'm a native Floridian, which is actually very rare to find in many parts of the state, and I find it the best place to be, most of the time (hurricanes). To say Florida is abnormal can be an understatement, and Dan, I think you got it right. To be clear though, most of us Floridians are actually quite normal other than our complete lack of resistance to cold weather, below 60 is just too cold! It's great to have lived to see the 500th anniversary. Great article Dan!
I am not a native Floridian, but I have been in love with Florida since I first went there with my family when I was about 4 or 5 years old. I have been dozens of times and have plans to move this fall (or as soon as I can sell my house!). I know some people think Florida is full of whackos, but it doesn't phase me at all. You see, I am from Missouri, and trust me, if Florida is #1 in the "weird news" category, Missouri is #2.
Before moving permanently to the Sunshine State, my son pointed out that on Drew Curtis' FARK website, there is a stand alone category that is simply "Florida"......no other state gets the same recognition, wink-wink. I love the nature of Florida – not too crazy over the humanity of Florida. Although being witness and surviving the snow-bird phenom each winter, you are right on the money about people coming to Florida and not acting their age. I just wish they would remember how to drive!
Florida is one of the worst states to live in. HIgh crime rate, low pay for employees, and the humidity...It has a seasonal rich population who come down 4 months out of the year, pay no taxes, then retreat back up north, only to leave the local floridians with half prompted up businesses and a bill to pay.
if you dislike Florida so much, why are you still living here???
Pay no taxes???
That's we because we don't have a state income tax, so why would they pay taxes. A lot of those people own homes here, so they're paying property taxes. They also pay State sales tax when they make purchases.
As a native Floridian, one of my favorit bumper stickers says "When I get old, I'm going to move north and drive slow." But I guess Florida wasn't wierd enough for me, so I moved to Mexico.
Dan, Very well written piece. I think you were right on the money. I think it is the heat and humidity. Well done.


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David Arquette has joined the cast of ABC's The Smart One pilot, TVGuide.com has confirmed. TVLine.com first reported the news.
In the comedy, Arrested Development's Portia de Rossi stars as a brilliant and successful woman who begrudgingly ends up working for her ditzy beauty queen sister Candy (Malin Akerman), who is now a big-city mayor. Arquette will play Candy's husband, Buddy, an easy-going family man and people person. As previously announced, Jean Smart will also star.
Best-known for his role in the Scream franchise, Arquette's TV credits include Pushing Daisies, My Name Is Earl and Friends. He also placed sixth in the 13th season of Dancing with the Stars.
Don Todd will write and executive-produce alongside Ellen DeGeneres.