Monday, March 6, 2023

Monday Musings - March 6, 2023

 


1. Welcome to the first Monday of March. Spring is close, DST is closer (next Sunday). There are 42 Mondays remaining in the year.

Gopher Tortoise
Seabranch Preserve State Park, FL
March 5, 2023

2. Had an exciting bike ride yesterday around Port Salerno. Saw an incredible number of gopher tortoises and had a coyote run out in front of us. We only did a short 12.5 mile ride, but it was fun and the wildlife were very active. We stopped at the end of Cove Road, Port Salerno, and looked out at the Intracoastal for a while enjoying the beauty of the scene and the day. I do not know why I take so many images of gopher tortoises, but I am fascinated by them and how many of them I see as I bike.

Chris at Cove Road Park
Port Salerno, FL
March 5, 2023
3. I will note that my favorite British Premier League team, Arsenal, had a heart-stopping 3-2 win over the weekend. They went down 0-2 early and came back with the winning goal in the 97th minute! Gotta love stoppage time. Arsenal, at this point in the season, remains atop the Premier League Table!

4. Florida leadership continues to amaze in their quest to restrict freedoms guaranteed in the Bill of Rights all while touting that Florida is more free. The latest, as some of you have pointed out, is the bill introduced in the legislature designed to essentially restrict reporting on the governor and members of the executive branch and legislature. It is sneaky. Brodeur’s proposal, Senate Bill 1316: Information Dissemination, would require any blogger writing about government officials to register with the Florida Office of Legislative Services or the Commission on Ethics. In the bill, Brodeur wrote that those who write “an article, a story, or a series of stories,” about “the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, a Cabinet officer, or any member of the Legislature,” and receives or will receive payment for doing so, must register with state offices within five days after the publication of an article that mentions an elected state official. As I do not, nor do I intend to receive payment for writing articles, I am exempt; however, the reporting process for paid bloggers is definitely designed to restrict First Amendment Rights--specifically freedom of the press. Let's go Florida, land of the formerly free!

5. I am amazed that as the political season gets off to an early start that some candidates continue to spout untruths and outright lies to support their candidacy. Some are like the snake oil salesmen of the old west,  selling a worthless product that can only cause harm in the long run. In this case, they are touting elitism and divisiveness. Is that was we are really hungering for in the country? I think not.

6. Daylight Saving Time returns Sunday morning, March 12th. Be ready.

7. Today in History. The German company Bayer patents aspirin on March 6, 1899. Now the most common drug in household medicine cabinets, acetylsalicylic acid was originally made from a chemical found in the bark of willow trees. In its primitive form, the active ingredient, salicin, was used for centuries in folk medicine, beginning in ancient Greece when Hippocrates used it to relieve pain and fever. Known to doctors since the mid-19th century, it was used sparingly due to its unpleasant taste and tendency to damage the stomach.




Russia is close to taking Bakhmut. But it may come with a cost - CNN

Trump delivers wildly inaccurate speech at CPAC - CNN

4 US citizens missing after being assaulted and kidnapped in Mexico, FBI says - CNN

White House seeks to make abortion access a rallying cry for 2024 election - Reuters

After playing wage catch-up, U.S. firms may have found their footing - Reuters

Landslide kills at least 11 in Indonesia's remote Natuna region - Reuters

Fed’s Rate Moves Put Manufacturing Sector at Risk - The Wall Street Journal

Housing Market Momentum Stalls as Spring Approaches - The Wall Street Journal

Ukrainians Work Through Blackouts, Internet Outages as Russia Targets Power Grid - The Wall Street Journal

IRS braces for the unthinkable: A normal tax season - The Washington Post

In Calif. speech that draws protests, DeSantis stokes fight over pandemic - The Washington Post



-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL

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