The Monroe County School District is pondering whether or not to take one point five million dollars offered by Florida in the Race to the Top program. The idea is that the district will get the money to reward teachers who are best and better as a way to encourage excellence. Board member Steve Pribamsky is the only loud voice in favor, and rumor has it he may be leaving soon to inflict himself on St Lucie county in some, no doubt divisive, capacity. The sooner the better, if true. Everybody else is asking to see the small print and wondering what the State will demand in return for the handout. Of course there are time constraints and everything needs to be rushed. Union lawyers are leading the opposition at the moment because they fear Florida, the "right-too-work" state par excellence is looking to use this particular race to dole out money to weaken the teacher's union. And so it all becomes political.
This sort of thing may show us the way ahead. The Government hands out billions in untrammeled money to supporters and lobbyists and doles out with great parsimony and attention to detail the crumbs to the people who could make the best social use of the cash. I don't really see much in the way of social improvement across the US as a return on investment for the tax dollars handed over to banks. I feel the money could have done a lot more good if thrown away in different directions, directions that cannot pay lobbyists to encourage government support. As it is banks are not writing down their weak assets, and in claiming profitability are paying back portions of the Government relief money to free up their bonus schemes from oversight. However their profits are fake, their books are cooked, and the fundamental flaws in the economy are not being addressed. Still, the state is going to make sure it keeps a microscopic watch on the paltry millions it doles out to schools for use as bribes to break the unions. Get rid of the unions and thus get rid of job security, affordable health care and you help to create a yet weaker and more compliant workforce. It's not exactly Henry Ford's principle of paying workers enough to buy the products they build.
I have been reading about the Next Big Scare which is Sovereign Debt Default which is a fancy way of asking what happens when entire countries default on their debts, with the overriding fear of what happens when the US or China call it a day. Consider this: the industrialized country with the lowest deficit to GDP ratio is Canada at 79%. That's right, Canada with its single payer health care system, its government controlled drug prices, it's tightly regulated financial system is doing far better than the US (and Britain) at 95% or Japan at 275%. Australia, another socialist state (in the Tea bagger's scale of atrocious government practices) never even went into recession during the recent crisis. Does anyone think that regulating banks, controlling health care costs and offering workers a modicum of security makes for a weak economy?
One last thought: I found out, in reading about Japanese irritation over the US base on Okinawa, that the US has 47,000 military based in Japan. My question is simply: Why?
First Street with George Allen public housing across the street. Key West has quite a bit of public housing in this rather bland 1960s style scattered around town. It rather horrifies me in summer when I see open windows and no air conditioning. And across First Street lies Fogarty, heading east.
This street got badly flooded by Hurricane Wilma in 2005, and the high waters were a reminder why people originally kept Key West in what is now Old Town, the drier portion of the city closer to the original waterfront. This house looks like it has been closed for a while:
One saw in New Orleans the outer suburbs going underwater that same year as the levees broke, but their version of Old Town, the French Quarter and most of Faubourg Marigny stayed high and dry. There was often more sense in the habits of previous generations that we like to give them credit for. Which is an ungrammatical way of saying our ancestors were smart from bitter experience. For whatever reason people on this block of Fogarty seem to overflowing with stuff:
Though some people like to keep doors of some sort on their stuff in the car port: 
While others find the room to park a trailer off the street (on-street trailer parking is illegal in Key West) effectively creating a useful storage space:
Hurricane shutters this time of year usually indicate snow birds though I thought several homes with them up appeared to be lived in. It seems rather dark and depressing to me, especially as metal shutters tend to bang and rattle in the slightest breeze, giving one the feeling one lives in an empty coffee can. i take mine down as soon as the danger has passed.
Cheyenne, oblivious to my ruminations, found Fogarty Street quite worth her while, seen here nearing Second Street.
Adirondack chairs set our ready for the cool of winter which has been slow coming this December: 
Wildlife I spotted from across the street stayed put quite a long time while eying the Labrador's oblivious antics. I'm guessing this is a mourning dove, which is a long shot thanks to my innate inability to identify flora or fauna with any hope of accuracy.
A trim little home which I would be tempted to label as "sky blue" in color except obviously it is nothing like the blue sky in question:
A made up mailbox. I was tempted to put the flag up to get it out of the way but I'd probably forget to put it down and then the letter carrier would assume there was mail to be picked up and so...
My favorite Keys colors, green greenery, white clouds, blue sky:
Not a snow flake in sight though this palm was making quite a show of itself on Second Street. 
Houses surrounded by vegetation always appeal to me, which may be one reason I am so fond of my little tree house on Ramrod Key. This one does a nice job of camouflaging itself: 
The Bahama shutters leaning out from the house in the back ground are classic Keys style, as is the eminently practical bicycle in the foreground. A proper daily rider with basket for luggage.
I don't care much for the hoopla of Christmas with the shopping craziness and concomitant stress but I do enjoy the outdoor decorations integrated into the landscaping: 
This rooster and a few chickens were fenced into a yard like pets. I prefer Labradors myself.
I hoe this was intended humorously, because that was how I took it:
And here endeth the brief tour of Fogarty between 1st and 2nd Streets. Classic Key West New Town. 
I am looking forward to the beginning of January when things are supposed to get back to normal; things like commuting, working and snatching time to be with my wife. All this time off and holiday stuff confuses me. Of course having been off with shingles didn't help much either and i wanted to see how sitting on the motorcycle felt after all this time. 
This is the time of year this place starts to fill up with snowbirds who drive their $250,000 RVs and park here for the winter. Instead they are advertising vacancies for the first time, that I've seen. You too could rent an annual space.
And it seems they even allow dogs. Cool. 
It was fun being out on the Trumpet once again. My shingles are still itching like crazy but I want to get back to normal and riding the Bonneville will be normal again soon I hope. 
I stopped in the middle of the bridge with no traffic in sight and snapped a few pictures.
And not too far away I found a boat dumped on the edge of the roadway, just like that. Nice no?
I got home, ran up the stairs and my wife greeted me with the words: " Your dog..."when the emphasis is on the your it's clearly a transgression. Cheyenne confirmed my suspicion by nuzzling me desperately as I learned how "my" dog had tried to steal my wife's peanut butter sandwich. That'll teach me to take a moment to go ride the Bonneville in the sun and wind!
The good news is that this stuff rarely lasts very long and indeed I write these words in the throes of rain and wind and black skies and thunder and all the rest of the drama, but by the time you read them the sun will be out, it will be cold (freezing cold if you count 70 degrees (21C) as zero, as many people do in the Keys) and the day will be bright and clear. The rain is thus nothing but a temporary impediment to enjoying the great outdoors.
I stopped at the bank, dressed in my polo shirt and shorts and pondered the requirement for some people to drag out their jackets and rain gear at the first sign of weather. Lots of people love the cold and the promise of a front sends them cheering to their closets to pull out parks and furry boots and gloves and woolly hats. A modest rain jacket and sandals seems much the best compromise to me.
With the south wind blowing I hoped for some wave action drama but instead I found a bunch of kite surfers doing their thing along the waterfront. This guy was tacking in the middle of the spume:
... fast enough that some drivers parked and braved the winds to watch:
The reef was doing it's job and keeping the waters flat even as twenty mile an hour winds blew steadily out of the south with gusts to thirty. The pink blob in the background is Key West By The Sea apartments:
Where the winds could be seen explaining where palm trees got their name. They are supposed to represent a human palm with fingers extended as you can see (?):
Roll on the sunshine as far as I am concerned...
...and I'll root around for some cold weather clothing if my wife forces me out of the house. I'm just glad I'm not facing snowdrifts in the driveway. 
And for people confused by buchis (Cuban espresso shots), coladas (several buchis in a large cup to share in thimble sized cups usually) and con leches (liquid candy bars with lots of hot milk, drenching a buchi with sugar to taste) there is a handy, weatherproof explanation of the Cuban Coffee Queen's version: 
Not content with a sandwich list as long as your arm there is also the all-American blackboard:
(I should have tried the mac and cheese now I think about it), and the other all-American invention is the voluntary tax deduction. The top dollar was the one I put in. If you can't afford the tip you can't afford the meal is a good rule to live by in expensive Key West.
They have a scooter for deliveries, this is just a piece of artwork, I'm pretty sure:
The rooster is not real happily, though the large con leche is.
The benches did not seem terribly appealing to me, as the food was large and deserved a table if I was to eat it cleanly. An uncharacteristic summer-type thunderstorm had blown over and the sun was shining again.
My only problem was figuring out where to sit and eat this monster. I thought about Rest Beach, a long way away ( I suffer the travel disease too sometimes...) or possibly a bench alongside the harbor master's office at the nearby Key West Bight. Any sandwich would taste good overlooking the water.
I ended up eating half and took the chips and candy cane with the other half to my wife in her classroom on my way out of town. She enjoyed it as much as I did. 
Close by there is Harpoon Harry's diner where you can get coffee with the infliction of TV whether you like that or not, and down the street a little further there is the Coffee Plantation that is rather more up market than a roadside hut. Lots of choices so one need never stagger too far to get a cup of coffee, whatever you end up calling it.