Foreclosures

"A picture is worth a thousand words", the saying goes. Need we say more ? (Click on the picture to enlarge it.)

Is This Reporting ?

Here is a good example from the Sunday, News-Press of a reporter not understanding business, but trying to use a story to create a problem and sell newspapers. It sits in the "Let's create a problem, where there is none" file ! It looks good on the old Ganett resume. Remember Fort Myers is just a low stepping stone for reporters in the Ganett chain. They trash the area for their own steps upward and the big time.

Labor Day

Hope you had a happy and safe Labor Day! According to the U.S. Department of Labor here is the history of Labor Day...

Labor Day: How it Came About; What it Means

"Labor Day differs in every essential way from the other holidays of the year in any country," said Samuel Gompers, founder and longtime president of the American Federation of Labor. "All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day...is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation."

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.

Founder of Labor Day

More than 100 years after the first Labor Day observance, there is still some doubt as to who first proposed the holiday for workers.

Some records show that Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and a cofounder of the American Federation of Labor, was first in suggesting a day to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold."

But Peter McGuire's place in Labor Day history has not gone unchallenged. Many believe that Matthew Maguire, a machinist, not Peter McGuire, founded the holiday. Recent research seems to support the contention that Matthew Maguire, later the secretary of Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, N.J., proposed the holiday in 1882 while serving as secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York. What is clear is that the Central Labor Union adopted a Labor Day proposal and appointed a committee to plan a demonstration and picnic.

The First Labor Day

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.

In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a "workingmen's holiday" on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country.

Labor Day Legislation

Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From them developed the movement to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During the year four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.

A Nationwide Holiday

The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take were outlined in the first proposal of the holiday — a street parade to exhibit to the public "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations" of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families. This became the pattern for the celebrations of Labor Day. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement.

The character of the Labor Day celebration has undergone a change in recent years, especially in large industrial centers where mass displays and huge parades have proved a problem. This change, however, is more a shift in emphasis and medium of expression. Labor Day addresses by leading union officials, industrialists, educators, clerics and government officials are given wide coverage in newspapers, radio, and television.

The vital force of labor added materially to the highest standard of living and the greatest production the world has ever known and has brought us closer to the realization of our traditional ideals of economic and political democracy. It is appropriate, therefore, that the nation pay tribute on Labor Day to the creator of so much of the nation's strength, freedom, and leadership — the American worker.

What is a Soda Called?

This winter, as the snowbirds and tourist return to Southwest Florida keep your ears open and listen to how people ask for a soda. This map will give you a good indication of where their home is located in the country. The above map outlines the different way and locations that we as a nation call a soda a soda, pop, coke or other names. I think our problem is that so many of us have moved around the nation that we pick up different parts of the regional language. As an example, I was brought up in Philadelphia, Pa, but have spent 3/4 of my life in the south and a "soda" has become a "coke". However, I still get, "No Coke, Pepsi!"

And to give you an idea of volume of people you can listen to, from just the Southwest Florida International Airport, here is their press release from July 2007 about the number of passengers using the airport...

FORT MYERS, Fla. (August 24, 2007) – Passenger totals at Southwest Florida International Airport have increased for the 12th straight month. During the month of July, over 535,000 passengers traveled through the airport, an increase of 6.5 percent compared to July 2006. Year-to-date, passenger traffic is up 7.5 percent over the same period last year.

“Almost 5.3 million passengers have used our airport this year,” said Robert M. Ball, A.A.E., executive director of the Lee County Port Authority. “We have had a solid year of record traffic at Southwest Florida International Airport and I am very proud of our accomplishment.”

The traffic leader for the month of July was Delta with 72,985 passengers traveling to and from Fort Myers. Rounding out the top five airlines were Southwest (67,032), US Airways (55,596), Air Tran (55,094) and JetBlue (50,194).

There were 5,895 aircraft movements (takeoffs and landings) recorded, marking a 5.5 percent increase compared to July 2006. In addition, over 2.9 million pounds of air freight moved through the airport in July 2007.

Southwest Florida International Airport served more than 7.6 million passengers in 2006 and is one of the top 50 busiest U.S. airports. No ad valorem (property) taxes are used for airport operation or construction.

It Is That Time of Year.

As the kids are all getting ready or heading back to school, it is time for all of us to start to brace ourselves for the snowbird migration. I found this article in the "New York Times" by Julia Lawlor from last February 22, 2007, which pretty well sums up Florida in the winter. If you click on the map it will enlarge.

Fake Steve Jobs

In Sunday's New York Times, Brad Stone announced that after 14 month of great laughs, "Fake Steve" comes clean. The world is definitely a little less filled with levity ! Here at "THE LEE WATCH", our concern is that the gauntlet many be picked up here in Lee County by a "Fake Frank Mann". We hope, the first trace of his coming to life, is not riding a mule down Sandra Road like one certain member of our community did on his run for governor !! Although, it might give the development community some insight into the "Mann Manifesto", "May Day, May Day, Lee County is about to crash" It is definitely a different approach than old "Chainsaw Charlie"!! We promise that we here at "The LEE WATCH" will keep our eyes to the blogs for any suspicious postings.