CNN/AP: London parade officials: Stay away from Fort Myers, Florida

[DeepModem Mom]

London parade officials: Stay away from Fort Myers
Sunday, April 2, 2006

FORT MYERS, Florida (AP) -- School officials in southwest Florida said terrorism concerns led them to keep a high school band from marching in a London parade, but now angry British officials are telling travelers that Fort Myers is no safe haven, either.

Local tourism officials fear the dispute could cost Lee County millions in tourism dollars, and even Florida Gov. Jeb Bush has commented, saying, "Perhaps the superintendent is being overly cautious in this regard."

Bush said Superintendent James Browder probably should have looked at the U.S. Department of State's travel advisory before declaring London unsafe for Fort Myers High School's band to march in London's 2007 New Year's Day parade.

District administrators nixed the trip in early March, citing the threat of terrorism in Europe -- especially the 2005 terrorist bombing of London's city buses and subway system, which killed 52 people.

On Friday, London parade officials released a statement to the News-Press of Fort Myers, warning British travelers about the city's crime and homicide rates, Lee County's record number of traffic deaths in 2005 and that the "entire area is prone to catastrophic hurricanes."...

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TRAVEL/04/02/tourism.dispute.ap/index.html

[fishnfla]

1. Boredom and old age are the leading causes of death In Ft Myers

stupidity running a close third

[saigon68]

2. Getting hit in the head with a Golf Ball

Probably ranks up there too.

[DeepModem Mom]

4. Good one!

[ima_sinnic]

11. bwahaha!

(cleaning off monitor!)

[DeepModem Mom]

3. And that is, undoubtedly, not unique to Ft. Myers! nt

[ovidsen]

5. What goes around comes around!

There's a certain element of karma and justice to this story...

[fiveleafclover]

6. A lot of people would suggest

staying away from the state of Florida all together.

[llmart]

7. I suggest just staying away from the Bush family.....

or better yet, have the Bush family stay away from the United States of America. We'd be much better off.

[joeybee12]

8. Europeans started avoiding USA as a tourist destination in 2002...

...it's evident in the occupancy rate in our national parks--they just don't sell out in the summer like they used to, and it's because the Europeans are staying home. I don't know if it's because they fear a terrorist attack again here, or because they're just so disgusted by our fascist administration--I'll vote for the later.

[exlrrp]

9. Florida?? London isn't as safe as...Florida?HAHAHAHA

Obviously they weren't thinking of Florida rest stops where the death rate of European tourists is higher than Iraq.
from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/810522.stm
"Home Office figures showed the murder rate in the US in 1998 was 6.3 per 100,000 people compared with 1.4 per 100,000 in England and Wales.
The murder rate in London is 2.9 per 100,000 compared with 8.6 per 100,000 in New York and 49.15 per 100,000 in Washington DC.
A report produced by the US Department of Justice in 1998 would appear to support the Home Office's claims.
It shows the murder rate was 5.7 times higher in the US than England and Wales and the rape rate was about three times higher.
Figures show people are much more likely to get shot in New York than London
The report also showed firearms were used in 68% of murders in the US compared with 7% in England and Wales, and in 41% of robberies in America against 5% in England and Wales.


From this website we get the murder rate for Florida: http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/article.php?scid=12&did=169#MRalpha Florida 2004: 7.3/100,000. Not bad when you look at the record holder, Louisiana (17.0/100,000) but still in the upper half od states.

Your chances of getting murdered in Florida are 2.4 times greater than your chance of getting murdered in London.

[MrPrax]

10. Yup...

Zenophobic anti-foreigner actions being done under the hubris of national security--they does seem to be an active effort to keep Americans in, and the rest of the world out...usually a precursor to totalitarianism.

[MasonJar]

12. Touche' as the French would say. Sorry, jeb.

[Cone10]

13. Stay Away From Florida

I people should stay away because of the wild west mentality that Florida has towards people shooting first and asking questions later.