Tom Lyons -- The Blog

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• My July 15 column spotlighted a new Florida law that has a Sarasota condo tenant trapped in a dispute between her landlord and the condo association. That new law is designed to help condo and homeowner associations collect assessments and fees when a unit owner won't pay them. Since July 1, it [...] New condo law may help lawyers find work?
• A very conservative and very pro-gun guy who frequently e-mails me just sent one heck of a story, of the sort sure to get lots of people's blood boiling. Boiling with anger at illegal aliens, and at the evil news media for making sure the story was kept quiet. But [...] All-American girl bests evil alien thugs, thanks to gun and baloney
• Many readers responded to the column about the scammer repeatedly seeking and getting gas money to visit her supposedly dying mother in Naples, and about the questionable belief, apparently common at the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office, that it is not a crime to run this scam. Some readers have mentioned the [...] More on the 'Mom dying, need gas' scam
• Responses to my column on pre-trial supervised release programs included claims that too many bad guys get out when they should be kept in jail. That's always a fun topic for debate. But remember, since we supposedly have an innocent-until-convicted approach in this counry, the alleged point of pre-trial jail [...] And another thing about no bail jail release
• The infamous Nigerian scam and its variants must have reached most e-mail users on the planet several dozen times by now. More, in my case, because I forward my favorite scam-mail to a friend, who does the same with me. We pretend to have complied with the scammer's requests and to [...] Word from Nigeria: 'You are now to be rest assured.'
• After reading a story about teenagers perceptions of health risks associated with cigarettes, alcohol and certain illegal drugs, someone posted a comment that sounded familiar. 'I'd much rather be following a car with people smoking a joint, as opposed to one who's had a few jack & cokes at your local Happy [...] Buzzed driving goes with buzzed thinking