WASHINGTON -- The magnificent author and son of the Great Santini, Pat Conroy, began "The Prince of Tides" with these words: "My wound is geography. It is also my anchorage, my port of call."

Those 13 words imprinted on my brain when I first read them years ago and have stuck with me. Somewhat oddly, they came to mind a few days ago upon the nomination of Elena Kagan to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The tourism industry says it needsmore than$34.7 million from the state right now to prove Florida beaches are unsullied by the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Retired Army officer and Republican candidate Allen West, currently looking to take on Democratic Congressman Ron Klein in a rematch from the 2008 elections, is taking swipes at prominent Florida Republicans Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio, saying they should be ashamed for opposing Arizonas new immigration laws While Rubio

We started FloridaOil.org to propose our own constitutional amendment, but something we heard from thousands of peoplewho signed our petitions is that they would prefer to accomplish the goals without changing the Constitution. The Constitution should be reserved to preserve rights, not take them away or grant them.

Everyone knows that Gov. Charlie Crist's call for a special session on offshore oil drilling is pure politics. The issue gives Crist and lawmakers a high-profile platform to grandstand on an issue that inspires little debate.

The time limit on filing charges in cases of sex abuse of children under 16 years old is eliminated by a bill signed by Gov. Charlie Crist, one of more than 30 pieces of legislation he signed without comment late Tuesday night.

The bill eliminating the sex crimes time limit (HB 525) removes the statute of limitations for both criminal and civil liability. The bill as pushed by Lawyer Michael Dolce and Lauren Book, the daughter of lobbyist Ron Book, who were victimized as children and could not go after their abusers when they finally could deal with the abuse.

Existing home sales in Florida rose 24 percent during the first quarter of 2010, a healthy jump from the same period a year earlier, Florida Realtors reported Tuesday.

A total of 38,846 existing homes sold statewide in the three months ending March 31 compared to 31,410 existing homes sold during the same period in 2009. Meanwhile, median home values continued to fall, but not as steeply. Prices were down 5 percent for the quarter compared to a year earlier.

Businesses worried that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico could cause them to lose customers and revenue have a new shoulder to lean on.

The Gulf Oil Spill Recovery Task Force was created Tuesday to assist and advise industries that could be impacted by the spill, which has been threatening Florida since late April. And Florida's tourism and hospitality industry sees it an asset that will help it market itself.

Florida House Speaker Larry Cretulissued a ringing statement Tuesday,accusingGov. Charlie Crist ofunnecessarily wasting taxpayers' money,playing political gamesand distracting state leaders from solving the state's real problems right now.