Mystery giant eyeball found on Fla. beach

Credit: Carli Segelson/Fla. FWCC

POMPANO BEACH, Fla., Oct. 12 (UPI) -- A giant eyeball that washed up on a Florida beach this week is probably that of a large squid, wildlife experts said of the softball-size peeper.

The mysterious eye washed up on Pompano Beach where it was found by a beachcomber who gave it to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission on Wednesday, National Geographic reported.

FWCC scientists put the impressive eye on ice and forwarded it to the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla.

GIANT EYEBALL PANIC ends: Oceanic peeper identified

The giant eyeball that washed up on a Florida beach last week has been identified, quelling fears of a new monster swimming in the vasty deep.

Researchers at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) report that the eye has been positively identified as coming from Xiphias gladius, or as it is more commonly known, the swordfish, which is fished privately and commercially off the Florida coast.

Social Security receivers face tiny raise

Don’t spend it all in one place: average monthly benefit likely to grow less than $20

On Tuesday, people collecting Social Security checks are likely to get some bad news. Their annual cost of living raises for 2013 may be quite small, experts say. 

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Several nationally renowned organizations have made predictions about next years’ Social Security cost of living adjustment (COLA), which the government will announce formally on Oct. 16 and which will take effect in January. The American Institute of Economic Research (AIER), a nonpartisan economic research organization, predicts that seniors will get a 1.5% to 1.7% raise; the Congressional Budget Office, a government agency that reviews congressional budgets, 1.3%; and the Senior Citizens League, a nonpartisan senior advocacy group, about 1.4%.

For the average Social Security beneficiary, who gets about $1,130 per month, this isn’t much: A 1.4% raise would only raise the monthly check by about $15.80.

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