|
"If we're going to become so rigid as a country to be able to
disallow speech, even though it may not be politically correct, I
think we're in danger." ... Governor John Ellis
"JEB" Bush, quoted in the Tallahassee Democrat, 4/25/01
Check the new
WhoseFlorida
for updates
 | Islamic group asks FDLE to let it monitor interviews
CHARLOTTE HARBOR -- Members of the Islamic Community of Southwest
Florida want to be present when the Florida Department of Law
Enforcement interviews men who may have information about terrorism.
The Muslims based at the Harborview Road mosque said they would fax a
letter asking the FDLE to allow an observer to attend the interviews.
They said Islamic organizations from Sarasota and Fort Myers were
joining in the request.
The FDLE started the interviews about two weeks ago at the request of
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft and plans to question more than
500 Muslim and Middle Eastern men who are in the state on student,
tourist and other non-immigrant visas. "Our community has nothing
to hide," said Islamic Community spokesman Ahmed Elrefai.
"If there's information that will help in the fight against
terrorism, of course we want to help. . . . But we're afraid of racial
profiling."
....St
Pete Times.12/13/01
|
|
Want a real shocker? Take a look at the web site of Accenture,
the consulting company the Education Superboard has hired to form
the strategic plan for the future of Florida's education. Is
this where the Florida Board of Education thinks education is
headed???? The Accenture web address is www.accenture.com
...SteveL, 12/13
|
|
Vocational Rehabilitation
There is so much going on in Vocational Rehabilitation. Do you
have any news about that department? Jeb is trying to
privitize this department and the Federal monies have not been
distributed (they contribute 80% of funds) because Florida is
"high risk." Have you heard anything else?...Dee,12/11
(WF: Dee, take a look at: agencies/labor
and our voice and send us your comments)
|
| Farmworkers
want Taco Bell at table during wage talks
When Collier County commissioners decide Tuesday whether to encourage
talks between Immokalee farmworkers and growers, they'll only be
addressing two-thirds of a plan by farmworkers to improve their
collective lot. The Coalition of Immokalee Workers also wants
fast-food giant Taco Bell to take a seat at the table. Commissioners
in the past haven't supported encouraging such talks.... leif, 12/9
|
| Audit
blasts lapses at civil rights agency
Slow case work and misuse of funds top the problems state auditors
find at the Commission on Human Relations.
|
| Santa is coming early for some State employees - Pink slips
may begin showing up this Friday. Merry Christmas from JEB and the
LEG, the Scrooges on the hill.
... registering my vote early, 12/5/01
|
|
"We trained hard... but it seemed that every time we were
beginning to form into teams we would be reorganized... I was to
learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by
reorganization... and a wonderful method it can be for creating the
illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and
demoralization."
-- Petronious Arbitor, 210 B.C.
|
| If the Florida Legislature would simply remove all the
lobbyist-imposed exemptions from the state sales tax, there would be
no need for special sessions to make up deficits.
...Edobert,12/1/01
|
| Save our Everglades Sugar
Save Our Everglades Sugar is distrubuted by Apura Everglades,
Inc.with profits going to Save our Everglades |
After
battling big sugar for years in the courts and at the polls,
environmentalists with Save Our Everglades are now taking the
fight to supermarket shelves throughout the region. Story
|
|
|
It's disturbing that while the legislature's task in this
the second special session, just as in the first, is to balance the
state budget, there are at least 12 bills circulating the capitol that
intend, if passed, to:
 | restrict access to public records
|
| allow for roving surveillance
|
| further refine the definitions of terrorism
|
| outline potential treatment of identified or convicted
terrorists.
|
It's interesting that a number of Senators and Representatives are
fully aware that the budgets presented so far are bad for Florida,
yet they follow along with their colleagues and succumb to pressure
to just get it done and vote for the budgets anyway.
...Jacob, 11/29/01
|
|
Something to keep in mind when things get a little rough:
(Supposedly) Martha Graham to Agnes De Mille
"There is a vitality, a life force, a quickening that is
translated through you into action, and because there is only one of
you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it
will never exist through any other medium and be lost. The world
will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it
is: nor how valuable it is; nor how it compares with other
expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and
directly, to keep the channel open. You do not even have to believe
in yourself or your work. You have to keep open and aware directly
to the urges that motivate you. Keep the channel open...no artist is
pleased... There is only a queer, divine dissatisfaction; a blessed
unrest that keeps us marching and makes us more alive than the
others."
... posted by DK, 11/28/01
|
| Please forward the message below to your friends and family and ask them to join you in taking action at
www.SaveTruth.org
With enough public support, we can protect Florida's kids from tobacco.
....campaign for tobacco free kids. 11/25
|
|
Here's the link to the Ichetucknee Mobilization's new site:
|
| http://www.oneworld.net/
- OneWorld has a vision of equitable and sustainable distribution of
wealth amongst the world's population, underpinned by global
attainment and protection of human rights and by governance structures
which permit local communities control over their own affairs.
(this site has a huge database and wealth of information - with
partnerships around the globe)
....libertyman 11/17
|
|
Here are a couple of fun columns by Jan Glidewell, St. Pete Times.
He uses a very light touch to pillory the pompous.
|
| Closing the cookie jar: European Union lawmakers could vote
today to strengthen
data protection for telecommunications. Although the Bush
administration had asked the EU to revise the law to allow the
authorities greater access to information about telephone calls and
Internet messages as an anti-terrorism measure, that request was
ignored. The vote also could mean an end to cookies for some. The
parliamentary proposal would require Web site operators to obtain the
"explicit, well-informed and freely given consent" of the
Internet user before
placing cookies on their computer's hard disk. (New York Times
story; free registration required.)
....siliconvalley.com,
11/13
|
|
Planners
oppose rezoning, 6-1
The planning commission in the story from the local section of
the Bradenton Herald has blasphemed the urban sprawl religion and
are in grave danger from the hard-line despoil at any cost.
Commissioners definitely need John Ashcrofts protection from the
enraged developer fundamentalists. In fact, this story
should be printed in boldfaced 20-point type on the front page of
every newspaper in the state.
... Katy Bar The Door, 11/12
|
| Strangely enough, these guys avoided military service:
| Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert - avoided the draft, did not
serve.
|
| Majority Leader Dick Armey- avoided the draft, did not serve.
|
| Majority Whip Tom Delay - avoided the draft, did not serve.
|
| Senate Minority Leader Trent Lott - avoided the draft, did not
serve.
|
| GW bush - decided that a six-year Nat'l Guard commitment really
means four years
|
| VP
Cheney - several deferments, the last by marriage (in his own
words, "had other priorities than military service")
|
| Att'y Gen. John Ashcroft - sought deferment to teach business ed
at SW Missouri State
|
| Former Speaker Newt Gingrich - avoided the draft, did not serve
|
| "B-1" Bob Dornan - avoided Korean War combat duty by
enrolling in college acting classes
|
| Elliott Abrams, Bill Bennett, Pat Buchanan, Phil
Gramm - Jack Kemp - Rush Limbaugh - Trent Lott -
Kenneth Starr – John Wayne - Vin Weber - George Will
-
|
and these guys didn't:
| House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt - Served his country in
uniform, 1965-71
|
| House Minority Whip David Bonior - Served his country in
uniform, 1968-72
|
| Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle - Served his country in
uniform, 1969-72
|
| Vice President Al Gore - Served his country in uniform, 1969-71;
recipient of Vietnam Service Medal
.... from http://www.awolbush.com/whoserved.html
....Livingston, 11/5
|
|
|
50 Ways to Get Political
|
| I want to share this site I just found with your readers:
Let the
Women Speak -
....leslie, 10/29
|
| US Psy-ops radio to Afghani people:
"Do not confuse the (yellow) cylinder-shaped bomb with the
(yellow) rectangular food bag ...."
... BBC's Radio
warns Afghans over food parcels
|
| Roosevelt: "The only thing we have to fear is fear
itself."
Churchill: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much
owed by so many to so few."
Kennedy: "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what
you can do for your country."
George W. Bush: "If you don't stand for anything, you don't
stand for anything. If you don't stand for something, you don't stand
for anything."
...Guerilla News, from an
interview with Mark Krispin Miller author of The Bush Dyslexicon,
10/22
|
| Mark
Hertsgaard, The Daily Yomiuri: It may not be easy for Americans to
face the truth about their nation's relationship to the rest of the
world; the United States has a lot to be proud of, but also things to
be sorry for. But as the global outpouring of sympathy following Sept.
11 shows, the rest of the world feels a lot of affection for Americans
even as it harbors less enthusiastic feelings. And Americans can take
comfort that the vast majority of outsiders distinguish between
Americans as people "who they generally like"--and the U.S.
government and power structure, which is much less admired.
"We like Americans very much," says one Barcelona
intellectual. "We have American friends, and after watching
American films and hearing its music for so many years, we feel
American culture is our culture....But we do wish our American friends
would think a little more about their government. Because we have to
live with the United States' politics, and that is often difficult,
especially now, when war is in the air."
.... from siliconvalley.com
|
| Homeland Security
comes to Florida
Here's some information to keep an eye on. I guess maybe we need
it... but I'm afraid it might get way out of hand.
FDLE is establishing 7 regional "Homeland Security"
centers.
The FDLE website has the announcement,
the Governor's press
release on domestic security, the
budget request and executive order ( a pdf file). They may
even have some job openings ...
... Jason, 10/25
|
|
10 Reasons to Stop Bombing Afghanistan
Despite almost universal agreement that America "needs to do
something" in response to terrorism, our heavy bombing of
Afghanistan increasingly looks like a bad idea. While virtually all
of us feel that strong steps should be taken to apprehend anyone
behind the massive murders on September 11, when you add up all the
facts, the pulverizing of a battered country just doesn't make a
whole lot of sense. Instead, by bombing Afghanistan,we are ... (More...)
....tom,10/22
|
|
Bush v. Humanitarianism: Air Drops Are Just Feel-Good 'Military
Propaganda' -
"Never mind that the amount of food dropped per day -- two
cargo planes worth -- is a tiny fraction of what a single refugee
camp would need for one day. For 7.5 million people on the brink of
starvation, we're dropping 37,500 meals a day. Even if the entire
military stocks of 2 million meals were delivered to the people who
need it, they would feed a fraction of the needy for one day. Never
mind that those meals are being dropped in a country with 10 million
land mines, according to United Nations estimates. Some of the
starving Afghan people may blow themselves up as they try to get to
the packages. Never mind that the military strikes have seriously
disrupted existing humanitarian programs run by a wide variety of
U.N. and private agencies...The Nobel Peace Prize-winning
group Doctors Without Borders denounced the food drops as 'military
propaganda.'" So writes Rahul Mahajan for the Houston
Chronicle. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/editorial/outlook/1093844
|
| Ralph Nader's back - http://www.democracyrising.org/
|
| To learn about Anthrax, London's Guardian has an interactive page. http://www.guardian.co.uk/flash/0,5860,567581,00.html
10/13
|
| SiliconValley.com
maintains an excellent collection of reports from around the world on
events since 9/11. Reports are well rounded and present many
different viewpoints. A complete coverage of the Osama
/ Bert (from Sesame Street) connection can be found here:)
|
|
Here's another, again it's from the st. pete times: martin
dyckman explains the folly of the state's tax structure and how it
got that way. i loved the line that says jeb and feeney govern
as tho they're governing the planet mongo.
|
|
Here is a good site for the basics of propaganda analysis.
,,,Jacob L., 10/10
|
| BuzzFlash Insider Account of the Florida Anthrax
Scare
http://www.buzzflash.com/BuzzScripts/Buzz.dll/Content
BuzzFlash sources at the Boca Raton offices of American Media Inc.,
the publisher of The Sun, The National Enquirer, and other tabloid
publications, believed, as reported in Newsweek, that an envelope
containing a "soapy letter," was received just days before
September 11....
|
|
H. Troxler column from 10/5
....mxc 10/10
|
|
As reported in an article from the Chicago Tribune over the weekend
about the first anthrax death, "Most worrisome to Stevens'
neighbors (the first anthrax victim) was that their modest
neighborhood is directly under the flight path used by small planes
taking off from Palm Beach County Park Airport just a few blocks
away.
That's the airport from which Mohamed Atta--the suspected pilot of
the hijacked plane that slammed into the World Trade Center's north
tower Sept. 11--rented a small plane on three occasions during the
month of August as part of his flight training."
Yet, the "authorities" were saying at the time: "But
Florida public health officials said Stevens' case appears to have
been an isolated event, and there is no evidence that his illness
was caused by an act of bioterrorism."
Maybe they were just trying to keep us calm and collected. ...(read
article here) ....buzzflash, 10/8
|
|
Media patting themselves on the back a little too quick I
think - Cable TV news, network news are all still singing the
same song. Reading other countries' reports, or
investigative reports on the net paints a different picture than
the pabulum we get fed to us in the US. So glad to see
they are happy with themselves... WDP, 10/6
|
Public
seems happier with media
The United States' news media, battered
for 25 years by declining credibility, appear to have
regained respect among readers and viewers -- at least
temporarily -- with their coverage since the Sept. 11
terrorist attacks. Story |
|
|
Here are some that are just too good to pass up:
THE WARTIME OPPORTUNISTS
Under Cover Of Crisis Anything Goes
ATTACKS CHANGED THE NATURE OF ENVIRO-DEBATE
DINOSAUR DANCING
Fossil Fuel Lobby Tries Fancy Footwork to Pass Energy
Bill
.... VIWB, 10/3
|
|
Proud to be an American for peace
I am displaying my American flag just as everyone else is, and I take
my responsibility to vote very seriously. I consider myself a good
American, but I would be considered un-American by a recent letter
writer (“Making peace is un-American," Letters, Sept. 17) and
probably many others because I do not support this "war"
that President Bush has declared.
I agree with Roger Peace (My View, Sept. 21) that the United States
should not act alone but should go through the International Court of
Justice to get bin Laden. Suppose someone burned my house down and
killed my family. It is not acceptable that I burn down my neighbor's
house and kill his family because I think he did it since he has been
harassing me for years. Even if I knew for sure that it was he, I
would have no right under our laws to do that. I would expect that we,
as a nation, would follow this basic principle of law.
When we lash back too quickly at someone who has hurt us, it is
only revenge. If we start acting like a group of angry vigilantes, we
not only will hurt a lot of innocent people but will lose the support
of many nations and add fuel to the hatred. This "war" just
is not a good idea.
....KIRK BINGHAM, in the Tallahassee Democrat 10/2
|
| Thanks for putting up the link to the live radio reports from the
rally in DC tonight
"change doesn't happen by itself - we have to do it" someone
just said.
Word is at the moment that it's pretty mellow and
celebrative.
If I can't be there this is the next best thing - especially since
there's not a word about it on any of the TV stations I get on cable.
It might as well be happening on the moon as far as the mainstream
media is concerned.
Tune in and listen - it's 24 hrs live - with occasional
streaming videos from teach-ins happening there...and music
...
Oh yes - this is very nice- let's hope the police behave themselves
tomorrow.
Peace is flowing through our airways from DC tonight:
http://dc.indymedia.org/audio/dcimc.pls
...a blissful quixote this evening 9/28/01 11:37 PM -------------
|
|
So Is This Bush Sr.'s Second Term?
"Like his father a decade before, President Bush is mobilizing
a worldwide coalition to help him roll back aggression — and
his dad has been drafted as a key stealth operative in the
diplomatic campaign. Former President George Bush is heavily
involved in persuading his legion of pals around the globe to climb
aboard the U.S. anti-terror effort, sources told the Daily News
yesterday. 'The old man is engaged well beyond what's been publicly
reported — or ever will be,' one well-placed source said. Another
Bush source, asked what the former President was up to, said only:
'He's busy.'" Earlier this year Bush Sr. advised Jr. on Poland
and North Korea. http://www.nydn.com/2001-09-19/News_and_Views/
9/28
|
|
Revealed: Yet Another White House Hoax Amid National Crisis
"Remember how, amid the horror of September 11 and its
aftermath, the White House press office gravely announced that
terrorists had targeted either the White House or Air Force One or
both -- and that some suspicious figure had managed to get hold of
the presidential plane's code number? Well, the White House press
office has now been forced to confess that at least parts of its
story were untrue. And, on those parts of the story it has refused
to recant, the press office's attempts to save face have led to
baldfaced efforts to deny abundant evidence that refute their
claims." So reports the ever-vigilant Media Whores Online. http://www.mediawhoresonline.com/hoax.htm
9/28
|
|
Ari Fleischer Chills Free Speech
Asked about the controversy over Bill Maher's comments about the use
of cruise missile's as "cowardly," Ari Fleischer warned
"all Americans that they need to watch what they say, watch
what they do, and this is not a time for remarks like that; there
never is." Wow - this comes less than a week after Bush
declared that we are fighting for "our freedom of speech, our
freedom to vote and assemble and disagree with each other." So
what is the real position of the White House? ... http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20010926/us/fleischer_maher_2.html
9/28
|
| Why Did Jeb Warn of Terrorism in Florida on September 7?
On September 7 - 4 days before Florida-based terrorists attacked the
US - Jeb Bush issued an unusual executive order. "Based on the
potential massive damage to life and property that may result from
an act of terrorism at a Florida port, the necessity to protect life
and property from such acts of terrorism, and inhibiting the
smuggling of illegal drugs into the State of Florida, the use of the
Florida National Guard to support FDLE in accomplishing port
security training and inspections is 'extraordinary support to law
enforcement' as used in Section 250.06(4), Florida Statutes."
Did Jeb know something the rest of us didn't know then - and still
don't know now? http://sun6.dms.state.fl.us/eog_new/eog/orders/2001/
... demdailynews, 9/25
|
|
Jeb Declares State of Emergency and Establishes Police State
After the attack on September 11, Jeb Bush declared a State of
Emergency in Florida, and put state and local government agencies
under the control of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement
(Florida's state troopers). This gives the state police broad powers
to suspend state laws, commandeer state and local government
employees, seize property, and evacuate residents. Pretty scary -
especially since Jeb has thoroughly politicized the FDLE by firing
career officers and appointing loyalist hacks. Right-wingers love to
accuse Democrats of being dictators, but here's one in the flesh -
and his name is Bush. http://sun6.dms.state.fl.us/eog_new/eog/orders/2001/september/eo
...demdaily news 9/25
|
| Clear Channel, the company that has bought up 1,200 stations
altogether -- 247 of them in the nation's 250 largest radio markets --
and that not only dominates the Top 40 format, but controls 60% of all
rock-radio listening.
The company has ordered its stations not to play a list of 150
songs during this "national emergency." The list,
incredibly, includes "Bridge Over Troubled Water,"
"Peace Train," and John Lennon's "Imagine."
Rah-rah war songs, though, are OK.
And then there was this troubling instruction: "No songs by
Rage Against the Machine should be aired." The entire works of a
band are banned? Is this the freedom we fight for? Or does this sound
like one of those repressive dictatorships we are told is our new
enemy?
........excerpt from Michael
Moore letter 9/22
|
| Last month Bush said that the Social Security fund would not be
tapped unless "the nation was at war or in a recession"
--
| Now we're in a war, in a recession, and congress is
appropriating billions of dollars for the "war
effort".
|
| Peace songs are banned from the largest radio conglomerate in
the nation as Americans are prepped for "a long and costly
battle."
|
| We're being told by the media that it's OK to give up our
privacy rights and other civil rights in order to have
"security."
|
| We're preparing to do to Afghanis (and others) what we were so
horrified last week at having done to us.
|
| What's wrong with this picture?
... blast from the past, 9/22
(WF note - see social security ,
no news , IFRC)
|
|
| Why Is America So Despised?
Local U.S. policy experts and activists grappled with grief and
shock Tuesday along with the rest of the country. While they took
pains to explain that they in no way excuse or condone Tuesday's
violence, some were willing to offer their insights into the reasons
so many people hate America. Understanding the motives behind
terrorist attacks against the United States is hampered by the
assumptions many Americans hold, said Ira Chernus, a professor of
religious studies at CU (Colorado University). One of those
assumptions is that U.S. intentions the world over are good, even when
the government or military makes mistakes. The belief that we're only
trying to help makes it hard for us to understand why anyone would do
something like this to us, Chernus said. Related to that assumption is
the belief that the United States is both innocent and invulnerable,
which prevents Americans from listening to the message behind such
events. " - Pamela White in this week's "Boulder
Times." ....More
.... 9/18
|
| "Give me Liberty or give me death"...1776
"Take my liberties, but spare my life" ... 2001
Maybe we've forgotten what America was supposed to be about. Do
we need a decade or so of fascist tyranny to make us remember?
...Leslie, 9/18
|
| I've been looking for the liberal media lately for a little
sanity. It's a myth - this "liberal media." All
is see is a goose stepping propaganda machine.
Spare me the teeth-gnashing snarls, please. If the American
government wants to go and kill thousands more innocent people to feel
better about itself, at least call it what it is - revenge! (or maybe
just good for business?)
Don't pretend it will root out terrorism when it will only create more
oppression... more hate filled kids growing up in refugee camps
dreaming of the day they can get revenge.
Our "leaders" need to lower the rhetoric, and begin to talk
some sense.
Stop manipulating us to go and fight your war and talk with us about
how we can make the world a better world for all of us to live in.
... 20 yrs old, and not looking for another Vietnam; 9/18
|
| For those who wonder how, with our state-of-the-art intelligence
gathering, there was no warning about what was about to happen, follow
the money trail. Ask yourselves who will ultimately profit from this
horrendous act of cowardice.
I predict the following will happen: The Defense Department and the
intelligence communities will get their budgets increased to
never-before-seen levels without major opposition. This will profit
defense contractors that had been experiencing layoffs at current
spending levels. Mideast unrest will cause gas prices at the pump to
spiral upward faster than at the onset of the last Bush War, aka The
Gulf War, resulting in windfall profits for oil interests.
Does this lead to anyone we can think of immediately? Like everyone
else, I would like to see any country harboring those involved removed
from the map, but let's not forget the overall picture. Bush Senior
managed to have some type of military action every time the '88-'92
recession got worse.
...Jeff H, Pompano Beach, SunSentinel, 9/14
|
|
Precautions Taken by States Around the Country in Wake of Terrorist
Attacks
Because of the randomness of terrorism, it is extremely difficult to
anticipate where and when another attack will occur, but many states
are taking precautions to reduce the danger and mitigate possible
consequences. Here's a run down of what's going on around the
nation.
|
|
Want to send a letter to the editor or to your congressman (woman)
or both?
You can do it now at FloridaBay.com!
|
| Sex,
Lies, and the Tape. The
John Fund Story
The following tidbit would remain disgusting but not noteworthy but
for the many times during the Clinton impeachment, and the 2000
election that millions of TV viewers witnessed a self-righteous John
Fund (Wall Street Journal) pontificate about restoring moral decency
to America. What a hypocrite!
"The following is a transcription of the tape of Morgan
Pillsbury and John Fund. Mr. Fund makes mention of how he is being
threatened by Melinda. He apparently believes that Melinda has no
right to be angry for his deceiving her for three years, all the
while sleeping with, and impregnating her oldest child. For those
who doubt the veracity of the transcript or wish to hear the anger
and seething hostility of John Fund, Please listen to the audio
tape." Investigative reporter John Connolly adds, "So
there should be no confusion, this tape was made legally and given
to me by Morgan Pillsbury. Ms. Pillsbury also gave me her permission
to use her name, as did her mother Melinda Pillsbury-Foster."
|
| President Bush spent as much as $250,000 on a PRIVATE fireworks
display for Mexican President Vicente Fox and 135 other guests, many
of whom are not US taxpayers. The fireworks - reportedly the best in
decades - were shot over the Mall, but the public was not informed of
the show.
"Taxpayers have the right to know whether they paid for this
elaborate and unnecessary spectacle," commented Jill Lancelot,
Legislative Director at Taxpayers for Common Sense. "We need to
make sure that we're getting the biggest bang for our buck with our
tax dollars and picking up the tab for a fireworks display at an
essentially private event isn't the way to do that."
....read more at www.taxpayers.org
"Bush welcomed President Vicente Fox of Mexico on Wednesday
night with a bang a fireworks display that was as big, and as
loud, as it was under-publicized…In Georgetown, the noise woke up
a family with an 11-year-old daughter. 'The president of the United
States just woke up three-quarters of a million people for a private
party,' said the girl's father, who did not give his name. 'It's not
a national holiday; it's a school night, it's a work night . . .
it's just about common decency that neighbors have for one
another'...
|
|
I just found out that the appeal for the mercury case will be heard
in the First District Court of Appeals in Tallahassee at 9 AM on
Friday, September 21. This is one of the last legal hurdles
currently standing in the way of the kiln, and the DEP is fighting
hard alongside the company to argue that 97 pounds of mercury coming
out of the stack each year (and most of it landing within 3-5 miles
of the plant) will not have any ecological effect on the three
Outstanding Florida Waters within this fallout zone. Ironically
enough, the DEP's web site (http://www.dep.state.fl.us)
currently advertises how proud (and rightly so) they are of
recovering 80 pounds of mercury from thermometers around the state.
Why the DEP is put in the position of fighting for mercury
contamination in the Three Rivers region seems to speak volumes
about how far their boss (JEB!) will go to please his industrial
puppet masters, and we should make sure that the media and the
people of Florida hear this message loud and clear.
...Jason, 9/4/01
|
| The suggestion in the St. Petersburg Times this morning that Rep Jim
Davis vote to give GWBush fast track trade authority in order to
better the environment, bolster the concerns of labor, and provide a
safeguard for human rights is bizarre.
Seeing this in the Times reminds me of the Nu-Speak from the Council of 100 members
when they presented "Service First" as beneficial to Florida
government. Congratulations to Jim Davis for listening to the people he is elected to
represent. ...More
9/1/01
|
|
Florida Republicans Complain About
E-mail Use by Democratic Official
The Republican Party of Florida is up in arms because Leon County
Commissioner Cliff Thaell, a Democrat, used his county e-mail
address to post a single letter of support for gubernatorial
candidate Pete Peterson. This is the same Republican Party whose
Governor and Secretary of State used their offices in countless ways
to steal the Presidency. Tell reporter David Twiddy (drtwiddy@taldem.com)
you are outraged - and want a FULL investigation of the abuses of
Jeb Bush and Katherine Harris' offices to steal the presidency. see
article in Tall. Democrat
.... from demdailynews, 9/4
|
|
The buying of a local paper...
Why is the Tallahassee Democrat so quiet on issue dealing with Jeb
Bush. I see all these article's in other papers, so what is going on there. Has the governor closed
(TDC) down?
...retired veteran, 8/22/01
|
|
The questions and issues presented in the editorial "DON’T
FALL INTO DBPR ARBITRATION TRAP!” at the web site http://www.ccfj.net
should concern every constituent in the state of Florida who expects
relevant and straightforward responses from pertinent
Officials.
....Manuel Blanco, Chairman, Condo Committee, Cyber Citizens for
Justice, Inc.' 8/20/01
|
|
Jeb guts State Government in order to bring in Privatization.
Jeb's "Budget Exercise" is designed to dismantle public
agencies in Florida to the extent that they can no longer provide
the citizens of our State with the services they deserve, and
expect. Then, as the public clamors for Jeb to do something about those State employees who won't help them (because there won't
be enough employees left to help them); Jeb can ride in on the White
Horse of Privatization to save Florida's Citizens from those bad,
bad, State workers who wouldn't help them.
...chief@sectionb 8/20
|
| I ran a web search on "Jeb Bush" today. An
interesting thing about the results via the ProFusion search engine
was that the only WhoseFlorida reference was the "Pro-Jeb"
page. You have several other pages that specify Jeb Bush in the
title - how come only the Pro-Jeb showed up in the search?
.... Dusty, 8/19
|
| I heard an interesting story on NPR the other day about an American
who was arrested on a road near Genoa after the G-8 conference.
She was with a theater group who had been in Genoa doing non-violent
street theater. The group was held for over 3 weeks. The
report stated that her Italian lawyer was shocked that calls to the
American embassy were fruitless, that the embassy officials were not
at all interested. Sounds just like Bush's reaction. ...
Quixote, 8/15
|
| On National Missile Defence -
8/11/01
"The whole aim of practical politics," H.L. Mencken once
wrote, "is to keep
the populace alarmed by menacing it with an endless series of
hobgoblins,
all of them imaginary."
MEDIA LENS: Correcting for the distorted vision of the corporate media
|
| Why force state workers into dangerous commute?
I'm just curious as to why Gov. Jeb Bush did not give state workers
the day off on Monday, considering the severity of the rain from
Tropical Storm Barry.
I specifically remember seeing him on "Good Morning
America" commenting that the dangerous part was "after the
storm," when there would be so much flooding. Then state workers
are forced to drive back and forth in the weather. Makes you think,
doesn't it?
....AMANDA WALKER (letter in Tallahassee Democrat)8/10
|
| Our president gets a month long vacation after working just seven
months. Wouldn't it be nice if the rest of America could get the same?
And wouldn't it be nice if the rest of America could get a six-hour
medical exam from 14 physicians to see if they were healthy enough to
do their jobs?
Something seems wrong here. Yes, he is the president, but why can't
the rest of us just get half of what he gets for free?
...Charlie Cramer - Lake Mary (letter in Orlando Sentinel) 8/10
|
| Is Katherine Harris' office resisting Florida election reforms?
County election supervisors charge that her top election lieutenant is
sandbagging efforts to clean up the state's voter-roll mess. ...more
8/6
|
| The Bush administration is making a fundamental change in how the
federal government approaches issues involving reproductive health,
scaling back efforts to promote family planning and contraception
while aggressively promoting "abstinence-only" programs. -
Since taking office, President Bush and top aides have refused to
allow states to expand family planning services for poor women,
reimposed a ban on abortion counseling at overseas health clinics,
released a report questioning the effectiveness of condoms and
proposed eliminating mandatory contraceptive coverage for federal
employees. .... More
8/5/01
|
| GOP fund-raising strategy targets physicians - Republican campaign
committee invites doctors to join its "Physician's Advisory
Board" as a hook for soliciting contributions. -
American
Medical Association medical news 8/5/01
|
| Time to take another look at The
Florida Liberator
"Man is born free; and everywhere he is in chains."
--Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712 - 1778), The Social Contract
|
| Letterman
Censors Ani DiFranco - Here's what happened: "Producers of
CBS's 'Late Show with David Letterman' cancelled musician Ani
DiFranco's scheduled appearance (7/19). . . after the folk singer
refused to substitute a more 'upbeat' song for one about racism,"
as John Maynard of The Washington Post reported. ...
|
| What's the difference between Gary Condit, D- California and Joe
Scarborough, R - Florida? click
here .... 8/4/01
|
|
Request for writers:
The Democracy Chronicle is a new national print publication
published from Florida. It's "A Digest of Democratic,
Liberal,and Progressive News, Perspectives, and Resources from the
Internet and Independent Media.
The publication needs help -- writers, editors, marketing,
distribution, business planning...
|
| U.S.
Gov't Recalls Indonesia Book details the U.S. role in Indonesia's deadly purge of communists in the
1960s.
...ToMix, 7/31/01
following from DemDailyNews (7/30/01)
In the 1960s, the CIA engineered the ouster of Indonesian leader
Sukarno, who was anti-western. The CIA directly aided the despotic
Suharto, who slaughtered and tortured hundreds of thousands of
Indonesians. After the bloodbath, in swarmed the US corporations,
throwing thousands of natives off their ancient lands and trashing
the environment to drill for oil and dig for gold. One of those
leading this exploitive charge: HENRY KISSINGER. Now Bush wants to
make this ugly history disappear by recalling every single truthful
State Dept. history book from hundreds of libraries. Why? Could it
be some of the names on Cheney's "secret list" may also be
mentioned in this damning history, including Kissinger. HK helped
Mobil forge a deal with Suharto in the mid-60s, then set up the
Freeport McMoran gold mine for which he is now majority shareholder
as well as anti-environmental legal counsel.
|
|
George Washington University’s National Security Archive today
posted on the Web (www.nsarchive.org)
one of two State Department documentary histories whose release the
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency is stalling, even though the
documents included in the volumes were officially declassified in
1998 and 1999.
The Indonesia volume includes significant new documentation on the
Indonesian Army’s campaign against the Indonesia Communist Party (PKI)
in 1965-66, a slaughter which cemented Suharto's coup. In 1990,
under George Bush, Sr., the CIA also censored a State volume on Iran
to erase any reference to the CIA-Backed coup there in 1953. In
1991, Congress passed a law requiring the State Dept. histories to
include info. on ALL activities, including covert operations. ...
|
|
I hope you'll post this article for all to read: Artists
of Resistance
by Howard Zinn
... J Lerner 7/10/01
|
| Howard Troxler - Does
the fiery spirit of 1776 still burn?
(WF: Please take a look at this July 4 editorial folks - it's addressing
something we think is so important. You're thoughts about this
would make a most welcome thread to post here.)
|
|
Is there a way that
we Americans can tell Katherine Harris how we really feel about
her? Can we e-mail her directly? nancy dion, 6/26/01
WF: the following information from the state government website (myflorida.com)
might be helpful:
naming
standards for state of Florida agencies- this is a helpful
little section for figuring out the email addresses for state
employees. Just plug in the name exactly as directed below,
and it should work. If you wander around the Department
of State page you might find contact links as well.
|
| Harris, Katherine |
STA |
850-414-5500 |
994-5500 |
Tallahassee |
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