|
"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
(Current Tidbits)
(Tidbits 2001)
 | AUSTRALIA ACCEPTS LAWMAKER AS REFUGEE Joseph M. Gersten, a former state lawmaker and Miami-Dade County commissioner, was given refugee status in Australia, ending the possibility of deportation to face an American civil contempt charge. Mr. Gersten, 53, fled to Australia in 1993 after losing a re-election effort amid a sex and drug scandal. Mr. Gersten, a Democrat, was in the Florida House in the 1970's and the Senate in the 80's before winning a county commission seat. He lost a re-election effort in 1992, after filing a disputed police report that said his car had been stolen outside his house in Coral Gables. Drug addicts and prostitutes told officers that the car was stolen outside a crack house in Miami. A judge held Mr. Gersten in contempt for refusing to testify about the theft, and he fled. Mr. Gersten said he would be persecuted if Australia deported him because he had accused onetime enemies, including former Attorney General Janet Reno, of corruption. Ms. Reno was the state attorney for Miami-Dade.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/25/national/25BRFS5.html?tntemail0
|
| Here's a little something to make you smile:
Only in America:
|
 |
IAO Mission: The
DARPA Information Awareness Office (IAO) will imagine, develop,
apply, integrate, demonstrate and transition information
technologies, components and prototype, closed-loop, information
systems that will counter asymmetric threats by achieving total
information awareness useful for preemption; national security
warning; and national security decision making.
http://www.darpa.mil/iao/index.htm
.... posted by JRA, 12/02/01 |
|
Just when you think you've heard it all....
More doings in the Bush family business known as
Florida government.
Remember the state of Florida pension fund that lost
money in Enron? Well,
the AP is saying a daughter of a US Supreme Court
justice (Rehnquist) twice
delayed an audit of the Florida State pension fund
till after the Gov. Bush
was reelected. Congress is investigating. ENRON
COVER-UP? BIGGER SHORTFALL
FROM SKIMMING?
|
| 2002 Leonids Meteor Gallery
- photos of the Leonid meteor shower last night 11/19/02
|
|
Regarding Revenue Estimate
"Friday's revenue estimate shows the state even
deeper in a fiscal hole.
What is the governor's specific and detailed plan to
meet Florida's growing
needs and balance the state's budget? After his
campaign, the people of
Florida will not allow Gov. Bush to offer a vague
list of principles. The
people of Florida will hold Jeb Bush to his own word.
The latest revenue estimate and the state's fiscal
problems prompt many
questions Jeb Bush must answer that he himself put
before the people in his
campaign ads: Will it be higher sales taxes?
Higher property taxes? A new
state income tax? Tell the truth, Jeb. How can you
pay for it?"
.... Statement By FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC PARTY
CHAIR BOB POE, 11/16/02
|
| Media Concentration: Such as it is, the press has
become the greatest power within the Western World, more powerful than
the legislature, the executive and judiciary. One would like to ask;
by whom has it been elected and to whom is it responsible? —
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (...more)
|
|
Here's a national hotline set up by the Voting Rights
Institute for you to use if you have trouble at the
polls, or if you
believe your voting rights are being violated:
1-866-VOTE-411
(1-866-868-3411)
|
| Here's a little goodie for your (Democratic) readers:
http://www.blah3.com/revolution.html
... lisa, 11/04/02
|
|
Why are there no longer any politicians or leaders
who think it is wrong that the richest nation in history turns it's
back on the poor. Why are there no longer people like Martin Luther
King, Bobby Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson. We wage wars on drugs and
terrorism and small countries with oil, but why did we withdraw from
the war on poverty? Why are Democrats just like Republicans? Why do
most politicians claim to be Christian but ignore the teachings of
the man they profess to be their master? Why do we no longer
care?
And why are there not more stories such as this in
American newspapers?
|
| State
Buys Newspaper Ads Touting One Florida
TALLAHASSEE -- Florida taxpayers have picked up the
cost of new full-page ads touting Gov. Jeb Bush's controversial One
Florida plan that are running in black-owned newspapers just days
before the Tuesday election.
Bush's One Florida plan, which was unveiled by the governor in late
1999, eliminated affirmative action policies in state contracting as
well as in university admissions. It sparked a massive backlash
against Bush from black Floridians.
Full-page ads have run in the past two weeks in The Broward Times -- a
blackowned and oriented community newspaper -- and other black-owned
newspapers across the state as well. A Department of Management
Services spokesman said the ads have run in other newspapers but
couldn't say which ones.
In large type, the ad that ran Oct. 25 says, "In Gov. Jeb Bush's
agencies alone, spending with certified minority businesses increased
by more than 28 percent over the preceding fiscal year. A major
accomplishment, this robust increase in spending can be attributed to
the governor's One Florida state contracting plan."...
... This is outrageous, SC, 11/3/02
|
| ...What stuns me most about
contemporary politics is not even that the system has been so badly
corrupted by money. It is that so few people get the connection
between their lives and what the bozos do in Washington and our state
capitols. "I'm just not interested in politics."
"They're all crooks." "Nothing I can do about it, I'm
just one person. I can't buy influence."... (More...)
|
|
"...BROOKSVILLE -- Kirk Wilson had a successful
vending business in 1998,
serving major clients throughout Hernando County,
when he began receiving
troubling phone calls.
"I was literally told by people, `You have to
move your machines,' " said
Wilson, who owned Gulf Vending. "They said, `We
don't have a choice. You
have to move your machines.' I didn't understand
it."
Soda and candy machines owned by Harvey Waite,
husband of state Sen. Ginny
Brown-Waite, were installed where Gulf Vending
machines once stood..."
This is outrageous. ... SC, 11/1/02
|
|
...In 1999, state Sen. Tom Rossin (D), now McBride's
running mate, publicly
attacked what he called the "three-for-one plan.
You must give three times
as much to Republicans as to Democrats or risk having
your issues not looked
on favorably this session or next."
The pattern of corporate giving in Florida is
striking. The Alliance for
Quality Nursing Home Care, a coalition of large
nursing home operators, has
given $300,000 to the GOP and $50,000 to the
Democrats, according to
campaign finance reports.
The Associated Industries Insurance Company gave the
GOP $185,000 and none
to Democrats; AT&T gave the Republican Party
$325,000 and Democrats
$130,000; Disney Worldwide Services donated $210,000
to the GOP, $75,000 to
Democrats; BellSouth gave $310,000 to Republicans,
$60,000 to Democrats;
Blue Cross-Blue Shield, $125,000 for the GOP, $15,000
for Democrats; the
Florida Medical PAC, $260,000 for the GOP, $15,000
for Democrats......"
....SC, 11/1/02
|
|
|
|
JEB is using the AARP logo in a flier, to make it
look like they endorse him. However AARP has a policy not to endorse
any political candidates. Click on the link below.
|
| I've got a web site called Jeb
Bush has Florida in Jebpardy! I've always enjoyed your site and
got most of my info for this game from your archives... (WF:
thanks!! that's why we do it!)
 http://www.takingcareofbusiness.info/
|
|
Please forward to
your friends who still think Jeb is "basically a nice man"
who cares about elderly people, education, kids in foster care,
the environment, etc.
Bruce. 10/26/02
|
|
Privatizing water: A glass half empty
"We almost sold out Florida's water to a company
that was falling apart," said Nancy Brown, president of the
Florida League of Conservation Voters. "Jeb is lucky we didn't,
because he was totally behind it."
Privatize Jeb instead!
...AO, 10/24/02
|
| Business as usual: Washington Post story about the secret
GOP 2003 agenda written by big money lobbyists
...With the elections 16 days away and polls showing many crucial races too close to call, Republicans are drawing up plans that would aid a broad array of industries, after hammering business during the corporate responsibility debate touched off by this year's accounting scandals.--
Business lobbyists said their wish lists include substantial nationwide limits on the amount of damages that can be awarded in medical malpractice cases, plus a major overhaul of the tax code to reduce the burden on corporations. Both measures have been part of President Bush's agenda and would have a better chance of becoming law if the GOP retook control of the Senate and kept a House majority in the Nov. 5 elections...
...AO, 10/23/02
|
| ''Firstborn children'' part of McBride's proposed tax increase
"Jeb: McBride's tax increases will top $524,000 per year for each Floridian, not to mention the loss of your oldest child.
Tallahassee, Fl. -- Governor Jeb Bush today warned Florida voters to be aware of the full and lasting implications of McBride's various proposals for widespread tax increases. Bush said that if McBride is chosen as the state's next governor, he would help himself to all the firstborn children across Florida as part of a historic massive tax increase.
... "
|
|
"Florida Politics" website, featuring Jeb
Bush and Bill McBride newswires updated every
15 minutes.
|
|
U.S. Attorney
General John Ashcroft announced that the Justice Department
will send attorneys from its Civil Rights division to
monitor the Nov. 5th election in Miami and several other Florida
counties.
I
have several concerns about this. The
U.S. Justice Department
is the SAME department
who's Asst. Attorney
General - Ralph Boyd,
said just a few months
ago, that even though the Justice
Department received more
than 11,000
post 2000 presidential election
complaints alone, they found NO evidence
that ANY Florida
residents were denied
their right to vote in the 2000 election and
that the number of
Floridians unable to vote was insufficient to ''cast any doubt'' on
President Bush's margin of
victory. [http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/3354654.htm]
... vilma, 10/21/02
|
|
Link to Opinion page of ALL Newspapers:
Discovered this nifty website that makes it easy to
send opinion
letters to any and every paper in the country!
|
| Here's a graphic for your readers to enjoy:
 larger
version (6" x 2.4")
...LBRuger, 10/20/02
|
| The absence of polling data in the
governor's race is conspicuous. Normally, the candidates
themselves will commission polls. The McBride campaign probably
does not want to spend money. But, it is reasonable to assume
that, flush with cash, the Bush campaign has such polling data.
We can only hope that the information they are concealing is good news
for the McBride campaign.
.... JA, 10/12/02
|
| America's
great misleader-
Bush's arguments strain the limits of plausibility to justify war on
Iraq, and this, says Simon Tisdall, means regime change is imperative
- in Washington ... 10/11/02
|
|
He turned down the most
of Certified forward requests for 2001-2002 FY and on his
request State Agency's had to reduce their 2002-2003 budget by 5%.
That means that they will have to pay 2001-2002 bills out of a reduced
2002-2003 Budget. That is how he is showing reduced spending in
2001-2002 the money was still spent it just won't show up until after
the election.
... Just another state employee, 10/07/02
|
|
More on Bushs & Taxes
The Bush family's aversion to paying taxes is not new. I am
surprised that this old news has not come up lately. Is she sorry
that she was caught in a lie? Or is she sorry that she cheated on
the Florida tax she owed? http://www.naplesnews.com/today/florida/d270483a.htm
... noname, 10/7/02
|
| Here's an interesting website http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/watchdog.html
It is a national media watchdog website that looks for
"whoseflorida" kind of stuff. I thought that it would be a
good idea to put up a link to it.
.... buzzzbee, 10/1/02
|
| Hopefully we will have a new guv. I am jebbed
out. We need a regime change in FL first, instead of Iraq, and
bring democracy here!
....LisaC, 9/29/02
|
|
Click on the images
|
|
Looks like things could turn out much better
than expected for Madelyn Toogood, the Illinois mother caught on
videotape, beating her four year old child in a parking lot.
Seems that once all the legal details are disposed of, she would
have a pretty good chance of landing a position as chief advisor to
Jeb Bush's hand picked Department of Children and Family head, Jerry
Regier. Although she didn't leave welts, she would seem to be
a natural fit. They share the same philosophy. Who
knows, maybe she read his article.
...Tom B, 9/26/02
|
|
You know. I enjoy your website. Lots of good info. I
know it's late but the Daytona Beach News-Journal has good stories
on the environment and other subjects.....
|
| I just noticed the following news item and comment...
does any one know why the proclamation was issued before 9/11/01?
Florida among first to get fed money
Because Florida geared up rapidly following the Sept. 11 attacks, it was in the best position to use some of the money Uncle Sam started sending states to help defray the costs of homeland security.
(actually Florida began gearing up
for 9/11 a few days before -- curious...)
...lucky, 6/22/02
|
| We're pleased to send you this advance notice of a new policy report by The Sentencing Project, "Distorted Priorities: Drug Offenders in State Prisons." The report examines the drug offender population in state prisons, now totalling more than 250,000, and finds that more than half (58%) have no history of violence or high level drug activity. The report also finds that 79% of drug offender inmates are racial and ethnic minorities (56% African American and 23% Latino), and contains recommendations for more effective drug policy.
The report can be found on our website at: http://www.sentencingproject.org/news/distorted_priorities.pdf
... JA, 9/20/02
|
| Database for Education research:
If you would like to conduct your own free ERIC database searches via
the Internet, please send a request for directions to
askeric@askeric.org or go
directly to http://www.askeric.org/Eric
In addition, I have attached some related resources that may also be
helpful. To see the criteria that we use in selecting links please
visit: http://www.askeric.org/Qa/links.shtml
....pflaum, 9/19/02
|
| We Shell not Exxonerate Sadaam...
....mapi, 9/18/02
|
| I've been disappointed at what I read in the press
about how Bill McBride is saying that he won and it's time to get on
with the election, like the voting process is just a minor
inconvenience - it brings back memories of the 2000 election.
"The votes have been counted, and recounted and Bush won - we've
got to move ahead and get on with the business of the country... etc
etc"
I remember the GOP saying that if the DEMS were in their place they
would be doing the same thing -- looks like they were right!
It seems that for both of these parties the ends continue to justify
the means. There isn't a shred of honor or integrity to their process
- it's win at any cost.
An honest man who rides their wave to office will surely crumble, or
like "Skink" have to just walk away...
Wonder what McBride thought about it - if he thought about it ...
...quixote, 9/17/02
|
| What a kick!!! Our "Not JEB's
Florida" T-Shirt was on national TV tonight.
I was watching Chris Matthews' Hardball and there was a segment on the
McBride / Reno primary. Someone was shaking Bill McBride's hand
and turned around to show him the "Not JEB's Florida -
www.whoseflorida.com" on the back of his shirt. McBride
slapped his back and laughed... I about fell on the floor...
Congressman Foley was one of the guests. His sniveling comments about
the Democrats sabotaging the election in Broward and Dade counties to
get McBride rather than Reno on the ticket were enough to make me
sick. Before that there was a half hour of saber rattling about
GWBush, Iraq, and the UN. So, seeing the T-shirt was a
treat... thank you to whoever was there showing our colors.
... WF, 9/12/02
|
http://www.jeb02.com/index.php |
Here's a site you all might want to check out pretty quick -- the test
of the new electronic voting machine is a hoot
.... Liebenthal, 9/10/02 |
| Judging by primary, this could get ugly---
Last week an anti-Jeb Bush Web site surfaced among the politically savvy in Tallahassee. (It's www.jeb02.com.) Besides making fun of Bush and his family, the site pokes a lot of fun at others.
|
| Here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting medical studies.
DIETS AND DYING
1a) The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
1b) The French eat a lot of fat and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
2a) The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
2b) The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and also suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
3a) The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
CONCLUSION:
Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.
.... vasanto, 8/13/02
|
| Tallahassee
judge strikes down state voucher law - TALLAHASSEE
- Florida's original school voucher law violates the
state's constitution and can't be used this school year, Circuit Judge
P. Kevin Davey ruled Monday.
The decision, which will be appealed, comes after the U.S. Supreme
Court upheld Ohio's voucher law on June 27.
... Florida's constitution is ''clear and unambiguous'' in
preventing public money from going to churches or other ''sectarian
institutions,'' he ruled.
''While this court recognizes and empathizes with the ... purpose of
this legislation -- to enhance the educational opportunity of children
caught in the snare of substandard schools -- such a purpose does not
grant this court authority to abandon the clear mandate of the people
as enunciated in the constitution,'' Davey wrote. 8/6/02
|
| Ralph Nader will be on MSNBC again tomorrow night, Friday, July 26,
at 8 pm. EST/PST (7 p.m. CST) as part 2 of a Donahue show on corporate
accountability. He will be joined by columnist Molly Ivins, New York
Times reporter Kurt Eichenwald, and 1,000 ex-Enron and WorldCom
employees in Houston. Please check local listings to be sure.
|
| Thanks for your updates on The
St Joe project... Personally, I found St Joe's Florida's
Great Northwest, Inc. website insulting. I had the feeling
as I looked through it that the people who live and work in the
Panhandle are merely "assets" in the corporate
plans for luring investors to the area. Those of us who can
afford to remain living here after they are through with us will be
just "worker's for the company store". Plantation days all
over again...
.... raven, 7/22/02
|
| I was in the Post Office today waiting to mail some packages.
There were 15-18 people in line. Directly across from us on the
clerk's counter, there was a sign that read "Our Goal is
to serve you in 5 minutes." But there was only one clerk on
duty.
Bless her heart, she tried her best...
It reminded me of JEB's new and improved state government under
"service first" - lots of
slogans but not enough staff to do the work. In this case, I
suppose JEB's remedy would be to fire the clerk and give a bonus to
the boss for making up the slogan.
....quijote, 7/15/02
|
|
How much does it cost the state each year to administer and grade
the FCAT?
....BElmer, 7/11/02
|
| Michael Moore is appearing on Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher
TONIGHT! THURSDAY (6-27) at 12:00am EST
...other guests include: Larry Miller, Tim Robbins, and Genevieve
Wood. Don't miss it! This the final week of Politically
Incorrect -- ABC has cancelled the show.
|
|
Here is yet another example of Jeb Bush working quietly and behind
Florida's back, AGAINST the environment. Jeb is attempting to help
these political friends and supporters, who are also
anti-environment.
Bush is a Texas carpetbagger, not a Floridian. We must vote against
Bush at every opportunity, and send him back to Texas, in 2002.
....beemin, 6/26/02
|
| Katherine Harris & Roy Blunt?
Are there any rumors like this in FL? btw, Blunt has been a leader in the GOP effort to slash welfare for poor women, and to coerce welfare mothers into getting married. bob
Here's the hot rumor from the magnificent state of Missouri: Roy
Blunt, very conservative Republican US congressman from the 7th district (MO), has publicized that he and wife of 35 years are getting a divorce...
AND WHO SHOULD ROY BLUNT BE 'SEEING' ON A SOCIAL BASIS? -- WHY NONE OTHER THAN KATHERINE HARRIS (the same Harris of the FLA. voting fiasco, Sec. of State/candidate for US Rep)!
We are hearing this in Missouri, what have you heard?
....bobs... liberty, MO (Kansas City) 6/25/02
|
| Here's a tip for your readers WF -- there will be 65 schools
receiving "F" grades tomorrow.... the legislative and
administrative aides have been put on alert to prepare for spin
control and to get ready for a flood of phone calls.
.... Vantsantilar, 6/11/02
|
|
Why does AFSCME want Jeb for four more years
Reno is a nice person but poll after poll has shown she can not beat
Jeb. I would have thought the leadership of AFSCME would be looking
for a winner to beat Jeb. But they picked Reno. Pete Peterson did
not want to fight the Reno name. McBride is trying but in the end I
think he will lose.
It is people like the leadership of AFSCME that keeps telling Reno
that she can win.
IMHO, when Jeb beat Reno, the state workers got what they really
wanted, Four more years of Jeb.
...blackbird71, 5/31/02
|
|
This batch of articles -- as listed on DCF's Office of
Communications intranet site - might be worth including in the
postings for this afternoon.
Lawsuit against DCF claims sex abuse (5/30/02 © Miami Herald)
State agency often houses foster children in Broward office building
(5/30/02 © Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel)
Agency had taken son from mother (5/30/02 © Ft. Myers News-Press)
Can Solving DCF's Problems Be So Simple? (5/30/02 © Tampa Tribune)
DCF debacle --how much longer? (5/30/02 © Orlando Sentinel)
DCF: Numbers Tell the Story (5/30/02 © Lakeland Ledger)
Editorial: Caregivers must be investigated (5/30/02 © Ft. Myers
News-Press)
Florida doubles reward for information on missing girl (5/30/02 ©
Tallahassee Democrat)
Guardian ad litem leader quits after tiffs (5/30/02 © Miami Herald)
|
|
Everglades Funding Bill Silences
Citizen Groups
Peaden, Clary Help Slam Shut Courthouse
Doors on Citizens
This week Florida Governor Jeb Bush signed
much-desired legislation establishing a $100 million fund for
continued restoration of the Everglades. But with it he also
approved an amendment to the law severely restricting citizens' access
to the courts when challenging local development permits.
Incoming Senate President Jim King (R-Jacksonville) and state Rep.
Gaston Cantens (R-Miami) crammed down the last
minute amendment to curb access to the courts by environmental,
consumer, residents, and neighborhood groups....
http://www.pbrla.com/news_051802.html
Pensacola Beach Residents & Leaseholders
Assn. 5/20/02
|
|
All the king's horses and all the king's men can't put AB&T back
together again.
The DBPR's Division of Alcholic Beverages and Tobacco is a shell
agency. It has had an unofficial hiring freeze for over two
years. Bad management has driven most of the good employees
away. The organization today is beyond hope. The
enforcement personnel should be sent to FDLE, the auditing and
licensing to the Department of Revenue, and the supervisors and
managers to the Department of Unemployment Compensation -- not as
employees but as customers!
....Brutus, 5/20/02
|
|
Reading the article "The high
cost of changing Panhandle's name" linked to from WFL, made
me realize that St. Joe Co.'s bulldozing of our country should be
enough of a reason to have RedHillsIMC. It is flatly outrageous
what's going on and not many people are aware of it happening
outside of the immediately affected areas. And those horrible,
criminal acts are hard to reverse even if St. Joe's
"project" is found in violation of whatever. We ought to
have general uprising to stop the continuation of plunder of our
lands. This hurts. This reminds me of California Redwood Summer in
the making (http://www.judibari.org/).
...dk, 5/17/02
(WF note: Red
Hills is the name of the bioregion that runs from the Gulf up
into Georgia. Tallahassee is pretty much in the center of this
region. Plans are being made to establish an Independent
Media Center in Tallahassee that will focus on issues related to
the Red Hills Bioregion. Anyone interested in participating
can contact imc_cfl@yahoo.com
for further information. An IndyMedia center has just gone up
in Orlando, IMC
Central Florida, and plans are being made for centers in South
Florida, Tampa/StPete, and Gainesville as well)
in Florida by St Joe/Arvida
|
|
Florida is only mentioned once, but this article is good for putting
current FL budget into perspective:
I love this site - keep up the great work.
....MWB,5/16/02
 | WF: thanks, MWB- reading through the article I didn't see any
states mentioned that were still giving corporate tax
breaks. JEB's got it going both ways - he can continue to
poormouth in order to cut programs, and he can give taxes back
to his corporate buddies
|
|
| The high cost of changing Panhandle's name
If the St. Joe Co. has its way, Florida's historic Panhandle soon will
be known as Florida's ``Great Northwest.'' That's because the P.R.
hacks at St. Joe have decided that the word Panhandle is too negative
and conjures images of a deadbeat looking for a handout. The full
article will be available on the Web for a limited time: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/columnists/carl_hiaasen/3239210.htm
|
|
If somebody out there can help me, I would sure appreciate it. when I
went to use my card at Wal-Mart, they denied it because it had
expired. Now, this is probably my fault, but when they cut down my non
effected tree, I did not think they would put an expiration date on
it. During the time my community was undergoing city sewerage and
tearing up of the streets, sidewalks and yards. so because of all this
I had to wait to continue using my card. the number on the back of the
card was called and I was told that if i had used only 33 dollars
instead of 49 I would have been able to get another card. I think the
government could spare the 51 dollars i had not used do to what I had
no control over. I would like it to buy a shade tree that was torn
down in my swale during all that mess.
if there is anyone who could help me, I would surely be grateful
axinn126@aol.com -only aol user
can be accepted, 5/15/02
|
| This is the keynote of the Bush era GOP - whatever it takes to get
your way is OK.
GOP legalizes redistricting bypass
The measure gives a blessing to skipping Attorney General Bob
Butterworth in the process.
...ohmy,5/15/02
WF: Reminds me of election 2000 - democracy or will of the people be
damned... where the righteousness of an act is solely determined by
whether you can get away with it. Life in Florida Inc.
|
| A friend told me that he was told that employees at the Division of
State Group Insurance were informed Friday that their division was
being privatized effective 7/1/02. As usual, employees were
apparently told that if they said anything about this they would be
immediately terminated. He said that would impact over 800
employees. Have you heard anything about this?
... WSC, 5/13/02
| WF: It appears as if your friend was referring
to the outsourcing of 800 + Human Resources positions. DSGI
is a part of Human Resources. I guess employees were
informed when the budget was passed. The legislature snuck this
one in without any discussion, so this might explain the demand
for no contact with the press. Our sunshine government at
work... Anyhow you can check the following link at
Department of Management Services for a sketch of which HR
services were scheduled to be privatized, which weren't, etc. http://www.myflorida.com/dms/hrm/hrout/ExpoFran121001.PDF
An additional note: the Friday notification underpins how
the administration had it so well orchestrated. If notifications
were sent out to employees on Friday, before the 72 hour waiting
period was over - that's before the budget was signed?!
Reminds me of the input state employees were supposed to have had
in the decision about "service first". Someone
from DMS posted on WF that the bill was already winding its
way through approval channels while we were sending in our
suggestions...
Here's a quote from a story
in the 5/11/02 Democrat :
"DMS Secretary Cynthia Henderson ... said many of the 800
positions are vacant and the remaining employees will either be
hired by Convergys or be transferred to other jobs within their
departments or other departments."
Be sure and keep us posted on how that plays out!!!
|
|
| AFSCME claims a win over across the board raises of 2.5% with a $600
minimum. My rent went up more than that this year. Not
only that the deal includes a 13% increase on my insurance premiums,
and my job is back on the chopping block. What is there to claim
victory about - like JEB they are more interested in looking good than
doing a decent job. Like the workers, they are job scared and
only interested in saving their own asses. They're useless.
... RobertCR, 5/12/02
|
| Let's hope the sentiment expressed in this article holds true:
Blacks:
Jeb will pay for 2000
Getting a Bush out of the Governor's Mansion will make up for a Bush
in the White House, they say. ..LBP, 5/09/02
|
| http://www.tampatrib.com/News/MGAF420RP0D.html
Thanks for the work that you do in trying to save Florida from her
government.
... GlenH, 5/3/02
|
| Indy Media
Central Florida is open. -- "since 1999 Independent Media
Centers have been popping up all over the world, organizing to defy
corporate control of our news, or airwaves, our very minds! By
combining our efforts, acting locally and thinking globally, we too
can work together to defy this control and create an alternative to
the misleading spin in the mainstream press." They meet at
the Stone Soup Collective, 1020 So. Orange Ave email = imc_cfl@yahoo.com
4/22/02
|
|
Thank you for your fine work. I read your site every day
for the "real" news.
... IBL, 4/21/02
|
| Just read Bob
Kunst's account of his experiences at the Democratic convention.
If the democrats bullied him and tore up his signs, what's the
difference between them and the GOP thugs that tried to shut down the
recount in South Florida?
...artemis, 4/17/02
|
|
He now has a show on 790am WAXY 6-8a. Unfortunately I cannot
get it but wanted to pass this information to any who can.
....marye, 4/15/02
|
| Poetry
slam
I think that I shall never see/a sign board as lovely as a tree/and
unless the sign boards fall/I'll never see a tree at all. Thank you,
Jeb! ...from Tallahassee Democrat, 4/10/02
|
|
After
trying looking at the sad shape of options to replace my medical
insurance carrier, I am now furious!.
It is my understanding that Speaker Feeney would not let a
medical insurance bill come to the floor that said that all insurer
companies who insure in this state, have to abide by Florida
regulations.
Can
you help me find any articles on this and is this true?
...Carolyn C, 4/9/02
|
|
Hi, Check out our new website: www.iam971.org
Thanks! International Association of Machinist and Aerospace
Workers LL971 -- Jupiter FL -- thanks, JRMcClean, 4/7/02
|
| Harris
insists: I am not a sneak
SARASOTA -- Katherine Harris' congressional campaign issued a press
release Friday denying that she tried to sneak into a Tiger Bay Club
banquet.-Harris showed up Wednesday night at the dinner featuring
former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich. She was turned away by club
President Marj Baldwin, who told her the event was sold out. also: Harris
is shown the door
... jkeel,4/7/02
|
| Referring to the education bill that was before the state
legislature:
"The equally controversial weapons provision would allow school
boards to permit guns on campus as long as they are kept in locked
cars.
"The terrorists have definitely contaminated the water system of
the state House and Senate," Attorney General Bob Butterworth
said from his Fort Lauderdale office Friday before senators rejected
the proposal. "It's idiotic."
...Guns,
religion sidetrack code rewrite
, by Dara Kam 4/07
|
| Special
session? Time for the Tallahassee Insider
I am sitting behind a beaded curtain in a discrete, out-of-the-way
booth in a Tallahassee restaurant. It's an older place that still
serves prime rib in portions as big as your head. The walls are
decorated with framed black-and-white glossies of movers and shakers
who, sadly, no longer move nor shake. It is an institution of grand
traditions.
|
| Two
Florida national parks listed as among most-endangered
In what is becoming an annual ritual for the National Parks
Conservation Association, the nonprofit group released it's "Top
10" most-threatened parks.
The list includes Florida's Everglades National Park and adjacent
Big Cypress National Preserve.
The Everglades is threatened by polluted runoff from agriculture
and from flood-control projects, and a restoration plan now under way
is still too conceptual to guarantee a fix, association officials
said.
The Big Cypress is still fighting "considerable swamp buggy
use" and now faces the threat that the private owner of
underground mineral rights may want to conduct more exploratory
drilling and seismic testing for petroleum deposits.
... rollo_b, 3/24/02
|
|
I would like to tell you about a grassroots group I've co-founded
in Sarasota. Sarasota Alliance for Safe Foods (SASF) is
educating our community about the human health and environmental
hazards of genetically engineered (GE) foods.
Please see our web-site at:
Florida, due to its powerful axis of quasi-public research
universities, is one of the key research centers for this
so-called technology. SASF is hoping to create a genuine
statewide effort to help educate people about the hazards of GE
foods and to achieve a marketplace removal of GE foods from the
grocery shelves.
We are part of a national coalition called the GE-Free
Supermarkets Coalition; we are the Southeast regional
representative. Our regional grocery target is Publix
Supermarket. We have formally asked Publix to remove GE
foods from its own brands.
Please see:
|
| A better world is possible - though we won't hear about it in
mainstream press. Hundreds
of thousands (some say 500,000) of people have protested the European
Union Summit in Barcelona. this is the largest gathering since
Seattle. More freedom in Spain then here - we have "free
speech zones" where we are allowed to make our voices heard.
... quixote, 3/17/02
|
| Scandals
haunt Jeb Bush —Florida Governor
Jeb Bush must be getting a little punch drunk by now....jkelsr,
3/15/02
|
| Polk County School Board member Frank O'Reilly (Republican) said he
is angry with House Speaker Tom Feeney and isn't going to take it
anymore because of school money bills the speaker killed....
"I am not knocking the woman who is answering phones and raising
money for him," O'Reilly said. "But if she is working at
$55,000 at age 27 without a degree, what are my teachers worth? Those
with master's degrees and years of experience whose salaries are
$20,000 less. Don't forget, this woman is paid with tax money,
too."
|
| I made the right move six months ago, and went to work for the feds
from the State. Jeb has lied to all state employees.
Where are the merit pay increases?
Where is the FRS retirement going? (Ans. Private a'la PEORP). Where
are the 'new' jobs?
PS-What ever did happen to the Dept. of Labor?
They are just about gone.
Why are State Offices being crammed together and consolidated? VOTE
OUT BUSH!!! RENO FOR GOVERNOR!
... Reno supporter, 3/06/02
|
|
I just found this amazing website: http://www.theyrule.net/
It's a gold mine of information (if it is all true)...
...dk,2/26/02
|
| Budget
crisis takes fight out of governor - Most chief executives,
including governors, stumble at first, then gain confidence and grow
into the job.-- But Jeb Bush seems to be going backwards.
....state worker & ex-Republican, 2/20/02
|
| Is the governor's daughter getting special treatment?
http://www.petitiononline.com/BB46/petition.html
...Jkeel, 2/18/02
|
| FOUNDER OF ENRONOWNSTHEGOP.COM VOWS TO BUZZFLASH THAT THE GRAND
HYPOCRISY PARTY OF TEXAS WILL NOT SHUT DOWN THE TRUTH
Kelly Fero is a top Democratic strategist in Texas. As Director of
Texas '02, he is helping lead a comprehensive communications campaign
to get the Democratic message out to state voters
Faced with a legal ultimatum from the Texas GOP claiming trademark
infringement, (see: http://www.enronownsthegop.com
and http://www.newsbytes.com/news/02/174563.html,
he vows to BuzzFlash.com that his site will not be silenced.
After all, he argues, it is hard to distinguish Enron's goals from the
goals of many Texas GOP office holders. One need only look to
the White House to test the validity of Fero's allegation. ....
More
|
| Here's how our Florida congresspeople voted in the
240-189 roll call Thursday that passed campaign finance legislation to
ban soft money contributions to the national parties and limit some
political ads. A "yes" vote is a vote to pass the bill.
Democrats -- Boyd, Y; Brown, Y; Davis, Y; Deutsch, Y; Hastings, Y;
Meek, Y; Thurman, Y; Wexler, Y.
Republicans -- Bilirakis, N; Crenshaw, N; Diaz-Balart, N; Foley, Y;
Goss, N; Keller, N; Mica, N; Dan Miller, N; Jeff Miller, N; Putnam, N;
Ros-Lehtinen, Y; Shaw, N; Stearns, N; Weldon, N; Young, N.
... amost, 2/17/02 (from NYTimes)
|
|
WhoseFlorida readers might be interested in knowing that
"Skink" is the nickname of a fictitional former governor
in several Hiaissen books: Tourist Season, Native Tongue, etc.
|
|
This is another Tallahassee Democrat spin. Probably
dashed off by Nanny Cotterell. We are in the middle of one of
the most important state gubernatorial elections ever, and the
Democrat pooh, poohs the import of how JEB uses his voter-granted
power to make it seem he's a good guy -- an obvious political
posture -- and the Democrat says the results of his action are most
important. Silly, ninnies. Since his previous actions
caused the crises he now wants credit for fixing, and since he's
obviously electioneering, why dismiss that observation in an
editorial? Crass hypocrisy.
....Katy, 2/9/02
|
|
Roy Cales status?
What is the status of Roy Cales grand theft case? He was
supposed to appear in Leon County Court on Monday Feb 4th. He
was seen having lunch with the DMS Hatchet Bunny on Feb 5th.
Maybe his case went well and he'll be back on the payroll again?
....State worker, 2/6/02
|
| "The Florida Government Accountability Report makes it easy to
find free information about what state agencies are doing and how
effective they are at meeting the needs of Florida's citizens."
http://www.oppaga.state.fl.us
Just go to the "site index" at the OPPAGA website and wander
around. Reports are categorized by agency and topic. Extensive and
thorough and only the tip of the iceberg...
... ROTW, 2/5/02
|
| A tiny suggestion to Leon County Commish Cliff
Thaell: Shut up about Eugene Danaher. You're supposed to be proprietor of your own promotional and advertising operation. Would you recommend to a client that she/he prolong a public tiff with a person whom many in the public believe an honorable, public-spirited citizen performing a public watchdog service by monitoring the behavior of government agencies around here. Ask some of your friends and neighbors.
....Katy, 2/1/2002
|
|
Thank you for providing the public with the information that keeps
us free. ... We publish information on the Florida waterfront,
boating, fishing and watersports community, the environment they
affect and the laws which affect it all. We also cover boating,
fishing and watersports for the entire US East Coast and Bahamas.
Please check us out at www.sailmiami.com
. We appreciate all suggestions and ideas ...
.....Curtis and Lupe Tucker, 2/2/2002
|
| Thanks to the Miami Herald for printing the story about the
Department of Corrections closing almost all of their prison
drug treatment programs (see Florida
slashing care for addicts). (see posts
below)
|
|
Thank you, thank you for posting JEB's
response to Diane Roberts' excellent commentary on Florida slipping
back to Southern ways. I wouldn't have known of Ms.
Roberts' true-life depiction of the JEB-led Republican stamp on the
state since the GOP took over both houses of the legislature and the
governorship if it hadn't been so much to point that a Ms. Karen
Unger (tell us more about this'un if you can), identified as JEB's
reelection campaign manager, reeled off about three giant redwood's
worth of praise for the JEB years.
All those successes and reducing taxes too. The JEBBITES,
hisself included, seem to smart right considerable when someone as
eloquent as Ms. Roberts most definitely is aims a direct hit where
they hurt. I believe the JEB response indicates that his
handlers are becoming quite concerned that it's about time abandon
the "home security and school mentoring" gambits and to
engage the enemy, i.e., anyone with a less than flattering reference
to the hurt this administration has caused our state.
...Katy Bar The Door, 1/19/02
|
| Did Jeb hand pick the company that bought huge amounts of ENRON
stock for the Florida Pension funds?
| Florida,
Enron, and Alliance Capital--The wealthy and powerful, because
they are a small segment of the population, move in the same small
circles. They look out for each other, despite their
competitiveness, thus ensuring they all retain their riches --
while further enriching themselves off the "little
people." The immolation of Enron and the malfeasance of
Alliance Capital Management are perfect examples.
|
| As reported in the Sunday,
January 13, edition of the Palm Beach Post, Florida lost more
than $300 million from it’s state pension fund due to stock
losses after Enron’s collapse. The Post reported: "Last
month, the [Florida] state Board of Administration, which Gov.
Bush heads, fired Alliance Capital Management Corp., saying it was
troubled by the New York financial adviser's decision to continue
buying Enron stock even after Enron admitted it had lied about its
finances."
....UNKL SAM, 1/16/02
|
|
| More on the
Prison Drug Treatment Cuts:
Preserve
drug treatment - It's
shortsighted to cut back on drug treatment for prisoners.- A whopping
60 percent of Florida's 72,000 prison inmates are serving time for
offenses related to their alcohol or drug addictions. Taxpayers cough
up more than $2 million a day to keep that population
imprisoned.--
Effective treatment programs exist to address the problem, but Florida
cut them back severely last fall to balance the state budget.
SAVE
A PENNY, LOSE A LIFE-- If a single crime-prevention program could be picked as giving
Florida the best mileage for its money, it would be drug treatment for
offenders behind bars and under supervision outside prison.
Addicts
in waiting: High costs to state in cutting prison drug treatment
The Florida Department of Corrections has just designed a devastating
new defeat for itself, for the state treasury and most of all for
inmates who could have been helped. The department is eliminating drug
treatment programs at all but four of Florida's 55 prisons. Federal
matching grants will keep the programs alive at the remaining four.
The department is also slashing by a third follow-up drug treatment
that helps inmates once they're back in society.
Editorial:
Drug-treatment cuts leave state vulnerable
The Palm Beach Post
Noelle Bush's problems with drug abuse and the law may focus attention
on Florida's failure to provide adequate drug treatment for families
who don't have the Bushes' resources...
Jeb
Bush Urged To Reconsider Drug Law View - The Washington Post,
February 1, 2002 - by Sue Anne Pressley, Washington Post Staff Writer
- MIAMI -- Advocates of reforming Florida's drug laws say it is
understandable that Gov. Jeb Bush (R) is asking for compassion and
privacy for his daughter, arrested this week on prescription fraud
charges. But they also think he should reconsider his tough "drug
warrior" approach to the state's other nonviolent drug offenders.
http://www.sptimes.com/2002/01/12/
Does not mention the 90% loss of programs in the prison nor
does it present the far reaching effects these cuts will have -
especially when you couple them with the Juvenile Justice and other
recent public safety cuts. (See previous
post)
What were these legislators thinking?
| Only 7 of the 79 treatment programs that were in prisons
all around the state, remain .
| | |
