8/30/2003
More wing-nuttery at DC&F
Regier appointee linked to wing-nutty rightwing group in New York.
James H.K. Bruner, recently hired as a high-ranking lawyer for the Department of Children & Families, was a featured speaker -- along with subway gunman Bernhard Goetz -- at a New York rally that decried the ''tyranny'' of the United Nations and used a U.N. flag as a floor mat.
And a website maintained by a group called the Patriot Saints for the Kingdom of God on Earth, which says governments should not provide human services to the needy, lists Bruner, 45, as a member of the chapter in his former home city of Albany, N.Y.
And of course it doesn't matter that the state of Florida will pay him $82,000 for legal advice when he's not even licensed to practice law in Florida.
Another qualification: His dad was Jeb's dad's minister. But he was hired strictly on his qualifications.
James H.K. Bruner, recently hired as a high-ranking lawyer for the Department of Children & Families, was a featured speaker -- along with subway gunman Bernhard Goetz -- at a New York rally that decried the ''tyranny'' of the United Nations and used a U.N. flag as a floor mat.
And a website maintained by a group called the Patriot Saints for the Kingdom of God on Earth, which says governments should not provide human services to the needy, lists Bruner, 45, as a member of the chapter in his former home city of Albany, N.Y.
And of course it doesn't matter that the state of Florida will pay him $82,000 for legal advice when he's not even licensed to practice law in Florida.
Another qualification: His dad was Jeb's dad's minister. But he was hired strictly on his qualifications.
8/29/2003
Makeover for corporate vouchers
Nobody has been more on top of the story of rampant abuse of private-school vouchers like The Palm Beach Post. They seem to have this story to themselves.
In a strong editorial, the paper calls for a makeover for the corporate voucher program and criticizes Ed. Secretary Horne for outright deception on the issue.
Meanwhile, the situation with Cambridge Academy and its use of state money is mind-boggling. Reports SV Date -- Prosecutors in Tampa said Isenhour was trying to support one of his many companies -- the Education Corporation of America Inc. -- with money gained from selling cocaine. Specifically, several of the other defendants would buy stock in his company with drug money, according to court records.
Education Corporation of America was considered by prosecutors to be a parent company to the Cambridge Academy -- Isenhour's correspondence school that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March. The Cambridge school, which is located next door to the Silver Archer Foundation in an Ocala strip mall, became an active corporation again in Colorado that same month. A receptionist there Thursday said Isenhour remains the school's "chairman of the board."
Meanwhile Horne hopes to deflect legislative scrutiny of the program with a plan for more oversight. (Tally Democrat version.) Apparently the the five-page form idea didn't fly. (See the Flablog Vault of Memory and Troxler column.)
In a strong editorial, the paper calls for a makeover for the corporate voucher program and criticizes Ed. Secretary Horne for outright deception on the issue.
Meanwhile, the situation with Cambridge Academy and its use of state money is mind-boggling. Reports SV Date -- Prosecutors in Tampa said Isenhour was trying to support one of his many companies -- the Education Corporation of America Inc. -- with money gained from selling cocaine. Specifically, several of the other defendants would buy stock in his company with drug money, according to court records.
Education Corporation of America was considered by prosecutors to be a parent company to the Cambridge Academy -- Isenhour's correspondence school that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March. The Cambridge school, which is located next door to the Silver Archer Foundation in an Ocala strip mall, became an active corporation again in Colorado that same month. A receptionist there Thursday said Isenhour remains the school's "chairman of the board."
Meanwhile Horne hopes to deflect legislative scrutiny of the program with a plan for more oversight. (Tally Democrat version.) Apparently the the five-page form idea didn't fly. (See the Flablog Vault of Memory and Troxler column.)
Regier's theocracy
Orlando Sentinel suggests DCF workers need practical, secular training, not a religious revival.
Meanwhile, DC&F head Regier continues remaking his agency into a center for Christian right activism with the appointment of James H.K. Bruner.
Miami Herald -- DCF hires activist for religious right causes. Bruner is founder of the NY Family Policy Council.
Bruner, who will hold the title ''special assistant to the general counsel'' and will be paid about $82,000, is not licensed to practice law in Florida, though he plans to take the state's bar exam quickly in order to obtain a license, Regier said Thursday.
Meanwhile, DC&F head Regier continues remaking his agency into a center for Christian right activism with the appointment of James H.K. Bruner.
Miami Herald -- DCF hires activist for religious right causes. Bruner is founder of the NY Family Policy Council.
Bruner, who will hold the title ''special assistant to the general counsel'' and will be paid about $82,000, is not licensed to practice law in Florida, though he plans to take the state's bar exam quickly in order to obtain a license, Regier said Thursday.
8/28/2003
Down Upon the Suwannee River
MoJones runs a Bush-is-raping-the-environment issue. Including a piece on how changes in wetlands rules threaten north Florida rivers.
Troubling precedent
FindLaw carries a piece, Governor Jeb Bush Sends Lawyers to Represent a Fetus: Targeting A Mentally Retarded Pregnant Woman for Pro-Life Intervention, that finds plenty of bad precedent in the decision.
Tragically, J.D.S.'s disability - which should have entitled her to special governmental accommodation - has instead led to her being singled out for discriminatory treatment.
(Via MeFi.)
Tragically, J.D.S.'s disability - which should have entitled her to special governmental accommodation - has instead led to her being singled out for discriminatory treatment.
(Via MeFi.)
Jesus sez: Obey the boss.
Department of Children & Families secretary Jerry Regier uses state funds to have the nonprofit Character Training Institute to preach to DCF workers in a program patterned after the teachings of conservative Christian evangelist Bill Gothard.
Not everyone is shouting "amen"! Some DCF folks wonder at the authoritarian bent of the program.
Not everyone is shouting "amen"! Some DCF folks wonder at the authoritarian bent of the program.
8/27/2003
The 'E' is for . . .
A Palm Beach Post editorial says there's only one good reason for Special Session E. The rest is Excessive ... Electioneering ... and Expensive.
8/26/2003
Senate might look at voucher abuse
Abuse of the school voucher program is getting so flagrant that the Senate Republican leadership is looking at ways to get it under control. They might add it to the rapidly lengthening list of things to add to the special session. It looks like Jeb's plan to fix it with a five-page form will not be enough.
The Palm Beach Post's series on this problem really has been outstanding.
The Palm Beach Post's series on this problem really has been outstanding.
Grapefruitery
8/24/2003
The magic of vouchers
Come with us and visit another recipient of Florida education voucher dollars. No, it's not an Islamic academy with terrorist ties, it's a bankrupt correspondence school that has received "a few hundred thousand" about $400,000 in tax dollars. It's one of eight "scholarship funding organizations" the state has approved to collect and dispense $50 million in tax money. It's run by James Isenhour. According to Palm Beach Post : Isenhour, 55, has a long and checkered history in Florida, according to federal and state court records. He was tried and acquitted of securities fraud in Marion County over the development of an apartment complex. He was later arrested on a charge of cocaine trafficking in Hillsborough County, but the state dropped the charges. He declared personal bankruptcy in 2000.
And he threatened the reporter covering the story. ( "I really believe you should be careful where you step" -- this is dialog straight out of a Starsky and Hutch episode.)
The story -- Voucher operation secretive about grants -- is part of an excellent series on Florida's wide open, money-bucket of a voucher system.
And Howard Troxler among the writers unimpressed with a plan to fix this with a five-page form.
And he threatened the reporter covering the story. ( "I really believe you should be careful where you step" -- this is dialog straight out of a Starsky and Hutch episode.)
The story -- Voucher operation secretive about grants -- is part of an excellent series on Florida's wide open, money-bucket of a voucher system.
And Howard Troxler among the writers unimpressed with a plan to fix this with a five-page form.
8/22/2003
'The Horse' stands up for Graham
Media Whores Online takes umbrage at an Orlando Sentinel editorial urging Graham to leave the presidential race.
"Orlando Sentinel Equates Telling Truth with Lack of Moderation," The Horse says. (Scroll halfway down to find it.)
"Orlando Sentinel Equates Telling Truth with Lack of Moderation," The Horse says. (Scroll halfway down to find it.)
Vetoing the people
Good bit of editorial outrage at Sec. of Ed Horne's grandstanding on the class-size amendment -- Class-size jeremiad. (Look it up. If editorials can't use words like that, nobody in the paper can. More of a Jebemiad actually. Hyuk, hyuk.)
Horne's Armageddon rhetoric and his fiscal exaggerations only alienate parents who already think his main objective is to teach their children as cheaply as possible. ... The amount allocated to class size reduction this year, for better or worse, is less than 1 percent of the state budget. If that's a hurricane, then Florida needs the rain.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Johnnie Byrd wants to put a revised and weakened class size amendment to the Legislature in the fall special session along with some kind of teacher pay amendment so it won't look like they're just looking for ways to cut money for public schools and turn the savings into tax cuts for the rich.
(Teacher Union Spokesman) Pudlow said teachers will continue to support the (the original) class-size amendment, noting, "Their suddenly having concern about teachers' salaries is kind of funny."
The fall special session is beginning to turn into something of a mini-constitutional convention with an anti-abortion amendment already scheduled to be considered.
Bold Prediction -- The fall special session will become so overloaded that it will either be cancelled or deadlock.
Horne's Armageddon rhetoric and his fiscal exaggerations only alienate parents who already think his main objective is to teach their children as cheaply as possible. ... The amount allocated to class size reduction this year, for better or worse, is less than 1 percent of the state budget. If that's a hurricane, then Florida needs the rain.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Johnnie Byrd wants to put a revised and weakened class size amendment to the Legislature in the fall special session along with some kind of teacher pay amendment so it won't look like they're just looking for ways to cut money for public schools and turn the savings into tax cuts for the rich.
(Teacher Union Spokesman) Pudlow said teachers will continue to support the (the original) class-size amendment, noting, "Their suddenly having concern about teachers' salaries is kind of funny."
The fall special session is beginning to turn into something of a mini-constitutional convention with an anti-abortion amendment already scheduled to be considered.
Bold Prediction -- The fall special session will become so overloaded that it will either be cancelled or deadlock.
Poor form
As noted previously, it seems unlikely that a five-page form -- even if it has to be walked over to the Pac 'N' Ship Office to be notarized -- is going to do do much to make the state voucher program accountable. Now, the Palm Beach Post's Shirish Date looks at the forms and finds that they mainly require schools to re-state the little information they already give the state. Only five questions are new.
In other words: "We're requiring you to give us what we're already requiring you to give us," said Bob Metty, a department administrator who was transferred from his Office of School Choice job overseeing voucher programs after filing a whistle-blower complaint.
In other words: "We're requiring you to give us what we're already requiring you to give us," said Bob Metty, a department administrator who was transferred from his Office of School Choice job overseeing voucher programs after filing a whistle-blower complaint.
8/21/2003
Choose state-subsidized politics!
Back in 1998, when the Florida Legislature approved the "Choose Life" plate, plate supporters denied this was a state-funded anti-abortion bumper sticker and fundraising device. It was meant only to encourage adoption. Whaddya against adopting cute little kids? (Democrats proposed a "Choose adoption" plate as an alternative but that amendment went nowhere.)
Well, for the few people who thought the plate was anything other than state support for the anti-abortion movement, here is a story about how House Speaker Johnnie Byrd used a list of "Choose Life" license tag owners to promote a new parental-notice abortion amendment.
Byrd spent $14,000 in tax money on the mailing last month, days after he announced his bid for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination.
Well, for the few people who thought the plate was anything other than state support for the anti-abortion movement, here is a story about how House Speaker Johnnie Byrd used a list of "Choose Life" license tag owners to promote a new parental-notice abortion amendment.
Byrd spent $14,000 in tax money on the mailing last month, days after he announced his bid for the Republican U.S. Senate nomination.
The Insta-crisis (cont.)
The corporate model
Sec. of Education Jim Horne and Jeb's rubber-stamp board of ed have told the department to come up with a goody-list of all the things they could afford if only the people would revoke their misguided vote for smaller class-sizes. But there are some things the state school system is able to find the money for right here and now. Like giving a 40 percent payraise to a longtime Horne aide because -- and this is a real quote -- "the commissioner wanted to use a corporate model." (Which corporation was the model, Senate Democratic Leader Ron Klein wondered, Enron?) (Penultimate 'graph.)
(Via Fla. politics)
(Via Fla. politics)
8/20/2003
Pulling the plug
A year and a half ago I wrote about Tampa's potentially expensive, intrusive and not-so useful surveillance system. (See Jan 2002 entry from the Flablog Vault of Memory™) The column got a lively response from people who said I was Helping the Terrorists Win, an ACLU-duped privacy extremist and a just a dope at a keyboard who Doesn't Understand Technology.
Well folks, it still doesn't work. And now Tampa has given up on street-camera face-recognition software.
The Tampa Police Department has eliminated the facial-recognition software hooked up to cameras scanning crowds in Ybor City - after two years, zero arrests and zero positive identifications.
(Via the Republicans at Sayfie)
Well folks, it still doesn't work. And now Tampa has given up on street-camera face-recognition software.
The Tampa Police Department has eliminated the facial-recognition software hooked up to cameras scanning crowds in Ybor City - after two years, zero arrests and zero positive identifications.
(Via the Republicans at Sayfie)
Home grown terrorists
State officials receive threats as Hill's execution date nears. Letters with bullets enclosed were sent to Attorney General Charlie Crist, James Crosby, secretary of the Florida Department of Corrections, and Florida State Prison Warden Joe Thompson.
Crosby said the letter appeared to be from someone opposed to executing Paul Hill, who fatally shot a doctor and a volunteer escort at a Pensacola abortion clinic in 1994. Hill is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Sept. 3.
Herald's version here.
Crosby said the letter appeared to be from someone opposed to executing Paul Hill, who fatally shot a doctor and a volunteer escort at a Pensacola abortion clinic in 1994. Hill is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Sept. 3.
Herald's version here.
No, I didn't mail you
I'm not infected but a lot of folks I know are, so I deleted about 300 e-mails with the Sobig.F virus before I left the office. I'm sure there will be many more waiting for me in the morning. I even got a phone call from somebody who thought I had mailed her. Nope, not me, just somebody we both have had e-mail contact with.
There have been a lot of virus scares and worms floating around in the past couple years, but I've not never encountered this many copies of viral e-mail before. In part because the person who concocted this used spamming techniques. Sheesh.
There have been a lot of virus scares and worms floating around in the past couple years, but I've not never encountered this many copies of viral e-mail before. In part because the person who concocted this used spamming techniques. Sheesh.
8/19/2003
Execution set for abortion doctor slayer
A Sept. 3 execution date has been set for Paul Hill, the anti-abortion activist convicted of murdering an abortion doctor and the doctor's unarmed bodyguard in 1994. Some fear the execution will be used as a rallying tool for violent fringe of anti-abortion movement which plans hold him up as a martyr to the cause. Something he has already encouraged by essentially volunteering to be executed. (See the Pensacola News Journal story for more background.)
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty is urging Gov. Bush not to sign the death warrant. The group argues that not only will this execution have no deterrent effect, it will actually encourage renewed clinic violence.
Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty is urging Gov. Bush not to sign the death warrant. The group argues that not only will this execution have no deterrent effect, it will actually encourage renewed clinic violence.
Roots of the insta-crisis
Penny wise, pound foolish drug policy -- Sun-Sentinel reports that Florida's sudden surge in inmates imprisoned on drug-related charges follows two years of state budget cuts that have dramatically reduced treatment dollars for drug offenders behind bars.
Miami Herald says it's the largest number of new inmates in any single month in Florida in more than a decade. It, too, quotes corrections stats that say the jump was largely driven by a big jump in the number of people being imprisoned for drug crimes.
Everyone, though, seems to just assume that this is an anomalous spike. What if it's the start of the new incarceration rate?
Miami Herald says it's the largest number of new inmates in any single month in Florida in more than a decade. It, too, quotes corrections stats that say the jump was largely driven by a big jump in the number of people being imprisoned for drug crimes.
Everyone, though, seems to just assume that this is an anomalous spike. What if it's the start of the new incarceration rate?
8/18/2003
Remembering the bad old days
The insta-crisis (cont.)
More editorial bafflement at the sudden need to pour money into prisons.
The Palm Beach Post -- Prisons get $60 million; universities get lectures
The Palm Beach Post -- Prisons get $60 million; universities get lectures
8/17/2003
I_Hate_I4.com
To show I'm a uniter, not a divider, allow me to draw your attention to a site liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats can get behind. I speak of I hate I-4: An internet community for the disgruntled commuter.
Be sure to check out the haiku section.
Out late with the guys
I-4 construction signs on
My off-ramp is closed
Be sure to check out the haiku section.
Out late with the guys
I-4 construction signs on
My off-ramp is closed
The insta-crisis (cont.)
This is about the best factual rundown of the mysterious instant prison crisis that I've seen.
Crime rate is down yet number of prisoners is up.
"It may have something to do with the judges I've appointed," Bush said.
No, sentences are down from eight years ago. But for a spur-of-the-moment attempt to turn a lemon into lemonade, you gotta hand it to the guy.
More likely, it's massive cuts to drug treatment programs. Or maybe the elimination and cutbacks in programs meant to keep youthful offenders out of prison.
Any why did this not exist two months ago? And why is no-bid prison building so important to the governor's plan? This isn't just the insta-crisis. This is the mystery crisis.
Crime rate is down yet number of prisoners is up.
"It may have something to do with the judges I've appointed," Bush said.
No, sentences are down from eight years ago. But for a spur-of-the-moment attempt to turn a lemon into lemonade, you gotta hand it to the guy.
More likely, it's massive cuts to drug treatment programs. Or maybe the elimination and cutbacks in programs meant to keep youthful offenders out of prison.
Any why did this not exist two months ago? And why is no-bid prison building so important to the governor's plan? This isn't just the insta-crisis. This is the mystery crisis.
8/16/2003
Spampaign update
Yuk, yuk
(Warning: no Fla. content.)
Speaking as someone who used to write editorials for a living, allow me to posit this bit of editorial page advice -- if you envy the job of your paper's metro columnist or edgy lifestyle columnist, do not attempt get this out of your system by writing "funny" editorials.
The entire editorial structure mitigates against the light essayist. The set-up is always labored. The reader's state of mind is usually unreceptive. The result is not unlike being told a joke by your banker.
Very often this labor is undertaken by people who have found themselves amused by the madcap political humor of The Capitol Steps or (shudder) Mark Russell. Hey, I could do that!
During the slow news days of summer, many who should know better are tempted. Even in our most prestigious journals.
Sadly typical is The Washington Post's effort Can't Stand the Heat? The burden of the piece is that those wacky Frenchmen deserve to die off by the thousands because out of typical Gallic perversity, they don't live Just Like Us.
Yuk, yuk.
This would be just another editorial page clunker if it weren't the increasingly frequent appearance of Post editorials with a smug and familar tone of kneejerk rightwing putdown to them. Pieces like the Al Gore speech editorial that are content to parrot Sunday talk-show windbaggery, ignore the newspaper's own reporting and assure the readership that bad thoughts about the Bush adminstration are silly and most uncool.
Those dumb liberals. Those dumb foreigners.
Speaking as someone who used to write editorials for a living, allow me to posit this bit of editorial page advice -- if you envy the job of your paper's metro columnist or edgy lifestyle columnist, do not attempt get this out of your system by writing "funny" editorials.
The entire editorial structure mitigates against the light essayist. The set-up is always labored. The reader's state of mind is usually unreceptive. The result is not unlike being told a joke by your banker.
Very often this labor is undertaken by people who have found themselves amused by the madcap political humor of The Capitol Steps or (shudder) Mark Russell. Hey, I could do that!
During the slow news days of summer, many who should know better are tempted. Even in our most prestigious journals.
Sadly typical is The Washington Post's effort Can't Stand the Heat? The burden of the piece is that those wacky Frenchmen deserve to die off by the thousands because out of typical Gallic perversity, they don't live Just Like Us.
Yuk, yuk.
This would be just another editorial page clunker if it weren't the increasingly frequent appearance of Post editorials with a smug and familar tone of kneejerk rightwing putdown to them. Pieces like the Al Gore speech editorial that are content to parrot Sunday talk-show windbaggery, ignore the newspaper's own reporting and assure the readership that bad thoughts about the Bush adminstration are silly and most uncool.
Those dumb liberals. Those dumb foreigners.
No cash for colleges, plenty for prisons (cont.)
Another columnist makes the connection: you cut back on prevention and drug treatment programs, don't keep up with schools, pass punitive war-on-drugs legislation and just like that, you have a prison "emergency." Who could have foreseen that?
8/15/2003
Flash Mob
It is a truth universally acknowledged that when a fad makes it to Orlando, it's no longer quite so, well, happening.
So what does it mean that there's now a Florida Flash Mob page?
So what does it mean that there's now a Florida Flash Mob page?
"Insta-crisis"
Editorials ask: So where was this prison crisis two months ago and why do we suddenly have money for prisons and no-bid contracts but not for schools or colleges?
+ Tallahassee Democrat -- If it's prisons, we're suddenly big spenders.
+ St. Pete Times -- The prisons get the money. The universities get a scolding.
+ Gainesville Sun -- The insti-crisis ... The governor and the Legislature may be able to cram thousands of additional students into the state universities and community colleges, year after year, with no additional funding. But when it comes to warehousing prisoners, it's pretty much a cash-and-carry proposition.
+ Tallahassee Democrat -- If it's prisons, we're suddenly big spenders.
+ St. Pete Times -- The prisons get the money. The universities get a scolding.
+ Gainesville Sun -- The insti-crisis ... The governor and the Legislature may be able to cram thousands of additional students into the state universities and community colleges, year after year, with no additional funding. But when it comes to warehousing prisoners, it's pretty much a cash-and-carry proposition.
A new form will solve this!
The state's refusal to oversee the voucher program has been getting very hard to defend.
The ideolgues say no oversight is necessary because the magic of the market will keep everything in line. That's getting harder to repeat with a straight face. When Jim Horne held media events in favor of the state's wide-open voucher program, the audiences were so hand-picked and the events so scripted, that critics were reduced to crashing the proceedings.
But the problems are undeniable --
Exhibit 1: The Islamic academy in St. Pete with terrorist ties that received $350,000 in vouchers from the state.
Exhibit 2: The way state tax money intended to send disabled students to private schools is being siphoned off by middlemen who use it to help parents home-school their children.
Exhibit 3: The FDLE investigation into a two private schools in Pensacola that have received nearly $500,000 in state vouchers yet parents complained the schools failed to provide books, supplies and therapy the students need. (Also here.) No criminal charges were filed, in part because the law is so unclear.
More than a few editorialists saw a double standard in Tallahassee. Strict accountability for public schools. No accountability for private school. FCAT for public schools. Social promotion in private schools.
This week Jeb says voucher schools will get new oversight. Schools receiving tax money may soon need to (drum roll here) fill out a form.
Wow. A form. That will really sort out the real schools from the fly-by-nighters. Not just a form, a five-page form. Notarized, too. That should shut up those critics!
The ideolgues say no oversight is necessary because the magic of the market will keep everything in line. That's getting harder to repeat with a straight face. When Jim Horne held media events in favor of the state's wide-open voucher program, the audiences were so hand-picked and the events so scripted, that critics were reduced to crashing the proceedings.
But the problems are undeniable --
Exhibit 1: The Islamic academy in St. Pete with terrorist ties that received $350,000 in vouchers from the state.
Exhibit 2: The way state tax money intended to send disabled students to private schools is being siphoned off by middlemen who use it to help parents home-school their children.
Exhibit 3: The FDLE investigation into a two private schools in Pensacola that have received nearly $500,000 in state vouchers yet parents complained the schools failed to provide books, supplies and therapy the students need. (Also here.) No criminal charges were filed, in part because the law is so unclear.
More than a few editorialists saw a double standard in Tallahassee. Strict accountability for public schools. No accountability for private school. FCAT for public schools. Social promotion in private schools.
This week Jeb says voucher schools will get new oversight. Schools receiving tax money may soon need to (drum roll here) fill out a form.
Wow. A form. That will really sort out the real schools from the fly-by-nighters. Not just a form, a five-page form. Notarized, too. That should shut up those critics!
8/14/2003
Really been comin' down
8/13/2003
Last of the mermaids
I wrote rhapsodically about the close of Cypress Gardens last spring (No, no linkback to the column, I've become a perishable link, but here's an entry from the Flablog's Vault of Memories�) And now Weeki Wachee Springs, home of the mermaids, is up against hard times. (And see a video clip on MSNBC.)
Thanks to Timatollah for alerting me to the above. But particularly -- drum roll, here -- for a reasonably complete List of Florida Amusement Park closing that recently ran in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Wow. So complete, it even lists the short-lived and unlamented Marco Polo Park, Near Bunnell, where I once worked as a ditch digger.
All of which leads me to the breathtaking Florida's Lost Tourist Attraction Site!
Very wonderful. Doesn't have a Marco Polo Entry but does have Six Gun Territory.
Thanks to Timatollah for alerting me to the above. But particularly -- drum roll, here -- for a reasonably complete List of Florida Amusement Park closing that recently ran in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Wow. So complete, it even lists the short-lived and unlamented Marco Polo Park, Near Bunnell, where I once worked as a ditch digger.
All of which leads me to the breathtaking Florida's Lost Tourist Attraction Site!
Very wonderful. Doesn't have a Marco Polo Entry but does have Six Gun Territory.
More for prisons, less for schools
A St Pete Times editorial asks why do colleges have their budgets cut when they have to deal with record enrollment but when prisons have record enrollment, the governor wants a special session of the Legislature to throw more money at them?
The prisons get the money. The universities get a scolding.
The prisons get the money. The universities get a scolding.
8/12/2003
Speedtrapsville
Welcome to Waldo the speed-trap capital of Florida. Speeding tickets pay for the entire police budget with 5 percent left over. More than 2,000 tickets a month in a town of less than 1,000.
(Via Shattered Buddha.)
Norm Augustinus was one of the few to get off with a warning.
The St Pete Times wrote last Dec. about this on-going town controversy and nothing much has changed in the interim.
I wrote about this last March when the Legislature looked at speeding tickets as a way to bridge the budget gap. I called it Waldonomics. Most people called it desperate. (The link is dead, the story lives only in the N-J Archives. Sorry.) I got a huffy e-mail from the president of the Florida League of Cities saying Waldo is gets a bad rap from a wise-guy press corps that won't Look At the True Facts.
Nope. I don't think so.
(Via Shattered Buddha.)
Norm Augustinus was one of the few to get off with a warning.
The St Pete Times wrote last Dec. about this on-going town controversy and nothing much has changed in the interim.
I wrote about this last March when the Legislature looked at speeding tickets as a way to bridge the budget gap. I called it Waldonomics. Most people called it desperate. (The link is dead, the story lives only in the N-J Archives. Sorry.) I got a huffy e-mail from the president of the Florida League of Cities saying Waldo is gets a bad rap from a wise-guy press corps that won't Look At the True Facts.
Nope. I don't think so.
The Regier Problem
Carl Hiaasen writes about The Rieger Problem.
That Regier still holds the job today is astounding, considering the frequency with which he embarrasses both the DCF and Gov. Jeb Bush, the man who recruited him.
That Regier still holds the job today is astounding, considering the frequency with which he embarrasses both the DCF and Gov. Jeb Bush, the man who recruited him.
8/11/2003
Another blog heard from
Mean ol' Tim of Timatolla sent me word of another Florida blog I haven't seen before, Anger Management Course from south Florida, the Jenson Beach area, I assume. Been up for a year now. Politics, economics, coding, surfing and Floridalia.
8/09/2003
Booing Katherine Harris
Who says Floridians have a short attention span? Common Dream posts a Bradenton Herald piece from Friday -- Constituents Boo Katherine Harris at Florida Town Hall Meeting.
The crowd's mood already was testy before the meeting began. Security guards and Harris' staff confiscated any written material people tried to bring into the hall.
The confiscated literature included analysis of the Medicare prescription bills passed in the House and Senate in June as well as a chart showing Harris' voting record since she began her term in January.
You take the trouble to confiscate all written material at the door and people still ask annoying questions. Sheesh.
(Via Body and Soul)
The crowd's mood already was testy before the meeting began. Security guards and Harris' staff confiscated any written material people tried to bring into the hall.
The confiscated literature included analysis of the Medicare prescription bills passed in the House and Senate in June as well as a chart showing Harris' voting record since she began her term in January.
You take the trouble to confiscate all written material at the door and people still ask annoying questions. Sheesh.
(Via Body and Soul)
Medi-mal setback for Jeb
Oh, the dreariness of another deep summer medi-mal special session. The Californians get all the spectacle. Here, though is a very good summary of how we got here, how Jeb finally went too far and how members of his own party pulled him back for once.
Haven't seen as good a pre-session analysis piece anywhere else.
The headline says: Malpractice deal ends Bush victory string. The Republicans at Sayfie link to it with the bland phrase: "Post: Stakeholders have varied reactions to medical malpractice compromise..."
Varied, indeed.
But at least they linked to it.
Haven't seen as good a pre-session analysis piece anywhere else.
The headline says: Malpractice deal ends Bush victory string. The Republicans at Sayfie link to it with the bland phrase: "Post: Stakeholders have varied reactions to medical malpractice compromise..."
Varied, indeed.
But at least they linked to it.
8/08/2003
An obvious spoof
I've received two copies of the W32.Mimail.A@mm virus this week. It's a pretty common virus and has fooled a lot of folks.
It claims to be from your network administrator -- "I WOULD LIKE to inform you about important information regarding your email address," it begins.
Ha! I wasn't fooled for a minute. Network adminstrators never inform users of anything ahead of time. Everybody knows this. None of my co-workers fell for it.
It claims to be from your network administrator -- "I WOULD LIKE to inform you about important information regarding your email address," it begins.
Ha! I wasn't fooled for a minute. Network adminstrators never inform users of anything ahead of time. Everybody knows this. None of my co-workers fell for it.
Matrix guy also the felons-list guy
Not to sound all paranoid or anything, but this is creepy.
In an interview on the Democracy Now! radio program author Greg Palast says the controversial figure behind The Matrix antiterrorism database -- see earlier post -- is the same guy who was behind the company that created a wildly flawed database that erroneously fingered thousands of would-be voters as "felons" and so contributed to the debacle that was the 2000 election in Florida.
When people are erroneously identified as felons, they don't get to vote. When people are erroneously identified as terrorists, the results can be quite a bit worse. Is anyone worried about this?
In an interview on the Democracy Now! radio program author Greg Palast says the controversial figure behind The Matrix antiterrorism database -- see earlier post -- is the same guy who was behind the company that created a wildly flawed database that erroneously fingered thousands of would-be voters as "felons" and so contributed to the debacle that was the 2000 election in Florida.
When people are erroneously identified as felons, they don't get to vote. When people are erroneously identified as terrorists, the results can be quite a bit worse. Is anyone worried about this?
Bad numbers on schools
Nearly 90 percent of Florida's schools fail to meet new federal test standards. This, despite all the happy talk from the Jebbites about how well the schools are doing with the FCAT.
"Just like (sic) an `A' student has room for improvement, even a top school can work toward improving performance,'' said Frances Marine, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Education.
Uh, no. We're not an A student. We're a system with a 88 percent failure rate. In most grading systems, that's considered A Bad Thing. Am I missing some nuance here?
'If I saw that my state graded me as an `A' and then the federal government said we hadn't met the No Child Left Behind Act, I would be very confused and asking a lot of questions,'' said Karin Brown, a parent activist and former president of the Dade County Council PTA/PTSA. ``From a parent point of view, there's definitely a contradiction here.''
I'm glad the Herald included this commonsense observation from a nonprofessional. The federal grading criteria is highly confusing, but then so is the state's. A lot of these "standards" are not the clear and unequivical benchmarks that the politicians make them out to be.
"Just like (sic) an `A' student has room for improvement, even a top school can work toward improving performance,'' said Frances Marine, spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Education.
Uh, no. We're not an A student. We're a system with a 88 percent failure rate. In most grading systems, that's considered A Bad Thing. Am I missing some nuance here?
'If I saw that my state graded me as an `A' and then the federal government said we hadn't met the No Child Left Behind Act, I would be very confused and asking a lot of questions,'' said Karin Brown, a parent activist and former president of the Dade County Council PTA/PTSA. ``From a parent point of view, there's definitely a contradiction here.''
I'm glad the Herald included this commonsense observation from a nonprofessional. The federal grading criteria is highly confusing, but then so is the state's. A lot of these "standards" are not the clear and unequivical benchmarks that the politicians make them out to be.
8/07/2003
Tax fairness, what a weird idea!
It's good to hear that former Senate president John McKay hasn't given up on making the state tax system fairer. He is joined by former state Sen. Jack Latvala in proposing a constitutional amendment.
Latvala bristled when someone in the audience asked if the two would be asked to leave the Republican Party for advocating the amendment. He said he was active in the party when Gov. Bush "was in prep school" and House Speaker Johnnie Byrd was "an elected official in Alabama."
"It irritates me that I would be called "not a loyal Republican' because we don't do what the people in power say we should," Latvala said. "We have an attitude of where we want our state to be: We want a tax system that is fair."
You go, guys.
It's hopeless and everybody in your party will hate you, but you go.
Latvala bristled when someone in the audience asked if the two would be asked to leave the Republican Party for advocating the amendment. He said he was active in the party when Gov. Bush "was in prep school" and House Speaker Johnnie Byrd was "an elected official in Alabama."
"It irritates me that I would be called "not a loyal Republican' because we don't do what the people in power say we should," Latvala said. "We have an attitude of where we want our state to be: We want a tax system that is fair."
You go, guys.
It's hopeless and everybody in your party will hate you, but you go.
8/06/2003
The other Matrix
Washington Post has a scary story about FDLE's counterterrorism database .
Organizers said the system, dubbed Matrix, enables investigators to find patterns and links among people and events faster than ever before, combining police records with commercially available collections of personal information about most American adults. It would let authorities, for instance, instantly find the name and address of every brown-haired owner of a red Ford pickup truck in a 20-mile radius of a suspicious event.
Brown-haired owner of a red Ford pickup truck in a 20-mile radius of a suspicious event who hasn't donated to Republican Party, doesn't belong to a church and sent e-mails saying he never thought Bob Hope was all that funny.
Jennie Khoen, a spokeswoman for the Florida department, said yesterday that the agency knew about Asher's "history with drug smuggling," including his work as an informant. Moore said his department "knew about Mr. Asher's past."
"We were aware of his informant activity," Moore said. "But we were also aware he had never been arrested or charged."
But he has qualities that make up for that.
Former Secret Service head Brian Stafford recently went to work as a senior executive at Seisint.
Organizers said the system, dubbed Matrix, enables investigators to find patterns and links among people and events faster than ever before, combining police records with commercially available collections of personal information about most American adults. It would let authorities, for instance, instantly find the name and address of every brown-haired owner of a red Ford pickup truck in a 20-mile radius of a suspicious event.
Brown-haired owner of a red Ford pickup truck in a 20-mile radius of a suspicious event who hasn't donated to Republican Party, doesn't belong to a church and sent e-mails saying he never thought Bob Hope was all that funny.
Jennie Khoen, a spokeswoman for the Florida department, said yesterday that the agency knew about Asher's "history with drug smuggling," including his work as an informant. Moore said his department "knew about Mr. Asher's past."
"We were aware of his informant activity," Moore said. "But we were also aware he had never been arrested or charged."
But he has qualities that make up for that.
Former Secret Service head Brian Stafford recently went to work as a senior executive at Seisint.
Blogs go to press
The Tampa Trib's blog story is better than the Sentinel's story last year. What's more, it lists several Select Florida Bloggers? and even quotes Mrs. Pollman's lilting laugh.
(Via Shattered Buddha which in a just world would have been mentioned as well.)
(Via Shattered Buddha which in a just world would have been mentioned as well.)
Governor's not really backing off
When the governor called off a special session on medical malpractice some thought: Hey, the governor's a smart guy. It must be dawning on him that his hardball, work-with-medical-lobbyists-against-Republican-senators tactics are counterproductive.
Wrong.
The Tampa Trib finds a memo linking the governor's office to the oprganizing of demonstrations outside the offices of Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, and Sen. Lisa Carlton, R-Sarasota. Governor's office issues a standard denial.
Wrong.
The Tampa Trib finds a memo linking the governor's office to the oprganizing of demonstrations outside the offices of Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, and Sen. Lisa Carlton, R-Sarasota. Governor's office issues a standard denial.
8/05/2003
School budget cut roundup (cont.)
Our Legislators (with their whopping 25 percent approval rating) are already blaming local school boards for the budget cuts that are happening everywhere in the state.
Despite the happy talk from Tallahassee it looks like there will be no pay raises for teachers in many districts.
Faced with higher costs than they say state funding will cover, districts already are preparing to slash tens of millions of dollars in programs and positions to make ends meet. At least one district -- Manatee County -- is considering cutting the school day by half an hour to save cash.
And an increase in portable classrooms in Palm Beach Co.
Meanwhile in Hillsborough Co., they may soon face their third round of budget cuts this year.
Answer from the Fla. Dept. of Education: If you were a good parent, your kid would already be in private school.
Despite the happy talk from Tallahassee it looks like there will be no pay raises for teachers in many districts.
Faced with higher costs than they say state funding will cover, districts already are preparing to slash tens of millions of dollars in programs and positions to make ends meet. At least one district -- Manatee County -- is considering cutting the school day by half an hour to save cash.
And an increase in portable classrooms in Palm Beach Co.
Meanwhile in Hillsborough Co., they may soon face their third round of budget cuts this year.
Answer from the Fla. Dept. of Education: If you were a good parent, your kid would already be in private school.
8/04/2003
In order to serve you better ...
The Counter ended its free service last week. They sent me an e-mail last month with the six words every consumer dreads: "In Order To Serve You Better."
"In order to serve you better" (or the infinitive-splitting variant, "In order to better serve you") is the marketplace's way of saying, "I think we should just be friends. This just isn't working for me."
But, hey, I never bought The Counter so much as a supermarket bouquet of flowers, so no hard feelings.
Your loss, Toots.
Now Flablog features statistics through Sitemeter. (See column on left.) Which I'm sure will be very wonderful and is free. At least for now.
According to The Counter, an average of about 40-45 misguided people happen by here on an average day. Daily traffic lurches wildly between 20 and 1,500 hits. We'll see what Sitemeter says.
In other Flablog news: the RSS feed now works. I do not pretend to know why.
"In order to serve you better" (or the infinitive-splitting variant, "In order to better serve you") is the marketplace's way of saying, "I think we should just be friends. This just isn't working for me."
But, hey, I never bought The Counter so much as a supermarket bouquet of flowers, so no hard feelings.
Your loss, Toots.
Now Flablog features statistics through Sitemeter. (See column on left.) Which I'm sure will be very wonderful and is free. At least for now.
According to The Counter, an average of about 40-45 misguided people happen by here on an average day. Daily traffic lurches wildly between 20 and 1,500 hits. We'll see what Sitemeter says.
In other Flablog news: the RSS feed now works. I do not pretend to know why.
More Oklahoma politics in DCF
Follow your heart, Jerry! advises a Palm Beach Post editorial.
Meanwhile, an understaffed, underpaid agency, instead of getting training related to its mission, gets preached to at state expense by an Oklahoma evangelical organization. Primary character-building lesson -- Obey your leaders.
(Via Fla. Politics)
Meanwhile, an understaffed, underpaid agency, instead of getting training related to its mission, gets preached to at state expense by an Oklahoma evangelical organization. Primary character-building lesson -- Obey your leaders.
(Via Fla. Politics)
8/02/2003
Background checking
Oh, here is yet another story that plays along with a number of Florida stereotypes -- FDLE hires former drug smuggler for anti-terrorism program.
The lede -- In an attempt to identify potential terrorists, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is using the services of a former drug smuggler turned millionaire.
Sheesh. Does that sound like the start of a bad action movie or what?
"He's a good fella," said Moore, who retired Thursday from FDLE.
No, no, no, he didn't mean it that way.
My question: Is this related to the unprecedented secret meeting the state Senate held last Spring to discuss an FDLE antiterrorism database? If so, it might be that the need for secrecy was not entirely related to terrorism.
The lede -- In an attempt to identify potential terrorists, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is using the services of a former drug smuggler turned millionaire.
Sheesh. Does that sound like the start of a bad action movie or what?
"He's a good fella," said Moore, who retired Thursday from FDLE.
No, no, no, he didn't mean it that way.
My question: Is this related to the unprecedented secret meeting the state Senate held last Spring to discuss an FDLE antiterrorism database? If so, it might be that the need for secrecy was not entirely related to terrorism.
8/01/2003
Regier changes his mind on campaigning
Department of Children & Families Secretary head theocrat Jerry Regier decides not to help run an Oklahoma political campaign after all. (Also in the Herald, which graciously acknowledges that the Sun-Sentinel broke the story.) He was helped along in that decision by Jeb Bush who had his chief of staff call him and tell him that the campaign work "is not worth fighting over."
The AP version of this story has this interesting detail -- A check of records show Regier has still not registered to vote in Florida and could not have voted for Bush in 2002. A check of public records by The Associated Press showed Regier still owns a home in Oklahoma City and also is registered to vote in Oklahoma.
The AP version of this story has this interesting detail -- A check of records show Regier has still not registered to vote in Florida and could not have voted for Bush in 2002. A check of public records by The Associated Press showed Regier still owns a home in Oklahoma City and also is registered to vote in Oklahoma.
