12/31/2004
RIP Scotty's
Interstate4Jamming notes the passing of the Winter Haven-based hardware chain store Scotty's. Convenient places of manageable size.
I remember the last time I was in one. I ran over for plumbing parts and found they had nothing I needed. Instead the place was filled with crappy Dollar Store stuff. Who goes to a hardware store for one-pound bags of hard candy, D-list movies on VHS and T-shirts with dumb slogans on them? All kind of heaped in random piles. It was an insane business strategy. I never went into a Scotty's again.
At one point they even tried turning their stores into indoor flea markets. Like hosting a flea market fills some great unmet need in Florida.
In 2001, the company tried to go back to running, you know, hardware stores, but it just couldn't make itself entirely shake the schlock-merchant strategy, so you still couldn't walk into one secure in the knowledge you'd find the right size sprinkler head.
Seldom has a commercial enterprise tried so many bad ideas on its way down. Now everything is being liquidated. No more reoganization attempts and 470 jobs are gone.
I remember the last time I was in one. I ran over for plumbing parts and found they had nothing I needed. Instead the place was filled with crappy Dollar Store stuff. Who goes to a hardware store for one-pound bags of hard candy, D-list movies on VHS and T-shirts with dumb slogans on them? All kind of heaped in random piles. It was an insane business strategy. I never went into a Scotty's again.
At one point they even tried turning their stores into indoor flea markets. Like hosting a flea market fills some great unmet need in Florida.
In 2001, the company tried to go back to running, you know, hardware stores, but it just couldn't make itself entirely shake the schlock-merchant strategy, so you still couldn't walk into one secure in the knowledge you'd find the right size sprinkler head.
Seldom has a commercial enterprise tried so many bad ideas on its way down. Now everything is being liquidated. No more reoganization attempts and 470 jobs are gone.
12/30/2004
Open those primaries
I doubt this will go anywhere, but a bill to amend the state constitution to allow open primaries has been pre-filed in both the House and Senate. As it stands now, primaries are open only when no opposing candidate from a second party appears. A candidate can avoid this by recruiting a phony-baloney write-in candidate to be that opposing candidate. The primary stays closed and the majority never gets a choice. This amendment would say write-ins don't count. It has to be a candidate whose name actually appears on the ballot.
12/29/2004
Voting with their feet
The Legislature is ramming a chiropractic school down FSU's throat, an addition college administrators never asked for and don't want, but that former Senate president Jim King insisted on building anyway. Now it looks as though some FSU medical school professors will resign over the issue.
The threatened resignations - at least seven to date, all from assistant professors who work part time - reflect a belief among many in the medical establishment that chiropractic is a "pseudo-science" that leads to unnecessary and sometimes harmful treatments. Professors are even circulating a parody map of campus that places a fictional Bigfoot Institute, School of Astrology and Crop Circle Simulation Laboratory near a future chiropractic school.
Vital legislation
Legislative alert! A bill has been pre-filed to designate the orange as the official state fruit. No doubt the grapefruit industry soon will be in an uproar.
The text of the bill:
Apparently it started as a class project.
The text of the bill:
The orange (Citrus sinensis and hybrids thereof) is hereby designated the official fruit of Florida.
Apparently it started as a class project.
12/28/2004
Why Jeb is unaware of inadequate roads
Florida Politics notes Jeb's cool new jet. Yeah, imagine the criticism if a Democrat spent this kind of money on executive perks.
Tom vs Tom
The irascible Rep. Tom Feeney wants to do away with a House rule laid down by Thomas Jefferson to encourage civility. And who is really surprised?
The St. Pete Times had this last week but I had missed it.
(Note: the Herald Trib site has some problems with Mozilla browsers. You have to scroll down past a lot of white space to get to the column.)
The St. Pete Times had this last week but I had missed it.
(Note: the Herald Trib site has some problems with Mozilla browsers. You have to scroll down past a lot of white space to get to the column.)
12/27/2004
First draft candidates list
Interstate4jamming runs a list of potentional candidates that are bing mentioned for 2006. Mentioned by whom? Oh, you know, people we hear talking. This guy, that guy. Lucy Morgan. Blog people. Columnists on a slow news day.
12/25/2004
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas. Light posting until 2005.
12/22/2004
Your rep on privatizing Social Security
The Save Social Security Blog is compiling a state-by-state list of where U.S. senators and representatives stand on privatization of Social Security. Here's the link to the Florida list. Not many confirmations yet, but that will change. Send in a comment if you know where your rep stands.
(Via Talking Points Memo.)
(Via Talking Points Memo.)
Other blogs heard from
Blog de Leon, a new Florida political blog, has just started up.
Dred is a political blog out of north Florida.
Dred is a political blog out of north Florida.
12/20/2004
Scared of Santa
You know, when I was a kid I was real uncomfortable around people in costumes and, yes, both my daughter and I have a mild but discomforting clown phobia. No surprise, then, that none of us were real good with the whole mall Santa experience. The Sun-Sentinel tells us we are not alone with its Scared of Santa photo gallery.
Editorial roundup - post-pre-K vote
+ St. Pete Times -- Opinion: A first step? Let's hope so. Lawmakers can take some pride in the relative harmony with which they met, debated and adopted a prekindergarten plan last week. But those plaudits are for the style, not the substance, of their work. By the admission of its sponsors, the pre-K plan is only a first step. For children to receive the kind of meaningful early learning experience that voters approved in 2002, lawmakers will have to summon the resolve to go further.
+ Miami Herald -- The special session that wasn't so special. Here, again, the Legislature delivered only half a loaf. Lawmakers did provide for an acceptable 1-to-10 teacher/pupil ratio -- much better than the initial 1-to-18 ratio. But the bill demands only three hours of daily instruction, a formulation favored by private schools; and it allows schools to deny admission to students on religious grounds.
+ Palm Beach Post -- Inadequate pre-K bill demands veto by Jeb. Given the voters' intent and the proven long-term benefits of high-quality pre-kindergarten, however, a governor who believed what he said in July would not sign this inadequate bill.
+ Lakeland Ledger -- Pre-K Program: A Matter of Priorities. The Florida Legislature doesn't like to be told what to do -- even by the voters. That was made plain once again last week when it approved a minimal prekindergarten program instead of the "high quality" one that voters mandated when they approved a constitutional amendment on the subject two years ago.
+ Tampa Trib -- Making Nice In Tallahassee Leads To Quick, Clean Session. We would have preferred to see another hour devoted to the instruction of 4-year-olds in a new voluntary a pre-kindergarten program.
+ Sun-Sentinel -- Civility Good, Pre-K Bill Bad. Unfortunately, it may be up to future lawmakers -- and perhaps the next governor -- to fix a bad bill that's passing for a quality universal pre-K plan. The hope here is that legislators will improve the program before pre-K officially starts in the fall.
+ Miami Herald -- The special session that wasn't so special. Here, again, the Legislature delivered only half a loaf. Lawmakers did provide for an acceptable 1-to-10 teacher/pupil ratio -- much better than the initial 1-to-18 ratio. But the bill demands only three hours of daily instruction, a formulation favored by private schools; and it allows schools to deny admission to students on religious grounds.
+ Palm Beach Post -- Inadequate pre-K bill demands veto by Jeb. Given the voters' intent and the proven long-term benefits of high-quality pre-kindergarten, however, a governor who believed what he said in July would not sign this inadequate bill.
+ Lakeland Ledger -- Pre-K Program: A Matter of Priorities. The Florida Legislature doesn't like to be told what to do -- even by the voters. That was made plain once again last week when it approved a minimal prekindergarten program instead of the "high quality" one that voters mandated when they approved a constitutional amendment on the subject two years ago.
+ Tampa Trib -- Making Nice In Tallahassee Leads To Quick, Clean Session. We would have preferred to see another hour devoted to the instruction of 4-year-olds in a new voluntary a pre-kindergarten program.
+ Sun-Sentinel -- Civility Good, Pre-K Bill Bad. Unfortunately, it may be up to future lawmakers -- and perhaps the next governor -- to fix a bad bill that's passing for a quality universal pre-K plan. The hope here is that legislators will improve the program before pre-K officially starts in the fall.
Where the money is
When the game is stacked against public schools why not just turn a public school into a charter school that operates no differently so you can tap into state grants? A genius idea in Palm Beach.
(Via Fla. Politics.)
... The school was converted into a charter school solely for the purpose of obtaining the $250,000 grant, according to Hank Salzler, the district's assistant superintendent and a member of the school's management board.
"We clearly did this just for the money," Salzler said in March of the conversion to a charter school.
(Via Fla. Politics.)
12/17/2004
Another blog heard from
Pensacola Beach Blog is a group blog from Pensacola dedicated to the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan -- FEMA, hurricane relief, storm insurance, etc.
Bloggers in the news
(You're supposed to say the headline above in a movie newsreel announcer voice: Bloggers ... in ... the news! OK, now we may continue.)
The new issue of the Tampa Weekly Planet has a Wayne Garcia column that mentions several state politics bloggers. Notably myself; Mike, from Florida News; Justin Sayfie of the Sayfie Review, and the anonymous composer of the dear, departed Grapefruit.
The new issue of the Tampa Weekly Planet has a Wayne Garcia column that mentions several state politics bloggers. Notably myself; Mike, from Florida News; Justin Sayfie of the Sayfie Review, and the anonymous composer of the dear, departed Grapefruit.
Pre-K passes
Pre-K passes. It moved on through with hardly any changes.
+ St. Pete Times runs a handy Q&A.
+ Palm Beach Post version here.
+ Herald version. (Note the redesigned, less cluttered front page of their Web site.)
+ Steve Bousquet notes that things ran unusually smoothly under the new leadership. (Despite a minor self-serving stunt by Rep. Bruce Kyle, R-Fort Myers.)
+ And despite some uncertainty in the law, it looks like state money can go to five-day a week Sunday school. When Jeb Bush says ''We could have done something that was politically correct . . . but it couldn't have been implemented," what he means is: "We could have paid attention to the state Constitution, but it would have been too expensive."
Instead, we might just change the Florida Constitution so we can pour money into the churches. Plus, it would bring out the evangelicals to vote Republican in 2006! (Palm Beach Post version here.)
Remember when conservatives used to say that "a government that can give you everything you want can take anything you have"? Well, that doesn't apply to state-supported religion somehow.
+ St. Pete Times runs a handy Q&A.
+ Palm Beach Post version here.
+ Herald version. (Note the redesigned, less cluttered front page of their Web site.)
+ Steve Bousquet notes that things ran unusually smoothly under the new leadership. (Despite a minor self-serving stunt by Rep. Bruce Kyle, R-Fort Myers.)
+ And despite some uncertainty in the law, it looks like state money can go to five-day a week Sunday school. When Jeb Bush says ''We could have done something that was politically correct . . . but it couldn't have been implemented," what he means is: "We could have paid attention to the state Constitution, but it would have been too expensive."
Instead, we might just change the Florida Constitution so we can pour money into the churches. Plus, it would bring out the evangelicals to vote Republican in 2006! (Palm Beach Post version here.)
Remember when conservatives used to say that "a government that can give you everything you want can take anything you have"? Well, that doesn't apply to state-supported religion somehow.
Boyd signs on to privatization
Joshua Marshall's Talking Points notes that Panhandle Democratic Rep. Allen Boyd has signed on to a bill for privatizing Social Security with private accounts. (It's worked so well elsewhere.)
I guess the "blue dog Democrats" aren't the fiscal conservatives they used to be now that budget deficits just don't matter.
I guess the "blue dog Democrats" aren't the fiscal conservatives they used to be now that budget deficits just don't matter.
12/13/2004
Pre-K bill - read it yourself
For those following this and want to read the bills --
+ Original House bill (PDF)
+ Senate bill (HTML) (So far they're identical.)
+ Staff analysis. (DOC) (House)
(And when did the Legislature stop using handy PDF files for staff reports and start using those annoying Microsoft let's-open-up-Word-program-without-asking-you DOC files? Sheesh, it just about crashes my machine at work every time I try to read one of these things in Word '97.)
Toward the end, the staff analysis reminds legislators of the uncomfortable fact that Bush v. Holmes still lurks in wait for them:
Just something to keep in mind.
+ Original House bill (PDF)
+ Senate bill (HTML) (So far they're identical.)
+ Staff analysis. (DOC) (House)
(And when did the Legislature stop using handy PDF files for staff reports and start using those annoying Microsoft let's-open-up-Word-program-without-asking-you DOC files? Sheesh, it just about crashes my machine at work every time I try to read one of these things in Word '97.)
Toward the end, the staff analysis reminds legislators of the uncomfortable fact that Bush v. Holmes still lurks in wait for them:
In Bush v. Holmes, an en banc panel of the First District Court of Appeal held that the Florida Opportunity Scholarship Program violated the no-aid provision of the State Constitution because the program uses state revenues to support sectarian schools. In its November 12, 2004, opinion, the district court certified this question to the Florida Supreme Court as a question of great public importance.
Also at issue in Holmes was whether the "no-aid" provision of the State Constitution violates the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment to the federal constitution. The district court of appeal concluded that the no-aid provision does not offend the Free Exercise Clause. The matter is pending before the Florida Supreme Court and could ultimately be reviewed by the United States Supreme Court to interpret the Free Exercise Clause's impact on Florida's no-aid provision.
Just something to keep in mind.
Pre-K editorial round-up
The Legislature has started its Pre-K/hurricane special session and it's time for another editorial roundup.
Yeah, everyone's saying more or less the same thing about pre-K -- it's wildly inadequate and not what the voters had in mind and not much different from the last failed attempt.
+ St. Pete Times: In vetoing the Legislature's uninspired prekindergarten plan last spring, Gov. Jeb Bush said lawmakers had ignored the constitutional amendment that voters approved two years ago. "The amendment specifically demands "high quality,' " he wrote, "because research tells us that only a high quality learning opportunity leads to improved educational outcomes for children." Why, then, is the governor so eager just five months later to embrace a plan that is virtually indistinguishable from the one he vetoed?
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 2. Worst feature: too many to pick.
+ Miami Herald: The proposed plan would run pre-K on the cheap. Such a plan wouldn't be worth allocating state dollars to support. The proposal would dilute high standards recommended for teacher-pupil ratios, length of daily instruction and teacher certification.
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 3. Worst feature: too many to pick.
+ Orlando Sentinel: Mr. Bush caved. So it's up to individual lawmakers to insist on smaller classes and more hours of instruction.
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 0. Worst features: student-to-teacher ratio too high, number of hours per day too low.
+ Palm Beach Post: In the spring, the Legislature attempted to establish a statewide baby-sitting program and call it prekindergarten. Last week, legislators walked a few baby steps past that low standard and proposed another weak pre-K bill for consideration during this week's special session. The children deserve better, and so does Florida.
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 1. Worst features: student-to-teacher ratio too high, number of hours per day too low.
+ Sun-Sentinel: For a man with a reputation for big, audacious ideas, Gov. Jeb Bush sure did "wimp out" on support for quality universal pre-kindergarten education.
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 1. Worst features: student-to-teacher ratio too high, number of hours per day too low.
+ Tampa Tribune: When voters passed the pre-K amendment two years ago, they said they were willing to spend money for quality. The state must pay for the time and teachers necessary for the small classes that will get the job done.
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 0. Worst feature: student-to-teacher ratio too high.
+ Florida Times-Union: Better to pay now for a strong pre-K program than to pay so much more later for problems such as illiteracy, drug abuse and crime.
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 1. Worst feature: student-to-teacher ratio too high.
+ Lakeland Ledger: All indications are that Gov. Bush and lawmakers are prepared to settle for less -- considerably less -- than even a Jennings-led task force recommended this year.
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 0. (Oklahoma used instead.)
+ The Daytona Beach News-Journal: The draft legislation is slightly better than the bill Gov. Jeb Bush vetoed last spring. With little hope for major changes this week, proponents of quality education should focus on key needs. (Scroll down)
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 1. Worst feature: student-to-teacher ratio too high.
+ Tallahassee Democrat: Legislators need to do a much better job than their leadership has done in the last few days of enacting Florida's new pre-kindergarten constitutional amendment. What they'll be asked to adopt is a joke - little more than day care.
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 1. Worst feature: student-to-teacher ratio too high.
Yeah, everyone's saying more or less the same thing about pre-K -- it's wildly inadequate and not what the voters had in mind and not much different from the last failed attempt.
+ St. Pete Times: In vetoing the Legislature's uninspired prekindergarten plan last spring, Gov. Jeb Bush said lawmakers had ignored the constitutional amendment that voters approved two years ago. "The amendment specifically demands "high quality,' " he wrote, "because research tells us that only a high quality learning opportunity leads to improved educational outcomes for children." Why, then, is the governor so eager just five months later to embrace a plan that is virtually indistinguishable from the one he vetoed?
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 2. Worst feature: too many to pick.
+ Miami Herald: The proposed plan would run pre-K on the cheap. Such a plan wouldn't be worth allocating state dollars to support. The proposal would dilute high standards recommended for teacher-pupil ratios, length of daily instruction and teacher certification.
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 3. Worst feature: too many to pick.
+ Orlando Sentinel: Mr. Bush caved. So it's up to individual lawmakers to insist on smaller classes and more hours of instruction.
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 0. Worst features: student-to-teacher ratio too high, number of hours per day too low.
+ Palm Beach Post: In the spring, the Legislature attempted to establish a statewide baby-sitting program and call it prekindergarten. Last week, legislators walked a few baby steps past that low standard and proposed another weak pre-K bill for consideration during this week's special session. The children deserve better, and so does Florida.
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 1. Worst features: student-to-teacher ratio too high, number of hours per day too low.
+ Sun-Sentinel: For a man with a reputation for big, audacious ideas, Gov. Jeb Bush sure did "wimp out" on support for quality universal pre-kindergarten education.
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 1. Worst features: student-to-teacher ratio too high, number of hours per day too low.
+ Tampa Tribune: When voters passed the pre-K amendment two years ago, they said they were willing to spend money for quality. The state must pay for the time and teachers necessary for the small classes that will get the job done.
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 0. Worst feature: student-to-teacher ratio too high.
+ Florida Times-Union: Better to pay now for a strong pre-K program than to pay so much more later for problems such as illiteracy, drug abuse and crime.
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 1. Worst feature: student-to-teacher ratio too high.
+ Lakeland Ledger: All indications are that Gov. Bush and lawmakers are prepared to settle for less -- considerably less -- than even a Jennings-led task force recommended this year.
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 0. (Oklahoma used instead.)
+ The Daytona Beach News-Journal: The draft legislation is slightly better than the bill Gov. Jeb Bush vetoed last spring. With little hope for major changes this week, proponents of quality education should focus on key needs. (Scroll down)
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 1. Worst feature: student-to-teacher ratio too high.
+ Tallahassee Democrat: Legislators need to do a much better job than their leadership has done in the last few days of enacting Florida's new pre-kindergarten constitutional amendment. What they'll be asked to adopt is a joke - little more than day care.
Number of times Georgia mentioned: 1. Worst feature: student-to-teacher ratio too high.
12/09/2004
It's a walk
There was a time and there are teams and places where loss of a ball team would be considered a community calamity. Not anymore. And not the Marlins and not Miami.
Yeah, they're talking to the Las Vegas mayor. Maybe it's a negotiating ploy. Maybe they're really anxious to go someplace more willing to shower them with tax money for a new stadium. I think the prevailing mood is that the team should definitely not let the screen door hit it on its way out of town.
(Look here for where this stood last fall.)
In a sensible Herald piece, David J. Neal is underwhelmed by economic development claims:
Conclusion: Let Vegas kiss up the dollars. If it happens there, let the Marlins stay there.
Yeah, they're talking to the Las Vegas mayor. Maybe it's a negotiating ploy. Maybe they're really anxious to go someplace more willing to shower them with tax money for a new stadium. I think the prevailing mood is that the team should definitely not let the screen door hit it on its way out of town.
(Look here for where this stood last fall.)
In a sensible Herald piece, David J. Neal is underwhelmed by economic development claims:
Wasn't Miami Arena supposed to ''revitalize'' Overtown? A few buildings aside, that area still looks and feels like the worst parts of Detroit.
Get around the country and you will see the Miami Arena failure repeated enough other places to sneer at talk about ''revitalization.'' Speaking of Detroit, it has two relatively new stadiums downtown that have done nothing to remove the area's Stalingrad feel. ''Abandonment'' characterizes Buffalo's downtown more today than when HSBC Arena opened there in 1996.
Conclusion: Let Vegas kiss up the dollars. If it happens there, let the Marlins stay there.
12/08/2004
U of Q looks ahead
Two Florida polls are out from the U of Q, and like most long-way-out-from-elections polls, they are all over the place. The AP account focuses on lack of enthusiasm for a presidential run by Jeb and only soft support for US Sen. Bill Nelson.
The Quinnipiac University poll was generally accurate during the election, but understated Democratic strength. Its last poll before the election had Bush winning the state 51 - 43. He won 52-47. Likewise it saw Martinez winning the Senate, 49-44; it was 49-48. (Can't link directly to individual polls because of the way the pages are coded. Go to the poll index page to find the releases.)
The poll sees Florida split on Pres. Bush, giving him a 49 percent approval rating. Jeb has a 55% approval rating, down from Hurricane season highs. (And only 31 percent said they want him to run for president.)
"The fact Florida voters are evenly split on President Bush's approval indicates it was as much a case of Kerry losing Florida as Bush winning it," says Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in the press release.
What? No mandate?
Bill Nelson's approval rating is an anemic 46% but only 17 disapprove of him. A lot of people just don't know one way or another -- 37%.
Strangely, 48% of Republicans approve of him and 46% of Democrats. That's right, his approval rating is slightly higher among Republicans. Still, 36% of those asked say reelect him and 40% say don't. Among Democrats, 39% say don't. A quarter of those asked are undecided.
Nelson's No. 1 problem -- Surprisingly few people know much of anything about him.
Nelson's No. 2 problem -- He's surprisingly weak with the Democratic base. His support is not much different between Democrats and Republicans. A situation like that, left unfixed, could encourage a primary challenge.
And finally, the poll finds that 47 percent of football fans say the University of Florida should not have hired Steve Spurrier to coach the Gators.
The Quinnipiac University poll was generally accurate during the election, but understated Democratic strength. Its last poll before the election had Bush winning the state 51 - 43. He won 52-47. Likewise it saw Martinez winning the Senate, 49-44; it was 49-48. (Can't link directly to individual polls because of the way the pages are coded. Go to the poll index page to find the releases.)
The poll sees Florida split on Pres. Bush, giving him a 49 percent approval rating. Jeb has a 55% approval rating, down from Hurricane season highs. (And only 31 percent said they want him to run for president.)
"The fact Florida voters are evenly split on President Bush's approval indicates it was as much a case of Kerry losing Florida as Bush winning it," says Clay F. Richards, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, in the press release.
What? No mandate?
Bill Nelson's approval rating is an anemic 46% but only 17 disapprove of him. A lot of people just don't know one way or another -- 37%.
Strangely, 48% of Republicans approve of him and 46% of Democrats. That's right, his approval rating is slightly higher among Republicans. Still, 36% of those asked say reelect him and 40% say don't. Among Democrats, 39% say don't. A quarter of those asked are undecided.
Nelson's No. 1 problem -- Surprisingly few people know much of anything about him.
Nelson's No. 2 problem -- He's surprisingly weak with the Democratic base. His support is not much different between Democrats and Republicans. A situation like that, left unfixed, could encourage a primary challenge.
And finally, the poll finds that 47 percent of football fans say the University of Florida should not have hired Steve Spurrier to coach the Gators.
12/07/2004
The e-vote conspiracy thing
This all sounds very tinfoil-hattish to me and believe me, I'm no fan of Tom Feeney's. Put me down as a nonbeliever. Still, Michael Froomkin, at discourse.net, a law professor, serious guy and man who wears bow ties, says I still think Wayne Madsen is not a nut. He's not saying he believes this story, just that it bears looking into. Good links. Good comments. Read 'em and decide. This thing seems to be all over the Web today.
Black Box Voting, which is more open to conspiracies than I am, says the Feeney vote-rigging story sounds like disinformation.
Black Box Voting, which is more open to conspiracies than I am, says the Feeney vote-rigging story sounds like disinformation.
Java 'n' blog
Yes, like many of your finer blogs, we, too, take simple-minded pleasure at slapping our emblems on cheap Cafe Press products. For your holiday giving, the Flablog shop is may be found here. Pictured is the smaller mug with our beloved but sadly discontinued classic Flablog logo. Show yourself to be a discriminating consumer of regional opinion and just a little hipper than your pod mates.
Yes, another stat study
Yet another statistical study of the Florida vote. This one debunks the widely discussed Berkeley study. (Palm Beach Post report on the earlier study here.)
Looking sharp
Normally, I'd be pretty outraged at a $4.2 million renovation of the Senate Office Building that includes flat-screen TVs. I hate to say it, but the Senate has been looking kinda frumpy and worn at the edges. Still, it this is a bit excessive. Once again, Sen. King is the good sport and does this at this end of his term, sparing the incoming senate president criticism.
(Note the little inside joke of quoting the rotund King saying -- "thin is better than fat" when it came to buying the screens. )
(Via Fla. News which has photos.)
(Note the little inside joke of quoting the rotund King saying -- "thin is better than fat" when it came to buying the screens. )
(Via Fla. News which has photos.)
12/06/2004
Unexpected alliances
Kind of a surprising and heartening story here. A Sun-Sentinel column tells of how Jewish Democrats back a Muslim for county party chairman .
In an impressive display of the South Florida melting pot, Palm Beach County Democrats elected a Muslim as their party chairman for the next two years. His strongest supporters were Jewish politicians, activists and club presidents from south county.
12/04/2004
Blogger is down haikus
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A more independent Legislature?
In a very interesting column, Lucy Morgan goes out on a limb and suggests the Legislative leadership might start acting more independently of the governor's office.
She notes that the leadership agreed on the agenda for a special session, something that hasn't happened since 1992. (And that was more extra innings than a true special session.) And that the call for special session didn't have everything Jeb wanted.
Maybe this won't be such a boring year after all.
Our past three House speakers - Feeney, John Thrasher and Johnnie Byrd - behaved like trained seals spinning balls on their noses whenever the governor clapped his hands.
Don't expect Lee or Bense, a Panama City Republican, to balance a beach ball on their noses. Bense is an unusually independent man. He is a self-made millionaire who isn't aiming to be anything else in our political world. He doesn't really owe anybody anything for the place he finds himself in.
She notes that the leadership agreed on the agenda for a special session, something that hasn't happened since 1992. (And that was more extra innings than a true special session.) And that the call for special session didn't have everything Jeb wanted.
Maybe this won't be such a boring year after all.
12/02/2004
Thinking ahead
Mike at Florida News checks to see which possible 2006 candidates are far enough along in their plans to have reserved a spot on the web. He finds no prank sites but at least one surprise.
Our neighbor to the north
Alabama continues its fine work in making Florida and Georgia look good by comparison.
An Alabama legislator wants to ban novels with gay characters from public libraries.
An Alabama legislator wants to ban novels with gay characters from public libraries.
Allen said that if his bill passes, novels with gay protagonists and college textbooks that suggest homosexuality is natural would have to be removed from library shelves and destroyed. "I guess we dig a big hole and dump them in and bury them," he said.
Back
I'm back after Thanksgiving travel. Postings will still be light through the holidays. There are people to see, free food to find and eat, Christmas stuff to buy, a house that is falling apart around my ears. Meanwhile, I've also had some minor site problems and Blogger problems which now are fixed. (The nice folks at 1&1, which hosts this site, aren't quick to answer the phone, but have given generally trouble-free service.)
