Flablog

Witchhunt!

2008-05-11T18:02:00.000-04:00

Wizardry! It may look like the old disappearing toothpick trick, but you can't be too careful about witchcraft , so a substitute teacher is essentially suspended for for unauthorized use of magic .. and worse, deviating from the lesson plan.

Fla. secession fever

2008-05-08T18:43:00.001-04:00

... two more cities catch it.

The Fla/condo/Jewish vote

2008-05-08T16:47:00.002-04:00

The estimable S.V. Date writes in the New Republic that Barack Obama's Jewish problem in Florida is repairable. And Rep. Robert Wexler is there to help work the condos.

Not just marriage

2008-05-08T11:07:00.001-04:00

Opponents of Florida's anti-gay marriage amendment argued the measure shouldn't be allowed on the ballot because it bans both gay marriage and civic unions and, oh yeah, maybe even partner benefits.

The Florida Supreme Court, in 2006, ruled that, taken in context, this seems to be just talking about gay marriage. Oh maybe. But over in Michigan they passed something like this and, sure enough, a court has now ruled that it bans governments from offering same-sex benefits. Could the same thing could happen here?

Book link is up!

2008-05-04T18:18:00.005-04:00

The moment has come at last! Amazon has put up a pre-order link for my upcoming book, Sandspurs: Notes from a Coastal Columnist. (Don't ask me why there's no cover picture yet.)

Sadly, the book will not be available from the fine folks at Univ. Press of Fla. until Sept. 7. But if you pre-order it, you get an extra 5 percent off and enjoy a smug feeling of inner coolness by joining the tiny band of cognoscente who own a copy before hardly anybody has heard of it. And don't go lending it out, either. Those people never return your books. Make them buy their own damn copy.

Right now, it's selling on Amazon for the absurdly low price of $16.47, hardback.

Editorial round-up

2008-05-04T14:42:00.009-04:00

The reviews are coming in and everybody found something not to like in the just-ended session.

+ Bradenton Herald -- Brutal. That bleak assessment of the state Legislature's knotty session comes courtesy of our own Mike Bennett. Bradenton's Republican state senator went even further to hammer home the point. Absolutely brutal.
+ DB News-Journal -- Deep, painful cuts to the state's $66 billion budget dominated this year's session of the Florida Legislature. But rancor ran high over other issues, ranging from abortion to guns to property insurance.
+ St. Pete Times -- Here is one snapshot that illustrates the difference between Tallahassee and the real world. After state lawmakers wrapped up negotiations over a meager state budget this week, Gov. Charlie Crist proclaimed himself "so grateful to this Legislature for what they have done.'' Hours later, Pinellas school officials proposed cutting salaries for teachers and other employees by 2 percent and closing up to 10 schools.
+ Tampa Tribune -- Session was no great success, but kept bad bills off the books.
+ Tallahassee Dem -- Session time in the capital city ended Friday, and by nearly all accounts, it was one of the most unpleasant, unsatisfying and difficult ever for all players.

Plus
+ Parker Cartoon
+ Wayne Garcia's list of "incredibly stupid bills" and their fates.
+ Lane column

FL-18

2008-05-01T12:22:00.001-04:00

The Discourse.net guy goes to a party ... and likes what he sees -- Report From the Annette Taddeo Campaign Office Opening Party.

(Yup, this is one of the congressional candidates that Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz isn't supporting.)

S. Republic

2008-05-01T09:26:00.002-04:00

Taking off from Gary's Fineout's eye-opening piece about SE Florida's role as donor to the rest of the state (something no doubt made worse in the next year's education budget), the Herald's Fred Grimm calls for succession.

I'm OK with that, but only if Central Florida gets to come to come along, too. You'd have a gun-totin', creationism-teaching (assuming they'd still have public schools) North Florida and a mellow Peninsular Republic. And it sure would cut driving time during the legislative session.

Down days in print

2008-04-29T09:17:00.002-04:00

It's bad news all over in newspaper land. New circulation figures are out and almost everyone's down. Florida is no exception. The Herald, long the largest paper in Florida, is, after years of circulation hemorrhage, now ranked third in readership. My own beloved News-Journal, which has had more of a slow-leak circulation drop lately, is down 5 percent. The Lakeland Ledger has a good report on the situation at other mid-sized and small papers. Their handy chart is below:

House won't evolve

2008-04-28T12:41:00.005-04:00

Take that, you pointy-heads who think you get to set state education standards! The Florida House says kids can so be taught creationism in Florida schools -- creationism bill passes 71-43 in a party-line vote with "critical analysis" language intact.
+ Citizens for Science summarizes the leadup to the vote and a roundup of breaking-news coverage of the vote.

Guns, God 'n' guttin' education

2008-04-26T08:44:00.002-04:00

Barring a Tallahassee miracle, when the Legislature adjourns Friday it will have failed in every respect to responsibly address the state's most pressing issues.

-- St. Pete Times

In the next two weeks, expect to see a lot of editorials along this line. (And, yes, I'm OK with the split infinitive.)

Theocrat update

2008-04-25T11:22:00.001-04:00

The Gradebook has an update about Cheri Yecke, who was Gov. Jeb Bush's K-12 chancellor (see The Flablog Vault 'o Memory -- here). Because of her past creationist statements, some educators were concerned that she was in the running to be state education commission.

Yecke now has contacted the Gradebook to let us know where she has landed. That would be Harding University, a private Christian school in Searcy, Ark. She'll be the dean of graduate programs and an associate professor of education.

A much better fit, I'd say.

Fix is in for privatizing ed

2008-04-25T09:34:00.001-04:00

Well, at the Tax and Budget, Education, Religion, Life the Universe and Everything Commission, the deal's been made, the fix is in -- trade vouchers and the 65 percent rule for the tax swap. Tax swap-proponent John McKay has seen the light:

McKay denied a quid pro quo was at work. He said he did not fully understand the voucher program before.
The so-called tax swap would replace most school property taxes — the part referred to as the "required local effort" — and give the Legislature guidance in how to replace the loss revenue, estimated between $9-billion and $11-billion.
The plan includes language requiring that schools be "held harmless" and a formula for growth in funding.
Options for replacement money include a 1-cent sales tax increase (raising $4-billion, at best), elimination of existing sales tax exemptions, budget cuts and other revenue sources.
There is some disagreement whether "other" could mean another penny sales tax increase.

(Remember the last time you heard the phrase "education will be held harmless"?)

So here's the deal: repeal constitutional language requiring a "uniform system of free public schools" (the voucher amendment) and also put the Legislature in the position of either drastically cutting schools or creating a state sales tax on services along with a punishing sales tax rate. Result: Line up for your church-school vouchers, kids, because Florida is we're getting out of the public education business.

Meanwhile an interesting legal question arises:

Constitutional amendments require a 60 percent majority to pass. Amendments that propose a "new" tax require a two-thirds majority. That raises the possibility of courts determining whether the proposal is actually a tax "swap," which supporters assert, or creates a new tax, and what margin of approval would be required.

So if you force the Legislature into the position of either creating a new tax or abandoning the idea of a public school system is that the same thing as putting a new tax on the ballot? That's one for the courts.

If the voucher and money-for-churches amendments fail and the tax-swap passes, the pressure for taxes on services will be irresistible. If everything passes, the legislature will raise the sales tax and jettison the school system.

+ Herald's story
+ Tally Dem
+ Palm Beach Post
+ News-Journal

Blog fight! Blog fight!

2008-04-24T08:28:00.003-04:00

In a not-terribly-shocking development, House Speaker Marco Rubio is telling the press other people are to blame for his lack of effectiveness , Democrats are whiners, and by the way, Goc. Crist is a policy lightweight who doesn't do his homework.

The Orlando Sentinel, feeling left out of the e-mailing and airing of the grievances, demands copies of the missives saying they're public records. The Herald folks responds that this is no big deal, contrary to what the Sentinel says, the e-mails were strictly on-the-record, so just read them on our Web site and by the way, correct your damn blog post.

One-trick pony

2008-04-23T13:41:00.001-04:00

Joe Garcia's One-Trick Pony ad is so good it should make even Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz support him.

Creationists win Senate vote

2008-04-23T13:28:00.004-04:00

The Senate passes the Teach Creationism Bill. The vote was 21-17. Does anybody doubt that it will pass in House?

+ The Buzz
+ Naked Politics notes that the only Dem voting for it was Sen. Gary Siplin, D-Orlando, the legislative mind behind the droopy drawers bill.
+ The Gradebook
+ Fla. Citizens for Science gives a blow-by-blow account of the debate

Web ratings

2008-04-21T11:20:00.001-04:00

Four Florida sites made E&P 's list of Top 30 Newspaper Sites for March. They are, in order of audience size:
St. Pete Times -- up 6 percent from last year.
Orlando Sentinel -- down 31 percent. (!?)
Sun-Sentinel -- down 9 percent. (Amid grousing about pop-up ads.)
Miami Herald -- down 13 percent.

Rubio's deft political touch

2008-04-18T12:44:00.003-04:00

Procedure fight! Procedure fight!

+ Naked Politics
+ Q
+ Political Pulse
+ Herald

They came for the Truck Nutz and I was silent ...

2008-04-18T09:28:00.001-04:00

More on the great Truck Nutz (trucktacles, truck balls, bull balls ) debate. Sen. Carey Baker flashes his morality cop badge and says "the line must be drawn here!"

Can police action against mud-flap girl be far behind?

A special earmark

2008-04-17T15:31:00.001-04:00

Rep. Don "Bridge to Nowhere" Young of Alaska got $40,000 in campaign contribution from Florida developers and inserted a Lee County I-75 interchange they wanted into a highway spending bill. (See the Flablog Vault o' Memory from last year .)

Another earmark, business as usual right? Well, this got inserted after the vote. Young's staff says they just did some technical corrections to the bill. But the Senate may seek a criminal probe.

+ Political Animal.

Gator grab thwarted

2008-04-17T14:54:00.001-04:00

'Gatornappers hit hit Congo River Miniature Golf Course. And it's not the first time.

Talking sense on Cuba

2008-04-17T10:33:00.001-04:00

Atlantic.com's Matthew Yglesias gives a shout-out to Joe Garcia in his campaign against Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart.

(Yes, this is one of the Dems that Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz can't bring herself to support.)

The war on science (cont.)

2008-04-17T10:26:00.002-04:00

~~The vigilant Florida Citizens for Science blog finds that the creationists in our Florida Legislature put anti-evolution "academic freedom" language in the sex ed bill.~~ Oops, never mind. Nothing to see here, folks. Cits for Sci explains and so does Gradebook.

The great truck-balls debate

2008-04-17T08:23:00.007-04:00

Carey Baker, the legislative mind behind the law mandating the size of flags in Florida classrooms while refusing to pay for them, proposes outlawing so-called bumper nuts. He wants a $60 fine for this bit of tasteless japery.

Carey brought progress on a transportation bill to a screeching halt for 20 minutes with debate on this pressing issue of our day. Sen. Jim King, (R-Jax) defended the auto accessory as "an expression of just truckiness."

When truck balls are outlawed only outlaws with have truck balls! But expect to see this debate renewed. It's an issue with, uh, potency. So let's make this proposal Bad Idea #15!

Update: The no-plastic-balls amednment gets debated by the full Senate and added to the transporation bill. You can't say these guys aren't focused on the important issues of the day. Can the war against sexist mud flaps be around the corner?

Bad ideas (cont.)

2008-04-17T08:18:00.001-04:00

Bad Idea #14 -- (HB 1259) Hey, public schools have so much money for construction, why don't we force them to hand over some of it to private groups operating charter schools? Sure, the failure rate of these operations is pretty amazing, but if we give them tax money to build their own buildings without normal oversight, they'll thrive. What could go wrong?