Helping students get textbooks without sub-prime mortgage

Bookstores on campus are going to howl about the unfairness: the government wants to help students purchase textbooks economically.

Students already know how to do this in some circumstances. If they know the ISBN code for the textbook, then they can shop around the internet.

TCC works to make purchasing books more affordable ANGELINE J. TAYLOR, Tallahassee Democrat July 28, 2008

The Florida Legislature has provided some relief in tough financial times by passing a bill addressing the need for affordable textbooks at Florida's colleges and universities. TCC has taken the first step in minimizing student costs by posting required textbooks on the bookstore's web site.

The fine point here is the posting of required textbooks.

If this includes the ISBN code, it will help. A little-known fact, perhaps a "dirty little secret" of academia, is that websites for many campus bookstores do NOT list the ISBN codes for textbooks. This makes it difficult for students to hunt for bargains outside the bookstore system. Also, it forces the student into the bookstore to look up the ISBN. However, their websites DO make available the ISBN of general books like The Pelican Brief. So they CAN post ISBN codes for textbooks but choose not to do so.

I smelleth a rat.

Bad odor in Orlando in Caylee Anthony missing child case

This case gives me the creeps, but I am not sure what it is. Something is not right with the mother of the missing child, Caylee Anthony, and something is not right about the grandmother of the missing child. I worry that these good hearted people from around Orlando are getting used.

Dozens hold vigil to pray for Caylee's return Susan Jacobson Orlando Sentinel July 28, 2008

More than 60 people showed up in a rainstorm Sunday night for a candlelight vigil for Caylee Marie Anthony, the 2-year-old Orange County girl reported missing nearly two weeks ago. Friends and strangers gathered in the frontyard of Caylee's grandparents' Lee Vista-area home to pray for her safe return. Caylee's mother, Casey Anthony, 22, remains in the Orange County Jail on child-neglect and other charges. She has told investigators that she left Caylee with a baby sitter last month and has not seen her since. "Bring Caylee home," the group chanted, led by Cindy Anthony, Caylee's grandmother.

It is mostly visual, so you cannot pick it up from the newspaper so much, but it is all over the Orlando television channels. That is where you get a good eyeball on the behaviors in this family.

1. The mother of the missing child displays unusual levels of emotion, unusual kinds of emotion, considering her circumstances. Most tv commentators mention this.
2. Why is the grandmother so glib about getting in front of the tv cameras? Even her daughter complained about grandmother's "cameo" appearances on tv. It rings false, how much the grandmother inserts herself into view. I have not heard any tv commentator take note of this.
3. Similarly, the grandmother inserts a lot of herself into testimony in court. I have seen one tv commentator take note of this, although perhaps there have been others.
4. Watch the video of the high school classmate who goes to the jail to visit and encourage the mother. She clearly cannot remember the guy, but she strings him along.
   1. Maybe she just wants normal contact, even if she can't recall the face of her caller, or
   2. maybe she is stringing him along until she can figure out a way to use him.
   So far, I have not heard any tv commentator take note of this. However, I have seen this behavior in other criminals behind bars, manipulating good hearted civilians showing ordinary human compassion.

For these reasons, when I see these good hearted folks come in from out of town for a prayer vigil, I worry that they are getting manipulated. I also worry that some of the family members are getting manipulated, too.

It breaks your heart, the emotional avarice you sometimes see in these crooks, manipulating others in order to gain while avoiding normal exchange of emotion with others.

As for the crime itself, I wonder if this Caylee Anthony missing child case is related to or similar to the Trenton Duckett missing child case northwest of Orlando. Trenton Duckett was also two years old when he went missing, and with a mother who had serious psychological problems.

Literacy still important enough to strip from Jacksonville budget

Mayor Peyton's fountain pen is talking again. Whenever that happens, books for kids disappear.

Peyton's 'wartime' budget scrimps on library books RON LITTLEPAGE The Times-Union July 17, 2008

In his budget message, Mayor John Peyton used the word "war" 13 times. He made another nine references to "taking back" Jacksonville from criminals. "There are good guys and there are bad guys," Peyton said. "Everyone has to choose a side." Unfortunately, our commander in chief isn't willing to pay for the ammunition needed to make the fight. If Peyton truly believes his oft-repeated statement that "we can't arrest our way of this problem" - that problem being that Duval County is the murder capital of Florida - then we must stop potentially good kids from becoming the bad guys. One of the tools for doing that are our public libraries. Yet, the budget Peyton proposed to the City Council on Monday actually reduces spending on libraries over what Peyton proposed last year... Peyton's budget for next year slashes that to $3.6 million, which is $1 million less than the library system had this year. Peyton says that state grants will make up for the $1 million cut. However, the budget he presented to the council isn't so clear on that point, saying the loss of $1 million "will be somewhat offset" by the state money.

Another politician's euphemism: "will be somewhat offset."

This is like your deadbeat cousin's promise that the I.O.U. "will be somewhat offset" by a big hot load of money on the way: the check's in the mail.

Final analysis requires the mayor to answer this question: How does it improve the city that your public libraries are books-free zones, just so that the honorable mayor can have a new hybrid SUV to save money with?

Heartache for UCF athlete's family

Crushing news from the medical examiner in Orlando. Young Ereck Plancher died because nobody caught his sickle cell trait.

Medical examiner: UCF football player Ereck Plancher had sickle cell trait Iliana Limón and Kyle Hightower Orlando Sentinel 4:12 PM EDT, July 17, 2008

The full autopsy of UCF football player Ereck Plancher revealed that he had a pre-existing medical condition called sickle cell trait, a blood disorder that has been traced as a cause of death for several athletes during workouts... UCF officials said Plancher passed two physical examinations, including tests for the sickle cell trait. They said Plancher's medical exams and family history indicated that he was healthy and did not require more advanced tests before being cleared to play football.

This young man's family with an already broken heart now gets crushed. The heart of every teacher and coach at UCF must go out to them, for young Ereck's sake.

Can we get this for the IRS, please?

In Jacksonville, there is trouble with people requesting reduction and exemption of their "fees" owed to the city for sewer and garbage pickup.

Excellent.

If only we could get the IRS to make the transition to user adjustable tax rates.

New fee collections are not pouring into Jacksonville's coffers  [Emphasis added] TIA MITCHELL The Times-Union, Jacksonville

Officials say requests for rate adjustments have slowed receipts. Jacksonville is $7 million behind where it wants to be in proceeds from two new fees, but thousands of requests for rate adjustments have slowed collections. The fees were first billed in May. They would bring in $26.1 million - $18.4 million in stormwater fees and $7.7 million for a solid waste fee. So far, $15.2 million has been collected. More than 51,000 of the 285,401 property owners billed have asked for the charge to be lowered.... The City Council approved the fees last fall to soften the blow from state property tax reform and to diversify funding streams. The solid waste fees cover a portion of the costs of garbage collection. The stormwater fees will be used to treat runoff and reduce pollution.

But as always with politicians, check your wallet: "diversify funding streams." ← sounds like a City Council euphemism. I guess they mean to divert from the taxpayer's hip pocket for property tax and help themselves from the taxpayer's loose change in the side pockets.Like Willie Sutton leaving Philadelphia to diversify his revenue stream at the banks in Brooklyn.

Good for the taxpayers of Jacksonville. One out of six taxpayers are asking for rate adjustments, and it would be an easy guess to say that all requests are for lower fees.

---

Raccoon break and entry, monkeys not talking

Monkey attack. Sheriff's deputies go on alert.

Only in Florida. How can you refuse to love Florida when it has so many adventurous stories like this one?

Raccoon bites man tending to his monkeys By ADAM H. BEASLEY Miami Herald Mon, Jul. 07, 2008

A raccoon bit a Parkland man Monday as he was tending to his monkeys in his backyard, according to the Broward Sheriff's Office. Paramedics transported the 77-year-old owner of a home at 5948 NW 72nd Way to a nearby hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Originally, BSO deputies responded to a call of a monkey attack at that address... The raccoon apparently got in through an open door, and then escaped after biting the man...

"Apparently" -- I guess this means that the monkeys are lawyered up and not talking to police.

At least the victim is safe, no life threatening injuries.

Politicians' vicious streak and Obama's Jacksonville gambit

I was sitting in a hospital waiting room in Michigan, and I saw a man and woman come in and sit down near me. Maybe they are brother and sister; maybe husband and wife. They were middle aged, dressed nicely; the man wore a suit and nicely polished cowboy boots. I figured that the woman was there for treatment; the man was there for support. In the waiting area, every patient had one or two companions: a mate, friends, a granddaughter and so on.

It is the place where breast cancer patients come to check in for chemotherapy treatments. There are other cancer types going through this facility, too. The nurses and doctors take the patient's vital signs, give them a quick physical exam and then send them down to another floor for the hours of intravenous infusion: adriamycin, cytoxan, herceptin or some other tumor-fighting medicine.

So we wait.

And it is a very comfy waiting room: soft chairs, free wireless internet and even a few electrical outlets for geeks to plug in their laptops. I was the only geek present. I was working on a website, putting together this and that piece of content, "talking" to people on email and so on. I have a big deadline next week.

The man in the nicely polished cowboy shoes spoke on his cell phone for a long time. His voice was loud enough, and I was close enough that I could not help but overhear his end of the conversation. Mostly I worked on my laptop, and like many people who can concentrate in a busy place, it was as if everything else became doppler-shifted to a lower frequency, below the audible range of frequencies. But every once in a while I came up for air and caught a few sentences from this man with cowboy shoes: Vicious ripping on the mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick and some other politicians with names I cannot recall, and it was to a reporter. I know Kilpatrick is in the news, but I am not too familiar with the case, other than headlines about perjury etc.

But it is not Kilpatrick; it is this man with the nicely polished cowboy shoes who is the occasion for amazement here.

Here is a man helping someone with medical care, possibly an arduous round of chemotherapy, a true work of mercy, but that does not take him into a graceful, encouraging or compassionate attitude. Instead: viciousness. It was stunning to observe these wildly contradictory behaviors, like a Rottweiler sipping tea in Buckingham Palace seated next to Queen Elizabeth.

I am guessing the man with the nicely polished cowboy shoes is a politician of some kind.

It totally disgusted me that vicious backbiting like that is so natural for a politician that he thinks nothing of it, even in a waiting room where some seriously ill people are awaiting treatment. A regular person would maybe go down the hall to do something so incongruous, or out in the parking area or the hospital cafeteria. Politicians don't get it, though. For them, vicious backbiting is as commonplace as checking your watch or reading a book.

For the next few days, I belong to a political party, but I am going to resign and become an independent. I am not sure whether the man with the nicely polished cowboy shoes was a Democrat or Republican or Green or Socialist or what, but it does not matter to me now.

And this gets me to Barack Obama. Bad signs here in the Jacksonville newspaper. Discouraging.

Dems thrilled with Obama turnout Florida Times-Union Friday, June 20th, 2008

Obama told the crowd he is confident that he will win on the issues. As a result, he said, the Republican strategy will be "to make you afraid of me." He ticked off charges that will be made against him: too young, too inexperienced, "he’s got a funny name." Then he paused and added, "Did I mention he’s black."

I can just imagine the vicious cell phone calls going out from Democrat politicians in nicely polished cowboy shoes behind this gambit. As if being a black man means you cannot be criticized in any way and that you are always right.

Soon I will not be a party to this kind of thing.

Stalker slays student in Orlando

Another horrible stalker kidnap and slaying in Orlando.

Jogger abducted, killed by someone familiar with area, investigator says Amy L. Edwards, Sarah Lundy and Walter Pacheco Orlando Sentinel Staff Writers 2:02 PM EDT, June 12, 2008

A jogger killed Tuesday night in east Orange County was abducted from the trail by someone familiar with the area, a sheriff's investigator said today. Nicole Ganguzza, a graduate student at the University of Central Florida, probably was killed where she was found, off the Little Econ Greenway just north of Colonial Drive, sheriff's Sgt. Allen Lee said.

Police think it is someone who knows the area near this park.

Television viewers will have their hearts broken to hear the sadness in this woman's voice.

On Wednesday night, Jessica Gallo came to the overpass on Econlockhatchee Trail to pray for Ganguzza's family. Gallo said Ganguzza was her marriage counselor. "She's just truly a great person. Just wonderful. I mean she helped so many people," Gallo said. "My prayers are with her family. In my heart, she's my family, and I love her so much," she said.

Who is this person that kills young women in Orlando? Is it the same person who "disappeared" Jennifer Kesse two years ago? On the surface, one would say no, it is clearly another person. Even so, I wager that the police are double-checking very carefully.

And there seem to be undercurrents. From the same news report:

1. "Investigators think the killer planned the attack carefully and may have sat off the trail, working up his nerve, Lee said." So perhaps the bloodhounds found this beaten down patch of grass near the trail? If working up nerve, was Ganguzza the planned victim or just the first potential victim to come by?
2. "Detectives have searched transient camps in the area ..." This is a small similarity to the Jennifer Kesse case. There is a transient camp behind the shopping center near where her car was found.
3. "Investigators planned to review surveillance tapes from local convenience stores for any signs of Ganguzza." I hope they find something, but why are they looking for signs of Ganguzza at convenience stores? Not the murderer? She was jogging the trails. Did the reporters make an error here? Or have the police inadvertently let slip a small piece of evidence? Usually they are very careful to avoid that.

I sincerely hope that this guy gets caught quickly, and then the police can get back on the Jennifer Kesse case.

Soon, oh Lord.

Rev. Dr. Jeremiah A. Wright and the words of shock and awe

Since there has been so much national and local discussion about the Rev. Wright's remarks suggesting that God damn America, it is worthwhile to actually see what he said.

Rev. Wright Says Controversy Over Sermons "Unfair" Friday, 25 Apr 2008, 1:23 AM EDT By RACHEL ZOLL AP Religion Writer Fox 35/MyFoxOrlando.com

NEW YORK -- The Rev. Jeremiah Wright, former pastor to Barack Obama, said that publicizing sound bites of sermons in which he condemned U.S. policies was "unfair" and "devious"...

Since the harm of being "taken out of context" is an equal-opportunity problem for every public speaker, it is good to read the transcript or listen to the actual sermon that offends so many. Here is the video, in four parts:

     Full, unedited speech April 13, 2003 (streaming video)

The "God damn America" is in one of the middle segments.

Pastor Wright speaks about confusing God with the government. Politically, this is more of a conservative concept; political liberals do not ask adherents to make this distinction as frequently.

In my opinion, his objective is good, some of his paragraphs are good, but over the length of the entire message, his argument gets tangled up. He contradicts himself a little bit and makes a few small errors such as one about the infamous Tuskegee Experiment -- normal for a speaker going from notes, not from a script. Overall, it is standard liberal/left polemic; it could have been heard in any number of "mainline" Protestant churches in the US, though perhaps not with his style of delivery. I.e., transcript-for-transcript, there are many comparable sermons in mainline Protestant churches.

His passage about "God damn America" is, in my opinion, not worth saying, although he does temper it by admitting that America ought not act as if it is God, a fairly conservative concept. What struck me is that as he was shouting out "God damn America," many of his congregation stood up cheering. That seems alarming. So if Barack Obama and his family were present for that sermon, I would want to know how he reacted at that moment. He was not a U.S. senator then.

My own feeling is that I would like to know how he would invite any American to reconcile with him as a brother, as a member of his flock. I would ask him the same question he asks his congregation: "What makes for peace?"

Hillary with the football, NO GO

I got a chill of sober fear when I heard Hillary Clinton threaten Iran from the studio of Good Morning America: fear that an imbecilic egomaniac above the law is going to have the launch codes.

Dumbing down the presidency Kathleen Parker (Washington Post Writer's Group) Orlando Sentinel April 23, 2008

"I want the Iranians to know that if I'm the president, we will attack Iran," Clinton said. "In the next 10 years, during which they might foolishly consider launching an attack on Israel, we would be able to totally obliterate them."

This is a truly lethal mixture, in a President.

1. imbecilic because she is she thinks GMA is the right place to lay down a nuclear weapons threat;
2. egomaniac above the law because it was Hillary Clinton

It would be like giving a loaded handgun and a Ferrari to a sociopath: recipe for a drive-by shooting. Multiply by a billion for Hillary with the launch codes.

Florida Democrat party clueless; a solution

Not unusual: the Florida Democrat party bigshots are shooting themselves in their electoral foot, whilst Michigan gets its act together to organize an emergency primary election for presidential candidates.

June 3 Is Target for Mich Do-Over KEN THOMAS, Associated Press March 14

WASHINGTON (AP) - Michigan Democrats agreed Friday to push a do-over primary in early June to give them a say in the close presidential race between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. Amid talks with the two campaigns, the four Michigan Democrats said in a statement they were "focusing on the possibility of a state-run primary in early June which would not use any state funding." ...Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey has expressed concern they may not have the time or manpower to pull it off. She said they are trying to work through those issues.

Winfrey and associates are attempting to solve the problem. Good. It looks like the Michigan politicians have an IQ edge over the klutzes here in Florida, e.g., the leader of the gang, Karen Thurman:

Mail-in Dem vote for president not likely Tamara Lytle and John Kennedy Orlando Sentinel March 14, 2008

Florida Democratic Party Chairwoman Karen Thurman outlined plans Thursday for a do-over presidential primary by mail, but she acknowledged it's likely to be rejected by party leaders as well as the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama campaigns. In Washington, Florida's nine congressional Democrats quickly dismissed the idea. An alternative would seek to persuade the national party and candidates to count half of Florida's delegates, apportioned by a negotiated formula or results of the state's Jan. 29 primary...

---

Sen. Nelson floats plan for counting half of Democratic delegates John Kennedy Orlando Sentinel, Tallahassee Bureau Chief March 15, 2008

Friday, Leon County Democratic activist Jon Ausman formally appealed the DNC's penalty against Florida, in an attempt to get at least half the delegation seated as well as all 23 of the state's superdelegates...

Well, at least Ausman is trying to do something.

Here is a simple solution, a new deal that might cut through the proverbial knot:

1. In response to Ausman's appeal, DNC makes all of Florida's delegates super-delegates
   1. 23 original recipe super-delegates and
   2. 188 new-style super-delegates,
   each open for persuasion up until the convention. Advantage: side-steps Hillary Clinton sleight-of-hand in initial election, cheating claims become null.
2. Schedule a dozen "listening sessions" around the state for voter input, prior to convention, and each super-delegate must attend at least one session. Advantage: Florida not totally disenfranchised.
3. DNC commutes penalty: Ban the 188 new super-delegates from first nominating ballot only, activate for second and later ballots. This has the advantage that
   1. it will allow significant decision-making for Florida delegation being as how the current delegate count is neck and neck which means the first ballot might not get a majority;
   2. if first ballot does have a victor, the second ballot can be unanimous, Florida delegation can vote with all, thereby converting the entire scheme into an elaborate fig-leaf, but still worth doing;
   3. significant decision-making will also keep Florida in the headlines.
   
   

Disadvantage: this would have to be implemented

1. by DNC, i.e., Howard Dean, so prospect of a smart decision is mighty bleak,
2. and by Florida geniuses, who fall into Theresa LePore mode at the drop of the proverbial hat.

Yeah, that's the ticket.

Yeah, right.

This is like the meeting at the liars club. "We'll mail in the ballots and that will be 100 percent honest and fair for sure. Yeah, that's the ticket."

Even if Theresa LePore stays out of it, how can a normal human being honestly trust the validity and reliability of a mail ballot primary election in which the two candidates are

1. a Chicago machine politician and
2. Hillary Clinton

It would be an act of unnatural credulity.

Crist proposes state oversight of a revote BY MARC CAPUTO Miami Herald March 8, 2008

Gov. Charlie Crist said Friday he'll lobby fellow Republicans this weekend to help the Democratic Party out of its election quandary with a "blended" revote plan in which the party would pay for vote-by-mail balloting while the state would oversee it. "If the Democratic National Committee would be willing to pay for it, the appropriate thing to do would be for the state to oversee it to ensure the integrity of the process," said Crist, who discussed the plan with U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson... Howard Dean, chairman of the DNC, says the national party, which stripped Florida of its delegates for holding its Jan. 29 primary too early, won't fund a new election. Republican House Speaker Marco Rubio of West Miami said he doesn't like Crist's plan because "our elections supervisors are already over-burdened." "We already had an election. A record number of Democrats voted. Why can't they just . . . respect those votes and move on? I don't understand why Howard Dean is so obsessed with punishing Florida's Democrats."

Those ballots are going from the printers for a quick vacation in Chicago before the election, and then after the election they will be disappeared faster than a Gulf Coast attorney in a John Grisham novel.

Rubio has the right evaluation of New York bigshot Howard Dean. Obssessed.

This will not end up well. There is no graceful resolution, thanks to Dean and his associates.

Joyful noises

Band director Michael Simmons (left) talks to his Memorial Middle School class about their new instruments Tuesday. (ROBERTO GONZALEZ, ORLANDO SENTINEL / March 5, 2008)

I love this story, and you know the students are enjoying the new musical adventure. This is the perfect antidote to all the bad news today. One good teacher can make a difference, and Michael Simmons just did so.

Middle school emits squeaks and bleats after readers donate instruments, cash Leslie Postal, Orlando Sentinel

Juanita Horgan planned to spend her bonus on a new wedding band for her husband. But the ring will have to wait. The Florida Hospital nurse is among the hundreds of Central Florida residents who opened their wallets and dusted off their old instruments after a Feb. 10 Orlando Sentinel story about Memorial Middle School's band and the aspiring musicians whose families couldn't provide them with clarinets, trumpets and flutes. School officials say the community's outpouring has been overwhelming. "People are sending checks, in memory of so-and-so, because they loved kids and music," Memorial Principal Stefanie Shames said. "It has been wonderful." So far, the school off Orange Blossom Trail has cataloged nearly 100 donated instruments and about $11,000, and more contributions are on the way... Band director Michael Simmons said he expected a few donations but was stunned by the extent of Central Florida's generosity, which he called "a true blessing." Now Simmons has a more typical problem for a middle-school band teacher: Getting eager novices to focus on the basics. "We might move slow, but we're going to move right," he told his students. He helped the woodwind players adjust their reeds, showed them how to curl their lower lips and then told them to blow. A terrific squeak followed. "You guys just made your first sound," Simmons said. "Congratulations."

The local definition of joy.

Memorial Middle School students learn it's not easy to make music. (ROBERTO GONZALEZ, ORLANDO SENTINEL / March 5, 2008)

Democrat circular firing squad, Florida style

Nelson: vote again.
Dean: we won't pay for it.
Obama: ban Florida delegates, ignore vote.
Hillary: An individual may contribute a maximum of $2,300 per election (the primary and general are separate elections). Thank you and have a nice day, Florida.

This is the party which brayed the loudest about Theresa LePore and the butterfly ballots, but here they are setting up Florida once again.

Sen. Bill Nelson: Florida ought to have primary do-over By TAMARA LYTLE Orlando Sentinel March 7, 2008

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, Florida's top elected Democrat, threw his weight Thursday behind a new presidential-primary vote in hopes that the state's votes will be counted toward the Democratic presidential nomination... But Dean stuck to his hard line, appearing on numerous television shows to say Florida has only two options: a do-over contest before the party's deadline of June 10, or asking the convention credentials committee to seat the delegates. Asked whether the DNC would pay for a do-over — a new primary, mail-in ballot or caucus — Dean said no. "Of course not," he said on CBS' The Early Show. "We can't afford to do that. That's not our problem. You know, we need our money to win the presidential race." ...But the Obama camp made it clear it would not support seating Florida's delegates based on the Jan. 29 vote.

Hold onto your wallets, Florida. Prepare for the worst.

Theresa LePore's new assistant, Donald Brown

I never thought it would be possible to get lower than Theresa LePore for public stupidity, but now Donald Brown, a state representative from De Funiak Springs, Florida, has taken the proverbial cake.

Lawmaker whistles Dixie for Confederate tag Bill Cotterell Tallahassee Democrat Feb. 25, 2008

A Panhandle legislator with a proud disdain for political correctness and no fear of bucking Gov. Charlie Crist or the state Republican Party wants Florida to issue license tags honoring "Confederate Heritage" -- complete with images of Dixie flags and buttons from Rebel uniforms.

This level of stupidity is like a geographic feature: it exists and there is no use arguing against a hill or any other box of rocks. As rascally as those politicians are in Tallahassee, it looks like even they have the sense to actually put the chop on this bill. Good.

Zimmermen, TV newsman-government spokesman-child abuser

DCF Didn't Run Check On Ousted Official by THOMAS W. KRAUSE and CATHERINE DOLINSKI The Tampa Tribune Published: Feb 5, 2008

TAMPA - The state Department of Children & Families is launching a probe into the backgrounds of all of its employees... DCF is combing through its personnel files and running criminal background checks on all agency employees, including those hired before late 2006, when the department began requiring all new personnel to be fingerprinted, agency Secretary Bob Butterworth said at a news conference Monday in Tallahassee. Among those hired before the rule change: Al Zimmerman, 40. He was fired from the agency that protects children after his arrest Friday on charges that he asked two teenage boys to take sexual pictures of themselves. Butterworth said it appears the department chose Zimmerman for the job without contacting his prior employers, which was a violation of department policy. His file also lacks a required state application. Butterworth said he wants to know whether the department has been following hiring procedures and to make sure it does so in the future.

A man makes his living with a camera, graduates to a job where he might eventually get access to a computer database of vulnerable children? Mark that down a an example of career criminal rising.

And the state official who made the decision to hire this creep against the procedures... he ought to be kicked out immediately and I hope he is not another criminal. I hope there isn't a ring of child pornographers in the DCF.

Howard Dean insists on violating the Voting Rights Act

Now Howard Dean from up in D.C. insists on disenfranchising Florida Democrat party voters, but denies it is a violation of the Voting Rights Act so he can go ahead and do it.

Dean, DNC answer Sen. Nelson's lawsuit Bill Cotterell Florida Capital News Political Editor Tallahassee Democrat, Oct. 30, 2007

The Democratic National Committee today asked a federal judge to dismiss U.S. Sen. Bill nelson's lawsuit seeking to force recognition of the Florida presidential primary and seating of state delegates to the national nominating convention next summer. DNC Chairman Howard Dean said the party is not a state entity, so it is not violating the Voting Rights Act... Even if voters are disenfranchised by party rules, Dean's attorneys argue, the state party could remedy the situation by holding caucuses after the Jan. 29 primary to choose delegates.

Man, if that isn't arrogance, what is?

Bait and switch is ON. Take away the vote, then tell the people you rip off to organize a caucus. What the heck is a caucus, anyway? Well, one thing is for sure: it ain't a vote in an election. And the handy part if you're Howard Dean is that you have lawyers arguing it is all perfectly legal, just like the used car salesman.

Governor Light-Fingers cuts water help, fleeces students

As this site has previously mentioned, Florida budget aces and a light-fingered governor have managed to shear the families of students for the high-dollar faculty at state universities and colleges. This week, something really needed, alternate water supply programs, feels the whisper of the blade, viz.

Crist signs $1.1B budget cut plan; OKs tuition increase AP, Florida Times-Union Oct. 27, 2007

Gov. Charlie Crist has made final $1.1 billion in state budget cuts - but he did so grudgingly and without fanfare. Crist fixed his signature Friday to the budget revision bills sent to him two weeks ago by the Legislature. They enact tuition increases at public universities and colleges and cuts to the state's water supply projects, among other things... An alliance of business groups and environmentalists failed to convince Crist to veto a $30 million reduction in the state's alternative water supply programs. "I don't care what you cut in the budget, but it should not be water. We have drought, we have shortages, we have water wars starting," said Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland. "This is the very last place we should cut."

Here is an article from the Times-Union about water supply trouble ahead.

Water needs could fog area's growth picture DAVID HUNT, The Times-Union Oct. 27, 2007

Northeast Florida is going to need at least 554 million gallons of fresh water every day to continue growing past 2030. That's 180 million gallons more than the region is using today, according to projections prepared by the St. Johns River Water Management District. The additional need would be enough water to fill more than 270 Olympic swimming pools... Utility managers are keeping watch as their counterparts to the south look for alternative supplies. The Floridan Aquifer as close by as Orlando is not expected to support growth past 2013, which has caused debate throughout Central and Northeast Florida over a controversial plan to draw up to 262 million gallons daily from the St. Johns and Ocklawaha rivers. "Somewhere down the line, this is going to be a problem in North Florida and we have one of the best water supplies in the world," said Ray Avery, executive director of the Clay County Utility Authority.

It is amazing that Florida sits atop a huge aqifer yet always has a dry season that can go directly to drought if a few months are dryer than usual.

From my experience living out West, the water supply is the main limiting factor for populations of many wild species, and ought to be the limiting factor for "tame" bipedal primate species, as well. Every environmentalist who wants to be environmentally sensitive and move to the Rockies does so at the expense of elk habitat. Humans love to build vacation homes and live where elk live.

A relative of mine wanted to move to the Rockies because she had money and didn't like California. I told her to find a place in California, that the wildlife she reveres would thank her.

Amazingly, Florida sounds like it will soon be getting population pressure on the water supply. But by then the governor will be retired and living by the Potomac River, if his ambitions pan out.

Democrat candidates punish Florida but still ask for Florida dough

Democrat politicians prove once again that they really love the Theresa LePore tradition: screw things up then blame GOPers. Exhibit D* is a report about the out-of-state Democrat candidates who keep their word to avoid the Sunshine State citizens who do not pony up the cash money.

Lack of presidential candidates looms over Democrats' convention By BRENDAN FARRINGTON AP, Florida Times-Union Oct. 27, 2007

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - Three thousand Democrats came here Saturday and rallied around their top politicians and party leaders, but the biggest impression was made by who wasn't there: Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama, John Edwards and other presidential candidates. The candidates skipped the convention to honor a pledge not to campaign in Florida because the state violated party rules by setting its primary date before Feb. 5... "The Republicans want you to believe that just because a few of our friends aren't joining us Florida Democrats are going to start voting Republican. Can you all believe that?" [Florida Democrat Chairman] Thurman said as the crowd jeered. "I will put one of our all-stars up against their benchwarmers all day long."

How does this link up with Theresa LePore?

Just re-read the words of Karen Thurman carefully: Democrat "all-stars" versus GOP "benchwarmers."

As amazing Spider-Man Peter Parker sometimes says, "What the--?!"

Thurman trash talks her all-stars against the other side's scrubs? No wonder Theresa LePore got the butterfly ballot into use in Palm Beach County.

Next on the schedule: after establishing Democrat footshooting, somebody blames the Republicans!

* Cf. recent LePore-isms, exhibits A, B and C here.

Republicans avoid LePore-style footshooting.

At least the Republicans have kept their honor in avoiding the "punish Florida now" movement that currently owns the Democrat party's national bigshots.

GOP candidates talk tough John Kennedy and Jim Stratton Sentinel Staff Writers October 22, 2007 Orlando Sentinel

Republican presidential contenders battled in a nationally televised debate Sunday night... "We're not going to keep Hillary Clinton out of the White House by acting like Hillary Clinton," said former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Romney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and Arizona Sen. John McCain took the toughest shots -- at Clinton and one another -- as they sought to surge ahead in a crowded Republican field... Also taking part in the debate were former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and Reps. Duncan Hunter of California, Ron Paul of Texas and Tom Tancredo of Colorado... The 90 minutes of verbal fencing did little to help Chris Hart make up his mind. Hart, a former Hillsborough County commissioner, said he went into the debate favoring Giuliani and Romney. Both, he said, performed well, but neither did enough to push him off the fence... ...the primary path for Florida Democrats has proved rocky. Leading Democratic presidential candidates are boycotting next weekend's party convention because the Jan. 29 primary date violates a party rule allowing only the four early states to hold contests before Feb. 5. With Republicans facing no such prohibition, McCain, Romney, Giuliani, and Thompson all spent the weekend courting Florida Republican activists at the Orlando convention. Thompson also will launch a two-day bus trip across Central and South Florida today -- his second barnstorming tour in a month.

It's good to see that not every politician is as arrogant as Howard Dean and his footshootists.

Florida is bad and must be punished, but while we are here...

Now the national bigshots like Howard Dean, who want to punish Florida for disobedience to the national committee's primary election dictum, decide that campaigning in the Sunshine State is verboten but fund raising from Florida is OK.

Florida Democrats open wallets for '08 field Tamara Lytle, Washington Bureau Chief Orlando Sentinel October 21, 2007

Ironically, the Democrats' edge has been achieved even though the candidates are coming to the state only to pick up checks. Because Florida's Jan. 29 primary is earlier than the national party allows, the major candidates have pledged not to campaign in Florida -- except to raise money. That has angered some state Democrats. But even earlier in the year, virtually every visit by the candidates was to collect cash, not to meet voters.... Morgan said public financing would have to be total -- and compulsory. "Make my day by making it all illegal and publicly financed," he said. "Till then I'm not going to let the prescription-drug companies and HMOs have their way. I'm going to elbow my way in to speak for people who don't usually have people who speak for them, like consumers."

Now we see the intentions of the noble politicians in Washington.

USE FLORIDA.

Florida Democrat and Republican politicians decided locally to hold a primary election on a certain day, and this must be punished. (Cf. "Status of Democratic votes undecided...again") So their delegates in the national convention are banned for life, but while we have your attention would you mind donating some cash money to Hillary, Barack or John Edwards?

USE FLORIDA.

And speaking of the handsome and talented poverty expert John Edwards, in keeping with the Theresa LePore tradition, there are plenty of Florida types willing to help out-of-staters have their way with the citizens of the Sunshine State. Exhibit A: John Morgan, wealthy trial attorney, probably AG if Edwards gets elected, or at least he ought to be if you ask Morgan's #1 supporter. This is the same John Morgan, the trial lawyer, who went on the radio in 2004 to advocate for handsome and talented John Edwards, and said that Edwards would even be a great president because he had won a big lawsuit concerning flameproof pajamas for children. Big credentials there. In this election cycle, he wants to "speak for people who don't usually have people who speak for them, like consumers."

Yeah, okay.

Abe Lincoln had a saying for situations like this: Whenever a politician tells you he is an honest man, check quickly that your wallet is still in your back pocket. Mutatis mutandis, whenever John Morgan speaks up for people, check quickly that your wallet is still in your back pocket.

What the politicians don't want you to see.

The Miami Herald reports today, "Some Miami-Dade and Broward judges aren't following tough new rules meant to prevent the wrongful sealing of court records."

Boring? Not if you read the list of who benefits from sealed court records.

New rules on court records often ignored Oct. 14, 2007 BY PATRICK DANNER AND DAN CHRISTENSEN MiamiHerald.com

The cases include the divorce of a prominent Broward homicide prosecutor, a defamation suit against a Miami doctor, and a Fort Lauderdale law firm's fee dispute in a probate matter. The Supreme Court unanimously adopted the rules after The Miami Herald reported that hundreds of civil and criminal cases in at least a half dozen counties were hidden from public view. Broward had the most concealed cases, and they often involved the divorces of judges, lawyers, politicians and businessmen.

Talk about the fox guarding the henhouse!

Considering that these professions especially, lawyers and doctors, have licensure boards that are hardwired for their own protection, not the protection of civilians, it is amusing to see them seduce the judges in South Florida, thereby inducing court orders for further obscuring and sleight-of-handing that benefits nervous lawyers, doctors et al.

And as the used car salesman says, "It's all perfectly legal."

Maybe.

Maybe not. Danner and Christensen quote another lawyer who smells a rat. "You always have to wonder if there's something more nefarious going on when the rules aren't being followed, and whether judges are ignoring them thinking they can get away with it," said Thomas Julin, an attorney in Miami who defends media organizations against defamation, including the Girls Gone Wild company, MRA Holdings. Hmmmm, another fox guarding another henhouse? Well, this time, I will agree with the counsellor. Keep an eye on those rascally judges!

Putin, government and media

Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice is worried about the health of the Russian government. Secretary Rice is a Russian speaker, an expert on Russia.

Rice worried by Putin's broad powers Oct. 14, 2007 By MATTHEW LEE Associated Press Writer

"I think there is too much concentration of power in the Kremlin. I have told the Russians that. Everybody has doubts about the full independence of the judiciary. There are clearly questions about the independence of the electronic media and there are, I think, questions about the strength of the Duma," said Rice, referring to the Russian parliament.

When Secretary of State Rice speaks of government institutions, she mentions media along with executive, legislative and judicial. I think that, even in America, the best country on Earth, many people act as if the media is a part of the government, yet they do not use the word "government" to describe the press.

Nobel Peace Prize and why I pity Al Gore

Theresa LePore (left); Al Gore (center); Jimmy Carter (right)

Al Gore, UN Panel Share Nobel for Peace By DOUG MELLGREN and MATT MOORE October 12, 2007 Orlando Sentinel

OSLO, Norway - Former Vice President Al Gore and the U.N.'s climate change panel won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for spreading awareness of man-made climate change and laying the foundations for counteracting it. ...which expanded the Norwegian committee's interpretation of peacemaking and disarmament efforts that have traditionally been the award's foundations.

This has to be the most pitiful turn of events in Al Gore's history, being tagged with a Nobel Peace Prize. His previous claim to ill fame was the singlehanded demolition of the ordinary rules of courtesy nationwide when, with completely graceless lust for power, he took back his concession of the 2000 election to his opponent, pushing Theresa LePore into the global spotlight, underlining the ineptitude of Florida Democrat political action, and giving permission for Gore partisans everywhere to refuse their rabies shots and launch a global thermonuclear vendetta that destroys anything and builds nothing except bank accounts of political thug squads. One big notch in Al Gore's gunstock.

The reporters report that this event has "expanded the Norwegian committee's interpretation of peacemaking." That is their euphemism for "What the heck?"

Now former VP Gore joins the company of Jimmy Carter, recipient of a Nobel Prize for breaking the protocol of smiling and hushing up when tempted to criticize successor presidents publicly, something he did not have the gumption to do until 2001 or so. I voted twice for Jimmy Carter, never once for Ronald Reagan, but a few years ago I became embarrassed by Carter when his mouth lost its governing sense of ordinary courtesy.

People remember Carter for the Iran hostage debacle, and they forget the peace treaty he negotiated between Israel and Egypt, a peace treaty that still stands. But he did not receive anything for that - he was off the Nobel radar until he began trolling for the prize, trashing his successor, after Al Gore implicitly gave him permission to do so.

It used to be that there was some nobility in the Nobel Peace Prize: Martin Luther King, Jr., Albert Schweitzer, Mother Teresa, Lech Walesa, Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin. This last prize, to the two fighters who became peacemakers in Egypt and Israel, the two men who made me read the Bible for the first time, that year the prize did not also go to Jimmy Carter. Too bad: that would have been fitting and right. Now, the peace prize is nearly 100% joke.

That being the case, I have to feel pity for Al Gore who doubtless will now go around bragging about his shiny peace prize. Unfortunately, that is like bragging that you own a Mustang. 40 years ago, it would have meant something. In 1964 Martin Luther King, Jr. won the Nobel Peace Prize; good decision. In 1965, the Shelby Mustang came out: good car. In 2007, forget about it!

But the true mockery of the peace prize, which causes me to pity every other recipient, even Jimmy Carter and Al Gore, is that it once went to Yasser Arafat, a terrorist until the day he died. My dad the ACLU attorney taught me about Yasser Arafat, simply by his outrage that such a criminal would go to the U.N. and brandish a pistol. I remember him pointing out the photo in the evening paper to me. [Yasser Arafat carrying pistol in holster at UN in 1974; Kurt Waldheim upper left.]

Apparently, the Nobel committee cannot even blush. Jeremiah the prophet warned Israel as we should take warning today:

For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.

They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.

Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall...

Where is Abel thy brother?

Burial fiasco appalls family July 10, 2007, ANI MARTINEZ, Miami Herald

Fort Lauderdale's Sunset Memorial Gardens cemetery has come under fire once again over allegations that it mishandled a grave site -- this time allowing a casket of a 28-year-old murder victim to float in a pool of water in an open grave. Errol Williams said he found the coffin of his daughter, Cassandra Williams, of Coconut Creek, in the open grave on July 2, following a heavy rain. Her funeral was two days earlier, on June 30... Cassandra Williams and her boyfriend, Chris Thompson, were shot to death in the 5200 block of Northwest 16th Court in Lauderhill on June 16. Their bodies were found that night stuffed in a car trunk a few miles away in Sunrise, said police... Family and friends attended Williams' 3 p.m. service at Grace Funeral Chapels, 5980 W. Oakland Park Blvd., on June 30. From the funeral home, they traveled to the cemetery at 3201 NW 19th St. After a quick service there, the family left, thinking the grave site would be covered. It was not. On July 2, Errol Williams returned at 9:30 a.m. to visit his daughter's grave site one more time before he and his wife returned to their Cape Coral home in Lee County. He was distraught to find the open grave.

The precious daughter Cassandra is murdered, then her family suffers again to see their daughter's body neglected and alone.

It seems impossible that Earth can keep spinning once per day and not crack apart into a million fragments because of this cruelty and pain.

And the Lord said unto Cain, "What hast thou done? The voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground."

---

Literacy important enough to strip from budget

Budget Cuts Take Bite Out Of Library Hours July 9, 2007, Jacksonville News

Jacksonville book lovers recently got some bad news as the continuing story of the city's budget bind takes a bite out of local libraries. In response to the 2007-2008 budget cuts, the library will cut nearly $3 million by reducing services and programs. Last week, Mayor John Peyton pointed in his inauguration speech about how important literacy is to youth. "Literacy is the No. 1 predictor of educational success," Peyton said. "Therefore, I must now rip $3 million from kids and their families who want to use the library." Jacksonville News photo

That last quote is not the mayor. It was his fountain pen talking.

The old joke asks how one can tell that a lawyer is lying. Answer: his lips are moving. Similarly with this politician, his mouth says one thing and his actions say quite another thing.

He did have the decency to do it straight, and not hide behind a nefarious smokescreen of accounting.

However, Mayor Peyton will doubtless find a good reason for buying a new SUV to chauffeur him around town on official business, or for stipulating a pay raise for a nephew or some other politician trick.

Meanwhile, kids and their families are left high and dry.

Twisted elitism, Orlando style.

Elitism is defined as favored treatment, as if it were an entitlement, due to supposedly superior economic or intellectual status. I.e., railroad tracks - there is a right side and a wrong side of the railroad tracks. Elitists are on the right side. "These people" are on the other side of the tracks.

Except in Orlando.

Otherwise, someone could explain why a "scholarship" service for lower income kids to go to summer camp is actually elitism. It is as if the elitists have quantum-tunneled to from the right side of the tracks but did not land on the wrong side of the tracks: they landed in a parallel universe. OOPS.

"YMCA is ousted from kids' program Orange County says the nonprofit's limits on voucher use 'gave the appearance of elitism.'" July 8, 2007, David Damron, Orlando Sentinel

Orange County officials are upset with area YMCAs for not expanding a program for low- and moderate-income children to the nonprofit's facilities in more affluent communities such as Winter Park, Dr. Phillips and Lake Nona, saying it smacks of elitism. The county has dropped the YMCA from its list of participants for The Club, which provides $300 vouchers to about 1,000 children to help pay for costly summer camps, because the YMCA insisted the vouchers be used at its facilities in less affluent areas such as Tangelo Park or South Orlando

Tell me this isn't a government operation.

I guess it is another episode in Florida's continuing daytime drama inspired by the true story of Theresa LePore, the Democrat election supervisor in Palm Beach who biffed an entire national election and then blames the Republicans.

In the big scheme of things, if it is more important to help kids from well-off neighborhoods and criticize those who help kids from poorer neighborhoods -- the wrong side of the tracks -- then either I am a monkey's uncle or Al Gore really DID invent the internet.

Governor Crist makes it official: pony up time for students and their families.

Tuition goes up to pay for more faculty who probably will not have to teach enough to lighten the teaching load significantly, although that is how the U bigwigs sold it at Wednesday's meeting, no doubt. Students and their families' wallets will be much lighter.

Tuition will jump at 3 universities June 28, 2007, Luis Zaragoza and John Kennedy, Orlando Sentinel

TALLAHASSEE - Thousands of new college students will start paying a premium next year to attend a trio of Florida's top-ranked public universities. Gov. Charlie Crist unexpectedly reversed his opposition to legislation that will allow the University of Florida and Florida State University to charge up to 40 percent more than the state's base tuition rate. The University of South Florida will be able to charge a 30 percent premium... Crist had earlier vetoed a 5 percent, across-the-board tuition increase for the state's 11 public universities, saying he opposed hiking costs for students and their parents... Crist huddled behind closed doors Wednesday with Florida's university presidents and told them that he would sign the bill... UCF President John Hitt said after Wednesday's meeting that the loss of the anticipated money for growth translates into dozens of faculty members whom the school won't be able to hire and hundreds of courses that it won't be able to offer.

The way that you can see their nefarious selling strategy is: John Hitt's statement. When he says, "dozens of faculty members whom the school won't be able to hire," it is code for dozens of expensive-to-hire hotshot research faculty who will have light teaching assignments. President Hitt and UCF do not care much about faculty who teach lots of students. Ask any faculty member at his university. These U bigwigs only care about researchers who can give them the reputation of "elite, research-oriented public schools in other states." I wager that the governor got sucked in when they dangled elite in front of the governor's eyes: dollar signs, national recognition, national office, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue etc. etc. Cf., e.g., the 4th chapter of Matthew for an anecdote from the past of an amusingly similar blandishment:

Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

And if you want to find the devil here, look in the numbers. We do not know the exact numbers the U bigwigs quoted to the governor, but we can make an estimate.

1. Dozens of faculty ←for a conservative estimate, let's call that 24 faculty.
2. Hundreds of courses ← for a conservative estimate, let's call that 200 classes.

The approximate teaching load for these new faculty would be about 8 classes per year! NOBODY teaches 8 classes per year, not even the lowest ranking lecturer on punishment.

Or put it another way: $70 million annually for this new fee for the three schools, once it is fully in effect. Let's say that they share the money equally, and use it for 24 new faculty at each U. Under this estimate, $70 million between 72 faculty members, comes out to about $97,000 per faculty member. But not all of that goes to salary. Part of that $97,000 goes to benefits like health insurance, some goes to overhead like office and light bill and so on. And that is only if there is ZERO "startup package" for the faculty member. Not many faculty will be happy with salary that far south of $97,000 and no startup. Recruiting will be tough.

So the numbers paint a picture of impending failure. No new faculty will want relatively low pay without startup package for the privilege of teaching 8 sections per year.

But the governor did not catch that, or he ignored it. Or perhaps they gave him different numbers, shorter numbers: some of the science departments across the state can break into the first rank nationally with just a few more research faculty.

But the public purpose, to help the teaching of students, is going to suffer.

They should be building up both kinds of faculty, hotshot researchers and faithful teachers and, best of all, faculty who do both tasks well.

For the reporters and editors of this article, the embarrassment is that the person who pays, the persons who receives this service -- the student and his family -- are left to the last few lines. But I will make them prominent here:

Teri Stonebraker, a Kissimmee resident who will have two children enrolled at FSU this fall, said she understood how the increasing cost of keeping quality staff and programs in place could raise costs for students.

"I just wish the state would find other ways to allow all students to get an education," she said.

Even for the Orlando Sentinel editor, this looks like an afterthought. But the teaching of students should be the priority, top of the article, not at end of page two.

Status of Democratic votes undecided...again

This article's headline about manipulation of Democrat party voting makes one think of nefarious GOPers deviously at work.

But on account of this being Florida, it is actually Democrat party smartness messing things up.

"Status of Democratic votes undecided," June 21, 2007, BETH REINHARD, Miami Herald

Whether Florida's Democratic votes in the Jan. 29 primary will count remained in limbo Thursday after a closed-door meeting in Washington between members of Congress and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. Dean has said the state's primary ''essentially won't count'' because the date violates national party rules that allow only four smaller states to vote that early. Candidates who campaign in scofflaw states lose any delegates to the national convention that they earn in those states, even if they win the most voters.

Huh? "The state's primary essentially won't count." ←Planned voter suppression, courtesy of Howard Dean! Politicians can flip-flop on policies and ideas, but they should resist the urge to flip-flop the franchise.

Also, I consider it loathsome for Howard Dean and these other suits in D.C. to call the shots for Florida by remote control. Let it be the decision of Florida Democrats: state officers and county executive committees. They like Jan. 29. So does the Republican party of Florida.

Actually, this might work out. Just have Theresa LePore design the ballots for the primary. Hold the primary on Jan. 29. Then start counting. Since they are Theresa LePore ballots, it will take multiple recounts, mutual restraining orders and a chain of federal judges to ensure an "accurate" tabulation of returns, and by that time, Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina voting will be long over with and done, ancient history. So Florida CAN vote early and still meet all DNC party rules.

Shifty-eyed politicians, vote-counting fish stories

Whenever a politician tells you he is an honest man, check quickly that your wallet is still in your back pocket. Abe Lincoln followed that principle.
This article describes the fog of rhetoric surrounding a Florida election recount, with politicians navigating by foghorn. Facts are optional.

Senators seek inquiry into GOP's Duval acts, 6/20/2007, J. Taylor Rushing, Capital Bureau Chief, Florida Times-Union

The U.S. Justice Department has been asked to investigate whether there were intentional efforts by the Republican Party to suppress Jacksonville's African-American vote during the 2004 election. The request, by Democratic U.S. Sens. Edward Kennedy and Sheldon Whitehouse, suggests the Senate Judiciary Committee has uncovered e-mail evidence supporting an investigation. Kennedy and Whitehouse are members of the committee... "It's malicious and absolutely untrue that I tried to do this," said [Tim] Griffin, the former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas who resigned two weeks ago during the controversy over U.S. attorney firings. But Jacksonville's African-American community praised news of the request and eagerly backed an investigation. Juan Gray, board chairman of Jacksonville's chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, said black leaders have long suspected Republican foul play in both 2000 and 2004. "I'm delighted that we have congressional oversight," Gray said. "It's way overdue." NAACP Jacksonville Branch President Isaiah Rumlin said he was personally unaware of the specific voter suppression tactic suspected by Kennedy and Whitehouse but said there were "significant problems" before and during the election. "We wouldn't be one bit surprised, and we welcome an investigation," Rumlin said. "If there's evidence out there, that needs to come forth. Just because I don't recall this specific tactic doesn't mean it didn't happen." Kennedy and Whitehouse accuse the Republican National Committee of "vote caging"... Both Hightower and Scheu, who was the interim supervisor of elections during the 2004 election, note they participated in daily meetings with local black leaders in which the subject of caging was never raised.

Trouble:

1. DOJ investigation requested but without evidence from anyone in Jacksonville -- Rumlin: "If there's evidence out there, that needs to come forth."  No offense to Mr. Rumlin, but probable cause is a normal part of an investigation.
2. Community leaders suspected foul play but nobody mentioned it in daily meetings with election supervisors.

Knowing a bit about pollwatching on election days, I would tend to believe the men and women from Jacksonville, not so much Rumlin or Hightower but the people at the polls: clerks, inspectors, deputies plus pollwatchers independent of the government. Unfortunately, nobody bothered asking them; the article mentions no pollworkers or pollwatchers. Least credible are the senators from D.C., neither of which is actually from Florida. What have Senators Nelson and Martinez got to say? That would be nice to know. Who benefits from the investigation? Some bigshots in D.C. or regular voters in Jacksonville? As always, when a politician shifts his gaze toward you, hold onto your wallet.

But Florida being what it is, there is probably a mare's nest of foolishness shared equally by mules and elephants ←the Theresa LePore tradition. If anyone has YouTube footage of a pollworker stuffing secret ballots into his socks or a pollwatcher nagging a voter like somebody's mother in law, then I hope punishment is savage: forcible conscription to work another election!