Adam Smith of the St. Petersburg Times delves into Jeff Greene's history. It's telling stuff about the would-be Democratic candidate for Florida Senate. Here's just one of many anecdotes: Harlan Hoffman, 37, was in a Fort Lauderdale yachting apparel store in 2007 when he saw a help wanted ad for Summerwind. “There were two people from Australia there who said, 'Oh, good luck with that one… . We're still waiting to get paid by Summerwind.' I should have listened,” Hoffman said. The deckhand was shocked while buffing Greene's yacht and wound up hospitalized. A boat's owner is supposed to take care of on-the-job medical costs, but Hoffman said Greene — whom he never met — told the insurance company he had never heard of Hoffman and that he didn't work on Summerwind. It took eight months and legal action that included affidavits from other crew members vouching for Hoffman and trashing Greene to get his bills paid. “This guy Jeff Greene threw tons of money into new diving gear, but the crew's basic equipment — food and supplies — he didn't want to spend any money on. Summerwind has a terrible reputation,'' Hoffman said. “Mr. Greene's yacht is known to...
Sat 31 July, 2010
21:56 With Endorsements Like These... The Times Guilt-Trip » The Spencerian
Well, the St. Petersburg Times has made their, uh, endorsement in the Democratic Primary for U.S. Senate. Such as it is. The first sentence:Florida Democrats do not have a stellar candidate for an open seat in the U.S. Senate. The...
20:42 Rare joint sighting of McCollum and Scott in Miami » Naked Politics
Yesterday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Scott announced that he would attend the Miami-Dade Republican Party's annual Lincoln Day dinner. Not to be shown up, at 5:44 p.m. today came this notice from his rival, Bill McCollum: "A scheduling addition note...
U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek readily admits he would not be where he is today without his mother. The twice-divorced mother of three rose from riot-torn Miami to become one of Florida's first black members of Congress since Reconstruction. Now the...
19:56 Jeff Greene's path to Senate campaign shows he is uncompromising, sometimes to a fault » The Buzz: Florida Politics
PALM BEACH — Send Jeff Greene to the U.S. Senate, and what do you get? Maybe you've elected a self-made success story who doesn't owe anyone anything, a tough man who couldn't care less about special interest campaign checks or...
18:15 Then and Now: Two sets of journalists who did investigate Sarah Palin's biggest lie » litbrit
It's worth noting that during the 2008 presidential election season, not everyone in the media shied away, ran away, or otherwise backed down from reporting on the uncomfortable stories surrounding John McCain's vice-presidential pick, then-governor Sarah Palin. It's impossible to say for certain why virtually all American journalists and bloggers refused to touch the issue. It may have been due to a combination of (1) everyone being gun-shy after so many smear campaigns had already taken flight that year and (2) a pervasive squeamishness among young, childless, and mostly male reporters when it came to asking admittedly personal questions about Palin's oddly inconsistent birth stories and a personal interpretation of Family Values that seemed unconventional, to say the least, coming as it did from a purported Conservative Christian. The Don't Go There attitude was certainly given a shot in the arm of esprit de corps when the Journolist members brought up the strange rumors and were told "Seriously guys...leave it be", which directive was, to their palpable relief, exactly the out most of them seemed to be looking for anyway.
However, a few journalists did think the story was newsworthy and were obviously troubled by the gaping holes and inconsistencies in the vice-presidential nominee's background stories; so much so, in fact, they set about reporting on them: those journalists worked for the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Here's a video of their report.
(If anyone knows of the existence of any followup stories run by the CBC, please let me know.)
Between then and now, several blogs did yeoman's investigative work; as we know, one such writer, Audrey, was forced to quit when she was threatened and blackmailed by conservative bloggers. Interestingly, while Palin's attorneys have threatened Alaska blogger Gryphen with defamation suits for publishing rumors about things like an impending Palin divorce, they have never threatened him--nor any other blogger or journlist--for reporting about Sarah Palin's lies in re: being pregnant in 2008, and/or for stating the obvious: that Trig is not her biological son, and she faked the pregnancy for one or more of a number of possible reasons.
Truth is an absolute defense in defamation cases, and if Palin's attorneys were to file such a lawsuit, one of the first things a defendant's attorneys would do is file for discovery. In other words, Palin would have to put up whatever proof she had that the person she was suing was nottelling the truth--a birth certificate, medical records, and so forth. As should be evident to anyone who's following along at this point, she cannot and would not do that, because such documents would prove exactly the opposite, and might indeed disclose facts incriminating to either her or one or more of her family members. Claiming the Fifth Amendment ("I refuse to testify on the grounds that I might incriminate myself...") for purposes of ducking or delaying discovery when one is the plaintiff is not possible, either--the defendant in such a case would have a right to a speedy and expeditious trial, as well as the right to effectively defend himself.
Hence, no defamation suit ever gets filed on that count, even as Palin might sic her retained attorney on bloggers for other things: divorce rumors, publishing excerpts of her book, and so on.
Anyway, fast-forward (so to speak) to the present, and Palingates has just posted a new 2-part video report, produced by Lidia, that's extremely well done, and, unless you are someone who's in complete denial of reality as it appears before your eyes, impossible to argue with. I especially like the second part, as it zeroes in on some of the evidence I find to be most compelling--for example, leaning forward and doubling in two while seated when you're seven months pregnant is, quite simply, physically impossible, no matter how tiny you are, no matter how tiny your baby is. (And then, incredibly, hopping up effortlessly, as though no center-of-balance shift has occurred in the past several months!) However, I recommend to everyone who's been following this utterly bizarre story that you have a look at both parts. Here's Part One. And here is Part Two, also embedded:
So, here we are, two years later, and members of the mainstream media's irresponsible, unethical, sexist, and, in my view, unforgivable behavior--in apparent deference to a vice presidential candidate who is on the record as having told baldfaced, self-serving, and bizarre lies as well as having exhibited irrational and mentally unstable behavior during the 2008 campaign--has become the preeminent story.
And one can only wonder if one of them has it in him, at this point, to finally heed the simple request we've been making all along:
The Empress has no clothes. Kindly investigate same.
Nine years ago today I loaded up the Pontiac with my plants, my computer, and Sam. At 6:30 p.m., in a driving rainstorm, we left Albuquerque following the Bekins moving van on our way to Miami and my new job. We drove until midnight, getting to Pecos, Texas, where we spent the night. The next morning we got on I-10 and cruised across the Lone Star state, catching Houston at rush hour, New Orleans in the dark (I took the detour through the city so I could say I'd been there), and finally stopped for the night somewhere on the Mississippi/Alabama border. Finally, forty-eight hours to the minute after leaving Albuquerque, we arrived in Miami... in a rainstorm.
Nine years later, I still have the Pontiac and the plants. Sam is gone, and the computer -- a Gateway PC -- has been replaced three-fold. I don't have the same job I did when I came to Miami, and I'm living in my third residence. I have made a lot of new friends, renewed some old ones, and maintained contact with the people I left behind in Albuquerque who still mean as much to me now as they did then.
Nine years is the longest I've lived in one city since I graduated from high school. My current job is the longest I've worked in one place at basically the same job; it will be eight years in October. For someone who is staring down the barrel of his 58th birthday in six weeks, that probably makes me sound like a flake; I know people who are my age who have worked at the same place since they graduated from college and I'm being invited to their retirement party hosted by their grandchildren. But I wouldn't trade my life experiences for anything. Yeah, there are some things I could have done better, and I have a few regrets, including my failed relationship with AJP. But even there, we had fifteen good years and wonderful memories -- and a lot of growing up for both of us -- that can't be discarded because we're apart. Although I'm not doing exactly what I planned to do with all those years of studying theatre, I am very proud of the work I do, and I feel like I'm making a genuine contribution to the education of the 340,000 students of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. I owe a lot of that to the experience I gained working in Albuquerque and Michigan. As for the theatre, moving to Miami gave me the inspiration to write the play that gave me my first New York production in 2008. So all in all, life is in balance.
In a way, it's hard to believe it's been nearly a decade that I've been back in Miami. In a lot of ways I still feel like a newcomer. I still have a strong connection with New Mexico, including being the defender of New Mexico Spanglish among a lot of other different accents and dialects. I still miss the glory of the mountains and the spectacular New Mexico sunsets, and I still have yet to find a place in South Florida that does huevos rancheros the right way. But I'm glad to be here and able to look back at all the amazing blessings that have come my way.
CNN has a couple of related stories, although I doubt they saw the connection.
First, stuffed into their entertainment blog they have: Anne Rice leaves Christianity
Legendary author Anne Rice has announced that she’s quitting Christianity.
The “Interview with a Vampire” author, who wrote a book about her spirituality titled “Called Out of Darkness: A Spiritual Confession” in [...]
Congratulations, Florida. Every major candidate running for U.S. Senate is included on the "crooked candidates" list compiled by the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethic in Washington (CREW). Charlie Crist, Kendrick Meek, and Marco Rubio had already been on the list...
Sen. John McCain spent a ton of time in Florida running for president and Gov. Charlie Crist was a big reason for his success in the primary. But asked why Crist is leading the U.S. Senate race as an independent,...
Rick Outzen is taking umbrage at the recent reports that the oil in the Gulf has disappeared and it wasn’t as bad as had been assumed.
Perhaps those people who think it’s over would care to explain Louisiana authorities report oil sightings from Gulf of Mexico spill for Friday July 30th. These are the reports [...]
"It's not sentimentality that makes me find Breitbart and his methods so loathsome: it's his dishonesty and malice."
A Forbes columnist who has some trouble pinpointing the trouble with Andrew Breitbart gets a comeuppance he'll need to remember. I'd hoped to say more about this, but the day has been more than a little hectic. I can't think of a finer application of Dr. Johnson to a matter of journalistic morality. Do read it.
YouTube asked its users to grab their cameras and submit footage for the upcoming 'Life In A Day' documentary, which will debut at the 2011 Sunset Film Festival. Multimedia journalist Ryan Bauer captured his 'Life In A Day' — from sunrise to sunset — in Tampa Bay, Florida.
With its amusement parks, golf courses, pro sports and energetic street parties, the Tampa Bay area is one of Florida’s most attractive tourist destinations. But this is a surprisingly nature-conscious metropolis for those who can look beyond the well-known mainstream attractions. info
That's said TOME AY like GAY according to mark ober's staff who are intimately acquainted with every gang fuck around here.
Couple things losers: a. Mr. Tome: Your professional pigs are making hate gestures and otherwise hateful behavior. I just want you to know that his is NOT protected. You are performing illegal acts and as I know they can just barely read but react to this blog in their smarter than dog (but just barely) ways .... that you know that I know that you put them up to that. So your stalking in a tertiary manner is ONGOING.
You fucking loser. And, by the way, your professional pigs look as though they need a bath. Wassup wid da water over dere??? izzat what chrissy breen was getting at?? And Colin with is camper/biker.
Which bring us to mr. LOL keller qtip.
Wow you ARE an OLD OLD motherfucker. Slender as a crackhead WILLOW and skanky as a rat's ass on a hot tin roof.
Geez. You all hangin around and shit again.....
I count the ways that does you no good.
You think any little minute you can get my attention you have accomplished your fucked up mission.
I cede to your greater, elder wisdom.
Wait for it.
yer my bitch.
fatass scott the murderer ride in circles .... you as crusty as an old bike spoke.
How did jacque go from johnson to rogers to keller and forever remain a single woman???
Sounds like some fraudulent activity to moi considering it uses a host of names and is married some of the time....
GAD.
May the flies rise up to greet you soon you dipstick old piece of shit.
You and colin barking up the same age tree, huh?? You a bit crustier.
Needa getchoo some young serial killer shit like he's got.
Ybor City Tattoo Company had the best Grand Opening Art Show. We had over 30 original paintings from local, as well as, international tattoo artists.......here
14:17 Greene added to 'crooked candidates' list » Naked Politics
Senate Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek's standing on a list of 11 'crooked candidates' by a watchdog group called Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has provided ammununition for rival Jeff Greene's attacks. Don't look now but CREW is adding...
14:17 Awkward? Scott explains immigration stance to Hispanic crowd » Naked Politics
The Republican frontrunner for governor, Rick Scott, got a polite but less-than-enthused reception yesterday from the Latin Builders Association in Miami, and some in the audience blamed his hardline stance on illegal immigration. The politically influential LBA does not support...
From the Los Angeles Times: Firefighters hope for light winds and cooler temperatures
Firefighters appeared to be gaining the upper hand Saturday in a battle against a wildfire that has burned almost 14,000 acres in northern L.A. County.
Cooler overnight temperatures and milder winds helped firefighters get 62% containment around the Crown fire in the western [...]
13:15 Meet the wives of the Florida Senate race » Naked Politics
Florida's Senate race is about four men elbowing each other in a fierce bid to join the most powerful legislative branch in the United States. But behind the candidates' nasty accusations are four spouses with mirror ambitions. They are their...
13:15 Gelber slaps Aronberg with 'politician' label » Naked Politics
State Sen. Dan Gelber's first direct mail piece is landing in mailboxes this weekend and confirms the race is getting negative. It calls Sen. Dave Aronberg, his opponent in the Democratic attorney general race, that four-letter word this election year:...
13:15 Seeking oil spill work, homeless fill Gulf Coast shelters » the 13th juror
The director of the homeless service center 15 Place in downtown Mobile calls them "rainbow chasers" -- unemployed, sometimes unemployable, people who've come to Mobile in hopes of striking oil cleanup gold.
"I would say easily since the debacle began, particularly in the last 60 or 70 days, we get two new people a day," 15 Place Director Lyn Manz-Walters said. "I'm sure every city on the Gulf Coast would tell you the same thing."
One man took a bus from out of state to Mobile after seeing reports on TV. He firmly believed he'd be paid $1,500 a day plus per diem.
"They're not so much stupid as they are desperate," Manz-Walters said.
State Sen. Dan Gelber's first direct mail piece is landing in mailboxes this weekend and confirms the race is getting negative. It calls Sen. Dave Aronberg, his opponent in the Democratic attorney general race, that four-letter word this election year:...
Florida's Senate race is about four men elbowing each other in a fierce bid to join the most powerful legislative branch in the United States. But behind the candidates' nasty accusations are four spouses with mirror ambitions. They are their...
12:05 Mayor urges homeless to leave Transbay Terminal » the 13th juror
"Go away, man!" Kolinio Waqairawai hollered at Mayor Gavin Newsom at first. But after they talked, he agreed to accept the mayor's offer of housing.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom visited a homeless encampment as part of a final push by city officials to find homes for about 30 die-hards who have used the soon-to-be-demolished Transbay Terminal and its web of overpasses as a shelter for years, repeatedly resisting the city's stepped-up efforts to get them into transitional housing.
Calling the Transbay Terminal home won't be an option in a week. That's when demolition is scheduled to start.
As soon as Newsom finished chatting with Kolinio Waqairawai, three city outreach workers approached him to try to formalize an agreement to move him into his own room in a single-resident occupancy hotel, where he will stay for free until permanent housing is found. Sometimes people agree to go and then change their minds; other times, hotel rooms aren't available and people are placed in shelters before housing is arranged. The process averages about six months, Newsom said.
"People end up doing six years on the street because they didn't want to do six months in a transition," Newsom said. "That's the most frustrating part."
Read the San Francisco Chronicle report here. And see previous post here.
A lingering question from the aborted special session earlier this month is the fallout from the Legislature's "do-nothing" attitude when it came to a constitutional ban on oil drilling. If this poll is any indication, it's not looking good for...
"A federal appeals court in Atlanta turned Florida's public campaign financing law on its head Friday, halting a critical provision that was expected to inject taxpayer cash into Attorney General Bill McCollum's struggling campaign."
The ruling by a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will put an immediate stop to the matching money McCollum thought he was entitled to when his Republican rival Rick Scott, a multimillionaire who is financing his own campaign, exceeds the state's $24.9 million spending cap. Scott has rejected the spending limits under the so-called ``millionaire's provision.''
McCollum has received $1.7 million in state public financing because he has agreed to limit his campaign spending, and will continue to be eligible to receive public financing from another provision of the law. But the court injunction blocks the state from giving him the dollar-for-dollar match of everything Scott spends above the spending cap.
The court's ruling comes at a time when McCollum is trailing Scott by 11 percentage points in the latest polls and the GOP gubernatorial primary is only weeks away. The latest finance reports show that McCollum has only $800,000 on hand for the Aug. 24 primary.
"Saying Scott's free speech rights would be "irreparably harmed," the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a preliminary injunction preventing the state from releasing extra campaign funds to McCollum based on how much his multi-millionaire opponent spends."
Interim Secretary of State Dawn Roberts said she was deciding whether to appeal the ruling to preserve the so-called Millionaire's Amendment. The law was designed to keep wealthy candidates from using their personal resources to defeat less well-heeled opponents.
McCollum, the state attorney general who is trailing in his fourth statewide race, said he, too, is weighing his legal options. But, he immediately pounced on Scott.
"When Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents raided the Oviedo home of ousted Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer in June, they not only handcuffed him and hauled him to jail, they also found boxes filled with party records."
On April 20, the party demanded that Greer turn over all records in his possession that were "in any way relating to any of the matters set forth in your complaint in this case."
He turned over 160 pages, according to state-party pleadings, withholding most of the party paperwork found by FDLE agents at his home. ... Also among the party paperwork FDLE agents found at Greer's home were:
•Records comparing the party's actual spending in 2009 to its budget.
•Records of the party's cash position.
•Records of the party's base operating expenses.
•Records related to air-charter company Baer Air.
•Consultant contracts.
•Crist for U.S. Senate expenses for the third quarter of 2009.
•Crist call sheets from Feb. 3, 2009.
•A state-party letter Greer wrote Crist dated Jan. 5, 2010.
In addition, agents also found a $4,150 bill from GrayRobinson, the law firm that Greer hired to set up Victory Strategies. The firm says it was never paid.
"Federal officials predicted Friday that most Gulf Coast beaches have seen their last major oiling from the BP spill, and South Florida and the East Coast should be spared any impact because the crude never reached the powerful loop current. A new analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed most surface oil in the Gulf had degraded to a thin sheen. What remained on the surface and below was hundreds of miles from the loop current, which scientists feared could have carried the oil through the Florida Keys, up the East Coast and possibly toward Europe. NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco said a strong eddy is preventing oil from reaching the loop current." "South Florida, East Coast likely spared oil impact".
former health care executive Rick Scott, Attorney General Bill McCollum and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink are essentially in a dead heat.
With Scott as the GOP nominee – and his nearly $30 million ad blitz has vaulted him into the lead in the Republican primary – he gets 29 percent, Sink 27 percent and independent Bud Chiles 14 percent.
With McCollum as the Republican nominee, McCollum gets 27 percent, Sink 26 percent and Chiles 14 percent. Scott leads McCollum by 11 percent in the GOP primary.
The Orlando Sentinelreports that "Gov. Charlie Crist, who fled the Republican Party for life as an independent, remains the frontrunner in Florida's race for Senate, leading former House Speaker Marco Rubio by 5 to 6 percentage points, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll."
The poll shows Crist with 37 percent, Rubio at 32 percent, and Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene, one of two Democratic contenders, at 17 percent. Crist leads Rubio 39-33 percent if U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek is the Democratic nominee.
In that scenario, Meek gets 13 percent of the vote.
The Q poll "underscores the effectiveness of Crist's centrist style -- and its risks. Crist, who has stripped references to his conservative positions from his campaign website, has remained the front-runner by receiving half of the vote of independents, a fifth of the Republican vote and a whopping 40 percent of the Democratic vote, the poll shows. ... Though Rubio's campaign has tried to paint Crist as an opportunist, the Quinnipiac poll suggests the criticism isn't sticking". "Shift to center helping Crist keep fragile lead". See also "Poll shows Crist in lead" and "Poll: Crist leading Senate race".
Perhaps its population growth in The Villages?
How Florida has managed to stay blue is a mystery with numbers like this: "Florida voters disapprove of the new health care law by a 53-to-36 percent margin, roughly the same as their 56-to-34 percent disapproval in June. Nationwide, opposition to the landmark health-care law declined over the past month, to 35 percent from 41 percent, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll released Thursday. Fifty percent of the public held a favorable view of the law, up slightly from 48 percent a month ago, while 14 percent expressed no opinion about the measure, according to the poll." "Poll: voters down on Obama, drilling, health care law".
"While the political spotlight remains on the close and dramatic contests for the governorship and the open U.S. Senate seat, a number of intriguing contests are shaping up for Florida Senate seats in both primaries and in the general election. ... While Republican control of the Senate does not appear to be in any peril, the Democrats have fielded some solid candidates and have a chance at knocking off a few incumbents. But the reality is, the Republicans have an excellent chance at increasing their majority."
"Behind the candidates' nasty accusations are four spouses with mirror ambitions. They are their husbands' ultimate political accessories, the lapel flag in human form: slim legs, coiffed hair, dazzling smiles, a walking thesaurus of their spouses' winning attributes. Carole Crist. Mei Greene. Leslie Meek. Jeanette Dousdebes-Rubio." "The women behind the men who would be Florida's senator".
Is nothing sacred?
"Floridians beware, especially you party-hardy Conchs: Under a little-known law, your local bar could be closed the next time a hurricane comes." "Bars could close in Florida for next hurricane".
After reading the hard copy of your hometown newspaper, please consider becoming a site fan on Facebook and following us on Twitter. Our digest of, and commentary on today's Florida political news and punditry follows.
McCollum campaign dealt decisive blow
"A federal appeals court in Atlanta turned Florida's public campaign financing law on its head Friday, halting a critical provision that was expected to inject taxpayer cash into Attorney General Bill McCollum's struggling campaign."
The ruling by a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will put an immediate stop to the matching money McCollum thought he was entitled to when his Republican rival Rick Scott, a multimillionaire who is financing his own campaign, exceeds the state's $24.9 million spending cap. Scott has rejected the spending limits under the so-called ``millionaire's provision.''
McCollum has received $1.7 million in state public financing because he has agreed to limit his campaign spending, and will continue to be eligible to receive public financing from another provision of the law. But the court injunction blocks the state from giving him the dollar-for-dollar match of everything Scott spends above the spending cap.
The court's ruling comes at a time when McCollum is trailing Scott by 11 percentage points in the latest polls and the GOP gubernatorial primary is only weeks away. The latest finance reports show that McCollum has only $800,000 on hand for the Aug. 24 primary.
"Saying Scott's free speech rights would be "irreparably harmed," the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals issued a preliminary injunction preventing the state from releasing extra campaign funds to McCollum based on how much his multi-millionaire opponent spends."
Interim Secretary of State Dawn Roberts said she was deciding whether to appeal the ruling to preserve the so-called Millionaire's Amendment. The law was designed to keep wealthy candidates from using their personal resources to defeat less well-heeled opponents.
McCollum, the state attorney general who is trailing in his fourth statewide race, said he, too, is weighing his legal options. But, he immediately pounced on Scott.
"When Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents raided the Oviedo home of ousted Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer in June, they not only handcuffed him and hauled him to jail, they also found boxes filled with party records."
On April 20, the party demanded that Greer turn over all records in his possession that were "in any way relating to any of the matters set forth in your complaint in this case."
He turned over 160 pages, according to state-party pleadings, withholding most of the party paperwork found by FDLE agents at his home. ... Also among the party paperwork FDLE agents found at Greer's home were:
•Records comparing the party's actual spending in 2009 to its budget.
•Records of the party's cash position.
•Records of the party's base operating expenses.
•Records related to air-charter company Baer Air.
•Consultant contracts.
•Crist for U.S. Senate expenses for the third quarter of 2009.
•Crist call sheets from Feb. 3, 2009.
•A state-party letter Greer wrote Crist dated Jan. 5, 2010.
In addition, agents also found a $4,150 bill from GrayRobinson, the law firm that Greer hired to set up Victory Strategies. The firm says it was never paid.
"Federal officials predicted Friday that most Gulf Coast beaches have seen their last major oiling from the BP spill, and South Florida and the East Coast should be spared any impact because the crude never reached the powerful loop current. A new analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed most surface oil in the Gulf had degraded to a thin sheen. What remained on the surface and below was hundreds of miles from the loop current, which scientists feared could have carried the oil through the Florida Keys, up the East Coast and possibly toward Europe. NOAA administrator Jane Lubchenco said a strong eddy is preventing oil from reaching the loop current." "South Florida, East Coast likely spared oil impact".
former health care executive Rick Scott, Attorney General Bill McCollum and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink are essentially in a dead heat.
With Scott as the GOP nominee – and his nearly $30 million ad blitz has vaulted him into the lead in the Republican primary – he gets 29 percent, Sink 27 percent and independent Bud Chiles 14 percent.
With McCollum as the Republican nominee, McCollum gets 27 percent, Sink 26 percent and Chiles 14 percent. Scott leads McCollum by 11 percent in the GOP primary.
The Orlando Sentinelreports that "Gov. Charlie Crist, who fled the Republican Party for life as an independent, remains the frontrunner in Florida's race for Senate, leading former House Speaker Marco Rubio by 5 to 6 percentage points, according to a new Quinnipiac University poll."
The poll shows Crist with 37 percent, Rubio at 32 percent, and Palm Beach billionaire Jeff Greene, one of two Democratic contenders, at 17 percent. Crist leads Rubio 39-33 percent if U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek is the Democratic nominee.
In that scenario, Meek gets 13 percent of the vote.
The Q poll "underscores the effectiveness of Crist's centrist style -- and its risks. Crist, who has stripped references to his conservative positions from his campaign website, has remained the front-runner by receiving half of the vote of independents, a fifth of the Republican vote and a whopping 40 percent of the Democratic vote, the poll shows. ... Though Rubio's campaign has tried to paint Crist as an opportunist, the Quinnipiac poll suggests the criticism isn't sticking". "Shift to center helping Crist keep fragile lead". See also "Poll shows Crist in lead" and "Poll: Crist leading Senate race".
Perhaps its population growth in The Villages?
How Florida has managed to stay blue is a mystery with numbers like this: "Florida voters disapprove of the new health care law by a 53-to-36 percent margin, roughly the same as their 56-to-34 percent disapproval in June. Nationwide, opposition to the landmark health-care law declined over the past month, to 35 percent from 41 percent, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll released Thursday. Fifty percent of the public held a favorable view of the law, up slightly from 48 percent a month ago, while 14 percent expressed no opinion about the measure, according to the poll." "Poll: voters down on Obama, drilling, health care law".
"While the political spotlight remains on the close and dramatic contests for the governorship and the open U.S. Senate seat, a number of intriguing contests are shaping up for Florida Senate seats in both primaries and in the general election. ... While Republican control of the Senate does not appear to be in any peril, the Democrats have fielded some solid candidates and have a chance at knocking off a few incumbents. But the reality is, the Republicans have an excellent chance at increasing their majority."
"Behind the candidates' nasty accusations are four spouses with mirror ambitions. They are their husbands' ultimate political accessories, the lapel flag in human form: slim legs, coiffed hair, dazzling smiles, a walking thesaurus of their spouses' winning attributes. Carole Crist. Mei Greene. Leslie Meek. Jeanette Dousdebes-Rubio." "The women behind the men who would be Florida's senator".
Is nothing sacred?
"Floridians beware, especially you party-hardy Conchs: Under a little-known law, your local bar could be closed the next time a hurricane comes." "Bars could close in Florida for next hurricane".
07:57 Floridians: We would've liked to vote on an offshore oil drilling ban » Naked Politics
Nearly three-quarters of Floridians support giving the state's voters a chance to decide whether to permanently ban offshore oil-drilling, a new poll shows. The Quinnipiac University survey -- which comes a week after the Florida Legislature rejected Gov. Charlie Crist's...
I'm off in the early morning light to catch a flight to Detroit, then on to Perrysburg for a much-needed vacation, time with my parents, and then our annual pilgrimage to Stratford, Ontario, and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. From there we're going on to the Shaw Festival at Niagara-on-the-Lake for our first visit there.
Blogging will be on a vacation-type schedule with a later start in the morning and more posting during the day than trying to cram it all in between the time I get up and the time I get to the office. Also, my postings and reviews on the plays we see at Stratford and Shaw will be on Bobby Cramer in keeping with the literary intent of that blog and to add a few more ticks to the traffic counter over there.
Meanwhile, I'll see you next when I get settled in at my usual spot in my old home town.
When I moved to Minneapolis to start grad school in September 1975, I decided to replace my 1973 Ford F-100 pickup with something else. I wasn't crazy about driving it in Minnesota's famous winters; being a rear-wheel drive vehicle, it didn't handle snow all that well unless it was fully loaded, and the four bags of cement in the back didn't help. Also, it had developed a shimmy in the front end from time to time that was so bad it once jerked the wheel out of my hands. The Ford dealer diagnosed it as warped rotors on the disc brakes and tried to fix them -- under warranty -- but to no avail. So a couple of weeks after arriving in Minneapolis, I stopped by Ridgedale Ford and saw a used two-door 1975 Ford Granada on their lot. It was red with a three-speed manual transmission and no A/C, but with the trade-in the price was right and it handled pretty well on ice and snow. Yes, I did look at a Mustang, but a Mustang II (which was based on the Pinto) was out of my price range.
In those days in Minnesota the license plates stayed with the car, so for the first time I had a different state's plates on my car.
There's a little history with me and Minneapolis in that my father was born and raised there. My grandfather died when I was seven, so my memories of him are fleeting, but our family went to Minneapolis in December 1964 to celebrate my grandmother's eightieth birthday. I met uncles and relatives for the first time and I have vivid memories of the house on Fremont Avenue South close to Lake Harriet. My grandmother died in 1967 and the house was sold, but one of the first things I did in my new car was to drive by the house. I knocked on the door, introduced myself, and was treated to a tour by the nice people who owned it. Even with a new family living there, I could still recall the memories of my childhood visits, right down to the special scent of the attic and the backyard where my grandfather had kept his bird-feeders. It was a nice way to make a connection with my new town.
With the midterms looming, the GOP is getting cute,
They're playing to the Tea Party to bring in the loot.
But the Party of No
Has nowhere to go,
If the best they can offer is a Newt.
Question: Why is Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) an embarrassment and a drag on the midterms for the Democrats, but Sen. John Ensign (R-NV), who is under criminal investigation by the FBI, is not an embarrassment and a drag on the midterms for the GOP?
Hillsborough Circuit Judge Bernard Silver found no evidence Beckner acted recklessly regarding Blair, a public figure. He noted in his order that the parsing of words in political debate is subject to "rational interpretations.".....here
Nine years ago today I loaded up the Pontiac with my plants, my computer, and Sam. At 6:30 p.m., in a driving rainstorm, we left Albuquerque following the Bekins moving van on our way to Miami and my new job. We drove until midnight, getting to Pecos, Texas, where we spent the night. The next morning we got on I-10 and cruised across the Lone Star state, catching Houston at rush hour, New Orleans in the dark (I took the detour through the city so I could say I'd been there), and finally stopped for the night somewhere on the Mississippi/Alabama border. Finally, forty-eight hours to the minute after leaving Albuquerque, we arrived in Miami... in a rainstorm.
The Only Way We Will Get Out Of This Mess!
With its amusement parks, golf courses, pro sports and energetic street parties, the Tampa Bay area is one of Florida’s most attractive tourist destinations. But this is a surprisingly nature-conscious metropolis for those who can look beyond the well-known mainstream attractions.
Ybor City Tattoo Company had the best Grand Opening Art Show. We had over 30 original paintings from local, as well as, international tattoo artists.......here 
here
"Go away, man!" Kolinio Waqairawai hollered at Mayor Gavin Newsom at first. But after they talked, he agreed to accept the mayor's offer of housing.
Hillsborough Circuit Judge Bernard Silver found no evidence Beckner acted recklessly regarding Blair, a public figure. He noted in his order that the parsing of words in political debate is subject to "rational interpretations.".....here
