Category — Florida

The Local Puppy Trainer covers another Memorial Day event in Santa Rosa county: Students, parents protest ACLU restrictions

PACE — Frustrated by restrictions stemming from an ACLU lawsuit, about 200 students and parents gathered to pray and protest outside Pace High School on Monday.

None would talk on the record about their concerns, but their presence was clearly a reaction to a court-approved consent decree that limits who can speak at graduation ceremonies.

Now, only the valedictorian and salutatorian can speak – but not the class president or any other student body representative.

In May, after months of negotiating through the courts, the American Civil Liberties Union won the final chapter of a lawsuit filed against the Santa Rosa County School District last August.

The suit was filed on behalf of two Pace High School students who alleged that school officials regularly promoted religion and offered prayers at school events in violation of their First Amendment rights.

This was a consent decree. This is what the school board agreed to do to comply with the US Constitution. The government is not supposed to impose a religion on people, but that’s what the Santa Rosa County School Board had been doing for years.

Memorial Day is about paying our respects to those who paid with their lives to support the Constitution, not a day to advocate ignoring it. The ACLU isn’t restricting anything, the restriction is in the Constitution. If you can’t live with it, you are free to emigrate, because frankly, you want to act just like the Taliban.

The Pensacola News Journal reports on a Memorial Day event: Protesters steamed over government

About 60 people gathered on a north Pensacola roadside Memorial Day afternoon to speak out against a wide variety of government policies.

The “tea party”-style event went on near the intersection of Creighton Road and North Ninth Avenue from noon to 2 p.m.

Demonstrators’ emotions ranged from patriotism to outrage as they displayed protest signs and waved to passing cars.

Complaining about the taxes you pay on a day dedicated to people who have paid the ultimate price is not patriotic, but it is an outrage.

The Miami Herald thinks the Florida GOP may have a problem: All-white slate may be liability

At a time when the Florida electorate is growing increasingly diverse, the Republican party is gearing up to field an all-male, all-white slate in 2010.

There are a lot of Cuban-American Republicans in this state, but the state and national party don’t seem to recognize their existence. The instant backing of Charlies Crist, which put Marco Rubio at a distinct disadvantage, is not the way to “win hearts and minds”, but the GOP can’t figure that out.

Fred Grimm at the Miami Herald reports on failed attempt to sell Florida assets: No bids found for highway robbery deal

If only I had known that all those well-connected foreign conglomerates were gonna chicken out I’d have bid on Alligator Alley myself.

Heck. I’d have offered the entirety of what’s left of my 401(k). I figure if I’m ever jettisoned from the newspaper writing business, my unique skill sets correspond nicely with the necessary attributes of highway toll collector. I already own plenty of cheesy Florida shirts. All I’d need, to complete my resumé, is a long-term lease on a busy 78-mile ready-built, well-maintained, high-profit toll road.

Who could’ve guessed that none of the expected bidders would bother, despite the state spending $3 million on the prep work to unload a public asset the public would rather keep?

Selling assets to cover budget problems was a prominent feature of the Reagan Administration. Rather than admit that the big tax cuts for the wealthy did nothing but generate huge deficits, Reagan and Congress started selling the property of the taxpayers to cover the real cost of their mess.

Fortunately this sale failed, but the practice is a long time responsibility dodge by politicians – short term cash infusions to cover this year’s problems that make matters worse in the future.

When you visit one of our beautiful beaches if you anticipate entering the warm turquoise to emerald green waters you should scan for a colored flag that will tell you what the conditions are like.

This is not the flag of Libya, it is the flag that tells you that you probably aren’t going to drown if you are a reasonably competent swimmer. It is a great day to be on the beach.

This flag tells you that the surf is a bit choppy and you will probably want to stay out of the water unless you made it to the regionals in swimming at school.

If Michael Phelps doesn’t consider you a threat, and you haven’t won at least three Iron Man competitions, stay on the beach. This is associated with rip currents which will pull you away from shore. You can see the currents if you are paying attention as they are found in that really placid looking spot on the water away from all of the violent looking surf.

This is the “No Swimming” flag that is flown below the red flag. It tells you that you will probably drown if you enter the water, and the life guards don’t like their chances if they try to rescue you. Should you decide to enter the water, please swab your mouth with a Q-tip, and put the swab, your insurance card, next-of-kin contact information, and suicide note in a plastic bag on the beach. A recent, flattering photo for the newspaper to use would be nice, but don’t bother with finger prints, because DNA will be needed, depending on how long it takes to recover your body and how much of it is recovered.

This flag warns of the probability that there is dangerous marine life in the water. Normally it means one or more types of stinging jellyfish, but they would probably fly it for a Great White.

So far this weekend we have had red flag conditions across the northern Gulf Coast, with Walton also flying purple for jellyfish. What a great start to the summer season – gas up 25%, thunderstorms, rip currents, and jellyfish.

Two male and a female mallard dropped in for a dip in what we laughingly refer to as a storm water drain in the property across the street. Instead of draining anything, there was a two-foot-deep pond.

After an inch yesterday and two more today, the frogs decided it was a time for courting, so when the thunder stopped the froggy arias took over.

If Invest 90 had had about 6 more hours over the Gulf it would have probably become the first tropical storm of the preseason, and the season doesn’t start until a week from Monday.

In the last couple of months Central Florida has had drought, fire, and now flooding. It is not a good thing for the Mouse, and Florida tourism on the Memorial Day weekend. People won’t visit when they can get rained on at home.

It certainly is strange how, every year, the “supply and demand” forces cause the price of gas to shoot up just before this weekend. It has risen a quarter a gallon in the last week. It will drop on Tuesday, but the forces will cause another amazing rise before the Fourth of July, and then before Labor Day. It’s a mystery how the “free market” works. You would almost begin to believe that something other than supply and demand were at work. 😈

According to the Local Puppy Trainer, the Federal prosecutors had a wonderful package behind Door #1 and my former sheriff went for it: Morris admits guilt in all six felony charges. Teresa Adams looks like she will be going for the same plea agreement on Friday.

Meanwhile we learn that the Sheriff’s Office finance director has been suspended

SHALIMAR – On the day Charlie Morris pleaded guilty to six felony charges, administrators at the Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office suspended another person implicated in the kickback scheme.

Sandy Norris, Morris’ finance director, was suspended with pay Tuesday “subject to the completion of an internal investigation,” interim Sheriff Ed Spooner said.

Ah, Sandy, this is where you decide to spend more time with your family and resign to save whatever benefits you can. Actually you should have been looking for “other opportunities” as soon as Charlie and Teresa were arrested.

While we have had too much rain, Central Florida has been in a drought and plagued with numerous wildfires, a couple of dozen 100 acre+ fires at any given time, closing roads, and taking some houses and businesses.

Well, the rains have come, and now there is Central Florida flooding.

It should put out a lot of the fires and will definitely help raise the levels in lakes, and the aquifer, but this will have to continue for a long time before the water shortage is made up.

Annette Taddeo [D Miami] is thinking seriously about the Chief Financial Officer’s position and Jeff Atwater [R North Palm Beach], the current Florida Senate President has announced for the job.

There is a cluster of Democrats looking at the Attorney General’s job, but no one has said anything about the Agricultural Commissioner’s job, which is not exactly surprising, as Democrats can only get elected in urban areas because of the redistricting.

To make things confusing, Will McBride [R Orlando] who lost to Cruella de Harris in the 2006 Republican Senate primary is thinking of running for Attorney General.

Alex Sink’s husband, Bill McBride [D Tampa], who ran for governor in 2002, will probably be helping on her campaign.

There is too much name recognition involved in this one, especially among Panhandle Republicans.

As expected, Attorney General Bill McCollum announces run for Florida governor.

The State Republican Party is getting some backlash for its attempts to avoid primary fights.

The second article in the Miami Herald mentions that Cruella de Harris’s cousin, Adam “Howdy Doody” Putnam, is giving up his lucrative career as a joke in Congress to run for Agriculture Commissioner. Actually, he might know something about agriculture, and Tallahassee is more suited to his talents that Washington.

If Marco Rubio decides to take on Charlies Crist in a standard Florida Republican primary, Teddy the Wonder Lizard could beat the survivor. I can assure you, if you have never observed one of these spectacles, that both candidates will be shown to be criminals, sexual perverts, and atheists who support dropping pregnant women off of Interstate overpasses, 150% tax rates, and they will send stormtroopers to your house to seize your guns. Politics in Florida has a lot in common with professional wrestling. 😈

Reality check, the GOP and Dems are both short of money, and this isn’t a good environment in which to raise it. Both are trying to concentrate on the November election in 2010. This isn’t a matter of being undemocratic, it is the reality of being broke.

Pat Rice on the Local Puppy Trainer heard rumors that Charlie Crist might be gay and is quick to add a variation of “not that there’s anything wrong with that”.

The Pensacola New Journal notes that Fierce 2010 races shaping up in Florida

Marian Johnson, vice president for political strategies for the Florida Chamber of Commerce, said the demographic trends are friendlier for the Democrats. The party always outnumbered the GOP but with the surge in voter registration last year, she said, more new voters signed up as independents and no party voters than as Republicans.

“One of the problems for the Republicans is the voter who is registering is typically a young woman and they’re very interested in what’s going on,” said Johnson. “They are paying attention now.”

Yes, folks, Florida has always been a majority Democratic state, but the national party for years has siphoned off all of the political money, and a backlash against incumbents led to a redistricting that gave two-thirds of the state and Federal legislative offices to the Republicans.

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Apparently having a helicopter make a forced landing in a local parking lot at 8PM isn’t news around here.

The pilot did a good job as the engine sounded like it was eating itself. I have no idea how they are going to get it out of where it landed without taking it apart and loading it on flatbed trailers, but I was more concerned that for a while it looked like it was going to come down on my head, and I had to wait to see which way to run.

The Miami Herald reports on the weekend events in Dade County: Anti-gay church to protest here

A small, radical Midwestern church that has made headlines for picketing Iraq War veterans’ funerals plans to protest an America it believes has gone pro-gay and anti-God with demonstrations in South Florida beginning this weekend.

Yes, the Wicked Whackoes of Westboro are headed for South Florida to annoy people. Fred and the Phelpes are planning to start their tour in Key West and then move North with their pathetic street theater performance.

Marco Rubio has a problem – supporters can’t remember his name.

My Mother had her TV on tonight and Pat Buchanan was discussing the Republican primary for the Senate race in Florida with the bubble-headed bleach blond [Chris Matthews]. He said that the young guy who was a Hispanic or Cuban or something was more conservative that Crist and Republicans should vote for the young guy in the primary. It might have been a meaningful endorsement for the primary if anyone had managed to remember the candidate’s name.

I have to wait for the transcript to appear for the exact quote which is why all I provided was a paraphrase. I guarantee, no one said “Marco Rubio” on the show. I had to tell my Mother who they were talking about, but she had never heard of him.

Update 5/18/09 : the transcript is finally available:

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