Monthly Archives: March 2017
Hacking and fake news – never a better time to remember Stephen Glass
Hacking and fake news has been at the forefront of the discussions around new President Donald Trump. Possible Russian hacking of Trump’s election and his constant use of the term “fake news” to describe credible media outlets got me thinking of the combination of hacking and fake news – the piece “Hack Heaven” the ran […]
Former Rep. Dwayne Taylor indicted for fraud
Former Rep. Dwayne Taylor (D-Daytona Beach) who just left office last year has been charged with nine counts of wire fraud. Taylor who made a bid for the post of Democratic Leader after the 2014 election after being pushed by business interests, political consultants, lobbyists and other establishment forces was defeated thanks to the strong voice […]
What we are reading: Trump’s new Gulf of Mexico oil and gas drilling proposal looks a lot like Obama’s
Donald Trump’s drilling proposal in the Gulf of Mexico is bad news for Florida. The Washington Post sees similarities between it and President Obama’s policies. Floridians shouldn’t care whether it is Obama or Trump making the proposal. Heck, Jeb Bush even opposed his brother’s Gulf drilling proposal in 2001 because he knew it wasn’t beneficial […]
What we are reading: The hard truth for liberals
James Traub in The New York Times echoes my views on liberals and refugees. My position is far more nuanced than that of many of my fellow leftists. I do believe an extreme position that doesn’t consider the potential drawbacks of accepting refugees is unfortunately an easy driver of people who might be somewhere in […]
Breaking down Governor Scott’s State of the State
Governor Scott enters his seventh year in office with a loosening grip on legislative agenda and a bully pulpit that he has failed to use effectively recently. He attempted to position himself today with his annual State of the State Address. However, as is often the case his rhetoric was either irresponsible or off the […]
Flashback: Editorial on gambling in Florida
With gaming once again on the front burner as legislative session began today, it’s critical Floridians understand the ramifications of any sort of expansion of gambling in the state. Some of the players have changed but the issues remain largely the same – thus we are rerunning an editorial which was published on the opening […]
What we are reading: Florida’s New Legislative Leaders Talk Issues, Personalities
Excellent feature from the AP’s Brendan Farrington. Many Democrats who haven’t dealt with the nuts and bolts of the legislature since the party fell out of power 20 years ago often forget that the legislature is defined by the personalities of its leaders as much as by partisan Republican considerations. This was the reality in the […]
March 7, 2000: Session kicks off with March on Tallahassee
Legislative session beginning on March 7 reminds me of 2000 – when as a staffer I had to get to the Capitol before 7 am as did everyone else working in the building because of a massive justified protest – that by Floridians against Governor Jeb Bush’s attempts to gut civil rights protections for African […]
The media failed to show same outrage about Rubio’s slanderous comments about President Obama as they did about Trump’s
The TV news media was in full frenzy all weekend rightly pilling on President Donald Trump (except for FOX News which in its role as “state television” booked guests that advocated the prosecution of President Obama after taking a pause Saturday morning no doubt to get on the same page as the White House) for […]
Trump’s Palm Beach visits causing problems for Floridians
Donald Trump’s weekend jaunts to Palm Beach are doing more than costing taxpayers monetarily – they are inconveniencing Floridians in some very basic ways. Take for instance the sonic boom heard two weeks ago in southeast Florida that shook up residents (including myself and my pets who went crazy thinking something had exploded in our […]
The Florida Squeeze 