Michelle Bachmann’s bigoted smear of Huma Abedin, the Hillary Clinton aide who happens to be a Muslim, about Abedin’s alleged Muslim Brotherhood connections, is a reflection of a pronounced reactionary-Republican rejection of evidence for ideological expediency.
Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions
As Florida and Other States Privatize Prison Health Services, Care Standards Suffer
Florida and other states, in an attempt to cut costs, are increasingly outsourcing health care for inmates to for-profit companies, but the trend is raising concerns among unions and prisoners’ rights groups.
Picking Up Trash on A1A: A Harvest Of Sloth You Can Do Something About
Frank Gromling’s Ocean Publishing adopted a 2-mile stretch of A1A to keep clean of trash–cigarette butts, soda and beer cans, food wrappers–people are too slothful not to drop on their way. Gromling tells of the experience of periodically picking up after you.
Jeb Bush or Marco Rubio as Romney’s Vice President: Florida GOP Hopes Fade
Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio were front-runners as Mitt Romney’s vice-presidential picks a few months ago. No longer. Bush doesn’t want it. Rubio is no longer a politically opportune choice as Florida’s Hispanics lean heavily toward Obama.
John McCain vs. Michelle Bachmann: In Defense of Huma Abedin
Michelle Bachmann and other conservatives suggested in a letter that Hillary Clinton aide Huma Abedin, of Pakistani descent, is a Muslim Brotherhood infiltrator. John McCain defended Abedin in a July 18 speech.
3 Liberal Florida Justices Battle Conservative Foundation’s Plan to Depose Them
Justices R. Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince filed a court motion to block the conservative Southeastern Legal Foundation from moving forward with 22 depositions in a merit-retention case. The foundation is targeting the justices for their liberalism.
Florida Colleges Vow to Be 1st in U.S. to Double Graduation Rates By 2020–With Extra Funding
Florida’s 28 state and community colleges will request a 35 percent increase in state funding to reach those goals and think Gov. Rick Scott will back their play. Graduating from a four-year college costs $23,647.
Who Is Sheldon Adelson and Why Are GOP Contenders Accepting His Money?
Sheldon Adelson donated $25 million to the Newt Gingrich campaign and reportedly donated $10 million to a superpac supporting Mitt Romney, but the foreign source of the billionaire’s gambling fortune is raising questions about its financing of GOP contenders.
Stop Paying Paper-Pushing Administrators And Union Bosses Better Than Teachers
Can anyone imagine the owner of the Miami Heat announcing that LeBron James has done such an outstanding job leading his team to the NBA championship that he is being “promoted” to a front-office job?
Another Court Ruling Favors Online Travel Companies Over County Tax Collectors, Including Flagler’s
A Tallahassee judge has sided with online travel companies like Expedia and Orbitz in a dispute over local tax obligations — a blow to counties, including Flagler, that have argued the companies weren’t paying enough.
In Florida, Mitt Romney Has a New George W. Bush to Contend With: Gov. Rick Scott
With Rick Scott’s poll numbers continuing to struggle and Florida a critical battleground in the November election, Democrats see the governor as a uniquely powerful albatross against Mitt Romney, who cannot win the election without winning Florida.
John Pollinger Responds to His Critics
John Pollinger, a candidate for Flagler County Sheriff, has been criticized over his last months as Middletown, N.J., police chief and his tenure as post commander of the American Legion in Palm Coast. He tells his side.
Hedging Privacy Concerns, Hospitals Shop for Patients on Facebook and Google
A growing number of hospitals are taking their advertising campaigns to Facebook, Google and other websites as more see the value of highly targeted campaigns that enable them to track results. Social media users may be unnerved by being tracked and followed by information they’ve searched for.
Florida’s High Court Affirms Guilty Until Proven Innocent Standard in Drug Possessions
In not requiring “knowledge” of the illegality of whatever they were carrying, the law puts Florida at odds with at least 48 other states that require prosecutors to convince a jury that defendants knew they were carrying illegal drugs.
Nan Rich Calls for Investigation Into TB Outbreak as Florida Surgeon General Fumes
Senate Minority Leader and gubernatorial candidate Nan Rich called today (July 12) for the Senate to investigate reports of a tuberculosis outbreak in Northeast Florida as the state closes its last hospital dedicated to treating the disease.
Cops Spying on Your Cell Phone: Warrantless, Routine, and With Providers’ Complicity
Privacy activists hold that cops’ tracking of cell phones require a search warrant to be constitutional. But the Supreme Court hasn’t ruled on the issue, and Congress has yet to pass a law addressing it.
Bucking State Trend, Flagler School Grades Stay Strong, But So Does Criticism
All but one Flagler County public or charter school scored an A or a B. The exception was Palm Harbor Academy, a charter, which scored an F. The state’s teachers union cautioned against making much of the results absent a more reliable testing system.
Florida A&M’s James Ammons Resigns 8 Months After Robert Champion’s Hazing Death
Florida A&M University President James Ammons resigned Wednesday amid continuing fallout from the hazing death of “Marching 100” drum major Robert Champion and other problems at the historically black school.
Scott Administration Downplays Northeast Florida Tuberculosis Spike; CDC Doesn’t
An April report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention noted a surge in cases of the highly contagious disease that appeared to be clustered in a homeless shelter, a jail and an outpatient mental health clinic in downtown Jacksonville.
George Zimmerman Bails Out and Passes Out the Hat for More Money
George Zimmerman is living in a safe house in Seminole County and he needs money, because when a second bond hearing put Zimmerman’s bail at $1 million, the neighborhood watch volunteer had to add $85,000 to the $15,000 he’d posted in April.
Foster Children in Group Homes in Miami and Jacksonville Falling Prey to Sex Trafficking
Authorities said men lured teenage girls into prostitution, plying them with money, gifts and personal attention. The men collected the proceeds and paid the girls 40 percent. In the Jacksonville case, the teen was advertised in Backpage.com. In both cases, the alleged pimps also used teens as recruiters, police say.
A Lifeguard’s Soul,
Outsourced to the Bottom line
Thomas Lopez was fired by Jeff Ellis and Associates, the private company to whom Hallandale Beach outsourced its lifeguard services, when Lopez tried to save a drowning man beyond his jurisdiction. It’s an example of privatization’s immoral priorities.
When Oceans Heal:
In Praise of the Jimmy Miller Foundation
The Jimmy Miller Foundation is a non-profit organization helping people challenged by physical and mental illness, including through the Wounder Warrior Project.
Walmart at 50: Gutting the Middle Class 1 Small Business and Manufacturing Job at a Time
Walmart’s 50th anniversary caps a 150year stretch when the number of independent retailers fell by over 60,000, and when, between 2001 and 2007, some 40,000 U.S. factories closed, eliminating millions of jobs.
Conservatives Press Attack as Florida’s Liberal Justices Are Cleared of Campaign Wrongdoing
An investigation into the filing of qualifying papers for Florida Supreme Court Justices Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince has been closed, but the controversy about the trio’s place on this fall’s ballot is likely to continue.
FHP’s Crackdown and the Prohibitionist Politics of Drunk Driving: A Dissent
Taking aim at today’s deployment of 40 FHP troopers on I-95, Darrell Smith calls the targeting of people who drink–as opposed to drunk drivers–a brown-shirted example of a police state mentality too readily embraced by the public.
U.S. Economy Adds Just 80,000 Jobs In June as Unemployment Stagnates at 8.2%
The national economy added percent for the third most 80,000 jobs in June, keeping the unemployment rate stuck at 8.2 percent for the third month in a row.
Jeb Bush’s Republican Identity Crisis and the Limits of Tolerance
Even as Jeb Bush calls for a more tolerant Republican Party where ideas compete, his description of Obama’s reign in the White House as “One Ideology, One Party, and One Man” is more Orwellian than anything else, and misses the nature of Americans’ passionate beliefs, argues Steven Kurlander.
Florida Law Barring Doctors From Asking Patients About Guns at Home Ruled Invalid
The law restricts doctors’ ability to provide truthful, non-misleading information to a patient, U.S. District Judge Marcia Cooke ruled. The “docs-vs-glocks” law was backed by the NRA and signed by Gov. Rick Scott in 2011.
What Fox and CNN Flubbed in Health Care Verdict Scoop: Getting It Right
Fox and CNN reporters who got the health care verdict wrong last week were driven by the intense competition of live TV and online reporting and social media. Those reporters let their competitive instincts overcome the rule we all learned on the college newspaper, writes Bill Cotterell.
Gov. Scott’s Health Law in Florida: No Medicaid Expansion, No Insurance Exchange
Gov. Rick Scott will opt Florida out of the insurance “exchanges” the new health law designs to help residents find health coverage, and he will opt out of expanding medicaid, even though the federal government pays all the costs for expansion the first 2 years, and 90 percent thereafter.
Student-Led School Prayers Are Now Legal, But Fear of Litigation Could Trump God
The new Florida school prayer law lets local school districts approve policies allowing students to deliver prayers at school events, but districts aren’t likely to approve such measures for fear of costly litigation.
I’ll Have What She’s Having
In Praise of Nora Ephron
Long before she was putting words into the mouth of Tom Hanks in “Sleepless in Seattle” and fake orgasms into the mouth of Meg Ryan in “When Harry Met Sally,” Ephron was mastering the craft of learning from and telling truths about people from all walks of life as a $98-a-week cub reporter for the New York Post.
Mike Pius’s Visual Recovery and Other Flashes of Brilliance: Wire Essentials, July 2
Firefighter Mike Pius is in recovery mode, Marco Rubio stutters on the Daily Show, Britain slumps ahead of the 2012 Olympics, Kandinsky is caught on the act of drawing, on video, Chief Justice Roberts goes transcendentalist, and more.
At the Flagler Beach Pier, A Window Into a Private Romance for the Ages
From his window onto the boardwalk at the Flagler Beach pier, the author has been witnessing the intimate ritual of an ancient couple’s love for years, and understands exactly why they come to their their oceanfront table.
FlaglerLive Is Moving–Again
Just as we did a year ago, FlaglerLive is moving to a new server yet again, this time a dedicated one, because readership keeps outgrowing our old accommodations. We ask for your patience over the next 72 hours. And donations.
Chamber of Commerce and Other Florida Business Groups Howl Over at Health Care Law
Florida business groups had led the charge against the federal Affordable Care Act, calling it a mandate that will fall on the shoulders of businesses still struggling to recover and facing more competition from the Internet, nearby states and foreign suppliers.
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Health Care Reform, a Major Victory for Obama and the Uninsured
Chief Justice John Roberts joined the left of the U.S. Supreme Court in upholding the 2010 health care reform law, including the individual mandate. The Roberts ruling narrowed the allowance under tax rules, as opposed to the commerce clause. But the entire law was upheld.
Get to Work, Governor Scott, and Implement Health Care Reform Now
Now that the most conservative Supreme Court in the history of our nation has ruled that the Affordable Care Act is constitutional, perhaps it is time to redirect a little of that negative energy used to obstruct reform toward implementing the law and solving Florida’s health care crisis, writes former Florida House Democratic Leader Dan Gelber.
In a Victory for Rick Scott, Federal Judge Clears Path to a Limited Voter Roll Purge
It is the first significant ruling in the legal battle over Gov. Scott’s effort to remove allegedly ineligible voters from the rolls. At least two other lawsuits have been filed against Florida.
Florida’s Hispanics Like Obama Over Romney By Big Margin, Dimming Rubio’s VP Appeal
Hispanic voters in Florida, traditionally Republican, prefer Obama over Romney by a 56-32 margin, buttressing the president’s advantage among Independents.
Florida Professors Still Can’t Travel to Cuba On State’s Dime; Low IQ Execution Cleared
Three Florida cases are the many the U.S. Supreme Court refused to hear, which means a ban on Florida university faculty’s travel to Cuba stands, as does Florida’s authority to execute a Daytona Beach murderer with an IQ of 70.
Carlos Torres Guilty on 2 Counts of Attempted Murder in Interlachen Shootings
A jury took just one hour to find Carlos E. Torres guilty of two counts of attempted second degree murder in the shooting of Renee Michelle Briggs and Thomas Douglas in Interlachen last August.
U.S. Supreme Court Invalidates Most of the Key Provisions of Arizona’s Harsh Immigration Law
The United States Supreme Court has reversed key provisions of the controversial Arizona immigrant law, invalidating Arizona’s–or any state’s–law that would have given state or local police the power to make warrantless arrests of individuals suspected of being undocumented, or “illegal.”
The Vagina Monologues Ungagged
Vagina. Uterus. “There,” writes Marry Jo Melone in a look at the Lisa Brown-GOP flap over the words. “I’ve said those dirty words, and boy, did it feel good. It’s curious what a little free speech will do. It clears the mind.”
When American Health Care Heads for Texas
If the Affordable Care Act is overturned, the rest of the country should take a good look at the situation in Texas, because this is what happens when you keep Medicaid enrollment as low as possible and don’t undertake insurance reforms.
Oceans on Acid: How a Greenhouse Gas May Be Taxing the Seas
The surge in worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide–a greenhouse gas–may be overtaxing oceans, which can absorb only so much of it before altering their acidification, and affecting marine life.
Should Ronald Thompson Be Serving 20 Years for Firing a Gun to Protect an Elderly Neighbor?
Ronald Thompson, a 65-year-old disabled veteran, is serving 20 years for firing two shots in the ground to protect an elderly neighbor from her grandson and three of his friends. The mandatory sentence spotlights a recurring dilemma with Florida’s sentencing laws.
Lord of the Flies On a School Bus: The Bullying of Karen Klein
Karen Klein is the 68-year-old school bus monitor from Greece, N.Y., cruelly bullied by seventh graders and recorded on a YouTube video that went viral. The middle schoolers are acting out the persecuting spirit that christens their daily lives.
Wire Essentials, June 22: Banning College Football, Joking About Obama’s Blackness
Last Updated: Friday, 1:57 p.m. Banning college football: a debate, the Chamber of Commerce is undefeated at the US Supreme Court, the state of poverty in America, religious freedom as a license to discriminate, heckling and joking about Obama, press freedom’s scorecard.