Posts in the category Media
Our Editorial Cartoon of the Week feature is part of Progress Florida's popular FREE Daily Clips service:
Progress Florida's Best of the Blogs for the week ending 3-5-10 Bilked: another story from South Florida For Florida, A Time for Leadership Lying to Our Kids Our Editorial Cartoon of the Week feature is part of Progress Florida's popular FREE Daily Clips service:
Progress Florida's Best of the Blogs for the week ending 2-26-10 Is Crist laying the groundwork for an independent bid? By Juan Saaa Progress Florida Florida as a whole has seen a increased upwelling in the area of immigration reform lately, mostly in part from youth activists who have had enough of living in the shadows and are mobilizing all across the state to make a push to move the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act, otherwise known as the DREAM Act.Ray Sansom Resigns to Avoid Ethics Hearing By Beach Blogger Pensacola Beach Blog Northwest Florida state representative Ray Sansom (R-Ft. Walton Beach) resigned his seat at 8 pm last night rather than proceed with the state ethics hearing he had requested.  Why Florida's ethics laws need an upgrade! By Ed Gamble, Florida Times-Union Related editorial: State ethics: the hall of shame BONUS CARTOONS  By Jeff Parker, Florida Today  By Andy Marlette, Pensacola News Journal The Big Oil roundup: news and information about Big Oil’s push to rig Florida’s coastline for the week ending 2-19-10:
Hands Across The Sand coverage Hundreds line Pinellas County beaches to protest near-shore oil drilling By Curtis KruegerSt. Petersburg Times Hundreds lined Pinellas County's beaches and many more came to more than 70 coastal locations around Florida to protest the idea of drilling close to the state's shoreline.Protesters across Florida rally against offshore oil drilling By Maria Herrera South Florida Sun-SentinelRelated video: Raging Grannies at Hands Across the Sand, Delray Beach They looked like dark spots of tar freshly washed upon the shore.Protesters draw line in sand over oil drilling By Sarah OwenPanama City News Herald Chains of hand-holding Floridians stretched across shorelines from Pensacola to Key West to show solidarity in their opposition of offshore oil drilling.Hundreds hold 'Hands Across the Sand' to protest oil drilling off Florida's coast By Adam PlayfordPalm Beach Post The man on the stage says it's time, and Ian, who is 8, is ready.Protesters gather at the beach By Todd RugerSarasota Herald-Tribune More than 250 people joined hands on the famous powdery sands of Siesta Public Beach on Saturday to show opposition to oil drilling as close as three to 10 miles offshore.Floridians protest offshore oil drilling By Robert GreenReuters Thousands of Floridians demonstrated against moves to allow offshore oil drilling on Saturday along the east and west coasts of the state in a protest dubbed "Hands Across the Sand."Hundreds say 'no' to offshore drilling By Rebecca RossPensacola News Journal The line of black-clad protesters was stark against thesugar-white sand. Hands clasped, they stood shoulder-to-shoulder, staring out to sea. Activists unite on beach in protest against oil drilling By Cammy Clark and Robert Samuels Miami HeraldDressed in black, some 200 people stood hand in hand on South Beach on Saturday afternoon, raising and lowering their arms as surfers behind them rode the waves. Offshore drilling protesters join hands By Richard Dymond Bradenton HeraldAn event didn’t take place Saturday at Manatee Public Beach — officially — because there was no permit for one. Floridians join hands to protest offshore drilling By Jeff Barker Northwest Florida Daily NewsHundreds of people clasped hands along the beach Saturday to show their opposition to proposed offshore oil drilling. Naples protesters drill home the message: No oil rigs off Florida's Gulf coast By Sarah Donovan Naples NewsDespite biting winds, a small group of protesters held Hands Across the Sand at a Naples beach Saturday to send a message to Florida lawmakers and coastal communities statewide. 1,000 strong at ‘Hands Across the Sand’ on St. Pete Beach By Cathy Harrelson Creative LoafingOur experience with the three ‘Hands Across the Sand’ locations on St. Pete Beach, from the public beach to the Sirata Beach Resort and past the Tradewinds Resort, was thrilling. Surfers, Scientists Say No to Oil Drilling Off Florida Coast By Natalie O'Neill Miami New TimesJesse Bull, a surfer with a tidy goatee, rides a four-foot wave to shore on a blustery South Beach day. "Hands Across the Sand" Protest of Oil Drilling off Florida's Coast By Geniusofdespair Eye on MiamiThe protest went on all over Florida yesterday. People dressed in black, to signify an oil slick, joined hands at about 2pm in solidarity against oil drilling off Florida's Coast. Thank you Miami Surfriders and Progress Florida for bringing Hands Across the Sand to my attention. Hands Across the Sand Was A Huge Success: Human Chain Creates Line Around State to Protect Florida's Beaches Audubon of Florida Advocate Thousands of people at scores of locations throughout Florida showed up to hold hands and form a human chain to protect Florida's beaches.Oil drilling could change Florida for the worse EditorialTC Palm The Treasure Coast chapter of Surfrider and others concerned with the environment got together Saturday at Stuart Beach for “Hands Across the Sand,” a statewide protest of efforts to open Florida waters to offshore oil drilling.
Other drilling news Rep. Seth McKeel Pushes For End To Off-Shore Drilling Moratorium By Bill RuftyLakeland Ledger Legislation sponsored by state Rep. Seth McKeel, R-Lakeland, asking the U.S. Congress to remove the moratorium on oil drilling in federal waters surrounding Florida, cleared the House General Government Policy Council on Wednesday.Experts: 2010 may not be make, break for drilling By Melissa NelsonThe Associated Press The Florida Legislature has considered for several years changing state law to allow exploration for oil and natural gas but hasn't brought the issue up for a vote. This year may be no different - but it will still weigh heavy in the upcoming session's background.Oil drilling legislation not likely this year, lawmakers say By Daniel CarsonPanama City News Herald Area legislators expressed doubts Friday that the Florida Legislature will pass any offshore oil drilling-related bills in 2010 due to concerns about impacts on military missions, the region’s tourism industry and the environment.Florida lawmakers hear good, bad of Gulf oil drilling By Brandon LarrabeeFlorida Times-Union Those involved in responding to offshore drilling incidents in the Gulf of Mexico told lawmakers Thursday about the steps that had been taken to minimize the impact of oil spills, as others warned that the consequences of exploring for oil in state waters might not be clear.League of Women Voters opposes offshore, near-shore drilling By Clara Anne Graham and Laura MillerFt. Myers News-Press The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.TAKE ACTION NOW  Write Your State Senator: Big Oil's Promises Are "Empty" Big Oil and their hired hands in Tallahassee have sworn that drilling Florida’s coast would be “invisible” – that there would be no unsightly rigs just a few miles off our coast. We know different – and a recent eye opening story in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune has proven Big Oil’s promises completely “empty.” Click the picture above – keeping the pressure on by letting our State Senators know people like you are paying attention is how we’ll beat Big Oil.
Progress Florida's Best of the Blogs for the week ending 2-19-10 Note to Florida Voters: throw out the vultures and speculators By R.S. Pienta Leave a Comment A teacher I met via Facebook recently vented her frustration about the No Child Left Behind policy and how it is implemented via rules about FCAT in the state of Florida.  By Andy Marlette, Pensacola News Journal BONUS CARTOON  By Andy Marlette, Pensacola News Journal Progress Florida's Best of the Blogs for the week ending 2-12-10 I Suspect This Is Where We're Going By Gimleteye Eye on Miami In a 2 PM press conference, Miami-Dade County Commissioner Katy Sorenson will announce that she will not run for re-election.  By Jim Morin, Miami Herald BONUS CARTOON  By Jeff Parker, Florida Today Progress Florida's Best of the Blogs for the week ending 1-22-10 What's Crist to do (besides dropping out and endorsing Kendrick Meek)? By Geniusofdespair Eye on Miami The only person who signed the Corporate papers (filed January 21st) for this 501c4 is Richard E. Coates, a Tallahassee lobbyist, who also happens to have as a client Barney Bishop's "Associated Industries of Florida".CBS Tainting Super Bowl Broadcast By Daniel Tilson Progress Florida In rolling out what they claim is a new policy to begin broadcasting "approved" paid advocacy group advertisements, the CBS TV network is clearly taking the sensitive, low-key high road - airing the first such spot during Super Bowl 44, being played Sunday in our South Florida backyard, with a few additional folks tuning in from around the globe.Six amendments make the ballot By Bill Newton FCAN Blog It will be another busy year for voters. The Legislature wants us to give up public campaign finance, and we have a chance to make Florida's election districts more fair and eliminate gerrymandering. In rolling out what they claim is a new policy to begin broadcasting "approved" paid advocacy group advertisements, the CBS TV network is clearly taking the sensitive, low-key high road - airing the first such spot during Super Bowl 44, being played Sunday in our South Florida backyard, with a few additional folks tuning in from around the globe.
First one out of the box is an Anti-Choice propaganda spot from the Christian Right group, Focus On The Family. They have paid CBS 3-million dollars for 30 seconds of access to untold millions of viewers worldwide. Their ad features Florida college football star quarterback, Tim Tebow, telling a very personal story about his own family, a story I won't go into detail about here - but one that is already being questioned (rightly or wrongly I cannot say) all over the Internet for its full factual veracity. Read More »  By Jeff Parker, Florida Today BONUS CARTOON  By Jim Morin, Miami Herald I've three broken teeth, a pain in the neck and no interest in dying, so even though I wrote poorly when I'm this stressed, today was the day to ask Sen. Lemieux to leave me alone, at length, and then post the request here so that his specious rhetoric never hits my Inbox again. Using his website contact form, I sent the following:
"Sir, you are in Congress by the combined whims of former Sen. Martinez and Gov. Crist; your prior position made you aware that Martinez was complacent with Crist being a Paper Tiger, providing a projected image of toughness on crime via affixing his signature to death warrants while deliberately overlooking public misconduct that resulted in wrongful convictions in Brevard, Polk and other counties. The knowledge that Crist has no intention of addressing scores of clouded convictions made it incumbent upon you to ask the FBI to investigate the public corruption. The failure to do so puts you in league with prosecutors who coached jailhouse informants to credibly provide false testimony. My interest in you is therefore limited to your being prosecuted along with the other villains that continue to trample the likes of James Bain, Juan Melendez, Wilton Dedge, William Dillon and Juan Ramos while allowing rapists and murderers to find additional victims. Because of my very limited [interest] in you, I unsubscribed to the first Newsletter I received from you and every one since, documenting the last five times with pdf copies. I will save a copy of this submission for use in a Petition for a Writ of Mandamus to request that the Supreme Court compel the FBI to adhere to their mandate to address public corruption that affected trial and election outcomes. As you likely know from you association with Crist, I have "standing" and your persistence in resubscribing me each time I unsubscribe will let me speak directly to your behaviors in the Petition. Your closeness to Crist that likely acquainted you with my years of request for consequences for the culpable would also have made you aware of my disabilities. Many persons with epilepsy have stress-engendered seizures; I'm one such person. My medication is proving effective in preventing all but nocturnal seizures, which put me at risk of dying in my sleep due to my heart defect. These nocturnal seizures are often apparent upon awakening by noting another broken tooth, neck and back pain and more difficulty with my memory than the medication causes. I have many other medical conditions aside from epilepsy. I will use this analogy in the Petition - deliberately slipping a regular Coke to a person with volatile diabetes is attempted homicide, so is directing stress at a person with volatile epilepsy. I ask that you not resubscribe me to your newsletter yet again to lessen the likelihood that another communication will cause me another broken tooth or worse. In evaluating your choices hereinafter, it would likely do you well to recall that the FBI investigated dogfighting rings in several states last year while ignoring roughly 5,000 clouded criminal investigations tainted by debunked bullet-matching and DNA-discredited dog handlers. They put man's best friend ahead of men; not even the five most disingenuous Justices ever seated can spin their way around that simple statement of fact. The foreign press will have a field day, making it impossible for even Fox not to get on board. Don't write to me of a unsubscribe glitch; in the absence of a copy of your letter to FBI Director Mueller asking that he put men ahead of dogs this year, all that a reasonable person could construe from the communication is that your behaviors are self-serving, constituents be damned." The judge that initially tried Tommy Zeigler 35 years ago had a prior contentious relationship with him. In states that give a damn about justice, Tommy would have been granted a new trial on his first appeal.
Scripps Treasure Coast Palm publications granted me an opportunity to appear before their Board and pitch my case to have one of their reporters accept my research on wrongful convictions and do a story. They didn't find the horror and heartbreak compelling. They still don't. Below is the second Press Release I've sent them about Tommy; it'll probably be deleted, too. From: Susan Chandler Date: January 26, 2010 12:24:52 PM EST To: Larry Reisman , Ken Ward Subject: Fwd: Integrity of Judge in Death Row Case Compromised Dear Mr. Reisman and Mr. Ward: Please forward Ray McEachern's press release to the News Editor along with the following: In considering the Release's newsworthiness: James Bain ringing the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia on Martin Luther King Day reminded the nation that Florida indeed will persecute innocents for as long as 35 years; Zeigler's time behind bars isn't an indication of guilt. Bain's exoneration was not Polk's first - Juan Melendez is now working to help others and is aware of Leo Schofield's likely innocence. Polk's attempted, nearly successfully, to get Gov. Crist to execute Paul Beasley Johnson before the Supreme Court could discover the rampant prosecutorial misconduct in his case. Johnson's likely guilt made the misconduct all the more inexcusable. Gary Bennett's Brevard case in now in Lawson Lamar's unclean hands via Crist's Execute Order. Unless there was a John Preston-tainted conviction resulting in an execution in every Florida county, of itself the Order substantiates Crist's, Lamar's and Norm Wolfinger's moral bankruptcy in light of Linroy Bottoson's Orange County Preston-tainted conviction and subsequent execution. There appears to have been untoward cooperation between Orange and Brevard in locating "new witness" Sandra Weeks, who was set to testify against now exonerated Bill Dillon until Wolfinger was asked to confirm or deny that Weeks was a felon likely in need of prosecutorial favors, like James E. Gilmore, Clarence Zacke and Roger Dale Chapman. There appears to have been untoward cooperation between the DOC and Brevard in securing yet another early release for Chapman and discrepancies in Chapman's testimony at Dillon's exoneration compensation hearing that he would not have been available to offer without early release. Chapman's release without parole supervision allows the DOC to lawfully deny requests for information on his release. Brevard Sheriff Parker seems intent on keeping the public from knowing that Pauline Scandale's 1988 Canova Beach homicide was strikingly similar to the 1981 Canova Beach homicide Dillon was framed for. Mrs. Scandale was an 82-year-old widowed kindergarten teacher who likely deserved to be able to pass peacefully in her sleep. She died in terror, enduring blows that crushed her skull, just like James Dvorak died seven years earlier. John Preston had been discredited by Geraldo Rivera on ABC's "20/20" four years prior to Mrs. Scandale's murder; every investigation Preston participated in nationwide, including Dillon's, should have been reopened. John Walsh was provided confirmation that Ottis Toole was indeed his son Adam's slayer within a week of charges being dropped against Dillon. Adam was killed in the same timeframe as Dvorak and was spotted in Brevard with Toole; you know where Adam's head was found. Our government is so broken that activists free innocents and incidentally find actual perpetrators while public servants who are being paid to protect rights and liberties obstruct rather than assist, serving only themselves. Mrs. Scandale's murder was one of two within a week of an elderly woman home alone in Brevard. The second woman is not on the Sheriff's Unsolved Homicides webpage, which may be only a tip-off to another frame-up. Taxpayers paid for faux criminal investigations that incarcerated the wrong men for decades while the guilty found new victims, with Jeff Abramowski's Brevard frame-up proving that this century is no different than the prior; it's newsworthy that the media hasn't found it newsworthy. Thank you. Regards, Susan Chandler 3008 N 25th St Ft Pierce, FL 34946 772-466-9874 For Release Monday, January 25, 2010 Integrity of Judge in Death Row Case Compromised by Failure to Disclose Spouse is State Employee Contact: Ray McEachern, 813-294-6772 The Code of Judicial Conduct sternly warns judges not to allow even the "appearance of impropriety." In apparent disregard of this clear rule, Judge Reginald Whitehead of the Ninth Judicial Circuit assumed responsibility for the case of 33 year death row inmate William Thomas Zeigler in 2003 after another judge had authorized DNA testing in 2001. Zeigler’s attorneys were so confident that the results of the testing would prove his complete innocence that they immediately moved to have his sentence vacated. In 2004, Judge Whitehead, who, for unknown reasons, took over the case from Judge Grincewicz who had ordered the testing, denied Zeigler’s demand for a new trial. Five years later, Zeigler’s pro bono New York attorneys asked the court to test the DNA of the stains which were not tested in 2001. Judge Whitehead had ruled before the 2004 hearing that only evidence which had been a part of the trial record in 1976 would be allowed to be considered, effectively blocking Zeigler from proffering other exculpatory evidence which the state had withheld from defense at trial. The untested stains had not been a part of the trial in 1976, yet Whitehead allowed the state to use them to imply that the untested stains might prove Zeigler’s guilt. The new petition was assigned originally to Judge F. Rand Wallis, but, inexplicably, was taken over by Judge Whitehead. In a letter faxed to Chief Judge Belvin Perry, Jr., Ray McEachern, Citizen Advocate for Tommy Zeigler, asked that the case be re-assigned to a different judge. In the letter, McEachern said that he verified with Chief Assistant State Attorney William Vose that ASA Esther Marie Whitehead was in fact the spouse of Judge Reginald Whitehead and that she was an employee of the state in 2004 when Judge Whitehead denied Zeigler’s petition for a new trial. In the letter McEachern states that the "integrity of the court has already been compromised by Judge Whitehead’s failure to disclose a relationship that can be exploited to the advantage of the state." An online petition to Florida Governor Charles Crist, which has garnered 400 names, points out that the 1976 trial judge, Maurice Paul, now a federal judge, refused to step aside even though he had been an opposing character witness to Zeigler in a racially charged trial four months before the murders for which Zeigler was convicted. Zeigler was shot in the abdomen during those murders but survived to call police. Zeigler was charged with the murders three days later while he was in hospital intensive care. For more information see www.freetommyz.com . Our Editorial Cartoon of the Week feature is part of Progress Florida's popular FREE Daily Clips service:
First things first: Unlike 24 other states across America that limit “independent” organizational advertising and media spending in support of, or in opposition to political candidates’ and issues advocacy campaigns at the state level - note that Florida has no limits on such spending.
So the Supreme Court ruling handed down in a contentious 5-4 vote (Thank Bush for the conservative majority), an ideologically extremist vote overturning long-standing limits on special interest campaign spending on U.S. congressional and presidential campaigns, will not have any impact on Florida’s 2010 state-level campaigns. That’s the “good” news. The bad news is, the bottomless pit of special interest money that has been used so many times in Florida to defeat local candidates and state initiatives that dare tamper with freewheeling corporate profits and business practices at the local and state levels (see Florida’s insurance, real estate development, and financial industries, for starters) has now been unleashed for use on federal campaigns as well. Read More » Progress Florida's Best of the Blogs for the week ending 1-22-10 Representative Janet Long pushes bill for stronger early-education Standards By Steve Schale Steve Schale Earlier this week, I took a look at macro-level Florida voter registration trends, which showed that despite a difficult political climate, Democrats are continuing to grow their advantage over Republicans in statewide voter registration.  By Andy Marlette, Pensacola News Journal BONUS CARTOONS  By Jim Morin, Miami Herald  By Chan Lowe, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Read the artist’s commentary here. Progress Florida's Best of the Blogs for week ending 1-15-10 Thinking about Kendrick Meek, the Myth of Sisyphus and whether Dan Gelber regrets dropping out of the US Senate race By Steve Schale Steve Schale This is the first of many posts I am going to write about the state of the battlefield in Florida and the forward trajectory of the state's politics.Rigged-bid county government By Beach Blogger Pensacola Beach Blog It's bad enough that promises Escambia County Government made to beach residents decades ago are intentionally broken by county commissioners. Posts By Month
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