If Osceola Could See Us Now

The Seminole Tribe of Florida's leaders have spent millions on lavish homes, boxing rings, basketball courts and other gifts for themselves and relatives as the tribe's gambling enterprise has expanded into one of the nation's largest.......here

"I myself had no running water until back in '70, '71 when I moved into a regular house," he testified in a 2002 court proceeding. "I come from an Indian reservation where there is nothing but swamps, Everglades. So when the money came in, we were on a spending spree."

The Sunshine Skyway For Sale

Faced with a $2.5 billion budget shortfall over the next two years, Florida leaders are considering selling 50-year leases on some state toll roads and bridges in exchange for large sums of cash from private investors. The turnpike's system's roads can't easily be leased because they're all part of a system that's tied together financially.That leaves four roads: Alligator Alley, the Sunshine Skyway over Tampa Bay, the Pinellas Bayway and a state-owned stretch of the BeachLine Expressway (formerly the Bee Line) in central Florida........here

Rise Up! The System Is Broken

A Unity Rally & March

Wednesday November 28, at 2:00 PM

Pioneer Park, St. Petersburg

More Info....here

Aznar, Berlusconi, Blair, Howard,

Australia Conservative Prime Minister John Howard, one of the Bush administration's staunchest allies, suffered a humiliating election defeat Saturday at the hands of an opposition leader who has vowed to pull troops out of Iraq.......here

Democrat Jane Lakes Harman

With overwhelming bipartisan support, Rep. Jane Harman's "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act" passed the House 404-6 late last month and now rests in Sen. Joe Lieberman's Homeland Security Committee. Swift Senate passage appears certain. Not since the "Patriot Act" of 2001 has any bill so threatened our constitutionally guaranteed rights......more

In that vein, diverse groups vigorously oppose Ms. Harman's effort to stifle dissent. Unfortunately, the mainstream press and leading presidential candidates remain silent.

The Barceloneta Pet Killing Fields

An Associated Press investigation reveals why: possibly thousands of unwanted animals have been tossed off bridges, buried alive and otherwise inhumanely disposed of by taxpayer-financed animal control programs. News that live animals had been thrown to their deaths from a bridge reached the public last month when Animal Control Solutions, a government contractor, was accused of inhumanely killing some 80 dogs and cats seized from three housing projects in the town of Barceloneta. A half dozen survived the fall of at least 50 feet.......here

The Everglades, Florida Keys And Global Warming

Range Of Efforts Necessary To Protect Florida Panther

While the challenges are daunting, we also have some success stories to share and reason for hope. By the early 1990s, the panther population was about 20 to 30, and it became clear that genetic problems were causing a downward spiral that would likely lead to extinction. In response, the state of Florida led a restoration effort that has tripled the population. Big Cypress National Preserve and the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge, created in the 1970s and 1980s, are strongholds of this population. Today, roughly 75 percent of the panther’s primary habitat is protected, but there is clearly more work to be done.........here

Bill McCollum's "Do Not Shop List"

Florida's Attorney General is urging parents to make a toy list and check it twice, and he's helping you find out who's been naughty or nice. Bill McCollum's "Do Not Shop List.".........here

Burger King Exploits Florida Farmworkers

Attempts To Boost Wages For Florida Tomato Pickers May Fail Under Pressure
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers fought for years to persuade fast-food giants McDonald's Corp. and Taco Bell owner Yum Brands Inc. to pay a penny more per pound of Florida tomatoes - with their suppliers passing the money on to farm workers........more
The Coalition of Immokalee Workers
Eat Local

Bob Hite, A Local Treasure

Florida's Key Deer Making A Comeback

Florida's Key Deer National Refuge

Recently marked its 50th anniversary.The first ranger at the refuge used to chase off hunters by shooting at their trucks. Things are calmer nowadays, but the conservation efforts started 50 years ago have paid off big time for the little deer.Key deer are found nowhere in the world except the lower Florida Keys........here

Florida Teacher Chips Away At Thanksgiving Myth

Robyn Gioia

Doesn't look like a troublemaker. Far from it. Gioia is a wife, mother and teacher, and her green eyes twinkle when she talks about her fifth-grade students at the Bolles School just north of here in Ponte Vedra. But Gioia, 53, has written a children's book, and just the title is enough to peeve any Pilgrim: America's REAL First Thanksgiving........here......via My Florida History

"I became rather famous at the time for saying that by the time the Pilgrims came to Plymouth, St. Augustine was up for urban renewal."

Cost Of Thanksgiving Soaring

The cost of Thanksgiving is soaring, according to investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co, which may help explain the gloom among U.S. consumers as they head into the holiday season.......here

"Black Friday," the day after Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday and the start of the traditional year-end spending spree, threatens to be a Bleak Friday this time around.

If They Make Us All Poor, Who Is Going To Buy Their Stuff?

Antidepressants Truth About

Bush continues to ignore the growing deaths in children using psychiatric drugs....

Eat The Rich In The Conch Republic

The Florida Keys are at a crossroads, beset by shortages of high-paying jobs and affordable housing, rising property taxes and insurance, and environmental concerns. Yet the move to "upscale" the Keys is gaining steam, a sign of growth that's commonly experienced by tourism-dependent communities. Such growth is leaving many Keys residents feeling priced out or ignored.......here

Chasm Between The Haves And Have-Nots In Florida

The economic chasm between the haves and have-nots in Florida is wide and getting wider, fueled by low wages that fail to cover the most basic needs, especially for families with small children, according to a report released Tuesday.........here

Seeking Nookie On Florida Beaches

Martin County, Florida has a new way to scare people from having sex on their beaches, They are looking to install cameras and loudspeakers that would try to detect and warn anyone seeking nookie. "FlashCAM devices sense motion and then flash a bright light," After being activated, the cameras issue a pre-recorded verbal warning to let people know they are under surveillance. A minute later, the camera starts recording.......here

Howard Dean's Vermont Country Baked Ham Recipe

Ingredients
One 8-pound ham
3 quarts sweet cider
2 cups raisins
2 cups Vermont maple sugar
2 teaspoons dry mustard
1 teaspoon powdered cloves
1/2 cup water
Simmer ham in cider for 2 hours. Drain, skin ham, and cover it with paste made from maple sugar, mustard, cloves, and water. Place in baking pan, pour cider over it, add raisins to pan, and bake 2-1/2 hours at 325 degrees. Baste frequently. Make thickened gravy of cider raisin drippings.
Serves: 16 Source

Florida Soldier Killed While Giving Toys To Kids

A soldier from South Florida was killed in Iraq while giving toys and candy to children. Private First Class Marius Ferrero, 23, of Miami, was killed Sunday in Baqouba, Iraq, with two other Army soldiers from his Stryker brigade. Three children also died........here

Family Says 23-Year-Old Thought War Was 'Stupid'

Kucinich Weekly Update

No Room At The Inn For Florida

Democratic activists and a lone Republican asked a Leon County Circuit Court judge Tuesday to tell Florida to push back its early presidential primary one week. The lawsuit, filed in Tallahassee, seeks to order Florida's Secretary of State to change the date of the controversial primary from Jan. 29 to Feb. 5........here

Jon Ausman, a Democratic state committeeman from Leon County, called it "unconstitutional infringement on my First Amendment rights of free speech and political association.'' This made me angry, Ausman said. But his real anger is aimed at the state.

Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act

A little-noticed anti-terrorism bill quietly making its through Congress is raising fears of a new affront on activism and constitutional rights. The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act was passed in an overwhelming 400 to six House vote last month......here

Examining the Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act

“The impetus is that homegrown terror is something that we now see in Western Europe. It’s by far the number one threat to security in Britain,” Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.)

Don't Tase ......Kill Me Bro!

Pinellas County, Florida And Ron Paul Signs

Dean Slams GOP at UJA Assembly

Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean
Told the United Jewish Communities' General Assembly (GA) in Tennessee that the Republican party (GOP) is religiously and racially exclusive. Dean followed by accusing the Republican party of leading the United States towards a theocracy. "The Democratic Party believes that everybody in this room ought to be comfortable being an American Jew, not just an American, that there are no bars to heaven for anybody..........here

Obama Rocks Iowa

Ax The Tax

Floridians Offer Their Own Property Tax Plans For Ballot

Don't think the Legislature has done enough to curb your property tax bill?For Floridians unhappy with the tax-cutting choice that legislators put on the Jan. 29 ballot, there are 11 citizen initiatives — and counting — vying for voters' support to go on the November 2008 ballot........here

A new poll has noted that Florida voters are not enthusiastic enough about the Legislature's proposed property-tax plan to pass it if the election to approve it were held today.........here

Locavore: Florida Orange Juice

Florida's Natural Co-Op

The decades-long struggle between orange growers in Florida and Brazil has opened on its largest front yet -- the battle between the top three American orange juice sellers for U.S. market share. Florida's Natural Growers, the Lake Wales juice processor, opened the front with its new ad campaign seeking to capture a bigger market share by touting that its brand of not-from-concentrate (NFC) orange juice comes entirely from Florida fruit while other national brands (Tropicana and Minute Maid) mix Florida and Brazilian OJ.........here
Florida's Natural

Tampa Bay Is A "Brain Gain" Zone

Tampa Bay is a “brain gain” zone, defined as “share of a county’s population that is college-educated.”.....via Discourse.net
All Of Florida Looks Blue

Sean Hannity meets CHANGE

Street Crime Sends Latins To South Florida

A joke making the rounds in Miami says that the mayor should erect statues to honor the three people who have done the most to turn Miami into the Latin American business center it is today: Cuban ruler Fidel Castro, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Colombian rebel leader Manuel Marulanda. It's good. But there should be a fourth statue to honor the violent street gangs, kidnappers and muggers terrorizing Latin American cities, and driving hundreds of thousands -- many of them rich -- to abandon their homelands for South Florida........here

Homeless Children In Southwest Florida

WINK News has uncovered startling information about the number of homeless students in Southwest Florida. We found out there are close to a thousand kids without a home attending school right now. The Collier County School District keeps track of the students to help provide them a stable environment.......here

The Saint Matthews House

White Supremacists Endorse Ron Paul

Stormfront.org, a white supremacy web site, as well as others, such as WhiteWorldNews.com, have actively supported Paul's bid for the presidency, including directing donors to his campaign. Stormfront has also endorsed Paul for president.......here

* "Opinion polls show that only about 5 percent of blacks have sensible political opinions, i.e. support the free market, individual liberty and the end of welfare and affirmative action."

* "We are constantly told it is evil to be afraid of black men, it is hardly irrational. Black men commit murders, rapes, robberies, muggings and burglaries all out of proportion to their numbers."

* "We don't think a child of 13 should be held responsible as a man of 23. That's true for most people, but black males who have been raised and who have joined criminal gangs are as big, strong, tough, scary and culpable as any adult and should be treated as such."......Statements from 1992 by Ron Paul