Having just left Las Vegas – a trip I set out on with the trepidatious goal of avoiding as much of the traditional Vegas Strip experience as possible, I’ve been ruminating on the efficiency of the Vegas machine at doing exactly what it is designed to do – extracting wealth from willing victims. Then Digby [...]
Archive for July, 2010
Unions 101 – Stickin To The Union
July 21, 2010
Oh, you can’t scare me, I’m sticking to the union, I’m sticking to the union, I’m sticking to the union. Oh, you can’t scare me, I’m sticking to the union, I’m sticking to the union ’til the day I die. Union Maid by Woody Guthrie I firmly believe that unions are key to a revitalization [...]
Labor Unions 101 – Words Have Meaning
July 21, 2010
LaFeminista posted a good Daily Kos diary about unions recently, and reading the diary and comments reminded me that despite my avid pro-union stance, until about 5 years ago when I lucked into a union job, I, like the vast majority of workers who are not as lucky as I am, really had no idea [...]
Editing The Constitution: Amendment 3
July 12, 2010
Note: Every 2 years, Florida voters get a chance to literally edit the state constitution, as proposed changes to the actual text of the document are placed on the ballot. This post is part of a continuing series. Florida’s 2010 Amendment 3 can be seen as a legacy of sorts of former Florida House Speaker [...]
Teach Your Children Hell: Kemple Leads School Board Money Chase
July 11, 2010
A divorced family man who believes that teachers should have the academic freedom to bring God into the classroom but that they should never, ever, be allowed to mention the theory of contraception, is vying to fill one of the 7 positions on the Hillsborough County School Board, a group which is responsible for overseeing [...]
Editing The Constitution – Developing News
July 10, 2010
Note: The Florida Constitution series of posts is officially veering slightly off course with this post on developing news. However, upcoming posts on all the individual amendments are still planned. Stay tuned. In Florida we saw major developments this week regarding constitutional amendments on this year’s ballot. A gubernatorial candidate has sued to block the [...]
Editing the Constitution: Amendment 1
July 7, 2010
Note: This week Over the next week or two I’ll spend several days and diaries discussing the constitutional amendment process in Florida as well as the specific amendments that are on the November ballot this year. The first part of the series is here. On Monday we learned how the Florida constitution can be amended [...]
Editing the Constitution
July 5, 2010
Florida’s constitution is truly an evolving document. Every two years, amendments are proposed and and those that pass muster with Florida voters are edited into the text of the original document rather than just being tacked on at the end. The current version of our state constitution is full of seamless and not so seamless [...]
Happy 4th! You Have 21 Days Left to Fix Your Voter Status
July 4, 2010
Florida voters face a July 26 registration deadline for primary races. A new website from the Florida Division of Elections allows us to check on our status quickly and easily: ACTION: Check your voter registration status right now. (Florida Voters only) Voter roll purges and database cleanups can wipe people off the rolls wrongly. It’s [...]