Miss Rotunda

You may have noticed Jamey Turner around the capital during session. She is a 21 year old student at FSU, and she is a registered Democrat!

The article in title bar links to a story in the St. Pete Times on how lobbyist use attractive interns to pass legislation. You can learn more about sex in the capitol city from that article then I would have thought the people of St. Pete wanted to know.

We Leon County folk, we understand the capital, we are in its shadow, its inner workings affect us and our local economy, this is a story we already know.

Reckless Development Bills Will Cost Us

Two bills that would promote reckless development are now waiting on Governor Bush's approval.

The "Hazard Mitigation for Coastal Redevelopment Bill," HB 1359, will excuse developers from current restrictions on building residences in High Hazard coastal areas. This will increase the taxpayer funded infrastructure and subsidized insurance that will be at risk when Hurricanes inevitably hit Florida in the future.

The "Agricultural Economic Development Act," HB 1015, will promote urban sprawl, land speculation, and preempts the power of local governments to make decisions about their community's growth. Sprawl leads to longer average commutes and heavier traffic, two things Floridians should be opposing as gas prices continue to rise.

Please contact the Governor and ask him to veto HB 1359 and HB 1015. Encouraging developing responsibility now will save Floridians' money, and possibly Floridians' lives, in the future.

Please Call Gov. Bush at 850-488-4441
or email at jeb.bush@myflorida.com

Governor Bush has vetoed irresponsible development bills in the past. Let's encourage him to do so again. For more information visit follow the link in the title bar to valuable information posted by the 1000 Friends of Florida.

Next Tuesday: Union Leaders Forum

Too many LCYD members, including myself, don't fully understand the importance of the Labor Movement. I have a couple talking points, but would like to better justify the importance when I am talking with friends. I have members that question why buying union made is important. There are also members who question if the Labor Movement is still needed. I am hoping that this hour presentation can better educate us on the issues, so that we can better educate others.

Please join us for our Modern Union Leaders' Forum this Tuesday, May 23, 2006 at 7PM at the Florida Education Association (FEA) Building (213 South Adams Street ~ Across the street from Andrew's Downtown). We have a impressive panel featuring speakers who are leaders in the labor movement and the state Democratic Party.

Featured Speakers Include:

Cynthia Hall, President of Florida AFL-CIO
Luis Navarro, Executive Director of the Florida Democratic Party and former national political director of SEIU.
Eric Riley, with Florida Education Association

Other Labor Leaders have been invited and may join our line up that evening. LCYD forums are opened to the public. There will be light snacks and drinks available at the forum. I hope you can join us for what promises to be an interesting and fun evening.

Updates will be posted over the next week.

"Won't Dent his Tan!"

The sorrycharlie.com website made news again in the Tampa Tribune. The article's author was not impressed with the site's content:

"Oh, one more thing. If the anonymous poltroons want to vilify... for not joining the sleazy chorus of pols like Gov. Jeb Bush who practically tried to hook up with Terri Schiavo on
eHarmony.com, could they at least spell the poor woman's name correctly?

'Teri Shiavo'? So much for opposition research."

Click the title bar for a link to the full article.

What is going to happen in District Four?

The article in the title bar links to the growing number of people who are discussing running for the District Four Seat that is being left open after the resignation of Tony Grippa, and that without even knowing if there will be an election or just an appointment.

The article names nine people and I know of other names that have been tossed around as possible candidates. Well politics are local and it is going to be interesting to see how this race starts to draw attention.

May Day

Today, as I was preparing for tonight's meeting, I did a quick yahoo search on May Day. I found what I expected, that it is the historic start of Spring. But I also found out a lot about the Labor Movement's embracing of this holiday. It seems there was a big riot at the end of the 19th century and many people and countries embrace this day as a true Labor Day. Here is an section from the first, incredibly biased, website I found.

It is not surprising that the state, business leaders, mainstream union
officials, and the media would want to hide the true history of May Day,
portraying it as a holiday celebrated only in Moscow's Red Square. In its
attempt to erase the history and significance of May Day, the United States
government declared May 1st to be "Law Day", and gave us instead Labor Day - a
holiday devoid of any historical significance other than its importance as a day
to swill beer and sit in traffic jams.....By covering up the history of May Day,
the state, business, mainstream unions and the media have covered up an entire
legacy of dissent in this country. They are terrified of what a similarly
militant and organized movement could accomplish today, and they suppress the
seeds of such organization whenever and wherever they can. As workers, we must
recognize and commemorate May Day not only for it's historical significance, but
also as a time to organize around issues of vital importance to working-class
people today

.

So you can see feelings run strong on this issue. And most people writing on the internet about the Labor Movement all seem to use similar language.

But today as the day that immigrant community should stage a walk out now makes more sense. What are your thoughts?