Fraud Florida style: nuclear plant shutdowns, smart meters and “secret” settlements

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Robert Trigaux, Tampa Bay Times business columnist, in his August 1st column titled, “Thank you, Tallahassee, for making us pay so much for nothing” wrote, “Hey, elected clowns! Thanks for passing a law forcing Duke Energy customers to pay up to $1.5 billion in higher rates for a long proposed nuclear power plant in Levy County that will not be built. And no, Florida customers, you’re not getting any of that money back.”

“With the Levy project canceled, and the broken Crystal River plant now permanently closed, Duke appears to be exiting the nuclear power business in Florida. At least for the foreseeable future,” notes Trigaux.

Trigaux stated, “Too bad we can’t shut down Florida legislators just as easily. Especially those lawmakers who conjured up the 2006 law letting power companies charge advance fees to ratepayers for high-priced and, yes, even ill-considered nuclear power projects.” In May the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission held an open house to discuss the closing of the Crystal River nuclear power plant owned by Duke Power.

Thomas Saporito stated in a press release, “Duke Power has apparently decided NOT to restart the failed Crystal River nuclear plant. The decision comes after billions of dollars in losses and many failed attempts to repair the troubled nuclear plant after a hole was cut in the containment building about 3-years ago to replace failed steam generators. Perhaps this is a warning signal for the entire nuclear industry about the hazards of operating nuclear reactors well-beyond the end of their 40-year safety-design basis?”

Another issue facing Floridians is the installation of “smart meters” on homes and business by Florida Power & Light (FPL).  Florida Supreme Court Case SC 13-144 against FPL and the Florida Public Service Commission concerning smart meters has been filed and is scheduled for oral arguments. The lawsuit states:

“FPL customers are now placed in a position by order of the Commission – to pay for smart meters which cannot operate as alleged by FPL. Therefore, FPL’s claims of cost savings for its customers are patently false and not true. Notably, it is not realistic to believe that FPL customers would be willing to expense the cost of replacing their existing appliances with smart appliances in these dire economic times.

To the extent that there appears to be fraud on the part of FPL related to cost recovery for smart meters from customers of FPL, the undersigned requests that: (1) the Commission authorize and otherwise order an investigation of FPL related to smart meters and associated cost recovery; (2) the Office of Inspector General for the Commission conduct an investigation of FPL and/or the Commission – related to smart meters and associated cost recovery as authorized by the Commission; and (3) the Commission convene a public hearing to create a record for which the Commission can rely and consider to Order FPL to refund all smart meter associated costs back to the customers.”

A third lawsuit was filed Attorney Jack L. McRay – representing the AARP – who filed a brief with the Florida Supreme Court asking the Court to remand the decision by the Florida Public Service Commission (Commission) to approval a “secret” settlement agreement between Florida Power & Light (FPL) and three other parties related to FPL’s March 2012 petition filed with the Commission to raise electric rates for some 4.1 million customers.

Thomas Saporito in a press release stated, “The Florida Public Service Commission has reopened Docket No. 120015-EI in the Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) rate case to consider a motion filed by citizen Intervenor Thomas Saporito to reconsider its Order granting FPL exclusive authority to “self-regulate” and increase electric rates at will over the next several years.”

According to Saporito, “The citizens of Florida can no longer have any trust or confidence in the Commission to act as their advocate in establishing fair and reasonable electric rates. The Commission’s decision to allow FPL to ‘self-regulate’ puts the Commission’s integrity in the toilet”

Depending on the Commission’s decision on the Saporito motion – the case could be headed for review by the Florida Supreme Court. Saporito is also considering filing with other federal agencies and possibly filing a civil action against the Commission for violating his “due-process” rights in this matter.

It appears Florida’s power companies are in a meltdown mode.

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Florida’s new Education Commissioner has close ties with Jeb Bush – good or bad?

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Pam Stewart, Interim Florida Commissioner of Education.

The state Board of Education selected Pam Stewart to be interim education commissioner Friday. Some in Florida are questioning this move because of Stewart’s close ties to the Foundation for Excellence in Education started by former Governor Jeb Bush.

Floridians Against Common Core Education (FACCE) is calling for Commissioner Stewart and any members of the Florida State School Board to remove themselves from “Reformers” positions within the Foundation for Excellence in Education under the leadership of Jeb Bush. FACCE states, “Florida needs to remove itself from any question of ethics problems and this is the best place to start.”

Bush’s foundation partners with reformers nation wide to “see student-centered reforms adopted and implemented in their states.” The Bush foundation website has an interactive map listing all the Bush “reformers”. Stewart is a “Bush reformer“.

Jeff Solochek from the Tampa Bay Times reported, “In the Public Interest — an offshoot of the labor advocacy group Partnership for Working Families — issued a  press release Wednesday [January 30, 2013] stating that Jeb Bush’s Foundation for Excellence in Education has influenced laws and policies in several states, often in a way that might benefit some of the companies that underwrite its existence.”

Michelle Malkin weighed in on the firing of Tony Bennett and Jeb Bush’s influence on education in Florida.

Malkin wrote, “The resignation of Florida Education Commissioner Tony Bennett couldn’t have come at a better time. His disgraceful grade-fixing scandal is the perfect symbol of all that’s wrong with the federal education schemes peddled by Bennett and his mentor, former GOP Gov. Jeb Bush: phony academic standards, crony contracts, big-government and big-business collusion masquerading as ‘reform’.”

“Bush’s foundation has now joined with the Common Core-peddling Fordham Institute under a new phony-baloney umbrella group: ‘Conservatives for Higher Standards.’ While its list of supporters includes federal bureaucrats, politicians and business interests, there are no grassroots conservative parents or teacher groups. So beware of this ‘conservative’ front. And remember: Astro-turfing runs in the Bush family. Under George W. Bush, the federal Department of Education paid GOP mouthpiece/columnist Armstrong Williams to shill for No Child Left Behind,” notes Malkin.

Heather Crossin, an Indiana mom who helped spearhead the drive to eject Bennett from office and reject Common Core in her state, put it best:

“This situation illustrates why it is crucial that parents be reinserted into the decision-making process when it comes to the education of their children. When their voices and concerns take a backseat to ‘command and control’ approaches to ed reform, the public trust can easily be broken.”

It’s actually quite elementary, Dr. Watson.

EDITORS NOTE: Florida’s education commissioner was once an elected position. That changed in 2003, due to a constitutional amendment that reduced the number of elected Cabinet members and also created the state Board of Education. Under the current system, the governor appoints seven members to sit on the state Board of Education. The board then selects the commissioner to oversee day-to-day operations at the State Department of Education.

RELATED COLUMNS:

Hoosiers say no to Common Core

Tampa and Miami busted for child sex trafficking

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For a larger view click on the poster.

The FBI conducted Operation Cross Country with the mission of recovering victims of child sex trafficking. Again, Florida has two cities that were busted – Tampa and Miami.

Miami had 1 juvenile, 3 pimps, 48 adults and 9 Johns busted. Tampa had 4 juveniles and 35 adults busted. Combined Florida accounted for 6% of juveniles and over 12% of adults busted.

According to the FBI, “Operation Cross Country—a three-day nationwide enforcement action focusing on underage victims of prostitution—has concluded with the recovery of 105 sexually exploited children and the arrests of 150 pimps and other individuals.”

The sweep took place in 76 cities and was carried out by the FBI in partnership with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) as part of the Bureau’s Innocence Lost National Initiative. It is the seventh and largest such enforcement action to date.

“Child prostitution remains a persistent threat to children across America,” said Ron Hosko, assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. “This operation serves as a reminder that these abhorrent crimes can happen anywhere and that the FBI remains committed to stopping this cycle of victimization and holding the criminals who profit from this exploitation accountable.”

Alex was one such victim.

At age 15, faced with a difficult family situation at home, she decided to leave and stay with a girlfriend and then an aunt. When that didn’t work out, she found herself on the street—with an abusive boyfriend who wanted to pimp her out.

“You learn quickly that the only people who are really willing to feed you, clothe you, and shelter you are your parents,” she said. “So I had to figure something out.” (See below video).

Florida education chief changed Indiana grading formula to benefit charter school

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WDW – FL reported that Florida Commissioner of Education Tony Bennett recently recommended “the continuation of the transition safety net provision that prevents schools from dropping more than one letter grade in a given year.” It appears changing school grades is part of Commissioner Bennett’s modus operandi.

The Associated Press reported, “Former Indiana and current Florida schools chief Tony Bennett built his national star by promising to hold “failing” schools accountable. But when it appeared an Indianapolis charter school run by a prominent Republican donor might receive a poor grade, Bennett’s education team frantically overhauled his signature “A-F” school grading system to improve the school’s marks.”

In one email, Bennett wrote, “They need to understand that anything less than an ‘A’ for Christel House compromises all of our accountability work.”

In another, he wrote, “This will be a HUGE problem for us.”

The charter school’s founder, Christel DeHaan, has given more than $2.8 million to Republicans since 1998, including $130,000 to Bennett, according to the AP. DeHaan told the AP that she never asked for any special treatment.

Bennett told the Times/Herald Monday that Christel House was among the top-performing charter schools in Indiana. If it hadn’t earned an A, that meant something was wrong with the entire grading system, he said.

“It had nothing to do with politics,” he said.

RELATED COLUMNS:

Florida’s “padded” school grades show “unprecedented declines”

Two Florida families affected by Congressional probe of “Extortion 17”

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Before there was Benghazi there was Extortion 17. Extortion 17 was the fatal mission launched on August 6, 2011 killing 17 Navy SEALS, 5 SEAL support personnel, 5 Army National Guard/Army Reserve helicopter pilots/crew and three Air Force special operations command members. Their deaths are the greatest single loss of life ever suffered by the U.S. Special Operations community in the 24-year history of the U.S. Special Operations Command.

The second anniversary of Extortion 17 is August 6, 2013.

Floridians Billy and Karen Vaughn and Scott Bill both lost their sons on Extortion 17. The Vaughns have become the face of Extortion 17 and have sought to learn the truth about what happened to their son Aaron. For their efforts the Vaughns have been put upon by several active duty Navy officers and some in the the SEAL community.

Like Benghazi, the official retort  is “nothing to see here, move on”. The Vaughns and other families are not moving on.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah)

According to The Hill, “Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on National Security, told The Hill, “We’re going to dive into this.” Chaffetz said he met with the victims’ families about a month ago in what he described as an “emotional” gathering. He is poised to send questions to the Pentagon and may hold hearings on the matter.

 Jeffrey T. Kuhner from The Washington Times asks, “Did the Obama administration put a target on the backs of members of Navy SEAL Team 6? This is the question that parents of slain SEALs are now asking — and rightly so. Forget Benghazi, the IRS, Eric H. Holder Jr. and the National Security Agency spying on U.S. citizens. Important as these scandals are, what happened to SEAL Team 6 could very well dwarf them. Our government betrayed America’s finest warriors.”

“Navy SEAL Team 6 became a household name for their role in killing Osama bin Laden. On May 1, 2011, the country rightly celebrated the death of bin Laden. The Obama administration, however, wanted to do more. It sought to claim full credit for the assassination, deciding to spike the football. On May 3, at an event in Washington, Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. did the unthinkable: He publicly revealed the identity of the special-operations unit responsible for bin Laden’s killing. His reckless action put at risk the lives of every member of SEAL Team 6. The Taliban and other jihadists eager to avenge bin Laden now knew which unit to target. Stunned and shocked, SEAL members immediately realized they were going to be hunted by al Qaeda sympathizers,” notes Kuhner.

According to documents released by the Pentagon, Taliban fighters were assembling at the Extortion 17 landing site in what appeared to be a pre-planned ambush. On August 8, 2011 the Global Post reported, “The Taliban laid an elaborate trap for U.S. special forces last week when they shot down a Chinook helicopter during a night raid in Afghanistan, killing 38 troops including 30 Americans, an Afghan official said Monday.”

World Net Daily reports, “Among their many suspicions, the families question the sudden replacement of seven Afghan commandos on board the helicopter just before take-off. The seven who died in the attack are not the seven listed in the flight manifest. The families say, to this day, none of them know who those dead Afghans were. That leads the families to wonder if the original commandos may have tipped off the Taliban as to who was on board.”

The families of Aaron C. Vaughn and Brian R. Bill will hopefully get the truth about what happened. At least two Florida families may finally get answers and find closure.

EDITORS NOTE:

Brian Bill before his death appeared in the movie “Act of Valor“. Billy Vaughn has co-authored a book “Betrayed: Exposing the High Cost of the War on Terror“, which will be release in August.

Online Survey: Which of the Ten Commandments do politicians violate most?

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Daily headlines report on politicians who have fallen from grace. From San Diego to New York the list grows. The sins committed are always used for political gain by political opponents. Religion has become politicized and politics has become a religion for some.

Americans are questioning the morality of our elected officials.

The Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the Brookings Institute released their 2013 Economic Values Survey. PRRI and Brookings state, “Our new research shows a complex religious landscape, with religious conservatives holding an advantage over religious progressives in terms of size and homogeneity,” said Dr. Robert P. Jones, CEO of Public Religion Research Institute. “However, the percentage of religious conservatives shrinks in each successive generation, with religious progressives outnumbering religious conservatives in the Millennial generation.”

The PRRI and Brookings note, “Religious progressives are significantly younger and more diverse than their conservative counterparts. The mean age of the religious progressive population is 44 – just under the mean age in the general population of 47 – while the mean age of religious conservatives is 53. Twenty-three percent of Millennials (ages 18-33) are religious progressives, while 17 percent are religious conservatives. Among Millennials, there are also nearly as many nonreligious (22 percent) as religious progressives. Conversely, 12 percent of the Silent Generation (ages 66-88) are religious progressives, while 47 percent are religious conservatives. One-in-ten (10 percent) of the Silent Generation are nonreligious.”

Are politicians merely a reflection of us?

The Torah Exodus 20 contains the Ten Commandments. Please take our online survey and pick the commandment you see being violated the most by politicians.

To view the results of the survey click here.

2 Timothy 3:1-11 BOOKS

“But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.”

See it at YouVersion.com: http://bible.us/31/2ti.3.1.books

RELATED COLUMNS:

Do you live in on of America’s “Most Sinful” cities or one of the “Saintly Cities”?

Fact Check: Does the Bible really support rape and polygamy?

Florida’s Sin Cities: Orlando and Miami

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Florida cities are taking some hits based on recent city rankings released by Movoto and the Allstate Insurance Company.

Movoto when ranking 95 in the US as “sin cities” stated, “Unlike most of the city rankings we’ve already done, we already had some criteria set out for us coming in, namely the Seven Deadly Sins themselves. However, one can’t simply find statistics on things like “prevalence of lust” and “occurrences of wrath”—well, actually you can, but you have to get creative. Luckily we’re sort of known for that around here.”

In order for Movoto to make this ranking, they translated the sins into criteria that make sense for modern city living. They ended up using:

  • Strip clubs per capita (Lust)
  • Cosmetic surgeons per capita (Pride)
  • Violent crime per year per 1,000 residents (Wrath)
  • Theft per year per 1,000 residents (Envy)
  • Percentage of disposable income given to charity each year (Greed)
  • Percentage of obese residents (Gluttony)
  • Percentage of physically inactive residents (Sloth)

Movoto looked at the 95 most populous cities in the United States. Here’s the full list of the 10 most sinful cities in America:

1. St. Louis, MO
2. Orlando, FL
3. Minneapolis, MN
4. Pittsburgh, PA
5. Milwaukee, WI
6. Cincinnati, OH
7. Miami, FL
8. Buffalo, NY
9. Detroit, MI
10. Las Vegas, NV

Allstate Insurance Company recently issued its annual  “America’s Best Drivers Report“. Allstate states, “For the past eight years, Allstate actuaries have conducted an in-depth analysis of company claims data to determine the likelihood drivers in America’s 200 largest cities will experience a vehicle collision compared to the national average. Internal property damage reported claims were analyzed over a two-year period (from January 2009 to December 2010) to ensure the findings would not be impacted by external influences such as weather or road construction.”

None of Florida’s cities were in the top ten of Allstate’s the best drivers list. However, Slate reports the following are cities with the worst drivers:

No. 5: Baltimore. Baltimoreans just can’t keep from running into each other. They were outside the top 10 in fatalities, DWI deaths, and pedestrian strikes, but their rate of collision couldn’t keep them out of the top five overall.

No. 4: Tampa, Fla. Tampa doesn’t do any single thing terribly, but it is consistently poor: 18th worst in years between accidents, fifth in traffic fatalities, tied for 11th in DWI fatalities, and 10th in pedestrian strikes. If the city had managed to get outside the bottom half in any individual category, Tampa residents might have avoided this distinction.

No. 3: Hialeah, Fla. The drivers of Hialeah get into a middling number of accidents, ranking 11th among the 39 candidates. But when they hit someone, they really mean it. The city finished third for fatalities. They also have a terrifying tendency to hit pedestrians.

No. 2: Philadelphia. Drivers in the city of brotherly love enjoy a good love tap behind the wheel. Second-places finishes in collisions and pedestrian strikes overwhelm their semi-respectable 16th-place ranking in DWI deaths.

No. 1: Miami. And it’s not even close. First in automotive fatalities, first in pedestrian strikes, first in the obscenity-laced tirades of their fellow drivers.

Welcome to the Sunshine state. Just keep out of our bars and off our roads.

The 10 Most Sinful Cities in America By Movoto

Florida’s “padded” school grades show “unprecedented declines”

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According to USGovernmentSpending.com Florida has historically spent about half of its budget on education. The chart below shows actual expenditures on education from 2001 – 2011 and projected expenditures from 2012 – 2018. Spending on education is projected to increase in 2014 to $42.86 billion, up $1.69 billion from 2013.

With spending on education is expected to increase, does that result in higher student performance? If school grades are an indicator the answer is – NO.

Jeffrey S. Solochek, Tampa Bay Times staff writer, reports:

Florida’s elementary and middle schools saw unprecedented — yet unsurprising — declines in their state-issued grades released Friday.

About 53 percent of schools earned lower grades than a year ago, state education commissioner Tony Bennett announced. Data show that 548 schools were protected from even bigger drops by a “safety net” rule preventing schools from sliding more than one letter grade.

Amid growing controversy over Florida’s ever-changing quality measures, the state Board of Education imposed the safety net to help schools cope with shifting rules, tougher new tests and a transition to the rigorous Common Core State Standards.

Even with the safety net Solochek notes school grades show “unprecedented declines”. The 2013 school grades down as follows:

  • 760 A’s, compared to 1,242 in 2012
  • 677 B’s, compared to 609 in 2012
  • 721 C’s, compared to 494 in 2012
  • 353 D’s, compared to 212 in 2012
  • 107 F’s, compared to 40 in 2012

NOTE: Approximately 550 schools were protected from even bigger drops by a “safety net” rule preventing schools from sliding more than one letter grade. Elementary and middle school grades are based on the FCAT tests. High school grades, which include more factors, are not expected until late fall.

Blacks losing faith in government’s role in their lives?

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The Gallup poll on college admissions contains a few interesting results.

Gallup reports, “Two-thirds of Americans believe college applicants should be admitted solely based on merit, even if that results in few minorities being admitted, while 28% believe an applicant’s racial and ethnic background should be taken into account to promote diversity on college campuses. Three-quarters of whites and 59% of Hispanics believe applicants should be judged only on merit, while blacks are divided in their views.”

The term “affirmative action” was first used in the United States in Executive Order 10925 and was signed by President John F. Kennedy on 6 March 1961; it was used to promote actions that achieve non-discrimination. In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson enacted Executive Order 11246 which required government employers to take “affirmative action” to hire without regard to race, religion and national origin. In 1967, gender was added to the anti-discrimination list.

Affirmative action has been the subject of numerous court cases, and has been questioned upon its constitutional legitimacy (see, Grutter v. Bollinger, 539 US 244 – Supreme Court 2003). Gallup notes, “The Supreme Court has heard cases that challenged affirmative action programs in college admissions in recent years. In 2003, it declared unconstitutional the University of Michigan’s undergraduate admissions process that automatically awarded minority applicants extra “points” in its admissions formula, but upheld the university’s law school admissions process that took race into account more generally when evaluating each individual applicant. This year, it vacated and remanded a lower-court ruling on a challenge to the University of Texas’ admissions program from a white applicant denied admission.”

“There are large partisan differences in support for affirmative action — Democrats are twice as likely as Republicans to favor affirmative action programs. Republicans are one of only a few groups that show majority opposition. Whereas there were significant differences by education with regard to college admissions, there are only minor differences with regard to affirmative action programs in general,” states Gallup.

Five Florida cities that may be future Detroits

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For a larger view click on the map.

WDW- FL reported that one-third of Florida’s cities are in “perilous financial positions“. The reasons: the increasing burden of  growing retirement and medical costs for government retirees coupled with shrinking revenues.

Luke Rosiak from the Washington Examiner did an analysis to determine which US cities have a larger proportion of government workers to population than Detroit. Rosiak used the Census Bureau’s 2011 Annual Survey of Public Employment and Payroll to rank every U.S. city with a population of 200,000 or more.

Rosiak notes, “Remarkably, the Census Bureau excluded from these figures all teachers and education professionals, which make up the largest group of local government employees.”

Rosiak reports, “Detroit declared bankruptcy due in no small part to $3 billion in unfunded public employee pensions owed a sprawling city workforce that kept growing even as the city’s population shriveled, but a Washington Examiner analysis found that 19 major American cities have even bigger ratios of such workers to residents.”

“What’s more, seven of the 19 cities with larger relative workforces than Detroit paid workers more than twice as much as the Motor City did its employees,” states Rosiak.

To view the map with all of the city data click here.

Below are those Florida cities listed by Rosiak (Note: some city government agencies and public school teachers/education professionals are not counted):

TAMPA

Residents per employee   79
Population: 335,709
Employees: 4,244
Annual payroll: $540,168,672
Average compensation: $127,278
 

ST PETERSBURG

Residents per employee   83
Population: 244,769
Employees: 2,943
Annual payroll: $170,042,328
Average compensation: $57,778
 
 

ORLANDO

Residents per employee   85
Population: 238,300
Employees: 2,799
Annual payroll: $338,968,872
Average compensation: $121,103
 
 

JACKSONVILLE

Residents per employee   87
Population: 821,784
Employees: 9,368
Annual payroll: $1,037,019,744
Average compensation: $110,698
 

MIAMI

Residents per employee   101
Population: 399,457
Employees: 3,923
Annual payroll: $479,194,080
Average compensation: $122,149
 
 

RELATED COLUMNS:

New Poll: Detroit Bankruptcy Popular in Michigan

A whole bunch of really depressing facts about Detroit

How do Americans with jobs get to work?

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I have reported on the growing costs of running publicly funded transportation systems (buses, light rail, AMTRAK). Public bus systems rarely pay for themselves. Rather they are heavily subsidized by federal, state and local governments. For example, in Sarasota County, FL government runs two bus services and both are monopolies. SCAT is run by the County and the other run by Sarasota County School Board. Both are paid for by county property taxpayers.

NPR’s Shiva Koohi portrays in two simple charts how Americans who have jobs get to work.

Since 1960 American workers get to work primarily, and in ever increasing numbers, via private transportation. Use of public transportation has declined by over half since 1960, while use of private transportation has increased by 20% (see below charts). The use of bikes, taxis and walking by workers have all declined since 1960 and 1980. The number of those working at home has doubled since 1980 but remains a small number of total workers. Telecommuting has not yet caught on.

Click on the chart for a larger view.

Koohi reports, “More than ever, Americans are getting to work by driving alone. As the graph above shows, the share of Americans driving to work rose sharply in the second half of the 20th century, as the nation became more suburban. The rate has been flat for the past few decades — but during that time the percentage of people who carpool fell (even as carpool lanes proliferated).”

Koohi notes:

Today, only 5 percent of workers take public transportation, down from 11 percent in 1960; only 4 percent walk to work, down from 7 percent in 1960.

One surprising detail in the numbers: The share of workers who work at home is actually lower today than it was 50 years ago (4 percent today versus 7 percent in 1960). A 1998 Census report pointed to “the steep decline in the number of family farmers and the growing tendency of professionals, such as doctors and lawyers, to leave their home and join group practices resulted in a loss each decade of the number of at-home workers.” The share of people working at home has been rising for the past few decades, as telecommuting has become more popular, but the rise hasn’t been nearly enough to make up for the earlier decline.

In October, 2009 Catherine Rampell posted the below map on Economix. It shows the percentages of workers who drove to work alone by state and is based on U.S. Census data.

 

Richard Florida noted patterns in Rampell’s map. Florida reported:

Income and Economic Output: The richer the state, the less likely people were to drive alone. Driving alone was negatively correlated with state income levels (-.46) and output per capita (-.41).

Class and Human Capital: States with higher percentages of college graduates (-.47) and the creative class (-.43) were less likely to have people driving alone. Driving alone was much more likely in states with large working class concentrations (.62).

Professional and Creative Jobs: Driving alone was less likely in states with high concentrations of virtually every type of professional, knowledge-based and creative jobs. But it was least likely in states with large concentrations of artists, designers, and entertainers (-.63), architects and engineers (-.61), scientists (-.56 ), and lawyers (-.55).

Blacks across Florida march for unequal rights?

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Oakland, CA protest with Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr. and Oakland Mayor Jean Quan. Photo courtesy of AP. For a larger view click on the photo.

Protests were held across Florida and the nation on Saturday, July 20th, to protest the acquittal of George Zimmerman in the shooting of Trayvon Martin.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reported on Saturday’s protest, “Their chant said much the same thing: ‘No justice, no peace.’ We’re not going to stand by and let this man go free,’ said Trevor Harvey, president of the Sarasota County chapter of the NAACP, which is lobbying the Department of Justice to charge Zimmerman with civil rights violations.”

GulfNews.com reports, “In Miami, more than 200 people gathered for a vigil. ‘You can’t justify murder,’ read one poster. Another read ‘Don’t worry about more riots. Worry about more Zimmermans’.”

KIRO TV reports, “In Miami, Tracy Martin spoke about his son. ‘This could be any one of our children,’ he said. ‘Our mission now is to make sure that this doesn’t happen to your child.’ He recalled a promise he made to his son as he lay in his casket. ‘I will continue to fight for Trayvon until the day I die,’ he said. Shantescia Hill held a sign in Miami that read: ‘Every person deserves a safe walk home’. The 31-year-old mother, who is black, said, ‘I’m here because our children can’t even walk on the streets without fearing for their lives’.”

Are the protesters calling for unequal rights rather than equal justice under the law?

BizPac Review noted, “Shortly after President Obama surprised reporters Friday with a 20-minute statement on George Zimmerman, Trayvon Martin and race relations in the U.S., Zimmerman’s defense team responded with a statement of their own.”

The Zimmerman defense team response states in part:

“This case has given the nation an opportunity to have a candid conversation about race. We would like to contribute to this discourse. Our President has clearly indicated he is willing to contribute to the discourse. As we begin this conversation, we want to say this: we cannot talk about race in sound bites. Before you cast an opinion about what the President said, be sure to listen to his comments in full. Before you judge George Zimmerman or disparage the verdict of the citizen jury, understand the facts in full. Agree not to listen to just what meets your predisposition, but to accept what exists.”

Read the full statement here.

Have race relations come full circle under America’s first black President?

Florida has a history of tragic events following the death of Blacks. Some have lead to riots. The City of Miami, in1980, saw blacks riot there and again in January 1989 and October 1995. The cause of the riots by local Blacks were against alleged cases of police brutality by the Miami Police Department and competition with Cubans, Haitians and other Latinos. Riots during 1991 in Overtown, Miami occurred in the heavily Black section against Cuban Americans, alike earlier riots there in 1982 and 1984. Finally, in 1995 citizens of St. Petersburg, Florida witnessed a riot caused by protests against racial profiling and police brutality.

Are Saturday’s protests not unlike what Florida has experience before? Historical themes in Florida are: Hispanics vs. Blacks,  Blacks vs. the law and Blacks vs. profiling.

In each case the protests, some turning violent, are founded on the idea Blacks need special protection. Is this the resurgence of the “politics of retribution“? Former Detroit Mayor Coleman A. Young once characterized riots in the city as “Not riots, but ‘rebellion’.” Are we raising a new generation of Black demagogues like Young?

Tamar Jacoby, author of Someone Else´s House: America’s Unfinished Struggle for Integration (1998), argues that since Martin Luther King, Jr., although blacks have made enormous economic, political, and social progress, a true sense of community has remained elusive.

Does the politics of retribution make our communities better or worse?

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When racism becomes a one way street it leads to cultural suicide

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The President on Friday stated, “Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago.”

Former Congressman Allen West once stated, “When tolerance becomes a one way street, it will lead to cultural suicide.” West would agree with the title of this column because racism has become a one way street for one purpose only – political gain for the political elite. Racist rhetoric comes at the expense of black families and black communities across the nation. The utopian quest for social justice has lead to government dependency for blacks.

Who would have thought the black community is being held hostage by America’s first black President.

As West points out in a recent column, “While tragic, Trayvon Martin’s death should not be the reason that the black community is marching in the streets. Black unemployment, gang crime, health problems, and abortion rates are plagues upon black people across the country.”

President Obama focuses on anything but the most tragic death in the black community – the death of the traditional black family.

Kids Count Data Center reports that in the District of Columbia 86% of black children live in single parent homes. In President Obama’s home state of Illinois 74% of black children live in single parent homes. Raynard Jackson from the Atlanta Daily World writes, “It is not a coincidence that since the early 60s, the out of wedlock birth rate for Blacks is currently around 74 percent, Hispanics around 60 percent, and Whites over 50 percent. There is direct causation between welfare, feminism and the destruction of or the marginalization of men and the family unit.”

West notes, “Since 1973 Black American deaths have emanated from: AIDS: 203,695; Violent Crimes: 306,313; Accidents: 370,723; Cancer: 1,638,350; Heart Disease: 2,266,789; and Abortion: 13,000,000.”

Barack Obama

Strict gun control laws in Chicago, President Obama’s home town, have lead to increased violence and deaths in black neighborhoods, drug and alcohol abuse among blacks leads to more accidents, and the right to choose leads to the abortion of more and more black babies. The Affordable Care Act will put blacks, especially young blacks, on part time and increase the cost of medical care for them.

The black community is well on its way to cultural suicide.

The rich culture of the black community, its churches and its families are now distant memories. If you do not believe it just look at Detroit, Michigan the largest of eight cities to go bankrupt since 2010. Look at what it means being black in a big city like Detroit run for half a century by progressive leaders and public service unions. Look at what it has done to black families, neighborhoods and an entire city.

Trayvon Martin

Detroit first experienced white flight then middle class black flight. What is left? Destruction, violence, abject poverty and a black culture that is but a shadow of its former self.

So where is President Obama? Can he relate to the blacks in Detroit or even Trayvon Martin? As a young black boy he grew up as part of an upper middle class white family in Hawaii. He was a half-black boy of privilege. He went to Punahou a prestigious private school, then on to college at two of America’s most prestigious universities.

What do Barack and Trayvon have in common?

The only thing Trayvon and Barack have in common is they both smoked pot. One wonders if Trayvon was inspired by pictures of Barack blowing weed. Perhaps he was emulating the young Barack in the pictures discovered on his cell phone?

As Allen West notes, ‘So what are the real priorities in the black community? Politically manufactured crises, as pushed by the race-baiting, faux leaders in the black community, propped up by progressive socialists and the complicit media?”

West asks, “What is the legacy for the next generation in the black community?”

Video by Bill Whittle on the truth about Trayvon Martin, the concoction “lean” and the lynching of George Zimmerman by politicians, activists and the media:

Jesse Jackson: Florida is an “apartheid state” (Video)

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Breitbart writes, “First the left tried to boycott Arizona over an immigration law whose substantive core was upheld by the Supreme Court. Now the left is trying to stir up hatred against Florida over the verdict in the Zimmerman trial, with Jesse Jackson likening Florida to apartheid South Africa in a CNN interview with Jake Tapper. Jackson blamed the fact that the prosecutors were white, and that there were no blacks on the jury, for the fact that Zimmerman was found not guilty in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. By his logic, only white can judge whites, blacks can judge blacks, and so on–the opposite of…” Read more.

While Jackson was making his racially inflammatory comment Florida Governor Rick was calling for a day of prayer.

On July 18th Governor Rick Scott met with the leaders of a group of protestors at the Florida State Capitol. Governor Scott released the following statement following the meeting this evening:

“I asked to meet with the protestors this evening to personally hear their concerns following the jury’s verdict in the Zimmerman case. I expressed my own sympathies for the Martin family and all those affected by Trayvon’s death. Earlier this evening, I also spoke to Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon’s mother, to again give my condolences on the loss of her son and let her know that she and her family remain in our thoughts and prayers.

“Tonight, the protesters again asked that I call a special session of the Legislature to repeal Florida’s Stand Your Ground law. I told them that I agree with the Task Force on Citizen Safety and Protection, which concurred with the law. I also reminded them of their right to share their views with their state legislators and let them know their opinions on the law.

“I also told them that I plan to call for a Statewide Day of Prayer for Unity in Florida this Sunday, July 21st. We have a great state with wonderful, resilient people that rise to meet any challenge. While emotions run high, it is even more important that we join together to strengthen and support one another.”

Watch his comments via Breitbart here:

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FL Commissioner of Education talks out of both sides of his mouth

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In January Tony Bennett, Florida Commissioner of Education, stated on his blog, “In my opinion, our students are best served in education when parents, educators, and communities communicate on issues facing our classrooms. That is why I will not use a top-down approach to Florida’s education reform … In my new position as Florida’s Commissioner of Education, I will keep the [student achievement] scoreboard up as a constant reminder to me and my colleagues of the importance of accountability in measuring teacher and student success. Parents should feel confident that when their child graduates from high school he or she will be ready for today’s competitive environment.”

One method of holding schools accountable is grading public schools based upon accountability measures such as the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT).

According to Jeffrey S. Solochek, Tampa Bay Times staff writer, “Florida school grades are due by late July, but their validity will be in serious doubt this year. A divided state Board of Education voted Tuesday [July 16, 2013] to prevent the grades from dropping more than one letter at any school, marking the second straight year the board padded grades.”

The State Board of Education may have been influenced by a letter from Bennet which states, “I recommend the continuation of the transition safety net provision that prevents schools from dropping more than one letter grade in a given year. The continuation of this safety net provision was the primary recommendation of the advisory task force. The department understands the superintendents’ concern that multiple changes to performance expectations, grade calculations and other variables within the calculation on a short timeline may have contributed to a reduction in clarity of the system. However, similar issues will likely be in play in 2015-2016 with a revamped accountability model and higher performance expectations of CCSS [Common Core State Standards].”

So which is it Secretary Bennett the “importance of accountability” or the “continuation of a safety net”?

Sally Bradshaw, Florida Board of Education member.

Solocheck notes, “Of the 262 schools slated to earn an F this year, just 108 will get that grade now, board member Sally Bradshaw said.” Bradshaw does not believe true accountability on educational standard are being met. Bradshaw stated, “I don’t understand when it became acceptable to disguise and manipulate the truth simply because the truth is uncomfortable.”

Could there be a political twist to this decision?

Solochek writes, “The [school] grades quickly became prominent in school vernacular. School board members and elected superintendents touted them in campaigns. Residents used them when buying and selling homes. Mayors gave out awards based on school grades.”

Governor Scott is up for reelection in 2014. Secretary Bennet is signaling this safety net will be extended due to the implementation of Common Core in Florida. That would take the heat off Scott as schools are failing at a higher rate due to new higher standards.

Can you say double standard in our public schools? Who does this decision harm most?

EDITORS NOTE: Commissioner Bennet was resigned from his position August 1, 2013 due to a cheating scandal in his previous job.