Metro I-4 News

You are browsing the archives of 2008 March.

On Good Friday morning, I got out of bed and saw that the High School Senior had slept in late. I woke her up so she could rush to school. “It’s Good Friday,” she said. “We’re going to the beach.” Being the stepdad, I assumed she had worked it out with [...]

Chuck:Yes, I’m leading with the results. Before the final 12, I thought Chikezie would go the first week. But he wasn’t the worst performer last night. America got it wrong.

What the hell? “America got it wrong?” 35 million people voted in the 21st century version of Ted Mack’s Original Amateur Hour meets Queen for a Day. They’re voting their favorites. They’re not listening to the music.

Lorrie: Maybe so, but at this point of this screwball season, I’m just happy that someone from my Bottom Three was sent home. The way I’ve been picking them the past couple of weeks, I definitely should NOT play the lottery any time soon.

Chuck: And now to what we learned on tonight’s show:

• To make it up to Ramiele for turning off her mic last week, AI producers gave her too much air time tonight.

• David Cook is a Kansas City Royals fan. That means he’ll be traded to the Yankees for prospects before the season is out. **

• David Archuleta’s father is a ventriloquist. How else can we explain David A. answering “It’s one of my favorite songs!”? (Lorrie- We also could explain it like this: he’s a nerd. He’s cute & nerdy)

• Carly wears “Spanx.” S&M fans can go back to braiding their whips, She was talking about these.
(That link is safe for work, unless you work at Victoria’s Secret.)

• The winning of the Ford-AI contest this year gets to watch them shoot a commercial. Based on tonight’s
commercial my wife reasoned the winner will sit in someone’s office while they do digital editing.

• They took calls again this week. Again, they used the calls to play up Simon and Ryan’s mock feud. Again the questions were an idiotic part of the show. I’d rather they play a tape of Kristy Lee Sings the Beatles. (Lorrie- You’re in luck, Chuck. I hear that’s gonna be Kristy Lee’s first CD. Every Beatles song will be recorded with a bluegrass vibe, except for Come Together, which will be a polka)

• Kimberly Locke appeared in a Weight Watcher’s commercial and a public service warning for glitter body makeup. Somewhere in there she also sang a country song.

• Ryan was again irritated when a Bottom Three contestant refused to play up the drama. He cut off Jason mid-ramble to tell him to sit on the sofa.

• Chikezie whispered something to sYESha just before Ryan read the result. After Ryan announced Chikezie was out, sYESha quickly walked to the sofa and wrestled Kristy Lee to the floor.

It should be very interesting watching today’s Florida Senate session. Mixed in with all the business will be an address by U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, who will announce a wide-ranging federal election reform package proposal.

The part of Nelson’s package which will obviously attract the most attention is a constitutional amendment which would abolish the Electorial College which, after all the votes are counted, makes the final determination who becomes President of the United States. The EC is made up of representatives from each state equal to it’s number of U.S. Senators and Representatives, and is intended to give smaller states greater weight instead of being overwhelmed by those states with much larger population. Instead, Nelson is suggesting a straight election by popular vote.

Senator Nelson’s reforms also include:

— Early voting in every state

— Absentee ballots on demand for any qualified voter, which is currently available in Florida.

— Ban voting machines that do not produce a paper trail.

— Grants to states to develop pilot projects for mail-in balloting and secure voting via the Internet.

It also includes an idea which I have championed ever since last January: A series of rotating interregional presidential preference primaries and caucuses.

What do you think?

Have you ever wondered just how many minor political parties are actually registered to raise money and present candidates for public office in Florida? Actually, their number is more than 30. Many of them are one-issue oriented organizations, and most are simply an operation of one or two, or maybe a small group of individuals seeking to provide an alternative from the Republicans and Democrats.

I’ve put together this list so that you can see just how much of a choice we have when it comes to electing candidates for public office. Much of the information comes from the Florida Department of Elections site, with additional items from the Web sites of the parties listed as having links. One note for consideration: Many of the smaller political parties don’t have the financial resource to rent it’s own office, so the addresses and phone numbers are likely that of the party’s chairman or other leader. Please keep that in mind in contacting them.

America First Party of Florida
Post Office Box 352
Fort White, FL 32038
(321) 631-4026

American Party of Florida
609 East Main Street
Avon Park, FL 33825
(863) 453-7223

American Poor People Party
5415 Santa Rosa Way
Jacksonville, FL 32211
(904) 683-2294

American Reform Party of Florida
6999-02 Merrill Road, Apt. 265
Jacksonville, FL 32277
(904) 745-1250

British Reformed Sectarian Party
3108 Moss Drive
Cocoa, FL 32922
(321) 638-8960

Christian Party
803 East Magnolia
Arcadia, FL 34266
(863) 494-0363

Constitution Party of Florida
16874 131st Way, North
Jupiter, FL 33478
(800) 283-8647

Ecology Party
641 Southwest Sixth Avenue
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33315
(888) 462-2468

Faith & Patience, Inc. N.P.G.G.
700 Southeast Fifth Court
Pompano Beach, FL 33060
(954) 785-0127

Family Values Party
2006 Woodbury Drive
Room 1-C
Cantonment, FL 32533
(850) 968-9817

Florida Democratic Party
214 South Bronough Street
Tallahassee, FL 32301
(850) 222-3411 / FAX (850) 222-0916

Florida Socialist Workers Party
Post Office Box 381395
Miami, FL 33138
(305) 756-4436

Florida Whig Party
2530 Dwyer Lane
Lake Mary, FL 32746
(407) 314-9924

Green Party of Florida
Post Office Box 1316
Key West, FL 33041-1316
(850) 474-1495

Independence Party of Florida
Post Office Box 2206
Riverview, FL 33568
(904) 704-5392 or (813) 671-3122

Independent American Party of Florida
4618 Key Lime Boulevard
Loxahatchee, FL 33470
(561) 795-1335

Independent Democrats of Florida
525 West 49th Street
Miami Beach, FL 33140
(305) 864-5110

Independent Party of Florida
Post Office Box 100
Largo, FL 33779
(727) 585-1111

Libertarian Party of Florida
5901 Pendragon Lane
Fort Myers, FL 33912
(800) 478-0555

Moderate Party
2595 Little Hill Cove
Apt. 212
Ovideo, FL 32765
(321) 517-9021

Possibility Party
606 Commodore Drive
Plantation, FL 33325
(954) 696-0550

Progressive Libertarian Party
4420 Beacon Circle
West Palm Beach, FL 33407
(561) 632-0462

Prohibition Party
Post Office Box 3554
Milton, FL 32572
(850) 686-1122

Real Food Party of the United States of America
14691 129th Road
Live Oak, FL 32060
(386) 688-2805

Reform Party of Florida
309 Exeter Street
Oldsmar, FL 3467
(813) 855-1213 / FAX (813) 855-1426

Republican Party of Florida
420 East Jefferson Street
Tallahassee, FL 32301
Post Office Box 311
Tallahassee, FL 32302-0311
(850) 222-7920 / FAX (850) 681-0184

Socialist Party of Florida
Post Office Box 22953
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33335
No Phone Contact Listed

Surfers Party of America
c/o 29 Catalonia Court
St. Augustine, FL 32086
No Phone Contact Listed

Term Limits for the United States Congress Party
Post Office Box 819
New Port Richey, FL 34656
(727) 597-0225

Veterans Party of America
1115 Edgewood Avenue, South
Apt. 647
Jacksonville, FL 32205
(904) 738-8379

Former U.S. Senator and up to now Democratic presidential candidate Mike Gravel of Alaska announced today that he will be changing his affiliation to the Libertarian Party, and will seek to become it’s nominee for president.

In a statement posted on his campaign Web site, Gravel said he had been “repeatedly marginalized in both national debates and in media exposure by the Democratic leadership” and referred to the Democratic Party as an organization which “continues to sustain war, the military-industrial complex and imperialism”.

Gravel noted that the Libertarian Party is “considerably closer to my values, my foreign policy views and my domestic views”. The Alaskan would become the 15th individual seeking to become the Libertarian nominee, which will be decided at the party’s convention May 22-26 in Denver.

This is yet another curve in Gravel’s campaign. Just last month, while still very much a candidate for the Democratic nomination, he endorsed Green Party candidate Jesse Johnson.

And so it goes…

Pre-Show fluff:

Chuck: This week the American Idol singers were to choose songs from the year they were born. Now, you might think that would be easy. However, a few found a way to fudge the rules by picking a song that “charted somewhere in the world the year I was born,” “was released by an American Idol favorite on an album you never heard of the year I born”, or “was a song my father sang in the shower the year I was born.”

No one used the Dominican Pitcher Gambit and simply changed their birth year. As I watched the show all I could think was, “Well, at least I liked the originals of the songs they sang last week.” This was a ho-hum night for most of the performers.

Lorrie: Paula Abdul almost didn’t make it to tonight’s show, folks. She was running late from her day job of artificially inseminating cows. In fact, she forgot to remove her gloves before airtime.

Ramiele Malubay- Alone

Chuck: The best you can say about her performance was that Paula didn’t tell her how pretty she looked. The girl was sick. The song was worse; yet 10 seconds into the song the audience is waving their arms like a bed of sea anemone. I see she adopted the Kristy Lee Fighting/Singing Stance © . Simon told her she wasn’t as bad as last week. She thought it was a complement.

Lorrie: Y’all, Ramiele is dressed in her Pat-Benetar-Love-is-a- Battlefield outfit tonight! She was a little pitchy, dawg.

Jason Castro- Fragile

Chuck: The Spicoli jokes are easy, but ultimately unsatisfying. The kid is too deep in character to realize he’s a caricature. I’m amazed that it took Simon this long to realize Jason is “too laid back.” Dude. Seriously. What?

Lorrie: Jason, my grandma called. She wants to crochet a scarf with your hair. Snore….snore…snore…I feel like I might do a face plant into my keyboard at any moment. What is with him wanting to sing songs in other languages two weeks in a row?!

sYESha Mercado- If I Were Your Woman

Chuck: She pulls out the baby scream again. It’s the best note of her time. She shows a little ‘tude. Do people still say ‘tude? I believe the AI audience is programmed to clap when they hear a loud, long drawn out note. If you taped the show go back and listen as she ends the song. You can hear Simon tell Randy to say something. I slowed it down, and played it backwards. He said, “I buried Paul.”

Paula then looks at Simon and asked “Do I like her?” (Seriously, listen. She did. No, I’m not joking now. See the parentheses? That means “not joking” like $^$%#& means a comics character hit his thumb with a hammer.)

Lorrie: I thought this was her best performance of the season. America’s gonna say YES to sYESsha tonight.

I swear, that baby cry creeps me the F- out.

Chikezie- If Only For One Night

Chuck: He goes against the judge’s advice and sings a ballad. Though he sings a long note, the AI staff forget to turn on the applause sign and the audience sits dumbfounded. Randy hits the “old school” button on his voicebox, Simon wakes Paula and she adds, “Throwback.” Simon misses Chikezie’s personality. I think they accidentally recycled their notes for Amanda.

Lorrie: I like his voice, but he sounds like so many other soul singers out there. I don’t think he brings anything new to the table. Still, I predict he’s safe this week.

Brooke White- Every Breath You Take

Chuck: Brooke makes a mistake right away and restarts her version of “Every Breath You Take.” Or was it a mistake? I say it was a brilliant use of literalness in music. She took a “breath” Get it? A “breath.”

In any case, for the rest of the song the AI director played David Archuleta’s mistake on a split-screen.

Every judge wished she played the piano without the band for the whole song. Have you noticed how often the judges praise singers who eschew the band? If this goes on I don’t see Randy Minor on the show next year.

Lorrie: Holy false start, Batman! She messed up on the first two words! Great recovery, though. This is a pretty version of this song. I love watching her when she sings and plays piano. This was a good performance, but by her standards, not great. Still, she’s safe this week.

At this point, I’m starting to feel boredom creep in again. I think if this show doesn’t pick up soon, I’m gonna lobby for Chuck and I to start blogging about Wheel of Fortune instead.

Michael Johns- We Will Rock You/ We Are the Champions

Chuck: After Brooke’s song, Fox accidentally switched to tape of a pep rally.

Oddly, the judges then praised Michael Johns for singing We Will Rock You/We are the Champions.

This is my “Am I watching the same show?” moment of the week. I rewind. Watch it again. Again I expect Paula to stand and say “We have spirit. Yes we do. We have spirit. How ’bout you?”

Lorrie: Well, as soon as they mention he’s going to sing two Queen songs, I know what they will be. It’s just like ZZ Top- you never hear “Have Mercy” on the radio on a Two for Tuesday without hearing “Jesus Just Left Chicago” afterward. These songs go together cuz opposites attract. (Sorry, I was having a 1980s Paula Abdul/Scat Cat moment)

I predict the judges will say he shouldn’t have performed We Will Rock You. I think the performance sucked.

What the…the audience has gone loopy! It was not all that, y’all. I’m totally lost now that the judges have agreed he was wonderful tonight. I just didn’t think this was good.

Mid-column break:

Chuck: Who told each contestant to talk about astrology? Seriously, it’s 2008. This is what happens when you don’t teach evolution in schools. (Note: Please send all hate letters c/o Lorrie Delk Walker at…)

Lorrie: Is Paula’s left eye lazy tonight?

Carly Smithson- Total Eclipse of the Heart

Chuck: The Irish woman sings the Welsh woman’s biggest hit as Carly sings Bonnie Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart.” That’s the best I could come up with. Did you see the performance? Wow, that was tame.

Lorrie: I’ve always loved this song, even though if you play it backward, it says “cheesy” repeatedly. In fact, I thought Amanda Overmyer might try to sing it one week.

My question is this- why in the world did Carly sing it plain-Jane throughout, and then try to take it to town on the final note?! Too little, too late if you ask me.

Note to Carly- never, ever discuss with Ryan your bathroom habits prior to performing. You’re not funny. We don’t care. Just sing.

David Archuleta- You’re the Voice

Chuck: The best part of the performance was when Simon outed David A. as the child of a scary stage dad, “I don’t think that song is you at all. I’d be amazed if you chose that song yourself. “

In case you didn’t grow up in the British Commonwealth, the song won some Australian Song of the Year award in 1987. I believe it was up against Milli Vanilli’s “Girl, You Know it’s True”
I hear both of you wondering, “Wasn’t that kid born in 1990?” You’re right, but David Foster released the song on his 1990 album, River of Love.

Yeah, I also missed that one.

Lorrie: Chuck, I don’t like how you’ve just pretended we have only two readers. You know that exactly seven people read this blog faithfully each week.

David was a little shaky sounding tonight. He picks too many songs with, like, meaning and stuff. Me no likey. Just be a teenager, David. I hate this song. I’ve never heard it until now, but I hate it. I do still love his voice, though.

P.S.- I’m calling for a moratorium on the use of the phrase “you can sing the phonebook.”

Kristy Lee Cook- God Bless the U.S.A.

Chuck: When running behind, cite God and Country. Simon recognizes Kristy Lee’s political savvy, “The most clever song choice I have heard in years.”

Paula didn’t like the performance. I missed it. I thought it was the 7th inning and they were playing that dreadful Kate Smith song. So I headed for the bathroom.

Lorrie: I wonder what P.O.S. she’ll pick to sing tonight. God Bless the USA?!?! Ahhh, geez….I can’t hear this song without thinking of my annual 4-H awards ceremonies as a kid, when they would play the slide show and this would be the music.

I just figured out her stance, Chuck. She’s practicing for when she gets her very own doublewide trailer and she has to bounce a baby on her hip.

I get it… she’s playing the sympathetic patriot card. Here we are, just having celebrated five years in Iraq and 4,000 soldiers dead and she’s tugging at people’s heart strings. Could this low blow keep her safe this week?

Randy liked it. Are you kidding???!!!

Simon says it’s her best performance by a mile.

I feel like I’m in the friggin’ Twilight Zone. I check the channel to make sure my dog didn’t step on the remote and suddenly I’m watching American Idol Rewind. I cannot believe that she was so well-liked. I’m disgusted.

Never has there been a season of American Idol where I so anxiously awaited the end of the show as I have this week. Oh, wait. Except for last week.

David Cook- Billy Jean

Chuck: David Cook took the song that kicked off a revolution in music videos and made an Emo anthem. I have to publicly admit I simply couldn’t believe I liked it. Tomorrow I’m dying my hair black, and wearing it in long bangs over one eye.

(Note: Anyone who has seen me is now hysterically laughing. You may join them. Pick your own reason if need be.)

Lorrie: BRB- I just shot tea out my nose after reading Chuck’s comment.

Chris Cornell’s version? Never heard of such a thing. But I love Chris Cornell, with or without Soundgarden.

This kid can sing. I loved this version! Top three performance. No doubt. Easily the best performance of the night.

Chuck’s Top Three- David Cook, David Cook and David Cook

Lorrie’s Top Three- David Cook, sYESha Mercado and Brooke White

Chuck’s Bottom Three- Ramiele, Carly and David A. Goodbye Ramiele.

Lorrie’s Bottom Three- Ramiele, Chikezie and Kristy Lee. And I will continue to put Kristy Lee in the Bottom Three until America wakes up! In an effort to correct all the wrongs committed in recent weeks, America will say goodbye to all three. I know. But the column’s on my blog, so I can write my dreams however I want ‘em.

The Reverand Dr. Jeremiah Wright, Jr., until his recent retirement senior pastor to Chicago’s Trinity United Church of Christ — and thus to parishioner and Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama — has certainly made a name for himself after video of selected portions of past sermons made their way into the national political debate.

After watching the video in question, and reading the transcript of the sermons in question, it seems that while I certainly did not agree with portions of what was said, it was clear that some of the more controversial statements were taken out of context when you take the time to read the entire section of the sermon. Anyway, I try to be fair, and would have liked to have seen and heard Dr. Wright in person.

That won’t happen now.

The minister was scheduled to have visited a Temple Terrace church for a three night revival beginning this evening, but was cancelled earlier today after concerns arose regarding security and apparant jurisdictional issues. It would have been the Rev. Dr. Wright’s first public appearance since the controveresy arose regarding his statements from the pulpit and Obama’s relationship with the clergyman.

The St. Petersburg Times Web site story notes that during a news conference held at Bible-Based Fellowship Church of Temple Terrace, where Wright was to have spoken, pastor Rev. Earl B. Mason, Sr. said part of the reason for the cancellation was that the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, which had agreed to provide extra security for the event, notified him Monday it would no longer do so. He said he was waiting on a call from Sheriff David Gee to explain why.
Sheriff’s spokeswoman Debbie Carter disputed Mason’s account. She said the church asked the Sheriff’s Office for help Monday, but an off-duty employment officer told the church that it fell within Tampa police jurisdiction. The officer referred the church to Tampa police.

Knowing the magnitude of the event, Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Jose Docobo called Tampa police Monday and asked if the Sheriff’s office could assist with off-duty security. When he didn’t get a response, he called again today, Carter said.

“We were assured that it was not needed and that it was taken care of,” she said.

In a statement issued today, Tampa police said the department was prepared for Wright’s visit…

“We recommended the organizers hire extra duty officers to handle parking issues and they complied,” the statement said. “The Tampa Police Department was prepared to handle Reverend Wright’s visit from the time he landed at Tampa International Airport, through the event and until his departure from our city. We were surprised to hear of the cancellation.”

Reverends Mason and Wright have a longstanding relationship, with Wright being a guest evangalist for several consecutive years at Mason’s church. While the people in charge of arranging the Chicago preacher’s visit were obviously well aware of the attention it would bring, it is obvious that they didn’t have any idea just how much of a three ring circus they would be faced with.

Too bad.

Yep…
It’s an epidemic. There is now another one - this one from Pasco County schools. It’s happening so often that this one didn’t even make the front page of Trib’s Metro section.

Lawsuit seeks to evict rent rules — New Orleans Times-Picayune

A group of out-of-state investors who bought and renovated 80 flood-damaged homes in St. Bernard Parish has filed a lawsuit to overturn a parish ordinance requiring special permits to rent the homes.

The 25 investors, most of them Florida residents, contend the ordinance is an unconstitutional infringement upon property rights that also violates their right to due process with an application process that is “intimidating, irrational, oppressive and indefensible.”

…

Rodney Brenneman, an investor who lives in Lakeland, Fla., said the group has poured more than $8 million into Hurricane Katrina-ravaged St. Bernard Parish, drawn by the investment opportunity and a desire to help solve the parish’s housing crunch.

“We might look like a big company, but we’re really a bunch of ordinary folks who saw this as a way to plan for our retirements and do some good at the same time,” he said.

Brenneman said the investors, who do business as Your Home Solution Louisiana, hoped to renovate the homes and sell them for $135,000 to $165,000, but they were unable to do so because of the national mortgage crisis and skyrocketing insurance costs.

They decided to rent the homes until the housing market recovers, but they did not obtain permits required by the parish ordinance for all homes that were not rentals before Katrina.

John DP Coggin, a graduate student studying public polic, has taken time off to write a biography of Lawton Chiles, the Lakeland native who a three-term senator and two-term governor of Florida. Coggin is documenting his work on his blog, Walkin’ Lawton

This blog details Florida’s only highway with as many turkeys as people: the Walkin’ Lawton Chiles trail. From Century to Tallahassee to Jacksonville to Orlando to Fort Lauderdale to Miami to Key Largo, you’ll find milestones of his famous walk across Florida posted in the ground: state-issued, metal signs about as high as a stop sign. In Chiles’ long career, he left tracks all across the state, and the ones without signposts are often the most interesting. Walking the trail, taking photos, studying boxes of archives, talking to friends and colleagues, recording old stories–these will be my passport to history.

Country Captures took a nice photograph of a Coot on Lake Parker.

You can always find the Lakeland crime maps at Lakeland Crime. The latest map is up, or you can find the full size map at: LakelandLocal.com Crime Map 03/10 to 03/16 2008

44 This week’s stats:

02 Business Burglary
01 Business Robbery
00 Gang Grafitti
03 Personal Robbery
12 Residential Burglary
01 Residential Robbery
01 Attempted Stolen Vehicle
01 Recovered Stolen Vehicle
08 Stolen Vehicle
15 Vehicle Burglary

While you’re enjoying Easter with your family today, my family will be eating my first-ever Easter Cake- chocolate cake, cream cheese frosting, food-colored coconut grass and Starburst jelly beans.

Now, I understand that a woman without children probably has no business making such a kid-friendly cake, but man….is it good!

The Tigers host the Indians on Easter

Cool day for baseball CC by Chuck Welch.

Tampa Bay Website Highlight: The Sustany Foundation
The Sustany Foundation Vision:
To be the leading facilitator of sustainability in our community through efficient and effective aggregation and investment of resources.
The Sustany Foundation Mission Statement:
To increase the quality of life for Tampa Bay’s citizens today and into the future by promoting sustainability on a [...]

Tampa Tribune political writer William March has a GREAT piece in today’s edition that is a MUST READ for anyone who wants or needs a reminder as to how we got into the predicament that we’re currently in regarding this year’s presidential preference primary and the resulting punishment from the Democratic National Committee.

How did we get into this mess?

Florida Democrats are asking that as they watch their national party threaten not to count the state’s presidential primary, and watch the two candidates battle over whether it should count.

Truth be known, most Florida Democrats are well aware as to how we got into this mess. But anyone who has been feeling the urge to point blame needs to realize that there’s plenty to go around…including in our own direction.

Democratic National Committee member Jon Ausman of Tallahassee, said it best in the piece when he said that “Everybody involved miscalculated badly somewhere along the line”.

That, my friend, is the understatement of the year.

Mr. March also reminded us of a couple of facts that the DNC reneged on in deciding how to punish our state.

One: “At its summer 2006 convention, the Democratic National Committee specified a tough penalty - the loss of half the delegation, plus a boycott preventing candidates from campaigning in the state”.

Two: “The 11 Florida DNC members voted for that penalty”.

Friends, the initial decision was made by the Democratic National Committee as a body of the whole. Only a couple of months later, March notes that “A DNC panel eliminates the entire Florida national convention delegation, not just half as expected, but doesn’t impose a boycott on campaigning here”.

Apparantly, the Rules and Bylaws Committee acted improperly by not following the decision of the DNC made only a few weeks before.

One other thing I’ll note here, since his name comes up in the March story: Florida Speaker of the House Marco Rubio (R - Miami) is a fool and nothing more than an overambitious SOB who cares for nothing except to become the next Governor of Florida. This is a fellow whose ambition needs to be put on full stop ASAP.