Notes For Monday, February 03, 2003

WHO AGREED TO THIS? FLORIDA THE NEW VIEQUES? The BBC reports that "In 2001 the [George] Bush administration finally pledged to end military activity on the [Puerto Rican island of Vieques], and the Navy says training will cease from May. It says bombing ranges in Florida as well as a computer simulation training system known as "Virtual Sea" will be used instead." And just when did Floridians agree to this?

Making matters worse, the bombing apparently involves depleted uranium, and, according to the BBC, "depleted uranium (DU) shells have been linked to soaring cancer rates on the island." There is disagreement on the effects of DU. For more, see the Nuclear Policy Research Institute.

Thanks to Kathy in Boynton Beach for bringing this issue to our attention.. 5:36 AM [Go to current Florida Politics site (no popup ads)]

"COSTLY ABORTION POLITICS". Taxpayers are picking up the tab in the anti-choice fight. "If the intent is to please a key component of the Republican Party base, the [Florida] Department of Health is making the public pay for what amounts to political advertising." 5:27 AM [Go to current Florida Politics site (no popup ads)]

"FORT SUMTER FOR THE REPUBLICANS". "Like prime-time television, Republican Florida is trapped in a spiral in which each year's gross has to be topped by the next year's grosser in a race to grossest. Blood on the screen last year? Then splatter viscera this year. That's the only likely explanation for why, even before the session opens, House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, R-Plant City, picked a fight with Senate President Jim King, R-Jacksonville." Read the Tom Blackburn column in the Palm Beach Post.
5:23 AM [Go to current Florida Politics site (no popup ads)]

OUR GOVERNOR, HIS FINGER ON THE PULSE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY. "Gov. Jeb Bush could have chosen any of a thousand places in Florida to make a Martin Luther King Day speech. But he chose Worldwide Christian Center in Pompano Beach, where he received hugs and cheers. The 1,300-member congregation at 450 N. Powerline Rd. is both predominantly black and predominantly Republican -- a rare combination in overwhelmingly Democratic Broward County."

Broward Democrats ought not to worry, though. "In 1998, 6,380 Broward County blacks registered Republican. By 2002, the number was 7,480. The comparison to Democrats is stark: There were 88,641 black Democrats in 1998 -- a number that grew to 122,807 in 2002." Miami Herald Article.
5:14 AM [Go to current Florida Politics site (no popup ads)]