the 941

This afternoon, at the “Vote for Change” rally at Five Points Park, an audience of about twenty-five was treated to a Democrat-style injection of political inspiration, right into the bicep. And once that area became inured and benumbed by rhetoric, into the chest, the calves, and finally the eyeballs. 

As Sarasota is not the bluest part of the state — a candidate today claimed to be one of two elected democrats in the county – most of the talk was about reversal, renewal, upheaval. Leaders said their strategy was to inundate the political arena with a big slate of democrats.

Twenty candidates running in eighteen races were represented. Read on for a rundown of what we heard, plus word of an ambitious Newtown outreach effort planned for this weekend. (more…)

Bookmark to:

Possible GOP veep candidate and Florida Governor Charlie Crist has been battling the gay rumors for a while, so I suppose it was inevitable that the sex tape was going to appear.

• And speaking of inevitable, English-speakers in Miami are feeling more and more isolated as Spanish-speakers complete their takeover.

• On Friday, a man who’s trying to establish an Extraterrestial Affairs Commission in his home city of Denver, plans to release conclusive proof of alien life on earth. (Insert Hillary joke here.)

•  As if television was not bad enough, ABC is working on a new reality series about life with the border patrol. Boring.

• Another shocker: Exxon Mobil’s CEO does not like environmentalists.

• Math alert: Careful statistical analysis of polling data shows that Barack Obama should win the general election against John McCain this fall, unless the Democrats find a way to implode.

Bookmark to:

The unease over the potential looming bloodbath in the fall elections has recently bloomed into all out panic for Republicans nationwide. That said, Christine Jennings, the Democrat running to unseat first-term U.S. Representative Republican Vern Buchanan here in Sarasota, is poised to pick up a major endorsement from the Sarasota Classified/Teachers Organization on Monday. Plenty more about the Jennings/Buchanan battle upcoming here in The 941.

• The U.S. government is violating the rights of children in Afghanistan and here at home.

• Who is to blame for the recent spike in world food prices? U.S. pundits are quick to blame the burgeoning middle classes in India and China, but the Indians are turning that finger right back aroun at us Americans.

•  See you at White on State Saturday night!

Bookmark to:

The British do. They released some of their own X-Files recently.

• Ready to be part of the R3volution? Then join in on June 5th.

• The humorless police state continues to grow. This week’s threat — college students.

• Republicans are furious that Bob Barr is going to run for president as a libertarian, but Democrats are thrilled to have someone on the ballot who can do to John McCain in 2008 what Ralph Nader did to Al Gore in 2000.

• Ron Paul’s continued and surprisingly vibrant campaign is also delighting Democrats. It could make for a far more interesting GOP convention than the Republicans are hoping for.

• The stand-off between Karl Rove and Congress continues.

• Our colleagues at the Chicago Reader have compiled a comprehensive list of police torture incidents in the Windy City.

• The scale and scope of the earthquake disaster in China is difficult to imagine from this far away. But, National Public Radio’s Melissa Block provided this wrenching report of one couple’s search for their toddler and grandparents. Outstanding and heart-breaking journalism. Sit down and listen to all 12 minutes; it’s worth it.

Bookmark to:

• This week in the military-industrial complex — Part 1 and Part 2.

• The GOP is finally beginning to acknowledge that it’s not a good year to be a Republican and that the November election could be a bloodbath.

• Of course, being a Republican may not be such a crutch if Hillary Clinton decides to go nuclear and destroy her own party if she can’t be president. Why does it seem that Bill and Hillary just can’t let go?

• Through a combination of political interference and supression of science, the Bush administration has trashed the EPA. But hey, they only care for the air you breathe and the water you drink.

• In a survey taken in other countries, the USA ranked dead last in terms of how we are perceived as environmentalists. We were even behind China, where the air is so foul, London bookies are now taking bets on how many Olympic athletes will die this August.

• Ready to let Sarasota become the next city in the world’s police state of closed circuit television cameras? Think the 2 million cameras in London’s “Ring of Steel” prevent crime? Think again.

• Want to grow your own garden? Especially in these lean times? You need less space than you think to grow all the food you need, even in an urban environment.

Bookmark to: