Essential Presence

Good News Tuesday

2009-06-23T08:12:00.004-04:00

Head over to Tradition of Excellence and learn about:

Sistas Organizining to Survive
Derrick Anderson, MD
Khadijah Williams
Strong women leaders
Black Men United

If There Was Any Doubt That The Dunbar Village Victims Are Lucky To Be Alive

2009-06-17T00:21:00.007-04:00

Turns out on top of having knowledge of the Dunbar Village travesty, Tommy Lee Poindexter, who in December 2008 agreed to tell all he knew in return for a 20-year sentence, had knowledge of at least THREE murders.

According to Haughwout's motion, Poindexter agreed to a plea deal on Dec. 8 and three days later gave a complete statement about his involvement in the Dunbar case and about three local homicides. There were also discussions about a fourth homicide and Poindexter possibly receiving immunity before providing that information, according to the motion. The state agreed to more time to discuss immunity with then State Attorney Barry Krischer, according to Haughwout.

Apparently the deal is off the table. Now the public defender has filed a motion requesting the judge compel the State to live up to its end of the plea deal.

The mother and her son are alive because the attackers could not find a lighter with which to set them on fire after dousing them with household chemicals. No doubt they are lucky to be alive because Tommy Lee is like the Grim Reaper. Death just follows him.

Seems like just yesterday his mommy was whining that he was at home with her (must have been family night of charades and popcorn) and that he had nothing to do with "that stuff."

In March a plea deal for Jakaris Taylor was pulled off the table due to his refusal to answer questions posed by the other defendants' attorneys. The State is already fighting motions to sever the cases.

State Fights Separate Dunbar Rape Trials

2009-06-15T21:57:00.002-04:00

Four suspects are set to stand trial for the brutal Dunbar Village gang rape. It will have been two years ago on Thursday (June 18) that they entered into a public housing apartment and rape a mother and her son. The two victims plan to testify in the trial set for Aug. 18 and Assistant State Attorney Aleathea McRoberts will fight the motions to sever the cases.

"This is a woman and son who suffered an egregious, heinous event," said Ms. McRoberts, "and we're trying to avoid having to make them go through it more than once."

Sharing the Knowledge #15: Critical Language Scholarships

2009-06-12T21:32:00.006-04:00

Does this interest you or someone you know? Use the little envelope at the bottom of this post and pass this great opportunity along like you pass along those urban legends!

View previous Sharing the Knowledge posts.

2010 Critical Language Scholarships -https://clscholarship.org/programs.php

Sponsored by the United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and administered by the Council of American Overseas Research Centers(CAORC), the Critical Language Scholarship (CLS) Program will offer intensive summer language institutes overseas in eleven critical need foreign languages for summer 2010.

The CLS Program was launched in 2006 to offer intensive overseas study in the critical need foreign languages of Arabic, Bangla/Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, Turkish and Urdu. In 2007, Chinese, Korean, Persian, and Russian institutes were added along with increased student capacity in the inaugural language institutes. In 2009, Azerbaijani will be offered at the intermediate and advanced levels.

The CLS Program provides fully-funded seven to ten week group-based intensive language instruction and extensive cultural enrichment experiences held overseas at the beginning, intermediate and advanced levels (beginning not offered for Azerbaijani, Chinese, Persian or Russian) for U.S. citizen undergraduate, Master’s and Ph.D. students.

The CLS Program is part of the National Security Language Initiative (NSLI), a U.S. government interagency effort to expand dramatically the number of Americans studying and mastering critical need foreign languages. Students of diverse disciplines and majors are encouraged to apply. Former CLS participants have applied with various academic backgrounds including business, engineering, law, science, medicine, social sciences and humanities. The CLS Program does not have any government service requirement upon completion, however, it is expected that participants will continue to continue their language study beyond the scholarship period and later apply their critical language skills in their future academic and professional careers.

Eligibility:

All applicants must be U.S. citizens.
Applicants must be currently enrolled in a U.S. degree-granting program at the undergraduate or graduate level.

Current undergraduate students must have completed at least one year of general college course-work by program start date (one year is defined as two semesters or three quarters).

Please see program details for more information on language pre-requisites for individual institutes.

Students in all disciplines including business, engineering, science, the social sciences and humanities are encouraged to apply.

The U.S. Department of State and CAORC welcome all eligible applications and do not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, age, or handicap condition.

Grant benefits: All program costs are covered for participants. This includes travel between the student's US home city and program location, pre-departure orientation costs, applicable visa fees, room, board, group-based intensive language instruction, program-sponsored travel within country, and all entrance fees for program activities. Note: U.S. passport fees will not be paid by the scholarship. Selected applicants must have a U.S. passport valid through 2011. Please plan in advance to avoid visa delays.

https://clscholarship.org/programs.php

Deadline: The deadline for submitting your on-line application should be on or about Friday, November 13, 2009. Your letters of reference and transcript(s) need to be postmarked by Friday, November 13, 2009.

Note: Expert readers and panelists are asked to review applicants on his or her level of commitment and intent to continue language study after the CLS Program, in addition to previous academic coursework and language study. Applicants are also encouraged to clearly articulate how the study of a critical language is linked to future academic or professional goals. Reviewers seek a diverse group of participants from across the United States, and from a wide variety of academic institutions. Finally, the CLS Program is an intensive language program held in an overseas environment. Selection will also be based on the applicant’s ability to demonstrate maturity and readiness for a challenging academic and international experience.

Damon Weaver Receives Award

2009-06-12T14:47:00.004-04:00

Elementary school journalist Damon Weaver received attention when he landed interviews with then Vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, Oprah Winfrey, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwyane Wade, and Gen. Colin Powell in his quest to interview then Presidential candidate Barack Obama. Since the election season Damon has been interviewed by Larry King, received a full scholarship to Albany State University and earlier this month received an award at the eighth annual Shortie Awards: Film & News Festival held in suburban Washington.

Keep up the good work Damon.

Stories Like This Don't Make Me Want To Head To Church

2009-06-12T09:00:00.002-04:00

Honestly, some of the most ignorant, intolerant, hateful people I've ever seen are Christians. Now I don't mean to condemn Christianity, I just don't buy that someone is good simply because they go to church.

And you will never, never, ever get me to believe Church goers are more moral than I, the sleep on Sunday sinner ...not when churches cover for sexual offenders in their pulpit like Jacksonville pastor Darrell Gilyard.

Gilyard received three years in prison, followed by three years of sex-offender probation, and he must register as a sex offender. He fondled a teenage girl whose parents brought her to him for counseling and he sent sexually explicit text messages to another girl.

And this happened because good Church people in other churches in Texas and Florida turned their heads and paid people off.

Sexual allegations dogged Gilyard's ministry almost from the start.

The Palatka native rose quickly to prominence after seminary. While still in his 20s, he led one of the nation's fastest-growing congregations, Victory Baptist Church in Texas.

He was mentored by the Rev. Jerry Vines, then pastor of Jacksonville's First Baptist Church, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary President Paige Patterson. Both are former Southern Baptist Convention presidents.

But Gilyard left Victory amid accusations of sexual impropriety.

He came to Shiloh in 1993, and court records indicate the Beaver Street church quietly settled a sexual-misconduct claim against him three years later.

But Shiloh kept him on, and this year he and the church settled another lawsuit filed by a woman who said he raped and impregnated her during a 2004 counseling session. Terms were confidential, and no criminal charges were filed. A paternity test, which Gilyard disputes, is pending. [Florida Times-Union]

So basically these churches and their elders pimped out young girls and women. I think I'll spend my Sundays watching NFL pre-game shows.

Don't Be Fooled, Some People Are Paying For A Country Club Not A College

2009-06-10T12:42:00.009-04:00

Reed College did not accept more than 100 needy students based not on their grades, accomplishments, or backgrounds but solely on the fact that they couldn't afford to pay the full $50,000 a year tab and they were substituted with students who could.

Whatever contributions they could make in the classroom were disregarded for whatever contributions their parents couldn't make to the school's bank account.

My problem isn't that Reed College isn't giving poor kids a free ride to college. My concern is whether or not they made other cuts that could have enabled them to continue educating the best, brightest and driven no matter their parent's financial situation.

Perhaps it would be a good thing, he said, if the recession could refocus college administrators on the quality of higher education, rather than on investments in climbing walls (Reed does not have one) and other “country club” aspects of college life that have fueled an academic arms race reliant on tuition increases and fund-raising.
“The catering to consumer tastes — I keep trying to say, we are in the education business,” Mr. Diver said, describing the pressure to keep up with wealthier colleges and expressing a frustration rarely voiced publicly by college presidents. “The whole principle behind higher education is, we know something that you don’t. Therefore, we shouldn’t cater to them.”
But no college president wants to be first to make major changes in the college experience; Reed, for example, is not abandoning plans for a new performing arts center. “If we’re going to change our ways, we’re really going to need to be pushed,” Mr. Diver said, referring to colleges generally. “It’s not going to well up from within.”

Mr. Diver's words sound great but he knows this "arms race" is nothing new and it won't change as long as there are just enough rich folks willing to pay for their kids' luxury living more than their education.

My alma mater isn't exactly cheap, its in the Reed College range, and it has been known to serve sushi, lobster and Mahi Mahi for lunch. But when my expected family contribution was $0 thats exactly how much I paid all four years combined - $0. Their financial aid program and scholarships were a blessing and I hope they will see fit to drop luxury living and perks that materialistic kids now expect and demand before they turn away motivated and talented students.

So basically those who want to improve their lot in life are priced out of the "American dream" because they can't afford to pay for the needless perks that colleges give in order to lure the spoiled children of the rich?

57.5% of Florida students completed high school on time

2009-06-10T00:20:00.003-04:00

Don't be fooled by the fact that four Palm Beach County high schools ranked among the top 100 in NEWSWEEK's America's Top Public High School list. Florida's public schools are still a mess with the state ranking among the worst in the nation when it comes to high school graduation rates.

Perry Becomes Second Black Justice on Current Florida Supreme Court

2009-06-09T00:00:00.000-04:00

Justice James E.C. Perry took his seat on the Florida Supreme Court Friday. He is the fourth African-American ever to sit on the Florida supreme court and will serve along Chief Justice Peggy Quince, the first African-American woman to hold the position of Chief Justice for the state's Supreme Court.

Perry is Gov. Crist's fourth appointee on the seven-member court.

Go here to read Justice Perry's biography.

Florida Wouldn't Be So Broke If It Didn't Have To Pay For State Workers' Screwups, Lies And Negligence

2009-06-08T06:00:00.000-04:00

Gov. Crist signed a bill that authorized a couple $9.5 million after social workers deceived them about the three boys they adopted.

The boys -- now ages 17, 16 and 14 -- had been raped, caged and starved in foster care before Debbie and Jorge adopted them in 1998.The couple were unaware of the maltreatment the boys had suffered, and had told DCF officials they did not want to adopt children who had been sexually abused.Not only did the department keep Debbie and Jorge in the dark, it even instructed a treatment center not to release records to the parents.Meanwhile, the boys ran afoul of the law, set fires, were expelled from schools, attempted suicide and tried to poison Debbie.

Remember I blogged that Crist also authorized the payment of $5 million to the parents of Martin Lee Anderson, $1.2 million to Pierreisna Archille because DCF ignored constant complaints the retarded then-15 year old was being repeatedly raped (and impregnated) by her foster father, and $18.2 million to the adoptive family of Marissa Amora’s adoptive family for the role negligent DCF investigators played in her child-abuse case.

As usual we love to pay after the fact instead of preventing such tragedies.

5 Favorite Cosby Show Episodes

2009-06-06T06:00:00.000-04:00

Of course there are a few more but I have to stick with five so I won't even cheat and mention the others.

When Vanessa went to Baltimore to have BIG FUN with The Wretched.
When Rudy wanted to wear the summer dress to the party in the winter.
When Cliff made his secret BBQ sauce and all the couples fought.
When the grandparents had their anniversary and the family sang Ray Charles.
When Denise made Theo the designer Gordon Gartrelle knock off.

In the age of doom and gloom, read some good news about Black Americans at Tradition of Excellence.

Florida DCF Continues To Evaluate Itself AFTER A Child Dies

2009-06-05T06:00:00.000-04:00

I love all this self-evaluation DCF is doing. Unfortunately it always comes after a child is dead. Seven-year old Gabriel Myers committed suicide by hanging himself in the bathroom of his foster parent's home in April of this year.

2000 pages of documents released by DCF paints a sad picture of a victimized little boy who obviously wasn't getting the right help. There was several incidents regarding sexual abuse (I linked it, read it for yourself) and threats to kill himself and others.

Tell me his words to a therapist don't break your heart.
"My mom taught me how to lie. She always lied to the police, to everybody," he told a therapist after throwing scissors in school. "I lied when I was 1 year old, I lied when I was 2 years old. I was born a liar and I will always be lying," he said in another therapy session. "[The] devil makes me lie and do all those bad things. He is bad and he makes you do bad things," the boy told the therapist. (CBS 2)

What he received was prescribed medications that have been linked to a heightened risk of suicidal behavior in children. And according to a review, many children who given mind-altering drugs without the legal authorioty. In fact, three times as many kids in foster care end up on drugs than in the general population. And please don't tell me its because they are in foster care and have more problems. Many problems don't require medication.

Gabriel Myers, who apparently hung himself, was on a mix of the psychotropic
medicines, but none of the drugs showed up in the agency's computer database.
And his file did not include a consent form for the medication from a parent or judge as required by state law.

And one of the drugs that was given to Gabriel (Symbyax), has not been approved for children, although the practice that employs Gabriel Myers' psychiatrist is currently recruiting kids for a clinical trial of the drug for bipolar depression. So basically, he was probably a guinea pig.

Take a look at some of the more frightening finds regarding children under DCF's care and mind-altering drugs.

Again, children are not high on Florida's priority list. And spare the hell out of me about the parents because I am one so I know what a parent should be doing. Like I said before, when the state inserts itself into a family its saying they can do better and know what is best. They need to behave that way.

Corrine Brown Contemplates Senate Run

2009-06-04T16:05:00.000-04:00

Most people think Rep. Kendrick Meek will be the Democratic nominee in the 2010 election for Sen. Mel Martinez's seat. However, Rep. Corrine Brown is thinking about running as well. Most people who know of Rep. Brown probably know her from this memorable moment as she congratulated the University of Florida football team. But she'll also have to deal with other word associations such as: sandbags, secret Wisconsin bank account, and Lexus.

Black Women Pain: Mostly Self-Inflicted?

2009-06-04T06:00:00.002-04:00

I, in my Black woman hating ways, have said numerous things about Black women:

1. While I commend the limitations we put on Black male excuses, we, as Black women, allow ourselves a generous amount.
2. The only Black women to receive mass criticism are any associated with BET and Karrine Steffans. Trifling friends, cousins and sisters...not so much.
3. Activist Black women must be careful not to victimize the Black women they are fighting for.

Its all about perception. So while I appreciate Jacksonville playwright JanaMorea Bradley's comments about why she wrote her play, Blak.Woman.Dynamik, others may not. Its amazing the things you read and learn when you read your local newspapers and media outlets. I want to see this but I don't see that its coming to South Florida, or even Central Florida over the summer (which is where I'll be).
The black woman, to me, has faced an extreme amount of negativity, most of
it self-induced, some of it not. But we have bought into a lot of the stereotypes that have been created, and that needs to end quick. Fast. Now. I hate it.
Speaking, writing and delivering the truth often leads others to criticize you for promoting it or even believing it. If you say Black women need to stop dropping it like its hot in music videos then you're defending the rappers. If you say Black women need to be responsible for who they procreate with then you're defending the actions of the dead-beat sperm donor.

For example a woman asked me why a certain guy was doing her wrong. My reply, "you let him." Suddenly, I was his defender and I approved of his treatment of her. No, I gave you the truth. He's an asshole. Thats not your fault. But it is your fault that he's doing it to you. I'm not going to justify your stupidity for you.

Anywho , here is the thing, just because I agree with her statement regarding Black women needing to stand up for themselves and stop the self-inflicted wounds, doesn't mean I am going to agree with everything she says and does.

And too often, unsuccessful and marginal activists limit themselves with a President Bush "with us or against us" mentality. And if I can't have a slightly different or additional thought than yours well hell, I'd rather not be with you.

When my aunt was receiving subpar care in the hospital my mother let the staff have it. And then she went into my aunt's room and told her how she needed to get her act together. That's real.

And when you don't help the victim change they go from being someone else's victim to your victim. Because now they are your little pet project and you get to feel good about helping them.

Yesterday I saw that CNN will air its Black in America 2 on July 22. I can't wait. Not to see the special but to read all the criticism of how its not an accurate portrayal of Black people. Appropriate and nothing wrong with it but it reminded me of Bradlety's play. She had a message, she wanted to share it and she made it happen. And when that meant funding it on her on to get it off the ground that is what she did. And she never wrote a screenplay in her life.

She didn't spend all her time bitching about what other folks weren't doing. Thats goes for Nona C. Jones with SistersSpace and Audrey Bell-Kearney with Black Diamond TV.

Does Anyone Know the Name of the Murdered Army Soldier In Arkansas?

2009-06-03T09:00:00.009-04:00

No one hesitated to talk, report, blog and lament the murder of a doctor who performs abortions. Why? Because it gives folks a chance to rip on the pro-life (mostly conservative Republicans). But in comparison, there was hardly a whisper about the murder of a young soldier in a recruiting station in Arkansas.

FOX News feels there should be an equal outpouring of rage over radical Islam.
Yes, both Scott Roeder and Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad acted independently in their crimes this week. But while Scott Roeder’s ideology was just the fruit of his own psychological imbalance, Abdulhakim’s ideology is shared by dozens of well organized groups and thousands of men and women who have done harm to our country in the past and have sworn to wreak greater havoc on our homeland and military in the future. Proof of this important distinction between the nature of these two tragic events has been the unanimous condemnation of Scott Roeder’s crime by every major pro-life group in our nation. That’s on the one hand. On the other hand, we get nothing but silence from the leaders of the particular strain of Islam that Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad studied in Yemen. (FOX News)

To be sure, Father Morris is full of it. He's simply talking to his own who will dismiss the flaws in his argument. You can argue the pro-life extremists are to prolifers what radical Islamists are to Islam. The nuts that kill abortion providers aren't just lone-acting crazy dudes. Conservatives always try to limit their nutjobs as acting alone but people outside of their groups are always indicative of an entire demographic when they do something.

For me, the real issue is that, just like the right, the left only uses the death of a soldier when it serves their purpose. Private William Long received little to no attention from the left and the media because he didn't die a "senseless" death in Iraq or Afghanistan. And had he died in one of those countries, FOX News would hardly utter a word.

Botched Elections and Teacher Sex Scandals...Thats What Florida Does

2009-06-03T03:00:00.006-04:00

*The title of the post is a play off one of my favorite scenes in one of my favorite movies.

Florida is known for a few things. There was a time of innocence when Florida was synonomous with oranges, Mickey Mouse and spring break. Not too bad. I could think of worst. Like the 2000 election and the Florida epidemic, as TIME calls it.

I live in Florida, therefore the TIME article "Florida Epidemic: Why Are So Many Florida Teachers Sleeping with Students?" seems just right to me. I've called it an epidemic myself while everyone outside the state only think Debra LaFave. So much that we need to have legislation to protect kids from teaching sexual predators. I'll have to marinate on this Student Protection Act of 2009. I haven't read it yet but I'm already shying away from something that requires one to report another even if there is just a suspicion or face discipline.

Of course men still target female students like Heath Miller, a married middle school band teacher in Palm Beach County, who was having sex with students, three-ways with teachers and accused of raping a both a teacher and a student.

When we hear about Heath Miller we are shocked, appalled and ready to take action. When a female teacher abuses a teenage boy its a fantasy, pretty cool and definitely not destructive. That is, until he has no respect for women and sex then abuses women because of his dysfunctional mindset. And of course at that stage we don't want to hear about his abuse because its nothing more than an excuse. Does anyone think these boys are going to grow up and have a strong, healthy relationship with women?

We are all connected. The abuse that is directed at boys will come back to harm the women of their future.

Of This I'm Sure

2009-06-01T18:01:00.004-04:00

I'm positive a liberal Black man or Black woman without tenure and little experience in academia would be appointed the dean of a law school like conservative and U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta without a single objection from Rush, Newt and Glen.

Screaming And Crying Inside: Blacks And Mental Health

2009-05-29T00:00:00.000-04:00

I was driving to school one morning when I heard about a school shooting at Dillard High School in Ft. Lauderdale in November. 15-year-old Teah Wimberly shot and killed Amanda Collette and now she's charged with 2nd-degree murder.

Wimberly plans an insanity defense and her attorney says she suffers from depression, suicidal thoughts and she cuts herself.
Wimberly also obsessively writes short stories and poems expressing suicidal thoughts, the motion read.

In the 24 hours before the killing, Wimberly sent text messages to at least three friends, saying: "Tomorrow I will shoot myself in the heart," according to a search warrant.

Court documents show that the day before the shooting, Wimberly sliced her arms with a razor blade 96 times, sent text messages to Collette alternating between expressions of love and hatred, and warned other students she was going to shoot someone and kill herself.

Did anyone know about her problems before she killed someone's child? It made me, once again, think about mental health and African Americans. May is Mental Health Awareness and hardly anyone has said a word about it. The stigma associated with mental illness and therapy overall in society is sad and its even worse in the Black community. Many Black people think its all hogwash, while others probably have a distrust because of the history of Blacks and institutionalization, and even more think its some silly White people stuff.

In the Black community, dealing with emotional health isn't something people talk about. People encourage African-Americans to learn more about diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke and the like, but not often do they speak of mental health. The nucleus for many in the Black community is the church - if you've got God, you don't need therapy. Pray and God will help you through your difficulties. And for so long, many of us (myself included) felt seeking therapy was something for White people.
Depression? Most of us had never heard of it. You were just seen as moody or maybe lazy. Many with a mental illness may have been seen as just a little weird or eccentric. On the outside, a person with a mental illness can appear "normal" so how could anything be wrong? [Florida Courier]
Too many don't understand mental health issues thinking everything is extreme such as schizophrenia or bipolar. Sometimes, talking and learning coping techniques is enough. Personally, I can't think of anyone who is above communicating without fear of judgment.
And to be honest, even our closest and dearest friends are unsuitable and incapable of being a sounding board. They are too close, too judgmental, are part of the problem or are more concerned with giving their two cents than actually listening.

The lack of treatment for these mental health issues and even phobias, lead to crime and even self-destructive acts like poor sexual choices and poor life decisions such as not living up to one's potential, complacency and feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness.

Trust me, there have been a few times in my life where I was close to losing things that meant so much to me, things I had worked hard for simply because I "didn't care anymore." And no matter how much I tried to care I just couldn't. I was willing to lose it all because I couldn't motivate myself to do the simplest, pain-free tasks.

Everyone is all about "do better." But just thinking people are going to wake up and do it without any skills to change their mental mindset is simply pissing in the wind. You can't do right, when your mind is all wrong.

And these trying economic times are going to add nothing but stress.

Florida's Black Crime-Fighting Couple

2009-05-28T14:38:00.003-04:00

Val Demings made history when she became the first African-American and first woman to hold the position of Orlando Police Chief. In November, her husband, Jerry Demings, was elected the Orange County Sheriff. See their television interview after his election back in November.

Florida: We Dropped The Ball Regarding Emanuel Murray Jr.

2009-05-28T08:46:00.004-04:00

Guess who is criticizing the State of Florida for its role in the care of Jasmine Bedwell and her murdered 3-months old son? The State of Florida.

I've noticed with the steroids problem in baseball some people are incapable of acknowledging all facets of an issue at the same time. They sink their teeth into one element and hold tight to that like a dog with a bone. And to bring criticism to anything or anyone else means you're an apologist.

So while valid blame and criticism is placed on 17- year old Jasmine Bedwell and her demented ex-boyfriend Richard McTear Jr. for the murder of her 3-months old son Emanuel Murray Jr., the State of Florida should be criticized.

Afterall, his previous criminal charges were for burglary and kidnapping.

My belief has always been that the State should not be in the child-rearing business. However, when it inserts itself into someone's family it is saying, "I am better suited to do this than you." So when it takes on that responsibility and tragedy occurs eyes should be focused on it.
Foster care caseworkers were so focused on helping 17-year-old Jasmine Bedwell succeed, they overlooked her romance with an abusive man and underestimated the danger he posed to her infant son.

Early on, they even encouraged her boyfriend, a violent criminal with a history of domestic violence, to help care for her baby.

"The focus of the safety interventions appeared to be primarily focused on Ms. Bedwell's situation, lacking a distinct and separate perspective for the welfare of her child," officials wrote in a state report released Wednesday.

Workers neglected to run a background check on Richard McTear Jr., 21, of Tampa, when he got involved with Bedwell, who was living on her own but being supervised by the state.

Of course even if the State had told her to stay away from him that probably wouldn't have stopped Jasmine from dating him. But that doesn't change the fact that the State was wrong for not checking the background of a man they knew nothing about even though he was living with a teen they were in charge of and her infant child.

The State even acknowledges they shouldn't have enrolled her in the Independent Living Program "which allows responsible teenagers in foster care to live independently before they turn 18."

Hindsight is 20/20 as they say.

The State of Florida didn't kill Emanuel Murray Jr. But they made some mistakes that even they can admit even if others can't. All you have to do is look at some of the comments after the story. Its full of people who can't acknowledge that though the ultimate responsibility lies with the mother and her ex-boyfriend, it is possible for the State to have made mistakes that they must be accountable for.

Criticizing the State does nothing for Emanuel, but it may save the next child in this situation.

Crist Vetoes Pay Cuts For State Workers

2009-05-28T07:00:00.001-04:00

For the most part, Gov. Crist left Florida's $66.5 billion budget intact. However, he did take the advice of Chief Justice Peggy Quince and Senate Democratic Leader Al Lawson and veto the 2% pay cut on state workers making more than $45,000 a year.

The question remains whether anyone will be willing to challenge the veto. Article III, Section 8 of the Florida Constitution states: "The governor...may not veto any qualification or restriction without also vetoing the appropriation to which it relates."

The 2% pay cut is not attached to any particular appropriation. It seems it language tacked on to the budget in general.

During these times what politician is going to stick his neck out and demand a pay cut to overworked state employees who have not received pay raises for three years?

Florida's Plan to Deregulate Development

2009-05-28T06:00:00.000-04:00

Haven't we had enough deregulation?

In a state that is in constant construction, Gov. Crist is seriously contemplating signing State Bill 360, Florida's so-called 'Growth Bill.'

The bill allows developers in Florida's urban counties to add more residential development without expanding roads. Instead, developers will pay a ''mobility fee'' -- yet to be determined -- to finance public transit and road improvements. And exempts large development projects from review by regional planning boards.
*

Florida is notorious for horrible planning. It is the epitome of urban sprawl. And on top of that transportation in Florida is horrendous. Public transportation is a joke and the expansion of roads is always about ten years behind. I mean, why would you want to build when you're dealing with this housing predicament?*

More than 300,000 residential units sit empty across Florida, 64,588 properties were in foreclosure last month, second only to Nevada, and real estate prices are still plummeting. (New York Times)

Those who support the bill say it will help spur projects that can help the economy and it contains incentives to make it less expensive to build in urban areas -- channeling growth into more dense areas instead of pushing more growth to the suburbs and encouraging sprawl. And there won't be a surge of development.

*
That's what all people who believe in less regulation say. They want us to believe they will be responsible all on their own, that they won't take advantage of the loopholes and lack of rules that causes them to see dollar signs in their eyes. They want us to trust them.

Rep. Dorothy Hukill claims, “We are dependent on tourism and construction whether we like it or not.”

Because leadership hasn't been competent enough to bring in additional industries. Its a vicious cycle with this state. Education is a joke therefore major industries know they won't have the necessary educated workforce and those who are educated with the highest ambitions leave because there is a limited number of great career opportunities.

Mom Agrees To Her 15 Year Old's Sexual Relationship With 32-Year Old Teacher

2009-05-27T11:18:00.004-04:00

A 32-year old teacher at a religious school in Hialeah, FL was arrested for having a sexual relationship with a 15-year old 8th grader. In the state of Florida the age of consent is 18 unless both parties are under 24 and then its 16.
The boy's mother, who acknowledged to both police and Department of Children & Families investigators that she approved of the relationship, is under investigation by both agencies for permitting the teen to have a months-long affair with the teacher, and for consenting to the theme park trip.

Does it matter that his mother agreed with the relationship? The worst part for me was that the teacher has two young children that attend the school.

Florida Has Its Own Court Battle

2009-05-27T05:00:00.001-04:00

There is a vacancy in Florida's 5th District Court of Appeals. Per the Florida Constitution, a judicial nominating commission reviews applications for vacant judgeships and forwards three to six names to the governor. Then the governor has 60 days to appoint a judge from that list.

Sounds simple but this is Florida.
Crist took exception to the list the commission sent him in November, asking for another list that included at least one racial minority. The commission considered that request, but stuck to its list of six, saying they were the most qualified applicants. Since then, the process has been stalemated -- and work at the appellate court, which serves a 13-county area that includes Volusia and Flagler counties, has been piling up. In an effort to break the stalemate, Senior Judge Robert J. Pleus, whose retirement created the vacancy, asked the Supreme Court to order the governor to fulfill his constitutional duty. (Daytona News Journal)

Unfortunate. But then again, the governor is the one who appointed these people to the commission. A commission that had two Black people on it before he entered office. So maybe he should have started the love of all things diverse with his commission appointments.

There may be no racial minorities but two of the six nominees are women for a vacancy of a District Court of Appeals with 11 seats- nine white men and one white woman. So start off your diversity by appointing another woman and then change the law.

Speaking of court appointments. We already know the right is going to act a fool. Thats a given. I just hope I don't see the ignorance that was on display when some people learned Justice Souter was retiring.

Anyone who has read this blog knows I believe in Black people leveraging their vote and playing the political game. However, President Obama's pick of Judge Sotomayor is not some direct slap in the face to Black people or Black women, nor does this particular decision mean he takes Black people for granted.

The argument that it should have been Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears (or a Black woman period) because President Obama wouldn't be president without Black women is untenable. A lot of demographics could say that. Hell, White people in Iowa might have the best of that argument because Black people weren't giving President Obama the time of day until they thought White people would vote for him. Why don't Black people consider that a sad commentary on the part of the 'Black community'?

So, its okay for Black folks to look at the political landscape but not President Obama. Spare me.

Felicidades Señora Sotomayor!

Good News Tuesday

2009-05-26T06:00:00.000-04:00

What Fortune 500 company will have the first Black woman CEO?
Who is the Black man tapped to be the head of NASA?
Marissa Mims becomes the first African-American ever elected to what school board?
What Olympic gold medalist swimmer he continues to promote water safety for Black children?
James A Young becomes the first Black mayor of what Southern town with a civil rights connection?
What position does Dr. Raynard Kington hold?
Which three Black female comics will host their own shows?
What NFL star will host a breast cancer awareness event?
Why are Black romance novels in the news?
How many African American Admirals are in the Navy besides Michelle Howard?

Learn this information and more over at Tradition of Excellence.