Anois tá an t-am (Now is the time)
 Live events 

Planning meeting for Awake the State Action in Brevard

DEC Office

1103 Hibiscus Blvd Suite 402

Melbourne, Florida 32901 

Thursday 24 February 7PM

Fl. rep Tobia/Workman Town Hall Meeting

28 February 1 PM session and 6PM session

Palm Bay City Hall

120 Malabar Rd.

Palm Bay, Fl.

That's right the same ground that we stood on fighting for

the pension justice for our brother and sister fire fighter,

How long must we sing this song- until victory is ours!

AWAKE THE STATE MARCH 8--ORLANDO RALLY

March 8 at 5:30pm at Senator Beth Johnson Park 

(adjacent to the Chamber of Commerce), 

Orlando, FL

Parking available in hotel parking garage across the street, as well as nearby street parking.

IBEW 606 will be Marching from their Hall on Virginia Ave to this rally. I could use some confirmation

of this from 606.

Awake the State on March 8 - Tampa Tuesday, March 8 · 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Location TBD (but likely Curtis Hixson or Gaslight Park)

Tampa, FL

On line events

Conference call

Tony Fransetta, Pres. FLARA

Sat. 26 February 10 am

 Many groups and a needed action are in line.

 There will be a very big rally on Tally the 2nd week of

session.  There is a conference call set up for all to join

in this Sat. at 10 am.  Here is the call in number.

866 285-7778  passcode 6180203 #.  Nancy Argenziano

will be administrating the call.

  

At this event it is expected there will be sheriffs,

corrections officers, firefighters, nursing homes

advocates, SEIU, AFSCME state workers, water activists

 and PSC reformers.  FLARA will be an active participant.

 Please call in Sat if you can

Jobs with Justice March 2nd Day of Action http://tiny.cc/wgqom For the past weeks we have seen students, workers, faith and community 

come together and prevent attacks to the public sector across the country. 

These attacks are threatening the basic structures of our society, 

including the right to an education and the right to full and fair employment.

It is time to take action and demand a stop to the cuts! Sierra Club: Stand With Unions and Sign The Petition! http://tiny.cc/zcjbf Hard hats and tree huggers share fundamental values --including the right to safe and healthy

working conditions and the creation of good clean energy jobs. Take a stand by adding 

your name to the petition: "I stand with working families. We deserve the right to form unions 

as we see fit to protect our jobs and our communities."

Articles of interest

Florida Tech flight instructors vote to join union | http://tiny.cc/br0zy

Florida Tech flight instructors voted Wednesday to join a union, 

a move that they believe will address unfair pay and benefit policies.

Please help the Cause and distribute these events by any means at your disposal.

 

Anti-HCR 'Gun Mandate' Stunt Meets...

As you may have seen, some Republican state legislators in South Dakota have proposed a sort of protest bill against health care reform

Bundlers raise millions for Capitol Hill 

President Barack Obama has shunned lobbyist bundlers in his campaigns. Democrats in Congress have no such qualms, welcoming them big time during the 2010 midterms.

Default At Home First - Blog 

This isn’t on the fast track to becoming law, but it’s worth mentioning given its relevance to the debates over the federal budget and the national debt these days. In the last week,

 Florida's 'open for business' to creeps at the local pill mill 

Interestingly, she didn't mention having any nightmares about Florida's storefront pain clinics, which are still handing out Vicodins like Tic-Tacs, and overdosing customers at the rate of seven fatalities per day — more than heroin, crystal meth and cocaine combined.

Scott throws up walls to press 

Show me a man who brags that he doesn't read Florida newspapers, and I'll show you a man who is not well informed about what's going on in this state.

An end run around will of the voters 

Florida voters made their intentions clear when they amended the state Constitution in November to change how legislative and congressional districts are drawn. 

Realism Without the Bitterness 

With his lips pursed, body tense and applause sparing, John Boehner was restless in the speaker’s chair during President Obama’s State of the Union address.

Deficit Forecast Nears $1.5 Trillion, Fueling Partisan Fight 

WASHINGTON — The government’s budget deficit will soar to nearly $1.5 trillion this year, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday

GM Selling More Cars In China Than U.S.

DETROIT — General Motors Co. sold more cars and trucks in China last year than it did in the U.S., for the first time in the company's 102-year history

Where Liberals Go to Feel Good 

Barack Obama is another stock character in the cyclical political theater embraced by the liberal class.

Unmanned Plane Patrolling Stretch of Canada-U.S. Border

A warning to Canadians smuggling batches of "B.C. bud" or other contraband into the United States: Beware the eyes in the sky.

Obama and Corporate America 

President Obama is smart to extend an olive branch to American businesses. Our economic success depends on businesses investing, growing and creating new jobs. From expanding exports to improving infrastructure, government and businesses share important goals.

The first ten bills of the 112th Senate 

The Senate held their first real legislative day of the session yesterday, which means they finally began formally proposing legislation to deal with over the next two years.

Business groups say unemployment system unfairly favors jobless

As companies in Florida face an increase in minimum payments for unemployment insurance, business groups are looking to convince lawmakers to impose stricter standards on laid-off employees seeking jobless benefits

Teacher merit pay: 'What a difference a year makes' 

Crafting a teacher merit-pay bill for Florida this spring is "not going to be like last time," a key state lawmaker promised today.

Sea turtles will have a "voice" when it comes to development  

MIAMI - A settlement announced Wednesday means endangered and threatened sea turtles will have a "voice" when it comes to development along parts of Florida's coast. 

Does College Make You Smarter? - Room for Debate 

First there was the news that students in American universities study

 a lot less than they used to. Now we hear, in a recent book titled

 "Academically Adrift," that 45 percent of the nation's undergraduates

 learn very little

SPLATNAV! UK pensioners drive into German church 

Two British pensioners landed in hospital in southern Germany 

after their car's global positioning system directed them to drive into a church

Don't copy Arizona immigration law, top Florida Republican warns

 TALLAHASSEE — As a fifth-generation rancher and citrus farmer,

 Adam Putnam has a personal stake in an immigration overhaul, 

one of the most heated issues in Washington and Florida

Proposed Republican law would override local wage protection efforts

State Rep. Tom Goodson, R-Titusville, filed a bill Tuesday that 

would “preempt regulation of wage theft to state, except as 

otherwise provided by federal law, & supersedes any municipal or county ordinance 

Florida's unemployment steady but labor force increases by 7,000 in December 

Florida's jobless rate remained unchanged at a staggering 12 percent

just shy of a modern-era record whiile the national rate fell from 9.8 percent to 9.4 percent.

Billionaires take a stand for the working man 

WHO SAYS the corporate media doesn't care about the opinions 

of ordinary people? There have been lots of articles lately about 

what workers think, written by the people who study them the most--bosses.

Low-power FM Radio Stations to Increase in Number 

Advocates for low-power FM, or LPFM, as it is called, say the stations

 are a slight corrective to the consolidation of commercial radio.

.

45% Of Students Don't Learn Much In College

7

The research of more than 2,300 undergraduates found 45 percent of students show no significant improvement in the key measures

Conservatives Press Republican Leaders for Bigger Budget Cuts 

WASHINGTON — House Republican leaders confronted pressure from conservatives on Thursday to take more aggressive steps to cut federal spending,

Test-Taking Cements Knowledge Better Than Studying, Researchers Say - 

4

Taking a test is not just a passive mechanism for assessing how much people know, according to new research. It actually helps people learn, and it works better than a number of other studying techniques.

State Bankruptcy Option Is Sought, Quietly 

2

Policy makers are working behind the scenes to come up with a way to let states declare bankruptcy and get out from under crushing debts, including the pensions they have promised to retired public workers.

Florida education cuts: As Legislature prepares deep cuts to education in Florida, they will consider allowing local school districts to raise taxes 

In coming months, lawmakers have to figure out how to plug the gaping hole left in schools' budgets when the federal stimulus money they began receiving in 2009 dries up this year.

The Voters Speak: Analysis of the CAF-Democracy Corps Election Eve Poll | OurFuture.org

www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2010114510/voters-speak-analysis-caf-democracy-corp...

The largest Democratic declines came among blue collar, non college education white men. Obama didn’t win these voters in 2008, winning only 41% of their votes. This year Democratic share plunged to 29%.

Riding the Rails, Looking for Work | CommonDreams.org

2

www.commondreams.org/view/2010/11/11-0

Who says stimulus programs don't work? Or that all that insane corporate spending on the elections didn't do some good? Gosh darn it, if you're an aspiring barista, you'll be thrilled to learn that Democratic campaigns spent $24,000 at Starbucks, Republicans $17,000. And gym rats and personal trainers, be of good cheer. According to the Post, "The Democratic National Committee spent $41,000 for memberships at a Results gym about seven blocks from its Washington headquarters," keeping its candidates in physical trim if still flabby when it came to policy, decision making and vote getting.

Gaetz to chair redistricting committee | redistricting, chair, committee - News - Northwest Florida Daily News

www.nwfdailynews.com/news/redistricting-34892-chair-committee.html

Gaetz, R-Niceville, said he hadn’t had the title five minutes when he began hearing from lobbyists and politicians about pending reapportionment and the creation of two new congressional seats.

Fair Elections Now Act needs support - Sun Sentinel

articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-11-14/news/fl-election-costs-forum-20101114_1_cam...

The cost of running for public office is climbing every election cycle with no end in sight. The Washington Post recently reported that both chambers of Congress likely shattered fundraising records for the midterm election with over $2 billion raised. Meanwhile, voters were subjected to an unending stream of third-party campaign ads, much of it sponsored by anonymous corporate donors thanks to the notorious Citizens United Supreme Court ruling handed down earlier this year. And on top of that, wealthy corporate executives like Florida's Rick Scott and California's Meg Whitman spent tens of millions of dollars in order to buy gubernatorial seats in their respective states.