See guys, the water’s fine! We haven’t yet turned into Creatures from the Black Lagoon! Come to the Gulf Coast! Swim! Shop! Then shop some more!
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Maybe it’s exploitation. Maybe it’s just good fortune. But this classic viral video helped David DeVore Jr. and his family make $150,000 in a year – most of it off of ads on the video’s YouTube page. Between those, T-shirt sales, deals for medical scrubs and a spot in a Super Bowl ad, the family has totally cashed in during a period where his father, David DeVore Sr., could have been in dire straits. See, before this, he was a real estate agent. In Florida. You know, the worst place in the country to be a real estate agent. source
At first, this clip seems totally innocuous, but then there’s a scene with a young girl who’s absolutely freaked out because there’s a giant chunk of oil on her. It’s freaking scary the way Jaws was, kinda. Thanks, BP. Thanks for nothing.
5-4the Supreme Court’s decision, which says that juveniles can’t be sentenced to life in prison for non-murder crimes
111number of juvenile prisoners with sentences of this nature nationwide; 77 of them are in Florida alone source
» Quick analysis: Despite the fairly tight vote breakdown, this may be the less controversial of the two decisions announced today. (It was nearly 6-3, but Chief Justice John Roberts disagreed with the categorical ban of the sentences.) Most of the sentences of this nature were happening in one part of the country, and the prisoner at the center of the case, Terrance Jamar Graham, was sentenced to life in prison on a 2005 parole violation after he took part in an armed robbery – a harsh sentence for a case of that nature.
2006 After Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman got trashed in the
2006 Democratic primary by
Ned Lamont, he ran as an independent – and won, handily.
2010 Facing a similar situation in
a Florida Senate race, Gov. Charlie Crist took some advice from Lieberman, which led to his indie-leaning decision. source
My decision to run for the U.S. Senate as a candidate without party affiliation says more about our nation and our state than it says about me. Unfortunately our political system is broken. I think we need a new tone in Washington.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist • Who’s now an indie kid in the Florida Senate’s political race. (Though he went out of his way to say “independent.” WTF?) He loses a lot of backing by turning his back on Republicans, but polls suggest he has a much better chance of winning now that he’s out of the primary. The moderate got pushed out as part of a rightward lean by the party, who’s backing bizarro hippie favorite Marco Rubio. The New York Times suggests that Crist may suffer from that lack of infrastructure, though if Rubio or Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek can’t expand their collective bases, he’s the winner. source
If any of you have influence with Governor Crist, we hope you will call his campaign and encourage him to do the right thing.
National Republican Senatorial Committee Executive Director Rob Jesmer • In a note regarding the current Senate campaign in Florida. Gov. Charlie Crist, despite his strong name recognition and likeliness of winning the general election, is facing a tough fight from Marco Rubio, who’s supported by bizarro hippies. Crist is seriously considering running as an independent, and if he does, he’ll likely win – at great cost to the Republicans. Even longtime friends are pressuring Crist to drop out. “They need to tell him this race is over,” said Pasco County Republican Party Chairman Bill Bunting, “I like Charlie as a friend, but this is not his time.” Ouch. Where’s the love for the moderate Republicans, anyway? source
The people spoke, and they spoke loudly, and boy, did I hear from them this week.
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist • On his move to veto a Republican-backed education bill which would tie teachers’ pay to their performance. The move was controversial on all sides of the aisle – the GOP strongly stood behind the bill, while teachers werelargely against it. Even some bizarro hippies didn’t like it. The decision is raising speculation that our boy Charlie will run as an independent in the gubernatorial election, where he has a genuine shot of winning against bizarro hippie-endorsed Marco Rubio (who’s leading Crist handily in the Republican primary) and Democrat Kendrick Meek. source
Who are the real bizarro hippies, anyway? In December, just after the election that will prove whether or not the movement actually has steam, different strains of Florida hippies will find themselves in a courtroom debating if anyone has ownership of the the name. After lawyer Fred O’Neal registered the name for a political party, it became a big issue, especially after he and his partner Doug Guetzloe started strong-arming fellow groups not to use the name. Those fighting against O’Neal and Guetzloe claim they aren’t “real” bizarro hippies. Do they have tests for this? source
