Thursday, March 31, 2022

Governor Vetoes Florida's Court-Approved Redistricting Map

Florida News Connection

Posted March 31, 2022
By: Chance Dorland

Governor Ron DeSantis has vetoed a new congressional map approved by fellow Republicans, Democrats and the Florida Supreme Court. It is a move opponents charge is designed to reduce the voting power of Black Floridians.

Jasmine Burney-Clark, founder and consulting director of Equal Ground Action Fund, a Black-led voting rights group, explained the veto, and the governor's previous interference with redistricting, are new milestones in Florida's history of suppressing minority voters.

"This has not happened in the history of our state, but what has happened is that Florida is known for gerrymandering, in creating maps and district lines that favor a specific political party," Burney-Clark observed. "And we see that he is following in those same footsteps."

DeSantis has called a special mid-April legislative session to draw a new congressional map. A memorandum from the Office of the Governor justifies the move, claiming states "may not separate citizens into different voting districts on the basis of race."

One controversy centers on District 5, a minority-access district in northern Florida currently represented by Rep. Al Lawson, D-Fla. He called the DeSantis veto "no surprise," and says the governor's goal is to "create racial disparities in congressional representation."

However, DeSantis countered his is enforcing the "Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution." As the debate continues, Burney-Clark pointed out consequences for Black voters are real.

"Silencing Black votes takes away our ability to fight for particular rights, like expanding access to the ballot box by ensuring that our districts have what they need as it relates to health care, education," Burney-Clark outlined. "We don't think that we get those things under different types of representation."

The governor's general counsel, Ryan Newman, claimed the now-vetoed congressional map contains what he described as a "bizarre doughnut shape," as Lawson's Districts 5 was surrounded by District 6. Despite the map's bipartisan support, Newman alleges the shape is the result of legislators wanting to "maximize the black voting-age population," which would make it federally unconstitutional.

Content for this Post is provided by Florida News Connection, a Bureau of Public News Service.  Public News Service is a member of the The Trust Project.

March 31 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture.

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life.

March 31
Pray: Lord hear Your words: James 1:19-20 So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray - Amen

     
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Wednesday, March 30, 2022

March 30 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture.

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life.

March 30
Pray: Lord hear Your words: Proverbs 15:1A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray - Amen

     
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Walking It Back


 

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

March 29 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture.

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life.

March 29
Pray: Lord hear Your words:


Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray - Amen

     
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Monday, March 28, 2022

March 28 Prayer Pod

We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture.

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life.

March 28
Pray: Lord hear Your words: Psalm 19:14let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight comma oh lord comma my strength and my redeemer.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray - Amen

     
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Sunday, March 27, 2022

Biden Supreme Court Nominee...

 

FLORIDA          

Opinion by:  
E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author: In Search of Robin  

On February 22nd, 2022, President Joe Biden nominated judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to become the 116th associate justice of the United States Supreme Court.

Early in his presidential campaign then candidate Biden, indicated his first appointment to the United States Supreme Court would be an African-American female.

I thought it was a bad idea, and bad politics, the very first time I heard the statement. My opinion has not changed.

The United States Supreme Court periodically, especially during election cycles, has become sort of a political football. Lots of strutting and talking about who and what kind of person you'll appoint to the Supreme Court if you're elected president of the United States. Up until now, the rhetoric has generally revolved around the nature of appointees’ judicial actions, their public writings, and their political leanings.

This time, the decision was all about race, ethnicity and gender.

As we have seen in the congressional hearings regarding judge Jackson's confirmation, this approach to the Supreme Court nomination process has further inflamed the political divide in our country.

By limiting the pool of candidates to African-American females president Biden has, whether deliberately or accidentally, injected the racial issues that have been the flash point in our culture for almost a decade into the nomination of a Supreme Court Justice, the highest court in the land.

Is judge Jackson the most qualified candidate to sit on the Supreme Court? We'll never know for sure.

What we do know is that should her nomination be confirmed, each decision she participates in, opines on or has a part in will be subject to scrutiny regarding the bias her appointment brings to the court. While judge Jackson's actions may be totally unbiased, there are going to be those in all political parties scrutinizing, commenting, and assessing her actions through a racial lens.

All of this could have been avoided, if Biden hadn't pandered for African American votes using The United States Supreme Court as his foil.

He could have, in all good faith, nominated a broader spectrum of candidates with varying qualifications of which judge Jackson could have easily participated in and quite probably been the successful candidate thus avoiding all the controversy.

Nobody wins in this appointment, not judge Jackson, not Joe Biden, and definitely not The US judicial system.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook, follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.

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Disclosures:

 

March 27 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture.

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life.

March 27
Pray: Lord hear Your words: 2 John 1:6 This is love, that we walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment, then as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray - Amen

     
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Saturday, March 26, 2022

March 26 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture.

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life.

March 26
Pray: Lord hear Your words Luke 11:28But he said, more than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray - Amen

     
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Friday, March 25, 2022

March 25 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture.

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life.

March 25
Pray: Lord hear Your words: Proverbs 3:1-2My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands; for length of days and long life and peace they will add to you.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray - Amen

     
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Report: Youths of Color 50% More Likely to Face Juvenile Incarceration

Florida News Connection

Originally Posted March 22, 2022

By: Trimmel Gomes

Almost a quarter-million American children were incarcerated in 2019, according to a new report called "Too Many Closed Doors" from the Sentencing Project, about five times more than the annual point-in-time counts reveal.

Josh Rovner, senior advocacy associate for The Sentencing Project and the report's author, said we have been looking at the wrong numbers.

"As of one day in 2019, there were about 36,000 kids who were in youth facilities," Rovner reported. "The actual number of kids who were in the facilities over the course of the year was closer to 240,000. And that is actually an undercount."

The report found juveniles are overwhelmingly being detained for low-level offenses and the disruption to their schooling and home life actually makes them more likely to be rearrested in the future.

In addition, the detention rates are much higher in poverty-stricken communities of color, where there is more police presence.

Andrew Keats, staff attorney for the Juvenile Law Center, has studied the impact of crippling fees on children caught in the system in Florida.

He said the fees drives the youths and their families deeper into poverty.

"The fact that they are being disproportionately pulled into the system is having an economic impact," Keats asserted. "And then on the incarceration front, it is having an increased impact of trauma."

The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice tracks the racial ethnic disparity on its website. It showed 57% of youths in secure detention are Black, compared with 26.3 % white and 15.6 % Hispanic.

Rovner pointed out the disparities trended across the nation.

"Overall, 1 out of every 4 kids who are sent to court are detained at the outset," Rovner outlined. "For white youths, that is 1 out of every 5. For Black and Latino youths, closer to 30%. And that is not connected to the seriousness of the offense."

The report includes policy recommendations to reduce youth confinement, such as eliminating the detention of young children and those with low-level offenses, Keats also recommended increasing the use of diversion programs instead of detention and incarceration
.

Content for this Post is provided by Florida News Connection, a Bureau of Public News Service.  Public News Service is a member of the The Trust Project.

Thursday, March 24, 2022

March 24 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture.

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life.

March 24
Pray: Lord hear Your words: Psalm 1:1- 2Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law he meditates day and night.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray - Amen

     
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Wednesday, March 23, 2022

March 23 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture.

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life.

March 23
Pray: Lord hear Your words: 2 Corinthians 1:3-4Blessed should be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray - Amen

     
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Can We TALK About This?



 

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

March 22 Prayer Pod

We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture.

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life.

March 22
Pray: Lord hear Your words: Romans 8:8For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray - Amen

     
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DeSantis Urged to Save Sunshine State's Solar Industry with a Veto

 

Florida News Connection

Originally Posted: March 18, 2022


Posted
 by: Trimmel Gomes

The future of the Sunshine State's solar industry now depends on Gov. Ron DeSantis' veto pen.

Solar-power advocates want the governor to veto a bill the Legislature passed at the behest of the state's largest utility, Florida Power & Light, because they fear it would gut the rooftop solar industry.

If it becomes law, utilities would pay solar users less money for the excess energy they produce. They now get a full retail rate for the power they put back into the grid.

Heaven Campbell, is Florida program director for the group Solar United Neighbors, which was among 76 groups and businesses to send a letter to DeSantis Thursday.

"We believe that this is a bad bill," Campbell asserted. "This is a bill that's going to cost Florida families their jobs, their economic livelihood; and it's also going to be taking away customer choice, at the behest of a monopoly utility."

The utility companies see the current credits for customers who use solar as a "tax" on customers without net metering. Duke Energy has said the bill strikes a balance between consumers and the solar industry.

Critics have said passage of the bill would cut off cheaper, domestic energy sources and would even help Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Campbell called the bill a "job killer" in what is a growing industry. She added it stands to impact moderate and low-income Floridians the most.

"When a customer owns their own solar, they are able to control their own utility bill and that's extremely important for Florida families," Campbell contended. "Solar is actually not just for the wealthy, and a lot of solar customers themselves, the majority, are not wealthy. We know this from the utilities' own demographics."

In statements, FPL has said it "leads the nation in expanding cost-effective, large-scale solar," and also supports customers who choose to buy private rooftop solar systems. Backers of the bill call the solar incentives a regressive tax and say the bill would make solar energy more equitable for all.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Carnegie Corporation of New York.

Content for this Post is provided by Florida News Connection, a Bureau of Public News Service.  Public News Service is a member of the The Trust Project.

 

Monday, March 21, 2022

March 21 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture.

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life.

March 21

Pray: Lord hear Your words: Matthew 11:28-29come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray - Amen

     
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Sunday, March 20, 2022

March 20 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture.

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life.

March 20
Pray: Lord hear Your words: Psalm 55:22Cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray - Amen

     
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Useless Car Dealer Websites

 

FLORIDA  
WEST COAST        
Opinion by:  
E. Eugene Webb PhD
Author: In Search of Robin  

Like many Americans, during and following the COVID-19 pandemic I have begun to spend a lot more time online shopping.

I recently decided to go truck shopping online and began visiting several auto dealer websites.

Have you ever tried to actually buy a car or truck online?

Or perhaps more importantly have you tried to shop for a car or truck online and get any real information?

I shopped a number of national brand dealer websites in search of specific information regarding the features and the price of an actual vehicle.

What I discovered, is that almost all car dealerships are still focused on the 1960-70 model of retail sales of vehicles.

That's the model where they get you into the showroom, hook you up with a salesperson, you pick out a vehicle and then spend the next three hours while this salesperson runs back and forth across the showroom trying to get your deal approved by the sales manager.

Sound familiar?

The longer I shopped the more frustrated I became.

Most irritating of all there's that little pop-up chat box, where the top title is the name of whatever dealership you happen to be looking at and there is a picture of somebody but more than likely not the person, you're going to be talking to with a chat request.

If you want to have one of the most useless conversations that you will probably ever have in 2022, just click that chat box and start asking questions.

The first question I would suggest that you ask after the cheery voice on the other end says hello is: “Where are you located?” And see if you get an answer.

I tried several and found virtually every chat room just an attempt to drag me down to the dealership and get me in the old “let's run around the showroom” model of car sales.

In one instance, I actually got to what appeared to be a Buyers Agreement then only to be told I'll have to come into the dealership to sign all the papers and get “the final details” of the transaction. I went to the dealership, and that deal ended up falling through when it turned out the dealer didn't have and could not get the model of vehicle, they had offered to sell me online.

What I did receive from virtually every dealer was numerous emails and texts from various salespeople, in the case of one dealership, I got five text and emails from five different salespeople encouraging me to quickly come to the dealership, and they would be happy to assist me with my purchase. The web site is just a lead generator. Right back to the old let's play patty cake with the sales manager automotive sales method.

I'm not sure why these dealerships spend all this money on these websites when they don't use them to actually sell something.

 It appears to me at least, that this is just another newspaper ad in an electronic format to create a lead or get you into the dealership, so they can manhandle you during the sales process.

For now, I've given up my online search to acquire a new vehicle. The lease on my current truck doesn't expire for five or six months and perhaps by then I'll feel more like going to the dealership, but I'm not going to waste a whole lot of time with their useless websites.

E-mail Doc at mail to: dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me a Facebook (E. Eugene Webb) Friend request. Like or share on Facebook, follow me on TWITTER  @DOC ON THE BAY.

See Doc's Photo Gallery at Bay Post Photos.

Disclosures:

Saturday, March 19, 2022

March 19 Prayer Pod

 We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture.

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life.

March 19
Pray: Lord hear Your words: Proverbs 13:24He who spares his rod hates his son, but he who loves him disciplines him promptly.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray - Amen

     
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Friday, March 18, 2022

March 18 Prayer Pod

We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture.

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life.

March 18
Pray: Lord hear Your words: Isaiah 43:18Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray - Amen

     
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Will DeSantis Veto FL Juvenile-Expungement Bill?

 Florida News Connection

Originally Posted March 10, 2022

By: Trimmel Gomes

When it comes to second chances, a bill related to expunging juvenile arrest records is back before the governor for a second chance at becoming law.

Last year Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis crushed the hopes of many juveniles hoping for a shot to clean up and eliminate their arrest records after completing diversion programs. Despite bipartisan support, DeSantis felt young offenders should not be in those programs if they committed serious crimes.

Christian Minor, executive director of the Florida Juvenile Justice Association, speaking on The Rotunda podcast, shared how he spent the year working with stakeholders to ease their concerns.

"Bounced a lot of the language off of the governor's staff, and working with our law-enforcement partners, together to get this thing to the finish line," Minor recounted. "I think our chances are fairly high that Gov. DeSantis will go ahead and sign it."

Currently, most of the diversion programs, which help keeps troubled youths out of prisons, involve misdemeanors, with certain felonies allowed. This year's bill excludes "forcible felonies," such as murder or sexual battery.

Minor pointed out many juveniles who have turned their lives around and complete diversion programs are often held back by dismissed felonies because the arrest still shows on their records. Minor added it restricts juveniles from getting scholarships and gainful employment through the military and even law enforcement.

"When I look at this piece of legislation, I look at it as perhaps the more monumental piece of workforce development that this legislature has passed in the last decade," Minor remarked.

Groups supporting the governor's veto last year included the Florida Police Chiefs Association. The executive director now said they were "pleased to see that issue addressed in this year's bill."

According to the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice, a total of 45,423 juveniles were arrested in Florida in 2019 and 2020.

Most involved Black youths, with 50.9% compared with 32.4 % for white youths, and 16.2 % of youth arrests were among Hispanics.

Content for this Post is provided by Florida News Connection, a Bureau of Public News Service.  Public News Service is a member of the The Trust Project

Thursday, March 17, 2022

March 17 Prayer Pod

We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture.

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life.

March
Pray: Lord hear Your words: Colossians 3:5Therefore put to death your members which are on the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray - Amen

     
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Wednesday, March 16, 2022

March 16 Prayer Pod

We all want to pray but sometimes we find it difficult to begin our prayer.  Many Pastors and Ministers suggest you begin your prayer by praying back God’s words from Scripture.

These daily prayer PODs are constructed to help you in your prayer life.

March 16
Pray: Lord hear Your words: Ephesians 5:1-2Therefore be imitators of God as dear children, and walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given himself for us, and offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling aroma.

Lord hear my request: (Say your needs, wants, fears, thanksgivings) -  In Jesus name I pray - Amen

     
PLEASE SHARE TO YOUR FAVORITE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM