What A Shock: "Stand Your Ground" Apparently Only Applies To White People

You might want to sit down before you read this, but it turns out that apparently Florida's hideous "Stand Your Ground" law only applies to white (or half-Hispanic) people who shoot others in self defense. I know, I couldn't believe it either. Here is Atlantic Wire with the details:

What happened to Marissa Alexander sure sounds a lot like 'standing your ground': her abusive husband came after her, choked her, and when she finally broke free, she grabbed a gun fired a single warning shot into ceiling ... so why is she set to serve 20 years in jail? As Touré points out, her husband's deposition had a similar account, though he's providing a newer, conflicting report.

Well, we imagine her prosecutor Angela Corey (who's also charging George Zimmerman) and her team, have the unfulfilling answers. The Florida Times Union's Charles Broward reported on April 21, "A judge denied [Alexander] immunity in a Stand Your Ground hearing. And after a jury found her guilty, she faces a mandatory term of 20 years in prison." Yes, there's the rage-inducing fact that Zimmerman who allegedly pursued and (not allegedly) killed Trayvon Martin was allowed to walk free that night while Alexander is going to spend 20 years of her life in prison for a single warning shot while in her own home. But it's also complex in that, those seeking justice for Trayvon Martin may have to side with a prosecutor who denied Alexander's (and the NAACP's) plea for a "stand your ground" ruling, like the one that was initially afforded to Zimmerman.

"There's a double standard with stand your ground," says Isaiah Rumlin, president of the Jacksonville Chapter of the NAACP. "The law is applied differently between African-Americans and whites who are involved in these types of cases." As Time's Touré points out, "there is one last sliver of hope left for Alexander: the court will soon hear arguments for a retrial." Jacksonville's News 4 added yesterday, "Judge James Daniel set a post-trial motions hearing for 8:30 a.m. Thursday. Daniel said if the motions are denied, she could be sentenced as soon as next week."

What is really appalling about this case is that Alexander should have been acquitted on grounds of self defense regardless of Stand Your Ground. But rather than argue about whether the law is being applied in a discriminatory manner, how about we just go ahead and repeal it already?


Bonus: I think The Fixx was in in this case...Bada Boom!

Outrageous Fortune: Savtira Files For Bankruptcy (Florida)

At first, this just looked like another routine bankruptcy story as reported by the Tampa Bay Business Journal:

Savtira Corp., the promising but troubled technology firm in Ybor City, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization.

The company’s estimated assets are between $1 million and $10 million, and its estimated liabilities are between $10 million and $50 million, according to the filing late Friday in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa.

Pretty dull stuff, right? Well, it's about to get more interesting:

“We were forced to file Chapter 11,” wrote Timothy Roberts, Savtira chief executive officer, in an e-mail late Sunday to the Tampa Bay Business Journal. “This is actually a protection bubble around the company to ward off this hostile takeover attempt. We have plenty of money circling us and now that the blood is in the water the sharks are all circling. We feel confident we will come out of this quickly and fully funded.

Gee, almost makes you wonder why they had to file for bankruptcy, seeing as how they have money literally falling out of their ass and all. But wait, what's this?

Savtira, a B2B cloud e-commerce firm, is the subject of a U.S. Department of Labor investigation into missed payroll and faces lawsuits from three vendors who said they have not been paid. One of those vendors, Data Sales Co. Inc., repossessed equipment leased to Savtira last week.

That doesn't sound so good. In light of all that, the city and county governments wouldn't be so stupid as to pay this company a bunch of tax break bribes, would they?

Savtira last year qualified for $2.65 million in tax incentives from the city of Tampa, Hillsborough County and the state of Florida. The incentives were contingent on creating 265 high-paying jobs, which to date have not materialized.

Dooh! Well anyway, no other municipal government could possibly be so stupid as to make the same mistake. Right?

Roberts has said the company’s cash-flow problems are short term and he is in discussions with public and private entities in five state and cities that have offered to help with the company’s capital needs if Savtira relocates.

You...have...got...to...be...shitting...me. Tell you what, folks. The next time you here some scumbag politician claim that we have to cut benefits to welfare moochers, kindly inform him or her that you'll be happy to see such parasites as Savtira Corp. be the first ones to get cut off.


From my new You Tube channel: "Watch the baby dance to the welfare music...will she ever stand a chance?"

Palatka, Florida: "It Has Been Going Down Hill Rapidly Around Here"

At first, this appeared to be yet another mass layoff story involving a call center. But then the article from First Coast News went of to describe the economic devastation being wrought upon one Florida community:

Allorica Incorporated, which is based in California, announced it is closing its call center in Putnam County. A total of 289 people work at the facility, which is being closed on June 29th.

"It's very dissapointing," said Palatka Mayor Vernon Myers. "They were a good corporate citizen, they were a large employer. We're going to feel the effect of their closing."

Company spokeswoman Danel Kuhlman said a change in client requirements forced the closing. Employees will be offered any available jobs at other facilities. They operate 7 in Florida.

Employees would not talk to First Coast News on camera, saying they were not to talk to the media. The company is also offering resources to assist in resume building and interview skills.

Harry Gillean operates Andrea's Bookstore nearby and launched his own going out of business sale 3 weeks ago. He'll be laying off 3 workers. The call center closing is just more bad news, he says. "Another nail in the coffin. Earlier, we lost 700 jobs at Georgia Pacific, the school board is laying off, water management recently lost 200 employees, so it has been going down hill rapidly around here."

Leave it to the guy who owned the bookstore to connect the dots. Much better than the town's idiot mayor:

Mayor Myers thinks this is just a blip in the local economy for now. He's seeing economic progress in the area. Allorica replaced a company that closed before, and he is confident they can attract another to Northeast Florida.

"We feel optimistic something will be on the positive side in the future," said Myers.

Maybe the bookstore guy should run for mayor next time around, and then maybe this beleaguered community might have someone in charge who is realistic about the very dire problems it faces.


Bonus: A sweet tune from Florida indie rock troubadours, The Silos

DRS Lays Off 170 At Melbourne (Florida) Facility

Still more defense war contractor layoffs were reported in Florida. Here is FloridaToday.com with the details:

About 170 employees have been laid off from the DRS Reconnaissance, Surveillance and Target Acquisition facility in Melbourne, leaving about 650 employees at the 100 N. Babcock Street factory, the company confirmed this morning.

“The reason for the reduction all has to do with the defense budget,” said Richard Goldberg, DRS vice president of public affairs.

The end of the U.S. combat role in Iraq and the expected winding down of the U.S. presence in Afghanistan curtailed the need for the thermal cameras and infrared sighting systems developed and built by DRS in Melbourne, Goldberg said.

“There was reduced customer demand for products and that required us to make these adjustments,” Goldberg said.

Well, now we know what war is good for...keeping people employed. Too bad we can't just go to war with the whole world.

There was also this little tidbit:

Melbourne police confirmed they were contacted by DRS and asked to provide officers for crowd control during the layoff. Police said the officers were working a special detail using overtime hours paid by the company. No incidents have been reported so far this morning.

The layoffs will be complete today, Goldberg said.

Hmmm...doesn't sound like the employees took the news very well.

DRS Technologies (Florida) Lays Off 150

Another rising trend that we have seen here at TDS is mass layoffs involving the defense war industry. Here is nwfdalitynews.com with the details on the latest:

Local defense contractor DRS Technologies laid off about a quarter of its staff Thursday.

DRS, located at 645 Anchors St. in the Fort Walton Beach Commerce and Technology Park, let go about 150 employees.

“In this time, it’s really aligning our staffing levels with the current business realities and the outlook for the rest of the year,” said Richard Goldberg, senior vice president of public affairs for DRS. “Our business is contract driven, and between the downturns in defense spending and other efficiencies that you try to do to remain competitive, (that) caused us to have to adjust the workforce at that facility.”

DRS’ Fort Walton Beach plant was the only location to have layoffs Thursday. Goldberg said the cut was across the board in every department, including hourly employees and managers.

The company still employs about 450 people in Fort Walton Beach.

“We’re committed to that operation long-term,” Goldberg said. “This adjustment is cyclical. When you do have surges in your business you have to increase your workforce, and when contracts get completed or are completed ahead of schedule, you have to adjust accordingly.

Here is the problem with the assessment by Mr. Goldberg in that last paragraph. America is fundamentally insolvent, and these layoffs are occurring at a time when defense war spending is merely leveling off and has not yet really begun to decline. So there is going to be a "cyclical adjustment" all right...it's just going to be a downward spiral as the military-industrial complex slowly collapses under its own bloated and unsustainable weight.

United Space Alliance (Florida) Lays Off 10% Of Work Force

It is probably not a very good time to be the nation's "leading space shuttle contractor." Here is Florida Today with the story:

United Space Alliance, NASA’s lead space shuttle contractor, today shaves its work force by 10 percent with its latest round of layoffs, which include 181 employees based at Kennedy Space Center.

In all, 269 employees are leaving company offices in Florida, Texas and Alabama, the majority of them (186) through voluntary layoffs officially called self-nominations.

More than half the departing employees were the last to receive a “critical skills” bonus that was offered as an incentive to help retain those skills through flyout of the shuttle program, which completed its last mission last July. All laid off employees receive a severance package.

After today’s cuts, Houston-based USA expects to have 2,589 employees, including 1,323 at KSC.

Another round of reductions is planned in the fall.

Given that the space shuttle will never fly again, it is kind of baffling that this company is even still in business.


Bonus: Major Tom isn't coming home because he never got off the ground

Friday Rant: Craven Miami Marlins Suspend Ozzie Guillen Over Fidel Castro Remarks

I’ll admit that I have a soft spot for controversial Miami Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen. I grew up a fan of the hapless Chicago White Sox, and for my first four decades of life on this planet despaired that I would ever get to see my team appear in a World Series, let alone win it. Then in 2005 Ozzie was the manager who achieved what so many previous White Sox managers, including the legendary Tony LaRussa, failed to do: he led the Pale Hose to a baseball world championship.

Moreover, Guillen is not one of those purposely colorless athletic figures who give bland, unenlightening statements to the press in every interview hoping never to offend anybody. He is instead refreshingly brash and unafraid to speak his mind, even if he can at times be combative and quite often doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. As a fan, part of the attraction of having Ozzie manage your team is that you are never really quite sure what he is going to say or do next.

Unfortunately for Ozzie, he switched locales this past offseason from the chilly shores of Lake Michigan to the balmy climes of South Florida. And whereas jaded Chicagoans were much more inclined to just write off his more outrageous pronouncements as “Ozzie being Ozzie” especially as long as he kept winning, clearly Miamians, especially those of Cuban descent, have much less of a sense of humor.

So it was that Ozzie found himself in considerable hot water this past week for these remarks he made in an interview with Time magazine:

“I love Fidel Castro… I respect Fidel Castro, you know why? A lot of people have wanted to kill Fidel Castro for the last 60 years, but that motherf****r is still here.”

The funny thing about this whole stupid media manufactured controversy is that what Guillen said is really not all that different from another comment he made back in 2008 in an interview with Men’s Journal:

"Fidel Castro," he said. "He's a bull---- dictator and everybody's against him, and he still survives, has power. Still has a country behind him. Everywhere he goes they roll out the red carpet. I don't admire his philosophy. I admire him."

Clearly, these are not so much political statements as expressions of admiration for a man who has been a survivor on the world scene for decades despite having many powerful enemies. And really, how can you NOT admire Castro at least for that? Was Castro a dictator who came to power through violent means? Absolutely. But he was not much different in that regard than the man he replaced, Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar. What’s more, by 20th century standards Castro was hardly the most brutal dictator out there, and in fact he was no worse than many other dictators that the United States has actually supported during that time.

So now, Guillen has been suspended by his team for five games and forced to apologize just for expressing a candid opinion while right-wingers cackle with glee. The same right-wingers, I might add, who would no doubt be outraged had Guillen been suspended for making some intemperate remarks about Obama—because it is only kosher for those assholes to complain against “political correctness” when it is being wielded as a weapon in their direction.

I initially tried to avoid writing about this story because it depresses me immensely, but it just kept mushrooming until I felt compelled to say something about it. First off, Ozzie Guillen is a baseball manager. He has absolutely no influence over American foreign policy, and his opinions count in the grand scheme of things for exactly the same amount as mine do…in other words they don’t count for jack shit. The idiots who were out there protesting his remarks need to get a fucking grip already. Or better yet, if they are so damned concerned about what is going on Cuba maybe they ought to just pick up and go back there.

Secondly, regarding the craven ownership of the Miami Marlins, it would be one thing to put out an official statement affirming that the opinions expressed were the personal opinions of Ozzie Guillen and not the Miami Marlins baseball club. But by suspending Guillen they have set a very bad precedent in which any fringe group with a chip on its shoulder will demand a suspension for anyone in their organization who says something they perceive as offensive. Considering that the team employs a large group of rich young male athletes—a demographic not exactly known for its sensitivity, particularly towards women—they really should have thought this action through a little better.

But lastly and most importantly, this incident has once again aimed the direct spotlight at America’s absolutely asinine foreign policy towards Cuba. The last time that tiny island nation posed any legitimate threat to the United States was when President Kennedy stared down Nikita Khrushchev and forced him to withdraw the Soviet nuclear missiles that were being installed there. Since the end of the Cold War and the loss of its Soviet patron, Cuba has essentially lost the ability to project its power or even much influence beyond its own borders.

The country today, where the aged and infirm Castro is no longer even the president any more, has little significance on the world stage. And as for the regime still being technically “communist,” like in China and Vietnam that term no longer has much if any remaining relevance. Cuba is certainly not a democratic society, but given just how tightly the billionaire oligarchs control American politics and how most U.S. government policies involving support for big business, war and empire change little if at all no matter which party is in power, one could reasonably make the same exact argument about this country.

It is long past time or America to get over its petulance about its failure to dislodge Castro after he thumbed his nose at us after the revolution. His side won and the side of the Cuban exiles in Miami lost. In that they are no different than the losers of any war throughout world history, and in fact are living much better lives than do most unfortunates who have ever found themselves in that situation. They can continue to whine and moan about the downfall of the corrupt, gangster-ridden regime Castro replaced, but the rest of the world has rightly moved on. As for Ozzie Guillen, if because of this stupid flap he stops running his yap he'll become just another supremely uninteresting sports personality.


Bonus: A sweet little tune from the criminally underrated Florida indie rock band, The Silos, off of their classic 1987 album, "Cuba"

Crazy Ass Representative Allen West Channels "Tail Gunner Joe"

It was just a tad over 62 years ago in February 1950 when an obscure, back bencher Republican Senator from Wisconsin named Joseph McCarthy first rose to national prominence by proclaiming in a speech that he had a list of "members of the Communist Party and members of a spy ring" who were employed in the State Department. Given that the Cold War has been over for more than two decades and that Communism is effectively dead worldwide save for isolated pockets like North Korea and Cuba, one would think that there would be no way a politician looking to score political points would be able to go down that long closed road. If so, one is obviously not familiar with the particular craziness which inhabits the addled mind of crazy ass Representative Allen West of Florida. Here is the Palm Beach Post News with the details:

U.S. Rep. Allen West told about 90 largely supportive Palm City voters Tuesday that locally prioritized federal projects — such as the St. Lucie Inlet dredging — aren't going to matter if Washington officials don't address a mounting deficit.

Later Tuesday evening, a Jensen Beach crowd of 100 with more than 15 protesters greeted the congressman with mixed support, cheers and jeers.

The conservative tea party icon also got in shots at Democrats and President Obama, who spoke Tuesday at Florida Atlantic University. West said Obama was "scared" to have a discussion with him. He later said "he's heard" up to 80 U.S. House Democrats are Communist Party members, but wouldn't name names.

What is it with these lunatic far right Republicans? First it was dingbat Representative Michelle Bachman prattling on about the Soviet Union during her ill-fated presidential campaign and now this. Could it be that they have come to realize that the Islamophobia-terrorism dog isn't hunting anymore as far as scaring the voters into blindly supporting militarism and gigantic Pentagon budgets goes, and they are nostalgic for a bygone era when America at least had a plausibly dangerous foreign enemy? Yeah, that must be it.


Bonus: "Come on now, who do you, who do you, who do you, who do you think you are...Ha ha ha bless your soul...You really think you're in control...Well, I think you're crazy"

Patient Says Fix-a-Flat, 'Toxic Tush' Butt Injections Ruined Her Life

image: trust me, I'm a doctor. Don't you see my white lab coat?

Good morning. It's not just Sunday but Easter Sunday, meaning that the blog traffic will almost certainly take a double hit today in terms of page views. So I beg your kind indulgence if instead of my usual from-the-wilderness rant about America's hopeless economic, political and energy predicaments, I indulge in a topic that's a bit more humorous. At first glance, this article from a local Florida television station appears to be one of those run-of-the-mill, "Gawd, how can people be so STOOPID" stories the media never seems to tire of running. But if you scratch beneath the surface, there is something else going on here that is frankly illustrative of where we are headed as a nation:

A Tampa woman claims a fake plastic surgeon ruined her life after injecting her buttocks with fix-a-flat and cement.

Patients of Oneal Ron Morris, known to them as "Goddess", claim the woman said she worked for a plastic surgeon and knew how to perform procedures like butt injections.

Some of you may remember when the original arrest happened in this case a few months ago because it got a lot of media play at the time. If so, I'm sure you were probably wondering like I was how anyone could be so dimwitted as to allow their ass cheeks be injected with fix-a-flat and cement. Well, now we know the answer:

"She had a white coat on and a little badge, so I felt comfortable with it," the woman said.

Okay, I'll admit that I laughed when I read that. It's hard not to. But then it got me to thinking about how what this unfortunate woman really did was put her blind faith into someone she thought was an authority figure. Is that really any different than what a majority of her fellow citizens do every single day, innocently trusting that the politicians, the government, the corporations, the big banks, their stock brokers and the media have their best interests at heart? I really don't think so.

The article then goes on to describe what caused the desperation of the victim in this case:

The woman, who doesn't want to be identified, lost her job as a mortgage broker when the market crashed and started dancing at strip clubs to make quick cash. She soon learned a bigger backside would boost her business...

If you think about it, the fact that someone who was educated enough to be able to work as a mortgage broker could subsequently do something this breathtakingly dumb explains an awful lot about the housing bubble. And when the bubble finally popped she then turned to a far more desperate measure to try and maintain her lifestyle. There was only one little problem with her brillant idea to enhance her revenues from stripping:

...but when she went to see a doctor, he quoted her $5,000 for the procedure. Morris, she says, would do it for just $1,500 at her apartment.

"She said it was 100% silicone," the woman said of the substance Morris kept in a Pedialyte bottle.

Okay, five grand is not an insubstantial amount, but it doesn't seem like it would take that long to save up for it. But the idea of saving up for something you really want is an anathema to most people in Spoiled Rotten Nation. So instead she decided to take a very risky shortcut. Again, it was a decision not that much different that those who run up massive credit card debts to buy what they want NOW, with no thought about how it will cripple them financially in the future.

Like those people who binge with the credit cards, at first it seemed like a great thing that she saved all of that money on a real plastic surgeon, until reality began to set in:

Immediately after the injections she and four others underwent in 2009, the woman says she was pleased.

She raked in thousands of dollars more at work, and liked the way her backside looked.

But within six months, she started coughing. That turned into pneumonia. When doctors tested fluid in her buttocks, she says she learned the "100% silicone" was 100% something else.

"It came back as bathroom caulking," she said. "You would put a substance in me to kill me? It's not fair to me."

She claims Morris, now facing several more charges of practicing medicine without a license, used super glue on her during the procedure.

"It's to block the holes so the medicine doesn't come back out," she remembered Morris explain. "I said, 'Why is it burning like that?' She said, 'That's just the medicine. That's how the medicine feels. It's normal.'"

In addition to pneumonia, she had discoloration of the skin and a rear-end she describes as "rock hard".

And ultimately, her fate is not that much different from those who run up their credit card bills:

Unable to work, or barely sit anymore, she relies on food stamps, her house facing foreclosure.

She still has the fix-a-flat injection in her because, she says, her case never reached a severe enough level for insurance to consider it anything but elective reconstructive surgery.

Most people who read this story will just laugh at this woman's stupidity, confident that such a thing could never happen to them because they are way too smart to ever be taken in by such a huckster. Instead, they will go on trusting that their stock portfolio is a sound investment, that their employer will never renege on their pension, that their savings account at Bank Of America is perfectly safe, that Social Security will be there for them when they retire, that the media cannot report a story if it isn't true, that the government would never manipulate economic indicators, that billionaires really are job creators, that wars of choice are necessary for the nation's "defense," that either Obama or Romney will keep all of his campaign promises and that America is the greatest nation the world has ever seen and nothing could ever possibly cause its downfall.

"Orange Shirt Day" Gets 14 Law Firm Employees Fired

The average American workplace is in many instances rapidly becoming a living hell, even for those still fortunate enough to have their jobs. Don't believe it? Well, then I invite you to check out this story from the Ft. Lauderdale Sun Sentinel:

Were they wearing orange shirts on Friday to protest management? Or to get psyched for happy hour?

Either way, orange-shirted workers no longer have jobs at the Deerfield Beach law firm of Elizabeth R. Wellborn P.A.

A spokeswoman said the law firm had "no comment at this time."

Four workers tell the story this way: For the past few months, some employees have worn orange shirts on pay-day Fridays so they'd look like a group when they went out for happy hour.

This Friday, 14 workers wearing orange shirts were called into a conference room, where an executive said he understood there was a protest involving orange, the employees were wearing orange, and they all were fired.

The executive said anyone wearing orange for an innocent reason should speak up. One employee immediately denied involvement with a protest and explained the happy-hour color.

The executives conferred outside the room, returned and upheld the decision: all fired, said Lou Erik Ambert, 31, of Coconut Creek, a litigation para-legal who said he was terminated.

"There is no office policy against wearing orange shirts. We had no warning. We got no severance, no package, no nothing," said Ambert. "I feel so violated."

Meloney McLeod, 39, of North Lauderdale, said her choice of shirt puts her in a tough spot: "I'm a single mom with four kids, and I'm out of a job just because I wore orange today."

Janice Doble, 50, of Sunrise,said she wore orange Friday because she was looking forward to happy hour with colleagues after a busy work week.

"Orange happens to be my favorite color. My patio is orange," said Doble. "My lipstick was orange today." She said she supervised 12 people who scanned, copied and mailed documents for the firm.

Now she's worried for relatives employed at the law firm. "I have four kids who work there," said Doble. "I don't want them to retaliate and fire my kids."

Yadel Fong, 21, of Miami, wonders where he'll find work after losing his job in the mail room. He was not aware of anyone in the group involved in a protest.

"To my mind, protesting is where you put your foot down, and you're not working. There was none of that today," said Fong, who said he was working and looking forward to happy hour.

Of course, no business would ever take such an arbitrary action if we were still close to full employment and there weren't thousands of unemployed people who will line up to take the place of those fired. The sad part is that these workers are easily replaceable, and you can bet that those who end up taking their jobs as well as those who were not fired this time around will be even more docile and compliant in the future. It would be nice if clients of this asshole law firm upon reading this story would pull their business, but I wouldn't bet on that happening.

Of course, Florida is a "Right to Work" state, which in reality means a state where you have a right to get fired for any flimsy ass reason...like wearing an orange shirt to work.


Bonus: "I get up at seven, yeah...and I go to work at nine...I got no time for livin'...Yes, I'm workin' all the time"

Walgreens Lays Off 123 In South Florida

Looks like Walgreens operations in the Sunshine State are taking a big hit. Here is the South Florida Business Journal with the details:

The Walgreen Co. warns it may lay off 123 workers in Miami Lakes, according to a state notice.

The Deerfield, Ill.-based company filed a Workers Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice with the state of Florida on March 1, warning of mass layoffs from the closing of the central pharmacy operation portion of its Miami Lakes facility at 14901 N.W. 79th Court.

The layoffs are expected to take place around May 1 and the company expects the closure to be permanent, according to a letter to the state from Cassie Jesse, human resources manager. The letter did not address the reason for the pharmacy operation closure.

Positions being eliminated include group manager, central utility specialist, resolution center specialist and patient prescriber review operator.

Yet another blow for workers in the health care industry.


Bonus: "Mainline Florida, O.K."

Jackson Health System (Florida) to Eliminate Over 1,000 Jobs

This is one of the more infuriating layoff stories I've read in awhile. Here is NBC Miami with the appalling details:

Jackson Health System’s CEO announced Tuesday that his organization is laying off 920 staffers and eliminating another 195 vacant positions to give the organization the “rock-solid foundation” it needs as he right-sizes it.

Carlos Migoya said Jackson will also create about 350 new part-time jobs so it still maintains “the proper staffing levels to provide excellent medical care and customer service for our patients.”

In all the moves will save Jackson about $69 million per year, including about $55 million in benefits, Migoya estimated.

So you wanna hear the punchline? It's a doozy:

The president of SEIU Local 1991, Martha Baker, slammed Migoya for the "massive layoffs" in a statement Tuesday evening.

"This is what you get when you hire a billionaire banker and then cut him loose to take a chainsaw to healthcare in Miami-Dade County," said Baker, who is a registered nurse. "It’s unbelievable that he wouldn’t consult the nurses, doctors and healthcare professionals – who have sacrificed out of their pockets to keep Jackson afloat – about how his plan to ‘right-size’ the system might harm patient care. We have no idea how Mr. Migoya thinks patient care can be maintained with such drastic cuts to frontline caregivers."

Migoya said in a letter to members of Jackson’s Financial Recovery Board Tuesday that Jackson will have cut spending by a total of about $91 million per year, counting the new reductions and other “staffing initiatives” rolled out since last June.

“These actions will be painful for many people, including those whose positions are eliminated and those who will be working even harder to care for this great system and its patients,” Migoya wrote. “We are making every attempt to be sensitive to the emotional nature of these changes, including the continued availability of our employee assistance program and offering transition support services for impacted employees.”

He expressed his confidence “that Jackson will emerge as a stronger and more nimble organization that is better positioned to reach its strategic goals.”

Yep--I too would really like to know what qualifies a billionaire banker to be the CEO of a hospital system. Seems like a recipe for disaster to me. I also wish the article had mentioned how much Jackson Health System CEO Carlos Migoya's compensation package is worth. Because if he's getting paid tens of millions of dollars like some other health care CEOs are and then laying off staff to save a similar amount, this story becomes even more outrageous.


Bonus: Everybody knows the fight was fixed...the poor stay poor, the rich get rich

Class Warfare for Dummies: Florida Bill Would Reduce Tipped Workers' Minimum Salary to $2.13 an Hour

Here's a proposed law that Willard Romney would absolutely love...until some aggrieved waitress spit on his filet mignon before serving it to him. The Orlando Sentinel has the gruesome details:

A bill that would cut the hourly wages of many waiters and waitresses was unveiled Tuesday by a Florida Senate committee in Tallahassee.

The bill would slash Florida's minimum wage for tipped workers — now $4.65 an hour — to the federal tipped minimum of $2.13 for companies that agree to guarantee that with wages and tips their employees will make at least $9.98 an hour.

The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association is urging legislators to pass the bill. The trade group says Florida's tipped minimum is crippling eateries financially, causing companies to cut back workforces and open fewer restaurants in Florida.

Combined with rising costs of food, insurance and implementing the new federal health-care law, "it's going to be a matter of time before the back of this industry breaks," said Carol Dover, chief executive officer of the trade group. "Minimum wage is killing them."

First of all, if these companies really do have to "guarantee" their employees will make $9.98 an hour with tips, then what is the point of reducing the base salary in the first place? You don't suppose there would be massive fudging on that amount do you? No...perish the thought. Secondly, if these restaurants can't afford to pay their wait staff a measly base salary of $4.65 an hour, then they a likely not going to last a whole lot longer anyway.

Call this what it is: yet another attack on low wage service workers by scumbag corporations at a time when these kinds of menial jobs represent a large portion of what is still available out there for workers. It's appalling that these companies want to be able to pay an employee less per hour than the cost of a gallon of gasoline. This is class warfare at its finest, a perfect metaphor at a time in which the front runner for the presidential nomination of one of the two major parties is a multimillionaire vulture capitalist who has openly professed that he doesn't care about poor people.

In case you want to know the identity of one of the major companies supporting this hideous bill...you know, so maybe you can extend a big ol' middle digit in their direction the next time you drive past one of their locations, I'm here to serve, so to speak:

Tampa-based OSI Restaurant Partners, supports the bill, Dover said. The company, which owns Outback Steakhouse, did not respond to a request for comment.

In that case I have a comment for Outback Steakhouse: shove your horrible bloomin' onions where the sun don't shine.


Bonus: Here's a little number that is GENUINELY Australian, unlike the Outback Steakhouse

America's Most Miserable Cities, 2012

image: The Machesney Park Mall, Rockford, Illinois...yesterday and today

The new Forbes list of America's Most Miserable Cities is out. Here is Yahoo Real Estate with the details:

Miami is a playground for the rich and famous. Celebrities flock to parties at South Beach clubs and then return to their $10 million mansions in Miami Beach and Key Biscayne. It’s a leading city in culture, finance and international trade. But away from the glitz and glamor, many ordinary Miamians are struggling.

A crippling housing crisis has cost multitudes of residents their homes and jobs. The metro area has one of the highest violent crime rates in the country and workers face lengthy daily commutes. Add it all up and Miami takes the top spot in our ranking of America’s Most Miserable Cities.

The most famous way to gauge misery is the Misery Index developed by economist Arthur Okun in the 1960s, which combines unemployment and inflation. Our take on misery is based on the things that people complain about on a regular basis.

We looked at 10 factors for the 200 largest metro areas and divisions in the U.S. Some are serious, like violent crime, unemployment rates, foreclosures, taxes (income and property), home prices and political corruption. Other factors we included are less weighty, like commute times, weather and how the area’s pro sports teams did. While sports, commuting and weather can be considered trivial by many, they can be the determining factor in the level of misery for a significant number of people. One tweak to this year’s list: we swapped out sales tax rates for property tax rates. Miami would have finished No. 1 under the old methodology as well.

Miami has local company in misery on our list: the West Palm Beach metropolitan division ranks fourth and Fort Lauderdale is seventh. Both areas have been hit hard by the housing crises.

Michigan’s troubled duo of Detroit and Flint clock in at No. 2 and No. 3 among the most miserable cities. The cities have been reeling for decades due to the decline of the U.S. auto industry and in recent years have been demolishing houses to change their city landscapes. Detroit has closed schools and laid off police, while Michigan appointed an emergency manager last year to take over Flint’s budget and operations. Detroit and Flint rank No. 1 and No. 3 when it comes to violent crime, and unemployment over the past three years in both communities has also been among the worst in the U.S.

Last year’s most miserable city, Stockton, ranks No. 11 this year. Stockton got a boost as housing prices have stabilized to some degree after a 45% drop between 2006 and 2008. They also benefited from our replacement of sales tax rates with property taxes in the methodology (Stockton would have finished No. 6 under the old methodology). Stockton still has plenty of problems, though. It ranks among the country’s six worst when it comes to unemployment, foreclosures and violent crime.

The Top 10 List is below, with details for each one at the link:

10. Warren, Michigan

9. Rockford, Illinois

8. Toledo, Ohio

7. Fort Lauderdale, Florida

6. Chicago, Illinois

5. Sacramento, California

4. West Palm Beach, Florida

3. Flint, Michigan

2. Detroit, Michigan

1. Miami, Florida

Interesting that two cities in which I used to reside, Chicago (6) and Rockford (9) made the list. Perhaps that is why I am such a sunny personality. I chronicled Rockford's descent into hell last May 23rd in my post, "Worst City in America" -- How Rampant Globalization Transformed Rockford, Illinois." I'm sure it must be cold comfort to the citizens of Rockford that eight other cities have passed them up in their misery.


Bonus: "They say misery loves company. We could start a company...and make misery"

Idiocracy in South Florida: Pythons Are Wiping Out Mammals in the Everglades

Is there ANYONE left in this country who gives a damn about the common good anymore? Hardly a day passes when I don't see at least one story that illustrates just how stupid and short sighted our society has become. I visited the Everglades once about 20 years ago, and was struck by their natural beauty. You would think the will would be there to protect such an important and fragile ecosystem. That the Everglades are environmentally stressed by the rapid development of southern Florida is old news. But, as reported this week by the Atlantic Wire, they now face a new threat that was appallingly preventable:

According to a new study, the introduction of non-native snakes into southern Florida swamps has devastated the population of small mammals, almost completely wiping out some vulnerable species. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the number raccoon and possums spotted in the Everglades has dropped more than 98%, bobcat sightings are down 87%, and rabbits and foxes have not been seen at all in years.

Large snakes, like boa constrictors, anacondas, and pythons, are not native to North America, but are popular among reptile collectors and traders who — inadvertently or not — re-introduced them to the Florida swamps about a decade ago. Since that time they caused a huge disruption to the already fragile ecosystem, threatening wildlife and even some humans. They grow fast, breed rapidly, adapt well to their environments, and prey on small animals that don't recognize them as a threat. They're also great at hiding, which makes them both deadly hunters and difficult to catch.

They will also eat just about anything, even birds, deer, and alligators. (The 162-pound Burmese python pictured above had recently swallowed a gator.) That's why the government banned the import of Burmese and other pythons last year, although (thanks to lobbying by the U.S. Association of Reptile Keepers) the reticulated python and the boa constrictor are still allowed to be traded.

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that the snakes never should have been allowed into the U.S. in the first place, and especially not into an area where they could thrive in the wild. And note how difficult it has been for the government to even close this particular barn door long after the horse has escaped, disappeared over the horizon and become boa constrictor bait. The answer to U.S. Association of Reptile Keepers should have been: thanks to your dumbass membership, there are plenty of the damn reptiles right out there in the swamps for you.

No word yet on whether pythons and boa constrictors actually eat Newts...but we can certainly dream.


Bonus: "Snakes in my bushes"

Endgame: Close the Prison, Kill the Town

Yesterday I posted a story about the latest factory closing in my hometown of Freeport, Illinois, and the devastating effect it is going to have on the local community. Like many rust belt towns, Freeport was chosen as the site of a state prison back in the 1990s, which was built there in part to try to make up for some of the factory jobs that were leaving thanks to rampant globalization. One could question the effects on the self-esteem of former factory workers who are used to building useful things being relegated to warehousing the worst elements of hour society for half or even less of their former salary, but that's a discussion for another day.

Instead, I'm more concerned with what happens to those factory workers-turned prison guards once the state decides it can no longer afford to maintain such a large prison population. That is happening to one Florida town in particular, as reported this week by Tallahassee.com:

Jefferson County officials told a House budget panel Tuesday closing their state prison will be an economic death sentence for the small, struggling rural community.

But the head of Florida’s prison system said there can’t be any reprieves for the seven prisons and four work camps he announced last week will be closing before June 30. Department of Corrections Secretary Ken Tucker said a detailed business analysis was used to evaluate each institution and that his agency will do all it can to transfer some employees and help find jobs in other state or local agencies for others.

“We are a community on life support and this decision will equate to pulling the plug on us,” Kirk Reams, the clerk of court and chief financial officer for the county, told the House Justice Appropriations Subcommittee.

Jefferson Correctional Institution, with 177 state jobs, was on the list Tucker announced last week. It is the county’s largest employer, with an $8.2 million payroll.

Julie Conley, executive director of the county’s Economic Development Council, said that figure multiplies by four as the money is spent in the Monticello area. She said the county’s budget is about $20 million.

County Commissioner Stephen Fulford said hundreds of Jefferson County residents work at state jobs in Tallahassee. He said many of them are fearful of losing their jobs in Gov. Rick Scott’s new budget proposal, which is projected to result in about 600 layoffs statewide next June 30 — apart from the prison closings.

How sad is it that a community has become so destitute that its last life line depends upon the state continuing to pay to keep people locked up? Sadly, this is the entirely predictable end result of 30 years of unfettered globalization now combining with the effects of peak oil to create a perfect economic shit storm.

Still, some will yell and scream that it isn't fair:

“If you don’t consider the economic impact on people who live in an area, I think that’s a serious flaw,” said Rep. Leonard Bembry, D-Greenville, a committee member who represents Jefferson County. He said JCI accounts for 5.5 percent of all employment in Jefferson County and that, while Hillsborough or Broward County might be able to absorb layoffs in big urban areas, Jefferson cannot.

“That would be like Orlando shutting down Disney,” said Bembry.

But frankly, my Dear Mr. Bembry, reality doesn't give a damn:

Tucker said the department considered personnel impact, along with other dollars-and-cents realities of its decision. The closings are projected to save $14 million in this fiscal year and $75 million in the year starting July 1.

“It’s hard to make the case that we need to maintain personnel and beds for inmates that we’re not going to have,” said Tucker. “We’re holding empty dorms at this prison and that prison, all across the state.

Bonus: Todd Snider with the best prison song this side of Johnny Cash

States Doubling Down on Bad Gambling Bets

I've posted several stories here on TDS about recent decline of the gaming gambling industry in the United States as the throngs who used to fill the casinos find themselves unable to come up cash to throw away on the slots or at the Blackjack table. And yet despite all of the evidence that the industry is in deep trouble and no longer the cash cow it used top be, there are still plenty of localities lining up, hoping to boost tax revenues by overcoming their previous resistance to legalizing gambling and opening casinos of their own. MSNBC has the details:

A Malaysian company's plan to build a $4 billion convention center and big-time casino on the outskirts of New York City could be the biggest shot fired yet in a tourism arms race that has seen a growing number of Eastern states embrace gambling as a way to lure visitors and drum up revenue.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced last week that he would work with the Genting Group, one of the world's largest and most successful gambling companies, to transform the storied, but sleepy, Aqueduct horse track into a megaplex that would eventually include the nation's largest convention center, 3,000 hotel rooms, and a major expansion of a casino that began operating at the site in October.

The proposal came less than two months after once-puritanical Massachusetts passed a law allowing up to three resort casinos, plus a slot machine parlor, at locations around the state.

Ohio is poised to see its first commercial casinos open this year, after voters approved up to four gambling halls in 2009. Maryland's first casino opened last year, with more on the way. Pennsylvania's first casinos opened in 2006, and already the state is threatening to surpass Atlantic City as the nation's second-largest gambling market.

And in Florida, lawmakers are hotly debating a whopper of a bill that would allow up to three multibillion-dollar casinos, plus additional slot machines at dog and horse tracks. Genting appears confident the law will pass. It has already spent around $450 million to acquire waterfront property in Miami, where it wants to build a $3.8 billion complex that would include a casino, dozens of restaurants and a shopping mall.

States have embraced casinos, after years of trepidation about their societal costs, for two simple reasons: a promise of a rich new revenue source, plus the possibility of stimulating tourism.

The article itself actually does a very good job of raising questions as to whether this latest desperate revenue grab by the state governments is at all advisable:

Some experts, however, have questioned whether revenue bonanzas that large are realistic, and say states should be cautious about giving up too much to lure these projects. Competition for a limited pool of gambling and tourism dollars is already fierce, and recent years haven't been kind to casinos.

Nevada's larger casinos lost $4 billion in 2011, according to a report released this month by the state's Gaming Control Board, as the state continued to feel the effects of the global economic slump.

As gambling options have increased in the East, revenue has slid substantially at the pair of Indian tribe-owned casinos in Connecticut and declined by a dramatic 30 percent in Atlantic City, which has lost customers in droves to the new casinos in nearby Philadelphia, according to David Schwartz, director of the Center for Gaming Research at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

So the latest players in the legalized gambling game plan to spend billions of dollars to spread the wealth that much thinner even as the slowly collapsing economy continues to squeeze the mass of players suckers they need to be able to make a profit.

How much more proof do you need that the so-called "leaders" of our society are completely out of ideas and have resorted to merely shuffling the deck chairs on the titanic?


Bonus: Wait a minute, is that music I hear on the promenade deck?

Jacksonville Jaguars Owner Insults Fans While Tryng to Boost Ticket Sales

I've posted several stories here on TDS Blog about how the preeminent sports league in the United States, which a decade ago could sell out a seven-on-seven summer training camp practice scrimmage, is becoming increasingly desperate as sales for its overpriced tickets to watch its increasingly mediocre games continue to decline. The latest, and frankly the funniest to example of this to date, was reported on Friday by The Consumerist:

The Jacksonville Jaguars have traditionally had difficulty selling out home games, and the franchise is apparently so frustrated that it has resorted to insulting those who don't buy tickets. While introducing the team's new head coach, new owner Shahid Kahn said he's only interested in hearing criticism from ticket buyers.

First Coast News relays the foot-in-mouth quote:

“"For me a fan is somebody who is a season ticket holder for the Jaguars. So that is a key definition we need to get out. We want to hear from people, we want a huge amount of constructive feedback. We need input, but we need that from fans who are season ticket holders."

The team's PR machine was quick to backtrack, with Kahn's spokesman saying the owner was joking and speaking off-the cuff. Khan later released an email statement that re-accepted the Jaguars' throngs of non-game-attending fans back into the fold:

"All it takes to be a Jaguars fan is to love the Jaguars. And if you love the Jaguars, you're the most important person to me and the entire organization."

We don't know what's more entertaining, PR blunders that reveal what executives actually think, or the fumbling, forced apologies that always follow quickly thereafter.

A couple of points here. First of all, NFL tickets have become too damn expensive for the average fan. My last season as an NFL season ticket holder was in 2009, when I paid $120 per ticket, per game, for seats in the end zone about 40 rows up from the field. That price was also more than double what I paid my first year as a ticket holder back in 1997, and didn't even cover the cost of parking or food and beverages. Attending a single NFL game for a family of four has become a $600 or more proposition, which is simply not affordable for most people.

Secondly, the Jacksonville Jaguars had a 5-11 record this year and have sucked balls for most of their existence as an NFL franchise, so maybe the fans recognize a bad value for the money when they see one. And don't get me started about how the NFL forces season ticket holders to buy tickets to two meaningless home exhibition games every year--for the same price as a regular season game. For fans of a crappy team like the Jaguars, that's like the cherry on a shit sundae.

For being a clueless billionaire sports owner of a lousy football team but nevertheless determined to drive away his remaining fan base, I hereby declare Jacksonville Jaguars owner Shahid Kahn to be a Real One Percenter of Genius.


Bonus: Right now, Jacksonville Jaguars fans are probably feeling like Captain Kirk