May 12, 2009 1:33 PM Posted by DeFede Several months ago I floated the idea that Jeb Bush and Charlie Crist should strike a secret deal in which Charlie decides to run for the Senate and Jeb, no longer encumbered by term limits, runs again for Governor.
Today, the first half came true with Charlie's announcement that he would not seek re-election as Governor and would instead run for the Senate. But Jeb says he's not interested in public office.
Below is the official statement issued by Jeb's media people:
Governor Bush is not considering a 2010 gubernatorial run in Florida. He will continue to play a constructive role in the future of the Republican Party, advocating conservative solutions to the 21st century challenges we face, specifically in the area of education.
Mar 17, 2009 10:11 AM Posted by DeFede The Seattle Post-Intelligencer -- known simply to those who read it as the P-I -- printed its last edition this morning. The paper had been a mainstay in Seattle for 146 years. It is moving its operation entirely online and reducing its newsroom staff from a workforce of about 170 down to 20.
If you are curious you can read more here at www.seattlepi.com
While I'm glad the P-I is going to try and continue to operate online, obviously losing about 90 percent of its newsroom means it will not be the force in Seattle it once was. The Seattle Times is now the paper's only daily. Mar 13, 2009 4:29 PM Posted by DeFede As I discussed in a column earlier this week, Governor Charlie Crist had been refusing to meet with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to discuss the issue of slavery in the state of Florida. The governor's refusal to meet with the Coalition made little sense and only served to embarass the state and the governor.
Well it seems the governor finally got the message and as The New-Press in Fort Meyers reported, the governor will be meeting with the Coalition at the end of the month.
The New-Press story is added below.
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March 12, 2009
Immokalee workers to take slavery tales to Crist
By AMY BENNETT WILLIAMS
awilliams@news-press.com
Florida Gov. Charlie Crist announced Wednesday he will talk with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers - a meeting the group has sought for two years. On the table: slavery and the labor conditions of Southwest Florida's tomato harvesters.
Crist spokesman Sterling Ivey said the meeting will likely be the last week of March.
The coalition has tried to meet with Crist for two years with no success. On Monday, members traveled to Tallahassee to deliver thousands of petitions and re-enact Immokalee's most recent slavery prosecution.
In December, members of the Navarrete family went to federal prison for enslaving 12 migrant workers. The bosses took their captive crews to work on farms owned by some of the state's major tomato producers: Immokalee-based Six L's and Pacific Tomato Growers in Palmetto. Both belong to the Socially Accountable Farm Employers program, designed to prevent labor abuses.
Neither company returned calls from The News-Press Wednesday afternoon.
The Navarrete case is the seventh such slave labor operation the coalition has helped prosecute in federal court in the past 11 years. More than 1,000 people have been freed.
Slavery, coalition members say, is the extreme end of a broken labor system that begins with subpoverty wages. The group has pledges from the world's largest fast-food companies - McDonald's, Burger King, Subway and others - to pay harvesters a penny more per pound for the tomatoes they pick.
The extra money would make a huge difference in workers' lives, 31-year-old picker Rafael Gomez told The News-Press last week. He hadn't found work for eight days.
"If I'd made a few more dollars, I'd have been able to have some defense against hunger," Gomez said.
Although the fast-food companies have agreed to the increase, the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange, to which 90 percent of the state's tomato producers belong, refuses to pass it along, citing legal concerns. Instead, the companies pay the extra wages into an escrow account, where it accumulates without reaching workers.
That's another thing coalition members want to take up with Crist.
"What's most important is what happens after the meeting," worker Leonel Perez said. "We hope the governor can set the record straight that not a single case of slavery is acceptable in the 21st century - period - and that he can help us move the Florida Tomato Growers Exchange out of the way of our agreements with food industry leaders."
Josh Viertel, president of New York-based Slow Food USA and part of a group of food advocates who visited Immokaee earlier this month, agrees.
"We should be eating food with a story behind it that doesn't make us lose our appetite," Viertel said. | Mar 11, 2009 4:03 PM Posted by DeFede Just finished writing up a column on the ACLU report regarding felon voting rights. It's now up on the web. You can read the column here.
Click here if you want to read the ACLU report Mar 10, 2009 3:40 PM Posted by DeFede Seventeen members of Congress today called on the Obama Administration to grant Temporary Protective Status to Haitian immigrants. Among those writing to Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland Security, were Alcee Hastings, Kendrick Meek, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Robert Wexler, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Barney Frank, Corrine Brown, Maxine Waters, William Delahunt, Barbara Lee and Jose Serrano.
The Bush Administration refused to grant TPS status to Haitians. TPS would allow Haitians to remain in the United States rather than deporting them to a country racked by food riots as well as four hurricanes. Deporting Haitians who are already in the United States back to Haiti is inhumane.
Below is the text of the letter sent to Napolitano:
The Honorable Janet Napolitano
Secretary of Homeland Security'
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, D.C. 20528
We would like to first congratulate you on your recent confirmation as Secretary of Homeland Security. We also write to express our outrage over the continuing deportations of Haitians in the United States and urge you to immediately grant Haitian immigrants in the United States Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
This past summer, only months after deadly food riots, Haiti was hit by four back-to-back hurricanes and tropical storms. Thousands lost their homes, many were left starving and isolated from humanitarian assistance, nearly 800 lives were taken, and as of last month, over 300 people remain missing. Though recovery efforts have slowly commenced, much of Haiti remains in a state of destruction. Up to 40,000 people are in shelters, and severe malnutrition concerns have arisen throughout rural areas.
The Bush administration recognized these conditions and commendably chose to halt deportation flights to Haiti. However, this past December, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) unexpectedly chose to resume deportations. Even worse, deportations are still occurring at alarming rates and under disturbing conditions.
As you know, TPS may be granted when any of the following conditions are met: there is ongoing armed conflict posing a serious threat to personal safety; it is requested by a foreign state that temporarily cannot handle the return of nationals due to environmental disaster; or when extraordinary and temporary conditions in a foreign state exist which prevent aliens from returning. Now, more than ever, Haiti continues to meet all of the requirements for TPS.
In December, your predecessor determined that Haiti did not meet the standards for TPS. Given the overwhelming challenges with which Haiti has been forced to contend over the past year, we urge you to reverse this decision and grant Haitians in the United States TPS, or at the very least, resume the halt on deportations pending further policy review.
As Haiti's humanitarian crisis becomes increasingly dire and the nation's struggle for economic stability and sustainable development is further delayed, it is only a matter of time before a humanitarian crisis becomes a political one threatening the stability of Haiti and our entire region. TPS is the least expensive, most immediate form of humanitarian assistance wecan provide, as it allows the Haitian government to invest all of its limited resources in the rebuilding and development of its struggling economy.
Just 600 miles from our shores, political and economic instability in Haiti impacts our own economy and immigration levels, thereby making it our responsibility to work to ensure Haiti's long-term stability. The people of Haiti have long suffered through natural destruction, persistent poverty, and repressive regimes. We have a moral obligation to help the people of Haiti sustain and rebuild their country by granting Haitian nationals already residing in the United States TPS.
In keeping with President Obama's promise to renew America's global leadership, werespectfully ask that you address this extremely critical issue immediately.We thank you for your consideration and look forward to working with you on this and other matters of mutual concern. Mar 9, 2009 5:23 PM Posted by DeFede I posted a column earlier today about a protest planned in Tallahassee this afternoon by the Colaition of Immokalee Workers.
Below is a story on the protest by our friends at The News-Press in Fort Meyers. Looks like the Governor still wouldn't meet with the Colaition. Not smart.
March 9, 2009
Immokalee farm workers hold protest at Old Capitol
By Stephen D. Price
news-press.com Capital Bureau
TALLAHASSEE — Protesting the brutality of slave conditions they say some farm workers are subjected to, members of the Coalition of Immokalee Workers challenged Gov. Charlie Crist today to meet with them and help dismantle a barbaric system.
Standing on the steps of the Old Capitol, more than 120 farm workers and protestors asked for state leadership to take a stand against agricultural slavery.
“When will the leaders in this state take steps to end the effects of modern-day slavery in Florida?” said Gerardo Reyes-Chavez, of the CIW. “The governor of this state and leadership need to eradicate this. As workers, we are tired.”
Reyes-Chavez, speaking through a translator, told the crowd that Crist had a team of officials meet with coalition leaders Monday, but he did not sit with them himself to discuss the issue.
“What we are looking for is a governor to be a part of the solution,” Reyes-Chavez said.
State Sen. Arthenia Joyner told the group she had a bill (SB 168) that would create a task force on human trafficking.
“This task force will work to bring legislation so Florida can end this travesty,” said the Tampa Democrat. “I’m for the governor and leadership here to do what is right.” Mar 9, 2009 1:03 PM Posted by DeFede This wasn't in the morning paper, but if you go online you'll see this story:
Miami Herald owner McClatchy plans to eliminate 1,600 jobs
Associated Press
McClatchy Co. said Monday that it plans to eliminate 1,600 jobs, or 15 percent of its work force, as it contends with declining revenue and a deepening recession.
The company, which owns The Miami Herald, el Nuevo Herald and other properties, had said in its Feb. 5 earnings release that it planned deep cost cuts this year, hoping to save between $100 million and $110 million, and slashed its dividend 90 percent.
But Chairman and Chief Executive Gary Pruitt said in a statement Monday that ``given the worsening economy, we must do more.''
The cost-control efforts come as McClatchy is faced with plunging ad revenue plaguing the entire publishing sector, as well as trying to recover $5.3 million owed by newspapers it had sold to companies that have recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
McClatchy also has its own debt worries. The company owed about $2.04 billion as of the end of 2008, stemming mainly from its 2006 acquisition of the Knight Ridder newspaper chain.
While the job cuts will not solve all McClatchy's troubles, the company said its cost-control efforts excluding severance and other benefit charges related to previous reductions led to a 14.4 percent drop in cash expenses for the fourth quarter.
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In a way, this announcement shows exactly why the Herald is in trouble. They get scooped on a story about themselves. It doesn't make it into the morning paper and instead you have to find it on the Internet.
We don't know yet who will be cut from the Herald's newsroom, but this announcement has been expected for weeks. A 15 percent cut to staff would mean somewhere between 35 and 40 members of the newsroom staff will be shown the door.
I wrote the other day in one of my columns that I always find it strange when people talk to me about the Herald and expect that I will somehow be happy with the paper's current struggles. They think that since I was fired from the paper in 2005, I will view with perverse glee the economic tailspin the paper is in. I hate to dissapoint, but that is not the case. The people losing their jobs are friends of mine, people I like and respect.
But even more than that, Miami needs a strong Miami Herald. Miami needs a newspaper that will dig and uncover and shine a spotlight on the hard truths this community needs to face.
The coming days are sad ones for me as they should be for everyone who loves this town.
Feb 3, 2009 1:05 PM Posted by DeFede Okay, so i suck. I get it. I said I would try to blog more often -- maybe even daily -- and I have been seriously delinquent. I promise I haven't been goofing off. I've been working on some great stories, none of which i can share with you at this time. But still those are just excuses and i should just find the time every day to just share a few of my thoughts. But part of the problem -- if you must know -- is that I'm not convinced this whole blogging adventure here at CBS is working. Do people actually read these posts? I realize I am sounding very old. Next thing you know I'll be questioning whether this whole internet thing is really going to last or is it just some fad. But still blogging seems different to me.
Anyway, enough crap about whether I should or should not blog and let me share some other chatter with you. If I had been writing my blog on a regular basis I would be able to take credit today for saying, "I told you so" about Charlie Crist and the Senate. I think he's going to run. I think the reason Attorney General Bill McCullom decided not to get into the Senate race is because he knows Charlie is going to get into it and he knew he couldn't beat Charlie. I think the reason Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink decided to stay out of the Senate race is because she also suspected Charlie would run for Senate and she wanted to wait and then run for Governor.
Look, I've said it all along -- Charlie's demeanor/personality/work ethic is much better suited to being a Senator than being a Governor. Senators don't have to do much. It's a collegial body where middling minds can just hang back and enjoy all the perks of the job. Plus, with his New York socialite wife on his arm, he's perfect for the D.C. cocktail party circuit. Once Charlie gets in the Senate he can hold onto that seat for decades. Plus, once there he can get on Foriegn Relations or Armed Services and build his resume making him more saleable as a vice presidential pick someday.
Given all this -- and the fact that Florida's economy is going into the toilet and the job of Governor is not going to be fun any more -- you can bank on Charlie jumping into the Senate race.
Oh, and if you want to send me a note about this or about how much I suck for not blogging more often, feel free, My email is jdefede@cbs.com
Jan 23, 2009 10:29 AM Posted by DeFede The new unemployment figures were released about 30 minutes ago. Unemployment in Florida is the highest its been since 1992 -- up to 8.1 percent. In December the figure was 7.4 percent -- that means 255,000 more Floridians lost their jobs between November and December.
The numbers for Miami-Dade were just as bad. Unemployment In Miami-Dade jumped to 7 percent (up from 5.6 percent in November).
The only word to describe it is brutal. Jan 20, 2009 1:22 PM Posted by DeFede A line intended to resonate in Havana -- as well as other foriegn capitals -- from the new President?
"To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history; but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist." | |
