... and these other Thursday topics

(1) Every time Hillary Clinton says that Florida's votes ought to "count," I want to yell: "But you signed a pledge saying that Florida's votes did NOT count!" Neither does the Obama solution (split Florida's delegates in half) hold any logic. The Democratic Party said Florida wouldn't count. The candidates agreed to honor it, so they could suck up to the small early states. They made their bed.

(2) I'm for anything that lets high-schoolers start later, even if it's just a few minutes. Starting times of 7:05 are unnatural -- literally, sleep-cycle-wise.

(3) The St. Petersburg mayor actually says something about the baseball stadium! And it's a criticism, calling for more parking closer to the proposed site. This, a week after his staff issued a critical 45-page report. I do believe His Honor is playing hard to get. Which is not a bad thing.

(4)  The evolution bill. Truck nutz. Ultrasounds for abortions. A Christian state license plate. Wrecking the state university system. Baggy pants. If you've got any other "greatest hits" from the 2008 Legislature I should include in a roundup column, please mention them...

Comments

[get-smart]

The Mayor is a nice guy. Yeah, Yeah Yeah. It looks like the Mayor might be backing off the new stadium idea a bit. Yeah Right! He is using a flim-flam parking space number shell game argument to prove he is on the side of the residents. Some may believe he is.
So Mr. Mayor, are you saying that the parking space issue is the deal killer? That's It! Nothing More! Here's a fix - park at the Trop and bus everyone down. The original plan. The Mayor is up to his eyeballs in this deal and now it's the parking that's the problem. How long have you been living here, Mayor? When was the last time you were downtown, Mayor? He can see the tide moving against the project with CONA, Poww and the like. So to prove he can stand up to these greedy NY Goldman Sacks investment bankers who became wealth by aiding and abetting the
outsourcing of our American jobs to China, he is going to count parking spaces. Filling in the bay is okay. Totally disrupting the tranquility of the city with this virtual Mega Boom Box is okay too! - Long Live the Internet and let the corn dogs fly!

[Chuck]

Were these Truck Nutz really an epidemic in Florida?

I remember seeing them for the first time a few years ago and having a little chuckle. The next time I came aross them I thought to myself "Man, why would you want that on your car?"

After repeated run-ins I just grouped "Truck Nutz guy" with "88 Honda Civic with the loud muffler and Chinese lettering on the side guy".

Coincidentally, if "Truck Nutz Guy" and "88 Honda Civic Guy" decided to break "street x-treme" taboos and have a kid, I'm pretty sure the result would be "Derby Lane Poker Thug Guy".

Or Nick Hogan.

[Chuck]

Ok Howard, I know there was nothing remotely offensive in that last post I sent. You should really stop paying that Spam Bot a Bangladeshi wage.

[Chuck]

get-smart,

Hilarious!

You're like the Dane Cook of comedy.

Did you see this possible 10-year contract consideration in the Sports section today??

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/college/article470591.ece

Between the Grand Prix and THIS deal on the table, Maybe Hizzoner DOESN'T want the stadium on the waterfront afterall....mayhe he DID, but maybe this stuff is starting to seem better in light of the STIFF opoosition to a waterfront stadium...

Lorraine

[Chuck]

I can't see that bowl game selling more than 20k tickets. Some dog team from the Big East vs. a mid major.

Could see some interest if USF ends up in the game, which is always possible. A potential matchup between USF and UCF would mean big money in ticket sales but obviously the economic span of a bowl game (hotels etc.) wouldn't reach very far.

[Howard Troxler]

Chuck -- is that the comment you're talking about, the one up above? Beats me as to why it was flagged either.

Ah. I just tried to type "n--z" (ridiculous to have to dash it out!) and the filter flagged it, that must be it.

[Chuck]

Yeah that's the one. Listen, if the Spam Bot thinks it's too vulgar to post on a public blog then I guess our legislators are on the right track.

Think about the kids!

Regardless of being pro or anti stadium - the Mayor's comments are completely stupid.

Assuming the stadium gets built (calm down nutjob, I'm just saying . . ), the only way it achieves it's stated goal to be an economic engine for downtown is to have people walk to it. Thereby forcing them to walk past the restaurants and bars downtown and then hopefully choose to go in them - that's how the "baseball money" gets to downtown merchants.

If you build a stadium and put all the parking right around it you get . . . well, you get Tropicanna Field. A suburban baseball stadium in an urban setting that does nothing to support surrounding businesses - with the possible exception (in this case) of Fergs.

The scattered parking is kind of the point.

[Tim]

Backer is simply following Chuck Crist's lead... which is... wait for a poll to tell you what to think.

Tricky Rick and Shutterbug Chuck are two peas in a pod.

[Hiding for a reason!]

The new stadium will only be approved by way of an act of political suicide on the part of several local yokels. Problem is, the boys from New York just might make it worth it for them to take the dive.

But nothing, and I do mean nothing… will allow them to escape the realities of the environmental nightmare that awaits them beneath the Trop site.

… and that’s all I have to say about that…

Many years ago when I was a young man I had trucknutz

[Don Mott]

I've been arguing with my bosses for years that a starting time of 7:00 AM is unnatural. But they keep disagreeing with me. Lorraine, I found the mayors 10 year comment interesting too when I read it this morning. Wonder if it was a slip, a jab at the Rays or maybe something else. Howard, how about the joke of a restitution bill that will deny reparations to someone with a previous felony conviction even though they were held illegally in prison by the state? Should their past matter? Dharma? Are you Hindu or Buddhist?

[Chuck]

Don,

Let me make sure I have this straight because it's a little confusing. You have a prior felony, you get arrested and convicted of a crime you didn't commit, because of previous felony you aren't eligible for restitution?

Is that right?

I would have to say it should take into account what level of felony and the crime committed. If someone was jailed previously on an assault charge stemming from a bar brawl and later gets convicted of a murder he didn't commit - that guy deserves some restitution.

If, say for example, a known gang or organized crime hitman is convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and is suspected of several other murders in the area. After serving his sentence he is arrested and convicted again for conspiracy to commit murder (or you can make it an acutal murder if you'd like) which is later overturned by a judge due to, let's say...evidence of tampering on the district attorney's part.

Does this guy deserve restitution?

(For the sake of the argument we'll say he served five years of a life sentence before the judge overturned the conviction.)

[Howard Troxler]

Chuck, that's the same way I think about it! Surely there's a difference between a long-ago, relatively minor crime and, say, a career criminal or someone convicted of a heinous and nasty crime, then later wrongfully accused of something else?

[Don Mott]

Yes and yes.

[Just Sayin!]

Is there such a thing as a "Kind of" murder? We're two steps away from engaging in the concept played out in "The Minority Report".

[Don Mott]

Since we are hypothesizing lets say I was previously convicted of a felony DUI with injuries. Now let's suppose a FDOT truck driver had some drinks at lunch, was legally drunk and slammed into and injured me. Should the state not be liable for damages because of my record? The majority if not all of the cases I have read regarding wrongful imprisonment have been due to states attorneys wrong doing, not mistakes. If that is the case, regardless of the wrongfully convicted persons past, restitution should be paid. Just my opinion.

Hey; I'm a FDOT truck driver and I take offense to that. We don't drink at lunch, we wait til we get back from lunch!... ;-)~

[Chuck]

Come on Don! The career criminal deserves restitution? That's whack.

[needtoknow]

Don if you were convicted of a felony DUI would you ever have a legal drivers license again?

A lot of the wrongful imprisonments are discovered with DNA testing. As far as I'm concerned that doesn't make the convict innocent. It just means the DNA didn't match. After twenty years all these guys look innocent and they are so mentally conditioned that I would bet they could pass a lie detector test. There are many reasons why DNA won't match. Test errors, sample contamination, wrong tested sample ... etc. Conversely, if it matches the person is guilty, no need for a trial. OJ's matched and he is innocent.

[ed]

just a thought-how can a city which says it can't afford RECYCLING is considering a new baseball stadium[WATERFRONT] WHEN IT HAS A PERFECTLY OK STADIUM[TROPICANA]-TALK ABOUT SCREWED UP PRIORITIES!!!!!

[guy]

Look you guy's I retired from all that stuff, no more crime for me.
Stop saying this Felony Guy and that misdemeaner Guy Thats all in the past LOL
X X X

[Don Mott]

Sorry Chuck the bill as introduced did not mention career criminal, if it had I might agree. It said convicted felon. There are a lot of felonious crimes that have been committed and atoned for by those prosecuted. Just as there are a lot of convicted felons who go on to lead productive and arrest free lives. So if I am convicted of a felony, let's say stealing in 1964 and then wrongfully imprisoned for a separate charge in 1984 and spend years in prison then I do not deserve compensation? That is whack! Maybe the bill should have said career criminal instead of felon? By the way you didn't answer my previous question just jumped on the career criminal thing which was not mentioned. Are you a reporter for FOX News?

Don If you committed a crime in '64 and you are being looked over by the police and picked up in '84 on good evidence, the system feels that you committed crimes between '64 & '84 and got away with it.

Back to Baseball, some recent Forbes info: Click on the link below to read the Forbes take on the rich getting richer..........

http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/16/baseball-team-values-biz-sports-baseball08-cx_mo_kb_0416baseballintro.html

A quote from the article:

Upshot: Team owners are getting rich like never before. During 2007, revenue for MLB's 30 teams went up 7.7%, to $5.5 billion. The average team is now worth $472 million, 9.5% higher than last year and 143% more than when Forbes first calculated team values in 1998. Again the Bronx Bombers sit atop baseball with a value of $1.3 billion. George Steinbrenner, who paid $10 million for the team in 1973, could probably teach Warren Buffett a thing or two about investing.

Some hard numbers if you click on this URL.......

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/33/biz_baseball08_The-Business-Of-Baseball_Rank.html

Some food for thought.........Lorraine

[Chuck]

Don your reading comprehension is whack. We essentially agree. That is if you believe there is such a thing as a career criminal.

What question are you talking about?

[Chuck]

Now I see what you're talking about. Does the bill reach that far? Do convicted felons lose their right to sue the state? If so that would be whack I suppose.

I thought we were only talking about wrongful imprisonment restitution.

Why am I reporter for Fox news? Further evidence that this baseball stadium has transformed into some sick partisan issue in the minds of political extremists. Word up.

[Hammer]

Find me one issue that isn’t morphed into a “sick partisan issue in the minds of political extremists.” That’s why we’re such mess, and voter apathy is climbing. Our economy is in recession, our jobs are being shipped overseas, our taxes are benefiting illegal immigrant “knowingly”… we’re in the middle of two wars, people are losing their homes in record numbers, we’re proclaiming the need to protect ourselves against terror and we can’t even close a border… and we’re battling over baggy pants, trucknuts, and baseball stadiums.

It’s a damn pathetic state we’re in, if you ask me. And we have only ourselves to blame. We put these same dopes in office over and over again… and then wonder why we’re a mess. Check the mirror.

[Chuck]

How dare you trivialize trucknuts!

[Real Gadfly]

I can promise a huge no vote if this goes to referendum; the Rays and City adminstration are going to be embarrassed by the election results. The City Council should not send this to referendum if the facts and financing are not in beyond a shadow of a doubt. By "in" I mean with absolute certainty on all major issues. If the Council guesses and puts this on the ballet because they are incapable of doing their job professionally, then they will not mind the voter angst which is sure to explode as a result. If you think the city was divided during the first Tropicana episode, just you go ahead and put this on the ballot. Just you go ahead.

[charles matthews]

Please don't despair, Mr. Troxler, about Florida's legislature. They're only a troop of hooting baboons that need continual Menckenesque hectoring, and you're the best man to do it. Speaking of Mencken, remember that it was our "booboisie" voters who put those simians in office, and who will continue to do so until our education (or maybe sterilization of the Huxleyean Deltas) improves them. Let's begin by making sure that the smart kids are well-taught and that the stupids and the troublemakers learn a useful trade, and that the ignorants can't vote until they pass the civics sections of the naturalization exams we require of would-be citizens.