I recently joined the team at Yovia, as a freelance journalist. Jalali Hartman (CEO) gave me the assignment of contacting members/candidates of the Florida House of Representatives, offering them the opportunity to potentially connect with millions of fellow Americans/voters. By answering just two questions, to be included in a profile of the candidate, the possibilities within the “democratic marketplace” become endless.

Via her District Secretary, Alexis Zink, the office of Representative Janet H. Adkins (District 12 {R}), is the first to respond, sharing important information regarding the record and priorities of the candidate- having voters know about her “long record of fighting for working families and taxpayers” (like introducing a bill “to protect property rights of local dock owners”), as well as her “priority of working to create a framework that will encourage greater investment in small business and help improve the climate for current small businesses that wish to compete and innovate,”- plus, “fought for a fair share of road dollars to ensure the resurfacing of A1A and the beautification of 8th street in Fernandina Beach.”

Representative Adkins wishes to get the word out. So do we. There is power in connecting.

Robert William Gaglione

Occupy Wallstreet

The Occupy Movement in the beginning brought a great deal of hope to me. I think it did for many Americans. I have gone through a lot in the last several years. I went from being a Hurricane Katrina victim to becoming virtually homeless in what seemed like a matter of minutes, across just a couple of years time. After Hurricane Katrina things were not good for me. I was barely sustaining life in Louisiana. And I guess that was enough for me, but after losing everything in Katrina, it was hard to cope. And it seemed no sooner had Katrina hit than the economy plummeted into an abyss that it has yet to crawl out from. You know the saying, “the perfect storm”. You should try living through a natural disaster, then having the bottom fall out of the economy. If that isn’t a recipe for disaster I do not know what is.

The Occupy Movement to me was a glimmer of hope for us “little people”. The hope that we could make some difference in our economy. What started as Occupy Wallstreet is now a demonstration hosted in places all across America. It is taken very seriously here where I am now, in Portland, Oregon. However, I think here the initial concept is lost.

Just last week protesters made some of the banks in downtown Portland lock up. It’s okay to protest. But they took it too far by pouring super glue all over ATMs. So in the morning when people went to go get their cash for the day their cards were stuck in the machine. How does that help us? What are you saying to big business? “Hey, we’re a bunch of idiots.” By doing things like this it only makes us look bad. It makes us look childish and immature.

Occupy movement was supposed to invoke change for everyone. It was supposed to be about more jobs, equal distribution of money, the reformation of banks, and the hold corporations had on politics. That is what the Occupy Movement was supposed to stand for. Now I think all that has gotten lost in the craziness. I can only hope we can find it again.

Image c/o: Wikimedia Commons

The whole Occupy Wall Street movement started out with good intentions. A few people got together and wanted some changes made and I listened – at first. In fact, I kind of understood what they were saying and agreed, til it all got ridiculous. What started as a group of people wanting change turned into a fiasco of huge proportions.

In fact, I don’t believe most of them have a clue of what they even want or why they are there other than wanting to be a part of something that goes against the “man” or capitalism. What they do not realize is that every piece of equipment most of them own was born out of capitalism. Every tablet they use, every bit of free food that comes from a larger company, all of the smart phones and laptops – and let’s not forget some of their clothes. In fact, I find it amusing that certain celebrities are jumping on the bandwagon when those celebrities are worth millions of dollars and made a lot of their money due to, you guessed it, capitalism.

Now, I’m not saying that everything is going great. The economy is in the toilet and people are angry. But seriously OWS, get a clue or better yet, occupy a job.

Image courtesy of: Jessie Bautista

The so called 9-9-9 plan, formulated by presidential candidate Herman Cain, is causing a number of issues. Some people believe it is an effective strategy for the improvement of the federal tax code. The plan is to implement a system that involves a 9% flat tax rate for every individual and business, including the overall retail profit. There will be no more taxes other than that. In this way, it builds up capital consumption for everyone.

On the other hand, the plan can turn the tables around and make things bad. Income tax is not eliminated at all, but rather upgraded for nationalization. The income and payroll tax are put together as fair tax. Instead of having the 9% flat tax, a growth of 25% rate is expected which is very demanding for the less fortunate.

Another part that makes the plan worse is the value-added tax (VAT) included in every product or service. The 9% rate may seem lower but the presence of VAT obviously indicates a higher tax than before. As VAT increases, the more the government makes money. Politicians get richer while others get poorer.

The 9-9-9 plan is supposed to be economic-friendly but others seem to find loopholes that make it very controversial.

Image c/o paraorkut.com

The rebel flag wars continue as civil rights groups push ahead to have the emblem removed from the statehouse grounds in Columbia. What one eye sees as Southern heritage, the other sees as a sign of hate.

The debate this time lays in the yard of 51-year old Annie Chambers Caddell, a Caucasian woman who has been flying the rebel flag in what is known as the predominately non-Caucasian neighborhood of Brownsville.

Her direct neighbors have taken it upon themselves to both build 8-foot walls on either side of her home in an attempt to block the view of the Southern banner. In retaliation, Annie Caddell raised her flagpole higher than the fences.

It seems that more than 150 years after the Civil War began, people are still arguing over the meaning of the Confederate Flag. Some who look at the flag see it as a symbol of racism and slavery while others, such as Annie Caddell, see it as part of the southern heritage.

The ancestors of Annie Caddell fought for the Confederacy. She says, “I’m here to stay. I didn’t back down and because I didn’t cower, the neighbors say I’m the lady who loves her flag and loves her heritage.”

Photo courtesy of Son of the South

Troy Davis, who was sentenced to death and had been in death row since 1991, was given a lethal injection and he died in Georgia on September 21, 2011.

There have been many hearings and a lot of evidence presented, which got even more complicated with seven out of the nine official witnesses recanting their original story. There has been an enormous amount of support for a new trial as new evidence was presented. People from Jimmy Carter to Bishop Desmond Tutu have been officially trying to get the government to issue a re-trial, but in the end it was not successful.

Troy Davis is now dead. The result of all this has been a groundswell of public opinion in the USA that say the death penalty is outdated and no longer necessary. The reason being that the conviction and the sentencing to death of just one innocent person is simply one too many.

In the last fifty years, the USA has put to death fifty-nine people who have been proven to be innocent after new evidence was presented, such as DNA evidence and so forth.

The case of Troy Davis and the misinformation that it has presented, is something that should seriously be considered when you vote for the next government.

Image: Within the Black Community

According to Philadelphia Weekly, presidential candidate Rick Santorum is struggling with his Google ranking. There was this website that linked his name to an inappropriate, malicious issue aimed to bring him down. He already reported it and Google seems to ignore his request. He was very unfortunate to be one of the victims of dirt-encrusted mainstream media who loves to spread offensive content in cyberspace.

However, it turns out that he was not the victim after all. He stated on one of his campaigns something that relates to anti-homosexuality. He used some harsh words that definitely offended the gay community. This also resulted in some students walking out from his antagonistic speech.

Santurom was not wise enough to consider that someone can intoxicate his online reputation. This guy was known to drop a few link-baiting phrases that bombarded the Google search engine. This was 8 years ago where search engine optimization (SEO) was not a popular campaign booster strategy yet.

Perhaps Santorum wanted to clean up his online reputation. Technically speaking, this should not be a big deal anymore because Google is doing everything to change how their search engine ranks every user-generated content. The only resolution is to get his fans sporadically spread optimistic press releases to detonate those mines.

Source: Can Rick Santorum Really Fix His ‘Google Problem’?

Image c/o PoliticsPA eNews

The environment friendliness of Florida is the reason why it is indeed a good place to stay. Being one the heavily populated states in the southeast of America, Florida is somewhat susceptible to suffer from high toxicity. That is why a non-profit, environmentally conscious organization is established to minimize the harmful effects of hazardous garbage. These materials can lead to air and water pollution when left unattended.

Automobiles, for example, can produce a lot of waste. It requires special attention to determine whether the discarded materials are recyclable or not. The members of the Florida Auto Dismantlers and Recyclers Association or FADRA work under a particular code of ethics. This code aims to encourage the preservation of energy while making use of resources wisely.

In terms of tourist destinations, Florida is considered to be the place having a perfect holiday environment. In addition to golf courses and holiday villas, this is the place where you can find a number of awesomely themed parks. There is no need to worry since the sunny weather lasts all year long. You can go to the beach anytime you want.

Image c/o The Department of Environmental Protection

The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has announced a $700 million reduction in the total cost of water management throughout the state of Florida. The secretary of the DEP, Herschel T. Vinyard, said, “These budget reductions are an important first step in ensuring that the water management districts focus on their core environmental missions, and the reductions reflect a significant savings for Florida taxpayers”. This first step, which has started with a clear look at what the expenses are in running a water management system that works, is something that will have long term consequences as they improve with time.

Mr. Vinyard also said that the transparency and the correct budgeting for the projects in the next year will soon show that water management will be able to make a big difference to the environment in Florida in general. He continued by saying that the guidance provided by the district operations will bring in line the water management systems to ensure that the taxpayers dollars are spent in a prudent and transparent manner. This will enable the Florida coast to be even more environmentally friendly than it is at the moment, so that the remainder of the inland access to clean water does not disturb the natural water needed to maintain the environment in its pristine beauty.

Image c/o Florida Museum of Natural History