Gun Documentary on Sarasota, Florida

Vice shot a documentary about the gun loopholes in Sarasota, Florida. The filmmakers went around Sarasota to see how easy was it to get ammo. One person in the documentary bought an AR-15 at a garage sale.

The documentary Gun Crazy does not mock gun owners or gun merchants. The reporting is fairly balanced.

Quote of the Day

"I support unions and I support the idea that everybody pay their fair share."

Stephen King, author and former teacher.

King participated at a Awake the State rally in Sarasota. The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that Awake the State protesters outnumbered tea partiers 10 to 1.

Bonus quote from King.

"Maybe my next horror novel will star Rick Scott," King told the cheering crowd.

Kathy Dent's Feels Blue

Sarasota County Supervisor of Elections Kathy Dent had numerous problems with undervotes during the 2006 election. The Christine Jenning/Vern Buchanan recount became a national news story. Election Systems & Software warned Dent about machine problems. Both Dent and ES & S swore there were no machine irregularities. That was until the letter the ES & S letter to Dent became public.

Dent is once again having voting machine problems. Brad Friedman reports Diebold/Premier optical-scan system will not read ballots with blue ink. Dent could move to replace the Diebold/Premier machines. Instead she requires every precinct have black pens. Friedman points out the error of Denr's ways.

Since the state now requires paper ballots, Dent chose to install the newest Diebold/Premier optical-scan systems, the ones that don't read blue ink properly, despite the fact that they had not been federally tested or certified for use at the time. Florida does not require federal certification tests for voting systems before using them.

As I said before, Republicans heart Diebold.

Black Caucas of Florida Convention

The Democratic Black Caucus of Florida Convention will be held this weekend in Sarasota. The meet and greet is free. The brunch and bar and other perks are $150.00.

DATE: Thursday, May 15th

TIME: 6:30 - 9:00 p.m.

LOCATION: Palm Terrace at the Hayatt Regency,
1000 Boulevard of the Arts, Sarasota

Susan Stanton For Congress?

Now this is interesting. The St Petersburg Times is implying Susan Stanton may challenge Vern Buchanan for his seat.

A career change also might be in her future. Stanton said she's not sure what her next step will be, but her recent experiences have led her to think about going into educational administration or maybe even running for Congress.

"I actually enjoy getting out meeting folks and connecting with people in ways I never thought I would," she said.

Stanton is a registered Republican. In the unlikely chance that she beat Buchanan in the primary; he would most likely face Christine Jennings as his challenger. It would be interesting to see which candidate progressives root for.

The St. Petersburg Times failed to mention that Stanton took a shot of the media's superficial coverage.

``Not a single person has focused on what I wear, the type of shoes I have on or the type of necklace I am wearing. It's just not an issue,'' Stanton said before the vote.

I wonder if Stanton is talking about The Times?

Later in the morning, she had her first professional blow dry and manicure.

For the day's events, her hair was styled fluffy on top with wispy bangs in front. She chose a soft rose color to accent her sporty nails. She admired herself in the mirror.

"I could get used to this, " she said, as the manicurist massaged her hands.

That is some hard-hitting journalism.

Susan Stanton News

Susan Stanton is one of the finalist for the Sarasota City Manager job. She received a surprising endorsement from the Unitarian Universalist Church.

Stanton met with Republican Congressman Bill Young.

As Stanton and other transgender advocates walked into Young's office about 11:30 a.m., Young told Stanton, "You need to realize that this may be a little awkward for me. I've never dealt with anyone in this situation before."

"This is a little awkward for me, too," Stanton replied.

Young appreciated the candor: "That broke the ice, and we had a nice conversation," Young, R-Indian Shores, said later.

He said he spoke with Stanton mostly about the nondiscrimination bill sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., who is openly gay. Young said he told Stanton he hadn't read the bill but would discuss it with Frank.

"We talked about a lot of things, frankly very personal, about her experience and the things that have been in the newspaper already," Young said.

Young has not said whether he will support Frank's bill. But he said he signed a commitment that a person's sexual orientation and gender identity would not be a consideration in employment decisions for his congressional office.

I will give Young credit for handling the situation with grace and meeting with someone Christian conservatives, in his own party, have contempt for. We should encourage members of the GOP to follow Young's lead.

Stanton also met with Kathy Castor, Mel Martinez, Bill Nelson and Ted Kennedy.

In other news: the hatemongers are trying to get Stanton's few supporters on the Largo City Commission fired. The commission has asked Pinellas County Sheriff Jim Coats to investigate whether any city officials hid Stanton's possible misconduct. The investigation was launched after a petition was signed by 200 people and delivered to the City of Largo.

These Christian conservatives need to understand the meaning of blowback. They wished to cast out Stanton. The results were making her into a media celebrity who is now lobbying Congress for gay rights. I would hardly call that a victory for the Christian Right.

ES&S Knew About District 13 Voting Machine Problems

Election Systems & Software sent this letter to Sarasota County election officials on August 15, 2006.

"It has come to our attention after a number of inquiries...that some of your screens are exhibiting slow response times...We have determined that the delayed response time is a result of a smoothing filter that was added...In some cases, the time lapse on these consistent reads is beyond the normal time a voter would expect."

Kathy Dent said it was too close to the election to update the equipment. She contends that the problems cited by ES&S had no affect on the undervote. That is debatable.

During early voting, 4 voters complained that their votes weren't recorded. Dent sent out an email calling the situation "critical." Voter Kenneth Sanderson had to twice attempt to vote for Christine Jennings.

"I'm an ex-poll worker, so I understand all the problems that can happen," he said. "I don't hold much confidence in machines."

It appears ES&S and Dent knew about the problems and fail to go public with the information. For geekheads: this appears to be the problem from the letter.

We have determined that the delayed response time is the result of a smoothing filter that was added to iVotronic firmware versions 8.x and higher. The smoothing filter waits for a series of consistent touchscreen reads before a candidate is highlighted on the ballot. In some cases the time lapse on these consistent reads is beyond the normal time a voter would expect to have their selection highlighted. The delayed response to touch may vary from terminal to terminal and also may not occur every single time a terminal is used.

All this time we heard Dent and ES&S swear up and down about the machines. Now we find out about this. Utterly fucking disgraceful.