Well, I'll not try to take in the whole US - that seems like a fair handicap. Just my home state.
Let's put aside the governor's daughter's arrest yesterday for prescription fraud. And the widespread allegations that Jeb "delivered Florida" for his brother's election by keeping black folks from getting to the polls on time with a series of illegal roadblocks and searches.
Let's talk Krome Detention Center.
Gov't says to immigrant, well, we can't quite deport you, and we can't let you stay in the country, so we'll just jail you indefinitely. In the Everglades.
Where, well, to quote the article (dated October 16, 2000): quote:> The Immigration and Naturalization Service is considering the
> removal of all women from the Krome Detention Center -- the result
> of allegations that female detainees repeatedly have been sexually
> assaulted by officers there.
>
> ``We're looking at it as an option, and I'll leave it at that,''
> Maria Elena Garcia, an INS spokeswoman in Miami, said Monday. But
> she declined to provide details, saying the INS is still finishing
> its comprehensive plan to overhaul Krome, a detention facility in
> west Miami-Dade County.
>
> Garcia's acknowledgement that the INS might move women from Krome
> is one of several options under consideration in the aftermath of
> allegations of widespread corruption and sexual abuse. A team of
> Justice Department and other federal investigators has been
> probing conditions at Krome for months. Already, federal
> prosecutors have indicted one detention officer and a fleet
> dispatcher.
>
> But sources familiar with the investigation said more arrests,
> indictments and other disciplinary actions are likely to come
> soon.
>
> Cheryl Little, a prominent Miami immigration attorney who has been
> pushing for reform for more than 10 years, welcomed the possible
> removal of the women.
>
> ``I'm encouraged that they are considering removing the women, but
> the real question is where are they moving them to?'' Little
> wondered. ``They should not be moved to a facility where they
> don't have adequate access to attorneys or families or where INS
> officials remain in charge.'' The warden - er, chief administrator - retired shortly before the allegations came to light.
Let's talk about the political gifts of the Fanjul family, familiarly known as "Big Sugar".
quote:Last October, when the Clinton campaign faced criticism from the GOP over contributions from the Indonesian Riady family, it tried to turn the tables by pointing to the vice chairman of Dole's campaign finance committee: Cuban-born sugar magnate José Fanjul of Palm Beach, Fla. Fanjul recently applied for U.S. citizenship, but his status as a legal resident makes him ineligible to vote. He and his family compensate with staggering contributions to Republicans -- and Democrats. Brother Alfonso even earned an invitation to a Clinton kaffeeklatsche attended by fundraiser Terry McAuliffe, among others.
The Fanjuls' total giving has been consistently underreported because they give through an array of family members, companies, executives, and PACs. During the 1995-96 election cycle, members of the Fanjul family contributed $774,500 to federal campaigns. This total includes $135,500 in PAC money, $141,000 to candidates, and $498,000 in soft money from companies owned or controlled by the Fanjuls (see below). Add in $128,080 from the Fanjuls' closest advisers and senior executives and the Fanjuls' generosity totals $902,580.
It's an excellent investment. In return, a grateful Congress maintains a sugar price support program worth approximately $65 million annually to the Fanjuls. It's not just fiscal, by the way - the Fanjuls (and friends in business and government) are actually destroying the state.
I mean that literally; they are poisoning and filling in the Everglades, the freshwater runoff from which nurtures the coral reefs which insulate Florida from the open ocean; the reefs have been steadily dying for decades, and the state is actually eroding away into the Gulf Stream as a result.
But that's OK, we'll all run out of drinking water (due to the depleted aquifer) first.
%Clean-up efforts are ongoing, you know. Very effective they are, too.%
And, of course, the Trail of Tears started here. After pushing defeated Indian tribes into the swamps (forging the Seminole nation - from the Spanish "cimarron," or "runaway"), President Jackson (veteran of the First Seminole War) decided to move them all across the country to dusty Oklahoma. At gunpoint.
Bear in mind that at this point in Florida history, the Everglades were so wealthy in mosquitoes, the mass of their bodies routinely choked cattle to death, and could extinguish a kerosene lantern in five minutes. That's why the Seminoles are the only Native American group whose traditional garb consists of long sleeves and leggings, despite it being one of the hottest, most humid states in the country.
From further down that page, on the Second Seminole War, waged when some resisters refused to go to Oklahoma:
quote:The Second Seminole War (1835-42) was the most fierce and costly war in America's history up to that time. Two hundred thousand soldiers fought, at a cost of over $20 million. The war began when some Seminole Indians refused to leave Florida, defying the Removal Act. They also gave refuge to runaway slaves from Georgia, and the slave owners and plantation framers demanded immediate retribution. The American army committed several atrocities, including hunting Indians with bloodhounds (depicted here), and the capture of the Seminole warrior Osceola, (sometimes called Aseola) while under a flag of truce. The war lasted for more than seven years without ever coming close to a victory on either side, and eventually American troops withdrew. No peace treaty was signed.
The hunting of aboriginal people with bloodhounds may ring a few bells to our Australian friends.
Then, there's Rosewood. Don't look for the town on the maps... the white folks burned it to the ground. Along with quite a few of the people living in it at the time.
Highlights:
quote:01/05/23 Approximately 200-300 whites from surrounding areas
begin to converge on Rosewood.
Mingo Williams is murdered.
Governor Cary Hardee is notified, and Sheriff Walker
reports that he fears "no further disorder."
The Sheriff of Alachua County arrives in Rosewood to
assist Sheriff Walker.
James Carrier is murdered.
01/06/23 A train evacuates refugees to Gainesville.
01/07/23 A mob of 100-150 whites return to Rosewood and burn the
remaining structures.
01/17/23 A black man in Newberry is convicted of stealing cattle.
He is removed from his cell and lynched by local whites.
02/11/23 A Grand Jury convenes in Bronson to investigate the
Rosewood riot.
02/15/23 The Grand Jury finds "insufficient evidence" to prosecute.
The legislature recently introduced a bill to pay back the descendents of the survivors of the massacre, plus there was a John Singleton movie (with Ving Rhames and Jon Voigt!), so of course, it's all OK now.
And one other thing comes to mind - although we're getting close to the never-quite-proved JFK conspiracy stuff, this is 100% accepted fact - during the 1960s, Florida played host to the single largest (totally illegal) domestic CIA operation. Possibly the *only* domestic CIA operation. Headquartered at Opa-Locka Airport in Dade County, to keep tabs on Castro and Castro-sympathizers in the US. Some theorists draw links between this operation, bitter Bay of Pigs veterans, and the assassination of John F Kennedy, but no conclusive proof has ever been found.
Nonetheless, nobody can deny there was a Florida CIA operation starting in the Eisenhower administration and lasting for many years.
Which is against the law, you know.
This article points out that George Bush Sr. was working for the Florida CIA office during that period.
Although it's nominally about possible CIA involvement in Election 2000.
Which all centered here.
In Florida.
We gave you W.
[ 30-01-2002: Message edited by: grant ]
[ 30-01-2002: Message edited by: grant ] |
