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Amidst all the blather about Republicans going over the cliff and taking the world with them, a tantalizing bit of truth was spoken on today's Morning Joe. Doomsaying notwithstanding, the GOP is actually positioned to do OK in 2014. Making the comment particularly surprising was its source: Barack Obama's former senior adviser himself—David Axelrod. View the video here.

After claiming his innocence for over two decades, William Happ finally confessed to murder as he was put to death by lethal injection in the US state of Florida. News reports said Happ took over 15 minutes to die, as his body repeatedly made convulsive movements, as the state corrections system used a new lethal chemical for the first time. Happ, 51, had spent 24 years on death row for the murder of a young woman named Angela Crowley in 1986. Happ, who had drug and alcohol problems, met Crowley in a parking lot. The woman was strangled and raped,...

Businesses across the nation, including the Pinellas County school district, are adjusting their health care plans to comply with the Affordable Health Care Act, but one variable may end up costing the school district millions: substitute teachers. By 2015, the act requires the school district to provide health care benefits to all employees who work at least 30 hours a week. Last school year, there were 1,798 part time employees, including substitute teachers, working in instructional and administrative positions, according to the school district. “We have substitutes that work on a regular basis and over a certain period of time...

Dear John: If you were hoping to have a quick "date" with the woman standing on the street corner in Sanford, you may want to think again. Starting this week, the Sanford Police Department will send "Dear John" letters to registered owners of vehicles spotted lingering in areas known for prostitution. (snip) Sanford police said Monday that letters will only be generated when an officer is confident the driver is circling the block looking for a prostitute, and not, for example, driving around lost. Automated license-plate readers placed on patrol vehicles will be used to capture images of the suspect...

Officials said William Happ was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m. at Florida State Prison in Starke. He was executed by injection. Florida has executed 51-year-old William Happ for the 1986 rape and strangulation of a woman he encountered by chance in a convenience store parking lot. Officials said Happ was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m. at Florida State Prison in Starke. He was executed by injection, 24 years after he was sentenced to die following his conviction in the murder of 21-year-old Angie Crowley. In a final statement, Happ expressed remorse for his actions. "To my agonizing shame, I must...

Call The Rush Limbaugh Show program line between 12 Noon and 3PM Eastern Time at: 1-800-282-2882 E-mail Rush: ElRushbo@eibnet.com Fax Rush at: 212-445-3963 Write a letter to Rush and mail it to: The Rush Limbaugh Show 1270 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 Join This Ping List Now! Click Here To Join this Ping List! Image by Cool Text: Free Logos and Buttons - Create An Image Just Like This

Will the Floridians who have enrolled for Obamacare please stand up? Nearly two weeks after the federal government launched the online Health Insurance Marketplace at healthcare.gov, individuals who have successfully used the choked-up website to enroll for a subsidized health insurance plan have reached a status akin to urban legend: Everyone has heard of them, but very few people have actually met one. The Miami Herald searched high and low for individuals who completed enrollment for a subsidized health plan through the marketplace. As of Friday, however, only a smattering of success stories had emerged in news reports.

Women would do a better job than men of solving the current government stalemate, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) said on Monday—because “a woman doesn’t want to ruin the person on the other side of the aisle or the table.” … Why not put Sarah Palin in the room, joked Rep. Peter King (R-N.Y.), who was interviewed along with Wasserman Schultz. “You know, I would argue that even if Sarah Palin were in the room, that we could find a way to get to yes, because that’s usually women’s goal,” Wasserman Schultz replied. …

A North Miami-Dade man was justified in fatally shooting a pipe-wielding, drug-addled attacker during a wild confrontation on a sidewalk four years ago, a judge has ruled. The first-degree murder charge against Luis Martinez, 29, was dismissed late last month. It was the fourth Miami-Dade murder case dismissed by a judge since the 2005 passage of Florida’s controversial Stand Your Ground law. The law eliminated a citizen’s duty to retreat before using deadly force to counter a deadly threat. The law also gave judges greater leeway in granting “immunity” to people deemed to have acted in self-defense. The state’s Stand...

Call The Rush Limbaugh Show program line between 12 Noon and 3PM Eastern Time at: 1-800-282-2882 E-mail Rush: ElRushbo@eibnet.com Fax Rush at: 212-445-3963 Write a letter to Rush and mail it to: The Rush Limbaugh Show 1270 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 Join This Ping List Now! Click Here To Join this Ping List! Image by Cool Text: Free Logos and Buttons - Create An Image Just Like This

Will the Floridians who have enrolled for Obamacare please stand up? Nearly two weeks after the federal government launched the online Health Insurance Marketplace at HealthCare.gov, individuals who have successfully used the choked-up website to enroll for a subsidized health insurance plan have reached a status akin to urban legend: Everyone has heard of them, but very few people have actually met one. The Miami Herald searched high and low for individuals who completed enrollment for a subsidized health plan through the marketplace, also called an exchange, launched by the federal government on Oct. 1 in 36 states, including Florida....

Abortionist Emil Felski kills babies at the Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando clinic. But Felski also has his own private ob/gyn practice in Casselberry, Florida, where he also covertly commits abortions. Pro-life activists often pray and protest at Felski’s office, to let his patients and the public know about his side job, and to encourage him to stop murdering babies. On October 1, Felski was not happy when spotting two pro-lifers holding signs as he came to work (in what looks like a Corvette). As the video below shows, Felski stopped his car on the main road – a 6-lane...

Edward Armbruster flies the American flag upside down Thursday at his American Business Complex in DeFuniak Springs. “I had to do something,” said the Air Force veteran, who is upset about the government’s treatment of veterans. DeFUNIAK SPRINGS —A retired Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam sent a “distress call” to the community Thursday morning. Edward Armbruster had his son help him turn a large American flag upside down outside his business complex on U.S. Highway 90. By noon he’d already gotten a strong response. “They’re saying, ‘Right on,’ ” the 81-year-old DeFuniak Springs man said. “I can...

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Call The Rush Limbaugh Show program line between 12 Noon and 3PM Eastern Time at: 1-800-282-2882 E-mail Rush: ElRushbo@eibnet.com Fax Rush at: 212-445-3963 Write a letter to Rush and mail it to: The Rush Limbaugh Show 1270 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 Join This Ping List Now! Click Here To Join this Ping List! Image by Cool Text: Free Logos and Buttons - Create An Image Just Like This

PHH Mortgage is laying off a third of its Jacksonville work force, cutting 365 positions by December. The move, of which employees were notified Thursday, leaves about 700 workers left on the First Coast. Most of those that are being laid off work in the mortgage origination department. They will received 60 days pay in lieu of notice, said Dico Akseraylian, vice president of communications for parent company PHH Corp. The move comes on the heels of Wells Fargo and Chase announcing layoffs in their mortgage department. PHH's reason for the cuts are similar to those of other industry players,...

UCF professor accuses Muslim civil rights group of spying on class

Republican names previously mentioned for his seat include former St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker, former Clearwater Mayor Frank Hibbard and Pinellas County commissioners Karen Seel and John Morroni. Young's son, Bill Young II, has been openly considering running for a St. Petersburg state House seat next year.

We've long suspected that the NSA, the world's premiere spy agency, was pretty good at breaking into computers. But now, thanks to an article by security expert Bruce Schneier—who is working with the Guardian to go through the Snowden documents—we have a much more detailed view of how the NSA uses exploits in order to infect the computers of targeted users. The template for attacking people with malware used by the NSA is in widespread use by criminals and fraudsters, as well as foreign intelligence agencies, so it's important to understand and defend against this threat to avoid being a...

Call The Rush Limbaugh Show program line between 12 Noon and 3PM Eastern Time at: 1-800-282-2882 E-mail Rush: ElRushbo@eibnet.com Fax Rush at: 212-445-3963 Write a letter to Rush and mail it to: The Rush Limbaugh Show 1270 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 Join This Ping List Now! Click Here To Join this Ping List! Image by Cool Text: Free Logos and Buttons - Create An Image Just Like This

Miami Congressman Joe Garcia is supporting the efforts of a Cuban research institute that wants to test and market a diabetes treatment in the U.S. The drug is intended to help people who suffer from diabetic foot ulcers, and, if successful, could help the estimated 70,000 Americans who undergo an amputation due to diabetes complications each year, Garcia said in an interview with The Associated Press on Tuesday.

ORLANDO, Fla. - Many people signing up for health care in Florida through the Affordable Care Act have been shocked when they have to give proof of their credit score before they finish the process. Anne Packham, one of many people licensed by the state to help people navigate the government's website, said on Tuesday that the credit check occurs so providers can make an educated decision about who to insure.

Call The Rush Limbaugh Show program line between 12 Noon and 3PM Eastern Time at: 1-800-282-2882 E-mail Rush: ElRushbo@eibnet.com Fax Rush at: 212-445-3963 Write a letter to Rush and mail it to: The Rush Limbaugh Show 1270 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 Join This Ping List Now! Click Here To Join this Ping List! Image by Cool Text: Free Logos and Buttons - Create An Image Just Like This

Event aims to give parents practical knowledge about best practices when raising Black children The Black Parent Initiative is hosting its 4 th Annual Parent Symposium on Oct. 19. The symposium, entitled “Breaking the Cycle-Closing the Gap; Saving Our Boys,” will be held at Marshall High School from 10 am to 3 pm. It’s designed to provide parents and community members with practical knowledge about best practices when raising Black children.

A mother has hit out at her daughter's school after the athletic teen was sent home with a letter saying she was 'overweight'. Lilly Grasso, all 5’5”, 124 pounds of her, is nowhere near overweight and is a healthy, active teenager. But Naples (FL) Middle School sent a letter to her home warning of the dangers of obesity, according to her mother Kristen Grasso. ‘Lily is tall, athletic, solid muscle -- by no means is she overweight,’ the concerned mother told WFTX before showing a refrigerator stocked with healthy foods. The letter, sent after a health screening by the Collier...

Business owners and furloughed workers suffering due to the government shutdown are asking lawmakers for help. Federally-funded Head Start programs may have to close their doors without much-needed funds. "I feel bad because as I walked up here, I got handed an envelope with a resume of a Head Start worker who told me she's getting closed down in a week," Florida representative Lois Frankel said. Several workers are facing similar fates if the shutdown does not come to an end. "This is the first time that I can remember where we've been mandated to come to work this time...

An off-duty federal officer who fired his gun at a car that cut him off has a history of aggressive behavior, according to news reports. Angel Echevarria, an officer with the Department of Homeland Security, was recently arrested and charged with aggressive assault and shooting into an occupied vehicle in Boca Raton, Fla. after opening fire on a red Toyota that had committed a traffic infraction. According to the arrest affidavit, Echevarria claimed he was trying to shoot the tires of the Toyota to prevent it from fleeing the scene. But authorities concluded that too much time has elapsed between...

“Reckless” was the talking point word of the day Monday as South Florida Democrats sought to turn up the heat on Republicans, blaming the party’s tea party faction for the partial government shutdown and attempting to show how people are being hurt. “This shutdown is irresponsible, infuriating and reckless,” declared U.S. Rep. Lois Frankel, a Democrat who represents mostly coastal Broward and Palm Beach counties. “Congress has been hijacked by 30 or 40 radical members who oppose reasonable solutions. It’s been a week, because of a tea party tantrum, the whole country has been paralyzed,” she said. “Enough is enough....

A Florida mom received an unpleasant surprise in the mail recently. No, it wasn't an unexpected bill, it was a letter that said her 11-year-old daughter, Lily, was overweight. "Lily is tall, she's athletic, she's solid muscle, Kristen Grasso, told Fox 4 News." By no means is she overweight." The girl, a star on her middle school volleyball team, had her Body Mass Index (BMI) calculated as part of a health screening mandated by Florida law. While parents can opt out, Grasso, a mother of four who says she tries to encourage her children to be active and feeds them...

“As you are well aware,” wrote Retired U.S. Navy Senior Chief Geoff Ross -- in a message posted by Fred Brownbill on Save America Foundation Sunday -- the federal government “has illegally and unconstitutionally closed state fishing and navigational waters within the 12 mile boundary of state waters.” When logging onto the U.S. Department of Interior website, visitors are greeted with this message, posted Oct. 1 by the National Park Service: Because of the federal government shutdown, all national parks are closed and National Park Service webpages are not operating. For more information, go to www.doi.gov. ... I want 1000...

While some are undoubtedly on to the next news items since shooter George Zimmerman was found not guilty of murdering teen Trayvon Martin this summer, there still remains many in this country who haven’t been able to “move on.” Los Angeles-based singer Gina Loring clearly falls in to the latter group, with her new song, “For Trayvon Martin,” where she wonders what the world would have missed if your life had ended at 17. In a five-minute video, Loring passionately sings: You were somebody’s baby, You were somebody’s child, Now you are my angel watching from the sky The video...

More than 200 people marched through Miami Beach on Sunday, clogging tourist-filled sidewalks to demand the arrest of a policeman who fired a stun gun at a graffiti artist who died in police custody. The protesters alleged that Officer Jorge Mercado used excessive force when he used a Taser on Israel Hernandez-Llach, 18, during an arrest attempt in August.

Call The Rush Limbaugh Show program line between 12 Noon and 3PM Eastern Time at: 1-800-282-2882 E-mail Rush: ElRushbo@eibnet.com Fax Rush at: 212-445-3963 Write a letter to Rush and mail it to: The Rush Limbaugh Show 1270 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 Join This Ping List Now! Click Here To Join this Ping List! Image by Cool Text: Free Logos and Buttons - Create An Image Just Like This

A website called DeadBeatLink has published the home address, phone numbers (some are redacted) and full dates of birth of local news reporters and anchors from Palm Beach County... On a page titled “Why the Reporter List“, the site’s owner says journalists are targeted because they “ignore select political figures in Palm Beach and Broward County, turning their heads while their agencies run rampant with corruption” and because they “cover up things in their own industry; if a member of the media commits rape, they are dismissed quietly and it is ignored by the rest of the media, deemed not...

ORLANDO -- Since its launch on Oct. 1, the kinks in the website for people to sign up for insurance through the Affordable Care Act continue to get sorted out. Some are finding out there is information needed on hand before getting insurance. The process can be tougher than signing up for a new credit card. “They knew that I purchased pet insurance? Wow,” said insurance representative Michael Grace as he followed the steps to sign up. Grace has been advising people on new insurance plans available through the Affordable Care Act. The process is becoming clearer now that more...

PANAMA CITY — For U.S. Rep. Steve Southerland, the federal government shutdown is a fight to hold every American to the same standard under the country’s new health care law. Along with the House Republican majority, Southerland, R-Panama City, has backed resolutions to eliminate Affordable Care Act subsidies for members of Congress and delay the individual mandate for a year to avert a government shutdown. Democrats have said they will not negotiate until the government is reopened and the debt limit raised. Southerland said the Democratic-controlled Senate’s rejection of the proposal and refusal to negotiate is setting a dangerous precedent...

October 5, 2013 Shutdown Theater: Lord Obama Moves Against Florida and the Fish of the Sea If the feds aren't "working," there will be no chartered fishing. Obama is wrecking the Florida fishing industry now. Thursday back in South Florida, a day after limits for the National Institutes of Health made headlines, it was the fear of food drying up and a prohibition on fishing in waters of Florida Bay that took center stage.Charter guides received a message from the National Park Service this week informing them that they are not permitted to take clients fishing in Florida Bay until...

Congress is consumed with the troublesome government shutdown, but House Democrats are trying to kick-start the stalled debate over immigration reform. “The American people have spoken,” Democratic Rep. Joe Garcia of Florida said this week. “They want Congress to take on this issue.” Rep. Xavier Becerra, D-Calif., said he’s sure there are enough House votes to pass a bill that “fixes our broken immigration system, including provide a path to legal residency and ultimately to citizenship to millions of people who work hard everyday in this country.” …

Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Florida) lambasted the Republican Party on Friday night during an appearance on “Real Time With Bill Maher,” accusing the GOP of being divided into three fringe sectors. “There are really 3 Republican parties: there are the corporate shills, there are the religious fanatics and then there are the freedom fiends, the ones who want to make sure you have the right to sleep under a bridge,” Grayson told HBO’s Bill Maher. Maher, an outspoken liberal comedian, appeared to agree and summed up Grayson’s analysis in his own words. “So Jesus freaks, gun nuts, generic obese suburbanites, and...

Just before the weekend, the National Park Service informed charter boat captains in Florida that the Florida Bay was "closed" due to the shutdown. Until government funding is restored, the fishing boats are prohibited from taking anglers into 1,100 square-miles of open ocean. Fishing is also prohibited at Biscayne National Park during the shutdown. The Park Service will also have rangers on duty to police the ban. Of access to an ocean. The government will probably use more personnel and spend more resources to attempt to close the ocean, than it would in its normal course of business. -snip Apparently,...

U.S. Representative Dennis Ross, a Florida Republican, said he would support a broad spending deal that didn’t include changes to the health-care law, becoming the first Tea Party-backed House lawmaker to publicly back off the fight that has shut down the government for five days. Ross, ranked among the House’s most conservative members by both the Club for Growth and the American Conservative Union, said he shifted his position because the shutdown hasn’t resulted in changes to the Affordable Care Act, which started Oct. 1, the same day government funding ran out. The shutdown also could hurt the party, he...

LAKE BUENA VISTA – Hundreds of top state Republican Party donors and officials celebrated their party’s political success at a fundraising dinner Friday night, but concern about the government shutdown and its potential political effects hovered in the background. In a caucus meeting just before the dinner, members of the governing executive committee of the party voted by acclamation for a resolution expressing support for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, a leader of the congressional tea party forces who refused to pass a measure continuing government funding, including the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. Cruz has caught criticism even from some...

As required under the health care reform law, Tampa Electric Co. mailed a letter to its 3,000 full-time employees telling them about new insurance marketplaces that could get them cheaper coverage. Not a single employee responded. It wasn't because they don't care about their health insurance. It was because they are satisfied with their current plan and don't think they could get a better deal through the online marketplaces, which opened Tuesday. "When they look at our health care plan, the portion they are responsible for paying is so small compared to the total cost that it wouldn't make any...

Once people start checking out the health-insurance policies available under the Affordable Care Act, they may be in for two big surprises. The first may come as they realize how many choices they have: People in Orange, Lake and Osceola counties can pick from up to 98 different plans, from four companies each offering multiple levels of coverage. Seminole offers 158. "You hit the button, and 80 or 90 or 100 plans jump out, and you have no idea what to do," said Don Kirkendall of AffordableOne Insurance in Winter Park. The second will come from the retail price —...

It's a small sign with a big message, but Bartow residents are now being ordered to uproot their "God Bless America" yard signs. About 300 of the signs were handed out at First Baptist Church of Bartow following a Fourth of July sermon. But three months later, City of Bartow Code Enforcement says the temporary signs have worn out their welcome. Residents have three days to pack it up or pay a minimum fine of $25 a day. "Being a veteran, I felt like I was just kicked in the gut. I couldn't believe it, that I couldn't display my...

Call The Rush Limbaugh Show program line between 12 Noon and 3PM Eastern Time at: 1-800-282-2882 E-mail Rush: ElRushbo@eibnet.com Fax Rush at: 212-445-3963 Write a letter to Rush and mail it to: The Rush Limbaugh Show 1270 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 Join This Ping List Now! Click Here To Join this Ping List! Image by Cool Text: Free Logos and Buttons - Create An Image Just Like This

Zoe Productions is presenting first season X Factor winner Melanie Amaro in the debut of the hit stage play You’re Never Alone at the Faith Center on Friday, Oct. 4 at 8 p.m... The production stars a phenomenal cast including Fort Lauderdale native Amaro, who brings her musical styling to the production along with gospel sensation James Fortune, and a plethora of talented South Florida residents. Written and directed by Bishop Henry Fernandez, pastor of the Faith Center, You’re Never Alone is the story of four friends who reflect real-life situations that people deal with every day. Every person, regardless...

What are your kids studying in school today? Public schools from California to Florida are celebrating LGBT History Month, where they highlight a homosexual or lesbian each day. Today, America’s school children are learning about Edward-turned-Gwen Araujo, who was intimate with men who allegedly beat him when they discovered that he was not a woman. “If parents think our school children should be focused on science and math, not sex and murder, they need to talk to teachers, principals, and school boards to ensure that this program is stopped,” cautions Mat Staver, Founder and Chairman of Liberty Counsel. “The sexual...