Election 2014

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Covering all of the bases:

This is a paid political electioneering communication. Paid for and approved by Linda McKinney 6025 Keystone Ave. Port St. John, FL 32927

This is a paid political advertisement. Paid for and approved by Linda McKinney 6025 Keystone Ave. Port St. John, FL 32927, Independent of any campaign, candidate, committee, or anything else.

This is a paid political advertisement. Paid for and approved by Linda McKinney 6025 Keystone Ave. Port St. John, FL 32927. No political candidate approved this advertisement.

This is a paid political disclaimer CYA. Paid for and approved by Linda McKinney 6025 Keystone Ave. Port St. John, FL 32927, Independent of any campaign, candidate, committee, or anything else.

I'll start with the candidates I endorse, with links to previous info I had posted, below, and then I cover all of the FL Constitution Amendments, the County Referendum (EDC funding) and the School Board's ½¢ sales tax referendum below that. After those is my previous info. I did not include info on the defeated candiates. Remember, some candidates ran unopposed, thus got the seat automatically, were elected in the Primary, or have since dropped out, so you won't see them on your ballot. Check the Supervisor Of Elections website for all of the names. If you want to see your sample ballot, print it out and fill it in to take it with you (you're allowed to do so and it makes voting go faster), click on your precinct number here. You'll go straight to the page and be able to prepare for November 8th, or early voting. Hope this page helps.

Candidates I endorse:

• Representative In Congress D8:   Bill Posey (R), Incumbent, because I've agreed with him in quite a few things for many years. In 2009 he answered questions from someone in a one on one and I like his answers still. He's still strong and I still support him.



• Governor And Lieutenant Governor of Florida:   Rick Scott and Carlos Lopez-Cantera (R), Incumbent (Scott).
Scott's not perfect, IMHO, but the best being offered.


• Attorney General:   Pam Bondi (R), Incumbent.



• Chief Financial Officer:   Jeff Atwater (R), Incumbent.



• Commissioner of Agriculture:   Adam Putnam (R), Incumbent.



• State Representative District 51:   Steve Crisafulli (R), Incumbent. Because I CANNOT endorse Joe Murray, because he's another FDR. So, his opponent, who endorses Common Core is the only other choice. That's not a good choice, but it's better than another FDR. So, I begrudgingly endorse Steve Crisafulli. It's the first time I have not liked the idea of voting for him, but we cannot allow another FDR in public office. After all, who wants another FDR? FDR's policies were bad for America and I don't want to go there again. We're having a tough enough time as it is. So, since we have to defeat the 2nd FDR, we have to vote for Crisafulli.
  
  



• State Representative District 53:   John Tobia (R), Incumbent.



• County Commission D2:   Jack Smink (NPA), The Unconventional because I CANNOT endorse his RINO opponent. See more on my Smink endorsement, below.



• County Commission D4:   Curt Smith (R), because I think he's the absolute best candidate and he's got Scott Ellis's endorsement and that's golden!



• Canaveral Port Authority D3:   Wayne Justice



• School Board D2:   Keith Yarbrough, because he said on Bill Mick Live that he was AGAINST the ½¢ sales tax, and because his opponent is endorsed by FL Toady [sic] and everyone knows how I feel about the Toady [sic]. Oversight committee or no; the ½¢ sales tax is a BAD IDEA. You don't reward bad behavior, failure in education, and you don't keep pouring money into a leaky vessel. See my further comments below.



• School Board D5:   ANDY ZIEGLER, ABSOLUTELY!



• Judicial Retention:   I went and voted Thursday and in order to make sure I was as informed as possible, I did my due diligence and looked up the judges that were up for retention. I wound up voting for retention for all of them EXCEPT ORFINGER. I didn't vote to retain Orfinger because it sounds to me in this testimony during a disciplinary action that he was trying to find a way to word it so that the attorney he personally sanctioned and fined $12,000 for allegedly counseling the client in the attorney's case to LIE TO THE COURT. If a judge can try to word his own testimony in such a way so as not to damage an attorney's reputation when the attorney has already done something that breaks court rules, then we don't need the attorney NOR the judge who is trying to help the attorney. That's in my humble opinion, of course, but why would we want to keep a judge who does that? So that's my two cents worth. (Paid political advertisement. Paid for and approved by Linda McKinney 6025 Keystone Ave. Port St. John, FL 32927, Independent of any campaign, committee, candidate, or cronyism.)

I'm not going to do individual municipalities and special districts. You can do the research on that yourself. I suggest you vote for the person who will do their utmost to lower taxes, keep government as small as possible, and who will write the fewest laws: fewer laws equal more FREEDOM. That's the way I think.

FLORIDA AMENDMENTS:

October 1, 2014   VOTE NO on Amendment 1: LAND GRAB. Oh, sorry. The correct title is "Florida Water and Land Conservation Initiative". The important part of the tax initiative:

"would dedicate 33 percent of net revenue from the existing excise tax on documents to the Land Acquisition Trust Fund.[1] [my bolding]"

VOTE NO on Amendment 2. Read the wording of Amendment 2. Find out for yourself. You've seen my links that prove that almost EVERY medical condition that "medical marijuana" is allegedly good for is actually NOT RECOMMENDED by the advocacy group for that medical condition. IF the advocacy group for that particular medical condition is saying "DON'T DO MARIJUANA" for that condition, why on earth is someone else coming along and saying "'Medical' marijuana is needed"? If you have glaucoma and you've done the research as has the Glaucoma Research Foundation, if the Glaucoma Research Foundation is NOT -- for MEDICAL REASONS -- recommending "medical" marijuana, then why should someone else come along and tell you to use it for glaucoma, why listen to those who are ill-informed? There IS NO MEDICAL CONDITION for which the ADVOCACY GROUP for that condition actually recommends the use of "medical marijuana". Period. So why on earth listen to those advocating for it? (Paid political advertisement. Paid for and approved by Linda McKinney 6025 Keystone Ave. Port St. John, FL 32927, Independent of any campaign, candidate, committee, PAC, or loopy drug user.)

VOTE YES on Amendment 3. Because it allows the current Governor to fill judicial vacancies. My gut reaction to this one is a resounding "No!" Think of sotomayor, bader-ginsberg, and the other libs on the scotus bench. Do we really need a dumborat governor doing that to us? I don't think so. Then there's the fact that there are liars who will support a bad progressive judge in an election because they want the influence that the progressive judge would give them via the progressive judge's rulings. So either way we may be messed over. My research tells me that the progressive League of Women Voters is AGAINST 3 so that makes me want to support it. Our U.S. Constitution gives the President the power to appoint judges, so our Founding Fathers apparently liked the idea. Progressives hate the idea but I bet they'd support the idea if bader-ginsberg or sotomayor died the day before thevileone left office and he quickly appointed hillclintOOn to the scotus. So, either way we could be having bad judges, but I'll go with the Founding Fathers on this one and say, "VOTE YES ON AMENDMENT 3" because it's an idea our Founding Fathers favored. I may live to regret it, but there's no guarantees either way that we'll have only Constitutional judges on our benches, so I'll go with what they believed. (Paid political advertisement. Paid for and approved by Linda McKinney 6025 Keystone Ave. Port St. John, FL 32927, Independent of any campaign, candidate, committee, PAC, or progressive woman voter.)

Brevard County Referendums:

I must agree with Scott Ellis and encourage you to VOTE NO on the "Economic Development Ad Valorem Tx Exemptions for New Businesses and Expansions of Existing Businesses". If you read Ellis's Guest Column in FL Toady [sic] and even though the County allegedly changed its relationship with the EDC we should NOT renew their funding UNLESS AND UNTIL THEY AGREE TO BE TOTALLY TRANSPARENT AND OPERATE COMPLETELY WITHIN THE SUNSHINE WITH OUR TAXPAYER DOLLARS! I refuse to endorse ANYTHING that sends my money into the darkness of hidden deals and no accountability. We CANNOT know what the EDC is doing with our money without FULL ACCOUNTABILITY. Remember the BlueWare debacle in which Rose Harr (BlueWare CEO), Mitch Needelman, and his buddy were INDICTED for doing things in the dark? The EDC played a part in that! The EDC is responsible for bringing the two together in the first place! Where was transparency there? Because the EDC operates totally and completely behind the screen of secrecy and under the covers of darkness, there were THREE PEOPLE INDICTED and there may have been more if the Sunshine Laws were adhered to! VOTE NO on the "Economic Development Ad Valorem Tx Exemptions for New Businesses and Expansions of Existing Businesses"! (Paid political advertisement. Paid for and approved by Linda McKinney 6025 Keystone Ave. Port St. John, FL 32927, Independent of any campaign, candidate, committee, PAC, or cover of darkness!)

School Board Referendum:

VOTE NO on the "One-Half Cent Sales Surtax for Critical School Facilities Renewal, School Security and Technology Upgrades". I say this for the following reasons:

1. This is supposed to be for the children If it were really "for the children", then why is it for the things that are the THINGS of education? For example: why do we need "technology upgrades" if our children don't know how to read? What good will technology do if they can't read the things appearing on their iPads, laptops, etc.? Technology can teach your child how to read, if you use the right computer program, yes. But that's a teacher's job, is it not? If we need to teach children to read, then let the teacher do that. If we need to teach them technology, let the teacher teach them the basics of education first -- reading, writing, arithematic, history, science, etc. -- and then let them worry about technology and how to use it. If the technology is for their benefit, when was the last time you saw a kid have difficulty with doing something on an iPhone, Android device, etc.? Are we not going to THEM to get the stuff we're stuck on doing? They have an inate ability to adapt and to think like the technology of the time. For instance, when I was a kid, there were new computerized cash registers just coming into grocery stores and they were cool. I was smitten with them and I made a habit of making friends with the cashiers and managers of the local grocery stores so that I could chat with them and watch the technology work. Cash registers fascinated me. I grew up being a technology minded person who can "think like" a computer and I learn technology things pretty easily. Same with most kids today: they learn it easily and well, most of them, and some of us look to them to figure out how to do what we have tried to do for hours. So for what technology do we need to spend the mmoney: to make things easier for the teacher, the administration, or the kids?



2. It's for "School Security". Want a secure school? Teach children what obedience is, the value of a human life (as opposed to abortion), how to sit still and listen, what respect for authority is, how to disagree with anyone without resorting to violence (related to the value of human life), and teach them how to see danger and what to do when they do so. Security can be as easy as allowing volunteers to patrol the grounds and to keep in touch with each other and local law enforcement as well as with administration of that school. You could have well-qualified ex-military people who would be glad to do the job of keeping their eight-year-olds safe from intruders, from other kids, or from whatever evil approaches their child's school. Walkie-talkies and practice drills for the kids and staff to know what to do cost how much? Yeah. We don't need a half-cent sales tax for that. "Oh! But the tourists will pay some of that sales tax!" its supporters will say. Sure. But so will our children, our teachers, our elderly and our poor. Do you want to tax the elderly and poor of the little they have in order to do this? "Oh, but they'd be willing for the children!" Really? Do you know their budgets? Do you know the truth of how much they can or cannot afford? We heard years ago that senior citizens were eating cat food in order to survive and be able to afford their medicines. Are you sure you want grandma to do without even that ½¢ she may need for that extra can of cat food she may need for her next meal in order to buy part of an iPad for her grandchild? Is that what you want?



3. Why should we be saddled with paying for the irresponsible decisions the School Board has repeatedly made in their uncontrollable spending spree? According to Scott Ellis, the School Board and FL Toady [sic] were pushing the never-ending-spending-spree for years without thought to how to pay for it. It was like the taxpayers of Brevard had unlimited funds and would do whatever it took in order to ensure their children had the best. IF that be the case, then where is the BEST? Most Brevard County school children will tell you how much they're lacking in schools, how old the building is, or you'll see the list of school supplies that parents must provide annually grow exponentially without the children seeing any real benefits in their education! Years ago I tutored my neighbor's child who was going into the fourth grade and taught that child how to read -- literally, how to read -- because the Brevard County school system had not done their jobs and taught him how to read even the basics. He could not spell "C-A-T" if you asked him how to do so. He could not look at the word "book" nor "house" nor "car" and tell you what they were. He was going into the FOURTH GRADE! Considering the number of outlandish budgets the School Board and FL Toady [sic] has already pushed between 2005 and today, it would seem that the budgets would be enough for whatever they need. But, no. Unrealistic goals and expectations disregarding the reality of today's Brevard County economy made no difference to FL Toady [sic] and the Brevard County School Board. They did not take into consideration the number of layoffs at Kennedy Space Center/Cape Canaveral AFS, nor the fact that a lot of those folks would be leaving Brevard County in search of a job and a way to support their families. They spent without regard to what it would do for the future. Now we're supposed to take care of their spending desires because we have the money? From where do we get the money? When does the School Board take into account that a lot of Brevardians are living paycheck to paycheck so that we can survive and pay our bills. Some are even juggling bills, paying this one this month while skipping the other one that they paid last month so that they can make ends meet and feed their families. The School Board apparently hasn't learned that it's necessary to live by something called a "BUDGET" and that reality rules a budget! Why should the taxpayers of Brevard vote in favor of rewarding that kind of immature, irresponsible behavior? If your child had twenty dollars to spend and went online and ordered $105 worth of miscellaneous detritis, would you pay the bill or make him pay the bill? If you would pay the bill then you deserve to have to do so! As for me, I would make my child come up with the money. No allowances, no birthday money, nothing until that bill was paid off. That teaches a much better lesson, don't you agree?



4. When it comes to teaching science your child should be prepared for the future, and for whatever science can throw at them; as long as it's real science (as opposed to the lie that is "global climate change", for instance). You will be amazed at how Brevard County "teaches" your children.

   "Science teachers are asked NOT to teach more, but to teach LESS so that it can be taught BETTER."

   So, to teach your children they want more money to upgrade technology so that they "teach LESS". Why pay MORE for that? Brevard County science teachers actually put that paper together and put it on the internet for us to see! DUH! They may be science teachers but they're not rocket scientists! (To use the old saw.)



5. Literacy -- "The ability to use printed and written information to function in society, to achieve one’s goals, and to develop one’s knowledge and potential. [see link]" -- in Brevard as far back as I can remember has been sorely lacking and that's nothing to reward! Why reward FAILURE? Should our school systems be repeatedly rewarded, given more and more and more taxpayer dollars, for NOT doing what they're supposed to be doing? Being able to read is important but is it being taught in Brevard County schools? Remember, I homeschooled my boys. They were reading college level books when they were in sixth grade. I taught my neighbor's child to read basic words as he was about to enter fourth grade. Another neighbor had a 10th grade daughter who could read the words -- pronounce them properly -- but whose vocabulary was so sorely lacking that when asked what she had just read she hadn't a clue. That's being ILliterate. That's the same girl who couldn't pass the entrance exam into the U.S Air Force even after taking special classes to help her do so. (She's in the Army now.) That was just a few years ago. She could pronounce the words, but she could not tell you to save her life what those words meant. She went to Brevard County Public Schools. Is that teaching? Considering this (albeit anecdotal evidence, it is still the truth) how can anyone equate graduating high school in Brevard County with being "literate"?

County Commission, D2:

September 25, 2014: 2:31 p.m.   I will start today with something from Scott Ellis. Apparently he sees the same things in D2 Rep. candidate, Jim Barfield, as do I.

"Thursday we received a full dose of the Matt Reed rooster crowing the far right was done in Brevard. While Mr. Reed and the Florida Today were taking credit for numerous races where no such candidates existed, the two real races in play on Election Day were the County Commission races. In these races we had clear distinctions of Establishment and Non-establishment candidates, and a few more in between for good measure.

"The Election results were a split, but Mr. Reed conveniently failed to note how the split for the Florida Today and the Establishment was achieved.

"I missed any Florida Today mention of the sneaky and cowardly tactics used to deceptively win the District 2 race.

"District 2 turned on the most dishonest and dangerous mail piece I've known. The mailer does the hit on Michael Hartman, yet appears to also be a positive piece for Chuck Sheridan. The common assumption is the piece was mailed by Sheridan. Not so. The piece came from the Barfield camp, and was designed to divert any backlash to Sheridan and away from the 'innocent' Barfield.

"In 30 years of closely following elections I have never seen a piece like this.

"We're used to candidates knocking each other and 'groups' knocking candidates, but this crossed the line by 'spoofing' itself as one candidate slamming another. In the future any third party can send any piece pretending to be any candidate, the design at heart being to elect the shadowy candidate who is seemingly 'above the fray'.

"Man up when you hit someone and don't pretend to be somebody else. Most telling the treasurer of the Electioneering Group used for the spoofed identity piece is a recent graduate of 'Leadership Brevard'. I suppose this is what we expect of our future leaders and how they are being trained?

"Given the lack of ethics of Mr. Barfield, hiding behind the disguise of one candidate to make a hit on a third candidate, I can see we don't have much to look forward to over the next four years.

"Congratulations, Matt Reed, on your new breed of leaders."

Speaking of liars and deceivers, I sent jim barfield an e-mail two days ago and have yet to hear back from him. The e-mail:

"Mr. Barfield,

"I have been looking at the D2 County Commission candidates since my preferred candidate was defeated in the primaries. Now I have to figure out to whom I should lend my support. I have spoken to one of your opponents but he and I shall need to speak again because he had a schedule to keep and all of my questions were not answered.

"I have three questions I would like you to answer before I even begin to consider you as a preferred candidate:

"1) If you’re a Republican, why are you accepting money from Democrats like Tony Sasso, Vincent Lamb, William Hillberg, etc. http://www.voterfocus.com/ws/WScand/candidate_pr.php?op=rp_all&e=15&c=brevard&ca=482&cname=Jim+Barfield&coffice=County+Commissioner%2C+District+2&rellevel=)?

"2) Will you tell ME (and the rest of the voters in Brevard County prior to the election) the “Truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth” about the EDC’s dealings with BlueWare while you were the Treasurer for the EDC and any other additional information you may have about that debacle?

"3) How we can trust you considering the first two questions?

"Thank you for your time.

"Linda McKinney
"Space Coast Conservative"

October 2, 2014: 2:01 p.m.   Not many updates today because I have an errand to run. I will say, however, that you must be careful about who you vote for in the Primary Elections! I urged you to do a write-in for Michael Hartman, but that, it turns out, would be an illegal thing to do. If you don't vote for him in the Primaries, you can't vote for him later. He's out of the running and no matter what you find out after the Primaries about the remaining candidate in your party, you can't go back and choose someone else to vote for. If it comes out that the remaining candidate in your party -- or in any other party you would consider voting for -- is a turkey, you're stuck. You either vote for the turkey or you vote for someone outside of your party. (That's probably how so many idiot dumborats get elected: think alan grayson.) Here's the official word:

"Linda,

"The write-in choice only appears on races where a candidate has qualified as an official write-in candidate. If the race does not have a write-in choice, this means nobody qualified as a write-in candidate.

"The only legal votes for a write-in candidate are those cast for a qualified write-in, on races where the write-in option is available. This means if a voter writes a name for the D2 County Commission race, which has no write-in candidate, it would not count as a legal vote.

"On Election Night, we report the total number of votes each “regular” candidate receives, and the total votes cast for the write-in option. Beginning the next day, we breakout the write-in ballots into 2 group, qualified vs. non-qualified write-ins. Our 1st Unoffical Results, which are reported on November 8th 2014, include the total number of write-in votes broken down by qualified vs. nonqualified write-ins.

"Once the write-ins are separated into qualified, vs. non-qualified, the winner is determined by who received the most votes. Only qualified write-in votes are used for determining the winner of a race.

"I realize this is a lot of information, and can be difficult to clarify in an email. If you have any further questions, I would be happy to speak with you directly. My contact information is below.

"Thanks,

"Tim Bobanic
"Chief Deputy – Information Systems"

"It is my implementation of these two principles that I believe will empower me to make good, sound decisions, impacting our community with a productive balance of minimum taxes, smaller government, economic and cultural development while strengthening our citizen’s rights."

September 23, 2014   Took a little break to talk to the unconventional D2 candidate for County Commissioner, Jack Smink for a while. He and I are going to get together and talk sometime in the near future and that way I can see who he is and what he stands for. So far he sounds like a reasonable man. We'll see how things go and I'll keep you informed.

September 8, 2014   Check out who is still up for election in November. You've got to educate yourself about who is running and what they stand for. Do internet research and FIND THE TRUTH! For instance, a candidate still up for election in November, Jim Barfield (R-ino?), running as a Republican but taking campaign donations from the likes of William Hillberg (whose wife was rupester's website creator and who still has rupester's website still available and her parent directory shows how many times the site's pages were changed. He also accepted donations from Tony Sasso (D) who defeated rupester in 2008, Vincent Lamb, Treasurer of Friends of Ulumay in 2008 (read Tree Hugger), Jerry Sansom, who gives to Democrats, and Jonnie Swann, etc. Sounds to me like Jim Barfield is a R-INO, more than a true R. I will be contacting the other two candidates, the unconventional Jack Smink (NPA), and John Jude McCurry (LPF) (LPF is the Libertarian Party of Florida) whom I disagree with when it comes to legalization of drugs. I don't think that marijuana is "harmless" nor do I think it's a good idea to legalize it. I think that the punishments for marijuana use should be changed to make more of a difference in the first offenders' lives. Have them do things like sit through a visit of family members whose lives have been impacted by their loved one being on drugs, or the victims of the drug users and serve community service time of 100 hours -- in the heat, in chains, in pink if they're guys, neon green for girls. Maybe that would help stop some of that nonsense. (Just in case: Paid Political Advertisement. Paid for and approved by Linda McKinney 6025 Keystone Ave. Port St. John, FL 32927, Independent of any campaign, committee, candidate or cronie.)

Governor of Florida

September 4, 2014: 1:42 p.m.   Sorry about missing yesterday. I got a call from my hubby saying he was coming home early and to get ready to go out, so I did just that. We got home late and I'm just now getting to the computer for the day. Wanna' see something that will make you laugh and laugh and laugh? This is where I go for a good guffaw. Pay special attention to the one featuring the image with an embryo, a pic of Wal-Mart and a man in a hard hat. The idiots on the guffaw page call the embryo a "single cell" even though the picture shows it has no fewer than FOUR cells. Love how high they can count, don't you? BTW, note that the guffaw source is now SUPPORTING charlie crist? Here's an idea as to why. Note the last four lines:

"Lastly, Crist says he is anti-tax, but consider that he just recently signed a state budget raising, according to the Times/Herald, 'a historic amount of taxes.' Talk is cheap. Actions speak louder. And Charlie Crist’s actions prove him to be anti-family, anti-life, anti-gun, and very much in favor of taxes."

August 25, 2014   Did you know that Charlie Crist (D) "circumvented" the rules to give Titanic Director, James Cameron, $20 million. And he wants to be Governor again? Want more of this? (Just in case: Paid Political Advertisement: Paid for and approved by Linda McKinney 6025 Keystone Ave. Port St. John, FL 32927, Independent of any campaign, candidate, committee, or circumventing.)

January 20, 2014   thevileone thinks pot no more dangerous than alcohol. Problem with his comment: the CDC has done a study of alcohol and its effects on folks. It's not good. Just reading the news will tell you that 80,000 deaths annually occur because of alcohol. So saying that marijuana is no worse than alcohol is not a good comparison, is it? Of course, the CDC has info on marijuana that would conflict with thevileone's words but that doesn't prevent thevileone from lying; nothing can. Any fourth grader can find info that's available that shows that marijuana is bad for you. Those who say otherwise? Follow the money or their usage. The reports of marijuana's use as treatment for glaucoma? Even glaucoma.org does not support it. Lung capacity increase? With continued use, lung capacity declines. How about treating epilepsy with marijuana? Epsilepsy.com says " So far, no clear, definitive, solid evidence exists to show marijuana helps seizures." Some say it helps with cancer: cancer.org disagrees and the American Cancer Society has a study that says pot CAUSES testicular cancer. I think it's coming down all on the negative side here. Some say it may decrease anxiety; Not so much. Its alleged positive effects in helping those with Alzheimers: but, in fact, it may ADD TO the problems of Alzheimer's. Then they say that it helps decrease the pain of Multiple Sclerosis, the National MS Society says "Studies completed thus far have not provided convincing evidence that marijuana or its derivatives provide substantiated benefits for symptoms of MS." For every claim they make, there is a negative. For instance, the claim that it is a good treatment for Hepatitis C, is not really suported by the website, Hepatitis Central. It states,

"A French study of untreated individuals with Hepatitis C (those not taking interferon therapies) showed that, compared with occasional or non-users of the drug, people who used marijuana daily were:

• more likely to have severe liver fibrosis


• at a higher risk for rapid fibrosis progression.

Primary Info:

August 26, 2014: 10:33 p.m.: Primary Election Day:   Well, the results are in and those I endorsed did pretty well. I'm not taking credit for their wins, I'm just saying that I chose a lot of the right people (I believe). Within my endorsements I'm going to put the names of those I recommended in heather. I offer my CONGRATULATIONS to those who won. ALSO, I want to congratulate ANDY ZIEGLER on his win. If I had remembered to check that election I would have recommended him, too, because I've been familiar with his name for years and think he's pretty good. So, I'll put some color on some names then we'll go from there.

August 19, 2014   ENDORSEMENTS:   Early voting started yesterday and I'm still working on my recommendations. I completely forgot about early voting this year or I would have had my recommendations up already. My sincerest apologies. I can tell you that I recommend (bolding means endorsement): Misty Belford for D1 School Board; George Paulk for Group 13 Circuit Judge (he has Scott Ellis's endorsement and that's golden to me!); and Wayne Justice for Port Commissioner; Rick Scott for Governor gets my endorsement because he's pro-Second Amendment and pro-life over Elizabeth Cuevas-Neunder and Yinka Abosede Adeshina.

For the race for County Judge, Group 5, between Oscar Hotusing and Benjamin Garagozlo, I chose Benjamin Garagozlo simply because when I looked into Oscar Hotusing, I was sadly disappointed. I didn't expect to find something like that. But, it happened. And, yes, Hotusing was found guilty. I found nothing like that with Garagozlo. A judge should be above reproach, or as close to it as possible. I don't find that in Hotusing.

For the race for County Judge, Group 3, between Michelle Vitt Baker and Minerva A. Simpson, I found that Baker's last campaign was dirty and she was publicly reprimanded for it. Good for the reprimand; bad for her reputation. Shows how much she enjoys the power if she'll stoop that low. Don't like that in a judge. She knows the rules (or at least she's supposed to) so she should play by them (If she has good judgment!). So I looked into Minerva A. Simpson. I found NO disciplinary actions or other bad news about her; thus, my endorsement.

For Circuit Judge 18th Circuit, Group 14, I checked the names and if the name Robin Lemonidis sounds familiar to you it's because she's the attorney who represented the shooter in the "loud music playing" case. I can find no disciplinary actions for either candidate so I'll go on my impressions of them. I'll go with endorsing Brooke Deretany Goldfarb becasue she was featured in an article and she acknowledges that human trafficking is a problem still and she's involved in fighting that. The human trafficking problem affects children (girls mostly, but boys as well) as young as infants. This problem needs to stop and I support a different organization that helps do just that. ADDITIONAL INFO: The Lemonidis campaign is getting some additional help in this from "Florida Citizens for Qualified Judges, Inc." a PAC her former law partners established. One of the founding members is John R. Kancilia (from her own website):

"In March 1996, Robin and co-counsel, Phyllis Riewe, obtained an acquittal of an innocent man charged with 2nd degree murder, on a case they took pro bono for a young 19 year old boy who had been wrongfully accused. Shortly thereafter, Robin formed a partnership with three lawyers in April 1996, which became O’Brien, Riemenschneider, Kancilia and Lemonidis. While with the partnership, Robin argued before the Florida Supreme Court in October 1999, and served on the local Judicial Nominating Committee, from 1998 until 2000. [my bolding]"

For Circuit Judge, 18th Circuit, Group 19, you may find this video interview interesting. I think Susan Stacy wipes the floor with the other two. I didn't like Donna M. Goerner's reason for going into law: so she would know the law and not be taken advantage of, because it speaks of victimhood and a distrust of the system she seeks to serve. How can you distrust a system but want to be IN that same system? I don't like that. Nor do I like that the male candidate's wife did this. It's one thing to support your husband, it's another to get others involved in slamming your husband's opponent. Then there's the "gift" controversy from 2012's elections. Doesn't ring quite as above board as I'd like it to be; their argument is lame at best.

Lastly, there's the Circuit Judge 18th Circuit, Group 23 between Maurice Arcadier, Nancy Maloney and John Moser, I found that I wasn't impressed with the way Arcadier allegedly responded to law enforcement "invoked his possible judgeship"? Really? If true, that doesn't bode well for the way he'll handle his personal life if he gets elected. If true, there's an attitude of "I'm special" and superiority represented by those words: "invoked his possible judgeship". The article further states that Arcadier said, "'If I take the bench, this won't…'" which, to me, is even worse! So he's out. I checked Nancy Maloney and John Moser and neither of them had any disciplinary actions (disciplinary actions are a first disqualifier for me) against them with the FL Bar. I looked into their qualifications and their personal background and I like the fact that John Moser served his country valiantly. He gets my endorsement.

For County Commission D4 race, I've got to go with this guy, Curt Smith and for County Commission D2 I endorse Michael Hartman. He's a CPA (like Comm. Infantini) and I like what he said on Bill Mick Live.

My thanks to Brevard Times for their coverage of this Primary Election. I forgot that Thad Altman and Monique Miller were running for D16 State Senate until I saw it there. We're in D13 for the FL Senate, so I missed that one. Between the two of them, I have gone to both websites and I like Monique Miller. Learn more about her here. As for Altman? Meh.

ALSO: There are ballot initiatives to vote on IN NOVEMBER. Educate yourself NOW and you won't be caught out. Don't let the advertisements fool you. Do your own research. Educate yourself. Pray about it. Do what it takes to vote for the best future for FLORIDA and your children here. That's what a vote should be about. That's the right way to do it.

So that's it with the endorsements. Vote as you see fit, but that's who I would vote for. I can't vote for all of them because I'm NPA, but I will vote for the non-partisan ones and do more endorsements before early voting for the General Election in November. (Paid Political Advertisement. Paid for and approved by Linda McKinney 6025 Keystone Ave. Port St. John, FL 32927, Independent of any campaigns, committees, or candidates. No one had anything to do with my endorsements besides myself. I think for myself. So stick that in your pipe -- regular pipe, not crack pipe -- and smoke it.)

August 19, 2014   Did the Republican Party of Florida set Gov. Scott up? It seems they wanted to embarrass him and chose someone to appear with Scott in a commercial that would come back to bite Scott. Note that the article also mentions an ethics complaint filed against Scott three years ago? The final rulings for the Florida Ethics Commission are here and there is NOTHING there AGAINST Rick Scott. The filing of an ethics complaint means NOTHING as far as wrongdoing! Don't be fooled by that! Anyone can file an ethics complaint for almost any reason. Witness the proof and the fact that if it's BASELESS or , ruled legally insufficient Rick Scott would have gotten a letter similar to that in the last link. I see nothing in the Ethics Commmission's records page that indicates an ethics complaint whose findings went AGAINST Rick Scott. NOTHING. Am I saying he's perfect and innocent as a lamb? No, but neither does that mean that he's as bad as some would have you believe. (Just in case: Paid Political Advertisement. Paid for and approved by Linda McKinney 6025 Keystone Ave. Port St. John, FL 32927, Independent of any candidate, committee, party, or ethics complaint!)

July 17, 2014: 11:49 p.m.   District 2 Republican Candidate forum Aug. 6, 2014. If you're a Republican who lives in District 2 and want to hear from at least some of the candidates for D2 Commissioner you may want to attend. Why it's not held within D2's borders I have no idea, but that's how they did it. Stay informed. Educate yourself. Become familiar with who is running for every office this November. Do NOT vote blind. Do NOT vote for someone just because they're the fist person listed on the ballot in your party. Do NOT vote for someone because you like their smile, voice, or know their dog. Inform yourself. I'll be doing my investigations into the candidates soon and will post the info I find and publish my endorsements. I do not know if there is a candidate in every area that I can endorse. There may be some offices that don't have anyone good enough to endorse. We'll see. Remember, there are some folks who won by default because no one ran against them. This is not what should happen, but it does happen often. This year alone, there have been EIGHTEEN (18) people who have been "elected" without a single vote being cast for them because no one ran against them. Are they good for the job? Who knows? We didn't get a vote in the matter and I don't think that's right. Maybe we should change the law so that every candidate's name is on the ballot and we'll be able to vote "Yes" or "No" on that candidate filling the position. I think that would be a great option! What thinks you? (Additional note: D4 Candidate page links can be found here. Do your research!) (Paid Political advertisement. Paid for and approved by Linda McKinney 6025 Keystone Ave. Port St. John, FL 32927, Independent of any candidate, campaign, committee, or cruddy candidate left over.)

August 21, 2014: 12:51 p.m.   Are you voting for "their" candidate, or YOUR candidate? It's something to consider. I do not think that Thad Altman is the best candidate. Remember he was on the BOCC from 1984-1992 for D5? No thanks. I endorsed his opponent, Monique Miller. (Paid political advertisement. (Paid for and approved by Linda McKinney 6025 Keystone Ave. Port St. John, FL 32927, Independent of any candidate, committee, campaing, or RPOF-crush.)

So that's the end of my endorsements. I hope the information here has helped. I hope the links led you to make informed decisions and that you will take your voting responsibility seriously. It is a JOB to do the research. But it's a JOB that makes America better if you do your homework and vote not just for the NOW, but for the FUTURE of America, too. Vote for our U.S. Constitution. Vote for our FUTURE. Vote for the best thing for your progeny. Remember: Trees don't have to have jobs in the future, nor do Scrub Jays, nor do they have to raise a family via those jobs. If you ignore the future for the people, the Scrub Jays (I like them just fine, but they're less important to me than PEOPLE!), will be able to raise their families here, but the PEOPLE won't. Think it through. VOTE FOR THE FUTURE OF AMERICA!

Remember the older stuff is on Page Deux or on the Storage pages.