It’s a modern-day dilemma: You’re in the middle of a fracas. Cops show up. You whip out your cell phone. You hit record. The cops — worried that you might have caught them in unflattering actions, afraid you may have gotten their “bad side,” or just under lots of pressure…
This holiday season, the Florida State Capitol Rotunda has served as a coliseum for the First Amendment. Atheists, Christians, and Satanists all did battle, using Festivus Poles as swords and tiny inanimate Baby Jesus figurines as shields. Each group set up displays in the capitol to make various points about…
Happy birthday, Gitmo! Saturday, January 11, marks the 12th anniversary of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility — the 12th anniversary of indefinite detention without charge or trial. Protestors from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Amnesty International USA, and some 20 other organizations will be marching in Washington to demand…
South Florida-based nonprofit Planting Peace has lost funding from a donor for one of their orphanages in Haiti because of the group’s affiliation and support of the LGBT community. The group, founded by Aaron Jackson and John Dieubon in 2004, was a feature story by New Times in 2005. Since…
Florida’s legislators are back on the job now that 2014 is rolling along, and one of the first pieces of business on the agenda is a big one: red light cameras. I know they’re a pain, you know they’re a pain, and — surprisingly — some lawmakers actually have our…
Everyone knows that early January is the time to get the best prices on holiday decorations for the coming year. See also: “Festivus Pole” Made of Beer Cans Approved; Will Go Up in Florida Capitol Next to Jesus’ Manger The economic principles that apply to fake Christmas trees also apply…
While Rick Scott has been taking his sweet-ass time in choosing a lieutenant governor, he sure has been quick to get all up about tonight’s BCS Championship game between the Florida State Seminoles and Auburn Tigers. Scott has managed to make the requisite arbitrary bet between government officials whenever two…
The push is on to make Florida the next state to legalize medical marijuana. Organizers have one month to get 700,000 signatures on a petition to get the issue on the November ballot. But since state laws require that the petitions be paper petitions that are mailed in via snail…
Pope Francis is quickly becoming the cool pope, with his socially progressive agenda and humble actions. He has lashed out at capitalists and said “who I am I to judge” gays if they are good people? He has blessed deformed worshipers, sneaked out at night to feed the hungry, invited…
Sixteen PETA protesters were arrested at the Rose Parade on Wednesday, a majority of them for trying to stop the SeaWorld-themed float. Riot police escorted the float as it made its way through the parade, passing multiple planned protest spots along the route. PETA protests took to the street in…
As shown in the following video, the City of Deerfield Beach has put up a manger scene, along with a few other holiday props, on public property at the city’s fire station. Chaz Stevens, an activist and self-described “militant atheist,” says he warned the city that he would sue if…
Rick Scott’s pollster, Tony Fabrizio, has some bad news for Rick Scott. According to the poll, either Charlie Crist or Bill Nelson would beat Scott in a mano-to-mano general election hoedown. The poll also shows that ex-GOPer/ex-Independent/Brand New Democrat Crist is suddenly a lot more governory than long-time Democrat Nelson…
We’ve been writing and writing about Rick Scott’s sudden drive to look like he’s getting things done lately, thanks to the fact that his first term is soon coming to an end and he wants to stick around for another four years. And now Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the Democratic National…
Gov. Rick Scott is hungry for more souls to eat four more years, so he’s announced that he wants to cut $401 million in driver license and registration fees. In an appearance in Tampa, Scott whipped out a proposal that will apparently cut auto registration fees that would save motorists…
It’s no secret Rick Scott was all ready to get to work on our faces for another four years, but now it’s officially official. On Tuesday, Scott filed all his “I Wanna Be Govner of Florida Again” paperwork to the state Division of Elections, making his bid for reelection a…
It looks like Heart is the latest act to drop out of SeaWorld’s Bands, Brew & Barbecue music fest as a protest for the way the park allegedly treats orcas. The Barenaked Ladies was the first band to cancel on SeaWorld; then came Willie Nelson. Now, Heart is in on…
Last year, Marco Rubio gave an interview in which he famously told a GQ reporter that there was no way he could know how old the Earth is because he’s no scientist, man. (Hint: It’s 4.5 billion years old.) (Also, holy crap, it’s already been a year??) But last week,…
“I got the official letter,” Chaz Stevens announced to New Times late Friday afternoon. “I’m in.” Stevens, a self-described “militant atheist” who is known for relentless, sometimes crude, and usually effective methods of exposing government wrongdoing, got approval today to erect a six-foot-tall “festivus pole” in the rotunda of the…
First, the Barenaked Ladies, now the pigtailed man. About a week ago, the Barenaked Ladies cancelled their scheduled show at SeaWorld in order to protest the treatment of orcas in captivity. Willie Nelson has also cancelled a show at the theme park. A spokesperson at SeaWorld told New Times that…
Yesterday, a private group called the Florida Nativity Scene Committee was installing a manger display in the Capitol in Tallahassee. The Miami Herald reported that another group, Reclaim Christ for Christmas, intends to add the Three Wise Men. The ACLU warned that by allowing private groups to set up religious…
Last week, Gov. Rick Scott dropped the news that all-new totally unnecessary restrictions on how and where voters can return absentee ballots would be underway soon, further moving his voter suppression crusade along. Aside from messing with a process that didn’t need messing with, Scott and Secretary of State Ken…
As you can see in the video below, rapper “Laguardia Cross,” AKA “Turkey Black,” hit Fort Lauderdale Beach for Thanksgiving week to raise awareness for the low-wage working conditions faced by airport workers, who are paid less than minimum wage. He is with a group called the Airport Workers Organizing…
