Saturday, March 10, 2007

Are environmental devastators hiding behind supposed Internet anonymity?

1. In 2003, 157 of 159 applications for rezoning were approved by the then-St. Johns County, Florida Commission. Locals called them a corrupt rubber-stamp for powerful economic interests who are ruining this beautify county with shoddy "developments" without adequate infrastructure, destroying our wildlife, wetlands and way of life.
2. In 2004, Ben Rich was elected to County Commission. Thank God.A retired federal law enforcement official, he walked the county, heard our concerns and is against corruption and favoritism.
3. In 2006, two other populist skeptics were elected.
4. In 2007, did landraping, clearcutting overdevelopers" use a putative "blog" to attack St. Johns County, Florida Commission Chairman Ben Rich, retaliating for his courageous stands against destruction of our natural beauty and pleasures, our land, air, water?
5. Did those who want to destroy the reasons people love to visit and live here with tacky clear-cutting and metastasized "development" trash Ben Rich?
6. Thanks to the St. Augustine Record, we may know the answer.
7. I appreciate Mr. Rogers Cadenhead's concern about personal privacy. http://www.cadenhead.org/workbench/
8. Ironically, the local government and business carping harpies (I call them the "anonymice") who frequent the St. Augustine Record "Talk of the Town" website have hid behind anonymity for years, making ad hominem attacks on all persons who criticize government officials (including archaeology issues, St. Augustine's illegal dumping of the contents of the old city dump into the Old City Reservoir, race discrimination and refusal to fly the Gay Rainbow flags on our Bridge of Lions (leading to a federal court order that the flags fly June 7-13, 2005). See, e.g., www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
9. ToTTers' antics are a reflection of a control group that is losing its grip on St. Johns County. Last year, I was kicked off ToTT for supposedly "outing" ToTTers who already identified themselves.
10. Some "anonymice" ToTTers attacking my right to engage in First Amendment protected activity were local government officials, businesspeople and their spouses and entourages.
11. These "anonymice" have chilled free speech here for years on ToTT.
12. Likewise, the "anonymice" behind the www.localsafety.org have a (barely) hidden agenda.
13. The public has a right to know.
14. As Justice Louis Brandeis said, "sunlight is the best disinfectant."
15. While the right to anonymous posting on the Internet is protected by the First Amendment against government interference.
16. No "state action" is involved in the St. Augustine Record's effort to learn the true identity of the "anonymice" behind the www.localsafety.org website.
17. The identity of the "anonymice" behind www.localsafety.org is news. 18. Kudos to Morris Communications and the St. Augustine Record for exercising their God-given First Amendment right to identify those who contributed to www.localsafety.org.
19. Will the malefactors of great wealth who seek to skewer Ben Rich be hoist on their own petard?
20. Will landraping, clearcutting, uglifying foreign investment interests that seek to destroy our county (and turn it into South Florida) kindly identify themselves?
21. Why must they hide behind "private corporations?"
22. Are they ashamed of what they have done to the wetlands, wildlife, land and people of St. Johns County?
23. Do they reckon themselves above the public's right to know?
24. They have the "right to remain silent," but we wish they wouldn't.
25. By County Commission Chairman Ben Rich announcing his 2008 candidacy earlier this week, the www.localsafety.org crew knew that they would have to disclose their identity as a Political Action Committee (PAC).
26. That's why www.localsafety.org pulled the plug on their "blog" -- they can't stand scrutiny and have contempt for our democracy. As St. Augustine Record Editor Pete Ellis reportedly wrote another blogger, "There's a difference between a blogger and a political action committee." www.writingcompany.blogs.com As Pete Ellis wrote above, "Many of you are confusing a blogger with a political action committee. "Lee Padgett is a fictitious person; he does not exist. The web site under his name was set up by a political action committee. The goal is to find out what that political action committee is." I agree. Taking out a newspaper ad under a false name may also be a breach of contract, depending upon how the Record's ad rate card and contracts are written.
27. So, to solve the kerfuffle, will the www.localsafety.org funders kindly call the St. Augustine Record (or me) and identify yourselves?
28. Confession is good for the soul -- just as investigative reporting is good for the soul of a democracy.
29. Thank you, Pete Ellis and St. Augustine Record for working to disclose the identity of the "frontman" for developers, in order to expose who funded www.localsafety.org, which may involve possible state and federal crimes, including RICO and Hobbs Act. The wrecking crew of uglifying discredited overdevelopers, manipulators and controllers -- they can run, but they can't hide. See, e.g., www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.com
30. Cheers!With kindest regards,Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
www.cleanupcityofstaugustine.blogspot.comBox 3084St. Augustine, Florida 32085904-471-7023904-471-9918 (fax)

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