Conexion Miami / Cuban drug against cancer interests Tampa researchers

By now most know that the Tampa area is at the forefront (in Florida) of the work to normalize relations with Cuba. U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, from Tampa, is leading the charge. So it was not surprising to read that the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa has expressed interest in the Cuban drug CimaVax – a treatment for lung cancer. The institute recently sent representatives to the island nation. In addition, an unnamed Tampa medical center is said to be interested in bringing doctors to Tampa from Cuba. And Tampa cancer survivors and their families are traveling to Cuba to learn more from their counterparts there.

Jeb Bush and conflicting interests

A conflict of interest is defined as “a situation in which a person is in a position to derive personal benefit from actions or decisions made in their official capacity.” Does Jeb Bush fit the bill? Here’s a news report by AP: Florida’s largest corporate donor to political action committees is NextEra Energy Inc., who owns electric utility giant Florida Power & Light. To date, NextEra has contributed more than $1 million to Bush’s Super Pac. Apparently Jeb knows the company well. In 2009, more than two years after leaving office, he penned an opinion piece urging regulators to approve the utility’s proposed rate increase for Florida customers.

Prosecutors: White men

Florida has 20 elected state prosecutors and one elected attorney general. Of those, 17 are white men, three are white women and there is one woman of color in the group. In the summer of 2014, there were 2,437 elected prosecutors in the United States, according to an analysis by the Women Donors Network Reflective Democracy Campaign. The study discovered that 79 percent of prosecutors nationwide are white men; 16 percent are white women; 4 percent are men of color and 1 percent are women of color.

Trump never fails to entertain

Political Cortadito’s Elaine De Valle reports that Doral Councilwoman Sandra Ruiz will sponsor a resolution next week condemning billionaire businessman Donald Trump for his “racist, derogatory” remarks about Mexicans and immigrants in his presidential campaign announcement speech. This move in Doral could set off a war between the south Florida city and it’s No. 1 investor and developer. A group of residents want the council to go further: They want Trump declared persona non grata and to be stripped of the key to the city that he got for his investments and improvements to the old Doral Spa and Resort property, now the Doral Trump National.

Hillary: the Lady in White or is it white lady?

Hillary Clinton came to Miami last week and asked that the embargo against Cuba be lifted. She promised that as president she would urge congress to do so. Thank you Mrs. Clinton. While here we were reminded that it was her husband that as president opened the door to the embargo’s codification as law. Hillary also played the used-up game of wanting to please everyone during her Miami stay. She pointed out, for example, during a speech at FIU that there was a member of the Ladies in White in the audience. Her speech was a clear-cut call for a new approach to same old regime change discourse we’ve grown tired of.

Florida exploring online lottery

Now to the news of the absurd. Or is it Ripley’s Believe it or not. The Florida Lottery is considering selling lottery tickets online. Even worse, they’d like to sell at ticket terminals installed alongside automated bank teller machines. Republicans, including Gov. Rick Scott, oppose the selling of tickets online. We wondered why Democrats were NOT mentioned in the Associated Press news release.

Just another bigot

The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations filed a federal lawsuit last week against a south Florida gun shop owner who had declared his store a “Muslim-free zone.” Our bigot in question, Andy Hallinan, announced recently that he would “not arm and train those who wish to do harm to my fellow patriots” at his Florida Gun Supply in Inverness, a small town in Broward County. Actually, we’d like to see Andy not sell guns to anybody!

Oops!

Florida has scheduled a special session so that the state legislature, led by Republicans, can redraw the district lines declared unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court. There’s a problem, though, because of dates chosen – Oct. 19 through Nov. 6. Florida Republicans will host the GOP presidential candidates on Oct. 22 during their premiere fundraising even of the year. The House Speaker and 79 other Republican representatives from the state will not be able to attend. Florida law bans fundraising while the Legislature is in session.

Drilling in the Gulf

A bill that passed the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee in Congress last week calls for changing the limits on where oil and natural gas drilling and exploration can take place. Under a law enacted in 2006, there’s a no-drilling zone extending 125 miles off most of the Gulf of Mexico coastline and as far out as 235 miles at some points. The new legislation changes that by moving the line east to just 50 miles from the Florida coast, ending a moratorium the existing law imposed through 2022. The change would take place in 2017.

Floridians still favor medical marijuana

Almost 60 percent of Floridians, but not quite, voted to approve a medical marijuana amendment in 2014. Florida law requires 60 percent for approval. The amendment will probably be on the ballot next year, again. And the latest survey conducted shows that more than 68 percent of the people polled – 2,788 registered Florida voters – would approve the amendment in 2016.