Titusville's Foreclosure Registry

As I've watched the citizen-driven Fair Districts initiative successfully bulldoze past legal attempts by the Florida state legislature to remove Amendments 5 and 6 off the November ballot, I had a thought.

If citizens are frustrated enough to draw the line on gerrymandering in this state--the practice of the majority party power "drawing districts to favor incumbents or political parties with little rhyme or reason as to the interests of voters"--then how much longer before citizens reach a similar limit regarding the impact of public records overreach on their individual right to privacy?

Case in point.

The city of Titusville, Florida unanimously approved a $150 charge on homeowners who face foreclosure proceedings or have mortgages in default.

The city would pocket half the fee and give the other half and "...to Suntree-based Federal Property Registration Corp., which will help identify foreclosed property and manage the registry."

Yep. You read right. A foreclosure registry.

(...)

Under the agreement, Darnell's company would contact lenders with foreclosures in the city, inform the lenders of the city's registration requirements, and provide an electronic method of registration for the lenders, including through the city's website. A mortgagee would have to register the property with the city within 10 days after the mortgage is declared in default.

Reasoning?

It's quicker.

(...)

"This is a quicker way of identifying and registering these properties than the 'one-by-one' process the city would use through code enforcement," Titusville City Manager Mark Ryan said in a memo to the city council. "Many cities are struggling with new inventories of foreclosed homes, and creating ordinances as a way to help mitigate the damage to communities and recover costs incurred."

Two hundred properties have since been registered.

How much more must Floridians endure?

Read Titusville's public records policy here.

Read Florida's Ballot Initiative 101 here.

And vote YES on Amendments 5 and 6.

Smashed Frog Turns on the Lights

A year ago, I decided to buy a domain name from Google for ten dollars.

All went well until a couple of months back. Google emailed me a notice to renew as I had not selected automatic renewal via a credit card with my initial purchase.

Sounds easy enough.

Wrong.

I've struggled with Google since August in attempt to renew my domain name. Once logged into my account, I was unable to simply choose automatic renewal as apparently, past a certain date, such an action is no longer an option. Communication proved next to impossible and when contact was made to the person beyond the Q & A forum, I was simply passed off to someone else.

As a result, Smashedfrog.com went quietly into that good night (although still readable by cache), the address now owned by eNom and available for me to repurchase for reportedly close to $100.

Pardon me if I feel a bit scammed.

To quote George Herbert Walker Bush, not gonna do it.

So back to Smashed Frog with a blogspot in the middle. As long as Blogger is around and offers services for free, no need to worry about going dark.

Update your bookmarks, Froggers.

We have work to do. :)

Brian D. Sweeney, United Flight 175

September 2006--as a participant in the 2996 project--I was assigned the privilege of memorializing Brian D. Sweeney, a passenger on United Flight 175.

Of Viking Heart was written in tribute to a man I never met but came to know only by his passing, through the voices of his friends and family.

Today, I will think of those he left behind much too soon and their loss that never ends.

And I'll think of Brian, 38, who claimed to be part Viking and part Leonardo da Vinci.

Others remember Brian here.

We will never forget.

George Crossley

Smashed Frog says good-bye to a friend.

George Crossley.

The Orlando Sentinel, 9/9/2010:

(...)

Crossley, who worked more recently a radio talk-show host, collapsed at WEUS-810 AM station in Altamonte Springs Wednesday evening. He was rushed to South Seminole Hospital in Longwood where he later died.

(...)

Crossley, who was once the leader of the American Civil Liberties Union's Central Florida chapter, hosted The People Power Revolution show alongside co-host and producer John Hamilton.

Speaking for Florida's downtrodden, we thank George for his voice when others remained silent.

Our condolences to his family and friends.

***

“Why are children who are supposed to be protected by the Jessica Lunsford Act actually being harmed grievously by the same law? Why are the children of registered sex offenders being tormented, abused and trying to commit suicide because of the Jessica Lunsford Act?”

--George Crossley

Read more about the man here.

Miami Herald Q and A

Questions posed by the The Miami Herald (9/5/10):

``Why does The Miami Herald insist on trying to generate sympathy for registered sex offenders. The offenders made a choice to be offenders. Their victims didn't have a choice to be victimized. The community has much more pressing needs than worrying about making housing for these predators.''

The response.

(...)

The coverage of the band of sex offenders forced to live under the Julia Tuttle causeway has been a difficult story for these very reasons.

Articles have made it a point not to portray offenders as sympathetic, but instead to focus on why government and charitable agencies that insist they want to resolve this housing dilemma have been unable to do so.

Whatever we think of these people, it's hard to argue the best solution is for them to be hidden away under a bridge.

How about the Herald detail the specific crimes that can designate an individual as a sex offender?

The answer may prompt readers to ask more informed questions of the paper, as in "You're kidding, right?"

Operation Orange Tree

John Walsh is on the road pitching software used in the 2009 Operation Orange Tree sting that resulted in the arrest of 70 plus persons, aged 17-83 years.

(...)

The software can recognize child pornography and identify the sender and receiver without the sender and receiver being aware, Walsh said. He said he was not privy to the exact way it works.


(Sheriff) Kevin Walsh said after the software flags a picture as child pornography, the officers secure search warrants for both involved in the peer-to-peer exchange. The concentration will be on Onondaga County and Central New York exchanges, but on the Internet, the two involved could be anywhere.

I can't even begin to imagine the slippery slope associated with this technology.