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posted by cmn32480 on Friday November 18 2016, @03:46PM   Printer-friendly
from the power-of-social-media dept.

Floridians for Solar Choice reports

[November 8,] Florida voters rejected Amendment 1--the utility-backed proposal that sought to limit the growth of customer-owned solar power in the Sunshine State.

In a true David and Goliath battle, a diverse grassroots coalition of more than 200 organizations, solar companies, elected officials, and thousands of concerned citizens worked to defeat the deceptive utility-backed amendment. Amendment 1 opponents feel that a significant percentage of the "yes" voters felt they were tricked once they understood the true nature of the ballot measure. Constitutional amendments in Florida require 60 percent support to pass.

The millions of dollars in slick ad buys and glossy mailers did not win the day as opponents of Amendment 1 successfully harnessed social and earned media to educate Floridians about the true intent of this deceptive proposal while tapping a vast network of organizations, solar businesses and supporters who remain committed to growing--not restricting--Florida's solar industry.

[...] "In all my years of public service, I had never seen such a thinly-veiled attempt to intentionally mislead Florida voters" [...] said Mike Fasano (R), a former state Senator and current tax collector of Pasco County Tax.

Previously, PhilSalkie pointed out how easy it was to be confused by the competing proposals and other Soylentils weighed in on the disgusting state of electric infrastructure in Florida.
Florida Voters [Overwhelmingly] Approve Solar Energy Tax Break Constitutional Amendment


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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by Thexalon on Friday November 18 2016, @04:41PM

    by Thexalon (636) on Friday November 18 2016, @04:41PM (#428919)

    I'm not really a big fan of mandatory retirement age for judges. There are judges like John Paul Stevens who were very effective into their 90's, and others who go senile long before age 70.

    What I am a fan of is set terms for judges, with re-appointment allowed. For example, I'd like SCOTUS judges to serve something like 15 years, to reduce the incentive for the politicians to pick younger (and thus less experienced) justices. If, say, John Roberts is doing just fine, then he should have no problem getting re-appointed to the court.

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  • (Score: 2) by Pino P on Friday November 18 2016, @05:25PM

    by Pino P (4721) on Friday November 18 2016, @05:25PM (#428935) Journal

    Another possibility is to periodically test judges over 65 for cognitive impairment, and fire any judge that turns out to be clearly impaired in a manner that isn't reversible with diet or the like. It'd be like the eye test to renew a driver's license.

    • (Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday November 18 2016, @05:35PM

      by Thexalon (636) on Friday November 18 2016, @05:35PM (#428947)

      That addresses the senility issue. It doesn't address the problem with lifetime appointments, where the politicians try to appoint younger less-experienced judges so that their pick will have a longer appointment term than a more experienced and thus older judge would have.

      --
      The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
      • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 18 2016, @07:06PM

        by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 18 2016, @07:06PM (#429019)

        There is value in youth, just as there is value in age.
        It isn't like they've been putting people fresh out of law-school on the bench.

        Elena Kagan is the current youngest and she was appointed at 50 years of age.

        • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 18 2016, @07:36PM

          by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 18 2016, @07:36PM (#429048)

          you didn't address the concern.
          the concern was "politicians will choose younger judges not based on merit, but because they will stay there longer".
          if the appointment time is limited, then age will no longer matter, only competence.

          • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 19 2016, @02:42PM

            by Anonymous Coward on Saturday November 19 2016, @02:42PM (#429404)

            He hasn't presented any evidence of that being a problem.

    • (Score: 2, Insightful) by Arik on Friday November 18 2016, @05:42PM

      by Arik (4543) on Friday November 18 2016, @05:42PM (#428953) Journal
      There's no magic line at 65, if you're going to have cognitive testing you should start on day 1 and keep checking periodically after, regardless of age.
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      If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
      • (Score: 2) by takyon on Friday November 18 2016, @05:50PM

        by takyon (881) <takyonNO@SPAMsoylentnews.org> on Friday November 18 2016, @05:50PM (#428962) Journal

        Term limits rather than age restrictions. And no lifetime appointments. There will always be another worthy judge, or even a better one.

        The age of decline will be a moving target once anti-aging treatments hit the streets. And judges will be rubbing shoulders with the people getting early access to those.

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        [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
  • (Score: 1) by shipofgold on Friday November 18 2016, @08:51PM

    by shipofgold (4696) on Friday November 18 2016, @08:51PM (#429104)

    If, say, John Roberts is doing just fine, then he should have no problem getting re-appointed to the court.

    I think it would be highly dependent on which party is in power at the time and who is doing the 're-appointing'. It isn't a bad idea given how political the Supreme Court has become. Getting a constitutional amendment like that passed would be fun to watch. I won't hold my breath.