Ron Paul Inspires Gambling911 Activism
Who and What can make a meek turtle-loving female reporter come out of her shell and turn into a community activist intent on ensuring politicians must answer to the concerns of the citizens they are supposed to represent? The answer, Ron Paul
The 2008 US Presidential candidate seems to have inspired a number of individuals close to home, including Gambling911.com's own Jenny Woo. Paul seems to have lit a spark under even the most lackadaisical of individuals, for whom Jenny Woo admits to be one. Not any more though!
Fresh from her outspoken disgust over the Michael Vick "dog abuse" travesty, Woo has become enraged over a local incident taking place at the city level in Miami Beach. This one should have PETA up in arms for sure.
"The city of Miami Beach is planning to build a concrete walkway that somehow got the approval of environmentalists and the "turtle people", yet there is reason to believe that turtles will not be able to get beyond this concrete bridge. Hundreds of turtles will be endangered if construction is allowed to carry forth."
The so-called "corridor" project has become a tightly-kept secret and area residents like Jenny Woo are now demanding answers.
With the election for a new Miami Beach mayor and commissioners taking place this November, Woo will be part of a group that will demand stoppage of this project that has not been properly detailed to area residents.
"The city of Miami Beach notifies local residents of all new projects that might affect their neighborhood yet they quietly neglected to notify citizens of this project, due to begin October 1."
Ms. Woo, who has been applauded by PETA for her reporting on the Michael Vick case, cites Gambling911.com's own special contributor, Jennifer Reynolds, as helping to ignite the spark.
Reynolds has penned an article on why non-voters finally have a reason to come out and vote this upcoming 2008 US Presidential Election Day. Reynolds sees US citizens more encouraged to vote for candidates that can make a true difference while abolishing special interests. Her incredibly well-written opinion piece can most certainly be applied at the local level of politics.
"I am looking for the 'Ron Paul' of local politics here in Miami Beach," says Woo. "Someone who cares about my needs and my concerns."
Woo would be remiss in pointing out that a certain percentage of the massive Paul support base reside in Miami Beach and might want to get an early jump on making their votes count. For the record, only Miami Beach Mayoral candidate Matti Herrera Bower and commissioner Michael Gongora have been responsive to these concerns.
The Miami Beach political spectrum in many ways mimics that of the national scene. Whereas the City Manager (who is pushing forward the potentially "turtle killer" bridge) is said to take home just over $300,000 in reported salary each year, the hard working commissioners only recently received a hefty pay raise bringing their average salary up to around $20,000 a year.
On the national scene, the so-called second and third tier candidates are treated like the red-headed step child simply because they don't have the proper funding.
"Ron Paul doesn't have the millions to pay Iowa voters to attend a straw poll like Mitt Romney does," claims Kira Wissman, another Gambling911.com reporter who recently interviewed Dr. Paul.
What Paul has, however, is millions of supporters, thousands of whom read the Gambling911.com website. Woo also has come to realize she is a woman of power - the most recognized face in online gambling for the past couple of years - her site receives an average of 36,000 unique visitors per day.
"If I can use my podium to help make this world a better place to live, that is exactly what I will do."
Woo and friends have amassed well over a thousand Miami Beach voters (some of whom may have been non-voters in the past) to protest the new project.
"A handful of Miami Beach condo association presidents and myself will be descending upon Miami Beach City Hall today (Wednesday) to stand before the Miami Beach commissioners in an effort to demand answers as to why we as taxpayers were not given proper notice about this poorly executed project," Woo said.
With only 24 hour notice of the specific time slot being allocated for Jenny and company to present their opposition, a few hundred residents of Miami Beach have already given their consent to be represented by their respective condo boards. The city management ensured that "concrete bridge project" would be addressed at a time when most residents were at work (even though none of them were notified to begin with). Only after Woo's group demonstrated the fury over this project was a 5:05 pm time slot allocated.
Ms. Woo will also be working to gather support from turtle protection groups such as Pro Peninsula and Caribbean Conservation and Sea Turtle Survival League in an effort to address this issue of marine malice.
The project itself encompasses a 10 block stretch in the North Beach section of Miami Beach. The city is said to be getting several million dollars to construct the "corridor". Community activists like Jenny Woo argue that the elevated portion of this "corridor" will entrap the turtles and prevent them from crossing into their land dunes. Furthermore, this "corridor" will act as a refuge for area homeless. The homeless plus entrapped turtles can mean only one thing.
"Turtle soup!" exclaimed Jenny Woo. "And we are not about to have that happen."
The City of Miami Beach has refused to allow voters and taxpayers to see the supposed "environmental report", which claims the concrete "corridor" will have no negative impact on the environment.
See Als0:
2008 Presidential Betting Odds
Gambling911.com home page
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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
Originally published September 5, 2007 11:54 am EST
