Anybody wish to sign a petition demanding that Bush be denied from speaking at Miami-Dade College?

[RagingInMiami]

Bush is scheduled to speak during the graduation ceremony of Miami-Dade College on April 28th. Not surprisingly, a lot of people are in an uproar over this.

There is a petition circulating online demanding that the college president and board of trustees retract this invitation. The goal is to reach 1,000 signatures. There is currently 690.

But it it is not just targeting students, faculty and alumni, but "members of the global community who are concerned with our country's future".

So that means anybody on DU.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/748162479?ltl=1177123765

[lligrd]

1. How About One Just Demanding That Bush Be Denied From Speaking?

I'd sign that in a heartbeat.

[donco6]

35. Me too. As would most of the country.

His speaking is painful.

[Patsy Stone]

2. Done!

Thanks.

[Tuesday_Morning]

36. thanks, Patsy.

Did you catch the comments on the petition? They're great - really heartening to see.

[ellenfl]

3. as a south floridian, i am pleased to sign the petition.

lots of faculty and alum signing the petition. also, lots of spanish surnames which is unexpected. i thought the cubans loved shrub?

ellen fl

[RagingInMiami]

9. Just cause it's a Spanish surname don't mean it's Cuban

They could be Colombian, Venezuelan, Argentine, Nicaraguan, Dominican, etc. But they could very well be Cuban. Younger Cubans don't necessarily drink their grandparent's kool-aid.

[ellenfl]

44. i know that. i should have used the sarcasm emotie. eom

[Ghost in the Machine]

4. I signed it....

I'm a Native Miamian. I grew up on Grand Canal Drive, right off of Flagler Street. I attended Seminole Elementary School, where I watched them build the Midway Mall (now known as The Mall of the Americas(?))

I think it's an outrage that they let this war criminal speak anywhere!

Ghost

[RagingInMiami]

5. I remember when Midway Mall was the end of civilization

I was a kid back then. Now it's a very central part of the county.

[Patsy Stone]

6. I always thought

the end of civilization was the Serpentarium. :)

[RagingInMiami]

7. If you went south on U.S. 1

But if you went west on Flagler, then it was Midway Mall. My mother, who entered the country in 1965 from Colombia, learned how to drive in what is now the Fountainbleau condos. My dad used to call it "the country". Same in what is now west Kendall. We used to go out there and pick tomatoes and strawberries.

[Patsy Stone]

10. I used to pick strawberries too

But later, in my teens, when my friends could drive. Actually, everything was the end of civilization except Miami Beach because we didn't have a car and took the bus everywhere. The Seaquarium was two or three. So school field trips were it; that was my yardstick. :)

[RagingInMiami]

13. I used to work at the Seaquarium when I was 18

Used to work on that boat they used to have called the Show Queen, which would take tourists around the bay and show them Nixon's house and stuff like that. It was a cool summer job.

Speaking of the end of civilization, I was born in Baptist Hospital in 1968. Back then, it was just an average sized hospital with very little development to the west of it.

I was there the other day to pick up some records and I got lost. It is like it's own city.

[Ghost in the Machine]

14. What about Venetian Pool?

or Parrot Jungle.. or Monkey Jungle? I remember field trips EVERY YEAR to Crandon Park Zoo or the Seaquarium...

[RagingInMiami]

17. I learned to swim in the Venetian Pool

Used to take swimming lessons in the mornings during the summers because my grandmother lived in the Gables (I think you had to be a resident).

It wasn't until I got older and traveled the world that I realized how lucky I was to have been able to learn how to swim in such a cool pool.

http://www.venetianpool.com/

[Ghost in the Machine]

18. It was one of my favorite places to hang out, along with Matheson Hammock

Thanks for posting the link to the pool. It's still beautiful! I think I appreciate it now more than ever. It's been a lot of years since I've been there, and like you said... I think I just now realized how lucky I was. We take a lot of things for granted when we grow up around them. I know people up here in Tennessee who have never been outside the state, never seen a beach or the ocean..

[RagingInMiami]

27. I agree

I met plenty of people during my travels who had never seen an ocean. And I grew up going to the beach on a regular basis when I was a kid.

[The Doctor.]

30. You guys are making me nostalgic... and I've never been to Miami!

;)

[Patsy Stone]

21. Monkey Jungle

is another place I was sure was the end of the world.

Once, in junior high or high school, we went on a field trip to -- wait for it -- Turkey Point. :eyes:

[Ghost in the Machine]

23. I worked at Turkey Point for a few months during an outage.

My dad worked there off and on through the Union practically since they broke ground on it.

[Ghost in the Machine]

12. Did you grow up in the area?

I was a kid too. I think it was second or third grade when they built the mall. Seminole Elementary was right across Flagler from the mall, which would be the northwest corner where the Palmetto crossed Flagler. Yeah, it was wild country then, the fringe of the Everglades. You had to go out the Trail to go any farther west.

I remember when Kendall Drive and Sunset Drive didn't go past 117th ave until well after the turnpike was through. I think that's when they pushed the boundries of Everglades National Park back to the west side of Krome Ave. Early 80's?? Those days are somewhat hazy now....

[RagingInMiami]

16. Yes, I was born in Baptist Hospital

Which was way out west back then. And I grew up in the municipality of West Miami, which was also pretty much west, hence the name.

Today, it's considered a very central area.

Seminole Elementary is still there. In my early 20s, we would play basketball there on weekends.

[Ghost in the Machine]

26. I was born at Doctors Hospital in Coral Gables. We moved from Flagler St.

to South Miami Heights / Richmond Heights area when I was 10. I went to South Miami Heights Elementary in 5th grade, R. R. Moton in 6th, and started 7th at Richmond Heights Jr. High. I wasn't there long, then transferred to Glades Jr. High, then from there to N.C. for a couple months, then to where we settled in hicktown Tennessee. (yes, I went to 4 different schools in 3 states in 7th grade) As soon as I turned 18 and got out of school, I went back to Miami. I've lived all over Dade & Broward Counties, and had settled in Florida City, where I stayed until Andrew blew everything I had away.

I remember your post a while back about the problem you had with the cops down there. Dude, I could tell you some stuff about cops there that would curl your hair and turn it gray. Remember the "River Cops"? They were lightweights compared to some of the stuff I've seen. Cocaine & guns being sold out of the Seized Evidence rooms at one certain police station. Cops protecting loads (shipments) or even robbing carriers without arresting them. Yeah, I lived the cocaine cowboy lifestyle of the early 80's in Miami. I'm not proud of everything I've done in my life, but I can't say I regret it either. The experiences made me the person I am today....

You'll have to do me ONE little favor ok? Go out to the Pit BBQ on the Trail and eat a triple decker BBQ sandwich topped with slaw for me? I think I miss those more than anything! :rofl:

[RagingInMiami]

29. I haven't been to The Pit in more than a decade, but it's still there

And I love BBQ. There are still a few around. Shorty's expanded and now has several locations, but I think their sandwiches lost quality. I still go there because it's still good, just not as good.

Then there is the Hitching Post in Hialeah, which is still there and just as good and just as old-looking as it was when I was going there as a kid in the 1970s.

And then there is Uncle Tom's on Eight Street and 35th Ave and that still looks the same, but their food has lost some quality as well.

But the Pit, that was the boonies back then and that is the boonies today. Only difference is, there are people living out there today.

But I have been meaning to go there because I am true BBQ lover. So maybe next time I drive to the Everglades to do photography I will stop in.

[lonestarnot]

8. Yes, but I lack standing in that I'm on the other coast. Heh.

[TahitiNut]

11. That means you're a "member of the global community" (in their words).

Gopher it.

[lonestarnot]

24. kay kay.

[Quetzalro]

39. Exacty!

And we need all your help down here!

[Longhorn]

15. Thanks! Done! nt

[bonito]

19. Hell ya! n/t

[tkmorris]

20. Done, number 705.

Thanks for the heads-up RagingInMiami.

[IChing]

22. Done my friend-Nominated

You have done great works, thanks

Nominated also

[OffWithTheirHeads]

25. Done, k&r

If you are going to ask someone with poor English skills to speak to your group, surely you can find someone more eloquent than commander pissypants.

[EFerrari]

28. Done. Thanks.

:evilgrin:

[Quetzalro]

40. Thanks very much!

[EFerrari]

46. Welcome to DU, Quetzalro.

:hi:

[RagingInMiami]

31. I am #443

[Maraya1969]

32. If the Jackass does speak each and every graduate should stand up and turn around

and let him speak to their asses.

[RagingInMiami]

33. That would be classic

I would love to photograph that

[Quetzalro]

41. The grads at BYU are collecting funds...

for an alternate grad ceremony at another facility...without Cheney obviously.

[Tuesday_Morning]

34. K & R!

Thanks, Raging!

[Quetzalro]

37. kick

[Quetzalro]

38. Kick

I signed it. We all should.

[Quetzalro]

42. Kick and Recommend

Thanks for this, Ragin'. Callling all DUers, Please sign this petition.

[electron_blue]

43. Oh boy, does this mean the Bush family would retaliate by renaming their college of Ed after Bush?

Like what happened at UF?

[ellenfl]

45. kicking . . . they need more signatures. help 'em out, du. eom

[EFerrari]

47. Another vote here would help!

:hi:

[RagingInMiami]

48. 900 signatures

Help us get 1,000.

[Ino]

49. I don't get it...

they can't get 1000 signatures on-campus?

I signed.