barbandmike

2003-06-07T11:33:00.000-07:00

PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY – SATURDAY – 7 JUN 03
QUOTE FOR TODAY
(does this bring anything to mind?)
The ideal set up by the Party was something huge, terrible, and glittering – a world of steel and concrete, of monstrous machines and terrifying weapons – a nation of warriors and fanatics, marching forward in perfect unity, all thinking the same thoughts and shouting the same slogans, perpetually working, fighting, triumphing, persecuting – three hundred million people all with the same face. The reality was decaying, dingy cities, where underfed people shuffled to and fro in leaky shoes, in patched-up nineteenth-century houses that smelt always of cabbage and bad lavatories.
George Orwell
GAIA
Sugar Tries Legal Ambush Of Everglades Cleanup Judge (Tribune, Nation/World, Our Opinion-editorial, pg 16).
Now the Tribune weighs in against the Big Sugar.

Getting Wild Cats Under Control (Tribune, Nation/World, Our Opinion-editorial, pg 16).
The FF&WCC decided to remove colonies of feral cats in order to protect native wildlife, over the howls of feline lovers. There are over 5-million feral cats in FL and they pose a threat to all wildlife including endangered species such as the FL Scrub Jay, marine turtles, marsh rabbit as well has killing millions of song birds every year.

TAMPA BAY
Officers request weapons parity (Times, Metro & State, pg 1).
St Pete police officers want to be armed with assault rifles to combat crime, claiming many criminals routinely use them, outgunning police who are equipped with pistols & shot guns. I can just hear the gun control crowd shouting, “We told you so!”

FLORIDA
Faculty leader leaves in disgust (Times, Metro & State, pg 1). Connect to Gaia ‘sugar’ and last 3 Global stories.
Richard Briggs leaves UF & resigns from the Board of Governors (which overseas 11 FL universities) for a teaching position at UTx-Dallas Med Center. “The political environment is so pervasive it corrupts the system. It shocks me to look at the attitude of the people controlling education in FL. They’ve perverted and subverted the whole system. There’s a general attitude of ignorance and arrogance. The budget’s in the toilet and no one cares. We’re just stagnant,” says Briggs. The Board of Governors has refused to implement the voter approved referendum passed last November, instead delegating decisions to local governing boards; the legislature capped university president salaries and increased tuitions, one of the Board of Governors jobs. Professors at the 11 FL universities are being lured to other states by better pay, working conditions, and less politicized control. How to ruin (higher education in one easy lesson, by Jeb Bush (aka: the Jebster), Gov. FL.

GLOBAL
Agency Doubted Weapons Claims; Hamas Breaks Off Talks With ‘Weak’ Palestinian Leader; Sunni Muslim Leader Calls For War Against Americans; Germ Agent Claims Are In Question; 13,000 Arab, Muslim Men Register, Face Deportation (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 1 lead; 5; 7; 12; 13); Agency lacked weapons evidence; Iran didn’t report nuclear plant, agency says; First 2m800 years were easy for the treasure of Nimrud; Council eases occupation tension, Inman tells supporters to challenge U.S. power, Nuclear agency visits abandoned power site; Its credibility on the table, bush administration should serve up the truth; Hamas halts truce talks (Times, 1; 2; 5; 12; 14; 16)
And the beat goes on, and on, and on, ad nauseum.

Looking away from corporate betrayal (Times, Opinion-columns, Andrew Bard Schmookler, pg 15). Connect to Gaia ‘sugar,’ next two & FL faculty story.
A morality play, comparing the Kitty Genovese incident in Manhattan 40 years ago (while being knifed by a stalker, she screamed for help, nobody answered & she died) to the American Airlines dustup a few weeks ago when AA executives called for employee sacrifice while they were feathering their own nests with bonuses & guaranteed pensions. The two incidents reveal a profound moral decay besetting American society. “Little could be more dangerous for a society than for its leaders – public and private – to betray the trust of those who depend upon them. Whether news or not, this problem remains unfinished business. How unfinished it is can be seen daily in the way the most powerful of private interests influence our supposedly democratic public institutions:
-the legal settlement with the big brokerage houses which had betrayed the small investors to enrich themselves with
lucrative investment banking deals that left those companies still profiting from their unethical conduct;
-the awarding of lucrative contracts to close cronies of our elected leaders;
-a pattern of public policies that give to the haves and neglect the have-nots.
Is our failure to focus on a story such as that of American Airlines due to our nation’s pre-eminent storytellers – the corporate owned mass media – not wanting us to look too closely at the moral danger to America embodied in this elite? Better for us to talk about a man who may have killed his pregnant wife than about the corruption of our ruling elite. Better for us to regard private sexual immorality – rather than public policies that comfort the comfortable and afflict the afflicted – as the stuff of leadership scandals.”

The freedom for which it stands (Times, Opinion-editorial, pg 14). Connect to Gaia ‘sugar,’ Global above & below, & FL faculty story.
The flag burning amendment passed the republican dominated U.S. Senate. The debate over debasing the flag should focus on what the flag stands for, not the flag itself. As abhorrent as burning the flag may be, it is an act of political expression protected by the First Amendment free speech clause. It is the duty of U.S. Senators to protect those rights, not to pander to popular opinion or patriotic fanatics. Patriot Act eroded our civil liberties under the guise of ‘security;’ Ashcroft wants to further erode our civil liberties, and this amendment plays right into the hands of those fanatics. As Ben Franklin said almost 250 years ago, “Those who would sacrifice a little liberty in order to gain a measure of security deserve neither liberty nor security.” Sound off for our civil liberties.

Cartoon (Times, Opinion, Signe Wilkinson, pg 14). Connect to Gaia ‘sugar, Global above two & FL faculty story.
A speaker behind a podium labeled FCC surmounted with myriad microphones; mic cords lead down to the floor and eventually into one cord plugged into a multiple plug-block labeled: ‘conglomerate news network.’ The balloon over the speaker says, “See? There are lots of media outlets.” Poignant, and too true.

C.U.

2003-06-04T08:40:00.000-07:00

PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY – WEDNESDAY – 04 JUN 03
QUOTE FOR TODAY
The incestuous relationship between government and big business thrives in the dark.
Jack Anderson
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace in a continual state of alarm
(and hence clamorous to be led to safety)
by menacing them with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
-H. L. Mencken
GAIA
Critics say salmon farming is fishy (Times, Taste, pg 2).
Recent lawsuits have tarnished the pristine and natural image salmon farmers have attempted to create. Salmon farming has contributed to ocean pollution, endangered stocks of wild salmon species and failed to inform consumers of the contents of their product: farmed salmon contain 10 times more PCBs than their wild cousins and their true color is masked by artificial dies (in their feed) to trick consumers into thinking they are buying wild salmon. The EU, Canada, British Colombia, WA (also suing in court) & ME are moving to enact stricter controls on the industry and to stringently enforce existing laws.

Brochure On Everglades Irks Environmentalists (Tribune, Metro, pg 3).
The Sugar Industry has published & distributed (to constituents in lawmaker’s districts who voted for the controversial law) a colorful brochure outlining the success of the Everglades Forever Bill just passed by the FL Legislature & signed by the Jebster. Gainesville Sierra Club member Karen Orr put the brochure on line, and lambasted Rep. Ed Jennings for his support of the bill. Lawyers are contemplating challenging the brochure in court under FL campaign finance laws.

TAMPA BAY
‘Immeasurable’ Loss Hits Florida Holocaust Museum (Tribune, Metro, pg 1); Holocaust Museum director dies (Times, Metro & State, pg 3).
What else to say? He brought the Florida Holocaust Museum international recognition. It’s a great museum.

Defender Justifies Errands With Job (Tribune, Metro, pg 1).
PD Julianna Holt tried to cover her use of staff, equipment & supplies in testimony before the FL Commission on Ethics. She was shot down by Commission lawyers. The drama (satire?) continues.

FLORIDA
Daily News Dose Costs House (Tribune, Metro, pg 1 lead).
Under Johnnie Byrd (R-Plant City), FL House Speaker, everything & everybody took a hit in the budget just passed. Except for $9,000/month to pay for news service to his office, which he claims keeps legislators “abreast of the issues.” Most FL Legislators go on line for their news, read a newspaper or listen to radio/TV, and are not aware of this largess from their ‘leader.’

Waiting game (Times, main, Opinion-editorial, pg 14).
The medical malpractice bill proposed by the Jebster needs improvement, on at least four significant differences from the Fl House & Senate versions: 1) overrides the FL Supreme Court ruling that HMOs are potentially liable for their influence over medical decisions, 2) doesn’t include the re-insurance fund, 3) lacks the Patient Safety Authority measure, and 4) puts the decision to settle malpractice on doctors rather than insurance companies. Jebster’s version has been labeled the “insurance company bill of rights.” So! Why are we not surprised? Ah, those compassionate conservatives. Business gets all their compassion, or the insurance industry gets the gold mine the consumer gets the shaft.

An environmental albatross (Times, main, Opinion-editorial, pg 14).
Rodman Dam, again. All but a small group of bass fisherman want the dam thing torn down. So, tear it down, Jeb!

If we put the real Florida on a license plate (Times, main, Opinion-columns, Bill Maxwell, pg 15).
This is good satire about the proliferation of specialty license plates in FL! Maxwell has some great ideas: a bulldozer destroying a woodland or a backhoe filling a wetland; a sprawling strip mall; Mangroves being cut down; a foster child locked in a broom closet; Say No To Beach Renourishment; Choice; “Old Sparky” doing its work; a crowded barrier island facing a category 5 hurricane; Racial Equality; a chain-gang along an interstate; etc. Maxwell saves the best for last: a bunch of clowns over “Florida State Legislature;” a big, yellow, dodo bird over “Speaker of the House;” and, a boy wearing a sailor cap over “Governor.”

GLOBAL
Changing Directions (Connect, WorldWatch Institute Newsletter, Oystein Dahle-Chair of the Board). Quote in part:
A delegation of congressional representatives (all Democrats) called a press conference --- to tell the audience that there is another America, one that recognizes the importance and urgency of building a sustainable future. This was reassuring for those of us living in other countries who have been used to looking to the USA for leadership and are disappointed when the leadership is oriented in an entirely different direction than towards a sustainable future. With its talented scientists, vast financial resources, and demonstrated commitment to meeting challenges, the lack of leadership shown by the US in facing the challenges of sustainability is almost unbelievable. What is of critical importance is to realize the magnitude of this challenge. The UNEP concluded that to achieve responsible development in the countries where most of the people on Spaceship Earth live, --- the industrial countries need to reduce their resource consumption, not by one-tenth, but to one-tenth of current levels. Unquote.

Great cities start with great railroads (Trains, 7/03, editorial, pg 4). Quote in part:
80,000 + workers commute by rail to/from New York City daily at a cost to taxpayers of $115/commuter. Putting all those people in cars would cost at least $10-billion for infra-structure + real estate. Traffic congestion already costs NYC $4-billion/year; (add another billion for those additional 80,000 commuters). Doesn’t that suggest that we should stop packing ourselves into big cities and move out to the suburbs? Not if you think a free market is important. NYC is the uncontested money capital of the world. It became the capital because it was the best market; it became the best market because it had the most people participating in the market; the people could participate in the market because a train took them to it. If you want to make Paris or Tokyo the financial capital, it wouldn’t be difficult – just get rid of New York’s trains. If you want economic stagnation, close down the markets. Encourage our present medieval scattering into the suburbs: Don’t build railroads. Build beltways. Unquote.
Although it seems that many places haven’t learned that ‘railroad vs beltway’ lesson, facts do not support that assumption. Commuter & light rail programs abound throughout the USA, despite the lack of leadership from Washington; even in Florida where Tri-Rail links the ‘Gold Coast’ with Miami & environs. Cities & States from coast to coast to coast are taxing themselves to build rail because they have realized two very important lessons: it is impossible to build enough highways to overcome the battle of traffic congestion, and rail infra-structure is cheaper over its lifetime from nearly every aspect measurable.
Thought you might like to know.

British panel will probe war decision (Times, main, pg 2); Standard operating procedure (Times, main, Opinion-columns, Paul Krugman, pg 15).
Tony Blair is coming under fire from the British Press for manipulating intelligence to justify Britain’s involvement in the Iraq war. As a result parliament will conduct an official inquiry into the accusations and release its report in July.
Similar accusations have been leveled at the Texas Posse by the American 4th estate, albeit in a much more subdued manner than in Britain, until recently. But there has been no action on the part of Congress equal to that of the British Parliament. “Suppose this administration did con us into war. And suppose it is not held accountable for its deceptions, so Bush can fight --- a “khaki election” next year. In that case, our political system has become utterly, and perhaps irrevocably, corrupted.” SURPRISE!!!!

House unlikely to revive tax credit (Times, main, pg 5).
Republican leader Tom Delay says that the (U.S.) House will not consider modifying the recent tax relief package to include the 6.5 million low-income families. There is a growing number of liberal republicans opposed to this position who might force the issue on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Surgeon General Supports Tobacco Ban (Times, main-Nation In Brief, pg 5).
Does that mean that the DEA will have another item in its war on drugs? Support one drug habit, but not control of drug prices. Shouldn’t we also ban automobiles? Oh, I am so deliriously enthralled that government is so concerned about my health!

A little din amid static to modulate mediocrity (Times, Metro & State, Howard Troxler, pg 1).
Comparing the variety of alternative radio stations (about 200 +), such as WMNF 88.5, to the commercial conglomerates such as Clear Channel (1,200), nationwide. The Johnny Appleseed of community radio, Prometheus Radio Project, helps low-powered FM stations get started; the latest: K-OCZ, the World capital of Zydeco Music in Opelousas, LA. Check it out on line at: www.prometheusradio.org.

C.U.

2003-06-03T10:43:00.000-07:00

Michael Lawrence MacDonald, nee: McCloskey, 8 January 1937;
father: John Sherman McCloskey;
mother: Eve Sydney Griscom;
step-father: George Ralph MacDonald.

McCloskey family: cannot trace family roots further than my grandfather, who emigrated to Philadelphia from near Londonderry in Northern Ireland in the latter part of the 19th century. John Sherman McCloskey was born in Philadelphia in 1910; he divorced Eve Sydney in 1944, remarried, and had three more sons: Bruce, John (junior), Robert.

Griscom family: family has been traced back to king Ferdinand of Spain and Edward III of England; the first Griscom (Andrew), the son of a pirate, emigrated to New Jersey in the 1630s and started the family line that includes Griscum, Grissom and is distantly related to "Gray" of southern Europe. The surname was "Griscombe" in England, which means 'Gray who lived on the hill' in old English; 'Gris' in latin languages means 'gray' and the ending 'combe' is old english for 'the top of the hill.'

2003-06-03T10:34:00.001-07:00

PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY – SUNDAY – 01 JUNE 2003
TODAY’S QUOTE
A lot has been said about politics; some of it complimentary, but most of it accurate - Eric Idle

GAIA
Tribe Closer To Everglades Victory (Tribune, Metro-Across The State, pg 2).
A brief from the U.S. Solicitor General joins the Federal Appeals Court decision in favor of the Miccosukee Tribe’s suit that would require the South Florida Water Management District to comply with the standards of the U.S. Clean Water Act. When enforced the standards will require cleanup of the 432,000 gallons of sugar & dairy industries waste water that enters the Everglades each day. SFWMD has appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court where the Solicitor General would argue the case, which means against SFWMD appeal.

Florida Utilities Convene To Discuss Protecting Raptors (Tribune, Metro, pg 3).
20-30 raptors are killed annually by flying into transmission lines and towers, incidents which frequently interrupt power to customers. TECO hosted the conference to explore ways to prevent raptors from hitting facilities & keep power flowing to customers.

Getting back to his nature (Clearwater Times, pg 1).
The 1½ year old dolphin rescued with 3rd degree burns covering 25% of his body is recovering nicely, and becoming frisky as he approaches puberty. See him at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, another gem in our area.

TAMPA BAY
Concerns Flow Over Water Use (Tribune, Metro, pg 5).
Tampa Sierra Club sponsored a 6 hour trip to Crystal Spring, source of the Hillsborough River, to educate Floridians about how increased extraction of water from Crystal Spring will affect the river. Nestle/Perrier, owner of Zephyrhills Spring Water, propose to increase pumping Crystal Spring from current 330,000 gallons/day over the next 10 years to1.1 million gallons per day.

Gas tax my get 6-cent increase (Clearwater Times, pg 1 lead).
The PCBCC is considering and increase in the motor fuel tax to finance needed highway work.

FLORIDA
We Nee To Do More Than Lick Wounds (Tribune, Metro, Steve Otto, pg 1).
Farm Share, remember? The private non-profit agency in south Florida that distributes surplus produce to the hungry and saves government untold $$millions. On a measly $400,000 last year, slashed by the FL Legislature this year to $200,000; “and so it goes in a mean state that has decided to abandon its most vulnerable citizens. I thought that legislators were supposed to be stewards of the public trust, that they had the responsibility for protecting the vulnerable. I thought they were supposed to rise above special interests and have some sort of vision for the entire state.” Yeah, sure! We can all get involved in some small way (maybe that’s the underlying truth in the recent budget debacles from Tallahassee!): volunteer at your neighborhood school; sign up at Big Brothers, Big Sisters; help Meals on Wheels; send a check to Farm Share at Farm Share Bldg 12, 300 N. Krome Ave, Florida City, FL 33034. “The thing is to get involved. The (FL) Legislature sure didn’t.”

Putting Off Everglades Cleanup ‘To The Maximum Extent Practicable’ (Tribune, Commentary, pg 1).
“--- experience has proved time and again that sign-and-fix is a bad way to legislate.” The Jebster acknowledged this when he signed “the Scarlet Letter Law” which was overturned by the courts and repealed by the legislature. But that is what the Jebster is again doing with the Everglades. The data suggest that the Everglades are being sold out to the maximum extent practicable.” There’s always Judge Hoeveler.

Highway Bill Paves Over All Local Laws And Rules (Tribune, Our Opinion-editorial, pg 2).
The highway bill passed by the FL Legislature and sitting on the Jebsters desk will exempt the FL DOT from all local laws and rules designed to protect local resources like clean water, air and greenspace. It would also prevent citizens working against any highway proposed by the FL DOT. Urge the Jebster to veto this awful bill.

GOP leaders learning that anti-tax ideal won’t work (Times, Metro & State, Mary Jo Melone, pg 1).
16 years ago Gov. Bob Martinez & the FL Legislature tired to improve Florida’s out-moded tax system, and failed. Now the FL Legislature is learning that they will have to do something, hopefully before another 16 years passes. As with most states, FL has evolved into a service based economy with a tax system designed for an industrial economy; those two pieces don’t satisfy the needs of the nation’s 4th largest state. Change is required, and there are some at the Tallahassee Comedy Club who understand that message.

GLOBAL
Central Park’s 150th Year Sparks Celebration (Tribune, Travel, pg 3).
In the center of Manhattan, this green space of 843 acres is host to 215 bird species (identified by NYC Audubon). Bordered by world class museums, this green space in the heart of the nation’s largest city was designed by Fredrick Law Olmstead & Calvert Vaux for the enjoyment of citizens of every stripe. If you’re ever in NYC, don’t miss it. It’s a gem.

C.U.

2003-06-03T10:34:00.000-07:00

PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY – MONDAY – 02 JUN 03

QUOTE OF THE DAY
With riches has come inexcusable waste.
We have squandered a great part of what we might have used,
and have not stopped to conserve the exceeding bounty of nature,
without which our genius for enterprise would have been worthless and impotent,
scorning to be careful, shamefully prodigal as well as admirably efficient.
The great Government we loved has too often been made use of for private and selfish purposes,
and those who used it had forgotten the people.
From the first inaugural address of President Woodrow Wilson, March 4, 1913

GAIA
Biological Clocks, Sun Aid Monarchs’ Miraculous Migration (Tribune, Nation/World-Science, pg 6).
Earth’s most extraordinary pilgrimage is slowly being unraveled by entomologist Orley Taylor (U. KS) & Steve Reppert (U. MA). Changing light cycles in the lab caused Monarchs to orient for either north or south migration. 100 million of the butterflies make the annual trek from pine forests in Michoacan west of Mexico City to Northeast & Midwest North America. The part yet to be understood is how this migratory information is passed thru four generations; Monarchs reproduce about half way in their north/south trip, so that migration in each direction is accomplished by two generations.

President’s Skewed Wildfire Policy (Tribune, Nation/World, Our Opinion-editorial, pg 10).
Dubya’s recently announced policy adjustments to stem the threat of wildfires in national forests favors timber interests, rather than streamlining the permit process and protecting communities, which Dubya claimed to justify the changes. The GAO found that: 85% of the proposed “fuel reduction” plans are near Native American reservations or lands already owned by federal or state governments; 99% of permits to remove fuel from National Forests are completed without appeal and implemented within the required 90 day period. So, why are we not surprised at this “pro-business” atmosphere? SOUND OFF!

TAMPA BAY
Where is the remorse? (Times, Opinion-editorial, pg 6).
Remember Judge Charles Cope? He who was nabbed for DUI in Naples? Accused of sexual harassment in Carmel, CA? Seems the judge has a history of tawdry behavior, and a problem with alcohol. Which the FL Supreme Court chose to overlook in its rebuke of the Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Judge, who sits in judgment of child & women abuse as well as other sensitive family situations. There was a move in the FL Legislature in 2001 to impeach Cope; it failed in the FL House Judiciary Committee. The FL Supreme Court’s decision to not disbar the abusive judge says that he has shown “sincere remorse.” To the tune of $389,000 spent to avenge his DUI arrest & the charges of sexual harassment brought by his CA victim, a doctor from MD. This bum needs to be shown the courthouse exit door! Without perks! SOUND OFF!

FLORIDA
Grilling Begins Over Bush Barbecue (Tribune, Metro, pg 6).
Williamson Bros. B-B-Que donated $10,000 in food & time to a fund raiser for the Jebster; it wasn’t reported as required by law, and it exceeds the state maximum for a business donation. The FEC is investigating. Ohhhh – those sneaky politicians.

Wrangle over medical malpractice (Times, Metro & State, pg 1 lead).
Citing two very egregious cases involving medical malpractice wherein the patients both died, this article points to another issue that one seldom hears any longer: doctors & medical staff are not held accountable for their errors. Unfortunately, in the fight about to erupt in the Tallahassee Comedy Club, these two cases are being used by the medical profession to underscore their position for the need of a ‘cap’ on malpractice awards. At the same time, they are maneuvering to exempt themselves from any and all accountability for mishandling, or worse death, of their patient’s (mis)care.
I have personally witnessed this mishandling of my own stent implant at Largo Medical Center; despite notes on my hospital chart of an enlarged prostate, the wrong catheter was used and when removed caused severe bleeding for over a week.
My best friend Jim was victim of one of the worst cases of patient mishandling I have ever witnessed. He nearly lost his life at TGH due to mis-communication, mis-diagnosis, & mis-treatment; his wife advocated for Jim from his bedside for three months. He has since joined the heart transplant program at Shands in Gainesville.
Just two examples of I am sure thousands that point up the need for strict accountability & record sunshine of the medical profession coupled with a cap on lawyers fees (say 20%) rather than on jury awards. But that’s just my experience & opinion.

GLOBAL
In rush to war, a ‘policy and intelligence fiasco of monumental proportions (Times, Opinion-columns, Nicholas D. Kristof, pg 6).
Another exposure of the manipulation of facts & the truth in order to justify the Iraq war. The Texas Posse revealed, again!

What is happening to Democrats? (Times, Opinion-columns, pg 11).
Good question. Dems have had more than ample opportunity to be the ‘loyal opposition’ which they have failed to seize, from award of the election by the U.S. Supreme Court to the obfuscation of the reality of the Iraq war and its aftermath. While the Dems have behaved with admirable decorum, the GOP has behaved with blustering zealotry. Columnist Arianna Huffington, an outspoken conservative explains: “We are being governed by a gang of out-and-out fanatics. The defining trait of the fanatic – be it Marxist, Fascist, or, gulp, a Wolfowitz – is the utter refusal to allow anything as piddling as evidence to get in the way of an unshakeable belief.” Remember all this in November 2004!

C.U.

2003-06-03T10:33:00.000-07:00

PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY – TUESDAY – 03 JUN 03
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Laws alone can not secure freedom of expression; in order that every man present his views without penalty there must be spirit of tolerance in the entire population.
Albert Einstein

GAIA
China stops the Yangtze River (Times, main, pg 4)
The world’s largest dam, and the largest civil engineering project in China since the Great Wall, will create a 385 mile long lake, bigger & containing more water than Lake Superior. 600,000 people have been relocated from 1,365 cities, towns & villages. Priceless archeological sites & treasures will be submerged along with fertile land that produces 40% of China’s grain & 70% of its rice (China has become an importer of grains, reports World Watch). Species threatened include some unique to the Yangtze River watershed: Yangtze dolphin, Chinese sturgeon, finless porpoise, giant Panda, and Siberian white crane. The dam project is expected to alter weather & climate patterns around the Earth.

TAMPA BAY
Protected Tortoises Without Safe Haven (Tribune, Metro, pg 1 lead).
Three Bartow brothers were arrested for possessing (with intent to sell) 23 Gopher Tortoises, an endangered species in FL. Gopher Tortoise meat sells for about $10-20/lb on the (black-clandestine) market; the poachers were each charged with one count misdemeanor, punishable by 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. The animals were taken to Vernon Yates in St. Pete and will be relocated to other suitable habitat.

GLOBAL
U.S. mistreated 9/11 detainees, report finds (Times, main, pg 1); Immigrant Rights Trampled After 9/11, Review Says (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 1).
DOJ watchdog finds that hundreds were jailed too long and treated inhumanely. Well, D U H H ! Civil rights, donchano.

Congress rushes to fix tax cut plan (Times, main, pg 3).
Those making $10,500 to $26,625 will be included in Dubya’s tax relief package: $400 tax relief. That’s great, guys; thanx!

Pentagon’s diary could track each word, step (Times, main, pg4).
The Pentagon now has the power to tap into every email and internet transaction to “track terrorists.” Big Brother at last!

Deliberate or not, we’ll feel the deficits (Times, main, Opinion-columns, Ronald Brownstein, pg 6).
Is this a republican ploy to further squash the democrats or is Dubya playing “Reaganomics” one more time? In either case it will incur massive deficits and federal borrowing of about $500-billion, a burden our progeny will labor to retire.

In party line vote, FCC eases ownership rules (Times, Business, pg 1 lead); FCC Relaxes Rules On Media Ownership (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 1 lead); FCC’s Update Of Media Rule Likely To Better Serve Public (Tribune, Nation/World, Our Opinion-editorial, pg 8).
3-2 in favor of removing the rules which brought diversity to American media; now anybody can own as many outlets in a market as they want, of whatever type they choose. As if being dominated by Viacom, Disney, Clear Channel, Gannet, et. al. isn’t already bad enough. The pro-business crowd thinks this decision is the greatest thing since sliced white bread. Media General Corp (who lobbied for the change), owner of The Tribune, WFLA, TV8 & Tampa Bay Online, believes the change will produce more and better news coverage. They point out that the ruling still forbids monopoly control of the media. We’ll see.

IDIOTORIAL
After a five year manhunt backed by the best technology tax dollars can buy (or, so we are told), a 21 year old 8 months on-the-force rookie cop in an obscure little hamlet in the remote Appalachians of North Carolina captures the elusive Eric Rudolph, the FBI’s #1 Most Wanted criminal in America.
The world’s finest intelligence gathering organizations, technology and analysts (or, so we are told) cannot find Ossam Bin Laden, the leader of the al-Qaeda terrorist organization; a man who undergoes kidney dialysis twice a week; a man who transfers untold millions around the world electronically; a man who periodically releases audio tapes denigrating “the west” and urging his followers (“cells”) to create further havoc around the world.
Citizens were lead to believe that Saddam Hussein, the head of the government of the sovereign state of Iraq, had weapons of mass destruction (WMD) despite the lack of any evidence to support such an assumption, as well as links to the al-Qaeda terrorist group; sufficient justification to depose the sadistic dictator by military force (or, so we are told). So, after running roughshod over a country brought to its knees by 12 years of sanction, and with minimal military resistance, the grand army-of-democracy cannot find Saddam Hussein; cannot restore the basic infrastructure needed to sustain Iraqi society; cannot restore law and order or keep the peace; while Iraqis wallow in the squalor of their nation ravaged by 30 years of a totalitarian government, genocide, and an economy ruined by internationally authorized and supported sanctions.
Meanwhile, back on the range, the world’s largest economy with the mightiest military, plunges into the quagmire of national debt; abandons its most needy citizens in favor of the ruling class of oil moguls; despoils its natural resources; ignores overwhelming scientific evidence (agreed to by over 2,500 of the Earth’s best scientists including every living Nobel Laureate) about the impending climate catastrophe; deliberately eroding the civil rights of its citizens in the guise of “safety & protection;” and advances the interests of business at the expense of accountability, protection and defense of the basic institutions of a healthy democracy.
Do you get the sense that there is something radically wrong with this picture?
Have we become so “PC” and linguistically crippled that we fail to perceive the messages hidden in these events?
Do you get the sense that the inmates are in charge of the asylum?
Or, more succinctly, that fanatics (of various stripes) influenced by “big money,” are imposing their narrow viewpoint upon a trusting (gullible?) citizenry!
Am I being paranoid and worrying without due cause? I’d like that to be the case, but my gut tells me otherwise.

C.U.

2003-05-26T14:44:00.001-07:00

PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY - THURSDAY, 01 MAY 03
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety
deserve neither liberty nor safety.
Benjamin Franklin, 1759

GAIA
The love of liberty is the love of others; the love of power is the love of ourselves.
William Hazlitt

BOATERS DESTROYING NANATEES, REPORT SAYS (Tribune, Metro, pg 5).
The Patuxent Wildlife Research Center has issued a damming report on the demise of the West Indian (FL) Manatee; record deaths attributed to (careless) watercraft users. Nearly 350 Manatee deaths in the last four years surpass the 49/year average for the previous 10 years. At that rate the species will be extinct before the end of the 21st century. Watercraft regulations have been in negotiation for nearly a decade, but boating groups say the focus should also include natural factors such as cold stress & red tide.

TECO REVAMPS POWER SUPPLY (Tribune, Money Sense, pg 1 lead).
Tampa Electric has converted its Gannon power plant to natural gas, scrapping its 50 year old coal burning plant that has been listed as the dirtiest in the nation. The conversion has added another 400 megawatts (to 1,000) of clean natural gas generators to the Gannon plant.

TAMPA BAY
Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom.
It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.
William Pitt , 1783

RECLAIMED WATER PLAN’S FEASIBILITY IN DOUBT (Tribune, Metro, pg 1).
Although the city is installing a reclaimed water system in South Tampa, it is a far different beast than the system proposed for New Tampa & southern Pasco County. The line to New Tampa had a first estimate of $47 million (partly funded by Uncle Sam) has more than tripled with the first shovel of earth yet to be moved. Tampa’s new Mayor is looking for alternatives such as large industrial and business water consumers.

TOUR OF FLORIDA-FRIENDLY YARDS SCHEDULED FOR SATURDAY (Tribune, Across the Region, pg 2).
Pinellas County Cooperative Extension Service is showcasing yards in north Pinellas county that conserve resources through native plants, minimal water use and other means. Participants MUST register for the tour at 727-582-2673. The $5 fee gets a map & directions to such yards in North Pinellas as well as a packet of information on Florida Friendly Yards.

FLORIDA
Man is the only animal that laughs and has a state legislature.
Samuel Butler
PHONE BILL RINGS UP COSTS (Tribune, Metro, pg 1),
PHONE RATES ON THE VERGE OF SOARING (Times, main, pg 1 lead).
Your local phone bill is going to go up. Drastically! Your long distance phone bill will go down. By a pittance. The FL PSC will loose oversight of phone rate increases under the bill being shepherded through the FL Legislature by, who else, Verizon and Bell South. Oh Joy! Stick it to the voter/consumer. Remember this (and others) at the next election.

SPEAKER’S PROJECT HELPS STALL BUDGET (Times, main, pg 1),
BYRD TAKES OFFENSE (Times, Opinion – editorial, pg 16).
FL House Speaker Johnnie Byrd (R-Plant City) wants FL to contribute $45 million to the Alzheimer’s Institute at USF, where he is on the board of directors. In a tight budget year, pork rules! A worthwhile project, but………….

SENATE UNANIMOUSLY APPROVES INCREASE IN PHOSPHATE TAX (Tribune, Metro – Legislature 2003, pg 4).
With support from the industry to be taxed, the FL Senate unanimously approved a bill to create a fund for the cleanup of abandoned phosphate mines in FL.

SENATE STALLS CAR INSURANCE FRAUD BILL (Times, Metro & State, pg 5).
FL Senate President Jim King (R-Jax) was stymied by FL House Speaker Johnnie Byrd (R-Plant City) in reaching a compromise on this legislation which would have saved consumers $$$. So, why are we not surprised?

BACK TO WORK, GOVERNOR TELLS LAWMAKERS (Times, Metro & State, pg 5).
Extra session for the FL Legislature, which failed to pass the state’s 2004 budget and a host of other important bills.

GLOBAL
The First Amendment is often inconvenient. But that is besides the point.
Inconvenience does not absolve the government of its obligation to tolerate speech.
Justice Anthony Kennedy
CONGRESS DIVIDED OVER EVERGLADES TIME LINE (Tribune, Metro, pg 1 lead),
STATE DELAYS EVERGLADES CLEANUP (Times, Metro & State, pg 1 lead).
Although SB626 was passed the FL Legislature (senate unanimously, house 96-18), the US Congress is still expressing its concerns and reservations. The bill, largely authored by the FL DEP Secretary David Struhs who cited the unrealistic goals of the original 1994 legislation, rewrote the goals to both extended the deadline for cleanup to 2013 and dilute the water quality standards from 10 to 15 ppb of phosphorus. Rep. C.W. Bill Young (R-Indian Rocks), chair of the US House Appropriations Committee which controls federal funding of the cleanup, together with six other congressmen have urged the Jebster to veto the bill. Other members of congress support the FL Senate bills, siding with Struhs in its defense. The final curtain has yet to descend on this issue. Stay tuned.

BEIJING FACES UP TODISEASE REALITY, U.S. PREPARING FOR POSSIBLE OUTBREAK (Times, main, pg 2).
While China’s national government is finally taking steps to stem the tide of the SARS virus, the U.S. is preparing health care workers for a possible epidemic of the dreaded disease.

VAST OIL RESERVES, YET LITTLE GAS; OIL DRILLERS’ DREAMS OF DEALS SEEM UNLIKELY; IRAQ’S RETURN TO PRODUCTION MAY PUT SQUEEZE ON OPEC; & U.N. OFFICIAL: (DON’T PULL PLUG ON
OIL-FOR-FOOD DEAL (Times, main, pg 5).
Iraqi oil production was allowed to rot away for 35 years under Hussein; Iraqi citizens line up for a few meager gallons of gasoline (a la 1975 in USA?); OPEC is worried Iraq’s maximum oil production will drive down already softened world market prices; France, Russia, China and others are biting their nails over contracts lost and no deals for those that did not support Dubya’s war; and the UN is concerned that oil revenues will not be used to provide food for starving Iraqis. Still think it ain’t about oil? Yeah, right.

NORTH KOREA WARNS OF WAR IF SANCTIONS ARE IMPOSED (Time, main, pg 15).
The other “Mouse That Roared?” Remember the movie. This ain’t a movie. The “axis of evil” redux? De-ja-vue? Where’s Dubya when you need him?

ASHCROFT’S OBSESSION WITH SECRECY (Times, Opinion – columns, Nat Hentoff, pg 16).
After Patriot Act I, Ashcroft began drafting Patriot Act II in secret until somebody in Justice leaked a memo. Remember Agent Coleen Rowley who blew the whistle on the FBI? Congress in its infinite wisdom exempted the FBI from the provisions of the whistle blower act, hence her difficulties and AG Ashcroft’s obsession with secrecy. Internal policy at DOJ includes rules that require DOJ lawyers to get approval for their testimony before congress. The AG also wants to be able to arrest, question, jail and strip you of you citizenship without any oversight or judicial procedure. Sort of like Iraq, no! Ashcroft’s Army! You scared yet?

NOTE: Yesterday I identified Rep. C.W. Bill Young as being from St. Pete; he’s from Indian Rocks.
Anything written in italics are my personal comments, except quotations; everything else is paraphrased or quoted from the
credited articles.

C.U.

2003-05-26T14:44:00.000-07:00

PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY – FRIDAY – 02 MAY 03
The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush.
It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.
Robert Hutchins, Great Books, 1954

TAMPA BAY
As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.
Abraham Lincoln
We’re Sorry But Speaker Major Major Is Unavailable (Tribune, Nation/World, Daniel Ruth, pg 2).
Daniel’s acerbic wit takes another shot at FL House Speaker Johnnie Byrd - & scores a bullseye.

Polk Pupil Develops Probable SARS Case (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 1).
The twelve year old had been exposed to the virus on a trip to Toronto. 800 parents have been cautioned and advised on preventive measures.
FLORIDA
Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote.
George Jean Nathan
Why local pone companies need to charge higher rates (Tribune, Our Opinion – editorial, pg 14).
Makes compelling argument for competition in local phone business, although the Jebster vetoed it last year.
Sticking it to phone users (Times, Opinion – editorial).
Makes compelling argument against hike in local phone rates.
This time around, phone companies win (Times, Metro & State, pg 5).
You’ve heard it all before – the little guy gets to pick up the tab, once again.

A Bill Badly In Need Of A Veto (Tribune, Our Opinion - editorial, pg 14).
Concerning the seriously faulted Everglades bill.

Gov. Bush Tries To Close Budget Gap (Tribune, Metro, pg 1),
Bush To Legislature: Work together, Get Your Work Done (Times, main, pg 1),
Republican gridlock (Times, Opinion – editorial),
Legislature Crams In Bills At Session’s End (Tribune, Metro – Legislature 2003, pg 4),
Cap On Bright Futures Wins House Approval (Tribune, Metro – Capitol Roundup),
Bill exempts agriculture from local regulation (Times, Metro & State – Flor9da News, pg 5),
Tweaked Workers’ comp bill may be too late, for now (Times, Metro & State – Florida News, pg 5).
Agreement on class size is running out of time (Times, Metro & State – Florida News, pg 5),
Senate passes no-fault reforms (Times, Metro & State – Legislature 2003, pg 5),
Of ‘turkeys’ and ‘teasers’ (Times, Metro & State – Legislature 2003, pg 5).
Johnnie Byrd would get his Alzheimer’s research center at USF & 5 state hospitals would be exempt from oversight.
S.S.D.D. at the Tallahassee Comedy Club. Have Floridians had enough of these dysfunctional (so called) representatives, yet?

GLOBAL
When I was a boy I was told that anybody could become President; I'm beginning to believe it.
Clarence Darrow
House Meets Bush’s Request To Fund Global AIDS Fight (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 5).
US House passed a bill to fund Dubya’s request for $15 billion to fight HIV/AIDS.

And all the usual drivel about Iraq, ad nauseum.

2003-05-26T14:43:00.000-07:00

PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY – SATURDAY – 03 MAY 03
In America, anybody can be president. That's one of the risks you take.
Adlai Stevenson

GAIA
Florida Dunes Feel Their Oats (Tribune, Metro, pg 1).
Interesting story about a family that migrated to FL & began a nursery business – but not the ornamental nursery business which they owned in Montana. They foresaw a future in environmental horticulture and began growing sea oats their Parrish nursery, a plant protected by FL law and vital for the restoration of beaches and the marine environment. The nursery produces almost a million sea oats a year which are used in beach stabilization & restoration world wide. They also grow other plants for the beach habitat and advise in their use.

Judge, Gov. Bush Vow To Support Everglades Effort (Tribune, Metro, pg 5),
Judge holds fast to Glades plan (Times, Metro & State, pg 1 lead).
Basically, the judge tells the Jebster, Sec. Struhs, Big Sugar & the FL Legislature, “No way!”

Cleaning up nature with nature (Times, Metro & State, pg 4).
Diagrams & explanation of the natural systems scientists are using to restore the Everglades. 46,000 acres of storm water treatment areas have been created to filter & clean the water flowing into the River of Grass.

TAMPA BAY
A city that shreds public laws (Times, Opinion – editorial, pg 16).
The City of Pinellas Park officials routinely & repeatedly destroy public documents, alter them or refuse to release them, despite FL law prohibiting such behavior. This is not a single occurrence but a series of repeated offenses. The Times is urging Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney to enforce the public records law in The City of Pinellas Park.

Millions trimmed from city budget (Times, Metro & State – Local News, pg 3).
St. Pete’s budget slashed $4+ million, with jobs, training & recreation taking the biggest hits.

FLORIDA
Bills Preserve Manatee Funds, Add Patrols (Tribune, Metro – Legislature 2003, pg 4).
Manatee trust fund is safe, for another year. A bill to divert tax money collected on marine fuels will be used to beef up marine patrols in order to protect the endangered Manatee and enforce other boating regulations.

Crackdown Approved On Predatory Pricing (Tribune, Metro – Capitol Roundup, pg 4).
SB2264 will eliminate the increasing health insurance premiums charged sick people by out of state insurance companies.

Lawmakers OK Stiffer Penalties For Corruption (Tribune, Metro – Capitol Roundup, pg 4).
HB847 is on to the Jebster for his signature and provides for stiffer penalties for: bribery or public officials and those that accept the bribes; falsifying public documents; tampering with bids; obstructing criminal investigations; misuse of public offices. These crimes are now a felony with a minimum sentence of 15 years.

Tourists, Others Face Higher Fees For Permits (Tribune, Metro – Capitol Roundup, pg 4).
SB2388 will increase freshwater fishing license to $25/week, $45/annual for non-resident Floridians. Permits for keeping venomous reptiles or exhibiting wildlife will increase to $100.

Lawmakers preserve eviction protection (Times, Metro & State – Florida News, pg 6).
Protects mobile home owners from expenses caused by sale of their land.

43,000 kids fail reading FCAT (Times, main, pg 1),
10,000 fail FCAT test needed to graduate (Times, main, pg 7).
Are you surprised at the dismal achievement of Florida’s schools?

Legislators go home: no budget, no class size cuts (Times, Metro & State, pg 1),
Shameful session collapses in disarray (Times, Metro & State, Lucy Morgan, pg 1),
Physicians suspend practices in rate crisis (Times, Metro & State – Florida News, pg 6),
Civil rights bill dies in Senate (Times, Metro & State – Florida News, pg 6),
Rodman Dam (Times, Metro & State – Legislature 2003, pg 6),
Will be saved by FL Senate bill – if the Jebster doesn’t veto it which is likely;
Farm Regulation (Times, Metro & State – Legislature 2003, pg 6),
SB1660 protects cattle 7 chicken farmers from local regulation.
Well, D U H H H ! Dysfunctional is the best description.

2003-05-26T14:42:00.001-07:00

SUMMARY OF TAMPA TRIBUNE/ST. PETERSBURG TIMES
Some people's idea of [free speech] is that they are free to say what they like,
but if anyone says anything back, that is an outrage.
Winston Churchill, British Prime Minister - 1943

GAIA
Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely according to conscience, above all liberties.
John Milton (1608 - 1674) English poet - 1644.
Bird Watching Excursions Really Taking Flight (Tribune, Travel, pg 2).
Good story about the Virginia Birding & Wildlife Trail which includes not only great birding sites but also the state’s rich and varied history and contributions to the American culture.

Bay Stewards (Tribune, Pinellas, pg 1).
Great story about Tampa Bay watch, its founder, and its phenomenal growth over the past 15 years. The group started in Peter Clark’s living room and is in the process of raising $3.5 million to build its headquarters, classroom & interpretive center on Cunningham Key.

TAMPA BAY
National security is the fig leaf against freedom of information.
Ralph Nader, lawyer & consumer advocate – 1976
Public Nudity Foe Pushes Hillsborough Ordinance (Tribune, Metro, pg 2).
David Caton, born-again bible banger & reformed drug/alcohol addict, is once again pushing his personal version of morality & acceptable behavior. This time with Hillsborough County Commissioner Rhonda Storm (a lawyer & free speech/first amendment opponent) as his mouthpiece, pushing his agenda. What are the lessons of prohibition & censorship? Those who don’t know their history are doomed to repeat it, and these zealots obviously don’t know their history!

It Takes A Village (Tribune, Baylife, pg 10).
Excellent story about Heritage Village in Pinellas County’s Pinewood Cultural Park. The annual Civil War Reenactment next Saturday will feature period costumes, daily life and crafts in the replica of late-19/early-20th century Florida. Great fun.

FLORIDA
Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves.
Abraham Lincoln, lawyer & US president – 1856
GOP’s Struggle Worries Governor (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 1 lead),
Is Anybody Out There Still Laughing? (Tribune, Metro – Steve Otto, pg 1),
Legislature sets new standard for catastrophe (Times, Perspective – Martin Dyckman, pg 1),
Antitax ideology in Tallahassee hobbles Florida’s future (Times, Perspective – Opinion, Philip Gailey, pg 3).
This year’s FL Legislature has been characterized as the worst in history, and republican leaders in FL (and the nation) are beginning to worry that a fringe element of the party is diluting the mainstream conservative message. It is a tragedy of the first order, and one which every concerned Floridian should long note & remember! The Jebster has ordered to legislature to reconvene to work on the budget, the only item of business required by the FL Constitution of the annual 60 day session.

Johnnie comes marching home (Times, Perspective – editorial, pg 2).
Of this year’s legislative calamity (FL) House Speaker Johnnie Byrd (R-Plant City) offered, “---all this will fade into the mist of history.” What may fade into the mist is some of what make’s Florida great: $84 million less for universities even as they accept more students; broken Bright Futures scholarships; $100 million less for remedial public school programs at a time when the Jebster is pushing for summer schools; $50 million less for school books; ad nauseum. Byrd could not be emperor without the acquiescence of 80 other subservient republicans, 14 from northern Tampa Bay region who voted with Byrd on every budget slashing issue. All 14 of these ‘representatives’ tried to convince concerned citizens with double talk that makes absolutely no sense. The duplicity of these ‘team players’ are what make Byrd’s stifling budgetary edicts thrive; they all voted for Byrd’s budget that was $1.4 billion less than the FL Senate version. When Byrd blasted FL Senate republicans for their version, they all stood and applauded Byrd. Those 80 republicans also have no qualms voting for Byrd’s cherished Alzheimer’s Research Center to the tune of $45 million, or for the $400 million in pork doled out to legislator, or voting against any modernizing of the hopelessly antiquated Florida tax system! To whom do these 14 FL House members owe a greater allegiance, the families back home or Johnnie Byrd? Sound off & voice your opinion: Heather Fiorentino, Port Richey – 727-816-1307; Kevin Ambler, Tampa – 813-558-1333; Bus Bilirakis, Palm Harbor – 727-669-1911; Kim Berfield, Clearwater – 727-724-3000; Leslie Waters, St. Petersburg – 727-545-6421; Frank Farkas, St Petersburg – 727-893-9855; John Carassas, Largo – 727-518-3186; Sandra Murman, Tampa – 813-272-2884; Faye Culp, Tampa – 813-272-2920; Ed Homan, Tampa – 813-558-1330.

Elections Chief Seeks 600% Boost (Tribune, Metro, pg 5).
Broward County Elections Supervisor Miriam Oliphant (the world capitol of hanging chads & electile dysfunction) wants 660 more touch screen voting machines, increasing her department’s budget from $5.8 to $35.6 million.

USA & GLOBAL
Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions.
It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.
William O. Douglas, Supreme Court Justice
N.Y. Goes Extra Yard To Celebrate Central Park Anniversary (Tribune, Baylife, pg 2).
The world famous park in Manhattan was designed by renowned landscape architect Fredrick Law Olmstead. Central Park was authorized by the New York State Legislature in 1853 and opened to the public in 1858. There are 58 miles of walking paths in the 286 acre Central Park where NYCAS has identified over 150 species of birds in Central Park.

Syria Begins Closing Militant Group Offices (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 8).
Assad of Syria has agreed to shut down militant Arab groups & keep its border with Iraq closed after talks with Secretary of State Colin Powell. Assad wants specific goals & time line for the Palestinian Peach Process in return. A step in the right direction.

IDIOTORIAL
In large states public education will always be mediocre,
for the same reason that in large kitchens the cooking is usually bad.
Friedrich Nietzsche, philosopher, poet
Nothing should be overlooked in fighting for better education. Be persistent and ornery;
this will be good for the lethargic educational establishment and will aid the whole cause of public education.
Roy Wilkins, civil rights leader, 1969.

PUBLIC EDUCATION.
Much has been written about the deplorable state of public education in the USA. In the past 50 (+) years, education reformers have been tinkering and experimenting with new ideas, methods and ever escalating spending for peripheral services, e.g.: media, counselors of every ilk, vice/deputy/assistant this that and the other, computers, etc (all the while pleading for volunteers to assist). The inevitable result has been the downward spiraling of the quality of education and student achievement to well below mediocrity, with Florida at or near the bottom of the heap in every measure the overcompensated education establishments can devise to justify their bloated existence (a task they fail, with honors).
While administrators and school board members (here in Florida at least) award themselves with lavish packages of remuneration and benefits, the overworked classroom teachers whose job it is to deliver the product (educated students) provided by our tax dollars must often work two and three jobs just to survive; many of these teachers provide the basic tools necessary for students to learn, e.g.: paper, pencils, rulers, books, erasers, ink, pens, as well as visual aids, periodical subscriptions, field trips, etc. because the system does not.
Has anybody (in charge) a clue as to what is wrong with this picture? Apparently not. Or major apathy has set in.
I have often recalled my school days where none of today’s accoutrements were offered (with the notable exception of one guidance counselor for the entire system!), yet somehow that school system managed to produce some of the most creative and innovative thinkers and doers in our history. Where we had a balanced technical & scholastic exposure with four years of English & two languages, calculus, trigonometry, geometry, algebra, ancient & modern history, and more.
Maybe it’s time we got back to basics! Maybe it’s time that we require the education establishment to provide education services that fit the needs of our society; education which will enable each member of society to survive in dignity and provide for the future of their progeny! Maybe it’s time that education divorced itself from the solely academic tract and provided multiple tracts to satisfy the needs of the scholar, the technician and the laborer! Maybe it’s time to adequately compensate, acknowledge & reward those that deliver the product! Maybe it’s time we required those hired to lead and motivate, to do so! And, maybe it’s time to stop stuffing their bloated egos with equally bloated compensation packages!
What do you think?

C.U.

P.S. I’ll be out of town until 5/12/03. Enjoy the respite.

2003-05-26T14:42:00.000-07:00

PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY – MONDAY – 05 MAY 03
Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws.
Plato

GAIA(427-347 B.C.)
The power of accurate observation is frequently called cynicism by those who don't have it.
George Bernard Shaw
Residents Wary Of New-Airport Plan (Tribune, Metro, pg 4).
Panhandle residents are mounting a campaign to rebut the proposed new airport near St. Joe. The vast tracts of timberland would be severely impacted by such a project and area citizens are voicing their concerns all the way up to the Jebster who favors the project (is it a mere coincidence that St. Joe Paper Co. is a big republican contributor?). St. Joe has plans to develop 73,000 acres but vows to set aside 36,000 acres for conservation purposes.

TAMPA BAY
In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Martin Luther King Jr
Turtle Lovers Warn People To Keep Distance From Nests (Tribune, Metro, pg 3).
Massive campaign to educate people about sea turtles at the peak of their nesting season.

Experts Buzzing About Mosquito Precautions (Tribune, Metro, pg 2).
Another massive campaign to educate people about Florida’s mosquito population, how to minimize their breeding areas, and personal protection from the pesky little critters disease potential.

FLORIDA
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.
Albert Einstein
Wildlife Agency In A Cat Fight (Tribune, Metro, pg 1 lead).
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission is in the throes of revamping its policies towards feral cats, and has mounted an intense campaign to protect its public image in regards to the cute & cuddly animals that have become a nuisance to other wildlife.

GLOBAL
I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect
has intended us to forgo their use.
Galileo Galilei
Secretaries tell Syria it’s being watched (Times, main, pg 2).
Secretary of State Powell & Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld issued warnings that Syria is being watched for positive changes in its behavior regarding Iraq/Terrorist fugitives & the Israeli/Palestinian situation.

Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right.
Henry Ford

C.U. next week.

2003-05-26T14:41:00.000-07:00

PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY – MONDAY – 12 MAY 03
The Democrats are the party that says government will make you
smarter, taller, richer, and remove the crabgrass on your lawn.
The Republicans are the party that says government doesn't work
and then they get elected and prove it.
P. J. O'Rourke

GAIA
Protesters decry rules to protect manatees (Times, Metro & State, pg 3).
Proposed federal boating rules to aid the Manatee met with opposition at a public hearing in Ft. Myers. Save The Manatee Club had petitioned for federal intervention in the effort to save the endangered species, but boaters claimed ‘economic hardship’ and increased dangers due to boating congestion under the proposed rules. The human species is SO special.

Environmental Groups Question Growth Interest On Water Board (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 1).
The governing boards of water districts are peopled with pro-development interests at the risk of potable water supplies, so claims the Florida Water Coalition of which FL Audubon is a member. 7 of 11 members of the SWFWMD board have direct connections to development interests or service the development industry. Hmmmm. Is there a pattern here?

Crops And Climate (Tribune, Nation/World – Fast Forward, pg 8).
Scientists at the Department of Global Ecology at the Carnegie Institute in Stamford, CA, have analyzed two decades of climate variations and conclude that corn and soybean crops could decline as much as 17% in the face of global warming; the average surface temperature has risen 1/3rd of a degree since 1979 according to climate records.

Moon-Watcher Alert: Lunar Eclipse Thursday (Tribune, Nation/World – In The Nation, pg 10).
A 53 minute eclipse of the moon will take place Thursday night, 15 MAYT 03, beginning about 2313 EDT.

‘Possum Lady’ Shelters Much-Maligned Marsupials (Tribune, Metro, pg 5).
Carri Weiser of Ft. Walton is caring for 47 abandoned babies and injured adult Opossums in her bathroom, guest bedroom and back porch. Weiser volunteers at the Emerald Coast Wildlife Refuge when not caring for her marsupial foster family.

TAMPA BAY
Naked ineptitude (Times, Opinion – editorial, pg 10).
Chiding the Hillsborough County Commission under the leadership of Rhonda Storms for (her) self-serving campaign against one nude club in the county, at the same time HCC agreed to pay for the demagogic Storms’ crusade against public access TV to the tune of $250,000. We get the government we deserve!

Homeowners’ plight worries county (Clearwater Times, Opinion – guest column, Stephen M. Spratt, pg 2).
The county administrator weighs in with one of the slickest smoke and mirrors propaganda pieces in memory; he attempts to both cover for the county building inspectors and comfort the homeowners who must bear the burden for the shoddy construction and building code enforcement at Nature’s Watch. This is going to be another long battle in the courts with only one winner: lawyers.

FLORIDA
All over, overtime for state senators (Times, main, pg 3).
Seems as though Florida isn’t the only state where the legislature is going into overtime. Rough economic times make for some hard choices, everywhere. The Tallahassee Comedy Club has once again opened its doors for the money peddlers to influence the outcome of the only job required by the Florida Constitution: pass a budget. Would it be possible if they didn’t dole out $400 million in ‘pork’ or if they adopted some changes to the tax structure recommended by Florida Tax Watch? Long shot at best with this “no new taxes” breed of compassionate conservatives in charge. Sound off!

Budget Anxiety (Times, Opinion – editorial, pg 10).
Florida is 45th (of 50 sates) in funding higher education, with the state’s colleges having lost more than $450 million in the past 12 years and slatted to loose another $84 million this year. While the Jebster (education governor?) remains curiously silent over this issue, educators throughout Florida are scrambling to fill the void and ease the pain of new taxes that will ultimately be required to support Florida’s (so called) education system.

Voices rise in scabrous disapproval of legislators (Times, Metro & State, Howard Troxler column),
Lawmakers working on bottom line (Times, Metro & State, pg 1),
In tax tangle, Byrd keeps his footing (Times, Metro & State, pg 1).
While Floridians support republicans, a mere 16% approve of this years legislature! The poll conducted by The Times & other FL newspapers reveals that most Floridians support the republican ‘no new taxes’ agenda except in support of education. They also resoundingly disapprove of the effort to turn dedicated trust funds over to the general fund. Sad, but the “no new taxes/live within our means” mantra still drives the republican lead FL House leaders. Hmmm. Stay tuned.

Gardens Catch Park Owner’s Eye (Tribune, Metro, pg 1 lead).
Kent Buescher, owner of Wild Adventures in Georgia, is negotiating with the state and Cypress Gardens owners to buy the historic theme park on Lake Eloise in Winter Haven. There is hope for the shuttered theme park.

GLOBAL
Iraq chaos prompts reshuffle (Times, main, pg 1 lead),
Franks voids Ba’ath Party (Times, main, pg 6).
Things aren’t going so swimmingly, so the Texas Posse has decided to shuffle the deck chairs around. Unh huh! Meanwhile, the chief honcho at Central Command has decided that the Ba’ath Party should be eliminated, but ex-party members will be used in the effort to rebuild Iraq’s infrastructure. Dandy!

Supreme Court Should Kill McCain-Feingold Law (Tribune, Our Opinion – editorial, pg 12).
Logical arguments for the Supreme Court to trash the campaign money law under the First Amendment. Too many loopholes that attempt to squash some speech while allowing others which was the cause of the Appeals Court challenge. Controlling speech is expressly prohibited in the US Constitution, thus the basis for this editorial. A good one, too.

Steamroller Ashcroft – conservatives beware: an out-of-control attorney-general is trampling on your principles (Economist, May 3-9, 2003, pg 36).
It’s bad enough that the election defeated (he lost to a dead man, remember!) US Attorney-general is scuttling our Constitutionally guaranteed civil rights in the name of ‘security’. But he is also laying siege to many of the traditional arenas of conservatism beginning with state’s rights; he has challenged voter approved initiatives in CA (medical marijuana) and OR (assisted suicide) both of which fly in the face of the US Constitution and the Supreme Court. The country’s terror-fighter has also anointed himself moralizer-in-chief. Big John’s new-found reverence for central government runs exactly opposite the whole point of the American political system’s sensitivity to local differences. That means that a richly diverse US population can try lots of different approaches to the entire range of issues without fear of intervention by a moralistic fanatic. Or so it once was before the Texas Posse arrived inside the Beltway. Hypocritical Ashcroft resisted federal school intervention while AG for Missouri, but this turn of events should put every concerned US citizen on notice of the short-sighted and misguided intent of Big John. Scarier & scarier!

2003-05-26T14:40:00.000-07:00

PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY – FRIDAY – 16 MAY 03

GAIA
A nation which makes the final sacrifice for life and freedom does not get beaten.
Kemal Atatürk
Legislators Agree On Bill To Reclaim Phosphate-Ravaged Land (Tribune, Metro, pg 6).
Urged by the phosphate industry & environmental groups, the FL Legislature is about to pass a bill that would establish a trust fund to clean up old phosphate mines with taxes levied on the phosphate industry itself. At least one good move!

TAMPA BAY
Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have.
The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases.
Thomas Jefferson
Another county comes through (Times, Opinion-editorial, pg 16).
Reacting to the FL Legislature’s devastating cuts in education, 10 FL Counties (Escambia, Flagler, Lake, Leon, Manatee, Orange, Sarasota, Seminole & Volusia) have passed ballot initiatives to fund their school systems. Polk County is #10, which passed an initiative this week to raise $450 million over the next 15 years. If this portends a trend, then it’s not an altogether bad thing, in the big picture. At least the Tallahassee Comedy Club can claim that it didn’t raise taxes, and “is living within our means.”

FDLE asked to review claim against official (Times, Metro & State – Local News, pg 3),
Law Enforcement Joins Investigation of County Attorney (Tribune, Metro, pg 1).
Accusations against Hillsborough County Attorney have been so egregious that the State Attorney has requested a review by Florida’s top investigative agency. Another dust up in Hillsborough exemplifying the increasingly out of touch bureaucratic world.

FLORIDA
All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word:
freedom; justice; honor; duty; mercy; hope.
Sir Winston Churchill
Worse than taxes (Times, Opinion-editorial, pg 16).
The FL Legislature has kept its promise of “no new taxes” this year. But they have passed several measures that will increase: your local phone bills; fees for hunting & fishing licenses; speeding fines; and a $20 processing fee for insurance policy issued. Just a few examples of the republican version of “no new taxes.”

Governor, Legislature have their own language (Times, Opinion-columns, Diane Roberts, pg 17).
Another scribe weighs in with a scathing report on the FL Legislature’s & Governor’s ability to twist the meaning of words to fit their skewed political agenda. The FL Senate finally caves in to the will of the FL House Speaker’s will, hoping that his lack of leadership will be either vetoed by the Jebster or repaired at some later date. As if the voters won’t remember. Bait & Switch!

It Slices, Dices, Grates And Grinds Democracy In A Jiffy! (Tribune, Nation/World, Daniel Ruth, pg 2).
Likening this years FL Legislature & its leaders to that famous veg-a-matic commercial; not only has the Tallahassee Comedy Club not accomplished the peoples business, but it has also accommodated every lobbyist with deep pockets and done most of it contrary to Florida’s Sunshine Law, etc. Another scathing and entertaining piece by Ruth. A must read.

GLOBAL
There are two ways to conquer and enslave a nation. One is by the sword. The other is by debt.
John Adams
Committee keeps small-nuke ban (Times, main, pg 13).
Democratic pressure kept a ban on small yield nuclear arms in place as the House Armed Services Committee worked on Dubya’s plan to reinstate nuclear arms development & atmospheric testing. Dubya’s plan to design and test small yield (less than 5kilo ton) nuclear arms is likely to pass both houses of Congress this session.

C.U.

2003-05-26T14:39:00.001-07:00

PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY – SATURDAY – 17 MAY 03
When governments fear the people, you have liberty;
when people fear the government, you have tyranny.
Thomas Jefferson
GAIA
Waste may get dumped deeper (Times, Metro & State, pg 1).
The contaminated waste water from the abandoned Piney Point phosphate mine will likely be dumped in the Gulf of Mexico more than the proposed 40 miles from shore. The FL & US EPAs are considering changing the order after hearing from many citizens & groups concerned with the impact of the waste water.

Fewer Florida Wildfires? (Tribune, Metro, pg 1 lead).
The wildfire season has been slow this year due to a better than average rate of precipitation. But the state is drying up and the chance of wildfires is increasing daily, with the most likely wildfire areas along the nature coast west to Panama City. Tampa Bay is on the low end of the risk scale.

TAMPA BAY
Job upgrades only likely if roads, schools improve (Times, Business, pg 1.)
The average wage in the Tampa Bay area is 9% below the national average, and attempts to attract more high paying jobs are at a stand still because the region lacks those amenities that attract those type of jobs and the people to perform them. E.g.: schools, transportation, culture, etc. Well, duhhhhh!!!!!

Acton Taking 90-Day Medical Leave (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 1).
The Hillsborough Attorney has ducked out from under the gun to deal with her “diabetes problem”. But it has nothing to do with the fact that she doesn’t get along with the county administrator or that she is under investigation by both the state and FBI. Unh huh! Yeah, sure, right-on. You GO girl.

City Plans To Buy Wetlands For Public Park (Tribune, Metro – ACROSS THE REGION, pg 2).
Tampa is negotiating to buy 225 acres of coastal wetlands between Picnic Island and MacDill AFB south of Commerce Street. The city plans to remove invasive species, construct boardwalks & trails, including a canoe/kayak trail through the park.

FLORIDA
Freeze fees? Puh-lease! (Times, main, pg 1).
“No New Taxes?” Welllll - - I’ll give you a good price on some really great oceanfront property in Sante Fe!!!!!!!
$400 million will be picked out of your pocket by increased fees authorized by this year FL Legislature (is it coincidental that is the same amount of ‘pork’ being sent back to districts?). Fees & fines for cell phones, mobile homes, document stamps, auto insurance, court filing, background checks, college applications, speeding, license for venomous reptiles, turtle eggs, etc. etc. will all be increased. But our stalwart representatives have held the line with “no new taxes” so we can all be rid of that cumbersome, intrusive state bureaucracy (but the FL House Speaker’s pet project (Alzheimer’s Center at USF) will be funded!). There’s a move afoot once again to defund the state Historic Library, and these great thinkers ignored any advice to modernize Florida’s antiquated tax structure or endorse sales taxes for internet/mail order transactions. Never mind the increase in local taxes and bureaucracy to do what the state won’t under the “leadership” of Jeb Bush, Johnnie Byrd, Jim King, et. al. File this away in your memory bank for November 2004!

FL, GA, AL close to water-share deal (Times, main, pg 7),
Bush Nears Deal With 2 Governors On Usage Of Water From 3 Rivers (Tribune, Metro, pg 6).
After 10 years of hassling, a water sharing deal is close to completion by the republican governors of the three states in the Flint-Chattahoochee-Apalachicola river basin. The goal is to both preserve the natural habitat of the basin and to provide adequate potable water to the region.

Danny’s question (Times, main, Opinion-editorial, pg 14).
Danny Stagnitta met with his FL Representative, Frank Farkas (R-St. Pete) yesterday. After the meeting, the 8 year old asked his mother, “Do you think he’s lying?” He was referring to Farkas’s pledge to increase education funding in FL, which the legislature has seriously gutted under republicans, including Frank Farkas. This is just one example of the two-faced machinations of this years FL Legislature, most of which you have read here or heard on TV or the radio. It really is criminal!

Inappropriately protected (Times, main, Opinion-editorial, pg 14).
Following his anti-abortion philosophy, the Jebster on Tuesday overrode a DCF abortion decision and asked an Orland judge to appoint a guardian for the fetus, contrary to a 1989 FL Supreme Court decision that such an appointment was inappropriate. The 22 year old woman is severely retarded, autistic, suffers from cerebral palsy and seizure disorder, weighs a mere 88 pounds, and cannot talk, or walk without assistance; she is pregnant from a rape. Bringing the fetus to term will likely kill her with a good chance that the fetus will not be normal or die from the birth process. Ahhhh! Compassionate conservatives!

House water bill exempts pumping at Cone Ranch (Times, Metro & State, pg 1).
A slap in the face to Tampa Bay Water, HB105A also allows residents near the new resevoir in south Hillsborough to collect from the agency for property depreciation. Johnnie Byrd (R-Plant City, FL House Speaker) strikes again.

House approves secrecy shield for Alzheimer’s research center (Times, Metro & State-Florida News, pg 5).
Under the FL House version of the budget, Johnnie Byrd gets his USF research center with a twist: its operations on public money will be shielded from the FL Sunshine Law. Why are we not surprised?

Byrd shuns history; will history forget him? (Times, Metro & State-Florida News, pg 5).
The FL House Speaker wants to deny funding for the Florida History Museum, just $250,000. I thought this one was over with! Ahhh the politics of “live within our means.” But let’s bring home the pork!

Within similar budgets, sharp differences linger (Times, Metro & State, pg 1),
House, Senate Agree On Budget (Tribune, Metro, pg 1).
The divide between the two houses of the FL Legislature over minor budget items is deeper than ever. These items are not in the FL Senate version of this year’s budget: the FL House Speaker’s pet project, $45 million for the Alzheimer Research Center at USF; $120 million the Jebster wants for school recognition awards; the $28 million sales tax holiday; there are many other. The FL Senate, to its credit, believes that these and other items will have to be addressed in another special session later this year due to the fact that FL is growing and its population needs services that the 2003 budget fails to provide.

Prescription Drug Measure Lacks Senate Support (Tribune, Metro, pg 3).
Citing budget constraints, the FL Senate has not backed the FL House approved measure to support senior drug needs.

GLOBAL
Secret settlements hurt consumers (Times, Opinion-columns, Stephen Gillers, pg 15).
We have all heard about the many consumers injured from faulty consumer products. Many companies pay off claims out of court & avoid oversight by placing a veil of secrecy over the settlement contracts; until somebody blows the whistle and brings the issue to the public. The GM C/K pick up trucks, or the faulty Pfizer heart valves, or tobacco, of Ford’s Pinto, Firestone’s tires. It is the secrecy that hurts consumers, and courts should not seal those records so that the problem can be corrected before it becomes a plague.

24 Dead, 60 Injured In Blasts In Casablanca (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 1).
Another al-Qaida linked terrorist bombing just days after the one in Riyadh. Oh boy – spine tingling anticipation.

Exit Of Troops In Iraq Delayed By Security Check (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 7).
The new administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer III, has ordered U.S. &British troops to stay on while security is beefed up in the ravished Iraq. Basic infrastructure has been slow to be restarted and civil unrest is still prevalent. Ohhh – that’s a surprise!

C.U.

2003-05-26T14:39:00.000-07:00

PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY – SUNDAY – 18 MAY 2003

GAIA
Trying to be a first-rate reporter on the average American newspaper is like
trying to play Bach's 'St. Matthew's Passion' on a ukulele.
Bagdikian's Observation
Health Alerts Rise At Beaches (Tribune, Metro, pg 1).
Storm water run-off, animal and human feces & sewage are blamed for the closing or swimming advisory at 25% of U.S. beaches in 2001. Three beaches in the Tampa Bay region are the most at risk: Oelsner Park Beach in New Port Richey, Courtney Campbell in Clearwater, and Bahia Beach in Sun City. All tolled, 164 closings or advisories have been posted at the region’s beaches in 2002 and 41 so far this year; only Bahia Beach is currently under a warning.

Little-used Lake Chautauqua Park A ‘Hidden Jewel’ (Tribune, Pinellas, pg 1 lead).
It’s a plant lovers paradise, birding ain’t no slouch either, and rumor has it trophy bass inhabit the lake. Check it out.

City Brushes Off objections, Approves Proposal For Fields (Tribune, Pinellas, pg 3).
Clearwater City Commission voted 4-1 for the $4 million project to transform the Glen Oaks Golf Course into a park. Oh yeah, “the clearing of dozens of oak trees, some more than 100 years old” was also approved to accommodate 170 parking spaces, two multipurpose playing fields, storm water control, fishing, and trails.

TAMPA BAY
Facts are facts and will not disappear on account of your likes.
Jawaharlal Nehru
Logic and the victim get lost in the skirmish over abortion (Times, Metro & State, Mary Jo Melone, pg 1).
The raped and now pregnant DCF ward in Orlando is being used by the Jebster to gain political points with the anti-abortion crowd. Now that she’s pregnant the Jebster wants a guardian appointed for the fetus. “The problem is, the story focuses on the wrong element, the needs of the fetus. We aren’t hearing a peep about the woman. How did it come to be that this woman, in state care just about all her life, ended up in a place so poorly run that she was raped? Wasn’t the state responsible? She had no family. Once she turned 18 and was no longer in foster care, the state should have named a guardian for her. That never happened. Like everything else it touches, the DCF screwed this one up. Yet you don’t hear Bush asking why.”

FLORIDA
Good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.
Barry LePatner
Everglades judge stands his guard (Times, main, pg 1).
Judge Hoeveler’s 4 page Court Order lambasted the FL Legislature and Gov. Bush for passing a bill backed by the sugar industry. In reaction to the sugar industry backed bill about to be signed by the Jebster, Hoeveler will appoint a Special Master to oversee the Everglades clean up saying, “The South Florida Water Management District has got to be watched.” Hoeveler has had the least number of higher court reversals of any sitting US judge; his order will most likely stand.

Fighting over the crumbs (Times, Opinion-editorial, pg 2).
FL House Speaker Johnnie Byrd (R-Plant City) is determined to see two of his pet projects launched, despite both suffering from lack of funding and political support (except the teacher merit plan supported by our ‘education governor’). Byrd’s largess might be OK were Florida’s revenue more robust, but to champion them at the expense of basic classroom needs is unjustifiable in the extreme. A conference committee is trying to hammer out the details of this ‘pork,’ but “their first obligation is to Florida’s families, not the speaker’s ego.”

In session, is anyone safe? (Times, Opinion-columns, Martin Dyckman, pg 3).
Harpooning the FL Legislature for the past regular session and the boondoggle that will be the result of the
special session. As if we aren’t incensed enough already, Dyckman outlines the details of the revisions to Worker’s
Comp enacted by the FL Legislature that essentially give FL workers a turn in the pork barrel. Ditto Florida’s
students. But corporations and stockholders get their tax cut, by gum! “No man’s life, liberty, or property are safe
while the legislature is in session – anon, 1866.”

A Fresh Way Of Thinking About Rapid Rail In Florida (Tribune, Our Opinion-editorial, pg 2).
Private investors rather than public money to get it off the ground. The profit is to be made from the development of adjacent acreage and possibly the air rights over the right of way. It is not a new concept, except in Florida. There is a large selection of rail technologies that could fill the need, many in current use or under development right now; that is not the problem in FL. Initial financing is the problem, and new thinking (outside the government funding conundrum) is the suggested approach. This is a well researched, organized, and written article suggesting a new good approach to what is rapidly becoming a transportation dilemma in this car dependent state.

GLOBAL
Experience is that marvelous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.
Franklin P. Jones
Attacks suggest al-Qaida revival (Times, main, pg 1); Bush declares U.S. still wages war on terror & Saudi attackers confused guards (Times, main, pg 3); No. 10 on list of most wanted surrenders (Times, main, pg 4), No End Yet To Threat Of Al-Qaida (Tribune, Our Opinion-columns, Tom Teepen, pg 2).
N O ! Really! You’ve got to be kidding. Get out of town. Unbelievable. Now the “experts” (who don’t seem able to find a man who needs kidney dialysis twice a week) opine that the terror group “may have been reconfigured to take advantage of less secure targets.” N O W A Y ! And the U.S.’s very own silver back continues to thump and bellow. Unh huh! Yeah, right. Pass the bombs (steroids), please.

Police try new label: ‘person of interest’ (Times, main, pg 10).
PC carried to new heights. Although the term has no legal meaning, I feel safer already! America’s finest?

2003-05-26T14:38:00.000-07:00

Excerpts from Common Ground, April-June 2003.
Victory at Chancellorsville. The Spotsylvania (VA) Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to deny a rezoning application on a portion of the Civil War Battlefield. The developer wanted to build 2,000 homes & 2 million square feet of retail and commercial space on 790 acres of the historic site.

Commissioners in Loudoun County (VA) swept into office 3 years ago as backlash to the runaway growth in this Washington, D.C. suburb, have overhauled the county’s long range growth plan to reduce population growth by more than 550,000 and eliminate the need for 120 new schools, amongst other savings. They accomplished this feat by limiting building to one house per 10, 20, or 50 acres where it had been one house per 3 acres. More than 200 lawsuits have been filed by builders & developers challenging the change.

Airport expansion, cell towers, clear cutting, urban sprawl are threatening many of the nation’s most scenic landscapes according to “Last Chance Landscapes” report by Scenic America (www.scenic.org/202.543.6200). The list includes: Concord, Lexington, Lincoln & Bedford, MA; Creole Nature Trail, LA; Glen Mary Plantation, GA; Schuykill Marsh, PA; Lower Marks Creek, NC; Jordan River, UT; Middle Potomac Scenic Corridor, MD; State Highway 99, CA; San Joaquin Valley, CA; Blue Ridge Parkway, VA; Gaviota Coast, CA.

Demand for state grants to fund open space acquisition & outdoor recreation facilities exceeded $3.26 billion, more than 12 times the federal money appropriated for the same purpose.

A comprehensive analysis by American Farmland Trust found, nationally, that privately owned farms, ranches and forests cost an average of $.36 of every tax dollar; but residential properties cost on average $1.15 for every tax dollar they pay. The difference is the costly public services & infrastructure required to support residential property.

Eagle Optics will donate up to $75,000 from sales of its “Pelican” binoculars, created specially to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the National Wildlife Refuge System.

Thirteen companies and the City of Chicago have signed a legally binding commitment to cut greenhouse gases 4% by 2006; the cuts will be used as credits that can be bought and sold on the commodities market.

The Bush Administration is asking Congress to appropriate $40 million to acquire oil & gas holdings in the Big Cypress National Preserve in Florida. He also asked for $160 million for the Land & Water Conservation Fund, which with corporate donations has preserved over 890,000 acres since 1985 in cooperation with the USF&WS.

2003-05-26T14:37:00.001-07:00

PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY – TUESDAY – 20 MAY 03

GAIA
History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely when they have exhausted all other alternatives.
Abba Eban
FL Coastline Scores Big On list Of Cleanest Beaches (Tribune, Metro, pg 4).
Despite the report of contaminated beaches in the region, Florida ranks high on lists of ‘best beaches’ which includes beaches in only 7 other states.

Bush Backtracks On Everglades Cleanup Bill (Tribune, Metro, pg 6) ; Bush wants tweaks to Everglades bill (Times, Metro & State, pg 1).
The Jebster plans to sign the flawed bill but wants to create a panel of lawyers to ensure its compliance with the Federal District Court Order, which has already assigned a Special Master to oversee the cleanup effort. Yea Jebster! Suck up to the sugar industry! My hero.

TAMPA BAY
An economist is a man who states the obvious in terms of the incomprehensible.
Alfred A. Knopf
State Attorney Request Acton’s Time Sheets (Tribune, Metro-Across The Region, pg 2).
Mark Ober subpoenaed Hillsborough Attorney’s records for the FL Dept of Law Enforcement to determine if accusations against her are justified. Acton is on sick leave for diabetes treatment.

Tampa Bay Water Opposes Bill Protecting Cone Ranch (Tribune, Metro-Across The Region, pg 2); Hands off water plans, utility tells lawmakers (Times, Metro & State, pg 3).
The agency adopted a resolution protesting FL House Speaker Johnnie Byrd attaching a controversial amendment to a worthwhile bill. The amendment forbids pumping water from the ranch in NE Hillsborough County and also would require the utility to compensate residents near the resevoir being built in southern Hillsborough. The intent of the original bill is to require water supplies to be in place prior to permitting any new development.

Funds idle as seniors await help (Times, Metro & State, pg 1 lead).
Complicated bureaucratic rules caused a dust-up during a meeting between the Area Agency on Aging & Neighborly Senior Services. Neighborly has $461,000 in limbo due to rules that slow down use of the funds to assist area seniors.
FLORIDA
Every major horror of history was committed in the name of an altruistic motive.
Ayn Rand
Expect 6 To 9 Hurricanes This Season, Center Says (Tribune, Metro, pg 1); Hurricane center predicts busy season (Times, Metro & State, pg 5).
Oh joy! Thanks a lot. Lay in your supplies early, folks!

Medical Association Eases Caps Stance (Tribune, Metro, pg 5); Citing malpractice anxiety, FMA chief suspends practice (Times, Metro & State, pg 5).
The FMA is backing off its hard line for the malpractice cap at the same time as the FL Legislature is beginning to revisit the divisive issue. The FMA president is threatening to close his practice and leave FL. Cya, dude.

Case could test Florida vouchers (Times, main, pg 1 lead).
The U.S. Supreme Court will consider a Washington state case wherein a theology student was denied money to study religion. This case could impact the voucher concept nationwide.

Capitol offenses (Times, main, Opinion-editorial, pg 6); Speaker’s hand very much in budget talks, Worker’s comp study raises key questions, Byrd mailing defends stand on schools (Times, Metro & State, pg 5).
Putting a portion of the tobacco awards in the general fund to balance the budget, passing the seriously flawed Everglades cleanup bill, and denying seniors admittance to colleges, delaying revisions to worker’s comp, interfering with budget negotiations, and using public monies to promote personal policies are just some of the problems with this year’s FL Legislature, one of the worst legislative sessions on record. Will these issues be remembered come election 2004?

GLOBAL
The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us.
Bill Watterson
Shiites Want U.S. Out And Their Clerics In (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 1 lead); ‘Wave Of Terror’ Grips Israel (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 3); Intelligence Points To Al-Qaida Threat (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 3); Bombings derail Bush’s efforts (Times, main, pg 2); Indonesia starts major offensive against rebels (Times, main, pg 2); Saudis, FBI warn of new terrorist attacks (Times, main, pg 4); Thousands of Iraqi Shiites demonstrate against U.S. (Times, main, pg 4); U.S. to send Manila more forces (Times, main, pg 4); Postwar perils (Times, main, Opinion-editorial, pg 6); Nation-building in a power vacuum (Times, main, Opinion-columns, Thomas L. Friedman, pg 7).
Riots in Iraq continue as does terror in Israel and around the world. We are missing an opportunity in Iraq with the continued chaos that undermines our rebuilding efforts. Meanwhile, American poobahs are maneuvering for political position in observance of the 11th commandment So? Are we still being surprised by this “holy war” and its aftermath!

Democrats Try Health Plans As Antidote To Bush (Tribune, Nation/World-Other Views, Philip Terzian, pg 9).
This is the only ‘loyal opposition’ available to U.S. voters? Pity, were that true! Granted, this issue is an outrage, but like Dubya the Dems don’t get it: it’s the economy, stupid! The ‘health care system’ in the USA is mired in its myopic focus on technology with the attendant escalation of costs; the ‘system’ has forgotten that all that technology is used in the service of HUMAN BEINGS! We are not just another plug in the wall or number on a chart. Recently the medical community has spawned a ‘new specialty:’ a doctor that actually comes to your home to administer his wares. What a concept! Resurrection after a 50(+) year snooze is not something new, except for the moniker assigned to it: ‘in-home health service.’

Pentagon lost track of a trillion dollars (Times, main, pg 1).
Is anybody surprised at this disclosure of a system where toilet seats cost $700? The Congress will once again hear testimony from the GAO which includes the startling revelation that the Army lost 56 helicopters! Oh boy! More media fodder.

States keep revisiting sunshine laws (Times, main, pg 3).
Coming to your state: the Incredible Shrinking Civil Rights Satire! With cast of thousands! Here today, gone tomorrow! In the guise of “security” 15 states (including FL) are modifying sunshine laws to create more secrecy and enhance police powers. Ben Franklin said it best: “Those who would sacrifice a little liberty for the sake of security deserve neither.”

High court lets Maine pressure drugmakers (Times, main, pg 5).
The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed Maine to continue its requirement to take drug makers off their Medicaid list if they won’t reduce drug prices for the poor & uninsured. The case was sent back to the Court of Appeals for clarification.

IDIOTORIAL
A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you're talking about real money.
Everett Dirksen
In this year of lean revenues and tight budgets I believe that there is a glimmer of hope. That is the reclaiming of responsibility by the citizens at the local level. Let me expound a bit.
Over the course of the past 70 years (+) we have witnessed the slow erosion of local control of politics. We began to be seduced by the notion that government could provide us with salvation from problems, beginning with the great depression. Although that global trauma could only have been resolved by the federal government, for a variety of reasons, the success of that effort (owed in no small part to WW II) began to mesmerize us into thinking that ‘government knows best.’
Over the intervening years we relied increasingly on Uncle Sam and State Capitols to resolve the many problems confronting society. Although, due to the complexity of the issues, the concept was/is quite valid, the implementation of the corrections, by edict from Washington,/State Capitol, often were not. Caught up in this process were issues far better addressed by local citizens.
In what may be the budding of a trend, 10 Florida counties have passed referendums to fund their schools systems. This is returning control of the purse strings and responsibility for community to the local citizenry.
That is a glimmer of light at the end of a long dark tunnel.
It also helps dispel the fog of disenfranchisement that seems to be rampant throughout America. A fog in large part created
by delegating responsibility to Washington/State Capitols, where politicians are insulated from local citizens, the problems confronting them and their ideas to resolve them.
The Scrooge-like FL Legislature in its quest to “live within our means” may have inadvertently spawned an era where local citizens begin to realize, that all too often, ‘government does not know best’. Although there are many problems which only federal and state governments can and should resolve, there are equally as many that should and must be resolved by citizens taking responsibility for their communities and themselves.
In the big picture, I don’t think that this is a bad thing. What do you think?

C.U.

2003-05-26T14:37:00.000-07:00

PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY – WEDNESDAY – 21 MAY 03

GAIA
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
Carl Gustav Jung
Bush Signs Everglades Bill Despite Cleanup Delay, Tax (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 1); Bush signs Everglades bill, asks for revision (Times, Metro & State-Florida News, pg 4).
As predicted, the controversial Everglades bill was signed into law yesterday by the Jebster. At the Jebster’s request, several questionable provisions will be scrutinized for possible alteration. Proponents claim it is fair to all sides given the realities; opponents claim it is just another tax on residents in the Everglades watershed while ‘big sugar’ is relieved of its obligations. The bill extends by 10 years (to 2016) the deadline for reaching the goal of 10PPB of phosphorus in water entering the Everglades watershed. U.S. District Court Judge Hoeveler is watching through a Special master he appointed.

House Bill Speeds Up Thinning Of Forests (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 8); House accelerates cutting trees to fight forest fires (Times, main-Washington, pg 7).
In a move spearheaded by Dubya, the U.S. House passed a measure to clear out debris, cut trees (mainly old growth), and use controlled burns as a means of protecting 20 million acres of National Forests. Characterized as “boondoggle” for timber companies by environmental groups, Dubya is promoting it as a means of reducing the number of conflagrations that have consumed millions of acres and threatened communities.

County okays mangroves rules (Times, Metro & State-Local News, pg 3).
PCBCC unanimously passed the revised mangrove ordinance last night. Now on to enforcement.

Butchered turtles wash ashore in Panhandle (Times, Metro & State-Florida News, pg 4).
The FF&WCC, the NMF and the USF&WS are investigating the butchered carcasses of 6 Loggerhead turtles washed up on beaches in Panama City Beach and in Walton & Bay counties. “Someone has a taste for the meat.”

TAMPA BAY
Full wise is he that can himself know!
Chaucer
The Cardinal Richelieu Of The Loins Is At It Again (Tribune, Nation/World, Daniel Ruth, pg 2); The county’s Odd Decision On An Antinudity Initiative (Tribune, Nation/World, Our Opinion-editorial, pg 12); City-County Disagreements Are Bared (Tribune, Metro, pg 1).
Another brouhaha over nude dancing in Hillsborough County at the behest of David Caton (self appointed guardian of the public morals) who wants a non-binding referendum on the next ballot. The City of Tampa rejected his pleas on the grounds of First Amendment precedents handed down from the U.S. Supreme Court and the cost to taxpayers of defending any such move. The HCBCC is much more gullible and a lot less thoughtful, despite counting lawyers in its membership. Once again, the taxpayers of Hillsborough County will foot the bill for the challenges that will inevitably ensue if the HCBCC caves in to Caton, a “self aggrandizing village busy-body.”

Survey Honks At Tampa Drivers (Tribune, Metro, pg 1).
Tampa ranks at the bottom in a study of auto safety in the annual Nerves of Steel survey. Only Atlanta, Boston, New York and Chicago ranked worse. Yesterday I witnessed a Chevy Blazer race north in the left turn lane on Belcher Road passing a line of slower vehicles. Pinellas ain’t much better!

Insulting speech is free speech after all (Times, Metro & State, Howard Troxler, pg 1).
The PCBCC backed off its rules of decorum and once again will allow any form of speech, including insults about person or agency of County government. If politicians can’t stand the heat they should get out of the kitchen. A small victory, because the PCBCC has directed that the rules be re-written.

FLORIDA
The authority of those who teach is often an obstacle to those who want to learn.
Cicero
Lawmakers Tackle Final Obstacles, Senate Panel Oks Workers’ Compensation Cuts (Tribune, Metro, pg 4); Workers comp bill makes it to Senate (Times, Business, pg 1); Dangerous hours (Times, Opinion-editorial, pg 12); Speaker’s pet project imperils budget talks (Times, Metro & State, pg 1).
The negotiations (?) continue with FL House Speaker Johnnie Byrd (R-Plant City) adamant in his support of member’s pork and his pet project, an Alzheimer’s Research Center at USF (who declare “it’s not necessary”) named after his father. Meanwhile, under intense pressure to yield to Byrd, the FL Senate under its President, Jim King (R-Jax), is holding the line on such unethical waste in this time of lean revenues and budget cuts. Get to you FL Senators and tell them to hold the line and not give in to stubborn Johnnie Byrd and his ‘pork.’.

‘Looks like a stinker’ (Times, Metro & State-Florida News, pg 4).
The Jebster is threatening to veto the bill that would tack a $20 dollar fee on each insurance policy issued in FL; the money would go directly to insurance agents.

GLOBAL
Isn't it strange? The same people who laugh at gypsy fortune tellers take economists seriously.
Cincinnati Enquirer
Justice Department Details Use Of Antiterror Powers (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 6); FBI details detentions under USA Patriot Act (Times, main, pg 3);
Justifying the use of USA Patriot Act, the DOJ/FBI provided detailed reports to Congress on its use of newly derived powers. The DOJ has targeted groups with suspected connections to terrorist activities, using secret warrants for surveillance of those suspects.

Ban the mini-bomb-Why some weapons are best left unexplored (Economist, May 17-23, pg 10); Senate Narrowly Oks Nuclear Research (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 11); Low-yield nuke ban loses in Senate (Times, main, pg 7).
The hotly debated issue of restarting research and testing of tactical nuclear weapons made it through the U.S. Senate; on to the U.S. House. This is a dangerous precedent, especially while the USA is trying to persuade North Korea to stop doing the same thing. Rather than increase our national security, it will place the USA in harm’s way from the nuclear arsenals under development by other nations, all of which (including the USA) are totally contrary to international treaties, of which the USA is a signatory. Dubya should stop this madness, says the Economist.

C.U.

2003-05-26T14:36:00.000-07:00

PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY – THURSDAY – 22 MAY 03

GAIA
Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions.
It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.
Justice William O. Douglas
EPA Chief Leave ‘Thankless Job’ (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 1 lead); EPA administrator resigns to ‘take time off’ (Times, main, pg 4).
Christy Todd Whitman is going home to be with family in NJ. Insiders say she “was stymied by pro-business interests inside the Whitehouse. NRDC characterized Whitman’s victories on diesel emissions and Hudson River cleanup as “small steps forward on a train speeding backward.” FL DEP Secretary, David Struhs, is a leading candidate for the post; environmentalists beware!

Agency Is Mindful Of Fishing Industry Concerns (Tribune, Metro-Across The Region, pg 2).
Under pressure from U.S. Rep. Michael Bilirakis (R-Tarpon Sprints) the US EPA & FL DEP will continue to study the Gulf dispersal plan for treated waste water from the Piney Point phosphate mine. The fishing & sponging industries are concerned that the acidic water will harm resources 40 miles west of Tarpon Springs.

TAMPA BAY
Fanaticism consists of redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim.
George Santayana
Hillsborough Must Link Growth Patterns And Transportation (Tribune, Nation/World, Our Opinion-editorial, pg 16).
Curbing urban sprawl must begin by connecting the heretofore haphazard building of roads to the growth that encouraged by these transportation arteries. Hillsborough has another chance to do this, but will they?

Stakeouts, cameras helped seafood sting (Times, Metro & State, pg 1 lead).
The NMFS & the FF&WCC observed 12 (recreational) fishermen catch and then sell endangered fish species to Mastry’s wholesale seafood & Matoi Sushi (North Dale Mabry) in Tampa. Fines totaled $171,000

FLORIDA
Faith is believing what you know ain't so.
Mark Twain
Alzheimer’s Center On Chopping Block (Tribune, Metro, pg 1); State budget obstacle vanishes (Times, main, pg 1 lead).
FL House Speaker Johnnie Byrd’s pet project has been removed from the proposed state budget. Pressure from the FL Senate & the Jebster caused the recalcitrant Speaker to relent. Finally, common sense prevailed over political pork.

Physicians Oppose Caps Law (Tribune, Metro, pg 3).
The Coalition For Patients Rights, a group of 300 doctors based in Jensen Beach, is vigorously opposing the $250,000 cap on medical malpractice championed by the FMA, which represents 16,000 FL docs. The Coalition backs a plan that would establish a 3 member (2 non-docs) review board to hear malpractice cases and have the authority to award up to $1 million. The current bill in the legislature is dead in the Senate, which favors the Coalition plan and the establishment of a registry of docs with malpractice history in the sunshine.

Senate approves auto insurance reform (Times, Metro & State-Florida News, pg 7).
The FL Senate approved sweeping changes to the state’s auto insurance laws, abolishing the no-fault insurance in 2007, and providing stiff penalties for fraud.

GLOBAL
Just be thankful you're not getting all the government you're paying for.
Will Rogers
Lawmakers Cut Tentative Tax Deal (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 11); Republicans hammer out tax deal (Times, main, pg8).
The Congressional Conference Committee may have cut a deal on Dubya’s proposed tax cuts valued at $350 billion over ten years. Most of the benefits will go to incomes over $200,000, and include the controversial removal of taxes on dividends.

Senate Passes Weapons Plan With Caveat (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 11).
The plan would require the President to win approval of Congress before ordering development of a new generation of tactical nuclear weapons; far less than Democratic plan to keep the total ban in effect.

New tape promises attacks (Times, main, pg 2); Tape From Bin Laden Deputy Urges More Terrorist Attacks (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 1).
An audio tape purported to be Bin Laden’s Deputy, al-Zawahri, urges “more attacks on America, England, Australia, Norway, their interests, companies & employees.” U.S. military forces have increased air patrols over American skies and the deployment of anti-missile forces at strategic locations around the country.

Bomb goes off at Yale law school (Times, main pg 4); Classroom Explosion Closes Yale Law School; None Hurt (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 4).
Damage is minor, no one was hurt. The incident is being treated “as a criminal matter,” but no possibility is being ruled out. The FBI is investigating for possible terrorist connections.

UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS (Times, main-Washington, pg 6).
The U.S. House passed a bill to extend unemployment benefits another 13 weeks after the May 31 expiration date.

SLIDING SCALE FOR MEDICARE (Times, main-Washington, pg 6).
U.S. House Republicans are pushing a bill that would establish a sliding scale for Medicare prescription drugs, charging higher-income seniors to pay more.

Abbas calls on Israel to end invasions (Times, main, pg 9).
The Palestinian Prime Minister called on Israel to stop invading Palestinian controlled areas in order for Dubya’s ‘road map’ to peace can continue. Ariel Sharon continues his hard line, effectively undermining the ‘road map.’

C.U.

2003-05-26T14:35:00.000-07:00

PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY – FRIDAY – 23 MAY 03

GAIA
Opinions founded on prejudice are always sustained with the greatest violence.
Jewish Proverb
Man Accused Of Cruelty; 100 Birds Seized (Tribune, Metro-Law & Order, pg 3).
A Largo man kept birds in his backyard in unsanitary conditions without food or water, many ill, was arrested yesterday and held on $5,000 bail at PCDC.
Potential Cypress Gardens Buyer Intends To Reopen By October (Tribune, Metro, pg 5).
An agreed purchase price is the major stumbling block at this point; Winter Haven CofC & the Governor’s Council are exploring ways to purchase & preserve the 230 acre theme park. The potential buyer is a theme park owner from GA.

TAMPA BAY
Between saying and doing many a pair of shoes is worn out.
Italian Proverb
Waste water may go further into gulf (Times, Metro & State, pg 3).
Under pressure from U.S. Rep. Michael Bilirakis (R-Tarpon), the contaminated Piney Point waste water will be dumped at 125 miles from the coast rather than the 40 miles as originally proposed.

FLORIDA
Three candles dispel the darkness; truth, knowledge and the ways of nature.
Celtic Proverb
Budget deal full of bad news (Times, main, pg 1); After His Concession, Byrd Looks To Future (Tribune, Metro, pg 1); House Republicans Obtain Senate Surrender On Spending (Tribune, Metro, pg 3).
Education, drug benefits, fees, tolls & college tuition are increased in budget just passed by the FL Legislature; no pork, Alzheimer Research Center, sales tax holiday are all out. $52.3 billion budget agreed to by both FL houses who will vote on the bill after the Memorial Day holiday. The FL Legislature will go into second extra session to consider medical malpractice overhaul.

Everglades betrayal (Times, Opinion-editorial, pg 18).
“The governor has often outraged environmentalists, but never before has he provoked such widespread and bitter condemnation from fellow Republican leaders. --- those who truly care about the fate of Florida’s irreplaceable River of Grass will not rest easy until this cynical legislation is reversed.” Written largely by the sugar industry, the legislation jeopardizes federal funding for Everglades restoration and continues to burden south Florida taxpayers while relieving the sugar industry of its obligations. The point man for this legislation, FL DEP Secretary David Struhs, is also one of the front runners to succeed Christy Whitman who resigned as Secretary of the U.S. EPA. Ahhhhh, those compassionate conservatives.

Go ahead, break a leg; even better, break two (Times, Metro & State, Howard Troxler, pg 1).
Changes the FL Workers Comp law are (once again) all in favor of the insurance industry, which (once again) has largely written the “revisions” to their benefit. In order to qualify for compensation under those “revisions,” workers must loose both arms, both feet, both eyes, both hands, or mix-n-match. Using juggled numbers (figures don’t lie, but liars figure), big business claims the “revisions” will result in a decrease of as much as 10% in insurance rates; don’t forget that State Farm, Aetna, Verizon, Publix, U.S. Sugar, et. al, continue to pour money into the coffers of FL Legislators in order to reap the benefits of favorable legislation.

Canker Pay On The Way, State Says (Tribune, Metro, pg 6).
630,000 citrus trees removed under the canker program will net homeowners $100 for the first tree & $55 for every other tree removed under the program. More than 96,000 homeowners have received payments under the program.

GLOBAL
An enemy will agree, but a friend will argue.
Russian Proverb
Taxpayers get break on kids, stocks (Times, main, pg 1); House Accepts Trimmed Tax Cuts (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 1).
Congress is nearing passage of a $350 billion tax cut that will put about $200 dollars in the pocket of single persons and about $400 in parent’s pockets. The big break comes to those whose income is $1 million +: they get $93,500 in tax relief while the average American taxpayer will realize a $217 tax break. Ahhhh, those compassionate conservatives!

U.N. lets Iraq go back in business (Times, main, pg 1); U.N. Ends Sanctions, Approves U.S. Plan To Govern Iraq (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 7).
The U.N. Security Council unanimously passed a resolution sponsored by Spain, G.B. & U.S. that will lift all sanctions in place since 1991. Oil revenues will go directly into rebuilding the ravished country to be administered by the coalition.

Diocese settles 61 sex abuse claims (Times, main, pg 7).
The Manchester, NH, Catholic Diocese settled these claims for $100,000 per claim (+).

Maryland reduces penalty for medical marijuana use (Times, main, pg 7).
A trend? Another state on the side of common sense!

Deal Snares Road-Map Support (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 10).
Sharon backs off. A little. Abbas, Sharon & Dubya to meet to get the process back on the road to success.

C.U.

2003-05-26T14:31:00.001-07:00

PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY - SUNDAY - 25 MAY 2003

GAIA
I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man
if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature
and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority.
E. B. White
Mulberry Executive Turn Up In Texas (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 1).
The three top executives of the Mulberry Corp. mine at Piney Point have been hired by Agrifos Fertilizer of Pasadena, TX. In charge of Piney Point mine, they had amassed a 1.3 gallon pile of acidic, radio-active waste which they were under contract to clean-up (they also (accidentally) dumped 15 million gallons of the contaminated waste in the Alafia River). Facing a $50,000 fine and 5 years in jail, they declared bankruptcy and abandoned the mine. The taxpayers of Florida now must pay the cost to clean up the mess, while these three sterling examples of the business community wreak their havoc on Texas.

TAMPA BAY
An event has happened, upon which it is difficult to speak, and impossible to be silent.
Edmund Burke
Government Hammers Sisters Of The Blessed Ball-Peen (Tribune, Nation/World, Daniel Ruth, pg 2).
Three Catholic Nuns (all “seniors” with medical problems) protested the war on Iraq by cutting a security chain, entered a Minuteman silo, hammered on the missile with a ball peen hammer, then prayed for peace. In broad daylight. Under the watchful eye of two armed guards. The ever vigilant U.S. DOJ is prosecuting the nuns, who face 8 years in prison and thousands in fines. “What was it we were supposed to be fighting for over in Iraq? What was it we were supposed to have won?” It’s the O I L, Stupid!

FLORIDA
The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Budget blinders (Times, Opinion-editorial, pg 2).
“---just one of many ways in which budget negotiators compromised Florida’s future for the sake of compromising the budget at hand.” While there was money to spare to cut taxes for corporations and investors, little else was spared the knife, e.g.: campaign to cut teen smoking from $39 to $1 million; no money for enrollment growth in colleges/universities; a tad for senior drug help but none for autistic & developmentally disabled children; no money to implement the class size reduction initiative or to help with 50,000 new students each year in public schools; raiding $1.3 billion from trust funds to pay for day to day operations; ad nauseum. This is the second year of bare-bones state budgets by the work of compassionate conservatives. New sources of tax revenue are sorely needed and just as unlikely in an election year by an irresponsible FL House under the myopic leadership of Johnnie Byrd. A “reckless miscalculation” that compromises Florida’s future for the sake of political expediency. Will we remember in 2004?

Byrd’s resistance to interstate compact costs state billions in taxes(Times, Perspective, Opinion-column, Martin Dyckman, pg 3).
Exposing the real reason behind FL House Speaker Johnnie Byrd’s “living within our means/no new taxes” myopic budget policy and his refusal to accept the “Streamlined Sales Tax Agreement.” Ten states have signed the Agreement which would enable the collection of taxes on sales by out of state businesses to in state residents (FL yield: about $3 billion). Reason: Johnnie Byrd’s political ambition. Byrd belongs to an anti-tax group (the Club for Growth) based in Washington, D.C. which has promised to “back” (read: bankroll) Byrd’s stated ambition to campaign for the Congressional seat of U.S. Rep. Michael Bilirakis (R-Tarpon Springs). Now we know the rest of the story. Will you we remember in 2004?

If They Can’t Spell, Can They Count Money? (Tribune, Metro, Steve Otto, pg 1).
Leading with an especially egregious example of government waste, spelling on immigration form, to a rhetorical question about funding for Farm Share. Farm share saves farm food from landfills and distributes it to millions of hungry & needy Floridians, on a shoe string of $400,000 per year, which was cut from the state budget this year; “--- the pinnacle of stupidity building in Tallahassee.” FL Rep. Ron Greenstein (D-Coconut Creek) has asked for $200,000 to rescue the program.
How much is a billion? A billion seconds ago it was 1959. A billion minutes ago Jesus was alive. A billion hours ago our ancestors were living in the Stone Age. A billion dollars ago was only 8 hours and 20 minutes at the rate Washington spends it!

GLOBAL
As long as people will accept crap, it will be financially profitable to dispense it.
Dick Cavett
Smile, America. You’re on Candid Camera (Times, Perspective, pg 8: Kurt Vonegut Clemens Lecture).
“Mark Twain was said to have shed a tear of gratitude and incredulousness when honored for his writing by Oxford University in England. And I should shed a tear, surely, having been asked at the age of 80, and because of what I myself have written, to speak under the auspices of the sacred Mark Twain House here in Hartford.
“What other American landmark is as sacred to me as the Mark Twain House? The Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. Mark Twain and Abraham Lincoln were country boys from Middle American, and both of them made the American people laugh at themselves and appreciate really important, really moral jokes.
“I note that construction has stopped of the Mark Twain Museum here in Hartford - behind the carriage house of the Mark Twain House at 351 Farmington Avenue.
“Work persons have been sent home from that site because American “conservatives,” as the call themselves, on Wall Street and at the head of so many of our corporations, have stolen a major fraction of our private savings, have ruined investors and employees by means of fraud and outright piracy.
“Shock and awe.
“And now, having installed themselves as our federal government, or taken control of it from the outside, they have squandered our public treasury and then some. The have created a public debt of such appalling magnitude that our descendants, for whom we had such high hopes, will come into this world as poor as church mice.
“Shock and awe.
“What are the conservatives doing with all the money and power that used to belong to all of us? They are telling us to be absolutely terrified, and to run around in circles like chickens with their heads cut off. But they will save us. They are making us take off our shoes at airports. Can anybody here think of a more hilarious practical joke than that one?
“Smile, American. You’re on Candid Camera.
“And they have turned loose a myriad of our high-tech weapons, each one costing more than a hundred high schools, on a Third World country, in order to shock and awe human beings, like us, like Adam and Eve, between the Tigris &Euphrates rivers.
“The other day I asked former Yankees pitcher Jim Bouton what he thought of our great victory over Iraq, and he said, “Mohammed Ali versus Mr. Rogers.”
“What are conservatives? They are people who will move heaven and earth, if they have to, who will ruin a company or a country or a planet, to prove to us and to themselves that they are superior to everybody else, except for their pals. They take good care of their pals, keep them out of jail - and so on.
“Conservatives are crazy as bedbugs. They are bullies.
“Shock and awe.
“Class war? You bet.
“They have proved their superiority to admirers of Abraham Lincoln and Mark Twain and Jesus of Nazareth, with an able assist from Television, making inconsequential our protests against their war.
“What has happened to us? We have suffered a technological calamity. Television is now our form of government.
“On what grounds did we protest their war? I could name many, but I need name only one, which is common sense.”

The Unbuilt Nation (Times, Perspective, pg 1 lead); Afghan Soldiers’ Deaths Evoke Rage (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 17); not to mention daily reports of “problems” in Iraq (off the cuff, me myself & I).
Haiti & Afghanistan: two examples of our success rate in rebuilding nations we “rescue.” Can Iraq be far behind?

Saving Pvt. Lynch, take two (Times, Perspective, Robert Scheer (L.A. Times), pg 8).
Once again we are witness to the first casualty of war: the truth. The BBC has produced a meticulously researched documentary the reveals how the Pentagon manipulated the Pvt. Lynch situation all for the purpose of putting a positive spin on the Iraq War. She did not resist valiantly, her vehicle turned over and she suffered broken bones; she was not tortured, she was treated in an Iraq hospital by an Iraq medical team whose doctor, to avoid media interviews, has been granted political asylum & witness protection in the U.S.; she was not “rescued,” she was turned over to U.S. forces who fired upon the ambulance that delivered her. In other words, a huge fabrication to obfuscate the truth and manipulate public opinion; trumped by American media giants such as FNN, CNN, MSNBC, et al. All this before Michael Powell & the FCC revise media ownership rules. Wake up America.

C.U.

2003-05-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

PRINT MEDIA SUMMARY – MONDAY – 26 MAY 03
Memorial Day 2003.
When did we start to remember? (Times, main, pg 1).
In 1864 three women placed flowers on the graves of their Civil War dead in the town cemetery in Boalsburg, PA (about 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, PA); in 1866 a similar ceremony took place in Waterloo, NY (about 50 miles southeast of Rochester, NY). The latter event was official recognized as the birthplace of our national holiday by President Johnson on its 100th anniversary, in 1966. It has been a friendly bone of contention between the two towns ever since. Two dozen other towns across the nation claim the distinction, but Waterloo, NY, is the one sanctified by Presidential Decree.
On Memorial day, take time to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

GAIA
Get your facts first and then you can distort them as much as you wish.
Mark Twain
It’s not to late to save oceans’ bounty (Times, main, Opinion-columns, Norman Panetta, pg 12).
The oceans are in trouble – those once thought endless resources have been breached by human exploitation. “Our laws and policies date back to a different era, when exploitation was the priority --- . We view the land and sea as separate worlds, when in fact they are closely linked. If we continue to combine a 19th century attitude with 21st century technology, little worth protecting will be left in the oceans. Our oceans are a public trust. We owe it to ourselves and future generations to fulfill that trust --- .”

TAMPA BAY
God made the Idiot for practice, and then He made the School Board.
Mark Twain
Home sellers cautious on choice plan (Times, Metro & State, pg 1 lead).
First time home buyers in Pinellas County are concerned about the school choice plan adopted by the PCSB & approved by the court. Buyers are asking hard questions which real estate agents are loath to answer for fear of law suits. So they direct prospective buyers to the school department for answers. Or the buyer goes elsewhere rather than compromise their children’s future.

FLORIDA
Fanaticism consists of redoubling your efforts when you have forgotten your aim.
George Santayana
The fee that wouldn’t die (Times, main, Opinion-editorial, pg 12).
That $20 fee insurance agents can extract for each policy written? It was sneaked into another bill that is still before the FL Legislature; at the insurance industry’s behest. Poooh! $20! Bid deal. Yeah, anywhere from $133 - $243 million big deals, right into the pockets of insurance agents, who are crying poor mouth. Never mind about all those consumers – we need the money!
Yeah! Right! Sure! Unh huh! Psst! Wanna buy a brick from the Brooklyn Bridge?

Legislature proves it is not a puppet of the people (Times, Metro & State, Howard Troxler, pg 1).
Nearly every bill passed by the FL Legislature this year was either at the request of or written by some special interest business or business organization. Very succinctly expressed in a comment by the FL House Speaker, Johnnie Byrd (R-Plant City), in a comment about the proposed changes to the FL Worker’s Compensation Law overheard by a reporter, when he said, “If there is some consensus for changes that will be good for Florida business I think we can look into that.” “Good for Florida business.” Not what’s good for the citizen/taxpayer of Florida. Nothing to do with robust debate in the democratic process. “Good for Florida business.” Is this an unforeseen consequence of the term limit initiative passed by Florida voters in 1994? Maybe. Aspiring to a future in politics with a limit of $500 on personal contributions, but no limit on donations to a political party, politicians must genuflect to the party bosses. Career politicians, of course, curtsy to the deep pockets that name the tune and oil the machinery of government, who often write or at least dictate legislation, draw voting district lines in their favor, and control campaign purse strings, all of which determine political futures; if you want a future in politics you dance to their tune! End term limits!? That would only allow the full flowering of the present money laundering system. Meaningful controls on redistricting & unlimited party contributions are a better means of dispelling the stigma of disenfranchisement by making politicians more responsive to the citizen/taxpayer. Amen! Let it be known from the Gulf to the Ocean,, from Key West to Pensacola: we’re tired of “what’s good for Florida Business. Sound Off!

Adding up the costs of reversal of tobacco judgment (Times, Business, pg 1 lead).
Some strange bedfellows are the result of the recent Florida appeals court ruling that threw out the class action judgment against the tobacco industry: 46 state’s attorneys general are siding with the tobacco industry because of the potential loss of revenue due to the Florida court decision. 500,000 Floridians will also loose. On to the FL Supreme Court for sure and possibly the U.S. Supreme Court for a final settlement. Meanwhile - - - - -

GLOBAL
Great Spirit, help me never to judge another until I have walked in his moccasins.
Sioux Indian Prayer
Israel okays peace plan (Times, main, pg 1); Israel Accepts U.S. Plan For Peace (Tribune, Nation/World, pg 1).
With several reservations, but nonetheless the door is open for Dubya to try and bring peace to this political cauldron.

Bremer brings firm grip, new vigor to U.S. efforts (Times, main, pg 2).
The two-weeks-on-the-job administrator of occupied Iraq has already made significant changes to his predecessor’s lethargic rebuilding of the ravaged country. He has cracked down on civil disorder, restored more water & electricity than previously, created jobs in the port city of Umm Qsar, ousted all former Ba’ath party members from their jobs, and promised an election “when the time is right.” Even some Iraqi leaders are cautiously praising these moves.

2003-04-09T14:57:00.000-07:00

At times one remains faithful to a cause only because its opponents do not cease to be insipid.
Friedrich Nietzsche

ENVIRONMENT

Check out the petition to remove Gail Norton: www.stopnortonnow.org
FLORIDA LAWMAKERS FEAR FOR DRILLING BAN (Times, main, Washington).
Bills before the US House & Senate call for an inventory of offshore oil & gas, a move that Sen. Graham and Sen. Nelson fear could open the door for drilling off Florida’s coast. Despite rhetoric in support of a ban on offshore drilling, it is feared that such an inventory will motivate oil producers to pressure Congress and the Administration to lift the ban.

STATE LAND SALES SEEN AS TAX SALVE (Times, Metro & State, front page).
HB1407 & SB1310 call for an inventory of all public lands in Florida and would allow counties with more than 50% of their land area in the public domain to sell off a portion of the state lands. Eight of Florida’s 67 counties would be effected, four in the Panhandle, who were over the 50% threshold because the Apalachicola NF (564,000 acres) & Eglin AFB (384,000 acres); selling off state lands in those counties would not reduce their percentage below the threshold. The other four are in South FL, where development is booming and the lands would fetch very high prices; the state continues to buy land in South FL as part of the re-plumbing of the Everglades. Eric Draper of FL Audubon calls the bills, “completely unnecessary” while Judy Hancock of the Sierra Club says, “it doesn’t seem like it’s well thought out” and “we should be glad we’ll have something left.” Sound off!

TAMPA BAY
DO YOU MEAN PEOPLE ACTUALLY LIVE THIS WAY? (Tribune, Metro, Steve Otto, front page left column).
This is really K U L E ! Otto suggests that we “imbed” our legislators with the real people that make the system work, like maybe a teacher. Not much training required, “just basic survival skills, how to use food stamps and keep your 20 year old Chevy running.” Otto continues to poignantly describe the daily grind of all the “little people” and ends with, “It is true that imbedding might provide just a few slivers of what is really happening in our world. But it would be closer to the truth than the fantasy land they are living in these days in Tallahassee.” Are we the people fed up, yet? Is it time to take back our democracy, yet? From the “political class” populated largely by the “upper crust” who are out of touch with Mr/Ms Average! Sound off!

DEVELOPMENT PROJECT TO SHOWCASE SPRING (Tribune, Across the Region).
Pinellas County is preparing to accept bids for the Phase 3 the Wall Springs Park project. Work is scheduled to begin in Fall 2003 and be finished about 15 months later. What about the McMullen Property connection?

FLORIDA
AND THE BUDGET SHENANIGANS KEEP ON KEEPING ON – AND ON – AND ON. Ho Hum!
U.S. LEARNING SARS LESSONS FROM OTHERS (Times, Health & Medicine.).
The CDC confirmed two new cases of the infection in the FL Panhandle, bring the total to 149 in the USA. Over 2,200 cases have been confirmed in China where the pandemic started, with 78 deaths there. Canada with 232 cases reported, is the hardest hit nation outside of Asia.

GLOBAL
AS GOOD AS IT GETS? (Air Force (Journal of the Air Force Association), April 2003, editorial).
Kennedy’s Defense budget was 9% of GDP; Reagan’s was 6%, or $400+ billion; now it is less than 4% ($380 billion); I know of enlisted personnel who are on food stamps and work second jobs to support a family. The average age of the Air Force’s entire aircraft fleet is 22 years - the B52 is 50+ years old; Army helicopters average 19 years; Navy aircraft average 15 years. After the collapse of communism in 1989, USAF was reduced to 20 fighter wings, Army divisions fell to 10 from 18, Navy warships reduced to 306 from 546; and the cost of keeping aging equipment operational escalates. Total active duty personnel fell to 1.38 million from 2.2 million; our armed forces are stretched to the limits of their capability, while 177,000 reservists have been called up, placing many communities in harms way. Our military strength has been reduced at a time when our national security needs are on the increase. Threats from US foes today exceed those of the cold-war and some of them have the capability to reduce any American city to rubble under a mushroom cloud. Our military’s capabilities would be hamstrung in a third theater of operations, as would our industrial ability to support them. “---defense experts said spending had to increase by at least $70 billion a year in order to meet global obligations.” Just thought you’d like to know!

REPRESENTATIVE CALLS FOR ‘DEPARTMENT OF PEACE’ (Times, main page 10).
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) & Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) have introduced legislation to create a cabinet level Department of Peace whose purpose would be promoting non-violence as an “organized principle;” Rep. Kucinich introduced similar legislation in 2001. It’s goals would be to promote peace education worldwide, to support disarmament treaties, and seek to negotiate issues that would lead to violence. An idea whose time has come?

INQUIRY SOUGHT ON IRAQ CONTRACT (Times, main – Washington).
US House democrats called for an investigation into the awarding of a $1.7 billion, non-competitive, contract to Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, Corp., where VP Cheney was the CEO. Is there a stench in the air?

TALIBAN REVIVING POWER STRUCTURE (Tribune, Nation/World page 13).
Is this how the USA will rebuild Iraq? The Taliban, allied with former war-lords and rebels, is quietly but effectively recapturing territories distant from the Afghan capitol of Kabul, while coalition forces are distracted in Iraq. Recently, a 39 year old water engineer from El Salvador was executed by the Taliban. Other atrocities continue unabated. The brother of the Afghan Premier, Ahmed Wali Karzai, says, “What was promised to Afghans with the collapse of the Taliban was a new life of hope and change. But what was delivered? Nothing. Everyone is back in business. There have been no significant changes for people.”
“It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” And my crow is on a REALLY slow rotisserie.

2003-04-08T13:25:00.000-07:00

FYI 03/10/03 – EDITORIAL
Current Events have stirred up my gray matter more than almost any other event in my recollection.
I recall vividly World War II. I remember the radio reports of the attack on Pearl Harbor and President Roosevelt’s speech before Congress requesting a declaration of war. I remember the somber mood of everyone in my family, especially the women. I vividly remember the sacrifices we all made in the name of defeating the dictators of the era, allying ourselves with one equally as repugnant in order to secure victory. What a challenge that dictator became!
My father joined the Army Air Force in December 1941 and became a bombardier in the Pacific Theater over Japan. My
mother’s brother enlisted in the Marine Corps in December 1941 and survived Guadalcanal, Saipan and Iwo Jima. My mother’s sister’s husband enlisted in the Army in January 1942 and served as a guard of German prisoners in France (he spoke German). They all went off to fight for freedom. They all came back, too.
It was a time when the very concept of individual freedoms and democracy were tested in the crucible of bloody combat, of unimaginable horror and stress on the home front. The country rallied round the flag like no other time since; everybody was enlisted in the effort, nobody escaped the sacrifice or the toil in support of the effort. I joined other kids in the neighborhood collecting newspapers, old aluminum cookware, tin cans, rubber, and myriad other pieces of “junk” that fed the was machine.
Shortly after WW II the US rescued Berlin from the jaws of communist Russia. We also sent advisors to assist the French in their struggle in Viet Nam (hardly any citizen new of this event as the media gave it scant little coverage).
In early 1950s we countered the North Korean incursion into South Korea, and again the country rallied to assist the beleaguered people of South Korea. We barely prevailed in that “police action.”
In the 1960s we enlarged our presence in South Viet Nam only to fail in that struggle a decade later.
Meanwhile, we engaged in all manner of (CIA sponsored) subterfuge all over the world in our cold war battle against the communist insurgents, or those confronting them. Some of those events have since come to tarnish the image of the US, and some would argue become fodder that gave rise to the Islamic fundamentalist movement, as well the terrorism we would like to connect to that movement.
The debacle of Viet Nam caused our military to slink home and lick its wounds while rethinking the MAD (mutually assured destruction) Strategy. The strategy remained largely intact, but our military learned the lesson of Viet Nam and has since transformed itself into the most versatile armed force on Earth.
But the debacle that was Viet Nam didn’t slow the altruistic fanatics that ruled the CIA, and they continued their forays into world politics, causing social upheaval, created havoc and supported many of those that have since become our declared enemies. That our foreign policy leaves a lot to be desired goes without saying, which is duplicitous and two faced and is not easily trusted or respected by many governments and peoples around the globe.
Now we are poised at the abyss of war, knowing not what lies on the other side, or at the bottom, of that abyss. It is virtually certain that whatever course the US ultimately follows it will be costly beyond our wildest reckoning; costly in lives lost; costly in resources squandered and contaminated; costly in monies required to rebuild the cultures and infra-structure destroyed; costly in the time and effort required to re-build the bridges to our allies and their trust; costly in terms of the time, energy, and money necessary to return to the humane priorities and possibilities lost to the American people and their culture as the result of this ill-advised war.
I am not in favor of allowing the sadistic tyrants of the world to exist (I abhor them as much as anyone), and everyone knows that there are plenty of them throughout the world just now, and probably always has been and always will be. However, I am a long way from convinced that the USA is the anointed savior of the world order, or should ever be, or that our present chosen course of action is the best of all options.
It goes without saying that I am fearful, as I am sure most US citizens are, over the prospects of all the unknowns that will result from this war. What I am most fearful about, though, is the legacy our progeny will inherit from this impending conflict. What I am most frustrated by is that our so-called representative government is hurtling down a path that will take us farther from the ideals upon which this nation was founded, farther from the principals of democracy we have so long struggled to embrace and preserve for future generations, and divorcing each and everyone of us from those democratic processes.
With our unsavory history of political conniving beyond our territorial borders in order to overthrow a legitimate government with whom we disagree, or those that oppose such governments; with the worlds largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction and chemical-biological weapons; with a government whose primary focus is the enrichment of the upper 4% of its citizens (and damn the consequences) while millions have no access to the most basic of human needs: decent housing, food, water, and medical care; who do you really think is the greatest threat to world peace and human rights?
I feel so totally disenfranchised by the machinations of the current crop of politicians everywhere whose primary focus seems to be the same as that of the special interests who feather the nests of those politicians. I have felt that way for a long, long time, and am immeasureably disheartened by those feelings.
It is a sad, sad situation that now is under the control of a crop of ultra conservative fanatics that seem hell bent on usurping all that is guaranteed in the documents that form, guide and govern our country. I shudder to contemplate what that portends for the future of my children, grand children and great grand children as well as the country and the culture they will inherit and in which they will have to struggle to survive under seriously usurped civil rights.
I think it is time to take back our country, our rights and freedoms, and our governments from the fanatics that have brought us to the abyss of an uncertain future fraught with the possibility of endless struggle (combat?) and worse.
Those fanatical rebels did it in the 18th century. Is it time once again?

2003-04-08T13:17:00.000-07:00

FYI#50.2 – POLITICS
Tuesday, 3/4/03
Hot lead can be almost as effective coming from a linotype as from a firearm.
John O’Hara

POLITICS
SUMMARY.
Papers are filled with analyses and opinions of all the events raging around us.
A profile of the FL House Speaker, Johnnie Byrd (R-Plant City) gives a somewhat different perspective after the controversy over his $600,000 “communications” staff hiring. Rep. Byrd was instrumental in a lot of programs that better FL, including establishing the Alzheimer’s research facility at USF and several prevention & motivation programs. That doesn’t mean we relax our guard; he is after all a politician! Conservative, compassionate republican. Uh huh.
Several articles on the impending WAR including an analysis of the politics behind Turkey’s refusal to allow US troops to launch from Turkish soil. The Turkish military has been the watchdog of democracy in that Islamic country since the days of modern Turkey’s founder, Attaturk; the military was playing a game with the current ruling party, hoping that they would be defeated in the vote that denied US use of Turkish military bases. It is a play that has yet to see the final curtain. Stay tuned.
Thomas L. Friedman weighs in with yet another opinion in support of the impending WAR. This time telling how he has rationalized the differences of opinion within his own family (cupplalaffs) while trying to support the Texas Posse’s single minded rush to combat with Iraq. He succinctly outlines how the “bold” vision of the Texas Posse differs from all other historic instances when US went to war and the programs we pursued afterwards. None of which is on the Texas Posse’s table. Mr. Friedman ends with this, “ - the president is presenting us with a beautiful carved mahogany table – that table has only one leg. His boldness on Iraq is not supported by boldness in other areas. And so I am terribly worried that Bush has told us the right thing to do but won’t be able to do it right.” Amen!

2003-04-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

FYI#53.3 – NATIONAL ISSUES – 3/7/03
Civilization is the process of setting men free from man.
Ayn Rand

MEDICARE DISSERVICE (Times, Opinion – editorial).
Dubya’s latest proposal to reform Medicare is not quite as bad as his previous stand-up routine. 8 million seniors need help with medications, and “the starting point for Medicare reform should be a reasonable prescription-drub benefit for all.

INNOVATIVE WAYS TO HURT MEDICAID (Times, Columns, Jonathan Cohn).
Since 1965, Medicaid has provided medical care for low income Americans. It is a huge success. But our compassionate conservative president wants to dismantle this civilized, money saving program. The 47 million Americans who benefit from Medicaid would then visit emergency rooms and everyone else would pick up the bill in the form of increased co-pays, insurance premiums, or other innovative ways to recover the lost revenue.

Bush’d again! You connect the dots to the environment (clue: it’s all about money).

Isn’t it kind of a distorted picture, that politicians & bureaucrats in Washington get the finest medical care this country has to offer free (our taxes pay for it) while the taxpayers get to lick the plate, at best. Isn’t it time that the US brought home all our military that have been “protecting” the rest of the world (all of whom enjoy universal health care, except Israel & South Africa) and use those monies to establish universal health care for American citizens? Just another one of my radical ideas.

2003-04-08T13:10:00.000-07:00

FYI 03/23/03 – NATION & WORLD
PATHETIC ROOTS OF POLITICAL FANATICISM (Tribune, Commentary – Edwin A. Roberts, Jr., editor).
One has to read this excellent piece about a little known author Eric Hoffer, who waxed eloquent about the then current crop of political “do-gooders” by way of explaining the seductiveness of communism & fascism. Many of Hoffer’s “pithy remarks bear directly upon currents in the daunting present:” “Passionate hatred can give meaning and purpose to an empty life.” “It is remarkable by how much a pinch of malice enhances the penetrating power of an idea or an opinion. Our ears, it seems, are wonderfully attuned to sneers and evil reports about our fellow man.” The left column page 1 article truly stirs the gray matter.

VIVE LES FRENCH FRIES (Tribune, Other Views – Robert Koehler).
More along the lines of the above. About the breakdown of debate and language in our quest to be “PC.” About our haste to join the hoards jumping on the “war wagon” of popular perception, regardless of the direction of that vehicle. Of how we chastise all those who refuse to identify with the thundering herd that hurtles down the path of “might is right,” regardless of the consequences. Koehler closes with: “This isn’t thought. This isn’t discussion. Most of all, this is not a defense of the Founding Fathers or their concept of checks and balances. It’s a defense of cheap plastic figurines up on the national knickknack shelf.”

DON’T BE AFRAID OF DEMOCRACY (Times, Opinion – Bill Maxwell).
Another in the same vein. Edward Abbey, “I love American because it is a confused, chaotic mess – and I hope we can keep it that way for at least another thousand years. The permissive society is a free society. Who gave us permission to be this way? Nobody did. We did. And that’s the way it should be – only more so. The best cure for the ills of democracy is more democracy.”

2003-04-08T13:08:00.000-07:00

IDIOTORIAL
Ninety percent of the politicians give the other ten percent a bad reputation.
Henry Kissinger

Well, I said I’d eat crow, but the roasting bird is not yet done!
There are some interesting view points emerging from the Iraq morass, but the legitimate doubts of many, including some of the worlds top “leaders,” continue to linger and be discussed. France has connected the discovery of “ricin” in Paris to a terrorist plot to wreak havoc throughout Europe. Iraqis, both immigrant & naturalized, in the US are furnishing information to the FBI and shivering afraid of what the US government might do.
Interesting, that so many politicians of countries around the world are eager to jump on the coalition band wagon now that
the capability of the US military is exposed through the media! Maybe that is part of the message the Texas Posse wants the rogue regimes (terrorists) around the world to understand?
Equally interesting is the humanitarian manner in which American & British forces seem to be conducting themselves, not to mention the technical superiority of their armaments, as seen through the lens of TV cameras and the analytic minds of an armada of reporters & “experts.”
I do not need to be convinced of the technical & planning (strategic & tactical) superiority of our military forces; I was once part of that realm. I do retain a Missouri attitude concerning the aftermath of this engagement. Although initial signs are encouraging, it really is a bit early to predict, with any degree of accuracy, what that aftermath might be.
There seems to be little in the way of “retaliation” from the Arab world, either towards the US and its allies or Israel. But, again, I am still from Missouri. And, I want to wait to witness the conduct of the US and its allies once the hostilities cease.
I am preparing my table and sharpening my knife.

2003-04-08T13:07:00.000-07:00

IDIOTORIAL

I am still opposed to this ill-conceived war on Iraq, promulgated by a cadre of the Texas Posse, for all the reasons summarized here over the past few months. And I will continue to be so, and will eat crow if needed when it is over.
Now, it is time for us to rally around the men and women who will carry this conflict forward, many of whom will return home traumatized by the experience, or worse, in body bags. They didn’t conceive this march into the dessert, they only carried out their orders, in the finest traditions of the US military under the command of its final authority, an (elected) civilian supreme commander.
They will do their duty, and we must do ours and support them in every way, including remaining the loyal opposition, as vocal as ever in the finest traditions of our democracy
I am not ashamed to do either.

2003-04-08T13:05:00.000-07:00

US CONTACTS (links to email and specific agencies available on each web page):
THE PRESIDENT: www.whitehouse.go; president@whitehouse.gov.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: www.defenselink.mil.
FOREST SERVICE: www.USDA.gov; webmaster@fs.fed.us.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE: www.NPS.gov.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY: www.epa.gov
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY: www.energy.gov

FL CONTACTS (links to specific representatives, committees, and bills available on each web page):
FLORIDA SENATE: www.flsenate.gov
FLORIDA HOUSE: www.myfloridahouse.com
PINELLAS COUNTY LEGISLATIVE DELEGATION: www.pinellascounty.org/delegation

2003-04-08T13:00:00.000-07:00

FYI 03/29/03 – IDIOTORIAL.
America cannot be an ostrich with its head in the sand.
Woodrow Wilson.

While citizens of the world’s join in rallies mostly against the war (I have yet to speak with anyone in favor), and patriots rally in “support of the troops,” media reporters from around the world (electronic & print) are beginning to delve into the concept that there is the slightest bit of a chance that maybe, just maybe, Dubya’s administration not only misled the American people about the conclusion of the war with Iraq, but they also may not have sufficiently prepared (the military) for that conflict.
Many questions have arisen over the handling of the invasion of Iraq and the unforeseen consequences that have plagued commanders in the field, from guerilla tactics behind the front to the weather. Last week several hints were dropped that maybe this “liberation” of an enslaved people may take somewhat longer than the public was led to believe. Just today there are hints that the media is beginning to seriously question our handling of the terrorist/al-Quaeda situation and, subsequently, the protection & restoration of Afghanistan in the aftermath of that “liberation.” Really!
WELL, GOLLY, SARGE! Is it at all possible that the biggest silver-back in the preserve ain’t as tough, prepared, informed, and ready as he would want us to think he is? Hmmmmm.
Isn’t it somewhat ironic that the media are reporting the reason Iraq civilians aren’t falling all over themselves to hail us as “liberators” is because they fear Hussein’s goons and their retribution? Iraqis don’t want to speak out for fear of reprisal by the Fedayeen and/or other of Hussein’s assassins. While here in the good old USA we now have Patriot Act II which enables our ever vigilant, protective government, to “spy” on the communications of its citizens, without court order, without telling you that they are doing it, why they are doing it, and without having to answer to anyone but Lord Ashcroft the first and his goons!
You connect the dots. Who are the real tyrants in this picture? Scared yet!

2003-04-08T12:58:00.000-07:00

HEY GANG;
I have been doing this since Jan 03. If you want my FYI prior to April 03, send me an email: curmudgin@hotmail.com.

Barb & I will be posting other stuff on this site soon.

(:-) C.U.

2003-04-08T12:56:00.001-07:00

FYI 04/01/03 – ENVIRONMENT
A community is like a ship; everyone ought to be prepared to take the helm.
Henrik Ibsen, 1882

CONTROVERSY ROILS SEAGRASS TRANSPLANTING (Times, front page).
In order to secure a permit to enlarge Port Manatee the FL DEP required transplanting of sea grasses from the proposed 12 acres to be dredged. Robin Lewis who was hired to oversee the project has quit in protest over the Port of Manatee’s handling of the job, saying that the claims of success are grossly over stated. Less than 6 acres have been transplanted in three years at an average cost of $750,000/acre; the cost is due to transplanting sea grasses must be done by hand to be successful. The FL DEP wants to continue the effort but must now find another person to supervise the project.

FYI 04/01/03 – TAMPA BAY
An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.
H. L. Mencken

ACTIVISTS START PETITION FOR PARK (Times, Metro & State).
A drive to turn Albert Whited Airport into a water front park of about 60 acres with the balance of the airport developed into condos. Another “redevelopment” case that bears watching, closely.

HILLSBOROUGH WATER FAILS EPA TEST (Tribune, Metro).
For the second time in six months the water in northwest Hillsborough County failed water quality tests. Follow up tests did not reveal fecal coliform or E-coli strains, which can be fatal; the EPA tests only find “total bacteria.” Residents are being advised to boil their water for safety.

FYI 04/01/03 – FLORIDA
He mocks the people who proposes that the government shall protect the rich
and they in turn will care for the laboring poor.
Grover Cleveland

BUSH, JENNINGS PUSH FOR CAP ON JURY AWARDS (Times, Metro & State).
The Jebster’s dog-n-pony show for his doctor buddies, stumping for a cap on malpractice awards a la CA. Will it really solve anything? Do doctors need to be made more accountable for their medical misdemeaners? Toss a coin..

BUILDERS CRITICIZE PLAN TO DRAIN HOUSING FUND (Times, Legislature 2003).
The FL CBA is lobbying hard to preserve the affordable housing trust fund which underwrites the cost of construction and part of the rental in housing meant to relieve the homeless issue. This is a strange bedfellow! But, wish them luck and join the fracas – it’s a worthy cause that needs to be left alone.

BOOSTING DEVELOPERS’ RIGHTS COULD COW CITIES, SOME FEAR (Times, Legislature 2003).
Private Property Rights proponents are pushing this bill which will make it more difficult for communities to control development. The bill (SB1164) would require cities to pay property owners when a request for zoning variance is denied. Bad bill. Go to the garbage heap. Blitz this one!

VPTERS MIGHT DECIDE ON MALPRACTICE ISSUE (Tribune, Legislature 2003).
Consumer advocate groups and FL Trial Lawyers are working to put the issue on the next ballot. It will include reforms beyond the “cap” the medical profession, the insurance industry, and the Jebster want. Great idea. Good Luck!

COALITION PUSHING SALES TAX REFORM (Tribune, Legislature 2003).
Led by the League of Women Voters, a coalition is pushing hard to remove many of the sales tax exemptions and force the legislature to bring in more than $1 billion dollars in additional revenues. That would also mean less slashing of other programs and eliminate the raiding of trust funds which the Jebster has asked as a means to balance the budget. Another good one.

FYI 04/01/03 – GLOBAL
The USA is a nation of laws; badly written and randomly envorced.
Frank Zappa

RED CROSS VISITS COALITION’S POWs, CUT CAN’T SEE IRAQ’S (Times, Nation/World, page 7).
Iraq has refused the International Red Cross access to their POWs knowing full well that they are in violation of Geneva conventions; the coalition wants the world to know that Iraqi claims of mistreatment are erroneous. The whole world is a stage?

2003-04-08T12:56:00.000-07:00

FYI 04/02/03
Every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such.
Henry Miller

ENVIRONMENT
SMALL SAWFISH HITS ENDANGERED SPECIES LIST (Tribune, front page).
The curious looking fish has been listed as threatened in Florida since 1992 but yesterday it was listed on the federal Endangered Species List for the first time. The critter is also the first to be listed from the elasmo-branch of fishes, those with a cartilage skeleton (sharks et. al.). The species is know in both the Pacific & Atlantic Oceans; its historic range in the US was from the Delmarva Peninsula through the entire (US) Gulf of Mexico, but it is now confined mostly to the Everglades. The fish find protection in Mangrove habitats, which have been decimated throughout its range; as with most other endangered species, habitat destruction by humans is the primary reason for its rapid decline.

FLORIDA
‘FIRST, DO NO HARM’ (Times, Opinion – editorial).
With all the effort to impose a cap on medical malpractice in FL, it is as though the doctors have forgotten the cardinal rule of their Hippocratic oath: ‘First, do no harm’. But that is exactly what a $250,000 cap on malpractice would accomplish. The 1976 cap by imposed by CA referendum would be equal to $800,000 today, and nobody would even bother to chase the doctor who erroneously removed a leg as has happened here in FL, or the doc who removed the healthy breasts of a women in MN. But the pain and suffering would surely last well beyond the memory of the perpetrator of such an egregious medical “error.” The real fallacy in the push for malpractice caps is that were there not so much malpractice there would be less litigation. The current furor by FL’s doctors threatens to sink several other good proposals before this years legislature: SB1154 would require all 44,000 docs in FL to purchase $2 million of liability coverage from a new state agency set up for this specific purpose; SB1912 would create a system of medical error reporting, peer review and arbitration that would be available to all patients without fear of litigation for reported errors; SB562 would create an agency for policing of the medical profession by experts in each medical discipline; and SB2120 would forbid secret settlement of malpractice claims and require mediation before filing a lawsuit. All of these Senate bills would be in the sunshine. The FL House is resisting these common sense bills, mainly because the medical profession (who lavishly donate to the Jebster) and Gov. Bush are pushing for the $250,000 cap and the Fl House Speaker has future ambitions on the Jebster’s coattails (the “harm” part!). SOUND OFF!!!!

SUFFERING THE PAINS OF MALPRACTICE INSURANCE (Times, Metro & State, Howard Troxler).
Floridians file 36% more malpractice claims than the national average which helps explain why malpractice premiums (from just four companies) in FL are 55% higher than the national average. Again, the amount of medical errors fuels the rush to litigation! Will a $250,000 identify, improve, or remove the bad ones from Florida’s pool of 44,000 docs? Hmmm. Stir up the gray matter once again.

BYRD’S TAX SCRUPLES HOLD BACK SUPPORT FOR INTERNET INCOME (Times, Metro & State).
The FL House Speaker, Johnnie Byrd (R-Plant City) is resisting every opportunity to clean up Florida’s antiquated tax system, including collecting sales tax on internet purchases which would have amounted to well over $900 million in 2002. the republican mantra of “no new taxes” doesn’t fly in the face of just this one example of how the state could collect more revenue by just leveling the playing field; not to mention all the other examples that would put Florida in the black. “NO NEW TAXES!?”

PHOSPHATE FIRMS FOR TAX (Times, Metro & State – Legislature 2003),
PHOSPHATE COMPANIES AGREE TO HIGHER TAX (Tribune, Metro).
Phosphate companies in Florida want to tax themselves to provide a trust fund to avoid situations such as the current mess at Piney Point. The plan would add another $9 million each year to the trust fund and help with clean-up such as Piney Point.

PHONE COMPANIES RESURRECT PROPOSAL ON LOCAL LINES (Tribune, Legislature 2003).
One year after the Jebster vetoed similar legislation, AT&T, Verizon and Sprint are back with a package that will raise your local phone bills an average 20% but lower your long distance bills (provided your long distance carrier is different from your local provider!). “You can slop makeup on a sow, but it’s still a pig,” lamented Mike Twomey, president of Florida Utility Watch, a consumer group. Eternal vigilance, etc. Sound off!

GLOBAL
COURT SKEPTICAL OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION CHALLENGE (Times, front page),
JUSTICE O’CONNER TAKES FOES OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION TO TASK (Tribune, front page).
The US Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday over the Affirmative Action skirmish at the University of Michigan. Most of the justices clearly signaled that they were not ready to overturn the race factor in choosing college admissions. 5,000 people demonstrated in favor of Affirmative Action. I final decision will probably be handed down sometime this summer.

JACKSON DUBBED NO. 1 FOOL (Tribune, Personalities).
So? A fondness for young boys, dangling babies off balconies, extensive plastic surgery. Yeah! I can buy that.

2003-04-08T12:55:00.000-07:00

FYI – THURSDAY - 04/03/03
War involves in its progress such a train of unforeseen and unsupposed circumstances
that no human wisdom can calculate the end. It has but one thing certain, and that is to increase taxes.
Thomas Paine, 1787 (Prospects On The Rubicon).

ENVIRONMENT
TOW BOATERS SPOT, SAVE STRUGGLING MANATEE (Tribune, Metro).
The animal was suspected of having been poisoned by the red tide explosion in Stump Pass near Edgewood. The boaters found the stunned female manatee in Lemon Pass and stopped to stablize her before seeking help. The manatee was transported to SeaWorld in Orlando for treatment.

TAMPA BAY
HOVERCRAFT OWNER LOSES BID FOR FERRY (Times, Local News).
Bob Wagner won’t be getting his license to operate the ferry service to Ft. DeSoto Park from downtown St. Pete using his Hovercraft. Claiming that his several run ins with Pinellas County, over such things as mangrove cutting, cost him the license he is going to court to recover some of the fines levied as the result of his legal infractions. The license was awarded to a Madeira Beach charter boat operator, Mark Hubbard, who will use a catamaran for the service.

POLK COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OK IMPACT FEE TO HELP SCHOOLS (Tribune, Across the Region).
More than $7 million will be raised by the new schedule of impact fees passed by the commissioners.

TAMPA BAY WATER ACTED PROPERLY (Times, Opinion – Letters, Pick Talley).
Response to Times editorial chastising the director of Pinellas County Utilities (Pick Talley) for not replacing the eight miles of 84” pipeline that ruptured last week, and remains prone to failure. Citing the cost of replacement as one of his concerns in not replacing the faulty pipeline, Talley relates his side of the story for making the decision to not replace the failure prone pipe.

FLORIDA
LAWMAKERS DEBATE BEST WAY TO STEER STATE BUDGET (Times, front page),
CAPITOL OFFENSES (Times, Opinion – editorial).
FL is a $52 billion a year enterprise whose principal source of income is a broad based sales tax – with more holes than a wheel of Swiss cheese. Plugging those holes is the mission of many groups including the FL Senate; glaringly absent from this mission are the Jebster and the FL House, led by its Speaker, Johnnie Byrd (R-Plant City). The Jebster & the FL House want to raid dedicated trust funds (including Florida Forever) for more than $1 billion to balance the states budget but are meeting very stiff resistance in the FL Senate; the FL Senate wants to close many of those loopholes and begin collecting sales tax on some omissions that would negate any raiding of trust funds, i.e. internet and mail order sales to FL residents by ex-FL businesses. The most egregious example of this raiding is the Sadowski Affordable Housing trust, set up in honor of its namesake (a former legislator & DCA Secretary) and funded by stamps on real estate transactions in order to build affordable housing for the low & middle income families (the less fortunate amoung us?). “A business or charity that raised money from the public for one purpose and then spent it on something else would soon be shopping for criminal lawyers. This is worse than hypocritical; it’s the moral equivalent of embezzlement. FL House leaders are fond of saying that government should be run like a business. One wonders what business they have in mind? Enron? .” If you’re not outraged, you’re not paying attention!

2 SUSPECTED SARS CASES POP UP IN STATE (Times, Metro & State),
2 POSSIBLE CASES OF RESPIRATORY ILLNESS FOUND IN FLORIDA (Tribune, Nation/World).
72 Americans are known to have been infected by the mysterious virus, but these are the first in FL. Public health officials are preparing for an outbreak. Both of the FL cases had traveled to China, but their identities are being withheld for privacy reasons.

POLITICS MAY STALL GLADES CLEANUP (Times, Metro & State),
BATTLE RAGES TO EASE EVERGLADES POLLUTION STANDARD (Tribune, Legislature 2003).
Under intense pressure by the sugar industry, FL DEP SecretaryDavid Struhs wants legislation passed than would extend the Everglades cleanup by 20 yeears. The goal of 10 parts per billion of phosphorus in water flowing into the ‘River of Grass.’ embodied in the Everglades Forever Act of 1994, would be amended to 15 ppb and extended to 2026. Claiming harm to agriculture and the impossibility of meeting that goal, the South Florida Water Management District last year endorsed the 15ppb idea and the sugar industry immediately began lobbying efforts. A bill was introduced yesterday by House Natural Resources Chairman Joe Spratt (R-LaBelle) but does not yet have an assigned number.

OWNERS OF SOLVEN-TAINTED LAND WOULD EXCAPE LIABILITY (Times, Legislature 2003),
BILL RELIEVES LANDOWNERS OF POLLUTION LIABILITY (Tribune, Capitol Roundup).
HB741 would relieve land owners from any liability when dry-cleaning solvents contaminate adjacent land. The state has a program to cleanup such land, but at the current rate of cleanup it would take 75 years to restore all 1,400+ sites in FL. The bill is intended to prevent land owners suing for damages and then get the state to clean up the contaminated land.

LAWMAKERS WORK ON PLAN TO CURB AMENDMENT PROCESS (Tribune, Legislature 2003).
Requiring a greater percentage of voters for passage is one way the ballot initiative process would be changed. Other ideas are on the table and being debated in the FL House, including one to have financial cost as part of the ballot language.

COLLEGE TUITION FUNDING AT RISK (Tribune, Metro).
Bright Futures Scholarships will be drastically cut and tuitions are scheduled to increase 12.5% at FL State colleges. Both will devestate education opportunities in one of the nation’s best assistance programs. This is how our “leaders” in FL prepare for the future! What Future?

GLOBAL
STATE’S CAN FORCE OPEN HMOs (Times, The Nation),
ANY WILLING PROVIDER LAW UPHELD, ROCKING HMO INDUSTRY (Tribune, Nation/World)..
The Supreme Court yesterday upheld a KY law that requires HMOs to accept any medical practitioner that a member chooses, regardless whether that practitioner is in the HMOs network. One victory for consumers. Another, from Maine, is before the court that would force drug companies to lower prices for people without health or drug coverage. Stay tuned.

REPORTING FROM THE HOME-FRONT WARS (Times, Opinion – columns, Mathew Miller).
A fictitious war on highway traffic deaths reported in the same manner as that of the Iraq war. Interesting slant on a problem that we ignore: 42,000 people are killed on our highways last year (11,000 due to faulty design), or a rate 30 times that of deaths in Operation Iraq Freedom; accidents cost more than $231 billion a year, three times the war in Iraq (so far). Is this an epidemic or what?

2003-04-08T12:54:00.001-07:00

FYI – FRIDAY – 04/04/03
We are not afraid to follow truth wherever it may lead,
nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.
Thomas Jefferson, 12/20/1820

ENVIRONMENT
EPA ALLOWS PINEY POINT DISCHARGE INTO GULF (Tribune, Nation/World, front page),
500 MILLION GALLONS OF ACIDIC WASTE HEADING TO GULF (Times, front page).
While conducting public meetings, EPA Secretary Whitman announced the emergency permit to discharge the acidic waste from the abandoned phosphate processing plant on the shores of Bishop’s Harbor, south of Apollo Beach. The FL DEP has been discharging the least contaminated waste water into surrounding water since the plant was abandoned in 1997; the fear of an overflow under a precipitation deluge prompted the emergency permit request. Every inch of rain water puts 12 million gallons of water into the containment pond which would cause it to overflow and devastate nearby estuaries leading to Tampa Bay.

BURGEONING CORMORANTS MAY BECOME FAIR GAME Tribune, Nation/World).
The USF&WS wants to authorize hunting and trapping of the birds who have become a nuisance in 24 coastal states, with MI the most serious situation. The over population of the birds decimates marine vegetation and fisheries and threatens habitats and other species in those habitats. The proposed control measures could be in place by fall 2003. You have until May 16 to comment @ www.fws.gov then scroll to bottom of page and click on “contact us.”

TAMPA BAY

THE STRUGGLE TO SAVE SEA GRASSES (Times, Opinion – Editorial) © St. Petersburg Times published April 4, 2003.
See previous email for verbatim copy. Make comments on this issue @ "www.dep.state.fl.us" & "www.epa.gov" then click on the "contact" button and do your thing, babee.

DISMANTLING OF MEDARD DAM TO BE STUDIED (Tribune, Metro).
The dam at SR60 & Turkey Creek Road in Brandon is a hug white elephant and SWFWMD wants to re-engineer the site to contain flood water only, thereby saving millions in maintenance. Restoration in the Alafia watershed would return the site to its once pristine wetlands state and become a mecca for wildlife.

FLORIDA
THIRD SUSPECTED CASE IN FLORIDA IS INVESTIGATED (Tribune, Nation/World).
SARS has possibly claimed its third victim since spreading from China early last month.

SENATE RESTORES PROGRAMS WITH IMAGINARY FUNDS (Tribune, Legislature 2003),
SENATE PADS ITS BUDGET PLAN (Times, Metro & State).
Calling the FL House’s bluff, the FL Senate passed a budget that would restore all the cuts made by the other chamber. Closing the gap is a matter of modernizing the state’s sales tax by eliminating many of the exemptions and seeking to tax other sources such as internet sales. Isn’t the Tallahassee Comedy Club entertaining. Keep watching, it ain’t over yet!

TURTLE EGG POACHERS COULD FACE PRISON (Tribune, Legislature 2003).
SB174 would make poaching sea turtle eggs a third degree felony punishable by 5 years in prison and/or $5,000 fine.

SENATE PANEL BACKS AUTO INSURANCE BILL (Times, Florida News).
SB1202 is designed to fix the state’s ailing PIP program, not do away with it entirely. The bill would assess new penalties for fraudulent claims, regulate and limit money collected by lawyers & health care providers. On to the FL House for a compromise. Chances are pretty good for this one since it has the backing of the insurance industry.

GLOBAL
And the boom & bang goes on. And on. And on.

2003-04-08T12:54:00.000-07:00

FYI – SATURDAY – APRIL 5, 2003
Science has proof without any certainty. Creationists have certainty without any proof.
Ashley Montague

TAMPA BAY
CONDO FOES SURPRISED TO WIN BATTLE (Clearwater Times, front page).
Neighborhood opposition (aka: “the little guy”) defeated the Dimmitt proposal to erect 90 condo units on the shores of Lake Chatagua, behind the Dimmitt Chevy dealership on US 19 in Countryside. Preliminary battles lost to the Dimmitt proposal left little hope of victory for the residents in this quiet, small piece, of what remains of undeveloped Pinellas County. But the PCBCC unanimously denied Dimmitt’s request for a zoning variance that would have enabled the 90 unit condo development. The battle is not over as Dimmitt lawyers huddle to explore alternatives for the property which might mean single family units that would decimate this unspoiled pine flatwoods in the Alligator Creek watershed. Stay tuned.

PIPELINE RUPTURE SETS OFF SQUABBLE (Tribune, Metro).
The lines are drawn in the FL Sugar Sand – Tampa Bay Water on one side, Pinellas County Utilities on the other. This kind of inter-bureaucracy turf-war amply illustrates why most eligible voters and average citizens are turned off by government with feelings of disenfranchised, in my opinion. The dangerously faulted 8 miles of pipeline should be replaced rather than wasting tax $$$$ to protect bureaucratic/political empires. What do you think? Let the PCBCC hear your voice.

FLORIDA
HOUSE AND SENATE ON COLLISION COURSE (Tribune, Metro),
HOUSE RAIDS HOUSING FUND TO AVOID SEEKING NEW TAXES (Times, Metro & State),
BUDGET CLOUDS FLORIDA’S FUTURE (Times, Opinion – editorial).
More on the budget battles looming in the FL Legislature, with a chart even; classic FL politics, but in this case it is more about substance than form/image. A fundamental difference exists between the (more moderate and sensible) Senate and the (hard-line conservative) House. The terribly skewed source of state revenue, which the Senate wants to clean-up and modernize, is the flash point poignantly illustrated by the republican House Speakers’ conservative mantra, “Live within our means,” mocked by House democrats by saying that cuts to the Medically Needy program would allow the poor to “die within their means.” House Speaker Johnnie Byrd (R-Plant City) promises to call a committee of the whole to allow the entire House to vote on the Senate’s version of the budget; a tactic used last year by Speaker Tom Feeney to defeat a similar Senate proposal. In nearly every measure by every think tank and public/private agency, Florida ranks at or within five places of the bottom/top of the range measured. But we’ve got to “live within our means” which translates to “no new taxes” and “tax relief” for the wealthy! Ain’t it just the best tragedy! LET THEM KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

HOUSE Oks CAP ON UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS’ SALARY (Tribune, Legislature 2003).
$225,000 out of the public purse is the maximum salary for the CEO of any state university. More than that will have to come from other sources. $225,000? That’s nearly 10 times the FL average classroom teacher’s starting salary.

FIRE SPRINKLER LAW RAISES NEW OBJECTIONS (Times, Metro & State).
A law passed in 1998 requiring sprinkler systems in high-rise buildings is proposed to be weakened by some lawmakers claiming undue costs. Firefighters object to such an idea with backing from national organizations showing dramatic decreases in deaths and property damage from properly installed and maintained fire suppression systems. Squelch this one, big time.

SARS FEAR GROWS BY 2 CASES IN FL (Times, Metro & State),
FEARS OVER VIRUS TRIGGER RUSH FOR MASKS IN TAMPA BAY AREA (Tribune, Nation/World),
BUSH GIVES AUTHORITY TO QUARANTINE IN US FOR MYSTERY ILLNESS (Tribune, Nation/World).
The ailment has caused more than 85 deaths worldwide after first being noticed in China, with 115 reported cases in the USA. An Executive Order from Dubya allows health officials to quarantine those infected. Meanwhile, people are buying up every mask they can find anywhere and suppliers are rushing to restock inventories. This virus is related to the common cold, coronavirus. Unless you are exposed to someone who contracted the infection in China, or have been exposed to someone who has contacted such a person, there is a small chance of becoming infected randomly.

2003-04-08T12:53:00.001-07:00

FYI - SUNDAY - APRIL 6, 2003
There is no nonsense so errant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast majority by government action.
Bertrand Russell.

ENVIRONMENT
MORE SEA TURTLES WASHING ASHORE (Tribune, Across the State).
40 sea turtles have washed up on the shores of Florida’s Atlantic Coast, but scientists cannot isolate the cause. Seabirds and fish have also been washing up on the shores and have been tested for red tide with negative results. The mystery continues.

FOREIGN ALGAE THREATENS SEAGRASS (Tribune, Metro).
Caulerpa brachypus, a vine-like algae that has invaded coral reefs in SE Florida, has spread north to the Indian River Lagoon where it threatens the native sea-grasses. Damage to the sea-grasses in the five county lagoon would devastate the $286 million a year sport fishing industry. Scientists from Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Ft. Pierce are baffled as to the source of the algae, and they are worried over the results of a possible spread of the plant by a hurricane or other large storm.

FLORIDA
PRESERVE EDUCATION OPTIONS (Tribune, Commentary: proper funding of the class size amendment),
OUT OF REACH (Tribune, Commentary: state college control of tuition, scholarships & admissions, etc.),
LATEST THEORY FROM CAPITOL: JUST LET IT ROT (Tribune, Metro - Steve Otto: using surplus food from farms to feed the poor & hungry for a meager state appropriation of $400,000 which isn’t in either the House or Senate budget),
SOLVE MALPRACTICE MAELSTROM WITH ENLIGHTENED STATE ACTION (Tribune, Our Opinion - editorial: supports some of the good ideas to resolve this dilemma including a state insurance pool & tighter control of “bad” docs),
VIEWS ON SUITS AGAINST DOCTORS AT CORE OF FEUD (Times, Metro & State: 1 doc in Jax who has been sued 14 times for malpractice and never disciplined by his peers or the state of FL),
THE HAPPY IDEOLOGUES (Times, Opinion - editorial: parade of organizations lobbying for good sense money issues),
LEGISLATORS TO VOTERS: BACK OFF OUR CONSTITUTION (Times, Opinion, Columns - Martin Dyckman: history of why FL is 1 of only 2 southern states with referendum rights and misguided proposals to inhibit the process).
In this years wrangling over money, the FL Legislature (black hole in the panhandle) is hell bent on:
- reducing Florida’s educational system to the bottom rung of the national ratings list;
- gutting scholarships and financial support to colleges and local school systems;
- shifting responsibilities for financing programs to county & local governments;
- tax relief for the wealthy;
- refusing to alter Florida’s skewed sales tax exemptions;
- not resolving the medical malpractice crisis;
- cutting transportation funding for roads (never mind the high-speed rail initiative);
- raiding trust funds for Florida Forever & the Everglades clean-up;
- raiding Affordable Housing trust fund;
- refusing to fund the Farm Share (feed the hungry) program;
- altering the ballot initiative process to favor the legislature and not the people;
- ad nauseum!
It is far past the time when the citizen/taxpayers of Florida should rise up and take control of their society from the grasp of narrow-minded, mantra driven, recalcitrant, (so-called representative) lawmakers (aka: Fl legislature). Not only is this comedy club (aka: Fl legislature) undermining Florida’s quality of life right now, but they are passing the buck to local jurisdictions, and (worse) to future generations, for doing what needs to be done to resolve all these vitally important, quality of life, issues; for doing the right thing (and all the rest of those old saws). These burning issues go way, way beyond balancing the 2003-2004 budget and strike at the heart of our representative democratic system of government for now and into the distant future. Give ‘em hell citizens! It’s long past due.

GLOBAL
HOW AFFIRMATIVE ACTION HAS BENEFITED NEWSPAPER READERS (Times, Opinion, Columns - David S. Broder).
Healthy debate is stimulated by the diversity of viewpoints as the result of affirmative action that brought a wide range of minorities into mainstream American life. Lilly white America has been changed and strengthened in ways little envisioned by the Supreme Court’s 1978 Bakke decision. It is hoped that the Supreme Court will reaffirm that decision in the case of the University of Michigan’s Affirmative Action Admissions Policy.

2003-04-08T12:53:00.000-07:00

FYI – TUESDAY – APRIL 8, 2003
Politics is the art of preventing people from taking part in affairs which properly concern them.
Paul Valery, 1943.

ENVIRONMENT
ACTIVISTS PROPOSE PINELLAS MANGROVE ORDINANCE (Pinellas Environmental Working Group meeting).
PEWG activists put a lot of time and hard work into the recommended Mangrove Ordinance drafted by the Citizens Advisory panel. Overall, Mangroves will be better off under this new ordinance, which is stronger and has more teeth than the FL law. Other issues that PEWG is working on include the ‘Redevelopment Element’ of the county’s Comprehensive Plan, Whited Airport redevelopment, McMullen Property, Stauffer Chemical site, Boyd Hill Nature Park, the proposed consolidation of county agencies, the transportation issue, among others. Urge county commissioners to support the proposed Mangrove Ordinance!

PARALYZED MANATEE IMPROVES; 7 OTHERS DIE (Tribune, Metro).
The female rescued from Lemon Bay last Wednesday is improving, but still paralyzed. 37 manatees have died since mid March in Collier, Lee, Charlotte and Sarasota Counties; red tide is suspected but not yet proven – it killed 27 last year.

TAMPA BAY
DEAL PROVIDES RESERVOIR ACREAGE (Tribune, Metro).
An 11th hour deal struck by lawyers on both sides has sealed the purchase of the last 2,560 acres for the new reservoir in SE Hillsborough County. The $17 million price is $10 million less than the owner, Dr. Pruitt of St Pete, wanted, but he will also have his legal bills paid and Tampa Bay Water can consummate the project, expected to deliver 23 million gallons of water a day to the regions potable water system.

COUNTY AIMS TO CURTAIL ‘ANYTHING GOES’ CONSTRUCTION (Tribune, Across the Region).
Hernando County Commissioners are considering tightening up requirements for “big box” stores such as Wal-Mart by requiring them to build road accesses, greater setbacks and more buffers, restricted lighting amongst other items. The goal is to make these “big box” developments less intrusive on the neighborhoods they serve.

FLORIDA
HOUSE PANEL WANTS TO END CLASS LIMITS AT THIRD GRADE (Tribune, Legislature 2003),
CLASS SIZE RETREAT PROPOSED (Times, Legislature 2003).
The FL House K-20 Committee passed a resolution that would put the issue back on the ballot next year. The initiative would ask voters to approve class size limitations on just the first four years, K-3 grades. This is the first step at turning around voter approved referendum issues. Others are sure to follow.

BUILDERS BACK BUSH’S STANCE ON WORKER’S COMP (Tribune, Legislature 2003),
GOV. BUSH: FLORIDA NEEDS WORKER’S COMP OVERHAUL (Times, Florida News).
FL Home Builders rallied in Tallahassee yesterday in support of HB164 & SB1206 which follow the Jebster’s basic plan to roll back the costs of Worker’s Comp Insurance. Rates would be rolled back 15% by reducing attorney fees, eliminating exemptions and relying on alternative dispute resolution rather than law suits.

PANEL Oks MERGER OF KEY STATE AGENCIES (Tribune, Legislature 2003),
DEPARTMENTS MERGER FAVORED (Times, Legislature 2003).
The departments of State & Community Affairs would be merged under the Jebster’s scheme embodied in the FL Senate’s combining SB186 & 2528. The plan has been sold on the basis of “seamless permitting” by the combined agency. Environmentalists are concerned that the DCA would lose its oversight of growth management issues.

FOREIGN STUDENT FUNDING TARGETED (Times, Metro & State, front page).
/a divided FL House Education Committee narrowly approved legislation that would deny funds to students from countries that were known to support terrorism; $308,000 was spent last year in the program.

A BUDGET FOR THE BIRDS, NOT OUR KIDS (Times, Metro & State, Mary Jo Melone).
FL House Speaker Johnnie Byrd’s (R-Plant City) “living within our means” Scrooge-like budget proposes to slash $50 million for school books that could fertilize the minds of 2 million of Florida’s kids. Politicians like Johnnie Byrd put the “duh” in Flori-duh. People need to sound off about this sort of issue N O W, & voters ought to remember these stupid, dumbing-down, mantra driven, politicians who jeopardize the future of our society in Florida as well as our nation.

CRITICS: TWO PLANS WOULD ERODE ABORTION RIGHTS (Times, Florida News).
SB2072, sponsored by Sen. Anna Cowin (R-Leesburg), would allow prosecution for double murder when a motorist kills a pregnant woman. SB2082, sponsored by Randy Johnson (R-Celebration) and Dan Webster (R-Winter Garden), would require doctors to inform women that they have the right to bury or cremate the remains of a miscarriage. The bills are provoking heated debate of the issue of conferring “personhood” on a fetus, a position vehemently espoused by anti-abortion advocates; that would degrade the issue of a woman’s right to abortion.

INSURANCE PROPOSAL SETS UP FIERCE FIGHT (Times, Florida News),
BILL TARGETS UNDERWRITER’S SPIKING RATES OF ILL CLIENTS (Tribune, Legislature 2003).
SB2264 would give the state’s Office of Insurance Regulation the authority to regulate group health insurance policies sold to Floridians by out of state companies. Opponents claim the bill would force out of state insurance companies to curtail their business in Florida which would drive up rates for everyone else. Supporters offered the bill in response to companies that sell health insurance at artificially low rates and then increase the rates when the insured become ill. Stay tuned!

SENATE EYES CRACKDOWN ON INSURER PROFITS (Tribune, Capitol Roundup).
The FL House & Senate are moving further apart on the medical malpractice issue. The FL House is falling in line with the Jebster’s wishes while the FL Senate is moving towards limits of insurance company excessive profits, clean-up of the medical profession, and establishing a state run insurance pool for malpractice insurance, similar to uninsured motorists pool.

GLOBAL
COURT PUTS LIMITS ON BURNING CROSS (Tribune, Nation/World, front page).
Burning a cross on your lawn or in a Ku Klux Klan meeting is ‘symbolic expression;’ burning a cross to frighten or intimidate is not, and is a criminal act which can be prosecuted said the Supreme Court. The case was against VA for its strict law against cross burning which the decision upheld in part. CA, CT, DE, FL, GA, ID, MT, NC, SC, SD, VT & DC also have laws banning the burning of a cross, soon to be joined by other states predicts VA’s Attorney General.

DISEASE’S SPREAD ALARMS OFFICIALS (Tribune, Nation/World).
Hoping to contain the SARS pandemic, WHO is alarmed by outbreaks in several remote areas of the world. There are more than 140 cases each in the US & Canada; five cases have been identified in FL.

LET’S HAVE EXCELLENCE AND DIVERSITY (Tribune, Other Views – Leonard Pitts, Jr.),
‘ACCESS’ EFFORTS MISMATCH STUDENTS WITH INSTITUTIONS (Tribune, Other Views - Thomas Sowell)
Affirmative action is a hotly debated issue before the US Supreme Court whose decision in the UofMI Law School case is anxiously awaited. The decision will affect thousands not matter which side the court chooses. Thousands of minorities owe their success, and our culture owes a large part of its vibrant diversity, to affirmative action. Yes there are problems, and it is hoped that the court will in some way rectify them. Stay tuned.

2003-04-07T14:09:00.000-07:00

There is no nonsense so errant that it cannot be made the creed of the vast
majority by government action. Bertrand Russell.

ENVIRONMENT
MORE SEA TURTLES WASHING ASHORE (Tribune, Across the State).
40 sea turtles have washed up on the shores of Florida's Atlantic Coast,
but scientists cannot isolate the cause. Seabirds and fish have also been
washing up on the shores and have been tested for red tide with negative
results. The mystery continues.

FOREIGN ALGAE THREATENS SEAGRASS (Tribune, Metro).
Caulerpa brachypus, a vine-like algae that has invaded coral reefs in SE
Florida, has spread north to the Indian River Lagoon where it threatens the
native sea-grasses. Damage to the sea-grasses in the five county lagoon
would devastate the $286 million a year sport fishing industry. Scientists
from Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Ft. Pierce are baffled as to
the source of the algae, and they are worried over the results of a possible
spread of the plant by a hurricane or other large storm.

FLORIDA
PRESERVE EDUCATION OPTIONS (Tribune, Commentary: proper funding of the class
size amendment),
OUT OF REACH (Tribune, Commentary: state college control of tuition,
scholarships & admissions, etc.),
LATEST THEORY FROM CAPITOL: JUST LET IT ROT (Tribune, Metro - Steve Otto:
using surplus food from farms to feed the poor & hungry for a meager state
appropriation of $400,000 which isn't in either the House or Senate budget),
SOLVE MALPRACTICE MAELSTROM WITH ENLIGHTENED STATE ACTION (Tribune, Our
Opinion - editorial: supports some of the good ideas to resolve this dilemma
including a state insurance pool & tighter control of "bad" docs),
VIEWS ON SUITS AGAINST DOCTORS AT CORE OF FEUD (Times, Metro & State: 1 doc
in Jax who has been sued 14 times for malpractice and never disciplined by
his peers or the state of FL),
THE HAPPY IDEOLOGUES (Times, Opinion - editorial: parade of organizations
lobbying for good sense money issues),
LEGISLATORS TO VOTERS: BACK OFF OUR CONSTITUTION (Times, Opinion, Columns -
Martin Dyckman: history of why FL is 1 of only 2 southern states with
referendum rights and misguided proposals to inhibit the process).
In this years wrangling over money, the FL Legislature (black hole in the
panhandle) is hell bent on:
- reducing Florida's educational system to the bottom rung of the
national ratings list;
- gutting scholarships and financial support to colleges and
local school systems;
- shifting responsibilities for financing programs to county &
local governments;
- tax relief for the wealthy;
- refusing to alter Florida's skewed sales tax exemptions;
- not resolving the medical malpractice crisis;
- cutting transportation funding for roads (never mind the high
speed rail initiative);
- raiding trust funds for Florida Forever & the Everglades;
- raiding Affordable Housing trust fund;
- refusing to fund the Farm Share (feed the hungry) program;
- altering the ballot initiative process to favor the legislature
and not the people;
- ad nauseum!
It is long past the time when the citizen/taxpayers of Florida should rise
up and take control of their society from the grasp of narrow-minded, mantra
driven, recalcitrant, (so-called representative) lawmakers (aka: Fl
legislature). Not only is this comedy club (aka: Fl legislature)
undermining Florida's quality of life right now, but they are passing the
buck to local jurisdictions, and (worse) to future generations, for doing
what needs to be done to resolve all these vitally important, quality of
life, issues; for doing the right thing (and all the rest of those old
saws). These burning issues go way, way beyond balancing the 2003-2004
budget and strike at the heart of our representative democratic system of
government for now and into the distant future. Give 'em hell citizens!
It's long past due.

GLOBAL
HOW AFFIRMATIVE ACTION HAS BENEFITED NEWSPAPER READERS (Times, Opinion,
Columns - David S. Broder).
Healthy debate is stimulated by the diversity of viewpoints as the result
of affirmative action that brought a wide range of minorities into
mainstream American life. Lilly white America has been changed and
strengthened in ways little envisioned by the Supreme Court's 1978 Bakke
decision. It is hoped that the Supreme Court will reaffirm that decision in
the case of the University of Michigan's Affirmative Action Admissions
Policy.

C.U.

Curmy/Kermee/curmudgin (aka: Mike MacDonald)