Next Act
What's going on around us, politically and socially? How will the Next Act play out? What do you want things to be like in our schools, our environment, and our communities? If you are motivated to do something to change things, what will be your Next Act?
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
He Always Knew How To Lead
Sunday, February 26, 2012
What A Great Week For Education In Florida!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
We've Got A Short-Term Memory Problem!
I've been a proud participant in all 3 of the "Hands Across The Sand" demonstrations because I'm a strong opponent of drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico, and especially anywhere near Florida's fragile coastline. I've also attended all of the Press Conferences for all 3 of these events.
I noticed a marked difference in yesterday's "Hands Across The Sand" protest from the one that occurred just one short year ago.
Last June when hundreds of people joined hands on St. Petersburg Beach to protest drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, the Deepwater Horizon was gushing millions of gallons of "sweet crude" into the Gulf. At any time during the day or night, you could turn on a TV and see the oil uncontrollably gushing onto the ocean floor. This disaster was front and center every day for 4 months.
A year ago at the Press Conference, we heard the manager of the Tradewinds Hotel tell us of the huge loss in business that his hotel had suffered as a result of the perception that oil was on the beaches all over Florida, and not just in the Panhandle. I made a mental note of the numbers of hotel guests around the pools and on the beach and it was remarkably low for the summer season.
A year ago I noticed that there were many more Politicians in attendance at the Press Conference at the Tradewinds Hotel in St. Petersburg than there were in attendance yesterday. Last year, they all wanted to speak out against that gusher that we saw on our TV every day. A year ago, there were also a greater number of media representatives in attendance at the Press Conference.
Yesterday, the Tradewinds Hotel was extremely crowded. I noticed a huge difference in the activity level at the hotel compared to last June. The pools were packed, the rental concessions of surfboards and other water toys were doing a brisk business, and the beach was packed with swimmers and walkers. Walking through the hotel this year, I saw several signs for Convention Groups who were staying at the Hotel.
Those convention groups weren't there last year, and the pools and the beach weren't packed last year, either--even though there wasn't a drop of oil on St. Petersburg Beach.
Simply the perception that there might be an oil problem was enough to keep those groups and tourists away.
So, what has happened in the past year to make offshore drilling safer? Nothing--absolutely nothing.
We just don't talk about it daily. We don't have 24/7 live footage of the gusher on our TV's. We've moved on to the Casey Anthony trial.
What has happened in the past year to make the tourists come back? Probably a combination of advertising that "the coast is clear," and no media coverage of the oil slicks in the Gulf (which are still rising up from the ocean floor and are being spotted out off of the coast of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida--but they aren't reporting it on the news often, or at all.
But, the single biggest factor is that we don't have a leaking well that is in the news daily.
As Americans, we don't seem to pay much attention to History any more. Out of sight, out of mind....Thus, we can expect to be doomed repeat the same mistakes.
I awoke yesterday to new headlines in the paper that Sen. Mike Haridopolos and Gov. Rick Scott want to bring oil drilling back for approval in State waters (inside of 9 miles from the Coast). Really!
Florida has 825 miles of sandy beaches and 8,500 miles of tidally influenced coastline. More than 950,000 Floridians make their living from jobs relating to tourism and our coastal waters. In 2008, visitors spent $65.2 billion dollars and Florida collected $3.9 billion dollars in total tourism tax revenues. As we saw from the disaster a year ago, we have a large marine fisheries business, restaurants, and hotels that depend upon clean water. What part of those facts and figures don't Mike Haridopolos and Rick Scott understand?
Why would we ever want to risk all of that revenue and all of those jobs—both are irreplaceable—now and forever! Certainly, one year isn't long enough to forget how badly our economy was affected by this disaster?
Don't tell me that we need to drill in the Gulf "to reduce our dependency on foreign oil," or "for our National Security"--unless you are going to "nationalize" those wells and make them owned by the U.S. Government (say, for example to supply the strategic government reserve of oil). But, that will never happen because these well they want to drill won't be owned or controlled by the U.S. Government, but instead will be owned by an international oil company which has a singular goal--to sell the oil to whomever will pay the highest price for it.
If you can guarantee me that the oil drilled in the Gulf will be sold solely in the U.S. and not sold on the world market for a higher price, and if you can convince me that the industry has instituted real safety measures instead of relying upon the same old technology that has been used for the last 30 years with a lousy safety record--then I might listen. Until then, we will only get the shaft in this whole scenario.
All we will get will be the mess. We'll have to clean up the mess. We'll have to suffer the losses of income and tax revenues while the oil companies simply sell their oil to the highest bidder. Sounds fair.
It's time to pass a Florida Constitutional Amendment to prohibit drilling off the coast. Our short term memory problem demands nothing less....
Saturday, April 30, 2011
We Are All Environmentalists, Now!
If you live in Florida, we need a similar clarion call: "We're All Environmentalists, Now!"
Every day, I pick up the newspaper and read about the continuing onslaught in Tallahassee. Every day there is a slew of radical bills aimed at doing away with regulations that affect planning for growth and protection of our waters (both fresh water for drinking, and our bays and the Gulf). There is actually a bill (HB 991) that says it's ok to allow groundwater pollution to remain underneath a property owner's land, so long as it is contained at the boundaries.
Hmmm.... has anyone in Tallahassee ever studied anything about the Floridan Acquifer and how it works? Here's a hint, it's not a series of underground pipes with shut-off valves coinciding with private property boundary lines. But, alas, now we won't have to clean that up anymore? (So much for clean drinking water...)
Welcome to Florida, the Carcinogenic State....
Articles in the newspapers talk about how “environmentalists” are opposing these bills, as if only people who are members of organized environmental groups, such as the Sierra Club or Audubon Society should care about what poisoning is going on around us.
In case you haven't noticed, any opposition by "environmentalists" is being steamrolled in Tallahassee (and soon will be followed by dredging, filling and paving).
The question is, as Floridians aren’t we really all environmentalists? Don’t we all share a basic human need for clean water to drink and bathe in? Don’t we have a common paramount interest in ensuring that we have enough clean water to drink? Don’t we all want clean bays and a clean Gulf so we can take a swim or eat seafood without fear?
Frankly, having enough mercury in my body so that I can take my own temperature without a thermometer, is not a personal goal of mine.
“Environmentalists” are nothing more than concerned citizens who are paying attention to protecting those things. The bills being passed in Tallahassee are going to make it impossible for anyone to object to things that get in the way of development, regardless of its effects on our state waters (and without regard to any kind of a comprehensive state plan).
History is repeating itself. We did this before in the 60's and 70's in Florida, and it took decades to fix those problems. But, the current "leadership" in Tallahassee isn't too keen on learning from our history.
So, when will you awake your inner environmentalist?
Think about it often--like whenever you take a shower, or turn on your faucet, or take a drink of water.
Then call and write to all of your "Representatives" in Tallahassee and say, Enough!
Tell them: "Stop poisioning me and stop destroying my State!"
After all, isn't this something we can all get behind?
Aren't these bi-partisan values?
Return To Sender!
We are told that these things are needed to improve the economy. (Although I’m not sure how limiting the right to register voters or to allow people more time to early vote helps the economy, and I’m not sure how 18 bills targeting women and their reproductive rights are beneficial to the economy, and I’m not sure how deregulating the insurance industry and allowing insurance rates to skyrocket will help the economy, and I'm not sure how cutting public school funding by more than 1 Billion Dollars helps the economy, etc. etc.)
But, most of all, I wonder what we are going to do if all of these changes don’t “fix Florida?”
Can we put the toothpaste back in the tube (or, lest we forget, put the gushing oil back in the ground)? Can we require that all of these new radical bills have a “trigger” attached to them that will make them “sunset” in two years if they don’t work to fix the economy?
Of course not--elections have consequences. They’ve had consequences in Florida for 15 years.
Florida has been under GOP control for 15 years. The current “broken” state of our state government is the GOP’s responsibility. And now they are telling me and you that these radical changes are needed to fix our State (i.e., clean up the mess that they created). Really.... you can't make this up.
Thankfully, all of the members of the Legislature will have to run for election in 2012 because of Redistricting. Here’s a thought. When you see an (R) after a State Legislature candidate’s name on the ballot, remember that it stands for “Return to Sender.”
Remind all of your friends, neighbors and co-workers that it's time to send the GOP legislators back to the private sector before it’s too late to fix Florida.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Make Social Security Solvent--Just Don't Kill Grandma!
Don't let anyone tell you that we have to change Social Security in a hurry, and don't let them tell you that the only thing that is viable is to make Grandma work until she is older. It simply isn't true or fair.
We are broke as a country--that I do not dispute at all.
But fixing the National Debt problem needs to involve cutting spending on other things and raising revenues--yes, we are going to have to raise taxes. But for me, the answer is not balancing the budget on the back of Grandma.
She's entitled to better treatment than that!
She raised your mother better than that!