By Sylvia Gurinsky
Unbelievably, this is true:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/08/18/obama.protest.rifle/
Is anyone else scared of what might happen, God forbid?
I certainly am.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Aug. 17: Sins of the Fathers
By Sylvia Gurinsky
Of all the churches that are to close, including 14 in South Florida, how many could have been saved if the Catholic Church had only saved itself morally during its sex abuse scandal?
During the 1990s and the early part of this decade, the Catholic Church paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to people who said they were abused by priests - money they could have saved, at least in part, if church leaders had come clean in the first place instead of covering for the accused and often transferring them to other parishes.
Now, the church says that because of the economy, it can't afford to maintain all the congregations. In this community, the 14 will be merged into other churches. But parishoners say, and rightfully so, that it's hard to merge cultures, traditions and special qualities that each congregation has.
More than the current economic crisis, the sins of the Fathers - and their overseers in the Catholic Church - from decades ago are to blame for these shutdowns.
Of all the churches that are to close, including 14 in South Florida, how many could have been saved if the Catholic Church had only saved itself morally during its sex abuse scandal?
During the 1990s and the early part of this decade, the Catholic Church paid out hundreds of millions of dollars to people who said they were abused by priests - money they could have saved, at least in part, if church leaders had come clean in the first place instead of covering for the accused and often transferring them to other parishes.
Now, the church says that because of the economy, it can't afford to maintain all the congregations. In this community, the 14 will be merged into other churches. But parishoners say, and rightfully so, that it's hard to merge cultures, traditions and special qualities that each congregation has.
More than the current economic crisis, the sins of the Fathers - and their overseers in the Catholic Church - from decades ago are to blame for these shutdowns.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Aug. 13: Reward Those Who Protect Homes From Hurricanes
By Sylvia Gurinsky
In Florida, it's expensive to do the right thing.
That's why the state should maintain the discounts state residents receive for installing shutters and doing other things to protect their homes from hurricanes.
A story by Beatrice E. Garcia in last Sunday's Miami Herald , however, indicates that insurers are pressuring the Florida Legislature to reverse themselves on the shutter discount:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1178070.html
Essentially, the insurance companies' argument is that the discount is Florida's form of "cash for clunkers" (or in this case, cash for non-clunkers), in that it's been so popular they can't make money.
Somehow, that's hard to believe. There are plenty of Floridians who still haven't put shutters, or any other kind of hurricane protection, on their homes.
Insurance companies may look at surcharges for those who do nothing. If homeowners can afford the surcharge, that's not a bad idea. If they can't, however, that brings yet another problem.
The review the Legislature is currently doing is necessary; any kind of public scrutiny is welcome. But lawmakers should not cave in to pressure - or campaign dollars - from the insurance industry.
In recent years, Florida has been learning how to get hurricane preparation right. Weakening the methods in any way would be wrong.
In Florida, it's expensive to do the right thing.
That's why the state should maintain the discounts state residents receive for installing shutters and doing other things to protect their homes from hurricanes.
A story by Beatrice E. Garcia in last Sunday's Miami Herald , however, indicates that insurers are pressuring the Florida Legislature to reverse themselves on the shutter discount:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/southflorida/story/1178070.html
Essentially, the insurance companies' argument is that the discount is Florida's form of "cash for clunkers" (or in this case, cash for non-clunkers), in that it's been so popular they can't make money.
Somehow, that's hard to believe. There are plenty of Floridians who still haven't put shutters, or any other kind of hurricane protection, on their homes.
Insurance companies may look at surcharges for those who do nothing. If homeowners can afford the surcharge, that's not a bad idea. If they can't, however, that brings yet another problem.
The review the Legislature is currently doing is necessary; any kind of public scrutiny is welcome. But lawmakers should not cave in to pressure - or campaign dollars - from the insurance industry.
In recent years, Florida has been learning how to get hurricane preparation right. Weakening the methods in any way would be wrong.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Aug. 12: Sniglets On FPL Exec Salaries, Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Roberta Fox and Dr. Greer
By Sylvia Gurinsky
Florida Power & Light and Progress Energy, otherwise known as the state's chutzpah chiefs, want the Public Service Commission to allow them to raise rates as much as 31 percent - but they don't want to disclose how much their top executives make.
Bravo to PSC for making an issue of this. Florida's energy companies must be accountable to the public they serve.
************************************************************************************
Eunice Kennedy Shriver's son, Bobby, has said that his mother was never elected to any office, yet she changed the world.
Indeed, she did. Her perception was colored by the situation of her sister Rosemary, who was classified as mildly retarded, yet became almost fully incapacitated after a lobotomy.
Shriver founded the Special Olympics in 1968; today, more than 3 million athletes worldwide participate in Special Olympics events. There are winter and summer games. The program has broken down barriers for the developmentally disabled in countries such as China, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Besides her family, Eunice Kennedy Shriver is survived by the millions worldwide who are better off for her actions.
************************************************************************************
Florida Power & Light and Progress Energy, otherwise known as the state's chutzpah chiefs, want the Public Service Commission to allow them to raise rates as much as 31 percent - but they don't want to disclose how much their top executives make.
Bravo to PSC for making an issue of this. Florida's energy companies must be accountable to the public they serve.
************************************************************************************
Eunice Kennedy Shriver's son, Bobby, has said that his mother was never elected to any office, yet she changed the world.
Indeed, she did. Her perception was colored by the situation of her sister Rosemary, who was classified as mildly retarded, yet became almost fully incapacitated after a lobotomy.
Shriver founded the Special Olympics in 1968; today, more than 3 million athletes worldwide participate in Special Olympics events. There are winter and summer games. The program has broken down barriers for the developmentally disabled in countries such as China, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Besides her family, Eunice Kennedy Shriver is survived by the millions worldwide who are better off for her actions.
************************************************************************************
Roberta Fox, who served in the Florida Legislature for 10 years during the 1970s and '80s, made no less of an impression for women trying to move forward. She campaigned for the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment in Florida, which did not happen. However, she accomplished plenty more:
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/breaking-news/story/1180331.html
The campaign continues for equal pay and other equal treatment for women. But Roberta Fox blazed a trail that should make those goals reachable.
**********************************************************************************
Dr. Pedro Jose Greer is one of 16 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Greer reached legendary status at a young age in South Florida for his achievements in medicine. He founded the Camillus Health Concern and redefined the way the homeless in this community receive health care. He left a long legacy of medical students at the University of Miami better for his teachings, and will do the same in his current post at Florida International University's medical school. And has done all these things with a sense of humor that leaves his patients in stitches - in a good way.
Here's to you, Dr. Greer.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Aug. 11: Where's Charlie, and There Goes Mel
By Sylvia Gurinsky
What's happened to the governor of Florida?
In trying to get elected senator, Charlie Crist is throwing away the playbook he used to become governor in 2006. During the Republican primary that year, he paid little attention to Tom Gallagher, a once-moderate Republican who veered sharply right. Crist played the middle and won the hearts of swing-voting Floridians.
This time, history isn't repeating itself, at least not yet. Crist apparently doesn't like what the polls are telling him about the gap between him and this campaign's designated righty, former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, though most newspaper polls put Crist way in front.
Therefore, the governor of all the people is trying to turn into the senatorial candidate for only part of Florida. Crist's public statement that he would have voted against new Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor and his veering away from his energy policy of last year show that he's trying to appeal to some of the voters Rubio has been courting.
In so doing, Crist may turn off at least some of those swing voters from 2006. Somewhere, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the leading Democratic contender for that Senate seat, is taking notes.
**************************************************************************
Speaking of that Senate seat, Mel Martinez, who currently occupies it, isn't willing to wait around to find out who will win it in November, 2010. He's stepping down.
Martinez apparently has never had a taste for politics, and even less so with the pressures of being part of today's Republican Party. Separation from his family and pressures of caring for an elderly parent apparently added to the decision.
This writer wouldn't mind Crist appointing the man who preceded Martinez - Bob Graham - to serve the remainder of the term. The old, 2006 Crist might have done so. One wonders whether the new Crist will appoint someone who fulfills Florida's best interests - or his best primary election interests.
What's happened to the governor of Florida?
In trying to get elected senator, Charlie Crist is throwing away the playbook he used to become governor in 2006. During the Republican primary that year, he paid little attention to Tom Gallagher, a once-moderate Republican who veered sharply right. Crist played the middle and won the hearts of swing-voting Floridians.
This time, history isn't repeating itself, at least not yet. Crist apparently doesn't like what the polls are telling him about the gap between him and this campaign's designated righty, former Florida House Speaker Marco Rubio, though most newspaper polls put Crist way in front.
Therefore, the governor of all the people is trying to turn into the senatorial candidate for only part of Florida. Crist's public statement that he would have voted against new Supreme Court Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor and his veering away from his energy policy of last year show that he's trying to appeal to some of the voters Rubio has been courting.
In so doing, Crist may turn off at least some of those swing voters from 2006. Somewhere, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, the leading Democratic contender for that Senate seat, is taking notes.
**************************************************************************
Speaking of that Senate seat, Mel Martinez, who currently occupies it, isn't willing to wait around to find out who will win it in November, 2010. He's stepping down.
Martinez apparently has never had a taste for politics, and even less so with the pressures of being part of today's Republican Party. Separation from his family and pressures of caring for an elderly parent apparently added to the decision.
This writer wouldn't mind Crist appointing the man who preceded Martinez - Bob Graham - to serve the remainder of the term. The old, 2006 Crist might have done so. One wonders whether the new Crist will appoint someone who fulfills Florida's best interests - or his best primary election interests.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Aug. 10: Congress, Grow a Spine Against Town Hall Tantrums
By Sylvia Gurinsky
A lot of members of Congress are baseball fans. So they might try taking a hint from the umpires when people at their health-care town hall meetings turn unruly: Eject them.
The town-hall tantrum throwers are nothing more than rabble-rousers, nothing more than operatives (possibly paid ones, in a number of cases), designed to sabotage any attempt at health care reform. So far, members of Congress in both parties have been shell-shocked against them. Some, including, sadly, South Florida's Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Ron Klein, seem to be resorting to telephone "town hall" meetings.
The behavior of the saboteurs is most harmful to the people, often in the hundreds, who honestly do want to understand what health care legislation Congress and President Barack Obama propose to pass, and how it will affect them in terms of coverage and cost. Those people go to the town hall meetings because they want honest answers to their questions.
At these meetings, if anyone gets out of line, the member of Congress presiding should tell them the basic facts: If they don't behave, they'll be kicked out. Period.
Maybe they'll shut up long enough to remember that 60 million fellow Americans don't have health insurance, and many of them have illnesses that put everyone's lives and livelihoods at risk.
Will members of Congress be criticized for the ejections? Sure. But it's better to be criticized for action than for the paralysis they suffer from now.
A lot of members of Congress are baseball fans. So they might try taking a hint from the umpires when people at their health-care town hall meetings turn unruly: Eject them.
The town-hall tantrum throwers are nothing more than rabble-rousers, nothing more than operatives (possibly paid ones, in a number of cases), designed to sabotage any attempt at health care reform. So far, members of Congress in both parties have been shell-shocked against them. Some, including, sadly, South Florida's Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Ron Klein, seem to be resorting to telephone "town hall" meetings.
The behavior of the saboteurs is most harmful to the people, often in the hundreds, who honestly do want to understand what health care legislation Congress and President Barack Obama propose to pass, and how it will affect them in terms of coverage and cost. Those people go to the town hall meetings because they want honest answers to their questions.
At these meetings, if anyone gets out of line, the member of Congress presiding should tell them the basic facts: If they don't behave, they'll be kicked out. Period.
Maybe they'll shut up long enough to remember that 60 million fellow Americans don't have health insurance, and many of them have illnesses that put everyone's lives and livelihoods at risk.
Will members of Congress be criticized for the ejections? Sure. But it's better to be criticized for action than for the paralysis they suffer from now.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Aug. 6: The Gun Law Weaknesses Are Showing - And Death Tolls Are Rising
By Sylvia Gurinsky
The shooting at an LA Fitness center outside Pittsburgh that took three innocent lives is just one way increasing weakness in gun laws is showing.
Bullied and/or financially buffeted by the National Rifle Association, lawmakers in Congress and across the United States have been removing protections for people in places of business, national parks and other areas that are gun-free. The actions of LA Fitness shooter George Sodini - a man who didn't have a criminal record and had a hate-filled blog that, apparently, nobody read until it was too late - show the perils of opening up locations to people with guns. The problem is that people will bring them. That includes angry people, even those without criminal records. People who, like Sodini, are ready to kill.
The LA Fitness tragedy should give pause to any elected official considering opening up any public forum to guns.
So should a study by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. One of the NRA's persistent arguments is to "get illegal guns off the streets." The Brady study says that's very difficult for states to do because of the lack of strong gun laws:
http://www.bradycampaign.org/media/release.php?release=1167
Congress and the state legislatures - including Florida's - need to take this report seriously.
If the NRA's argument is that if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns, the Brady study shows the opposite: More outlaws have guns because more guns aren't outlawed.
And if more places are open to guns, they become inviting targets for more troubled people.
The shooting at an LA Fitness center outside Pittsburgh that took three innocent lives is just one way increasing weakness in gun laws is showing.
Bullied and/or financially buffeted by the National Rifle Association, lawmakers in Congress and across the United States have been removing protections for people in places of business, national parks and other areas that are gun-free. The actions of LA Fitness shooter George Sodini - a man who didn't have a criminal record and had a hate-filled blog that, apparently, nobody read until it was too late - show the perils of opening up locations to people with guns. The problem is that people will bring them. That includes angry people, even those without criminal records. People who, like Sodini, are ready to kill.
The LA Fitness tragedy should give pause to any elected official considering opening up any public forum to guns.
So should a study by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. One of the NRA's persistent arguments is to "get illegal guns off the streets." The Brady study says that's very difficult for states to do because of the lack of strong gun laws:
http://www.bradycampaign.org/media/release.php?release=1167
Congress and the state legislatures - including Florida's - need to take this report seriously.
If the NRA's argument is that if guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns, the Brady study shows the opposite: More outlaws have guns because more guns aren't outlawed.
And if more places are open to guns, they become inviting targets for more troubled people.
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