Bradenton Times News Articles

Friday, the long-awaited, big-budgeted Hollywood re-imagining of the book often hailed as the Great American Novel will hit theaters. Like most fans of American literature, The Great Gatsby holds a special place in my heart, though I've learned to look at it much differently since first reading it in junior high. Gatsby speaks endlessly to the contradictions of American culture and morality, and today is perhaps a perfect time to reexamine its themes. But whether we love it for the right or wrong reasons might be the most interesting question, as well as the reason its story has managed to transcend decades of changing culture.

I’m an independent voter. There are over 2.8 million voters like me in Florida. We can’t vote in Florida primary elections unless we join a major party. Florida and 18 other states have closed primary elections where only members of a political party may vote. Even “open” primaries require you to choose a party ballot. National polls show that 40 percent of the electorate self identifies as independent or no party affiliation.

That would be the perfect theme for the wrap party as state lawmakers close out the 2013 legislative session. As they say, you can put liptstick on a pig, but it's still a pig. Our so-called representatives in Tallahassee, however, seem to think that all a bad idea needs is pretty, new packaging and a little bit of re-tuned rhetoric in order to slip by as something less than terrible. The best thing you can say about the last 60 days might be that at least some of the swine failed to pass by undetected. 

There is significant data to argue that both local and national housing markets are on their way to recovery. There's also real reason to worry that the recovery is being fueled by the same sort of bubble-inducing cheap money that contributed to the original crash. Make no mistake, the American economy does better when home values and new housing starts are up, but if the system is being goosed by artificially low interest rates, there eventually has to be a reckoning.

While children, we were encouraged to set lofty goals, such as becoming the President or winning an Olympic event. Most of us downscaled these goals along the way and as adults, settled for modest accomplishments, such as becoming part of a functional family, earning a good living, and establishing a healthy life style. Those who lost their focus drifted into empty lives often plagued by deceit and unhappiness. As we've seen here in Manatee County, the same thing can happen to local governments.

To whose benefit is it that our dwindling number of wetlands continue to be squandered? To whose benefit is it that wetlands be exchanged for retention ponds? Developer Carlos Beruff, who sits on the board of SWFWMD, says, "Retention ponds aren't wetlands, but they are very close." Yes Mr. Beruff, like ponies are close to unicorns; as if to say, in illusion only.

No matter where you stand on energy production, it's difficult to disagree that as world energy demand continues to soar with growing population and the rise of the third world, continuing to find viable sources of oil is, for better or for worse, as important to our modern society in the short term, as finding viable alternatives is in the longer one. But any notion that technologies like hydro-fracking and tar sand are an easy, painless solution to a highly complex problem are short-sighted to say the least. As folks in Arkansas recently realized, oil pipelines can be messy business and there are some challenges unique to tar sand oil that up the ante. 

Covering a breaking story in which information is at a premium and demand is rather high, never makes for an easy day in the newsroom. Add in the emotional nature of a tragic event and the likelihood that information will be rushed to copy escalates, but the series of blunders and irresponsible coverage surrounding last week's events in Boston revealed major flaws in an industry that has become increasingly less of a service and much more of a product.

Most of us are old enough to consider what kind of contribution we will leave behind when we pass. Have we shared enough, played fair, and given more than we have taken? These questions apply not only to personal lives but also to workplaces. Both our county government and our school district would be in better organizational health today if these questions had been addressed years ago.

I'm not big on cable television or much of what's in theaters, but one thing that services like Netflix have given issue nerds like me is incredible access to an endless supply of high-quality documentaries. Here are a few favorites that I highly recommend for anyone seeking to learn more about some of the most formidable challenges facing our society.