Seven months ago, we launched FloridaThinks with a goal of elevating the level of discussion on substantive issues affecting the future of our state and communities.  Since then, our team of seasoned journalists and contributing writers has produced hundreds of thoughtful articles and commentaries.  Thousands of people have visited our site each month to read the content.  And our work has drawn commendations from many quarters.  We have much to be proud of.

The only area in which we fell short was revenues.  We knew from the start that crafting a successful business model for an online publication would be exceedingly difficult.  And it was.  The challenge was made even greater by the limited amount of capital we had to invest in this venture.

The late, great football coach Vince Lombardi once said, “We didn’t lose the game; we just ran out of time.”  I have little doubt that with more time we could have developed a sustainable revenue model for FloridaThinks.   There were opportunities yet to be explored.  But we simply ran out of capital before we could pursue them.

Thus, we find ourselves with no choice but to cease publication.   We’ll leave the website up for a few more weeks yet for those who wish to visit our archives, but won’t post any new content.

To our loyal readers (especially those who subscribed early on), our contributing writers and the many people who encouraged us in this endeavor, I say thank you.

To the outstanding journalists who partnered with me, I can’t say thank you enough. I shall forever be indebted to them for their dedication and commitment.

Although FloridaThinks did not succeed as a business, I believe it did live up to the promise of delivering high quality journalism on issues that truly matter.  And that will be a source of pride for me forevermore.

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Everybody needs a vacation from time to time, including the staff of FloridaThinks. So we’re going to take a break and let events in Florida unfold without comment from us for a while.

If you find yourself suffering through withdrawal while we’re away and need something thought-provoking to read, check out our Archive at the top of this page. There, you’ll find nearly 250 articles and commentaries.

Meanwhile, we’ll be giving our brains a rest and reading mindless fare, like mysteries and romance novels. But don’t worry, we’ll be back and thinking about Florida’s substantive challenges again very soon.

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In the sexting story of Orlando teenager Phillip Alpert, Phillip’s girlfriend photographed herself nude and sent the digital image to him.  Later, after their relationship ended, Phillip emailed the photo to her contact list, including her family.  The image of his girlfriend then took on a life of its own with a significant effect on the real life of Phillip Alpert. He and his girlfriend were both minors when the photo was taken, but he was 18 when he sent it out.   Arrested and charged as a child pornographer, he has since been kicked out of college, cannot get a job, and has to attend sex offender classes with men who have raped or molested children.

Phillip’s cyber tattoo is not a metaphor. His story speaks to the bewildering new world of preteens and teenagers, with children as young as 12 engaging in sexting. In Ruskin, a 13-year-old girl made yet another decision to sext photos of herself to her latest crush. When the recipient of her sexting affections left his phone unattended, the picture went viral, leading to hallway sexual taunts and bullying.  Two weeks later the young girl hung herself in her bedroom.

For the sake of our children—and our own sanity—we would be wise to consider how sexting, texting and other behaviors are similarly affected by our communications tools.  I call sexting and texting “metalife” behaviors because when we use communication tools, the arena of that change is not remote: what we value changes, our behaviors change, our life changes.  The metalife that emerges entails a rerouting of our focus and attention, often altering us in ways we may not fully consider.  Our tools enable that rerouting.  Until we go beyond the notion of raging hormones and acknowledge this fact, we may be unable to fully understand sexting and prepare ourselves for its consequences.

At the literal level, Phillip’s story and sexting generally are fraught with poor judgment, emotional immaturity, failure to perceive and respect boundaries, ignorance and confusion over ownership of an image (“Could it be mine if she gave it to me, or is it still hers?”), as well as lack of respect for the other(s) or a full awareness of legal, moral and interpersonal consequences.

But there is another level.  This is the level we typically ignore.  We operate at this level when we are not mindful about how we use and then integrate our lives with our communication tools.  At this level our actions in a given situation are dictated by the ease-of-use and handiness of our tool.

We can see that other level clearly, seeing sexting as a tool-induced behavior, by comparing it to another tool-induced hazard: talking on a cell phone while driving.

According to a poll conducted by Harris Interactive for Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, 38% of drivers say they’ve been hit or almost hit due to others who won’t get off their cell phones while driving.

One in four American adults say they have texted while driving, the same proportion as teens who say they have texted while driving.

Scientists (and now Oprah) have determined that our concentration is seriously compromised by trying to multitask behind the wheel. This leads these scientists to ask why people, knowing the risk, continue to talk on phones while driving.

Similarly, we might ask why teens, knowing the risk, continue sexting.  You might think the answer lies in typical teenage risky business. But I would argue the answer also lies in the communications tool.

These statistics are from Sex and Tech, a report from The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy:

• 75% of teens and 71% of young adults say sending sexually suggestive content “can have serious negative consequences.”
• Yet, 39% of teens and 59% of young adults have sent or posted sexually suggestive emails or text messages—and 20% of teens and 33% of young adults have sent or posted nude or semi-nude images of themselves.
• 44% of both teen girls and teen boys say it is common for sexually suggestive text messages to get shared with people other than the intended recipient.

Sexting teenagers are behaving just like adult drivers on cell phones. They do know better, but when 47% of teens are sending 50 to more than 100 texts a day, things can occasionally go awry.

John Ratey, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard University and a specialist in the science of attention, says that when people use digital devices, they get a quick burst of adrenaline, “a dopamine squirt.”  In other words when we use these tools, they take over our attention, even our intention: we are voluntarily distracted, where we put our attention changes—and then our lives change.  This is the metalife conundrum.

Overnight, it seems, the intersection of our lives and our communications tools has gotten complicated. We’re seeing the complexity more often because these tools are reaching deeper into our lives, and they are now fundamental to how we touch and value each other.  This entails more than simply acting on impulse.  When we use communication tools, if we are not careful, we think and act at their speed and in their logic, instead of fully considering what we’re doing.   In this scenario, the logic of the tool becomes the logic of our behavior.  We need greater awareness of this process and how it changes us.

This is our metalife.  We need to get acquainted with it.

Barry Chudakov, a visiting research fellow at the University of Toronto McLuhan Program in Culture and Technology, lives in Winter Park and is founder and principal of Metalife Consulting. You can read more of his commentaries at www.metalifestream.com.

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It’s a poisoned climate, where ethics and integrity often go missing, and where money doesn’t talk – it laughs and then shoves you aside. That, says Public Service Commission Chairwoman Nancy Argenziano, is where the Florida Legislature is headed.

A moderate Republican from Dunnellon, Argenziano served 11 years in the Florida Legislature before leaving for the PSC in 2007. She wanted to serve a second four-year term on the commission, which regulates electric, telecommunication, water and wastewater utilities statewide. But her name wasn’t considered.

Nancy Argenziano

Appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist, Argenziano was one of five commissioners who voted against raising electric rates in January. Four of the five will not return to the commission thanks to a screening committee controlled by the Legislature. Argenziano, who will leave at the end of the year, also pushed Florida Power & Light and Progress Energy Florida to disclose salaries of their top earners in light of the companies’ rate hike requests. She also cast the only “no” vote last year on allowing utilities to pass to customers the planning costs of proposed nuclear plants.

“It is evident that unless you support the big utility companies,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, “you will never have a chance to continue serving on the PSC.”

Argenziano spoke recently with FloridaThinks.com about what went wrong.

Question: On your last day in the Senate, your colleagues fell over themselves to thank you for your work. Now they’ve turned their backs on you. What happened?

Argenziano: W.D. Childers (a former state senator) said a long time ago that if you want a friend in Tallahassee, bring your dog. But I knew that. There are some great legislators. But they never make it to the top. If you do your job and remember the people back home, you never make it to the top unless you have tons of money.

Q: So the process is tainted?

A: What’s so sad about today is that representative government is just about dead. There are too many willing to sell policy for big bucks.

Q: Okay, so why did you take the PSC job in the first place?

A: I took it because I was a frequent critic of the PSC. And the governor said he wanted to see some changes in the PSC. I wanted to be able to make change. And I did. There’d be no speaking of PSC reform if it wasn’t for me and some other commissioners who came aboard. So I was successful at what I was sent to do, and that was to say that this place is bad and needs to be checked out.

Unfortunately for the Legislature, they’re the main reason the PSC is bad.

Q: Some might say salary was a consideration. For 11 years, your average pay as a lawmaker was about $24,000 a year. You make $136,000 as a PSC member.

A: I wasn’t one of those legislators who left with a lot more money than I started with. That happens a lot. So while I’m doing a job that I really believe needs to be done, why is it bad for me to take a job that will give me some kind of a pay check and a pension? My motto is that it’s easier to be a crook. Especially in Tallahassee. I’m proud of what I did because I kept my integrity and no one can take that away from me.

Q: Why did this happen? An anti-Crist reaction? A pushback from the utility companies? One reason floated by was that there was internal feuding on the commission. Sen. Mike Bennett, R-Bradenton, called you “your own worst enemy.”

A: (laughs) I know these guys. Ask them when they were watching and saw any dissention? When you try to put ethics in a place that hasn’t practiced any in 30 years, yeah, you’re going to have some turmoil. But that was a thin excuse. Some of it may have been retaliation against Gov. Crist, but when (industry lobbying group) Associated Industries of Florida comes out and says to the media they will do whatever it takes to get rid of Argenziano, that wasn’t anti-Crist. That was “If anybody says no to us, my God, will they feel our wrath.” That’s what I believed really happened.

Q: The editorial pages of most major newspapers in Florida rallied to your defense after you were turned down. Was that any vindication?

A: Yes, but I guess what bothered me was being called (by the media) pro-consumer. We weren’t pro-consumer. We were fair. So was commissioner (Nathan) Skop, and commissioners (David) Klement and (Steve) Stevens. These guys did a great job. But because we were fair and stuck to the statutes, we were punished. We lost our jobs for doing our jobs.

Q: How does Florida fairly regulate utilities?

A: Get rid of the PSC. Why pretend? The PSC is used as a scapegoat. My first couple of months at the PSC, there were phone calls from legislators who weren’t happy with particular votes. The PSC is supposed to be independent. But they were constantly threatened. That happened on a regular basis. How can you have a functioning PSC that is going to follow the statutes when you have legislators telling you what to do?  Get rid of the PSC and let the Legislature make the decisions. Let’s see how good they are.

Q: Could that happen?

A: No, because they don’t want to take the heat come election time. They can blame the PSC, but half the time they’re dictating to the PSC what the outcome should be.

Q: What’s the effect on green energy?  Do the utilities block efforts to move toward alternative sources like wind and solar?

A: Oh, yes. We tried to get the renewables moving, but the Legislature refused to act because they’re so beholding to the powers that be. They’re taking large amounts of money and then picking the people who will regulate those entities they just took money from. This is really a disgusting shame and I’m really embarrassed by the Legislature.

Q: So what can be done?

A: The good thing that comes out of this is that I believe you’ll see a ballot initiative to fight this. The big industries are going to fight that, but they brought it on. They pay for opposition research to sway sitting commissioners right before the vote. And then legislators call and threaten reappointments. I saw things that were not in the sunshine. It really should be criminal. Some of those people really should be in jail. But the ballot initiative is going to happen.

Q: Is that where you’ll turn your efforts now?

A: I can’t think for a better thing for me to do, even for free, than to make sure Floridians know they need to vote for that. Because the Legislature is not going to let go of one of their cash cows. They make money off the PSC process. What I’m hearing from people is not to quit. That’s what keeps the fire going in me. I’m not saying I don’t get depressed. Sometimes you look at it and go, “Why am I doing this?” when they attack you when you question and try to do your job the right way.

But I kept my integrity. They may have the money, but I’ll keep going. I’m 55, but I don’t want to give up because I’m so disgusted. And if people realized how they’re being sold out…I’m going to stay involved.

I may not be perfect. And I may be loud sometimes when necessary. But I know I’m not corrupt. The people of Florida are getting raked over the coals, and if you do nothing, then we lose and they win.

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When Gov. Charlie Crist called lawmakers back to Tallahassee next week for a special session, giving Panhandle residents property tax breaks for losses stemming from the Gulf oil spill seemed likely to find its place on the agenda.

No longer.

Like most things related to the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe, Florida lawmakers have been plagued by confusion, disputed facts and legal entanglements as they try to craft some kind of giveback to property owners who are confident the value of their home, condo or business has declined with the drop in tourism and threat of oil.

Instead, House and Senate leaders have signaled that another month spent examining the issue – along with a host of other proposals stemming from the BP disaster – could result in action at a follow-up special session now being considered for September.

“It’s complex,” says Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville, chairman of the Senate’s Select Committee on Florida’s Economy, which has been trying to develop economic issues that could be addressed in the upcoming four-day session.

“There are constitutional issues involved that you cannot change,” he adds. “And then there is the difficulty of trying to determine how many people could qualify for relief. Basically, who will be the eligible class?”

The state’s $60 billion tourism industry has been staggered by at least a 20 percent decline in recent months, Visit Florida officials acknowledge. Along the Panhandle, the usually lucrative summer season has evolved into a grim summer of oil, sharply reducing what for many beach-reliant businesses is the bulk of their annual revenue.

University of Central Florida economist Sean Snaith predicted earlier this summer that even a 10 percent decline in Florida tourism along the Gulf Coast would drain $2.2 billion from the state’s economy and cost 39,000 jobs. If tourism was cut in half, Snaith warned, the economic cost could top $10 billion and erase almost 200,000 jobs.

Property appraisers in the Panhandle’s Santa Rosa and Escambia counties earlier this summer wrote Crist warning that homeowners and businesses will likely endure a loss in value this year because of the spill – but face tax payments this fall based on assessments in place at the start of 2010.

The appraisers are urging lawmakers to approve a tax relief measure in a special session, similar to those enacted five times since 1985 following hurricanes, wildfires and tornadoes in Florida. The most recent, $1,500 property-tax reimbursements were handed out in 2007 to Central Florida residents whose houses were destroyed or heavily damaged by tornadoes.

But providing tax relief this time around is proving more troublesome.

With businesses all along the Gulf Coast complaining about the slow tourist season, any attempt to limit property tax breaks is likely to draw complaints from lawmakers whose districts are left out.

Also, with inland businesses also experiencing a decline – think about the Crestview convenience store that used to provide ice, beer and other supplies to beachgoers – Gaetz concedes that lawmakers are struggling to draw a line.

The Florida Constitution also sets Jan. 1 as the effective date for the value of homestead properties. Although tax bills aren’t due until fall, the constitutional requirement is a barrier lawmakers would have to navigate around if they’re trying to reset values for residents.

“Everybody knows it should be done, can be done,” Gaetz says of the tax giveback. “But how we do it is still elusive.”

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I took  a rare, long vacation overseas and decided to unplug. And by unplug, I don’t mean that I waited until I got over there to realize that the Italians and the French don’t have normal electrical sockets. (They don’t, by the way, but I arrived prepared with six adapters and two converters, yet still couldn’t get my daughter’s hair straightener to work, so I had to buy a French hair straightener. The French charge way too much for straight hair.)

No, by unplug I mean I decided to go without TV, phone, texting, Facebooking, Tweeting and other modern means of communication. I occasionally looked at a newspaper on a newsstand but it said things like:

Pau : Il percute un poid lourd sur l’A64 et s’enfuit à pied

and I remained as clueless as a cavewoman before the invention of the town crier.

We were super busy. It was my first time in Paris and Rome, so we were on the go all day, seeing and eating as many French and Italian things as we possibly could. At the end of the day, between scraping the raw skin from the bottoms of my feet (an exaggeration. You’re welcome.) I read books and scratched stick figures into the cave wall.

In the room next door, however, my children and mother-in-law were unwinding by watching the BBC. So I had to rely on them to keep me up to speed on what was happening in the world. I got a morning news report, over breakfast, about the following world events that were occurring while I was walking through art galleries and drinking cappuccinos:

LeBron James Kicks Cleveland in the Crotch After Saying, “Close Your Eyes and Hold Out Your Hands! I’ve Got a Surprise for You!”

Yeah, this wasn’t good news for this native Ohio family. Because of the ridiculously inconvenient world time zone set-up, Lebron’s announcement that he was leaving Cleveland for Miami came at 3 o’clock in the morning. By the time we woke up and realized what had happened, the brouhaha had died down and you could barely smell the burned jerseys all the way across the Atlantic.  I may write a blog about how I feel about The Decision, but it won’t be full of anger and disappointment and I-knew-he-was-a-bum-all-along-I-just-never-said-anything. As a faithful cheerleader for the underdog, a Lebron-less Cavs team makes me love them even more and will make victory even sweeter. If we ever can manage to win another game.

The BP Oil Gush Finally Gets Capped and I Don’t Mean Murdered in the Mafia Way – Or Do I? . . .

My husband and I walked across the street from our hotel in Rome to a little restaurant where the teensy tables and chairs are on the street – not the sidewalk, but on the actual road – and those Italian cars – everything from Maseratis to three-wheeled Tonka trucks and glorified golf carts with doors – go whizzing past you at breakneck speed, threatening to sideswipe your wine glasses. My husband and I aren’t the most adventurous couple you ever met, so sitting at this restaurant was really living on the edge for us. One evening, our waiter came out and started to talk to us and my Italian-accented English is not the greatest, but I could have sworn he said, “The BP Oil Spill Got-a-Capped.”

“What? Really?” I said, shouting over the honking horn of a clown car.

The waiter looked puzzled.  “You didn’t know?”

We shook our heads.

“Don’t you have a TV over there? What hotel are you in?”

That was a little bit embarrassing. The waiter is probably still telling people how Americans are imbeciles who are more interested in the wine list than their own national news. The oil cap had happened at least a couple days earlier. That’s when I insisted that the kids start giving us news briefings at breakfast. Which is how I learned about the next thing:

Mel Gibson Manages to Break Bad PR Record Long Held by Gary Busey

Mel, Mel, Mel. Buddy. Get a grip on yourself. What did you think was going to happen? You seemed so shocked that your new baby-mama wasn’t the girl you thought she was. Unless you thought she was in her late 50s and was from Nebraska, how could you not expect this to happen? Why am I even talking to you? You never listen to me.

When I finally did read the recap of Mel’s latest installment of Men Behaving Badly, I was most struck by – what do you think? No, not him calling her a gold-digger or any other colorful term you heard. No, not that he punched her in the face, knocking out her two front teeth. And no, not that he said he broke up with his first wife and mother of his multitudinous children after 28 years because they were different “spiritually.” Not even Part Two of racist crazy talk. What really went to my heart was that he said, “I don’t have any friends.” Well, hells bells, Mel, I would have been your friend. But you’re not the best listener.

Some Scientist From Iran Claims the CIA Kidnapped Him and Mentally Tortured Him in an Attempt to Get Iranian Nuclear Arms Secrets, But He Escaped

“Something sounds fishy about this,” someone at our table said.  I’ll say. Escaped? Have you seen the traffic in McLean these days?

This piece first appeared on Diane Laney Fitzpatrick’s blog site. For more by the Florida freelance writer and humorist, visit http://just-humor-me.blogspot.com/

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Some time ago my wife and I spent several days in the village of Windwardside on the tiny Caribbean island of Saba. Near the center of the village lived an artist, her kitchen and adjoining studio hugging the street.

We walked by one evening just about dark. She was washing dishes. When we paused to look at her paintings, she pushed the casement window open a little wider, leaned out, and asked if we’d like to come in and look at her work.

“Yes,” we said. She dried her hands, walked directly from her kitchen into the attached studio, opened the door, and welcomed us.

That could rarely happen in America. Combined living and working spaces were the rule in colonial America, but the arrangement is now exceedingly rare.

The matter needs to be rethought. We’re in a crisis economy. It’s common knowledge that small businesses are a major engine driving the economy, but we’ve put in place often insurmountable obstacles to their creation.

Move that artist to most places in modern America and she’d be out of business. To profit from exposure to pedestrian traffic, there would have to be pedestrians. For them to see her work, she’d have to have a shop. But the shop couldn’t be part of her house because zoning laws usually prohibit businesses in residences, and prohibit residency in businesses.

She’d have to have both a house and a shop – two entirely separate structures. Two structures to buy or rent. Two structures to maintain. Two structures to pay taxes on. Two structures to insure. Two structures to heat, cool, and light.

Then, of course, she’d need a car to get from home to shop, a car that had to be bought, licensed, fueled, maintained, and insured. Not living on site, she’d have to have someone available to fill in if she wasn’t feeling well, with attendant responsibilities for their Social Security withholding and other bureaucratic requirements.

If she was a really good painter, she might eventually be able to make enough money to pay for health insurance. But on top of all her other business expenses, that seems highly unlikely.

She’s out of business before she even gets into business.

Relatively speaking, there aren’t many artists. But there are a great many people with skills and abilities and goods and services they might be able to turn into a living if their overhead costs were low enough – gardeners, cooks, bakers, decorators, tutors, repairers of musical instruments, electronic equipment and small-appliance technicians, therapists, other health-related specialists, and consultants of all kinds. A teacher or teacher team could open a neighborhood school in a house, an arrangement generating its own long list of potential benefits. Who knows what other small businesses would emerge if start-up costs were minimal or non-existent?

Reviving a Colonial Village Lifestyle

There’s much else that those colonial villages with their combined living and working spaces had going for them. If they were revived, the young could witness firsthand how economies work, could know there were alternatives to flipping burgers and stocking shelves in big-box stores, could see for themselves the fruits and satisfactions of creativity and inventiveness, could grow up with an appreciation of the connection between individual initiative and a satisfying lifestyle.

And from clusters of small, village-scale enterprises with live-in families could come something else the loss of which has cost America dearly – a sense of community to counter the “me and mine” self-centeredness so evident in American culture. A pharmacist or grocer living over or behind the store and responding to a neighbor’s need could remind us of how dependent we often must be on each other.

As with any change, altering zoning laws would generate problems. But the potential benefits of recapturing important aspects of a way of life that once worked well should prompt city councilors, town planners, developers, and private citizens to give thought to the matter.

We’ve created a way of life that can’t be sustained, and is going to change whether we like it or not. The merit of deliberately shaping and reshaping neighborhoods to make them more human before energy and environmental problems force change on us is surely worth considering.

Marion Brady is a retired high school teacher, college professor and district-level administrator, and the author of textbooks, professional books, and journal articles. He is a frequent contributor to the Washington Post newspaper as a guest blogger. His website is www.MarionBrady.com.

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Have you noticed the number of billionaires whose foundations have been investing their massive wealth in public education reform?

If not, you should.

Many of America’s super wealthy are focusing their philanthropic endeavors on reforming public education in some of the poorest communities in the nation by offering parents and children alternatives to traditional public schools.

Leading the way in these efforts are Doris and Don Fisher, Bill and Melinda Gates, Eli and Edythe Broad, and the Walton Family.

Through their foundations, they have decided not to reform public education from within, but to offer new school alternatives. The thrust of their initiatives suggests they believe that reforming public education from within is at best a long shot and at worse unlikely.

They have also rejected the “reform of the day” mentality that has driven public education reform in America for much of the last 50 years and opted instead to invest in talented people and in no nonsense accountability measures.

Doris and the late Don Fisher, for example, have given over $65 million to expand KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) charter schools across the country. The KIPP initiative concentrates its efforts on building strong relationships with local communities and families and providing a structured curriculum that features longer school days and a much longer school year.

Much like the Fishers, Edyth and Eli Broad have given millions to KIPP, but they have also invested in other charter schools and school reform organizations. One of the most promising commitments of the Broad family has been the New School Venture Fund and the Charter School Growth Fund, incubators of small schools and school networks across the country.

Investing in Public School Alternatives

These philanthropists hold a few imperatives in common. The most noteworthy is their support for school choice and their unstated view that public schools have become obstacles, rather than advocates, for education reform.
Perhaps because these leaders amassed their wealth in the competitive marketplace, their gifts have been directed at charter schools, vouchers, and other programs that allow families to choose the best option for their children.

As noted, these four foundations have focused on improving inner city schools. They share a belief that education is essential for success, especially in a global environment. And without a first-class education, children from poor backgrounds are in danger of being lost to society.

While these foundations have invested in alternative schools, they are also committed to scaling and sharing what they have learned. They haven’t become billionaires without understanding the big picture. And the big picture is the public school system in this nation.

Their charter schools are frankly little more than a pimple on the public school elephant. Without sharing what they have learned and what they determine is working in their charter schools, they cannot hope to reform public education in America.

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, for example, devotes much of its web presence to sharing what it is learning. Its current billion-dollar teacher effectiveness initiative is designed to create a knowledge base that is constructed on the practices of the best teachers, and on the training, finances, and professional development that are necessary to ensure their effectiveness.

These philanthropists have also supported education reform groups, from Teach For America to New Leaders for New Schools, and other organizations that toil in near obscurity in an effort to reform public education.

But the most significant legacy of the billionaires club may well be their influence on federal policy. The Race to the Top reform initiative of the Obama Administration has been heavily influenced by lessons learned from a decade of education investment by these individuals and their foundations.

Despite the reluctance of public schools to pursue reform, it is taking place and it is occurring in large measure because very successful entrepreneurs believe it is long overdue and fundamental to the nation’s economic future.

David R. Colburn is director of the Reubin Askew Institute at the University of Florida, and Brian Dassler is principal of a KIPP (Knowledge is Power Program) high school in New Orleans.

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In this modern era where news morphs into entertainment, perhaps the most heralded story last week was NBA superstar Lebron James’ decision to bolt Cleveland to join fellow Olympians and close friends Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh as the “Big Three” of the Miami Heat.

While I wish Lebron much success in his new endeavor, an earlier headline in the week was to me far more important globally and within the city he will soon call home: U.S. government scientists have discovered three strong antibodies that neutralize HIV strains, the strongest of which can neutralize HIV by 91percent.  Scientists believe that they are closer to a possible vaccine than ever before.

In Florida, for over two decades Miami-Dade County has regularly been at or near the top of charts chronicling those living with HIV or dying from AIDS.

Many of those suffering and dying at the highest rates are African-Americans, just like Wade, Lebron and Bosh.  Realizing that each of these young men is noted for philanthropic pursuits, it is my sincere hope that in their outreach to young fans in Miami that they take on a subject that for many remains taboo.

For over two decades we have been titillated periodically with news that scientists were on the verge of a breakthrough in solving the riddle of this modern day plague, one that has killed over 25 million people worldwide since first discovered in 1981.

In the process, AIDS, like earlier plagues, attaches a stigma that forces many of those living with the disease to suffer as pariahs within their own communities and, in many instances, their own families.

I was in seventh grade when news spread that Hollywood legend Rock Hudson had died from AIDS complications.  I can still remember the apathy that was shown at that time as we were led to believe that those contracting the disease were “them,” a pronoun used as a supposedly benign substitute for gays, drug users and others deemed “immoral” by the self-proclaimed guardians of American mores and Christian values.

Soon a cultural battle ensued where the issue of abstinence versus condom distribution, or “just say no to drugs” versus distributing clean needles, soon dominated what should have been a simple public health policy decision – to study methods to eradicate the disease while simultaneously helping to prevent its spread.

While neither side “won” the culture debate, in time the many public service announcements and a greater focus on education gradually decreased the number of new infections in many communities.

As for stigma, perhaps two great athletes, Magic Johnson and the late Arthur Ashe, did more than most to prove that AIDS is not some scourge that God wrought to punish homosexuals.  Ashe cast light upon the fact that many who contracted the disease at that time did so as a result of medical negligence, while Magic proved that one can live a healthy and robust life with proper medicines, diet and exercise.

Still, nearly 30 years after first being diagnosed, there are public officials in many areas that continue to pretend to “hear no evil-see no evil” with respect to HIV.  Perhaps the best example of this is in the penal system where officials, in their need to “punish,” have all but eliminated conjugal visits, thus pretending that inmates can live without having a very basic human need sated.

In the process, these same officials pretend as if sexual activity behind bars does not occur, and their failure to provide the appropriate prophylactics allows many male inmates who enter the system HIV free to exit the same system HIV positive.  And we all know what happens next, many of these men return to living regular heterosexual lives while spreading the disease to unsuspecting in some instances – and willfully blind in others – women.

Both Dade and Broward counties comprise approximately 43 percent of all individuals living with HIV in Florida.  Nearly three-fourths of the victims in Dade County are African-Americans. On a personal note, having a majority of my family either born or raised in Miami, “them,” or HIV patients, became “us” a long time ago as both relatives and friends have suffered and died from this plague.

It is clear that the overwhelmingly percentage of folks dying from this disease are young, black women and men between the ages of 17 and 40.  Many are fighting courageously albeit in anonymity. They may not be capable of purchasing season tickets to watch the Miami Heat, but if philanthropists like Bill and Melinda Gates can dedicate fortunes to study methods to ameliorate the medical side of the disease, then perhaps the Big Three and others certainly can do their share to help ameliorate the social side through financing education, prevention outreach and hopefully one day – vaccination services.

Chuck Hobbs is a Tallahassee-based trial lawyer and freelance writer.  This essay was first published on www.tallahassee.com.

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Stores have gone survey-prize crazy. Is it me? Don’t I recall receipts being way shorter and retail stores not giving two hoots about what my opinion was?

Apparently now every store from Abercrombie to Zara is dying to know how my shopping experience has gone. For filling out a survey, I can win a chance at having a shot at getting some money and free stuff.

The result is a super-long receipt. Before the survey contests began, we started to get little tidbits of information about the store, its hours, the website address, and occasionally the manager’s name and an encouraging word (“Target Pharmacy We’re here to help!”). Then some stores started printing their returns and exchanges policies at the bottom of every receipt. The cashier’s first name was often included, as well as some timely specials. Then the lawyers took over and started filling the receipts with disclaimers and warnings (“We are not responsible for purchased items missing from your bag.” OK, but I still might sue.)

CVS started rewarding their frequent-buyer card customers with coupons on the receipt. The bulkiness was surprising and not in a good way.

Then came the surveys and the incentive contests. They’ve taken over my receipts. Apparently stores are suddenly very interested in my opinion on my shopping experience.

I never call the numbers and take the surveys. I am not one of the people in this world who is ever going to win that. It’s why I don’t play the lottery and never have. Somebody’s gonna win and it might be me? No, it won’t. Nor will I win the $1,000 from CVS or $2,000 from Winn Dixie. I won’t win the one bestseller a month for a year from Books A Million. Nor will I win the $200 gift card from Blockbuster, one of five $1,000 gift cards monthly from Walmart, 15 percent off my next online purchase from American Apparel, or the $100 gift card from Duane Reed. And I can most certainly say I won’t be winning the $5,000 gift card from Staples or Home Depot.

And Best Buy . . . wow. In addition to three different codes (Groups A-C) for entering an online survey for which I could win a $5,000 Best Buy shopping spree!!, there are two different deadlines and age limits for different states. It would take me longer to understand the rules than to read the warranty for the camera bag that’s on the receipt.

“Hey America!” Dunkin Donuts tells me at the bottom of my receipt.  “Want a free donut when you purchase a medium or larger beverage?  Go to TellDunkin.com within 3 days; tell us about your visit.” I might actually get that, since there doesn’t seem to be any chance or luck involved, but the whole idea of logging onto TellDunkin within three days is just too much pressure for a doughnut eater like myself.

Not all companies are in the contest to see who can have the longest receipt. Nordstrom is cool as a cucumber with just this at the bottom of their receipt: “Thank you for Shopping at Nordstrom. Find us on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter.” It sounds like a dare. Nordstrom couldn’t care less about my opinion and it’s not giving away anything.

And Walmart is the only store I know of that prints its receipts on both sides of the paper. I could buy 70 items at Walmart and get a receipt shorter than one CD at Best Buy. Walmart should be the only one allowed to run a contest on their receipts.

I’d be interested to know if anyone has ever won anything from their receipt. If you have, please let me know. Does anyone even ever read the stuff on their receipts? For me, I only have time to offer one opinion to these stores and it’s this: I hate when my receipt is really long.

This piece first appeared on Diane Laney Fitzpatrick’s blog site. For more by the Florida freelance writer and humorist, visit http://just-humor-me.blogspot.com/

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Last month, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its majority opinion in Skilling v. United States and addressed the constitutionality and scope of the federal honest-services fraud statutes (18 USC 1346) by severely limiting its application.  For decades, federal investigators and prosecutors have used the honest-services-fraud statutes to address a wide variety of perceived misconduct of both public officials and private individuals.

Law-enforcement officials have been able to do so because the honest-services-fraud laws are written expansively and used aggressively in instances of public and private misconduct.  However, in Skilling, the Supreme Court clipped the wings of such efforts and significantly curtailed the application of the statute in order to save it from being unconstitutionally vague.

Honest-services fraud simply means fraud that involves depriving the public or a private entity of a person’s honest and loyal efforts in circumstances where a special obligation exists regarding the efforts.

In McNally v. United States, the Supreme Court held that the deprivation must involve a tangible interest such as property or money.  However, Congress soon thereafter passed an amended honest-services-fraud-statute that specifically includes the intangible right to one’s honest services.  Over many years, federal law enforcement pursued investigations and prosecutions on an ever-expanding base of honest-services fraud in the context of bribes and kickbacks, non-disclosure of financial interests, and false statements.

Another notable facet of the Skilling decision is that it is a private-sector case.  Skilling was the former CEO of Enron.  However, the Skilling decision’s holding applies to honest-services fraud in both private sector and public sector (corruption) matters.

For example, one of the cases pending in the Supreme Court and remanded in light of the Skilling decision, is the Weyhrauch matter that involves a former Alaska state legislator who is alleged to have corruptly failed to disclose a pending job offer when voting on a matter which would benefit his future employer.   While the court remanded the case for further consideration, it seems likely that such a fact pattern – involving the hiding of a financial interest or future benefit by a public official, but with no proof of its link to a specific vote – will not fall within the newly bounded honest-services-fraud statute.

Of course, federal law includes specific bribery and kickback statutes.  As such, honest-services fraud now will lose some of its allure to federal prosecutors and investigators.  Honest-services fraud will apply in kickback and bribery schemes, but by definition, so will federal or state bribery and kickback statutes.

‘You Do This for Me, I Will Do Something in Return’

As for fighting corruption on the state level, Florida has its own bribery and anti-kickback statutes.  However, much of the corruption that exists in our communities does not involve explicit acts of bribery or other quid pro quos (that is, “you do this for me and I will do something in return”).  Acts of corruption that do not involve explicit bribes or kickbacks are no less corrupt, but such corruption is much harder to capture and prove in a courtroom.  The challenge Florida prosecutors and investigators have faced, and still face, is how to hold public officials accountable for this more subtle, but no less harmful, misconduct and abuse of trust.  For example, when an official sponsors, advocates for or votes on a measure in which he or she has a financial interest, but purposefully hides the financial interest or future benefit, which is core corruption at work corroding the system.  The official’s intentional act of hiding the private interest deprives the public (and other officials) of effectively and transparently evaluating the measure.  It becomes an exercise of “hide and seek” in which the public’s interests and welfare are lost.

What Florida is missing is a clear, enforceable statute that prohibits the purposeful hiding of financial interests in a matter by a public official.  In fact, under current state law, a legislator does not have to disclose a financial conflict of interest until 15 days after a vote is taken on a matter.  To add to the absurdity, even if the legislator fails to ever make the disclosure as required, no criminal sanction exists.  The hiding of the conflict merely carries a possible civil fine as the penalty.

State Attorney Mike Satz (from the Seventeenth Circuit/Broward) and I, with the support of Florida’s other elected state attorneys, drafted and supported a set of bills (HB 585/SB 1076) that would prohibit just such conduct by punishing as a serious act of corruption the willful hiding of a financial interest by a state or local official.  In the 2010 legislative session, the Senate passed the bill as a part of a larger package, but the House failed to act.  Another anti-corruption measure (HB 489/SB 734) would simply increase the severity of crimes committed by public servants when they use their office to facilitate or further the crimes.  It also passed the Senate as part of a larger measure, but died in the House.

I have written the governor seeking a special session of the Legislature this year to pass meaningful ethics and anti-corruption measures.   The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Skilling clarifies and limits a tool used by federal authorities to address corruption.  While the result and rationale in Skilling was widely expected, it provides additional incentive for passing needed reforms at the state level.  Florida’s prosecutors need the tools to effectively combat corruption in all its ugly forms.

Michael McAuliffe is the state attorney for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit (Palm Beach County.)

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No need to bore deeply into the political debate over global warming and greenhouse gases to get to the bottom-line: money. The problem’s not real and it will cost too much to fix. Got it? Good. End of debate. Next problem …

But what if reducing greenhouse emissions turns out to save money?

Disregard – if you dare – the still untallied billions in damages and personal misery wrought by that blown-out BP oil well in the Gulf of Mexico that now symbolizes the reckless chase for fossil fuels. Those fuels drive the engines of our lives, but they’re also emitting the heat-trapping gases that are turning Earth’s atmosphere into a greenhouse.

What if, there are real money-saving efficiencies to be found in concerted efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions? While developing climate-friendly alternatives?

Miami-Dade County has found such savings. In a four-year effort to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in its own operations, the county also managed to reduce fuel purchases by 3.7 million gallons. Roughly calculated that’s a savings of $7 million to $10 million, based on the high-low range of prices the county paid for fuel.

Carlos Alvarez

Mayor Carlos Alvarez lists a wide range of strategies to keep Miami-Dade “ahead of the curve in the green movement.” He has also committed $12.5 million of the federal stimulus dollars to projects with cost-saving benefits and the potential for reducing emissions. Included were the purchase of hybrid buses, replacement of high-watt traffic-light bulbs with LED modules (a $2 million annual savings), the use of landfill biogases to power nearby water and sewer plant, installation of high-reflective “Cool Roof” systems on county buildings, and the addition of solar-power systems to recreation facilities.

“We have many pre-existing and new initiatives being implemented that give us fuel and emissions reductions,” says Nichole Hefty, climate change program coordinator in the Department of Environmental Resources Management.  However, she also cautions, “It’s sometimes hard to tease out a particular initiative’s contribution.”

Multiple Benefits From ‘Thinking Green’

Does it matter whether the reduction of greenhouse gases is a primary or secondary benefit? The point to be made is that opportunities abound to achieve multiple efficiencies and economies once “thinking green” becomes a management principle.

So, maybe money isn’t the problem that terminates debate. Maybe the terminator is money’s tight ties to politics in this 3-D age of doubt, distrust and dismay.

Miami-Dade County stepped into the political “climate wars” early, championing efforts to forestall global warming and to prepare for climate changes. As a low-lying coastal community with a population greater than 17 states, it is virtually compelled to do so. As Alvarez told the Federal Interagency Climate Change Adaptation Task Force at last month’s “listening session” on rising sea levels, “We are painfully aware that we are vulnerable to sea-level rise and the effects of climate change.”

Harvey Ruin

Harvey Ruvin has been a driving force on the issue. The former five-term county commissioner and for 20 years now the county clerk, he delivered some of the first “wake-up” calls. Comfortable in the role of visionary, he continues to command attention because of his credible record, overcoming skepticism to persuade county commission colleagues to enact one of the nation’s first bans on ozone-depleting chemicals, setting limits on sulfur-dioxide emissions that trigger acid rain, rewriting building codes to include energy-efficiency standards, and reforming county purchasing practices.

To Ruvin – imbued with the spirit and fervor of the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, subsequent Kyoto Conference and most recently Copenhagen – attaining sustainability in the face of climate change is local government’s raison d’être. [Check out his climate-change rap on YouTube.]

Where the Action Is: Local Government

Local government is “the major key” to dealing successfully with climate change, he insists. “It’s not the only key – we need support from federal government,” he concedes, “but local government is where land-use and transportation decisions are made, building codes written, environmental regulation occurs. … When local government officials get together, we bond and share ideas. At the national level, there’s a lot of red tape, at the international level a lot of protocols to dance around. Local government is where things have to get done.”

In the last of his commission terms, Ruvin sponsored and steered to enactment the county’s Urban CO2 Reduction Plan. The plan proposed that by 2006 the county would reduce carbon-dioxide emissions to 20 percent below the 23.4 million tons released in 1988.

It proved to be an out-sized goal. CO2 emissions actually increased by 8.5 million tons, rising to 31.9 million tons in 2005. Even worse, the county had tracked and tallied reductions amounting 34 million tons. Therefore, if no reductions had been made, emissions in 2005 would be very nearly twice what they were in 1988.

What happened? Why?

The goal was entirely consistent with Clinton administration policies and mirrored others around the country. It was set, however, in those heady days when everyone thought Congress would require better gas mileage from U.S. automakers.  Instead, Congress stalled for 14 years and gas-guzzling SUVs took over the roadways. The county’s population had surged by 27 percent, and mega-mansions became popular increasing electrical power demands.

Lessons learned?

“One major lesson learned was, ‘Don’t put goals in your plan that you have no control over,’” says Commissioner Katy Sorenson, “Its lasting legacy … was to solidify agreement among Miami-Dade’s leadership that we need to get serious about climate change.”

Getting Serious, Making Intentions Clear

Officials regrouped, focused on reducing fuel emissions in their own operations, and voted unanimously to join the voluntary Chicago Climate Exchange to tap the discipline of market forces. “Making it clear,” in the words of sponsoring Commissioner Natacha Seijas at the time, “that Miami-Dade is serious about reducing carbon emissions.”

While habitat doesn't usually change so abruptly and graphically as in this photo of oil on a Panhandle beach, it is happening all the time as a result of our collective choices. The Deepwater Horizon disaster is a wake-up call like none we've known. (Photo courtesy of Northwest Florida Water Management District.)

For this new effort – the one mentioned earlier that saved 3.7 million gallons of fuel – the base year became 2000, and county government operations alone were targeted.  Working within the framework of the Chicago Climate Exchange, reduction goals were set at 1.5 percent annually for a total 6 percent reduction to be achieved by 2010.

In 2000, county carbon-dioxide emissions totaled 248,715 metric tons. When the county began in 2007 to ratchet down, CO2 emissions totaled 307,547 metric tons. Not much progress was made in the first year, but between 2008 and 2009 there was a dramatic 14 percent decline to 258,995 metric tons. The county missed some interim goals in 2007 and 2008, but it may well meet its 2010 goal.

The Chicago Climate Exchange, and “sisters,” the Chicago Climate Futures Exchange and European Climate Exchange, are brainchildren of Richard Sandor. As chief economist at the Chicago Board of Trade, he helped develop the successful “cap and trade” model for the congressionally authorized Environmental Protection Agency’s acid rain program, which has reduced sulfur-dioxide emissions by more than a third.

Europe Curbs Emissions, U.S. Congress Dithers

Why wouldn’t markets work as well to curb CO2 emissions? In Europe they do. Here in the United States, Congress continues to dither over climate and energy legislation and uncertainty is driving down contract prices in the voluntary market. Betting the U.S. will eventually conform to, if not support, the nascent international trading-system models, the Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange[cq] announced April 30 it would purchase the Chicago and European exchanges for $600 million.

The Chicago climate exchanges list some 400 trading members, including such corporations as Ford, DuPont, Motorola, the states of Illinois and New Mexico, seven state universities and Midwest farm organizations. Members make legally binding commitments to reduce emissions and the exchange provides training, methodologies for tracking and audits the numbers. When members fail to meet their goals, they must buy allowances.

Miami Dade has spent $122,000 buying allowances. Publicly, no regrets are expressed. Uniformly county’s staff praises the training, tracking systems and experience they’ve gained. And there have been offsetting cost savings.

For Miami-Dade and Mayor Alvarez, the next steps will be to implement the recently signed Regional Climate Change Compact committing the county and neighboring Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe counties to collaborate in establishing regional emissions standards and better map inundation areas. In addition, Miami-Dade County is rolling out its “Green Print,” a broader climate-change “action plan” intended also to involve the county’s 35 municipalities.

Commissioner Sorenson chairs the mayor’s Sustainability Task Force, charged with identifying community concerns and evaluating strategies. She has been one of the commission’s strongest growth-management advocates and says stopping urban sprawl is “first and foremost” on her agenda. “Developing ‘Smart Growth’ nodes along our transit corridors and focusing infrastructure investments in ‘urban centers’ are probably the most lasting and effective thing we can do to mitigate our contributions to climate change and adapt to expected changes,” she says.

Developing Manual for Local Action

Reducing carbon emissions is a daunting task that is not made easier by the entrenched and partisan gridlock seen in Congress. Local government has the flexibility to act quickly. Miami-Dade has better resources than most Florida counties.  Effectually it has been developing a manual for local action.

The public policy principles gleaned from Miami-Dade’s experience are easy to summarize:

• Understand the ramifications of the goals being set. A goal must be big enough to be deemed “worth doing,” but small enough to be attained within the scope of local authority.
• Identify and select projects that, while directed at forestalling or adapting to climate change, also provide other benefits. Greater efficiency and costs savings are two such benefits.
• Integrate climate-change thinking throughout operational systems.
• Seek reliable allies and develop regional strategies.

The impacts of climate change don’t, and won’t, respect political boundaries. Developing successful strategies for adapting to climate change is a job for all levels of government.

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