Things that make you go Hmmmm III
Note the dates below:
Layoffs 'Very, Very Likely' At USF
By ADAM EMERSON, The Tampa Tribune - January 18, 2008
TAMPA - The University of South Florida plans to cut more than $52 million from its budget during the next two years, a grim prospect that likely will force layoffs and could further reduce the number of students accepted. Half of that comes this year and includes $12.2 million USF has cut as a result of a $1 billion state budget shortfall. Every public service from education to law enforcement has felt the pinch.
That's just the start, however. State economists predict a $2 billion shortfall next fiscal year, a symptom of Florida's housing woes that are depleting tax collections. Anticipating those bad times, USF leaders will spend the next two weeks considering how to cut $26 million more out of next fiscal year's budget.
All public universities are feeling the pain. USF, for one, froze all hiring Thursday and halted the search under way for new faculty members. Today, Florida State University trustees will consider a plan to eliminate as many as 118 faculty and 100 other positions.
Layoffs are "very, very likely" at USF, Provost Ralph Wilcox said. The university also may consider reducing enrollment further, making it harder for prospective students to gain entry.
Of course, the "state budget shortfall" is only minimally explained by the housing slump. Florida never has taxed its citizens much to begin with. Our constitution prohibits income taxes and inheritance taxes. From that meager beginning, Jeb Bush's government has cut taxes to the wealthy and the corporate interests over the past 10 years. The "budget shortfall" is simply the result of the wealthy paying less and less with the resulting shift of the tax burden onto the working poor through regressive taxes like sales taxes and fees.
So, the universities are already in trouble. Now this....
State University System board proposes 8% tuition hike to halt downward financial spiral
Luis Zaragoza, Sentinel Staff Writer - January 25, 2008
Florida's public-university students could face an 8 percent tuition increase this fall if the state's Board of Governors gets its way.
State legislators wasted no time denouncing the board's decision Thursday, saying it threatens the financial health of two tuition-payment programs and questioning the board's authority to set tuition. "People are concerned about keeping their jobs. They're concerned about being able to pay for their housing," said state Sen. Evelyn Lynn, R-Ormond Beach, chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Higher Education Appropriations. "At a time when we want students to go to college more than ever before, I don't think now is the time to raise tuition."…
It's probably important to note here that Florida universities have among the lowest tuition in the country. It's also important to note that the same Republicans who have cut taxes for their wealthy backers now oppose tuition increases. Finally, it's probably worth noting that Jeb Bush's government has increasingly demanded "accountability" from schools while cutting their budgets. More work, less money, more "accountability" but never for the budgeters.
Though the idea of double-digit increases was briefly alluring, some board members noted even that wasn't enough to push Florida's lowest-in-the-nation tuition into the nation's upper tier. If the 8 percent increase comes to pass, it would raise $32 million during the 2008-09 budget year. Undergraduates would pay about $93 more a semester on top of tuition and fees that average about $3,361. Meanwhile, the universities are bracing for a possible second round of budget cuts in the 2007-08 school year because of falling state revenues. Board members said the Legislature could make that call in March.
Individual universities will decide how to cut costs, but the board directed schools to consider layoffs and enrollment caps. The board already has imposed hiring freezes and freshman-class enrollment caps at the state's 11 universities in reaction to state reductions last fall. Some schools also cut library hours and travel budgets.At Florida State University, the school's board of trustees recently approved a plan to lay off nearly 200 employees, including faculty and staff, in anticipation of upcoming cuts.The University of Central Florida, which would face $10.4 million in cuts this spring, made deeper cuts than required during the fall and wound up with about $8 million in reserve, which could soften the blow for future cuts, Provost Terry Hickey said. UCF hasn't considered immediate staff reductions like FSU, but layoffs might be an option, he said.
Layoff worries
At UCF on Thursday, several faculty members said they're worried.Dr. Ron Eaglin, chairman of UCF's engineering-technology department, said he has eliminated some adjunct instructors and graduate assistants and restricted travel. With more cuts expected, things can only get worse. "At some point," he said, "I'm just not going to be able to offer a specific course.... At some point, you're cutting bone."Several professors interviewed for this article described larger class sizes, less interaction with students and low morale. Some said they watched talented colleagues leave for better opportunities. Others described departments buzzing with talk of possible layoffs. "We talk about cuts," said Dr. Elisabet Rutstrom, an economics professor, "but there's really not much that we can do. Right now, I'm focusing on teaching and what my students need."
Again, note the date - Jan. 25, the week prior to the Amendment 1 vote giving more tax breaks to the wealthy and the corporate interests.
So, who will bear these costs? Students will pay more, which will clearly penalize the working class kids, many of them first in their families to attend college. They will have less classes due to layoffs - thus delaying their graduation - and larger classes. UCF already has the nation's highest student/faculty ratio. When I began teaching at UCF six years ago, I was also teaching at Valencia Community College across town. It was the same class with the Gordon Rule intensive writing requirement which led Valencia to cap its classes at 25 to insure its instructors could actually grade the papers. The same class at UCF had 37 in it that summer six years ago. By last year, the exact same class had 75 in it per section. Same pay, twice as much work. And virtually impossible to grade all the papers (some of our instructors teach up to 300 students per semester in Gordon Rule classes). It's a good deal for someone. But probably not the student and clearly not the faculty member.
Now, with the stage set, here's Tuesday night's story:
http://orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/orl-proptax3008jan30,0,174919.story
Tax cut passes
Aaron Deslatte and Mary Shanklin, Sentinel Staff Writers - January 30, 2008 TALLAHASSEE
Florida voters irritated over their escalating property taxes overwhelmingly passed a constitutional amendment that will give homeowners back an average of $240. This likely wasn't the final word on tax cuts this year, and many predicted the resounding win could whet the appetites for bigger tax cuts in the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Voters on Tuesday shrugged off warnings of dire cutbacks to public safety and school budgets to pass Amendment 1….Building contractor Dennis Hutton voted for it…."I voted for it for the single reason it will save me money on property taxes," Hutton said.
The story was accompanied by a poll with results below:
Poll: Will amendment save housing?
Florida voters approved the property tax amendment in the Jan. 29, 2008 primary election.
Do you think passage of the property tax amendment will stimulate Florida's slumping housing market?
Yes (262 responses) 23.2%
No (790 responses) 70.0%
Not sure (76 responses) 6.7%
1128 total responses (Results not scientific)
So, the voters are clear this doesn't solve the housing slump. It simply gives an average of $240 to homeowners, which means by definition 40% of all Floridians who don't own homes are excluded from its benefits.
Never underestimate the capacity of Florida voters to be manipulated by campaigns appealing to the lowest levels of moral reasoning. Repeatedly Floridians have fallen for the race card, the fear card and most often the greed card. Of course, that is part of our history as a place, sadly. From Ponce de Leon on down, the people who have come to Florida have arrived with self-focused understandings of their presence here - "What's in it for me?" Classic stage two moral reasoning characteristic of young children. Sometimes I wonder why I ever loved this place.
One thing that I have decided after Tuesday's election is simply this: people who are not responsible for funding governments no longer have any standing upon which to demand they be accountable. When the people are socially responsible, funding the services they so readily demand, they can demand accountability. Until then, their demands are revealed as little more than hypocrisy and childish self-focus.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Harry Scott Coverston, J.D., Ph.D.
Member, Florida Bar (inactive status)
Priest, Episcopal Church (Dio. of El Camino Real, CA)
Instructor: Humanities, Religion, Philosophy of Law
University of Central Florida, Orlando
https://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ncoverst/
frharry@cfl.rr.com
If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding.
Most things of value do not lend themselves to production in sound bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Can't we just all get along?
Susan Russell, the dynamic national president of Integrity, the ministry of LBGT Episcopalians, recently posed a provocative question in her always interesting and provocative blog, An Inch at a Time. She began by citing the conservative Episcopal TitusOneNine website which made the following assertion:
Of course, that's a fairly predictable dualistic statement which marks the thinking of most conservatives generally. No surprise, as the Integrity president noted. But then she went on to say, "Which got me thinking about the either/or thing." Russell then goes on to quote a sermon from Rev. Ed Bacon, the rector of the church where she serves on staff, All Saints, Pasadena:
At some level, it's the Episcopal version of the Rodney King question: "Can't we all just get along?" In my fondest visions of Anglicanism, I have found ways to answer in the affirmative to that question by focusing on the eucharist as that which binds us one to another while unilaterally agreeing to disagree about the specifics which would divide us. It's a rather catholic vision of a tradition which has always been a bit schizophrenic with its catholic anima focused on inclusivity and belonging and its reformation animus focused on sectarian exclusivity based in believing at war with each other. But as I've thought about this question this week, I wonder if it's not asking too much for people of differing temperaments and stages of moral development to come together under the big tent.
Sensate inclined believers will always need specificity. In Anglicanism this often manifests itself in a form of bibliolatry whose Protestant roots wrongly assume the bible is the basis for the church. Sensate driven worship tends to be focused on details which can, in their best incarnations, assure beautiful liturgy and music but in their lesser incarnations can display themselves in showy military precision drills confused for "the work of the people," the definition of liturgy. We iNtuitives prefer lots of symbols, room for the holy to speak to us through our lesser senses in the form of candles, incense, images, chanting, pools of colored light from stained glass and lots of room in our understandings of the holy. Judging types often feel the need to nail down the details of the faith and will find churches which do not focus on unquestioned traditional theologies and ancient confessions and creeds to hold them safe too loose and insecure to abide. We Perceivers, on the other hand, find confessions too confining - the divine cannot be captured by words, structures, forms - what's the point? Thinking types need rational sermons that lay out ideas not unlike a good closing argument. We Feeling types need our hearts "strangely warmed," as Anglican John Wesley described it.
Clearly, all human beings are capable of operating out of all aspects of their types. But the reality is that we aren't all alike, we never have been - as the history of the many expressions of the Christian tradition reveals - and the notion that one religious approach will meet all needs is wishful thinking on a good day. Human beings with varying temperaments bring very different needs to religious experiences. "That we all may be one" is a beautiful goal but it is rarely realized and it is probably not realistic to expect it to be.
But the question the good rector's sermon raises is probably better answered through looking at different stages of moral reasoning. The Stage Two Pre-conventional reasoner is predominately self-focused: "What's in it for me?" If the focus of religion is simply so that individuals can feel a sense of existential security about this life and the next, such focus doesn't leave much room - or need - for concern about the world around the believer.
Many church bodies are the domain of Stage Three Conventional/tribal moral reasoning. Focusing on the affirmation of significant others within the tribe, the sectarian whose "true religion" is readily comparable to the corrupted religion of the larger institution will find the big tent approach anathema. If one has "the truth," why would one want to contaminate themselves by mingling with the damned?
Stage Four Conventional believers find their authority in institutions. For the conventional/law and order believer, the approved prayer book liturgies complete with their appointed lectionaries, ancient creeds and confessions are the bottom line. To consider social justice ministry means getting past the initial hump of being able to even consider that the status quo of institutional life could be unjust or that the concerns of the church should look beyond the immediate institution to the larger society.
Thus it is not until one arrives at Stage Five, Post-Conventional reasoning that one is able to appreciate the concerns for individual salvation, affirmation of one's valued significant others and the positive contributions of institutions of the three preceding stages and still see the need for social justice. Higher stages inevitably both incorporate as well as surpass the stages through which their moral reasoning has already developed. The post-conventional believer recognizes the needs for existential security of the stage two pre-conventional but they also recognize that "what's in it for me?" is too limited a focus for mature, adult social animals. Similarly, the embrace of the tribe, while providing the comfort of belonging, proves too confining for the post-conventional believer who readily recognizes the partial nature of all revealed systems of truth. And while post-conventional believers readily recognize and uphold the value of conventional institutions, they also recognize that too often a "law and order" approach is much more fixed on the latter of those two goals often at the expense of justice. The post-conventional scope of concern extends to those outside the institutions as well as being able to critically examine the ever important question of cui bono? - good for whom? - within the institution itself.
In short, the answer to the question of "Does it have to be either/or?" is both yes and no. Some believers are capable of getting along, of acknowledging and accommodating those whose goals are very different from their own. They are capable of respecting the need for existential security that focuses on individual salvation evince. They are capable of respecting those who feel the need for tight tribal bounds or institutional definitions even as they resist having those needs define the larger body. But they also recognize the need to engage the world, to seek to heal its woundedness, to be agents of Jesus' kingdom of G-d here and now. In short, it doesn't have to be either/or. But it usually is.
The reality is that very few human beings ever achieve post-conventional reasoning, perhaps a quarter of the population at most and then primarily at middle age. While most evangelism focuses on pre-conventional believers seeking to shore up their own existential security and then quickly move them out of self-focus into the tribe, churches predominately attract conventional believers, many at tribal stage three within the circled wagons of sectarianism but often led by those at law and order stage four who will do anything to save their institutions - including selling their integrity if not their very souls. And for the few who do manage to transcend conventional moral reasoning to its post-conventional critique, ongoing engagement of the institution and the tribe often proves to be too exhausting and frustrating for many to endure for long.
This is not to say that it must be this way. In the first place, moral reasoning is dynamic, subject to change, growth and development. Often such growth is the result of crisis, of ongoing cognitive dissonance resolved by development to higher stages of moral reasoning. In the second place, leadership at higher levels of moral reasoning, capable of recognizing and appreciating those at previously lived stages, can work at providing a place for all believers even while recognizing that such work is often subject to failure. Finally, the more the catholic (lower case c) ethos of unconditional belonging is emphasized over the reformation mantra of right beliefs, the chances are greater that sectarian and institutional litmus tests will not prevail.
So, does it have to be either/or? Can't we all just get along? The answers to those questions don't bode well for an intact Anglican Communion or Episcopal Church. But, at some level, that simply means we are probably more true to our Christian roots than we would like to think. The history of the Christian movement is one of diversity of thought, understandings and practice. While the overarching banner of the Christian stream of tradition may allow us to see ourselves as one in a very generalized way, the reality is that those calling themselves Christians historically have never all believed the same things and practiced their faith the same way since the beginning of the movement 2000 years ago. The question is not whether it has to be either/or, it's whether we can come to grips with the fact that cherished notions of unity - too often confused with uniformity - are largely the product of wishful thinking in the Christian experience.
Thus, the real question is simply whether we can be OK with being who we are, living into our vocations as we see them, and not feeling guilt or shame when those who find other ways of believing and living more compelling than our own don't share our vision. While Christians will probably never be one, perhaps achieving a generosity of spirit toward those who don't -probably can't and won't - share our own vision is as close as we can get. And perhaps that's enough.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Harry Scott Coverston, J.D., Ph.D.
Member, Florida Bar (inactive status)
Priest, Episcopal Church (Dio. of El Camino Real, CA)
Instructor: Humanities, Religion, Philosophy of Law
University of Central Florida, Orlando
https://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ncoverst/
frharry@cfl.rr.com
If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding.
Most things of value do not lend themselves to production in sound bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Susan Russell, the dynamic national president of Integrity, the ministry of LBGT Episcopalians, recently posed a provocative question in her always interesting and provocative blog, An Inch at a Time. She began by citing the conservative Episcopal TitusOneNine website which made the following assertion:
The first task of a Christian should not be "economic evangelism” but “Christ evangelism.” By focusing on “social justice” or “economic justice” we lose focus on Jesus Christ. Rather than trying to turn clergy and lay church politicians (those who attend the various conventions) into economists and politicians, lets be sure they first understand the Christian faith and then get them to turn politicians and economists into Christians.
Of course, that's a fairly predictable dualistic statement which marks the thinking of most conservatives generally. No surprise, as the Integrity president noted. But then she went on to say, "Which got me thinking about the either/or thing." Russell then goes on to quote a sermon from Rev. Ed Bacon, the rector of the church where she serves on staff, All Saints, Pasadena:
So what I’m wondering this morning is if we’ve really gotten beyond the place where there isn’t room in Christianity for both ... if we couldn’t yet find a way to be a people of God who believe in individual salvation not for individual salvation’s sake and who are committed to social justice not for social justice’s sake, but see it all as part and parcel of belonging to the God who called us to walk in love as Christ loved us and love our neighbors as ourselves.
It’d never work if my litmus test for your welcome at the table is how you vote on social issues and your litmus test for mine is if we agree on the same theological explanation for the salvific power of the cross. But what if we could agree that good people of deep faith WILL come to different conclusions on how God calls us to walk in love with each other—and what if we could regain that historic gift of Anglican comprehensiveness that leaves room for different theological understandings of the same God and Creator of all?
At some level, it's the Episcopal version of the Rodney King question: "Can't we all just get along?" In my fondest visions of Anglicanism, I have found ways to answer in the affirmative to that question by focusing on the eucharist as that which binds us one to another while unilaterally agreeing to disagree about the specifics which would divide us. It's a rather catholic vision of a tradition which has always been a bit schizophrenic with its catholic anima focused on inclusivity and belonging and its reformation animus focused on sectarian exclusivity based in believing at war with each other. But as I've thought about this question this week, I wonder if it's not asking too much for people of differing temperaments and stages of moral development to come together under the big tent.
Sensate inclined believers will always need specificity. In Anglicanism this often manifests itself in a form of bibliolatry whose Protestant roots wrongly assume the bible is the basis for the church. Sensate driven worship tends to be focused on details which can, in their best incarnations, assure beautiful liturgy and music but in their lesser incarnations can display themselves in showy military precision drills confused for "the work of the people," the definition of liturgy. We iNtuitives prefer lots of symbols, room for the holy to speak to us through our lesser senses in the form of candles, incense, images, chanting, pools of colored light from stained glass and lots of room in our understandings of the holy. Judging types often feel the need to nail down the details of the faith and will find churches which do not focus on unquestioned traditional theologies and ancient confessions and creeds to hold them safe too loose and insecure to abide. We Perceivers, on the other hand, find confessions too confining - the divine cannot be captured by words, structures, forms - what's the point? Thinking types need rational sermons that lay out ideas not unlike a good closing argument. We Feeling types need our hearts "strangely warmed," as Anglican John Wesley described it.
Clearly, all human beings are capable of operating out of all aspects of their types. But the reality is that we aren't all alike, we never have been - as the history of the many expressions of the Christian tradition reveals - and the notion that one religious approach will meet all needs is wishful thinking on a good day. Human beings with varying temperaments bring very different needs to religious experiences. "That we all may be one" is a beautiful goal but it is rarely realized and it is probably not realistic to expect it to be.
But the question the good rector's sermon raises is probably better answered through looking at different stages of moral reasoning. The Stage Two Pre-conventional reasoner is predominately self-focused: "What's in it for me?" If the focus of religion is simply so that individuals can feel a sense of existential security about this life and the next, such focus doesn't leave much room - or need - for concern about the world around the believer.
Many church bodies are the domain of Stage Three Conventional/tribal moral reasoning. Focusing on the affirmation of significant others within the tribe, the sectarian whose "true religion" is readily comparable to the corrupted religion of the larger institution will find the big tent approach anathema. If one has "the truth," why would one want to contaminate themselves by mingling with the damned?
Stage Four Conventional believers find their authority in institutions. For the conventional/law and order believer, the approved prayer book liturgies complete with their appointed lectionaries, ancient creeds and confessions are the bottom line. To consider social justice ministry means getting past the initial hump of being able to even consider that the status quo of institutional life could be unjust or that the concerns of the church should look beyond the immediate institution to the larger society.
Thus it is not until one arrives at Stage Five, Post-Conventional reasoning that one is able to appreciate the concerns for individual salvation, affirmation of one's valued significant others and the positive contributions of institutions of the three preceding stages and still see the need for social justice. Higher stages inevitably both incorporate as well as surpass the stages through which their moral reasoning has already developed. The post-conventional believer recognizes the needs for existential security of the stage two pre-conventional but they also recognize that "what's in it for me?" is too limited a focus for mature, adult social animals. Similarly, the embrace of the tribe, while providing the comfort of belonging, proves too confining for the post-conventional believer who readily recognizes the partial nature of all revealed systems of truth. And while post-conventional believers readily recognize and uphold the value of conventional institutions, they also recognize that too often a "law and order" approach is much more fixed on the latter of those two goals often at the expense of justice. The post-conventional scope of concern extends to those outside the institutions as well as being able to critically examine the ever important question of cui bono? - good for whom? - within the institution itself.
In short, the answer to the question of "Does it have to be either/or?" is both yes and no. Some believers are capable of getting along, of acknowledging and accommodating those whose goals are very different from their own. They are capable of respecting the need for existential security that focuses on individual salvation evince. They are capable of respecting those who feel the need for tight tribal bounds or institutional definitions even as they resist having those needs define the larger body. But they also recognize the need to engage the world, to seek to heal its woundedness, to be agents of Jesus' kingdom of G-d here and now. In short, it doesn't have to be either/or. But it usually is.
The reality is that very few human beings ever achieve post-conventional reasoning, perhaps a quarter of the population at most and then primarily at middle age. While most evangelism focuses on pre-conventional believers seeking to shore up their own existential security and then quickly move them out of self-focus into the tribe, churches predominately attract conventional believers, many at tribal stage three within the circled wagons of sectarianism but often led by those at law and order stage four who will do anything to save their institutions - including selling their integrity if not their very souls. And for the few who do manage to transcend conventional moral reasoning to its post-conventional critique, ongoing engagement of the institution and the tribe often proves to be too exhausting and frustrating for many to endure for long.
This is not to say that it must be this way. In the first place, moral reasoning is dynamic, subject to change, growth and development. Often such growth is the result of crisis, of ongoing cognitive dissonance resolved by development to higher stages of moral reasoning. In the second place, leadership at higher levels of moral reasoning, capable of recognizing and appreciating those at previously lived stages, can work at providing a place for all believers even while recognizing that such work is often subject to failure. Finally, the more the catholic (lower case c) ethos of unconditional belonging is emphasized over the reformation mantra of right beliefs, the chances are greater that sectarian and institutional litmus tests will not prevail.
So, does it have to be either/or? Can't we all just get along? The answers to those questions don't bode well for an intact Anglican Communion or Episcopal Church. But, at some level, that simply means we are probably more true to our Christian roots than we would like to think. The history of the Christian movement is one of diversity of thought, understandings and practice. While the overarching banner of the Christian stream of tradition may allow us to see ourselves as one in a very generalized way, the reality is that those calling themselves Christians historically have never all believed the same things and practiced their faith the same way since the beginning of the movement 2000 years ago. The question is not whether it has to be either/or, it's whether we can come to grips with the fact that cherished notions of unity - too often confused with uniformity - are largely the product of wishful thinking in the Christian experience.
Thus, the real question is simply whether we can be OK with being who we are, living into our vocations as we see them, and not feeling guilt or shame when those who find other ways of believing and living more compelling than our own don't share our vision. While Christians will probably never be one, perhaps achieving a generosity of spirit toward those who don't -probably can't and won't - share our own vision is as close as we can get. And perhaps that's enough.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Harry Scott Coverston, J.D., Ph.D.
Member, Florida Bar (inactive status)
Priest, Episcopal Church (Dio. of El Camino Real, CA)
Instructor: Humanities, Religion, Philosophy of Law
University of Central Florida, Orlando
https://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ncoverst/
frharry@cfl.rr.com
If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding.
Most things of value do not lend themselves to production in sound bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
January 31, 2008 The Feast of St. Marge
My computer's calendar reminder tells me that today is my mother's birthday. She would have been 85 today. How I wish I could call her and tell her Happy Birthday.
But St. Marge died almost two years ago. And while I have tried to convince myself that time heals all wounds, I still sometimes find myself overwhelmed with grief at the sound of a song I remember her loving or when one of her favorite programs, like "The Golden Girls" comes on the television. I find myself weeping in my car in parking lots and exclaiming "Mother, I want to talk with you. I miss you so much." Time has not healed this wound, it has only made the ache a bit duller and less constant.
And yet, in some ways, Mother seems more present than she was in her lifetime. I continue to address the butterflies in my yard, her beloved symbol, with a cheery, "Hi, Momma!" I find her presence is particularly strong in my garden when I touch the earth and listen to the sound of the birds each morning. I can hear her favorite hymn, the one we sang at her funeral at her request, ringing in my ears: "I come to the garden alone, when the dew is still on the roses." Most of all, I hear her voice speaking in my head when I entertain mean spirited thoughts, the violation of Mother's Prime Directive: "Now, son, don't be ugly."
Perhaps the saddest aspect of my mother's absence has been seeing how lost my father sometimes seems without her. St. Marge took the rough edges off of Sam much the way that my gentle spirited and genteel partner, Andy, smoothes my own rough edges. While I often doubt whether I deserve his presence in my life, I know how lost I'd be without him. Without anyone to tell my Dad to turn the channel from the angry white men on Fox "News," he seems consumed with a sort of undirected smoldering anger at times that occasionally erupts when the topic of global warming comes up. All of us children do our best to see him and spend time with him. But, he is lonely, truly lost without his beloved "Fats," as he called mother, a reference to her doubling in size during her pregnancy with me (or so they tell me).
I sometimes tell myself that by living out the best life I can, by serving the human beings my mother served so many years without complaint, by refusing to allow their dignity to be ignored or impugned, by insisting on the ethic of life she embodied in her own love of creation, I honor my mother's memory. Sadly, I doubt I will ever completely be the human being she saw in me but if I can live into her example of loving people despite their warts as she did so readily and consistently even half as well as she did, I will have lived a decent life, a life worth living.
I found myself dreading my first birthday after she died in 2006. Mother always called me on my birthday, usually at the time I was born, 8:20 a.m., and went through a litany that went something like this: 'Fifty years ago right about now a little boy was coming into the world. And you were so pretty, and while the other babies were crying or sleeping, you were looking around the room trying to figure out where you were and what was going on. It was the hottest day in September 1953. And when they brought you to me, you were so beautiful." She loved to tell that story. And Sept. 1, 2006, I knew the phone would not ring and the story would not be told.. I left for school with a dull aching in my heart that morning.
When I arrived home that evening I had a message on my phone mail. Without checking the number, I simply pressed the speaker button and the message began to play. "Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!" The voice had a strangely familiar sound to it. It sounded so much like my mother's voice that for a second I lost my breath. She had found a way to call me on my birthday, through my sister. I laughed. And I cried as I remembered the many morning phone calls and their litanies. It was a bittersweet moment of gratitude for an unusual woman whose life had left a major impact on the world she loved and served.
In the past two years, both of my mother's brothers and her nephew, my beloved cousin, Ansel, have all departed this life. Mother spoke of her father visiting her in her dreams just before she died. I have comforted myself with the many losses of family members I have sustained these past few years with the hope that my sweet mother met them at the door to the afterlife and guided their souls home. And I hope and pray (even as I am not sure I can say I truly believe anymore) that when it comes my turn to die, I will be met at the gate by St. Marge.
Happy Birthday, Momma. Your family and many friends miss you. But, perhaps more importantly, our lives are better for the gift of having known you.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Harry Scott Coverston, J.D., Ph.D.
Member, Florida Bar (inactive status)
Priest, Episcopal Church (Dio. of El Camino Real, CA)
Instructor: Humanities, Religion, Philosophy of Law
University of Central Florida, Orlando
https://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ncoverst/
frharry@cfl.rr.com
If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding.
Most things of value do not lend themselves to production in sound bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
My computer's calendar reminder tells me that today is my mother's birthday. She would have been 85 today. How I wish I could call her and tell her Happy Birthday.
But St. Marge died almost two years ago. And while I have tried to convince myself that time heals all wounds, I still sometimes find myself overwhelmed with grief at the sound of a song I remember her loving or when one of her favorite programs, like "The Golden Girls" comes on the television. I find myself weeping in my car in parking lots and exclaiming "Mother, I want to talk with you. I miss you so much." Time has not healed this wound, it has only made the ache a bit duller and less constant.
And yet, in some ways, Mother seems more present than she was in her lifetime. I continue to address the butterflies in my yard, her beloved symbol, with a cheery, "Hi, Momma!" I find her presence is particularly strong in my garden when I touch the earth and listen to the sound of the birds each morning. I can hear her favorite hymn, the one we sang at her funeral at her request, ringing in my ears: "I come to the garden alone, when the dew is still on the roses." Most of all, I hear her voice speaking in my head when I entertain mean spirited thoughts, the violation of Mother's Prime Directive: "Now, son, don't be ugly."
Perhaps the saddest aspect of my mother's absence has been seeing how lost my father sometimes seems without her. St. Marge took the rough edges off of Sam much the way that my gentle spirited and genteel partner, Andy, smoothes my own rough edges. While I often doubt whether I deserve his presence in my life, I know how lost I'd be without him. Without anyone to tell my Dad to turn the channel from the angry white men on Fox "News," he seems consumed with a sort of undirected smoldering anger at times that occasionally erupts when the topic of global warming comes up. All of us children do our best to see him and spend time with him. But, he is lonely, truly lost without his beloved "Fats," as he called mother, a reference to her doubling in size during her pregnancy with me (or so they tell me).
I sometimes tell myself that by living out the best life I can, by serving the human beings my mother served so many years without complaint, by refusing to allow their dignity to be ignored or impugned, by insisting on the ethic of life she embodied in her own love of creation, I honor my mother's memory. Sadly, I doubt I will ever completely be the human being she saw in me but if I can live into her example of loving people despite their warts as she did so readily and consistently even half as well as she did, I will have lived a decent life, a life worth living.
I found myself dreading my first birthday after she died in 2006. Mother always called me on my birthday, usually at the time I was born, 8:20 a.m., and went through a litany that went something like this: 'Fifty years ago right about now a little boy was coming into the world. And you were so pretty, and while the other babies were crying or sleeping, you were looking around the room trying to figure out where you were and what was going on. It was the hottest day in September 1953. And when they brought you to me, you were so beautiful." She loved to tell that story. And Sept. 1, 2006, I knew the phone would not ring and the story would not be told.. I left for school with a dull aching in my heart that morning.
When I arrived home that evening I had a message on my phone mail. Without checking the number, I simply pressed the speaker button and the message began to play. "Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you!" The voice had a strangely familiar sound to it. It sounded so much like my mother's voice that for a second I lost my breath. She had found a way to call me on my birthday, through my sister. I laughed. And I cried as I remembered the many morning phone calls and their litanies. It was a bittersweet moment of gratitude for an unusual woman whose life had left a major impact on the world she loved and served.
In the past two years, both of my mother's brothers and her nephew, my beloved cousin, Ansel, have all departed this life. Mother spoke of her father visiting her in her dreams just before she died. I have comforted myself with the many losses of family members I have sustained these past few years with the hope that my sweet mother met them at the door to the afterlife and guided their souls home. And I hope and pray (even as I am not sure I can say I truly believe anymore) that when it comes my turn to die, I will be met at the gate by St. Marge.
Happy Birthday, Momma. Your family and many friends miss you. But, perhaps more importantly, our lives are better for the gift of having known you.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Harry Scott Coverston, J.D., Ph.D.
Member, Florida Bar (inactive status)
Priest, Episcopal Church (Dio. of El Camino Real, CA)
Instructor: Humanities, Religion, Philosophy of Law
University of Central Florida, Orlando
https://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ncoverst/
frharry@cfl.rr.com
If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding.
Most things of value do not lend themselves to production in sound bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Monday, January 28, 2008
Things that make you go Hmmmm - II
Bumper stickers on the back of a pickup truck in front of Starbucks,
Colonial Plaza Shopping Center, Saturday, January 19. 2008
Lower Right Corner: "Welcome to America! Now SPEAK ENGLISH!"
Center: Confederate Battle Flag
Upper Left Corner: Póg mo thóin (Pardon my Irish!)
Hmmm.........
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Harry Scott Coverston, J.D., Ph.D.
Member, Florida Bar (inactive status)
Priest, Episcopal Church (Dio. of El Camino Real, CA)
Instructor: Humanities, Religion, Philosophy of Law
University of Central Florida, Orlando
https://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ncoverst/
frharry@cfl.rr.com
If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding.
Most things of value do not lend themselves to production in sound bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Bumper stickers on the back of a pickup truck in front of Starbucks,
Colonial Plaza Shopping Center, Saturday, January 19. 2008
Lower Right Corner: "Welcome to America! Now SPEAK ENGLISH!"
Center: Confederate Battle Flag
Upper Left Corner: Póg mo thóin (Pardon my Irish!)
Hmmm.........
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Harry Scott Coverston, J.D., Ph.D.
Member, Florida Bar (inactive status)
Priest, Episcopal Church (Dio. of El Camino Real, CA)
Instructor: Humanities, Religion, Philosophy of Law
University of Central Florida, Orlando
https://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ncoverst/
frharry@cfl.rr.com
If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding.
Most things of value do not lend themselves to production in sound bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Things that make you go Hmmmmm........
From the website of Angela Kahealani: Clairvoyant Psychic Reader, Healer and Counselor at
http://www.kahealani.com/articles/prostitution.html
This insightful definition:
Whoring vs Prostitution
Prostitution is when money is the critical motivation for some activity. The average person in corporatocracy is in fact a prostitute. Most people do the jobs they do only for the money, not because they actually enjoy "the work" enough to continue doing it even without a monetary reward. You can verify this by asking them if they'd still do what they now do as "work", if they'd just won or inherited a billion dollars, and no longer had to work for a living. This is also a reminder that what anyone does for a living is not who they are, which may also remind us that we are spirits incarnate in bodies. Prostitution is a word which applies to far more circumstances than the usual legal definition, where the meaning is focused only upon "whoring". The English language definition "the act, or an instance of, offering or devoting one's talent to an unworthy use or cause", is far more akin in meaning to the word "pollution" than to "whoring".
From the local NBC affiliate, WESH Channel 2
Irresistible Headlines
Prostitutes Look To Score At Super Bowl
WESH.com
Prostitutes Look To Score At Super Bowl
Phoenix Police Going After Hookers, Customers
POSTED: 9:34 am EST January 28, 2008
Football players aren't the only professionals who will be looking to score in Phoenix this week. Police are getting for ready for the oldest profession in the Super Bowl's host city.
Arizona authorities have stepped up patrols, promising to sweep out so-called circuit girls and their pimps before next Sunday's Super Bowl. Circuit girls are upscale hookers who blend in with the high-rollers.
But it isn't just the hookers who have to worry about the police. Phoenix police Sgt. Joel Trantor said they will also be going after the customers.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
God forbid we should see these circuit girls in mixed company with fine upstanding citizens, some of them their johns. Keep 'em out of sight, don't make the white upper middle class deal with reality at all costs.
HMMMM
and immediately following that story, this one.....
Schools Paying Students To Boost Test Scores
WESH.com
Schools Paying Students To Boost Test Scores
Incentives Part Of $6M Plan To Boost Student Performance
POSTED: 10:31 am EST January 24, 2008
UPDATED: 2:22 pm EST January 24, 2008
BALTIMORE -- Students in Baltimore's high schools will get a cash incentive to boost their scores on the state graduation exams. The school system plans to spend nearly $1 million on the incentives.
Students who have failed at least one exam under Maryland's High School Assessments will earn $25 for improving test performance by 5 percent. If they improve an additional 15 percent, they will get an additional $35. Another 20 percent improvement will earn an additional $50.
State school Superintendent Nancy Grasmick has approved the plan, with the provision that the school system closely track student results.
City schools CEO Dr. Andres Alonso said he supports the idea, but not many others are with him in that notion. Alonso said it will work for students who have failed the test at least once. "To me, it's just common sense. I know there is a perspective that passing the test is their job anyway, but guess what? It hasn't worked," he said.
But Mayor Sheila Dixon said she is not happy, saying pay-to-pass is news to her. "We are just sending mixed messages. It's like giving a child an allowance but they don't do anything. That's unheard of. I don't give allowances, but you still have responsibilities to do. I really have some mixed feelings on this," she said.
The Baltimore city teachers union and a student member of the school board both said they have concerns about the idea. "What about our children who have passed this test on their own, who come to school every day? Those are the ones I think we ought to be rewarding financially," said teachers union President Marietta English.
The incentives are only part of a broader $6 million plan to boost student performance on the tests. The plan includes the hiring of private companies for tutoring, after-school and Saturday classes, test preparation materials and teacher training. It will begin next month.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A. What's the difference here?
B. So, we're teaching our kids how to whore themselves at a very young age?
HMMMM......
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Harry Scott Coverston, J.D., Ph.D.
Member, Florida Bar (inactive status)
Priest, Episcopal Church (Dio. of El Camino Real, CA)
Instructor: Humanities, Religion, Philosophy of Law
University of Central Florida, Orlando
https://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ncoverst/
frharry@cfl.rr.com
If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding.
Most things of value do not lend themselves to production in sound bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From the website of Angela Kahealani: Clairvoyant Psychic Reader, Healer and Counselor at
http://www.kahealani.com/articles/prostitution.html
This insightful definition:
Whoring vs Prostitution
Prostitution is when money is the critical motivation for some activity. The average person in corporatocracy is in fact a prostitute. Most people do the jobs they do only for the money, not because they actually enjoy "the work" enough to continue doing it even without a monetary reward. You can verify this by asking them if they'd still do what they now do as "work", if they'd just won or inherited a billion dollars, and no longer had to work for a living. This is also a reminder that what anyone does for a living is not who they are, which may also remind us that we are spirits incarnate in bodies. Prostitution is a word which applies to far more circumstances than the usual legal definition, where the meaning is focused only upon "whoring". The English language definition "the act, or an instance of, offering or devoting one's talent to an unworthy use or cause", is far more akin in meaning to the word "pollution" than to "whoring".
From the local NBC affiliate, WESH Channel 2
Irresistible Headlines
Prostitutes Look To Score At Super Bowl
WESH.com
Prostitutes Look To Score At Super Bowl
Phoenix Police Going After Hookers, Customers
POSTED: 9:34 am EST January 28, 2008
Football players aren't the only professionals who will be looking to score in Phoenix this week. Police are getting for ready for the oldest profession in the Super Bowl's host city.
Arizona authorities have stepped up patrols, promising to sweep out so-called circuit girls and their pimps before next Sunday's Super Bowl. Circuit girls are upscale hookers who blend in with the high-rollers.
But it isn't just the hookers who have to worry about the police. Phoenix police Sgt. Joel Trantor said they will also be going after the customers.
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
God forbid we should see these circuit girls in mixed company with fine upstanding citizens, some of them their johns. Keep 'em out of sight, don't make the white upper middle class deal with reality at all costs.
HMMMM
and immediately following that story, this one.....
Schools Paying Students To Boost Test Scores
WESH.com
Schools Paying Students To Boost Test Scores
Incentives Part Of $6M Plan To Boost Student Performance
POSTED: 10:31 am EST January 24, 2008
UPDATED: 2:22 pm EST January 24, 2008
BALTIMORE -- Students in Baltimore's high schools will get a cash incentive to boost their scores on the state graduation exams. The school system plans to spend nearly $1 million on the incentives.
Students who have failed at least one exam under Maryland's High School Assessments will earn $25 for improving test performance by 5 percent. If they improve an additional 15 percent, they will get an additional $35. Another 20 percent improvement will earn an additional $50.
State school Superintendent Nancy Grasmick has approved the plan, with the provision that the school system closely track student results.
City schools CEO Dr. Andres Alonso said he supports the idea, but not many others are with him in that notion. Alonso said it will work for students who have failed the test at least once. "To me, it's just common sense. I know there is a perspective that passing the test is their job anyway, but guess what? It hasn't worked," he said.
But Mayor Sheila Dixon said she is not happy, saying pay-to-pass is news to her. "We are just sending mixed messages. It's like giving a child an allowance but they don't do anything. That's unheard of. I don't give allowances, but you still have responsibilities to do. I really have some mixed feelings on this," she said.
The Baltimore city teachers union and a student member of the school board both said they have concerns about the idea. "What about our children who have passed this test on their own, who come to school every day? Those are the ones I think we ought to be rewarding financially," said teachers union President Marietta English.
The incentives are only part of a broader $6 million plan to boost student performance on the tests. The plan includes the hiring of private companies for tutoring, after-school and Saturday classes, test preparation materials and teacher training. It will begin next month.
Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
A. What's the difference here?
B. So, we're teaching our kids how to whore themselves at a very young age?
HMMMM......
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Harry Scott Coverston, J.D., Ph.D.
Member, Florida Bar (inactive status)
Priest, Episcopal Church (Dio. of El Camino Real, CA)
Instructor: Humanities, Religion, Philosophy of Law
University of Central Florida, Orlando
https://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ncoverst/
frharry@cfl.rr.com
If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding.
Most things of value do not lend themselves to production in sound bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Accountability, Racism and MLK, Jr.
From today's Orlando Sentinel (why DO I continue to torture myself with reading this paper?) the My Word columnist invokes the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. in a rant on how African-Americans play the race card to escape responsibility. Under the cynical title of "Equality" he says, "Far too many people in our culture feel they are entitled to be held to a lower standard of accountability because of their race." The writer, a GenX white man from nearby suburb Winter Park, is hardly alone in making these kinds of unconsciously racist assertions. Indeed, I believe history will ultimately reflect that the most difficult and usually unaccomplished task white Americans faced in the 21st CE was coming to grips with their own racism.
While I am not obsessed with the notion of "standards" reflecting the control issues of the WASP middle class (of which I am a member), I do agree that people should be accountable for their attitudes and behaviors individually. The trouble is, that while WASP middle class folk rail self-righteously and endlessly about individual accountability, we almost inevitably fail to take collective responsibility for the social world we have created and maintain. Race may not determine "the worth of someone's place or performance" in our society but it almost always impacts what place one holds in that society and whether one has access to perform.
When I was in seminary, an African-American classmate observed in class one day that "In America we breathe racist air." All of us are affected by the pervasive racism that informs everything from our history of genocide of the Native Americans to the current xenophobic construction of immigrants. That our racism is not as blatant as it was in the still segregated early 1960s of my childhood here in Central Florida hardly means that America's "original sin," as sociologist Gunnar Myrdal described it, has gone away. Indeed, subtle but stubbornly pervasive racism of the 21st CE is much harder to get at than firehose wielding redneck cops in Birmingham and clownish Republican governors standing in schoolhouse doors in Tallahassee. It is hardly surprising that we would wish to be relieved of having to be accountable for this history and its ongoing legacy but that doesn't mean we get to enter into self-congratulatory mode and pretend that racism no longer affects our daily lives in America if we wish to be seen as having any credibility.
When we point our finger at those who "play the race card" in our society today, we fail to see the other four fingers pointing back at our own racism. I believe King's point was that we should unclench our fists of self-righteous judgment and open our hands to embrace the other. Little wonder we responded to his prophetic ministry which served as a mirror to reflect our racism back to us by killing him.
Happy Birthday, Martin. The struggle continues.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Harry Scott Coverston, J.D., Ph.D.
Member, Florida Bar (inactive status)
Priest, Episcopal Church (Dio. of El Camino Real, CA)
Instructor: Humanities, Religion, Philosophy of Law
University of Central Florida, Orlando
https://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ncoverst/
frharry@cfl.rr.com
If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding.
Most things of value do not lend themselves to production in sound bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
From today's Orlando Sentinel (why DO I continue to torture myself with reading this paper?) the My Word columnist invokes the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. in a rant on how African-Americans play the race card to escape responsibility. Under the cynical title of "Equality" he says, "Far too many people in our culture feel they are entitled to be held to a lower standard of accountability because of their race." The writer, a GenX white man from nearby suburb Winter Park, is hardly alone in making these kinds of unconsciously racist assertions. Indeed, I believe history will ultimately reflect that the most difficult and usually unaccomplished task white Americans faced in the 21st CE was coming to grips with their own racism.
While I am not obsessed with the notion of "standards" reflecting the control issues of the WASP middle class (of which I am a member), I do agree that people should be accountable for their attitudes and behaviors individually. The trouble is, that while WASP middle class folk rail self-righteously and endlessly about individual accountability, we almost inevitably fail to take collective responsibility for the social world we have created and maintain. Race may not determine "the worth of someone's place or performance" in our society but it almost always impacts what place one holds in that society and whether one has access to perform.
When I was in seminary, an African-American classmate observed in class one day that "In America we breathe racist air." All of us are affected by the pervasive racism that informs everything from our history of genocide of the Native Americans to the current xenophobic construction of immigrants. That our racism is not as blatant as it was in the still segregated early 1960s of my childhood here in Central Florida hardly means that America's "original sin," as sociologist Gunnar Myrdal described it, has gone away. Indeed, subtle but stubbornly pervasive racism of the 21st CE is much harder to get at than firehose wielding redneck cops in Birmingham and clownish Republican governors standing in schoolhouse doors in Tallahassee. It is hardly surprising that we would wish to be relieved of having to be accountable for this history and its ongoing legacy but that doesn't mean we get to enter into self-congratulatory mode and pretend that racism no longer affects our daily lives in America if we wish to be seen as having any credibility.
When we point our finger at those who "play the race card" in our society today, we fail to see the other four fingers pointing back at our own racism. I believe King's point was that we should unclench our fists of self-righteous judgment and open our hands to embrace the other. Little wonder we responded to his prophetic ministry which served as a mirror to reflect our racism back to us by killing him.
Happy Birthday, Martin. The struggle continues.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Harry Scott Coverston, J.D., Ph.D.
Member, Florida Bar (inactive status)
Priest, Episcopal Church (Dio. of El Camino Real, CA)
Instructor: Humanities, Religion, Philosophy of Law
University of Central Florida, Orlando
https://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ncoverst/
frharry@cfl.rr.com
If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding.
Most things of value do not lend themselves to production in sound bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Cui bono?
The local Chicago Tribune franchised cheerleader for consumer capitalism, the Orlando Sentinel, today editorialized in favor of an incredibly short-sighted and greed driven proposed amendment to our state constitution, Amendment One. The proposed amendment will provide major tax breaks for the wealthy and the corporate interests at the same time it will effectively defund the state and local governments, hence drawing opposition from most cities and counties, government employees and educators.
At some level, the Sentinel's position is hardly surprising. Despite an apparent trend in the past few years away from its role as the voice of the knee jerk moralist conservatism of its earlier days as a Southern Baptist citrus and cow town, the Sentinel editorial staff usually rediscovers its true self on issues of wealth. This one is no exception. Clearly this sentinel stands guard for the vested interests of the wealthy.
In all fairness the editorial does make a good point - local government spending has, at times, been profligate. Ironically, the very people now pushing for more tax breaks have been the beneficiaries of that largesse. In recent years the city of Orlando has found ways to donate millions of dollars in new facilities to a professional basketball team and tax breaks to corporations hand over fist. Riding a crest of property taxes in part (but only in part - tourist taxes fill the local coffers more often than not), the city has felt quite liberal with its checkbook - depending upon where one falls in the economic hierarchy.
It's all occurred in the name of downtown development, a downtown which seems to have lots of room for condo construction and their yuppie tenants, but little room for the human flotsam and jetsam on our streets in the form of homeless people. Indeed, it's harder and harder to find a homeless person with the city's policies of rounding them up and getting them out of sight of drunken football fans and club goers (translation: people with money). Out of sight usually means pushing the homeless out of the downtown business and club district into the impoverished historically black neighborhoods on the other side of the interstate - and the tracks which historically have divided blacks and whites in southern cities.
As a city tax payer, I have questions about the wisdom of renovating aging stadiums and building new arenas for sports teams that don't expand seating for the general public but greatly expand luxury boxes for fat cats. There's nothing like a reverse Robin Hood effect in a consumerist capitalist economy to tell the middle and working class folks of a locale that they simply don't count much when it comes to city policy making. And if you're homeless, you're little more than an obstruction to "progress."
On the other hand, the city of Orlando has evidenced some rather enlightened behaviors on social issues ranging from an anti-discrimination policy regarding gays and lesbians to the recent appointment of a black female chief of police. The city has also spent a great deal on road improvements, traffic safety and beautification. Indeed, Orlando has one of the most beautiful downtown cores of any city in the country, a fact that is readily checked by simply traveling across the city line into developer beholden and thus largely unregulated Orange County with the gridlock traffic to show for it. For the most part, Orlando is a safe city for most of its citizens though last year's spike in murders in drug infested blighted neighborhoods, albeit many of them outside city limits, indicates the unevenness of the good life in the City Beautiful (as Orlando has long touted itself).
It's precisely that unevenness that makes today's editorial so self-revealing and so problematic. The final point in the editorial admits "Amendment 1 would not make Florida's tax system fairer. But if it forces local governments to spend more wisely, all Floridians will benefit." In other words, given the already unfair taxation system Florida maintains - an inequity which has increased radically over the past 10 years of Jeb and the Pubby Boys' control of the Florida lege and their willingness to shift the tax burden from those most able to pay to those least able to absorb the burden - adding additional benefits for the wealthy at the expense of everyone else simply exacerbates an already unjust system. Whether one finds expansion of an unfair system beneficial probably turns on where one falls in the current stack up. As the Romans would have asked, cui bono? - good for whom?
I guess it probably should not be surprising that the local media lap dog of the vested interests of our current status quo would editorialize in favor of yet another shift of tax burden from the top to the bottom and seek to legitimize it with the age old mantra of capitalism - helping the wealthy helps everyone. It's hardly an original pattern. As Charles E. Wilson, the former head of General Motors and Secretary of Defense under President Dwight Eisenhower, in 1952 told a Senate subcommittee, "What is good for the country is good for General Motors, and what's good for General Motors is good for the country." Al Capp would transform Wilson in his Lil Abner comic strip into the caricature of General Bullmoose who was prone to say, "What's good for General Bullmoose is good for the USA!" Capp realized it's easier to swallow the bitter pill of adults who know better behaving like selfish children when it's put into the form of comic parody.
Perhaps I remain a bit Pollyanish even into my middle age where according to conventional wisdom I'm supposed to know better but I do find myself hoping against hope that our local media will eventually grow up and assume a little more social responsibility, editorializing for all of its local citizens, not just the vested interests of the status quo. In the meantime, there is this little matter of a tyrannical ballot issue to campaign against. While I remain hopeful that at least the required 40% of Florida's voters will see the myopia (if not the injustice) in this exercise in greed and selfishness and defeat the amendment, after the 2000 election, I know anything is possible, even the aiding and abetting of the election of imbeciles to the presidency. (Mary Harris) Mother Jones said we should "pray for the dead and work like hell for the living." It's time to go to work for the future of our state bearing in mind the wisdom of one of our modern masters of irony, Mel Brooks: "Hope for the best. Expect the worst."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The Rev. Harry Scott Coverston, J.D., Ph.D.
Member, Florida Bar (inactive status)
Priest, Episcopal Church (Dio. of El Camino Real, CA)
Instructor: Humanities, Religion, Philosophy of Law
University of Central Florida, Orlando
https://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ncoverst/
frharry@cfl.rr.com
If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding. Most things of value do not lend themselves to production in sound bytes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The local Chicago Tribune franchised cheerleader for consumer capitalism, the Orlando Sentinel, today editorialized in favor of an incredibly short-sighted and greed driven proposed amendment to our state constitution, Amendment One. The proposed amendment will provide major tax breaks for the wealthy and the corporate interests at the same time it will effectively defund the state and local governments, hence drawing opposition from most cities and counties, government employees and educators.
At some level, the Sentinel's position is hardly surprising. Despite an apparent trend in the past few years away from its role as the voice of the knee jerk moralist conservatism of its earlier days as a Southern Baptist citrus and cow town, the Sentinel editorial staff usually rediscovers its true self on issues of wealth. This one is no exception. Clearly this sentinel stands guard for the vested interests of the wealthy.
In all fairness the editorial does make a good point - local government spending has, at times, been profligate. Ironically, the very people now pushing for more tax breaks have been the beneficiaries of that largesse. In recent years the city of Orlando has found ways to donate millions of dollars in new facilities to a professional basketball team and tax breaks to corporations hand over fist. Riding a crest of property taxes in part (but only in part - tourist taxes fill the local coffers more often than not), the city has felt quite liberal with its checkbook - depending upon where one falls in the economic hierarchy.
It's all occurred in the name of downtown development, a downtown which seems to have lots of room for condo construction and their yuppie tenants, but little room for the human flotsam and jetsam on our streets in the form of homeless people. Indeed, it's harder and harder to find a homeless person with the city's policies of rounding them up and getting them out of sight of drunken football fans and club goers (translation: people with money). Out of sight usually means pushing the homeless out of the downtown business and club district into the impoverished historically black neighborhoods on the other side of the interstate - and the tracks which historically have divided blacks and whites in southern cities.
As a city tax payer, I have questions about the wisdom of renovating aging stadiums and building new arenas for sports teams that don't expand seating for the general public but greatly expand luxury boxes for fat cats. There's nothing like a reverse Robin Hood effect in a consumerist capitalist economy to tell the middle and working class folks of a locale that they simply don't count much when it comes to city policy making. And if you're homeless, you're little more than an obstruction to "progress."
On the other hand, the city of Orlando has evidenced some rather enlightened behaviors on social issues ranging from an anti-discrimination policy regarding gays and lesbians to the recent appointment of a black female chief of police. The city has also spent a great deal on road improvements, traffic safety and beautification. Indeed, Orlando has one of the most beautiful downtown cores of any city in the country, a fact that is readily checked by simply traveling across the city line into developer beholden and thus largely unregulated Orange County with the gridlock traffic to show for it. For the most part, Orlando is a safe city for most of its citizens though last year's spike in murders in drug infested blighted neighborhoods, albeit many of them outside city limits, indicates the unevenness of the good life in the City Beautiful (as Orlando has long touted itself).
It's precisely that unevenness that makes today's editorial so self-revealing and so problematic. The final point in the editorial admits "Amendment 1 would not make Florida's tax system fairer. But if it forces local governments to spend more wisely, all Floridians will benefit." In other words, given the already unfair taxation system Florida maintains - an inequity which has increased radically over the past 10 years of Jeb and the Pubby Boys' control of the Florida lege and their willingness to shift the tax burden from those most able to pay to those least able to absorb the burden - adding additional benefits for the wealthy at the expense of everyone else simply exacerbates an already unjust system. Whether one finds expansion of an unfair system beneficial probably turns on where one falls in the current stack up. As the Romans would have asked, cui bono? - good for whom?
I guess it probably should not be surprising that the local media lap dog of the vested interests of our current status quo would editorialize in favor of yet another shift of tax burden from the top to the bottom and seek to legitimize it with the age old mantra of capitalism - helping the wealthy helps everyone. It's hardly an original pattern. As Charles E. Wilson, the former head of General Motors and Secretary of Defense under President Dwight Eisenhower, in 1952 told a Senate subcommittee, "What is good for the country is good for General Motors, and what's good for General Motors is good for the country." Al Capp would transform Wilson in his Lil Abner comic strip into the caricature of General Bullmoose who was prone to say, "What's good for General Bullmoose is good for the USA!" Capp realized it's easier to swallow the bitter pill of adults who know better behaving like selfish children when it's put into the form of comic parody.
Perhaps I remain a bit Pollyanish even into my middle age where according to conventional wisdom I'm supposed to know better but I do find myself hoping against hope that our local media will eventually grow up and assume a little more social responsibility, editorializing for all of its local citizens, not just the vested interests of the status quo. In the meantime, there is this little matter of a tyrannical ballot issue to campaign against. While I remain hopeful that at least the required 40% of Florida's voters will see the myopia (if not the injustice) in this exercise in greed and selfishness and defeat the amendment, after the 2000 election, I know anything is possible, even the aiding and abetting of the election of imbeciles to the presidency. (Mary Harris) Mother Jones said we should "pray for the dead and work like hell for the living." It's time to go to work for the future of our state bearing in mind the wisdom of one of our modern masters of irony, Mel Brooks: "Hope for the best. Expect the worst."
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The Rev. Harry Scott Coverston, J.D., Ph.D.
Member, Florida Bar (inactive status)
Priest, Episcopal Church (Dio. of El Camino Real, CA)
Instructor: Humanities, Religion, Philosophy of Law
University of Central Florida, Orlando
https://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~ncoverst/
frharry@cfl.rr.com
If the unexamined life is not worth living, surely an unexamined belief system, be it religious or political, is not worth holding. Most things of value do not lend themselves to production in sound bytes.
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