Civility in an Uncivil World … MC Chats it Up
On Tuesday, February 22, 6:30 p.m., I’ll be giving a short talk at 1350 Main Street (Club Room — sixth floor) on “Civility in an Uncivil World.” It’s a good chance to openly dialogue on something we all seem to agree on — the need for more civility — but which we often find difficult to act on.
Come on down! Seriously!
Speaking in 2008 to local Dems
Maybe my American dream
Yesterday afternoon I felt kind of sad because I don’t have a home of my own — that quintessential American dream of home ownership, is one I just haven’t been able to sustain. I did own and live in my own home briefly when I was married, and one other time as well, but most of the time, most of my life, I’ve rented. And I’ve generally hated it. From rats (real, live ones that Einstein had to catch) to landlords who wouldn’t fix leaking roofs that dumped buckets of rain into my living room … I’ve never liked renting one bit.
And because of that, for most of my life I’ve felt like a woman without a home. Kind of like a man without a country, but worse. Because somehow it seems romantic to be a man wandering the world with just a backpack or something … but to be a woman without a home … just evokes visions of bag ladies dancing in my head. It’s not a good feeling. (more…)
Legal eagle Adam Tebrugge opens doors at new law office
Local attorney Adam Tebrugge, who ran for the Public Defender’s office in 2008, opened the doors last week to the new offices of Tebrugge Legal.
Adam and his wife Regina.
Tebrugge specializes in criminal law … so, oddly, I hope I never need his services!
Listen up! Florida Veterans on Rob Lorei’s radio show this morning (WMNF)
Florida Veterans for Common Sense President, Gene Jones, and board member, Dennis Plews, 
will be on the Rob Lorei radio show (WMNF 88.5 FM) this morning, January 24, 2011 at 10:05 AM.
The discussion will be about obtaining Veterans Diversion Courts in Florida, and the group’s Resolution to Withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan.
It’s a call in program as well — so I believe you can ask questions or make comments on air by calling 813.239.9663 or perhaps by emailing to dj@wmnf.org.
Beyond gun control
My column in today’s Sarasota Herald Tribune talks about the recent spate of gun violence in Sarasota and Manatee counties and discusses MLK’s idea of the “violence of spirit” that is really behind physical violence.
You can read it in today’s TICKET — in today’s newspaper or tomorrow for FREE in the old Creative Loafing newsstand boxes found throughout the city.
Or, you can read it online here — Tackling Internal Violence.
Facing foreclosure — Stan Zimmerman’s two-part series
If you haven’t read Stan Zimmerman’s two-part series on foreclosure in the Pelican Press newspaper — you should. I know the second part is out on stands right now … or you can read it online here at Foreclosures: crisis of decades
Zimmerman interviewed many people for the story on deep background and wrote, “We are in a collision between Great Depression-era law and ultra-modern finance.”
It’s detailed and insightful reporting … and necessary reading even if you’re not directly affected by the foreclosure crisis — you are most definitely indirectly affected. You can read the first part of the series here:
Foreclosure not the end of pain.
Zimmerman, who’s collected plenty of press awards over the years, should nab another for this series.
It’s so well-written but a bit hard to read without feeling overwhelmed at how to work through this challenge that is displacing and up-ending the lives of tens of thousands of families and individuals just in Sarasota County.
Obama in Tucson
I felt immeasurably sad tonight thinking of the people in Tucson who died or who were shot or who have been left without loved ones. I felt sad for our country.
I felt amazed — really just struck — to hear stories of how two husbands put themselves in front of their wives to take the bullets themselves. That kind of heroism, selflessness, thinking of their wives — not thinking really, just acting — in the quickest most honest way to protect someone they love. That’s astonishing, but when I think about it — it seems like most men would probably do that. That’s just amazing. And the other people, too, the ones who tackled or kicked away ammunition or helped those who’d been hit.
I was moved and strengthened by President Obama’s speech tonight and hope I will take his admonishments to heart. If you didn’t hear his speech you can hear it or read it by clicking here: Obama in Tucson.
I really appreciated his portraits of the people who were killed and these words are what have stayed with me and what I hope will continue to stay with me as an American, as a woman:
“The loss of these wonderful people should make every one of us strive to be better in our private lives – to be better friends and neighbors, co-workers and parents. And if, as has been discussed in recent days, their deaths help usher in more civility in our public discourse, let’s remember that it is not because a simple lack of civility caused this tragedy, but rather because only a more civil and honest public discourse can help us face up to our challenges as a nation, in a way that would make them proud. It should be because we want to live up to the example of public servants like John Roll and Gabby Giffords, who knew first and foremost that we are all Americans, and that we can question each other’s ideas without questioning each other’s love of country, and that our task, working together, is to constantly widen the circle of our concern so that we bequeath the American dream to future generations.”
Tucson and the Palin Effect
We can’t — shouldn’t — blame Sarah Palin for what happened in Tucson … but (more…)
She’s baaaack! Reality Chick is back — in the Sarasota Herald Tribune
What a way to end a year … and start a new one!!
When the announcement came earlier this month that the Creative Loafing newspaper publication was closing up shop and the Sarasota Herald Tribune was taking over its branding rights, I smelled opportunity … opportunity to return to my roots and get back to writing in a style more akin to my old “Reality Chick” days at the Pelican Press.
Reality Chick is back!!
I’ve enjoyed the last month or so of writing the After Hours column for the TICKET section of the H-T — heck, I finally forced myself to get out and have some fun –but my interest, and I think my strength, lies in writing observational essays — columns — about what’s going on around my town. People, places, events, the zeitgeist of our little corner of the world. Luckily for me, when I pitched the idea to the editors — they agreed!
That new column starts today — it’s called Sense and the City and it will be my weekly “reality” take on whatever’s topical or at the top of my admittedly sometimes “Sideways in Sarasota” perspective.
In this week’s column I touch on Sarasota Mayor Kelly Kirschner, the Second Line street gang, and Sarasota’s semi-obsession with dirty dancers. I hope you’ll check it out at Sense and the City.
This is all actually a huge deal for me personally. I haven’t had a regular, weekly opinion column in a newspaper since May 2008 and I’m thrilled to be back writing the beat I know best.
If you like what you see in Sense and the City, don’t hesitate to let the editors know — it’s always helpful for them to know whether writers have a healthy readership or not — you can send an electronic LTE by clicking here.
Thanks for sticking with me as readers — whether I was in print or online — and I hope you enjoy this new column!!
HAPPY NEW YEAR, INDEED!
Don’t Whisper … JUST YELL!!!
FINALLY!!!!
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell — finally repealed.
President Obama just signed it into law. That stupid policy had ended the careers of over 14,000 military personnel — people who just wanted to serve our country — that policy now dead and done. (more…)