if you're not outraged, you're not paying attention!

Harris School

"I haven't written a word in weeks!"
This I mentioned to a friend over dinner this past weekend.
"That's probably because Mercury turned retrograde in Taurus on April 18th " she told me, "and when that happens all kinds of communications can get snarled up."
"How long does it last?" I asked her.
"This one will be over on Tuesday. . ."
"This coming Tuesday?"
"Yeah the 11th".

Now, I've never been a big one for astrology but I must admit that after a few weeks of nothing much to say, I woke up on the 12th with so much stuff banging around in my head, it took me three days to write it all down.
Makes you wanna say "hmmm. . ."

Sea the horizon at Ft. Zac

Anyway, I want to get my 2¢ in on that oil thing out in the Gulf.

Call it disaster, fiasco, catastrophe, debacle; I've even heard it called an act of God! Call it whatever you want but just don't call it a " leak". I mean have you seen the underwater video of what's going on out there?
Seriously, if you haven't, here's a link. . .
OIL "LEAK" MY ASS!!

Sea Grapes at Ft. Zac

The notion of offshore oil drilling being anything near the neighborhood of "safe" is as bogus as the concept of "clean" coal.
Alright, but they're gonna do it anyway and we all accept the idea that, in this world, sometimes stuff happens. But, if you or I screw a pooch or make a mess (figuratively or literally), we take it on the chin and clean it up. With none of this not my fault, blame the other guy crap.
Did you catch any of those Senate hearings? (that's where I heard it called "an act of God")
Christ on Friday! It was like three 7 year olds arguing over who spilled the milk and special interest driven politicians (barely adolescents themselves) asking all the wrong questions!
What do they care who screwed up? The real deal is, how are the three stooges gonna make it right?
If the Senate really wanted to know what went wrong and how to right it, don't you think they'd want to be talking to the roustabouts (the guys who really do the work) instead of the corporate white hairs?
. . .Deliberate incompetence all around.

Up close & personal at Ft. Zac

Last week I saw the head guy from the EPA on Meet the Press. He was saying that if TransOcean, BP and Haliburton couldn't get it together, the government would step up to get it done.
(again, I was not reassured)

Then a radio talkshow (probably Hannity or something)
I heard two really stupid comments about all this;
One caller said, and I'm paraphrasing here, the liberals are just trying to use the spill for their own agenda. There's no disaster. Oil comes from the ground so it's as organic and natural as the water and birds and fish.
The other caller said the shrimpers and fishermen had nothing really to worry about because the oil would come up and float on the surface and the fish, after all, live under the water. (gotta love the "average" American)

Thanks to Reef Relief Founders

Do I know if any oil will wash up here?
Not really, I'm not so familiar with the motion of the ocean out there. But whether or not we get actual floating oil or "tar balls" at Ft. Zac, there are sure to be other types of impact. Already the oil is affecting oxygen levels in the water and sealife is suffocating and, the longer the oil is out there, the heavier it'll get; then it'll start to sink.
For our already fragile reef system, that can't be good.

Thanks again to Reef Relief Founders

. . .And as long as I've spent the afternoon ranting anyway,
I want to get one last thing off my chest.

It's a question really, for a guy I heard about a couple of weeks ago who calls himself "Jesse James". . .

Dude, are you out of your flippin' mind?

Sandra Bullock

old school

Built back in 1909, the now 100 year old Harris School was Monroe County’s first public high school. Named for Confederate Civil War veteran and progressive educator Jepha Vinning Harris, the building stands today abandoned and is, as a Citizen writer once wrote, "a symbol of shame, obstinacy and poor judgment." (to that, I would also add greed) But for the protection of the Kapok, Palm, Mahogany and Bougainvillea trees that surround it, the building has been neglected and left to waste away in our unforgiving tropical environment.

Front Portico

Sadly, Harris School is now tattooed with the "DANGER" and "KEEP OUT" signs that usually presuppose pending demolition. (so much for the sanctuary of being listed on the National Register of Historic Places.)
So how is a perfectly viable renovation project left to waste to such a sorry state of disrepair? Again I reference the Citizen writer, ". . .obstinacy and poor judgment" (and again I add, greed).

Kapok Tree

It wasn't like there weren't offers on the property. . .
In 2005, School Superintendent Randy Acevedo recommended that the School Board turn down more than $11 million of private sector donations to restore the building and keep it in the public sector. Then later, the State of Florida offered to buy the building for $5 million through the "Florida Forever" program and lease it to the not-for-profit Rodel Foundation, which had pledged $6 million to restore the building with plans to establish an artists' colony and culinary school on the property.

Front Steps

That deal, apparently, was in the works for more than two years until the state added a caveat that $5 million of the funds be used for affordable housing. At that, for reasons no one understood at the time, (but that we all understand now) Acevedo shot down the state's deal, Rodel took it's business elsewhere and yet another bubba boondoggle was born.
The last thing School Superintendent Acevedo wanted, was the State poking around in School Board business while he and his wife had their hands in the School Board's cookie jar. (bilk and cookies anyone?)

Side Entrance

So there sits the Harris School, headed for hell in a handbag unless someone does something and soon. Who knows, maybe now with Acevedo on his way to the big house, those folks with the $11 million will resurface. I hope so. They seem to me to be the kind of good people who see historic places with the same "old school" eye as I do. They are works of art that need to be preserved for our children's once and future history.