I have written about some things that have been happening around West Volusia, none of them really good; people being laid off, businesses closing, tough times. However, even though we are all “hanging in there”, many are doing more than that. (more…)
Archive for February, 2009
More Than Hanging In
Friday, February 27th, 2009Florida, meet common sense
Tuesday, February 24th, 2009Sunday’s Meet the Press on NBC hosted by David Gregory had a couple of governors on it to talk about the stimulus plan. Gov. Jindal of Louisiana and Gov. Crist of our sunny state of Florida. Gov. Jindal was acting like a puppet of the tired old anti-tax right throwing out all kinds of reasons why he doesn’t want to accept any of the stimulus plan money for LA. Gov. Crist was all tanned and smiley and only too happy to take all we could get, nearly $12 billion. Why the divergence of method and style among two Republican Governors? (more…)
THIS GUY GETS IT BUT FLORIDA DOESN’T
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009I’m taking a moment from work to watch the President doing a wonderful job of communicating with his fellow citizens and listening to and answering questions. He’s down in Ft. Meyers, an area hard hit by foreclosures and unemployment. His ability to handle some very direct and diverse questions was a joy to watch. He definitely gets it. What a shame our leaders in Tallahassee don’t. (more…)
Simple Pleasures
Sunday, February 8th, 2009I looked down at my shoes Friday morning and saw that they needed a polish. I usually do it myself but reached into my pants pocket and found some cash, enough to sit down and have my shoes shined by someone else. Having your shoes shined is one of those simple pleasures in life that can make you feel good and liven up your step. I needed it Friday afternoon.
You see I had just spoken to a friend of mine who was just laid off from his construction job and was feeling kind of down about it. He is the second person I have spoken to in three weeks that has been let go from a good paying job. Both of these guys have years of experience and have parlayed that experience into good solid earnings. Now what are they going to do? (more…)
How NASCAR can survive and help Volusia
Sunday, February 8th, 2009Racing, we humans have been doing it since the beginning of our time and even before. Some researchers claim that for 2.5 to 3 million years before Homo Sapiens (us) arrive, Australopithicines walked and ran upright as bipeds. If it moves, it can race. Surely, those australopitihicines must have looked at each other and looked at the carcas far away on an African savanah and said, “race ya”. So we have always raced, and always will.
Hence NASCAR. It all started with just a few machines racing on a local beach. Now its the biggest racing industry in the country. Who knew? While skeptics may have said that racing wouldn’t amount to anything, thank goodness they weren’t right or Volusia County would be minus one very important industry. But NASCAR may be in trouble as the domestic and I should say, “western” auto companies face severe financial problems. Steven Cole Smith writes about this problem in today’s Orlando Sentinel sports section under a headline, “Can NASCAR live without the car?”.
NASCAR isn’t just a racing organization, just like the Daytona International Speedway isn’t just a racetrack. Think of it as an R&D organization and Daytonal as a giant test track facility. Of course, the prime motivation is racing, you know, “my car is faster than your car-oh yeah?- you want to race?- let’s go”. If we change the way we look at the Daytona raceway and NASCAR, in terms of testing new things to make them better, faster, more durable, safer, we can open up some really exciting possibilities for Volusia. Here it is. (more…)
Volusia, What Do We Want To Be When We Grow Up?
Sunday, February 8th, 2009Let me first add this link to another New York Times article I think is worth looking at at which the title question is asked by those down in the Ft. Meyer’s area (the President is scheduled to visit the area this week) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/08/us/08lehigh.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink.
I think once you have read the above article, you may feel that we are in better shape here in Volusia. Are we? I don’t know. Can we be going forward? I feel very confident we can, if we grow up, and fast.
We can’t continue to do what we have been doing and expect a different outcome. To do so fits into the definition of insanity. So what can we do differently and are we already making some changes for the better? The answer is “several things”, and “yes”. I shall elaborate below. (more…)
Look, Here’s the Deal.
Sunday, February 8th, 2009Look, here’s the deal.
I write posts to this blog and you all respond with comments. I check those comments to make sure they are not something my mother would consider profane or inappropriate (and my mom has a fairly liberal view of those things so we can safely push the limits here). Once checked I publish the comments and on it goes. So let’s get with the program folks.
We must cure our “investment deficit disorder”
Sunday, February 1st, 2009First of all, please check out the link to the New York Times Sunday Magazine article
This is a great piece that explains some of the economy’s troubles and offers some glimpse of the solutions we can employ. One quote that struck me was the phrase, “investment deficit disorder”. How apt a notion that we are currenlty suffering from a “disorder”. It gives hope that what we suffer from has a cure. Another quote about that subject compares investments to planting a fruit tree. Locally, we know that planting a citrus tree usually takes about 5 years before the fruits of the labor of planting and caring for the young tree are at all realized.
Public investments in education and transportation, two matters that are a priority in our locale, take some time to really bear fruit. That being the case, it is even more of an urgent matter to invest in them now. The news reported in the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday about students at DeLand High School being warehoused in the gymnasium at the clip of nearly 200 students for each of the seven periods because of the lack of teachers showing up to work and the lack of funding for substitutes was an outrage. Not only does this show a lack of investment in education, but it demonstrates a problem with the norms within which we make those investments and within which those investments work. (more…)