Sunshine Statements

• Dec. 10: Improve Drawbridge Safety In Florida

  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Someone interviewed on WPLG-Channel 10 Tuesday had a good suggestion for drawbridges: Crosswalks, with "Walk-Don't Walk" signs when a bridge is going up.
  
  It's possible that such electronic signs might have saved the life of 80-year-old Desmond Nolan, who fell to his death last month' [...]
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  Posted: December 10, 2009, 2:48pm EST
  by FlaFan

• Dec. 9: Israel Is a Jewish State - But Not a Theocracy

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  
  Add Israel Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman to the list of leaders from that country who have put a foot squarely in their mouths.
  
  
  At a rabbinical conference Monday, Neeman said he believes Halacha, the Jewish law, should become Israel's binding law - although [...]
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  Posted: December 08, 2009, 4:18pm EST
  by FlaFan

• Dec. 8: Tri-Rail Is a Lot More Than a "Choo-Choo Train"

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Maybe State Sen. Gary Siplin of Orlando needs to get away from the area close to Walt Disney World. Perhaps he can take a trip south to the part of Florida that is home to one-third of the state's population.
  
  Maybe then, Siplin can take [...]
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  Posted: December 08, 2009, 3:56pm EST
  by FlaFan

• Dec. 7: Jobs Advice Needs To Come From Those Experiencing the Shifts

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  
  It's all well and good that President Barack Obama wants to rely on the sage heads of this country to get people back to work.
  
  
  But his jobs summit last week also needed to feature more of the unemployed - particularly those who [...]
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  Posted: December 07, 2009, 11:37am EST
  by FlaFan

• Dec. 3: Sniglets On Salahis, NBC, PBS, PGA and Bobby Bowden

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Of course Tareq and Michaele Salahi don't want to testify in front of Congress. After all, the House Homeland Security Committee won't pay them to do so.
  
  The committee should go ahead with a subpeona, and show the gate-crashing Salahis what a true reality show [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2009, 4:52pm EST
  by FlaFan

• Dec. 2: Stay Home, Commissioners

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  What a generous bunch those members of the Miami-Dade County Commission are.
  
  They don't want the folks at either the Beacon Council, which brings businesses to the county, or the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, which brings tourism to the county, to overtax themselves' [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 5:22pm EST
  by FlaFan

• Dec. 1: DCF Abuse Hotline Is Not Something To Be Rationed

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Carol Marbin Miller, a top investigative reporter for The Miami Herald, had a stunning article in Sunday's paper about the abuse hotline run by Florida's Department of Children and Families:
  
  [www.miamiherald.com]
  
  For years and going back to the days when the agency was [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 11:21am EST
  by FlaFan

• Nov. 30: One South Florida Jewel Returns; Now For the Other

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Welcome back, Hialeah Park.
  
  The grand dame of Florida horseracing returned to action last Saturday, and more than 26,000 were on hand for the welcome. Hialeah Park will host quarterhorses and not the thoroughbreds that made it famous. It will also likely rely on the [...]
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  Posted: November 30, 2009, 6:36pm EST
  by FlaFan

• Nov. 24: Give a Bit From That Thanksgiving Feast

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Fifty million Americans - one-sixth of this country's population - worry about being able to feed their families.
  
  That statistic, with the terrible name "food insecurity," was released by the U.S. Department of Agriculture just a week before Thanksgiving. Surely, the timing is no coincidence.
  [...]
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  Posted: November 24, 2009, 10:26am EST
  by FlaFan

• Nov. 19: More Proof That Prescription Drug Ads Should End

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Zetia. Vytorin. Vioxx.
  
  All prescription drugs that were advertised on television, in newspapers and in magazines. All under scrutiny, or in the case of Vioxx, taken off the market because of problems.
  
  All just more proof that there should not be advertisements of prescription [...]
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  Posted: November 19, 2009, 12:35pm EST
  by FlaFan

• Nov. 18: Would Newsweek Put Obama In Shorts On Its Cover?

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is right: Newsweek's choice to put a picture of her in jogging wear on its cover was sexist. Apparently, it also violated the guidelines of Runner's World, the original publisher of the photo. And the photo was grossly taken out of [...]
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  Posted: November 18, 2009, 6:39pm EST
  by FlaFan

• Nov. 16: Corruption Cleanup Requires Engagement At All Levels

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  As long as there have been elections and politicians, there has likely been political corruption. But the level can depend on how much is done not only to fight it when it happens, but to prevent it from happening in the first place.
  
  In Florida, [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2009, 3:14pm EST
  by FlaFan

• Nov. 12: Orlando Shootings Show Folly of Reversing Gun Control Laws

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  
  The parking lot of the Orlando building in which one person was killed and five injured last Friday is unguarded.
  
  
  Not that it necessarily mattered. Even if a parking lot guard had seen Jason Rodriguez, accused of the shootings, with a weapon in [...]
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  Posted: November 12, 2009, 2:58pm EST
  by FlaFan

• Nov. 9: A Lot Needs Investigating At Fort Hood

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  How?
  
  Congress will ask, and the public - particularly those who have family members at Fort Hood Army Base in Texas - has a right to know how the security system so completely broke down last Thursday.
  
  The biggest question currently being asked is [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 11:33am EST
  by FlaFan

• Nov. 9: Two Corrections

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Two corrections to report, both of which have been made in their respective blog entries.
  
  1. The first correction is to the Nov. 3 blog, in which I put the name of the wrong environmental organization that fought the jetport in the Everglades. The correct [...]
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  Posted: November 09, 2009, 11:28am EST
  by FlaFan

• Nov. 5: Election Reforms For Thought - And a Word About the Yankees

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  John Anderson is a one-time Republican member of Congress from Illinois and was an early example of the exodus of moderates from that party when he ran as an independent presidential candidate in 1980. He's also one of the most intelligent, rational voices about reforming the' [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2009, 1:55pm EST
  by FlaFan

• Nov. 4: What Does This Election Mean To Obama? Not Much

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  
  
  OK, quick. Who remembers the pivotal congressional and governor's races of 1993?
  
  
  Who remembers the headlines that they generated - that it was "bad news" for President Bill Clinton?
  
  
  Media, be it low-tech or high-tech, has a tendency to overhype' [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 11:58am EST
  by FlaFan

• Nov. 3: The Men (and Women) Who Ignore the Environment

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Money doesn't matter very much if there's no Planet Earth to spend it on.
  
  Let that message be communicated to most members of the Miami-Dade County Commission and Republican members of the United States Congress, both of who don't seem to get it.
  
  In' [...]
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  Posted: November 03, 2009, 11:35am EST
  by FlaFan

• Nov. 2: Not Hard To ID FPL's Problems

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  The latest odd couple features former Florida Attorney General Bob Butterworth, the state's resident troubleshooter, as an advisor to Florida Power & Light.
  
  Basically, Butterworth is advising FPL on what went wrong in the company's quest for a large rate increase.
  
  It should be [...]
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  Posted: November 02, 2009, 11:32am EST
  by FlaFan

• Oct. 29: Circumstances May Force Obama's Hand In Afghanistan

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  President Barack Obama shows shades of his days as editor of the Harvard Law Review in his decisionmaking over Afghanistan.
  
  Now, as then, he doesn't tip his hand and takes everything into consideration. But Obama has issues now he didn't face in the Ivy League.
  [...]
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  Posted: October 29, 2009, 3:56pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Oct. 28: In Florida, Fight For Health Coverage May Need Court Action

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  There may be something of a public option in the health care bill, after all.
  
  U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has seen the light (and probably his poll numbers in Nevada) and warmed to the idea. It's still tough to get everyone on board' [...]
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  Posted: October 28, 2009, 9:50am EDT
  by FlaFan

• Oct. 27: When In Doubt, Get Out, Mr. Ferre

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Former Miami Mayor and Miami-Dade Commissioner Maurice Ferre is a member of the Miami-Dade Expressway Authority.
  
  Now, Ferre is running for another job: U.S. Senator. That means he's going to be accepting campaign donations. Potentially, there might be donations from people who want work on' [...]
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  Posted: October 27, 2009, 11:20am EDT
  by FlaFan

• Oct. 26: Obama Must Address Status of Haitians

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  TPS. Temporary Protected Status.
  
  It's the Holy Grail for thousands of Haitians in the United States, some for many years. President Barack Obama has yet to say anything about it.
  
  Tonight, Obama is appearing at a fund-raiser at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach.' [...]
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  Posted: October 26, 2009, 6:43pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Oct. 22: Al Tirah: Israel Should Openly Investigate Itself

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Al Tirah. Do not be afraid, says the prayer Jews recite on the Sabbath.
  
  Israel is acting very afraid.
  
  The country is sticking to its strategy in recent years of running, hiding, pointing fingers and snarling in its response to the United Nations report [...]
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  Posted: October 22, 2009, 3:30pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Oct. 21: Previewing Two Important Discussions

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  
  One public discussion planned for this Saturday at Books & Books in Coral Gables will preview another discussion that will be both public and private - the debate by the United States Supreme Court over banning books.
  
  
  At noon Saturday, Books & Books [...]
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  Posted: October 21, 2009, 6:31pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Oct. 20: Get Tri-Rail Funding Resolved First

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  It looks like there will be a special session of the Florida Legislature in December to try to resolve the issue of SunRail, the commuter system planned for Central Florida.
  
  Before lawmakers tackle SunRail, they need to resolve the matter of a commuter system that [...]
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  Posted: October 20, 2009, 11:54am EDT
  by FlaFan

• Oct. 19: Let's Have Hearings On Reality TV and Kids

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  If the story of 6-year-old Falcon Heene, the Balloon Boy Whose Parents Apparently Made Him Cry Wolf, isn't cautionary enough to prompt an official look at so-called "reality shows" and their effects on the children involved with them, nothing is.
  
  The scandal of reality shows' [...]
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  Posted: October 19, 2009, 12:14pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Oct. 15: Wanted: Full-Time Elected Officials

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  
  Besides the questions voters and journalists ask candidates for elected office about policy, they should now ask another one: Barring illness or catastrophe, do you promise to serve your entire term?
  
  
  The latest elected official planning an early exit is U.S. Rep. Robert [...]
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  Posted: October 14, 2009, 12:26pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Oct. 14: Media Sniglets On Newspaper Endorsements, Tim Russert and the Newseum, Erin Andrews, Rush Limbaugh and the NFL and "Winning" a Nobel Prize

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  *The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is planning not to endorse political candidates. In an editorial the other day, the paper said to readers: You can make up your own minds.
  
  Readers can and do make up their own minds, but they like to hear how editorial boards [...]
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  Posted: October 14, 2009, 12:00pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Oct. 13: Where Is Congress On Wall Street Reform, Now That Wall Street Is Betting Our Lives?

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  
  On Sunday's "NBC Nightly News," senior investigative correspondent Lisa Myers reported on life settlement securities, Wall Street's latest gambling stunt that speculates on how long people with life insurance policies will live:
  
  
  [www.msnbc.msn.com]
  
  
  The report speaks to a bigger concern: [...]
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  Posted: October 13, 2009, 11:10am EDT
  by FlaFan

• Oct. 12: With Nobels, Reversal of Fortune For US

  Number of comments: 0
  Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  With the possible exception of the International Olympic Committee and some right-wing radio and cable television talk show hosts, the world seems to like the United States again.
  
  The awarding of an abundance of Nobel Prizes to Americans, including the honoring (however premature) of President Barack [...]
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  Posted: October 12, 2009, 4:45pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Oct. 8: Florida Must Protect Chinese Drywall Victims

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  When even Florida's insurer of last resort won't help, higher-ups need to step in.
  
  As Beatrice E. Garcia and Nirvi Shah of The Miami Herald reported today, owners of homes affected by defective Chinese drywall are having trouble processing claims - and potentially face more [...]
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  Posted: October 08, 2009, 1:31pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Oct. 7: Hello, World? Afghanistan Is Your War, Too

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Eight years ago today, Afghanistan was the world's war. It should still be so.
  
  When President George W. Bush announced the start of military action in Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001, he had the support of the entire world.
  
  We know the rest; that' [...]
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  Posted: October 07, 2009, 6:15pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Oct. 6: Obama Should Try FDR's Alphabet Soup Recipe On Jobs

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  It's the jobs, stupid.
  
  President Barack Obama and economists can say all they want about jobs being a lagging economic indicator, and that patience is needed. It doesn't matter.
  
  Patience is impossible when you can't pay the bills.
  
  Obama has been reading about' [...]
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  Posted: October 06, 2009, 12:01pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• October 5: Don't Weaken Shield Law, Mr. President

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Until early last week, President Barack Obama had been repeatedly on record as a champion of freedom of the press. That included support of a law that would protect journalists who have confidential sources.
  
  Then, Obama met with his national security team:
  
  [www.nytimes.com]
  [...]
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  Posted: October 05, 2009, 12:40pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• October 2: Two Years To Get Streetlights?

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  An excellent report earlier this week on my former haunting grounds, WPLG-Channel 10, called attention to Miami-Dade County's very odd policy on placing streetlights in unincorporated neighborhoods. The process can take up to two years:
  
  [www.justnews.com]
  
  How many crimes can happen in a' [...]
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  Posted: October 02, 2009, 1:35pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Sept. 30: Polanski, Supporters and L.A. Justice System Are All Guilty

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  There is no excuse.
  
  Surviving the Holocaust is not an excuse. Having your wife murdered by Charles Manson is not an excuse.
  
  Nothing justifies film director Roman Polanski's rape - and it was a rape - of a 13-year-old girl in Los Angeles in' [...]
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  Posted: September 30, 2009, 6:37pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Sept. 24: Speaking Of Ethics, What About the PSC?

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  
  Last week, a member of the Florida Legislature suggested that the Public Service Commission, which is supposed to oversee the state's utilities, might be in need of its own overseer - the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
  
  
  At the very least, the Florida Department [...]
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  Posted: September 23, 2009, 3:36pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Sept. 23: Arrest Fallout: Broward Needs Tighter Ethics Enforcement

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Last year, Broward County voters approved the creation of an Ethics Commission. That commission, appointed by county commissioners, is to write a code no later than next March.
  
  None too soon, after today's arrest of Broward County Commissioner Josephus Eggelletion, Broward School Board member Beverly [...]
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  Posted: September 23, 2009, 3:10pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Sept. 22: Could Crisis Generate Civil War In Honduras?

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya is back in his home country - sort of.
  
  He's currently holed up in the Brazilian Embassy, which has had power cut off by the Honduran army loyal to Roberto Micheletti, who took over as president when Zelaya was ousted [...]
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  Posted: September 22, 2009, 4:45pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Sept. 21: Emmys Reflect Dying TV Breed

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Were the critics watching the same Emmy Awards I was? Apparently not.
  
  They seemed to like what I found so humorless and tasteless that I switched channels after an hour. Neil Patrick Harris, so good at the Tony Awards, did his best here, but couldn't' [...]
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  Posted: September 21, 2009, 6:36pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Sept. 17: Improved Parent Communication, More Cameras Needed After Coral Gables High Killing

  Number of comments: 1
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  The tragic stabbing death of Coral Gables High School student Juan Carlos Rivera on Tuesday and its aftermath pointed to two safety needs.
  
  It is true, as FIU associate professor Philip J. Lazarus said, that more "mental detectors" are needed than metal detectors for students [...]
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  Posted: September 17, 2009, 12:05pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Sept. 16: We Can Spare a Quarter For Dade's Budget

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  
  
  I traveled with about 60 other lost opportunities on Monday.
  
  
  We were traveling on Metromover, the rail system that goes around Downtown Miami. It's free. If the county charged a quarter per person, it would have meant $15. That's not much for [...]
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  Posted: September 15, 2009, 4:35pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Sept. 15: Sniglets On Rudeness

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  
  
  A significant reason for the recent uptick in notables who are rude is simply - and sadly - this: It pays.
  
  Politically extreme radio commentators are paid millions of dollars to spew their venom. U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson will keep getting campaign dollars [...]
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  Posted: September 15, 2009, 11:38am EDT
  by FlaFan

• Sept. 10: Solution To Public Health Insurance Option In.....Hurricane Andrew?

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  President Barack Obama did what he needed to do in his speech last night. (And yes, he got an assist from U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson, R-South Carolina, who picked the wrong time to open his mouth and the right time to give another punchline to late-night [...]
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  Posted: September 10, 2009, 6:49pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Sept. 8: Obama's Speech To Students Is Logical; Criticism Is Not

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Here's a link to what President Barack Obama will tell schoolchildren today:
  
  [www.whitehouse.gov]
  
  For those who have listened to Obama since he started his presidential campaign in 2007, it's a logical follow-up to what he's told parents about their responsibility towards their children. [...]
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  Posted: September 08, 2009, 9:54am EDT
  by FlaFan

• Sept. 3: Why "No New Taxes" Isn't Always a Good Idea

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Politicians love to thump their chests and say "No new taxes." It's almost always an automatic vote-getter.
  
  But the lines outside driver's license bureaus across Florida early this week show why the "no new taxes" motto isn't always a good idea.
  
  Besides taxes, elected' [...]
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  Posted: September 03, 2009, 5:24pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Sept. 1: Save Dade's Best Buy: The Arts

  Number of comments: 1
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  (Disclosure: I am a part-time educator at the Historical Museum of Southern Florida.)
  
  It wasn't so long ago - little more than a generation, really - that the Greater Miami area had to contend with being mislabelled as a cultural desert. Never mind that the' [...]
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  Posted: September 01, 2009, 5:57pm EDT
  by FlaFan

• Aug. 31: "Tighten Your Belts" Means You, Too, Mayor Alvarez

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  You've got to hand it to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez. In less than a few eye blinks, he managed to tick off most of the county's roughly two million residents.
  
  That's because Alvarez, who made a big deal earlier this summer of the need for' [...]
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  Posted: August 31, 2009, 11:45am EDT
  by FlaFan

• Aug. 26: "The Dream Shall Never Die"

  Number of comments: 0
  By Sylvia Gurinsky
  
  Even before Sen. Edward Moore Kennedy died last night, it was not hard to guess what would be written and said about him - the highlights and the lowlights.
  
  But Kennedy's life was one of contradictions. The relative length in years he had - he [...]
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  Posted: August 26, 2009, 12:55pm EDT
  by FlaFan