- News & Information Highlights...
SPECIAL
2000 -
The
Newjerseyization of the Emerald Coast - Revisited
"Lawsuits, possible loss of renourishment funds put
pressure on N.C.'s seawall ban. It's called
Newjerseyization,
and it's spreading. The label was coined by coastal geologists
to describe what happened to the beaches in the Garden State.
They washed away in front of walls built years ago to protect
beachfront property. In Virginia, Sandbridge no longer has
a beach even at low tide. Bulkheads built by residents for
more than $38,000 each have fallen into the water at least
twice since 1988..."
SPECIAL
July
04, 2002 -
LINKING
TOURISM, THE ENVIRONMENT, AND CONCEPTS OF SUSTAINABILITY: SETTING THE
STAGE - Stephen
F. McCool, The tourism and recreation industry
is at a crossroads in its development. Now one of the world's largest
industries, it is increasingly confronted with arguments about
its sustainability and compatibility with environmental protection and
community development. Consideration of tourism, the environment, and
concepts of sustainability should consider four key challenges:
(1) a better understanding of how tourists value and use natural environments
(2) enhancement of the communities dependent on tourism as an industry
(3) identification of the social and environmental impact of tourism; and
(4) implementation of systems to manage these impacts...
SPECIAL
CITIES
IN DENIAL: THE FALSE PROMISE OF SUBSIDIZED TOURIST AND ENTERTAINMENT
COMPLEXES - "Mounting evidence from dozens of cities that
rely on costly tourist-related infrastructure projects such as convention
centers, stadiums, arenas, concert halls, and museums demonstrates that
such projects contribute little to a community's economic vitality.
Worse, they divert desperately needed financial resources from such
basic government services as public safety, education, and transportation..."
SPECIAL
The
Other "Welfare Queens" - "A long time
ago a few businessmen decided they were tired of playing fairly in the
arena of the United States' capitalist market, so they figured the best
way to beat their competition was not to produce a better or cheaper
product, but to have the government help them out. With this in mind,
corporate welfare was born..."
SPECIAL
Tourism
- a Taxing Issue - "The danger of
relying on travelers to sustain tourism, of course, is that the numbers
do fluctuate, and the condition of the overall economy affects tourism
perhaps more than other industries because it involves discretionary
spending. And a state could end up in a "Catch-22" situation:
less money to spend on promotions, fewer travelers are lured to vacation
sites, resulting in less money to spend on promotions..."
SPECIAL
August
1999 - Dune
Destruction - "Are State, County and Destin City officials
turning their backs on our Dunes and natural resources while developers
destroy beaches and dunes?"
Special
Series:
"When
Pigs Fly"
is a collection of articles and reports on the facts, problems and issues
other communities are having with their current or planned Conference/Convention
Centers. This includes detailed studies on how other communities are
trying to stimulate, maintain or revitalize their economies through
tourism related attractions, museums, sports centers and other related
ventures. To quote Dr. Ronald D. Utt:
"Mounting evidence from dozens of cities that rely on costly tourist-related infrastructure projects such as convention centers, stadiums, arenas, concert halls, and museums demonstrates that such projects contribute little to a community's economic vitality. Worse, they divert desperately needed financial resources from such basic government services as public safety, education, and transportation..."
This ongoing series is intended to offer the communities of greater Okaloosa County with the truth behind what really goes on in the planning and development of such projects, and the often dire results and consequences to the communities involved...
"The fact is that the average man's love of liberty is nine-tenths
imaginary, exactly like his love of sense, justice and truth. Liberty
is not
a thing for the great masses of men. It is the exclusive possession of
a small and disreputable minority, like knowledge, courage and honor.
It takes a special sort of man to understand and enjoy liberty-- and
he is usually an outlaw in democratic societies."
- H.L. Mencken, Baltimore Evening Sun, Feb. 12, 1923
"A
popular government without popular information, or the means of acquiring
it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps both. Knowledge
will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own
governors must arm themselves with the power which knowledge gives."
- James Madison letter to
W. T. Barry, August 4, 1822
THE UNITED STATES CONSTITUTION
AMENDMENTS TO
THE CONSTITUTION
(Bill of Rights)
THE CONSTITUTION
OF THE STATE OF FLORIDA
(This is a large document 650k)
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed -- and thus clamorous to be led to safety -- by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." - H. L. Mencken
"One of these centuries, the brutes, private or public, who believe that they can rule their betters by force, will learn the lesson of what happens when brute force encounters mind and force." - Ragnar Danneskold, from Atlas Shrugged
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