Current Events - 2008
Current Events covers issues of interest both internal and external, designed to educate and arouse discussion.
2008-06-22: Social Concerns Committee Work/Play date: Help Eco-Action (a local environmental activist group) commemorate their 500th canoe cleanup with "a festive filled day of celebration" on Sunday June 22, 2008 at 3pm at Jay Blanchard Park in east Orlando. There will be a limited number of openings for those interested in manning (or wo-manning) a one person canoe for cleanup on the Econ River. These openings will be filled via drawings-so there are no guarantees that you will be chosen, but it should still be an enjoyable day. See the signup sheet in the back. Thanks Arlynn Mueller
Organic Gardening: Social Concerns is looking for anyone interested in starting an organic gardening plot at UUU. Experience not necessary, but would be welcomed! Sign up sheet in the back of the room.
2008-05-15: Green Earth Expo 2008 Orange County Convention center from May 15-18th. Thanks D.Symonds.
2008-05-13: Suing Big Energy for Global Warming This is the biggest news I've seen in the last decade. The Irrawaddy delta in Myanmar is underwater, thousands dead, and environmentalists say it's global warming. Monster tornadoes are plaguing the U.S. -- last weekend in Missouri, Oklahoma and Georgia. Meanwhile, far away, on the west coast of Alaska, the tiny fishing village of Kivalina is falling into the sea. And its attorneys are suing 24 oil, coal and electric companies, saying their emissions are responsible. Sound crazy? These same attorneys fought over Big Tobacco, and Big Tobacco lost.
2008-05-06: Gas Tax Pandering? All three of the main candidates have pledged to reduce our country's dependence on oil which now exceeds $120 per barrel. Senators John McCain and Hillary Clinton want to suspend the Federal gasoline tax (18 cents/gallon) during the summer months. Senator Barack Obama says no. This gas tax supports the infrastructure of bridges and roads and translates into about $9 billion dollars or an individual family saving of $29. This On Point show explores this this topic as America continues to suffer from a lack of a comprehensive strategic energy program. (By the way, the upfront cost of the Iraq war exceeds this amount in just one month.)
Mother's Day and Code Pink Code Pink reminds us on Mother's day to remember that one in five Iraqis (five million, mainly women and children) have been displaced by the violence resulting from the Iraq War. Note: Congress is preparing to vote on spending for another $172 billion to continue the war. The current estimate for America's cost of this latest war is three trillion dollars (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030702846.html) and does not include monies for these refugees. You can donate through Refugee International.
2008-05: Building Status April 2008: Despite checking with Orange County about the need to have a Sprinkler system, we were informed by the fire department that if the new building is attached we must sprinkle the original building. We checked the cost and discovered that it would cost over $60,000 to comply. The committee decided that it would be preferable to separate the buildings. Having a separate building has several advantages. We do not need to sprinkle either building. The current building will not be disrupted. The area between the buildings can be used as a meeting place. Additionally, the building can be built to more energy efficient standards. The internal arrangement can be improved-mainly due to only needing one entrance corridor. The office can be in the corner of the building with more windows giving a better view of any visitors. The large room can be a better shape, more square, making it more useful. It can also have an attached store room which can have coffee /snack making facilities. Unfortunately we will need to re-do some of the architectural plans but we should have them ready by the time we have the financing in place. The committee, consisting of Martha Kirby, Chris Reid, Alex Moore, Barry Lundin, Gretchen Hobby , Landon Viles, Cleve Williams & Dave Symonds with Rachel Christiansen as a consultant, would appreciate more members if you have technical or design suitable talents, please volunteer. (Dave Symonds, chair)
2008-04-26: Earth Day Celebration (Orlando) This event will take place at the Winnie Palmer Hospital Auditorium 83 West Miller Street Orlando, Florida 32806 For more information contact 407-423-4680 x 16. Free to the public. Free Lunch. Free Parking. Thank you Beth Hollenbeck from Eco-Action, http://www.eco-action.net/.
OWL (Our Whole Life), a comprehensive sexuality education program for 10th to12th graders is scheduled for April and May 2008. This program is open to non-UU's and non-member's with students in those grades listed. Students who have completed the 7-9th grade OWL classes can attend this series anytime in high school. A mandatory parent orientation is scheduled for Sunday, March 30th from 4-6 PM to cover content and answer any questions. Additional orientation can be scheduled if you cannot attend. The classes will generally be taught on Sundays from 4-6 PM. A complete schedule will be provided at the orientation. If you are interested please call Kim Williams at (407) 314-4226. Coming in January 2009: OWL for 7th-9th graders. Dates TBA
2008-03-24: President Bush Again Talks of Victory in Iraq after five years of occupation. At this point, the war has resulted in upwards of 1,000,000 Iraqi deaths, see http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3321. Despite attacks by the Pentagon, this article outlines that the Iraq war has cost $3 trillion and climbing, see http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/07/AR2008030702846.html
2008-03-21: Obama's Pastor and Race in America covers the recent attacks against Obama from Fox and others based on his pastor's frank comments about America. Some have called Reverend Jeremiah Wright's comments racist because they do not conform to the dominant Christian right viewpoint. It is an interesting topic in a country where race problems still exist. Here is a link to Obama's excellent speech on America's Race Issue (thanks Judy M) and the reaction to it.
2008-03-18: Wall Street's Crisis covers the recent taxpayer bailout of Bear Stearns whose net worth went from $20 billion dollars a year ago to just $200 million. This is the first time the fed has bailed out a brokerage firm and raises more questions about how the fed is handling a problem that has gotten out of control through greed and lack of regulation.
2008-02-24: Hemlock Society and Final Exit will team up for a meeting. For more information contact: Jim Chastain, President, Final Exit Network of Florida ellienjim@comcast.net. ORLANDO Orlando Public Library 101 Central Blvd. Wednesday, February 27, 2 P.M. Thanks Kathy A.
2008-02-18: Carbon Caption ZIFs: Breakthru technology? A new class of designed materials called ZIFs have demonstrated CO2 capture applicable to power plants. Each ZIP can hold 83 liters of carbon dioxide; offering five times more CO2 than the current state of the art.
2008-02-17: New Building Extension: By a large margin of the members attending, the building extension passed! There will be a vote on Sunday concerning funding for the current proposed building extension. The UUUS Building Extension is a 2000 square foot space classroom addition that carries a $301,000 budgetary estimate. If you have any concerns or questions that you do not feel have been answered, Sunday is the time to address them.
2008-02-15: Recession: Technical points aside, Americans are feeling the effects of the rising recession brought on by a number of events. The causes are many, including: poor control of the sub-prime housing market, a housing boom-bust cycle fed by greedy speculators and deceptive banking policies, overextended credit, high oil prices. Spending on the military industrial complex now cost tax payers over $700 billion per year with no end in sight in the Iraq and Afghanistan occupations, showing the American government's priorities. Trade policies have moved jobs overseas... America's healthcare and education systems are in collapse. And, the most conservative estimates of real debt shows that the federal debt exceeds $9 trillion. In the meantime, the executive branch has sent a budget to congress that cuts medicare, medicaid, and CDC funding while further increasing military spending. Questions remain as to whether the recession will be short lived (less than 2 years) or worse since many structural problems are not being resolved to restore confidence in the system.
2008-02-15: Secret Trade in Chinese Bodies: 20/20's probe of the human body exhibit has revealed a trade in bodies, apparently some of them may have been political prisoners. The entertainment of human bodies on display is illegal in many states but the American company gets around this by calling them models. In fact, they're human bodies that have been plasticized to preserve them.
2008-02-12: Cars versus Food: On Point has a fascinating discussion of a topic raised by Dutton Ashcraft in an e-mail of a Scientific American article, Biofuels Are Bad for Feeding People and Combating Climate Change. The federal government passed legislation geared toward shifting food crops from feeding humans to feeding SUVs. The results so far have dramatically increased food costs, whereas corn farmers and ADM are making tremendous profits through subsidies. The long term effects of this poor policy is devastating with water shortages and further land degradation, with the greatest pain felt by the poor in other countries.
2008-02-08: From Fundamentalism to Freedom: Marc Adams, author of The Preacher's Son, delivered a stirring talk on February 2nd about growing up gay in a fundamentalist Baptist home. The talk is available on our website under audio. Check out these links for more information: Meet Marc Adams website and HeartStrong, Inc.. In America, political conservatives often decry "Islamic Fascism" as a rallying cry for the religious right but ignore how fundamental Christianity has gripped the U.S., see Fundamentalism.
2008-02-03: Grounds cleanup: John McCormack expresses his appreciation for all that showed up on the 2nd to spruce up the UUUS grounds.
2008-01-27: THE UUUS INVESTORS GROUP….IS PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE THAT MARTHA KIRBY IS THE RECIPIENT OF THE 2007 TROPHY FOR THE “BEST STOCK MARKET (DOW) FORECAST.” THE TROPHY WILL BE DISPLAYED ON THE TABLE AT THE REAR OF THE SANCTUARY.
2008-01-27: THE UUA GENERAL ASSEMBLY (GA) IS COMING TO OUR DISTRICT THIS YEAR! With it comes the opportunity for more of us than ever to join as many as 5000 (or more) UUs from around the world in celebration of our community. GA will be in Ft. Lauderdale, from June 25 to June 29, 2008. If you think you might like to attend, talk now to someone who has been before.
Anyone choosing to volunteer 24 hours during GA receives free registration. Of course, you also will have the satisfaction of being truly a “part of the action” and knowing that you have the love and gratitude of all those attending. You’ll also have a T-shirt to identify you to all as a source of information and help.
What do GA volunteers do? They greet people arriving at the GA site; provide information about the local area; assist UUs with mobility difficulties and other needs; care for young children or help with field trips for older ones; staff the local GA office; register attendees; act as ushers at events; count votes at plenary sessions and mini-assemblies; have a great time welcoming UUs to our district!
Volunteer applications will be available at the UUA website uua.org/events/generalassembly/ on March 1, 2008. The applications must be postmarked in March, 2008, and mailed to the UUA.
2008-01-14: Reversal Of Alzheimer's Symptoms Within Minutes: A new study highlights the importance of certain soluble proteins, called cytokines, in Alzheimer's disease. The study focused on one of these cytokines, tumor necrosis factor-alpha(TNF), a critical component of the brain's immune system. Normally, TNF finely regulates the transmission of neural impulses in the brain. The authors hypothesized that elevated levels of TNF in Alzheimer's disease interfere with this regulation. To reduce elevated TNF, the authors gave patients an injection of an anti-TNF therapeutic called etanercept. Excess TNF-alpha has been documented in the cerebrospinal fluid of patients with Alzheimer's...
2008-01-08: Care and Share: The Pastoral Care Team is asking each member of the congregation to participate in making our congregation a truly caring community. We would like members of our congregation to be able to count on each other to share skills or time for the purpose of contributing to the well-being and support of members of our community. We hope each of you would think about how you could help if asked. The Pastoral Care Team will compile information received from you after you fill out the enclosed questionnaire entitled “Care and Share” regarding services you are willing to offer. Download the form here- Care and Share (PDF).
2007-01-04: A Reminder About Great Decisions: The nationally held discussion program of international issues, Great Decisions, is scheduled to begin in February. Our group, held at UUUS, will be led by Alice Sulzer this year. She looks forward to hearing from anyone who is interested in participating. Beginning the first Thursday in February, the group will meet weekly for a series of 8 weeks. Alice needs to order the books and program CD, so please let her know as soon as possible if you will be attending the program. You can send her an email at: Sulzer4444@aol.com.
If you have any questions, or suggestions email the webmaster at the bottom of this page; the purpose of this page is to cover a wide range of topics that would be useful to UUs.