the 941

Sea turtle nesting season along local beaches is in full swing with the number of loggerhead nests now topping 1,000 for the season and running well ahead of 2007’s disappointing numbers.

From our friends at Mote Marine Laboratory:

Also from our friend at Mote, here are some dos and don’ts that people can remember to help clear the way for nesting turtles:

Do:

• If you encounter a nesting turtle, remain quiet and observe from a distance
• Shield or turn off outdoor lights that are visible on the beach from May through October
• Close drapes after dark and put beach furniture far back from the water
• Fill in holes that may entrap hatchlings on their way to the water
• Place trash in its proper place
Do Not:

• Approach nesting turtles or hatchlings, make noise, or shine lights at turtles
• Use flashlights or fishing lamps on the beach
• Encourage a turtle to move while nesting or pick up hatchlings that have emerged
• Use fireworks on the beach

Sea turtles are protected under federal law and any harassment or interference with a sea turtle, living or dead, is subject to penalty. If you witness anyone disturbing a turtle or find an injured or disoriented hatchling or adult, please notify agents with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission at 1-888-404-FWCC (3922), the local sheriff’s department, and/or Mote Marine Laboratory’s Sea Turtle Program at 388-4331. If you find a dead or injured sea turtle contact Mote’s Stranding Investigations Program at 988-0212.

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OK, most of us no longer get summer vacations and some of us can’t even remember that far back, but for many high school students, summer is a time to forget everything you just learned and spend idle time getting into trouble.

Fortunately, there are some good options for those motivated to get involved in community leadership.

A baker’s dozen of teens will graduate tomorrow from the STAR Leadership Training program provided by Community Youth Development. Students will be honored at a graduation ceremony at 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, July 30 at the Leila and Michael Gompertz Center, 2635 Fruitville Road.

The mission of the STAR Leadership Training is to empower high school aged youth as community leaders through training and education.  Youth participate in extensive training (75 hours) focused on development of leadership, communication and group work skills, as well as specific tools needed to serve on boards, such as meeting protocol and member responsibilities.

Once trained, youth serve in a decision making position as a full and equal member of a city or county government committee, on a noprofit board of directors, or on countywide councils focused on education, law enforcement, community service or positive teen activities.

Since the program was created in 2000, 380  youth have completed the training.   Currently, 130 youth are serving in leadership positions.  STAR is recognized as a national model for engaging youth in community and civic life.

This year’s graduates are:  Kenna Allison, Ivan Bahamon, Celina Burchett, Katlin Burpee, Emma Dietrich, Patrick Ferlise, Jesse Frimmel, Hannah Greenwald, Dustin Morris, Alyssa Nutter, David Portnow, Jennie Williams and Sebastian Wright.

These are some of our best and brightest and will be runnign the show sooner than we all think.

STAR is funded through a grant from the Leslie and Margaret Weller Fund of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County and the CYD Project.  For additional information on the Community Youth Development Project, please contact Karen Bogues, Project Director at 922-5126.

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I don’t object to violence in video games. It’s fun and cathartic. The human destruction drive is not going to go away any time soon, and maybe digitized bazookas are a good way to exorcise it.

But why, so often, is the character you control in a video game a U.S. soldier, or a supersoldier, or a mecha-destroyer module for the American federation? I’m talking about games like Call of Duty, Splinter Cell, Halo and Crysis. That’s not to mention America’s Army and Future Force Commander — addictive, realistic first-person shooters developed as recruitment tools for the armed forces. The Pentagon spent millions on these games, and it distributes them for free on the Army’s Web site.

Command and Conquer at least allows you to direct the communist army if you so choose, but otherwise, I mean, why do the video game companies kowtow to the military-industrial complex? It seems to me that gaming ought to be an individualized, subversive experience because it empowers the player beyond his marginalization by the ruling class.

Where are the video games about rebellion, anarchy and revolution? A nod to Half-Life, but how about a game where you subvert the CIA instead of some aliens?

Check out this interview with Nina Huntemann, who wrote Game Over: Gender, Race & Violence in Video Games. She compares militaristic video games to the propaganda film Why We Fight, which was commissioned by the U.S. government before WWII in efforts to sway public opinion. Excerpts after the jump. (more…)

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Apparently, the culinary world does not stop when your CL Food Editor steps out for a little staycation. Here’s your guide to the wide world of food for the past 10 days.

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• Many of his supporters have been disheartened by Barack Obama’s move to the center. Some of his detractors, though, still see him is a Communist.

•  How to perform a citizen’s arrest of one of the criminals from the Bush Administration.

• Former attorney general Alberto Gonzales may not be so lucky. U.S. Rep John Conyers wants to indict him for perjury right now.

•  Some in government are worried that many Americans may break with tradition and actually vote this year.

• So what do you do with $20 million in decomposing cash?

• The U.S. is experiencing an epidemic of hearing loss.

•  Department of Homeland Security thugs hard at work:

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A giant statue of a penis, a naked man suspended from a harness. The St. Petersburg police have arrested those responsible, protecting ordinary citizens from the grotesque and freakish sight of male genitalia.

The owner of Erotic Lounge art gallery has closed his business (thank the gods!), but will instead focus his efforts on suing the St. Penisburg — sorry, Petersburg — police. I hope the department is not distracted from this lawsuit by any violent crimes.

The offending sculpture is available on eBay. It’s made of wood, so we recommend that anyone with a few hundred extra dollars purchase it quickly and douse it with kerosene.

Let’s face it: People look like mutants with their clothes off. Ropy, uncontrollable appendages, wounds that never heal. God created us in his own image, but the devil stole in while our bodies were cooling and gave us the mutilations of demons. Lest that madness take over, we must never expose our viler parts except in darkness or in the holy light of an X-ray machine.

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Box office numbers are in, and it’s official. Nothing can derail the Batman from taking over the world. (And that smarmy weasel James Cameron’s soon-to-be-history old B.O. record.)

Of all the states, this makes sense, no? Cali’s the first to go trans-fat free.

Really? Really. Really? You guys make us wanna punch babies. Your babies.

Well, this is certainly one way to burn a bridge.

Whoa. That is all. Just. Whoa. (more…)

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Question of the day: Is stripping art?

• President Bush is set to leave his successor with staggering debt, but, when the debt is calculated as portion of GDP, he’s still not even close to Reagan or his father in terms of financially tomfoolery.

• Coming soon to a retailer near you: much higher prices.

• Is there anything Israel won’t do to get the U.S. to attack Iran?

• If you think Obama is the anti-war candidate, prepare to be disappointed.

• Being a patriot still requires balls.

• Orwellian telescreens coming to Great Britain.

• Survivalism is going green.

• Slavery continued in the American South - until well after World War II.

• Nancy Pelosi again disappoints.

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Arts writer Amanda Schurr and I were discussing the new JC Penney commercial that riffs off The Breakfast Club. These are the days when advertisers, filmmakers, radio programmers, basically all producers of media, are trying to cash in on Gen X nostalgia.

At 32, Amanda is a tweenie, an XY-er if you will (She does have a strong handshake, come to think of it. Jk, Amanda, don’t beat me.). But born in 1985, I landed soundly in Generation Y, or the Millienial Generation. “I wonder,” I said to Amanda, “where people will mine for nostalgia when my generation is the consumer class.”

So we bring you the beginnings of a collaborative list: movies, music and TV shows that molded the impressionable adolescent minds of my generation. Our lower bound for release dates is the year 2000, when I and others born in the Year of the Ox were learning to drive. In homage to High Fidelity, we deliver our lists in chunks of five. Note that these aren’t necessarily the best releases, just culture shapers. A qualifying candidate either affected American behavior on a large scale or altered the course of its medium. First are my lists, with Amanda’s to follow: (more…)

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Really, the Batman. Tell us.

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