“Hunters with shotguns to go after pythons in the Everglades”
This story is about an attempted solution to the problem of invasive python in the Everglades. The article talks about the issue cautiously, as “hunting” is still not allowed in the park, and that the men and women going out there to kill pythons with shotguns is considered problem solving, not hunting.
The problem is that pythons are an invasive species that are drastically altering the ecosystem by changing the food chain. This has gotten to be such a big problem because they have no natural predators, so their population keeps expanding.
The problem applies to all of the animals in the everglades, as well as the people that relay on the natural wildlife to earn a living, like people operating tourist companies. If the pythons eat all of the animals gators usually eat the population of gators will decrease, and then tourist will be disappointed when they don’t see any gators and it could potentially hurt the entire natural wildlife tourist industry in Florida.
“House painted with bees and dragonflies the product of zoning dispute, homeowner says”
The story is a classic one, people having trouble with local zoning codes, and even the simplest of things takes forever to get done. The home owner wants to make renovations to his house on the property, but according to the city the house does not exist because it does not have an address, even though the homeowner says he applied and got approved for other renovations last year.
The problem is that dealing with local governments takes forever, and almost everyone views it as slow an inefficient. Paperwork is lost, there are so many regulations, and most of the time employees only work during normal business hours. Improvements to systems like this are scarce because money is always tight and they would say they don’t have the funds to upgrade systems and make it more user friendly.
The problem applies to everyone that has to deal with any local governments and regulations. My own parents have faced this problem, with the home owners association trying to have very strict policies about landscaping, and even the type of grass that be planted in yards. As long as associations exists and try to control the lives of people there will always be ways that people try and fight for their own freedoms to express their views.
“Puerto Ricans in Central Florida still reeling from Maria as new hurricane season nears”
The story focuses on a couple families, and how they still have not recovered from hurricane Maria last year. It is a depressing story to read, as hurricane Maria was almost a year ago to see how people have still not recovered. The story dives into why they have not recovered, and the problems that are keeping them from returning home. It is frequently medical problems and care that stop people from going home.
The problem is mostly the lack of infrastructure in place in Puerto Rico at the moment. The island was having problems before the hurricane hit with the power grid, but when the hurricane hit it completely destroyed the entire power grid. Because it is an island repairs have been slow and time consuming, so people have not moved home. People do not even have time to think about getting ready for the upcoming hurricane season, they are still trying to recover from the devastation last year.
It mainly affect people from Puerto Rico, but it affects everyone who is in a hurricane zone, it serves as a warning to everyone in Florida that hurricanes and natural disasters still rule, and there is nothing we can do to stop them. All we can do is try to prepare as well as we can and be ready when the next big hurricane hits Florida.
“Editorial: Don’t punish citizens for exercising their constitutional right to open government”
The article is about the transparency of government, and what rights we have as citizens. Most citizens understand that some things need to be kept secret for the good of the country, but when it comes to local issues nothing should be that important that it is marked as top secret. So if the government has a meeting with a local company about a potentially controversial issue citizens should be able to find out what it is about and what happened. That is usually the case, but one local government sued a local company when they requested a document about a meeting with a water company, this resulted in a $18 million settlement when they refused and had a lengthy court battle. Of course this means that our tax dollars were spent to pay out this settlement.
The problem is transparency in our government, and our rights to know what the government is doing. As with anything there are always people that will abuse the system, and try to request every single record to create a hassle for the government and slow down the process for everyone else. However I believe we need to find the right balance of how much transparency we want.
This problem affects all Florida citizens. A law was passed in 1992 that let any citizen request a record of a government meeting. And if citizens think that they will get sued for requesting records they will think twice about it, and that is not what we want. As a society we all agree to be governed, and if the government does not do things in an ethical way it is up to the citizens to do something about it.
“Americans aren’t sleeping early enough, but early risers might live longer”
Sleep deprivation is a problem that I’m sure we have all faced at some point. There is just so much to do, especially with all of our electronic device. Normal screens give off some blue light, which makes our bodies think it is daylight, and thus our bodies try to keep us awake. This problem can lead to severe lack of sleep, as most people use these devices just before they go to bed.
The problem is that we are messing up our normal sleep habits. Lack of sleep can make humans have lower reaction times and decreased cognitive functions, reducing overall productivity. This could affect the workplace, it can be dangerous when drivers are sleepy as they have slower reactions times and could cause an accident.
This problem affects everyone who does not get enough sleep. It also might affect people that get enough sleep, but it takes them longer to fall asleep because of blue light. Lack of sleep can affect your health, and can be a cause of heart disease, and diabetes, this lost productivity can lead to a decrease in GDP of a country and increases the risk of dying from a heart attack.
The python article is a great problem that needs solving. If you did create a product or idea to solve this problem, you might be able to segway that into other invasive species. There are so many invasive species all around like hogs, lizards, and so many more. Plus, your customer would must likely be the government and that is always a great customer to have.
ReplyDeleteHey Brandon,
ReplyDeleteI think the python problem is certainly an interesting topic. I think it would be awesome getting to participate in going on the "hunts" for pythons in the everglades. I know that every year the FWC hosts a contest to see who can go out and get the most pythons in the everglades over a multiple day period. Also I think that the sleep deprivation article was interesting. I opened the article and even read it myself!
-Dakota Horlocker