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Ocean Conservancy Releases Report On Reef Management: How Florida and National Park Service Marine Reserve Policies Undermine Efforts to Protect Coral Reef Ecosystems . Turns out that Biscayne National Park is in worse shape now than it was when it was created in 1980. FWC and NPS have taken no action to fulfill their obligations to protect coral reef ecosystems in Biscayne National Park since they began reviewing their management plans in 2002. "Biscayne National Park once had some of the most spectacular coral reefs in Florida. The native communities they support desperately need our immediate action"... During our years boating and snorkeling southern Biscayne Bay and the offshore reefs, we watched this happening. By the time we left Florida, it wasn't fun to look at the ruined reefs any more, here or in the Keys. And this: NOAA Report States Half of U.S. Coral Reefs In "Poor" or "Fair" Condition . So sad. And, from Public Employees for Environment...

Some more interesting thoughts on news research and other topics... In the Wall Street Journal by Jason Fry, The Case of the Missing White Pages (link fixed). It explores the question of whether there is a directory of cell phone numbers (a question that comes up on NewsLib about once a year). A few years back there was news one was coming, but according to this story, Intelius gave up on it. Cell phone users don't want strangers getting their numbers, end of story. But it raises some interesting thoughts: That will arouse uneasy feelings that technology has once again done away with something we assumed was eternal...Those of us who remember looking ourselves up in the white pages and thinking that now we belong to a place may lament -- not for the first time -- that our real-world communities are becoming more fragmented as people spend time in online communities of their own choosing instead. (Via Resourceshelf.) Mentioned in Derek Willis' report on some sessions he attende...

Two new reports on global warming that should make lots of people think: From the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Florida Coastal and Ocean Coalition , a report on the future of Florida, Preparing for a Sea Change in Florida (40 page PDF). The first and most important step, of course, is to curb emissions, but even if we do that we will need to address the impacts that are predicted to occur. We can do this by: * Restoring coastal and marine ecosystems so they can better cope with the stress of climate change and ocean acidification. * Discouraging development in vulnerable areas to prepare for rising sea levels, as well as restoring and protecting natural buffers. * Preparing for extreme weather events by protecting and restoring shoreline vegetation and wetlands, upgrading stormwater management, and increasing water-use efficiency through conservation and recycling treated wastewater for irrigation and industrial use. From another coastline I love, this report...

In the Houston Chronicle, a story out of a National Press Club conference: Journalism old-timers find campaign coverage disturbing . Jack Nelson, Jules Witcover, Hal Bruno and others seem appalled at the state of journalism these days. Jules Witcover, who began covering Washington in 1954 and has covered every presidential nominating convention for the past 44 year, agreed. "To an old geezer like me" he said, " I find it very disturbing and distorting." The American Journalism Review asks, Whatever Happened to Iraq? For long stretches over the past 12 months, Iraq virtually disappeared from the front pages of the nation's newspapers and from the nightly network newscasts. The American press and the American people had lost interest in the war. Guess it's not just the press that isn't keeping a proper eye out: in Wired's Danger Room blog, Pentagon Watchdogs Swamped by Military Spending; $152 Billion a Year Goes Unaudited . And, on a completely unrel...