Idling county employees need to wake up

Published in The Sun Sentinel on May 17, 2012

By Steven Kurlander

A reader of this column called me the other day from a city park, where he usually goes once or twice a week to take a break from his busy business to eat lunch and regroup.

He was pretty upset. Nearby, he said, a Palm Beach County worker was parked in his county vehicle taking a midday snooze with the windows closed, the engine and air conditioning running.

The reader is a smart, successful businessman who runs a very established business and employs a number of people. He stated that, from both a business perspective and as a taxpayer, he was disgusted with the waste of gas and wear and tear on the truck as the worker napped in it.

"The least the [guy] could do is find a shady spot, leave their windows and shut the engine off, like anyone paying for the gas would do," he told me.Idling county employees need to wake up…Continue Reading | Comment

Health Industry Scrambling to Comply With Revised HIPAA Privacy & Disclosure Rules

Published in The Sun Sentinel on May 22, 2012

By Steven Kurlander

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is on the verge of implementing stricter privacy rules under The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) that will result in expanded and more stringent privacy and security requirements in the health and insurance industries and will allow patients to obtain a report detailing who has access to their confidential health information.

In February 2009, President Obama signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which included a subsequent provision known as the Health Insurance Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH) that increased compliance responsibilities for health providers…Continue Reading | Comment

Chen & Reaffirming America’s commitment to Human Rights in Election 2012

Published in The Sun Sentinel on May 22, 2012

by Steven Kurlander

Last weekend, Chinese human rights activist Chen Guangcheng arrived in New York City with his wife and children to begin a new life in the United States.

Chen is a blind, self taught lawyer who served 4 years in prison and remained under house arrest upon his release for reporting abuses by government officials who forced women to obtain abortions and sterilizations against their will in the Sandong Province of China.

After a month of turmoil in US-Sino relations that arose from Chen’s nighttime escape and flight to the US embassy in Beijing, the Chinese allowed Chen to depart into self imposed exile to become a law student at New York University.

Chen’s release was not a defeat for the Chinese.  They often allow dissidents to exit the country, where they are rendered less effective against the communist dictatorship.

Speaking to supporters Saturday night gathered outside a temporary residence in NYC, Chen told them that Americans needed to stay engaged in the fight against human rights abuses worldwide:

“We should link our arms and continue in the fight for the goodness of the world and to fight against injustice,” said Chen...Continued on Page 2

Kurly speaks before West Boynton Deborah Hospital Foundation  meeting in Delray Beach

On May 11, 2012, Steven Kurlander gave a talk and answered questions from the crowd about being a columnist in the Sun Sentinel, Huffington Post, and Florida Voices and the state of politics and reporting in Election Year 2012 at the South County Convention Center in Delray Beach.

"The lessons of the Six Day War certainly put our current dilemma about attempting to pre-empt Iran’s ability to threaten the Jewish state with extinction via a nuclear weapons in perspective."

Read Guest Kommentary - Today, I hear echoes of 1967 by Israeli Counterterrorsim Expert Mark Kalberg

Dead Men Tell No Tales, But Can Still Vote in Florida

By Steven Kurlander

Published in Florida Voices on May 21, 2012

In Florida, thousands of dead people have not been removed from voter lists.

Thousands more voters, we’re told, are not citizens, but were inadvertently registered to vote when they obtained their driver’s licenses.

If the data is accurate, it must be said that Florida’s voter registration system is flawed, and the Republican-controlled Legislature was not so wrong in making changes to voter-registration procedures last year.

The question now is what to do…Continue Reading | Comment

Buffet Rule Legislation "Simply Terribly Flawed"

 Read Guest Kommentary - Paying a Fair Share by Professor Hank Adler

Watch Fox's Bill O'Reilly in a recent "Talking Points" segment respond to Kurly's criticism that he was wrong attacking VP Biden's for his miniscule charitable contributions.

Listen to Kurly's Recent Interview on The Wall Street Journal's Daily Wrap Radio Show with Michael Castner