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When Christ becomes Christa
The importance of a contextualization of the cross-event
By Arnfríður Guðmundsdóttir
Excerpts of a lecture presented at Wartburg Seminary, November 13, 2012
Full lecture here: When Christ becomes Christa
As a key symbol of the Christian faith, the cross symbolizes God's participation in human suffering and death. An empty cross signifies, on the other hand, the resurrection, or the important message about the final victory of life, over suffering and death. When the cross is interpreted particularly in light of women's experience, it signifies God's compassion with women, who suffer, amongst other things, because of domestic and/or sexual violence. Sometimes this compassion (or co-suffering) is portrayed in a female body on the cross.
In the past the cross has sometimes been used to discourage people from resisting injustice. When the cross is understood as a symbol of kenosis of patriarchy, the self-emptying of male dominating power, the power of the cross becomes the power of love instead of the power of control.
For centuries women's has been justified, based on the idea of its salvific meaning. Despite the abuse of theological arguments in order to justify women's suffering, women have been able to experience Jesus' solidarity with them not only in their suffering but also in their fight against unjust causes of their suffering. This is why the christological question, "Who do you say I am?" receives a response with yet another dimension, when answered from the perspective of women's experience of suffering. Hence, the Christ who sided with women as "the oppressed of the oppressed" reminds us that also today the knowledge of God is to be discerned in the midst of suffering. By identifying with the suffering women, the foreigner, the deserted, the sick, and the social outcast of our time, we are identifying with Christ among us.[i] At the same time we are participating in God's ongoing struggle against injustice, inequality, and oppression.
The power of the cross is not to be understood on the basis of our knowledge of power as control. The power of the cross is the power of life, as both unexpected and ongoing.
Christa – a Crucified Woman
Since the mid-seventies a number of images of a crucified female Christ (often referred to as Christa) have stimulated interesting discussions about contemporary interpretations of the passion story. Christa-figures have pushed for important discussions about the meaning of the contextualization of the Christ-event, especially the gender-question.
Christ as Christa liberates not by condoning the suffering of abused women, or proclaiming that there is an innate redemptive quality in it; but by being present with and sharing in the brokenness, identifying this as the priority for God's healing love, Christ gives hope, empowers and enables the process of resistance.[ii]
Indifference is truly something we should worry about in our western societies. All of us have probably heard stories about people passing by, instead of helping those who have been assaulted or hurt and need help. Those stories remind us of the story of the good Samaritan, when the priest and the Levite saw him lying there "half dead" and decided to pass by without helping him (Lúk 10.30-37). Too often people do hesitate to intervene when they are witnessing violence of some sort taking place next door – because they don't want to intrude on people's privacy. They also hesitate to intervene when somebody is being bullied, maybe because they are afraid of risking being bullied themselves.
Compassion- to be able to feel with somebody, can be passive, meaning to express solidarity,to listen to and to offer to go along with the one who is in pain, which can prove invaluable for the one who feels left alone in his or her suffering. But compassion can also be active, encouraging resistance and not submission to injustice. We have examples of both in the gospel stories. This is why imitatio Christi, or to follow Christ's example, can either mean to suffer with the suffering one (com-passio) or to stand up and resist, hoping that eventually justice will prevail. Sometimes we need to be creative in order to come up with effective ways to practice nonviolent resistance, like Jesus certainly was.
There has always been a strong tendency to silence women's experience, particularly their experience of oppression and abuse. Churches and other faith communities have been slow in responding to the danger many women are faced with, due to violence and abusive behavior. Initiatives by large church communities have signaled an increasing awareness of the problem. As a follow-up to the Ecumenical Decade: Churches in Solidarity with Women 1988-1998, the World Council of Churches (WCC) decided to confront the challenge of violence directly, by establishing a Decade to Overcome Violence: Churches Seeking Reconciliation and Peace, (2001-2010).[iii] While the WCC focused on manifold expressions of violence, violence perpetrated against women and children was among their central concerns. Bishop Margot Kässmann in her book Overcoming Violence. The Challenge to the Churches in All Places: "The inability of churches to deal with domestic violence is one of clearest indicators of the urgency of a Decade to Overcome Violence for the churches."[iv]
Following the WCC's initiative, the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), in its document Churches say 'NO' to Violence against Women. Action Plan for the Churches from 2002, called its member churches to act on behalf of violated women. By offering this contribution to the WCC decade against violence, LWF sought to direct the focus of the international church community to the effect violence is having on women in their home as well as in the church and the society at large. In the foreword to the document the General Secretary of LWF, Ishmael Noko, depicts violence against women as a theological problem, and not simply a social one. Noko writes: "When those who are victimized suffer, so does God. Let us work together to overcome all forms of violence that are an offense against God and humanity."[v]
A cross from El Salvador was painted in memory of María Cristina Gómez. Here we see a close relationship between the cross event and the resurrection. Without the resurrection, the cross remains an example of one more victim of evil; of one more person who lost her/his life life for a good cause. That is why it is crucial to keep the close relationship between the cross and our hope for the final victory of life over death, good over evil.
María Gomez spent her life fighting for a better living conditions for women in El Salvador. She particularly cared about women who were victims of rape or suffered from domestic violence. Among other things, she taught them to read. Eventually Gómez was murdered by her opponents in the year of 1989. This cross is a sign of hope because of the story told by the pictures of the cross. It is a sign of hope for those who want to improve the living conditions of victims of violence and abuse. This is not only a story of the power of evil amongst us, and the sufferings caused by it; but a story of the power of non-violent resistence. It is also an encouragement to follow to imitatio Christi, not to give up, but to stand up and resist evil, holding on to our hope that good will eventually prove stronger than evil.
[i] Mt 25.31-46.
[ii] Quoted by Clague, see ibid., 106.
[iv] Kässmann, Overcoming Violence, 45.
[v] Churches Say 'No' to Violence against Women. Action Plan for the Churches, 5.


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Compte rendu de la réunionde Golega 12/11/11
Moroccan rally
From April 30th to May 4th, 2019, will hold an extraordinary equestrian rally in the desert of Agafay in the heart of the Moroccan High Atlas. This event is open to everyone. To participate in this exceptional meeting linking sport and discovery, contact the Moroccan National Association of Equestrian Tourism: firstname.lastname@example.com.
500 riders for the 500 years of Chambord
The FITE is a partner of the 500 riders of Chambord, organised for the anniversary of the Renaissance. French Equestrian that we know today take its origins in this period of history. This event is an opportunity to celebrate the history of Chambord with a hiking and equestrian strolling. See you on June 29th and 30th, 2019!
Equirando 2019
The Equirando returns from August 1st to 4th, 2019 in the Haras de Breviaires in Yvelines. As in previous editions, the FITE is one of the main partners of the event.
The Eurasian
The FITE support the Eurasian project aims to connect in Grenoble to Vietnam. This project promotes soft traveling, develop equestrian routes in many countries, but also bring the need for equestrian cross-border agreements.
Memorandum of Understanding FITE-FEI
FITE - Parc Equestre Fédéral - La Colonie
41600 - Lamotte

subset: commoncrawl


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And again the Panoramio Community is delighting us with an amazing get-together weekend. This time it was in the Czech Republic and this is how Tomas Kohout is explaining us what happened:
Second Meeting of Czech Panoramio Community
Second Panoramio meeting was held by small part of Czech Panoramio community during last weekend of May 2011.
We and our families met together almost in the same formation as year ago, but we also welcome couple of new friends.
This time we picked up for meeting Slavonice, UNESCO world heritage town.
[360stupnu, wikipedia, Panoramio Map]
And it was perfect idea, indeed!
This small township located in region called Czech Canada offers many photo opportunities: either Renaissance historic center of town, nearby castle Landstejn and Cervena Lhota, pitoresque town Jindrichuv Hradec or rural country with numerous ponds, forests and rock formations located around. Need to say, until 1989, Slavonice was quite isolated as borderline "no man's land" and almost fall into disrepair. After the fall of the iron courtain, the township revive, had been resettled by new citizens - also by aritsts and craftsmen; valuable reneissance houses were repaired... and nowadays town offers friendly relaxed atmosphere in fancy style.
We also choose this place because it was only option how to meet other respectable Panoramio member, good musician and local patriot Karel Hruby.
Well - during of two days of rainy and overcast weather, we focused on indoor activities like castles sightseeing, action "Night of the churches" and local restaurants!
So finally we came to Saturday highlight - we organized simple contest of our printed photos in the lounge of local restaurant Besídka (besides lounge and photos, you need only some ropes and clothes pegs to organize it)! We did not forget to use a chance to invite other guests from Besidka to participate in voting and this way we made a little PR for Panoramio. :)
Without any doubt, Ota Haška absolutely won the contest with his only contesting photo - charming monochromatic portrait of little girl. He deserved his prize well! (no GPS logger or camera today - but substantive bottle of Irish whiskey!). And then we continued with discussing, drinking and jam session with Karel Hruby till after hours of pub.
We finished on sunny Sunday, and although the meeting was great fun, some fellows almost cried as we departed... OK, see you next year! Or sooner?
From my side, I want to thank the organizers of this year's event Ota Haška, Markéta Losmanová, Zdeněk Vondra and everyone that has participated in this fantastic event.
Posted by Gerard Sanz, Panoramio Community Manager


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A new session of each course opens each month, allowing you to enroll whenever your busy schedule permits!
How does it work? Once a session starts, two lessons will be released each week, for the six-week duration of your course. You will have access to all previously released lessons until the course ends.
Keep in mind that the interactive discussion area for each lesson automatically closes 2 weeks after each lesson is released, so you're encouraged to complete each lesson within two weeks of its release.
The Final Exam will be released on the same day as the last lesson. Once the Final Exam has been released, you will have 2 weeks plus 10 days to complete the Final and finish any remaining lessons in your course. No further extensions can be provided beyond these 10 days.
In this first lesson, we'll lay the foundation for the course by examining the basic features of criminal law, including how this area of law differs from every other. You'll find this first look at the important aspects of the American criminal justice system very valuable!
Today, we'll begin to examine crimes against people by reviewing the facts of a real murder case. Here's your chance to visit a real crime scene and examine the body just as it was found on a chilly January morning. From there, we'll examine the basic elements of a murder case, as well as other crimes against people.
In this lesson, we'll continue our examination into crimes against people by exploring the world of assault and battery. We'll also take a close look at some of the most common myths people believe about prosecuting crimes of violence. Then we'll address the crimes of stalking and kidnapping.
How is a person accused of helping another person commit a crime sentenced? Does the driver of the getaway car receive the same sentence as the bank robber? What is a conspiracy? Today I'll answer these questions and many others. In this lesson, we'll examine the roles of principles and accessories, and how prosecutors charge gang members and others who conspire to commit a crime.
What is rape? In this lesson, we'll go behind the legal definition to use plain language to define exactly what the elements of rape are, then we'll look at how prosecutors charge sexual offenders. We'll also try to understand child molestation and the impact that these crimes have on their victims.
Today we'll explore the crimes of burglary and fraud. You'll learn not only how a person commits burglary, but also the most common techniques most burglars use. We'll also expose white-collar crime schemes, common games, and other frauds.
Drug dealers have become very sophisticated over the years. In today's lesson, you'll learn how prosecutors and police investigate, charge, and convict people who sell narcotics. We'll examine in detail the concepts of possession of illegal narcotics, drug paraphernalia, crack cocaine, and other illegal substances.
What is the legal definition of bribery? In this era of corporate scandals and obstruction of justice by millionaire businesspeople, you'll need to know the basic steps to follow to bring a bribery or obstruction of justice charge.
It's time to step inside a real courtroom! Today, we'll go beyond what television presents and see how a real trial proceeds from start to finish. Do trial attorneys really scream at witnesses? Can lawyers really get away with some of the tactics we see them using on nightly television? I'll answer these questions and many others in this lesson.
When a person is on trial, what types of defenses can he or she raise? What exactly is an alibi defense? What is the definition of legal insanity? How does a defendant actually present his defense? Today we'll examine the role of different defenses, then we'll dispel some common myths about criminal defenses.
From mothers who drown their own children to men who attempt to kill the president, the insanity defense has had a long and controversial history in the United States. In this lesson, we'll step behind the headlines and examine the real details—not only about how to raise an insanity defense, but also looking at what the statistics have to say about the success of this defense.
We'll conclude the course with a look at the appeals process. How many convictions are reversed on appeal? Is the appellate process different in death penalty cases? In this last lesson, we'll examine the entire appellate process from start to finish to give you a straightforward guide to criminal appeals.
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Yuzhou power station
|This article is a stub. You can help by expanding it.
This article is part of the Coal Issues portal on SourceWatch, a project of CoalSwarm and the Center for Media and Democracy. See here for help on adding material to CoalSwarm.
The Yuzhou power station is a 700 megawatt (MW) coal-fired power station in China comprising two 350 generating units.[1]
Articles and resources
- ↑ "Coal-Fired Plants Financed by International Public Investment Institutions Since 1994", Appendix to Foreclosing the Future: Coal, Climate and International Public Finance: Investment in coal-fired power plants hinders the fight against global warming, Environmental Defense, April 2009.


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The other day I received notice from KoboBooks that my new Writing Life account was ready. I'd been excited by the recent news that Kobo would be rolling out a new, writer-friendly interface for authors wishing to publish eBook editions of their books, and eager to take a look.
I went right over to find out what Kobo meant by writer-friendly. Amazon's interface is writer-friendly, as is Smashwords. Barnes and Noble's, not so much , but I'm hoping for improvements there now that Microsoft has invested in B&N. If Writing Life made it as convenient to publish eBooks as Smashwords and Amazon, I'd be happy. More would definitely be a bonus.
I got much more!
Signup: The signup process was easy – it took me less than 5 minutes, and that included looking up my banking information.
Distribution: KoboBooks are distributed in over 170 countries!
Payment – Yes! I was hoping for payment through PayPal rather than checks by snail mail – but I got even better. A bonus for Canadian (and I assume other non-USA) authors and publishers – Kobo pays by direct deposit to my Canadian bank account
Publishing my books – Fast, Easy, and Smooth!
This is the easiest process for uploading ebooks files, pricing, choosing sales channels, and entering the book's meta-data that I've ever used. Not only was it fast to get the data up there, with easy to use forms and very little waiting – the books were available for sale almost immediately. It was easy to opt out of DRM (see my blog about digital rights management) so that my readers don't need to worry about being locked into one format.
Information on sales – Writing Life has a beautiful "Dashboard" that allows writers and publishers to see sales numbers and estimated dollars earned at a glance, and a quick link to the publishing daqta for all books in the account.
Kudos to Kobo for a slick, convenient interface, and a system that makes authors books available in the ePUB format worldwide, on excellent terms (Kobo asks that the contract terms be kept confidential, but I found them very fair).
Kobo Rocks!
Vanessa Grant romance novels newly released on KoboBooks
– DRMfree, samples available at KoboBooks
If You Loved Me (#1 in the Emma and Jamie series)
The Colors of Love (#2 in the Emma and Jamie series)
Storm – the Author's Cut


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"If I didn't go to art school, my mother would send me to a military academy." A week or so ago, we featured the work of Brooklyn based artist Mu Pan. Here's a brief interview with the artist in his studio from Kristen Holmes in which he expounds on some of his influences, inspirations, and process. Video after the jump.
Brooklyn Painter Mu Pan from Kristen Holmes on Vimeo.


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Candace Cosby thought little of seeing a female neighbor pull into her driveway on a steamy Friday afternoon in southwest suburban Burbank.
But her attention was piqued a few hours later when she saw authorities descend on the two-story brick home in the 4800 block of West 85th Street, where police say 1-year-old Ivan Villa was unconscious after being left unattended in the family's vehicle for 21/2 hours in 90-plus degree heat. He later died.
After reviewing the case with the Cook County state's attorney's office and state Department of Children and Family Services, Burbank authorities said Saturday they wouldn't file charges in the boy's death. Earlier in the day, DCFS said they were investigating the boy's parents for neglect and the Cook County medical examiner's office ruled his death a homicide caused by heat stroke and child neglect.
"It was learned through this investigation the parents never intended on harming their child," Burbank police said in a release. "The circumstances surrounding this incident are a tragic accident."
Cosby, 25, said she started her shift at 3 p.m. Friday as a caregiver for residents of a group home across the street from the Villa family's house. She said she was sitting on the living room couch a short time later when she looked through the picture window and saw the female neighbor pull into the driveway.
"There wasn't much activity yesterday because it was so hot," she said.
Then sometime after 5 p.m., Cosby said, several emergency crews arrived at the home. About two minutes later, she saw a paramedic carry out the little boy.
"His little limbs were flailing," Cosby said. "He didn't look conscious."
Paramedics took Ivan to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 6:27 p.m., according to the medical examiner's office. Burbank police Division Chief Michael Dudlo said the boy's parents found him in the car and brought him into the home before calling 911 and administering CPR.
The boy's parents are longtime Burbank residents who moved into the house on 85th Street last year with their five children, Dudlo said. DCFS spokesman Dave Clarkin said the agency had not had any previous contact with the family.
Cosby said she saw three or four children escorted by authorities from the house to a black van, which left the area. She said she later saw police photographing the woman's SUV. The vehicle was later towed, she added.
On the quiet block Saturday, some neighbors said they were stunned to hear of the boy's death. Aurora resident Greg Zanis, who travels the country placing homemade crosses at the sites of deaths, placed a cross bearing Ivan's name in front of the Villa home.
"It's so hard to do that for a 1-year-old," said Zanis, 62.


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Taliban suicide bombers hit Pak church, 78 killed
A double suicide bombing killed 78 people at a church service in northwest Pakistan on Sunday, officials said. This is believed to be the deadliest attack on Christians in the troubled country.world Updated: Sep 23, 2013 09:08 IST
A pair of suicide bombers blew themselves up amid hundreds of worshippers at a historic church in northwestern Pakistan on Sunday, killing 78 people in the deadliest-ever attack against the country's Christian minority.
A wing of the Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing, raising new questions about the government's push to strike a peace deal with the militants to end a decade-long insurgency that has killed thousands of people.
The Jundullah arm of the Taliban said they would continue to target non-Muslims until the United States stopped drone attacks in Pakistan's remote tribal region. The latest drone strike came Sunday, when missiles hit a pair of compounds in the North Waziristan tribal area, killing six suspected militants.
The attack on the All Saints Church, which wounded 141 people, occurred as worshippers were leaving after services to get a free meal of rice offered on the front lawn, said a top government administrator, Sahibzada Anees.
"There were blasts and there was hell for all of us," said Nazir John, who was at the church in the city's Kohati Gate district along with at least 400 other worshippers. "When I got my senses back, I found nothing but smoke, dust, blood and screaming people. I saw severed body parts and blood all around."
Survivors wailed and hugged one another in the wake of the blasts. The white walls of the church, which first opened in the late 1800s, were pockmarked with holes caused by ball bearings contained in the bombs to cause maximum damage. Blood stained the floor and the walls. Plates filled with rice were scattered across the ground.
The attack was carried out by two suicide bombers who detonated their explosives almost simultaneously, said police officer Shafqat Malik.
The 78 dead included 34 women and seven children, said Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. Another 37 children were among the 141 wounded, he said.
The number of casualties from the blasts was so high that the hospital ran short of caskets for the dead and beds for the wounded, said Mian Iftikhar Hussain, a former information minister of surrounding Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province who was on the scene.
"This is the deadliest attack against Christians in our country," said Irfan Jamil, the bishop of the eastern city of Lahore.
Pope Francis led several thousand people in a prayer for the victims while on a visit to Sardinia. Those who carried out the attack, he said, "took the wrong choice, one of hatred and war."
One of the wounded, John Tariq, who lost his father in the attack, demanded of those behind the bombing: "What have we done wrong to these people? Why are we being killed?"
Ahmad Marwat, who identified himself as the spokesman for the Jundullah wing of the Pakistani Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack.
"All non-Muslims in Pakistan are our target, and they will remain our target as long as America fails to stop drone strikes in our country," Marwat told The Associated Press by telephone from an undisclosed location.
Jundullah has previously claimed responsibility for attacks on minority Shiite Muslims in southwestern Baluchistan province. Hard-line Sunni extremists like the Taliban consider Shiites to be heretics.
The bishop in Peshawar, Sarfarz Hemphray, announced a three-day mourning period and blamed the government and security agencies for failing to protect the country's Christians.
"If the government shows will, it can control this terrorism," said Hemphray. "We have been asking authorities to enhance security, but they haven't paid any heed."
Hundreds of Christians burned tires in the street in the southern city of Karachi to protest the bombing.
Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif condemned the attack in a statement sent to reporters, saying, "The terrorists have no religion and targeting innocent people is against the teachings of Islam and all religions."
"Such cruel acts of terrorism reflect the brutality and inhumane mindset of the terrorists," he said.
Islamic militants have carried out dozens of attacks across the country since Sharif took office in June, even though he has made clear that he believes a peace deal with the Pakistani Taliban is the best way to tamp down violence in the country.
Pakistan's major political parties endorsed Sharif's call for negotiations earlier this month. But the Taliban have said the government must release militant prisoners and begin pulling troops out of the northwest tribal region that serves as their sanctuary before they will begin talks.
There are many critics of peace talks who point out that past deals with the Taliban have fallen apart and simply given the militants time to regroup.
"I don't think appeasement will work," said Farhatullah Babar, a senior leader of the main opposition group, the Pakistan People's Party. "This is a message from them that they don't believe in negotiations. If they don't, we should also stand up and fight them."
Supporters of negotiations say they are the only way forward since military operations against the Taliban in the tribal region have failed to subdue them.
Sharif defended the government's decision to push for peace talks but acknowledged the effort didn't seem to be working.
"It was not a bad thing, I think, to do a good job with a good intention," Sharif told reporters outside the Pakistan High Commission in London. "But the regret is that the thinking, the desire the government had, is not capable to make progress."
The US has repeatedly demanded that Pakistan take stronger action against Islamic militants, especially members of the Afghan Taliban who use the country as a base for cross-border attacks on American troops in Afghanistan.
The US has carried out several hundred drone attacks against Taliban militants and their allies in Pakistan's tribal region. The strike on Sunday took place in the Shawal area of North Waziristan, the main sanctuary for militants in the country, said Pakistani intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.
Pakistani officials regularly decry drone attacks as a violation of the country's sovereignty, but the government is known to have secretly supported some of the strikes in the past, especially ones that have targeted Pakistani Taliban militants at war with the state.
The Pakistani and Afghan Taliban are allies, but have focused their fight on opposite sides of the border.
Attacks on Christian areas occur sporadically around the country but Sunday's assault, in a densely populated Christian residential area in the old walled city in Peshawar, was the most violent in recent history.
In 2009, 40 houses and a church were set ablaze by a mob of 1,000 Muslims in the town of Gojra in Punjab province. At least seven Christians were burnt to death. Seventeen Christians were killed in an attack on a church in Bahawalpur in 2001.
Some residents, enraged at the lack of adequate security at the church, took to the streets immediately after the attack, burning tyres and shouting slogans.
Shops were closed in the Kohati Gate area where several other churches are located.
"Terrorists have not spared mosques, temples and churches. Please have mercy on us," one man outside the church, his face distorted by fear and anger, told Pakistan's private Geo television channel.
Protests by Christians were also reported in other cities including the violent port city of Karachi and Multan. A bomb disposal security source said there were two explosions carried out by a pair of attackers. More than 600 parishioners were inside the church for the service.
(With Reuters inputs)
First Published: Sep 22, 2013 13:04 IST


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Find information on common issues.
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ANGEL - A Nonequilibrium Green Function Solver for LEDs
18 Jan 2010 | | Contributor(s):: sebastian steiger
An MPI-parallelized implementation of 1-D NEGF for heterostructures. Includes off-diagonal scattering. Effective mass band structure for electrons and holes. The online tool only provides basic NEGF functionality without scattering.


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Kelli Stargel sometimes must evict tenants from the rental properties she and her husband own in Polk County, a process that can be cumbersome.
But it might soon be getting easier — Stargel, in her other job as a state senator, is sponsoring a bill that critics contend would take away rights from millions of Florida renters.
Under Florida law, that's not a conflict of interest. And she's not alone.
Legislators who work for hospitals sponsor and vote on bills that benefit hospitals, for example. Legislators connected to charter and online schools sponsor and vote on bills that benefit those enterprises.
And it's likely to stay that way.
Despite tough talk about beefing up the state's ethics laws, these types of conflict will remain even if a bill passes before the legislative session ends May 3.
The measures being considered would only prevent legislators from voting on bills that would create a financial gain for just themselves. Legislators could still vote on bills that benefit themselves if they also benefit a larger group.
"Part-time legislatures often attract diverse people with real-world experience to government but such a system has built-in conflicts of interest," said Dan Krassner, executive director of the independent government watchdog group Integrity Florida.
There's a common refrain that comes from those that are involved in the process: Florida's Legislature is made up of 160 citizens who have outside jobs. They use these jobs as practical experience to help guide them in passing bills.
Stargel, R-Lakeland, echoes that position when talking about her decision to sponsor the landlord-tenant bill, which, for example, would allow landlords to still evict renters even if they took a partial payment.
"Nothing in this bill is specific to just me, or narrowly drafted in a way that could be construed to just me," Stargel said.
Stargel said that the Legislature is helped by people who have a background in legislation under consideration. She said it would be "ignorant" to not rely on educators, for example, when considering education bills.
Under existing ethics rules adopted by the House and Senate, legislators must abstain from voting on anything that benefits them directly. They must file a disclosure form if they abstain or if they vote on something that would benefit their employer or a family member. Pending bills would make it state law.
The ethics bill would make some significant changes, including making it harder for lawmakers to take a position with local governments or school districts. It would also clamp down on legislators lobbying state agencies and the governor after they leave office.
But the existing disclosure requirements don't apply to Stargel. Senate records show that she has not filed a disclosure form.
Krassner said the key to making sure that politicians are held accountable is to force them to be open about their finances.
"Disclosure is the key to accountability," Krassner said. "Ultimately it's up to voters to decide if their representative is using their office for personal gain or to serve the public interest."
A review of current disclosure forms that are currently required show that some legislators note potential conflicts "out of an abundance of caution" even if they are involved in decisions that affect more than just themselves.
Rep. Seth McKeel, R-Lakeland and House budget chief, filed a disclosure because he serves as a volunteer on the governing board of a charter school system that includes the school his children attend.
Florida Department of Education records show that the schools are among those already receiving funding from the state. The House budget would double the amount of money available to charter schools for school construction and other capital needs from $55 million to $100 million.
On his form, McKeel insisted that nothing he was doing "will result in policy or appropriations inuring to my own personal gain in any way."
There are plenty of other examples from this session where legislators' professional lives are mixing with their roles as lawmakers.
Rep. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, led a fierce charge in a House panel this week to get the members to accept billions in federal aid to help provide health insurance coverage to the state's poor. Fasano's own financial disclosure shows he earned $92,000 in 2011 working for Florida Hospital in Zephyrhills. Florida's non-profit hospitals are actively lobbying to get the Legislature to accept the aid.
Sen. Bill Montford of Tallahassee is the leading Democrat on the panels that pass education bills and oversee school funding.
Yet Montford is also getting paid $180,000 a year as chief executive officer of the association that represents the state's school superintendents. School districts will be directly affected by any education bills and by funding in the state budget.
Rep. Erik Fresen, R-Miami and House education budget chairman, is a land-use consultant who has done work for a charter school management company owned by his brother-in-law. The schools run by Academica are among those that are receiving funds currently from the state.
Mark Herron, a Tallahassee attorney who represents many politicians before the state's ethics commission, said the problem with getting even stricter about conflicts is that it would leave lawmakers unable to vote on many items that come before them.
"It would just make it very broad," he said.