The PR and lobbying corps is in full swing supported by Republicans eager to topple the Obama administration. They are commandeering Town Hall meetings such as the Broward meeting reported by The Miami Herald yesterday. But the Herald missed the story of who, exactly, is behind the outrage. It is a well-funded campaign by corporations, enlisting conspiracy theorists, and the health care industry to topple Obama and the Democrats.
The Herald is clearly confused how to report the story, without sounding biased; but to describe these Town Hall Events as an outpouring of natural outrage is just like what happened at the Miami-Dade Supervisor of Elections Office in November 2000, when Brooks Brothers Republicans were parachuted in and reported by the media as local objectors to the recount of the contested presidential election. It was a lie then, and so too it is a lie now to report that ordinary middle-class Americans are dominating the Town Hall style meetings that are a routine fixture of the August recess from Congress.
The PR machine fomenting the notion that Town Hall meetings are well-attended by ordinary people who dislike the Obama health care initiative must have been thrilled by the recent Miami Herald story, "Tempers flare in South Florida over Healthcare Overhaul", August 6th). The report begins auspiciously: "The incident is like others that reflect nerves frayed by the nationwide debate. Democrats decry what they describe as a mob rule orchestrated by special interests trying to protect the status quo; Republicans call it genuine grass-roots concern over a costly government takeover."
But the article fails to examine the central question: who exactly is fomenting "the mob"? Rachel Maddow states it plainly: "It is professional, corporate funded Republican PR and should be reported as such." View her: here. Now you might not like Maddow, but you should pay attention to the irrefutable facts.
The organized Town Hall Takeovers are far from average middle class Americans. Consider one example from the Maddow archive. She discusses the website Reccessrally.com whose organizers include Ned Ryan, former speech writer for W., a field director for Bush-Cheney '04, and a raft of DC conservative lobbyists. The Sam Adams Alliance includes the former director of Illinois Republican Party. Let Freedom Ring includes the money man behind ads that supported burning images of 9/11 to promote the Iraq War, funding for the Swiftboating of John Kerry. Another group, Americans for Prosperity includes Art Pope, a millionaire and far right activist for whom the North Carolina Republican Party named its headquarters. The national chairman of Americans for Prosperity? David Koch, owner of the largest private oil company in US and the 19th richest man in the world.
Maddow notes: "These groups are experts at fake grassroots campaigns that represent corporate interests." It is the same money and interests who have claimed global warming is a sham. Just average Americans? Not by a country mile. The Miami Herald should do a much better job, in the future, reporting this scandal, because if we lose the opportunity for health care reform, it will be on account of the same political party that ran the economy off the tracks: that would be the Republican Party.
Friday, August 07, 2009
How to Get Cancer: Move to the U.S. ... by gimletye
Our readers might find this article of interest:
Health
How to Get Cancer: Move to the United States
By LiveScience Staff
posted: 06 August 2009 08:12 am ET
The risk of cancer for Hispanics living in Florida is 40 percent higher than for those who live in their native countries, a puzzling new study finds.
The finding holds even after researchers corrected for the increase detection rates in the United States. And access to health care did not make things better.
"This suggests that changes in their environment and lifestyles make them more prone to develop cancer," said Dr. Paulo S. Pinheiro, a researcher in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
The results are detailed in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
Cancers of the colon and rectum among Cubans and Mexicans who moved to the United States was more than double that in Cuba and Mexico. Lung cancer among Mexican and Puerto Rican women living in Florida was also double the rates in their countries of origin.
Other cancer rates that were higher in the states:
Tobacco-related cancers among Cuban men.
Liver cancer among Puerto Rican men.
Cervical cancer among Mexican women.
The findings also show that different ethnic groups face different risks.
"Don't assume that all Hispanics are the same," said Amelie G. Ramirez, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research. "Physicians should probe Hispanic patients more on their background and family history to identify any problematic behaviors that could contribute to health problems."
The causes of cancer are myriad, from inherited propensities to viruses to a range of environmental factors and lifestyle choices.
Ramirez, who was not involved in the research, notes that nearly one in every three U.S. residents will be Hispanic by 2050.
In a statement from the American Association for Cancer Research, Ramirez and Pinheiro both suggest Hispanics avoid adopting unhealthy lifestyles that may be more common in the United States, such as smoking, drinking and bad diets.
Health
How to Get Cancer: Move to the United States
By LiveScience Staff
posted: 06 August 2009 08:12 am ET
The risk of cancer for Hispanics living in Florida is 40 percent higher than for those who live in their native countries, a puzzling new study finds.
The finding holds even after researchers corrected for the increase detection rates in the United States. And access to health care did not make things better.
"This suggests that changes in their environment and lifestyles make them more prone to develop cancer," said Dr. Paulo S. Pinheiro, a researcher in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
The results are detailed in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
Cancers of the colon and rectum among Cubans and Mexicans who moved to the United States was more than double that in Cuba and Mexico. Lung cancer among Mexican and Puerto Rican women living in Florida was also double the rates in their countries of origin.
Other cancer rates that were higher in the states:
Tobacco-related cancers among Cuban men.
Liver cancer among Puerto Rican men.
Cervical cancer among Mexican women.
The findings also show that different ethnic groups face different risks.
"Don't assume that all Hispanics are the same," said Amelie G. Ramirez, director of the Institute for Health Promotion Research. "Physicians should probe Hispanic patients more on their background and family history to identify any problematic behaviors that could contribute to health problems."
The causes of cancer are myriad, from inherited propensities to viruses to a range of environmental factors and lifestyle choices.
Ramirez, who was not involved in the research, notes that nearly one in every three U.S. residents will be Hispanic by 2050.
In a statement from the American Association for Cancer Research, Ramirez and Pinheiro both suggest Hispanics avoid adopting unhealthy lifestyles that may be more common in the United States, such as smoking, drinking and bad diets.
Eye on Miami Gets It's First Mention in the Miami Herald. By Geniusofdespair
Chuck Rabin reported on the Miami 21 vote today:
Miami Beach architect Andrew Fray supported the plan, pointing out that blogger Eye on Miami -- a constant critic -- had recently supported the idea. ``I look forward to the day when you don't need a land-use attorney to say what's allowed beside you,'' said Frey.
A constant critic? Is that what we are Andrew? It took almost three years for the Miami Herald to acknowledge us, and it was technically mentioned as only part of a quote by someone. (An inaccurate quote at that, as I never supported.)
I respect Victor Dover's opinion (slimmed down, he testified for - pictured at left) and I like Liz very much. This is something that maybe shouldn't die, I like pedestrian friendly and if many speculative developers don't like it, maybe it has merit. Don't know.
Miami 21: now that the tide has retreated, what the sea bottom looks like ... by gimleteye
Mayor Manny Diaz came to the executive office of Miami with so much promise. He did not, however, understand how to wield the power of his bully pulpit. Or, if he did understand, the building boom he represented for much of his life as mayor claimed him as the first political victim. Yesterday's vote to reject a new zoning code is a great disappointment for the future growth pattern of the city. It also shows how political leaders decide to exercise their authority.
The vote against Miami 21 had, in the end, less to do with the mayor than with the battle between his presumptive successors, city commissioners Joe Sanchez and Tomas Regalado. Sanchez, who had been a loyal ally of Diaz' through the building boom that is now in cinders, finds himself under great pressure to distance himself from the fiscal emergency engulfing the city, largely because pro-growth commissioners allowed the public interest to be steamrollered by land speculators and their lobbyists-- building far out of proportion to historical trends.
Diaz spent his political capital on getting the Marlins Stadium deal done and the grand vision for billions of dollars of new infrastructure including the tunnel to serve the Seaport. But he had the sequencing wrong. He should have pushed Miami 21 first and kept it away from the politics of his successor's race. In this matter of political judgment, Mayor Diaz failed.
Diaz told the Herald, "We owe a lasting legacy to those who will call Miami home long after we're gone,'' Diaz said earlier in the day, saying the plan could help Miami draw comparison to New York and Chicago in coming decades." But Miami is not going to be New York or Chicago in any progressive sense of comparison because the Growth Machine and speculators extracted every last dollar from zoning and permitting during the biggest boom in Florida' history. The other day, I referred to Miami as a third-tier American city. I don't believe I'm far off in this assessment.
The regrettable Diaz legacy for Miami is a warren of see-through condos, a paucity of public space linking commerce and consumers, a vision that is as unattractive as it is unlikely to be financed, all beneath a scrim of greenwashing that leaves the city without a heritage of a people-friendly, transit-friendly, water-access friendly place; features that Miami 21 could have helped. It didn't have to happen this way, but the influence of building and development trades was overpowering: stronger than Major League Baseball on steroids.
I've never talked to Mayor Diaz, but observed him and city commissioners during the heyday of the building boom fawned over by developers and celebrities and wealthy supporters. Perhaps it is inevitable that power creates a bubble through which opposing points of view are so marginalized that they never even surface for consideration. (That certainly is the point of view of Jared Diamond in "Collapse": how societies choose to fail or succeed".)
If Miami 21 had come before the Marlins' deal, it would have sent a clear and unequivocal signal to the developer/speculator lobby that the needs of taxpayers and citizens would come first. But if Miami 21 had failed, under those circumstances, perhaps the thinking at City Hall was that the Marlins' deal could also be crushed.
It is always about leadership. The simple fact is that the cratered economy in a region that is defined by more people and more growth has left a political vacuum. Will voters be energized to hold accountable incumbents, like Sanchez, who never saw a zoning proposal for a downtown high rise that he didn't like? And who is there, among the candidates, to push forward needed reforms of the zoning code? Is Miami destined to become a sea water Detroit or Biloxi?
The mainstream press can't summon the will to be as brutally honest on the real, political predicament the building boom caused, or, how the Greenberg Traurig/downtown lobbying corps is largely responsible for marginalizing any and all opposition that might have arisen. In this respect, the battle to protect the county's Urban Development Boundary is instructive: the Neisen Kasdins, the Diaz de la Portillas, the Miguel De Grandys and Juan Mayols: they could not make the entire state political apparatus or the judiciary bend to their will and eventually, over a very long period of years, a judgement was rendered against the forms of growth that have imposed such huge costs on taxpayers and voters. (Did the Herald or Miami Today give a single story to the Hold The Line Campaigners who prevailed? No. And it is in the absence of coverage of critics-- or simply capturing them as "NIMBY's", that the public is largely unaware of other points of view that could prevail under the right circumstances.)
The UDB victory, such as it is, happened far, far from the voting booth where county and city elected leaders will compete. It takes a lot of guts to stand up to a wealthy and battle-hardened status quo. Florida politics, including Miami's, is all about keeping the same characters in power, the same speculators in the game, and the same gut reaction that "property rights" trumps every other consideration of the public commons except those that can be extracted from the law at a very, very long distance from a sleepy, dreamy public that will take the cash but would be just as happy with the cash and its clunkers back.
The vote against Miami 21 had, in the end, less to do with the mayor than with the battle between his presumptive successors, city commissioners Joe Sanchez and Tomas Regalado. Sanchez, who had been a loyal ally of Diaz' through the building boom that is now in cinders, finds himself under great pressure to distance himself from the fiscal emergency engulfing the city, largely because pro-growth commissioners allowed the public interest to be steamrollered by land speculators and their lobbyists-- building far out of proportion to historical trends.
Diaz spent his political capital on getting the Marlins Stadium deal done and the grand vision for billions of dollars of new infrastructure including the tunnel to serve the Seaport. But he had the sequencing wrong. He should have pushed Miami 21 first and kept it away from the politics of his successor's race. In this matter of political judgment, Mayor Diaz failed.
Diaz told the Herald, "We owe a lasting legacy to those who will call Miami home long after we're gone,'' Diaz said earlier in the day, saying the plan could help Miami draw comparison to New York and Chicago in coming decades." But Miami is not going to be New York or Chicago in any progressive sense of comparison because the Growth Machine and speculators extracted every last dollar from zoning and permitting during the biggest boom in Florida' history. The other day, I referred to Miami as a third-tier American city. I don't believe I'm far off in this assessment.
The regrettable Diaz legacy for Miami is a warren of see-through condos, a paucity of public space linking commerce and consumers, a vision that is as unattractive as it is unlikely to be financed, all beneath a scrim of greenwashing that leaves the city without a heritage of a people-friendly, transit-friendly, water-access friendly place; features that Miami 21 could have helped. It didn't have to happen this way, but the influence of building and development trades was overpowering: stronger than Major League Baseball on steroids.
I've never talked to Mayor Diaz, but observed him and city commissioners during the heyday of the building boom fawned over by developers and celebrities and wealthy supporters. Perhaps it is inevitable that power creates a bubble through which opposing points of view are so marginalized that they never even surface for consideration. (That certainly is the point of view of Jared Diamond in "Collapse": how societies choose to fail or succeed".)
If Miami 21 had come before the Marlins' deal, it would have sent a clear and unequivocal signal to the developer/speculator lobby that the needs of taxpayers and citizens would come first. But if Miami 21 had failed, under those circumstances, perhaps the thinking at City Hall was that the Marlins' deal could also be crushed.
It is always about leadership. The simple fact is that the cratered economy in a region that is defined by more people and more growth has left a political vacuum. Will voters be energized to hold accountable incumbents, like Sanchez, who never saw a zoning proposal for a downtown high rise that he didn't like? And who is there, among the candidates, to push forward needed reforms of the zoning code? Is Miami destined to become a sea water Detroit or Biloxi?
The mainstream press can't summon the will to be as brutally honest on the real, political predicament the building boom caused, or, how the Greenberg Traurig/downtown lobbying corps is largely responsible for marginalizing any and all opposition that might have arisen. In this respect, the battle to protect the county's Urban Development Boundary is instructive: the Neisen Kasdins, the Diaz de la Portillas, the Miguel De Grandys and Juan Mayols: they could not make the entire state political apparatus or the judiciary bend to their will and eventually, over a very long period of years, a judgement was rendered against the forms of growth that have imposed such huge costs on taxpayers and voters. (Did the Herald or Miami Today give a single story to the Hold The Line Campaigners who prevailed? No. And it is in the absence of coverage of critics-- or simply capturing them as "NIMBY's", that the public is largely unaware of other points of view that could prevail under the right circumstances.)
The UDB victory, such as it is, happened far, far from the voting booth where county and city elected leaders will compete. It takes a lot of guts to stand up to a wealthy and battle-hardened status quo. Florida politics, including Miami's, is all about keeping the same characters in power, the same speculators in the game, and the same gut reaction that "property rights" trumps every other consideration of the public commons except those that can be extracted from the law at a very, very long distance from a sleepy, dreamy public that will take the cash but would be just as happy with the cash and its clunkers back.
Thursday, August 06, 2009
The Failed Vote 9:26 p.m.: 2 to 2 on Miami 21. By Geniusofdespair
Regalado said it was a good idea but that the neighbors were ignored, not given enough time to digest it, so "NO." Spence-Jones and Sarnoff "YES." The surprise: Sanchez "NO." Angel Gonzales home sick.
I am too tired to watch anymore, 7 and half hours. Maybe someone will change their vote.
I am too tired to watch anymore, 7 and half hours. Maybe someone will change their vote.
Photos From Miami 21 Hearing. By Geniusofdespair
7:30pm: Greenberg Traurig's Lucia Dougherty just said that they should pass the new code but also keep the old code and let them work in tandem for a year or two. Hmmm. The City Attorney nixed the idea. (Hit read more...)
The Blog Eye on Miami: Did not endorse Miami 21. By Geniusofdespair
Think of Eye on Miami as a newspaper with two columnists. Gimleteye did indeed endorse Miami 21. That is one columnist. I offered to endorse -- for money (joking).
It was said at City Hall today by a gentleman: "That even Eye on Miami, a rabid anti-development blog, endorsed Miami 21."
I did NOT endorse because I did not do my homework on the issue, thus, I cannot go either way, for or against. So technically, the blog did not endorse, although hearing Truly Burton, the Builder's Association Lobbyist, speak against it, made me lean for it.
And, we are also NOT anti-development: We are anti sprawl. There is a difference. We hardly ever take positions on City of Miami developments. The Related Group's Mercy Hospital, twin towers is one exception I can remember.
It was said at City Hall today by a gentleman: "That even Eye on Miami, a rabid anti-development blog, endorsed Miami 21."
I did NOT endorse because I did not do my homework on the issue, thus, I cannot go either way, for or against. So technically, the blog did not endorse, although hearing Truly Burton, the Builder's Association Lobbyist, speak against it, made me lean for it.
And, we are also NOT anti-development: We are anti sprawl. There is a difference. We hardly ever take positions on City of Miami developments. The Related Group's Mercy Hospital, twin towers is one exception I can remember.
Support Miami 21: from 1000 Friends of Florida. by gimleteye
(by R. Crumb: A short history of America)The following is from 1000 Friends of Florida: On Thursday, August 6th beginning at 2:00 pm the Miami City Commission will hold a public hearing on a proposed new Smart Growth Zoning Code known as Miami 21. It is a comprehensive rewrite of the current code. The 4 years of planning work has generated much interest throughout the planning, land-use, architecture and real estate industries. The new zoning code is designed and intended to promote redevelopment of the urban core as a high density mixed-use 24 hour city center with neighborhood nodes and mixed-use corridors for easy access to jobs and every day resources. The code has the potential to take development pressure off the Everglades fringe area and reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) through planning a land-use pattern that provides for alternative transportation and increased walkability. Miami 21 is a Form-Based Zoning Code that works to achieve specified urban forms. Form-based codes place an emphasis on the relationship between the street and buildings, pedestrian and vehicles, public and private spaces, and the relationship between multiple buildings, a block, a neighborhood and transitions in scale. 1000 Friends members may wish to express their support of this new Smart Growth Zoning Code as it has the potential to act as a template or example for other municipalities around the state.
Miami 21 - Thursday August 6th @ 2pm
Miami City Hall, Pan American Drive, Coconut Grove
For additional information, click on LATEST EVENTS.
Amendment 4: Let's Go to the Video Tape. by Geniusofdespair
This is dated - the petition part is over now, we just can vote on it in Nov. 2010...but this is a good lesson on what Amendment 4 is about.
Jim Kunstler: "Hunky Dory" ... by gimleteye
This week's diatribe from Jim Kunstler's "Clusterfuck Nation" is particularly acidic. It's a good one and reflects my own dyspeptic views. "History is clearly presenting us with a new set of mandates: get local, get finer, downscale, and get going on it right away. Prepare for it now or nature will whack you upside the head with it not too long from now. Attempting to maintain anything on the gigantic scale will turn out to be a losing proposition... Here, in the dog days of summer, it seems to me that the situation in the USA is so fundamentally bad, so unpromising, so booby-trapped for failure, that I wonder if there has ever been a society so badly deluded as ours. We're prisoners of our wishes, living in a strange dream-time, oblivious to the forces gathering at the margins of our vision, lost in a wilderness of our own making."
The problem for visionairies lucky to be born at the moment when society, culture, and politics embrace change is that reactionairies get a jump on the action. If this were not true, America would have had a "cash for clunkers" program 35 years ago.
Hunky Dory
By James Howard Kunstler
on August 3, 2009 7:36 AM
Whenever the herd mentality lines up along a compass point leading to
"permanent prosperity," or a yellow brick road lined with green shoots, or
something like that, I tend to see the edge of a cliff up ahead. We are now
completely in the grips of the deadly diminishing returns of information
technology. The more information comes to us about How Things Are,
especially from TV, the more confused or wrong the conventional view gets
it.
A broad consensus has formed in the news media and among government
mouthpieces and even some "bearish" investors on the street that "the worst
is behind us" in this tortured economy. This view is completely crazy. It
will only lead to massive disappointment a few weeks or months from now, and
that disappointment might easily transmute to political trouble. One even
might call the situation tragic, except a closer look at the sordid
spectacle of what American culture has become -- a non-stop circus of the
seven deadly sins -- suggests that we deserve to be punished by history.
The reason behind this mass delusion is not hard to find: it's based on
wishing, especially the wish to retain all the comforts, conveniences,
luxuries, and leisure that had become normal in American life. These are
now ebbing away in big gobs for most of the population -- while a tiny
fraction of the well-connected pile on ever larger heaps of swag, enjoying
ever more privilege. Those in the broad bottom 95 percent were content as
long as there was a chance that they, too, could become members of the top 5
percent -- by dint of car-dealing, or house-building, or mortgage-selling,
or some other venture enabled by easy credit and a smile. Those days and
those ways are now gone. The bottom 95 percent are now left with
de-laminating houses they can't make payments on, no prospects for gainful
work, re-po men hiding in the bushes to snatch the PT Cruiser, cut-off cable
service, Kraft mac-and-cheese (if they're lucky), and Larry Summers telling
them their troubles are over. (If I were Larry, I'd start thinking about a
move to some place like the Canary Islands.)
Too many disastrous things are lined up in the months ahead to insure
that we're entering a new phase of history: The Long Emergency.
Government at every level is worse than broke.
Our currency, the US dollar, is hemorrhaging legitimacy.
Inability to service old debt at all levels or incur new debt.
Bad (toxic) debt lurking off balance sheets everywhere.
The housing bubble fiasco is far from over.
Commercial real estate fiasco just getting started.
Unemployment rising implacably.
So-called "consumers" unable to consume consumables.
Crucial energy import supply lines fragile.
Food supply subject to energy problems and climate abnormalities.
A world full of other societies who would enjoy watching us fail and
suffer.
When The Long Emergency was published in 2005, I said then that the
greatest danger this society faced would be its inclination to gear up a
campaign to sustain the unsustainable at all costs -- rather than face the
need to make new arrangements for daily life. That appears to be exactly
what has happened, and it didn't happen under the rule of some
backward-facing, right-wing, Jesus-haunted crypto-fascist, but rather a
"progressive" party led by a dynamically affable young man unburdened by
deep cultural allegiance to Wall Street. Barack Obama has been sucked in and
suckered. "Change you can believe in" has morphed into "a status quo you
will bend heaven and earth to hold onto."
Whatever else you might think or feel about Mr. Obama's performance so
far, this strategy on the broader question of where we go as a nation pulses
with tragedy. What's remarkable to me, to go a step further, is the absence
of comprehensive vision -- not just in the president, but in all the
supposedly able and intelligent people around him, and even those leaders
not in government but in business and education and science and the
professions.
History is clearly presenting us with a new set of mandates: get local,
get finer, downscale, and get going on it right away. Prepare for it now or
nature will whack you upside the head with it not too long from now.
Attempting to maintain anything on the gigantic scale will turn out to be a
losing proposition, whether it is military control of people in Central
Asia, or colossal bureaucracies run in the USA, or huge factory farms, or
national chain store retail, or hypertrophied state universities, or global
energy supply networks.
These imperatives are so outside-the-box of ordinary experience right
now, that to drag them into the arena of politics can only evoke blank
stares or nervous giggling. But whether we like it or not, these are the
things that will really matter in the years ahead -- not whether General
Motors can ever make a profit again, or what Target Store's sales figures
are next quarter, or whether the latest high-rise condo-and-gambling complex
in Las Vegas will be successfully marketed.
Here, in the dog days of summer, it seems to me that the situation in
the USA is so fundamentally bad, so unpromising, so booby-trapped for
failure, that I wonder if there has ever been a society so badly deluded as
ours. We're prisoners of our wishes, living in a strange dream-time,
oblivious to the forces gathering at the margins of our vision, lost in a
wilderness of our own making.
Anything can happen now. I certainly wouldn't rule out international
mischief as we arc around into fall. The air is so full of black swans that
the white swan now seems like the exceptional thing. Whatever else happens,
it sure will be interesting to see the public's reaction to Wall Street's
announcement of Christmas bonuses. The folks at Rockefeller Center better
be thinking about getting a fireproof tree.
____________________
My novel of America's post-oil future, WORLD MADE BY HAND, is now available
in paperback. I am at work on the sequel.
The problem for visionairies lucky to be born at the moment when society, culture, and politics embrace change is that reactionairies get a jump on the action. If this were not true, America would have had a "cash for clunkers" program 35 years ago.
Hunky Dory
By James Howard Kunstler
on August 3, 2009 7:36 AM
Whenever the herd mentality lines up along a compass point leading to
"permanent prosperity," or a yellow brick road lined with green shoots, or
something like that, I tend to see the edge of a cliff up ahead. We are now
completely in the grips of the deadly diminishing returns of information
technology. The more information comes to us about How Things Are,
especially from TV, the more confused or wrong the conventional view gets
it.
A broad consensus has formed in the news media and among government
mouthpieces and even some "bearish" investors on the street that "the worst
is behind us" in this tortured economy. This view is completely crazy. It
will only lead to massive disappointment a few weeks or months from now, and
that disappointment might easily transmute to political trouble. One even
might call the situation tragic, except a closer look at the sordid
spectacle of what American culture has become -- a non-stop circus of the
seven deadly sins -- suggests that we deserve to be punished by history.
The reason behind this mass delusion is not hard to find: it's based on
wishing, especially the wish to retain all the comforts, conveniences,
luxuries, and leisure that had become normal in American life. These are
now ebbing away in big gobs for most of the population -- while a tiny
fraction of the well-connected pile on ever larger heaps of swag, enjoying
ever more privilege. Those in the broad bottom 95 percent were content as
long as there was a chance that they, too, could become members of the top 5
percent -- by dint of car-dealing, or house-building, or mortgage-selling,
or some other venture enabled by easy credit and a smile. Those days and
those ways are now gone. The bottom 95 percent are now left with
de-laminating houses they can't make payments on, no prospects for gainful
work, re-po men hiding in the bushes to snatch the PT Cruiser, cut-off cable
service, Kraft mac-and-cheese (if they're lucky), and Larry Summers telling
them their troubles are over. (If I were Larry, I'd start thinking about a
move to some place like the Canary Islands.)
Too many disastrous things are lined up in the months ahead to insure
that we're entering a new phase of history: The Long Emergency.
Government at every level is worse than broke.
Our currency, the US dollar, is hemorrhaging legitimacy.
Inability to service old debt at all levels or incur new debt.
Bad (toxic) debt lurking off balance sheets everywhere.
The housing bubble fiasco is far from over.
Commercial real estate fiasco just getting started.
Unemployment rising implacably.
So-called "consumers" unable to consume consumables.
Crucial energy import supply lines fragile.
Food supply subject to energy problems and climate abnormalities.
A world full of other societies who would enjoy watching us fail and
suffer.
When The Long Emergency was published in 2005, I said then that the
greatest danger this society faced would be its inclination to gear up a
campaign to sustain the unsustainable at all costs -- rather than face the
need to make new arrangements for daily life. That appears to be exactly
what has happened, and it didn't happen under the rule of some
backward-facing, right-wing, Jesus-haunted crypto-fascist, but rather a
"progressive" party led by a dynamically affable young man unburdened by
deep cultural allegiance to Wall Street. Barack Obama has been sucked in and
suckered. "Change you can believe in" has morphed into "a status quo you
will bend heaven and earth to hold onto."
Whatever else you might think or feel about Mr. Obama's performance so
far, this strategy on the broader question of where we go as a nation pulses
with tragedy. What's remarkable to me, to go a step further, is the absence
of comprehensive vision -- not just in the president, but in all the
supposedly able and intelligent people around him, and even those leaders
not in government but in business and education and science and the
professions.
History is clearly presenting us with a new set of mandates: get local,
get finer, downscale, and get going on it right away. Prepare for it now or
nature will whack you upside the head with it not too long from now.
Attempting to maintain anything on the gigantic scale will turn out to be a
losing proposition, whether it is military control of people in Central
Asia, or colossal bureaucracies run in the USA, or huge factory farms, or
national chain store retail, or hypertrophied state universities, or global
energy supply networks.
These imperatives are so outside-the-box of ordinary experience right
now, that to drag them into the arena of politics can only evoke blank
stares or nervous giggling. But whether we like it or not, these are the
things that will really matter in the years ahead -- not whether General
Motors can ever make a profit again, or what Target Store's sales figures
are next quarter, or whether the latest high-rise condo-and-gambling complex
in Las Vegas will be successfully marketed.
Here, in the dog days of summer, it seems to me that the situation in
the USA is so fundamentally bad, so unpromising, so booby-trapped for
failure, that I wonder if there has ever been a society so badly deluded as
ours. We're prisoners of our wishes, living in a strange dream-time,
oblivious to the forces gathering at the margins of our vision, lost in a
wilderness of our own making.
Anything can happen now. I certainly wouldn't rule out international
mischief as we arc around into fall. The air is so full of black swans that
the white swan now seems like the exceptional thing. Whatever else happens,
it sure will be interesting to see the public's reaction to Wall Street's
announcement of Christmas bonuses. The folks at Rockefeller Center better
be thinking about getting a fireproof tree.
____________________
My novel of America's post-oil future, WORLD MADE BY HAND, is now available
in paperback. I am at work on the sequel.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Miami 21: despite its flaws, worth supporting ... by gimletyeye
Finally, the Miami City Commission will take up a new city-wide zoning ordinance. The Herald reports: "... Miami 21, a cornerstone of Miami Mayor Manny Diaz's administration, has proven a contentious approach. Neighborhood activists complain it does too little to tame development, even as architects and developers' lawyers contend it's too restrictive, making commissioners wary of tackling the plan amid election-year politics." I believe it is time for city commissioners to support Miami 21.
I agree with the plan's critics like Harry Emilio Gottlieb: "There would be no need for a Miami 21 or any major change in Miami’s Zoning Code (especial one as complicated as Miami 21 if our Mayor and some Commissioners respected our Zoning Code and did not vote to authorize all of the many illegal spot zoning over the years to accommodate their developer pals." Harry is right: the Greenberg Traurig / developer lobby runs City Hall. As a result, Miami is a third tier American city in key respects. The zoning ordinance, Miami 21, has had a tortured route to this point; while I am not an expert on all the opportunities and traps that have been set along the way, I feel much about Miami 21 as I do about health care and energy policy reform: we can't afford to delay changes that reasonably provide a platform for progress. Harry Emelio Gottlieb asks for delay, "The present administration has had 8 years to damage our city and we would appreciate them taking the next 3 months off and give us all a break." I, too, am exhausted by all the false claims of progress for the City of Miami.
I reach a different conclusion: there is more value in a new roadmap than opportunity in delay. Try to attend: Miami 21 Zoning Changes, Thursday, August 6th at 2 PM - City Hall.
I agree with the plan's critics like Harry Emilio Gottlieb: "There would be no need for a Miami 21 or any major change in Miami’s Zoning Code (especial one as complicated as Miami 21 if our Mayor and some Commissioners respected our Zoning Code and did not vote to authorize all of the many illegal spot zoning over the years to accommodate their developer pals." Harry is right: the Greenberg Traurig / developer lobby runs City Hall. As a result, Miami is a third tier American city in key respects. The zoning ordinance, Miami 21, has had a tortured route to this point; while I am not an expert on all the opportunities and traps that have been set along the way, I feel much about Miami 21 as I do about health care and energy policy reform: we can't afford to delay changes that reasonably provide a platform for progress. Harry Emelio Gottlieb asks for delay, "The present administration has had 8 years to damage our city and we would appreciate them taking the next 3 months off and give us all a break." I, too, am exhausted by all the false claims of progress for the City of Miami.
I reach a different conclusion: there is more value in a new roadmap than opportunity in delay. Try to attend: Miami 21 Zoning Changes, Thursday, August 6th at 2 PM - City Hall.
Putting up hurricane shutters on the county budget ... by gimleteye
The stock markets are rallying hopefully on signs of the economy bottoming out. But as the Wall Street Journal notes, stronger earnings than expected "is less a sign of an improving economy than of how deeply businesses have cut costs in response to the downturn." These cuts have dramatically reduced workforce employment and lead to the continuing crisis in consumer confidence. Wage earners are saving money and putting out anchors to keep from being swept away by the worst economy since the Great Depression. The grim reality is that American households have lost "about $14 trillion in wealth, more than their collective earnings from all sources of income last year." ('Obama Aides see signs of recovery, but say it will be slow;, August 3, 2009, New York Times)
The proposed county budget for 2009-2010 is an effort to close a $400 million shortfall ... (please click, 'read more')
between revenues and projected expenses. The areas taking it hardest on the chin: social and cultural expenditures peripheral to core services like public safety. In Miami-Dade, Florida's most populous county, "Final property tax roll growth for calendar years 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 showed extraordinary increases of 13.4 percent, 18.7 percent, 21.4 percent and 15.4 percent respectively. For 2008, final tax roll estimates for the Countywide is minus 0.09 percent when adjusted by the impact of the January 29, 2008 constitutional amendments. For FY 2009-10 the estimated tax roll adjustment at a Countywide level is an unprecedented 9.5 percent loss. For FY 2010-11, the property tax roll adjustment is assumed at 12 percent loss, flat for FY 2011-12, and 3 percent growth thereafter. This conservative tax roll forecast is the result of current real estate market conditions." (Proposed County Budget, Page 98)
While there may be a lot of wishful thinking built into these assumptions, it is hard to fault Mayor Carlos Alvarez and County Manager George Burgess for delivering the bad news: don't shoot the messenger. The size of government either has to be reduced, services cut and curtailed, or citizens have to support county commissioners who approve new taxes. Balancing revenue to service even the reduced, proposed and painful county budget will require higher taxes.
The proposed County Budget is dismal, but the news is yet worse: there are some $20 billion in unfunded infrastructure deficits: a fact that mocks claims by developers and the Growth Machine that the rabid, speculative fever during the housing boom benefited taxpayers. We now get to see the true nature of their Ponzi schemes.
Growth does not pay its own way: what lead to this point in time is nothing less than disaster capitalism in practice. I predict a severe backlash against the unreformable majority of the county commission for 2010 elections. But that too may be wishful thinking: all around us perpetrators of economic fraud are being rewarded. None are being held accountable. The speculators with bad investments outside the Urban Development Boundary are being kept afloat by banks no longer required to "mark to market" investments of dubious value on their balance sheets. The absence of transparency also leads to despair and consumer anxiety. As frequently noted on Eyeonmiami, voters and taxpayers are stuck with a campaign finance and electoral system that is "representative" democracy in name only. Every effort at reform of the county commission has failed, anchoring the parochial interests of an economic elite that will ride out this hurricane on platforms of wealth built during the boom times.
The heavy lifting on the county budget is being lead by Commissioner Katy Sorenson who begins a series of budget workshops on August 24. The first public hearing on the ordinance enabling the new budget will be on Sept. 3rd. At that meeting the county commission will vote on the preliminary budget and tax rate. September 17th is the final vote and trumps whatever they do on Sept 3rd., but according to state law the first meeting is the critical one for the tax rate.
The proposed county budget for 2009-2010 is an effort to close a $400 million shortfall ... (please click, 'read more')
between revenues and projected expenses. The areas taking it hardest on the chin: social and cultural expenditures peripheral to core services like public safety. In Miami-Dade, Florida's most populous county, "Final property tax roll growth for calendar years 2004, 2005, 2006, and 2007 showed extraordinary increases of 13.4 percent, 18.7 percent, 21.4 percent and 15.4 percent respectively. For 2008, final tax roll estimates for the Countywide is minus 0.09 percent when adjusted by the impact of the January 29, 2008 constitutional amendments. For FY 2009-10 the estimated tax roll adjustment at a Countywide level is an unprecedented 9.5 percent loss. For FY 2010-11, the property tax roll adjustment is assumed at 12 percent loss, flat for FY 2011-12, and 3 percent growth thereafter. This conservative tax roll forecast is the result of current real estate market conditions." (Proposed County Budget, Page 98)
While there may be a lot of wishful thinking built into these assumptions, it is hard to fault Mayor Carlos Alvarez and County Manager George Burgess for delivering the bad news: don't shoot the messenger. The size of government either has to be reduced, services cut and curtailed, or citizens have to support county commissioners who approve new taxes. Balancing revenue to service even the reduced, proposed and painful county budget will require higher taxes.
The proposed County Budget is dismal, but the news is yet worse: there are some $20 billion in unfunded infrastructure deficits: a fact that mocks claims by developers and the Growth Machine that the rabid, speculative fever during the housing boom benefited taxpayers. We now get to see the true nature of their Ponzi schemes.
Growth does not pay its own way: what lead to this point in time is nothing less than disaster capitalism in practice. I predict a severe backlash against the unreformable majority of the county commission for 2010 elections. But that too may be wishful thinking: all around us perpetrators of economic fraud are being rewarded. None are being held accountable. The speculators with bad investments outside the Urban Development Boundary are being kept afloat by banks no longer required to "mark to market" investments of dubious value on their balance sheets. The absence of transparency also leads to despair and consumer anxiety. As frequently noted on Eyeonmiami, voters and taxpayers are stuck with a campaign finance and electoral system that is "representative" democracy in name only. Every effort at reform of the county commission has failed, anchoring the parochial interests of an economic elite that will ride out this hurricane on platforms of wealth built during the boom times.
The heavy lifting on the county budget is being lead by Commissioner Katy Sorenson who begins a series of budget workshops on August 24. The first public hearing on the ordinance enabling the new budget will be on Sept. 3rd. At that meeting the county commission will vote on the preliminary budget and tax rate. September 17th is the final vote and trumps whatever they do on Sept 3rd., but according to state law the first meeting is the critical one for the tax rate.
Michelle Spence-Jones Campaign Report Continued. By Geniusofdespair
I previously reported on her report from 4/01-6/30/09. From her first report (prior to 1/1/09) I saw Tew Cardenas 12/17/2008 $500.
For the period 1/1/09 – 3/31/09, of interest to me were:
Marty Marguiles was in for $500. Hmmm...wonder why? Also the Longshoreman gave her $500. Lucia Dogherty and Clifford Schulman (Greenberg Trauig), Charles Tavares, Louis Wolfson, III and Craig Robins all gave $500. Law Firms of Bercow Radell and Akerman Senterfitt gave $500 each and Attorney Gordaon (sp?) Diaz Balart gave $250. I did not see baseball stadium interests donations.
For the period 1/1/09 – 3/31/09, of interest to me were:
Marty Marguiles was in for $500. Hmmm...wonder why? Also the Longshoreman gave her $500. Lucia Dogherty and Clifford Schulman (Greenberg Trauig), Charles Tavares, Louis Wolfson, III and Craig Robins all gave $500. Law Firms of Bercow Radell and Akerman Senterfitt gave $500 each and Attorney Gordaon (sp?) Diaz Balart gave $250. I did not see baseball stadium interests donations.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
NY Times picks up Eyeonmiami feature of Providence homeless by gimleteye
We posted a photo of the growing tent city in Providence RI on July 4th on Eyeonmiami. As you can see from the recent NY Times story, we were onto something. I read news reports about the economy "turning the corner" and am filled with disbelief. For me, there is no happiness in statistics about the economy contracting less rapidly. If there are green shoots, they are being buried by fertilizer. The number I'm looking at: $11.8 TRILLION committed by the federal government to stabilize the economy, or, 84% of GDP. It is a good time to be a Wall Street executive, backstopped by guarantees of the US taxpayer, with your fingers in the Treasury till. The better indicator of the performance of the economy is rising homelessness and families seeking food assistance. Where are those statistics? Today the NY Times editorial page called this, "The Great Recession". No one likes using the "D" word, but I wonder... Is the economy turning the corner for you?
Javier Souto: His Memo's are as long as His Tirades. By Geniusofdespair
I have to admit I am growing to appreciate the wit of the ramblin' man (unintentional on his part I think). Look at this memo Commissioner Javier Souto wrote to County Manager Burgess July 31st, it is a hoot and it also serves as a lesson on what is wrong with district voting (commissioners have tunnel vision, only seeing their district -- very obvious here): "I called you today and was told by one of your 18 Assistant County Managers, that you were on vacation in Australia and you could not call me because you were out of reach. I tried to get the telephone number to your hotel, but they would not give it to me.
Last week, your secretary called my secretary to inform me that you could no longer attend or provide an Assistant County Manager, a Senior Advisor to the County Manager, an Executive Assistant to the County Manager, a Special Assistant to the County Manager, or one of your 18 Assistant County Managers to examine municipal problems in Fontainebleau, Westchester and Kendall (District 10) (UMSA – Unincorporated Municipal Service Area). We have checked the salaries of all these assistants of yours, and they total over $3.5 million. (Hit read more) You can probably add another half a million dollars in benefits. I want to know if any percentage of these salaries are paid with UMSA tax dollars. I want you to know that the community is pretty angry about the high salaries in Miami-Dade County government in general. Now is the time to do more with less. But I see that you don’t know how to manage in difficult times. Managing when there is lots of money around is easy. Let me remind you that the Westchester-Kendall area is the top per capita vote producer area in Miami-Dade County. Everyone is watching.
As you are aware, I have expected all your predecessors, County Managers, over the past 15 years: Joaquin Avino, Armando Vidal, Merritt Stierheim, and Steve Shiver to dedicate 2 or 3 hours a week to their other responsibilities, as the Municipal Managers for the tax payers and residents of UMSA (Unincorporated Municipal Service Area). (In District 10, that I represent, we are 100% UMSA.) They all understood this as an important function and responsibility since in addition to their responsibility as County Manager, they are responsible for overseeing the services provided to the residents of UMSA (the largest “city” in Miami-Dade County) for the $481 million in taxes that they paid last year alone. In the past, all your predecessors attended these Friday tours of the Unincorporated areas of Westchester, Fontainebleau and Kendall themselves, even though they all had less than half the number of Assistant County Managers to help them than you have today. Over the past three years, you began attending less and less frequently and sending your Assistant County Managers instead. Lately, you send the Assistant to the Assistant County Manager and I have not complained about your diminishing involvement in overseeing the Unincorporated Areas and the municipal services provided to the Unincorporated Areas.
You have shortchanged my constituents of District 10 by dedicating your time to other “more important” matters to you, like the tunnel or the baseball stadium. I too have a busy schedule as an elected official. However, I tour my district almost daily, including evenings and weekends to make sure that storm drains are functioning, street lights are working, shopping centers are illuminated, bulky waste trash piles are being collected, etc. You can spend hundreds of millions of dollars on new departments like 311, on management strategies and plans, on studies, on surveys and opinion polls, but unless you go into the neighborhoods to look at the problems that are clearly visible and talk to the people paying the taxes and using the services, you are wasting millions of dollars in tax payers monies.
All the studies, theories and surveys won’t uncover deterioration of municipal services, and get the pulse of the community. By the way, since you moved from Budget Director to County Manager, the number of departments has increased from 34 to 50, most of it under your administration. While the County Administration was growing, the services were diminishing and the areas of County responsibility were diminishing too. Dade County lost eight large areas of Unincorporated Miami-Dade County, where we provided municipal services ten years ago, as new cities incorporated (Aventura, Sunny Isles Beach, Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay, Cutler Bay, Miami Gardens, Miami Lakes, and Doral). However, you kept creating departments and inflating the budget.
The time for bureaucrats in fancy offices is gone. It is time for pounding the pavement to see firsthand the pain and suffering that our tax payers and small businesses are experiencing, in these difficult moments of deep economic recession that we are living.
I am very disappointed in your decision of not touring District 10, 100% UMSA, anymore on a weekly basis, and in the manner in which you communicated this decision through your secretary. This means that you do not have the time or staff to dedicate to the tax payers of Westchester, Fontainebleau, and Kendall (District 10).
I can see that you are “too busy” to talk to me, the Commissioner of the area. If you insult me, you are in fact insulting the community that I represent.
I won’t forget these actions."
And I won't forget what Souto said here: We have checked the salaries of all these assistants of yours, and they total over $3.5 million.
Anti-climate change letter from minority groups is forged: what a surprise
Craig Pittman, environmental journalist and co-author of "Paving Paradise", writes a blog for the St. Pete Times; The Fueling Station. If you haven't read "Paving Paradise" yet, you should. Here's a recent post: "Minority group letters urging congressman to vote against climate bill turn out to be forged". The fossil fuel industry will stop at nothing to sow doubt and confusion about global warming.
July 31, 2009
Minority group letters urging congressman to vote against climate bill turn out to be forged
As freshman Democratic U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello was considering how to vote on the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 back in June, the Virginia congressman received at least six letters from two minority organizations urging him to vote no.
"The letters, as it turns out, were forgeries," reports the Charlottesville, Va., Daily Progress.
“They stole our name. They stole our logo. They created a position title and made up the name of someone to fill it. They forged a letter and sent it to our congressman without our authorization,” said Tim Freilich, who sits on the executive committee of Creciendo Juntos, a Hispanic advocacy group in Perriello's district.
The other five forged letters were purportedly from the Albemarle-Charlottesville branch of the NAACP -- an organization which actually supports the bill, better known as Waxman-Markey.
Turns out the forgeries came from Bonner & Associates, "a DC-based lobbying firm specializing in organizing grassroots and minority efforts for big business," Politico says. "The firm, run by Jack Bonner, a former RNC official and aide to late Sen. John Heinz (R-Penn.), has represented the energy and coal industries in the past." It has also been accused in the past of creating fake grassroots campaigns, something known as "astroturf."
After the story broke, Bonner faxed out a statement blaming a temporary employee who has since been fired, according to Talking Points Memo. However, Bonner still has not identified who his client is.
Incidentally, the Daily Progress reports that "Perriello ultimately voted in favor of the bill, which narrowly passed the House on June 26 in a 219 to 212 vote." Meanwhile his press secretary, Jessica Barba, told the paper: "Spreading false information is not healthy for real debate in our democracy. Congressman Perriello voted in favor of the bill because of its potential to create clean energy jobs, which is why the NAACP and many other groups supported the legislation in the first place.”
[U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello]
July 31, 2009
Minority group letters urging congressman to vote against climate bill turn out to be forged
As freshman Democratic U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello was considering how to vote on the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 back in June, the Virginia congressman received at least six letters from two minority organizations urging him to vote no.
"The letters, as it turns out, were forgeries," reports the Charlottesville, Va., Daily Progress.
“They stole our name. They stole our logo. They created a position title and made up the name of someone to fill it. They forged a letter and sent it to our congressman without our authorization,” said Tim Freilich, who sits on the executive committee of Creciendo Juntos, a Hispanic advocacy group in Perriello's district.
The other five forged letters were purportedly from the Albemarle-Charlottesville branch of the NAACP -- an organization which actually supports the bill, better known as Waxman-Markey.
Turns out the forgeries came from Bonner & Associates, "a DC-based lobbying firm specializing in organizing grassroots and minority efforts for big business," Politico says. "The firm, run by Jack Bonner, a former RNC official and aide to late Sen. John Heinz (R-Penn.), has represented the energy and coal industries in the past." It has also been accused in the past of creating fake grassroots campaigns, something known as "astroturf."
After the story broke, Bonner faxed out a statement blaming a temporary employee who has since been fired, according to Talking Points Memo. However, Bonner still has not identified who his client is.
Incidentally, the Daily Progress reports that "Perriello ultimately voted in favor of the bill, which narrowly passed the House on June 26 in a 219 to 212 vote." Meanwhile his press secretary, Jessica Barba, told the paper: "Spreading false information is not healthy for real debate in our democracy. Congressman Perriello voted in favor of the bill because of its potential to create clean energy jobs, which is why the NAACP and many other groups supported the legislation in the first place.”
[U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello]
Fort Myers: Related Group's 32 Story High Rise with One Tenant. By Geniusofdespair
What is it like to be the only one living in a condo meant for 200 families:Vangelakos (the owner) said they closed on the apartment in the fall, unaware the other tenants had failed to follow through. When they visited around Christmas, they didn't think much of the emptiness. They were just happy to be there."We wanted to believe," Cathy Vangelakos said. "We were looking for what we were offered."
On subsequent visits, however, the building grew more deserted. The lights on the pool and palm trees were off. Their garbage shoot was sealed, a trash bin placed in front of their unit instead.
The automatic doors are locked, decorative fountains are empty and there is a sign-in sheet at the front door. Good thing: A lot of parking!
Monday, August 03, 2009
The Skinny on Amendment 4, El Nuevo Herald Style. By Geniusofdespair
"As the elections approach, we'll hear more frequently the cry that Amendment 4 is an idea concocted by the devil himself to plunge Florida into ruin and leave thousands jobless."
This is a translation from El Nuevo Herald that was in the Miami Herald today. I think it is important to know what is printed in the sister paper of the Miami Herald. It was hard to find online so I included the entire article -- it was that good:
DANIEL SHOER ROTH | VIEW FROM EL NUEVO HERALD
Public needs a voice in land-use changes
The epic battle waged by Lowe's to build a superstore on land protected by Miami-Dade's Urban Development Boundary ended last week when Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet voted against the home-improvement chain.
The case of Lowe's marks a victory for the public interest. It is unusual for the government to rule in favor of the public in the face of big-business pressure. Residents have few resources to combat most projects that are incompatible with existing comprehensive land-use plans and that would change the nature of their neighborhoods.
On Lowe's side was a majority of Miami-Dade County commissioners, who approved pushing the urban development line westward, once more, to accommodate the megastore. Lobbying for the change were the power groups: builders and business interests.
On the opposing side were the urban planners, zoning experts and defenders of the environment. But the most important stakeholder is the public, which is concerned about traffic and the quality of life. As more areas are paved, we wind up with more water shortages and more flooding.
In the complex world of comprehensive land-use plans, the public cannot vote.
However, this uneven balance of power could change in the 2010 elections. A proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution would give the public the final say on changes to a comprehensive land-use plan that have been approved by commissioners.
Given that changes to a development plan determine the fate of a community for future generations, it is vital that those changes reflect voters' interests, maintains Florida Hometown Democracy, which is promoting Amendment 4.
Contrary to the arguments of the amendment's foes, the objective would not be to ask voters to approve all changes, no matter how minor, like putting an addition onto a house. Instead, it would be limited to significant changes in development policies.
The Lowe's case is a perfect example. County commissioners approved the project even though many constituents did not agree with extending the UDB to environmentally sensitive land. Had the amendment been in effect, voters could have vetoed the commission's decision.
As the elections approach, we'll hear more frequently the cry that Amendment 4 is an idea concocted by the devil himself to plunge Florida into ruin and leave thousands jobless.
The fact is that this is a David vs. Goliath confrontation. Floridians for Smarter Growth -- which represents builders' associations, real estate agents, shopping centers and landowners -- has already amassed more than $3.7 million for its campaign against Florida Hometown Democracy.
If Florida utilizes all the density that land-use plans now permit, its population could balloon to five times the current level. That is unlikely, particularly now that demographic growth is slight. In any case, studies by the University of Florida estimate that 26.6 million people will live in the state by 2035, compared to around 17 million today.
The point is that we have plenty of room to grow without having to modify the comprehensive plan. For that reason, it is irrational to believe that this amendment would lead to unemployment. Rather, it would prevent elected officials from being influenced by private interests because if developers need to convince someone, that someone would be the public.
Unbridled growth brought us the real-estate debacle. We are losing green land and farmland, traffic is increasingly congested, schools are overburdened, and the water shortage has become alarming. In summary, the quality of life is deteriorating because of the increase in population and ad hoc land-use plan changes.
There are people who bought homes in neighborhoods because they were low-density and had green spaces and little traffic. It is unfair that, a few years later, their property rights would be violated by the addition of a previously unplanned strip mall next door. Those people have the right to decide the future of their surroundings.
This is a translation from El Nuevo Herald that was in the Miami Herald today. I think it is important to know what is printed in the sister paper of the Miami Herald. It was hard to find online so I included the entire article -- it was that good:
DANIEL SHOER ROTH | VIEW FROM EL NUEVO HERALD
Public needs a voice in land-use changes
The epic battle waged by Lowe's to build a superstore on land protected by Miami-Dade's Urban Development Boundary ended last week when Gov. Charlie Crist and the Florida Cabinet voted against the home-improvement chain.
The case of Lowe's marks a victory for the public interest. It is unusual for the government to rule in favor of the public in the face of big-business pressure. Residents have few resources to combat most projects that are incompatible with existing comprehensive land-use plans and that would change the nature of their neighborhoods.
On Lowe's side was a majority of Miami-Dade County commissioners, who approved pushing the urban development line westward, once more, to accommodate the megastore. Lobbying for the change were the power groups: builders and business interests.
On the opposing side were the urban planners, zoning experts and defenders of the environment. But the most important stakeholder is the public, which is concerned about traffic and the quality of life. As more areas are paved, we wind up with more water shortages and more flooding.
In the complex world of comprehensive land-use plans, the public cannot vote.
However, this uneven balance of power could change in the 2010 elections. A proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution would give the public the final say on changes to a comprehensive land-use plan that have been approved by commissioners.
Given that changes to a development plan determine the fate of a community for future generations, it is vital that those changes reflect voters' interests, maintains Florida Hometown Democracy, which is promoting Amendment 4.
Contrary to the arguments of the amendment's foes, the objective would not be to ask voters to approve all changes, no matter how minor, like putting an addition onto a house. Instead, it would be limited to significant changes in development policies.
The Lowe's case is a perfect example. County commissioners approved the project even though many constituents did not agree with extending the UDB to environmentally sensitive land. Had the amendment been in effect, voters could have vetoed the commission's decision.
As the elections approach, we'll hear more frequently the cry that Amendment 4 is an idea concocted by the devil himself to plunge Florida into ruin and leave thousands jobless.
The fact is that this is a David vs. Goliath confrontation. Floridians for Smarter Growth -- which represents builders' associations, real estate agents, shopping centers and landowners -- has already amassed more than $3.7 million for its campaign against Florida Hometown Democracy.
If Florida utilizes all the density that land-use plans now permit, its population could balloon to five times the current level. That is unlikely, particularly now that demographic growth is slight. In any case, studies by the University of Florida estimate that 26.6 million people will live in the state by 2035, compared to around 17 million today.
The point is that we have plenty of room to grow without having to modify the comprehensive plan. For that reason, it is irrational to believe that this amendment would lead to unemployment. Rather, it would prevent elected officials from being influenced by private interests because if developers need to convince someone, that someone would be the public.
Unbridled growth brought us the real-estate debacle. We are losing green land and farmland, traffic is increasingly congested, schools are overburdened, and the water shortage has become alarming. In summary, the quality of life is deteriorating because of the increase in population and ad hoc land-use plan changes.
There are people who bought homes in neighborhoods because they were low-density and had green spaces and little traffic. It is unfair that, a few years later, their property rights would be violated by the addition of a previously unplanned strip mall next door. Those people have the right to decide the future of their surroundings.
EYE REPORT: Planned Road Improvements Lead to More Taxpayer Subsidized Sprawl. By Geniusofdespair & Gimleteye.
When you are trying to figure out development trends that benefit land speculators who crashed the economy, look no further than planned road improvements. Large scale development projects must solve the problem of "transportation concurrency". Endless games are played by lobbyists and so-called transportation planners to create rationale and formulas showing how the expansion of roadways at the fringe of suburbia solves the problem of moving prospective, new as well as old residents through new and existing communities. County commissioners (like Joe Martinez and Pepe Diaz and Natacha Seijas) beholden to their campaign contributors involve themselves in the minute details to transportation and roadway issues in order to lay the rails for majority approval of new developments outside the UDB. This like jig happens all over the county (like Lowe's or Beacon Lakes, to cite just two). We get to see the jig at public hearings as part of the zoning process by local government. Lawyers making $750 an hour and planners and economists and other consultants get up in the speaker's pit with charts and Powerpoint presentations that overwhelm the few members of the public who purposefully offer counter-arguments to more suburban sprawl. Often, the speculators pay for rent-a-crowds to pack the commission chamber. They have no clue what they are doing there, beyond the box lunch and bus ride downtown. When Joe Martinez asks: "would all supporters of this project rise"; they dutifully stand up from their movie quality armchairs and sit down again once this irrefutable evidence of community support is demonstrated for the cameras.
There are two roadway projects that are in different stages of approval at County Boards who serve at the behest of the County Commissioners. These projects were conceived well before the housing market crash: putting down infrastructure to move hundreds of thousands of commuters around Miami-Dade takes years of planning and land buying. Both activities put developers, speculators, and government officials in virtual 24 hour Love Motels for Growth.
Both of these roadway "improvements" will give wind to Lennar's 1,000 acre mixed-use mega-development, Parkland, and to the Krome Gold partners who own hundreds of acres nearby. We've written a lot about Parkland and Krome Gold: check our archive. Their owners are the same big-time lobbyists and developers whose domination of local zoning councils and elected officials helped grease the gears of the Growth Machine that caused the housing bubble and, now, collapse.
It was reasonable to expect that many of these project would have drowned of their own weight and costs with the implosion of the nation's banking industry. But the Federal Reserve and US Department of Treasury have created "rescue" interventions that allow banks (and investors) the time to tread water with their speculative investments while the rest of taxpayers are gradually waking up to their liabilities-- in the form of rising taxes-- to fund the same government operations that allowed these manipulators to drive our quality of life and the economy into the ditch in the first place.
The tens of millions in speculative investments in Krome Gold and Parkland are now assets buried amidst trillions of dollars committed by US taxpayers that will make sure bad projects never die. Now that the "stimulus" funds are flowing, they are flowing as Eyeonmiami suspected they would in ways that will benefit the speculators. Far from being cleaned out, as they should have been, the speculators are lurking in the shadows for their return. In no small respect, this is also what is behind the effort to erase the Florida Department of Community Affairs: let local governments, ie. the Miami-Dade County Commission, "determine" concurrency requirements. It is the final realization of the Bush Doctrine: that local elected representatives are the best place to center regulatory power and authority. In fact, it is about using the current economic emergency to feather the nests of the land speculators. As the bumper sticker goes: if you are not outraged, you are not paying attention.
First, they need the roads. Hit on the the two aerials at left and you can see that both of these new planned roadways end at Parkland; thousands of new housing units planned in a region that is now surrounded by ghost town suburbs, many of which were also built by Lennar.
The MDX says about the 836 Expansion: "…the project is envisioned as a limited access expressway that will represent a physical barrier to discourage urban sprawl farther into the Everglades." What a crock of shit. It will do the exact opposite. From time to time, the South Florida builders have mumbled about using Krome Avenue as an "inviolable" border for growth that could only be breached for instance by the unanimous vote of the County Commission. It is a card that is lazily played when it seems that maybe the Growth Machine won't get its way, and the retracted when it does. The public has every right to be furious. When the widening of Krome Avenue was under mediation, authorized by the state and supervised by a mediator sympathetic to the Growth Machine, the County Commission rejected an agreement forged by its own planners with environmentalists that Krome widening would never be used to justify new population growth.
MDX is in the process of preparing a concept report to evaluate the feasibility of the 836 extension. The extension is known as MDX Project No. 83618. MDX wants to include this in the 2025 Master Transportation Plan. Cost? Who knows.
For the 157 Avenue expansion the County has to purchase 16 parcels from 152 Street to SW 184 Street as a "Public Necessity." The purchase was approved by the CITT on May 28th. The MDX website reports that the agency "Will complete a Concept Report in early 2009 to evaluate the potential of a new transportation corridor extending SR 836 to SW 136th Street in West Kendall with provision for an urban buffer". According to Tere Garcia of MDX: This potential project was identified when a needs assessment was done as we started to update MDX's Long Range Plan in 2007. We follow the same cycle as the MPO. The Concept Report being prepared is a very preliminary planning document being prepared to assess need. This document is still in draft form and in review. As soon as its completed we will post in our website as we do all our studies.
Here is the truth. The Miami-Dade land speculators care about only one thing: rescuing their net worth from investments that are now worth ten cents on the dollar or seventy cents. The difference will be worked out depending on getting their friggin roads.
Do not seek and ye shall not find: the story of Florida and cancer clusters ... by gimleteye
There is nothing worse-- nothing-- than the unwanted appearance of cancer in one's family, then learning that others in your neighborhood have similar or the same cancer, and finding no one in government who will take your side in arguing for an investigation whether these cancers are linked to pollution of the environment. Watching anyone, but especially an innocent child, die of cancer is life-changing experience. I had this experience with Nathan Cobb who died of leukemia at seven after years of suffering. It was just bad, bad luck I thought at the time-- now thirty years ago-- but the reasonable after-effects were indelibly stamped: if any man or industry could be found responsible for inflicting this kind of pain on a child, they should be flayed open and left to die on a rock.
There are no provisions in any law for this kind of punishment, of course. I would learn, much later, how federal laws calibrated tolerable levels of toxics in the environment, using "risk-based analyses" for a handful of prevalent chemicals, ignoring the thousands of man-made chemicals or the effect of their combination, and using the health response of fully-developed adults and not children to establish standards for pollution.
A decade ago, at the urging of independent scientists and environmentalists concerned about toxics in Florida's drinking water supplies, I began to learn about the massive state-supported effort to use aquifers to store water of questionable quality. Big campaign contributors from Florida's engineering, well drillers, rock miners, and the Growth Machine had persuaded Gov. Jeb Bush that the state's program to manipulate aquifers to store water, as well as transfer water from "surplus" areas to "thirsty" areas of the state was good policy "based on the best available science."
I was unpersuaded; having spent years learning the significant lengths that government agencies chose to obscure and obfuscate the causes and effects of pollution in the Everglades. A Massachusetts-based journalist, Donald Sutherland, tried everything in his power to elevate the issue of toxics in drinking water, initiating a massive email stream about the pervasive presence of carcinogens in drinking water, like perchlorates and other volatile organic compounds.
It seemed obvious to me, and to others with scientific credentials uncontaminated by industry alliances, that the reliance on federal clean water laws by the state was literally slamming the door on common sense: that Florida porous aquifers could be convection routes for any kind of pollutant, including cancer-causing chemicals, and that the first place to look for cancer clusters would be water supply.
To test this hypothesis, I began to explore how the State of Florida responds to cancer clusters. What I learned was deeply, deeply disturbing. There was, at the time, no pro-active effort to do science, evaluate and monitor water quality and toxics beyond federal standards that were widely perceived to be inadequate and not protective of public health. Local county health agencies had only the most tenuous, febrile connections to the state health agency charged with researching cancer clusters: there was little manpower or money directed to the complex tasks of investigation.
Sutherland alerted me to families in Port St. Lucie, Florida-- the political home of Senator Ken Pruitt, a former well driller-- who suspected a cancer cluster in their midst. Here is one letter to the editor of the local newspaper at the time:
"It was Thursday, September 19, 1996 when my mother-in-law called me at work to tell me that something was wrong with my son Jimmy - his left side was drooping, and she thought he might have had a stroke. What I remember about that day was my son's face through the car window. He gave me this great big smile and at that very moment, my motherly intuition told me that my child had a brain tumor.
Within two hours, we were informed that our three and a half year old had a brain tumor, and that he needed to be treated immediately. Before the afternoon was out, Jimmy and I were on a private jet to Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. We would spend the next two months of our lives there.
Jimmy was treated with radiation and anesthesia twice daily, at 8:00am and 2:00pm. At 9:30, after the first treatment, we would go back to our rented apartment. Jimmy would cry for food, but he was not allowed to eat or drink anything before his second round of treatment.
In addition to daily treatments, Jimmy suffered from a horrible staph infection in his hip. He was rushed into surgery and for the next three weeks, we lived at the hospital. Not only that, his veins were burning and collapsing from repeated doses of anesthesia. Our three year old then had to have an Infusa Port inserted into his chest. He was on an unbelievable amount of medication for the staph infection, for thrush, and for so many things, I can't even remember. He had to take steroids four times a day because of the swelling in his brain. Not only did they make him hungry, they caused his weight to double.
During the course of his treatment, we were told that Jimmy was going to die, that the treatment was just to buy us some time. We were told it would be a miracle if he survived. Jimmy was discharged the first week of November, and we returned to Port St. Lucie, but his ordeal was not over. He had to wear a brace on his hand and leg. He had to go to Occupational and Physical Therapy three times a week. We were still praying for a miracle.
By Thanksgiving, my husband and I noticed a decline. We made an appointment at Shands on December 5, 1996. On the way to Gainesville, we took Jimmy to the Magic Kingdom and Sea World for the first and last time. The MRI showed that his tumor was smaller, but we knew that it was growing back. We returned home. At Christmas time, he was barely able to walk. After Christmas, Jimmy lost the ability to walk and talk. We would pull him in his wagon and he would point at things, but his steady decline continued.
On January 17, 1997, following another MRI at Shands, we received the awful news. The tumor had grown back larger than ever. Jimmy had a month to live. Three and a half weeks later, my husband and I were lying on the bed with Jimmy when he took his last breath. Jimmy's long ordeal and short life were over.
I resolved not to let our son die in vain. His life meant something, and so would his passing. With the help of a reporter from the Stuart News, I and some of the other mothers were able to tell our stories. I received calls from other parents in similar situations. I was astounded at the number of children in our hometown who had brain and neural system cancer.
As parents, we formed a foundation called Suffer the Children to find out what is affecting our children. It is the mission of Suffer the Children to conduct environmental testing, work as a clearinghouse for information from the State of Florida to the citizens, and from the citizens to state officials. As a result of our efforts, we were able to get the state to launch a full-scale, epidemiological study. We know of at least 42 children who have been diagnosed with brain and neural system cancer.
I have devoted my life to the Suffer the Children Foundation. Our organization has filed for nonprofit status, and is in the process of helping families of afflicted children financially, emotionally and spiritually.
- Written by Juliann Freitas"
Fast forward thirteen years later: the Palm Beach Post began printing a series of stories on a reported cancer cluster at the Acreage in West Palm Beach. Cancer clusters are notoriously difficult to trace back to a single incidence of pollution. In the case of the Port St. Lucie event, no cause of the area's cancer cluster was identified.
The Palm Beach Post published a follow up story on the weekend: "Causes of cancer clusters are hard to find". Here is one note that jumped out: "Meanwhile, state environmental officials are beginning to sample wells, while county leaders analyze soil at two schools." The fact is that county and state agencies in Florida do scarcely no testing of drinking well water; and certainly, no routine screening for carcinogens beyond the inadequate few chemical standards in federal laws.
The Post notes in what seems to me an extraordinary admission for the mainstream media: "Sometimes they find a cause. Often they don't. Frequently, politics trumps science."
That is the truth: in Florida, in the quest to protect the public and public health, politics does trump science. Leaders of the Florida legislature, like former Senate president Ken Pruitt, and governors like Jeb Bush quickly and rapidly buried any talk, discussion, or investigation about the standards of inquiry or science and resources dedicated to proactively dealing with chemicals and toxics in the environment, or, cancer clusters. The Miami Dade County Commission has never fully accounted for and never fully disclosed the threat to public health from deep underground injection wells; a state authorized program that cumulatively puts billions of gallons of scarcely treated municipal wastewater into "safe" zones deep underground, instead of dealing with the real costs of pollution where pollution is generated.
US Senator Bill Nelson has become involved in the West Palm Beach controversy. His Washington DC office released the following statement recently: "Feds asked to investigate reports of cancer cluster in Florida community
June 25, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Reports of children turning up with brain tumors in a small part of South Florida spurred U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson today to call for an immediate federal investigation.
Nelson sent a letter this morning to the Obama administration requesting an investigation of reports about a cancer cluster in a small community in Palm Beach County. In his letter to the heads of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Nelson requested they coordinate with Florida’s health agency to look into any possible causes.
“The residents there are calling for an aggressive investigation,” Nelson wrote. “If one of us was living through the agony of seeing our child suffer from a brain tumor, we’d be doing likewise. That’s why I implore your agencies to investigate.”
Do not ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.
Causes of cancer clusters are hard to find
By STACEY SINGER
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 01, 2009
It has taken health investigators two years of research to designate Clyde, Ohio, a cancer cluster. Their inquiry started soon after Donna and Dave Hisey's 13-year-old daughter was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia.
While the Hiseys awaited the study results, disaster struck again. Their middle child, Tanner, developed lumps on his neck, and in August, he was diagnosed with a totally different form of leukemia, acute lymphoblastic T-cell leukemia. The cluster confirmation came in May, as Tanner underwent chemotherapy.
Now, says Donna Hisey, she checks her youngest child, Siera, every day for signs of illness. The sense of fear is ever-present. The need to know what caused the cancer is overwhelming. It has taken over their lives.
"Any time anybody gets sick, people freak out. Is it minor?" said Hisey, a line worker at the nearby Whirlpool plant. "We just want to know what caused this so nobody else gets sick."
It is not yet known whether The Acreage is a cancer cluster. The state is studying the possibility.
But as families anxiously await results of the state's study here, they're convinced the cluster exists and are deeply hungry to find out what is behind the illnesses in their community.
Could it have been something that leached into the groundwater from the nearby Pratt & Whitney plant decades ago? Something toxic or radioactive in the soil brought in to raise their houses above the marsh? Some solvent illegally dumped and buried? Or the pesticides used in the nearby orange groves and sugar cane fields?
A look at cancer cluster investigations elsewhere in the United States suggests that definitive answers will be difficult - but not impossible - to come by. In the process of searching though, communities like Clyde, Ohio, and The Acreage are learning truths about themselves and their surroundings that can be deeply unsettling.
According to one Acreage resident's unscientific tally, there have been at least eight cases of a brain tumor called glioblastoma multiforme between 2004 and 2009; five cases of a sometimes benign brain tumor called meningioma since 2003; and 17 other assorted brain and nervous system tumors since 1998 - all within the patch of 50,000 rural homes.
The exact case count is hard to say. State health officials are analyzing data from the national cancer registry over 12 years, data that's compiled whenever there is a cancer diagnosis. They will calculate the rate of the cancers they find in the local population, then compare it to national cancer rates. Results may take several weeks.
Meanwhile, state environmental officials are beginning to sample wells, while county leaders analyze soil at two schools.
"It's in the water. I know it's in the water. I really believe it," said Mack Purifoy, 58, who retired to his dream home in The Acreage four years ago with his wife and nephew. The home he paid $400,000 for has a Jacuzzi, an attractive new façade, and well water. And it's sitting empty. He refuses to live there. The former owner, he was told, died of cancer.
A year after moving in, his nephew developed lymphoma. A few months ago, doctors discovered a growth in his brain. They don't know yet if it's a cyst or a tumor, Purifoy said, only that it's growing. He's losing his sense of balance, and having trouble with his vision.
"I drank that water," he says, his voice tinged with anger.
Purifoy is dubious that investigators will ever really identify the source of the illnesses.
Once a cancer cluster is identified, under protocols from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, environmental investigators begin considering possible causes: sources of radiation, pesticides, fungicides, solvents, other chemicals.
Sometimes they find a cause. Often they don't. Frequently, politics trumps science.
In Cameron, Mo., last fall Missouri state officials told residents that the 70 brain cancer cases they identified in a four-county area over 12 years did not represent a cancer cluster.
Several months later, a lawsuit alleged that a leather tannery had been dumping highly dangerous chromium 6, the subject of the film Erin Brockovich, into waste sludge that was spread on farm fields in the region since the 1980s, The Kansas City Star reported. Subsequent sampling of farm fields did find low levels of the hazardous chromium 6, a proven carcinogen.
In eastern Pennsylvania, a single type of rare blood cancer, polycythemia vera, was found in dozens of people. A $5.5 million study is under way, and is considering seven waste coal power plants in the area and seven Superfund sites. At a congressional hearing in March, Democratic lawmakers blasted the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a sister agency to the CDC, for its shoddy review of the cancer cluster.
A report by the congressional committee's staff called the agency's handling of such cases a "clear and present danger" to public health.
"Time and time again ATSDR appears to avoid clearly and directly confronting the most obvious toxic culprits that harm the health of local communities throughout the nation," said the report by the Majority Staff of the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight of the Committee on Science and Technology. "Instead, they deny, delay, minimize, trivialize or ignore legitimate concerns and health considerations of local communities and well respected scientists and medical professionals."
In Clyde, Ohio, the investigation is being handled by the state, with input from federal officials, said Robert Indian, chief of comprehensive cancer control for the Ohio Department of Health.
They are broadening their research to study birth defects and miscarriages, he said. There have been 20 children with brain tumors in the area. The nature of the cancers, leukemias and brain tumors, suggests ionizing radiation, Indian said, although everything is being considered.
Not far from Clyde, Waste Management, Inc. operates a deep-well-injection site that has been collecting liquid pesticides and other hazardous chemical waste from throughout the nation. Called Vickery Environmental, the firm injects the waste 3,000 feet into a rock formation deep below farm fields, the company says.
Donna Hisey can't help but wonder if that's the source of the cancers. But she's been told the chemicals have not migrated. She wonders if it's true.
Her best advice to people in The Acreage is to stay involved, ask questions, and keep digging.
Purifoy is asking those questions, but he despairs that he will get an answer in his lifetime.
"We're all going to be dead by the time you all figure out what's going on," he told state environmental leaders at an emotionally charged community meeting on Thursday. "They are going to sweep it under the rug, and a lot of people are going to die, and that's just the way it is."
Hisey said she wants to trust the people who are investigating the Clyde, Ohio, cluster. She needs to be able to trust them. She prays about it often. Ultimately, she said, it's in God's hands.
"I don't know if they are ever going to find out what caused it or not. I would love for them to tell us an answer," Hisey said. "But if they put their best effort into it and they can't find it, then we will have to accept it. But at least we will know they tried."
Staff Writer Mitra Malek contributed to this story.
Find this article at:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2009/08/01/clusterusa0802.html
There are no provisions in any law for this kind of punishment, of course. I would learn, much later, how federal laws calibrated tolerable levels of toxics in the environment, using "risk-based analyses" for a handful of prevalent chemicals, ignoring the thousands of man-made chemicals or the effect of their combination, and using the health response of fully-developed adults and not children to establish standards for pollution.
A decade ago, at the urging of independent scientists and environmentalists concerned about toxics in Florida's drinking water supplies, I began to learn about the massive state-supported effort to use aquifers to store water of questionable quality. Big campaign contributors from Florida's engineering, well drillers, rock miners, and the Growth Machine had persuaded Gov. Jeb Bush that the state's program to manipulate aquifers to store water, as well as transfer water from "surplus" areas to "thirsty" areas of the state was good policy "based on the best available science."
I was unpersuaded; having spent years learning the significant lengths that government agencies chose to obscure and obfuscate the causes and effects of pollution in the Everglades. A Massachusetts-based journalist, Donald Sutherland, tried everything in his power to elevate the issue of toxics in drinking water, initiating a massive email stream about the pervasive presence of carcinogens in drinking water, like perchlorates and other volatile organic compounds.
It seemed obvious to me, and to others with scientific credentials uncontaminated by industry alliances, that the reliance on federal clean water laws by the state was literally slamming the door on common sense: that Florida porous aquifers could be convection routes for any kind of pollutant, including cancer-causing chemicals, and that the first place to look for cancer clusters would be water supply.
To test this hypothesis, I began to explore how the State of Florida responds to cancer clusters. What I learned was deeply, deeply disturbing. There was, at the time, no pro-active effort to do science, evaluate and monitor water quality and toxics beyond federal standards that were widely perceived to be inadequate and not protective of public health. Local county health agencies had only the most tenuous, febrile connections to the state health agency charged with researching cancer clusters: there was little manpower or money directed to the complex tasks of investigation.
Sutherland alerted me to families in Port St. Lucie, Florida-- the political home of Senator Ken Pruitt, a former well driller-- who suspected a cancer cluster in their midst. Here is one letter to the editor of the local newspaper at the time:
"It was Thursday, September 19, 1996 when my mother-in-law called me at work to tell me that something was wrong with my son Jimmy - his left side was drooping, and she thought he might have had a stroke. What I remember about that day was my son's face through the car window. He gave me this great big smile and at that very moment, my motherly intuition told me that my child had a brain tumor.
Within two hours, we were informed that our three and a half year old had a brain tumor, and that he needed to be treated immediately. Before the afternoon was out, Jimmy and I were on a private jet to Shands Hospital in Gainesville, Florida. We would spend the next two months of our lives there.
Jimmy was treated with radiation and anesthesia twice daily, at 8:00am and 2:00pm. At 9:30, after the first treatment, we would go back to our rented apartment. Jimmy would cry for food, but he was not allowed to eat or drink anything before his second round of treatment.
In addition to daily treatments, Jimmy suffered from a horrible staph infection in his hip. He was rushed into surgery and for the next three weeks, we lived at the hospital. Not only that, his veins were burning and collapsing from repeated doses of anesthesia. Our three year old then had to have an Infusa Port inserted into his chest. He was on an unbelievable amount of medication for the staph infection, for thrush, and for so many things, I can't even remember. He had to take steroids four times a day because of the swelling in his brain. Not only did they make him hungry, they caused his weight to double.
During the course of his treatment, we were told that Jimmy was going to die, that the treatment was just to buy us some time. We were told it would be a miracle if he survived. Jimmy was discharged the first week of November, and we returned to Port St. Lucie, but his ordeal was not over. He had to wear a brace on his hand and leg. He had to go to Occupational and Physical Therapy three times a week. We were still praying for a miracle.
By Thanksgiving, my husband and I noticed a decline. We made an appointment at Shands on December 5, 1996. On the way to Gainesville, we took Jimmy to the Magic Kingdom and Sea World for the first and last time. The MRI showed that his tumor was smaller, but we knew that it was growing back. We returned home. At Christmas time, he was barely able to walk. After Christmas, Jimmy lost the ability to walk and talk. We would pull him in his wagon and he would point at things, but his steady decline continued.
On January 17, 1997, following another MRI at Shands, we received the awful news. The tumor had grown back larger than ever. Jimmy had a month to live. Three and a half weeks later, my husband and I were lying on the bed with Jimmy when he took his last breath. Jimmy's long ordeal and short life were over.
I resolved not to let our son die in vain. His life meant something, and so would his passing. With the help of a reporter from the Stuart News, I and some of the other mothers were able to tell our stories. I received calls from other parents in similar situations. I was astounded at the number of children in our hometown who had brain and neural system cancer.
As parents, we formed a foundation called Suffer the Children to find out what is affecting our children. It is the mission of Suffer the Children to conduct environmental testing, work as a clearinghouse for information from the State of Florida to the citizens, and from the citizens to state officials. As a result of our efforts, we were able to get the state to launch a full-scale, epidemiological study. We know of at least 42 children who have been diagnosed with brain and neural system cancer.
I have devoted my life to the Suffer the Children Foundation. Our organization has filed for nonprofit status, and is in the process of helping families of afflicted children financially, emotionally and spiritually.
- Written by Juliann Freitas"
Fast forward thirteen years later: the Palm Beach Post began printing a series of stories on a reported cancer cluster at the Acreage in West Palm Beach. Cancer clusters are notoriously difficult to trace back to a single incidence of pollution. In the case of the Port St. Lucie event, no cause of the area's cancer cluster was identified.
The Palm Beach Post published a follow up story on the weekend: "Causes of cancer clusters are hard to find". Here is one note that jumped out: "Meanwhile, state environmental officials are beginning to sample wells, while county leaders analyze soil at two schools." The fact is that county and state agencies in Florida do scarcely no testing of drinking well water; and certainly, no routine screening for carcinogens beyond the inadequate few chemical standards in federal laws.
The Post notes in what seems to me an extraordinary admission for the mainstream media: "Sometimes they find a cause. Often they don't. Frequently, politics trumps science."
That is the truth: in Florida, in the quest to protect the public and public health, politics does trump science. Leaders of the Florida legislature, like former Senate president Ken Pruitt, and governors like Jeb Bush quickly and rapidly buried any talk, discussion, or investigation about the standards of inquiry or science and resources dedicated to proactively dealing with chemicals and toxics in the environment, or, cancer clusters. The Miami Dade County Commission has never fully accounted for and never fully disclosed the threat to public health from deep underground injection wells; a state authorized program that cumulatively puts billions of gallons of scarcely treated municipal wastewater into "safe" zones deep underground, instead of dealing with the real costs of pollution where pollution is generated.
US Senator Bill Nelson has become involved in the West Palm Beach controversy. His Washington DC office released the following statement recently: "Feds asked to investigate reports of cancer cluster in Florida community
June 25, 2009
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Reports of children turning up with brain tumors in a small part of South Florida spurred U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson today to call for an immediate federal investigation.
Nelson sent a letter this morning to the Obama administration requesting an investigation of reports about a cancer cluster in a small community in Palm Beach County. In his letter to the heads of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Nelson requested they coordinate with Florida’s health agency to look into any possible causes.
“The residents there are calling for an aggressive investigation,” Nelson wrote. “If one of us was living through the agony of seeing our child suffer from a brain tumor, we’d be doing likewise. That’s why I implore your agencies to investigate.”
Do not ask for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.
Causes of cancer clusters are hard to find
By STACEY SINGER
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Saturday, August 01, 2009
It has taken health investigators two years of research to designate Clyde, Ohio, a cancer cluster. Their inquiry started soon after Donna and Dave Hisey's 13-year-old daughter was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia.
While the Hiseys awaited the study results, disaster struck again. Their middle child, Tanner, developed lumps on his neck, and in August, he was diagnosed with a totally different form of leukemia, acute lymphoblastic T-cell leukemia. The cluster confirmation came in May, as Tanner underwent chemotherapy.
Now, says Donna Hisey, she checks her youngest child, Siera, every day for signs of illness. The sense of fear is ever-present. The need to know what caused the cancer is overwhelming. It has taken over their lives.
"Any time anybody gets sick, people freak out. Is it minor?" said Hisey, a line worker at the nearby Whirlpool plant. "We just want to know what caused this so nobody else gets sick."
It is not yet known whether The Acreage is a cancer cluster. The state is studying the possibility.
But as families anxiously await results of the state's study here, they're convinced the cluster exists and are deeply hungry to find out what is behind the illnesses in their community.
Could it have been something that leached into the groundwater from the nearby Pratt & Whitney plant decades ago? Something toxic or radioactive in the soil brought in to raise their houses above the marsh? Some solvent illegally dumped and buried? Or the pesticides used in the nearby orange groves and sugar cane fields?
A look at cancer cluster investigations elsewhere in the United States suggests that definitive answers will be difficult - but not impossible - to come by. In the process of searching though, communities like Clyde, Ohio, and The Acreage are learning truths about themselves and their surroundings that can be deeply unsettling.
According to one Acreage resident's unscientific tally, there have been at least eight cases of a brain tumor called glioblastoma multiforme between 2004 and 2009; five cases of a sometimes benign brain tumor called meningioma since 2003; and 17 other assorted brain and nervous system tumors since 1998 - all within the patch of 50,000 rural homes.
The exact case count is hard to say. State health officials are analyzing data from the national cancer registry over 12 years, data that's compiled whenever there is a cancer diagnosis. They will calculate the rate of the cancers they find in the local population, then compare it to national cancer rates. Results may take several weeks.
Meanwhile, state environmental officials are beginning to sample wells, while county leaders analyze soil at two schools.
"It's in the water. I know it's in the water. I really believe it," said Mack Purifoy, 58, who retired to his dream home in The Acreage four years ago with his wife and nephew. The home he paid $400,000 for has a Jacuzzi, an attractive new façade, and well water. And it's sitting empty. He refuses to live there. The former owner, he was told, died of cancer.
A year after moving in, his nephew developed lymphoma. A few months ago, doctors discovered a growth in his brain. They don't know yet if it's a cyst or a tumor, Purifoy said, only that it's growing. He's losing his sense of balance, and having trouble with his vision.
"I drank that water," he says, his voice tinged with anger.
Purifoy is dubious that investigators will ever really identify the source of the illnesses.
Once a cancer cluster is identified, under protocols from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, environmental investigators begin considering possible causes: sources of radiation, pesticides, fungicides, solvents, other chemicals.
Sometimes they find a cause. Often they don't. Frequently, politics trumps science.
In Cameron, Mo., last fall Missouri state officials told residents that the 70 brain cancer cases they identified in a four-county area over 12 years did not represent a cancer cluster.
Several months later, a lawsuit alleged that a leather tannery had been dumping highly dangerous chromium 6, the subject of the film Erin Brockovich, into waste sludge that was spread on farm fields in the region since the 1980s, The Kansas City Star reported. Subsequent sampling of farm fields did find low levels of the hazardous chromium 6, a proven carcinogen.
In eastern Pennsylvania, a single type of rare blood cancer, polycythemia vera, was found in dozens of people. A $5.5 million study is under way, and is considering seven waste coal power plants in the area and seven Superfund sites. At a congressional hearing in March, Democratic lawmakers blasted the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a sister agency to the CDC, for its shoddy review of the cancer cluster.
A report by the congressional committee's staff called the agency's handling of such cases a "clear and present danger" to public health.
"Time and time again ATSDR appears to avoid clearly and directly confronting the most obvious toxic culprits that harm the health of local communities throughout the nation," said the report by the Majority Staff of the Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight of the Committee on Science and Technology. "Instead, they deny, delay, minimize, trivialize or ignore legitimate concerns and health considerations of local communities and well respected scientists and medical professionals."
In Clyde, Ohio, the investigation is being handled by the state, with input from federal officials, said Robert Indian, chief of comprehensive cancer control for the Ohio Department of Health.
They are broadening their research to study birth defects and miscarriages, he said. There have been 20 children with brain tumors in the area. The nature of the cancers, leukemias and brain tumors, suggests ionizing radiation, Indian said, although everything is being considered.
Not far from Clyde, Waste Management, Inc. operates a deep-well-injection site that has been collecting liquid pesticides and other hazardous chemical waste from throughout the nation. Called Vickery Environmental, the firm injects the waste 3,000 feet into a rock formation deep below farm fields, the company says.
Donna Hisey can't help but wonder if that's the source of the cancers. But she's been told the chemicals have not migrated. She wonders if it's true.
Her best advice to people in The Acreage is to stay involved, ask questions, and keep digging.
Purifoy is asking those questions, but he despairs that he will get an answer in his lifetime.
"We're all going to be dead by the time you all figure out what's going on," he told state environmental leaders at an emotionally charged community meeting on Thursday. "They are going to sweep it under the rug, and a lot of people are going to die, and that's just the way it is."
Hisey said she wants to trust the people who are investigating the Clyde, Ohio, cluster. She needs to be able to trust them. She prays about it often. Ultimately, she said, it's in God's hands.
"I don't know if they are ever going to find out what caused it or not. I would love for them to tell us an answer," Hisey said. "But if they put their best effort into it and they can't find it, then we will have to accept it. But at least we will know they tried."
Staff Writer Mitra Malek contributed to this story.
Find this article at:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localnews/content/local_news/epaper/2009/08/01/clusterusa0802.html
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Moral Turpitude: The Cement Manufacturer and Rock Miner Hall of Shame ... by gimleteye
We have enough to keep us busy as citizen journalists and bloggers, but every now and then a news report washes in from around the state that remind us we are not alone. Let's take rock mining for cement and cement products as an example. All over Miami-Dade County the conversion of Everglades wetlands and farmland to suburban sprawl has sped along on the rails of zoning changes and federal permits to mine limestone. That fossilized coral reef under our feet in South Florida makes very good base material for cement. Blasting and mining and refining it is a multi-billion dollar industry: the wealthiest and most secretive in Florida. Without cement, there are no roads, buildings, and ambitions to put more growth and development than can possibly float on the Florida peninsula. Rock miners started out as small family businesses in Miami-Dade and elsewhere: they are now mostly large multi-national corporations owned by foreign shareholders. Still, they pay beaucoups dineros to downtown Miami lawyers and lobbyists who wield their power like cudgels in the Neanderthal world of local politics.
In West Dade, rock mining activities have violated federal law protecting endangered species and the Everglades. These violations of law triggered some of the most important litigation in the US, revealing the miserable performance of federal agencies like the US Army Corps of Engineers. Rock miners have not only failed to live up to their commitments for mitigating impacts on wetlands, they have stifled dissent at county commissions and with the public. In Miami-Dade, rock mining has imposed huge liabilities on drinking water supplies and costs on taxpayers. In South Dade, rock mining has sped salt water intrusion. In Palm Beach County, rock mines were the backdrop for a land use deal during the first term of Gov. Jeb Bush that helped push the cost of land acquisition for environmental purposes into the stratosphere, giving heart and hope to land speculators everywhere-- but especially speculators who were Repubican. Rock mines are popping up in the ambitions of Big Sugar to extract further profit from the Everglades. They also, it so happens, provide the backdrop for criminal prosecution and imprisonment of Palm Beach County Commissioners. The cumulative influence of rock miners has suppressed science related to the security of aquifers and encouraged the vast oversupply of roads and suburbs during the late, great building boom that is now in cinders.
So here is the latest on a once Republican (curiously, all rock miners appear to be big Republicans) rock miner lauded in the Tampa Bay area. "Hughes was 77 when he died in June 2008. That fall, Hillsborough County Commissioner Jim Norman suggested honoring the lifelong advocate for development and smaller government by naming the Moral Courage Award for Hughes. Critics protested, saying Hughes bought government support for a pro-growth agenda. In July, after news of Hughes' tax problems broke, his family asked the commission to remove his name from the award. "My father would have been honored yet humbled to have his name associated with the Moral Courage Award," Shea Hughes wrote to Norman. "At the same time, he would not have wanted that association if it caused any dissension, controversy or embarrassment to his family." With these words, the late Ralph Hughes joins the Cement Manufacturer and Rock Miner Hall of Shame. (click "read more" for the full story.)
IRS: Estate owes $300M
By Alexandra Zayas, Times Staff Writer
Published Friday, July 31, 2009
TAMPA — The late Ralph Hughes, a Republican businessman whose name was recently removed from Hillsborough County's Moral Courage Award, died owing almost $300 million in corporate and income taxes and penalties, the IRS said in a complaint filed Thursday.
The IRS also alleges that while his concrete firms were paying no income taxes, they distributed huge sums to shareholders "and/or their controlled companies.''
The concrete businesses transferred more than $61 million to Hughes, who was their director and majority shareholder, according to the suit.
The IRS says those transfers were "fraudulent'' under state law and designed "to hinder, delay or defraud creditors'' of Cast-Crete and Florida Engineered Construction Products Corp., like the IRS.
And the agency says Hughes tried to conceal them.
Hughes' estate has disputed the government's claim, which was filed against Wachovia Bank, which represents the estate.
"My dad paid taxes on every dime he took," Shea Hughes said Friday. "My dad's good name and reputation need to be restored. He never cheated the government, never cheated anybody." The family has tax returns to prove that, he added, noting that his father didn't do the bookkeeping.
Last May, the IRS put Hughes' tax debt at $69.3 million. But it raised the number based on more research, the suit says.
Hughes' construction product companies, Cast-Crete and FECP Corp., did not file federal corporate income tax returns or make any payments from 2003 to 2007, the government says.
For at least four years, the IRS says, it made repeated attempts to get the returns, determine the amount due and collect taxes. It has also requested information and communicated with the companies' president, employees and shareholders, it says.
Now, the IRS says further examination of records holds the companies liable for about $128 million in taxes, $117 million in penalties and $54 million in interest — for a grand total of more than $299 million.
The complaint also says that even though they weren't paying taxes, the companies were distributing essentially all their cash to shareholders and controlled companies. As of March 1, the complaint says, Hughes' companies had only $11 million to pay toward the tax debt.
The companies were rendered insolvent after those transfers, according to the complaint.
Of the $118 million in distributions, Hughes got more than $61 million. The complaint said that "in an apparent effort to conceal the nature and extent of the distributions," he failed to report $27.9 million on his personal income taxes and reported more than $16 million as interest payments by his companies where there was no underlying debt.
Because of the transfers, Hughes is liable for an additional $2.3 million in taxes, $464,000 in penalties and $792,000 in interest, the IRS says.
David H. Simmons, an attorney representing Hughes' beneficiaries, says the estate paid $17 million in taxes a few months ago. He says the numbers being cited by the IRS are incorrect.
"Wholly incorrect," Simmons said. "Completely incorrect. All the taxes have been paid."
Hughes was 77 when he died in June 2008. That fall, Hillsborough County Commissioner Jim Norman suggested honoring the lifelong advocate for development and smaller government by naming the Moral Courage Award for Hughes. Critics protested, saying Hughes bought government support for a pro-growth agenda.
In July, after news of Hughes' tax problems broke, his family asked the commission to remove his name from the award.
"My father would have been honored yet humbled to have his name associated with the Moral Courage Award," Shea Hughes wrote to Norman. "At the same time, he would not have wanted that association if it caused any dissension, controversy or embarrassment to his family."
© 2009 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111
Contact Us | Join Us | Advertise with Us | Subscribe to the St. Petersburg Times
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In West Dade, rock mining activities have violated federal law protecting endangered species and the Everglades. These violations of law triggered some of the most important litigation in the US, revealing the miserable performance of federal agencies like the US Army Corps of Engineers. Rock miners have not only failed to live up to their commitments for mitigating impacts on wetlands, they have stifled dissent at county commissions and with the public. In Miami-Dade, rock mining has imposed huge liabilities on drinking water supplies and costs on taxpayers. In South Dade, rock mining has sped salt water intrusion. In Palm Beach County, rock mines were the backdrop for a land use deal during the first term of Gov. Jeb Bush that helped push the cost of land acquisition for environmental purposes into the stratosphere, giving heart and hope to land speculators everywhere-- but especially speculators who were Repubican. Rock mines are popping up in the ambitions of Big Sugar to extract further profit from the Everglades. They also, it so happens, provide the backdrop for criminal prosecution and imprisonment of Palm Beach County Commissioners. The cumulative influence of rock miners has suppressed science related to the security of aquifers and encouraged the vast oversupply of roads and suburbs during the late, great building boom that is now in cinders.
So here is the latest on a once Republican (curiously, all rock miners appear to be big Republicans) rock miner lauded in the Tampa Bay area. "Hughes was 77 when he died in June 2008. That fall, Hillsborough County Commissioner Jim Norman suggested honoring the lifelong advocate for development and smaller government by naming the Moral Courage Award for Hughes. Critics protested, saying Hughes bought government support for a pro-growth agenda. In July, after news of Hughes' tax problems broke, his family asked the commission to remove his name from the award. "My father would have been honored yet humbled to have his name associated with the Moral Courage Award," Shea Hughes wrote to Norman. "At the same time, he would not have wanted that association if it caused any dissension, controversy or embarrassment to his family." With these words, the late Ralph Hughes joins the Cement Manufacturer and Rock Miner Hall of Shame. (click "read more" for the full story.)IRS: Estate owes $300M
By Alexandra Zayas, Times Staff Writer
Published Friday, July 31, 2009
TAMPA — The late Ralph Hughes, a Republican businessman whose name was recently removed from Hillsborough County's Moral Courage Award, died owing almost $300 million in corporate and income taxes and penalties, the IRS said in a complaint filed Thursday.
The IRS also alleges that while his concrete firms were paying no income taxes, they distributed huge sums to shareholders "and/or their controlled companies.''
The concrete businesses transferred more than $61 million to Hughes, who was their director and majority shareholder, according to the suit.
The IRS says those transfers were "fraudulent'' under state law and designed "to hinder, delay or defraud creditors'' of Cast-Crete and Florida Engineered Construction Products Corp., like the IRS.
And the agency says Hughes tried to conceal them.
Hughes' estate has disputed the government's claim, which was filed against Wachovia Bank, which represents the estate.
"My dad paid taxes on every dime he took," Shea Hughes said Friday. "My dad's good name and reputation need to be restored. He never cheated the government, never cheated anybody." The family has tax returns to prove that, he added, noting that his father didn't do the bookkeeping.
Last May, the IRS put Hughes' tax debt at $69.3 million. But it raised the number based on more research, the suit says.
Hughes' construction product companies, Cast-Crete and FECP Corp., did not file federal corporate income tax returns or make any payments from 2003 to 2007, the government says.
For at least four years, the IRS says, it made repeated attempts to get the returns, determine the amount due and collect taxes. It has also requested information and communicated with the companies' president, employees and shareholders, it says.
Now, the IRS says further examination of records holds the companies liable for about $128 million in taxes, $117 million in penalties and $54 million in interest — for a grand total of more than $299 million.
The complaint also says that even though they weren't paying taxes, the companies were distributing essentially all their cash to shareholders and controlled companies. As of March 1, the complaint says, Hughes' companies had only $11 million to pay toward the tax debt.
The companies were rendered insolvent after those transfers, according to the complaint.
Of the $118 million in distributions, Hughes got more than $61 million. The complaint said that "in an apparent effort to conceal the nature and extent of the distributions," he failed to report $27.9 million on his personal income taxes and reported more than $16 million as interest payments by his companies where there was no underlying debt.
Because of the transfers, Hughes is liable for an additional $2.3 million in taxes, $464,000 in penalties and $792,000 in interest, the IRS says.
David H. Simmons, an attorney representing Hughes' beneficiaries, says the estate paid $17 million in taxes a few months ago. He says the numbers being cited by the IRS are incorrect.
"Wholly incorrect," Simmons said. "Completely incorrect. All the taxes have been paid."
Hughes was 77 when he died in June 2008. That fall, Hillsborough County Commissioner Jim Norman suggested honoring the lifelong advocate for development and smaller government by naming the Moral Courage Award for Hughes. Critics protested, saying Hughes bought government support for a pro-growth agenda.
In July, after news of Hughes' tax problems broke, his family asked the commission to remove his name from the award.
"My father would have been honored yet humbled to have his name associated with the Moral Courage Award," Shea Hughes wrote to Norman. "At the same time, he would not have wanted that association if it caused any dissension, controversy or embarrassment to his family."
© 2009 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111
Contact Us | Join Us | Advertise with Us | Subscribe to the St. Petersburg Times
Privacy Policy | Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright
Saturday, August 01, 2009
17 Foot Python Slithered Onto The Property of Okeechobee Florida Veterinary Clinic.
This is the biggest one yet! The constrictor stretched 17 feet, 2 inches and measured 26 inches around at its thickest point. It weighed in at a staggering 207 pounds. Florida is overrun with this invasive species. Pet owners in Florida are releasing the critters to a very hospitable breeding ground.
The veterinarian killed the snake with head shots from a .22 caliber rifle the Miami Herald said. Though it's illegal to shoot them in state wildlife management areas or federal lands, the FWC says pythons can be legally shot on private property.
County Commissioner Katy Sorenson Strikes Back. By Geniusofdespair
You will remember (LOL, like you actually would) my July 27th post asking why County Commissioner Katy Sorenson joined the Vile Natacha Seijas led Unreformable Majority in a vote on adjourning the meeting without setting a tax rate. Sorenson defends her vote to the Miami Herald Editorial Board in a letter to the Editor today: (Damn, I can't find it online...I have to type it?? nah, it is Saturday, I will scan).
On Miami 21 by Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk
The following was sent out as an email to wide distribution and is reprinted with the author's permission.
"At long last Miami 21 is coming before the City Commission for first reading. As an observer of the process you can understand that there are a variety of naysayers, from those who are fearful of such a complex and thorough change, to those who feel the effort has fallen short of acceptable goals, to those whose individual interest is at odds with city-wide benefit. I am writing to ask you to participate in the City Commission hearing August 6th at 2:00PM in support of the proposed zoning code.
This is a code to prepare the city for a transit-oriented, walkable, energy-conserving future. This effort has had extensive public participation and has been thoroughly responsive to individual concerns as they have been raised. (please click, 'read more')
Is it 100% perfect? Probably all would agree that it is not. However, it is a great advance over the existing code. Some of these advances are: an entirely new Chapter 23 for historic preservation that includes transfer of development rights; a response to neighborhood preservationists with a smaller single-family building envelope responding to the outcry over Mc Mansions; more appropriate transitions from commercial corridors to residential neighborhoods, a new medium-density urban townhouse and low rise apartment type; higher density building types providing wider sidewalks and pedestrian passages in overly long blocks; building liners to conceal garages; a new use type allowing live-work – including in industrial areas. Miami 21 also includes a Public Benefit Program designed to assist the City with its growing needs in terms of affordable housing, parks and open spaces, green buildings, civic infrastructure and brownfield redevelopments.
The overall Miami 21 project includes as well the Parks and Public Spaces Master Plan (by Goody Clancy), the Climate Action Plan, the Bicycle Action Plan, designation of new historic districts – all very much coordinated with the proposed zoning code.
Miami 21 cannot satisfy all its critics. However, it represents tremendous improvement over current regulations. I hope you can join us at the City Commission meeting and/or write a letter to City Commission. We need possible voices to give our City Commissioners the confidence to support the code. Please let me know if I can do something to enable your support."
"At long last Miami 21 is coming before the City Commission for first reading. As an observer of the process you can understand that there are a variety of naysayers, from those who are fearful of such a complex and thorough change, to those who feel the effort has fallen short of acceptable goals, to those whose individual interest is at odds with city-wide benefit. I am writing to ask you to participate in the City Commission hearing August 6th at 2:00PM in support of the proposed zoning code.This is a code to prepare the city for a transit-oriented, walkable, energy-conserving future. This effort has had extensive public participation and has been thoroughly responsive to individual concerns as they have been raised. (please click, 'read more')
Is it 100% perfect? Probably all would agree that it is not. However, it is a great advance over the existing code. Some of these advances are: an entirely new Chapter 23 for historic preservation that includes transfer of development rights; a response to neighborhood preservationists with a smaller single-family building envelope responding to the outcry over Mc Mansions; more appropriate transitions from commercial corridors to residential neighborhoods, a new medium-density urban townhouse and low rise apartment type; higher density building types providing wider sidewalks and pedestrian passages in overly long blocks; building liners to conceal garages; a new use type allowing live-work – including in industrial areas. Miami 21 also includes a Public Benefit Program designed to assist the City with its growing needs in terms of affordable housing, parks and open spaces, green buildings, civic infrastructure and brownfield redevelopments.
The overall Miami 21 project includes as well the Parks and Public Spaces Master Plan (by Goody Clancy), the Climate Action Plan, the Bicycle Action Plan, designation of new historic districts – all very much coordinated with the proposed zoning code.
Miami 21 cannot satisfy all its critics. However, it represents tremendous improvement over current regulations. I hope you can join us at the City Commission meeting and/or write a letter to City Commission. We need possible voices to give our City Commissioners the confidence to support the code. Please let me know if I can do something to enable your support."
Now this is cute! By Geniusofdespair
I am so tired of looking at pictures of kids and having to say they are cute. This is what a cute kid looks like.
This kid, waiting to go back in a pool, has attitude. Love the body language. Love the photo taken by Carles Trainor Jr. for the Miami Herald. If there is a race, you just know this is the kid to beat.
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