Planning for the End of the World. By Geniusofdespair

Buburuza A site with a little of everything.

I finally got around to planning for the end of the world scheduled for December 21st. I started by trying to figure out if it was likely to happen. This would be my second time planning for the end of the world (remember the rapture May 21st 2011?). I found this article that said yes it would end this time: Seven Reasons the World will end. It was pretty interesting. But, the other major article released from this same site (Buburuza) Top 10 Giant Natural Cleavage 2011, was far more interesting.

Now, exactly what was I planning for today...I totally forgot.

A Tale Of Woe From My Health Insurance "Provider": AETNA ... by gimleteye

I purchase my own family insurance. Both my wife and I are healthy, with standard, middle-aged wear and tear. We exercise regularly. Eat simply. You get the point. We have 60,000 miles on the vehicle, in a manner of speaking.

I went online to fill out the application for a lower deductible from my current provider, AETNA. I was quoted, online, $1100 per month. The online application required me to provide detailed healthy history and credit card information.

A year ago, when I increased my deductible because of the regular cost increases, no review was required. But when I went to shop lowering my deductible, AETNA required a FULL review as though mine were a new application and as if they didn't already have access to my full health history.

After my wife and I spent two hours on the phone (aggravating?, you tell me), and the company through a third party vendor ("Hello, I am here to ask you questions about your health history. I am a certified medical doctor.") went through our health history with a fine toothed comb, the initial deductible re-materialized 50 percent higher from the online quote: from $1100 to $1800 per month.

My current AETNA policy (with the $10K deductible) is a quarter, of that cost, so when the AETNA representative called to tell me I had been "accepted", I declined.

I want to repeat this: I declined. I also made clear that I wanted to keep my existing policy. "Oh, nothing will happen to your existing policy," the AETNA representative politely told me. I didn't believe her.

To make sure I wouldn't lose my existing policy, after the call was over, I immediately called AETNA billing, to be sure the "new" policy wasn't automatically put into effect and to emphasize for a second time, that I intended to keep the policy with its high deductible: $10,000 per individual and $20,000 per family.

In other words, I declined the new coverage to two AETNA representatives on separate phone calls. I'm safe, right?

Two days later, I received an email that AETNA charged my credit card $1800 for the new policy. It was on a Saturday.

I called the AETNA help desk, but it was closed. "Business hours are Monday through Friday, 8AM to 5PM etc. etc." So I sent AETNA customer service an email immediately, complaining.

So let's review this. The AETNA billing department was closed on Saturday, and yet the AETNA computer had billed me $1800.

A day later, on Sunday, I received a reply that my credit card would be credited in 5-7 business days. It still hasn't been credited.

In my opinion, what my health care provider did constitutes theft. Theft, as clearly as if someone stole my wallet. A little more sophisticated, but theft nonetheless.

As for what my $10,000 deductible gets us? You tell me, and I'd especially like to hear from the Tea Party crazies who believe that health care reform is a communist conspiracy.

Inbreeding In Aventura. By Geniusofdespair

The Biscayne Times has a great article about Aventura, "When Oversight is Overlooked." As far as the inbreeding goes, Biscayne Times reporter Jay Beskin said:

"...the commission exercises direct oversight and control over three municipal positions: the city manager, the city clerk, and the city attorney. None of these positions is answerable to the other. The purpose for this is to ensure there is system of checks and balances in our city, and that accountability rests solely with the commission.

Yet the city clerk, who is married to the manager, may have taken direct orders from him with respect to the allegedly illegal custody of school records. Has the clerk in fact improperly taken direction from the manager?

Not surprisingly, the manager’s son is employed by the city attorney, which is the private law firm of Weiss Serota."

Mad Man: Architect Bernardo Fort-Brescia. By Geniusofdespair

Walter Michot/Miami Herald Staff Photo of Architect Bernardo Fort-Brescia vs. Becky Matkov

I know Becky Matkov. I have seen her speak at dozens of meetings and was on a Board with her. We have had numerous conversations. She is the definition of benign. I have always found her to be gracious and polite. Therefore, I was surprised to see a renown architect displaying this kind of anger towards this reserved woman at a public meeting at the City of Miami. What does he do at home and in the office?  If I were Becky, I would have been doing more with that pen.

The Herald reported about Bernardo Fort-Brescia:

Shortly afterward, during a break, a red-faced Fort-Brescia approached Matkov and began jabbing his finger in her face while shouting at her and Florida International University architecture professor Sandra Suarez. Fort-Brescia said he was “offended’’ that Suarez had used a quote “out of context’’ from an article by his wife, Arquitectonica co-principal Laurinda Spear, about the pressing need to save MiMo architecture. Other Genting consultants had to pull Fort-Brescia away.

On Thursday, county commission should tell FPL: no, to more nuclear at Turkey Point ... by gimleteye

Even FPL "accepts" the reality of sea level rise in its plan for new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point in Miami-Dade County. But the sea level rise FPL predicts falls short of science.

FPL has had its way with the Miami Dade county commission on permitting issues requiring local approval. But that was before $40 billion in damages from Superstorm Sandy. That was before new evidence of sea level rise: US A1A washing away in Fort Lauderdale, Alton Road flooding on ordinary high tides, and extreme weather events across the nation. In other words: we know what is coming because climate change is here and now.

For a lay person, it is not hard to understand the consequences. Sea level rise isn't "disputed". It is not a matter of "what if's". Or even a question of "when". (For those interested in details, read yesterday's post and watch the PBS Frontline "Climate of Denial".)

To date, despite millions invested by the county in reports, science and data, not much has percolated through to elected representatives in planning and protecting public health and welfare, not to mention taxpayers and property owners, from sea level rise.

A recent Miami Herald editorial -- commenting on the importance of the multi-billion dollar settlement between the EPA and the county on its wastewater treatment upgrade -- planted its flag firmly on the side of science and evidence that seas are rising. There couldn't be a clearer time to take a stand.

On Thursday morning, the commission serving Florida's most populous and politically influential county has a new chance to prove its capacity to adapt to changing circumstances. In a quasi-judicial hearing, the commissioners will decide whether to approve "an unusual use permit" for a major sewage treatment plant to provide "clean" water to cool the new nuclear reactors -- in the middle of high quality wetlands -- and for a back up cooling system that would draw water from under Biscayne National Park.

This is the time for the county commission to block $20 billion in infrastructure at sea level -- the projected FPL cost.

FPL's calculation of sea level rise by the end of the century is roughly half of accepted science estimates. But recent reports are dashing earlier models. The rate of change in the climate is occurring far faster than predicted only a few years ago. Estimates of "only" 3 feet by the end of the century, or the one and a half feet predicted by FPL's planning scenario, will likely fall by the wayside. Dr. Harold Wanless, chairman of the Department of Geologic Sciences at the University of Miami, states that the rate of change is going to be closer to six feet than three feet in earlier IPCC modeling.

Whether three or six feet, FPL's Turkey Point will be stranded. The rate base will have to retreat from low lands that define South Florida's landscapes.

If ever there was a time to take a second look at new nuclear at Turkey Point by the county commission: this is it.

News about the $40 billion cost of Superstorm Sandy is now superceded by reports that agencies, for nearly two decades, had warned elected officials of exactly the scenario that unfolded in New York and New Jersey.

Obviously the political will could not rise to the challenge, then. Miami-Dade County government officials are in the same boat.

Less than ten years ago, local commissioners ordered the most far reaching study of county-scale watersheds ever conducted in the United States and promptly shelved the findings when they irritated special interests, concerned about the effects on development. Things change, or do they? Not even the housing bust has dashed the hopes of the status quo for new growth in wetlands.

We can't keep kicking the can down the road on climate change, when our roads are being washed away by high tides. We can't stick our heads in the sand, when the beaches are washing way, too.

Conservationists in Miami-Dade have been frustrated by the FPL planning onslaught, where time after time, elected officials have closed their eyes, shut their ears, and covered their mouths. Kudos, that they keep trying. It is time for the Herald and the public to weigh in, against new nuclear reactors at Turkey Point.

FPL's Turkey Point is not just the wrong place, it is the worst place in the United States to put new nuclear.

Unfortunately, early cost recovery, approved by state government and elected officials, keeps FPL staff and executives on the boil. They are literally programmed by profits to do the wrong thing.

The county commission, on Thursday morning, could take a big, big step forward by denying FPL's request.

Who is Lobbyist Ron Book Lobbying for in 2012? By Geniusofdespair

Inexplicably, there is a billboard honoring Lobbyist Ron Book on the Southbound side of I95. Did Ron Book pay for it? As I drove by I couldn't see any dedication to him on the giant billboard. Was he being congratulated by himself?

It is time to look at who Ron Book is lobbying for in 2012:


County Government - 19 Cients (State Government's 73 Clients follow after the County list)

MIAMI PROJECT/BUONICONTI FUND TO CURE PARALYSIS 11/6/2012
RED LIGHT CAMERA ISSUE Open

BMG MONEY INC 11/1/2012
NONE Open

AIRCRAFT SERVICES INTERNATIONAL GROUP INC 8/15/2012
BAGGAGE HANDLING SYSTEM Open

ALTRIA CLIENT SERVICES, INC 6/1/2012
FLAVORED TOBACCO Open

SECURE WRAP OF MIAMI INC 5/14/2012
LUGGAGE WRAP AT MIAMI INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT Open

AMERICAN TRAFFIC SOLUTIONS "ATS" 7/25/2011
RED LIGHT CAMERAS Open

MV TRANSPORTATION INC 3/3/2011
STS RFP 709 Open

ALLIANCE ONE 1/19/2011
COLLECTIONS Open

NATIONAL HEALTH TRANSPORT, INC. 7/9/2010
NONE Open

SUN LIFE STADIUM 7/7/2010
NONE Open

From the Senate floor: Anger against climate deniers in US Senate ... By gimleteye

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse

If you have time, watch the recent Frontline episode, 'Climate of Doubt'. The episode effectively illuminates how and why Republicans, mainly, mobilized to marginalize indisputable evidence of man-made causes and impacts of climate change.

One of the key climate deniers is Florida Senator Marco Rubio. Denier Rubio refuses to meet with climate change scientists. The following speech delivered last week by US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on the floor of the US Senate, takes the deniers to task Read it here:

The Critic: Mel Brooks, a blast from the past ...

Absentee Ballot Rejections in Miami Dade County. By Geniusofdespair

The Miami Herald reported that Miami Dade County Elections rejected almost 2,500 absentee ballots of which 1,442 were post marked late. Some ballots took weeks to get to the Elections Department. 458 had no signatures. If your ballot was rejected, Elections said that they will contact you by mail.  Overall 9,100 absentee ballots were rejected in 5 Counties in Florida.

I was told the Miami Herald won't let you go to links soon unless you pay a fee. If you don't pay, that means it is up to people like me to give you the news because I will pay and you won't be able to check my accuracy. God help you.  Read Gimleteye's post below about this very subject.  The Miami Herald contacted 1,000 people for the absentee ballot article today. I can't do that kind of reporting. We need the local newspaper for stories like this.  Join the debate...

To Pay Or Not-To-Pay For The Miami Herald ... by gimleteye

I am glad, the fawning coverage of Art Basel in the Miami Herald is bound to taper off, after today or tomorrow. What would I prefer? Some critical, informative coverage rather than celebrity sightings or party reviews.

At any rate, soon I might not be reading anything at all from the city's only daily newspaper. The Miami Herald is on the verge of retreating behind a paid-only web availability. It is shutting itself to paid subscribers in bold move. A Last Stand. It will invite competition from other news sources that don't share its legacy cost burdens.

The paper's hemmoraging fortunes are not strictly the fault of the internet and readers trusting other non-pay websites.

In the case of McClatchy and The Miami Herald: the cause is debt. McClatchy, to the Herald's former owners and shareholders, was like the Art Basel billionaire playing with house money and the former Herald shareholders, and executives who benefited from profit sharing compensation packages, were like gallery owners touting art objects priced in the millions.

How much damage was done to the public interest, when Miami Herald owners and top shareholders and executives in profit sharing glommed onto the housing boom that resulted, finally, in the biggest crash since the Great Depression? That is so, yesterday's news.

It is a disputable point, and in main part, the same as the one raised by Jorge Perez -- the real estate developer who was too big to fail notwithstanding the wreckage he stood behind of downtown Miami and Miami politics -- in the New York Times today, "In Miami, Using the South American Playbook".

Perez, in the Times, registers surprise at the asset flipping that happened during the speculative wave that wrecked Miami's chances to emerge from its status as a fly-by destination.

Walking-away-from history is a common thread in Miami. It is a city sustained by forgetful-ness. This is not going to be apparent or even of importance to the buyers of real estate from Latin and South America whose reverse migration is wholly accountable for propping up the city from confronting exactly what the speculators did to Miami during the housing boom.

On days the Herald is good, it can be very good. When it's not, you can read the entire paper in less time than it takes to read this blog post.

The role of The Miami Herald is less like the sun that lights our day than the obstacle that blocks our view of the sea.

I pay for The New York Times, daily. The paper is indispensable, because it offers critical coverage of news and events. I can't find that in The Miami Herald on most days, and because of its on-and-off character -- when the paper disappears from open access on the web -- I am divided about what to do.

Army Corps Philosophy is: DON'T Kiss. By Geniusofdespair

Conversation overheard at an Army Corps of Engineer's office.

No Government agency uses more acronyms than the Army Corps. The practice makes most of their long-winded documents unreadable. Apparently the only acronym that the Army Corps of Engineers does NOT ascribe to is: KISS  or "Keep It Simple Stupid". I looked randomly on the Army Corps Website and took 3 unrelated paragraphs to give you a taste of Army Corps speak:

The Service supports the BBCW Project NER Plan and the TSP as a first step in restoring the near shore waters of southwestern Biscayne Bay and the adjacent tidal wetlands. Even though the spatial extent envisioned by the Central and Southern Florida Comprehensive Review Study will not be realized by the NER Plan or the TSP, the redistribution of freshwater from harmful point source discharges to a more natural flow across the tidal wetlands to nearshore bay waters should improve habitat conditions in the project area. (Acronyms.)

The objectives of USACE’s scenario-based strategic planning exercise were to foster strategic thinking among senior leaders, create a culture that supports a strategic perspective, and produce a strategic plan that accounts for future uncertainties. The major outcome of this process was a set of six cross-cutting strategies that are robust across all scenarios, USACE business programs, and market segments. Collectively, these cross-cutting strategies comprise the elements of an Overarching Strategy, Integrated Water Resources Management, and provide the means to successfully accomplish the USACE Civil Works mission.  (In one paragraph they use the word, or form of the word, 'strategy' 7 times).

Perform, or cause to be performed, any investigations for hazardous substances that are determined necessary to identify the existence and extent of any hazardous substances regulated under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), 42 USC 9601-9675, that may exist in, on, or under lands, easements or rights-of-way necessary for the construction and operation and maintenance (O&M) of the Project; except that the non-Federal sponsor shall not perform such investigations on lands, easements, or rights-of-way that the Government determines to be subject to the navigation servitude without prior specific written direction by the Government.  (This paragraph is one sentence).

Now picture trying to read a report with sometimes 40 or 50 pages of this. Worse: sitting in on an Army Corps meeting is pure torture.