Long Island, New York This Morning. By Geniusofdespair

Video of the snowfall, 28 inches by my brothers estimation...although the TV said it was 30 inches.

My brother said he used a snow blower to remove the snow:

Watch the Snow Storm in Manhattan Live Cam. By Geniusofdespair

46th Street & Broadway...updates every couple of seconds. Also Columbus Circle

Link to Live Cam in Manhattan.

Redland Farmers Pissed: on Channel 10 TV News. By Geniusofdespair

See the latest on 'Redland residents get screwed' with a proposed dump they don't want: Channel 10 Video.

We wrote about this Feb. 6th.

County Chain Link Fence Saga. By Geniusofdespair

YouTube



Lynda Bell known for her trailer park mentality when it comes to neighborhood ambiance doesn't disappoint with her being the prime sponsor to repeal the chain link fence ordinance that prohibited chain link fences in the front of homes, for unicorporated Miami Dade County. The current county ordinance for unincorporated Miami Dade prohibits chain link fences from being erected in the front of your home - but not the back - in an effort to beautify neighborhoods.

Some Commissioners with large unincorporated areas supported the ban. Many cities have similar bans. Javier Souto has a district that is entirely unincorporated and he supported the ban.  Lynda Bell, seeing herself as the supreme arbiter on just about everything, decided she knew what was best for Souto's district.  He sees chain link fences as jail-like. I just see them as ugly, but can relate to the jail-like look.  Lynda Bell thinks they look great.  Commissioners Monestime, Suarez, Souto and Zapata voted no but the 'Yes' votes prevailed. Heyman was absent.  Uglier neighborhoods, here we come!

I just think Bell takes a lot on, affecting OTHER DISTRICTS without regard for the other commissioners and their constituents. Her tunnel vision: I like it so others be damned. Tea party activist, Bell is taking on one regulation at a time, drop by drop...

Chain link fence in front of  a house in Hialeah. They apparently have no ban on fences in front of houses in Hialeah. Nice house, lots of cement and metal.

Lynda Bell's Neighbor's Chain Link Fences, Bell must like the view.

I wasn't surprised to see that Bell herself did have a chain link fence.

Lynda Bell's Chain Link Fence

Dolphin's Owner Does NOT Need Our Money. By Geniusofdespair

Related Cos, the New York developer founded by billionaire Stephen Ross, and its partner Gulf Capital plan to build a $1 billion shopping mall focusing on department stores in Abu Dhabi.

Gulf Related, the joint venture undertaking the project, is also aiming construct two towers connected to the mall that will include a 300-room hotel as well as 120 serviced apartments, Kenneth Himmel, president and chief executive officer of Related Cos told reporters in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

This money should be invested in the Dolphins Stadium by him, Ross, not us.

She is Back: Vile Natacha. By Geniusofdespair

Natacha Seijas' first time before the County Commission since her recall was Feb. 5th, 2013. Looks like the 'Love Fest' is over between Natacha Seijas and her protege Lynda Bell.

Seijas went before the County Commission February 5th, against part of Lynda's resolution. The subject of the resolution is not so important as the give and take at the end. Subtle, but it is there - a crack in the armor.  If Natacha was on the dais she would have bullied Lynda but she isn't so she couldn't. Looks like Bell is giving it back now. You can skip to the end if in a time crunch but the rest is typical Natacha, tooting her own horn, entertaining.


Video on YouTube

Note there was no public hearing but Natacha was allowed to speak. Natacha knows that Bell's resolution will short change the Y -- where she works or at least did work. Bell wouldn't acknowledge that. She went on to say (not on my video) - a slap on Natacha - that she wanted to give her portion to another group not the Y - Patches (couldn't find them on Sunbiz). Totally uncalled for unless you are trying to twist the knife a little in Natacha. Natacha tried to speak again to Lynda - correcting her - but Sosa cut her off. Around 2:39 on the counter. Interesting.

In Homestead Flags Rule. By Geniusofdespair

Homestead, the second nastiest city in Miami Dade County, losing its number 1 spot to Palmetto Bay, is having a Mayoral election this year. These are the rumored candidates.

Councilman Steve Shelley, Current Mayor Steve Bateman and Vice Mayor Jon Burgess

As Lynda Bell found out in Confederate-Flag-Gate,  flags rule in Homestead. That is why I had to add flags to Jeff Porters photo.

Jeff Porter

I heard that if Jon Burgess doesn't run Porter will. My preference would be for George Gretsas to keep his job as City Manager. That means Bateman can go as he is NOT a supporter of the Manager.  I don't think Shelley will run as he told me he wouldn't  last month. Burgess is still on the fence. Get off the fence Jon, Homestead needs you.

Also read the predictions in Homestead is Home.

Redland Farmers are Pissed Over Proposed Dump. By Geniusofdespair

Is it any wonder the residents in the Redland are angry? Look at where the proposed dump is -- in the middle of the farming area, many surrounding property owners have been there over 30 years.

When 80 people show up in the Redland to protest a dump that is like 2,000 people in your neighborhood. People are pissed! Here is a letter to the Mayor that Eye on Miami obtained. I don't think that Carlos Gimenez is going to like the tone of the letter - he can be prickly - but hey, these are mad farmers and I don't blame them and I totally agree with nixing the dump:

With all due respect, Mayor Gimenez, and Deputy Mayor Hudak,

I would like county officials to understand that we are not your Feudal Serfs, you are not the Lords of the Kingdom of Redland. We are RURAL CITIZENS, we pay our taxes, and we deserve to be represented, as a community just as judiciously as any urban or suburban community in Miami-Dade County.

Redland FARM Area is NOT a depository for any and all services and headquarters you feel you need to expand (the dump description includes ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDINGS). Redland residents rallied to prevent that 10 ACRES from becoming a police station, and then a fire station. And we certainly don't want a DUMP there, on our "back 40."

The algorithms you've been using to determine "public interest" do not equate out here in Redland FARM Area. When 50 people show up for a meeting, that represents a lot of territory! And I've seen the county spin that number to indicate lack of interest (ie: opposition). I attended a West Kendall Community Council Meeting, during Thanksgiving week! a few years back. MORE than 25 of us managed to find out about it, from word of mouth and e-mailing each other, and showed up to OPPOSE the proposition allowing the infamous Lennar Devourment Corpulation (remember Country Walk?) to build behind the UDB! 

After the meeting, the county announced that such a low number in attendance indicated a "lack of interest", with no mention of the shameful inadequacies in "Information and Outreach" to people who care.

Ethics violations by counsel members were soon exposed by the Herald, and rules were changed - but not in time to stop Lennar's "Kendall Square" - under construction right now on farmland. So, another giant chunk of Redland FARM Area was lost to devious developers. And what they are erecting are big, ugly monstrosities. Go see for yourself.

Redland FARM Area must be preserved as an AGRICULTURAL COMMUNITY, with its "Redland Raised" produce, huge groves and nurseries, exotic koi farms and orchid houses, animal farms, horse ranches and feed stores!

People from your side of the UDB, come to our side of the UDB to get away - not to drive by a 10 ACRE DUMP!

Redland FARM Area - Keep it Ag.

Pat Milone
Native Miamian - Redland resident since1978

FPL Dirty Laundry. By Geniusofdespair

Jeff Bartel, former FPL staffer, is not new to Eye on Miami. Gimleteye wrote about him February 3, 2011. FPL parent company Next Error Era is suing Jeff Bartel but it looks like this could get very interesting. According to the Miami Herald Bartel accused FPL officials of fraud, therefore violating his severance package:

"NextEra’s lawsuit says Bartel breached a non-disparagement clause in his severance agreement and misrepresented himself to induce the company to offer him a severance agreement. Under the terms of the lawsuit, NextEra is demanding that Bartel lose his severance package and be forced to return the money he has already collected.

But Bartel’s lawyer said his client plans to give the severance money back anyway so he can be free from the gag order in the separation agreement."

Get free of that gag order Jeff and then give us a call.

Review, Manny Diaz self serves at Univ of Miami ... By Harry Emilio Gottlieb

I attended last night’s event. It was a Love Fest For Manny. Donna Shalala introduced him and Elizabeth Plater Zyberk interviewed him. Manny looked like he was rehearsing for a job interview with the Obama administration or preparing his spiel for the FL Governor’s race. There was no mention of his support for the Marlins Stadium Funding Fiasco, the illegal rezoning of much of our community like that of the Mercy Hospital property to perpetuate an even greater glut of condos or the dissolving of the Marine Industry on the Miami River for the purpose of Gentrification. There was a brief Q& A. But I was not offered the microphone. Will see if he runs for Governor’s office or gets invited to join the O administration. I hear he cannot get elected to a state wide office. I fear that outside of Miami they will see him as a pretty sophisticated Latino with a lot more charisma and achievements than Rubio. I personally think he has done more harm than good in Miami. Spinning his career as Miami’s Visionary Green and Urbanely Astute Mayor, is a little like praising Romero Britto as Picasso or Andy Warhol!

Pizza Quest, for New York Style Pizza. By Geniusofdespair

I have done at least 8 pizza reviews. I am from New York so I have been on a search for good pizza in South Florida and every time I find something interesting I let you know. I liked this pizza and waiting for it watching the ocean was a bonus.

This is my first video Pizza Review. Don't be afraid to watch it, it is only 48 seconds. I went to Primanti Bros. a pizza joint originally from Pittsburgh. This branch is one block South of Sunrise Blvd. on A1A. Not many tables, but it is open 24 hours. Can't say that about many pizza places. The pizza man did throw the pizza dough in the air I just didn't catch it, I was too busy trying to memorize his rhythm routine in stretching the dough.

I asked the guy making the pizza how he could get such a thin crust without making holes in the dough. The pizza maker said: "I probably make more pizza in an hour than you have made in your lifetime."  I thought about it for a few minutes, running complicated calculations in my head...

He was right!

Jeb Bush, education, and private profits ... By gimleteye

The Miami Herald recently reported on Jeb Bush's advocacy for charter schools. The occasion was a speech to the Arkansas legislature. The Herald ought to have alerted readers, lest it think Bush is a selfless champion for good schools, that there are deep financial arrangements underpinning the movement for which he advocates.

Here is the Herald, on Jan 30th 2013, "One of Bush's legacies during his eight years as Florida governor, which ended in January 2007, was his overhaul of the state's education system. Bush has been a vocal supporter of vouchers, which allow students to attend private school using public funds, and charter schools," the Herald notes in the context of a speech recently given to the Arkansas legislature in support of the same kinds of initiatives bush supported in Florida.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/01/29/3206373/jeb-bush-urges-expanded-charters.html

To readers of the Herald report, the former governor sounds like a crusader: an image he has carefully polished despite a record of favoring insiders who benefited from outsourcing in Florida. Insiders like Al Cardenas who figured prominently in Bush campaigns and secured work for the water district in south Florida once that major state institution voted to outsource certain legal operations.

In Arkansas, Jeb! orated, "Our children can't wait for plodding, incremental change... We need disruptive change. We need to invest in new ideas, new approaches in education."

But charter schools have a very mixed record except for the one class with proven results: investors in charter schools.

But only a day after the Herald report, the Washington Post links the real economic issue of Bush's times, "E-mails link Bush foundation, corporations and education officials."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2013/01/30/e-mails-link-bush-foundation-corporations-and-education-officials/

The Herald quotes Bush in Arkansas, "Fifty-six years after the Little Rock Nine, our most disadvantaged kids are the ones least likely to receive a quality education when they're the ones who need it the most," Bush said at the rally, part of a daylong event held by A Plus Arkansas. "That is why access to a quality education is being called the civil rights issue of our time. It is also the economic issue of our time."

Bush, no surprise, leads a foundation with extraordinarily close ties to corporations and one of the chief entities deployed by the radical right to advance its agendas, ALEC, the American Legislative Exchange Council
According to the Post, "The Web site of the Foundation for Excellence in Education used to list some of their donors but no longer does and is not required to list all of its donors to the public under tax rules for 5013C organizations. However, it is known that the foundation has received support from for-profit companies K12 and Pearson and Amplify, as well as the nonprofit College Board.

"There are strong connections between FEE and the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), according to the nonprofit Center for Media and Democracy:

Aptly named FEE, Bush’s group is backed by many of the same for-profit school corporations that have funded ALEC and vote as equals with its legislators on templates to change laws governing America’s public schools. FEE is also bankrolled by many of the same hard-right foundations bent on privatizing public schools that have funded ALEC. And, they have pushed many of the same changes to the law, which benefit their corporate benefactors and satisfy the free market fundamentalism of the billionaires whose tax-deductible charities underwrite the agenda of these two groups.
FEE and ALEC also have had some of the same “experts” as members or staff, part of the revolving door between right-wing groups. They have also collaborated on the annualALEC education “report card” that grades states’ allegiance to their policy agenda higher than actual student performance. That distorted report card also rewards states that push ALEC’s beloved union-busting measures while giving low grades to states with students who actually perform best on standardized knowledge tests."

The Miami Herald notes that Arkansas Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe opposes the creation of an independent commission to consider charter applications. Arkansas has 18 open enrollment charter schools and 14 district conversion charter schools, which are public schools that have been converted to charters.

The members of the state Board of Education are appointed by the governor. Beebe said he believed the board has been open to charter schools and said that a 2011 state law that creates a sliding cap on the schools has given the state more flexibility.

"I don't think we need more government. I don't think we need to set up another layer of bureaucracy when I think the state board is doing a good job," Beebe said Tuesday.

But the facts of performance of charter schools are debatable. The huge amount of political capital expended on expanding charter schools follows the trail of real, tangible capital with billions of dollars in profit luring investors across the political spectrum. "A 2009 study by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University identified Arkansas as one of five states where reading and math gains were higher in charter schools than would have occurred in traditional schools. However, the study found that nationwide, students in charter schools were not performing as well as those in traditional schools.

Bush, the brother of former President George W. Bush, has been mentioned frequently as a potential Republican candidate for president in 2016, but he deflected any talk about his political future about Tuesday's rally with thecHerald.

"When asked whether he was thinking about running in 2016, he replied: "I'm thinking about trying to help places that are interested in reforming education."

It an interesting frame for the Herald story: a Democrat poking Republicans with their own arguments against government bureaucracy. A better tack would be to call out Republicans like Bush for using privatization to enrich political and industry insiders tied to the lobbying machine. Florida is exhibit A, and that is truly Jeb Bush's legacy.

Do Not Go To This Event. By Geniusofdespair

The Christian Family Coalition, according to Miami New Times:

The Christian Family Coalition may have a feel-good name, but make no mistake the group's founder and executive director Anthony Verdugo is something of the less successful, second coming of Anita Bryant. In 1977, Dade County passed an ordinance protecting homosexuals from discrimination at the workplace and in housing. Bryant lead a successful, high-profile campaign to have the ordinance repealed. Twenty years later, Miami-Dade once again passed a similar bill protecting homosexuals from discrimination. Verdugo helped lead a similar effort to have the new ordinance repealed by a referendum, but it was voted down by 56 percent of voters in 2002. In other words, his most extreme views haven't flown with Miami-Dade voters for at least the past decade.

That hasn't stopped Verdugo and his group from working to opposed gay rights at every turn. The group called Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen "an arrogant, anti-Family, homosexualist extremist" for her support of gay rights.

You may ask "why do these politicians go to an event hosted by Verdugo's group?" It is a good question. Don't go Oscar Braynon.

Annoying? By Geniusofdespair

When I write about some people, I am surprised at the comments that come in written on posts and in email. I also get comments verbally. Over the years, these are some of the people who seem to annoy people for one reason or another. I am leaving out most of the usual suspects such as lobbyists and politicians (Steve Bateman, Bruno Barreiro and Lynda Bell are a given).

From a Beacon Council Newsletter - Both Caustic Mayor Susan Gottlieb and Frank Nero

Pieter Bockweg - City of Miami CRA Director

Neisen Kasdin Former Mayor

Lucia Dougherty Lobbyist, Greenberg Traurig (Okay one lobbyist)

Johanna Faddis, Lynda Bell's Staffer

Alberto Ibarguen President of the Knight Foundation

Pollster Dario Moreno

Manny Alonso Poch - Charter School Owner

Comments in email only, no anonymous - geniusofdespair@yahoo.com. Don't need a free-for-all. Send your suggestions too!

Crespo looks at the "They Did Me Wrong Lawsuit." By Geniusofdespair

From Mayor Regaldo's Motion for an Extension (on the blog Crespogram).

Check out the Crespogram today. He takes a look at the lawsuit waged against Katherine Fernandez Rundle's office and Mayor Tomas Regalado by City of Miami Commissioner Michelle Spence Jones. He also has Fernandez-Rundle office's 3 legal responses to the lawsuit. Al Crespo said:

It becomes hard to tag a prosecutor with engaging in a bad faith prosecution when at least one individual is convicted of a crime associated with the alleged crimes of the elected official, and on the other hand, it’s hard to completely claim immunity from a bad faith prosecution if you convict someone of paying off an elected official, without also being able to convict the elected official for taking the payoff.

It’s little things like that that will make this case so interesting to watch, because unlike Miami-Dade Circuit Court where the first thing most insiders do is to go and check on who the judge’s campaign manager was, in federal court, where the judges are appointed and not susceptible to the alleged claims of ex parte communications that take place between Circuit Court judges and their campaign managers, there’s a better chance of decisions being made on the law. Plus Federal judges tend to be smarter and more experienced then some of the bozos who end up on the Circuit Court.

Giraffes Fighting. By Geniusofdespair

I read about the giraffe fight at Miami's zoo this morning and couldn't believe that giraffes fight. I found this footage - pretty brutal. Apparently they swing their necks (500 pounds) at each other. Our Miami giraffe got injured falling down fleeing from a suitor.

Time to Vote Steve Bateman Out of Office. By Geniusofdespair

Here is another reason to vote Steve Bateman out of office:

Yesterday there was a letter in the Miami Herald about how great Nukes are for economic opportunity.  The letter was written by Chirsty Todd Whitman and Mayor of Homestead Steve Bateman.

I wrote about Christine Todd Whitman in 2007. She is nothing more than a paid booster for the nuclear industry but she signs her letter former EPA administrator as if this is some sort of official position, she hasn't been there for 10 years.  She now heads her energy greenwash group (never saw so many "green" photos on a website since Sierra Club) Whitman Strategy Group.

From Todd Whitman's website, kind of clever even though nauseating.

The problem I see with this letter, Steve Bateman doesn't have the authority to boost FPL's nuclear folly in his official position. He didn't write this letter, obviously, but he signed on to it. Steve Bateman 'citizen' has every right to sign on to a public relation propaganda piece, however he should NOT have used "Mayor, Homestead" to do it. That is not the official position of the City and he has blurred the lines. Had the Miami Herald put his mayorship in parenthesis, it would have been more acceptable, making it clear the City did not support what was said in this letter;  it was only a clueless citizen who supported it, who just happened to be a Mayor.

I spoke to a Councilperson in the City of Homestead, who said the City has no official position on nuclear energy,  or the FPL expansion and that Bateman is not speaking on behalf of the city on such subjects (wasn't he also at the FPL hearing at the County Commission  the other day in support of zoning changes for FPL? Did the city vote to support the zoning changes? No).

When did the City of Homestead vote "that nuclear energy is a vital part of both Florida and our nation's energy and economic future"? Did they vote to say that "This is an exciting period of growth and progress in nuclear energy..." Exactly who in Homestead supports the views articulated in the letter?

Why should any environmentalist be cheering in Florida? by gimleteye

According to newspaper reports, environmentalists are "cheering" Gov. Rick Scott's request to allocate $60 million for next fiscal year. The newspapers -- to the point of universal and unquestioning acceptance -- cite a return to less dire fiscal times. Truth be told, $60 million is less than a drop in the bucket and in current dollars, far below allocations to the Everglades by the legislature in the late 1990's, during the Bush years.

The stories of unrelenting pollution of Florida's waters -- not just the Everglades -- keep piling up. The Orlando Sentinel's recent series on Florida's disappearing springs, and the failure of state legislators to do anything substantive to stop the wreckage -- is just the latest; no different from the excellent series by the Naples Daily News' Cathy Zollo on Florida's polluted waters in the early 2000's or the Washington Post's Michael Grunwald or the ongoing, excellent work by Craig Pittman, of the Tampa Bay Times.

In the Tampa Bay Times, Eric Draper of Audubon of Florida said recently, "It's starting to put environmental spending back on track where it used to be ... Gov. Scott is starting to make the environment a priority. This does seem like a different Gov. Scott. We're seeing his office listening more."

Electioneering aside, if one were a betting man it would be safe to wager Florida's badly degraded waters are exactly the outcome sought by special interests. They depend on shifting the costs of pollution for their profits. Those costs, notwithstanding the whining and complaining by polluters, are being paid by the public or will be, eventually. (That is the story, by the way, of the $3 billion upgrade needed for just Miami-Dade's wastewater treatment system.) Where, one wonders, is the public outrage? For certain, polluters -- like Big Sugar -- are counting on peace and calm. Having Florida environmentalists "cheer" the paltry leavings of the legislature and an irresponsible governor must be music to the billionaires sipping cocktails and supplying entertainment to members of Congress at sheltered hideaways in the Dominican Republic.

The economic crisis, caused by greed, recklessness, and blind to risk, inflicted considerable damage to the infrastructure funded by state government in service of the Everglades. Gov. Scott, for example, used the budget crisis as justification to literally gut the science capacity and research staff of the South Florida Water Management District. That $60 million is not recovering the knowledge base, any time soon.

One wonders what kind of message environmentalists are sending to newspapers by "cheering". On the one hand, it cannot be such a hostile political climate that fair criticism must be shackled and put in the basement like an angry, barking dog. On the other hand, since tolerance of the public for polluters seems bottomless -- with offenders easily winning re-election as incumbents -- some environmental staffers may feel it is best to ride out the storm. But good God, what was ever achieved riding the coat-tails of the corrupt?