Saturday, October 13, 2012
Gimleteye: Top Everglades python story of the week
Recently park scientists went on a mission to retrieve a large python that had been tagged with a GPS tag and a device that indicates when a python wraps around its prey called an accelerometer. The GPS tag is inexpensive. The accelerometer costs about $2500. Not a trivial expense.
The virtual extinction of a whole class of small mammals in the Everglades -- raccoons and possums, for example -- confirms for scientists the rapid spread of invasive Burmese pythons in the River of Grass. Scientists want to know how to interrupt the progress of the pythons; hence the tracking.
Using electronic surveillance equipment, park scientists traced to a small pond in the Everglades, but there was no python. Only a twelve foot alligator. When they returned to the office, empty-handed, the owner of the accelerometer -- the USGS -- demanded the retrieval of the expensive device.
The scientists captured the alligator, and put it in a holding pen to wait until it excreted the electronic equipment.
After a month in captivity and exhaustive exploration how to make the alligator expel the accelerometer, the staff surrendered and returned the alligator to the wild. At least it is not a Rolex.
The virtual extinction of a whole class of small mammals in the Everglades -- raccoons and possums, for example -- confirms for scientists the rapid spread of invasive Burmese pythons in the River of Grass. Scientists want to know how to interrupt the progress of the pythons; hence the tracking.
Using electronic surveillance equipment, park scientists traced to a small pond in the Everglades, but there was no python. Only a twelve foot alligator. When they returned to the office, empty-handed, the owner of the accelerometer -- the USGS -- demanded the retrieval of the expensive device.
The scientists captured the alligator, and put it in a holding pen to wait until it excreted the electronic equipment.
After a month in captivity and exhaustive exploration how to make the alligator expel the accelerometer, the staff surrendered and returned the alligator to the wild. At least it is not a Rolex.
Gimleteye: Want to learn more about sea level rise and how it will affect Miami?
Wednesday, October 17, 6:30PM to 7:30PM at the Sue and Leonard Miller Center, 5202 University Drive, University of Miami Campus
Dr. Harold Wanless, Professor and Chair, Department of Geological Sciences
"The Frightening Reality and Accelerating Pace of Ice Melt and Sea Level Rise"
" ... modeling predictions are severely overly conservative."
Dr. Harold Wanless, Professor and Chair, Department of Geological Sciences
"The Frightening Reality and Accelerating Pace of Ice Melt and Sea Level Rise"
" ... modeling predictions are severely overly conservative."
Thursday, October 11, 2012
County Charter Amendment 5: Joe Centorino Replies. By Geniusofdespair
Yesterday I spoke about voting NO on Charter Amendment 5 which says:
Here is the Ethics Commission answer to my concerns:
I will still vote no because I don't like the underlined part, but you guys now have plenty of info to make up your own mind. I find the ethics commission opinions are usually weak. What can I say, my sense of ethics is different.
Shall the Charter be amended to eliminate the provision providing for forfeiture of office if a public official or employee willfully violates the Citizens’ Bill of Rights and allow, in addition to suit in circuit court, the Commission on Ethics and Public Trust to enforce the Citizens’ Bill of Rights with penalties authorized by the Code?
Here is the Ethics Commission answer to my concerns:
We did not draft the proposal and we would have preferred to keep the removal as an option. However, given a choice between removal per a county court law suit and enforcement by the Ethics Commission, it is not a close call. No one has ever been removed from office pursuant to the existing charter provision, so we really are not giving up that much. And this change does not preclude removal by the governor upon an official’s being charged with a criminal offense, something which has happened repeatedly over the years. The Citizen’s Bill of Rights is really much more suitable for enforcement by the Ethics Commission so the change will effect a more realistic and enforceable penalty option.
Nonetheless, I am concerned that some people will read the wording of the change and think that it is watering down the penalties and vote against it. Nothing we can do about that but state our position that it is an improvement.
I will still vote no because I don't like the underlined part, but you guys now have plenty of info to make up your own mind. I find the ethics commission opinions are usually weak. What can I say, my sense of ethics is different.
Florida Scientists urge presidential candidates to address sea level rise
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Lisa Nurnberger, lnurnberger@ucsusa.org, 202-331-6959
Union of Concerned Scientists
FLORIDA SCIENTISTS AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS URGE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES TO ADDRESS SEA LEVEL RISE
SEA LEVEL RISE IMPACTS FELT AROUND THE STATE
WASHINGTON (Oct. 11, 2012) – More than 120 city and county officials and scientists in Florida, all of whom are working on issues related to sea level rise, sent a letter to the presidential candidates today urging them to discuss, at campaign stops in Florida and at the October 22 Boca Raton debate, how they will address rising sea levels that threaten the state.
Sea level has already risen about 8 inches along Florida’s coast and is having profound effects, according to the letter. “Because Florida is so densely populated,” the letter states, “it is estimated 40 percent of the population and housing units at risk from sea level rise in the nation are here, in the state of Florida.”
“Sea level rise is causing the biggest problems in southern Florida, particularly in the southeast where communities are essentially at sea level and porous limestone allows sea water to penetrate inland,” said Len Berry, a professor in Florida Atlantic University’s environmental sciences program.
Cities and counties in southern Florida are looking at billions of dollars in expenditures to address problems caused or exacerbated by sea level rise.
CONTACT: Lisa Nurnberger, lnurnberger@ucsusa.org, 202-331-6959
Union of Concerned Scientists
FLORIDA SCIENTISTS AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS URGE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES TO ADDRESS SEA LEVEL RISE
SEA LEVEL RISE IMPACTS FELT AROUND THE STATE
WASHINGTON (Oct. 11, 2012) – More than 120 city and county officials and scientists in Florida, all of whom are working on issues related to sea level rise, sent a letter to the presidential candidates today urging them to discuss, at campaign stops in Florida and at the October 22 Boca Raton debate, how they will address rising sea levels that threaten the state.
Sea level has already risen about 8 inches along Florida’s coast and is having profound effects, according to the letter. “Because Florida is so densely populated,” the letter states, “it is estimated 40 percent of the population and housing units at risk from sea level rise in the nation are here, in the state of Florida.”
“Sea level rise is causing the biggest problems in southern Florida, particularly in the southeast where communities are essentially at sea level and porous limestone allows sea water to penetrate inland,” said Len Berry, a professor in Florida Atlantic University’s environmental sciences program.
Cities and counties in southern Florida are looking at billions of dollars in expenditures to address problems caused or exacerbated by sea level rise.
Gimleteye: This election cycle, where is the money going?
AP reports that a month before the election, nearly all the TV advertisement money committed in the presidential election (by the candidates, nearly $750 billion spent so far) is going to nine states: Ohio, Florida, Colorado, Iowa, Virginia, North Carolina, New Hampshire, and Wisconsin. In 2008, by contrast, campaigns were investing in twenty states.
The unknown is PAC money, invested in the ground game and certainly exceeding the three quarter billion spent on TV. Between sound bite debates through which candidates can be evasive and vague, TIVO where TV watchers skip ads, and pollsters scrounging to find respondents to polls because people are not picking up when calls come in from 800 numbers, we spend more and more money to learn less and less.
The unknown is PAC money, invested in the ground game and certainly exceeding the three quarter billion spent on TV. Between sound bite debates through which candidates can be evasive and vague, TIVO where TV watchers skip ads, and pollsters scrounging to find respondents to polls because people are not picking up when calls come in from 800 numbers, we spend more and more money to learn less and less.
Gimleteye: Traffic patterns in downtown Miami
As the new museum rises to join its other unfortunately sited neighbors in downtown Miami, the questions must be answered now: how can visitors reasonably be moved from cars to places -- cumulatively costing billions -- that weren't sited with any forethought for traffic.
Pedestrians? Will anyone walk between Bayside Marketplace, the American Airlines Arena, the art museum, and the Performing Arsht Center? Cross Biscayne Boulevard. How are people going to move? What will people "take away" about downtown Miami?
And why, when the Herald recently featured former mayor Manny Diaz, wasn't there a critical note?
Pedestrians? Will anyone walk between Bayside Marketplace, the American Airlines Arena, the art museum, and the Performing Arsht Center? Cross Biscayne Boulevard. How are people going to move? What will people "take away" about downtown Miami?
And why, when the Herald recently featured former mayor Manny Diaz, wasn't there a critical note?
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
On the Ballot: Miami Dade County Charter Questions. by Geniusofdespair
What we agree on:
1. Home Rule Charter Amendment Relating to Term Limits of County Commissioners
Vote: YES
2. Technical Amendments to Home Rule Charter
Vote:YES
3. Charter Amendment Requiring Extraordinary Vote to Include Additional Land within the Urban Development Boundary
Vote: YES
4. Charter Amendment Pertaining to Changes in Municipal Boundaries and Creation of New Municipalities
Vote: Herald says NO, I have no opinion.
7. Charter Amendment to put the Commission Chair in charge of procurement if the mayor has a conflict of interest. Vote: NO
The Miami Herald said Yes on these I say No:
5. Charter Amendment Regarding Penalties and Enforcement of Citizens’ Bill of Rights
Shall the Charter be amended to eliminate the provision providing for forfeiture of office if a public official or employee willfully violates the Citizens’ Bill of Rights and allow, in addition to suit in circuit court, the Commission on Ethics and Public Trust to enforce the Citizens’ Bill of Rights with penalties authorized by the Code?
Why on earth would we want to eliminate what I underlined. I do not understand why anyone would would not want to get rid of an official or employee who violates the Citizen's Bill of Rights. Maybe I am missing something. This is a 2 part question with one part being unacceptable.
6. Charter Amendment Related to Option for Filling Mayoral or County Commissioner Vacancy
Shall the Charter be amended to:
• Extend the time to conduct an election to fill a mayoral or commissioner vacancy from 45 to 90 days from the decision to call such election and provide a timeframe for qualification and any necessary runoff;
• Temporarily transfer, during a mayoral vacancy or incapacity, certain mayoral powers to the Commission Chairperson, Vice Chairperson or Commissioner chosen by the Board?
Another 2 part question with the first part being unacceptable. I do not believe we want the Commission Chairperson to be our mayor for 3 months. The Chair can do damage in 3 months. We did not ALL vote for the Chair, only one of 13 districts did. Too long for him/her to be acting Mayor. Also the extended time frame hurts because people's memories are short. Seijas might still be in office if this were 90 days (if you are recalled you can run again).
To recap on other questions on the ballot:
Again, we should all know to vote NO on ALL the State of Florida Constitutional Amendments. The Miami Herald and The League of Women Voters agree with me on this one.
Vote YES on the retention of the 3 Supreme Court Judges.
Gimleteye: Audubon tries to bridge the Republican divide on the environment
Audubon CEO David Yarnold writes, "conservation doesn't have a party", imploring Americans to look beyond the partisan divide that has created two nations within one. "We at the National Audubon Society, one of the nation's most trusted conservation organizations, and ConservAmerica, a grassroots organization of conservation-minded Republicans, have joined in a ground-breaking movement called the American Eagle Compact."
I don't fault Audubon for trying, but political extremism against environmental rules and regulations is a mainstream, core GOP value.
Most Americans -- a persuasive majority -- support protecting our nation's air, water, and wilderness, but the effect of unlimited corporate campaign contributions (thank you, Bush Supreme Court) has been to tilt all politics, sweeping up the Democratic Party, far to the right; so far, that the canard of balance is only a distant memory.
The extremists who have the GOP in a chokehold are immoveable. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, from coal country, made it his first order of priority to obstruct President Obama. Democrats in Congress have not been able to move any part of a pro-environmental agenda. President Obama has tried to make progress, through executive orders, but as with every other Democratic administration, when push comes to shove in the legislative process, the environment falls off the table.
Try as Audubon does to be non-partisan, the bright fact is that Republicans who care about bringing the environment back into the core values of the party have a choice: if you can't vote for a Democrat, don't vote at all.
To my Republican friends who care about the environment, you can't get this nation to go where you want, with these partners asking you to the dance.
I don't fault Audubon for trying, but political extremism against environmental rules and regulations is a mainstream, core GOP value.
Most Americans -- a persuasive majority -- support protecting our nation's air, water, and wilderness, but the effect of unlimited corporate campaign contributions (thank you, Bush Supreme Court) has been to tilt all politics, sweeping up the Democratic Party, far to the right; so far, that the canard of balance is only a distant memory.
The extremists who have the GOP in a chokehold are immoveable. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell, from coal country, made it his first order of priority to obstruct President Obama. Democrats in Congress have not been able to move any part of a pro-environmental agenda. President Obama has tried to make progress, through executive orders, but as with every other Democratic administration, when push comes to shove in the legislative process, the environment falls off the table.
Try as Audubon does to be non-partisan, the bright fact is that Republicans who care about bringing the environment back into the core values of the party have a choice: if you can't vote for a Democrat, don't vote at all.
To my Republican friends who care about the environment, you can't get this nation to go where you want, with these partners asking you to the dance.
Tuesday, October 09, 2012
Gimleteye: Heaven forbid Florida ...
All things considered, from the Chamber of Commerce perspective it has been a pretty good year for South Florida. The real estate market bounced back thanks to buyers from booming parts of South America. From another point of view, Florida is a backed-up cesspool.
Over the weekend, Carl Hiaasen unleashed his sanitized invective against the use of Lake Okeechobee, by the state at the prodding of Big Sugar, as a toilet flushing through the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee River. A mayor of one small community called me last week, apoplectic at the destruction the runoff is causing. Isn't there someone to sue, he wanted to know.
Let me tell you, in an unsanitized version, how that works out.
Over the weekend, Carl Hiaasen unleashed his sanitized invective against the use of Lake Okeechobee, by the state at the prodding of Big Sugar, as a toilet flushing through the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee River. A mayor of one small community called me last week, apoplectic at the destruction the runoff is causing. Isn't there someone to sue, he wanted to know.
Let me tell you, in an unsanitized version, how that works out.
Sunday, October 07, 2012
Gimleteye: the power of the presidential debate
Like Matt Taibbi I couldn't watch the first presidential debate. I just couldn't. I got through the candidates' opening statements. That was enough for me.
I read the text of the debate and pundits the following day and felt this cloud of depression that the media had uniformly herded toward sports metaphors to evaluate the outcome.
Counting the PAC's, well over two billion dollars will be spent on reducing complexity to sound bites.
The conservative NY Times columnist David Brooks wrote a column recently that imagined what an honest opening statement by Mitt Romney would sound like. He imagined Romney saying something like this: "I assume you know that everything President Obama and I have been saying on this subject (economic growth) has been total garbage. Presidents and governors don’t “create jobs.” We don’t have the ability to “grow the economy.” There’s no magic lever."
While I don't agree with Brooks on everything, on this point I wish there was more transparency.
When GOP Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell stated to his comrades, the day after President Obama took office in 2009, that his first job was to deny the president a second term, he meant it. For me, this election is a referendum on the deniers and the extremists who have the Republican Party in a chokehold.
Presidents may not have a magic lever, but voters do. (For the Taibbi opinion piece, click 'read more'.)
I read the text of the debate and pundits the following day and felt this cloud of depression that the media had uniformly herded toward sports metaphors to evaluate the outcome.
Counting the PAC's, well over two billion dollars will be spent on reducing complexity to sound bites.
The conservative NY Times columnist David Brooks wrote a column recently that imagined what an honest opening statement by Mitt Romney would sound like. He imagined Romney saying something like this: "I assume you know that everything President Obama and I have been saying on this subject (economic growth) has been total garbage. Presidents and governors don’t “create jobs.” We don’t have the ability to “grow the economy.” There’s no magic lever."
While I don't agree with Brooks on everything, on this point I wish there was more transparency.
When GOP Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell stated to his comrades, the day after President Obama took office in 2009, that his first job was to deny the president a second term, he meant it. For me, this election is a referendum on the deniers and the extremists who have the Republican Party in a chokehold.
Presidents may not have a magic lever, but voters do. (For the Taibbi opinion piece, click 'read more'.)
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