Miami Dade County had the worst voter turnout in the State's 68 counties. Our turnout was 40.74% with Hendry County not far behind. Broward County didn't do much better with 44.47%. Monroe County had 56.63%. Who can we blame for the Scott win (4 years of agony and bad judge appointments that will go beyond 4 years)? Ourselves: Miami Dade County. Scott won by 1%.
Go back to two of my blogs this week. read them this time. The email blog and the deposition blog. I will not tolerate readers who won't read the important stuff. You already have enough fluff in your brain. There is so much meat in these two blog you will become catatonic if you are a vegetarian.
Saturday, November 15, 2014
Dumb and Dumber To … by gimleteye
The 1994 "Dumb and Dumber" hit by the Farrelly brothers -- (shout out Providence RI) -- was made for its time and earned a cult status for its absence of weightiness. "Dumb and Dumber To", a sequel fans have been clamoring for over 20 years, is now generating so-so reviews. So here is an idea for another sequel that hews more closely to roles for this aging comedic duo.
There is a built-in comedy for Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in our current politics. There are a lot of smart people in politics, but who can argue that the results are 'dumb and dumber'.
The Farrelly's should send Carrey and Daniels to the state legislature to play an up-and-coming leader and his chief-of-staff.
All they would have to do is act our the role, say, of a Jimmy Patronis. Not the real Jimmy Patronis, but a comedic version. That might be Carrey. Patronis is a recent Scott appointee to the Florida Public Service Commission. What could be better than for Carrey to play a slow-talking, fast rising star of the legislature, coming from the background of a small family business in the Panhandle where he is scooped up by ultra-wealthy business interests to film-flam in the legislature without knowing who he is fronting for. Of course this wouldn't be the real Patronis, who knows perfectly well he is carrying the torch for an anti-regulation, especially anti-environmental, jihad on behalf of special interests.
Special interests in Florida have their own cut-and-paste comedic potential. It wouldn't be hard to make a laughing-stock of the Ayn Rand school of self-interest or its blowhards. Daniels could play a chief of staff, or political advisor, or good old boy representing the charter school industry.
Or how about the PSC, itself, that recently voted this week to "gut" the state's energy-efficiency goals by more than 90 percent, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Hilarious material in the hands of Carrey and Daniels. No one does pompous so well as Carrey. He is physically made to object to climate change; the temperature skittering from seventy to minus ten degrees, one day to the next.
All you need to do is to follow the script that denies climate change in an age of unparalleled climate threats. Plus, to watch Jeff Daniels in the polar opposite of the role he plays in the uber-PC HBO drama "Newsroom" would be a delight. A dream.
So that is the sequel -- think of "Being There" as high comedy -- , we shouldn't have to wait another twenty years for "Dumb and Dumber, Three" when the reality version is playing in government chambers near you.
There is a built-in comedy for Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels in our current politics. There are a lot of smart people in politics, but who can argue that the results are 'dumb and dumber'.
The Farrelly's should send Carrey and Daniels to the state legislature to play an up-and-coming leader and his chief-of-staff.
All they would have to do is act our the role, say, of a Jimmy Patronis. Not the real Jimmy Patronis, but a comedic version. That might be Carrey. Patronis is a recent Scott appointee to the Florida Public Service Commission. What could be better than for Carrey to play a slow-talking, fast rising star of the legislature, coming from the background of a small family business in the Panhandle where he is scooped up by ultra-wealthy business interests to film-flam in the legislature without knowing who he is fronting for. Of course this wouldn't be the real Patronis, who knows perfectly well he is carrying the torch for an anti-regulation, especially anti-environmental, jihad on behalf of special interests.
Special interests in Florida have their own cut-and-paste comedic potential. It wouldn't be hard to make a laughing-stock of the Ayn Rand school of self-interest or its blowhards. Daniels could play a chief of staff, or political advisor, or good old boy representing the charter school industry.
Or how about the PSC, itself, that recently voted this week to "gut" the state's energy-efficiency goals by more than 90 percent, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Hilarious material in the hands of Carrey and Daniels. No one does pompous so well as Carrey. He is physically made to object to climate change; the temperature skittering from seventy to minus ten degrees, one day to the next.
All you need to do is to follow the script that denies climate change in an age of unparalleled climate threats. Plus, to watch Jeff Daniels in the polar opposite of the role he plays in the uber-PC HBO drama "Newsroom" would be a delight. A dream.
So that is the sequel -- think of "Being There" as high comedy -- , we shouldn't have to wait another twenty years for "Dumb and Dumber, Three" when the reality version is playing in government chambers near you.
Picture of the Day. By Geniusofdespair
Sonia Succar Ferre (granddaughter of Maurice) Married State Rep. José Javier Rodríguez in July. He is also celebrating his recent House Victory with 17,012 votes to his opponent who got 16,369 votes. There was a one percent margin.
Friday, November 14, 2014
Trick Friday Question for Eye On Miami Readers … by gimleteye
When is the last time a county commissioner from Miami-Dade went on a multi day camping expedition by canoe or kayak into Everglades wilderness that is partly within county borders? (More photos from Daniella Levine Cava's recent trip to the Everglades, soon!)
Emails to Convicted Former Mayor Steve Bateman of Homestead. By Geniusofdespair
Homestead is NOT a strong mayor form of Government. The Council and Mayor should not be contacting vendors. All work and correspondence must go through the City Manager. The City Manager does the hiring and firing. As you can see, by the emails I included below, this was not happening in Homestead. These are just a few examples of wrongdoing....improperly contacting the Mayor instead of the City Manager. These email were all improperly sent to Mayor Bateman: He is not and was never the City Manager.
What a tangled web. More from the Miami Herald.
 |
| This is now for private work on Bateman's home --- after the guy got city work? |
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| Charter School Guy Jon Hage |
What a tangled web. More from the Miami Herald.
Thursday, November 13, 2014
News Flash for Christian Family Coalition Members. By Geniusofdespair
 |
| Are those boobs real? Let me look up that skirt. |
 |
| Guard wanted for restroom ID. |
The subject of housing discrimination for transgender people was voted on in committee yesterday at the Miami Dade County Commission and where you pee was the main concern of the audience of mostly Christian Family Coalition members (Anthony Verdugo's anti-gay group).
I guess I had better start peeking at the parts of others in the restroom so I can raise holy hell if I see the wrong one. I am going to start printing cards, not transgender, so I can get ahead of the game.
Great OPED answering climate change deniers and doubters on the Little Ice Age … by gimleteye
"I'm not a scientist" said Gov. Rick Scott in the recent governor's race, giving reason to dodging an issue -- climate change -- that is settled by scientists. Well, if you wanted to land a spaceship on a comet, you wouldn't trust a politician to do that. Even politicians know you have to trust scientists. Why wouldn't you trust scientists, then, to keep the planet safe for humanity?
Here is a response, written by an unapologetic scientist, Piers Sellers and published in the New York Times. I hope all the doubters and deniers out there, read this. Further commentary, unnecessary, except for one: Please Please turn off Fox News!
The Opinion Pages | OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Wobbling on Climate Change
By PIERS J. SELLERS
NOV. 11, 2014
NY TIMES
GREENBELT, Md. — I’m a climate scientist and a former astronaut. Not surprisingly, I have a deep respect for well-tested theories and facts. In the climate debate, these things have a way of getting blurred in political discussions.
In September, John P. Holdren, the head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, was testifying to a Congressional committee about climate change. Representative Steve Stockman, a Republican from Texas, recounted a visit he had made to NASA, where he asked what had ended the ice age:
“And the lead scientist at NASA said this — he said that what ended the ice age was global wobbling. That’s what I was told. This is a lead scientist down in Maryland; you’re welcome to go down there and ask him the same thing.
“So, and my second question, which I thought it was an intuitive question that should be followed up — is the wobbling of the earth included in any of your modelings? And the answer was no...
“How can you take an element which you give the credit for the collapse of global freezing and into global warming but leave it out of your models?”
That “lead scientist at NASA” was me.
Here is a response, written by an unapologetic scientist, Piers Sellers and published in the New York Times. I hope all the doubters and deniers out there, read this. Further commentary, unnecessary, except for one: Please Please turn off Fox News!
The Opinion Pages | OP-ED CONTRIBUTOR
Wobbling on Climate Change
By PIERS J. SELLERS
NOV. 11, 2014
NY TIMES
GREENBELT, Md. — I’m a climate scientist and a former astronaut. Not surprisingly, I have a deep respect for well-tested theories and facts. In the climate debate, these things have a way of getting blurred in political discussions.
In September, John P. Holdren, the head of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, was testifying to a Congressional committee about climate change. Representative Steve Stockman, a Republican from Texas, recounted a visit he had made to NASA, where he asked what had ended the ice age:
“And the lead scientist at NASA said this — he said that what ended the ice age was global wobbling. That’s what I was told. This is a lead scientist down in Maryland; you’re welcome to go down there and ask him the same thing.
“So, and my second question, which I thought it was an intuitive question that should be followed up — is the wobbling of the earth included in any of your modelings? And the answer was no...
“How can you take an element which you give the credit for the collapse of global freezing and into global warming but leave it out of your models?”
That “lead scientist at NASA” was me.
Wayne Rosen's Deposition for Former Homestead Mayor, Steve Bateman's Trial. By Geniusofdespair
This is Developer Wayne Rosen's deposition for the Bateman trial. It is certainly revealing and worth reading. I found it fascinating on how these guys make their deals and 'earn' money. Oh man, this is pretty disgusting stuff. Have a barf bag handy and those of you in love with charter schools: Think twice. They are just a money maker for developers and charter school companies. There is an interesting part on Lennar. I am surprised that Bateman did as well as he did at trial. This stuff didn't even warrant a conviction. I thought the Barrones stuff was pretty bad. As I said read it and make your own decision. Any civil action pending?
read on scrib
Too LAZY to read the whole thing? Press read more as I have more snippets like these two. I took what I thought were the most interesting parts of the deposition and made copies for you:
read on scrib
Too LAZY to read the whole thing? Press read more as I have more snippets like these two. I took what I thought were the most interesting parts of the deposition and made copies for you:
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
County Commission Oral Reports with no background are unacceptable for Countywide Projects. By Geniusofdespair
Monday November 10th Meeting: I am behind (mainly because I don't give a shit anymore) and just noticed this. Ask the Mayor for some written information on these two item I mentioned below:
A Horse Museum in Tropical Park? Isn't this where there they want to move the youth fair after FIU took over part of Tamiami Park? What else are we going to put in parks, the kitchen sink? Do you want some details about this museum in the park? Here is what you get from the County:
A Horse Museum in Tropical Park? Isn't this where there they want to move the youth fair after FIU took over part of Tamiami Park? What else are we going to put in parks, the kitchen sink? Do you want some details about this museum in the park? Here is what you get from the County:
There is no text currently available online for this item.
Okay, we all know Javier Souto is on his way out mentally at least, but he cannot be giving all "Oral" reports. First of all no one listens to him. Second of all, we need documentation on these things he is putting on the agenda for his Committee, so we know if we should show up at the County for his Committee meetings. This is the Agenda. If you hit on the hot number, you get the line of text in bold above.
Oral reports are unacceptable with no text available. Mr. Mayor, and County Chair Sosa, scrutinize these items especially 142445 and 142446 as they effect the entire county. I don't mind a status report being Oral but we need substantial background information on the two I made reference to. GOB money for a Horse Museum and Long Range Planning for Regional Parks for the next 10 years, my God, why don't you just open up the old Hoover and have the meeting in there. Both items passed with 3 votes in Committee. GOB money (OUR MONEY) for a horse museum. Why don't we just throw the money in the toilet. I want a dog museum. Let's just fill the Park with Condos and student housing -- and of course stores and restaurants to serve the Condos -- and be done with it. I don't live near there, what do I care. No outrage near the parks being seized by development?
Ludlam Trail meeting tonite: how FECI resembles Big Sugar … by gimleteye
There is an unwritten history of Florida, in which the nascent effort to build a simple bike path/corridor in an area of Miami-Dade county least served by parkland meets up with activists trying to restore millions of acres of faded, dying Everglades.
That unwritten history, in which every small effort by citizens to protect their quality of life is met with stiff resistance by special interests, is roughly circumscribed by the willingness of developers and land speculators to use every last centimeter of property rights to inflict their "highest and best use" across the landscape wherever profit can be extracted.
It is not a history of courage. The overdevelopment and rampant sprawl that defines Florida is a story of weakness. Political weakness.
The resistance by Florida East Coast Industries to the hope by citizens to use its abandoned property as the Ludlam Trail is just one more example along these lines.
Consider the macro example; how decades of obstruction have delayed the inevitable in the Everglades -- a way to connect the source of fresh water for the Everglades, north of Lake Okeechobee, to the remnant Everglades National Park.
In the past ten years, Big Sugar has launched a series of initiatives to rezone lands in sugar production as commercial, residential, and industrial projects -- right in the heart of the Everglades Agricultural Area.
The latest: US Sugar's "Sugar Hill" plan for nearly 20,000 homes and related commercial space.
Whether US Sugar or FECI ever develops, both are willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on planning to obtain necessary zoning approvals. The point is to use local land use decisions to increase the value of their property.
This month, some of the most qualified scientists involved with Everglades restoration planning wrote an article that describes, for a lay audience, the imperative of creating a central flow path through the Everglades.
FECI is a one of Florida's most important land owners and developers. Its assets will play an enormous role in Florida's future growth so long as they are not claimed by rising seas, first. Like Big Sugar, FECI doesn't oppose what citizens want to do with its property, but it has no confidence that anything other than the "free market" can deliver what its shareholders deserve.
The "free market" doesn't depend on messy collaborations with citizens, who sometimes don't see eye-to-eye themselves. The "free market" lacks any balance with the real needs of living communities for open space and the public commons but defaults instead to extracting the last cent of profit before surrendering prerogative and privilege.
That's the unwritten history of the Great Destroyers, "They Know Best", and it is one that Florida land use planners and parks advocates understand perfectly well.
That unwritten history, in which every small effort by citizens to protect their quality of life is met with stiff resistance by special interests, is roughly circumscribed by the willingness of developers and land speculators to use every last centimeter of property rights to inflict their "highest and best use" across the landscape wherever profit can be extracted.
It is not a history of courage. The overdevelopment and rampant sprawl that defines Florida is a story of weakness. Political weakness.
The resistance by Florida East Coast Industries to the hope by citizens to use its abandoned property as the Ludlam Trail is just one more example along these lines.
Consider the macro example; how decades of obstruction have delayed the inevitable in the Everglades -- a way to connect the source of fresh water for the Everglades, north of Lake Okeechobee, to the remnant Everglades National Park.
In the past ten years, Big Sugar has launched a series of initiatives to rezone lands in sugar production as commercial, residential, and industrial projects -- right in the heart of the Everglades Agricultural Area.
The latest: US Sugar's "Sugar Hill" plan for nearly 20,000 homes and related commercial space.
Whether US Sugar or FECI ever develops, both are willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on planning to obtain necessary zoning approvals. The point is to use local land use decisions to increase the value of their property.
This month, some of the most qualified scientists involved with Everglades restoration planning wrote an article that describes, for a lay audience, the imperative of creating a central flow path through the Everglades.
FECI is a one of Florida's most important land owners and developers. Its assets will play an enormous role in Florida's future growth so long as they are not claimed by rising seas, first. Like Big Sugar, FECI doesn't oppose what citizens want to do with its property, but it has no confidence that anything other than the "free market" can deliver what its shareholders deserve.
The "free market" doesn't depend on messy collaborations with citizens, who sometimes don't see eye-to-eye themselves. The "free market" lacks any balance with the real needs of living communities for open space and the public commons but defaults instead to extracting the last cent of profit before surrendering prerogative and privilege.
That's the unwritten history of the Great Destroyers, "They Know Best", and it is one that Florida land use planners and parks advocates understand perfectly well.
Restoring the Everglades: Challenges and Benefits by Davis, et al.
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