Musing on NBC News Anchor, Brian Williams … by gimleteye

What is it, that we expect of television news anchors? The question arises in the tempest around Brian Williams, long-time anchor at NBC Nightly News.

News anchors have to be telegenic, they have to convey neutrality about stories they report, and they have to read well from a teleprompter while establishing empathy with a few million viewers at the same time.

NBC News Anchor Brian Williams has done all with exceptional durability, but he is now under fire from the media punditocracy for over-stating, exaggerating, and even misrepresenting the truth (lying) about an incident that occurred while reporting in The First Iraq War.

"What is clear is that the trustworthiness of one of America’s best-known and most revered TV journalists has been damaged, and that the moral authority of the nightly network news anchor, already diminished in the modern media era, has been dealt another blow." So speaketh the New York Times.

"The man described recently by his boss as the most trusted journalist of our time is accused of betraying that trust and breaking the first rule of journalism. That is — Get it right!" CBC News.

Now hold your horses, breathless ones.

I'm not sure about the 'moral authority', part of it. Who says, news anchors have moral authority? The Dalai Lama has moral authority. We have an entire network of news anchors -- Fox News -- by far the most popular in the U.S. -- that has no moral authority whatsoever, having ceded it long ago to Rupert Murdoch and Roger Ailes' uncanny business sense of uniting alarmism with advertising revenue. (For an outstanding decoding of Fox, read this recent essay from Alternet: "How Fox creates its own insane reality", by Evan McMurray.)

News anchors have to "get it right", just after the producers decide what it is important to viewing audiences one day to the next, and after script writers finesse the pauses between phrases, and after the real reporters double and triple check their sources (or what the other networks are reporting, if you trust "The Newsroom"). "Moral authority", "getting it right"? Not on my watch.

At any rate, is Brian Williams tarnished for having convinced himself of a personal story when the entire television news industry deals with one form or another of embellishment to rush its product to the marketplace in sound bites on an instantaneous basis?

I'm willing to give Mr. Williams a pass on this one. His faux pas neither increases nor decreases my estimation of what he does and earns many millions a year to do. (Anyhow, don't ask me how I feel about Brian Williams' slip up, ask me how I feel about his making a bizillion dollars for being the best at reaching audiences between advertisements for pharmaceuticals.)

We make an error to put news anchors on any kind of pedestal whatsoever, beyond the desk in the sound studio. In fact, where Mr. Williams shines brightest is on guest appearances with Jon Stewart and "The Daily Show". There, he comfortably sends up his own sense of persona with élan.

It turns out Mr. Williams is self-deprecating and wickedly funny, neither of which he can be on network news, and who doesn't slip into a rabbit suit some days? I'm not saying that Mr. Williams can be forgiven because he is human. Just that he is, simply, a very highly paid news anchor and for that -- in the words of Daniel Tosh -- we thank you.

(In the interest of disclosure, my DVR at home is commanded to retain the last five episodes of NBC News on a rolling basis.)

Eye on Miami Editorial Page. By Geniusofdespair

Members of our Editorial Board...me only I guess.

Since the Miami Herald has given up on Editorials and Opinions on Saturday, we have been forced to take up the slack. This is our third Saturday Editorial Page.

A boatload of 5 migrants set on shore at a Palmetto Bay mansion stirring up all kinds of excitement. Turns out the housekeeper didn't realize they were there to deliver bagels to bagelboy, this was his preferred form of delivery. No they were not there to cut mangroves. Our editorial board has "no comment."

Daniella Levine Cava stayed the night at Mark Bell's Homestead Hotel. Mark found the room filled with tropical fruits when she left. She was lucky to get out in one piece but she said she had "a lovely stay." Our editorial board has "no comment."

Eye Rolling to head rolling.

Mayor Carlos Gimenez called out on his eye-rolling has resorted to head-rolling. Our editorial board still wants those eye rolling videos and photos. Besides that, "no comment".

Norman Braman teamed up with Raquel Regalado on a lawsuit over the Nail Clipper building in Bayfront Park. Our editorial board has "no comment."

Transgender folks are being attacked by liberal Frank Artiles in Tallahassee, trying to make the recent Miami Dade County law moot by proposing a Tallahassee law to override it. Oops, the Southwest Miami State Representative is really a Republican, what a surprise. If you want to read the article on line you had better remember your password. I can't remember mine so I can't read it -- Our editorial board has "no comment.

This week our editorial board has no opinions as I was sick and ended up watching "TheWalking Dead" Marathon. You have to have priorities. If I had any opinions after watching 12 hours of "The Walking Dead" I might need a machete to process them.

Tallahassee Republicans: Ready to Vote with only a Brain Stem. Amazing folks!

Eye on Miami Editorial Page Number 1
Eye on Miami Editorial Page Number 2

The skinny on Carlos Gimenez and his uphill battle to stay in office. By Geniusofdespair

Gimenez and Regalado

Can't wait to see Mayor Gimenez's fundraising results for January? Here is the link to his PAC Miami Dade Residents First. Nothing on it yet.  He is trying to scare candidates from running against him with a big head start on funding. He is trying for $300,000. Will it matter? Maybe. Rick Scott was able to pull it off with a lot of money and absolutely no charisma so Gimenez is in the running as he has both. Can a brilliant candidate with a shitload of charisma unseat him?

Now we have Raquel Regalado teaming up with Norman Braman on a lawsuit to actually put "Residents First." City residents had a vote on the Nail Clipper building (Skyrise) that no City funds would be used. In a sleigh of hands, Gimenez proposed using County money, that City residents also have to pay for. Unsavory. Her dad Thomas, also feels used and abused over the county funding. Raquel Regalado said:

“It’s about transparency and accountability,” Regalado, a school board member, said in an interview Thursday. “At the end of the day, the ballot language said no public money should be utilized. Then no public money should be utilized.”

Raquel Regalado looks you in the eye when she listens and speaks (Miami New Times Photo).

 Her name is out there countywide between this suit and the courthouse bond issue she rallied against. Raquel has facial expressions.  She has the Cuban Vote hands down and and the frumpy Gimenez has alienated more whites and blacks with his eye-rolling and tart tongue at local meetings.  Not to mention his high salaries to cronies at County Hall and his attacks on unions and libraries. Gimenez endorsed and helped finance Lynda Bell's and Mark Bell's campaigns. I warned him about his relationship with Bell early on. He didn't listen. Now he is running an uphill battle, with money as his only crutch, to keep his seat if Regalado decides to run. She would be the FIRST WOMAN MAYOR, WOW!

Editorial from Harpers Magazine: "The War of the World" … by gimleteye

In this month's Harpers Magazine, Rebecca Solnit unerringly drills down into the real stakes for civilization, from human-caused climate change.

Her title, "The War of the World", summons memory, 70 years ago, of Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater's imagined planetary invasion that set off a mass panic among throngs of gullible listeners. Her subtle implication is to address those climate change deniers who are fixed on the work of misrepresentation, lies and creative deceptions of their own.

Solnit tries to imagine what readers, 70 years from now, will make of the decision paths that brought us to the edge of a new geologic era, the Anthropocene.

You need to be a careful reader to get the gist. Climate change and our responses ask whether or not we believe in historical context and whether our actions ought to be based in lessons of history rather than errant theologies. I'm a subscriber of Harpers and urge you to be, too.


EASY CHAIR — From the February 2015 issue, HARPERS MAGAZINE
The War of the World
By Rebecca Solnit

On a single day in July of 1943, more than 500 Allied planes bombed Rome, killing 1,500 people. The city got off lightly compared with Naples, which was attacked 200 times during the war and destroyed to the point that its citizens, in the words of one reporter, “camp[ed] out like Bedouins in deserts of brick.” Still, Italy suffered less than other parts of Europe: by war’s end, 50 percent of Warsaw’s citizens had been killed, many of the rest deported, and most of the city’s buildings damaged or destroyed. (The German Verbrennungs- und Vernichtungskommando — Burning and Destruction Detachment — destroyed libraries, palaces, and architectural monuments.) In the inhospitable sea of bricks that had once been a 600-year-old city of more than a million, only 150,000 remained.

South Florida Residents Fleeced by Florida Power and Light (Next Error). By Geniusofdespair

As of January 2015 your rates went up on your FPL Bill. For instance, my bill has increased by about $11.

If you can't read the fine print it says: This rates summary reflects rates and charges approved by the Florida Public Service Commission. These are the biographies of the Commissioners.

Be sure to call them and thank them, especially for charging us for the nuke plants before they are built. Notice there are 2 nuclear charges.

Miscellaneous Charges on My January Bill - I Do Not Understand Any of These Charges and That is a Good Thing....for Next Error (really Next Era) the Parent Company.  Keep the People in the Dark.

View the full list of charges online.

Norman Braman, back in the game, and the EB-5 Visa Program … by gimleteye

News arrives: Norman Braman and Raquel Regalado, (Regalado, a school board member, is emerging as a possible challenger to Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez) have filed suit against the county for the SkyRise or, as we have dubbed it -- The Nail Clipper Building. "The ballot item (approved by voters in the last election cycle) described SkyRise as a “privately funded” venture, and the lawsuit claims the $9 million subsidy package Berkowitz secured from the county after the election violated a condition of the city referendum."

A couple of points, beyond our opposition to this ridiculous addition to the public realm that in downtown Miami shows all the predictable symptoms of bad planning and poor municipal leadership: first, it is a shame that our civic life has fallen so low it takes a deep-pocketed billionaire to mount a credible threat to the deal-making that passes for governance by the city and county commissions.

In the last election cycle, there were many common sense reasons for voters to vote against the Nail Clipper approval, but there was no money to deliver the message. Time after time, decade after decade, Miami civic activists have struggled to compete with well-funded schemes -- Bayside, by the way, being one of the original indignities to Miami's quality of life.

In our democracy, if you don't have money to mount campaigns, you are screwed. There are exceptions to the rule, but they are rare as hen's teeth.

The second point is about sources of money. In Mr. Berkowitz's case, he is using a popular tool of developers and speculators to raise cash, the EB-5 visa program. Under the EB-5 Visa Program, a $500,000 investment in a "Regional Center" enables foreign investors to qualify for the Green Card without the constraints of having to set-up and manage a U.S. business. This immigration option allows investors to live in any U.S. state and engage in a business, employment, or any activity of the investor's choice, or just retire.

There is nothing illegal about either investors or speculators using the flood of foreign cash to lock down their own financial objectives in Miami. George Lindemann, the investor suing Maggie Hurchalla, for example, in Martin County as a SLAPP suit claiming her interference in his plan to radically transform water storage/deal making in Florida, is advertising his rock mining adventure as an EB-5 project. Berkowitz claims to be using EB-5 investors as his source capital.

I find it morally objectionable to use the US Visa system for these purposes. That's a longer debate for another day. For now, thanks to Mr. Braman for, again, putting his wealth to civic purposes as opposed to business ones. Miami would be a much better place if more of the economic elite followed his example.

"

Get ready for your next GOP Governor or US Senator, pandering to the Great Destroyers: his name is Adam Putnam … by gimleteye

It's all stagecraft, but you better pay attention because if Marco Rubio resigns from the US Senate to run for president, as he has promised, count on a telegenic, baby-faced GOP FL Secretary of Agriculture to be high on the list for appointment to the vacancy and, failing that, a run to succeed Gov. Rick Scott when times comes.

That would be Adam Putnam who emerged this week, recommending that a special Cabinet meeting called to take place at the Florida State Fair, where Gov. Scott will be appearing, be moved to Tallahassee because of the importance of the discussion: the lawsuit filed against the Governor and Cabinet by news organizations for sunshine law violation with respect to the firing of the former FDLE chief, Gerald Bailey.

Such is the incrementalism that distinguishes the state's top elected officials. To wit, we ought to please north Florida crackers who propelled us to a second term, not expose the administration's action in illegally terminating the top law officer in the state (corruption) to a wider audience. In other words, get on with the three-legged races and the hog tie competition. Let the good times roll.

But stomach churning "buyers remorse" for Gov. Scott re-election obscures voters from what else Secretary Putnam is doing to distinguish himself among the people who most count: the big campaign donors who control the GOP and state wide elections. I call them, the Great Destroyers, and that's who Putnam fronted for this week, as he testified before a Congressional committee against the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Commissioner Putnam Testifies Before Joint Congressional Hearing on Newest Federal Overreach
Southeast AgNet – February 4th, 2015
From the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Commissioner of Agriculture Adam H. Putnam testified today on the impacts of the Waters of the United States rule at the Joint Hearing Before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works in Washington, D.C.

Excerpts of his testimony are below:

“The EPA has once again made an attempt to expand federal jurisdiction on Florida’s waterways with its proposed changes to the rules guiding the implementation of the Clean Water Act.

“The EPA claims that the purpose of this rule is to clarify which bodies of water are and are not subject to the Clean Water Act. The EPA claims that the proposed regulations will not significantly change what currently is considered Waters of the U.S. And the EPA claims the proposed regulations will not substantially effect communities like agriculture.

“I believe this is another attempt by the EPA to regulate areas outside their authority, and in contradiction to guidance given by the courts.

“Contrary to what the EPA claims, the proposed rule will in fact lack clarity, significantly expand federal jurisdiction, impose burdensome requirements on agriculture, and impede efforts to protect and restore the environment."

Putnam didn't just put on the "hate the EPA" hat, but the change in Congress, funded by America's largest polluters, ripens the atmosphere for more attacks on the EPA.

Regulations are holding back corporations from protecting the environment, according to Putnam, dove-tailing nicely not only with the Republican Congress but the record of the putative GOP front-runner for president, Jeb Bush.

Read the editorial printed earlier here and now at ContextFlorida that puts the light to Adam Putnam and hypocrisy on the environment. Whether voters care that they are being hoodwinked, pointing in the direction of wrecking the environment to keep corporate profits flowing in some imaginary trickle-down benefit to people and wildlife, is a legitimate question.

With corporate money in politics creating a shadow government, by and for special interests and the Great Destroyers, should voters care?

The late October 2014 onslaught of TV attack ads against Charlie Crist by Gov. Rick Scott, funded from his personal fortunate, were the latest proof that Florida voters are only paying on the most visceral level, unable or unwilling to parse facts for themselves. That serves the polluters just fine.

And so, under that toxic spell, the next step could be the US Department of Justice cutting through the bullshit of whether or not to move a Cabinet meeting from the Florida state fair to Tallahassee to bring the weight of federal law down on an administration that cares so little for laws, including the Agriculture Secretary whose ambition is to be the next Governor or US Senator from the Sunshine State.

New Candidates for City of Miami District 2. What are there 5 now? By Geniusofdespair

Lorry Woods, downtown small business owner and community leader, has filed to run for Commissioner of City of Miami District 2.

Lorry owns Elwoods Gastro Pub. She started the business five years ago, in the middle of the last Recession. Through perseverance and hard work, her business managed to survive the tumultuous first years of owning a restaurant and is now a thriving local

"When I first started the business, I saw first-hand the resilience and determination of everyday Miamians working hard to provide a better future for their families. They deserve a city commissioner who will look out for them every single day. They deserve a commissioner who will engage residents, work with businesses, invest in community assets, vote against bad deals, value good government, and fight to make sure regular Miamians aren't left behind from this."

In addition to running her business, Lorry also serves on the Downtown Miami Partnership -- a private sector group that facilitates growth for the businesses and residents in the Downtown/Brickell area.

 Rosa Polamino is also running. She has a Facebook Page.  She is holding a fundraiser February 21st at noon location to be announced. On her page it says:

"Rosy is running to make Miami a better place for families and all of our children, especially the furry ones."

I am against this dog fixation for the  City. I like dogs, I had them all my life but I am against waterfront dog parks and especially the dog park that was once the Miami Circle.



Groveite Mike Simpson is running as well for District 2. Never met him.  According to the Coconut Grapevine, Simpson said:

As a resident of Center Coconut Grove Grapevine, Mike says he understands the need to balance the rich history of Miami with the progress needed to move Miami forward into the future. "As someone without a vested interest currently, I will provide a moderate and progressive view on the issues facing our city with fresh eyes,"

Finally Teresa Sarnoff is running, the current County Commissioner's wife. I think she is a lovely woman and I have spoken to her many times. She appears to care about the environment. People are worried about how independent she would be from her husband and his opinions.

I previously wrote about Grace Solares. We go way back and I would support Grace for that reason. She is not a Johnny come lately candidate. She has been in the trenches many years as an activist and community organizer. You could always count on Grace for scheduling a debate or gathering a crowd on an issue. We organized many debates for candidates together before I had this blog and after.  We did some at the Science Museum, at the Episcopal Cathedral, at Simpson Park and the Sailing Club. We both thought it important for the candidates to be heard. So I do have a horse in the race...as you can tell; A very smart lady who I have disagreed with at times. Here are her campaign kick-off photos.

Feel free to write about your candidate but no trashing anyone please.

New Names on Our Earned Wrath List: Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas J. Mulvihill and U.S. Attorney Wifredo Antonio Ferrer. By Geniusofdespair

Wifredo A. Ferrer, US Attorney, Mulvihill's boss. For once we don't have to blame Katherine Fernandez Rundle for a screw up.

Ana Alliegro and Former Congressman David Rivera

Get this investigation out of Thomas J. Mulvihill's hands before the statute of limitations runs out.

When someone in jail asserts that her co-conspirator is being given the white glove treatment you know something is wrong (from the Miami Herald- too hard to find the link), Ana Alliegro said:

"I think Mulvihill is the reason he (David Rivera) hasn't been charged."

Now digest that for a minute. This woman gave Mulvihill all the material he needed including (according to the Miami Herald): "...an hour long Dec. 18 testimony and a mountain of evidence; corroborating witnesses, a trove of emails, a handwritten note from Rivera and even fingerprints. Also a federal judge last year demanded that Rivera be named in open court."

What the hell is holding things up? Even Ana Alliegro wants to know as she sat in jail (with Sternad the dupe).

I will tell you. I think it is because David Rivera's best friend is Marco Rubio....for years. They owned a house together in Tallahassee and let it foreclose together. They both lived in it TOGETHER. Rivera was in the waiting room at the birth of all 4 of Marco Rubio's children. Rivera is the man that can bring Marco Rubio's presidential plans to a halt. He taught him how to be sleazy. Alliegro calls Rivera a "sociopath".  And he has been Rubio's best friend. Hmmm. Doesn't say much for Marco Rubio's character. If you doubt they are best friends just watch this video.




(watch on YouTube)

We want action on David Rivera, Wifredo Antonio Ferrer: NOW!

Back from India … by gimleteye

It's a 30 hour flight, with an hour stopover through Doha, from southern Kerala state to Miami. A few impressions.

Airports.

The airport at Doha is one of the most modern and efficient in the world. Qatar rises from the desert. It is manufactured completely from oil wealth. Its airport will overtake European airports on the route from the Americas to India and Africa.

The profound influence of Islamic nations on India

Kerala state faces the Arabian Sea. It is a place that exports construction and service labor to the Mideast and remittances, home. So connections run very deep. Driving through poor Kerala towns and villages, it is remarkable how many of the newest civic institutions are mosques, likely paid for with the assistance of Mideast states.

The deal that Saudi Arabia princes made with radical Islamist religious leaders; ie. to keep peace at home in return for investing in the export of the most conservative strain of Islam, manifests in India in ways that aren't very well understood in the United States. Although Hindus and Muslims have lived side-by-side in India, since the partition, how to stem the growth of radical Islam in a nation that often seems ungovernable from the outside, is a real concern.

Commercial fishing and the tragedy of the commons.

Commercial fishing is the backbone of Kerala, but the fish are disappearing. Sreet side vendors sell fish from carts and blankets on the street. There are fish, but we'd recognize them as the smallest species: sardines, butter fish, and marginal catch of larger species like wahoo.

The Arabian Sea, like everywhere else, has been scoured by international fishing fleets. At sunset from the deck of our hotel at Kovalum, thousands of small motorized fishing boats positioned themselves for a night fishing half a mile to a mile and a half off the coast. Once it was dark, the coast was festooned like a Christmas tree from their lamps.

India is a nation of the young.

Thanks to advances in health care, population is growing fast in India. Driving through Tamil Nadu to Kerala, through countless small towns and villages where economic life takes place right on streets crowded with vendors and small shops, maybe 5 to 10 percent of the people one sees are over the age of 50. It's a rough census, for sure, but an accurate picture.

India is a nation on the move, but how exactly national directives filter to the states and to municipal governments seems aspirational and not pragmatic. Because so many Indians are poor, political pragmatism is mostly about feeding one's family.

Climate change.

How will India mobilize to fight climate change? The entire nation is covered in a pall of haze and smog. Open fires are everywhere.

To my Republican friends who say there is no point in the US sacrificing economic growth so long as India and China do nothing to reign in their pollution, I say: good luck with that strategy.

As the leader of the world's functioning democratic economies, we had better get about the business of transformation, fast, because -- honestly -- the alternative is world where the best adapted to survive climate change are small villages where people are so poor they have cultivated skills over thousands of years to survive hand to mouth. India.

I am tired of writing, wasting my time. I am too busy to do research for no reason. By Geniusofdespair

This was just too stupid to not mention:

MAYOR CARLOS A. GIMENEZ APPOINTS LESTER SOLA DIRECTOR OF MIAMI-DADE WATER AND SEWER DEPARTMENT. A case of the blind leading the blind.

How would you motivate us? What do we need to do to make you read? I am playing Words with Friends instead of writing.  How many comments did I get yesterday? Not worth it frankly. I would rather watch the Walking Dead Marathon starting Friday. Is that what I should be doing with my time? I don't think many people care about the County. They would rather just let it lumber along and that is what I write about.

Anyone got a picture of Carlos Gimenez rolling his eyes? I am collecting them.