Weekly Roundup: These are a few of my favorite things!

This past week was Julie Andrew’s birthday! Sing-a-long!

Lately I haven’t really had a lot of time to sit and read. These are the blog’s and twitter feeds I read daily.

“Revealing analysis of national trends and local news you won’t find in Miami’s mainstream media. Dedicated to ethical government, saving tax dollars and a healthy environment. We aim to TRY to break the chokehold of Miami’s developers and lobbyists on local government and the public commons.”

Two extremely knowledgeable people who show us all the things you won’t see on the tv or even in a regular newspaper.

This week there are some incredible photos of the flooding in Miami. Have I seen this on the news? no

Go! Scroll through!

Thank you GenuisofDespair and Gimleteye

My Next Blog I love belongs to my friend, fellow WordPress blogger and future Martin County Commissioner

Jacqui Thurlow-Lippisch

I was introduced to Jacqui thru my friend Bryna Potsdam who I have known for years. Bryna was a long time supporter of Golden Retrievers and my rescue. Her son adopted a golden and named him Piper. He was wicked this dog. But he was loved until the day he died.

Jacqui and I sat in rain and she explained to me everything she knew about the Indian RIver Lagoon.

About Jacqui

“Jacqui is journalism graduate of the University of Florida, and an education master’s graduate of the University of West Florida. She went on to teach English and German and later after a serious accident of breaking her neck, started selling real estate. Later, she ran for public office having served on the Town of Sewall’s Point Commission since 2008, and is former mayor. During this time she saw the opportunity to help showcase the work of a locally formed river group, the River Kidz, and this has been her passion ever. She incorporates youth/river education into her political work for the St Lucie River/Indian River Lagoon.

Jacqui is the treasurer/secretary of the Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council; has chaired the Florida League of Cities Environmental and Energy Committee; was chair, and a six year member of the Treasure Coast Council of Local Governments; is an alternate for the Water Resources Advisory Commission for the South Florida Water Management District; and is a board member for Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute Foundation, in St Lucie County. She also serves as a board member (ex-officio) for the Rivers Coalition Defense Fund, and is head administrator for her beloved River Kidz, now a division of the Rivers Coalition.

Jacqui’s reach involves not only local, but state and federal government. In 2013, she served on Senator Joe Negron’s panel for the Select Senate Hearing on the Indian River Lagoon and Lake Okeechobee. In 2014, she actively supported the elections of both Senator Joe Negron and Congressman Patrick Murphy who have both been strong supporters of Indian River Lagoon issues. In 2015, she is part of the Florida League Cities Treasure Coast Advocacy team to influence and educate Tallahassee. Jacqui received the Everglades Coalition’s 2015 “John V. Kabler Award” for “Grassroots Activism” working to organize and educate the public about Everglades restoration. Most recently she has been recruited as a fellow by the University of Florida/IFAS’s Natural Resources Leadership Institute Class XV. The institute focuses on teaching leaders how to facilitate participatory decision making in the most controversial of situations.”

Jacqui’s husband Ed has a place and they frequently go up and take photos and document the Indian River Lagoon. Some I forget who dubbed her “The Plume Chaser.”

Jacqui comes from a place of love of our lagoon and love of Martin County so I consider her a trusted source.

So a wonderful blog filled with information from a person who truly in her heart loves the Indian RIver Lagoon.

This is my favorite Twitter Feed. Not only is Craig Pittman an award winning reporter for the Tampa Bays (My second favorite newspaper), he is an author, an obvious fan of the truth and stinkin funny. I try not to go every day because I don’t want him to think I’m stalking him.

https://twitter.com/craigtimes

He gives us a uniquely true vision of Florida but the humor most of the time helps the sting of all the major BS we are going thru.

Oh #Florida! U.S. Senate candidate denies sacrificing goats, admits sacrificing other animals. http://t.co/DBz5PoyGSk via @marc

— Craig Pittman (@craigtimes) October 2, 2015

Because honestly you can’t make this stuff up.

“Adrian Wyllie, chairman of Florida’s Libertarian Party, resigned his post Thursday to protest the party’s U.S. Senate candidate, accusing the rival of supporting eugenics and for being expelled from a cult group for “sadistically dismembering a goat in a ritualistic sacrifice.”

The Senate candidate, who goes by the adopted name Augustus Sol Invictus, counter-accused Wyllie of spreading “half-truths and lies” for political gain”

Mr Augustus even responded to the story written by Marc Caputo.

”

The Libertarian • a day ago

Witness ye the glory of my life at 29 years of age: I have four children, each of whom should be the envy of every parent in the world; I have attained a Baccalaureate Degree in Philosophy with honors; I have attained a Doctorate in Law, cum laude; I have acquired licenses in the profession of law in the States of New York, Illinois, and Florida; I am scheduled to acquire two more such licenses in North Carolina & Massachusetts; I am Editor-in-Chief of a poetry journal; I run an independent publishing company; I have opened my own law office in downtown Orlando; I am an MBA candidate; and I have accomplished a few other things that will remain off the record for now.

I am of genius intellect & cultured, well-educated & creative, well-mannered & refined. I am God’s gift to humankind where the English language is concerned, and I also happen to have a basic knowledge of Latin, Greek, French, Spanish, and Italian. I am musical & artistic; I am athletic & possessed of militant self-discipline; and I am many other things. I have a Cadillac & a poodle, multiple computers & a personal library; I live in an apartment downtown, right across the street from the courthouse; I have been to Paris & Vancouver, to Cairo & Dubrovnik, to Mexico City & Siracusa. I dress better than all of you, pronounce my words perfectly, and have a winning, professional handshake. I am everything you ever wanted to be.

I challenge any of you, then, to accuse me of being a failure in this artificial civilization of yours. For it is beyond dispute that I have played your petty game, and I have won.

But your game no longer holds any interest for me. Your architecture is vapid & worthless, as is your decadent culture, the mindless drivel you call music, the filth you call democracy. You waste your lives watching pure excrement on television, shopping at the strip malls, planning your vacations to resorts & theme parks. The Internet, with its infinitude of information, is used for reading celebrity gossip & watching sitcoms. You have begun to reduce argument to memes & human communication to trite sound bites. Life has become trivial – and if you cannot feel the human spirit decaying, you are already dead.

The vague threats of violence continue at the end:

HEAR YE MY FINAL WORDS IN PEACETIME:

I have prophesied for years that I was born for a Great War; that if I did not witness the coming of the Second American Civil War I would begin it myself. Mark well: That day is fast coming upon you. On the New Moon of May, I shall disappear into the Wilderness. I will return bearing Revolution, or I will not return at all.

War Be unto the Ends of the Earth,

Augustus Sol Invictus
Orlando, Florida, USA
XX Aprilis MMXIII Satvrnvs”

I gave you the link. Read the article make up your own mind.

There one more mention of people I read. Unfortunately because you have to have subscription most of you can’t read. But you can read her twitter feed.

Eve Samples From the TC Palm.

https://twitter.com/EveSamples

Tyler Treadway

https://twitter.com/tcpalmtreadway

Ed Killer

https://twitter.com/TCPalmEKiller

What do all these people have in common?

The believe in the truth. I can trust them all.

In this day and age when we get so much BS from the news outlets we have to know where the truth is.

It’s our responsibility.

If’s it Sunday it’s Cyndi’s Blog!

Aug23

Are you mad as hell yet?

I was watching “Meet the Press” and I just had to change the channel. It’s very frustrating to have such a partisan host who really is not that good. Last week he did an interview with Donald Trump and was totally loosing it and you could see his disdain for the Donald. You want to be a host of a national news show learn how to not be such a girly boy. UGG

This has been and will continue to be a long week as I’m working my two jobs and am covering for one of my coworkers. Last week was wicked. I totally understand why people can’t pay attention. Almost every night I didn’t finish up until 9 pm. I ate while I charted.

For one job my computer needs to be live I gave up my cherished unlimited data so I could have a hot spot. I’m having issues with my wifi in the house. Some day’s its fine some day’s it’s not. My hotspot doesn’t work in the field most of the time. It does however work great in my house when my wifi isn’t working. I have to pay for the hot spot data. It’s very frustrating. I am attempting to finish my charting in the field so I don’t have to do it when I get home and have all kinds of interruptions. I was trashed. I think most people are at the end of the day.

And it’s hot. July BTW was the hottest month ever recorded on earth.

Is it winter yet?

The point that I’m trying to make is that we are all busy trying to pay our bills and perhaps we don’t have time to be endlessly computing and we depend on the the news to tell us the news.

We love our news guy but are we under some kind of delusion that they are the same news guys we see in the movies?

“All the Presidents Men

(1976)

Reporters: Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman), Bob Woodward (Robert Redford)

This is a hybrid between a political crime documentary and a biopic on the two famous Washington

Post reporters who dug into the infamous Watergate burglaries that occurred prior to the 1972

presidential election, and that were eventually traced directly to the White House where all fingers

pointed to Richard Nixon and his staff. This is the kind of movie

reveals how important solid journalism is to a free society, and the immense peril that true freedom

faces today as newspaper circulation declines and people get “news” from non-authoritative sources

that lack resources and professionalism to do serious investigative journalism.”

This was my news yesterday.

So yesterday I DVR’d the local news morning show. This is what they showed us.

The Kickoff between South Ford VS Palm Beach Gardens.

Hurricane Danny Update. (Weakening)

Next up was Athletes Learning Cardiac Arrest signs.

Hurricane Danny update.

Breaking News out of Delray Beach- a shooting investigation

Hurricane Danny update

Deadly Shooting investigation

Man on Flakker breaks into woman’s home and the woman get’s to thank the dispatcher

Advocates call for reform of Juvenile Facitly

Human trafficking Suspect in Custody

Ashley Madison Hack attack

Hurricane Danny update and other possible hurricanes that may form

A list of Whacky Baby names

American’s Stop Gunman from attacking more people

Florida Veterans vow to fight ISIS

New Foundation for Austin and Perry

Hurricane Danny and weather update

Coming up on today

Something about a museum in Riviera Beach

Turn up a smile

Hurricane Danny Update

A few things. Apparently there was nothing happening in the Treasure Coast. Or was there?

Well yesterday we had “Dancing in the streets”

Nothing about the Treasure Coast. Not one thing.

So this week this is what I was interested in.

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/environment/speak-up-wekiva-conservation-group-files-lawsuit-to-stop-florida-black-bear-hunt_54873076

It actually started a few weeks ago but I’m getting caught up.

“The lawsuit, filed in Leon County circuit court in Tallahassee, asks a judge to declare the hunt planned for late October unconstitutional and all bear hunting permits invalid.

Despite an outcry from opponents, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reopened bear hunting with a vote in June. The Conservation Commission is set to begin issuing bear hunting permits Monday.

The lawsuit by Speak Up Wekiva, named for a Florida spring and river, and Seminole County real estate investor Charles O’Neal prompted other conservation groups Friday to call on the Conservation Commission to suspend issuing bear hunt permits until the case is resolved.

“Somebody had to stand up for the bears and that’s exactly what I’m doing,” said O’Neal, 59, who is also treasurer of Speak Up Wekiva and vice president of the League of Women Voters of Florida.”

Then I read an amazing blogpost!

http://www.dailykumquat.com/florida-bear-hunt-fwc-habitat-loss-overpopulation-development/

“On October 10th, 2015, the small Central Florida town of Umatilla, on the southern edge of the Ocala National Forest, is scheduled to hold its annual Black Bear Festival. The event, organized by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC), has traditionally been aimed at educating young and old alike about the area’s wildlife, featuring presentations and guided eco-tours of the nearby forest. For a town that used to label itself “The Gateway to the Forest,” the event was a wholesome family activity and entirely fitting. This year’s event promises to be extra-special, for it will mark the two-week countdown to the resumption of bear hunting after a twenty-one-year hiatus, affording Florida’s families a wonderful new way to interact with their natural environment. It remains to be seen whether the organizers will set up bear-shaped targets for youngsters to aim at in Cadwell Park, or will hide the reality of the coming bloodbath behind their fraudulent and authoritarian claim of managerial responsibility.”

Got caught up on my “Eye on Miami.” This is really important stuff you’ll never hear on the news. Day after day our Mista Gimleteye and Genuisofdespair go after the bad guys. We learn from these two. They keep us honest.

Then I headed over to Craig Pittman, award winning journalist, who has the best twitter feed ever.

https://twitter.com/craigtimes

Today he posted this. Certainly something you won’t hear on the news. Always interesting and many time very funny which is how I like my news.

Mall developer who backed #Florida bear hunt resigns from @MyFWC, @FLGovScott picks hotel developer to replace him http://t.co/m630nLgVKV

— Craig Pittman (@craigtimes) August 22, 2015

So my question for you guys today is how do YOU like your news and what would you like to see more of. Please comment here on the page so I can share it with some of the news guys.

Summer Book Club: Paving Paradise Florida’s Vanishing Wetlands and Failure of no Net Loss.

Aug8

Summer Book Club: Paving Paradise Florida’s Vanishing Wetlands and Failure of no Net Loss by Craig Pittman and Matthew Waite.

What is no Net Loss? Is it even on our radar?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/No_net_loss_wetlands_policy

“No net loss” is the United States government’s overall policy goal regarding wetlands preservation. The goal of the policy is to balance wetland loss due to economic development with wetlands reclamation, mitigation, and restorations efforts, so that the total acreage of wetlands in the country does not decrease, but remains constant or increases. To achieve the objective of no net loss, the federal government utilizes several different environmental policy tools which legally protect wetlands, provide rules and regulations for citizens and corporations interacting with wetlands, and incentives for the preservation and conservation of wetlands. Given the public benefits provided by wetland ecosystem services, such as flood control, nutrient farming, habitat, water filtration, and recreational area, the estimations that over half the acreage of wetlands in the United States has been lost within the last three centuries is of great concern to local, state, and federal agencies as well as the public interest they serve.”

So while all these political people are running around having debates etc. I’m concerned with the BS that goes on. How people say one thing and do another? I’ll bet not one of these people running understand this including the two from Florida because it’s so far off their radar.

I think we need to start making a reading list for anyone running for office. This would be on the top of my list.

You guys know I hate to read books my self. Books are meant to be talked about, discussed, educate people.

This is what I’m reading this summer.

http://www.tampabay.com/features/books/review-paving-paradise-by-craig-pittman-and-matthew-waite-illuminates/988011

Bulldozed and buried wetlands underlie the foundations of thousands of mines, highways, golf courses and shopping malls all over our state, despite clear federal and state policy calling for no net loss of wetlands. It was President George H.W. Bush who first articulated this policy in 1988. “We are going to stand wetlands protection on its ear,” declared the marsh- and duck-loving president.

Pittman and Waite explain why that hasn’t happened, and their probing, well-crafted narrative will keep you turning every page of their book. The prize-winning pair of St. Petersburg Times reporters spent four years researching the state of wetlands protection in Florida. They interviewed hundreds of people, ferreting out political pressure points, cynical numbers games and all the inventive ways we are lied to. (You don’t really believe in mitigation, do you?)

http://gothere.com/Florida/paving-paradise-book-review.htm

Florida has lost over 84,000 acres of wetlands since 1990, this despite “no net loss” mandates. For 4 years Journalists Craig Pittman and Matthew Waite investigated how Federal, state and local legislators failed to protect Florida’s wetlands from developers and their developments.

In this book Pittman and Waite explain how “wetland protection” often just gives the illusion of protecting the environment while it allows Florida’s native habitat to be paved over.

Pittman and Waite are both reporters at the St. Petersburg Times and have twice earned the top investigative reporting prize in the nation from the Society of Environmental Journalists as well as the Waldo Proffit Award for Excellence in Environmental Journalism in Florida.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4251875-paving-paradise

Florida possesses more wetlands than any other state except Alaska, yet since 1990 more than 84,000 acres have been lost to development despite presidential pledges to protect them. How and why the state’s wetlands are continuing to disappear is the subject of “Paving Paradise”. Journalists Craig Pittman and Matthew Waite spent nearly four years investigating the political expedience, corruption, and negligence on the part of federal and state agencies that led to a failure to enforce regulations on developers. They traveled throughout the state, interviewed hundreds of people, dug through thousands of documents, and analyzed satellite imagery to identify former wetlands that were now houses, stores, and parking lots. Exposing the unseen environmental consequences of rampant sprawl, Pittman and Waite explain how wetland protection creates the illusion of environmental protection while doing little to stem the tide of destruction. What is happening to Florida’s ‘protected’ wetlands?

Here is Craig’s Twitter which is very funny and informative. You can see for yourself.

https://twitter.com/craigtimes

Here is the book’s website. This is one person that Elliot or the RC could invite invite to talk to us.

http://pavingparadise.org/

n an award-winning newspaper series, two investigative reporters from the St. Petersburg Times chronicled how federal rules meant to protect the nation’s wetlands were more illusion than law. Now, that series has been expanded into a book, delving into how we got to this point, starting with land speculators making waterfront property out of sand dredged from the bottom of the ocean. Now, read how the nation’s wetlands protections were formed in clashes between developers, bureaucrats, judges, activists and con artists over Florida swamps.

“This is an exhaustive, timely and devastating account of the destruction of Florida’s wetlands, and the disgraceful collusion of government at all levels. It’s an important book that should be read by every voter, every taxpayer, every parent, every Floridian who cares about saving what’s left of this precious place.” — Carl Hiaasen”

“I am amazed, horrified and delighted that you wrote Paving Paradise! You have uncovered the perfidy that we always knew existed … You have named the key figures that led to the loss of thousands of acres of Florida wetlands.” –Nathaniel Reed”

and don’t tell me the ending!

cyndi lenz

psych nurse, documentary filmmaker, photographer, crazed river warrior of the Indian River Lagoon.

Tag Archives: craig pittman

Weekly Roundup: These are a few of my favorite things!

If’s it Sunday it’s Cyndi’s Blog!

Summer Book Club: Paving Paradise Florida’s Vanishing Wetlands and Failure of no Net Loss.