The Grimm Truth

So Much For The Florida Lobster Industry

    Commercial Fisherman Jim Higgins worries that by the time authorities figure out whether the Gulf of Mexico oil slick is truly an environmental disaster, Florida's lobster industry will be sunk.

I read your article with great interest and concern this morning. Under the " Calculating Currents " heading you stated it was too soon to measure the extent of the environmental damage. I'm a commercial lobsterman. I can tell you that we are now going into the part of the year where the spawning of spiny lobsters, Panulirus argus, is at its greatest, April through July.   
     At this time, after mating , females release their eggs into the currents. They in turn become phyllosome larvae, eggs, that are at the mercy of currents and wind for the next 9 months to a year before they go through a  metamorphosis and swim to a suitable substrate to live.    These substrates are the grassbeds of the Florida Keys. The majority of these larvae float in the Gulf of Mexico for a 9 month to a year-long period. You can imagine what will probably happen if they come into contact with this oil sheen. It's ironic that at one time lobsterman use to oil soaked leather to attract lobsters into their traps.

      Spiny lobsters are the largest fishery in the state of Florida. Numbers have already been largely diminished , in my opinion, to a herpes type virus. I think in the future your going to see that this spill will have had a catastrophic effect on this fishery.

     I agree that it is too soon to know what environmental damages have and will occur but unfortunately by the time they do figure it out it may be of little help.

What's The Real Cost Of Offshore Drilling?

 

     Teresa Stephen wants to weigh the real cost Florida will pay for offshore oil drilling against the purported benefits.

     Several summers ago,  we spent a day at New Smyrna Beach and met a lady from Texas.  She informed us that they could not enjoy the Texas beaches as they were fouled by oil, thus the visit to Florida.  This prompted my daughter to educate Floridians about the risk of oil spills including the risk from  the real possibility of hurricanes.  My daughter began a community service project whereby she circulated printed petitions and created an on-line petition against oil drilling in Florida.  She sent letters to many House members of Florida last year when they were voting to allow oil drilling off Florida's coastline.  Our family has been actively working against oil drilling in Florida for several years on a small scale.

       My question: How much we have to lose financially from oil drilling?  Is Texas really that much better off than we are with their dirty beaches?  What really does Florida have to lose and gain financially?  If it is so great, why have they not included drilling off of Maine and other beaches whereby lobster and fish thrive?  Who really gets this oil?  Doesn't BP have the right to sell it overseas?  Many Floridians think if we drill it they will bring it on shore and the cost of gas will go down here.   

Gulf Currents Extend The Oil Spill Threat To Florida

In my column regarding the spreading oil spill off the coast of Louisiana, I erroneously referred to the concerns  “climate” scientists  have expressed about the Gulf of Mexico currents that might carry the oil slick toward Florida. Villy Kourafalou, a research professor in the Division of  Meteorology and Physical Oceanography at the  University of Miami  Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science wrote to correct me. But Professor Kourafalou had much, much more to say about the Gulf disaster.

               

    I agree with the general spirit of your article (4/27) on the Gulf oil spill. It is, indeed, true that spills happening in the Gulf have great potential to influence the South Florida coastal areas. I am quite  amazed that the media have not mentioned by name the elephant in the room, namely the Gulf Stream. As an oceanographer, I feel we scientists have failed to share some of the quite relevant knowledge on the Gulf offshore drilling issue.

     However, I would like to bring to your attention a quite erroneous reference to climate scientists addressing the prediction of the oil spill. Climate prediction has NOTHING to do with the time scales we care about for this problem. You should refer to "ocean prediction" where  models run in real time, integrating available data and providing predictions of ocean circulation for the next few days (much like what  the weather service does for the atmosphere).

    We have a number of such tools available in the Gulf of Mexico, going from global to regional to coastal models, increasing in model resolution etc. Unfortunately, sustained operations for coastal models of high resolution are not in place, which is exactly what is needed for a detailed prediction required in this case. But the regional models can give a good framework  for the needed operations.

    Below I offer you a brief statement on the oceanographic background that is relevant to your story.

    Offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico sounds irrelevant to the Gulf coasts. Floridians appear relieved that the new zones are far from the Florida beaches. However, the Gulf interior is well connected to shelf and coastal areas in the Gulf, including the Florida Keys reefs and beaches from Miami to West Palm, through the Loop Current/Florida. Current branches of the Gulf Stream.

    These currents change within days or weeks and large recirculating features (eddies) travel along them. The eddies act as carriers of various substances, moving them relatively quickly at great distances from the Gulf interior toward the shelf and coastal areas.

    The Florida Keys and the beaches from Miami to West Palm are particularly vulnerable, due to their proximity to the Florida. Current and eddies in the narrow Straits of Florida. The narrow shelf also plays a role, with shelf topography causing the eddies to break apart and deliver the substances, which can be good (like fish larvae and nutrients) or bad (like pollutants).

The debate on "offshore"  drilling in the Gulf should bring oceanography on board. Models of ocean prediction are already in place, assimilating data in real time and providing a wealth of information on these processes. Any exploration of marine resources needs scientific support to management in tandem with  sustained ability of rapid response to environmental hazards.

Doctors, Even Irresponsible Doctors, Regarded As Gods

    John Ryan, a longtime critic of the pharmaceutical industry's penchant for peddling psychotropic drugs for unapproved uses -- including dispensing adult psychotropics to children -- responded to my column about the state's hesitancy to take action against the doctor who prescribed the apparently fatal cocktail of drugs for 12-year-old Denis Maltez. (John is a retired hardware and software engineer, currently an adjunct math professor living in Las Cruces, New Mexico.)

      Your article points out a problem that those of us in the anti-psycho/pharmaceutical-complex movement have.  People hold doctors in high esteem and are very deferent to them.  They are almost considered gods.  People are skeptical of criticism of any doctor.

       The State of Florida rightly went after the Rainbow Ranch and quickly suspended its license.  Yet, as you stated, over-medication of psychotropic drugs killed Deniz Maltez.  For that, Dr. Kaplan is responsible, yet he continued to “treat“ 800 children on the Medicaid program for about one month shy of three years.

      The State Medical Board could have suspended Dr. Kaplan’s medical license, but all they did was suspend him from the Medicaid program.  I don’t doubt that at some later date Dr. Kaplan will be reinstated in the Medicaid program.

      In the case of 4-year-old Rebecca Riley in Massachusetts, Dr. Kayoko Kifuji of Tufts University Medical Center temporarily had her license suspended, and was given a leave of absence with pay. But after the trials in which Rebecca’s mother and father were convicted of second degree murder, and in which Dr. Kifuji was granted immunity from prosecution for her testimony, Dr. Kifuji’s license was reinstated, and she was reinstated to the TUMC staff.  She is now practicing pediatric medicine again.         Dr. Kifuji prescribed a cocktail of psychotropics for Rebecca based on what the girl’s mother told her.  She only examined Rebecca once.

     And that arrogant ass Dr. Kaplan has the chutzpah to say that “nothing I did caused that boy’s death,” or words to that effect.        Doctors are indeed regarded as gods who have come down from Mount Olympus.

Insurance Coverage For Home Health Care

Judy  Cannon Stierheim passed on the letter she sent to the governor decrying the failure of insurance to cover home health care, despite the potential savings in money and stress.

Dear Governor Crist:

  I could not sleep as I think about my parents and care for them now that they both have Alzheimer's.  It makes it doubly difficult, as our system of health care only caters to crisis care and not prevention in the home for the elderly.  I thought that you might like to consider something that would have many benefits on many different levels: Consider the pros and cons of proposing that within the State of Florida, homeowner's property assessment would not increase in value if they were to add on a Granny Flat in order to care for their elderly parents....quarters for the parents or parents-in-law, thus giving an inducement for people to make plans to look after their elderly parents in advance of the crisis events in which many end up.  So many people live day to day in stress mode, worrying what is happening to my mother or father in their home alone, or in the nursing home; are they being ill treated? etc. etc. Our insurance system does not give allowances to pay for nursing care in the home and only covers hospital and doctor visits, which in my humble opinion is a very expensive system based on crisis events resulting from lack of preventive care in the home.  I would propose that if a portion of a nurse/care giver's expenses was covered by our insurance for the elderly in their own home, it would be a much more sensible, cost effective and a humane system that puts the patient first.   Now combine these two things:  no property assessment increase for quarters for the elderly parent in the family home and insurance compensation for care givers in the home and you have a win win.  Benefits: - increased opportunity for construction jobs - increased job opportunities for health care workers [independent and agency employees] - reduction in the need for nursing homes - reduction in the demand to police these facilities - reduction in the number of crisis events for the elderly, thus reducing Medicare and Medicaid costs - peace of mind for the elderly and their families - increase in the quality of life for families, strengthening of family values and it's the right thing to do    I am sure that there are many more tangible and intangible benefits that I cannot think of at this hour but know that one of the things that I admire about you is that you are intelligent and will do the right thing and not compromise your principles or the people principle in the State of Florida....Judy Cannon Stierheim

The Cost Of Bailing Out The Bail Bond Industry

 

Forty-four years ago, VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) assigned a young volunteer, just out of law school, to create Dade County's (and Florida's) first pretrial release program. “The battle continues,” Judge Tom Peterson told me by e-mail. “The commercial bail system is more flawed than ever. “

                Miami-Dade Senior Judge Peterson, who presides over bond hearings, wrote a letter to Florida State Senator Victor Crist, protesting the proposed bailout of the bail bond industry via a law that would emasculate pretrial detention.

                Dear Senator Crist,

    I have recently had the opportunity to read a document published by the bail bond "industry" entitled  "Taxpayer Funded Pretrial Release: A Failed System". The document was given to me by a fellow Judge and I assume that it is being circulated to members of the Florida Judiciary and Legislature in the context of the current Legislative Session, as a component of the "industry's" objective of further curtailing or effectively eliminating our Pretrial Services Program, administered by our Department of Corrections. The document represents nothing more than a compilation of false, erroneous and misleading information which should not go unanswered.

     My personal experience with Public Pretrial Release began in 1966 when, as a recent law school graduate, I was involved as one of the creators of Miami-Dade County' Pretrial Release Program.  Subsequent to that experience I served as prosecutor for eighteen years and Chief Assistant State Attorney to both Richard Gerstein and Janet Reno. Since 1989 I served as a Circuit Court Judge and then as a Senior Judge assigned, ironically, to bond hearings. I currently continue to serve in that capacity. I have also been an Adjunct Professor of Criminology at the University of Miami for ten years while serving as a Judge. Secured Bail and Public Bail: A Background The rationale for the creation of the public bail program in 1966 was and is that surety bonds were beyond the reach of the indigent offenders who then crowded our jails despite ample community ties and minimal prior records.

    Unable to post a surety bond they sat in jail for at least 21 days.  Were the public Pretrial Release Program in Miami-Dade County to be curtailed today, we would revert to the same jail overcrowding status that precipitated Pretrial Release programs 45 years ago.

    Today, the cost of incarcerating one inmate for one day is $130 of taxpayer dollars. Before addressing the falsehoods and errors in the bail "industry's" glossy publication, a bit of history may be helpful.  Posting financial bond has been a practice in place for centuries.  The premise has been that the posting of one's own financial assets, and their loss should the offender abscond, would provide an incentive for the accused offender to appear in court.

    Over time, presumably because of the recurring issue of the inequity of that system for indigents or others unable to pay the total amount of a bond, a new player appeared: the bailbondsman. For a fee of ten percent of the bond (the premium) and collateral for the remaining 90% (deed to a house or other security - which represents the genesis of the term "secured" release), the accused defendant was released to the bondsman who, in turn, was and is backed by an insurance company.

    Gradually it became apparent that most defendants, being indigent, could not afford secured bail and, irrespective of community ties, remained in jail. The first criminal defendant released to the new Dade Pretrial Release Program, for example, was an 18 year old Liberty City resident whose family had lived in the same home for 20 years, who had no prior record and who was charged with being a passenger in a stolen car. He had been in jail 45 days before becoming the first defendant released to the Pretrial Release Program. He was released under my supervision, was required to physically report in every Friday (which is still the program requirement) and I was required to locate him and if I could not a warrant was issued, as is the case today with both secured bail and public pretrial release.

    Today that 45 days in jail would cost the taxpayer $ 5,800. Any professionally conducted comparison of the two critical issues, (1) comparative costs of those kept in jail because of inability to post bond compared to the costs of release to a public bail program, and (2) a comparison of the non-appearance rate of those released to the Pretrial Services Program with those released on bond, will immediately demonstrate the public policy error inherent in any way further restricting those eligible for Pretrial Release.

    With respect to the second issue, I am attaching the 2009 failure to appear statistics of Miami-Dade's Pretrial Services Program which is 4 %.  I challenge Miami-Dade's bail bond "industry" to produce their own non-appearance rate. In reality they cannot.