Once again, sports reporters eager to avoid angering Tiger Woods and becoming 'Persona non Tiger'

My comments follow this latest update from TMZ.
-----------
TMZ.com
Tiger Woods Cornered -- Turns Cops Away

Posted Nov 28th 2009 5:09PM by TMZ Staff

http://www.tmz.com/2009/11/28/tiger-woods-elin-nordegren-florida-highway-patrol/

-----------
Well, what do you know?
Maybe ESPN's Sunday morning edition of
The Sports Reporters will actually be
interesting and relevant for the first time in
what seems like ages, as the Usual Suspects
of sports sages weigh-in, gingerly, on what's
happened the past few days on the golf icon
and guaranteed moneymaker named
Tiger Woods.

Personally, though I know it will never
happen, I'd love to hear them be
straight-shooters for a change and publicly
call-out their more spine-less and craven
colleagues in the sports and marketing
industry, esp. at the TV networks, who
walk on eggshells when speaking about
Tiger Woods, someone whom I've yet
to ever hear an original and thoughtful
comment from, just like fellow Nike
spokesperson Michael Jordan,
even though he has the benefit of a
Stanford education.

(Not that a Stanford education really did devout
Oriole fans like me any good in the '90's while
Mike Mussina was pitching for the Orioles,
despite how frequently it got brought-up during
ballgame broadcasts, much to our consternation.

A lot of my friends and I still blame Mussina for
not winning Game 3 of the 1996 ALCS against
the Yankees at Camden Yards -I was there-
blowing a 1-0 lead in the eighth inning, with a
dominating David Wells slated to pitch for the
Orioles the next day, which could've plausibly
created a 3-1 Oriole series lead.

His choking performance prevented the Orioles
from getting to the World Series and beating
the Atlanta Braves, when the O's were clearly
the best-balanced team in baseball that year
-despite being the AL Wild Card team- having
thoroughly annihilated the Braves in Atlanta
during an intra-league weekend series.)

Which is fine, of course, since Woods
doesn't have to be interesting off the course,
or even take a public stand about any issues
he privately cares about, as long as he keeps
winning.
But it would be nice if he would...

How interesting would it be if he declared
publicly in the near-future that, as a matter
of fact, he's greatly troubled by the whole
'immigration reform' racket in this country,
including the basic concepts behind the
so-called "Dream Act."

That he was particularly dismayed at the
overwhelmingly sympathetic and one-sided
way the American news media have
portrayed the debate, having been played,
hook, line and sinker, by someone like
Cheryl Little of the Florida Immigrant
Advocacy Center,
http://www.fiacfla.org/staff.php#1
who seems to promise access to her clients
in exchange for favorable media coverage.

(So where are the on-camera questions
about -or interviews with- the parents
who came here illegally or who knowingly
broke the law and have successfully
avoided deportation for YEARS?
Not on camera, that's for sure because
that'd be off -message, don't ya know.
So who's the most recent example I've
seen of a local Miami TV reporter playing
Cheryl Little's game of Show-and-Tell?
CBS4's David Sutta, who did one on
Nov. 20th after CBS4 did a story the
previous day on the same kids attending
Miami-Dade College.
"Reyes Bros. Freed After Immigration
Struggle."
http://cbs4.com/video/?id=86995@wfor.dayport.com)

If Woods actually said that he thinks this sort
of upside-down proposal penalizes hard-working
foreigners who have followed the proscribed
rules and laws we've insisted they follow, and
patiently bided their time waiting anxiously for
legal admittance, while others have come to
this country either illegally, or intentionally
overstayed their visas, and now want to create
a cause célèbre just because their kids aren't
dopes and actually paid attention in American
schools, just imagine what people would be
saying?

It'll never happen, of course, but...
Personally, I suspect this latest incident in
Orlando, whatever the true facts, will only
show once gain the full extent to which the
news media, in this case, well-known sports
reporters and columnists -like certain
well-known political reporters and
columnists last year were (and remain)
completely in the tank for Obama-
have drunk the Tiger Woods marketing
Kool-Aid, and have deluded themselves
into thinking that , a la O.J., that they
'really know him.'

They don't.
They just think they do.

What those particular reporters fear most
is losing access to him and his tightly-knit
entourage and being put permanently on
his "No comment" list.
That's the same thing as excommunication,
since it will quickly become known throughout
the industry.
And they will be labeled 'Persona non Tiger.'

Hollywood and Hallandale Beach parents aren't feeling love for Notter and Broward Schools; Where's Bob Butterworth?

My comments follow the article.

------------------
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/schools/fl-school-consolidation-20091126,0,2973432.story

Broward school merger proposal upsets parents, officials in east

By Akilah Johnson and Jennifer Gollan, Sun Sentinel

November 26, 2009

Faced with the possibility that their underenrolled schools may be merged, some parents and officials in the eastern part of the county are warning the Broward School District to tread lightly.

There could be a minor rebellion among students upset over being moved, said Thomas Douglas, president of the Parent Teacher Student Association at Boyd Anderson High School in Lauderdale Lakes.

"There can be some separation anxiety and the implications are some of these young people will decide that it is not even worth attending school," he said. "It is basically a no-win situation."

The district projects as many as 33,000 empty desks in the 2013-14 school year, most in the eastern part of the county. As long as there are empty seats, the state won't allow the district to add classrooms or build new schools in the crowded west.

In response, the district is pushing a plan to measure classroom space by using eight geographic regions rather than individuals schools. The county and its cities must agree to the change. So far, Davie, Dania Beach and Cooper City voted to approve the measure. Lauderdale Lakes and Pompano Beach voted against it.

But that plan doesn't address underenrolled schools, and schools Superintendent James Notter is proposing that some elementary schools be consolidated, others could morph into kindergarten through eighth-grade schools or unused wings may be converted into office space for district administrators.

Notter explained that the district's leases on office space in Sunrise and Fort Lauderdale will soon expire and consolidating some underenrolled campuses helps with both money and boundary issues.

In the coming year, only Pioneer Middle School in Cooper City is scheduled to see significant boundary changes but district maps show scenarios in which thousands of students are moved out of overcrowded western schools into less-crowded schools starting in the 2011-2012 school year.

Hollywood Commissioner Richard Blattner said Notter's recommendation is reasonable. "If it means that older schools are closed and it reduces expenses that taxpayers have, it should be done," he said.

But Kristina Brazil, whose children attend Plantation Middle School, questions its merits.

"So…we move these kids out and put [administrators] in and it's a win, win?" she said. "The stance has been 'what's the most important thing for kids?' That doesn't sound like that's what they're doing."

Notter and School Board Chairwoman Jennifer Gottlieb stressed the board has not approved anything yet.

"There are too many unanswered questions," Gottlieb said this week. "We need to know where the kids are going to go; the impact on communities."

Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper said the proposal to change how class space is measured benefits western communities and the district, which won't have to anger parents by changing boundaries. It does little to address the needs of communities with underenrolled schools, she said.

"If there is crowding in one place in the county and the mechanism is in place to fill those seats through boundary changes, I cannot sit idly by because of the lack of will," Cooper said. "Other cities, particularly those in eastern communities…should be concerned."

Longtime Pompano Beach community activist Ernestine Price vowed to rally against any proposal that might mean eastern schools will close. Price helped found the grassroots group that sued the district in 1995 for neglecting to provide older schools in eastern Broward with the same facilities, programs and quality teachers as newer schools out west.

The thought of consolidating underenrolled schools leaves her resentful and heartbroken, she said. But, it compels her to keep advocating against disparities.

"You have a Broward County School District, and when schools were being opened out west they bused these kids," she fumed. "And now the schools are overcrowded and they don't want to bus anyone to the east. I don't know how anybody can fix their mouth and say that."

Parents and officials in western cities fear that if the proposed change doesn't pass, thousands of students countywide will be moved in a domino effect.

Cooper City Mayor Debby Eisinger has been avid supporter of the proposal and said the intent was never to sacrifice some schools for the benefit of others. The resolution, she acknowledged, may need to be modified to include "some protection for underenrolled schools."

"It should not be an east/west fight," she said. "Let's work together to continue to provide a quality public school education for the children throughout Broward County."

Reader comments at:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/schools/fl-school-consolidation-20091126,0,3841345,comment-display-all.story

-----------
Seventy per cent of this article from yesterday is the
same as the Sun-Sentinel article from Saturday
that I sent many of you.

Since I returned to South Florida in mid-October of
2003, Mayor Cooper and the Hallandale Beach City
Commission have never held a single city-wide forum
on the sad state of education in this city, nor has she
has a single meeting of the City Commission that dealt
with it in a serious way.

And in the year since she was elected, we know that
Cooper has also never asked our MIA School Board
member Ann Murray to speak at any city function
to explain what, if anything, she's doing.
Why not?

And lest you forget, Hallandale High School also
serves kids from Hollywood, whose parents surely
must wonder what it takes for HB City Hall to get
off their butt and actually get more involved in changing
the mix of options for kids in the HB/Hollywood area.

To say nothing of the new residents of Hallandale
Beach with kids who are now moving into
developments on A1A like The Beach Club.
Who exactly is looking after their best interests?

People who make the sort of financial investment in
a place like they have will simply not accept half-assed
explanations from elected officials like Cooper and
Murray for why schools are so bad in the area,
and why they seem to have been mere spectators
while it all happened.

So when is Mayor Cooper and the HB City
Commission going to convene a city-wide meeting
on the state of education in this area, one with
Ann Murray present and accounted for,
so that people can have their legitimate concerns
aired and maybe even addressed?

A few months ago, showing what happens when
you have a person in charge who keeps their eyes
and ears open and responds in a constructive and
forthright fashion, Mayor Bober and the Hollywood
City Commission had an interesting meeting that
discussed the pluses and minuses of the city pursuing
an application for a city-run Charter school.

It was very informative and anyone who had an
opinion on the proposal or schools in Hollywood
or Broward in general, got their chance to put in
their two cents and sound-off.

Why is that SO difficult to replicate here in
Hallandale Beach?
Not the Charter School part, simply having the
public meeting?

To me, the one thing that became really apparent
as one parent after another spoke was the full extent
to which the Middle Schools are perceived as a
huge problem for the greater area.

Parents and citizens are VERY disturbed at what
they see and what they hear, and their perceptions
that mediocrity and sub-standard performance is
becoming the accepted norm, no matter what the
Broward School Board and Supt. Notter insists.

There was much discussion of the negative effect
of the Middle Schools in this area on attracting
families to the area, with many Realtors -and
'amateur' real estate experts- speaking to
the fact that they knew or had met people who
had decided to locate elsewhere.

It was also mentioned that as much as people
may prefer not to acknowledge it, many people
already living here were contemplating moving
elsewhere for the very same reasons.

Blame the reality or blame the perception,
but in the end, it's all the same thing if everyone
thinks it's bad.

Again, to repeat myself, since I returned to South
Florida six years ago from Arlington County, VA,
a place that is, if anything, perhaps, a little TOO
concerned with education, the city has never held
a single meeting on education.

One that, in my opinion, optimally, ought to be held
on a Saturday morning over at the HB Cultural Center
starting around 10:30 a.m., so that kids can be there,
too, with at least one parent or guardian.

You simply won't get the same kind of turnout if you
hold it at night, and we all know that, so how about
some common sense coming into play for a change?

And maybe, for once, the city actually putting up
legible signs advertising the meeting at least ten days
in advance in appropriate places throughout the city,
including near schools, rather than the typical way
that everything gets done here: half-assed.

Just wondering: when are we going to get our chance
to speak to the hydra-headed PR squad selected
by Supt. Notter to reassure Broward taxpayers
and parents that the whole Broward School Board
shouldn't just be blindfolded and tossed overboard?

Or as Michael Mayo wrote in his interesting
Nov. 1st Sun-Sentinel column about FP&L
and Notter both turning to Bob Butterworth
to lend some assistance,
In Sticky Situations, Just Add Mr. Butterworth
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sfl-butterworth-mayocol-b103009,0,2880202.column
a " volunteer three-member panel to explore
the school district's recent troubles."

Since Mayo's column ran three-and-a-half weeks
ago, have you read or seen even one article or
segment on local TV about actual Broward citizens
getting a chance to speak to them, in either private
or public?

I haven't, and I've been actively looking for news
stories spelling out what they were actually doing.

There's been nothing reported for over three weeks
in either the Herald or Sun-Sentinel in the form of
an actual article, and my recollection was that they
were only going to be in operation for 90 days or so.
What gives?

Coming Sunday: The Hallandale Beach Blog 'Turkeys of the Year'

The turkey balloon at the Publix on Hallandale
Beach Boulevard.
November 24, 2009 photo by South Beach Hoosier

Owing to the prospect of so many truly deserving
nominees, I've had to create multiple categories.
It's NOT just the usual suspects!

Now you'll see how my keen powers of observation
will pay dividends.

Now you know what those lists I've been creating
over at Panera Bread the past few weekends were
all about.

Deciding who's been naughty and who's been creepy.

By the way, if you can believe this, owing to their
efforts to cut costs, the corporate honchos at Panera
Bread have decided that they will no longer lay out
a carpet inside the front door on rainy days to prevent
customers from falling on their butts.

That's what it's come to under the first year
of the Obama Economy.
Saving pennies despite the obvious liability angle.

In Which the Florida Panthers Change Their Stripes to Appeal to Moms out in Weston; Lafleur et les Habs

In Which the Florida Panthers Change Their Stripes
-to appeal to Moms out in Weston

Whose young kids bought this jersey for her because
they got talked into it by the twenty-something guy
who works at the sports store at the Sawgrass Mall,
http://www.miamiherald.com/business/economy/story/1352273.html
who wanted to move some inventory before Christmas,
and saw that the kids were gullible.

So now, for a few months at least, she'll wear it
when she goes to the Mall or picks them up after
practice, just so her kids don't know that she
really doesn't like it.

After all, whoever heard of a cat without whiskers?
http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-images/florida-panther.html

Then it goes into the closet for a few years!

So, when did Hawaii get an NHL team? LOL!

Just when you thought there was no other way
left for the woe-begone, star-crossed
Florida Panthers to ruin a great sport...
http://panthers.nhl.com/index.html

They show three varieties of the Reebok
third jersey on their website, ranging from
$114-299.
http://shop.nhl.com/family/index.jsp?fbc=1&f=PAD%2FProduct+Type%2FJerseys&categoryId=3253864&fbn=Product+Type|Jerseys&view=all
----------
The Business of Sports blog
http://blogs.trb.com/sports/custom/business/blog/2009/11/florida_panthers_new_jersey_ji.html

Florida Panthers' new jersey; Jimmie Johnson's legend grows;
Ray Lewis' Hurricanes' Fatheads
by Sarah Talalay
November 25, 2009
-----------
Uni Watch blog -
"The Obsessive Study of Athletics Aesthetics"
http://www.uniwatchblog.com/2009/11/23/in-which-the-panthers-change-their-stripes/
In Which the Panthers Change Their Stripes
by Paul Lukas
November 23, 2009
---------------
See also: Chris Creamer's SportsLogos.net
at http://www.sportslogos.net/
A trip down memory lane in a virtual museum
dedicated to the history of sports logos and
sports uniforms.

The Panthers page there is at: http://www.sportslogos.net/team.php?id=13
----------
See also my 2007 post on hockey and growing-up
in North Miami Beach as a fan of the
Montréal Canadiens at my other blog,
South Beach Hoosier.
http://southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/2007/07/john-edwards-model-behavior-on-cover-of.html

If you're not already familiar with it, a really
great hockey blog, with a Montréal Canadiens
orientation is called, not surprisingly,
HabsEyesOnThe Prize.com

It's written with a lot of insight and understanding
in the ways of the Canadiens and their fans,
who while not "long-suffering" like Cubs and
Red Sox fans, still have an obvious anxious gene
that is not found in quite so many of the devout
fans of other sports teams, and NHL teams in
particular.

It's sort of like how Dolphin fans like me felt in
'75 and '76, wondering what had happened to
the methodical planning and execution they'd
become used to, suddenly seeing -more often
than not- other teams doing that, namely
the Steelers and Raiders, and seeing something
unrecognizable in the aqua, orange and white
Dolphins: road losses to the Oilers and late
collapses against so-so teams that you're used
to beating nine times out of ten.

That's when the anxious gene really
kicks in!

The blog also consistently has great photos and
illustrations, and really speaks to someone who
knows the history of the NHL and the Habs
in particular.

http://www.habseyesontheprize.com/

In fact, today's post concerns Number Ten,
25 Years Ago Today: The Surprise Retirement Of Guy Lafleur
http://www.habseyesontheprize.com/2009/11/26/1174682/25-years-ago-today-the-surprise

When I close my eyes, just like I can for the
Dolphins and Orioles of that era, I can still
name those players from the late '70's.
Their names, their numbers, their ingrained
habits and quirks and favorite moves on the
ice and the way they played with flair and grace.
Now THAT was a team for the ages.

Je me souviens.

Ilene Lieberman, churlish chronic, self-interested obstructionist to common sense and ethics

Wednesday November 25th, 2009

Once again, below, clear evidence that Comm. Ilene
Lieberman is playing her by now familiar role.
Not the role of pragmatic idealist, not the role of
reasonable compromise, but the role of obstructionist.

She waited until after the county Charter Review
Commission made their recs last year before deciding
to offer up a measure that the County Auditor
-whom I have no quibble with- ought to be required
to makes financial estimates of the prospective costs
of ballot initiatives and referendums, and that such info
appear on the ballot.

There are lots of well-informed people in Broward
who are in complete agreement with me that
Comm. Lieberman came up with the proposal that
became an ordinance, at least in in part,to sink the
idea of having an independent, advisory MTA in
this area that could start making positive suggestions
based on what the public and transportation-users
think, not what box the county wants to put people in.

And by an advisory MTA, I mean one that was
composed of real taxpayers and which paid
proper heed to citizens, and which was NOT
the puppet play-thing of the County Commission
and their faceless bureaucratic MPO system,
which few citizens know about or understand.

That MPO system, while not without some smart
and well-meaning people, many of whom I've met,
is great in the abstract, but the reality is that it's
also the refuge of many bureaucratic drones who
give taxpayers and bus riders the back of their
hand, like they're laboratory rats.
Employees I'd like to see axed, toute-de-suite.

It's the last refuge of the dim-witted Joy Coopers
of the world, who say that everything should be
done thru MPO as a way of avoiding true
accountability, even while keeping parochial pols
in charge, due in large part to the pervasive influence
of the Broward League of Cities, which is too
great in my opinion.

For simple proof of this, go to the Minutes of the
last public Charter Review Commission meeting,
April 9, 2008, 1 p.m.
http://www.broward.org/charter/pdf/crc_ph_agenda_04092009.pdf

Start at the public comments on page 6 and watch
what happens when Joy Cooper is asked a series
of very reasonable questions by CRC members
Ted Mena and Michael C. Buckner.
It speaks for itself.

In the year 2009, citizens don't want to take a
seat in the back of the bus while imbeciles like
Joy Cooper do the driving -off the cliff.

(The woman who at the formal presentation
and Commission vote on the city's over-due,
over-budget Transportation Master Plan,
at the HB Cultural Center, was too dumb
to ever ask the city's consultants whether
or not the city's own mini-bus drivers were
ever interviewed for input; they weren't.

Right, ignore your own employees who are
best-positioned to speak to traffic issues
and patterns and take the word of consultants
who do their research based on city traffic
patterns during the slowest part of the year.
That's her enlightened management style
which has so coarsened public sentiment
and common sense here.

In case you forgot, that's the meeting that
Comm. Anthony A. Sanders never attended
and subsequently never gave an explanation
for missing.
Yeah, because traffic isn't really much
of a concern here.

About what you'd expect from a city like
Hallandale Beach that is so poorly-run and
with so little apparent awareness of how
very poorly it is regarded in South Florida,
that when it came time to host BCTA chief
Chris Walton for one of his frequent visits
throughout the county, that he was given
the HB Cultural center at the SAME TIME
as a HB City Commission meeting.
Really.
SNAFU!)

As if, somehow, Broward taxpayers would suddenly
forget everything they knew and had experienced in
the recent past and would suddenly accept govt.
estimates on construction costs -and Broward's
in particular as reliable- and use that factoid
as a deciding factor in deciding an issue.

See also:

When that move of Lieberman's later seemed
to be a real impediment when the Broward
County Commission wanted to do something
to help fast-track a new county Courthouse,
in part because that would have to appear
on the ballot if a bond issue, along with that
estimate she insisted upon, Lieberman
appointed herself to the county's Courthouse
Taskforce, and was promptly made Chair,
giving her two chances to bite the apple
and affect this important decision, not just one.
Right, because she has no obvious conflicts.

You read about that decision where in
the South Florida media, exactly?
Right, it never came up.

As to the Ethics Commission. simply do what
Charlotte Greenbarg suggested, as quoted
by Scott Wyman in his very good Sun-Sentinel
article of September 10th:
Broward ethics panel plans sweeping reforms

"My ideal would be something very simple -- don't ask and don't take,"
said Charlotte Greenbarg, president of the Broward Coalition, an
umbrella group representing area homeowner and condo associations.
"They shouldn't ask for anything and they shouldn't take anything.

Who could argue with that?
So easy that even a Broward County
commissioner could remember it,

Lieberman did a poor job as Chair in the view
of many who were closely following the actions
of Taskforce members, many of whom seemed
to have conflicts of interest of the sort that in a
more enlightened community with higher standards,
would cause them to have never passed muster
in the first place.

Not that they were bad people, simply that their
own experience and personal and professional
relationships with certain people was of a sort
that would tend to cause them to not be objective
as to the basic question of whether a new
Courthouse was, in fact, needed.

As opposed to having the existing one modified
and expanded, using some artistic creativity and
making it far safer, more energy-efficient,
technology-based and taxpayer/citizen-friendly,
NOT lawyer/judge-friendly.

Some outside-the-box thinking was required,
but as usual, that kind of thinking was shown
the door.

Quick, name the Taskforce member who was
appointed specifically to represent the average
county taxpayer?
There wasn't one.

As you know from my previous posts,

Lieberman did NOT properly update Taskforce
meeting information on the county website, and
under her leadership, they actually had the gall
to place agendas, past Minutes and other
pertinent material on the county website hours
AFTER their last public meeting, not prior
to that meeting.

So, where did you read about that in the
South Florida media, exactly?
Right, it never came up.

And all of a sudden, word started emerging in
the usual places that the County Commission
was going to try to finesse this project instead,
so that it won't ever have to appear on the ballot
for taxpayers to give their informed consent,
because it's abundantly clear that Broward
taxpayers are NOT in favor of building a new
Broward Courthouse.
Period.

Ilene Lieberman, churlish chronic,
self-interested obstructionist to common sense.
---------
This is part of an email that was forwarded to me.
I've deleted some blank space to make it more
compact.and easier to read:

From: Cepero, Monica
Sent: Friday, November 20, 2009 1:13 PM
To: 'Alfreda Coward'; 'Carl Shechter'; 'Comm. Carl Shechter'; 'Felicia M. Brunson'; 'Howard Bakalar'; Jardine, Arlene; 'Julie Lakosky'; 'Kenneth Fink'; Leu, Leah; Cepero, Monica; 'Neal de Jesus'; Robert Wolfe; 'Robin Rorapaugh'; Russo, Jean; Seff, Bradley; Teitler, Robert; 'Washington Collado'; 'William Scherer'
Subject: Broward County Ethics Commission verbatim minutes

Attached are the verbatim minutes from the last Ethics Commission meeting. The summary minutes will be forthcoming next week.

Have a nice weekend,

Monica

Monica M. Cepero

Assistant to the County Administrator

115 South Andrews Avenue, Room 409

Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33301

Well, it's now 4:15 p.m. on Wednesday Nov. 25th.
the day before Thanksgiving, with county
employees off on Friday.
I just went to the Broward County Ethics Commission
homepage at:
http://www.broward.org/ethicscommission/welcome.htm

As you can see for yourself, the Minutes for the
November 12th Ethics meeting are not there now,
two weeks later.

Trust me, based on what the verbatim Minutes
say, when you actually see the Minutes in print,
you will be very, very angry.
The next meeting of the Broward County Ethics
Commission is Monday December 9th, from
9-11:30 a.m.
---------
Broward Beat

Sources: County Commissioners Trying To Block Ethics Rules
By Buddy Nevins

Some Broward County commissioners are apoplectic over what’s happening at the Ethics Commission.

And it is causing them to act, well, downright unethical.

Some County Commissioners are accused by sources of applying pressure to reign in the ethics group. The group was created by voters to draft new ethics rules for the county.

“We’re having trouble and it’s coming from the Fourth Floor,” said one ethics commission member.

The Fourth Floor of the Government Center is where commissioners are cloistered behind two sets of receptionists.

See the rest of the story at:
http://www.browardbeat.com/sources-county-commissioners-trying-to-block-ethics-rules/

Politics, Ice Coolers and Fighter Jets on the Beach: 2010 Air Lauderdale Beach Fest

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Broward Politics blog
Air Lauderdale leader proposes political booths, responds to criticisms
by Brittany Wallman
November 17, 2009 06:06 PM

Among the offerings planned at the April 24-25 Air Lauderdale Beach Fest is a political area, where candidates can set up tables to reach out to voters, said Stan Smith of Air Lauderdale.

He noted that 2010 is a big election year, and thought candidates would want to take advantage of the opportunity to reach thousands of South Floridians.

Smith responded a moment ago to early criticisms of his plans to charge a gate fee for the festival area, and to ban coolers in the gated festival area

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2009/11/air_lauderdale_leader_proposes.html
-----------
The National Mall in Washington, D.C., belongs to all Americans, but for years, despite the fact that many events like the Fourth of July or Memorial Day Concerts/Fireworks were pretty much all-day family events, for which people arrived in the morning with all their stuff, the National Park Service banned coolers within The Mall area and, eventually, the consumption of alcohol as well. http://www.nps.gov/mall/index.htm

Video of The National Mall plan http://www.nps.gov/nationalmallplan/Timelapse.html

There were predictable outcries against the change of policy, especially from suburban families that for years had used the Metro system to get to and from the Mall quickly and cheaply.
With their ice coolers full of sandwiches and cold soft drinks and beer.

These changes produced rather predictable bad results in the view of most Washingtonians, and combined with what most thought were the high prices charged by officially-licensed vendors, only further hastened the ruination of what had been one of the few traditions -besides the Redskins- that united all the myriad racial and cultural demographics of Greater Washington.

I pretty much attended both events every year for over ten years, and for me, they always represented one of the highlights of the year, especially if out-of-town family or friends were attending with me.

Sitting on the lawn off the steps of the west side of the U.S. Capitol, they'd often get a kick out of the fact that there were so many people there they recognized from TV or newspapers, like Senators or Congressmen, or even Hill or media folks whom I knew and had might've mentioned in passing over the telephone at some point, who'd come by and say hello, often with their spouses and kids.

It was very affirming and a reminder that for certain days at least, everyone in Washington, regardless of their political opinions or policy prescriptions, had the same two goals: good weather and a good show!

Given the NPS changes and the impediments placed in their way, rather quickly, less and less people wanted to attend the events in person, and more resorted to simply watching them on PBS, as I do while I'm down here.

Sort of like South Florida's traditional apathetic sports fans.
Except that last time I checked, all the teams in the area still serve alcohol, no?

The $5 for access to a special area discussed above seems reasonable enough, since you don't have to go there if you chose not to, but overall, they only have one year to prove themselves.

Any out-of-the-ordinary screw-ups or rip-offs will kill what some think is a golden goose.

As I've mentioned here before, The Mall is also where my coed Capitol Hill softball team played in the early Nineties, when I was an outfielder for the National Democratic Club's DNG squad, Democrats of a New Generation. http://www.natdemclub.org/

The NDC was located right next to the Democratic National Committee HQ on Ivy Street, where many of us had reason to be fairly often, though it wasn't the safest neighborhood at night.

The NDC is also where I watched the the Dan Quayle-Lloyd Bentsen VP debate in 1988, with a few dozen friends and colleagues who left in a better mood than we arrived with. Though we played all over The Mall, usually, we were fortunate and played on an area either near the Smithsonian Castle or its Carousel, or in the field just south of the West Building of the National Gallery of Art.

Places with lots of people nearby so we could could get in our fair share of people-watching in between innings and at-bats.
And the people-watching was always very good, too.

See also:
http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/03/good_national_mall_ideas_from_nps.php
and The National Coalition to Save Our Mall
http://www.savethemall.org/

Exciting match expected today when Terps play Tar Heels for NCAA D1 Field Hockey title

At Noon on Sunday I'm watching the NCAA
D1 Field Hockey championship match on
CBSC -CBS College Sports, DirecTV 613-
between undefeated, # 1 and defending champion
Maryland and #3 19-2 North Carolina in what
looks to be a really exciting match from Winston-Salem.

http://www.ncaa.com/sports/w-fieldh/ncaa-w-fieldh-body.html

http://www.ncaa.com/brackets/2009/ncaa_bracket_DI_field_hockey.html

http://www.ncaa.com/sports/w-fieldh/champpage/w-fieldh-div1-index.html

http://wakeforestsports.cstv.com/sports/w-fieldh/spec-rel/09-wake-fieldh-final-four.html

In my opinion, the handful of matches televised
this past season on The BigTen Network were
much better than in the past, though Michigan
State naturally got the lion's share of the games,
befitting their national reputation and consistent
Top 15 ranking.

Last year's Big Ten tourney in Bloomington
was played under some cold, wet and windy
conditions on the field just off of 17th Street
between Fee Lane and N. Jordan.
The weather sometimes seemed to affect play,
which is always a possibility in early November
in Bloomington.

This year's tourney up in East Lansing,
thankfully, seemed blessed with much nicer
weather that allowed all the teams to flash
their skills.

I was very pleased to see IU make it to
the finals against the Spartans on Nov. 8th,
and to be able to watch the match from
beginning to end.

Though they ultimately lost 3-2 to an
excellent Spartan squad, whom I knew
fairly well from watching their earlier matches
on TV over the past few months,
the closeness of the match and the
gritty spirit and character the Hoosiers
displayed in hanging-tough with a top
national team on the road, clearly
demonstrated to all who are paying
close attention to the sport, that IU's
growing positive national reputation
is well-deserved.

Kudos to Hoosier Head Coach
Amy Robertson and her assistants
for getting the most out of the team
and making it to the NCAA Sweet 16
this year, before losing to a tough
Wake Forest squad, which is always
well-coached and full of very talented
international players.
http://iuhoosiers.cstv.com/sports/w-fieldh/ind-w-fieldh-body.html


Efforts like those will only increase the
positive word-of-mouth about the
Hoosier's FH program's upward direction
and increase the flow of high-quality
recruits from field hockey hot-spots
on the East Coast and in the Midwest
to Bloomington.

Not that it wouldn't be great to get
some silly-talented girls from
The Netherlands or Great Britain,
though!
http://www.knhb.nl/


Thru fortuitous timing, that same day,
I was also able to watch the ACC
tourney final and watch the Terps
stage an amazing comeback in
overtime against a scrappy and
ultimately somewhat heart-broken
#2 UVA squad at Charlottesville,
one of my favorite places.
http://www.virginiasports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=17800&SPID=10593&SPSID=92022

The talented Cavaliers regrouped
and later eliminated Michigan State
from the NCAA tourney 3-2 and
made it to the Final Four where they
lost 3-2 on Friday to UNC .
http://www.ncaa.com/splash/2009fhockeysplash.htmldefault.aspx?id=188

The sheer talent and ability of the
Terps in that game demonstrated
once again that no matter what the
score is, no matter how well you're
playing, you can NEVER EVER
take your foot off the accelerator
when you play Maryland.

They will not quit, no matter how
close to the end of the match it gets.
They are relentless!

The Terps tradition of winning NCAA
titles and playing tough matches even
when they are not at their best, is a
valuable lesson that ought to be more
widely-known and appreciated than it
currently is.
http://www.umterps.com/sports/w-fieldh/archive/090809aab.html
http://www.umterps.com/sports/w-fieldh/md-w-fieldh-body-main.html
http://www.umterps.com/view.gal?id=58544

I like them to win 4-2 over a talented
Tar Heels squad.
http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/w-fieldh/unc-w-fieldh-body.html

The $50k Rothstein 'hot potato' check burning a hole in Steve Geller's CCE, Floridians for a Stronger Tomorrow

Above, photo I snapped of Steve Geller,

characteristically, deflecting personal responsibility
for the 2008 Primary debacle, despite all the

evidence to the contrary, being interviewed
by CBS4's Michael Williams in front of
Hallandale Beach City Hall, where Geller's
district office was located.

Ignore the info on photo, it was actually
taken on May 7th, 2008.

And why is that City Hall breezeway
ceiling STILL messed-up 18 months later?

Another Mike Good success story!

-----------

Broward Beat

Geller: Take My $50,000, Please!
By Buddy Nevins

Former State Sen. Steve Geller says he has a problem: He can’t figure out who should get $50,000 in tainted money.

The money is from suspected scammer Scott Rothstein. It was earmarked for Geller’s campaign against County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger.

Geller now suspects Rothstein stole the money. He wants to give it back.

Read the rest of the story at:
http://www.browardbeat.com/geller-take-my-50000-please/

-----------

In case you were curious after reading
Buddy Nevins' story, above, I've
included at the bottom of this post
the list of contributors to this CCE
of Geller's, which used a lot of
its money last year unsuccessfully

to try to get his brother, Joseph,
the former North Bay Village mayor,

elected to Dan Gelber's old
State House seat, when he
ran for the State Senate in
November and won.

Now, of course, having been elected
for four years and equipped with a
fall-back government job with nice benefits
that keeps his seat warm in case he fails,
and able to still charge taxpayers for his
flights home, Gelber is already running
for State Attorney General, which is

something he didn't tell the voters of
Miami Beach and environs when he
was running last year, promising to
use his best judgment on their behalf
in Tallahassee for the next four years
in a higher-profile position.

That is to say, once Gelber dropped
his already announced plans of running
for U.S. Senate, which is yet another
option he didn't care to mention to
voters last year when offering himself up.

At some point, I suspect Gelber's
love affair with himself, like most

examples of stalking, is going to
come to a very sad and predictable end.

If you were me, and a woman you were
very interested in romantically called you
up after you'd spent a fair amount of time
together said that she'd love to see you
again once she got back from a business
trip, you might say fine and that you were
looking forward to her return.

But you might have a change of heart
if she says that her trip is actually a
vacation with her boyfriend to visit
his hometown and spend some

time with his family.

You'd immediately think you needed
to consider other 'candidates,' no?

I would.

Perhaps sensing that voters would
not be interested in him if he already

had his eye elsewhere, as he did,
Gelber never gave South Florida voters

the benefit of having informed consent.

Yet counter-intuitively, Dan Gelber
seems to think that by being so open
about his promiscuous personal
ambition, and clearly not really

wanting to devote the time and
attention to the job he was
elected by voters to a year ago
-which, despite my warnings
to them last year, is abundantly
clear to my friends on Miami
Beach who voted for him-
since he plans on campaigning
for yet another year, he's somehow
free from criticism that he seems
to have a clear history of using
South Florida voters for props
(or pawns) for his personal
ambition, and of not being
honest with them.

But why should being so obvious
be judged a positive character trait

by voters?
Guess what, it's not.

And what has he actually DONE?

Admit it, you probably can't think
of even two things he's noted for.

Some brilliant argument that changed
the tenor of debate for the better

on an important issue in Tallahassee,
or some insightful solution to

a longstanding problem that he's
personally responsible for bringing

to fruition, that was popular with
both Democrats and Republicans.

Where's the defining moment when
he asked his own Dem supporters

to admit that they'd been wrong,
needed to be intellectually honest

and admit it and vote for the right
thing for the greater good?

Guess what, neither can he.
There aren't any.

The kicker is that THAT doesn't
seem to matter, as Gelber slowly
tries to become the latest governor
of this state without having earned

it by doing something previously
of any particular consequence.

That doesn't make him unique,
of course, just more transparent
than most.

Just like Steve Geller,
whom you all know I loathe,
he's personally implicated in
all the myopic bad decisions
of the past few years in

Tallahassee, large and small,
that have crippled this state
and made it a laughingstock
by so many different measurements.

Frankly, if it wasn't for his father,
a very well-respected Miami judge

-who has qualities the younger
Gelber clearly doesn't- most

people, and many in the South
Florida press in particular, would

have long since come to the
general conclusion that Gelber,
despite who his father is,
is clearly no different from the
dozens of other ambitious

yet thoroughly mediocre and
even unethical hacks populating
state, regional and local govt.,
seemingly intent on making things
worse for us, not better.
(Elected versions of Alex Lewy.)

Gelber is just someone from whom
much more was expected but who,
thus far, has produced no tangible results.

Week-after-week, month-after-month,
that solid criticism of him from the
South Florida media never ever comes,
does it?

It's the dog that never barks.
Which doesn't mean it's not a good dog,
just that it's NOT actually a WATCHDOG.

To me, this suggests that more than anyone
else, he's the male counterpart to DWS,
the South Florida media pet/demagogue
-whom I also loathe-, who is never
subjected to any sort of rigorous fact-filled

criticism -ever.
Why not?

Now there's a good question.

I'll be posting some things you may
find of interest on my blog this weekend,
and one of them will be on a force you
may not already be aware of that is
quickly taking over this area and which
the geniuses at HB City Hall and the
HB Police Dept. continue to ignore,

though their handiwork is right in front
of them: HGS.

Keep those initials in mind as you
walk, bike and drive thru SE Broward.

Folks, it's HGS' world, we just live in it.

-----------

http://election.dos.state.fl.us/committees/ComDetail.asp?account=45389

Type:	Committee of Continuous Existence
Status:	Active
Address:	Post Office Box 220015 Hollywood, FL 33022
Phone:	(954)491-1120
Chairperson:	Steven A. Geller 100 West Cypress Creek Road Suite 700 Fort Lauderdale, 33309
Treasurer:	Charles Cassini 12121 NE 16th Avenue North Miami, FL 33161
Registered Agent:	Steve Geller 100 West Cypress Creek Road Suite 700 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309

-----------------

Campaign contributions in chron order

http://election.dos.state.fl.us/cgi-bin/TreFin.exe

Floridians for a Stronger Tomorrow About the Campaign Finance Data Base

Rpt Yr Rpt Type Date           Amount   Contributor Name               Address                                  City State Zip                           Occupation           Typ InKind Desc

------ -------- ---------- ------------ ------------------------------ ---------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------- -------------------- --- ----------------------- 
2007   Q2       06/01/2007        20.00 TEXEIRA NANCY                  1326 NORTH DUVAL ST                      TALLAHASSEE, FL 32303                                         CAS                    

2007   Q3       07/17/2007     2,500.00 TITLE INSURANCE THROUGH LAWYER 6545 CORPORATE CENTRE BLVD               ORLANDO, FL 32302                        INSURANCE            DUE                    
2007   Q3       07/17/2007     2,500.00 FLORIDA ASSOCIATED GENERAL CON PO BOX 10569                             TALLAHASSEE, FL 32302                    BUILDERS             DUE                    

2007   Q3       08/20/2007     2,500.00 LAWYERS ACTION                 1224 GREENSWARD DR.                      TALLAHASSEE, FL 32312                    ATTORNEYS            DUE                    
2007   Q3       09/07/2007     5,000.00 FLORIDA POLICE BENEVOLENT ASSO 300 E BREVARD ST                         TALLAHASSEE, FL 32301                    POLICE UNION         DUE                    

2007   Q3       09/12/2007    10,000.00 PALM BEACH KENNEL CLUB         1111 NORTH CONGRESS AVE.                 WEST PALM BEACH, FL 33404                PARI-MUTUEL          DUE                    
2007   Q4       10/22/2007     8,333.33 HCA EAST FLORIDA DIVISION AND  101 N. MONROE ST., SUITE 801             TALLAHASSEE, FL 32301                    HOSPITAL             DUE                    

2007   Q4       10/22/2007     8,333.33 HCA NORTH FLORIDA DIVISION AND 101 N. MONROE ST., SUITE 801             TALLAHASSEE, FL 32301                    HOSPITAL             DUE                    
2007   Q4       10/22/2007     8,333.34 HCA WEST FLORIDA DIVISION AND  101 N. MONROE ST., SUITE 801             TALLAHASSEE, FL 32301                    HOSPITAL             DUE                    

2007   Q4       10/31/2007    30,000.00 MARDI GRAS GAMING              831 N. FEDERAL HIGHWAY                   HALLANDALE BEACH, FL 33009               PARI-MUTUAL          DUE                    
2008   Q1       02/01/2008       500.00 CHIRO-PAC                      217 N KIRKMAN RD.                        ORLANDO, FL 32811                        CHIROPRACTORS        DUE                    

2008   Q1       02/29/2008     1,000.00 COMMITTEE FOR ACCESSIBLE GOVER 1224 GREENSWARD DR.                      TALLAHASSEE, FL 32312                    POLITICAL COMMITTEE  DUE                    
2008   Q1       02/29/2008    10,000.00 PPI, INC                       1800 SW THIRD ST                         POMPANO BEACH, FL 33069                  PARI-MUTUAL          DUE                    

2008   Q1       03/06/2008     5,000.00 ASURIAN INSURANCE              8880 WARD PARKWAY                        KANSAS CITY, MT 64114                    INSURANCE            DUE                    
2008   Q1       03/06/2008     8,333.34 HCA NORTH FLORIDA GOOD GOVERNM 101 N MONROE ST SUITE 801                TALLAHASSEE, FL 32301                    HOSPITALS            DUE                    

2008   Q1       03/06/2008     8,333.32 HCA WEST GOOD GOVERNMENT ACCOU 101 N MONROE ST SUITE 801                TALLAHASSEE, FL 32301                    HOSPITALS            DUE                    
2008   Q1       03/06/2008     8,333.34 HCA EAST GOOD GOVERNMENT ACCOU 101 N MONROE ST SUITE 801                TALLAHASSEE, FL 32301                    HOSPITALS            DUE                    

2008   Q1       03/06/2008     5,000.00 CALDER RACE COURSE             21001 NW 27TH AVE                        MIAMI GARDENS, FL 33056                  PARI-MUTUEL          DUE                    
2008   Q1       03/17/2008     2,500.00 RON BOOK, PA                   2999 N. E. 191ST ST, PH-6                AVENTURA, FL 33180                       ATTORNEY             DUE                    

2009   Q1       03/31/2009     5,000.00 HARTMAN AND TYNER, INC         PO BOX 2007                              HOLLYWOOD, FL 33022                      PARI-MUTUEL          CHE                    
2009   Q2       06/29/2009    10,000.00 HARTMAN AND TYNER INC          PO BOX 2007                              HOLLYWOOD, FL 33022                      GAMING               CHE                    

2009   Q3       09/29/2009     1,000.00 DAVID R CUTSIN AND ASSOCIATES, 6401 SW 113 PLACE                        MIAMI, FL 33173                          CONSULTING           CHE                    
2009   Q3       09/29/2009    50,000.00 ROTHSTEIN SCOTT                2308 CASTILLA ISLE                       FORT LAUDERDALE, FL 33301                LAWYER               CHE                    

2009   Q3       09/30/2009     5,000.00 GREENSPOON MARDER, PA          100 W CYPRESS CREEK ROAD, SUITE 700      FORT LAUDERDALE, FL 33309                LAW FIRM             CHE                    
                       ------------

                         197,520.00
24 Contribution(s) Selected

Get me a Tesla Roadster, stat! The sexy electric car that turns heads

Pull quote from below:
"And, man, talk about a babe magnet."



See also: http://www.teslamotors.com/
-------------
Advertising Age

Tesla Motors: an America's Hottest Brands Case Study

By Jean Halliday
November 16, 2009

Unusual in the car business, Tesla Motors does no advertising and has no agency of record. Instead, the private, plug-in electric car outfit in Silicon Valley's San Carlos, has relied on the internet, word-of-mouth and CEO-co-founder Elon Musk. The South African-born entrepreneur is the reluctant face of Tesla. He described himself as "basically an engineer" whose "intrinsic nature is to be introverted."

Mr. Musk is regularly out stumping for his electric cars at conferences, with reporters and at the handful of company-owned dealerships in the U.S. and abroad. He made an appearance this year on David Letterman, who invited him after buying a Tesla Roadster. Tesla's Roadster has gotten visibility from appearing for free in 2008's "Iron Man" movie, BlackBerry ads and a coming California Tourism blitz.

Read the rest of the story at:
http://adage.com/article?article_id=140487







Here's an excerpt of the Churchill Club
interview in April where Musk explains
why fully EV trumps plug-in Hybrids
http://gas2.org/2009/05/10/tesla-ceo-elon-musk-explains-why-fully-electric-cars-trump-plug-in-hybrids-video/
--------------------
Per the article below, Ener1, Inc., which
owns 31% of Th!nk is also based in the
land of the Hoosiers.

http://www.ener1.com/ http://www.think.no/
----------------------
http://www.reuters.com/article/reuterscomService5/idUSTRE5AG5FE20091117

Norway electric carmaker Th!nk picks Indiana for U.S. factory

By Poornima Gupta

November 17, 2009

Grand opening of Crate & Barrel at Village at Gulfstream Park, Hallandale Beach, at 10 a.m.

Grand opening of Crate & Barrel
at Village at Gulfstream Park
in Hallandale Beach at 10 a.m.,
U.S.-1 and S.E. 5th Street.
http://www.crateandbarrel.com/Stores/Store.aspx?storeid=196

For the 15 years that I lived in the
Washington, D.C. area,
the Crate & Barrel on the
Chevy Chase-D.C. border was
one of my favorite stores in the
region, especially during the holidays.


November 17th, 2009
Looking southeast on U.S.-1
from the sidewalk in front of
Hallandale Beach City Hall.
--------------------------------
Photos in chron order, all by
South Beach Hoosier


October 21st, 2009
Looking southeast from U.S-1

October 21st, 2009
Looking southeast from U.S-1,
with Gulfstream Park Race
Track & Casino behind the
retail complex.


October 21st, 2009
Still putting up exterior signs on U.S.-1
side of store
-------------

October 26, 2009
When you're standing outside of the
store, on the north side, you can see
the Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa
over in Hollywood Beach
------------
October 27th, 2009
Night-time view from across the
street at the U.S. Post Office
--------------



October 29th, 2009
Adding some exterior touches
---------------


November 2, 2009
When you step out of the
City of Hallandale Beach
Commission Chambers,
you can already see the
Crate & Barrel across
the street.

November 2nd, 2009
The store can say they're located on
600 Silks Run if they want to,
but what you need to know is that
the street in front of the store is
actually U.S.-1 and S.E. 5th Street.
----------------


November 4th, 2009
This is when I first noticed the sign
in the top window announcing they'd
be opening on November 19th.

November 4th, 2009
Exterior lights now coming on at night,
shot from in front of Hallandale Beach
City Hall.
--------------
November 6th, 2009
When I first noticed that the retail
store directly behind Crate & Barrel
was going to be The Container Store.
-----------
November 9th, 2009
Looking southeast at Crate & Barrel
from the public parking lot of Hallandale
Beach City Hall.
------------






November 15th, 2009
-----------

Today, November 19th, 2009
12:30 a.m.

Walked across the street from
Hallandale Beach City Hall after
City Commission meeting on city's
RAC proposal finally ended early
this morning, planning to take
some shots, but I was so tired,
I just snapped this one.
Spoke to some management people
about the store and they are very
optimistic.

Finally a cool place in
Hallandale Beach!