Lib Dem MP assistant accused of being Russian spy says 'I will clear my name.' Sure, after you're back in Mother Russia. Adios!; DREAM Act

Channel 4 News: Westminster spy row

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid601325122001?bctid=699597927001

The accompanying news article is at:
http://www.channel4.com/news/i-will-clear-my-name-says-russian-aide-accused-of-spying

To this news in a part of England that has already seen a lot of gnashing of teeth this year, I can only say, just when you think things have already reached rock bottom this year in Pompey... boom goes the dynamite.

Back in late October I sent a lengthy email out to friends and former colleagues in far-flung parts of the world who love and appreciate high-caliber football (soccer) titled, simply enough, "Sacha Gaydamak's demand for a ransom payment may cause Premier League club to close down and be liquidated."

That dispatch was prompted after a weekend spent watching perhaps too many SkyNews Sports reports on Fox Soccer Channel, but reading even more of the more astute British tabs and football blogs/websites than usual, where the news for the beloved ball club and its loyal fans kept getting worse and worse by the hour.

Imagine traveling a few hours for an away Portsmouth game and then hearing on the radio that it might be the last game your team will ever play?
http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11688_6462212,00.html

For the latest on what's going on with Pompey football, see the well-produced Pompey Pages at http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sectionhome.aspx?sectionID=12295

Here's the latest:
http://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/Pompey-financial-report-to-be.6647296.jp

Lib Dem Mike Hancock's website for his constituents in South Portsmouth and Southsea:
http://www.mikehancock.co.uk/

On that site are these comments about his legislative assistant of over two-and-a-half years, Katia Zatuliveter:
http://www.mikehancock.co.uk/news/555/24/Statement-from-Mike-Hancock-about-Katia-Zatuliveter/

Not mentioned here, though, for obvious reasons, is that more than a few other MPs, even other liberal members, feel that Mike Hancock is too "soft" on Russia, and far too often, too uncomfortably close to the official Russian government position on certain issues, like what's been going on in the Republic of Georgia.
These very facts make Hancock's denials, however heart-felt and truthful, seem to some well-informed observers, perhaps a bit disingenuous, and I suspect that you will be hearing more about this as the week goes on.

The last thing in the world that members of Parliament want to consider is the possibility that there might actually be foreign intelligence agents or sympathizers working around them, with aims considerably more dire than simply bloggers or paparazzo taking snaps of embarrassing personal situations.

If you think about it logically from the perspective of the Federal Security Service, the FSB, ФСБ, the successor to the KGB, the day-to-day schedule and hours of tedious tasks on behalf of a staffer in Parliament, esp. for a member on a Defence committee like Mike Hancock, would be the perfect position for an FSB mole to gather useful info on members, staffers and myriad agency liaisons they deal with on a daily basis.
Perhaps you've heard - loose lips sink ships.

Channel 4 News: Russian spying has 'absolutely' not gone away
says Lord West.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid601325122001?bctid=699578293001

The Beatles - Back In The U.S.S.R [HQ] RARE PROMO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2Qk-mZjwhA

See also 'Britain is under attack from Russian spies'
http://www.channel4.com/news/lib-dem-mp-denies-his-assistant-is-a-russian-spy
and UK Border Agency http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/

From the UK Border Agency website: "Every week, our frontline officers are locating and removing migrants who flout the UK's immigration law or pose a risk to the community."

If we only had such marked vigilance here in South Florida, where the print and electronic news media is ardently pro-amnesty for all illegal aliens, especially the editorial board, columnists and reporters at the Miami Herald.

And FYI, no, I haven't forgotten about my promise here a few weeks ago about posting some very accurate and measured analysis of Herald reporter Alfonso Chardy and his consistently one-sided, factually-flawed and self-evidently biased stories about illegal immigration, so recently seen the past two weeks with seemingly daily pro-amnesty stories about the DREAM Act.

You know, those over-the-top stories of Chardy's that ALWAYS leave out inconvenient facts that hamper the story that he and the Herald want to peddle to their beleaguered readers, almost as if they really are stupid enough to think that if he doesn't mention those pesky facts that contradict what he says, nobody will be the wiser.

The same condescending way they seem to assume that nobody ever notices the compelling stories in South Florida that they have consciously ignored for years or give short-shrift
to now, like SO MANY of the interesting ones that first appear at Bob Norman's Daily Pulp blog. http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/

But fortunately, there are a lot more well-informed people like me who pay close attention to issues and public policy than you might otherwise think in South Florida, and we not only have technology on our side, in the form of blogs and websites and social media, but from past experience, we are totally hip to the tricks that Chardy and certain other reporters have long played with pesky inconvenient facts in their so-called news articles in the Herald.

PLUS, CHARDY JUST HAPPENS TO BE MORE OBVIOUS ABOUT IT, NOT TO MENTION, RIDICULOUSLY PREDICTABLE!

Those tricks of his don't change much on his stories re the South Florida transportation scene, either, the most egregious of which will also get their own analysis blog posts here, since Chardy has a LOT to account for with them, too.

Trust me, when you know the true facts, Chardy's so-called 'reporting' is even worse than you think.
It's not so much journalism as it is old-fashioned, biased stenography.

No matter how many times the Herald's management and editors tell Chardy to write about it, the DREAM Act bill in Congress is deader than dead -and rightfully so.

No matter how many times Chardy tries to insinuate that Florida's U.S. Senator George LeMieux might support it, somehow, he's a NO vote, comprende?
No means no!

The only thing worse than ignoring the "Don't Mess with Texas" maxim - Forgetting the Alamo!

Walt Disney's Davy Crockett
-King of the Wild Frontier - Alamo battle scene
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2Tu8NskR-E

The only thing worse than ignoring the "Don't Mess with Texas" maxim - Forgetting the Alamo!

My comments follow this very troubling article from the New York Times.

-------
New York Times
Critics Accuse Group of a Serious Texas Sin: Forgetting the Alamo
By James McKinley
December 4, 2010

SAN ANTONIO — For 105 years, a private organization of women descended from Texas pioneers has been taking care of the Alamo with very little oversight by the state.

But in the last year members of the group, the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, have found themselves besieged and divided. Dissidents have accused the leaders of caring more about building a $36 million library and theater nearby than about preserving the site’s old church and priest’s quarters, the only buildings remaining at the Spanish mission where at least 189 Texan rebels died fighting the Mexican Army in 1836.

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/05/us/05alamo.html

U.S.P.S.'s 1995 Texas Statehood Sesquicentennial Stamp

As some of you may well recall from previous posts of mine here, I was born in San Antonio, the home of The Alamo, at the Lackland Air Force Base Hospital during the first month of the JFK presidency.
My mother grew-up in San Antonio and then worked there before she later met my father at next door Kelly AFB, where my mother worked for Kelly's base commander, my father in the Flight Surgeon's office.

(They each saw President and Mrs. Kennedy the day before he was killed, when Air Force One flew into Kelly and went thru the official receiving line. Our family has a great photograph of them at the base that day in 1963 that I've never seen published anywhere else in the myriad books and film of that time frame.)

My family on my mother's side has lived continuously in Texas since 1855, in the beautiful Hill Country, 40 miles northwest of San Antonio, in Bandera, where my mother was born, long before San Antonio became the seventh-largest city in the U.S. a few years ago.

(According to the numbers cited in Wikipedia, San Antonio is now three times larger in population than Miami.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population
Just saying...)

From what I'm told, now it's apparently thought of as a bedroom community for San Antonio, but for most of the past 150 years, the people in Bandera thought of San Antonio, as well as themselves, much differently, with Bandera being the place that largely remained true to its cowboy roots, before becoming a tourist haven, while San Antonio was the city that evolved into an ethnic and cultural melting pot and then later a tourist destination.

My maternal ancestors were Poles from a region of Prussian-controlled Upper Silesia, in a period where Poland wasn't free, in what is now southwestern Poland, not far from the present day Poland-Czech Republic border.
Those ancestors were the majority of the original settlers there who created everything that was built there, from the schools to the church, St. Stanislaus.

The original 16 Polish families walked the hundreds of miles from Galveston, with all their belongings in ox-cart driven wagons, after a two-month trip by ship from their home in the Opole section of Prussian-controlled Poland via the ship Wesser in Bremen.

Overnight, those ancestors became Texas Hill Country pioneers in an area of Texas that still had lots of problems with Indians, as some of my ancestors were actually killed by Indians on trips to neighboring towns.

Due in large part to its large number of Polish, German and Czech immigrants, Bandera County was one of only a handful of Texas counties that voted AGAINST seceding from the Union at the state convention in Austin in 1861.

Though they arrived 19 years after the battle at The Alamo, they never forgot it, or what it meant to this country.

And neither have I.

-----

Bandera, Texas - Cowboy Capital of the World

Logo of the Bandera Convention and Visitors Bureau

Bandera Convention and Visitors Bureau
P.O. Box 171, Bandera, Texas 78003,
Phone: (830) 796-3045,
Toll-Free: 1-800-364-3833,
Fax: (830) 796-4121,
Email: cowpoke@banderacowboycapital.com
Website: www.banderacowboycapital.com

The Texas Hill Country http://www.tourtexas.com/hill.html

A book I HIGHLY recommend on Texas' complicated history is Lone Star Nation: The Epic Story of the Battle for Texas Independence by H.W. Brands (2004). www.hwbrands.com

The Portal to Texas History http://texashistory.unt.edu/

Texas State Historical Association http://www.tshaonline.org/

I also highly recommend the Polish Genealogical Society of Texas http://www.pgst.org/

See also:

New York Times

Remembering the Alamo Is Easier When You Know Its Many-Sided History

Edward Rothstein

April 30, 2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/30/arts/30conn.html

Once upon a time... former New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell -then also

a regular regular contributor to NPR- wrote a film review of the latest remake of The Alamo, which had originally starred John Wayne http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0053580/ in 1960, but which in the 2004 remake -to very negative reviews- had Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Quaid. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0318974/

Anyway, in his review, Mitchell has Davy Crockett being from Kentucky instead of Tennessee, even though the first line of the Ballad of Davy Crockett is:

"Born on a mountaintop in Tennesee, greenest land in the "Land of the Free.."

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047977/

I mean that's "common knowledge."

Davy Crockett = Tennessee,
Daniel Boone = Kentucky

Is it really too much to hope that reporters at the New York Times -and their editors- can get basic facts correct about their own country?
But that's a blog post for another time...



BILL HAYES - 'Ballad Of Davy Crockett' - 1956 78rpm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD6FlisQLEM

The invader in our midst: Lionfish; An Exotic Predator Threatens the Florida Keys by Erik Olsen; The Silent Invasion Of The Lionfish by David Sutta

NYTimes.com video: Science: An Exotic Predator Threatens the Florida Keys

Erik Olsen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxz4pwML2-s

Sean Morton, Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/

Bob Holston, Dive Key West
http://www.divekeywest.com/

REEF - Reef Environmental Education Fund
http://www.reef.org/
http://www.reef.org/lionfish

The related article:
New York Times
Florida Keys Declare Open Season on the Invasive Lionfish
The lionfish threatens to wreak havoc on the ecologically sensitive marine system of the Florida Keys. It was first discovered in the area in 2009.
By Erik Olsen
November 23, 2010

KEY WEST, Fla. — Crawling through turquoise murk on the ocean floor near Tea Table Key, Rob Pillus glances at a half dozen lobsters that twirl their antennae in the fast-moving current. Mr. Pillus, an avid spear fisherman, would normally stuff the crustaceans into his mesh bag for dinner, but today he is after more exotic quarry: an invasive species called the lionfish that threatens to wreak havoc on this ecologically sensitive marine system.

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/23/science/23lionfish.html

See also:

WFOR-TV, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale
I-Team: The Silent Invasion Of The Lionfish
Reporting: David Sutta
November 14, 2010 06:34



Story at: http://cbs4.com/local/keys.lionfish.reef.2.2009071.html

Past Channel 4 stories on lionfish at:
http://cbs4.com/search?searchstring=lionfish&tabid=0

-----

Wall Street Journal

The Lionfish Creates an Uproar, Bringing Out the Hunters

Voracious Intruders Stalked With Spears; Doing Your Part by Eating Them

By Paul Glader
November 15, 2010

KEY LARGO, Fla.—Fluctuations in the fish population are flummoxing marine scientists the world over. But few species elicit the solution served up for the lionfish.

The voracious lionfish hoovers up nearly everything in it's path, from shrimp and angel fish to lizards. The invasive breed from the Far East has bred by the thousands and spread from the Bahamas and Florida up to the Carolinas.

Read the rest of the article with photos at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704658204575610721532882174.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Reader comments at:http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704658204575610721532882174.html?mod=googlenews_wsj#articleTabs%3Dcomments

Robert Indiana at Etra Fine Art Gallery, Booth 501 at Miami International Art Fair, January 13th - 17th, 2011

American artist Robert Indiana -nee Robert Clark- holds a special place in the heart of most well-educated native Hoosiers, as well as those who are "Hoosiers by choice" -to use the phrase that I and my out-of-state friends at IU used to describe ourselves- as a leading proponent of the American pop art movement.

http://www.artnet.com/artist/662616/robert-indiana.html http://indianapublicmedia.org/momentofindianahistory/robert-indiana/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Indiana http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=%22Robert+Indiana%22
http://arago.si.edu/index.asp?con=1&cmd=1&mode=1&tid=2034469&print=1

----- Etra Fine Art Gallery - 50 N.E. 40th St. - Miami Design District - Miami www.etrafineart.com

Booth 501 at Miami International Art Fair,
January 13th - 17th, 2011

www.etrafineart.com

The Hartley Elegies consist of 10 large-scale prints created by Robert Indiana in admiration of American modernist painter and poet Marsden Hartley. These pieces are often considered the most powerful and successful works he ever produced. Indiana views them as his most personal because they reflect not only his identity, but also that of his idol Marsden Hartley.


The imagery in Robert Indiana’s The Hartley Elegies is drawn straight from Hartley’s 1914-15 “German Officer” paintings. They encompass symbolism from Hartley’s paintings, as well as Indiana’s, into an anomalous hard-edged style. Critics and scholars agree that The Hartley Elegies are one of the most compelling and substantial works of art ever created by Robert Indiana.


In Liz K. Sheehan’s catalogue essay, “Robert Indiana: Painter of Signs” she writes, “the Elegies cement and celebrate the numerous connections between two men, their lives and artistic achievements, and honor one of Maine’s most celebrated artists. The full suite of ten serigraphs, reproduced together for the first time in this volume, is one of Indiana’s most complex projects. Robert Indiana’s signs point us toward a broader understanding of Marsden Hartley’s work and the inspiration it holds for contemporary artists, who continue to find relevance in its depths.”


Robert Clark adopted the name Indiana as a tribute to his home state. After receiving a degree from the Art Institute of Chicago in 1953 and a traveling fellowship to Europe, he moved to New York City. He became part of an artist community that included Ellsworth Kelly and Jack Youngerman, and began to experiment in geometric pop art styles.


Although he came to prominence during the 1960's, his concerns have always differed greatly from those of his contemporaries. Whereas the general pop movement took interest in the mass media and trappings of consumer culture, Indiana was drawn to Americana and national and cultural identity. Indiana now lives in Vinelhaven, Maine – the same town that Marsden Hartley once worked.

www.etrafineart.com

Once again, Alan Mutter at Reflections of a Newsosaur blog has it right about the American news media: ‘Objective’ journalism is over. Let’s move on.

Sometimes, with a news article, column or blog post that's particularly cogent, well-argued and well-written, there's little left for your humble blogger here in South Florida to say other than to encourage you to read it for yourself and become educated.

Well, today is one of those days, as Alan Mutter out in San Francisco has such a persuasive and common sense post today on his must-read media blog, Confessions of a Newsosaur, on the myth of a fair-and-balanced animal called "objective journalism" in the United States.

That legendary animal NEVER actually roamed this land, from sea-to-shining sea.
It was all merely a journalism industry construct that was passed down from one generation to another.

Alan has, by far, one of the most varied and successful journalism and venture capital backgrounds of anyone you could possibly meet in the U.S., literally, the nexus of both the legacy media as well as the new media. Even now, he's on the adjunct faculty of the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley.
http://journalism.berkeley.edu/

Which is why his opinion really counts for something.

-----
Reflections of a Newsosaur blog by Alan Mutter
Musings (and occasional urgent warnings) of a veteran media executive, who fears our news-gathering companies are stumbling to extinction
Thursday, December 02, 2010
‘Objective’ journalism is over. Let’s move on.

It’s time to retire the difficult-to-achieve and impossible-to-defend conceit that journalists are now, or ever were, objective.

Let’s replace this threadbare notion with a realistic and credible standard of transparency that requires journalists to forthrightly declare their personal predilections, financial entanglements and political allegiances so the public can evaluate the quality of the information it is getting.

This not only will make life easier for scribes and the public. It also could do wonders for the sagging credibility of the press.

Read the rest of this post at:
http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2010/12/objective-journalism-is-over-lets-move.html

See also:

http://paidcontent.org/

http://www.mondaynote.com/

http://mediagazer.com/

http://www.beet.tv/

http://www.mediabistro.com/

http://www.mediabistro.com/webnewser/

http://www.jackshafer.com/slate_columns/slate_columns_index.php

http://www.jackshafer.com/

http://www2.poynter.org/column.asp?id=45 - Jim Romensko

http://www2.poynter.org/

http://www.medill.northwestern.edu/

http://journalism.indiana.edu/

Earliest snowfalls to hit England in 17 years has Britons looking for True Grit -for the roads. Why did Britain slide into snow chaos?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

Today's Daily Telegraph headline asks the simple question that people were asking throughout England on Wednesday:
Why did Britain slide into snow chaos again?
An inquiry into how the freezing weather crippled Britain's transport network ordered by the Government
Caroline Gammell and David Millward 10:19PM GMT 01 Dec 2010

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/weather/8175167/Why-did-Britain-slide-into-snow-chaos-again.html




Channel 4 News -Half of England & Scotland stay home from work due to heavy snow and transport problems, especially smaller towns. Scotland gripped by the worst winter in 45 years
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid601325122001?bctid=694613892001
http://www.channel4.com/news/uk-snow-arctic-weather-set-to-stay

The bad weather created a larger than usual captive audience for BBC Radio 5 live and listeners took advantage by generating lots of calls and emails about what people were doing with their time, or, alternatively, relating their "war" stories.

Over 150 motorists were stuck in their vehicles on the A57 for two days and were helped by Mountain Rescue teams.

On Richard Bacon's afternoon program it was apparent that residents of Kent, Surrey and Essex largely stayed home, staying out of gridlocked, motorways and London after driving 6 hours hours to get 15-20 miles.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pstlg
http://www.channel4.com/news/snow-gallery-november-2010

In Kent, estate agents (real estate) signs were being snatched by kids from in front of properties and being used by kids to slide down hills, i.e. what we call sledding, but they call sledging.
And reports are that the snow is only getting worse there.

One particularly interesting conversation I heard concerned the Halifax Courier publisher discussing the era of the new media, but then saying that while he was in charge of a media business with a newspaper component, at times of such bad weather, those abstract ideas about the future would have to take a back seat to him and his team trying to cope with getting news to readers while snow made deliveries impossible on Wednesday, with no print edition.



http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/View-a-digital-edition-of.6645971.jp
http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/

At one point, someone, I don't know who, even remarked that they couldn't wrap a set of dishes in an iPad, which caused me to laugh, but depending upon your point of view, that's either an overly-romantic image of the news business, or merely stating the facts Jack Webb-style.

Gatwick Airport is now officially closed until Friday.

http://www.accuweather.com/ukie/index.asp?partner=dailytelegraph

Mayor Joy Cooper & her new Hallandale Beach city commissioner puppet are in Denver for a boondoggle, yet all they'll get me is a bill, not a good idea

Above, October 9th, 2010 photo of Hallandale Beach City Hall by South Beach Hoosier

Mayor Joy Cooper & her new Hallandale Beach city commissioner puppet -Alexander Lewy- are in Denver for a boondoggle, yet all they'll get me is a bill, not a good idea.
I wonder if she's any more honest in a mile-high city than she is in one that's at sea level -Hallandale Beach.

This week's National League of Cities conference in Denver is the reason that the Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting was pushed back to Dec. 8th from Wednesday.
http://www.nlc.org/CONFERENCES___EVENTS/CONGRESS_OF_CITIES___EXPOSITION/Backtomain.aspx

I remind you that for years, prior to this past year's convention being held nearby at the Westin Diplomat over at Hollywood, Beach, that ALL five members of the HB City Commission went to the Florida League of Cities' annual convention.

(Be sure to see Bob Norman's excellent Aug. 23rd post on that convention, titled, Our Politicians at the Trough
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2010/08/florida_league_of_cities_dinner.php)

I don't have a problem with these sorts of conventions, per se, but how many cities as small as Hallandale Beach sent EVERY elected official to Orlando every year, all at taxpayer expense?
I'm guessing that the answer is NONE.

NONE -just like the tangible positive results that emerged for HB taxpayers as a result of that pointless trip.

After all, the Joy Cooper Rubber Stamp Crew didn't suddenly start asking pertinent questions of Dept. heads or finally demand some genuine accountability and transparency from City Hall after they got back, did they, so why send five of them instead of one?
5 times 0 is the same as 1 times 0.

-----

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Broward Politics blog
By Brittany Wallman
November 24, 2010 08:00 AM

Several Broward County cities are sending multiple elected officials to Denver, Colo., in early December.

Why? To find out from city finance experts how to deal with the recessionary economy. One of the speakers at the four-day National League of Cities event is what you could call a "local'' -- former Florida Governor Jeb Bush.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/broward/blog/2010/11/local_politicians_will_get_tas.html

Three Lions make their best pitch for World Cup 2018 as English bid team flies to Zurich led by Prince William, David Cameron & David Beckham

Channel 4 News
November 30, 2010 World Cup 2018 bid heads to Zurich
Reporter Keme Nzerem in Zurich reports on England's bid to secure the FIFA World Cup competition in 2018. The omens are not looking good.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid601325122001?bctid=693409974001

FIFA'S DIRTY SECRETS

The BBC Panorama program that's at the center of the FIFA World Cup bid controversy, Fifa's Dirty Secrets, is here, http://news.bbc.co.uk/panorama/hi/default.stm where you can read about some of the accusations leveled against FIFA officials, but for copyright reasons, the program can't officially be seen in the U.S..
http://www.epltalk.com/how-you-can-watch-bbc-panorama-fifas-dirty-secrets-in-the-u-s-26989

Long story short: The alleged bribes to three officials are included in a confidential document listing 175 payments totalling about £64m.

Here are two videos on YouTube that comprise the FIFA'S DIRTY SECRETS program, so watch it while you can before the BBC makes them take the videos down.

BBC Panorama: FIFA'S DIRTY SECRETS - Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjlZw9NGSlU

-----

BBC Panorama: FIFA'S DIRTY SECRETS - Part 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-wQy4eT4M9I


The Channel 4 website article that accompanies this video at the top is here:

Tuesday 30 November 2010

Prince William, David Cameron and David Beckham fly to Zurich to try and boost England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup - but hopes have been dampened by the latest publication of bribery allegations. As delegates gathered to press the flesh at the headquarters of FIFA - football's governing body - ahead of Thursday's announcement of the winner, the English bid team have been frustrated by the timing of the BBC Panorama programme which accused three FIFA officials of taking bribes in the past.

Read the rest of it at:
http://www.channel4.com/news/world-cup-2018-bid-team-fly-to-zurich

-----

I wrote about the bid process on my blog on Monday and just loved Australia's bid videos, esp. the one hosted by Nicole Kidman, which emphasized the sorts of things that real fans care about: fun, safety and ease-of-access and no hassles.
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/even-before-2018-2022-fifa-world-cup.html

As you know by now, the announcements about who'll be hosting the 2018 and 2022 FIFA spectacles are to be made on Thursday, or Friday Australian time.

Nicky Campbell talked on his BBC Radio 5 live show Tuesday morning with some very knowledgeable guests and well-informed listeners about Monday night's Panorama program and whether there'd be a backlash among the FIFA officials against England's bid to host in 2018, or whether the truth is more important than commerce.

The podcast for the informative program is here and well worth listening to:
http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/fivelive/5lnpi/5lnpi_20101130-1045a.mp3


Tony Livesey’s show on BBC Radio 5 live on Thursday December 2nd will originate from the City of Manchester Stadium and "will gauge reaction to the FIFA World Cup vote which will have decided the host country for the 2018 World Cup."

"Win or lose, a panel of football pundits will discuss the result including former Hull Boss Phil Brown and 5 live football commentator Connor McNamara, and an audience of 5 live listeners."

It airs 10:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m. U.K. time, or 5:30 p.m. Eastern/2:30 p.m. Pacific in the U.S. and Canada.

Catch it here at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/bbc_radio_five_live

Two spot-on columns by Orlando Sentinel's Darryl E. Owens and Miami Herald's Jackie Bueno Sousa demand your attention

August 25, 1982 Ralph Renick editorial on WTVJ-4, Miami,
on the filming of Scarface in South Florida
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyuJGHrjbRY

It's neither here nor there, per se, but per this excellent column by the Orlando Sentinel's Darryl E. Owens that I spied on Saturday -the same day the Miami Hurricanes played like disinterested turkeys two days after Thanksgiving Day- I can distinctly recall as a kid growing-up in North Miami Beach in the 1970's that when a story like this would bubble up to the surface in South Florida, i.e. with lots of context, it would quickly become the main topic of discussion of AM Talk Radio, back before it was almost all nationally-syndicated fare.

Of course, back then, when the Dolphins were consistently good, the area also had an All-News Radio Station, something it now sadly lacks, with South Florida being much worse off for that, as I've often lamented here and at various websites.

Some subject would get under the skin of a columnist at the Miami Herald far enough in advance of some planned public event that a rather pointed column would soon appear, and either cooler heads would prevail, the best option, or, local politicians and govt. officials would be publicly embarrassed and hung out to dry.

If the issue reached a certain threshold of seriousness, local broadcasting powerhouse Ralph Renick at Channel 4, back when it was WTVJ, on N. Miami Avenue in downtown Miami, would make one of his devastating editorials on the six o'clock newscast and simply mop the floor with whomever was responsible for the problem by pointing out the simple facts.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Renick

Après toi, le déluge!

That was a measure of the power and influence throughout all aspects of life in South Florida that Ralph Renick had to wield.

Renick was THE most-respected man in South Florida other than perhaps Dolphins head coach Don Shula.

But now, in my opinion, other than the rare Herald column that takes us all completely by surprise, or Jackie Bueno Sousa's common sense columns that demand accountability and integrity from local elected officials or govt. agencies, there's just lots of dopey paint-by-numbers news stories about inconsequential fluff or shopping or diets.

See http://www.miamiherald.com/columnists/jacqueline-bueno-sousa/ and my post from July 12, 2009
May the good news be yours: Ralph Renick's South Florida TV scene 18 years later; Where's the news in Broward? Or local investigative news anywhere? http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/may-good-news-be-yours-ralph-renicks.html

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Orlando Sentinel
City funded Amway party — but not a Parramore tradition
Darryl E. Owens COMMENTARY
12:46 a.m. EST, November 27, 2010

Good thing Charlie Brown doesn't call Orlando home.

In his world, his only worry is Lucy snatching away the football as he prepares to make the kick.
The City Beautiful might send cops to snatch the pigskin.

This isn't an anti-cop screed.

After all, the would-be footballers — all three of them — who were confronted by police on Thanksgiving Day at the John H. Jackson Community Center lacked a permit.

Instead, consider this a reflection on an embarrassing — and obvious — missed opportunity for Orlando.

Read the rest of the post at: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/columnists/os-ed-darryl-owens-parramore-football20101126,0,5199263.column

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http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/11/23/1940706/real-leaders-in-short-supply-in.html
Miami Herald
Real leaders in short supply in Miami
By Jackie Bueno Sousa
November 23, 2010

It's not that Miami lacks leadership. Rather, it lacks bold, transformational leaders.

You know, the kind of people who use their power and influence to bring about fundamental change in a community, even though doing so will make enemies of other people of power and influence.

And so it is that so many Miamians now are fascinated with Norman Braman. Beyond his battle to recall Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez, he's filling a civic leadership vacuum long felt in this community.

Bold, transformational leaders aren't easy to find. That may be a good thing; too many of them could be more problematic than too few of them. But when they become scarce, as they are now, we flock to them and their causes, knowing that they represent a rare opportunity.

Such leadership requires a unique combination of attributes not found in ordinary, run-of-the-mill leaders. Nothing wrong with ordinary leaders; their generosity, in terms of both time and money, has brought many good and worthwhile programs for our community.

It's just that every once in a while we need something more. We need, for example, leaders who are passionately focused on a cause.

MAS CANOSA

The late Jorge Mas Canosa had that passion and focus. The Cuban exile leader was vilified and chastised for his sometimes close-minded stance on Cuba policy. Yet no other person could so effectively spur large numbers of followers to take action, to show up at a rally, to lobby congressional representatives, to write letters to the editor. Who has filled that void in the Cuban exile community?

Such leadership also requires community-wide status and power. It helps to be the chairman of this or the president of that, but such titles aren't always necessary.

Marjory Stoneman Douglas was a simple journalist and writer, and yet she helped preserve the Everglades for future generations. She once wrote a pamphlet on behalf of creating a botanical garden that resulted in countless speaking invitations at local garden clubs and ultimately helped create Fairchild Gardens. Who is today's Marjory Stoneman Douglas?

Such leaders must back up their words and actions with money. The money can be their own -- as in the case of Braman's recall battle. Or it can come from the ability to access money, as was Alvah Chapman's gift. In the 1970s, Chapman led the creation of The Non-Group, an elite body of business and civic leaders who set an agenda for resolving the area's most pressing problems. Who in the business community is filling Alvah Chapman's void today?

We see contemporary glimpses of extraordinary civic leadership every so often. Former TotalBank chairman Adrienne Arsht gave $30 million to save the performing arts center. Banker Adolfo Henriques has the power to rally important business leaders. Miami Dade College President Eduardo Padrón is passionately focused on improving education in our region.

CHARTER REVIEW

And we even see glimpses of bold leadership. Attorney Victor Diaz Jr., as the head of the Miami-Dade County Charter Review Task Force, a couple years ago proposed a series of fundamental changes that could have brought about important improvements in local government.

When the County Commission slapped down most of the suggestions, which civic and business leaders came forward to fight for the proposed changes?

And, so, the void remains.

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Personally, I would have chosen different people, but her central premise is sound and echoes a sentiment that nearly everyone I know and respect in South Florida agrees with completely.

Which is why all the unethical behavior by elected officials in South Florida, from small-fry to County Commissioners, grates on people here in a way that is different than other parts of the country.

For those of you who don't live down here, there's a real brazenness and entitlement that's neither funny or amusing but simply venal and creepy.

Even before 2018 & 2022 FIFA World Cup host cities are announced in Zurich, there's scheming & recriminations aplenty. Like Super Bowl host bids!

Looking Ahead to 2022 World Cup

Squawk Box Europe Airtime: Thurs. Oct. 28 2010 | 3:20 AM ET

Countries keen to host the 2022 World Cup flew into Zurich to meet with FIFA members Thursday. Ben Buckley, CEO of Football Federation Australia, spoke to CNBC about the tournament
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1627049219&play=1

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Australia's FIFA World Cup Bid Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zd8lTHdj0k

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Come Play! Australia 2018 - 2022 - Australia's FIFA World Cup Bid

Nicole Kidman explains why Australia is the best choice to host the World Cup.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwWs3HxeKJs

http://www.australiabid.com.au/

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Danielle Isdale of Ten News reports on Sunday night from Zurich on Australia's World Cup bid for 2018 or 2022



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cd5X8iqDk0w


officialengland2018


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wn5RaeOhIyg

Official site of England's bid for the 2018 FIFA World Cup:
http://www.england2018bid.com/

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A satirical look at why England should host the 2018 World Cup and not Russia.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl2RulISxNY

The official England football channel from The FA
http://www.youtube.com/user/england

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Channel 4 News: School sports spending cut row
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid601325122001?bctid=682831172001
Article at http://www.channel4.com/news/school-sport-funding-cut-row

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Slate
sports nut: The stadium scene.
Who Will Host the 2018 World Cup?
The most secretive bidding process in sports.
By Simon Kuper
Updated Sunday, Nov. 28, 2010, at 8:14 AM ET

Three years ago, when the bidding to host the World Cups of 2018 and 2022 was just getting going, a lobbyist explained to me how the decisions would be made. Over lunch at the International Football Arena in Zurich—a cozy annual gathering of the game's power brokers—he led me on to the terrace for a quiet word. There, he emphasised that what "the world" thought about the various bidding countries wouldn't matter much. Instead, the only voters were "24 old men." He meant the members of Fifa's executive committee (Exco), who will choose the hosts for 2018 and 2022 in Zurich this Thursday. The lobbyist and his partner, he added, "know those 24 men better than anyone. We know their strengths, we know their weaknesses."

Read the rest of the story at: http://www.slate.com/id/2276128/

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Ten News YouTube Channel -videos of the most recent news stories broadcast
http://www.youtube.com/user/ten

Ten News homepage: http://ten.com.au/

http://www.gousabid.com/city/local/MIAMI-FL

http://www.gousabid.com/