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Beautiful Stockholm at night, looking west towards Gamla Stan

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Non-Muslim women in Sweden wearing hijabs this week to show moral support for Muslim women in Sweden in wake of shocking attack on pregnant Muslim woman in southern Stockholm suburb of Farsta; @hijabuppropet, @Nabila_AFR, #hijabuppropet, @lindblomkarin, @pontusahlkvist


SVT video: De bär slöja som solidaritetshandling (They wear the veil as act of solidarity). Aired August 19, 2013. 
Article at http://www.svt.se/kultur/sjal-som-solidaritetshandling
The best line in the article, in my opinion is from Humanist that ends, "trakasserier är aldrig en form av kritik.” (Harassment is never a form of criticism.)
Non-Muslim women in Sweden wearing hijabs this week to show moral support for Muslim women in Sweden in wake of shocking attack on pregnant Muslim woman in southern Stockholm suburb of Farsta; @hijabuppropet, @Nabila_AFR, #hijabuppropet, @lindblomkarin,
@pontusahlkvist, 





 http://stream.aljazeera.com/story/201308192111-0022988

 Aftonbladet's article, I morgon beslöjar vi oss av solidaritet (Tomorrow we veil ourselves of solidarity) has by far the most facts about what really happened last week, and its their coverage that's largely responsible for this campaign gaining traction and being taken seriously. Imagine that, South Florida, a newspaper actually doing somethng besides living off its history!:
A heavily pregnant mother of three was beaten in a parking lot in the Stockholm suburb of Farsta Friday when a strange man started to pull her veil and clothing as he shouted that "people like you should not be here." He pounded her head against a car so hard that she lost consciousness. Police were alerted three times before they finally showed up, and once in place, they argued that there were sufficient grounds to investigate the incident.
http://www.aftonbladet.se/debatt/article17314519.ab

 All tweets with hashtag #hijabuppropet
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23hijabuppropet&src=hash&mode=realtime


Even after all the negative attention and even brutal criticism she has garnered the past few months, even Social Democrat pol Veronica Palm got into the swing of things and tweeted this:


On the other hand, Palm has spouted so many empty-headed platitudes about important issues in the past, it's hard to know if she's serious or instead, playing the role of the sort of person who always exists in Western society who ends up making something that's serious actually look more like a fad, diminishing the efforts of others who are well-intentioned and find their message hijacked by someone who likes attention.

 So, judging all this from many thousands of miles away, problematic in even the best of circumstances, like here where I've read and watched lots of news stories about this, as well as opinionated tweets, I can't quite figure out if in this instance, Palm is actually being sincere, or, is playing the media-savvy role she so often has in the very competitive Swedish media -sometimes willingly it has seemed to me- of the good-looking and pampered female Socialist politician living-off the fruits of the bourgeoisie that so many of her supporters openly malign and deride, esp. online, but who keep Palm and her friends and supporters living the good life without too much drama or pain in their lives, no thanks to them.


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Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Complete lack of concern shown by Eleanor Sobel, Joe Gibbons and Shevrin Jones for their Hallandale Beach constituents re wasted HB CRA $$$ is galling -and is noticed by LOTS of voters and reporters; Have HB's state legislators said or done a single thing re the Hallandale Beach CRA scandal, or done anything to help get a thorough audit of it by the Florida Joint Legislative Auditing Comm., so that HB residents can finally get the long-overdue financial accountability that HB Mayor Joy Cooper and her Rubber Stamp Crew of Lewy & Sanders have fought? So far, the answer is a big fat NO

My short and to-the-point email of Monday to the Florida Joint Legislative Auditing Committee in Tallahassee, jlac@leg.state.fl.us
http://www.leg.state.fl.us/cgi-bin/View_Page.pl?Directory=committees/joint/Jcla/&File=index_css.html&Tab=committees
regarding a matter of great public concern in the city I live in.


Monday August 19th, 2013
12:30 p.m.

To Whom It May Concern:

As of this morning, has the Florida Joint Legislative Auditing Committee received 
any correspondence from the following state legislators formally requesting that JLAC 
perform an audit of the Hallandale Beach CRA: Sen. Eleanor Sobel, Rep.  Joe Gibbons
and Rep. Shevrin Jones?

Living here, and being very involved in the effort to get your Committee to do one so that
citizens of this community can finally get the financial answers that we have long been
denied, I can tell you that there are no media reports of any of the three of them doing so,
thus far, so I just want to get confirmation of that fact.

Thank you for your assistance!
-----

 For those of you who don't know, state Rep. Shervin Jones represents the part of Hallandale Beach west of the FEC Railroad tracks and Dixie Highway.
In my opinion, he is also a career-politician-in-training just like like Hallandale Beach City Commissioner Alexander Lewy, and obviously I mean that as a big warning sign for anyone who cares about common sense and actually solving problems, instead of relying on tried, tired and unproven ideas that come from liberal orthodoxy.

 Jones has recently been brought up short by his caviar dreams and his West Park reality, the reality that gave him a gerrymandered seat for all practical purposes. But in a state like Florida with term limits, even a gerrymandered seat promising no competitive races doesn't seem as fun a sinecure as it once did, even for an African-American pol who had no real experience of any kind, yet drew no opposition when he first ran, in part because his father is the mayor of the city he's from.
That gives you an idea of what the district is like -not a lot of civic discourse.
More like a herd mentality.



 Anyway, Jones, of FL House 101, who is supporting Lewy in his effort to replace term-limited Gibbons in the FL House District 100 seat in 2014, and Gibbons in his efforts to defeat former Hollywood City Commissioner Beam Furr in the 2014 race to replace term-limited Broward County Commissioner Sue Gunzburger -who endorsed Furr many months ago- is under investigation by the Broward State's Attorney office for his curious spending habits.
Or is it his expensive eating habits so very far from home?  



Broward Beat
State Rep. Likes To Eat On Lobbyist’s Dime
By Buddy Nevins
August 2, 2013
State Rep. Shevrin Jones likes to eat….well…on his campaign’s dime.
He’s basically found a way for lobbyists like Ron Book, who donated $1,000, to pay for his meals.
Jones has spent roughly $2,000 of the $9,350 he raised from lobbyists on “meetings” and “campaign meetings” in various restaurants. Lobbyists were the only ones giving to his campaign.
Jones has no opponent.

Read the rest of the post and reader comments at
http://www.browardbeat.com/state-rep-likes-to-eat-on-lobbyists-dime/



Broward Beat
State Atty Investigates State Rep’s Campaign
By Buddy Nevins
August 12, 2013
The Broward State Attorney’s Office is investigating state Rep. Shevrin Jones’ campaign expenses, a well-placed courthouse source said.
The source said a Browardbeat.com post triggered the investigation into Jones’ spending at restaurants in addition to a campaign loan repayment.

Read the rest of the post and reader comments at
http://www.browardbeat.com/state-atty-investigates-state-reps-campaign/

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Sunday, August 18, 2013

Run-amok govt. gravy train in Los Angeles and corresponding lack of common sense in public policy; Steve Lopez of LA Times positively owns story re LA taxpayers angry about $$$ spigot at city's Dept. of Water and Power. City officials upset re proposed new contract under which employees still WON'T have to contribute a cent towards their own healthcare costs.; DWP's unlimited sick pay policy has cost LA taxpayers $35.5 Million since 2010 for extra days off that AREN'T covered by the agency's 10-day cap; New LA mayor Eric Garcetti has a "back to basics" plan but will city council and unions just ignore it?






"I don't have more pockets for you guys to dip into to get more money for rate increases..."
Los Angeles Times
Angry about the money spigot at L.A.'s Department of Water and Power
City officials get an earful from residents upset about proposed new contract under which employees still won't have to contribute toward healthcare costs.
By Steve Lopez
August 17, 2013, 12:00 p.m.
Ordinarily, I don't spend more than an hour or so at a time in Los Angeles City Hall. I get in and out of there, quick as a burglar, to avoid having my judgment impaired.
I thought longingly about that approach on Friday, when I attended a windy public hearing on a proposed new contract for employees of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. For the first two hours, public officials explained the contract, in mostly rosy terms.
It wasn't perfect, they said, but pretty good. 
Well, I guess I don't have to tell you that lots of concerned LA taxpayers had a different idea, right?
Read the rest of the column at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0818-lopez-dwp-20130818,0,3154788.column



Los Angeles Times
Costly perk forces DWP to shell out extra if it gives work to outside contractors
Overtime clause hikes the department's costs for hiring contractors.
By Jack Dolan
August 15, 2013, 6:44 p.m.
It's no secret Los Angeles Department of Water and Power employees are paid well. But a little-known clause in their union contract ensures they can work extra hours and collect even higher wages when private contractors are hired to help them get the job done.
The so-called "outsourcing bonus" traces back to a single sentence inserted into the city-owned utility's labor contract nearly two decades ago. Intended partly to discourage use of private companies with lower labor costs, the contract provision requires DWP managers to offer overtime to any employee who could have performed tasks assigned to a contractor — such as engineering, construction or clerical work. 

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dwp-bonus-20130815,0,1495706.story











Los Angeles Times 
DWP's unlimited sick pay policy costs millions
The L.A. utility has paid $35.5 million since 2010 for extra days off that aren't covered by the agency's 10-day cap.
By Jack Dolan
July 26, 2013, 5:00 a.m.
Los Angeles' Department of Water and Power has paid thousands of employees a total of $35.5 million since 2010 in extra sick days under an unusual program that the utility's top executive acknowledges has been vulnerable to abuse.
DWP employees benefit from a 32-year-old policy that allows them to take paid days off well beyond the agency's 10-day-a-year cap on sick days. Last year, 10% of the department's roughly 10,000 employees took at least 10 extra days off, the data show. More than 220 took an extra 20 working days off, or about a month, according to a Times examination of data obtained under the California Public Records Act. 

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-dwp-sick-20130726,0,889920,full.story

-----
Steve Lopez LA Times  @LATstevelopez  https://twitter.com/LATstevelopez

 Jack Dolan  @jackdolanLAT  https://twitter.com/jackdolanLAT

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Saturday, August 17, 2013

Obama's passivity in U.S. foreign policy, esp. in Egypt, is setting-off alarms in D.C. Old Conventional Wisdom: Nero fiddled while Rome burned. CW for 2013: Obama golfs while Egypt burns. Even while majority within pro-Obama U.S. Mainstream Media continue giving him a free pass, many at The Washington Post and other D.C. foreign policy centers are VERY ANXIOUS about Obama's lack of concern or influence, witness WaPo's Jackson Diehl's devastating column, "Obama’s Dangerous Passivity on Egypt and Syria on Display." Consider this but a taste: "Obama looks like a president in full flight from a world that looks nothing like what he imagined when he took office." Diehl is 100% correct!





Obama's passivity in U.S. foreign policy, esp. in Egypt, is setting-off alarms in D.C. Old Conventional Wisdom: Nero fiddled while Rome burned. CW for 2013: Obama golfs while Egypt burns. Even while majority within pro-Obama U.S. Mainstream Media continue giving him a free pass, many at The Washington Post and other D.C. foreign policy centers are VERY ANXIOUS about Obama's lack of concern or influence, witness WaPo's Jackson Diehl's devastating column, "Obama’s Dangerous Passivity on Egypt and Syria on Display."
Consider this but a taste: "Obama looks like a president in full flight from a world that looks nothing like what he imagined when he took office." Diehl is 100% correct!


The Washington Post
Obama’s dangerous passivity on Egypt and Syria on display 
By Jackson Diehl
August 15, 2013 
There was hope a few months ago that mounting chaos in the Middle East, and a revamping of President Obama’s national security team, would prompt the president to snap out of what looked like a deepening torpor in foreign policy.  
Instead, this president’s extraordinary passivity in the face of crisis may have achieved its apotheosis this week. On Wednesday, as Egyptian security forces gunned down hundreds of civilians in the streets of Cairo, an unperturbed Obama shot another round of golf at Martha’s Vineyard. His deputy press secretary was left to explain to reporters that the administration remained firmly committed to not deciding whether what had happened in Egypt was a coup.
Read the rest of the column here:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/jackson-diehl-obamas-dangerous-passivity-on-egypt-on-display/2013/08/15/69d085fc-0522-11e3-9259-e2aafe5a5f84_story.html

 @JacksonDiehl https://twitter.com/JacksonDiehl

 Jackson Diehl archives at Washington Post: 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/jackson-diehl/2011/02/24/ABccMXN_page.html







The Washington Post
By Editorial Board
Egypt erupts as security forces attack Morsi supporters
August 14, 2013

 The Post's powerful mince-no-words editorial includes this passage;
This refusal to take a firm stand against massive violations of human rights is as self-defeating for the United States as it is unconscionable. Continued U.S. support for the Egyptian military is helping to push the country toward a new dictatorship rather than a restored democracy. Gen. Abdel Fatah al-Sissi, the coup leader, increasingly is styling himself as a national savior in the mode of such former dictators asGamal Abdel Nasser;
Read the rest of the editorial at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/egypt-erupts-as-security-forces-attack-morsi-supporters/2013/08/14/f230a080-04fa-11e3-9259-e2aafe5a5f84_story.html



















When one of the most-dependable and prominent Obama supporters in the Washington new media, Eugene Robinson, an actual Pulitzer Prize winner, takes him to task and personally attacks his morality and lack of backbone, that's more than just news within the Beltway. 

 The Washington Post
A lack of spine on Egypt
By Eugene Robinson
August 15, 2013
There may be little the United States can do to end the savage bloodletting in Egypt, but at least our nation can be loyal to its ideals by bearing witness and telling the truth. In this, President Obama has failed.
Read the rest of the column at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/eugene-robinson-a-lack-of-spine-on-egypt/2013/08/15/33a7bc80-05df-11e3-9259-e2aafe5a5f84_story.html













Christian Science Monitor
Why Mahmoud Badr is pro-Army, anti-Muslim Brotherhood
Interview: Mahmoud Badr, the activist whose online campaign helped to bring down Egypt's president, now supports the army attacks on the Muslim Brotherhood. Why?
By Yasmine Saleh, Reuters
August 17, 2013
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Latest-News-Wires/2013/0817/Why-Mahmoud-Badr-is-pro-Army-anti-Muslim-Brotherhood

More at: http://www.csmonitor.com/content/search?SearchText=Egypt



------
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Friday, August 16, 2013

Enterprising N.Y. Observer tech reporter Jessica Roy's latest post is about a sign of our sad times: Online ‘Sextortion’ Trend, the new blackmail, has targeted newest Miss Teen USA; California state Senator Anthony Cannella has bill to deal with this problem there, but what about Florida?



New York Observer 
Betabeat blog
Miss Teen USA Is the Latest Victim in Online ‘Sextortion’ Trend 
Cassidy Wolf says she was contacted anonymously by a hacker who claimed to have nude photos of her.
By Jessica Roy, August 16, 2013 8:58 a.m.

 The FBI is investigating a “sextortion” plot involving Cassidy Wolf, who was crowned Miss Teen USA last weekend, according to the L.A. Times. Though an official declined to elaborate on details of the case, including whether or not a suspect had been targeted, the plot is the latest incident in a series of sextortion scandals in which hackers gain access to personal information about a victim and use it to manipulate them into handing over nude photos.

 The last time I mentioned Jessica K. Roy, the clever editor of the N.Y. Observer's tech blog, Betabeat, and tech writer for the Observer was my September 18, 2012 blog post titled, Teen girl's despicable revenge plot goes viral -and now comes the backlash to her cyberbullying! New York Observer's Jessica Roy has the scoop on the video from Putin's Russia: "Video of Russian Teens Brutally Bullying Peer Goes Viral. Bullying breeds more bullying"; @JessicaKRoy
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/teen-girls-despicable-revenge-plot-goes.html

 Her numerous previous post on the revenge porn and blackmail phenomenon are at:
http://betabeat.com/index.php?s=revenge+porn

 As it happens, there's an AP story about what's going on with a Senate bill in California,
SB255, to bring them into the 21st Century, though unfortunately, the penalty is only a year in jail and a $1,000 fine.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/08/15/3565120/bill-outlaws-growing-problem-of.html#storylink=cpy
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/08/15/3565120/bill-outlaws-growing-problem-of.html

 Bill's text:
http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB255
-----

 @JessicaKRoy  https://twitter.com/JessicaKRoy

  http://observer.com/  @NewYorkObserver  https://twitter.com/NewYorkObserver


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Thursday, August 15, 2013

Thursday is Gregory Peck Day on Turner Classic Movies' Summer Under the Sun, with 11 movies in 24-hours from the iconic American actor who personified dignity and equanimity under pressure, and the American character and moral conscience to millions of film-goers all over the world; #gregorypeck, #turnerclassicmovies

Oscars YouTube Channel video: Gregory Peck winning Academy Award for Best Actor of 1962 for "To Kill A Mockingbird," accepting Oscar from Sophia Loren, after intro by Frank Sinatra. Uploaded September 27, 2011. http://youtu.be/46rabPWIKyY
Thursday is Gregory Peck Day on Turner Classic Movies' Summer Under the Sun, with 11 movies in 24-hours from the iconic American actor who personified dignity and equanimity under pressure, and the American character and moral conscience to millions of film-goers all over the world 
gregory peck photo: GREGORY PECK 100_1833.jpg

 11 films of 1 Icon: Eleven films starring Gregory Peck, one of America's most-respected and admired actors when American movies, more than anything else, shaped the world's opinion of the content of the American character, making him an unofficial Ambassador of America's Moral Conscience. 

 gregory peck photo: Gregory Peck 01AGregoryPeck.jpg
In almost every one of his films, regardless of genre, regardless of what directing great was calling the shots on the set, while his sheer elegance may've been the first thing you noticed, it was always his ability to show an inner thoughtfulness, a certain kind of inner strength and purpose, moral clarity, and a willingness to fight for basic principles and concepts of fair play and equality that made audiences around the world root for him, regardless of the odds.

gregory peck photo:  to_kill_a_mocking_bird_gregory_peck.jpg

Complete list of all 11 Gregory Peck films being shown today over 24 hours on Turner Classic Movies, starting at 6 a.m. Eastern: http://summer.tcm.com/gregorypeck

Movie Premiere of "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit" (1956)


The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit (1956) - A proto-Don Draper moment


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Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Heavenly! A month before her film 'Monica Z' opens in Sweden on September 13th, Edda Magnason sings "Sakta vi gå hem genom stan” (Slowly we walk through town) LIVE on SVT's Allsång på Skansen, Stockholm, August 13, 2013, on the last show of 2013. With lyrics! Now THAT'S how you promote a film featuring great music!; #monicaz, #eddamagnason, @manszelmerlow, @svtallsang, @PeterBirro



runforyourlife71 YouTubeChannel video: Edda Magnason - Sakta vi gå genom stan - Allsång på Skansen. Uploaded October 23, 2013. http://youtu.be/Tqmp6q7jGkg

 Heavenly! A month before her film 'Monica Z' opens in Sweden on September 13th, Edda Magnason sings "Sakta vi gå hem genom stan” (Slowly we walk through town) LIVE on SVT's Allsång på Skansen, Stockholm, August 13, 2013, on the last show of 2013. With lyrics! Now THAT'S how you promote a film featuring great music!; #monicaz, #eddamagnason, @manszelmerlow, @svtallsang, @PeterBirro

 Updated in 2014

 My last blog post on Edda Magnason and the news regarding her role playing Swedish pop culture icon Monica Zetterlund, complete with both the official video of 'Sakta vi gå hem genom stan' and the official trailer for the biopic "Monica Z" was on July 26, 2013 titled, Trending at HBB with Sexy Swedish élan: Edda Magnason channels iconic Swedish jazz singer Monica Zetterlund for her upcoming biopic "Monica Z"; Edda Magnason - Sakta vi gå genom stan (Official Video); Opens nationally in Sweden on September 13th, but premiering at 'Way Out West' film festival in Göteborg from August 8-10; #monicaz, @PeterBirro
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/07/trending-at-hbb-with-sexy-swedish-elan.html

Above, a tweet from Sveriges Radio on the news that Monica Z has been selected to compete at the upcoming Montreal Film Festival. 
In Swedish, though...
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/article17290129.ab

After I watched the Edda Magnason video a few times I went looking around to my usual smorgasbord of online Swedish media and pop culture sites to see what's what in Sverige in the middle of August.

Even a perfunctory reading of things makes perfectly clear that there are lots of fans of singer and Allsång host Måns Zelmerlöw who are not happy about the news that after three great years of entertainment, Måns will not be returning to host the popular show next summer, meaning that Tuesday night wasn't just the last show of the summer, but also the last one to be hosted by the energetic and multi-talented Måns.

But the thing is, it's his choice, not the choice of the management at SVT, who are very happy with the job that he has done and love the ratings he brings, since it's the number-one show on TV in the summer, last week drawing 1.7 million TV viewers in a country of about 9.5 million people, less than half the size of Florida..
http://hd.se/noje/2013/08/12/tv-toppen-zelmerlows-allsang-flest/

 Quite simply, Måns wants to be able to do other things musically and artistically, and have the freedom in his schedule to tour during the summer if he chooses, or do some touring but also spend time with his friends during the glorious summers that the whole country thinks about most of the year.
http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=478&artikel=5616356
As Måns put it plainly after the show to the Swedish news media after confirming he would not be returning:
Jag kommer jättegärna tillbaka nån gång i framtiden, men först måste jag få göra min grej, jag drömmer ju om att turnera nu och då ska det bli så.
http://www.aftonbladet.se/nojesbladet/article17290129.ab

Still, many of his supporters started a Twitter hashtag name for their fight to.... well, not sure what exactly, since it's his choice to leave after three years, but you have to admire the dedication if not the logic: #AllsångNeedsMåns
https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Alls%C3%A5ngNeedsM%C3%A5ns&src=typd&mode=realtime











I must admit that Måns and his engaging personality have really grown on me a lot the past three years since his first year in 2011, when he was not as well-known to me, obviously, as he was to the average Swedish music listener and pop culture follower.
I'd seen videos of him singing or on Swedish TV shows, of course, and had read about him in the newspapers, magazines and websites, to say nothing of the music blogs, but I had no strong opinions one way or the other, though there's no mistaking his talent.

After three years of watching him via SVT Play, http://www.svtplay.se/ now I actually know some of his go-to moves during the show and which songs are his go-to songs, as well as which ones I've come to like best, whether in Swedish or in English.

To end this post, I'm going with a happy video that includes him which I posted here on the blog back in July previewing my trip to Stockholm this past January, back when I still thought I'd be going to Iceland after visiting Sweden for about nine days and would be able to catch the Aurora Borealis while in Iceland for three days. 

It features the recurring opening montage of aerial scenes of beautiful Stockholm used on Allsång på Skansen in the summer of 2011, the first year Måns was at the helm, and featuring a multi-generational all-star squad of singers joining him in singing the show's theme song, Stockholm i mitt hjarta, the song that begins the sing-along every week.
The one song that everyone in attendance, regardless of age or musical tastes, pretty much knows by heart after watching the landmark summer TV show for years.


Måns Zelmerlöw, Björn Skifs, Loa Falkman and Peter Jöback sing "Stockholm i Mitt Hjärta" (Stockholm in My Heart) from the intro of a 2011 episode of SVT's "Allsång på Skansen" in Stockholm, Sweden. http://youtu.be/JEPvZBDOjdc

http://www.mzw.se/
http://www.svt.se/allsang/
http://www.facebook.com/svtallsang
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Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Former Miami Herald Ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos -whose position at the Herald remains unfilled 27 months later by McClatchy execs- as NPR's Ombudsman, lays the wood into NPR's Laura Sullivan & Amy Walters for a 2011 investigation re foster care in South Dakota, which officials there took umbrage with, and for good reason it seems. “My finding is that the series was deeply flawed and should not have been aired as it was”







Poynter.org
NPR stands by story its ombudsman criticized
by Andrew Beaujon
Published Aug. 12, 2013 5:29 pm
Updated Aug. 12, 2013 5:34 pm
There are six chapters of NPR Ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos’ epic examination of Laura Sullivan and Amy Walters’ October 2011 investigation about foster care in South Dakota.
The series won awards but was also criticized by the state’s governor and head of its Department of Social Services. “Many South Dakota residents also have written me in disapproval of it,” Schumacher-Matos writes. “My finding is that the series was deeply flawed and should not have been aired as it was.” 
Read the rest at:










Edward Schumacher-Matos split his Ombudsman position at the Miami Herald in May of 2011 after he'd been WITHOUT either a blog or a weekly print or online column, but rather saddled with a peculiar once-in-a-while, sometimes every 3-4 months column thing, for NPR in Washington, D.C. 

Schumacher-Matos' position at the Herald remains unfilled 27 months later by McClatchy execs, who seem to place no value on readers and their questions of fairness or bias having a seat at the table.
There's nobody to represent readers' deep and justified concerns about examples of bias, misrepresentation and flackery in the paper on behalf of South Florida's powerful and privileged, who have high-powered attorneys and PR consultants to ensure they are seen only in the most positive light.
But then that's just one of many unresolved customer problems there these days that cause it to lose readers every week.
It's fair to say that a lot of people in South Florida took ESM and his position for granted, including lots of local bloggers and politicians, and the Herald certainly did him no favors by NOT giving him much of a perch to speak out from.

 But something, even infrequent, is better than nada, and right now, with that reader level of confidence among serious readers of the Herald as low as it's ever been, it's worth a minute to consider what message they are sending when they refuse to name anyone to that position.

 His infrequent columns at least tried to keep Herald reporters and editors on the level and be square with readers, but since he left, anything goes -and does.

While I've written about this troubling subject many times on this blog, and have written Herald management and editors about their failure to fill the position, even posting those emails to them here for you to see for yourselves, it's clear they have a different point-of-view.
It is what it is.

To see how indifferent they are to reader perceptions of bias or unfairness, take a poke at my blog post from May of 2012 titled, "What's going on at the Miami Herald? More than a year after the last one fled, the Herald still lacks an Ombudsman -and shows no sign of getting one- to represent readers deep concerns about bias, misrepresentation and flackery on behalf of South Florida's powerful & privileged at the Herald. And that's just one of many unresolved problems there..." 
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Monday, August 12, 2013

Quantum observations on "That darn cat!" #schrödingerscat - The creator of the paradox-inducing cat in question, Erwin Schrödinger, would be 126 today, which earns him both a Google Doodle as well as a funny video clip from 'The Big Bang Theory' explaining his famous paradox; @BigBang_CBS, @KaleyCuoco

tagSeoBlog YouTube Channel video: Erwin Schrödinger Cat Content Paradox (Google Doodle). Uploaded August 11, 2013. http://youtu.be/7BGY_XZ9Y6o. 
Music: "Matt's Blues" by Kevin MacLeod

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen_interpretation

 I also suggest you do a search in Google Images for 'Schrödinger's cat'

 A funnier description of the paradox is here...from the most-popular comedy show in America.



WikdGamer YouTube Channel video: Scene from CBS-TV's "The Big Bang Theory" in which Sheldon (Jim Parsons) tried to explain the paradox of 'Schrodinger's cat' to Penny (Kaley Cuoco) in order to scientifically relate her new dilemma in deciding whether or not to remain just friends with Sheldon's roommate, Leonard, or to actually date him but take the chance she'd lose him as a friend if things don't go well. The only way to know with certainty is to make a choice and proceed -and open the box (of possibilities) and see if the cat is dead or alive. Uploaded on October 6, 2011. http://youtu.be/pNTMYNj2Ulk

 This is always great advice for procrastinators, esp. easily-bored, high-achieving kids who are used to getting good grades by pacing themselves and only applying themselves when they need to and often suffer from paralysis by analysis, or in my case, over-analysis..

 And then there is also the variation of this paradox, a phenomenon Sheldon called "Schrodinger's Friendship."


 The new season of The Big Bang Theory premieres Thursday September 26th at 8 p.m. Eastern

Today is also my middle niece's 21st birthday. Hooray!
She'll soon be back on campus in Charlottesville for her senior year at UVA - The University of Virginia.
She's not a paradox, but is very, very mathematical.






 The Big Bang Theory @BigBang_CBS  
https://twitter.com/bigbang_cbs  cbs.com/bigbang

 http://www.cbs.com/shows/big_bang_theory/
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