Sunday, October 13, 2013

Tweets of Note: Recent Political, Public Policy & Pop Culture tweets you may've missed -October 1 thru October 12, 2013 -From Amnesty to Angie Harmon, Jack Bauer to Jack Wilshere, Fraser Nelson to Mickey Kaus and illegal immigration

Congressman boasts immig amnesty will win because "there is no money on the other side" http://t.co/BlXaS9EyeO #wheresCommonCausewhenUneedit













































































"Jack Wilshere should stick to his guns over Englishness of Manchester United teenager Adnan Januzaj
Jack Wilshere is wrong to make U-turn over Manchester United prospect Adnan Januzaj's eligibility for England – not least because he has a point."

























































I wrote about Chaz's blog post on Monday in my blog post titled, "Chaz Stevens' latest blog post is a reality gut-check for the State of Florida re their lax enforcement of rules and laws re municipal CRAs, including where he lives in the Grand Duchy of Deerfield Beach, where bureaucratic self-enrichment is a tradition, not a rumor
"
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/chaz-stevens-latest-blog-post-is.html



















James Romenesko @romenesko: Chaz Ebert: "Dear Roger, It has been six months since you left us, but...

































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Friday, October 11, 2013

After years of Mainstream Media political reporters & columnists in U.S. being compulsive sycophants to Obama's White House, turning-off readers/viewers in droves, now their colleagues on U.S. national security beat have to deal with the karma -reality of (perhaps) being intentionally digitally monitored by Obama Administration. That's karma for you!; "Obama’s war on leaks has journalists and their sources on edge. ‘I worry now about calling somebody.’"; Damning CPJ report by Len Downie of Arizona State's Cronkite School & Washington Post and Sara Rafsky was released Thursday, but some say evidence is clear that MSM is still pulling-punches with Obama; @lendownie, @Cronkite_ASU, @CPJ, @pressfreedom, #pressfreedom

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.
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Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Music Industry under fire from Grammy Award-winning singer Annie Lennox, who has used her blog to light a fire under consumers, esp. parents of young children, by attacking the 'highly styled pornography' seen in some music videos. Says record companies need to show MORE common sense and reasonable age-appropriateness in them. She followed-up on Monday by sharing her forthright views on BBC 5 live Drive; audio



BBC Radio 5 LIVE audio, October 7, 2013: 
Annie Lennox: "I'm all for boundary pushing but it's into the realm of porn" 
DURATION: 04:02 
"British singer-songwriter Annie Lennox talks to 5 live Drive about why she feels some music videos are not suitable for young children, suggesting young fans should be protected from artists who wish to push sexual boundaries.

Related article:
The Guardian
Guardian music
Annie Lennox condemns 'pornographic' music videos 
Following controversial videos by Miley Cyrus and Rihanna, 
Lennox hits out at trend for female performers to behave like 'pimp and prostitute at the same time' 
Tuesday 8 October 2013 06.14 EDT














Clearly, nothing covers an empty wall like awards!



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Even while here in warm & rainy South Florida, I'm already thinking cool thoughts about our talented U.S. Olympic teams competing in Sochi, Russia in February, as these great WSJ vids shows how the Moguls, Bobsled and Biathlon teams practice without snow or ice up at Lake Placid. Plus, a classic iJustine video of our favorite vlogger in Norway climbing a glacier. Cool thoughts, indeed!: @USOlympic, #GoTeamUSA, @JeremyCota, @eamslider24, @tb_burke, @Lowellcbailey, @ijustine, @NBCOlympics


Even while here in warm & rainy South Florida, I'm already thinking cool thoughts about our talented U.S. Olympic team competing in Sochi, Russia in February, as these great WSJ vids shows us all how the Moguls, Bobsled and Biathlon teams practice without snow or ice at Lake Placid. Plus, a classic iJustine video of our favorite vlogger in Norway climbing a glacier. Cool thoughts, indeed!: @USOlympic, #GoTeamUSA, @JeremyCota, @eamslider24, @tb_burke, @Lowellcbailey, @ijustine, @NBCOlympics

WSJDigitalNetwork YouTube Channel video: Winter Olympics Training Without Snow: Moguls. "For Olympics-bound freestyle skiers, snow-free summer months don't mean a break from training. WSJ visited the Olympic Training Facility in Lake Placid, New York, where skiers utilized three ramps and a deep swimming pool to prep for Sochi. Freestyle moguls skier Jeremy Cota explains how the water training works." Uploaded October 7, 2013. http://youtu.be/aIVyxtpH_Kg


YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/cota3090/


WSJDigitalNetwork YouTube Channel video: Winter Olympics Training Without Snow: Bobsled. U.S. bronze medalist Elana Meyers explains how the dry bobsled training works at the Olympic Training Facility in Lake Placid. Uploaded October 7, 2013. 
http://youtu.be/Ex-U79MX5PA























Elana's blog: http://www.elanameyers.blogspot.com/


WSJDigitalNetwork YouTube Channel video: Winter Olympics Training Without Snow: Biathlon. "The biathlon combines long-distance cross country skiing with precise .22 caliber target shooting. But for the U.S. Biathlon Team, Olympic training can't stop for the summer. WSJ video spent time with biathletes Tim Burke and Lowell Bailey to learn how they train for the Olympics when there is no snow in sight."
Uploaded October 3, 2013. http://youtu.be/5nFeYC0neT4



































Meanwhile, over in Germany, they've got some major fashion issues to deal with for the next four months...




 Not even a German figure skater who looked like Elisha Cuthbert could look good wearing this gear, even with a Gold Medal around her neck.

 And as everyone has seen for themselves the past few months, the paranoid, delusional and dis-connected people that run the Russian government these days are totally playing to old stereotypes and outsider's worst fears about the New Russian by seeming to do everything in their power to create a negative vibe around the Winter Olympics months in advance for athletes, officials, spectators and TV viewers.
Teaser Alert: NOT too many Americans are going to Sochi in February.



The Olympic Flame going out twice this past week is just part of the wave of bad karma for the Russians in Sochi. Plus, we're getting all their hard workers:
Ahead of Sochi, Former Russian Olympians become US citizens 
Michele Richinick, @mrich1201 10:47 PM on 08/16/2013
http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/08/16/months-before-winter-games-fmr-russian-olympians-become-us-citizens/

The Guardian
Russia to monitor 'all communications' at Winter Olympics in Sochi 
Exclusive: Investigation uncovers FSB surveillance system – branded 'Prism on steroids' – to listen to all athletes and visitors 
Shaun Walker in Moscow The Guardian, 
Sunday 6 October 2013 10.31 EDT
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/06/russia-monitor-communications-sochi-winter-olympics

Speaking of cool thoughts and cool doings far from the sub-tropical heat and humidity of South Florida, with three more weeks to go in the 2013 Atlantic Hurricane season, here's a classic video set in Norway featuring iJustine, Justine Ezarik, cited and featured in so many blog posts here over the past six years, as well as lots of permanent 'anchors' on the blog for years, including this video.

iJustine YouTube Channel video: EPIC GLACIER HIKE! (In Norway). Uploaded October 27, 2011. http://youtu.be/pD0xXf9-_lI
Clips that didn't make final cut but worth seeing are at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5JAIrd8IFI and a good photo, too: http://followgram.me/i/276131095


Of all of her MANY videos, the ones she filmed in Norway in 2011 are my favorite, with this one being the best of them. 
While I realize that these sort of opportunities don't present themselves every week or month, compared to the tech exhibits/forums she's so frequently at, I wish that Justine could make more vids like this one showing her willing to go outside of her own comfort zone, because to me, she never seems more honest & appealing than when she's in these sorts of situations. #Norge

 And why-oh-why isn't she and one of her sisters participating on CBS' The Amazing Race?
I'm convinced she'd be great and become a real breakout media star if she went more than a 4-5 weeks without being eliminated. 
Just saying... 
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Monday, October 7, 2013

Chaz Stevens' latest blog post is a reality gut-check for the State of Florida re their lax enforcement of rules and laws re municipal CRAs, including where he lives in the Grand Duchy of Deerfield Beach, where bureaucratic self-enrichment is a tradition, not a rumor

Welcome to the Hallandale Beach CRA! The familiar, graffiti-filled view greeting visitors looking south on U.S.-1/Federal Highway near the very dumpy-looking eastern entrance to the Mardi Gras Casino and Dog Track -the former Hollywood Dog Track- just two blocks south of the Hollywood cityline on Pembroke Road. Sure, why care about how shabby things have looked for years on one of the three main roads in the city when the CRA Board isn't going to spend any CRA funds there, but only in NW Hallandale Beach -where 13% of the city lives- despite the fact that the CRA also includes residents in NE, SE and SW, covering a majority of the city, including the area where HB City Hall is located. Yes, that's how the CRA here rolls. October 2, 2013 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2013 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved.

 Chaz Stevens' latest blog post is a reality gut-check for the State of Florida re their lax enforcement of rules and laws re municipal CRAs, including where he lives in the Grand Duchy of Deerfield Beach, where bureaucratic self-enrichment is a tradition, not a rumor. 

 And in Hallandale Beach, where pointed criticism of spending tens of millions of CRA dollars with little to show for it years later is something that City Hall and the mayor who's been in charge just shrugs off, the reality that they'll waste millions more just to score and secure political points IS staring everyone in the face. 
But who's doing anything about it? 
On Sunday Chaz painted just the latest portrait he's done over the years of Broward County CRAs in action, in this case, from his vantage point on the far north side of the county, thus proving that the City of Hallandale Beach CRA in southern Broward, under duplicitous Mayor Joy Cooper, doesn't have the market to itself on dubious nonprofit logrolling, crony capitalism and bureaucratic self-enrichment.

 (Though to be sure, Cooper's fervent efforts and those of her Rubber Stamp Crew to funnel what could be millions of scarce CRA dollars onto small parcels of land located on a one-way street that DOESN'T generate much traffic -and that her own neighbors would NEVER visit no matter what is actually built there- instead of being smart and faithful to the law's original intent and actually spending those funds in a way that'd actually eliminate blight, and bring new jobs to the CRA at prime spots on main streets with lots of traffic like U.S.-1 and Hallandale Beach Blvd., does bear much more public scrutiny from the local citizenry and press corps than it's gotten up to this point, requiring as it does some actual legwork and showing-up once in a while.)

 And, of course, as we learn everyday, it's not just in Broward that CRAs and the elected officials who run them are ignoring the spirit and letter of the law of the original CRA enabling legislation in Tallahassee intended to eliminate blight, because there's everything -and then some- that's been going on for years in New Smyrna Beach, too, which we last chronicled here on May 1st:

 Local FL news coverage that is making a positive difference: In another FL city beset with egregious examples of CRA ethical shenanigans and rampant crony capitalism, Volusia County publisher Henry Frederick takes his responsibility to the community seriously, and asks hard questions about public ethics, government accountability and journalistic credibility. His fact-based straightforward questions are blunt when necessary: Is the Daytona Beach News-Journal protecting New Smyrna Beach Mayor Adam Barringer? And if so, why?; @NSBNEWSnet

 So, with all that as helpful predicate and palate cleanser for our main course, here's Chaz's piece from Sunday, complete with a great photo of the scene-of-the-crime:



MAOS blog
THE $3.4M ECC BUILDING IS LEASED 10 YEARS FOR $1.00
By Chaz Stevens 10/06/2013 

So the Deerfield Beach CRA is buying property for an over-inflated price, property with no actual CRA purpose, and then leasing it back to the City? Why?
Because they have the gall to try and seemingly nobody with any real power in this state has the will and resolve to try to stop them.
So why would they stop on their own? 
They won't until someone or something stops THEM.

 Anyone in the future writing the history of the endemic anti-taxpayer sentiment and municipal public corruption in South Florida of the past 30 years will have more than enough material to choose from and will necessarily have to have several chapters on an era where cities and CRAs acted like they were a combination of robber barons, 1920's Florida land speculators and Robert Moses.

But even that wasn't enough for some city's CRAs, so they proceeded to not only walk up to the line of what is permissible or justified, but then brazenly jumped that line and openly dared anyone in the state to do anything about it, including anyone in Tallahassee.
They facilitated this process by hiring only CRA attorneys who would tell them exactly what they wanted to hear, at hundreds of dollars an hour.
And some people speculate that even includes CRA attorneys trying to figure out how the CRAs could avoid having to comply with Public Records Requests under Florida's Sunshine Laws and having to disclose (embarrassing) public records, and even blaming third-parties like AT&T for the failure to comply.
Yes, CRAs acting exactly like well-connected members of an organized crime group and CRA attorneys acting like old-style mobster lawyers.

 And yes, you're right, again, that sort of mentality sounds more than a little bit like exactly what has been going on for many, many years in Hallandale Beach.
And remind me again, this effort of the CRA in Deerfield Beach Chaz describes eliminates blight how, exactly?

To quote the newly-revised editions of Shakespeare: "Rotten...Denmark...CRA...Broward County...Florida..."
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