Sunday, December 22, 2013

These are a few of my favorite things... favorite Christmas songs from some of my favorite singers: Amy Grant, Jill Johnson, Malena Ernman, Yohanna and Point of Grace





Amazing, amazing Amy Grant!
She sounded utterly fantastic and angelic at her Christmas concert at the then-MCI Center
in downtown Washington, D.C. in December of 1999, when she was in town as part of her national tour promoting her CD and third Christmas album, A Christmas to Remember, which featured the Nashville Symphony Orchestra, who was also there in Washington. 

 That's only one of my two favorite Christmas albums, and one I took with me on my trip to snowy Stockholm in mid-January, which I played frequently in my room at the 4trappor B&B in Södermalm and then the next week in my hotel room at the wonderfully-convenient Omena Hotel Stockholm in Norrmalm, just a block or so and around the corner from the August Strindberg Intima Theatre, http://www.strindbergsintimateater.se/ -which unfortunately did not have shows while I was there.
I think I played Amy's CD everyday I was there.




Also part of the action at the concert was the sweet and powerful sounds of Points of Grace -and super-talented Michael W. Smith- my first time ever seeing them live, after hearing them for so many years on CDs.
It was heavenly!

 The members of POG had gone to the same college in Arkansas as my best friend, 
Shannon, Ouachita Baptist University in Arkadelphia, and one of my favorite all-time photos of her was actually a shot of them at a table signing CDs down in Woodbridge, VA, with Shannon flashing that mega-watt smile of hers that always wowed people.

 Anyway, that's how it sounded to me.

Judge for yourself...




Point of Grace - When Love Came Down, from their 1999 CD, A Christmas Story, one of my two favorite Christmas albums, the other being Amy's.

When I finally Saw POG in 1999 in D.C. with Amy Grant's Christmas tour, with that orchestra sound behind them, it was BEYOND magical :) !

 This is when the group was composed of four very talented women: Shelley Breen, Denise Jones, Terry Jones and Heather Payne.



















Something to inspire you:

 HGTV Video: Amy Grant's Motor Home: The country music star's tour bus features a private lounge, two TVs and 10 bunks.
http://www.frontdoor.com/celebrity/amy-grants-motor-home-video

 and something to remind you that Once Upon A Time, the American TV networks weren't afraid of allowing a religious subtext in a Christmas TV show, like they are now:
The Andy Griffith Show, S1E11, The Christmas Story, Originally aired on CBS-TV on December 19, 1960. Uploaded December 1, 2013. http://youtu.be/TpKn5ceZaQ4

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Saturday, December 21, 2013

Author of new book in Stieg Larsson "Millennium"/"Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" series, David Lagercrantz, talks to Radio Sweden in his first-ever English-language interview this week. Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist will return, along with new characters for the worldwide crime fiction sensation set in Sweden





Author of new book in Stieg Larsson "Millennium"/"Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" series, David Lagercrantz, talks to Radio Sweden in his first-ever English-language interview this week. Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist will return, along with new characters for the worldwide crime fiction sensation set in Sweden

My last blog post on this subject of so much interest around the world was exactly a year ago, December 20, 2012, titled, Today, Stockholm is T minus 21 days -and yes I'm counting!; Some Swedish homework of mine to make my trip go well includes reviewing grammar and re-watching the original films in Swedish based on Stieg Larsson's Millennium crime fiction trilogy, starring Noomi Rapace & Michael Nyqvist
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/12/today-stockholm-is-t-minus-21-days-and.html
I thought I'd have plenty of time to take the Milennium tour when I was in Stockholm in mid-January, but I didn't. :(
CBS News YouTube Chanel video: CBS News Sunday Morning correspondent Erin Moriarty travels to Stockholm, Sweden to discover the story and the truth behind the success of the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson, whose Millennium crime fiction trilogy has swept the world of book publishing: Stieg Larsson: Behind "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" Uploaded October 10, 2010. 
http://youtu.be/X-WJ6BlLw2s

 I thought I'd have plenty of time to take this tour when I was in Stockholm in January, but I didn't. :(

The Millennium Tour
http://www.visitsweden.com/sweden/Regions--Cities/Stockholm/Culture-in-Stockholm/The-Millennium-Tour/

Bellmansgatan 1, Södermalm, the fictional home of crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist.


View Larger Map

Photos of the free Millennium tour in Stockholm at:
http://www.losapos.com/millennium%20locations%20in%20stockholm

 See also: http://millenniumtrilogy.wikia.com/wiki/Millennium_Trilogy_Wiki
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Friday, December 20, 2013

On a truly momentous day for Indiana Hoosier fans, players and coaches, one that'll result in $40 Million making the long overdue renovation of basketball icon Assembly Hall a reality, where's The BigTenNetwork with any coverage and original content? Nowhere to be found! Isn't that supposed to be what THEY do?; @BigTenNetwork @DavidWoods007 @DustinDopirak @HoosierFaithful @IndianaMBB @insidethehall @iubbhoosiers ‏@IUBloomington @Justin_Albers ‏@OurIndiana @rickbozich



IUAthletics YouTube Channel video: IU Athletics Receives Historic Gift: Fred Glass and President Michael A. McRobbie. Uploaded December 19, 2013
http://youtu.be/ev5UgwK27PQ
"Indiana University President Michael A. McRobbie today announced that IU Athletics has received a $40 million gift - the largest in its history - from IU alumna Cindy Simon Skjodt to provide much needed renovations to Assembly Hall and launch IU Athletics' ambitious and unprecedented $150 million "Catching Excellence: The Campaign for Indiana University Athletics" capital campaign. President McRobbie also announced that in honor of the landmark gift made by Catching Excellence co-chair Cindy Simon Skjodt and her philanthropic organization, the Samerian Foundation, IU will rename Assembly Hall the Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall."


On a momentous day when Generosity, Hoosier Love and Big Bucks come knocking, IU Hoosier AD Fred Glass knows to open the door and welcome them in. Result? $40 Million to the IU Athletic Dept. and the over-due renovation of basketball icon, Assembly Hall. But where's the BigTenNetwork with any coverage? Nowhere to be found!

Below is the Indy Star's video of the complete 2:30 p.m. announcement, including remarks by philanthropic Hoosier Cindy Simon Skjodt, followed by links to their stories by Zach Osterman, @ZachOsterman https://twitter.com/ZachOsterman

By the way, in case you were wondering about the name and any prospective name changes in the future, IU's policies rule out corporate names, so at least that's a positive.
No worry about being changed to give some PR to insurance names, car parts manufacturers, et al, like has happened at Joe Robbie Stadium, which has been desecrated with awful corporate names -including bankrupt companies- over the past 20 years, none of which I use on this blog. :)
IU's Assembly Hall: Its origin and its future 
By Zach Osterman, zach.osterman@indystar.com 
Includes renderings and schematics

IU icon to become Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall 
By Bob Kravitz and Zach Osterman, bob.kravitz@indystar.com 
8:30 p.m. EST December 19, 2013
http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/college/indiana/2013/12/19/indiana-university-assembly-hall-basketball/4123963/
So, did you see happen to turn your TV dial to The BigTenNetwork on Thursday to see how they were bringing its viewers around the country up-to-date on what happened in Bloomington on Thursday afternoon, a moment that could prove so very important to the future success of Hoosier Nation and its legion of fans and former players -and future fans and players- who want more consistent success, but with the requisite amount of class we've come to expect and demand?

 No, of course not, because they didn't do a damn thing.
I'm writing and posting this online more than 12 hours after that press conference at Assembly Hall has been over, and there is still no original content of any kind about the story of a very generous IU alum with control over $40 Million knocking on the door and Fred Glass being smart enough to hold the door wide open.
And what might happen next as a result of that.

 There's no original content of theirs of consequence about this subject on The BigTenNetwork website anywhere. 
Not even the video that most of us have now seen more than a few times.
Why?

 I thought one of the principal reasons for the network being created in the first place, besides the need by the Big Ten office to make even more money from national and regional advertisers and give millions of that to the athletic departments, was to be able to directly service and connect fans and alumni from Big Ten schools, often located far from those campuses, like me here in South Florida, with what was actually going on.
The sort of thing that leads some fans to even finally start giving some money back to their schools, even if not quite $40 Million.

 But here we are, more than six years after its creation, and all my doubts over the years about what they were actually doing, producing and seemingly settling for, have proven more true than I wanted in one big strikeout for Hoosier fans across the country.

 The BigTenNetwork is NOT a Community College alternative radio station in the Quad Cities or a student-run newspaper run out of a Columbus office building by some silver spoon legacy whose father owns the building, they're supposed to be a professional media organization that has the resources and common sense to know in advance of a big story to ACTUALLY have people in place to cover the story and tell an original and compelling story that's different than the one told by the ambitious beat reporters for the school newspaper or the breezy comments offered by national reporters doing drive-bys on cold winter days.
So where were they?
WISH-TV, Channel 8, Indianapolis video: IU's Assembly Hall to be renamed after donation
By Jeff Wagner 
Updated: Thursday, December 19, 2013, 7:59 PM EST 
Published: Thursday, December 19, 2013, 2:38 PM EST
http://www.wishtv.com/news/local/iu-makes-major-announcement

 13 WTHR Indianapolis

 WTHR-TV, Channel 13 Indianapolis video: Philanthropist donates $40M for Assembly Hall renovation  
Updated: Dec 19, 2013 6:21 PM EST
http://www.wthr.com/story/24262048/2013/12/19/sources-iu-renaming-assembly-hall

 My other blog, to be rejuvenated in the new year, is South Beach Hoosier:
http://southbeachhoosier.blogspot.com/
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Friday, December 6, 2013

Head's up, South Florida journalists: It's NOW safe -for a week- for you to come to Hallandale Beach and examine the endemic corruption & incompetency that you wouldn't do before -and have I and my friends got plenty of specific suggestions! You see, Mayor Joy Cooper is going to be away in Saudi Arabia and so HB residents can breathe for a change

Palm tree obstructing the sun at Hallandale Beach City Hall. May 28, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2013 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved
This blog post was originally an email that went out late Thursday afternoon to many interested parties throughout Hallandale Beach, Hollywood and points beyond, like Tallahassee, as well as the usual number of bloggers, reporters, and all the ships at sea. 

"I wonder if she will start a war?" is surely what many Hallandale Beach residents must've thought upon first hearing that HB Mayor Joy Cooper is going to Saudi Arabia for a few days -at someone else's expense thank goodness, not part of her $20K a year travel and conference fund paid for by taxpayers like you and me.

Does she and the other commissioners get to keep anything from that fund that she doesn't spend?
Some of us have been wondering about that for a while now, asking questions, but not always getting consistent answers. Surprise!

Now you may be saying that I'm exaggerating because Saudi Arabia is considered an ally, per se, not a country that we're at diplomatic cross-purposes with, so how could Joy Cooper start a war, or, short of that, a "diplomatic row."
To which I would simple ask, have you never met Joy Cooper?
Have you never seen how she treats people, esp. people she is supposed to serve?
If you have, you understand exactly what I'm talking about.


It may seem weird to her initially to be somewhere where nobody cares who she is or that her husband is a millionaire or that she can force public funds to be given to a faux newspaper that allows her to write a column full of propaganda that bears little semblance to reality, on top of what the "paper" already does reflexively to censor events around here and make sure there is never any criticism of her in its pages.


Preview
Above, the perpetually-ridiculed and taxpayer-financed faux newspaper, South Florida Sun-Times, with one of the most egregious and laughable front pages of the past few years -and that's saying something! From my July 25, 2012 blog post title, When Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper says "setting the record straight" in her "column" at the taxpayer-financed faux newspaper, grab your wallet or purse, and be prepared to endure self-serving, nonsensical rationalizations that fail both the logic and reality test; August 30, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier. (c) 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved; http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/when-hallandale-beach-mayor-joy-cooper_25.html

For her to be somewhere where she can't prevent members of the public from speaking simply because they disagree with her, and she can't allow that.
Oh, wait, nobody here cares either.

Personally, I wish someone from the Saudi Royal family would simply buy Gulfstream Park and the Village at Gulfstream Park and start firing people left-and-right and bring in some truly competent and creative management so that this valuable property in our city can FINALLY be free to be properly run and offer consumers what they want.
AND finally resolve the many, many longstanding maintenance problems, NOT kick them further down the road as has been the case for so many years with so many faceless people in charge who refused to engage the community.

If you didn't know, it, consider this.
They have NOT even been competent enough to figure out a way to fly an American flag on their flagpole off U.S.-1 without it quickly becoming tattered.
Free consult -get a flag that does NOT touch nearby objects that tear the flag! End of problem

Flag hasn't flown there since about mid-February; I've got the photos to show it, and yet if they can't handle small items like that, well, you can only imagine what they do with larger problems.

Oh, that's right. 
We don't have to imagine how they mishandle big things.
They ignore them and when it becomes public, they call Mayor Cooper to handle things without telling anyone else on the elected City Commission about it, and then they walk across the street and say they don't want to pay legitimate fines and promise to do better despite their track record of not keeping their word.

So to the news media I would ask that you please don't indulge our autocratic, thin-skinned and egotistical mayor and mention this story on the air or in-print.
That's what she wants -only positive spin.
That's why this press release was even created, since who else would even know that she wasn't around but for a handful of people?

In any case, her immediate neighbors must be very happy for this unexpected holiday, free of her usual melodrama and fireworks for a few days and able to not feel under-the-gun walking around with her up in the guard tower

 A few hours later...
But even as I was writing the words above, elsewhere in Broward County, the Sun-Sentinel's 
Hollywood and Hallandale Beach beat reporter, Susannah Bryan, so oblivious to so many issues and concerns of local residents that ought to be getting reported upon but which  AREN'T, even while she chases her tail, once again, has largely regurgitated a press release, and in this case, it's about the same subject as my post:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/fl-hallandale-mayor-saudi-arabia-20131205,0,6330548.story

It might interest you to know that today was the second day in a row that I needed to take Bryan to task in a group email about her very curious choices and ways of reporting.
You'll see that public criticism here quite soon, since it touches on an issue that the South Florida news media has completely refrained from reporting upon in large part because of their reluctance to cross a certain union and its always-talkative leader.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Dobens, Peter 
Date: Thu, Dec 5, 2013 at 1:09 PM
Subject: Mayor Cooper joins US Mayors on Economic Mission to Saudi Arabia
To: "Dobens, Peter" 



LOGO C
Mayor Joy Cooper Joins
U.S. Mayors on Mission
To Saudi Arabia
Seven Mayors Invited on Economic Tour  
For immediate release                                                                              Contact: Peter F. Dobens, public relations
DATE: Thursday, December 5, 2013                                                              954-457-1493, or pdobens@cohb.org
HALLANDALE BEACH – Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper is one of seven U.S. Mayors participating in a week-long economic and cultural mission to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  The mayors will be in Saudi Arabia from Friday, Dec. 6, through Friday, Dec. 13. The trip is at the invitation and expense of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia
“It’s going to be an intense trip about economic and cultural issues. It will give us a chance to promote economic and business partnerships,” said Mayor Cooper. Several members of the Saudi Royal Family own racehorses that have run at Gulfstream Park in past years, and this is an opportunity to highlight other economic opportunities in the City. “I have already spoken with Gulfstream Park about the trip.”
Environmental issues, women’s rights, human rights and transportation issues are among the other issues on the meeting-intensive agenda, Mayor Cooper said. “Everything is on the table.” she said.
The mayors look forward to learning about the world’s largest desalination plant, exchanging ideas about shared local challenges, promoting investment between Saudi Arabia and U.S. cities, and gaining a better understanding of the policies and culture of a leading Middle Eastern nation.
The Conference of Mayors has assisted in organizing this mission at the request of the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Washington, D.C., which selected the participating mayors, listed below:
Mayor Joy Cooper, Hallandale Beach
Mayor William Bell, Birmingham, AL
Mayor Lori Moseley, Miramar
Mayor Beth Van Duyne, Irving, TX
Mayor Setti Warren, Newton, MA
Mayor Brian Bennett, Rochester Hills, MI
Mayor Shane Bemis, Gresham, OR

Press inquiries should be directed to Mr. Nail A. Al-Jubeir, Director of Information and Congressional Affairs Office, Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Washington, D.C., at (202) 337-4134 or naa@saudiembassy.net.

Hallandale Beach
“Progress. Innovation. Opportunity”
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Thursday, December 5, 2013

Delicious! ICYMI in October, Ralph Benko reviews Niall Ferguson's factual assault on Paul Krugman and considers it a huge public service, ending it with, "Play taps for Private Krugman." I agree! As for the terministic screens...



Been meaning to post this wonderful post full of ideas for weeks...
Delicious! ICYMI in October, Ralph Benko reviews Niall Ferguson's factual assault on Paul Krugman and considers it a huge public service, ending it with, "Play taps for Private Krugman." I agree! As for the terministic screens...
Forbes.com
OP/ED
Much Bigger Than The Shutdown: Niall Ferguson's Public Flogging Of Paul Krugman
By Ralph Benko
10/21/2013 @ 8:00AM 
While America was distracted by the theatrics of the government shutdown and threat of default something of much greater importance occurred.  
Niall Ferguson undertook a public flogging of Paul Krugman.
Krugman’s horns now forever will show under his dislodged faux halo. For this the world will prove a safer, and much more decent, place.
Read the rest at:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphbenko/2013/10/21/much-bigger-than-the-shutdown-niall-fergusons-public-flogging-of-paul-krugman/

 Three months earlier, there was this:

 Forbes.com
OP/ED 
If Paul Krugman Didn't Exist, Republicans Would Have To Invent Him
By Ralph Benko
7/22/2013 @ 8:00AM
Paul Krugman makes for an unparalleled intellectual foil. If he didn’t exist we’d have to invent him. Recently he has been vintage Krugman, slinging derp. 
“Derp” is new slang, or perhaps jargon, with which to ridicule opponents. It is making its wayamong the left wing hipsters, blogsters, and twitsters.
Read the rest of the essay at:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ralphbenko/2013/07/22/if-paul-krugman-didnt-exist-republicans-would-have-to-invent-him/

More Ralph Benko:
@TheWebster https://twitter.com/TheWebster
http://thegoldstandardnow.org/
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Friday, November 29, 2013

Sandbagged! Independent audit of Hallandale Beach CRA was in offing by Florida JLAC, but Hallandale Beach's beleaguered citizens/taxpayers get stabbed in the back by Eleanor Sobel, Oscar Braynon II, Joe Gibbons, Shevrin Jones and Barbara Sharief. Why? To help HB mayor Joy Cooper preserve her facade that everything here is okay; @mayorcooper

Hallandale Beach Municipal Complex, November 19, 2013 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2013 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved 

Sandbagged! Independent audit of Hallandale Beach CRA was in offing by Florida JLAC, but Hallandale Beach's beleaguered citizens/taxpayers get stabbed in the back by FL state Senators Eleanor Sobel & Oscar Braynon III, FL state Reps. Joe Gibbons & Shevrin Jones and Broward County Comm. Barbara Sharief.

Why? To help Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper preserve her facade that everything her is okay, @MayorCooper. 
You know, the mayor with the twitter account that is nothing but her, her, her, her -plus mindless govt. press releases, including many that have nothing to do with this city or county or state. 
See for yourself: https://twitter.com/MayorCooper 

 They put a higher price on protecting Mayor Joy Cooper's political flank than actually helping the community -their constituents- find out where and how the $80 Million REALLY was spent. 
The very Hallandale Beach CRA that Broward IG labeled guilty of "gross mismanagement" with Joy Cooper in charge. 

Thanks to the five of these useless elected officials, we may never know. 
But we WON'T FORGET their betrayal of Hallandale Beach's residents, taxpayers and small business owners when next elections roll around next august and November.
No, we definitely WON'T forget and we will make sure that the public and the press forget, either. 
And no, this Thanksgiving weekend, we are NOT thankful for these turkeys.

More below the articles. 
Two senators short-circuit Legislature’s plan to audit troubled Hallandale Beach CRA 
By Willliam Gjebre, BrowardBulldog.org 
November 26, 2013 AT 6:13 AM
A Florida Legislature’s joint auditing committee is dropping its inquiry of Hallandale Beach’s questionable use of local redevelopment funds at the urging of two area state senators, one a long-time acquaintance of Mayor Joy Cooper.
Democratic Senators Eleanor Sobel and Oscar Braynon II, representing portions of Hallandale Beach, could not be reached for comment, despite repeated calls, to elaborate on a letter they signed recommending against a state audit or any action related to the controversial city spending of Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) funds.
Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.browardbulldog.org/2013/11/two-senators-short-circuit-legislatures-plan-to-audit-troubled-hallandale-beach-cra/

As for the below, who even knew that turkeys like our mayor could dream, much less, of ghosts? 

 South Florida Sun-Sentinel  
"Ghost' of Keith London haunts Mayor Cooper  
By Brittany Wallman  
November 26, 2013 2:14 PM EST
sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/broward-politics-blog/sfl-commissioner-lazarow-mayor-cooper-mix-it-up-20131126,0,7873057.story 

Not mentioned above but equally as guilty of denying citizens the honesty they deserve is Broward County District 8 Commissioner Barbara Sharief.

Map showing how HB is divided at FEC Railroad tracks, with everything west of Dixie Highway in Sharief's District 8 and everything east in Sue Gunzburger's District 6.
http://bcgis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/OnePane/basicviewer/index.html?appid=c7f7450dc0b147d4b4b9526d9b1f93e7

WHERE exactly has she been the past two years on this very important issue to all of us?
A woman who is supposed to represent Hallandale Beach's residents' best interests but who has done just about everything but the past three years?

The very woman whose Broward County Comm. district was the HOME of the majority of the corruption, incompetency and unethical behavior directly tied to the HB CRA, where there was no accountability at HB City Hall under Mayor Cooper and her high-paid minions? 

 Where was Comm. Barbara Sharief resolve to do the right thing?
Missing-in-action, just like Joe Gibbons, Shevrin Jones, Sobel & Braynon.

Barbara Sharief was and continues to be in hiding on this issue, refusing to respond to public calls for her to say or do something -anything.

I know this from first-hand experience because she and her staff have ignored my emails about this issue for the past two years, though I actually know much more about the HB CRA situation than she or her staff did -or Gibbons or Jones or Braynon- and knew things that as many of you regular readers know, that even the Broward IG hadn't yet learned at the time.

A continued willingness to suspend reality and ignore inconvenient and troubling facts and the people who will tell you the truth is NOT a good sign in an elected official, and is actually proof that Barbara Sharief is NOT a genuine leader by any stretch of the imagination as most of us know the word.

Well, when you know that Sharief didn't even show-up at the June 4th County Commission meeting where the issue was brought-up, you could see that she wanted no part of being on the right side of financial accountability and ethics.
Months later, given her own financial and ethical situation, we see the double irony of that and wonder if her absence was even more revealing than we first thought.

Trust me, those inconvenient facts WON'T be forgotten as she runs for re-election next year, having to explain to the news media and area residents and voters why she so completely and willingly abandoned her own constituents, just like the power-craven and egotistical Sobel, the useless and high-living Jones, and the completely-invisible-in-HB Braynon, whom nobody has ever seen or knows from Adam.

As for Joe Gibbons, District 100 state rep. and former HB city commissioner of no particular distinction, who actually has the gall to run to replace term-limited Sue Gunzburger on the Broward County Commission for District 8 despite his sub-par performance and the fact that his wife and kids have NEVER lived here since he was married, the truth about Gibbons with respect to many ethical and policy issues has been known for years, despite the media's chronic inattention to detail.

Gibbons is only fooling himself if he thinks his recent stunt of showing-up at a HB City Comm. meeting for a few minutes when some kids are making a presentation -with their parents in the Chambers- and then splitting after they left, impressed anyone.
Gibbons can't change his stripes.
(And Gibbons is now so typecast by his abysmal track record in office that even the name, position and caliber of his supporters -and what they represent- are actually a big plus, almost a paid commercial for his opponent, former Hollywood City Comm. Beam Furr, who didn't run for re-election last year.)

Gibbons is both ineffectual and a carpetbagger, and a longtime apologist for the corrupt and incompetent status quo at HB City Hall that so thoroughly mis-served the public.
The very place he did nothing positive to change while he was there.
He is a knee-jerk in every respect that matters.

In case you those earlier recent blog posts of mine laying out the case or the predicate for better understanding these four characters ignoring what was happening with the millions miss-spent at the HB CRA, here they are for you in chron order:

 Nov. 2:  http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/11/latest-news-re-hallandale-beach-cra.html

On Sunday at some point, I'll have much more here on the blog to say in detail about Comm. Barbara Sharief's own failure to lead on an issue of great and urgent concern to this 
often-neglected community, and look out for the best-interests of HB residents -me and my neighbors.

But I will tell you one thing right now and that is that based on my conversations with people around town and the county, I believe Sharief has not only long since lost the benefit of the doubt of any concerned and well-informed HB or Broward citizen who cares about the true facts and wants a better-run county, she has no chance of ever recapturing it.
That's gone for good.

I'll also have some news and facts about her that may surprise many of you.
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Thursday, November 28, 2013

It's all over at halftime -Angie Harmon wins! THE house in America that I (we) should've gone to today for Thanksgiving is @Angie_Harmon's; @jasonsehorn, PicturesOfAngie, @Madamefigaro, #nfl, #pigskin


Angie Harmon on WhoSay: http://www.whosay.com/angieharmon


                     



@PicturesOfAngie
                                      
So at halftime of the first NFL game of the day this Thanksgiving, Packers at Lions, I think it's perfectly clear that we have a clear-cut winner.

 THE house in America that I (we) should've gone to today for some delicious turkey, sweet cranberries, warm and friendly conversation, and some very informed football talk -via @jasonsehorn- for dessert is Casa Angie Harmon, @Angie_Harmon, whom as I've written here on the blog so many times, we've always admired and adored for so many good reasons.
We thank the rest of you for participating, but we definitely have our winner!

 But for those of you reading these words out in Hawaii, there's still some time for you to chew over these inspired recipes via nos amis @Madamefigaro: On mange bien!

Above, Angie on the cover of the September 2000 issue of Texas Monthly, the very-popular and critically-acclaimed magazine I frequently bought over the years at The News Room on the corner of K St. & Connecticut Avenue in Washington D.C., next to the Farragut North Metro station.
Back when I was living and working up there.

 As it happens, I bought this particular copy, though, that sweltering first weekend of September 2000, after flying into DFW from DC for the wedding of my dear and oh-so-talented friend Shannon, in Sulphur Springs, TX, where her parents and sister had then-recently moved to from Hope, Arkansas.
Hope being where Shannon was born and grew-up and where more famously, Bill Clinton was born.
I bought it at the Walmart on the way to "dry" Sulphur Springs, where the cashiers looked like young Lynda Carters. 
Really :-)!

Shannon's mother knew Bill Clinton as a kid from across the street, of course, and Shannon had a wonderful photo of herself and BC on her desk for years at the Washington bureau of Nippon TV, at the National Press Building, from when she'd been in high school and was in Little Rock for some event while Clinton was governor of Arkansas. (Girls State?)
Shannon was a savvy and resourceful TV producer and sometimes on-air talent, thanks to her fluent Japanese that sometimes had her traveling across the globe following President Clinton or some other important story that Japan & Nippon TV were interested in.

Since I had roughly an hour drive ahead of me once I arrived in north Texas that Thursday afternoon, I stopped off at a Walmart along the way on I-30 so I could grab some soda, junk food and odds & ends for my hotel room, since with temps around and above 105 in the shade -if you could find some shade- I knew I'd need to keep my cold Coca Cola intake high for the duration.

 The magazine rack with Angie's "Hey pardner" smile was one of the first things that I saw in the store and into my basket it went, toute-de-suite! 
And I still have it, too.

 For those of you who may've forgotten, as well as those of you who are new to the blog, your faithful blogger -Dave- was born in San Antonio, and my mother's side of the family has been living in the beautiful Hill Country of Texas since 1855: Bandera.
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Monday, November 25, 2013

Price of ignorance and bad education in Florida is thus proven once again. Thanks Florida Education establishment! Couldn't have done it without you and your minions!


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Price of ignorance and bad education in Florida is thus proven once again. Thanks Florida Education establishment! Couldn't have done it without you and your minions!

Only Florida resident who earned a Rhodes Scholarship this year -James O’Connell- goes to school out-of-state. Wake Forest University. 
Shocker, right? 

No student attending a college in Florida, the U.S.'s 4th largest state, earned a Rhodes Scholarship. 
Not an accident! 


More than twice the size of Sweden, but only one Rhodes Scholar-elect?
Yes.



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Sunday, November 24, 2013

Omar Kelly says before today's Dolphins loss to Panthers that IF Dolphins don't finish the season 9-7, they must be blown-up. Everyone. I agree, but thought that it needed to be blown-up BEFORE season started, when I wrote they'd likely finish 5-11; #boomgoesdynamite




Time for Steve Ross to start over if Dolphins don't finish 9-7
The Dolphins have fallen short of expectations so far, squandering close games. Will this troubling trend continue, spoiling Miami's playoff chances?
By Omar Kelly, Commentary
3:18 p.m. EST, November 21, 2013
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/miami-dolphins/fl-omar-kelly-dolphins-1122-20131121,0,6544218.story
Accompanying video at:
http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?freewheel=69016&sitesection=sesunsentinel&VID=25380114
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Meanwhile, back in September...

SEPTEMBER 8, 2013
#Finally! 2013 NFL season is finally here! My counter-intuitive predictions for the 2013 Miami Dolphins season is they stumble to 5-11; Over-valued, under-performing players plus a very tough early schedule may well render Dolphins winless by Bye week in Week 6; USA Today, Dan Patrick and Peter King's Super Bowl picks; Say hello again to our old friend, NFL East Coast/Cowboys bias!; @nfl, @SI_PeterKing, #Lombardi
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/09/finally-2013-nfl-season-is-finally-here.html


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