#London2012 - Deadspin offers up video clips of what you missed at the 2012 London Olympic Closing Ceremonies because of NBC's editing, and the Tom Brokaw one-hour documentary that allowed him to reclaim his title of "voice" of "The Greatest Generation" -his personal kitsch marketing niche

Deadspin offers up video clips of what you missed Sunday night at the 2012 London Olympic Closing Ceremonies while people because like me continue to question  NBC-TV putting Tom Brokaw front-and-center Saturday night to showboat a bit, and to reclaim his title of "voice" of "The Greatest Generation" -his personal kitsch marketing niche- during a completely unnecessary one-hour program about 1930's Britain and WWII and the economic and social aftermath, "Their Finest Hour."

Nice original title(!) and contrary to what's been reported, I HAD seen much of the footage before.

And if you insist on doing something like this, why would you schedule it on the last weekend the Olympics instead of the first weekend?

It's completely illogical, even on its own terms -even if you support something like it airing on U.S. television.

There's a very good reason why so many smart people in the U.S. saw the original "The World at War" anthology by ITV about WWII when it first aired in the U.S. came out in the late 1970's, with Laurence Olivier's narration.
Because of its quality and clarity and depth, unlike most high school and college textbooks.

It aired here in South Florida on Channel 10 on Sunday nights before ABC-TV's entertainment  programming began. I never missed it and have seen every episode about a dozen times thanks to the Military Channel, DirecTV Channel 287. http://www.theworldatwar.com/ )

NBC Cut Nearly An Hour From Its Closing Ceremony Telecast. Here’s Everything They Didn’t Show You (Including The Kinks’ Ray Davies)

By Timothy Burke

August 13, 2012 1:44 PM 

We knew NBC would heavily edit its broadcast of last night's London Olympics closing ceremony; they cut out a bunch of stuff from the opening ceremony, too, in the name of "tailoring programming to our American audience."

Read the rest of the post at: http://deadspin.com/5934166/%20nbc-cut-nearly-an-hour-from-%20its-closing-ceremony-telecast-heres-everything-they-didnt-show-you-including-the-kinks-ray-davies

IF you are one of those rare Americans who had somehow missed the point for the last forty years that Brokaw was from South Dakota, you couldn't have missed it during this self-indulgent one hour.

Since it was all recorded, there was no actual reason for Brokaw to even physically be in London save high self-regard and him throwing-his-weight-around and/or NBC wanting to trot him out to how how serious they were, and in any case, wasn't the latter role actually Bob Costas' role as Everyman, who felt it necessary to state the obvious, sometimes, in grave tones?

Meanwhile, these are the same NBC geniuses that waited until the 15th day of the 17-day Olympics to do a segment on Roger Bannister, when it should've been done the first weekend.

The same geniuses who DIDN'T show the medal ceremony for the Men's Marathon winner, the last contest of the Games, and always a highlight.

Thank goodness an American runner didn't do something silly and win and throw NBC's minute calculations off.

Me, foolishly, I thought that the hour of coverage that NBC promised us after the Local NBC affiliate newscast would be what we missed.
Instead, they re-played what they'd already run, awkwardly picking it up during the narrative of the U.S. Women's gymnastics team battle for the team gold against Aliya Mustafina, Victoria Komova and the rest of the Russian team.  

See clips of the rehearsals of the Closing Ceremonies at

http://www.youtube.com/user/london2012

My grade for NBC for the whole Olympics is C-.
In a nutshell, with plenty of examples I could cite jere, probably just like you: The winner of the Women's 100 Meters speaks English, being from Jamaica, but NBC chose not to interview her - THE fastest women in the world.

-----

http://olympicclosingceremony.tumblr.com/

Csaba Kulin takes a hard look at the 2013 budget for the City of Hallandale Beach and is VERY troubled by the ominous numbers and spending trends he sees. We need to "do more with less."

Above, where so very much of the damage is done to taxpayers and business owners of this city thru faulty financial decisions, bad judgement about public policy, and an almost complete lack of old-fashioned oversight: Hallandale Beach City Hall. April 17, 2012 photo by South Beach Hoosier. © 2012 Hallandale Beach Blog, All Rights Reserved

My friend and fellow Hallandale Beach and Broward County activist Csaba Kulin has taken a hard look at the 2013 budget for the City of Hallandale Beach, and he's VERY troubled by the ominous numbers and spending trends he sees. We need to "do more with less."

August 12, 2012

Dear Residents of Hallandale Beach.

On Monday and Tuesday, August 13 and 14, 2012, starting at 4:00 P.M. in Room 257 at HB City Hall -not in the Commission Chambers- extremely important budget negotiations will be taking place that DIRECTLY affects you and your family's financial well-being and quality of life in this city for the next 20-30 years. In short, our future.

I strongly urge you to personally attend these meetings in person and let your own voice be heard, because we know from experience that if the Commissioners are left to their own devices and biases, common sense and logic will rarely if ever intersect in these budget proposals.

I suggest that if at all possible, you try to read as much of the documents the City Manager has provided, as they are very good, but since it's several hundred pages long, I'll attempt here to highlight the most important sections of each area.

If Mayor Cooper follows the published agenda, City Manager Crichton will present and the City Commission will review the Proposed 2013 Budget on Monday.

After that, the City Manager will present for PUBLIC discussion, the three MAJOR INITIATIVES (Item 6A):

1. The issuance of a $56.7 million 20-30 year bonds to finance the Parks Master Plan recommendations, the new Main Fire Station and the Post Office Acquisition.

2. Proposed Natural Compressed Gas (CNG) Project.

3. Community Partnership Grants: Best Practices, Grant Management and Accountability.

PROPOSED BUDGET.

REVENUES. The General Fund revenues are projected to go up from $46.2 to $51.2 million, a five (5) million or 10.9% increase. The increase is due to a slight increase in property values and new construction. Total revenues are projected to increase from $79.5 to $85.9 million, about $6.4 million (8.1%).

EXPENSES. The General Fund expenses are projected to go up from about $51.9 to $57.8 million, a $5.9 million or 11.4% increase. Total expenses are projected to go up from $91.5 to 95.5 million, about a $4.0 million (4.3%).

Yes, almost $100 Million to run a city of our small size and population: 4.2 square miles, under 40,000 people.

Per capita spending of somewhere under $25,000 a year per resident.

I don't know about you, but I and my neighbors have long thought that we were not getting a dollar's worth of quality service for a dollar's worth of taxes. We are most certainly NOT getting $25,000 of value a year.

USE OF RESERVES. The City has budgeted over the past number of years Reserves or “rainy days funds” to finance the shortages between income and expenses. The amount ranged between $3.7 million in 2006 to $7.9 million in 2012. Most years the actual use of Reserves was less than budgeted. 

Last year the City budgeted $7.9 million and will use $4.8 million of the Reserves. Next year the City budgeted $6.5 of the $21.8 million Reserves, leaving the City with a total balance of $15.2 million. The City estimates that in 2014 we will use another $7.0 million, and in 2015, that we'll use another $7.0 million leaving the City with only a $1.2 million Reserve.

In 2016, three short years away, the City will have ZERO Reserves and will not be able to cover out expenses (see page 16).

To make matters worse, this budget, as far as I can see, does not include the additional $4.2 million “Budget Notes”.
In future years the City would have additional annual expenses operating the new parks ($1.7 million), payments on the $56.7 million bond issue (about $3.0 million).

After all, you don't just buy something like land for a park and open the doors. You have to carefully maintain it, yet it's common knowledge throughout this City that they've consistently done a poor job for years of properly maintaining the City's largest park, Bluesten Park, and yet that's only two blocks away from City Hall. That sort of myopic mismanagement is NOT an encouraging sign.

Why should we count on better results in the future from the same people who have been shown themselves to be chronic under-achievers for years?

COMMENTS: You may question why in today’s economic condition, the City’s expenses have to increase by 11.4%. One of the main reasons is that the City is adding 26 new full-time and 22 part-time employees costing the City $1.8 million dollars. Staffing level goes from 449 full-time equivalents (FTE) in 2012 to 492 FTE in 2013. That is 33 FTE higher than last year.

Our motto should be “do more with less” and we go the other direction.

As you may know, we will soon have a a new Marina on Three Islands Blvd. (3 P/T employees) and a new lifeguard program (10 full-time and 15 part time employees), but the City also added 16 other employees to the City’s payroll.

The result of the City's years of over-staffing and under-performance is that we now have the following frightening facts staring at us: the average cost of each City employee has gone from $58,592 in 2003 to $104,861 in 2013.

That is an amazing 81.83% increase. 
If the financial management of the City is allowed to continue as it is now, the residents will see a significant increase in property taxes in order to pay for the mismanagement of our City.

MAJOR INITIATIVES

ISSUANCE OF BONDS. The City Manager Recommends that the City issues $56.7 million 20-30 bonds to pay for the park Master Plan recommendations, the new Main Fire Station and to purchase the Post Office property.
The City already paid for B.F. James, Joseph Scavo and South Beach Parks, so why does the City want to borrow that $8.0 million if is all paid for?

The North Beach Park is paid by the developer who leased it. Both of those items add up to about $10.0 million. So the bonds should actually be about $46.7 million.

There two types of bonds available. General Obligation Bonds (GO) and Revenue Bonds (RB). The General Obligation Bonds require that the voters approve the issuance of the bonds. The survey recently commissioned by the City said that only 36% of the population is willing to pay $10 to $85 per $100,000 valuation to fund parks. The City Manager does not want to spend money on an election therefore she does NOT recommend General Obligation Bonds.

Interestingly enough, City Manager Crichton neglects to mention that the City is already paying for an election in January 2013.

The Revenue Bond does not require a vote of the residents. The City pledges the income from the improvements to pay off the bonds. A good example would be Turnpike bonds -it's paid off using the actual tolls collected. In our case, we do not receive a lot of revenue from parks and the City pledges the revenue from property taxes to pay off the loan.

In my opinion, the City stretches the spirit of a revenue bond, but that has never stopped our City Commission.

Needless to say, the City Manager recommends the Revenue Bonds approach, and forget about asking those pesky taxpayers to weigh-in, since you can never be depended on by them to be a “Rubber Stamp” anyway.

NATURAL COMPRESSED GAS (CNG) PROJECT. This is a environmentally-friendly proposal, but even the attached study questions its feasibility. I do not think our City should be on the “bleeding” edge of this project. We need to have a lot more economic study information as to actual costs and payback numbers. It is important to further investigate the project.

I hope this will help you understand the issues facing the City and you will realize the importance of attending Monday’s meeting at 4:00 P.M.

I am attaching a spread sheet with 2003 to 2013 employee costs, count and comparisons. Also you will find the links to the supporting documents provided by the City.

http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/files/08132012%20Additional%20Information%20for%20Fiscal%20Year%202013%20Budget%20Workshops%20Special%20Meetings.pdf

http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/files/2012-08-13-Supplemental%20Items.pdf

HBBudget2003-2013Personel.xlsx 32K   View   Open as a Google spreadsheet   Download

Thanks to "Joy Cooper being Joy Cooper" and Comm. Anthony A. Sanders' continued stonewalling of the truth, July 2012 was the third-busiest month ever in the five-year history of Hallandale Beach Blog; Some upcoming blog posts at HBB to be on the lookout for; @MayorCooper, @SandersHB, @AlexLewy

Above, a snapshot of one of the "columns" Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper supposedly wrote herself for the fake newspaper that receives $50,000 in city CRA funds -that ought to be going to removing "blight"- despite a majority of Hallandale Beach residents being opposed to it, since it not only doesn't actually cover local news and activities, not even City Commission meetings, but it also allows ZERO opposing points of view to appear in it, not even Letters to the Editor. It's pro-City Hall and pro-Joy Cooper 24/7.

Last month from this propaganda perch of hers, Cooper -or a ghostwriter- wrote, "I understand and share the frustration of many residents who have contacted me to state that they are fed up with the undertones of negativity within our City. I have chosen not to respond to the negative comments directed at me as they do not warrant recognition or validation. Commission records are documented and the truth eventually surfaces..."

Yes, the truth about what has been going on in this city does eventually surface, but no thanks to Joy Cooper and her Rubber Stamp Crew of Ross, Sanders and Lewy, all of whom it can truthfully be said, that facts are NOT their friend. The city's own records show that $2,000 in campaign contributions were made to Cooper's mayoral re-election campaign from a Phoenix-based company that makes money from red-light cameras, and days later, Cooper punked the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and wrote an essay there that extolled the wonders and virtues of red-light cameras, but made no mention of their financial contribution to her.

Cooper did this despite the fact that RLCs were the number-one cited complaint of HB citizens in a poll -that she herself pushed to conduct- because of how Cooper personally rushed the RLC program through, refusing to share pertinent safety information with citizens. And what do you know, the cameras were placed NOT in the specific parts of HB roads with the most-consistently high number of traffic accidents or incidents, but rather in places where the city could make the largest amount of money. Revenue, not safety was Cooper's number-one concern then. The poll of HB's citizens merely proved it.

Yes, the truth eventually surfaces, quite often, much sooner than she likes! On this blog.

July 2012 was the third-busiest month ever in the five-plus year history of the Hallandale Beach Blog, with 23,036 individual pageviews, or an average of 743 individual pageviews per day.

The busiest day of the month was July 23rd with 1,072 individual pageviews.

That day I penned the two posts below regarding the words and actions of the mendacious and misanthropic current Mayor of Hallandale Beach, Joy Cooper.

What's worse? The galling audacity of the feckless Sun-Sentinel giving free space to thoroughly-mendacious Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper, 16 weeks before the election, or her stridently self-serving lies re Red-Light cameras in Hallandale Beach, which she and her Rubber Stamp Crew rammed thru to gain more revenue for the city? American Traffic Solutions could NOT be any happier for the free plug, and will no doubt have a campaign check to Cooper on its way soon -if it's not there already; @MayorCooper
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/whats-worse-galling-audacity-of.html

Follow the money? Okay, here it is: $2,000 on page 3 of Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper's most-recently filed Treasurer's Report is from American Traffic Solutions-related entities who support installation of Red-Light Cameras. Like what she railroaded thru in HB. What are friends for, after all?; @MayorCooper

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/follow-money-okay-here-it-is-2000-on.html

Those two particular posts really seemed to have hit people where they live, and lit a fire under some people who perhaps pay less attention to details than I do.

I mention this because I not only received a higher number of "hits" that day than usual, but I also received a higher number of emails and phone calls from people in the area I don't usually talk to and see on a pretty regular basis, almost all of whom said a variation of the following: 

While they'd always known that the mayor was excessively egotistical and a ham-handed self-promoter, it was the very depth of her self-serving nature and here tone-deafness that they were unprepared for.
Unprepared for her blindness to the public appearance of a mayor writing something in the Sun-Sentinel that directly benefits the economic interests of a company (and its minions) that had just made financial contributions to her re-election campaign to the tune of $2,000.

What can I say, It was all Joy Cooper being Joy Cooper.
I only brought it to your attention.

That, unfortunately, is what makes the Miami Herald's and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's reporters and columnists, as well as the reporters at the the four English-language TV stations complete unwillingness to report such things all the more remarkable.
That is, if by remarkable I mean galling and frustrating.
I do.

-----

Some upcoming posts at Hallandale Beach Blog that you may want to take special notice of include...


An object lesson in bad journalism -from entirely predictable sources

When someone is both a Pastor and a City Commissioner as Anthony A. Sanders is, and neither hat will tell the truth to the public he's supposed to represent about an ethical problem that's been going on for three years, what's the proper role of the press corps? Hint: Ignoring it is NOT the right answer.

A beloved 1960's song of my youth is found on YouTube, with the most amazing audio quality I've ever heard on YouTube; almost made me cry!


Hypocritical Mainstream Media & Janet Robinson: Forget what you've heard: grilling MSM hypocrites thru use of known facts is FUN! Fired ex-NY Times CEO Robinson's $24 Million parachute -for failure- is finally getting her the unwanted media scrutiny she always deserved but never received from others in the MSM club

Hooray! #FailObamaRussiaReset as Goldman Sachs + Putin = FAIL. Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act passes Congress over Obama's threats to cave-in to Russians

"A" as in Aftonbladet and awesome! "The Girl Who Played With Fire": Extended Edition 

Why don't we see more ingenious efforts like the "Stockholm Boat Sessions" in South Florida, LA, Chicago or New York? Lack of imagination, apathy or simply too many Twenty and Thirty-something female marketing reps running things who are too obsessed with Social Media and don't understand the power of LIVE music?

Signs of Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper's ineffectiveness, myopia and lack of attention to detail are everywhere you look in this city. All you have to do is open your eyes. So why does so much of the South Florida press corps keep its 'Eyes Wide Shut,' and keep quiet about what they ALREADY know?

Interesting odds and ends, myths, and Tall tales re Sweden AND Iceland that I plan on finding out about in-person in a few weeks

LA bans the Plastic Bag. Then what? NYC bans large sodas. What's next in the Nanny State of Obama's America, as local govt.'s conduct social experiments with your choices?

Why did Republican lawyer/lobbyist and media impresario Justin Sayfie's law firm make a $500 contribution to chronically ineffective, notoriously thin-skinned and reflexively-Liberal Democrat Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper's re-election campaign?; @MayorCooper

View Larger Map 

450 E. Las Olas Blvd., Suite 1500, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33301-2291

Google Maps Street View

Do you really think that Broward legal and political heavyweight Justin Sayfie, when he's up in his Ft. Lauderdale law office, above, cares a whit about the future Quality of Life of Hallandale Beach residents, taxpayers and business owners? If he did, he wouldn't be making campaign contributions to Joy Cooper after her reign of ruin the past ten years, where easily-solved problems from years ago are still everywhere you look around town, owing to her self-evident myopia and her towering ego. 

Why did prominent Republican lawyer/lobbyist and media impresario Justin Sayfie's law firm make a $500 contribution to chronically ineffective, notoriously thin-skinned and reflexively-Liberal Democrat Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper's re-election campaign?

Because he is the establishment and she's the former elected president of the Florida League of Cities, and like all members of the business establishment in Broward who are true believers in crony capitalism, access is more important than any ideas or convictions or... anything
Period.

Yes, you make a real mistake in ascribing noble motives to Sayfie in the abstract that are not at all deserved. He and or his law firm want something.

It's that simple.

The record of the $500 check from Sayfie Law Firm is on page three of Cooper's Campaign Treasurer's report for the period ending in mid-July.
http://www.hallandalebeach.org/DocumentView.aspx?DID=2492

And if you've ever spent any time in Hallandale Beach or around the mayor, you will NOT be surprised to discover that the entry is written down incorrectly as "Sayfe."
http://blogs.browardpalmbeach.com/pulp/2011/04/hallandale_mayor_joy_cooper_budget.php

Justin J. Sayfie 

Sayfie Law Firm

450 E. Las Olas Blvd., Suite 1500

Ft. Lauderdale, Florida 33301-2291

Yes, the one right above one of the four $500 checks that she received from ATS, American Traffic Solutions, the Red-Light Camera folks in Phoenix who just love the mayor for being so supportive of their efforts.


My July 23, 2012 blog post mentioned this beneficial relationship previously: 
Follow the money? Okay, here it is: $2,000 on page 3 of Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper's most-recently filed Treasurer's Report is from American Traffic Solutions-related entities who support installation of Red-Light Cameras. Like what she railroaded thru in HB. What are friends for, after all?
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/follow-money-okay-here-it-is-2000-on.html

Reminder: It's less than two weeks until the professional corporate backscratchers and lobbyists return to South Florida to conduct their "educational" seminars with FL mayors at the Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa in Hollywood. 

I'll bet I can guess who one of the 'belles of the ball' will be... with money to show for it in one of her upcoming campaign Treasury report...
And I wonder if ATS will be there, perhaps being introduced to other mayors by Joy Cooper...

http://www.floridaleagueofcities.com/News.aspx?CNID=8629

Schedule of Events for the Florida League of Mayors (FLM) at the Florida League of Cities

Annual Conference, Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, Florida

August 22 – 23, 2012 

Wednesday, August 22

2:00 – 5:00 p.m. - FLM Roundtable (Workshop)

6:00 – 7:00 p.m. – FLM Reception 

Thursday, August 23

8:00 – 9:00 a.m. – FLM Nominating Committee

11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. – FLM Business Meeting

12:30 – 1:30 p.m. – FLM Board of Directors Meeting 

Please contact Jenny Anderson at janderson@flcities.com  for more information or to RSVP to the meetings.

Speaking of the Florida League of Mayors, in case you missed it the other day... 

re Public civility -Since we can't count on a competitive, energized and attentive South Florida press corps to point these sorts of hypocrisies out like we once could, I'm happy to remind you of this simple fact: There's what Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper says, and then there's what she actually says and does, and all the evidence to date clearly shows that civility is NOT her middle name; @MayorCooper

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/08/re-public-civility-since-we-cant-count.html

------
http://www.sayfiereview.com/

I'm very psyched -and greatly relieved!- by the selection of Paul Ryan as Mitt Romney's Vice Presidential nominee; Integrity, optimism and a tenacious work-ethic are Ryan's hallmarks

Prosperity Project video: The Crisis. Congressman Paul Ryan, Chairman of the House Budget Committee, outlines the debt crisis we face. Uploaded April 5, 2011.

http://youtu.be/O-QEENKN_9Y

His future plans made clearer, Marco Rubio and his family and friends can now finally breathe again and have a little more personal space, a more normal life, though this necessarily means that many of the most ardently pro-amnesty immigrant groups, and their allies in the news media, will now have to get off their summer diet of anti-Rubio remarks and anecdotes for new agitprop pieces attacking Rubio for being, well, part of the norm, and not one of their puppets.

This will also mean the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times can finally wake-up from their long summer slumber and sleepwalking, 86 their Marco Rubio Veep infatuation, smell the Cuban coffee, get out of their air conditioned offices, and get moving on transforming their heretofore lame and going-thru-the-motions 2012 presidential and Florida election coverage, so much of which has been just plain pitiful the past year in the view of not just myself but friends of mine who work at national news organizations, who are rightly puzzled and chagrined at what passes for news coverage in the two largest markets of the fourth-largest state in the country.

Romney's choice of optimistic, hard-working and media-genic Jack Kemp acolyte Paul Ryan also means that we can count on Debbie Wasserman Schultz going into full ZEALOT mode in the coming week, as she once again abandons her constituents in Broward to play the role of attack dog as she criss-crosses the country, only venturing into safe Dem districts.

Yes, we can count on seeing a steady stream of photographs of her predictable nonsensical threats before older voters and rich Democratic donors, her odd facial expressions and hairstyles will produce photographs which will, in some cases, will, no doubt, prove priceless.
His Midwestern friendliness and amiability will continue to stand out in sharp contrast to her shrill, know-it-all, govt. as savior nostrums, and her patronizing glares.

As you newcomers to the blog can see, below, I've already been a strong supporter of Paul Ryan and his economic prescription... and have been waiting patiently to see when and if I should share some of the knowledge here about Ryan, a man whom a week ago, 99% of South Florida's reporters couldn't have told you anything about other than that he was from Wisconsin. 

Here's one of the sources for information that THEY and you can trust: the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, http://www.jsonline.com/

See my previous blog post, with video, on Congressman Paul Ryan and his budget prowess of April 8, 2011 titled, Michael Barone on Paul Ryan's AEI speech taking on his budget critics: "Ryan Steals March on Obama as Fiscal Crisis Looms"
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/michael-barone-on-paul-ryans-aei-speech.html

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: House Budget Press <HBCPress@mail.house.gov>
Date: Fri, Aug 10, 2012 at 10:19 AM
Subject: Ryan and Sessions: ‘Unprecedented 1,200 Days’ Since Senate Democrats Passed A Budget
To:

PRESS RELEASES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEAugust 10, 2012 PERMALINK	CONTACT: William Allison (Ryan) 202-226-6100 Stephen Miller, Andrew Logan (Sessions) 202-228-0575
Ryan and Sessions: ‘Unprecedented 1,200 Days’ Since Senate Democrats Passed A Budget
WASHINGTON – House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin and Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Jeff Sessions of Alabama issued the following joint statement marking the 1,200th day since Senate Democrats have last adopted a budget: “Tomorrow marks another disappointing record for the United States Senate: Senate Majority Leader Reid and his Democrat conference will have gone an unprecedented 1,200 days without adopting a budget plan as required by law. Not only have they failed to adopt a budget, but with America under threat of financial calamity, they have refused to even present a plan for public scrutiny. Last year, Majority Leader Reid said it would be ‘foolish’ to do a budget and the legally required Budget Committee mark-up was cancelled. No plan from his conference has seen the light of day. He refuses to disclose who he plans to tax and how he plans to spend taxpayers’ money. “This year, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad committed to bringing forth a budget plan and conducting a mark-up, and was shut down by the Majority Leader. Once again, the conference put forward no proposal and offered nothing on the Senate floor. The Senate Majority did not offer up a single plan or even cast a vote in support of a single plan. By contrast, House Republicans laid out and adopted a credible, responsible plan that avoids this looming debt crisis with spending cuts and pro-growth tax reform while preserving the safety net. "Never before has our nation needed a budget and a long-term financial plan as badly as it needs one now. The Congressional Budget Office stated this week that the federal government is on track to run another trillion-dollar deficit this year and our debt will continue to explode with this continued lack of leadership. In addition to huge deficits, we face a $4 trillion tax increase at the end of this year and a sequester that Defense Secretary Panetta said will ‘do catastrophic damage to the military.’ Responsible and moral leadership requires the Senate to meet its legal obligation to pass a budget and to begin to address the fiscal crisis that is fast approaching our nation.”
###

-----

#London2012 - The best photos of the Olympics. Breakthroughs in photographic technology lead to astounding detail in Olympic photos in London; Getty Images shows what innovative photo technology they're using in London to capture the magical moments

Wall Street Journal Digital Network video: The Best Photos of the London Olympics.
WSJ photo director Jack Van Antwerp speaks with George Stahl, Deputy Managing Editor of DJ Newswires about how the advancements in digital technology have allowed a scale of detail and context to converge at the London 2012 Olympics, of what used to be generic sports wire photos, that are nothing short of astounding. Van Antwerp showcases a photo of swimmer Michael Phelps shot by Gabriel Bouys of AFP/Getty Images as an example of this revolution, all the more remarkable because flash photography is prohibited at the swimming venue. Uploaded August 10, 2012. http://youtu.be/K-V_mgS0ohE

The URL mentioned above is http://online.wsj.com/public/page/olympics-london.html

See also:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443404004577581244173272220.html?mod=WSJ_OL2012_hps_PhotosModule_1#slide/1

Getty Images video: Shaun Botterill, Adrian Murrell, Marc Webbon and Georges De Keerle of Getty Images speak to the practical effects and marketing edge that clients of Getty Images' will have from their use of the latest technology at London 2012, including 3D, 360 and robotic cameras. Uploaded June 6, 2012. http://youtu.be/Okt0gVYs_zk

Gabriel Bouys: http://portfolios.afp.com/photographer/gabriel-bouys.html
AFP: http://www.afp.com/en/news

Photos by Getty Images photographers at the London 2012 Olympics:
http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/Editorial/Frontdoor/livefromlondon?isource=usa_editorial_olympics2012

Getty Images Sports Photography homepage:
http://www.gettyimages.com/EditorialImages/Sport?isource=usa-en_home_FTV_quicklinks_sports

Photos by London 2012 Olympians of other Olympians -and everything else:
http://twicsy.com/l/olympians

Getty Images YouTube Channel: 
http://www.youtube.com/user/gettyimages

London 2012 YouTubeChannel: http://www.youtube.com/london2012

"This is what I've dreamed about my whole life" -Miami connection of Baltimore Orioles' future arrives early as Oriole's 20-year old star prospect and Miami-area native Manny Machado gets called-up from Double-A Bowie to start at third base in Thursday's Royals-O's ballgame, and 2010 First Round pick impresses with two hits in O's loss at Oriole Park at Camden Yards; #MannyMachado

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=23768641&source=MLB&gid=2012_08_09_kcamlb_balmlb_1

"This is what I've dreamed about my whole life" -Miami connection of Baltimore Orioles' future arrives early as Oriole's 20-year old star prospect and Miami-area native Manny Machado gets called-up from Double-A Bowie to start at third base in Thursday's Royals-O's ballgame, and 2010 First Round pick impresses with two hits in O's loss at Oriole Park at Camden Yards 

The Baltimore Sun
Manny Machado makes his major league debut — even sooner than he expected

By Eduardo A. Encina

11:57 p.m. EDT, August 9, 2012

He had replayed the moment in his mind many times before growing up, but Manny Machado didn't know exactly what playing in his first major league game would feel like. One thing was certain: Knowing it was a once-in-a-lifetime event, he wanted to make sure he was able to make Thursday night memorable.

Less than 24 hours earlier, he came off the Double-A Bowie team bus after Wednesday night's game in Altoona and be told by manager Gary Kendall that he was about to become a big leaguer the next day.

Read the rest of the story at:
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-orioles-manny-machado-debut-0810-20120809,0,6084272.story

See the Baltimore Sun video of Manny Machado at: http://www.baltimoresun.com/videogallery/71742592/Sports/VIDEO-Machado-This-is-what-I-ve-dreamed-about-my-whole-life

Great photo of Manny Machado at  http://network.yardbarker.com/mlb/article_external/manny_machado_arrives/11417719

See also:
Baseball America
Prospects Blog
Orioles Calling Up Manny Machado
Posted Aug. 8, 2012 11:56 pm by Ben Badler
http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/prospects/2012/08/orioles-calling-up-manny-machado/

Above, some of my tickets from the last few Baltimore Oriole games I saw in-person at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in 2002, before I moved back to South Florida in 2003.

The Orioles are in it to win it!
-----
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/

re Public civility -Since we can't count on a competitive, energized and attentive South Florida press corps to point these sorts of hypocrisies out like we once could, I'm happy to remind you of this simple fact: There's what Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper says, and then there's what she actually says and does, and all the evidence to date clearly shows that civility is NOT her middle name; @MayorCooper

ActsofSedition video: The April 4th, 2012 Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting promised HB residents and pet lovers the opportunity they'd been waiting for several years to speak on a subject they felt deeply about, but when so many people showed-up and wanted to have their voices finally heard, they got a first-hand lesson in how Mayor Joy Cooper does things -her way or the highway- as she decided that after just a handful of speakers, without asking the other commissioners, she had heard quite enough, and on this videotape is heard threatening to toss members of the public out. 

As you can see when Local 10's Ross Palombo asked the former president of the Florida League of Cities whether she regretted her own behavior and decorum at a public meeting, temperamental Mayor Cooper remained defiant -as always.

Meanwhile, days afterward, her November mayoral opponent, Comm. Keith London, as well as HB resident (and longtime opponent of puppy mills) and City Commission candidate Michele Lazarow tell Palombo about the perpetual spectacle that is HB City Hall under the wearisome reign of Cooper and her Rubber Stamp Crew. Uploaded April 11, 2012. http://youtu.be/UNEn1jgTvw4 

See my April 12, 2012 post about this at:
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/04/when-subject-is-pet-adoption-and-puppy.html

------
For newcomers to the blog, I remind you that this is the same Mayor Cooper who called me a "Nazi" to then-Comm. William "Bill" Julian prior to the start of the continuation of a  HB City Commission meeting up on the 2nd floor of City Hall -where there is no TV to record what transpires there- while they were picking out some food on a buffet spread, while I was simply sitting in a chair near the door waiting for things to start, the only citizen present in the entire room. Moments later, in further remarks to Julian, Cooper called Comm. Keith London "a Hitler." 
Before he walked into the room and thus wasn't around to hear her say it.

This is who she is, a point that those of you who give campaign funds to her should well understand, since that puts you in the line of fire, too.

My bold emphasis below -

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-05-01/news/pb-meeting-civility-20110501_1_civility-code-commission-candidate-frankel

Return to public civility 'imperative,' mayor says

By Andrew Abramson, The Palm Beach Post

May 1, 2011

WEST PALM BEACH — At Lois Frankel's final City Commission meeting last month, the former mayor cut off the microphone while a resident blasted commission candidate Keith James, who was up for election in a runoff the following day.

Frankel and City Attorney Claudia McKenna pointed to the city's civility code, as they often did at heated meetings. It says that "all remarks shall be addressed to the commission as a body and not to any one member or to the audience."

The City Commission voted to reaffirm that rule Monday. And it's not alone in trying to re-instill civility in public meetings.

The Florida League of Cities is trying to get municipalities statewide to follow West Palm Beach's lead and adopt a civility code written by the league, which calls for respect from both the public and the commission.

"We as mayors actually felt it was imperative," said league President Joy Cooper, who is mayor of Hallandale Beach.

"Because of all the things that have gone viral on blogs, the incivility has worked its way down all the way to the grassroots, town hall and centers, recently with the shooting up north," she said, referring to a school board meeting that turned violent in the Panhandle.

But some believe civility codes go too far in restricting residents' rights.

William McCray, the resident who had his microphone shut off by Frankel on several occasions, is a Palm Beach County sheriff's deputy and former West Palm Beach police officer who won a racial discrimination suit against the city and often engaged in heated rhetoric with Frankel, often calling her racist.

"There is no such thing in the Constitution as a civility code," McCray said. "If you read the history from the inception, when they wrote the Declaration of Independence, they cursed each other out, screamed at each other, fought and challenged each other to duel. They were serious about being able to say what they wanted to say, and that's why we have America."

McCray said politicians should be able to take direct criticism.

"If your skin is not thick enough to handle the rhetoric, you should not be in elective office," he said.

James, an attorney who was elected District 4 commissioner despite McCray's criticism, said cities have a right to adopt civility codes.

"Residents of the city are obviously protected by the first amendment, but I think that the line should be drawn with personal attacks," James said.

However, James doesn't necessarily agree with restricting residents from addressing a specific commissioner or the mayor.

"If they have a beef with me and they do it in a matter in which is respectful and professional, and it seems to be related to the business of the city, sure," he said.

Commissioner Kimberly Mitchell also believes "people have a right to criticize us in the role of a city commissioner."

Cooper said the League of Cities never considered a restriction like the one in West Palm Beach's rule.

"If people want to speak their peace, they want to speak their peace," she said. "Just choose your words wisely and don't be accusatory."

Despite West Palm's decision to reaffirm its civility code as is, James said he doubts new Mayor Jeri Muoio and the commission will enforce it as strictly as Frankel .

"It's a new day in the city and I think the new mayor and the new commissioners coming on hopefully will breathe some fresh life and positive energy into the deliberation process," James said.

Different local governments handle the issue different ways.

Lake Worth passed a civility code last month that "bans name-calling, obscenity and shouting" and requires speakers to refrain from using "fighting words which might incite violence."

Palm Beach County already has a decorum code that says "any person making impertinent or slanderous remarks or who becomes boisterous when addressing the commission shall be barred by the presiding officer."

The county will go a step further Tuesday and vote to ban political campaigning during commission meetings. Residents will not be allowed to wear, display or distribute political campaign materials and will be barred from making political comments at the microphone, unless it's in response to a referendum question.

County Administrator Bob Weisman said a county attorney examined recent case law to make sure such a clause would be legal if adopted by the County Commission.

Carmine Priore, the mayor pro tem of Wellington and former League of Cities president, made an initial statewide civility push in 2008. Priore said it was as much about the behavior of commissioners as the public.

"What I saw and found was there were some cases where members within their own city were not carrying out what I would like to see as civil discussion," Priore said.

The same might be said about West Palm Beach, where Frankel and Mitchell for years were vocal enemies who would argue on the dais, occasionally leading to profane outbursts.

Priore thinks civility codes are more than symbolic, and he said he's seen a difference in Wellington since its rule was enacted.

"We've made great strides in that effort," Priore said. "You can truly have differing opinion without being uncivil."