FOLLOW me on my popular Twitter feed. Just click this photo! @hbbtruth - David - Common sense on #Politics #PublicPolicy #Sports #PopCulture in USA, Great Britain, Sweden and France, via my life in #Texas #Memphis #Miami #IU #Chicago #DC #FL 🛫🌍📺📽️🏈. Photo is of Elvis and Joan Blackman in 'Blue Hawaii'

Beautiful Stockholm at night, looking west towards Gamla Stan

Monday, November 4, 2013

Baltimore Sun's savvy TV critic David Zurawik zeroes-in on Beltway political class & MSM's tacit agreement on unethical conduct and asks rhetorical question: "Is it wrong for CNN's Paul Begala to ask me to give money to Al Franken?" Yes, let me count the ways...but let's not forget to throw Stephanie Cutter on the fire, too; @davidzurawik


Baltimore Sun
Z on TV blog
Was it wrong for CNN's Paul Begala to ask me to give Al Franken money?
To me, this is how the channel's news identity is demeaned by mixing politics, money and media
By David Zurawik The Baltimore Sun
6:58 a.m. EST, November 4, 2013
Maybe it's just me, but a fundraising letter I received from CNN's Paul Begala last week struck me as emblematic of what's wrong when media are mixed with money and politics -- as they increasingly are these days at cable TV news channels in Washington.
Here's the letter. And you tell me if this is appropriate for someone listed as "commentator" at CNN -- someone who also appears on the channel's website under the heading "Anchors/Reporters" as Begala does
Read the rest of the post at:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/z-on-tv-blog/bal-cnn-paul-begala-money-fund-raising-20131031,0,6011421.story

As for Stephanie Cutter, well, she merely proves that the sort of unethical behavior we've been force-fed by America's Mainstream Media and been forced to expect from certain Democratic Party & GOP consultants and strategists is not a Male-Only preserve:

 http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/09/cnn-lowered-its-ethical-standards-make-things-easier-newt-gingrich/69959/

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/politics/2013/09/obama-guys-were-too-afraid-demote-stephanie-cutter/69384/

Fox News Channel
White House getting advice on Syria from former Obama campaign advisers 
By Ed Henry
Published September 03, 2013 FoxNews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/09/03/white-house-getting-advice-on-syria-from-former-obama-campaign-advisers/

 Sure, why not get advice from people who don't actually know anything original about the country or speak French and Arabic, and who only know what other people have told them or what they've read.
Just like your neighbor or the person who hands you your coffee at Panera Bread.

 My recollections of September are that President Obama's policy on Syria was a disaster from beginning to end and something that everyone, regardless of political ideology, agreed upon on from coast-to-coast.
You remember, the policy that even the Washington Post's Editorial Board strongly criticized and which I mentioned last Tuesday, here:
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.be/2013/10/obamas-bad-foreign-policy-from-start.html

 The one time in five years that Obama really brought the country together -in opposition to his own policies.

 Sure, of course, that result is to be expected when you've got such great consultants and advisors.
Just don't say anything bad about Valerie Jarrett and her lack of knowledge or else...

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http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/tv/z-on-tv-blog/
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Saturday, November 2, 2013

More on Hoosier Great Walt Bellamy who died this morning, a seminal member of #HoosierNation; #iubb, #Hoosiers






A starter on the IU basketball team from 1959-61, Walt Bellamy was also IU's Most Valuable Player, an All-Big Ten and All-American in his junior and senior seasons of 1960 and 1961, the starting center of the Gold Medal-winning Olympic basketball team at the 1960 Rome Olympics, and remains IU's all-time IU rebound leader. He was a 1982 Inductee into the IU Athletics Hall of Fame.

Rookie of the Year Roommates: Bellamy's freshman roommate was IU football star Earl Faison. Their first year away from IU, Faison, of the San Diego Chargers, was named AFL Rookie of the year while Bellamy, with the Chicago Packers, was voted NBA Rookie of the Year. 

 More at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walt_Bellamy

 I must've sat in the TV room at the Indiana Memorial Union hundreds and hundreds of times with Walt Bellamy's black & white photo right next to me from 1979-1983, watching local news, sports, General Hospital, All My Children, et al when that room was packed full of IU students and festooned with Hoosier athletic memories from decades past, from floor to ceiling, basketballs to footballs, photos and trophies.

 Only one of my favorite places on campus, it was also my (and many friends') unofficial hangout in that era before cell phones made communication so easy.
And with all the long hours I put in with the Student Athletic Board (SAB)and the-then IU Student Alumni Council, (SAC), as I've written here previously, I sometimes spent more time there than I did at home in my apt.

On a huge-but-beautiful campus like we were blessed to enjoy in Bloomington, with so many attractive distractions and lots of distance sometimes between classes in my case, that TV room at the enormous Student Union, with all of its memories was one of my/our Centers of the Universe, every IU team photo, medal, football, basketball like part of our family heritage that we had an obligation to live up to.

 And in my sophomore year of 1980-1981, we did, winning the fourth of IU's NCAA basketball championships, with the able defensive help of one of my friends, James "Jim" Thomas, #20, Mr. Florida Basketball his senior year at Nova High School in Davie, and a member of the 1981 NCAA Tournament All-First Team for everything he did to help the Hoosiers that remarkable March to remember.
Jim was Coach Knight's first-ever recruit ever from Florida.
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Latest news re Hallandale Beach CRA: Where are Joe Gibbons, Shevrin Jones and Barbara Sharief hiding? They're NOT adequately representing HB citizens who want to find out where the $80 Million in CRA funds has really gone; Response of JLAC re my inquiry re legislator's letters re prospective audit of Hallandale Beach CRA by JLAC

Latest news re Hallandale Beach CRA: Where are Joe Gibbons, Shevrin Jones and Barbara Sharief hiding? They're NOT adequately representing HB citizens who want to find out where the $80 Million in CRA funds has really gone; Response of JLAC re my inquiry re legislator's letters re prospective audit of Hallandale Beach CRA by JLAC

 November 1st, 2013

If any FL state legislator you have recently spoken to has told you, either flat-out or strongly implied, that they have made clear their desire for there to be a JLAC-authorized audit of the HB CRA, as the official response I received from Tallahassee Thursday afternoon makes clear, those state legislators are NOT being honest with you.

There are 140 elected state legislators in Florida and not a single legislator among the bunch has had either the backbone or initiative to directly contact JLAC's office and publicly declare their public support for this community's desire to find out where the $80 Million in CRA funds has really gone the past ten years.

So you might ask, where ARE the four state legislators that represent Hallandale Beach in Tallahassee, and why are they still in hiding on this issue, and not stepping-up to represent their constituents and get the facts on such an important issue?

Well, since you asked, as you'll recall from my previous email on this matter, state Sen. Eleanor Sobel and state Sen. Oscar Braynon II have lined-up firmly on the side of protecting the flank of the very woman who is most directly-responsible for the mess that combines the very worst aspects of corruption, crony capitalism, incompetency, indefensible public policy and consistent lack of oversight and accountability, Mayor Joy Cooper. 

As for Braynon, well, my sense of things in talking to the people who are the most-involved in this community is that Braynon is so little known and seen in this city that he is far more rumor than reality, a fact that should not go unnoticed or unremarked upon by others.

As for state Rep. Joe Gibbons and state Rep. Shevrin Jones, well, like members of an Old West bank-robbing gang, they are currently hiding in plain sight from their own constituents within the safe confines of the hip pocket of Hallandale Beach mayor Joy Cooper and her lobbyist pal, Judy Stern.
To be brought out whenever these two women find it convenient and serve as props that insulate them from any moral or legal responsibility and incoming fire from legislators, the media and the public.

Sorry to say it, folks, but there's your late-2013 snapshot of the 'Profiles In Courage' of your members of the Florida legislature. They are exactly what they appear to be.

And after you've finished pondering that question, that is, how we can be represented by so many people who show so little concern about such an important issue, ponder something else: Where is Broward County Commissioner Barbara Sharief?

The handful of times I've personally interacted with her she's always been friendly, engaged and willing to speak honestly about what she thought about a particular issue or situation, even if it was an unpopular opinion.
Which is all to the good I think.

But here's the thing.
I've probably sent Comm. Sharief and her staff a few dozen emails over the past two years re the HB CRA, each one full of facts, first-hand anecdotes and the city's very own troubling and inexplicable words and docs that painted the picture of the longstanding mess it's been in, doing little public good while greatly profiting a small handful of people with connections to HB City Hall.
Even if only because of those emails I sent her, Comm. Sharief knows -or should know- much more than most of the reporters who've written about this subject, the few who have

I would argue that my sending those emails to her was entirely appropriate given that most of the incompetency, corruption, and general shadiness with the HB CRA took place in -wait for it- her District.

So given all that, what has Comm. Sharief actually said or done the past two years to show that she's actually looking out for HB taxpayers and small business owners on this matter involving, I remind you, tens of millions of dollars?

Comm. Sharief and her staff have NEVER responded to any fact-filled email of mine that specifically dealt with the HB CRA over the past two years.
Comm. Sharief was NOT present at the Broward County Commission meeting in June when former HB Commissioner Keith London and current Comm. Michele Lazarow spoke honestly and plainly about the longstanding need for this community to finally have an honest and thorough audit.

Yes, an honest accounting for what has taken place in the past that will assure HB residents.
To no avail.

Despite having the better part of two years to say or do something that was in any way supportive of the effort for the people of Hallandale Beach to finally get the truth, Comm. Barbara Sharief has said and done nothing.
Period.

Are HB residents, taxpayers, small business owners -and voters- supposed to ignore that inescapable fact?
I think not.

Why are local TV/print reporters and other bloggers NOT directly asking the five of  them to explain themselves on this issue, and say why they are sticking it to the people of this community, and, frankly, actually seem to be supporting the very people who are directly responsible for this financial scandal, as Sen. Sobel and Sen. Braynon have made clear for everyone with their condescending tone in their letter to JLAC telling them NO AUDIT.

If you feel inclined, here's how you reach them:

Braynon's District Office: 606 NW 183rd Street Miami Gardens, FL 33169 (305) 654-7150

Sobel's District Office: The "Old" Library First Floor 2600 Hollywood Blvd. Hollywood, FL 33020 (954) 924-3693

Gibbons' District Office  Suite 203, Pembroke Park Town Hall  3150 SW 52nd Avenue Pembroke Park, FL 33023-5413  (954) 893-5006

Jones' District Office  1965 South State Road 7  West Park, FL 33023-6733 
(954) 893-5010

Sharief doesn't list a district office on her website, only her main office at the Broward County Governmental Center, 115 S. Andrews Ave., Room 410 Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301 
954-357-7008

Joint Legislative Auditing Committee (JLAC) is physically located at 876 Pepper Building,
but their mailing address is 111 W. Madison Street Tallahassee, FL 32399-1400 
(850) 487-4110  jlac@leg.state.fl.us

Those are the facts as of 2:00 p.m. on November 1st, 2013.
It's up to you to change the dynamic now or we will never find out where that $80 Million in CRA funds really went.

On a happier note, there are still lots of very talented people in this world whom you have never of -until now- who have bright futures ahead of them, and one of those persons is Miriam Bryant 


Steve Layton YouTube Channel:  Miriam Bryant sings the DuBose Heyward/George Gershwin classic from Porgy & Bess, "Summertime" on the August 10th, 2013 broadcast of SVT's "Sommarkväll" at The River Cafe, Göteborg, Sweden.
http://youtu.be/5cVr9VKmmdo
As seen in my October 30th, 2013 blog post re Miriam,
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/10/just-like-swedish-summers-short-sweet.html

Hallandale Beach is on both the ocean and on the Intracoastal, so why in the year 2013 do we NOT have even one restaurant like the one shown in Miriam's video, The River Cafe in Göteborg, Sweden?

Good question.
That's why there are elections that carry genuine consequences.
Something similar-but-smaller in scale that allows the public to actually be able to see and feel the water should already be in the works on the south side of the Intracoastal bridge, next to where The Related Group's project The Beachwalk is being built now.
But it isn't, is it? Nope.
Another missed opportunity for Hallandale Beach.

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I've removed the email addresses below for obvious reasons and replaced by name with initials.

The Committee has not received any written requests, either for or against an audit of the Hallandale Beach CRA, since the September letter from Senators Sobel and Braynon.

Kathy DuBose, Coordinator
Joint Legislative Auditing Committee 
(850) 487-4110 


From: JLAC 
Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 1:44 PM
To: Dubose, Kathy; White, Deborah
Subject: FW: Attn: Kathy DuBose -re prospective audit of Hallandale Beach CRA by JLAC


From: DBS
Sent: Wednesday, October 30, 2013 1:00 PM
To: JLAC

Cc: DBS
Subject: Attn: Kathy DuBose -re prospective audit of Hallandale Beach CRA by JLAC


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: DBS
Date: Wed, Oct 30, 2013 at 1:00 PM
Subject: Attn: Kathy DuBose -re prospective audit of Hallandale Beach CRA by JLAC
To: Joint Legislative Auditing Committee
Cc: DBS


October 30th, 2013
12:55 p.m.

Dear Ms. DuBose:

Just wanted to follow-up on my previous email of two months ago and your response of Sept. 9th regarding the possible audit by JLAC of what I and so many other Hallandale Beach citizens believe has been an ineffectual and poorly-managed Hallandale Beach CRA for
so many years.

To date, has the Joint Legislative Auditing Committee received a request FOR or AGAINST an audit of the Hallandale Beach CRA from any member of the Legislature, other than the September 16th letter AGAINST an audit co-written by Sen. Eleanor Sobel and Sen. Oscar
Braynon II?

There have been no media reports in South Florida of any kind the past six weeks on this issue, to say nothing of anything publicly from the two state senators who are supposed to represent the citizens of this community, who have borne witness to the millions of CRA dollars that have gone out  the door with nothing tangible to show for them, not the very people directly responsible for doing so.

I just wanted to know what the scoreboard is looking like as of this afternoon.
Thank you in advance for your assistance!

 ----
I've added these links to earlier Broward Bulldog articles to give any new readers of the blog some sense of perspective that's not written by me:

 "Hallandale finds allies amid aggressive response to county’s request for CRA documents." I'll have a lot more on this matter and our angry and vindictive Mayor Cooper soon.




 Broward opens broad inquiry into misuse of property tax dollars by CRAs; millions at stake




 Hallandale Mayor sends multiple texts to Lobbyist during Broward Commission meeting




 Defiant Hallandale commissioners reject call for new legal opinion on CRA spending




 Hallandale may seek Attorney General opinion on CRA spending; statewide impact seen




 Hallandale diverts millions from CRA’s budget to pay for non-redevelopment programs




 Hallandale Mayor & Commissioners fail to document contacts w/ lobbyist Judy Stern




 Unhappy Broward commissioners want more control over city CRAs




 Lobbyist Judy Stern uses texts to thwart Hallandale CRA investigation




 Legislature asks Hallandale for answers about CRA spending; Subpoenas land at city hall




 A problematic model: Hallandale Beach CRA under city manager’s thumb




 Broward Auditor looks at Hallandale Beach CRA with eye toward recovering misspent funds
By William Gjebre* BrowardBulldog.org 
The Broward County Auditor’s Office has begun looking into whether Hallandale Beach should be required to repay some of the millions in tax dollars allegedly misspent due to “gross mismanagement” by city officials.



Broward Inspector General: Hallandale leaders don’t know what they’re talking about, By William Gjebre* BrowardBulldog.org. The Broward Inspector General’s final report on the “gross mismanagement” of millions in tax dollars by Hallandale Beach is sharply critical of city leaders it says have shown a “basic misunderstanding” of what’s gone wrong.





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Friday, November 1, 2013

re Obamacare "tech surge" at The White House to fix broken Ocare website: I posit educated guess why West Wing is being so secretive re identities of this Nerd Squad A-Team meets Mission Impossible: Saving Obamacare 2.0. That answer is "optics"



CNN
Pundits' prescriptions for what ails healthcare CNN contributor Ryan Lizza and A.B. Stoddard from The Hill give Brooke Baldwin their RX for the Administration's healthcare woes. October 30th, 2013 06:32 PM ET 

 Somewhat out of the blue Thursday, while reading some tweets of some of the people I religiously follow, I got to wondering if I'd actually stumbled across at least one of the reasons why the White House is being so secretive as to the identities of this Nerd Squad A-Team 
meets Mission Impossible - Saving Obamacare 2.0

Given the condescension that has come out of the WH over the past 5 years on a whole host of policy and political issues involving gender and identity politics, often greatly amplified by their echo chamber of sycophants in the Beltway press corps, especially among younger female reporters and producers, isn't it likely that seeing concrete facts or photos that confirm that the Obamacare rescue crew is largely composed of not just men but the dreaded White Men would just be too much of a PR buzzkill and "optics" problem for Team Obama to publicly countenance?

 Instead of wholesome, free spirit, All-American girl-next-door and savvy computer nerd poster girl Angela Bennett (Sanda Bullock) in The Net, it's sixty-something year old Dads and Uncles with computer super-powers far beyond the ken of most normal mortals coming to the rescue.
Note what happens at 0:42.
Someone has hacked into a cabinet member's personal medical file. 

 Just wondering...



 Tech experts enlisted to help fix Obamacare website 
By CNN Staff 
updated 4:17 PM EDT, Thu October 31, 2013
http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/31/us/obamacare-website-experts/index.html
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Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Just like Swedish summers -short, sweet and sublime- Miriam Bryant singing "Summertime" from Porgy & Bess on SVT's "Sommarkväll"; @MiriamBryant, @Zedd, #GeorgeGershwin


Steve Layton YouTube Channel:  Miriam Bryant sings the DuBose Heyward/George Gershwin classic from Porgy & Bess, "Summertime" on the August 10th, 2013 broadcast of SVT's "Sommarkväll" at The River Cafe, Göteborg, Sweden. http://youtu.be/5cVr9VKmmdo
Just like Swedish summers -short, sweet and sublime- Miriam Bryant singing "Summertime" from Porgy & Bess on SVT's "Sommarkväll"; 
@MiriamBryant, @Zedd, #GeorgeGershwin

 Why this song, now? 
Because sometimes you just need to hear an old song you've always known, and hear someone you've just begun to admire and appreciate over the past year, sing that song really well to remind you why you like them.
Miriam's voice is just perfect for this song.

I first saw her perform this iconic song the weekend after it first aired on Swedish TV, and was very keen on sharing it here, since it reveals another aspect of her range, but to be honest, I then sort of spaced it. 
It was probably the oppressive summer heat.











In any case, when I finally did remember, I thought it was probably long gone from the SVT website after a few weeks, as they are VERY punctual about their rights.
It they say it will be up for 30 days on their website after first being aired, that's it.
It will be gone by Day 31

But fortunately, someone thought ahead and placed it on YouTube for me to later see again and share with you today.

I've mentioned Miriam in five previous blog posts, but the ones that actually featured her were these two:

April 9, 2013 - If Miriam Bryant isn't on your musical radar yet, she ought to be ;) Miriam Bryant - Push Play (Official), Finders Keeper (Official); @MiriamBryant http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/if-miriam-bryant-isnt-on-your-musical.html

August 4, 2013 - Awesome! Miriam Bryant's musical talent is opening eyes and opening doors everywhere -even in the U.S.; video of Miriam performing LIVE Saturday night on TV4's Sommarkrysset at Gröna Lund in Stockholm, easily the best and most-compelling performance of hers I've ever seen; @MiriamBryant, @StereoscopeAB, @Zedd, #pushplay, #sommarkrysset, #happy
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2013/08/awesome-miriam-bryants-musical-talent.html






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Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Obama's bad foreign policy from the start shows little sign of improving, as Washington Post Editorial Board lashes out Sunday : "Mr. Kerry’s empty words on Syria": "So what does the Obama administration propose to do to stop this barbarism? The simple answer is: nothing, other than issue strongly worded statements..."; #stonecoldfacts, @washingtonpost

Obama's bad foreign policy from the start shows little sign of improving, as Washington Post Editorial Board lashes out Sunday : "Mr. Kerry’s empty words on Syria" 
In case you were still on your summer hibernation when this happened a few weeks ago, the only time that President Obama has brought the country together this year on a policy is when nearly the entire country stood-up in opposition to his ill-considered ideas, plans and policies over Syria, one of his major weaknesses since coming into office in January of 2009.
That hasn't changed.
Think about that for a minute.

 The Washington Post
Washington Post Editorial: Mr. Kerry’s empty words on Syria
By Editorial Board
Published October 28, 2013
ACCORDING TO Secretary of State John F. Kerry, Syrian ruler Bashar al-Assad now is waging “a war of starvation” against his own people. In a robustly worded op-ed column posted Friday on ForeignPolicy.com, Mr. Kerry denounced what he said was “the systematic denial of medical assistance, food supplies and other humanitarian aid to huge proportions of the population.” The regime’s tactics, he said, “threaten to take a humanitarian disaster into the abyss.” They are “intolerable,” and “the world must act quickly.”
So what does the Obama administration propose to do to stop this barbarism? The simple answer is: nothing, other than issue strongly worded statements. 
Read the rest of the editorial at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/mr-kerrys-empty-words-on-syria/2013/10/28/d422b6c4-3feb-11e3-a624-41d661b0bb78_story.html
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Monday, October 28, 2013

LIVE online TV coverage of #StormSt.Jude #StormenSimone hitting southwest Sweden, including Halland. Reports of hurricane strength in places. Öresund Bridge between Copenhagen and Malmö remains closed to traffic as of 8 p.m. Video of one-woman gang Nike Jacobson remaining steadfast as the winds howled


Above, my screenshot of Expressen reporter/camera operator Nike Jacobson keeping her cool and remaining steadfast while being buffeted by the high winds of Stormen Simone, as the following video shows:




More screenshots of mine from this afternoon my time, evening in Sweden.




Expressen has amazing multi-media tools to watch/read:

SVT had its usual good and comprehensive coverage at
http://www.svt.se/nyheter/sverige/livebevakning-av-stormen-fran-kl-13 but has now gone to regular news, while the other two remain LIVE.
Not sure if they will pre-empt afterwards.

Posted 2:55 p.m. Eastern U.S. - Will be updating thru the day as events warrant.
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Sunday, October 27, 2013

Battening down and bracing for a battering! Met Office warnings re UK weather has Britons buzzing amid very bad memories of the Great Storm of 1987. As most powerful storm to hit Britain in 26 years approaches, much-wider area than first expected will be pounded by gales, downpours and powerful winds of 60-80 mph, with flooding and widespread power outages expected; @metoffice

Battening down and bracing for a battering! Met Office warnings re UK weather has Britons buzzing amid very bad memories of the Great Storm of 1987. As most powerful storm to hit Britain in 26 years approaches, much-wider area than first expected will be pounded by gales, downpours and powerful winds of 60-80 mph, with flooding and widespread power outages expected; @metoffice

 Even as your faithful blogger posts from his home in South Florida, two miles west of the Atlantic, way across the North Atlantic, a huge storm riding the jetstream from east of the United States, is preparing to batter southern England & Wales on Sunday night and Monday morning, bringing gales and downpours and causing widespread disruption, with powerful winds of 60-80 mph winds expected.
Winds are expected to be even higher in coastal areas, where risk of damage to property can and should be expected.

The storm, moving SW to NE, will then continue across The North Sea and arrive in Norway, Denmark and Sweden on Monday night, with heavy snowfall expected in parts of western Sweden currently experiencing autumnal temperatures.

I've been watching SkyNews the past two nights and have seen their video of much of the advance preparation for the storm that's expected to lash parts of Great Britain for hours, with ferry and shipping cancellations already taking place, trimming of some trees to reduce damage and possibility of becoming projectiles, and removal of anything movable on piers and in dockage areas, where some destruction seems highly likely.

 Two storm-related video pieces done by veteran Sky News correspondent David Bowden that aired Saturday night:  
http://news.sky.com/story/1160250/britain-braced-for-severe-80mph-storm
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/video/warning-major-storm-way-172515226.html

 Shortly after 8:30 p.m. Eastern Saturday, I heard a number mentioned during the newscast as an estimate by some group (?) that total clean-up costs could hit 1000 £1m, i.e. a Billion Pounds.

Again, there are still memories present among many over what can happen when there is a lack of proper preparation by those in charge and they are caught up short:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Storm_of_1987

Last I heard, there's an expectation that very windy and rainy conditions will exist in the affected areas from 5 a.m. until 9 p.m.
That means cabin fever.
I'd have those candles, junk food and coolers of ice-filled drinks and pre-prepared sandwiches ready for when the lights go out -and stay out .

 Below, a screenshot I snapped of Aftonbladet's website mid-Saturday night about the approaching storm:


 HÖSTSTORM PÅ VÄG! (Autumn storm on its way!)
Early Sunday morning, SMHI, the Swedish equivalent of NOAA here in the U.S., issued Gale Warnings for ships in and around the Baltic Sea, and they have also issued a warning to my friend Andreas and everyone else living in Gotland that there is a very great risk of powerful dust storms there, though that will obviously be before all the heavy rain gets there and soaks them as well.








The most recent public dispatch from the Met Office is this one:

 Severe storm heading for the UK
26 October 2013 - The Met Office is warning of the risk of a significant storm bringing exceptionally strong winds to parts of England and Wales on Sunday night into Monday morning

 Currently forecasts suggest a low pressure system will rapidly deepen just to the south west of the UK on later on Sunday, before moving across the country to be out over the North Sea by the afternoon on Monday.
This is expected to bring gusts of 60 - 80 mph widely across the southern half of the UK, with gusts of more than 80 mph possible in places - especially on exposed coasts.
Any major storm which occurs in early autumn has the potential to cause widespread severe disruption through falling trees, structural damage, transport disruption or power cuts and possibly flooding.
Frank Saunders, Chief Forecaster at the Met Office, said: "We are confident that a severe storm will affect Britain on Sunday night and Monday. We are now looking at refining the details about which areas will see the strongest winds and the heaviest rain.
"This is a developing situation and we'd advise people to stay up to date with our forecasts and warnings over the weekend, and be prepared to change their plans if necessary. We'll continue to work closely with authorities and emergency services to ensure they are aware of the expected conditions."
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Saturday, October 26, 2013

Video: Zlatan Ibrahimovic's two amazing goals for PSG, backheel vs. SC Bastia, cannon shot vs. Anderlecht; #Zlatan, #Ibra, #PSG, @EASPORTSFIFA



TV4.se video: Zlatan Ibrahimovic's amazing scorpion goal for PSG against SC Bastia last Saturday, October 19th, in Paris.





I've mentioned it in some of my email to some of you out there but haven't mentioned it here yet on the blog, but in the World Cup Group A Qualifying Round, Sweden, after enduring a demoralizing recent come-from-behind 5-3 loss at home to Germany, drew a powerful Cristiano Ronaldo-led Portugal, which was not the draw that Swedish football fans were hoping for.
The first match will be played in Lisbon on November 15th, and the second at Friends Arena in Stockholm on November 19th.
So with two of the best players in the world set to play one another, there's obviously a little bit of this nervous feeling going around re FIFA kingpin Sepp Blattner.

 

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