Wow!
Just watched the #2 Princeton Tigers storm back to defeat #1 North Carolina 3-2, and capture their first NCAA Field Hockey Championship in a match that was both frenetic and an example of a beautiful game when played with so many high-caliber players who actually do all the small details consistently. (Yes, just like watching Glenelg High School!)
With a new state-of-the-art turf field, Bedford Field, a wonderful head coach in Kristen Holmes-Winn, someone who played at a very high level herself, and perfectly positioned geographically to get well-grounded and elite recruits from both the Mid-Atlantic and Tri-State area, Princeton is, literally, a dynasty in the making... just like Northwestern in Women's Lacrosse under head coach Kelly Amonte Hiller.who have won 7 of the last 8 NCAA titles.
http://www.goprincetontigers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205749560&DB_OEM_ID=10600
Meanwhile locally, in the year 2012, the University of Miami has neither a varsity Field Hockey team or a Women's Lacrosse team, despite getting lots of students from areas of the country where those sports are very popular at both the youth and high school level -the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast.
Why?
That makes as much sense as Miami NOT having a Men's Golf team.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Top-ranked North Carolina faces #2 Princeton Sunday in its quest for their 7th NCAA Field Hockey title, but you can't watch it on TV. Despite all the lip service given by U.S. cable sports channels -and advertisers- to taking Women's sports more seriously, unless you're in Norfolk, VA at 1 p.m., you'll have to watch via NCAA.com
So many cable sports channels offer third and fourth-rate programming opposite LIVE NFL telecasts, but despite it being an Olympic sport, one that the U.S. did very well at in London this summer, and defeating Argentina earlier in the year, apparently there's no time or space for the NCAA Field Hockey title match between Princeton and North Carolina on any of the following network of families that have about 15-20 channels among them on my DirecTV sports tier package: ESPN, Fox Sportsnet, CBS Sports Network and NBC Sports Network.
ESPN can show you a zillion NCAA Softball tourney games in the summer featuring a handful of teams teams you've already seen -or think you've already seen because that tourney seems to be 24/7 for 3-4 days, with each team seemingly equipped with one lanky left-handed pitcher and one very large right-handed pitcher- but they can't seem to find a space for two hours for the D1 title match of an Olympic sport, something that softball is decidedly not? Yes.
http://www.ncaa.com/sports/fieldhockey/d1
To me, it's not unlike the fact that U.S. gymnastics fans gets such crummy coverage of the NCAA Mens and Womens Gymnastics Championships, as last year Alabama won their second-straight Women's title, and Illinois won the Men's title -ignored.
For years CBS Sports has not only shown the championships on a delayed basis, but weeks after-the-fact.
ESPN can show you a zillion NCAA Softball tourney games in the summer featuring a handful of teams teams you've already seen -or think you've already seen because that tourney seems to be 24/7 for 3-4 days, with each team seemingly equipped with one lanky left-handed pitcher and one very large right-handed pitcher- but they can't seem to find a space for two hours for the D1 title match of an Olympic sport, something that softball is decidedly not? Yes.
http://www.ncaa.com/sports/fieldhockey/d1
To me, it's not unlike the fact that U.S. gymnastics fans gets such crummy coverage of the NCAA Mens and Womens Gymnastics Championships, as last year Alabama won their second-straight Women's title, and Illinois won the Men's title -ignored.
For years CBS Sports has not only shown the championships on a delayed basis, but weeks after-the-fact.
Which is why despite all the lip service given by those networks and advertisers to taking women sports more seriously, unless you're going to be in Norfolk, VA on Sunday afternoon, the only way you can see the Tigers-Tar Heels match is at:NCAA.com
Video of semifinals, UNC over UVA and Princeton over Maryland is here:
http://www.ncaa.com/video?ncaa_mid=vod:fieldhockey#!playlists/sports/fieldhockey/d1
http://www.goprincetontigers.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=1096704
More highlights of Princeton over Maryland.
Watch the title match LIVE here at 1:00 p.m. Eastern:
Video of semifinals, UNC over UVA and Princeton over Maryland is here:
http://www.ncaa.com/video?ncaa_mid=vod:fieldhockey#!playlists/sports/fieldhockey/d1
http://www.goprincetontigers.com/mediaPortal/player.dbml?id=1096704
More highlights of Princeton over Maryland.
Watch the title match LIVE here at 1:00 p.m. Eastern:
New York Times
The Quad blog
Unfamiliar Foes in the Field Hockey Final
By Clare Lochary
November 17, 2012, 10:00 PM
Princeton Coach Kristen Holmes-Winn told her field hockey players that passion, not pedigree, would be the deciding factor in the Tigers’ N.C.A.A. semifinal game against Maryland, the two-time defending national champion, on Friday, and she proved correct.
Read the rest of the post at:
James Poulos adroitly connects-the-dots at Forbes.com re 2012 GOP's campaign's strategic/marketing mistakes, and suggests that while much of what Romney criticized (lamented) about Obama playing Identity Politics and patronizing Santa Claus to many niche voters is 100% true, GOP can't win by singing Blues re Obamanomics or chorus of "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Needy, Young & Dumb Single Women Voters?"; @jamespoulos
VOAvideo YouTube Channel: VOA's Jeffrey Young examines so-called "Identity Politics" in this segment of "How America Elects." Uploaded June 20, 2012.
http://youtu.be/a0Hui4sEBfI
James Poulos adroitly connects-the-dots at Forbes.com re 2012 GOP's campaign's strategic/marketing mistakes, and suggests that while much of what Romney criticized (lamented) about Obama playing Identity Politics and patronizing Santa Claus to many niche voters is 100% true, GOP can't win by singing Blues re Obamanomics or chorus of "How Do You Solve a Problem Like Needy, Young & Dumb Single Women Voters?"
This afternoon I read a Forbes.com column, below, that for all practical purposes is the book-end to that earlier Mark Hendrickson piece at Forbes.com that I mentioned this morning, regarding what I perceived to be the self-serving motives of Louisiana governor Bobby Jindal and many other GOP pols and consultants' jabs at Mitt Romney, and in particular, Jindal's unfortunate moth-like affinity for TV news cameras, as if lack of exposure was his real problem.
Bobby Jindal's Jab At Mitt Romney Underscores Republicans' Dilemma
Bobby Jindal's looming Mainstream Media "Mirror Mirror" problems are closer at hand than I thought; Mark Hendrickson at Forbes.com on -what I see as Jindal's needless- "Jab At Mitt Romney Underscores Republicans' Dilemma"; Jindal is proving Rush Limbaugh's point about GOP self-regard
Forbes.com
Romney's 'Gifts' Gaffe Highlights GOP Confusion On Obamanomics
WASHINGTON
11/15/2012 @ 11:43AM
11/15/2012 @ 11:43AM
By James Poulos
Having not particularly relished telling donors what they wanted to hear during the campaign, Romney has now taken his lumps in the thankless task of telling them what they want to hear afterward.
Read the rest of the column at:
His honesty in this think piece about the Obama campaign's use of identity politics stands in stark contrast to many reporters, columnists and pundits who are twisting themselves into uncomfortable pretzels to deny that it was used, even though it was both obvious and successful.
I encourage you to start following him because unlike many better-known pundits, like those seen on MSNBC, Poulos doesn't ask you to deny what you know about human behavior or to deny what your own eyes can see -Obama & Co. used identity politics and it worked.
But will that formula actually work for non-African-American, non-presidential Democratic candidates for office?
In my opinion, no.
I believe it was unique to Obama and has no transferability, which is why much of the crowing I've seen and heard from many national Dems I usually respect, and in some cases actually know, who are drawing all sorts of conclusions and over-reaching on some of the implications of Election Day, reminds me of young kids patiently building sand castles at the beach with their plastic buckets and shovels.
Kids, there's a wave out there in the ocean that you can't even see now, and guess what?
It's got very big plans for your castle and all your carefully-laid plans.
------
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Your city in action -make that inaction: 10 days later, still no CORRECTIONS to the City of Hallandale Beach's website re its own 2012 Election results. Yes, the same chronic lack of attention to detail at City Hall and accuracy on the city's website as we've come to expect for SO MANY YEARS; @SandersHB
Your city in action -make that inaction: 10 days later, still no CORRECTIONS to the City of Hallandale Beach's website re its own 2012 Election results
I guess city spokesmodel Peter Dobens was too busy polishing someone's car or fetching coffee and donuts to get around to changing it by Friday at 5 p.m. to accurately reflect the final recount totals of the Broward Supervisor of Elections on Tuesday -that pro-reform challenger Michele Lazarow was elected to a four-year term on the city commission and Anthony A. Sanders will serve a two-year term...
Nope, still no corrections to the news as of 10:00 p.m. Saturday night, November 17th:
Yes, the very same chronic lack of attention to detail by City Hall and accuracy on the city's website as we've come to expect for SO MANY YEARS.
Bobby Jindal's looming Mainstream Media "Mirror Mirror" problems are closer at hand than I thought; Mark Hendrickson at Forbes.com on -what I see as Jindal's needless- "Jab At Mitt Romney Underscores Republicans' Dilemma"; Jindal is proving Rush Limbaugh's point about GOP self-regard
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal gets played and walks into quicksand, led by CNN's Wolf Blitzer in his condemnation of Mitt Romney: 'We Don't Win Elections By Insulting Voters.' Jindal doesn't seem to fully appreciate the fact that if he were being equally critical of President Obama in his public comments as he was of Mitt Romney prior to his appearance here, he wouldn't be appearing on TV at all. Someone as experienced in dealing with the news media as Jindal should be smart enough to appreciate that he is on TV specifically because he fits the post-election Mainstream Media narrative, but he doesn't. Why? Is the lure of the red light on the camera that powerful to him? sadly, it would appear so, since it's easy to see that when he says something in the future that the same news media wants to exaggerate or misrepresent because it doesn't jibe with the narrative that they want to put forth to the country, who does Jindal think will help him when he's complaining about being left out to dry, the Republican governors? Hardly. It's so damn laughable.
And you'll notice that Jindal is so concentrated on blasting Romney and mouthing high-minded feel-good cliches that he never has the good sense to pivot and turn things around by saying, matter of factly, "On the other hand, Wolf, I sure don't envy you and CNN and the rest of the Beltway media on Inauguration Day trying to remind your viewers what the big idea or ideas proposed by President Obama during the campaign were. You know, the ideas or plans that you and CNN presumably plan on holding him to account for in the new year. No, I don't envy you because there weren't any." Nope! There's none of that sort of quick thinking on his feet. LOL!
Uploaded November 15, 2012. http://youtu.be/IUsXAseSeXg
Bobby Jindal's looming Mainstream Media "Mirror Mirror" problems are closer at hand than I thought; Mark Hendrickson at Forbes.com on -what I see as Jindal's needless- "Jab At Mitt Romney Underscores Republicans' Dilemma"; Jindal is proving Rush Limbaugh's point about GOP self-regard
The Mark Hendrickso
Forbes.com
Bobby Jindal's Jab At Mitt Romney Underscores Republicans' Dilemma
Mark Hendrickson, Contributor
OP/ED | 11/16/2012 @ 6:18PM
New Orleans Times-Picayune
Gov. Jindal is ignoring his people's needs: Editorial
In my opinion, despite all his many admirable qualities and talents, it's likely that Bobby Jindal will STILL likely be trying to reason with the national news media and East Coast elites over the next few years even as they're verbally lynching him by twisting his words and making him seem either ridiculous or dangerous (or both) in ways that he, his friends and supporters can't even imagine now.
Well after the point that it's been clear to me and many others I know that those elites are "just not that into him."
Well after the point that it's been clear to me and many others I know that those elites are "just not that into him."
To them, Jindal's an interesting oddity, the fish-out-of-water that complicates their usual patronizing view of The South, so far from the norms of Manhattan and the Beltway.
He's the human anecdote to bring out when important guests come over and you've got the fine china out on the table and want to show you're refined.
For such a very smart guy, remarkable actually, he displays an air of unreality about him at times that's positively frightening, almost childlike, and truly disconnected from the political history of the past 25 years in this country, where people like him are left on the side of the road.
It's as if Jindal thinks -not unlike John Edwards or Bill Clinton- that he can single-handedly talk anyone and everyone he meets into agreeing that he's not only uniquer-than-unique, but also quite correct on the public policy as well.
In many uncomfortable ways, to me, after years of seeing interviews with him on every matter of policy shows and forums and reading what he's written, Jindal seems like Exhibit A from Central Casting in what radio host Rush Limbaugh regularly says about a certain sub-set of Republican pols and consultants who care, desperately, about what the Beltway news media and pundit class think about him.
Just like former GOP senator from Wyoming, Alan Simpson, who was never more popular with the Beltway and East Coast MSM than when he was publicly disparaging the House Republicans in the '90's, esp. Newt Gingrich.
As I know even better, that was especially the role carved out by the media for Indina Senator Richard Lugar, who for so many years played the role of shadow Secretary of State, even while taking things for granted back in Indiana, where I went to school.
It's also one of the chief reasons he lost the GOP primary to Richard Mourdock in a landslide.
Sen. Lugar had become the very picture of the media-absorbed pol, albeit a very smart and articulate one, and it was hard fro me not to notice, even before I came back to South Florida in 2003, that he was increasingly getting on TV, on the front pages of major newspapers or being cited in Thomas L. Friedman columns not because of what he had to say about foreign policy, but because he was so consistently willing to publicly criticize other Republicans' policies or ideas.
The MSM found him a 'useful idiot' for their purposes of supporting Democratic policies.
All of that is something that was discussed back on May 16th in a post titled, Richard Mourdock: Precursor or anomaly? Greg Garrison and Charlie Cook adroitly pinpoint where Sen. Richard Lugar eventually lost his way, started losing the trust of Hoosier voters, then lost in a landslide due to the dis-connect. Points largely lost on a predictably apoplectic Beltway MSMAs I know even better, that was especially the role carved out by the media for Indina Senator Richard Lugar, who for so many years played the role of shadow Secretary of State, even while taking things for granted back in Indiana, where I went to school.
It's also one of the chief reasons he lost the GOP primary to Richard Mourdock in a landslide.
Sen. Lugar had become the very picture of the media-absorbed pol, albeit a very smart and articulate one, and it was hard fro me not to notice, even before I came back to South Florida in 2003, that he was increasingly getting on TV, on the front pages of major newspapers or being cited in Thomas L. Friedman columns not because of what he had to say about foreign policy, but because he was so consistently willing to publicly criticize other Republicans' policies or ideas.
The MSM found him a 'useful idiot' for their purposes of supporting Democratic policies.
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/05/richard-mourdock-precursor-or-anomaly.html
What Limbaugh says about that is 100% true, in large part because it's simple human
nature, as I witnessed for 15 years while living and working in D.C. with many Republican
friends who were staffers who worked for bosses on The Hill or the agencies who were constantly being fooled into thinking that someone in the Beltway media and Think Tank Cool Crowd really liked them.
Who doesn't want to be liked?
That was the central conceit with many new younger male Members of Congress, many of whom were fortunate to be born with either connections, money or good looks because they sure WEREN'T very bright.
They were so used to people deferring to them that they couldn't tell when they were being played.
Those folks didn't like them, of course, they just wanted to have them around long enough to have some fun at their expense, before eventually tiring of them and sending them packing like Mean Girls -dismissed!
Unless he wises up pretty soon and recognizes reality and stops caring so much what the national news media thinks about him, that's Bobby Jindal's future -mockery and put-downs by the very news media that he so desperately wants to persuade thru his genuine brilliance.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Reaction from England and Sweden to Zlatan's 4-goal Master Class vs. England at Friends Arena. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's play and goals against England have him hailed around the world
HDPremierleague YouTube Channel video: Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Bicycle Goal in Sweden's 4-2 win over England at Friends Arena, Stockholm on November 14, 2012.
http://youtu.be/az4mFb18DUE
Reaction from England and Sweden to Zlatan's 4-goal Master Class vs. England at Friends Arena on Wednesday. Zlatan Ibrahimovic's play and goals against England have him hailed around the world
TV4 Sweden video: Engelska Sky hyllar Zlatan: "Snyggaste målet jag har sett"; British SkyTV celebrates Zlatan: Best-looking goal I've ever seen; highlights of England at Sweden from SkySports November 15, 2012.
The Guardian's sports editor Ian Prior speaks to the worldwide reaction to 35-yard overhead kick. November 15, 2012.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/video/2012/nov/15/zlatan-ibrahimovic-strike-video
The Guardian
Steven Gerrard: Zlatan Ibrahimovic goal was best I've ever seen
• England captain hails Swede's 'special' performance
• Fourth goal was 'better than Rooney's against City'
By Dominic Fifield at Friends Arena, Stockholm
Wednesday 14 November 2012
Steven Gerrard's achievement in becoming the sixth player to gain a century of England caps ended overshadowed with the midfielder conceding Zlatan Ibrahimovic's stunning fourth goal was the best he had ever seen.
Read the rest of the article at:
TV4 football expert Olof Lundh: (Paraphrased) - It's not even a script that Hollywood would think of creating for Sweden's first game in their new national stadium.
http://www.tv4play.se/program/sporten?video_id=2240422&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se
Thursday, November 15, 2012
After latest Marlins' salary dump, South Florida's amateur screenwriters will be busy devising plot twists that involve a murder-suicide element or body dumps in The Everglades with Marlins' Loria and Sampson; To quote Ben Diamond: “Dictators come and go like the weather down here.”
http://www.starz.com/extras#/magic-city-new-trailer
“Dictators come and go like the weather down here.”
-Ben Diamond
Hmm-m... how would our fictional friend and hotelier Ike Evans (Jeffrey Dean Morgan, pictured above) or for that matter, even our fictional enemy Ben Diamond (Danny Huston), over at Starz' addictive "Magic City" -about Miami Beach in 1959- have handled things after getting double-crossed but good by Marlins owner and president Jeffrey Loria and David Samson to spend real money and field a competitive team, after City of Miami and Miami-dade taxpayers were forced to pay for a new stadium that they never got the chance to vote on via a referendum.
You know, the salary dump that everyone in South Florida is talking about but which the Marlins are refusing to even hint at on their official Twitter page? https://twitter.com/Marlins
And you saw that fact reported where in local Miami media?
If you ever needed more proof of how completely imaginary so much of the world of Twitter is, how it's often nothing but sheer chicanery, not facts, the Marlins have answered that question adn are Exhibit One in their typical pathetic way.
Yes, definitely a body dump in the Everglades.
But body dumps in the swamp are so last year!
(The body dump in The Everglades comes at 0:55 in the trailer above.)
Tossed overboard from a prop plane on the way to The Bahamas is this year's LBD.
After this week's latest salary dump and multi-player trade with the Toronto Blue Jays, I strongly suspect that South Florida's amateur screenwriters (and creative writing classes) are going to be busy devising novel plot twists that involve a murder-suicide element or body dump in Everglades with Marlins' Loria and Sampson.
More soon on the predictable Loria move that did not surprise me a whit.
http://www.starz.com/originals/MagicCity
http://www.starz.com/originals/magiccity
http://twitter.com/magiccity_
Magic City: The Complete First Season (2012) is only $24.99 at Amazon.com
http://www.amazon.com/Magic-
Friday night in Stockholm: Head's up for friends of the Blog living in Sthlm area :) - music is on the agenda!; @jjakerman
View Larger MapFriday night at 22:30 at the Scandic Grand Central, Kungsgatan 70, Jennifer Ackerman and Lorenzo Jansson Kilman will be performing an acoustic set. There's no cover charge, so please come by to listen -and be supportive!
Friday night in Stockholm: Head's up for Friends of the Blog living in Sthlm area :) - music is on the agenda!; @jjakerman
http://www.scandichotels.com/Hotels/Countries/Sweden/Stockholm/Hotels/Grand-Central/
Here's a pic of the show poster: http://twitter.com/jjakerman/status/267688428144033792/photo/1
while here's a photo of them performing back in May, on a previous trip to Sweden by JA:
http://werun.se/la/emiliacarpinisan/2012/05/17/lorenzo-rockin-draquila-med-jennifer-akerman/
Tack!
Yes, I know that the Scandic Grand Central is right near where I'll be staying in a few weeks and yes, I DO wish that they were slated to be filmed as part of the Stockholm Boat Sessions
http://www.stockholmboatsessions.se/, http://www.youtube.com/user/jerrygbg
Just talking out loud here, but how great would it be for there to be a video of Jennifer and Lorenzo performing like this one of Sea Lion that I posted back on March 18th, in a post titled, Take a seat aboard the ferry and listen to what real talent sounds like: Sea Lion - "America, why does the heart cry" @ Stockholm Boat Sessions
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/take-seat-aboard-ferry-and-listen-to.html
I love this concept!
Jerry Boman You Tube Channel video: Sea Lion - America why does the heart cry @ Stockholm Boat Sessions. Uploaded December 13, 2011. http://youtu.be/Ca9BXSago60
Jennifer's popular LA-based blog, LA Life - http://blogg.veckorevyn.com/lalife/
Jennifer's Twitter page - @jjakerman - http://twitter.com/jjakerman/
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
England vs. Sweden today: Steven Gerrard set to get 100th Cap today in Stockholm with 3 rookies starting for Three Lions as England meets Sweden tonight in Friends Arena's inaugural international match in Solna -home of next July's Final of UEFA's Women's Euro 2013
England FA YouTube Channel video: Twelve years after playing in his first match as a member of the English National Team, Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard reflects on tonight's international friendly at Sweden in what will be his 100th match as part of the Three Lions and the first international match to be played at Sweden's new home for the Men and Womens National Team. Uploaded November 14, 2012. http://youtu.be/ZxXp58DlS2s
With temps in the 40's Farenheit, the stadium roof will be closed -match will be aired on TV4 in Sweden.
More match info at: http://svenskfotboll.se/ and http://friendsarena.se/Evenemang/Invigningsmatch-Sverige-England/
I found out last week that the annual national telecast of the St. Lucia concert will be there on December 15th. Sweet!
http://www.tv4play.se/program/sporten?video_id=2240039&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=permalink&utm_campaign=tv4play.se&starttime=22
TV4Sport senaste sportnyheterna: Allbäck inför Sverige England: "Ska bli häftigt"
Allbäck: England-Sweden will be awesome.
SvenskFotboll YouTube Channel video: Nya Nationalarenan - Friends Arena - från första spadtag till färdig arena New National Arena - Friends Arena - from the groundbreaking ceremony to the final arena. Uploaded November 14, 2012.
http://youtu.be/C1DKagq8X60
SvenskFotboll YouTube Channel video: Marcus Allbäck reveals the starting line-up for Sweden in their match tonight against England. Uloaded November 14, 2012. http://youtu.be/zJoPjWwjbpA
SvenskFotboll YouTube Channel video: SvFF:s första presskonferens på Friends Arena 7/11 2012 - svenskfotboll http://youtu.be/bHE48I1hUHU
http://www.england.vitalfootball.co.uk/article.asp?a=299824
http://svenskfotboll.se/arkiv/landslag/2012/11/truppen-mot-england/
http://www.youtube.com/user/england/
http://www.youtube.com/user/svenskfotboll/
http://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/index.html
http://www.uefa.com/womenseuro/news/newsid=1887601.html
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
More business-as-usual at Broward School Board is NOT good news for students, parents or taxpayers; Why the need by Broward Schools officials to impose omertà on school volunteers in Broward?; the very curious Hallandale High School roof situation reveals much about School Board's culture; Why is South Florida news media largely ignoring Broward Schools Diversity Comm. and their Audit Comm.?
CBS4 News/WFOR-TV Miami video: Broward Committee Demands Action For Dilapidated School. Reported by Natalia Zea. February 28, 2011 10:42 PM. Article at
Despite what she promised over 20 months ago, above, Broward School Board member Ann Murray never kept her promise to the community most directly-affected -Hallandale Beach.
In fact, she has assiduously avoided coming here and being subject to answering pointed questions from constituents about her behavior, judgment and votes.
In fact, she has assiduously avoided coming here and being subject to answering pointed questions from constituents about her behavior, judgment and votes.
It's an all-too-familiar refrain from Ann Murray -spouting nonsense, and thinking that the public will fall for her lies.
My last blog post, on various aspects of education policy, corruption and the recent election of new people to the Broward School Board,
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/11/speaking-of-diversity-and-backsliding.html
had far too much information to digest for for one post, so I've decided to split it in two and have migrated the second part of it here so that the important issues I raised can get the proper attention they deserve.
Why the need to impose omertà on school volunteers in Broward?Just for the record, I'd like to state that among sincere people I know who are very concerned about education in this city, for both educational and business reasons, they honestly feel they've never publicly received an adequate public explanation for the cancelling of the follow-up tour earlier this year by the Broward Schools' Diversity Committee at Hallandale High School, and the overriding of a vote to have the meeting.
So there's no confusion on this point, Supt. Robert W. Runcie and School Board member Ann Murray are the ones who specifically owe this community a full explanation, not staffers.
Runcie said nothing about it on his recent trip to Hallandale Beach City Hall.
But that doesn't mean that people here have forgotten.
According to people who are in a position to know, Ann Murray and her crew looked at the numbers at Hallandale High and made the decision that they were fine with what they saw, and then she made the decision to NOT have the School system's Diversity Committee re-visit the scene of the crime.
Now onto the case of the curious leaking roof at Hallandale High School...
From: Michael J. Marchetti
To: andrew@addinsol.com
Cc: RR ; Ann Murray ; Laurie Rich Levinson ; Robin Bartleman ; Patricia Good ; Benjamin J. Williams ; Nora A. Rupert ; Maureen S. Dinnen ; Donna Korn ; Katherine Leach ; charlotte8@comcast.net ; Thomas E. Lindner ;mjmsplace9@aol.com ; Patrick O. Reilly
Sent: Monday, May 28, 2012 9:47 AM
Subject: Hallandale High Re-roof Project
Andrew,
In reviewing the agenda items for tomorrow's board meeting I came across item number JJ7 to re-roof HallandaleHS. To my surprise FCM is utilizing the TPM delivery method which is something FCM management told the Board they would not use anymore. As you know TPM is almost identical to the CM@Risk delivery method that allows the District to negotiate as apposed to seeking the lowest contract amount through a competitive bid process. Again, FCM management when asked by the Board specifically said Cypress and Palmview were the last of these types of projects.
In review of the GMP numbers the proposed cost of work is 1,221,678.00 plus fees of 378,000. That translates to the District paying 30% of the cost of work in fees alone. Also noted FCM is justifying these numbers based on an audit done in 2007 by an outside firm when construction costs were at their highest. And finally FCM notes that the plans have been permitted under the old 2007 code but will be resubmitted to the new 2010 code. Why in the world would FCM negotiate a TPM contact with a roofing company as apposed to hard bidding it after they had a permitted set of plans based on the new code? I suspect one of their answers would be that we came in under the approved budget. This is no special accomplishment when you consider that FCM establishes the budget themselves. If you set it high enough you can always look like a hero. The only way to get to the real number is to competitively bid the job.
It is hard for me to grasp the recent behavior of FCM management. They rushed to issue an NTP for the Zone 4 project when everyone knew there was a problem with the contract. I don't have exact numbers for the settlement but I am sure that cost the District needlessly as FCM management continued to argue on behalf of the contractor. They also continue to argue on behalf of the contractor for delays on the Cypress El. Kitchen project. This despite their own staff and now our internal auditors saying those claims are not justified. FCM and the contractor are claiming that a CCD was not promptly processed by the project manager that caused this extraordinary delay. If this were true FCM management should be held accountable for not having any kind of management report that would have red flagged this over site. The question is how does an important CCD go unprocessed for months without upper management not knowing this. Did they forget to discuss this issue in their staff meetings for six months?
Most recently I notified FCM staff and the Superintendent that they had issued a notice to proceed on the Cooper City HS phased replacement project with only a foundation permit. Again in complete contradiction to FCM management claims to the Board they would never start a project without a complete set of plans that was fully permitted. This past and now current practice of starting projects without complete plans and a permit have been denounced in the past two grand jury reports as always costing the District needlessly.
At the most recent Board workshop on the capital budget I spoke about the Stranahan HS funding of items that are clearly not an emergency or the most critical need of the District. This at the very workshop that Capital Budget came to announce to the Board that their intention was to only fund emergencies and equipment breakdowns because of the shortage of capital funds. Even the most casual observer could look at these events and see despite all of the verbose claims of being fixed and we have better processes now and better people in place are just empty words with no facts to substantiate them. It is clear to everyone that it is business as usual. It is especially clear to the employees who work hard and try to improve the organization that they must keep their heads down in fear and hope they are allowed to remain as FCM management is in the process of purging good employees while hiring more people they can trust to sing in the chorus of we are all better now. Singing in chorus will not change the facts that while claiming financial hardship FCM is authorizing and arguing on behalf of contractors to needlessly spend precious capital funds with no one holding them accountable.
Because the meeting is tomorrow and there is no time for discussion prior to the meeting I am copying the Superintendent and the Board on this issue so they are aware.
Michael J Marchetti
Physical Plant Operations
Zone 2, Supervisor I
In a related matter, who the hell in the Broward School system specifically told members of the Diversity Committee NOT to speak publicly to the news media about what they'd seen and what they knew?
That person or group of people need to be publicly identified and fired -today!
And seriously, would it kill the local Miami TV stations and newspapers to get off their asses and actually try to find out why administrators feel there's a need for a system of omertà among community volunteers who are, alternately, getting stabbed in the back or getting the shaft from elected officials?
Some of the longstanding personal animus against Murray and which is starting to develop against Supt. Runcie in this community is directly attributable to the way the Diversity Comm. has been handled and the general state of things at Hallandale High School, though in my case, it doesn't happen to be the only reason to be against Murray.
That's a much longer fact-filled bill of particulars!
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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
FDLE: Contractor allegedly billed school system for Hummer repairs, Disney trip
Records shed new light on district dealings
By Megan O'Matz, Sun Sentinel
October 13, 2012
More than 250 pages of newly released interviews taken in the state's now-closed corruption probe of Broward Schools contain fresh allegations of a contactor padding bills, employees moonlighting on the job and managers shirking their duties.
Among the jolting assertions in the documents obtained by the Sun Sentinel are the reported actions of an executive of The Weitz Company, a construction firm that did considerable business with the school district.
Joanne M. Lenz, a former Weitz employee, told Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents that her boss, Rick Kolb, had billed the school district about $5,000 for personal expenses, including repairs on his Hummer and a family trip to Disney World. The costs were hidden in invoices submitted to the district for new elementary school cafeterias that Weitz built, Lenz told FDLE under oath in June 2011.
She also told the investigators that in 2008 Kolb helped arrange for a golf tournament to benefit the Broward Education Foundation, a School Board entity that awards scholarships. Kolb recruited subcontractors he did business with to participate at a minimum cost of $2,500 for four players, she said.
When the subcontractors later were awarded school district jobs through the Weitz firm, Kolb added the golf tournament entry fees to the bills submitted to the district and then reimbursed the firms, Lenz said.
"The way the School Board was treated was unfair," Lenz, now a data processor at a Broward school, told the Sun Sentinel Friday.
Kolb was not charged with any crime. He could not be reached for comment Friday through his current employer, Suffolk Construction in West Palm Beach. The FDLE documents do not indicate whether Kolb was asked to give his side of the story.
Weitz's senior vice president of Florida operations, Jon Tori, declined comment Friday, saying he was unaware of the allegations made to FDLE.
Broward Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie, who took over the district last year after the investigation ended, said Friday he is working to eradicate mismanagement, corruption and fraud.
"The game's over," he told the Sun Sentinel. "There's a new sheriff in town. We're going to make sure we operate with integrity and that we focus our efforts on doing what's in the best interest of children. Always."
Among his priorities, Runcie said, is hiring additional internal auditors to ferret out waste and abuse.
The documents obtained by the Sun Sentinel are summaries of interviews FDLE conducted on behalf of a Statewide Grand Jury impaneled in February 2010 at the request of then-Gov. Charlie Crist to investigate public corruption.
The Grand Jury did not indict anyone but released a scathing report in February 2011 saying the Broward School District was so grossly mismanaged it could not be explained by incompetence alone but must involve "corruption of our officials by contractors, vendors and their lobbyists."
From the spring of 2010 through most of 2011, school employees, board members, and vendors were invited or subpoenaed to talk to FDLE.
Much of what the individuals told investigators has been widely reported: that the district was a place where contractors were paid in full despite not finishing jobs, safety inspections were compromised, shoddy workmanship was ignored, board members interfered in day-to-day operations and cronyism drove decisions.
But the fresh crop of documents from FDLE provides new insights into district practices and relationships. Often the information provided to state investigators dealt with the alleged misdeeds, large and small, of School District personnel.
Among the assertions: one district employee was selling hurricane shutters on school district time. Another: real estate.
One employee testified that his job included shuttling School Board members to and from the airport and escorting district "guests" around town.
Another described how a school roofing job, botched by one contractor, was given to another, which was found to be a paving company -- not a roofer.
In the process, the paving company hired an engineer, who hired a lobbyist: the husband of former Broward Commissioner Diana Wasserman-Rubin, according to FDLE's report.
In the midst of the Grand Jury investigation, a secretary in the district's construction department reportedly was seen shredding documents.
Many of the interviews focused on the district's Building Department, which inspects school construction to ensure that the work is done properly and according to safety codes.
Employees described how at times district inspectors were furloughed and private companies hired to do their jobs at additional taxpayer expense.
Because of union rules, certified inspectors were laid off and replaced with uncertified staff with more seniority, FDLE learned.
One of the lesser trained individuals told investigators he inspected fire dampers at a job site while the certified inspector "remained in the car."
Another trainee said after about two weeks of instruction, he was sent out to perform 50 to 70 inspections despite being unlicensed. His supervisor signed the reports, he told FDLE.
Investigators looked closely at relationships some School Board members had with lobbyists and vendors.
A former construction project manager, Sharon Zamojski, told FDLE she attended a political fundraiser at one lobbyist's home, where contractors doing business with the school district each donated the $500 maximum allowed by law.
Contractors at the event then telephoned subcontractors instructing them to show up and also make a contribution, FDLE quoted Zamojski saying. Subcontractors "began to arrive and as they were met at the front door, they delivered their contributions in the form of checks in the amount of $500," the documents state.
The documents also include new claims about the actions of School Board member Jennifer Gottlieb, who abruptly resigned in August 2011.
For example: Gottlieb allegedly did not like the color the newly constructed Beachside Montessori School in Hollywood had been painted and ordered it redone, at an additional cost of $1,500.
In an email to the Sun Sentinel on Friday, Gottlieb said: "I don't remember making any request for the color of the school, maybe someone misconstrued my comments about the colors."
FDLE also was told of the chummy relationship some School Board members, Gottlieb included, reportedly had with Kolb, the Weitz executive.
Lenz said under oath that Kolb regularly took board members to lunch. In one case, she said, Kolb and Gottlieb had a five-hour, $400 lunch at Le Meridien, then a resort in Sunny Isles Beach. She said Kolb was reimbursed by their company for the lunch.
Elected officials cannot accept gifts of over $100. Gift disclosure forms filed by Gottlieb do not reflect any lunches.
Gottlieb told the Sun Sentinel Friday: "I have no recollection of a $400 lunch, but I have no idea what he may have expensed. It was my standard practice to pay cash for what I ate."
In May 2010, district auditors reported that taxpayers overpaid $47 million for 15 cafeteria projects because School Board members added unnecessary playgrounds, bus loops and other items to the deals and doled out the projects to favored firms, Weitz among them, rather than award the contracts based on the lowest bid.
I made the last paragraph bold so it would be sure to catch your attention, since if anyone needed a contemporaneous snapshot of this dysfunctional school system, that's it!
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I made the last paragraph bold so it would be sure to catch your attention, since if anyone needed a contemporaneous snapshot of this dysfunctional school system, that's it!
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City of Hollywood residents and members of the community are invited to meet Broward County Public Schools Superintendent Robert Runcie on Thursday, November 15, 2012 at 6:30 p.m. at the Boulevard Heights Community Center, 6770 Garfield St. in Hollywood. Mr. Runcie will be available to answer questions from the public about local public schools and other education issues. Members of the public who are interested in attending and asking Mr. Runcie a question are encouraged to arrive early to fill out a question card.
Light refreshments will be provided.
For more information, contact Donna Green at hollyed1@aol.com.
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