political
Dec 31, 2011
According to David Clay Johnston, as reported by Reuters, “anyone who wants to understand the enduring nature of Occupy Wall Street and similar protests across the country need only look at the first official data on 2010 paychecks”. Chart-I below displays data released Wednesday, December 29, on income in the United States for 2010. According to chart-I below, the median income in the United States decreased by 1.2 percent to an annual income of $26,364.
Chart I
Below is a copy of “Newt Notes”,produced by Newt Gingrich’s former consulting company, the Center for Health Transformation. In his newsletter, he praises me Romney for implementing the health care plan in Massachusetts and appears to be supportive of an individual mandate. more recently, Gingrich has commented that he has changed his mind but does not specifically state when asked why his opinion has changed.
Dec 28, 2011
Numerous articles and even real sports on HBO have alluded to the disgraceful arrest records that occurred during the tenure of Urban Meyer as coach of the Florida Gators. Many believe, Meyer will take his arrest record act on the road now that he has assumed the head coaching position at Ohio State.
An USA Today article, dated September 24, 2010, notes, “But another statistic is more bedeviling: at least 31 off-the-field arrests involving 25 of Meyer’s players dating to the summer of 2005, according to a running count by the Orlando Sentinel. Many have been typical college-years brushes with the law, from alcohol possession to disorderly conduct. But a dozen involved initial charges of felonies or violent misdemeanors, and the run of incidents has shared front-page space with Florida’s on-the-field accomplishments and invited pointed questions about the program’s virtue.” You can read the entire USA Today article here.
Many blogs over the past several years have noted numerous statements of inaccuracies made by Urban Meyer, the four-month University of Florida coach and current Ohio State coach. The link below to a pennlive.com article notes a few instances where Urban Meyer has lied to college recruits.
Dec 27, 2011
Jim Mussina, President Obama’s campaign manager,in this video points out how they intend to win the 270 necessary electoral votes to retain the presidency. Jim Mussina
Presently she stepped into the kitchen, and Sid, happy in his immunity, reached for the sugar-bowl?a sort of glorying over Tom which
was wellnigh unbearable. But Sid fingers slipped and the bowl dropped and broke. Tom was in ecstasies. In such ecstasies that he even controlled his tongue and was silent. He said to himself that he would not speak a word, even when his aunt came in, but would sit perfectly
still till she asked who did the mischief; and then he would tell, and there would be nothing so good in the world as to see that pet model “catch it.” He was so brimful of exultation that he could hardly hold himself when the old lady came back and stood above the wreck discharging lightnings of wrath from over her spectacles. He said to himself, “Now it coming!” And the next instant he was sprawling on the floor! The potent palm was uplifted to strike again when Tom cried out
The tacit motives of Hallandale Beach, Commissioners, Keith London and Alexander Lewy to erode the Council-Manager form of government in the city of Hallandale Beach Florida. They are also strong arming the Charter Review Committee in an effort to have them propose policies regressive to the council-manager form of government.
On July 18, 2011, newly elected Commissioner, Alexander Lewy, made a motion requesting staff be given authority to directly approach commissioners on issues when they believe their opinions were not adequately addressed by their director or the city manager. The motion and action was taken without any supporting documentation and backup material provided by Commissioner Lewy. And of course Commissioner Keith London, made a motion to cut off debate, to support the motion. The motion passed with the help of Vice Mayor Sanders. Commissioner Dotty Ross and Mayor Joy Cooper voted against the measure to cut off debate in an effort to preserve the Council-Manager form of government. This is part of a continuing tacit effort by Commissioners London and Lewy to erode the form of government.
Even though the motion passed, there are two interesting issues pertaining to this item.
1- First, there was no item listed on the special meeting agenda in regards to altering the “Protocol Manual” which among other issues, illustrates the relationship between the legislative body and the staff. Robert’s Rules of Order generally dictate that action should not be taken without the matter appearing on a formal agenda. Appearance on the agenda prior to the special meeting would have provided commission members the ability to research the matter in order participate in an informed debate. Why Mayor Cooper would permit such an item to be addressed without forethought and during a special meeting dealing with the budget, is perplexing. There appears to be little rhyme or reason to the structure of meetings and a lack of orderly process.
2- The second issue, begs the question; was the action in violation of section 3.07 of the city code of ordinances? Paragraph three of section 3.07 of the code clearly addresses whom the Commission and how they communicate with the officers and employees of the city that are under the direction of the city manager. The section is quoted below.
(3) Interference with administration. “Except for the purpose of inquiries and investigations, the commission or its members shall deal with city officers and employees who are subject to the direction and supervision of the manager solely through the manager, and neither the commission nor its members shall give orders to any such officer or employee, either publicly or privately. Nothing in the foregoing is to be construed to prohibit individual members of the commission from closely scrutinizing by questions and personal observations all aspects of the city government operations so as to obtain independent information to assist the members in the formulation of policies to be considered by the commission and assure the implementation of such policies as have been adopted. It is the express intent of this provision, however, that such inquiry show not interfered directly with the ordinary municipal operations of the city and that recommendations for change or improvement in city government operations be made to and through the city manager.”
The provision of section 3.07 of the city code is commonplace within most council – manager forms of government, and this exact provision or a paraphrase thereof specially exists in most council – manager forms within the State of Florida. When checking with a long term city Atty. within Broward County Florida, the individual desires to remain anonymous, stated the action by Commissioner Lewy, violates the code provision.
Prior to analyzing the motion made by commissioner Lewy, to the erode the council-manager form of government within Hallandale Beach, a brief history of the council-manager form and the logic for establishing a protocol manual.
In 1974, I was employed by the city of little rock Arkansas as a management analyst. One of my first assignments was that of a the city protocol manual on commission-staff relations. In brief manual provided guidelines and interpretations on the various issues regarding the legislative body and staff relationships. The manual reduced conflicts and provided valuable information to newly elected officials. Whenever a dilemma existed between the elected officials and the staff, the resolution was always added to the manual in order to prevent a future recurrence.
Under the council-manager form, typically all employees, save for the city attorney and his staff, theoretically work for the city manager. In order to have proper information to make informed decisions, commissioners are generally permitted to ask staff questions but may not consume more than 15 minutes of an employee’s time.
The intent of section 3.07 has been interpreted on numerous occasions throughout the United States. Let’s take a closer look at the provision and elaborate specifically as to why commissioner Lewy’s motion violates the provision. First, the provision notes, “the commission or its members shall deal with city officers and employees who are subject to the direction and supervision of the manager solely through the manager.” The section of the provision cited in the previous sentence, clearly prohibits the commission from dealing with employees, except through the city manager. Therefore, Commissioner Lewy’s motion violates the city charter.
More to come
R.J. Intindola
Beware of what you purchase online, especially when it comes to drugs as most of the websites are actually shadow companies located in China. China is the biggest piracy participant of American protected materials and patented drugs. The website appearing in the link although having the name “,US drugstore”, is not an American company. It’s a Chinese company hiding behind the name. Trying to deceive us.
The U.S. Commerce Department estimates suggest that U.S. companies lose over $1 billion per year of legitimate business due to piracy, while the U.S. Trade Representative calculates that more purchases of legitimate software and entertainment media alone would reduce the U.S. trade deficit with China by $2.5 to $3 billion per year. Understanding which businesses are most vulnerable to these losses is important for investors evaluating a company’s China strategy.
R.J. Intindola