Sunday Morning Coming Down

The mayor of Miami Dade County is not a big fan of public libraries.  He was going to raise some taxes a little but even an increase of about $30 for the average homeowner caused a backlash and the tax rate will probably be unchanged.  Because valuations are on the upswing homeowners will most likely pay more property taxes. The libraries were more fully funded in previous years but their own dedicated tax rate has been used to support the overall county budget through charges for indirect costs and rents for space when property values were falling like a rock.  The small increase would have in effect paid back the library for their earlier sacrifices and avoided layoffs and reduction in hours.  A similar issue is being played out in the Fire Department where several rescue squads will be mothballed and staff reassigned. I take no credit for this quote but depending on which side you are on in the controversy libraries are little more than homeless shelters with ...

A few days ago there were stories about Katrina and what happened in New Orleans.  Katrina came across South Florida in 2005 and it was big enough and strong enough to make for about four days without electricity in my neighborhood.  I went to a local café that had power for coffee and a hot breakfast and to check on the news about the storm.  Thankfully the storm was not going to hit the Big Easy directly and the power of the winds had gone down from a cat 5 storm to cat 3.  This was before they realized that the levees had failed.  I walked home wondering about looking for a place to escape the heat and waiting for FPL to respond. Later Wilma ripped through South Florida, again no damage but the electricity was down.  Four days without power but at least it was cool enough in the evening to sleep in relative comfort. Forty two years in Florida and this is probably the first Labor Day I can remember where both the Atlantic and the Gulf...

100,000 deaths in the Syrian Civil War is justification for action by the United Nations.  The use of chemical weapons makes the need to do something more urgent.  It would seem that doing nothing might be the prudent thing especially if there is no consensus on the issue.  Why should the United States again take the lead on what might be a fools errand.  There is little guarantee that we would be successful in stopping the future use of chemical weapons and the issue of spreading the conflict and more tit for tat retaliation and escalation are very probable should the United States take action unilaterally. Congressional approval is probably necessary given the current political atmosphere and that is probably a good thing.  Congress can line up with Russia and China in the blame game as the situation plays out if nothing is done. This is a pretty sad and dangerous place to be.

Barney Fife tells Andy "Nip it in the bud".  A truism if there ever was one.  It's memorialized on YouTube and the episode is on cable periodically.  This is something easy to talk about but hard to execute.  Talk is cheap, that's why there is so much of it.  Lots of strategies to do stuff fall apart because they are unpopular or because they are not big enough to be effective in the short run and we limit effectiveness by having contradictory policies and values. There has been a lot of righteous hand wringing about Miley Cyrus and her performance on the Video Music Awards.  I didn't see it when it happened but it sure did what was intended and maybe a little bit more. It's not easy to protect kids from stuff these days and if you are overly protective it can boomerang easily and meanwhile the sea level is rising.  Elementary school is a cake walk compared to Middle School and High School. The business terms span of control, micro management, ...

College football starts shortly, it is still hot but in about six weeks it should start getting cooler, somewhere around Columbus Day, maybe if we are lucky.  The hurricane season has been mysteriously quiet this year so far but it still has a way to go before December 1. While stumbling around on Thursday there was a feature on the radio about Cuban Coffee and the time, and the area code for South Florida.  This is a marketer's trifecta.  A small shot of Cuban coffee is pretty much routine at almost any Miami Office and it might well happen at about 3:05 pm.  Rituals are like this and it is one thing I miss since retiring. Watch in your local market for a new brand of Cuban expresso called 305.  Pilon and Llave (the current local Cuban Coffees) are roasted by the same company might need to give up some shelf space if this catches on.  If you are in Doral at the right time of day you can smell coffee being roasted.

It has been said that 1972 Miami Dolphins are a bunch of bitter old farts.  It's been reported they drink a toast every year honoring the team that beats the last undefeated team during the NFL football season.  Each year their record as the only team with a perfect season gets a year older. I remember that championship season, I lived in Miami and it introduced me to a uniquely Miami celebration technique.  Folks stood on corners and banged on pots and pans.  This was inspired in comparison to Morgantown, West Virginia where they burned old furniture. President Obama invited the team to the White House to celebrate the perfect season and probably as a shout out to the National Football League. Not very strangely these days several members of the team decided to boycott the event.  Jim Langer, Bob Kuechenberg, and Manny Fernandez have opted out for political reasons.  These guys have all benefited from their careers in pro football and they have ...

I'm writing this down so if and when I start forgetting stuff I might remember 8/18/2013. This was one those Sunday Mornings that started slowly but had a mission.  Sometimes the mission is as simple as reading the Miami Herald, making coffee, and going to church. Other times it is checking lottery numbers and down loading the results from Los Alamitos after I've fallen asleep watching "The Quarters" on TVG. A quick check of Facebook gave me something to do.  Randy Weidner, trainer for Thunder Struck had an entry in the Northern Plains Stallion Stakes at Canterbury Park and after the race he would be moving on to Prairie Meadows for their meet that opened on Saturday night. Downloading the past performances I remembered Randy saying he had a shot at a futurity race somewhere down the road.  I guess this was it.  On paper it wasn't a slam dunk.  A 4th last out against maiden $7500 claimers might give one indigestion and a reason to sit on your ...