Saturday, February 7, 2015

Oceana Bal Harbour




Property description
  • 28 Floors
  • 240 oceanfront units 
  • 25 floors of mixed 1, 2, 3 & 4 bedrooms apartments, with maid quarters
  • 1 floor with 4 Penthouse 
  • 2 floors with 4 Duplex Upper-Penthouses. 

Prices start $2,000,000

Maintenance fee of  $0.95 per sq. ft.  (Smallest unit of 2,712 square feet = $2,576)

Anticipated completion date:  2016.

One Sotheby’s tapped to market Oceana Bal Harbour. (Miami Herald,11/24/2014)
Consultatio’s sales team already has sold 50 percent of the units at the fancy project, which boasts 400 feet of beachfront, underground parking, a private poolside restaurant, cabanas, a movie theater, and 24-hour concierge services, the developer said.

William Leonard (1950-2015) Warren Area High School Class of 1968


1968 Dragon yearbook

"William" has always been in fashion,  never falling out of the top 20.


This song was finishing up a 6-week stay in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 when the class of '68 graduated.


Other class of '68 members:
Douglas Coates.  (12/29/2014)
Jennifer Robinault Morell.  (9/6/2014)
Jacquelyn Johnston Malone.  (7/31/2014)
Janet Vavala Smith.  (3/25/2014)

Van Wanggaard Toes the ALEC Line


Republican lawmakers push to repeal 48-hour waiting period for handgun purchases.  (Wisconsin State Journal, 2/7/2015)

 Photo credit:  Wisconsin State Legislature
Text source:  Wisconsin State Journal

This ALEC model resolution is from 1995.


A time when public Internet use was in its infancy.



The main point here is that gun rights advocacy groups have never been in favor of any kind of waiting period.  Using modern-day technology as an excuse is an exercise in blowing smoke.

ALEC goes to Wisconsin:
Meet Scott Walker's "ideas" men.  (1/29/2015)
The Koch Brothers bring you "The Big and the Bold".  (1/24/2015)
Chris Kapenga, ALEC waterboy, is at it again. (12/11/2014)
Of course, Kapenga hasn't drafted a bill; it's already been done for him.  (12/4/2014)
Here's an example of what happens when people don't pay attention.  (10/8/2014)
Speaking of plagiarism: The Kapenga Chronicles   (9/27/2014)
ALEC tools Leah Vukmir and Alberta Darling go off the deep end.  (9/22/2014)
Speaking of plagiarism.  (9/20/2014)
Just what the Wisconsin legislature needs:  Another ALEC disciple.  (8/7/2014)
Meet Chris Kapenga, R-Waterboy, representing the grate state of ALEC.  (2/18/2014)
Sen. Paul Farrow throws a hissy fit (which is transcribed in this news release).  (2/7/2014)
Robin Vos believes in selective transparency of the kind advanced by the American Legislative Exchange Council.  (12/24/2013)
Background on the National Conference of State Legislatures for Leah.  (12/12/2013)
From ALEC to Andre to us: Rep. Jacque (R-DePere) whittles model bill down to the basics.  (9/1/2013)
NRA/ALEC "Docs and Glocks" law finally makes its way to Wisconsin.  (6/18/2013)
Robin Vos, "an ALEC Wisconsin Foot Soldier" (SourceWatch).  (6/13/2013)
ALEC'd to Death: Wisconsin Republicans Continues to Depend on the Koch Brothers' Playbook. (6/7/2013)
ALEC's State Budget Reform Toolkit: "Asset Sale and Lease Opportunities".  (6/6/2013)
Selling State Properties? It's in the ALEC Playbook.  (5/22/2013)
More cookie-cutter legislation from ALEC.  (4/7/2013)
What the Koch Brothers left under Scott Walker's 2010 Christmas tree.  (6/19/2012)

Scott Walker and the Wisconsin Idea: Go Big, Go Bold, Go Butcher


Is Scott Walker so put off by the Wisconsin Idea that he's willing to kill the golden goose?

Photo credit:  State of Wisconsin

Text source:  Job creation from University of Wisconsin research funds fuels budget debate.  (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 2/6/2015)

Of course, Walker didn't actually say this.  Not in these exact words, anyway.  (And neither did President Ford in 1975.)

Other big and bold posts:
Go big, go bold, go base.   Is Scott Walker our next Richard Nixon?  (2/5/2015)
Go big, go bold, go batshit: Scott Walker and the creation of the "drafting error" fairy tale.   (2/5/2015) 
Scott Walker's budget strategy: Go big, Go bold, Go bash UW.  (2/4/2015)
Divide and conquer: The foundation of Scott Walker's big and bold ideas.  (2/4/2015)
Scott Walker's Syria strategy: Go big, go bold.....go boots, start walking!  (2/2/2015)
Go big, go bold, go borrow.  (1/31/2015)
Koch Brothers go big, go bold, will spend $889 million to buy 2016 elections.  (1/27/2015)
The Koch Brothers bring you "The Big and the Bold".  (1/24/2015) 

No Friend to the Environment: Republican Representative Adrian Smith, Nebraska's 3rd Congressional District


Photo sourceU.S. Congress
Text sourceCenter for American Progress Action Fund

Rep. Smith was re-elected to a 5th term with 75% of the vote. 

Recommended reading for Rep. Smith and his "rest of the state" constituents.

Climate Change Implications for Nebraska.  (University of Nebraskai-Lincoln.  School of Natural Resources.)
Understanding and Assessing Climate Change: Implications for Nebraska documents many of the key challenges that Nebraska will face as a result of climate change. Commentaries from experts on Nebraska's water resources, energy supply and use, agriculture, forests, health, ecosystems, urban systems and rural communities, and infrastructure and vulnerabilities raise serious concerns about the impacts of projected changes in climate, but they also provide a starting point for discussions about the actions that we can take to overcome these challenges.

No Friend to the Environment dishonor roll.

Alabama Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives.   (Their anti-environmentalism can be summed up in one word:  coal.  Which is odd, since Alabama contributes a mere 1.9% of U.S. production, good enough for an overall ranking of 13.  The state's peak year of production:  1990)  
Alaska Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
  • At-large District.  Don Young (R).   Ridiculed environmentalists as a “self-centered bunch of waffle-stomping, Harvard-graduating, intellectual idiots.....not Americans, never have been Americans, never will be Americans.” 
 Arizona Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Arkansas Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
California Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Colorado Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
No House Republicans hail from Connecticut and Delaware. 
Florida Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Georgia Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
 Idaho Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
 Illinois Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
 Indiana Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
 Iowa Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Kansas Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Kentucky Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Louisiana Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Maine Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Maryland Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
No House Republicans in Massachusetts delegation.
Michigan Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
Minnesota Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
Mississippi Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
Missouri Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives 
Montana Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
Nebraska Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives


No Friend to the Environment: Republican Representative Jeff Fortenberry, Nebraska's 1st Congressional District


Photo sourceU.S. Congress
Text source: ConservAmerica, League of Conservation Voters

Rep. Fortenberry was re-elected to a 6th term with 69% of the vote.  He serves on the House Appropriations Committee.

Recommended reading for Rep. Fortenberry and his eastern Nebraska constituents.

A University of Nebraska climate scientist, and former head of the National Drought Mitigation Center, Dr. Wilhite says climate change is accepted by 97 of 100 scientists.   He calls that overwhelming consensus. 

Nebraska Farmers Union says it's time to accept that.
 
John Hansen of Farmers Union said, "It is not reasonable or productive to deny the physical science."

No Friend to the Environment dishonor roll.

Alabama Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives.   (Their anti-environmentalism can be summed up in one word:  coal.  Which is odd, since Alabama contributes a mere 1.9% of U.S. production, good enough for an overall ranking of 13.  The state's peak year of production:  1990)  
Alaska Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
  • At-large District.  Don Young (R).   Ridiculed environmentalists as a “self-centered bunch of waffle-stomping, Harvard-graduating, intellectual idiots.....not Americans, never have been Americans, never will be Americans.” 
 Arizona Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Arkansas Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
California Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Colorado Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
No House Republicans hail from Connecticut and Delaware. 
Florida Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Georgia Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
 Idaho Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
 Illinois Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
 Indiana Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
 Iowa Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Kansas Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Kentucky Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Louisiana Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Maine Congressional delegation:  U.S. House of Representatives
Maryland Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
No House Republicans in Massachusetts delegation.
Michigan Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
Minnesota Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
Mississippi Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
Missouri Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives 
Montana Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives
Nebraska Congressional delegation:   U.S. House of Representatives