I don't have much to say about this, other than it's a beautiful tribute to those who are leaving the Miami Herald today in the latest round of layoffs. It actually feels like a eulogy -- not for the very-much-alive people in it, but for a time and place in journalism that is bigger than all of them and is gone. Irretrievably gone. The recent deaths of Doug Delp and Fred Pettijohn puncuate that loss in a way that only those that knew them (and I did not) can truly understand.

Herald editor Manny Garcia says a lot about those leaving his newspaper, but he also says a lot about himself in the telling. And in that sense it's also a tribute to him.

-------------------------------
From: Garcia, Manny - Miami
Sent: Friday, October 03, 2008 3:27 PM
To: .MIA Newsroom; .MIA El Nuevo Newsroom
Subject: re: let's recognize today our colleagues who are leaving

Folks:

We have a lot of talented colleagues leaving us today who have so enriched our newsroom and community with their time, talent, humor and passion. It's impossible to do justice to all their accomplishments, but let it be said they made Mother Herald a special place. They often reported while the rest of us were comfortably at home asleep, making that extra call to Cleve Jones who said some cops had apparently barged into his boat yard and drowned three dopers during a drug rip-off. That became the River Cops saga.

Our journalists worked in a shack-like office in the year after Hurricane Andrew (by then most media outlets had split) because Homestead needed us, and so what if our reward was to chug beers in the office while our stories got edited?

Despite threats, our journalists reported the truth, persuading reluctant sources to go on the record - stories that helped send crooked folks to prison.

And you made us laugh. Remember this hedline:

Injured penis worth $1.5 million to jury.

Finally, you shifted with the years from print to web to video to keep us the leading and most trusted voice in the community. Among those we recognize:

- Lisa Arthur, 14 years, our multimedia consligieri, a fixer. She worked in Homestead after Andrew, keeping public officials honest on the post-hurricane deals. She once snuck into an airbase with a Thai food delivery driver. She traveled to

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Just for the hell of it. I'm not coming at this from a substantive point of view so much as an opinion on how it played across this great land of ours.

-- Good debate by historical standards (ever see the national disgrace that was the George H.W. Bush/Geraldine Ferraro debate?). Sarah Palin won the first half, Joe Biden the second.

-- I’ve been thinking for a while that Biden got a face-lift. His eyes point up at the corners like a cat. It's a little Fu Manchu. Just occurred to me that it might be the result of surgery from his brain aneurysms. Either way, it looks pretty sharp on him.

-- Casting Palin for the movie version will be easy. Tell Frances McDormand to add a big splash of can-do, shallow, slogan-spouting chamber booster to her role in Fargo. Might be better than Tina Fey.

-- Palin and Bush. They have a lot in common. They both think Iraq is a good war. They both believe in creationism. They both say "nucular." In another time and place, it might have been love.

-- Biden's emotional moment, when he spoke of having to wonder if his sons would survive the car crash, could have played either way. It could have gone over well (he's real, he loves his kids, he's like us) or poorly (he's too emotional and therefore unable to lead). Answer: It played well. You could feel it in your heart and gut. Might have helped put him over the top.

-- Palin needs to cut the terms "maverick" and "straight talk" from her vocabulary. It makes her sound like a shallow, slogan-spouting chamber booster. And it negates some of that tireless effort at trying to sound folksy. Fake is folksy’s kryptonite.

-- Biden had a slow start. He got in a rut there early on where he must have used the word "deregulation" a half-dozen times. Dull. At that precise time, Palin was hitting her real-person best, talking about economic fears in the sidelines of kids' soccer games. For a second I thought she might actually walk away with it, but then Biden hit the zone and started whomping some ass of his own.

-- Palen is the master of being very nasty while seeming to be super-pleasant. And man does she know how to stick the stiletto in deep with a perky smile on her face. I like that about her. Palin’s hair isn’t bad either; it's both square and sexy at the same time. (Not that she's all that hot; the hair works though).

-- Palen babbled at times and seemed overly trained, but she beat expectations and may have fired up the ignorati that McCain so badly needs. She possibly scored some points in the west (at one point she attacked “east coast politicians,” which is an oddly general attack on a rather large region of the country). That “white flag of surrender” thing sounded radical and weird, as did her closing remarks, which had a little bit of a Red Dawn feel. But those things work in the darkest depths of the heartland.

-- Biden won on points and substance (he won the polls too), but I'm going to reluctantly call the debate a draw. Chris Matthews just said on MSNBC that she beat the spread. That might be the best way to put it: Biden won, but Palin beat the spread. Either way, you’re not going to see much if any change in the polls. And it's only a few days until the next debate, so it will soon be almost forgotten.

Fred Pettijohn, founding editor of the Sun-Sentinel and namesake of the newspaper's annual awards, died last night. He was 91.

Former Sentinel editor and writing coach John de Groot writes of his mentor:

Fred Pettijohn, my friend and mentor for 35 years died last night shortly before 8 o'clock after several weeks in a coma.

His son Philip, knowing his father's life-long love of the game and believing our hearing is the last thing we lose on our deathbed, had the Cubs-Brewers game on when his father passed away at home in Tallahassee.

He was one of the few men I've known who enjoyed listening to other people more than talking about himself.

As an editor, he loved good story-telling and always tried to place the needs of his community first.

"The people we serve are the only reason newspapers are protected by the First Amendment," Fred once told me. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid most journalists today think it gives the right to print crap."

I believe one of the most difficult decisions Fred made during his life was several years back when failing health forced him and his late wife Elaine to leave Fort Lauderdale after more than 50 years and move to Tallahassee to be near their sons Philip and Mark and their two grandchildren.

He was the founding editor of the Sun-Sentinel and a member of the Florida Newspaper Hall of Fame who mourned the slow death of print journalism under the greed-driven leadership of corporate profit pigs.
Finally, he was the only editor I ever worked for who prayed daily -- but rarely, if ever, spoke about it.

I may be a little late on this call, but I noticed this morning that the Sun-Sentinel has followed the Palm Beach Post's lead and is posting mugshots from the Broward County Jail. Well, you know it is a public service. Whenever you feel like a loser, start wading through those sad-ass mugshots. You'll feel better about yourself in no time.

Also, I'm a little late on posting this latest "think piece" from Tribune Co. innovation czar Lee Abrams. Wanted to wait until I could read the whole thing and understand it enough to summarize it. Unfortunately, I failed to complete that mission. He "repurposes" something from XM radio here to motivate the troops, but I wonder if he knows that XM/Sirius stock is selling for about 60 cents right now.

I post this for historical purposes only. Don't feel that you need to slug through it.

---------------------------------------
September 29, 2008
THE NEWSPAPER RENAISSANCE...AND MORE ON TV CREATIVE.

Today, we launched the new Chicago Tribune....yesterday, the new Hartford Courant. Without reservation, these two papers took bold, and sometimes painful steps to address the negativity surrounding this business with positive moves that will create a renaissance for these important news brands.

Being based here in Chicago, I was closer to the re-invention activity than most of our other newspapers, as the action was an elevator ride away. What is remarkable about the Chicago Tribune is that few thought they could evolve. Comments like these symbolized the perception:

"Chicago Tribune...they'll never change....good luck"
---A company veteran in a T-6 market April 2008

"The staid Chicago Tribune is attempting to modernize, though it is unlikely they'll be able to because of their conservative change resistant infrastructure"
---A Blogger on a UK website, July 2008

"This place is toast...we'll never change.."
---A Chicago Tribune employee April 2008

Well, there were roadblocks. But those were removed, and the New Chicago Tribune is more than a new version of the timeless Tribune, but it represents a completely new attitude in the newsroom, marketing floor...everywhere. A coming together and focus of some real smart and passionate people to create a high quality newspaper that is aggressively tackling the problems with actions.

Key to the reinvention process is that we'll never have to do it again, because it will happen every day. There's a new flexibility and freedom to have so much belief on the brand, the city and the people that we can take chances...try things...have the attitude of re-invention locked into our genes so we can compete...and prevail without the shackles of sacred and tired old line thinking that is weighty enough top sink us all into the land of

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Slow news day, other than the U.S. Senate slapping lipstick on a pig named Bailout, so I thought I'd revert to my old standby, Sarah Palin. In the video below, John McCain argues with the Des Moines Register editorial board that Palin is qualified as all get-out to be president. But he's missing the boat with the comparison to other governor-become-presidents: They were elected by the people during trying campaigns, not picked out by an old guy who was losing in the polls before his party's convention. Enjoy.

Hmmm. Problem embedding the video. Click here to see it on politico.com.

A former Deerfield Beach star running back has been charged in a series of rapes dating back more than 20 years. Deputies say former Deerfield Beach and University of Illinois football star Steven Feagin is tied to four rapes, one of them committed in Pompano Beach last year and three dating back to the 90s in Illinois. Read Hannah Sampson's account in the Miami Herald and it looks like some good detective work done by BSO's Eric Hendel. In the Pompano Beach case the rapist broke into a woman's house and put a cloth over her mouth and nose until she passed out (chloroform?) before raping her. Pretty efficient and professional -- who knows how many more cases might be out there. the 38-year-old Feagin, who was recently named one of the 100 greatest high school football players in Broward history, also pleaded guilty in 2005 to having consensual sex with a 15-year-old. Apparently his target of choice was blonde women, according to this report in the News-Gazette in Illinois. Feagin lost his job at the parks department after that one. Yes, of course, the parks department. Now he works at "Mr. Squeaky Car Wash" in Pompano, apparently. As a side note, Feagin is the second Deerfield Beach football star to be charged recently with a serious crime.

-- The Sun-Sentinel's Anthony Man reveals that Congressman Ron Klein, who voted for the bailout, is a darling of banks and the financial industry, having received nearly $800,000 in campaign contributions from Wall Street-related interests. My question: Why did we bother to vote down Clay Shaw? At least Shaw had some personality and real South Florida flavor to go with his votes for special interests. I can almost forgive Klein for being horribly pandering, but dull too? What's the matter with us?

-- Last week's FBI raid on Palm Beach County Commissioner Mary McCarty's home apparently has some political players in Broward County worried they may fall under the umbrella of the investigation. Some, I hear, are convinced their phones are bugged by the feds.

A private investigator working on behalf of a key witness in the much-publicized murder case of Broward County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Chris Reyka says the case is solved and his killers are currently sitting in jail.

Dan Riemer, a veteran local P.I., confirmed to me this afternoon that he has presented a "civilian arrest warrant" to Broward Circuit Judge Ilona Holmes. Riemer says the warrant outlines probable cause in the slaying, which has a $267,000 reward.

Riemer wouldn't discuss the details of the case, but sources said he named alleged drugstore robber 28-year-old Gerald Joshua as the trigger man in the murder. Joshua's name has already come up in media reports as a suspect in the deputy's slaying, which occurred at about 1 a.m. behind a Walgreen's store in Pompano Beach on August 10 of last year. Riemer has dug up new and compelling evidence that he believes proves the robbery gang was involved.

Joshua and three cohorts were charged in January in a string of early morning armed robberies at area Walgreen's stores. The leader of the gang, according to deputies, was Timothy Johnson, who, like Joshua, is currently sitting in the Broward County Jail.

Two of Johnson's siblings, Allen Johnson and Consuela Jones, disposed of four guns linked to the drugstore robberies, one of which they reportedly believed was used to kill Reyka, according to previously published media reports. Three of the guns were found in a canal, but a fourth gun -- the possible murder weapon -- is still missing. The sheriff's office is still searching for the gun.

Deputies charged Consuela Jones with tampering with evidence. Her lawyer is Joe Pappacoda. It was Pappacoda who hired private investigator Riemer to dig into the case.

One of the few clues in the case made public by BSO was a photograph of the white four-door sedan -- possibly a Crown Victoria or Mercury Grand Marquis -- believed to have been driven from the scene by the killers. Sources say that Riemer learned that a local used car lot owner had loaned the white sedan to Joshua and Johnson shortly before the night Reyka was killed. The car has yet to be located.

Riemer learned that the robbers were preparing to hit the Walgreens store in Pompano when Reyka came upon the car. When the 51-year-old sergeant and father of four noticed the car move, he turned on his blue lights and approached the sedan. That's when the killer gunned him down.

Riemer told me he filed civilian arrest warrants in Holmes' courtroom under English common law, which is applicable in Florida so long as it's constitutional.

"It’s news to me, I’ve never heard of anyone applying for a civilian arrest warrant," said sheriff's office spokesman Jim Leljedal. "We’re looking at the Walgreen’s robbers but we don’t have the probable cause or the evidence to charge someone in the case. We’re not going to do it prematurely. We still need a solid case to wrap up this investigation and finally bring some justice to the Reyka family."

Leljedal called rumors that Lamberti -- who is running against Scott Israel to remain sheriff -- was holding off on making the arrest until closer to election day in November "disgraceful."

"The idea that we’re sitting on this case is ludicrous," Leljedal said. "There is no case that we would rather clear than the murder of Sgt. Reyka."

I know we're all a little freaked out about the 777 point fall in the Dow, etc. But you had to see it coming. When America's very land is pumped and dumped by the world's titans of finance, it was inevitable. And there's certainly more to come.

I've come full-circle on the bailout and now believe we should just go through this thing without any more taxpayer-funded life support. At least not in the form of a bailout. The patient is going to die, people. Why should we throw good money after bad at a corpse? The banks will just chew through the $700 billion and prolong the inevitable drop. Just like we chewed through the $145 billion stimulus package. The truth is the market is going to have to fall to its natural bottom and the less the government tinkers with it the faster that will happen and the quicker we can start rebuilding the economy in a meaningful way. I've heard the "burning house" metaphor a lot on cable news in regards to this bailout. Well, how about we not rush into the house with the hoses? How about we let the house, which is already engulfed, burn down and then rebuild it? Use that $700 billion not to buy toxic debt from derelict banks (how smart does that sound?) but for job programs, direct relief for the destitute, and other measures to help raise the economy from the ashes.

So what are we getting from our newspapers? Panic. Dumbstruckness. Gaped jaws. The Sun-Sentinel headline this morning: "WE'RE IN TROUBLE." Thanks for the news. The Miami Herald went with the forward-looking "No Deal -- Now What?" The Palm Beach Post led with a huge picture of the Dow sign showing -777.68 with the words "Bailout plan shot down." But my favorite front-page headline from today comes from the Log Cabin Democrat in Arkansas: "D'Oh!"

That sums up a lot of the coverage. Here's my headline: "Market Getting Real." We need to look at this as an opportunity to bring some reality to America and put an end to this bubble-based, credit-driven economy as we know it. Economic writer Paul B. Farrell calls it "The Good Depression. Hear hear.

... he'd be a poodle. Just one of the observations John DeGroot brings with his latest offering. It needs no introduction, other than to say it's about a Friday luncheon at the Riverside Hotel involving Gov. Charlie Crist and the Sun-Sentinel's "dueling columnists," Stephen Goldstein and Kingsley Guy. (Also, if you missed it check out Charlie's lie to JAABlog concerning appointing black judges to the bench. Sometimes ol' Crist is just too good for his own good). Enjoy.

----------------------------
Dulling Columnists Score Major Snore
By John de Groot

Florida ’s Governor Charlie Crist was in Fort Lauderdale on Friday as the rest of the world teetered oTn financial ruin and more Middle Eastern innocents were slaughtered in the name of God.

But I digress.

The Governor had flown into Broward as the latest celebrity guest of the Sun-Sentinel’s celebrated Dueling Columnists.

Now, given the terrifying gravity of the apocalyptic events looming world-wide, both the people of Florida and the Governor would have been better served if Charlie had stayed back in Tallahassee to fold paper bags or wash his cat.

How so?

It would be inaccurate to dismiss the Dueling Columnists as harmless perpetrators of too frequent Close Encounters of the Trivial Kind.

They’re worse.

Now, for those who have not suffered the experience, the Sentinel’s Dueling Columnists appear above the half-page ad opposite the newspaper’s editorials once a week – as well as local radio.

The idea is to offer the newspaper’s readers a print serving of fresh and challenging points of view from the so-called Left and Right sides of the political spectrum – both locally and wherever else the columnist dare to stumble.

The Right is represented by Kingsley Guy, the Sentinel’s retired editorial page editor who – as he did with his editorials – too often confuses timidity with gravitas. (But then struggling to express an original opinion at the Sentinel can do cruel things to a man’s stones.)

The Left is represented by Stephen Goldstein, a clever man hopelessly addicted to the first person pronoun who, like Paris Hilton, has made a career of being well-known locally – although nobody really knows why. (Also, I’ve yet to meet anyone able to explain how Goldstein earns his living.)

Oh yes.

As writers go, Guy carefully leans towards stolid opinion supported by solid facts – while Goldstein is a noisy print master of hoo-hah, hot air and hype.

So much for their weekly presence in print – which I rarely read, an unfilled need for substance having led me to cancel my subscription to the Sentinel after 30-plus years.

However….

Today’s Pulp offering stems from the Dueling Columnists’ venture into a kind of live dinner theater in which the two appear with a celebrity guest before an audience that’s paid $26 for lunch high atop Fort Lauderdale ’s Riverside Hotel, safely removed from anyone who gets their hands dirty for a living.

Now, having attended both the first and second of the Dueling affairs*, I am prepared to report my findings. (I use “affair” here because “well-fed Cluster Fuck” may be a

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I've been floundering a bit on this bailout plan. I know we need to do something -- and something big -- but what Congress is doing has too much of that Paulson stink all over it. It appears that it backstops the failing banks while it fails to make sure our money gets recycled through the economy. They've acted too fast and the plan hasn't been sufficiently explained to the public. This is the biggest bailout in history, something we're all going to have to live with for ... well, the rest of our lives, and we're letting a dismal failure of a Congress gin it up over a weekend?

To better understand what's really happening, I went to one of the best and most prescient economic minds in America, NYU prof/guru Nouriel Roubini.

Roubini agrees there needs to be a meaningful government plan but calls this one a "disgrace" and a "bailout of reckless bankers, lenders and investors that provides little direct debt relief to borrowers and financially stressed households and that will come at a very high cost to the US taxpayer."

A bit more:

And the plan does nothing to resolve the severe stress in money markets and interbank markets that are now close to a systemic meltdown. It is pathetic that Congress did not consult any of the many professional economists that have presented ... alternative plans that were more fair and efficient and less costly ways to resolve this crisis. This is again a case of privatizing the gains and socializing the losses; a bailout and socialism for the rich, the well-connected and Wall Street. And it is a scandal that even Congressional Democrats have fallen for this Treasury scam that does little to resolve the debt burden of millions of distressed home owners.

To read Roubini's entire post, and I strongly recommend it, click here.

This thing needs to be reworked before any vote takes place. Where are our esteemed members of Congress? Where's the always-disappointing Ron Klein? Where's the always-yapping Debbie Wasserman-Schultz? Where's Obama? Where's McCain? Where is one goddamn leader in this stinking country?

I'll tell you where our politicians are: they're cowering in a corner. They're all afraid to stall this thing because they're afraid the market will crash and they'll be blamed and their political careers will be finished. Paulson and Bernanke stoked these fears and it worked like a charm.

Tomorrow looks to be a replay of the 2002 Iraq vote. Think about it. Congress gave Bush carte blanche power to invade because they were afraid it would happen anyway and they fell for the neocons' bullshit, namely that the Iraqis would be greeted as liberators and everyone who was opposed to it would be drummed out of politics. This bailout thing has exactly the same feel.

Where the hell is Hillary Clinton? She plays tough on TV, but she's just another craven politician when it comes to the big stuff (including Iraq). She's never going to be president if she doesn't grow a pair (pardon the metaphor). At least Obama has a presidential campaign to lose as a lame excuse for his weakness.

Tomorrow is a day that John McCain could reverse course and actually win the election. If he steps up and puts the brakes on this thing and demands some of the same measures proposed by Roubini and other top economists, he will immediately leap-frog Obama. This may be one chance for him not only to do the right thing, but also to render a master political stroke. C'mon John, revive the maverick.

The first debate is in the books. Thought Barack Obama opened sort of weak but by the end completely owned John McCain. In a nutshell, Obama was big, McCain was small. I watched on CNN and kept an eye on the green Independent voter reaction line. Most of the debate, it was pretty flat for both candidates, but by the last half-hour, the line indicated that independents were enamored with Obama; it rose steadily every time he talked. Conversely, it began dropping every time McCain spoke. So I had backup for my belief that Obama won the debate.

All the talking heads, though, seemed like they'd been watching a different debate -- they acted like it was a draw, with McCain having a strong performance.

Then the instant polls started coming out and both CBS and CNN showed a big win for Obama. So I wasn't crazy after all.

As a preview to the next big debate, I give you Sarah Palin on the bailout during her Katie Couric interview. It's scarier than anything going on in the world economy.

For more horror:

The reporters and other newsroom employees up for the third round of buyouts will be notified of their fate this afternoon, according to sources.

A total of 19 staffers are expected to get their final notices today. Among those on the list: Talk of the Town Columnist Joan Fleischman (a Pulp favorite) and reporters Oscar Corral, Lisa Arthur, Matthew Pinzur, Erika Beras, Natalie McNeal, and Features writer Desonta Holder. Also leaving are Neighborhoods editor Carolyn Guniss and photographers Ronna Gradus and Lissette Elguezabal.

Most of you will recognize the name of Corral, who stirred a huge controversy when he wrote about Cuban reporters taking money from Radio Marti, a federally funded propaganda source. He also made some unwanted news after a bit of trouble with the law last year.

Pinzur is causing quite a stir right now as well, since he's taken a $115,000 job with Miami-Dade County, the agency he covered as a reporter. It's pretty disgusting actually. Read this Miami New Times story to see why.

Remember, these names are not official, but they have either put in for a buyout voluntarily, as I'm told was the case with Fleischman, or their hand has been forced to accept one. Will update this post as info arrives.

UPDATE: Okay, Anders Gyllenhaal has addressed the troops in an email. He writes that ten staffers volunteered for the buyout and five open position are being terminated. The newspaper is laying off five more full-time staffers and four part-timers. That brings the number of people losing their jobs to 19. Here's the email:

From: "Gyllenhaal, Anders - Miami" Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2008 To: ".MIA Newsroom" Conversation: Newsroom update.... Subject: Newsroom update.... The work on the staff reductions announced 10 days ago is near completion. Everyone affected has been notified, so here is an outline of where things stand. Ten members of the staff volunteered for the buyouts and five positions will be accounted for by existing vacancies. This places the number of layoffs required from the newsroom at five full-time and four part-time positions. The list of those leaving the paper will be available in each department from department heads, since some of those affected asked that their names not be put on a public list. But it's important that everyone know the details, so department heads can go over the plans and answer questions. In most cases, the last day of work will be next Friday, Oct. 3. But as was the case in June, in a couple of instances the departure dates will be pushed back to enable ongoing projects to be completed. The reductions are spread fairly evenly across all departments and disciplines. Three are in Metro; two in photo; one and a half in features, Broward and online; and one each in Neighbors, sports, administration, copy desk, the wireroom, presentation and business, and one columnist. As we talked about in the staff meetings, the newsroom will face a small number of additional reductions next year. The reason for the delay is to give us time to take a more methodical approach. Rather than simply lose more resources outright, are there some new ideas we should consider? With several months to work on this, we'll be able to take a longer look and involve a broader group. It is also hoped that some portion of these position will come from attrition, which has been running high this year. While it's not likely attrition would cover all the positions, it will help to reduce that number, which is part of the goal. If you have questions about any element of this, talk with your editor, with me or with Ali. Thank you all for your focus, your professionalism and hard work through this difficult stretch.

Like John McCain, I'm no great expert on the economy, but I have this message for Congress:

Make sure to use your leverage; demand that the government gets some on the back end in case of a recovery; see to it that executive packages are severely limited; negotiate in a tough way and make sure we have total oversight ...

And then vote for the bailout. Quickly.

I say this not because I like the idea of the $700 billion bailout (and if you think it's going to be limited to $700 billion, then I got a bridge in Alaska to sell you). I hate it. I hate the idea of bailing out the same greedhead criminal Wall Street goons that put us into this mess. We shouldn't let them slink off with their multi-million dollar bonuses sitting in their bank accounts; we should arrest them and put them in prison. Malfeasance, fraud, racketeering -- throw the book at them.

But don't let your anger at them keep you from saving yourself. The fact is that this bailout isn't really for them; it's for us. The banking system IS the economy. The banks go down, we go down, and we all know it won't be pretty if that happens. You know all that money you think you have in the bank or in the money markets or in CDs or bonds? It's not there. It doesn't exist. It's, drum roll please, debt. And right now it's toxic debt. The whole system is a little more than a scheme based on all of us playing along. If the system is shattered, well, we're not talking about mere tough times anymore. We're talking about ... man, I don't even want to get into it. You can dream up your own Mad Max future.

Don't think that this crisis is made up; it's real as hell. The financial system is truly racing off a cliff. Because I try to listen to the smartest people I can find, people like Jack McCabe and Nouriel Roubini, I've known this was coming for months and, if you ask my wife, she'll tell you I've been talking about it. Too much. When I wrote about it in March, I thought then we might be headed for a depression rather than just a recession. Now I think we're on the verge of calamity. Hell, I'm not even going to tell you what I've been thinking; it won't help the situation at all. I'll just say that we're in it. Deep.

Washington Mutual went down last night. That's not something made up by that lying sociopathic son of a bitch Hank Paulson. I trust "Helicopter" Ben Bernanke a little bit more, though he was incredibly slow on the take in this crisis. I'm not sure there was anything that could have saved our national house of cards from crashing, though. Our irresponsible credit-based economy has been heading for this crisis for a quarter century. It unfortunately began accelerating at a wild rate when Bush got in the White House. In fact, you can characterize Bush's first term as a classic blowout top of an enormous bubble. The banks went wild with greed and there was no responsible adult hand at the wheel. Now it's careening toward the edge of a steep cliff.

Think of the bailout as a slamming on of the brakes. That's all. It's not going to cure the underlying problems -- it's going to save the economy a spectacular death. We're still going to be skidding to the precipice, only a lot more slowly. Will it work? Don't know, but it will buy us some time. It will at least give us a chance, however slim, to get through this thing without finding out some things about ourselves and our society that we never wanted to know.

From sources: State Attorney Michael Satz just called a staff meeting during which he told all the prosecutors that the SAO is working under a budgetary shortfall and that, rather than cut 20 jobs, all prosecutors in the office will lose nine days of pay over the next year. To put that into math that I can understand, that amounts to an $1800 pay cut for a prosecutor making $52,000.

The prosecutors are losing five paid holidays and are being forced to take an unpaid Friday during the months of November, March, May, and June. They don't have to work those days, either.

The news was greeted with glum faces and general dissatisfaction, as prosecutors already complain they are overworked and underpaid. Dockets will likely only get more backed up, cases will face further delays, etc. More than 40 positions remain unfilled, according to sources, and most assistant state attorneys are taking work home with them on nights and weekends.

Also: Poynter is reporting that former Miami Herald reporter Tania deLuzuriaga has resigned from the Boston Globe following the scandal involving an alleged affair with Miami school official Albert Carvalho.

The following is from Hallandale Beach Blog regarding an apparent hissy fit by Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper at last night's commission meeting. Cooper apparently stormed off the dais while arguing about the budget with Commissioner Keith London, whose voice was piped in on telephone.

Unfortunately, the following is a great example of the weakness of so many citizen blogs -- it's dominated by opinion with only a few facts tossed in. The blogger, David Bruce Smith, does promise more context in a post for later today, thankfully. And he does find a way to work in the word "sclerotic," and for that, I must give props.

Wednesday night's Hallandale Beach City Commission meeting captured mayor Joy Cooper at her absolute brazen worst: by turns condescending, accusative, arrogant, sneering, abrasive and totally full of her bullying self, once again over-playing her hand.

Naturally, as this observer has seen on far too many occasions over the past few years, the mayor, as is her established custom, tried to turn the events into one where she could try to play the 'victim card' as well.
"I take offense at..."

She never really quites pulls off the victim card, though, because more often than not, Cooper is the aggressive bully, upset that people are remaining independent and not bending to her will.

It was all so unseemly and un-necessary, yet it's representative of why Hallandale Beach needs fresh faces of reform come November to prevent the continuing sense of democratic decay under the older, sclerotic members, who are not only not friends of government reform, accountability, transparency and increased citizen participation in city business, but are, by their own recorded votes, their sworn enemy.

They are the very portrait of status quo for the well-connected and the well-heeled in this community, who like things done one way - their way!