Palm Beach County business leaders lift Mitt Romney's super PAC

In the months before Mitt Romney's resounding victory in Tuesday's Florida presidential primary, Palm Beach County business leaders threw their financial support behind the former Massachusetts governor.

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Palm Beach County business leaders lift Mitt Romney's super PAC

Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County business leaders lift Mitt Romney's super PAC

Richard Graulich/The Palm Beach Post

Mitt Romney, speaking at a recent rally in West Palm Beach, has long-standing relationships with local business leaders William Koch, Marc Leder, Rodger Krouse and others.
By Jeff Ostrowski

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Updated: 12:15 a.m. Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012

Posted: 6:41 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012

In the months before Mitt Romney's resounding victory in Tuesday's Florida presidential primary, Palm Beach County business leaders threw their financial support behind the former Massachusetts governor.

Fully $1.5 million – nearly 5 percent – of the $30.2 million raised by a pro-Romney “super” political action committee in 2011 came from Palm Beach County donors, according to financial disclosures released last week.

No other super PAC garnered more than $5,000 from Palm Beach County contributors, according to a Palm Beach Post analysis of campaign finance filings.

Super PACs are a controversial new force in presidential politics. A candidate can accept no more than $2,500 per donor for an election, but super PACs are separate from candidates and can raise limitless sums from individuals, corporations and labor unions, and they can spend unlimited amounts to defend or attack a candidate.

Palm Beach billionaire William Koch is the biggest local supporter of the pro-Romney super PAC, Restore Our Future. His Oxbow Carbon of West Palm Beach donated $750,000, and Koch himself wrote a check for $250,000, making him responsible for $1 million of the $1.5 million given to the Romney super PAC by Palm Beach County donors.

“We believe Mitt Romney is more supportive of business and industry than Barack Obama, and certainly our industry,” Oxbow spokesman Brad Goldstein said.

Oxbow is a privately held energy company. Its operations include coal mines.

Longtime ties to Romney

Romney is hardly the only Republican to criticize Obama for what conservatives consider an anti-capitalism bent, but Oxbow hasn't contributed to other contenders for this year's GOP nomination.

Goldstein said Oxbow supports Romney because of Koch's long-standing ties to the candidate. Romney and Koch have known each other for decades, and Oxbow's chief financial officer once worked at Bain Capital, the Boston private equity fund co-founded by Romney.

Over the years, Oxbow and Koch have proven omnivorous donors, supporting not just Republicans but also such Democrats as Hillary Clinton and Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.

“We're nonpartisan,” Goldstein said. “If you want to put a letter after us, you can't put an R and you can't put a D. You can put a B for business.”

While Koch was the most generous supporter of the pro-Romney PAC in 2011, other wealthy Palm Beach County residents also ponied up. Marc Leder and Rodger Krouse, the co-founders of Sun Capital Partners, a private equity firm in Boca Raton, each gave $125,000 to Restore Our Future.

Like Koch, the Sun Capital founders have a long relationship with Romney. The New York Times reported last month that Romney's success at Bain Capital inspired Leder and Krouse to launch their private equity fund. And in 2000, Sun Capital bought Bain Capital's stake in JTech Communications of Boca Raton.

The other Palm Beach County contributors to the Romney super PAC were Darlene Jordan of Palm Beach, who gave $100,000; Peter Sudler of Tequesta, $100,000; and B/E Aerospace, a publicly traded maker of airplane interiors based in Wellington, $50,000.

“I truly believe that he's the only person in the race who can beat Barack Obama in the general election,” Jordan said.

Two other donors to the Romney super PAC have strong ties to Palm Beach County, though they don't list Palm Beach County addresses on campaign finance forms. Real estate developer and Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross, who owns a home in Palm Beach, gave $100,000. Michael Moran, partner at Boca Raton private equity fund Brockway Moran & Partners, contributed $20,000.

The flood of contributions from deep-pocketed donors isn't playing well with good-government advocates.

“We don't know who will win in November, but the latest round of campaign finance reports shows 'we the people' are already running far behind 'we the 1 percent,' ” said Bob Edgar, president of Common Cause, a nonprofit watchdog group.

Hollywood helps Obama

Though the super PAC that supports President Obama hasn't raised money in Palm Beach County, it has received big donations from wealthy liberals and labor groups. Hollywood mogul Jeffrey Katzenberg contributed $2 million last year to Priorities USA. The Service Employees International Union gave $1 million.

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Palm Beach Post: Palm Beach County business leaders lift Mitt Romney's super PAC

Plan for mega-casinos dies in Florida House

TALLAHASSEE — A statewide television ad campaign, glitzy architectural renderings — even the promise of thousands of jobs — couldn't change the political odds this year against the resort casino bill in Tallahassee.

House sponsor Erik Fresen, R-Miami, abruptly pulled the bill from consideration on Friday, when it was clear that the House committee hearing it for the first time wasn't going to deliver the votes for passage. Proponents will have to wait until 2013 to try again.

“To be disappointed would (mean) that I had expectations of incredible victory on this bill,'' he said after conceding “it's dead for the year.”

The not-unexpected defeat of the plan to build three $2 billion mega casinos in Miami-Dade and Broward “was not about policy,'' said Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, a Fort Lauderdale Republican and Senate sponsor of the bill. “It was about politics.”

Politics came in the form of intense pressure from powerful industry groups like the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, who opposed the arrival of out-of-state casino companies and the damage they claimed it would cause Florida's tourism industry.

It came from local business owners, the Seminole Tribe and South Florida's racetrack-casino operators who feared they couldn't compete with the hotels, restaurants, casinos and convention centers subsidized with the mega resort's casino cash.

And it came from community leaders, like Miami businessman Norman Braman, who opened his checkbook for the No Casinos effort, and Grace Solares, a neighborhood activist in Miami who appeared before the House subcommittee Friday and condemned the proposal as an “insidious disease.”

“Do not wash your hands like Pontius Pilate did,'' Solares told the House Business and Consumer Affairs and subcommittee. “Do your duty. Stop it now.”

But the biggest blow, Bogdanoff said, was the lost opportunity to use the bill as a way to tighten Florida's porous gambling regulations and reduce what she considers the proliferation of predatory gambling.

The House bill would have created a State Gaming Control Board, shut down slot-machine look-alikes at Internet Cafes, revoke dormant pari-mutuel permits and buy back the permits of low-performing horse and dog tracks.

“It's sad that the House would shut it down in the first committee and not let the debate continue,'' she said.

Dan Adkins, head of Mardi Gras Casino and Racetrack in Hollywood, Fla., said the pari-mutuels would have supported the bill if racetrack-casinos were given the same Las Vegas games as the resort casinos. The defeat, he said, now “levels the playing field and gives us an opportunity to regroup and try to bring this issue back in the right manner next year.''

Jessica Hoppe, general counsel for Genting's Resorts World Miami, which has already invested nearly $1 billion in real estate for a prospective casino, said the company would “regroup” and keep fighting.

“We obviously know this is an issue for Florida that does not end today,'' she said.

Genting has explored bypassing the Legislature and conducting a statewide petition drive to bring a referendum on the ballot in 2014 that would allow Miami-Dade and Broward counties to approve resort casinos. According to the Florida Division of Elections, they have not yet officially formed the required political committee to collect signatures to start the long process.

“Bring it on,'' said Dan Gelber, consultant for No Casinos and a former state senator from Miami Beach. “Let them come in with huge amounts of money. People will have the good sense to know this is a sucker's bet.”

With the demise of the resort casino bill, legislators are turning their attention to the expansion of gambling in smaller measures across the state and raising questions about what impact they will have on the state's revenue-sharing agreement with the Seminole Tribe.

Under the tribal compact, the tribe has the exclusive right to operate slot machines outside of Miami-Dade and Broward or it can without payments to the state. This year, the tribe is set to pay $233 million.

In the last six months, a barrel racing track has opened in Gadsden County and voters have approved installing slot machines. More than 1,000 Internet cafes are in operation throughout the state, operating slot-machine like games under a loophole in state law. State regulators have issued a summer jai alai permit under another loophole in the law that could open the door to another slot machine permit in Miami-Dade. And a bill to revoke the requirement that dog tracks with poker rooms no longer have to race dogs was broadened to include a provision that allows counties to ask voters for permission to operate slot machines at local horse and dog tracks.

Pinellas County became the latest county to consider a referendum, following a request by Derby Lane dog track. It will discuss a resolution on the issue at its County Commission meeting on Tuesday. Voters in Gadsden and Washington counties have already approved referendums allowing slot machines to be operated at their horse and dog tracks, and Palm Beach, Brevard and Lee counties have announced referendums are underway as well.

“I have been saying for months, if nothing happens within the next five years, we will become the No. 1 gambling state in the nation,'' Bogdanoff said. “And it's not the kind of gambling we want.”

Times staff writer David DeCamp contributed to this report.

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Plan for mega-casinos dies in Florida House

As bill dies, future of mega-casinos remains uncertain

TALLAHASSEE — A statewide television ad campaign, glitzy architectural renderings — even the promise of thousands of jobs — couldn’t change the political odds this year against the resort casino bill in Tallahassee.

House sponsor Erik Fresen abruptly pulled the bill from consideration on Friday, when it was clear that the House committee hearing it for the first time wasn’t going to deliver the votes for passage. Proponents will have to wait until 2013 to try again.

“To be disappointed would [mean] that I had expectations of incredible victory on this bill,’’ he said after conceding “it’s dead for the year.”

The not-unexpected defeat of the plan to build three $2 billion mega casinos in Miami Dade and Broward “was not about policy,’’ said Sen. Ellyn Bogdanoff, a Fort Lauderdale Republican and Senate sponsor of the bill. “It was about politics.”

Politics came in the form of intense pressure from powerful industry groups like the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association, who opposed the arrival of out-of-state casino companies and the damage they claimed it would cause Florida’s tourism industry.

It came from local business owners, the Seminole Tribe and South Florida’s racino operators who feared they couldn’t compete with the hotels, restaurants, casinos and convention centers subsidized with the mega resort’s casino cash.

And it came from community leaders, like Miami businessman Norman Braman, who opened his checkbook for the No Casinos effort, and Grace Solares, a neighborhood activist in Miami who appeared before the House subcommittee Friday and condemned the proposal as an “insidious disease.”

“Do not wash your hands like Pontius Pilate did,’’ Solares told the House Business and Consumer Affairs and subcommittee. “Do your duty. Stop it now.”

But the biggest blow, Bogdanoff said, was the lost opportunity to use the bill as a way to tighten Florida’s porous gambling regulations and reduce what she considers the proliferation of predatory gambling.

The House bill would have created a State Gaming Control Board, shut down slot-machine look-alikes at Internet Cafes, revoke dormant pari-mutuel permits and buy-back the permits of low-performing horse and dog tracks.

“It’s sad that the House would shut it down in the first committee and not let the debate continue,’’ she said.

Dan Adkins, head of Mardi Gras Casino and Racetrack in Hollywood, said the pari-mutuels would have supported the bill if racinos were given the same Las Vegas games as the resort casinos. The defeat, he said, now “levels the playing field and gives us an opportunity to regroup and try to bring this issue back in the right manner next year.’’

Jessica Hoppe, general counsel for Genting’s Resorts World Miami, which has already invested nearly $1 billion in real estate for a prospective casino, said the company would “regroup” and keep fighting.

“We obviously know this is an issue for Florida that does not end today,’’ she said.

Genting has explored bypassing the Legislature and conducting a statewide petition drive to bring a referendum on the ballot in 2014 that would allow Miami Dade and Broward counties to approve resort casinos. According to the Florida Division of Elections, the company has not yet formed the required political committee to collect signatures to start the long process.

Mary Ellen Klas can be reached at meklas@MiamHerald.com and on Twitter @MaryEllenKlas

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As bill dies, future of mega-casinos remains uncertain

Lojeta Group Launches Second Positano Brand Luxury Condo Project on Hollywood Beach, Florida

HOLLYWOOD, FL–(Marketwire -02/03/12)- The Lojeta Group, the successful development firm behind the highly-anticipated Margaritaville Resort on Hollywood Beach, Florida, has announced its newest luxury condo project called Positano Beach. Located on the famed Hollywood Beach Broadwalk and styled after the community of Positano, Italy, Positano Beach joins the Villas of Positano to create an exclusive boutique Mediterranean-style community fronting the Atlantic Ocean.

“Due to the overwhelming success of the Villas of Positano, we are thrilled to move forward with our second project,” said Lon Tabatchnick, president of the Lojeta Group. “As buyers of the Villas have experienced, some backyard views are better than others.”

The Villas of Positano's sold-out sales success has driven significant pre-sale inquiries for Positano Beach. Similar to the first property, the Lojeta Group has seen interest from people looking to relocate from suburban neighborhoods in South Florida and from those living in the Northeast U.S. looking for a first or second home in the Sunshine State.

Directly adjoining the Villas of Positano, Positano Beach is designed for 15 spacious, well-appointed residences starting at 3,200 square feet. Positano Beach residences feature imported marble and granite accents, balconies with breathtaking views of the sand and surf, and state-of-the-art home management systems. Residents will have access to full-service amenities shared with its sister property, including full-time concierge and valet service and the pool and fitness facility. Other plans include two single family homes, the completion of a marina and a second elevated deck with private cabanas overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Located between Miami and Fort Lauderdale, exceptional dining, entertainment and shopping options are easily accessible by car or a short beach stroll.

“It is a great honor to be part of the next phase of Positano,” said Bobby Auerbach, the sales agent behind the sellout of the Villas of Positano. “The Lojeta Group already has a phenomenal success story behind the Positano brand. I am excited to have the privilege to capitalize on that and deliver continued success.”

The Positano Beach sales office is located in The Villas of Positano at 3501 North Ocean Drive, Hollywood Florida. Please call 954-547-3600 for more information or visit www.villaofpostiano.com.

About Lojeta Group and Millennium Homes

The Lojeta Group is diverse, very successful and highly respected family owned real estate development firm. Focused on developing and investing in high quality large-scale opportunities, the Lojeta Group has completed 20,000 homes, 10,000 rental apartments and 1,000,000 square feet of commercial space since its inception in 1985. In addition to residential real estate, the firm is also developing Margaritaville Hollywood Beach Resort in Hollywood, Florida. For more information, please visit www.lojeta.com.

For more than 50 years, Millennium Homes has been building communities nationwide to the highest standard of quality and design. Builders of communities that bring people together Millennium has completed over 100 communities nationwide. For more information, please visit www.millenniumhomes.com

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Lojeta Group Launches Second Positano Brand Luxury Condo Project on Hollywood Beach, Florida

Twitter Is Now The Most Important Part Of The NFL Viewing Experience [Video]

Drew Magary's Thursday Afternoon NFL Dick Joke Jamboroo runs every Thursday during the NFL season. Buy Drew's book, The Postmortal, through here. Find more of his stuff at his Twitter feed. Image by Jim Cooke.

For various reasons, I had to watch all of the divisional playoff games and the conference championships on the DVR, going on a Twitter blackout while the action was happening in real time. And I don't know if this is true for everyone else, but I feel completely naked watching a game without Twitter now. I need it for the complete game experience. Not only do I need inane live commentary for the game on my TV, but I now require a second layer of inane commentary on top of that first layer of inane commentary.

When they cut to Jim Harbaugh on the sidelines two weeks ago and there was a fucking Aerosmith roadie standing behind him, I had to strangle myself to stay away from Twitter and not add to the steaming, fetid pile of 60 million jokes about him that had surely already been made. That's how fucked my brain is now. I have this miraculous technology that allows me to watch a full game any time I see fit. And when I decide to use it, I lament the fact that it precludes me from using another piece of miraculous technology that allows me to tell the world OMG LOOGIT THAT ASSHOLE'S MULLET LULZ.

But that's how important Twitter has become to the sports fan experience. If you watch a game live, and you glance occasionally at Twitter and see that other people noticed the same thing you noticed, or made a perfect DERP joke about Billy Cundiff, it's a great thing. It completely overshadows the commentary you get on your TV, reducing it to ambient noise, and that's a good thing when Jaws and Gruden are the analysts. I've spent my whole life hating announcers. With Twitter, I can render them completely irrelevant. Having Twitter during a football game means you get the gametime commentary you always dreamed of. In my case: I always dreamed of a gametime commentary filled with swearing and cowardly name-calling. And at last it's MINE! Hooray! WOOHOO! HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY!

The knock on Twitter is that people use it to draw attention to themselves. That it's a fat loser's way of substituting for real human contact. But I don't feel that way about Twitter at all. There are certain times in life when you can't be with your friends, either due to familial or work obligations or any number of other factors. There are certain times when you can't watch a football game with perfect company. Ah, but with Twitter, you can. It puts you in a virtual bleacher section filled with everyone you like. You could even say it adds to that corny notion of sports as community, but I won't because I hate that shit. All I'll say is that Twitter makes watching sports more fun. In fact, it makes many things much more fun to watch: political debates, award shows, movies that always end up trending because they're playing on BET, etc. In fact, Twitter often flips the script on these events. When I watch the Oscars, I don't actually watch them. I watch TWITTER, and then periodically check the Oscars to see if Kirk Douglas dropped dead on stage.

And so when I watch the Super Bowl on Sunday, I'll be watching that shit LIVE, checking out feeds and taking note whenever Darren Rovell says something retarded. It's a fucked-up way of watching sports, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

The Games
All games in the Jamboroo are evaluated for sheer watchability on a scale of 1 to 5 Throwgasms. And during the playoffs, I pick the games, because why not.

Five Throwgasms

Giants (+2.5) 30, Patriots 20. Much as I dislike the Patriots, I'm really glad we didn't get a second Harbaugh Bowl. You didn't want a second Harbaugh Bowl. OMG! THEY'RE BROTHERS! Yeah no, that means NOTHING. They could be Siamese twins and I still wouldn't give a shit.

By the way, if a pair of Siamese twins play football, do they count as two players on the field? This question was probably answered in Stuck On You, but I never bothered to watch it because it sucked. Anyway, Giants win. And when they do, please take a moment to remember this Bill Simmons NUGGET:

I planned to start my column with a scene from the Patriots' postgame party. Through some mutual friends, I had arranged to hang out with Brady's crew for what promised to be a laid-back celebration in somebody's hotel room, probably no more than 15-20 people since Brady's circle is surprisingly and refreshingly small. Because it was a rare chance to catch Brady in an unguarded moment — and an important moment at that — I spent most of Friday and Saturday thinking about that first paragraph and all the different ways it could start. I kept seeing Brady sitting in a chair with his right ankle encased in ice, quietly sipping a bottle of champagne with a satisfied smile on his face, and Gisele would be there, and everyone would be recapping 19-0 and remembering the incredible season. I liked the thought of a famous person celebrating a historic night in such a totally normal and relatable way.

Partying in a hotel suite with Gisele. TOTALLY RELATABLE, YOU GUYS. I hope that little ball-gargling soiree is ruined for the second time in five years.

Now for the random crap:

• I've had to fly a lot the past couple weeks, and I never cease to have a nervous breakdown when going to retrieve my shit from the conveyor belt in the security line. I can't decide between putting my belt and shoes and watch back on while in line, or trying to gather up all that loose shit and bring it to a metal table nearby to do it in peace. If you choose to do it while in line, it's horrible. All this other shit comes flying out of the belt, and knocking your shit further down, and you have to hop along on one shoe to keep up with it, and more and more people come by to grab stuff and you feel like the slowest person in the world and you're just like CAN YOU PEOPLE PLEASE JUST GIVE ME A MOMENT?! That's the worst part of going to the airport.

• I also get very pissy when I'm putting all my crap onto the conveyor belt, and I get to the mouth of the belt, and suddenly the belt reverses for a second and pushes my stuff back. FUCK YOU, BELT. You can at least ask before you go ramming my suitcase back into my little shoe tray. That shit ain't right.

• I got the small plane the other day. That's always a kick in the nuts, when you're expecting a REAL plane like a 737, and you look out on the tarmac and you see the seaplane from Raiders of the Lost Ark. That's a miserable flight. Everyone who rides in a tiny plane should get a free parachute.

• I was in L.A. last week, and I was eating dinner at this really old-school restaurant—the kind of restaurant where every waiter wears a red jacket and has worked there for 50 years. I'm looking at the menu and I see that they have grilled lamb kidneys. And since I try and eat like a pale imitation of Anthony Bourdain whenever possible, I decide to ask the waiter if they're worth ordering. The second I mention the kidneys to him, he begins shaking his head violently.

ME: No good?

WAITER: (points to nose)

ME: Oh, they smell? They smell like piss, do they?

At this point, the waiter leans down and whispers into my ear. And I swear to fucking God, this is what he said: “It-a smells like-a the woman's poosy.”

THEY SMELL LIKE PUSSY! I've never had a waiter be THAT specific. Clearly, I look like the kind of person to whom you can say this kind of thing. I ordered lamb chops instead.

• After dinner, I met a friend for drinks at a nearby bar, and when he walked in, he told me that he had just come from an intervention for a mutual friend. The intervention had been successful: They got the guy in a car and off to rehab in less than an hour, with no resistance at all. But we were sitting there and trying to figure out if it's appropriate to go and have a beer immediately after an intervention. I mean, you JUST told someone that they drink too much and that they need to get their shit together. And then, the second they zip off to Promises, you go and knock back a six pack? SUCH BLATANT HYPOCRISY. Anyway, we started drinking right away. I think drinking after an intervention is fine. It's if you drink BEFORE one where I think you've crossed the boundaries of good taste.

• When the Giants beat the Niners in the NFC title game, they did so by kicking the winning field goal on third down. You kick on third down so that, if there's a bad snap, you can fall on it and kick the ball again. It's a perfectly good idea, but I was wondering: Has it EVER been put into practice? Has there ever been a third-down kick attempt that went awry, forced the holder to smother the ball, and then resulted in a successful fourth-down attempt? I have NEVER seen this happen, which annoys me because I'd like to see the strategy pay off once in a while.

• There's a public aquatic center a few miles from my house. And since there was no football last weekend, and because I was bereft of other ideas, I took my kids there to go swimming in the indoor pool. The place was HUGE. There was a lap pool, a diving pool, two different hot tubs, a kiddie pool, two waterfalls, and a bigass water slide running down the wall of the complex. It would have been awesome, except for the fact that half of greater Maryland turned out that day, including a bunch of obese 50-year-old dudes wearing thick glasses who were clearly pederasts. They were sitting in the hot tub overlooking the kiddie pool the whole time, and I know damn well that they were there exclusively to ogle preschool ass. And the other kids in the pool were disgusting. One little girl nearby kept drooling into the pool. And her drool wasn't clear either. It was white. She was basically drooling a constant flow of mucus into the pool. I was horrified. Then I bumped into some other dad while swimming with my kid. Ever bump into another hairy man at a public pool? It's unpleasant. We're never going back.

• My son had his birthday a week ago and when the birthday boy has an older sibling, it's damn near impossible to keep that older sibling from opening all the presents and claiming them as their own. My daughter kept grabbing every box and I had to leap across the room to prevent her from tearing the paper and ruining everything. “What's this? Is this present for me? Can I help open it? Can I open this one then? WHY AREN'T THERE ANY PRESENTS FOR ME?! LIFE IS NOT FAIR!” Presents should be made illegal. Nothing good comes from them.

• I lost my voice two weeks ago, which I secretly enjoy. To other people, you sound sick and hungover. But in your head, you sound HUSKY and SEMI-BATMANLIKE. I spent half the day going to the bathroom and saying, “This city just showed you that it's full of people ready to believe in good!” So very manly.

• Ever accidentally fap with a lotion that contains alpha hydroxy? DO NOT. Lotion makers need to put a big red warning label on any product containing alpha hydroxy that says ALPHA HYDROXY: WILL BURN PENIS TISSUE. You shouldn't even use this on your face. It's not worth looking three years younger to smear acid all over your goddamn forehead. Women have no compunction about using these products, or getting you to try them. They burn for HOURS. It's horrible. Fuck you, alpha hydroxy.

Four Throwgasms

None.

Three Throwgasms

None.

Two Throwgasms

None.

One Throwgasm

None. No more football after this. GAHHHHHHHHHHH LIFE IS HORRIBLE.

Two Weeks Ago: 2-0 (1-1 vs. the spread)
2011 Playoff picks: 6-4 (2-8 vs. the spread).

Drew's Chili Recipe
My wife does not care for chili. This makes her an avowed Communist and an enemy of the state, but I still love her nonetheless. I made a big pot of this chili last year for the Super Bowl, like I always do, and she complained about the whole house smelling like chili. I argued that it was GOOD for a house to smell like chili for six weeks. As far as I'm concerned, that raises the real estate value of any home by ten percent. She disagreed. So this year, I'm taking my chili pot to a friend's house and making it there. I AM GOING WHERE ME AND MY CHILI WILL BE PROPERLY APPRECIATED, WOMAN.

Anyway, this recipe takes a bit of time to make, but I like it that way. I like spending Super Bowl Sunday in the kitchen, preparing a pot of chili that I will end up eating by myself at all hours of the day: for dinner, with my eggs, for lunch, on top of hot dogs, on top of spaghetti, cold out of the pot early in the morning, whenever. It's one of my favorite things to do in the world. I get so excited to eat it, you can hardly conceal my food boner. I even get excited when I go to the supermarket to buy the ingredients. Who gets a boner for canned corn? I DO.

FOR THE CHILI:
2 packs ground beef or chicken (make sure it's a fatty percentage, too lean and it turns out all dry and crumbly and you will be less than a man)
1 onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 shallot, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 can tall red kidney beans, drained
1 can corn, drained
1 can beer
1 can chicken broth
1 tsp liquid smoke
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp fennel seed
2 tbsp cumin (add more at end if necessary)
2 tbsp chili powder (add more at end if necessary)
1/4 cup white vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste
Ashes from a joint (optional)
Lotta Frank's Hot Sauce
2 glugs olive oil

FOR THE SIDES:
Shredded cheese
Tortilla chips
Sour cream
Frank's hot sauce
1 bunch scallions, chopped (As always, don't skimp on the scallions)
Beer

Put a big pot on the stove on medium. Pour in the oil. When it's hot, toss in the onions, garlic, jalapeno, and shallots and stir them around until soft. Toss in the ground meat. Salt and pepper the ground meat in the pot. Sautee the meat until it's good and brown. Add the tomatoes, beans, corn, beer, broth, liquid smoke, sugar, cumin, chili powder, fennel seed, joint ashes, vinegar, and Frank's. Bring it to a simmer. Half cover the pot and leave it on low medium heat for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally and always tasting. The liquid in the pot should reduce into a nice, thick stew. Dip in a chip to see if the chili sticks to it. If it does, it's ready to serve. Personally, I add about half a container of sour cream to my bowl. Sour cream in chili is the best goddamn thing ever.

Pregame Song That Makes Me Want To Run Through A Goddamn Brick Wall

“Millionaire,” by Queens of the Stone Age. For the Super Bowl, you stick with the classics. “I need a SAGA. What's the saga? It's Songs for the Deaf. YOU CAN'T EVEN HEAR IT.”

Embarrassing Song I Kinda Liked That Will Not Fire You Up

“Rain,” by Madonna. Madonna is your halftime show for the Super Bowl. And while you may goof on the NFL for hiring a procession of old farts for this gig, they've got nothing on Rolling Stone magazine, which goes out of its way every month to feature whatever dying musician happened to have breakfast with Jann Wenner lately. I was in the airport the other day and I saw the latest issue had David Bowie on the cover. Who the fuck is craving David Bowie news anymore? What is the fucking point of this magazine now? All they do is publish retrospectives of old Clapton albums and Matt Taibbi articles about the finance industry that will make you want to kill yourself. I'm pretty sure this magazine only remains in business because Cameron Crowe has 50,000 duplicate subscriptions.

Gregg Easterbrook Is A Haughty Dipshit

You know how much Gregggg despises those skill position glory boy-types, which is why he dedicated this week's column to handing out his annual Random Non-QB I Picked To Win MVP Award. You disgusting people in the media, who only pick up on major economic stories two weeks after TMQ unearths them, are clearly unfit to judge this award.

Most who analyze football for a living don't try to figure out what is happening in line play or coverages. TMQ keeps his eyes off the ball. Try it sometime!

I know! TMQ is the ONLY person who possesses the learnitude and mental discipline needed to look away from the ball, except for pretty much every other game analyst who will point out good blocks and other away-from-the-ball action using the Telestrator once the play is over. The rest of you are SHEEP.

Now the 2011 Tuesday Morning Quarterback Non-Quarterback Non-Running Back NFL MVP — David Diehl, left tackle of the Jersey/A Giants… On his best days Diehl is not the NFL's best left tackle.

/punches newborn calf

Everything about that passage makes me hate the universe. The pretentious award name. The fucking dipshit nickname he uses for the Giants. And then the admission that his MVP isn't even the best player at his position. But wait! Reader Dubs breaks it down even further:

“Let's put aside the subjective (not really subjective, but either way) and look at one instance where Gregg gets a basic fact wrong to prove a point that is utter bullshit.”

When New England and Jersey/A met in the regular season, David Diehl played guard partly so he could match up against Wilfork.

“Um, no. Until Will Beatty was placed on IR at the end of November, he was our starting left tackle. David Diehl was our left guard—a slot he was moved to this year because he just doesn't cut it as an OLT anymore. So during the early November game against the Pats, Diehl was at guard the whole time, and only moved back to left tackle after Beatty's injury weeks later. In Greggggggggggg's effort to boost Diehl's candidacy for his made up award, he tried to make it seem like he sacrificed his spot at left tackle to undertake the valiant responsibility of blocking Vince Wilfork. No, not true. He did not move in “partly” to guard against Wilfork. That was his position the entire game, and throughout the season to that point.”

But wait! It gets worse. A number of readers happily pointed out that Pro Football Focus said that Diehl gave up more QB pressures per snap than any other OT. I guess someone wasn't watching the action away from the ball. I guess someone was trying to pick a random OL to give this award to just so he could make himself look super smart and attain a bit of, dare I say, GLORY?!

This year's NFC Pro Bowl choices at offensive tackle are Jerome Bushrod, Jason Peters and Joe Staley. They're all top performers but consider their starts — Peters has started 98 games, Staley has started 68 games, Bushrod has started 49 games. Diehl has performed at a high level significantly longer than any of them.

Oh, so he played LONGER. Well then, let's give him the 2011 MVP based on longevity. This is the exact kind of thinking that nabbed Michael Caine an Oscar for Cider House Rules.

(Mitt) Romney gave away $3 million while keeping $15 million for himself. Judged by the numbers, Romney thought his own luxury was five times more important than helping the poor, the arts, schools and churches.

Listen, I'm a dirty librul hippie who would never vote for Mitt Romney, but are you shitting me? This man gave THREE MILLION to charity. That's a lot. If he gives the poor $3 million and happens to have an extra $15 million leftover to spend on jet skis and shit, MORE POWER TO HIM. It's his money, and therefore his personal choice to give away how much of it he sees fit. It doesn't make him a bad person if he gives away less than you think he ought to. It makes YOU a judgmental shitbox. This isn't like calculating a tip. You shouldn't have to give away X percent of your money just to make Gregggggg Easterbrook happy. How much money did YOU give away last year, you dick? I bet it wasn't $3 million.

By the way, Gregg would also like to appoint himself secretary of weights and measures:

On NBC's “Sunday Night Football,” a graphic described a play as gaining “26.9 yards.” A tenth of a yard is less than four inches.

So? Four inches is a visible measurement.

Steve Chaggaris of Washington notes this absurdity: “On his 16 dropbacks, [Matt] Stafford's average release time was 2.07 seconds … Tom Brady's was a very respectable 2.37.” Boston Globe reporters can measures hundredths of seconds?

Yes. With a stopwatch. Grittier reporters measure only in fourscores.

Newt Gingrich's statement last week, while campaigning in Florida's Space Coast region, that if he becomes president, “we will have the first permanent base on the moon” by the year 2020, should be regarded as political blather.

Phew! Thank God you clarified that! The rest of us thought that claim was totally legit until now! I'm also told that Newt enjoyed The Dark Knight, which of course means that America is doomed. Did you know that TDK was once featured in the ARTS section of the New York Times? GODFREY DANIEL!

Vernon Davis, Justin Smith, Joe Staley and Patrick Willis. This team is loaded with impact players — a good sign for the Niners in 2012.

All of those players are former first round picks and make lots of money. Sounds to me like the Squared Sevens have Crabtree Cursed themselves into mediocrity.

Nazi Shark's Vegas Lock Of The Week
Lots of sports sites, to demonstrate the arbitrary nature of gambling, like to have animals like monkeys pick games to see if they can outwit their human counterparts. There's no reason we at Deadspin can't also get in on the fun. So we've asked National Socialist German Workers' Party member Rolf, who also happens to be a shark, to pick one game a week. Take it away, Nazi shark.

“This week, I like the Pats giving 2.5 points against the Giants. Time for me to point out a random news item concerning Jews and/or Nazis and then make a joke based upon that… WHOA HEY WAIT A SECOND WHAT'S GOING ON?!…”

OH FUCK! Nazi Shark is dead! Forever and ever! You know who I blame for letting his killer get by? David Diehl.

I'm gonna have to find a new racist animal to pick these games next season. My money is on Marxist Meerkat.

2011 Nazi Shark Record: 10-9 (1-2 playoffs).

Great Moments In Varmint Killing History
Reader Anders sends in this story I call RATMAN.

So about 2 years ago I moved into the downstairs apt of a two story house (3 bedrooms 1 bath upstairs/1 bedroom 1 bath down). My dad and my aunt own the building, and right before I moved in my dad had told me about the girls upstairs having trouble with mice cause they were letting their food stay out. Conscious of this, I tried my drunken best not to leave any food out when I fell asleep at night, but a few times I would forget and I'd wake up with the half a Pop Tart I didn't finish severely nibbled by what I thought to be mice teeth. My dad, in his wisdom, had left me 2 small mouse traps and one large trap just in case of this problem.

Now, these aren't your modern day “rats are people too” traps that keep the fuckers alive so you can repopulate them to the disgusting city streets from which they came, but rather the old school kind that snap their fucking necks like twigs when they try to get at that yummy yummy peanut butter left smeared there. I start out leaving the small traps out at night when I go to bed, thinking no problem, I'll kill these fuckers and that's that. HELL NO! I'm lying in bed and I hear the trap go off, followed by a squeal, then scrabbling feet. I rush out of my room and no dead rat. “Well fuck me” I think, “looks like it's gonna take the big boy trap.” The next night I leave out the small ones and the big one, which is fucking huge and could kill one of those giant rainforest rat monsters, and drift into blissful sleep with my bedroom door slammed shut.

The next morning, one small trap and the big trap have been set off with not dead rat to show. I'm now certain I'm dealing with the biggest rat man has ever known. A few more days of this and still no dead rat, but the traps are definitely going off. I'm very weirded out, but still going about my daily business, which includes butt naked pooping. So I'm sitting on my toilet, taking one of these nice relaxing naked poops, when suddenly a fucking creature comes running roadrunner style past me! I immediately leap from the toilet, naked with shit in my ass, and begin chasing this creature into my bedroom, where I hear it burrowing into some clothes stashed into the corner. Slowly creeping forward, with a hammer in hand, I throw the clothes back to discover a fucking adolescent possum scared as fuck staring at me. We both freeze. He looks into my soul & sprints behind my mattress.

I try to coax the little fucker out with some peanut butter on bread, thinking perhaps I can tame him and make him my awesome possum friend, but he's having none of that shit and snarls at me and tries to be bite! I back off and start chasing this asshole, still naked and shit covered, back through my bathroom, through the kitchen, and out the side of a hole this asshole has chewed into my pantry. Needless to say, I jammed a piece of plywood over the hole and tried to regain my sense of security in my home.

Moral of the story: if a giant fucking rat trap won't kill your mice, it's a fucking possum and it will not be your friend. Also, possums fucking love Pop Tarts.

Noted.

Fire This Asshole!
Is there anything more exciting than a coach losing his job? All year long, we'll keep track of which coaches will almost certainly get fired at year's end or sooner. And now, your potential 2011 chopping block:

• Jack Del Rio – FIRED!
• Todd Haley – FIRED!
• Tony Sparano – FIRED!
• Steve Spagnuolo – FIRED!
• Raheem Morris – FIRED!
• Hue Jackson – FIRED!
• Jim Caldwell – FIRED!
• Bill Belichick – RESIGNED?!
• Tom Coughlin – RESIGNED?!

Hey, you never know if one of them will go out on a high note. If I can get a competitive Super Bowl and a new coaching vacancy, I'll be the happiest little boy in America.

Player That Deserves To Die A Slow, Painful Death
I would say Kyle Williams, but he received ACTUAL death threats after the NFC title game, so that would be in poor taste. I think we should go ahead and put Lee Evans here, because only Lee Evans would prove worthless all season long until making the game-winning catch in the AFC title game, and then dropping that pass. That was the most Lee Evans thing ever. What a dick.

Gametime Snack Of The Week

Wings. Always wings for the Super Bowl. My mom used to always make wings for us by frying them in a shallow pan. But any time I do this, I get oil spattered all over the places and sixty grease burns on my arm. If you want to make good wings but don't feel like dealing with the mess of frying, try this: Buy a value pack of wings. Then, put them in a bowl and add olive oil and a couple tablespoons of Adobo seasoning (I like it because it has a FUCKLOAD of sodium). Toss the wings around to coat them in salty goodness, then lay them all down on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and bake it at 400 degrees until it's brown as shit. Sometimes, you go to a party and some asshole has made oven-baked wings, but he took them out early and the skin is all limp and gross. Kill that person. If you leave the wings in there for 60+ minutes or so, they'll crisp up real nice. Then, heat up a stick of butter and a bottle of Frank's in a pan, pour it over the wings, and you got yourself a Super Bowl.

Gametime Cheap Beer Of The Week

Kalik! Reader Pat sends in the official beer of the Bahamas:

Pissy? You bet. Served at Johnny Rockets? Of course. Cheap beach beer to pre-game the conference championships? No question.

Wikipedia notes that there is also a Kalik Lime flavor. PETER KING MUST HAVE IT.

According to the bottle label the name of Kalik is derived from sound of cowbells heard during the annual Bahamian festival of Junkanoo.

Would that happen to be a Dick Joke Junkanoo, by any chance?

Robert Evans' Super Bowl MVP Watch!
Time for legendary Hollywood producer Robert Evans to give us his vote for the potential Super Bowl MVP. Take it away, Mr. Evans.

“Baby, my favorite for Super Bowl MVP this year is… Victor Cruz of the Giants! I don't care at all for this expanded Best Picture race. You call those nine movies Oscar-worthy? Where are the Godfathers? Where are the Chinatowns? Where are the Cimarrons? You mean to tell me Hollywood spent billions making movies this year, and the Best Picture is gonna be some French mime festival? Disgusted? YOU BET!

“They don't even celebrate nominations the right way anymore! Nowadays, when some cheap tootsie gets nominated, they go to some bargain basement Tom Snyder and yammer on about how they were in the shower when they heard the news. BULL. In my day, you can bet that Nicholson and I waited by that phone to get those precious slots. And when we got them? WHOA BABY! You wouldn't hear from us for two weeks! It was caviar in Rome, then Champaign in Leningrad, then a leather party in Helsinki! WE DID IT RIGHT. One time, Nicholson got a nom for Best Actor, ran out to a pawn shop, bought Mickey Rooney's old Oscar statue, ran it through a wood chipper, and snorted the shavings! THAT IS HOW YOU CELEBRATE A FUCKING NOMINATION, BABY.”

Sunday Afternoon Movie Of The Week For Colts Fans

The Help. I had to watch The Help last week because my wife had read the novel and wanted to see the movie, and so I did what husbands do and reluctantly agreed. And I was ready to HATE The Help. I was ready to dismiss it as yet another bullshit Hollywood racism fable where the white people are the ones who solve everything. And then Viola Davis had to go and reduce me to a blubbering pile of shit. You is kind… you is smart… you is important… (chokes up) Oh, GOD DAMN YOU, VIOLA DAVIS. Why'd you have to go and have such gravitas? “You is smart” doesn't even make sense! That's wildly offensive! And yet here I am, bawling my eyes out because Aibileen is never gonna get to hang out with that little fat white girl again because Miss Elizabeth didn't have the GUTS to stand up to that bitch MISS HILLY! Oh, Miss Hilly. You filthy, wretched ginger whore! You will get yours. I promise you. AIN'T YOU TIRED, MISS HILLY?!

Gratuitous Simpsons Quote
“The year was 1968. We were on recon in a steaming Mekong delta. An overheated private removed his flak jacket, revealing a T-shirt with an iron-on sporting the Mad slogan Up With Mini-Skirts.

Well, we all had a good laugh, even though I didn't quite understand it. But our momentary lapse of concentration allowed Charlie to get the drop on us. I spent the next three years in a POW camp, forced to subsist on a thin stew of fish, vegetables, prawns, coconut milk, and four kinds of rice. I came close to madness trying to find it here in the States, but they just can't get the spices right.”

Enjoy the Super Bowl, everyone.

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Twitter Is Now The Most Important Part Of The NFL Viewing Experience [Video]

OpenTable Diner Reviews Reveal the 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in the U.S.

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 1, 2012 /PRNewswire/ – In anticipation of Valentine's Day, OpenTable, Inc. (NASDAQ: OPEN – News), a leading provider of free, real-time online restaurant reservations for diners and reservation and guest management solutions for restaurants, is pleased to announce the 2012 Diners' Choice Award winners for the 100 most romantic restaurants in the United States.  These awards reflect the combined opinions of nearly 5 million reviews submitted by verified OpenTable diners for more than 12,000 restaurants in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110606/MM07085LOGO )

With 30 winning restaurants serving American cuisine, it is clear that chefs are seducing OpenTable diners with local ingredients and homegrown inspiration. Naturally, reviewers also acknowledged the birthplace of fine dining by honoring 25 restaurants that serve food borne out of the kitchens of France. And Italian restaurants, which are closely associated with serving the world's most sensual foods, account for an impressive 11 award winners. Transcending cuisine, restaurants that feature shared dishes proved popular, with 16 fondue restaurants making the list. Seven steakhouses also earned kudos.

Regionally, honorees cover 31 states and Washington, D.C., with California claiming 16 spots on the list and Texas taking eight places. New York restaurants earn seven wins, while Hawaii boasts six standouts, and Nevada and Ohio take five wins apiece.  Arizona, Colorado, and Florida each count four restaurants. Also represented are Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, and Washington, among others.

“Romance means different things to different diners, and the array of restaurants on this list shows just that,” says Caroline Potter, OpenTable Chief Dining Officer. She adds, “Some couples are drawn to candlelight and roses, while others want to share the experience of eating by digging into dishes together, such as a pot of fondue or a juicy porterhouse for two. What all the winning restaurants have in common is that they continually create unique dining experiences that make every couple feel like love is in the air.”

The Diners' Choice Awards for the top 100 most romantic restaurants is generated from nearly 5 million reviews collected from verified OpenTable diners between January 2011 and December 2011.  All restaurants with a minimum number of qualifying reviews were included for consideration. Each such restaurant was then scored based on its percentage of qualifying reviews for which “romantic” was selected as a special feature.

Based on this methodology, the following restaurants, listed in alphabetical order, comprise the 100 most romantic restaurants in the U.S. according to OpenTable diners.   The complete list may also be viewed at http://www.opentable.com/romantic.

2012 Diners' Choice Award Winners for Most Romantic Restaurants in the U.S.

A Caprice – Tiburon, California
Acquerello – San Francisco, California
Addison at The Grand Del Mar – San Diego, California
Alize at the Top of the Palms Casino Resort – Las Vegas, Nevada
Andre's at the Monte Carlo Resort & Casino – Las Vegas, Nevada
Bacaro – New York, New York
Bertrand at Mister A's – San Diego, California
Bouchard Restaurant and Inn – Newport, Rhode Island
Boulevard Steakhouse – Edmond, Oklahoma
Briarhurst Manor – Manitou Springs, Colorado
Brown's Beach House – Kohala Coast, Hawaii
Cacharel Restaurant – Arlington, Texas
Cafe Central – El Paso, Texas
Cafe Renaissance – Vienna, Virginia
Canlis – Seattle, Washington
Capische – Wailea, Hawaii
Castle Falls – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
The Cellar – Fullerton, California
Chez Francois – Vermilion, Ohio
Chez Nous French Restaurant – Humble, Texas
Chez Shea – Seattle, Washington
Club A Steakhouse – New York, New York
Coach House – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Coach Insignia – Detroit, Michigan
Craftwood Inn – Manitou Springs, Colorado
Different Pointe of View – Phoenix, Arizona
The Dining Room-Biltmore Estate – Asheville, North Carolina
Eagle's Nest – Indianapolis, Indiana
Eiffel Tower – Las Vegas, Nevada
The Elkridge Furnace Inn – Elkridge, Maryland
Erminia Ristorante – New York, New York
Fearrington House Restaurant – Pittsboro, North Carolina
Fleur de Lys – San Francisco, California
French 75 Bistro – Laguna Beach, California
French Cafe – Omaha, Nebraska
The French Room – Dallas, Texas
Geja's Cafe – Chicago, Illinois
Genoa Restaurant – Portland, Oregon
Gibraltar – Miami, Florida
Glasbern Country Inn – Fogelsville, Pennsylvania
The Grill Room at the Windsor Court Hotel – New Orleans, Louisiana
The Hungry I – Boston, Massachusetts
Il Bistro – Seattle, Washington
Il Cielo Gardens Restaurant & Bar – Beverly Hills, California
Il Mulino – Chicago, Illinois
La Caille – Sandy, Utah
La Cremaillere – Bedford, New York
La Mer at Halekulani – Honolulu, Hawaii
Latitudes – Key West, Florida
L'Auberge Restaurant on Oak Creek – Sedona, Arizona
The Library Restaurant – Charleston, South Carolina
The Little Door – Los Angeles, California
Log Haven – Salt Lake City, Utah
Madrona Manor – Healdsburg, California
The Melting Pot – Larkspur, California
The Melting Pot – Atlanta, Georgia
The Melting Pot – Greenwood, Indiana
The Melting Pot – Indianapolis, Indiana
The Melting Pot – University City, Missouri
The Melting Pot – Columbus, Ohio
The Melting Pot – Dayton, Ohio
The Melting Pot – Fairview Park, Ohio
The Melting Pot – Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
The Melting Pot – Knoxville, Tennessee
The Melting Pot – Memphis, Tennessee
The Melting Pot – Arlington, Texas
The Melting Pot – Richmond, Virginia
The Melting Pot – Virginia Beach, Virginia
Michael's-South Point Casino – Las Vegas, Nevada
Michel's at the Colony Surf – Honolulu, Hawaii
Mona Lisa Fondue Restaurant – Manitou Springs, Colorado
Nana – Dallas, Texas
Nikolai's Roof – Atlanta, Georgia
The Old Warsaw – Dallas, Texas
One if by Land, Two if by Sea – New York, New York
Pamplemousse Le Restaurant – Las Vegas, Nevada
Pepper Tree Restaurant – Colorado Springs, Colorado
Plume at the Jefferson Hotel – Washington, D.C.
Quiessence Restaurant & Wine Bar – Phoenix, Arizona
Red Fish Grill – Miami, Florida
The Refectory Restaurant & Bistro – Columbus, Ohio
Restaurant Iris – Memphis, Tennessee
Ristorante Massimo – Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Riverview Restaurant – Troutdale, Oregon
Roof Restaurant – Salt Lake City, Utah
Sarento's Top of the 'I' – Honolulu, Hawaii
SASSI – Scottsdale, Arizona
Seagar's Restaurant – Destin, Florida
Second Empire Restaurant and Tavern – Raleigh, North Carolina
Shadowbrook Restaurant – Capitola, California
Sir Winston's Aboard the Queen Mary – Long Beach, California
The Sky Room – Long Beach, California
Spindletop – Houston, Texas
Stonehouse at San Ysidro Ranch – Santa Barbara, California
Tidepools – Poipu, Hawaii
Tredici Steak – New York, New York
Vernon's Hidden Valley Steakhouse – Los Ranchos De Albuquerque, New Mexico
White Barn Inn – Kennebunk, Maine
Yamashiro – Hollywood, California
Zenkichi – Brooklyn, New York

Diners can also read more about the Diners' Choice Awards for the Most Romantic Restaurants in the U.S. by visiting OpenTable Chief Dining Officer Caroline Potter's “Dining Check” blog.

About OpenTable Reviews

Originally launched in November 2008, the OpenTable Reviews program helps diners find restaurants that best fit their dining occasions.  Diners who recently honored an OpenTable reservation are invited via email to submit restaurant feedback using an online form. Visitors to OpenTable.com can access reviews for thousands of OpenTable restaurant partners across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom.  The OpenTable Reviews program has generated more than 10 million reviews by verified diners, establishing OpenTable.com as one of the largest and most trusted sources for restaurant reviews. 

About OpenTable, Inc. 

OpenTable is a leading provider of free, real-time online restaurant reservations for diners and reservation and guest management solutions for restaurants. The OpenTable network delivers the convenience of online restaurant reservations to diners and the operational benefits of a computerized reservation book to restaurants. OpenTable has more than 20,000 restaurant customers, and, since its inception in 1998, has seated more than 250 million diners around the world.  The Company is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and the OpenTable service is available throughout the United States, as well as in Canada, Germany, Japan, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. OpenTable also owns and operates toptable.com, a leading restaurant reservation site in the United Kingdom.      

OpenTable, OpenTable.com, OpenTable logos, toptable and other service names are the trademarks of OpenTable, Inc. and/or its affiliates

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OpenTable Diner Reviews Reveal the 100 Most Romantic Restaurants in the U.S.

Third of Florida's seniors have only Social Security to depend on

A third of Florida's senior Social Security recipients survive on only their monthly government checks, according to an analysis by AARP.

“I shop at thrift shops; I just got two blouses for $2 a piece,” said one 86-year-old retired television writer.

Nationwide, only 25 percent of retirees 65 and older depend solely on Social Security, the senior advocacy group said.

Advanced age has a lot to do with it.

Florida has nearly 800,000 residents 80 and older, second only to California's 1 million. But Florida's total population is half of California's. Florida alone has 3,492 centenarians receiving Social Security, nearly 7 percent of the nation's total.

“Folks have spent down their assets,” said Jeff Johnson, AARP interim director in Florida.

Floridians 80 and older are about three times as likely to depend on Social Security exclusively than retirees 67 and younger, according to U.S. Census Bureaudata analyzed by Hector Ortiz of the nonprofit National Council of Aging.

In Hollywood, Sue Badger, 86, carefully budgets her $1,051 Social Security check so it will last the entire month.

Years ago, she moved from a pool house to a smaller two-bedroom condo to cut expenses. But Badger said she had to take out a reverse mortgage on her condo in a 55+ community to pay doctor's bills, make repairs in her apartment and buy a car to replace her old one.

Still, she says she lives comfortably. Friends and family treat her with gifts. She found a private insurance company that pays for the medical care that Medicare doesn't. Her condo association allowed her to pay $100 a month to pay off a $600 special assessment, in addition to her monthly $200 maintenance fees.

Badger is one of the fortunate seniors living only on Social Security.

Thousands called 211 in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast in the last fiscal year for financial help or advice, said Patrice Schroeder, community relations specialist and public information officer for 211 in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast.

About 200 had to be helped by the agency's Elder Crisis Outreach program to avoid foreclosure, or they were moved to less expensive housing, said Schroeder. Others got into desperate situations over house repairs or condo special assessments they couldn't afford, said Schroeder.

One Palm Beach County woman in her 80s “had no running water for six months in her house,” Schroeder said. “She couldn't afford to get her plumbing fixed” until social workers found an agency that could pay for the $2,000 work.

A 70-year-old Greenacres man, who needs to use an oxygen tank, faced having his electricity cut off for nonpayment until social workers intervened.

Many other elderly residents are struggling with unexpected bills — spiraling home insurance premiums, higher property taxes and condo association fees, said Jan Bergemann, an activist who runs Cyber Citizens for Justice.

His group is trying to set up a foundation to help some elderly people stay in their condos when they don't have the money to pay special assessments.

Unexpected expenses have convinced many recent retirees to bypass Florida in favor of Arizona or the Carolinas, Bergemann said.

One retiree who just moved to South Carolina reported that his home insurance premium was cut in half, Bergemann said.

Many no longer consider Florida a haven for retirees. Kiplinger magazine doesn't include Florida in its latest report on 10 tax-friendly states for retirees. The magazine complained that sales and real estate taxes can be expensive in the Sunshine State.

Circumstances can play havoc with Florida's oldest seniors who don't have the savings to cover unexpected emergencies.

Fabienne “Faye” Adam has not lived in her condo in the Ventor “B” building of Century Village in Deerfield Beach since a fire in July 2005 forced her and owners of eight other units out. Along the way there have been lawsuits, hearings, a bankrupt insurance company, Hurricane Wilma and updated building codes — but no completed renovation.

So Adam, who will turn 81 in a couple of weeks, has to pay her mortgage plus rent an apartment while she waits for the work to be done in her condo.

Both units are costing her more than her $991 Social Security check and a $100-a-month pension, Adam said.

For now, she is dipping into the insurance settlement for her condo's contents to pay her living expenses until she can move back.

“I don't want to ask my children for help,'' Adam said.

dgehrke@tribune.com, 954-356-4404 or Twitter @donnagehrke

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Third of Florida's seniors have only Social Security to depend on

Winston, Clark & Wigand Recovers Award on Legal Malpractice Jury Verdict

Six-figure damages paid short of an appeal in December,
following a November, 2011 judgment.

Fort Lauderdale,
FL (PRWEB) January 20, 2012

Fort
Lauderdale personal injury attorney Bradley Winston of
Winston,
Clark & Wigand, P.A. (http://www.WinstonLaw.com),
announces the recovery of damages in a recent legal malpractice case
in which he represented the owner of West Sunrise Development Corporation, a
Broward County corporate shopping plaza.

“My client successfully pursued his right to claim damages in a
real estate sale, and the jury agreed that he was the victim of
legal malpractice by his original attorney when they awarded
him $550,000 plus interest and expenses,” said Mr. Winston, who
is board certified in civil trial. “I am happy to help my
client collect the monetary damages he deserves for the
financial loss he suffered.”

The dispute involved sale of a commercial property which was
the subject of interest from multiple buyers. The client’s
original real
estate attorney mishandled the sale, causing the owner
to receive less than full value for the transaction. Case No:
08-12961 (25) was heard in the Broward County 17th Judicial
Circuit Court.

About Winston, Clark & Wigand, P.A.

The Fort Lauderdale personal injury law firm of Winston, Clark
& Wigand (http://www.WinstonLaw.com),
with offices in Plantation and Fort Lauderdale, has been
defending consumers injured by auto accidents, motorcycle
accidents, defective products, medical malpractice, dog bites,
and slip and fall cases since 1989.

Accident attorney Bradley Winston assists victims across South
Florida and Broward County, including Coconut
Creek, Cooper City, Coral Springs, Dania Beach, Davie,
Deerfield Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Hallandale, Hollywood,
Lauderdale Lakes, Lauderhill, Lighthouse Point, Margate,
Miramar, North Lauderdale, Oakland Park, Parkland, Pembroke
Pines, Plantation, Pompano Beach, Sunrise, Tamarac, Weston, and
Wilton Manors, can set up a free consultation. Details at
http://www.WinstonLaw.com or
954-475-9666.

###

Margaret Grisdela
Legal Expert Connections, Inc.
561-266-1030
Email Information

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Winston, Clark & Wigand Recovers Award on Legal Malpractice Jury Verdict

Morris Southeast Group/CORFAC International Has Signed the Broward County Aviation Department to a Five-Year Lease at …

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Morris Southeast
Group/CORFAC International Principal Ken Morris, SIOR, announced
today his firm has signed the Broward County Aviation
Department to a five-year lease at Airport Commerce Park in
Dania Beach, FL.

Morris, Koreena Rivers and Lois Paskow, RPA
represented the landlord, ACP Partners, LLC in the
23,778-square-foot transaction. The property is located at
4101 Ravenswood Road. Airport Commerce Park is on the west
side of Interstate 95 and less than four miles from the Ft.
Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Dania Beach,
which is south of Ft. Lauderdale and north of Hollywood.

The Broward
County Aviation Department (BCAD) will use the property for
administrative offices and plans to move in during the first
half of 2012 and after the property owner completes
significant tenant improvements to the building. The office
building is a single-story campus style property that will
allow easy and quick transit from the car into the office for
both BCAD personnel and the various contractors associated
with the aviation department.

The BCAD move is a major consolidation after years of
occupying multiple office locations including some within the
airport terminal, as well as portable offices. The new
location will also make it convenient for BCAD staff to
observe and manage oversight of a runway expansion project
that is scheduled to begin at the airport soon.

Airport Commerce Center is comprised of four buildings
totaling approximately 60,000 square feet. The BCAD lease
brings the park to almost full occupancy, according to
Morris.

Morris Southeast Group/CORFAC International specializes in
owner and tenant representation, corporate services and
investment sales in the office, industrial and retail sectors
throughout Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties.
Morris
Southeast Group is an affiliate of CORFAC
International. For Miami Tenant Representation, South
Florida Commercial Property, Ft. Lauderdale Commercial Real
Estate Broker, contact Ken Morris, president of Morris
Southeast Group/CORFAC International at (954) 474-1776 or
visit
www.morrissegroup.com.

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Morris Southeast Group/CORFAC International Has Signed the Broward County Aviation Department to a Five-Year Lease at …





Hollywood Beach Real Estate, Buy, Rent, Sell, Lease

Call Carrie Lynn Kaplan for Free Information:
Direct: 1 - 954 - 921 - 2007
Office: 1 - 954 - 893 - 1322