Our Vision For The City Of Miami

I would like to take this opportunity to personally to thank you for supporting me for Mayor of the City of Miami. In a recent straw poll seventy percent of our citizens overwhelmingly said they would welcome a new face and change in City politics.
For more than one hundred fifteen years. The city of Miami has opened its doors to people all over the world making it one of the most cherished destinations in the world. When Julia Tuttle asked Henry Flagler to bring his railroad to Miami, she never envisioned she was changing the way the world saw Miami.

Like so many other cities South Florida and Miami in particular is a place treasured by our citizens. It makes a profound difference in people's lives to know that their city is safe, prosperous and vibrant.
But during these tough times, all our city's jobless claims have been steadily on the rise.

Government data shows the category known as personal transfer receipts. Which literally means entitlements to citizens who are unemployed cost local governments 40 Billion dollars of the 237 billion earned by South Florida residents. This calculates to 17% of the regional income.

The unemployment situation in South Florida is an economical disaster. Yet still the City of Miami recently spent 515 million dollars of tax payers’ dollars on a new baseball stadium.

We have come far with the involvement of our business, civic, faith-based, neighborhood, non-profit and foundation communities and it is important that they remain strong and vibrant in the community .

I come before you today humbled at the opportunity to serve as the next Mayor of Miami. I am energized and ready to tackle the serious challenges we face, to keep Miami moving forward.

Although we have much to accomplish in bringing the city back together so it can be a better place to live, work and raise a family when I become Mayor. There are things we can do right now to begin this process.

The challenges we face today are greater than ever -- from the worst economic recession in modern times to an epidemic of violence that is needlessly killing our children on the streets of Miami.

But, even though we're facing difficult times, I am confident we will get through them and that Miami will emerge stronger for it, just as we always have.

Our city and our people are resilient and resourceful. The Citizens of Miami are tough and innovative and can weather any challenge, regardless of how great.

After all in 1896 after becoming incorporated we fought through the great depression and several major Hurricanes only to land our feet and thrive again.
These tough times demand that we roll up our sleeves and redouble our commitment to address our challenges head on.

Because the measure of government isn’t how we as citizens perform when times are good, but how we respond when times are hard.

I love this great City and I want all our citizens to be successful and have a good life. When we fall short -- as we sometimes will -- I want us to do better. It's important to me as a leader that the people of Miami have confidence in the way that we live our lives with, values and respect and morals. That our children know we're doing our best to serve them honestly and openly.

I have no fear we are up to the challenges ahead. I’m confident of that we will win the next Mayoral elections.

When I become Mayor of this great City, we will have improved schools, better attendance and graduation rates and more of our young people going to college. Test scores for many of our students will improve year by year under my watch.

Right now many of you are being asked to do more with less. My promise to you as your Mayor will be to cut spending and implement new management improvements to protect taxpayers and do more with less. To cut  taxes. In fact, in the midst of the worst economic crisis in modern history, people are upset about a lot of things.

They’re worried that they might lose their job, their home, their health insurance.

They won’t be able to pay off student loans or take a vacation.

They want to know we get all we can from every tax dollar and manage government prudently and transparently, and they want to know that our streets are safe. I will take the guns off our streets and reduced homicides from all-time highs.

As you know gun violence continues to escalate and an epidemic of youth-on-youth violence is tearing some neighborhoods apart as you Mayor I will put an end to this needless violence. As your Mayor I will create 25,000 new jobs in my first year. Through expansion, new investments and creativity.

For many of us the nation's recession has meant jobs lost, homes foreclosed and livelihoods threatened. Right now far too many in our city, our state and across our country are struggling or out of work. As I walk the streets and listen to your stories it's heartbreaking to talk with someone who has always followed the rules and worked hard, but has lost a job, a home or their life savings.

It's my job when I become Mayor to secure the future, jobs, schools, health care, cost of living, taxes, and security. It is my job to say I have met these challenges and surpassed the expectations and deliver on my promises.

I am Jeff Benjamin and I’m  running for Mayor City Of Miami

WWW.JEFBENJAMINFORMAYOR.COM

Q & A with Jeff Benjamin running for Mayor City Of Miami

Newsnet

So why are you running for Mayor

Benjamin

Because I have a fundamental different view on politics and what the City Of Miami needs

Newsnet

Explain to us

Benjamin

It goes beyond waking up every day and accepting the status quo or building a tunnel when our children in public schools don’t have books or can’t eat lunch

Newsnet

So you are running as a Democrat or on their platform

Benjamin

I am running on the platform of what the residents of the City Of Miami needs.

I don’t subscribe to Democratic values or Republican ideologies, what is best for the people and the children who live in our communities. Good education with a solid foundation, Jobs for the unemployed and safe neighborhoods.

Newsnet

What do you think of the firing of Police Chief  Miguel Exposito by the City Commission and Mayor Regalado.

Benjamin

In 2009 Mayor Regalado supported Miguel Exposito for Chief of Police and so did the Commission. To put it mildly it’s the same old suit from 1974, now being worn by the same people from 1974 Nothing will change until 2013.

Newsnet

I don’t think that is putting it mildly are you throwing down the gauntlet

Benjamin

I don’t want to appear facetious or make this a trivial matter but there is no gauntlet to be thrown. If it walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck…99% of the times it’s a duck.

Newsnet

So you are going to be the perfect Mayor for The City of Miami

Benjamin

I cringe at the mention of the word perfection because I am far from it. I get tickets from the police like anyone else; I’ve made numerous mistakes in life. The difference is I take responsibility and if I don’t know I don’t pretend to. I seek out those who do know and then try and make a difference. Never mistake knowledge for wisdom

Newsnet

So you an author what type of writing do you do

Benjamin

I write non-fiction stories based on true events

I wrote   Juvenile Injustice The Chicago Story   based on conviction and my belief it was a travesty and miscarriage of justice

Newsnet

So were you right or wrong in your conviction and belief

Benjamin

As I have gotten older and after taking a couple of law classes at Ohio State University, the realization set in, there really is no right or wrong in these things. What their needs to be is preventative measures put in place to avoid the destruction of our children. Which was eventually done in this case.

Newsnet

What do you think of crime and Miami’s Police department

Benjamin

Fortunately I have had the experience to live in other cities and I can say with absolute conviction the majority of the 1,100 member police force in The City Of Miami are good cops and they try their best to keep crime down. I see them on Patrol in Coconut Grove and other areas of the City. I know several of them by first name. I have seen firsthand how they treat people on the streets and by far and large they do a great job. Of course in every organization there are a few bad apples but they do not represent the majority of the men and women who protect and serve our city.

Newsnet

Thank you for taking the time to meet with us and we look forward to hearing more from you.

Benjamin

It was pleasure thank you

http://www.jeffbenjaminformayor.com/

America has paused on a day of deep emotion to honour the victims of the 9/11 attacks, 10 years after the event

America has paused on a day of deep emotion to honour the victims of the 9/11 attacks, 10 years after the event.

Nearly 3,000 people died when four hijacked airliners were crashed into the World Trade Center in New York, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field.

A minute's silence marked each moment that a plane struck, or one of the WTC's twin towers fell.

President Barack Obama visited each of the three memorials to victims of the al-Qaeda attacks.

Security was tight following warnings of a possible new attack by al-Qaeda.

'Lives cut short'

The first plane hit the WTC's North Tower at 08:46 (13:46 GMT), the second at 09:03.

The third attack, on the Pentagon, occurred at 09:37 and it was at 10:03 that the fourth jet crashed in Pennsylvania.

Speaking to the crowd at Ground Zero, the president quoted the Bible: "Therefore, we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea."

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said a "perfect blue sky morning" had turned into "the blackest of nights" on 9/11.

"They were our neighbours, our friends, our husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, children and parents," he said of the victims.

"They each had a face, a story, a life cut short from under them."

These ceremonies around America are no perfunctory moments of remembrance of an event that has faded in the popular imagination. These day-long events are designed to recall the horror and loss of that day, to play on the heart strings of a nation that cannot forget.

Around New York and Washington there is a very obvious reminder of the way the country has changed, a police presence that must be unprecedented, closing down lower Manhattan to traffic for a day - the reaction to what authorities say is a very real threat from al-Qaeda.

The American homeland has not been attacked again since 9/11, the sense of possibility, of vulnerability, the overwhelming need for security has not gone away. But some things have changed.

Today may have evoked memories of a righteous patriotic fervour to deal with those who threaten the country and that desire does still exist but the enthusiasm to reshape the destiny of other countries to make Americans safer has largely disappeared.

All of the victims' names were read out amid tears, the five-hour reading punctuated by the solemn silences, and music.

Bagpipers opened the gathering, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus sang the national anthem, the cellist Yo-Yo Ma performed, and Paul Simon played his classic song The Sounds Of Silence.

Mourners streamed into the newly opened memorial, which has two reflecting pools, each almost an acre in size, in the footprints of the twin towers.

They placed pictures and flowers beside names etched in bronze. Grown men and women sobbed in grief over the inscriptions.

Behind the memorial could be seen the gleaming bulk of One World Trade Center, now three-quarters completed.

Mr Obama and his wife, Michelle, attended ceremonies in New York, Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon.

At Ground Zero he joined his predecessor, George W Bush, to visit the memorial. With bowed heads, they touched inscriptions.

From New York, the Obamas travelled to the field on Shanksville, Pennsylvania, where the fourth plane was forced down by passengers who fought back.

The couple laid a wreath of white flowers at a new marble memorial to the 40 passengers and crew of the lost plane, before moving on to the Pentagon, outside Washington DC, where another wreath was laid.

In New York, metal barriers were erected on roads near Ground Zero, while police in New York and Washington are stopping and searching large vehicles entering bridges and tunnels.

The CIA received a warning last week that al-Qaeda might have sent attackers, some of them possibly US citizens, to bomb one of the cities.

The warning was described by officials as "credible but unconfirmed".

'New generation of patriots'

In an earlier speech at the Pentagon, Vice-President Joe Biden praised the US soldiers who had killed al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan in May of this year.

A "new generation of patriots" were galvanised by 9/11, he told a military audience.

"We will not stop - you will not stop - until al-Qaeda is disrupted, dismantled and, ultimately, defeated."

Sunday's ceremonies began at the US embassy in the Afghan capital, Kabul, where the flag was lowered to half-mast to remember those who died 10 years ago, as well as those who have died since. A piece of the twin towers is buried underneath the flag pole.

Mark Mardell

BBC North America 

LOVE & CHOLERA

Love & Cholera

By Jeff Benjamin

Copyrighted 2010

www.loveandcholera.com

An unimaginable and unbelievable story of love, death, destruction, pride and prejudice, of murder mayhem and rebirth of a nation.

LOVE & CHOLERA is a  story based on fact. It puts a human face to a tragedy that affected millions of people.

The author is Jeff Benjamin who is also running for  Mayor in the City Of Miami 2013.

WWW.JEFFBENJAMINFORMAYOR.COM

The book is an an unprecedented true-life  story of the 2010  earthquake in Haiti with its  catastrophic magnitude of 7.0 A devastation that  occurred at 16:53 local time  on Tuesday, 12 January 2010 and by  24 January, at least 52 aftershocks measuring 4.5 or greater had been recorded. With an estimated three million people affected by the quake. The Haitian government reported that an estimated 230,000 people had died, 300,000 had been injured and 1,000,000 made homeless.

In the aftermath a young American doctor falls in love with Marie, a Haitian nurse who lost her home and family in the earthquake. The book exposes the differing social and multicultural lives of the Haitian people. Moreover it gives us a quick example of how these conducts affect our society. Two of the behaviors observed, are prejudice and stereotyping. These were identified as the major causes leading up to the events surrounding the violence associated with the Earthquake and the Cholera epidemic. These behaviors manifest themselves in every aspect of the story. Including the behavior towards the Haitian people and a government being pressured for results. The book  expose the international community’s rational for the negative attitudes and perception about Haitians based on assimilation and stereotypes garnered through prior experience with former and past regimes. The story captures the age-old issue that has always existed in humanity, which we thought would have dissipated in the 21st century. Taking into account that in these days we are better informed and educated and should understand that one group's actions should not be applied to stereotype an entire nation.

Love & Cholera exposes how the Haitian community coped with the Earthquake the Cholera outbreak and their National elections all coming in the same Year. How the world had a predisposed picture of Haiti and the prejudice’s were simply an attitude that remained internal to its owner.  The book  explores every ones behavior; their negative attitudes on the basis of differences translate into murder and survival of the fitness. The end result is social inequity, death and disease and an entire nation in turmoil.

And in this jungle for survival one woman’s faith and love for her country. A love that transcends all barriers and an uncanny functional and respectful relationship between her and her people. Love & Cholera deviates to show prejudice and stereotypes can be a destructive force both in the world and in individual societies, especially when in turmoil.

Throughout the story, pride and prejudice becomes threatening when it reaches its most extreme form. Class survival and rush to judgment of a nation floundering to regain its dignity. This movie shows us the different points of view of a nation dealing with catastrophic events. It sheds light and gives us insights of the stereotypes we have built within our society, within the world. It invites us to see and understand how such a small stereotype and negative attitude can go a long way and affect a nation. Love & Cholera is a powerful symbolism of Love & Hope.

The movie will show how important it is that we learn how to control prejudice and the stereotypes we hold against other groups, since these are attitudes and feelings that are learned and are not innate. The key to this book is its powerful depiction of the children of Haiti who were affected. The movie exposes the assumptions that we make about others and questions how these assumptions arise and where they came from. Love & Cholera shows how one woman’s love saved a nation.

A powerful true life love story …. LOVE & CHOLERA

THE 2011 NFL SEASON

The 2011 NFL season, the 92nd regular season of the National Football League, is scheduled to begin on Thursday, September 8, 2011 with the New Orleans Saints traveling to Lambeau Field, the home of the Super Bowl XLV champion Green Bay Packers; and end with Super Bowl XLVI, the league's championship game, on February 5, 2012 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Just before the CBA expired on March 3, both the players and the league owners agreed to extend the negotiations by one week. However, talks eventually broke down, and on March 11, the union formally decertified, after which a group of ten players filed an antitrust lawsuit against the league. (The players involved are Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts, Tom Brady and Logan Mankins of the New England Patriots, Vincent Jackson of the San Diego Chargers, Ben Leber and Brian Robison of the Minnesota Vikings, Von Miller who was drafted by the Denver Broncos with the second pick overall, Osi Umenyiora of theNew York Giants, Mike Vrabel of the Kansas City Chiefs, Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints as well as several former NFL players including Priest Holmes of the Kansas City Chiefs. In response to the decertification, the league officially locked out the players. On July 5, 2011, a group of retired NFL players led by Carl Eller, Franco Harris, Marcus Allen and Paul Krause filed its own class-action lawsuit against both the NFL and NFLPA, stating that the decertification disqualified the NFLPA from bargaining on the former NFL players' behalf.

On July 6, 2011, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman opened an investigation into the league for possible violations of New York State's antitrust law, the Donnelly Act.

This is only the second time in which a labor dispute has affected the preseason. The other was during the 1974 NFL season, in which the College All-Star Game was canceled due to the threat of a work stoppage; an agreement was struck shortly thereafter, and the rest of the preseason, beginning with the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game, was unaffected. The 1982 and 1987 strikes began after the regular season was already underway. The lockout is the longest in the NFL's history; however, because the majority of the lockout has been imposed during the offseason, it has had much less of an effect than shorter strikes in 1982 and 1987, both of which (so far) led to more canceled games.

On April 25, 2011, U.S. District Court judge Susan Richard Nelson invalidated the lockout and ordered the league to resume operations. The league asked Nelson to stay the order while it appeals to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals; Nelson refused. The NFLPA has advised players to arrive at their teams' stadiums for work uninvited; most teams allowed players to enter the front office but refused further access. The order to resume operations without any CBA in place has left the league in "chaos" because, without a CBA, there are no rules in place regarding a salary cap or floor, free agency, and similar labor-related issues. In April 29, 2011, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals granted the league a temporary stay of Nelson's ruling; the league reinstated the lockout following Day 2 of the draft. The stay was extended through at least June 3, when a full appeal was heard; the Eighth Circuit vacated Nelson's ruling on July 8, affirming the legitimacy of the lockout.

The NFL owners announced on July 21 that it had approved a new collective bargaining agreement by a 31–0 margin; the players association's executive board approved the new CBA on July 25. Assuming that the ten players drop their lawsuit against the NFL, the league plans to lift the lockout and allow league business to resume.

SOURCES…ESPN…ABC..NFL

NEWS NET

NY NEW YORK

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The Validity of the US Public Debt

Invoking the Fourteenth Amendment to raise the Debt Ceiling.

"The validity of the US public debt shall not be questioned “

Six months ago President Obama also faced a hostage situation. Republicans threatened to block an extension of middle-class tax cuts unless Mr. Obama gave in and extended tax cuts for the rich too. And the president essentially folded, giving the G.O.P. everything it wanted.

Now, predictably, the hostage-takers are back: blackmail worked well last December, so why not try it again? This time House Republicans say they will refuse to raise the debt ceiling — a step that could inflict major economic damage — unless Mr. Obama agrees to large spending cuts, even as they rule out any tax increase whatsoever. And the question becomes what, if anything, will get the president to say no.

The debt ceiling itself is a strange feature of U.S. law: since Congress must vote to authorize spending and choose tax rates, why have a second vote on whether to allow the borrowing that these spending and taxation policies imply? In practice, however, legislators have historically been willing to raise the debt ceiling as necessary, so this quirk in our system hasn’t mattered very much — until now.

What has changed? The answer is the radicalization of the Republican Party. (Emergence of the Tea Party)

The USAA Bank has stepped in guaranteeing, it would provide the interest-free advances to military members on active duty who already have their military pay directly deposited in a USAA account. The one-time loan would be for eligible members’ Aug. 15 paycheck. It was a program the company created in direct response to concerns about the government’s ability to pay its bills.

The President’s job Republican or Democratic is to lead our nation.

The provision in the 14^th amendment , Section 4 of the amendment, was meant to ensure the payment of Union debts after the Civil War and to disavow Confederate ones. But it was written in broader terms.

“The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payments of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion,” the critical sentence says, “shall not be questioned.”

The Supreme Court has said in passing that those words have outlived the historical moment that gave rise to them.

“While this provision was undoubtedly inspired by the desire to put beyond question the obligations of the government issued during the Civil War,” Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes wrote for the court in 1935, “its language indicates a broader connotation.”

In recent weeks, law professors have been trying to puzzle out the meaning and relevance of the provision. Some have joined Mr. Clinton in saying it allows Mr. Obama to ignore the debt ceiling. Others say it applies only to Congress and only to outright default on existing debts. Still others say the president may do what he wants in an emergency, with or without the authority of the 14th Amendment.

The words of the provision are in important ways quite vague. “Nobody would argue,” said Sanford Levinson, a law professor at the University of Texas, “that Section 4 is clear in its meaning, other than at the time everyone thought that the South, if they ever got back in control, would not pay Civil War debt.”

But Jack M. Balkin, a law professor at Yale, said it was possible to infer a broader principle.

“You’re not supposed to hold the validity of the public debt hostage to achieve political ends,” Mr. Balkin said. He added, though, that “Section 4 is a fail-safe that only comes into operation when everything else is exhausted.”

Mr. Obama’s statement largely dismissing the possibility of invoking the provision may have had a strategic element to it. A deficit reduction deal would seem to be more likely, after all, if both sides thought there was no alternative but economic chaos.

“This is not a circumstance,” said Laurence H. Tribe, a law professor at Harvard, “in which the courts have any plausible point of entry.” Professor Balkin agreed. “This is largely a political question,” he said. “It is unlikely courts would decide these questions.”

The debt ceiling has been raised ten times in the last ten years why is this President being treated differently ? Is the question.

Sources … NY Times, NPR.

NEWS NET

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RUPERT MURDOCH'S PHONE HACKING SCANDAL

With all considered, one could easily draw conclusions as to why so many seem to relish in Murdoch’s ruin. For years, Murdoch and his conglomerate have been loathed for its alleged right-wing bias and agenda-driven reporting. Now, with an open investigation implicating Murdoch’s British tabloid of corruption and phone hacking, many are hoping it will lead to the dismantling of his entire news empire.

Though Murdoch obviously is guilty of both harmful and innocuous yellow journalism, is all the media hate fairly warranted?

Yes, several Murdoch employees have been found guilty of unethical behavior, but is it really fair to socially indict Murdoch, without any concrete evidence that he is personally responsible for the immoral actions of his employees?

In May 2007, Murdoch made a $5 billion offer to purchase Dow Jones, owner of the Wall Street Journal. At the time, the Bancroft family, which controlled 64% of the shares, firmly declined the offer, opposing Murdoch's much-used strategy of slashing employee numbers and "gutting" existing systems. Later, the Bancroft family confirmed a willingness to consider a sale – besides Murdoch, the Associated Press reported that supermarket magnate Ron Burkle and Internet entrepreneur Brad Greenspan were among the interested parties. On 1 August 2007, the BBC's "News and World Report" and NPR's Marketplace radio programs reported that Murdoch had acquired Dow Jones; this news was received with mixed reactions.

The News International phone hacking scandal is an ongoing controversy involving the News of the World, a now-defunct British tabloid newspaper published by News International — a subsidiary of News Corporation — and the allegations that individuals working for the newspaper engaged in phone hacking. There are related allegations that the newspaper had obtained information in further illicit ways including making payments to police officers; that it exercised improper influence on politicians and the police; and that other British newspapers were involved in similar activities.

While it originally appeared that the News of the World had only hacked the phones of celebrities, politicians and members of the British Royal Family, revelations in July 2011 that victims included murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler, relatives of deceased British soldiers, and victims of the 7/7 London bombings generated widespread public outrage and revulsion. Advertiser boycottscontributed to the closure of the News of the World, which published its final edition on 10 July 2011 after 168 years of publication.

On 6 July 2011, British prime minister David Cameron declared that a public inquiry would convene to investigate the affair, once police inquiries had been completed. On 13 July, Cameron named Lord Justice Leveson as chairman of the inquiry, with a remit to look into the specific claims about phone hacking and police bribery by the News of the World, while a separate inquiry would consider the culture and ethics of the British media. He also said the Press Complaints Commission would be replaced "entirely".

The affair has resulted in several high-profile resignations and arrests. Staff who quit News Corporation in the wake of the scandal have included Les Hinton, a subsidiary chief executive, News International's legal manager Tom Crone, and its chief executive Rebekah Brooks. The Metropolitan Police Service's commissioner and Britain's most senior police officer, Sir Paul Stephenson, also resigned his post. Former News of the World editor Andy Coulson, the paper's former executive editor Neil Wallis, and Brooks were all arrested. Rupert Murdoch and his son James were summonsed to give evidence in Parliament.

The scandal eventually garnered attention in the United States, where News Corporation is headquartered and operates a multitude of media outlets. On 14 July the Federal Bureau of Investigation launched its own investigation into News Corporation, focusing on claims that its newspapers had violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and accessed voicemails of victims of the 9/11 attacks. On 15 July, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced that the Department of Justice had also opened an investigation into the company.

The Roger Clemens Trial .. Is it a waste of Tax Payers dollars.

The Roger Clemens Trial .. Is it a waste of Tax Payers dollars.

Your government failed you today.

There's no other way to put it. For almost three years, federal investigators have been building a perjury case against Roger Clemens, the seven-time Cy Young award winner who told a Congressional committee, under oath in a nationally televised 2008 hearing, that he never used performance-enhancing drugs. They gathered DNA evidence that allegedly tied Clemens to syringes saved by his former trainer, Brian McNamee, who claims he injected Clemens with steroids. The government was set to call Andy Pettitte, Clemens' former teammate and best friend. In a sworn affidavit, Pettitte said that Clemens told him that he had used human growth hormone. Why would Pettitte ever tell a damning lie, under oath, about his buddy Clemens? Pettitte's testimony would be devastating.

But we won't hear it — at least for another few months. After a week's worth of jury selection in the case of U.S. v Roger Clemens, and one full day of testimony, U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton declared a mistrial because of a prosecutorial goof. In front of the jury, the government played video from the 2008 hearing in which Rep. Elijah Cummings quotes from an affidavit provided by Laura Pettitte, Andy's wife, which backed up her husband's account of Clemens' drug use. The problem: Walton had ruled that Laura Pettitte's hearsay statements were inadmissible at trial.

A furious Walton stopped the proceedings, kicked the jury out of the room, and then scolded the prosecutors, Steven Durham and Daniel Butler. “I don't see how I un-ring the bell,” Walton said.“I think that a first-year law student would know that you can't bolster the credibility of one witness with clearly inadmissible evidence."

He called the jury back, and declared a mistrial. Walton apologized to the jury. "We've expended a lot of your taxpayers' money to reach this point," Walton said, according to @NYDNSportsIteam, the sports investigative unit for the New York Daily News. A hearing to determine whether the government can retry the case was set for Sept. 2. If the judge rules that double jeopardy applies, Clemens will walk, thanks to a glitch.

And a retrial will just fatten an expensive bill. The public appetite for the government steroid investigations of athletes like Barry Bonds, Lane Armstrong, and Clemens is waning. Most fans have moved on. And now that the government has gone broke, every taxpayer expenditure is scrutinized. Every penny counts. The apathy has turned to anger.

After this government mishap, that anger may turn into righteous rage. President Obama and the Republican leadership are fighting over ways to keep the country solvent. The timing of this screwup is terrible. It's the courtroom equivalent of Bill Buckner and Fred "Bonehead" Merkle, combined.

2005: Jose Canseco releases a best-selling book saying that Astros pitcher Roger Clemens once joked about taking a "B-12" shot, which was baseball code for steroids at the time. But Canseco says he has no evidence Clemens ever actually used the performance-enhancing substance.

Dec. 13, 2007: A 409-page report by former Senate majority leader George Mitchell accuses Clemens and Astros pitcher Andy Pettitte, along with 75 other current or former baseball players, of taking performance-enhancing drugs. The Mitchell Report, as it became ominously known, said Clemens and Pettitte were injected with the drugs by former trainer Brian McNamee.

Dec. 15, 2007: Pettitte admits publicly that he used human growth hormone for two days in 2002 to speed up the healing of his injured elbow, but denies ever using steroids.

Dec. 18, 2007: Clemens denies ever using steroids, human growth hormone or any other banned substance, calling those substances "a dangerous and destructive shortcut that no athlete should ever take."

Jan. 6, 2008: Clemens sues McNamee for defamation. Meanwhile, the CBS TV program 60 Minutes airs an interview with Clemens in which he says McNamee injected him with vitamin B-12 and the painkiller lidocaine but never with testosterone, human growth hormone or anabolic steroids.

Jan. 15, 2008: Before a standing-room-only crowd during a congressional House Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing, Mitchell strongly endorses the veracity of McNamee's allegations that Clemens had used banned substances.

Feb. 5, 2008: During a closed-door, under-oath interrogation before congressional investigators, Clemens says he never took steroids or human growth hormone.

Feb. 6, 2008: McNamee's lawyers reveal they gave federal prosecutors physical evidence — including syringes, empty bottles and gauze — that they say proves Clemens used performance-enhancing drugs. Clemens' lawyers dismiss McNamee as "a troubled man who is obsessed with doing everything possible to destroy Roger Clemens."

Feb. 8, 2008: McNamee tells congressional investigators he also injected Clemens' wife, Debbie, with human growth hormone at her husband's direction for a 2003 Sports Illustrated photo shoot. Clemens' attorney dismisses the allegation as a "colossal lie."

Feb. 11, 2008: A congressman reveals Pettitte will not testify before Congress because he gave an affidavit supporting McNamee's claims.

Feb. 13, 2008: Clemens testifies before the congressional committee, denying he ever used illicit drugs during his career. McNamee, at the other end of the witness table, tells the panel the evidence against Clemens is "100 percent authentic." Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., said Pettitte's testimony that Clemens had acknowledged using HGH convinced him that Clemens was lying. Clemens countered that Pettitte was not remembering things correctly. "I think Andy has misheard. I think he misremembers," Clemens said.

Late February 2008: Congress asks the U.S. Justice Department to launch an investigation into whether Clemens lied under oath during his testimony.

January 2009: A federal grand jury is convened to determine whether Clemens should be indicted on charges of lying under oath to Congress.

Feb. 3, 2009: Tests link Clemens' DNA to blood in syringes that McNamee says he used to inject the pitcher with performance-enhancing drugs, according to a Washington Post report.

Feb. 12, 2009: A Houston federal judge dismisses most of Clemens' defamation lawsuit against McNamee, finding McNamee had immunity from being sued for comments he made about Clemens to Mitchell's investigators.

March 2009: Federal investigators find performance-enhancing substances on the drug paraphernalia that McNamee said he used to inject Clemens.

Aug. 12, 2010: A federal appeals court refuses to reinstate Clemens' defamation lawsuit against McNamee.

Aug. 19, 2010: A federal grand jury hands down a six-count indictment against Clemens, charging he obstructed a congressional inquiry with false statements, including denials that he had ever used steroids or human growth hormone. The indictment says that he lied and committed perjury.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/bb/7160799.html#ixzz1SZbSp6nd

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/07/14/the-roger-clemens-mistrial-isnt-the-government-broke-enough/#ixzz1SZcQPJWN