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Tel: (305)
371-9340 • Fax (305)
371-1622 • e-mail to:
UJFloridaPK@aol.com
MIAMI HEAT TO PLAY
IN LONDON.
Many Florida Brits love American basketball and some remember the
popular exhibition matches the Harlem Globetrotters used to play
in England. Miami won the 2006 NBA championships and I can walk to
their home in the American Airlines Arena. I joined the cheering
crowds when the championship team with Shaquille O’Neal paraded
the cup through the streets of Miami afterwards. So it’s
satisfying that they have announced two 2008 pre-season exhibition
games in Paris (October 9) and London (October 12) at the stunning
02 Basketball Arena. In London they will also do community events
and charity appearances around the Capital, to interact with
British fans. So alert your London relatives, if they are
basketball fans. Since 2000, the NBA family has helped establish
more than 400 places where children and families can live, learn
or play around the world, including 11 in Europe. “We believe that
the NBA is not just an American sport anymore,” Miami HEAT
President and Head Coach Pat Riley said. “It’s a global sport and
we are proud and privileged to be a part of the NBA Europe Live.
We will take our players and our philosophy to Europe and show
that part of the world what we are all about.” INFO:
www.heat.com.
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AMERICANS are
besotted
with everything british department. An email
my office received from an American in Orlando: HIM: My mother
and Queen Elizabeth II share the same birthday (year and day) and
are the same age. Would it be possible to have them exchange
birthday cards?
ME: Dear Joel, this is a joke – right? Her Majesty
shares her birthday with a zillion people. In fact, so many British
subjects alone, that on her 80th birthday she had 500 of them to tea
with her. Your mother is not even British! But if you’re serious,
mail your request to the Queen at Buckingham Palace, Pall Mall,
London SWI, England. The Queen’s official website is
www.royal.gov.uk if you
wish to email her too. Her staff read all emails.
By the way, we British don’t call her Queen Elizabeth II, just the
Queen. Since the first Queen Elizabeth died centuries ago, there’s
hardly need for clarification!
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UPDATE FOR Florida Brits applying for citizenship:
You know firsthand about the massive delays and backlog for pending
applications. Some applicants are so outraged that they might not be
sworn in time to vote in the November 2008 election, that they have
filed lawsuits against the US Government. (Not wise when that same
government can deny you citizenship, methinks. Keep under the radar
until you have that citizenship certificate clutched in your Brit
mitts). On April 24, USCIS boss Emilio Gonzalez told the Miami
Herald: “ We will be caught up within 14 months. Miami petitions
filed by June 2007 should be completed by September 2008.” Gonzalez
said the unprecedented backlog was caused by filing fees increase.
“That always generates a 10-15 percent surge in citizenship
applications, which we can handle,” he explained. “But this time
there was a 350 percent increase – an avalanche we could not
anticipate.” Florida voters have to register by October 6 to vote
for Hillary, Barack or John in the finals of Political Idol.
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AT LEAST 1,300 Brits were arrested in America
last year, according to the UK Government’s Foreign Office study
called “British Behaviour Abroad.” So you can bet many of those were
in Florida, since it’s the leading state for British tourists. (I
wonder what other horrors about us are revealed in that study??)
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BRITISH BEHAVIOUR, the definition:
Being British is about driving a German car to an Irish pub to
imbibe Belgian beer, then on the way home picking up an Indian curry
or a Turkish kebab to eat on Swedish furniture while watching
American shows on a Japanese TV. But above all, being British is
being suspicious of anything foreign. – letter to The
Telegraph (London), April 2008.
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E2 VISA REFORM
affecting British
emigrants who buy businesses here. Florida British businessowners
Zoe and Steve Adams urge all UJ readers to get involved and
sign their petition: The website, www.e2Reform.org, has been
set up by them and other interested parties “to draw attention to
reform for legal immigrants who have come here and invested in this
country, employ US citizens, and pay taxes.” These Brits would like
to be included, along with the illegal immigrants, when Immigration
Reform comes along with the new Government. They wish you to sign
their online petition, E2 Visa Holder or not, to draw attention to
the matter. Further details from Zoe/Steve at (863) 709-9555 or
email deependenterprisesinc@hotmail.com.
Website: www.e2reform.org.
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EVERGREEN BRITBAND Duran Duran
appear May 19 at
Boca Raton’s Mizner Park Amphitheatre. INFO on promoter’s website
www.fantasma.com
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ROYAL SOCIETY OF ST
GEORGE
in Ft
Lauderdale
has various events for British people in Broward
County. For info send email to Mel Cohen
manaco7@aol.com . Put
Royal Society of St George in subject line.
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BRITISH COMEDIAN
Eddie Izzard,
an acquired taste, has a colossal following. He makes a rare
appearance at two shows in Florida: Miami Beach at the Fillmore
Theatre on June 13-14 and Tampa at the Tampa Theatre on June 17.
Website
www.livenation.com .
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THE BRITISH
NETWORK-MIAMI,
for anybody who wants to make British contacts, business and social.
Join local British professionals for a useful and enjoyable evening
– a roomful of Brits is never dull! Hosted by Florida Association of
British Business (FABB). Tuesdays May 20, June 17 and July 29, from
6:30 to 10pm No charge and takes place at the Doubletree Grand Hotel
in their Bleu Moon Resto-Bar, downtown Miami. For invitation send
email to: miamibritish@yahoo.com.
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WEST PALM BEACH
The Police (Sting,
Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland) return May 17 with another
brilliant British band Elvis Costello and the Imposters opening.
Info: www.thepolice.com
VENUE: Cruzan Amphitheatre in West
Palm Beach. Tickets: www.ticketmaster.com
or
www.livenation.com.
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CRICKET FANS in South Florida.
The MAQ T20
International Cricket Tournament, featuring teams from India,
Pakistan, West Indies and World X1 takes place in Central Broward on
May 23/24/25. Tickets/Info:
www.cricketcouncilusa.com
(954)
977-9728.
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UK-USA CULTURE CORNER:
If I hear one more American broadcaster pronounce Glasgow as
Glas-cow instead of Glas-go, I’ll hurl a brick. The city has been
around for hundreds of years so how can even Americans be unaware of
the correct pronunciation? I even saw a Golf Channel programme
broadcast from Glasgow, where everybody interviewed correctly
pronounced it Glas-go. Having just heard all that, back in the
studio the American host still wrapped up with “That’s it from
Glas-cow.” As if he hadn’t heard a word of his own segment from that
city. While on the subject of
We’re-Going-To-Deviate-From-Universally-Accepted-Pronunciation-Of-Place-Names-Just-Because-We’re-Americans,
here’s my pet peeve: Iraq is pronounced Irr-ack, by the Iraqis
themselves and every other nation that refers to them. So why do
American military actually serving in Iraq say EYE-RAK? They also
talk frequently to the British troops over there, further
reinforcing the correct pronunciation. So how can even Americans
mis-pronounce a country’s name when
they are standing in it?
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PUBLIC SERVICE CORNER.
Help The Urgent
Crisis Of Disappearing Bees. The survival of bees across the USA,
our adopted country, affects all the crops we eat. At least 25
percent of America’s honeybees have died in what biologists call
Colony Collapse Disorder. American bees are just as lovely and
desirable as British bees, of course. The believed culprit is a new
widely-used pesticides which disorientate bees, preventing them from
finding their way back to their hive, but other theories abound.
Scientists at San Francisco State University are spearheading a
solution and they seek everybody’s help to track where healthy bee
populations still exist. It’s easy! Just plant sunflower seeds and
report if any bees arrive. If you agree to do this, the university
sends you a free sunflower seeds. Go to
www.greatsunflower.org
to sign up. Haagen-Dazs ice-cream has also launched a website,
www.helpthehoneybees.com, to assist. Please ask your friends in
all parts of the US with gardens to participate with the sunflower
project. Humans cannot exist without the help of bees, so now it’s
our turn to return the favour.
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RINGO STARR and his All-Starr Band
return to Florida. I saw the Yellow Submarine composer’s show a few
years ago in Ft Lauderdale. Being an ex-Beatle gets you the clout to
persuade talented musicians and singers to join you on stage. They
take Ringo’s calls. DATE: July 3 (my birthday as it happens, but not
expecting a cake from Ringo). LOCATION: Hard Rock in Hollywood.
INFO/TICKETS www.hardrocklivehollywoodfl.com
(954) 327-7625.
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SUBMIT NEWS ITEMS FOR THIS COLUMN for publication.
Must be about NEW British businesses, British events, British Clubs
etc. It’s space permitting, so publication not guaranteed. Submit by
email only to UJFloridapk@aol.com. Sign with sender’s
name/city/daytime phone number.
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ATTENTION FLORIDA’S
BRITISH-OWNED BUSINESSES, SHOPS and PUBS:
If
you wish to get bulk copies of the Union Jack (50 papers a month
minimum), to offer your customers, phone our circulation department
1 (800)-262-7305. The paper is free, but a small delivery charge
applies.

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