Why won't Hallandale Beach Mayor Joy Cooper follow the rules and let the people in Golden Isles vote? Some rare logic & reason re the Oct. 19th Golden Isles meeting

Above, October 19, 2010 photograph by South Beach Hoosier of Part C-1, TERM of the "Protective Covenants relating to the residential section of Golden Isles" in Hallandale Beach, FL effective May 26, 1959.

The key area for you to consider is "unless an instrument signed by a majority of the then owners of the lots has been recorded, agreeing to change said covenants in whole or in part."

What could possibly be simpler?
In order to change any aspect of the covenants, you need 51%.

Every homeowner in the Golden Isles section of Hallandale Beach has a copy of these rules.

But certain people living in Golden Isles don't want to follow these rules, and that includes the mayor of this city, Joy Cooper, the current President of the Florida League of Cities, and many of her friends and neighbors.

They want to go around the written rules they had already agreed to. Not surprisingly, a LOT of people don't like that idea one bit, and for good reason.


Below is an email that I wrote and distributed on Wednesday afternoon throughout Hallandale Beach, Broward County, South Florida and beyond to some concerned Floridians, elected officials and news media regarding the very curious and queer SRO public meeting that I attended (and videotaped) on Tuesday night at Hallandale Beach City Hall.

It was one of the oddest public meetings I have attended of the dozens I've gone to throughout South Florida over the past seven years since returning to South Florida after 15 years living and working in the Washington, D.C. area.

In fact, it may be THE oddest, since it was the most obvious failure, though the Miami-Dade County hearing I attended in early 2009 on proposed public financing of a Marlins Stadium had been the leader up 'til now.

That was the public hearing where Chairman Dennis Moss refused to allow the hundreds of citizens in attendance at the M-D Commission Chambers in downtown Miami to watch the City of Miami's public hearing with the Marlins' David Samson -the reason for the long delay where we were, and its eventual postponement -after a few hours of nothing happening- on the large TV screens in the Commission Chambers, even though the staff, commissioners and news media could watch it in their offices or the next door media room.

But for the assembled citizens, Moss delivered an emphatic "No!"

Then Dennis Moss compounded the basic problem by lying to the public (and the hordes of news media) by saying that it wasn't technically possible, even though county employees I spoke to there said it would only take a few seconds to do it.

Plain and simple, Dennis Moss didn't want the South Florida public to know what was going on at that other hearing.

This was the smug, elitist and entitled attitude I saw displayed by Comm. Moss in a taxpayer-funded room in a taxpayer-funded building, where everything you see is something that taxpayers paid for, including the very equipment the M-D commissioners, staff and news media watched the City of Miami meeting on!
A fact that the dutiful South Florida news media conveniently ignored, as usual.

You bet I want to see Dennis Moss recalled by Miami-Dade County voters, with Norman Braman's help and leadership.
I only wish I could legally sign the petition!

As for voter recall in Hallandale Beach, it'll be here sooner than you think...


Tuesday night's meeting in Hallandale Beach was held to discuss some news regarding proposed changes to the status quo in the Golden Isles section of southeast Hallandale Beach, which is a separate taxing district for certain purposes, and which has a security gatehouse at its entrance on Layne Blvd., though anyone can still enter since it's on a public road.

But what Tuesday night's meeting most resembled was a failed pep rally, run by supporters of HB mayor Joy Cooper and her cronies. That's because that's exactly what it was.

My email below appears exactly as sent, minus a few cleaned-up typos and a few things I've completely spelled out in order to make it clearer for blog readers.
-----

Wednesday October 10th, 2010

I commend to you the common sense email, below, from attorney David C. Barnett, a resident of Hallandale Beach who seems able to see what most of the city residents attending last night's meeting at HB City Hall could see with their own eyes: an attempted hijacking of democracy by a small clique under the guise of maintaining high-property values.
http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/index.aspx?NID=680

Mayor Joy Cooper and Comm. Keith London, both of whom live in Golden Isles, were precluded from speaking publicly on this issue at last night's meeting -which I videotaped- because it could/will come before the Hallandale Beach City Commission in Dec. or Jan. if approved by the Hallandale Beach Planning & Zoning Board.

Not that this stopped Harry Cooper, the mayor's husband, from speaking and blaming Comm. London, who was responsible for the large turnout of residents last night by informing and educating people about the possible long-term ramifications of what is being proposed, which from Harry Cooper's personal p.o.v., necessarily, makes his wife look bad.
But if that is the reality, and it is, it's true whether he likes it or not.
Having carefully read the documents provided, including the covenants involved, it's pretty clear that there needs to be an election of the homeowners in the Golden Isles taxing district, which will be approved if 51% say yes.
In fact, it says EXACTLY that.
The powers-that-be among the two self-selecting Golden Isles groups that met last night at City Hall are chock-a-block full of Joy Cooper supporters, and don't think they can reach that low threshold -and even said so.

But rather than follow the proscribed rules, and take their chances with an election, they are trying to go thru the backdoor and have the city take care of things, even though that will be an expense that the entire city will be asked to pay for.

Naturally, thanks to the mayor's efforts at mis-direction, the rest of the city doesn't know anything about this, or that they are going to have to pay for the enforcement of these Golden Isles-specific rules that they no longer do, as Mr. Barnett correctly states below, despite how many times Cooper family friend Gerry Natelson calls them the same rules.

As it happens, his daughter, Sheryl Natelson, is on the city's P&Z Board.
(Guess who appointed her?)
She's one of the two geniuses on the city's P&Z board who threatened to have me removed by the Hallandale Beach Police from a public P&Z meeting last year for... taking photos of the Board at a public meeting!

From about 50 feet away.
At a public meeting where I was one of only three citizens present in the entire HB Cultural Center.

Natelson's yet another attorney in HB who doesn't understand or doesn't like the state's Sunshine Laws, just like City Attorney David Jove, who for years has looked the other way at what was going on right in front of him, regardless of how badly it illegally disadvantages the citizen taxpayers of this community, because that's what Mayor Cooper and former
City Manager Mike Good wanted.

I'm hardly sharing Breaking News when I tell you that it's the opinion of the majority of concerned and well-informed people in HB that Jove's number-one priority is keeping his job. Period.
Just saying...
If this situation is going to be handled fairly and legally, the residents of that special taxing district need to have their referendum, plain and simple, and the two Golden Isles groups and Mayor Cooper need to STOP trying to bypass THEIR OWN RULES.
And any pretense at fairness and transparency.
Why won't Mayor Joy Cooper follow the rules and let the people in Golden Isles vote on the matter?
There's your story.
Dave

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Keith London
Date: Wed, Oct 20, 2010 at 12:12 PM
Subject: FW: 10/19 Meeting
To: "Commissioner, Hallandale Beach - Keith London" <klondon@hallandalebeachfl.gov>

Everyone,

Please read the attached email from one of your neighbors concerning the meeting last night.

Please feel free to contact me with any thoughts, comments or responses of your own.

Regards,

Keith

Keith S. London

City Commissioner

Hallandale Beach

954-457-1320 Office

954-494-3182 Cellular

www.KeithLondon.com

-----

The email below was written by David C. Barnett and was addressed to Hallandale Beach mayor Joy Cooper and Commissioner Keith S. London.

Other than my removing their email addresses at the top of the letter, it appears exactly as sent.

-----

Sent: Wednesday, October 20, 2010 8:19 AM
Subject: 10/19 Meeting

Barnett & Lerner, P.A.

Fighting for injured workers

Dear Keith & Joy:

It was a pleasure seeing both of you last night at the Safe Neighborhood and Overlay meeting. As you know, although I am extremely busy with my law practice, once in a while I do find the time to go to a meeting to learn about what is happening in our little town.

I found last nights meeting offensive in that there seems to be an attitude of superiority exhibited by both "voluntary" boards. I thought they were volunteering their time in order to make our neighborhood - Golden Isles - better. Rather, it is apparent there are political and power issues behind everything. With these political and power issues come costs - both hard and soft costs.

At the beginning of the Overlay meeting, Gerry Nadelson started by reminding everyone that we are a volunteer homeowners association with volunteer dues of $20.00. He went on to tell everyone that we need to have this City Overlay done in order to protect the residents of Golden Isles from the threat of litigation. Gerry stated that if we (I guess he means the ENTIRE community of Golden Isles) get sued, our dues would not provide enough money to pay an attorney to defend the lawsuit. I do not know the statistics, but I know that I am not the only attorney living in our neighborhood and I am sure that if there was a threat to Golden Isles, there would be plenty of resident lawyers who would be there to maintain our little waterfront community.

As someone who has been involved politically, on both a state and national level, it scares me to hear the "threat of litigation" as a basis for change. What we found out however, is that in 56 years, there has been maybe one (1) lawsuit. Thus, based on the foregoing, a question needs to be asked - What is the motivating factor for this requested change? The answer, although not disclosed, is very simple to see.

As everything stands now, if we, the residents of Golden Isles, have a problem or a concern over a neighbor regarding deed compliance, it is up to us as individuals or as a community to retain our own lawyer to enforce the restrictions by suing the non-compliant neighbor. Nobody wants to get sued, and quite candidly, over 56 years we have been able to keep Golden Isles residents fairly compliant with deed restriction.

By adopting this Overlay, what will really happen is that the City Attorney will now be the free private "retained" attorney by the activists within our neighborhood without any direct costs to those individual activists. We already have individuals who drive up and down the streets, inspecting everyone's home and invading privacy while others get on their boats and inspect everyone's home from the water. Essentially, we have a group of our own "SS" within our community. These individuals constantly complain, but they will not fund a lawsuit against a non-compliant neighbor either because they cannot afford it or they are concerned about the repercussions that will develop within our neighborhood. To give them access to a "free" attorney with anonymous deed compliant complaints is very scary!

If we adopt this Overlay, our Golden Isles SS group will have unlimited access to the City Attorney, at no expense to themselves individually, but rather to the expense of not only Golden Isles, but also the ENTIRE city of Hallandale Beach. Has this volunteer Overlay Board of nine actually conducted a cost analysis of this Overlay proposal. Do ALL the residents of the CIty of Hallandale - beyond just Golden Isles - know, and are they aware and in agreement, that this Overlay will result in additional costs to the City, which will have to be placed within the City budget. Where is this money going to come from - our taxes! How many more attorney's will the city need to hire in order to be responsive to the demands of the Golden Isles SS group for enforcement litigation? We need to see a true, independent, cost analysis of this Overlay, before we proceed further.

I certainly understand the frustration that Gerry, Joy and Alex may have over the home near the end of Holiday which is falling apart and is a blight on the neighborhood, but the methodology they are bringing forth is very dangerous. Not only will there be real financial costs (City attorney budget will have to go up) associated with the City Overlay, there will be the soft, emotional costs on our neighborhood. Gerry said that we "need" this Overlay as it will increase the "value" of our homes! I heard the same garbage about Gulfstream how our homes would go up in value and the people that promoted it most were actually on the payroll of either Magna, Gulfstream or Forest City, which they never revealed. In any event, values did not go up but rather, we have all experienced about a 40-50% decline in home values (I know the economy has a lot to do with it) This Overlay will NOT increase the value of our homes. I hope that this statement is challenged and I would like to see an impact study supporting such a statement. Rather, I see the value of our homes dropping with this Overlay as the Overlay will pit neighbor against neighbor when the Golden Isles SS overwhelm the City Attorney with anonymous complaints about residents of Golden Isles. Thereafter, the City will be forced to flood the Courthouse with suits filed by the City Attorney against residents of Golden Isles. This is offensive, crazy and shows the lack of insight, common sense and good judgment.

We all moved to Golden Isles because we did not want to live in a structured condo type community. We have had a nice neighborhood for 56 years without the Overlay. I do not see any upside to this proposed Overlay, only problems. This madness has to stop and we need your help to stop it.

Very truly yours,

David C. Barnett, Esquire

Barnett & Lerner, P.A.
2860 Marina Mile Blvd; Suite 105
Ft. Lauderdale, FL 33312
954-920-7400
954-920-9492 fax
888-732-7425 US Toll Free
www.injuredoverseas.com

Reminder: Hallandale Beach P&Z meeting on Peter Deutsch's Ben Gamla Hebrew Charter School is Wednesday the 27th at 1:30 p.m.

Above, looking east at the entrance of the Hallandale Jewish Center at 416 N.E. 8th Avenue, Hallandale Beach, FL. October 3, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier.

Important Reminder:

The next formal step in Ben Gamla Hebrew Charter School founder Peter Deutsch's attempt to cram a Middle School & High School version of Ben Gamla Hebrew Charter School into a single-family residential neighborhood in NE Hallandale Beach will be the Hallandale Beach P&Z meeting on Wednesday October 27 at 1:30 p.m. in the Hallandale Beach City Hall Commission Chambers.

Get there early, since the Ben Gamla parents from Tamarac, Sunrise, Plantation, Fort Lauderdale, Weston, Pembroke Pines and the rest of the county will descend en masse, yet again, to tell HB residents one more time what we HAVE to do.

Yes, they do rather love to lecture us, don't they, that is, when they aren't patronizing us or maligning the schools in this city?

That Peter Deutsch & Co. will make millions a year is beside the point we're told, just like the fact that less than 10% of any kids there will actually be from this city.
You know, where they want to locate the school.

Which means it's not really a community school, is it?

Given his past, often-repetitive comments about opportunity, you'd think that just on principle alone, that would make HB Comm. Anthony A. Sanders quite angry, and very eager to see that ANY charter schools in this city accurately reflect the demographic reality of THIS city's school children.

In this city, given the still-large but decreasing number of retirees, that's African-American and Hispanic kids. Everyone knows this.

But on this issue, as has been the case with him on so many over the past two years, where is Sanders, knowing as well as we ALL do that there are plenty of vacant, larger places in HB -or elsewhere- better-suited for this proposal, than this family neighborhood on a secondary street that consistently floods when a cloud comes over it?

When he first ran for City Commission two years ago, after he was hand-picked and installed as interim commissioner by Mayor Joy Cooper in a completely un-democratic process that was completely counter to the already-established process the city had used to fill short-term vacancies -the very one that led to Keith London becoming a commissioner in the first place- Sanders often said that he was going to be a "voice" for positive change, not an echo of the status quo, remember?

That's what Sanders said and that's what the editorial boards of the Miami Herald and South Florida Sun-Sentinel implied (and desperately wanted to believe) in their surprising election endorsements of him, which many of us strongly questioned, then and now.

Frankly, it's almost as if they liked the abstract idea of Sanders more than the actual candidate.
Well, it hasn't quite happened as they predicted, has it?
No it hasn't.

In fact, if anything, Sanders has been quieter on the dais than he ever was when he simply appeared at city meetings as a regular citizen, regardless of the merits of what he was saying.

Why is he SO mute and SO unwilling to do his homework as a commissioner and ask genuine questions to get responsive answers, instead of his non-sequiturs?

It's embarrassing, just like with book-ends Dotty Ross and Bill Julian, whose intellectual laziness and utter lack of curiosity on the dais as commissioners are both BIG parts of the longstanding problem in this town.

Those traits are also why they are NOT part of any logical solutions to turning this city around in a tangible manner so that residents and business owners can have some degree of satisfaction that someone besides Comm. London is looking after their best long-term interests.
But London is only one vote.

To say that Ross and Julian are totally disconnected from reality is an understatement, and this is proven time-and-again as they evince complete surprise at hearing information that is
common knowledge among HB residents and business owners alike, as well as anyone paying attention.

In fact, sometimes this weakness reveals itself in especially cringe-worthy fashion as Comm. Ross reminded us of all over again last night, when the word "annually" was uttered in a discussion of the city manager's new contract, which is for $213,000 a year by the way.
Her comment, which I have on videotape, was something along the lines of "Annually? You mean like every year?"
Yes, that kind of annually!

You'll recall that I mentioned on my blog last year that Sanders left the Ben Gamla's "Community Meeting" of last year about 45 minutes into its two hours.
Yes, the very community meetings that Peter Deutsch publicly admitted a number of times last week that he'd NEVER have held if he wasn't required to by the city, since he doesn't care what the HB community thinks.

As it happens, Sanders appears to have been a no-show for last week's meeting, as nobody saw him there, including me -and I was looking.

If you want to share your thoughts with Comm. Anthony Sanders on this issue, his City Hall
phone number is (954) 457-1319.

We already know from past experience that Wednesday will be quite a chaotic and emotional scene and that HB City Hall will once again handle it poorly, not bothering to have a TV available in the City Hall lobby for overflow crowds -as they'd have at Hollywood City Hall- so if you want to see it for yourself, and actually speak your mind, you have to be there.

Today, six days before the meeting, despite numerous inquiries -or simply doing it because it's the fair thing to do- the City of Hallandale Beach has still refused to put Ben Gamla's entire formal application on the city's website for the public's examination, despite the fact that they have had the documents since June -over four months.

Meet the New city manager, Mark Antonio, same as the old city manager, Mike Good.

See for yourself at http://www.hallandalebeachfl.gov/index.aspx?nid=648
and see my recent posts about the Ben Gamla situation,
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/search/label/Ben%20Gamla%20Hebrew%20Charter%20School

No doubt they are planning on repeating their pathetic anti-democratic template from December, when they didn't place the Diplomat LAC proposal docs on the city's website until 28 hours before the P&Z meeting.
28 HOURS.

A system where all the insiders, the lobbyists and the lawyers get to know what's going on -but not the taxpayers who have to live with the results.

That's a pertinent fact that I reminded the Broward County Commission of when I spoke before them when the proposal came before them earlier this year -TWICE- much to the chagrin of the mayor's pals and cronies in attendance, who had all spoken in favor of it.
While the County Commission and their staff had WEEKS to make sense of the many docs.

Why are Hallandale Beach taxpayers who are paying thousands of dollars a month for a third-rate, universally-reviled website, consistently the last ones to find out?

Some HB residents say those documents should have been on the city's awful website within 72 hours of being received.
Or a week.
Or a month.

But here we are, four months later, and there's still NOTHING for taxpayers to look at -FOUR MONTHS.
That's not by accident, that's by design.

Like so many other things in this poorly-run city that are intentionally done with stealth, deception and mendacity, that's the way that Mayor Cooper and the three-member Rubber Stamp Crew want it, otherwise, they'd direct City Manager Mark Antonio to change it.
They haven't done that, have they?

There's your story.

-----

If you want to personally call Mark Antonio and ask him why the Ben Gamla application and associated documents STILL aren't on the taxpayer-funded website for the citizen taxpayers of this city to examine, his City Hall phone number is (954) 457-1300

The City Hall phone number for Development Services director Richard Cannone is (954) 457-1375.

Ask them why they and the mayor seem so afraid of a level playing field on PUBLIC information.

Shockingly age inappropriate or simply base marketing hucksterism? The Taylor Momsen example staring us right in the face

Jail Bait in Chaps 'Taylor Momsen'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vkf3eURu5lY


Like most of you, I love glibness. Some of you may even like it more than your faithful blogger.
It's like a little boost of something, a shot of sugar or caffeine at just the right time when you're dragging.

When I worked in D.C. and was working on some big cases, especially mergers, where I and other members of my team would put in 60-70 hours and practically live in the firm's large conference room, that time was always around 3:15 p.m. or so.
We were already worn out by Thursday and knowing at 3:15 p.m. on Friday there was another seven hours ahead of us, and that we'd be there from 10-9 on both Saturday and Sunday, was rough.
But we got take-out food from the best restaurants in D.C., learned a lot, made lots of new friends and helped a client out that could be very grateful and was actually in-the-right, so you just cope with it.

Sometimes, hearing someone saying the perfect glib thing in the most unexpected of places or context, much like seeing someone actually suffer their long overdue just punishment after long evading responsibility, like parking tickets, and then happening on seeing the offending car towed-away, can have a salutary effect on the rest of your day.
You're smiling on the inside!

But glibness for the sake of glibness can often be like a -choose your own personal example here- delicious Key Lime pie, which after the third slice in an afternoon at a charity fundraiser just makes you sick, no matter how good the coffee or the company.

(A perfect example was in 1982 while driving down from IU for Spring Break at the Fort Lauderdale Sheraton Yankee Trader with some friends.
Though we always aimed to make the best time we could to get down here, part of our tradition was to ALWAYS stop for a bit at certain places: a local restaurant in Elizabethtown, KY that had multiple 20-year old waitresses who looked like the ever-adorable Amy Smart(!), a great pecan place in central Georgia, and the Shoney's Big Boy restaurant in Macon, GA.
That year, though, we got caught in a downpour and figured we'd cool our heels there for a bit longer 'til it stopped, which is how I came to order a second slice of Key Lime pie with my third cup of coffee.
Five minutes after finishing it off, the sugar nearly made my brain explode!)

And so it is with our amusing Russian TV friend, Alyona Minkovski over at RT America, Russia Today's U.S. channel, host of The Alyona Show, which airs at 6 p.m. and 9 p.m.
http://rt.com/About_Us/Programmes/The_Alyona_Show.html
http://www.youtube.com/user/TheAlyonaShow

A little of her can be fun, amusing, charming and even thought-provoking at times, like a delicious dinner over at the Tri-Delt house on Third Street in Bloomington, when you formally meet some of your good friend Gail Amster's sorority sisters, and come away impressed, bedazzled and even a little weak-in-the-knees.
Wow!!!

You see first-hand, all over again, just like the last time you were there, why they are la creme de la creme of IU's sororities, along with Kappa Kappa Gamma, Chi Omega, Delta Gamma and Pi Beta Phi.
Your pal Gail's a beautiful, charming and talented Phi Beta Kappa with a fabulous personality, and is captain of the Red Steppers dance team, to boot, but there's a lot to recommend her "sisters" too!
And you are so very, very glad you are at IU!

http://www.indiana.edu/~tridelt/ -Correct, the sorority seen in Breaking Away
http://www.iubpha.com/ -IU PanHel

But sometimes, when discussing some subjects, Alyona seems to be a little too glib for her own sake, and then it's just a downer all around for everyone, especially the viewers who want some gravitas once in a while.
Not to be a buzzkill, just to insure a decent amount of responsible discussion on the show.
Sometimes, it's like she doesn't realize that she can take it down a notch once in a while and be just as informative and entertaining.

That was what I was thinking after first watching this video of her's at the top of this post last Friday night, featuring Alyona's interview with Cris Clapp Logan on the latest scandal-du-jour featuring teen actress Taylor Momsen, who, in my opinion, seems to have no earthly idea how unappealing her public persona is making her to people who are going to largely decide her future.

And that is NOT other teens at The Galleria mocking their friends who have to work part-time because their parents don't want them to think that money grows on trees.


Sweetie, talented directors want talented young actors and actresses who CONSISTENTLY show up on time, know their lines and speak them exactly as they are written, and who hit their marks.
And who are NOT "problems" on the set.
They are not your parents, your understanding Grandmother or even your West Hollywood shrink.
They're your boss.

http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/celebrity/celebrity-news/2010/04/12/is-taylor-momsen-about-to-quit-gossip-girl
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1321728/Under-age-Taylor-Momsen-lights-Gossip-Girl-set.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

You, Taylor, despite plenty of advantages, popularity and some degree of talent to speak of, are NOT a 17-year old Natalie Wood -beloved!- and at age 17, you are already starting to collect baggage of the worst sort.
The "sort" that makes casting directors put you in the Plan B stack when directors call, because they want to keep directors and producers happy.

Southwest Airlines may take your baggage for free, but in a competitive marketplace like Hollywood, while your personal antics and histrionics and looks may help you get into lots of places on the QT, many people you'd like to work with in the industry are starting to think they just don't want to touch you until you have come down on one side of the other.
It's your choice.

Just remember, Taylor, there are planes landing at LAX everyday with more talented (and more attractive) young women than you, so wise-up or be 'yesterday's news' at 23 in the not-too-distant future.

You'd be smart to start looking at Jennifer Garner as a role model, because everyone loves working with her for a very good reason -she's the consummate professional.

She does all those things I listed above, and she was doing them years ago, even when she was less well-known than you are now.
Maybe you should try it.
Or "act" like you are.
Just saying...

See also:
http://www.enough.org/inside.php?tag=640UAE1GT0
http://www.tmz.com/2010/10/14/taylor-momsen-parents-television-council-revolver-gossip-girl/
http://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/search?q=Momsen
http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlla/
http://www.aftonbladet.se/sofismode/article7923618.ab

Aaron Sorkin re misogyny in 'The Social Network': "These aren't the cuddly nerds we made movies about in the 80's..."

Above, cover of New York Observer of October 11th, 2010, "Good Nerd, Bad Nerd" illustration by Viktor Koen.

Aaron Sorkin on misogyny concerns in David Fincher's new critically acclaimed film 'The Social Network' that Sorkin wrote.

"These aren't the cuddly nerds we made movies about in the 80's. They're very angry that the cheerleader still wants to go out with the quarterback..."

Yeah, I know, I know.
I'm about a week behind in posting about this excellent piece from Sharon Waxman's TheWrap.com.
And second of all, no, I haven't seen the film myself yet, but will likely get to it later this week.

As you read Jeff Sneider's article, be sure to read the informed and opinionated reader comments that area as good as the points that Sorkin makes and refutes.

One thing is clear, no matter how successful you are as a writer, and regardless of where you are on the political spectrum, there are few that have been as consistently successful over the past 20 years as Sorkin, there's always someone you've never heard of who wants to tell you what your real "problem" as a writer is.
LOL!
But first, a nice coincidental introduction to the theme under discussion in the article courtesy of BBC Radio's 5 live film critic Mark Kermode.

BBC Radio 5 live:Kermode reviews Social Network



TheWrap
Aaron Sorkin Addresses Claims of Misogyny in 'Social Network',
The screenwriter himself defends David Fincher's film in a post on Ken Levine's blog
By Jeff Sneider,
Published: October 11, 2010 @ 6:33 pm

Many people who have seen Sony's "The Social Network" have taken the filmmakers to task for the movie's "misogynistic" portrayal of women.

Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin responded to one such attack from a commenter named Tarazza on Ken Levine's blog, Sorkin's publicist has confirmed to TheWrap.

Read the rest of the fabulous piece here: http://www.thewrap.com/movies/article/aaron-sorkin-addresses-claims-misogyny-social-network-21628

Continuing with this theme on The Social Network, my new issue of The New York Observer arrived in the mail later than usual last week, but as I was so busy catching up on some things, including some overdue posts here at the blog, it would hardly have mattered if it'd been on time, which is usually Tuesday without fail. http://www.observer.com/
Yesterday, after the Dolphins surprising victory over the Packers, while waiting to meet a friend at a local haunt of mine, I finally cracked it open.
I was immediately reminded why I love it so much.

One of those reasons would have to be sheer prescient puckishness, as evidence by a delicious and fictitious 'as-written-by' Mark Zuckerberg piece on page 2 by Christian Lorentzen.


Then I read the three-page cover story, which under the illustration had the following:
"In the new Facebook movie, Mark Zuckerberg is a backstabbing, money-grubbing misfit. It works for Hollywood. But the geek stereotype may not apply in New York, where tech excecutives have perfected their own kind of cool." By Leon Neyfakh.
Deftly put!

Here's the problem: these two articles are not available online and may only be seen by subscribers, like myself, or by well-informed customers choosing to buyg a copy, so get yourselves to a large Barnes & Noble superstore ASAP, like the one on Biscayne Blvd. in the Loehmann's Fashion Island down in Aventura.
18711 N.E. Biscayne Blvd, Aventura, FL 33180
(305) 935-9770

Here's their online store locator:
http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/storelocator/stores.aspx?x=y&
You won't regret it.

See the past New York Observer stories on Mark Zuckerberg here:
http://www.observer.com/site-search?keys=Mark+Zuckerberg&x=14&y=0

Past NYO articles by Leon Neyfakh, many of which are tech-related, are here:
http://www.observer.com/site-search?keys=%22Leon+Neyfakh%22&x=34&y=16

Past NYO articles by Christian Lorentzen are here:
http://www.observer.com/site-search?keys=%22Christian+Lorentzen%22&sa.x=6&sa.y=3&sa=Submit
11:45 p.m.
To see a glimpse of some scenes from the trailer of the film -with some Swedish V.O. tossed in- you can see it here on Teresa Tingbrand's report for Aftonbladet TV:


http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/noje/article7869353.ab

http://www.aftonbladet.se/webbtv/

Two reasons why there'll always be a Great Britain: comedy & candor in equal measure

Two reasons why there'll always be a Great Britain: comedy & candor in equal measure

Smithy's Best Man speech - Gavin and Stacey - BBC

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGljfvdGiy4

Wedding day - Gavin and Stacey - BBC, featuring the famous line,

"Where to she now?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-T-100FEomg


Meanwhile, over at Seven Days on Channel 4, it's another beautiful morning in Notting Hill, and with Laura and Samantha, two rather obvious eaves-droppers at the diner end up getting some free candor with their coffee!
Seven Days | A Model Breakfast | Channel 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jQHXy93B-ow

See also:
http://www.youtube.com/user/BBCWorldwide
http://sevendays.channel4.com/characters/samantha/thoughts/all
http://sevendays.channel4.com/characters/laura-z/thoughts/all
http://sevendays.channel4.com/

New film re the U.S. economy under Obama titled “I Want Your Money" has cartoons, yet deserves serious scrutiny; Aventura Mall's new kids-free nights

"I Want Your Money" Official HD Movie Trailer



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEPPHjKIZps

www.IWantYourMoney.net.

Theater locator: http://www.iwantyourmoney.net/theaterlocator/


I'm probably going to see it this week down the street at the AMC 24 cineplex at the Aventura Mall, which has been so much in the news of late because of the near-riot there in late August, resulting in their just-announced kids-free curfew on Friday and Sunday nights after 9:30 p.m.

Before you read the past articles on how this came to be, I think it's important to say for the record that nobody currently working at the Aventura Mall looks like Phoebe Cates in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083929/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_Times_at_Ridgemont_High
only the most beautiful "girl at the Mall" ever, no matter where in America you lived.
Ever!

http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20270976_10,00.html
http://la.curbed.com/archives/2010/07/remember_the_80s_fortresslike_malls_are_back_in_vogue_again.php

------

Excerpt from an email of mine sent on August 29th:

Unless you frequently check the Miami Herald's poky website over the course of the day, you wouldn't know about this but...

At 10:17 a.m. Sunday morning, the Herald posted this City of Aventura blog post of the
story: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/28/1797299/brawl-outside-of-theater-results.html

This story had 160 reader comments as of 10 p.m. Sunday night -in chron order- multiples of the usual Herald stories not involving the Dolphins or Hurricanes.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/28/1797299/brawl-outside-of-theater-results.html?commentSort=TimeStampAscending&pageNum=1

On Sunday night at 8:24 p.m., the Herald posted this version of the story: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/29/1798041/aventura-mall-evacuated-after.html

Reader comments for second version, in chron order:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/29/1798041/aventura-mall-evacuated-after.html?commentSort=TimeStampAscending&pageNum=1#none

-----

That was all the predicate for this bit of news on Monday:

Miami Herald
Aventura Mall adopts 'parental escort policy' for teens
By Jared Goyette
October 11, 2010

Starting this week, teens hoping to hit Aventura Mall on a Friday or Saturday night will have to bring along a companion -- their mom or dad.

Anyone under the age of 18 in the mall after 9:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays must be accompanied -- at all times -- by a parent or legal guardian on Friday and Saturday.

This comes a little more than a month after a brawl between minors in front of the theater resulted in the arrest of 12 teenagers on Saturday, Aug 28.

Joe Szymaszek, vice president of retail operations for Turnberry Associates, which runs the mall, said the new rule was not related to the incident and had been under consideration for some time.

"We're committed to giving our customers a family friendly shopping, dinning and entertainment experience, and we believe this new policy supports that initiative.''

The AMC 24 movie theater and several restaurants are the only part of the mall still open at that hour, though some stores extend their hours during the holiday season.

The mall's new "parental escort policy,'' which starts this Friday, will likely irritate teenagers.

But many adult shoppers and moviegoers, however, may be glad to hear the news.

For Angelica Doval, 24, of Miami, the new rule is the right approach.

"I think it's a good idea just because for older people, like myself, if you're going on a date or whatnot, you're going to want to come and enjoy it,'' she said while visitting the mall during a recent weekday. "A lot of time minors kill the atmosphere with their immaturity, with their noise, just being childish. So I think if they have a guardian with them, they'll be better behaved.''

Andy Cunningham, 44, of Aventura, had a similar opinion.

"It will make my movie-going experience as an adult so much more pleasant because I won't have all of the nonsense these kids bring into the movie theater,'' he said.

Other malls around the country have adopted similar measures. In March, a theater in the Dallas area implemented a "family night'' policy that said no one under 17 was allowed in after 8 p.m. Friday through Sunday without a parent or legal guardian. In 2008, a theater in Harrisburg, Penn., barred anyone under 17 from attending movies after 9:30 p.m.

Those under 18, of course, had a different take on the issue.

North Miami Beach resident Rebecca Sonn, 17, said the rule was presented during a school assembly at North Miami Beach Senior High.

She thinks that the policy could ruin dates for younger students, and that it's fundamentally unfair.

"The kids that are mature shouldn't be punished for what a few immature kids did,'' she said.

Rebecca's mother, Teri Sonn, does not share her daughter's concern. While she thinks the movie theater will lose business, she believes the mall will be safer with the new policy -- and that her daughter can just make other plans on Friday and Saturday evenings.

"The mall is not a babysitting service,'' she said.

Prateek Sachdeva, 16 lives next to the mall. He said it's impossible for him to go to the mall during weekdays due to his class work, and he is concerned this will take away one of his few escapes. He thinks the mall administrators will regret their decision.

"I think when the mall realizes how much money it is losing due to this curfew, it won't take long till they revoke it,'' he said.

Prateek's father, Rajiv Sachdeva, also thinks the policy is unfair to his son. He said he'll try to plan weekends when they can go to the movies at the same time, but on some night's that won't be possible.

"I'm not in favor of that policy, it's a punishment for him,'' he said. `` We want to make him as independent as we possibly can. We have full faith in him.''

The rule will be enforced by both mall security guards and City of Aventura Police officers, who will be checking IDs inside the mall, Szymaszek said. While security staff will not be able to determine from the IDs checks whether an adult is the parent or legal guardian of the minor they are accompanying, Szymaszek said that ultimately the mall will have to depend on the "integrity of all patrons to which this policy applies.''

Zoila Marzo of Sunny Isles is 18, and was glad the policy won't affect her. She thinks it's "ridiculous'' and wonders what minors are supposed to do at night if they can't go to the mall.

"Young kids can't go out partying or clubbing, they come to the mall on weekends, so that will affect them a lot,'' she said. ``What else can they do? They're young.''

Student contributors Anthony Cave, Aly Garfinkle, and Eric Eidelstein assisted with this report.

Reader comments at:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/11/1868256/aventura-mall-to-adopt-parental.html?commentSort=TimeStampAscending&pageNum=1

-----

The latest version of the new rules:

Miami Herald

Parental guidance: Kids unwelcome without adults at Aventura Mall
Teens for the first time this weekend had to be escorted by adults or guardians after 9:30 p.m. at the mall in Aventura. And some didn't like it.
By Jared Goyette
October 17, 2010

It was 9:28 p.m. Friday and Lior Amar was standing at Aventura Mall's AMC 24 movie theater, about to buy tickets for a movie with a group of friends.

There was only one problem. Lior, from Miami, is only 13, and a security guard told her to leave. Effective this weekend, the mall became the latest to adopt a teen chaperon policy for Friday and Saturday nights.

Read the rest of the story at:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/10/16/1877195/parental-guidance-kids-unwelcome.html

I never liked Condi Rice as Sec. of State, and I like her even less now. When will she finally admit HER personal culpability for policy mistakes?

Condoleeza Rice is NOT Dwight Eisenhower.

Condi Rice: A speed bump of history that looms even smaller with every passing year.

Not that you asked, but I never liked self-serving Condoleeza Rice when she was Bush 43's Secretary of State, even though I voted for him, and I like HER even less now.
When will she finally admit HER personal culpability for policy mistakes?
Ever?

A short open letter to the one-time Secretary of State on the occasion of her new book and the absurd over-the-top kid-gloves treatment that she will get from the MSM for the next few months, as excuses are made for her by the very people who were quiet at the time.

Dwight Eisenhower is STILL dead and was an anomaly as a candidate who'd never been elected to any office before becoming President.
History is not about to repeat itself anytime soon.

Given your longstanding distaste for enduring public criticism, even constructive criticism, the fact that Beltway reporters of the caliber and reputation of the Washington Post's Glenn Kessler persist in public speculation that you may run for high public office is both alarming for him, and preposterous for you.

You have repeatedly shown your unwillingness to do the one fundamental thing required in American electoral politics: to listen to average American citizens.

In your particular case, you have avoided listening and responding with candor to Americans of either the Right or the Left -or the Right-Center like me- with an insulated, above-the-fray attitude that may serve you well when you are being paid to make speeches overseas to the comfortable elite stating the obvious, but not so much with average Americans, for whom you were and are an enigma.

But now, an enigma we no longer are curious about, despite what your publisher has told you.

It's too late for you to attempt to change the public narrative now, and you also can't change the fact that your track record comes largely from dealing with people for whom you were superior to in the organization, easily pushed-around self-important academic types at Stanford, or corporate glad-handers and apologists who paid you for being around or giving speeches, even while you were on Board of Directors for large American companies.

Simply put, you lack the 'common touch,' one that Bill Clinton, for all of his flaws, was born with and then honed for years while putting himself before the very American people that you have largely been sheltered away from in your self-selecting cocoon for YEARS.

In that regard, you share that with your predecessor, Colin Powell, for whom we personally feel similarly cold towards, having personally seen up-close in Washington that same MSM news media fawning machine when he was hawking his books and "leaving the door open."

You and Powell both seem to have been born with the same imperious, self-serving gene that so many actual South Florida politicians the community would be better off without, actually possess, like Debby Eisinger, Stacy Ritter and Joy Cooper.
It's NOT attractive.
In fact, it actually repels.

We not only DONT need you, Miss Rice, there is zero chance there will ever be a Draft Condi boomlet for any electoral office, except maybe something in Cali that is thought either largely inconsequential, or, 'for show.'

No matter how many times you subtly-yet-calculatingly insinuate to reporters and columnists that you're leaving the door open for future elective office, there will always be people like myself who are standing there, happy to shut that door on you with a simple recitation of the true facts of your chosen career and your above-it-all personality.
Nope, we are closing THAT door with you on the other side.
You can keep knocking, but we're NOT answering.

We also DON'T want you to have anything to do with the NFL, either, and are tired of THAT particular line of self-serving talk almost as much as anything else about you.
No thanks!
The NFL is doing fine without you.

------

The Washington Post
Rice meets with Obama, then defends his administration's approach
By Glenn Kessler
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 15, 2010; 10:43 PM

Not many authors on a book tour manage to snag a visit with the president of the United States.

But Condoleezza Rice is no ordinary book author. The former secretary of state and onetime national security adviser met one-on-one with President Obama at the White House on Friday afternoon, after a week of television appearances promoting "Extraordinary, Ordinary People," her memoir about her parents. The White House said Obama wanted to discuss a range of foreign policy issues with her.

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/15/AR2010101506018.html

Reader comments at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/15/AR2010101506018_Comments.html

To paraphrase Keith Jackson, when you have Aranäs vs. Hammarby and Sävehof vs. Spårvägen in handball, "you just have to throw out the record books."

SVT video of Aranäs vs. Hammarby in team handball



http://svtplay.se/v/2195287/handboll/aranas-hammarby_24-24

Final score: Aranäs 24, Hammarby 24

To paraphrase ABC Sports' Keith Jackson, when you have Aranäs vs. Hammarby and Sävehof vs. Spårvägen in handball, "you just have to throw out the record books!"

Tell me, again, why is the U.S. uncompetitive in this sport internationally?

Trust me, you won't see these particular scores in the Miami Herald on Saturday, and not just because their Sports Dept. seems to go to sleep early around the weekends, often not reporting scores of ballgames in the paper the next day that finished well before 11:30 p.m.

Like one of the two 2010 NCAA Women's Basketball National Semifinals, to name but one example of many, which the New York Times somehow managed to get into print down here, along with a game story and photos, while there was NADA in the woebegone Herald.
(More on the awful Herald Sports Dept.is coming soon! When it rains, it pours!)
Just saying...

Meanwhile, SVT's video of the Spårvägen vs. IK Sävehof Women's showdown...



http://svtplay.se/v/2191778/handboll/savehof_kor_over_allt_motstand_-_i_elitserien?cb,a1364159,1,f,103671/pb,a1364158,1,f,103671/pl,v,,2191815/sb,k103668,1,f,103671

Final score: Sävehof 38, Spårvägen 24

Story at: http://svt.se/2.21095/1.2191771/femte_raka_segern_for_savehofs_damer?lid=senasteNytt_1891271&lpos=rubrik_2191771
Next game is Sunday at Dinamo Volgograd

How many times have I written here on my humble blog, "You can't stop Sävehof's Isabelle Gulldén, you can only hope to contain her."


IK Sävehof official team website, Men & Women: http://www.savehof.se/

SVT's handboll homepage: http://svt.se/2.21103/handboll

European Handball Federation official website: http://www.eurohandball.com/

EHF Video highlights and entire games free of charge at: http://www.ehftv.com/