Libya may change in 24-36 hours; WSJ's Alan Murray, social media expert Clay Shirky on effect of Facebook, Twitter, et al in revolts in Egypt, Africa

Facebook and Twitter Are Changing the Middle East 2/18/2011 9:42:59 AM
In an interview with WSJ's Alan Murray, social media expert Clay Shirky discusses the effect of Facebook, Twitter and other social media in the recent uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, and what it could mean for the Middle East at large.

http://online.wsj.com/video/shirky-facebook-and-twitter-speed-up-revolutions/E0BAA515-5056-4F4A-AC5E-C684BADE46CA.html

When Clay Shirky speaks, very smart people with resources and connections listen -and so should you!
He believes that Libya is the next domino to fall... ker-plunk!

Pull-quote from the Shirky interview: "Governments are NOT afraid of informed individuals, they're afraid of informed synchronous groups."

Hmm-m... that's Joy Cooper's biggest fear at Hallandale Beach City Hall.

http://www.shirky.com/

http://www.shirky.com/weblog/

New York Times video: Tunisia, After the Revolution

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XeTY4zl02-4

Libya teetering on the brink of great change...
I've been listening intently this morning to the 6 a.m. BBC World Service World Today broadcast and have heard a fascinating interview with a Libyan-born expert in the U.S. who actually knows Colonel Qadafi and his son, Sayf.

Following a BBC correspondent's report from Tripoli, scene of so much violence this weekend, and even now, the scene of sustained gunfire, the expert in the U.S. being interviewed was quite negative about the speech Qadhafi's son made today on Libyan TV, and what he characterized as the very strange behavior he exhibited.

He said that Libyan people would not respond well to the behavior or words, esp, his wild gesticulations during the speech as well as the very threatening manner, which made it seem like it had not been rehearsed.
Almost like the first time he saw it was when he was reading it.
Hmm-m...

See it for yourself.

BBC video of excerpts of Sayf al-Islam Qadafi speech:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12520550

The situation is moving very, very rapidly...
How will Libya transition into next phase of development?

Another expert said that it's his sense of things that with the eastern part of the country basically opting out of central control, Qadafi will be out of Libya within the next 24-36 hours because the army and police are starting to realize that they have no future if he is around.

He no longer is able to control things and "the genie is out and can't be put back into the lamp."

BBC's Middle east Protests web page:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12480844

BBC-TV video segments on http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12513941

Listen LIVE to BBC Radio's World Service here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/audioconsole/?stream=live

Facts on Libya at the CIA Factbook:
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ly.html

The Channel 4 News Snowmail that I received by email on Sunday afternoon, written by Krishnan Guru-Murthy, said as follows on Libya:

LIBYA

The Libya uprising is showing its differences and difficulties. While Tunisia, Egypt and Bahrain have been playing out on television cameras, amateur video, mobile phones and Twitter the Libyan protests are much harder to follow. International journalists have not managed to get in the way they did with the others. Access to the internet is restricted, and websites such as YouTube which can upload video, and social networks seem to be disrupted. However the phones still work so we have been gathering testimony the old fashioned pre-internet way. Amid reports of hundreds of people now killed in the protests in and around Benghazi there is clearly huge determination by the demonstrators. We spoke to one man there who told us "A lot of people are dying in the streets. There are a lot of cars with troops from outside Libya, I think they are Nigerian, from African countries. They have guns and they shoot anyone they find on the streets...From the eastern part of Libya, the protesters have received some heavy artillery, they haven’t used it yet – they're telling us they are going to now. Nobody knows the number (of dead) because there are many hospitals – they go to four or five different hospitals. Most of them are being shot by snipers, from far away in the head or the chest by Africans. Most of them don’t speak good Arabic, they speak French." Obviously there is no way for us to check these claims on the snipers but they give you a good idea of what the talk is going around the protesters at least. Heavy gunfire could be heard in the background and the man had to break off to shout at friends to get inside.

And it is clear Tripoli is far from calm too. We spoke to a woman there who told us "I live in the east side of Tripoli but I cannot go out. My husband went out this morning, he said the streets were empty, people were scared. So I said, ok let my son go to the store but my son – he didn’t come back and I hear from people – I call them and they say why did you send him? People have gone to the court – I hope he didn’t go there because he’s young and very nervous. For two days I kept him in the house but I hope he didn’t go there. Oh my goodness, there’s something happening now – they are shooting I’m sorry I have to go.". So we are gathering what we can, and will have the latest. We will also be discussing what the West can and should do about Libya. The US ambassador Louis Susman was pretty unsubtle in a diplomatic way this morning with Andrew Marr - it was clear he thinks Britain has been wrong to deal with Gadaffi in a way that makes him seem like a legitimate leader.

Here are the two news segments they aired last night on Libya.


Channel4 News February 20, 2011 Libya unrest
http://bcove.me/4tbtcgj2


Channel4 News February 20, 2011 Libya discussion
http://bcove.me/idmo6ot5

Clare Maguire - The Last Dance (HD & Live At St Luke's, 2010 versions); Clare's debut CD 'Light After Dark' comes out Monday Feb. 28th!

Clare Maguire - The Last Dance (Official Video) HD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtdsqUlPdCk

Her debut CD 'Light After Dark' comes out next Monday, February 28th!



Clare Maguire - The Last Dance (Live At St Luke's, 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd6p8CSP0aQ

Clare's official website is at http://www.claremaguire.co.uk/

YouTube page is at http://www.youtube.com/user/ClareMaguireMusic

Swedish ice hockey player Danijela Rundqvist: Moved to Canada to play professionally and not only has to adapt to level of play, but family demands

Head's up: while the voice-over is in Swedish, the profanity is in English!
SVT video: Hockeyproffset som betalar för att spela - February 17, 2011

Twenty-six year old former AIK and Swedish Olympic ice hockey player Danijela Rundqvist has moved to Canada to play professionally for the Burlington Barracudas of Ontario in the Canadian Womens Hockey League in order to improve her abilities before moving back to Sweden after the season.

Rundqvist currently lives in town with a Canadian family and also works with children on the ice rink, but while the goal of sharpening her game is happening, she has to balance her busy schedule and career with being a mother in a foreign country, far from the help and comfort of family and friends.

"The price of success is hard work" - Maxim in Toronto Maple Leafs locker room

Another fascinating SVT video of Danijela working-out with a trainer, part of which is included in the video at top, is at:
http://svtplay.se/v/2329925/ishockey/se_rundqvist_stenharda_traning

In Sweden, mamas don't let their babies grow-up to be cowboys, instead, they want them to be members of Tre kronor or Damkronorna, and begin covering them in the Blue & Gold from birth, as evidenced by this replica jersey -for babies.
Official Swedish Ice Hockey Association online store:
http://62.20.67.29/trekronor/

Their homepage is http://www.swehockey.se/

Danijela's photo is now featured on the Damkronorna homepage:
http://www.swehockey.se/Landslag/Dam/

------

Danijela's blog is at: http://danijelarundqvist.blogspot.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danijela_Rundqvist
http://www.cwhl.ca/
http://www.aik.se/aikindex.html?/startsida.html

-----
My last blog post on Svenska Ishockey was exactly a year ago, February 21st, 2010, the day of the big Sweden vs. Finland game in Vancouver at the Winter Olympics.
That proved to not quite be the close game I'd hoped for: Sweden's skillful Tre kronor vs. Finland's Susi in Olympic hockey Sunday - Heja Sverige! Heja Sverige!
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/swedens-skillful-tre-kronor-vs-finlands.html

For many of you newer readers to the blog, that post of mine was also -happily- your very first introduction to the awesome talent that is singer Jill Johnson, in this case, singing Jolene.
You're welcome!


Jill Johnson - Jolene, as seen on TV4's BingoLotto, 2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-Dl83hLZG4

Hallandale Beach wants to enact new water restrictions? Why?; SFSS: What restrictions? South Florida's year-round watering rules not being enforced

The City of Hallandale Beach wants to enact new water restrictions?
Why?

Today, Andy Reid of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel has an article that hits every note: What restrictions? South Florida's year-round watering rules not being enforced

It's well worth your reading below, and as you do so, look at the public notice from the City of Hallandale Beach directly above it that ran in today's Miami Herald and ask yourself a simple question.

Beyond the general idea that we'd all agree that it's clearly NOT smart to waste water, IF it's such a problem in Hallandale Beach now, then how many actual citations has the city issued here the past 12 months?
My guess is ZERO.

The burden of proof that there is currently a problem in this city worth legislating lies entirely with the city, and it requires them citing and showing thru photos or some other tangible means, the evidence of a problem, along with totals, etc.
Where's the evidence?

They need to make make a PowerPoint presentation before the public in the City Commission Chambers before voting on this, NOT do something simply so that Mayor Cooper can pat herself on the back in an attempt to get more attention for herself.
Otherwise, this is nothing more than a new Stamp Act.

My experience from personal observation walking and driving thru HB is that the city itself is THE worst and biggest offender, just as they are with so many other Code Enforcement problems, starting with the longstanding violation located just a few feet from where City Manger Antonio parks his own car, which he is perfectly aware of because it's so obvious.
And the one a few feet past that one... and then the other one nearby...


August 16, 2010 photo by South Beach Hoosier

And what about the glaring Code Enforcement violation that Hallandale Beach City Hall has allowed to exist for years in the Upper Deck Ale & Sports Grill parking lot, next to Gulfstream Park Racetrack & Casino?
And when did restaurant parking lots in this city become boat marinas, as this boat above has been in this parking lot for well OVER two years, as it's visible from the sidewalk and the Gulfstream entrance/exit along N.E./S.E. 10th Avenue?

(I'll have more on this particular subject later this week, with damning photos taken by me over the past two years proving that Hallandale Beach City Hall's wink-wink system of code enforcement fails citizens, and which completely disproves any notion that City Hall treats everyone in the city equally. They don't!)


Two years ago at a HB City Commission meeting, I cited several examples of the city breaking the South Florida Water Management District rules on water, including one just a block from Hallandale Beach City Hall.
Guess what happened?


Published in Miami Herald on 2/19/2011

--------

South Florida Sun-Sentinel
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/fl-watering-restrictions-ignored-20110219,0,4541591.story

What restrictions? South Florida's year-round watering rules not being enforced

By Andy Reid, Sun Sentinel
February 19, 2011

Lax enforcement means few citations have been written for violations of South Florida's new year-round watering rules, according to a Sun Sentinel sampling in Broward and Palm Beach counties.

Since the new rules began last March , neither Broward County code enforcement nor city of Fort Lauderdale code enforcement officers issued a single citation for violating watering restrictions, as of the first week of February.

In addition, Fort Lauderdale lets homes and businesses water landscaping on more days than Broward County's countywide rule allows.

Rider hits bus driver across face in Oakland Park. See the video here.

Over the same time period, Palm Beach County issued just three notices of violations for water users breaking the new rules. Of those three, only one was forced to pay the $125 fine.

Neither Delray Beach nor Boca Raton issued a watering violation.

Also, the South Florida Water Management District — charged with protecting regional water supplies — stopped keeping track of whether cities and counties each week enforce the new year-round watering rules that the agency imposed.

While the year-round watering rules are intended to promote a permanent conservation push, the district requires cities and counties only to report weekly enforcement totals during droughts.

The new year-round landscape irrigation rules were supposed to create a new "culture of conservation" in thirsty South Florida, but backers say that requires stepped-up enforcement. "It hurts everybody when there's no enforcement," said Drew Martin of the Sierra Club, which advocates tougher watering restrictions.

"It punishes the people who obey the law and rewards people who don't."

Code-enforcement officials contend that budget cuts during Florida's economic downturn left fewer people to look for watering rule breakers and code-enforcement priorities changed as droughts faded away.

Now, after months of lax enforcement, concerns about forecasts for a dryer-than-normal spring could trigger tougher watering restrictions for South Florida homes and businesses.

"There's no overtime to speak of," Patrick Saba, Broward County code-enforcement supervisor, said about the possibility of being asked to crack down on watering rules. "We will do the best we can. … Officers will write the violations when they see them."

District officials and local community representatives contend that ticket totals aren't the best gauge of conservation success. They say more water users are voluntarily following irrigation rules and that overall water use has declined.

But code-enforcement officials acknowledge that if drought conditions worsen and the district requires tougher restrictions, enforcing them only gets harder.

"With a tight budget … we are not sure how much of an effort we would be able to put forward," Palm Beach County Code Enforcement Director Kurt Eismann said.

South Florida uses the most water in the state, averaging about 179 gallons per resident per day, according to the water management district.

About half of South Florida's public water supply is used for landscape irrigation.

While South Florida typically gets more than enough rainfall to meet its water-supply needs, guarding against the flooding of neighborhoods and farms that now cover what used to be the Everglades and other wetlands leads to dumping much of that stormwater out to sea.

Lake Okeechobee is South Florida's backup water supply. But during 2010 the Army Corps of Engineers drained more than 400 billion gallons from the lake, with most of the water — more than 300 billion gallons — flushed out to sea because of flood-control concerns.

Also, because of a lack of water storage space, the vast system of drainage canals operated by the South Florida Water Management District dumps about 1.7 billion gallons of stormwater out to sea after a typical summer rainy day.

The South Florida Water Management District last year switched from temporary watering restrictions, imposed during droughts, to year-round watering rules aimed at prolonged conservation.

The district agreed to allow watering as much as three times per week for southeast Florida, but also allowed local governments to be more restrictive.

Miami-Dade and Broward counties require the more-restrictive twice-a-week limits year-round, while Palm Beach County allows up to three-day-per-week watering year-round.

Despite Broward County's two-day-watering rule, Fort Lauderdale allows its residents to water three times per week.

The city contends that its rules actually save more water by establishing fewer allowable hours of watering, and then spreading the watering over three days.

Adding up the total allowable watering time means 33 hours per week under the city rule and 36 hours per week under the county rule.

"The overall goal of the ordinance is water conservation." Fort Lauderdale spokesman Chaz Adams said.

Yet using the total hours allowed for watering as the comparison assumes that homes and businesses actually run sprinklers during the entire watering periods — a wasteful practice the city's own website discourages.

Fort Lauderdale passed its watering rules before the county's twice-a-week standard took effect. But when it comes to watering issues, the county rule takes precedence, according to Broward County Senior Assistant County Attorney Michael Owens.

Fort Lauderdale code and environmental officers focus on "communication and outreach efforts," Adams said.

"Their first objective is to educate and inform citizens, not penalize them," Adams said.

The lack of citations in Boca Raton since year-round watering went into effect largely was due to favorable weather conditions, Assistant City Manager Mike Woika said.

"There hasn't been a drought," Woika said. "There wasn't a significant enforcement need required."

Forecasts for worsening drought conditions could change that.

The water management district focuses on education and outreach to try to win local governments' cooperation to enforce restrictions, said Terrie Bates, its assistant deputy executive director for water resources.

"It's going to take time to keep repeating that message," Bates said about the watering rules. "It's in effect. We expect people to be compliant."

“We cannot imagine any level of incompetence that would explain what we have seen." - FL State Grand Jury calls for ABOLISHING Broward School Board

“We cannot imagine any level of incompetence that would explain what we have seen..." - Florida State Grand Jury calls for abolishing Broward School Board due to rampant corruption and mismanagement.

That was the subject header for an email I sent out earlier this evening upon hearing the amazing but welcome news in an out-of-the-blue blog email from Broward Clean Sweep, http://browardcleansweep.wordpress.com/ that the FL statewide Grand Jury under Broward Judge Victor Tobin, and established by former FL governor Charlie Crist, has issued a scathing 51-page report that damns with cold-hard facts the incompetent people and corrupt culture running the Broward School system into the ground.

It levels its cannons right at current Superintendent James Notter, and explicitly calls for the abolition of the elected School Board. To which I can only add, "Huzzah! Huzzah!"

Clearly, the shoe that I and many other South Florida civic activists and bloggers -and some reporters- have been waiting for for what seems like forever has dropped.

I haven't heard the final thump yet, so the shoe is still falling at terminal velocity, and is likely to have more collisions on the way down, but it's clearly only a matter of time before familiar names in Broward County and beyond are being asked hard questions they have heretofore avoided answering publicly to anyone's satisfaction.

Soon, the public will fall back upon Sen. Howard Baker's simple but elastic question of questions during the Senate Watergate hearings: "What did they know and when did they know it?"

-----
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/02/18/2074314/state-report-abolish-broward-school.html
Miami Herald
State report blasts Broward School Board
By Mary Ellen Klas

In a scathing report released Friday night, the Florida Grand Jury blasted the Broward County School Board for a culture of corruption and reckless spending of taxpayer money.

The board is so riddled with problems, the 51-page report begins, that if the grand jury had the power, it would recomend it be abolished.

“We cannot imagine any level of incompetence that would explain what we have seen,’’ reads a report compiled by the Grand Jury. “Therefore we are reluctantly compelled to conclude that at least some of this behavior can best be explained by corruption of our officials by contractors, vendors and their lobbyists.’’

“But for the Constitutional mandate that requires an elected School Board for each District, our first and foremost recommendation would have been to abolish the Broward County School Board altogether.”

The report also criticized Superintendent Jim Notter, saying he was not strong enough in leading the nation’s sixth largest school district.

The report concludes:

"The corruptive influence here is most often campaign contributions from individuals with a financial stake in how Board members vote. Long ago the Board should have recognized the risk that putting themselves in the center of handing out hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars would inevitably drawn attention and undue influence from moneyed interests...Only now, years later and with pressure from all sides, have they begun to take steps to resolve this and other issues.

"Unfortunately based on the history of this Board as an institution, we have no confidence in their ability to make meaningful changes and to adhere to them. The solutions we see, at least short term, are to remove as much power and influence from the Board as possible and to have an independent outside authority monitor their dealings closely.’’

The report blasts the board for "an appalling lack of both leadership and awareness. Rather than focusing on the big picture and looking to the challenges of the future, they have mired themselves in the day to day running of the District, a task for which they are singularly unqualified.’’

Among the criticisms, the report says the school board ’"seems to be more comfortable with opening unfinished schools than angering the contractors that fund their campaigns through political contributions and fundraisers."

The list of findings is extensive: incomplete and inadequate construction records, untrained inspectors, "wasteful and dubious spending on ill conceived ideas," and board members who "direct that spending towards friends, acquaintances or supporters of Board members without any accountability."

The jurors conclude with 21 recommendations, in addition to calling for an outside monitor to oversee every move until the district and its oversight board roots out corruption and gets into shape. Among them:

Refuse campaign contributions from contractors, vendors and others doing business with the Board.

Require mandatory ethics training and testing by an outside agency.

All late additions to the Board’s agenda must be discussed at a public meeting.

Add more detail to agenda items or provide a link to where more information concerning the item can be found.

Reduce the threshold on spending items on the consent agenda.

Remove retainage reductions from consent agenda.

Require recommendation of the Superintendent or the Deputy Superintendent for reduction in retainage to be in writing and under their signature.

End the influence of the Board over the Building department by turning over inspections to local building departments.

Reduce number of school board members to 5.

Place before the voters the issue of electing the Superintendent.

Create independent office of Inspector General to monitor the Board and District

Prohibit board members from being involved in the selection of contractors, vendors, or financial institutions.

No official business should be conducted between school board members and staff

All bids should be opened in public, with Auditor there to certify bids met minimums.

No decisions should be made anywhere other than a regularly scheduled board meeting.

No discussions should be had other than at Board meetings or workshops as per Sunshine Law requirements.

Prohibit gifts of any value to any Board member or District employee from anyone doing business with the District or lobbying the Board

Empower Department of Education to penalize districts that don’t file require paperwork by withholding any state funds until certificates of occupancy, inspections and other project documents are filed.

Grand Jury Report at:
http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/pub_info/summaries/briefs/09/09-1910/Filed_02-18-2011_Final_Report.pdf

Whenever the State Grand Jury is ready to come visit Hallandale Beach and sit a spell and to hear from concerned citizens who've been paying close attention detail just what's been going on here for years under the Joy Cooper/Mike Good/Mark Antonio regime, we'll be ready and waiting.

There are dozens of people in this SE Broward County community, including yours truly, who have a mountain of facts and evidence to present to interested parties in a position to actually see that the spirit and letter of the law in this state is followed, NOT intentionally ignored. Not least of all, the state's Sunshine Laws, enshrined in the state constitution.

For years, Hallandale Beach City Hall has acted like those laws were merely suggestions!

This news about the Broward School Board finally getting their comeuppance could hardly come a day too soon for the beleaguered kids in this county, who for too long have been at the bottom of the School Board's pyramid, while lobbyists, contractors and cronies were up at the top, thanks to their $$$ and influence come election time.

Next Tuesday at 7 p.m. will be a public meeting of the Hollywood Democratic Club, featuring Broward School Board members Jennifer Gottlieb and Ann Murray, attempting to defend their dismal record of achievement.

And that was BEFORE this positive news!

The meeting will be held at the Hollywood Community Center, 1301 S. Ocean Drive, Hollywood.

Let your voice be heard.

Screening Comm. meeting for candidates for Broward Schools General Counsel position is Thursday the 24th at 8:30 a.m.

Published in Miami Herald on Monday, February 14, 2011

Screening Committee meeting for the Broward Schools General Counsel's position is Thursday the 24th at 8:30 a.m., KCW Administration Building, 600 S.E. Third Ave, Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Bring government-issued photo ID and be prepared to be patted-down!
Seriously!

If you doubt me on this point, read Buddy Nevins' January 31st post in Broward Beat:
http://www.browardbeat.com/school-cops-job-driving-board-members-guarding-political-meetings/

According to the Broward Schools website, www.browardschools.com, which had no record of the Feb. 24th meeting as of Thursday night, above, there will be another one of those 1,001 workshops the Broward School Board has a year, on the selection of a General Counsel on March 29, 2011 at 10 a.m. at the KCW Administration Building.

Or so they say now, but there's absolutely no reason to have any faith in their actually meeting a reasonable deadline, something their students have to do -or be penalized. James Notter and the Broward School Board just kick the can farther down the road, just like they did for years with Ed Marko.

Any questions you want asked at Tuesday's meeting in Hollywood with Broward School Board members Ann Murray and Jennifer Gottlieb?

I'm already receiving unsolicited questions from readers all over South Florida about my blog post yesterday about next Tuesday's 7 p.m. public meeting of the Hollywood Democratic Club, featuring Broward School Board members attempting to defend their dismal record of achievement.
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/broward-school-board-members-will-try.html

Many of the queries are interesting, many quite sarcastic and some can only be characterized accurately as downright 'chin music' fastballs, to back the School Board members off the plate -and their high horse- and remind them of their relative position on the political food pyramid: NOT at the top!

I thought that since this was the case, I should let you all know and mention that if you want to suggest some questions of your own, I'll run a few on my blog on Monday, the day before the meeting.

Depending upon how much time I have, perhaps, I'll even be able to print some of them out and distribute them to the public at the meeting so everyone there can benefit from the penetrating questions.

I won't note who suggested which question(s), so you'll remain completely anonymous.

Before they swing by the Hollywood Community Center and meet the public and REALITY Tuesday night, the Broward School Board will talk ETHICS.
Hmm-m...
What can possibly go wrong there?

And, next Thursday, the candidates for the Broward School's General Counsel position will... well, just check my blog on Friday morning for that information, which, oddly, doesn't seem to be on the School Board's website.
No matter -I'll have the info.

February 22, 2011 10:00:00 a.m.	School Board Members' and Superintendent's Workshop KCW Administration Building - Policy 6000.1 - Ethics Policy (2) - Class Size Requirements (2) - Dpt. of Justice Hurricane ADA Projects Status Update - Budget/ Legislative Update - SBMs� Req. for Wkshop Items/Current Events
February 22, 2011 03:00:00 p.m.	Executive Closed Door Session (Not Open to the Public) KCW Administration Building, 14th Floor Union Negotiations

TMZ.com 'unknown' Adrianne Palicki cast as 'Wonder Woman' in David E. Kelley's upcoming NBC-TV show

Screenshot of TMZ.com at 12:40 p.m. today.

I did this search this afternoon on a whim after getting a frantic phone call from a well-connected Left Coast friend about this big entertainment news:
NBC Casts Wonder Woman, Prime Suspect. Good Actress = Good Show?
Posted by James Poniewozik Thursday, February 17, 2011 at 10:45 am
http://tunedin.blogs.time.com/2011/02/17/nbc-casts-wonder-woman-prime-suspect-good-actress-good-show/

Naturally, given her years on TV, even the recent critically-lauded but ratings-challenged Fox-TV show, Lone Star, which I just loved, I expected that TMZ would at least have something up about our Tyra, even if just something in the archives.
Maybe some fetching photo of her at a film premiere or a charity bash.
Nope!

Instead, as you can see above, it read simply, "Your search did not return any results."



I fully expect this cloak of secrecy about Adrianne on one of the most-popular entertainment websites in the world will change in a big way soon, as the casting news about this iconic role, so much-discussed on Internet chat sites and forums, in myriad languages around the world, percolates in the blogosphere, and the curiosity about this talented young actress escalates.

Adrianne's comments in a special segment after the Friday Night Lights series finale aired recently on DirecTV, were very accurate and heartfelt, and could well have been spoken by any of its many devoted fans, of which I am but one.

For those of you who will watch the series final season on NBC-TV soon, that last episode could NOT have been more perfectly written or acted, too!

Friday Night Lights final season on NBC-TV begins on April 15th.
http://www.nbc.com/friday-night-lights/

Sorry Eliza Dushku and Cobie Smulders, I was rooting for ya, but Adrianne will do a great job, I'm sure.

I'm really happy to see our Tyra finally get this big break in her show biz career, a chance to be THE star of her own show.

Adrianne has been one of the most compelling parts of FNL, one of its moral compasses, and it's great news that David E. Kelley & Co. saw her potential and decided to reward her for her hard work and excellent acting.
Given our feelings for the show and her, we're rooting for her in a very big way!

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1597316/

Broward School Board members will try to defend their record next Tuesday at DEM mtg. in Hollywood. Board v. Reality? Reality wins in a knockout!

Published in Miami Herald on 2/6/2011

The Hollywood Democratic Club will be hosting some Broward School Board members next Tuesday the 22nd at the Hollywood Cultural Center at 1301 S. Ocean Drive at 7 p.m. Their stated agenda is to "speak on the status of the Broward School Board."

Status?
Lower-than-low, bluer-than-blue?

Based on what I can tell from conversations I have had with well-informed people throughout Broward, folks who know who all the players are, plus, the occasional indignant email I receive from blog readers complaining about the Miami Herald and the South Florida Sun-Sentinel STILL ignoring far too many prospective School Board stories, or ignoring ones broken by others with no follow-up by them, like the rather famous Jennifer Gottlieb story by The NewTimes' Bob Norman I've referred to here previously,
http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/search/index?keywords=Jennifer+Gottlieb&x=0&y=0 I'd have to say the community's clear answer regarding status is "being driven into the ground."

Or, after last year's Keystone Kops antics and blame-shifting during the Marko Chronicles, if you prefer, "laughing-stock."

Oh the hijinks and rolled eyes that will ensue at the Q&A!
I wonder which of our 'favorites' will be in attendance?

The Wrap on Borders Books post-Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Was their getting out of Aventura in October a portent or a symptom?

I'd been meaning to discuss the whole situation with Borders Books & Music for a while now, given their decision in September to pick-up stakes and close their Aventura location in October, even before the holiday season.

Part of when they chose to pull-out may've well had to do with when their lease was up at a location off of Biscayne Blvd. & N.E. 203rd Street that couldn't have sucked more, esp. once the next-door yenta-friendly Bed, Bath & Beyond went ker-plunk well over a year ago, since the Chilli's fronting 203rd is NOT exactly the most-compatible retail draw for the literary set in northeast Miami-Dade and southeast Broward.

This morning there's a good piece at The Wrap that gets into what the company's future plans are.

Borders Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
By Anonymous
Created 02/16/2011 - 06:00
Published: February 16, 2011 @ 6:00 am

Borders, the nation's second largest book chain, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York on Wednesday, and said it will close as many as a third of its U.S. stores.

"It has become increasingly clear that in light of the environment of curtailed customer spending, our ongoing discussions with publishers and other vendor related parties, and the company's lack of liquidity, Borders Group does not have the capital resources it needs to be a viable competitor," Borders Group president Mike Edwards said in a statement.

Read the rest of the article at: http://www.thewrap.com/media/article/borders-files-chapter-11-bankruptcy-24783

More on this topic later as I try to dig up some photos of the Aventura location I've taken over the past year to full demonstrate part of the geography problem they had down the street from me, one that could easily be solved by opening a location in Hallandale Beach.

This Borders was my #2 gift certificate-buying spot for my three nieces in suburban Maryland, after the Aventura Target on Biscayne Blvd. & N.E. 213th Street finally became a grocery location in mid-October, much to my delight.


Miami Herald
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/02/1804298/borders-in-aventura-to-close.html

Posted on Thu, Sep. 02, 2010
Borders in Aventura to close

Jared Goyette

At the Borders in Aventura, about half a dozen yellow and black signs hang from the ceiling. More are stapled to the bookshelves. The signs bear bad news for local book lovers who still like adhere to what has for some become a quaint notion: books should be bought in person, from a store in your neighborhood, even if it is a national chain.

"EVERYTHING MUST GO!" one reads.

"STORE CLOSING. THIS LOCATION ONLY!" another says.

The Borders in Aventura will make its final sale on Oct. 16, after 16 years of selling books, coffee, music, toys and assorted knickknacks at 19925 Biscayne Boulevard, just south of where Ives Dairy road intersects with U.S. 1.

Aventura will be left with one major book store - Barnes & Noble - whose future is far from certain as that company is currently up for sale.

The Borders in Aventura is closing because its sales didn't meet company objectives, according to Borders spokeswoman Mary Davis. Employees who are in good standing will be given the chance to transfer to other stores with available positions. Others employees will be offered severance packages. Davis didn't say if any employees would be laid off.

The cafe in the store was packed on Wednesday afternoon, and a steady stream of customers browsed the aisles, some no doubt drawn by the closing sale in which all books, CDs and DVDs are 20% off, while gift items, like games, puzzles, or key chains are discounted by 30%.

The discounts are unlikely to increase by much, as the company plans to ship any unsold books back to publishers or to other stores. (That would be better than that happen after the closure of Borders sister company WaldenBooks, which used to operate at the Aventura Mall. When the chain closed all its stores, dumpster diving readers started a campaign to save the books that the company had unceremoniously thrown away.)

The sale came as little consolation for Robert Gardiener, 30, of Hollywood, who had been a regular customer.

"It's horrible," he said. "We come here at least once a week for the cafe and to check out books and this totally is a bummer."

Like a lot of the store's customers, Gardiener is a Borders person -- he prefers Borders over Barnes & Noble the way some people prefer Macs over PCs or vice-versa. He choses Borders over its competitor because he finds the store to be "less congested," and because he had developed a good rapport with the employees.

Margo Mintzer, 74, of Aventura, has been coming to the store since it opened. For the last year, she's met with a knitting group once a week in the cafe.

"I'm very sad about it," she said. "When I pulled up and saw those yellow stickers, I was like, what are we going to do now?"

Mitnzer is worried that it will be difficult for the group to find enough seats at Barnes & Noble or at one of the nearby Starbucks once the Borders closes. That's a concern shared by Alina Balean, 25, a graphic designer who frequents the store enough to be the 'mayor' on Foursquare.

She's been coming to the location for 8 years. It's close to her home in Hallandale, and is a convenient place to hang out, listen to music, read and buy books. Balean sees Borders as a valuable "third place," somewhere she can go that is neither home nor work, where she can go to be free of her routine and to-do lists.

Now that Borders is closing, she's worried that the Barnes & Noble and the Starbucks will be too crowded, and she doesn't think the mall is a good option either.

"They're no common place to go," she said. "If you want to go hang out somewhere, where are you going to go?"

The closure of the Aventura store at a time when the company is struggling. On Wednesday, Borders announced that its second quarter revenue fell 12 percent. Books sales have been weak, and an increase in online sales has failed to make up the difference.

For Lauren Grabois, a first grade teacher at the Aventura City of Excellence Charter school who was shopping at Borders on Wednesday, the store's pending closure -- and the dire situation of bookstores in general -- is cause for concern.

"I think it's very said that a bookstore has to close period," she said. "I think that people should be coming there more often as opposed to other places where they are spending their time."

Presaging the future in Hallandale Beach and the end of the Mark Antonio regime by way of the useful example of Art Johnson in Palm Beach County?

As you read this story below about someone who walked out onto an organizational ledge, leaving no room to navigate, if you simply substitute the name "Mark Antonio" for "Art Johnson" in the first few paragraphs of this excellent article from Saturday's Palm Beach Post about the soon-to-be former Palm Beach County Schools Supt., it's pretty easy to imagine that the stealthy and uninspiring Mark Antonio regime at Hallandale Beach City Hall will end in similar fashion: resign or be fired.

A series of repeated policy blunders, a complete unwillingness to face hard facts and be honest with taxpayers and his bosses, coupled with remarkably intransigent stubbornness and a refusal to adapt to heightened demands for more genuine transparency by residents...
It's all laid out for us very nicely.

In fact, the evidence is pretty clear -it's all around you!- that Antonio is ALREADY doing all these things right now if you look closely enough.

That's why I was so adamantly against the idea of Mayor Cooper, former Comm. Julian and Comm. Ross stopping the City Manager search last year before the community ever got the chance to see what the choices really were.

By completely changing the dynamic mid-stream and going with Antonio, they basically signed a blood pact with Antonio making ALL his mistakes THEIRS.

Well, I'm only too happy to keep reminding everyone of that fact over the next 18 months as numerous candidates line-up to oppose Commissioners Dotty Ross and Anthony A. Sanders next year.

Assuming, that is, that those two are not recalled from office before next November, which is always a strong possibility given how angry residents I speak to are with their completely unsatisfactory piss-poor performance in office over the past few years.
Not that this surprises me a whit.

And really, who can forget Ross publicly humiliating herself last year by actually hiding in her office rather than coming down to a scheduled City Commission meeting on Mike Good's fate, personally causing the meeting to have to be postponed until the following week.

But everyone present knew exactly where Ross was at the time, upstairs, since they could see her car in its reserved parking area -which I photographed and posted here.
Once again, Ross put her own personal comfort above the sworn duty she has to represent this city's citizens and perform her official duties in office.

Ross and Sanders are little more than bumps on a log, constantly refusing to make Antonio and his staff and the rest of the city employees, esp. the Dept. directors, more publicly accountable for their questionable work-ethic, behavior, spending and attitudes.
Just saying...

I hope those of you who haven't attended one of Comm. London's Resident Forum meetings in a while will do so this Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Hallandale Beach Cultural Center because there is an awful lot to discuss about what's going on in this city.
And what isn't, but should be.

And this time, please try to bring a friend along to get them better informed about what's going on around them, whether they know it or not.


The Palm Beach Post

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/schools/johnson-didnt-adapt-to-times-1250372.html
Johnson didn't 'adapt to times'

By Laura Green, Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Updated: 10:38 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011

Posted: 9:45 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011

Superintendent Art Johnson might never have faced the choice to resign or perhaps be fired if he had adapted to his new bosses: an empowered school board that made clear from the start that it would lead and not follow.

To be sure, Johnson weakened his position with a string of blunders, starting with the hiring of controversial Chief Academic Officer Jeffrey Hernandez and ending with allegations that Johnson covered up Hernandez's moonlighting in Memphis while Hernandez collected his $180,000 salary from Palm Beach County.

But the real problem arose when Johnson continued to treat the new board like his former rubber-stamping supervisors, observers and school board members say.

"The issue is in the category of 'works and plays well with others,' " said Andre Fladell, a Johnson supporter and south county political operative. "If you're new in a job, you tiptoe. When you've been doing something for a long time, you become more dogmatic. When you have new people on the school board, the dogmatic approach sometimes gets met very harshly."

Johnson shared information on a need-to-know basis; put controversial items on the agenda and withdrew them rather than engage in debate; and oscillated between passive-aggressive and arrogant when dealing with the new board, several board members said.

"This is not a new thing, not a spur of the moment, not a knee-jerk reaction," said Debra Robinson, a longtime board member who has regularly sparred with Johnson. She shocked the community weeks ago by calling for a vote to fire Johnson.

"What it's really about is that we have a new board," she said. "We have to, in a sense, adapt to the times. The overwhelming thing is he is just not adapting to the new environment, the new board, the new expectations."

Johnson did not return calls seeking comment. He has authorized a representative to negotiate an exit settlement with board Chairman Frank Barbieri in time for Wednesday's school board meeting.

Board members were careful with their comments, heeding a warning from their lawyer that Johnson could use any overt criticism as a reason to sue the board rather than settle.

"Art's Art and we don't know that he's really going to come out with a settlement and be agreeable," one board member said. "He's a wild card."

What is clear is that after nearly 10 years at the helm of one of the nation's largest school districts, Johnson had become accustomed to deference from the school board.

Strong leadership

A former principal and district administrator, Johnson ascended to the superintendency after being pushed out by Superintendent Joan Kowal. Johnson ran for school board, helped force out Kowal and eventually took her job.

Despite the way Johnson came to his post, he cemented his role in the community by providing stability to a district that had cycled through a list superintendents who had been fired or pushed out under a cloud. He oversaw Palm Beach County's reign as the state's highest-rated urban school district. Johnson's unfailing confidence was seen as a plus in those years.

After just two years as superintendent, Johnson moved to strengthen his position. He negotiated a provision in his contract to require two-thirds of the board, instead of a simple majority, to fire him without cause.

Though Johnson made nightly phone calls to keep them informed, most board members needed little nudging to support his agenda. Unanimous votes were routine.

Until Barbieri joined the board in 2008, Robinson was often the lone dissenting vote, even the lone board member questioning Johnson's tactics or plans.

"There were several years when the district was very stable; the leadership was very strong," said new board member Chuck Shaw, a former principal. "I think the tendency of the board was not to be as engaged in making decisions. In some ways, they were complacent.

"The shift of power moved away from the board being the leader to the superintendent being the complete leader. When it got that way, it was impossible to change that direction."

In 2009, Johnson handed day-to-day control over the school district to Hernandez, an uncharacteristic move for a man who thrived on control and power. Principals, teachers and parents rebelled.

But for months, the board - except Barbieri - defended Johnson and Hernandez.

By the time 1,000 parents and teachers packed board meetings wearing orange and waving signs, even Johnson's strongest supporters on the board had to acknowledge something was wrong.

The superintendent later said his big mistake was ramming through the changes without making a case for them with parents and teachers. His bosses, the school board, never needed such convincing.

But all that changed with the election of 2010.

A new board in town

Johnson's new board included Jenny Prior Brown, a former federal prosecutor; Karen Brill, who has a corporate background and served as a special education advocate; Shaw; and Marcia Andrews, a former high-ranking district administrator whom Johnson demoted.

The four new members joined agitators Robinson and Barbieri, and Monroe Benaim, perhaps Johnson's only remaining unqualified supporter on the board.

Johnson quickly saw that dealing with this group would be different than his previous boards.

Rather than going through Johnson to get their questions answered, board members began directly contacting district staff. Johnson was so annoyed by the practice that he reportedly told a group of principals that they answer to him, not the board.

No issue seemed too small to attract board notice. Brown recently noted at a meeting that mid-level administrators were having secretaries place calls to her on their behalf. She wondered about the waste of manpower.

When board members asked for a review of the budget so they could prepare for some of the worst budget cuts in the district's history, Johnson ordered staff to go line by line, drowning board members in minutiae, teachers union President Robert Dow said.

"With every request that the board came forward with of the district and the superintendent, they seemed to be stonewalled and diverted from," Dow said. "The board members I talked to didn't seem to be getting the cooperation that they needed to do their homework and do their jobs well."

Johnson continued to assert himself with a recent move to revive the career of Jon Prince, one of his favorite principals. Johnson reluctantly demoted Prince after an investigation revealed he used his district credit card for a steak dinner with his wife, a cabana rental at a swanky hotel and other personal expenses.

Just months after the state Board of Education agreed not to revoke Prince's educator's license with the caveat that he could not handle school money, Johnson added what he must have known would be a controversial item to the school board agenda. He moved to promote Prince to principal again, pulling it from the agenda only when he realized he couldn't muster the votes.

Then the Hernandez saga got dragged back into the spotlight when a group of parents alleged that Johnson tried to cover up Hernandez's moonlighting for the Memphis school district while collecting his $180,000 salary from Palm Beach County. An independent firm is now investigating those allegations.

While the tension between Johnson and the board was becoming clear to observers, Robinson forced the issue with her call for a vote to fire Johnson. By last week's board meeting, several board members said they still hadn't decided how to vote when Barbieri stunned them with the announcement that Johnson had offered to leave.

Johnson needed only three votes to keep his job. It's widely believed that Benaim was his only sure vote.

The superintendent has refused to speak to the media since revealing that he's negotiating to leave the district, but he offered this insight the last time he was preparing to leave .

"Who in their right mind," he wrote in a November 1997 letter to The Palm Beach Post, "would choose to be heard by a jury that had already made a decision concerning their case?"

Threats to cut post-midnight hours of D.C Metro by bureaucrats, eager to win budget battle, only antagonizes their bosses more -taxpayers!

Washington Post video of 2011-02-14: Metro after midnight
Local Metro riders voice their opposition to the proposal to scale back the late night weekend hours of operation.

Story at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2011/02/14/VI2011021401373.html

More related photos and anecdotes at the WaPo blog, Story Lab -the sort of thing the Herald and Sun-Sentinel should already have but don't: http://blog.washingtonpost.com/story-lab/2011/02/metro_after_midnight_if_they_c.html

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The Washington Post
Metro's proposal to end late-night weekend trains rankles Washington's party crowd

Sunday, February 13, 2011; 10:12 PM

After Metro transit officials proposed last week to trim their budget by ending late-night rail service on weekends, Washington Post staff writers J. Freedom DuLac, Brigid Schulte, Annys Shin and Theresa Vargas spent the wee hours of Saturday and Sunday mornings riding the trains to gauge reaction.

It's 1:15 a.m. on Sunday, and George Dizelos is at the Dupont Circle Metro station, waiting with two friends for the Red Line to Bethesda. It's late, but it's early.

"I've missed that last train before," he says of the 3 a.m. bar-hoppers' express. "Like, you go to Big Slice or whatever to get some pizza, and then you have to take a cab home. And it costs $20." That's the equivalent of four Yuenglings at the Big Hunt, the bar where they've spent part of the night.

Read the rest of the article at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/13/AR2011021303061.html


The story above is proof positive that there's nothing quite like a bunch of government bureaucrats so eager to get their way in a budget battle, that they'll threaten to ruin a good thing and openly antagonize their clients and bosses -citizen taxpayers.

This emerging story in Washington over cuts to post-midnight hours on weekends is the transportation version of a fight between a municipality and govt. employees over a new proposed budget, where you can absolutely count on the Police and Firefighters to instantly vocalize worst-case scenarios where someone's grandma and her cat will soon go up in flames because overtime costs need to be trimmed.

By the way, as some of you may well recall, I was living up in the D.C. area when they FINALLY expanded the Metro hours past Midnight in the first place.

That long-overdue move caused an instant jump in enthusiasm for the system AND an instant jump in businesses all over the region within a mile or so of most Metro stops.

In particular, it was a godsend for many of the small but popular Arlington County restaurants I regularly patronized along Wilson Blvd., esp. near the Clarendon Metro, that could suddenly serve people who lived much farther away, and usually couldn't get there earlier due to trasnportation or time constraints.