Part 1 of 2: Ann Murray -she's a phony, a bigot and a no-show. Consistently. That's what voters have seen of her tenure on Broward School Board so far -she needs to go!; update on projects at Hallandale High School

Ann Murray -a failure in every way that counts for southeast Broward taxpayers & parents 

Because of how poorly I think the South Florida news media has been covering the Broward County Schools and the dysfunction junction of politics, policy and taxpayers dollars that exists at the Broward School Board, and the important matters that continue to be ignored by that snoozing press corps, my next two blog posts here will consist of emails that I have either written, received or commented on since last Friday that concern Broward School Board member Ann Murray, its current Chair, who is supposed to be southeast Broward's representative.


In my opinion, and as the available public facts have shown for quite some time, Ann Murray isn't just a phony -who was first elected running as a reformer but who has shown she's anything but one- she's also a genuine bigot, not to mention, a constant no-show at public events in the community where concerned parents want honest answers and accountability from their elected officials, but she's missing-in-action, MIA. 


Copies of this were sent to roughly 150-175 concerned Broward school activists, policy makers, residents of Hollywood and Hallandale Beach and others who closely follow politics, government, civic affairs and education policy in Broward County, the fourth-largest county in the U.S.'s fourth-largest state.


For those of you who don't know, Hallandale High School also draws its student population from next-door Hollywood, not just kids from Hallandale Beach.


The only thing that I've changed or removed from below are personal phone numbers and email addresses.
-----

January 27, 2012

I've chosen to copy & paste my friend Catherine's email of this afternoon here so you could see the last time I mentioned this sore subject, seven weeks ago, and the links I mentioned, though there are several others.

---------- Forwarded message ----------

From: Catherine Kim Owens 

Date: Fri, Jan 27, 2012 at 2:15 PM

Subject: Hallandale High School's SAF meeting on Monday, 1/30/12, at 7pm, will give us an update on the projects at Hallandale High School.

Sorry for the delay in this email.  I've been out w pneumonia while still negotiating several real estate contracts.... I had this email drafted a couple of weeks ago, but didn't get to edit & send out earlier, as I had planned. 

The Diversity Committee had requested a re-visit/tour after upcoming Monday's SAF meeting when I chaired the Site Visitation Committee, but as you might have heard, School Board member Ann Murray unceremoniously removed me, with no advance notice nor cause, from the Diversity Committee.  And, even though she has only filled 2 of 3 appointments for the Diversity Committee, she has not responded to my email nor to other numerous emails of support from leaders of this community, who were kind enough to send emails of support for my advocacy for equitable quality education. 

As a parent of a high schooler in one year, and a resident of Hallandale for 13 years, it greatly concerns me, along with hundreds of other parents of this area, that this High School is still only receiving a C grade, when the Elementary School has been an A school for years, and Gulfstream Middle now has a fantastic STEM lab and a B grade.  Our HHS Task Force brought public & media attention to Hallandale High School in order to achieve some gains, and we were making progress.  It is up to all of us to attend this meeting and voice our concerns and keep the pressure on, despite Ms. Murray's attempt to quiet James Sparks' and my active voice for this and other schools of South District. 

The parents of my son's graduating class of 104 students will all have to make a tough choice for the selection of a high school next year.  Many of his friends are thinking of going to Cooper City (out of this area) in order to ensure that they receive the kind of education they deserve.  And, thus, the perpetuation of under enrollment of inner city and underfunded schools and over-population of suburban, well-funded schools continue... 

If you care about the values of your homes, and you care about the quality of residents that come to live here, please get the word out to your friends, associates, neighbors, church fellows, and let's all attend this meeting.  Show Ann Murray she can't cut down the voice of our community nor our dedication to our kids

 Catherine Kim Owens 

Appointments to:

Hallandale Beach Education Advisory Committee

  Chair of Hallandale High School Task Force

  Graduation Task Force

2nd Vice Chair of Commission on Women's Status-Broward County

---- My earlier forwarded message, which I've previously posted here on the blog------

Date: Mon, Dec 5, 2011 at 11:41 PM

Subject: *FYI: Lesson learned! More re Payback time at the Broward School Board? Diversity activists accuse Chair Ann Murray

Monday December 5th, 2011

Payback time at the Broward School Board? Diversity activists accuse Chair Ann Murray

http://www.browardbulldog.org/2011/12/payback-time-at-the-broward-school-board-diversity-activists-accuse-chair-ann-murray/

I've known about this situation for a bit now, and had been planning on posting something about this situation in the coming days, but overall, this article is pretty complete.

Still, I'd like to raise a point or two that isn't mentioned but which bears mentioning now.

Whatever happened to that public meeting that our SE Broward School Board rep Ann Murray promised the Hallandale Beach and Hollywood community months and months ago, when she was surprised to find both lots of concerned parents AND some unexpected people from Channel 4 present at a February meeting she was at, armed with a TV camera and asking serious questions that she had no interest in answering?

(The meeting held just days after that debacle of a public meeting that she and Jennifer Gottlieb held up on Hollywood Beach re the Beachside Montessori School that was specifically mentioned by the grand jury.  The one that was made up in large part by Montessori Soccer Mom apologists for her and Gottlieb and the school? 

The parents with the attitude that as long as they got their's, they didn't want to know the embarrassing or sordid details about how the process was handled.

Thankfully, due to the efforts of Hollywood city commissioner Heidi O'Sheehan, the federal govt. took an interest in that curious case of student selection, privilege and lack of diversity.)

In a word: NOTHING.

But even now, despite everything that has happened and come out publicly, Murray's remaining army of apologists -esp. in Hollywood- can't wrap their heads around the idea that she completely conned them when they supported her with their votes and campaign contributions.

She sold them an illusory bill of goods they wanted to believe -the reformer who wanted increased accountability.

Yet over-and-over, Murray has done precious little to reform the system and has done almost everything in her power to burrow-in and make herself part of the status quo that has made the Broward Schools such a public laughingstock and deserved object of ridicule.

Something that a PR representative CAN'T spin when concerned residents and voters know the true facts, despite whatever Supt. Runcie may believe, based upon his time in Chicago.

And lest you forget, when a public meeting was finally held in Hallandale Beach in June about the abysmal longstanding conditions at Hallandale High School, a meeting that was, quite literally, YEARS in the making, and largely driven by Catherine's own hard work and resilience, who were the prominent no-shows from the Broward School Board?

Correct, our local representative, Ann Murray, and Hollywood resident and At-Large member Jennifer Gottlieb.

What a slap in the face to the SE Broward community!

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/broward-county-schools-dysfunction.html

(The Channel 10 video link there is dead.)

While Gottlieb and Murray could both find time in their schedules for a meeting in next-door Hollywood, where they knew they'd have 'home-field advantage' and plenty of "ringers" in the room who would verbally attack and challenge anyone who asked hard questions about Montessori and their own actions, the prospect of actually facing angry constituents who want hard answers and the truth caused Murray and Gottlieb to make like outlaws and hide-out.

And now, the final slap in the face, we see how Catherine's countless hours of faithless hard work and persistence in the face of bureaucratic resistance and obfuscation has been rewarded by that mockery of a public servant, Ann Murray. 

And you wonder why the public in Broward County doesn't want to have anything to do with the people in charge of Broward Schools?

Trust me, lesson learned!

My previous blog posts mentioning Ann Murray -more than thirty!- can be found here:

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/#uds-search-results 

Contrary to MSM's contention, while I'm neither an Undecided, Early, Hispanic or I-4 voter, it looks like I "may hold key" to 2012 Florida GOP Presidential Primary

Wall Street Journal video: Florida Tea Party to Vote Against Mitt Romney. January 31, 2012. http://youtu.be/6V1muYp0bGU

Contrary to MSM's contention, while I'm neither an Undecided, Early, Hispanic or I-4 voter, it looks like I "may hold key" to the 2012 Florida GOP Presidential Primary. I am definitely NOT undecided.

Before I leave to go cast my ballot in today's Florida primary, can I please make two quick points about ALL the very bad reporting that I've seen the past year, nationally and in Florida, along the lines of "What's new with the Tea Party?"

First, in a large grass-roots movement that is intentionally decentralized, in large part because so many of its supporters have regular lives, jobs and family responsibilities, and do NOT have a taxpayer-paid PR flack like members of Congress to arrange sit-downs with reporters, the news media's insistence that any story about the Tea Party, esp. one that is filmed, involve a conversation with a purported "leader" is especially problematic.

Problematic since 99.9% of the people within that particular state who support the movement in a general way, likely have never heard of this person interviewed.

And frankly, in many cases, it makes them wonder why if this bottom-up point is so well understood by them, and is actually part of its appeal to them and many others, i.e. effort over ego, why does this person in the news video -any video- seem so unaware of the central tenet of the movement and unwilling to say so during the interview.

Is it simply the way the piece is edited they wonder?

And so it is today in this Wall Street Journal video at the top of the post.

Why does the MSM persist in expending so much time and energy looking for someone that is simply not there? 

There's no Tea Party Oz behind the curtain.

Certainly many liberals want to believe that there is, despite all the evidence to the contrary,  because this fits into their mindset that,

a.) people who think differently than they do are clearly sheep being led around by someone else that the sheep are too stupid to see for themselves,

b.) they'll have a face in particular to hate and a person to write snarky comments about in newspaper and blog reader comments at 2 a.m., when they can't get their venom out of their system and fall asleep.

You see this more and more frequently all over the blogosphere and on YouTube, when you see the time stamp next to their remarks, that is to say, when they aren't posting meet-up times and locales for their local Occupy Wall Street protests, on news stories that have nothing to do with it.

Second, Tea Party supporters are the main reason that the GOP took over the U.S. House of Representatives in the election of November 2010, NOT some grass roots movement that desperately wanted to see much more of uninspiring, charisma-challenged, Cincinnati tear-jerker John Boehner appearing on Sunday morning TV chat shows.

In the process, they defeated many of the few remaining moderate House Democratic incumbents -some of whom I'd met- and elected many conservative Republicans in districts that weren't necessarily leaning GOP, but had gotten past the goal line because of a larger-than-expected Tea Party turnout.

This, of course, also had the practical effect of making the Democratic Party in Washington MUCH more liberal and less able to keep itself tethered to reality, given that the most liberal Democratic members of Congress also have long had the advantage of being able to run from gerrymandered districts.

Unlike most of the Dems who lost, who'd previously won elections in either Neutral or Leans GOP districts, but had somehow found a way to win, either personality, experience or campaign fundraising.

But that momentous election was just 15 months ago, not 15 years ago, yet judging by many of the news stories I've seen and read, there's literally an army of reporters and columnists who have been waiting to declare the Tea Party moment dead or dying, because...

Well, they can't point to anything specifically, but they keep telling us that they 'feel' it.

They were especially keen on mentioning this during the Fifteen Minutes of Occupy Wall Street a few months ago.

The problem is that there is not a national election for Tea Party supporters to weigh-in on for another nine months, and it's as predictable as hurricane warnings in late August down here that lots of well-known liberal columnists and Beltway pundits will be talking about the Tea Party being dead without any tangible evidence, other than them simply wanting it so.

But don't you actually need elections first before you do post-election analysis?

No, for them, their intuition is enough.

National & Florida MSM reach unanimity: Undecided voters, Early voters, Hispanic voters, Anglo voters, I-4 voters and Older voters "may hold key" to 2012 Florida GOP Presidential Primary

Newt Gingrich campaign video: Newt Gingrich discusses "the Facts and Florida" on his campaign bus with Greta Van Sustern of Fox News. January 28, 2012. http://youtu.be/mpOg027vWp4

National and Florida Mainstream Media reach unanimity: Undecided voters, Early voters, Hispanic voters, Anglo voters, I-4 voters and Older voters "may hold key" to 2012 Florida GOP Presidential Primary."

Gee, thanks for clearing that up!

Who did they leave out, left-handed blue-eyed Veterans?

Last weekend I watched Meet the Press for the first time in a long time when it first airs instead of the early morning encore on MSNBC.

It was an embarrassing spectacle that I think would've made the late Tim Russert fume, since more than anything, he liked genuine competition!
That alone separates him from what seems to be the majority of the American MSM in the year 2012.

Meet the Press played the role of elite Beltway MSM and Obama-backer to the nth degree, had guests struggle to out-do one another in their predictions of their dread of Newt Gingrich as nominee -less-than-24 hours after he won the South Carolina primary.

The Republican National Convention in Tampa isn't until the end of August, so how about taking a chill pill on the forecasting and simply let the process play itself out instead of constantly gazing into your crystal ball?

But in the year 2012, the MSM don't want to leave the elections results up to mere voters.

(And really, despite all the undue attention he's received of late because he used to be a member, the last time I checked, nobody in Florida was saying how much they missed seeing smarmy Joe Scarborough in Congress.

And honestly, for what it's worth, I don't know a single person who watches his MSNBC show due to its smug shallowness, even fair-minded liberals I know.

They're either watching C-SPAN or driving to work or on a train to work somewhere.

MSNBC's programming is like a well-appointed tree-house, except the kids that nobody on the block likes have it in their backyard, so nobody wants to be in it save the unpopular kids who are eager to be there under any circumstances, and who thus try to make it seem more important than it is  It's actually pretty funny, but unintentionally so.)

And did I mention yet that the MTP telecast, airing the day after South Carolina's primary and in advance of the Florida primary, had ZERO guests on from South Carolina or Florida?

Really.

The roles that once upon a time under Tim Russert might've seen then-Miami Herald political editor Tom Fiedler or someone from The State newspaper on, dispensing some carefully-rehearsed nugget of insight for the rest of the country to make sense of, instead had dopey Katy Kay of BBC America on as a guest, a past target of much-deserved criticism here on the blog.

Kay, who from what I have seen and heard of her in the many, many years since she was first stationed over here -and used to be on The Diane Rehm Show on WAMU a little too much when I listened to her show everyday at work in Washington- has seemingly NOT challenged the Conventional Wisdom since she took her A-Levels.

She hardly ever says anything that is not entirely predictable based upon her past.

http://youtu.be/IPBl370Zpe8

If you can believe this, after only two states had participated, and with more absentee ballot requests from Florida than all the cast votes in Iowa and New Hampshire combined, David Gregory and his guests actually raised the issue of "favorite son" candidates and "brokered conventions."

Talk about putting the cart before the horse... Jesus, it's not even the end of January!

You can just imagine what they would say as football analysts at halftime.

Yes, that the team leading by a field goal at the half is the "inevitable" winner.

But there's a reason we play four quarters in a game not two, especially for the Super Bowl of U.S. politics.

Not surprisingly, the assembled geniuses on the set could NEVER quite explain why GOP voters in upcoming states, especially those who are unhappy with the establishment of both parties, would find voting for an establishment favorite son candidate a better alternative than voting for someone who is, you know, ACTUALLY running for President.

It seems counter-intuitive, right, but they never explained.

And that's what passes for news analysis these days!

The track record of the Beltway-based GOP Establishment that Mitt Romney is joined-to-the hip to -or alternatively, has made a blood pact with- especially when it comes to picking congressional candidates the last few years when personal or health matters have led to 'special elections,' is NOT an encouraging sign.

But for Beltway media elites, the non-candidate is preferable to an energized and emboldened Newt Gingrich who consistently articulates why he believes fundamental social and fiscal changes will be necessary to get this country moving again, and out of its deep psychological funk.

Newt Gingrich campaign video: Sarah Palin: Newt Best Candidate to Articulate Ideas and Solutions for GOP. January 28, 2012.
http://youtu.be/FTRqc9Sq-vs


Remember when one of the cherished-if-cliched notions of American journalism was the news media challenging the establishment and the-haves?

I know, I know -it's a case of collective hysterical amnesia. 


Today, if David met Goliath, the MSM would not only be picking Goliath, they'd be openly rooting for him and tut-tutting David's "incivility."
Then, they'd tell David that Goliath's victory was, yes, "inevitable" and he ought to just give-up.
This sycophantic mentality of the news media rooting for the establishment and the-haves instead of the upstart, has been rapidly making its way into the sporting press for the past 20 years.


As I've stated here previously, you see it clearly when nationally-known TV and print sportscasters, reporters and columnists all claim they want to see some upsets before the NCAA basketball tourney actually starts, but once they have to reveal who they select to make it to the Final Four, far too many pick 'all chalk' because what they really want is the status quo to reign. Duke, North Carolina, Kansas, Ohio State... so very predictable.
Like their political brethren, they can't think outside-the-box, just ask Virginia Commonwealth University.


If everything goes as expected, I'll likely have some photos and maybe even some video here on the blog tomorrow of election activities taking place here in Broward County, and maybe some other places, too.

Weather forecast hereabouts is mostly sunny with a 100% chance of the MSM raining on Newt and being eager to count him out if he doesn't win Florida tomorrow.

But if he loses, and were foolish enough to listen to the news media experts who say he should then drop out, what do we need THEM for until after the end of August?
Exactly. 


-----
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/on-the-record/index.html

Be careful what you wish for, MSM. If Gingrich loses in Florida, you'll get standoffish Romney to talk about for 9 MONTHS straight; funny negative campaign ads

Winning Our Future PAC video: Obama's Dream Debate, Part 1, January 17, 2012. http://youtu.be/mv078A36t7Y


More Winning Our Future PAC videos at: http://www.youtube.com/user/WinningOurFuture

If you think that Mitt Romney doesn't like the national news media now, i.e. the Mainstream Media, and their questions he doesn't want to answer truthfully -the very questions that Newt Gingrich has been asking and that Romney SHOULD have had the answers for 6 years ago if he wanted to be taken seriously by me and others, but STILL DOESN'T have- wait until Romney knows that he can ignore the MSM until the Republican National Convention in Tampa Bay in seven months.
Yes, sweltering late August in Florida, the sweet spot for hurricane season.

The point of this pro-Newt Gingrich ad above could hardly be clearer.
The folks at the Winning Our Future PAC who support Newt Gingrich are gazing into their crystal ball and not having to break a sweat to predict that Mitt Romney, having been the very portrait of a liberal Republican as governor of Massachusetts, will fail to be able to contrast himself sharply enough with President Obama on a few key issues, and once they have erased that supposed difference, le déluge.
The rationale of Romney candidacy disappears.


Seriously, why would you expect Obama's campaign team NOT to make a comparative ad in the future that questions Romney's bona fides, essentially asking voters who agree with the idea of Obabacare to keep the person who already thinks that way and who is already president, rather than vote for Obama Lite?


Not that this line of argument will appeal to most well-informed Independents, who by and large are leaning against Obama's re-election, or even to me, but Obama's campaign staff already knows that I won't vote for him; I'm not his target audience.
It's the number one rule of politics: know your universe.


I'm smart enough to know that Obama won't change course.
But you know who are his target of those sort of ads?


Squishy middle-aged Democratic women in urban areas, esp. single Jewish women under 55.
Also, under-30 singles with a college education and likely few serious financial cares.
People who will once again NOT hold Obama's awful track record against him, and give him the benefit of the doubt.


And let's face it, in this country, right now, there are a lot of people who never learn their lesson, and who continue to keep making the same mistakes over and over again, and who thereby becoming willing victims.


Who do you think is watching all those seriously unfunny TV sitcoms (see CBS' show Two Broke Girls below) or who continue to patronize Jennifer Anniston's never-ending string of unfunny and cringe-worthy rom-coms that fall flat?



CBS-TV video: 2 Broke Girls: Facebook Friends. September 30, 2011.
http://youtu.be/iRL0QXLFGV4
(Seriously, could the forced laughter on this video possibly be any more cringe-worthy? Last summer, one of my sisters, who has very different TV & film tastes than me, saw a preview of the show while visiting Las Vegas. She said that she was dumbfounded at how unfunny it was, yet a few people there laughed like hyenas. I'll bet I can guess who they voted for in 2008, that is, IF they voted. I can't be the only person in the country who watches the preceding CBS show, How I Met Your Mother, and then flips over to cable news or ESPN for thirty minutes while this awful show is on.)    


Who? Yes, that same Obama 2012 target audience, which includes many if not most of the under-45 demo who voted for Obama in 2008 and thereby got played. 


Obama's team is only too happy to take the vote of such dummies before they wise-up, knowing that he will NOT feel encumbered by norms of reasonableness or having to run again. More Obama is MORE Obama being Obama.


But a lot of people like the ones I described above will think he will be different in a second term.
"He'll change" they tell themselves to allay their fears.
If that's what it takes to get their vote, Obama's campaign team will find an ad that spins that faux message to snag their vote. 

That's why a funny negative campaign ad like the one at the top of this post works so well -it's all-too true!

The antidote to Romney's negative campaigning is laughter, mockery and stone-cold facts

of truth.

Unfortunately, that only works when both campigns have the same resources, but here in Florida, Romney is outspending Gingrich on TV by a factor of 5:1.

-----

Almost four years later, this Saturday Night Live skit about John McCain and negative advertising is STILL funny, esp. Bill Hader's sarcastic voice!

Saturday Night Live video: McCain Approves Open.

2008 skit of Sen. McCain approving truth-enhanced negative campaign messages, with Kristen Wiig, Jason Sudeikis, Darrell Hammond as U.S. Senator John McCain and Bill Hader as the creepy-yet-effective VO announcer.

http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live//video/McCain-Approves-Open/669582

Justine Ezarik -a.k.a. iJustine- our modern-day Digital Renaissance Woman, back from CES, is in Miami for NATPE and checking out the South Florida scene

iJustine video: Justine at NATPE. January 28, 2012.
http://youtu.be/Q3S1yKyYhyw
http://ijustine.com/natpe-in-miami-2/


Justine Ezarik, a.k.a. iJustine, modern-day Digital Renaissance Woman and well-known YouTube Partner, back from CES, is in Miami for NATPE and checking-out the South Florida scene.



iJustine video: we in miami, trick. January 29, 2012.
http://youtu.be/gPQFUzahJEM


I originally meant to post the two videos -below- of lovely multi-tasker Justine about three months ago, back when she was visiting Norway and taking some awesome photos and videos of that beautiful country that's been the sad subject of so many posts of mine here since the massacre in Utøya, and home to so many friends, talented musicians -and, let's be honest, very beautiful women.

Plus, in case you missed it, Justine finally explained, to those who didn't know, what the reality of the Swedish Fish situation was. So there's that!


Curiously enough, that video of Justine and her Norwegian tech friends doing the glacier trek was one of the things that I had waiting for me in my YouTube inbox one night three months ago, when I'd  come home from spending a few hours with my Dad when he wasn't doing very well after he'd taken a fall earlier in the afternoon at the Hollywood ALF he's living at up the street. I'd had to jump into the gridlocked traffic on US-1 and rush up US-1 to get him and then head south to the Mt. Sinai ER in Aventura, with a large and disconcerting gash above his right eye.

Right where he had had surgery back in 1973 after he was the innocent victim in a car accident in North Miami Beach, while I was in Junior High School.

When I finally got home and flipped on my computer and the TV, with Jimmy Kimmel

about mid-way thru his monologue, I was both physically exhausted and emotionally distraught, and driving home I'd once again been mentally debating my idea of whether or not my visiting Sweden and Iceland soon for two weeks to just get away from here for a while and clear my head is such a great idea.
Something I've mentioned a time or two here before.

But as she has so many times before, especially the rough last year-and-a-half, with all of its upsetting ups-and-downs concerning my Dad's health, Justine made me laugh and smile when I really needed it... so there's that.
She's Pittsburgh thru-and-thru!

Something my Steubenville-born dad would surely appreciate if he only fully comprehended the whole Influencer scene.

 

iJustine video: EPIC GLACIER HIKE! October 27, 2011.
http://youtu.be/pD0xXf9-_lI



iJustine video: Moose meat and glacier wounds. October 27, 2011.
http://youtu.be/n5JAIrd8IFI


Months after I'd originally planned on doing so, I'm going to be over on South Beach Monday afternoon to take some photos and shoot some video of the space on Lincoln Road that was supposed to be the new H&M store many months ago, but which is, well, STILL not open.


I'm going to try to get some straight answers from some responsible people as to when that soon-to-be cash cow store is going to be a reality, but if by chance I run into Justine, with her camera in tow, well, that sleuthing of mine may well have to wait until another time.


Even though I'm NOT a fan of reality shows anymore, per se, since the only one I consistently watch is CBS's The Amazing Race, Justine is definitely someone whose quirky personal adventures, misadventures and hijinks I would watch on the small tube. 
Yes, smarts, savvy and personality still counts for a lot with me, and Justine has enough personality for any two women.
Take that as a hint, NATPE programming types looking for new ideas.


-----


http://ijustine.com/


The trip to Norway: http://ijustine.com/?s=Norway&x=14&y=11 


Justine's photoshoot for Maxim magazine: http://youtu.be/YLKU4tkWH2s 


Photos at: http://www.maxim.com/amg/girls/girls-of-maxim/91021/ijustine.html 

Justine Ezarik's media portfolio, besides ijustine.com, consists of the following portals:

twitter.com/ijustine, 

youtube.com/ijustine, 

youtube.com/otherijustine, 

youtube.com/ijustinereviews, 

youtube.com/ijustinesiphone, 

youtube.com/ijustinegaming, 

ijustine.spreadshirt.com, 

dailybooth.com/ijustine, 

facebook.com/ijustine, 

myspace.com/ijustine

Yes, there's a Justine for every demographic!

A head's-up for those of you with YouTube Channels, esp. those of you who DON'T receive anywhere near the volume of visits that Justine gets.

Which is to say, all of you.

And me!

After originally planning on posting it over Christmas week but not being able to do so for reasons that some of you know about, in the next day or so I'll be posting the fascinating and instructive video of ABC News' 20/20 program from September called "YouTube Generation" that I've already spoken to some of you about via email. 

I'll also post some of my pithy observations about it.

Breaking News: Mannix Marathon on Cloo until 6 am Eastern Sunday

CBS-TV - Mannix  (1969) Intro credits. 
Music composed by Lalo Schifrin.
http://youtu.be/vyZL_3bxD68


Breaking News: Mannix Marathon on Cloo until 6 a.m. Eastern Sunday, DirecTV Channel 308. Be there! 


Back in the day before we all knew what CSIs and mass spectrometers were, all you needed when you were in a real tight pinch was to call your ex-Army pal from Korea out in LA named Joe Mannix.
Mannix would get us the answers we need!


Mannix wasn't just a crime-fighting gumshoe, a top-shelf detective with a keen eye for clues, beautiful women and people who got the shaft from the system, but someone who wasn't afraid a of a fight.
Joe Mannix also had a deeply ingrained sense of integrity and righting wrongs.
Remember that, integrity?


Joe Mannix for Broward Sheriff, Al Lamberti for Media Photo Ops!



Longer version of theme song.
http://youtu.be/mznUMYY7YC8



Yes, strings, woodwinds and brass in perfect harmony!
It's why Lalo Schifrin was a genius.

http://www.televisiontunes.com/Mannix_-_Long.html


If you play the extended version above now for any half-normal kid in elementary school -like one of my teachers once did at Fulford Elementary in North Miami Beach, back when the show was still on the air- I absolutely guarantee you that their eyes will light up.



rook88 video: Castle like Mannix. October 16, 2010.
http://youtu.be/nMntqvijI-Q


-----
http://www.schifrin.com/

Lalo Schifrin samples: http://dougpayne.com/samples.htm

http://www.cloo.com/

http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/castle

Kiefer Sutherland talks about his remarkable new hit Fox-TV drama, "TOUCH," and reminisces about "Stand By Me" and how much he still misses River Phoenix

Fox Broadcasting video: TOUCH - Father and Son. January 27, 2012.
http://youtu.be/7Sox4gYi6HQ

Kiefer Sutherland on Jimmy Kimmel Live PART 1. January 23, 2012.

http://youtu.be/HSKdVeW_83k

Kiefer Sutherland on Jimmy Kimmel Live PART 2. January 23, 2012.

http://youtu.be/RsUuHI4ZskM

Kiefer Sutherland on Jimmy Kimmel Live PART 3. January 23, 2012.

http://youtu.be/TWrFoY--de0

Keep in mind that per the discussion above, while the TOUCH World Premiere is on Monday March 19th at 9 pm Eastern, you can see the first episode -that was given a sneak preview by Fox-TV this past Wednesday and won its time-slot- right now on Fox's Video-on-Demand (VOD).


The show's creator is Tim Kring, the executive producer for both NBC-TV's Crossing Jordan, starring longtime HBB favorite Jill Hennessey, and NBC's Heroes.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibonacci_number


http://www.fox.com/touch/

http://www.youtube.com/user/FoxBroadcasting


http://www.youtube.com/user/JimmyKimmelLive

That stink you smell is coming from Wilton Manors' cocky lawyer/lobbyist/mayor, Gary Resnick, who doesn't much care for Ethics rules that negatively affect his own wallet

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Over the past few weeks, many well-informed observers of the Broward political and govt. scene have surely asked others they trust in private, "What is it with Gary Resnick?"

Alternatively, they've asked themselves, "WTF is with Resnick?"

Those of you reading this today obviously know which camp you're in, though you can be in both, of course.

Like me.

Does Resnick honestly think that the Broward County Commission-approved Ethics laws that are supposed to govern the conduct and behavior of all elected municipal officials in Broward, among many others, was just a strong suggestion?

What are the real reasons that have animated Resnick's fervent efforts the past few weeks to figure out a way to obfuscate, blunt and somehow overturn those clear-cut rules on Ethical conduct, so that they do not apply to him and his small fiefdom north of Fort Lauderdale?

There are lots of reasons to choose from, and obviously only Resnick knows the real ones, though surely they can't be the transparently self-serving ones he's been offering up to the local South Florida news media that has drawn gasps of dismay from county residents and activists, can they?

Oh yes they can!

Hmm-m... let me restate that last point.

To be factual, I should say the local South Florida news media in the singular form of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, as they have done the lion's share of the reporting on this issue.
The four English-speaking TV stations and the Miami Herald -with the exception of a two-minute segment by Channel 10's Bob Norman- have yet to engage any of their own reporters, columnists, producers or cameramen in a SINGLE hour's worth of reporting or investigating on the story, and get the answer directly from Resnick and his band of acolytes at Wilton Manors City Hall or outside of his law firm's office.

Why? 

Do I REALLY have to tell you? 

Not if you are a regular reader here and are aware of the shallow-end of the journalism pool that South Florida has unfortunately drawn in these early years of the 21st century.

Channel 10 News
Bob Norman's Blog
Resnick wants to keep lobbying
Published On: Jan 16 2012 09:20:39 AM EST  
Updated On: Jan 16 2012 09:37:09 AM EST
Video at: 

http://www.local10.com/news/blogs/bob-norman/Wilton-Manors-mayor-undercutting-ethics-reform/-/3223354/8148064/-/14v1vb9z/-/index.html


This being Broward County, where it's far easier for a person publicly doing the wrong thing to get friends, acquaintances and supporters to stick-up publicly for their own bad judgment and uncouth behavior than it is for the South Florida news media to find any fair-minded people of stature and accomplishment in the community to point it out, as would happen in other parts of the country, I encourage you to not only watch the Bob Norman video, but to peruse the reader comments as well.

You see, this being Broward, the reader comments contain public cheerleaders for Gary Resnick's behavior and attempts to 'secede' from the county's ethics law, which he finds so troublesome for his personal bottom line.

Not surprisingly, one of them is a longtime pro-union, Democratic Party functionary named Ron Mills, the president of the Dolphin Democrats, which he describes as "Florida's oldest and largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Democratic club."

He is also the person behind the blog called Broward's Blog, http://browardsblog.blogspot.com/

In my opinion, Mills' comments on the Channel 10 website speak for themselves, just like Resnick's audacity and gall.

It seems to me that if, like Mills, you hold your friends to a lesser standard than you would tolerate in others, have such a high tolerance for uncouth and unethical behavior by your friends and people you support politically that you've got no problem in publicly making pathetic excuses for their inexcusable actions or words, you're clearly going to be labeled a hypocrite publicly in the future when you try to use your perch to point-out smaller moral and ethical deficiencies in people whom you oppose politically.

At that point, people are more than entitled to disregard your opinion in the future, given your own opaque outlook on ethics, and the difference between right and wrong.

You tell me, is Resnick doing it and thinking he can get away with being so ballsy because he is an elected official in an otherwise obscure one-horse town, where most people outside that duchy of his prefer cars as transportation?

Is it because Resnick lives in a county where other elected municipal officials rarely if ever criticize or call-out another, and most of the local public policy groups that in other parts of the country might be engaged and call him on the carpet, instead maintain their Hear No Evil, See No Evil and Speak No Evil policy of looking the other way?

Is it because Resnick is an attorney who lobbies other cities in Broward County for his clients, yet has so perfected his wax indignant pose, that when people paying close attention to what he's actually doing publicly use the word "lobbyist" as a pejorative, just like it was applied so frequently and accurately for years to lawyer lobbyist Steve Geller -the previous champion of lawyerly distinctions-without-a-difference- he practically pouts, hurt by your critical words?

Is it because Resnick is so cocky, and thinks that by being upfront about it, that somehow mitigates what he is attempting to do, burrow underneath an ethical fence that is supposed to be a barrier to self-serving behavior, a move made necessary  because of so many recent ethical lapses by elected officials in Broward, big fish and minnows?

In this situation, Resnick truly seems to want to ignore both the spirit and the letter of the law, one passed unanimously-if-unhappily by the Broward County Commission last year.

Or, could it just be that Resnick -like everyone else down here with a pulse and two eyes- knows that the local news media is NOT exactly a beehive of eager worker-bees who give 110% on local news stories, so because he's the Gay mayor of a heavily-Gay city, he thinks that if he gets any sort of serious push-back on the issue, he can always pull out the 'victim card' from his back pocket, flash it to the news media, and maybe even play them a tune on his tiny violin?

Maybe it's some weird combination of all these things that make Resnick think that he and his tiny town are above the rules that govern everyone else.

They aren't, of course, and the proof of that is that you can smell HIS stink all the way down on the Broward and Miami-Dade countyline.

With or without an ocean breeze.

Read the following and draw your own conclusions about this 'character" and watch as things begin to heat up on this issue starting Tuesday, when he attempts to go over, around or under the ethical wall of conduct.

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South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Broward politicans need to choose: Lobbying or public office, not both
Ballot measures would undo new ethics code in some municipalities
Michael Mayo, Sun Sentinel Columnist
January 23, 2012

Wilton Manors Mayor Gary Resnick has taken some heat lately, for good reason. He's been leading the charge to undo some provisions of Broward county's strict new ethics rules for municipal officials, which took effect Jan. 1

Read the rest of the column at:
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2012-01-23/news/fl-ethics-vote-mayocol-b012412-20120123_1_new-ethics-code-mayor-gary-resnick-broward-cities

South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Wilton Manors leaders accused of 'scare tactic' over ethics ballot measure
By Brittany Wallman, Sun Sentinel
9:03 p.m. EST, January 25, 2012

Wilton Manors voters are being encouraged to approve a ballot measure Tuesday that weakens the brand new Code of Ethics. According to Mayor Gary Resnick and City Manager Joe Gallegos, the code requires advisory board members to share their salaries with the public.

But that's not true, Gallegos acknowledged Wednesday.

The Code of Ethics has no such requirement in it, despite what he and Mayor Gary Resnick have said publicly. 

Read the rest of the article at:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/broward/wilton-manors/fl-wilton-manors-misinformation-20120125,0,6413170.story


South Florida Sun-Sentinel

Mayo on the Side blog
Are ethics code foes distorting the truth?
By Michael Mayo
January 25, 2012 09:32 AM

As part of the effort to weaken Broward's tough new ethics code in some local municipalities, are some officials distorting the truth to rally support for their cause?

I ask because it seems salary-disclosure requirements might not apply to appointed advisory board members, contrary to what Wilton Manors Mayor Gary Resnick told me in an interview on Monday.

Read the rest of the post at:
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2012/01/are_ethics_code_foes_distortin.html



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My three most recent posts that mentioned both the new ethics laws in Broward County among municipal officials and Gary Resnick's rather strange understanding of them, all from this month, are here in chronological order:


Broward cities need tougher ethics laws, not self-serving pols like Gary Resnick & Debby Eisinger, whom we need like more bad restaurants, more ruined-views of the beach... -NOT at all! 
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/broward-cities-need-tougher-ethics-laws.html 

My coda to "Broward cities need tougher ethics laws, not self-serving pols"; Debby Eisinger's curious fact pattern

http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-coda-to-broward-cities-need-tougher.html

Please stick to your guns on stronger ethics and do everything in your power to prevent Mayor Resnick & Co. from beginning the race to the bottom of the ethics barrel in Broward
http://hallandalebeachblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/please-stick-to-your-guns-on-stronger.html