Opinion piece: recruiting v. journalism, service

February 7, 2010

Britney Spears and a conservator's employee Feb. 8, 2008. Courtesy of Kill the Lights.

I’m in my third semester of journalism and doing a story remote from Phoenix. That’s okay. I have years of experience working across the country from a single location as a technical recruiter, staffing manager and a director.

The straw that broke the camel’s back there was the dot.com bust and a new found passion in dealing with some of the rarest of rare, software and IP network engineers: fascinating world. I could never go back to “corporate” after that and I could never work for any organization that didn’t do the best for their job candidates. That includes Google based on firsthand experience with them.

A job candidate is a special person and their experiences with a company in the interview process affect not only themselves but family, friends and community organizations. I found my job with them and members of an organization to be one of customer service and tantamount to that performance was information. The worse thing a recruiter can do is to leave a job candidate or a manager in silence. They should never have to come to you and ask what happened. Maybe that’s why I have been referred to in the past as one of the best recruiters on the planet. Customer service.

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Britney Spears’ ex-boyfriend reaches conditional settlement, averts trial in civil suit against him

January 28, 2010

Courtesy of JFXonline.com Oct. 2009

A lawsuit against Adnan Ghalib, a former paparazzo and ex-boyfriend of Britney Spears, may be dismissed in spring due to a conditional settlement that was recently reached.

“We conditionally settled the case.  The case is not being dismissed until the settlement is fully performed,” says David S. Olson, attorney for plaintiff Ram Moskowitz.

Moskowitz filed a complaint in April claiming that Ghalib slammed his Mercedes into him on Feb. 11 as he was trying to serve a temporary restraining order against him pertaining to Spears’ conservatorship, say court documents.

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Superior Court expects Britney Spears next Friday

January 15, 2010

Was media the real reason Spears' appearance was canceled today? Courtesy, Kill the Lights.

Britney Spears is ordered to appear in court this coming Friday, Jan. 22, 2010 at 1:30 p.m. says Liz Martinez, a representative from the public affairs office at the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Spears was expected in court today but her appearance was unexpectedly canceled.

Tabloid site TMZ, the first to report the cancellation, says the commissioner and others were concerned about the media.

Spears faces the beginning of her third year under the conservatorship of her person solely by her father effective Monday, Feb. 1. Her estate has been under a co-conservatorship of her father and privately retained attorney Andrew Wallet.

Many across the blogosphere had thought she would freed once her Circus tour concluded as certain tabloids had promoted the idea that the continued arrangement was necessary due to insurance.

Spears has gained visitation-only privileges with her children since the conservatorship began. Kevin Federline, ex-husband, retains sole custody.

Next Friday will mark Spears’ second court appearance since the conservatorship began.

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Los Angeles court orders Britney Spears to appear

January 15, 2010

Britney and her children at the Hotel Mondrian on Jan. 13 courtesy of Kill the Lights

TMZ reported earlier today that Britney Spears is expected to appear in court.

A spokesperson (Liz) from the Superior Court of Los Angeles just confirmed to Fair News Spears that Spears was ordered to appear in court today. The spokesperson said she didn’t know whether Spears would show or not nor what prompted the order.

Regularly scheduled hearings on accounting matters were scheduled for yesterday and a motion to seal documents was expected to occur this morning.


Media omits lawyer and judge relationships between Britney and Jamie Spears, and Courtney Love Cobain

December 19, 2009

Hi, this is still a blog right?  Happy holidays then.

I wrote the following comment on Courtney Love Cobain’s Facebook wall.  There had been some confusion there between her fans and those who follow Britney Spears.  I thought about it later and realized that not all readers may know about the twist in the case of Courtney losing legal control over her daughter and later also receiving a temporary restraining order.

Suffice. The lawyers involved in Courtney’s case are the same lawyers who work for Jamie Spears and the conservatorship. The judge is also the same as documents from TMZ reveal.

On to the post:

I have a few more minutes here and then I am going outside, but I thought to explain to those unfamiliar with Britney Spears’ conservatorship case who some of the players are. If you open the documents through the TMZ link posted two hours ago, you will see attorneys Geraldine Wyle, Jeryll S. Cohen, and the Hon. Reva Goetz.

Google any of those names plus Spears and conservatorship and you are sure to find them in connection. Wyle and Cohen both work for Jamie Spears and I believe they were involved from the beginning of the conservatorship in Feb. 2008.

TMZ knows that as does the AP and any other news organization that covers courtroom news or celebrity gossip but none of them are saying it. TMZ only shows the document that is six pages but they do not help readers make the connection back to Jamie Spears and the conservatorship. One clearly also sees the Hon. Reva Goetz. She’s the one who ruled on Feb. 4, 2008 that based on the court appointed attorney’s meeting with Britney at UCLA that she did not understand legal proceedings and lacked capacity to hire her own lawyer. A simple search of journalist Linda Deutsch and capacity should bring up all that drama that also involved Adam Streisand who is now working with the Jackson family. … See More

I do believe that the connection between Courtney Love Cobain and Jamie Spears is fascinating and that it was irresponsible for the media to omit it (hide? conceal?) and distract us instead with tales of clothing designers and lawsuits based on Twitter. And. That they continue to. I don’t know if Courtney will keep any of this info up but hopefully at least some of you will see what is happening and be less confused. Happy holidays.
23 minutes ago

Author’s note: I posted this and other information more specific to Courtney’s case and media treatment on her Facebook account, if interested. She is listed under Courtney Love Cobain and if you follow her as a fan you may learn more of her story and how strangely it is connected back to Britney Spears. For those who don’t know, Courtney claimed over the Thanksgiving holiday that Jamie molested his daughter.

Lou Taylor, a Spears’ family spokesperson has not directly refuted the claim. Instead she was quoted by the New York Daily News as saying, “”We’re not commenting on Courtney Love, or any aliens who might come to Earth to impregnate people.”

Courtney responded, after seeing the story on her Facebook account, “I went to Sting and Trudys “Twin Spirits” wonderful Schullman letters event and sat with my dearest friend Stipe (Michael) tonight, not that the names matter, but I didn’t see ONE alien impregnating ANYONE!” (some punctuation added by Fair News Spears.)

Update: More of Love Cobain’s side of the story.  Like Britney and the imposed conservatorship no prior notice was given to Courtney Love as Wyle took action to remove her daughter from her life.  http://www.spinner.com/2009/12/22/courtney-love-planned-christmas-for-daughter-before-custody-hear/


New filing appears in Los Angeles Superior Court

December 12, 2009

Britney Spears asks paparazzi to please shut off their cameras in Santa Barbara. Courtesy of Kill the Lights, Dec 2009.

Joy is what I would feel to learn that a new filing at the Los Angeles Superior Court might mean that Britney Spears will be free.

Here is the filing:

12/10/2009 Notice-Hearing Consorshp/Guardshp (sic)
Filed by Attorney for Petitioner

But where is a motion to terminate the conservatorship? Or motion to terminate anything… Who is the petitioner in this case? (there are currently nine listed in the case file and they include Jon Eardley) Who is the attorney? Will the previously scheduled hearing on Dec. 22, 2009 make way for matters of more public interest than expenses?

Since the permanent conservatorship of Spears and her cash, there haven’t been any regularly scheduled hearings regarding the conservatorship save an August review that was scheduled in January. That hearing was scheduled solely to ascertain whether Clay Townsend, an attorney, could depose her in a Florida case. That case abruptly settled before the hearing could take place.

I don’t have answers yet but what would it have meant if Spears had been found eligible to testify?

Meanwhile, I’m not getting my hopes up but it is healthy to see some activity in front of the judge beyond money issues. Maybe recent publicity reports through fan sites such as Breatheheavy.com, and Britney Addiction, Dream of Britney and even a Britney Spears fan site in China that carried the report that I wrote that challenged TMZ’s claims spurred some concrete action?

Maybe Courtney Love’s accusations over the Thanksgiving holiday as to Jamie’s prior molestation of his daughter he now has control of (right down to the sex and dating) spurred action?

If Britney had been designated as capable of testifying in the Florida case that disappeared through settlement… what’s this girl got to say for anyone to fear?

Or maybe TMZ did have an inside lead, but the thing is I don’t trust them. See earlier stories to learn why.

Click here to see what a Notice of Hearing is.

Update: Further information has not become available as of Dec. 18, 2009.

Update two: From the Los Angeles Superior Court online case summary: 12/17/2009 MOTION – SEAL COURT RECORDS filed. New hearing set for Jan. 15, 2010 at 10:00 am in department 9 at 111 North Hill Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012 regarding a motion to seal court records. The previously scheduled hearing for Dec. 22 remains on calendar. Today is Dec. 19, 2009.

Britney Spears is now out of town and in New York with Jason Trawick say various celebrity news sites.  I guess she is not needed in court or she’s only in NY for a very short stay.

The end of the year is coming and there’s still nothing happening at the courthouse to support claims that Britney will soon be free “…possibly by the end of December” as said by TMZ.


TMZ’s Harvey Levin rotates celebrity machine again Says Britney Spears’ conservatorship to end soon

December 7, 2009

TMZ delivered a message to the public over the weekend that isn’t rooted in anything happening at the courthouse in Los Angeles and it’s not the first time.

The celebrity news site has made it seem that attorneys are meeting so that Spears could be released from the conservatorhip she is under but none of TMZ’s stories have been based on courtroom fact. Last week TMZ said that attorneys in the case were in the courtroom “right now” talking about ending the conservatorship but that wasn’t quite true. According to the court’s online records last week’s hearing was related to scheduled accounting matters.

No motions have been made and no documents have been filed to indicate that the conservatorship is coming to an end soon.

“If there is a motion to terminate there would a document on file. There isn’t any,” says Vania Stuelp today.

Stuelp also says that if there were proceedings going on to terminate the conservatorship that she would expect to be notified.

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Adnan Ghalib released from jail

December 3, 2009

Adnan Ghalib has been released from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department as of 12/03/2009, says the sheriff’s office.


Adnan Ghalib faces more than one man in alleyway

December 1, 2009

Courtesy of JFXonline.com Oct. 2009

Update, Jan. 28: I will complete this story soon but there is a key source I would still like to talk to that would tell more of the process servers’ side of the story.

Evidence has surfaced that may explain why prosecutors allowed Adnan Ghalib to avoid a potential seven year jail sentence and to serve 45 days instead on felony charges lodged in Feb. 2009 for allegedly striking a process server with his car.

The underreported facts suggest a scene in which Ghalib may have felt threatened.

Ram Moskowitz, the alleged victim and process server in the incident, filed a declaration with the Los Angeles Superior Court on Feb. 23, 2009, the same day that the public and the judge heard testimony from Britney Spears’ father, Jamie Spears, in support of the restraining order he sought against Ghalib that led to the events of Feb. 11.

Moskowitz testifies that he was not alone in the alleyway that day outside of Ghalib’s ex-wife’s apartment and that he was with another agent, Jesse Martell who remained in a vehicle. Moskowitz also says that Ghalib had already been served with the same temporary restraining order that he was allegedly trying to give him.

Moskowitz says that he previously filed proof of service on Ghalib, prior to filing the declaration on Feb. 23 and that his co-worker, Jason Alexander, served Ghalib on Feb. 2.

The declaration first surfaced on Feb. 27, 2009 on celebrity news site TMZ, however TMZ omitted information that may have made the public more sympathetic to Ghalib’s situation on the charges of assault with a deadly weapon, battery with serious bodily injury, and hit and run causing death or injury as alleged by the prosecution. TMZ instead created an obvious negative character from the declaration.

“The process server who was allegedly hit by a Mercedes driven by Adnan Ghalib made it clear in a court declaration — Adnan could have killed him.

“Ram Moskowitz (first name, first clue) claims when he tried serving Adnan with Britney Spears’ TRO, Adnan gunned his car and hit him. The force propelled Ram onto the hood. He claims “I stayed on the hood … for about 30 to 40 yards, at which point I was thrown off…””

If the case gone to trial before a jury (Ghalib pled no contest in October to leaving the scene of an accident) the jurors might also have learned that Moskowitz and Martell both had permits to carry firearms and could legally expose those firearms while on duty. Moskowitz applied for a firearm permit on Jan. 23, 2009. He was granted the permit on Jan. 26, 2009, just days before Ghalib was served on Feb. 2, according to online records available through the Department of Consumer Affair’s Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. Martell has had a permit since 1995 and a private investigator’s license that was issued in 1992. He also has his own private company called Martell Investigations.

When asked about the permits and if he and Moskowitz were carrying their firearms on Feb. 11 Martell says, “How do you know that information? If you already know that why are you asking?”

But later he says in response to the same question, “We weren’t carrying firearms. You don’t need a firearm to serve a subpoena.”

More coming soon…after finals week?


Author Steve Dennis speaks without interruption ‘Britney: Inside the Dream’

November 2, 2009
Britney from Amazon

Credit: Courtesy of author.

Steve Dennis speaks via an email interview about his book, “Britney: Inside the Dream.” Dennis takes both Fair News Spears questions and to those of a bona fide Britney Spears fan who wishes anonymity.

Dennis is the recognized ghostwriter for Paul Burrell who published two books from his life of service to the Queen of England and to the late Diana, Princess of Wales.

You have a number of unnamed sources in your book. What was the most common reason people didn’t want to use their name?

Some sources are named, some not. Some people cannot be seen to be co-operating but they wanted to assist a compassionate and true portrait of Britney. I think there is a perception that if one co-operates with a biographer, it amounts to betrayal. Within that perception, people seek anonymity. Besides, it’s the information that counts, not the names. The phrase “a source said” has been devalued, I think, in journalism over the years but the authenticity of a source’s contribution can be found within the detail and insight.

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