Your Evening Sift

Shopping carts, swamp cabbage and racist Republicans are all included in your Sift this evening. Have fun...

A- Is LaBelle in South Florida? Maybe. Maybe not. But MenuPages Blog: South Florida's post on this past weekend's Swamp Cabbage Festival is so good it would be criminal not to link to it.

Make sure you also catch Carolina's thoughts on The Smoking Rabbit and why it may be struggling.

B- Bark Bark Woof Woof provides his take on the Republican's desperation these days.

Ever since the end of the Reagan era, they have been desperately seeking someone who had the smile and charisma to repeat the magic that overwhelmed the nation and swept out the humble and bumbling Carter administration. And what have they come up with since then? A pale imitation in the person of George W. Bush, who even on his best day couldn't summon the timing and carefully-crafted spontaneity of Ronald Reagan if it was handed to him on a silver platter. And now they're proposing to nominate John McCain, who Mr. Kristol summons his best game face to describe as someone who "more proud of his country than of himself. And his patriotism has consisted of deeds more challenging than “speaking out on issues.” Wow; not exactly what I've call a ringing endorsement.

C-Infomaniac shares with us her recently updated Cuba Links page and, also, her reasons for creating and maintaining it.

Although I no longer 'need' to do this, I've been fascinated with the Cuba story since I was a 1950s schoolkid seeing the photos in Life of the scary revolutionaries in the mountains. And since high school, practicing ducking under my school desk during the Cuban Missile Crisis. And since hanging out at a Cuban restaurant in Washington, DC, in the late '60s/early '70s. And certainly since moving to Miami during the Mariel boat lift and having coworkers who were Cuban exiles, later the children of Cuban exiles, and helping cover the news about Cuba and Cuban Americans there for over 20 years. I don't have a personal connection to Cuba, and wasn't allowed to go there. But it's a place that I have learned to care about. And I hope this can be a help to news researchers who need a start on finding information.

D- 26th Parallel posts its 2nd composition on South Florida history, this one covering Cape Florida and Fort Dallas.

E- Hidden City gives us his thoughts on last night's Oscars, as does Dayngrous Discourse.

F- Don't visit All Purpose Dark if you're a diabetic.

G- Ipanemic needs some suggestions on what books he should read to expand his knowledge of Cuba. That should be no problem, right? Get going!

H- Man or Maniac comments on the Miami-Dade police director's lawsuit against WFOR television and one of its reporters.

I- Eye on Miami runs into UM President Donna Shalala with a chair and gets a dirty look.

J- The Republican National Committee is reminding its members not to do anything racist during the upcoming election, according to ReidBlog. Sometimes it amazes me that people actually admit they belong to the Republican Party these days.

K- Owenized gets a peek in Miami-Dade School Superintendent Rudy Crew's shopping cart at a grocery store. I bet you Steve kept saying, "I can't wait to blog this!" all the way home.