The Colbert Report: Separation of Church & Plate

-via Incertus

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Your Evening Sift

There seems to be more political posts these days. Lots of people are writing them and it's only going to get more intense as we move towards the election. Here at SFDB, I'm making a conscious effort to try not to inundate the Sifts with them. Speaking of which, here's your evening Sift...

A- Obama is a Muslim anti-American racist Communist Castro sympathizer Elitist Socialist man very similar to Fidel Castro Marxist big, fat hypocrite, so says babalu contributor Claudia4Libertad.



Oh, and by the way, Claudia also says Jeremiah Wright has "Caucasian blood" in him and babalu regular, readytoshoot, refers to Obama as an "Oreo cookie" in the comments.

Next up for the babalu boys and girls: whether doing away with separate drinking fountains for "coloreds" was really a step forward.

B- 26th Parallel declares that it's about time that Obama repudiated Jeremiah Wright's remarks. Although he doesn't say so, I can only imagine that 26th Parallel also believes that McCain's repudiation of Rev. John Hagee's remarks is long past due.

C- Blind Mind discusses a South Florida institution: roadside groceries...

I think some of the strangest things in Miami are the roadside grocers. You know, the people who walk thru traffic at heavy intersections and offer various fruits, veggies, seafood, and beverages to you while you sit in your car waiting for the light to turn green. This concept totally blows my mind. First off, how is this legal? It seems like any Joe with something to sell can walk thru traffic and try to hawk his wares without penalty. Are these people taxed? I doubt it. Are they operating with a permit? Negative. Yet they are allowed to meander thru traffic selling items to wary commuters.

D- MenuPages Blog: South Florida has the 411 on this weekend's International Olive Oil Fest.

E- The Art of Food is a new raw vegan restaurant in the Design District, according to Miami Vegan.

F- The (covert) overt is off to Key West and has an ambitious list of things to do and places to eat.

G- Blast Off! blasts Governor Crist for the state of Florida's economy.

H- Florida's abortion sonogram bill failed to pass today and Incertus has a few thoughts...

...because there's no other point to forcing women to pay extra for a ultrasound before they have an abortion other than to limit women's options. A pregnant woman doesn't need an ultrasound to know what she's doing when she terminates a pregnancy--she's intimately aware of what is going on inside her body, far more aware than any legislator in Tallahassee is.

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Obama in 30 Seconds

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The Cooler

Lots 'o good stories in this morning's mainstream media. Don't forget to vote for your SFDB Post of the Month!!

A- Sun-Sentinel: We're #1! We're #1!

B- Sun-Sentinel: Photo gallery, 10 entertaining ways to spend your stimulus checks.

C- Sun-Sentinel: SunFest is on tonight with Sheryl Crow, Parliament and others ...funkaaayyy!

D- Sun-Sentinel: No more coin flips at Broward County commission meetings.

E- Sun-Sentinel: Vanilla Ice's wife gets cold feet.

F- Herald: Popping a wheelie may get expensive.

G- Herald: Florida legislature decides your ruined life could be worth up to $2 million.

H- Herald: A real who-dun-it in West Kendall where a guy was found shot and killed with "marijuana, cocaine, Xanax, nearly $10,000 in cash" in a townhouse that neighbors "had reported people coming and going at all hours of the day."

I- Herald: Morin.

J- Palm Peach Post: Hot for teacher gets canned in Port St. Lucie.

K- Palm Beach Post: FAU Boca on lockdown after shooting.

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Your Morning Sift

Good Morning! Hump Day is here and we're on the downside into the weekend. Here's a few posts that were written while you were sleeping last night.

A- Living on South Beach is so chic, posh and trendy...okay, so as A New Blog, A New Day! explains, maybe not.

B- All Purpose Dark links to the info you need to attend the Open House and Campaign Kickoff Event for Democratic congressional candidate Annette Taddeo that's being held tonight in Pinecrest.

C- The travails of practicing law in Federal court in Miami, as Justice Building Blog sees it.

So there you have it. A nice juicy federal case walks into your office, and after the cheque clears (nobody takes cash do they?) you have a year ( or two weeks if you get Judge Huck) of running up and down the stairs of the King building; holding your breath in the Dyer building; all the while staring wistfully at the new Wilkie Ferguson courthouse, which combines the best (or worst) of the other courthouses.

D- Miami-Forum has the great video of the Palm Beach County 7-year-old who took his grandmother's SUV for a ride.

It's fun to do bad stuff.

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Daily Show: A Historic Waste of a Primary

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Your Evening Sift

Tuesday is usually not that heavy a day for blogging, but, well...here's your evening Sift.

A- I'm not sure how long Carlos can keep this up but today at Magic City Mania he posted another essay, this one written in 2006 after a trip to Havana. There's also a slideshow included.

B- Bark Bark Woof Woof opines on those stimulus checks we should be getting any day now.

It also strikes me as ironic that the Republicans, who always criticize the Democrats for throwing money at a problem, are the ones who came up with this scheme to hand out "free money" to everyone. Do I suspect that there's some political motivation behind this blatant attempt to cover up their complete clusterf*cking [Edited] of the economy for the last seven years? Why no, not at all. Oh, look at the kitty!

C- Hidden City catches up with an old friend.

D- Random Pixels and Loose Talk From Miami Beach [whew!] has some thoughts on the Herald's slow demise.

E- Excellent, excellent analysis of the Brickell condo market by Miami Condo Investments.

The average price of Brickell condos sold over the past six months has dropped 13.20 percent to $410.38 per square foot from November’s average of $472.80.

F- Eye on Miami links to Time Magazine's coverage of the recent vote to move the UDB in Miami-Dade.

G- Miami Vegan wishes Starbucks was a little more vegan friendly.

H- Stuff You Think You Need thinks about adopting a homeless person then gets a photograph with one on Lincoln Road in exchange for $5.

One thing I was thinking about, was kind of adopting a homeless person. Picking out a homeless guy and kind of making him mine. I wouldn't invite him over or anything, just give him a few bucks every time I see him. I would start off the relationship big, Giving him a 20 spot or something, and then when other homeless people hit me up I could carry around a card telling the story of how I have a designated homeless person that I give money to, No offense and sorry its not you, but that's how I am handling all you homeless beggers.

I- Miami Downtown Life reminds us that the Corporate Run is Thursday evening.

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The Cooler

Here's a few stories from the mainstream media for your consideration and discussion. Hey, and don't forget to vote for SFDB Post of the Month!!

A- Sun-Sentinel: Broward Sheriff's Office Deputy Maury Hernandez continues to make progress after he was shot in the head last August.

B- Herald: Riley steps down as Heat coach, names naive replacement that he can easily influence.

C- Herald: Attempted-suicide-by-Metrorail guy had some legal problems.

D- Herald: One day after being released from prison, felon is shot and killed by police. Aunt says, "He was a pretty good kid."

E- Herald: South Beach Photomarathon.

F- Palm Beach Post: Don't ever yell, ""Was the light not green enough for you?" at a lunatic while driving.

G- South Florida Business Journal: Circulation continues to free fall at SoFla newspapers.

H- CBS4: Defede on Florida's budget.

I- CBS4: Miami is the 3rd worst commuter city in the country.

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Your Morning Sift

Lots of action overnight in the SoFla blogosphere including a new blog. Here's your morning Sift...

***New Blog Alert***

The blog may be new but the blogger is not. Carlos Miller of Photography is not a crime fame, has a new blog called Magic City Mania. Carlos describes it as such...

Magic City Mania will consists mostly of personal stories growing up in Miami as well as personal reflections as I go about my day in this mad city.

Check it out.

A- Miami & Beyond has the latest Joe Garcia advertisement featuring Jim DeFede which babalu, speaking for the entire Cuban-American community in Miami, claims is going to lose him EVERY (that's in caps!) Cuban-American vote in Joe's district.

B- For his first post at Magic City Mania, Carlos tells us an interesting story about his father's love of Cuba and his own visit there years later.

C- Eye on Miami finds new ways to spell architect in Miami.

D- Some Cranky Guy wonders why people are drawn to Barack Obama.

E- Cuban Home Cooking bakes up some Natilla.

F- Incertus provides us with a post that gives new meaning to the hymn "Onward Christian Soldiers."

G- Greg Linch, the editor of UM's The Miami Hurricane, has finished serving his term. I'm thinking that the blog goes away, too?

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SFDB Post of the Month

It's that time again, folks. Here we go.

I post the 4 SFDB Post's of the Week from April and SFDB readers pick their favorite by voting in a poll that appears at the bottom of this post. The voting ends at 10 PM Friday night and the winner is given their own special post the next day.

Here's a chance for all SFDB readers to get involved and tell us what post you enjoyed the most. The four nominees to check out and consider are as follows...

Nominee #1:

Searching For Normalcy's tribute to Miami Beach's legendary Rascal House, entitled Goodbye You Old Rascal!, captured some of the flavor that made this restaurant a favorite in SoFla.

Nominee #2:

Hidden City's masterful Directions recounting a couple visitors he got one night gets better each time I read it.

Nominee #3:

Man or Maniac reeks havoc with his photoshop skills as he takes on Florida's controversial Christian license plate in a post he called If we're opening the door...

Nominee #4:

I loved A Mom, a Blog, and the Life In-Between's take on how a little boy can overtake his professional mother's life. The post even had a cool title ...Spiderman and Pirates, Now and Forever.


Woah. This is going to be tough. Read them. Consider them. And vote!






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Your Evening Sift

So much to tell you about tonight...let's get right to this evening's Sift...

A- We all scream for ice cream! MenuPages Blog: South Florida has the details on Ben & Jerry's free cone give-a-way tomorrow.

B- Random Pixels doesn't like Dave Barry. Can you tell?

C- Critical Miami finally decides to dive into the Christian license plate debate that has been around the blogosphere for a week or two now. Check out the comments.

D- Coconut Grove Grapevine took a few photos at The Little Art and Antique Car Show this weekend in the Grove.

E- The South Florida Fan Blog wraps up the SoFla's sports blogs thoughts on this weekend's draft results and links to other relevant sports bloggers for a nice comprehensive post.

F- Justice Building Blog says the judges are suspiciously nice around the Justice Building these days.

G- Reidblog gives us some extracts from a recent editorial written by a former undersecretary of the Reagan Administration about Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright...

... Some of the Wright's comments are inexcusable and inappropriate and should be condemned, but in calling him "unpatriotic," let us not forget that this is a man who gave up six of the most productive years of his life to serve his country.

How many of Wright's detractors, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly to name but a few, volunteered for service, and did so under the often tumultuous circumstances of a newly integrated armed forces and a society in the midst of a civil rights struggle? Not many.

While words do count, so do actions.

Let us not forget that, for whatever Rev. Wright may have said over the last 30 years, he has demonstrated his patriotism.

H- Miami Downtown Life leaned out her window this weekend and captured a few photos of some filming that was being done on the street below.

I- Owenized visits Mark Soyka's newest restaurant called The News Lounge opening soon at 55 and Biscayne.

J- Before going to get your free ice cream cone at Ben & Jerry's tomorrow, make sure you stop by Piola where, as the Chowfather tells us, you can get all-you-can-eat gnocchi for one low price.

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Back To The Future

You can now schedule future posts in Blogger. So...is this live or is it Memorex??


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4 More Years!

-via Discourse

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The Cooler

Mainstream media apparently hasn't woken up yet. Just a few things to mention and discuss at this morning's cooler...

A- Sun-Sentinel: It's Fleet Week in Lauderdale. Anyone notice what's missing?

B- Palm Beach Post: 32 1/2 ears in 12 minutes.

C- Herald: Cuban bloggers.

D- Herald: Cuban art on display in Fort Lauderdale.

E- Herald: U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi backs Raul Martinez.

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Your Morning Sift

Good Morning! It's Monday. Ready to do it all over again? Yeah, me neither.

Here's your Morning Sift anyway.

A- Ipanemic is not feeling Vegas.

I miss reality. Because this isn't mine. I don't know what the hell this place is. There are 10,000 people in this hotel here. Every caricature that you would expect to see, I've seen.

B- Tilefortlauderdale drops Annie off at Too Jay's in Lake Worth.

C- Miami Beach USA has photos from yesterday's Beach Ball Festival on the [doh!] beach.

D- Blast Off! answers the question "Sweet, unsweetened or other?"

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Favorite Fever Foto of the Week

Miami Beach


-miami fever

Your Evening Sift

It was a busy weekend for me and by the looks of the volume of posting today, it looks like everyone else was preoccupied, too. Here's your Evening Sift.

A- Tilefortlauderdale drops Trina at The Cottage in Lake Worth.

B- Hidden City has freshened up and has a great new look you need to check out.

C- Some Cranky Guy gets some additional reusable shopping bags from Publix and goes grocery shopping.

I’m a speed shopper. I know exactly what I am purchasing, and exactly where the products are, and I am pushing that grocery cart about 40 miles an hour up and down the aisles. The problem is on late Sunday afternoons there are gawkers and talkers. The gawkers have no clue why or how they wound up inside a grocery store. They push their empty carts about slowly, staring intently at the products on the shelves as if they are trying to discern the meaning of life from hot dog buns. They are almost as bad as the talkers. These nice people have developed the idea that the best cell phone reception is to be obtained inside a grocery store. They are yapping into their cell phones and totally oblivious to their kid who just got a hot pepper stuck up his left nostril! Both the gawkers and talkers block the aisles, as they park their big butts and carts in the very center of the aisle.

D- Owenized gives us a report from the front lines of the Bon Jovi concert last night that was delayed because of a bomb threat.

Despite all of that, the fans remained in a generally good mood, especially after relieving themselves (people were peeing everywhere). Most tried to remain positive, although I heard a couple guys blaming their wives.

LOL. Wives dragging their husbands out to see Bon Jovi. Classic.

E- Everyone, I think, is realizing that we are in the last throes of winter and we're all savoring this weather for as long as we can before Summer Hell returns. That's the vibe I get from Miamism pix's post today.

F- Eye on Miami has a message for some of the dumb people who were at the recent urban development boundary hearing.

G- Coconut Grove Grapevine shows us one good reason to live in the Grove: great block parties!

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SFDB Post of the Week

SFDB selects its Post of the Week by going back and reviewing all the Sifts that we've done during the past 7 days. We find the best post of the week and note the runners ups as we judge them to be.

This week seemed to be a week filled with tribute posts: moms, dads, children, immigrants, retiring teachers, or roadways were all paid tribute by different bloggers.

Winner: A Mom, a Blog, and the the Life In-Between has her good days and her bad days as a working mother in SoFla. Saturday was definitely a good day as she shared with her readers how her toddler son is a part of every minute of her life. It's a wonderful and moving post, so it's with good reason that this week, Spiderman and Pirates, Now and Forever, is the SFDB Post of the Week.

Runners Ups: Searching For Normalcy paid a touching tribute to her father and mother's 56 years together with a post called Cinquenta y Seis. Discourse shared his thoughts about the retirement of long-time UM law professor Minnette Massey with The End, The Beginning. Stuff You Think You Need went out looking for a new hair stylist and got a little bonus lesson in humanity in his post entitled The Mom of an American. And, finally, 26th Parallel shared a little of his personal knowledge of the Tamiami Trail in Trail Across The Glades.

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Draft Day/Select A Seat @ Dolphin Stadium

So a buddy and I dropped in on the Draft Day Party/Select a Seat Event that was held over at Dolphin Stadium yesterday and took advantage of the open stadium to explore the areas of the facility that usually aren't accessible to the Average Joe during the season.

The regular fanatics were everywhere...



As were the pontificators...



And the cheerleaders...



But parts of the stadium were eerily empty...



And although it was warm, these deck areas were very cool because of the...



...that hung overhead.

In the stadium, all the available seats had a white piece of paper taped to them so if you were liked the view, you removed the paper and went to a representative to arrange your payment. As you can see (click on photo to enlarge), not too many seats are open.



The field itself was a mixture of the current baseball configuration and the football yardage markers situated so you could envision your "football view."



Throughout the stands, small groups of people relaxed in a kind of surreal setting not unlike a regular season Marlins game.





As you can see, it wasn't just adults in attendance. Kids were welcome, too. Properly restrained, of course.



But the most enjoyable part was sneaking into the exclusive sky box area and experiencing how the affluent watch the games...



And used the men's room...



Because there's absolutely nothing that says you've made it in the world better than when you have a flat screen above your urinal.

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The Cooler

Nothing to post for the Morning Sift and just a couple things from this morning's mainstream is making this a slow morning for SFDB. Here's about all I could dig up...

A- Herald: The author of Miami: City of the Future, written in 1987, reviews what has happened since the book was first published.

There are many things about Miami I lament. They are as small as the loss of the Latin American Cafeteria on Coral Way and as immense as the devastation of great swaths of the city north of the Miami River and outside the central core. Rioters didn't do that. Crime didn't cause that. Our movers and shakers did. As Wynwood is the latest to show, all that is best in Miami -- from the Art Deco district to Calle Ocho -- came about because committees lost control, because people started reconstituting life as they wanted it on the human scale. When you get here, there's always a here here, and that's because of the guts and heterodoxy of the people Miami attracts, not the palm trees

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B- Herald: The King of Circumcisions is dead.

C- Herald: Someone swiped Channel 10 reporter Elena Echarri's Cynthia Rowley leather handbag from the video van as she filmed outside of Soyka.

D- Sun-Sentinel: Floridians are paying too much for "hot" gas.

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SFDB Saturday Night Turndown Service

Air, Alone in Kyoto

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Your Evening Sift

Hope everyone is having a good Saturday night. Here's a few links for you...

A- Man or Maniac opines on the moving of the UDB.

B- FTL Today reviews The Ambry German/American Restaurant in Ft. Lauderdale and declares it sehr gut!

C- Some Cranky Guy YouTubes a vocal mockingbird in Pembroke Pines. Might want to save this one for tomorrow morning.

D- A bunch of videos of a wet T-shirt contest at the recent Exxxotica Convention can be found at Miami Beach 411.

E- The South Florida Fan Blog was busy all day covering the NFL Draft and has multiple posts for your review.

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Fooled Twice

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The Cooler

Some interesting bits of news from your mainstream media.

A- Sun-Sentinel: Two dead in shooting right outside of Plantation police station.

B- Sun-Sentinel: Human skeleton found hanging in a backyard tree in Oakland Park.

C- Sun-Senitnel: Criminals who were stripped searched in Broward County get lucky.

D- Herald: Old man busts through security gate at MIA and drives down the runway.

E- Herald: Video, polo on the beach...with real live horses.

F- Herald: Letter to the editor...

There are signs of life downtown. Shops, bars and restaurants are attracting young, cosmopolitan patrons. Suddenly, downtown Miami seems like the place to be, and I couldn't be happier.

I know that this development downtown will not help the homeless, the working poor or the average Joe. It very well might attract more greed and gluttony. But this is a romantic fairy tale -- and sometimes you cannot help but love the sinner.

G- Herald: Morin.

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning! A regular Friday night in the SoFla blogosphere which means not much posting. Here is your abbreviated Sift...

A- A Mom, a Blog, and the Life In-Between pens a wonderful post that will make everyone smile the next time they see a professionally dressed woman wearing in Spiderman Band-Aid.

B- Eye on Miami posts a Wall Street Journal graphic that illustrates where the housing market is headed in major cities across the U.S. including Miami.

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Your Evening Sift

Would you just look at the conglomeration of posts I have for you tonight here on your Evening Sift. Lots and lots of good stuff to fill your Friday evening...

A- Reidblog comments on Rush Limbaugh's call for his listeners to riot at the Democratic Convention in Denver. The (Covert) Overt has the recording of some of what he said. When is this gasbag going to be silenced?

B- Bacardi & Diet loves her some ISHQ.

C- PJ ingests, so Daily Cocaine doesn't have to.

D- Mayor Manny is really digging putting pictures on his blog.

E- Miami Beach 411 has links to Ipanemic's and Miami Fever's photos of the recent Exxxotica Convention in Miami Beach and an intro by Ipanemic.

F- Obama is a Muslim anti-American racist Communist Castro sympathizer Elitist Socialist man very similar to Fidel Castro Marxist (!!!), so says babalu.



G- I always like to link to generous bloggers who don't hog the microphone. The South Florida Fan Blog lets us know that SFFB is going to be providing coverage on NFL Draft Day tomorrow but he also throws a few bones to other SoFla sports bloggers who will be doing the same. Kudos.

H- Miami Vegan likes Vegetarian Restaurant by Hakin in North Miami Beach.

I- Stuff You Think You Need gets a haircut and little more appreciation of the people of South Florida.

She is Cuban and she got here by rowing a boat. She did that five years ago and now she has a 4 year old daughter who is American. I could see in her eyes and in her mannerisms how proud she is that her daughter is an American and when she pointed at the picture and clearly said the word AMERICAN, with that huge smile, I got it. I could also see how grateful she is to be here herself.

J- What the heck is lomo saltado and where can you get it in South Florida? MenuPages Blog: South Florida helps out.

J- MiamiNights talks about even more allegations of violence by Mansion bouncers.

K- There's an interesting and ambitious production opening in Fort Lauderdale this evening, according to South Florida Theatre Scene.

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Indecision 2008

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The Cooler

Here's a few interesting reads from your SoFla mainstream media outlets.

A- Herald: Nino Brown gets three friggin' years in the slammer.

B- Herald: Driving on the Turnpike might get more expensive.

C- Herald: Building beyond the UDB is approved by the Miami-Dade County Commission.

D- Herald: Teenager jumps onto Metrorail tracks, gets run over by 3 62-ton rail cars...and lives. Dude has 8 lives left.

E- Herald: Coral Gables jogger who said she had been attacked was just kidding.

F- Sun-Sentinel: No, no, no. Bring Your Kid To Work Day was yesterday, bonehead.

G- NBC6: Belly dancing convention in Fort Lauderdale.

H- WSVN: Burglar takes dog and cremated remains from Miami-Dade home.

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Your Morning Sift

Good Morning and Happy Friday! Here's a few posts to get you started today...

A- In another one of their homemade videos, Miamism shows us Miami as seen from the Miami River.

B- SFLTV feels WSVN's coverage of SWAT shooting in Broward County yesterday was over the top.

C- Discourse pays tribute to Minnette Massey, whose last day teach teaching law at UM was yesterday.

After 56 years on our faculty, here since September, 1951, Minnette Massey taught her last class today. It is very hard for me to imagine our University of Miami School of Law without this indomitable, outspoken, adorable, sometimes irascible, deeply decent, icon and pioneer of the Florida bar—one of the first women to do innumerable things in the Florida legal world.

D- Tilefortlauderdale leaves Jaye in a pizzeria in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea.

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Your Evening Sift

Sheesh. Don't you just hate it when life gets in the way of blogging? :) A little late, but here's your Evening Sift...

A- All Purpose Dark has the menu for China Grill's $22 Executive Lunch. Not too shabby.

B- Ipanemic is on his way to Vegas and thinks of me in a post. Of course, he earns a link.

C- Keep your youngsters away from A New Blog, A New Day!

D- Some South Miami outdoor dining suggestions from MenuPages Blog: South Florida.

E- The Chowfather has the SoFla highlights from the Conde Naste Traveler's Hot List 2008.

F- More excellent thoughts and discussion from Blast Off! and Incertus on Florida's proposed "I Believe" license plate, which is slowly working it's way toward passing.

G- Miami-Dade Dems links to Annette Taddeo's self-introduction on Daily Kos.

H- The South Florida Fan Blog discusses the possibilities that could extend the Hurricane's first round draft streak.

I- Coyotes in South Florida? Perhaps, posts Tropic of Mom.

J- Stuff You Think You Need has some window washers drop in on him at work.

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The Cooler

Lots of interesting stories in your mainstream media this morning. Read and discuss...

A- CBS4: Torture in Overtown.

B- CBS4: Chief Timoney still catching heat about the free Lexus.

C- WPLG: Knock Knock. Who's there? Smith. Smith who? Smith & Wesson.

D- WPLG: Nothing but plasma.

E- WSVN: Hey, I got an idea. Let's dress granny up in a ski mask, give her a gun and have her say bad things. Sheesh. What a sick world we live in.

F- Herald: Little Haiti park might be named for Miami commissioner who shot himself in the head in the Herald building.

G- Herald: Repel kids easily!

H- Herald: Downtown Doral?

I- Sun-Sentinel: Jason Taylor being shopped by Dolphins.

J- Sun-Sentinel: Suspected Palm Beach County robber says he should be allowed to wear a ski mask in a Wal-Mart parking lot.

K- Sun-Sentinel: 19-year-old gets charged with a felony in Broward County for shooting a Musgovy duck with a BB gun.

L- Palm Beach Post: No more nutz.

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Your Morning Sift

***New Blog Alert***

Via the ever vigilant Miami-Forum, SFDB welcomes Miami Downtown Life to the SoFla blogosphere. MDL has been at it since February but somehow we missed them. "For the local who wants to know" is incorporated into their header and, indeed, MDL appears to do a good job covering major events and visiting restaurants in the local area. Lots of pictures included in this very visual blog which appears to me to be using a Blogger 3-column platform.

Miami Downtown Life has, of course, been added to the South Florida blogroll to the right. Check 'em out.

Just a few items of mention that were posted overnight in the SoFla blogosphere.

A- How can I not link to a post entitled, "An Ode to The SFDB?" The South Florida Fan Blog knows my weakness too well.

B- ReidBlog talks a little about the importance of race in the Democratic primary...

[W]hile its customary for the media narrative to depict Democratic voters as more open minded and "liberal" and Republican voters as more conservative and thus more likely race-insensitive, the uncomfortable but very real fact is that some, though by no means all, older white voters of both political persuasions are uncomfortable voting for a candidate who isn't white. White race-pattern voting is the gigantic elephant in the room; and many younger, less educated, less well off white voters feel the same way.

And while I agree with ReidBlog on this point, I believe any discussion of the importance of race to the two different political parties has to include this wonderful little clip from the most influential conservative talk show hosts out there today.



Because there's nothing like the actual words to illustrate a point.

C- Eye on Miami informs us they're trying to move the UDB again today.

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Not So Rice Thoughts

Just how bad are things for Americans that they are stockpiling rice because the price has recently risen sharply? Just how desperate are things when U.S. retailers have to ration food? I mean, when was the last time this happened in this country?

And when are Americans going to wake up and say, "WTF is going on in the United States? Banks going under. $4.00 gas and going up. People losing houses. Food staples being rationed. War without end."

When are Americans going to stop watching Jason Taylor's latest efforts on "Dancing With the Stars" and realize that, come November, they have a chance to change this nation's direction or continue along the same dark, desolate road that this country has been traipsing down for the last 8 long years.

Because, really, isn't that what it comes down to? Are you better off than you were in 2000? Is America as proud and as wealthy and as powerful as it was before George Bush and the Republican Party took things over from the Democrats?

But most importantly, do you want to continue with the way things are for another 4 years? Because if you do, and you're very happy with life today, the answer is simple. Vote Republican. Vote for John McCain. He's going to give you exactly what you've had since 2000.

If you think things should be better. If you think America can do better. If you think that Americans want better, then your choice is also a simple one. Vote for Barack Obama.

It's really that simple.

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Your Evening Sift

Hump Day Madness has hit SFDB. We have a little bit of everything for you here tonight. First, a new blog...

***New Blog Alert***

SFDB welcomes Tropic of Mom: Life at Latitude 26 to the SoFla blogosphere. Holly started blogging at Tropic of Mom on April 14th and uses the Blogger platform. She describes herself as a former freelance writer turned stay-at-home mom. She joins A Mom, A Blog and the Life In-Between as the only other SoFla mommy blogger on the SFDB South Florida Blogosphere blogroll to the right.

Welcome, Holly!

And now, on to the Sift...

A- The most excellent photo post feature called "Cigar Mike Discovers America" continues at babalu with another great picture and story from the American West.

B- Great piece by Miami & Beyond on the bike-sharing program in Barcelona, Spain.

Everybody uses them. I saw people in suits, ladies all dressed up and students biking on them. We went to a concert at Palau de la Musica and at the beginning there were people dismounting off bikes. (It helps that it was 50 degrees, but still).

C- Miami Vegan visits T-Mex (formerly San Loco) on South Beach and enjoys herself.

Everything is made from scratch. The place was filled with people on a Friday night. It's dark and cozy in there. You feel like you are in a secret little hiding spot just for locals and people in the know, like me.

They also have Vegetarian Nachos, Tacos, Taco Burgers, Taco Salad and Enchiladas.

D- Being a former Miami Herald employee, Computer Colonics knows a little about the area around the Herald Building. So, today, when Ana Menendez writes about her little transportation experiment that involved walking in the vicinity of the building and downtown Miami, CC had some comments.

Between the Herald building and the American Airlines Arena is a park. There is a Metro Mover station there in between but it is no longer used because the park is now a homeless tent city and no normal person trying to get to or from work or shopping would get on or off there. Next to the Herald the church gives out meals for breakfast and (I think) lunch. Just over the bridge a Herald employee having lunch by the water was kidnapped, forced to drive to the Keys, raped and murdered. A block or so North of there, a Herald employee was gunned down in a diner. That area is where new crimes are invented. They invent it there and eventually it catches on everywhere else. You do not walk that area alone … unless you are a tourist.

In a separate post, CC also reveals that she deletes portions of her blog every 6 weeks. Interesting.

E- Daily Cocaine lays down the law regarding bagels and directs us to the places in town where you can get the real deal. Those of you in North Miami are in luck.

F- Is the third time a charm for the federal government? You know how much of your tax dollars have been spent so far? You know how much the defendants have spent on counsel and how much time they've spent in jail? Do you think someone's job is riding on this thing? Southern District of Florida Blog has the story and Discourse has some thoughts.

G- It's a boy for GreenerMIAMI!

H- Miami Beach 411 has, what appears to be, a professionally produced video of the recent Exxxotica Convention on the Beach. Umm, do I really have to say "NSFW!"

I- MenuPages Blog: South Florida has the details on the very worthwhile "Dine Out for Life."

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The Cooler

Here's some mainstream media items for your review and discussion.

A- Sun-Sentinel: Another huge tax cut proposal is being floated by Florida Republicans.

"It's the type of relief we need to get our economy back on track again and to make Florida affordable again," said House Majority Leader Adam Hasner, R- Boca Raton.

Yes, he actually said that. I have an idea that would save Floridians tons of money: let's get rid of all its legislators.

B- Sun-Sentinel: Oopsie.

C- Miami Hurricane: UM students are pissed because some campus vending machines take cash only? WTF? I find it hard to be sympathetic towards someone who isn't able to keep a couple bucks on their person at all times.

D- Miami Hurricane: Where's YouTube when you need it?

Last week Rainwater was nearly struck from behind by a bike rider in front of Eaton Residential College.

"You can hear the skateboarders coming but the bikers creep up on you," Rainwater, a senior, said, adding that when the bike rider tried to go around Rainwater he lost control and slammed into a pole.

E- Palm Beach Post: But we can afford a stadium.

F- WSVN: I smell a lawsuit.

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Your Morning Sift

Good Morning! Another quiet night in the SoFla blogosphere. Here's your Sift this morning...

A- East Florida Gazette Online regurgitates right wing talking points and declares that "beer drinkers" won the Pennsylvania primary last night.

B- Miami & Beyond and "Look Who Else is Talking to [Charlie] Rangel."

C- The South Florida Fan Blog offers their opinion on the Dolphin's #1 draft pick and more.

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Your Evening Sift

Back from Georgia this evening. That 800-mile+ I-95 round trip in 36 hours is becoming a piece of cake. Here's your Evening Sift...

A- Miami & Beyond has the latest most excellent video from Joe Garcia '08.

B- Is Critical Miami's readership flat lining? Who knows.

C- Eye on Miami is on a roll. A second hilarious post in as many days.

The Urban Development Boundary hearing affords you the opportunity to see many of the lobbyists in one place. The Hearing takes place at the Govt. Center, 2nd Floor, 111 NW 1st Street starting at 9:30 am. Go for the spectacle, try to get a lobbyist to buy you lunch. See the lobbyists hanging out in the lobby (of course). See them in corners on the phone or talking to each other in small groups. Take phone pictures of them. Stand next to them as much as possible and watch how you can control them: They will immediately stop talking.

D- We already know Owenized is a big Starbucks fan, so it probably shouldn't be shocking that he has discovered the new Starbucks at 30th and Biscayne.

E- Searching for Normalcy posts a lovely tribute to her parents for their 56th wedding anniversary. And to think this blog went dark for a while.

F- MenuPages Blog: South Florida definitely likes Sundowners on Key Largo. The Key Lime martini sounds outrageous.

G- The (covert) overt had a number of reasons to be hopeful today.

H- No matter what he may say to the contrary, Ipanemic leads a very, um, interesting life.

I- Miami-Forum has a couple TV clips from this momentous day in Miami history.

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If Only...

...the Democratic Party could muster a presidential nominee like Josiah Bartlet.




-H/T to Broward's Blog

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Random Thought From Out On The Road

There's nothing more heart-warming than to read the missives of fat men sitting behind computers as they debate the ability of an oppressed people to put food on their tables without the help they've grown dependent on.

And then come to the conclusion that if there is no help, the oppressed are resilient and will somehow find a way to survive. And if not...porasito pobrecito.

I can't wait to tune in to what's written after everyone gets back from Burger King.

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The Cooler

Like I said, I'm busy this morning so all I have for you is this priceless Jim Morin cartoon from today's Herald.




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Your Morning Sift

Good Morning! Well, as busy as yesterday was, last night was not. Which is a good thing 'cause I don't have a lot of time this morning. Here's your Sift...

A- On the road's 80th anniversary, 26th Parallel gives us his thoughts on the Tamiami Trail.

Driving those lonely drives up and down the Trail, I have grown to love the way the landscape changes as you go from the sawgrass of the Miccosukee Reservation to the cypress and pines of the Big Cypress Preserve, then back to sawgrass as you approach Ochopee, Everglades City and Port of the Islands. Subtle, but magical. My favorite part of the Trail has to be the part between Ochopee and Marco Island, where the road passes within about 5 miles of the Gulf. The landscape is low and marshy, and the late afternoon light flickering off the randomly solitaire strands of Royal Palms absolutely mesmerizing.

B- Obalesque has some power problems and finds out that it's just that time of year again.

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Your Evening Sift

Well, as usual, this being Monday, the floodgates opened and everybody was posting. As a result, I have a lot of ground to cover for this evening's Sift. Get comfortable.

A- The world according to babalu: Obama wants the U.S. to be a communist state and employs the thug-like tactics of the babalu blog Castro regime. When someone disagrees with him on the latter point, Val Prieto personifies these tactics in 3...2...1:

If it bothers you so, i could point out a few acts of "violence and thuggery" recently from Obama backers, with pictures and everything. Let me know, Id be happuy to ram them down your snide throat.

Not unlike a dumbed down 50 Cent, babalu delivers day after day.

B- Indeed, Eye on Miami has a sense of humor.

C- The Cuban reforms? Just an illusion, according to Miami & Beyond.

D- Ipanemic covers the Exxxotica Convention for Miami Beach 411.

It was just like a regular convention only with more dildos. And porn stars. And whips. And latex. There was a stage off in the far corner, featuring screaming orgasm competitions and wet t-shirt contests.

E- A couple new clubs are noted by Miami Nights.

F- Mayor Manny thinks the Miami Herald spent too much time writing about his blog. Two words for the Mayor: Hyper. Link.

G- Miamism Pix gives us a good visual of the recent changes to the Miami skyline.

H- [redacted] on Miami's homeless...

If New York has the smartest homeless people in the country, then Miami has the friendliest. It makes sense: After all, bums in Miami have had the good fortune of being homeless in a tropical paradise. Just the other day when Brooke and I were at the beach, a homeless guy came walking down the shoreline, trudged onto the sand, plopped his house-bag down and just laid there in the sun. EXACTLY LIKE ME AND BROOKE. I mean, that’s what people come to Miami to do – lay on the beach. And when Brooke and I had to go home to do some work? The homeless guy got to stay! Because he had nothing else to do.

I- Spangdish rates some restaurants as to their kid friendliness quotient.

J- Mark your calendars. Arianna Huffington is coming to Coral Gables on May 6th, according to the (covert) overt.

K- I'm a day late with this one but check out the South Florida Fan Blog's recent brush with tennis greatness.

After all, at least for one Saturday in April, I played tennis next to Venus Williams, almost on the same court, at the same time, and I held my own.

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The Cooler

Just a few things of note this Monday morning from your mainstream media.

A- Sun-Sentinel: Broward County commissioners flip a coin to make a decision. And you thought Miami-Dade was screwed up. Next meeting: rock-paper-
scissors.

B- Herald: Nine-year-old survives when her parents drive into a canal in Miami-Dade County and advises arriving emergency personnel where the car is located.

C- Herald: Pool boys, or "tanning butlers," as they like to call them, make $30 an hour at the Ritz-Carlton on South Beach.

D- WSVN: Toll plaza gets robbed on the 836.

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning! Let's get right to it...

A- Man or Maniac is trying to earn himself another Post of the Week.



B- Matt's Photo Blog has some more pictures of the weekend's Sunrise Community Hot Air Balloon Race and the disturbing news that this was the last time for the event.

C- A New Blog, A New Day's thoughts on air travel made me shift in my seat just reading them.

D- TileFortLauderdale drops Helen next to the New River.

E- FTL Today reviews Pomperdale Deli in Fort Lauderdale.

Pomperdale Deli has been around for years and they keep packing the people in every day for breakfast and lunch (they aren't open for dinner). They specialize in brisket and piled high pastrami. The place is small and nothing 'grand'. It does remind me of the small deli shops you'd find up in New York or New Jersey. You place your order at the counter and if you are eating in...you pay AFTER you eat.

F- Some Cranky Guy shares his thoughts on the Miami-Dade school systems and includes a great quote from school board member Marta Perez.

G- Blind Mind tells us all about the Crawfish Boil at Tobacco Road yesterday.


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Favorite Fever Film of the Week

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Your Evening Sift

Ugh. Sunday night. Too short a weekend and I even took Friday off. Hope you all did something worthwhile. Here's your Sift...

A- Depth of Field has some great pictures of this weekend's Sunrise Community Hot Air Balloon Race that was held at Kendall-Tamiami Airport. Babalu has one but it has a lousy watermark on it.

B- Coconut Grove Grapevine documents Art Change Day at Cafe Tu Tu Tango in the Grove.

C- Stuff You Think You Need visits the Exxxotica Convention and takes his camera.

In a way it was like going to a strip club, but in the day, and without full nudity. They were mostly wearing skimpy little outfits and simulating porn. I saw a midget riding a mechanical bull with two women wearing school girl outfits.

D- Miami-Forum hooks us up with a Miami Herald video that shows a little bit of the history of the Tamiami Trail, which is turning 80 years old.

E- The Marlins have real fans, according to The South Florida Fan Blog.

If you've ever been to a Sunday afternoon or weekday game (as I did today and last Wenesday), you know that there might be 10,000 fans, maybe 11,000, and everybody is sure to be gone by the 8th inning.

But...if you've ever been to any Marlins game, for the 16 years of the franchise's existence, from Joe Robbie to Pro Player to Dolphins to Dolphin Stadium, you know that the few Fish fans who do show up are some of the best fans around. And that miniscule number of fans is not afraid to show it.

The true fans who go to every game, like the famous Sign Guy, know about as much about our players and history as any fanbase, especially the ridiculous fans of the rapidly growing "Red Sox Nation." In fact, most Red Sox fans know nothing except that they are wearing a navy blue hat with a red "B" on it, and that their team plays in Boston.

F- Bacardi & Diet is happy about her birthday and 420, but maybe not necessarily in that order.

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SFDB Post of the Week

SFDB selects its Post of the Week by going back and reviewing all the Sifts that we've done during the past 7 days. We find the best post of the week and note the runners ups as we judge them to be.

Another quality week of posting in the SoFla blogosphere, although I have to admit that this week's judging wasn't nearly as hard as last week.

Winner: Man or Maniac keeps a fairly low profile in the South Florida blogging community but his post last Sunday was opinionated and cutting edge and I loved it. If we're opening the door... beautifully illustrated the inanity of the proposed legislation that is threatening to make the State of Florida a purveyor of faith. Therefore, If we're opening the door... is this week's SFDB Post of the Week.

Runners Ups: Miami Beach 411's Tennis Star Anna Kournikova Lights Up the Triathlon had some great photos [when are they not-Ed.] of Kournikova participating in a local triathlon last weekend. Calm Bobby opened up and revealed that a onetime girlfriend was stolen by Miguel "Fat" Cabrera in a post entitled, appropriately enough, Fat Cabrera. Random Pixels and Loose Talk From Miami Beach gave us an intriguing look into the back story on the shooting of Scarface in Miami in "Scarface"...now the story can be told!. And, finally, Some Cranky Guy, in a less crankier moment, wrote a nice essay on Long Key Nature Center in Broward.

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