Your Night Sift

Downtown Fort Lauderdale was awash in the costumed tonight going between Las Olas and the Himmarshee Village area. It was a great scene and one that, quite frankly, impressed me based upon what I've heard around the blogosphere about how dead Lauderdale is. I was able to snag a couple pictures but I have yet to check to see just how well they turned out.

Anyway, better late than never...here's your night Sift...

A- Bark Bark Woof Woof has a great example of why Sarah Palin is a heartbeat away from being a grave threat to America.

B- Hidden City takes us back through the years and tells us about his Halloweens and how they've changed.

When I was very young my mother would sew us costumes from patterns, always embellishing them with touches of her own frustrated artistry. Cats, bats, green-streaked ghosts, the devil himself — all the traditions were observed.

C- The Phin Phanatic has the 5 keys for a Dolphin victory this weekend at Denver.

For the Dolphins, the question is which team will show up to play? The team that shut down Buffalo, New England, and San Diego or the team that lost to Baltimore and the Houston Texans? For Miami fans and for the fans of 3 other West teams…here’s to hoping it’s the former.

D- MenuPages: South Florida tells us that Lincoln Road's Meat Market is having a soft opening this weekend.

E- Another South Beach moment captured by Miami Fever.

F- South Florida Classical Review previews Festival Miami's tribute to Argentinian composer Alberto Ginastera.

The two programs offer a bracing mix of Ginastera works, arranged chronologically by Kates to provide “a biographical tour of his life.” Sunday’s night’s program will open with two early vocal works, the Cantos del Tucuman and Dos canciones, performed by soprano Virginia Correa Dupuy, followed by the String Quartet No. 1, the blazing First Piano Concerto (Luis Ascot, soloist) No. 1, and his late Catalan-colored Glosses for Orchestra. Monday will offer the Pampeanas No. 1 and 2 for violin and cello, the choral Hieremiae Prophetae Lamentationes, and the exotic Cantata para America magica , scored for soprano (Dupuy again) and 53 percussion instruments.

G- Discourse has another comprehensive McCain bashing session for readers to laugh through.


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SFDB Halloween Night

I'll be out all evening and into the night reliving my childhood by soaping windows, corning houses, and festooning my neighbor's trees and shrubs with toilet paper. Expect the Sift to be a little later than usual.

I don't have any scary stories to tell you but I do have some hair-raising comments from a certain Miami Cuban-American blog that sounds a lot like "Blah Blah You." They're quickly coming to terms with an African-American president by playing "Who can be the biggest Drama Queen Today?" From today's installment...

My heart is heavy today. My mom who left Cuba 49 years ago woke up crying this morning. She can't believe the American people are about to elect this leftist, liberal, commie-loving a/k/a socialist wannabe into the highest office of this great land.

Posted by pixelchik at October 31, 2008 11:08 AM

Tell your mom not to worry, this communist can't take our guns away like they did in Cuba. Just let them try it.

Posted by readytoshoot at October 31, 2008 11:44 AM

I'm with Peggy. i never thought this day would happen either.

Posted by Gusano at October 31, 2008 12:02 PM

I'm thinking pixelchik definitely out did readytoshoot in this exchange, don't you? And Gusano... Dude, pick it up man, you gotta use words like socialist, communist, cry, and "God help us" to play this game.

Okay, everyone...at 3...2...1...

Boo!


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Friday Flashback

Bjork, Big Time Sensuality


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SFDB Halloween Ecard

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Clueless In Erie

I lived in Western Pennsylvania for a large portion of my life. Anyone who has lived there knows there is a "Western PA" and a "Eastern PA" and each have their respective sports teams. Caribou Barbie found that out yesterday.



Oops.

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The Cooler

I'm running a little short of time this morning so here's an abbreviated Cooler...

A- Sun-Sentinel: And not a hurricane in sight!

Expect a rather dry winter and spring with about 5 inches less rain than normal, the National Weather Service in Miami said Thursday. However, the region's water levels shouldn't suffer because the rainy season saw about 5 inches more rain than average, meteorologist Robert Molleda said.

B- Sun-Sentinel: Almost #1....not quite. Maybe next year.

Almost one in five Florida children have no health insurance, and the number has grown 10 percent in the past three years despite efforts to cover them, health advocates said in a new study released Thursday.

Florida now has the second highest rate of uninsured children in the nation, behind Texas, as more employers cut back on health coverage and rising prices make coverage unaffordable, said Families USA, an advocacy group for low-income issues.

C- Sun-Sentinel: Because she has high standards.

PORT ST. LUCIE - Doors opened for Tiffany Shepherd, just not the right ones.

Shepherd, the 30-year-old former Port St. Lucie High School teacher who months ago claimed she lost her teaching contract because of her bikini mate job, on Thursday said she "turned down all the magazines."

"I didn't want to do Playboy," she said, noting she sought legal advice and learned that appearing in the magazine likely would mean she'd never teach again.

Shepherd, a mother of three boys, became a media sensation after alleging she was released from her teaching contract because of her job on Smokin' Em Charters, which offers trips with bikini-clad and topless women.

D- Herald: They got the UM crocodile killer!

UM police and state wildlife officials on Thursday arrested a 16-year-old in the butchering and beheading of the nine-foot animal in a campus canal early this month. They're looking for an adult who they say also took part, luring the reptile with fishing chum, tying it down and chopping it up.

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning and Happy Halloween.

I don't know if you already have plans for tonight, but if you don't, feel free to check out the list of events that I've collected from the SoFla blogosphere over in the right sidebar. We do this every weekend here at SFDB but this weekend seems especially busy.

And with that, I hereby present your ghoulish morning Sift...

A- The Street has some new photos up.

B- Eye on Miami finds that lenders are continuing to hand out money haphazardly in the local area.

6. 2.34% down. Charles on October 2nd 2008, paid $285,000 and got a mortgage for $279,905 from Universal. He put $5,095 down.

7. .53% down. Enrique and Nicanor on October 2nd 2008, paid $261,166 and got a mortgage for $259,760 from Q lending Inc. Mers and put $1,406 down. In Nov. 2002 Nicanor was granted a chapter 13 Bankruptcy to strip his homestead of a lien by Household Finance Corporation, III. It was recorded 6/25/07. He signed an affidavit stating he did not file for bankruptcy but the signature appeared to match.

8. “0” down. Gerardo on October 1st 2008 paid $240,000 and got a mortgage for $245,160 from J.P Morgan Chase. VA rider.

C- Foodtastic heads over to FIU to try out the lunch prepared by the school's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management and takes photographer and blogger Carlos Miller with them. They didn't get arrested.

When I was invited to try the lunch prepared by culinary students at FIU's School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, I immediately accepted. A three-course gourmet meal for $15 is a bargain nowadays, and I just wanted to see what the experience would be like.

So recently, I went ahead and did just that. I called on someone I knew would appreciate the experience as much as I would, that troublemaker you all know as Carlos Miller. The fact that in taking him I'd get some awesome pictures out of it didn't hurt, either.

D- Some Cranky Guy is out in the Great American Northwest taking photos and making tired old political statements. The photos are super.

E- Shorter East Florida Gazette:

Obama supporters get good sleep. McCain supporters, not so much.

F- Incertus points us to the latest example of Republicans just calling them as they see them...

The head of the Hillsborough GOP, David Storck, distributed an email from a Republican Party volunteer saying the voters are a threat.

That's because, as the volunteer says in the email, he sees "car loads of black Obama supporters coming from the inner city to cast their votes for Obama."

It goes on to say, "This is their chance to get a black president and they seem to care little the he is at minimum a socialist and probably Marxist in his core beliefs." The Republican volunteer says that is because, "After all he is black- no experience or accomplishments but he is black."

G- Miami-Dade Dems has a great post on foreigners in South Florida who are working to get Obama elected.

And there's Andrea Liberati of Italy, who showed up months ago joining the Miami Beach Democratic Club and now is working practically full-time as a volunteer for Barack Obama. Back in August I was flying to Denver to blog the convention, and there sitting across the aisle was Andrea! He's writing a book on what it's like to explore the mysteries of Florida presidential campaigning and will be jetting home with his copious notes soon after Nov. 4.

All these people have been captivated by our political situation and our Democratic candidate. They look at us from abroad and are unencumbered by our inhibitions. They dislike George W. Bush and his policies intensely. Sort of like us. But none of their neighbors, relatives or friends voted for Bush, so they have no shyness when it comes to declaring their backing for Barack Obama.

- Blast Off! is following some allegations of voter suppression in Palm Beach County.

A few minutes ago, I was at the Boynton Beach City Library, one of 11 early voting sites in Palm Beach County, where I spoke with one of the Obama-Biden volunteers at the table out front. She described some very troubling developments there and in Riviera Beach, both of which are early voting sites with large turnout among African-Americans.

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Another Conservative Endorses Obama

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Your Evening Sift

It's Halloween Eve and I'm sure everyone is out there getting their candy together or putting the finishing touches on their costumes. Take a break from all that frivolity and catch up on today's action in the SoFla blogosphere with your evening Sift.

A- Anyone want to help Blind Mind find a $500 pair of loafers? Is BM South Florida's male Imelda Marcos?

Its from Cole Haan Collection
Its handcrafted in Italy
It has a lizard skin top and calfskin body
I believe it is the Venetian Loafer or Venetian Driving Moccasin
Original price was $498

B- All the Republicans have is empty rhetoric which is exemplified perfectly in this CNN clip at Bark Bark Woof Woof where a McCain spokesman is struck dumb when asked a point blank question by Rick Sanchez.

C- Reidblog has the "electrifying" break down of voter turnout thus far in Florida.

Democrats are ahead in terms of turnout by 205,205 voters out of the nearly 3 million votes cast. For the first time that I can recall, Republicans are below 50 percent in absentee ballot returns. That has never happened, in my memory. And the advantage that Dems have in early vote is nearly two to one.

D- South Florida Theatre Scene has his review for the week.

E- Another new steakhouse is opening on Miami Beach, according to MenuPages Blog: South Florida.

South Florida is getting a new Brazilian steakhouse: Fogo de Chão, which opens tonight for dinner on Miami Beach. This is the Brazil-based chain's 12th location in the US.

F- Dizzy Blonde posts a couple homemade videos of Matt Damon's recent speech in support of Barack Obama on Miami Beach.

G- Jeff Eats reviews a couple South Florida restaurant landmarks: Steve's Pizza and the Rustic Inn Crabhouse in Dania.

H- Man Or Maniac says the McCain campaign is ironic. I'd say they're hypocritical.

John McCain has made a career of fighting against unnecessary government funding. He has long tried to get rid of "pork barrel spending," where federal dollars are spent on projects that benefit only a few people.

So I find it ironic that he is accusing Barack Obama of not taking federal money to fund his campaign. The affront of it: Obama has found willing citizens to give him money to run for president, instead of taking a government handout!

I- More Blog says that Miami Beach's storied Club Deuce is dead. Comments say otherwise.

J- Don't miss this hilarious, hilarious Halloween candy post from Wide Lawns and Narrow Minds.

One year some ass-wad on my street got the brilliant idea to pass out trial sized tubes of toothpaste and little toothbrushes. I know this person probably spent a lot of money on this, unless he or she was a dentist and got them for free, and I know this person was probably thinking that we children were going to rot out our teeth on all the other candy we were getting, so perhaps this person felt they were looking out for our best interests. We disagreed. For years after that house got its pumpkins smashed every Mischief Night and they stopped participating in trick or treat and turned off their porch lights, likely huddled inside with the shades drawn hoping the neighborhood children would think they were out of town or something. We weren't fooled. We knew the toothpaste people were like Halloween grinches; no fun and ruining the spirit of our favorite holiday.

K- Joe the Plumber deserts McCain in this video at Broward's Blog.

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SFDB Election Night Liveblogging

Yep, we'll be here, folks, to track the election results as they come in on Tuesday night. Drop in as the votes are tallied and states are called for one candidate or the other. The comments will be open for what always turns out to be lively political discourse here at SFDB.

Things will get rolling sometime around 8:30 or 9:00 when I wrap the Sift up and will go until, well, as long as I can hold out or a victor is anointed pronounced.

Please join us.

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The Know Nothings

See, this is what I don't get.

The same guys who voted for George W. Bush the first time around and then, after W fell flat on his face, voted for him the second time around, now want ANOTHER dose of his failed policies a third time around. It's like they haven't had enough.

Then, get this...they also want to tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about when I tell them that I'm tired of this crap and don't want another 4 years of failure. But wait, it gets better. Then they say, after everything that George W. Bush has done to this country and its economy and its standing in the world, that, remember, THEY voted for and rubber-stamped...they say that Obama isn't what's right for America. Like after voting for Bush twice, they have proven just how really smart they are, right?

Look here. Listening to any Bush voter tell you who to vote for this time around is like taking advice from any of the Babalu Boys as to where to buy a kickin' pair of slim cut jeans. They are clueless. They have no idea. They have no standing. Zero.

So do this. Ignore 'em. Or, do what I do...make fun of 'em. Because, really now, what is more hilarious than a know nothing pretending like they know something? Again and again and again.

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Breaking News: New Shocking Video That Shows Obama Is A Socialist!

That's right...laugh at them. Because they're nothing but clowns.


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The Cooler

I'm really not sure what the newspapers are going to report on after the election is over. It's wall to wall election coverage, folks.

Keeping that in mind, here's your Cooler to read and discuss.

A- Sun-Sentinel: Record cold in SoFla.

It was 50 degrees in West Palm Beach, breaking the record of 51 degrees for Oct. 29, set in 1944; 52 in Pompano Beach, breaking the record of 56 degrees, set in 1990, and 55 degrees in Miami Beach, beating the previous record of 58 degrees, set in 1943.

B- Sun-Sentinel: Photos from the presidential candidate's visits to SoFla yesterday.

C- Sun-Sentinel: Life and death in South Florida.

Jessica Kalish's estranged wife stabbed her with a screwdriver 222 times in the garage of the Boynton Beach home where they lived, police said Wednesday. Though most of the wounds were not enough to kill, investigators said, the fatal blow was to the neck, severing the spinal cord.

Carol Anne Burger, 57, then put her wife's body in the back seat of Kalish's BMW and drove the car to a medical lot in the 2300 block of South Congress Avenue where she left it. Though police are still reviewing evidence, Lt. Gary Chapman said it is believed Burger then left Kalish's keys and wallet behind a business at 548 East Gateway Blvd., about 5 miles away.

Burger, a triathlete, then walked home. That was on Oct. 22. The next morning, Burger filed a missing person's report with police, saying Kalish did not show up to work and missed a doctor's appointment.

Police found Kalish's body that night. On Friday, Burger fatally shot herself in the head in their backyard.

D- Herald: Cuban-Americans voting for the first time.

The waiting time for early voting at some South Florida polling places has been as much as four or five hours, giving rise to no end of complaints.

But that is nothing. Mercedes and Antonio Sierra waited for eight -- not hours, but decades to be able to vote.

''My heart was beating really hard when I saw the ballot before me,'' admitted Mercedes, 78, outside a public library in Kendall.

The couple was careful not to get too worked up when it came time to fill out their ballots, especially after what happened to them when they became naturalized citizens May 1. Hours after being sworn in as Americans, Antonio suffered a sudden spike in his blood pressure, lost his speech, passed out and had to be rushed to the hospital.

''My blood pressure increased from the joy of getting my citizenship. It was just something within me,'' the 80-year-old said.

E- Herald: Morin.

F- TC Palm: Port St. Lucie's Officer Batman.

PORT ST. LUCIE — Officer Reece Kilner says he’s always wanted to be Batman, and Wednesday he got his chance, conducting a speed enforcement initiative in front of City Hall with a Halloween traffic safety message.

Kilner, dressed as the Dark Knight complete with cape and pointy ears, used a “bat laser” to measure speeds of westbound motorists on Port St. Lucie Boulevard, prompting honks from drivers.

G- CBS4: Video, DEA and Miami-Dade PD take down 36 grow houses...in one day.

H- WPTV: Cast your vote, get a beer.

PORT ST LUCIE, FL -- A Treasure Coast bar is offering free bar starting at 8pm on Election night. Bogey's & Stogey's Cigar Bar & Lounge will be handing out the free brewskies in the city of Port St Lucie.

If you have an "I Voted" sticker on, you will receive free beer.

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning. Now, wake up.

New Blog Alert!

I want to announce that we'll be adding another photoblog to the SFDB blogroll. A local Miami photographer that goes by the Flickr name of dcvision2006 has started a gritty blog comprised of street photographs taken of the people and the places of Miami's underbelly. It's disturbing, it's real, it's fascinating, it's brand new and dcvision2006 is calling it, simply, The Street.

It's also unique, not only because of it's subject matter, but because of the Tumblr platform that is being used. I haven't seen this partuclar blogging platform being used anywhere else.

Anyway, check it out and see what you think.

SFDB welcomes The Street.

5 days until the election. I'll have a special announcement at lunchtime today concerning Election Night so you might want to drop in midday to see what's planned here at SFDB. In the meantime, here's your morning Sift.

A- Miami Bike Scene has the promotional flyer for the upcoming Bike Miami.

B- I'm a day late on this one but Cuban Home Cooking gives the recipe and instructions for Potaje de Lentejas (Lentil Soup).

C- Tilefortlauderdale leaves Sara in a nook in the 1500 block of Las Olas Boulevard.

Sara is in a little nook on the street in Las Olas .... the nook contains some kind of water pipes or something outside Vencor Hospital in the 1500 block of Las Olas Boulevard in Fort Lauderdale.

While the stories you read on this blog are all just pretty much made up, for the most part, they come from somewhere. And this particular one was inspired by a few very intriguing blog posts I spotted this month, one on The South Florida Daily Blog .. and another on Coconut Grove Grapevine ... about the real working "Shadow People."

I'm happy to inspire, Tilefortlauderdale.

D- What says Miami more than a yellow Rolls parked on South Beach, from Miami Fever. And would you accept a menu from this young lady?

E- The Herald has morphed Barack into an unexciting white guy, according to Incertus.

F- Bark Bark Woof Woof takes a close look at the 1/2-hour Obama ad that aired last night.

One thing that was noticeable by its absence: any mention of his opponents. Mr. Obama never mentioned the name of John McCain, and he only obliquely referred to the Bush administration as the "last eight years." That's one of the hallmarks of a good ad campaign; act as if you are the only product of your kind on the market. Ad writers know that you're on shaky ground if you have to compare your product to Brand X, so don't give the consumer the chance to even subliminally be aware of the competition.

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America Is Scared Sh*tless

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Your Evening Sift

I made the mistake of thinking today was Thursday not once, but twice today. I really think I want tomorrow to be Friday.

Another busy day for posting and I have it all covered for you here in your Evening Sift.

A- The South Beach Bum links to a blog post done by national political blog FiveThirtyEight.com that details how things went down at the McCain rally in Little Havana today and how, once again, certain elements of the Cuban-American community have embarrassed South Florida.

B- Are you as efficient at multi-tasking as the woman Coconut Grove Grapevine featured today?

C- AshAndBurn Has a couple good posts up today. The first one is a photograph of a cryptic message someone apparently put up outside the CVS at Collins and Lincoln on Miami Beach. The second is a copy of the flyer for the The Duece Book Launch Party.

“Bartender Melissa Burley’s 96 page retrospective features over 450 favorite photographs spanning 13 years and includes “Super Manny” and “The Night of the Flying Iguana.” This collection of Deucers’ Who’s Who reads like a high school year book in which everyone was most popular and a few people were class clowns” Limited Edition comes in sealed bag with Deuce - Sticker, Coaster, Matchbook and Temporary Tattoo - $40

D- What $6 million gets you Key Biscayne, from Miamism.

E- Joe the Plumber is apparently a spokesperson for the Republican Party now, according to this post by Bark Bark Woof Woof.

F- You might not want to ride Tri-Rail if you're hungry, according to Transit Miami.

Starting today, Tri-Rail is now using biodiesel fuel in all their conventional trains. The Diesel Multiple Units (DMU’s) will continue to use regular diesel because of their warranty, but the rest of the trains will now be reducing their impact to the environment.

[...]

I, for one, can’t wait until next week when I get to ride a train that smells like french fries.

G- Discourse said Charlie Crist did the Republican Party a favor by extending early voting hours.

The biggest thing on your mind is that the GOP vote is going to stay home. You’re worried they’re going to stay home because they never liked John McCain anyway. You’re worried they’re going to stay home because they think Sarah Palin is unfit to command. You’re worried they’re going to stay home because the polls suggest that the state and the nation are lost. And, to top it off, you’re worried they’re going to stay home because with all this baggage weighing the ticket down, a measurable fraction of the GOP vote is going to stay home because it doesn’t want to stand in line for three hours. (Anecdotal evidence suggests, that the average Obama voter is more energized about the ticket than the average GOP voter, so the long lines just make matters worse.)

So of course Charlie Crist did what he had to do to shorten the poll lines. It was smart politics. And self-interested too.

H- Incertus has a great Daily Show clip that you don't want to miss.

I- Miami, bro did some punkin' carvin' last night.

I carved myself a boyfriend, a sad faced dude. I even carved the word boyfriend across his cheek, so he wouldn't forget who he is, and who he belongs to! I like to bark orders at him, and he doesn't talk back. It's kind of a perfect relationship.

J- Blast Off! liveblogs Joe Biden's visit to Jupiter and gets a picture with Senator Bill Nelson.

K- Miami-Dade Dems has the link to the early voting wait times in Miami-Dade.

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Pre-Sift LOLz

-via Superbee's Philosophy


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Ouch

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SFDB Ecard of the Day

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Vote For Obama: Have A Black Baby

Riptide has the only-in-Miami story on what happened to Cuban-American Melissa Dazquez when she recently decided to post an Obama sign across from the Versailles.

Here’s her recount of what went down with the customers:

“They got nasty. I’m a little overweight, so they told me: ‘You’re fat. With Obama as president, there will be no food.’ They called me a terrorist, a communist, a disgrace. A lady told me that, with Obama, America will cry blood. An old man grabbed his genitals and called me a lesbian. He said, ‘You have black babies.’” (Wait. Lesbians can make babies now?! That’s what we should be blogging about.)

What the haters didn’t know: Dazquez is Cuban, too, damn it. So, all was not a total failure. One good exchange came from the mess. An elderly woman crossed the street, marched over to her, and confessed that she once supported Fidel Castro. “When I was young, I did the same thing, hoping for change. But look what happened,” she said.

All class.

The video is supposedly on its way.

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People Who Know, Know

Of the 70 odd conservative politicians, pundits and newspapers that have turned from McCain to endorse Obama this fall, 38 of them have cited Palin as a significant contributor to the decision.

See the entire list here.


-via Bark Bark Woof Woof

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The Cooler

Culled from SoFla's mainstream media, here's your Cooler for the day.

A- Sun-Sentinel: Something for the kiddies to look forward to this Halloween.

Parents, check the kids' candy extra carefully this Halloween. Some Broward Republicans plan to drop a little something extra into the bags: a piece of political propaganda.

Each is about 3 by 4 inches on heavy paper, the brainchild of Sharon Day, Broward's state Republican committeewoman. When parents go through the kids' candy, they'll find messages telling them, "Don't Make Everyday Halloween in America! Keep Barack Obama from using your hard earned dollars as his own personal 'Trick or Treat' bag!"

B- Sun-Sentinel: Thy name is Fear!

Broward Republican Party leaders are warning the party faithful not to trust the Postal Service with their absentee ballots.

The outside of the absentee ballot envelopes are marked "Dem" or "Rep," depending on the party registration of the voter, and the party leaders said the Republican designation means something may happen to the ballots.

"This is a shame that we cannot trust the postal people," said Colleen Stolberg, the absentee ballot chairwoman for the Broward Republican Party. "These people are stealing votes from us."

C- Sun-Sentinel: Slideshow, Boat Show pictures.

D- Herald: They're stealing donated food in Liberty City.

When David Jenkins and his family came upon hard times, they turned to Curley's House of Style, a Liberty City food pantry.

The organization provided Jenkins, now an outreach volunteer, with much-needed food and social services.

But after a break-in last weekend, the pantry's shelves are nearly empty. The 1,000 people they serve a day could go hungry.

The thieves stole an estimated $300,000 worth of food, clothes and donations, along with computers, televisions and even telephones from Curley's, 6025 NW Sixth Ct., Miami. The pantry has been burglarized before -- most recently, just two weeks ago -- but the organization has never experienced a break-in this devastating.

E- Herald: Video, the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show.

F- Herald: Morin.

G- Herald: Pitts, on the folks who propagated the Ashley Todd story.

It smelled worse than rotting garbage in triple digit heat, but I'm not surprised some folks swallowed it anyway.

Meaning the story that was a mini-sensation for about 15 minutes last week: the McCain campaign worker supposedly mugged by a black man in Pittsburgh. For those who missed it, the details are as follows. Ashley Todd, 20, claimed she was accosted by a 6'4'' black man who demanded money. When said black man saw a John McCain bumpersticker on her car, he became enraged and, in an apparent effort to make her support Barack Obama, carved a ''B'' on her cheek.

It was enough to send some conservative bloggers -- Michelle Malkin was a notable exception -- into fits of apoplexy. One, Dan Riehl of riehlworldview.com, reportedly unburdened himself of the opinion that ''Obama's run his campaign just like a street thug out of Chicago. Now we get to see what some of his worst supporters are like.'' Another spoke of ''black savages'' roaming the street. Then there's the reader who said I should be ''embarrassed'' at what this other black man had done.

Well, that slimy yellow goo you see dripping down those people's faces today would be egg. See, there's a reason this story smelled like garbage. It was. Pittsburgh police say Todd eventually confessed to making the whole thing up.

H- TC Palm: They call her "Twinkie."

FORT PIERCE — A 220-pound woman was arrested Sunday after police say she was hanging out on Avenue D in hopes of prostituting herself out, according to an arrest affidavit released Monday.

I- WPLG: Pipe dream.

MIAMI -- South Florida's real estate market may be a mess, but Miami developer Tibor Hollo still has sky-high plans -- building the tallest tower south of New York City.

The project, One Bayfront Plaza, would stand 70 stories tall and top out at 1,000 feet, the maximum height possible in the flightpath to Miami International Airport. The developers hope the curvy tower will attract international companies as tenants and conventioneers as visitors to the building's 112,000 square feet of exhibition space. The project also includes a convention hotel.

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

If everyone ready to scrape the ice off their car windows before heading into work today? Oh yes, how many of us remember that routine? Here's your less frigid morning Sift.

A- Tilefortlauderdale drops Lizzy off at Ats A Pizza Italian Restaurant on Las Olas Boulevard.

Lizzy recently recruited a new member of the Secret Society, and much as expected she got her sign ... It the big one. Literally minutes after all the strutting and swirling activities .... she looked up and saw The Great Pumpkin. I know that sounds just too impossible to be true ... but it happened, and if you don't believe it ... you probably have never seen the red, orange and yellow leaves swirling on the first cold night of the year in South Florida.

B- Speaking of pizza, I Shot The Chef made a pizza and the product and process is captured with some great photos, including an animated shot.

C- Dayngrous Discourse says that McCain is campaigning for Joe the Plumber in Miami today and...hey, hold on a minute!

McCain Rallies for Joe the Plumber in Miami

D- Miami Condo Investments lists the 5 best distressed condo sales in Miami in September.

I found a total of 25 distressed condo sales that closed in the month of September in the MLS located in Brickell, Brickell Key, Downtown Miami and the Arts District. The following are, in my opinion, the five best deals that took place.

E- 305 discovers what most SoFla residents have known for a few years now.

That tacky place is none other than Santa's Enchanted Forest. It is a nightmare of lights, rides and other fair-related events. I have never been but have always found it hilarious that Miami has a Christmas-themed fair for two months.

Well it's not funny anymore, and I will tell you why. The forest happens to be across from the Publix and Target that I most often frequent, and traffic in that particular spot happens to be a pain anyway. With the Forest opening on November 6, I am going to have to find a new grocery and Target (this will probably save me money.)

The worst part is that Santa's Enchanted Forest is actually pretty expensive to get into, considering it's a tacky fair on the outskirts of Tropical Park.

F- Transit Miami is having a Bike Party on November 9th in Mary Brickell Village.

G- Obalesque is going on a brief hiatus and tells us why in the most Obalesque way.

My mom’s about to snuff it. Maybe a day or two, if she (and we) luck out. Hospice is already on the job, drugs at the ready.

Happened real quick. She felt weak, bad, tired, and the nurse at her apartment building looks at her, sees her legs are covered with what looks like bruises. Blood problem. Blood, as in klotz. I mean, clots.

Off to Jefferson Medical Center, where they run a bunch of tests that reveal less than they should. But after a second and third look, it’s like she has no platelets in her blood, indicating some kind of cancer that has spread to her bone marrow. At 90, she’s a goner because there’s no way she’s going through treatment for that, especially when the primary cancer hasn’t been located.

She’s leaving Jefferson tomorrow, going home for the last time.

H- I love this Reidblog paragraph on Sarah Palin.

Like George W. Bush: Sarah Palin is seen by the neoconservative coterie as the simple-Simon (or is that Simone...) faux populist rube whom they hope to set up as the popular vessel through which they will govern. She mollifies the "crazies" (the religious right, the rural right, and the more self-determined fiscal right,) and they get to keep foisting their Middle East think-tankery on a hapless public. The payoff to the fiscons is that they get to loot the Treasury and hoard the money through obscene tax cuts for the rich. Sadly, the religious right and the rural "real American" Limbaugh listeners get nothing but jingoistic cheerleading, empty promises (I'm sure the GOP is gonna get right on that federal banning of gay marriage and abortion thing... any minute now...) and frightening tales of shotgun confiscation and scary brown people lurking at the Mall of the Americas! to keep them in line...) As for Sarah, in the neocons' estimation, like George, they need only flatter her and promote her and suppress opposition to her within the Republican Party, and it's a go. In that sense, it is she, and not John McCain (the neocons' original candidate in 2000 and again this year) who truly is Bush II.

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Your Evening Sift

I have a whole boatload of post highlights to deliver to you tonight, but before I do, just a reminder that you can follow SFDB on Twitter here and in the right sidebar towards the bottom.

Here's your fairly late evening Sift.

A- South Beach USA has a decent overall guide to Art Basel 2008, something I know I am on pins and needles over.

B- Everyone is palling around with terrorists and felons these days, as Man or Maniac shows us.

C- Some Cranky Guy is traveling and misses his wife.

You see, my first wife was my wife. But she wasn’t my best friend. We had little in common. Not faith, not philosophy, not values and certainly no shared interests.

My wife today though, is my very best friend. We share numerous hobbies, including old used books, books of any kind, history, coffee shops and coffee (We have a French press), classical music, big band music, old black and white movies, photography, nature, drives on dirt roads, birding to name just a few. When we were dating we could never break up for long, as every time we did we couldn’t avoid running into each other because our interests were so aligned.

We also share a very strong faith in Jesus Christ, and our general philosophies of life are in sync. Such topics as politics and money management are no problem for us. We are both introverts and home bodies, so we can survive for months without seeing anyone else.

Granted, there are things we don’t have in common. I enjoy science fiction and jazz, and she isn’t too keen on either. She enjoys women things like hanging fake towels in the bathroom while I enjoy men things like taking apart my computer and leaving the parts all over the house while I plan on one day rebuilding it.

But we have a bond as lovers and husband and wife and more than that, as best friends.

And I am missing her right now as I sit in the airport having adventures without her.

D- It's an only-in-Fort-Lauderdale shot from Camera Ephemera that makes us feel happy about living here this time of year.

E- You can count on Miami Provocateur for information on your Miami Halloween happenings.

F- There might be a career change in the works for Jaded in Paradise.

Do we unconventional, unique and somewhat eccentric personalities fit somewhere in the office place?

I ask, and I ask with the utmost curiousity because I have an interview tomorrow at a law firm. Think indie-coffee-shop-barista suits up and sits at a desk amoung paralegals and frantically, intense lawyers serving up paperwork rather than lattes. I can certainly do the work, however the question is: Will I like it enough to look forward to waking up everyday to go to work?

G- Tropic of Mom is giving away a $15 Starbucks gift card as part of something called the Bloggy Giveaways.

H- Wide Lawns and Narrow Minds says it all for us in this post about today's weather.

I think I saw ice in the Intracoastal.

I- I Know Miami hits all the necessary places on a trip to Homestead.

J- Reidblog notes that Florida Governor Charlie Crist has extended early voting hours and also has some statewide voter turnout stats. Incertus also notes Crist's action but also addresses what one Republican allegedly said.

K- Blast Off! points out that the presidential candidates are all going to be visiting Florida in the coming days and he's going to do his best to keep up....literally.

Yes, that's right. I'm planning to attend both the Biden rally in Jupiter and the Obama rally in Sunrise, and while liveblogging might be difficult, if not impossible, I'll be livetweeting as long as I can get a cell phone signal, so follow me and stay tuned.

L- Bark Bark Woof Woof says that Republicans are eating their own. Let them. The all deserve it.

M- Radio Mambi's Armando Perez Roura does his best babalu impersonation...or is it the other way around? Mambi Watch explains.

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And Now...A Message From Ronald Reagan

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The Cooler

All the news that you need to know...

A- Sun-Sentinel: How do you lose a piano?

More than 300 computers. Sixty-two musical instruments ranging from a piccolo to a piano. A pressure washer.

All purchased with your tax dollars. All misplaced, mislabeled, stolen or tossed out without the proper paperwork. All unaccounted for, from just one Broward County school — Dillard High in Fort Lauderdale.

Dillard is not alone. Audits conducted since May 2007 show that 5,887 high-end items were classified as "items not accounted for" from 218 Broward schools and district departments, according to records reviewed by the Sun Sentinel.

The original purchase price of that equipment: $13,915,193.

B- Sun-Sentinel: Obama stopping in Sunrise tomorrow.

Five months after introducing himself to South Florida Democrats at BankAtlantic Center, Barack Obama returns to the Sunrise arena for a late-campaign rally just six days before Election Day.

Wednesday's event is one more measure of the importance of Florida's 27 electoral votes — one-tenth of the number needed to win the presidency — and the up-for-grabs status of the Sunshine State.

C- Palm Beach Post: All dressed up and nowhere to go.

BOYNTON BEACH — They had the body, the flowers, even the pastor, but what they didn't have was a grave site for Iladieu Mirtil.

After a church service Saturday morning, the Straghn & Sons Funeral Home took Mr. Mirtil's body to the Boynton Memorial Park and 250 people followed, some in two black limousines. When they arrived, they couldn't find a grave or a marker. Or even a tent or chairs to note the site.

[...]

When the family realized there was no grave site on Saturday, they called the police to complain. Philisma Mirtil has since called an attorney for guidance.

"How come they took my money and they don't bury my brother?" he said.

D- Herald: The best banks in South Florida.

E- Herald: Morin.

F- CBS4: Video, the new Fontainebleau.

G- WPTV: Punches fly in a West Palm Beach courtroom. With video.

WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- It didn't take long for emotions to spill over in court as 17-year-old Shane Brown made his first appearance in court Monday morning. Brown is charged in the death of 38-year-old Kenneth Lewis. Lewis's brother, Tevares, lost his temper and charged Brown, striking him in the head before deputies were able to step in.

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

As I write this, a front is blowing through South Florida that is expected to bring the temperatures down to the upper 40's in the western suburbs tonight. Everyone have their snow tires on? Here's your not-so-frigid morning Sift...

A- In keeping with the election year, greenerMIAMI addresses the "greenness" of political yard signs.

With the elections looming, political signs are everywhere from street corners to front yards. Many feel that this is an environmental disgrace, creating much unwanted litter and waste, as well as "visual pollution."

B- The Black Sunday video from the boys at rakontur.

C- 305 hung out at 305 Lounge [no relation] on Miami Beach over the weekend and got some photos.

This past Saturday we went to go see Bassnectar, dj at 305 Lounge. I haven't been there before, but it's a really cool venue. It's behind Buck 15/Miss Yip between Lincoln Road and 17th Street on Miami Beach. It's a small dive bar with graffiti art on the walls.

D- Moonlight over South Beach from Miami Fever.

E- Bark Bark Woof Woof disassembles the latest Republican Party attempt to make Obama something he isn't. If you haven't noticed, conservative blogs are now posting innuendo, conjecture and pure fabrications non-stop in a last ditch effort to avoid the inevitable. I've stopped trying to keep up with it.

F- Discourse walks us through a sample ballot and shows us how he's going to vote.

G- Incertus has a video of a Fox News clip showing the contemptuous exchange between a Fox News hack and a Obama spokesman. As Incertus says, the only way to deal with this crap is to mock it and make sure people understand that Fox News might as well be known as the Republican Ministry of Information.

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Your Evening Sift

Put another log on the fire and warm up the hot chocolate on this cool autumn night...and don't forget to read your evening Sift...

A- Guys from Hialeah obviously read babalu.

B- Broward County administrators have rethought their discontinuation of Tri-Rail shuttle service, according to Transit Miami.

Remember that vote by Broward County Commissioners to remove funding for Tri-Rail feeder buses in Broward County? Well, the Sun-Sentinel reports that on Tuesday the commission will consider replacing the funding for shuttle buses for at least the coming year.

These shuttle buses are a crucial part of the Tri-Rail service, as the stations themselves are generally far from employment centers. The buses, funded by the county, provide the final link to work or home for many Tri-Rail riders.

C- Lowrider motel from Miami Fever.

D- After a brief hiatus from posting, Random Pixels gives us nothing but bad news about Miami Herald circulation numbers.

As I predicted last month, circulation figures released today for the latest reporting period show the Herald's readership continuing its sharp decline.

[...]

The Herald, which once boasted the largest circulation of any paper in Florida, now trails The St. Petersburg Times and the Orlando Sentinel in circulation on Sunday.

E- More Blog About Buildings... finds some tacky law ornaments in Broward.

F- MenuPages Blog: South Florida tracks the price of admission to the SoBe Food and Wine Festival.

Get ready for sticker shock. Prices have skyrocketed for February's South Beach Wine and Food Festival. That Grand Tasting for which you paid $187 last year? (And $137 in 2007?) It's $212.50 now. And that's pretty standard for the big ticket events, most of which went up by about $50. Still, Lee Brian Schrager, the man in charge of it all, expects sellouts.

G- What are the statewide early voting numbers looking like? Discourse has the answer.

H- Both Reidblog and Miami & Beyond note the Republican Party's turn towards anti-intellectualism. From the former...

Is the Republican Party destined to become the dunce party? Maybe so... having spurned "big city America", science, and intellectual elitism in favor of small-town, "real America", the Party of Palin is losing the major metropolitan areas that Ronald Reagan once coopted. Worse, by courting anti-intellectualism and pandering to the worst instincts in American life: jingoism, racism, tribalism and regionalism, including questioning the patriotism of whole coasts, how does the party grow, especially since Hispanics (especially non-Catholic Hispanics,) are running away from them in droves, turned off by the race-baiting, "whites in the White House," anti-immigrant rantings of the right; and African-Americans barely give the GOP a second look? I think it's clear which way the tide in this country is turning, and it's not in the direction of the Limbaugh-Buchanan-Hannity party.

I- Eye on Miami has two videos of voting lines in Miami-Dade County that make me wonder what would have happened this election if voting had been relegated to one day.

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More McCain/Palin Supporters

McCain/Palin Supporters shout out the N-word at a rally while Ms. Palin is talking...and no, she doesn't stop, nor do any McCain/Palin Supporters in attendance express displeasure.




Are you a McCain/Palin Supporter?


-via Incertus

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Try This

Try it: www.taxcutfacts.org


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Another 48 Hours @ Babalu

More musings about the Black Fidel Castro over the weekend...

"The nation is walking straight into a hornet's nest..."- George Moneo

"But of course, we have nothing to worry about here; this is, after all, America. It is not like Venezuela before Chavez was a free country with a democratic constitution that had built-in safeguards and checks and balances to ensure it would never fall into the dark abyss of a leftist totalitarian dictatorship."- Alberto de la Cruz

What an idiot of a Vice-President we’ll have in the next four years. God help us all. -FreedomForCuba, in the comments

I point my finger at Barrack Hussein Obama because, well, if it talks like a duck...you get the picture. Obama is a Marxist, you know it - we all know it. -Cangrejero de Caibarien, in the comments

Let's just put it this way, any Cuban American who is still a Democrat (After JFK, after Carter and Mariel, after Clinton and Elian), and who votes on the Oba-munist ticket, is an a**hole [Ed.] (a word I don't like to use often) and they deserve every God damn miserable policy this supposedly Kenyan born Manchurian candidate will grace us with. Do you people know what it is to be "mau maued" ? Well, it's a Kenyan word, and that's what Obama is going to do to us as the Kenyans like Obama's dad did to the British. - posted by Anonymous, in the comments

Trust me America will be at it’s weakest (because of the current economic problems sponsored by Barney Frank, Christopher Dodd and Co.) with these Democrats in power and any scenario that we could not think off can take place because our enemies will be smelling the blood of a weak America and will go for the kill.

Plus the people that surround and advice Barack Hussein Obama have all the qualifications to make a bad situation much worse and I’ll guarantee you that they will.

GOD HELPS US ALL. - FreedomForCuba, in the comments

It remains to be seen who America will choose this Election Day. If they do elect what many have proclaimed to be the next JFK, his supporters will not be the only ones celebrating—our enemies will be celebrating, too.- Alberto de la Cruz

Well I believe in The Bible Prophecies , so whatever happens now it will lead to the final battle of Ezequiel Chapter 38 and Chpt 39 and it has to happen.- Peter Perez, in the comments.

Reduced down to a video, it all looks like this...





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The Cooler

Only 9 days left until the election but there's lots of other news out there to talk about.

A- Herald: Life and death in South Florida.

A Metrorail security guard late Sunday found the dead bodies of a man, woman and baby inside a SUV parked at the Dadeland station in Kendall.

Detectives said they were not looking for any suspects, which suggests a murder-suicide. A security guard told journalists that several gunshots were heard shortly before the bodies were discovered.

B- Herald: Dolphins win.

Sometimes it takes a while to make certain decisions and particular judgments. Such a day was Sunday at Dolphin Stadium, when the home side finally decided to let the other side have play time with the greased pig, and also concluded that thievery isn't a felony if it involves a football secondary.

Which was pretty much how the Dolphins stunned the Buffalo Bills 25-16, mainly by recovering three Buffalo fumbles and intercepting a pass to boot, all in the fourth quarter.

C- Herald: Video, Fantasy Fest.

D- Sun-Sentinel: The quickest places and times to cast your vote if you live in Broward. Well, maybe not anymore.

E- Sun-Sentinel: And if you don't think people are hungry for quality healthcare.

Nova Southeastern University in Davie recently presented its sixth annual A Day for Children health fair in front of the Alvin Sherman Library.

More than 7,000 people attended the event to take advantage of the free health screenings offered through the university's health care centers. Everything from vision, optometric, dental and medical to speech and behavioral services were provided to children who might not otherwise get the care they need.

F- WSVN: Rough ride.

Police said Carry and Dameus argued outside of a home near Northwest 40th Street and 81st Avenue when he drove over the man and then sped off.

"The suspect actually intentionally struck the victim several times with his vehicle before taking off. As he fled the scene, the victim was actually stuck underneath the suspect's vehicle. He dragged him approximately 3 miles until he was dislodged," Sergeant Joe said.

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

Or as a good a morning as a Miserable Monday can give you. As you slept, SoFla bloggers providing material for this morning's Sift...

A- Review of Cuban-American Blogs rues the end of America.

Never did it occur to me, and even now I find it difficult to believe, that I would see the end of American democracy before my own country was restored to the concert of free nations. Never did I think, until it happened, that the Baltic states would regain their freedom before Cuba did, or that the Eastern bloc, and the Soviet Union itself, would disappear in my lifetime or that Communism would be relegated to Oriental mandarinates -- and Cuba! That no one else imagined such a thing did not stop it from happening; nor shall the U.S. remain invulnerable to Marxism because most refuse to believe what is already obvious to some.

[...]

Lincoln was right, of course. It is not possible to fool all the people all of the time. But, of course, you don't have to. In a democracy, you only have to fool 50 percent plus one.

B- If you're heading to Fort Lauderdale, be aware that they're arresting people for violating laws, according to Carlos Miller.

We’ve all suspected that police officers have certain quotas to fill, which is why you see more speed traps during the last week of the month than other times of the month.

This may also be why most of the photographers who get arrested, tend to do so towards the end of the month. My arrest was Feb. 20th, 2007.

But now a veteran Fort Lauderdale police officer has confirmed this practice, alleging that his department rewarded those officers who racked up a high number of arrests - even if it was for offenses like having a dog unleashed - and punished those officers who preferred to focus on the more serious crimes.

C- Dizzy Blonde provides us with a few photos from yesterday's celebrity-laden Vote Fest on Miami Beach.

D- Artlurker interviews Brook Dorsch at a new and unique Mark Koven exhibit called A Stone's Throw at the Dorsch gallery.

For his current exhibition ‘A Stone’s Throw’, Koven deposited 21 tons of sand into Dorsch’s main gallery. In addition to inviting patrons to contribute their own sand, the artist presents the opportunity to engage in the cooperative and sustainable act of making and skipping stones. Only when you have made a stone to replace the one you will skip are you permitted to proceed.

E- Sarah Palin is trying to downplay the $150K wardrobe that Republican donors graciously provided her but Bark Bark Woof Woof is having none of it.

It's like the Republican National Committee mugged her, dragged her to Saks, and forced her at gunpoint to try them all on and buy them. "Wear the Vera Wang or the bunny gets it."

F- Discourse looks forward to 2012 and wonders what is next for the GOP if McCain loses.

- Palin will have a big advantage with the remnants of the ‘base’, but many others will blame her for the loss and her negatives are high. Presumably Palin will start reading foreign news sources, like the New York Times, and learn to mouth seemingly relevant platitudes instead of irrelevant ones. I don’t think it will work.

- Huckabee will contest Palin for the evangelical vote, and his folksy ways will help with other groups too. I think it will work.

- Florida’s own Charlie Crist will be a bigger possibility than Jeb! as the Bush brand will remain tarnished nationally, and Jeb!’s association with the financial meltdown will finish the job. His marriage will help.

G- Incertus is getting tired of hearing about Real America.

The irony is that the US was founded by people from many different nations (even if we're more than a little Britain-centric in the way we teach our history), but the Republicans seem to be doing all they can to reduce the number of groups in their circle in the name of reaching some bogus sense of reality. If we want to look at the two parties in terms of how they represent the US population, the Democrats are a lot closer to the way America actually looks than the Republicans are. Whites? Yep. People of color? Lots. Both men and women in positions of power? Not as good as we ought to be, but getting there. LGBT people out of the closet? Check. All religions and creeds, as well as nonbelievers? All ages and levels of education and income? Members of the military? Got 'em. You name it--if there's a demographic group out there, they've got some sort of representation in the Democratic party.

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Favorite Fever Foto of the Week

[click on photo for larger, more memorable version]

- miami fever
- miami-fever.com

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Your Evening Sift

It was a slow Sunday as Sundays go around the SoFla blogosphere. Still, a few things to note for you in your evening Sift...

A- Miami & Beyond explains Obama's idea of "spreading the wealth" so that even little minds can understand.

Basically Obama is saying that plumbers and other small businesses can't prosper (much less profit $250,000) if their customers are hurting financially and can't patronize them. And you know what? It's the goddamn absolute truth, plainly stated and anybody who is not a mindless conservative drone or intellectually dishonest knows that it has nothing to do with Marx or socialism or any such nonsense.

B- All Purpose Dark gets wowed by the New World Symphony.

I've attended Friends of NWS events before where usually a few musicians deliver creatively-imagined and pop culture-referencing pieces in a party setting. This was my first encounter with the full majesty of the orchestra, and it was a revelation.

C- Looks like everyone, including Democrat Annette Taddeo, had a great time at a voting rally in the Grove that was photographed by Coconut Grove Grapevine.

D- The Phin Phanatic gives us his take on today's Dolphin win.

The Miami Dolphins are the epitome of hot and cold football.

E- Volunteering at Fairchild has a question for her readers.

Now, I can't for the life of me figure out why on earth an omnivore that doesn't think twice about buying a carton of eggs from Publix would feel sorry for a chicken that lives the life o' Riley down in Homestead. I met those chickens personally. They're allowed to roam the farm and enjoy a deluxe coop where to lay eggs and rest at night. Why cringe and say "ew" to fresh and organic?

So I'd love to know: would you feel weird about eating fresh eggs? Please comment if you have a moment.

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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 was filled with election-related postings. Obama rally posts were numerous as well, as were voting stories. And in the end, those were the ones that [mostly] shined when we looked back at the week.

Winner: I hold Bark Bark Woof Woof's political analysis in high regard but this week it was his story-telling that caught my eye. When you can make standing in a voting line for four hours interesting for your readers you have some talent and Bark Bark Woof did just that in his post I Voted Today. It's a great post that documents the American spirit and for that reason it is this week's SFDB Post of the Week.

Runners-Up: In a post he titled General Powell Speaks, Justice Building Blog had some insightful comments on a recent statement given by Colin Powell about an issue that has been shamefully forgotten by many Americans during this election season if not the last 7 years. Carlos Miller put together a heckuva photo essay of the Obama rally in downtown Miami this week in a post called, appropriately enough, Barack Obama Visits Miami. In Rally At Miami's Own Scranton, PA, which I'm embarrassed to say I have no clue as to its meaning, Volando Vengo, Volando Voy provides not only some great shots of the Obama rally but some heartfelt commentary that's worth the read. And, finally, the horribly named More Blog About Buildings and Food does its best Critical Miami imitation and lays down a nice photo expose of the October Arthop in a post called Arthop, Miami, October '08.

'Till next time, people, keep on blogging!

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Today In Denver: More Palling Around With A Terrorist

Rocky Mountain News: Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama spoke this morning to an estimated crowd up to 100,000 at Civic Center Park.

More McCain/Palin Supporters

This time from Colorado on Friday.

Of note, check out the kids at the beginning acting like monkeys and the gentleman at the end using vulgar language with an infant in his arms.



Are you a McCain/Palin Supporter?


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The Race Card

-via Dependable Renegade


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The Cooler

Kind of a thin news day out there. Here's all I could round up for you.

A- Herald: The Herald Hunt is today. Is it me, or did the Herald do next to no promotion for this year's event? I read the paper every day and I had no idea this was going on.

B- Herald: The Gloria Estefan concert on Friday was the bomb.

The cheapest ticket was $95, but it was standing-room-only at the Hard Rock Live at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino near Hollywood. And for true Gloria fans, the price tag was worth every penny.

In a two-hour-plus show, the 51-year-old Miami icon performed favorites from her diverse repertoire, including pop hits from her days with Miami Sound Machine, lively salsa workouts, pulsing dance numbers, ballads and even a few standards.

[...]

The night also offered several surprises. Estefan -- who is portraying her heroine, Connie Francis, in an upcoming film -- introduced the 1960s singing legend in the audience before performing Where the Boys Are and Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me.

Then, Estefan's 13-year-old daughter Emily came out, looking pretty shy until she performed blistering guitar solos on Alice Cooper's rock hit School's Out before jumping behind the drum set for an instrumental jam. Bet your abuela didn't expect that.

C- Herald: Give it up or I'll saw you!

A man wearing a gray Dickies work jumpsuit and armed with a jigsaw blade made off with $1,000 Saturday afternoon after holding up an employee at a Miami Lakes cellphone store, according to Miami-Dade police.

D- Sun-Sentinel: Airport baggage scales suck.

Before packing your suitcase and heading to the airport this holiday season, consider this: The airline's baggage scale may be the reason you're paying extra for an overweight bag.

A Sun Sentinel analysis of nearly 2,000 South Florida airport scale inspections found that more than one in four resulted in failures from 2005 to mid-2008, many for technical reasons but some because they couldn't weigh accurately.

Palm Beach International Airport had the worst record for weight-related failures, 12 percent, while Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International and Miami International had 4 percent.

Inaccurate scales could mean travelers are unnecessarily shelling out money for heavy bags, as some airlines have increased fees for overweight luggage to compensate for extra handling and higher fuel costs.

E- Sun-Sentinel: Fantasy Fest pictures.

F- TC Palm: When golfers go mad.

TEQUESTA — A 78-year-old man was arrested Friday after he attacked a fellow golfer on the Riverbend Golf Club course, according to a Martin County Sheriff’s Office report.

John Paul Flanagan of the 9200 block of Southeast Riverfront Terrace was charged with battery of a person over 65 after he struck and choked a man near the 18th hole, according to the report.

Witnesses said Flanagan first hit a golf ball directly at the victim and then approached him holding a golf club in his right hand. Flanagan then hit the other man in the right eye, according to the report.

He then went into his condo just off the practice green and, after a few minutes, went back over to the victim and began choking him, according to the report.

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning. Or is it afternoon? I usually don't make it a habit of sleeping past 7 on the weekends but a combination of a lingering cold and some late nights really tossed that habit into the wind this weekend.

Here's your brunch-like morning Sift...

A- Man or Maniac disassembles the allegations of Obama's association with ACORN.

McCain Campaign claim: the Obama campaign directed campaign money to ACORN in the amount of $832,000.

The Truth: False! They hired a group called Citizens' Services to assist with setting up various engagments (including arranging for sound and lights), and to do some "get out the vote" efforts. Citizens' Services sub-contracted the latter job to ACORN, and paid them considerable less than $832,000 for their work.

B- Reidblog does an excellent job looking into the racial aspects of the recent McCain volunteer hoax in Pittsburgh and just how much input the McCain campaign had in promoting it.

The level of involvement that has been revealed regarding the McCain campaign puts the lie to the notion that they were simply hapless dupes, wanting to believe a young would-be victim. They were active participants in this hoax, and I return to my original question: should John McCain have to spend the next decade answering for that, as Rev. Sharpton did with Tawanna Brawley? After all, had police behaved in this case they way they did in the Stuart and Smith cases, hundreds of black men might have been rousted across Pittsburgh, some even harassed, because of this young woman's story. Some crazed Palinite might have decided to take matters into his own hands, and hurt somebody out of racial animus and a quest for revenge. This incident put lives in danger, though thanks to the professionalism and skepticism of the Pittsburgh police, it was quickly exposed as a hoax. And it added one last sickening chapter to the sorry end of John McCain's political career. (CNN gets kudos for ignoring it, too.) I'll let Fox News honcho Ron Moody sum it up for me:

"If the incident turns out to be a hoax, Senator McCain's quest for the presidency is over, forever linked to race-baiting."

Amen.

C- South Beach Bum posts a weather forecast that's important enough to post about! Lows in the upper 50's, folks! Woot!

D- South Florida Classical Review tells us about the New World Symphony's appearance in Miami.

Michael Tilson Thomas and the New World Symphony presented a pair of large-scale works by two German composers, Beethoven and Richard Strauss, in their first season appearance at the Adrienne Arsht Center Saturday night.

[...]

The scherzo was lively and vivacious with nimble dynamic marking by the horns in the trio. The finale rounded off the performance quite gloriously, the New World members delivering the music with muscle and refinement, MTT seeming to encapsulate and convey the expressive essence of each variation in his body and gestures.

E- Several SoFla blogs commented on the recent interview that Senator Joe Biden gave to Orlando television station WFTV. First, here's the video...



I thought Biden did an excellent job of holding it together and answering some really outlandish wingnut questions posed to him by this anchor. Here's what SoFla bloggers had to say...

• East Florida Gazette: Under the post title, "Barbara West Angers Joe Biden in Orlando"....

The left becomes unhinged if you make the logical connection between their income redistribution policies and the unsavory political ideology that gave birth to it. Note that Joe Biden didn't answer Obama's ACORN connection, either. In so far as his Botox-laden forehead moved at all, it was incredulous pouting. How dare a lowly Florida reporter ask me about my political philosophy? Don't you know who I am? I am Joe Kinnock…from Scranton!

• Incertus:

It's the way Biden responds with complete incredulity, especially after the quote from Karl Marx (at about 2:25). When an interviewer asks a question as stupid as that one, the only response is to point out the ridiculousness of it. Mock them as they deserve.

• Reidblog:

See what the redstaters are consuming? Talk about media bias... More about Ms. West, from her station bio. Here are the first two graphs:

I have covered stories of people, politics and medical breakthroughs. My work has taken me across the country and around the world. From Washington, D.C. I covered the inauguration of President Bush and the impeachment of President Clinton.

When Hillary Clinton attempted to reform our health care system, I traveled to Canada to examine the Canadian national health care system as a possible model for the U.S.

Uh huh... Ms. West also used to be an assistant to Peter Jennings, and she's a pageant girl, just like Sarah Palin!

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