SFDB's We Live Here

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Your Evening Sift

Great moon out tonight in my part of the world. Here's your howling evening Sift...

A- Tilefortlauderdale leaves Malorey at a Starbuck's in Fort Lauderdale.

B- Miami Beach 411, in yet another post focusing on the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau, questions their optimistic employment data for the Greater Miami area.

C- Coconut Grove Grapevine shares a lot of photos from this year's Rolex sailing regatta.

D- Transit Miami examines several letters that were written into the Miami Herald offering opinions on cycling on the Rickenbacker Causeway.

E- UVu Blog files a nice report from yesterday's Joe DiMaggio Legends Game in Fort Lauderdale. I wish they would have identified the legends in the photos as I would love to know who the guy in the Pirates uniform is.

The 22nd Annual Joe DiMaggio Legends Game was held at Ft. Lauderdale Stadium yesterday on what could best be described as a "beautiful day for baseball."

Despite some early traffic snarls (the Pro Bowl practices were held across the street at Lockhart Stadium the same morning), hundreds of fans turned out to see some of the legends of the game take the field once more and this time for a very good cause.

F- KB Burgers & More only gets 2 stars out of a possible 5 from The Burger Beast.

G- The South Florida Traveler offers suggestions on how to spend Valentine's Day in Palm Beach County.

H- Midtown Chic-a has some photos from a recent Lady Gaga concert in Miami.

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We Need To Remember

Rodolfo Rojo's mother left a comment on this blog this morning and it made me think of how we must never forget how dangerous it is out on South Florida's roads these days.

Politicians must never forget and must strive to integrate cyclists into whatever roadway projects that they commission.

Bicyclists must never forget and must be constantly vigilant for those drivers who either choose not to acknowledge their rights to the road or are too distracted to care.

And drivers...drivers must never forget and remember that their time behind the wheel is for driving. Not texting, not phoning, not drinking. Just simply driving and paying attention to the road and those who share it with them.

We need to remember because someone's life may depend upon it.

Miami Critical Mass : Rodolfo Rojo Memorial Ride

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SFDB Not So Random Thought Of The Day

Sometimes when I read the anger that Cuban-American hardliners have toward Cuban musicians and Cuban athletes and sometimes even Cuban bloggers, I can't help but believe that Raul and Fidel's face is seen on every Cuban on the island and not just on two old, half-dead ideologically-irrelevant throwbacks from the 60's.

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The Cooler

I had the time to peruse the local mainstream media this morning which means that you get a Cooler. Enjoy.

A- Herald: Same as it ever was...

Facing a widening financial crisis, Miami leaders are already projecting a $45 million budget shortfall this year that could force the city to deplete its reserves and sell key assets to stay afloat.

Rising costs, slumping property tax collections and ever-growing pension obligations are feeding a meltdown that's now forcing administrators to look for drastic new sources of income not needed since the state took over Miami's books 14 years ago.

``We understand the gravity of the situation,'' said Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado.

The findings harken to the bleak days of the mid 1990s, when it was discovered Miami was using bond money shuffled through various accounts to try to cover a $68 million hole.

B- Herald: Never trust a dude with a dust cloth.

Several days after two men who worked as house cleaners were arrested for allegedly stealing jewelry from an elderly couple in Pompano Beach, detectives now say a much longer list of victims may exist.

Broward Sheriff's Office officials said a routine pawn shop inspection led Detective Brian Rupp to search for two men who had sold a large quantity of jewels: Stephen Knapp, 37, and Richard Lewis, 43.

According to BSO, the men called themselves the ``Mister Maid'' home cleaning service.

C- Herald: They write letters.

The public discussion over the horrific killing of a bicyclist on the Rickenbacker Causeway misses the key problem, which is that the bicyclist was hit in the first place.

The problem is not that fire rescue did not respond quickly enough. Even the best emergency services are no substitute for properly addressing public safety through preventive measures and sane urban-planning policies that promote and protect socially responsible, sustainable and healthy modes of transportation such as bicycling and reduce the damage caused by modes of transportation that create more problems than they solve.

Miami needs bike lanes with physical barriers to protect bicyclists from cars. And the city must continue with aggressive efforts to promote bicycling and change motorists' prevailing attitude of disrespect and disregard for bicyclists.

As a bicycle commuter who spent years biking in New York City and Portland, Ore., I have been disturbed by the sheer number of hit-and-run incidents in Miami. I cannot recall, in fact, ever reading about any ``hit'' here in Miami that was not also a ``run.''

What's behind the appalling attitude toward human life on this city's roads? The answer to that question, and not emergency-services response times, is the problem we should be discussing.

MICHAEL MUENCH, Miami

D- Palm Beach Post: Video, Race For The Cure survivors.

E- Palm Beach Post: Better cell phone coverage from God.

THE ACREAGE — Neighbors sure weren't singing "Hallelujah" when they saw a 100-foot cross go up on the grounds of the Horizon Baptist Church earlier this month .

"It doesn't even look like a cross. You can tell it's not a cross," said Cheryl Gray, a neighbor of the church on Orange Boulevard. "I've never seen a cross that big before."

Said neighbor Sharon Ginn: "I think it's a bit of an eyesore. This sucker is huge."

In fact, the cross is a cellphone tower in disguise.

T-Mobile is paying rent to Horizon for space on the church's grounds, Pastor Sherman Dibble said. He said the company approached the church last year and suggested making the tower look like a cross to fit in.

F- NBC Miami: They're either dying off or writing ideologically irrelevant blogs.

Last time they attempted to play Miami, famed Cuban dance band Los Van Van was greeted with thousands of angry rock- and bottle-throwing demonstrators determined to make a political point.

This time, even one of the city commissioners who helped oust them isn't interested in making a stink over Sunday night's show at the James L. Knight Center.

"My focus,'' says Miami mayor Tomas Regalado, "is to protect the people who wish to go, protect the people who wish to protest and protect the people who wish to use I-395 and I-95 and Brickell."

Traffic over to-do? What a difference a decade makes. Regalado says only a few groups have filed protest permits; the lack of uproar indicates that the prohibitive anger of Cuban exiles is dissipating or being slowly swallowed up as the Cuban-American demographic trends younger and a new American administration adopts more open visa policies.

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

It's a slow Sunday morning in the blogosphere. Enjoy your correspondingly short morning Sift.

A- Eye on Miami revisits some vacant townhouses in Homestead that they wrote about a year ago only to find out nothing much has changed.

B- The South Florida Watershed Journal answers the question, "How did the Big Cypress get its name?"

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SFDB Saturday Night Turndown Service

Pearl Jam, Just Breathe

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Your Evening Sift

Is it the weekend? I wouldn't know. Long day at work today. Enjoy your tired and worn down evening Sift...

A- Tilefortlauderdale leaves Ray-Ray at Sushi One Takeout on North Federal Highway in Fort Lauderdale.

B- Justice Building Blog reminds us that a criminal defense attorney's life is pretty doggone tough, contrary to the public's perception.

Billing clients/collecting money- supervising employees, fending off unscrupulous bondsmen hustling for the worst lawyers in our community, filing payroll and tax forms. The responsibilities of defending a client are equal to prosecuting one, and yet most small practitioners also have the additional burdens of running a small business. Suffice to say that it is not all topless models on speed boats off of Miami Beach on Saturdays, but rather a trip to Metro West followed by a final revision of that brief that is overdue before calling it a day at 6pm instead of the 8 or 9pm quitting time that occurs on many weeknights.

C- REV Miami's Weekend Videos are up!

D- Miamism gives Sushi Samba's mojito 4 out of 5 stars....but only because of their glass size.

E- Eating Local In The Tropics has a bunch of ideas of what she can do with her CSA share portion of broccoli raab.

Or, you could just go pick up a package of hot Italian sausage and a a bag of orecchiette. Ricotta is nice on top and so are tomatoes softened in hot olive oil and garlic.

F- Some Cranky Guy shares some random thoughts, mostly about the Sun-Sentinel.

What’s with the Florida Sun-Sentinel? Have they switched to an all porn format? No, not really. But they are trying to stay in business, so they are forgoing much of the boring news stories (Except for 24/7 coverage of Rothstien) and started posting sexy photos as well as arrest mug shots.

G- Transit Miami shares details about their not-so-pleasant day biking out on the Rickenbacker Causeway today.

About ten minutes after witnessing this accident and still a little shook up, I was nearly t-boned by a car that was attempting to turn into the Marine Stadium. I was traveling in the bike lane heading north back to the mainland, when a car traveling south bound on the Rickenbacker Causeway attempted to make a left turn into the Marine Stadium entrance. Rather than waiting for me to pass, the driver tried to make the left turn; I yelled and he stopped halfway through his turn. Luckily for me there was a Miami Police officer right behind him. He witnessed the entire incident and pulled the car over.

H- Great missive at Eye on Miami about South Florida's unappreciated iguanas.

Once in a while, larger ones get themselves stuck in the chain-link fencing around my property. I’ll hear the ching-ching sound of the metal and run outside to see a dragon frantically trying to free itself. They think they’re still little fellers that can slide right through. When they’re wedged in there good and tight, and I can’t pry them out, I’ll cut the fencing around them. I already told you that I’m a crazy iguana-lover lady.

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SFDB Not So Random Thought Of The Day

Republicans spent over an hour grilling Barack HUSSEIN Obama yesterday but, amazingly, no one demanded his birth certificate or questioned him about how much he despised our system of government.

He was on their home turf and he came unarmed, without his teleprompter, but, alas, he slipped free of their clutches.

It was truly an opportunity squandered by America's Right.


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Blogger Spam

I've been getting hit periodically with Chinese spam here at SFDB. At first, the word verification seemed to keep them out, but recently they've somehow been able to bypass that and load up several posts with comments. I've heard that Blind Tastes recently had an attack and Superbee was also complaining this week.

For folks using Blogger blogs, the only fail safe way to deal with this vermin is comment moderation. There is no IP banning or blocking that can be activated so don't go crazy looking for that type of thing in Blogger Help. It doesn't exist.

Personally, I like to turn comment moderation on and off to keep them guessing. You can also fine tune moderation so that it's only on older posts. But whatever you do, keep the word verification on. It's the only thing I find that deters the casual spammer and it makes the hardcore guy's life a little more difficult.


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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Friday night. It's a busy weekend and the weekend widget located at the top of the right sidebar can help you decide what you want to do in the next 48 hours. Let's being your Saturday with your morning Sift.

A- AshAndBurn peeks through the windows of the new Burger King Whopper Bar on South Beach and takes some photos.

B- Redland Rambles shows us what folks can expect from their CSA Share Week #9.

C- Bark Bark Woof Woof has the entire video clip of yesterday's Q&A session between the President and Republicans and this commentary...

No notes, no teleprompter, no sweat.

Indeed.

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Your Evening Sift

The weekend is finally here, readers. I'm going to kick it off by presenting your Friday evening Sift in a timely fashion.

A- Well, if burgers have gone mobile, why not brick oven pizza? Check out Mango&Lime.

Nope, it’s not exactly a pizza food truck. It’s Forno52, a pizza catering business with a mobile wood-burning oven. One, they say, that reaches temperatures of between 700 and 900 degrees.

B- There are giant calabazas roaming the fields of South Miami-Dade, says Redland Rambles.

C- REV Miami's Big City Breakdown features a, well, "challenged" performance by Speaking In Stereo.

We are proud to present Dreaming In Stereo as the BCB’s 11th special guest and our first of 2010. This project has presented us with surprises from the beginning, whether it’s environmental factors, audiences gathering, or getting kicked out of a location, this episode is no different. On the day we met Dreaming In Stereo we were confronted with 30 mile an hour wind gusts, which forced us to seek shelter.

D- Chicken pot pie, from I Shot The Chef.

E- The Miami Condo Investments iPhone App is now available.

F- Key West isn't for everyone, Restaurant Gal says, as she bids adieu and heads [where else but?] North.

So, it’s bye bye Key West. So long, farewell to living the dream-turned-nightmare at Mile Marker Zero. Sure, many people love living and working in Key West and would never go anywhere else. But, as they will continually remind you, “Key West isn’t for everyone.” After hearing that for the hundredth time to excuse all that is wrong with the place, you will finally agree that you are one of those everyones.

G- Depth of Field posted a couple nice photos of Crandon Park and Virginia Key Beach today.

H- South Beach USA has uncovered a pretty outrageous situation on South Beach, if it's true.

We’ve been contacted by several South Beach visitors who leveled some very serious charges against an Ocean Drive restaurant — one that is notorious for its bad customer reviews.

Apparently when these patrons complained about elevated charges on their bill, the restaurant gave them a round of free drinks to defuse the situation. The kicker is that the drinks, according to these two individuals, were laced with Rohypnol, the “date-rape” drug, presumably so the customers wouldn’t remember the details of the over-charging incident.

I- The South Florida Traveler has suggestions for Valentine's Day if you're spending it in Broward County.

J- The President and Republicans went at it nose to nose today and The Reid Report believes the President came out looking pretty good.

I think Republicans went into this thing thinking they were going to paste the president to the wall and embarrass him on television. Instead, from where I sat, Obama got the upper hand on nearly every questioner, quickly dismantling their talking points like a good prosecuting attorney, while they, clearly self-conscious about coming across as the mean, Obama-hating “party of no,” and so gratuitously referring to the president as “sir,” and reiterating what an honor it was for him to be there, came across as clearly the losers of the one-on-many debate. Even Mike Pence, the hero of the Republican right, got repeatedly schooled.

K- Broward's Blog has some news that makes the Little Limbaughs oh so sad.

Florida Democratic Party Chair Karen Thurman issued the following statement on the news that the nation's GDP grew by 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009, the fastest growth since 2003--a sign that the national economy is moving out of recession...

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Flashback Friday

Al Green, Still In Love With You

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If You Charge A Fee, Will They Still Come?

I've recently posted on the New York Times' planned move to pay-per-view content. NYT bigwigs seem to believe that it's going to work even though it failed just a few years ago.

No matter. Maybe times have changed and consumers are now ready to pay for their online newspaper content.

Think again.

In late October, Newsday, the Long Island daily that the Dolans bought for $650 million, put its web site, newsday.com, behind a pay wall. The paper was one of the first non-business newspapers to take the plunge by putting up a pay wall, so in media circles it has been followed with interest. Could its fate be a sign of what others, including The New York Times, might expect?

So, three months later, how many people have signed up to pay $5 a week, or $260 a year, to get unfettered access to newsday.com?

The answer: 35 people. As in fewer than three dozen. As in a decent-sized elementary-school class.

Granted, there may be a couple good reasons for the low number of online Newsday subscriptions.

Of course, there are a few caveats. Anyone who has a newspaper subscription is allowed free access; anyone who has Optimum Cable, which is owned by the Dolans and Cablevision, also gets it free. Newsday representatives claim that 75 percent of Long Island either has a subscription or Optimum Cable.

"We're the freebie newsletter that comes with your HBO," sniffed one Newsday reporter.

Still...

Nevertheless, traffic has fallen. In December, the web site had 1.5 million unique visits, a drop from 2.2 million in October, according to Nielsen Media Online.

I'm not sure that Newsday qualifies as a bellwether to judge whether or not we're ready to pay for our online newspapers, but there certainly are some warning signs in the extremely low number of subscribers they did manage to attract and the dip in unique visits.

All I have to say to the NYT's attempt at the same thing is, "Good luck with that!"

-thanks to Carlos Miller for the emailed tip


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SFDB Question Of The Day

Mambi Watch has been giving due diligence to the upcoming Los Van Van concert on Sunday. In their latest post, which I mentioned in this morning's Sift, they report that the usual suspects are planning to bus people in to the Knight Center to protest the concert. Although we're all hoping and expecting that the protests will be *ahem* civil, there's a possibility that they won't and will wind up, once again, costing taxpayers and perpetuate the negative image that some people have of Miami's Cuban-American community.

Which leads me to the SFDB Question Of The Day....

Is it important that Los Van Van's concert go on or is it something that could be sacrificed in order to "keep the peace?"

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

TGIF, SFDB readers. The weekend widget has risen to the top of the right sidebar so make sure you check it out for some interesting things to do during the next few days. Let's get you rolling with your morning Sift...

A- In what could be an interesting new feature at Transit Miami, the license plate and photo of a careless driver is shared with readers.

Earlier this evening, around 6:15pm, my fiancé and I decided to ride our bicycles to Miami Beach from Brickell. While riding on north on NE 1st Ave we were nearly sided swiped by two cars within a 30 second period. The first car got away. The second driver wasn’t so lucky. I caught up with him and we exchanged a few words. I told him he almost ran me off the road. He literally came within a foot of hitting me. He proceeded to tell me that I had no idea about what I was talking about because he was a lawyer.

B- Coconut Grove Grapevine says the bar closing hearing that was held last night was a total waste of time.

All in all, dozens of people spoke for hours on either side and nothing was decided in the end. Mayor Tomas Regalado sat in the audience through the whole debate, but made no attempt to step in, aside from saying things like better street lighting and parking would help more than the extra two hours from 3 am to 5 am or the City-wide change to 3 am closing time for all.

C- Mambi Watch continues their coverage of the controversial Los Van Van concert and informs us that protesters are going to be mobilizing.

According to [Emelio] Izquierdo, who describes himself as a spokesperson for UMAP News, there will be four locations throughout Miami that will be the departure points for caravans heading to the Knight Center, with some locations providing bus transportation. As expected, the Versailles Restaurant in Little Havana is among the departure locations. The protest at the Knight Center is expected to start around 5pm. Izquierdo suggests the theme of the protest be "GOD, DEMOCRACY, AND FREEDOM FOR CUBA."

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Your Evening Sift

It was a busy day in the SoFla blogosphere and I have limited time tonight so let's get right to it.

A- Brickell Life celebrates one year in the South Florida blogosphere and mentions SFDB so, of course, he earns a link.

There are some extremely creative, intelligent, funny and incredibly talented writers, citizen journalists and purveyors of South Florida knowledge out there. All of you are amazing in your own right and an inspiration for me to continue writing. The best part is that my blog roll only touches the surface of who is out there writing and capturing the moment across our market. There are so many other blogs that I continue to discover in South Florida, across the country and around the world that I’m amazed each time I stumble across something new.

B- A Grand Illusion has an interesting graph that breaks down what words the President used the most in last night's SotU and compares his stats to former presidents.

C- Searching for Signs is happy that CBS is broadcasting a pro-life commercial during the Super Bowl. How about that liberal media? I would love to hear Searching for Sign's reaction to a pro-choice ad during the same sporting event.

What’s so difficult and controversial about a commercial celebrating a wise and courageous decision by Tim Tebow’s mother to carry the future #15 to term and give him a shot at life? The message is really that simple.

[...]

I also think it’s bordering on ridiculous that some journalists are opining that the Super Bowl is an inappropriate time to air such as commercial. So, when would be an appropriate time to air such a positive message: 4 AM on a Tuesday during a re-run of Golden Girls?

D- Redland Rambles reports there's been a mysterious large bee kill at Bee Heaven Farm.

It’s not likely that it was the cold that caused the mass die off. Miguel pointed out that bees which live Up North make it through much harsher winters than ours without significant problems. Bees can survive cold weather. When the temperatures drop, the bees inside the hive cluster into a ball, and vibrate the muscles of their wings to generate heat to stay warm. The temperature inside the cluster is about 90 degrees. The bees rotate from the warm inside of the cluster to the cooler outside, so that all can get warm.

E- Don't come to South Florida if you're looking for a job, suggests Miami Beach 411.

This is not the time for you to move here. We have enough problem employing the people we have, the last thing we need are more job seekers. And with the inevitable wave of Haitian immigrants we are going to be seeing in the next few months, your chances of landing a job just went form slim to none.

F- Miami For Change wonders if the Miami Mayor is going to live up to the City Charter and deliver a State of the City address.

G- Miami's Best Pizza is anything but, according to Worst Pizza.

As you can see by the photos, this pizza was extremely undercooked, and utterly soggy. It was pretty awful to lift up and take to the mouth. What cheese and sauce didn’t fall off onto our paper plates, actually tasted decent. Sauce was sweet, and crust had an ok taste to it.

H- Classic Miami story over at Under the Sun.

I- If you are wondering what the Airport Flyer is, wonder no more and click over to Transit Miami.

The Airport Flyer provides express service between MIA and Miami Beach, making one stop at the Earlington Heights Metrorail station. Buses run every 30 minutes, from about 6 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week. For just $2.35 each way, passengers can ride aboard 40-foot buses equipped with luggage racks and comfortable seating. Buses are specially branded for easy identification by the public.

J- South Florida Theatre Scene posts their regular weekly wrap up.

K- Miami Dish shares a preview of a sustainable fish dinner at the River Oyster Bar this coming Sunday.

Main course: Key West Yellowtail (skin on, with braised greens and Florida citrus)

Yellowtail snapper can be sustainably fished using a hook and line. Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program considers this abundant fish a “good alternative” to other snapper. They are mostly found in the sub-tropical western Atlantic and coastal waters of the United States.

L- More Republican hypocrisy at Bark Bark Woof Woof.

Blaming the previous administration? Check. Whiney? Check. Barack Obama? No, Ronald Reagan in 1982.

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SFDB Daily Cartoon

What teabaggers are really saying...




-via Pensito Review

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SFDB 2009 Post Of The Year: The Winner

Miami Bike Scene: Rodolfo Rojo

The poll has closed and the winner of the SFDB Post of the Year for 2009, with 431 total votes cast, is Miami Bike Scene's Miami Critical Mass : In Memory of Rodolfo Rojo . I want to congratulate MBS not only for this recognition but for all the great work they do with South Florida's cycling community. I look forward to their videos after every event and I'm happy that this post that included a terribly moving video remembering the late Rodolfo Rojo garnered so much attention in 2009.

I also wanted to shine the spotlight once again on the entire field of nominees in this year's competition. I hope that at some point, you've taken the time to read all the nominated posts to see for yourselves what a great group of talented bloggers we have posting in South Florida. It really was a great year.

On we go into 2010 and a whole new crop of posts that you can bet SFDB will be following as we work through the year.

Happy blogging, everyone!

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SFDB Notice To Interested Readers

I'm going to be busy taking care of some real life issues through early next week so blogging here at SFDB will be on a "as available" schedule. Sifts might be at strange hours and some things may go totally by the wayside, like this morning's Cooler. So excuse the lack of regularity until life gets to be somewhat normal again.

In the meantime, get ready for another exciting weekend in South Florida as we again demonstrate to the world that the best way to fight Fidel Castro is to try to deny basic 1st Amendment rights to musicians right here in the U.S. of A.

It's the American way!

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

Watch for the SFDB 2009 Post of the Year announcement later this morning. In the meantime, enjoy your morning Sift.

A- Shorter Searching for Signs...

The President didn't kiss up to Republicans last night so he's arrogant. Also, teleprompter.

B- The Reid Report shares her thoughts on last night's speech by President Obama, "the scolder and seducer in chief."

Tonight, it was Democrats who applauded when Obama announced good things for the little guy, and Republicans who refused to applaud when he went after the moneyed interests who have benefited over the last decade. By dint of his style, which is equal parts Cliff Huxtable and Ray Miland, Obama reinforced his image as the adult in Washington, separate from and presiding over a Congress full of squabbling children and trying, gently but firmly, to get them back on task.

Bark Bark Woof Woof also give us his take on things.

C- Today is Hidden City's birthday. You know what to do.

Today I am fifty years old. According to the shadows I should have been dead twenty-five years already, and it is admittedly incomprehensible that I have reached this age. Nonetheless, here I am, what is left of me: jobless, beaten down, perhaps even broken, but still alive, still working out new plans, trying to maintain some optimism. And yes, still trying to ignore the whispers in the darkness.

Realistically it's just a day, just another marker, nothing worth noting. But while I've paid little attention to behavioral standards in the past, sometimes the baggage, the heavy freight of society's expectations is hard to ignore. "You're fifty," they say, "you're supposed to have done something with your life by now. You should have a home, a family, a career, a life. What do you have? Cats, books, the Internet? When will you get serious?"

D- Some Cranky Guy says he's getting an iPad.

E- The South Florida Watershed Journal compares the amount of water used to fight the recent freeze to what is being currently used to maintain fresh water levels in the Everglades.

F- The Super Bowl Committee sucks, says Eye on Miami.

The Host Committee for the Super Bowl is: Rodney Barreto, Chairman; Bruce Jay Colan, Nicki E. Grossman, Nat Moore, William D. Talbert, III and Bryan J. Wiedmeier. Why do they suck? because they let Rodney Barreto be their leader for starters.

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Attack, Attack, Attack

Hopefully, the President has gotten some advice from Paul Begala in preparation for the SotU tonight. From The Colbert Report...

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Democrats Must Fight Back - Paul Begala
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor Economy

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Your Evening Sift

As we count down to the final minutes of the SFDB 2009 Post of the Year voting, make sure you thoroughly digest your evening Sift.

A- Southern District of Florida Blog shares his opinion of the Scott Rothstein guilty plea this morning.

It's pretty standard stuff. Things that jumped out at me about it -- the government agreed that if the guidelines are life, they will agree to a downward variance. I think that's quite a concession and one I rarely see in plea agreements. Second, Rothstein agreed to waive his right to appeal and to waive his right to a habeas proceeding. That means that Judge Cohn can sentence Rothstein anywhere from zero to life, and Rothstein cannot attack the sentence. He will have to eat whatever Judge Cohn gives him.

B- Random Pixels has some great commentary and covers the scuffle that broke out after Kim Rothstein's statement today in Fort Lauderdale.

Used to be that newsrooms at large American newspapers were smoke-filled, noisy caverns that had all the ambiance of a toxic waste dump.

Newspapers employed chain-smoking men who drank ( - usually from a bottle kept in the bottom drawer of their desks -) and who cursed and ate red meat. And they could fight, too.

And then something happened.

Newspapers started taking themselves a little too seriously.

Newrooms were renovated and took on the look of insurance offices.

Papers started hiring "journalists" with college degrees who ate sushi for lunch instead of steak. And most of them looked like they couldn't fight their way out of paper bag.

Gone was the two-fisted newsman who could punch as well as well as cover a story.

Well, not all of them are gone.

C- Yet another post about Latin Burger & Taco Truck. *sigh* This one, from Miami Beach 411, has a video interview of a very talkative chef Ingrid Hoffman and some decent photos.

Hoffmann, along with her beau, Jim Heins, launched Latin Burger late last year and have quickly earned a loyal following as they set up the truck in various locations throughout Miami.

Heins, who is the investor behind Latin Burger, acknowledges the tacos are burritos, but Latin Burger and Burrito just doesn’t have the same ring to it.

But the Latin Macho Burger is nothing but a burger. A double patty that consists of chuck, sirloin and chorizo smothered in caramalized onions, Oaxaca cheese, jalapenos and one of Hoffman’s specialty sauces, made from either red peppers or avocados. Maybe one day they’ll throw bacon on it.

D- The Burger Beast checks out Scotty's Landing in the Grove.

Sure, Scotty's Landing doesn't have the best burger in town but if you're looking for a place to relax, drink some ice cold beer and catch up with some friends then you've found the place.

E- Transit Miami prints an open letter they received from a cycling activist from Palm Beach County who maintains the physically separating cyclists from drivers is not the way to go to solve the problems on the Rickenbacker Causeway. They also post a petition asking that the causeway's speed limit be reduced and that emergency response time be shortened.

F- South Florida Classical Review: Ouch.

The heart sank with the first wind chord of the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy-Overture, as it opened the Moscow State Radio Symphony Orchestra’s all-Tchaikovsky program at the Kravis Center on Tuesday. Here was an ensemble of allegedly professional musicians –– who must have had Tchaikovsky spoon-fed to them from their earliest years –– kicking off one of the composer’s most ubiquitously popular hits with queasy intonation and far-from-mellifluous blend. That might be forgivable if things rapidly improved. But the twenty-odd minutes of the overture brought all manner of gaffes and wince-inducing moments, from muffed entrances to raw tone, poor balances to ham-fisted delivery.

G- Redland Rambles gives us an update on the freeze damage to crops in South Miami-Dade.

Most of the heirloom tomatoes look pretty rough, too. The leaves of some varieties are completely black and shriveled, and other varieties look just fine. Cold resistance clearly depends on the variety. Most tomato plants dropped green, unripe fruit because of the cold, but enough stayed on the vines for a moderate, hopeful harvest.

H- Eater Miami says Lime Fresh Mexican Grill is continuing its expansion.

Six years after opening in a tiny storefront on Alton Road whose lines rival that of, say, Mansion on a Saturday night, Lime plans to be in downtown Miami and Dadeland by Spring. Further plans include 10 more Lime locations in Florida and further afield for 2011 and beyond.

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iPad: The Next Greatest Thing From Apple [UPDATED]

The iPad features a 9.7-inch, full capacitive multi-touch IPS display, weighs 1.5 pounds and measures 0.5 inches thick—"thinner and lighter than any netbook," according to Jobs.

Pricing for the iPad starts at $499 – far lower than the early $1,000 projections of many analysts. The 16-, 32-, and 64-GB devices run $499, $599, $699 – with an additional $130 for 3G capability. The device will begin shipping in March.

For the chipset, the company went in-house, designing a 1-GHz Apple A4, contrary to rumors that the device would be powered by an Intel or Samsung chip. The iPad comes in three capacities: 16-, 32, and 64GB. It features built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1, an accelerometer, company, speaker, and microphone.

The iPad has a built-in iTunes store, for music playback. Itcan also do video, naturally, either via iTunes for movies and TV shows, or via third-party apps like YouTube and YouTube HD. The device syncs to Macs and PCs via USB, in much the same manner as the iPhone, so users can transfer content like movies and music from iTunes.

According to Jobs, the device gets 10 hours of battery life. "I can take a flight from San Francisco to Tokyo and watch video the whole time." It also features a month of standby time on a single charge, he said.

Apple is offering two 3G data plans for the device: $14.99 a month for 250-MB or $29.99 for unlimited data. "Data plans usually cost about $60 a month," Jobs told the crowd.

Contrary to early Verizon partnership rumors, the plan is available solely through AT&T. No contract is required. "International plans will be in place by June," Jobs added. Those uninterested in 3G data will be able to use the device with Wi-Fi, of course.

[...]

Unlike the Kindle, the iPad displays titles in full color. The screen's animation lets users flip quickly through the pages of the book. Users can even change the font of the books they're reading. The device utilizes the nearly universal ePub format for its titles.

A longer, more in-depth video from Apple is here.

-via PCMag.com


******

From Gizmodo, 8 Things That Suck About The iPad

Thanks, Carlos Miller, for the tip.

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SFDB 2009 Post Of The Year: Last Call

This it it, folks. After two weeks of voting that has collected around 400 total votes, the polls close at 8 PM tonight for the SFDB 2009 Post Of The Year. Right now, it looks like a battle between Ipanemic and Miami Bike Scene but anything is possible so make sure you cast your vote and help decide this year's Post of the Year.

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Glenn Beck: Progressive Hunter

Glenn Beck is on the hunt for progressives...



...and he wants to irradiate and "correct" them...



While Glenn and his pinheaded disciples would probably have a hard time mustering up the courage to initiate such a thing, what they are basically saying is that they want to hunt down 50% of the American population and "correct" them so that democracy can flourish in the United States of America.

I'm not sure how far down I am on Glenn Beck's hunting list, but he better have his calendar clear when he comes knocking on my front door, if you know what I mean.

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The Road Ahead

A right-wing operative by the name of James O'Keefe [pictured right] and a couple lackeys were arrested yesterday after the FBI nailed them allegedly trying to plant wiretaps in Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu's office, according to Daily Kos.

You know, I fully realize that politics goes in cycles and what party is popular one day is on the outs the next. President Obama is having some very difficult times right now, probably a little sooner that most pragmatists thought, but what's really difficult to watch are the people that the American public is turning to as an alternative.

Daily Kos sums it up real nicely in this paragraph from the above-notated post.

Via Media Matters, 31 House Republicans recently supported a resolution honoring today's accused felon. These scary freaks are heroes to a frightening conservative movement that reaches from militias and racists in every dark nook and cranny of the nation clear to the senior Republican leadership in the House and Senate. It's a movement that has been flirting with armed revolution and secession, disrupting political meetings in the tradition of the German Brown Shirts of the 1930s, and carrying semiautomatic rifles to town halls and Presidential addresses. The last time right-wing terrorist nuts were ignored two of them ending up blowing up a building in Oklahoma City and killed 168 innocent people including 19 children.

While we all deserve to be a little disappointed in the ways things have gone this past year, perhaps we should pay a little more attention to where we are headed.

-photo via CBS News

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The Cooler

Scott Rothstein pleads guilty today which means we're all one day closer to not ever hearing about this guy again. Here's what else I found somewhat interesting in this morning's mainstream media.

A- Herald: Video, getting Dolphin Stadium ready for the big games.

B- Herald: "But we're going to anyway."

The number of violent crimes -- including murders, robberies and aggravated assaults -- in unincorporated Miami-Dade County was down in 2009, county officials said Tuesday.

Officials lauded the achievement at a press conference, though the mood was tempered because of the shooting death of a teenager on Sunday.

``It's hard to boast about statistics two days after a young girl was shot and killed by thoughtless criminals with no regard for human life,'' Mayor Carlos Alvarez said.

C- Herald: So when will the law be changed?

Earlier this month -- as a Miami appeals court determines the constitutionality of the embattled adoption ban -- a judge quietly approved the 1-year-old's adoption. The decision by Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Maria Sampedro-Iglesia is the third finalized adoption by a gay couple within the last year.

While the 1977 law remains in limbo, Sampedro-Iglesia's ruling suggests some state court judges already have made up their minds about gay adoption, a thorny political issue in a state with a significant social conservative streak.

``There is no rational connection between sexual orientation and what is or is not in the best interest of a child,'' Sampedro-Iglesia wrote in her order, obtained by The Miami Herald. ``The child is happy and thriving with [Alenier]. The only way to give this child permanency . . . is to allow him to be adopted'' by her.

In her ruling, Sampedro-Iglesia declared Florida's adoption law ``unconstitutional on its face.''

D- Herald: It's how they got to be billionaires.

Aiming to raise public dollars to improve their privately-owned stadium, the Miami Dolphins and team backers have hatched a plan: get state legislators to lift the ceiling on Miami-Dade's hotel tax and then ask county commissioners to increase the rate of the so-called bed tax.

Backers of the plan, which has been presented to state legislators in recent weeks, say the move would generate millions of dollars for renovations on the Dolphins' Sun Life Stadium -- along with upgrades of the Miami Beach Convention Center.

[...]

But winning public funding to enhance a stadium whose primary owner is billionaire real estate developer Stephen Ross remains a tall order -- particularly at a time governments are strapped for cash and taxpayers struggle through an economic downturn.

E- Herald: More stores on Lincoln Road!

A group of Miami Beach real estate investors will close next week on the purchase of the Lincoln Theatre, with plans to convert the historic building into retail stores.

An affiliate of Savitar Realty Advisors of Miami Beach is buying the building from the New World Symphony, which is in the process of constructing its new home designed by architect Frank Gehry. Terms of the deal for the 38,000-square-foot property on Lincoln Road Mall were not disclosed.

Savitar Realty Advisors, a Miami Beach real estate investment and management company, is led by Clifford Stein, president and chief executive. Partnering with Stein on the deal are Lyle Stern and Bruce Koniver of Koniver Stern Group, who will handle the retail leasing for the site.

[...]

Stein's plans call for converting the four-floor building into three floors and eliminating the theater, while maintaining the architectural features of the historic building built in 1935. The renovated theater would become home to as many as four retail shops and restaurants, with a potential opening in 2012 or 2013.

F- Herald: Morin.

G- Sun-Sentinel: "I'm available. Call me."

Don't expect any bombshells when Scott Rothstein pleads guilty Wednesday to running a massive fraud that fueled his meteoric rise from little-known labor attorney to omnipresent fixture in Broward County's political and charitable circles.

Rothstein's 9:30 a.m. plea hearing at the Fort Lauderdale federal courthouse is expected to be a brief, no-frills affair, and it is unlikely that he will speak other than to offer one- or two-word answers to U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn's questions.

[...]

Rothstein's wife, Kimberly, is set to attend Wednesday's hearing and plans to give a statement to the media afterward, her lawyer Scott Saidel said.

H- WPLG: You might want to stay away from Berries in the Grove in Coconut Grove.

IT IS BY FAR ONE OF THE MOST POPULAR PLACES IN MIAMI. NEW TIMES MAGAZINE NAMED BERRIES, “THE BEST RESTAURANT” IN THE GROVE. RECENTLY THE PLACE WAS ORDERED SHUT BY THE STATE AFTER AN INSPECTOR FOUND EVIDENCE OF A RODENT INFESTATION.

[...]

* “Observed build-up of mold-like substance on surface of nonfood-contact surface.walkin door back house.”

* “Critical. Observed rodent activity as evidenced by rodent droppings found.”
* “BACKHOUSE: 15-20 fresh rodent droppings observed in dry storage room on, and around food storage containers. apx 15 fresh droppings observed under shelving in dry goods storage area.”
* “MAIN: apx 150+fresh rodent droppings observed on floor in dishwasher/food prep area.apx 150+fresh rodent droppings observed on cookline and salad prep shelving, floors, windowsills.”
* “OUTSIDE : apx 10 fresh rodent droppings observed under equipment, apx 75 fresh rodent droppings behind pizza oven.”

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

It's Hump Day which means, of course, that at noontime we're officially on our way into the weekend. Something to look forward to today in case you're looking for something. Here's your optimistic morning Sift...

A- A new commissioner has been selected for Miami's District 5, according to Blogging Black Miami.

The City of Miami Commission special meeting to select a representative to fill the seat of suspended Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones ended with Rev. Richard P. Dunn sacrificing the opportunity to run in the November general election should Spence-Jones' suspension be upheld. Dunn agreed to a caretaker role over the next ten months and not to seek the seat in November.

The Reid Report also has some commentary.

B- Head on over to Some Cranky Guy to find out why he opposes public money for private stadiums and while you're there, check out the new look.

C- Superbee pines for the old days.

I miss 2003. And I miss the me that could hang back then... I miss how exciting everything seemed. I miss bottle service, and clinking keys and little yellow beans, and sunrise on a Sunday morning at Space. I want to turn back the clock to certain eras in my life (that I knew were fantastic when I was living them...) and tell myself - enjoy this. Soak up every moment. Because eventually this chapter will be over... and the chapters get progressively less fun as time goes on.

I never knew Miami in the late 90s... but I knew it in the early 2000s... and it was a pretty fun party even then. Maybe it still is... I don't know. I look like I'm having a blast in all the pictures I'm in these days... and I probably am. But back then, I had the time of my life.

D- Mambi Watch remembers the hubbub that Los Van Van caused last time they popped into town.

After the performance, the City of Miami mobilized about 50 police in riot gear to protect and escort the leaving audience from the estimated crowd of 4,000 protesters. Police grew concerned that night with some protesters who earlier threw objects at the concert-goers. Three city commissioners who observed the protest that night became upset at the show of force by the police department and vowed to not let Los Van Van (or any other Cuban music group) to perform in Miami again. One of those commissioners is now the mayor of the City of Miami (Tomas Regalado), and another was recently re-elected as a city commissioner (Willy Gort).

E- Bark Bark Woof Woof tells us about what constitutes a "common sense Republican" these days.

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Your Evening Sift

It was a solid Tuesday for blogging in the South Florida blogosphere. A good mix for your evening Sift, if I say so myself...

A- Eat It, Miami visits Jaxson's Ice Cream in Dania Beach with the expected results.

Well, I might have had a chance at finishing my float, since I decided to consume as much of it as possible before the fries arrived, but lo and behold, the powers that be (Satan, obviously runs the place) decided that the root beer float, so large it is served in a pitcher, needs a side of root beer.

B- Glenn Garvin, the Herald's Little Limbaugh in Chief, got some national attention recently, according to Random Pixels.

Olbermann blasted Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly for promoting himself last Friday night while many other news outlets aired the Haiti telethon. During the program, O'Reilly bragged about the fact that the Herald's Glenn Garvin praised Fox's Haiti coverage. Olbermann characterized Garvin (at 2:10 in the video below) as the "TV critic the most in Fox's pocket," and as being the "farthest down the "lunatic fringe rabbit hole."

C- Does Edible South Florida follow Redland Rambles? Maybe.

The picture of a CSA share did catch my eye. Nice picture, well done. A few people thought it was mine. After all, there’s no credit line. Nope, not me, I didn’t take it. You can’t blame me for this one. But it sure looks like it could have been mine, couldn’t it? Why, all that was missing were the speech bubbles. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

D- South Florida Beer Blog has a great run down of all the new beers coming to South Florida.

Shiner Beers are part of the Spoetzl Brewing empire and aren't new to Florida but they are being reintroduced after an absence from the South Florida market for a while. Shiner is to Texas what Yuengling is to Florida. It's that beer that has more taste than your average Bud type beer but not as complex as some other craft beers. They are known for their Shiner Bock but also have a few other varieties that will also be introduced into the market that are also quite good.

E- Searching for Normalcy posts a gazillion photos from the South Florida Fair that is sure to max out your bandwidth usage.

F- If you want your bike blessed, Miami Bike Scene has important info for you.

The event was put together by members of the South Florida cycling community for all bike riders, regardless of age, gender, bike and faith. Our friend at Saint Mark Catholic Church, Rev. Cesar Peña will say a few kind words and then sprinkle our bikes with holy water.

G- Hidden City wonders what "blogging" is and, along the way gives us a history of Blogger.

Now a blog can be anything. There are photography sites with word counts approaching zero that are called blogs. There are sites with staffs of paid writers reporting on local news, and they are called blogs. There are corporate sites regurgitating their press releases as blog entries. A site without any original content at all, but merely linking to stories on other sites, is also a blog. A series of movies, citizen journalism, webcams, personal essays, corporate marketing: almost anything available on the web is now a blog, it seems.

H- Transit Miami reminds us that the Miami Beach Bikeways Committee Meeting is tomorrow at 2!

I- The Teabag Party is fresh out of the '60's, says Bark Bark Woof Woof.

I remember when I was in high school in the late 1960's we had some family friends who were way over on the right wing -- Barry Goldwater was a moderate to them -- and there were a couple who kept guns in their house after the riots in 1967 because they were sure the blacks would come after them, all snug in their beds in the lily-white suburbs of Northwestern Ohio. I used to call the "Let Freedom Ring" recording of the local John Birch Society to giggle to their rants about the Commies and the Black Panthers who were corrupting all the "good Negroes."

J- The Reid Report is keeping us on top on who is in the running for the Michelle Spence Jones city commission seat.

So who gets the seat? Stay tuned. Dunn would seem to have the inside track, since he seems to always get appointed when open seats become available, but hope springs eternal that the commission will opt for someone who will finally bring some positive attention to the accursed D-5 seat.

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Marco Rubio And Glenn Beck Supporters Are "Like-Minded"

From Naked Politics...

Bill O'Reilly and Glenn Beck of FOX News are bringing their "Bold & Fresh Tour'' to Tampa on Friday, and volunteers from Marco Rubio's campaign for U.S. Senate will be ready and waiting.

According to a campaign e-mail, volunteers will be "spreading Marco's message in the parking lot at next Friday's Glenn Beck/Bill O'Reilly two shows in Tampa at the USF Sundome. With both shows sold out (15,000+ capacity), that's 30,000 like-minded Marco-friendly audience members we can reach...Friday will be a lot of fun, and Marco's campaign is 100% supporting this outreach project."

The Rubio campaign believes that Rubio and Glenn Beck supporters are "like-minded?"

Wow. Now there's a thought all Florida independents and judicious Republicans should weigh very, very carefully.

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SFDB Viral Video

Seriously strong cheese...



-via Neatorama

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Rush Limbaugh: I Don't Even Want To Be Alive Anymore

Rush Limbaugh comes to terms with who he is over at The Onion. If only...

I've imagined my death a thousand times over, and it's always the same. In my mind's eye, a serene setting comes into view. I see a funeral procession driving down some small-town Main Street in Nowheresville, U.S.A. On one side of the street, a collection of sycophants and morons are paying their respects in subliterate, sanctimonious tones. Meanwhile, on the other side of the street, I can just make out the faint image of a young boy, his brow furrowed in confusion, clutching the hand of his father. "Who is that man, Daddy?" he asks as the hearse containing my bloated, lifeless body rolls by. "Who is that person they speak of?" The father will then lower his head and say, "There, my son, go the remains of Rush Hudson Limbaugh, the most abominable lump of festering dog shit in the history of American broadcasting. May the likes of him never again soil or tarnish the greatness of our fair country."

-via Bark Bark Woof Woof

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SFDB Ecard Of The Day

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The Cooler

Just a few things for you from this morning's mainstream media.

A- Sun-Sentinel: Skeletons.

Michael Verdugo's 15 minutes of porn film fame cost him his job as a Hollywood police officer and his budding career as "Mikey V'' of HGTV's Design Star.

Verdugo is fighting to get back his police job and is preparing to sue the police department for discrimination.

Hollywood police fired Verdugo -- and Design Star dumped him -- after a 1996 video turned up on the Internet showing the future cop in a 15-minute bondage scene from a gay porn flick called Rope Rituals.

"I don't regret it," Verdugo, 35, said of his one-time appearance at age 22 in porn, three years before he became a police officer. "It was a time in my life that I wanted to explore."

Verdugo -- billed as Jeremy Wess in Rope Rituals -- said he performed nude in the short scene, but didn't engage in hard-core sex. "It was all role-playing bondage. I was tied. I used handcuffs later on in my career."

B- Herald: You knew there just had to be a silver lining.

While Scott Rothstein's alleged $1.2 billion Ponzi scheme has proved a tragedy to hundreds of former employees, creditors and investors, it has been a boon to one group -- South Florida's lawyers.

According to experts, when all is said and done, the case will result in legal fees topping $15 million. That figure includes fees to the receiver, Herb Stettin; the two law firms he hired to assist him; a cadre of lawyers and firms hired by creditors and the attorney for the creditors' committee; defense fees for banks, insurance companies and other sued parties; and fees paid to all the criminal defense lawyers hired by Rothstein partners, associates and family members.

``This is like the lawyer's relief act,'' said Guy Lewis, a Miami attorney and former U.S. attorney who has served as receiver in numerous Ponzi/fraud cases. ``It's going to be an eight-figure case. It's probably the biggest receivership in the country right now.''

C- Herald: Morin.

D- TC Palm: The most honest guy in the world.

STUART — A man engaged in some weekend “Dumpster diving” at his complex found a framed picture of a space shuttle with $3,100 squirreled away behind the photo, according to Stuart police.

Sierra Condominium Apartments resident Warren Bendix was “Dumpster diving” about 1:45 p.m. Saturday and turned up the discarded shuttle photo, which “certainly looked salvageable,” a Monday release states. Bendix took the framed photo home, and decided to change the frame.

Bendix took the frame off and found 24 $100 bills and 35 $20 bills behind the photo.

“Maybe he was feeling down in the dumps, and now he isn’t,” said Sgt. Marty Jacobson, police spokesman.

Jacobson said Bendix gave the money to police to hold. Jacobson said the money is not counterfeit.

E- WPLG: Video, Broward to Miami on a bus for free [for now]!

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

Get your Tuesday started off right with a solid morning Sift...

A- Hopefully they'll have the photo formatting problems corrected over at The Burger Beast by the time you click over and check out their post about Raspados Loly's on Southwest 8th Street in West Miami-Dade.

B- Food for Thought makes canistel flan with the contents of his weekly CSA share.

The flavor of these is spot-on: it has the combination of rich flavor and light texture of a good flan, and the flavors of the canistel come through. Next time I might up the nutmeg and cinnamon a touch.

C- Obalesque has his Freak of the Day story.

D- Mango&Lime shares their photos from this past weekend's Chocolate Festival at Fairchild Tropical Gardens.

E- REV Miami poses five questions to Miami musician Xela Zaid and gives us a taste of his dreamy music.

1. As a songwriter you reference Miami in a lot of your songs, what role has this city played in your life and musical career?

I didn't notice until I started touring the country and people would tell me, "you brought the sunshine", that's when I realized the warmth of this city and its people. So, naturally upon returning from my tours the first things I do is get some cuban coffee, sit on a corner, and write about the moment, like a bystander from the outside looking in, and it's funny to see this city for what it is, a great place to call home.

I took these observations and put the words to music, not always the easiest thing to do, but I challenged myself to do things creatively that allow me to grow, not only as a songwriter, but as an evolving soul.

F- The President's latest economic strategy is confusing Bark Bark Woof Woof as it is a lot of people.

G- CBS4 Has a newspaper, according to Eye on Miami.

The newspaper reprints I Team investigations previously aired (DeFede, Stock, Gillen, etc.) so it is not a total waste. I did read it cover-to-cover in 40 minutes on the treadmill. You can get it free at Winn Dixie, CVS, Sears, K Mart, Regal Cinema, etc.

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SFDB Quote of the Day

Shamelessly stolen from Pensito Review...


It is very difficult to have a democracy without citizens. It is impossible to be a citizen if you don’t make an effort to understand the most basic activities of your government. It is very difficult to thrive in an increasingly competitive world if you’re a nation of dodos.




— Joe Klein, in Time magazine, on the CNN poll released today that found that nearly three-fourths of Americans thought the $787 billion stimulus package was wasted, even though the largest single item in the package — $288 billion — is tax relief for 95 percent of the American public, and $275 billion was in grants and loans to states to prevent teacher layoffs and keep fire stations open.


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Your Evening Sift

Holy cannelloni, what a day in the SoFla blogosphere. Lots of great stuff here for you so grab a chair and get comfortable because your evening Sift is here...

A- Artlurker briefs us on the loss of Haitian art to the earthquake.

The recent earthquake in Haiti hit near the Art Center of Pétionville where as of 2008 over 30 galleries were clustered. Most of these, including Gallery Bourbon Lally and Gallery Art Nader sustained severe damage. Although the Nader gallery in Pétionville survives and their family is safe, their Museum in Depres, home to many of Haiti’s seminal artists, collapsed, burying much of the collection.

B- Mambi Watch says that the internet is full of misinformation that is used by the people who find it most useful.

If any of the above had considered how absurd these comments were, and suspended their prejudices for a moment, they might have presented real facts for their readers. Just like the Anchorage Daily News did for their readers, with a little commonsense.

You see, if Renato Perez Pizarro DID read the Russian articles that he links to in his Cuban Colada post, he might have found the right answer: Hugo Chavez never made comments that the U.S. military caused the Haiti earthquake, instead the comments come from a Russian website "which clearly gives conspiracy fabrications."

C- Redland Rambles gets fan mail, and deservedly so.

D- Believe it or not, Miami Beach's Temple House is still for sale. If you haven't seen it [I find that hard to believe], Miamism has some photos and the backstory.

E- Blind Tastes recommends that you go for the ribs at Gardner's Market in the Grove.

When I first unwrapped the ribs from their foil, I noticed that they were pretty big and that they weren't cut. They also looked like they were going to be tough and certainly weren't falling off of the bone. Luckily, they weren't tough at all and they were loaded with meat!

I tried the first rib by itself and thought it was ok. The meat was nice and tender but the rub didn't have much flavor. Things got better when I added the barbecue sauce that came on the side.

F- Blogging Black Miami posts a letter to the Miami City Commission from the "Concerned Citizens of District Five" and has some suggestions for a replacement for Michelle Spence Jones.

We believe that, for a district of over 60,000 residents, consideration must be given to more than one willing candidate. The discussion must be widened. The politics of Miami can no longer be restricted to a select few. District Five needs the Commission to cast a wider net and take this opportunity to consider the abilities and talents of other citizens who have earned due consideration—people who presently serve the City, and the residents of District Five, selflessly and with enthusiasm and unquestioned integrity.

G- Eye on Miami has thoughts on Miami attorney Dan Paul's passing.

Last time I spoke to Dan, he was upset over the County Commission's rejection of the Charter Review Committee's findings. He was pretty disappointed -- disgusted -- with what the current Commission has done to pervert the Home Rule Charter's intent by ordinance. He said about the Charter, when it was drafted:

"The way I wrote the charter says specifically that the enumeration restrictions herein shall not be construed to restrict any of the powers granted by the home rule amendment. All that other junk that Mitchell (Wolfson) wanted in was window dressing, from a legal point of view anyway. George Okel, who was a member of the Charter Board and who was the only Charter Board member who didn’t sign the Charter."

H- Miami Bike Scene comes through [as always] with some great videos of the Memorial Ride this weekend and links to even more.

I- Mood Vane had an interesting weekend.

Yvonne Colon of IWAN and The Bubble warehouse told me that if I ever saw Boise Bob & His Backyard band, I would love them. I had no idea why she thought I would feel that way about them until I saw the show myself. The band played at The Monterey Club with Smokestack on Saturday night, and I could not stop laughing from the moment they went on. Boise Bob yelled, “Living in a swamp, living in a swamp” like he felt persecuted about it. Owen Cash standing on top of his washtub bass (called The Holey Ghost) with his pant legs rolled up making animal sounds cracked me up as did the entire band’s performances of “I Luv Possom Meat” and “Calling in Drunk”. These people are off the chain. I hope they do birthday parties. Seriously.

J- Soul of Miami has a bunch of photographs from this weekend's Miami Beach 411 Meetup in Miami Beach.

K- Speaking of Miami Beach 411, they're demanding that the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau remove offensive material from their website.

Is anyone moderating the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau’s website?

Obviously, no.*

*Based on the pornography that’s being hosted at 411.miamiandbeaches.com.

This isn’t just an oversight. Hundreds of images, much more graphic than the one above, have been on their website for over two weeks.

L- Eater Miami informs us that Morena Restaurant will be opening somewhere *sigh* in South Florida on Friday. [I'm pleading with you Eater: please quit forcing your readers to click out of Eater in order to find out where in South Florida they can find the restaurant you're posting about promoting.]

M- Eating Local In The Tropics posts a nice review of a farmers market that is held on Las Olas in Lauderdale.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by the Las Olas Farmers Market. It's tiny, but it's trying and it had a nice atmosphere. I'd like to see it expand. I live in walking distance, so it's very convenient. If you live close, support the market and pay it a visit. If you live far away, I wouldn't make a special trip.

N- Los Van Van is touring and coming to Miami soon, according to The Cuban Triangle.

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