Your Evening Sift

It's good to get Monday out of the way. Things were humming in the SoFla blogosphere so settle in and get comfortable and enjoy your evening Sift.

A- Brickell Life has some photos of the food trucks that frequent Brickell Avenue on Sunday afternoons and their products.

B- Visit Urban Environment League to find out how you can get your opinions heard on the LED billboards.

...if you click on scenicmiamidade.org and then the “take action” tab, you can send a message to all the Commissioners and their staff as well as the Mayor and the City Manager in opposition to the billboard --- with one click.

C- It's mayor v. blogger in North Miami, as Random Pixels notes.

D- Transit Miami compares Portland, Oregon's approach to transit to South Florida's.

While Miami has made preliminary steps to advance a mode shift toward active transportation, a quick search of the Transit Miami archives testifies to the growing pains Miami has experienced and the work that remains undone. Miami-Dade County can learn from the example set by Metro’s institutional framework – a model for how regional government can take responsibility for transit expansion and smart growth planning.

E- I'll never understand why someone would ever spend $11K a month to rent, but then, I don't have $11K a month to throw out the window each month...the details at Miami City Diggs.

F- Discourse has what should be every Tea Partier's wet dream...but they'll never hear about it and if they do, they'll ignore it.

G- It seems like it's been going on forever, but the fight to build a Lowe's outside of the UDB is is finally over...and Eye on Miami reports the good guys have won.

H- It looks like Lime and Rosa Mexicana got a little petty over the weekend about their Lincoln Road locations...click on over to Eater Miami for more.

Taking jabs at your neighbors isn't always the best way to welcome a newbie to the 'hood unless jabbed neighbor has a wicked sense of humor, of course. Such was not the case when the street team at Lime decided to hit Lincoln Road Saturday, handing out flyers offering free guacamole while calling out new Road-resident Rosa Mexicano's for being too pricey. What ensued was Rosa CEO Howard Greenstone allegedly having a hissy fit, lashing out at the street team and making it clear he was not amused.

I- Artlurker briefs us on Locust Project's Out Of The Box initiative for those interested in creating innovative billboards.

J- South Florida Food and Wine takes us inside the Grand Tasting Trade Day at this past weekend's food and wine festival. Video is included.

The Grand Tasting Village is a big food and wine party on the beach. It's something everyone should do at least once, it's one of those experience things to say you've done it. Now given that some people just aren't into large gatherings doesn't mean that the South Beach Wine & Food Festival isn't for them, there is a host of wine seminars, panel discussions and food and wine roundtables that just might be more their style. The Festival really does have something for everyone, if you're into food and wine.

K- The Van Dyke's March calendar is up for your inspection at Soul of Miami.

L- You just won't believe what Rick Scott is up to now. Hint: it involves "sunshine ambassadors" and sweepstakes. The incredible story is at The Reid Report.

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SFDB Statistical Moment

The most commonly used search words that brought people to SFDB in February, according Blogger stats. Please click on image for larger view, if desired.

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Feel The Pain, America

Over the weekend, while it was cold and snowing in Madison, the freeloaders and overpaid public servants were still making their voices heard.

MADISON, Wisconsin (Reuters) - A crowd estimated at more than 70,000 people on Saturday waved American flags, sang the national anthem and called for the defeat of a Wisconsin plan to curb public sector unions that has galvanized opposition from the American labor movement.

In one of the biggest rallies at the state Capitol since the Vietnam War, union members and their supporters braved frigid temperatures and a light snowfall to show their displeasure.

70,000? Wow. Or as Fox News would say, "2 million!"

It still appears as if these hippie laggards haven't yet figured out that until they've given up everything that the Tea Party demands and really "feel the pain" that they so much deserve because, well, they still have a decent job, will the rest of America, especially those who voted for the man and congressmen/women who produced all of this pain, be happy.

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SFDB's Morning Chuckle

The police in Fort Myers loves them some ducks...

The dash cam of a Ft. Myers PD cruiser captures the endearing moment officer Glenn Eppler blocked traffic to rescue a brood of stranded ducklings that had accidentally separated from their mother.

“This job, you never know what you’re going to see,” Eppler told WINK News. “I saw the baby ducks and thought of my daughter. She loves ducks. She’s ten and I could hear her in my ear saying, ‘get out and save those ducks’.”

-via The Daily Wh.at

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The Cooler

Here are the stories that caught my eye this morning in the local mainstream media.

A- Herald: At least taxes aren't going up.

Library lovers across Broward County should brace for more cuts, possibly at every branch.

An outside consultant has recommended drastic measures to preserve the cash-poor library system. The options: closure of branches, a system-wide shutdown an additional day a week, reduction in hours on open days, and a cut in services at the libraries.

B- Herald: How did I miss this. Transit Miami gets profiled by the Herald.

The blogger was Felipe Azenha of Transit Miami. The lean, 36-year-old banker and University of Miami real estate development graduate student wants to do for Biscayne what he helped do for Brickell -- rally the community and convince the Florida Department of Transportation to make the road more pedestrian and business friendly.

C- Herald: Vote!

Early voting begins Monday at 20 locations in the recall election for Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez.

More than 20,000 absentee ballots have already been returned for the March 15 election.

Voters in District 13, which includes Hialeah and Miami Lakes, will also decide whether to recall Miami-Dade County Commissioner Natacha Seijas.

D- Herald: They write letters.

Attack on unions


The GOP’s war on wages is bound to bear them bitter fruit in 2012. It is driving me hard left. I guess it’s OK for screenwriters and actors, broadcast engineers and TV and radio announcers, all the skilled trades and the NFL and all the millionaire pro athletes to have collective-bargaining rights, but not teachers.

Obviously, wages and benefits are better in the unions. The GOP’s great idea is to bring the level of wages and benefits down, not up. The GOP’s great idea is to create a society in which we cannot provide teachers, garbage collectors or sewer workers with a decent compensation package. Sounds like utopia – for those who have money.

No wonder the poor and old are afraid, too. Do Republican governors around the country really believe that union workers are going to go home every night and successfully play the market in a self-directed retirement plan? Let’s find solutions to our fiscal problems that put people first.

Steve Christensen, Miami

E- Palm Beach Post: Photos, video, Lake Worth Street Painting Festival.

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

It's the last day of February one day before National Pancake Day.How's that for bookends? Enjoy your Monday morning Sift.

A- The Green Parrot Bar pays tribute to the late, great bluesman, Eddie Kirkland.

B- The pond apple give Go Hydrology! some company out in the swamp.

C- Brickell Life cooks a meal inspired by Chef Schwartz's cooking ideology...keep it simple.

Inspired by my first read-thru of Chef Schwartz's new cookbook, I decided to get back into the Brickell Life Test Kitchen Friday night when some of our very best friends were back in Miami visiting home from San Francisco.

D- The Urban Environment League's short film clip of the Wynwood walls sort of looks like someone's tour bus took a wrong turn in Miami.

E- The parking at the courthouse is still causing Justice Building Blog a lot of heartache.

F- Soul of Miami posts a truckload of photos from this weekend's food and wine festival.

G- Beached Miami shares their top photos from February.

H- Eye on Miami tells us about their sobering healthcare experience.

The bill from Jackson for the CAT scan was $7000. My jaw dropped. Below the line, there was a debit of $3500. It was called a "contract adjustment". Whatever that means, it left me holding a bill for about $3500. I made several phone calls to Jackson to attempt to discuss the bill. It took me more than an hour to find a living person, who claimed to have no direct knowledge how to contest a bill, but finally directed me to a mail address for my outraged "to whom it may concern" letter. A month passed, and still no response.

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Your Evening Sift

Wow. Very quiet in the South Florida blogosphere this afternoon. Have a great Sunday evening.

A- Random Pixels says that the Miami Herald could be doing a better job of the covering the story of high paid city employees.

B- Miamism reviews the 3 most expensive Miami Beach condos that were sold in January for prices most of us could never afford.

C- Shorter Babalu Blog...

President Obama doesn't have to worry about violating the Constitution because he was never sworn in properly.

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Plum TV: Best Of The Best Event @ The Fontainebleau

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FAT Village Last Night

Last night's Art Walk in FAT Village was a little more exciting for two reasons.

One, protesters showed up in force to counter the expected appearance of Westboro Baptist Church representatives who, rather predictably, failed to show. Nonetheless it was a great moment for Fort Lauderdale as around 150 folks showed up to support the production of The Laramie Project at the Andrews Living Arts Studio and demonstrate their message of tolerance and acceptance.

Two, Pocket of Lollipops performed in a very cool space in the village with their very unique brand of "sophisticated punk rock."

Here are the images...

 

 

 

 

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Your Mid-Afternoon Sift

There are lots of photos for you in today's mid-afternoon Sift so grab a sandwich and enjoy.

A- AshAndBurn shares some photos taken around Wynwood.

B- Hula hooping in FAT Village...cool...at Camera Ephemera.

C- Swampstyle has some photos of his own taken at yesterday's labor rally in downtown Miami...and a priceless description of Al Sharpton. Miami-Dade Dems also has a video. From the former...

The guy on the right looks allot like a neighbor who used to parade around sporting purple velour jogging suits while munching on a cannoli back in the '80s when i lived in Brooklyn.

D- The Burger Beast finds out that Jaxson's serves up more than huge servings of ice cream.

Marcela decided to order the Patty Melt while I couldn't help myself and ordered this ridiculously sized 1 pound hot dog called the Artillery Dog. It's served with some relishes and chopped onions on the side. I went straight mustard on this mutha.

E- A hollowed out egg made into a meal is enchanting to All Purpose Dark.

F- Savoring South Beach attended the $350/per person BubbleQ food festival event and tells us all about it.

- Like the two MBAs we are, we chased Martha Stewart around but were unable to capture her for a personal photo. We also watched her stop at every booth and talk to each chef - she definitely has wonderful manners! Weird note: only Guy Fieri had more bodyguards surrounding him.

G- Beached Miami takes it to the South Beach Food and Wine Festival...oh, and there are some great photos included.

I had reservations about getting press passes to the South Beach Wine & Food Festival. First of all, if you listened to Podcast #7, you know my opinion of the festival’s douche-bag-in-chief, Guy Fieri (pictured below looking quite the DB). Secondly, an event of this magnitude and tailored to the faux-foodie-with-hundreds-to-burn-on-a-day-pass set seemed like exactly the kind of event we could pretend doesn’t exist on Beached Miami. Thirdly, it seemed inevitable that the spectacle of thousands of yuppie satyrs stuffing face was going to quickly activate my fear-and-loathing gland, and that, lacking David Foster Wallace’s genius to turn the experience into a timeless piece of writing (“Consider the Sand Flea”?), I’d end up simply complaining about it and inciting a few such yuppie satyrs to reply with mildly indignant comments.

H- It would be so right for Roger Ailes to be convicted of something and The Reid Report says it might happen.

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SFDB Saturday Night Turndown Service

Pat Metheny Trio, Cinema Paradiso [Love Theme]


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Your Evening Sift

You wouldn't expect a whole lot of activity for an evening Sift that is posted 4 hours after the prior Sift and so you shouldn't be disappointed by this evening's dearth of posts. Have a good Saturday night, folks.

A- Artlurker does a little Q&A with Vivian Marthell and Kareem Tabsch of Wynwood's O Cinema.

How does O Cinema differ from other South Floridian art house cinemas such as Miami Beach Cinematheque?

There are now five different indie cinemas in the Miami area. Each one of them great in their own right, but I definitely think that O Cinema is the funkiest place in town to watch a movie. From the handmade ceramic countertop concession by artist Carlos Alves, to the regularly curated art in our gallery space there is really something to see everywhere you look. Our dedicated monitoring art video gallery, our in house artist galleries and art boutiques all help make a visit here a sensory experience.

B- What is the Miami Bike Hunt? Beached Miami explains.

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The Herald Does The Burger Bash

After watching this Herald video, I think you can safely say that the Burger Bash has attained rock star status.




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America Is Wisconsin

Republicans have gone after African-Americans, Mexicans, Muslims, the poor, gays, Liberals and now, they're targeting unions and the working class that comprise their membership.

They're running out of Americans to attack and stifle in their efforts to eliminate any threats to their ideology.

Are you going to be stifled?

We Are Wisconsin from Finn Ryan on Vimeo.

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Your Mid-Afternoon Sift

I know, I know...we're running late. Let's not waste any more time then. Enjoy your mid-afternoon Sift.

A- Eye on Miami takes issue with the Herald's endorsement of Joe Celestin for Florida's Senate.

The Miami Herald endorsement of Joe Celestin today is nutty at best, I suppose he got the nod because they were surprised to find that there was still a moderate Republican left in Florida. The Herald should have talked to people in North Miami, they can't do everything by an interview (they should read their own archives and checked State Attorney's records first). Joe got a loan from the Biscayne Landing Developer...that should have been enough, and he didn't pay it back last time I looked.

B- Spring is beginning to make her appearance in Some Blogging Guy's backyard garden.

C- There's a bunch of Bruise Cruise Kick-Off Party images up at The Heat Lightning, who sounds like they enjoyed themselves survived.

At the point when the Black Lips went up, I think we were all retarded. I was. I pushed my way to the front and was in the pit and it was like people were all around me one second, and then the next, no one was there, and I was laying on my back, on the floor in a crowd of people. Honestly, I think someone stepped on my arm. It hurts. But I think everyone else sort of didn’t step on me, which was nice. I was then saved by Jeffrey and Orlando, who got my glasses and shit that flew out of my purse and lifted me to the safety of the speakers in front of the stage.

D- Carlos Miller comments on the new law being proposed by those "less government" Florida Republicans who actually want to prevent citizens from photographing farms.

The bill was introduced Monday by Republican Senator Jim Norman of Tampa who stresses that cows have an expectation of privacy.

E- Southern District of Florida Blog links to a Herald story that demonstrates just how Miami the Real Housewives of Miami really are.

F- Awesome photo from inside The New World Center is up at Miamism Pix.

G- Random Pixels reminds us that early recall voting starts on Monday in Miami-Dade.

After 18 years in office, Seijas has become an arrogant, overbearing bully who apparently believes that she no longer has to answer to anyone, let alone her constituents.

She is a strong contender for the Most Repulsive and Odious Politician ever to hold office in Miami-Dade County.

H- Beached Miami covers last night's Critical Mass ride quite nicely.

It seems as if Critical Mass in Miami is growing organically now, without Halloween or any other special occasion bringing out more riders than usual. This has its obvious pros: the more the merrier, power in numbers, etc. But it also has its drawbacks, the tendency of the mass to stretch out and impede traffic for red light after red light being the biggest. This is a recipe for conflict with motorists and cops (not good). Luckily, there’s an easy solution: Keep up.

I- More Coconut Grove Art Festival pictures, if you must, are post at Taking Over Miami.

J- Bark Bark Woof Woof has a nice quote from Bob Herbert of the New York Times about what's really at stake in Wisconsin.

K- It's interesting that the Republican's patron saint, Ronald Reagan, was a strong union supporter. The Reid Report brings the evidence.

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Your Evening Sift

Apparently there was a mad rush of posting this afternoon which has resulted in a fairly large Sift this evening. So enjoy and make sure you check out the newly updated SFDB Weekend Widget in the right sidebar before you turn your 'puters off for the next couple days.

A- Burger Bash wrap ups from: Burger Beast and All Purpose Dark.

B- March is looking busy in South Florida, according to Miami Favs.

C- The new transit terminal in West Kendall is examined by The Miami Bike Scene and the surrounding area is surveyed for bike friendliness.

The future town center and hospital will soon make this a very busy area, the bike lanes are a positive asset. Overall the various lanes seemed adequate, however SW 158th Ave in particular was a mess with improper markings and signage.

D- It's all about the rum at De Rodriguez Cuba on Ocean and Sex and the Beach's latest post that is Wine and Food Festival related.

The first cocktail we enjoyed was created by Thomas Merolla, Botran's Director of Mixology. The Yellow Tail, curiously named after a snapper, consisted of Reserva blended with Aperol, ripe passion fruit, ginger, mint garnish, a bit of citrus and topped with champagne. It reminded me of an Old Cuban without the old in it -- very refreshing, like a South Beach model with personality.

The Yellow Tail was served with passed hors d'oeuvres that were prepared by Chef Carmen Trigueros of La Bottega in Coconut Grove. Her little bites were absolutely delectable, including the passion fruit ceviche, baby lamb chops with mole crust as well as Spanish tortilla with chorizo and pimentos, all of which were worthy of trying in full serving size.

E- Miami Beach 411 compares Miami's size to other large U.S. cities and manages to slip in a dig.

The point is, yeah, the city gets a lot of media exposure, and looks impressive from its overbuilt downtown. But ultimately, we are in the same tier as Dallas, Houston, and Atlanta. Big cities, but hardly major players. This city appears to people to be a lot more impressive than it actually is. But then again, that’s pretty much what Miami is all about.

F- The 2nd Saturday Wynwood Art Walk will now start at 2 PM, says Soul of Miami.

MADA, a new association comprised of a consortium of art professionals and dealers, announces extended hours for the Wynwood Second Saturday Gallery Walk. Starting in March, with the March 12th Gallery Walk, the new times will include daytime hours and run from 2 – 9 p.m.

“With the great success of the Second Saturdays, the galleries want to provide art lovers with these expanded hours to visit after lunch or before dining, to provide art collectors with more time to browse, and to better accommodate families,” said Isaac Perelman, Presidentof MADA and owner of Dot Fiftyone Gallery.

G- Beached Miami went Bruise Cruise crazy today with photos, videos and a drawing from last night's kick-off party.

H- The UM's radio station music directors are questioned by The Heat Lightning.

In your opinion, what does WVUM contribute to Miami’s cultural landscape?

We are the Voice of Miami’s independent and cultural landscape! We support all the local shows not only on air, but we’re usually at or performing at these events. As music directors, we certainly enhance the market and bring a lot of bands to the city as some rarely get this far south. Many times, touring groups dip down to Orlando, but don’t make it as far as the 305.

Promoters often check our charts to see what’s playing the most and what would work for each venue. A Brooklyn-band called Bikini is playing here this weekend at Bardot, for instance, and we had been playing them in rotation since December. It’s been heavily dug here and guess what: they’re playing here this weekend at Bardot, when they would have probably just stayed in NY and kicked it at Walter Foods or wherever. Should we take all the credit for sprouting interest in them down here? Probably not, but we’re going to cos I mean really, where else would people down here have heard of them?

I- CSA Share Week #12 is ready for your review at Redland Rambles.

J- Coral Gables Watch doesn't have a lot of good news for you.

If you think that unemployment is going to improve soon in Florida, you are wrong.

If you think that the South Florida economy is going to grow enough, you are wrong.

If you think that the Miami-Dade economy will improve greatly, you are wrong.

If you think that local governments will be able to return to happy go lucky spending and taxing, you are wrong.

K- Savoring South Beach was at the Shine & Swine food festival last night and tells us all about it.

Burger Bash is the big Thursday night event but we couldn't buy tickets to everything so instead opted for the late night party package for the weekend, which took us poolside last night at the W for the Shine & Swine hosted by Chef Adam Perry Lang, Breville and Moonshine Corn Whiskey.

The setup was fabulous! Surrounding the pool, the W cabanas were put to good use playing bars serving mixology-type cocktails made with Moonshine. On the north side of the pool was a stage with a country cover band playing crossover classics (think Sweet Home Alabama). As we arrived around 10:15pm, the energy was hopping!

L- The Cuban Triangle exposes the hypocrisy of Marco Rubio when it comes to his Cuba policy.

This video of Senator Marco Rubio’s questions to Assistant Secretary of State Arturo Valenzuela is interesting on several levels – the first being that it shows once again that there is no conservative principle that does not fly out the window where Cuba is concerned.

Senator Rubio’s view of the national government is so expansive that he thinks it should be in the business of assuring visitors to Cuba that “nothing bad will happen to them.”

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Flashback Friday

Super Ball by Wham-o

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Plum Picks: Favorite Local Chefs

I'm sure you'll find one of your favorites in this clip...




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Food Truck Controversy?

Well, this is news...

Yesterday the City of Miami shut down the popular food truck event at the American Legion post, 6445 Northeast 7th Avenue Miam. The event was well-attended, and had the support of the home owners association, but was not up to code.

The Legion post and the principle organizer of the event, Jack Garabedian, the owner of the Jefe’s Original truck, are working to get the permits in order so the event can continue next week.

"We're doing everything we can to comply," Garabedian said. "But we're not lawyers, we're food truck operators. We don't know how long it's going to take."

[...]

Update | 10:12 p.m: The were at least four City of Miami police cars at the Legion, one of which was telling people to leave with a loud speaker. Seems like the city is starting to take food trucks more seriously. This has been developing for awhile - but we'll keep our eye on the commission to see if there are any regulations in the pipeline.

Update | 6:30 p.m: The event at Biscayne Plaza was also canncelled. Kelliann McDonald, the PR rep for Teranova, set us this quote:

""Ours was postponed. No trucks showed up. That's what happens when drama's involved. I'm extremely disappointed. Let's see what happens for next week. we're still open to working with which ever trucks and organizers are willing."

Update | 3:30 p.m: The food truck event at the American Legion has been canceled. Let us know what you think in the comment section, we'll be there to get reactions.

This story was published in the Herald sometime yesterday so I'm thinking that all this happened on Wednesday although the article really doesn't say and the "update" times are reversed and undated.

But the bottom line is that it appears as though the City of Miami is starting to realize that there's money for them in the food truck craze and they're doing what they can to cash in on it. You have to wonder if the trucks are also going to garner more attention from county and state regulators as this meals-on-wheels fad doesn't show any signs of slowing down.

It's interesting to note, however, that when I review a few of the food truck Twitterfeeds, only passing reference is made to all this drama. And when you check out Burger Beast, which is South Florida Food Truck HQ, there is nothing.


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Cruising Up Brickell With Miami Fever

This one is from the SFDB archives but I thought it was perfect for a Friday. That's the sound of a Lambo, if you're wondering.

[Do yourself a favor and blow the thing up to full screen by placing your cursor over the lower right corner of the video.]





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The Cooler

NBC Miami unveils a new look to their website. That and more in this morning's Cooler.

A- Herald: We live in a State of Fools.

TALLAHASSEE An intense last-ditch effort to save high-speed rail in Florida collapsed Thursday with Gov. Rick Scott rejecting the plan, and then angry lawmakers accused him of overstepping authority and threatened legal action.

“I remain convinced that the construction cost overruns, the operating cost risk, the risk that we would give the money back if it’s ever shut down, is too much for the taxpayers of the state,” Scott told the Times/Herald.

[...]

Asked Thursday if he had contacted federal transportation officials, Scott said no and reiterated his opposition.

“I’ve said that all along, so there’s nothing new,” Scott said. The governor also seemed unmoved by talk of a lawsuit, again stating his reasons for rejecting the project.

He added a feature to his Facebook page allowing supporters to add a badge to their own profile saying, “I stand with Governor Scott against high-speed rail.” In a few hours, more than 500 people had clicked on button indicating they “like this.” “Thanks for having the guts to stand up for us!!” wrote one woman.

Information was also stripped off a state high-speed rail website.

B- Herald: Giving up.

Saying she’s ready to hit the campaign trail to keep her job, Miami-Dade County Commissioner Natacha Seijas abandoned a lawsuit Thursday that sought to block her March 15 recall election.

The unexpected move came two days after a hearing at which Circuit Judge Amy Steele Donner signaled skepticism that the claims laid out in the suit were sufficient grounds to halt a recall election.

In a terse notice filed with the court Thursday before any ruling by the judge, Seijas and her political action committee, Abre Los Brazos, voluntarily dismissed the suit, the commissioner’s second legal try at derailing the recall vote based on alleged flaws in the petitions gathered against her.

C- Herald: Morin.

D- Sun-Sentinel: I hear this is supposed to be a big deal.

Iconic Swedish retailer Hennes and Mauritz (H&M) is set to open its first Miami store in 2012 along Lincoln Road's open-air pedestrian shopping and dining district.

The new 22,000 –square-foot store will move into renovated space formerly occupied by the New World Symphony orchestra, said Lyle Stern Thursday of Miami Beach-based Koniver Stern Group, a retail real estate and brokerage firm.

E- Palm Beach Post: Video, future Darwin Award winners.

"Car Surfing," or "Ghost Riding" as it is also known, has taken roads by storm, turning dangerous highways into deadly ones.

F- CBS4: Video, Burger Bash.

G- CBS4: Video, March in Little Havana.

H- NBC Miami has a new look.

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

It's Politics-Free Friday here at SFDB, which I know will make some of you very happy.

You can tell the weekend is almost here. Posting is down and the SFDB Weekend Widget is up in the right sidebar. TGIF, folks, and enjoy your morning Sift.

A- Obalesque shares his thoughts on a in-your-face anti-abortion billboard in Manhattan.

Fact is, these same virulent anti-abortion harpies – the ones who want pre-teen girls impregnated after rape by their own family members to carry to term and beg Jesus bless their unwanted, deformed, brain-damaged babies – lose their ass-over-tea kettle love for the unborn as soon as the “un” gets past-tensed. From that point on, these needy blobs of protoplasmic matter become freeloading, unproductive, non-tax-paying sponges off the god-fearing, hard working capitalist majority what made this nation great. Why don’t they go back to where they came from?

B- South Florida Lawyers doesn't like the still ongoing citrus canker litigation.

Was it the program in the first place, so badly designed, industry-skewed, poorly managed and enforced, and which only succeeded in eradicating a way of life for many of us who grew up in South Florida enjoying the abundant fruit on every street corner and every backyard?

Was it the way the state wasted millions of taxpayer dollars paying private lawyers to take untenable legal positions and engage in "scorched earth" litigation tactics that only managed to hurt the citizens they were entrusted to defend?

Is it the pointless waste of judicial resources, forcing jurors, experts, judges, and precious time and money to be spent trying the same issues over and over again in county after county?

C- GM is doing just fine, thank you, according to Bark Bark Woof Woof.

Remember, now; this was the company that the Republicans said should be allowed to fail and that the government bailout would never work, or if it did it, the company would never be as profitable as it once was. These were the same people that said that the war in Iraq would pay for itself with oil revenues and that Wall Street didn't need any regulation; they were fine on their own. Ironically, the GOP is proud to be the party of business and corporate intelligence.

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Your Evening Sift

The South Florida blogosphere was absolutely swamped with posts today but I went through them all for you and picked the most worthwhile for your evening Sift. The SFDB Weekend Widget is going full blast in the right sidebar so check it out. Let's get into it.

A- Beached Miami gets the Sift going tonight with some photos from last night's Cody Chestnut's appearance at The Stage.

B- Transit Miami goes boldface and expresses their displeasure with FDOT's Biscayne Boulevard redesign efforts in the Upper East Side while trying to rally residents for change.

If the community speaks with one voice we can apply enough pressure on Commissioner Sarnoff and shame the FDOT to make these necessary and relatively inexpensive changes to make the economic development of our community a reality.

C- Help Wide Lawns and Narrow Minds decide what color to paint her house.

D- The Burger Beast reviews a taco joint in Little Havana.

I also had an order of chicken taquitos/flautas. The chicken flauta wasn't bad but I've had better. The crema and queso blanco on them was superb, some of the best I've ever had. The rice was a little more on the dry side than I would normally expect from an authentic Mexican joint but the right flavors were there.

E- There's no Barton G in Food for Thought's list of recommended places to eat in Miami if you want to break away from the South Beach Wine and Food Festival thing this weekend.

In the meantime, if while you're here you want more of a taste of what Miami has to offer, and haven't had your fill at the Burger Bash or the Bubble Q, a few ideas...

F- Savoring South Beach visits Pubbelly and eats vegetarian.

The food I ate at Pubbelly was not the highlights of their menu (I assume you should try the Porkbelly) but I absolutely appreciate the fact that they happily accommodated me and made me feel welcome in the big city. Just for that, I would go back. Plus, I loved the side street, hipster scene: a bit more authentic than our strip mall happy South Florida norm.

G- An aerial view of the marls and prairies of the Everglades is shared by Go Hydrology!

H- REVMiami previews the upcoming South Beach Comedy Festival.

I- Justice Building Blog gets the Twitter.

Twitter: It does a blogger good.

J- So you say you like pink hair...over at The Street.

K- There's a new comedy club just off A1A in Lauderdale but FTL Collective doesn't give it much of a chance.

All jokes aside (pun intended), it’s difficult to imagine this venue surviving in the long-run (my opinion, of course). As I see it, the bar has two major hurdles to overcome:

1. The name is painfully lame and narrow minded. Call it just Underground and the possibilities for different types of events are endless.
2. The location is amazing, but inconvenient at the same time. Most heavy drinkers prefer the Las Olas intersection of the beach to consume their Miller Lites or High Octanes and the locals that do frequent the Sunrise/A1A portion of FTL Beach will need more than a lineup of unknown stand up comedians and Norman Rockwell toga party flyers to be dragged away from Eagles game at The Parrot or their beer pong match at McSorley’s.

L- After you're done with this weekend's food festival, you have another one to look forward to in May, according to Coconut Grove Grapevine.

We have the Great Taste of the Grove, which is April 16 and 17 this year (here's last year's event), but Coconut Grove is now lucky enough to have a second food festival in as many months. The Coconut Grove Food, Wine & Music Festival is coming on May 7.

M- The Reid Report posts an extraordinary clip from Fox News in which Shepard Smith tells the truth about what's going on in Wisconsin.


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Plum TV: Burger & Beer Joint Makes A Burger

For those of you not fortunate enough to be at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival Burger Bash tonight, we have something for you.

Hopefully, you're not hungry. Enjoy.




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A Moral Issue

On Tuesday, a Florida State Senate committee deliberating the proposed guns on campus bill heard from the father of a 20-year-old FSU student who was killed last month at a fraternity house when an AK-74 owned by one of the fraternity members accidentally discharged.

His testimony was powerful, as the video below shows, but Senator Greg Evers [R-NRA]...

...was not swayed by the testimony, and that he still plans to pass the bill. “I haven’t really stopped and thought about (making changes),” Evers said. “He had some moving testimony and we’re very sorry for his loss.”

Compassionate conservatism ain't what it used to be.


-via ThinkProgress


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Seriously, Luther, Don't Run

On February 17th, Joy-Ann Reid, a progressive who I respect a lot, articulated her support for Luther Campbell for Miami-Dade County Mayor. Most of her backing centered on his celebrity status and ability to get out the vote and this...

Well, believe it or not, Campbell has serious issue positions that are well thought out. He’s also got the magical name ID that could increase turnout among younger Black and Hispanic voters, which is a very good thing. And with probably four or more Hispanic candidates likely to be in the race, I think his presence in the Miami-Dade mayor’s race is a net positive, for the black community, and for politics. Seriously.

If Campbell has "serious issue positions" I'd like to hear them because all I've honestly heard and read so far are things like this in his Miami New Times column and elsewhere...

On the campaign trail, people are going to learn about the more mature Luther Campbell, the grown man who is working for the kids in the inner city and who is dropping knowledge every week with his own column in the New Times. With Rick Scott winning the governor's seat, I don't see how I could lose. I've been a successful businessman in this community for years. I was born and raised in Miami-Dade. No one can question the love I have for my home county.

I feel it's time to clean this shit up. Our community has been divided for too long. If there is one person who can unite voters from every nationality in Miami-Dade, it is Uncle Luke. I can relate to young and old people from Haiti, Cuba, Nicaragua, and even Israel. We need to start thinking about the future of Miami-Dade. We've need to change the status quo. Nothing is getting done.

We still lead the nation in foreclosures and property taxes continue to go up. Communities are being torn down and not getting rebuilt. All we are doing is building stadiums.

Cleaning shit up in one form or another has been on virtually every South Florida politician's to-do list since I moved here in 1983, so it's not as if it or the things Campbell says here or in this CBS4 video breaks any new ground in Miami-Dade politics...



I'm wondering if the "stripper tax" was one of Campbell's "serious issue positions."

But seriously, if Campbell runs he will have a lot of baggage to address, as he and Reid readily admit. Most of it's old baggage...

 ...and some of it is fairly recent. And then there's the whole objectifying women thing and the crude language and the lack of a college education and everything else that political opponents will make hay of during the campaign. Luther Campbell says he is ready for all that and, ironically enough, all of it might actually endear Campbell to some Miami-Dade County residents. One only needs to look as far as the Governor's Mansion in Tallahassee to realize that Florida voters aren't exactly fickle about their candidate's past or whether or not they have any tangible plans for the future.

Ms. Reid knows the South Florida political scene and if she thinks that Luther Campbell is the best mayoral candidate in a county not exactly "brimming with George Washingtons," Miami-Dade is in far worse shape than any of us ever imagined.

Seriously.

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SFDB Morning Chuckle

'If You Want a Republican to Care About You, Remain a Fetus'

 

 

Go, Wisconsin!

-via lgf



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The Cooler

I ran out of time this morning so just a few things from this morning's mainstream media outlets.

A- Herald: Noisy neighbors.

One does not usually associate the American Legion with loud, raucous parties. With its name and tradition, the legion brings to mind gatherings of veterans and bingo nights, not rave dance parities or underground music.

Yet American Legion Post 29, at 445 Northeast 7th Avenue in the Upper Eastside, is regularly rented out by local performers and promoters for shows and parties. The noise from these events has bothered at least some residents from the surrounding neighborhood, judging by the email sent by Bayside Homeowner Association Louis Bourdeau to city officials on Monday.

In the email, Bourdeau included a link to a video (embedded above) that he said was taken outside the legion at 3:30 a.m. on Feb. 19, in which a noisy crowd can be heard in the background. He writes that the neighborhood has had to, “endure 18 months of this nonsense,” and asks city officials to take action against the post.

B- Herald: Getting serious.

Narcotics agents across South Florida descended on more than a dozen pain clinics Wednesday, arresting at least 20 people — including five doctors — in the most dramatic effort yet to curb the region’s booming business of illegal prescription narcotics.

The raids from Miami to West Palm Beach were the culmination of a two-year investigation by a task force of federal, state and local investigators, an operation dubbed “Operation Pill Nation.” Undercover agents were dispatched to storefront pain clinics to buy potent painkillers such as oxycodone without any medical justification for the pills, investigators said.

[...]

At West Palm Medical, a nurse coached a room full of would-be patients about where to get their prescriptions filled — and how not to attract attention, an arrest report says.

“When you take a script that was written in Florida to Kentucky, West Virginia, Tennessee, Ohio, it can cause problems,” the nurse said, according to the report. “Please, just fill your scripts in Florida.”

The nurse also offered a warning about a particularly strict pharmacy chain: “Do not go to Walgreens. I can’t say this enough. They are not your friend; they are the enemy. I say that very seriously. Stay away from Walgreens.”

C- Herald: Morin.

D- Sun-Sentinel: Life in South Florida.

DAVIE — Police have arrested a driver charged with punching another motorist in a burst of road rage, according to an arrest report.

Bruce Breiden, 57, of Davie, was taken into custody Monday on charges that include battery on a person at least 65 years old.

He is accused of attacking Demosthenes Jonson, 78, of Lauderdale Lakes, near the 3400 block of South University Drive on Monday afternoon, a Davie police report said.

[...]

Breiden was in his car behind Jonson's and began honking his car horn aggressively when Jonson, who had a green light, did not immediately turn right on University Drive. As Jonson drove away, he raised his middle finger at Breiden.

Jonson pulled into a left lane on University Drive. As he waited for traffic to clear, Breiden pulled in front of Jonson's car in the turn lane. Breiden parked, got out of his car and walked up to Jonson's vehicle.

Breiden bent down, braced his arms against the window of Jonson's car, and stuck his face inside.

He yelled at Jonson, saying he should kill him. "What the hell is your problem?" he asked.

Jonson, fearing for his safety, tried to push Breiden's arms away from his car. Breiden punched him twice, striking him in the mouth.

E- WSVN: A start?

MIAMI (WSVN) -- The City of Miami Police Chief has reached out to a grieving family after they lost a loved one in one of several fatal police-involved shootings.

Shiela McNeil and her family would be the first family to agree to sit down with embattled Miami Police Chief Miguel Exposito. "I don't know more than I did last week," said McNeil who lost her son. "The problems we've been having in our community with our black men getting killed is something that really needs to be addressed by him."

The family has no answers about how and why a Miami officer shot and kill the unarmed 28-year-old Travis McNeil and his cousin on Feb. 10 during a traffic stop. However, the family said they walked away Wednesday reassured. "He promised that he would get to the bottom of this," said McNeil.

[...]

The family said the Chief expressed his sorrow for their loss but never apologized. Still, McNeil said, she has renewed faith in the system. "He cares. I don't know if he cares more about covering his own behind, or if he actually cares about what happened," said McNeil.

For McNeil's son Travis Jr., meeting with the chief has changed how he sees police officers. "I just lost all respect for the police, but since I heard this, I gained their trust again," said McNeil Jr.

F- WPLG: Video, Congressman Allan West, professional hater representing America's worst.


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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

Wow. I don't think I've had such a large morning Sift. Ever. Lots of great stuff to get through so we'll get moving but make sure to check out the SFDB Weekend Widget in the right sidebar sometime this morning. Enjoy your morning Sift.

A- Superbee starts us out this morning with a great post on a place he knows very well and is very relevant right now: Madison, Wisconsin.

We had protests. We had sit-ins at Bascom Hall. We had Jesse Jackson speak to us on Library Mall before the Bush v. Gore election debacle. But when I went to UW-Madison, the stories we heard about the Vietnam Protests and the bombing of Sterling Hall were the stuff of myth and legend - things that happened thirty years before, and were whitewashed over with thirty-years worth of cheap apartment paint.

I am so. jealous. of the kids living in Mad-Town right now. Well, I'm jealous of them always, but especially right now.

B- Ipanemic makes a delivery.

The doors open. Her unit is at the end of the hall. I have a vague memory of her as I approach. I knock on the door.

“Just a minute,” she says. A few seconds later, the door opens. A small box on the floor is keeping her from opening it fully. She bends over to move it. “Do you mind if I take this to the chute. It won’t take but a minute.”
“No problem. I’m in no rush.”

I follow her to the trash chute. Small talk about trash disposal in the building. She crushes the book-sized box and throws it in. We walk back to her place; she leads the way. She is wearing a long-enough black shirt and sandals.

“Come in and take a look at the view. It’s the least I can do.”
“Alright,” I say. “I can’t stay long. I have to get back, you know.”
“They’re not going to fire you.”

C- The Miami Bike Scene examines some bike lane projects that are taking place in the Doral area.

The new Turnpike Trail which runs parallel to the C-2 Extension Canal (117th Ave), between NW 25th St and NW 34th St is partially open. The multi-use trail is part of an ongoing canal bank restoration program, which will later expand the trail east along NW 25th St and north along 117th Ave taking it up to NW 58th St.

D- The South Florida Theatre Scene is busy with this week's wrap up of events.

E- Miami Beach 411 attended yesteday's opening of the Miami Circle and tells us all about it.

On Wednesday, politicians, archeologists and a Native American spiritualist were on hand to dedicate the opening of the new Miami Circle park on the south side of the mouth of the Miami River.

It might not be grandiose, especially compared to the high-rises surrounding it, but it is where the magic all started in this crazy city of ours.

F- Miami Favs does a quick wrap up of all her favs for out of town guests.

the best restaurants are in midtown/wynwood/design district (on the mainland). i suggest gigi, red light, sugarcane, mandolin, buena vista bistro, joey’s and wynwood kitchen and bar.

for south beach, if you’re willing to splurge, go to barton g, devito or prime 112 (i haven’t been to the latter, because i’m a vegetarian, but i heard it’s amazing). if you’re going to the beach and want a quick bite, go to la sandwicherie on 14th between washington and collins. if you want to eat on lincoln road (and want to splurge) go to the meat market. if you want healthier (but good) food, go to books and books cafe (and visit the book store, it’s adorable).

G- The Green Parrot Bar gets a mention in Vogue Magazine.

H- The Coconut Grove Arts Festival gets a lot of attention from Taking Over Miami...and it's only Part One.

Never having been to the Coconut Grove Arts Festival, we had no idea what to expect. I knew there would be over 360 artists but the scale never crossed my mind. This place was packed with people and the smell of burgers, funnel cakes, and beer in the air was potent.

I- Under The Sun tells the story of a controversial soccer field that has been built in Overtown.

For $120, players get the field for an hour and play six-on-six games on artificial turf at Downtown Soccer Miami. Many park their luxury cars along the street and stay after the games to socialize over beer and grilled meat. Co-owner Pablo says his business has made a positive impact on the community. They’ve cleaned up the lot, lit up the neighborhood and deterred crime. But some area residents don’t see it that way.

J- Beached Miami posts their 7th podcast.

K- Bark Bark Woof Woof comments on the latest Republican hypocrisy.

Last year, when the Tea Partiers were making their voices heard, we were told by the GOP that they were "the voices of the people," and that it was true democracy at work to see them out there with their signs calling for change. Now that the shoe is on the other foot, they're nothing but a bunch of thugs trying to intimidate the duly-elected representatives. How quickly they change their view of people power. It might also have something to do with the fact that there were powerful interests behind the Tea Party such as the Koch brothers pulling the strings. What this call to Mr. Walker reveals is that the right-wing rallies were just a lot of window-dressing to cover the fact that a GOP governor will listen to the people... as long as they're the ones with the money and the influence.

L- Eye on Miami gives their assessment of The Real Housewives of Miami.

I caught 10 minutes of the show. Cristy Rice was insufferable and that is being kind. Nothing annoys me more than a Cuban saying "We Cubans made Miami" and that is exactly what Cristy said. Even if it were true, it is disrespectful to the rest of the community. I agree that Cubans made great contributions to Miami but come on Cristy, use your brain. Oops sorry I forgot, you don't have one. Then three of the housewives were in anguish over showing up too early for a fashion show.

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SFDB Late Night Politics

Stephen Colbert deftly deals with those incredibly selfish Wisconsin public servants in these two clips.

"A rising tide lifts all boats and when the tide goes out I want to drag you down with me..."

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Your Evening Sift

Wisconsin is on the minds of many South Florida bloggers and that is naturally reflected in your evening Sift. Enjoy.

A- Shorter Searching For Signs...

Wisconsin state employees are incredibly selfish for not giving the Governor everything single thing that he wants.

B- Wide Lawns and Narrow Minds declares war on the ants in her home.

I have declared war on ants and by the way, you ever notice how we always refer to ants in militaristic terms? They're like a massive army, always on the march, all working together. They get a lot of work done too when they want to. One day I killed a roach on the floor and left it to go get paper towels. In five minutes the battalion has amassed around the dead roach and they had begun to carry it away like microscopic pallbearers. I already said I saw some of them carrying my hair into their secret fort in my baseboards.

C- Eye on Miami posts the audios of the Wisconsin governor getting Breitbarted by a prankster phone caller who records damning coversation of a plan to wreck the nation's public employee unions with the possible assistance of the Florida governor. Some of the highlights/lowlights...

"This is an exciting time." "I pulled up a picture of Ronald Reagan. 30 years Ronald Reagan had a defining moment when he fired the air traffic controllers. That was the first crack in the fall of the Berlin Wall. What we are doing in Wisconsin, this is our moment, this is our time to change the course of history." "Well I tell you what, once you crush these bastards I'll fly you out to Cali and show you a good time."

D- Meanwhile, The Reid Report has the story on the Tweet that Indiana's Deputy Attorney General posted urging the Wisconsin National Guard to use live ammo to address protesters in Madison, WI.

E- Okay, so everyone is all excited about the force that Miami-Dade commissioner Natacha Seijas' bodygaurd exerted at the courthouse yesterday. I just like watching the two heavyweights carefully negotiate the stairs in the clip at Random Pixels.

F- Damn. Pizzavolante is closed, according to Eater Miami.

G- Beached Miami previews Thursday's  Bruise Cruise kick off party at Grand Central and includes lots of videos of the bands.

H- According to the Burger Beast, WPLG is soliciting votes for the top 10 burgers in South Florida but you have to email in your choice with a picture of the place or the burger [because sending a photographer out to 10 places around South Florida is not on WPLG's budget?].

I- Gen Art is back in business, says Soul of Miami.

In December, Gen Art was acquired by Sandow Media, an innovative media company that recognized the value of the organization, the importance of its mission and the void that was left in its absence. We were thrilled when Sandow asked us to carry on in the legacy of the former leadership and help guide the company into the future. As former Gen Art SVPs who oversaw content and events for nearly a decade, we are deeply vested in Gen Art’s mission and passionate about preserving its core values.

J- Savoring South Beach visits Gigi.

Thumbs Up: No fear of flavor, lovely veggie options, fast service, great scene of people interested in good food
Thumbs Down: You have to wait (no reservations)

K- Coconut Grove Grapevine discusses some of the problems at this year's art festival.

One of the strangest things of the whole weekend was the Camel cigarettes booth set up right out front of CocoWalk in the center of town. You could not miss this. But even though they were trying to push cigarettes on people, they made it quite difficult.

They would only pick and choose certain people who were allowed into their tent. If you were not a smoker, you were not permitted in, so I guess that was nice, in that they were not trying to turn non-smokers into smokers, but the smokers that were permitted in where treated very suspiciously, people had to show their ID's and also answer many strange, personal questions.

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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 over the past 7 days. We find the best post of the week and note the runners ups as we judge them to be.

Sheesh, another week where the PotW finalists were so close that it took me some serious contemplation to arrive at my decisions. Here's what I came up with.

Runners-Up:  Ipanemic's job delivering food lends itself to great blogging material as he shared more of his daily observations in The Delivery. The remains of a serial arsonist's efforts on Miami Beach provided the content for a Beached Miami post that showed us images you couldn't get anywhere else...including the local mainstream media. Miami Favs continues her uplifting blog of great things to do and visit in Miami but I thought her perspective of Oleta River State Park was particularly well done.



Winner:  So you don't know what mofongo is and you've never been to Jimmy'z Kitchen in Wynwood. Sex and the Beach does a great job getting you familiar with both in Mofongo Madness at Jimmy'z in Wynwood.  The post is sprinkled with ample photos and flows very nicely as we learn about Caribbean food and the man who creates it at Jimmy'z. Articulate and informative will get you the SFDB Post of the Week every time, as it does this week for Sex and the Beach.



'Til next time, keep on blogging!

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Move Along, Blogs Are Still Alive

Under the title "Blogs Wane as the Young Drift to Sites Like Twitter," the New York Times recently revisited a Pew Research Center study that I mentioned over a year ago.

They try to shed some new light on the issue but come up with the same conclusion that the Pew study did back then: that the younger generation is gravitating more towards Facebook and Twitter than they are blogs.

There are a couple interesting quotes from the piece that I wanted to mention. Like this one...

Indeed, small talk shifted in large part to social networking, said Elisa Camahort Page, co-founder of BlogHer, a women’s blog network. Still, blogs remain a home of more meaty discussions, she said.

“If you’re looking for substantive conversation, you turn to blogs,” Ms. Camahort Page said. “You aren’t going to find it on Facebook, and you aren’t going to find it in 140 characters on Twitter.”

You know, I'm not sure how a comparison can be made between a blog post reviewing a nice restaurant with images and paragraphs of narrative and the, "I'm at [insert hot restaurant] and the noodles are awesome!!!" tweet, but for some reason people like to do it. Twitter and Facebook are not trade-offs for blogging and they never have been. If you're tweeting, you're not blogging and I'm not sure how anyone can say they're substituting one for the other.

Along the same lines, leave it to a grizzled old military veteran to break things down.

Russ Steele, 72, a retired Air Force officer and aerospace worker from Nevada City, Calif., says he spends up to three hours a day seeking interesting topics and writing about them for his blog, NC Media Watch, which covers local issues in Nevada County, northeast of Sacramento. All he wants is to have a voice in the community for his conservative views.

Although he signed up for Facebook this month, Mr. Steele said he did not foresee using it much and said that he remained committed to blogging. “I’d rather spend my time writing up a blog analysis than a whole bunch of short paragraphs and then send them to people,” he said. “I don’t need to tell people I’m going to the grocery store.”

-Image via Adventures In Dullness



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The Real Housewives Of Miami

Why is it that these South Florida-based reality shows only include shallow Miami residents?

Wait. Don't answer that.



I don't have a TV so I didn't catch last night's premiere.

Anyone?

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The Cooler

Lots of news for you this morning in the Cooler.

A- Herald: We don't need no stinkin' authority.

TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Rick Scott is on a political crash course with the Florida Senate’s powerful budget chief, J.D. Alexander, who wrote a letter Tuesday asking the governor to cite the “legal authority” for the way he sold two state planes.

Sen. J.D. Alexander said he believed the Feb. 11 transaction was unlawful because the governor failed to get the Legislature to sign off on the $3.67 million deal and kept some of the money from reaching the state treasury – a highly unusual transaction.

B- Sun-Sentinel: The smell of money is strong.

County commissioners Tuesday said they don't like a state bill that would yank the wheels off the red light camera enforcement program.

They voted against supporting a bill that would do just that, a week before this issue comes to a showdown in county hall.

Viewed as a litmus test for the county's support of red light camera enforcement, Tuesday's vote bodes well for cities seeking permission to tie into county traffic lights. The devices have turned into a legal nightmare for cities that have them, but Broward cities are still clamoring for cameras. Some who have them want more. The program in many cities has been on hold, bottlenecked at the county.

C- Sun-Sentinel: World's Worst Mom.

A Riviera Beach woman has been charged with four counts of child neglect for allegedly leaving her children alone at night while she is at work as a stripper, according to Riviera Beach police.

Corinthian Williams, 24, whose occupation on the police report is listed as "stripper," was arrested late Monday night. She was released from Palm Beach County Jail on Tuesday afternoon under her own supervision.

The state Department of Children & Families has taken custody of four children, ages 1, 5, 6 and 9, police said.

[...]

When police and DCF arrived at the house Monday, the 5-year-old opened the door while Williams was found in her bedroom sleeping.

The police report says after investigators and police told Williams why they were there, she held up the 1-year-old child and told them, "take her. I don't wanna."

The child had a "heavily soiled" diaper, a runny nose and skin irritations, the report says.

The 9-year-old told police that Williams had male guests over and left them alone while they were in the bedroom.

D-Palm Beach Post: Shocking!

WEST PALM BEACH — A Michigan woman is suing a Boca Raton-based company, claiming the iRenew energy bracelets it hawks on late-night TV commercials and Internet ads are a fraud.

In the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court, Arjana Xexo claims she paid $19.90 plus $15.90 for shipping and handling for two bracelets hoping they would improve her health, balance and overall health as promised. They did nothing, she claims.

E- Palm Beach Post: This is the kind of guy we need as President.

Donald Trump, Palm Beach's most famous almost-presidential candidate, is everywhere these days. And soon he'll be everywhere in extra comfort as he flies the friendly skies in his new Boeing 757 airplane.

In an interview this week, Trump confirmed he bought a 757, which he said is about twice the size of his other plane, a Boeing 727.

Although Trump wouldn't talk money, word is he bought the 757 for about $100 million from Microsoft's co-founder Paul Allen.

[...]

"It's one of the quietest airplanes there is," Trump said. "I did that for the benefit of Palm Beach."

F- South Florida Business Journal: Growing the empire.

Barnes & Noble Inc. is shoring up finances to avoid following in rival Borders Group’s steps, and may be interested in taking over some of the locations Borders closes as part of its bankruptcy reorganization.

G- NBC Miami: Life in South Florida.

Howard Schultz could be described as a little confused.

The 69-year-old Pompano Beach man was arrested Monday for allegedly telling a motorist he was a cop and forcing the driver to pull over - with a barbecue fork.

H- WPLG: Video, the Miami Circle opens today.

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