Your Evening Sift

Another Leap Day behind us. Just think, last year at this time we had already finished one day of March. Amazing. Enjoy your evening Sift, readers.

A- Sex and the Beach builds "the perfect man" from her Twitter feeds...and somehow includes SFDB.

B- There's a cool, new geeky coffee shop in Coral Gables, according to Discourse.

C- Eye on Miami notes a couple recent Herald headlines and wonders how Jackson Hospital can be expanding while slashing jobs.

D- Locust Projects' LAB 2012 is on, says Artlurker.

Through this open call, Locust Projects’ Director hopes to select fifteen art students currently enrolled in local high schools. The students will then participate in LAB under the guidance of contemporary artist Monica Lopez de Victoria of the TM Sisters collaborative. Work by the students selected for LAB 2012 will be developed and exhibited exclusively at Locust Projects and will enjoy a dedicated public opening reception on July 14th to celebrate both the students’ involvement and the LAB program as a whole.

E- Base jumpers off the Mondrian? You betcha...at The305.Com and Nikon Miami.

F- Education is good maintains Annush on the Causeway, despite what at least one Republican thinks.

If it is an act of snobbery to want a better life for yourself and your family, then I would like to praise snobbery and call it our moral duty to pursue this wretched quality. If someone seeking to lead us honestly believes that education is really indoctrination and that as such we don’t need it, they are fooling themselves and setting a very dangerous precedent.

G- Arterpillar cruises the internet to find you the local art news that you need to know about.

H- Broward County's corruption investigator has been keeping very busy, as Salty Eggs explains.

It’s been almost a year since John W. Scott, a former corruption investigator with the U.S. Department of Justice, was appointed Broward County’s first Inspector General, and lately he’s been having lots of fun at the expense of local greedheads.

I- Just how mild was our winter? Go Hydrology! explains.

J- Shorter Coconut Grove Grapevine...Alternative newspaper contests are a great measure of how healthy your community is.

K- A nice discussion arises in the comment section of Transit Miami post that summarizes yesterday's Miami-Dade Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) meeting.

With a sense of urgency in the air stemming from the tragic death of cyclist Aaron Cohen earlier in February, concerned citizens and BPAC members voiced their opinions in a spirited discussion lasting nearly two hours.

L- South Florida Lawyers makes me laugh.




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More Of This, Please

He's back.





Just in time.


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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 previous week. We find the best post of the week and note the runners ups as we judge them to be.

Thirteen posts from this past week's Sifts made it to the final review this week but nine of them wound up on the cutting room floor. Let's take a look at which ones didn't.

Runners-Up: I got exhausted just watching Transit Miami's trek just to cross Coral Way at an appropriate place. The post made great use of video and sparked a lively comment exchange. Redland Ramble's two-parter on eggs was nicely photographed and informative, which is what we've come to expect from this most excellent blog. Burger Beast was the only local blog that covered this year's Burger Bash at the South Beach Wine and Food Festival with a post that included lots of photos and a narrative that was up in expeditious fashion the morning after.


Winner: Salty Eggs is one of the new kids on the block at SFDB but they've been making regular appearances in the Sifts, if you haven't noticed.  Last week, they told us about an innovative program to combat the proliferation of pythons out in the Everglades that, unfortunately, probably won't be implemented any time soon. Everglades’ Best Friend: EcoDogs Can Help Abate Python Problem was an interesting and well-researched read that described how dogs have been trained to hunt pythons in the swamp. Who knew? One of the most useful things a blog can do is bring stories to light that go largely ignored by the mainstream media and that's part of the reason why Salty Eggs gets the latest SFDB Post of the Week recognition.    


'Til next time, people, keep on blogging!

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South Florida Cartoons

Jim Morin, Miami Herald

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Have You Cleared Your Google History?

From Digital Journal...

What?

With just a week to go before Google changes to its new privacy policy that allows it to gather, store and use personal information, users have a last chance to delete their Google Browsing History, along with any damning information therein.

Tech News Daily reports that once Google's new unified privacy policy takes effect all data already collected about you, including search queries, sites visited, age, gender and location will be gathered and assigned to your online identity represented by your Gmail and YouTube accounts. After the policy takes effect you are not allowed to opt out without abandoning Google altogether. But now before the policy takes effect, you have the option of deleting your Google Web History by modifying your settings so that Google is unable to associate data collected about you with your Gmail or YouTube accounts.

Why?

Tech News Daily reports that Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a nonprofit organization based in San Francisco that advocates for online privacy, says: "Search data can reveal particularly sensitive information about you, including facts about your location, interests, age, sexual orientation, religion, health concerns, and more."

How?

1. Go to the google homepage and sign into your account.
2. Click the dropdown menu next to your name in the upper-right hand corner of your screen.
3. Click accounts settings
4. Find the "Services section"
5. Under "Services" there is a sub-section that reads "View, enable, disable web history." Click the link next to it that reads: "Go to Web History."
6. Click on "Remove all Web History"

When you click on "Remove all Web History," a message appears that says " Web History is Paused." What this means is that while Google will continue gathering and storing information about your web history it will make all data anonymous, that is, Google will not associate your Web History information with your online accounts and will therefore be unable to send you customized search results.

Google's ability to gather personalized information about you by assigning data to your Gmail and YouTube accounts will remain "Paused" till you click "Resume."

When?

You have until tonight at midnight.

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SFDB Morning Chuckle

You can now feel better about whatever obsessions you may have...






- via The Daily What

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The Cooler

Lots going on out there in the mainstream media. Here's some of it.

A- Sun-Sentinel: You're better off flipping a coin.

Florida hasn't been struck by a hurricane for a record six years, a Category 5 hasn't formed in the past four years and only seven hurricanes emerged last year, slightly above average. Already, some forecasters are calling for the upcoming season to be near normal.

Some experts say it is possible tropical activity is winding down, at least temporarily, and they predict quieter seasons may be ahead. But don't exhale just yet, others say.

B- Sun-Sentinel: Video, Life in South Florida.

A 42-year-old Boca Raton woman is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, accused of ramming a scooter with her SUV on Monday, according to Lighthouse Point police.

Tina Marie Brown got into an argument with L.W. Bedinotti III in the parking lot of a Publix supermarket in the 2400 block of North Federal Highway, Cmdr. Michael Oh said.

"He was driving through the parking lot with his wife on the back of his scooter and at some point [Brown] was crossing the parking lot and she felt that he drove a little too close to her and that started an argument," Oh said.

Bedinotti's wife went into Publix. While he waited outside, Brown drove up and bumped the front of his scooter with her vehicle, police said. She continued to push his scooter backward with the front of her SUV, so he turned and drove past Brown to get out of the way, Oh said.

C- Sun-Sentinel: Pay up! You promised!

HOLLYWOOD— The embattled Holocaust Documentation and Education Center wants an ailing 88-year-old Plantation woman to make good on an alleged $1 million pledge and has involved itself in her guardianship case, court records show.

The center says the guardian and attorney are interfering with Feingold's "charitable intent" and it's trying "to ensure that [Feingold's] philanthropic plans are not disrupted."

Over many years, Feingold has donated more than $260,000 to the center along with her late husband's artwork. Julian Feingold died in January 1990. Both survived the Holocaust.

Feingold, who lives with a 24-hour aide, has assets valued at about $5.5 million, court records show.

Attorney Rebecca Fischer, who represents Feingold's guardian, Zipora Geva, says she has "never ever seen a nonprofit pursue a person like they are pursuing [Feingold]."

D- Sun-Sentinel: Austerity?

Broward County commissioners agreed to spend $1.9 million, mostly from airport and port fees, to put some creativity and art into the typically barren walls and floors tourists see in Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and the curise ship terminals at Port Everglades, and to add some flair to a bland public walkway in west Broward.

[...]

Tuesday's projects, though, sailed through with little comment: $148,500 for a "fish tank wall'' at the elevators in one of the cruise ship terminals; $154,500 for schools of multi-colored, suspended fish in another cruise ship terminal; and $159,500 for giant, colored starfish hanging from the ceiling in another cruise ship terminal at Port Everglades, plus a glass mosaic and ceramic mural of the water, with a suspended pelican appearing to emerge from it.

E- Palm Beach Post: Food trucks aren't welcome in West Palm Beach.

As gourmet lunch trucks become increasingly popular, commissioners are trying to put more restrictions on the mobile food vendors.

Commissioner Bill Moss raised the issue at Monday’s commission workshop, saying it hurts existing businesses that pay property taxes.

F- TC Palm: Only in South Florida.

FORT PIERCE — A onetime Elvis impersonator who police said kept them at bay for four hours Monday afternoon by threatening use of the deadly poison Ricin has blamed his behavior on diabetes.

G- CBS4: You're fired.

MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Jackson Health System chief executive officer Carlos Migoya announced Tuesday that more than 900 people will be laid off and nearly 200 positions will be eliminated in a cost cutting move for the troubled hospital system.

H- NBC Miami: POS who threatened Obama in Miami is...wait for it...a "Republican conservative."

Two years ago, Serrapio described himself on Myspace this way: "i'm cool. I am a republican conservative.

I- WPLG: On record.

VILLAGE OF PINECREST, Fla. - Tuesday night the Village of Pinecrest joined several other neighboring South Miami-Dade municipalities in opposing the development of a proposed dry dock facility at Matheson Hammock Park.

In unanimously passing its opposition resolution, the Pinecrest city council wanted to send a message to the Miami-Dade County Commission, which determined that a boat storage facility needed to be built at the historic public park in neighboring Coral Gables.

Pinecrest council members said the project should have never gotten the county's green light saying the public was never properly notified or allowed to review the proposal beforehand. Pinecrest also said there has been a lack of study results publicized about impact on traffic, noise and the environment.

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

Happy Leap Day! If you need a video explanation, here ya go. Just make sure you come back for your morning Sift.

A- Bark Bark Woof Woof says that with last night's wins, Romney has the nomination in the bag.

I think this pretty much ends the stage of the campaign where the fringers get their fifteen minutes. Now we're going to settle into the Inevitability phase, where the mainstream candidate -- Mr. Romney -- will start his roll to the convention in Tampa and the general election is basically underway from now on.

B- Obalesque comments on airport screening profiling procedures.

C- Man or Maniac? questions the constitutionality of a proposed law that is intended to keep people off the Front Lawn of the White House.

What this bill seems to say is that if a group of citizens gathers in a crowd outside someplace the President is at - the White House, Congress, a high school auditorium, whatever - with the intent of making sure that he sees them and hears their message, that they will be arrested if that protest hampers him in any way.

D- South Beach Condo Blog has a Miami Beach real estate wrap up for 2011 that took him almost 2 months to prepare.





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Your Evening Sift

As they say, better late than never. Enjoy your evening Sift, folks.

A- Beached Miami tells us about 11 films worth watching at the Miami International Film Festival which starts this week.

B- Looking for something artsy to do during the next couple days? The check out Arterpillar's Mid-Week Art Happenings.

C- No love for Carlos 'n Charlie's at Eater Miami, who announces that they're closing their West Palm Beach location.

Carlos n' Charlies "specialized" in inauthentic Mexican food found readily available at Taco Bell, large fish bowl drinks of varying degrees of cheap alcohol and loud celebrations. Carlos n' Charlies former space in City Place has been a nightmare for restaurants, now claiming its 3rd restaurant in the past 4 years...

D- Go Hydrology! graphically depicts the Florida rainfall distribution from May 2011 to the present.

E- Food for Thought gushes over Eating House in Coral Gables.

I went to Eating House a week after they opened at the beginning of the month. I've already been back twice in as many weeks. I know who Giorgio Rapicavoli is now. And at risk of hyperbole, I will say this: at Eating House, he's putting out some of the most exciting food I've had in Miami in some time.

F- The Van Dyke's March calendar is up at Soul of Miami.

G- Random Pixels notes a Florida Center for Investigative Reporting story describing how the Miami Herald broke the recent texting story involving a Miami Beach politician.



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News That Makes The Little Limbaughs Sad

For the Republicans out there who put party before country, this little bit o' great news for America has got to have them down in the dumps...

The Dow Jones industrial average (INDU) closed above 13,000 for the first time since May 19, 2008, after narrowly missing that finish line for the past several trading days. The DJIA added 24 points, or 0.2%. While the 13,000 level is not considered technically significant, it is a psychological milestone.

Bring on that hope and change, folks!


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The GOP Takes Us Back

-via Daily Kos



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It's Outrageous, I Do Declare!

Republicans are outraged that President Obama has apologized to Afghanistan for the recent burning of Muslim holy books by NATO troops in Afghanistan. It's reprehensible and uncalled for, according to Newt Gingrich, who was as similarly outraged when something similar happened in 2008...

BAGHDAD — President Bush has apologized to Iraq's prime minister for an American sniper's shooting of a Quran, and the Iraqi government called on U.S. military commanders to educate their soldiers to respect local religious beliefs.

Bush's spokeswoman said Tuesday that the president apologized during a videoconference Monday with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who told the president that the shooting of Islam's holy book had disappointed and angered both the Iraqi people and their leaders.

"He apologized for that in the sense that he said that we take it very seriously," White House press secretary Dana Perino said. "We are concerned about the reaction. We wanted them to know that the president knew that this was wrong."

Actually, Gingrich wasn't outraged and Republicans hardly gave George W. Bush's apology a minute of their time.

Leave it to Obama Derangement Syndrome and election year politics for Republicans to make something out of anything that Obama does.They're not even trying to disguise it any more.



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Twitter Creates A Monster

Sure, now he tells us...

Heavy Twitter users should walk away from their computers and other mobile devices and stop staring at tweets all day because it’s bad for you. That was essentially the message delivered by Twitter co-founder Christopher Isaac “Biz” Stone on Wednesday.

It’s not the eye strain, neck strain or other physical ailments that Biz Stone is worried about but rather the fact that people will waste their entire day constantly reading tweets.

I have successfully resisted the urge to purchase a smartphone or any other kind of mobile device that gives me easy access to connect as I've watched too many people out on the town sitting at a table with a loved one or filled with friends, totally absorbed with their little phones. I fear becoming one of "them," tapping away while life zips by around them. Why even be there?

I need my offline time just as much if not more than my online time, thank you very much. So for now, I just shake my head and sort of feel sad for these kinds of folks who can't seem to just step away.


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SFDB Morning Kickstart

Hold on for your "Oh sshhhhiii..." moment...





-via The Daily What


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The Cooler

Lots of news out there for you this morning. Check this out.

A- Sun-Sentinel: Life in South Florida.

LAUDERDALE LAKES— A confrontation and beating aboard a Broward County public transit bus that was captured on surveillance video left the driver battered and bruised and has landed his alleged assailant behind bars.

The incident happened late Thursday afternoon as the driver, Larry Kahn, 60, was driving his bus southbound along the 3100 block of State Road 7 in Lauderdale Lakes.

Surveillance video from the bus shows a young man wearing a red shirt, black jacket and shorts confronting Kahn and apparently throwing punches before getting off the bus and eventually getting back on the vehicle with at least one passenger helping to restrain him.

B- Sun-Sentinel: No more good humor.

PEMBROKE PINES— Consumer convenience or unhygienic nuisance? This city is debating whether to become the first in South Florida to ban all the ice cream trucks, hot dog vendors and street merchants who sell their wares in suburban neighborhoods or at busy intersections.

City Commissioner Angelo Castillo says resident are fed up with the sidewalk food carts, lunch vans and especially the street-corner hawkers and beggars who approach cars at stoplights. These people are "changing the character of our community," Castillo said. The city attorney is drafting a law to stop them.

[...]

The sales trucks are "trashy" and the music from ice cream vendors wakes people who have to sleep during the day because they work at night, including medical workers like her husband, said Chapel Trails resident Maria Perez.

C- Sun_Sentinel: We have had no winter.

If it seems like it's been unusually steamy for February, well, it has been.

Not only have temperatures been running warmer than average, but humidity levels have been higher than normal too, the National Weather Service said.

D- Sun-Sentinel: FCAT Powerbars...really.

At least one South Florida campus is hoping that feeding students a "special brain snack" will trick them into thinking it will boost their FCAT performance.

From skydiving to mohawk hair cuts, school principals have tried various stunts to pump up test scores. The latest? Administrators at Hagen Road Elementary want kids to think eating an "FCAT power bar" will guarantee great results on the exams — starting Tuesday — in the same way the "placebo effect" allows medical patients to swallow sugar pills as fake treatments to spark healing.

[...]

Hagen Road Elementary's placebo is an apple-flavored cereal bar, with the label: "Warning: Improves Writing Power!"

E- Sun-Sentinel: Chan Lowe.

F- Palm Beach Post: Now you can buy two!

McDonald’s continues to revamp its image with a new Happy Meal with 20 percent fewer calories — available as of today in our market.

The secret ingredient is apple slices, now an automatic part of the popular kid’s meal. That’s a side for the meal, which still comes with Chicken McNuggets or a burger option. The French fries have been reduced in size, and you can double the apple slices and skip the fries altogether.

G- South Florida Business Journal: The Blue Boor.

Donald J. Trump closed a $150 million deal for the Doral Golf Resort & Spa on Monday, according to the Trump Hotel Collection.

H- TC Palm: But at least he didn't cut him off!

PORT ST. LUCIE — Two men accused Saturday of racing on Southeast Port St. Lucie Boulevard at speeds greater than 100 mph were arrested on a misdemeanor charge, according to affidavits obtained Monday.

[...]

"He explained that he was trying to go faster than the other car and not let him by," an affidavit states. "Essentially, outrun him is how he explained it."

I- WPLG: Who says Miami-Dade isn't serious about mass transit?

Miami Commissioners approved a new trolley system Monday that will take commuters to several big places in the city.

The $20 million project will launch on March 1 and will include a route to the new Marlins ballpark. That should make parking at the ballpark a little easier to handle.

Other stops will include the courthouse, Jackson Memorial Hospital and the Civic Center metrorail station.

J- WPLG: South Florida is so full of life.

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. -A man was killed in a shooting in Miami Gardens on Monday morning, police said.

The shooting occurred at Northwest 156th Street and 46th Avenue. Sgt. William Bamford, of the Miami Gardens Police Department, said two cars were seen racing south on 47th Avenue before crashing at 156th Street.

A witness who did not want to be identified said he heard the gunshots right after he heard the crash. He said the driver of a silver car chased a black car down the street and clipped the black car, forcing it into a guardrail.

The witness said both drivers got out, and one of them shot the other twice. He said the gunman got a bag out of the back seat of one of the cars, came back to the victim and shot him three more times.

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

The South Florida blogosphere was buzzing with activity last night. That, of course, means more for you to read in your morning Sift. Enjoy.

A- The Burger Beast has a little more info on the highly anticipated Frita Shop.

Frita Shop made its “unofficial” debut at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival’s Grand Tasting Village event on Saturday afternoon. Their Kimchee Frita (Kimchee, Sriracha Ketchup, Cilantro, Onion on Potato Bun) was handed out to the masses, more than half of which probably have no clue what a Frita is.

B- Searching for Signs believes the problem with Rick Santorum is that he's just too honest and lacks tact when he's hating on JFK and claiming that colleges provide a liberal indoctrination.

Santorum is an honest, straight-up man who speaks his convictions and answers the hard questions thrown at him. Those are admirable traits, when applied correctly. The problem with Santorum is that in his honesty, he sometimes goes overboard and lacks tact. He believes in all the right things, but he has trouble channeling his righteous indignation in a way that isn’t condescending or overblown.

C- Man or Maniac? disassembles the latest from those on the Right who still believe that Obama was not born in the United States.

D- Miami Condo Investments shows us what $300K can get you on Brickell these days...and it doesn't include much closet space.

Our listing is for a 1 bedroom/1.5 bath bi-level loft with 993 square feet of interior and a 76 square foot balcony off the living room. The asking price is $297,888, or $300 per square foot, making it the lowest price per square foot unit currently available for sale on the MLS or through the developer. The decorator-ready unit comes with stainless steel appliances, a stackable washer/dryer and one assigned parking space. The east-facing loft has a view of Biscayne Bay and the Brickell skyline from the 30th floor.

E- Obalesque has his own opinion of Rick Santorum, as you might imagine.

That heads all over the nation didn’t explode after Santorum’s remark reveals just how crazed and extreme this ‘Pub dog race has become. The firewall between church and state in this country not only protects the citizens from religious oppression, it makes the practice of religion possible.

Doesn’t everybody with a high school education understand this?

F- The Miami Bike Scene links to some Critical Mass photos around the blogosphere and posts a video.

G- A relatively reasonable conservative is just now getting worried that the Republican Party has morphed into some kind of clown car and Bark Bark Woof Woof unloads on him.

He's worried about honor in a party that re-elected a felon in 1972, sold weapons to a sworn enemy and used the proceeds to back Central American terrorists, impeached a Democratic president for getting an adulterous blowjob while at the same time the chief accuser was getting his own horn honked by a woman not yet his wife, elected a president by constitutional legerdemain that doesn't pass the laugh test, outed a CIA operative for political revenge, and cheered on a racially-tinged rabble of white patriarchal know-nothing moochers whose mantra of ignorance became a frothy mix of blind hatred and xenophobia against a centrist Democratic president who happened to be black.

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Your Evening Sift

SFDB got off to a very slow start today. The stats were lagging well into mid-morning before they picked up to a more normal pace. Must have been a good weekend. Enjoy your evening Sift.

A- AshAndBurn's Sunday was a Funday.

B- Arterpillar posts a nice slideshow from this weekend's street painting activities in Lake Worth.

As usual, it was a great day out with plenty of music, art and brunch at the Pelican on Lake Avenue. The artists at this festival are as interesting as the art. It takes a special kind of person to spend two consecutive days on the ground, with chalk from head to toe, being photographed by strangers every two minutes.

C- If you're up in Boca and get a hankering for some German food, you might want to check out Jeff Eats' latest restaurant review.

Last Saturday night around 10pm my wife and I- and another couple stopped by a German “bar-restaurant”—Biergarten in Boca Raton. The joint has indoor seating/huge outdoor patio seating. Real simple concept–tons of different beers, wines, specialty drinks—menu loaded with appetizers, burgers, salads, sandwiches, tacos, German style wursts-schnitzels-and other dishes—local bands and djs. The joint looks like “what” I guess a German beer garden in Germany is suppose to look like and the staff wears’ German beer garden costumes (I think!).

D- Transit Miami reminds us that there's a bicycle safety summit in Miami this Wednesday.

E- Elliott Sharp's recent appearance in South Florida sounds like a lot of work for the listener...at Salty Eggs.

The first piece performed was a solo feature — just Elliott and his guitar. Beginning with a series of raked and muted harmonics, Sharp pushed the instrument via aggressive taps and scrapes, rarely playing the guitar in a conventional manner. There were no discernable beats or defined melodies here, just chaotic sound that created an ever-rising air of tension never entirely resolved at any given point in the evening. What this particular piece, titled “Momentum Anomaly,” lost in not having any defined sense of time or melody was remedied by Sharp’s incredible use of tension and release. There was no defined beat, but the music seemed structured and planned, every nuance of the chaos completely controlled. At one point, Elliott licked his thumb and dragged it across the top of his guitar to make “seal” noises, earning him a few chuckles here and there. Sharp, however, remained stoic throughout this seal session.

F- Burger Beast almost sounds like a proud father as he tells us how the food trucks became part of this year's South Beach Food and Wine Festival.

If you read Burger Beast enough you’ll know I’m involved with the trucks and organize a few events every month including Arts Park in Hollywood, Magic City Casino, Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood and Tobacco Road. It was truly a great moment for them to finally be featured at a South Beach Wine & Food Festival. All I can hope is everyone who attended had a great time.

G- Eater Miami interviews some famous French chef with a restaurant in Bal Harbour about Miami's "dining scene."

Q: Welcome to Miami. Foodies are very excited about your presence in Bal Harbour. What is the inspiration for the menu there?
A: Thank you so much! The inspiration comes from the local ingredients -- great local seafood -- Stone Crabs, Key West Pink Shrimp, Lobster, Red Snapper….Citrus like key lime, meyer lemons, oranges. The focus is on local ingredients from local farmers.

H- Miamism Pix posts a nice Key Biscayne image.

I- South Florida Lawyers picks up the story of a guy suing the Marlins owners because he claims he bought the team for $10 million at a banquet.



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American Express Commercial Features Miami Small Businesses

Look for the cameos by Shell Lumber and Panther Coffee in this American Express commercial...






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SFDB's A Few Moments At The Lake Worth Street Painting Festival

I zipped up to Lake Worth yesterday to catch the 2nd day of the annual Lake Worth Street Painting Festival and although it was cloudy and threatening rain there was a great crowd having lots of fun watching the artists getting down and dirty with their chalk.

Creating art with chalk is inherently messy...
 

A street painter's toolbox...

There's a lot of blending colors and shades involved...

Lots of folks taking photos and looking on...

And a little bit of blues...

Did I mention it was dirty?

But the results were amazing...

All of the photos that I took can be viewed at my Flickr.


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SFDB Monday Morning Kickstart

This morning commute will wake you up...





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The Cooler

Kind of a slow news day this Monday morning. Here's what I found mildly interesting in my review of South Florida's mainstream media outlets this morning.

A- Sun-Sentinel: Slide show, Boca Raton Concours d'Elegance.

B- CBS4: In case you're sitting in traffic this morning.

The right lane of westbound 836 will no longer take vehicles to the loop ramp to the southbound Palmetto.

Instead, westbound drivers on 836 who want to go south or north on the Palmetto will have to exit earlier, at the 72nd Avenue/ Palmetto ramp immediately after Northwest 57th Ave., and then take a new road that runs parallel to 836. That new road will give drivers access to the northbound Palmetto and the loop ramp to the southbound Palmetto.

“The biggest thing is: if drivers miss this 72nd avenue ramp, they will not be able to get access to the northbound or southbound ramps because that corridor is going be separated by barrier walls,” warned Oscar Gonzales of the Florida Department of Transportation.

FDOT officials said the change is likely to further tangle traffic at the busy junction.

C- CBS4: Life in South Florida.

HIALEAH (CBS4) – Miami-Dade Police have arrested a driver they say hit the woman in her 60s and kept going.

Hialeah police said at least 4 people were inside the white Toyota Corolla and that after hitting the woman 7th Sreet, they drove to Hialeah and pulled over in parking lot of the Banco Popular at 1640 W. 49th Street.

D- NBC Miami: Video, Braco returns.

People gathered in a crowded room at the convention center, some in wheelchairs and others carrying pictures of loved ones. They were to spend about seven minutes in the presence of Braco’s gaze.

“People experience a feeling in the gazing session that they walk out the door with, a feeling of joy or a connection to happiness, ” said Angelika Whitecliff, who has written a book about the healer.

Some were moved to tears. Others moved to speak. A man in the audience held up a picture of his 10-month-old son and thanked Braco for saving the child from open heart surgery.

E- WSVN: Miami gets its own Water Taxi.

The Miami Water Taxi is hitting the water and providing roundtrip service to some of South Florida's hottest spots.

Max Vlessing came up with the idea after noticing where people in South Florida frequently traveled. "I looked around the city and studied it to see where people would go," he said.

The taxi's home is Bayside, but it makes regular stops at the Miami Beach Marina, the Sea Isle Marina, Bijan's on the River and Finnegans on the River.

Passengers can get on board or off at any of the five locations, and soon there will be more. Plans are underway to expand to include Coconut Grove and Virginia Key. "I think there are even more locations we can go to including Indian Creek for hotels and tourists there," said Vlessing.

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

Believe it or not, we're into the last days of February already. March is just around the corner. Enjoy your morning Sift.

A- In Miami, it's all about the sex, according to Miami Beach 411.

It’s hard not to feel sexy when you’re in Miami. When everyone is wearing less than they should – and perpetually checking each other out - it produces perpetual sexual tension. And while on vacation, even those who don’t usually feel sexy all of a sudden want to get drunk and dance the samba with a stranger. So it should be no surprise that sex on vacation in Miami is part of the travel experience. The city puts a sex spell on you that’s hard to resist. And infinitely more fun when you don’t.

B- Justice Building Blog says that one thing that defense attorneys are charged with is keeping innocent people from confessing.

We now know that innocent people confess to horrible crimes. The science is there to back up the accusation. But we as criminal practitioners do with that knowledge and empirical data is up to us. We can moan about the unfairness of it all, or we can fight back. How? Create a lecture and offer to give it to a judicial conference. Write articles and offer them to judicial and prosecutorial publications. start a dialogue. Be persuasive. Do our job.

C- Obalesque finds some prime candidates for the Republican Party.



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Your Evening Sift

Damn, this weekend went way too fast. Here's your evening Sift, readers.

A- Republicans have finally gotten around to hating on JFK...at The Reid Report.

Santorum not only takes Kennedy out of context, he is advocating something far different than what the constitution calls for. He not only wants religion “in the public square,” he wants its tenets to rule the lives of fellow Americans, provided that the religious principles used to rule over us are Rick Santorum’s.

B- South Florida Food and Wine spends a few minutes with South Floridian Max Hardy who is a personal chef to celebrities.

South Florida Food and Wine: You’ve got quite a high profile client list but I’m sure there is still a person or two you would like to cook for; who is it and why?
Max Hardy: First, President Barack Obama, I would love to pick his brain on how food impacts his life and world. I think it would be great to know his favorite foods and cook them for him. Secondly, Dr. Maya Angelou, I heard she had a cooking job to support her family earlier in her life. Would like to cook her favorite recipe and wouldn’t mind being her sous chef. I would also like to know how cooking a family tradition was and values in the African American culture to her.

C- As part of his Old School Sundays feature, The305.Com posts a photo of Flagler Street during the 1910's.

D- South Florida Guy shares some impressions and images from yesterday's 75th Annual Orange Blossom Parade in Davie.

In typical Davie parade style, this one was long. About two hours and two miles long. Not so typical, there were no large gaps in the parade. When you mix monster mud trucks and racing motorcycles with itty bitty tiny baton twirlers, you sometimes have a parade flow problem. Not this year. The organizers should get a huge round of applause for keeping this gigantic parade on track.

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SFDB Cool Of The Day

Jeep Action Camper

Full story and lots more photos here.



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Going To College Is For Snobs

Not only does Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum think that birth control is dangerous, he also believes that urging Americans to strive for a college education is "snobbery. Listen...






If Republicans had their way, no one would go to college, no one would use birth control [or have an abortion or get government assistance for their huge families] and no one other than rich, white guys would be President.

And everyone would watch Fox News, attend Catholic Church [and hate Muslims] and stop "choosing" to live a "gay lifestyle."

It could be such a perfect world.


[As a sidenote, did you note the composition of the audience in the above video? Did you notice anything missing? Yep, so did I.]



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The Holier Than Thou

As the Catholic Church and their acolytes continue to lecture us heathens about our attacks on religion and our "secular totalitarianism," it's important to note the mettle of those wagging their fingers and issuing these sanctimonious assaults.

This weekend from Philly.com...

Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua ordered aides to shred a 1994 memo that identified 35 Archdiocese of Philadelphia priests suspected of sexually abusing children, according to a new court filing.

The order, outlined in a handwritten note locked away for years at the archdiocese's Center City offices, was disclosed Friday by lawyers for Msgr. William J. Lynn, the former church administrator facing trial next month.

They say the shredding directive proves what Lynn has long claimed: that a church conspiracy to conceal clergy sex abuse was orchestrated at levels far above him.

No doubt they're all taking communion today.



-image via Philospher's Haze



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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

We're off to a wet and blustery start, at least up here in Broward. Hope you have some flexible plans today that include something listed in the SFDB Weekend Widget in the right sidebar. Enjoy your morning Sift.

A- Coconut Grove Grapevine shares some photos taken at the Lake Worth Street Painting Festival.

B- Searching for Signs finds a new term on the internet for the Obama Administration's attempt to insure that all women have contraceptive care in the United States: "secularlist totalitarianism."

C- Artlurker discusses the presentation and thinking behind Funner Projects' recent exhibition in Miami.

Funner Projects like Maintain Right offer accessibility through absurdity – a kind of new democracy in the consumption of contemporary art. Rather than come up with a pretentious conceptual challenge under the banner of ‘institutional critique’ these guys go for a ‘less pretense is more’ attitude that proves to be more effective amongst the incessantly growing art walk crowd. Often relying on humor to lower their audiences’ defenses and creating a balanced environment between the experienced and novice art goers. The crowds at the Maintain Right performances during Art Basel Miami Beach week varied from affluent collectors and museum curators to young hipsters just “checking it out.” What made this phenomenon more intriguing than any other random art walk was that it actually had these heterogeneous art crowds stick around for more than one performance.

D- Bark Bark Woof Woof is one lucky ducky this weekend.

Today is the 6th annual Boca Raton Concours d'Elegance. It's a three-day affair with cars, parties, and dinners with celebrities at prices that represent a substantial portion of my annual income. But I get to attend for free because, as I have for the last five years, I am judging the cars for the awards.

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SFDB Saturday Night Turndown Service

Everything But The Girl, Before Today



-inspired by @ipanemic




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Your Evening Sift

Just when you were beginning to think there wasn't going to be an evening Sift, here it is. Stand by for a nice Turndown Service.

A- The swamp is beginning its transition to greener times, according to Go Hydrology!, who offers some photographic evidence of same.

B- Some Blogging Guy visits a Miami-Dade cemetery and comes away with some observations.

I imagine since the majority of people in the cemetery died long before computers, the records are kept in books, logs or index cards. Who knows. To computerize the entire place would be expensive, and no doubt not good business.

C- Ipanemic has been sick...really sick.

I don’t recall when the last time was that a sickness took me down so completely. To put it in terms relative to me: I typically sleep between three to five hours a night. Prior to last night, I would say me being awake three to five hours a day during that three-day cycle did not happen. And while seemingly irrelevant, I typically make and drink about three to four pots of coffee a day. The thought of brewing coffee barely registered with me. I brewed the first pot since Tuesday last night after 11pm.

D- Searching for Normalcy goes for a ghost tour through the Grove.

Across the street from the playhouse is a limestone wall that backs some private residences, and there is a story about a ghost that hangs out on the sidewalk and leans against the wall. He is said to sometimes show up in pictures. Do you see him?? Yeah, me neither.

E- Critical Mass photos are up at Beached Miami.

F- Miami Beach's MLT is "what heaven is all about," says Jeff Eats.

...I had a philly cheesesteak sub (rib eye, grilled onions, Cheez Whiz) which was right up there with the best that I can ever recall eating. I also “tried” a grilled cheese sandwich (American cheese/bacon/fried egg on egg challah) that was absolutely off the chart.

G- Eye on Miami files a brief report from last night's Make Art Not Casinos event in Wynwood.


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SFDB Cool Of The Day

Porsche 911 Targa 4S

-via Fancy



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Dreaming Of a Fair Shot

Two DREAMers [pictured below] write a letter to the Florida Senator Who Pretended To Be An Exile...

We don't need any more flowery speeches about your immigrant family or about the “tone” of the immigration debate. As the Arizona primary puts the national focus back on Latinos, we need you to support policies that will actually do something to give hard-working, well-intentioned immigrants a path out of the shadows of undocumented status, and toward becoming fully contributing and recognized members of American society. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Earlier this year, you said that “when politicians and political figures speak about the issue of migration, they’re not just talking about a legal issue. They’re speaking about the real lives of real people that so many of us love and care for.”

We heard you say that and we've heard your personal story, which is why we cannot understand your refusal to support the DREAM Act, or your insistence on supporting of one of the most anti-immigrant, anti-Latino pieces of legislation in the country, Arizona's SB-1070. We seek the same opportunity provided to you and your parents. No more. No less.

Like your parents, our parents came here to make a better life for their children. We did not choose to come here. We, too, are forever grateful for our new home country – the United States – and for the opportunities that we now have to work hard toward a better future. We are as American as your parents or as you are, Senator Rubio. Why don't you support us?

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And We Have The Everglades

How anyone can spend their entire lives in this flat land of concrete and palm trees, I'll never understand...

Take a journey through the wilderness in the heart of the American Southwest - Eastern Sierras, Grand Canyon, Upper and Lower Antelope Canyons, Rattlesnake Canyon, Vermillion Cliffs, North Coyote Buttes, the Wave, Yosemite National Park, Monument Valley, Grand Staircase Escalante and the December 2011 Lunar Eclipse.

Film by Henry Jun Wah Lee, Evosia Studios

link



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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

It was a slow Friday night in the South Florida blogosphere although you gotta hand it to the Burger Beast for getting a post up on last night's Burger Bash up so quickly. Enjoy your morning Sift and don't forget to check out the SFDB Weekend Widget in the right sidebar.

A- The Burger Beast recaps last night's Burger Bash at the South Beach Wine & Food Festival.

The night ended with the announcement of the winners for Best Dressed Burger: Guy Fieri, Judge’s Favorite: Whisk and now 3 Time People’s Choice Winner: B-Spot by Michael Symon. What can I tell you, celebrity sells and it doesn’t hurt that the burger is good too.

B- Sex and the Beach provides another installment in her new "Miami Captured' Feature.



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Your Evening Sift

Blogging to you live from the South Beach Wine & Food Festival...okay, not really. But I always wanted to say that. Maybe next year. Make sure you check out your SFDB Weekend Widget in the right sidebar. I've added a few more items. Enjoy your Friday evening Sift.

A- Redland Rambles shows us what we can expect from Week 12 of their CSA shares.

B- Carlos Miller wonders if the Miami Herald's article about his recent arrest is biased.

I also explained that I was acquitted in my 2009 arrest when the cop failed to show up to court on two occasions. I also told her that even though I was initially charged with disorder intoxication, the state attorney's office switched it to resisting arrest because they had no evidence that I was drunk.

Despite all this, [the Miami Herald reporter] wrote “the outcome of all these cases is unknown.”

C- It's possible to use dogs to hunt down pythons in the Everglades, according to the latest from Salty Eggs.

It would cost about $75,000 a year to run an on-site program with one dog and one full-time trainer-handler making sweeps of the swamp alongside experienced snake trappers and biologists. The estimate comes from the Auburn University team that managed the study and pilot project.

D- Annush on the Causeway describes her healthy eating habits...except for cheese.

I worry a lot about both my health and Hugh’s for different reasons. Because I believe that health can be overhauled by diet, over the past year I have tried to make sure that our diet is mostly plant-based (we live pescetarian), organic, seasonal, and local. Not only that, but it is very rare that we eat anything that hasn’t been cooked/baked by me.

E- Transit Miami demonstrates just how pedestrian unfriendly Coral Way can be.

This is a classic example of how the FDOT diminishes value from an urban neighborhood by their arcane, auto-centric design standards, and stubborn adherence to them. Coral Way has all the makings of a vibrant, walkable neighborhood – a healthy mix of medium-density residential and commercial buildings that interact well with the street, including offices, restaurants and shops, beautiful shade trees and room for on-street parking.

F- Metrorail commentary at Sex and the Beach.

I've taken it upon myself to use a lot more Miami-Dade and South Florida public transportation lately. And with that extra time on my hands, of course Instagram and its friendly street photography capability keeps me entertained.

G- Random Pixels links to a Jose Lambiet column that details the Coral Gables police Chief's long commute to work each day in a city vehicle.

H- Coconut Grove Grapevine shares some thoughts on the concerns of a food truck rally in the Grove.

So if food trucks were to come in once a month, say, why wouldn't people still eat at their favorite restaurant? I know that one concern is the bathrooms, one restaurant owner asked where people would go to the bathroom if food trucks were permitted in. I find this to be an interesting question, because it sort of assumes that there would be so many people that that would be a problem.

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Friday Flashback

There are going to be some changes around the SFDB HQ this weekend. I'll leave it to your imagination...


1970




Our house is a very, very fine house
With two cats in the yard
Life used to be so hard
Now everything is easy
'Cause of you

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Our House




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Photo Accessory Idea For Carlos Miller

I'm thinking Carlos would last maybe 10 seconds after he whipped out this "point and shoot" ...

Leica Telephoto Assembly Rifle

-via Fancy




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More Of This, Please

From Obama's speech at UM yesterday...






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SFDB Culinary Adventure Of The Day

Apple Pie

- via Fancy




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The Cooler

No, you won't see anything about Chris Brown in this morning's Cooler. Enjoy.

A- Sun-Sentinel: Someone named Lin got owned last night in Miami.

Amid a playoff atmosphere at AmericanAirlines Arena, the Miami Heat motored into the All-Star break with a 102-88 victory Thursday night over the New York Knicks.

B- Sun-Sentinel: It's about time someone took over that space on Las Olas.

The upscale Beijing cuisine-style restaurant chain, Philippe, will continue to expand in South Florida even as a federal jury in Miami found that in one instance the owners engaged in false advertising.

Philippe CEO Stratis Morfogen confirmed Thursday that he would open a third South Florida location on Las Olas Boulevard at the site of the former Jackson's 450 steakhouse.

C- Sun-Sentinel: Chan Lowe.

D- NBC Miami: And the alligators are sad.

Authorities rescued four teens on a canoe trip in the Everglades early Thursday.

At 3:30 a.m., Miami-Dade Fire Rescue responded to a report of two teens who went missing on a canoeing truck. The department's air rescue was dispatched and found them with two more teenage girls.The two girls had been invited on the trip, authorities said.

All four people were rescued uninjured.

E- WSVN: This is news?

NORTHEAST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) -- A man is fuming after his iPad was stolen at a South Florida mall.

The victim left his iPad on the counter of a store at the 163rd Street Mall as he was making a purchase.

F- WPTV: Yeah, he went to jail.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Lyle Dalgin tried to use his head as a battering ram, told police he'd bite off their ears and would demonstrate how a "street veteran" does things.

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Your Morning Sift

Good morning.

And here we are. TGIF, readers. I added a couple more items to the SFDB Weekend Widget in the right sidebar this morning so don't forget to check it out. Have a great morning and enjoy your morning Sift.

A- Is Jean Paul's House "a diamond in the rough?" The Chowfather seems to think so.

In a nutshell, this was a very nice first meal in a very inviting setting that showed a lot of promise. Everything was prepared with a light touch that allowed the ingredients to standout on their own. Prices are reasonable and I look forward to working my way through the rest of the menu especially the crudos.

B- Almost two dozen new photos are up at The Street.

C- There are apparently some people in South Florida who really want Peyton Manning to come to Miami to play football...at The305.Com.

D- Bark Bark Woof Woof discusses the significance of Marco Rubio's brief stint as a Mormon.

Mr. Rubio has enough baggage, including his somewhat interesting financial history here in Florida as well as his embellished story about his family's emigration from Cuba, that he doesn't need a revelation about his faith to make him problematic in the eyes of some political strategists. On the other hand, playing fast and loose with other peoples' money and fudging his history to make him more appealing to hard-liners gets high marks on the GOP hypocrisy meter. All he needs is an ex-wife that he dumped when she was in the hospital to hit the trifecta.

E- Eye on Miami gives Discourse a shout out.



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Your Evening Sift

The SFDB Weekend Widget is going great guns in the right sidebar. I can almost smell the weekend. Here's your evening Sift.

A- If it's Thursday then it's time to check out what is happening in theater this weekend, at South Florida Theatre Scene.

B- Discourse's complaining about lack of faculty tickets to Obama's UM appearance this afternoon apparently paid off as he has a whole slew of posts related to today's speech.

It’s good to be press. While hundreds of students sweltered in a long snaking line waiting patiently and by all appearances cheerfully to clear security, the press go round the side and have their own dedicated friskers. I was in in five minutes flat.

C- Go Hydrology! graphically shows us rainfall amounts in South Florida for the past 30 days.

D- Jer-Z Boys restaurant in Lauderhill is a winner, according to Jeff Eats.

Now, that I got “that” out of the way—I absolutely loved Jer-Z Boys. I thought that the grilled cheeseburger and french fries were right up there with best of breed. Unlike many of the other players out there, Jer-Z Boys’ menu isn’t limited to just burgers and fries…the joint also has Nathan’s hot dogs, sausage subs, chicken and pork sandwiches, salads.

E- Southern District of Florida Blog provides the Federal response to the State of Florida's proposed drug testing of State employees.

F- Shorter Worst Pizza...

I am not used to being rejected.

G- Arterpillar shares a smattering of local art blog posts, videos and Flickr links for you, including one of a recent Suenalo performance.

H- Burger Beast says that El Palacio De Los Jugos is the "real Miami."

The real reason to come to El Palacio De Los Jugos is Pork. It’s served in a bunch of different forms including Pan con Lechon (Pork Sandwich) BUT…the Chicharrones are where it’s at. If you’ve never had Pork Rinds in this form then you’re missing out but the reality of the situation is if you have these Chicharrones you will always crave these and only these.

I- Eater Miami interrogates Sergio Sigala of Cecconi's at Soho Beach House.

J- Salty Eggs provides their take on last night's Republican debate.

All these questions kept returning to my head as I watched last night’s debate. Especially the last one. Some of the rhetoric, especially that which got the greatest applause, seemed to be crafted for a particular subset of Republican voters that, while significant in primaries, represents a small minority of the American populace, one whose Neanderthal worldview will not capture a great deal of votes outside its own, weird bloc come November.

K- Some Blogging Guy makes the argument for cheap sunglasses.





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SFDB's Name That Spot #29

Name That Spot is a periodic feature in which SFDB readers attempt to identify the South Florida location of the photo that is displayed.

Name the restaurant where you'll find this neon sign.

Past winners include Karendipitee, Superbee, C.L.J.[2], Miami Bike Scene, CultureDesigners, Gretchen, Balou[3], Gus, brwass, smedvin, Michael Kain, The Chowfather, Lori, CB[2], South Florida Food and Wine, Whack-A-Mole[2] and Alex de Carvalho[2]. There's been four Stumpers and one identified by "Anonymous."



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Last Night's Debate In 100 Seconds

In case you missed it...





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Drill Here. Drill Now. Help The Oil Companies Make More.

With gas prices rising, there's going to be a lot of talk about why they're going up. Remember last time this happened, Republicans had all the solutions and the cute little sayings to go with them.

From 2008...




 And so...

The United States' rapidly declining crude oil supply has made a stunning about-face, shredding federal oil projections and putting energy independence in sight of some analyst forecasts.

After declining to levels not seen since the 1940s, U.S. crude production began rising again in 2009. Drilling rigs have rushed into the nation's oil fields, suggesting a surge in domestic crude is on the horizon.

The number of rigs in U.S. oil fields has more than quad­rupled in the past three years to 1,272, according to the Baker Hughes rig count. Including those in natural gas fields, the United States now has more rigs at work than the entire rest of the world.

And still, prices are going up.

Hmmm. Just another great idea from the political party that is chock full of them...if you're an oil company.



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SFDB Morning Chuckle

From 1981 comes this San Francisco TV news report about amazing online newspapers...



Highlights...

:38...phone modem to connect.

1:05..."We're not in it to make money, we're probably not going to lose a lot..."

1:34..."Owns home computer."

1:59..."Engineers predict that the day will come when we get all our newspapers and magazines by computer, but that's a few years off."

2:04..."So for the moment at least, this fellow [pictured newspaper vendor] isn't worried about being out of a job."


If only they knew...




-via 10,000 Words


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The Cooler

Here's a sampling of the new that is out there this morning.

A- Sun-Sentinel: Creep.

Federal agents are investigating Florida House Rep. Richard L. Steinberg, D-Miami Beach, for sending a series of suggestive and harassing text messages to a married Miami female prosecutor, court records show.

The dozens of messages, sent over the course of more than three months last fall, were sent from a phone that used software to disguise the number. The victim, Assistant U.S. Attorney Marlene Fernandez-Karavetsos, repeatedly begged the anonymous texter to leave her alone.

WhenU.S. Secret Serviceinvestigators traced the Yahoo! screen name, "itsjustme24680," it led to a phone and home Internet account registered to Steinberg, a former Miami Beach commissioner whom Fernandez-Karavetsos knew only through professional circles.

B- Sun-Sentinel: Because shopping is a pleasure.

Lakeland-based Publix tops the ranking of 12 major grocers, based on a score of 84 out of 100. The Southeast regional supermarket chain has been rated the top grocery chain since 1995, according ACSI, an affiliate of the University of Michigan.

Whole Foods, an upscale organic grocery chain, ranked second with a score of 80. It was first measured by the index in 2007. Walmart dropped 3 percent this year in the rankings with a score of 69 in the supermarket category, the release said. It remains dead last among all grocery retailers.

C- Sun-Sentinel: Need a job?

ORLANDO— A new survey shows Florida is expected to have 15,000 vacancies for registered nurses during 2012.

D- Palm Beach Post: Life in South Florida.

WEST PALM BEACH — A 13-year-old boy was shot at least three times this afternoon while riding his bicycle near the Palm Tran bus service headquarters, a police spokesman said.

The teen was taken to St. Mary's Medical Center with "significant life-threatening injuries," said Allan Ortman, a West Palm Beach police spokesman.

E- South Florida Business Journal: Saving for that BMW or Mercedes.

When it comes to saving money, Miamians are cashing in more coupons, according to the 2011 Most Frugal Cities list compiled by Coupons.com.

Miami ranked 12th in the nation, moving up from 13th the previous year.

F- Miami Today: More building ads...to help the poor.

The Miami-Dade County Commission is to hear March 3 a proposal to expand the boundaries of the City of Miami Urban Core, thus enlarging the area that permits large-scale commercial building wall murals.

[...]

Laverne Holiday, assistant director of Curley's House of Style, a local 501(c)3 that caters to low- to moderate-income individuals and families, supported the mural zone expansion, telling commissioners fees the city collects from each mural would provide local non-profits with funds to support and improve services.

"We have first-hand experience… working with the poor," she said. "I believe that this community has some poor, and murals will bring revenue that will allow us to keep property costs down for property owners and will allow the property owners to upgrade their properties and make capital improvements that are greatly needed."

G- WPTV: Worst Pizza parlor owner.

VERO BEACH, Fla. — A pizza shop owner threatened to shoot a former part-time employee earlier this month, according to a Vero Beach police report.

[...]

The part-timer told police Gugliemelli was upset that someone at the business had contacted his mistress, the affidavit states. The employee, who was hired in December, denied having anything to do with the matter, but said Gugliemelli suspected her of making the call, she told police.

The employee said after the restaurant closed Feb. 10, Gugliemelli placed a black handgun on the counter as he counted tips. As she left the business, she said she saw her boss pointing the gun at her through a reflection in the glass.

"Now that you've got your back toward me, I can shoot you from behind," Gugliemelli told the woman, according to the affidavit.

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