Random Pixels and Loose Talk

Is this really a good idea?

2012-02-14T21:08:00.006-05:00

Click to enlarge.

The Miami Beach Police Department is struggling to repair its battered image.

Remember the wild west shoot-out last Memorial Day weekend? And who can forget the two cops who decided it would be a great idea to crash a July 4th weekend bachelorette party at the Clevelander....while they were on duty and in uniform?

It will be years before the MBPD can undo the damage caused by those two incidents.

So, you'd think those in charge at the department would be careful about doing anything that might give the impression that they're not serious about making changes.

Guess again!

This weekend, some folks at the police department have invited South Beach residents to what they are calling a "Meet and Greet 'get together' with your Sector 3 MBPD police officers!" Refreshments and appetizers provided!

And where is this "meet and greet" taking place? At a conference room at the police department? Of course not!

Someone in charge decided it would be a good idea for cops and the citizens they serve to mingle at the Finnegan's Way Sports Bar on Ocean Drive.

Yeah, Ocean Drive...where the world comes to get sh*t-faced!

But, just because a couple of knucklehead cops couldn't hold their booze... that's no reason to keep the rest of the police force from enjoying some....."refreshments and appetizers" with the good citizens of South Beach. Right?

Something tells me this is not going to end well.

Man Steals Rolex Watch at Ft. Lauderdale Airport Security Checkpoint

2012-02-14T15:46:00.000-05:00

Guy steals a watch from a bin at a TSA checkpoint at Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport back on Jan. 18. For some unexplained reason the Broward Sheriff's Office is just now getting around to releasing the surveillance video, (above).

From CBS Miami:

A watch thief with an impeccable sense of timing stole an expensive Rolex from woman at Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

Last month, Gloria de Regalado was just following the rules like everyone one else when she placed all her belongings in a plastic bin as she went through a Transportation Security Administration checkpoint in Terminal 3.

Regalado said about half an hour later when she went to look at her watch to check the time she found that her $6,500 Rolex was gone. Panicked, she suddenly realized that she had left it in the security bin. Regalado rushed back to the checkpoint, but her watch was nowhere to be found.

Happy birthday to us!

2012-02-13T14:09:00.003-05:00

Four years ago next month I started this blog.

I never thought for a minute that it would last for four months, let alone four years.

It's been a wild ride. More than a few people in South Florida stop by on a regular basis. And some of those have singled my little blog out for recognition.

I've broken a few important stories along the way; and I'm proud to say that I played a small part in taking down a certain county mayor.

At this point I suppose could reminisce a bit and write something about which one of the posts on Random Pixels had the most page views or what operating system or browser my readers use. But, how freaking boring would that be?

Instead, I decided to draw some inspiration from an Internet meme that's been making the rounds and put together a little graphic that might better explain how I see my blog and how it's viewed by others.

Click to enlarge.

Miami police officer Fausto Lopez is a serial lawbreaker

2012-02-12T22:39:00.008-05:00

Click to enlarge.

Last Oct. 11, Miami police officer Fausto Lopez was chased, stopped, ordered out of his police car at gunpoint and handcuffed by a Florida Highway Patrol trooper after she clocked him doing speeds in excess of 120 miles per hour on the Florida Turnpike.

His lawyer, William Matthewman, said Lopez is innocent.

The traffic stop was all just "a simple misunderstanding that has been blown out of proportion," said Matthewman.

However, South Florida Sun-Sentinel reporters Sally Kestin and John Maines have unearthed some information that contradicts Matthewman's claim.

In Sunday's paper, Kestin and Maines report:

The cop clocked at 120 mph on Florida's Turnpike last fall offered the trooper a familiar explanation: He was late for work.

Miami Police Officer Fausto Lopez was often in a hurry, a Sun Sentinel investigation found. Commuting from his home in Coconut Creek to Miami, he routinely blew through Broward County at speeds law-abiding citizens can only dream of driving.

In the year before his Oct. 11 traffic stop, Lopez averaged at least 90 mph on 237 days.

He hit speeds of 100 mph or higher on 114 days, an analysis of SunPass transponder records shows.

Lopez, 36,stood out as the most frequent speeder of all the cops whose toll records were examined by the Sun Sentinel.

His attorney, William Matthewman, of Coral Springs, said he would have to verify the analysis before commenting.

“Officer Fausto Lopez is a good driver,'' he said.

“Certainly, he at no time has put any member of the public in any type of danger.''

The revelations about Lopez's speeding habits are part of a series of stories on the danger speeding cops pose to the public they serve.

In Sunday's paper, Kestin and Maines reported that....

A three-month Sun Sentinel investigation found almost 800 cops from a dozen agencies driving 90 to 130 mph on our highways.

Many weren't even on duty — they were commuting to and from work in their take-home patrol cars.

The extent of the problem uncovered by the newspaper shocked South Florida's police brass. All the agencies started internal investigations.

"Excessive speed," Margate Police Chief Jerry Blough warned his officers, is a "blatant violation of public trust."

The evidence came from police SunPass toll records. The Sun Sentinel obtained a year's worth, hit the highways with a GPS device and figured out how fast the cops were driving based on the distance and time it took to go from one toll plaza to the next.

Speeding cops can kill. Since 2004, Florida officers exceeding the speed limit have caused at least 320 crashes and 19 deaths. Only one officer went to jail — for 60 days.

A cop with a history of on-the-job wrecks smashed into South Florida college student Erskin Bell Jr. as he waited at a red light in Central Florida three years ago, hitting him at 104 mph. Bell is now severely brain-damaged.

"Every day, you pray for a miracle,'' said his father, Erskin Bell Sr. "Had this officer's behavior been dealt with, maybe he would not have run into our son.''

Law enforcement officers have been notoriously reluctant to stop their own for speeding, and the criminal justice system has proven no tougher at punishing lead-foot cops, records show.

That sense of impunity infuriates many Floridians. Those concerns erupted in October, when a state trooper clocked Miami Police Officer Fausto Lopez driving 120 mph through Broward County on his way to a moonlighting job.

"They think that they have carte blanche. Who's going to catch them? Who's going to do anything about it?" said state Sen. Steve Oelrich, a Gainesville Republican and former sheriff.

"Something needs to be done."

In Monday's paper, Kestin and Maines report that "21 people have been killed or maimed in Florida by speeding cops since 2004." Kestin and Maines also found...

• Many officers were not racing to a crime scene — they were responding to routine calls, speeding for no valid reason or just rushing to work.

• Speeding cops are often spared severe punishment in the criminal justice system. Cops found at fault for fatal wrecks caused by speeding have faced consequences ranging from no criminal charges to a maximum of 60 days in jail.

• Inside many police agencies, speeding isn't taken seriously until it results in tragedy. Even then, some cops are disciplined but stay on the job — and the road.

• The dead include seven police officers who crashed at speeds up to 61 mph over the legal limit.

Saturday Night Live parodies Clint Eastwood/Chrysler ad

2012-02-12T11:57:00.000-05:00

Saturday Night Live parodies the Clint Eastwood/Chrysler Super Bowl ad in three parts.

The 'Amazing' Underwater Dog Photography of Seth Casteel

2012-02-11T13:41:00.003-05:00

The word "amazing" is so overused today that it's almost lost its meaning.

But, yesterday when I saw a series of underwater dog photos taken by Los Angeles photographer Seth Casteel, "amazing" was the only word that I could come up with to adequately describe the pictures.

Click to enlarge.

See more of Seth's work at his Facebook page...

...and his website, Little Friends Photo.

-Thanks to Tamara for the heads up.

Random Pixels presents: Pictures that need no captions

2012-02-11T10:32:00.000-05:00

-Spotted by a friend on Miami Beach Friday.

h/t: RS

Michael Putney's 'Liberty City' commentary sparks outrage

2012-02-11T00:02:00.005-05:00

Putney

Last Sunday, Channel 10's Michael Putney ended his show with a commentary that combined old-fashioned common sense with a healthy dose of harsh reality aimed squarely at Miami City Hall and the residents ZIP code 33127, otherwise known as Liberty City.

Putney blasted Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado and Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones for approving a plan that will waste some $428,000 in taxpayer money fixing up four small businesses along NW 7th Avenue.

Putney didn't pull any punches as he spoke frankly about the problems that have plagued Liberty City for decades. It's the kind of talk that's long overdue and the kind that residents of Liberty City don't often hear...at least not from their elected leaders.

In his 35 years as a journalist in Miami, Putney has seen hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars - the equivalent of the Gross National Product of several Central American banana republics - funneled into Liberty City on do-good, feel-good projects that have yielded little or no benefit to the area's residents.

After the McDuffie riots in 1980, hundreds of millions of dollars poured into Liberty City for promised "improvements." Besides widening 62nd Street, there's not a lot to show for that money. Each layer of government took its cut and so did some unscrupulous community organizers and politicians, black and white.

Putney expanded upon his Sunday commentary with a column in Wednesday's Miami Herald:

There are restrictions on how CDBG money can be spent, but if it were up to me I’d use that $428,000 to train Liberty City residents in job skills so they could go to work at the nearby UM Life Science and Technology Park.

Or for training to get a job at Resorts World Miami.

Or spend it on after-school tutoring and other programs for Liberty City school kids.

Reaction was swift. Liberty City residents called a press conference Friday to denounce Putney.

Leroy Jones of something called the "Neighbors and Neighbors Association" labeled Putney's commentary, "bigotry toward the residents of Liberty City."

Jones told Channel 10 reporter Jeff Weinsier the $428,000 would "improve the morale" of residents and make Liberty City an attractive place "so that people who don't live in Liberty City might want to come here with their money."

Ironically, as Weinsier's piece aired tonight on Channel 10's 6pm newscast, Miami police were investigating the second drive-by shooting in as many days in Liberty City.

Putney ended his Herald column with this sentence: "To spend this money renovating the facades of four Northwest Seventh Avenue businesses is a cosmetic fix for a systemic problem. It’s worse than putting lipstick on a pig. It’s putting a useless Band-aid on a festering wound."

Putney's right. It's going to take more than paint, new signs and awnings to attract people with money to Liberty City.

And I'll add - are you listening Leroy Jones? - that Liberty City will become a whole lot more attractive to outsiders when the shooting stops. Just sayin'.

Marco Rubio: still telling stale jokes

2012-02-10T17:41:00.003-05:00

As he addressed the Conservative Political Action Conference, Marco Rubio stood by a teleprompter while he ribbed President Obama about using a Teleprompter. Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times

The photo above is from a Feb. 2010 post on the New York Times political blog.

Back then, the Times' Adam Nagourney wrote,

[Rubio] offered a riff on why it was such a good thing that Washington was shut down by a snowstorm last week. “And the president couldn’t find anywhere to set up a teleprompter to announce new taxes,” he said to laughter.

(There's a nice compilation Rubio and other Republicans telling their 2010 CPAC teleprompter jokes by on YouTube.)

Fast forward two years. The Conservative Political Action Conference is again taking place in Washington.

And they're still telling the same, stale jokes.

Yesterday, Rubio spoke to the CPAC gathering - and wouldn't you know it - The Republican Boy Wonder Son of Exiles opened with another knee slapping, Obama teleprompter joke. (Video here.)

Standing at the podium before two teleprompters, Rubio unfolded a piece of paper and said, "So, I wrote a little speech here..I brought it. I apologize. You know it's hard to get a teleprompter in this town. There's a guy who uses a lot of them." Yuck, yuck!

Question for Senator Rubio: How can you be trusted trust you to come up with new ideas for running the country when you can't even come up with a fresh joke after two years?

You read it here first

2012-02-09T18:53:00.000-05:00

Thanks to the Miami Herald's David Smiley for the shout out in his story on Miami Beach's search for a new police chief.

Click to enlarge.

Search for new Miami Beach police chief narrowed to four [UPDATE x1]

2012-02-08T20:05:00.001-05:00

UPDATED: The Miami Herald's David Smiley Tweets "city's HR director told me tonight list still at 12."

Call it the Final Four.

Miami Beach is one step closer to hiring a new top cop for its embattled police department.

Random Pixels has learned that there are four finalists in contention to be Miami Beach's next police chief.

Two panels interviewed a slate of 11 candidates this week and selected four to go on to the next stage of the selection process.

They are:

Frank G. Fernandez, former deputy chief under Chief John Timoney

Thomas Hunker, Bal Harbour Police Chief

Mark Overton, Hialeah Police Chief

Raymond Martinez, Miami Beach Police Asst. Police Chief who is now acting Miami Beach Police Chief

The four finalists will now meet with a third selection panel whose members include Miami-Dade Police Director James Loftus, Miami Beach attorney Victor Diaz, Hugo Barrera, Special Agent in Charge of the Miami office of Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Jose Smith, Miami Beach City Attorney.

The panel is scheduled to interview the four on Feb. 22 and send their recommendation to Miami Beach City Manager Jorge Gonzalez.

Miami Police announce DUI checkpoint in Overtown

2012-02-08T12:01:00.000-05:00

From the Miami Police Department:

MIAMI POLICE DUI CHECKPOINT

The Miami Police Department will be conducting a Multi-Agency DUI checkpoint and Saturation Patrol on Thursday, February 9, 2012 at NW 3 Avenue & 14 Street. This checkpoint will take place in the City of Miami’s Overtown NET Service area. The checkpoint will be conducted during the hours of 6:00 PM – 11:00 PM.

The goal of this checkpoint is to identify and apprehend impaired drivers before they can kill or injure others. The Miami Police Departments will show zero tolerance for motorists who violate Florida’s traffic laws. Miami Police officers will be on alert to apprehend motorists who are driving impaired and ticket those who are unbuckled.

This effort is in conjunction with the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over”, “Lets Eliminate Aggressive Driving” and the “Buckle Up Florida: Click It or Ticket” campaigns.

Members of the local media are invited and encouraged to support our effort by passing this information during their local news coverage. For additional information, please call (305) 603-6525 or visit http://www.nhtsa.gov/Impaired.

Officer Kenia Reyes
Public Information Office
400 NW 2 Avenue
Miami, Florida 33128

Stuff we like

2012-02-08T11:45:00.000-05:00

From the St. Petersburg/Clearwater Visitor's Bureau YouTube channel...

This video, taken recently off the coast of St. Pete Beach, shows dolphins keeping up with a guy who's "wake-surfing" behind a boat.

Newt Gingrich gets the Bad Lip Reading treatment

2012-02-07T17:45:00.001-05:00

He's starting to make sense, now.

Newt Gingrich discusses hairy chests, Rick James, frilly panties, and more — via Bad Lip Reading.

48 years ago today - the Beatles arrive in the U.S. - next stop Miami

2012-02-07T12:15:00.000-05:00

48 years ago today, on February 7, 1964, the Beatles landed in New York City.

Six days later they flew to Miami.

The Miami News, Feb. 14, 1964

Beatles clown around with Cassius Clay at the 5th Street Gym, Miami Beach. Miami News photo by Charles Trainor, Sr.

Newspaper Headline of the Year

2012-02-07T06:55:00.000-05:00

Front page image via The Newseum.

The headline writers at the New York Post have come up with another classic.

In case anyone's interested, I'm siding with Gisele. This is a woman who obviously understands the finer points of the game of football, unlike the wives of her husband's teammates.

“My husband cannot f**king throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time."

A veteran team staffer said: “Gisele may have had a point, but she should have left it to the sportswriters and other Monday morning quarterbacks. . . . She already is not liked by many players and their wives due to her arrogant attitude. . . . This sure won’t help improve things.”

Proof of that came from the wife of a Brady teammate who told me Monday, “Gisele has very few friends among the wives. Of course, many are jealous of her looks and all that, but she doesn’t make it easy to like her — since she obviously feels so superior to all of us.”

And the Random Pixels award for the most asinine statement of the week....

2012-02-06T18:52:00.002-05:00

...goes to Officer Michael Pons of the North Miami Beach Police Department.

Pons, is also the local representative for the International Union of Police Associations and he's upset that his employer is taking away his take-home police vehicle which will require him to drive to work in his own car.

The new money-saving policy affects about 89 North Miami beach cops according to a Miami Herald story.

For about five years, Officer Michael Pons of the North Miami Beach Police Department drove the same patrol vehicle to work from his home in Broward.

He drove about 56,000 miles in that time.

Pons believes the city has it all wrong. He told the Herald.....

...Officers reporting for their shifts will now be required to transfer equipment such as laptops and safety gear to the city vehicle. He said at the start of each shift, each car needs to be checked for things like tire pressure and oil levels.

Really, Michael? You check your police car's tire pressure and oil levels before the start of each shift? Cut the crap!

That is, quite possibly, the most asinine thing we've heard so far this year! You are a dumbass!

The way we were...'Black Sunday' - 1977

2012-02-06T10:27:00.000-05:00

A couple of clips from 1977's "Black Sunday," made right here in Miami and South Beach.

Michael Putney rips City of Miami for 'wasting' $428,000 in taxpayer money

2012-02-05T15:02:00.007-05:00

The City of Miami is getting ready to spend part of $428,000 in taxpayer money to 'renovate'
The Shantel Lounge in Liberty City

Local 10's Senior Political Reporter Michael Putney was checking his email last Friday when he noticed a "press release" [below] from the City of Miami.

Instead of hitting the "delete" key like they do in most TV newsrooms, Putney actually took the time to read the fine print.

On this morning's edition of "This Week in South Florida," Putney talked about what he found in that press release.

Before we leave you this morning, a personal perspective about wasting taxpayers' money to help a struggling neighborhood.

The neighborhood is Liberty City, a tough, [African American] community west of I-95 whose main streets are northwest 7th ave and 62nd street.

After the McDuffie riots in 1980, hundreds of millions of dollars poured into Liberty City for promised "improvements." Besides widening 62nd Street, there's not a lot to show for that money. Each layer of government took its cut and so did some unscrupulous community organizers and politicians, black and white.

Now, this week I got this "news release" [see below] from Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado and Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones saying that $428,000 dollars will be spent for a, quote, "commercial rehabilitation project" in Liberty City.

What does that mean? That the facades of four small businesses on Northwest 7th Avenue are going to be spruced up. In an "Afro-centric architectural style" whatever that means.

Could these businesses stand a fresh coat of paint and some new windows and awnings? I'm sure they could. But why are taxpayers footing the bill? And what long-range difference will it make to Liberty City? I'd say, not much.

Why not take that $428,000 dollars and spend on after-school tutoring, special programs for kids who attend schools in liberty city.... so that they'll have the intellectual and social skills to get the heck out of there if they can.

Spending this money to fix up four - just four, businesses - is absurd. Spend it where it will make a real difference.... in education.

Mayor Tomas Regalado and Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones Mark the Start of the NW 7th Avenue Commercial Rehabilitation Project in Liberty City

(Miami, FL February 3, 2012) -- City of Miami Mayor Tomas P. Regalado and Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones, District 5, will join Armando Fana, Miami Field Office Director, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the City’s Department of Community Development, the Board of Directors of Neighbors and Neighbors Association, Inc. (NANA), and several area business owners at Duhart’s Daycare Center on Monday, February 6, 2012, 10 a.m., at 5580 NW 7th Avenue, to mark the start of work on the Northwest Seventh Avenue Commercial Rehabilitation Project in Liberty City. The project encompasses the exterior rehabilitation of small businesses along the busy Seventh Avenue corridor, from Northwest 54th Street to Northwest 71st Street. The extensive façade project will be possible thanks to $428,545 in federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) dollars, provided via HUD.

Renovations to four businesses will include new windows and doors, fresh paint, stucco work, new signage, awnings and lighting, as well as the installation of protective shutters. The work will be handled in two phases and encompass several commercial buildings. Some of the small businesses to be renovated during the first phase include Duhart’s Daycare Center, Melanie’s Beauty and Barber Salon, Café NanKing Chinese Food, and Shantel’s Lounge. The facades will feature a contemporary Afro-centric architectural style by Design2Form Architecture. Work is being overseen by NANA, a not-for-profit corporation established in 1996 that specializes in assisting small business owners in low-income communities by providing technical assistance with community development projects, business improvement efforts and more.

Begun in 1974, the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program allots federal funding to more than 1,000 municipalities, including the City of Miami, for a variety of initiatives and activities that benefit low- and moderate-income persons. This program helps cities and counties create jobs, increase economic development opportunities, expand home ownership, and provide assistance to the neediest in our society.

WHO: City of Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado, Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones, District 5, HUD Miami Field Office Director Armando Fana, the City’s Department of Community Development, Board members of Neighbors and Neighbors Association, Inc., and several small business owners in Liberty City.

WHAT: Will mark the start of exterior work on several small businesses as part of the Northwest Seventh Avenue Commercial Rehabilitation Project, made possible with federal CDBG funds.

WHEN: Monday, February 6, 2012, 10 a.m.

WHERE: Duhart's Daycare Center, 5580 NW 7th Avenue

Angel Zayon
Approved
azayon@miamigov.com

2012 Super Bowl ads: Sex, Humor and Dogs...Lots of Dogs

2012-02-05T13:52:00.000-05:00

It's an American tradition that happens just once a year.

I'm speaking, of course, of the television extravaganza known in some circles as the Super Bowl, when one TV network airs four hours of clever commercials....periodically interrupted by pictures of big men throwing and running on a field with a ball.

Let's check out some of the best ads.

Volkswagen - "The Dog Strikes Back"

Adriana Lima for Teleflora

Doritos - "Bird of Prey"

Suzuki "Sled" With 50 Cent

Audi - "Vampire Party"

But, if none of those do it for you, here's an ad for Kia that features Adriana Lima doing nothing but waving a checkered flag for 5 hours....yes, 5 hours.

Newt Gingrich, Moon President

2012-02-05T11:47:00.000-05:00

Check out this brilliant satirical skewering of Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's moon colony proposal on last night's Saturday Night Live.

They said it

2012-02-05T10:18:00.001-05:00

“I think it’s terrible and it’s disgusting and now I’m going to throw up.” -Miami Beach City Commissioner Ed Tobin's reaction to a proposal by Tremont Towing and Beach Towing to raise fees the towing companies are allowed to charge for towing cars.

“The towing industry has been vilified. There’s been attacks and all sorts of aspersions cast on the industry, which we believe are unwarranted, unfair and which will hopefully cease in the near future.” -Rafael Andrade, Beach Towing’s pro bono attorney.

“It’s really not this multi-million dollar profiting business that’s been implied, in an way shape or form, at least not in the last four years.” -Andrew Mirmelli, who says his mother recently invested in Tremont.

Read the complete story by the Miami Herald's David Smiley by clicking here.

Balloon-popping Jack Russell Terrier picks Super Bowl winner on Jay Leno show

2012-02-04T12:04:00.000-05:00

From The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Show.

I'm not sure how valid this method of picking the winner is....but it's fun to watch!

Florida Gov. Rick Scott gets the Daily Show treatment

2012-02-03T10:22:00.001-05:00

From last night's The Daily Show: Aasif Mandvi heads to Florida and exposes the hypocrisy of Florida Gov. Rick Scott and Representative Scott Plakon....both Republicans.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

Sometimes a hug is all it takes

2012-02-02T17:55:00.000-05:00

Meet the scared dog that only wanted a hug.