Punishment for bank fraud, the Iranians get it right...

While our country is awash in one banking scandal after another, has anyone seen any real punishment for those involved?  Sure we see the street level fraudsters like the mortgage fraud pros we've talked about over the years get arrested and locked up, yet despite all the press releases and hoopla over these cases, we've yet to see a single high level banker or Wall Street insider get locked up over the trillions of dollars worth of fraud that's occurred over the last decade.  Case in point, after receiving billions of dollars of federal bailout money, the folks over at JP Morgan Chase lose upwards of 5 billion dollars in some wacky derivative trades, the money is gone just like that, POOF!  Who's left to answer for it?  No one, all we get is condescending remarks from the banks CEO Jamie Dimon.  Or worse, how about the Libor scandal from London that's cost borrowers untold billions of dollars?  What kind of punishment have we seen for those involved?  Almost nothing.


Over the last couple of years we've heard of a banking scandal in Iran where the folks involved stole a couple of billion dollars from the government banks, check out the consequences for those involved...

(Reuters) - An Iranian court has sentenced four people to death for their roles in a billion-dollar banking fraud scandal that forced bank executives out of their jobs and tainted the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, state media reported on Monday.
The embezzlement case, discovered in September 2011, revolved around forged documents allegedly used by the directors of an Iranian investment company to secure loans totaling $2.6 billion to buy state-owned enterprises.
Thirty-nine people were tried for their involvement in the fraud.
"We are typing their sentences now and according to the sentence that was issued, four of the accused in this case were sentenced to death," judiciary spokesman Gholam-Hossein Mohseni-Ejei told the IRNA state news agency.
He did not name the individuals sentenced to death.
Two others were sentenced to life imprisonment and others received sentences ranging from 25 years and down, Mohseni-Ejei was quoted as saying.

DAMN!  That's the way you deal with these MF's!  Send them to jail for life or hang them!  How's that for a deterrent for the next financial fraudster who thinks he can steal other peoples money?  You think the prospect of being hung would wipe the smile off of JP Morgan Chase's CEO Jamie Dimon?

I think so!  It's a shame that we have to look to a backwards third world country to see what the appropriate punishment is for the bankers whose shell games have brought our economy to it's knees.  The sad part is that I honestly believe that until we impose harsher punishments for these crooks, nothings going to change...

The fight for the state attorneys office!

In case you missed "Facing South Florida" with Jim DeFede this morning, here's another chance for you to watch Katherine Fernandez Rundle sparing with her opponent Rod Vereen...

Honestly folks, WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON IN SOUTH MIAMI?!

For fucks sake, just when I thought things couldn't get any stranger in South Miami, the word on the street is that there is an all out war going on between rival factions within the city government, as we discussed earlier this week the first real victim was this poor Canadian citizen named Warren Papove.  Even Maricopa county's Sherrif Joe Arpaio wouldn't be able to figure out what's going on in South Miami.  In Arizona the Anglos deport hispanics, in South Miami the Hispanics deport Anglos!  


Mr Papove found himself caught in the crossfire between two groups within the city, one group that seems hell bent on turning over every leaf in an effort to root out corruption and backroom dealing while the other group seems be operating on the outer fringes of legality (IE illegally steering city work to businesses owned by friends and family).  I know labeling Mr. Papove's arrest and subseqent detention as some sort of politcal revenge may be rather far fetched, that is till you read his arrest report.  Take a look for yourselves...

Warren Papove Arrest Report

Now honestly, who's the target of this arrest report?  I don't know but to me it seems like it's more about Commissioner Bob Welsh than it is Mr. Papove.  Besides that, the whole report seems like something out of the Twilight Zone...

AN ANONYMOUS PASSER BY, OBSERVED PAPOVE WORKING IN A YARD AT THE INTERSECTION OF SW 74 ST AND SW 63 AVE AND BECAME CONCERNED THAT HE WAS THERE WORKING WITHOUT A PERMIT.

No shit, really?  

CODE ENFORCEMENT OFFICER STRUDER, D. RESPONDED TO THE SCENE IN ORDER TO CONDUCTAN INVESTIGATION.

Fuck me, around 5 pm on a Friday no less.  Way to go Officer Struder, while most city employees are either getting ready to leave work or on their way home already, Officer Struder is out and about looking for code enforcement violations?  Ok...

UPON ARRIVAL HE MET WITH POPOVE AND DETERMINED THAT POPOVE WAS NOT IN VIOLATION OF ANY CITY ORDINANCES.

Ok, this is where the entire interaction should have ended, that is until...

WHILE DRIVING PASS (sic) THE SCENE, DET. MENDEZ, RECOGNIZED PAPOVE AS A PERSON WANTED FOR AN IMMIGRATION VIOLATION, FROM A WANTED FLYER.

This is where I have to call bullshit.  Here we are having this lovely interaction between a code enforcement officer late on a Friday afternoon when Detective Mendez just happened to drive past these guys and he just happened to recognize Mr. Papove from a wanted poster.  Bullshit, I believe this interaction is much more likely to have happened than Detective Mendez recognizing this guys face from a wanted poster...

Now this is where things start to get really sketchy...

WHILE AT THE SCENE PAPOVE BEGAN SPEAKING TO DET. MENDEZ AND STATED THAT HE HAS BEEN A RESIDENT OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI SINCE 2OO2 AND HAS RESIDED IN SEVERAL RESIDENCES WHILE DOING HANDYMAN WORKAROUND THOSE
RESIDENCES. PAPOVE STATED THAT HE IS FRIENDS WITH MANY RESIDENTS IN SOUTH MIAMI TO INCLUDE BOB WELSH, CONNIE STREIGER, AND CONNIE BINGERMAN TO NAME A FEW. PAPOVE STATED THAT HE WORKS FOR THESE RESIDENTS AS A HANDYMAN DOING ODD JOBS. 

Ok, and?  What exactly does this have to do with anything?  Now let's go back to the conclusion that code enforcement officer Strudder came to just a few moments ago...

...DETERMINED THAT POPOVE WAS NOT IN VIOLATION OF ANY CITY ORDINANCES.

That's it, end of story.  From this point on, if Mr. Papove was detained, in my opinion his detention was illegal and any statements that he made can be suppressed.  Plus, we have to ask, was Detective Mendez cross deputized with ICE?  If not, I don't even think he had the legal standing to detain Mr. Papove, let alone ask him any kind of questions.  Remember, this is just my opinion as a lay person but I suspect that I'm not far off the mark.


Moving on...

PAPOVE SAID THAT HE WORKED FOR BOB WELSH IN SEBRING, FLORIDA HELPING HIM BUILD A HOUSE FROM THE BOTTOM UP. PAPOVE STATED HE WORKED THERE FOR APPROXIMATELY TEN (IO) MONTHS. 

So what?  Why does this incident report have any mention of working for Welsh or anyone else if not to harm Mr. Welsh in some way shape or form?  See what I'm getting at here?

PAPOVE SAID HE LIVED IN A BARN ON THE PROPERTY AND USED A BUCKET AS A RESTROOM. 

And what the fuck difference does it make where Mr. Papove takes a fucking shit?  

Why exactly is the matter of where Mr. Papove drops a load included in a police report unless he's being cited for doing something with his shit that's illegal?!!

HE STATED THAT HE DID YARD WORK AND DELIVERED FLYERS. PAPOVE STATED THAT HE TRIMS TREES AND BUSHES AND DOES YARD WORK FOR CONNIE STREIGER AND CONNIE BINGERMAN. PAPOVE STATED THAT HE GETS PAID IN CASH OR IN CASES OF BEER.

I'm not sure what the hell any of this has to do with why Detective Mendez detained Mr. Papove other than to create a record of some sort of alleged wrong doing by the other people mentioned in the incident report. As I mentioned before, my opinions are just that, opinions of a lay person.  What I do know is that there are at least two very, very good immigration and criminal law attorneys going over this incident right now, I can only hope that the law enforcement officers involved conducted this detention by the book otherwise there's going to be hell to pay.  In the mean time, if you're driving through  South Miami, MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR PAPERS!

Commit fraud get a key to the city...

Larkin Community Hospital

At least that what City of South Miami city manager Hector Mirabile thinks!  We've learned that Mr. Mirabile had made arrangement to give a key to the City of South Miami to the fine folks over at Larkin Hospital.  That seems all well and good, why not give the key to the city to a fine hospital located in your city?  There's a small issue with that hospital though, from the Department of Justice press release a few years ago...

Miami Hospital Pays $15.4 Million to Resolve Fraud Casefor Kickbacks & Medically Unnecessary Treatments 

WASHINGTON – Larkin Community Hospital in Miami and its current and former owners, Dr. Jack Michel, Dr. James Desnick, Morris Esformes and Philip Esformes, have paid $15.4 million to settle federal and Florida civil health care fraud claims against them, the Justice Department announced today. Additionally, 34 related companies owned by the Esformes that were used to operate nine assisted living facilities are part of the settlement along with Claudia Pace, an employee of one of the Esformes-owned companies; and Frank Palacios, a long-time employee of the hospital. 

The settlement resolves the civil case entitled United States v. Jack Jacobo Michel, M.D., et al., which the government filed in 2004, alleging violations of the False Claims Act. The state of Florida joined the suit later that year.
The government alleged that in 1997, Larkin, then owned by Desnick, paid kickbacks to physicians in return for patient admissions. The United States contended that the primary recipient of the kickbacks was Jack Michel, who was paid for patient admissions to Larkin by himself and his brother, Dr. George Michel. Jack Michel purchased Larkin in 1998. In 2000, Desnick was a party to a $14 million settlement with the United States for a similar kickback scheme from 1992 to 2000 at another facility he owned, Doctors Hospital of Hyde Park in Chicago. 

The United States also alleged in the Michel suit that from 1998 to 1999, Jack Michel, George Michel, Morris Esformes, Philip Esformes, Frank Palacios and Claudia Pace conspired to admit patients to Larkin for medically unnecessary treatment. The government asserted that some of these patients came from assisted living facilities owned and operated by Jack Michel, Morris Esformes and Philip Esformes. 

“The Department of Justice is committed to vigorously litigating cases about conduct that undermines the integrity of the Medicare and Medicaid programs,” said Peter D. Keisler, Assistant Attorney General for the Department’s Civil Division. “We will not tolerate health care providers who pay kickbacks or perform medically unnecessary treatments on elderly beneficiaries in order to generate Medicare and Medicaid payments.”The case was investigated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; and the Florida Medicaid Fraud Control Unit. The case was handled by the Justice Department’s Civil Division, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida in Miami and the Office of the Attorney General of the state of Florida.

Mayor Stoddard

LOL!  Now that seems hardly like the type of folks you'd like to hand over the key to the city to, right?  You have to wonder what kind of vetting process City Manager Mirabile (rhymes with imbicile) put these folks through before he decided to hand over the keys to the city.  Poor judgement on the city manager's part to say the least.  The City of South Miami's mayor, Philip Stoddard really puts things in perspective in this email that was forwarded to us by a concerned South Miami resident...

From: Stoddard, Philip K.
Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2012 11:43 AM
To: Hector Mirabile; Menendez, Maria M.
Subject: key to the City??

Hector & Maria,

The Mayor of South Miami has few duties & privileges distinct from the rest of the City Commission: convening meetings of the commission, running those meetings, delivering the State of the City Address, and awarding keys to the city.

I see in the commission agenda for this Tuesday that someone has decided to have me award a key to the city to Larkin Hospital, but that same someone did not think to consult me on the matter.  I found this a most unpleasant surprise.

Six years ago, Larkin paid a $15.4 million fine to the feds for (1) paying kickbacks to physicians, (2)  Medicare fraud, and (3) taking advantage of elderly people living in ALF's belonging to Larkin's owner.  The DOJ investigation found that Larkin subjected ALF residents to repeated, unnecessary, and sometimes painful treatments so that Larkin could collect the medicare payments. The attached file summarizes DOJ's case and monetary settlement. 

Last month, the Miami Herald revealed that an independent survey of hospitals found Larkin ranked among the worst in South Florida (see attached file).

Meanwhile, US News & World Report just rated South Miami Hospital the #1 best hospital in South Florida and 4th in the entire state.

I recognize Larkin has given the city funds for city functions, but I'm not going to embarrass the city and insult SMH by giving a key to the city to confirmed fraudsters who appear to provide sub-par healthcare services.  

You need to tell Larkin not to show up for the key event.  If you find it embarrassing, then I suggest you consult me in the future before making significant obligations on my behalf.

-Philip

You have to ask yourself, what exactly is going on in South Miami?  I'm beginning to think that what we uncovered through our Airways Auto Tag Agency story was just the tip of the iceberg, think about it, considering Larkin hospitals recent past, how could anyone with a modicum of common sense suggest that they should be commended let alone receive the key to the city especially as Mayor Stoddard says, when there's an award winning hospital worthy of such recognition just down the street?


There's something fishy going on down in South Miami, and like I said, we've only seemed to scratch at the surface...

WTF is going on in South Miami!?

Honestly, what the fcuk!?  We were first introduced to the wonderful City of South Miami earlier this year when the city's police chief's wife railroaded three employees of her tag agency accusing them of stealing tens of thousands of dollars.  Later on we find that the city's police chief, Orlando Martinez de Castro, was illegally sending his wife's tag agency city tag work which is clearly against the city's own ethics code.  In the mean time, we've heard all sorts of stories and rumors about the inner workings of the city and it's police force, ultimately ending with city commissioner Valerie Newman calling me a "scumbag".  No worries though.

Warren Papove

Over the last few weeks, there's been something fishy going on down at the City of South Miami, what outwardly seems like a quiet little burb seems to actually be quite the opposite.  There's been some noise about a fella named Warren Papove getting arrested apparently for doing work without a permit on someone's home, after Mr. Papove was taken into custody, he was somehow transferred into the custody of ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and now seems to be headed towards being deported.  This whole incident stems from an alleged code enforcement violation, the narrative of case 12-02489 starts, 

"An anonymous passerby, observed Papove working in a yard at the intersection of SW 74 St and SW 63 Av and became concerned that he was there working without a permit. Code enforcement officer Struder D. Responded to the scene in order to conduct an investigation........"

No kidding?  This concerned passerby calls code enforcement on some poor schlep, officer Struder shows up then next thing Mr. Papove knows, he's being deported?  This would be all well and good if the property owner where the alleged "work without a permit" was being done didn't do a little digging only to discover that...

There is NO record in code enforcement about ANY complaint of working without a permit for my address or any address in the vicinity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WTF?!  The details at this point are a bit sketchy, but from what I'm told this is some sort of political payback by the powers that be in South Miami.  I'll see what I can find out over the weekend, apparently we're already familiar with some of the players in this story.
 

Fighting crime, City of Miami style!

As we discussed a few months ago, crime in the City of Miami is up 10.7%, so how does the city deal with it?  Do they put more cops on the street?  NOPE!  The easiest way to deal with the increase in crime is to simply have police chief Oroso's administration lie about the crime stats!  Our friend Al Crespo does a bang up job exposing this blatant cover up in his piece today where he tears apart the City of Miami PD's annual report where it seems like they simply cut and paste the stats from 2010 into the 2012 report!


Even worse than the fraudulent statistics is this god awful organizational chart found within the report...

The same backstabbers that conspired against former Chief Miguel Exposito and ultimately did him in.  There isn't a more deserving bunch to be at the helm of this wreck that is the police department today.  I hate to use the same pic again but it's so fitting...

While Miguel Exposito wasn't the best police chief in the city's history, he was certainly better than this barely literate crew of misfits that run the PD today.  Congrats Mayor Regalado, NICE JOB!

On another note, the City of South Miami's Police Chief's wife is being deposed again today in the Airways Auto Tag agency case, this should be an interesting afternoon, we'll update tomorrow...

Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain...

You all remember that scene from the Wizard of Oz, don't you?  It's when Dorothy and her crew discover that the Wizard is nothing more than an ordinary man operating a machine from behind a curtain...

There are those who say that that is precisely what's going on in the City of Miami, if you buy into this theory, the elected officials are nothing more than pawns that are controlled by powerful lobbyists and influence peddlers.  Some say that one of the most powerful men "behind the curtain" in the current Regalado regime is a fellow named Armando Gutierrez, our friend Al Crespo goes so far to call him the "phantom mayor".  From Al's website...

"Armando Gutierrez, bon vivant, uber-lobbyist, campaign manager to Tomas Regalado, and considered by many to be the Phantom Mayor of Miami.
Since becoming Mayor, Gutierrez has seldom been far from Regalado’s side - as evidenced by the above photo where he is getting out of the Mayor’s SUV..."

Whatever the case may be, there's no denying that Mr. Gutierrez has some level of influence within the City of Miami and there's no doubt he's definitely part of Mayor Tomas Regalado's inner circle.  Mr Gutierrez is also known as the go to guy in Miami if you're looking to get elected for any kind of position, be it city, county or state wide, some elected officials have even gone so far as to say that in order to run any successful campaign, Mr. Gutierrez and his cadre of associates and their respective companies have to be on your payroll.

So what's this got to do with anything?  Why are we restating the obvious again?  While I really don't buy into this "phantom mayor" theory, I can't discount the influence Mr. Gutierrez has within the City of Miami, especially in all Regalado related matters.  One of the most contentious issues of Mayor Regalado's tenure to date has been the ongoing war between his former police chief, Miguel Exposito and his administration over the alleged illegal gaming machines that are littered throughout the city which ultimately ended with the police chief being fired.  Now, if you buy into the theory that Mr. Gutierrez is the "phantom mayor" of the City of Miami, an enemy of the mayor by default is an enemy of Mr. Gutierrez, correct?  

Take a step back for a moment and revisit that three judge panel that heard and ultimately ruled against ex Chief of Police Miguel Exposito's appeal to get his job back a few weeks ago.  While I sharply criticized one of the judges for her less than stellar record on the bench and was about to write another diatribe about the other two judges on that panel, let's put all that aside for the time being.  For the moment, let's operate under the theory that Mr. Gutierrez is indeed the "phantom mayor" and is "the man behind the curtain" that's running the city.  During the weeks before former police chief Miguel Exposito's appeal was to be heard, there were some strange scheduling conflicts going on, the hearing kept getting bounced back between courthouses and judges until we ended up with the hearing taking place at the Justice Building before judges Hirsch, Manno-Schurr and Lindsey.  What's the big deal, three random judges to hear an appeal, right?  Remember, we're operating under the phantom mayor & influence peddler theory here, a quick glance at the campaign finance records of two of the three judges presents an interesting clue as to what may have gone on at this hearing...

Well spank my ass and call me Charlie!  Two of the three judges that heard the Exposito appeal employed Mr. Gutierrez as a "consultant" during their campaigns for circuit court judge!  As you can see in the bits outlined in red, both Valerie Manno-Schurr and Milton Hirsch paid Mr Gutierrez and his companies $15,000 each.  

Now, if you believe that Mr. Gutierrez is as powerful as people say he is, is it too far fetched to believe that the judges returned a favor to Mr. Gutierrez and his associates in the city by ruling against Exposito?  Nah, that shits crazy, nobody would believe anything as outrageous as that!  There's no way a sitting judge would sell their soul and return a favor to a man that allegedly helped them get their seat on the bench, right?  that would never happen, especially in a place like Miami...

Ethics Commission? We don't need no stinking ethics commission!

While those of us that are following the City of South Miami/Airways Auto Tag Agency boondoggle are sitting around on our hands waiting for the Miami Dade Ethics Commission to render a decision on possible ethics violations by the city's police chief for steering business to his wife's tag agency, there seems to be another remedy in place to deal with just such a situation.  Courtesy of one of our readers who brought it to our attention...

SOUTH MIAMI CITY CHARTER
14 AMENDED 2-14-12

ARTICLE II (Cont’d)

SECTION 9.

Investigations
Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Charter, the Commission or its authorized representative or representatives may make investigation into the affairs of this City and the conduct of any City department, Board, Officer or Agency and for this purpose may subpoena witnesses, administer oaths, take testimony and require the production of evidence. Any person who fails to obey a lawful order issued in the exercise of these powers by the Commission shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and punishable by a fine of not more than $500.00 or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or both.

NO KIDDING?!  This would be the same commission that seems to be proactive on so many other fronts, why haven't they moved forward with an investigation into this matter on their own rather than sit around and wait for the folks downtown at the Ethics Commission?  Does this make any sense?  What exactly is going on down in South Miami these days?  According to the Miami New Times yesterday...

The leafy hamlet of South Miami has turned into a cesspool of political backbiting and allegations of unethical behavior by some of its officials.

YIKES!  Of course, we know where those allegations of unethical behavior came from... 

Now, here's another comment that one of our readers left for us the other day that got our attention...

I WAS WONDERING WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS TELLERS I THOUGH THEY WERE FREE FROM ALL THIS CRAP BUT I GUESS NOT WOW THIS NEEDS TO GET SOLVE THEY NEED JUSTICE

This comment refers to the three tellers that were arrested for allegedly stealing tens of thousands of dollars from Airways Auto Tag agency which happens to be owned by the City of South Miami's Police Chief's wife.  Not much has happened over the last few months, which is to be expected as ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENS IN THE CRIMINAL COURT SYSTEM DURING LATE SPRING AND SUMMER!  Most lawyers and judges are out for the summer and if you have the misfortune of being stuck in the criminal justice system, well, YOU'RE FUCKED.  Now despite the summer break, I have heard one unconfirmed rumor regarding this case, my sources tell me that the owner of the tag agency, Ileana Martinez de Castro, has offered to drop the charges against the three tellers if they simply write a letter of apology to her for their alleged thefts.

LOL!  How do we go from accusing the three tellers of stealing tens of thousands of dollars and wanting to get them locked up to simply asking for a letter of apology and having the whole thing go away?  WTF?  While justice may not be swift, it'll come sooner or later, it's karma that you have to watch out for...

The taxpayer's dollars at work in the City of Miami...

Let's rewind a couple of years to this contentious ribbon cutting ceremony commencing the rebuilding of a boat ramp located on the Miami River at Curtis Park.  This project was a sore spot for the City of Miami's employees that were facing huge pay and benefit cuts, as the caption accompanying the video says...

During a Ribbon Cutting ceremony at the Curtis Park Boat Ramp, Mayor "Tomacito" Regalado is interviewed about City Employees and their drastic pay cuts. During the interview, disgruntled employees can be heard blowing air horns (while on their boats) in protest. The City of Miami continues to cry poor, but still has plenty of money for many projects that is costing the tax payer a lot of money during these "tough times".

Ok, to be honest with you, I don't remember this boat ramp being in poor condition or needing any kind of rehab.  It's always been a shitty boat ramp in a pretty shitty location.  Take a look at the video of the ribbon cutting ceremony and the subsequent forced statement by Mayor Tomas Regalado...



According to Mayor Regalado, the ramp is "...very well utilized by shrimpers and workers on the river that come and bring their products to Allapattah..."  No kidding?  That's interesting as I have never seen a single commercial fisherman use this boat ramp to launch a boat let alone "bring their products to Allapattah".  WTF?    

He goes on to say that "...we are in the process of saving money for the city and making business more profitable."  Oh really?  More profitable for whom?  Mind you, back when this ceremony was going on, City of Miami employees were so pissed off that they decided to protest this event to highlight what a waste of money this project was in light of the pay and benefit cuts that were being rammed down the employee's throats.  

Kearns Construction employees

What's even stranger about this whole ordeal is that when some employees decided to protest at this event from the water, a tug boat and barge from Kearns Construction mysteriously appeared blocking access to the event from the water.  When asked about why the barge was blocking the ramp, Regalado says "I have no idea...", whatever the fuck ever.  Listen closely at the 4:09 mark on the video where the guy from Kearns construction tells Regalado the barge was put there to keep the protesters out, so much for him not having any idea why it was there!

So what's the big deal about all of this?  Why drag up this nonsense after nearly two years?  It's rather simple actually, take a look at what happened last week when a business owner on the Miami River actually tried to use this boat ramp that had recently been "rebuilt"...

Wait a minute, why the hell is the place locked up?  I know I've used this ramp at least once after it was "rebuilt"!  A closer inspection reveals the reason why the ramp is locked up...

No shit?  The boat ramp is now "UNSAFE" shortly after it was "rebuilt"?  WTF?  What the hell happened here? What did all the money that was spent on this ramp do?  Was the money simply spent on smearing around some paint for the parking spaces?  The concrete barriers were already there, as was the fence, so where did the money go?

What's even more interesting about this whole fiasco and waste of taxpayer's money is what comes next.  What's going to happen to this boat ramp now?  How much money is going to be spent on making this "unsafe" ramp "safe"?  The more tantalizing question though is who do you think is going to be doing the work?  Anyone doubt that those folks with the nifty barge blocking the protesters in the video are going to get a piece of the pie?


Oh well, just another day and another shitty deal for the citizens of Miami...

Internet connectivity troubles...

My friends over at FPL changed out a pole in my backyard and in doing so trashed the westernmost portion of my property and screwed up my phone lines as well as my homes internet connection.

We'll hopefully be up and running again later today at which time we'll put up a new story, till then check out our friend Al Crespo's site ( www.crespogram.com ) and his excellent coverage of how our state attorneys office screwed up a 52 count indictment against congressman David Rivera.