Mr. Clucky files a last-ditch appeal

(AP Photo/J. Pat Carter)
Perhaps sensing that his 15 minutes are about to come to a screeching halt, Miami Beach resident Mark Buckley on Monday sent the Miami Beach mayor and commissioners a 19-page packet of documents that includes a poignant 4-page letter asking the commission to reconsider the recent decision to banish his feathered roommate, Mr. Clucky, from Miami Beach forever.

Random Pixels has exclusively obtained a copy of the letter.

In it Buckley reveals that he has spent thousands of dollars on vet bills on the lovable rooster. He also says that Mr. Clucky rides on the handlebars of Buckley's bike "of his own accord."

And saving the best for last, Buckley concludes the letter by quoting Gandhi.

We're not taking sides in this fight.

But in some circles we know, Mr. Clucky would have been swimming in gravy with a side of biscuits long ago.

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Random Pixels Quote of the Day

Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Eugene Robinson writing about the "Berserk Birthers" in todays' Washington Post:

Trying to analyze the "birther" phenomenon would mean taking it seriously, and taking it seriously would be like arguing about the color of unicorns.

NYT editor says goodbye to Twitter

Looks like New York Times executive editor Bill Keller has joined the ranks of Those Who Once Tweeted (TWOT's). (Not to be confused with the similar-sounding TWAT's -- Those Who Ain't Tweeting.)

Keller hasn't tweeted since May 14 but says "I intend to get more serious about Twitter. One of these days."

Keller's not alone.

There are lots of TWOT's out there.

If I was editor of the New York Times I probably wouldn't be in the mood to tweet either after reading stuff like this in my own paper.

THE TIMES published an especially embarrassing correction on July 22, fixing seven errors in a single article — an appraisal of Walter Cronkite, the CBS anchorman famed for his meticulous reporting. The newspaper had wrong dates for historic events; gave incorrect information about Cronkite’s work, his colleagues and his program’s ratings; misstated the name of a news agency, and misspelled the name of a satellite.
[...]
[A] television critic with a history of errors wrote hastily and failed to double-check her work, and editors who should have been vigilant were not.

Here at Random Pixels we're still waiting for someone to explain to us just exactly what Twitter is good for.

There has to be more to it than this.

We tend to align ourselves with people like David Letterman who immediately grasped the concept of Twitter after Kevin Spacey recently explained it to him.

Letterman: "You know what it reminds me of? Oh yeah, a waste of time."

This just in...Carol Rosenberg not guilty!

Miami Herald correspondent Carol Rosenberg
An exhaustive **cough cough** "internal Miami Herald investigation has exonerated" the Miami Herald's Guantánamo reporter Carol Rosenberg.

Miami Herald reporter Carol Rosenberg will continue to cover the U.S. military following an investigation into allegations by a Navy public affairs officer that she verbally abused and sexually harassed him at Guantánamo Bay.

In a letter Monday to the Pentagon, Miami Herald Vice President of Human Resources Elissa Vanaver wrote that the newspaper's internal investigation "did not find corroboration" for the complaint of sexual harassment and abusive behavior made last month by Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon.

The results of the Herald's "investigation" were posted late Monday on the paper's website. (NOTE: The Herald keeps posting the story and then removing it from the site. This as of as of 8:30pm.)

The Herald story, written by staffer Jack Dolan offers no explanation by Rosenberg of the events that prompted the navy commander's complaint.

Rosenberg does say that she has "been heartened by an outpouring of support by both the uniformed military who have followed my coverage, and journalists who covered the story."

Dolan quotes Herald Executive Editor Anders Gyllenhaal as saying that the paper's investigation "found some inconsistencies in [Gordon's] version of events."

(One note of interest here: Except for today's report, the only other Herald mention of this incident was a three sentence brief that ran in the Herald on July 25, which one former Herald editor called "misleading.")

Dolan's story chalks up the incident to a conflict between a reporter and a government official which he says is not "uncommon."

And Gyllenhaal, in a paradigm of the art of understatement says, "we could not help but conclude that this is a relationship between two people that has gotten off track."

Is Charles Perez too gay?

Miami Herald columnist Steve Rothaus is reporting that WPLG Channel 10 anchor Charles Perez has filed a discrimination complaint with Miami Dade County's Equal Opportunity Board:

Charles Perez, bumped two weeks ago from WPLG-ABC 10's weeknight anchor seat, has filed a discrimination complaint with Miami-Dade's Equal Opportunity Board. He's too gay, he claims in paperwork delivered to the county on Friday.

Perez's complaint and narrative can be seen here.

Things started unraveling professionally for Perez earlier this year after the Herald's Joan Fleischman reported that Perez's former partner claimed that "Perez reached out to [a] therapist 'for counsel with his `gender identity issues.'"

Perez's complaint alleges - among other things - that Channel 10 news director Bill Pohovey told Perez during a "performance review" that he came across on the air as "too soft," didn't sound "main anchor-like" and smiled too much with co-anchor Laurie Jennings. "Like girlfriends."

Yikes!
...
UPDATE: Channel 10 news director Bill Pohovey responds to Perez's complaint with this statement:

WPLG emphatically denies the claims made by Charles Perez that the Station discriminated against him based on his gender and sexual orientation. His complaint is filled with misstatements and untruths.

The changes he complains about are simply schedule changes and they were not made as a result of the publicity surrounding Charles Perez’s breakup with his partner. In fact, his transition to weekend anchor started months before that publicity. His gender or sexual orientation had nothing to do with the Station’s decisions. Charles has been open about his sexual orientation and it was known to the Station at the time he was hired.

As a result of these changes, Charles now anchors the Saturday and Sunday evening newscasts. The fact that the Sunday 11 pm newscast has the largest audience of any of WPLG’s late newscasts is simply not consistent with Charles’ claim that the Station was uncomfortable with his sexual orientation.

Like most businesses, local television stations have been negatively impacted by this severe recession in the economy. To help offset the sizeable loss in revenue, stations across the country like WPLG have been working to reduce their expenses and their staffing levels. The Station has had to make difficult decisions which have impacted a number of WPLG’s staff, including Mr. Perez.

VP and News Director Bill Pohovey said “This is an outrageous accusation. As a gay man myself, I can safely say the Station does not discriminate against gay people. Charles’ claim that the Station discriminates against gay people is untrue and offensive.”

WPLG has a reputation of being a leader in this community with a very diverse staff. The Station does not discriminate. The Station will bring the facts out in the appropriate legal forum and fully expects to be completely vindicated.

Is Maureen Dowd out of her mind?

Miami police chief John Timoney
The other day New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd weighed in with her opinion on the Henry Louis Gates arrest. (Hasn't everyone by now?)

Twenty-two words into her column, Dowd invoked the name of the country's most noted proponent of police restraint - Miami police chief John Timoney:

[M]y friend John Timoney, the police chief of Miami, observes: “There’s a fine line between disorderly conduct and freedom of speech. It can get tough out there, but I tell my officers, ‘Don’t make matters worse by throwing handcuffs on someone. Bite your tongue and just leave.’ ”

Holy Jeebus!

Are you kidding Maureen?

Is that the same John Timoney who cost the City of Miami hundreds of thousands of dollars because of the storm-trooper tactics used by his police department against protesters at the 2003 Free Trade Area of the Americas conference?

Not that John Timoney?

Or the same John Timoney who once said "F**k the Cubans"?

Or the same John Timoney that Miami New Times called "America's Worst Cop"?

Is that the John Timoney you're talking about Maureen?