Random Pixels Blog

Wednesday, April 02, 2014

Tuesday, April 01, 2014

Monday, March 31, 2014

Random Pixels Guest Columnist: Gary Worth

Miami Beach resident Gary Worth left a message on Mayor Philip Levine's Facebook page a few days ago.

Will the mayor heed his advice?

Only the mayor can answer that question.

Click image to enlarge.

I know the mayor has problems with newspapers. And yes, the original story could use more context. However, he seems to be OK with a headline in another newspaper that says 'terror tower' which is certainly also not responsible journalism in my book and reeks of sensationalism in favor of the mayor's point of view.

I have no opinion yet on the idea of a tower like this, but I have no problem with [The Herald] reporting this proposal and letting the idea float around. That's the whole point of a free press. We get to see thoughts, ideas and facts even if political leaders don't like them, or do not like the way they are presented.

Of course there is a process for a proposal like this. We all know that. But please mayor, you are not in charge of the press. Let them do their job, which is not to be a PR machine for any politician but rather to work on behalf of residents to hold political leaders accountable.

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Karma is a cruel mistress

Best if viewed full-screen

From the Tampa Bay Times:

A driver being tailgated Monday near Gibsonton [FL] captured the ordeal on a cellphone video, including a crash where the tailgater spun out of control and struck a utility pole.

Then she turned the video over to authorities.

Jeffrey Travis White.

State troopers said they arrested Jeffrey Travis White, 33, of Tampa based on the video and witness accounts.

The Florida Highway Patrol said that on Monday morning, White was driving south on U.S. 41 north of Gibsonton Drive. He was tailgating another driver, Tracy Lynn Sloan of Lakeland, who videotaped it using a cellphone.

White passed her and flashed an obscene gesture, which she also captured on video.

White then passed Sloan and tried to merge in front of her car, but lost control of his 2008 Ford pickup truck.

It spun out, crossed over several lanes and hit a light pole.

Karma road rage, Karma, florida road rage, caught on video

And now, a few words from Mayor Dickhead...

Click to enlarge.

Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine - who's affectionately known around these parts as "Mayor Dickhead" - sent out an email blast to his constituents this morning calling their attention to an article in this week's issue of the Miami SunPost:

Dear Friends and Neighbors:

This week's Miami SunPost covers the topic of the proposed 50-story tower at the corner of 5th Street and Alton Road. I commend the Miami SunPost on providing the public with objective and unbiased news coverage concerning the proposed development.

Last week, the City Attorney issued a legal opinion stating that under the City's Charter a property owner may not increase the size or density of a proposed development by transferring or shifting development rights from one property to another without approval by a public vote.

We will continue to take a holistic view of Alton Road by promoting responsible development that does not overburden our current infrastructure.

Click here to access the City Attorney's opinion and here to read the Miami SunPost article.

Sincerely,

Philip

Somehow Mayor Dickhead got a hold of the SunPost's PDF files ... even before the paper hit the streets, or before the article was posted on the SunPost's website.

The "objective and unbiased" SunPost article Mayor Dickhead refers to in his email was written Michael Sasser, who has been with the paper in one capacity or another since 1996.

So, let's take a look at some of Sasser's "journalism," shall we?

Here's how Sasser described Miami Beach Commissioner Ed Tobin in a Jan. 30th piece on the SunPost's website: "Tobin is a third-generation Miami Beach resident, the son of Beverly and Leonard Tobin. The elder Tobin was many years ago, a Miami Beach constable. This set an early example for Ed in terms of ethics and community involvement, and was a powerful influence on the course of his career."

And here's how Tobin describes himself on his website: "Ed Tobin is a third-generation Miami Beach resident, the son of Beverly and Leonard Tobin. The elder Tobin was many years ago, a Miami Beach constable. This set an early example for Ed in terms of ethics and community involvement, and was a powerful influence on the course of his career."

The plagiarizing Sasser, uses much of his "objective and unbiased" piece to attack the Miami Herald's reporting on the Fifth Street and Alton Road project: "Despite media reports to the contrary – reports that allegedly reflect the language in a developer’s press releases – a 50-story development isn’t coming to the corner of Alton Road and Fifth Street anytime soon."

Sasser quotes Mayor Dickhead as saying, "You would think the the media [Herald] would at least look and see what the zoning is there and glance at the City Charter before, unfortunately, regurgitating a press release."

Sasser then devotes the rest of his piece "regurgitating" many of Levine's previously reported talking points.

It's almost as if Mayor Dickhead wrote the piece himself. Or at the very least, looked over Sasser's shoulder as he wrote it.

Sasser writes that unnamed "readers and activists" have long considered the Herald's Miami Beach reporting, "erratic," and that "activists" - again unnamed - "complained" that the Herald's reporting on the Miami Beach convention Center was being manipulated.