Opinion & Commentary

Letters from the issue of September 16, 2010

​Let’s face it: Miami sucks when it comes to music blogs. Places like New York, Austin, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Seattle all have better online music presence. That’s not to say there aren’t people out there trying. We already crowned Off the Radar the city’s best music blog, while…

Bumped out of the spotlight, local icon King Mango and hip hop superstar Will.I.Am have resorted to shamelessly donning blackface in order to resurrect their flagging careers.Critics say the move has set African-Americans and mangos back “1,000 years.” “Will.i.am. wearing blackface!? What a racist!” tweeted fakeart123 during the MTV Video…

With all the years that I have spent disseminating the myth of myself as some staunch, drunken rock and roller, I have never forgotten my roots under warm Venezuelan skies, swagging and jiving my wares to the syncopated rhythms of Latin music. That’s right, I, Abel Folgar, rock and roller…

Wilfredo FerrerUnited States Attorney, Southern District of Florida99 NE Fourth St., Miami, FL 33132Dear Mr. Ferrer,Banana Republican commends you for cracking down on the scoundrels responsible for the rampant mortgage fraud plaguing South Florida. With that in mind, we want to bring a related case to your immediate attention. We…

Uncle Luke, the man whose booty-shaking madness once made the Supreme Court stand up for free speech, gets as nasty as he wants to be for Miami New Times. This week, Luke says the Williams sisters don’t get their due.Venus and Serena Williams represent black people and female athletes in…

​Another day, another Rick Ross track. No one can ever say Miami’s biggest stars right now aren’t prolific; Ricky Rozay and Pitbull keep us bloated in blog posts.Continuing signs of Ross’ domination (and the apocalypse) keep rolling in. Check, for instance, that weird moment during Sunday’s VMAs broadcast in which…

Miami New Times cleaned up in the nondaily division of the 60th Annual Green Eyeshade Awards, which determine the best work in 11 Southeastern states. Former staff writer Natalie O’Neill took first place in investigative reporting for “Piece of Mind,” a probe of suicides and other problems at the mental health…

The Miami Herald reports this morning that the North Miami Beach City Council fired City Manager Kelvin Baker last night. Although no specifics were given, Banana Republican wonders if his termination had anything to do with Baker accusing some city council members of violating the state’s Sunshine Law.This past August 31,…

The Jackie Papers Uckfay Ooyay (Stiff Pole Records) www.stiffpolerecords.com In honor of Richard “Big Stiff” Konwinski, who passed this past July in Tampa, I’ll be juggling between the County Grind and Crossfade blogs doing my Blast From the Past thing on the record label that he founded, Stiff Pole Records,…

​Miguel Rodriguez and his wife, Barbara, were waiting for some barbecue after work on a Friday afternoon late last year when all hell broke loose inside People’s Bar-B-Que in Overtown.A screaming man dressed head to toe in black charged the busy take-out counter, wielding a handgun sideways, gangsta-style. Rodriguez, a…

photo by Brent Mullins​As front-runners of a mini dream-pop/ electronic shoegaze renaissance, Brooklyn trio School of Seven Bells specializes in some seriously textured sounds. Narcotized tempos, guitar chords pushed through pedals upon pedals, and echoing vocals all drift in and out to update the sounds of the great ethereal period…

Let’s get to ready to ruuuuuuuuuuuumble! Yes, last night was fight night on South Beach for the Jersey Shore crew. We saw the thrilling conclusion to Sammi vs. JWoww, an undercard featuring of Vinny vs. Ronni, Snooki vs. Latino dating rituals, Paul vs. herpes, Fossil watches vs. smooshing, the entire…

We’ve featured Anjuli Stars a couple of times leading up to the release of this very mixtape Starvation Volume One, which we’ve adorned as this week’s “Mixtape Of The Week”. The first time many heard of Anjuli Stars was back in 2006 on Pitbull’s El Mariel album on an acoustic…

Nitin Motwani is one of those multi-millionaire Miami guys you may have never heard of, but he has the kind of suction at Miami city hall that allows him to do whatever he wants. As principal of the Falcone Group, Motwani owns several properties in the Park West neighborhood of…

Five years ago, on January 12, Miami-Dade police plain clothes detectives Daniel Fernandez and ​Joe Losada were arrested by internal affairs officers for allegedly planting evidence, falsifying an arrest affidavit, stealing money, and physically threatening a drug dealer. The pair didn’t know that Pedro Soler and his friend Rafael Rodriguez…

Ground Zero mosque idea stinks

University of Miami’s party school rep drops

Letters from the issue of September 9, 2010

For many years I delighted in tormenting Lori Garrote with random assertions that her brother Joe (of The Basicks and The Can’t Stand Ya’s fame) owed me twenty bucks, and that he had reported her as the current holder of that lien. Needless to say, the familial confusion that must’ve…