“The difference between the communist and capitalist systems is that, although both give you a kick in the ass, in the communist system you have to applaud, while in the capitalist system you can scream. And I came here to scream.” — Reinaldo Arenas, shortly after arriving in Miami, 1980…
Public Service the Braddock WayFirst thing you do, you tell the damn public to go to hell: When I first read Miami-Dade school board member G. Holmes Braddock quoted in the Miami Herald as saying, “I’ve never thought we had a very bright public,” I thought he might have been…
The novelist Ngugi wa Thiongõ once complained that it is impossible to write satire about Kenya; the dictatorship that rules his native land is already too absurd. No writer could possibly invent anything more ridiculous. The same could be said about the contemporary-music industry, which might as well be called…
Less than 24 hours before the Miami-Dade County Canvassing Board met to halt the manual recount of ballots in the presidential race — a decision that all but doomed Al Gore’s chances of winning the White House — Alex Penelas was dining with a Republican state legislator at the Governor’s…
Read Part 1 If you really want to ponder the strange and wonderful world of Florida politics, forget the ongoing Gore-Bush drama. Look instead to Cuba. As a reminder that not everyone has given up on Boris-and-Natasha cold war games, this past week saw the opening of the trial of…
Demetrio’s Ethical ChallengeDidn’t that law-school honor code mean anything? As a student at the University of Miami School of Law, I have followed with great interest the tale of young Demetrio Perez’s candidacy for the Miami-Dade County school board. Since moving to Miami in 1994, I have been repeatedly disgusted…
The CIA-backed exile invasion of Cuba at the Bay of Pigs failed in 1961. The Beatles were more successful, taking the beaches in the years that followed via portable radios perched precariously on Havana’s sea wall and secretly tuned to Miami’s WQAM (560-AM). Sixty-one-year-old Alexander Dominguez remembers listening to “La…
Lost amid the hullabaloo over Florida’s presidential recount is this profound fact: The only reason Al Gore is within a few hundred ballots of George W. Bush is the historic turnout among Florida’s black voters. According to election analysts, blacks cast between fifteen and sixteen percent of all votes in…
Read Part 2 As the results of the Florida presidential election came in on November 7, Volusia County officials sitting in Daytona Beach were faced with a situation much more alarming than Gore and Bush tally irregularities, or even rumors of stolen ballot boxes. Without any advance warning Volusia County…
History Might Have Been Different if Only …Al Gore had publicly opposed an airport at Homestead AFB: As Jim DeFede pointed out (“Collision Course,” November 23), if Al Gore loses Florida’s 25 electoral votes and with them the presidency, he can blame himself for having refused to stand in opposition…
The Missing Mayor’s Buttered BreadHe may be a snake in the grass, but he’s our snake in the grass: I read Jim DeFede’s slanted article concerning Mayor Alex Penelas (“The Dead-End Kid,” November 16). While I can understand those who feel the mayor is a political snake in the grass,…
Completely Unsolicited Praise for Suzy Stone, Part 1Up with kidz, down with New Times: The fact that my son has happily been a student in the Hip Hop Kidz program for more than four years allows me the opportunity to voice my opinion more than the obviously bitter parents Robert…
Where’s Alex? In the midst of the closest presidential election in U.S. history, at a time when the eyes of the world are riveted on South Florida, our sexy little mayor is nowhere to be found. And I’m concerned. I fear that Alex Penelas may be thinking about ending it…
What happens when subcultures come of age? The answer would look a lot like the roomful of 75 social workers, therapists, teachers, activists, and self-professed “party people” who sat in a circle in a meeting room at downtown Miami’s Wyndham Hotel last month. An intense high school girl in baggy…
A camouflage-clad National Guardmember pokes his head into Kulchur’s car window. “Are you here for the special event?” he asks gruffly. I’m here for the drug-free rave apparently is the correct password. The guardsman motions to drive on to a parking spot past his hulking military truck outside Coconut Grove’s…
Watch Where You’re Going!It’s not enough that you’re obnoxious; you’re also a lousy driver: I am writing in response to Victor Cruz’s article “Loud, Proud, and Out of Work” (November 2), about Ezell Robinson being fired by the Metro-Dade Transit Agency. You probably don’t remember me, Mr. Robinson, but I…
Wrapped tightly inside a black gown with eye-grabbing side slits and a strategically cut gap across her straining bosom, Keri Windsor doesn’t look like your typical e-commerce analyst. Indeed her ownership of a stripper agency, and her starring roles in X-rated films such as Low Down Dirty Dames, I Touch…
I Was a Grand JurorAnd she was the hardest-working woman in law enforcement: I read with interest Tristram Korten’s story about State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle (“Friendly Fire,” October 26). I served on the grand jury with her and let me tell you, she is tough, fair-minded, and one of…
You know I — thug ’em, fuck ’em, love ’em, leave ’em/’Cause I don’t fuckin’ need ’em…./I’m a pimp in every sense of the word, bitch. — Jay-Z, “Big Pimpin’” “Big Pimpin’?” snorts Lee Williams with a mixture of derision and incredulity at the mention of Jay-Z’s signature tune, whose…
McIntire: What Was the Purpose?If it was to inflict pain on widow and daughter, you succeeded: I am a retired college professor living in Colorado. I was a colleague of the widow of Alex McIntire, the subject of David Villano’s article “Admired in Life, Reviled in Death” (October 19). I…
Generally I’m no fan of lawyers. And as a rule I’d say we live in society that is far too litigious. But show me a lawsuit in which one lawyer is suing another lawyer, in which both lawyers are high-profile county hall lobbyists, and damn it, that’s a cause of…
Off with Its Heads!Miami corruption gives new meaning to the phrase Herculean effort: Thanks to Tristram Korten’s dogged efforts, a spotlight has remained on the corruption that exists within the bail-bonds industry (“Justice, Bloody Justice,” October 5). Hopefully the State Attorney’s Office will be taking action on the information it…
