Conexión Miami / New business in Critical Mass
“Critical Mass,” the bike ride staged the last Friday of every month in downtown Miami, brings together hundreds, perhaps thousands of bikers who ride even into areas of Little Havana. The ride was created for the purpose of making automobile drivers aware that bicyclists have a space of power on the streets, and therefore a space where they must be respected.
However, before the start of the June 27 ride, the County police was worried.
According to Manuel Orosa, the city’s police chief, “smart alecks” are taking commercial advantage of the opportunity. Police have detected some riders who come to the event to sell beer, which they bring in towable iceboxes. Yes, iceboxes on wheels, pulled by their bikes.
The name matters
LeBron admires James. This is not a play on words or a rare case of narcissism regarding his own name.
LeBron (@KingJames) said it on his Twitter: he admires James Rodríguez. And I quote:
“Man, watching this Colombian game I think I have my fav player in the World Cup! Obviously his name help that out. #Biased #10 #James #WC2014”
Actually, the Colombian soccer star pronounces his name “HA-mez.” But that doesn’t bother LeBron.
Boria’s three wishes
Luigi Boria, mayor of Doral (a Miami suburb), asked Barack Obama to stop the deportation of Venezuelans without criminal records.
The petition is extremely ambitious, because what Boria is asking for is a kind of small-scale immigration reform with the smell of arepas and limited to Doral.
The reason is clear. Doral is known as “Doral-zuela” because of its large Venezuelan population. And in “Doral-zuela” the residents are convinced that the world is coming to an end in Caracas and that, if anyone is responsible for the Armaggedon, it is Nicolás Maduro’s government.
That’s why Boria, an indefatigable public servant, not only asked for the concession of a temporary status for the immigrants from that country but also expressed his support for the opposition demonstrators in that nation. (South Florida has the largest concentration of Venezuelan exiles in the United States.)
Tit for tat
After the annual fund-raising dinner for the Democratic Party, last week in Hollywood, Fla., it was learned that former President Bill Clinton spent much of his 45-minute speech putting Florida Governor Rick Scott in his place.
Among other things, because Scott, a run-of-the-mill politician, did not defend President Obama’s health-care overhaul when he could have (although he didn’t have to do it to the letter) and refused to accept federal money to expand Medicaid. He also cut taxes for the wealthy.
“Let me ask you something. Why would you do that?” Clinton asked the absent Scott. “Why would you choose an economic policy that only helps people that don’t need any help?”
We’re not going to defend Scott, who doesn’t deserve our support. But let’s be fair.
Who would like to put Clinton in his place and remind him that, during his term in office, he chose the economic policy that deepened financial deregulation?
