Conexión Miami / Apropos the fireworks
For the time being, one might say that gay marriage and Miami have had a spat. Although Miami-Dade Judge Sarah Zabel has condescended to hear arguments from six homosexual couples, the ban on “homo-nuptials” remains in Florida since a 2008 constitutional amendment.
Is everything legal moral? Evidently not. So evident that no examples are needed. But what is moral, anyway? Whatever majorities deem moral? Or what organizations pro gay marriage are asking for?
Does morality exist?
The topic reminds me of the snake that bites its tail. The fact is that, in the United States at this time, 17 states and the District of Colombia have authorized gay marriage. At the same time, a considerable number of the remaining states are issuing licenses for gay unions.
Question: Didn’t the U.S. Constitution say that we are all equal under the law? Answer: Yes.
Biking to Doral
Why bike to Doral? Because car drivers barely respect bicycle riders (this, from a cyclist who was almost run over in two of three outings) Because the users of public transportation, especially in Miami’s periphery, waste oodles of time at the bus stops. (The bus comes every hour, if it does.)
And because the environment (what’s that?) needs a reduction in the toxic fumes, the Doral City Hall — a municipality of Miami-Dade County — had the idea of renting out 20 bicycles, beginning in October.
Provided with a satellite location system (GPS), the so-called “smart bikes” will feed from solar energy, which will allow their registration and use through the Internet, not to mention how easy it will be to unlock them from cell phones.
The basic plan is pedaling 90 minutes a day for $100 a year.
“The idea is to place kiosks in shopping centers, self-service markets, cafeterias, trolley stops, downtown Doral, the City Hall, hotels and universities. In those places, people can take a bike and return it at the nearest station,” said Luigi Boria, the city’s mayor.
The Fourth of July we don’t usually see
This past Fourth of July, what with celebrations and fireworks everywhere, you probably didn’t see a series of sweeps that Miami-Dade Fire Rescue inspectors conducted quietly, for the purpose of seizing illegal pyrotechnic devices sold by local vendors.
“We check the fireworks one by one to make sure that the packaging is intact, the fuses are not sticking out. We make sure everything is sealed,” said Inspector Ozzy Norat.
A sobering figure: According to the National Fire Protection Association, in 2012 emergency rooms throughout the United States treated about 8,700 people for injuries caused by fireworks.
The things one finds out
If you press me, I’ll say that nothing is more different from Miami than a Canadian city.
Reason No. 1: Miami’s population is mostly Latin or of Latin American origin, which reflects not only on the language but also in the nonverbal ways of living, such as barbecues and silicone. Canada is populated by Canadians, lots of them, along with people from England, France, Ireland, Thailand, Pakistan, India and Turkey.
No. 2: In Canada, the four seasons of the year are defined with a chilling precision, something that in Miami we know only from television, or maybe from reading Padura, or (go figure) listening to Vivaldi.
No. 3: If God, in Miami, became incarnate in LeBron James, in Canada He became Sidney Crosby.
No. 4: Canada went to Sochi, to the Winter Olympics. Miami has no room for another alligator.
No. 4 and last: Relatively speaking, Canada is the peacemaker.
I have just read the news of a horse donated by the Presidente supermarket chain to the Miami police. Miami has a mounted police! So, forget what I said earlier. In both places there are men who enforce the law from atop an equine.
