All posts by Headly Westerfield

About Headly Westerfield

Calling himself “A liberally progressive, sarcastically cynical, iconoclastic polymath,” Headly Westerfield has been a professional writer all his adult life.

Unpacking Coconut Grove ► Part 9.1 ► A Bad Neighbour Photo Essay

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The Charles Avenue historical marker,
Sept. 14, 2012

In my efforts to save the E.W.F. Stirrup House, I have had to do a great deal of research, with still far more to go. It seems like it might never end. However, it has allowed me to meet both good neighbours to bad neighbours.

This quixotic quest began in 2009 when I stumbled across the Charles Avenue historical marker (at left) on my first ever trip to Coconut Grove. See how the marker is currently being maintained — or not being maintained, as the case may be? Grass and weeds have, once again, been allowed to grow 3 feet high around the marker. One can barely see the flowering plant that was added to decorate and beautify the spot. That tiny splash of red to the right of the marker is not a flower; it’s the informational card from the nursery attached to the plant showing what the flowers will look like if the plant is ever allowed to mature.

The E.W.F. Stirrup House, Sept. 14, 2012

In 2009, after I read the sign honouring the original Bahamians who
settled the area, I turned to see the E.W.F. Stirrup House for the very first
time. The house was so beautiful that it captured my heart the moment I saw it. It looks nothing like any of the other houses in the area and was clearly older than the rest of the neighbourhood. I had to find out why such a beautiful house was sitting empty and being allowed to rot away.

That was more than three years ago. Since then, my research has taken me down some very strange paths, none of which could have been predicted when I began. On the positive side, I have made some very interesting friends along Charles Avenue, who provide me with first-hand accounts of what the neighbourhood was like in times gone by. On the negative side: I have also made some very powerful enemies within the power structure of Coconut Grove and the City of Miami.

Charles Avenue is 30 miles due south of where I live, but I try to get down to record the changes, or lack thereof, at least once a week, if not more. What follows is a photo essay of my most recent visit on September 14, 2012. I’ll start at the Grove Garden Residence Condominiums and work my way around this multimillion dollar condo complex.

The Taurus Bar sits in front of the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums and was apparently saved from the wreckers ball by the good citizens of Coconut Grove, who didn’t want to lose their venerated drinking establishment. The building began it’s life around 1906 as a tea room, but only later became a bar. One of the reasons the Taurus Bar was so popular with the residents was because it had a parking lot, as most of the other bars in Coconut Grove did not. Since parking in Coconut Grove can be costly, the Taurus became popular almost by default. [We’ll just try and forget that whole drinking and driving thing that the parking lot may have encouraged.] However, the parking lot is also what made the plot of land attractive to developers, who managed to acquire it, and 2 contiguous lots along Franklin Avenue, in order to build the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums.

As the story goes, when the first plans were submitted to the City of Miami to build the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums, the drinkers who frequented the Taurus Bar rallied to save it from the wreckers ball, and so it was. There is no other logical explanation as to why a multimillion dollar condo complex was built around a crappy little 100-year old building.

From Main Highway the multimillion dollar Grove Garden Residence Condominiums, with its two high-end restaurants, Taurus Bar, and valet parking, mimics (to my eyes) Cape Cod architecture. From the street it looks clean and beautiful. If you had the money, or could borrow it, you might be happy to pay nearly a million dollars to live on the upper floors. Looking east you would be able to see over the multimillion dollar houses on the other side of Main Highway in the very exclusive gated community of Camp Biscayne (which I keep meaning to write about). You would have an unobstructed view of Biscayne Bay and Key Biscayne, with Miami Beach way off in the distance. To look out over the Atlantic Ocean, especially at sunrise, would almost be worth paying that kind of money for.
However, you wouldn’t want to look out your side windows, or off your balcony, towards the E.W.F. Stirrup property immediately to the north of your million dollar condo. These windows would not have the same million dollar Atlantic Ocean view. You would see little more than a garbage dump, with trash and weeds and the roof of the E.W.F. Stirrup House being overrun by vines.

Those are not bushes or trees in the background. They are vines and weeds run amok, creating huge bowers underneath where more piles of trash can be hidden away from the prying eyes of city inspectors. Every one of those trash piles is a by-law infraction, yet the property never seems to get cited anymore, as happened a few years back. Is it possible that someone is being paid off, or is it just that city inspectors are not doing their job properly?

My suspicions lean towards the former, not the latter. Why else would my complaint to the building department (Complaint #1200243103) have been
dismissed without any notation and no follow-up? Why do all my phone calls and messages to the City of Miami get swallowed by a
Black Hole and never returned? Why have my emails not been returned?

Some of these piles of trash on the Stirrup property have been there for years and just get bigger, while some are relatively new. Lately there always seems to be a dumpster on the property, but that hasn’t stopped piles of garbage from growing week after week as new piles appear.

New to the piles of garbage this week is a kitchen sink and a refrigerator, which have been piled on top of the garbage that was there last week. This is the ground-level view of what can be seen from those million dollar condos in the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums.
Since the dumpster is now full, there’s no place else to put the garbage, except to scatter it around the property in several discrete piles. If you paid nearly a million dollars to buy a condo, you might be frustrated at having to look down upon this growing mess. However, unless you were paying close attention you’d never know that the person responsible for this mess on your doorstep is the same developer that built your condominium, owns your building, and owns the high-end restaurants on the ground floor of the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums. Nor would you know that the developer acquired the 50-year lease on the E.W.F. Stirrup Property by apparently swapping two units (#403 and #304) in your building for the lease, giving the developer the exclusive right to turn the property into a garbage dump right below your windows.

What’s more: When the plans were first submitted to the City of Miami to build the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums there was also an outcry from Black Coconut Grove — or West Grove as it is nominally called — to save the E.W.F. Stirrup House, just like there was an outcry from White Coconut Grove to save the Taurus Bar. Several neighbours along Charles Avenue have told me they distinctly remember a promise from the developers to renovate the E.W.F. Stirrup House to be used as a combination Community/Historical Resource Center. 

The developer had to make some promises in order to get the final building permits; all developers do. It’s just the nature of the game. However, whatever promises were made concerning the E.W.F. Stirrup House, the developer has reneged. The head of security for the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums happened to let slip one day (when he thought I was merely a tourist who had inadvertently wandered onto the property) that the developer “ran out of money” before he got to renovating the E.W.F. Stirrup House. They clearly didn’t run out of money before they finished the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums or the high-end restaurants on the ground floor. There was certainly enough financing available to swap two units within the building to acquire the 50-year lease on the property.

Aries Development, owned in part by Gino Falsetto, was part of the development team that built the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums and also owns (in part) the Taurus Bar, as well as the two high end restaurants Calamari and La Bottega on the ground floor. Aries Development also now holds a 50-year lease on the E.W.F. Stirrup House. According to E.W.F. Stirrup’s will, the house must remain in the family, and so it apparently has through an entity called “Stirrup Properties, Inc.” owned by descendants of E.W.F. Stirrup. However, by swapping two units within the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums Gino Falsetto, through his Aries Development company, has acquired control of the property with a 50-year lease. He wants to turn the house into a Bed and Breakfast, which I doubt is what E.W.F. Stirrup had in mind with that provision in his will. Yet, the property does not seem to be zoned Commercial and a Bed and Breakfast would be a nonconforming use.

No matter, because I have always thought the real, unspoken, plan by Gino Falsetto is to allow the E.W.F. Stirrup House to undergo Demolition by Neglect, despite it being prohibited by Sec. 16A-13.1. of the Miami-Dade County Regulations. The law reads in part:

Affirmative Maintenance Required. The owner of a property designated pursuant to this chapter either individually or as a contributing part of a district shall comply with all applicable codes, laws and regulations governing the maintenance of property. It is the intent of this section to preserve from deliberate or inadvertent neglect the exterior features of such properties and the interior portions thereof when maintenance is necessary to prevent deterioration and decay of the property. All such properties shall be preserved against such decay and deterioration and shall be free from structural defects through prompt corrections of any of the following defects: […]

If the City of Miami comes along, however, and says the E.W.F. Stirrup House is too far gone to save — after all these years of purposeful neglect — and must therefore be condemned, it opens up another large piece of property for Aries Development to develop. The only winner would be Aries Development, who created the problem to begin with.

In the meantime, it’s clear that Bad Neighbour Gino Falsetto thinks the E.W.F. Stirrup property is his own personal dumping ground. Where this garbage is coming from is a mystery to me, since I have been inside the E.W.F. Stirrup House and none of this garbage seems to have come from inside the house. The Bad Neighbour also doesn’t seem to think that he should be cleaning the property from even the simplest of wind-blown trash and other litter.
This is the same flyer I have documented as being in front of the E.W.F. Stirrup House for the last 5 weeks, since August 20, 2012. It started with bright colours, but has now grown faded. Now it is nearly covered in leaves and it won’t be long before it will be buried completely. Then it will start the process of composting. Only a bad neighbour would ignore a flyer right in front of their house.
This Red Stripe 6-pack carton has been in the middle of the driveway for at least 4 weeks. It has now lost most of its colour, but was bright red the first time I photographed it on August 25, 2012.
Standing on the same spot as the Red Stripe garbage and turning to the right, you will see the same litter that was around the tree last week. It would take almost no time at all for a good neighbour to clean this crap up, but only a bad neighbour would allow litter to accumulate week after week after week.

It’s been at least three weeks since this pizza box arrived in front of the E.W.F. Stirrup House, where it has remained ever since.
Several weeks ago one of the workers with access to the property appeared to have sat on the front steps of the E.W.F. Stirrup House to eat his lunch. When finished, he left behind his drink cup and some other trash, where it has remained ever since. It has become such a part of the front of the house that even the critters are familiar and comfortable with it. Hello gecko.
This is the wall that separates the multimillion dollar Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums from the E.W.F. Stirrup property. Within the last month vandals have tagged the wall with graffiti. While I don’t condone graffiti, the miscreants might be forgiven in thinking they were merely decorating a garbage dump, considering the deplorable condition in which Aries Development has left the property.

This is a City of Miami by-law infraction. A property owner is responsible for making sure that graffiti is covered over and not allowed to remain. However, the owner of record is “Stirrup Properties, Inc.,” which has ceded control of the property to Aries Development. Who would be fined if it ever went that far? The owner of record, of course, not the company that holds the lease.

That’s one of the supreme ironies of this whole situation. Aries Development and Gino Falsetto will not be cited, fined, or have a lien attached to their property (one of the remedies in the law cited above) by allowing Demolition by Neglect to occur on the property. It will be the owners of record, “Stirrup Property, Inc.,” who traded a 50-year lease on the property for two condos within the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums. They also traded the good name of E.W.F. Stirrup for a chance to be cited by the city for non-compliance of City of Miami by-laws. I am sure that Gino Falsetto is fully aware of these facts and is, in all likelihood, counting on it. That will allow him to swoop in and become the saviour, at a cost. Just like he did with the Coconut Grove Playhouse, which sits catercorner to the E.W.F. Stirrup House.

Piles of garbage on a property are also a by-law infraction. These piles have been sitting there for at least a month. Once again the owner of record, Stirrup Properties, Inc., would be cited and/or fined if it ever came to that. The lack of upkeep on the landscaping is also a by-law infraction. While it’s hard to tell from this angle some of the weeds on the property are more than 3 feet high, which means the grass has not been cut in well over a month. Again, the owner of record, Stirrup Properties, Inc., is responsible for the upkeep of the property, no matter who actually is controlling the property.

A close-up of just one of the piles of trash along the wall that separates the E.W.F. Stirrup property from the multimillion dollar Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums. While it might not be visible from the condos, seeing as how it’s directly underneath, it is clearly visible from the street. Why have the property owners not been cited by now? I believe it’s because the fix is in and Gino Falsetto, and his layers of companies, are protected by someone at City Hall. Nothing else makes sense. The question becomes: Who is he paying off?

Here’s what happens if you don’t have the money to pay someone off: I recently interviewed a gentleman living near the west end of Charles Avenue who was cited just last week by the City of Miami. He received a registered letter from the City of Miami for the weeds that are 3-4 feet high on the vacant lot next to his property. The registered letter gave him 10 days to remedy the infraction. He’s not planning to take any action to remedy the infraction because he does not own the vacant lot next door. The citation, with his name and street address on it was issued to him in error. He is hoping the City of Miami realizes its mistake before it fines him and attaches a lien against the house in which he has lived for the past 73 years, since his birth. He is also hoping he doesn’t have to pay to hire a lawyer to straighten out the city’s mistake.

However, the question needs to be asked: If this gent has been mistakenly cited for tall grass on a neighbouring property, why hasn’t the owner of the E.W.F. Stirrup House been cited REPEATEDLY for the garbage and weeds allowed to accumulate on the E.W.F. Stirrup property?
Maybe it’s because Gino Falsetto is a multimillion dollar developer, which brings us back to where we started. The Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums presents such a beautiful front to the street, yet hides piles and piles of garbage on the E.W.F. Stirrup property. This is Gino Falsetto’s dirty secret. If the people in the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums ever realize that the owner of their own building is also the same culprit who created a trash heap in their doorstep, they might have him tarred and feathered. The condition of the E.W.F. Stirrup House, and surrounding property, lowers the property values of the million dollar condos they purchased from him, not to mention all the houses along Charles Avenue.

However, if you’re willing to ignore the deplorable condition of the E.W.F. Stirrup property and only focus on the front of the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums, it is as pretty as a picture postcard . . .

. . . with its expensive restaurants on the ground floor and valet parking.

In the past few months I’ve had several arguments, with several people, on whether the restaurants on the ground floor of the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums are expensive. Maybe I’m just cheap, but I think a Sunday brunch that starts at $25.00 is not inexpensive. What do you think? If brunch starts at $25.00, can you imagine what the dinners go for?
However, lest we forget what this is all about: This entire project is about saving the E.W.F. Stirrup House from the rapacious developer Gino Falsetto and to rehabilitate the legacy of a Bahamian man who was well ahead of his time.

In the late 1800s Ebenezer Woodbury Franklin Stirrup had this wild idea that home ownership was important for growing Black families. To that end E.W.F. Stirrup, one of Florida’s first Black millionaires and a man who once owned a great part of Coconut Grove, built more than 100 houses in the area and rented and sold them to Black families, which made Coconut Grove unique from all the other Black neighbourhoods in the States because it had a higher percentage of Black home ownership than anywhere else in this country.
Clearly E.W.F. Stirrup was a proud man. He built this 2-story house, in a 1-story neighbourhood, and intended it to be a showplace. Developer Gino Falsetto has done everything in his power to let it rot away.

At one time the E.W.F. Stirrup House looked out over Mr. Stirrup’s vast real estate holdings, which he appears to have sold off piece by piece until this double lot is all that remains. Over the years Coconut Grove has become one of the most exclusive Zip Codes in the entire country. Yet, this small pocket of Coconut Grove — Black Coconut Grove — has remained impoverished and wanting. It has not kept up with the rest of the the Grove and the simple one-story houses along Charles Avenue, and the surrounding streets, are ripe for the kind of gentrification that inevitably comes to all neighbourhoods.

However, it would be a damned shame if the E.W.F. Stirrup House was not saved to represent the original community of Bahamians who worked in the service of, and helped White Coconut Grove to prosper. However, as I believe the plan has always been Demolition by Neglect for the Stirrup House, the same might be said for the rich cultural history of the original Bahamian community who settled here and, as the Charles Avenue historical marker puts it, “Their first hand experience with tropical plants and building materials proved invaluable to the development of Coconut Grove.”

This is what I am trying to save, no small task.

The Fox “News” Spin Cycle ► Episode Seventeen

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Bizarro is owned
by DC Comics

One of the things I learned from my decade working in a tee vee newsroom is something that EVERYONE should understand: It’s not just about what a news station broadcasts; often what’s more telling is what a station neglects to broadcast. Fox “News” NEVER appears to broadcast anything positive about President Obama. However, if some whack-job that no one has ever heard of says something negative, Fox “News” will turn it into a national news story.

It’s the same with these updates I have been obsessively collecting. I make this solemn promise to my faithful readers: If Fox “News” ever sends out a message that’s POSITIVE to President Obama, I will give it a blog post all on it’s own. However, don’t hold your breath.

Meanwhile, let’s take another trip to Bizarro World.

Oh! My!! Sides!!! This followed Chuck “1,000 years of darkness” appearing all over the Fox “News” Schedule.

Would Dubs the Dog ever ride on top of Dick “Toe Sucker” Morris’ car? Just asking.

After Dubs the Dog appears on Fox and Friends, another plug for Dick “Hire A Hooker” Morris’ book.

Another book promo. What is this, the Oprah Book Club?

Two reasons Fox “News” is promoting this 60 Minutes interview: 1). To get viewers to forget they outed
this Navy Seal’s real name and where he lived; 2). He said negative things against President Obama.

Oh, look: President Obama made a slip-of-the0tongue. Lket’s trash him.

Playing President Obama against his former Chief of Staff. It’s a win/win for Fox “News.”

Making it seem that John Schneider was only on Fox & Friends to promote a movie,
but he was also there to bash President Obama. Don’t forget the Fox “News” credo:
Who cares what celebrities have to say? Unless, of course, they are part of the Right Wing.

Hoo boy!!!

Hoo boy!!!
This book has worse to say about the Republican leadership in the House, but you’d never
know that by watching Fox “News.” And “devastates”???  Oh, please. Just another one
of those action verbs Fox “News” likes to throw around when the evidence is very different.

However, the GOP is going on vacation until after the election. Really!!!

You just can’t make this up: To Bully Boy Bolling EVERYTHING is President Obama’s fault.

“QUICK! How can we use the weekly Loofah Lad quiz to bash the administration?”

Who cares what Snoop Lion said in Toronto? Fox “News” cares because it’s another way to play the Race Card.

Another crappy article that Fox “News” wants to elevate into a national news story because it trashes President Obama.

Why is Fox “News” skipping the fact that KKKarl Rove is spending more than $100,000,000.00 to defeat President Obama?

Who cares what that Fat Fuck says? Oh, Fox “News” cares because it trashes President Obama.

Bully Boy Bolling decides what’s importantv and what’s not.

Once again there was a missed opportunity to reveal KKKarl Rove’s MASSIVE $100,000,000.00 conflict of interest.

While on the surface this might look like a positive message about President Obama, one click will disprove that notion.

If Bill “Falafel King” O’Reilly thinks trashing President Obama will
win the election for Mendacious Mitt, he is making a major mistake.

Why is Fox “News” not tgelling us about KKKarl Rove’s massive
$100,000,000.00 conflict of interest? Because it’s not in their interests.
“QUICK! How can we blame this on President Obama?”

The only reason Juan Williams felt the need to post this poll is because he was trashed without mercy for speaking the truth.

Bully Boy Bolling never misses an opportunity to politicize something.

I have decided not to use, or make fun of, any of the other solemn messages from Fox “News” personalities. However, Bully Boy Bolling is in  class by himself.

Making fun of Liberals, one ambush interview at a time.

It’s not just books that Fox and Friends are promoting. Are they getting money for these advertisements?

Here’s another one. Hoo boy!!!

More POTUS bashing.

More POTUS bashing.

More POTUS bashing.

More POTUS bashing, even though Juan Williams attempts to provide SOME balance.

More POTUS bashing.

The first sentence is either a typo or someone is hoping people are not reading closely. Meanwhile, more POTUS bashing.

“QUICK! How can we bash unionism?”

This isn’t from Fox “News” but it a correct assessment of what Fox “News”
was doing on the SOLEMN 11th Anniversary of the 9/11 attack.

Because, of course, it wasn’t enough that he appeared on Fox and Friends, Fox and Friends Weekend
twice, and The Huckleberry Hound Show. Now it’s time for him to bring his “1,000 years of darkness if
President Obama is reelected” bullshit to the laughingly labelled “No Spin Zone” where it’s all SPIN.

Once again there will be nothing said about KKKarl Rove’s MASSIVE $100,000,000.00 conflict of interest.

There was a whole day of using Israel to bash President Obama, before
the murders of the ‘Merkin Ambassador in Libya changed the narrative.

Sorry to keep repeating myself: KKKarl Rove will discuss a lot of shit,
but will never admit his massive $100,000,000.00 conflict of interest.

Using Israel to bash President Obama.

He didn’t. President Obama was quoting someone else’s words, but
Fox “News” will take any opportunity to play the Race Card.

Even though the governors of many states asked for this, Republicans are going to make
sure it doesn’t happen and Fox “News” is going to use it to bash President Obama.

Say it along with me: Fox “News” will never mention KKKarl Rove’s HUGE $100,000,000.00 conflict of interest.

However, one click and you’d see how Fox “News” did everything in its
power to minimize the hate expressed against this pizza shop owner.
Did you wonder where Mendacious Mitt picked up his lie? Fox “News” said it first and Mittens just repeated it.

“QUICK! How can we blame this on Obamacare?”
Now that there’s been a confirmed death, Fox “News” has moderated its
message. Too bad Mendacious Mitt didn’t follow this example as well.

Too bad Kraut the Hammer didn’t moderate his message either.

This Hollywood Reporter story is all bullshit. It quotes the filmmaker, who
is upset that the White House has fact-checked this piece of shit movie.

More President Obama trashing.

What happens when two Right Wing wingnuts meet a Right Wing wingnut? They take souvenir pictures.

Fox and Friends First has been skipping the morning cheesecake
photo, but they haven’t completely forgot their fans that have a leg fetish.

“Quick! How can we blame this on President Obama?”

“That’s how we can blame it on President Obama!!!” Bully Boy Bolling never disappoints.

Another book promotion. I sure hope Wretched Gretched is getting paid for this.

“QUICK! How can we blame this on President Obama? Oh, right! We already have.”

“QUICK! How can we attack Unionism?”

The last person I would ever take election advice from is Sarah Palin.

The Daily Caller has become Obama Conspiracy Central. Here’s another pile of crap.

The next person I would never take advice from is Senator
John McCain, who foisted Sarah Palin on ‘Merka in the first place.

TRANSLATION: “We here at Fox “News” can’t get enough of Chuck Norris.

Now Bill “Loofah Lad” repeats Palin’s nonsense.

Just another way to bash President Obama.

Lyin’ Ryan is using this tragedy for political purposes.

Using the tragedy of 9/11 for political purposes.

Using this tragedy for political purposes.

Using this tragedy for political purposes, but then Bully Boy Bolling doesn’t know to do anything different.

Using this tragedy for political purposes.

“QUICK! How can we blame this on President Obama?”

“QUICK! How can we get Rep. Allen West to blame this on President Obama?”

Bill the “Falafel King” just can’t quit Sandra Fluke. I think he really loves her.

“QUICK! How can we get someone else to blame this on President Obama?”

“QUICK! How can we blame this on President Obama?”

Of course KKKarl Rove, aka Turd Blossom (that was George W Bush’s nickname for him. Really!),
will trash the POTUS, but will NEVER explain his $100,000,000.00 conflict of interest.

“QUICK! How can we blame this on President Obama? We can’t? Then we will blame it on the Nanny State. Close enough!”

No one airbrushes history like KKKarl Rove, who has still not admitted his $100,000,000.00 conflict of interest.

Using this tragedy to bash President Obama.

Using this tragedy to play politics AND bash President Obama.

How did your God like your Makris confession. Loofah Lad?

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

I’m sure when KKKarl Rove is done spinning this the only voters
President Obama will have left are welfare cheats and … oh wait!!!

“QUICK! How can we blame this on President Obama?”

I’d still rather have President Carter to a President Romney.
Yet, Fox “News” has NEVER pointed out all of the Mendacious Mitt gaffes from just this week.

Oh, lookie: Fox “News” finally found one poll that agrees with its viewpoint.

That sounds Fair and Balanced, doesn’t it?

“QUICK! How fast can we get Kraut the Hammer to blame this on President Obama?”

“QUICK! How can we blame this on President Obama?”

“QUICK! How fast can we find a newspaper to blame this on President Obama?”

This was an interview that Fox “News” wishes would go down the memory hole because Chris Walace disagreed
with the Foxy Friends on Fox and Friends and how they were framing the issue to bash President Obama.

Wake me up when Fox “News” decides to send out something positive to President Obama.

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Unpacking the Aunty Em Ericann Blog Again

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Every once in a while I like to pull back the curtain and show my readers what it looks like under the hood here at the Aunty Em Ericann Blog. However, and this is the important part, it’s really just an excuse for me to beg my readers to click on the ads. That’s the only way this blog generates any money for me and I work on it so very hard. Click on an advert. Clicking on an advert will cost you nothing, but it will put a few pennies into my pocket . . . and I do mean “few.”

All-time Top Ten posts.
Click to enlarge
All-time Top Ten search terms. Click to enlarge

I started this blog on April 19, 2012. Since then the blog has had 35,352 page views (as of this writing), which averages out to approximately 7,070 page views per month. That’s not bad for a newish blog. At left is a list of the all-time Top Ten Posts. It’s clear even at a small resolution that the Number One post is ahead by a wide margin: 1,493 to 610 for the Number Two post. I find that stunning for a bunch of reasons, main among them is that I’ve not promoted the Number One post; people have found it through the Googalizer, as evidenced by the next graph. At the time of this writing 526 people have found the Number One page in a search, as opposed to 293 who searched and found the Number Two post on the blog.

For the record: The Top Ten posts on the Aunty Em Ericann blog are:

Entry Pageviews
1494
610
560
375
319
310
310
281
281
266

Some of those surprise me. There’s really no reason I can think of why the Barbara Walters clip comes in at Number 10, or why the post on Wretched Gretched clocks in at Number Six. Both were intended to be silly one-offs, yet they keep on garnering readers. Amazingly neither are part of the search terms people have used to find my blog.

Who am I to argue with my readers? They know what they like.

I am gratified, however, that some of the posts I am most proud of have made it into the Top Ten.  Specifically I’d like to point to the ones on Josephine Baker, The E.W.F. Stirrup House, When Whites Went Crazy in Tulsa, and The Detroit Riots. The thread that connects them all is that they are all about Race Relations and Racism, a subject I have been researching as my own Independent Studies Course as long as I can remember.

Meanwhile, I will keep publishing my blog. Hopefully my readers will realize how much hard work goes into writing these posts and will click on an advert, or two, or three and help support this project.

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You Made Me So Very Happy ► My Days With David Clayton-Thomas

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David Clayton-Thomas by Carl Lender

Dateline September 13, 1941 – A baby is born in war time England, Thames, Surrey, UK, and named David Henry Thomsett. He would later grow up to become David Clayton-Thomas. His father was a Canadian who met his piano-playing mother ‘over there’ when she went to entertain troops in a hospital in London. According to Larry LeBlanc at DCT’s official website:

After the war, the family settled in Willowdale, a suburb of Toronto. From the beginning David and his father had a troubled relationship. By the time David was fourteen he left home, sleeping in parked cars and abandoned buildings, stealing food and clothing to survive. A tough, angry street kid with a hair-trigger temper, it wasn’t long before he ran afoul of the law and was arrested several times for vagrancy, petty theft and street brawls. He spent his teen years bouncing in and out of various jails and reformatories.

David inheirited a love for music from his mother and when a battered old guitar came into his possession, left behind by an outgoing inmate, he began to teach himself to play. Before long he was singing and playing at jailhouse concerts and for the first time in his life, he found acceptance. Now he had a dream and his life had direction… he put the reformatory years behind him and he never looked back.

While Clayton-Thomas is best known as the booming voice of Blood, Sweat and Tears, (to make a long, interesting story very short) he put in his apprenticeship with a series of bands before he made it big. He had his own band, The Shays, at 21 and in 1966 he joined a new band The Bossmen, which had a hit before breaking up. Earlier he had traveled to New York and gathered some other Toronto musicians to form his back-up group The Phoenix. They played in New York City at The Scene before getting tossed out of the country for not having the proper work papers. He kicked around Toronto for a few more years, immersing himself in the Blues and Jazz scenes and sitting in with John Lee Hooker in Yorkville, Toronto’s Hippie mecca. He followed Hooker to New York and when Hooker left for Europe, Clayton Thomas stayed on where he came to the attention of Blood, Sweat and Tears following the release of their first LP. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Back, with liner notes by DCT.
Ishan People’s 2nd LP

Surprisingly, left out of the official biography of David Clayton-Thomas, and even left off his WikiWackyWoo page, is how I came to know David. Back in the day (1976-1977) I managed a group called Ishan People, Canada’s first Roots Reggae band. David Clayton-Thomas produced both our LPs on GRT Records. David was an early proponent of Reggae, well before Bob Marley was a household word. By then Clayton-Thomas was already a singer of some renown with his work with Blood, Sweat and Tears. However, he took a small pittance as a producer to work with music and musicians he loved. Here’s a sample of David Clayton-Thoamas’ work with Ishan People.

I don’t know why this has been left off all the biographies, because this is something that David Clayton-Thomas.should take great pride in. I note he has an autobiography called, appropriately enough, Blood, Sweat and Tears, which I’ve never read. I wonder if he mentions it there. At any rate, you made me so very happy, David. Thanks for everything.

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Unpacking Coconut Grove ► Part Nine ► Good Neighbours and Bad Neighbours

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A recent article in the South Miami News caught my attention. The headline reads “Neighbors hope buyer can be found to preserve historic Milledge House.” The story concerns a house less than 3 miles away from the E.W.F. Stirrup House, the 120-year old house I am trying to save from a (allegedly) rapacious developer.

In short: The Milledge house was built in 1901, on a plot of land less than a half mile away from where it currently sits, and moved to SW 74th Street in 1944 by the Milledge family. “It was historically a cracker farm house,” said owner Lewis Milledge. “Mom put in federal features and changed the window treatments for the look of colonial Williamsburg.”

The good neighbours of SW 74th Street are hoping a rapacious developer doesn’t swoop in and buy the Milledge House, priced at $1,085,200. The house sits on an irregular sized lot several times the size of size of the lots in the general vicinity. This size makes it quite attractive for a developer to snatch up and subdivide the lot and build several houses  Raquel Garcia writes:

The irregular-sized lot on which the Milledge House sits.

It is a tranquil and flourishingly green street where the cardinals still sing loudly in mid-afternoon and the neighbors get together for block parties and holidays. Several area property owners have united to lobby for the uneventful transfer of the Milledge home now for sale at 4700 SW 74 St. The community hope is that a new buyer will also fall in love with the neighborhood and preserve the property and character of the street.

“We all love our block,” said neighbor Jill Kramer. “We want to maintain the charm of our street, it is very important to us. We are afraid of developers that don’t care.”

The Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums peeking out from
 behind the E.W.F. Stirrup House. Note all the garbage allowed
to collect around the tree. Photo taken September 7, 2012.

A developer who doesn’t care could be considered a bad neighbour; concerned only about profits and not about the character of a neighbourhood. One developer that has proven himself to be a bad neighbour concerned more about profits than the character of a neighbourhood is Gino Falsetto, one of the owners/developers of Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums immediately behind the E.W.F. Stirrup House. Falsetto, through his Aries Development company claims to have a 50-year lease on the E.W.F. Stirrup House. According to the memories of residents along Charles Avenue, when the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums was built, it was expected that the Stirrup House would be renovated for the community as a community center of some sort. However, that never happened and the house has now been sitting idle and empty for a number of years.

The Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums where owners spend nearly a million dollars to buy a unit.
Pile of trash behind the E.W.F. Stirrup House, visible from
the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums, but not
from the street where by-law inspectors would see it.
Photo taken September 7, 2012

Imagine if you paid close to a million dollars to buy a condo unit in the
Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums. From the street your building — with its two high-end restaurants, old-timey Taurus Bar, and valet parking — looks beautiful. Then you take a look out your condo window, only to look down at the trash
heaps that have been allowed to grow like Topsy on the property of the E.W.F. Stirrup
House. You would naturally think you had a bad neighbour. However, you probably
would never know (unless you’ve done the kind of research I’ve done) that your
bad neighbour is also the same developer that owns the building you
bought your condo in. That would make you a bad neighbour by osmosis.

If you lived along Charles Avenue, especially if you were a property owner, you would have every reason to think you had a bad neighbour. You would have been walking past the the E.W.F. Stirrup House for the last several years, watching the house fall apart due to Demolition by Neglect. If you cared about your own property values, you would be concerned about the weeds allowed to grow on the Stirrup property and the fact that no one cleans up the trash allowed to accumulate. Take note at the garbage allowed to collect around the tree in the picture above left. It takes weeks for that much garbage to pile up. More telling, however, is
this series of pictures taken several weeks apart:

On the sidewalk immediately in front of the E.W.F. Stirrup House was a postcard-sized flyer on August 20, 2012.

The same flyer blown closer to the fence, still on the sidewalk in front of the E.W.F. Stirrup House on August 24, 2012
The same flyer, now faded, closer to the fence, and almost buried by leaves and growth on September 7, 2012.
Graffiti tagged wall on September 7, 2012.

Neighbours walking along Charles Avenue would also be able to see the graffiti tagged on the wall that separates the E.W.F. Stirrup property from the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums. They would also be able to see the piles of garbage, including carper remnants, nestled up against that wall. These piles have also been growing bigger week by week, even though there’s a dumpster on the property in which this garbage could be thrown.

I would also be remiss if I didn’t point my finger at another bad neighbour in Coconut Grove. Tom Falco is the Editor and Publisher of the Coconut Grove Grapevine. In my opinion he’s far worse than Gino Falsetto. No one really expects a (alleged) rapacious developer to be a good neighbour. Developers generally tend to be out for themselves; to make a profit at any cost. However, that’s exactly how Tom Falco appears to run the Coconut Grove Grapevine. While he pretends to care about Coconut Grove, Falco only seems to care about his pocketbook.

Tom Falco’s logo used under Fair Use laws.

Tom Falco laughingly calls the Coconut Grove Grapevine “Coconut Grove’s Only Daily News,” but that would be a misnomer. It’s only the news that he feels wouldn’t hurt his bottom line. When asked to help me on deep background to better understand the politics of Coconut Grove he told me that he didn’t “want to get involved in that.” However, continued research has confirmed my original suspicions: If it’s something that’s happening in White Coconut Grove, Tom Falco is all over it and promoting the hell out of it. If it appears that a business might have money to spend on advertising in the Coconut Grove Grapevine, Falco is all over that too. However, when it comes to Black Coconut Grove, or Charles Avenue, Tom Falco has little to say. And, what he does have to say, seems carefully modulated so that it will not offend any of his potential benefactors, such as the restaurants on the ground floor of the Grove Gardens Residence Condominiums, also owned in part by Gino Falsetto.

STOP THE PRESSES!!! Oddly enough, just as I was preparing to publish this column, I was also going to say that Falco has written very little about the Coconut Grove Playhouse, when — Lo & behold — it appeared that he did so between my starting this article early this morning and now. Falco says:

I have a theory and I am probably wrong, but this constant stalling and battling tactic [on the Coconut Grove Playhouse] may be taking place on purpose so that the whole thing crumbles in on itself and the structure can then be knocked down and a new structure can be placed onsite, which many people want.


[…]

 One of the entities involved is cheating me out of about $2000 for advertising (that’s another story I’ll post soon), so I am not surprised at this point that crooked hands may be at play here.

That’s always been my theory about the Coconut Grove Playhouse and the E.W.F. Stirrup house: Demolition by Neglect. Falco links to a story in the Miami Herald which mentions Aries Development by name. This is the same company — owned in part by Gino Falsetto — that has also scuttled previous deals to return the Playhouse to the city of Miami and the same Aries Development that claims a 50-year lease on the E.W.F. Stirrup House. If this is the company that has allegedly cheated Falco out of $2,000, maybe he finally understands why I have been investigating Gino Falsetto. If not, who’s been cheating Tom Falco’s Money Making Machine?

BTW: the Miami Herald says:

[Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos] Gimenez was able to engineer a settlement agreement with one of two main playhouse creditors, developer Henry Pino. But the second, Aries Group, which had previously reached an agreement with the playhouse board to redevelop the property, claimed it was owed more than $2 million by the nonprofit group.

I keep trying to tell Tom Falco that I have nothing to gain in trying to save the E.W.F. Stirrup House. I’m not a resident of Miami and/or Coconut Grove. I am not Black. I have no advertising to sell that would impede my journalistic endeavours. I am trying to save a 120-year old house and the legacy of the man who built it simply because it’s the right thing to do. I’ve done a lot of legwork on this story. Maybe Tom Falco is willing to join forces with me to see this house is not lost to a developer to do whatever he wants with it. [Unless that’s not who allegedly cheated Falco out of $2,000. If it’s someone else, never mind.]

Tom, you have my email address. I am always open to talk about how we can work together save this house.

Coming up next: The Broken Window Theory of Criminology.

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The Fox “News” Spin Cycle ► Episode Sixteen

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Bizarro is owned
by DC Comics

With the start of a new week, it’s time to wrap up last week’s Fox “News” Spin Cycle. With the conventions over, and the lull of the weekend arrived, Fox “News” didn’t find it all that necessary to WHITEwash on behalf of Mendacious Mitt and Lyin’ Ryan. This is evidenced by the fact in the past 3 days I’ve collected less than half of the updates from Fox “News” than I did in a single day during the conventions. Yet, that doesn’t mean the Fox “News” Spin Cycle was idle. On the contrary. It just means the bullshit is more finely compacted. So, let’s put on our anti-gravity boots and take another trip to Bizarro World, where one cannot be assured of anything being FAIR & BALANCED.

I’m sure you’ll tell us, Wretched Gretched. And, I’m sure it won’t be a positive report.

Former Democratic Senator Evan Bayh is one of those squishy Dems Fox “News”
loves, who can be counted on to barely defend Democrats. Furthermore, all questions
are framed as anti-POTUS, so he’s climbing out of a hole before he even starts.

Those Foxy Friends on Fox and Friends were almost gleeful in the hopes the jobs numbers would be
bad. Fox “News”: Betting against the ‘Merkin people since President Obama was sworn into office.

KKKarl Rove and Fox “News” left a few things out during his appearance, like the fact that he has two
SuperPACs spending more than $100,000,000.00 to defeat President Obama. Will Fox “News” ever tell us
about his conflict of interest? Why should they? This deception and Lie of Omission is working out great for them.

Fox “News” SciTech just doesn’t seem to understand how to play the bash-POTUS game.

The job numbers were more favourable than Bully Boy Bolling had hoped, so the
Bureau of Labor Statistics must be smeared as a “partisan” and #Criminal” outfit. When
the job numbers favour Bully Boy’s preconception, he’ll tout the numbers happily.

Fox “News” has more than enough baggage for a 747. That’s why a web site like
NewsHounds exists. Their motto: “We watch Fox so you don’t have to.”

Of course he did, because that’s what’s expected of him. He also trashed President Clinton’s speech, which
everyone else thought was a home run. Charlie the Kraut Hammer called it “a giant swing and a miss.”

Another day at Fox “News” and another softball interview for Mendacious Mitt.

Forget that Fox “News” outed this author and revealed his real name and the city he lives in.
Also forget that the Pentagon is alleging the author broke the law in writing this book.
Just focus on the negative things found concerning President Obama.

Do the math Fox “News” because President Obama’s poll numbers are up despite the continued bashing you’re giving him.

A week ago Chuck Norris predicted “1,000 years of darkness” if President Obama is reelected. That
made him a natural guest for those Foxy Friends on Fox and Friends, who normally decry Hollywood
celebrities who come out for President Obama. But because Chuck Norris said something hateful
about the President of the United States,he needs to be booked ASAP, and as often as possible.

The Carmel Pine Cone? Are you kidding me? Bring back the empty chair.

Yet he’s got all that empty space between his ears in which to pack his clothes.

What would he say? I am on pins and needles waiting to see if he supports Mendacious Mitt.

Fox “News” has never liked fact checkers. That’s why a web site like
NewsHounds exists. Their motto: “We watch Fox so you don’t have to.”

Because Former Democratic Senator gave the Foxy Friends on Fox and Friends
exactly the kind of interview they had hoped, they promoted it later in the day.

I know I sounds like a broken record, but when will Fox “News” tell its low-information
viewers that KKKarl Rove has a MASSIVE conflict of interest in that he’s spending more
than $100,000,000 by his 2 SuperPACs to defeat President Obama?

This is not from Fox “News” but does concern it. Fox “News” reacted
with typical snark, by saying it hoped R.E.M. enjoyed the publicity.

There is no low to which Fox “News” won’t go to trash the Democratic Party. It will
never pass along anything positive said about the Democratic Party, however.

C’mon. Don’t make me laugh. No one’s afraid of Mendacious Mitt, except the
fact-checkers who are forced to work overtime every time he opens his mouth.

I can be forgiven for thinking the headline referred to Gerald being diminished but still formidable. Right?

Now there’s a disinterested party. Word Salad Sarah never disappoints.

Mendacious Mitt is trying out a new variation of the “You didn’t build that” lie that Fox “News” created with deceptively
edited remarks and that the GOP ran with. Mendacious Mitt is grasping at straws if he thinks he’ll sway any students.

That answers that question: Geraldo Rivera DOES still have a Fox “News” show.

However, Geraldo won’t stray too far from company store. Here he gives KKKarl
Rove a chance to lie to his low-information radio audience without telling them that Rove
is spending more than $100,000,000.00 in an attempt to defeat President Obama.

Fox “News” makes it look like Chuck Norris was on Fox and Friends to promote his movie, but he was really
there to expand on his remarks that reelecting President Obama will plunge ‘Merka into “1,000 years of darkness.”

Friday was another day that Ainsley Earworm has not started the day
by sending out a cheesecake pic of the day. Here’s a midday substitute.

I thought it was one perfect softball after another lobbed straight down the
middle. Even so, Mendacious Mitt was unable to hit anything out of the park.

Is Fox “News” saying this is a bad thing, or a good thing? The link to CNS News is all the info one needs
to determine that. Brent “Bozo” Bozell, founder of the Media Research Center, which is far to the right
of Fox “News,” also founded CNS News, the motto of which is “The Right news. Right now.” Hoo boy!

In every other place in the reality-based community, Rush Limbaugh is a pariah. In Bizarro
World, aka Fox “News,” anything Limpburger pulls out of his ass is worth passing along,
provided it trashes Liberals, the rest of the media or the POTUS. Here’s a rare three-fer.

Everyone say it along with me: When will Fox “News” reveal KKKarl Rove’s egregious conflict of interest and
mention he’s spending more than $100,000,000.00 from two SuperPACs in order to defeat President Obama?

Note Bully Boy Bolling’s FAIR & BALANCED reference to
Capitalism vs Socialism. Only a feckless hack would try that trick.

Another morning when Bully Boy Bolling didn’t regale his sycophants with his exercise regimen. What’s up with that?

Charlie the Kraut Hammer is now just making shit up. There are no specifics in the GOP ticket, as
evidenced on the Sunday talk shows when both Mendacious Mitt and Lyin’ Ryan refused to give any details.

“QUICK! The job numbers are up. How can we blame President Obama?
Oh, Breitbart has a 5 month old statistic? Let’s run with it.”

Too! Many!! Jokes!!!

After Chuck Norris made his hateful prediction that reelecting President Obama would plunge ‘Merka into “1,000
years of darkness,” he was a guest on Fox and Friends on Friday, then a guest on Fox and Friends Weekend on
Saturday, and then a guest on The Huckleberry Hound show on Saturday. That’s what’s called “tripling down on hate.”
People to deadbeat Congressman Joe Walsh: Pay your child support!!!
And yet, Mendacious Mitt’s campaign operatives could only come up with one lie after another. That’s not fact-checking.
Oh great! Bully Boy Bolling is a sports fan too.

There’s the exercise regimen. Six miles of running and football. What a guy! He’s a guy’s guy. He’s Bully Boy Bolling.
I’m developing a theory about Bully Boy Bolling . . .

. . . that he starts drinking late in the day and . . .

. . . by evening he’s tanked up enough to start sending out his Bully Boy Bolling Bullshit™ to the world.

And that’s how the weekend ended, the same as how the previous two days of the Fox “News” Spin Cycle ended: Bully Boy Bolling drooling all over the internet.

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Happy Birthday ► Two Out Of Three Goons

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L to R: Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe,
cup & saucer, Peter Sellers

September 8th was the birthday to both Harry Secombe, born in 1921, and Peter Sellers, born in 1925. Along with Spike Milligan, born April 16, 1918, these three comprised one of the greatest comedy teams ever. The Goon Show was a staple of BBC Radio for 9 years, from 1951 to 1960 and is considered the fount of all British comedy to follow, influencing, among many others, Monty Python.


One can’t really explain The Goon Show, it must really be heard. But first, a song. Feel free to sing-a-long:

And now, The Jet-Propelled Guided NAAFI in 3 parts:



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The Fox “News” Spin Cycle ► Episode Fifteen

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Bizarro is owned by
DC Comics

Thank goodness the political conventions are over. Due to its desire to either WHITEwash on behalf of Mendacious Mitt and Lyin’ Ryan or to trash President Obama, The Fox “News” Spin Cycle has been working furiously. Keeping up with the Fox “News” Tsunami of Bullshit™ has almost been a full time job. Hopefully, now that President Obama has given his acceptance speech of the Democratic nomination things will slow to a more normal Fox “News” River of Bullshit™.

Meanwhile, today as yesterday, this edition of The Fox “News” Spin Cycle is dedicated to Eric Bolling, known around these parts as Bully Boy Bolling. Yesterday he claimed he was taking notes on his whiteboard and promised he would fact-check President Clinton’s speech. His fact checking on The Five consisted of him saying, in essence, “This was a lie, that was a lie, this was a lie and that was a lie” without EVER telling his low-information audience what the truth might have been. Because Bolling knows that the fact-checkers have already checked Clinton’s facts and couldn’t find anything wrong. Consequently, Bully Boy Bolling couldn’t REALLY fact-check Clinton’s speech, but he could leave his low-information viewers with the impression that President Clinton lied, even if that wasn’t true.

And that’s why we call him Bully Boy Bolling.

Second day in a row there was no cheesecake shot from Ainsley
Earworm, so I am recycling a non-cheesecake shot from yesterday.

Here’s Bully Boy Bollling’s BIG LIE. He never fact-checked anything, he just said
it was a pack of lies. He wasn’t “crazy busy,” just crazy. #shamelessbullyboybolling

Everybody except Bully Boy Bolling, and the rest of Fox “News” thought he hit it out of the park.

Who cares?

Mendacious Mitt takes time out from his busy debate preparations to sit down for a softball
interview from KKKampaign KKKarl KKKameron, who allowed him to lie shamelessly.

Two Conservatives and one ineffectual so-called Liberal. And that’s what FAIR & BALANCED looks like on Fox “News.”

“QUICK! How can we blame this on President . . . We can’t? Never mind.”

You will never see an Independent who has decided to vote for President
Obama on Fox “News” because it would spoil the propaganda.

He needs to give a speech. No big secret.

It’s not a hard sell. Very few Hispanics are supporting Mendacious Mitt.

“QUICK! How can we blame this on President Clinton? We can’t? Never mind.”

Remember when Bill “Loofah Lad” O’Reilly talked about all the chaos at the RNC? Me neither.

Todd Starnes used this amusing piece to take pot shots at tofu and arugula. HAW HAW HAW That’s a good one, Todd.

Yes, a funny new video that has been thouroughly debunked because the so-called President Obama voter
was unmasked as a Florida GOP operative. These jokers can’t even lie good enough to not get caught.

The wall of “Fair and Balanced”???
OH! STOP!! MY!!! SIDES!!!!

Here’s the interview touted above. However, Fox “News” will never show someone who has decided
to vote for President Obama after listening to Mendacious Mitt and Lyin’ Ryan get caught in their lies.

Just a little something to distract the low-information viewer from
the Fox “News” anti-Obama/pro Mendacious Mitt propaganda.

This clip turned a figure of speech into a threat to kill Mendacious Mitt.

Dickhead Morris. Toesucker Morris. Hooker-hiring Morris. Nuff said.

Define success.

As I’ve said before, the only time you’ll see Fox “News” mention Jon Stewart is when he’s attacking President Obama.
However, he attacks Fox “News” far more often than he has commercial breaks, almost. That’s the real comedy.

Distraction from Obama-bashing. QUICK! Look over there!

KKKArl Rove promoting one of his full-of-crap Wall Street Journal columns. The WSJ
has the same owner as Fox “News,” which is why neither have commented on Rove’s
conflict of interest in spending more than $100,000,000.00 to defeat President Obama.

I’ll save you the trouble: Sean Hannity makes a cameo in the second part of
the Ayn Rand movie “Atlas Shrugged.” Paul “Ayn” Ryan was unavailable.

Fox “News” spent more than 24 hours trying to make it sound as if the DNC moved the party indoors
because there were too many empty seats. But, guess what? The weather turned to shit just like had been
predicted and Fox “News” was forced to send this pile of crap into the memory hole.

More distraction from the Fox “News” propaganda machine. QUICK! Look over there!

Just more of KKKarl Rove’s misinformation campaign, while he never mentions his conflict of
interest in spending more than $100,000,000.00 from his two SuperPACs to defeat President Obama.

While he’s 100% right, Fox “News” wants to make him sound like an extremist.

All Dems boo the inclusion of Bill “Falafel King” O’Reilly into any civil discourse.

Is Geraldo Rivera still on Fox “News”???

Translation: We’ll be lying to our low-information viewers and trashing President Obama full-time.

Here’s Fox “News” doubling down on President Obama hate. What are the chances they won’t
talk about Chuck’s prediction of 1,000 years of darkness if President Obama is reelected?
One hundred percent, but I looked into the future. Also, please keep in mind that Fox “News” is
constantly saying celebrity endorsements are useless when they are endorsements for the Democratic Party.

More of the Fox “News” disinformation propaganda campaign against President Obama.

More KKKarl Rove spreading his own disinformation on Fox “News,” while never admitting
that his 2 SuperPACs spending more than $100,000,000.00 to defeat President Obama.

That’s not really how I interpreted the report, but Fox “News” needs to spread the bullshit frior to the jobs report.

“QUICK! How can we blame this on President . . . What? Sarah
Palin did what? She put a target on Gabby Giffords? Never mind.”

Now Kimberly Guilfoyle adds to the hilarity. Fair and Balanced? Only in Bizarro World.

I’m not sure what to make of this. Are they making fun of Eva Longoria, her working at
Wendy’s when she was young, or Mendacious Mitt’s tax breaks for millionaires?

And then we FINALLY get to Bully Boy Bolling’s big contribution of the night. Oddly enough, he went into radio silence after I published The Fox “News” Spin Cycle ► Episode Fourteen, where I made relentless fun of him from the previous night. However, he just can’t leave it alone and has to keep picking at that scab that is his brain. How can he even PRETEND to be Fair and Balanced after sending out crap like this?

I’m assuming Bully Boy Bolling talking about Vice President Joe Biden,
but who knows? He has so many Democrats that he hates viscerally.

I’d rather listen to Gafftastic Vice President Joe Biden than Bully Boy Bolling baying at the moon.

That’s exactly how I feel when I am watching The Five, except Bully Boy Bolling is both Goofy and Dumbo.

Bully Boy Bolling has a real hate-on for the UAW and the auto industry apparently. #tryfair&balanced

That debate will be fun. Lyin’ Ryan will try to get away with his bullshit
and Vice President Joe Biden will eviscerate him. Pass the popcorn.

Really, Bully Boy Bolling? Do we have to bring up how George W. Bush, after he had already declared war against
bin Laden, outsourced the job and allowed him to get away in Tora Bora? Or, how about when a reporter asked Bush about
bin Laden and he replied that he’s truly not concerned about bin Laden? You want to blame Clinton, you feckless hack???

The unedited screen cap at left is just to demonstrate how many messages Bully Boy Bolling was sending out in a short span of time. I have a very busy feed and there were no other messages to come between these three.

All independent economists have stated that for Mendacious Mitt to make his targets of keeping the Bush tax
cuts on the top 1% he will have to raise the taxes on the Middle Class. Who needs truth serum, Bully Boy?

STOP THE PRESSES!!! Capitalism is dead!!!
You are such a feckless bullshit artist, Bully Boy.

It’s not a falsehood, you lying MoFo.

More lies from Bully Boy Bolling, but if he says it’s a lie enough times his low-information sycophants might believe
it. Hell, if he says it enough HE might even believe it. Let’s throw this up on the Wall of Fair and Balance, shall we?

Lookie: Bully Boy Bolling made a funny.

It’s a Bully Boy Bolling Two-Fer: Another attack against VP Biden,
with an attack against Labour thrown in for good measure.

Even this kind of smear is beneath you, Bully Boy Bolling. I hope you’re proud of yourself, you feckless hack.

The Zombie Nation are those low-information viewers who watch Fox “News” and think it’s really Fair and Balanced.

It’s really laughable when Bully Boy Bolling, who proves in these messages he’s not
Fair & Balanced, points to someone else for bias about a comment made years ago.

Bully Boy Bolling is still stewing over LAST NIGHT’S speech by President Clinton.

The unedited screen cap at left is just to demonstrate how many messages
Bully Boy Bolling was sending out in a short span of time. I have a
very busy feed and there were no other messages to come between these five.

Bully Boy Bolling will pull anything out of the time warp to smear President Obama.

Surely you’re not talking about Lyin’ Ryan, are you Bully Boy? The man
seems incapable of telling the truth, as does Mendacious Mitt, for that matter.

See? No attack against President Obama is too low for Bully Boy to go.

When Bush was president Bully Boy Bolling always maintained that the president can do little to control the price of gas.

More attacks against Unionism and General Motors.

Wind and solar are not failed ideas, Bully Boy, but the breeze and the sun are not owned by corporate Fat Cats.

That’s so clever, Bully Boy.

Really? You are simply an idiot, Bully Boy. A feckless hack. A person
who wouldn’t know Fair & Balanced if it bit you on your nose.

FINALLY! Now the adults can talk amongst themselves.

OOPS! I spoke too soon. He’s back!!!

Considering Tom Brokaw was admitted to hospital yesterday for accidentally taking a sleeping pill, this
might be one of the most classless attacks Bully Boy Bolling has ever made. It turns out that Tom Brokaw
is fine, but making fun of him to score political points is just more proof of Bolling getting into the gutter.

No! No more parting shots, you cheap shot artist.!!! Go to bed already!!!

Leave it to Fox “News” to give KKKarl Rove time to trash President Obama’s speech right after
he gives it. What they will never do is tell you about Rove’s conflict of interest or his two
SuperPACs that are spending more than $100,000,000.00 to defeat President Obama.

Surely writing the Fox “News” Spin Cycle will get easier from here on it. I hope.

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Another Magical Tee Vee Moment ► Philo T. Farnsworth

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Dateline September 7, 1927 – On this day Philo Taylor Farnsworth demonstrated his radical new invention: electronic television. Prior to this all televisions (which were still in the experimental stage) used a clunky mechanical system with a rotating disk. Farnsworth’s radical design used image dissection, an electronic scanning of a series of lines. He was only twenty-one.

More amazingly, he came up with the idea when he was just a 14-year old farm boy. The brainstorm came to him while plowing a field; the plow moves across a field, then back the other way for the next row. He drew his idea on a chalkboard for his science teacher John Tolman, who was so impressed with it that he made a contemporaneous sketch of it. This proved fortuitous years later when he was sued by RCA over patent infringment. The teacher’s sketch made in 1922 won the case for Farnsworth.

Indeed it was Another Magical Tee Vee Moment. Here’s just one more:

Electronic television is no longer with us, having gone the way of the horse and buggy. A whole generation has now grown up viewing tee vee on a cathode ray tube that necessarily made the living room tee vee deep in dimension. Now tee vees can be hung on a wall like a painting.

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The Fox “News” Spin Cycle ► Episode Fourteen

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Bizarro is owned by DC Comics

Here’s what was learned in this edition of the Fox “News” Spin Cycle: Bully Boy Bolling proved, once again, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that he is not “Fair and Balanced,” in case you were wondering. He also proved he has too much time on his hands and could use some new meds. During the nominating speech by President Clinton, Bolling was practically apoplectic, sending out message after message after message. Whenever you see Bully Boy Bolling on Fox “News,” remember that he lives on the same home planet as the rest of the Fox “News” personalities and pretending to be “Fair and Balanced” is just what they all do best. 

Let’s delve into the latest nonsense from Bizarro World.

The day starts as it always does with your cheesecake shot of the morning. However, an
out-of-focus shot without legs ain’t gonna make it Ainsley. You can try again tomorrow morning.

Of course Lyin’ Ryan is as disinterested a party as KKKarl Rove.

That’s two days in a row that Bully Boy Bolling didn’t treat his sycophants
with his morning exercise routine. He must be watching his blood pressure.

Frank Luntz likes to pretend that no one knows he wears a bad rug. However, the toupee reflects the
tee vee lights differently than his real hair. Never trust a man wearing a laboratory test animal on his head.

Fox “News” SciTech still hasn’t learned that it’s supposed to trash the POTUS day in and day out.

Fox “News” SciTech could take a page out of the KKKarl Rove playbook: Don’t admit
you have a conflict of interest and then trash the POTUS until you run out the clock.

Would it be cruel of me to hope he crashes?

Which one is in drag?

Another softball interview, where Lyin’ Ryan gets to trash the Democratic Party until the clock runs out.

More POTUS trashing.

“QUICK! How can we blame this on Presisdent Obama?”

Despite being a Democratic Governor, Delaware’s Jack Markell barely made any headway in this interview because all
the questions were framed from an anti-Obama position. He was trying to climb out of a hole before he even started.

The only time Fox “News” cares about what celebrities say is when they trash President Obama.
Then they are embraced and invited on the air. Otherwise Fox “News” is very dismissive of
celebrity endorsements. For example: Tomorrow Chuck Norris will be on Fox and Friends.

Of course they asked him who he is supporting. Guess what???

MAKE HER STOP!!!

Another one of those interviews with a Democrat where all the questions are framed from an anti-Obama stance.
A little bit of silliness, with some POTUS-bashing thrown in for good luck.
Another one of those interviews where all the questions are framed from an anti-Obama position. What a surprise.

Fox “News” made a lot of hay out of this. Sadly the DNC changed its position, making them look weak . . . again.

Because it went so well, Brain Brian Kilmeade was promoting this
softball anti-Obama interview long after Fox and Friends went off the air.
Gee, what a surprise.

What is more likely in the future — Will Laura Ingraham continue her snarky
style of Progressive bashing or be relegated to the dustbin of history?
Yet every time Fox “News” mentioned this story, it cited its own totally invented rumour that there
were too many empty seats, despite the fact that more than 15,000 had been put on waiting lists.

If there is any fairness in the world, both of them will have long careers,
long after Laura Ingraham has been relegated to the dustbin of history.

This panel is a guaranteed non-stop Obama bash-a-thon. That’s why they are on Fox “News.”

The only time Fox “News” mentions Jon Stewart is when he is critical of Democrats.

Hoo boy! Tom Brokaw should know better than to let Scammity Hannity frame the questions.

Fox Nation is where you will find the ugliest, most racist statements against President Obama and his entire family.
Don’t believe me? Take a look at the comments on this thread. Normally they close and delete all the comments
when it gets this ugly. However, there’s an election on and Fox “News” has taken sides. Let the creeps have their fun.
There’s enough room in there for 3 inner Springsteens.

No one is being crucified. Just another way to for the Christian Broadcasting
Network Fox “News” Channel to stir up the low-information viewers.

No more Todd Starnes, please.

It was another Laura Ingraham Snark-A-Thon.

A total misrepresentation of what the First Lady said. She said that Government
is the only thing we all share, whether we are Democratic or Republican.

Trying to make the bogus point that there would have been empty seats at the BofA
stadium, despite the fact that more than 15,000 people had been put on a waiting list already.
Not among Fox “News” anchors.

More of the patented snark we’ve come to expect from Snarky Snark Snark.

As far as I’m concerned Laura Ingraham is not leaving fast enough.
However, she will eventually wind up in the dustbin of history.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a million times: Don’t exaggerate!!!
Fox “News” never reacts like this when Ann Coulter says something incendiary.

The glass will be all full . . . say it with me . . . when Laura Ingraham is finally tossed in the dustbin of history.

With no natural disaster, Shep Smith is forced into advancing the Fox “News” Obama bash-a-thon.

Hoo boy!

This just in: Democrats took too much heat from Fox “News” and it was threatening to get in the way of their DNC message.

Purdy pictures!

Guilted by Fox “News,” the Defending Jesus Network.
Mendacious Mitt took time out from his all-important debate preparations for a
softball interview for Fox “News” where he could enter another fact-free zone.

I bet the Fox “News” room had a collective orgasm when they read this.
This is what Rove wants you to think, but him spending over $100,000,000.00 to influence the election won’t
change the demographics: Young people don’t trust Mendacious Mitt and Lyoin’ Ryan for good reasons.

Thoughts on the speeches to come? Really?

No comment Fox “News”?

No comment Fox “News”?
Just before President Clinton hit the stage at the DNC I think Bully Boy Bolling was going
for a dirty joke, but he allowed his anger to get the best of him and it makes no sense.
This is when President Clinton hit the stage and Bully Boy Bolling sends out a war cry. Isn’t that telling?

Choom gang is a reference to President Obama’s drug use, for the uninitiated.

No comment Fox “News”? That’s okay, because Bully Boy Bolling did all your talking for you.

This was no secret by the time Bully Boy Bolling attempted to sucker people into this bet.

Yet, President Clinton still supports President Obama as the best candidate
over Mendacious Mitt. Why do you think that is, Bully Boy Bolling?

While I don’t know the truth of the numbers, I do know 2 things: Bully Boy Bolling never tells the truth, unless
its convenient and Mendacious Mitt would have let Detroit go down the tubes, taking all those jobs with it.

Bully Boy Bolling is cherry-picking the job numbers and then throwing in a gratuitous cigar joke to be scatological.

This will be fun.

Uh oh! Bully Boy Bolling’s starting to type in ALL CAPS! He must be pissed!!!

More cherry-picking of convenient stats. Remember, Bully Boy Bolling:
George W. Bush built that debt. It was a surplus when “BC” left office.

Is that why you haven’t been exercising, Bully Boy Bolling? At lease he is admitting that President
Clinton’s speech made him angry, proving once again that Eric Bolling is not FAIR & BALANCED.
That was one of the strangest speech analyses I’ve ever read. Especially
since everyone else though President Clinton it it out of the park.

That’s all for today. With one last day for the DNC, I’ll be able to go back to making The Fox “News” Spin Cycle an occasional feature of snark.

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