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The atmosphere at the Intercontinental Hotel in Downtown Miami last November during the Republican Governor's Conference was hopeful. The GOP governors where the only national wing of the party to actually gain membership in the 2008 election, and the line was it was they who would bring their party back on track, emerge as the leadership that Republicans so badly needed, and it was quite possible that one of their members would challenge Barack Obama for the presidency in 2012. In fact, they even launched a GOP comeback campaign. 

Visitors often comment on how "European" or "South American" South Beach feels, but it's nice to get a reminder once in a while that, yes, you are indeed in America and we tend to love our Country as much as any other place in it. Maybe that means we express it through lifeguard stands and the occasional stars and stripes thongs, but damn it South Beach loves America.

Today's photo comes from P Keigan's Flickr.

What happens when a wayward cop goes unpunished for a blatant crime? Ask Sgt. Juan E. Mendez. Last month a citizen oversight group considered the 92nd complaint filed against the officer in his 25-year career.

Those complaints include: 22 for excessive use of force, 22 for discourtesy, 20 for abusive treatment and 7 for missing property, according to city records. He's received seven official reprimands including punishments for crashing his cruiser and accidentally firing his gun. He's also killed four suspects on the job and cost Miami taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in settlements. "Unusual and disturbing," comments Janet McAliley, a member of the Citizen Investigative Panel, which hears complaints against cops.

Worst of all, Mendez' career could have ended more than two decades ago, when he was involved in a controversial brutality case. Back in May 1987, he was on patrol in Overtown when he spotted Alfred Lee in a parked car. It appeared he was rolling a joint. When Mendez approached,  Lee protested that he was a cop. Mendez didn't believe him.

Who knew Ziggy could be so topical?

In April, we reported on the Craigslist Killings, in which murderers lured victims to their deaths using the classifieds site. Maybe my tale of barely escaping the jaws of a Craiglist predator won't make national news, but fuck me if it wasn't traumatizing. I almost sent my PlayStation 3 to Nigeria for nothing in return. Horrified yet?

So it all began when I realized that Grand Theft Auto 3, while thrilling for the first couple of weeks, gets a bit stale after the 9,022nd time you set a policeman on fire with a blowtorch. I put my PS3 console on Craigslist -- the site through which I had bought it about a month prior -- along with a couple of games and a Blu-Ray disc of Superman (don't judge me) with a price tag of $350. The listing is here.

I got only one inquiry, from a guy named Clarence King, asking me if I still had the console. It was a bit fishy because he accidentally sent me identical inquiries meant for two other Miami-area sellers of a $600 Toshiba laptop and a $620 Dell laptop. That's a lot of shopping. But whatever, I told myself, he probably just got his stimulus check really late.

(My desperation to think Clarence is legit throughout this story makes more sense when you understand that I really enjoy playing blackjack at Seminole Hard Rock. And have been getting a lot of 16s. And that's all I'll say about that.)

So I tell Clarence I still have it, and within moments he fires back a quite enthusiastic e-mail:

I will like to buy this item so pls do withdraw the advert from
Craigslist. I will also like you to know that i will be paying by
paypal due to the fact that i will not be able to meet up with the cash
and local pick up so you will be shipping it oversea.I will be adding
$150 for  the shipping and handling cost... I will need you to provide
me with the Your paypal email address so i can send the money to your
paypal account.

Hmm... overseas. Awful grammar. Offering to pay me $150 more than I asked for. "Sounds good," I tell him, and give him the email address attached to my Paypal account. Nine hours later, I guess this very legit-looking email apparently from "service@paypal.com":

Puerto Rico dominated the net and will do the same against the Dominican Republic this afternoon.

As a reward for a perfect 5-0 run through the first round of the Pan-American Cup, the US women's volleyball team had today off. But they could still be seen in the BankUnited Center scouting Thursday's 8 p.m. marquee match-up between Puerto Rico and Argentina.

IPuerto Rico defeated Argentina in four sets; 25-18, 17-25, 25-19, and 25-19. Making her case for tournament MVP, Aurea Cruz carried Puerto Rico to victory with 24 points and four aces. Her team had a total of nine aces and looked strong throughout the match. Argentina took the second set and made the scores look close, but was clearly the inferior team.

Alex Izaguirre

Time to party like it's 1776.

Over at the Night & Day calendar, the Magic City Kitty and I constructed a "perfect day" of kickin' it on Uncle Sam's birthday, but we're so excited about the national holiday that our bras are freaking exploding...

...and we just had to list a few more:

via Esparta's Flickr

Swine Flu has claimed two more lives in Miami-Dade County according to the Miami Health Department. The total number of confirmed cases in the county has ballooned to 493. 

via Erica Marshall's flickr

Woah, hold on their St. Petersrbug Times, you're given us a major case of nostalgia. Remember "Mold-A-Rama" machines? You'd put a few dollars in and the machine would make a wax toy in front of your eyes. Apparently Florida has more of these machines left than any other state, and The Times profiled that state's last remaining Mold-A-Rama salesman Tim Striggow. Even though a new Mold-O-Rama machine hasn't been manufactured in over 40 years, Striggow still services the remaining few in Florida and sells older ones. 

Seems that during his time in Miami Shaq didn't get out much to Wynwood, as he seems to think Peter Max is the best artist since Picasso. I'm sure fans of Rauschenberg, Warhol, Pollock, de Kooning and just about every major artist to emerge since Picasso unveiled Guernica would have something to say about that.