The newsroom of Radio and TV Martí was set ablaze Sunday, but not by any angry pro-Castro forces. It was an inside job. Well, an accidental one. Apparently the fire started after someone threw a lit cigarette in a trash can.

Though the fire caused some problems for the U.S. government-controlled broadcaster, no transmissions were interrupted.

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As the Marlins gear up for what many predict will be their worst-performing, least-attended season ever -- just one year after opening a taxpayer-funded ballpark -- the wolves are howling outside owner Jeffrey Loria's door. The latest barrage of bad press comes in Sports Illustrated, where former Miami Herald scribe S.L. Price collects a round of quotes straight out of a P.R. flak's clammiest nightmares.

Take this doozy from Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado: "The residents of Miami were raped. Completely."

See also:
- Six Lies About the Marlins Stadium
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In a scoop that will surely rival the significance of famed investigative reportage like "Blunts Found at Reggae Festival" and "Cocaine Use Suspected at Studio 54," the Miami Herald ran a front-page story today informing the community of something that just about everyone already knows: People do drugs at Ultra Music Festival. But not just any drugs, you see. The Herald has discovered that all the kids are doing "molly," a compound first synthesized in 1912 and which has been in recreational use in one form or another since the 1980s.

See also:
- Madonna Crashes Avicii's Set at Ultra 2012, Namedrops Ecstasy
- Deadmau5 to Madonna: "Fuck Off, You Fucking Idiot"

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During President Obama's State of the Union address he honored Desiline Victor, a 102-year-old North Miami Beach resident who waited hours in line to vote, as a symbol of voter's rights issues. Of course, leave it to Fox News to mock her.

Fox and Friends' Brian Kilmeade hosts a radio show on Fox Radio Network called Brian Kilmeade and Friend. The show's responce to Victor's story: "What's the big deal?"

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via YouTube

An Interview from "Liberty City: Miami -- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"

A word of advice to foreign filmmakers who get hooked on Liberty City: Please stop opening your masterpieces with chintzy B-rolls of tourists frolicking on South Beach and then cutting away to bleak footage of a morbid roadside memorial or homeless people. It's hackneyed, dammit! 

Hopefully, Shanks Rajendran takes heed when he recuts his four-part YouTube documentary called "Liberty City: Miami ― the Good, the Bad and the Ugly." Because aside from the ubiquitous beyond Miami's glitzy white sandy beaches is a grimy black underworld intro, the 26-year-old Australian filmmaker has actually found a wonderful cast of lifetime Liberty City denizens willing to share their tales on film.

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This is barely news anymore, since they've been doing the same thing for years, but it appears things haven't gotten better.

Once again, the Miami Herald will force staff members to accept an unpaid weeklong furlough before June 30.

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If you were one of the dwindling number of people who still wake up to the physical edition of The Miami Herald you were greeted by news you've likely known about for roughly 24 hours now: the Miami Dolphins are asking for tax money to pay for a $400 million upgrade to Sun Life Stadium.

So did the Herald even bother to try and add some zest to what everyone already knows?

Well, they went with this big, exciting, sexy headline "Fins unveil plan."

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Brad Meltzer

For two years, a slight, balding man in Miami has hunched over his desk, making dozens of calls a day peppered with phrases custom-built to perk up Secret Service ears: "assassination," "president," "John Wilkes Booth." This week, just days before Obama is sworn in for his second term, his fiendish plans are finally coming to fruition.

Woah, woah, call off the FBI raid. It's only best-selling author and TV host Brad Meltzer with a new thriller about a killer imitating all four successful presidential slayers. If releasing the book on this exact week may not be in the best taste, well, Meltzer didn't exactly plan it out that way.

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Tumblr is the social network for bored and lonely people to instantly indulge in every base urge, anxiety and whim. Upset at your boss? Reblog an image of Britney Spears rolling her eyes and affix a pointed caption. Feeling insecure? Post a scantily clad picture and watch the notes roll in. Feeling horny? Troll the porn tags.

So, obviously the story of Desiree Henegar, the CFO of the Hernando County school system, is the greatest nightmare of about 50 percent of the Tumblr community. The Tampa Bay Times, the biggest newspaper in the state of Florida, totally Tumblr-stalked her and put her on blast with her boss and its readers.

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If you tried to click through the Miami Herald's site this morning, you were in for a nasty surprise: The salad days of riding that Herald gravy train for free are over, you freeloader. Starting today, that Fred Grimm addiction of yours is gonna cost ya, up to $15.99 a month.

Here at New Times, we're proud to announce our own new online subscription plan this morning. Here's how it works: All of our stuff remains totally free. But if you want to buy us a shot of tequila or something, we'll meet you at Happy Hour. Any day of the week!

Read also:
- Avoid Miami Herald's Pay Wall: Five Tips
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