Florida is notorious for Medicare fraud, and we also have more than our fair share of food stamp fraud. At least Miami residents can console themselves with the fact that our food stamp defrauders are not as shameless as those in other states.

EBT cards, modern-day food stamps, are being traded for cash and drugs on the street these days. Recently, more than 100 suspects from seven Florida cities, including Miami, were arrested for street transactions with a undercover agent posing as a homeless person, the Bradenton Herald reports. The agent offered an EBT card with a $300 balance in exchange for cash or drugs. Grocers and convenience store owners offered him $150 in cash. Other suspects offered the agent marijuana, cocaine, and oxycodone.
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In an effort to force citizens to make healthier choices, a few countries have instituted a "fat tax" or "junk food tax," which requires consumers to shell out more for unhealthy foods. So far, Denmark and Hungary have done so. France has so far restricted its levy to sweetened drinks.

Health advocates are calling for the United States to institute a junk food tax in hopes that it will help curb obesity and cut down on deaths resulting from cardiac arrest.

This could do away with some food trucks and Cuban bakeries.
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Most of you remember 'pink slime' don't you? That nasty little recipe that was being used by many fast food restaurants and passed off as straight up beef to us ignorant folk?

Well, there's another very popular and equally anonymous food product ingredient, "meat glue," that you should know about.
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I am not going to lie and say I am completely against the tactics used on prisoners at Abu Ghraib, but when similar abuse is suffered by Americans not suspected of, well, anything really, there is a problem.

We are human and we do make mistakes, but there are certain situations in which mistakes are unacceptable. For example, a surgeon needs to be on point at all times. So do members of law enforcement.

After a huge faux pas by Drug Enforcement Administration agents, 23-year-old Daniel Chong might be scarred for life.
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Since America began closing mental institutions in 1955, the streets have been deluged with mentally unbalanced individuals unable to care for themselves. (Blame JFK for that guy you see on your way to work every morning, who sits at the curb mumbling about spacemen and radioactive jelly beans.)

As I am sure many of you have already noticed, Miami is a mecca for homeless people who are mentally ill. I am sure there are many, many reasons, such as the gorgeous weather. But in any case, they are here to stay -- and steal pickled food.
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According to the Chinese zodiac, 2012 is the Year of the Dragon, but it should be renamed the "Year of the Salmon--ella outbreak and consequent civil suits."

Too long?

Two lawsuits due to salmonella poisoning have been filed against Taco Bell this year. The second lawsuit, also filed by Marler Clark, the Food Safety Law firm, comes hot on the heels of a salmonella outbreak in Oklahoma that left a child hospitalized.

According to the Food Poison Journal (I know, I didn't know such a thing existed either), "The lawsuit is being filed while another nationwide Salmonella outbreak is still raging...the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a total of 141 persons infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella... The number of ill persons identified in each state is as follows: Alabama (2), Arkansas (1), Connecticut (6), District of Columbia (2), Florida (1), Georgia (6), Illinois (13), Louisiana (3), Maryland (14), Massachusetts (9), Mississippi (2), Missouri (4), New Jersey (8), New York (28), North Carolina (2), Pennsylvania (6), Rhode Island (5), South Carolina (3), Texas (4), Virginia (8), and Wisconsin (14)."
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I don't like the online activist group Color of Change. The namby-pamby, can't-we-all-just-get-along-as-long-you're-a-vegan, Obama-loving, Christian-hating, war-protesting, Democratic-donkey-defending, liberal members are all a bunch of imbeciles.

I know that's a pretty broad generalization. And I'm sure you're cursing me right now.
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​Last Wednesday I had a dining experience that can only be described as orgasmic. Before you think I suffer from objectophilia or start calling me a foodshagger, let me explain that the event was intended to enhance and titillate the senses. I'm willing to bet good money that I am not the only person who has used the word orgasmic to describe the experience of Catharsis Restaurant's Dining in the Dark event in Little Havana.

The atmosphere at Catharsis on a regular evening somewhat resembles a higher state of consciousness, but Dining in the Dark elevated that feeling to another level. I had been dining there on a previous evening when I heard about the event and was invited to come and experience it by one of the owners.
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​In a shameless act of pure greed, the City of Miami Beach has formed a beverage sponsorship agreement with the Coca-Cola Company.

This does not mean that when exiting the MacArthur Causeway onto Fifth Street that you will drive past a sign that reads Welcome to Coca-Cola Miami Beach. It does mean that Coca-Cola is now the exclusive non-alcoholic beverage of Miami Beach.

The SunPost reports that vending machines at parks and other public areas will sell Coca-Cola brand soft drinks exclusively, as will the concessionaires at the Fillmore, the Miami Beach Convention Center, and other Miami Beach locations.

Coca-Cola will provide the city with millions of dollars as well as free products in exchange for its non-compete status. But at what cost to the city and its reputation?
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​I love Irish peeps. Some of my best friends have been Irish. The Irish are cool.

The gregariousness of the Irish may be why Latinos in Miami tend to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with more reverence than they celebrate Cinco de Mayo -- another so-called "drinking" holiday, but also a more Latincentric one.

To be honest, I've never been big on either one. More so, I've just observed with wry amusement how Cubans, Colombians, Nicaraguans, and other Latinos have scurried about making sure that secure plans were in place to celebrate a religious holiday of the Irish people. Should we Hispanics instead perhaps try to keep it just a tad bit more real?
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