Dear
Angie,
That
is a GREAT article [“Toxic Tee-Off,” published Aug. 9]. You
really turned my hysterical gobbledygook into a readable and
credible story. You are a great writer. I have loved the
SunPost for its “cut to it” style. You guys do a great
job.
As a
postscript to the story, when you called me to tell me that
it was definitely Fusillade that had been sprayed on the
golf course, I immediately reached the nurse practitioner in
the practice we use.
Our
kids started the typical treatment for fluoride poisoning
and I am relieved to report that each of them has responded
remarkably well even less than three full days later. So I
am relieved at least about that.
The
earliest appointment I could get for myself was next Tuesday
afternoon. A lot of people were having babies this week and
my situation is not an emergency. Unfortunately, I was also
told that at this stage of pregnancy there are no tests that
can tell if the baby's development has been affected by
exposure to the pesticide. Fluazifop is listed by the EPA as
a developmental toxin, so I am, to put it mildly,
“freaking.”
I
really just hope that the city will more carefully monitor
the job at the golf course. There is also no reason why my
kids should have pesticide poisoning from a job that is a
block and a half from my home. I have been told over and
over again that there was NO OTHER EXPLANATION for my kids'
symptoms or the fact that they only began to clear up when
we began to give large doses of calcium and magnesium along
with magnesium sulfate and quarts of milk to flush the
fluoride poison from their bodies.
I
can only hope that the city will be more careful and that
any additional work will be done more responsibly and
safely. I just got another notice that they will spray again
all of next week. I am really worried. I can't go away for a
week every other week. On the notice from the city, it says
that “… This herbicide is no more toxic than weed-killer
products you can buy at a local garden store.” I do not
believe that this is true. Fluazifop was marketed for
residential use by Ortho under the name Grass-B-Gone. Home
Depot DOES NOT sell Grass-B-Gone, and when I checked Lowe’s,
they also did not have the product. Furthermore, Ortho’s Web
site no longer lists the product and it does not come up in
a search. If Fluazifop is the same as products sold at the
garden store for residential use, I would like someone from
the city to look into that and tell me where it is sold.
Sincerely and respectfully,
Renee Kohn
Miami Beach
Herbicides? We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Herbicides!
Your
article on the toxic Normandy Shores Municipal Golf Course,
“Toxic Tee-Off,” Aug. 9, begs a follow-up. Are our municipal
fathers listening? Are our golfers reading?
Some
common-sense rules follow:
#1:
Don’t select menial laborers to do your killing (of weeds,
grass or anything). Studies show many can’t or don’t read
labels, or don’t comprehend what they read. They rely on
their supervisors’ verbal wishes.
#2:
Don’t fertilize grass. You read it right. Grass grows better
without high nitrogen fertilizer. Grass obtains sufficient
nutrients from earth and rain. Weeds, however, thrive on
high nitrogen fertilizer. (Ask pros without financial
interest.)
#3:
How to sell fertilizer in face of Rule #2 above? The
chemical interests combined herbicide (weed-killers) with
high nitrogen fertilizer. We don't need fertilizer or
herbicide. When grass is cut, weeds don’t interfere with
sports!
#4:
Don’t use strong concentrations of chemicals with intent to
kill downtrodden grass. Try a few rainy days to rejuvenate
grass.
#5:
Golfers, please help your skin, your livers, your lives, our
citizens, our Earth!
Inform friends, movers and shakers at City Hall that you can
cope with short weeds in the turf!
Melvin Kimmel
Miami Beach
Listen, Whatever Your Name Is, Bow Down Before the Original
Rodizio
Miami SunPost:
There is nothing more offensive and no one more despicable
than those who perpetrate outright intellectual property
theft, then employ it (locally) to compete with those they
stole it from [Chow, “Beefed Up,” published Aug. 2]. Either
Mark Greenberg [sic] has a considerable ethical challenge,
he’s taken a payoff from Grimpa and/or he’s never been to
the ORIGINAL (and by more-than-far still the undisputable
best) Brazilian rodizio that has graced Miami for nearly a
decade — Porcao (at the Four Ambassadors). If the same owner
is involved, excuse me, but I doubt it. Grimpa is a
blatantly cheap imitation that is more expensive, has much
less of a selection (no baby sirloins, petite lamp chops,
glazed pork loin, marinated flank, to name a few) and is of
no comparison to the quality of the original place (not as
salty). It has stolen the entire theme of Porcao, right down
to the green and red cards (abrigado, no abrigado), cheese
bread, side dishes, salad bar (truly overpriced at $20) and
dessert cart (another rip-off, $10 for a dessert? Only
Pierre Gagnaire can demand that honestly). Sure, it’s fancy
and cool and new, but doesn’t sit on the tranquil edge of
Brickell Bay nor does it resound with the cheerful clamor of
happy diners and their entertaining wait staff. Finally, Mr.
Greenberg, if he was a true food critic, would call a spade
a spade and report this fraud for what it is. Only then can
people discern which might be better. The original always
is. Shame on Grimpa and shame on Greenberg. Why not rip off
an appropriate jingle to go with them ... “Hi-Hi-Ho [sic],
it’s on the blacklist we go.” — Walt Disney’s Seven Dwarfs.
Mike
Rosen
Miami
Mark Goldberg replies:
Intellectual property doesn’t apply to public domain.
Rodizio has been around for ages and there are more than the
two you mentioned in town. In fact, there are almost 600 of
them across the United States. With regard to the “abrigado”
cards, to quote Wikipedia, “In … the United States, it is
common for the diner to be provided with a card, red on one
side and green on the other.” More expensive? Porcao is
$44.95, the salad bar $25. The meats you listed are all
available at Grimpa. And, by the way, my name is Goldberg.
Get your facts straight.
Voulez Vous $500 Champagne?
The
only thing Eric Milon, et al., has to thank for his success
is the ever-changing topography of transient tourists and
indefatigable celebrities who can afford the astronomical
prices they charge in their VIP aura [The 411, “B.E.D.
Sore,” published Aug. 2]. Who pays $250 for a bottle of
cheap swill or $500 for a $40 bottle of bubbly? I suspect
“Milon” is French for “brown lips” and resultant from
kissing so much celebrity ass. Like the adage “money can’t
buy you love,” it also can’t buy you out of being French,
intelligence or regained admiration from the core residents
of Miami.
Opium was once the best place on the Beach, across the
board, but its once-dynamic venue has fallen by the wayside
(along with other greats like Red Square) and now caters to
only the bored, with the same regurgitated themes on a
variation. Greed has just stabbed good taste in the back,
where, along with style, savoir faire and original fun, they
lie in the darkened alley, dead. Just a quick minute with
the troglodytes at the front door will prove you can’t speak
to a monkey without a banana in hand. B.E.D., the
once-alluring cock-teaser of clubs, initially filled with
the “A list” babes-of-the-night, is nothing more than an old
used casa de putas without a single whore in
residence (they have moved from the bed to the mansion —
that’s them out front with the velvet rope between their
legs, silicone tits swaying in the stiff wind of
testosterone and the “for rent” sign between their ears).
Good
luck, Eric. More pow-pow-POWER 2 ya, Frenchie. Pass the Grey
Poop-On, s’il vous plaît.
Dean
Corso, Lounge Lizard
Miami Beach
South
Pointe Construction Site: A Waste of Perfectly Good Open
Space
Editors:
South
Pointe Park has been closed to the public since July 9, but
as of Aug. 1, the unneeded $22 million restoration project
has yet to begin [“$22 Million Makeover,” published June
22]!
Will this
project, scheduled to finish in 18 months, be another
typical Miami-Dade boondoggle, with delays and cost
overruns?
The logic
behind spending millions to restore this perfectly good park
and then borrowing more millions to build affordable housing
is difficult to fathom!
Regards,
Tom Nolan
Miami
South
Pointe Construction Site: An Example of a Poorly Conceived
Public Project
Miami Beach
never seems to change. If it were not for the participation
of the state of Florida, the 63rd Street flyover renovation
would never have been completed on schedule.
It is
unfortunate that our elected officials and those city
officials who are not subject to the wrath of the electorate
do not have the same sense of urgency or even competency
as that of the state of Florida.
Does this
sound familiar? It should if you have lived on the prime
real estate of Miami-Dade County for the past many years as
I have. The current fiasco appears to be South Pointe Park.
I have the privilege of overlooking, from my condo, the
development (or lack thereof) of the future NEW South Pointe
Park.
It has been
about six weeks since the citizens of Miami Beach have been
denied access to this important and most beautiful part of
the island. The reason for this has been the “development”
of the park. This monumental development project has been
undertaken for the past many weeks with just one large
overhead John Deere tractor, a backhoe and an assortment of
shovels. Sounds like Miami Beach development projects?
For those
of you who are new to the development program, the park is
made up of three separate land parcels. The first is the
park’s entry area. The second is the parcel immediately east
of a restaurant that is leasing city property. The third
section leads directly to the ocean.
Now, logic
would determine that, given limited resources, the city
would develop one parcel at a time. This would allow us
citizens of Miami Beach to maintain access to the remaining
two-thirds of the park — especially during the summer
months. Of course, if the city had hired a
developer with sufficient staff and experience, the whole
park could have been developed simultaneously.
Unfortunately, that is not the case. All areas of the park
have been cut off — except the parking lot, which appears to
be in the hands of a company that bought the parking right
concession and is charging a premium over and above the
regular parking meter fee!!! (Hmmmm, sounds like double
taxation?) Only the western part of the park appears to have
had any work initiated.
As I said,
we are now about six weeks into an 18-month-long project.
What do we have to show for the effort? Well, a fence was
complete about four weeks ago with a “block-out fabric”
applied directly to the chain link fence (probably to keep
those on the ground from seeing the rapid strides
the developer is making toward the park development).
Some trees
have been removed and some have been trimmed. This was done
by a well-known landscape group from South Miami and
complete in all of three days. But what else has been
accomplished since? Mmmmmmmm. ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!
In fact,
every morning I have the chance, before jumping into the
shower, to see the workers fishing in this so-called
“restricted area.” It is good to know that at least someone
is enjoying the park!
Bottom line
here folks is that the city needs to take a more
PROACTIVE role in managing the park development. WE need to
hold everyone, including those who are not elected city
officials, accountable for the lack of progress, the added
expense and the inconvenience and strain to the citizens of
Miami Beach who pay their salaries!!! Remember that THEY—
elected and non-elected — work for US! It is about time we
realize that and that they do too — and act responsibly.
Regards,
Larry Salvo
Miami Beach
Miami
Beach: Following the Trend of Disregarding Safety
Regulations
Hi Ladies
and Gentlemen,
It is with
true concern that I am writing this e-mail and providing the
attached YouTube information (www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE0R2oXIjpg).
It is a video of a trend with 27 states that have no OSHA
safety coverage for city, state and county employees.
“Public” employees! The hearing on May 24, 2007, outlines
the hazards of all 27 states, including Florida, that do not
follow OSHA safety programs and have whistle blower statutes
in place.
I
have always been very proud of the city of Miami Beach to be
proactive in its approach to safety. However, with the most
recent tax reductions, the safety officer position in risk
management has been targeted for elimination/outsourcing
[“Math Problems,” published July 26].
The cost of
doing business is a dollar and cents issue. But no price can
be placed on the loss of life or a substantial
life-threatening injury as a result of failure to follow
safety rules and maintaining a safety training and
enforcement program. Florida statutes require a self-insured
program to maintain full safety. The likelihood of that
occurring with the elimination of the safety officer is
questionable.
We are at a
unique time in the city and the decision about this area is
up to the administration. I hope that they have given this
the very best consideration.
Thank you,
Name
Withheld By Request
