Photography is Not a Crime

By Carlos Miller
One month after he announced he could no longer blog because his anonymity had been threatened, Stuck on the Palmetto blogger Rick made another announcement:

That he is launching a new blog.

This time he insists that he will only be posting in the beginning and in the end of each day, assuring concerned citizens - not to mention concerned employers - that he will not be blogging on company time.

The new blog, titled The South Florida Daily Blog and subtitled A Review and Discussion of South Florida Blogs, promises to retain that divisive nature that made Stuck on the Palmetto a favorite among so many people.In fact, he has already established a list of VIPs with special invites that are allowed to see the new blog.

The rest of us will have to wait until Feb. 4th, which is when he officially launchs the blog.

Rick even snubbed Alesh from Critical Miami, who has long been the central point of information within the South Florida blogosphere, opting to give Gus of Miami Beach 411 the scoop.

Gus, who made sure to flaunt his privileged status by mentioning he recently had dinner with Rick, took a swing at Daily Pulp blogger and journalist Bob Norman.

After seeing how (Rick) was treated by the so-called “real journalists,” I sure can understand being gun-shy to post his true feelings on sensitive issues.

Sensitive issues like gay inmates being isolated from general population at the Broward County Jail; an SOTP post that riled Norman and eventually lead to Rick’s decision to shut down his blog.

Norman first posted his reaction to Rick’s take on the subject by posting the following on his blog on Dec. 6th:

Rick at Stuck on the Palmetto got going this morning with a rather rancid take on Michael Mayo’s column in the Sun-Sentinel about the isolation of gay inmates at the Broward County Jail.

His post on the column, illustrated with a bar of soap, ends thusly:

“Hey, if the guys wants to mix with general population, let them mix with general population.Better yet, before they transfer, let’s give them some high heels, lipstick, pink tutus and a big, Costco-sized tub of Vaseline.”

Yes it’s insulting. Yes it’s stupid. Yes it’s demeaning to a large class of people.

And all that’s fine with me. Unfortunately, it’s not funny, ranking right up there with Judge Jerry Levenson’s idiotic “tight end” remark in court (only without the public’s interest being involved). There’s your crime.

That post lead to a heated debate between Norman and Rick in the comments section where Norman asked Rick “who pays you to blog all day.”

That question prompted Rick to make an SOTP post where he announced he would take a break from blogging because Norman had threatened to out him, not to mention that Alesh “piled on”.

Rick ended up killing SOTP a few days later, an incident, which according to Gus, revealed “a very ugly side of the Miami blogging community.”

No matter where you stand on the issue, nobody can deny that SOTP played a vital role in the South Florida blogosphere. It is likely that The South Florida Daily Blog will refill that void, possibly even better than SOTP ever did.This is how Rick describes the new blog:

“It’s about spotlighting the extraordinary, the controversial and the informative in South Florida blogging. It’s about promoting and supporting the local blogging scene. It’s about being a central point for South Florida blog readers to go and hang out and discuss ideas and local issues.”

The concept of launching a blog to review other blogs is not exactly new in the South Florida blogosphere. Last year, Manuel A. Tellechea launched A Review of Cuban-American Blogs, in which he spends a good portion of blog space mocking the Babalu Blog.

Knowing Rick, the Babalu Blog will most likely be one of his favorite targets. But I’m sure he has other targets in mind as well.

And I doubt he will shy away from the “sensitive issues”.

So here’s looking forward to the new blog.

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