Philip Levine heads to New Hampshire for Hillary
Miami Beach Mayor Philip Levine will head to New Hampshire Saturday to stump for Hillary Clinton.
And maybe a job
?
Where was he when Hill needed him in Iowa Monday night?
Many people in the know believe that Levine is angling for an ambassadorship, which makes more sense than a cabinet appointment since it’s mostly a social job. Last year, Levine not only took immersion Spanish classes as the university in Spain, he also got a crash course in diplomacy from the Fletcher School at Tufts University’s Leadership Program in Advanced Diplomacy.
Levine won his first term with help from former President Bill Clinton, who flew in to Miami Beach for a fundraiser for the media mogul. The mayor just won re-election last November, but outspent a late candidate who just didn’t work hard enough and never gained much traction outside the anti-incumbent vote. And even though he’s got a rubber stamp commission to do whatever he wants, you can kind of tell his heart is not in it. He is always looking for the bigger prize.
Well, Ladra says let Clinton have him. Yoo hoo? Hillary, mi amor? Mr. Levine will be such a good ambassador anywhere far away from where he can wreak havoc on the unsuspecting city employee or Miami Beach resident. Why don’t you do us a favor and take him from us?
Feeling the Bern in Pinecrest, the Grove
A surprising head-to-head finish with the presumed front runner Hillary Clinton in Iowa Monday has given Sen. Bernie Sanders a surge in his already growing energy.
Locally, there are more than a dozen phone banks planned for the 
next few weeks at supporters homes for volunteers to feel the Bern in Coconut Grove, South Miami and Pinecrest. The next one is from noon to 3 p.m. at a home on Park Avenue in the Grove and volunteers are asked to bring their own phones or tablets. “Please bring a laptop, phone, chargers, and any extra batteries you have,” reads the online invitation.
There’s a capacity for 15 people and eight had signed up as of Wednesday.
There’s also a three-hour phone bank Wednesday, Feb. 10, from Dunkin Donuts, 8099 South Dixie Highway.
For a complete list, click here.
Commissioner Rebeca Sosa takes on lizard industry
First it was pythons. Now it’s giant lizards with sharp teeth we have to worry about.
Rebeca Sosa passed an ordinance that would urge the Florida legislature to ban the sale of any more tegu lizards. The measure also calls upon the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation 
Commission (FWC) to stem breeding and stop the spread of this invasive species in the Everglades.
Since 2009, the Argentine black and white tegu, a large omnivorous species of lizard native to South America has been increasingly documented in the wild. The lizard is yet another exotic animal part of the international pet trade market that has made its way into the Everglades. Similar to the well documented Burmese python, it poses a direct threat to the delicate balance of the Everglades ecosystem.
“Exotic animals continue to threaten our most precious natural resources,” Sosa said in a statement. “They disrupt the natural food chain, jeopardizing our native wildlife, and cause great burden to residents in affected areas. Our government must do its part and all of us should as well.”
She asks eagle-eyed residents who see a tegu or python to call the exotic species hotline at 1-888-483-4681. From a distance, we suspect.
A blow to human trafficking with signs, fines
Coming to a strip club near you: Signs aimed at raising awareness and providing an escape for human trafficking victims.
Miami-Dade Commissioners gave final approval Tuesday to an ordinance sponsored by 
Commissioners Jose “Pepe” Diaz and Sally A. Heyman to crack down on human trafficking by enforcing a recently adopted state law imposing a $500 fine on businesses that fail to post human trafficking public awareness signs at adult entertainment and certain massage or bodywork services establishments.
Human trafficking involves the exploitation of men, women and children for forced labor or commercial sex and often subjects them to force, fraud, and coercion. The National Human Trafficking Resource Center hotline received 1,428 phone calls and reported 364 human trafficking cases in 2014 in Florida alone.
“Human trafficking makes victims of the most vulnerable people in our society, including children, and we must do 
everything we can to end this heinous form of exploitation in our county and across the state and nation,” Commissioner Diaz said in a statement.
The public awareness signs, which will appear in English, Spanish and Creole, will state: “If you or someone you know is being forced to engage in an activity and cannot leave — whether it is prostitution, housework, farm work, factory work, retail work, restaurant work, or any other activity — call the National Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-373-7888 or text INFO or HELP to 233-733 to access help and services. Victims of slavery and human trafficking are protected under United States and Florida Law.”
Political Coraditos: From POTUS phone banks to lizards added by Ladra on
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