Miami streets eerily silent with few visitors, many police officers

Miami streets eerily silent with few visitors, many police officers

By Tom Stieghorst
and Robert Nolin Staff Writers
Posted November 18 2003

The streets of downtown Miami were quiet on Monday, but to many it felt like the calm before the storm.

Police patrol cars were omnipresent, storm shutters covered many windows and chain link fences had emerged over the weekend around key locations and businesses throughout the area.

Many downtown shops and offices opened Monday, only to close for lack of customers as the day wore on.

"Downtown Miami looks like it is preparing for a war," said Fernando Schlaen, manager of Richard's Gems & Jewelry, at 33 E. Flagler Street. (snip/...)

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/miami/sfl-zimpact18nov18,0,2874678.story?coll=sfla-news-miami

'-"It's definitely a military state here," said one protester who videotaped a stop and who, like most protesters fearing reprisal, goes by a nickname, in this case, "Lechuga."-'

Miami free-trade protesters allege police harassment

Protest leaders complained Monday that police were harassing and targeting protesters and unsuccessfully demanded a meeting with the mayor to discuss their grievances.

Organizers alleged that police are videotaping them walking down the street or while giving media interviews, and say that officers have done illegal searches of protesters. Some also claimed government agencies were preventing them from obtaining housing for their stay in Miami.
full article:
http://www.sptimes.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/APState.woa/wa/story?id=FL_Trade_Talks_Protests

and the one you posted-

Looks like trouble is brewing, big time.

Two officials, american and soviet one meet and brag about the achievements of their countries and social issues.
The american official says: "In the United States we have freedom of speech and self-expression. Anybody can come to the White House with a banner "I hate US government and president" and he will walk away unharmed."
The soviet official replies: "Phew, no problems. Any soviet citizen can come to Kremlin with the banner "I hate US government and president" and walk away with applause. :)))

PS. On a serious note, the US is becoming what we once were, a police state with strong rules and regulations for free speech issues.

continue to be a beacon of democratic light in a dark repressed world. Our leaders became just as corrupt as that which they so loudly hated.

Cuban rich fled there and Fascism was their religion. They fled Communism but were Fascists.

We were given four &1/2 days notice.

I'm working out of other offices this week, at great cost and major inconvenience to me and my patients - some of whom have been scheduled for major surgical appointments months in advance. My whole week of patients during the critical week before Thanksgiving have been disrupted.

I have to pay rent for the operatories in other dentist's offices I'm using this week, as well as my full month's rent at the building on Brickell Ave that has been closed.

I am also paying my staff full salary, plus travel costs to the other offices where we are working part time, despite the fact that we are not working a full week.

All of the renters in the building are considering some sort of class action suit against the building owner. Collectively, closing the 440 Brickell Ave building is costing the renters in the building many millions of dollars.



The City of Miami sucks.