New Orleans to Havana, $178 roundtrip on E-Spiri

This is so weird.

I love New Orleans. But I live in Miami. With lots of Cubans.

And now No-La Mayor Ray Nagin wants to bring us all together. For one big party. Which should not be surprising. For you kids who are not as old as him, in the late 1950s, Cuba was the top source of trade for the Port of New Orleans. And then that little thing happened on New Year's.

Anyhoo, Ray is a no-nonsense kind of guy. Recently, Ray took a six-day trip to Cuba's capital to study the island's disaster-response system. Screw politics. Ray is all about the tourism. After all, since Katrina, the number of visitors to his city have fallen from 10 million a year to 8 million, and revenues are down around $300 million, to $4.5 billion. As a result, Nagin has lobbied for U.S. and Cuban authorities to allow special charter flights between New Orleans and Cuba. Kind of like those flights from LaGuardia to Ft. Lauderdale in the early 1980s, I guess.

The Mayor said New Orleans also could be an ideal transit point for European tourists flying to or from Havana. "You spend some time in Havana and then you jump on the plane and an hour and half, two hours later, you're in New Orleans," Nagin said. "You can spend a couple of days on Bourbon Street drinking 'hurricanes.'

Okay.

Yes, its true that like rice and beans, Hurricanes bind us. But I don't see the Amsterdam/Havana/New Orleans trip taking the travel industry by storm. Except for the Dead Heads still wandering aimlessly after Jerry's death, but they don't spend much money and they are REALLY smelly. And annoying.

Mayor Ray delved a bit into politics and governmental function, offering this insightful comment about the Cuban government: "I think they do a much better job than we do on knowing their citizens at a very, very detailed level, block by block," Nagin said.

That was a joke, right?

N.B.: I love Miami, home to the Jewish and (winter time) Italian mobs, at their heyday. Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, Al Capone. Hanging here, here, and here. Can you imagine?

Don't Drink the Water

Interesting case being prosecuted by the feds down here. Richard P. Cramer, former high-ranking federal agent has pleaded Not Guilty to drug trafficking charges that included accusations that he gave intelligence to Mexican cartel members.

According to the complaint, on a number of occasions Mr. Cramer used his position to search federal databases and a California state database to see if certain unidentified drug trafficking organization members were informants for American law enforcement.

A federal law enforcement officer for 26 years, Mr. Cramer was the head of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement office in Nogales, Ariz., a busy drug and illegal immigrant trafficking spot, until 2004. Then he became the agency’s representative in Guadalajara, assigned to help track traffickers there, until he retired in 2007.

The government will have its hands full here, as Mr. Cramer is represented by Hector L. Flores, who has been a player in the federal defense bar for many years. Mr. Flores has a nice quote in today's New York Times, noting that Mr. Cramer is “a good man who has the support of his family and friends,” who “should not be a casualty of the chaos in Mexico.”

NB I've experienced a bit of chaos in Mexico myself. It usually starts with the "Centenario." Devil's water, that stuff.

For Hal Kant

You figure it out.

Anyhoo, I am fried. It's been an incredibly busy and stressful 10 months. So I am fleeing with my beautiful wife and brood. I am told we are going to try and make another baby. I'm not sure it's necessary we be able to field our own team, and I'll have to work here to be able to support another but, WTF.

I feel grateful for many things, and I will pray hard in the mountains for clean results for the 6 month body scan of my friend's son.

NB: Hal always chomped on an unlit Don Tomas Presidente, when playing in a poker tournament. But that's a story for another day.

Ann Coulter , Miss September

So much for Big Firm Lawyers being all stuffy and conservative and what not.

This is a great post, although I've got news for Gilbert Gottfried: you're no Don Rickles.

Speaking of satirical critiques, did you ever see this?

Turns out Ann Coulter is a hottie, or at least "epitomizes both the brains and beautify (sic) of the modern conservative woman," said Alyssa Cordova, the Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute's policy director and de facto calendar spokeswoman. There is something striking about Ann's looks, but I can't quite put my finger on it. Anyhoo, I'm not attracted to Coulter, but I would let Bay Buchanan butter my muffin any day.

According to Cordova (for all you folks in Iowa that is pronounced CORE DOE VA) the women in the calendar are famous for "outspokenness and family values." Ah yes, family values, according to the far right. The conservative institute's namesake, Clare Boothe Luce, may in fact be the architect of the far right's definition of family values. Born the illegitimate child of a dancer, as a child she bounced around a number of schools, was a child understudy on Broadway, toured Europe with her mother and step-father (second marriage for mommy), then married George Tuttle Brokaw, a boy who did nothing except inherit his daddy's clothing fortune. They had a daughter, George hit the botttle , they divorced. So she looked for rich husband number two, and nailed him. Henry Robinson Luce, publisher of Time, Fortune and Life magazines.

Luce was real close to actress Dorothy Hale, who committed suicide, leading Clare to commission Freda Kahlo to paint a portrait of the ill-fated "thespian."

Later, Clare found religion and joined the Catholic church.

Yup, good old conservative values: illegitimate children, multiple divorces, inherited weath, alcoholism, suicide, secret same-sex lovers, and attempting to hide it all behind new-found religion. Wait. That sounds exciting. Maybe I will change parties after all.

Rumour has it that an actor connected to the South Florida legal community will deliver a tour de force portrayal of Ann Coulter in the 2010 release of Fair Game. The film, a big screen adaptation of one of several low points in American history achieved during the Bush years, when Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby, shat all over the Constitution, mocked national security and threatened the lives of patriotic public servants who dared disagree with Cheney's cabal, should be interesting. Apparently, Coulter's character will be referred to as "Right Wing Reporter," not Ann Coulter.

N.B. I bet Cheney's daughter is attracted to Ann.

You Want A (small) Piece of Me?

Don't mess with Texas.

It's like shooting fish in a barrel, but did you see this?

Come on. What were they fighting over? He's not in Leavenworth. It's a Camp , for crying out loud. The dude is 59. And formerly worth billions. Now he's brawling in prison? Ok, that's cool. And sure to get chicks. If he ever gets out.

I suppose he needs a creative outlet, to pass the time.

Anyhoo, as a result of proving his manhood, or getting shanked, as the case may be, they may revoke his membership here.

But there are still folks who will want to hang with him, for sure.

I lead such a boring life.

N.B. Doesn't the young woman sandwiched in between Mr. Stanford and his bag boy look so....scared?

Guadalajara Won't Do

Well, I can't blog about my cases. And I have to be careful offering commentary on good lawyers making news.

That leaves alumni news and notes, I suppose.

Ah, the start of the college football season (I know, I know: its 3 games into the season. Unless you are the Florida Gators, in which case it is the first week of the season.)

Anyhoo, the chill of Fall is in the air. Old rivalries are renewed! Opportunitites for Gridiron Glory abound! And Playboy's "Girls of College Football."

The U will not be denied, thanks to Alexandra Ford.



Go Canes.

As my Favorite Judge would say "Those Boys are going to play hard and whoever can sustain their intensity longest, is sure to come out on top."

Funny, she claims to know nothing about sports.

NB: I wonder if Donna Shalala will take a peek.

Ex-DEA Chief Tom Raffanello Does a Little Spring Cleaning

Kendall Coffey remains relevant, apparently.

You remember Kendall, right? South Florida Lawyer's wind surfing pal Glenn Garvin sure does.

So as reported by Jay Weaver, when Tom Raffanello, a highly decorated, high ranking career federal law enforcement agent puts his training, skills and ethics to work for Allen Stanford and flaunts a court order to preserve all documents, instead ordering his lieutenants to shred thousands and thousands of pages of documents at the same time the government is raiding and shutting down his boss' enterprise, who does that Bad Boy hire to defend him when he is indicted?

Kendall, of course. Because Kendall knows how to make headlines and work the press. Obviously.

``They were just cleaning out the offices to close down their company,'' said Coffey.



Kendall called the indictment "a serious mistake."

Kendall knows about mistakes. Obviously.

N.B. Hey Tom, when is the last time Kendall Coffey tried a case, and did not plead his client guilty?