Viewing Vizcaya: Intolerance (1916)
Coconut Grove,
events,
film,
film festivals,
Landmarks,
miami history,
social events,
Viscaya,
Viscaya Museum and Gardens
Film/Film Festival
| Viewing Vizcaya: Intolerance (1916) | |
| 2/17/2010 http://www.vizcayamuseum.org | |
| This screening series will explore both modern day films that have a fun connection to Vizcaya as well as historical silent films that Mr. Deering and his guests might have viewed in their time. In silent film director D. W. Griffith's most ambitious undertaking, humanity's intolerance and its terrible effects are explored in four parallel stories set respectively in the modern era, early Jerusalem, 1572 Paris and ancient Babylon. This epic piece of cinematic history stars Lillian Gish, a contemporary of Mr. Deering's and an extended house guest at Vizcaya. Cost: $15. Running Time: 72 minutes, Rated PG. 7 p.m. | Address: Vizcaya Museum and Gardens 3251 S. Miami Ave. Miami, FL 33129 Coconut Grove 305/250-9133 |
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DNE Program I: Dance Now! at the BASS Museum
| DNE Program I: Dance Now! at the BASS Museum | |
| 2/20/2010 http://www.dancenowmiami.org | |
| Dance Now! celebrates its 10th anniversary with a multidisciplinary performance migrating through the museum. The afternoon of site specific world premiers will be based on the three current exhibits: The Jumex Collection, based in Mexico City, the largest private collection of international contemporary art in Latin America, Graffitti artist Dzine's site-specific project comprising wallpaper, objects and sound socially energizing the café and other areas of the museum, and selections from the permanent collection of 16th-19th century work. Shows at 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. | Address: Bass Museum of Art 2121 Park Ave. Miami Beach, FL 33139 Miami Beach - Art Deco District/South Beach 305/673-7530 |
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Dance : Compañía María Pagés
| Compañía María Pagés | ||||
| 2/18/2010 http://www.arshtcenter.org | ||||
| Winner of the National Dance Award, Spain's highest honor for dance, María Pagés has lead the way in the development of modern flamenco. With an ensemble of outstanding dancers and musicians, Compañía María Pagés is today among the most highly sought-after flamenco companies in Europe. Part of Flamenco Festival 2010. 8 p.m. | Address: Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts 1300 Biscayne Blvd. Miami, FL 33132
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Dance : Compañía Rocio Molina
Dance
| Compañía Rocio Molina | |
| 2/17/2010 http://www.arshtcenter.org | |
| Rocío Molina mesmerized festival audiences two years ago with her blazing performance in "Mujeres". Winner of the Best Dancer Award at the Flamenco Bienal of Seville, Molina returns with her company for the Miami premiere of her new show Oro Viejo (Ancient Gold), an intense evening of Flamenco that wowed audiences throughout Spain. Part of Flamenco Festival 2010. 8 p.m. | Address: Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts 1300 Biscayne Blvd. Miami, FL 33132 Downtown Miami Area 305/949-6722 |
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South Miami Rotary Art Festival
| South Miami Rotary Art Festival | |
| from 2/27/2010 to 2/28/2010 http://www.southmiamiartfest.org | |
| Art show featuring more than 150 artists from around the country, multinational food court, live music, and Children's Alley. A family-friendly free outdoor event; Metrorail-accessible, easy parking. | Address: along Sunset Dr (SW 72 St) between US1 & Red Rd (SW 57 Ave South Miami, FL 33143 South Miami Area 305/769-5977 |
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ArtSouth of Homestead: Haitian Art Exhibit
| ArtSouth of Homestead: Haitian Art Exhibit | |
| from 2/13/2010 to 3/6/2010 http://www.artsouthhomestead.org | |
| An exhibition of artwork from Haitian artisit to raise funds for the relief efforts in Haiti. Gallery tours, open studios, music & refreshments. Free and open to the public. Opening reception: Saturday, February 13, 2010 from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. | Address: ArtSouth of Homestead 240 N. Krome Ave. Homestead, FL 33030 Homestead/Florida City Area 305/247-9406 |
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Found Love/Found Junk : Pablo Cano
| http://www.bacfl.org/events.html | |||||||||||||||
Found Object / Found LoveOpening Reception, Friday February 12th, 2010 7-10PM | Address: Bakehouse Art Complex 561 NW 32nd St. Miami, FL 33127 Miami Design District 305/576-2828 | ||||||||||||||
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Yayoi Kusama : Art Festival/Art Show
Yayoi Kusama at Fairchild
Art Festival/Art Show
| from 12/5/2009 to 5/30/2010 http://www.fairchildgarden.org | |
Yayoi KusamaFairchild is proud to display sculptures from the aclaimed Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama for the 2010 art season.View photos or video on the exhibit or vistit the garden to see Kusama's Flowers that Bloom at Midnight which are on display in the Amphitheater and consist of vividly painted, giant cast flowers measuring between five and sixteen feet in height. Several of Kusama's playful Pumpkins are also on display. The multi-part floating work Guidepost to the New Space, a series of rounded “humps” in fire-engine red with white polka dots, is being displayed in Pandanus Lake. Kusama’s artificial garden unfolds in all its psychedelic glory, against the garden's backdrop of stately palms and fabulous flowers. A map of the artwork and the full Art at Fairchild program are available online or during your visit. All sculptures in the exhibition are on loan from Gagosian Gallery. About the Artist  | Address: Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden 10901 Old Cutler Rd. Coral Gables, FL 33156 Coral Gables 305/667-1651 |
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Coconut Grove Arts Festival 2010
- Where: The festival runs along McFarlane Road, South Bayshore Drive and Pan American Drive. Parking is available at the Cocowalk and Mayfair garages. A shuttle bus runs every 15 minutes from the Douglas Road Metrorail Station between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday through Monday.
- When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
- Cost: $10 daily. Coconut Grove residents in the 33133 Zip Code pay $5 with proof of residence. Children 12 and younger, or people with a Metrorail golden passport or a Patriot passport, get in free.
More food. More artists. More space. More social media.
“More” is the word for this weekend's 47th annual Coconut Grove Art Festival as organizers aim to continue the three-day festival's trend toward growth despite an economy that doesn't want to cooperate.
An estimated 150,000 people poured onto the streets of Coconut Grove last President's Day weekend to peruse paintings, sculptures and mixed-media works by 336 artists from 36 states and three countries.
On Saturday, organizers figure to meet or beat that record number but it won't come about without much pre-event scrambling and the adoption of new youth-oriented means to spread awareness of a festival that, though still ranked No. 1 by Sunshine Artist Magazine, must attract crowds if it expects to make it to its 50th anniversary.
Reputation aside, staging the arts event “has been challenging with the economy,” says festival president Monty Trainer. Though several key sponsors, such as Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, remain, “there has been a downturn in sponsor participation,” Trainer acknowledged, and some came onboard with reduced rates.
Costs, however, remain high. Trainer said the festival's price tag approaches $1.5 million, with $166,000 of that going to the city of Miami for security and maintenance. “It’s an inordinate amount of security involved, but the artists want that,” he said.
This year, there will be more artists to protect, too, on the event’s route of McFarlane Road and South Bayshore Drive. To accommodate them, festival organizers leased the Woman’s Club of Coconut Grove so that they could move booths around to fit 360 artists - an increase of 20 from last year.
The artists were selected from a pool of 1,230 applicants from around the country and Canada, including 150 locals, such as Wendy Boucher of Fort Lauderdale, Douglas Adams and Humberto Benitez of Miami and Mike Rose of Aventura. Two juries made the selections.
To bring in more money, Trainer and staff boosted the profile of the Culinary Pavilion this year. “We're catering more to the families,” he explained.
Chefs include Douglas Rodriguez of his namesake restaurant at the Hotel Astor in Miami Beach, Lucilla Jimenez of Sweet Art by Lucilla and Philippe Pinon of Ritz-Carlton Coconut Grove.
Local musicians Spam Allstars, Joe Donato and School of Rock also have more room to perform in Peacock Park, but at a distance to avoid competing with the visual artists for attention.
“The focus is on the artist,” said Katherine Phillips, the festival's chief operating officer. “We don't try to bring in headline entertainment. It's all in the flavor of the Grove, to do a nice balance . . . and not something that detracts from the main goal.”
Once the talent came into place, to pull off another successful festival organizers had to get creative in exposing them. This year, that meant the adoption of the social media site Facebook.
“We've had a website forever, but this year Facebook has taken a front role,'' said Phillips. “It’s free and an effective way to reach the masses and won't be hurting our budget … we can't‚ increase our budget … but with this economy it’s a cool media to use.”
The idea is to build excitement through ticket giveaways, posting of pictures of art and artists and interactive commentary with residents and potential visitors.
The night Phillips posted the page, 24 people said they planned to attend the festival, folks like Atena Komar who wrote on the Facebook wall:
“It's the best festival in the country and only two blocks from my house. That is why
I go on Saturday. I am an artist and love art. My boyfriend loves art, too, so we are spending our Valentine's at the festival, that is why I go on Sunday. This festival is so huge, it took me two days to see everything and make my picks. That is why I go on
Monday.”
Not surprisingly, that's precisely what festival organizers want to hear.
“It's so viral and grows so fast,” Phillips said of the social media presence. The next day she signed onto the Facebook page devoted to the Grove festival and 1,000 people said they were coming. “I love going on there when I have a second to see the comments.
It builds buzz and others let each other know.”
The next step, of course, would be the use of Twitter, which has the potential to reach even more people … but organizers are “not well versed” on it yet, Phillips said.
Homework for next year's 48th annual fest.
Miami Cost of Living & Wages
Let's start with income. How much do you make relative to your neighbors? Of course, the true results will vary by ZIP code. Undoubtedly, incomes are higher in Coral Gables than Overtown. Here are the inflation-adjusted (in 2003 dollars) numbers from the U.S. Census:
- 2006 Income: $67,574 (average), $47,509 (median)
- 2007 Income: $65,261 (average), $45,241 (median)
- 2008 Income: $68,361 (average), $48,809 (median)
- 2009 Income: $71,924 (average), $56,089 (median)
- Phoenix $59,519
- Indianapolis $60,070
- Atlanta $64,830
- Orlando $65,306
- Miami $71,924
- Seattle $74,320
- Boston $83,192
- Chicago $86,966
- San Francisco $109,464
- New York $116,204
Average Hourly Wages by Occupation (sorted by job popularity)
| Job | Mean Wage | Median Wage |
| Retail Salespersons | $11.55 | $9.95 |
| Office Clerks, General | $11.01 | $10.35 |
| Cashiers | $8.17 | $7.63 |
| Laborers | $9.24 | $8.53 |
| Registered Nurses | $27.91 | $27.74 |
| Janitors and Cleaners | $8.60 | $8.15 |
| Sales Representatives | $22.09 | $17.25 |
| Stock Clerks | $9.86 | $9.18 |
| Security Guards | $9.41 | $9.08 |
| Customer Service Representatives | $13.71 | $12.81 |
| Waiters and Waitresses | $8.07 | $6.93 |
| Food Preparation Workers | $6.97 | $6.67 |
| Bookkeeping Clerks | $14.69 | $13.73 |
| Secretaries | $12.67 | $12.39 |
| Executive Secretaries | $17.48 | $16.71 |
| Receptionists | $9.87 | $9.73 |
| Packers and Packagers | $8.14 | $6.84 |
| Elementary School Teachers | $23.42 | $21.07 |
| Office Managers | $22.49 | $21.13 |
| Accountants and Auditors | $30.40 | $26.05 |
Miami Entrepreneurs : William D. Pawley
influencial miamians,
miami businessmen and businesswomen,
miami entrepreneurs,
miami history,
miami's finest,
notable people,
William D. Pawley
William D. Pawley (1896–1977) was a U.S. Ambassador, a noted American Businessman and associated with The Flying Tigers American Volunteer Group (AVG) during WWII.
William Douglas Pawley was born in Florence, South Carolina, on 7th September, 1896. His father was a wealthy businessman based in Cuba and Pawley attended private schools in both Havana and Santiago. He later returned to the United States where he studied at the Gordon Military Academy in Georgia.
In 1925 Pawley began work as an estate agent in Miami. Two years later he began working for the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. In 1928 Pawley returned to Cuba to become president of the Nacional Cubana de Aviacion Curtiss. He held this post until the company was sold to Pan American Airways in 1932.
Pawley now became president of the Intercontinent Corporation based in New York. The following year he moved to China where he became president of the China National Aviation Corporation. Over the next five years he built three aircraft factories for the Chinese government of Chiang Kai-shek.
Pawley also formed a business relationship with Tommy Corcoran. In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had asked Corcoran to establish a private corporation to provide assistance to the nationalist government in China. Roosevelt even supplied the name of the proposed company, China Defense Supplies. He also suggested that his uncle, Frederick Delano, should be co-chairman of the company. Chiang nominated his former finance minister, Tse-ven Soong, as the other co-chairman.
For reasons of secrecy, Corcoran took no title other than outside counsel for China Defense Supplies. William S. Youngman was his frontman in China. Corcoran's friend, Whitey Willauer, was moved to the Foreign Economic Administration, where he supervised the sending of supplies to China. In this way Corcoran was able to create an Asian Lend-Lease program.
Pawley also worked closely with Claire Lee Chennault, who had been working as a military adviser to Chiang Kai-shek since 1937. Chennault told Tommy Corcoran that if he was given the resources, he could maintain an air force within China that could carry out raids against the Japanese. Corcoran returned to the United States and managed to persuade Franklin D. Roosevelt to approve the creation of the American Volunteer Group.
William Pawley became involved and he arranged for one hundred P-40 fighters, built by the Curtiss-Wright Corporation, that had been intended for Britain, to be redirected to Chennault in China. Pawley also arranged for the P-40 to be assembled in Rangoon. It was Tommy Corcoran's son David who suggested that the American Volunteer Group should be called the Flying Tigers. Chennault liked the idea and asked his friend, Walt Disney, to design a tiger emblem for the planes.
On 13th April, 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a secret executive order authorizing the American Volunteer Group to recruit reserve officers from the army, navy and marines. Pawley suggested that the men should be recruited as "flying instructors".
In July, 1941, ten pilots and 150 mechanics were supplied with fake passports and sailed from San Francisco for Rangoon. When they arrived they were told that they were really involved in a secret war against Japan. To compensate for the risks involved, the pilots were to be paid $600 a month ($675 for a patrol leader). In addition, they were to receive $500 for every enemy plane they shot down.
The Flying Tigers were extremely effective in their raids on Japanese positions and helped to slow down attempts to close the Burma Road, a key supply route to China. In seven months of fighting, the Flying Tigers destroyed 296 planes at a loss of 24 men (14 while flying and 10 on the ground).
In 1944 Pawley became president of the Industan Aircraft Manufacturing Company in Bangalore, India. Pawley was responsible for building India's first ammonium-sulfate plant in Trannvancore.
After the war Pawley became a diplomat. In 1945 Harry S. Truman appointed Pawley as U.S. Ambassador to Peru. Soon afterwards left-wing newspapers in Lima began to claim that Pawley was making "lucrative deals" for himself in Peru. This involved transporting unspecified goods in and out of Peru.
In 1948 Pawley became Ambassador to Brazil. During this time he became a FBI informant. He passed information to J. Edgar Hoover claiming that Spruille Braden, the Ambassador to Argentina was under the control of communist advisers such as Gustavo Duran and George Michanowsky. In a document dated the 7th September, 1948, Pawley suggested that Braden was attempting to expose "non-existant and imagery Nazis in Latin America" as a cover for his communist sympathies. Pawley also claimed that William A. Wieland, who worked as a press officer for the embassy in Brazil, held "anti-capitalist" views.
Pawley continued to be involved in various business projects. He was a close friend of President Rafael Trujillo and together with George Smathers, had invested in the bauxite industry in the Dominican Republic. He was also extremely friendly with Fulgencio Batista and in 1948 he established Autobuses Modernos in Cuba. A company he later sold to Batista.
On 7th November, 1949, Pawley sent a memorandum to the State Department suggesting that a small group of Americans should be sent to Formosa in order to help protect the government of Chiang Kai-shek. Pawley claimed that Dean Acheson rejected the idea after consulting with advisers such as Owen Lattimore, John C. Vincent and John Davis. In February, 1951 Pawley became special assistant to Acheson. Later that year he held a similar post under Robert A. Lovett. However, he discovered that the State Department considered him to be a reactionary and he was denied access to secret documents concerning Latin America.
Pawley was an active member of the Republican Party. A close friend of both President Dwight Eisenhower and CIA director Allen W. Dulles, he took part in a policy that later become known as Executive Action (a plan to remove unfriendly foreign leaders from power). Pawley played a role Operation Success, a CIA plot to overthrow the Guatemalan government of Jacobo Arbenz in 1954 after he introduced land reforms and nationalized the United Fruit Company.
John Foster Dulles decided that he “needed a civilian adviser to the State Department team to help expediate Operation Success". Dulles selected William Pawley. In his book Peddling Influence (2005), David McKean argues that Pawley's most important qualification for the job was his “long association with right-wing Latin America dictators.”
Gaeton Fonzi points out in his book, The Last Investigation: "Pawley had also owned major sugar interests in Cuba, as well as Havana's bus, trolley and gas systems and he was close to both pre-Castro Cuban rulers, President Carlos Prio and General Fulgencio Batista. (Pawley was one of the dispossessed American investors in Cuba who early tried to convince Eisenhower that Castro was a Communist and urged him to arm the exiles in Miami.)"
In March 1958, President Dwight Eisenhower, disillusioned with Batista's government, insisted he held elections. This he did, but the people showed their unhappiness with his government by refusing to vote. Over 75 per cent of the voters in the capital Havana boycotted the polls. In some areas, such as Santiago, it was as high as 98 per cent.
Some members of the State Department came to the conclusion that it would be in America's best long-term interest in Cuba to be seen as opposing Batista. William A. Wieland, Director of the Caribbean and Central American Affairs, was against America providing support for the Cuban dictator. As the U.S. Ambassador of Cuba, Earl E. T. Smith was later to tell a Senate Committee: "He (Wieland) believed that it would be in the best interest of Cuba and the best interest of the world in general when Batista was removed from office."
Wieland was not the only one who took that view. According to Pawley and Smith, Roy R. Rubottom, Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs, John L. Topping, Chief of the Political Section and the Chief of the CIA Section, held similar opinions. Pawley and Smith also identified Herbert L. Matthews of the New York Times as being an important figure in providing support for the idea of regime change in Cuba. Smith pointed out that "Matthews wrote three articles on Fidel Castro, which appeared on the front page of the New York Times, in which he eulogized Fidel Castro and portrayed him as a political Robin Hood."
On 9th December, 1958, Pawley had a meeting with Fulgencio Batista. Pawley told Batista that he was losing the support of the American government. Pawley suggested that the Cuban dictator should resign and allow an anti-Castro and anti-Batista caretaker junta to take over. Batista rejected the idea and on 14th December, William A. Wieland, speaking for the State Department instructed Earl E. T. Smith, to inform Batista that he no longer had the support of the US government and that he should leave Cuba at once. On 1st January, 1959, Batista fled to the Dominican Republic.
Pawley later told a Senate Committee on Latin American Affairs: "I believe that the deliberate overthrow of Batista by Wieland and Matthews, assisted by Rubottom, is almost as great a tragedy as the surrendering of China to the Communists by a similar group of Department of State officials fifteen or sixteen years ago and we will not see the end in cost of American lives and American recourses for these tragic errors."
After Batista was overthrown by Fidel Castro, Pawley pressurized President Dwight Eisenhower to provide military and financial help to anti-Castro Cubans based in the United States. Recently released FBI files suggest he worked closely with Manuel Artime in efforts to overthrow Castro.
In the winter of 1962 Eddie Bayo claimed that two officers in the Red Army based in Cuba wanted to defect to the United States. Bayo added that these men wanted to pass on details about atomic warheads and missiles that were still in Cuba despite the agreement that followed the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Bayo had originally fought with Fidel Castro against Fulgencio Batista. He disagreed with Castro's policies after he gained power and moved to Miami and helped establish Alpha 66. His story was eventually taken up by several members of the anti-Castro community including Gerry P. Hemming, John Martino, Felipe Vidal Santiago and Frank Sturgis. Pawley became convinced that it was vitally important to help get these Soviet officers out of Cuba. To help this happen he communicated with James Eastland, the chairman of the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, about this story.
Pawley also contacted Ted Shackley, head of the CIA's JM WAVE station in Miami. Shackley decided to help Pawley organize what became known as Operation Tilt. He also assigned William (Rip) Robertson, a fellow member of the CIA in Miami, to help with the operation. David Sanchez Morales, another CIA agent, also became involved in this attempt to bring out these two Soviet officers.
In June, 1963, a small group, including Pawley, Eddie Bayo, William (Rip) Robertson, John Martino, and Richard Billings, a journalist working for Life Magazine, secretly arrived in Cuba. They were unsuccessful in their attempts to find these Soviet officers and they were forced to return to Miami. Bayo remained behind and it was rumored that he had been captured and executed. However, his death was never reported in the Cuban press.
William Pawley died of gunshot wounds in January, 1977. Officially it was suicide but some researchers believe it was connected to the investigations being carried out by the House Select Committee on Assassinations. However, a relative Cash Pawley, has argued: "Bill Pawley had acquired a severe case of Shingles years earlier, which had progressed across his entire body (even the soles of his feet). He had been unable to lay down, stand or become comfortable in any position. The pain was excruciating, and there was no modern medicine(s) for a cure or even proper pain management at the time. Therefore, Mr. Pawley suffered day in and day out, until he just could not do it anymore. This was the reason for his suicide."
In 1925 Pawley began work as an estate agent in Miami. Two years later he began working for the Curtiss-Wright Corporation. In 1928 Pawley returned to Cuba to become president of the Nacional Cubana de Aviacion Curtiss. He held this post until the company was sold to Pan American Airways in 1932.
Pawley now became president of the Intercontinent Corporation based in New York. The following year he moved to China where he became president of the China National Aviation Corporation. Over the next five years he built three aircraft factories for the Chinese government of Chiang Kai-shek.
Pawley also formed a business relationship with Tommy Corcoran. In 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt had asked Corcoran to establish a private corporation to provide assistance to the nationalist government in China. Roosevelt even supplied the name of the proposed company, China Defense Supplies. He also suggested that his uncle, Frederick Delano, should be co-chairman of the company. Chiang nominated his former finance minister, Tse-ven Soong, as the other co-chairman.
For reasons of secrecy, Corcoran took no title other than outside counsel for China Defense Supplies. William S. Youngman was his frontman in China. Corcoran's friend, Whitey Willauer, was moved to the Foreign Economic Administration, where he supervised the sending of supplies to China. In this way Corcoran was able to create an Asian Lend-Lease program.
Pawley also worked closely with Claire Lee Chennault, who had been working as a military adviser to Chiang Kai-shek since 1937. Chennault told Tommy Corcoran that if he was given the resources, he could maintain an air force within China that could carry out raids against the Japanese. Corcoran returned to the United States and managed to persuade Franklin D. Roosevelt to approve the creation of the American Volunteer Group.
William Pawley became involved and he arranged for one hundred P-40 fighters, built by the Curtiss-Wright Corporation, that had been intended for Britain, to be redirected to Chennault in China. Pawley also arranged for the P-40 to be assembled in Rangoon. It was Tommy Corcoran's son David who suggested that the American Volunteer Group should be called the Flying Tigers. Chennault liked the idea and asked his friend, Walt Disney, to design a tiger emblem for the planes.
On 13th April, 1941, Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a secret executive order authorizing the American Volunteer Group to recruit reserve officers from the army, navy and marines. Pawley suggested that the men should be recruited as "flying instructors".
In July, 1941, ten pilots and 150 mechanics were supplied with fake passports and sailed from San Francisco for Rangoon. When they arrived they were told that they were really involved in a secret war against Japan. To compensate for the risks involved, the pilots were to be paid $600 a month ($675 for a patrol leader). In addition, they were to receive $500 for every enemy plane they shot down.
The Flying Tigers were extremely effective in their raids on Japanese positions and helped to slow down attempts to close the Burma Road, a key supply route to China. In seven months of fighting, the Flying Tigers destroyed 296 planes at a loss of 24 men (14 while flying and 10 on the ground).
In 1944 Pawley became president of the Industan Aircraft Manufacturing Company in Bangalore, India. Pawley was responsible for building India's first ammonium-sulfate plant in Trannvancore.
After the war Pawley became a diplomat. In 1945 Harry S. Truman appointed Pawley as U.S. Ambassador to Peru. Soon afterwards left-wing newspapers in Lima began to claim that Pawley was making "lucrative deals" for himself in Peru. This involved transporting unspecified goods in and out of Peru.
In 1948 Pawley became Ambassador to Brazil. During this time he became a FBI informant. He passed information to J. Edgar Hoover claiming that Spruille Braden, the Ambassador to Argentina was under the control of communist advisers such as Gustavo Duran and George Michanowsky. In a document dated the 7th September, 1948, Pawley suggested that Braden was attempting to expose "non-existant and imagery Nazis in Latin America" as a cover for his communist sympathies. Pawley also claimed that William A. Wieland, who worked as a press officer for the embassy in Brazil, held "anti-capitalist" views.
Pawley continued to be involved in various business projects. He was a close friend of President Rafael Trujillo and together with George Smathers, had invested in the bauxite industry in the Dominican Republic. He was also extremely friendly with Fulgencio Batista and in 1948 he established Autobuses Modernos in Cuba. A company he later sold to Batista.
On 7th November, 1949, Pawley sent a memorandum to the State Department suggesting that a small group of Americans should be sent to Formosa in order to help protect the government of Chiang Kai-shek. Pawley claimed that Dean Acheson rejected the idea after consulting with advisers such as Owen Lattimore, John C. Vincent and John Davis. In February, 1951 Pawley became special assistant to Acheson. Later that year he held a similar post under Robert A. Lovett. However, he discovered that the State Department considered him to be a reactionary and he was denied access to secret documents concerning Latin America.
Pawley was an active member of the Republican Party. A close friend of both President Dwight Eisenhower and CIA director Allen W. Dulles, he took part in a policy that later become known as Executive Action (a plan to remove unfriendly foreign leaders from power). Pawley played a role Operation Success, a CIA plot to overthrow the Guatemalan government of Jacobo Arbenz in 1954 after he introduced land reforms and nationalized the United Fruit Company.
John Foster Dulles decided that he “needed a civilian adviser to the State Department team to help expediate Operation Success". Dulles selected William Pawley. In his book Peddling Influence (2005), David McKean argues that Pawley's most important qualification for the job was his “long association with right-wing Latin America dictators.”
Gaeton Fonzi points out in his book, The Last Investigation: "Pawley had also owned major sugar interests in Cuba, as well as Havana's bus, trolley and gas systems and he was close to both pre-Castro Cuban rulers, President Carlos Prio and General Fulgencio Batista. (Pawley was one of the dispossessed American investors in Cuba who early tried to convince Eisenhower that Castro was a Communist and urged him to arm the exiles in Miami.)"
In March 1958, President Dwight Eisenhower, disillusioned with Batista's government, insisted he held elections. This he did, but the people showed their unhappiness with his government by refusing to vote. Over 75 per cent of the voters in the capital Havana boycotted the polls. In some areas, such as Santiago, it was as high as 98 per cent.
Some members of the State Department came to the conclusion that it would be in America's best long-term interest in Cuba to be seen as opposing Batista. William A. Wieland, Director of the Caribbean and Central American Affairs, was against America providing support for the Cuban dictator. As the U.S. Ambassador of Cuba, Earl E. T. Smith was later to tell a Senate Committee: "He (Wieland) believed that it would be in the best interest of Cuba and the best interest of the world in general when Batista was removed from office."
Wieland was not the only one who took that view. According to Pawley and Smith, Roy R. Rubottom, Assistant Secretary of State for Latin American Affairs, John L. Topping, Chief of the Political Section and the Chief of the CIA Section, held similar opinions. Pawley and Smith also identified Herbert L. Matthews of the New York Times as being an important figure in providing support for the idea of regime change in Cuba. Smith pointed out that "Matthews wrote three articles on Fidel Castro, which appeared on the front page of the New York Times, in which he eulogized Fidel Castro and portrayed him as a political Robin Hood."
On 9th December, 1958, Pawley had a meeting with Fulgencio Batista. Pawley told Batista that he was losing the support of the American government. Pawley suggested that the Cuban dictator should resign and allow an anti-Castro and anti-Batista caretaker junta to take over. Batista rejected the idea and on 14th December, William A. Wieland, speaking for the State Department instructed Earl E. T. Smith, to inform Batista that he no longer had the support of the US government and that he should leave Cuba at once. On 1st January, 1959, Batista fled to the Dominican Republic.
Pawley later told a Senate Committee on Latin American Affairs: "I believe that the deliberate overthrow of Batista by Wieland and Matthews, assisted by Rubottom, is almost as great a tragedy as the surrendering of China to the Communists by a similar group of Department of State officials fifteen or sixteen years ago and we will not see the end in cost of American lives and American recourses for these tragic errors."
After Batista was overthrown by Fidel Castro, Pawley pressurized President Dwight Eisenhower to provide military and financial help to anti-Castro Cubans based in the United States. Recently released FBI files suggest he worked closely with Manuel Artime in efforts to overthrow Castro.
In the winter of 1962 Eddie Bayo claimed that two officers in the Red Army based in Cuba wanted to defect to the United States. Bayo added that these men wanted to pass on details about atomic warheads and missiles that were still in Cuba despite the agreement that followed the Cuban Missile Crisis.
Bayo had originally fought with Fidel Castro against Fulgencio Batista. He disagreed with Castro's policies after he gained power and moved to Miami and helped establish Alpha 66. His story was eventually taken up by several members of the anti-Castro community including Gerry P. Hemming, John Martino, Felipe Vidal Santiago and Frank Sturgis. Pawley became convinced that it was vitally important to help get these Soviet officers out of Cuba. To help this happen he communicated with James Eastland, the chairman of the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee, about this story.
Pawley also contacted Ted Shackley, head of the CIA's JM WAVE station in Miami. Shackley decided to help Pawley organize what became known as Operation Tilt. He also assigned William (Rip) Robertson, a fellow member of the CIA in Miami, to help with the operation. David Sanchez Morales, another CIA agent, also became involved in this attempt to bring out these two Soviet officers.
In June, 1963, a small group, including Pawley, Eddie Bayo, William (Rip) Robertson, John Martino, and Richard Billings, a journalist working for Life Magazine, secretly arrived in Cuba. They were unsuccessful in their attempts to find these Soviet officers and they were forced to return to Miami. Bayo remained behind and it was rumored that he had been captured and executed. However, his death was never reported in the Cuban press.
William Pawley died of gunshot wounds in January, 1977. Officially it was suicide but some researchers believe it was connected to the investigations being carried out by the House Select Committee on Assassinations. However, a relative Cash Pawley, has argued: "Bill Pawley had acquired a severe case of Shingles years earlier, which had progressed across his entire body (even the soles of his feet). He had been unable to lay down, stand or become comfortable in any position. The pain was excruciating, and there was no modern medicine(s) for a cure or even proper pain management at the time. Therefore, Mr. Pawley suffered day in and day out, until he just could not do it anymore. This was the reason for his suicide."
WMPD Community Service
community,
community organizations,
fire safety,
firefighters,
kids,
miami,
police,
recreation,
west miami
West Miami Police Department Community Activities
The West Miami Police Department has Sponsored a Day at the Recreation Center each year during the summer since 2005. during this event our kids are taught bike safety, fire safety, they learn how some of the fire department equipment works, police k-9 and other police department and fire department related things.
Each year since 2007 a "BIKE RODEO" has been held to teach our youth about bicycle safety. a competition is held and several bikes are raffled to the winning participants.
Kids learned Bike and Fire Safety and plans are underway to keep both activities as an annual event!
Miami's Top Restaurant
A vacation wonderland, by necessity, demands terrific cuisine, and Miami is well-equipped to deliver a culinary rainbow. Just-caught seafood promises a welcome taste of the sky-blue sea, thanks to broiled snapper, stone crab, fried grouper and conch fritters. Similarly pervasive in Miami restaurants are the many variations of Latin American cuisine: ubiquitous Cuban eateries, enticing Argentinean spots, and fascinating establishments like Sushi Samba Dromo, which finds parallels in Peruvian, Brazilian and Japanese cuisines. A hometown invention, colorfully dubbed Floribbean fare, marries local ingredients to Caribbean sensibilities, grounding them in Continental technique. It's a movement prevalent in restaurants across Miami, even when menus aren't explicitly devoted to the idea. Of course, dining in Miami can be remarkable, although it may come at a price in exceptional mainstays like Chef Allen's and Mark's South Beach restaurant. Lest all hope for affordability be lost, know that South Florida shelters a clutch of budget-friendly eateries, which shirk neither ambience nor excellence. Among them are South Beach's no-frills La Sandwicherie and Pilar Restaurant, a Miami mainstay run by Scott Fredel Culinary Institute chef, licensed boat captain and competitive fisherman, to boot. Wherever your Miami dining experience may take you, be prepared to come away with a renewed appreciation for well-prepared cuisine.
Although it is tough, we have to name The Palm as the Best Restaurant in Miami.
An outpost of the popular New York City original, The Palm is one of the best Miami restaurants for steaks and seafood. Offering great American dining in Miami, The Palm serves fresh seafood, tender steaks and expertly prepared Italian specialties. Portions are large, and the walls of this Miami steakhouse are covered with caricatures of famous faces. The relaxed, unassuming atmosphere and great food make The Palm restaurant on Bay Harbor Island a great choice for a hearty meal.
Miami's Top Real Estate Agent
Meet Audrey Ross
of Esslinger Wooten Maxwell, Inc., Realtors ®
It's The Ultimate Lifestyle
The elegant serenity of the coast and waterways. An international ambiance that adds pizzazz to the opulent neighborhoods. Picturesque views of beautiful sunsets and a manicured skyline. This is the Miami that Audrey Ross knows and loves.The city has a pulse all its own... and the person keeping the closest tabs on its trends and transformations is Audrey. As a longtime resident of Coral Gables, she has watched over the bustling activity that has transformed Greater Miami from a world class beachside resort city to a dynamic international trade mecca.
The sun, surf, and rare wildlife of the Everglades and Biscayne national parks remain and are now complemented by great ethnic and cultural diversity, the world's largest port and the United States' busiest international airport.
A Visionary In Her Own Right
Audrey had the foresight to research this incredible growth as it was happening and learned what this influx of people would mean to both current residents and those relocating here.Her clientele list is a veritable who's who of the movers and shakers of the world - Fortune 500 executives, film stars, international entertainment figures, sports celebrities and heads of foreign countries.
Audrey Has High Regard For Her Client's Privacy
Her uncompromised policy keeps her clients referring friends and colleagues to her. This unique service is what has led her to her success listing and selling many of the most significant estates in the history of Miami.Audrey also recognizes the importance of widespread networking and using innovative marketing techniques in the sale or purchase of luxury real estate.
Through her company's prominent affiliation with Christie’s Great Estates and Who's Who in Luxury Real Estate, FIABCI, RELD, and Forbes.com, Christie’s Great Estates/EWM offers national and international exposure for estate listings.
The Ultimate Choice For The Ultimate Lifestyle
When you're buying or selling real estate, Audrey believes you should not settle for anything less than what exceeds even your expectations, and she goes to work to make this happen.South Florida's Best Real Estate Connection To Luxury Property
With a career that has emphasized service sales and consulting and has ranged from heading a division of a major city school system and presiding as president of a national educational association to operating her own real estate company, Audrey Ross is the epitome of an individual who is dedicated to excellence.Whether it be in achieving the the goals of her real estate clients or in achieving her public service life goals as a board member of one of her favorite organizations: Miami's public television station (WPBT) or The Miami Lighthouse for the Blind. Through her company, Esslinger Wooten Maxwell, Inc., Audrey Ross has not only marketed the cream of Miami's real estate properties, but has also negotiated the sales of Brickell Avenue's office towers.
Did you know?
Audrey Ross sold over $200 million in the year 2005.
Our largest sales volume year was 2005, like most others in real estate, when we sold over $200 million. We have on a number of years, sold more than $100 million, and this year, in the first quarter (in what many consider still a "down year"), we have booked and appear to be closing approximately $60 million.
Audrey Ross named REALTOR® of the Year in South Florida's BEST 2002 Competition
Audrey Ross was named the #1 Agent Company-Wide
Our Company
In South Florida, it appears that we have been successful, because everyone owning any property over a million dollars, will generally recognize the name and associate it with luxury real estate whenever luxury property is discussed. Our largest sales volume year was 2005, like most others in real estate, when we sold over $200 million. We have on a number of years, sold more than $100 million, and this year, in the first quarter (in what many consider still a “down year”), we have booked and appear to be closing approximately $60 million.
Our firm can best be described as a luxury real estate firm catering to high net worth individuals in a private atmosphere. As a note on the last part of that statement, Audrey Ross has been, since she sold her company (Ross and Associates) to EWM in 2000, the top volume producer for EWM for the ensuing SIX YEARS RUNNING – 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005. In 2006 she persuaded EWM to ELIMINATE her name from the lineup of agents and not have her in the competition for “Top Producer” ... the Audrey Ross team wanted to provide a sense of 'private brokerage' to the top 100 of their very substantial clients and develop that clientele... much as the private equity firms, most notable being KKR in NYC and The Blackstone Group… have done.
