Copy that!

The latest issue of Le Floridien is now online, including an article about the North Miami Beach absentee ballot fraud lawsuit filed by Michael Joseph against Phyllis Smith.

In Michael Joseph Absentee Ballot Fraud Case Moving Forward; Dismissal Denied, Le Floridien reported:

On September 21, 2015, Phillis Smith’s lawyer Joe Geller scheduled an October 6, 2015 hearing for his Motion to Dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that plaintiff Michael Joseph failed to name the North Miami Beach Canvassing Board as an “indispensable party” to the lawsuit. This bogus claim was an obvious distraction to stall for time. In response, the plaintiff noted that the complaint already named the individual members of the Canvassing Board as defendants, and that “there is no statute or relevant case law” that naming the individual members, “carries any less weight than naming them collectively” as a body.

Hmmm. That sure sounds familiar.

Now that you mention it … on April 7, 2016, in NMB: Court Order signed, “Queen Bee” Phyllis Smith inches one step closer to abdication of her “throne,” I wrote:

On September 21, 2015, her lawyer Joseph S. Geller scheduled an October 6, 2015 hearing for his Motion to Dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that the plaintiff failed to name the North Miami Beach Canvassing Board as an “indispensable party” to the lawsuit. This bogus claim was an obvious distraction to stall for time. In response, the plaintiff noted that the complaint already named the individual members of the Canvassing Board as defendants, and that “there is no statute or relevant case law” that naming the individual members “carries any less weight than naming them collectively” as a body.

The rest of the Le Floridien article consists of excerpts taken directly from my blog, right down to my referring to Phyllis as the “Queen Bee.”

This is not the first time that the newspaper’s editor, Dessalines Fernandez, has, ahem, “quoted” me extensively.

An article he published on March 1, 2016, Bien-Aimé and Desulmé thwart North Miami’s City Manager’s Haitian Dream, pretty much copied my play-by-play report of the February 23, 2016 North Miami City Council meeting, during which the city manager was finally chosen.

At the time, I briefly considered writing to Mr. Ferdinand to thank him for his interest in my blog, and to suggest that he might want to consider at least giving me credit when he “quotes” me. In the end I decided not to make a fuss.

Another reason I decided to let it go was because, on that same day, he published an article about … moi: Blogger Tells North Miami City Clerk to Keep His Silly Opinions To Himself.

In fact, I loved that article so much, I posted a blog about it!

This time, however, as I was reading his latest article, I must admit I was a tad annoyed at the sight of my own words published on someone else’s website.

Here’s the thing.

I spend my own money, not to mention an inordinate amount of time, in order to publish my “pearls of wisdom.”

My personal commentaries are my intellectual property.

In fact, if I were so inclined, I could take legal steps to protect my interests.

But since Le Floridien is a small “hometown” publication, that would just be plain silly of me. I’m not a litigious person.

I’m also too lazy to be bothered with such nonsense.

Besides, ~~plagiarism~~ imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

Imagine my astonishment, though, when I got to the very end of the latest article and saw:

Le Floridien
(Stephanie Kienzle contributed to this report)

Wait, WHAT?

Seriously?

I’m thrilled that Mr. Ferdinand finally gave me credit for my own work, but he is completely misleading his own readers – and mine – by declaring that I am a “contributor” to his publication.

For the record, Dessalines Ferdinand has never once contacted me either to ask for permission to reprint my words or to “contribute” any articles to Le Floridien.

Lest anyone think that I am a contributor, paid or otherwise, to Le Floridien, I felt compelled to post this disclaimer:

VotersOpinion.com is the only website for which I currently write blogs.

No one pays me to do this because…

For FREE!