Saturday, May 26, 2012
President Obama and the Fight for LGBT Rights
Glee star Jane Lynch narrates this documentary about LGBT rights in America. The video features a candid interview with President Obama, who speaks about the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell, why he supports marriage equality, and what's at stake for the LGBT community in this election.
Rick Scott's Florida Unemployment Reform Shortchanges The Jobless
Two legal groups want the federal government to investigate Florida's treatment of jobless workers following reforms that made the Sunshine State's unemployment insurance program the stingiest in the nation.
Labels:
GOP,
Rick Scott,
Rick Scott's Florida,
Right Wing
Curtis Hixon Waterfront Park
Friday, May 25, 2012
Florida Governor Purges Voters From Voting Rolls
Governor Rick Scott is questioning the eligibility of the thousands of Florida voters, but his methods are being questioned by officials on both sides of the aisle.
Cuban Sandwich Showdown: Miami or Tampa?
Tampa can lay claim to the original Cuban Sandwich, but with a population of more than 1 million cuban residents, Miami believes it deserves to be considered the Cuban Sandwich Capital. You be the judge as we feature a Cuban Sandwich Showdown between Versailles restaurant of Miami and The Columbia in Ybor City.
The End of Florida Progressive Coalition?
In 2004, after the re-election of George W. Bush, which was shocking to me, I was kind of at a loss as to what to do in terms of blogging. I had been blogging since 1998, mostly about national topics. But the national blogosphere was clogged and I wasn’t covering national politics from any kind of angle that others weren’t covering better than I was. And it was clear that I needed to try to do something that would have more of an impact, otherwise I wouldn’t feel satisfied with my place in the political world. So, after talking to a number of other bloggers around the state, Florida Progressive Coalition was launched. I shifted my focus to state-level politics, something that was being very poorly covered both by the mainstream media and by bloggers. FPC launched in 2005.
Two major problems were identified. One, that people didn’t have enough information about state and local politics. The media did a poor job of covering it and since state politics was drastically different from national politics, most of us, me included, didn’t have enough inherent knowledge about how things worked. In order to do a good job of covering Florida politics, bloggers needed to increase their knowledge of the players in the system, the rules of the system and the issues important to the state. A second major problem was that there wasn’t much money being put into covering politics, be it the media or blogging, and without some kind of influx of cash into the system, few, if any people, would be able to devote enough time to learning about the system to do it justice.
More than six years later, these problems have never been solved. Media coverage of state and local politics is much worse now than it was then. And because of silly laws like term limits, the system is so frequently changing that I’ve found, personally, that my knowledge of state politics is actually getting worse. And I don’t have the time or resources to fix that problem. Few state-level bloggers in the country have found models of funding that allow them to devote serious time to state and local politics. The overwhelming majority of bloggers from the 50 states that were invited to a state-level blogger summit in 2007 are no longer blogging about state politics. Only a few blogs that cover state and local politics can pay their bills, much less pay salaries to their writers.
I’ve come to the conclusion that I can’t solve either of these problems. I’ve tried numerous different approaches to it and none of them have worked. Some of that is the difficulty of the problems, which are widespread across the country at the state level. Some of it is because of my own personal failings. Since 2009, I’ve been divided among numerous projects and have never been able to devote the time to FPC that I need to, usually because paying gigs have to take priority. And because other FPC writers also have to have paying gigs and I never found a way to pay them or a way to inspire them to work extensively for FPC for free (except for a few people over the years for periods of time), FPC never became what it could’ve been and what it needed to be. And I see no way that is going to change.
On top of that, one of the key reasons, as I mentioned above, that I moved my focus to state politics was that my voice wasn’t adding to the national conversation. Now that I have been writing for Crooks and Liars on labor issues (and other topics) for nearly nine months, that’s not true any more. Thousands of people read my national writing each week and I regularly see my posts get picked up by other blogs and websites. And there are only a few national bloggers focused on labor issues. And there are a lot more labor stories that we need to cover than are currently covered. And labor issues are truly one of the key battlegrounds in American politics these days and one of the most important battles we have to win. So, I have decided that I am ending my time as executive director of Florida Progressive Coalition and, barring someone else stepping up to take over, the blog will end. I’m not going to take the site down, but I won’t be publishing any future content.
I’m willing to entertain offers from others if they are interested in taking over and maintaining FPC in whatever way they see fit and I’m certainly hoping that someone will pick up on the wiki and continue to add content to it, since it is a valuable resource for Floridians. One thing I know is that I can’t do it anymore and I have to shift my time and efforts more fully to the battles that I know more about and I have more of a chance to successfully pursue. FPC no longer fits that description. The last things I will post here will be the continuation of the 2012 Florida Netroots Awards, and after that I will entertain offers to take that over, too. It’s been a great few years and I’ve learned more than I ever expected and met more great people than I could’ve imagined, but it’s time to move on to other projects.
Two major problems were identified. One, that people didn’t have enough information about state and local politics. The media did a poor job of covering it and since state politics was drastically different from national politics, most of us, me included, didn’t have enough inherent knowledge about how things worked. In order to do a good job of covering Florida politics, bloggers needed to increase their knowledge of the players in the system, the rules of the system and the issues important to the state. A second major problem was that there wasn’t much money being put into covering politics, be it the media or blogging, and without some kind of influx of cash into the system, few, if any people, would be able to devote enough time to learning about the system to do it justice.
More than six years later, these problems have never been solved. Media coverage of state and local politics is much worse now than it was then. And because of silly laws like term limits, the system is so frequently changing that I’ve found, personally, that my knowledge of state politics is actually getting worse. And I don’t have the time or resources to fix that problem. Few state-level bloggers in the country have found models of funding that allow them to devote serious time to state and local politics. The overwhelming majority of bloggers from the 50 states that were invited to a state-level blogger summit in 2007 are no longer blogging about state politics. Only a few blogs that cover state and local politics can pay their bills, much less pay salaries to their writers.
I’ve come to the conclusion that I can’t solve either of these problems. I’ve tried numerous different approaches to it and none of them have worked. Some of that is the difficulty of the problems, which are widespread across the country at the state level. Some of it is because of my own personal failings. Since 2009, I’ve been divided among numerous projects and have never been able to devote the time to FPC that I need to, usually because paying gigs have to take priority. And because other FPC writers also have to have paying gigs and I never found a way to pay them or a way to inspire them to work extensively for FPC for free (except for a few people over the years for periods of time), FPC never became what it could’ve been and what it needed to be. And I see no way that is going to change.
On top of that, one of the key reasons, as I mentioned above, that I moved my focus to state politics was that my voice wasn’t adding to the national conversation. Now that I have been writing for Crooks and Liars on labor issues (and other topics) for nearly nine months, that’s not true any more. Thousands of people read my national writing each week and I regularly see my posts get picked up by other blogs and websites. And there are only a few national bloggers focused on labor issues. And there are a lot more labor stories that we need to cover than are currently covered. And labor issues are truly one of the key battlegrounds in American politics these days and one of the most important battles we have to win. So, I have decided that I am ending my time as executive director of Florida Progressive Coalition and, barring someone else stepping up to take over, the blog will end. I’m not going to take the site down, but I won’t be publishing any future content.
I’m willing to entertain offers from others if they are interested in taking over and maintaining FPC in whatever way they see fit and I’m certainly hoping that someone will pick up on the wiki and continue to add content to it, since it is a valuable resource for Floridians. One thing I know is that I can’t do it anymore and I have to shift my time and efforts more fully to the battles that I know more about and I have more of a chance to successfully pursue. FPC no longer fits that description. The last things I will post here will be the continuation of the 2012 Florida Netroots Awards, and after that I will entertain offers to take that over, too. It’s been a great few years and I’ve learned more than I ever expected and met more great people than I could’ve imagined, but it’s time to move on to other projects.
What Stogie Had For Lunch
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
St. Pete Dems Picnic
Sunday, May 27
12-4pm
War Veterans Memorial Park
9600 Bay Pines Boulevard, St. Pete
All you can eat for just $10. Veterans eat for free!
War Veterans Memorial Park
9600 Bay Pines Boulevard, St. Pete
All you can eat for just $10. Veterans eat for free!
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Florida School Sets World Record For Recycling
Kids at Sugg Middle School in Florida don't just learn about history -- they make it. For the last four years, students and faculty at Sugg have celebrated Earth Day by hosting the Recycling Round-Up, an event aimed at collecting as many plastic bottles as possible from throughout the school district over an eight hour period.
here
here
Occupy Tampa takes to the Hillsborough River
Occupy Tampa has been in and out of the spotlight since relocating to West Tampa in December. Members gathered to Occupy the Hillsborough River on Saturday, to have fun and to remind Tampa they are still here.
here
Help President Obama
Kickoff for the Paris Project
Monday, May 14, 2012
Can the Friendship Trail Bridge Be Saved?
A volunteer group fighting to keep the Friendship Trail Bridge from
being demolished received good news at a conference held at the foot of the bridge.
more
being demolished received good news at a conference held at the foot of the bridge.
more
Occupy Tampa, Occupy Wall Street, Bank of America
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Spotlight on Government: Kevin Beckner
Saturday, April 21, 2012
The Cuban Sandwich Crisis: Tampa vs. Miami
Most food historians agree the sandwich was invented in Tampa's Ybor City. But that doesn't matter in Miami. Call it the Cuban Sandwich Crisis. Two cities, Tampa and Miami, are locked in a battle to claim the Cuban sandwich as its own. It's a battle for hearts, minds and bellies. And you get to weigh in.
Read on!
Read on!
Monday, February 20, 2012
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Whitney Houston In Tampa
To date I have not seen someone perform the Star Spangled Banner better than this rendition by Whitney Houston during Super Bowl XXV.
Tony Bennett My Hero
After the deaths of Michael Jackson, Amy Whinehouse and now Whitney Houston,
Tony Bennett wants to legalize all drugs.
Labels:
Legalize Drugs,
Legalize Marijuana,
Tony Bennett
Fuck Rx Drugs And Bobby Brown
In Memory Of Whitney Houston
here
here
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Ignite Tampa Bay: Five Steps To Create Change
Monday, February 6, 2012
West Tampa Community Members Feed Occupy Tampa
Members of the community of West Tampa participate in a morning meeting
at Occupy Tampa and end up feeding lunch to the camp.
WMNF Minithon
A couple of times a year, we ask for your contributions to help keep WMNF on the air. WMNF is non-commercial community radio - we survive only due to the generosity of listeners like you.
here
here
Friday, February 3, 2012
Miami America’s Most Miserable City
The housing crisis has devastated Miami with 47% of homeowners sitting on underwater mortgages. Foreclosures have been rampant with 364,000 properties in the Miami area entering the foreclosure process since 2008 according to RealtyTrac.
here
here
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Solar Panel Install in Gainesville
This is a solar installation in Gainesville, Florida as part of the Gainesville Feed-in Tariff. The solar installation was completed on Butler Plaza, which has a Walmart, Publix, Petsmart, and Best Buy.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
What Stogie Had For Lunch
Obama Not OTP
look at our choices!
Obama in a landslide. You know you love him.
Obama 2012
Obama in a landslide. You know you love him.
Obama 2012
Ron Paul Fan
Monday, January 30, 2012
I Remember Tampa
Tribute to the Tampa Natives Show's hosts, and to the fans, sponsors, production crew, and field agents that have made the show so successful.
Tampa Bay Homeless
Sunday, January 29, 2012
The Everglades Tomato
A rare, wild current-sized tomato that grows like a weed in South Florida.
What Stogie Had For Lunch
Voting For Ron Paul?
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