Ridin From Ybor

BUSTED: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis

The Miami Herald published a blockbuster report on Saturday evening documenting the extraordinary steps Florida’s Republican governor went through to keep COVID-19 information from the public. HERE

Miami Cop Detained Doctor Helping Homeless

A South Florida doctor is speaking out after he says a City of Miami police officer detained him, in front of his house, on his way to help the homeless. The incident was captured on surveillance video. HERE

Ybor Rob: Cop Goes Nuts

Florida's Right Wing Infestation

As the state’s coronavirus curve rises, Ron DeSantis sticks up for anti-science preachers—and keeps churches open for Easter Sunday. HERE

Tampa Paparazzi

My precious upstairs neighbor Brownie

Florida Trumpistas

Florida GOP governor Ron DeSantis is more worried about pleasing Trump than protecting the health of his state. HERE

DeSantis Spreading Deadly Lies

Trump-Loving Florida GOP Governor Blasted for Spreading Dangerous Coronavirus Lies HERE

Stone Soup in Ybor adapts to help employees

Biden's Offer To Berners

Lower the eligibility age for Medicare to 60

Unacceptable

We want Medicare for all

---
His student debt forgiveness plan would eliminate student debt for low-income and middle-class people who attended public colleges and universities, historically black colleges and universities, and other institutions that serve 

students of color 

Unacceptable

We want to eliminate all student debt

This is insulting!
HERE

Stogie Recommends

My favorite character from this actor.

With Rosamund Pike, Richard Jenkins 

and Robert Duvall

Florida Playbook

Fried v. DeSantis: the coronavirus edition — Florida builds a mystery app — More pressure over unemployment fiasco — Early voting settlement reached. HERE

Grace VanderWaal - Insane Sometimes

Ybor is Dead

Protect farmworkers in Immokalee

Floridians are calling on Governor Ron DeSantis to immediately take all the possible steps, along with the local and federal government, to protect farmworkers in Immokalee from the COVID-19 pandemic, starting with the following urgent measures:  HERE

Sky U. White for Hillsborough County Commission

HELP HER HERE

Help YDSA at USF

Housing is a basic human right and it must be upheld by the USF administration and off-campus landlords. HERE

Georgia Beaches Open

As the Pentagon ordered 100,000 body bags to store the corpses of Americans killed by the Coronavirus, GOP Governor Brian Kemp dictated that Georgia beaches must reopen." HERE

Tybee Island mayor Shirley Sessions released a statement after Governor Brian Kemp ordered the state's beaches reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic that has already affected thousands of Georgians.

GO THERE FLORIDA IS CLOSED!

Drunk Pirate, Street Preacher & Cabby in Ybor City

Stogie Recommends

One of my favorite Star Trek movies

Florida Monsters

Republicans admitted Florida’s unemployment system was “designed to fail” — and then whined about their election chances now that the system was overwhelmed by thousands of suddenly jobless people. HERE

Stop Florida's Roads To Ruin

Earlier this year, the legislature passed, and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law, a bill to fast-track three major new toll roads that will destroy large swaths Florida’s remaining rural lands, pollute waterways, increase global warming pollution, and threaten endangered wildlife, including the iconic manatee and Florida panther. If completed, 330 miles of new toll roads would be built across south, central and north Florida. Construction of the “Roads to Ruin” will destroy more than 52,800 acres of farmland and wildlife habitat while at the same time promoting sprawling, unsustainable development. 

HERE

Ybor Rob Compilation

Coronavirus first started circulating in Miami during the Super Bowl

Florida governor Ron DeSantis issued a statewide lockdown Wednesday after revealing coronavirus first started circulating in Miami during the Super Bowl in early February. 

Florida governor Ron DeSantis issued a statewide lockdown Wednesday after revealing coronavirus first started circulating in Miami during the Super Bowl in early February. HERE
#Dumbsantis

Coronavirus in the Sunshine State: 7,000, with 857 people hospitalized and 85 dead

Republican governors were slower to implement social distancing restrictions to combat the spread of the new coronavirus and these delays are expected to result in “significant” consequences, according to a study by researchers at the University of Washington. HERE

Ybor City Chicken PSA

Florida GOP voters want climate action

61 percent of Republican voters in Florida want the country to adopt a “balanced” approach to fighting climate change that considers both environmental and economic impacts,

 compared with 29 percent who said climate change is not real HERE

Catering By The Family Is Feeding First Responders

Marco Rubio’s latest attacks on the media are grotesque

He tweeted on Sunday: “Some in our media can’t contain their glee & delight in reporting that the U.S. has more #CoronaVirus cases than #China. Beyond being grotesque,
 its bad journalism.”

---

What Rubio is saying is horrendously, hideously offensive. It is, to borrow his own word, grotesque. There is no one — no one — who is happy that Trump has bungled the coronavirus response so badly that the United States now has more cases than any other country in the world. Rubio could not offer a single example of “glee & delight,” because there isn’t one. HERE

Tampa Right Wing Pastor Arrested

Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister arrested the pastor after he intentionally and repeatedly violated orders that no gatherings of 10 or more people he held in order to stop of the spread of COVID-19 by holding services 
at his megachurch. HERE

Florida GOP Busted

Gov. Ron DeSantis denied the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times access to a COVID-19 coronavirus briefing, the Herald's Tallahassee Bureau Chief reported Saturday. “Gov. Ron DeSantis decided to violate the state’s public meeting laws and chose to exclude the from a media briefing at the Capitol,” Mary Ellen Klas reported.

HERE

Bernie’s Florida campaign office vandalized

A tweet Saturday from the Florida for Bernie account showed two large swastikas painted in black and the words “voting didn’t stop us last time.” It did not say where in Florida the office is located. HERE

Ybor Paparazzi

Carlos at Chillum

If You Went To Florida For Spring Break You Probably Have Coronavirus

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis risking the lives of millions

Since the COVID-19 outbreak began, DeSantis might as well have stood in the middle of I-95 with a giant welcome sign saying, ‘C’mon in! The water’s fine!’ — all while spring breakers came down in droves, scattering among the sandy Petri dishes up and down his state’s coastline.. HERE

Miami Publix Employee Tests Positive For COVID-19

Publix Supermarket has confirmed one of its workers tested positive for the coronavirus. The employee worked at the store located at 9420 SW 56 Street in Miami. HERE

Rep. Jeffries rips Florida’s governor

 “Governor DeSantis for weeks was in denial. So much so that effectively he kept the beaches open, thousands of young people were partying in close proximity, the very opposite of social distancing, it did great harm and detriment of the people of Florida and throughout the United States because many of these young people, of course, came from all over the country and some cases different parts of the world.” Rep. Hakeem Jeffries 

Stogie Recommends

Some of the best cinematography I have ever seen. Roger Deakins is a master! 

Great direction by  Sam Mendes 

Among its accolades, the film received ten nominations at the 92nd Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director, and won three, including Best Cinematography.

Tampa sets up tent city

City of Tampa is establishing a tent city that will allow up to 100 homeless people to shelter in place. HERE

It cost $120,000 to run a temporary homeless camp for 30 days? At a better price they could  keep it permanently.

Rick Scott Goes Full Voldemort On Stimulus Bill

Beat Sen. Bill Nelson in 2018 by 10,033 votes out of 8.19 million votes cast.

What an Opposition Party Is Supposed to Sound Like

Bernie Sanders’s moral outrage and devastating sarcasm struck back against a GOP assault on poor and low-income workers. MORE

Stogie Recommends

Nice cast, funny at times. Critics trashed this film. only getting 11% on Rotten Tomatoes. 
I liked it.

Sky U. White Needs Your Help

She needs 1,800 signatures in order to get her name the 2020 ballot. Help her HERE

Florida GOP Heartless Rick Scott

As governor, Rick Scott was notoriously callous toward jobless Floridians and made it as difficult as possible to collect the nation’s skimpiest unemployment benefits. He hasn’t changed a bit as U.S. senator, even in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic that already has triggered record unemployment claims in the state and the nation. HERE

Stogie Recommends

Nice cast, Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, 
Juliette Lewis, and Tom Sizemore.
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Great Si-Fi

Florida Social Distancing

North Port

Florida's Half-Billion dollars in Corporate Welfare

As Florida’s economy crashes, DeSantis says he’s going ahead with $543 million in tax refunds for corporations. HERE

Stogie Recommends

Great SiFi, nice cast.Beautiful cinematography

Filmed in Chicago

Rightwinger James Woods

Twitter has suspended the account of the actor for tweeting a photo and linking it without proof to Andrew Gillum, the former Florida gubernatorial candidate who was involved in a suspected drug incident at a hotel in Miami Beach earlier this month. Woods has ramped up his Republican rhetoric since the election of Donald Trump, with whom Gillum has in the past exchanged insults via Twitter. HERE 

Columbia Restaurant finds several ways to help employees amid coronavirus outbreak

Marco Rubio's urgent pastor briefing

Sen. Marco Rubio participated in an “urgent pastor briefing” last Thursday that was hosted by the Florida Family Policy Council, a religious right organization headed by anti-LGBTQ activist John Stemberger. Rubio, who has long supported Stemberger
 and his organization.

 When Stemberger asked if there were any plans to provide assistance to churches during this crisis, Rubio stated that he had been tasked with drafting a package that would
 do precisely that. HERE

Stogie Recommends

Underrated Si-Fi. Great job by Jared Leto 

Piper Perabo shares the truth about who is crossing the border

COVID-19 And The Case For Democratic Socialism

The urgent question for the citizens of the United States as we deal with the COVID-19 crisis is, do we repeat with corporate bailouts that we did in 2008/2009 or move to a Democratic Socialist model?   Presently, in  Washington and Tallahassee, we're watching a pathetic show being played out by sycophant politicians trying to expand  corporate welfare. Both Parties leadership are not providing the economic response needed to get working class Americans through this crisis, with the Republican Party  the most irresponsible. In a larger context we're witnessing the  failure of American-style corporate laissez faire capitalism in dealing with this pandemic. From an immoral private healthcare system to a neoliberal market system that over the decades has eroded our public institutions and safety-net programs. All of which has led us to this T.V. and tabloid personality President who's nothing more than a spoiled buffoon that was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. In this writer's opinion, to get out of this mess we're currently in, the Government needs to quickly implement the socialistic and people's approach put forth by Senator Bernie Sanders: allow unemployed people to join  Medicare, give each unemployed american $2000.00 a month until our economy is stabilized- basically a Democratic Socialist approach to governance.

Florida Right Winger Bryant Culpepper

Became an online laughingstock after video spread of him endorsing a widely-debunked cure for COVID-19 (a.k.a. the “coronavirus”) by a right-wing “news” outlet to his colleagues.

HERE

Lake Worth Beach city commission meeting turns ugly

Okeechobee county commissioner, Bryant Culpepper finds cure for coronavirus

Tampa Hoods

Dale Mabry Highway - SOG

Stogie Recommends

Antoine Fuqua directing Denzel Washington again .Great work from both. 

Nina Tatlock's Letter To Dems

Yesterday I called and sent email to our Democratic Party leadership. I thought I would share what I wrote in case any of you might like to call and email also.

This is what I just Emailed to Chuck Schumer (also called Speaker Pelosi.

Dear Senator Schumer,

I would like to request that leadership of the Democratic Party please put Senator Bernie Sanders and the Democratic Progressive Caucus in charge of the response to this corona virus pandemic. We need the full throttle of bold initiatives being put forward at this time. This is a time to ask for the most that our Federal Government can give toward the Constitutionally called for General welfare. This is a time to have a government that works for the people who are not corporations.

Sincerely,

Nina Tatlock
Democratic Precinct Captain in Florida
President, Democratic Progressive Caucus of Tampa Bay

ATTENTION CHILDREN AT THE PLAYGROUND!!!

Your mommys and daddys are all TOTAL NITWITS AND IGNORAMUSES!!! But it’s NOT your fault!!!

So is the President!!!

Tell them it’s time to go home and watch a Peppa Pig marathon for the next 30 days straight!!! That’s right kids, Peppa Pig!!! For 30 days!!! STRAIGHT!!! DOCTOR’S ORDERS!!!

After that, Make a fort with your pillows! Get out your damn coloring books! Play PAC-MAN! Write a letter to grandma while she’s still alive! Learn how to cook your own damn meal for once! Don’t your parents have the God Damn Disney Channel Damn it?!?

Now get your grubby little hands off of those infected monkey bars immediately and go WASH EVERYTHING!

WITH SOAP!!!!

Cause I’m spraying this entire playground down with Bleach Right Freakin NOW!!!!!! 

Kelly Benjamin

Tampa Right Winger Rodney Howard-Browne Mocks The Pansies

Pastor Rodney Howard-Browne of Florida’s River Tampa Bay Church. mocked the “pansies” who are scared of the coronavirus — as he insisted his packed church will only shut its doors “when the Rapture is taking place.” HERE

Stogie Recommends

Florida Far-Right Gay Blogger

Peddles Alleged Salacious Photo of Andrew Gillum

A week after Florida politician Andrew Gillum was found at the site of a potential meth overdose, a website run by a gay right-wing blogger has published an alleged nude photo from the incident. HERE

Ybor City Ghost Tour

Ybor Paparazzi

Constance with her guest at The Columbia

Stogie Recommends

Staring Kate Winslet and Idris Elba

Critics didn't like it . Only getting 39% on Rotten Tomatoes
I liked it. Watching these two great actors together 
was nice.

Ybor City Homeless

Kirsten & Suzy

Which Side Are You On?

Ybor Life

Ybor City, Florida

Stogie Recommends

Christian Bale and Amy Adams are great!