Editorial: U.S. Should Engage, Not Isolate, Cuba

Thank You, Tampa Bay Times. My Hometown Newspaper
A Cuba without a Castro is now on the horizon, and the United States and Florida should be prepared for the opportunity.This is the time to reconsider the out-of-date hard line from an older generation and end the failed Cuba embargo. The relaxed travel rules implemented last month by the Cuban government will let Cubans who can afford it to travel freely and return to their country. This is good news for the Cuban people who have lived as virtual prisoners on the island nation. It means, ironically, that Cubans now enjoy greater freedom to come to the United States than our government gives Americans

to travel to Cuba.

President Barack Obama could eliminate the remaining travel restrictions

imposed on Americans traveling to Cuba.

Change is coming to Cuba, and this is the time for American engagement instead of isolation.
Read it all here

What Stogie Had For Lunch

 boliche With Yellow Rice And Black Beans
$6.00 At The Interbay Meat Market aka The Green Store
6110 Interbay Blvd, Tampa
Interbay Meat Market
My sister lives in the SOG section of Tampa. She told me about this place and
i must say they make some of the best Cuban food i ever had.

Narcotics Cops In Ski Masks Raid Parrish Home

Ma and Pa Jordan
the husband-and-wife crime wave were at their home in Parrish, just across the Sunshine Skyway bridge in Manatee County, when deputies arrived Monday afternoon. Several deputies, detectives and undercover narcotics cops in ski mask. One of the suspects in this case is dying.She is in her 60s, and confined to a wheelchair. One of the other suspects is her caretaker.He is also in his 60s, and a disabled Vietnam veteran. Cathy Jordan has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease) and has depended on marijuana to combat the progressive nature and many of the symptoms of her disease.
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"I know it's against the law, and I know the cops have a job to do. But I have a responsibility, too, and my responsibility is taking care of my wife, They don't have to tell me this is serious. To us, this is life-and-death serious.I am not backing down. If I have to go to jail, I'll go to jail. Just because something is illegal, doesn't make it morally wrong. My wife is dying!".....Bob Jordan

A coincidence? Unbeknownst to the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, the people they were investigating have been leaders in a push to legalize cannabis for medicinal purposes in Florida. On Wednesday afternoon, two days after the incident, Sen. Jeff Clemens, D-Lake Worth, filed the previously planned Cathy Jordan Medical Cannabis Act (SB 1250) in the Senate.
two mature plants and various seedlings were confiscated. A real estate agent checking out the house next door snitched on them.

Citizens Property Insurance

The Perks Keep Getting Better
*trove of office sex affairs
*Pornography
*Get to use your corporate credit card at strip clubs
*Luxurious business trips
*Drunken exploits on company retreats
*Large raises for executives
Citizens, is a multibillion-dollar company backed by state taxpayers.
 more
If this sounds good to you, then Citizens is the place for you!
here

.Marco Rubio Supports Legalization Of Marijuana

What Stogie Had For Lunch

Hot Wings
$3.49 At Excel Food and Gas on South Dale Mabry at Bay Ave in Tampa

All this blogging about weed got me hungry.

Hit pause button on red-light cameras

"It's time to hit the pause button on red-light cameras. They have become a bureaucratic nightmare for the state's clerks of courts who process the citations. Drivers cited for running red lights are caught in a maze of paperwork, vaguely worded regulations and an unfair system of fines.

And the cameras are more about raising money for local governments

than reducing accidents.".....Pinellas County Clerk of the Circuit Court Ken Burke.

here

Cameras in Tampa Bay

Medical Marijuana Has 70 Percent Support in Florida

As many as seven in 10 Florida voters support a state constitutional amendment legalizing medical marijuana — more than enough to ensure passage and possibly affect the governor’s race — according to a new poll from a group trying to put the measure on the 2104.
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Connect Tampa Bay

To Help People Save Themselves

Connect Tampa Bay is bringing together citizens from across Tampa Bay who want more transportation options so that we can create jobs and improve our quality of life. We just started out and need your help to reach our goal of 2,000 supporters. We are up to 1572 in just a six weeks, help us get to 2,000!

These folks have come to save us from ourselves, join them.

here

Florida Welfare Drug Testing Program

Lets Talk About The Fourth Amendment Mr. Scott

The 11th Circuit Court voted unanimously to uphold the 2011 decision by an Orlando,
court that the tests violate the Fourth Amendment’s protections against unreasonable search and seizures. Republicans across the country have sponsored these types of bills in state legislatures, purportedly to protect children from being raised by drug-addicted parents and to stem the tide of drug use among the poor and unemployed. Aside from the testing being unconstitutional, however, that rising tide of poor and unemployed people using drugs has turned out not to exist.

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Mindy McCready: Ten Thousand Angels

Hundreds Gather To Mourn At Mindy McCready’s Florida Funeral

Mindy McCready is, finally, presumably, at peace. The long-troubled country singer’s family held her funeral Tuesday in her hometown of Fort Myers, Fla. The service, which took place at the Crossroads Baptist Church, was open to the public. According to People, around 400 attended to pay their respects.
The family requests that donations be made to the
Mindy McCready Children's Trust
 c/o John Ammons, Edison National Bank
13000 S. Cleveland Ave., Ft. Myers, FL 33907
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Friends Of Stogie

In Tampa

The Republican Savior?

A New Face Doesn't Improve Bankrupt Ideas.

One of those ideas is the undermining of public schools. Under the guise of helping lower-income parents, Rubio is offering the Educational Opportunities Act to move students from public to private schools, most of which are church-affiliated, at taxpayer expense.

Rubio, like his fellow Republicans, would transform public education from a process where students collectively learn from secular teachers about civic duty and virtue and turn it into a private commodity where education is faith-based and teachers must be of a certain religion to get a job.

In Florida, voters dislike the idea of taxpayer-funded vouchers going to religious schools so much they rejected a constitutional amendment in the last election.
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Pic Thanks To All Hat No Cattle

Nazis In Ft. Lauderdale

Get the fuck out of the neighborhood, pack your bags and leave.

Stogie's Oscar Picks: Anne Hathaway

Well i only got 2 out of 7 right. But my favorite did win.  Congratulations to Anne Hathaway for her Actress In A Supporting Role Oscar.
here

Best Of Babalu: Senator No

The folks over at Babalu are gushing over their new found friend Cuban-American Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz. After all he did vote against Senate rule changes to modestly curb filibusters, aid for Superstorm Sandy victims and the Violence Against Women Act. He also was one of only three "no" votes against Massachusetts Democratic Sen. John Kerry's nomination to be secretary of State. And he publicly skewered President Obama’s nominee for Defense secretary, former Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel. Lets hope he is not around if another Sandy ever visits South Florida or the coast of Texas.

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Mindy McCready: I'll See You Yesterday

Mindy McCready's publicist said that there are preliminary plans being made for a tribute in Nashville to the late singer who committed suicide this weekend and a song has gone online which was reportedly her final recording. Her funeral is scheduled for Tuesday, February 26 at 2:00 p.m. at the Crossroads Baptist Church at 10721 Palm Beach Blvd. in Ft. Meyers. The public is welcome to join the family.

We Won, The Left Has Won

Rush Limbaugh Said So
They have created far more low-information, unaware, uneducated people than we’ve been able to keep up with.
here
Zippity Doo Dah Zippity Ay My Oh My What A Wonderful Day

Stogie's Oscar Picks

Best Picture: Lincoln
Actor In A Leading Role: Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln"
Actress In A Leading Role: Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Actor In A Supporting Role: Robert De Niro, "Silver Linings Playbook"
Actress In A Supporting Role: Anne Hathaway, "Les Misérables"
Directing: Steven Spielberg, "Lincoln"
Foreign Language Film: "No" (Chile)

In Defence Of The Cuban Tomato

“On my dinner plate, there are not any tomatoes and there are not any potatoes,”....Yoani Sánchez

This is not true. I was in Cuba Feb. 2007. Not only were they plentiful but smelled and tastes wonderful.
 I could not stop  bragging about them after i got home.

Friends Of Stogie

At Gaspar's Patio in Temple Terrace

Small business owners bash Hillsborough Commission

Hillsborough County Commissioners approved a $6 million road project that will rein in a Bass Pro Shop in Brandon. During their meeting Wednesday, 12 supporters of small business spoke in opposition to the subsidy. Bill Place, owner of Ace Golf stores in the Tampa Bay area, was disappointed in the commission’s decision, but not surprised.

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“I mean, if you were required to pay for those improvements like many other businesses have been required to pay for your own improvements. It would just blow me away that you would walk away from this opportunity for $6.25 million.”..... Kevin Beckner

What Stogie Had For Lunch

Ropa Vieja With Moro And Yuca
$6.50 At LA Teresita Grocery, 3302 W Columbus Dr, West Tampa

Yoani Sanchez: Trade Embargo A Failure

what she’s had to say as the world’s best known critic of the Castro regime that was the most controversial, at least in the United States. She’s urged the end of the U.S. government’s trade embargo against her homeland, calling it a failure. she called the embargo “a fossil of the Cold War that does not have any sense in the modern world in which we live.” She added that its existence gave the Cuban government “the best argument . . . to explain its ineffective economy.”
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Cuba Journal is reporting that Secretary of State, John Kerry, is reviewing policy that could pave way for renewed relations.
here

Help, end the war on the Cuban people, they are being held hostage by a small minority in South Florida. End The Embargo, Stop The MCM.

Rick Scott Wants To Eliminate Business Tax

Ybor City Fiesta Day 2013

Fiesta Day is a free, family-oriented “street festival.”  Celebrated for 66 years, it features ethnic food and entertainment along famed Seventh Avenue.  Fiesta Day started out as a “verbena” or day of rest for the immigrant, cigar workers who settled Ybor City from Spain, Cuba and Italy.

info

Owlcatraz In Boca Raton

“It is so exciting to now have a name for our beautiful stadium, and I couldn’t think of a better way to do that than by way of philanthropy. This gift is a true representation of The GEO Group’s incredible generosity to FAU and the community it serves. It is especially meaningful because George Zoley, GEO’s chairman, is a two-time FAU alumnus and former chair of our Board of Trustees.”..... FAU President Mary Jane Saunders

here

The GEO Group, which runs especially controversial prisons and wants to name Florida Atlantic's football stadium, tried to scrub abuse allegations from Wikipedia. The internet struck back.

here

Friends Of Stogie

In Tampa

Corporate Welfare In Tampa Bay

Hillsborough County commissioners approve $6.25M subsidy for Bass Pro Shops

Hillsborough County commissioners have approved spending $6.25 million to bring a Bass Pro Shops store to the Brandon area. The vote was 6-1 with

Commissioner Kevin Beckner casting the only "no" vote.

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Again Mr. Beckner does the right thing. Remember these other folks come election time. We can start here
Mary Mulhern, for Hillsborough County Commission, District 7

Tampa Bay Bridges Are Falling Down

I-275 & Cypress St.
Florida Has 304 Structurally Deficient Bridges, Five Of Them Are In Tampa Bay.
Johns Pass over Boca Ciega Bay - I-275 & Kennedy Blvd.
Crosstown Expressway & SR 585 - SR 39 over the Hillsborough River (Has been rebuilt)
I posted this back on August 2, 2007 with all the talk in DC right now on our Infrastructure, here it is again.

here

The Llong Arm That Controls Them From Havana

In Spanish
Brazil’s most influential magazine, Veja, published a story this weekend alleging that Cuban diplomats were working with Brazilian leftists to organize protests against Sánchez during her stops in the country, where she is expected to stay for a week.