Mexicans In Florida Share A Rite Of Death

But their teenage giggles are sliced with talk of death. And faith and family. And being buried in a homeland a thousand miles and a gulf away. Soon, the girls will compete in a special pageant in which beauty falls second to charity. They're raising money to help pay for the proper burials of Mexican migrants who die here. The pageant is as much a celebration of honoring the dead as it is about youth and grace -- a strange juxtaposition of beginnings and endings......more

Hispanos Unidos De America

Tampa Bay Mitigation Bank

Ten years in the making with three years to go, the 160-acre site is being bulldozed into Hillsborough County's first wetlands mitigation bank. When it's finished, developers that want to destroy wetlands will be able to compensate for the environmental damage by buying credits in the form of wetland acreage in Casey's Tampa Bay Mitigation Bank.......more

"The neighborhood where the wetland is damaged suffers flooding and pollution of their lake or river, But they don't get the benefit of the mitigation when the developer purchases part of a wetlands somewhere else.".....Mariella Smith

Baozi
Chinese Cardboard Buns With A Side Of Chemicals
The report generated wide national and international attention as the latest in a string of scares involving China-produced foods, including toxic seafood, virus-plagued pigs and chemical-laden toothpaste. The "expose" purportedly showed a seller of the buns, known as "baozi," softening shredded cardboard with an industrial chemical and fortifying the bogus meat with a bit of fatty pork........here

Generation Chickenhawk - College Republicans

HARRY REID - JULY 20, 2007

Señor Garcia On Studio 10

Video.... here

The World's Worst Airline
A TAM Plane Crashed In Brazil Tuesday. I Wasn't Surprised

TAM Linhas Aereas is the worst airline in the world. I've been saying that repeatedly since early April, when my boyfriend and I took a short vacation in Brazil and returned happy with our stay but traumatized by the air travel.....more
Elizabeth Spiers

Blind Loyalty Latest US War Casualty
Pemberton, New Jersey

If George Bush loses towns like Pemberton, then he has surely lost America. And it seems he is losing this piece of small-town America, population 29,000........more

"Me and my husband try not to be political people — we try to take authority from God, I think he has been a good president. But I do think in some ways, instead of letting God totally rule his decisions (Bush) has let some of the other people higher up do that."........Virginia Green

Michael Moore Goes Head to Head With Stephen Colbert

Liberals Vow to Block Continued Iraq Funding

Seventy House members, nearly all liberal Democrats, vowed today that they would not support any more funding for Iraq military operations unless tied to a complete withdrawal of combat troops. This is a big development. Earlier this year, liberals grudgingly voted for Iraq funding bills because they didn't want to give Nancy Pelosi a defeat. Now it seems that their patience has run out........more

James Kotecki
Forget New Hampshire. The first real presidential primary is on the Internet

So it was irritating to him to see presidential candidates making poor use of the Web — posting speeches and canned performances rather than more personal communications. They weren't using the medium the way young people use it — talking directly to the camera in a very casual and laid-back way.......more

"Probably the world's foremost expert on YouTube videos posted by presidential candidates."

Visit His Blog.......here

The Narrow Band Of Democratic Elites

Howard Dean

The Washington Post is under the impression that Governor Dean's campaign failed. But what's left unsaid is the fact that the heart of Governor Dean's campaign -- which was to end the war in Iraq and the 50 State Strategy -- is now the core platform within the Democratic Party. Due primarily to the work of Deaniacs like us who have blogged, contributed money, knocked on doors, made phone calls and attended campaign trainings like the one in Orange County, California this weekend -- the Governor and Democracy for America have changed the face of American politics. And this is a progressive political movement we can all be proud of.......more

Worst American President

However he was wrong, and no one can ignore it any longer. Eighteen months from the end of his mandate, those closest to him say that Bush is concerned with the mark on history he will leave. Confronting chaos, he has already been judged by part of the American press: he's the worst President the United States has ever had.....more

"George W. Bush has succeeded in simultaneously driving Iraq and his own country into a dead end."

Julie Pierce Continues The Fight

Fait Accompli

Mel Martinez - 202-224-3041

His Legacy Continues

Take Action To Stop An Execution

Troy A. Davis

With no physical evidence — the murder weapon was never found — prosecutors relied heavily on the testimony of nine eyewitnesses who took the stand against Mr. Davis. But since his trial, seven of the nine have recanted or changed their testimony, saying they were harassed and pressed by investigators to lie under oath. Other witnesses have come forward identifying a different man as the shooter.more

Send A Letter To The Georgia State Board Of Pardons & Paroles Urging Clemency......here

Impeach Now

Or Face the End of Constitutional Democracy

Unless Congress immediately impeaches Bush and Cheney, a year from now the US could be a dictatorial police state at war with Iran.Bush has put in place all the necessary measures for dictatorship in the form of "executive orders" that are triggered whenever Bush declares a national emergency. Recent statements by Homeland Security Chief Michael Chertoff, former Republican senator Rick Santorum and others suggest that Americans might expect a series of staged, or false flag, "terrorist" events in the near future........more

Tampa Ranked 16th In Rude Drivers

Islamic Creationist

And A Book Sent Round The World

It is the voice of Adnan Oktar of Turkey, who, under the name Harun Yahya, has produced numerous books, videos and DVDs on science and faith, in particular what he calls the “deceit” inherent in the theory of evolution. One of his books, “Atlas of Creation,” is turning up, unsolicited, in mailboxes of scientists around the country and members of Congress......here

www.harunyahya.com

Rep. Keith Ellison's Views

On Cheney, Libby, 9/11
Freshman Congressman Keith Ellison was among friends Sunday -- in this case, a gathering of atheists -- so his support for a fistful of hot-button opinions, including the impeachment of Vice President Dick Cheney, brought enthusiastic nods of approval and standing ovations.......more

After Duke's Spin Cycle......here

St. Pete - July 16, 2007

Project No. 45403
Anybody Need A Seawall, Only $200
Project 45403 is a 480-foot-wide slope of concrete rubble along the Palm River that county crews completed on March 9. For motorists who see it while driving south on the Maydell Drive bridge, the wall stands as a jagged symbol of how one of the homeowners, a 67-year-old widow named Edna Walters, used connections to get the government to pay for a project of questionable public value.......more

"I agree with his politics, I'm determined to stop the county from giving itself away to the people who don't work for it.".......Roy Davis

Ralph Nader

2008

"No other country comes close to providing voters with such a small number of choices and making third party candidates hurdle an almost insuperable number of obstacles just to get on the ballot,".........here

Underwater Music Festival

Big Pine Key, Florida

More than 500 scuba divers and snorkelers listened to a local radio station's four-hour broadcast Saturday, piped in beneath the sea in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary........more

Public service announcements about coral reef preservation were played between musical selections.

CLICK HERE TO SEE 2006 EVENT PHOTOS

One Blair Down, One To Go
How the bulldogs of British journalism might have savaged a Florida politician
"Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair is facing calls for his resignation from taxpayer groups today after a St Petersburg Times investigation revealed that Blair pressured county officials to spend $1 million on the Noreast lake where he lives.......more

Robin Miller

Our Famous Local Video Maker

Natural Florida Thrives In State's Most Crowded County

Weedon Island Preserve

In Florida's most crowded county, not far from a greyhound track and a busy thoroughfare, kayakers paddle through a labyrinth of trails that wind for miles under the dense canopy of a stunning mangrove forest. Floating through those dark, cool tunnels, it's easy to forget that the gleaming highrises of downtown Tampa loom just on the other side of the bay or that this chunk of Gulf Coast Florida is so developed that there's hardly any available land left........more

Weedon Island Preserve

Little Gasparilla Island, Florida

Welcome Cuban Refugees

As the Cubans waited for the officials to arrive for processing, word of their presence spread through this island of mostly private vacation homes. Islanders came to Lowell's house with clothes, food and water. The joyful demeanor of the Cubans was infectious, with homeowners and vacationers alike laughing and becoming instant friends........more

Charlie, Another Great Action Hero

Hasta La Vista Baby, To Greenhouse Gases

The Republican governors of California and Florida gave the Bush administration the cold shoulder on Friday as Florida set new limits on greenhouse gas emissions and signed cooperation pacts on climate change with Germany and Britain........more

"Something is changing here in America, It's what I would call a new consensus.".......Matthias Machnig

Florida facing global warming effects now

Clinton And Edwards
Only Serious Candidates Need Apply
Serious “candidates,” or elite selectees, hate the idea of sharing the corporate media spotlight with the unselected. All of this is quite natural, as Edwards rubs elbows with the Council on Foreign Relations and Hillary is a Bilderberg doorstop. Serious candidates are arranged in advance by the elite and outsiders such as Ron Paul and Dennis Kucinich are not welcome, are in fact deeply resented......here
Mike Gravel

What Stogie Had For Lunch

Breaded Grouper With Yellow Rice, Red Beans, Platanos And Salad.
$5.95 At.........Seafood Palace 6207 Causeway Boulevard, Tampa

Forget Corporate - Eat Local

Governor Dean Responds to Bush