“The Cigar Maker” is about one industry, two countries and several families at a crossroads of two centuries. The book realistically describes the living conditions of poor native Cubans under Spanish occupation, of rich Spaniards, of cigar makers in Ybor City.
BP and other Big Oil companies have been getting government hand-outs that fleece billions from taxpayers every year. ExxonMobil, the most profitable corporation in American history, avoided paying ANY income taxes to the Federal Government last year and then pocketed an additional $46 million from the IRS.
I used to think it was an urban myth about poor people eating dog food because they can't aford to buy regular food. Now, I have seen it with my own eyes......here
A St. Pete Beach resident's perspective on Amendment 4 / Florida Hometown Democracy
A free informational forum on the Impact of the Oil Crisis in the Gulf on Tampa Bay is scheduled on Wednesday, July 14, 6 to 8:30 p.m., in the Digitorium on the St. Petersburg College Seminole campus.
The Republican Party of Duval County sent out e-mails to promote the July 2 Tea Party at the Jacksonville Landing. The Duval GOP posted this picture of 
In the latest shenanigans the former party chairman Jim Greer, under indictment for allegedly defrauding the party, is now suing the party for $120,000 severance he claims he was owed.......here
Want Excitement? It’s all at Caliente! A Luxury Clothing Optional Lifestyle Resort in Tampa FL Experience the sensual, romantic, safe and secure, private setting Caliente offers......here
Buffalo Soldiers
Nov. 7 From 10 am to 4 pm
Seven political activists claiming their civil rights were violated after they were arrested and cited for protesting against Sheriff Joe Arpaio's immigration policies recently were awarded nearly $475,000 by Maricopa County.......here
Peter Schorsch Thinks It Is Michael Pinson And Brian Blair.
"Government shouldn't be doing that to a private company (BP) and I think you named it clearly, it's a slush fund,".......Republican Sharron Angle
More people are losing their jobs and homes than ever before, and places like the 
George Washington Junior High School was among the first junior high schools constructed in the state, and set precedent at the time for the organizational structure of schools throughout the United States. 
Growing bicycling in Tampa Bay means working together with others who value and appreciate cycling as a great way of life, a way to stay healthy and a way to build stronger and more vibrant communities. This morning, SWFBUD visited Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe at Buddy Brew coffeehouse on Kennedy Avenue in Tampa this morning.......here
Marleine Bastien is one of only 4 candidates in the whole country with a national PDA endorsement.
In April 1898, the United States declared war against Spain. Thousands of U.S. soldiers arrived in Tampa to prepare for an invasion of Cuba. Ten regiments, including two black units, camped on the fringes of the elegant Tampa Heights neighborhood. The Twenty-fourth Infantry was located just north of this marker, while the Twenty-fifth camped to the southeast......here
BP is denying workers respirators. Join our coalition today!
bp makes me sick
I just received — via a response on my blog — from Michael Pinson that he is considering taking legal action against me for the three posts I have written about him this week......here
July 14, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
The Bartow cigar factory will be history, not historic preservation. The County Commission took no further action Wednesday from their vote in May to demolish the 1925-vintage building east of downtown Bartow, despite renewed pleas by preservationists.... It was the first mechanized cigar factory, 
Carriers is a 2009 horror film about four people fleeing a viral pandemic. It was written and directed by Àlex Pastor and David Pastor and stars Lou Taylor Pucci, Chris Pine, Piper Perabo and Emily VanCamp.
I am pleased to announce my candidacy for State of Florida, 
The "Dead Zone" created by a combination of methane gas and Corexit toxic rain will force the evacuation and long-term abandonment of cities and towns within the 200-mile radius of the oil volcano. 
Rumors are flying that Florida Democrats might line up behind an independent Senate candidate this fall, but appearances may be deceiving......here
Highly Susceptible Populations
Last Wednesday night I went to the Tampa Bay Brewing Company in Ybor City for Tampa’s version of Mashable’s Social Media Day......here
Local activist Omali Yeshitela called the recent arrests of his sons on drug charges attacks on him and the movement he started. Yeshitela, the 68-year-old founder of the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement and a former St. Petersburg mayoral candidate, called a news conference Tuesday to say that he, his family and the movement are being targeted by authorities.......here
The Gulf of Mexico is packed with abandoned oil wells from a host of companies including BP, according to an investigation by Associated Press, which describes the area as “an environmental minefield that has been ignored for decades”..........here
The massive spill has wrecked the high tourism season in the Panhandle and fouled some its precious white-sand beaches. Primarily confined to the Gulf Coast, the spill has so far spared the rest of the state. A spill farther south would have a much greater chance of getting caught in the loop current that carries water and debris through the Florida Keys and around the peninsula to southeast Florida.......here
Feeding And Harboring Feral Cats
On July 15 Hillsborough County commissioners are scheduled to meet to decide on a new Environmental Protection Commission rule for management of fertilizers applied to urban lawns and landscapes......here
Officials in Hillsborough County have informed the news media that reports of emergency plans to evacuate several Gulf Coast cities, including the Tampa Bay region, prior to setting fires in the Gulf of Mexico to burn off oil leaking from the damaged Deepwater Horizon well are false.......here
