Protest Rubio Tonight In Port Richey

The Pasco Democratic Executive Committee and the Pasco County National Organization for Women will organize a demonstration in response to votes by Senator Marco Rubio, keynote speaker at tonight’s Reagan Day Dinner. Rubio opposed both gun safety and the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA).
The protest will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the Spartan Manor, Port Richey.
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Culture Of Corruption: Michelle Rhee

Very iffy Parent Trigger petition in Florida

Florida Republican legislator Kelli Stargel had a lot of trust in Michelle Rhee and her Students First group when she announced their petition in committee debate. She said she had 1200 signatures in support of a Parent Trigger law in Florida. As Kelli Stargel take to the Senate floor today to defend her Parent Trigger bill, she will be wondering whether or not it was a good idea to get involved with Michelle Rhee.
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Rhee submits Parent Trigger petition with names who did not sign it?
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Confederate Fan

Oaklawn Cemetery, Downtown Tampa

The 32nd Annual WMNF TROPICAL HEATWAVE

info

Florida's Lawmakers Test the Null Hypothesis

In science and statistical analysis it is called "Testing the Null Hypothesis." As described in the 1930s by a statistician named Ronald Fischer, during an experiment, when looking at observed data after an event or testing the use of some treatment on a patient, the null hypothesis is the theory the change in data is unrelated to the event, or that the treatment used had no positive or negative effect on the subject.

here

MCM: Joe Garcia Joins The Family

 Cuban-American lawmakers (Miami Cuban Mafia) are pressing the Obama administration to keep Cuba on its list of state sponsors of terrorism as the State Department prepares to release its annual assessment next week. The four Cuban-Americans in the House are drafting a joint letter to Secretary of State John Kerry laying out why they think the communist island still meets the criteria established by the 1979 sanctions law. And the Senate's three Cuban-Americans are also vocally opposed to delisting Cuba, which was first added in 1982. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) told The Hill she's collaborating with Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.), Albio Sires (D-N.J.) and (New family member) Joe Garcia (D-Fla.) on a letter urging the State Department to retain Cuba alongside Iran, Syria and Sudan.

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

Republican Jimmy Patronis: Florida's Worst Nightmare

Every year during the legislative session in Tallahassee, state Rep. Jimmy Patronis does two things: He organizes a day for everyone to wear seersucker suits. And he pushes a bill to change Florida's environmental regulations, like the one Thursday that passed the House,
blocking local governments from protecting thousands of acres of wetlands.

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Fucking amazing, can they really do this?

Ken Hagan Is Right

Hillsborough County May Neuter, Then Release Stray Cats
"I question if we can dramatically cut our kill rate without some form of community-cat program, And I'm struggling to determine how this is making the conditions, the environment, worse. The cats are already out there. To me it's preventing further breeding of feral cats."........Ken Hagan
I know i pick on Mr. Hagan alot on this blog but on this he is right. If anyone has a better idea i am sure they would like to hear it.
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On Wednesday, Hillsborough commissioners discuss the plan . The hearing is at 10:45 a.m. at County Center, 601 E Kennedy Blvd.
As far as the colony" of cats idea i would like to apply for the job of human caretaker.
Pic, Stogie's cats Joker and Penélope
 To adopt a cat click here

Smash CISPA!

info

Miami Cuban Mafia: Rabid Anti-Cuban US Politicians

Ridiculous Republicans

Florida Republican Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Mario Diaz-Balart are hot under the collar over the brief visit to Cuba by music stars Beyonce and Jay-Z and have demanded a US Treasury Department investigation. The politicians called Cuba's government a "murderous regime" that "ruthlessly suppresses the most basic liberties."

That's tough stuff coming from members of the party that brought torture to United States soil, started a war that killed a million Iraqis and gave safe haven to Luis Posada Carriles, the anti-Cuban terrorist jointly responsible for bombing a Cubana airliner, killing 73 people.

Diaz-Balart is the Florida-born son of Rafael Diaz-Balart, a Cuban fascist and chief torturer under dictator Fulgencio Batista. Meanwhile Ros-Lehtinen is notorious for having called for Fidel Castro's assassination and for supporting an amnesty for Orlando Bosch, Carriles's co-conspirator in terrorism. When the US trades freely with other countries led by communist parties, its obsession with maintaining its anachronistic cold war hostility to revolutionary Cuba exposes Washington to global ridicule.

The Obama administration should cut itself loose from Miami-based nostalgics and open a new era of normality with Cuba.

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George Glenn Jones

Rest In Peace
September 12, 1931 – April 26, 2013

Who Let The Dogs Loose?

More than a hundred Hillsborough County elementary schools will no longer have an officer or deputy on site for protection when the 2013-2014 school year begins in August.
here

But they will have dogs sniffing for marijuana.
here
Pic: Miami-Dade retired narcotics detector Franky.

Florida HB 999 and SB 1684

On Thursday morning, April 25, the Florida House of Representatives passed by a 92-20 vote HB 999, the most anti-environmental bill of the 2013 Legislative Session. The fight to stop this bill now moves to the Senate and SB 1684. For a contact list for all Senators and more info
click here
Please call your Senator immediately and urge them to VOTE NO on HB 999 and SB 1684!

Shameless Parent Revolution

For weeks, it seemed, few parents in Florida supported the so-called parent trigger bill. And then, a video began circulating in the Capitol. The video, featuring South Florida moms praising the legislation, was attributed to a mysterious grass roots group known as the Sunshine Parents. But it was actually produced by Parent Revolution, the California-based advocacy group that has been using its considerable resources and political heft to promote the legislation nationwide. Parent trigger (SB 862) hits the Senate floor Monday. The House version (HB 867) has already passed.
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Opponents say it would give for-profit education companies the opportunity to take over vulnerable schools. They point to California, where efforts to pull the trigger have played out amid allegations of parent coercion and petitions with fraudulent signatures. In addition to Florida PTA, parent groups lined up against the bill include Fund Education Now, 50th No More and Parents Across America. The NAACP and the League of United Latin American Citizens oppose the legislation, too.

Are you on the list?
 Maria and Dan O'Hollearn, of Coral Gables, both said they didn't sign the petition, despite their names and addresses appearing on the petition. Carlos Herrera, a Florida International University student, said he, too, was surprised his name was on the list of supporters.
Sen. Kelli Stargel, R-Lakeland, who has referenced the petition during debates, said she had no reason to doubt their legitimacy.
"We don't need groups from other states coming into Florida and causing trouble," said Sen. Bill Montford, D-Tallahassee, a staunch opponent of the bill. "This is proof."
Stop Parent Trigger Legislation
Sign the petition

Darden Restaurants

Darden Restaurants, owner of the Red Lobster and Olive Garden chains along with Disney is working to make it impossible for local cities and counties to pass earned sick time laws.In fact, as reported in the Orlando Sentinel, Disney helped write the bill! “Walt Disney World and Darden Restaurants, owner of the Red Lobster and Olive Garden chains, helped draft the legislation. These corporations aren't looking out for the families that visit or work at their theme park or eat and work in their restaurants - they are protecting their own massive profits.

Remember restaurant workers only make $2.13 per hour (tipped workers) and we can thank  Herman Cain, his work as the CEO of Godfather's Pizza and later as president of the National Restaurant Association, Cain worked diligently in Washington and in the media to see that low-wage restaurant workers could legally be paid as little as possible, as In These Times has noted. In fact, Cain's time in the restaurant business was marked by a long and largely successful battle against minimum-wage increases, and even today, some 15 years later, many of the nation's waiters and waitresses have Cain and the restaurant lobby to thank for a federal minimum wage of $2.13 for tipped workers. By 1995, when Cain was at the helm of Godfather's, the federal minimum wage had already lost much of its purchasing power since the 1960s and 70s, and it hadn't seen a bump in five years. When then-President Bill Clinton and Labor Secretary Robert Reich proposed raising it from $4.25 to $5.15, Cain emerged as one of the leading opponents of the pay boost. In his testimony to a joint economic committee in Washington, Cain, like many of his Republican colleagues today, claimed that the modest raise would destroy thousands of jobs and eliminate entry-level positions that serve as the first rung on a ladder toward prosperity.

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Do you really want someone who is sick cooking or serving your food? There are things you can do,

Sign petition and stop eating at their restaurants. Eat local, spend your money locally and help the local small businessperson. You want seafood? Try some of Stogie's favorites The Crab Shack or Skipper's Smokehouse or Mid Peninsula Seafood unlike  Red Lobster you actually walk out full without spending a bundle. Want Italian? Try Primi Ristorante in St Pete or  Rick's Italian Cafe on Davis Islands. For a complete list of locals visit Tampa Locavore.

Trinity Café Has A New Home In Ybor City

Trinity Café is ready to open its new home in a renovated building at 2801 N. Nebraska Avenue in Ybor City. Café staff members plan to begin serving meals to homeless and working poor people on Tuesday, April 30. A “building dedication and tour” is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on May 14.

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Meet Chef Tony Macaroni!

i've had the pleasure of eating Chef Tony's cooking both at his home and at
Primi Ristorante Italiano in downtown St. Pete.

Hialeah, City of Progress

The Hialeah Police Department has gone on a camera-grabbing, rights-squashing, charge-trumping rampage against citizens in recent weeks without any apparent fear of repercussions, proving to be one of the most power-abusing police departments in Miami-Dade County.

And that’s saying a lot considering the rampant police corruption down here.

The incidents began last month when a group of college students organized a “Harlem Shake” video, which is a recent fad where young people gather in public to perform a comical dance in costumes for the benefit of Youtube.

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Tampa Panelists Outcry Cuba Terror Designation

Stogie Recommends

An Apology to Elephants
A documentary produced and narrated by Lily Tomlin.
here

La Casa Sierra

What Stogie Had For Lunch
Fried Chicken Breast
With Moro, Yuca and a drink.
$6.35 at La Casa Sierra, corner of Main St. and Howard Ave in Tampa

Defend Social Security in Tampa

Deliver petitions to Sen. Bill Nelson opposing cuts to Social Security.

Senator Nelson's Office in Tampa
Thursday, Apr. 25, at 12:00 PM
Click here for more details and to RSVP.

Happy Earth Day!

Tampa Bay Earth Day Events
here

Disney, Red Lobster and Olive Garden

Mickey Mouse now has a side gig as a corporate lobbyist?!

Apparently. Because right now in Florida, in the final days of the state legislative session, Disney is working to make it impossible for local cities and counties to pass earned sick time laws. In fact, as reported in the Orlando Sentinel, Disney helped write the bill! “Walt Disney World and Darden Restaurants, owner of the Red Lobster and Olive Garden chains, helped draft the legislation,
Take Action
Nothing like having your food cooked or served by someone who is sick.
Eat Local

Terry Kemple: A Crime Against Sanity

As a Hillsborough County taxpayer the thought of someone who is anti-Muslin, antigay, antiknowledge and even antimatter sitting on a government body charged with educating our community's children would be a crime against sanity. Terry Kemple on the School Board would visit a plague of demagoguery on the body politic. His term would be a fractious, disruptive, moveable feast of Bible-thumping, self-righteous hectoring and faux Puritanical preening. This will be Kemple's third bid to get on the School Board. Now you would think if you had run twice before and the voters had previously suggested they would rather shove shards of broken glass up their eyes than allow you to serve in public office.

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Bill Maher on Cuba

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

Tampa, Hillsborough County To Sue BP

Days before the third anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, attorneys for Hillsborough County and the city of Tampa are moving to sue oil giant BP over tens of millions of dollars in lost tax revenues. Hillsborough County commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday to file suit over the county's claim that it suffered nearly $43 million in losses — from hotel, gas, sales and other tax and fee receipts — as a result of the spill.

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Alan Grayson Petition For No Cuts to Entitlements

Sign Petition here

Tampa Bay Homeless

Homeless Living In Tampa

Stogie Recommends

Another Earth
Is a 2011 American science fiction/drama film directed by Mike Cahill in his feature film debut. The film stars William Mapother and Brit Marling. It premiered at the 27th Sundance Film Festival in January 2011 and is being distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures.

here

Remove DEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard Jr.

Regulators who break the rules cannot be trusted with enforcing them. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection broke the rules protecting the state's wetlands to benefit a well-connected landowner, then punished the one employee who challenged her bosses on it and tried to do her job. Gov. Rick Scott should remove DEP Secretary Herschel Vinyard Jr. and at least one of his deputy secretaries, because Floridians can no longer trust the agency to protect the environment and fairly enforce the rules.

here

Celebrate this Earth Day - Picnic For Earth

Obama: The Audacity Of Betrayal

You have to hand it to Barack Obama when it comes to having it both ways: He never stops serving the ruling class, yet the mainstream media, from right to left, continues to pretend that he’s some sort of reincarnation of Franklin D. Roosevelt, fully committed to the downtrodden and deeply hostile to the privileged and the rich.
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The New American Confederacy
The Betrayal of Generation Hope
Ralph Nader pans Obama call for higher minimum wage.
Howard Dean Threatens To Leave Democratic Party.
I listen to his campaign speeches now and the one he gave at his second inauguration and all i hear is noise.
I feel like i have been violated. Republicans hate him and now he has lost his base. Nust be lonely at the top.

St. Pete Activists Blast Corporations For Exploiting Tax Loopholes

Germany Knows What To Do
German authorities launched dawn raids on the homes of over 200 suspected tax cheats Tuesday, acting on information gleaned from a CD containing the confidential account details of thousands of Swiss bank clients. The top tax officials in the southwestern state of Rhineland-Palatinate said he expected to net some 500 million euros ($654 million) from the data, which German investigators bought for 4 million euros ($5.2 million) after deeming it 'authentic and of excellent quality.' 'This amount is testament to the high criminal energy used to hide capital gains,' Carsten Kuehl, the state's finance minister, said in a statement.
here

2013 Earth Day Tampa Bay

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Howard Dean Threatens To Leave Democratic Party

If Obama Doesn’t Cut Pentagon Budget

here

I stand with Howard Dean in his disgust of the Democratic Party. I would join him but i have been independant (NPA) since i started voting back in 1976.

La Casa Sierra

What Stogie Had For Lunch
Picadillo
With Black Beans and Rice, Platanos and a drink.
$6.35 at La Casa Sierra, corner of Main St. and Howard Ave in Tampa

The World Isn't As Bad As You Think It Is

After hearing about the tragedy in Boston yesterday and the things that happen to innocent people  everyday all over the world (Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Israel, Nort Korea) to name a few it is heartwarming to read something like this in my morning paper.

"The support from the community is beyond anything I could have imagined, When they told me people were interested in our story and what was happening, I was like, 'Why? We're nobody. We're not famous, we're just people.' I guess people just really care about other people. It kind of shows the world really isn't as bad as you think it is.

Mrs. Nugent on the support from the community for her daughter Ireland.

here
To help them click here

Tampa – Domestic Partner Registry Vigil

Tuesday, April 16, 2013 from 4:00 pm to 6:30 pm
Joe Chillura Courthouse Square
701 E. Kennedy Blvd.
info

Free HARTLine Rides For Friends On Earth Day

Go HART

Tampa Bay Homeless

Meet Charlie B
He is from Nashville. He is a vet and was shot while in Kuwait.

The Stogie Rates HART Drivers

A - Exceptional     B - Good     C - Average     D - Poor    F - Find another job

#2290 - A
#1965 - C
# 2119 - A
# 1967 - B
# 3128 - B
# 3692 - A
#32388 - A

It's Miller Time

Hillsborough Commissioner Les Miller’s Redistricting Plan 
could result in the county’s first Latino representative. The plan will call for substituting one at-large commission seat, which is voted on by everyone in the county, with a new single-member district, which would be chosen only by residents of a specific area. That new district would be designed so that a Hispanic could run in it and win.

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“The key to provide for equitable representation is to move away from county-wide districts and have seven single-member districts, where each neighborhood is represented by a commissioner, rather than these million-dollar races that put in so much special interest money that it really becomes prohibitive for someone from a socio-economic area to be able to win countywide,” says Chris Cano, vice chair for the Hillsborough County Democratic Hispanic Caucus and treasurer for the Hillsborough Hispanic Coalition.
Great Job Mr. Miller

Marco Rubio In New Ad

Gwen Graham Running For Congress In Florida

The daughter of Florida treasure Bob Graham
Bob Graham was a wildly popular Florida governor from 1979- 1987 when he was elected to the U.S. Senate, where he served until 2005. Previously he had been a state rep and a state senator-- and he never lost an election in his life. He was an environmental champion in a state where real estate developers had ruled the roost. In his last Senate campaign he kicked Republican Charlie Crist's ass 63-37%. Socially liberal and one of the few Senate Democrats to oppose Bush's war against Iraq.
more, Visit her website here

Stacy White: A Self-Described Conservative Christian

Currently A Hillsborough County School Board member  with plans to run for the Hillsborough County Commission.  He is a strong supporter of local bigots Terry Kemple, David Caton  and former Republican state Sen. Ronda Storms. He spoke at the 9/11 anniversary protest in downtown Tampa which also included Terry Kemple, He has also said he would have voted against a domestic partner registry to give unmarried couples, gay or straight, certain rights when it comes to their partners. Sue Carlton of the Tampa Bay Times has called him "A dimpled David Caton, he of the extreme causes, a less stormy Ronda Storms." One other Republican "Rick Cochran, a senior detective for the Tampa Police Department" is also running for this District 4 seat. He is also a self-described conservative Christian who was part of a Sept. 11 protest against allowing Council on American-Islamic Relations speakers in schools, headed up by activist Terry Kemple. Have Democrats ceded this eastern Hillsborough district?

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JAY Z "Open Letter

St. Petersburg Free Clinic's Family Residence

You are invited to

St. Petersburg Free Clinic's Family Residence HOUSE WARMING
Sunday, April 14, 2013
1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
431 11th Avenue South
here, Via Bartlett Park

How to Help Ireland Nugent

Trinity Presbyterian Church "Ireland Nugent Fund
•Anyone can make an online donate using Paypal on the church's website. Donations will go toward the long term treatment and recovery of Ireland and her family. If you prefer to mail a check- Make it out to:
Trinity Presbyterian Foundation (with Ireland Nugent in the memo field)
Mail it to: Trinity Presbyterian Church, 2001 Rainbow Drive, Clearwater, FL, 33765
More ways to help here

The Citrus Taliban: Christian Coalition 2.0

Plan to Register Evangelical Christian And faithful Catholic Voters
Yesterday morning, Historic City News was notified that the Florida Faith and Freedom Coalition hosted a Legislative Prayer Breakfast in Tallahassee; Attorney General Pam Bondi, Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater, Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam, and Coalition Chairman Ralph Reed were in attendance.
here

Stogie Recommends

Habana Eva
Is a 2010 Venezuelan romantic comedy film directed by Fina Torres, starring Prakriti Maduro and Juan Carlos García and filmed in La Habana, Cuba. The film won the Best Picture award at the New York International Latino Film Festival on 2 August 2010. A rare look at  modern day Havana.
here

Darryl Rouson's Bong Bill

Efforts to legalize medical marijuana have gotten a lot of attention in Tallahassee this year. But that hasn’t slowed down a bill to ban bongs and other devices used to consume pot and other mind-bending substances. That bill is garnering overwhelming approval in the Florida Senate. Democratic Representative Darryl Rouson of St. Petersburg is the sponsor of the bill. 

here
What a waste of time, i make bongs out of empty beer cans, and this coming from a Democrat.

Who Will Run Against Ken Hagan

Ken Hagan hasn't attracted any opposition yet as he seeks a final term on the board in 2014 before having to leave due to term limits. But he's raising money like he expects not to walk through unopposed. Hagan, a Republican, has brought in $49,175 from 150 donors in his first quarter of campaigning. That's not quite don't-bother-getting-in-this-race money, but it's a decent showing for just more than a month of raising money.

Not surprising for an unabashed pro-development commissioner, much of the money comes from people in the construction or real estate business.

here

We Need To Thank Those Who Listened

We need to thank those who listened. Can you call Representative Kathy Castor and thank her for signing the Grayson-Takano letter vowing to vote against any cuts to Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid benefits?
here

Darden Rice for St. Pete City Council

Walk to get petitions for Darden Rice!
She is holding a petition drive on April 13. She needs 500 signatures to qualify for the ballot.
Saturday, April 13, 2013 9:00 AM
Pinera Bread
1908 4th Street North, Saint Petersburg
info
Via Pushing Rope

Florida: Teachers From Hell

Florida has the scariest schoolteachers in the United States

Stories about teachers who allegedly do terrible things to students seem to be entirely too common across the country these days. In some ways, it’s not fair to pick on Florida. In other ways, it’s totally fair because tales of teachers behaving badly seem to come from the state continuously.
more
Pic thanks to Sun Sentinel

Stogie Recommends

The Descendants
The Descendants is a 2011 American drama film directed by Alexander Payne. The screenplay by Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash is based on the novel of the same name by Kaui Hart Hemmings. The film stars George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard and Robert Forster, and was released by Fox Searchlight Pictures in the United States on November 18, 2011
more

Republicans Call for Tougher Sanctions on Beyoncé

Arguing that their recent trip to Cuba had made them “America’s No. 1 national-security threat,” a group of Republican lawmakers today called for tougher sanctions on the entertainers Beyoncé and Jay-Z. “We must send a strong message to Beyoncé and Jay-Z that the United States of America will not tolerate this kind of provocation,” said Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Florida), who blamed President Obama for “permitting the crisis to escalate dangerously.” “While the President has allowed himself to be distracted by North Korea, Beyoncé and Jay-Z were engaged in threatening activities right in our own hemisphere,” he said, charging the President with being “soft on Beyoncé.” Echoing his sentiments, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen called for the “toughest economic sanctions possible to isolate the growing threat posed by Beyoncé and Jay-Z.”
here
White House spokesman Jay Carney cautioned that they would probably have little to no effect: “Right now, Jay-Z and Beyoncé have more money than the U.S. government does.”

Condolence To The Castors

RIP
Donald F. Castor, a former Hillsborough County judge
and father of U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, died Tuesday at age 81.
here

Deborah's Kiss-Off, Chick-fil-A Strawberry Milkshake

Take that homobigoted CEO, Dan Cathy ye mean-spirited, hate-group-supporting, Old-Testament-misquoting promotors of obesity and diabetes.

here