Friday, May 11, 2018

Florida Welcome To The Far Far Right

Consider the Republican candidates for governor and their priorities.
-----
Adam Putnam:  A proud NRA sellout and pledged he would sign a so-called “heartbeat bill, legislation that would make abortion illegal after a doctor can hear a fetus’ heartbeat. WTF! What about the victim of gun violence heartbeat?  
-----
Ron DeSantis: Trump's choice. Rather than campaign in Florida, DeSantis campaigns almost exclusively on Fox News. For weeks, he’s practically had a casting couch on Sean Hannity’s TV and radio shows.
-----
Richard Corcoran: For the last two years he has championed legislation that undercuts traditional public education and helps charter schools that educate only 10 percent of Florida students. Corcoran congratulated himself for the post-Douglas school safety bill that will add no new money for academics and leave school districts short as they comply with new rules on police officers.
-----

Thursday, May 10, 2018

If Leftists Follow The Tampa Model We Might Actually Have a Chance

I knew of no leftist organization that could match the tenacity, strength, and cunning of the average street gang. That wasn’t the point. I drove 180 miles into the heart of Tampa Bay to see whether or not the Left was capable of doing anything besides shitpost.

Elitist Straz’ TGH Tenure Proves He Protects the One Percenters, Not You

During the last 15 years or so, there has been a gradual erosion of pay and benefits at Tampa General Hospital (TGH), most acutely felt by the longest tenured employees, who also happen to be the most experienced and most highly skilled. Meanwhile, at the top of the TGH food chain, the story is quite different with ballooning benefits for principal administrators. The large payouts for executives coupled with the shrinking benefits of the average worker coincide with the tenure of stiff neck David Straz, Tampa mayoral candidate, on THe board of directors.
More from Jim Bleyer

Ybor Paparazzi

My favorite Ybor bartender Hank,  
with his famous Bloody Mary!

Words From Layla Hartz

For those of you who know me, you know that my father is from Iran and that we have a lot of family who live there. Which is why today is a terrifying day.

It’s no secret who John Bolton is and what is his ultimate goal in life. Cancelling the Iran deal is both astronomically stupid, but it also points to ambitions of war on the part of Trump and Netanyahu (and Saudi Arabia).

Today reminds me of 2002. Then, I wrote an article in the Daily Joklahoman outlining what a mistake invading Iraq was. I was met with retorts ranging from how unpatriotic I was to racist (get out of my country) responses. 
I was right.
I’m right today as well.
Trump is a menace to peace around the world.

here

Tampa Hoods

Ybor City

Florida Neocons

“I’m glad that President Trump decided today to withdraw from the flawed Iran nuclear deal and impose crippling economic and financial sanctions against the Iranian regime." Marco Rubio
-----
“Last week I called on President Trump to withdraw from the reckless deal." Rick Scott
-----
“Iran promotes violence and terrorism throughout the Middle East and around the world." Charlie Crist
-----
“POTUS has consistently & correctly recognized Obama-Khamenei nuclear agreement as a disaster."
 Ron DeSantis
-----
“I strongly support the Trump Administration’s withdrawal from the reckless and dangerous Iran deal." Mario Diaz-Balart
-----
“I stand with President Trump in his decision to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear deal." Neal Dunn
-----
 I fully support President Trump’s decision today to withdraw the United States from the Iran Nuclear Deal." Matt Gaetz
-----
“President Trump’s decisive action today is a much needed first step." Brian Mast
-----
 "I welcome President Trump’s decisive action to withdraw from this deeply flawed deal, and to reimpose sanctions on the Iranian regime.” Dennis Ross
-----
Source

Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Black Graduates Dragged Off Stage At University of Florida

Leaders Who Took Power By Coup

Sani Abacha Ibrahim Abboud Ahmed Abdallah José María de Achá Ignatius Kutu Acheampong Aganlija Emilio Aguinaldo Osmín Aguirre y Salinas Fred Akuffo Alexios V Doukas José María Alfaro Zamora Heydar Aliyev Manuel Quintas de Almeida Luis Altamirano Gregorio Conrado Álvarez Aman Andom Hafizullah Amin Idi Amin Joseph Arthur Ankrah Pedro Eugenio Aramburu Carlos Castillo Armas Carlos Julio Arosemena Monroy Ashur-rabi I Hafez al-Assad Azali Assoumani Jean-Hilaire Aubame Hudson Austin Prosper Avril B Jean-Baptiste Bagaza Frank Bainimarama Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr John Amadu Bangura Hugo Banzer Siad Barre René Barrientos Omar al-Bashir Fulgencio Batista Emilio Bello Codesido Zine El Abidine Ben Ali Juan Pablo Bennett Rómulo Betancourt Julius Maada Bio Maurice Bishop Carlos Blanco Galindo Jean-Bédel Bokassa Sonthi Boonyaratglin Houari Boumédiène Dési Bouterse François Bozizé Muhammadu Buhari Germán Busch Anastasio Bustamante Pierre Buyoya C Carlos Mancheno Cajas Moussa Dadis Camara Pedro Carmona Bruno Carranza José Miguel Carrera Ramón Castro Jijón Fidel Castro Raoul Cédras Choe Chung-heon Surayud Chulanont Chun Doo-hwan Bernard Coard Blaise Compaoré Lansana Conté Sulla Oliver Cromwell D David Dacko Pedro Dartnell Carlos Dávila Hilarión Daza Idriss Déby Gilbert Diendéré Salou Djibo Said Mohamed Djohar Michel Djotodia False Dmitry I Samuel Doe Dzhokhar Dudayev Dương Văn Minh E Enlil-Nasir II Alberto Enríquez Gallo Kenan Evren Gnassingbé Eyadéma F Adekunle Fajuyi Edelmiro Julián Farrell Deodoro da Fonseca Francisco Franco Alberto Fujimori G Muammar Gaddafi Galba Luis García Meza Policarpo Paz García Rashid Ali al-Gaylani Giovanni Giuriati Phaedon Gizikis Gongmin of Goryeo Klement Gottwald Yakubu Gowon Oupa Gqozo Ivan Graanoogst Marmaduke Grove Cemal Gürsel Tomás Gutiérrez Gyeong Dae-seung H Juvénal Habyarimana Heraclius Maximiliano Hernández Martínez Vicente Herrera Zeledón Bantu Holomisa Mohammed Ali al-Houthi Adolfo de la Huerta Victoriano Huerta I Dimitrios Ioannidis Jaba Ioseliani J Salah Jadid Said Mohamed Jaffar Yahya Jammeh Jeong Jung-bu Jeongjong, 3rd monarch of Goryeo Jesús Jiménez Zamora Andrew Juxon-Smith K Saprang Kalayanamitr Yahya Kanu Kavadh II Mathieu Kérékou Ayub Khan (President of Pakistan) Mohammed Daoud Khan Kim Jun (Goryeo) Tengiz Kitovani Thanom Kittikachorn André Kolingba Sékouba Konaté Georgios Kondylis Sunthorn Kongsompong Johnny Paul Koroma Maurice Kouandété Seyni Kountché Suchinda Kraprayoon Kučuk-Alija L Sangoulé Lamizana Juan Lavalle Gustavo Leigh Justin Lekhanya Vladimir Lenin José María Linares Nicolás Lindley López José Linhares Lon Nol Eduardo Lonardi Oswaldo López Arellano Julio Lozano Díaz Walther von Lüttwitz Georgy Lvov M Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara Ansumane Mané Adly Mansour José Manuel Marroquín Alphonse Massamba-Débat Dominique Mbonyumutwa Óscar Humberto Mejía Víctores Juan Alberto Melgar Castro Mariano Melgarejo José Mendes Cabeçadas César Mendoza Francisco Menéndez Mengistu Haile Mariam José Toribio Merino Roberto Micheletti Michel Micombero Emmerson Mnangagwa Mobutu Sese Seko José María Montealegre Francisco Morales-Bermúdez Agustín Morales Murtala Mohammed Pervez Musharraf Benito Mussolini N Nabonidus Mohammed Naguib Abd al-Karim al-Nahlawi Napoleon Napoleon III Gamal Abdel Nasser Alberto Natusch Ne Win Francisco Nef Marien Ngouabi Nguyễn Chánh Thi Nguyễn Khánh Nguyễn Cao Kỳ Gaafar Nimeiry Ntare V of Burundi Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu O Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo Manuel A. Odría John Okello
----
Sandra Murman - 2018 Failed
Next attempt June 20th 2018 6 PM
Downtown Tampa - Bring your voices!

Ybor Paparazzi

Fellow Photographer Michael Cruz

Team Grayson: Our Rebel Alliance

As we face the deadly threat of universal rule by the Trumpire, these are not the Democrats you’re looking for.
----- 
We’ve all felt this great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of progressive voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. This is what inspired the formation of our rebel alliance, Team Grayson. We beg you to help us in this struggle against the Dark Money Side of the Force. here

Tampa Jay Eats At Carmines

Tuesday, May 8, 2018

Cannabiswarriors Mayor Gillum Needs Your Help In Tampa

6.3.2018 - 1 PM
John F. Germany Public Library
-----
Fellow Cannabiswarriors Mayor Gillum needs our help. 
Corporate Democrats are doing their best to derail his campaign.This event is less then a month away, plan now to attend and help the only pro Adult Use Marijuana candidate get elected!
-----

Phone bank for 

Mayor Andrew Gillum!

Democratic Party Heading Toward a Pyrrhic Victory

By supporting corporate-friendly candidates and policies, Congressional Democratic leaders are moving closer and closer toward open warfare with their party’s base.
-----
A majority of Democratic voters, led by black, brown, and female Democrats, told pollsters in a recent study that they supported “movements within the Democratic Party to take it even further to the left and oppose the current Democratic leaders.”  A new study by Data For Progress shows that “the Democratic Party’s base has moved left” and that voters overall “are ready for unabashed progressive politicians.
-----
And yet, as if determined to block their own party’s progress, House Democratic operatives have been attacking progressive candidates in public and working to undermine them in private. here
-----
Locally Bob Buesing, Tim Canova
 and Tamika Lyles.

Black Girls About To Rock Ybor

The Tampa Bay Branch of The Association for the Study of African American Life and History in partnership with the Robert W. Saunders, Sr. Library, is hosting its First Annual Black Girls Rock event.
-----
Saturday, May 19, 2018, at 1 p.m
Robert W. Saunders, Sr. Library 
Ybor City
---

TPA Movement For A Peoples Party

#Jointhemovement @4aPeoplesParty
Coalition building to unite the
Progressive community.
-----
Join them here
Like them on Facebook

Rick Scott's Florida 48th out of 51

The Commonwealth Fund, a nonprofit, nonpartisan foundation dedicated to expanding access to health care, released its annual report for all 50 states — and Florida performed abysmally.
-----
Because Florida is run by former hospital executive Rick Scott, you might assume the state would have a solid health-care system. But Scott is a profiteer whose company stole an unprecedented amount of money from Medicare and Medicaid in the '90s and who as governor then refused to expand Medicaid, campaigned against Obamacare, and did basically everything in his power to make sure it's really difficult for Floridians to get insurance and pay for routine medical care. here

Monday, May 7, 2018

Another Florida Progressive Drops Out Of Race

Tamika Lyles suddenly & unexpectedly withdrew her candidacy hours before qualifying deadline.
-----
"You all have not seen the last of me."

Ybor Paparazzi

The hunks at The  Acropolis

Ybor City home of the Tampico Stogies

Filmed in Ybor City. Full movie.

Not The Rays!

Angel D’Angelo's Case Against Jane Castor For Mayor Of Tampa

Tampa Cannot Afford Castor Disaster

-----
Former Police Chief Jane Castor has announced her bid to run for Mayor of Tampa in 2019.
She’s certainly a tempting candidate. Tampa’s first woman and first gay police chief, a 30 some year veteran of the police form and a staple in the community. But what does her legacy say about her work? In her own words, “it’s up to the public to determine what kind of job 
I’ve done as Chief.”
Originally hired as a police officer in 1983, Castor elevated to the role of police chief in 2009 and held the role until 2015, when she retired from the position, amidst much controversy.
It was a Tuesday,  7:30 at night in the warmth of May, 2014 in Tampa. A simple Knollwood Street home. Sleeping on the couch, 29-year-old Jason Wescott is awoken to the sounds of his home being barged in by what may be intruders. Fearing for his safety, Wescott grabbed hold of his firearm but had not a moment to fire the gun.
“The officers have a split second to make a decision when faced with somebody who’s armed,” Castor said. A familiar line to anyone who’s followed any story involving the police and shooting.
Wescott’s home wasn’t broken into by your run of the mill intruder. Instead, it was the armed tactical police force, performing a raid based on a drug tip. Wescott was pronounced dead that evening and his partner, Israel Reyes, was arrested.
More alarmingly, Wescott only purchased the gun after the advice of the Tampa Police Department, under Castor. That’s right–the same Tampa Police Department that later took his life “fearing for their lives” are the very reason Wescott had the gun in the first place.
Months before, Wescott called the police fearful that someone was going to rob him and do him harm. A stranger partying at his house asked to borrow his phone and used it to message two other men, threatening to rob Wescott and possibly kill him. The police department’s response: if anyone invades your home, grab a gun and shoot to kill.
Someone did invade his home. And he did attempt to shoot. But his intruder was the Tampa Police Department who shot to kill.
Originally, the police spokes personnel told the public that a neighbor of Wescott’s had complained about cannabis sales occurring out of the quiet Knollwood home. But that was a lie. In actuality, a paid police informant had made a series of purchases of cannabis from Wescott over the course of months, amounting to approximately $200. As a result of the informant’s work, Wescott became a target to an intensive drug investigation.
At the scene of his death, there was, in fact, cannabis found. Exactly 0.2 grams which was approximately $2 worth. For $2, Wescott lost his life. As per usual, the State Attorney’s Office did not prosecute and found the shooting to be justified.  (Fortunately, voters had the last say: Mark Ober was replaced by Andrew Warren in 2016).
So did Chief Castor, “Mr. Wescott lost his life because he aimed a loaded firearm at police officers. You can take the entire marijuana [sic] issue out of the picture–if there’s an indication that there is armed trafficking going on–someone selling narcotics [sic] while they are armed or have the ability to use a firearm–then the tactical response team will do the critical entry.”
A St. Petersburg-based media entity was unable to find any calls to police to neighbors to report any crime, which is where public records requests led to the information that a paid police informant had been used.
But why would the department lie about this and say a neighbor had been the initial reporter? Perhaps because informants had a bad reputation while under Castor. Rita Girven was one of the most notorious informants, so well-liked by the department that the Chief is seen posing with her in a selfie.
Girven was responsible for up to 150 cases but was later found to be involved in a major corruption scandal so egregious that prosecutors may have had to drop charges against the 30 to 50 people she helped to imprison.
“The citations were a mistake,” says the Mayoral candidate in 2018, just as she announced her bid.
In 2015, the Department of Justice ran a scathing review of the department’s stop and frisk policy that was implemented regarding biking in the City limits, popularly known as the biking while black report.
She says it’s a mistake now but at the time she said the stop and frisk policy was a sound policy, “This is not a coincidence–many individuals receiving bike citations are involved in criminal activity.”
Eight out of ten, or 80%, of all bicycle related citations, ranging from riding the bike with hands removed from handlebars, wearing saggy clothing and/or bike light issues, were remitted to black residents, despite the fact that black residents only encompass 26% of the City’s entire population.
The amount of biking citations far exceeded those in comparable cities such as Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami, St. Petersburg and Orlando.
Castor’s department’s racial disparity does not end at bicycling. Each year in her ranks, black residents accounted for more than half of the City’s total arrests, despite only accounting for 26% of the City’s population. In 2009, her department’s arrests accounted for 53% black, dropping only one percent in 2010.
It went back to 53% in 2010 and increased to 54% throughout the rest of her time up to 2015 as Chief. The problem still persists today but Castor had a role and responsibility as leader to stop these disparities and chose not to.
The idea of electing a candidate, one who lives at the intersection of gay and woman, may be appealing. But one should not be so starstruck when that candidate led a corrupt department, full of scandal, overpolicing of poor and marginalized communities and disparities in citations and arrests across the board. Castor should not slide in with our votes if she cannot atone for her wrongdoings.
We do not need a “it is a mistake” analysis. We do not need comments like, “Given the hindsight, we wouldn’t have used [stop and frisk].”
Lives were destroyed under her leadership and undoubtedly community activists called it out–it’s a question of whether or not she listened thoroughly.
Her legacy could have been different; she could have supported measures like restorative justice. She could have implemented robust implicit bias training and comprehensive cultural competency training for her staff. She could have enforced sound and steady body camera policies in a sense that hold the officers accountable but do not spy on the community. She could have worked to implement external review processes to work through the internal corruption in her department. But she did not.
Castor was a lead general in the war on drugs and a keyholder to maintaining marginalization of the poor and people of color among the community.
By Angel D’Angelo

Ybor Musicians

Kyle, The Chronic Cowboy

Juliet

Visit them here

WCFLC Career Fair In Tampa

Saturday, May 5, 2018

Florida NORML The Revolution Starts Here

Chillum - Ybor City (Coming Soon)

Central Florida NORML Headquarters 

CFL NORML Rules Ybor City
-----

The only one of the candidates 
for Florida governor that does.
-----
With Florida's screwed up laws.
You have to be a Democrat
to vote for him. Do your part!


HELP HIM HERE
AND HERE
Tampa Bay for Gillum 2018 Group

This can be easy.

WE DID IT ONCE 
WE CAN DO IT AGAIN!
Chillum for Gillum in Ybor City

Tampa Paparazzi

Beth Eriksen Shoup

West Coast Apprenticeship Council Career Fair In Tampa

Visit them here

Florida DINO Patrick Murphy For Governor?

Florida DINO Patrick Murphy would be tied for second if he jumped into Florida’s Democratic primary for governor, according to a new poll that shows he could nudge into first with one unorthodox move: Picking Republican David Jolly as his running mate. here
-----
Please Note: The survey, was conducted by Murphy’s former pollster and paid for by an unnamed Murphy supporter.

ButchQueen & The Bad Habits of Lakeland

Punk rock purveyors, ButchQueen & The Bad Habits 
are an explosion of snarling anti-conservatism in their reactionary, right-wing home of Lakeland, Florida.

Tampa Hoods

Downtown

Friday, May 4, 2018

Corporate Democrats Force Progressive Bob Buesing Out Of State Senate Race

Alex Sink, the corporatist Democrat who set a modern record for political futility, was a key figure in marginalizing progressive Florida Senate candidate Bob Buesing, forcing him out of a very winnable race. 
-----
 Sink, Bank of America’s former president for operations in Florida, favored fellow corporatist Cruz, a late entrant, over Buesing as did Florida Democratic Party chairman Terrie Rizzo, and Hillsborough State Committeewoman Alma Gonzalez, all supremely divisive figures within the Democratic party.
-----
Buesing was threatened with the denial of crucial endorsements and financial support if he contested late entrant Cruz in a primary.
-----
 Like Rizzo and Gonzalez, Sink is out of step with modern Democratic thinking.
-----
Sink. Rizzo. Gonzalez.  Those are the influential leaders with archaic thinking that are torpedoing Democratic hopes in the country’s most populous swing state.
-----
Progressives are furious at Sink and her cronies, with many promising to withhold their votes from Janet Cruz.
-----
For Alex Sink, pleasing Republicans takes priority over promoting Democrats as a party of inclusion.  One month ago she proudly served on the honorary host committee for the election of Republican Sheriff Chad Chronister.

By Jim Bleyer
-----

Tampa Paparazzi

Zora and Kelly

Another Rat Off Florida's Sinking Ship

Florida GOP Joe Negron announced that he is retiring, a move that means he will not serve his final two years in office. here

Tampa Corners







Angel Oliva Senior St and Via Pizzo - Ybor City

National Housing Week Press Conference in Tampa

Saturday, May 5th
 11:00 AM to 11:45 AM
Tampa residents are coming together on May 5th to hold a press conference to demand that local electoral candidates make affordable housing a priority. This press conference is one of many actions around the country demanding action on affordable housing as part of National Housing Week (May 1-8), first started by the nonprofit organization Our Homes Our Voices.
Here in Tampa, development is at an all-time high, but affordable housing is not a priority of developers, nor most of our current elected leaders. An increasing number of people, including veterans, nurses, teachers, and students, are competing for a shrinking pool of affordable housing units. Workers need a place to live that is close to their jobs. This is particularly true in a city with dismal public transit options.
Over 1,000 units of affordable housing have been torn down in the downtown Tampa area in the past 5 years, but developers are not required to replace what they destroy. Common sense policies should be passed that require developers to build at least as many affordable housing units that they remove. Election season is right around the corner. Leaders at all levels of local government must recognize the importance of affordable housing to the economic and social vitality of our city, and must make regulations that facilitate the development of affordable housing a reality.
Who: Our Homes Our Voices, Transit Now Tampa Bay, Organize Florida, Hillsborough Community Protection Coalition, Sex Worker Solidarity Network, Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, Sky White for Board of County Commission
Where: Sidewalk in front of vacated North Blvd. Homes affordable housing complex at intersection of Main Street and Willow Avenue
-----
info