"Change Is Good" Tampa Attorney Ralph Fernandez

"We need to call a time out," says Fernandez, who stresses that an America stretched beyond its geopolitical, military and intelligence capacities needs to consider Cuba in a more realistic context. "The sign of an intelligent person is to change with changing times," he says. "We need to revisit everything. Put it all on the table. The embargo. Helms-Burton Act. Asylum claims. 'Wet foot-dry foot' affects our moral position. We want to build fences and kick out people. Then we have people Cubans coming over without any connections to political persecution. It makes us look awful to Mexicans."

And hypocritically ironic. Fernandez cites Saudi Arabia.
"What do we have in common with our ally, the Saudis?" he asks rhetorically. "In Cuba, even if they say so, they don't hate us. They follow the Yankees. They pray to the same God. They drink like us. Their women are opinionated. We have a lot in common. Change is good."......here

Democratic Big Guns Take Aim At Blair

U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor is co-hosting a fundraiser next week for Kevin Beckner, a Democrat who's challenging Republican Brian Blair for his Hillsborough County Commission seat. Castor served with Blair on the commission before winning her congressional post.......here

Ybor City (Lost Tampa Episode)

Florida Muslims File Suit Over Citizenship Delays

On February 27, the Orlando, Tampa and Miami offices of the Council on American-Islamic Relations and the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center will hold news conferences in those cities to announce the filing of a lawsuit in federal court challenging lengthy delays in processing Muslim citizenship applications........here

WHERE: TAMPA - 11 a.m., Outside the U.S. Federal Courthouse, 801 N Florida Ave, Tampa, FL; ORLANDO - 2 p.m., Facing the Federal Courthouse, 401 W. Central Blvd., Suite 2300, Orlando, FL; MIAMI - 11 a.m., Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center, 3000 Biscayne Boulevard, Suite 400, Miami, FL

Florida Voters Ask Important Questions About Equality

How does marriage between my lesbian sister and her partner of 11 years affect my circumstances? Or anyone else's?.......here

Disney Yanks Florida Classic Sponsorship

Walt Disney World yesterday declared that it is ending support of the annual Florida Classic game between Florida A&M University and Bethune-Cookman University.....here

From Daytona To The Keys

Three of the eight were the nuke stations at Turkey Point. Not trying to get the tinfoil too tight here but power plants of whatever source tend not to take well to a sudden loss of load. I’d still like to know what could have cause this; midwinter, time of least air conditioning, should be the low point of annual demand.......here

Gloomy Outlook For Florida's Economy

With Florida's legislative session set to begin next week, House Speaker Marco Rubio offered a decidedly pessimistic outlook, especially about the state's economy. With tax money coming into state coffers declining, Rubio said reductions in spending are coming for every area funded by government - including education.........here

Meatloaf The Florida Cat

Took a 3-week cross-country ride locked in a storage container, was reunited on Tuesday with his Florida owner. The 2-year-old Meatloaf apparently crawled into the large locker in Pompano Beach as a man loaded it for a move to Phoenix......here

Biologists Use Fire On Florida Wetlands

A team of biologists, including Patrick Bohlen of MacArthur Agro Ecology Research Center, set control burns in February as part of a three-year research study looking at best land management strategies for wetlands within ranch lands........here

World On Fire - Cape Canaveral, Florida

The Photography Of Ron Dubin

Bob Allen Wins Golden Duke Award

Best Scandal -- Local Venue
TPM is pleased to announce the winners of the First Annual Golden Dukes! The Golden Dukes are given in recognition great accomplishments in muckiness including acts of venal corruption, outstanding self-inflicted losses of dignity, crimes against the republic, bribery, exposed hypocrisy and generally malevolent governance.......here

Will Smith as Barack Obama?

Will Smith has played his share of famous men in film, but is he ready to play a (possible) president of the United States? Senator Barack Obama has singled the man in black out as his choice to portray him in a biopic on his life.......here

Take A Swamp Walk To See Florida Orchids

The ghost orchid is among the world's rarest flowers, the star of the popular book "The Orchid Thief" and the movie "Adaptation" and is the biggest lure to the Fakahatchee Strand Preserve State Park in southwest Florida..........here

The Old Bartow Cigar Factory

A group of 35 to 40 Bartowans attended the forum at the Crawford Agriculture Center to explore the feasibility of renovating the deteriorating building, located at 255 North Third Ave. Bartow's Community Redevelopment Agency has established for itself a March 24 deadline to decide if it is feasible for the CRA to take over the county-owned building and see it converted for public or private use........here

Residents Want to See Cigar Factory Saved

Cuba-Policy Issue Enlivens Florida Congressional Race

Raul Martinez

U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Republican admired by many Cuban exiles, has been reelected handily to the 21st Congressional District since it was created 15 years ago. Raul Martinez, a Democrat, was the popular Hialeah mayor of the majority Cuban-American city for almost a quarter century -- reelected even after a criminal conviction later reversed on appeal........here