Saturday, May 18, 2019

Andrew Gillum Has Not Been Assimilated

As we all know, The Ybor City Stogie is a melting pot of differing leftist thoughts and perspectives. I am proud to be a Stogie writer, and when necessary, offer rebuttals to opinions I disagree with.

Andrew Gillum is doing everything in his power to turn Florida blue next year. To do so, he must register voters and energize those already registered, which is a massive undertaking that will require allies in powerful places. Rather than neglect the establishment outright, Gillum is doing what he deems necessary to reach his goal of registering a million voters and enlightening them to vote blue (and progressive!).

By making symbolic gestures with FDP Chair Terrie Rizzo and donating money to the state Democratic Party, he is carefully putting together a coalition of change. My advice would be to remain cautious of powerful corporate Democrats, and stick to progressive ideologies and issue positions while empowering a big tent community. This community should not exclude centrist Democrats as this will cause too large a split in our electoral abilities—an important thing to consider as our remaining anti Citizens United SCOTUS Justices age on and onward.

Gillum making gestures toward centrist Democrats, donating money to the FDP, and forming alliances where possible are steps to changing Florida. There is not substantial proof among this evidence to declare that he has been assimilated into the FDP establishment. I believe you can be a genuine progressive leftist while making peace with the centrist wing of the Democratic Party. That does not mean giving into being pro corporate or pro war or pro privatization, and it does not take away our agenda. Resistance is never futile; part of being a true activist is understanding the world, and not giving up, as doing so is just what our worst corporate adversaries want us to do and say.

— Asher

Tampa Hoods

Ybor City

TECO Protest In Nova Scotia

Members of international environmental group the Sierra Club took their fight across borders Wednesday as members of the Tampa Bay chapter gathered outside Nova Scotia energy giant Emera’s annual general meeting. HERE

Andrew Gillum Has Been Assimilated

He was at USF with Terrie Rizzo,  Ione Townsend, State Sen. Darryl Rouson and State Rep. Fentrice Driskell.  He gave $100,000 to the Florida Democratic Party. HERE
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He has joined the hive. 
He is  officially part of the Collective. 
Resistance is futile! HERE
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My post from Feburay 1, 2018 HERE

Thursday, May 16, 2019

Reefer Madness House In Ybor City

In 1933, Victor Licata killed his parents and siblings with an axe at their Ybor City home in a case that fueled the era’s anti-marijuana “reefer madness” campaign.

Tampa Hoods

Ybor City

Florida Radio Stations To Broadcast Right Wing Propaganda Daily Until 2020 Election

Samuel Rogatinsky, the owner of a radio station in Bay County, will broadcast two-minute snippets of Trump's speeches every hour of every day.

“We ran it by a bunch of listeners and people in the area, and nobody’s upset about it. It’s Republican territory,” Rogatinsky said HERE

Wasn't this county destroyed by a hurricane 
and has received no help from Trump?


The 2 state solution

Florida Right Wing Infestation Alert: Irina Vilariño

Irina Vilariño is running for a Miami-based House seat against Dem Debbie Mucarsel-Powell who unseated three-term GOP Rep. Carlos Curbelo last fall. 
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She has a long history of touting conspiracy theories — including a video that’s deceptively edited to make it sound as if President Obama said he wasn’t born in the United States.
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She is a fierce supporter of Trump, and her Twitter profile is packed with conspiratorial content. HERE

What Stogie Had For Lunch

Sub
At New York New York in Ybor

EAT LOCAL!

Monday, May 13, 2019

Commissioner Mariella Smith's response to the Tampa Bay Times

The Times wrote, “There is no reason local taxpayers should be paying for express service to MacDill” — by ferry. Yet they have never said that we should stop funding the express service to MacDill by bus, and ferry service is quicker and more efficient. HART’s 3 express bus lines from South County to MacDill transported 121,926 riders last year. These are the only express routes to see consistent increases in ridership, with a combined 10.5% growth in the past year. The demand for commuter transit services to MacDill is great.
Every day 18,000 people stream into MacDill Air Force Base. Most of them have no other choice but to drive a car alone to the base. The Ferry will not only provide a quicker, more direct route for commuters to MacDill, it will also remove thousands of cars from the roads during rush hour, from South County to Bayshore, making commutes easier for other drivers and reducing pollution and wear and tear on our roads.
I don’t understand why the Times singles out the workers of MacDill as any less deserving of public transit options than any other commuters. We should strive to provide mass transit wherever we can identify any large group of commuters regularly traveling from one area to another, regardless of whether those people are working at a private company, a public agency, or a military base. The MacDill route is a great place to start commuter service by ferry.
Meanwhile, the evening and weekend service connecting South County to Tampa and St. Pete will provide transit service to South County — an underserved area that has so far not seen much benefit from the tax dollars they contribute to our transportation system. This is why I constantly hear a lot of enthusiasm expressed for this ferry service in South County. And the high ridership numbers from the Cross-Bay Ferry Pilot Project definitely justify increasing ferry service on the Tampa – St. Pete route.
We have been working on this high-speed ferry transit project for 6 years now. No one has come up with a better plan, and no ferry company has offered us a better deal than the current offer by HMS Ferries’ commitment to pay all the operating costs for 20 years.
If we proceed with this ferry project, it can be the start of more robust ferry service in our future. But if naysaying and foot-dragging finally sinks this ferry project, odds are we will not see another opportunity to have ferry transit crossing Tampa Bay for decades to come.
Mariella Smith

Ybor Paparazzi

Cane and Zack

Florida GOP Consolidation of Power

Miami state Rep. Jose Oliva is a hardcore ideologue who believes in Koch-Brothers-style, pro-business, libertarian-esque Republicanism. 

He supports the state's right to "preempt" towns from making their own laws as a way to stop local governments from, in his mind, improperly interfering with business, the economy, or people's lives.

Under his leadership, the Florida GOP in 2019 made good: It pitched a slew of preemption laws to hamper local towns' rights to regulate everything from plastic straws all the way to job responsibilities, work hours, and employee benefits. HERE

SNL’ rips Florida Panhandle


“Weekend Update” repeated clips of a Trump rally in the Florida Panhandle. “Let law enforcement know when you see a kook,” the president told the crowd.
“SNL” cut to Anchor Colin Jost 
on the phone.
“I know that speech didn’t sound very eloquent, but for the Florida Panhandle, it was basically the Gettysburg Address,” Jost said.
The Panhandle deserved the ridicule, Jost added, for joking about shooting migrants at the border. HERE

Andrew Gillum Smacks Florida GOP

Sunday, May 12, 2019

Ybor City Homeless

Christen

Florida's Culture Of Corruption: Everglades

This place "Kanter Real Estate LLC" wants to drill for oil in the Everglades.
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Broward County and the city of Miramar 
tried to stop it.
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They dropped their legal efforts to have the Florida Supreme Court hear the case, saying they didn’t receive cooperation from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. HERE

FLORIDA BERNERS LETS FINISH WHAT WE STARTED

CONTACT YOUR
 NEAREST RECRUITING OFFICE HERE

ACTION NEEDED: Tampa Bay Ferry

ALL ABOARD! We can FINALLY have a complete, permanent ferry system soon, for less than the cost of widening 2 miles of road — IF our County Commission votes to take the next step on Wednesday, 
May 15th.

ACTION NEEDED: Please email the commissioners at the link below, and let them know you support permanent ferry service connecting Tampa, St. Pete, South County and MacDill AFB: HERE

John Morgan Rips Andrew Gillum

He took shots at Gillum for leaving millions of dollars in the bank ahead of his narrow loss last November to eventual winner Ron DeSantis.
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Morgan tweeted that Gillum should take his unspent campaign money “and use it ALL to pay the financial restitution now owed by freed felons to vote. This poll tax is unconscionable. They paid a price & are now being asked 
to pay again.” HERE

Saturday, May 11, 2019

Ybor Paparazzi

Friends at Chillum

Enki: Tax Scam

The transportation tax will become corporate welfare just as the critics have been saying.

84,000 Images Of Nikki Fried On Florida Gas Pumps

Florida GOP doesn’t want the only statewide elected Democrat’s smiling face plastered on thousands of gas pumps.

Some conservatives on social media weren’t happy to see Fried’s portrait greeting them at the pump. HERE

Glad I Ride The Bus!

What Stogie Had For Lunch

BBQ Chicken 
With Rice and Platanos
At Reo Cafe in Tampa

EAT LOCAL!

Florida Is Ground Zero for Trump Campaign

“We can’t win the White House without winning Florida. Period,” said top Trump surrogate Joe Gruters, chairman of the Florida Republican Party. HERE

Using bathroom while black in Brandon

Lorne Green a South Florida man on business in the Tampa Bay area claims he was harassed by Starbucks employees at the company's Brandon store. HERE

Friday, May 10, 2019

Find your HART!

As I prepare to leave Tampa, I find myself doing things I have not done before. My first times riding the HART bus have been quaint and worthwhile. Look for the video recently uploaded by Julio Rodriguez to see me on the bus! Cheaper than convenient Lyft/Uber, less stressful than driving through wild local traffic, and better than walking around in Florida’s abysmally hot weather, taking the bus could be an opportunity to enjoy a cultural experience while not worrying about driving home after enjoying a day in Ybor.

Problem is, the HART bus system is underfunded, and thus does not operate as it should. Buses do not run 24/7 and do not have as many buses as it could have. We need our elected officials to expand and improve HART, as well as ferries and commuter rail. Please support candidates and initiatives to bolster local public transit—we cannot and should not rely on cars, especially as the Tampa area and highway system grows into vehicular oblivion. Consider taking the bus, and find your HART in Tampa!

— Asher

Pat Rules In Ybor City


The one I know also rules at County Center.

Only in the Panhandle

Trump turns shooting migrants into a punchline at rally in Panama City Beach. HERE

Florida Berners It's Showtime

GOP in Total Control of Florida

Florida’s Republican legislators delivered a host of policy wins to their conservative constituents during this year’s legislative session with an eye not just on their own reelections, but on Trump’s, too. HERE

Ybor City Sunset