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Allan at St. Pete Times “It’s Your Times” page posts a list of 101 books describing, defending, and explaining atheism, free thought, and secular humanity. I would comment at their site, but many failed attempts to start an account, and several email exchanges with the webmaster which never resolved the problem, leave me effectively banned from [...] So, trying to put the nicest spin I can on this, I hope Republican stalwarts pay attention to what Jeb has to say. Here are some of the points I hope they pay attention to. “I think we need to change the tone of the conversation as it relates to immigration.” “We have to actually be proposing [...] We’ve converted one of our rooms into a home office. The windows look out over the backyard and there’s always a lot of critter activity, winged insects, butterflies, squirrels, and birds for me to watch when I turn away from my computer screen. I’m pretty sure I just saw a bald eagle flying by a few [...] Ah, poop coffee and maggot cheese, here are 10 gourmet foods to consider getting the foodie in your life this holiday gift-giving season. 10. Ortolan Eating a roasted bird isn’t really that crazy, but the process leading up to the roasting of Ortolan birds has actually caused France to declare it illegal for humane reasons. Ortolan birds [...] Alex Leary has a good piece about Representative Ray Sansom’s unfortunate coincidence. It seems that no sooner did he help increase government funds allocated to Northwest Florida State College from $1 million to over $25 million than he got a job at the college. Quid pro quo? Sansom and NFSC president Richburg deny it, but [...] The recent election campaign sparked my interest in political biography so I picked up Robert Wexler’s Fire-Breathing Liberal: How I Learned to Survive (and Thrive) in the Contact Sport of Congress from the library. Wexler has found himself in the national spotlight since he was a freshman Congressman serving on the Judiciary committee. His first [...] This is a great idea - “…offer a 50 percent rebate check to every purchaser of a new, American-made car produced by any auto company that signs up for a voluntary restructuring program with the federal government. The rebate would be paid by the Treasury Department, and then exchanged for preferred stock in the company that [...] This article (Tampa police use Taser to subdue agitated lawyer by Rebecca Catalanello and Janet Zink, Times staff writers) has two things I hate – Taser abuse and historic preservation codes. First, as City Council member Joseph Caetano notes at the end of the article, “You can die from being Tasered.” That’s right! And, this guy [...] I suppose one of the things that identifies me as a liberal is that I don’t get the joke “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.” The anti-government logic of many conservatives baffles me. It seems self-hating. After all, aren’t “we the people” the government of the United States of America? If you don’t [...] Florida mayors pledge “to reduce carbon emissions by 7 percent below 1990 levels by 2012; strive to meet or beat the Kyoto Protocol targets in their own communities; and to urge Congress to pass the bipartisan GHG reduction legislation.” 74 reasons to be thankful. Donald Wolfson Atlantic Beach FL If you still need ideas for Thanksgiving (umm, like I do) then here are some Thanksgiving tips and news. Local good guy Mike Alstott is giving a bunch of groceries to local fire stations. This is even more generous when you remember that Floridians overwhelmingly voted to cut budgets for first responders back in January. *** Mike at [...] Wayne Garcia at Creative Loafing saw the same Intercollegiate Studies Institute study I saw, but he also located the test they gave. My score – “You answered 32 out of 33 correctly — 96.97%” [/blush] You can take the test here. Thanks to BoingBoing for this providing this little calculation to put the bailout into perspective. Bailout costs more than Marshall Plan, Louisiana Purchase, moonshot, S&L bailout, Korean War, New Deal, Iraq war, Vietnam war, and NASA’s lifetime budget — *combined*! In doing the research for the “Bailout Nation” book, I [Barry Ritholtz] needed a way [...] The online St. Pete Times, Tampabay.com, has a list of the freshmen reps in the Florida House. I mention this so I can mention my most recent brilliant idea (the ideas are easy, it’s the execution that takes more time, talent, and money than I have) – Florida political playing cards. Initially I thought of creating a [...] Phil Leigh at Inside Digital Media has an interview with USF senior and budding auteur Jesse Newman. Leigh describes Newman as “a college senior at the University of South Florida. He is also a budding film director who has achieved notoriety on a national basis. For example, of the 750 films submitted in Florida to the [...] Bill McKeen is now an occasional contributor to Creative Loafing’s Daily Loaf as Bill McKeen’s Book Blog. William McKeen is chairman of the University of Florida’s Department of Journalism and author of several books, including the Hunter S. Thompson biography Outlaw Journalist. Free Documentaries holds a truly impressive collection of great documentaries. Quickly skimming over the title list I see Heart & Minds, The Power of Nightmares, Sicko, Outfoxed, Road to Guantanamo, The U.S. vs John Lennon, Super Size Me, Shut Up and Sing, Merchants of Cool, Jesus Camp, and Control Room. These are the ones I’ve [...] I wonder how different our world would be if we, including our elected representatives, knew stuff about our political system, history, and economics. A recent study by the Intercollegiate Studies Institute gave Americans a great big FAIL in their in their research about the average citizen’s knowledge about government and history versus their elected representatives [...] Ahhh, the shopping season has arrived. Spending your money at local businesses is a great way to help out the local economy. From the Tampa Independent Business Alliance – “Because locally owned independent businesses generate over three times the economic activity for their hometowns as national chains, if everyone shunned the chains, it would mean up [...] Hmmm, I’m not sure if I’m going to salt my coffee any time soon, but it’s true what they say about chocolate and chili. 10 Unusual Food Combinations used by chefs and foodies. I’ve always wanted to live in a treehouse. Here are some of the best in the world. The nice chaps of Monty Python have decided to start their own YouTube channel and load it up with high quality versions of all their most YouTubed clips. No more of those crap quality videos you’ve been posting. We’re giving you the real thing – HQ videos delivered straight from our vault. What’s more, we’re taking our [...] In the same vein as my AHA (Ad Hoc Action) Committees, techPresident considers a “Craigslist for service.” “It’s wildly speculative to wonder if a true peer-to-peer Craigslist for service — one that connected people together, creating new social opportunities, not just plugging people into existing ones — could work, but that’s the fun part. “Without carrying the [...] Over at Ridiculously Inconsistent Trickle of Consciousness Clark ponders the pointlessness of a few pretentious foods. “Applewood smoked bacon – What. In the hell. Is that. Note to people who eat stuff: when it comes to fruit that grows on trees, it’s the fruit that tastes like fruit, not the branches. I wouldn’t cook wienies over [...] I’d like to welcome Kitty’s Creations to the blogroll. Diana (aka Kitty) lives here in Tampa and is all about “knitting, sewing, crafting and good fashion sense.” Her love of Fluevogs demonstrates her excellent fashion sense. Drop by and say hi! Ric Jahna is on tour to support his new book True Kin: Stories. As he travels around the country he is profiling independent bookstores, libraries, and other locally owned businesses and writing about them on his blog – My Book Tour. Last Wednesday he visited Inkwood Books and blogged about it here. (h/t Ybor City Stogie) There are a few abandoned houses in my neighborhood with overgrown lawns. In September we had a house down the street with a yard full of bags of garbage. (See here, and here). It was eventually cleaned up, but it prompted some thoughts on how to deal with neighborhood situations where it’s difficult to find [...] Mike Maihack is an awesome local comics artist. If you’re not already familiar with his work, do yourself a favor and check out this interview at LCS. Then check out his site to find his blog, buy his book, or see more of his work. I missed this when it came out. Brian Ries at Creative Loafing has a great write-up of the Tampa City Council special discussion about local agriculture (posted Nov. 5). “Two weeks ago, Tampa City Councilmember Mary Mulhern held a special discussion meeting on community-supported agriculture to address some of Pollan’s very issues. Fellow members John Dingfelder [...] Caleb at Calebism had an art show on Friday. He generously posted .jpgs of his show for those of us who didn’t make it. I’m a huge fan of bold, colorful paintings, which perfectly describes Caleb’s style. These are some great paintings, check ‘em out. Even better, buy one! |
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