No money for the homeless (an elite group that has little to pay), but a new $40 million sports complex? No problem. Today is the first time in five years commissioners are divvying some of the half-cent sales tax, with nearly $350 million up for grabs. The tax is expected to generate $4.8 billion before [...]
Archive for September, 2005
Question of the day
September 20, 2005
Why hasn’t Tampa Rep. Jim Davis signed on to to co-sponsor H.R. 3763, the bill to overturn President Bush’s Gulf Coast Wage Cut? Maybe we should write him right now and ask. Here’s mine – feel free to fine tune and send it as your own. Dear Rep. Davis: I understand that you have not [...]
Tampa on 29 cents per day
September 20, 2005
Hillsborough County is wringing its hands and trying to figure out just what to do with the estimated 11,000 homeless people on our streets. Remember: this is a community that gives away sports palaces worth hundreds of millions of dollars to millionaire billionaire capitalists who turn around and set ticket and concession prices that prevent [...]
Falling in his uncle’s footsteps
September 16, 2005
What’s this healthy 21 year old son of a war supporter doing drinking himself silly in Austin when he could be leading a platoon in Iraq or, at the very least, helping out some people in a real jam? John Ellis Bush, the youngest son of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, was arrested early Friday and [...]
Gay club membership restricted
September 15, 2005
The club exists, for now, but students must try harder to join. In a social studies classroom at Newsome High School, 37 students gathered Wednesday to form the school’s first Gay-Straight Alliance. The club is now official – over the protests of parents who were trying to stop it from forming. But Newsome’s Gay-Straight Alliance [...]
Tough love
September 15, 2005
Remember the Dollars? A couple charged with torturing five of their eight adopted children accepted a plea deal Wednesday and were sentenced to 15 years in prison and 15 years of probation, to be served consecutively. John Dollar, 59, and his wife, Linda, 52, were accused of using a cattle prod, mallet, pliers, chains and [...]
Florida’s schools are unconstitutionally poor
September 14, 2005
Gee, Jeb!’s education plans are really paying off. College admissions for black students are down, and Florida’s public schools continue to rank among the worst in the country. Why does Jeb! Hate the Florida Constitution? Florida is failing to meet a constitutional requirement to provide its children with “high quality” education, and the proof can [...]
Why no one should ever pay to enter the taxpayer financed Glazer Welfare Stadium – Reason number 132:
September 14, 2005
The civil liberties of 65,000 Tampa area residents will be violated Sunday. Because we don’t want to be the only ones not violating people’s rights. Oh, and “it’s only a matter of time” before the fear monger’s wet dream – an attack against a stadium full of middle class white people – occurs. For the [...]
A letter to Doris
September 13, 2005
Dear Mr. Doris: Having read the recent St. Pete Times article about your quest to quash the nascent Homo Haven at Newsome High School, I was moved to write these words of encouragement. First of all, I agree with your central thesis that it is truly shocking that high school kids might want to talk [...]
Trib to employers: Stand firm against equitable pay
September 12, 2005
Bemoaning the low Florida unemployment rate, the proudly conservative Tampa Tribune offers some unsolicited advice to those poor business owners who just can’t seem to find anyone to fill their underpaid, overworked, benefit-free positions. Not surprisingly, neither fair wages nor finding someplace other than the newspaper’s classified section in which to advertise are mentioned as [...]