Lee Drury De Cesare

I've determined to generally keep my focus on what is happening in my life due to the actions of others that are CORRUPT -- and how Tampa and Florida and the Bush(ES) fit into and direct these actions with government-sanctioned gangs and violence and how this is one of the worst times that many Americans have spent on earth. And as a result of this, the whole world is suffering along with us. If your experience during this is not so bad --- believe me, you love someone who is suffering and you should care. Some who are not suffering are good people but many who are riding high right now --- they'll either catch a heart-attack or a car-crash or hit and run or they'll be attacked in some way OR they are part of the problem.

To break up the excitement --- (don't blame me it's a virus from reading the good news Tampa Trib lately) --- I decided a while back that I want to put some focus on the REALLY good things of the Tampa Bay area. And there are some. (personally I have always considered areas I can easily commute to as part of my metro area -- the semantics are unimportant ... to me I use Bay Area and Tampa and Pinellas in the same breath and have since way before it was cool or not cool to do so -- like I'm going to cede them the beaches when they claim busch gardens for their own hehe JUST KIDDING)

I go to Busch Gardens but in my opinion that's not a good place to start the 'good list' because there are things about it that ANNN-OOY me so -- then I think of the bay, the beaches, ... anyway, in my head, I pictured that subject going differently but I wanted to start out with a BANG and today it happened ....

Today, I visited Lee's blog-spot, The Casting Room Couch, and remembered anew just why I admire her so much and so she TOPS my LIST of the things that are TOTALLY AWESOME about the Tampa Bay Area.

She is a true citizen of America. This woman -- who has stood up to countless who have done their best to shut her up -- moves me to tears with her humanity.

Sorry Lee. I know this will catch you off guard. What can I say? The feeling moved me ....

and lately I avoid that circumstance when there's no second chance ...

Tampa Mayoral Race

Ellen Gedalius OR just plain ridiculous BULL Especially ludicrous is the idea expressed that TAMPA is maturing politically !! ROFLMFAO !!! But, the thought itself makes no sense WHATSOEVER.

There is no correlation that 'maturing politically' (whatever THAT means) makes anything 'partisan'. This is just the strange new people taking control and Pam helping them. This is what they'd like you to believe --- that we are maturing --- ala New York? Is this similar to the S.T. style page comparing Tampa to New York?

UPDATE: I never mind admitting when I am wrong and when I believed that 'political maturity' meant in the 'enlightened sense', I was wrong. It is possible that Tampa is maturing politically quite rapidly in the way that I hinted at (ala N.Y.(not pickin on NY here just repeating what I read on the South Tampa style page) CORRUPTION style) Here is a very interesting take on political maturity of a city. It's nine pages but just the first three short paragraphs are enough to get the point I am making with this update. I highly recommend reading the entire article. And, this is another example of someone I don't agree with completely but respect his ideas in some areas.

EXCERPT:
Among the peoples of the world some are called ‘politically mature’ and others ‘politically backward’. There is not always agreement as to which people are which, but it is generally accepted that judgments of this kind are not meaningless.No doubt, these judgments are often moral; and when they are so, we must know the moral preferences of the persons making them before we can understand the judgments. They are not, however, always moral judgments; and, indeed, are seldom purely moral.

I could only conjecture what the moral preferences of the Tampa Tribune are (ergo it's employees)
So, apologies to Ms. Gedalius ... she is right -- Tampa is maturing. Just not in a GOOD way. One cannot assume with maturity (where I made my mistake) that one reaches idealistic goals or achieves 'good' growth ... but on the other hand, serial killers mature too and in that sense, Tampa, indeed IS maturing. Dick Greco had NOTHING on this current regime.

More on Pam


AND, what's wrong with THIS picture?


Stunningly enough: There is actually some coverage this morning. Maybe Ellen was on vacation?

When you do a search for Tampa Mayoral Race the ONLY results that pop up are MINE and Bob Buckhorn's remarks from the 2003 race !!!