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St. Baldrick's Children's Cancer Research
2008-03-23 14:32:00
Click here to contribute to Kevin Roger's worthy cause   Instead of running, walking, swimming or hopping for a cure, St. Baldrick's supporters shave their wonderful little heads to raise money for Children's Cancer Research . [ImageAttachment] My Friend, Kevin Rogers is hoping you'll sponsor him with a few bucks so he doesn't end up feeling as silly as he will surely look without any hair.  I've checked out this charity and deem it to be worthy of my support. So please take a minute to do a very good thing.
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The perfect solution wil never fly
2008-03-22 16:56:00
By Brendan McLaughlin There's one way of resolving Florida's democratic delegate dilemma that's fair, free and final. You know, the way elections are supposed to be. SEAT 1/2 OF FLORIDA'S DELEGATES FROM THE JANUARY 29TH ELECTION Here's why this is the best possible solution: 1) The will of 1.7 million voters on that day in January is expressed, albeit diluted by half. 2) No expensive or risky re-vote is necessary. 3) The perceived distortion of an election in which no candidates campaigned is diluted by half. 4) Both candidates gain and lose something.  Barack gives up net delegates but fewer than he would otherwise.. Hillary gains delegates, but fewer than she would if the results were counted in full. 5) The DNC saves face by punishing Florida for moving up the primary date and sends the message that breaking the rules has  consequences. Two State Senate Democrats floated this idea with a pointless addendum. They want to divvy up the remaining ha...
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Fall in love with your Mayor all over again
2008-03-18 02:02:00
By Brendan McLaughlin Pam Iorio came into office with high hopes and a hybrid powered truckload of good vibes. Her school marm-ish competency and smiley optimism seemed the perfect qualities to those weary of Dick Greco's entrenched insiderism. Then, as happens in any relationship, the inevitable disagreements over priorities and style blunted the infatuation. Pro-Pam and anti-Pam factions (she's a good witch, she's a bad witch) asserted themselves and we all woke up to the realization that, like residents of every other city, we have a Mayor , not a magic princess. Familiarity didn't breed contempt (with me anyway) but it did make me forget what a skilled, persuasive and attractive  public figure Pam Iorio can be. Watch her recent State of the City address and then name a female politician at any level who can deliver a 20 minute speech, apparently without notes or Teleprompter, that is half as passionate and convincing. When Pam Iorio says ...
More About: Love , Fall

St. Baldricks Children's Cancer Research Project
2008-03-16 17:11:00
Click here to contribute to Kevin Roger's worthy cause   Instead of running, walking, swimming or hopping for a cure, St. Baldrick's supporters shave their wonderful little heads to raise money for Children's Cancer Research . My Friend, Kevin Rogers is hoping you'll sponsor him with a few bucks so he doesn't end up feeling as silly as he will surely look without any hair.  I've checked out this charity and deem it to be worthy of my support. So please take a minute to do a very good thing.    
More About: Project , Cancer Research

We need more better civics edumacation
2008-03-16 17:07:00
Former Senator Bob Graham is my guest on Flashpoint this morning. His newly formed Center for Public Service in Gainesville is dedicated, in part, to bringing civics eduation back to public schools. Discuss. I also ask the question, do all those Vultures pooping on the downtown highrises leave law offices alone out of professional courtesy? I kid because I love, but the Lowry Park Zoo does bring in a live vulture to help explain why their roosting in such Hitchcockian numbers in the Bay Area of Late. Check it.

Dream On Yuppie
2008-03-13 22:10:00
Here's an essay (abridged)  by a Flashpoint viewer that will either encourage you with a vision of what could  be- or depress you with what has yet to be done. Oozing Schmooze By Thomas McGowan I was lucky enough to get a table for four at Shmooze last Saturday where the eight course tasting menu had won national acclaim within three months of the grand opening. My wife and I met our friends Peter and Mary Anne at Schmooze for a pre dinner drink and a bite of their famous tapas. The waiter brought our cocktails and Mary Ann took a healthy sip and  sighed. ?Oh nothing, we?re just beat. Its been a long day. This morning Peter had a board meeting at our condo and there was some talk about developing a second tower right across the river.? ?Wow,? I said, ?Another Trump development in Tampa?? ?Well,? Peter said, our building sold out so quickly even with all those investors flipping units and doubling the prices, apparently The Donald himself wants to put up money for ...
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The Cheating Heart of Tampa
2008-03-12 03:10:00
The methodology is a little suspect, but the results do suggest that married men in Tampa are more anxious to step out on their wives than their counterparts across the country. The Science of Cheating Blog posted phony personal ads on Craig's List soliciting extramarital affairs. Tampa men were positively Spitzeresque in their responses. How did we lure these potential cheaters into sending us emails? That was pretty easy, actually. We set up craigslist ads in each of the twenty largest metropolitan areas of the US which basically appeared to be from an "attractive" married woman asking specifically for a married man with whom she would like to have an affair with. And the emails came pouring in. Out of a total of about 1400 emails, only about seven (from Seattle, Houston, Minneapolis, San Diego and Boston) were from people (usually impolitely) providing their distaste for our ad. The remainder, however, seemed to be from eager, well-qualified men of all ages and races eage...
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Citizen Soldier, Michael Scionti
2008-03-09 16:07:00
This morning on Flashpoint, you'll meet a remarkable public servant who put his country above his career, his politics and even his life. Michael Scionti who grew up in West Tampa has been a social worker, a reserve sheriff's deputy, a criminal prosecutor and a Captain in the Army reserves. Six weeks after being elected to the State House of Representatives, Scionti was called to the middle east for active duty- for the fourth time. How does Michael Scionti feel about the bumper sticker patriotism on display these days?  What does he think about John McCain's suggestion that U.S. forces could be in Iraq for 100 years? And does he believe Abu Graib was a systemic failure of training and discipline or the malfeasance of a few bad apples?  I ask those questions and more on Flashpoint this morning at 11:00 on ABC Action News.   Let me know what you think.
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Five things that will make your life better
2008-03-05 22:35:00
By Brendan McLaughlin   -If you?ve never tried Morbier cheese, then you need to just take a microplane to your tongue and get out of the eating business. Whole Foods stocks it.     -Some of the sharpest and funniest time-wasting videos on the web right now can be found at ?The Onion?.   -The television version of the radio show, ?This American Life ? is a DVD worth buying. Borders has season one.  Six moving and intelligent episodes each run under an hour and won't take up your whole evening. .     -The Goliath Grouper at the Florida Aquarium is even cooler than the sharks. Gil weighs more than 250 pounds and will send shivers down your spine when he puts his Ernest Borgnine face against the glass. Worth the price of admission.   -If you did no other exercise other than push-ups every day, you?d be in pretty decent shape.
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Give until it hurts.. to watch.
2008-03-04 22:35:00
By Brendan McLaughlin   Oprah's Big Give which debuted Sunday night on ABC worked its manipulative magic on me as I knew it would. The tragic testimonials, tearful hugs and a soaring emo soundtrack never fail  to moisten the eyes and tighten the throat. In "The Big Give", several teams of do-gooders are each assigned a hard luck case they must rescue- usually with community fundraisers and corporate largesse.  The point at which I went from verklempt to schpilkus came when the 4 year old daughters of a man gunned down in a robbery were given a Target store toy shopping spree. The cherubic twins were told to gather up as many toys as they wanted. Then the video is speeded up to condense the sequence of toys being yanked off shelves and stuffed into carts. By the end, the girls look exhausted nearly to tears. The segment concludes with a quick shot of eight (count 'em eight) fully loaded shopping carts rolling through the parking lot. My re...
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Downtown Suburbia
2008-03-01 03:52:00
By Brendan McLaughlin Many of the most progressive, artsy, compact and walkable cities in America aren't cities at all. In fact the suburbs are just as likely as a downtown urban core  to contain a groovy live-work-play environment with a Starbucks inside a Whole Foods inside an Ikea store. This is just one of the eye opening findings of Christopher Leinberger of the Brookings Institute who recently authored a survey of the nation's most walkable communities.  He praised  Washington DC, Denver, Chicago and Portland Oregon for having the highest number of these hipster enclaves. Tampa? He couldn't find a single one. Ybor, he says generously, has promise. Leinberger stopped by the Flashpoint studios when he was in town this week to speak at a Tampa Downtown Partnership event. I warned him to prepare for some Ruskin tomatoes flying out of the audience.  The boosters promoting downtown living are a little sensitive to criticism. But to their credit they seem serio...
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Today on Flashpoint
2008-02-24 17:40:00
Comment here on today's interview with New York Times author, David Cay Johnston and Eric Snider of Creative loafing.
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Garbage pickup lines
2008-02-23 04:14:00
When we moved to Florida from Seattle in 1994, we were immediately struck by Tampa's extravagant practice of twice a week garbage pickup. It's so nice to be able to space out the Tuesday morning pickup knowing the truck will be back in just three more days. Back in Seattle, each household is issued one small garbage can (really a garbage cup) from the City.  Our latte sipping garbage man came by in a propane powered truck once a week.  If we couldn't fit our week's refuse in the regulation sized container, we had to purchase a $5.00 coupon to attach to each additional bag. We reduced our garbage output by making clothing for the children out of egg cartons and pizza boxes. They were teased mercilessly, but the advertising revenue from Eggland's Best and Domino's really added up. This morning, when I read about City Councilmember, John Dingfelder's suggestion to cut back garbage collections to once a week to save money, ...
More About: Garbage , Lines , Pickup

I shocked the Sheriff....
2008-02-22 03:42:00
By Brendan McLaughlin One of more touching aspects of the funeral for Jessica Lunsford in 2005 was the genuine bond that formed between the Lunsford family and the Citrus County Sheriff s. I remember being choked up at the deputy's visible despair at being unable to rescue 9 year old Jessica in time. In that church, the Lunsfords and the Law were one family, united in grief. Today, that bond is frayed, if not broken. Mark Lunsford announced today his intention to sue the Citrus County Sheriff's Office for negligence in the investigation. Mark was circumspect in explaining exactly how they were negligent, but the implication is that he believes (as convicted killer, John Couey has claimed) that Jessica was alive for a lengthy period of time after the search began.  Sheriff Jeff Dawsey reacted with astonishment and took clear offense at the suggestion that his department did anything less than their best. Dawsey also believes Jessica was dead by the time his team ...

And the Oscar for best picture goes to...
2008-02-19 21:32:00
Don't ask me. I've only seen a few of the nominated films- not because I don't  enjoy movies. To me, they're a lot like pizzas. Some are better than others, but they're all pretty good. It's just that movies have to compete with really good TV for my eyeballs these days. I'm currently working my way through the first season of "Dexter" and the fifth and final season of HBO's "The Wire".  That leaves little time for the big screen. I always watch the Academy Awards more for the spectacle than the competition.  The fact that Juno and There Will be Blood are nominated in the same category reveals the folly of picking the best of anything. Did you see Westminster?   Uno is one fine looking Beagle, but is he a superior dog to my Airedale Terrier, Archie who wasn't even eligible to compete at Westminster because he's missing a couple of teeth and his great, great grand-sire may have actually been a g...
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What's up with......
2008-02-15 22:41:00
... news outlets breathlessly announcing the latest endorsement for John McCain from the likes of Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush and George H.W. Bush. Big deal. It would be news if any of those people endorsed Huckabee. .... the phony feud between Beyonce who introduced Tina Turner as "The Queen" at the Grammys and Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul?   Aren't we still fighting a war on terror? ....Congressional hearings on steroid abuse in major league baseball?  We're fighting two wars, global warming, a looming recession, trade and budget deficits and have 40 million uninsured. What better time for Congress to investigate  millionaires who are shooting junk into their butts to play a game better?  It's amazing that 20% actually approve of Congress's performance. ...Senator Bill Nelson demanding Florida's primary votes be counted.  Florida broke the rules by setting an early primary date.  The candidates  didn't object to the punishme...

Thanks for NOT sharing
2008-02-11 23:51:00
  The flurry of comments on the gay marriage amendment discussion on Flashpoint included several requests that I keep my opinions to myself. My first reaction is, "...and deprive the citizenry of my wisdom and unerring judgment? Never!"  On further consideration, I realize that any expression of bias in my role as a moderator is fair game for dissection. So let's pull out the scalpel. Occasionally,  I will assume the role of "devil's advocate".  In those interviews, my questions are usually predicated with a qualifier such as, "What do you say to those who call you a complete moron?" Or, "a cynic might suggest waterboarding would be too good for you".     That sentence construction is supposed to absolve me of any accusations of bias or conflict of interest by reassuring the viewers and the guest that I have no beliefs or convictions of my own and am able only to parrot the beliefs and convictions of ...
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This Sunday Morning on Flashpoint
2008-02-09 03:27:00
By Brendan McLaughlin Our young men and women are still getting fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan. The value of our homes and 401-K's are sinking by the day. Our very planet is heating up with unpredictable consequences. Things are tough, but at least gay people can't get married. That attitude seems to explain the nearly 650,000 signatures that put the Florida Marriage Protection Act on the ballot for November 4th, 2008. Find out who signed it, here. Though same-sex marriage is still explictly illegal in Florida, a conservative group called Florida4Marriage.Org wants to enshrine the ban in our State constitution. It would be the first and only amendment to deny rather than grant rights to Florida citizens. On Flashpoint this Sunday morning, I invited the head of Florida4Marriage.Org and a representative from Florida Red and Blue, a non-partisan, non-profit group fighting the amendment on grounds more legalistic than moral. You may conclude that I enter this...
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CSI Ybor: Who killed Big City Tavern?
2008-02-06 22:21:00
By Brendan McLaughlin There's nothing unusual or mysterious about a restaurant going out of business. About one in four new restaurants fail in the first year. But in a city like Tampa, with such a dearth of quality, independently owned eateries, the failure of Big City Tavern in Centro Ybor is a real loss. Big City Tavern actually beat the odds staying open for over seven years. The location, in the original ballroom of the historic Centro Espanol was one of the most dramatic and beautiful in the Bay Area. The food, in my experience, was above par. So what went wrong, beyond the owner's obvious inability to put enough butts in the seats? Three days after shutting down his dream, Brian Cornacchia sounded tired, but upbeat- like a boxer who lost the fight but gave it his best shot. Cornacchia praises his staff. He says his landlord, M & J Wilcow couldn't have been more supportive. He claims his bar and catering business were very successful.&nbs...
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Reflections on the cam-"pain"
2008-02-06 22:00:00
By Don GermaiseNow that it?s over . . . I can share personal stories and impressions about the Presidential candidates whom I got to meet and interview as they campaigned across Florida:Mitt Romney: In our first meeting before the Presidential Debate in St. Petersburg, Romney seemed stiff and almost afraid to answer basic questions. You got the feeling he was hiding something. Two months later, I interviewed Romney a second time in Sarasota, just days before the January 29th Primary. What a turnaround! Romney seemed like the kind of guy you?d like to have a beer with. He was relaxed, funny, and friendly. We spent so much time talking about football, cold weather, and kids, he almost ran out of time in our 10 minute interview window.John McCain: I started calling McCain, ?McPain !?  Not because of the candidate, but because of his handlers. They went to great lengths to keep reporters away from McCain except for staged, controlled events. There were few opportunities for imprompt...
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Tampa's most beautiful restaurant is out of business
2008-02-05 21:41:00
Tampa's Big City Tavern, the most under-appreciated restaurant in the Bay Area closed on Sunday according to the management office at Centro Ybor. Developing....
More About: Business , Restaurant , Beautiful

Gay marriage amendment could put you on the record
2008-02-05 03:42:00
By Brendan McLaughlin You're loaded up with Cool Ranch Doritos and San Pellegrino water, pushing your cart across the asphalt expanse of Publix when a cheerful, college aged woman with a clipboard calls out, "are you registered to vote in this county?. She explains the issue de jour; pregnant pigs, decriminalizing marijuana, free cheese for all, whatever. She hands you the pen. You sign and congratulate yourself for your wisdom, compassion and civic involvement. Well done, citizen, but would you be so quick to sign that petition- any petition, if you knew your support would be known to your friends and neighbors? That's the question signers of the Florida Marriage Protection Amendment  have to ask themselves. The anti-gay marriage amendment was just certified to appear on the November 4th ballot after organizers gathered over 600,000 signatures. It would be fair to guess that some of those signers wouldn't necessarily want their views on gay marriage publicize...
More About: Gay Marriage , Record , Cord

Rap lyrics and baggy pants are the least of our problems
2008-02-02 05:37:00
The oft-repeated claim that more African American men and boys are in the prison system than are in college is an exaggeration, but only a slight one. From kindergarten to high school, too many African American boys are failing and being failed. The result is another generation lost and the continuation of a persistent underclass. Bill Cosby and others have railed about the anti-intellectual, hip-hop culture that accommodates and even perpetuates the problems of drug use, abuse, violence and misogyny.  Meanwhile, Black History Month is supposed to be a time to recognize the accomplishments of African Americans, but has over time become a rote and dry observance.  This clip of Larry Wilmore on The Daily Show makes that point brilliantly.   For the last year in Florida, a state task force formed by the legislature and the governor are actually trying to do something to solve these problems.  The Council on the Social Status of  Black Men and Boys has jus...
More About: Lyrics , Pants , Problems

An explainer on the John McCain uproar playing out on conservative talk rad
2008-02-01 17:51:00
"Some on the right feel it would be less damaging to their cause to lose the 2008 election with the Republican-conservative alliance intact than to win with John McCain."  Read the rest.
More About: Conservative , Talk , John McCain

Talk radio's worst person in the world: John McCain
2008-01-31 22:50:00
By Brendan McLaughlin Turn on AM Talk Radio right now and chances are Rush or Glenn or Sean is attacking John McCain. I'm not a believer in any vast right-wing conspiracy, but many of these radio talkers  are clearly  working off the same script, calling McCain the biggest single threat to the conservative movement since Che Guevara.    The drumbeat of criticism against Florida's Republican primary winner, John McCain  is relentless, nasty and puzzling.  I understand that many conservatives don't like John McCain's policy on immigration, campaign finance reform and waterboarding.  But if you compare the conservative credentials of the remaining presidential candidates on all the issues from abortion to taxes, McCain is hardly an outlier. Few of these conservative radio hosts are actually endorsing Mitt Romney, but the single-minded focus on McCain and dismissive attitude toward Mike Huckabee makes their choice clear.&n...
More About: World , The World , Person

"Florida Delivers the Nomination to Hillary Clinton"
2008-01-29 03:43:00
By Brendan McLaughlin That headline could come to pass following a not-so unlikely scenario. It's late April and Barack Obama has narrowly edged out Hillary Clinton in the delegate count. It's so close that, had Florida 's delegates been counted, Hillary would be ahead.  Do you think Hillary Clinton (a lawyer) and her backers would hesitate for a New York minute to take legal action to get back on top? Flash to: Victor Dimaio, Tampa political consultant and Michael Steinberg, Hillsborough County's new party chairman. These two brought the first lawsuit against the DNC to get Florida's delegates re-instated. The lawsuit was thrown out early on, but they didn't have the Clinton legal team behind them. DiMaio and others have not given up on a legal challenge. And as Steinberg suggested to me this week, if Florida's delegates are all that stand between Hillary and the nomination, she'll probably get awfully chummy with people like Victor Dimaio. What an irony. The st...
More About: Nomination

What to do, what to do?
2008-01-24 23:03:00
The decision of whether to vote Yes or No on the tax reform measure, Amendment One serves as an interesting character test- Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageously hasty tax reform or to take arms against those trying to claim victory for the price of $240 per homesteaded household? A rough calculation tells me that Amendment One will reward me with a tax savings in the neighborhood of 8 %.  Sorry, Charlie, but that makes me inclined to vote no on a small savings now in hopes of a "rock-dropping" reduction later. I also think local government is taking a fairly large hit in exchange for my modest savings. Perversely, Amendment One bestows the greatest savings on those who are already enjoying the greatest savings. There are plenty of Bay Area homeowners with taxable property values less than $100,000.  An additional $25,000 homestead exemption makes their tax bill go from cheap to way cheap...

Ringo Starr jumps the shark- again
2008-01-23 19:39:00
Ringo Starr  is not the correct answer to "who's your favorite Beatle?" but he was an integral part of a world changing musical phenomenon. And actually, I've admired many of his solo career songs (Photograph, Six O'Clock)  and he seems like a nice man.   But this song, Liverpool 8 as played on Letterman the other night  is one of those obtuse and wordy anthems that many of my aging heroes including Neil Young, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan seem to resort to after the song writing spark goes out.  Listen for yourself and discuss.  
More About: Shark , Ringo Starr

But should this?
2008-01-22 23:08:00
By Brendan McLaughlin "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm very proud to present to you: My Ass!"   That seems to be the message sent by those young men who cinch their baggy jeans just south of the butt-thigh border.  It's so commonplace nowadays  that I've stopped gaping at this audacious display of sartorial rebellion. But today, while seated alongside a dozen others waiting at the DMV office, I couldn't help but stare. That's because the dude being served at counter #3 was standing squarely in front of us all,  with his rear-end on proud display through a disturbingly sheer pair of boxers. A young black women sitting in the next chair chuckled softly. I knew exactly what she was chuckling about. I gently nudged her in acknowledgment that we were in the presence of profound asininity.  "Does he go to work that way?", she asked quietly. "Fashion is a powerful thing" I offered lamely. "Must be" she said. "Even though they know it started i...

John Fitzgibbons: The Prince of Torts
2008-01-17 22:38:00
Ever notice how just  a handful of local lawyers get all the media coverage? A few years ago, it was Barry Cohen, then John Travena. These days, the dapper Irishman, John Fitzgibbons seems to be everywhere at once. Of course, it's not the lawyers who draw the spotlight. It's their clients. In a single news hour last week, you would have seen Debra Lafave, Jessica Sierra and USF student Ahmed Mohamed- all three represented by Fitzgibbons. This Sunday Morning on Flashpoint, John sits down to talk about the intricacies of representing tabloid fodder- How much TV exposure to permit. How to handle cranky judges that don't appreciate celebrity wanna-be's preening in front of the cameras. And how does he handle all the new business that pours in as a result of his high profile cases? Refer them to 1-800 ASK-CLARENCE? Get to know the hottest lawyer in town on Flashpoint,  this Sunday morning at 11:00 on ABC Action News.  
More About: Prince