Opinions to go Online

 

* Festivus (for the rest of us) list of annoyances:

^Scooters left anywhere, including the sidewalk in front of your house.

^Noisy leaf relocaters.

^Otherwise nice restaurants that are too LOUD.

^College football coaches who make more–much, much more–than university presidents, scholars and cancer researchers.

^Saying hello to someone without response because he’s affixed to his cell phone.

^Political debates’ rehearsed sucker-punch, gotcha lines.

^Government-shutdown roulette.

^Those prefacing a problematic remark with a disingenuous “With all due respect.”

^ Dialed-out dog owners at dog parks.

^Motorcyclists for whom the rules of the road seemingly don’t apply.

^Having to sit through extra-loud, made-from-action-comics movie trailers, while waiting for the actual movie you’re there to see.

^Did I mention #@%^&*+ scooters?

^And no, just because stuff annoys you, it doesn’t make you a curmudgeon.

* George Washington is the only president who didn’t blame the previous administration for his troubles.

* We are what we keep. Anyone who has ever “downsized” knows that reality.

 

* It’s the Tampa Bay Rays. That’s the regional market. Not the St. Petersburg Rays or the Parochial Rays or the Gas Plant Rays. There’s a reason why the St. Petersburg Times became the Tampa Bay Times after the closing of the Tampa Tribune.

* According to the Tampa Bay Partnership, 20 percent of area residents cross county lines daily.

* After a year-long investigation, the American Association of University Professors assessed that Florida was under an “ideologically-driven assault unparalleled in U.S. history. … What is unfolding in Florida is horrifying.” In short, more “freedom” is not unfolding in higher ed. Unsurprisingly, a spokesperson for Gov. Ron DiSastrous called the AAUP investigation a “hoax.”

* According to the Insurance Information Institute, fewer than 20 percent of Florida homeowners have flood insurance.

* The Sunshine State is still one of 10 states that refuse to expand Medicaid as part of the ACA.

* “I have no desire to ‘improve’ or ‘reform’ ObamaCare. I intend to repeal it.”–Ron DiSastrous.

* According to PEN America, Florida “leads” the U.S. in school-book bans.

* Among the many that the charisma-challenged DiSastrous doesn’t get along with: political consultants. Exhibit A: Jeff Roe, a prominent GOP strategist, who recently resigned as the top adviser to the governor’s controversial super PAC, “Never Back Down.” And Iowa’s just days away.

* “Throuple”: New term for a sexual threesome, thanks to the media coverage of Florida “power couple” Christian and Bridget Ziegler. The former has been Florida GOP chairman, the latter a co-founder of “Moms for Liberty.”

* X-rated Musk: There are uncivil rants and crude Trumpian language, but Elon Musk dug a new, rhetorical low with his “F*** yourself” response to advertisers who have stopped spending money on X over concerns that Musk himself was amplifying antisemitism and racism on his social media site, the one formerly known as Twitter.

* AI fake news: The next great misinformation spreader.

* Word of the Year, according to Oxford University Press: Rizz. It’s a Gen Z term that refers to a person’s ability to attract—or even seduce—another person. Reportedly it’s derived from “charisma”–not risible.

* SNL is now is now in its 49^th season. No, it hasn’t gotten better, unless segments—more goofy than satirical–that last too long are not an issue. Is that writers’ strike really over?

* Republican Liz Cheney has been making the high-profile, media rounds to promote a book and appeal to GOP sanity. Too bad her father can’t be as outspoken about saving democracy.

* At least 64 journalists have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war,

* The average American checks his or her smartphone 58 times per day.

* Spain, Norway and Belgium have banned smartphones in schools.

* Once again Tampa’s Lou Piniella came close to joining baseball’s Hall of Fame as a manager. Ironically, his 3-year, all-losing tenure with his home-market TB Rays likely cost him HoF status.

* Florida State’s only meaningful response to the College Football Playoff Final Four snub is to beat Georgia in the Orange Bowl. But that’s not likely.

* The ReliaQuest Bowl: At least the Outback Bowl sounded more like a bowl game than a naming-rights ad. But it could be worse: The 1-800-ASK-GARY Bowl.

* Remember when bowls were a sign of a successful season? With 40 bowls–from Famous Toastery to Pop-Tarts–and 80 teams, it no longer even requires a winning record.

* Shout out to FSU Women, who are NCAA soccer champs—for the fourth time.

* Tampa will host the 2025 Women’s Basketball Final Four. Earlier this month Tampa hosted the 2023 Women’s Volleyball Final Four.

* The Colorado Supreme Court has barred Trump from the state’s ballot. The rationale: A section of the 14^th Amendment that prohibits anyone who swore an oath to support the Constitution and then “engaged in insurrection” against it from holding office. It’s an unprecedented application. In another era, such seditious behavior might have warranted a firing squad. But a de facto “You’re fired” will do.

* Rally rhetoric: 2016–“carnage,” 2024–“vermin.”

* According to Liz Cheney, George W. Bush wanted Trump impeached.

* Trump still wants to end the Affordable Care Act. The begged question: Can America afford a sequel to the Trump Apprentice act.

* “MSNBC (MSDNC) uses FREE government approved airways, and yet it is nothing but a 24-hour hit job on Donald J. Trump and the Republican Party for purposes of ELECTION INTERFERENCE. … Our so-called ‘government’ should come down hard on them and make them pay for their illegal political activity.”–Donald J. Trump.

* Weaponizing the government to punish the free press: Yet another reminder that the dictator’s playbook that advocates the demonization of the media is still very much in play.

* If re-elected, Trump says he won’t be a dictator—“except for day one.” … “We’re closing the border, and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.” How reassuring, except that these are the words of a well-documented, self-serving, pathological liar with a proven dictatorial fixation.

* “I don’t call them ‘prisoners.’ I call them ‘hostages.’” Trump on the alleged violent offenders who are detained and await trial for their roles in the Jan. 6 insurrection.

* “Daniel Ellsberg is the most dangerous man in America. He must be stopped at all costs.”–Henry Kissinger, 1971. Those were the (“most dangerous”) days.

* “Nikki Haley, at the top of the ticket, would boost candidates up and down the ballot.”–Koch Brothers-founded Americans for Prosperity, which has been raising money to help the GOP oust Trump.

* New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu has endorsed Nikki Haley for president–not Civil War historian.

* True that: “There is no bigger issue in this race than Donald Trump. His conduct is unacceptable. He’s unfit.”–Chris Christie, the only GOP debater to go after Trump.

* Reportedly Kevin McCarthy, the ousted GOP Speaker, would like to be considered for a Trump Cabinet position. Apparently senior sycophant isn’t prestigious enough.

* “Trump enjoys some unusual advantages for a challenger. … Even Ronald Reagan did not have a Fox News and the Speaker of the House in his pocket.”–Robert Kagan, WaPo

* Trump’s autocratic dream: Russian President Vladimir Putin will be seeking another—six-year—term. He’s already been in power for nearly a quarter of a century. No debates, no primaries, no relevant media, Stalin nostalgia, token opposition.

* “(The office of the presidency) does not confer a lifelong ‘get-out-of-jail-free’ pass.”–U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutka.

* “Red Caesar”: New Right coinage for a leader whose post-Constitutional rule will restore the strength of his people. Or should that be Orange Caesar?

 

* “Our bodies are ecosystems, and the world is an ecosystem.”–U.S. climate envoy John Kerry.

* “If we are to have another contest in the near future of our national existence, I predict that the dividing line will not be Mason’s and Dixon’s, but between patriotism and intelligence on one side and superstition, ambition and ignorance on the other.”–Ulysses S. Grant.

* “A gigantic, global sewer.”–How Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo characterized Elon Musk’s platform X.

* “These companies (Apple and Google) know enough about your children to recommend games and other apps, but they claim ignorance when it comes time to judge whether material is safe and suitable for them.”–Elizabeth Self, The American Conservative.

* “Tampa Bay must address long-standing transportation infrastructure needs, including better regional connectivity. This is why Tampa Bay needs a new Tri-County Metropolitan Planning Organization.”–Bemetra Simmons, president and CEO of the Tampa Bay Partnership.

* “You don’t just want great physician scientists and nurses and techs and allied health professionals, you want to be in the state-of-the-art facilities with state-of-the-art technology.”–Tampa General Hospital CEO John Couris. TGH has announced plans for a $500 million, 13-story, 565,000-square-foot addition to provide a state-of-the-art environment for neuroscience and transplant services.

* “I own it.”–Hillsborough Schools Superintendent Van Ayres, in reference to disappointing county school grades, including 23 D schools and 4 F schools—more than any other state district.

It was a Halloween celebration along Ybor City’s 7^th Avenue. It was 3 a.m. Two people were shot and killed. The real underlying cause: the culture, not the venue.

Why go to a late-hour Halloween celebration with a gun? Why let your 14-year-old be anywhere other than asleep in his bedroom in the middle of the night? Ybor is, in effect, another victim of a dysfunctional societal culture that is gun-and-gang enamored.

Donald Trump’s inexplicably viable, front-runner status—despite his unprincipled, embarrassing track record and ongoing fraud and criminal legal problems—is an indictment of American democracy. And it hardly helps that “debates” are staged performance art, and fund-raising and advertising can be more consequential than a candidate’s policies. And it’s beyond worrisome that Trump has doubled down on his authoritarian essence with this rally warning: “I am your retribution.”

This can’t be what anyone—possibly including MAGA minions and the Koch Brothers–had in mind about American “exceptionalism.”

* Abortion rights continue to fuel Democratic optimism. Pro choice is more than a bumper-sticker freedom.

* “Kamala Harris has been raked over the coals as vice president. But few have ever doubted her skill as a passionate inquisitor and prosecutor—roles essential in a presidential campaign. It’s time to let Kamala Harris be herself. … (She) plainly gets under the skin of MAGA politicians and right-wing media.”–Jennifer Rubin, WaPo.

* “There was an assault weapons ban at one time. It expired. Let’s renew it.”–VP Kamala Harris.

* RFK Jr., Marianne Williamson, Joe Manchin: Biden alternatives? Hardly. And it hardly helps.

* “Competitive when it should be, collaborative when it can be and adversarial when it must be.”–Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the U.S. approach to China.

* “We’re finally getting it done.”– President Joe Biden in showcasing more than $16 billion in federal investments for rail travel along the Northeast Corridor.

* End Citizens United/Let America Vote, the grass-roots organization committed to protecting the freedom to vote and reforming the broken campaign-finance system, has officially endorsed the re-election of President Joe Biden.

* Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 83, is running for re-election. Not all octogenarians are the same.

* Cuban-heavy Hialeah has the second-highest Affordable Care Act enrollment in the country.

* “Nuestros Suenos” (“Our dreams”) and “Firme” (“Strong”): Democratic Spanish language TV ads in South Florida that target Venezuelan-Americans.