Port And Pop: Cuban Imports And Exports

Locally, Cuba remains topical and emotional, but the context — to Tampa’s consummate credit — is typically civil. May veto power over U.S. foreign policy never be exercised from this part of the state.

*The topic of legal trade eventually became too hot for the Port of Tampa to ignore indefinitely, and next month a contingent from the Tampa Port Authority will travel to Cuba on a trade mission. The Feds had previously given the port permission after it had received an invitation from the Cuban government. Short-term opportunities are modest at best, but the relationship game must be played to best position Tampa for post-Castro Cuba.

*Culturally, Los Van Van, Cuba’s most popular musical group, last night played — with only token protest — to an enthusiastic crowd at the West Tampa Convention Center. In Miami, it could only have happened with a cordon of riot police, a moat and a diversionary appearance by Janet Reno.

Everybody Liked Ike

Tampa lost a valuable asset recently with the passing of Ike Tribble.

The 62-year-old black educator and community leader was unique. An intellectual, civil rights activist, role model and nice guy who moved between the white and black communities with equal credibility, good humor and influence. He could personally bridge the powerful and the barely franchised. He fought the good fight — on all the important fronts — to the very end.

Ike Tribble always stood his ground on principle — and always stood with dappered dignity.

He had an African proverb for all occasions — save one. He didn’t play the victim card — only the achievement card.

Ike Tribble will be missed.

Getting The Word Out On Tampa

Call it an idea whose time has been beckoning for a while. That is, an effective, cost-efficient way to get the word out — literally — about what to do in Tampa once you get the visitors here. As in first getting the word out to those — such as hotel desk clerks and museum receptionists — who are often asked what to do in Tampa besides visit Busch Gardens, dine at Bern’s and pivot out of here to Walt Disney World and the gulf beaches.

Thanks to Troy Manthey, chief executive of the StarShip Dining Yacht, Tampa now has the Downtown Attractions Association with an Ambassador Training Program. Its aim: getting the word out on Tampa — in Tampa. It involves taking those clerks and receptionists and others on a tour of their own town — from the Lowry Park Zoo and Florida Aquarium to the Channel District, Ybor City and, well, the StarShip. And more.

But here’s a suggestion, which worked well in Atlanta leading up to the 1996 Olympics. Get the cab drivers involved. They see visitors before clerks, receptionists, doormen and waiters do.

Fidel’s European Folly

It’s not been a good fortnight for Fidel.

Apparently the Cuban president has been duped by a couple of Cuban-American disc jockeys in Miami. The WXDJ-FM radio announcers, Joe Ferrero and Enrique Santos, got through Castro’s gatekeepers to get Castro on a phone prank — using the guise of an incoming call from Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The “Chavez call” was actually snippets of a tape recording of Chavez, a friend of Fidel’s.

Castro responds for a few minutes before catching on. That’s when the conversation turned obscene and Castro was called an assassin.

The phony call, however, was merely embarrassing. Earlier, Castro fell victim to his own hubris and Fidelisimo, the result of which could be disastrous.

That’s when Cuba took control of the Spanish Embassy’s cultural center in downtown Havana. Cuba says the Iberian showcase had been used to aid anti-Castro dissidents.

The take-over came just two days after Castro had led hundreds of thousands of Cubans on marches to the Spanish and Italian embassies. The marches were to protest European alignment with U.S. policies supporting Cuba’s pro-democracy dissidents.

The Fidel-led marches were Castro’s personal response to the European Union’s announcement that it would be reviewing its relationship with Cuba in the aftermath of the dissident crackdown and the execution of those who tried to hijack a ferry to Florida.

It’s one thing to rally the usual bussed-in extras to demonstrate against the U.S. — Uncle Scapegoat. But this is Europe. Cuba’s fragile, post-Soviet economy is now dependent on tourists. A lot of them are European.

More to the point, the lion’s share of tourism-related joint ventures are with Europeans. The Spaniards and the Italians are prominent, especially the former.

But Castro is Castro. His knee-jerk reaction to affronts is to rally the home front. This diverts attention from the real issue; in this case, those with the temerity and courage to question his failed, 40-something regime.

Castro, the ultimate CIA survivor, seemingly never runs out of lives. But he may be running out of feet to shoot.

Toughman Woman Dies

That unfortunate, unnecessary death of the “Toughman” woman in Sarasota is now a national story. A key focus is the typically nominal oversight and supervision of such events, where mismatches frequently occur and unskilled fighters are often injured and sometimes killed. In fact, 12 men have died in such events since the “sport’s” inception in 1979 — three in the last nine months, according to the Associated Press. That’s why five states outlaw such “competition.”

The issue arising from the recent death of 30-year-old Stacy Young, an overweight, out-of-shape, untrained wife and mother of two daughters, is that a Toughman boxing-style competition could be held at all in this state. They’re basically illegal — but only where the participants’ payout exceeds $50. The obvious rationale: Who the hell would do it for not much more than gas money?

It’s apparently a loophole that people such as Young — and her husband, Chuck, who also did it and was knocked out in 29 seconds — can’t resist. A macho thing for guys. A what-the-hell lark for women such as Young. And for no more than $50. And the ersatz fighters keep on coming; they’ve been doing these gong-show slugfests in Sarasota for years.

Professional bouts are regulated by the Florida Boxing Commission. There must be two ringside physicians, an ambulance with emergency med techs and a ringside oxygen tank. Fighters must undergo physicals and be pre-approved by the commission.

And no one, of course, has ever accused regulated boxing of being risk free — or even sleaze free.

In Toughman competitions, participants pay an entry fee (waived in Young’s case), sign a waiver of liability, and have their heart rate and blood pressure checked (by a doctor). If they own up to having won five amateur bouts in the past five years, they’re ineligible. Head gear and kidney protectors are required. They punch with 16-ounce gloves.

The unregulated version — given its pool of unskilled, bravado “talent” — is a life-threatening — or ending — outcome waiting to happen. And that’s what happened in the ring at Sarasota’s Robarts Arena.

But while Stacy Young died under a hail of punches to the head, the outcome of that fatal bout — one witnessed by her husband and kids — isn’t over yet.

The Young family has retained a lawyer. Alas, what they really should have retained was some sense.

You can sue for just about anything in this society, but no lawyer is ultimately able to protect you from yourself.

A husband is now without his wife and two young girls are without their mom. Loopholes and poor supervision may have contributed. But stupidity caused it.

Streetcar Museum Named For Harris Mullen

Resolved: This is the last mention of errand-running at the Public Defender’s Office. Ditto for hand-me-down, ensemble sales at the County Attorney’s Office. This is also the lone reference to anyone trying to back out of a prenuptial agreement or someone having a parallel- universe family. In fact, nowhere else will it be noted that some posh athletic club once served coffee to throw. And this is the only time that names such as Johnnie Byrd, David Caton, Michael Pittman, Joe Redner and Ronda Storms will appear.

Not that it isn’t tempting.

But enough of the newsmakers who are too much with us. Sometimes you just need a respite from the usual suspects who are such easy grist for the column mill. Sometimes you just want to say something nice. No bada-bings about it. And not just because it, well, feels good; but because it’s well-warranted.

Case in point: The recent honoring of native son/businessman/activist/pioneer Harris Mullen.

Plans are still afoot for a permanent trolley museum in Ybor City, but it already has a name: the “Harris H. Mullen Streetcar Museum.” Mullen was a key catalyst in bringing streetcars back to Tampa.

When the build-out of Ybor Station, the car barn and maintenance facility, is complete, the museum will be located there. Until then, a modest, start-up version will be housed in a customized warehouse on 6th Avenue across from Ybor Station. Officials hope to have it ready by this fall. Plans call for rides on the restored Birney #163 as a complement to an artifacts’ display.

The 79-year-old Mullen was on hand earlier this month when the announcement was made amid the unveiling of Birney #402, the next vintage streetcar set for restoration. Mullen has been a trolley true believer for some time. In fact, he’s one of the co-founders of the Tampa & Ybor City Street Railway Society in 1984.

That’s not all he founded. He started “Florida Trend” magazine, the first statewide business magazine. He also saw something in the old V.M. Ybor Cigar factory besides desuetude and nostalgia for a bygone era. In 1972 he bought and developed it into the shopping and restaurant complex renamed Ybor Square.

“Harris is a visionary,” says Joan Jennewein, another of the Railway Society co-founders. “He came in and really started the resurrection and anchored the western end of Ybor City. He has such an appreciation for the history of this area. I wish we could have gotten the streetcar going back then.

“Harris is a most deserving choice,” adds Jennewein. “He’s been so involved in this community in so many way. He’s such a neat guy, and he loves Ybor.”

Adds Michael English, president of the board of Tampa Historic Streetcar Inc.: “The word is sometimes inflated, but not in Harris Mullen’s case; he’s a ‘gentleman.’ Charming — through and through.”

FCAT Protest Sends Wrong Message

There are a lot of understandable reasons why a lot of folks — namely, parents, students and teachers — don’t like FCATs. There are even understandable ways of complaining and lobbying.

But one is not the method chosen earlier this year by Pinellas School Board member Mary Russell. She boycotted the FCAT by keeping her kids home on test day.

Now here’s one that makes even less sense.

Minority activists in Miami are calling for a boycott of Florida attractions and industries — such as Walt Disney World, Florida citrus, Zephyrhills bottled water and even the Florida Turnpike — if Gov. Jeb Bush doesn’t call off the FCATs.

The reason, they say, is that a disproportionate number of the 43,000 third-graders and 13,000 12th graders who didn’t pass are minorities. Moreover, more than a third are from Miami-Dade.

The message they say they’re sending is: “This is the only way to get the governor’s attention. Something’s wrong when African-American students are up to three times as likely to fail as their white counterparts. Hispanics are about twice as likely to fail. It’s yet another barrier for minorities struggling to get an education.”

The message they are sending is: “Whatever standards you declare, they don’t apply to us. They apply to white students and even Asian students who don’t speak English natively. Hey, it’s easier not to drive on the Florida Turnpike and not buy Zephyrhills bottled water than to get your kids to apply ‘Just Do It’ to academics.”

The message they should be sending is: “Like most everyone else, we find fault with the FCATs. But we’re going to take it on as a challenge. We’re going to expect success out of our kids rather than demand that the rules be changed. But what we will demand is that parents be accountable and schools provide all the extra means necessary to help get our kids up to speed.

“In 1998 23 percent of black fourth graders were reading at grade level. This year it’s 41 percent. For Hispanic students the numbers have gone from 38 percent to 51 percent. It can be done. We expect — and demand — success — not excuse-mongering and self-fulfilling prophecies for failure.”

And, by the way, what in the world does the Florida Turnpike have to do with FCAT success — other than being a metaphor for rerouting failure?

Florida’s “Move ’em Out” Strategy

Just when you think you’ve seen the last of the ramifications of the so-called voters’ mandate for fewer students per classroom, yet another one surfaces. Just when you think you’ve heard all the budget scenarios and been privy to all the possible ripple effects, another legislative stone comes skimming across the people’s pond in Tallahassee.

Florida lawmakers will now permit students to graduate with fewer credits: 18 instead of 24. Thus they can leave school with a diploma sooner — bypassing their senior year.

Republican Rep. Joe Pickens of Palatka then muddled matters more by declaring that this really wasn’t a money-saving move, but a strategy to “give bright students an opportunity to move on.”

Say what? Especially motivated students can already graduate early via extra-credit courses. And not everyone agrees with that option. So what is this? An early out for the merely bright? Then they get to overcrowded universities a little sooner?

Time out.

Somebody apparently needs to tell legislators what the purpose of high school is. It’s not only about credits earned.

It’s also about going through adolescence. It’s about socialization. It’s about maturation. It’s about preparation for life.

It’s about time certain adults recognized that.

Veil Tale Reveals More

Interesting footnote to that absurd Orlando case of the Muslim woman wanting to wear her veil for her Florida driver’s license photo.

The judge ruled against her, but Sultaana Freeman, it turns out, had revealed much more of herself previously for an I.D. photo. This one she didn’t appeal. It was for a 1998 mug shot prompted by her arrest — and conviction — in Illinois for aggravated battery on a child in her foster care.

Another footnote, as revealed in that mug shot: Freeman’s eyes are definitely her best feature.

Homily Has Its Funny Cide

Give it up for Fr. Len Plazewski, who worked some topical humor into his homily two Sundays ago at Christ The King Catholic Church’s 9:00 a.m. Mass.

He acknowledged that, although not an avid horse-racing fan, he had been rooting religiously for everybody’s favorite gelding, Funny Cide, to win Belmont and thus the Triple Crown. Had Funny Cide won, deadpanned Fr. Plazewski, it might have been an omen that it “would be a banner year for celibacy.”