Category: Uncategorized

* Hillsborough County has closed its last free public COVID test/vaccination site, the one at the West Tampa Community Center.

* “Close the sky over Ukraine.”–Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

* “A no-fly zone is the United States declaring war on Russia.”–Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn.

* Russia’s list of American sanctions targets includes President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Hillary Clinton and Hunter Biden. “I want to thank the Russian Academy for this Lifetime Achievement Award,” responded Clinton in a tweet.

* Three EU leaders—from the NATO countries of Slovenia, Poland and the Czech Republic–recently visited Kyiv to show solidarity.

* Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is Jewish, has called on Israel to take sides and take a stronger stand against Russia—and emotionally compared the Putin-ordered invasion to the actions of Nazi Germany. Both Ukraine and Russia have large Jewish populations. To date, Israel has been cautious as it carves out a mediator role. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Putin in Moscow earlier this month and since then has spoken to Putin twice and Zelenskyy at least six times. But so far Israel, which has delivered humanitarian aid to Ukraine, has rejected pleas to provide arms or impose sanctions on Russia. Zelenskyy reportedly wants access to Israel’s missile defense system.

To Ukraine’s frustration, Israel seems wary of antagonizing either side—and has had a good working relationship with Russia in Syria.

* A key factor in brokering a Russian-Ukrainian peace is obviously NATO. It does not, however, accept nations with unsettled territorial conflicts. No, Ukraine will not be a member of NATO any time soon.

* An estimated 10 million people have been displaced by the war in Ukraine. That’s approximately one fourth of the country’s population.

* Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow would press its demand that Ukraine drop its bid to join NATO, adopt a neutral status and “demilitarize.” The latter could be the most problematic demand. How do you “demilitarize” when your arch enemy, the one that just invaded and killed your people, sits smoldering with EU and NATO vengeance on your border—whatever that looks like.

* Two words you won’t see or hear on official Russian media: “war” and “invasion.” They’ve been banned.

* Russia has now banned Facebook and Instagram.

* “The top priorities now are to continue dialogue and negotiations, avoid civilian casualties, prevent a humanitarian crisis, cease fighting and end the war as soon as possible.”–The calculating, self-serving Chinese President Xi Jinping, stopping well short of condemning Vladimir Putin for his unconscionably cruel, tragic invasion of Ukraine. It speaks volumes when China can’t actually condemn the condemnable.

* According to the annual World Happiness report, Finland ranks first and Afghanistan last of the 149 countries surveyed.

* “Do not click on any links tweeted from the @NikkiFried account.” That was the campaign advice after Nikki Fried’s Twitter account was compromised over the weekend through a phishing attack. A sobering reminder that this is part of the new partisan-political normal.

* “LGBT is not a permanent thing.”–State Sen. Ileana Garcia, R-Miami, who, thankfully, is not a permanent thing.

* As of mid-March, 18 pedestrians and bicyclists have been killed in Hillsborough County in 2022.

* From 2011 to 2018, Tampa’s Riverwalk spurred more than $1 billion in economic activity, according to Vik Bhide, Tampa’s mobility department director.

While that’s a reminder of the catalytic impact of Tampa’s signature, optics-magnet Riverwalk, no less notable is the prioritizing of development on that “other side” of the Hillsborough River, the one too long defined incongruously by public housing and minarets with excellent views of what was happening on the increasingly hip, downtown side of the river. Now there are plans to create a Riverwalk sequel on the west side of the Hillsborough over the next four years. It will parallel the incumbent Riverwalk for more than two miles and then loop—in pedestrian- and bike-friendly fashion–into areas west of the river. It’s a way of connecting neighborhoods and the West River redevelopment that will ultimately include 1,600 apartments.

“This project is going to transform the west side of the city,” said Brandie Miklus, Tampa’s infrastructure and mobility program coordinator. And it can’t happen soon enough—with the expectation that the impact—in linking West Tampa to downtown and other neighborhoods—will be no less transformational than what has occurred on the other side of the river. Only this one is much more about residents than visitors.

* “SNL’s” Pete Davidson was scheduled to head into outer space on Blue Origin. That was called off, and he didn’t join the short list of celebs who have taken the 11-minute flight. But what a cold opening that would have been.

* “I have to wonder whether something more than technology is involved in the way this (Russia-Ukraine) war is being presented. The unmistakable subtext of the coverage is: These are people just like us, and we could be at risk like them. The vast majority of the victims in Ukraine are European, white and Christian.”–Eugene Robinson, WaPo.

* A copy of the first ever Marvel comic book was recently auctioned for $2.4 million. True, that seems like a lot, but then again, it was the debut of Sub-Mariner and The Human Torch.

* Leaf blowers? A lot of neighbors would call them leaf relocaters.

* “I’m a stranger in a strange land.”–Carson McCullers. It still resonates.

* Could Dr. Oz be elected U.S. senator from Pennsylvania? Only if he gets through the Republican primary against the Tin Man.

* If God dropped acid, would He see people?

* “Irish Americans think they’re more Irish than the Irish.” That was Irish-American President Joe Biden speaking Irish-humored truth to how American Micks, especially on St. Patrick’s Day, look at their identity. BTW, if your wedding anniversary is St. Patrick’s Day (and it is), you stay home that night—when all the amateur Irish are out, uh, celebrating.

* Used car lot: “Second-hand cars in first-crash condition.”

* Garbage truck: “We’ve got what it takes to take what you’ve got.”

* Under New York City’s current (private employer) vaccination mandate, unvaccinated New York Yankees’ and New York Mets’ players will not be able to play in home games at Yankee Stadium or Citi Field. Reportedly, two Yankees remain unvaxxed. Reportedly, one is Aaron Judge, who has avoided answering direct questions directly.

*USF’s softball pitcher extraordinaire Georgina Corrick has already earned a B.A. in marine biology and is now pursuing a master’s in global sustainability. So, no, “student-athlete” doesn’t have to be an oxymoron—and that should include revenue sports too.

* The University of Minnesota’s Gable Stevenson won an Olympic gold medal in wrestling last year and has now won his third straight NCAA (heavyweight) title. The next step? Accomplished counterparts in football, basketball or baseball would be gearing up for the NFL, NBA or MLB. An uber-successful wrestler? The cartoonish sideshow known as WWE.

* The Bucs will undoubtedly be a better team with the return of GOAT-quarterback Tom Brady. We’re already seeing the ripple effects with personnel. But at some level, wouldn’t it be refreshingly classy to go out on top? Joe Namath and Willie Mays would likely agree.

* Tom Brady’s “final” TD pass (to Mike Evans) football sold on auction for more than half a million dollars. But now, oops, Brady has unretired. So it better not be his final TD pass.

* This just in: Donald Trump says that if (wink and nod) he runs in 2024, his running mate will definitely not be former VP Mike Pence. Something about Pence being of no help in overturning the 2020 presidential election results. But Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene are likely still in the running.

* The GOP is always looking for an “anti-woke” hero. The top three: Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis and Vlad Putin.

* “Trump is stuck on the fringe of his party, sharing the wrong side of a moral divide with Tucker Carlson, J.D. Vance, Madison Cawthorn and Marjorie Taylor Greene.”–Maureen Dowd, NYT.

* “Truth is hard, but QAnon is easy.”–Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald.

* “(Putin) perceives this as a war he cannot afford to lose. But what he might be willing to accept as a victory may change over time given the significant costs he is incurring.”–Avril Haines, director of national intelligence.

* “Moscow’s multiple brutal stabs into Urkraine are revitalizing the NATO military alliance as nothing else ever has. EU nations are openly discussing increasing military budgets. … Popular opinion in Europe, and around the world, is squarely in the Ukrainian camp.”–Robert Bruce Adolph, former U.N. security chief.

* “Just as the West is rightfully opening its arms to Ukrainian refugees, it must also accept Russians who are against Mr. Putin’s rule and support them in continuing their opposition from abroad.”–Sophie Pinkham, author of “Black Square: Adventures in Post-Soviet Ukraine.”

* “Being the leader of the world means to be the leader of peace.”–Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in his video address to the U.S. Congress.

* “A nuclear super power but an economic piker.”–Jonah Goldberg, The Dispatch, referring to Russia.

* “China has to make a (Russia-Ukraine) decision for themselves, about where they want to stand and how they want the history books to look at them and view their actions.”–White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

* “The actions of armed criminal groups have had a catastrophic impact on the economy of Haiti and threaten the fundamental rights of all Haitian citizens, especially to their rights to life, freedom of movement, work, health care and education.”–U.N. Security Council report.

* “The only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets.”–Will Rodgers.

* “In the U.S., teachers are facing a well-orchestrated political campaign by the far-right to limit the teaching of certain subjects and perspectives in public schools, all in the name of a ‘patriotism’ that is manifestly hostile to a multi-ethnic and multi-racial democracy and a well-educated citizenry.”–Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers.

* “I think Republicans should tread very lightly here. Judge Jackson went to Harvard for undergrad, Harvard for law, clerked on the Supreme Court, and she’s been a federal judge for almost a decade and before that she was a serious lawyer.”–Mike Davis, who heads the Article III Project, a conservative judicial advocacy group, in reference to Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson.

* “I think that our strength and unity is because we are a metropolitan university, and we have greater opportunities than many of our brothers and sister universities across the state.”–Interim USF President Rhea Law.