Category: Uncategorized

* As an alumna, USF President Rhea Law has palpable passion for the university, and that is extremely important. She has more than career skin in this game. She is also determined to realize her goal of USF being among the top 25 public universities in the U.S. and gaining membership in the Association of American Universities, a group of 66 leading research universities.

Her top-25 presidential goal, however, has an ironic twist.

When one of her predecessors, Dr. Frank Borkowski, took over in 1988, he made it a public goal—at his inauguration—to get USF into the, yes, top 25 public universities. Inaugurations, as we know, are hardly the forum for modest goals. But not everyone cheered on such academic ambition. Charlie Reed, the chancellor of the Florida University System—and former chief of staff of Gov. Bob Graham—soon got in touch with Dr. Borkowski to—reprimand him. In short, such an ambitious goal should not be part of USF’s, uh, regional purview. But it definitely was a fitting goal for the state’s flagship university in Gainesville.

That was then. This is now. Go, Law-abiding Bulls.

* One quick takeaway from Orlando Gudes stepping down as city council chair—but staying on as a board member. Imagine the, uh, awkward relationship with the city council member referred to as a “p—-motherf—er” by Gudes.

* E-scooters, as we’ve seen, are now part of the urban landscape and have grown in popularity—as well as disfavor. It happens when it can be a fun scoot or a quick hop to the office. And it happens when the business model too often results in scooters blocking sidewalks and littering parks when they’re not dumped on roadsides or tossed into the Hillsborough River along the Riverwalk. And then there’s the safety issue in one of America’s most notoriously fraught traffic-pedestrian cities.

You know they’re gaining in popularity when you start to see “Injured in an e-scooter accident?” legal ads. Watch for them on buses and trolleys.

Maybe the learning curve will straighten out. Maybe it’s just a few blatant, non-compliant outliers. City of Tampa spokesman Adam Smith might have nailed it when he stated that “We believe it’s a combination of drunks, jerks and buffoons who are responsible.” He’s probably right, but there’s a helluva lot of them.

* St. Pete–2436 4^th Street–now has its own La Segunda Bakery and Cafe. The 106-year-old La Segunda is the world’s largest producer of Cuban bread.

*Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, will be leaving next month to accept an on-air offer from MSNBC. She’s good at her job and will be missed.

There’s certainly ample career precedent for those in an Administration-spokesperson spotlight. We often think of official spokespeople more as proponents of a cause than pursuers of a career. But knowledgeable insiders who are comfortable in front of a camera have never been more valued by the electronic media, which has never been more politically polarized, blindsided by technology and pressured by the Fox-era competition.

But Psaki, of course, is no Sean Spicer. So it’s unlikely that she will appearing on “Dancing With The Stars.”

* Also making politico-video news is Mick Mulvaney, a former chief of staff of President Donald Trump. He has been brought in by CBS News as a commentator. Oops. We get it that CBS is trying to assure itself of perspective that crosses ideological aisles to inform. That–and not luring viewers to cherry pick media outlets for validation–should be the aim. (So Chris Wallace, for example, leaving Fox–finally!–for CNN makes eminent sense for all parties.)

But not somebody like Mulvaney, who was a minion for the worst president in U.S. history. One who bashed the media his boss hated; who PROUDLY admitted Trump had engaged in a sleazy quid pro quo with Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy over Biden family dirt; and who referred to COVID-19 as the media “hoax of the day.”

CBS is trying to be CYA realistic—in anticipation of what could be very successful mid-terms for Republicans. And there are those 74 million voters who chose Trump in 2020. But there’s pragmatic—and then there’s selling out. That’s why we’ve seen a backlash from a number of CBS personnel who found the move more sacrilegious than, well, pragmatic.

We’ll give Stephen Colbert, host of CBS’s “Late Show,” the last word(s). “Recently, my network has gotten a lot of criticism—much of it from itself,” said Colbert, “because CBS News has hired the ex-president’s former chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. … WTF?!”

* “The restrained and good humor demonstrated by (Chris) Rock should be a role model for those who want to defend free expression from bullies on the right and the left—and from whichever side of the culture war ends up claiming (Will) Smith.”–Eric Boehm, Reason.

* You’re getting old when getting lucky means you find your car in the parking lot.

* Maternity room door: “Push, push, push.”

* Butcher’s window: “Let me meat your needs.”

* “It was the right time to pass the torch to Todd, said Bucs’ coach Bruce Arians, in announcing his retirement as well as his successor, defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. “I wanted one of my guys to take over.”

In so doing, Arians did more than assure continuity. He further underscored his commitment to diversity by paving the way for the NFL’s fourth black head coach. No one is surprised. Arian’s team had the only NFL staff with three minority coordinators: Bowles, defense; Byron Leftwich, offense; and Keith Armstrong, special teams. And with Bowles’ promotion, the Bucs elevated two black assistants, Larry Foote and Kacy Rodgers, to coordinate the defense. Moreover, last season the Bucs were the only team in the league to have two women in assistant coaching roles.

The last two years have become memorable in Buccaneer lore as the Tom Brady-led Bucs won a lot of games, including a Super Bowl, and became a marquee franchise to networks. But they have also led the league in honoring a commitment to diversity.

For Arians, it’s also a reflection of the ultimate bottom line in a business predicated on winning. “To hear voices in a staff meeting that aren’t the same, that don’t look alike but they all have input, you get better input,” explained Arians. Call it the pragmatism of diversity.

* Forbes has estimated the Rays franchise value at $1.1 billion—or 29^th in MLB.

* “Putin’s response to failure in Ukraine has been extremely Trumpian: insisting that his invasion is all going ‘according to plan,’ refusing to admit having made any mistakes and whining about cancel culture. I’m half expecting him to release battle maps crudely modified with a Sharpie.”—Paul Krugman, NYT.

* “I don’t get invited to the same parties as Madison Cawthorn does.”–Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz. Yeah, that’s how unconscionably embarrassing Cawthorn is.

* “Once again, some potentate sadly caught up in anachronistic claims of nationalistic interest, is provoking and fomenting conflicts.”–Pope Francis.

* “There needs to be accountability. … We can’t normalize this. This is the reality of what’s going on every single day as long as Russia’s brutality against Ukraine continues.”–U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

* “Brutality against civilians we haven’t seen in Europe for decades.”–NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

* “Clear evidence of war crimes.”–French President Emmanuel Macron.

* “From the Kremlin to Mar-a-Lago to the Academy Awards, there are few things more unpredictable—or dangerous—than a man who feels pressed to vindicate his manhood.”–Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald.

* “Let reverence of the law become the political religion of the nation.”–Abraham Lincoln.

* “‘Don’t say gay’ sends a hateful message to our most vulnerable youth who simply need our support.”–State Rep. Carlos Smith, Florida’s first openly gay Latino legislator.

* “One of the most important ways to cut costs for American families is through reining in the high cost of prescription drugs, especially the high cost of insulin.”–Congresswoman Kathy Castor, D-Tampa, who voted for the passage of the Affordable Insulin Now Act that guarantees that those Americans with diabetes don’t pay more than $35 per month for their insulin.

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

* “Everybody has their day to be vindicated. I’m waiting for that day to happen.”–Tampa City Council member Orlando Gudes, who stepped down as council chairman—but remains a council board member. Gudes left his chairman’s role after a city finding that he had created a hostile work environment for a former aide.

* “Libraries build community, and our library staff builds unique connections with the people we serve. … Even as many of us were isolating at home, residents continued to turn to other community’s library resources in record numbers for education, entertainment and important information.”–Andrew Breidenbaugh, library services director of the Tampa-Hillsborough County Public Library Cooperative.

* “We’re thrilled NuMedTechs has chosen to establish its U.S. operations in Tampa and conduct life-saving research and development here.”—Tampa Bay Economic Development Council chairman James Nozar. NuMedTechs, with roots in Canada, is basing its first research office in downtown Tampa.

* “It’s been a whirlwind of emotion.”–Buccaneers’ co-owner Joel Glazer, reflecting on the Bucs’ chaotic off season.

Three takeaways from Gov. Ron DeSantis signing of the financial literacy bill that requires high school students to take a half-credit course covering a range of fundamentals, from savings accounts to credit scores. First, it’s necessary. Second, it has, thankfully, nothing to do with race, gender, politicized speech or pandemic mandates. So unlike Tallahassee. If schools are to meet their charge of preparing students for life after schooling, this was a pivotal, long overdue step.

And third, don’t stop here if we want the best-prepared high school graduates. Make civics classes relevant about democratic staples such as voting rights and responsibilities and prep them on the double-edged sword that is modern media: How it’s used to inform and abused to manipulate.

* President Joe Biden in Poland: “America’s ability to meet its role in other parts of the world rests upon a united Europe.” He didn’t have to add something even more obvious: America’s role also rests upon not having another Trumpian iteration of an “America First” president.

* “I am confident Judge Jackson is supremely qualified and has the disposition necessary to serve as our nation’s newest Supreme Court justice.”–West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, a key, sometimes problematic, Democratic vote.

* White House press secretary Jen Psaki has tested positive—for the second time—for COVID.

* Last month’s jobs reports showed U.S. employers added 678,000 jobs. This month’s report is also expected to be strong.

* President Biden announced that the U.S. will welcome up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine.

* Word from ideological score-keepers is that the Supreme Court’s swing justice is now Brett Kavanaugh.

* China has declared a citywide lockdown of its largest city, Shanghai, which has a population of 26 million.

* To date, Florida has seen nearly 6 million COVID infections and 73,000 deaths. As for the latter, it is the 16^th highest per-capita death rate in the U.S.

* The (highly contagious) omicron BA.2 variant is now the dominant strain in parts of Europe and Asia. That’s a major heads-up for the U.S. But Florida, ironically, could be spared the worst of the next wave because so many Floridians—too often unfettered by mask and social distancing mandates—have already contracted the virus.

*Florida positivity rate: 2.3 percent. Hillsborough positivity rate: 3.0 percent.