A useless soul (Barack Obama)

(I wrote this in 2009 on the original Tampa Taxi Shots. I still stand by in now after the Paris attacks)

At today's press briefing, when asked about President Obama’s plan to reverse a Bush policy related to abortion, Press Secretary Robert Gibbs dodged the question with a joke: “As a part of my overall career advancement, I've found it useful to get out of the way of the principal, who might be making news on certain subjects later on in the afternoon.”

But the word is already out that Obama is expected to sign another executive order today, to end the Mexico City Policy (also known as the “global gag rule”). The policy bans federal funds from going to international health groups that provide, or talk to women about, abortions. Passed by George W. Bush in 2001 on his first day in office, it’s one more policy that Obama, with the stroke of a pen, can undo.

Dr. Ana Langer, president of the global health organization, EngenderHealth, said that the global gag rule has blocked health care in some of the world’s poorest countries. “Africa has been most severely affected,” she said. “Many clinics had to close because they declined to sign the global gag rule, and were not able to provide other services such as prenatal care, newborns’ health, cervical cancer screenings and vaccinations.” She cited Kenya, the homeland of Obama’s father, as one country where women lost their only sources of prenatal care for miles around after the policy passed.

Abortion is prenatal care? Considering the uncertainty around Obama's mother and father's marital relationship, what if she were "counseled" in the way her son would want. You know, with his arms, legs and guts being sucked down a drain. Oh, also his brains. Than the great one would have never existed. Gee, I bet you never thought that one out.

posted from Bloggeroid

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What happened to Tommy Duncan and Sticks of Fire blog?

The image below is a 2005 TBT article I still have about the Tampa blogger scene. The big boy was Tommy Duncan. He stopped blogging around 2008, and was never seen again. Here is what Creative Loafing said about that era: "The 40-something blogger founded the most-often-cited independent Tampa Bay news blog, Sticks of Fire, in Feb. 2004, and the site, without much financial assistance from advertising, is still going strong today with a stable of more than a dozen regular contributors. In 2005, Duncan was featured in a tbt* story about the young lions of the local Internet. Today, about half of them have fallen by the wayside or (in the case of famous sexy blogger Rachel Moran) moved to New Jersey. Duncan keeps on posting. The local digital scene has grown, but he's not sure it has improved in quality."

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What the future holds for taxi driving in Tampa

The transportation future of Tampa is not as uncertain as some think. The local government agencies seemed determined to allow illegal operations to undermine the taxi industry. Why should I give a shit? I got nothing to lose. On any given day I can just turn in the keys and walk away. You know what will happen? The sun will rise the next day and it will be beautiful in Tampa Bay. Other then time, I have nothing invested. In fact, I could even become an Uber or Lyft driver and clean up. Why not? The HCPTC does not seem able or willing to stop the unlicensed operations. So much for getting their marching orders from the taxi overlords. The taxi owners are the ones at risk. Why are they not using the courts to sue for cease and desist orders? I mean the drivers could employ Jimmy Hoffa like tactics and pull Uber drivers out of their cars and beat the shit out of them. I would really like to see that happen to those Lyft people who were at the county commissioner meeting. For the f...

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The neon graveyard

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Dana Young is a Liar or very confused about Uber

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