Hunkering down for hurricane season

As we’re already being told ad nauseum, hurricane season is upon us. I’m the first one to admit to being a scaredy-cat when it comes to a land-falling big one, but on the other hand, there are some things to enjoy about the next several months. Number one at the top of my list — […]

Smoke and mirrors in the land of sunshine and stadiums

The Creative Loafing newspaper is running a piece I wrote about last year’s efforts by the County and City to pull together a local land deal in the hopes of landing Red Sox spring training here in sunny Sarasota. The story has enough monkey business in it to read like comedy — and it’d be […]

Smoke and mirrors where there should be sunshine

In less than 60 days, the City of Sarasota will have to cough up a not-so-cool near-$5 million to pay for what turned out to an unrequited school girl’s crush it had on the Boston Red Sox. Last August, operating on nothing more substantial than a hot and heavy “I wanna be your girlfriend” flutter […]

Lean, green, mowing machine!

I woke up early this morning to get a jump on the day. I had an article to finish and a lawn to mow. But the lawn, really just a yawning, sandy stretch of various and sundry weeds, came first. It was early enough to mow without the heat beating down too hard (630 am). […]

Swan song … or why I no longer appear in the Pelican Press newspaper

Newspapers are our nation’s first line of defense to freedom. When publications become susceptible to pressure from advertisers, which I believe happened in this case, our freedom — our ability to express and exchange differing, sometimes dissenting opinions, and our ability to learn and understand and make decisions and choices about how we want to practice democracy as individuals and as a nation, is dangerously compromised.

What the heck is this?

Alright. I try to be fairly independent, self-sufficient, but I’m stymied. And I need help! Can anyone help me identify any of the following?