For more than a decade, the spouses of Tampa police officers killed in the line of duty have been offered a choice of health insurance plans at no cost to them – three this year. Last, the city sent a letter to the widows of three fallen officers explaining that that the because of budget constraints and rising insurance costs, it would only pay the full cost for one plan. Another plan would be offered but the families would have to kick in some money. ...more

November 20, 2009

Can you see the similarity between President Obama's announcement to close Gitmo in one year and JFK's goal of having a man on the moon by the end of the decade? In both cases, neither could specifically say how it would be accomplished. They just had a sense that once they set an important goal and put the best in minds on achieving it, it would get done. Of course, they had preliminary discussions and studies and understood the main issues and possible solutions, but what they did, as executives, was set a goal, and expectation – a reasonable timetable. The Bush years will soon be viewed as an anomaly by the rest of the world, a brief period in our long history where we fell into the wrong hands, were overcome by fear, lost our moral compass and became decidedly un-American. ...more

January 27, 2009

The last thing Lexi Smart recalls is going out with friends and trying to hail a taxi. "'Remember Me" by Sophie Kinsella finds Lexi waking up in a hospital in a new year and she cannot remember anything at all about the past three years. Her amnesia is so severe she barely recognizes her mother and sister and is stunned to find out that she had an executive job and is married. She views a DVD of the wedding but it rouses no memories. Her husband is handsome and rich and agrees to let Lexi come home and have the master bedroom to herself until they become reacquainted. Lexi begins to find her way cautiously in her new life and thinks she is doing well until a handsome architect named Jon tells her they have been secret lovers and that she was about to leave her husband for him before her accident. Lexi is attracted to him but has no memory of him but she does eventually decide that she and Eric are not compatible. She leaves her job and decides to start her own company, to revive battered old friendships and maybe try her luck with Jon. ...more

December 17, 2008

You have to give Florida Congressman Tim Mahoney, D-What's Your Sign?, back-handed credit for at least this much. ...more

October 18, 2008

Excerpts from recent newspaper endorsements of the presidential candidates. ...more

October 17, 2008

Vendors striving to keep up with au-courant believers unveil a raft of new products at the International Christian Retail Show in Orlando. ...more

July 18, 2008

A 78-year-old man is tossed like a rag doll by a hit-and-run driver and lies motionless on a busy city street as car after car goes by. Pedestrians gawk but appear to do nothing. One driver stops briefly but then pulls back into traffic. A man on a scooter slowly circles the victim before zipping away. ...more

June 6, 2008

We do a lot of lip service when it comes to keeping children and teenagers on track. ...more

February 16, 2008

Former Broward County Sheriff Ken Jenne's descent from political power to federal prison is one of those sad tales that happens when people in public office come to believe the rules don't apply to them. ...more

November 17, 2007