National Geographic recently published a groundbreaking piece speculating that most of the art in ancient caves was created by women. The article drew lots of commentary back and forth, including comments from women that ancient women probably were not the artists because they were – as ever – too busy with child care, growing and preparing food, and even constructing housing.  Read More 

It’s again that dark time of the year, with those long nights that follow the end of daylight savings time. It’s the way we measure seasons in the Sunshine State: When the oranges turn orange and the poinsettias turn red, we know that Christmas is near.  Read More 

One of my friends came to the bridge table last week livid about the congressional hearing that she had been watching on TV. They really “grilled” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, she said, and I guess they did.  Read More 

Words that begin with “common” have evolved to be controversial. To most people, “community” and “commonality” denote something good, but to some individualists, they imply excessive conformity. Others think of “common” as meaning vulgar, or at least beneath them, as in the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Still other people mistrust the root in “commonweal” and “commonwealth” -- and most of all, “communism.” Such has been the fate of Common Core.  Read More 

I was on my way to play bridge and listening to WMNF’s drive-time call-in show. Rob Lorei, the longtime chief honcho at MNF, was taking the calls. Besides being very well informed, Rob is a true gentleman who listens tirelessly to people who can be quite tiresome.  Read More 

You probably saw the scene – a dozen grim men walking into the White House to repeat their mantra that they were going to grind government to a halt. Despite all constitutional precedent, this minority thought that they could repeal the Affordable Health Care Act, a law passed three years ago by both the House and Senate, signed by the president, and upheld by the US Supreme Court.  Read More 

That message got attention. We wore it on buttons in Tallahassee, back in the golden age of reform in the 1970s under Governor Reuben Askew. Tampa’s George Sheldon had been a campaign aide to Askew, and as I recall, George created the buttons when he worked in the mental health field before winning  Read More 

Intervention in Syria’s civil war has been the recent headline, so I’m not sure why I’ve been thinking about the French & Indian War. Fought during the 1750s and 1760s, they called it “The Nine Years Great War” in Europe. We were part of this international conflict even before we were a nation.  Read More 

I thought about writing an e-mail to my old friend Steve Otto, when his column in the Tampa Tribune last week was titled “Why Don’t Young People Fight Back?” But then I thought: hey, I can save time by just doing my pondering via LaGaceta.  Read More 

I was trying to schedule lunch with a friend when she mentioned that she had five retirement parties on Friday. She herself is recently retired as the head of federal probation in this area, and because Republicans in the US House are hell-bent on reducing the size of government, her colleagues are retiring, too.  Read More