I’m not going to say much about the fiasco in Tallahassee this legislative session, but I have to say something: I’m a historian, and this is an unprecedented mess. Speaker of the House Steve Crisa-full-of-himself made history by pitching a fit indistinguishable from a toddler’s tantrum, taking his marbles and going home. Like sheep, other House Republicans went along. And unlike the rest of us, their paychecks did not stop when they walked off the job. Read More
Doris writes a weekly column for LaGaceta, the nation's only trilingual newspaper, which has pages in English, Spanish, and Italian. Begun in 1922 for Tampa's immigrant community, it continues to thrive more than a century later. Her column is titled "In Context," as it aims to put contemporary issues in the context of the past.
Sometimes it’s the tail that wags the dog
April 20, 2015
I was grateful for the photo of the Ruskin mailman in his gyrocopter because I wasn’t really sure what a gyrocopter is. Nor would I expect this toy-like sky vehicle to fly the distance between Gettysburg in Pennsylvania and Capitol Hill. I’m disappointed, though, that there’s been no discussion of why he chose Gettysburg for take-off: that can’t have been a coincidence. I’d like to know what he would say about that. Read More
Do we even think about learning from others?
April 13, 2015
So did you notice that the NRA (National Rifle Association) had strict gun control at its recent convention in Nashville? Not only were attendees prohibited from bringing weapons to the event center, the guns that were for sale from vendors also were incapable of being tested by potential buyers. No ammunition was available, and the event organizers even went beyond that to insist that sellers remove the firing pins from guns. This meant that even if a guy managed to slip a bullet past security, no gun there could shoot it. Read More
The historical lack of curosity about women
April 6, 2015
The most remarkable thing about the recent swearing-in of Mayor Bob Buckhorn and the Tampa City Council, I thought, was Imam Junaid Khan of New Tampa’s Islamic Society. He was on the agenda after the choir from St. John’s Progressive Missionary Baptist Church, as well as “words of wisdom” from Father Len Plazewski of Christ the King Catholic Church and from Rabbi Mendy Dubrowkski of South Tampa’s Chabad Chai. “Mendy” turned out to be a male name, so there was no gender diversity, but with a benediction by Pastor Bart Banks from the same church as the choir, there was plenty of religious diversity. Read More