TampaBLAB

Every May the murder rate climbs for a long-hot summer, while a record number of young people are killed in the streets. This year the spree started early in March with four back-to-back murders in South St. Petersburg, beginning with 18-year old Levaud Landers.

In 2008, the faith community has united to do something about it!

On Thursday, May 1st 2008, the Seven x 7 movement of 49+ churches is calling thousands of people to fill up Gibbs High Football stadium in a Prayer for Peace in South St. Pete. Be there to hear the plan for street-level outreach all summer-long. Doors open at 6P for live praise directed by Music Minister Ricky Welch and at 7P for prayer. Gibbs High is located at 850 34th Street S. in St. Pete.

90 Days of Prayer
Hear About It
Gospel and Christian radio programs are getting involved to spread the word about Sevenx7. Support these show hosts. Listen in at WRXB AM 1590: Sister Diane Hughes “Total Praise” 6 am to 1 pm Mon thru Fri followed by Pastor Norma Miller “Prayze Party.”

On January 26th, the Senior Pastors of dozens of congregations agreed to bind together in prayer every Saturday at 7 am for 90 consecutive days, beginning on February 2nd.

90 Days of Prayer for Senior Pastors

Feb 2 - Word of Life Fellowship, Pastor Ellis Hodge
Feb 9 - Bethel Community Baptist, Pastor Manuel Sykes
Feb 16 - Mt Zion Progressive MB, Pastor Louis M. Murphy, Sr.
Feb 23 - St. Mark AME, Pastor Keturah Pittman
Mar 1 - Gethsemane Baptist, Pastor Ron Gibson
Mar 8 - New Beginnings Westcoast Center, Pastor Charles S. McKenzie
923 Dr. Martin Luther King Street South in St. Petersburg
Mar 15 - Genesis Worship Center, Pastor Michael Culbreth
1818 - 29th Avenue North in St. Petersburg
Mar 22 - Bethel Metropolitan MB, Pastor Rickey Houston
3755 - 26th Avenue South in St. Petersburg
Mar 29 - Gateway Christian Center, Pastor Joe Van Koevering
4355 Central Avenue in St. Petersburg
Apr 5 - Truth, Faith & Deliverance, Pastor James Holt
5120 Central Avenue in St. Petersburg
Apr 12 - Unity Temple of Truth, Pastor Prentiss Davis
511 Prescott Street South in St. Petersburg
Apr 19 - New Hope MB, Pastor Carlos Senior
2120 - 19th Street South in St. Petersburg
Apr 26 - Blanket Pinellas County with Prayer - All Churches Welcome!
(Sign your church up to walk 1-mile of the Pinellas Trail)

Another view.

On Sunday, May 4, the Johnny G. Lyon Band will kick off the Grand Finale of the annual Love Shouldn’t Hurt Poker Run and Rally at Hungry Harry’s Famous BBQ. Come party with us as we donate our time to rock the house for a great cause!
Excerpts from the press release:
On Sunday, May 4, […]

maybe more later. WRT rmildred’s rant about my looking like an asshole re: restless feminists thread at b.l.
I guess it doesn’t matter what i actually say, but from my vantage point, Amber didn’t come whining to me. She came to me to ask me if I what she’d said seemed racist and worthy of […]

Here is a reminder to Tampa Bay residents who are interested - Thursday, May 1st is the National Day of Prayer. Although the day was established using the tools of the Judeo-Christian faith, anyone can pray - however you pray - for our city, state, country, government, families, businesses, schools, etc. etc. etc.
I believe the […]

By Brendan McLaughlin

The “gas tax holiday” promoted by both John McCain and Hillary Clinton is a bad idea on so many levels, it’s hard to know where to start.  New York Times columnist, Thomas Friedman calls it

“so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away.” 

Friedman goes on to say,

 ”This is money laundering: we borrow money from China and ship it to Saudi Arabia and take a little cut for ourselves as it goes through our gas tanks. What a way to build our country.”

The economic shell game Friedman describes has been policy in the U.S. for many years, but suspending the 18.4 % federal tax on gasoline for the summer makes anyone who drives complicit in the scheme. Worse yet, the plan intended to ease the pain of high prices probably won’t. Many economists say the increased demand spurred by the lower pump price will raise the price of gas. And that money will flow to oil companies- not consumers.  State officials say the loss of the tax revenue will halt highway and bridge improvements and cost thousands of jobs.  In other words, the tax holiday is far from free.

Clinton proposes to replace  the lost revenue with a windfall tax on oil companies. McCain will go after the low hanging fruit of government waste and tax money from other sources. Good luck on that. If it’s so easy to get your hands on $10 billion dollars (that’s how much will be lost during the summer fuel fiesta), then why were we being taxed that 18% in the first place?

Imagine a world where we spent the last eight years paying a couple extra pennies for a gallon of gas. That money funded a Manhattan Project of energy independence that created low cost, solar, hydrogen and wind power.  Today we’d be enjoying cleaner air the satisfaction of telling  OPEC to suck hi-test. Instead we’re strapped to a runaway train of oil prices that will sap our personal finances and our nation’s ability to educate our children and build our future.  

Maybe it’s easy for me to advocate for continued gas taxes because I can live without the estimated savings of $2.70 per fill-up. But doesn’t it stand to reason that we might need to sacrifice something in the face of a true crisis?   I maintain that most anyone who doesn’t drive for a living could cut their gas consumption by 18.4 percent this summer just  by  thinking twice before pulling out of the garage.  Wouldn’t it be more fun to pocket that savings knowing it came out of the fetid mouths of  oil companies and despotic regimes instead of your local highway fund?

One tax expert said the gas holiday is not an idea to get us through the summer. It’s an idea to get the candidates through the election. 

Breaking news from the Times:
TAMPA — Early this morning, someone swiped a 6-foot hot dog costume from a Sonic diner on Bearss Avenue.
The hot dog costume, worth $1,600, disappeared at 3:50 a.m., according to Hillsoborough sheriff’s officials.
A witness saw a man running from the restaurant with a big hot dog suit in his arms, said […]