Tampa Taxi Shots

Occupy Tampa Movement Is Not Giving Up Under Police Harassment

Occupy Tampa Protesters before sunrise

Ronald Reagan once saw a hippie holding a sign that said "Make love, not war." Reagan said to Nancy that he did not believe that man was capable of either. He was no threat, and either are the Occupy Tampa protestors. 

I know harassment when I see it. I was driving by Curtis Hixon Park at six in the morning, on my way to the Howard Johnson's to drop off a fare. There were police lights in front of the park - where an hour earlier I saw protesters sleeping. They were not disturbing anyone. The police were now disturbing them.

They do this every morning. Lets just say they are an over paid wake up service. This is a shame.

I dropped my fare off and went right back and parked across the street and pulled my camera out. With all the humidity in the air, my lens fogged. Too bad. I go some great shots of the cops harassing the kids. Unfortunately, the images were too blurred to see anything.

After the cops finished their civic duty for the day, they left in a hurry. They know people have digital devices with them and they don't want any images going viral. Plus, it was a Saturday morning and that is when the cops like to set up speed traps to right cheap tickets to make their quota's. I wonder if these guys can actually earn their pay by having a shootout with a real criminal.

What Dennis told me was after the cops made them get rid of all their water and food Friday, they came back latter and said they could now have this stuff again. The cops are not following any city ordinances. They can't site any code violations. They are not civil rights lawyers. They are mealy people who are paid to screw with the public.

These kids will not be deterred. We have been dealt a bad hand, and they know it. These movements will not just go away. They were 'flyiing their signs' as soon as the cops left. It was cold; it was wet; I felt a little sorry for them. However, they are more determined then ever.

Occupy Tampa May Be Over With Police Clearing The Park

The police went to downtown this morning and cleared Curtis Hixon Park of the Occupy Tampa crowd (there was only a dozen of them). This movement may have taken hold if the people who showed up for the marches actually 'occupied Tampa.' I guess they had to get back to their jobs and continue to be exployeted by the corporete world.

This is what I saw last Sunday when I interviewed many of the crowd.

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I stopped by the Occupy Tampa movement downtown at Curtis Hixon Park. I wanted to talk to the demonstrators and find out some of their views. Where they a bunch of liberals hanging out in the park? Where they a bunch of unemployed college students who voted for Obama in 2008, and now, can’t find a job? Speaking of Obama, why do none of the signs across America not mention Obama? I wanted to find this out for myself.

Notice the red tape on the sidewalk

I found a parking space (Sunday the only day you can do that) and walked over. I met a group of people who had set up a make shift open air office and logistical center on the sidewalk in front of the park. The people seemed friendly and easy to talk to.

I noticed the amount of food, sandwiches, and bottle water they had. They said many people come by all day long and give them supplies. Without that, they would not be able to camp out. I asked them if they needed anything and blankets was something they could really use. The last few nights have been cold. That was not their primary concern, however. It was the Tampa police.

They told me they were clearly the victims of police intimidation tactics. The police were making up the rules as they went along. There were clearly maked boundries on the sidewalk where they must sleep. The protestors don’t like sleeping there because they are afraid a car might jump the curb at night and kill someone. They have had a beer bottle thrown at them which hit a girl. They want to be able to sleep further back on the grass, but for some reason, the cops won’t let them. Someone does not want them there.

Most of the people had an individual story of being under employed or out of work. Many had large student loan debt and were finding it hard to make payments on a seven dollar an hour job. They were frustrated with an economic system they felt was corrupt with the deck stacked for the privileged.

Nick with a hot coffee donated by the publc

I talked with this young man Nick, who after college found himself delivering pizzas. His belief was that the pizza company was raising the price of delivery (which cut into his tips) to cover the cost of insurance that Obamacare was requiring him to pay. Nick believed all companies would only pass the cost of doing business onto the customers, so nobody benefits. He clearly did not have good things to say about Obama. That surprised me. They 'End the Fed' signs they had are from the Ron Paul Alex Jones playbook.

some of the signs they are using

I asked him why none of the signs mentioned Obama. Another guy interrupted by saying the ‘illuminati’ runs people’s lives. Nick and others were Ron Paul supporters and he believed that was true nationwide. Obama has been marginalized by other forces, and is a non-player at this point. Interesting.

Nick, and others, are followers of Alex Jones and his website Prison Planet. This was not what I expected.

Trouble with TypePad...sometimes

My connection is sometimes to weak at home to access my TypePad account. That is why you should visit this shadow blog of five years www.tampataxishots.info This is on Blogger and I have no problems with it. I  have kept this blog since 2007 and it has much of the material that this blog has. Blogger is constanly updating its features. Sadly, Typepad does not. 

Godaddy offered me the URL above of www.tampataxishots.info for only 69 cents with an email. How do you turn that down?

When I can't afford to pay for this blog and it is down for a week or two, go to the 'info' blog and you can keep up. Thanks for your understanding.

Tim Fasano

New Taxi Place

The new place is www.tampataxishots.info  and www.tropicoftampa.blogspot.com I need to switch my urls over from Godaddy but they have now expired (just one more that I owe money too). I want keep this Tim Fasano's Blog or something. Sorry about all the changes ut Blogger offers so much more. And its free!

This Dog Was trying to eat me

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My New Ride

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It is a six banger with good gas mileage. The engine in the other taxi was dying. This one can hold a lot of luggage which will help during the season.

A Tropical Storm Moving Over Florida

An October Tropical Storm is moving up the Florida Peninsula over the next couple of days. It should dump several inches of rain with predicted flooding. This will not be a good time for any outside activities. The taxi business can be good to a certain point. After the streets flood...forget about it.

This is why all camping trips really should wait until November. The problem is that people have been waiting for months, and they just want to get going with this during the colder weather.

It should be in the 50's by Friday. Now how Cool is that!

Tampa Nature Trail Closed Due To Toxic Waste From Military

Pam Callahan Memorial park Town & Country

I have enjoyed the Pam Callahan nature trail for years. I never knew that it was once part of an old Army Corp. bombing range and that there were toxic chemical in the ground. That may explain why I got very sick the last time I went when I took these photographs. 


Between 1940 and 1947 it was part of the Drew Field bombing range. According to the Army corps of engineers the surface water and soil sediment now pose a "human health and ecological risk." In fact, test show there may be unexploded ordinance in the park! I never knew that while I was enjoying a very peaceful fall day on the hiking tail.


The trial head in on Memorial Highway but it is not easy to see. Many people live and commute for years and never know it is there. I have never seen anyone else out there. 


You have to park on the side of the road and there is a gate that is locked but you can easily go around it. This seemed to be a maintained trail. It looked freshly mowed. The trail goes strait into the wet lands that are along the bay. One thing you notice is after only a few hundred feet off the main road, you think you are in the middle of nowhere. There is an apartment complex to the right and a major airport nearby, but you still have that isolated feel.degrees, a very nice day. I took a lot of pictures on the 0.7 mile hike out to a plaque the memorializes the lady that the trail is named after. It is posted on a large granite rock and points out that she spearheaded a grass roots efforts to save this part of Tampa from the land developers. She was able to "Fight city hall." Unfortunately she passed away in 1993 and did not live to see this trail named in her honor. I could look around from the end of the trail and still could not believe how close I was to civilization.

Taxi parked at the trail head

 

I noticed fiddler crabs on the path (I am glad I had on hiking boots). I also saw a hawk swoop down, but I did not have my camera ready to take his photo.  There are several side trails that expose hardwood pine areas. I got some photos of some interesting flora. I have no real idea what it is. I am sure there is poison ivy out there. so be careful.

 

If you are driving by and have some time. This is a real peaceful hike. Just watch out for the fiddler crabs!

I have made a new photo album of this shoot. You can go below and see the images of the trail.

Tampa Loses Bid For 2015 Super Bowl To Arizona - That Sucks

Arizona was awarded the 2015 Super Bowl today. This sucks in many ways for cab drivers and local business. There is nothing like a Super Bowl to stimulate a local economy. I have worked two of them, and made big money. I wish it was here every year, but we are not the only location that has good weather.  Tampa has been a player in Super Bowls from the early days of the event. In fact, we have hosted four, including the famous "Black Sunday" game when the Raiders killed the Redskins in 1984.

Al Davis receiving the Lombardi Trophy in Tampa 1984

There is nothing like winning a Super Bowl. Tampa won one once in 2003; that seems like so long ago. The big game has now become an unofficial American holiday. The specticle that surrounds it makes it the biggest sporting event in the world. In 1984 it was not that big. Players used cabs to go to the stadium and the game was on at 1:00 in the afternoon like any other normal game. It is now the most watched event on television and on during prime time. It is so big that advertisers launch campaigns with the now famous "Super Bowl" commercials. 

I expect we will get the game again,in the future. I hope to be long gone from the taxi business by then. I just don't have the energy to keep kicking this dead dog called the cab business in Tampa Florida. The fact that Arizona gets it really reminds me of how poor things are.

I used to go to Arizona twice a year to attend the AZshootout. I have not been able to go since 2007 because there just is not money. I never could have imagined it would have gone on this long. 

We do, however, have the 2012 Republican Convention coming to Tampa. My understanding is that the economic impact is the same as a Super Bowl. So, that will be something that could be of a real help  next August during the slow season for tourism. 

I am just tired of putting my life on hold and waiting for a better day. I need to find a way to make the days better myself without waiting for things to just magically turn around. 

Thanks, but no thanks NFL. 2015 is too far off to even matter at this point. 

 

Public Transportation Ridership is up worldwide- except Taxi Cabs

Public transportaion ridership is up except taxi cabs and that is world-wide. It sems in this economy that is collapsing all over the world, people just cannot afford to use taxi cabs. I received an interesting comment yesterday and i will share it here.

"All major modes of public transportation saw increases, except for taxis; that is not only here, but world wide. HART reports a spike in ridership on Saturdays and Sundays. That says to me people are riding buses even when not going to work. (Instead of spening $20.00 on a cab, I can spend $2.00) I think things are going to get significantly worse before they get better. For example, Greece will default on there debts and will exit from the Euro Zone; stocks and bonds will drop like a hot potatoe. That will be the start of some really rough times; if it's over within six months, I would be very surprised. After that, a big U.S., bank will go under; things will get lean and mean; unemployment will spike to near Great Depression numbers. If you think it's slow driving a cab now, just hang around. The health sector of the United Cab will always be there; wheelchair vans will always have business, as they undercut all rivals. That's what I'd be shooting for. One, it's safe, and I'd be always making money."

This is very scary. The taxi companies want to expand and they will on the backs of drivers that are willing to work 24 hours a day to make them money. Many of the drivers have given their lives for this business. They paid the ultimate sacrifice. I can see this coming with many drivers who simply have no vision of themselves outside of the cab. This is very sad.

Flugtag In Tampa Bay Only United States Event In 2011

I have no idea why 100,000 people showed up for an evnt called Flugtag produced by Red Bull. I guess there is not much to do in Tampa during October when the weather is getting cooler. Flugtag is German for "flying days." That's the problem; nobody flies. All they do is crash off the end of a pier into the water without ever getting airborne. Red Bull says their product "gives you wings." Yea. Seems like a waste of time.

This was the only United States event this year. There were teams from all over the world at this event willing to launch their crafts off a diving board for five seconds. Some of them took months to build their flying machines. The wind was gusting today up to 20MPH; I was hoping some of these planes would catch big air and take off. That did not happen.

It really does not matter to Red Bull. As long as they can draw these crowds, they will continue to sell hugh amounts of energy drinks that people have been brainwased by advertisers to buy. they have convinced an entire generation that they are out of energy, and need the Red Bull product.

I don't know how the people got down to the Convention Center becasue we got very few calls at United Cab today. I did not even put 100 miles on the cab. I was hoping to make money. That really sucked.

They should go save the whales or something or "Occupy Wall Street."

Occupy Tampa Takes Over Downtown Tampa Protesting Wall Street Greed

The protesters began to show up after the lunch hour. I thought they would be out all day; I thought they would be camping in Gaslight Park. I hear the police will not let them, so they have to leave and return the next day. No problem, this means they can drink in the bars all night.

Most of them seem to be coming from the University of Tampa. Could it be they are just young, bored and looking for a little excitement? They should be studying finance so they can become part of that 1% they are railing about.

Hippy protesters seen from the taxi downtown Tampa

I picked up a fair that wanted to go downtown Tampa and see the protesters. At the time we were there, we really had to look hard to see them. I think for this demonstration to work, they will have to really "Occupy" the downtown area but that would mean they cannot drink, screw and order pizza. Protesting comes with sacrifice.

The movement is new and perhaps it will work, with time. I am already making some money off of this event, so that is cool. I shot a video and put in up on Youtube. You can see it here.

Nice Today In Tampa Bay

The first cold front of the season is moving into Florida this weekend. I think it has something to do with the Boston Redsox but I am not sure. The Rays did win last night in Texas 9-0. The cool breeze must because of how cool the pitcher Matt Moore was in his lights out effort against the Rangers. He was outstanding. I am posting this with a cell phone because my internet has been cut off. I hope to be back up this nice weekend.