Shame on us! Shame on the president! Shame on the Secret Service! Shame on the Iraqis! Shame on the world that hates not only our president but all Americans in general and as person to person as well! ...more

December 23, 2008

Jennifer Ballengee's penchant for baking and love for customers of the furry kind have led her and her mother, Joanne Ballengee, down a successful career path. ...more

July 29, 2008

Finding a good dog groomer who can also photograph your pup and bake him nutritious treats is like finding a good doctor you can trust, says Sandra Simpson, who has found such a spot a few miles from her home. ...more

July 23, 2008

TAMPA - With just a few hours left in the auction for a significant piece of baseball memorabilia — the check from the New York Yankees to the Boston Red Sox purchasing the services of George Herman "Babe" Ruth — only two bids have been submitted. The sellers, Historic Auctions, a St. Petersburg-based online auctioneer, opened the bidding at $25,000, and the top bid this morning was $27,500, according to company's Web site. ...more

May 29, 2008

Ambivalence and rhetoric mix then drift here like the peach-tinted smoke from the hookah at our table. The words that rise from Abdel are like the smoke; the 30-year-old man is from the United Arab Emirates, and came to Egypt to study and be with his remaining family. He is drinking coffee in an alley cafe steps from the Mosque of Sayyidna al-Hussein, grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, thus so sacred that non-Muslims are not admitted, except when they are admitted through the side door for women, accompanied by someone with the guide skills of Abdel, shoes folded sole-to-sole under an elbow, head covered with a pashmina. Americans are welcomed at all other mosques as long as they abide by certain traditions in this nasty, noisy, niggardly and noisome city of 15 million. ...more

May 19, 2008