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We spend the time talking about blogging -- how, why, and where. Members are known to take the conversations far afield. Yes, "conversations". This isn't the traditional one member speaks at a time kind of meeting. We split up into small groups to chat.

It's a restaurant and you can eat, drink, and be merry if you wish. If you plan to come please do me a favor and email me so I can call the restaurant with an idea oh how many will attend.

Please email me at meeting [at] lakelandlocal.com if you plan to attend.

Thanks.

Details:

July 28, 2008
6:30 to 8:30
at Mimi's Cafe
3770 Lakeside Village Court
Lakeland FL

Now that organizations who used to use my maps are making their own, I decided to revamp the process. That coincided with some major changes I decided to make with Lakeland Local.

So I decided to debut all the changes together.

Look Tuesday afternoon for Lakeland Local 2.1

The first clue is an excessive amount of dead lower leaves; more than what is normally seen with aging (senescence) or nutrient deficiencies. The second clue is death of the spear leaf, prior to death of all other leaves in the canopy. Eventually, the palm canopy will collapse around the trunk as the bud decays. -- Naples Daily News

Officials believe the phytoplasma pathogen that caused problems with the Texas Phoenix palm may be affecting cabbage palms. They feel it will be easier to detect the problem in natural areas, or palms with "relatively large canopy."

For an extensive account of the disease's process and how you can check your palms see the article at naplesnews.com

Remember that cabbage palms die or appear unhealthy from a variety of problems: lightning, nutrient deficiencies, over-trimming, deep planting, insects, other diseases such as ganoderma butt rot, herbicides (roadside vegetation management) and fires (natural or prescribed burns). Only palms with the symptoms described above should be sampled for lab analysis of this new pathogen.

The Polk County Bloggers, a not-for-profit, bylaws free, organization sans leadership, is happy to announce a meeting today for area bloggers, citizen journalists, paid journalists privileged to write blogs, business bloggers, and anyone with an hour to spare.

July 21, 2008
Noon to 1 pm
at the Lakeland Area Chamber of Commerce
(Yes, you read that correctly.)
35 Lake Morton Drive
Lakeland, FL

This meeting is focused on the business that blogs, hopes to blog, or wonders why customers always ask for the company "blog." It doesn't matter if your company is for profit, not for profit, or wondering what this "profit" thing is that everyone talks about. We'll mainly discuss some of the problems and opportunities blogging brings to your business, but the floor is open to any of your questions.

See you there!

Wxw! xnxqqxr sxqz, x mxxn sxaxqzxr sxxux. uxn'q bxaxxvx x qxvx qqx xnau uxmmxnq...gxxss uxx qxvx xbxxq qqx sxmx xmxxnq xf rxxdxrs xs xawxus Dxaa.

I obscured and published a comment that was sent with a fake name and email address. I figure if you can't stand behind your comment, then why should I publish it?

Billy called and asked that I let the comment through. He wanted to make sure people didn't think we were blocking or removing comments because they were negative.

I've had negative comments. I don't mind them as long as they're from someone willing to sign their name. I've had that policy as long as I've had a web site...long before Lakeland Local.

This time I agreed to publish the comment with a caveat: this is the only time. After today I will again follow my policy to refuse to publish any comments you're not prepared to back up. Does that mean you have to use your full name? No. I will accept an email address that I, and only I, will see. If it is your address and I can confirm it...you can use what name you like.

So, what was the comment? Actually the person posted twice within four minutes. Here they both are:

12:17 Wow! Another Putz I mean Pulitzer piece! Can't believe i'm the only response....Guess you have about the same amount of readers Dill.

12:21 Wow! Another Putz, I mean Pulitzer piece. Can't believe I have the
only comment...guess you have about the same amount of readers as
always Dill.

As you can see, it really wasn't worth the time to publish it.

I came across an odd campaign mailer today. It's a glossy, professionally-produced piece. On the front it reads, "JD ALEXANDER STEPPED UP AND JOINED THE FIGHT." Flip it over, and it continues: "When Bartow residents needed help in their fight to keep "stinky garbage" out of their neighborhoods..."

There's a Ledger pullout quote from June 10 quoting JD as saying "...we don't need stinky stuff a mile and a half a from the downtown of our county seat." Imagine that, the champion of turning 60 into the mother of all truck stops is a NIMBY.

I assumed at first that it was a JD campaign mailer. He's advertising more than Barack Obama on local television these days. (Every time I procrastinate at the gym, I look up, and there he is on the wall of televisions, saying something in closed captioning about "helping." Nothing about all his work for Atlantic Blue or Highlands Cassidy or Phoenix or the Heartland distribution node on 60, but whatever, it's a campaign, and I digress.) But the mailer's not from his campaign, as a quick second look can tell. The man in the family picture on the front isn't JD at all. He looks a lot more like Anderson Cooper actually.

No, this mailer is, in fact, an "electioneering communication" paid for by "Floridians for Conservative Values," one of those shadowy third-party shell groups designed to funnel money to campaigns without funneling money to campaigns. This one should really be called "Floridians for Sugary Values." U.S. Sugar has contributed $135,000 of the shell's $271,000 raised since 2006. Florida Crystals Corporation kicked in $80,000.

All of this leaves me with a thought: It's awfully decent of U.S. Sugar to have such regard for Bartow, particularly at a time when the company has been negotiating its own billion dollar demise.

Now, the cynics among you might question the company's sincerity. What's that you say, maybe Big Sugar just likes having a big corporate ally working in Tally? Maybe all JD's TV advertising and Tallahassee fundraising and third-party mailers (four months before election day) show a case of the nerves brought on by the late-breaking candidacy of Scott Thompson of Winter Haven. Maybe they've heard the same rumors I've heard of bad polling.

It would be a shame to think Floridians for Ulterior Motives, errr Conservative Values, isn't altruistic. So say it ain't so those of you in JD's orbit. Come on Jack, Sam, Seth, Twyla, or anybody else, drop me an email at bi_town1@hotmail.com, and tell me JD ain't scared.