Deep Something

Why Josie Tomkow is Wrong for Tampa

March 17, 2026 B. John 105 Views 0 Comments SD 14, Preemption, Local Autonomy, Voter Suppression, Public Education, Josie Tomkow, Tampa Politics, Home Rule

For decades, the “Home Rule” philosophy was the bedrock of Florida governance—the common-sense idea that the people who live in South Tampa and Northwest Hillsborough are better equipped to run their communities than a bureaucrat in a distant capital. But after the 2026 Legislative session, that principle isn’t just under attack; it’s being systematically dismantled. At the center of this power grab is Representative Josie Tomkow, a Polk County resident now seeking to represent Senate District 14. While her campaign paints a picture of “common sense” leadership, her voting record tells a different story: one of a reliable “yes-man” for a Tallahassee establishment that views your local autonomy as an obstacle to be cleared.

From voting to strip your city council of the power to host local cultural festivals to supporting state-level takeovers of local zoning boards, Tomkow has consistently prioritized state authority over your backyard reality. Whether it’s placing barriers at the ballot box for USF students or diverting your tax dollars away from public classrooms, her record is a blueprint for centralization. Senate District 14 doesn’t need a proxy for the Governor’s office; it needs a champion for its own streets. We’re taking a deep dive into the specific “preemption” bills Tomkow supported and why her vision for Florida is a direct threat to the independence of the Tampa Bay area.

[Read the full analysis here: The Death of Home Rule and the Rise of the Polk County Proxy]

Featured Religion Science Society Stoicism

Negative Visualization

March 14, 2026 B. John 77 Views 0 Comments personal growth, philosophy, negative visualization, Mindset, Stoicism, Resilience, Premeditatio Malorum

Most people deal with uncertainty in one of two ways. They either worry endlessly about everything that might go wrong… or they assume nothing will. Neither approach prepares us very well for real life.

The Stoics practiced something different. They called it premeditatio malorum — the premeditation of difficulties. Instead of imagining every possible disaster, they briefly considered the challenges that might realistically arise and thought about how they would respond.

This simple mental exercise doesn’t increase anxiety. It reduces it. By removing surprise, it helps us meet life’s difficulties with steadiness rather than panic.

Society Crack Pots Featured Politics Legislature Courts

McCarthy in the Mangroves: Florida’s High-Tech Return to the Red Scare

March 9, 2026 B. John 135 Views 0 Comments Constitutional Rights, Political Dissent., Florida Politics, DeSantis administration, First Amendment, HB 945, McCarthyism, Florida State Guard, Rep. Danny Alvarez, Government Surveillance, Thought Police, Red Scare, Lennard High School protest

A Flagpole, a Principal, and the New “Thought Police”
If you’ve been following the news in Hillsborough County, you’re likely familiar with the recent “scandal” at Lennard High School—or rather, the scandal that wasn’t. We watched in real-time as Representative Danny Alvarez took to social media to demand a principal’s head over a student walkout that, upon even the slightest investigation, proved to be a non-event handled with textbook safety protocols. It was a classic “Red Scare” tactic: loud, factually hollow, and designed to intimidate. But while the principal’s career was thankfully spared, the mindset behind the attack has just been codified into a terrifying piece of legislation.

HB 945 is currently moving through the Florida legislature, and it should have every citizen—regardless of party—checking their digital locks. The bill seeks to create a new counterintelligence unit with the power to monitor our “patterns of life” and target anyone whose “views or opinions” are deemed “inimical” to the state. In a “Free State” that increasingly feels like a digital panopticon, we are being asked to trust our private data to an administration that can’t even get the facts straight about a local high school gathering.

When “inimical” effectively translates to “unfavorable to the Governor,” we have moved past the era of public safety and into the era of the Thought Police. Backed by a growing, personal “State Guard” militia, this isn’t just a policy shift; it’s a constitutional five-alarm fire. I’ve written a full breakdown of why this return to McCarthyism is a danger to the very fabric of our Republic.
Click here to read “McCarthy in the Mangroves” and see why Florida’s newest law is a direct assault on the First Amendment.

Featured Stoicism

Apatheia: The Strength of a Steady Mind

March 6, 2026March 6, 2026 B. John 138 Views 0 Comments Mental Clarity, Inner Stability, Stoic Practice, Stoicism, Epictetus, Seneca, Stoic philosophy, Apatheia, Emotional Resilience

The Stoics used the word apatheia to describe a state of emotional balance. While to modern readers it may sound like apathy or indifference, this is a common misconception. Apatheia is not the absence of emotion; rather, it is freedom from destructive emotions that can overwhelm judgment and cloud perception. The key distinction is that apatheia promotes a healthy relationship with emotions, not their elimination.

Epictetus famously taught that people are not disturbed by events themselves, but by the views they take of those events. A delayed response, a harsh comment, or an unexpected setback becomes emotionally painful only after the mind interprets it as something threatening or catastrophic. In that moment, the reaction begins.

The Stoics believed that learning to question those first interpretations is one of the most powerful disciplines a person can develop. When the mind becomes steadier, the emotional storms that once dominated our lives begin to lose their power.