Tag: Florida

Closing Thought–28Feb23

Is DeSantis coming after Disney World?

The governor of Florida has taking control over the state’s institutions….he has come after individual rights,  books, education, even dogs and now he is after Disney…..”the happiest place on earth”…. but for how long?

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday savored his victory over the Walt Disney Co., selecting new members of a governing board under legislation he sought after the company objected to a parental rights bill he favored last year. “Today, the corporate kingdom finally comes to an end,” the Republican said at a Reedy Creek fire station in Lake Buena Vista, CNN reports. “There’s a new sheriff in town and accountability will be the order of the day.” The governor announced his replacements for the board, who require state Senate approval. They include DeSantis supporters such as conservative activists, a major Republican donor, and the spouse of the new chairman of the state GOP. DeSantis said the board is scheduled to meet next week, “so buckle up.”

Under the bill DeSantis signed on Monday, the board members will oversee infrastructure, services, and taxing authority for the special district that reigns over Disney’s theme parks in central Florida—clout that had belonged to the company. DeSantis hinted at exerting control over Disney’s content as well, per Deadline. “I think that all of these board members very much would like to see the type of entertainment that all families can appreciate,” he said. Members of both parties have been critical of DeSantis’ move. “Disney stepped into the fray. They lost,” former Vice President Mike Pence said last week. “But the idea of going after their taxing authority, that was beyond the scope of what I as a conservative limited government Republican would be prepared to do.”

DeSantis has become the very embodiment of the word authoritarian.

What other targets are in his demonic sights?

I Read, I Write, You KNow

“lego ergo scribo”

Is DeSantis A Racist?

Easy answer for me….yes he is!

Every time Florida’s gov opens his mouth or puts plans into action he proves to me that he is a racist.

His action show a serious dislike for brown and black people.

His newest attempt is to ban Afro-American studies from Florida’s high schools….

Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor, has rejected a new advanced placement course in African American studies from being taught on high school campuses. He argues that the course violates state law and “lacks educational value”.

This move is the latest in a series of actions to keep conversations and lessons about race, sexuality and gender identity off the state’s school campuses.

DeSantis officially banned the course in a letter from the state education department to the College Board, the organization that administers college readiness exams like the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT). They also oversee advanced placement (AP) courses, which allow students to earn college credits in subjects like English and chemistry.

In a 12 January letter to the College Board, the Florida education department said the course is “inexplicably contrary to Florida law and significantly lacks educational value”.

In the summer of 2022, the College Board announced a pilot program to “offer high school students an evidence-based introduction to African American studies” would be launching in 60 high schools across the country during the 2022-23 school year and will be set to expand to other campuses the following year.

“Like all new AP courses, AP African American Studies is undergoing a rigorous, multiyear pilot phase, collecting feedback from teachers, students, scholars and policymakers,” the College Board said in a statement.

“The process of piloting and revising course frameworks is a standard part of any new AP course and frameworks often change significantly as a result,” the statement continued.

DeSantis, a one-time Donald Trump ally, plays an active role in stoking social and political anxieties, primarily among white Americans, that stem from conversations about race and gender that occur on K-12 public school campuses. In April 2022, he signed the Stop Woke Act, which severely limits “race-based” discussions at schools.

(theguardian.com)

I think this action answers the question originally asked.

Please I would like to hear from any Floridian reader on this subject.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–25Aug22

We all have our opinion of what is happening in the state of Florida…..I would like to talk about the election that just happened….the rest can wait for a later post/s

First there is the representative that is under sex crimes investigation wins his….Matt Gaetz…..

Despite the federal sex trafficking investigation he’s facing, Matt Gaetz easily won his primary Tuesday night in Florida. The Republican congressman had 67.5% of the vote with 92% of the vote in, NBC News reports. His main GOP challenger, former FedEx exec Mark Lombardo, had 26.3%. Gaetz went hard on campaigning as well as on ads, spending $1.1 million, and he was endorsed by former President Trump. The district is among Florida’s most conservative; Trump carried it in the last presidential election by more than 33 percentage points. That means Gaetz is likely to be re-elected in the general, the Hill reports.

I am trying to wrap my head around the hypocrisy here……a Dem senator pretended to touch a woman’s breast and he is forced to resign and yet someone that may well have committed sex crimes wins his primary.

Florida is the land to contradictions…..like that in Central Florida….

The US has its first Gen Z winner of a congressional primary, NPR reports. Maxwell Frost, a progressive activist, is at 25 just old enough to serve in the House of Representatives, and he won the Democratic primary to do so in a solidly blue district in Orlando, Fla., meaning he’s also likely to win in the general election this fall. Members of Gen Z, born between 1997 and 2012, were able to run for Congress for the first time in this election, and Frost, who has worked as an organizer and activist with the ACLU and March For Our Lives, is one of the first to do so. At least one other Gen Z candidate, former Trump White House aide Karoline Leavitt, is also running in the midterms in New Hampshire, which holds its primaries next month.

Frost, whose campaign issues include the cancelation of student debt, stopping gun violence, Medicare for All, and Green New Deal, said in a statement following his victory, “Today’s election is proof that Central Florida’s working families want representation that has the courage to ask for more. I share this victory with the nurses, forklift drivers, teachers, caregivers, social workers, farmers, union organizers, cashiers, and other members of this vibrant community who supported this campaign.” He’ll face off with Republican military veteran Calvin Wimbish to fill the seat of Rep. Val Demings, who is running for Senate, ABC News reports.

It would be great to have another progressive in the House….but we need many more for a difference to be made.

Florida is interesting from a political perspective…..

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“lego ergo scribo”

Florida Bans Picketing

It is Saturday and as the weekend begins I will do my best to be as informative as I can…..since most news these is days is redundant, silly and useless……

Florida makes the news again….this time they want to ban the use of the tactic of picketing…..

Think you might stage a demonstration outside someone’s private residence in Florida later this year? Think again. The state’s governor on Monday signed a bill that will ban “picketing and protesting” outside a home when it takes effect Oct. 1, CBS News reports. “Sending unruly mobs to private residences, like we have seen with the angry crowds in front of the homes of Supreme Court justices, is inappropriate,” said Gov. Ron DeSantis in a statement, referring to the protests that have taken place over the high court’s apparent plan to overturn Roe v. Wade. “This bill will provide protection to those living in residential communities and I am glad to sign it into law.”

ClickOrlando reports that lawmakers started working on the bill in the wake of protests over George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in 2020, when protesters gathered to demonstrate outside a Windermere vacation home owned by the officer convicted in Floyd’s death. Police at the time did not have the legal right to disperse demonstrators in a residential neighborhood. When the new law takes effect, law enforcement authorities will give protesters a warning, and will only arrest anyone who does not peacefully disperse, DeSantis says. Violation of the law is a second-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to 60 days behind bars and a fine as high as $500.

Since states are attempting to eliminate the use of boycotts and other tactics like picketing I thought I would look into other stuff that is banned…..

Several things like honking a horn or high heels…..

https://www.indy100.com/news/buffalo-shooting-gun-violence-america

This article was prepared to show that some dumb stuff is banned and yet guns , the worse killer in our society, gets a free ride…..

All this is silly…..in my town it is banned from spitting on the sidewalk….

Anything silly that is banned in your town?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Welcome To Trumpistan

This is what the state of Florida should be known….Trumpistan…..thanx to the authoritarian BS by the governor….De Santis.

The gov and the Repub legislature is giving America a true look at the heart of the GOP

It has been a long and painful month in the Florida legislature for opponents of the state’s Trumpist governor Ron DeSantis and his loyal band of rightwing Republicans. A slew of bills has advanced attacking everything from diversity rights, abortion protections and free speech in schools, in addition to a proposal that would legally shield white people from feeling “discomfort” over the state’s racist past.

And last Wednesday, an anti-masker physician, hand picked by the governor and apathetic about the value of Covid-19 vaccines, was backed unanimously by a Republican senate panel as the next surgeon-general following a walk-out by Democratic politicians frustrated by Joseph Ladapo’s evasiveness.

To hear DeSantis tell it, the “freedom state” of Florida is merely following the will of a populist citizenry in defying the perceived tyranny of the federal government, determined to protect liberty in the face of a deadly pandemic that has claimed more than 64,000 of their fellow residents, and standing up against the “indoctrination” of children.

…

The issues that Republicans see as a priority for Florida are red meat to DeSantis’s conservative base. They include the 15-week abortion ban bill, which received a chaotic hearing on Thursday, and moves to give parents more say over classroom curriculum and control of school libraries. In Polk county this week, education officials went from school to school pulling 16 books flagged by a conservative parents’ group as inappropriate, including Khaled Hosseini’s 2003 bestseller The Kite Runner.

They include bills to strengthen the governor’s fierce anti-immigrant stance by locking out from state or local government business any company involved in the transportation of undocumented migrants.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/31/florida-republicans-draconian-bills

Florida is becoming the poster child for authoritarian Repubs in other Red States….

Will the voters allow this screaming trip into chaos continue?

How far will these anti-democratic forces go?

Good question right?

Is Trump and his worshipers trying to destroy democratic rule?

Yes they are!

Hows can this be?

“Citizens do believe what they are hearing and if they hear it long enough and consistently enough and if that’s all they hear, they absolutely don’t think it’s a lie, they think it’s the truth,” Walter said.

“You know, they’re good people,” she added. “They are trying to do what they think is right. It’s the leadership that’s cynical. It’s the leadership that knows better who is feeding them lies consistently. They’re priming their supporters to believe that democracy isn’t worth defending because they don’t want democracy anymore.”

We the voter need to get our collective heads out of our butts and go to the polls on election day and send these political slugs out to pasture.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–21Jan22

Do you feel guilty about anything?

Well in Florida (why is it always Florida) never fear you can be forbidden from making someone feel guilty.

A Florida bill pushed by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis to prohibit public schools and private businesses from making white people feel “discomfort” when they teach students or train employees about discrimination in the nation’s past received its first approval Tuesday. The Senate Education Committee backed the bill that takes aim at critical race theory—though it’s not mentioned explicitly—on party lines, with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed, the AP reports. Democrats argued the bill isn’t needed, would lead to frivolous lawsuits, and would amount to censorship in schools. They asked, without success, for real-life examples of teachers or businesses telling students or employees that they are racist because of their race.

“This bill’s not for Blacks, this bill was not for any other race. This was directed to make whites not feel bad about what happened years ago,” said state Sen. Shevrin Jones, who is Black. “At no point did anyone say white people should be held responsible for what happened, but what I would ask my white counterparts is, are you an enabler of what happened or are you going to say we must talk about history?” DeSantis held a news conference last month in which he called critical race theory “crap” and said he would seek legislation that would allow parents to sue schools and employees to sue employers if they were subject to such teachings.

Critical race theory is a way of thinking about US history through the lens of racism. The bill reads in part: “An individual, by virtue of his or her race or sex, does not bear responsibility for actions committed in the past by other members of the same race or sex. An individual should not be made to feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress on account of his or her race.” Republican Sen. Manny Diaz, the bill’s sponsor, said it is not about ignoring the “dark” parts of American history, but rather ensuring that people are not blamed for sins of the past. The bill now heads to Senate debate, per ABC News.

Just another waste of time by a damn Repub….this does nothing to improve the society and move the state forward…..just another wedge issue to keep the slobbering Right in tow.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–15Dec21

WE all have heard about the ‘stolen’ election through voter fraud….it is all the GOP really has to give to the people….a Big Lie……but you know the news I read about actual voter fraud then GOPers seem to be in the think of things.

Of course the newest accusations of voter fraud comes out of Florida (go figure)……

Texas Lt. Gov Dan Patrick might have to cough up another voter fraud bounty: Three residents of a retirement community in central Florida have been arrested for allegedly voting more than once in the 2020 election, Orlando Weekly reports. Jay Ketcik, Joan Halstead, and John Rider are each accused of casting an out-of-state absentee ballot as well as voting in Florida. All three suspects are residents of The Villages in Florida’s Sumter County, but authorities say there’s no sign that they knew each other. WKMG reports that all three are registered Republicans and there are pro-Donald Trump posts on Facebook pages believed to belong to Halstead and Ketcik.

According to court records, Ketcik, 63, and Halstead, 71, turned themselves in at the Sumter County Jail; Rider, 61, was arrested at the Royal Caribbean cruise terminal in Brevard County on Dec. 3. All three are charged with casting more than one ballot in an election, a felony with a maximum sentence of up to 5 years in prison. WKMG notes that arrests for alleged election fraud are very rare in the region: Records show there were no arrests for casting multiple ballots in Brevard, Lake, Marion, or Sumter counties between 2000 and 2020.

Typical…ig the GOP accuses someone of something, anything, then there is a good chance they are guilty of the same offense and are trying to deflect from their criminality.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–25Jun21

I thought Texas was about the worse state government in this country….sadly Florida is closing in on that distinction……

If that idiot Ron DeSantis gets his moronic way,,,,professors ans students will have to declare their political sway……

Public universities in Florida will be required to survey both faculty and students on their political beliefs and viewpoints, with the institutions at risk of losing their funding if the responses are not satisfactory to the state’s Republican-led legislature. 

The unprecedented project, which was tucked into a law signed Tuesday by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, is part of a long-running, nationwide right-wing push to promote “intellectual diversity” on campuses — though worries over a lack of details on the survey’s privacy protections, and questions over what the results may ultimately be used for, hover over the venture.

Based on the bill’s language, survey responses will not necessarily be anonymous — sparking worries among many professors and other university staff that they may be targeted, held back in their careers or even fired for their beliefs. 

https://www.salon.com/2021/06/23/desantis-signs-bill-requiring-florida-students-professors-to-register-political-views-with-state/

Seriously?

What will they do to me if I refuse to register my political views?

Mr. DeSantis……BITE ME!

This could become a thing for all Red legislatures….but sorry my political views are just that….MINE!

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Florida!

The state of Florida is having a terrible week……after kissing Trump’s ass the governor hurriedly open the state for all sorts of activities……and then the news started rolling in…..and the governor had to back track on his previous BS on how safe the state was during the pandemic.

Florida state deaths and cases are rising…..

On another front…..a brain eating amoeba has been found it Florida…..

The brain-eating amoeba has resurfaced in Florida. The state’s Health Department has confirmed the case, saying only that the patient is in Hillsborough County. Naegleria fowleri usually is found in warm freshwater environments, including ponds, rivers and lakes. The state did not say where the infection was contracted, the Tampa Bay Times reports. More common in the South and usually fatal, the infection can destroy brain tissue. Florida has reported 37 cases since 1962. Symptoms can include fever, nausea, hallucinations, headaches and seizures. Nationally, only four of the 143 people known to have become infected survived.

“Adverse health effects on humans can be prevented by avoiding nasal contact with the waters, since the amoeba enters through nasal passages,” the Health Department said. The agency’s advice included suggesting swimmers pinch their nose when in warm freshwater, per CNN. Bodies of warm freshwater near power plants should be avoided, as should any shallow areas when the water temperature is high. For people rinsing congested sinuses, the state said, a neti pot can be a problem. “Use only boiled and cooled, distilled, or sterile water for making sinus rinse solutions for neti pots or performing ritual ablutions,” the Health Department said.

Sorry but not to worry….the amoeba will go hungry.  (Sorry I could not resit the shot)

On the news front about the pandemic…..just when the news is dire about the next wave we are told that it is airborne…..

The WHO still won’t call the coronavirus airborne, even though evidence increasingly shows it is indeed transmissible that way and experts have been warning for months that more attention needs to be paid to transmission via aerosols. Now, 239 scientists from more than 30 countries have published an open letter to the health agency urging it to reconsider its official stance on the matter, which currently states only that the research is inconclusive. “There is no incontrovertible proof that SARS-CoV-2 travels or is transmitted significantly by aerosols, but there is absolutely no evidence that it’s not,” one doctor tells the New York Times. “So at the moment we have to make a decision in the face of uncertainty, and my goodness, it’s going to be a disastrous decision if we get it wrong. So why not just mask up for a few weeks, just in case?”

The WHO’s official stance is that the virus that causes COVID-19 is transmitted via larger respiratory droplets, which typically can only travel about 6 feet before they fall to the ground. Aerosols, on the other hand, are smaller particles that can travel much longer distances and linger in the air, meaning that if the virus is transmitted that way, crowded indoor spaces, especially those with poor ventilation, are a big risk even when social distancing can be maintained. That means more measures (from masks to upgraded air filters and UV lights) may be necessary for true protection. “WHO’s credibility is being undermined through a steady drip-drip of confusing messages, including asymptomatic spread, the use of masks, and now airborne transmission,” one expert tells the Washington Post. The Times has much more, including how a “dated” definition of airborne transmission might be contributing and why it’s difficult to study aerosols

The news just keeps getting worse…..as opposed to the reports that Donald the Orange is giving his supporters….it will not be long before we reach 3 million cases…..and according to Trump that is something to be proud of these days…

Please someone explain to me how 3 million cases is good news.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Date For Acceptance

Since Trump has tuck tail and ran from North Carolina for the GOP convention…..a city has won the sweepstakes to be the place for his, Trump, acceptance speech and the place for more virus….Jacksonville, Florida…..

Jacksonville, Florida, has been selected to host the celebration marking President Trump’s acceptance of his party’s nomination for reelection, the Republican National Committee chairwoman said Thursday. Ronna McDaniel made the announcement a day after saying that Jacksonville was a front-runner to hold the event. The governor of North Carolina, the official host of this summer’s Republican National Convention, had balked at promising Trump a full-blown convention in Charlotte free from social distancing measures during the coronavirus pandemic. “We are thrilled to celebrate this momentous occasion in the great city of Jacksonville,” McDaniel said, per the AP. “Not only does Florida hold a special place in President Trump’s heart as his home state, but it is crucial in the path to victory in 2020. We look forward to bringing this great celebration and economic boon to the Sunshine State in just a few short months.”

McDaniel said the event would be held at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, which holds 15,000 people. She said more details would be released in the coming weeks. The party’s more mundane business, including discussions over the platform, will still be held in Charlotte because of contractual obligations. The RNC had spent the last week scouting locations after North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper rejected Trump’s demand that the convention be allowed to take place Aug. 24-27 without social distancing measures. “Florida is honored to host this special event where we will celebrate the re-nomination of President Donald J. Trump,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said. “Jacksonville is a great city that will showcase Florida’s energy, facilities, entrepreneurship and commitment to bring together the delegates of the Republican Party at a historic time in our nation’s history.”

Trump’s speech should be on 27August and yet that date in Jacksonville is nothing to be proud of…..violence in 1960…….ever heard of “Axe Handle Saturday”?

On a sweltering summer day 50 years ago, the street outside was shattered with screams and spattered with blood.

Black youth, attempting to sit down at a whites-only lunch counter for hamburgers and egg salad sandwiches, were accosted by an angry mob wielding ax handles.

And suddenly, all of downtown became a melee, leaving dozens of bystanders wounded – and giving Jacksonville a national reputation for violence.

Aug. 27, 1960, now known as Ax Handle Saturday, became a turning point in the city’s race relations. Half a century later, some are hoping it again will be a rallying cry.

https://www.jacksonville.com/article/20100822/NEWS/801246165

(More on this historic event on the day…stay tuned)

The lack of empathy by Trump and the governor is illustrates and strengthen the narrative that the GOP is a racist group that holds NO care for the black population.

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“lego ergo scribo”