Fogbow

Slim Cognito wrote: ↑Thu Jul 13, 2023 8:28 pm If Hubs wasn't tied to this trial chemo treatment in Tampa, we'd have sold and moved out a year ago.

Opinion Florida might pay for MAGA cruelty and know-nothingism
By Jennifer Rubin

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and his obedient Republican legislature have made bullying and attacking the vulnerable the hallmarks of their governance. Whether it is “don’t say gay” legislation (and retribution against Disney for supporting inclusion), denying medical care to transgender youths, muzzling teachers and professors who address systemic racism in the United States, firing a county prosecutor who dared object to DeSantis’s refusal to protect women’s bodily autonomy, or shipping unwary immigrants to other states, Florida has become not where “woke” died but rather where empathy, decency and kindness go to die.

DeSantis’s stunts frequently fail in court and cost taxpayers money. But his MAGA war on diversity and tolerance might be negatively impacting the state in other ways.

DeSantis likes to brag that more people are moving to Florida than ever. Not so fast. “An estimated 674,740 people reported that their permanent address changed from Florida to another state in 2021. That’s more than any other state, including New York or California, the two states that have received the most attention for outbound migration during the pandemic,” according to the American Community Survey released in June tracking state-by-state migration.

Moreover, Florida already is one of the states with the oldest average populations, and the MAGA culture wars risk alienating young people and the diverse workforce the state needs. In February, USA Today reported, “Florida may be the most moved to state in the country, but not when it comes to Gen Z. They are the only generation that chose to exit Florida, with an outflux of 8,000 young adults, while every other generation moved in.”

In addition, evidence points to a brain drain from Florida universities and colleges, although data is hard to come by. Records show “an upward tick in staff departures at some of Florida’s largest universities. … Across the State University System, the murmurs are getting louder: Some Florida schools are having trouble filling positions,” the Orlando Sentinel reported. “At the University of Florida, 1,087 employees resigned in 2022 — the only time in the last five years that the number exceeded 1,000.” Record numbers of faculty are not returning to University of Central Florida, Florida State University and the University of South Florida. This is hardly surprising, given DeSantis’s assault on academic independence and his suggestion that students go out of state if they want to study topics such as African American studies.

In addition, some businesses might be getting cold feet about spending convention dollars in the Sunshine State. The Sun Sentinel reported, “Broward County has lost more than a half-dozen conventions as their organizers cite the divisive political climate as their reason to stay out of Florida.” If the trend continues, the significant share of jobs and state revenue attributable to convention business could shrink. DeSantis and his supporters counter that tourism is still booming. They insist low taxes will continue to attract the wealthy and businesses.

There is little sign that the rest of the country is enamored of censorship, book bans or anti-immigrant and anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment. The question remains whether DeSantis’s act wears thin at home.

Veterans quit DeSantis’ Florida State Guard, citing militia-style training
By LAWRENCE MOWER | Tampa Bay Times
PUBLISHED: July 14, 2023 at 4:29 p.m. | UPDATED: July 14, 2023 at 4:32 p.m.

When the first recruiting class of Gov. Ron DeSantis’ new Florida State Guard showed up for training last month, they had varied experiences and expectations.

Over 30 days in June, teenagers out of high school and retired military veterans came to Camp Blanding, the National Guard base near Jacksonville. Many were told they would volunteer for a revived State Guard with a nonmilitary mission: help Floridians in times of need or disaster.

Instead, the state’s National Guard trained the volunteers for combat. Khakis and polos were replaced by camouflaged uniforms. Volunteers assured they could keep their facial hair were ordered to shave. And they were drilled on how to rappel with ropes, navigate through the woods and respond to incidents under military command.

When DeSantis announced in 2021 that he wanted to revive the long-dormant State Guard, he vowed it would help Floridians during emergencies. But in the year since its launch, key personnel and a defined mission remain elusive.

According to records reviewed by the Times/Herald and interviews with program volunteers, some recruits quit after the first training class last month because they feared it was becoming too militaristic.

Weeks into that inaugural June training, one volunteer, a disabled retired Marine Corps captain, called the local sheriff’s office to report he was battered by Florida National Guard instructors when they forcibly shoved him into a van after he questioned the program and its leadership.

Slim Cognito wrote: ↑Sat Jul 15, 2023 7:27 am It's flat as a pancake down here. Rappel down what, Splash Mountain?

AAA will not renew the auto and home insurance policies for some customers in Florida, joining a growing list of insurers dialing back their presence in the Sunshine State amid a growing risk of natural disasters.

“Unfortunately, Florida’s insurance market has become challenging in recent years,” the company said in a statement emailed to CBS MoneyWatch. “Last year’s catastrophic hurricane season contributed to an unprecedented rise in reinsurance rates, making it more costly for insurance companies to operate.”

Under Florida law, companies are required to give three months’ notice to the Office of Insurance Regulation before they tell customers their policies won’t be renewed. Already, homeowners in the state pay about three times as much for insurance coverage as the national average, and rates this year are expected to soar about 40%.

Thomas Kennedy@tomaskenn
We are witnessing the complete collapse of the property insurance market in Florida after Tallahassee lawmakers gave insurers a $2 billion dollar taxpayer funded bailout. DeSantis is now telling Floridians to “knock on wood” and to “wait it out.”

Dave from down under wrote: ↑Fri Jul 14, 2023 9:51 pm Will they get their new uniforms soon?

The only question..
Brown or Black shirts?

Slim Cognito wrote: ↑Sat Jul 15, 2023 7:27 am It's flat as a pancake down here. Rappel down what, Splash Mountain?

Frater I*I wrote: ↑Sat Jul 15, 2023 2:00 pm

Slim Cognito wrote: ↑Sat Jul 15, 2023 7:27 am It's flat as a pancake down here. Rappel down what, Splash Mountain?

RTH10260 wrote: ↑Sat Jul 15, 2023 3:21 pm

Frater I*I wrote: ↑Sat Jul 15, 2023 2:00 pm

Slim Cognito wrote: ↑Sat Jul 15, 2023 7:27 am It's flat as a pancake down here. Rappel down what, Splash Mountain?

The Disneyland Matterhorn, or is that too woke

Member of Ron DeSantis PAC Caught on Camera Saying 'F--- You, Eat My B---s' While Campaigning in South Carolina
By: Joshua Wilburn Jul. 15 2023, Published 4:00 p.m. ET

A member of a PAC supporting Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, has been caught on camera using foul language and confessing to being under the influence of marijuana, RadarOnline.com has learned. The video was posted on Friday, July 14, and shows a canvasser for the DeSantis PAC in Charleston, South Carolina, attempting to distribute flyers for the presidential hopeful.

In the video, the unnamed canvasser is seen on the phone while wearing a grey DeSantis 2024 campaign t-shirt and shorts, telling an unknown caller that if the homeowner hypothetically told him "f---you, get off my property," then "I'd be like, 'f--- you, eat my b--ls' honestly. Eat my big, hairy s--k." Then, near the end of the video clip, the canvasser was heard saying, "I'm a little stoned right now, so I don't even care."

According to Human Events, the canvasser no longer works for the Never Back Down PAC. The organization reportedly employs people to canvass for DeSantis instead of relying on volunteers. The employees are recruited through advertisements promising a wage of $20 to $22 per hour and are given eight-day training sessions in Iowa before being sent out into the field.

The Never Back Down PAC defends its strategy, stating that their 350 to 400 canvassers have already knocked on around 700,000 doors and convinced over 7,000 people to commit to caucusing for DeSantis in the crucial state of Iowa. Unlike the DeSantis campaign, Never Back Down operates independently and is able to accept unlimited donations.

orlylicious wrote: ↑Sat Jul 15, 2023 4:40 pm Shocked he didn't get a promotion.

Ron DeSantis’ presidential campaign has fired roughly a dozen staffers — and more are expected in the coming weeks as he shakes up his big-money political operations after less than two months on the campaign trail.

Those who were let go were described to NBC News by a source familiar as mid-level staffers across several departments whose departures were related to cutting costs. The exits come after the departures of David Abrams and Tucker Obenshain, veterans of DeSantis’ political orbit, which were first reported by Politico.

Sources involved with the DeSantis campaign say there is an internal assessment among some that they hired too many staffers too early, and despite bringing in $20 million during its first six weeks, it was becoming clear their costs needed to be brought down.

A Florida state guard established by the rightwing governor, Ron DeSantis, under the guise of a civilian disaster relief force is instead being trained as an armed, combat-ready militia under his personal command, according to military veteran recruits who have quit the program.

Several veterans resigned after an encampment last month having become concerned at the “militaristic” training and “abuse” one disabled veteran suffered at the hands of instructors, according to an investigation by the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times.
2023 Road To Majority Policy Conference, Washington, d.c., United States - 23 Jun 2023<br>Mandatory Credit: Photo by Bryan Olin Dozier/NurPhoto

Promoted by DeSantis as an “emergency focused, civilian defense force” when it was established in June 2022, the state guard has quickly morphed into something quite different, the report found.

Volunteers have been trained for military combat, including the use of weapons; khaki polo shirts and pants were replaced by camouflage uniforms; and recruits were “barked at” by boot camp instructors at the joint training base who woke them before dawn and imposed lights-out by 10pm.

Additionally, DeSantis’s compliant, Republican-led state legislature has contributed to the change of direction, this year approving a massive expansion in the force’s funding, size and equipment. Its budget increased from $10m to $107.5m, and its maximum size more than tripled from 400 recruits to 1,500.

On the governor’s shopping list were helicopters, boats, police powers and reportedly even cellphone-hacking technology for a force outside of federal jurisdiction, and accountable directly to him.

“The program got hijacked and turned into something that we were trying to stay away from: a militia,” Brian Newhouse, a retired navy veteran with 20 years’ experience, told the reporters.