Ron DeSantis

[raison de arizona]

Ron DeSantis says Florida colleges are "Harvard for the unwoke now"

[Ben-Prime]

Ron DeSantis says Florida colleges are "Harvard for the unwoke now"

Y'know, I hate saying this, but Ron has changed my mind on one thing.

See, I spent from 1990 to 1995 bouncing between various graduate and postbac programs at the University of Florida. Because I was young (I started those grad studies at 20) and a dilettante with a wide range of interests, and distracted by personal issues like my childhood sweetheart deciding to marry someone else (which, yeah, ended up being a gut punch lasting several years as I rebounded into one bad romance, then the next, then the next), I ended up not being able to focus on any one program. I bounced from program to program to program and eventually the university got fed up with me and asked me not to return. They literally changed the rules in mid-program for the postbac status I was in, and applied them retroactively, and told me to get lost. Since I was the ONLY postbac student in the program I was in at the time, it felt personal. It was the low point of my life, since my family then refused me any more grace, kicked me out of a home I co-owned because I couldn't afford my share of the payments on it, and forced me to leave a city which -- despite the university -- I had come to love for a social group that had been my primary emotional support.

I have always been ashamed that it took me until my mid-40s to go back to school for that master's degree, in a distance learning program, while working full-time.

Now, I wouldn't accept a degree from a public state college or state university in Florida if you paid me. FIT? Okay. UM? Sure. Embry-Riddle? Why not? But if UF called me tomorrow and said "Hey, buddy, we've looked over these old records and we realize we really did you dirty and we'd like to invite you to re-enroll, and given your years of experience since then, we'll admit you directly to graduate status instead of making you take all that postbac coursework on probation now," I'd say "Nah." And this is despite the fact that I *do* intend to earn that degree or a similar one some day, since more than one boss in the Foreign Service has told me I should teach that particular subject after I retire from this phase of my life.

But at this point, my current home state, where I own property, where I have set down roots, is looking more and more like poison to me. And it makes me glad my son likewise escaped that trap and fled back to his mother's side of the family in NH a few years ago.

[raison de arizona]

Word on the bird site is that DIsney bent DeSantis over, kicked him in the butt, and took his candy. Will have to look for some deeper analysis.

Disney, Florida's DeSantis end spat with deal on 15-year expansion plan

Disney (DIS.N), opens new tab and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis have put an end to their feud with a deal that allows the entertainment giant to develop the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando for the next 15 years.

DeSantis and Disney, one of Florida's biggest employers, had been embroiled in a dispute since 2022, when former Disney CEO Bob Chapek criticized a state legislative effort to limit classroom discussion of sexuality and gender issues for younger students. Critics described it as the "Don't Say Gay" law.

Under the agreement with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, Disney said it would spend at least $8 billion at the resort over a decade with a total of $17 billion invested over 10 to 20 years.

It will also expand an affordable housing initiative and ensure at least 50% of its total spending in the expansion goes to Florida businesses, according to the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

The agreement also gives Disney the ability to build a fifth theme park, expand retail and office space and add about 14,000 hotel rooms for a resort total of nearly 54,000.

Disney President Jeff Vahle said in a statement the new agreement "paves the way for us to invest billions of dollars in Walt Disney World Resort".

The agreement comes after Disney and appointees of Ron DeSantis reached a settlement in March to end a high-profile lawsuit in state court over control of the special district that includes the Walt Disney World theme parks.

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/disney ... 024-06-13/

[RTH10260]

With a ten to twenty year horizon Disney is likely calculating that Desantis will no longer be in office and they will be able to do business as usual. And employees and tourists will come back (IFF they current state policies even made a dent).

[neonzx]

With a ten to twenty year horizon Disney is likely calculating that Desantis will no longer be in office and they will be able to do business as usual. And employees and tourists will come back (IFF they current state policies even made a dent).

The employees and tourists never left. Desantis overplayed his hand..

[raison de arizona]

As if. He'll spit in the eye, and still demand full renumeration.

[RTH10260]

I bet he got some water in the white boots

[RTH10260]

‘Florida loves prison labor’: why most incarcerated people still work for free in the Sunshine state
Many prisoners clean toilets and prep food with no pay – as the state charges $50 a day for their incarceration

Michael Sainato
Fri 21 Jun 2024 13.00 CEST

A $9bn food services company is using prisoners to make meals for other prisoners that can cost up to $30 – but it’s not paying them.

Food service provider Aramark runs a prison program called In2Work that hasn’t been paying prisoners for the work they’ve been doing for the company. The work includes making premium meals that family and friends can purchase for their loved ones in prison.

Julius Smith, 36, who entered the Florida state prison system at the age of 18 in 2008, said the state of affairs was all too common. “If we don’t do the work, then the prison does not operate,” said Smith, who is currently imprisoned in Florida. “I feel like people who go to prison should be paid like other people in states where they work. If inmates got paid, they could take care of themselves instead of resorting to extreme measures to get the things they need,” he said.

Smith has worked a job in whichever prison he’s been held in since he was first incarcerated. He has never been paid for the work he’s done. He currently works as a houseman, in charge of dormitory cleaning.

“In2Work was supposed to be giving inmates jobs. They said inmates were supposed to get paid for the work, but this program has been running half a year and not one inmate has been paid,” he said.

In April 2024, the California supreme court dismissed a lawsuit filed against Aramark by prisoners in California over the lack of compensation for the work they do for the company. The ruling stated that Aramark and Alameda county are not bound by state minimum wage laws. Aramark did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Aramark is far from alone in taking advantage of free prison labor. A 2022 report by the ACLU found workers in prison produce $2bn in goods and $9bn in services annually to prison systems in the US, but prisoners receive no or very little compensation for this labor.



https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/art ... ison-labor

[raison de arizona]

You literally can’t make this stuff up…

The Florida Department Of Education has finally revealed their list of approved books for the year.

They have misspelled the words for "9th" and "12th" more than 60 times throughout.

“Nineth” and “Twelth”.

This is why we need MORE funding for education, not less, you stoopid morans.

This is particularly hilarious because spell check underlines mis-spelled words on excel spreadsheets.

[pipistrelle]

Supposedly not true.

[raison de arizona]

Not entirely sure what to believe here, but DeSantis is a pretty bad dude so I expect him making everything up is on the table.

Ex-FDLE chief of staff says he was forced to resign for defying illegal DeSantis orders

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered illegal surveillance of immigrants and ignored concerns that relocating them from Texas to another state could be considered kidnapping or false imprisonment, the former chief of staff at the state’s top law enforcement agency said in a whistleblower lawsuit.

DeSantis also ordered the arrests of neo-Nazi demonstrators who weren’t breaking the law, former Florida Department of Law Enforcement Chief of Staff Shane Desguin said in a lawsuit filed this week in Leon County Circuit Court.

Desguin said the administration retaliated against him with an internal investigation that claimed he had a sexual relationship with a subordinate and recklessly pointed his unloaded gun at a coworker in an impromptu lesson on how to defend against an armed attacker.

The investigation happened as a result of Desguin reporting violations of rules, regulations or laws and malfeasance, and his forced resignation was retaliation for failing to comply with those orders, the lawsuit said.

https://wsvn.com/news/local/florida/ex- ... is-orders/

[RVInit]

DeSantis signed legislation this morning regarding homelessness

• Homeless individuals are prohibited from camping on city streets, sidewalks, and parks—and instead placed in temporary shelters monitored by law enforcement agencies.
  
  The state of Florida has the enforcement tools needed to ensure local governments comply.
  
  Homeless shelters will require occupants to not use drugs. (This is already true)
  
  These shelters will also include substance abuse and mental health treatments. yeah, I believe that

Oh, wait, there's more:

• It directs the Department of Children and Families to authorize temporary campsites that do the following: (Because they aren't already overworked and stretched thin)
  
  Maintain sanitation, including access to clean and operable restrooms and running water.
  
  Provide access to substance abuse and mental health treatment resources through coordination with the regional managing entity.
  
  Prohibit illegal substance use and alcohol use on the property and enforce this prohibition.(I think I see an opportunity for more law enforcement here.)

We are getting closer and closer to the wet dream police state the MAGATs want so badly.

[RVInit]

A little more about this bill, I agree with the opinion here. The state is not providing any resources at all, just forcing local governments to supply some kind of "housing or camps" with heavy monitoring by law enforcement. Gosh, that sounds a little like incarceration to me.

https://www.palmbeachpost.com/story/opi ... 929482007/

Palm Beach County, its municipalities, nonprofits like The Lord's Place and St. Ann Place, philanthropists and volunteers have been addressing the problem of homelessness. So it's not clear why anyone thinks what's needed is a heavy-handed state law that provides no help — just an unfunded and unnecessary mandate that localities must prohibit "public camping and public sleeping." If they wish to designate a location for the homeless to camp, they need state permission and inspections by the Florida Department of Children and Families.

[sugar magnolia]

Not entirely sure what to believe here, but DeSantis is a pretty bad dude so I expect him making everything up is on the table.

Ex-FDLE chief of staff says he was forced to resign for defying illegal DeSantis orders

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered illegal surveillance of immigrants and ignored concerns that relocating them from Texas to another state could be considered kidnapping or false imprisonment, the former chief of staff at the state’s top law enforcement agency said in a whistleblower lawsuit.

DeSantis also ordered the arrests of neo-Nazi demonstrators who weren’t breaking the law, former Florida Department of Law Enforcement Chief of Staff Shane Desguin said in a lawsuit filed this week in Leon County Circuit Court.

Desguin said the administration retaliated against him with an internal investigation that claimed he had a sexual relationship with a subordinate and recklessly pointed his unloaded gun at a coworker in an impromptu lesson on how to defend against an armed attacker.

The investigation happened as a result of Desguin reporting violations of rules, regulations or laws and malfeasance, and his forced resignation was retaliation for failing to comply with those orders, the lawsuit said.

https://wsvn.com/news/local/florida/ex- ... is-orders/

Perhaps George Takei has some insight and opinions on this?

I bet he does.

[raison de arizona]

Cruelty is the point.

'Very difficult': Florida opts out of federal grocery subsidy for 2 million low-income children

Food service assistant Brenda Bartee, rear, gives students breakfast at Washington Elementary School in Riviera Beach, Fla., iin August, 2021.
Florida has opted out of a federal program that nonprofits say could decrease food insecurity for low-income families during the summer, when children no longer have easy access to school meals.

State officials decided not to participate in SUN Bucks, which would have given qualifying families $120 per child for grocery expenses. It was one of 13 states to opt out of the program, all of them led by Republican governors.

The decision surprised Madelyn Llanes, executive director for Centro Mater Childcare Center in Little Havana, who told WLRN families need all the help they can get — particularly with the current affordability crisis.

“Healthy food is so expensive because of the cost of living [and] rent,” Llanes said. “Especially when you have two or three kids – it becomes very, very difficult.”

While the child food insecurity rate has been declining, according to government health data, more than 13% of children in South Florida experienced food insecurity in 2021. According to No Kid Hungry, over 2.1 million children in Florida would have benefitted from SUN Bucks, which is also known as Summer EBT.

https://www.wlrn.org/government-politic ... e-children

[RTH10260]

'I can't afford it': South Florida condo owners hit with 6-figure assessments due to new Florida law

WPLG Local 10
21 Jun 2024

Some South Florida condo owners are being hit with six-figure assessments that are forcing them to flee.

[raison de arizona]

DeSantis vetoes bill to bolster warnings about Florida’s polluted waters
The governor said the bill was “ill-advised,” but one of the measure’s sponsors argued he’s ignoring the state’s water quality problems.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Wednesday night vetoed a measure that would have increased warnings for Floridians and tourists when a beach or public waterway is polluted.

The bill required the Florida Department of Health to issue health advisories if water quality failed to meet the agency’s standards, and required closing polluted beaches “if it is deemed necessary to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public,” according to a House staff analysis of the bill.

The measure also required municipalities and counties to notify the state health department of unsafe water quality within 24 hours and required counties to posts signs warning of unsafe waters, according to the bill.

Not only was the bill bipartisan, it sailed through both the Florida House and Senate with unanimous approval.

“Our water quality issues are not going to go away, and ignoring it is not going to solve the problem,” said Rep. Lindsay Cross of St. Petersburg, who was one of the bill’s main sponsors.

“I thought there was no way the governor would veto something that was sponsored by a bipartisan slate of elected officials with unanimous approval in both chambers that would protect people’s public health,” Cross said in an interview. “Why would you veto something like that?”

https://www.tampabay.com/news/environme ... ed-waters/

[Slim Cognito]

When DeSantis was first elected, the first thing he did was try to fix the water situation. Although I hadn't and never would in 1 million years vote for him, he hadn't yet revealed himself to be the asshole we know him to be today.

I hope I'm not jinxing my house sale but if all goes to plan, I'm out of this hellhole come July 15.