Ron DeSantis
Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2024 8:28 pm
Aaron Rupar @atrupar wrote: Ron DeSantis says Florida colleges are "Harvard for the unwoke now"
Aaron Rupar @atrupar wrote: 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.raison de arizona wrote: ↑Thu Jun 13, 2024 8:28 pmAaron Rupar @atrupar wrote: Ron DeSantis says Florida colleges are "Harvard for the unwoke now"
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/disney ... 024-06-13/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.
The employees and tourists never left. Desantis overplayed his hand..
‘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
Brian Krassenstein @krassenstein wrote: 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.
Craig Chamberlin @CraigChamberlin wrote: This is particularly hilarious because spell check underlines mis-spelled words on excel spreadsheets.
https://wsvn.com/news/local/florida/ex- ... is-orders/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.
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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.
Perhaps George Takei has some insight and opinions on this?raison de arizona wrote: ↑Tue Jun 25, 2024 6:06 pm 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.https://wsvn.com/news/local/florida/ex- ... is-orders/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.
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https://www.wlrn.org/government-politic ... e-children'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.
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'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.
https://www.tampabay.com/news/environme ... ed-waters/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?”
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Ron DeSantis strips more than $32m in Florida arts funding
Political allies are also surprised at move, which cancels nearly entirety of state’s funding and will affect economy
Richard Luscombe in Miami
Sun 30 Jun 2024 12.00 CEST
Ron DeSantis stripped more than $32m in arts and culture funding from Florida’s state budget over his hatred of a popular fringe festival that he accused of being “a sexual event”, critics of the rightwing governor say.
DeSantis justified his unprecedented, wide-ranging veto of grants to almost 700 groups and organizations by saying it was “inappropriate” for $7,369 of state money to be allocated to Tampa fringe, a 10-day festival that took place earlier this month with a strong message of inclusivity, and its sister event in Orlando.
“[It’s] like a sexual festival where they’re doing all this stuff,” DeSantis said at a press conference Thursday, without elaborating.
“When I see money being spent that way, I have to be the one to stand up for taxpayers and say: ‘You know what, that is an inappropriate use of taxpayer dollars.’”
As a result, he has canceled almost the entirety of Florida’s already slim funding to the arts world, denying much-needed dollars to a diverse array of groups including youth orchestras and choirs, museums, art galleries, dance troupes, zoos, cinemas and community theaters.
Most rely on the state contribution to operate fully, or in many cases simply for their survival. So it makes little sense to any of them that what DeSantis sees as standing up for the taxpayer equates to killing performances, exhibitions and jobs.
“It’s going to be a combination of everything, from tightening our programming and salaries, and going to our patrons, once again, for donations,” said Margaret Ledford, artistic director of City Theatre Miami, a small performing arts group that, among other projects, focuses on presenting short-form plays to middle schoolers.
Her group, with two full-time and three part-time employees, lost a $47,000 grant, about 6% of its annual budget.
Other allocations quashed by DeSantis range from $500,000 each for organizations including the Tampa Museum of Art, Fort Lauderdale’s Museum of Science and Discovery and Miami’s Pelican Harbor seabird station, to a few thousand dollars each for groups such as the Amelia Island opera and the Annasemble community orchestra of Gainesville.
Ledford is among those who believe the governor’s action against the arts world is purely political, a continuation of his well-documented targeting of minority groups, including the LGBTQ+ community, through executive action and legislation designed to stifle discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Asked for details, the governor’s office issued a statement condemning a performance at Tampa fringe that featured transgender characters.
“You can’t say gay, you can’t do anything he considers woke, and the word climate change has been taken out of state statutes,” Ledford said.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/art ... unding-cut
raison de arizona wrote: ↑Sun Jun 30, 2024 9:22 am The people of Florida sure picked a winner. Let’s hope they reconsider at election time.