Ron DeSantis

[keith]

Technically anyone can easily stop a train by standing in the tracks. It's pretty much guaranteed to happen. Nobody is saying you will survive the encounter.

FRA rules governing the railroads require the train stop after striking someone or something in the alignment (IE: tracks). CFR 49 part 225 explains some of it.

Missed this post when it happened.

But I just wanted to insert my two cents (you guys still got cents? Aussieland did away with them years ago).

Last year we took the train from Sydney to Perth (the Indian-Pacific) - great trip. The only fly in the ointment was when we were moving through the outer western Sydney suburbs, some individual decided the Indian-Pacific was the ideal suicide device and stepped out in front of our train.

So, yes, that absolutely does stop the train. We were stopped there for something approaching 3 hours (IIRC) while the Police did their thing, the railway safety folks did their thing, the ambulance folks did their thing, the equipment maintenance cleanup crew did their thing, and the on-duty crew was debriefed and replaced by a new crew that was rounded up from wherever they were in Sydney. The on-duty crew is required, by law, to attend counselling after such an incident.

Once we got going, we got to Broken Hill at just about exactly when we were supposed to be leaving Broken Hill, so we missed the excursions that were planned (a tour of the historic town by drag queens!).

[raison de arizona]

Just coming back around to point out how stupidly this million dollars was spent.

IMG_7103.png (45.87 KiB) Viewed 14554 times

From the sore loser department...

Desantis Budget Includes $1 Million to Sue for FSU Not Making Football Playoff
Ridiculous pandering continues

Ron Desantis, who loves spending millions and millions of taxpayer dollars to enrich his lawyer friends to fight his culture war issues in court, is at it again. In his new budget unveiled today for 2024, he included an item to allocate $1 million dollars to the state university system to fund a lawsuit against the College Football Playoff Committee.

Desantis typically loses most of these ridiculous lawsuits, but that isn't the point. The point is that each one gives him a line in a speech for Iowa caucus voters, which has been the primary purpose of the Florida state government for the past two years. We saw this with migrant flights, Disney, his new state militia and Election Fraud police, and so many other things. Florida taxpayers continue to fund Ron Desantis's private political ambitions, and this is yet another pathetic example.

https://www.meidastouch.com/news/desant ... ll-playoff

[pipistrelle]

At least it won't be going toward something useless like tornado or hurricane relief.

[Slim Cognito]

A couple of years ago there were bumper stickers, t-shirts and flags everywhere saying Make America Florida, DeSantis 2024. I literally have not seen one in at least a year, probably longer. Any other Floridians?

[Ben-Prime]

A couple of years ago there were bumper stickers, t-shirts and flags everywhere saying Make America Florida, DeSantis 2024. I literally have not seen one in at least a year, probably longer. Any other Floridians?

I have not, by I cheated by a) making my legal residence in Blue Broward County, and b) being overseas most of the past year. I WIN!

[raison de arizona]

Florida winter storm clashes with Gov. DeSantis Iowa campaign schedule
When asked if he would remain in Florida, the governor slipped out a door without responding. He was back in Iowa before nightfall.

Turbulent weather throughout Northwest Florida forced changes in Gov. Ron DeSantis’ schedule Tuesday — but didn't deter his quest for the White House.

In between giving an opening day address for the 2024 session of the Florida Legislature and a return to Iowa, which holds a presidential caucus in six days, DeSantis inserted a briefing and a six-minute news conference with reporters on a massive and severe storm that was pummeling the Florida Panhandle and the southeastern U.S.

The briefing came after DeSantis opened the 2024 session of the Florida Legislature with a 35-minute State of the State speech at the Florida Capitol. It was the only state office building to remain open Tuesday after threats of wind gusts of 70 mph closed all other state offices in Tallahassee.

After DeSantis declared a state of emergency in 49 counties, Florida’s capital looked like a town bracing for a hurricane. The governor told a joint session of the House and Senate, whose meetings earlier had been interrupted by a tornado warning, the storm had created a “unique start” to the 2024 session.

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/ ... 166393007/

[raison de arizona]

DeSantis Suspends Second Elected Prosecutor in Florida
The Republican governor accused Monique H. Worrell, the state attorney in Orlando and a Democrat, of leniency against violent criminals, a charge her office has denied.

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida suspended the top state prosecutor in Orlando on Wednesday, accusing her of incompetence and neglect of duty for what he characterized as lenience against violent criminals.

Mr. DeSantis suspended Monique H. Worrell, the elected state attorney of Florida’s Ninth Judicial Circuit, which includes Orange and Osceola counties, and cited her handling of three cases. One involved a man who shot and injured two Orlando police officers over the weekend.

It is the second time in a year that Mr. DeSantis, a Republican running for president, has taken the drastic and exceedingly rare step of removing an elected state attorney. Both have been Democrats.

Mr. DeSantis was heavily criticized in August 2022 when he removed Andrew H. Warren, the top prosecutor in Tampa, who had signed a statement along with 90 other elected prosecutors across the country vowing not to prosecute people who seek or provide abortions. Critics, and even a federal judge, decried Mr. DeSantis’s ouster of Mr. Warren as politically motivated. But Mr. Warren remains out of office — and Mr. DeSantis mentions his removal in just about every campaign stump speech.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/09/us/d ... cutor.html

Mr. Warren has won his case.

Wow! @AndrewWarrenFL just won his case against Ron DeSantis!

More proof of DeSantis disregard for the rule of law – he’s really just as bad as Trump when you look closely

https://acrobat.adobe.com/id/urn:aaid:s ... 037761033f

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

[bob]

Wow! @AndrewWarrenFL just won his case against Ron DeSantis!

Not quite; the 11th's ruling:

After finding that Warren’s [First Amendment] protected activity motivated DeSantis, the district court nonetheless rejected Warren’s claims on the merits. Setting aside the [two] protected activity[ies], the court decided that DeSantis would have suspended Warren anyway, based on the [four] unprotected activist[ies].

The district court erred in concluding that the First Amendment did not protect the activities behind two of the other factors. We therefore vacate and remand. On remand, the district court should reconsider whether DeSantis would have made the same decision based solely on the [two remaining] unprotected activities.

Warren will get another day in court; he wasn't reinstated.

[raison de arizona]

DeSantis' Floriduh.

Rep. Linda Chaney is the author of a Florida bill to let bosses make 16- and 17-year-olds work more than 30 hours a week, and let them deny teens meal breaks.

She says "This bill is about teenagers, they're 16 and 17 years old, they're driving cars, they are not children."

[MN-Skeptic]

Disney Now Using Desantis Appeal Loss Against Him

Disney is now using the recent decision by the federal 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in State Attorney Andrew Warren's case against Ron Desantis in their lawsuit against him.

On Wednesday, the conservative 11th Circuit issued a ruling that found that Desantis retaliated against Hillsborough (Tampa) State Attorney Andrew Warren by removing him improperly because he exercised his First Amendment rights to criticize the governor. The Disney case is similarly situated to Warren - their governing board was dissolved because they issued a statement against Desantis's 'Don't Say Gay' laws and criticized Florida mass book bans.

US District Judge Allen Winsor has already heard arguments on the state's motion to dismiss Disney's lawsuit. The basis of Disney's lawsuit is similar to that of Warren - that they were retaliated against because they exercised speech that was protected by the First Amendment. The timing of the 11th Circuit's ruling in the Warren case could not have come at a more opportune time for Disney, since Judge Winsor has not yet made his decision and the 11th Circuit's decisions are binding on his court.

This morning, Disney filed a motion for the court to take judicial notice of the new decision and to apply that to the facts of their case. They specifically cited this paragraph of the court's decision:

"The First Amendment is an inconvenient thing. It protects expression that some find wrongheaded, or offensive, or even ridiculous. But for the same reason the government can't muzzle so-called 'conservative' speech under the guise of preventing on-campus harassment, the state can't exercise its coercive power to censor so-called 'woke' speech with which it disagrees."

More bad news for Desantis. You can read the motion filed by Disney here.

(The article wasn't very long, so I included it all including the link to the motion.)

[raison de arizona]

I can’t believe they’re actually doing it.

Florida House Republicans are moving a DeSantis-backed bill forward to LOWER the minimum age to purchase AR-15s from 21 to 18-years-old.

Things aren’t any better for Floridians since Ron’s campaign collapsed— they’re getting worse.

[bob]

[RTH10260]

[RTH10260]

Judge dismisses Disney’s lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his allies

By Samantha Delouya, CNN
Updated 5:20 PM EST, Wed January 31, 2024

CNN — A US judge has dismissed Disney’s lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his political allies, including the board he appointed to oversee Disney’s property in Florida.

The judge’s ruling is a win for the governor’s escalating legal battle with the entertainment giant.

The lawsuit, which was filed by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts in April, accused DeSantis of weaponizing his political power to punish the company for exercising its right to free speech.

However, on Wednesday, a federal judge in Florida ruled that Disney lacked standing to sue DeSantis and that the company’s claims against the governor’s oversight board fail on merit.

The judge determined that Disney had not “alleged any specific actions the new board took (or will take) because of the Governor’s alleged control.”

In a statement to CNN, a Disney spokesperson said the company was not deterred by the ruling and planned to “press forward” with its case.

[raison de arizona]

Florida challenges federal requirement to keep kids on health insurance

Florida is suing the Biden administration over a new policy limiting when states can remove children from public health insurance programs.

Why it matters: The lawsuit challenges the implementation of a law requiring states to let kids remain eligible for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program for 12 straight months before reviewing their status, regardless of life changes that mean they may no longer qualify.

The big picture: Florida has removed about 420,000 children from Medicaid and CHIP since April, when states resumed eligibility determinations that had been paused during the pandemic.

• Florida is among the states requiring CHIP enrollees to pay monthly premiums, and it wants the ability to remove kids from the program if their families don't pay.
• The new continuous enrollment law includes limited exceptions to the coverage requirement, but failure to pay premiums isn't one of them. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services confirmed this to states in October.

https://www.axios.com/2024/02/05/childr ... a-medicaid

[RTH10260]

A Florida Immigration Law Is Turning Farm Towns Into ‘Ghost Towns’
Florida is one of a growing number of states threatening to use E-Verify as a way to intimidate and control farmworkers. As farmers face worker shortages and farm communities lose residents, are GOP lawmakers shooting themselves in the foot?

BY GREY MORAN
FEBRUARY 7, 2024

Moncho had just started building a life in Florida when SB 1718, a broad law targeting both undocumented immigrants and the people in their lives, passed through the state legislature last May. In the weeks that followed, his home stopped feeling like home. He began seeing more cops and state troopers in his town, a predominantly immigrant community. He feared it would only get worse and figured it was safest to leave before the law went into effect in July.

“It was a quick decision. Once I learned about the law, I talked it over with my wife and we said, ‘OK, let’s get out of here,’” said Moncho, who is using a nickname. He has lived in the U.S. for nearly 20 years, moving between states as a farmworker and construction worker, without getting the chance to fully make any of them his home.

In June 2023, just weeks after the bill’s passage, Moncho and his wife packed up what they could fit into their car and drove—through the wildfire smoke that was blanketing the East Coast at the time—to Vermont to seek work in the dairy industry and build a new life for themselves, again.

They are just two of the many undocumented immigrants who have left Florida in the aftermath of the bill’s passage. In the last nine months, as workers have fled, “help wanted” signs have reportedly popped up across the state. Crops have been left to rot in fields. Entire communities emptied out and turned into “ghost towns.”

“Once the law passed, there were empty houses,” said Moncho. “You went down the street, and it was, ‘For Rent. For Rent. For Rent,’ everywhere.”

The law targets supporters of undocumented immigrants by making it a felony, under the charge of human smuggling, to knowingly transport undocumented people across state lines. Beyond that, it requires medical providers to inquire about a patient’s immigration status (although patients need not respond).

And the most potentially sweeping provision aims to crack down on the hiring of undocumented workers by mandating the use of E-Verify, a web-based federal system that allows employers to confirm or deny workers’ legal status. This applies to workplaces with 25 or more employees and extends the use of E-Verify to many Florida farms that were previously exempt.




https://civileats.com/2024/02/07/a-flor ... ost-towns/

[Slim Cognito]

And people wonder why groceries are so freaking high. I also hear a lot of “people don’t want to work anymore.” I can’t wait till I get out of this damn state.

[Frater I*I]

And people wonder why groceries are so freaking high. I also hear a lot of “people don’t want to work anymore.” I can’t wait till I get out of this damn state.

Next time you hear that, ask that person if they're willing to pick fruits and vegetables for 2 dollars a bushel....

[Slim Cognito]

And people wonder why groceries are so freaking high. I also hear a lot of “people don’t want to work anymore.” I can’t wait till I get out of this damn state.

Next time you hear that, ask that person if they're willing to pick fruits and vegetables for 2 dollars a bushel....

I will. I did tell the last person if she was saying I should go back to work (I've been retired about five years). Her response, "Oh no, you're retired. I'm talking about other people." It's always about other people, isn't it?

[pipistrelle]

Remind me how Obama and Biden are killing rural America.

[W. Kevin Vicklund]

The Civilian Labor Force Participation Rate for ages 25-54 (considered prime working age) has been over 83% for the last year, the highest it's been in 20 years. For high school students (ages 16-19), it's higher than it's been since Bush tanked the economy. For college age (20-24), it's in the same range as it has been since Bush tanked the economy. In all of these populations, CLFPR is at or higher than it was immediately before Covid hit.

Retirement age (55+) is another matter. Since Bush tanked the economy, the participation rate was very steady at ~40%, until Covid hit. Then it dropped to 38.5% and has stayed there ever since.

Coupled with the lowest unemployment rate since before the first moon landing, and it's obvious that the reason people don't want to work anymore is because they are retired.

data source: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/CIVPART (you can look at age ranges if you scroll down)

[MN-Skeptic]

Thomas Kennedy
@tomaskenn

My friend @NewsCHill just asked DeSantis how he can square his opposition to gender affirming care and people identifying with the gender of their choosing with his choice to wear heels to identify with the height of his choosing and the whole room laughed at DeSantis

[Slim Cognito]

I’d like to buy his friend a beer.

[raison de arizona]

Florida Republicans Push To Double Governor's Salary

Florida Republicans may increase the salary for the role of governor by $110,000.

As per a proposal approved in the Florida House of Representatives on Thursday, the annual salary of the governor will nearly double, increasing it to "at least 100 percent" of what a member of the Florida Supreme Court makes ( or $251,414).

The governor earns $141,400 annually, as per Ron DeSantis' filing before the Florida Commission on Ethics in June 2023. Governor DeSantis announced his withdrawal from the Republican presidential primary for 2024 on January 21.

The proposal all Republicans voted in favor of and all Democrats opposed would take effect in the fiscal year 2027, meaning Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is currently serving a second term, will not benefit from the increased salary.

GOP House Appropriations Chair Tom Leek said the measure was appropriate to raise the salary that the state pays its governors because 1,900 state employees make more than the governor does. "Florida is the lowest paid governor of many of the top 10 states," he said, according to Florida Phoenix.

But Florida Democrat Angela Nixon called the bill a "slap in the face" to Floridians, as per Politico reporter Gary Fineout. She said DeSantis had already "proved that being governor is a part-time job" when he ran for president.

https://www.newsweek.com/florida-republ ... ry-1870191