Why Florida is an awsome place to live

ed · Post by ed » Fri Nov 13, 2020 11:54 pm

Depth, primarily. Depth and concentration of poisonous reptiles.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Fri Nov 13, 2020 11:58 pm

1920.

ed · Post by ed » Sat Nov 14, 2020 12:56 am

Witness wrote: ↑Fri Nov 13, 2020 11:58 pm

1920.

Belle Glade (and the surrounding area) is sometimes referred to as "Muck City" due to the large quantity of muck, in which sugarcane grows, found in the area

ed · Post by ed » Sun Nov 15, 2020 5:11 pm

nutty, unhinged, and dangerous.

NUD

Our birthright

robinson · Post by **robinson** » Sun Nov 15, 2020 5:12 pm

"Last week DeSantis decided to cap off a triumphant year by drafting a bill that would allow armed Floridians to blow the living crap out of rioters and looters."

What's really bizarro world is the places that make it illegal to defend yourself

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Tue Nov 17, 2020 12:43 am

How Janis Joplin was arrested in Tampa 50 years ago

Police let Joplin finish her set at Curtis Hixon Hall before arresting the singer in her dressing room.

Details: https://www.tampabay.com/news/tampa/201 ... years-ago/

ed · Post by ed » Tue Nov 17, 2020 1:35 am

We have a statue of Janis here in Sarasota.

WWII-sailor-kiss-famous-photograph-statue-Sarasota.jpg

Thats her on the right

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Wed Nov 18, 2020 1:56 am

Reality is more funny:

2009: Aluminum copy to Sarasota temporarily amid controversy

Interest in a revisit to Sarasota in 2009 was cultivated by a director of a bay-front biannual show and an aluminum copy was placed at the bay-front, again temporarily. An "88-year-old donor, who served in the U.S. Navy during World War II" offered to pay half a million dollars for it against an initial asking price of $680,000.[10]

While some members of the community supported the statue, others felt the statue was not good enough to be displayed on the bay front. The chairwoman of the public art committee at the time said that "it doesn't even qualify as kitsch...It is like a giant cartoon image drafted by a computer emulating a famous photograph. It's not the creation of an artist. It's an artist copying a famous image."[10] The statue was immediately controversial, with some people calling for its removal[11] for various reasons, including the fact that it may constitute copyright infringement,[12] as well as concern about its content representing a sexual assault.

Joel May, a Sarasota architect and a member of the city's public art committee, raised an issue of possible copyright infringement, because of the similarity of the sculpture to V–J day in Times Square, published in Life in 1945 and still protected by copyright. Johnson asserted that he was aware of this issue, and had used another photograph of the kissing couple taken by Victor Jorgensen, which is in the public domain.[13] The attorney for the municipal government said that the attorneys for Johnson and the donor had fulfilled the requirements set by the city commission, making way for exhibition of the statue for at least ten years.[14]

An automobile crash occurred on April 26, 2012,[15] during which the Sarasota copy of the statue was struck by a vehicle and was damaged. The impact knocked an approximately 3-foot-wide hole in the sailor's foot and added hairline cracks to its frame. This led to the statue being taken down by the city,[16] which laid the statue onto its side, close to the site, while insurance companies negotiated over liability and repair issues. The minimum distance for a road hazard established by the state of Florida is fourteen feet, but the location barely met that standard because it was erected near one of the busiest and most complex intersections in the city.[citation needed] The statue attracted visitors who gathered around the base and often backed up to the curb to take photographs. No one was present when the automobile jumped the curb and careened into the statue.

Debate about returning the statue to that location ensued, with an editorial calling for moving the statue to a safer location, as had been advocated by critics before the statue was placed for the controversial ten-year display.[17] The statue was re-erected near the Sarasota shoreline in December 2012.[18] Similar controversy was occurring in California. In March 2012, the San Diego Unified Port District voted to purchase a permanent bronze replacement for the loaner. This controversial move resulted in the resignation of three board members.[9][19] Despite the controversy, construction of the new weather-resistant bronze statue proceeded,[20][21] in part due to a fundraising campaign by the Midway Museum that raised US$1 million.[22]

Controversy leads to tagging as sexual assault

Unconditional Surrender has been a topic of controversy many times, both pro and con, but in 2019,[23] after the man thought to be the subject of the original photograph, V-J Day in Times Square died and media coverage that followed made it better known that the woman thought to be the other subject was not known to the sailor depicted and had related that it was not consensual, controversy over the statue gained new momentum with more accusations that it depicts a sexual assault. The day after his death,[24] the statue in Sarasota was vandalised with #MeToo graffiti.[25] A tweet from the police department stated late one evening that they had dispatched officers to the statue in response to a report that "Unconditional Surrender" had been vandalized. When officers arrived, they saw the large words, "#MeToo", painted in red on the left leg of the woman. The police noted later that they were uncertain of the time of the tagging because no surveillance cameras captured the activity and there were no reports of witnesses.[26]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconditi ... sculpture)

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Wed Nov 18, 2020 10:53 pm

After hurricane Andrew:

ed · Post by ed » Wed Nov 18, 2020 11:04 pm

Thats the part of Miami that the hurricane missed. A miracle!!!

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Thu Nov 19, 2020 1:08 am

Witness wrote: ↑Mon Nov 18, 2019 1:40 am I have lost my faith and don't believe in ed's crawdads anymore. (I even started doubting the trilobites…)

From a year ago.

ed · Post by ed » Thu Nov 19, 2020 1:55 pm

Sad.

But tte Crawdad trap beckons!!! Perhaps this weekend.

To amuse you I will show you a picture from the testing of a round we sell...

Pretty darn cool. We call it Islam-o-Bane
Not really, just came up with that as an offensive name for giggles.

Fid · Post by **Fid** » Thu Nov 19, 2020 4:05 pm

Goddammit!
How the fuck dare you use my photograph from 1976 as an avatar.

Edit: I still have that pony tail in a box somewhere. Damn, so much hair so little gray.

robinson · Post by **robinson** » Thu Nov 19, 2020 4:13 pm

ed · Post by ed » Thu Nov 19, 2020 4:14 pm

But but but that was from ... 1975 or thereabouts. Faculty ID

"hip" does not begin to describe it. Actually, there isn't really any way to do it justice.. sad, depressing ...those get close.

Fid · Post by **Fid** » Thu Nov 19, 2020 4:39 pm

Black powder?
Around the time you stole that pic of me I was working the sporting goods section section of a Woolco (aka FW Woolworth) store. We sold firearms, ammo and reloading equipment.
The cardboard boxes were burned...you see where this is heading.
The incinerator was never the same but way too far north to be considered Florida.

robinson · Post by **robinson** » Thu Nov 19, 2020 4:45 pm

all gone

robinson · Post by **robinson** » Thu Nov 19, 2020 4:46 pm

Florida was an awesome place to grow up

Pyrrho · Post by **Pyrrho** » Mon Nov 23, 2020 12:35 pm

Kept on smoking that cigar.

ed · Post by ed » Mon Nov 23, 2020 12:41 pm

Gators gotta right to live too

robinson · Post by **robinson** » Mon Nov 23, 2020 5:53 pm

Just long enough to be able to eat them

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Wed Nov 25, 2020 2:01 am

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Wed Nov 25, 2020 10:28 pm

Study: Florida hospitals charge more for services than anywhere in the US. Two Dade hospitals in Top-100 most expensive hospitals in the country

A new study by The National Nurses United – Fleecing Patients - highlights the 100 U.S. hospitals with the highest costs in the US. The report concludes that the most expensive facilities are “located in states in the west and south.”

The report lists the State of Florida with 40 hospitals on the Top 100 most expensive hospitals in the country; Texas had the second highest number with 14 hospitals.

The most expensive hospital in the US? Poinciana Medical Center in Kissimmee, Fl.

Poinciana Medica Center is part of HCA Healthcare and data in the report shows that it reported $7,266,981 Net Income in 2018, with a Charge-To-Cost ratio of 1,808 percent.

Two Miami-Dade County hospitals made the Top 100 list. Kendall Regional Medical Center was #31 on the list and Hialeah Hospital was #99 on the list.

According to the data shown in the report. Kendall Regional Medical Center had a charge-to-cost ratio of 1,316 percent with Hialeah Hospital at a 1,137 percent charge-to-cost ratio.

The reports said, “All charge-to-cost data is based on Medicare hospital cost report filings, current as of March 31, 2020.”

https://www.islandernews.com/coronaviru ... 1e46a.html

Better stay healthy, ed.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Sat Dec 05, 2020 12:32 am

Florida newspaper investigation finds state government misled public on Covid as cases rose

Governor Ron DeSantis and his administration ‘suppressed facts’ and ‘dispensed dangerous misinformation’, according to paper

Florida this week became the third US state to record a million coronavirus cases and yet the public there has been misled by state leadership about the extent and dangers of the pandemic, especially in the run-up to the presidential election, an investigation has concluded.

Governor Ron DeSantis’s administration has been engaged in a pattern of spin and concealment about Covid-19 amid the gravest health threat the state has ever faced, according to a South Florida Sun Sentinel investigation.

According to the newspaper, Republican DeSantis influenced a state administration that “suppressed unfavorable facts, dispensed dangerous misinformation, dismissed public health professionals, and promoted the views of scientific dissenters” who supported the governor’s ambivalent approach to the disease.

DeSantis declined to be interviewed, the Sun Sentinel said, but it noted he told Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight earlier this week that the media’s criticism of his approach was “all political”.

The investigation found that the Florida department of health’s county-level spokespeople stopped issuing public statements about Covid-19 between September and the 3 November election.

And earlier on in the pandemic state leaders did not release details about the earliest cases in Florida and denied the virus was spreading person to person, despite the fact that coronavirus is highly contagious.

The attitude struck by state leadership, mimicking the kind of dismissive approach of Donald Trump, the US president to whom DeSantis is a loyalist, has helped foster a public culture in which many defiantly shun face masks and readily gather in crowded bars and parties, the newspaper said, contrary to federal public health guidelines.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... led-public

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:01 am

Posted about that here some time ago, so follow-up:

Agents raid home of fired Florida data scientist who built COVID-19 dashboard

DeSantis "sent the Gestapo": Video shows FDLE agents with guns drawn at home of woman fired over COVID-19 data.

State police brandishing firearms Monday raided the Tallahassee home of Rebekah Jones, the former Department of Health data scientist who built the state's much-praised COVID-19 dashboard before being fired over what she said was refusing to "manipulate data."

Jones — who launched her own COVID-19 dashboard after she was fired, and used crowdsourcing to raise money to support it — said the agents knocked on her door around 8:30 a.m. that morning, took all her "hardware and tech" after showing her a warrant based on a complaint filed by the Florida Department of Health.

A video accompanying the post shows Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents in vests at the front door with guns drawn, asking who else was in the house. She said her husband and two children were inside as they escorted her out of the house.

The video shows an agent entering the house with his gun drawn, calling for her husband to come down the stairs. When an agent told her to calm down, Jones said, "He just pointed a gun at my children!"

FDLE spokeswoman Gretl Plessinger sent a statement confirming the seizure of computer equipment at Jones's Tallahassee home and said agents are investigating.

https://eu.tallahassee.com/story/news/2 ... 482817002/ Video & details at the link.

robinson · Post by **robinson** » Tue Dec 08, 2020 5:12 am

It’s a shame arson and theft don’t get that sort of attention

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Mon Dec 14, 2020 3:40 am

Orlando Sentinel sues DeSantis for refusing to release weekly White House coronavirus reports

The Orlando Sentinel has filed a lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis and his office for failing to provide the weekly White House Coronavirus Task Force reports in a timely manner.

DeSantis’ office has not provided any of the task force reports for the month of November. It’s been 37 days since the newspaper requested the Nov. 1 weekly report.

The lawsuit alleges that DeSantis and his office have violated the Public Records Act by refusing the release of the reports. It seeks the immediate release of the requested and future reports.

“No public records law exemption exists that would prevent the inspection or copying of the weekly reports requested by [the Sentinel],” according to the lawsuit. The “delay in providing the requested reports is unreasonable, unjustified and amounts to an unlawful refusal to provide the records. The public is entitled to timely access of these reports going forward.”

The Sentinel’s sister publication, the South Florida Sun Sentinel, will join the lawsuit.

“The state has given us no explanation as to why this crucial health information should be withheld,” said Julie Anderson, the editor in chief of the Orlando Sentinel and the South Florida Sun Sentinel. “We had no choice but to ask a court to intervene to uphold the public records law.”

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/coronav ... story.html

Task Force Recommends Stricter Virus Measures for Florida

A White House Coronavirus Task Force report for Florida recommended stricter measures for stopping the virus including mask wearing at all times in public, increased physical distancing by reducing capacity or closing indoor spaces at restaurants and bars and limiting gatherings outside of immediate households.

A White House Coronavirus Task Force report for Florida recommended stricter measures for stopping the virus including mask wearing at all times in public, increased physical distancing by reducing capacity or closing indoor spaces at restaurants and bars and limiting gatherings outside of immediate households.

The Dec. 6 report obtained by the Center for Public Integrity also urged leaders to begin warning about the risks of gathering during the December holiday season.

“Florida has seen stability in new cases, an increase in test positivity, and increasing hospitalizations and deaths, indicating unrelenting community spread and inadequate mitigation,” the Dec. 6 report said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has ruled out further business restrictions or a mask mandate aimed at stopping the virus’ spread.

“No one’s losing their job because of a government dictate. Nobody’s losing their livelihood or their business,” DeSantis said earlier this month at an elementary school in Kissimmee.

The White House Coronavirus Task Force is chaired by Vice President Mike Pence, and Dr. Deborah Birx serves as its response coordinator. The task force’s reports are sent to governors across the U.S.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states ... us-reports

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Wed Dec 16, 2020 11:27 pm

DeSantis faces renewed scrutiny following discovery of mysterious gap in Florida's COVID death tally

Florida may have “manipulated” COVID death data ahead of the November election: report

A newly uncovered gap in Florida's coronavirus death data suggests that the state may have manipulated the numbers to create more favorable death counts ahead of November's election.

While coronavirus deaths are often recorded days or weeks later, Florida abruptly stopped including deaths that occurred more than one month earlier in its daily count on October 24, ten days before the election. Older deaths had consistently been included in the earlier data. The change came after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' administration announced that it would review every suspected coronavirus death before it is reported. The state began to include the older deaths in its daily counts again on November 17.

The discrepancy was discovered by a University of South Florida professor, according to The South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Jason Salemi, an epidemiologist at the University of South Florida, said he was "surprised" by the gap but "drew no conclusions," according to the report, noting that Florida's death data "continues to be a bit of a black box."

The death data between September 23 and October 20 included 1,128 deaths that had occurred at least a month earlier, or 44% of all reported deaths during that span. When the state resumed reporting the older deaths after the election, a large number of deaths had occurred more than two months earlier, according to an analysis by Salemi.

Prior to the gap in the death data, Florida Surgeon General Dr. Scott Rivkees announced that the state would conduct an additional review of the reported deaths before releasing them publicly "to ensure the accuracy of COVID-19 related deaths."

https://www.salon.com/2020/12/16/desant ... ath-tally/

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 3:34 am

Florida panther. (Or cougar, puma, mountain lion…)

ed · Post by ed » Fri Dec 18, 2020 10:41 am

When we moved down here one of the guys dong some work on the house pointed out paw impressions in mud that he said were panther. I never saw one, which isn't surprising I guess...

We are sorta in the middle of nowhere though I can get to the gulf in say 1/2 hour. We are in the primo place to see critters but I seem to miss them.

Maybe I should get a trail camera.

ed · Post by ed » Fri Dec 18, 2020 11:24 am

Monkeys... We got a lot, evidentially:
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os ... story.html
As I said, I am sorta in the middle of nowhere: there are 600 untouched acres adjoining my property and anything could be in there.

I think it may be time for an expedition.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Fri Dec 18, 2020 11:57 pm

ed wrote: ↑Fri Dec 18, 2020 11:24 am I think it may be time for an expedition.

You're not even able to find your crawdads.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Tue Dec 22, 2020 3:31 am

Witness wrote: ↑Tue Dec 08, 2020 4:01 am Posted about that here some time ago, so follow-up:
Agents raid home of fired Florida data scientist who built COVID-19 dashboard

DeSantis "sent the Gestapo": Video shows FDLE agents with guns drawn at home of woman fired over COVID-19 data.
...
https://eu.tallahassee.com/story/news/2 ... 482817002/ Video & details at the link.

Story unfolds:

Rebekah Jones, former state COVID-19 data manager, sues FDLE over raid on her home

She claims it was a 'sham' meant to punish her.

Former Department of Health data manager Rebekah Jones has filed a lawsuit against the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, saying the Dec. 7 morning raid on her house was a "sham" to retaliate against her for not altering COVID-19 data.

Jones was fired in May and soon launched her own online data dashboard. Gov. Ron DeSantis said her firing was because she disobeyed superiors; she said it was because she wouldn't alter data to cast Florida in a more favorable light to justify the governor's plans to reopen the state's economy.

In the lawsuit filed Sunday night against FDLE Commissioner Rick Swearingen, the department and several agents in Leon County Circuit Civil Court, Jones claims her constitutional rights were violated, including against unlawful search and seizure. She is seeking in excess of $100,000, according to the lawsuit's cover sheet.

She also claims she was unnecessarily roughed up.

"We are trying to achieve some kind of redress," said Rick Johnson, the lead attorney in both the civil suit and a separate whistleblower case. "This is still America. This is the kind of thing that happens in tinhorn dictatorships in third world countries."

https://eu.tallahassee.com/story/news/l ... 990170001/ (video at the link)

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Sat Dec 26, 2020 3:15 am

https://twitter.com/TooMuchMe/status/13 ... 3853388800

Article, if you care: https://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/polit ... story.html

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Tue Dec 29, 2020 4:03 am

Hey, ed, what's the situation with crocodiles? 2016 article:

Florida crocodiles: Man-eating Nile beasts confirmed in swamps

One of the three Nile crocodiles found in a Florida swamp.
DNA tests have confirmed that three man-eating Nile crocodiles have been found living in Florida's swamps.

Unlike local alligators, the species preys on humans and is thought to be responsible for up to 200 deaths a year at home in sub-Saharan Africa.

It is possible more of the beasts are at large in the state, experts say.

It is not known for certain how they reached the US. "They didn't swim from Africa," said University of Florida herpetologist Kenneth Krysko.

One likely possibility was that they were brought in illegally by unlicensed collectors, who then failed to keep them secured or intentionally released them, Mr Krysko told the Associated Press news agency.

The animals were found in 2009, 2011 and 2014 and were confirmed as Nile crocodiles by a recent DNA test.

The Nile species can grow to up to 6m (20ft), significantly larger than local alligators, which commonly grow up to 4m.

They are known to prey on shrimp, fish, insects, birds and mammals, including humans. They are also known to attack livestock.

https://www.bbc.com/news/amp/36349031

ed · Post by ed » Tue Dec 29, 2020 11:41 am

Screenshot 2020-12-29 062834.jpg

This is Sarasota county. I am all the way on the right. The green shows wetlands. We are not particularly wet. God only knows what is in there. I have 600 acres adjoining my property that is water shed. No one goes there. Whats in there? Who knows. Had lunch with a pal the other day. He told me he recently caught a 7" python in his back yard. They are not supposed to be here. Nor are the fucking monkeys. They are supposed to be badgering indigent Indian holy men not capering about the domiciles of white people.

And you ask me about the innocuous Nile Croc? The Nile Croc would be a relief. At least it has feet.

Witness · Post by **Witness** » Wed Dec 30, 2020 4:02 am

Ivanka Trump said weighing run for US Senate or Florida governor

After president's daughter and husband Jared Kushner buy $31 million mansion in Miami, speculation swirls about her political ambitions

https://www.timesofisrael.com/ivanka-tr ... ssion=true

Good luck, ed.

ed · Post by ed » Wed Jan 13, 2021 12:39 pm

Should surprise no one.

Lawyer for Florida man seen at Capitol riot with Pelosi’s lectern says photo a problem: ‘I’m not a magician’

https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-man- ... oto-lawyer

gnome · Post by **gnome** » Wed Jan 13, 2021 1:36 pm

Witness wrote: ↑Mon Dec 16, 2019 3:48 am

You'll easily find links to articles. I also read the cops were taking cover behind cars… with people inside.

Reminded of a scene with "idiocracy" where cops poured gunfire into a surrounded vehicle, and also shot at it with a small rocket, which misfired and took down a jet liner.

I think you see that one later crashed into a gigantic Costco.

ed · Post by ed » Wed Jan 13, 2021 1:49 pm

We have crime under control here. Also pedestrian traffic.