Tag: Florida

Why Are Guns So Far Being Held Blameless in Parkland Teen Suicides?

Trish

Guns continue to get off the hook in the deaths of two teens who attended Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

Even though drug overdose is the method used in 70 percent of potential suicides, it’s only responsible for about 12 percent of the deaths. Guns are far, far more effective. Of the comparatively smaller 6 percent of people who attempt suicide by using a gun, they find “success” about 82 percent of the time. That makes guns responsible for more than half of our country’s suicides.

The role of guns, and access to them, has so far been ignored in the stories about the two teens at Stoneman Douglas. I have yet to find one that asks, let alone answers, the question of where the guns used by the teens came from. But states with the most guns have the most youth suicides.
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Fox News: Trump May Take Current Disaster Funds from Florida, Texas to Build Wall

Jon Ponder

Event canceled due to emergency in Trump’s base
It wasn’t surprising to hear that Trump was targeting disaster relief funds earmarked for victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico and the wildfires in California. After all, Hillary Clinton won handily in both those places in 2016 and punishing them by taking away desperately needed funding is exactly the kind of mean-spirited, cold-hearted retribution we’ve come to expect from Trump.

But now even Fox News is reporting that Trump will also strip disaster recovery funds from two big states he won: Florida and Texas.

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A Tale of Two Lifestyles

Trish

As federal workers borrow from their kids, max out their credit cards, sign up as dog sitters, and even write paid online makeup reviews, federal elected officials are enjoying a very different lifestyle.

Don’t look into the eyes
Florida’s new senator, Rick Scott, is set to be feted tonight by the New Republican PAC at an event they’re calling the “Sunshine Ball” at the ritzy Andrew E. Mellon auditorium in the heart of D.C.

Donors/clients/customers/johns who attend at the “platinum level” will pay $100,000 but in return they’ll get ten tickets plus a photo opportunity, presumably with Voldemort himself.*

Not only that, but attendees will enjoy the rarefied atmosphere of the Mellon Auditorium. A D.C. venue review site describes the circa-1934 building’s, “dramatic roman doric columns, marble floors inlaid with gold, and spectacular auditorium standing more than 60 feet in height and embellished with limestone pilasters, gilded relief carvings, and polished oak where colossal luminaries, made of brass and burnished aluminum, are suspended from the ceiling.”

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How Bad Ballot Design Likely Killed Bill Nelson’s Senate Career

Trish

If you’re still mad at Florida for denying Vice Pres. Al Gore the presidency in 2000, you’re probably not any happier with us for denying the Senate another Democrat, in the form of Bill Nelson.

There’s a tragically simple explanation for why the Senate vote went off the rails in the county where Fort Lauderdale is:

Bad ballot design. Like, spectacularly bad design.

In civilized counties like mine, here’s how the ballot looked:

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FOX Favorite DeSantis Waits Mere Hours to Launch Racist Display

Trish

The news as it’s being reported out of the Florida primaries is that the Trump-backed candidate won the Republican race for governor and the Bernie Sanders-backed candidate won the Democratic one.

But the next morning, the real news is that Rep. Ron DeSantis (Rep – FL6) is a racist.

DeSantis called his opponent, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum, who is African-American, “articulate” just before cautioning that Florida shouldn’t “monkey this up” by electing him governor. Watch the video, painful though it is, and note DeSantis emphasizing the word “monkey.” He practically winks as he pauses slightly to make sure you heard him.

Pundits, of course, rushed to “both sides” this thing. Politico reporter Marc Caputo tweeted: “The race for Florida governor is going to be about race.”

Responses noted that the tweet should have read, “White candidate is making the race for Florida governor about race.”

Gillum’s victory over a moderate with a sense of inevitability is a signal that Florida’s progressives have had it with half measures. DeSantis’ win over a Republican who isn’t on the Trump train shows the same on the right-wing side.

Anyone paying attention is also over and done with the kind of reporting that attempts to paint Democrats with the same brush as Republicans. The news media has been part of the problem. Trying so hard to appear fair and balanced that it can’t even report accurately — which facilitated Trump’s rise — will no longer be overlooked.

Ron Desantis is Proud to Portray Himself as an Idiot to Show His Devotion to Trump

Trish

Don’t skip this ad just because you don’t live in Florida. But first, tie a bow around your chin so your jaw won’t get hurt when it drops to the ground.

Florida’s choices for governor are a Republican who is owned and operated by the NRA and Big Sugar (and whose agency stopped conducting background checks for concealed carry permits because it couldn’t remember its password), a Hillary Clinton-esque moderate Democrat who is almost guaranteed to lose because of the lack of enthusiasm she inspires among voters, and…this putz.

To paraphrase the old saying about Mexico, “Poor Florida — so far from God and so close to the United States.”

GOP Fl. Gov Rick Scott Asked What to Do to Prevent School Shootings – Answer: “Pray”

Jon Ponder

Time Magazine: “Scott who is strongly considering a Senate run to challenge Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson, is like Rubio, a favorite among the NRA, who noted in 2014 that he had signed ‘more pro-gun bills into law — in one term — than any other Governor in Florida history.’ Nelson and Scott have contrasting ratings from the NRA: Nelson has an F and Scott has an A+.”