genxlib
genxlib's JournalThe deSantis behavior really speaks volumes
Biden is coming to Florida and deSantis is avoiding meeting with him.
Yes, deSantis is a sniveling coward with a petty streak. But we all knew that already.
What it really says to me is that he knows that the GOP is a pit of vipers and he can't trust them to be honorable.
Under the circumstances, any reasonable political party would let him meet with Biden in a time of crisis because it is what is traditional and what is good for the state.
But he knows that his party is a sludge pit and his political opposition will use a harmless photo op against him as campaign fodder.
Of course it is ridiculous that such a thing would be seen in a negative light in the first place but even more ridiculous that it would be weaponized against him.
It is an indictment of the entire party.
Important read about history and the Jacksonville killings
This thread from Michael Harriot goes back in time and creates context for 150 years of history that led us up to this point.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1696489770527207589.html
It is a weird feeling to be both shocked and unsurprised. Of course the killings are shocking. Even now, I have trouble wrapping my head around that level of hatred.
But then at the same time, I am completely unsurprised. In the larger sense, these things have happened all over the Country. But as a native Jacksonvillian, I am not in the least bit surprised. I could see this undercurrent of racial resentment my entire life. I left for college but I still go back to visit family. Parts of Jacksonville modernized but in many ways, it is a deep south culture with all of the history that goes with that.
I have personal connections to this tragedy because I was raised within a few miles of this shooting. Until the age of 13, I lived in one of those redlined neighborhoods even though I was a lower middle class white kid. I was a part integration because I was bussed across town to elementary school. I had no understanding of this at the time.
Of course none of this was taught to me in Florida schools. It is only now with time and the help of many of you at DU that I can reflect on my childhood with any sense of history.
I have learned more in the last decade than in the first 45 years of my life. Of course that is progress on one front. But it has come at the cost of a backlash where acknowledgement of history is seen as a greater problem than the history itself.
Three steps forward, two steps back. Onward still.
For me, this Titanic Sub thing is a cautionary tail about Climate Change
We are fragile creatures. We live in an environment that has vary specific characteristics that we need to survive.
We can only comfortably exist within a narrow layer of atmosphere a few miles thick around our home planet.
Everywhere else in the universe is trying to kill us. Everywhere. Always. Usually in horrible ways.
We can sometimes venture into those hostile environments with a substantial amount of technology. But when we do, we live on a razor's edge where death is one mistake away.
In a way it reminds me of the movie "The Martian". Great movie, well acted and relatively true to the science. I know I am supposed to be warmed by the storyline and the triumph of the human spirit. But I just came away thinking..."Holy Shit, that place is horrible and it took the collective capabilities of two Countries to keep one man alive."
In both cases, it just makes me realize how lucky we are to live in the Goldilocks zone. This is a reminder to how unforgiving those hostile environments out there really are.
We need to work harder to keep what we have so that we don't find ourselves needing that Planet B that doesn't exist.
WTF AT&T
Somebody decided to run a test on the Emergency Broadcast System and my cell phone started blaring a fog horn alarm at top volume at 4:45am !!!!
What the ever living hell!!??!!
Mind you, those of you who remember me may recall that I do rescue work with FEMA USAR. So I am on call for disasters. When an alarm goes off in the middle of the night, it generally means that something has gone terribly wrong. My adrenaline kicks in wondering whether there has been an earthquake or tornado somewhere. My system gets so flooded with energy, I had no shot of going back to sleep.
So thanks a bunch AT&T and whoever decided to pull the cord on that particular alarm.
On edit, it looks like it was state wide across multiple carriers. https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/state/2023/04/20/florida-emergency-alert-test-today-why-did-you-get-an-alert-how-to-view-it-should-you-turn-it-off/70133335007/
So I blame DeSantis now. Why the hell not.
Big Basketball Day for me Today!
I have two basketball teams to root for today in the Final Four today.
I am an alumnus of University of Miami and have followed the team closely since the program was re-started in 1985. I even had season tickets for a decade when I lived closer. Go Canes!
And...
I live just a few miles from Florida Atlantic University. It's an exciting time for the plucky little local team. Go Owls!
I love a good Cinderella story. Today there are two.
Wish me luck!
Is a battered McCarthy still our best outcome?
At the end of the day, it still seems best that a weakened Kevin is the best outcome.
Going to a second option seems like it would only be someone that is even further to the right or worse.
My only concern is how much he will have bargained away in the process of winning.
There seems to be some idea that it would be good if we could steal the position but that seems problematic to me. I don't want them to have anyone to blame for their disfunction.
I wouldn't mind seeing an outsider like Cheney take it but that seems like a pipe dream.
Spoiler Alert Alert
Please don't post sports results on this board without burying them in a spoiler alert.
Today (and indeed over the next month) there is a soccer game we would love to be home watching.
But since we can't, the next best thing is DVR.
Please do us the favor of not ruining it.
Thanks in advance.
Interesting view of Hurricane Ian Projected Track
The National Hurricane Center keeps all of the records and allows you to review their guidance in time-lapse
https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2022/IAN_graphics.php?product=5day_cone_with_line_and_wind
This view shows every guidance release over the entire life of the storm. It allows you to see the history of the track, cone, warnings etc.
I know there is a lot of discussion of when the evacuation orders were given for Lee County. This will give you a sense of what the projection was over time.
In hindsight, we can all say they should have been evacuated earlier. In reality, that is a tough call that Emergency Managers struggle with.
Search and Rescue on the Ground
Many of you know that I am on a Search and Rescue team as I reported from Surfside last year. I have also written about 9/11, Haiti and Katrina in the past as well.
My team is out there now without me as I am on a medical leave for a minor back issue.
I thought you would be interested in these videos they are posting from Fort Myers Beach. Typically, this is a FEMA team but within the state of Florida, we can be mobilized by the State while more FEMA teams are brought in from outside the area. That is the case this time and was also the case at Surfside.
I miss not being part of it but I am proud of the work my team is doing.
Meeting a Childhood Heartthrob?
So have you ever had a chance to meet a childhood heartthrob later in life? Someone who was larger than life and you simply adored in your youth (usually with a healthy amount of hormones involved)?
So here is my story.
I was a child of the seventies (born in '66). As a red-blooded American boy, I absolutely loved Olivia Newton John. I mean who didn't? She had the look, the voice and I was crazy for the accent. She was already well known for her music when she did Grease in 1978. I was 12. I was smitten.
Fast forward to 2001. If you remember some of my posts, you may recall I am involved in Search and Rescue for FEMA. I was at 9/11 with my team. I was on a meal break in one of the many cafes set up for the rescue workers when they brought through a USO-style group of celebrities to meet the rescue workers.
Next thing I know, Olivia Newton John sits down right next to me. I was sitting at a table with about 7 other guys. Real rough and tumble firemen types. I kept up the façade for about 10 seconds before I just melted into a gibbering fanboy. I just didn't care what they thought. This was Olivia Newton John after all. The funny thing is that after I broke the ice, they all reacted the same way. She was very kind and gracious and still beautiful. I was still hooked even after nearly 25 years.
So what about you? Ever have your childhood dream crush drop into your real life?
PS I also had the chance to meet Al Franken there but that is a story for another day.
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Gender: MaleHometown: South Florida
Member since: Thu Aug 16, 2012, 05:52 PM
Number of posts: 5,524
