Ron DeSatanist and the Florida Republicans

[goldenvalley]

Jan 10, 2024 14:50:21 GMT Bact PhD said:

Annnd, they’re off!
Supreme Emperor gives a speech aimed as much at Des Moines as at Dunnellon:

******snipped*****

A second bill has similar provisions. It will be interesting to see how much of this gets through. I’m not taking any bets…

Do the people in Iowa care what he says in warm Florida as they shiver in the snowstorm and polar vortex? We'll find out soon in the next exciting episode of Can Anyone Beat Donald Trump in the Iowa Primary? 

[andydp]

Relax !! It wasn't sex this time.  Bonus: It wasn't at Wal-Mart

Moms for Liberty school board member arrested for shoplifting from Target

A Tennessee school board member tied to the conservative group Moms for Liberty was arrested after allegedly shoplifting from Target on seven different occasions.

Keri Blair, 43, was arrested on 5 January for property theft charges after purportedly “skip-scanning” items at Target self-checkout stations seven different times between 25 November and 20 December, a Collierville Police spokesperson said.

The allegedly stolen items amounted to $728.61, the spokesperson added.

news.yahoo.com/moms-liberty-school-board-member-163413417.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJ-sdyO85vWkohu6jRUq5I-LpRk72C0Q--BHYEPyt3VZtHGS8lV8fNFn3DV8kpOubRFv2_DqR052P1Yvq8lfk27ygqwYuqsn8pzyzXn5HHl40bes4TMFgkZ0bES1QxtAbmXBaVtI2LRnmSfIfqv2MEUt48zXl9Zn9M_P91er7AtS

[goldenvalley]

Jan 12, 2024 18:43:12 GMT andydp said:

Relax !! It wasn't sex this time.  Bonus: It wasn't at Wal-Mart

Moms for Liberty school board member arrested for shoplifting from Target

A Tennessee school board member tied to the conservative group Moms for Liberty was arrested after allegedly shoplifting from Target on seven different occasions.

Keri Blair, 43, was arrested on 5 January for property theft charges after purportedly “skip-scanning” items at Target self-checkout stations seven different times between 25 November and 20 December, a Collierville Police spokesperson said.

The allegedly stolen items amounted to $728.61, the spokesperson added.

news.yahoo.com/moms-liberty-school-board-member-163413417.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuYmluZy5jb20v&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAJ-sdyO85vWkohu6jRUq5I-LpRk72C0Q--BHYEPyt3VZtHGS8lV8fNFn3DV8kpOubRFv2_DqR052P1Yvq8lfk27ygqwYuqsn8pzyzXn5HHl40bes4TMFgkZ0bES1QxtAbmXBaVtI2LRnmSfIfqv2MEUt48zXl9Zn9M_P91er7AtS

A drag queen showed her how to do it? 

[Bact PhD]

Here in Flori-DUH, “unorthodox” dealings are part of the DNA. Said dealings even extend to manipulation of the searches for presidents of state universities, going as far as to carve out a special exemption to our state’s “Sunshine Laws” to facilitate matters.

Backstory: A couple of years ago, the then-president of the University of Florida announced his intention to retire, setting off a search for a new one. Given the Supreme Emperor’s fondness for ideologues, it wasn’t much of a surprise when it came out that then-Sen. Ben Sasse was in the mix. Interestingly enough, when it came down to the finalists, there was only one name — Ben Sasse. Although he had been president of a small religious college in the past, running a major state university of over 60,000 students, a law school, and an extensive medical school/hospital system is another matter entirely. Very few folks in these here parts were happy with the selection. He was installed just over a year and a half ago, and it looked like things were beginning to settle down.

Late last month, out of the blue, Sasse announces he’s stepping down effective the end of the month to attend to his wife’s health issues (hmmm). Not casting aspersions on her health, but most folks wondered about the abrupt departure. Wonder no more:

www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/state/2024/08/15/patronis-wants-probe-of-ben-sasse-spending-at-university-of-florida/74816873007/

Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis Thursday called on the state university system to investigate spending by outgoing University of Florida President Ben Sasse, saying his department would "offer auditing support."

"Reports of @uf's exorbitant spending by Ben Sasse’s office are concerning," Patronis wrote in a social media post on X.

The Independent Florida Alligator reported earlier this week that Sasse, a Republican former U.S. senator from Nebraska who spent only 17 months heading UF, had "more than tripled his office’s spending, directing millions in university funds into secretive consulting contracts and high-paying positions for his GOP allies."

[snip]

He's now at least the second high-level Florida Republican to chime in on social media about Sasse's stunted tenure as UF's administrative leader.

Damn Sam! It must be bad if the fellow ideologues are turning on him!!

[indy]

My understanding from peripheral sources is that it was the University of Florida's own student newspaper that actually uncovered this mess. Do you know if that is the case?

[Bact PhD]

Aug 16, 2024 10:44:23 GMT indy said:

My understanding from peripheral sources is that it was the University of Florida's own student newspaper that actually uncovered this mess. Do you know if that is the case?

It was:

www.alligator.org/article/2024/08/sasse-s-spending-spree-former-uf-president-channeled-millions-to-gop-allies-secretive-contracts

It’s even slimier than I thought. Not even our state [slimeballs] officials could look the other way on this one:

McKinsey comes to the Swamp

When Sasse took over UF in February 2023, he knew he’d need a hand.

His track record in higher education administration was limited to his five-year presidency at Midland University, a small, private liberal arts college in Fremont, Nebraska. At UF, which enrolls over 60,000 students and pulls in an annual $1 billion in research grants, Sasse faced a steep learning curve.

He turned to consultants for help.

During his presidency, Sasse spent $7.2 million in university funds to consultants for advice on his strategic planning and to fill leadership gaps — over 40 times more than Fuchs’ total consulting expenses over his eight-year term.

Sasse paid nearly two-thirds of the $7.2 million to McKinsey & Company, where he once worked as an adviser on an hourly contract. The firm carries prestige as one of the “big three” management consulting giants, but is notoriously secretive about its dealings and shielded its work from public view using records laws protecting trade secrets.

A critical “scope of work” attachment, which would outline McKinsey's responsibilities to UF, was redacted from a copy of the contract obtained from a public records request. The redaction, permissible under state public records laws, makes it virtually impossible for the public to know what the firm did to earn its fees.

A UF spokesperson said McKinsey was using data analysis to help Sasse build his strategic plan, but the university hasn’t disclosed further details about its $4.7 million contract with the firm since The Alligator first reported its existence last August. Public records requests for any reports, presentations and data produced under the contract have yielded no responsive documents.

Actually, the student newspaper is an independent entity, not affiliated with the university at all. This stems from a big falling out some decades ago.

[indy]

That's what I thought I had read, thanks for the info!

[Bact PhD]

Re: Sasse
In the words of the late Ron Popeil, “But Wait, There’s More!”

www.alligator.org/article/2024/08/reason-behind-sasse-departure

Evidently the Chair of the Board of Trustees and Sasse had a significant falling out:

Former UF President Ben Sasse stepped down unexpectedly in July, citing concerns about his wife’s health. But nine current and former administrators and top donors say there was more to the story.

After 17 months on the job, his working relationship with the UF Board of Trustees chairman, Morteza “Mori” Hosseini, became untenable, they say. Hosseini, a strong-willed top political appointee of Gov. Ron DeSantis and a developer, has served as head of the school’s board of trustees since 2018.

Out of public view, tensions escalated to a breaking point between Hosseini and Sasse, the former Republican U.S. senator from Nebraska who had started a process to overhaul Florida’s flagship public university.

Specifically, Hosseini sought to impose restrictions on Sasse’s communications and outreach with the governor’s office, Florida’s higher education oversight agency and the Legislature – where Sasse’s popularity was strong and growing. The new rule would require all those communications be routed through Hosseini, said one administrator, describing what Sasse had personally confided to this person.

[goldenvalley]

I debated whether to put it here or in marching toward fascism.

DeSantis' Election Police Questioned People Who Signed Abortion Petitions

Since last week, DeSantis’ secretary of state has ordered elections supervisors in at least four counties to send to Tallahassee at least 36,000 petition forms already deemed to have been signed by real people. Since the Times first reported on this effort, Alachua and Broward counties have confirmed they also received requests from the state.

One 16-year supervisor said the request was unprecedented. The state did not ask for rejected petitions, which have been the basis for past fraud cases.

DeSantis, who signed the abortion ban into law, has organized opposition to the amendment, and his office’s request to supervisors has supporters of the amendment fearful it could be “political interference.”

It is unclear how the Lee County voters’ petitions were flagged. The Lee County Supervisor of Elections office received a request from the state for only one voter’s signed petition, and supervisor Tommy Doyle said he wasn’t sure why officers were showing up at voters’ doors.

Floridians Protecting Freedom, which is leading the Amendment 4 effort, hired California-based PCI Consultants to collect signatures. The company was involved in several successful petition drives in Florida, including the 2016 amendment legalizing medical marijuana and the 2018 amendment allowing Floridians with felony convictions to vote.

Floridians Protecting Freedom has paid PCI more than $18 million, campaign finance records show. It also spent more than $750,000 getting local supervisors to comb through and verify the signatures.

PCI has procedures to maintain the integrity of the petition-gathering process, said ACLU of Florida spokesperson Keisha Mulfort. That includes a quality control process in which incomplete or potentially inaccurate petitions were flagged for supervisors, she said. The ACLU of Florida is a coalition partner with Floridians Protecting Freedom.

I don't know how it works in Florida, but I do know that California has the county elections offices verify all signatures based on the signatures in the voter registration roles.  I've been part of signature gathering process...each voter is identified by signature and address. We had to keep one petition per county so that the petitions could be sent to the correct county for verification.

[Bact PhD]

Sept 10, 2024 1:35:27 GMT goldenvalley said:

I debated whether to put it here or in marching toward fascism.

DeSantis' Election Police Questioned People Who Signed Abortion Petitions

Since last week, DeSantis’ secretary of state has ordered elections supervisors in at least four counties to send to Tallahassee at least 36,000 petition forms already deemed to have been signed by real people. Since the Times first reported on this effort, Alachua and Broward counties have confirmed they also received requests from the state.

One 16-year supervisor said the request was unprecedented. The state did not ask for rejected petitions, which have been the basis for past fraud cases.

DeSantis, who signed the abortion ban into law, has organized opposition to the amendment, and his office’s request to supervisors has supporters of the amendment fearful it could be “political interference.”

It is unclear how the Lee County voters’ petitions were flagged. The Lee County Supervisor of Elections office received a request from the state for only one voter’s signed petition, and supervisor Tommy Doyle said he wasn’t sure why officers were showing up at voters’ doors.

Floridians Protecting Freedom, which is leading the Amendment 4 effort, hired California-based PCI Consultants to collect signatures. The company was involved in several successful petition drives in Florida, including the 2016 amendment legalizing medical marijuana and the 2018 amendment allowing Floridians with felony convictions to vote.

Floridians Protecting Freedom has paid PCI more than $18 million, campaign finance records show. It also spent more than $750,000 getting local supervisors to comb through and verify the signatures.

PCI has procedures to maintain the integrity of the petition-gathering process, said ACLU of Florida spokesperson Keisha Mulfort. That includes a quality control process in which incomplete or potentially inaccurate petitions were flagged for supervisors, she said. The ACLU of Florida is a coalition partner with Floridians Protecting Freedom.

I don't know how it works in Florida, but I do know that California has the county elections offices verify all signatures based on the signatures in the voter registration roles.  I've been part of signature gathering process...each voter is identified by signature and address. We had to keep one petition per county so that the petitions could be sent to the correct county for verification.

As far as I know (and I can’t find the link to the article I read 2 hours ago just now), it’s a similar deal here — election supervisors verify the signatures on petitions before they get sent on. The article I read quoted someone actually involved with this effort as saying they wanted to make sure dead people’s signatures weren’t popping up (slight eyeroll).

[andydp]

From above:

As far as I know (and I can’t find the link to the article I read 2 hours ago just now), it’s a similar deal here — election supervisors verify the signatures on petitions before they get sent on. The article I read quoted someone actually involved with this effort as saying they wanted to make sure dead people’s signatures weren’t popping up (slight eyeroll).

I wonder how many residents of the Villages are voting in their home state and at the Villages.  Seems funny that with all that election integrity talk no one is looking into this.  (Sarcasm alert)

[goldenvalley]

Sept 10, 2024 18:02:23 GMT andydp said:

From above:

As far as I know (and I can’t find the link to the article I read 2 hours ago just now), it’s a similar deal here — election supervisors verify the signatures on petitions before they get sent on. The article I read quoted someone actually involved with this effort as saying they wanted to make sure dead people’s signatures weren’t popping up (slight eyeroll).

I wonder how many residents of the Villages are voting in their home state and at the Villages.  Seems funny that with all that election integrity talk no one is looking into this.  (Sarcasm alert)

I think this is probably the most common voter fraud.  I remember when the guy in Kansas did his fraud hunt.  He found a person or two who voted in both Kansas and Oklahoma.  Why?  Because they owned property in both places.  They forget to notice that you have to register in both places before you can vote in them.  This is a bit harder to do now that states have a way to cross check with other states, but oh wait...Some states rejected the ERIC software as some sort of defiance against something or other.  Oh and this is why absentee ballots are bad...the very few liars like these folks get away with voting twice...not enough to sway an election with millions of people turning out to vote.

[Bact PhD]

They’re at it again, this time it’s a couple of TV stations for running ads “they” don’t like:

www.gainesville.com/story/news/local/2024/10/10/florida-department-of-health-sends-letter-to-tv20-over-abortion-ad/75589330007/

The Federal Communications Commission has criticized a cease-and-desist order sent by the Florida Department of Health to at least two television stations, including WCJB-TV20 in Gainesville, over the running of a political advertisement related to the state's abortion laws.

The letter, dated Oct. 3 and sent to TV20 General Manger Alan Chatman and Mike Jones, the vice president of political sales for Gray Media, the owner of the station, specifically attacks the ad's claim "that current Florida law does not allow physicians to perform abortions necessary to preserve the lives and health of pregnant women."

[snip]

"Such actions would threaten or impair the health and lives of these women," the letter says. It also threatens legal action if the station fail to comply.

[snip]

The Elias Law Group, which represents Floridians Protecting Freedom, sent a letter to Chatman and Jones urging them to continue to accept the advertisement.

It calls the letter from the Department of Health a "flagrant abuse of power" that "must be rejected"

"... it reflects an unconstitutional attempt to coerce the station into censoring protected speech," the letter says.

It gets even better: The WaPo version of the story includes just what statute the DOH is citing to make its case:

Wilson wrote that running the 30-second spot was a violation of Florida’s “sanitary nuisance” law, which is commonly used to charge people with overflowing septic tanks or unclean slaughterhouses. He ordered the stations to remove the ads within 24 hours or open themselves up to a second-degree misdemeanor charge, which in Florida carries a sentence of imprisonment up to 60 days and a fine up to $500.

“Sanitary nuisance”?!?? Talk about stretching the logic!

[goldenvalley]

Oct 10, 2024 16:23:28 GMT Bact PhD said:

Wilson wrote that running the 30-second spot was a violation of Florida’s “sanitary nuisance” law, which is commonly used to charge people with overflowing septic tanks or unclean slaughterhouses. He ordered the stations to remove the ads within 24 hours or open themselves up to a second-degree misdemeanor charge, which in Florida carries a sentence of imprisonment up to 60 days and a fine up to $500.

“Sanitary nuisance”?!?? Talk about stretching the logic!

That is some creative lawyering! Did this happen after Hurricane Helene struck?  If so, then DeSantis is an even bigger piece of bad than I first thought.  A soggy, windblown state needs something more than creative lawyering on 

[Bact PhD]

Oct 10, 2024 19:20:34 GMT goldenvalley said:

Oct 10, 2024 16:23:28 GMT Bact PhD said:

“Sanitary nuisance”?!?? Talk about stretching the logic!

That is some creative lawyering! Did this happen after Hurricane Helene struck?  If so, then DeSantis is an even bigger piece of bad than I first thought.  A soggy, windblown state needs something more than creative lawyering on 

The letter was dated Oct. 3. Helene struck the night of September 26. One friend of mine has taken to referring to the Supreme Emperor of Flori-DUH as “Il Duce Secundo.”