#Florida corporate law

[lawofficeofryansshipp]

Asset Sale vs. Stock Sale: Key Considerations for Buying or Selling a Business in Florida

  Florida Real Estate & Business Attorneys Hey everyone, Florida Attorney Ryan S. Shipp here! Thinking about buying or selling a business in Florida? You have two main options: an asset sale or a stock sale. Asset Sale In an asset sale, the buyer purchases specific assets—like equipment, inventory, and customer lists—while the seller usually keeps the liabilities. This gives buyers more…

[alwaysbewoke]

wow. "chiquita" and "death squads" are not things i expected to see in the same sentence.

[nando161mando]

Huge win for Queerfolk in Florida. The restrictions on providing gender affirming care to trans youth and adults have been found unconstitutional and are now permanently enjoined. Thanks to Simone Chriss and the Southern Legal Counsel.

The full documented decision here: https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flnd.460963/gov.uscourts.flnd.460963.223.0.pdf

[youthchronical]

Trump Organization Sues Capital One for Closing Its Accounts

President Trump’s family business sued Capital One on Friday for “unjustifiably terminating” more than 300 of its bank accounts after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, the latest sign that the president and his allies are seeking retribution against those who once shunned them. In a complaint filed in state court in Florida, the Trump Organization accused the bank of arbitrarily closing…

[attorneysrealtyfl]

Business Contract Formation Attorney

Need assistance with business contracts? Our business contract formation attorney provides reliable legal support to draft, review, and finalize contracts tailored to your needs. Ensure your agreements are clear, enforceable, and protect your interests. Contact us today!

[inkskinned]

one of the things that i think we should pay attention to, socially, about the disney v. desantis thing is that it is really highlighting the importance of remembering nuance.

in a purely neutral sense, if you engage in something problematic, that does not mean you are necessarily agreeing with what makes it problematic. and i am worried that we have become... so afraid of any form of nuance.

disney isn't my friend, they're a corporate monopoly that bastardized copyright laws for their own benefit, ruin the environment, and abuse their workers (... and many other things). this isn't a hypothetical for me - i grew up in florida. i also worked for the actual Walt Disney World; like, in the parks. i am keenly aware of the ways they hurt people, because they hurt me. i fully believe that part of the reason florida is so conservative is because it's been an "open secret" for years now that disney lobbies the government to keep minimum wage down, and i know they worked hard to keep the parks unmasked and open during the worst parts of Covid. they purposefully keep their employees in poverty. they are in part responsible for the way the floridian government works.

desantis is still, by a margin that is frankly daunting, way worse. the alternative here isn't just "republicans win", it's actual fascism.

in a case like this, where the alternative is to allow actual fascism into united states legislation - where, if desantis wins, there are huge and legal ramifications - it's tempting to minimize the harm disney is also doing, because... well, it's not fascism. but disney isn't the good guy, either, which means republicans are having a field day asking activists oh, so you think their treatment of their employees is okay?

we have been trained there is a right answer. you're right! you're in the good group, and you're winning at having an opinion.

except i have the Internet Prophecy that in 2-3 months, even left-wing people will be ripping apart activists for having "taken disney's side". aren't i an anti-capitalist? aren't i pro-union? aren't i one of the good ones? removed from context and nuance (that in this particular situation i am forced to side with disney, until an other option reveals itself), my act of being like "i hope they have goofy rip his throat out onstage, shaking his lifeless body like a dog toy" - how quickly does that seem like i actually do support disney?

and what about you! at home, reading this. are you experiencing the Thought Crime of... actually liking some of the things disney has made? your memories of days at the parks, or of good movies, or of your favorite show growing up. maybe you are also evil, if you ever enjoyed anything, ever, at all.

to some degree, the binary idealization/vilification of individual motive and meaning already exists in the desantis case. i have seen people saying not to go to the disney pride events because they're cash grabs (they are). i've seen people saying you have to go because they're a way to protest. there isn't a lot of internet understanding of nuance. instead it's just "good show of support" or "evil bootlicking."

this binary understanding is how you can become radicalized. when we fear nuance and disorder, we're allowing ourselves the safety of assuming that the world must exist in binary - good or bad, problematic or "not" problematic. and unfortunately, bigots want you to see the world in this binary ideal. they want you to get mad at me because "disney is taking a risk for our community but you won't sing their praises" and they want me to get mad at you for not respecting the legit personal trauma that disney forced me through.

in a grander scheme outside of disney: what happens is a horrific splintering within activist groups. we bicker with each other about minimal-harm minimal-impact ideologies, like which depiction of bisexuality is the most-true. we gratuitously analyze the personal lives of activists for any sign they might be "problematic". we get spooked because someone was in a dog collar at pride. we wring our hands about setting an empty shopping mall on fire. we tell each other what words we may identify ourselves by. we get fuckin steven universe disk horse when in reality it is a waste of our collective time.

the bigots want you to spend all your time focusing on how pristine and pretty you and your interests are. they want us at each other's throats instead of hand in hand. they want to say see? nothing is ever fucking good enough for these people.

and they want their followers to think in binary as well - a binary that's much easier to follow. see, in our spaces, we attack each other over "proper" behavior. but in bigoted groups? they attack outwards. they have someone they hate, and it is us. they hate you, specifically, and you are why they have problems - not the other people in their group. and that's a part of how they fucking keep winning.

some of the things that are beloved to you have a backbone in something terrible. the music industry is a wasteland. the publishing industry is a bastion of white supremacy. video games run off of unpaid labor and abuse.

the point of activism was always to bring to light that abuse and try to stop it from happening, not to condemn those who engage in the content that comes from those industries. "there is no ethical consumption under late capitalism" also applies to media. your childhood (and maybe current!) love of the little mermaid isn't something you should now flinch from, worried you'll be a "disney adult". wanting the music industry to change for the better does not require that you reject all popular music until that change occurs. you can acknowledge the harm something might cause - and celebrate the love that it has brought into your life.

we must detach an acknowledgment of nuance from a sense of shame and disgust. we must. punishing individual people for their harmless passions is not doing good work. encouraging more thoughtful, empathetic consumption does not mean people should feel ashamed of their basic human capacities and desires. it should never have even been about the individual when the corporation is so obviously the actual evil. this sense that we must live in shame and dread of our personal nuances - it just makes people bitter and hopeless. do you have any idea how scared i am to post this? to just acknowledge the idea of nuance? that i might like something nuanced, and engage in it joyfully? and, at the same time, that i'm brutally aware of the harm that they're doing?

"so what do i do?" ... well, often there isn't a right answer. i mean in this case, i hope mickey chops off ron's head and then does a little giggle. but truth be told, often our opinions on nuanced subjects will differ. you might be able to engage in things that i can't because the nuance doesn't sit right with me. i might think taylor swift is a great performer and a lot of fun, and you might be like "raquel, the jet fuel emissions". we are both correct; neither of us have any actual sway in this. and i think it's important to remember that - the actual scope of individual responsibility. like, i also love going to the parks. Thunder Mountain is so fun. you (just a person) are not responsible for the harm that Disney (the billion dollar corporation) caused me. i don't know. i think it's possible to both enjoy your memories and interrogate the current state of their employment policies.

there is no right way to interrogate or engage with nuance - i just hope you embrace it readily.

[asalescommunity]

In terms of being in a sales community, a former salesperson is not working in a sales department.

However, salespeople should remember that even if a prospect doesn`t buy a product from a salesman, or a saleswoman, a behaviour with a hospitality should remain.

All those who want to work as the salesman, or the saleswoman you are welcomed for a sales training here.

Speaking as a former salesperson who just experienced this from a current salesperson: If you can’t convince your potential client to buy your Thing™, even if you spent a lot of time and are on commission and they seemed like they were going to buy your Thing™, ending your sales pitch with some variation of, “Well I hope you enjoy (negative consequence of not buying my Thing™)” as a parting shot doesn’t win you any points. You’re actually convincing the person they made the right decision refusing, because nobody trusts a salesperson who is ungracious and rude when they don’t get their way.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

The Left Hook with Wajahat Ali:

Hope, like courage, is contagious. However, in the face of immense hardships, chaos, and unbeatable opponents, apathy and cynicism are initially comforting because they are cheap and lazy. They don’t require an investment of time, effort, or an expansive imagination that could entertain a different narrative that doesn’t end in pain. Also, they allow you to hide in the shadows, like a spectator, praying that the Eye of Sauron, in this case, Trump and right-wing media, doesn’t find you and make you the latest villain in their endless culture war fueled by grievance, greed, and cruelty. In the face of authoritarianism, complicity and obeying in advance are also easy. Why resist and stick your neck out just so Musk and DOGE’s chainsaw can chop it off and violent MAGA redshirts can step in and finish the job? That’s why so many Republicans have refused to publicly call out Trump even though, privately, they know he is dangerous, unstable, and unpatriotic. Why stand up and call out Trump’s blatant lies and illegal acts and get targeted when you can just bend the knee and avoid the headache? That’s why corporate law firms Paul, Weiss, and Skadden have decided to be complicit actors in Trump’s dismantling of democracy and have offered millions of dollars of pro bono work to help him accomplish the mission. Why be courageous journalists and press members and confront Trump and his minions over their blatant lies just so you can lose precious access, receive death threats, and be called “the enemy of the state?” This is why CNN and ABC News settled cases with Trump, and Jeff Bezos, owner of The Washington Post, has hollowed out the once-historic newspaper. Why use the power of your corporate money and influence to stand up for your employees and consumers of color so you can attract 24-7 outrage from bad-faith right-wing hacks who will unleash anti-woke boycotts against you and your stores? This is why Target and Walmart have joined many corporations and universities to voluntarily abandon their “DEI” initiatives. It’s the schoolyard bully scenario played out on an international scale. Trump, the insecure, vulgarian bully, picks on the weakest kid. He publicly beats him and demands that he give him his lunch money. The kid submits, and everyone else cowers in fear, knowing they’ll be next. The bully’s appetite grows, and he keeps coming back, demanding more and more. Eventually, one kid stands up and says, “No.” The bully yells and threatens to break his bones, but this kid has had enough and refuses to yield. Inspired, another kid stands up to join him in saying, “No.” And then another. Soon, the bully is outnumbered by the majority, who always had the power but never had the courage and hope to stand up for themselves as individuals.

The school kids have had enough of the bully. I am writing this on April 5th as thousands of Americans across the nation have come out on Saturday to stand up to the bullies known as Trump, Musk, MAGA, and the broligarchy. The Hands Off! demonstrations were organized in more than 1,200 locations across all 50 states by more than 150 groups. It isn’t just the “woke” (which is Republican for people of color) who showed up, folks. In many places, the majority are white folks and the elderly, representing Republican counties and districts. I’m talking about Utah, rural Virginia, and Florida. It seems that unleashing a disastrous trade war and imposing obscene tariffs that capsize the markets isn’t the best way to make America great again. It seems that attacking Social Security and Medicaid and firing thousands of federal employees pisses people off and inspires them to get off their butts and march in the streets. It seems people don’t want the broligarchy to profit off of their collective misery and see their President golfing and hosting $1 million a plate dinners at his Mar-a-Lago resort as people are at risk of losing their 401Ks.

Saturday’s Hands Off protests were a massive success, as places blue, red, and purple across the country held protests against the corrupt Trump/Musk/Project 2025 regime. The next 50501 protests will be on 04.19.2025.

[tumblebagel]

FOR ALL TRANS PEOPLE IN FLORIDA

Hi. I've been meaning to make a post like this for quite a long time now. As a person who's been trans in this state for... a while, I felt like I could be helpful by posting my catalogue of knowledge.

I also need to apologize in advance. I need to give you the facts and the current policies before I can give you the hope that you're looking for. I promise, there is hope. I swear it. But being well informed is my first priority for you right now, because it's the only thing I can do to make sure that you, the reader, stay safe. Okay?

Do me a favor and take a deep breath before you hit “Keep Reading,” alright?

The Facts.

Florida's bathroom laws are fucked. If you hear the term "Safety in Private Spaces Act" that is the exact law fucking trans people over. It was passed in 2023, and people are not afraid to use it. It only DIRECTLY applies to public state-owned buildings. If you attempt to enter a bathroom that does not match your sex, and you are at:

A public school

A state owned library

A state owned govt building (city hall, etc.)

Then you can, and likely WILL be arrested.

If you are in ANY restroom on the aforementioned properties, and are presenting as gender nonconforming, OR you're presenting as a gender that doesn't match the restroom you entered, you may still face harassment, and the police being contact anyways, although they won't have grounds for arrest. It's very much a lose-lose situation.

As someone who's worked at a public library in Florida for the past 5 years now, you can take all of the information above as a first hand reference.

While the "Safety in Private Spaces Act" is only DIRECTLY targeted at state owned & public buildings, private property needs to be taken at a case-by-case basis. People can still call the police, and if you're not certain that the people who own the location will defend you, it can be quite risky. Here's a list of common stores & restaurants and stuff that have protection policies in place for trans people using the restroom there (AKA, the GOOD ones).

Target

Starbucks

Barnes & Noble

Chipotle

Sears

Whole Foods

There's also this site: https://www.refugerestrooms.org where you plug in your address, and it lets you know if there are safe restrooms nearby. I believe it also has an app? I've heard some concerns about how often it's updated, but a resource is a resource. Also ALWAYS be careful when inputting your data (including your location) online. Be sure that the site is secure, and trusted by other members of the community to, you know, not be shipping off your data to corporations or the current government.

You can also look for businesses with "family restrooms" which people might give you a weird look if you leave one alone, but more often than not they'll just assume whatever happened was simply too embarrassing for a public stall. Disney property is also surprisingly quite good at those with their "companion restrooms" you'll sometimes see.

On the exact opposite end of the spectrum, I've made plenty of use of shiiiiiiiiiiiiiitty gas stations in my day. As in gas stations so tiny and run down in the middle of nowhere that they simply CANNOT AFFORD a second stall. It ain't hygienic by any stretch of the imagination, but neither is the back of a police cruiser.

Last resort, and I mean LAST resort, is personal bathrooms in the houses of allies. If you have a trusted support group, and their addresses, congratulations, consider that your gender-neutral bathroom map. They're almost assuredly not convenient, but some days they're the ONLY comfortable places to go.

Trans people are twice as likely to get a UTI in their life as cis people, simply from trying not to use a restroom. So first and foremost, please please please stay safe out there.

Second order of note is HRT.

I feel the need to very explicitly say DIY HORMONES CAN BE VERY DANGEROUS. You need consistent bloodwork done to make sure your body is handling the treatment properly. In addition, improper dosage can lead to a bunch of awful symptoms, including tolerance to the medication. Please, work with a physician who can make sure you stay safe, don't do DIY unless it's your absolute last resort.

ITS ALSO VERY IMPORTANT TO NOTE, that if you're a minor, you cannot begin gender affirming care in Florida, and if you are caught with it, Florida authorities have grounds to revoke your parents' custody. That is shit. I know that is shit. I was very recently a minor tearing my hair out trying to get HRT. While I'm now legally considered """an adult""", I still very very very much feel that pain. Comments are open if you'd like to scream a bit.

For people over 18, there are a bunch of additional restrictions in place for setting up care. First of all, with the informed consent model, you need to sign all of the paperwork *in-person* with the prescribing physician, which completely cuts out any Telehealth options. You'll also be pretty hard pressed to FIND a clinic willing to prescribe it.

I can't personally recommend Plume. I was on a several month long waiting list, only to have my appointment cancelled because a bill went into effect the week before I was supposed to go sign the informed consent paperwork. That being said, I know too many trans people here who LOVE Plume to denounce it. The pricing and services it offers sounds almost too good. The organization has helped a lot of people, so the most I can say is:

1: Do your research.

2: Don't feel tied down if it doesn't work out.

If you want to know how I, personally, started my care, I think it's now time to switch over from the Facts to the Hope.

The Hope.

Planned Parenthood.

I made my first appointment in South Carolina to try and circumvent that law that cancelled my Plume appointment. You'll want to do your research on what Planned Parenthood location you're going to, because not all of them provide the same services. That being said... worse case scenario... South Carolina really ain't too far away, as long as you've got a free weekend for a road trip there and back.

I'm getting off track, Planned Parenthood is amazing. The people there are REALLY nice. My physician very much has an "OH MY GOD YOU'RE GONNA LOVE IT" energy about her.

I scheduled my first appointment just a week out, though timing may vary now that a lot more pressure is being put on them. Hours after my first appointment I had both estradiol and spironolactone physically in my hands, and the biggest dorky grin on my face.

In terms of access, this is probably one of the BEST options at your disposal. Please be sure to do some research beforehand about appointment costs, and medication costs, especially since insurance REALLY isn't going to want to cover it.

Once you're ready, mentally and financially, the power to get GAHT is in your hands.

Also, now when I take their post-appointment survey, I can say "yes, I would recommend this location to someone else" :D

A lot of public universities have been implementing more gender neutral bathrooms, and can potentially even provide you a map of where they are on campus if you ask.

Name change forms are also easily accessible for most schools if you ask, both for social recognition with teachers, and digital changes in academic portals and websites.

While LGBTQ+ oppression hasn’t gone down, neither has our fighting. You’ll see more pride pins and flags than ever, especially in the cities.

If you need mental/emotional help or support, I can't recommend anyone more than the Trevor Project:

https://www.thetrevorproject.org

Their help hotline is entirely confidential. Life as a trans person is hella stressful, and living in Florida can make that a lot worse. Whatever you're going through right now, I can tell you that there are people ready and willing to accept you and care for you.

I've also gotten glowing reviews from my sibling about the Orlando Youth Alliance. If you're a trans minor in Florida, you may not be able to get HRT... but you can occasionally get a trip to Disney World.

https://orlandoyouthalliance.org

Lastly, if you're out and about in Florida, and you see a girl in a black-grey hoodie, a big chunky heart necklace, and 1/2 peach colored hair dye, feel free to go up to her and tell her "I like your shoelaces," and you can get a free hug, no questions asked.

Keeping Tabs.

I'm gonna do my best to keep updating this post as much as I can. I've assuredly forgotten something. News details and policy updates will be my main focus. If you think of something important you'd like me to add, please don't hesitate to let me know

[eugenedebs1920]

I want to get this straight, because maybe I’m not comprehending this properly.

So, in order to give tax breaks for billionaires and corporations the Trump administration is cutting nearly 1/3 of Medicare funding, $800 billion, making significant cuts to social security insurance, which we all pay into our entire working lives, drastically reducing nutritional assistance both in the U.S. and abroad, firing tens to hundreds of thousands of career civil servants, experts in their fields, and gutting agencies like the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,and Federal Aviation Administration?

While at the same time the hundreds of billions spent stripping brown and black people (as well as some Caucasians) of due process and basic human rights, to illegally deport them to a torture prison, not located in their country of origin, leaving a massive labor shortage here at home, leading to the need to weaken child labor laws to make up for that labor gap?

That’s what’s happening? Oh! It is!? Well…. That’s pretty f*cked up, and definitely unamerican, unconstitutional, and illegal. But I guess when you’re a failed businessman, husband, tv personality and president, apparently you can dictate the law how you please!

It not.

Fight back!

[thelezzer]

the stonewall museum is hosting a corporate sponsored, cop-staffed "re-enactment" of the stonewall riots this saturday.

this is the stonewall MUSEUM in florida, not the original inn in new york

"Local police departments and other community members will play a role in the re-enactment. As the reenactment concludes, which will go from conflict to resolution in 30-minutes, a large rainbow flag will be unfurled to symbolize the progress made over the last 55 years between law enforcement and the LGBTQ+ community."

the stonewall riots started because of police violence. the patrons of the stonewall inn fought back after a raid of the bar by the new york city police. the police made a routine of raiding gay bars: ripping people away from their lovers, scrutinizing their dress for non-conformity, then beating them and hauling them away.

now, police in florida are being tasked with enforcing the state's new wave of anti-queer laws. who will arrest teachers who stock books with gay characters in their classrooms? who will arrest drag queens for public indecency? who will arrest a trans person trying to use the bathroom? the very same police who will be staffing this event to play pretend at arresting queer people for being queer.

this event is an attempt to whitewash our history and rehabilitate the image of police.

to make matters worse, the event is courting corporate sponsors. companies can receive the labels objector, agitator, protestor, resistor, fight back, and rise up for donations between $5,000 and $100,000. donations over $50,000 grant a license to use the stonewall inn name and logo for corporate materials. this allows businesses to profit off the lgbtq community's history of resistance and use our struggles as marketing.

i suggest that people local to this free event show up and let our voices be heard. do not allow this event to go off without a hitch. please be cautious given the obvious police presence (funny how police make a "stonewall" event an unsafe place to protest, isn't it?).

for people not in the area, write to the RSVP email Monique@stonewall-museum.org, flood their Instagram comments, and spread the word.

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from The Desert Sun:

All of America's national monuments must be reviewed for potential oil and gas drilling and mining reserves, critics say, per bureaucratic language tucked deep in a sweeping order issued on Monday by newly sworn-in Interior Secretary Doug Burgum.

His order 3418, “Unleashing American Energy,” mandates that the Interior Department finish its initial monument review by Feb. 18.

That means 157 locations in 33 states and several national territories — including the freshly designated Chuckwalla National Monument and Sattitla National Monument in California — could be subjected to the expedited 15-day review, and attempts could be made to "revise" their boundaries.

Monuments protect cultural and historic resources and the lands that contain them, and are created by Congress or U.S. presidents. California has more monuments than any other state, with more than 4 million acres likely under review, one expert said, from popular desert off-roading trails to massive coastal redwoods. They include Mojave Trails, Sand to Snow, Carrizo Plain, Muir Woods, Devils Postpile, Cabrillo, Lava Beds, California Coastal, Sequoia NF, Cesar Chavez, Fort Ord, San Gabriel Mountains, Berryessa Snow Mountain and Castle Mountains.

The relevant portion of Burgrum's order includes “actions to review and, as appropriate, revise all withdrawn public lands, consistent with existing law, including 54 U.S.C. 320301 and 43 U.S.C. 1714."

Although not spelled out in plain English, those sections of code govern the Antiquities Act of 1906, under which 20 U.S. presidents have set aside millions acres of land and historic sites, from Alaska to Florida.

[Additional information from a story from Inside Climate News:

The order calls on the Interior’s assistant secretaries to identify in their action plans how to accomplish “actions to review and, as appropriate, revise all withdrawn public lands” under the Antiquities Act of 1906, the law that allows presidents to create national monuments, and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976, which outlines how federal lands can be used and allows for the establishment of national wildlife refuges and more. ]

Many Republican lawmakers have criticized presidents' use of the Antiquities Act to block mining, fossil fuels and other industrial development on federal monument lands.

But myriad environmental, hunting and fishing groups sharply condemned Burgum's actions, once the meaning became clear.

"Burgum knows that attacking monuments is incredibly unpopular, which is why he won't even use the words 'national monuments' or 'Antiquities Act' in his orders. He's trying to operate in secret here, and definitely does not want any public input," said Aaron Weiss, deputy director of Center for Western Priorities.

"This is a sneaky, unpatriotic attack that strikes at the very foundation of the country’s beloved public lands," a coalition of groups said in a news release condemning the order. "These national treasures are broadly beloved. They safeguard our water, buoy the outdoor recreation economy, protect our trails, and preserve a national heritage rich in culture and natural beauty. Attacks on the outdoors, such as this order from Secretary Burgum, threaten the $640-billion recreation economy, putting millions of jobs at risk."

The statement added that "the order fails to recognize that oil production hit record highs under the Biden administration. This isn’t about energy dominance. Washington politicians and their billionaire advisors have an unpatriotic anti-public lands agenda that aims to dismantle our national monuments for corporate polluters."

And here's a statement from the Conservation Lands Foundation:

These orders also willfully ignore the rural residents and communities whose personal and local incomes rely on these lands being protected from privatization. Outdoor recreation on BLM lands contributes more than $11 billion to the economy and substantial income to individuals, small and large businesses, and rural communities through hunting, fishing, camping, climbing, riding off-highway vehicles, and many other activities. 

With roughly 85% of BLM lands already available for energy production–and roughly half of existing oil and gas leases not being used–it's crystal clear that these recent orders targeting the 15% of public lands that are protected for the public’s use have nothing to do with the nation’s energy portfolio.  

There’s really no explanation other than this administration is trying to sneakily and greedily sell off the 15% of protected public lands to the wealthy and well-connected, thereby blocking access for everyone else. It’s an attack that flies in the face of America’s ideals and the Conservation Lands Foundation will be unrelenting in our fight on the side of the people–85% of voters in the west–who support keeping public lands in the public’s hands.

More information from the story from Inside Climate News:

Secretary Burgum’s order would also weaken protections for migratory birds, whose numbers are declining because of climate change, disease, changes in land use and habitat loss. 

In North America, there are 3 billion fewer birds now than in 1970, according to federal documents. The populations of many of the 1,093 species protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act are also declining.

The intention of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act is to curb those losses by prohibiting the accidental killing and incidental takes—killings that are unintentional but not unexpected—of protected birds.  

In his first term, President Trump weakened the MBTA to prohibit only deliberate killings of migratory birds, not incidental takes. The rule benefited business, development and energy companies because it “significantly reduced the activities that would result in liability,” according to the National Law Review. For instance, ponds of toxic waste that accidentally poison birds were no longer subject to the act’s restrictions.

The Biden administration rescinded the Trump rule and restored some protections for migratory birds while granting several exemptions for incidental takes.

The latest order would reinstate the rules implemented during the first Trump administration.]

[doyouknowthisbook-poll]

Do you know which book this is from?

Please reblog the polls, but KEEP IT SPOILER-FREE to make people read the excerpt with an open mind 💖📚 Title and author will be revealed after the poll's conclusion.

Note: this excerpt is too long for Tumblr’s alt text character limit, so for this poll, the alt text is below the read more.

Edit: The results are up here!

In 1999 the RAND Corporation published a report (the first and, so far, last of its kind) with a "conservative estimate" that more than 307 million tissue samples from more than 178 million people were stored in the United States alone. This number, the report said, was increasing by more than 20 million samples each year. The samples come from routine medical procedures, tests, operations, clinical trials, and research donations. They sit in lab freezers, on shelves, or in industrial vats of liquid nitrogen. They're stored at military facilities, the FBI, and the National Institutes of Health. They're in biotech company labs and most hospitals. Biobanks store appendixes, ovaries, skin, sphincters, testicles, fat, even foreskins from most circumcisions. They also house blood samples taken from most infants born in the United States since the late sixties, when states started mandating the screening of all newborns for genetic diseases.

And the scale of tissue research is only getting bigger. "It used to be, some

researcher in Florida had sixty samples in his freezer, then another guy in Utah had some in his," says Kathy Hudson, a molecular biologist who founded the Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University and is now chief of staff at NIH. "Now we're talking about a massive, massive scale." In 2009 the NIH invested $13.5 million to develop a bank for the samples taken from new borns nationwide. A few years ago the National Cancer Institute started gathering what it expects will be millions of tissue samples for mapping cancer genes; the Genographic Project began doing the same to map human migration patterns, as did the NIH to track disease genes. And for several years the public has been sending samples by the millions to personalized DNA testing companies like 23andMe, which only provide customers with their personal medical or genealogical information if they first sign a form granting permission for their samples to be stored for future research.

Scientists use these samples to develop everything from flu vaccines to penis-enlargement products. They put cells in culture dishes and expose them to radiation, drugs,

cosmetics, viruses, household chemicals, and biological weapons, and then study their responses. Without those tissues, we would have no tests for diseases like hepatitis and HIV; no vaccines for rabies, smallpox, measles; none of the promising new drugs for leukemia, breast cancer, colon cancer. And developers of the products that rely on human biological materials would be out billions of dollars.

How you should feel about all this isn't obvious. It's not as if scientists are stealing your arm or some vital organ. They're using tissue scraps you parted with voluntarily. Still, that often involves someone taking part of you. And people often have a strong sense of ownership when it comes to their bodies. Even tiny scraps of them. Especially when they hear that someone else might be making money off those scraps, or using them to uncover potentially damaging information about their genes and medical histories. But a feeling of ownership doesn't hold up in court. And at this point no case law has fully clarified whether you own or have the right to control your tissues. When they're part of your body, they're clearly yours. Once they're excised, your rights get murky.

Kathy Hudson, who has conducted focus groups about the public's feelings on the tissue issue, says she believes that tissue rights have the potential to become a bona fide movement.

"I could see people starting to say, 'No, you can't take my tissues,' " she told me. "All I can say is, we better deal with the problems now instead of waiting until that happens."

There are, essentially, two issues to deal with: consent and money. For most people, knowing if and how their tissues are being used in research is a far bigger issue than profiting from them. Yet when this book went to press, storing blood and tissues for research did not legally require informed consent, because the law governing such things doesn't generally apply to tissue research.

The Federal Policy for the Protection of Human Subjects, also known as the Common Rule, requires informed consent for all human-subject research. But in practice, most tissue research isn't covered because: (1) it's not federally funded, or (2) the researcher never learns the identity of the "donors" or has firsthand contact with them, in which case it's not considered research on humans. So in the end, the Common Rule doesn't actually govern most tissue research.

Today, if doctors want to gather tissues from patients strictly for research purposes—as in Henrietta's case—they are required to get informed consent. But storing tissues from diagnostic procedures like, say, mole biopsies, and using them in future research doesn't require such consent. Most institutions still choose to get permission, but there's no uniformity in the way that's done. A few hand out enough information to fill a small book, explaining exactly what will be done with all patient tissues. But most just include a short line in an admission form saying that any tissues removed may be used for education or research.

[seraphtrevs]

how do you feel about lydia/kim?? personally i find it very compelling... kim's mischievous side with lydia, who is very uptight yet still willing to break the law... i think they'd have a lot of fun but it would be toxic afff

ooh yes, i think they're super fun! instead of heading off to florida and another life after her divorce, what if kim decided to stay a lawyer - instead of punishing herself by taking on a punishingly dull life with a punishingly dull boyfriend, she instead decides what she deserves is to go back to the soulless corporate lawyering that was killing her soul. and instead of looking for a bore like what's-his-face, she looks for someone who is as bad as she is. a lawbreaker hiding in plain sight, just like her. they could get up to a lot of evil business shenanigans

[andrewjbernhard]

Litigating Disputes Between Corporate Management in Florida: Legal Insights and Case Law

Facing a corporate management dispute in Florida? Learn how to navigate legal challenges, from fiduciary duties to shareholder rights, with our latest article.

Disputes among corporate management can create significant challenges for any business. In Florida, as in other jurisdictions, these conflicts—whether between board members, executives, or shareholders—can lead to costly litigation, regulatory scrutiny, and reputational damage. When corporate governance issues, breach of fiduciary duty, or executive disputes escalate, litigation may be the only…

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Leor Sapir and Colin Wright

Published: Jun 9, 2023

A federal court on Tuesday temporarily blocked enforcement of a Florida law that prohibits the administration of sex-change procedures on children under 18. The opinion, by Judge Robert L. Hinkle, leans heavily on medical and scientific rationales to argue that it is unconstitutional to ban the use of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgery on teenagers who feel alienated from their bodies.

Twenty states maintain age restrictions on sex-change procedures, and the problem they face is explaining to judges that American medical associations aren’t following the best available evidence. This is known to European health authorities and has been reported in such prestigious publications as the British Medical Journal. But American judges need some way to evaluate conflicting scientific authorities—especially as institutions responsible for ensuring that medical professionals have access to high-quality research aren’t functioning as they should.

A case in point: Springer, an academic publishing giant, has decided to retract an article that appeared last month in the Archives of Sexual Behavior. The retraction is expected to take effect June 12.

The article’s authors are listed as Michael Bailey and Suzanna Diaz. Mr. Bailey is a well-respected scientist, with dozens of publications to his name. The other author writes under a pseudonym to protect the privacy of her daughter, who suffers from gender dysphoria.

Their new paper is based on survey responses from more than 1,600 parents who reported that their children, who were previously comfortable in their bodies, suddenly declared a transgender identity after extensive exposure to social media and peer influence. Mr. Bailey’s and Ms. Diaz’s sin was to analyze rapid onset gender dysphoria, or ROGD. Gender activists hate any suggestion that transgender identities are anything but innate and immutable. Even mentioning the possibility that trans identity is socially influenced or a phase threatens their claims that children can know early in life they have a permanent transgender identity and therefore that they should have broad access to permanent body-modifying and sterilizing procedures.

Within days of publication, a group of activists wrote a public letter condemning the article and calling for the termination of the journal’s editor. Among the letter’s signatories is Marci Bowers, a prominent genital surgeon and president of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health, an advocacy organization that promotes sex changes for minors.

Nearly 2,000 researchers and academics signed a counter letter in support of the article. Springer nonetheless decided to retract the paper without disciplining its editor. Springer initially asserted that the study needed approval from an institutional review board. But it quickly abandoned that rationale, which was false.

The publisher now maintains that the retraction is due to improper participant consent. While the respondents consented to the publication of the survey’s results, Springer insists they didn’t specifically agree to publication in a scholarly or peer-reviewed journal. That’s a strange and retrospective requirement, especially considering that Springer and other major publishers have published thousands of survey papers without this type of consent.

Anyone familiar with the controversy over transgender medicine knows what is going on. Activists put pressure on Springer to retract an article with conclusions they didn’t like, and Springer caved in. We’ve become accustomed to seeing these capitulations in academia, media and the corporate world, but it is especially disturbing to see in a respected medical journal.

Rather than appreciate the long-term risk to itself and the scientific community from doing the bidding of activists, Springer has instead agreed to evaluate and retract all survey papers that lack the newly required consent. If Springer follows through on its promise, hundreds of authors who chose to publish in Springer’s journals may have their research retracted.

The publications that support what they call “gender-affirming care” rely heavily on surveys. The U.S. Transgender Survey of 2015, for instance, has generated several influential papers. As it happens, the USTS didn’t inform participants that their answers would be published in peer-reviewed journals.

This kind of double standard runs through gender-medicine research. Papers advocating “gender transition” are readily accepted by leading scientific journals despite having grave methodological flaws and biases. Work that questions gender-transition orthodoxy stands almost no chance of being published in the best-known journals. Every now and then, an errant research paper slips past the censors, but should it prove significant enough to threaten the settled science narrative, retribution is swift and merciless. The researcher Lisa Littman learned this lesson in 2018, when she was widely attacked after publishing on the topic. Mr. Bailey and Ms. Diaz are learning it now.

The idea is to manufacture the appearance of scientific consensus where there is none. The pseudo-consensus then allows such American medical associations as the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Endocrine Society to recommend body-altering procedures for children.

While many Americans have heard news about the wave of states passing legislation that curbs sex changes for the young, few realize that an equally fierce, and arguably far more important, battle is raging: the battle for the integrity of the scientific process. It is a fight for the ability to have censorship-free scientific debate as a means to advance human knowledge.

==

Here's the thing: even if it's wrong, you refute it by making a better scientific case, with better evidence. You show where the flaws are. You don't throw a hissy-fit and cry until it goes away.