#desantis killing florida

[reasoningdaily]

Gov. Ron DeSantis axed funding on Thursday for Central Florida projects to stop flooding during the next hurricane, strengthen government cybersecurity defenses, celebrate Black history and tackle gun violence.

The governor’s nearly $511 million veto list included about $15.3 million in projects for Orange, Osceola, Lake and Seminole counties.

DeSantis defended his veto list as showing fiscal restraint in a $116.5 billion budget that makes “historic investments in education, public safety, infrastructure, and the environment.”

Democrats, though, blasted DeSantis’ veto decisions.

“Unfortunately, many good projects that would have relieved Florida’s taxpayers with everything from flood water mitigation to neighborhood resource centers were vetoed because the governor is disconnected from the needs of average Floridians,” said state Rep. Rita Harris, D-Orlando.

Republican state Sen. Joe Gruters also slammed DeSantis, saying in a statement that the governor “took it out on Sarasota County” because Gruters endorsed former President Trump in the 2024 GOP primary.

“It’s mean-spirited acts like this that are defining him here and across the country,” Gruters said, according to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.

The veto list included money for projects to alleviate flooding in the Orlo Vista neighborhood in Orange County, the Midway community in Seminole County, Kissimmee and Osceola County, and Winter Park. The governor axed money to bolster Sanford’s cybersecurity defenses and fund a 1619 Fest and 5K race to celebrate Black history in Orlando.

State Sen. Linda Stewart, D-Orlando, said she was able to secure nearly $30 million in projects for Central Florida, including nearly $15 million for a nursing building at the University of Central Florida, $5 million for a building at Valencia College’s campus in Lake Nona and almost $800,000 for AdventHealth Type 1 diabetes research project.

Stewart said she appreciated those dollars but was disappointed more money wasn’t devoted to flooding. The state keeps a priority list of water projects, and she suspects the governor vetoed items that tried to move up on that list through legislative appropriations.

“We had more money than normal,” Stewart said. “Some of these projects could have easily been added to [address] what our individual cities and counties consider to be emergencies.”

Here is a list of Central Florida projects the governor vetoed.

Orange County Utilities – Orlo Vista Integrated Water Resources Project, flood mitigation for the Orlo Vista neighborhood: $2 million

Osceola County Buenaventura Lakes Drainage Improvements, project to remove 142 homes and businesses from repetitive flood risk: $1.8 million

Oviedo West Mitchell Hammock Water Treatment Facility – Tank Construction, construction of  a new 2.5-million-gallon water tank: $1 million

Seminole County Midway Drainage Improvements, flooding mitigation projects for the Midway community: $1 million

Purpose Built Florida – Lift Orlando, funding to address the root causes of generational poverty in low-income communities: $1 million

Meet Us in the Middle Plaza and 8th Street Docks – City of Clermont: $1 million, construction of plaza and docks for 40 watercraft: $1 million

Central Florida Pilot Plant Project For Phosphogypsum Reclamation, initiative to convert waste into commercial products: $950,000

WUCF-TV, emergency backup transmitter: $625,000

Sanford Fire Department Station 40 Airpack Replacements: $540,000

WMFE-FM:, repair and refurbish failing sanitation life station: $508,431

Winter Park Stormwater Disaster Resiliency Project, flood mitigation for homes and businesses near Lake Mendsen: $500,000

Camp Thunderbird Commercial Kitchen Renovation, recreational program for adults with disabilities in Apopka: $500,000

Mount Dora Community Resource & Recreation Center, 26,000-square-foot center for low-income population: $500,000

Clermont Hartwood Marsh Fire Station Rebuild: $500,000

Community, Cops, Courts & State Attorney Violent Crime Intervention/Seminole County, initiative to reduce gun violence: $492,411

Sanford Station 40 New Engine: $367,500

Seminole County Sheriff’s Office Computer Aided Dispatch System, upgrades to improve emergency responses: $300,000

Kissimmee Master Stormwater System and Flood Mitigation Project: $250,000

Camp Thunderbird Septic to Sewer Conversion: $250,000

TechHealth Initiative – Orange County, a team of four health care workers to help the needy at no cost: $200,000

WMFE-FM, replace fire alarm system: $197,347

Puerto Rican Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida Resource Center, program to assist small and mid-size businesses: $187,500

Sanford Cybersecurity Zero Trust Program, fortify city’s cyber defenses: $160,000

Black History Month Celebration – 1619Fest Orlando/Rebel Run 5K, a celebration of arts and culture from Africans in the Diaspora: $160,000

Community Scholars – Central Florida, a project to provide community service learning opportunities to students: $140,000

Planting Seeds of Prosperity in West Lakes – Orlando, community meetings and cleanup project: $125,000

Florida Recovery Schools of Central Florida, educational funding for teenagers in substance abuse recovery: $100,000

Adult Literacy League – Building a Thriving Central Florida through Literacy and Education, a project to provide tutors to adult learners: $25,000

[zyk0-z0mbc4tzxx]

Any updates on HB3 and KOSA?? That shit is making me feel very antsy rn

no updates on hb3

best i can recommend is public and online protesting in florida and for anyone outside of florida to spread awareness before its too late

as for kosa a congress man in the senate has made it very clear that its one of his main priorities

but we still dont know the voting date and most likely never will until its too late and passes the senate (hopefully that will never happen)

im encouraging mass call ins all of this week and next week to try and keep stalling kosa (especially today since its eclipse day)

call email or fax the senate house and your reps and urge them oppose

heres a link to stuff you can use:

[destielmemenews]

source 1

source 2

source 3

[dreamerinsilico]

While the legislation says that health care providers can't use it to deny care based on a patient's race, color, religion, sex or national origin, attempts by Democratic lawmakers to extend those protections to gender identity and sexuality failed.

"This bill is a broad license for health care providers and insurance companies to refuse services to people. No one should be denied access to medical care. It gives health care providers and insurance companies an unprecedented ‘religious’ or ‘moral��� right to refuse to provide services. This puts patients in harm’s way, is antithetical to the job of health care providers, and puts the most vulnerable Floridians in danger. Our state should be in the business of increasing access to medical care, not giving providers and companies a sweeping carve out of nondiscrimination laws. Shame on the governor for putting Floridians’ health at risk to score cheap, political points," said Brandon Wolf, press secretary for Equality Florida.

[ausetkmt]

It’s true folks, it is SO MUCH worse down there than you may think. By signing his latest fascist legislation which criminalizes undocumented immigrants for...well... just being in Florida, De Santis has effectively chased out virtually the entire undocumented poplulation of the state, which means more than 80% of the construction workers, and nearly 100% of the agricultural workers. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. It cascades from there. I just spent half an hour on tiktok, for an old timer like me that’s a bit of a challenge, but it was worth it. In that short amount of time, I saw latin truckers blocking entire highways with their boycotting and refusing to deliver loads in Florida, or to take loads out. They aren’t even undocumented, that’s just the solidarity folks.

I saw video after video of empty construction sites and of fruits and vegetables rotting in the fields, fields that should be bustling with tough hard working folk picking the vines and trees, yet completely abandoned. But that, like I said is just the tip of the iceberg.

It’s starting to cascade from there, I saw videos of Walmart and Home Depot completely empty, totally devoid of customers. I saw videos of farms that hired American workers to try to do the jobs of the undocumented. It was both hilarious and heart breaking. The farmers complain the gringos are too fat and out of shape to do the job, most go home after lunch and many quit after a single day.

I saw an interesting comparison video, it’s in spanish, if you are not a spanish speaker fast forward to about 0:48. The fun starts there. It starts showing how latino roofers do the job, and then shows how their American replacements try to do the same job. Also similar examples of agri-workers, and many others. 

x

Here we have an in depth (by Tiktok standards) look at a housing development under construction. It’s virtually abandoned. The narrator states that just in the room he is standing in there are normally at least 15 workers, it’s empty. He says that only 4 workers showed up to the whole site that day, and one was the foreman.

www.tiktok.com/…

Or how about a look at a convoy of Latinos leaving Florida:

www.tiktok.com/…

Ooh, and here’s one of my favorites. How about a tour of the local totally empty Walmart as given by an astonished patron, I mean really, have you EVER seen a Walmart that wasn’t packed with customers? Well now you can.

www.tiktok.com/…

Not to be outdone, Home Depot is also vying to be the winner of the retail wasteland sweepstakes, non-spanish speakers can fast forward to the one minute mark if you want to skip the spanish monologue.

www.tiktok.com/…

Yes, looks like good ol’ Meatball Ron has really stepped in it this time. It won’t be easy to recover from this, even if the legislature repeals this fascist law, what immigrant is going to risk returning when there are plenty of worker starved farms and construction sites welcoming them with open arms in somewhat more comfortable climates like Georgia and Alabama. Hell, we’re even getting some of the overflow here in Colorado where farmers and construction sites are practically rolling out the welcome mats. As they say, once bitten twice shy. Nobody’s going to go back to Florida after this, at least not as long as right wing lunatics and Nazi sympathizers are running the show. 

Oh, and here’s a bonus video, this African American Youtube star with over a million and a half subscribers is telling his mostly AA audience NOT to go to Florida and bail them out. Don’t miss the the guy who proposes sending Appalachian white welfare recipients to go pick fruit. Good luck getting them to put down their meth pipes to go roast in the Florida sun for minimum wage (or less). Yeah, that’s gonna happen.

x

So why am I laughing? Because I’m originally from Florida, a boni fide native of the Sunshine state, and I’m absolutely horrified to see what wannabe fascists have done to my once beautiful state. I’m retiring soon and will have to do so in a northern state as I will not set foot in the South as long as it remains under the current fascistic spell to which it has thus far succumbed. If I have to freeze my tuchas off up here in the North for the rest of my days, I can at least take comfort that the yahoos who took over Florida are getting their comeuppance. One might say it’s cold comfort with a capital ”C”, but somehow, it’s better than no comfort at all.

[halfchick]

Desantis x Guillotine 2024

[so-i-did-this-thing]

How it's going as a trans person in Florida: Planned Parenthood, 26Health, and Spektrum Health have announced they have paused all gender affirming care.

To recap, DeSantis signed several anti-trans bills into law this week. Care is banned for minors, care is all but banned for adults, Don't Say Gay has been extended, children can be kidnapped from affirming parents by non-affirming family, and there is a bathroom bill that subjects trans folks to arrest for using government owned facilities, such as those in courthouses, airports, many stadiums and parks.

The adult effective ban was felt immediately. The main elements are:

signing at every visit an in-person informed consent form created by the state

all care come from physicians instead of nurse practitioners

no telemed for gender-affirming care

Currently, it is unknown if existing HRT prescriptions written by NPs will be honored by pharmacies. I personally know one person who was able to pick up testosterone yesterday, but I have also read many reports of folks being denied. I myself don't have a refill ready for another 10 days and will report back after I try my own pickup.

What's additionally dangerous is those of us, myself included, who get non-HRT prescriptions from our gender clinics now face the uncertainty of continuing of *all* of our medical care. Our health clinics are at risk of shuttering permanently as they lose major income, and many of us will lose STD meds, depression meds, heart meds, etc, etc.

When we say "this will kill us," it goes beyond suicide risk from forced detransition.

"But you can still get HRT from a physician."

So many suck or are outright hostile and the demand outstrips the supply. Before I found my NP-run clinic, one physician just decided to not call in my Rx, another was so shit at reading lab results, he thought I had hepatitis, and the third I had to threaten to kick in the teeth for trying to force too large a speculum in me.

Also, the state-required consent form has not been finalized and distributed yet, so at this point, everything has pretty much ground to a halt.

It was estimated that 80% of trans adults would lose their healthcare because of how many use providers like Planned Parenthood, but the impact seems even greater now.

"You can get your non-gender care elsewhere still."

DeSantis recently signed a bill that allows healthcare professionals to discriminate against trans people.

Sure, we can try to find care elsewhere, but it will be a slow and expensive process, with no guarantees. It took me over 20 years to get my heart condition treated because of transphobic doctors.

What can I do as a trans Floridian?

Stay in communication with your clinic - many are working on getting physicians added to the roster to prescribe HRT. Lawsuits are being filed and it's possible the changes to adult care can be rolled back.

Continue to try to pick up your meds, but begin looking for care elsewhere, though. Inside and outside the state.

Remember that while telemed for gender affirming care has been banned, you can still cross state lines for care. See Erin's map of informed consent clinics.

Many people will turn to DIY, but be sure you are aware of the risks here, especially if on testosterone, which is a controlled substance.

What should I be worried about next as a trans Floridian?

I worry about the following next steps towards genocide:

Banning getting care out of state. This is from the anti-abortion playbook. They will likely start with kids again, but we've seen how quickly adult care gets axed.

Being declared mentally incompetent or a risk in some way. This could be anything from being barred from gun ownership to not being allowed to work for the government.

Being declared a de facto predator. This has already happened with the latest bathroom law (cis people can eject trans people from government owned single-gender facilities, with arrest as a penalty), so watch out for it being applied to privately-owned facilities. Watch for discussions of official lists of trans people.

Gender presentation enforcement laws, essentially banning "cross dressing". Laws that block or rollback documentation changes.

These all have historic precedence and are huge "I'm in danger" red flags.

What can I do as a cis person?

Amplify all this news. Talk frankly about how this is genocide. And donate what you can to trans mutual aid campaigns so people can travel to get healthcare or even leave the state.

Here's some articles to get started on building awareness:

Take care, everyone, of yourself and each other.

[renthony]

Hope in the Hellfire: Revisiting Fahrenheit 451 in 2024

by Ren Basel renbasel.com

When I first read Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, I wasn’t much younger than seventeen-year-old Clarisse McClellan, one of the novel’s major characters. In many ways I was like her: disgruntled with classmates who found me off-putting, eager to talk to adults who would entertain my unusual questions, and constantly off exploring the woods. I was a bookish loner who struggled socially. I proudly read banned books, and carried around my mom’s paperback copy of Robert A. Heinlein’s Stranger in a Strange Land—a book formally banned from inclusion in my high school’s library or curriculum—as a passive challenge for adults to try and confiscate it. None ever tried, but I sure was prepared to raise hell.

Revisiting Fahrenheit 451 in 2024 is a strange experience, not just because of the book’s political commentary. In 2024 I am 30 years old—the same age as Guy Montag, the protagonist. It is easy to put myself in his shoes now, the way I once put myself in Clarisse’s.

Montag is a fireman in a world where every house is fireproof. Instead of extinguishing fires, Bradbury’s firemen collect and burn books. Without books, the population is ignorant and complacent, kept busy with mindless screen entertainment.

Like Montag, I live in a world where books are targeted by a hostile government. In 2024 I live in Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis makes regular headlines for his crusades against public education, libraries, and books. Many an op-ed has been written about the relevance of Fahrenheit 451 in our times, and it almost feels cliché as an anti-censorship advocate to list it as one of my favorites.

Cliché or not, I can’t help it. Fahrenheit 451 is a warning against censorship, yes; it is a pointed exploration of 1950s American social anxieties, yes; it is a well-written piece of fiction containing rich descriptions of exciting events, yes; but more than that? Fahrenheit 451 is one of my favorite novels because it leaves me feeling hopeful in the midst of social upheaval.

After stealing and reading forbidden books, Montag’s life spirals out of control. His wife sells him out to the authorities, he kills a former colleague in self-defense, he is pursued in a televised government manhunt, and before the story ends he watches bombs reduce his former home to rubble. Montag survives, but he doesn’t fix the world. He is not the victorious hero of a glorious rebellion. Many, many books get burned, and people die. Yet still, there is hope, because Montag finds community. He finds a way to help preserve the books’ contents so they can be passed down to later generations.

In 2024, Fahrenheit 451’s message is important not only because it warns against censorship, but because it reminds us that even if the road ahead is difficult, even if things get worse before they can get better, even if some stories are lost, there are still countless unnamed, unnoticed people fighting to preserve and share knowledge.

The best part is that any of us can join them.

_

Written on commission, using the prompt, “500 words about your favorite pre-1960s Sci-Fi.”

Lovingly dedicated to the Queer Liberation Library (on tumblr as @queerliblib!) for their ongoing mission to make queer eBooks accessible. Check them out at queerliberationlibrary.org!

Like this essay? Tip me on Ko-Fi, pledge to my Patreon, or commission an essay on the topic of your choice!

[thedialoguedilemma]

The Dilemma Bulletin: Monday January 27th, 2025

Keeping you informed about the daily events of the Trump Administration

China releases an AI source called DeepSeek set to rival ChatGPT and OpenAI. China claims it created this AI at a fraction of the cost causing US markets to trend downhill.

China releases an internet communications satellite set to rival Starlink.

NVIDIA has fallen out of being the world’s most valuable company after losing $600 billion dollars in market capitalization today under the Trump administration

Trump continues to threaten tariffs on nations that don’t agree with his policies which will skyrocket prices for everyone.

A January 6th terrorist that was pardoned and released into the public by President Trump was shot and killed by police during a traffic stop in Indiana following an altercation.

The Trump administration has instructed public health officials across the United States to stop working with the World Health Organization effective immediately as bird flu cases rise in the US

After Trump threatened Colombia with tariffs this past Sunday, coffee prices have risen in expectation of possible trade war with Colombia.

President Donald Trump announces a tariff on foreign semiconductor chips which will cause electronics such as refrigerators, game consoles, tvs, computers to all skyrocket in price.

Trump claims the United States military entered California and just “turned the water on” What does that even mean????? The pumps were temporarily off for a 3 day maintenance and are now up and running.

Trump says Microsoft is in talks to acquire TikTok

Google Maps updates Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America despite every other world country still referring to the body of water as the Gulf of Mexico

Trump expected to sign an Executive Order banning transgender people from the military. Will be challenged in court.

Legoland Florida announces massive upcoming layoffs as a result of Governor DeSantis and President Trump leadership

Trump announces an idea of wanting to fly American criminals to other countries who will incarcerate them for "a small fee". Again— will be immediately challenged in court.

[tf2heritageposts]

if team fortress 2 is so good, why haven’t they killed ron desantis, governer of florida yet?

[vague-humanoid]

A Georgia sheriff's deputy shot and killed a Black man who spent more than 16 years in prison on a wrongful conviction, according to a report Tuesday.

The Camden County deputy stopped Leonard Allen Cure as he drove Monday on Interstate 95 near the Georgia-Florida state line. Though he got out of his vehicle and cooperated at first, investigators said he became violent after he was told he was being arrested, reported WSB-TV.

“I can only imagine what it’s like to know your son is innocent and watch him be sentenced to life in prison, to be exonerated and ... then be told that once he’s been freed, he’s been shot dead,” said Seth Miller, executive director of the Innocence Project of Florida.

@chrisdornerfanclub

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a claims bill in June granting Cure $817,000 in compensation for his conviction and imprisonment, along with educational benefits, and he received those funds in August.

[arctic-hands]

“We’ve got a problem, and the problem is that way too many people in Zone A aren’t listening,” said Bob Gualtieri, the sheriff in Pinellas County, which encompasses Clearwater and St. Petersburg, in a Thursday morning news conference. “We’ve been out there this morning, there’s just way too many people in the area.” Other local and state officials, including Gov. Ron DeSantis, warned residents to leave vulnerable areas before the massive storm unleashes a barrage of life-threatening conditions, including flooding rains and winds potentially as high as 131 to 155 mph Thursday night.

"If you're in an evacuation zone or you've been told to evacuate, you do have time to do it now – so do it. But don't wait another six hours, seven hours," DeSantis said early Thursday. Gualtieri said that while the county won’t face much danger from rain and wind, the barrier islands and low-lying coastal areas face 5 to 8 feet of storm surge. “This is dangerous. No question about it and it’s not something we’ve seen recently,” he said. “They’ve got to get out, and there’s going to reach a point where you’re on your own because we’re not going to get our people killed because you don’t want to listen to what we’re saying.” While nearly every county along the western coast of Florida has ordered evacuations, four of them, including Franklin,  Taylor, Liberty and Wakulla have ordered all residents in the county to leave. "This will not be a survivable event for those in coastal or low lying areas," Wakulla County Sheriff's Office Sheriff Jared Miller said in a Facebook post. "There has not been a storm of this magnitude to hit Wakulla in recorded history." A.J. Smith, the sheriff in Franklin County, said he's never seen as many residents evacuate before a hurricane as he has in recent days. He said, however, there were still people who decided to stay for various reasons. "I've said publicly that when the storm comes in and the weather's so bad that the first responders can't get out, you're on your own because we can't get to you," he said, adding: "If I wasn't sheriff, trust me – I wouldn't be here."

If you chose to stay or can't evacuate in time, might want to write down your information in sharpie on your arm so you can be identified if help can't come

[ohwolfling]

Unless you are sending a private plane and offering your home, stop telling Floridians or anyone else to pay attention or to evacuate etc. The vocal minority who talk about these hurricane and storms like they're nothing do it as a coping mechanism because the south has so little fucking control over how we're treated and what happens to us. Why don't you use that energy to speak to the motherfuckers still planning on going to their Tampa trip or actively whining inside fucking Disney World?

And where would Florida evacuate to? Popular evacuation spots for people who CAN EVEN BEGIN to afford it would be the Carolinas and Georgia. Guess what? Those are under fucking water where they aren't coast line because climate change and overdevelopment are so goddamn bad that a hurricane climbed the fucking Appalachian mountains. Currently there are trucks driving around projecting how dangerous this storm will be from speakers because so many people are still without power or cell signal from Helene. They can't even turn on the news to hear about this. What do you think this is?

The state government revels in death and suffering in these places often times (Gov Ron DeSantis is refusing to speak to the Biden administration about hurricane relief for what Helene did to Florida in fact) and offerings no recourse. The alleged "shuttles" and evacuation routes are just bus stops. They're just fucking bus stops on the already over crowded road.

It is SO CLEAR that your feigned concern is just another flavor of insisting that southern people and poor people (AND GOD ARE THERE A LOT WHO FIT BOTH) are big, dumb idiots who don't heed the warning before an act of God. Your chatter is USELESS. It's less than useless. It's downright harmful because it adds to the idea that we're all a bunch of goofs and we deserve ruin.

Milton is changing FAST and freaking out meteorologists and storm chasers because none of our weather models or measures of this kinda thing are designed for a Gulf of Mexico that is changing temperature at this rate. This is climate change. This is what is being DONE TO US by a capitalistic death cult that has slammed the door and turned the key and trapped all or us inside with it. Nation wide, yes, but also globally. Of course the south is feeling it first. We feel EVERYTHING first and every time y'all act like it's a moral failing on our part and clap when we suffer and die and then claim our mistrust of the government and of outsiders on both the left and the right must be because we're paranoid, inherently evil goons.

At a certain point, you have to accept that some people would rather die at home. Some people see how fucked they are and they'd rather die at home. Being away from Appalachia during all this is killing me. I'm breaking into pieces. Because I'm not just FROM there, I'm OF there, and I hate that I ever had to leave to try and prove I mattered and to pretend that the extreme poverty I was born into was something I could escape through college or relocating or a job, to try and swallow the lie that my family was poor and southern and cursed because they just didn't play the game.

Really and truly FUCK Y'ALL who say NOTHING and turn away from tragedy in the south- the lack of give a fuck about Helene right now on the "you HAVE to renlog this" self righteousness pestering website is DISGUSTING and shows so clearly what you are- except when you can chastise and give a fucking lecture and feel smart. FUCK YOU. This death cult we're in WILL get you too.

[alwaysbewoke]

And this is why white supremacists feel completely at ease walking anywhere and straight up killing Black people; and no matter what DeSantis says this is his base, these are people who he wants on his side, and the people who he wants coming out to vote for him. That is why he has not said anything about this but Lord help us if a teacher decides to teach that slavery was wrong in Florida.

[beardedmrbean]

Daniel Penny was acquitted Monday of criminally negligent homicide in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-oldhomeless man with a history of mental illness whose final moments on a New York City subway train were captured on bystander video that set off weeks of protests and captured national attention.

The decision, on the fifth day of deliberations, came after the jury deadlocked Friday on the more serious charge of manslaughter, leading the judge to dismiss it. Penny faced up to four years in prison.

The anonymous jury, made up of seven women and five men, were told before they began deliberating that they had to come to a unanimous decision on the top charge of manslaughter in the second degree before moving on to consider criminally negligent homicide. But Judge Maxwell Wiley changed that order Friday after jurors twice sent a note saying they could not reach an agreement.

The judge had also instructed jurors to decide whether Penny’s actions caused Neely’s death and, if so, whether he had acted recklessly and in an unjustified manner.

Neely, a former Michael Jackson impersonator, had been shouting and acting erratically when he boarded a subway train in Manhattan on May 1, 2023. He ranted about being hungry and thirsty and said that he wanted to return to jail and didn’t care if he lived or died, witnesses testified. Penny, 26, a former Marine and Long Island native, placed Neely in a chokehold that prosecutors said lasted almost six minutes. 

A New York City medical examiner ruled that Neely died from compression to his neck as a result of the chokehold.

Penny’s attorneys told jurors that he stepped in because he believed Neely might attack other passengers and he intended only to restrain him until police arrived, which Penny also told police. They also argued that Neely was not killed by the chokehold and that it was impossible to measure how much pressure Penny had applied.

A forensic pathologist hired by the defense testified that Neely died from a combination of his schizophrenia, synthetic marijuana, sickle cell trait and the struggle from being in Penny’s restraint. But the medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Neely, Dr. Cynthia Harris, told jurors it was her medical opinion “that there are no alternative reasonable explanations” for his death and that those proposed by the defense were “so improbable — that it stands shoulder to shoulder with impossibility.”

During cross-examination, one of Penny’s attorneys, Steven Raiser sought to cast doubt on Harris’ testimony about how she and her colleagues had come to a unanimous decision as to Neely’s cause of death. Raiser suggested that they had failed to consider all the facts before making that determination.

He revisited that claim in his closing argument last week.

“I submit to you there was a rush to judgment, based on something other than medical science,” he told jurors.

The case divided people in New York — and beyond — in some cases along political and racial lines. Neely was Black. Penny is white. Some people viewed Penny as callous and his actions as criminal, while others said he was selfless in his attempt to protect fellow passengers.

The case also spurred debates about safety within the city’s subway system and failures in addressing homelessness and mental illness, both of which Neely had struggled with.Jumaane Williams, a Black Democrat who is New York City’s public advocate, was among those who questioned why police let Penny go after questioning him at a precinct hours after Neely’s killing. New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also a Democrat, said Neely had been “murdered.” Prominent Republicans like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Matt Gaetz praised Penny and promoted a fundraiser for his legal fund, which has raised more than $3 million. His defense team includes Thomas Kenniff, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for Manhattan District Attorney in 2021. Vickie Paladino, a Republican city councilwoman from Queens, attended last week's closing arguments in support of Penny.

Prosecutors did not dispute that Neely’s actions on the train scared many of the passengers or that he was on synthetic cannabinoids, which were found in his system. In her opening statement, Dafna Yoran, an assistant prosecutor with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, said that Neely had “demanded to be seen” and that despite his not having touched anyone and not having displayed a weapon or threatened to use one, many people in the subway car were frightened of what he might do.

She has said Penny’s “initial intent was even laudable,” but that he was reckless when he continued to choke Neely even after he posed no threat, including after the train doors had opened at the next station and passengers could exit. For some of that time, she said and video showed, two other men helped restrain Neely. One of those men testified that he believed Penny had held the chokehold for too long. At times, she said, he even ignored the pleas of bystanders to let Neely go. In her closing argument, Yoran said that “no one had to die” and that Penny was not justified in his use of physical deadly force.

“You obviously cannot kill someone because they are crazy and ranting and looking menacing,” Yoran told jurors in her closing argument. “No matter what it is that they are saying.”

She also said that Penny “could have easily restrained” Neely “without choking him to death.”

In his closing argument, Raiser prompted jurors to imagine that they were on the train the day Neely boarded “filled with rage and not afraid of any consequences.”

“With you sitting much as you are now in this tightly confined space, looking up at Mr. Neely,” he said. “You have very little room to move and nowhere to run.”

“Danny,” as the defense attorneys referred to Penny throughout the trial, “put his life on the line” and stepped up in the absence of police, Raiser said.

But Yoran challenged the portrayal of Penny as a self-sacrificing and benevolent subway rider. In her opening statement she said that Penny failed to acknowledge Neely’s humanity. She continued that thread in her closing argument, playing video of Penny twice referring to Neely as a “crackhead” in an interview with police and telling jurorsthat he never asked about Neely’s condition.

“There is something else that is glaringly missing from his statement. Any regret. Any remorse. Any self reflection,” she said. She added: “He never expresses any sorrow about the man’s death.”

During deliberations, jurors asked to rewatch bystander videos of Penny restraining Neely, responding officers’ body camera videos and video of Penny’s subsequent interview with two police detectives at a precinct. They also asked to rehear the medical examiner’s testimony about issuing a death certificate before Neely’s full toxicology reports were completed. They also asked for the judge to read back the definitions of recklessness and criminal negligence and to have the definitions in writing.

Penny chose not to testify. During the trial, which began Nov. 1, jurors heard from more than 40 witnesses — subway passengers who witnessed Penny restrain Neely, police officers who responded to the scene, a Marine Corps instructor who taught Penny various chokeholds, the two pathologists, a psychiatric expert and six character witnesses, who included two Marines, Penny’s mother and one of his sisters.

On Wednesday, Neely’s father, Andre Zachery, sued Penny accusing him of negligent contact, assault and battery that caused Neely’s death. The civil suit was filed in New York state’s Supreme Court, a trial-level court in New York state.

[rjzimmerman]

When I was an active docent and volunteer in the desert, and hiked all over the place, whenever I spotted the remains of a mylar balloon, I went for it, shoved it in my backpack and brought it back to properly dispose of it. Those things are vicious killers of wildlife.

Excerpt from this story from the New York Times:

Balloons released in the sky don’t go to heaven. They often end up in oceans and waterways, where they’re 32 times more likely to kill seabirds than other types of plastic debris. Despite this, humans like to release them en masse, be it to celebrate a loved one’s life or a wedding, or to reveal the gender of a baby.

The practice is on the verge of becoming illegal in Florida, where the legislature has joined a growing number of states to ban the intentional release of balloons outdoors. The Florida ban is expected to be signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis and would take effect July 1.

Florida is at the forefront of a dizzying and contentious array of statewide bans, outlawing lab grown meat, certain books from school libraries and classrooms, and most abortions after six weeks. But the balloon ban is rare for garnering widespread bipartisan support. It was championed by environmentalists and sponsored by two Republican lawmakers from the Tampa Bay area, Linda Chaney, a state representative and Nick DiCeglie, a state senator.

“Balloons contribute to the increase in microplastic pollution which is harmful to every living thing including humans, polluting our air and drinking water,” Ms. Chaney wrote in an email.

“My hope is that this bill changes the culture, making people more aware of litter in general, including balloons,” she said.

Ms. Chaney said she first heard about the perils of balloon debris in 2020. Aquatic animals often mistake balloons for jellyfish and feel full after eating them, essentially starving from the inside out. Ribbons affixed to balloons entangle turtles and manatees. Balloons also pose a threat to land animals. In her research, Ms. Chaney learned about a pregnant cow that died after ingesting a balloon while grazing. The unborn calf died too.

The bill closes a loophole in an existing Florida law that allowed for the outdoor release of up to nine balloons per person in any 24-hour period, a provision that critics say didn’t achieve the goal of reducing marine trash.

The new legislation makes it clear that balloons can pose an environmental hazard, supporters say. It equates intentionally releasing a balloon filled with a gas lighter than air with littering, a noncriminal offense that carries a fine of $150. The ban also applies to outdoor releases of any balloons described by manufacturers as biodegradable.

The ban does not restrict the sale of balloons by party suppliers or manufacturers; they could still be used indoors or as decorations outdoors if properly secured.