Before I Go Extinct...

The CDC officer had a serious warning for Florida health officials in April: A tuberculosis outbreak in Jacksonville was one of the worst his group had investigated in 20 years. Linked to 13 deaths and 99 illnesses, including six children, it would require concerted action to stop. That report had been penned on April 5, exactly nine days after Florida Gov. Rick Scott signed the bill that shrank the Department of Health and required the closure of the A.G. Holley State Hospital in Lantana, where tough tuberculosis cases have been treated for more than 60 years. As health officials in Tallahassee turned their focus to restructuring, Dr. Robert Luo’s 25-page report describing Jacksonville’s outbreak — and the measures needed to contain it – went unseen by key decision makers around the state. At the health agency, an order went out that the TB hospital must be closed six months ahead of schedule.

RICK SCOTT GO AWAY!

The voter-purge law in Florida is obviously nothing more than an attempt to steal the state for Mitt Romney. Let’s start with this, from the Tampa Times back in March: We couldn’t resist diving in: Are there more shark attacks than cases of voter fraud in Florida?

(Source: bohemiansouth)

The Southern Poverty Law Center and community members urged county leaders at Florida’s Hillsborough County Juvenile Justice Task Force meeting today not to adopt juvenile detention policies similar to those of Polk County, where an SPLC lawsuit has been filed against the sheriff who houses children charged as juveniles in an adult jail.

likethedew:

Ushered in amid promises that it would save taxpayers money and deter drug users, a Florida law requiring drug tests for people who seek welfare benefits resulted in no direct savings, snared few drug users and had no effect on the number of applications, according to recently released state data.

So, uh, why is Georgia enacting the same pointless, mean-spirited law? 

oldflorida:

From his speech in Gainesville last night:

“We need to make it uncomfortable for Florida legislators to not be concerned about their environment,” he said.

I agree with this 100% and your lobbying can make all the difference.

oldflorida:

Thanks to a post by lbjefries I read about these Gambian pouch rats that got loose on Grassy Key after a local exotic pet breeder “allow seven to escape” ten years ago.

According to the article, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission has been trying to eradicate this rat with help from the USDA.  Thankfully they seem to be limited to one area, so let’s hope it stays that way. I can think of no legitimate reason for the selling of exotic animals in the state of Florida other than the selfish desire of a person to say they have this “pet”. Once they grow tired of these “pets” they are let loose in the local environment with no thought to the damage it might do.

The import of all exotic species, for the purposes of sale to the general public, should be banned.

tartantambourine:

Mark Karlin, editor of Buzzflash at Truthout, writes:

The so-called “Stand Your Ground” law in Florida is nothing more than a license to murder. Passed in 2005 in the Sunshine State, the law was pushed by the National Rifle Association’s (NRA) lobbyist in Tallahassee, Marion Hammer (who was also the first female president of the NRA from 1995-98). It was part of a multi-state campaign to extend the “Castle Doctrine” of the right to “protect” one’s home to any location. What made it a license to kill is that —absent eyewitnesses — it allows a shooter to plead “self-defense” without corroborating evidence.

Exactly the point I was trying to make in a previous post (and I encourage everyone to read this article by Mark Karlin all the way through). Hold George Zimmerman and the local police accountable as necessary. But the biggest wrong-doers in this sad tragic story are the majority of the Florida legislature who enacted this totally short-sighted and ultimately stupid law and everyone involved with the National Rifle Association who pushed the whole idea in the first place. Passing this law was, in my view, a criminal act.