It’s been a long week. Here’s a short recap of what’s been making news lately in the Florida.
Fort Lauderdale prepares to enforce new laws against homeless
Florida’s war against its most vulnerable populations continues. On Oct. 1, a law signed into effect by Gov. Ron DeSantis will be enforced by cities…or else. The law bans sleeping in public, and it’s clear the target of this legislation is the homeless. Homelessness in Florida, like the rest of the country, is a growing crisis with no signs of slowing down. Unfortunately, Florida has never encountered a systemic crisis that it couldn’t find a way to throw handcuffs on, and if cities don’t jump onboard with the new status quo, they can now be sued by residents and business owners.
For those that think the three hots and a cot of a jail cell would be an improvement for the homeless population, a friendly reminder that Florida is a pay-to-stay state. Meaning you have to pay $50 a day to stay in one of our state’s fine penal institutions, and the debt comes with you when you leave. So the only thing this bill will do for the homeless is ensure that they stay that way.
Haitian-Americans respond to comments made by Trump, Vance
The Haitian community of South Florida responded to comments made by Republican presidential candidate, former President Donald Trump, and his VP pick JD Vance about Haitians stealing and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio. In a report by WLRN, North Miami Mayor Alix Desulme said “We are a community who have been subject to the accusations in the past. But this presidential race, they’re at their lowest.” Indeed. The accusations are also, in the parlance of our former presidents, “fake news.”
Vance himself admitted that the story was completely fabricated, which Vance said is ok, because it gets the media to “pay attention to the suffering of the American people.” And since Vance doesn’t consider Haitian-Americans to be Americans, there’s no harm done. In that same WLRN report, Florida International University professor Nahum Jean-Louis, a Haitian-American, summarized recent events best: “This is the turn of the Haitian community today…But a few years ago, it was the turn of the Mexicans. And it was also the turn of the Muslims. It’s about the “other.”
Details on suspected would-be Trump assassin
Speaking of Trump, another crazed lone gunman made another attempt on his life over the weekend. The suspect, Ryan Routh of Hawaii, apparently camped outside Trump International Golf Course in West Palm for 12 hours with a rifle, a pretty unsubtle activity that somehow went unnoticed. But the Secret Service was on their A-game this time. Agents spotted the rifle in the bushes and opened fire, with Routh fleeing and eventually being caught. In the days since, more details about Routh’s background have come to light, the most curious of which was an arrest for possession of a “weapon of mass destruction” in 2002.
Apparently this isn’t a charge that gets you locked in a sci-fi prison on the moon like one might expect, but it’s not unreasonable to say that if you commit a crime that would land you in an international detention center by the Hague, you should probably be watched closely enough that you’re not able to take shots at a presidential candidate. Since Routh didn’t actually fire his weapon, he is only being charged with firearm offenses as a convicted felon.
PBC seeks reimbursement for protecting Trump
Speaking of the Secret Service, Palm Beach County taxpayers are incurring quite the cost for protection of the former president. A letter sent to Congress by Palm Beach County Mayor Maria Sachs, reported on by CBS12 news, reveals that the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office is paying $93,000 a day on security for Trump and is seeking $7 million to cover the cost of protection through the election. Sachs expects that the funds will be recouped by the end of the year. Presumably, if Trump were to win office, he would ensure reimbursement for the county that footed the bill for his safety. After all, it’s not like Trump has a history of not paying people for their work, right?
