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Satan's waiting room.

America’s limp [censored].

That would be california. Yall trying so hard to deflect away from that cesspool of decay. You are jelly of Florida lmao

How about Planned Parenthood. It is an organization that was founded for the sole purpose of keeping Black populations from growing. Which party embraces Planned Parenthood? Do you think that was part of the hostory that they wanted to teach in Florida?

A lot of hate and anger on this board. Luckily it is the same 5-6 people talking.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/floridians-desantis-come-home-fix-170600069.html

This contains a bipartisan rebuke, so it is not a leftist hit-job. I have to ask, by the way, for those who blame Biden for inflation, cost and housing increases, should DeSantis also not be blamed for the Florida deviation related to those same categories? DeSantis blames "Bidenomics" without tossing in any substance to back that up, but when you look at the national-level trends, I don't think his assertion carries much water.

Floridians to DeSantis: Come home and fix housing crisis, other woes

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America/TNS
349
Jeffrey Schweers, Orlando Sentinel
Thu, July 20, 2023 at 10:06 AM PDT
TALLAHASSEE — While Gov. Ron DeSantis barnstorms the country campaigning for president, a growing chorus of Floridians are urging him to come home to deal with the state’s soaring housing costs and other problems.

On the stump, DeSantis declares he’s managed Florida well and the economy is booming. Any signs that contradict his view, especially rising inflation, he blames on what Republicans call Bidenomics.

“Governor, come home and take care of your state,” state Sen. Tracie Davis, D-Jacksonville, implored during a recent news conference. ”We all know that he’s running for president, but we have real problems, real issues, and the crisis with property insurance.”

DeSantis Watch, a political committee that monitors the governor’s movements and campaign finances, said he spent 60% of June and almost half of July outside the state campaigning for the GOP presidential nomination.

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“But Florida’s governor couldn’t care less,” said Natasha Sutherland, DeSantis Watch’s constituencies director. “Floridians deserve a governor who will show up for his job and fix the crises his corporate, donor-driven policies have fueled back home, instead of one worrying about his cratering poll numbers in Iowa or New Hampshire.”

Even former President Donald Trump, who leads DeSantis by double digits in most polls, said it’s time for DeSantis to fix the insurance crisis.

“We want him to get home and take care of insurance because you have the highest insurance in the nation,” Trump said at a Turning Point USA conference in West Palm Beach on July 15.

Two sides to economy

There are two ways to look at Florida’s economy.

One is that Florida has the best one in the nation, robust with 2.6% unemployment, and a growth rate of 3.5%, according to a recent CNBC report. The same report said job growth is “white hot” at 4.9%.

The other is that it has the highest inflation in the nation and policies that discriminate against the LGBTQ community and minority groups, the same report said. The Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach county area has the highest inflation rate in America at 9%, and the Tampa Bay area is third highest at 7.3%.

“We’ve got a dumpster fire here in Florida, and we have the highest inflation in the country,” said Nikki Fried, chair of the Florida Democratic Party and the last Democrat to hold statewide office, as commissioner of agriculture.

“It’s humanly impossible to campaign for president across the country and perform your duties as governor at the same time,” said Fried, who ran for the Democratic nomination for governor last year but lost to Charlie Crist, a former governor and congressman.

Many teachers, firefighters, nurses and other middle-class workers in Florida can’t afford the price of a new home, and those who have homes can’t afford the rising insurance costs, even for folks who live far from coastal zones that are prone to hurricanes and flooding.

“They’ve had three special sessions and still haven’t fixed the insurance crisis,” retired Leon County teacher Susan Parsons said as she walked at the Governor’s Square Mall with her husband just minutes from the state Capitol in Tallahassee.

The Legislature passed several insurance reform bills over the past three years that were mainly an attempt to stabilize Florida’s insurance market with the hope that eventually it would begin to lower rates for homeowners. Lawmakers warned it was expected to take at least 18 months to occur.

Last year, the insurance on Parsons’ 1,400-square-foot home in Tallahassee went from $1,600 a year to $2,500 a year, and this year she was notified the insurance was going up again to $4,000 a year.

She and her husband were told they needed a new roof, even though they had paid extra to have their old roof replaced with one rated to last 30 years before the state passed a law allowing companies to deny insuring homes with roofs older than 15 years.

And she laughed when they were told their house was considered in a coastal area even though Tallahassee is a good 40 minutes from the Gulf of Mexico. “Yeah, I’m enjoying my waterfront view,” she said.

Parsons said DeSantis should be in Tallahassee taking care of the people of Florida, but “but he’s never here.”

Debbie Gibson, another retired teacher from Leon County who has also seen her insurance nearly double, was of a different mindset about DeSantis.

“The further away he is from Florida, the better off we are,” Gibson said.

Although the governor blames President Biden for higher prices and other economic woes, the overall U.S. economy is showing signs that his administration’s policies are working.

The national inflation rate is down to 3% and the labor market has recovered to a level not seen since 2001, the New York Times reported. The employment-to-population ratio is at 80.7, the highest it’s been since pre-pandemic 2019 levels, according to the Times.

Political vulnerability

The insurance crisis is real in Florida, and poses a serious political vulnerability for DeSantis, said Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida.

It’s a bread and butter issue “that hits across the entire political spectrum of homeowners, Republicans and Democrats,” Jewett said, noting that he was forced to switch to Citizens Insurance, the state-subsidized carrier of last resort to insure his Central Florida home.

It is especially true of the Republican voters DeSantis needs to win the GOP primary – median-income, suburban voters, Jewett said.

“People could come after him for this, and the TV ads practically write themselves,” he said.

It’s more than just homeowners insurance, he added. Housing costs are going through the roof.

“The idea of my kids buying a house in Central Florida today is daunting,” he said.

The property insurance crisis was brewing long before DeSantis became governor nearly five years ago, but it’s grown exponentially since he took office, Jewett noted.

Property insurance has more than doubled since DeSantis was first sworn into office in 2019, from $1,989 in 2019 to $4,231, or nearly three times the national average of $1,544. Reports are that it is expected to increase by as much as 40% this year.

About 14 companies have gone into receivership or been liquidated even after accepting state aid, raising insurance rates and dropping policyholders by the thousands, state insurance records show.

And at least 10 companies have departed Florida in the midst of the woes.

Most recently, Farmers Insurance Group decided to cut its policyholders by about 30% or close to 100,000 homeowners. AAA Insurance also said it would not issue or renew a small number of policies.

U.S. Sen. Rick Scott, a fellow Republican and DeSantis’ predecessor as governor, said at a conference in Orlando on Tuesday that Farmers’ decision should be a wake-up call that action on insurance is needed.

Focus on national politics
“DeSantis is ignoring the growing pronouncements to come home to Florida and do his job,” said David Jolly, a former Republican congressman from Tampa who served with DeSantis in Congress and ran against him for U.S. Senate in 2016.

But “due to the raw transactional nature of politics, Florida is the last thing on his mind,” Jolly said

“If he doesn’t win Iowa, New Hampshire or South Carolina his campaign is over,” Jolly said. “That’s more important to him than anything happening in Florida. It’s hard to accept that as a Floridian.”

His 19-point reelection victory over Crist last November has earned him huge loyalty points with his fellow Republicans in the Legislature, and they will cover for him, Jolly said.

As a Floridian with a real estate investment portfolio, Jolly sees an even larger affordability crisis for millions of Floridians, which is why he’s divesting all of his property but his primary residence to pay off his home’s mortgage and self-insure it.

Two years from now, DeSantis will either be in the White House or completing the rest of his term as governor, Jolly said.

“Ron DeSantis is going to get out right in time and leave the state with a crisis,” Jolly said. “The insurance crisis is going to crater Florida’s economy.”

A Governor can't make insurance companies write a policy.

States can govern insurance companies writing in their state to some degree, but if a company says they will no longer insure, I am not sure what can be done about that.

The problem has come to a head in Florida, but California and flood prone areas are next. Insurance doesn't have to insure against floods and mud slides, wildfires.

A wildfire could be called an act of God rather than a simple house fire. Same with a flood, earthquake, volcano.

And a select few trying to claim that pointing out the truth is hate. Are there a couple whose posts fall into that category based on their posts? Sure. But it seems you are claiming anyone pointing out how crazy some of these things are is being hateful. That's patently false.

So is that what you claim slavery was? Some type of apprenticeship with ownership attached? Come on man. First it was his attack on Disney. Now it seems as though Anheuser-Busch is his next target. It's okay to admit one of yours is nothing more than a attack dog that's goes after anyone or anything he disagrees with. Just like trump........

DeSantis calls for state investment manager to consider action against Bud Light’s parent company

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is urging the state’s pension fund manager to consider legal action against Bud Light’s parent company amid conservative backlash to the beermaker’s recent marketing efforts, the latest attempt by the Republican presidential candidate to inject himself and the state he runs into the country’s culture wars.

In a Thursday letter obtained by CNN, DeSantis suggests AB InBev “breached legal duties owed to its shareholders” when it decided to associate with “radical social ideologies.” Sales of Bud Light have plummeted in the months since it entered into a minor partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney that precipitated a boycott from conservatives.

“All options are on the table,” DeSantis wrote, as the state reviews the impact of AB InBev’s recent financial downturn, though it’s unclear what legal recourse the state might have to challenge a multinational corporation’s business decisions.

“We must prudently manage the funds of Florida’s hardworking law enforcement officers, teachers, firefighters, and first responders in a manner that focuses on growing returns, not subsidizing an ideological agenda through woke virtue signaling,” DeSantis wrote in the letter to Lamar Taylor, the interim director of the State Board of Administration, the state agency that manages Florida’s retirement funds for public workers. DeSantis oversees the board as a trustee along with the state’s attorney general and chief financial officer, both also Republicans.

Speaking to Fox News on Thursday night about the letter, DeSantis said the state may consider a “derivative lawsuit” against AB InBev. Derivative lawsuits are filed by shareholders on behalf of a company against a corporation’s directors or officers alleging breach of duties.

CNN has reached out to AB InBev for comment.

At the end of March, Florida’s pension fund held more than 682,000 shares of AB InBev valued at the time at nearly $46 million. The company’s stock price has fallen since then from $66 a share to $58, though it’s still higher than its 52-week low of $44 from September 2022, which was well before the company’s recent controversies.

This is not the first time DeSantis has threatened to use Florida’s $235 billion in pension investments as a cudgel in his political fights with corporate America. In early 2022, he threatened to hold Twitter shareholders accountable if they didn’t sell the social media company to Tesla CEO Elon Musk. Later in the year, DeSantis pushed the state pension board to adopt new rules that banned its investors from considering the environmental and social good of a company or fund when deciding where to put Florida’s retirement assets, pushing back against the so-called ESG movement.

DeSantis’ latest salvo against what he calls “woke capitalism” also follows his high-profile clashes with another corporate titan, the Walt Disney Company, over the company’s objections to a state law that restricts how schools teach about sexual orientation and gender identity. DeSantis and Disney are currently engaged in two separate lawsuits over the Republican’s move to strip the theme park giant of its longstanding special government powers in Central Florida.

Asked by Fox’s Jesse Watters if DeSantis would consider similar action against Disney, DeSantis said, “I don’t know that we’d be the right one to do it.” Florida’s pension fund held $234 million in Disney stock as of March 31.

Unlike his war with Disney, conservative outrage against AB InBev came well before DeSantis decided to take action against the Belgium beermaker. Right-wing influencers and celebrities helped fuel widespread boycotts against the company’s top brand, Bud Light, after it sponsored Mulvaney, a trans advocate famous on TikTok for her bubbly and positive posts. She posted a brief digital ad for the company for NCAA March Madness this year and the brand sent her a personalized can with her face on it.

Amid the fallout, Modelo Especial became the top-selling beer in May, overthrowing Bud Light from the top spot it held for more than two decades, according to NIQ data given to consulting firm Bump Williams. In June, Modelo Especial captured 8.7% of overall beer sales, compared to Bud Light’s 7% share.

Bud Light sales, in dollars, have recently tumbled by about 25% year-over-year, according to the data shared by Williams.

Sales have slumped despite the company’s efforts to distance itself from controversy.

“We never intended to be part of a discussion that divides people. We are in the business of bringing people together over a beer,” A-B CEO Brendan Whitworth said in an April 14 statement. Soon after the statement was issued, the company said that two marketing vice presidents had taken leaves of absence.

Whitworth later laid out a plan to provide financial assistance to its wholesalers to help offset falling sales, and reimburse fuel for distributors’ trucks, among other things.

Bud Light’s summer ad campaign includes partnerships with country singers and new ads featuring NFL players. A recent 60-second spot shows people enjoying Bud Light despite facing some of summer’s biggest pain points, like sunburn or a sudden thunderstorm during a cook out.

However, DeSantis’ actions on Thursday signaled Republicans are not done using the company as a punching bag as they seek to gain favor with the party’s base. The move against Bud Light also served as another reminder that DeSantis as a sitting governor can use the power of the state to weigh in on the issues animating Republican voters, an advantage he holds over a 2024 primary field that includes many people not currently in office, including his top rival, former President Donald Trump.

As it charts a course down the middle, Bud Light has lost credibility among members of the LGBTQ+ community who are dismayed by the brand’s handling of the backlash against its minor partnership with Mulvaney. Because of that, Bud Light hasn’t gotten the benefit of a so-called buycott campaign, which can help buoy sales when brands are hit by calls for a boycott.

Earlier this year, DeSantis praised conservative consumers for boycotting the company, telling the right-wing podcaster Benny Johnson: “I’ll never drink Bud again.”

“Corporate America is trying to change our country, trying to change policy, trying to change culture. And, you know, I’d rather be governed by ‘we the people’ than companies,” DeSantis said in the interview. “And so I think pushback is in order across the board, including with Bud Light.”

The staying power of the boycott remains to be seen. DeSantis, for example, told Johnson he and his wife prefer another beer: “We actually like the stout, Guinness.”

Yet, a decade ago, the Irish beer brand became a target of conservative ire when it pulled its sponsorship of New York’s St. Patrick’s Day over the exclusion of LGBTQ groups. In response, the Catholic League called for a boycott of Guinness.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/20/politics/desantis-letter-bud-light-company/index.html

So much for Republicans claiming that government should not interfere with business. It seems you wish to talk about hate from the other side but fail to mention the excuses you make for yours.

From a simplistic viewpoint, I don't disagree with you. I think it is deeper than that, though, along two strands:

1. If an executive is a victim to the environment and what is going on around them, then that same standard should be utilized to any executive, regardless of party. You (general you) can't have it both ways. If you want to hold both accountable, fine. If you want to hold neither accountable, that's fine, too. Where I think I get irritated and where I think the problem focuses is on the selective outrage.

2. More importantly, you and I are both in alignment that the Government should generally not mandate anything when it comes to commerce. I think we also both agree that the elected representatives should create an environment that opens up business opportunities and promotes competition. I think one of my biggest qualms with my former party right now is that they have so greatly deviated from that mantra, in favor of grabbing the more low-hanging fruit on culture wars. It's easier. DeSantis is Exhibit A on that front. I think that many people on that front - including possibly DeSantis himself - would be hard-pressed to find out what his platform is on non-culture war issues.

That actually dovetails to this issue specifically. When asked about the issue, his response was "Bidenomics." That response encompasses both of my two points above. Sadly, despite the fact that response has no substance to it, I am sure it checks the box instantly with 50+% of the voter base.

Having worked in the insurance industry, both from the commercial and legal perspective, I do think there are things that can be done. First off, Florida is home to 79% of home insurance lawsuits, many of which are fraudulent. They could actually take a page out of Ohio's book when it comes to fixing that. I directly worked in that sector when I graduated law school, because of all the fraudulent claims resulting from the 2009 housing crisis. (Source: https://www.bankrate.com/insurance/homeowners-insurance/florida-homeowners-insurance-crisis/#why)

Companies are also prohibited from denying coverage solely based on roof age if the roof is fewer than 15 years old and has a life expectancy of five years at the time the policy is issued. That is a blanket regulation, which I think can and should be tweaked in a way that makes sense to attract more insurers and more competition.

The list goes on, but I think it extends beyond throwing one's hands up in the air and saying "Bidenomics!" The sad thing is that I know some in the legislature down there are making an attempt at actually passing through some things to resolve some of these issues, but that does not seem to be a primary focus of the Governor, who focuses more on Disney and his presidential campaign. DeSantis is not the only one guilty of this (I think Newsome is bad at this too), but the biggest problems arise when the welfare of the state fall second to individual ambition.

Leave it to you to Double-down On The Dumb, DOTD.
You seem to be intellectually immune to the concept of evolution.

I know who Marge Sanger was. I know about her eugenics proclivities. I also know about the modern Planned Parenthood service agency.

New York’s Planned Parenthood will remove founder’s name over her views on eugenics

By Allison Gordon
Updated 9:19 PM EDT, Wed July 22, 2020


If Margaret Sanger sounds familiar, it’s because you might have encountered her in history class.

A nurse and educator, Sanger opened in 1916 the first birth control clinic in the United States, which was illegal at the time. Her arrest and conviction led to a court ruling said that physicians could prescribe contraceptives to women for medical reasons. In 1923, Sanger opened a new clinic staffed by female doctors which eventually became the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

But your history book may not have mentioned the darker side of Sanger, like her views on eugenics, a discredited belief in improving the human race through selective breeding. Eugenics practices targeted the disabled, people of color, and poor people. Sanger died in 1966.

On Tuesday, Planned Parenthood of Greater New York (PPGNY) announced that it would be removing Sanger’s name from their Manhattan Health Center.

“The removal of Margaret Sanger’s name from our building is both a necessary and overdue step to reckon with our legacy and acknowledge Planned Parenthood’s contributions to historical reproductive harm within communities of color,” said Karen Seltzer, the chair of PPGNY’s board. “Margaret Sanger’s concerns and advocacy for reproductive health have been clearly documented, but so too has her racist legacy.”

Planned Parenthood is one of the country’s largest providers of reproductive health services for poor women; 40% of American women who receive health care via Title X get that care at Planned Parenthood. The organization, however, is dropping federal funding over the Trump administration’s rule blocking the reproductive rights organization from talking to patients about abortion services.

“It’s not complicated. She championed birth control and she supported racist ideas. Both of those things are true,” said Merle McGee, chief equity and engagement officer at PPGNY, in a statement emailed to CNN. “This is about saying while we value the work that Margaret Sanger did, we recognize that in the process she caused harm. So we don’t want to commemorate ‘our heroes’ in a way that doesn’t reflect their actions fully, especially since women of color continue to be shamed for accessing health services and for supporting our organization,”

Planned Parenthood of Greater New York said it is working with a community board, the New York City Council and the community to rename an honorary street sign that marks Margaret Sanger Square at the intersection of Bleecker and Mott Streets in the East Greenwich Village area of Manhattan.

The organization said the new name would be announced soon.

link to 2020 article



So you see- you just now doubled-down on old, tired, outdated information. In public. Again.
0 for 2.
This is turning into something of a trend with you.

The hole you've dug is now deeper than you are tall. Put down the damned shovel.

How ironic for the GOP to cancel the history they don’t like when they show over and over they really don’t know US history at all?

That's why there is Federal Flood Insurance.

Can’t blame insurance companies one bit. First off the price of housing in Florida has been inflated by lying Goper’s on the value of their properties. I agree with Clem . Florida is Satans waiting room.

Part of Florida's problem with insurance is that there has been fraud concerning replacing roof damage claims by roofing contractors, general contractors and lawyers. They found a loophole and are exploiting it. That was due to deregulation. Who deregulated the protections-former R governor Scott and the repub state house.
Also, the insurance companies do look at woke stuff like climate change and its effect on insured losses

And with the water temps off of Pensacola hitting the highest ever 97.3 degrees a week and a half ago-we are so ripe for more major storms.

Tourism tax revenue the last couple months is way down in the Orlando-some people are not coming because they don't believe in Disney's policy-others like conventions are cancelling their bookings because of desantis and his policy concerning Disney.

The immigration policy in this country has been a cluster for a few decades-what desantis did in Florida is push out all the illegals from the construction, farming and hospitality industry. And I am sure the legal locals are going to go down in the Florida heat index and pick oranges for a few dollars for a 60-80 pound bag. They talked to one of the ladies-a white, small in scale, late 40's to early 50's lady who said she was only making 30-35 dollars a day picking-barely enough for gas, and she was exhausted and sore when she went home. They interviewed the farm owner and he said that the locals can't do the work, most don't even stay for a whole day. That lady only made 30-35 bucks a day because she is slow and it is hard work to lift a 60 pound bag of oranges up a ladder to get to the top and you have to be fast. His former workers (who pretty much all left) were doing 75-100 bucks a day.
They then interviewed the lady who ran the temp service who said that people who are not illegals (local Floridians looking for a job) as a whole-do not stay more than a day or two; some don't make it to lunch. She said that the people she hired this spring-she probably has 3-5% of locals left working-the rest quit.

anybody catch the new standard for teaching slavery in florida?

i love when conservatives tell minorities to let go of the past while they actively try to rewrite it.

They lost me when they said slavery was teaching slaves job skills. What fn jobs. They are slaves!

I don't see it as Bidenomics.

Sometimes the simple answer is the answer. Insurance companies(some) are no longer willing to take on the risk.

If the companies reserves aren't large enough to cover a major even without putting other policy holders possible claims at risk, they have to stop insuring the largest risk factor. That or raise rates in that state so high that nobody is going to buy their coverage. Then as you know state insurance commissions get involved...bla, bla, bla....it's just simpler to say they are no longer going to write those policies.

Your welcome

Seriously, Florida is a pretty decent place.. You kinda do have a guy who will do or say anything to get elected. Like kick the states largest economic engine and it's supporting companies just because it didn't agree with him and said so.

He, like Trump, is thin skinned and in the end, those guys always get kicked in the butt.. Just saying.

I dOn’T wAnT mY tAx DoLlArS PaYiNg FoR sCuMbAg FlOrIdIaN hOmEs WhIlE nAtUrE sInKs ThAt s-HoLe StAtE.

I don’t think either of us see it as Bidenomics, but, overall, that really sidesteps the point of my post.

I just see that the culture warrior agenda offered by DeSantis has no legs nationally.

Hurricanes, flooding, heat, wild fires, sink holes, and a war on Mickey Mouse. Lol …God’s gift to Florida.

So you don’t think we can monitor and maintain a tax on remittances? Really. We tax dang near anything and have always figured it out. Most remittances are sent via a bank or a western Union type company. They can easily deduct the tax from the amount being sent and do the same thing they do with all federal taxes, forward them to Washington.

In 2020 nearly 70 billion, with a b, was remitted from this country . In 2021 50 billion was remitted to Mexico. A small tax,1-2%, would yield maybe 3/4 of a billion to 1.5 billion, a nice start for border security. After all, you take a billion here and a billion there and as Senator Fritz Hollings once said, “pretty soon you are talking about real money”.

Prices go up for one reason, the demand for housing is high. People are moving there. Like it or not, they are moving there for one of two reasons. Boomers are retiring and want to live in Florida during their golden years, and people are fleeing states with burdensome taxation.

Liked is a look at where people are moving and where they are leaving. These figures are based on national moving company statistics. They encompass moves in or out of states, not in state moves. You can pull up any state you want.

https://www.northamerican.com/migration-map

I think you underestimate people. You think people will keep using methods that will be taxed if there's a way to avoid it? Please show your work next time. It's great to spout figures but it would be nice of you actually gave sources to back up your assertions. You do realize that when you purchase a money order you don't have to prove where you're sending it, right?

If you are really interested in learning, type remittances to Mexico into Bing or google. Read the numbers for yourself.

So instead of backing up your own claims you expect me to do that for you? And you still didn't address the money order thing. I'm not questioning the numbers so much as I'm questioning the actual ability to stop it. Anyone can purchase a cashiers check or money order and they don't have to prove what they're doing with it or where they may be sending it.

a what point does the coral start to bleach and the marine life die off?
And we have never seen what a nicely developed hurricane does in conditions like this.




https://www.nbcnews.com/news/weathe...r-100-degrees-stunning-experts-rcna96163

Like a hot tub: Water temperatures off Florida soar over 100 degrees, stunning experts
A buoy near Manatee Bay recorded an astounding 101.1-degree water temperature Monday, a temperature common for hot tubs.
Swimmers at Hollywood Beach in Hollywood, Fla., on July 10, 2023.
Swimmers at Hollywood Beach in Hollywood, Fla., on July 10.Wilfredo Lee / AP


July 25, 2023, 12:36 PM EDT
By Kathryn Prociv
On Monday, as much of the country stewed in bubbling heat, a boiling milestone was hit — a buoy in Florida registered a jaw-dropping 101.1 degrees Fahrenheit water temperature.

This was on the heels of the same buoy in Manatee Bay registering 100.2 degrees on Sunday. For perspective, the average hot tub temperature is 100-102 degrees F.

While the readings would've been considered a possible outlier or sensor error, surrounding buoys recorded similarly high temperatures, with 99.3 F at Murray Key and 98.4 F at Johnson Key.

Another reason why these water temperature readings are being taken seriously is the fact that experts have been tracking the exceptionally warm water temperature readings that have ranged from 92-97 degrees since early July.

For the majority of the month, an unusual weather pattern for the summer months for the region has been the driving factor. That pattern has featured a stagnant set-up fueled by a strong area of high pressure that has led to days of above average, and in many cases, record-setting air temperatures.


Record high water temperatures take toll on Florida's coral reefs
JULY 21, 202301:56
The pattern has also led to weaker than average trade winds. Trade winds usually produce southeast winds and a sea breeze for south Florida, which helps to keep the sea surface temperatures in check. Instead, winds have been out of the west and weak, allowing sea surface temperatures to heat up.


Still, despite a month of record-setting water temperatures already in the history books, Sunday and Monday's 100-degree water temperature reading stunned experts.

Factors that could have played a role in spiking the water temperature above 100 degrees include:

Air temperatures in the mid-to-upper 90s.
Weak winds across the region of less than 10 mph.
Strong sunlight hitting shallow water, which heats up faster than deep water.
Silty water leading to darker color, causing more absorption of sunlight and additional heating. Think of clear water vs. murky water as being similar to cement vs. asphalt. The darker the color, the more absorption and hotter the temperatures.
The water temperatures recorded Sunday and Monday would challenge the record for hottest sea surface temperature in the world. While official world water temperature records aren't kept, a 99.7 degree temperature recorded in Kuwait Bay is considered the world record at this time. Due to factors like proximity to land and the silty nature of the water, the temperatures recorded off Florida would have to go through an extensive verification process.

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), ocean warming since 1991 doubles the size of the marine heat wave forecasted for September 2023.

According to the experimental forecast issued in June, 50 percent of the global oceans could experience heat wave conditions by September.

The forecast system also estimates how large and intense heat waves are without global warming’s influence on the ocean over the past three decades. Without the warming effect, the models predict that only 25 percent of the global ocean will be affected by heat waves in September.

Right, but most people don't mail checks to Mexico. They wire the money, so they do have records to come up with the amounts being sent to Mexico and elsewhere.

Even if the money order is mailed, once it is cashed there are records of who and where it was cashed, along with knowing who bought the order. I haven't bought a money order in decades. I don't know if you have to show ID for that or not. None the less, if that becomes the new method of sending money in mass, measures could be taken to monitor and tax that as well.

I didn’t address the “money order thing “ because I did not think it was a serious question. Had you thought about it a bit maybe you would not have asked.

You do realize there is a fee associated with a remittance of money out of the country. It varies with size of remittance and the exchange rate. I went to western Union office. They said today, right now it would cost $10-15 to send $300 , a reasonable amount for a hard worker to send. Currently they can get a money order for , what, maybe $2-3. Postage first class 60-70 cents. So they could have always been sending a money order but have not. Why?? Maybe because if you drop it in the mail maybe 3-4 days it gets to the address, maybe, and then they must find a place to cash it. Western Union, they get cash almost immediately, cash money. That is what they want so they are willing to pay that fee.

So the proposals that I have seen suggest .5-1% tax for remittances. That would cost a max of $3, max. And they still get the dough to their family immediately, no muss, no fuss.

I think you so desperately want this tax to not work you invent all kinds of reasons why it would never t.

The only "records" are where and when it was purchased. You can pay cash for a money order without an ID which leaves no paper trail as to who purchased it. I mean of course you could go back I suppose and look at 7-11 video tapes of the purchase and hope you can identify the person who purchased it I suppose. But at what point to do spend more money trying to track down a $500 money order purchase than you would collect in taxes on that money order? Pretty damned quick.

If the federal government starts tracking money transfers and taxing them just watch how quickly the method of sending money to Mexico changes to something much harder to trace.

I just know it won't work. There are ways around it. As of now it's not that big a deal. Try making it bigger and they'll avoid it like the plague. For some odd reason, the very same people that used to say that the federal government was broken, can't do anything right and can't accomplish anything, suddenly believe they can accomplish what they want to see accomplished effectively. What a reversal of the thought process.

“You just know it won’t work”. What a phony bologna. Youwon’t support a tax on remittances because you do not think it will work. Ha!!

You do know that in 2020,2021 and 2022 everyone who paid to send a remittance to Mexico had the option of sending a money order, didn’t they. And they chose not to didn’t they. I think you are the one who is underestimating people. I think in this matter they know way better than you do.

You offered one reason it would not work and that has been shown to be bogus. Can you you create another one for us?

You claim you can just keep taking more and more money from them and they won't use an easy remedy to avoid it. Those are actually the facts as you present them. Not something I created. You're just not happy that there's such an easy loophole around an idea you thought was so brilliant.

If there is such an “easy workaround “ that will work for them, why haven’t they been using all along and saving all that money. The answer you won’t accept is that the way they do it is far better than the cockamamie idea of yours. And $2-3 on a $300 transmittal will not change that.

So tell me, why have they spent all that money on transmittal fees over the years instead of your “easy workaround “. What is the answer. Do you think they are not smart enough to do what is best for them?? That you are just way smarter than they are?? Or is it something else? Enlighten us.

Here's the problem with your theory. People will certainly pay up to a certain amount for speed and convenience. We see that all the time. Wire transfers certainly accomplish that. The problem with your theory is you somehow feel there is no limit to what they're willing to pay for it. That's the flaw in your logic. I hope that helped enlighten you as per your request. And I repeat.....

Thanks for the information. As I said earlier, if the government wants to track that, they could.

Also, as another poster pointed out, the wiring of funds is how the vast majority of transactions are made for the reasons keith pointed out.

Yes they could. At a huge net loss of income.


That's currently true. But how much more do you actually think people will pay before they will change their payment methods? The point you seem to be supporting is that no matter how many taxes or costs you tack onto wire transfers people will continue to use that method. I don't think that makes sense. I think cable and satellite services have found out just how foolish that line of thinking is.

I do not have a “theory”. I have facts and history. You are trying to sell the idea that people who have used the same system for decades because it is easy, convenient and gets the cash in their family’s hands almost immediately, while paying fees of $10-20, will switch to a different system way less convenient and less easy, that gets the money order , not the cash, Into their family’s hands in 4-5 days, maybe, if their cost goes from $10 to $11.50. Look I know you think you are way smarter than these folks, but you are not. I do not find that credible at all. Give them credit for doing what they think is best.

The real problem is you do not want a border wall and this would raise money to fund it so you do not want it to work. we can to

And one needs to take in to account many of the recipients don't have normal banking methods....like no bank, so cashing a check can be hard. With a wire transfer, you don't even need an official ID to collect your money. The sender can send it requiring a code word, such as a dogs name or grandmas maiden name.

The recipients want the money soon....like maybe even that day. Not wait around for a week or more to get a check that they then have to find a way to cash.