Don't know how to feel about this. I'm sure it's a bluff, but as a Disneyhater™ I would love to see Disney lose some of its power in Florida. I think that would be fucking hilarious. Kneecaping a massive corporation to own the libs.
A bunch of tier one Disney operators is gonna raid the governor's mansion wearng mouse ear tactical helmets. Two days later Disney Ceo Bob Chapek is gonna to a press conference. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we got him."
DeSantis announced on Tuesday that the GOP-controlled Legislature during this week’s special session will take up a bill that would dismantle the special district that has allowed Disney to operate its own local government in central Florida that is the home to Walt Disney World.
wait what? a private corporation runs its own local government?
holy shit let them fight.
strap the fuck in: they have their own police force. Disney is very proud of its claim that "no one has ever died in a Disney theme park" even though Florida has among the worst consumer protection and safety regulations for theme parks and rides. there's a rumor that clearly dead people, whenever possible, are moved off theme park property before being pronounced dead.
the police force has been the subject of critical reporting for being more aggressive than Florida law enforcement at large, if you can imagine that. there was much brow furrowing in the regional paper 30 years ago, when Reedy Creek Police (Disney's corporate controlled police force with full police powers) continued to engage in high speed pursuit over stolen Disney property resulting in high profile roadside fatalities several years after Florida adopted a "don't high speed chase over suspected infractions below a certain level of danger" policy due to public endangerment.
additionally and among other powers (levy taxes, build power plants, etc), being a registered municipal district allowed them to access state bond mechanisms to borrow money at subsidized interest rates for such development. basically, extremely cheap loans that are supposed to be used to like build schools and roads and shit.
it really should not be called the State of Florida so much as the City-State of Disney to acknowledge how much control over the government they exert.
relatedly, the laws that would become the "Right to Work" union-banning package were first tested in Florida in 1948, at a time when Florida was the least populated state in the southeastern US and probably just a few years before it was on the Disney radar as a site for its future HQ. it has been developed since its days as a malarial zone for rum-running, swamp land speculation, and robber baron experimentation into the 3rd most populace state (NY is #4) and the crown jewel of undemocratic, anti-worker and reactionary political projects in the US. a phenomenal amount of legal and illegal imports move through Florida. like California, it is part of 4 designated and distinct HIDTAs, though it is less than half the size of California. not to mention the outsize role Florida plays in national presidential politics or how it's supreme court chose the president of the US in 2000.
i hope DeSantis and his Q Army of Chuds go all in on fighting Disney and the two political projects mortally wound each other. a significant weakening of both is really the only shot Florida has of establishing some kind of humanitarian focused plan for climate adaptation where possible and facilitating resettlement for the displaced where it's not. otherwise, it's going to go extremely poorly for everyone not connected and propertied enough to get a federal flood insurance check when the first truly big one hits.
i think you mean the magic of Disney kept them alive until they were no longer under the loving eye of Mickey Mouse. because no one can die at Disney. even that kid who got decapitated on Space Mountain.
Hasn't there been decapitations at Disney though or is that just urban myth? I'd call that pretty dead unless Walt is willing to share his jar and freezer with any decapitated tourists until they can get them off Disney Land.
Hasn’t there been decapitations at Disney though or is that just urban myth?
Who the hell can even say? I'm sure Politico would award the claim seven Pinocchios after citing a Disney Press Release that reads "Nuh-uh, didn't happen". After that, unless someone caught it on video or a flood of tourists came running out the front gate screaming and covered in blood, I doubt we'd ever know.
I doubt this happened recently, if for no other reason than someone with a cell phone would have captured it, though.
there was much brow furrowing in the regional paper 30 years ago, when Reedy Creek Police (Disney’s corporate controlled police force with full police powers) continued to engage in high speed pursuit over stolen Disney property resulting in high profile roadside fatalities several years after Florida adopted a “don’t high speed chase over suspected infractions below a certain level of danger” policy due to public endangerment.
let me get this right, this means the Disney cops ran people over in a high speed chase because they suspected somebody was trying to get away with stolen mouse ears from the disney world gift shop? wtf?
There are places all over the US where special districts are declared and law enforcement is ceded to private entities.
don't fuck with the mouse.
:sicko-fem: ESCALATE THOSE CONTRADICTIONS LETS SEE IF THE STATE OF FLORIDA OR WALT DISNEY CORPORATION IS MORE POWERFUL!!!
Is this how we do it? We point to a whole bunch of corporations, claim that they are not homophobic enough and thus should be sabotaged, and the "sabotage" is better labor rights?
I'm not under the illusion that this will somehow make things better for any group. Least of all is the labor rights of those who work for Disney. They have always been a homophobic, awful company. It's purely schadenfreude to watch even the slim possibility that they will lose some of their precious choke hold on that area of the state.
It only works if you've successfully whipped up a mob of extremely angry activists who are somehow insulated from the consequences of their actions.
What the fuck is the content of these media-named "don't say gay" laws? I'm not doubting they're evil but I want to know what the actual laws are
Conservatives state the law is to bar sexual education in grades K-3, except the language of the bill is to bar instruction on "sexual orientation and gender identity." You know that no supporters of the bill take issue with heterosexuality being pushed in schools, which is why critics of the bill have taken to calling it "Don't Say Gay." Also the bill is the vaguest shit ever, it's completely unclear what is meant by "instruction." Many LGBT teachers are unsure if they are allowed to even have pictures of themselves and their partner in a classroom.
The rest of the bill is just vague shit about parents having to be notified “if there is a change in the student's services or monitoring related to the student's mental, emotional, or physical health or well-being and the school's ability to provide a safe and supportive learning environment for the student.” Just vague basic shit that should already be law - the school has to notify the parent of various health related things. The context of this bill and right-wing fearmongering about it make it clear though that this is so any change in the student's behavior - requesting to be referred to by different pronouns, using a new name, etc - have to be reported to the parent. Schools will no longer be a safe space for LGBT students since under this law schools will be sort of obligated to out students to parents who might not be accepting.
Of course all this is so vague that definitions and what the law actually mean will likely have to be decided in courts by precedent (if it actually gets that far since most of the conservative fears behind this bill are not actually real). There's a whole process in the law for dealing with complaints - there's like an investigation with costs having to be borne by the school district that has to happen before it goes to court. So schools will be burdened with extra costs and frivolous lawsuits while the actual meaning of the law is figured out (again, if the law is actually used since most conservative fears about gender in schools are completely divorced from reality - I think I read somewhere that that Virginia CRT law has never actually been used since its passed).
It will create a chilling affect, along with fear and uncertainty. The goal is spreading terror, i don't think evangelicals really believe in the law.
They don't. The only "law" they believe in is "god's law" and I'm putting quotes around that shit because their own theological understanding of their god is bullshit. It's self worship masquerading as Christianity. It's basically LaVeyan satanism but without the self awareness. That's why capitalist libertarianism is so attractive to these types.
I agree with you whole heartedly. The fuckers literally, unselfconsciously, entirely unironically worship Mammon. It's horrifying and I try not to think about it most of the time.
Insert clip from the movie '300' where the Spartan king Leonidas derides the Athenians as "boy lovers" despite Sparta having institutionalized pederasty.
Don’t talk about human sexuality with kids, unless you are parent or some shit
DeSantis targets Disney’s self-governing status
WTF based?
in escalation over ‘Don’t Say Gay’
Nope
Hell yeah these contradictions are getting spicy :party-parrot-popcorn:
Even the name "DeSantis" sounds like some lazily named comic book villain's real name.
Sounds like every asshole working in school and government around here
Not that I give a fuck but isnt this obviously a bill of attainder or lesser harm, or whatever?
Why didn't Disney just buy the government?
It's what they did with the national government in DC. We'll never have anything recent enter the public domain, ever, because if the date moved up then Disney would lose its copyright over Mickey Mouse. This tragedy must be met with every means at corporate disposal.
Hell, they literally have their own city-state outside government control in Florida, which they bought. Is Disney management this incompetent now?
