But can she core an apple? https://www.foxnews.com/us/naked-fl...tion-threatens-kill-staff-apple-peeler-police
This is why most other states choose top health officials who aren't anti-vaxxers and don't spread disinformation. Unvaccinated Florida kids exposed to measles can skip quarantine, officials say On Tuesday, nearly 20 percent of the school's 1,067 students were reportedly absent. https://arstechnica.com/science/202...to-measles-can-skip-quarantine-officials-say/
Some more follow-up in Florida. Only in a state with DeSantis and his demented appointee Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo would widely spreading measles be considered acceptable. This will not end up well -- but the people who voted for DeSantis are getting what they deserve. Florida defies CDC in measles outbreak, telling parents it's fine to send unvaccinated kids to school https://www.cbsnews.com/news/florida-measles-outbreak-unvaccinated-kids-school/ With a brief memo, Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo has subverted a public health standard that's long kept measles outbreaks under control. On Feb. 20, as measles spread through Manatee Bay Elementary in South Florida, Ladapo sent parents a letter granting them permission to send unvaccinated children to school amid the outbreak. The Department of Health "is deferring to parents or guardians to make decisions about school attendance," wrote Ladapo, who was appointed to head the agency by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose name is listed above Ladapo's in the letterhead. Ladapo's move contradicts advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "This is not a parental rights issue," said Scott Rivkees, Florida's former surgeon general who is now a professor at Brown University. "It's about protecting fellow classmates, teachers, and members of the community against measles, which is a very serious and very transmissible illness." Most people who aren't protected by a vaccine will get measles if they're exposed to the virus. This vulnerable group includes children whose parents don't get them vaccinated, infants too young for the vaccine, those who can't be vaccinated for medical reasons, and others who don't mount a strong, lasting immune response to it. Rivkees estimates that about a tenth of people in a community fall into the vulnerable category. The CDC advises that unvaccinated students stay home from school for three weeks after exposure. Because the highly contagious measles virus spreads on tiny droplets through the air and on surfaces, students are considered exposed simply by sitting in the same cafeteria or classroom as someone infected. And a person with measles can pass along an infection before they develop a fever, cough, rash, or other signs of the illness. About 1 in 5 people with measles end up hospitalized, 1 in 10 develop ear infections that can lead to permanent hearing loss, and about 1 in 1,000 die from respiratory and neurological complications. "I don't know why the health department wouldn't follow the CDC recommendations," said Thresia Gambon, president of the Florida chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a pediatrician who practices in Miami and Broward, the county affected by the current measles outbreak. "Measles is so contagious. It is very worrisome." Considering the dangers of the disease, the vaccine is incredibly safe. A person is about four times as likely to die from being struck by lightning during their lifetime in the United States as to have a potentially life-threatening allergic reaction to the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine. Nonetheless, last year a record number of parents filed for exemptions from school vaccine requirements on religious or philosophical grounds across the United States. The CDC reported that childhood immunization rates hit a 10-year low. In addition to Florida, measles cases have been reported in 11 other states this year, including Arizona, Georgia, Minnesota, and Virginia. Only about a quarter of Florida's counties had reached the 95% threshold at which communities are considered well protected against measles outbreaks, according to the most recent data posted by the Florida Department of Health in 2022. In Broward County, where six cases of measles have been reported over the past week, about 92% of children in kindergarten had received routine immunizations against measles, chickenpox, polio, and other diseases. The remaining 8% included more than 1,500 kids who had vaccine exemptions, as of 2022. Broward's local health department has been offering measles vaccines at Manatee Bay Elementary since the outbreak began, according to the county school superintendent. If an unvaccinated person gets a dose within three days of exposure to the virus, they're far less likely to get measles and spread it to others. For this reason, government officials have occasionally mandated vaccines in emergencies in the past. For example, Philadelphia's deputy health commissioner in 1991 ordered children to get vaccinated against their parents' wishes during outbreaks traced to their faith-healing churches. And during a large measles outbreak among Orthodox Jewish communities in Brooklyn in 2019, the New York City health commissioner mandated that anyone who lived, worked, or went to school in hard-hit neighborhoods get vaccinated or face a fine of $1,000. In that ordinance, the commissioner wrote that the presence of anyone lacking the vaccine in those areas, unless it was medically contraindicated, "creates an unnecessary and avoidable risk of continuing the outbreak." Ladapo moved in the opposite direction with his letter, deferring to parents because of the "high immunity rate in the community," which data contradicts, and because of the "burden on families and educational cost of healthy children missing school." Yet the burden of an outbreak only grows larger as cases of measles spread, requiring more emergency care, more testing, and broader quarantines as illness and hospitalizations mount. Curbing a 2018 outbreak in southern Washington with 72 cases cost about $2.3 million, in addition to $76,000 in medical costs, and an estimated $1 million in economic losses due to illness, quarantine, and caregiving. If numbers soar, death becomes a burden, too. An outbreak among a largely unvaccinated population in Samoa caused more than 5,700 cases and 83 deaths, mainly among children. Ladapo's letter to parents also marks a departure from the norm because local health departments tend to take the lead on containing measles outbreaks, rather than state or federal authorities. In response to queries from KFF Health News, Broward County's health department deferred to Florida's state health department, which Ladapo oversees. "The county doesn't have the power to disagree with the state health department," said Rebekah Jones, a data scientist who was removed from her post at the Florida health department in 2020, over a rift regarding coronavirus data. DeSantis, a Republican, appointed Ladapo as head of the state health department in late 2021, as DeSantis integrated skepticism about COVID vaccines into his political platform. In the months that followed, Florida's health department removed information on COVID vaccines from its homepage, and reprimanded a county health director for encouraging his staff to get the vaccines, leading to his resignation. In January, the health department website posted Ladapo's call to halt vaccination with COVID mRNA vaccines entirely, based on notions that scientists call implausible. Jones was not surprised to see Ladapo pivot to measles. "I think this is the predictable outcome of turning fringe, anti-vaccine rhetoric into a defining trait of the Florida government," she said. Although his latest decision runs contrary to CDC advice, the federal agency rarely intervenes in measles outbreaks, entrusting the task to states. In an email to KFF Health News, the Florida health department said it was working with others to identify the contacts of people with measles, but that details on cases and places of exposure were confidential. It repeated Ladapo's decision, adding, "The surgeon general's recommendation may change as epidemiological investigations continue." For Gambon, the outbreak is already disconcerting. "I would like to see the surgeon general promote what is safest for children and for school staff," she said, "since I am sure there are many who might not have as strong immunity as we would hope."
Great job DeSantis and Ladapo -- every day more cases are reported as the measles outbreak rapidly spreads. Measles Strikes a Florida Elementary School With Over 100 Unvaccinated Kids Nearly 11 percent of the students aren't fully immunized, prompting concerns of broader infection. https://www.wired.com/story/measles-school-unvaccinated-florida/
Ron DeSantis brings comfort and security to the Florida housing market by declaring the state's largest insurer "NOT SOLVENT". So as Lil' Ron wasted time driving his political narrative for his failed presidential campaign, he failed to address the most important issue in the state. So much "WINNING". Ron DeSantis says Citizens Insurance is ‘not solvent’ https://floridapolitics.com/archives/662068-ron-desantis-claims-citizens-insurance-is-not-solvent/ Gov. Ron DeSantis is telling the nation that people in his state shouldn’t rely on the state-run insurer of last resort, raising new questions about Citizens Property Insurance ahead of what is expected to be an active hurricane season. “It is not solvent and we can’t have millions of people on that because if a storm hits, it’s going to cause problems for the state,” the second-term Republican Governor said on CNBC’s “Last Call.” The Governor’s comments are particularly interesting as they were in the middle of a rumination about private insurers bringing new capital into the state, in which he claimed that “about 30% of those policies from Citizens” taken out by “new private insurance (companies) will actually be able to offer lower rates to those people.” That suggests roughly 70% of people are paying more since the take out of Citizens’ policies. Scrutiny on Citizens has come from Washington in recent months. The U.S. Senate Budget Committee has probed the DeSantis administration about the company’s ability to handle underwriting losses, including the question of whether the state insurer might need a federal bailout. “In light of the state’s acknowledgement of Citizens’ potential insolvency and the likelihood that it would be both politically and economically unfeasible for Citizens to attempt to recoup tens of billions of dollars in losses from policyholders across Florida, the Committee is concerned that Citizens and the state of Florida would turn to the federal government to bail them out. Given the potential magnitude of Citizens’ losses, such a bailout request could put substantial strain on the federal budget,” wrote Chairman Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island. DeSantis has warned about Citizens’ bloat in the past. He noted in 2022 that Citizens was “unfortunately undercapitalized” and that the company could go “belly up” if it actually had to weather a major storm. Questionable messaging isn’t just a thing of the past though. DeSantis, on successive days last year, blamed the Legislature for not implementing insurance reforms he wanted, then refused to say what those reforms were when asked directly. The Governor also made news during a 2023 radio interview with a Boston host, when he suggested homeowners should “knock on wood” and hope the state didn’t get hit by a storm. Whitehouse’s concerns have been echoed by Florida U.S. Senators, particularly Rick Scott. He called the state’s insurance marketplace a “disaster” earlier this year, saying the departure of Farmers Insurance was a “wake-up call” to the state. During an interview with WFME in Orlando, Marco Rubio said his homeowners insurance rates had “seen probably a 300% increase in the last two years.” DeSantis has also previously blamed high insurance rates on cultural issues. “But I think I’m concerned about this ESG, I’m concerned about them trying to say climate change and everything because that’s going to make some of these things very, very expensive if they’re pricing in all these things that very well may not happen. And that’s new from where we were 20 or 30 years ago,” he said last year on the presidential campaign trail. Meanwhile, forecasters foretell problems, given the Atlantic already has heat more typical of May than February. Accuweather predicts a “blockbuster” storm season, especially given the fading El Nino pattern that insulated Florida from storms in 2023.
Everyone wants the F out of DeSantis Land. Florida Homeowners Are Desperately Trying to Move Out https://www.newsweek.com/florida-homeowners-desperately-trying-move-out-1874173 Florida has the highest number of "motivated" sellers listing their properties on real estate marketplace app Zillow, according to data on the platform. A search showed that, as of Wednesday, February 28, there were 4,928 listings on Zillow's app for Florida properties whose sellers described themselves as "motivated"—meaning they would accept lower offers from potential home buyers to sell quickly. Motivated sellers can be driven by financial loss, divorce or separation, job relocation or other personal issues. Vacation rental investor Rohin Dhar noticed the spike in motivated sellers in the Sunshine State, writing about it on X and wondering what was "going on" in Florida. Dhar compared Florida's numbers to those of California, New York and Texas, which all had lower figures. As of Wednesday morning, California had 1,069 motivated sellers, while New York had 424 and Texas 1,775. Newsweek found that Florida was in fact the state with the highest number of motivated sellers in the entire country. Florida has more listings, in general, than the rest of the U.S. "because we have not only so many residential properties people live in, but also vacation properties, and it's a large state to begin with," Florida Realtors® Chief Economist Brad O'Connor told Newsweek. As of Wednesday, Florida had a total listings of 202,000 properties, against California's 73,000, Texas' 172,000 and New York's 42,000. Dhar also shared search results for individual Florida cities on X, showing that listings from motivated sellers totalled 1,086 in the area around Fort Lauderdale and Miami, 1,136 around Orlando and 1,083 around Tampa, as of February 27. Newsweek contacted Dhar for comment by direct message on X on Wednesday, and also contacted Zillow by email. The number of motivated sellers in Florida suggests that a high number of homeowners are trying to get rid of their property quickly. But why? "Florida had the highest home price appreciation over the past three years, and some people may be cashing out," Lawrence Yun, chief economist and senior vice president of research at the National Association of Realtors (NAR), told Newsweek. "Also, property insurance readjustments—like any other added cost of ownership—will induce some additional sellers. Some retired homeowners on fixed income could be forced to sell. NAR has been advocating in Congress for a gradual increase regarding flood insurance premiums," he added. "We're seeing a lot more listings in general in Florida than we were a year ago, and that's been the case the last four to five months," O'Connor said. "But if you look at historical data, the number of new listings we're seeing now is actually very similar to that of four to five years ago, prior to last year. So last year was kind of the anomaly, we had a low number compared to normal." While the Federal Reserve announced in December that it had concluded its aggressive rate hike campaign, mortgage rates remain high, generally discouraging sellers from putting their homes on the market. But O'Connor said sellers might have just become used to it. "I think people are now more comfortable with the fact that, you know, interest rates are up here to stay," he said. "I think initially when rates rose quickly, people were uncertain as to where they would go from there. But now we're pretty much in a situation where I think everyone's comfortable with the idea that rates are probably going to stay about where they're at, or they're going to decline somewhat in the next year or two." One reason homeowners might be willing to sell despite the less than ideal market conditions might be the high insurance rates in the state, which have risen dramatically in the past few years. According to data from the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I) cited by Fox 13, home insurance costs have increased by 102 percent in the past three years in Florida, and they are three times more expensive than the national average. Home insurance in 2023 was about $6,000, according to Triple-I—the highest premium in the country. "For some people, that [higher premiums] have changed their calculus in terms of affordability," O'Connor said. "We don't have great data on exactly how much insurance rates are increasing in different parts of the state, but, anecdotally, we've received lots of complaints of pretty substantial increases. So I'm sure that's something that's going on and might be motivating some buyers or seller owners to list their properties." Insurance expert Lisa Miller told Fox 13 that she had spoken with condo board members from around the state who had premiums around $65,000 four years ago that had skyrocketed to nearly $800,000. "It's just unsustainable," she said. "I think things are going to get better in 2024. I think we'll see rates stabilized." Motivated sellers in Florida are unlikely to have to compromise for a much lower price than the one they originally listed. "Despite more listings, there are also plenty of buyers and potential home buyers," Yun said. "Florida has consistently been one of the top five states in terms of job creation. Therefore, the discount is not likely to be significant."
Over twice as many people moved to Florida than did to NC in 2023. GDP: Florida: $1,389,069,700,000 NC: $559,510,000,000 Hey GWB, do you know what the 3 R's taught in NC schools are? The right road to Richmond
As a percentage of the population what is the per capita number of people who moved to North Carolina versus moved to Florida. On a per capita population basis what is the GDP per person in North Carolina versus Florida. Counting raw numbers is like saying Florida has more people dying than North Carolina so therefore Florida is the "winner".
While more people still move into the state than move out each year, the number of people leaving is a concern. Analysts point to the rising cost of living, politics, and high property insurance premiums as reasons behind the shift. "I am very concerned about affordability in Florida," - Representative Matt Gaetz, Nov 1, 2023 ------- Florida also received over 250,000 migrants from foreign countries, coming second to California (298,151 migrants) and placing above Texas (233,751 migrants). However, it’s not clear what countries these international migrants stem from. The bureau doesn’t distinguish between legal status for foreign migrants, and these three states have historically been top destinations for undocumented migration. ------- In contrast, as America's population continues to get older (the elderly)...the two most common states that the elderly are moving from so that they can reside in Florida... California and New York so that they can maximize their retirement income in comparison to what they would get in California or New York. This is statistics from 2022. With that said and soon after 2022...something changed in Florida. According to the US Census Bureau state to state migration flows, an estimated 275,266 people left Florida in 2022. That means that nearly 754 people are choosing to leave Florida every day and nearly 23,000 people are leaving each month (as of 2022). So where are people going? The top five destinations for people who left Florida in 2022 were: Georgia (46,884) North Carolina (42,301) Tennessee (36,200) South Carolina (31,456) Texas (29,975) As you can see, most people who leave Florida are heading to nearby states or oddly enough—Texas. wrbtrader