Mornin’ Politocadoes!
Presidential hopeful and sometime Fascist Governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis clashed with Disney when they very, very, very tepidly opposed his “Don’t Say Gay” act last year. The result was DeSantis’ attempt to have the state of Florida take over the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a district where Disney could run government services as it saw fit in the area around DisneyWorld. This would lead to the development of things like Epcot. It’s been on the books since 1967, it’s been challenged on multiple occasions. The Florida legislature passed a repeal of the Act in April 2022 and the DeSantis administration has been busy replacing members of the Board overseeing the district with Republicans and purging Disney sympathetic members.
I think we were all expecting The Mouse to have something else up their sleeve. And indeed, it did. See, in February the Board quietly passed a restrictive new pact in advance of the expected state takeover of the area. A public meeting was held but little was discussed before it was unanimously voted in favor of passage. The new board discovered the new binding agreement and it is incredibly restrictive. Disney owns most of the land in the district with other corporations operating with the Mouse’s blessing. The agreement bars the board from mandating the height of buildings, and gives far more control over its own buildings, including internal review of the exterior of any Disney buildings in the district to ensure consistent theming with Disney.
“This essentially makes Disney the government,” board member Ron Peri said. “This board loses, for practical purposes, the majority of its ability to do anything beyond maintain the roads and maintain basic infrastructure.”
It also restricts the usage of the Disney name and their many characters such as Mickey Mouse without the corporation’s express approval.
The agreement is intended to last for a long time too. It will only end “21 years after the death of the last survivor of the descendants of King Charles III, king of England living as of the date of this declaration,”
I don’t necessarily approve of anything Disney does, basically ever. Like, what started this whole thing was ridiculous and cowardly in the first place. Disney didn’t go hard enough defending LGBT+ people, but as soon as they offered the tiniest amount of support, DeSantis went after them hard. Dumb. Dumb decision. I suppose it’s possible he thinks it won’t be his problem and he can just campaign off of fighting “Wokeism” or whatever and be President in a couple of years. But that’s some mighty big hubris to my view.
Something to keep in mind! Police are using digital data to prosecute abortion seekers, and Facebook and Google are helping them! Even if they are not legally required to do so, the tech giants will aid them in this since it’s technically *against the law*. Please be careful when looking for abortion providers or helping someone who is looking for that assistance.
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, if you have not been vaccinated please consider finding time to get an appointment. If you have had only one dose of the Moderna or Pfizer vaccine, do not forget about the second dose! A NEW BIVALENT COVID VACCINE is now available to fight against the latest variants! You can get any type of shot you like, provided you have already been double vaccinated. Even if you are vaccinated, please continue to maintain social distancing measures, wear masks in public areas in accordance with CDC guidelines in regard to your own vaccination status. EVEN VACCINATED INDIVIDUALS CAN STILL GET AND SPREAD IT.
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