advice for young women who may think of moving to Florida

[katmondoo]

Don't. They tried last year to control women with some of the most draconian legislations ever and failed because Crist vetoed it. Now they have the power to pass God only knows what. If you can leave Florida do so,if not be careful. For the seniors try to hang on and hope for the best. This will be a long hard 4 years for many of us in Florida.

[drmeow]

1. Been that way in AZ

since Janet Napolitano left. I love living in the desert, I HATE living in the fascist state of Arizona.

[Warpy]

6. Move next door

NM is desert and the altitude makes the climate a little kinder. While the state just elected a Gorgon governor, the state lege is going to have fun tossing her around when she tries to do stupid things like end medical pot.

The northern two congressional districts are liberal, with the northernmost very liberal. Those old Hispanos in the hills have long memories and they remember that the Democrats are the only ones who ever realized New Mexico is a state.

That brings me to the real liability of living here. Expect all online and catalog purchases to be routed through San Diego or El Paso because numbnuts at shipping companies don't know this is a state. You'd think the word "NEW" instead of "Nuevo" would tip them off, but they're numbnuts. That's only a minor inconvenience, adding an extra day to delivery, but they did that with my corneal transplant, pushing my surgery off and that was extremely inconvenient.

There is a reason I moved here when I left New England instead of Tucson, which was a close second.

[drmeow]

7. I'd love to

but I'm stuck here due to a tenured professor spouse. Any move is dictated by a university willing to hire a senior person. Really, really, really sucks, especially since my job options (non-academic PhD) are horrendously limited here in AZ (not that my job prospects would be a lot better in NM but it wouldn't be living under fascism). So far no university in NM is looking for a senior level computational biologist (I'm hoping for the Boston job to come through - now THERE I could get a better job than the one I have now).

[Warpy]

13. Keep trying at University Hospital, too

because they've broken ground on a new forensic biology building and will need staff there. They got the grant because they're the ones who cracked the cluster of deaths here some years ago and traced them to a previously unknown form of hantavirus. They also developed a treatment to increase survival rates from nil to about 45%.

[drmeow]

14. If they are looking for

senior faculty it'll be in Science or one of the other key journals. But faculty positions at teaching hospitals are absolutely brutal. MDs have to cover a large percentage of their salary through grants or insurance reimbursements (while also teaching) and non MD faculty tend to have to do the same with just grants unless their tenure/teaching home is in an academic unit outside the med school but they teach a class there. And - your research has to be clearly medically related. There are medical applications of my spouse's research but only limited. The biology department would have to be hiring.

[BlueCaliDem]

2. What happened in Florida??

How was is possible that rightwingers won in Florida? Are the Democrats there lazy when it comes to GOTV?

How can they continue to vote Republican't? I don't understand it.

[Dappleganger]

9. On one of the local forums I visit...

the word is that the democratic turnout was not nearly as good as they'd expected in usually solid D areas, although there were many republicans who did cross over and vote for Sink. I know republicans personally who also voted for Sink.

I am very afraid for this state.

[SidDithers]

3. The seniors are the ones that elected the Republicans in Florida ...

65% of Florida voters were age 50 or more, 35% over age 65. If seniors had voted for Democrats, Rick Scott wouldn't be Governor.

Sid

[HopeHoops]

4. "Don't" pretty much sums it up.

[HillbillyBob]

5. As gay men we saw the oogly writing in 2002 (well before but were not

certain what to do next. I have voted in every election, and saw the illegal 'challengers' at polling places,the Brooks Brothers rioters in the counting room at the courthouse(why were they not immediately arrested? We saw shredded ballots, and were threatened with arrest or worse if we did not shut up.

Crime getting worse, I was mugged and badly beaten 200 steps from my house, and on. I know its easier/ safer being gay in SoFla than say Alabama, but the State is run from Tallahassee which just about might as well be Al or Ga.
I saw so many couples who when one died the corrupt legal system would award the estate even after wills, deeds, titles etc were filed by the gay couple the deceased ones family claiming to have more / better interest would get it overturned. Then turn out the survivor, we had no hope of seeing that overturned.

We moved to NC after our jobs were outsourced and I became disabled and then our savings were gone. We bought a place in a rural county, cheap.
We were grateful that the less rabid folks in the State House kept a lid on the anti gay haters who want to make us permanent second class citizens or worse scapegoats for all that is wrong..and all through this I see its the same shit that the fascists did in Germany and Italy pre WWII.

I hope a lid can be kept on the teabaggers, but really doubt they can even control themselves let alone be controlled with in the bounds of decent society, they have already shown they are extremists and will not be decent.

[EFerrari]

11. That's so chilling, Bob. n/t

[csziggy]

16. The ironic part is that Tallahassee and Leon County are very blue

Gadsden and Jefferson are slightly blue, but everything else up here in the Panhandle is deep red. We keep telling our relatives and friends downstate to STOP sending all those damned Republicans up here to pollute our little county!

Leon County is blue because of the universities and because of the state workers - the state workers get the punishment when Republicans are in charge. Ever since Jeb got elected, our local Democratic machine has had problems - state workers were fired for having bumper stickers supporting Democratic candidates and they don't dare get involved in campaigns - at least not on the front lines.

Crist was marginally better than Jeb, but he did not restore the rights of state workers to not be subject to firing at the whim of the political appointees at the top. I can't help but think it will get worse with Rubio, especially given his selections so far for his cabinet.

[Dappleganger]

8. The FL legislature intends to bring those bills right back

to ram them down our throats. I weep for my girls and we are urging our kids to move once they are able to be on their own.

[RockaFowler]

10. And pRick Scott loves the bills, too

What schmuck we now have as Governor.

Oh yeah and what an idiot CharLIE Crist is. He could have run as Governor again and probably won. Then Alex Sink would have stayed on as CFO and not run as Governor - she would have waited until 2014. Oh well. We always have 4 years from now. Or sooner if Scott is indicted!!!

[Dappleganger]

12. Strange, I was just telling my husband that last night...

why didn't Charlie run again??

[Violet_Crumble]

15. What's the legislation? Anti-choice stuff?

Sorry for not knowing but I'm not from the US....

[AlienGirl]

19. Requiring women seeking an abortion to undergo a sonogram and either view it or...

...hear the results described. Oh, also, they would have to pay for the sonogram out-of-pocket, as the bill stated that no insurance companies that received state or federal subsidies could pay for it, and neither could Medicare, Medicaid, or the VA.

Tucker

[Violet_Crumble]

21. Urgh, figured it'd be something nasty like that...

I don't understand how people can vote for politicians who so blatantly see women as some kind of brainless twits who need to be controlled...

[BlueIris]

17. I still feel that you poor Floridians are beyond the reach of democracy in many ways.

That doesn't mean we shouldn't keep trying to help you repair what's broken, but damn. It's one of the most backward places anywhere.

[defendandprotect]

18. Better start working on a recall -- !!!

How could it be that someone whose company defrauded MEDICARE for $1.7 Billion

could even run for election in the US -- ????

[Kablooie]

20. California is sunny too. In more ways than one.