LOCAL and Florida Politics

[aent]

7 hours ago, jrs2 said:

he made some sort of deal with the insurance lobby.  really p!sses me off.  Just like Mel Martinez when he was preaching all that tort reform BS like fifteen years ago.  He reduced the statute of limitations for injuries from four years down to two.  and, in roofing claims, before, the lawyer would get paid by the insurance company.  now, he gets paid out of what the plaintiff gets as a settlement.  and insurance companies typically don't pay and force you to sue them.  so now, how can a homeowner be expected to get their roof replaced if the lawyer takes 1/3 (or 40% if they're in litigation)?

This isn't quite true. Previously, an insurance company ALWAYS, no matter what, had to pay for you to get an attorney to sue them, which has led Florida to have 79% of the property insurance lawsuits with only 9% of the nation's claims.

The law now clarifies the liability for the insurance companies as well... the insurance companies CANNOT deny a claim for roofs that are under 15 years old, so the attorneys should be a lot less necessary. Whenever they deny a claim, they are now required to detail exactly why the claim is not covered, and not just say "its not covered".

The frivolous suits against the insurance companies have been ridiculous, and our rates have been going crazy, and the insurance companies are going bankrupt. Something needed to be done. I think the legislation he passed won't really reduce so much payout for the legitimate claims to homeowners, but it will drastically reduce the legal fees. On top of that, I know I've been visited by lying door to door lawyer referral services, claiming my house is defective and that there is money already sitting for me and others in the community have gotten paid for code violations when the homes were built that are not actually consequential. The insurance companies had to settle with these folks because the lawsuits are just too expensive to fight, whether valid or not, but that encouraged even more people to do it. We were in a very bad cycle. Hopefully this fixes it. Time will tell.

The attorneys are the big losers in his legislation, and I find that to be a great thing. Every attorney friend of mine is livid about it though.

[jrs2]

On 6/2/2023 at 10:26 PM, aent said:

This isn't quite true. Previously, an insurance company ALWAYS, no matter what, had to pay for you to get an attorney to sue them, which has led Florida to have 79% of the property insurance lawsuits with only 9% of the nation's claims.

The law now clarifies the liability for the insurance companies as well... the insurance companies CANNOT deny a claim for roofs that are under 15 years old, so the attorneys should be a lot less necessary. Whenever they deny a claim, they are now required to detail exactly why the claim is not covered, and not just say "its not covered".

The frivolous suits against the insurance companies have been ridiculous, and our rates have been going crazy, and the insurance companies are going bankrupt. Something needed to be done. I think the legislation he passed won't really reduce so much payout for the legitimate claims to homeowners, but it will drastically reduce the legal fees. On top of that, I know I've been visited by lying door to door lawyer referral services, claiming my house is defective and that there is money already sitting for me and others in the community have gotten paid for code violations when the homes were built that are not actually consequential. The insurance companies had to settle with these folks because the lawsuits are just too expensive to fight, whether valid or not, but that encouraged even more people to do it. We were in a very bad cycle. Hopefully this fixes it. Time will tell.

The attorneys are the big losers in his legislation, and I find that to be a great thing. Every attorney friend of mine is livid about it though.

it affects everyone, not just attorneys.

"Frivolous" always gets filtered out if the medical records and/or investigative documents back it up; it's just a propaganda term that insurance companies use.    

[aent]

5 hours ago, jrs2 said:

it affects everyone, not just attorneys.

"Frivolous" always gets filtered out if the medical records and/or investigative documents back it up; it's just a propaganda term that insurance companies use.    

My experience is that is not true, as mentioned in my previous post and the door to door "ambulance chaser for homes" promising money for frivolous claims. I had neighbors do it. People seemed to be successful getting something for it, not one person used their winnings to fix what the alleged problem was...

[jrs2]

8 hours ago, aent said:

My experience is that is not true, as mentioned in my previous post and the door to door "ambulance chaser for homes" promising money for frivolous claims. I had neighbors do it. People seemed to be successful getting something for it, not one person used their winnings to fix what the alleged problem was...

yeah, but there's a thing with the standard of proof, if you will, where if you got nothing to begin with, the attorney is not filing suit (because they'll throw it out).  And if the insurance company already knows this, they won't pay and force your hand.

just because someone goes door to door doesn't mean that there wasn't roof damage to begin with. how many people let their houses fall apart and they're perfectly fine with it, then someone comes over and points it out to you and then you get off your butt to do something about it?  you still have to prove the damage.  if it ain't there, you don't get paid.  And, if they chose to spend the money on something else, then that's on them; it doesn't mean that there wasn't legit damage to begin with. you can have shingles with visible storm damage on them, but as long as the tar paper is intact and the shingles are still offering coverage where there are no leaks, then you're ok, and you may put off fixing them because the need is not immediate. People do that all the time and go to Home Depot and squirt some roofing caulk on a trouble spot instead of paying a roofer their 'new car' money they just got...   

And they do document the condition of the roof with their own inspectors, BTW.   So, their inspectors will green light a claim if it's legit.  

Same with accidents; a person's back is messed up for life and they choose to pop pills and bill insurance or smoke weed versus going to PT for the rest of their lives (with the money they were paid).  Just because they don't go to PT doesn't mean they aren't living with pain and merely dealing with it differently, you know?

Unless an adjuster is getting money under the table, which I doubt because of their bonus structures, they aren't gonna pay unless the boxes are all checked.  But even when they are checked, they still won't pay, which goes back to my gripe.  They are instructed not to pay...a policyholder...who has complied with the prerequisites of filing a legit claim.  The fraudulent claims they won't pay regardless so they aren't losing money on them.  And they do hire investigators...

I like a small handful of insurance agents that I know, but...I don't like insurance companies, especially after they got those bailouts and gave each other pats on the back and raises; and I'm sure they did it under Covid too.

[orange87]

I called it.

AG Ashley Moody seeks to block Florida recreational marijuana effort

Article: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/06/27/moody-seeks-to-block-florida-recreational-marijuana-effort/

[aent]

On 6/5/2023 at 10:24 AM, jrs2 said:

yeah, but there's a thing with the standard of proof, if you will, where if you got nothing to begin with, the attorney is not filing suit (because they'll throw it out).  And if the insurance company already knows this, they won't pay and force your hand.

 

I didin't see this reply before, so super late reply, but the literal standard for a case getting thrown out of court, is assuming everything the plaintiff said is 100% true, is there a possibility they were damaged. That is an extremely low standard, if there is a question of fact and who is right or wrong, it will not get thrown out, all the attorney has to do is allege an actual harm that should be covered under the policy.

[JFW657]

5 hours ago, orange87 said:

I called it.

AG Ashley Moody seeks to block Florida recreational marijuana effort

Article: https://www.orlandosentinel.com/2023/06/27/moody-seeks-to-block-florida-recreational-marijuana-effort/

Par for the course for a DeShameless lap dog. 

Does what she's told.

Sit, roll over, beg, etc. 

[jrs2]

13 hours ago, aent said:

I didin't see this reply before, so super late reply, but the literal standard for a case getting thrown out of court, is assuming everything the plaintiff said is 100% true, is there a possibility they were damaged. That is an extremely low standard, if there is a question of fact and who is right or wrong, it will not get thrown out, all the attorney has to do is allege an actual harm that should be covered under the policy.

right, but what I mean is that an attorney won't risk going into litigation if there are "issues" with that claim that might not have come out or gotten exposed at the early stages, yet would undoubtedly come out during the litigation process.  and the insurance company probably already knows this and takes advantage by not paying at the beginning and thus forcing their hand.

[orange87]

Sheesh! You know you screwed up when you make Trump look like the good guy.

DeSantis faces GOP pushback for Trump-LGBTQ video

Article: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4079869-desantis-faces-gop-pushback-for-trump-lgbtq-video/?fbclid=IwAR3o_tqpa9bL0pBiThu0B2VjuQszGesvvqKMt3vC1nKPIWWcC1_9p0GrRGU

Edited July 4, 2023 by orange87

[JFW657]

6 hours ago, orange87 said:

Sheesh! You know you screwed up when you make Trump look like the good guy.

DeSantis faces GOP pushback for Trump-LGBTQ video

Article: https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4079869-desantis-faces-gop-pushback-for-trump-lgbtq-video/?fbclid=IwAR3o_tqpa9bL0pBiThu0B2VjuQszGesvvqKMt3vC1nKPIWWcC1_9p0GrRGU

Hard to figure out which of the two is the bigger snake.

Trump, for his insincere pandering to the alphabet people in a thinly veiled attempt to steal some of their votes away from Biden, or DeShameless for his pandering to the far right just to get their votes. 

They're both disgusting. 

[jrs2]

18 hours ago, JFW657 said:

Hard to figure out which of the two is the bigger snake.

Trump, for his insincere pandering to the alphabet people in a thinly veiled attempt to steal some of their votes away from Biden, or DeShameless for his pandering to the far right just to get their votes. 

They're both disgusting. 

LOL.  when you said the alphabet people for a second there I thought you meant the spy agencies...

[JFW657]

1 hour ago, jrs2 said:

LOL.  when you said the alphabet people for a second there I thought you meant the spy agencies...

I refuse to recite "the letters".   

I will not obey the command. 

[prahaboheme]

I'm quite enjoying watching DeShameless implode on the national stage.

[shardoon]

2 hours ago, jrs2 said:

well, I hope Disney fires Kathleen Kennedy b/c she has destroyed the brand with her woke agenda.  The reason I care and am posting it here is because internationally, people are rejecting Disney's media (Little Mermaid and now Indy).  If that failure at the box office spills over to the parks...then...those numbers may not continue growing at that rate...but, perhaps Universal will pick up some of that slack with their new offerings...

But, Disney aside, a handful of airlines have made MCO an international gateway to Latin America and those routes are being complimented annually by other new routes and carriers.

I don't think it will affect the parks division too much. With that being said, the attendance is down across all the disney parks, but I think that was because of one main thing. The tremendous drive to travel again with 2 to 3 years worth of travel savings in 2022 is closing out and hard to reduplicate in 2023. I mean, there was a lot of free money that flowed during covid to people that had zero change in their economic condition from covid. They had "artificial" disposable income for the year. 

With that being said, Disney also had a role in keeping thr numbers down by raising prices and putting in place the reservation system, which is slowly being phased out....which is a good thing, but the prices won't come down, so I expect higher returns from the parks division. 

The woke changes are too subtle at the parks. The ladies and gentleman boys and girls argument is overhyped. You don't even realize it. The splash mountain revamp will probably draw people to the park to try the new ride out. 

However, one can see the disaster it is taking with their streaming and film division. That is across the board even with ESPN, who are cutting all their on screen talent, many who were political and woke. 

I think Orlando is safe though. We have too many things going for it. One thing being Universals epic universe. Disney world will be following up with an expansion of Magic Kingdom North of frontier land. It's a never ending competition and Orlando benefits. Seaword is even considering getting into hotel business. 

So back on topic....... I expect air traffic to continue to rise.

Edited July 6, 2023 by shardoon

[jack]

15 hours ago, jrs2 said:

well, I hope Disney fires Kathleen Kennedy b/c she has destroyed the brand with her woke agenda.  The reason I care and am posting it here is because internationally, people are rejecting Disney's media (Little Mermaid and now Indy).  If that failure at the box office spills over to the parks...then...those numbers may not continue growing at that rate...but, perhaps Universal will pick up some of that slack with their new offerings...

But, Disney aside, a handful of airlines have made MCO an international gateway to Latin America and those routes are being complimented annually by other new routes and carriers.

Most people don't make lifestyle decisions based on ideology. It may seem like a lot of people do because they are insufferably loud about it. Most normies just live their lives and have no idea what woke even means. Secondly, you picked out two movies that are remakes sequels that the public has been rejecting lately. Also, I think the Little Mermaid had an asian problem, not an American one. 

[codypet]

1 hour ago, jack said:

Most people don't make lifestyle decisions based on ideology. It may seem like a lot of people do because they are insufferably loud about it. Most normies just live their lives and have no idea what woke even means. Secondly, you picked out two movies that are remakes sequels that the public has been rejecting lately. Also, I think the Little Mermaid had an asian problem, not an American one. 

Little Mermaid had a script problem.  Taking the comic relief out of the movie got around (the chef scene was my favorite as a kid).  Part of what made the cartoon so fun was the silliness surrounding it.

Edited July 6, 2023 by codypet

[jrs2]

1 hour ago, jack said:

Most people don't make lifestyle decisions based on ideology. It may seem like a lot of people do because they are insufferably loud about it. Most normies just live their lives and have no idea what woke even means. Secondly, you picked out two movies that are remakes sequels that the public has been rejecting lately. Also, I think the Little Mermaid had an asian problem, not an American one. 

Successful old IP can take you only so far.  There are enough rumblings out there showing that Disney may dump Star Wars and/or Lucasfilm to an Arab purchaser for $8B.  And people internationally (let alone domestically) are rejecting a black Little Mermaid because they expected to see a white redhead.  How busy are the character greetings at Disney theme parks and resorts?  Very.  But will they stay busy? 

Disney needs to make around $900M on Little Mermaid internationally; they won't even make half that based on projections.  So the Asian problem is an American problem.

Eventually, it spills over to the theme parks, because, let's face it, if Mickey Mouse sucked as an IP, the Disney theme parks would have never existed in the first place.  

And if Disney World didn't exist, OIA wouldn't exist as it does today. MCO would have maybe 10 gates and OSI would only handle General Aviation still. And Orlando wouldn't be anywhere near as big...

[jrs2]

17 hours ago, prahaboheme said:

I'm quite enjoying watching DeShameless implode on the national stage.

he went to Yale.  He will be president (at some point).  322 baby.

[prahaboheme]

6 minutes ago, jrs2 said:

he went to Yale.  He will be president (at some point).  322 baby.

Tell that to John Kerry.

[jliv]

18 hours ago, jrs2 said:

well, I hope Disney fires Kathleen Kennedy b/c she has destroyed the brand with her woke agenda.  The reason I care and am posting it here is because internationally, people are rejecting Disney's media (Little Mermaid and now Indy).  If that failure at the box office spills over to the parks...then...those numbers may not continue growing at that rate...but, perhaps Universal will pick up some of that slack with their new offerings...

But, Disney aside, a handful of airlines have made MCO an international gateway to Latin America and those routes are being complimented annually by other new routes and carriers.

Kathleen Kennedy had nothing to do with the Disney “woke agenda”.  The basic concept of a female Jedi protagonist in the Star Wars sequels was carried over from story outlines developed by George Lucas himself before the Lucasfilm acquisition.  Indy failed because, well, the dude’s 81 and he hasn’t been a box office draw in many years!  The last one was awkward enough, and that was 15 years ago!  However, Disney has never held back from wringing as much juice out of its IP that it can.  They’ve been doing it since Walt was still walking this earth! And noowwww back to the Urban Planet and development discussions…

Edited July 6, 2023 by jliv

[jrs2]

1 hour ago, prahaboheme said:

Tell that to John Kerry.

yeah but 322 couldn't lose in 2004 because both he and W went to Yale and they were both asked about 322.

[jrs2]

1 hour ago, jliv said:

Kathleen Kennedy had nothing to do with the Disney “woke agenda”.  The basic concept of a female Jedi protagonist in the Star Wars sequels was carried over from story outlines developed by George Lucas himself before the Lucasfilm acquisition.  Indy failed because, well, the dude’s 81 and he hasn’t been a box office draw in many years!  The last one was awkward enough, and that was 15 years ago!  However, Disney has never held back from wringing as much juice out of its IP that it can.  They’ve been doing it since Walt was still walking this earth! And noowwww back to the Urban Planet and development discussions…

well, my point is simply that people are rejecting the direction Disney has gone in and I hope that it doesn't spill over to the parks and then MCO traffic.  As for the dirty details of Star Wars subplots, we can always discuss it in the Coffee House.  

[orange87]

2 hours ago, jrs2 said:

he went to Yale.  He will be president (at some point).  322 baby.

He went to Harvard, not Yale. Well... he got his JD at Harvard and his Bachelors at Yale.

Edited July 6, 2023 by orange87

[jack]

5 hours ago, codypet said:

Little Mermaid had a script problem.  Taking the comic relief out of the movie got around (the chef scene was my favorite as a kid).  Part of what made the cartoon so fun was the silliness surrounding it.

I did not see it but my wife and daughter were very happy. 

4 hours ago, jrs2 said:

Successful old IP can take you only so far.  There are enough rumblings out there showing that Disney may dump Star Wars and/or Lucasfilm to an Arab purchaser for $8B.  And people internationally (let alone domestically) are rejecting a black Little Mermaid because they expected to see a white redhead.  How busy are the character greetings at Disney theme parks and resorts?  Very.  But will they stay busy? 

Disney needs to make around $900M on Little Mermaid internationally; they won't even make half that based on projections.  So the Asian problem is an American problem.

Eventually, it spills over to the theme parks, because, let's face it, if Mickey Mouse sucked as an IP, the Disney theme parks would have never existed in the first place.  

And if Disney World didn't exist, OIA wouldn't exist as it does today. MCO would have maybe 10 gates and OSI would only handle General Aviation still. And Orlando wouldn't be anywhere near as big...

Why do they need to make $900 internationally? That would be one of the highest grossing movies ever. I would assume double the costs would be a nice payday. 

[jack]

2 hours ago, jrs2 said:

well, my point is simply that people are rejecting the direction Disney has gone in and I hope that it doesn't spill over to the parks and then MCO traffic.  As for the dirty details of Star Wars subplots, we can always discuss it in the Coffee House.  

Seems like all entertainment is struggling. Regardless of the type. Movies have had a tough time since covid. Streaming services are all profitable but have not had the growth the companies and wall street projected. I can't remember the last movie I saw that blew my mind. Avatar is visually appealing but very similar to the first one. Top Gun was entertaining but that was the first movie I saw since covid in the theater. Netflix and Disney + has a bunch of shows that are pretty good but not great (except Peaky Blinders which was awesome)