Hurricane Idalia & Florida’s Last Frontier, Trump’s Defense & Eminem’s Lost Himself – Top 3 Takeaways – August 30th, 2023
- Florida’s Last Frontier. Known as “Florida’s Last Frontier”, Horseshoe Beach is a village in the heart of Florida’s Big Bend that’s home to 172 residents. The most common vehicle used in the quaint natural setting is a golf cart (followed closely by a boat). Just a bit to the north of Horseshoe Beach, and inland by a few miles, is the town of Jena. Jena’s home to 1,047 Floridians. It has one gas station, Casey’s Cove and one Church, the Jena Pentecostal Holiness Church – which incidentally is the second oldest in Florida. These are two of the closest population points to where Idalia is making landfall this morning. And sadly, for the approximately 1,200 Floridians who live in these small communities, what they’ve known at home up to now may never quite be the same after today as they’re set to bear the brunt of much of what Hurricane Idalia will bring. That’s also true of the largest population point the hurricane will pass in Florida, which is Perry. Perry sits well inland and has a population of 7,017. Their misfortune is good fortune for the rest of Florida. Florida’s Big Bend is the most sparsely populated region of our state that’s taking the worst of what the category 4 hurricane with 130 mph winds has to offer. Given that 11 million Floridians live in communities that were originally placed under a state of emergency, what’s set to play out is the best of a bad situation. And speaking of the two small communities near the point of impact, their experiences and their biggest risks are likely to be slightly different. While human nature with hurricanes leads us to worry most about top wind speeds and what the category of a hurricane happens to be, it’s almost always water that’s the biggest threat... Water is to hurricanes what a center is to a quarterback, which in this analogy would be the wind. Without the center the quarterback isn’t getting the ball, and the offense can’t run an effective play. The quarterback gets all of the attention, and the center is only noticed if there’s a problem. Seldom do we pay attention to the water risk to the extent we do wind risk, but it's almost always the biggest issue. From storm surge to flooding – nothing’s been more deadly in hurricanes than water. 27% of all deaths have occurred from flooding and 49% from storm surge according to the National Hurricane Center. That certainly proved true with Hurricane Ian last year in which 59% of the deaths attributed to Hurricane Ian were the result of drowning. Idalia’s landfall today coincides with King Tide and the impact of a Supermoon which adds to the risk of flooding in areas vulnerable to storm surge. So, about that storm surge. Tampa Bay, the area of most concern considering the size of the population in play is experiencing a significant surge but can handle the 4-7 additional feet it’s received without catastrophe concerns (you will commonly see meteorologists Bayside in Tampa this morning with waves crashing over seawalls creating localized flooding but it’s manageable). The story isn’t quite the same for the two aforementioned communities in the crosshairs this morning. Horseshoe Beach sits at just seven feet above sea level with Jana sitting at 13 feet but on a River. The storm surge in the Big Bend is expected to be 10 to 15 feet. Let’s pray for the folks in Florida’s Last Frontier. There aren’t many of them there, and hopefully all of them have taken proper precautions, but they need them.
- Why doesn’t Trump’s team deserve the time needed to build a proper defense? As covered in yesterday’s Q&A, the average length of time for any federal case to be brought to a trial is 18 months. That means the average schlub having been indicted for allegedly committing the average federal offense gets a year and a half to prepare a defense. So why is it that the former and perhaps future President of the United States doesn’t? It’s a question that demands an answer. Jack Smith in his filing to the court seeking a “speedy trial” cited the “public interest” in one being granted. No doubt there’s public interest in this and all of the other cases being brought against Trump, however what about his personal interests? As in the right of presumed innocence, and the right for his legal team to have time to adequately prepare a defense? Why is it that other federal cases, which have been brought sooner, will be pushed back in order to expedite this one? Donald Trump was indicted on August 1st for the January 6th related charges. The March 4th date for a trial to begin, provides his legal defense with a total of seven months, or just 39% of the time usually allocated for a legal defense to be prepared. In the classified documents case, which will be heard in Ft. Pierce, the most recent related charges were brought July 28th and yet the trial is scheduled to begin May 14th. That’s only eight and a half months, or 47% of the usual time provided to mount a legal defense. Two cases, two federal trials, and both happening in well less than half the time in which any federal case would usually happen and all coincidently right in the mist of the presidential election cycle. The left and their rouge prosecutors like to use language like “no one is above the law”. The question that should be asked is why Donald Trump is being treated as though he is below it? And the question that demands an answer is why Trump’s team doesn’t deserve the time needed to build a proper defense or even the average defense for the average federal case brought against the average defendant? Speaking of legal things...
- Cease and desist. The real Slim Shady has stood up and it turns out he’s a buzzkill. Apparently feeling threatened by Vivek Ramaswamy’s made rapping skills, Eminem’s put a stop to it. Despite holding a BMI license for the ability to play, and in his case perform licensed music on the campaign trial, BMI informed Ramaswamy’s lawyer that they’d: received communications from Marshall B. Mathers, III, professionally known as Eminem, objecting to the Vivek Ramaswamy campaign's use of Eminem's musical compositions (the "Eminem Works") and requesting that BMI remove all Eminem Works from the Agreement. This letter serves as notice that the Eminem Works are excluded from the Agreement effective immediately. BMI will consider any performance of the Eminem Works by the Vivek 2024 campaign from this date forward to be a material breach of the Agreement for which BMI reserves all rights and remedies with respect thereto. The easy inference here is that Marshall Mathers is a bigot. His music’s evidently not meant for those he doesn’t agree with even if it’s already been paid for. But it’s possible that that the Real Slim shady, who’s now in his 50’s, feels threatened by someone much younger than him, who doesn’t look like him, sounding better than him... Speaking of cease and desisting and Republican Presidential politics – the third Floridian in the race, Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is the first GOP candidate to drop out of the race as he suspended his campaign yesterday.