Disney Sues DeSantis, Fox News Tapes, & Nudists In Germany
April 27, 2023
If You Give A Mouse A Special District
It’s a battle for the ages: the Walt Disney Company, a massive media company with a history of shady business practices (including using sweatshop labor, abusing animals at parks, and underpaying workers), is taking on Ron DeSantis, aspiring Republican presidential candidate and governor of Florida, made (in)famous for his far-right cultural and educational policies. The two parties are currently locked in a power struggle over the mouse’s self-governing privileges in the Orlando area after Disney criticized Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” law. Hopefully nobody loses too much money over this!
After the House of Mouse spoke up against the “Don’t Say Gay” law, Florida’s House passed a law in February ending the special district that the corporation has been allowed to operate in the Orlando area surrounding Disney World, and allowing DeSantis to appoint a new governing board over the area. The arrangement, which began in 1967, allowed the company to collect taxes and operate emergency services in a 25,000-acre area that includes its world-famous theme park. It also allows Disney to build new structures for the park without approval by government planning commissions.
On Wednesday, Disney filed a lawsuit in federal court against DeSantis just hours after the newly-appointed local governing board ended a previous agreement allowing Disney to maintain control over the special district around Walt Disney World. The lawsuit claims that he and other Florida officials waged a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” against the corporation following its criticism of DeSantis’ ban on any classroom teachings regarding sexual orientation or gender identity.
Wednesday’s lawsuit alleges that the effort to abolish its special privileges was “orchestrated at every step by Governor DeSantis as punishment for Disney’s protected speech” against his anti-LGBTQ bill and “now threatens Disney’s business operations, jeopardizes its economic future in the region, and violates its constitutional rights.”
Some Good News
- Senate will vote on Equal Rights Amendment this week, Schumer says (NBC)
- Drug for rare form of Lou Gehrig’s disease OK’d by FDA (AP)
Put Your Mental Health First With BetterHelp
- You don’t have to tackle life’s challenges alone. BetterHelp’s online therapy platform can provide you with professional counseling and therapy services that can help you take control of your mental health from the comfort of your own home.
- Whether you prefer messaging, phone calls, or video sessions, BetterHelp makes it easy to get the support you need on your own terms. From individual counseling to couples therapy and more, they offer a wide range of services to meet your unique needs.
- BetterHelp’s convenient online platform makes it easy to schedule and attend sessions from anywhere, at any time. So why wait? Take control of your mental health today and sign up for BetterHelp. Daily Pnut readers can take up to $60 off their first month!
The Phone Call Heard ‘Round The World
- On Wednesday, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke for the first time since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine over a year ago. The call comes as Beijing has gotten more involved in international peace efforts.
- Zelenskyy said he and Xi had “a long and meaningful phone call” lasting over an hour. “We discussed a full range of topical issues of bilateral relations. Particular attention was paid to the ways of possible cooperation to establish a just and sustainable peace for Ukraine,” he said. He also added that “there can be no peace at the expense of territorial compromises.”
- Xi seems to have agreed with Zelenskyy’s insistence on Ukraine not ceding territory as part of negotiations. According to a Chinese Foreign Ministry release, Xi said that “mutual respect for sovereignty and territorial integrity is the political basis of China-Ukrainian relations.” Beijing has now promised to send envoys to Ukraine and other nations to begin working toward a peace agreement.
Any Port In A Potential Nuclear War Storm
- The U.S. is planning to grow its already-powerful military presence in South Korea, announcing a joint plan with Seoul to begin docking U.S. nuclear-armed submarines in South Korean ports for the first time in decades. South Korea is currently home to over 25,000 U.S. troops, making it the country with the third-highest U.S. military presence in the world outside of America.
- The plan to bolster South Korea’s nuclear capabilities comes as the country faces increased anxiety over North Korean missile tests. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol won office last year by promising a stronger military presence – U.S. or South Korean – in opposition to Pyongyang’s aggression. Earlier this year, he noted that Seoul was weighing developing its own nuclear program if the U.S. did not offer more military presence.
- One key part of the agreement, called the Washington Declaration, is the “occasional” and “very clear demonstrations of the strength” of U.S. military presence in opposition to North Korean missile antics. “A nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its allies and partners is unacceptable, and will result in the end of whatever regime were to take such an action,” said President Biden in a White House press conference on Wednesday. In addition to the periodical docking of nuclear subs, the U.S. will also conduct more military drills with South Korea.
Additional World News
- Iran: Senior Shia cleric on Assembly of Experts shot dead at bank (BBC)
- US and Philippine forces fire on mock enemy warship in South China Sea military exercise (CNN)
- Kenyan hunger cult deaths reach 89, officials hope survivors will ‘tell the story’ (NBC)
- China detains Taiwan-based man who published books critical of Communist Party (CNN)
- Iran court issues $312.9M judgment against US amid tensions (AP)
- Russia’s Alexey Navalny says he faces new terrorism charges despite being in prison (CNN)
- Rishi Sunak refuses to apologise for UK slave trade or to pledge reparations (Guardian)
“The opposite of a fact is falsehood, but the opposite of one profound truth may very well be another profound truth.” – Niels Bohr
Not All Heroes Wear Capes (But Some Have Tapes)
- Former Fox News producer Abby Grossberg’s lawyer revealed that Special Counsel Jack Smith has taken an interest in Grossberg’s audio tapes of her time at the network. Smith and his team of prosecutors are charged with investigating former President Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
- Attorney Gerry Filippatos said on Wednesday that talks are underway for a subpoena so Grossberg can turn the audio files over. One of the tapes, which was released late Tuesday, featured Senator Ted Cruz talking with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo about his plans to delay the certification of President Biden’s victory on January 6, 2021.
A Flood Fiasco
- After months of unusual storms that battered California, a new weather-related complication has emerged – most of Yosemite National Park will close starting Friday night as flooding becomes a concern. Yosemite is expected to remain closed until Wednesday, May 3, “but could last longer,” the National Park Service said in the closure notice.
- More than 15 feet of snow fell on the park in under a month, and while many were grateful for a reprieve from the decades-long drought, it’s been a waiting game to see when the melting process would become a problem. Yosemite isn’t alone, either – Davenport, Iowa, a city of around 100,000 on the Mississippi River, is bracing for the river to flood as well.
Additional USA News
- House Republicans race toward debt ceiling vote after 11th-hour rewrite (CNN)
- E. Jean Carroll testifies in her lawsuit trial that Trump raped her (NPR)
- Former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson formally announces presidential bid (NBC)
- Supreme Court seems to favor woman who got $0 in condo sale (AP)
- Ex-Harvard professor Charles Lieber gets house arrest over China ties (BBC)
- Judge tosses Devin Nunes suit over Esquire article (Politico)
- Donald Trump needs protective order to prevent him from publicizing evidence, prosecutors say (ABC)
Ja, You Can Let Them Hang
- On Wednesday, a German court ruled that it’s okay to let it all hang out to catch some sun rays every once in a while. How, you ask, did the court even get into a position to decide such a thing? Here’s the tea: a German human resources company, which rented space in a mixed residential/commercial building, tried to withhold rent payments to the building, citing their landlord’s habit of sunbathing naked on warm days.
- In response, the landlord sued the company, winning an initial lawsuit that the company appealed, sending the case to a Frankfurt state court. The court’s Wednesday decision said that the landlord’s sunbathing habits were not a legal reason to skip rent payments, saying that “the usability of the rented property was not impaired by the plaintiff sunning himself naked in the courtyard.”
- The court also found that the landlord’s naked sunning spot was normally out of view of his tenants, and was only visible when “leaning far out the window,” according to the Associated Press. When the landlord was in view, the court says, he kept things proper. “The plaintiff stated credibly that he always wore a bathrobe which he only took off just before the sun lounger,” the court noted. We’re sure he’ll enjoy his nice even tan as summer approaches.
Additional Reads
- Jacinda Ardern, former New Zealand prime minister, to join Harvard (NBC)
- Record ocean temperatures put Earth in ‘uncharted territory’, say scientists (Guardian)
- Senators unveil bipartisan legislation to ban kids under 13 from joining social media platforms (CNN)
- US high schooler earns ‘incredible’ $9m in scholarship offers (Guardian)
- British American Tobacco Is Fined $635 Million for Selling Cigarettes to North Korea (NYT, $)
- When told of Kishida attack, safety chief kept eating eel (AP)
- Steven Spielberg: ‘No film should be revised’ based on modern sensitivity (Guardian)