Sunburn – The Morning Read Of What’s Hot In Florida Politics – 7.20.21

Good Tuesday morning.

She said yes — A top-of-Sunburn shoutout to a couple of great people, Beth Boyd Nunnally of SAS and GrayRobinson’s Kirk Pepper, who became engaged this weekend in Colorado Springs.

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There is no question Jeff Bezos is a brilliant, innovative man. It’s not enough that he revolutionized global commerce when he founded Amazon; he has always been two steps ahead of the competition.

At $188.4 billion, give or take an island or two, he also has the cash to indulge himself. That wealth will be on full display Tuesday morning when he blasts to the edge of space in his fully automated Blue Origin rocket.

He spent an estimated $7.5 billion to build and program the vessel.

Let’s compare and contrast, shall we?

MacKenzie Scott, Bezos’ ex-wife, committed to giving away the billions she received when she ended their 25-year marriage. Her original $36 billion in Amazon stock has grown to an estimated $60 billion.

Scott and her new husband, high school science teacher Dan Jewett, have so far donated $8.5 billion to 786 organizations — roughly equivalent to what Bezos spent to scratch a lifelong itch for space travel.

Recent recipients include Florida International University, the University of Central Florida, and Broward College.

“In this effort, we are governed by a humbling belief that it would be better if disproportionate wealth were not concentrated in a small number of hands and that the solutions are best designed and implemented by others,” Scott wrote in a recent blog post.

To be fair, Bezos donated $10 billion last year to launch the Bezos Earth Fund. He also gave $100 million to Feeding America, which supplies more than 200 food banks.

But where his ex-wife pledged to “keep at it until the safe is empty,” Bezos plans to charge passengers who want to join him in space up to $2.1 million for the ride.

But Godspeed Blue Origin, and return safely.

Just don’t forget, though, what Bezos’ former wife said about disproportionate wealth concentrated in a small number of hands. Her point will be made the second Blue Origin’s engines ignite.

 — SITUATIONAL AWARENESS —

—@asmamk: In response to a question about Canada reopening its borders to US citizens and whether the US would do the same for Canadians, @PressSec says the US is continuing to evaluate the situation and wouldn’t look at this through a “reciprocal” lens.

—@NikkiFried: 1 in 5 COVID new cases are from Florida — but @GovRonDeSantis is still fighting the CDC in court on businesses requiring vaccines. He should drop the lawsuit. Taxpayer funds aren’t for attacking businesses’ ability to protect customers. Our economy depends on public health.

—@RepValDemings: Please be aware: COVID-19 cases are once again spiking in Florida. We are not through this yet. Please get vaccinated. Doctors and medical experts agree: it is safe, effective, and free.

—@MitchPerry18: Congressman @VernBuchanan office reports he’s tested positive for #COVID19. Press release says that he’s been vaccinated, but was tested after experiencing “very mild-flu-like symptoms.”

—@ammarmufasa: COVID cases surging in Florida. Vaccination rates are down. Red tide outbreak along the coast. And where’s @GovRonDeSantis? Texas and Aspen, Colorado. #FlaPol

—@SkylerSwisher: “I would rather see us ‘(Anthony) Fauci our Florida’ than have people go through death by DeSantis,” @DWStweets says, placing blame on DeSantis for Florida’s new COVID surge

—@pdacosta: Dr. Fauci, asked about whether there’s a risk to school reopening in the fall on Bloomberg TV: “Everything is on the table.”

Tweet, tweet:

—@justinbaragona: Hell of a scoop here from @ryangrim Fox News has a “FOX Clear Pass” for all vaccinated employees. Yep, the very vaccine passport that Tucker Carlson and other hosts have railed so loudly against on air.

—@conarck: Notably, @JacksonHealth is sharing vaccination status of its patients now. Says 95% are unvaccinated. CC: @DaytimeDan

—@LSeabrookWFTV: The two-week rolling positivity rate is now 11.2% in @OrangeCoFL and the @OCFLMayor says ALL of the recent cases have been in unvaccinated people. The vax rate is slowly ticking up but still a ways to go before hitting herd immunity at 79%.

Tweet, tweet:

—@JesseRodriguez: Hospital in Jacksonville, FL thinks they will break their record for number of COVID patients today, last set in Jan during the last outbreak, and before vaccines were available

—@Conarck: Miami-Dade’s public @JacksonHealth hospital has updated its COVID threat level to high, rolling back visitation policies effective Wednesday.

—@Farhip: The post-(Donald) Trump news slump continues online. Traffic has declined at leading news sites almost every month since January peak and from a year ago.