Flagler Beach United Methodist Church Food Pantry, Model Yacht Club Races at the Pond, ‘Nunsense,’ at St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre, ‘Sweeney Todd’ at Athens Theatre, the problem with theology, ideology and teleology.
Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions
What the 1st Amendment Protects, and What It Doesn’t
What the First Amendment makes clear is that it does not just protect the rights of speakers who say things with which Americans agree. Or, as the Supreme Court said in a separate decision it issued one year after the case involving the funeral protesters: “The Nation well knows that one of the costs of the First Amendment is that it protects the speech we detest as well as the speech we embrace.” But free speech is not absolute.
Cops May No Longer Search Your Car Based on Pot Smell Alone, Court Rules
Florida’s 2nd District Court of Appeal’s main opinion said that for “generations, cannabis was illegal in all forms — thereby rendering its distinct odor immediately indicative of criminal activity.” But the opinion said legislative changes have “fundamentally changed its definition and regulation” and made cannabis legal to possess in multiple forms.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, October 1, 2025
The Flagler County Cultural Council (FC3) annual meeting, The Palm Coast Code Enforcement Board meets, the Flagler County Republican Club holds its monthly meeting, Weekly Chess Club for Teens at the county library, reflections on the horrors of classical music at a young age and Bach’s Orchestral Suite in B Minor.
Militarism for Show
The president’s and the defense secretary’s campaign-like pair of bombastic speeches to hundreds of generals summoned to Quantico, Va., signals an escalation in the administration’s embrace of a militaristic mindset that, as long ago as 1961, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned against in his farewell address, and that the nation’s founders deliberately aimed to constrain.
About 750,000 Federal Workers Will Be Furloughed in Shutdown
A government shutdown could have significant economic consequences, though an analysis released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said it’s difficult to pinpoint ramifications without knowing the length of a funding lapse or how exactly the Trump administration will try to reshape the federal workforce. Director Phillip L. Swagel wrote in a four-page letter the agency projects about 750,000 federal workers would be furloughed, leading to a $400 million impact per day.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, September 30, 2025
“Nunsense,” at St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre, Random Acts of Insanity, the Trump’s peace plan for Gaza and what it owes Sykes-Picot and Wilson.
Charlie Kirk, AI-Generated Martyr
An AI-generated image of Charlie Kirk embracing Jesus. Another of Kirk posing with angel wings and halo. Then there’s the one of Kirk standing with George Floyd at the gates of heaven. When prominent political or cultural figures die in the U.S., the remembrance of their life often veers into hagiography. And that’s what’s been happening since the gruesome killing of conservative activist and Turning Point USA co-founder Charlie Kirk.
FPL Wants to Raise Base Rates by $1.71 Billion in Next 2 Years, Blasting Consumers’ Counter-Proposal of $1.27 Billion
Florida Power & Light on Friday fired back at a renewed request for state regulators to consider a “counter proposal” to a proposed settlement that would increase the utility’s base electric rates. Opponents of the proposed settlement, including the state Office of Public Counsel, which is designated by law to represent utility customers, want the Florida Public Service Commission to consider the counter proposal. Commission Chairman Mike La Rosa on Sept. 12 denied the request, but the Office of Public Counsel and its allies are seeking reconsideration of that decision.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, September 29, 2025
The Palm Coast Charter Review Committee is hosting one of four community engagement meetings this evening, John Oliver and others on the Jimmy Kimmel turning point, the problem with Fara Dabhoiwala’s free speech.
How Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Born to Run’ Speaks to America’s Psyche
Bruce Springsteen’s1975 “Born to Run” album was shaped by the times, particularly the malaise of the post-Vietnam and post-Watergate American landscape. There was an energy crisis, and it wasn’t only oil that was in short supply. These lyrical, operatic songs about freedom and fate, triumph and tragedy, still resonate, even though today’s music is more likely to emphasize beats, samples and software than extended guitar and saxophone solos.
Republican Push for Snitching on Charlie Kirk Posts Drives Unprecedented Purge of Public Workers
An ongoing purge of public employees is driven in part by Republican elected officials who are encouraging Americans to report co-workers, their children’s teachers and others who make comments seen as crossing the line. They have been egged on by the Trump administration, with Vice President JD Vance urging listeners of Kirk’s podcast to call the employer of anyone “celebrating” his killing.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, September 28, 2025
‘Avenue Q,’ at City Repertory Theatre, live football from Dublin at Beachfront Grille, Gamble Jam, ‘Nunsense,’ at St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre, ‘Sweeney Todd’ at Athens Theatre in DeLand, George Carlin on free speech, John McPhee on the Alaskan flag.
At Least in France They Imprison Their Felon Ex-Presidents
Former French President Nicolas Sarkozy has been found guilty of criminal conspiracy. Sentenced to five years in prison, he is due to appear in court on 13 October to learn the date of his incarceration. The unprecedented ruling enshrines the Republican principle of full and complete equality of citizens before the law.
As He DOGE-Targets Blue Governments for ‘Fraud,’ Florida CFO Ingoglia Wants $600,000 for His Own Bureaucracy
In a state Legislative Budget Request filed last week, Blaise Ingoglia, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ hand-picked new Chief Financial Officer, is seeking more than $600,000 and six full time employees to permanently establish a new “Florida Accountability and Fiscal Oversight Office,” with the provocative acronym “FAFO.” Its mission is to review local government data and “uncover the truth about how these government entities are using taxpayer funds, especially property taxes,” according to the budget request.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, September 27, 2025
Peps Art Walk, “Avenue Q” at CRT, the Saturday Flagler Beach Farmers Market, “Sweeney Todd” at Athens Theatre, from Andre Gide to Hemingway, a few deep thoughts from Charlie Sheen.
Trump’s Targeting of ‘Enemies’ Like Comey Echoes Grimmest History
At the Department of Justice, a “Weaponization Working Group” has a long list of Trump’s perceived enemies to investigate. It marks the first time since J. Edgar Hoover’s 48-year reign as FBI director that the FBI has targeted massive numbers of people perceived to be political enemies. The recent statements from both Trump and top aide Miller suggest the FBI’s independence, and broader constitutional requirements that the administration remain faithful to the law, are meaningless to them. They suggest that, like Hoover, they would criminalize dissent.
US Passport Is Best Defense Against ICE False Arrest as Supreme Court Approves Profiling in Mass Detentions
The aggressive drive to carry out mass deportations of people without legal status already has led to U.S. citizens being swept up in raids and detained, according to news reports from around the country as well as immigration experts. Such detainments now will increase, experts predict. Once in detention, it can take time to verify citizenship. A passport is considered the gold standard for proof that an individual is a citizen, but fewer than half of Americans hold passports, according to the State Department’s most recent data from 2024. Even fewer are likely to carry the bulky document around.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, September 26, 2025
“Avenue Q,” at City Repertory Theatre, Harold Bloom on how to read a book, ‘Nunsense,’ at St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre, the origin of wokism on a Paris street.
The Extremist Federalist Society’s Lock on the Supreme Court
Justices affiliated with the Federalist Society will advance the conservative legal agenda decades into the future. The Federalist Society’s educational mission is pursued chiefly in law schools. That’s where it trains the next generation of lawyers in the approaches and goals of the conservative legal movement. This includes promoting the judicial philosophy of originalism – the idea that the best way to interpret the U.S. Constitution is according to how it was understood at the time of its adoption.
Florida CFO Ingoglia Targets Blue Alachua County with Unspecified Claim of ‘Wasteful Spending’
Florida Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia traveled to Alachua County Thursday, where he said his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) team of auditors had determined that the local government had indulged in more than $84 million in “wasteful spending” over the past five years. As has been the case with the other local government budgets that Ingoglia’s team has reviewed this year, he did not mention any specific programs that constituted what he defined as wasteful spending.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, September 25, 2025
Palm Coast Concert Series brings SoulFire to The Stage at Town Center, Connecting to Palm Coast Expo at the Palm Coast Community Center, the Flagler Beach City Commission meets, AI compares Captain nemo and Ahab.
Trump’s ‘Your Countries Are Going to Hell’ Speech
Trump congratulated himself, for turning the US into the “hottest country anywhere in the world” for repelling a “colossal invasion” of migrants at America’s southern border and for ending seven wars – for which he repeated his line that he should have been given the Nobel peace prize.
Advocate for Hands-Free Driving Law in Florida Blasts Lawmaker Who Blocked It
An advocate for legislation that would have banned drivers from operating a motor vehicle while using a cellphone lashed out at a state legislator on Wednesday, claiming that she prevented the measure from advancing in the Florida House of Representatives and potentially becoming state law earlier this year.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, September 24, 2025
Ex-Firefighter James Melady is scheduled for a pre-trial, the River to Sea Transportation Planning Organization meets, Weekly Chess Club for Teens, Israel’s genocide and a few lines from Philip Roth’s Operation Shylock.
The Problem with Auschwitz-Birkenau’s New Digital Camp Replica
Use of digital technology to safeguard Holocaust memories for future generations is symptomatic of a global shift towards digitising the Holocaust as the survivor generation passes on and heritage sites decay over time. While the virtual site digitally preserves and encourages historically rooted depictions of the camp, it cannot ensure ethical engagement with the Holocaust. In fact, its creation only raises further issues about the extent to which the Holocaust’s digitisation goes hand-in-hand with ethical modes of remembrance and representation.
County and City Leaders Push Back Against DeSantis Claims of ‘Waste, Fraud and Abuse’ in Property Tax
After months of financial abuse allegations lobbed by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration against local governments, city leaders pushed back Tuesday in a Florida House meeting focused on cutting property taxes. “Waste is in the eye of the beholder,” said Casey Cook, the Florida League of Cities’ chief of legislative affairs. “Nobody likes paying taxes, but safe isn’t free. Clean isn’t free.”
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, September 23, 2025
The Palm Coast City Council meets in workshop, the School Board has a pair of meetings, including Derek Barrs’s last, Budgeting by Values: A Free, Virtual Class to Learn Budgeting Skills, on accommodating an uninvited guest.
Florida Is Misleadingly Invoking Slavery as It Readies to Kill All Vaccine Mandates in Schools
On Sept. 3, 2025, Florida announced its plans to be the first state to eliminate vaccine mandates for its citizens, including those for children to attend school. Dr. Joseph Ladapo, Florida’s surgeon general and a professor of medicine at the University of Florida, has stated that “every last one” of these decades-old vaccine requirements “is wrong and drips with disdain and slavery.” He is wrong.
30 New Laws Go In Effect Next Week, Including Steeper Penalties for Several Crimes and End of Business Rent Tax
The elimination of the business rent tax is projected to collectively save businesses–and cost the state–nearly $1.15 billion during the current fiscal year, which will run through June 30. That amount is projected to increase to $1.53 billion next fiscal year. Other laws include harsher penalties for people who flee police, harass utility workers and kill someone while driving drunk.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, September 22, 2025
Flagler County Government’s second and last tax and budget hearing, the Bunnell City Commission meets, Ernest Gaines’s new volume in the Library of America and a thought from “A Lesson Before Dying.”
Teaching Fact-Checking to College Students Blasted By Misinformation
For Generation Z, born between 1997 and 2012, social media – especially YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and Snapchat – has become their source of information about the world, eclipsing traditional news outlets. In a survey of more than 1,000 young people ages 13 to 18, 8 in 10 said they encounter conspiracy theories in their social media feeds each week, yet only 39% reported receiving instruction in evaluating the claims they saw there. The Civic Online Reasoning program was built to address this gap.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, September 21, 2025
‘Avenue Q,’ at City Repertory Theatre, ‘Nunsense,’ at St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre, ‘All Shook Up,’ at Daytona Playhouse, a few thoughts on Philippe Lançon’s memoir of the Charlie Hebdo massacre and its current echoes.
Donald Trump’s New McCarthyism
A modern-day political inquisition is unfolding in “digital town squares” across the United States. The slain far-right activist Charlie Kirk has become a focal point for a coordinated campaign of silencing critics that chillingly echoes one of the darkest chapters in American history. This is far-right “cancel culture”, the likes of which the US hasn’t seen since the McCarthy era in the 1950s.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, September 20, 2025
Flagler Beach Centennial Cardboard Regatta, Florida Highwaymen Art and Sale Show, ‘Avenue Q,’ at City Repertory Theatre, what Trump’s cabinet meetings have in common with Stalin’s ovations.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, September 19, 2025
Clay Jones revisits immigration phobia, the Flagler County Cultural Council meets, ‘Avenue Q,’ at Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre, ‘Nunsense,’ at St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre, inflation ahead, Mehdi Hasan against 20 far-rightists.
State Department Layoffs Could Hurt American Companies’ Competitiveness
When more than 1,300 people at the U.S. State Department lost their jobs in a mass firing this summer, most headlines focused on what it meant for American diplomacy. But the layoffs are about more than embassies and foreign policy – they could also make it harder for U.S. companies to compete in global markets.
David Jolly, Democratic Candidate for Governor, Supports ‘School Choice’ But With More Accountability
The main Democratic candidate for governor — former Republican U.S. Rep. David Jolly — called Thursday for changes to Florida’s universal school voucher program, which helps pay to send students to private school, but not repeal.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, September 18, 2025
Jay Scherr gets Dave Freeman talking Appalachian Trail, Marineland Commission meeting, Town Halls with Council member Charles Gambaro, a few performance reviews for America’s citizens, model yacht races in Central Park.
Fact: Right-Wing Violence More Frequent and Deadly Than Left-Wing Violence
Most domestic terrorists in the U.S. are politically on the right, and right-wing attacks account for the vast majority of fatalities from domestic terrorism. During the 2024 election cycle, nearly half of all states reported threats against election workers, including social media death threats, intimidation and doxing. Domestic violent extremism is defined by the FBI and Department of Homeland Security as violence or credible threats of violence intended to influence government policy or intimidate civilians for political or ideological purposes.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, September 17, 2025
Peter Kuper on erasing American history, the Palm Coast Planning Board talks concrete plant on Hargrove Grade again, Flagler Tiger Bay Club Guest Speaker Roger B. Handberg, an appreciation of Edmund Wilson,
Fox’s Murdoch to Public Interest Journalism: Drop Dead
Rupert Murdoch has succeeded in securing his vision for the future of News Corporation, the global media empire he has always thought of as his family business. To achieve this, he has torn apart his family. He has also ensured his media outlets, especially Fox News, remain committed to his hard right-wing views. Rupert’s chosen successor and elder son Lachlan has headed News Corporation and Fox Corporation since Murdoch stepped aside in 2023, and will inherit the empire.
Majority of Florida’s Republican Voters Back Clean Energy Initiatives
An overwhelming number of Floridians report that their utility costs are rising, according to a statewide poll of voters showing that nearly 80% back alternative, clean energy sources that could mitigate those rising prices. The survey of 1,000 likely 2026 voters commissioned by Conservatives for Clean Energy Florida shows that 78% support clean energy initiatives, including 63% of Republicans.
Tech Industry Groups Want Appeals Court to Uphold Ruling that Blocked Florida’s Restrictive Social Media Law
Pointing to what they called “draconian restrictions,” tech industry groups are urging a federal appeals court to uphold a decision that blocked a Florida law aimed at preventing children from having access to certain social-media platforms. Attorneys for the groups NetChoice and the Computer & Communications Industry Association filed a 78-page brief Friday at the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, contending the 2024 law violates First Amendment rights.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, September 16, 2025
Kiwanis Community Open House, Food Truck Tuesdays, The Palm Coast City Council meets, the suffocating atmosphere of a country’s propaganda, leaving our heart in San Francisco, John Darkow on the Department of War.
Charlie Kirk Wanted American Education Wrested from Liberals
A large part of Kirk’s political activism centered on what education should look like. Conservatives, well before Kirk’s time, have been trying to reclaim education from liberals whom they view as valuing equity and belonging instead of timeless values of order and traditional values in society. This philosophy overall focuses on reclaiming education from liberals.
State Regulators Reject Counter-Proposal by Customer Representative to Limit FPL Rate Increases
As they consider a proposed settlement that would increase Florida Power & Light’s base electric rates, state regulators will not take up a “counter proposal” offered by opponents. FPL wants base-rate increases of $945 million in 2026 and $766 million in 2027. The counter proposal would have resulted in increases of $867 million in 2026 and $403 million in 2027.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, September 15, 2025
Canadian Michael De Adder’s take on American outrage, the East Flagler Mosquito Control District Board meets, the County Commission meets, traveling the rest rooms of I-4 in “free Florida,” Tom Hanks goes maga, changing place names.
As the Colorado River Dies, A New Battle Over Water Rights
The seven Colorado Basin states have been grappling with how to deal with declining Colorado River supplies for a quarter century, revising usage guidelines and taking additional measures as drought has persisted and reservoir levels have continued to decline. The current guidelines will expire in late 2026, and talks on new guidelines have been stalled because the states can’t agree on how to avoid a future crisis.
In Florida, We Want Guns in Our Streets, Not Rainbows
No doubt Gov. Ron DeSantis expects Floridians to be grateful for saving us from yet another woke attack on decency, probity, and speeding motorists. Meaning colorful crosswalks. Just as he has fought to expel books by Black and gay authors from our schools, the governor has ordered FDOT to paint over the flowers, the sunbursts, the fish, the musical notes, and the rainbows — especially the rainbows. At least a dozen schools in Tampa will see their “Crosswalks to Classrooms” school crossings destroyed, including one painted to look like a shelf of books. Florida’s government is particularly scared of books.