This is Be Kind to Food Servers Month, started by Memphis waitress Sybil Presley in 2008. A few words from Sandra Bullock on the subject, and C. Vann Woodward on the strange career of Jim Crow.
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How to Make Dry January a Success
Whether this is your first attempt at a Dry January or you are a seasoned participant, there are ways you can maximise your likelihood of getting to the end of January without drinking alcohol. Behavioral science offers some insights.
God’s Plagues: Philip Roth’s Nemesis
Philip Roth’s “Nemesis” is the story of an unsuspecting Everyman who becomes a polio superspreader and turns on his fiancee, God and life. Written in 2010, the novel can be read in the age of the coronavirus as a study in grief and loss and the limits of personal, or divine, responsibility.
Adieu, 2021: Sadness, Anger and Gratitude in a Year of Miscarriages
“I am awash with emotions today–everything from sadness to anger to gratitude at this year end,” writes Chris Goodfellow as he bids farewell to 2021. “We have learned nothing in terms of our choices, behaviors and most critically our capacity for unity in face of a threat.”
A Motorcyclist Is Killed on I-95, Crashing Into Guardrail; 6 of 9 Fatalities This Year Were Motorcyclists or Cyclists
A man was killed in a motorcycle crash on I-95 this morning shortly after sunup, just south of the intersection with Palm Coast Parkway. No other vehicles were involved, based on preliminary indications. The fatality is the ninth on Flagler roads this year–the lowest yearly tally in 27 years.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, December 31, 2021
Government offices and courts are closed, fireworks are still banned in Palm Coast and Flagler Beach, Wesley Morris on Black music’s miracle of sound, and Bach on the miracle of Cantata BWV 170, closing out the year on a plea for the delights of the soul.
Ghislaine Maxwell Guilty in Epstein Sex Trafficking Trial: What the Case Revealed About Female Sex Offenders
The majority of sex offenders are believed to be male. Charges lodged against women may include sexual abuse of children but often involve grooming or trafficking girls without engaging in the act of sexually abusing the child.
Trump Troll Chronicles: Bob Woodward’s Peril
Bob Woodward’s and Robert Costa’s “Peril,” third in the trilogy of Woodward’s books on the Trump administration, isn’t history. It’s most revealing in what it does not say. It’s tragicomedy. It’s a chronicle of trash foretold. And it’s prediction. The worst is ahead.
University System Officials Urge Vaccinations and Return to Masking As Spring Semester Nears
Saying it is “clear the pandemic is not over,” top university system officials are asking students and employees to wear masks on campus and get booster shots to protect against Covid-19 as the spring semester prepares to start.
Two Men Are Shot in Confrontation on Regent Lane in Palm Coast, One of Them Just Out of Prison
A shootout at 8 Regent Lane in Palm Coast Wednesday evening sent two men to the hospital, one of them airlifted, and triggered an elaborate and ongoing investigation by the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office. No one is in custody for now. One of the men is 23, the other is 20. Others, possibly several others, may have been involved.
Proposal Would Lead to Surveillance Cameras in Every Classroom, and Teachers to Wear Microphones
School districts could adopt policies that lead to installing cameras in classrooms and requiring teachers in the classrooms to wear microphones, under a Florida House proposal filed this week. Local school boards would have to vote on the proposal–and pay for it.
Crusaders: Bob Woodward’s Bush at War
Even by Woodward’s standards, this is much less a journalist’s book than a White House manifesto, a managed reconstruction of recent events not for the sake of telling the story of those events, but as a projection of events to come. What B-52s do to soften up enemy ground ahead of a military invasion, Bush At War is doing to soften up Bush’s coming war on Iraq and possibly more.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, December 30, 2021
Nixon, Kissinger and the great war crime of Christmas 1972, the Everglades crash of Eastern Airlines Flight 401, Mary McCarthy disappoints her confessional priest when he asks her what kind of impurities she’d committed.
It’s After Christmas. Here’s Why It Sucks.
The holiday season is usually a joyous occasion, but many people feel “blah” soon after the celebrations. What is it about Christmas that makes people feel this way? Here are a few answers.
Call DCF: Marieke Lucas Rijneveld’s The Discomfort of Evening
Marieke Lucas Rijneveld, who now goes by the pronouns they/them, won the International Booker Prize for “The Discomfort of Evening,” an autobiographical novel about a 10-year-old girl who thinks she willed the death of her brother, and who watches her family and her bearings collapse after his death. The book caused a controversy due to themes of adolescent sexuality and animal torture.
19-Year-Old Palm Coast Man Arrested in Bunnell Shooting Spree That Included Ex-Sheriff Sgt. Larry Jones’s Car
Josiah Aaron Feimster, 19, faces four felony charges, the result of an shooting spree in South Bunnell. Two parked and vacant vehicles were struck, including that of retired Flagler County Sheriff’s Sgt. Larry Jones, a two-time candidate for sheriff. Jones, a Palm Coast resident, was not in town at the time. He was not hurt.
Registration Ongoing for Palm Coast Mayor’s 30/30 Fitness Challenge
Palm Coast residents wishing to participate in the Mayor’s 30/30 Fitness Challenge can still register by visiting palmcoast.gov/mayors-challenge using their city of Palm Coast account login information. Residents without an account can easily create one at the sign-in screen.
FPL Rate Fight Goes to Florida Supreme Court
The group Floridians Against Increased Rates filed a notice this week that it is appealing a decision by the state Public Service Commission to approve a settlement that will lead to FPL rate increases starting in January.
Flagler Access Mental Health Center Will Have Its Ceremonial Opening on Jan. 11
Flagler County and its partners SMA Healthcare and Flagler Health+ are hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening of the Flagler Access Center, which will provide an open door for education, screening, and connection to behavioral healthcare services in the area. The event will be held at 10 a.m. January 11, 2022 at the center located at 103 E. Moody Boulevard, Bunnell.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, December 29, 2021
The funniest pandemic video you’ll see this holiday season, Frederick Douglass remembers his encounter with Andrew Johnson at the Lincoln inaugural, the novice who likes to watch women rub clothes on the stones.
Desmond Tutu, Father of South Africa’s ‘Rainbow Nation’
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu has died at the age of 90. He earned the respect and love of millions of South Africans and the world. He carved out a permanent place in their hearts and minds, becoming known affectionately as “The Arch.”
Liberal Flagellant: George Packer’s Last Best Hope
George Packer’s “The Last best Hope,” published in June, attempts to explain how the United States devolved into the furies of Donald Trump’s last year–the pandemic, the BLM marches, the Jan. 6 insurrection–by diagnosing four separate Americas that no longer communicate. It’s a dour, guilt-ridden book by a liberal looking for penance in all the wrong places.
DeSantis Tells Cops He Won’t Treat Them as Political Tools as He Distributes Bonus Checks in Campaign Video
The short ad, posted Sunday to DeSantis’ Facebook feed, features footage of recent appearances in which the Republican governor merged his political role with campaigning, flanked by cops and political supporters.
Sheriff’s Real Time Crime Center Supervisor Nichole North Graduates from FDLE Analyst Academy
Flagler County Sheriff’s Office Real Time Crime Center Supervisor, Nichole North graduated from the Florida Law Enforcement Analyst Academy. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) announced the graduation of 21 law enforcement analysts from 10 criminal justice agencies throughout the state who all serve in crime intelligence analyst roles.
Election Police, Gas Tax Cut, Cryptocurrency, Deportation: 10 Things DeSantis Wants in 2022 Session
Gov. Ron DeSantis recently released a $99.7 billion budget blueprint for the 2022 legislative session and has touted a series of other proposals. Here are 10 of DeSantis’ priorities — big and small — for the session, which will start Jan. 11.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, December 28, 2021
On the death of E.O. Wilson, the great biologist and advocate of the Enlightenment. Today marks the 48th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act, which Nixon signed into law while on vacation in California.
Why E.O. Wilson Was One of the Greatest Minds of the Last 100 Years
Each of Edward O. Wilson’s seminal contributions fundamentally changed the way scientists approached these disciplines, and explained why E.O. – as he was fondly known – was an academic god for many young scientists. This astonishing record of achievement may have been due to his phenomenal ability to piece together new ideas using information garnered from disparate fields of study.
A Bit Less Normal: Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You
The young, argumentative and Irish Sally Rooney is among the rising lights of English-language literature. She’s giving the novel of ideas a boost. The impulse her works command reminds me of the old E.F. Hutton commercials: “When EF Hutton talks, people listen.” Her third novel, “Beautiful World, Where Are You,” is her most ambitious and least accomplished.
A Few Magnificent Things That Happened in 2021
It would be easy to survey the end of 2021 and see another year in wreckage. There’s the pandemic that won’t end. Rising inflation. Climate disasters. A democracy that looks creakier by the day. But there’s unusual comfort out there.
Flagler County IT Director Jarrod Shupe Appointed to State 911 Board
Governor Ron DeSantis last week appointed Flagler County Chief Information Officer Jarrod Shupe, and four others, to the state E911 Board. Shupe is also the county’s 911 coordinator.
10 Florida Political and Entertainment Figures Who Died in 2021
From political and legal trailblazers to longtime education and corrections leaders, here are 10 people who died in 2021 after leaving marks on Florida politics, government, the courts–and entertainment.
Gov. DeSantis Seems Hellbent on Taking Us Back to the ’60s — the 1860s
Gov. Ron DeSantis likes to call this the “Free State of Florida.” If he hasn’t yet wrapped himself in the Tenth Amendment or threatened secession, it’s only because he’s been too busy playing soldiers, organizing his private battalion, rewriting the past, and trying to destroy democracy.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, December 27, 2021
The criminality of Monday’s existence the week between Christmas and New Year’s, Wesley Morris on Motown’s wonders, Oriana Fallaci on Interviewing Henry Kissinger.
What Kwanzaa Means for Black Americans
Millions throughout the world’s African community start weeklong celebrations of Kwanzaa today, Dec. 27. For the African-American community, Kwanzaa is not just any “Black holiday.” It is a recognition that knowledge of Black history is worthwhile.
Our Thirty Years’ War: Schlesinger’s The Disuniting of America
What historian Arthur Schlesinger had detected in 1992 in a few trends is now orthodoxy–from both sides, neither for the better. The “ethnic rage” of diversity-preaching liberals and the fundamentalist, doctrinaire “monoculturalism” of conservatives has the country in a state of paralysis. Schlesinger wanted a renewed melting pot. But that’s not the solution.
He Was Filming on His Phone. Then an Officer Attacked Him and Charged Him With Resisting Arrest.
Police can arrest people for “cover charges,” like resisting arrest, to justify their use of excessive force and shield themselves from liability. In Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, 73 percent of the time someone is arrested on a “cover charge” alone, they’re Black.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, December 26, 2021
One of the hottest Christmases on record continues, the James Webb Space Telescope gives us something otherworldly to look at, more from Patricia Lockwood’s “Priestdaddy.”
Hubble 2.0: What You need to Know About the James Webb Space Telescope
The James Webb Space Telescope was launched into space on Dec. 25, 2021, and with it, astronomers hope to find the first galaxies to form in the universe, will search for Earthlike atmospheres around other planets and accomplish many other scientific goals.
The Loneliness of a Dictator: Garcia-Marquez’s Autumn of the Patriarch
Autumn of the Patriarch is a study in power unbound, unscrupulous, re-imagined rather than invented. History gave Garcia-Marquez too much material to need invention. Approaching 50 years since the novel published, it has recently come to feel more contemporary again.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, December 25, 2021
How they saw Christ: Will Durant, Anthony Burgess, Bruce Barton, Thomas Mann, Bertrand Russell, Bill Day, plus a gift from Bach and the Lucerne Chamber Circle.
How Charles Dickens Redeemed the Spirit of Christmas
Initially intending to voice his concerns about the poor as a pamphleteer, Dickens instead crafted a story about the redemption of an old miser, believing that it would garner more public attention and support. Today that story remains perhaps Dickens’ most celebrated work, A Christmas Carol.
Sheriff’s Deputies Provide Gifts to Daytona North/Mondex Children
The Flagler County Sheriff’s Office (FCSO) attended an event at the Country Store in Bunnell to spread holiday cheer for the local youth. Chief Williams, Commander Miceli, Deputy First Class (DFC) Dawson and Deputy Beausoleil were excited to distribute gifts to the children.
Patriotism Recovered: Richard Rorty’s Achieving Our Country
“Achieving Our Country” is an energizing manifesto, a reminder that we are not as good as we think we are, and, atrocious as we can be, not nearly as bad, either. We are merely unachieved. With a little less despair, a little more affection, even–heaven forbid–a bit of patriotism, however defined but equally respected we can achieve more.
Is War With Russia Ahead?
A hot war with Russia is the last thing the Biden administration wants right now. Nor is an actual détente with Moscow on the horizon. But could Putin’s aggressive move raise the profile of U.S.-Russian relations in such a way as to lay the foundation for a cold peace?
Biden Names Nancy Abudu to 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, 1st Black Woman on Bench that Hears Florida Cases
Pointing to an effort to ensure diversity in the court system, President Joe Biden on Thursday nominated Southern Poverty Law Center attorney Nancy Gbana Abudu for a seat on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears cases from Florida, Georgia and Alabama. Abdu is the daughter of immigrants from Ghana, a graduate of Columbia University and Tulane University Law School.
As Omicron Infection Rate Spikes to Delta Levels, Local Health Officials Plead for Precautions, With Nuance
Omicron is here, if not yet in full force, and is up to five times as infectious as the delta variant of Covid-19. But if delta was a hurricane, omicron is shaping up as more of a tropical storm. And the more protected your house is–the more you’ve developed immunity through vaccines, boosters, prior infections–the less likely you are to get sick, let alone get gravely ill or die.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, December 24, 2021
Midnight Mass with a fabulous musical program at Elizabeth Ann Seton, and a 5 o’clock program for those who can’t hack the midnight thing, plus Darlene Love’s Christmastime for the Jews and Ronald Reagan on carpet-bombing Vietnam in time for Christmas.
What to Do About All This Holiday Stress on Your Relationship
You might already know stress can affect your own health, but what you may not realize is that your stress – and how you manage it – is catching. Your stress can spread around, particularly to your loved ones. Christmas is an especially contagious time, not just for the Omicron variant.
Sheriff Staly Says Target’s Ties to Shop With a Cop Irreparably Destroyed as Company’s Statements Vacillate
What started with an email from target to the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office’s Shop with a Cop charity in October and a puzzled response that went unanswered has turned into a full-bore and continuing assault on the company by Sheriff Rick Staly, who has been lambasting Target for “talking out of both sides of their mouths” after abruptly severing a 13-year relationship with what had previously been known as Christmas with a Deputy.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, December 23, 2021
Waste Pro garbage pick-up schedules for Christmas and New Year will not change. Jamelle Bouie on “a homegrown ideology of reaction in the United States.” Holiday rules on what not to talk about around the dinner table.