Reminding Americans of where they came from – such as the statements by Biden administration officials – creates empathy for immigrants, generating more favorable attitudes toward immigration.
Commentary
Palm Coast Survives Its Own Big Lies. For Now.
The big lies lost. But Palm Coast isn’t out of the woods. Alan Lowe may have been rejected by 73 percent of the electorate, but David Alfin’s 36 percent win, with less than 10 percent of the actual electorate, is hardly a rousing victory for a campaign that won more by default than acclamation, with incendiaries like Ed Danko and Victor Barbosa still on the council.
Crisis at the Border: Sheriff Staly’s On-the-Ground Report on a ‘Failed Immigration Policy’ Affecting All Communities
Earlier this month Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly took part in a fact-finding trip along the Texas side of the border with Mexico with several other law enforcement officials and U.S. Rep. Kat Cammack, R-Fla. “The border crisis,” he argues, “is coming to you whether you like it or not.”
Changing Crime Reporting Practices to Do Less Harm
Acknowledging that journalism can inflict wounds unnecessarily, AP will no longer name those arrested for minor crimes when the news service is unlikely to cover the story’s subsequent developments. Often, such stories’ publication hinges on an odd or entertaining quirk, and the names are irrelevant. Yet, the ramifications can loom large and be long-lasting for the persons named.
How This Summer Is Changing Our Understanding of Extreme Weather
A succession of record-breaking natural disasters have swept the globe in recent weeks, shocking climate scientists. We are used to treating each natural hazard independently from another. That’s a mistake. They are all connected.
Debunking the Bogus Claim that Face Masks Harm Children
Facial masks may be one of the most cost-effective strategies to prevent the diffusion of Covid 19 infection. Nevertheless, fake news is spreading, scaring parents about dangerous but false side effects of masks in children.
Behind Ben & Jerry’s West Bank Decision: Israel Is Losing the Battle for Public Opinion
Ben & Jerry’s said selling ice cream in the West Bank and Gaza “is inconsistent with our values.” The move is emblematic of a larger trend: public sentiment among a group of U.S. voters – including many American Jews – who used to be stalwart supporters of Israel has shifted, and they are increasingly turning their backs on the Jewish state.
Cautionary Tale for Coastal Towns: What Miami’s Sea Wall Will Not Protect
The sea wall the Army Corps is proposing – protecting only 6 miles of downtown and the financial district from a storm surge – can’t save Miami and Dade County. Most of the city will be outside the wall, unprotected; the wall will still trap water inside; and the Corps hasn’t closely studied what the construction of a high sea wall would do to water quality.
Domestic Violence 911 Calls Increased During Lockdown, but Police Reports and Arrests Declined
Stay-at-home orders disrupted traditional abuse-detection processes and support systems. A real increase in domestic violence indicates that this disruption occurred at a particularly damaging time. Better measures need to be put in place in order to protect victims during future outbreaks and keep everyone safe during lockdowns.
Here’s Why You Need to Mask Up Again Indoors, Even If Vaccinated
Vaccinated people need to mask up again, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On July 27, 2021, the CDC recommended that everyone in areas with high Covid-19 infection rates wear masks in public indoor spaces, regardless of vaccination status. A physician who specializes in infectious diseases explains.
Yes, Covid Can Cause Infertility and Sexual Dysfunction. But Vaccines Cannot.
Contrary to myths circulating on social media, Covid-19 vaccines do not cause erectile dysfunction and male infertility. What is true: SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, poses a risk for both disorders.
Can We Cancel ‘Cancel Culture’?
At its worst, cancel culture curtails speech. It threatens this longstanding fundamental freedom. If we limit speech by cancelling those we disagree with, other societal pillars also face peril. When expression is compromised, which freedom is next? Freedom of assembly? Freedom from fear?
Is Islamophobia Hate Speech?
The central question that human rights tribunals must answer in these cases is whether false claims, such as those made by Mark Steyn in “America Alone,” a screed against growing Muslim populations in Europe, are so extreme that they’re likely to encourage hateful views and extreme action.
Ghostly, Soulless, Absurd Olympics
The epiphanies of supreme athletic achievements in Ancient Greek Olympics could occur only if witnesses were physically present to immerse themselves – and share in – the spine-tingling flirtation with the divine. The Tokyo Olympics are soulless in comparison.
The Sleaziest Generation
This fourth wave of covid is ravaging the state. It was entirely preventable but for glib, “don’t Fauci my Florida” recklessness and the militancy, disinformation and poisonous selfishness of the unvaccinated. This is on them.
The Seduction of Propaganda
Propaganda is communication as force; it’s designed for warfare. Propaganda is anti-democratic because it influences while using strategies like fear appeals, disinformation, conspiracy theory and more. Political communication is persuasion used in politics. It helps to facilitate the democratic process. Guess what Americans prefer.
At Origin of Cuba’s Mass Protests: Covid Misery and U.S. Economic Sanctions
Cuba’s current economic difficulties do not arise only from the pandemic: they are also the result of US policy. Thanks to US hostility, Cuba remains barred from access to emergency international financing from multilateral financial institutions.
Ignoraunce Incarno: The Wrongheaded Calls to Cancel Chaucer
It’s true that Chaucer’s work contains toxic material, including sexist and antisemitic material. But if you examine his writings in detail, you’ll see themes of concern for women and human rights, the oppressed and the persecuted, reappear time and time again.
Milissa Holland’s Daughter Responds to Danko’s Fabrications: Stop Bringing My Family Into This Immaturity
“I am 25 years old and the amount of immaturity displayed in this campaign is embarrassing,” writes Tori Holman, former Mayor Milissa Holland’s daughter. “To Mr. Danko and his detractors, Stop bringing my family into this mess to try to boost your votes. Stop bringing my family into this at all. To the rest of you, thank you.”
Bias Is Natural. How You Manage it Defines Your Ability to Be Just.
We all have biases to some degree, whether we care to admit this or not. Our biases remain innocuous until our assumptions impact our behaviors toward other people. By acknowledging our biases we can find ways to mitigate their impact on our decision making.
Palm Coast at a Crossroad: Assassins of Civility or Governance
Ed Danko and Victor Barbosa since their election have turned the Palm Coast council into an embarrassment. The two are vying for a third vote in Alan Lowe and the mayor’s seat. That potential majority risks turning the city into a mirror of the toxic trio.
Most Covid Deaths in England Now Are in the Vaccinated. Here’s Why That Shouldn’t Alarm You
The fact that more vaccinated people are dying than unvaccinated people does nothing to undermine vaccine safety or effectiveness. In fact, it’s exactly what we’d expect from the excellent vaccines, which have already saved tens of thousands of lives.
Robert Cuff: Palm Coast’s Choice for Mayor Is Between Competent Leadership and Truly Dangerous Dysfunction
Robert Cuff, the former Palm Coast city councilman, warns that the July 27 special election for mayor will need a large turnout from voters who seek smoothly functioning government and serious leadership. The alternative is partisanship, division, and dysfunction for the next three years, endangering the city’s future.
Why Some Younger Evangelicals Are Leaving the Faith
The institute’s study found that only 14% of Americans identify as white evangelical today. This is a drastic decline since 2006, when America’s religious landscape was composed of 23% white evangelicals, as the report notes.
High-Tide Flood Risk Will Increase 5 to 15 Times Over Next 15 Years, Putting Coastal Economies at Risk
The frequency of high-tide flooding along the U.S. coasts has doubled since 2000, and it’s expected to increase five to 15 times more in the next 30 years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warns in a new report released July 14, 2021.
A Qualified Defense of Trump Supporters’ Obscenities in Flagler Beach
Obscene pro-Trump demonstrators’ signs now flashing regularly in Flagler Beach are no different than signs using similar language at BLM marches. The fact that BLM marches have justice on their side, as Trump demonstrators do not, does not diminish the goons’ First Amendment rights.
The Inherent Racism of Anti-Vaxx Movements
While many accuse anti-vaxxers of a selfish disdain for the health and safety of others, there is a underlying aspect of these movements that needs to be more widely recognized. Vaccine resistance movements have always been led by white, middle-class voices and promoted by structures of racial inequality.
Cuba Protests: 4 Essential Reads on Dissent in the Post-Castro Era
Street protests erupted across Cuba on July 11, 2021, with crowds of Cubans demonstrating against food scarcity, medicine shortages and economic misery in their island nation. Here are four stories that describe current conditions in Cuba and the recent history behind this rare public outpouring of anger.
63% of Workers who File an EEOC Discrimination Complaint Lose Their Jobs
People who experience sex discrimination, race discrimination and other forms of discrimination at work aren’t getting much protection from the laws designed to shield them from it, researchers found.
As If Global Warming Weren’t Enough: Rupert Murdoch Is Launching Fox Weather
A prominent media analyst, said it best the other day: “How do you address the fact that weather changes are caused to some degree by humans when you have a media property with a history of challenging that fact?”
Zaila Avant-garde, 2021 National Spelling Bee Champ, Stands Where Black Children Were Once Kept Out
When Zaila Avant-garde, 14, won the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee on July 8, 2021, she became the first Black American to win in the competition’s history. Shalini Shankar, a scholar of spelling bees, breaks down the importance of this historical moment.
Trump Before Trump: When Nixon VP Spiro Agnew Attacked News Media
In 1969 Spiro Agnew in a speech written by Patrick Buchanan attacked the press with almost unprecedented venom, anticipating a run of anti-media presidents that culminated with Trump. Buchanan later remembered that as Nixon read his proposed draft, he heard him mutter, “This’ll tear the scab off those bastards.”
Five Lessons on Bringing Truth Back to Politics
Democracies have felt precarious – in the US, during the Trump presidency, and in countries like Brazil, Hungary and Poland currently. Integral to such corrosion of democracy (as George Orwell made clear in his novel 1984) is the distortion of truth and facts in favor of a particular agenda.
Yes, States Got More Money from Washington than they Needed for Covid Relief
It appears that the pandemic-related economic downturn in states was quite muted, confounding everyone’s expectation. For example, sales tax revenues actually grew by 0.5% in fiscal year 2020 and are on track to increase 2% in fiscal year 2021.
Trump Can’t beat Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in Court but the Fight Might Be Worth More Money than a Win
No one involved with this case could be serious about winning in federal court. But that is not the “court” to which the former president is playing. Donald Trump is after money, and the federal court stage is another way to get it.
An Alan Lowe Campaign Message: 60 Seconds, 2 Violations of Law, 3 Falsehoods, 4 Misleading or Deceptive Statements
Lowe’s contempt for facts was apparent in his run for the mayorship last year and has characterized his renewed run in the July 27 special election for mayor. If all six candidates are sincere, including Lowe, only Lowe makes explicitly false statements, misleading claims, legal violations, and ideologically-driven pitches that have little to no connection to Palm Coast governance.
Critical Race Theory: What it Is and What, Gov. DeSantis, It Is Not
Americans are used to viewing their history through a triumphalist lens, where we overcome hardships, defeat our British oppressors and create a country where all are free with equal access to opportunities. Obviously, not all of that is true.
Debating Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, 1st Transgender Woman in Individual Sports at Olympics
When Laurel Hubbard was announced as the first out transgender woman athlete to compete in an individual sport at an Olympic Games, controversy wasn’t far behind. One prominent commentator even called it a “disaster for women’s sport.” The arguments are emotive and polarizing, and often ignore key facts.
With Support for Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad Becomes One of Several Deans to Tweet Themselves Into Trouble
Rashad sent out a controversial Tweet in support of her onetime “TV husband,” Bill Cosby, after a court overturned his sexual assault conviction. “FINALLY!!!!” Rashad wrote in the Tweet. “A terrible wrong is being righted — a miscarriage of justice is corrected!” This prompted critics and Howard students to call for her resignation.
Supreme Court Blunts Voting Rights in Arizona, and Potentially Nationwide, in Consequential Ruling
Arizona may keep two voting laws that Republicans say protect election integrity and Democrats believe will make it harder for some residents to cast ballots. That’s the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, one of the decade’s most important voting rights cases.
Joe Mullins’s Defamatory Attack on Eric Cooley
Ostensibly proposing a discussion about sexual predators and domestic violence abusers, Joe Mullins in a Facebook posting about his radio infomercial features a screenshot of Bill Cosby over one article, and the image of Flagler Beach City Commissioner Eric Cooley over another, implying an equivalence.
Florida Adds Orwellian By-Laws to Academic Freedom
What do you do when a student endorses genocide during a class discussion? And follows it up with a two thumbs up endorsement for racism? Does curtailing disruptive behavior like this, which prevents others from learning, count as shielding students from uncomfortable “ideas and opinions”?
Political Emails Reach New Lows
Modern media, both professional and social, were supposed to create a better informed electorate and a rich diversity of political opinion. Instead, our tools are used to build barriers. Email is worst. At least when campaigning via regular mail or with paid ads in print and on television, out-of-pocket costs force some limits.
How Flagler County’s Drunken-Sailor, All-Republican Commissioners Tried to Con You Into a Higher Tax
The Flagler County Commission’s attempt unilaterally to impose an increase in the sales tax is the latest example of a lazy, bumbling commission addicted to spending, deceptive in its methods and indifferent to the long-term public interest.
We Can Have the Filibuster Or Democracy, Not Both
Republicans are champions of the filibuster now, but it was only a few years ago that they weakened it so they could pack the Supreme Court with unpopular nominees like Brett Kavanaugh, who was credibly accused of sexual assault.
White Gen X and Millennial Evangelicals Are Losing Faith in the Conservative Culture Wars
Some of the younger evangelicals are openly questioning their religious and political traditions while the majority of white evangelicals are aging and a portion of younger evangelicals are engaging in both religion and politics differently.
Supreme Court Upholds Religious Liberty Over LGBTQ Rights and Nods to Bigger wins for Conservatives Ahead
Last week’s Supreme Court ruling is narrow, but it means that any unequal treatment of religious groups will be regarded as a violation of the First Amendment, even if it comes at the expense of the dignity of LGBTQ citizens.
Reagan’s Legacy for Women
The Reagan “vision” for America, with its disproportionately negative impact on the female half, is now firmly embedded in Republican dogma. The 40th president envisioned a world where women would never be granted equality under the U.S. constitution, where abortion was illegal, and where equal employment laws would be history, argues Martha Burk.
Reflections on a Bobcat Sighting on Palm Coast’s Squadron Place
“This is the first bobcat I’ve seen during my 31 years in Florida,” writes Rick de Yampert of his sighting outside his Seminole Woods home this morning. “At my hermitage beside the wilderness in Palm Coast, there are wild woods to the south and flatwoods to the east and southeast. Bob sat at the east edge of my backyard for a full 20 minutes.”
America’s Back, But to What?
If you refuse to become the president, and if you still refuse to understand that the rest of the world looks to America to be strong and not weak, then you’ve emboldened the enemies of America and freedom, argues Michael Reagan ahead of Biden’s trip to Europe.