The insult wasn’t just Flagler County Administrator Craig Coffey’s Christmas tithing to himself. It was the way he and his administration went about it, and the way three county commissioners played along.
Commentary
St. Augustine’s A1A Ale Works: Curb Your Enthusiasm
A1A Ale Works in St. Augustine, nearing its 20th anniversary, can learn a few things about customer service if it doesn’t want to make Larry Davids of its local clientele.
Marco Rubio’s Cuban Embargo Delusion And a Half Century of Spectacular Insanity
What Rubio needs now to consider and accept is that Florida, situated where it is, has more to gain from trade with Cuba than any other state.
Common Sore:
Jeb Bush’s Education Problem
The Republican Party’s tea bag wing is unforgiving – so far – over his embrace of the Common Core standards even though the federal government has had almost nothing to do with them.
What White People Don’t See
Whether it’s police dealing with suspects or Sony executives referring to President Obama, what they see first isn’t the human being, but the color, and usually in the basest terms, argues Steve Robinson.
Yes, We’re Cops. And We’re Human Beings. But We Won’t Be Your Victims.
In an impassioned response to acute criticism leveled at police after events in Ferguson and Staten Island, Jonathan Dopp, a sheriff’s deputy in Flagler County, presents law enforcement’s unapologetic perspective.
Cops Get Away With Murder Because They Know They Can. It’s America In Black and White.
Resisting arrest is a cop’s license to kill: In retrospect there was little doubt that grand juries in Missouri and New York would let off the cops responsible for the killing of two unarmed black men.
Why Voters Don’t Give a Damn Anymore: Government Of the Few, By the Few, For the Fewest
Barely a third of the eligible voting-age population — 36.4 percent — voted in the midterms this month. The major reason people don’t vote is that they don’t think it will make a difference, argues Martin Dyckman.
Feed Flagler’s 364-Day Blinders: Why Isn’t a Portion of Old Courthouse Considered as Homeless Shelter?
It must be Thanksgiving because as with the first Thanksgiving, the pilgrims seem more interested in clobbering the poor than feeding them.
Derek Hankerson Will Not Run in Special Election for Travis Hutson’s Seat After All
Derek Hankerson, who challenged John Thrasher in the Republican primary form Florida Senate last August, sent in the following letter today explaining why he has decided not to run again in the coming special election for either Senate or House.
Don’t Tell Us How You’re Feeling: Facebook and the Mirage of Positive Posting
After a steady onslaught of social media, is it any wonder we sometimes feel numb to the suffering—or joy—of others? Laurie Uttich rethinks the one-sided nature of Facebook declamations.
When Government Manipulates Press and Public, and the Press Plays Along
From Flagler County to Washington, government’s attempts to control stories come down to the same manipulative ploys for the same specious reasons, but the press too often plays along.
The Only Mandate From This Election: Protect Florida’s Environment
Earmarking 33 percent of the documentary stamp tax for buying critical habitat, wetlands and other environmentally sensitive properties, got 1.4 million more voters than Rick Scott.
Jeb Bush Could Win in 2016, But He’ll Have To Rely on The United States of Amnesia
Jeb Bush left too much fodder for his detractors, argues Stephen Goldstein, to be a viable candidate for very long in 2016–assuming voters can remember the damaging milestones of his governorship.
Elections 2014 R.I.P.
Why Democrats Keep Failing in Florida
For all its fear-based tactics, the Florida GOP focuses on understanding their base voters, and making them feel respected and protected. Democrats in comparison have no clue.
Old Kings’ “Leader In Me” Program: Corporate Indoctrination Posing as Character Education
Old Kings Elementary implemented FranklinCovey’s “Leader in Me” program with little oversight or proof of its effectiveness, through a $68,000 grant. Carmen Sanford, an Old Kings parent, sees too many similarities with Iron Curtain-era indoctrination.
500,000!
FlaglerLive Crosses Half-Million
Reader Mark in October
FlaglerLive ended October with close to 550,000 readers for the month, a new record and further indication that as print struggles to maintain its mass-market appeal, the media landscape is changing too rapidly to accommodate old models.
Crist and Scott Aren’t Both Awful: Scott Wins That Contest By a Mile
Tired of what he calls false moral equivalencies, Adam Weinstein argues that pundits and cynics are wrong to flaunt the conventional wisdom about this governor’s race, and that Scott has been flat-out god-awful for Florida.
I Had a Stroke at 29
Two weeks after her then-fiancé proposed to her, Kari Cobham had a stroke. The former News-Journal reporter and current executive producer of social media for Orlando’s WFTV writes of her experience for the first time, on World Stroke Day.
Sanford, Ferguson, Tallahassee: When Cops Act Like Vigilantes
When police from Sanford to Tallahassee protect themselves or FSU football players and sit on information that should be disclosed and vigorously pursued, they invite mistrust and charges of a cover-up.
Ebola Isn’t a Problem in the U.S.
Hysteria and Xenophobia Are.
There is not going to be an Ebola epidemic in the United States. There isn’t one now. But there is a an epidemic of hysteria and cowardice that’s costing more lives in Africa, and that could threaten the West if segregationists have their way.
FlaglerLive Was Hacked by a Turkish Nut Case With an Allah Complex, But We’re Back
FlaglerLive was the target of a malicious attack Thursday from an Islamist based in Southwest Turkey. The attack was overridden in late afternoon but exposed the sort of vulnerabilities that much larger news organizations have been discovering recently.
Brittany Maynard and the Right to Die: An Open Letter from a State That Denies It
Laureen Kornel, a Flagler Beach resident, was left helpless, watching her mother’s agonizing death from cancer because the right to die on terms other than those dictated by doctors was not an option. She writes Brittany Maynard in hopes of spurring the movement in Florida and other states that deny that right.
From Favorite to Fanghazi: The Two Worst Days of Gov. Rick Scott’s Re-Election Campaign
If Scott does end up being the third Republican governor in 20 years to not serve a second term, two days this week can be pinpointed as the worst of his campaign, argues Peter Schorsch.
Bloodbath at Deteriorating Tallahassee Democrat Is Newspapers’ Latest For-Profit Suicide
The story of the Tallahassee Democrat’s decomposition is a deeper cautionary tale on how monopoly media can turn a vibrant, growing community into a cloistered cultural backwater.
Lyndon B. Johnson, Terrorist
In 1926, Lyndon Johnson and his friends bombed the town square in Johnson City, Texas, taking out all the windows of a bank. He was never punished, let alone arrested. Times have changed.
Why Malala Yousafzai Should Have
Won The Nobel Peace Prize
Malala Yousafzai is the 17-year-old Pakistani girl and activist for girls’ education who in 2012 was shot in the head by a shaking, demented terrorist whose allegiance to the Taliban tells us all we need to know about the lethality of religious fundamentalism. Any kind of fundamentalism, really.
I’m 67 Years Old. I Smoke Pot. And It’s Time to Make It Legal, Period.
If anyone thinks that passing Amendment 2 is not a step toward legalizing recreational marijuana, then you’re been ingesting too much of the wrong kind of drugs, argues Thomas O’Hara, who is voting for Amendment 2 because it’s a step toward full marijuana legalization.
Miami Herald’s Ex-Editor Disputes Matt Bai’s Charge that Reporting Gary Hart’s Affair Was Unethical
Doug Clifton, the former editor of the Miami Herald who played a part in uncovering Gary Hart’s affair in 1987, defends the Herald’s reporting against Matt Bai’s charge that the reporting was unethical and tabloid-oriented.
One More Time: What Opponents of Amendment 2 on Medical Pot Get Wrong
Opponents of Amendment 2, the proposal to legalize medical marijuana in Florida, have been spreading false information, exaggerations and scare-mongering. Ben Pollara, the campaign manager for United for Care, which is pushing the amendment, counters those arguments.
Lockheed’s F-35 Stealth Fighter: A $1.5 Trillion Waste of Tax Dollars
With a projected eye-popping price tag of up to $344.8 million each, the F-35 is almost 8 years behind schedule, billions over budget and not yet combat-ready. And it’s bleeding the Treasury.
Keith Olbermann, Derek Jeter, John Thrasher and the Artlessness of Rants
Ed Moore delivers a rant of his own about Keith Olbermann’s rant denigrating Derek Jeter, and compares that opinion to the unfriendly reception John Thrasher got from FSU faculty and staff.
County Calls Supervisor of Elections Kim Weeks’s Taping of a Conversation “Illegal”
County Administrator Craig Coffey says Weeks’s secret recording of a conversation between the county attorney and a county commissioner on Aug. 25 was illegal, so was its distribution, though nothing in the recording speaks ill of either men in the conversation.
Meet Tim Morgan, the Man Behind John Morgan’s Push for Medical Marijuana
Tim Morgan, John Morgan’s younger brother, suffered a severe spinal cord injury as a lifeguard while trying to save someone, and suffered excruciating pain. Marijuana helped him. His brother has devoted himself to legalizing pot for others with medical needs.
FSU Coddles Jameis Winston Again, Undercutting Its Own Anti-Sexual Violence Campaign
Just as FSU has ramped up its kNOw MORE anti-sexual violence campaign, Winston unleashed a misogynistic, vile, expletive punctuated public outburst. The reigning Heisman Trophy winner and star quarterback was benched just one game.
Gruesome Buddies: ISIS Beheadings
And the American Death Penalty
ISIS beheadings have provoked instinctive revulsion, justly so. Too bad the same reaction doesn’t follow Florida’s and other American state’s equally barbaric continuation of the death penalty, a habit other civilized nations have abandoned.
Joan Rivers Enters Heaven, Runs Into God, Jesus and Robin Williams: A Live Report
Joan Rivers makes it into heaven and has a few choice words with God before discovering that Robin Williams got in despite Catholic prohibitions of heaven for suicides: God made an exception.
For or Against Medical Marijuana, Seven Ex-Supreme Court Justices Explain Why They Oppose Amendment 2
Amendment 2, promoted as a compassionate effort to legalize marijuana for medical purposes, should be rejected – regardless of one’s position on the issue of medical marijuana, seven ex-Florida Supreme Court justices argue.
Blame The Victim, Sports Fans: It’s Going To Be An Exciting Season for Misogyny
Following video showing Ray Rice slugging his then-fiancee, there were scores of comments along the lines of “She slapped him! He had every right to hit her,” and the bizarre “Don’t start a fight you don’t intend to finish!” Diane Roberts isn’t taking it.
Obama’s Poisonous ISIS Moment and
The Snare of Remote-Controlled War
It’s not enough to be fighting a losing war in Afghanistan and another against “terror” in Somalia, Yemen, Pakistan and wherever else Obama wants to play centurion to the world. Expanding the war to Syria is a grave error whose unintended consequences will add to 13 years’ worth of American setbacks in the Middle East.
Tin Man Veto: Gov. Rick Scott’s 4-Year War on Legal Aid for the Poor
Owing to Scott, Florida is one of only four states that don’t spare a penny either from appropriations or earmarked court fees for legal aid. New York provides $56.8 million. Even in Texas there’s $6.26 for every estimated person in need.
Flagler Beach’s Dishonorable Ploy: Don’t Remove Gamble Rogers’ Name From Rec Area
Flagler Beach is terribly misguided and short-sighted in its attempt to remove Gamble Rogers from the state recreation area’s name, a reflection of the tourism industry’s faddish obsession with “branding” at the expense of fostering more substantive cultural attractions.
Watch Out, I’m an Arab! How I Changed My Name and Pledged a Take-Over of Flagler County.
Two local ex-candidates–Dennis McDonald and Mark Richter–have been insinuating to government officials that FlaglerLive Editor’s Arab background and name change are a security risk, and his failure to recite the pledge proof of his sinister sympathies.
Do the Math: You Couldn’t Live On Minimum Wage
Imagine living on $290 a week before taxes. It’s not a wage you can live on, Mark O’Brien, a minimum wage earner for a time recently, argues, challenging opponents of raising the minimum wage to try it for themselves.
Visit Florida: Ferguson’s Seethe Is a Matter of Time for the Sunshine State
Rose-colored Florida is a cynical myth, the stuff of marketing brochures, a developers’ conspiracy of enticing fiction to make their cash registers ring. The real Florida is a bitter, brooding reality beyond sugarcoating, argues Stephen Goldstein.
When a County Commissioner Calls The Supervisor of Elections A “Bitch”
In a conversation with a reporter Monday, Flagler County Commissioner Frank Meeker referred to Supervisor of Elections Kimberle Weeks as a “bitch” in what he termed a slip of the tongue, quickly apologizing afterward.
Lessons for Florida from A California Pot Tourist
If Florida’s voters approve Amendment 2, our state will have an opportunity to implement a marijuana law that avoids heading down California’s cynical path, argues Karen Cyphers. It will be a challenge, but the reward of fostering an honest, quality health-care system is well worth the effort.
The Phony War Over Campaign Signs
The problem isn’t the county’s ban on campaign signs at the public library, it’s the dismal slate of candidates on this year’s primary ballots, but Flagler’s Ronald Reagan Assembly candidates and Supervisor of Elections Weeks have teamed up to play up a bogus controversy.
Every Town a Ferguson:
Reflections of a Scary Black Kid from Brooklyn
Next time you feel intimidated by a black man, try to understand that it’s not about you, writes Jon Hardison, as much as it reflects remnants of a fear of what the average black American grew up with.
Manatees No Longer Endangered? Not So Fast.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering downlisting manatees from endangered to threatened, reducing their protective status. Save the Manatee Club’s Katie Tripp argues the proposal rests on too scanty data.