Voltaire’s Candide, or Optimism (1759) is widely recognised as his masterpiece. A darkly satirical novella taking aim at human folly, pride and excessive faith in reason’s ability to plumb the deepest metaphysical truths, it remains as telling in this era of pandemics and wild conspiracy theories as when first published.
Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions
State School Board Targets Parents Whose Children Report Unfounded Threats
The State Board of Education on Wednesday approved a rule change that will require school districts to make training available to parents and guardians on the use of FortifyFL, an app where anonymous tips can be submitted about suspicious activities. Students already receive such training.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, November 20, 2024
The Flagler County Public Library Book Club takes on David Von Drehle, Bridge and Games at Flagler Woman’s Club, the United Nation’s report on genocide in Gaza and apartheid in Jerusalem and the West Bank, which most media in the United States have not reported.
What James Earl Jones Can Teach Us About Activism and Art
James Earl Jones was looking to change the culture. He was trying to change the country’s understanding of what it means to fight – and what a freedom fighter is. Sometimes, activism can be as simple as making art to the best of your abilities – or, as W.E.B. Du Bois wrote, “to use beauty to set the world right.”
Advise and Consent. Just Not to Matt Gaetz.
Matt Gaetz is virtually no one’s idea of a qualified nominee. The man is a graduate of William and Mary Law School, a fact that must have the ghost of Thomas Jefferson pulling out his sepulchral hair. He practiced law for less than two years in a civil firm, has no criminal law experience and was briefly suspended for not paying certain administrative fees but was later reinstated.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, November 19, 2024
A day of swearings-in at the Palm Coast City Council, the County Commission and the School Board, a Fall Horticultural Workshops at the Palm Coast Community Center, Colleen Conklin’s last interview, Geoffrey Ward’s “Tiger in the Road.”
One More Delusion: Trump Thinks He Can Solve the Middle East.
Donald Trump has promised to end all wars. In his usual impulsive and unpredictable manner, he has pledged to resolve the Ukraine war within 24 hours of taking office and help Israel finish its Gaza and Lebanon operations quickly. Yet the Middle East is a complex place. Given the absence of a Gaza ceasefire, the thin hope of a halt to the Lebanon fighting, Netanyahu’s intransigence and Trump’s pursuance of an “Israel first” policy, the Middle East’s volatility is likely to persist.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, November 18, 2024
The Flagler County Commission meets in workshop to discuss the case of developer Mark Langello’s impact fees, the Land Acquisition Committee meets, ghost guns and an epidemic of violence.
The Taliban’s Violent Erasure of Women Through Its ‘Vice and Virtue’ Law
A newly passed “vice and virtue” law is among the most repressive and discriminatory measures ever enacted by the Taliban, an Islamist fundamentalist group controlling Afghanistan. The new law seeks to completely silence women in public. They are prohibited from speaking, singing or praying aloud. The law also attempts to literally erase them from view, ordering women to cover every part of their body and face in public.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, November 17, 2024
Jake’s Women at City Repertory Theatre, a final matinee, the Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village, John Oliver on the West Bank, and a look at “Welcome To Hell,” a report on the abuse and inhuman treatment of Palestinians held in Israeli custody.