Rotary’s Fantasy Lights Festival in Palm Coast’s Town Center, Farmers’ Market at European Village, the civilian death toll in Gaza.
Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions
It’s Not Just Trump: What Islamophobes’ Victory in Dutch Election Says About Far Right’s Resurgence
For the first time in Dutch history, a party of the extreme right is the largest in the national parliament. Wilders is an eccentric politician known for his inflammatory rhetoric. He advocates the Netherlands leaving the European Union and has called Islam a “fascist” religion. In a 2016 trial, he was found guilty of inciting discrimination (but received no penalty for the crime).
Proposed Florida Law Would Ban Local Governments and Contractors from Recognizing Preferred Pronouns
A legislative proposal to bar state and local governments and contractors or nonprofits drawing state money from recognizing employees’ preferred gender pronouns if they differ from their biological sex has drawn criticism from LGBTQ+ Democrats as “a disturbing escalation of right-wing extremism in Florida.”
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, November 25, 2023
Tree-lighting ceremony and Fantasy Lights in Palm Coast’s Central Park this evening, a little exercise in perspective, comparing the South of Reconstruction with Israel’s policy toward Palestinians, Raja Shehadeh and Amos Oz.
Court Rules You Can’t Sue to Enforce Voting Rights. Is That Fair?
A federal appeals court in Arkansas ruled on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023, that only the federal government – not private citizens or civil rights groups – could sue to enforce the 1965 Voting Rights Act. This decision will likely be appealed to the Supreme Court – but if it stands, it could gut individual people’s and civil rights groups’ legal right to fight racial discrimination in voting.
Trump’s Draconian Immigration Policies Are Setting the Tone for GOP’s Presidential Contenders
What were once considered far-right policies are now common talking points among the GOP candidates. That includes support for building a wall along the Southern U.S.-Mexico border and ending birthright citizenship for American-born children of undocumented immigrants — a protection that is enshrined in the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, November 24, 2023
Why Clay Jones doesn’t do obit cartoons, the dark side of black Friday, Letterman’s stupidest pet tricks, Bill Bryson recalls the good old days of dads’ girlie magazines.
Gray Friday: Americans Are Tiptoeing Out of Economic Turmoil
Consumers are conflicted: They’re excited for deals and looking forward to treating themselves, but they’re feeling squeezed by high prices. On average, they plan to spend about US$665 on gifts this holiday season — about $35 less than last year, and substantially less than the National Retail Federation’s 10-year average of $826.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, November 23, 2023
Happy Thanksgiving: Nothing is going on today outside of your homes, Roseanne Roseannadanna, the first book, and Amos Oz’s mother, the Reader.
Coded Racism in Jason Aldean’s Song Exposes Problem with Small-Town Values
The Maury County Courthouse in Columbia, Tennessee, has come to represent the overlooked cultural divisions between urban and small-town America.
The courthouse was the site of the lynching of a Black teenager in 1927. It also served as a rallying spot for white vigilantes who assembled there during race riots in 1946. It is now the focus of a modern-day controversy over singer Jason Aldean’s “Try That in a Small Town.”
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, November 22, 2023
The Atlantic Chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State meets, a few thoughts on assassinations, what the evening news commercials say about viewers.
Colonists’ Violence Against West Bank Palestinians Denies Their Right to Exist
The proliferation of armed settlers in the West Bank, the expansion of illegal settler outposts and now the increasing violence and forced displacement all stem from the same underlying policy that led to the 16-year blockade of Gaza: an Israeli policy of ignoring Palestinian national claims altogether.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, November 21, 2023
Random Acts of Insanity at Cinematique Theater, Clay Jones has a few things to say about Trump’s alleged acuity, marking Voltaire’s 329th birthday with Goethe and Theodore Besterman.
Homelessness as a Deprivation of Freedom
Some philosophers have argued that while homelessness is clearly a state of deprivation, it is also a condition in which a person’s freedom is profoundly compromised. These theorists insist a society that cherishes freedom – such as the U.S. – must implement anti-homelessness policy as a way of liberating people who lack housing.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, November 20, 2023
The Flagler County Commission in a pair of meetings takes up the proposed settlement with Captain’s BBQ and improvements at Wadsworth Park. When Carl L. Stinedurf joined Richard Cory: Guns and Simon and Garfunkel.
Yes, the South Has a Poverty Crisis
By a range of economic indicators — personal income per capita and the proportion of the population living in poverty, for starters – large parts of the South, and particularly the rural South, are struggling. About 1 in 5 counties in the South is marked by “persistent poverty” — a poverty rate that has stayed above 20% for three decades running. Indeed, fully 80% of all persistently poor counties in the U.S. are in the South.
Florida Lawmakers Put Developers’ Interests Ahead of Residents’ Hurricane Safety
In a bill to supply aid to the victims of Hurricane Ian and Idalia, lawmakers told local governments in counties hammered by the storm that they were not allowed to make “burdensome” changes to their land-use or growth plan regulations for three years. No learning from their mistakes and trying to avoid repeating them.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, November 19, 2023
Riverfest Seafood Festival, Deland Fall Festival of the Arts, the Library of America’s edition of William Faulkner’s collected stories, a few words from “Uncle Willy.”
‘From the River to the Sea’: A Historian Interprets the Palestinian Slogan
The majority of Palestinians who use this phrase do so because they believe that, in 10 short words, it sums up their personal ties, their national rights and their vision for the land they call Palestine. And while attempts to police the slogan’s use may come from a place of genuine concern, there is a risk that tarring the slogan as antisemitic – and therefore beyond the pale – taps into a longer history of attempts to silence Palestinian voices.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, November 18, 2023
The Flagler Woman’s Club’s Bunco evening open to all, Live From the Waterworks: Gamble Rogers Folk Festival’s Monthly Concert Series, when teachers learn to fire guns.
Unthanksgiving at Alcatraz: The Annual Celebration of Resistance to American Colonialism
The Indigenous People’s Thanksgiving Sunrise Ceremony is an annual celebration that spotlights 500 years of Native resistance to colonialism in what was dubbed the “New World.” Held on the traditional lands of the Ohlone people, the gathering is a call for remembrance and for future action for Indigenous people and their allies.
Proposal Would Reduce Testing But Lower Standards and Shift Academic Decisions From Teachers to Parents
A trio of education bills passed by the Senate K-12 education committee ease the burden of standardized tests, eliminate the requirement for Algebra 1 end-of-course exam and 10th-grade English Language Arts tests to graduate from high school, and allow parents more power to determine whether their third-graders should move to the next grade.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, November 17, 2023
Brandon Washington, the notorious gang leader sentenced to several life terms a decade ago, is back in court, the Blue Forum 24 meets, a look at the construction of the Margaritaville hotel construction site in Flagler Beach, F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Fentanyl: An Explanation
Buying drugs on the street is a game of Russian roulette. From Xanax to cocaine, drugs or counterfeit pills purchased in nonmedical settings may contain life-threatening amounts of fentanyl. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that was originally developed as an analgesic – or painkiller – for surgery.
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects DeSantis Attempt to Enforce Drag Show Law Halted in Lower Courts
A divided U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a request from Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration that would have allowed enforcement of a new state law aimed at preventing children from attending drag shows. U.S. District Judge Gregory Presnell this summer issued a statewide preliminary injunction against the law, finding that it violated First Amendment rights.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, November 16, 2023
Christ the King Lutheran Church hosts its Meals of Hope (and can use your help), the United States accounts for one of the highest proportion of trans individuals murdered in the world, Dr. Phil on trans rights.
The Problem with Offshore Wind Farms
In a recent report, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine examined whether and how constructing offshore wind farms in the Nantucket Shoals region, southeast of Massachusetts, could affect critically endangered North Atlantic right whales. Marine scientists weigh in.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, November 15, 2023
The Palm Coast Planning Board meets, the Flagler County Public Library Book Club talks John Grisham, a few words about Frederick II, Renaissance Man of the Crusades, Rabbit Angstrom on anger.
Dolphins and Manatees Are Getting Poisoned in Miami’s Biscayne Bay
PFAS, the “forever chemicals” that have been raising health concerns across the country, are not just a problem in drinking water. As these chemicals leach out of failing septic systems and landfills and wash off airport runways and farm fields, they can end up in streams that ultimately discharge into ocean ecosystems where fish, dolphins, manatees, sharks and other marine species live.
DeSantis Wants $1 Billion More for Emergency Slush Fund
Gov. Ron DeSantis is expected to ask for an additional $1 billion for the state Emergency Preparedness and Response Fund during the upcoming legislative session. The fund has received $2.92 billion in state general revenue, including $500 million in the budget for the current fiscal year that began July 1. It has also drawn $621 million in federal dollars. Just over $2.56 billion has been spent.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, November 14, 2023
The Palm Coast City Council will hear the latest utility rate study–usually the precursor to rate hikes, and hear about Community Cats. A few words about the two-state solutions, and a few thoughts from Raja Shehadeh.
What Jail Conditions and Deaths Tell us
Jails are locally managed, and the majority of their populations are being detained pretrial while unconvicted. Data on how many people die while incarcerated is notoriously inaccessible and often unreliable. Relatively high turnover rates, we found, were associated with higher death rates overall, as well as due to suicide, drugs and alcohol, and homicide.
UF Ordered to Pay $372,000 in Legal Fees in Case that Violated Professors’ 1st Amendment Rights
A federal judge has awarded more than $372,000 in legal fees to attorneys who represented professors in a high-profile lawsuit against the University of Florida over being able to serve as expert witnesses in court cases.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, November 13, 2023
The Bunnell City Commission discusses an Italian Festival in the city, Brendan Depa and school violence make it onto Bill Maher, it’s trial week, and the Flagler Cares Coalition’s general membership meets.
Government Shutdown, Chapter DCCLXV*
Much of the news coverage of the discussions and negotiations aimed at averting a government shutdown on Nov. 17, 2023, relies on pundits and their unnamed sources, on leaks, speculation, wishful thinking and maybe even the reading of tea leaves. It’s not about to get better.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, November 12, 2023
The Palm Coast Fall Arts Festival in Central Park, the Farmers’ Market at European Village, Donnie Brook’s underwater UFO base near Deerfield Beach, Rachel Carson on the Sea Around Us.
2030 Clutter Odyssey: 1 Million Satellites in Space?
There are currently only about 8,000 active satellites in orbit. But In September 2021, Rwanda announced that it was planning to launch over 300,000 satellites. Three months later, a Canadian company, having previously launched two dozen CubeSats, said it would launch an additional 100,000. Then, a French company did likewise. And SpaceX, which has already launched around 5,000 satellites, now has plans for over 60,000 more. What’s going on?
Controversial PragerU Materials that Distort Science and Whitewash History Gain Foothold in Florida Schools
PragerU, which is not a university, is founded and run by conservative talk-show host Dennis Prager and funded by a number of like-minded philanthropists. PragerU touts its conservative view as a “free alternative to the dominant left-wing ideology in culture, media, and education.” But critics say it distorts science and whitewashes unpleasant aspects of historical events.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, November 11, 2023
Veterans Day Parade in Bunnell and subsequent ceremony at the GSB, celebrating the skies in Flagler Beach with the photography of Scott Spradley and Rick Belhumeur, on the magic of books according to Amos Oz.
More Than One Journalist per Day Is Getting Killed in Gaza
At least 39 journalists and media workers had been killed in the month since the war began, the deadliest conflict for media workers since the Committee to Protect Journalists began keeping records in 1992. The victims are mostly Palestinian journalists and media workers killed in Israel’s attacks on Gaza, but they include four Israelis, whom Hamas murdered in its initial cross-border raid on October 7, and one Beirut-based videographer killed in south Lebanon.
Florida Lawmakers Want to Reduce Regulations in Public Schools
Florida lawmakers are looking at ways to take some regulations off the books for public schools. A new law law directed the State Board of Education to identify potential repeals and revisions in the state’s education code. The law also required the board to solicit input from people such as teachers, superintendents, administrators and school boards.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, November 10, 2023
Free For All Fridays tries to make sense of the art scene in Flagler County, the Blue 24 Forum, celebrating Ennio Morricone, Rachel Carson on the Sea Around Us.
A Sociology Course That Deals with Gender, Sexuality and Race May be Demoted at Florida Colleges
The Principles of Sociology class, which still would be available to students, would no longer count toward fulfilling required social-science coursework. The class involves lessons on gender, sex and sexuality and race and ethnicity, according to a syllabus from one university. State Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. wants it removed from the social sciences category.
Abortion Rights Won’t Fade in 2024 Election
Three reasons why: Votes amending state constitutions are key to protecting abortion rights. Reframing abortion restrictions does not fool voters. Abortion rights matter up and down the ballot. In sum, abortion increasingly matters to voters. And most voters do not want laws severely restricting abortion and other kinds of reproductive health care.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, November 9, 2023
The Flagler Beach City Commission meets, Chris Lowe of Hopkins Marine Station at Stanford University is the speaker at Whitney’s Lecture Series, a stream of consciousness from Brown Dog, plus Jack London.
Is Mormon Church Defrauding Members?
A lawsuit against the LDS church and Ensign Peak, filed on Oct. 31, is based on the premise that the church has violated its members’ trust by amassing massive investments in stocks, bonds, real estate and agriculture that don’t support charitable activities.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, November 8, 2023
The Atlantic Chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State hosts its weekly chat, the office as we knew it is over, the soul of computers.
What Is Intersectionality?
Intersectionality, the social theory, has a complex history and refers to the intertwining of different identities, such as class, gender and age. It is often applied as a way to understand how individuals may experience multiple forms of prejudice simultaneously. The theory assumes that meanings associated with one identity are insufficient to explain the experiences associated with multiple, coexisting identities.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, November 7, 2023
The Flagler County School Board’s firing squad meets again to discuss its attorney’s fate, the Palm Coast City Council meets, the Central Amazon Conservation Complex, Frederick Douglass on “the dark outlines of approaching disasters.”
Should Domestic Abusers Have Access to Guns?
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday hears arguments in a case that will decide whether courts should, as is the case in Florida, have the authority to take away the guns of people who are under a domestic violence protective order, which aims to shield victims from their abusers.