People are increasingly interacting with others in social media environments where algorithms control the flow of social information they see. Algorithms determine in part which messages, which people and which ideas social media users see.
Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, August 28, 2023
The Flagler County Commission holds a 2:30 p.m. workshop to discuss its beach management plan, the Flagler County Beekeepers Association meets, a cop beats a man with a tennis racket as the man is being attacked by a police dog.
What Is Bail?
Trump’s bail was set at US$200,000, while his former attorney Rudy Giuliani’s bail was set at $150,000. Megan T. Stevenson, a University of Virginia law professor who researches bail, answers questions about the American bail system and how the bail amounts in the Georgia election interference case reflect that system.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, August 27, 2023
Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village, how the FBI, not the Washington Post, brought down Richard Nixon, and once again, Pacho Flores’s performance, on the trumpet, of Arturo Marquez’s superb “Autumn Concerto.”
Ex-Wife Once Outsold The Great Gatsby. Why is No One Reading It Now?
Both “Ex-Wife” and “The Great Gatsby” are modern novels of love and loss, money and (mostly bad) manners. At first, “Ex-Wife” was far more successful than “Gatsby,” blasting through a dozen printings and selling over 100,000 copies. It’s forgotten, yet “Ex-Wife” deserves a place alongside Fitzgerald’s novel in classrooms and in the hands of a new generation of readers based on the merits of its style and contents.
Escambia County School Board Wants to Ban Any Book It Wishes
The Escambia County School Board is urging a federal judge to toss out a lawsuit filed by authors, a publishing company, parents and a non-profit organization challenging the removal or restriction of books in school libraries. It argues that it has authority to decide what books will be allowed in schools and that a new state law helps shield it from the allegations.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, August 26, 2023
The Saturday Flagler Beach Farmers Market, “Jerry and Moly and Sam,” a story by Raymond Carver, the Commitments at the dark end of the street.
Why Most Trump Trials Won’t Be Televised
The near blackout will leave 330 million Americans relying on news reports, artist renderings and social media posts for the bulk of their information, despite wanting to see the live proceedings for themselves.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, August 25, 2023
The Blue 24 Forum, the A1A Pride Committee meets, the death of Lolita, the The 57-year-old whale at the Miami aquarium, Susan Orlean on Willie.
Can We Prevent Another Great Extinction?
Southern California experienced a wave of wildfires 13,000 years ago. These fires permanently transformed the region’s vegetation and contributed to Earth’s largest extinction in more than 60 million years. This was a time marked by dramatic climate upheavals and rapidly spreading human populations. The parallels between the late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions and today’s environmental crises are striking.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, August 24, 2023
School Board workshop on the hiring of LaShakia Moore as superintendent, Florida Humanities Speakers Series: “Respect: Soul Music and the Civil Rights Movement” at AACS, Yasser Arafat and Jorge Luis Borges.
What Florida Gets Wrong About George Washington and Enslaving Blacks
Florida officials want public school educators to misleadingly emphasize Washington’s efforts to abolish slavery. Yet Washington’s efforts to free Black people pale in comparison to how he fought to keep Black people enslaved.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, August 23, 2023
The Flagler County Public Library Book Club takes on “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo,” Separation Chat, Open Discussion, memories of Baalbek and the Temple of Jupiter.
Why Trump’s Supporters Remain Loyal
People around the world — including many Americans — cannot understand why a sizeable portion of the United States population continues to support Donald Trump, despite an ever-increasing list of charges against him, including the latest indictments in Georgia. Here’s an explanation.
Ex-Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, a Democrat, Will Seek to Unseat Sen. Rick Scott
Former South Florida Democratic Congresswoman Debbie Mucarsel-Powell is now a candidate for U.S. Senate, announcing Tuesday morning that she is seeking to unseat Republican incumbent Rick Scott in 2024.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, August 22, 2023
The NAACP Flagler Branch’s General Membership meeting this evening, cry the oil companies a river of oil, H.L. Mencken on the American press, the Cast of Curb Your Enthusiasm with Brian William.
Gender Apartheid in Afghanistan Is a Crime Against Humanity
The Taliban has denied Afghan women the most basic human rights in what can only be described as gender apartheid. Only by labelling it as such and making clear the situation in Afghanistan is a crime against humanity can the international community legally fight the systematic discrimination against the country’s women and girls.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, August 21, 2023
The Flagler County Commission takes on the final plat approval for Veranda Bay, the Mosquito Control District Board meets, the day the Mona Lisa was stolen for the second time.
‘Uncivil Obedience,’ Reactionaries’ New Protest Method
Uncivil obedience is the opposite of the more commonly known protest strategy of civil disobedience. Protesters may appear to respect authority by carefully following the laws to show what they are doing is legal. But the behavior may be seen as “uncivil” by some because the behavior challenges social expectations, uses laws in ways unintended by their originators, or both.
Ohio’s Message to Florida: There’s Still Hope for Democracy
Terrified that an amendment giving women — not Gilead Republicans — control over their reproductive health would pass in November, Ohio’s right-wingers figured they’d change the rules in the middle of the game. But on Aug. 8, voters in this allegedly red state rejected a Republican-backed measure to make it harder for citizens to amend their constitution.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, August 20, 2023
Sunday Chess Club at Chabad of Palm Coast, Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village, William Maxwell’s “Over By the River,” Charles Portis on taking in an intellectual woman.
How Cats Finagled Their Way Into Human Hearts and Homes
Clearly, the few evolutionary changes the domestic cat has made have been the right ones to wangle their way into people’s hearts and homes. It started in the Middle East. The boldest cats entered huts and perhaps allowed themselves to be petted – kittens are adorable! – and, voilà, the domestic cat was born.
Unprecedented $1 Billion Available in Grants to Prevent Wildfires. Most Towns Don’t Know About It.
There’s a huge pot of federal money available to communities across the country — an unprecedented amount that would allow towns to quickly tackle work that otherwise would take decades.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, August 19, 2023
The Saturday Flagler Beach Farmers Market, Grace Community Food Pantry, Bill Clinton’s 77th, with rewinds to Clinton on Letterman and Michiko Kakutani on Clinton.
Georgia’s Trump Indictment Is a GOP Dream of States’ Rights
Donald Trump is now experiencing the full weight of a system of government in which criminal law is produced and enforced by law enforcement agencies and prosecutors across 50 states–the “federalism” Ronald Reagan preached–and by one powerful central government.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, August 18, 2023
Waterfront Park Ribbon Cutting, Pete Davidson and Friends in Ponte Vedra Beach, Midnight Mayhem at One Daytona, E.B. Sledge and With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa.
Atlantic Currents At Risk of Collapse, with Catastrophic Implications
New findings suggest the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation, or Amoc, could collapse within the next few decades – maybe even within the next few years – driving European weather to even greater extremes.
Jacob Oliva, as Arkansas Secretary of Education, Defends Removal of AP African American Studies
Former Flagler County Superintendent Jacob Oliva, now the secretary of education in Arkansas, sought to defend the removal of an AP African American Studies class from the state’s approved course list late last week, but anger persisted from education advocates, state lawmakers, students and the NAACP.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, August 17, 2023
Flagler Tiger Bay Club’s fifth annual Wine Tasting Meet and big reveal, Creative Writing for Adults at the Public Library, Democratic Women’s Club meeting, “Florida Soul” at the African American Cultural Society, the futility of beach renourishment.
Montana Kids’ Climate Lawsuit Victory Could Set a Powerful Precedent
The case, Held v. State of Montana, was based on allegations that state energy policies violate the young plaintiffs’ constitutional right to “a clean and healthful environment” – a right that has been enshrined in the Montana Constitution since the 1970s.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, August 16, 2023
The Palm Coast Planning and Land Development Board takes on the Cascades development in Seminole Woods, Separation Chat, Open Discussion, George Carlin at the National Press Club, E.B. Sledge’s portrait of Sgt. Haney.
Israeli Colonists’ Terrorism Worsens Relations Already at Low Ebb with U.S.
There has been a change in the Biden’s administration’s overall attitude toward Israel, as with the pointed use of the term “terrorism” against Israel by the state department in response to the killing of a young Palestinian, 19-year old Qusai Jamal Maatan, near Ramallah by settlers on August 4.
Hating Trump Is Corrupting Liberal Media
The left’s partisan journalists are still so fixated on hating Donald Trump and making sure he never returns to power that they will never cover the blunders, failures and crimes of the Bidens. The liberal media’s response – “We don’t care. We hate Trump.”
Florida Felons Want Their Guns Back. Supreme Court May Hear Them Out.
After a major U.S. Supreme Court ruling last year on Second Amendment rights, the Florida Supreme Court could decide whether to uphold a state law barring possession of guns by convicted felons.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, August 15, 2023
Food Truck Tuesdays, The Flagler County School Board has its monthly pair of meetings, the Palm Coast City Council meets, the Barbie movie is banned in Lebanon and is celebrated on SNL.
How Florida’s Academic Standards Distort Enslaved Americans’ Contributions to American Society
Whereas Florida would have students believe that enslaved Black people “benefited” by developing skills during slavery, the reality is that enslaved Africans contributed to the nation’s social, cultural and economic well-being by using skills they had already developed before captivity.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, August 14, 2023
“Summer of Soul,” part of AACS’s film presentations of classic Black cinema, this afternoon, the Bunnell City Commission meets, Ian McEwan on civilization, on Bach, and on Ian McEwan.
Re-Imagining Democracy for the 21st Century
Imagine that we’ve all – all of us, all of society – landed on some alien planet, and we have to form a government: clean slate. We don’t have any legacy systems from the U.S. or any other country. We don’t have any special or unique interests to perturb our thinking. How would we govern ourselves?
The GOP’s Death Cult Is Holding Us Hostage to Climate Ignorance
The Earth is being held hostage by the party of ignorance, “conservatives” who no longer want to conserve anything other than white privilege. They’ve become a death cult, denying what’s obvious to rational, literate people. Who cares if the seas are boiling? As long as they “own the libs.”
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, August 13, 2023
Sunday Chess Club at Chabad, Jason Mraz at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre, your fuel consumption against a plane’s, Google’s AI efforts against contrails, reading a book in public in the United States.
Maui’s Deadly Wildfires’ Reminder: No Community Is Safe Anymore
Fires have become an increasing risk in many areas of the U.S. that people once considered safe. Over the past two decades, a staggering 21.8 million Americans found themselves living within 3 miles (5 kilometers) of a large wildfire. Nearly 600,000 of them were directly exposed to the fire, with their homes inside the wildfire perimeter.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, August 12, 2023
The Saturday Flagler Beach Farmers Market, Gamble Jam, Steve McQueen and Cornel West in Conversation, Spottswood Rice’s letter, a shooting incident on Staten Island.
How Donald Trump is Criminalizing American Politics
Trump and his allies have long created a culture of lies, illusions, cruelty and misrepresentation. He has waged an incessant attack on reason, critical thinking, informed judgment and social responsibility. His distaste for Black people, migrants and others he considers disposable is matched by his support for the financial and corporate elite.
NOAA Says Hurricane Season Will Be More Intense Than Originally Predicted
Scientists at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center have increased their prediction for the ongoing 2023 Atlantic hurricane season from a near-normal level of activity to an above-normal level of activity–for 14 to 21 named storms, up from the originally predicted 12 to 17 named storms.
New College Interviews for New President Between Eliminating Gender Studies and Making Homer Mandatory
New College of Florida officials on Thursday interviewed three final candidates vying to become the school’s next permanent president, including current Interim President Richard Corcoran. The trustees also interviewed Tyler Fisher, an associate professor of modern languages and literature and a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Central Florida, and Robert Gervasi, a former interim president at the University of Mount Union in Ohio.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, August 11, 2023
LGBTQ+ Night at Flagler Beach’s Coquina Coast Brewing Company, celebrating Britt Hobo Days, also known as the National Hobo Convention, the John T. Davis documentary, Jack London’s The Road.
Forced-Birth Reactionaries Fail to Rig the Game in Ohio
In a red Ohio referendum this week, forced-birth reactionaries got blown out by a whopping margin of 430,000 votes. No word yet on whether Roe v. Wade killer Donald Trump has aspirationally asked Republican election officials to find 430,001 votes.
The Heroic Effort to Save Florida’s Coral Reef from Devastating Record Heat
As water temperatures spiked in the Florida Keys, scientists from universities, coral reef restoration groups and government agencies launched a heroic effort to save the corals. Divers have been in the water every day, collecting thousands of corals from ocean nurseries along the Florida Keys reef tract and moving them to cooler water and into giant tanks on land.
Rise in Electric Vehicle May Be Denting Florida’s Gas Tax Revenue
As more motorists drive electric vehicles, the change could put a dent in gasoline taxes, which play a key role in funding transportation projects in Florida, according to an analysis by state economists.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, August 10, 2023
Flagler County schools are back in session for students today. The Flagler Beach City Commission meets. A few thoughts on going back to school from George Bernard Shaw and John Updike. And Sam Kinison, of course.