Give it up, wokester profs: Ron DeSantis will no longer tolerate your anti-American spin on our history, your critical race theorizing, your LGBTQ weirdo agenda, and your communist indoctrination of our kids in Florida’s great state universities.
Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, September 5, 2022
Labor Day then and now, the ongoing tax “holiday” for home improvement items, Babe Ruth’s first professional day, Darkness at Noon, Etta James.
Is Desalination the Way Through Droughts?
Despite growing water insecurity worldwide, desalination technology remains too expensive for widespread use. Efforts have been made to reduce its cost, with many showing promise. However, technological evolution takes time and it will be decades before costs fall to a level that facilitates the wider expansion of desalination.
Florida National Guard Could Be Used to Fill In at Short-Staffed State Prisons
As the state continues to struggle with a shortage of correctional officers, a legislative panel next week will consider a plan that would activate Florida National Guard members to help at prisons, according to a document published Friday.
Artemis Moon Shot, Twice Delayed This Week, May Have to Wait Until October
NASA now intends to roll the 322-foot rocket back to the VAB and to reset all systems. NASA requirements and launch window schedules suggests it will take at least 25 days to schedule the rocket for another launch.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, September 4, 2022
The sales tax break on home improvement items continues, a Spectrum story on Flagler Beach’s erosion, why Black people distrusted Ronald Reagan, Richard Wright.
Americans Think They Know A Lot About Politics. They’re Wrong. And It’s Hurting Democracy.
Political overconfidence can make people more defensive of factually wrong beliefs about politics. It also causes Americans to underestimate the political skill of their peers. And those who believe themselves to be political experts often dismiss the guidance of real experts.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, September 3, 2022
Sales tax suspension on tools and home-improvement items, Sunshine and Sandals Social at Cornerstone, Qatar’s unfreedoms ahead of the World Cup, Mark Twain in King Arthur’s court, Charlie Sheen.
What Abortion Opponents Ignore: Most Embryos Die After Conception
An important biological feature of human embryos has been left out of a lot of ethical and even scientific discussion informing reproductive policy – most human embryos die before anyone, including doctors, even know they exist. This embryo loss typically occurs in the first two months after fertilization, before the clump of cells has developed into a fetus with immature forms of the body’s major organs.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, September 2, 2022
Princess Williams is sentenced for her role in a 2018 armed robbery and shooting, Clarence Murphy is back in court to argue he had poor counsel when he pleaded and was sentenced to life, First Friday in Flagler Beach, Jimmy Connors, James Agee on FDR’s death, Schubert’s 13th piano sonata.
Black Girls Are 4.19 Times More Likely to Get Suspended Than White Girls
And hiring more teachers of color is only part of the solution: a major barrier to intervention is the perception adults hold about Black girls. Instead of receiving developmentally appropriate and socioemotional support, many Black girls are adultified – a concept coined to describe how Black girls are disproportionately perceived as less innocent, needing less nurturing, less protection, less support.
Ex-Judges, Prosecutors, Police Chiefs and Legal Scholars Lambast DeSantis Suspension of State Attorney
More than 100 legal scholars and dozens of former judges, prosecutors and police chiefs are decrying Gov. Ron DeSantis’ suspension of Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren, arguing that the move runs counter to professional standards, sets a dangerous precedent and violates the constitutional separation of powers.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, September 1, 2022
The Flagler County Canvassing Board conducts its legally required manual audit of the primary election, DeSantis’s weird woke obsession, Prostate Awareness Month, Ninon de Lenclos, old age as a massacre.
The World’s Retreat from Democracy Is a Boon to China
Only 8.4% of the world’s population lived in a fully functioning democracy, this shift is being referred to as a “democratic recession”. The gradual erosion of democratic values and freedoms and the slide towards authoritarianism is opening up more space for China to dominate the global agenda with its values.
DeSantis Press Conference: Bash Biden. Praise Self. Bash Biden. Campaign Shrilly. Bash Biden.
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “news conferences” are heavy on campaigning and Biden-bashing and light on actual policy announcements. The governor packs these events with supporters who cheer him plus local officials and administration figures who lavish him with praise.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, August 31, 2022
The Flagler Youth Orchestra holds its open house at the Flagler Auditorium for all interested participants at 5:30 p.m., John Hersey’s “Hiroshima” on its 76th anniversary, and how this is not your life.
The Problem With Virtue Signaling
Virtue signalers are often inclined to pat themselves on the back for their moral insight and courage. This refuge doesn’t work: talking about virtue is useful, but real virtue requires work. It is far more demanding and is far harder to fake.
Florida Sets Limits on How Much Medical Pot Doctors May Order for Patients
The highly anticipated emergency rule sets a 70-day total supply limit of 24,500 mg of THC for non-smokable marijuana and establishes dosage caps for different routes of administration such as edibles, inhalation and tinctures.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, August 30, 2022
The Palm Coast City Council get a presentation on the final $249 million budget proposal for 2022-23, the National Hurricane Center keeps an eye on a potential hurricane in the Atlantic, the Hellespont Swim.
Federal Judge Urged to Halt Law Muzzling Instruction on Gender and Sexual Orientation
The 26-page motion contends that the law, passed this year by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, “was enacted with the purpose to discriminate and has the effect of discriminating against LGBTQ+ students and those with LGBTQ+ family members.”
The Greenland Ice Sheet Is Losing Ice Faster Than Forecast
Even if all the greenhouse gas emissions driving global warming ceased today, we find that Greenland’s ice loss under current temperatures will raise global sea level by at least 10.8 inches (27.4 centimeters). That’s more than current models forecast, and it’s a highly conservative estimate.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, August 29, 2022
The school board discusses its service union workers’ contract in a closed session, Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes’s vapidity of values, Michael Jackson’s thriller birthday.
Violent Conspiracies and the Convictions of Michigan Governor’s Kidnapping Plotters
The verdict in the trial of co-defendants Adam Fox and Barry Croft Jr. comes after a previous trial ended in acquittals for two other co-defendants, Daniel Harris and Brandon Caserta, and mistrials for Fox and Croft. Their two other alleged accomplices, Ty Garbin and Kaleb Franks, pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with the prosecutions against the others.
Marco Rubio and Rick Scott Fight Phantom Commies As the World Burns
Our two upper-chamber gents aren’t merely lobbing charges of Banana Republicanism at Democrats. At the recent CPAC meeting, Rick Scott gave a rootin’ tootin’ slap-your-dog-and-arrest-your-undocumented-mama speech warning, “The militant Left has now taken control of our economy, our culture, and our country.”
In America, Cancer Patients Endure Crushing Debt on Top of Disease
Medical breakthroughs mean cancer is less likely to kill, but survival can come at an extraordinary cost as patients drain savings, declare bankruptcy, or lose their homes, an investigation finds.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, August 28, 2022
Grace Community Food Pantry, composer Peter Boyer’s Fanfare for Tomorrow, when Orwell watched a man hanged, a few more days before the open house of the Flagler Youth Orchestra.
NASA’s Artemis 1 Moon Launch and Routine Exploration Ahead
NASA’s Artemis 1 mission is poised to take a key step toward returning humans to the Moon after a half-century hiatus. The mission, scheduled to launch on Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, is a shakedown cruise – sans crew – for NASA’s Space Launch System and Orion Crew Capsule. Here’s the significance of the mission.
Crist Adds Teachers Union Leader Karla Hernandez to Gubernatorial Ticket
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist on Saturday formally announced Karla Hernandez, the teachers union president in Florida’s largest school district, as his running mate in the November election.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, August 27, 2022
The Saturday Flagler Beach Farmers Market, Gamble Jam, celebrating Theodore Dreiser and celebrating Hegel a little less, but with a nice long lecture.
Citing Grand Jury Report, DeSantis Suspends Broward School Board Members Over Parkland Massacre
The grand jury report, completed in April and released last week, said the targeted board members’ and Runcie’s “uninformed or even misinformed decisions, incompetent management and lack of meaningful oversight” resulted in cost overruns and delays in a $1 billion school-safety program approved by county voters in 2014.
How Trump’s Thefts May Have Compromised National Security
The most telling new information is that the FBI agent says that a review of Mar-a-Lago documents the government had already obtained by grand jury subpoena earlier this year were marked in a way that would clearly indicate national security was at risk.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, August 26, 2022
The final day of Kwentrel Moultrie’s trial, a canvassing board meeting, Christopher Isherwood reflects on anti-fascism in another time and place, Julio Cortazar reflects on the meaning of Life (magazine).
Chautauqua’s Place in Free Speech and Learning
Chautauqua has never been immune from larger national tensions and sometimes failed to live up to the inclusive vision it proclaimed. But its founding values are those that Salman Rushdie’s supporters were seeking to defend when he was attacked there on Aug. 12.
Anti-Abortion Extremism Is Scaring Voters. It Should.
Our country may be divided on the issue of abortion. But when it comes down to it, most Americans believe that it’s a pregnant person’s right to decide for themselves whether to continue a pregnancy. That’s not only a blue-state attitude — it’s just as true in conservative states like Kansas.
Almost No Florida University Students Responded to New ‘Intellectual Freedom’ Survey
Florida’s public university students seemed reluctant to fill out a controversial survey on so-called “intellectual freedom and viewpoint diversity” that was prompted by the Legislature, as about 8,800 of some 368,000 students bothered to submit responses.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, August 25, 2022
Brooke Anna Lorenzen is sentenced, The Kwentel Moultrie trial is in its fourth day, Meriwether Lewis reflects on his 31st year, the National park Service marks its 106th anniversary.
The Impact of Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Plan
The plan would offer up to US$10,000 in forgiveness for people who earn less than $125,000 – $250,000 for couples – and up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients. Three experts explain the decision and its impact.
Beleaguered Crist Begs National Democratic Party: Don’t Abandon Us
Democrats fear needed money won’t come their way, what with concerns over Gov. Ron DeSantis’ massive campaign war chest, the GOP eclipse of Democrats in party registration, and shifts among the state’s Hispanic population toward the Republicans.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, August 24, 2022
Flagler Cares Help Night for all people in need, the Kwentel Moultrie trial’s third day, Fingerprinting available at the Flagler Beach Police Department, Wittgenstein’s certainty.
Yoga, Church and Civic Engagement
As the United States gets less religious, is it also getting more selfish? No: progressive spiritual practitioners as a growing but largely unrecognized, underestimated and misunderstood political force. People may change what they do on a Sunday morning, but checking out of church doesn’t necessarily imply checking out of the political process.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, August 23, 2022
Election day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Coffee with Kimberli Halliday, the Kwentell Moultrie trial’s second day, the end of Brian Stelter, The Road to Wigan Pier’s answer to J.D. Vance.
Obesity Is Not All About Sugar: Too Much Salt, Not Enough Water
Relatively little is said about two significant pieces of the very complex obesity puzzle: lack of hydration and excessive salt intake. Both are known to contribute to obesity.
Federal Ruling Clears Way for Lawsuit Against School Officer Who Attacked Student
A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a district judge’s ruling that former Officer Mario Badia was entitled to immunity from allegations of excessive force and battery. The panel upheld immunity for Badia on a claim of false arrest.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, August 22, 2022
The Bunnell commission considers a 100-acre rezoning to accommodate a development of shops and apartments near Commerce Boulevard, the Kwentell Moultrie re-trail on a rape charge begins, American journalism in the nefarious age of Trump.
The Mediterranean’s Record Sea Temperatures Could Devastate Marine Life
The searing temperatures seen around the Mediterranean this year are indicative of rising global temperatures. Marine life is increasingly threatened. Marine heatwaves were found to be responsible for the loss of up to 80% of the population of some Mediterranean species between 2015 and 2019.
Latest Lawsuit Against Obamacare Could End Free Preventive Healthcare for 150 Million Americans
More than 150 million Americans now have access to scores of preventive health measures at no cost, sparing many from illness and catching diseases early for others. They no longer will, if the latest GOP-backed effort to undo Obamacare is successful.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, August 21, 2022
Grace Community Food Pantry. PEN America released a report on educational gag orders in which Florida figures more prominently than any other state.
The Fun Side of Pessimism
Happiness has evolved into an industry. That’s created the social expectation that we should all aspire to happiness. But this can be an obstacle to happiness. This is why if we actually want to live better lives, pessimism is the philosophical system that can help us achieve it.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, August 20, 2022
Today is the last day of early voting, the Saturday Flagler Beach Farmers Market, Is Our Ethos of the American Independent Spirit Hurting Us? On the fragility of Salman Rushdie.
College Students Are Increasingly Identifying Beyond ‘She’ and ‘He’
More than 3% of incoming college students use a different set of pronouns than “he” or “she.” It is indicative of a growing number of young people who identify outside of a gender binary – that is, they do not identify as female or male.