The Palm Coast City Council meets, the Flagler County School Board yet again talks about arming staffers, a few words from Malcolm X.
Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions
Poland Is Policing History, and Distorting the Holocaust
In 2018 Poland passed a law punishing anyone who claimed Poles had any responsibility in the Holocaust. The law is intended to silence historians, even beyond Poland’s borders.
Plan to Expand Taxpayer Funded Private Education Advances as Democrats Sound Alarm
Florida House and Senate GOP lawmakers are fine with families of millionaires and billionaires utilizing public dollars to attend private schools, even if those families could afford private school costs and tuition.
Florida House Bill Targets Socially Responsible Corporations
The Florida House bill seeks to block government investment decisions involving “environmental, social and governance” standards, known as ESG.
GOP Bills Disrupting Trans Youth Care Are Sweeping the Nation Beyond Florida
Republican lawmakers in more than half the states are continuing a party-line push to restrict doctors and other medical providers from offering some gender-affirming health care to minors, even with parents’ consent.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, February 20, 2023
To include your event in the Briefing and Live Calendar, please fill out this form. Weather: Mostly sunny. Highs in the lower 80s. West winds 5 to 10 mph. Monday Night: Mostly clear in the evening, then becoming mostly cloudy. Lows in the upper 50s. Southwest winds 5 to 10 mph. Today at the Editor’s […]
How Jimmy Carter’s Human Rights Focus Helped Dismantle the Soviet Union
Critics have described Carter’s foreign policies as “ineffectual” and “hopelessly muddled,” and their formulation demonstrated “weakness and indecision.” But his overseas policies were far more effective than critics have claimed.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, February 19, 2023
Final day for the Near Disaster of Jasper and Casper at CRT, Thibault Cauvin and Bach’s great prelude in C major, Joan Didion’s multiple sclerosis.
Think You Know What High Blood Pressure Is? Think Again.
Most Americans don’t know the normal or healthy range for blood pressure – yet strikingly, they think they do. And that is cause for serious concern in a nation where nearly half of Americans ages 20 years and up, and three-quarters of those 65 and up, have high blood pressure.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, February 18, 2023
Farmer’s market in Flagler Beach, Jasper and Casper at City Repertory Theatre, Nat Hentoff and Judge Stephen Reinhardt on a seminal court decision against book-banning.
How Much ‘Religious Accommodation’ Are Employers Responsible For?
The U.S. Supreme Court will soon address the extent to which employers must accommodate employees, if at all, when they want to pray, not work on Sundays, observe the Sabbath or invoke litanies of other sectarian requirements.
Florida Justices Refuse to Block Killing of Donald Dillbeck, Convicted of Carjacking Murder
Justices refused to issue a stay of Dillbeck’s execution, whose death warrant was signed last month by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The killing, scheduled for Feb. 23, would be the first time a prisoner has been put to death in Florida since 2019. Dillbeck’s attorney say he is mentally disabled.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, February 17, 2023
Gabriella Alo is again before a judge this morning, this time on a state motion to have her bond revoked, The Near Disaster of Jasper and Casper, at City Repertory Theatre, John McWhorter gives DeSantis some credit.
White Noise: How Dangerous Was the Ohio Train Derailment?
Headaches and lingering chemical smells from a fiery train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, have left residents worried about their air and water – and misinformation on social media hasn’t helped.
Judge Tosses Challenge to Law Restricting Gender and Sex Orientation Discussions in Class
U.S. District Judge Allen Winsor dismissed a revised lawsuit filed by students, parents and teachers, ruling that the plaintiffs had not “alleged sufficient facts” to show they had legal standing to challenge the law.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, February 16, 2023
The Flagler Youth Orchestra Winter Concert celebrates Black composers, at the Auditorium, high school committee review “The Black Flamingo,” Jeff Terrell at Tiger Bay, The Near Disaster of Jasper and Casper, at CRT.
What Does ‘Equal Protection’ Mean on the Most Diverse Supreme Court in History?
Though the court is the most diverse in American history – with three justices of color and four women – the conservatives who have historically opposed affirmative action programs hold a 6-3 majority. That majority may ban the use of race when the court issues a decision in a Harvard case expected in June.
Lawmakers Pushing to Increase Homestead Tax Break at Local Governments’ Expense
A proposal to change the state’s Save Our Homes property-tax cap from 3 to 2 percent, significantly diminishing local governments’ revenue, cleared its first legislative committee on Wednesday, despite concerns that it might force counties to cut services or shift the tax burden.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, February 15, 2023
Brennan Hill in court, the Palm Coast Planning talks about a new 110-home subdivision, Armenian composer Stephan Elmas, another excerpt from From Dean Atta’s Black Flamingo.
DeSantis Suggests He May Get Rid of Advanced Placement Courses in Florida Schools
As a feud over an African American studies course continues between Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration and the College Board, the governor said Monday that Florida will “look to re-evaluate” its relationship with the organization.
Understanding Israel’s Huge Protests Against Netanyahu’s Democracy-Ending Ploys
Demonstrations in Israel since January have drawn hundreds of thousands of protesters denouncing Prime Minister Netanyahu’s proposal to emasculate the Supreme Court and threaten the essence of the country’s government.
GOP House’s Anti-Immigration Hearing Turns White Nationalist Screed
The U.S. House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing Tuesday at times sounded more like a bile-brimming Unite the Right rally than a congressional proceeding. It was essentially a white nationalist promotional appearance.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, February 14, 2023
The annual Valentine’s Day mass wedding at the Flagler County courthouse, the Palm Coast City Council meets in workshop, a poem from The Black Flamingo.
Valentine’s Day Gifts from Chaucer to Chocolates
For Valentine’s Day, some couples only roll their eyes at each other in mutual cynicism. The capitalisation of love in the modern world can certainly seem banal. But people have been celebrating the day and gifting love tokens for hundreds of years.
The Battle Over Mifepristone, the Abortion Pill
Medication abortion now accounts for more than half of all abortions in the United States. Some states that have banned abortion altogether or have restricted access to it are vowing to block access to abortion pills.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, February 13, 2023
The Flagler County Library Board discusses sending a member to the district’s book-ban committees, the Macon dirigible disaster, Bill McKibben on the national culture’s small minds.
CBD Is Not a Cure-All. It Has Real Benefits, But Use With Caution.
While there is growing evidence that CBD can help with certain conditions, caution is needed. Rigorous scientific studies are limited, so it is important that the marketing of CBD products does not get out ahead of the research and of robust evidence.
Era of ‘Free’ Covid Vaccines, Test Kits, and Treatments Is Ending. Who Will Pay Tab Now?
Time is running out for free-to-consumer covid vaccines, at-home test kits, and even some treatments. Vaccine prices will be steep, as will covid treatments, and benefits will depend on insurance coverage even as many are poised to lose insurance because of new government rules.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, February 12, 2023
The final of Palm Coast’s tennis open, the Farmers’ Market at European Village, Super Bowl versus World Cup, Robert E. Lee’s worry about Yankees’ effects on Southern women.
Public School Enrollment Dropped by 1.2 Million During the Pandemic
Dramatic evidence of learning loss has mobilized federal, state and local education leaders. The federal government has allocated US$122 billion to support state and local efforts to help students “catch up in the classroom.”
The DeSantis GOP Plan: Replace Public Education With Ahistorical Propaganda
By unleashing an avalanche of fear and legal absurdity into a struggling, underfunded system of public education, these far-right ideologues are in the process of crippling the learning process for tens of millions of the nation’s children.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, February 11, 2023
The Annual Jazz Brunch and fund-raiser at AACS, Unique Boutique Event at Santa Maria del Mar Church, Palm Coast Tennis Open, the first robots, Mohsin Hamid.
The Bible’s Song of Songs Is Full of Sex, Challenging Assumptions
Graphic descriptions of both male and female bodies pervade the work and are certainly titillating, even bordering on pornographic. Sensual metaphors such as “grazing among the lilies” and “drinking … from the juice of my pomegranates” suggest sexual practices that are anything but vanilla.
Florida Health Boards Back Banning Treatment for Trans Youths
The Florida Board of Medicine and the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine on Friday refused to scrap new rules prohibiting doctors from using gender-affirming care for trans youths, after dozens of transgender men and women pleaded with them to reverse the treatment bans.
Biden Puts GOP’s Juveniles In Their Place
President Biden showed no inclination to take any grief from an openly hostile, Republican-controlled House of Representatives as he delivered his State of the Union address. If Republicans were surprised by the vigor of Biden’s rebuttals, they have only themselves to blame.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, February 10, 2023
The Flagler Woman’s Club’s Annual Rummage Sale, tennis in Palm Coast, LGBTQ+ Night at Flagler Beach’s Coquina Coast Brewing Company, the day Nelson Mendela was released.
Five Years After Parkland, School Shootings Have Increased and Kill More People
Since Parkland, there have been over 900 shootings in K-12 school settings. Thirty-two were indiscriminate attacks apparently driven by the intent to kill as many people as possible, including mass casualty events at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, in May 2022 and at Oxford High School, in Oxford, Michigan, in November 2021.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, February 9, 2023
A panel discussion on book-banning at AACS, State of the City in Palm Coast this evening, The Flagler Beach City Commission once again takes up the fate of City Manager William Whitson, Ludovico Einaudi and Don DeLillo.
What To Do About That ‘Dark Personality’ at Work
Have you ever suffered through tales of greatness from a self-absorbed “friend” who reminds you of Michael Scott from “The Office” – and not in a good way? Have you been betrayed by a colleague out of the blue, undermined on a project by the office mean girl, or had a work friendship dropped altogether without explanation?
The GOP Culture Wars’ Deadly Impact on Working People’s Lives
Although Republicans claim they’re working in the interests of women’s health, 20 GOP state attorneys general seek to ban the abortion drug mifepristone. These pills are safer than penicillin or Viagra — and going through pregnancy and childbirth is far more dangerous to women’s health than abortion.
Affordable Housing Proposal Bans Local Rent Control Measures
A $711 million affordable housing package designed to address Florida’s affordable housing crisis was met with disapproval and ire by housing activists on Wednesday — they said the measure’s provision to ban local governments from enacting rent controls won’t help alleviate the problem.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, February 8, 2023
Weekly Chess Club for teens at the Public Library, how Jules Verne saved a childhood, James Spader, Taiwan’s inevitable rendez-vous with China.
Republican Lawmakers Prepared to Spend $10 Million on Migrant Expulsions from Florida
The Florida Senate on Wednesday likely will take up a plan that would bolster Gov. Ron DeSantis’ efforts to send migrants to “sanctuary” cities and states, as Republicans and Democrats battle over the issue.
W.E.B. Du Bois and the Importance of African American Studies
Du Bois’ words in a 1951 article are especially prescient today, offering a reminder about the importance of Black History Month and what is at stake in current conversations about African American studies.
This Time, the School Board’s ‘Retreat’ Is a Snooze Fest. Yay!
When the Flagler County School Board board last went into “retreat,” in 2021, it devolved into open warfare and fabrications. Today’s retreat, with three new board members, was comparatively straight-forward and drama-free.
Disney Would Lose Control of Tax District to Board Appointed by DeSantis
A legislative proposal introduced Monday in the Florida Legislature would rename the Reedy Creek Improvement District that has been controlled by Disney World in Central Florida for more than 55 years and replace it with a new board selected exclusively by Gov. Ron DeSantis.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, February 7, 2023
The school board holds a “retreat” so its new and old members can get to know each other better, Palm Coast Council takes up Harborside again, Vermeer and Hopper, Bill Maher on cancel culture, Don DeLillo on Fox News before Fox News.
How Atmospheric Rivers Are Accelerating Polar Melt
Atmospheric rivers, those long, powerful streams of moisture in the sky, are becoming more frequent in the Arctic, and they’re helping to drive dramatic shrinking of the Arctic’s sea ice cover. Sea ice loss contributes to global warming and to extreme storms that cause economic damage well beyond the Arctic.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, February 6, 2023
The county commission ratifies the agreement that opens the way to beach renourishment, a school district information session on book-banning committees, Philip Roth on Ronald Reagan’s senescence, George Carlin Reagan’s corruption.
Democrats’ South Carolina Primary Move: Diversity and Moderation Over Tradition
Biden said early nominating states should reflect the diversity of the party and nation and that time-consuming caucuses, like those held in Iowa, should no longer be a part of the process because they disadvantage hourly workers and others who can’t take the required time away from work.