The court has now decided that public school employees can pray when supervising students. It also helps close out a Supreme Court term when the current justices’ increasing interest in claims of religious discrimination was on full display, with another “church-state” case decided in religious plaintiffs’ favor just last week.
Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions
Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down Florida City’s Ordinance Banning Portable Signs
A federal appeals court Tuesday sided with a man who challenged a Fort Myers Beach ordinance that prevented him from carrying a sign with a Christian message on the town’s streets.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, June 28, 2022
The Palm Coast Council talks budget, Kids Summer Performer Series at the public library, National Columnists’ Day, why Thomas Friedman is unbearable.
Attorney General and NRA Use New Decision to Challenge Under-21 Gun Restrictions
As they battle over a 2018 Florida law that raised the minimum age from 18 to 21 to buy rifles and other long guns, attorneys for the state and the National Rifle Association are trying to use a new U.S. Supreme Court ruling to bolster their arguments.
Octavia E. Butler, Sci-Fi Pioneer, and Her New Vision for Humanity
Octavia Butler was the first science fiction writer to be awarded a MacArthur Genius Grant. A pioneering writer in a genre long dominated by white men, her work explored power structures, shifting definitions of humanity and alternative societies.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, June 27, 2022
Connor Segledi trial for alleged elderly abuse, the Bunnell City Commission considers a video-surveillance system on city streets, the national debt in 1956, “good guys with a gun.”
Supreme Court Brandishes Second Amendment Rights to New Heights
For most of the history of the court, Second Amendment rights have been seen as distinct, more dangerous and thus more open to regulation. Now, the majority of justices has invoked a major change, with implications for many rights and regulations in American society.
Republicans, DeSantis Among Them, Appear Willing to Lynch Democracy
The House hearings on the violent near-coup at the Capitol is the most exciting television since “Game of Thrones,” though with less sex and fewer beheadings. Since eight years of decent progress on social justice under Obama, it’s becoming clear something has gone very wrong with Republican brain-wiring.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, June 26, 2022
KidZ Jamboree at Holland Park, Grace Community Food Pantry, Fritz Kreisler, David Foster Wallace on the great literary phallocrats.
‘A Revolutionary Ruling – and Not Just for Abortion’: A Supreme Court Scholar Explains the Impact
What does this ruling mean? Why is there now no right to abortion, when Roe recognized it? Is a fetus now a person? What effect will the ruling have on other issues?
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, June 25, 2022
Flagler Beach farmers’ market, Grace Community Food Pantry, The leper colony of Carville, La., Joan Didion plays it as it lays.
Summer High: 5 Books on the Joys and Challenges of LGBTQ Teen and Young Adult Life
In recognition of LGBT Pride Month, Jonathan Alexander – an English professor with a scholarly interest in the interplay between sexuality and literature, and the children’s and young adult fiction section editor for the Los Angeles Review of Books, presents his “must-reads” for this summer.
Supreme Court Overturns Roe v. Wade; Florida Ban on Abortions After 15 Weeks Starts July 1
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling that established abortion as a constitutional right. In Florida, abortions after 15 weeks of gestation will be illegal starting on July 1.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, June 24, 2022
Florida on Fire, at the public library, the Summer BreakSpot, Free Meals for Kids and Teens, Monday through Friday, Ruth Westheimer is still kicking, Joan Didion on morality.
Biden Thinks a Federal Gas Tax ‘Holiday’ Will Help. Not Likely.
Several states have temporarily waived their state gasoline taxes to reduce the burden on consumers. Does it help? Not substantially, other than to let politicians who feel a need to show voters they are doing something appear as if they are.
U.S. Supreme Court Strikes Down Limits on Concealed Carry Laws, Expands Gun Rights
The court ruled that New York’s concealed carry law violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution — a major decision that expands the Second Amendment right to keep and bear arms. The opinion came at the same time Congress is considering new gun control legislation following two deadly mass shootings.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, June 23, 2022
Pride Night at Daytona Tortugas, Schoolhouse Rock Live, a City Repertory Theatre production, The Palm Coast Beautification Committee hears a history of Palm Coast, Anna Akhmatova, Bob Fosse’s birthday.
Understanding the Heat Dome: Why America Is Baking
A heat dome occurs when a persistent region of high pressure traps heat over an area. The heat dome can stretch over several states and linger for days to weeks, leaving the people, crops and animals below to suffer through stagnant, hot air that can feel like an oven.
Seven Florida Plastic Surgeons Challenge ‘Brazilian Butt Lift’ Restrictions
Seven plastic surgeons are asking an appeals court to block a new state emergency rule that placed additional restrictions on procedures known as “Brazilian butt lifts.”
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, June 22, 2022
Schoolhouse Rock Live, a City Repertory Theatre production, presents two shows at the Flagler Auditorium, when Joe Louis knocked out James Braddock, sellout culture.
Endorsements Aren’t As Influential as You Think
So far, 94 percent of Trump’s favored candidates have won their Republican primaries. But most of the candidates Trump has chosen to endorse were already on track to win their respective races.
DeSantis Tells Boys State Participants Not to Indulge in ‘Phony Controversies’
Gov. Ron DeSantis let delegates to Florida’s Boys State convention in on what he sees as the secret of his success in office: He determined from the first to fully understand the extent and limits of his powers to enact his agenda, he said, and to take no notice of public opinion polls.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, June 21, 2022
The Palm Coast City Council considers cell towers, the School Board discusses communications and the half-penny sales tax renewal, Mary McCarthy, Mike Wallace Interviews Reinhold Niebuhr.
Wiccan Celebrations and the Permanence of Change
Summer solstice, a time when the northern hemisphere will experience the maximum hours of sunlight, takes place on June 21 – and will be celebrated by followers of Wicca, a form of contemporary Paganism, with a holiday known as Litha.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, June 20, 2022
The Flagler County Commission meets at 5 p.m. and will discuss the school board’s plan to renew its half-penny sales surtax, Miami under water, Vincent Canby on “Jaws.”
100 Million People in America Are Saddled With Health Care Debt
In the past five years, more than half of U.S. adults report they’ve gone into debt because of medical or dental bills. A quarter of adults with health care debt owe more than $5,000. And about 1 in 5 with any amount of debt said they don’t expect to ever pay it off.
Privacy Isn’t In the Constitution. But It’s Everywhere in Constitutional Law.
For half a century, the Supreme Court has recognized privacy as an outgrowth of protections for individual liberty. This implied right is the source of many of the nation’s most cherished, contentious and commonly used rights – including the right to have an abortion.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, June 19, 2022
A kids’ jamboree at Holland Park in Palm Coast, today is Juneteenth. Jonathan Schell reflects on the fate of the earth. Grace Community Food Pantry.
Anti-Trans Legislation and Lawsuits Are Pushing back Against Chosen Pronouns
It’s a disquieting trend: The right of trans students to be free from discrimination is tenuous at best and under constant legal attack. The Alliance Defending Freedom, a conservative Christian legal group, is behind much of the anti-trans legislation in the U.S.
Influential NRA Lobbyist Marion Hammer, 83, Retires Into ‘Gunshine State’ Sunset
Hammer, 83, successfully shepherded a host of measures that helped to earn Florida the “Gunshine State” moniker and made it a launching pad for gun-related laws that later took hold throughout the country.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, June 18, 2022
Juneteenth Celebration at the African American Cultural Society, bombing in the Ocala National Forest, big heat, Dick Cavett on Norman Mailer, Joan Didion on writers selling people out.
How Mike Pence’s Unremarkable Actions on Jan. 6 Saved the Nation
New revelations from the congressional committee investigating the events on and leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol show the crucial role then-Vice President Mike Pence played in thwarting the insurrection – and reveal the principles behind his actions.
DeSantis Administration Issues Proposed Ban on Medicaid Coverage for Transgender Treatments
Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration moved forward Friday with a proposal that would deny Medicaid coverage for treatments such as puberty-blocking medication and hormone therapy for transgender people.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, June 17, 2022
The North East Florida Jazz Association hosts Jazz, Blues and BBQ at the Community Center, the Charleston church massacre anniversary, Joan Baez and Alexander Herzen.
Blaspheming Human Rights: The Hypocrisy at the Core of Authoritarian Muslim Nations
While Many Muslim nations howl at perceived blasphemy about Prophet Muhammad, authoritarianism in the Muslim world has tragic consequences for Muslim minorities in India and elsewhere. Muslim governments’ short-term, emotional reactions to some defamation cases do not help improve the conditions of Muslim minorities, who actually need a more consistent and principled support.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, June 16, 2022
Judge Perkins’s Drug Court, Joan Didion’s Notebook, Boy George’s karma, the Ocala forests’s bombings.
There Is No One ‘Religious View’ on Abortion
One in four Americans who have had abortions are Catholic, according to the Guttmacher Institute, which advocates for reproductive health. It’s a clear reminder of the complex relationship between any religious tradition’s teachings and how people actually live out their beliefs.
Florida Court Rejects Attempt to Suppress Grand-Jury Report on School Safety
An appeals court Wednesday rejected attempts to block the release of information in a final report by a statewide grand jury formed to investigate school safety and other issues after the 2018 mass shooting at Parkland’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, June 15, 2022
Travis Smith, Robert Batie and Brennan Hill are in court, the Palm Coast Planning Board takes on Grand Reserve East, Brad Swanson at Tiger Bay, Edvard Grieg’s birthday, Mayor Lindsay’s luck.
Inflation Is Spiking. Can the Fed Raise Interest Rates Without Spiking Unemployment, Too?
Economists fear that raising rates too fast and too steeply would likely put the brakes on economic growth, resulting in an economic recession and soaring unemployment. An economist who studies inflation believes there are several reasons the Fed can more fiercely fight inflation without worrying so much about unemployment.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, June 14, 2022
The Community Traffic Safety Team meets as do the Palm Coast City Council and the Flagler County Planning Board, it’s Donald Trump’s birthday, bombing in the Ocala forest, and Munich’s beer.
Blaming ‘Evil’ Is Not Enough
Evil is one of the most complex and paradoxical words in the English language. It can galvanize collective action but also lead to collective paralysis, as if the presence of evil can’t be helped. As a philosopher studying moral concepts and their role in communication, I find it essential to scrutinize this word.
Pro Wrestler Jeff Hardy, in ‘Stupor,’ Arrested on Felony DUI and Driving on Suspended License
Jeff Hardy, the 44-year-old professional wrestler and musician with a storied career and a few previous arrests was arrested again today on a felony charge of drunk driving and driving on a revoked license. He was on I-95 in Volusia County when Florida Highway Patrol trooper Zach Steiner pulled him over.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, June 13, 2022
Larry Cavallaro pleads out his first-degree felony rape charge, free meals for kids at Bunnell’s Housing Authority and FPC, the Bunnell City Commission meets, Malcolm McDowell, Anthony Burgess and A Clockwork Orange.
Did the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban Diminish Mass Shootings? Yes.
The risk of a person in the U.S. dying in a mass shooting was 70% lower during the period in which the assault weapons ban was active. The proportion of overall gun homicides resulting from mass shootings was also down, with nine fewer mass-shooting-related fatalities per 10,000 shooting deaths.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, June 12, 2022
Flagler Pride Weekend 2022 concludes, Grace Community Food Pantry, Loving v. Virginia, Ronald Reagan’s Tear Down This Wall speech and a Brandenburg.
Crowded Primaries Are Good for Extremists, Bad for Voters
Each additional candidate who gets votes lowers the number of votes needed to secure a nomination. The outcomes of primaries with many candidates are unpredictable and may result in extreme, inexperienced or controversial nominees who may not truly represent a majority of voters. And a fringe candidate winning the primary and advancing to the general election can mean a risky candidate for their party.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, June 11, 2022
It’s Flagler Pride Weekend 2022 at Palm Coast’s Town center, with music, food and all sorts of fun, and who doesn’t miss red-capped Jacques Cousteau, and a word from Bernard Rustin.
To Get Safe Schools, Mental Health Resources Are Critical
School violence prevention requires professionals – counselors, psychologists and social workers – who know how to create an emotionally safe environment, which research shows is critical to safe schools. There is a critical shortage of such employees.
Prison ‘Gain Time’ Case Roils Court as Sexual Offender Is Deemed Eligible for Early Release
Rejecting longstanding legal precedent, a state appeals court said Friday that a man convicted of attempted sexual battery on a child is eligible to be considered for early release from prison.
