The development of more precise missiles and guided bombs does not automatically mean a reduction in civilian deaths. For one thing, “precision” is not about protecting civilians so much as making these weapons “more lethal”.
Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, November 20, 2021
The annual 150-mile long garage sale along State Road A1A, the Fall Festival at the Flagler County Fairgrounds, a 30-year retrospective of artist Bettie Eubanks at the African American Cultural Society, I.F. Stone when the Supreme Court rediscovered its sanity–in 1957.
Rittenhouse Verdict Flies in the Face of Legal Standards for Self-Defense
In delivering its verdict, a Wisconsin jury decided that Rittenhouse’s conduct was justified, even though the prosecution argued that he provoked the violent encounter and, therefore, should not be able to find refuge in the self-defense doctrine.
It’s Our Right as Americans to Breathe Open Air Without Some Wussy Libtard Face Diaper
Gov. Ron DeSantis and the fine MAGA folks of the Florida Legislature are right here in the state capital, passing laws telling Biden where he can stick that order making businesses with more than 100 employees mandate the vax. And yeah, it might cost the taxpayers several million for the lawsuits that’ll come out of these new bills, but keeping Florida free is worth every penny.
Congressional Committee Launches Probe into University of Florida Policy That Gagged Professors
In a letter to University of Florida President Kent Fuchs on Thursday, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties said the panel has opened a probe into UF’s conflict-of-interest policy used to silence professors, saying it “undermines the academic and free speech values that are essential” to higher education.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, November 19, 2021
The Fall Festival at the Flagler County Fairgrounds kicks off today and runs through the weekend, unemployment figures for Flagler and Florida are released, Sartre’s “No Exit” on stage in DeLand.
These Foods You Love Are as Addictive and Worse Than Cigarettes and Booze Combined
For many, the desire to change what they eat is triggered by concerns about potentially life-threatening health conditions, like diabetes and heart disease. The impact of diet on health is not a small problem, and pose a greater risk to human health than unsafe sex and alcohol, drug and tobacco use combined.
DeSantis Signs Bills Prohibiting Vaccine Mandates in Geographically Keyed Obscenity at President Biden
DeSantis has spent months battling with the Biden administration about Covid-19 policies, and Thursday’s event was held in Brandon, Fla., a community that shares a name with part of a conservative derogatory slogan about President Joe Biden.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, November 18, 2021
The Flagler County firefighters’ union and Flagler County government’s management team are in collective bargaining negotiations, Sartre’s “No Exit” at Stetson’s Second Stage Theatre, notes on war reporting for cowards.
Online Anonymity: ‘Stable Pseudonyms’ Create a More Civil Environment than Real User Names
Research suggests that anonymity – under certain conditions – can actually make for more civil and productive online discussion. This surprising result came out of a study looking at the deliberative quality of comments on online news articles under a range of different identity rules.
Florida House Votes to Reject Federal OSHA Protections for Workers and Replace them With State Alternative
With Republicans angry about a vaccination rule issued by the federal Occupational and Safety and Health Administration, the Florida House on Wednesday approved a proposal that could lead to the state taking over regulation of worker safety and health issues.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, November 17, 2021
The Palm Coast City Council meets in special session this evening at City Hall to review the applications for city manager. The council members are expected to bring their own short lists of up to five candidates each.
Journalism in Middle America Got Communities Through the Pandemic
How did so many local news organizations – especially newspapers – manage to survive the pandemic? Weeklies beefed up their daily online news coverage, business models were blown up and existing rationales for why journalism matters became more than theoretical to rural journalists.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, November 16, 2021
The Flagler County School Board has a pair of meetings where the matter of book-banning is certain to be discussed, with a 5 p.m. protest of book-banning outside the Government Services Building in Bunnell. It’s also Food Truck Tuesday.
The Ancient History of Adding Insult to Injury
From James Bond to the Terminator, quips over someone’s demolition literally add insult to injury, defaming the victim immediately after their demise, emblazoning the death with a caption, like a perverse eulogy. It’s a long tradition.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, November 15, 2021
The Flagler County Commission this evening may decide that the face of the county should be a bigot as it elects a new chairman of the commission, with Joe Mullins in line for the title unless his colleagues think better of it. The funeral for Bunnell Police Department Sgt. Dominic Guida is at noon.
Building More Homes Isn’t Affordable Housing For Those Who Need It Most
There is not a single state, metropolitan area or county in which a full-time minimum wage worker can afford the “fair market rent” for a two-bedroom home, as designated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Even the smallest, most basic housing units are often unaffordable to people with very low incomes.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, November 14, 2021
Maya Angelou’s critical race theory, Woodwinds and brass ensembles in two concerts at Stetson, Tommy Tant Surf Classic concludes, music revues at City Repertory Theatre and Flagler Playhouse have their final runs.
Transgender and Gender Diverse Teens: How to Talk To and Support Them
Transgender youth have been around long before the word transgender has. Yet today, transgender teens are increasingly visible in society. For parents and caregivers, knowing how to talk to their children about gender can present a steep learning curve.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, November 13, 2021
A few words about Flagler’s book-burners, the 20th Annual Tommy Tant Memorial Surf Classic takes to the waves near the Flagler Beach Pier, and City Repertory Theatre and the Flagler Playhouse each have a musical revue on stage.
If You’re a Sucky Employer, Don’t Be Surprised Your Workers Are Quitting
The U.S. labor market is expected to become far more diverse going forward in terms of gender, ethnicity and age. Thus, employers that cannot provide greater flexibility and variety in their working environment will struggle to attract and retain workers.
11 White Jurors and One Black Juror: Ahmaud Arbery and the Limits of Justice
Jogging while Black. Driving while Black. Walking while Black. Sitting in a public space while Black. Asking for help while Black. Eating while Black. Merely existing while Black. The cold, agonizing, disturbing truth is that to be Black in America is to regularly endure an ongoing onslaught of assaults and insults. These incidents are a stark reminder that to be Black in America means to live in a constant state of uncertainty.
Vague and Controversial Parents’ Bill of Rights Will Get Renewed Focus in Special Session of Legislature Next Week
The Parents’ Bill of Rights, sponsored by State Rep. Erin Grall in the 2021 legislative session, was criticized for its vague language and unclear boundaries. But it became a clarion call for parent power as local school boards developed Covid policies impacting students, and a mask mandate debacle that pitted the executive branch against local school boards.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, November 12, 2021
The Tommy Tant Surf Classic kicks off, City Repertory Theatre’s All Together Now, a brand new musical revue, And the World Goes ‘Round, the music Revue at Flagler Playhouse.
The Federal Poverty Line Is Out of Step With the Way The Other Half Lives
In 2021, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a worker needs to earn $20.40 per hour to be able to afford a modest one-bedroom apartment anywhere in the country. That’s an annual salary of $40,800 – more than twice what Brookings refers to as the median wage for low-wage work.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, November 11, 2021
Schools, government offices, police departments and courts are closed today in observance of Veterans Day. Commemorations are scheduled at 10 a.m. at the county, 11:30 a.m. in Palm Coast and 1 p.m. in veterans Park in Flagler Beach.
School Surveillance of Students Through Laptops May Be Doing More Harm Than Good
Student surveillance is taking place – at taxpayer expense – in cities and school communities throughout the United States. In one large district, three-quarters of incidents reported – that is, cases where the system flagged students’ online activity – took place outside school hours.
FPL Customers Could Face Bills of Up to $6.83 a Month More on Top of Previous Increase Due to Natural Gas Costs
The request, filed at the state Public Service Commission, would push up FPL customer bills that were already slated to increase next year. Costs for natural gas and other power-plant fuel are generally passed through to customers.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, November 10, 2021
White Table Ceremony honoring soldiers missing in action in all wars, at the county library, competitive fencing, Community Night at Flagler Playhouse, Big Pharma’s big friends, a few lines from Jason Brown’s “A Faithful but Melancholy Account of Several Barbarities Lately Committed.”
U.S. Military Is Single-Largest Polluter in the World. And Hides It.
If the US military were a country, its fuel usage alone would make it the 47th largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, sitting between Peru and Portugal. In other words, the US military is a more consequential climate actor than many of the industrialized countries gathered at the COP26 summit in Glasgow.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, November 9, 2021
The Palm Coast City Council does redistricting, the County Planning Board considers rezoning land near the airport on SR100 to industrial, LBJ’s spankings, and modern music at Stetson University.
Nicaragua’s Ortega Helped Overthrow a Dictator. Now He Is One.
Ortega and his wife Rosario Murillo have managed to cling on to power. There are many reasons for their political survival, including the opposition’s fragmentation, a repressive state apparatus, and a lack of international pressure. What is too often overlooked, though, is that for many Nicaraguans, the FSLN remains the only political party that represents the interests of the poor.
Five Florida School Boards Move Quickly to Appeal Decision Supporting State Ban on Mask Mandates
The filing came shortly after Administrative Law Judge Brian Newman rejected a challenge to a Sept. 22 emergency rule issued by the Department of Health. That rule, at least in part, carried out a July 30 executive order by Gov. Ron DeSantis that sought to prevent school mask mandates.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, November 8, 2021
The Bunnell City Commission is expected to set a closing date for the purchase of a 3-acre, $228,000 parcel where it’ll build its permanent city hall and police station. Socrates’ bad angel. Critical Race Theory opportunism.
What Greta Thunberg and Sweden Teach Us About Youth Empowerment
Children’s participation in social and political issues has been facilitated by specific notions of childhood in the Nordic countries. The idea of the autonomous and competent child has been described by researchers as a characteristic feature of the “Nordic model of childhood”, influencing child rearing and public policy for several decades. While the elements of this model are not unique to the region, the notion has had a lasting impact upon several generations of Swedish children, teaching them the value of independence and to make their voices heard.
UF Backs Off Gag Order on 3 Professors Testifying in Challenge to Restrictive Voting Law
But the university drew national attention and widespread criticism after a court document revealed last week that the school was blocking the professors from testifying.
New Laws’ Fiscal-Impact Statements Are Routine. Now, Some States Push for Racial-Impact Statements.
In many states, lawmakers long have used so-called fiscal impact statements to predict how much money proposed laws will cost or save. Now more legislators want to use racial impact statements to predict how a particular measure might harm—or help—racial and ethnic groups or widen racial disparities, though you won;t see this in Florida any time soon.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, November 7, 2021
The Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestras are in concert at Jacoby Hall, featuring a couple of Flagler’s own, how Alden Global Capital is gutting newspapers, And the World Goes ‘Round, the musical review at Flagler Playhouse.
How to Spend $1 Trillion on Infrastructure
The bill is the largest investment in the nation’s infrastructure in decades. It puts about US$240 billion toward building or rebuilding roads, bridges, public transit, airports and railways. More than $150 billion is slated for projects that address climate change, like building electric vehicle charging stations, upgrading energy grids and production to work better with renewables, and making public transit more environmentally sustainable.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, November 6, 2021
The latest on the storm, with some flooding expected today, The Palm Coast Arts Foundation’s First Saturday Creative Bazaar Arts & Crafts Market is cancelled, Thomas Wolfe’s “Man in Full.”
Today’s Flooding Is No Fluke. Sea Levels Are Rising.
Climate change, fueled by fossil fuel use and other human activities, is causing average global surface temperatures to rise. This is leading the ocean to absorb more heat than it did before the industrial era began. That, in turn, is causing ocean thermal expansion.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, November 5, 2021
Three to 6 inches of rain expected over the next 24 hours. Jonathan Lord discusses the nor’easter on Free For All Fridays, And the World Goes ‘Round Music Review at Flagler Playhouse, Willa Cather’s “Uncle Valentine.”
Lessons from the Virginia Governor’s Race
Many voters wanted to hear both candidates’ views on “kitchen table” issues – such as expanding job opportunities, ensuring public safety, and reforming education – in the closing weeks before the election. But that wasn’t always what voters got. Instead, they were often presented not with the issues, but with heavyweight political endorsements.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, November 4, 2021
Joshua Carver, the 36-year-old Palatka man whom a jury found guilty of hit-and-run in the death of Jonathan Rogers, is sentenced, the Flagler Playhouse launches its “And the World Goes ‘Round” review, and a few kind words about Nero, Caligula and Domitian.
LGBTQ Life Is Flourishing in Small-Town America
LGBTQ people in rural places and small towns are often ignored in the larger conversation surrounding queer life and culture. Even with these omissions, Pride celebrations in those locations are sweeping the nation (including Palm Coast), often encountering initial resistance.
No Additional Election ‘Audit,’ But DeSantis Says He’ll Push for More Election Crackdowns
Gov. Ron DeSantis plans to ask lawmakers for more “election integrity reforms” during next year’s legislative session, as he has resisted pressure from within the Republican Party to audit the 2020 elections.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, November 3, 2021
The Palm Coast Code Enforcement Board meets, Stetson’s Great Pianists series features pianist Kemal Gekic, Willa Cather on overdevelopment in the old countryside.
Facebook’s Misinformation Problem
Leaked internal documents suggest Facebook – which recently renamed itself Meta – is doing far worse than it claims at minimizing Covid-19 vaccine misinformation on the Facebook social media platform.
Democrats Criticize Special Session on Vaccination Mandates
Democrats expressed opposition Tuesday to a special session ordered by Gov. Ron DeSantis to push back against requirements that workers be vaccinated against Covid-19.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, November 2, 2021
The Flagler County Commission holds the second required workshop and special meeting in the school board’s attempt to double its impact fees ahead of projected growth, a step the commission had resisted when the matter was first debated at a previous workshop.