GOP state leaders are utilizing social media for their 2022 campaign efforts to promote conservative policies that they say have helped Florida to recover from Covid-19 and protect Floridians’ freedoms — though Democrats disagree.
Florida & Beyond, and All Opinions
Cuba Protests: 4 Essential Reads on Dissent in the Post-Castro Era
Street protests erupted across Cuba on July 11, 2021, with crowds of Cubans demonstrating against food scarcity, medicine shortages and economic misery in their island nation. Here are four stories that describe current conditions in Cuba and the recent history behind this rare public outpouring of anger.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, July 14, 2021
The joys of living in a state that cares for its residents, Bastille Day, the many pleasures of studying the Enlightenment, and J.D. Vance’s lineage from Flannery O’Connor.
63% of Workers who File an EEOC Discrimination Complaint Lose Their Jobs
People who experience sex discrimination, race discrimination and other forms of discrimination at work aren’t getting much protection from the laws designed to shield them from it, researchers found.
State Board of Education Considers Overhaul of School Standards, Including Civics and U.S. ‘Exceptionalism’
Florida’s State Board of Education on Wednesday will consider adopting a wide-ranging overhaul of curriculum standards across multiple subjects in public schools, including guidelines for teaching civics and government courses and Holocaust education.
As If Global Warming Weren’t Enough: Rupert Murdoch Is Launching Fox Weather
A prominent media analyst, said it best the other day: “How do you address the fact that weather changes are caused to some degree by humans when you have a media property with a history of challenging that fact?”
Edward Charles Stiles, 1957-2021
Edward Charles “Chuck” Stiles, 64, of Gainesville / Palm Coast, Florida, passed away on July 1, 2021, at his home in Palm Coast.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, July 13, 2021
Put your seat belts or HazMat suits on: the Palm Coast City Council meets in workshop this morning at 9 at City Hall, though misbehavior is unlikely: the place will be crawling with top cops: the sheriff is making a pitch for policing in the years ahead.
Zaila Avant-garde, 2021 National Spelling Bee Champ, Stands Where Black Children Were Once Kept Out
When Zaila Avant-garde, 14, won the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee on July 8, 2021, she became the first Black American to win in the competition’s history. Shalini Shankar, a scholar of spelling bees, breaks down the importance of this historical moment.
As Condo Tower Death Toll Reaches 90, Renner Says No Need for Immediate Changes to Building Codes
Rep. Paul Renner, a Palm Coast Republican set to take over as House speaker following the 2022 elections, pointed to the inability of the Champlain Towers South condo association to quickly address safety and structural repairs needed for the once 12-story building.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, July 12, 2021
The Flagler County Commission may settle its differences with Whispering Meadows Ranch and will discuss impact fees, and the Bunnell City Commission will bid farewell to Bill Baxley, the senior-most member of Flagler County’s elected officials, as he retires.
Trump Before Trump: When Nixon VP Spiro Agnew Attacked News Media
In 1969 Spiro Agnew in a speech written by Patrick Buchanan attacked the press with almost unprecedented venom, anticipating a run of anti-media presidents that culminated with Trump. Buchanan later remembered that as Nixon read his proposed draft, he heard him mutter, “This’ll tear the scab off those bastards.”
Proud Boys and Other Extremists Rally at Florida’s Old Capitol to Demand Release of Jan. 6 Insurrection Lawbreakers
About 100 people rallied on the lawn of the Historic Capitol Museum in Tallahassee. They flashed signs at passersby and chanted, “Let them go,” in reference to people arrested during the Jan. 6 attack.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, July 11, 2021
England gets its greatest chance yet to end its 55-year drought of championships in international soccer competition when it meets Italy at Wembley in London at 3 p.m. Palm Coast time, in the final of Euro 2020.
Five Lessons on Bringing Truth Back to Politics
Democracies have felt precarious – in the US, during the Trump presidency, and in countries like Brazil, Hungary and Poland currently. Integral to such corrosion of democracy (as George Orwell made clear in his novel 1984) is the distortion of truth and facts in favor of a particular agenda.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, July 10, 2021
Vaccine resistors, Cathar country for the Tour de France–those heretics the Catholic Church attacked and decimated in one of the forgotten genocides of history–and advice from Flaubert about the inane.
Yes, States Got More Money from Washington than they Needed for Covid Relief
It appears that the pandemic-related economic downturn in states was quite muted, confounding everyone’s expectation. For example, sales tax revenues actually grew by 0.5% in fiscal year 2020 and are on track to increase 2% in fiscal year 2021.
The Weekend Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, July 9, 2021
Jerald Medders, serving 15 years in prison for raping an underage girl, is back in court this morning to correct his sentence, down to 12.75 years. “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” is not a metaphor for the Palm Coast City Council, but tonight’s movie in the park in Town center.
Trump Can’t beat Facebook, Twitter and YouTube in Court but the Fight Might Be Worth More Money than a Win
No one involved with this case could be serious about winning in federal court. But that is not the “court” to which the former president is playing. Donald Trump is after money, and the federal court stage is another way to get it.
Florida Realtors’ Support for Ballot Initiative to Protect Affordable Housing Fund Rises to $13 Million
If approved by 60 percent of voters, the proposed ballot measure would establish in the Florida Constitution the State Housing Trust Fund and the Local Government Housing Trust Fund. It would require that the trust funds receive at least 25 percent of the revenue from documentary-stamp taxes — which are collected on real-estate transactions — and would detail how the money could be used to address affordable housing.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, July 8, 2021
The Flagler Beach City Commission today recognizes James Heren and Stephanie Raffo for their efforts to save the life of patron at The Anchor restaurant, and Roseanne Stocker for her 22 years of service on the city’s Planning and Architectural Review Board, among numerous other civic and philanthropic involvements.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, July 7, 2021
All eyes on Hurricane-Tropical Storm Elsa as it crosses over Florida from west to northeast, but impacts in Flagler are expected to be limited. A chance to rediscover Elsa Morante, the great author of “History.”
Critical Race Theory: What it Is and What, Gov. DeSantis, It Is Not
Americans are used to viewing their history through a triumphalist lens, where we overcome hardships, defeat our British oppressors and create a country where all are free with equal access to opportunities. Obviously, not all of that is true.
Flagler Schools Refuse Free Rapid Covid Tests That Could Minimize Quarantines Even as 9 Private Schools Sign Up
Flagler County schools have declined an offer from the Flagler County Health Department to place free rapid-covid-test kits at the district’s nine school campuses. The rapid tests, part of a federal grant, could have been used to drastically minimize the need for students to be quarantined at home for 10 days at a time when merely suspected of having been exposed to the virus.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, July 6, 2021
The Flagler County school Board will discuss substitute-teachers’ pay, the Palm Coast City Council will vote on the second and final reading on the closure of Slow Way.
Debating Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, 1st Transgender Woman in Individual Sports at Olympics
When Laurel Hubbard was announced as the first out transgender woman athlete to compete in an individual sport at an Olympic Games, controversy wasn’t far behind. One prominent commentator even called it a “disaster for women’s sport.” The arguments are emotive and polarizing, and often ignore key facts.
Your Government Will Have a Harder Time Giving You Run-Around Over Public Records Thanks to New Law
Your government can’t drag you into court anymore if you file a request for a public document. Legislation now signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis has put an end to these “declaratory judgment” lawsuits.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, July 5, 2021
Langston Hughes’s great “Let America Be America Again.” All government offices and banks are closed today in observance of Independence day. Palm Coast’s Choral Arts Society Presents “Celebrate America” in a resumption of the society’s live concerts.
College Athletes Can Finally Cash In on Their Skills, and Many Do
The floodgates have opened for college athletes in Florida and across the country to make money based on their names, images and likenesses, as the first contracts started to be inked.
With Support for Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad Becomes One of Several Deans to Tweet Themselves Into Trouble
Rashad sent out a controversial Tweet in support of her onetime “TV husband,” Bill Cosby, after a court overturned his sexual assault conviction. “FINALLY!!!!” Rashad wrote in the Tweet. “A terrible wrong is being righted — a miscarriage of justice is corrected!” This prompted critics and Howard students to call for her resignation.
The Independence Day Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, July 4, 2021
Hurricane Elsa was downgraded to a tropical storm. It’ll be crossing Cuba today as it continues to hook north-northwest, heading for the Florida Peninsula’s southwest region by Tuesday morning, and our own region by Wednesday morning.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, July 3, 2021
It’s Freedom Fest all day, for free, at the county airport and the Palm Coast picnic at Central Park in Town Center starting at 5 and culminating at 9 p.m. with fireworks.
Dealing Florida Legislature 2nd Blow in 2 Days, Federal Judge Blocks Law Limiting Contributions for Ballot Initiatives
The law, passed by the Republican-dominated Legislature this spring and signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, would impose a $3,000 limit on contributions to political committees collecting petition signatures to place proposed constitutional amendments on the ballot.
The Weekend Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, July 2, 2021
Leon Wiley, whom a jury on April 29 found guilty of raping his under-age step-daughter, is sentenced, the Tour goes on its longest romp through the heart of France, Christopher Lasch on our Orwellian politics.
Supreme Court Blunts Voting Rights in Arizona, and Potentially Nationwide, in Consequential Ruling
Arizona may keep two voting laws that Republicans say protect election integrity and Democrats believe will make it harder for some residents to cast ballots. That’s the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, one of the decade’s most important voting rights cases.
Federal Judge Blocks DeSantis’ Social Media Law, Finding It “Riddled with Imprecision and Ambiguity”
The controversial law seeks to prevent large social-media platforms from banning political candidates from their sites and to require companies to publish — and apply consistently — standards about issues such as banning users or blocking their content.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, July 1, 2021
A man who lured a 10-year-old girl into his apartment and was subsequently charged with child abuse is petitioning the court for conditional release pending his trial. Bill Barr is trying to rehabilitate his image. “History as a weapon is an abuse of history,” says Arthur Schlesinger Jr.
Florida Adds Orwellian By-Laws to Academic Freedom
What do you do when a student endorses genocide during a class discussion? And follows it up with a two thumbs up endorsement for racism? Does curtailing disruptive behavior like this, which prevents others from learning, count as shielding students from uncomfortable “ideas and opinions”?
13-Year-Old Soccer Player Files Suit Against Florida’s Just-Enacted Ban on Transgender Girl Athletes
A 13-year-old Broward County soccer player and her parents are challenging a a new state law that bans transgender female athletes from participating on girls’ and women’s sports teams, arguing that it is unconstitutional and “ignores basic medical science” about trans students.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, June 30, 2021
A special meeting of the school board to close out financial books, a Luau at the African American Cultural Society, the continuing farewell tour of Flagler County’s Rocket Man.
More than 100 New Laws Take Effect in Florida, from School Vouchers to Trans Bans to Silence
More than 100 new laws passed during the 2021 legislative session will hit the books this week, ranging from a record $100 billion state budget to a ban on Covid-19 vaccine “passports” and an expansion of school vouchers.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, June 29, 2021
A quiet day in government except in court, and a Supreme Court decision not to take up a transgender case that means a similar St. Johns County case decided in favor of a student’s choice as to which bathroom to use in school is still the law in Flagler County.
Federal Judge Doesn’t Hide Distaste for Florida Law Forbidding Social Media from Banning Users
Arguing that the law would violate social-media companies’ First Amendment rights and harm their efforts to moderate content, the industry groups have asked U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle to block the law from going into effect Thursday as scheduled.
Surfside Condo Deaths Rise to 9; Mexico and Israel Send Teams to Assist as DeSantis Sends Teams to Border
DeSantis denied that his deployment of 50 state police officers to the Texas-Mexico boarder has left the Surfside response weakened. The state is ready to deploy teams if needed, DeSantis said. However, Israel and Mexico has sent teams to assist, officials said.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, June 28, 2021
The Bunnell City Commission meets for a light agenda, Flagler County government’s Heidi Petito reports to work as county administrator, Jean-Jacques Rousseau turns 309.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, June 27, 2021
How Democratic Socialist India B. Walton managed to become the first woman–not to mention the first socialist–elected mayor of Buffalo; Flagler’s diminished drought index, Pablu Neruda’s distasteful personality.
The Insurrection: New Details Suggest Senior Trump Aides Knew Jan. 6 Rally Could Get Chaotic
Senior Trump aides had been warned the Jan. 6 events could turn chaotic, with tens of thousands of people potentially overwhelming ill-prepared law enforcement officials. Rather than trying to halt the march, Trump and his allies accommodated its leaders, according to text messages and interviews with Republican operatives and officials.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, June 26, 2021
A Yacht Rock Experience at the Flagler Auditorium, an odd statement from Alan Lowe about his (non) campaign manager, an interesting piece on African-American satire in the 21st century, and the Euro 2020 round of 16.
Derek Chauvin Sentenced to 22 1/2 Years in Prison for Murder of George Floyd
The sentencing marks a significant milestone in the effort to get justice for Floyd, who died begging for his life under Chauvin’s knee for more than 9 minutes on Memorial Day 2020. Three other officers present also face charges in Floyd’s death, with trials scheduled for next year.
Political Emails Reach New Lows
Modern media, both professional and social, were supposed to create a better informed electorate and a rich diversity of political opinion. Instead, our tools are used to build barriers. Email is worst. At least when campaigning via regular mail or with paid ads in print and on television, out-of-pocket costs force some limits.