Original text of Thomas Jefferson’s separation of church and state letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist association, 1802.
All Else
Harry Truman’s National Day of Prayer Proclamation, 1952
Harry Truman was the first American president to declare a National Day of Prayer, in 1952–on July 4 that year.
Barack Obama’s Presidential Proclamation
National Day of Prayer
On April 30, 2010, in contravention to a federal judge’s ruling in Wisconsin, President Obama issued a proclamation designating May 6 a National Day of Prayer.
Florida Law on How New Manatee Protection Rules May Be Adopted
Complete language of Florida Statute § 379.2431(2)(f) which sets out the steps the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission and county governments must follow when adopting rules regulating “speed and operation of motorboats for purposes of manatee protection.”
How Old Kings Road Was Re-Routed for Wal Mart
An aerial view of the old Old Kings Road and its new route nearer I-95, in preparation for Wal Mart construction.
Best of the Rest: May 3, 2010
It’s all about the Gulf oil spill, plus Bill Maher’s Brazilian fact-checking, Hitler in Arizona, and more.
Best of the Rest: April 30-May 2, 2010
Bush writes a book, Florida gets oil-slicked, Arizona keeps going nuts, and more on Knut Hamsun, Voltaire and reading in a digital age.
The Liberation of Charlie Crist
Charlie Crist, never foreign to transgression, transgressed what’s left of the Republican Party, which has no room for moderates.
Best of the Rest: April 29, 2010
An oil slick worse than Exxon Valdez spill, Charlie Crist goes independent, the Florida Legislature goes insane, and more.
Best of the Rest: April 28, 2010
Florida has a budget, Obama against the press, oil slick sprawls over Florida, Israel as Arizona, fair use as profit, and more.
Best of the Rest: April 27, 2010
Drill baby drill turns to spill baby spill, the end of statute limitations on sex crimes, the end of respect for arts teachers, Islamophobia in Jacksonville, and more.
When God and Politics
Take Over Public School Buildings
The Flagler School Board revisits its policy on community uses of school buildings in light of a growing controversy over Tea Party activists using Flagler Palm Coast High School.
Full Text of Flagler County School Board Policy on Community Uses of School Facilities
Community Use of School Board Facilities: The Flagler County School Board’s Policy 320.
Rental Fees/Costs for Use of Flagler County School Board Facilities
Chart of current rental fees and fee structure for public uses of Flagler County School Board buildings, including schools, cafeterias, playgrounds and other facilities.
Cash for Clunkers:
The Mica-Beaven Money Race
Complete charts, graphs and analysis of campaign finance for incumbent John Mica and challenger Heather Beaven in their 7th Congressional District race.
Best of the Rest: April 26, 2010
On sperm counts,coal’s dirty secrets, Charlie Crist’s soap opera, Florida’s latest assault on Medicaid, and more.
Diagram of Bus 2857 Showing Where Rosa Parks Was Seated, Montgomery, 1955
See the very spot from which Rosa Parks wouldn’t moved, in a court diagram preserved at the National Archives.
The Rosa Parks Arrest Report, 1955
Image copy of the Rosa Parks arrest report, Montgomery police, Alabama, December 1, 1955.
Best of the Rest: April 23-25, 2010
The GOP’s warning to Crist backers, an oil rig fire’s fumes over Florida’s drilling plans, South Park censored for Muslims’ sake, and more teacher-student sex.
Best of the Rest: April 22, 2010
Crist rhymes with centrist, racism at the Ritz-Carlton, Sex and the anal city, Salman Rushdie’s computer secrets, and more.
Best of the Rest: April 21, 2010
Crist’s disappearing GOP, the FBI and IRS investigate Rubio, scud missiles in Lebanon, blasting oil rigs in Louisiana, and more.
Best of the Rest: April 20, 2010
Crist is urged to quit the Senate race, environmentalists are mourning a lousy legislative session, why few trust governments, why Swedes live longer, and more.
Briefing: Florida’s Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund Program
Explanation of Florida’s $3,000-per-job tax rebate for companies creating new jobs in certain industries. The program is used by Flagler County and Palm Coast.
Best of the Rest: April 19, 2010
Jeb Bush as Florida’s Vladimir Putin, Charlie Crist as Florida’s Shakespeare, Healthy Start in jeopardy, Publix’s cheapness, and more.
Best of the Rest Disclaimer & FAQ
Discralimer and frequently asked questions on how Best of the Rest is put together, its aims, and so on.
Sara Palin’s Cafeteria Christianity
Russell A. Pizer gives the once and future queen of reactionary Republicans a lesson in the Declaration of Independence and other spelling tips.
Why Is Flagler Being Mealy-Mouthed Over KKK Fliers?
How easy to pick at an obvious target like the KKK, and easier still to do it in language that commits to nothing more than fortune-cookie bromides. How meaningless too.
Flagler County Commission Statement on KKK and Diversity
The Flagler County Commission’s April 15, 2010 statement denouncing the KKK–without mentioning it by name.
Best of the Rest: April 16-18, 2010
The fallout from Crist’s veto of SB6, Obama sees stars again, how Bush’s CIA destroyed evidence, the greatness of John Paul Stevens, and more.
Lawrence: Flagler Tea Party’s Four Values–and Aims
Tom Lawrence, chairman of Palm Coast’s Tea Party movement, sums up the 4 values of the movement as it conceives itself locally, and its aims in the next six months.
Best of the Rest: April 15, 2010
Charlie Crist’s future,the fate of Senate Bill 6,Tea Party brewers, Islamophobia in Jacksonville, sex lives of famous women, and more.
Best of the Rest: April 14, 2010
War crimes and atrocities in Iraq and Afghanistan,more merit-pay SB6 follies, Huckabee’s homophobia, monument mania, and more.
Best of the Rest: April 13, 2010
More pressure on Crist over Senate Bill 6,an autistic child goes missing, school lunches slim down,poverty in America, pedophile priests, and more.
Best of the Rest: April 12, 2010
Crist takes Florida’s pulse on teacher bill, spills and drilling in the Gulf, GOP scandals, Gandhi’s sex life, and more.
James Baldwin: A Talk to Teachers
James Baldwin’s “A Talk to Teachers” from 1963 is an apt counterpoint to Florida lawmakers’ attempt, in 2010, to demolish public school teachers and replace the profession with Darwinian hostility.
Best of the Rest: April 9-11, 2010
Merit-pay follies in Florida, feral cats in San Francisco’s CSI lab, another V-22 Osprey crash kills US troops, and the problem with Dr. Oz.
Teacher pay
Best of the Rest: April 8, 2010
Freaks and furies over merit-pay bill, states against health care reform, Casey Anthony’s letters, painting organsms at UF, and more.
Best of the Rest: April 7, 2010
Florida’s war on teachers, gambling with Indians, remembering civics education, Obama’s supreme court odysseys, and more.
McCain Claims He’s No Maverick
John McCain is repudiating the branding he brandished for years on every campaign trail he doddered through.
Best of the Rest: April 6, 2010
A coal mine disaster in West Virginia, Elian Gonzalez at 16, end of jobless benefits, the Taliban’s desperation, and more.
Best of the Rest: April 5, 2010
Remembering Lawton Chiles’ walk, Giuliani’s revenge over Crist, Justice Stevens’ retirement, the return of forests, and more.
Philip Roth’s Great American Fart
Kids love farts, don’t they? Even today, with all the drugs and sex and violence you hear about on TV, they still get a kick, as we used to, out of a fart.
Best of the Rest: April 2, 2010
Clobbering Bright Futures again, clobbering parks and rec budgets, Obama at the Estefans, and the disgusting innards of Taco Bell.
Best of the Rest: April 1, 2010
Obama’s drilling gusher, the Florida Legislature’s latest privatization schemes, SeaWorld autopsies, spying dos and don’ts and more.
Best of the Rest: February 12-14, 2010
Tea party scenes,homophobia, the military and footballers, Palin’s media ban, and more.
Best of the Rest: February 8, 2010
Monday morning quarterbacking Sarah Palin’s tea party phoniness, Marco Rubio’s shilling for phonies, Nelson Mandela, the last great non-phony, and more.
Best of the Rest: February 4, 2010
Online sales taxes, Clarence Thomas at UF, Google gets in bed with the NSA, and more.
Best of the Rest: February 1, 2010
Deficits to the moon, end of the Moon shot, leaving behind No Child Left Behind, and more.
Best of the Rest: January 29-31, 2010
J.D. Salinger catches the final rye, Obama takes flack over Israel in Tampa, NASA and Alito take Obama’s flack, and free will gets a $4.4 million grant.