A strain of sorrow and pessimism underlies all of Kurt Vonnegut’s fiction, as well as his graduation speeches. He witnessed the worst that human beings could do to one another, and he made no secret about his fears for the future of a planet suffering from environmental degradation and a widening divide between the rich and the poor.
All Else
How ‘Decorum’ Masks Discrimination
Republicans from Tennessee to Tallahassee to Tacoma struggle manfully to stop those rule-breakers who would keep disrupting white men’s God-ordained exercise of unchecked power. You know the kind: gays; transgender types; students; immigrants; women; Blacks. They’re getting uppity. They’re breaking the rules.
World Press Freedom Day Events Webcast from the UN on May 2
On May 2 and 3, the international community marks the 30th anniversary of World Press Freedom Day by the United Nations General Assembly. It will serve as an occasion to take stock of the global gains for press freedom secured by UNESCO and its partners in the past decades, as well as underline the new risks faced in the digital age.
My Date With Jerry Springer
In November 1998 I was traveling the country on a year-long assignment and at that point working on a piece on American discourse. I’d chosen Illinois as a prism: the various grounds of the Lincoln Douglas debates at one end and the Chicago-based Jerry Springer Show at the other. Springer agreed to let me hang out with him half a day, interview him and attend his show, thankfully not as a guest.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, April 29, 2023
Friends of the Library Book sale, Arthur Miller’s ‘All My Sons’ at City Repertory Theatre, ‘Barnum,’ at Flagler Playhouse, Giannis Antetokounmpo’s thoughts on alleged failure, David Shipler’s thoughts on abrogating liberties in the name of safety.
Food Stamps Work Requirements Don’t Work
SNAP eligibility is often contingent on beneficiaries working. But the policy doesn’t make people more likely to find a job or make more money, but it does make Americans who could use help buying groceries less likely to get it.
Georgia Store Clerk Shoots Suspect 8 Times After Palm Coast Robbery
Qwinntavus Kwame Jordan was shot eight times by a store clerk in Georgia and is in critical condition, hours after he allegedly robbed a gas station on Palm Coast’s State Road 100.
Flagler Beach, With Unusually Limited Transparency, Is on a Schedule to Hire Next City Manager By Mid-July
The Flagler Beach City Commission is on course to hire its next city manager by mid-July, but through an accelerated timeline that involves the least public input or transparency of any recent executive searches for local governments. That’s unusual in Flagler Beach, whose commission over the past decade and a half–regardless of make-up–has prized transparency and deliberation, at times to painful extremes. It’s also about to change, the commission chairman says.
Top of the World: FPC’s Per Berg Takes IB Students to Uruguay and Argentina in Pre-Exam Immersion
The IB is highly prized by college admission panels. It is also the most rigorous, demanding program of study in high school. Going on what looks like a vacation right before the exam might seem counterintuitive. But it is right in line with the IB’s philosophy–and it prepares the students for their exams better than sitting behind a desk, as Spanish teacher and coach Per Berg’s experience through a dozen trips with FPC students has shown.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, April 28, 2023
Arthur Miller’s ‘All My Sons’ at City Repertory Theatre, ‘Barnum,’ at Flagler Playhouse, National day of Mourning for workers in Canada, a dinosaur at the Flagler Youth Orchestra concert, Harper Lee’s birthday.
National Day of Mourning For Workers Lost on the Job
Each year on April 28, Canadians remember and honor those who have been killed or suffered injuries or illness at work. This day, known as the National Day of Mourning, was established by the Canadian Labour Congress in 1984 and made official in 1991. The United States has no such equivalent, though Workers Memorial Day is now worldwide.
Beach Front Grill Owner Buying High Jackers Restaurant at County Airport Just As He Tees Off at Palm Harbor
Jamie Bourdeau, owner of Beach Front Grille in Flagler Beach and Loopers at Palm Harbor Golf Club in Palm Coast, is buying High Jackers Restaurant at the Flagler County airport from Gail Holt for $700,000 and assuming the lease at the county-owned property for the next eight years, with an option to renew for another 10. He is partnering with Joseph Wright, owner of Quantum Electrical Contractors and Anthony’s Pizza.
Sacrifice for the American Dream: Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre Stages Arthur Miller’s ‘All My Sons’
“All My Sons,” opening for a two-weekend run at Palm Coast’s City Repertory Theatre Friday, embodies Miller’s critique of the “American dream,” that credo which asserts that every U.S. citizen, regardless of their station or societal factors, can bootstrap him/herself to success and prosperity through initiative, hard work and determination.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, April 27, 2023
The Palm Coast Beautification and Environmental Advisory Committee considers renaming the Community Center in Jon Netts’s honor, Open Auditions for Spotlight on Flagler Youth Talent Show, the meaning of conservatism is liberalism.
What Socrates’ ‘Know Nothing’ Wisdom Can Teach a Polarized America
Our apparent national impasse points to a lack of “epistemic humility,” or intellectual humility – that is, an inability to acknowledge, empathize with and ultimately compromise with opinions and perspectives different from one’s own. In other words, Americans have stopped listening.
David Alfin Files Formal Request to Re-Name Community Center After Late Mayor Jon Netts
The Palm Coast Beautification Committee Thursday evening is expected to recommend renaming the Palm Coast Community Center after the late Jon Netts, a city founder and its longest-serving council member and mayor. The nomination was filed by Mayor David Alfin.
County Plan to Move Whispering Meadows Equine Therapy Ranch to Fairgrounds Collapses as State Says No
The state has rejected Flagler County government’s plan to move the Whispering Meadows Ranch–the equine therapy non-profit–to the county fairgrounds, saying it would privatize public land. The rejection is the latest setback in the ranch’s two-year effort to leave its John Anderson Highway property, where it has operated for 16 years, until neighbors started objecting to its presence.
Dreaded Franchise Fee and Public Service Tax Back on Table as Palm Coast Faces $52 Million Street Fix
Facing a $52 million backlog to resurface a deteriorating road system, the Palm Coast City Council is discussing adopting utility franchise fees and public service taxes that have previously drawn angry opposition from residents, as well as exploring raising a local sales surtax through the county.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, April 26, 2023
The Flagler Youth Orchestra performs its third and final concert of the 2022-23 season at the Flagler Auditorium, open auditions for Spotlight on Flagler Youth Talent Show, Flagler Tiger Bay After Dark, Vinyl’s comeback, Sullivan’s moment of silence.
With Travis Hutson Cheering, Bill Upending Flagler’s Vacation-Rental Controls Clears Last Hurdle Before Vote
The success of the vacation-rental bill sharply scaling back local regulation this year is a blow to Flagler County government, which was a leader in pushing for the 2014 regulations providing for local control, and has pushed back against attempts to weaken them since. The Flagler County Commission made preserving the 2014 law a legislative priority every year since.
Willie Nelson at 90: Still On the Road
Assessing Willie Nelson’s legacy is challenging because there are so many Willies to assess. There is historical Willie Nelson, child of the Depression. There is iconic Willie Nelson, near embodiment of Texas myth. There is outlaw Willie Nelson, revolutionizing the country music industry. There is activist Willie Nelson, Farm Aid’s co-founder and biofuel pioneer. There is Willie Nelson the songwriter of rare and poignant gifts, and more Willie Nelsons yet to be named.
Flagler Beach Re-Launching Limited Plastic Recycling Starting May 15
Beginning on May 15, Flagler Beach residents and businesses may recycle plastic bags and plastic film into several receptacles that will be placed around Flagler Beach. It’s not curbside recycling just yet. But it is City Sanitation Director Rob Smith’s latest effort gradually to bring back recycling of most materials the city had suspended in 2021.
Disney Monorail Is Next on DeSantis Hit List
The Republican-controlled Senate Fiscal Policy Committee, chaired by Travis Hutson, who represents Flagler County, on Tuesday amended a transportation bill (SB 1250) to apply Department of Transportation safety standards to monorail lines that connect Walt Disney World resorts and parks.
From Sleepy Cart Barn to 13,000 Calls a Year: Palm Coast Fire Department Celebrates 50th Year
The Palm Coast Fire Department was founded on April 3, 1973, with 36 volunteers, from the cart barn at the Palm Harbor Golf Club, responding to two calls for service the first year. The county population was 4,454. Today the department is a combination department that responded to over 13,444 calls for service in 2022 from five fire stations.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, April 25, 2023
The Palm Coast City Council talks goals and firehouse, the NAACP Flagler Branch’s general membership meeting, taking stock of the wreckage Tucker Carlson leaves behind, and that continues at Fox News.
Josef Ghosn Named AdventHealth University’s New President
Josef Ghosn, Ed.D., MBA will become AdventHealth University’s third president and CEO on May 1, 2023. The university’s Board of Trustees selected Ghosn after a months-long, national search.
On Paul Renner’s Request, House Will Subpoena Trans Treatment Information
The decision to issue the subpoenas is among a series of moves by lawmakers and Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration targeting transgender people and the LGBTQ community. A lawmaker criticized the move as reminiscent of the Johns Committee, a Florida legislative investigative panel that sought to expose communists and gay people at state universities in the 1950s and 1960s.
Tucker Carlson, Fox ‘News’ and the Problem of Faking ‘Authenticity’
Carlson’s departure came on the heels of Fox News’ US$787.5 million settlement of the lawsuit lodged by Dominion Voting Systems over the network’s promotion of misinformation about the 2020 election. Dominion had cited claims made on Carlson’s program as well as on other shows as evidence of defamation.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Monday, April 24, 2023
The Flagler County Beekeepers Association meets, the Bunnell City Commission meets, Remembering the Armenian genocide by Ottoman Turks, Steele on DeSantis.
The Supreme Court Takes a Chill Pill: Behind the Mifepristone Stay of Execution
How to make sense of what four federal court decisions mean for the FDA’s authority to approve drugs – and where that leaves access to medication abortion, which is used in more than half of all abortions today.
In Florida, We Are All Child Abusers Now
The Florida Legislature is legalizing a Jim Crow-like system of punishing, demonizing and denying the existence of LGBTQ children. Few sessions of the Florida Legislature provided the legal framework for as much state-sponsored and citizen-empowered terrorism against children as this one.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, April 23, 2023
For the Love of Singing: A Community Chorus of Palm Coast Concert, “Barnum” at the Flagler Playhouse, the heady days of gay marriage adoption may prove to be a Prague Spring.
‘Stand Your Ground”s Fatal Risks
America’s love affair with guns and lethal self-defense is replete with laws that selectively shield citizens from criminal responsibility when they use force and claim self-defense. Since their Florida start in 2005, these “stand your ground” laws have spread to around 30 states, transforming the United States’ legal landscape.
It’s The Guns
They’re the constituents our elected officials value the most. To most of our lawmakers, guns need careful handling. Not because they’re instruments of death, but because they’re holy and blameless chalices of liberty.
Enterprise Florida Elimination Moves Forward as DeSantis Plans Trip with Agency
A House plan to eliminate the business-recruitment agency Enterprise Florida and relocate tourism-marketing efforts also would lead to a change in the name of the state Department of Economic Opportunity.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, April 22, 2023
Autism Awareness Festival and Resource Fair, Earth Day Celebration, Is Your Systemic Education Relevant? an AACS discussion, 3rd Annual Spring Fling, coining religion against the First Amendment.
Clarence Thomas Is Undoing Thurgood Marshall’s Legacy
Throughout Thomas’ tenure he has pushed the Supreme Court to revisit prior decisions that embraced robust rights for society’s most vulnerable, and to replace Marshall’s vision with one more amenable to the powerful than the powerless.
180 Palm Coast-Area Muslims and Mayor Alfin Celebrate End of Ramadan on 2nd Anniversary of Bunnell Islamic Center
Palm Coast and Flagler County’s fast-growing Muslim community marked Eid-el-Fitr, the celebratory end of Ramadan, with Mayor David Alfin today at the Palm Coast Community Center and the anniversary of the emergence of an Islamic Center from a founding meeting at Holland Park.
Vote to End Diversity Programs in Florida Colleges and Universities Set Before Senate
A measure that seeks to prevent colleges and universities from spending money on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives is ready to go before the full Senate amid strong objections from Democrats, with one Black senator calling the proposal “racist at its core.”
Challenged in Flagler Schools: Elana K. Arnold’s Damsel, a Review and a Recommendation
Elana K. Arnold’s “Damsel” is among the 22 books that a trio of individuals have sought to ban from high school library shelves in Flagler County. Here’s an unexpected recommendation by FlaglerLive’s reviewers to ban the book.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Friday, April 21, 2023
The Islamic Center of Palm Coast hosts its Eid-ul-Fitr celebration, ‘Barnum,’ at Flagler Playhouse, A Community Chorus of Palm Coast Concert how Americans are fatally attracted to the embarrassing.
Time to Abolish Laws Allowing Adults to Spank and Hit Children
Globally, efforts to end violence against children, including corporal punishment, have been underway for half a century. To date, 65 countries and states worldwide have banned corporal punishment. Unfortunately, Canada and the United States, including Florida, are not among them.
Chinese-Americans Fear Hate Crimes as Discriminatory Bill Advances in Florida Legislature
A legislative proposal would ban the sale of agriculture land and property within 20 miles of military bases and other critical infrastructure facilities to interests tied to the Chinese government and six other “countries of concern.”
Planning Board Approves Adding 750 More Homes to Palm Coast Park Along U.S. 1, for Total of 6,454 Units
The Palm Coast Planning Board Wednesday evening approved the addition of 750 more homes to Palm Coast Park, already one of the city’s largest planned developments, which now will total 6,454 homes. The development would grow to a size equivalent to Bunnell, times two.
Before Fox News, There Was Barnum’s ‘Sucker Born Every Minute’: Flagler Playhouse Stages Timely Musical
The Flagler Playhouse’s production of the musical “Barnum” is a kind retelling of the circus huckster who turned profiting from deception into a cynical art, coincidentally, much like an entertainment network posing as news that found itself caught in its lies.
Where DeSantis Goes and Who He Sees Is None of Your Business: Lawmakers Approve Secrecy
The Florida Senate on Wednesday approved a controversial measure that would shield travel records of the governor and other state leaders. The proposal also would withhold from the public names of certain guests at the governor’s mansion.
The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Thursday, April 20, 2023
Drug court, the 24th anniversary of the Columbine High School massacre, Stewart and Carlin, an Intimate History of Killing.
How Hip-Hop Enhanced American Education
2023 marks the 50th anniversary of the birth of hip-hop. People around the world are taking time to reflect on and celebrate hip-hop’s accomplishments. Educators are not only remembering the obvious ways hip-hop has influenced language and fashion or provided the soundtrack to our study sessions and sports events, but we are also acknowledging how hip-hop has changed education.
Coming YMCA Could Give Belle Terre Club a Few Years’ Reprieve. 2 School Board Members Won’t Hear of It.
After yet another round of hardened, inconclusive debate over the fate of the Belle Terre Swim and Racquet Club during the school board’s workshop on Tuesday, the board agreed to vote on the matter one way or the other at its May 16 meeting. But this time a new element is in play, with the very strong possibility of a YMCA coming to town in a few years.
Dune Restoration Will Extend from Beverly Beach to Varn Park Over Next 10 Weeks
Dune restoration work for the next 10 weeks – weather permitting – will extend from Beverly Beach to Varn Park as part of Flagler County’s ongoing emergency sand operations.