To include your event in the Briefing and Live Calendar, please fill out this form.
Weather: Partly cloudy. Showers with thunderstorms likely. Highs in the lower 90s. Lows in the mid 70s. Chance of rain 80 percent.
- Daily weather briefing from the National Weather Service in Jacksonville here.
- Drought conditions here. (What is the Keetch-Byram drought index?).
- Check today’s tides in Daytona Beach (a few minutes off from Flagler Beach) here.
- Tropical cyclone activity here, and even more details here.
Today at a Glance:
ESL Bible Studies for Intermediate and Advanced Students: 9:30 to 10:25 a.m. at Grace Presbyterian Church, 1225 Royal Palms Parkway, Palm Coast. Improve your English skills while studying the Bible. This study is geared toward intermediate and advanced level English Language Learners.
Notably: The real numbers behind the military invasion of Washington, D.C. From Statista: “According to data from the city’s Metropolitan Police Department, violent crimes have been declining steadily since 2023, when there had been a peak in crime largely due to a spate of robberies and carjackings. As the following chart shows, while crime certainly does take place in Washington, violent crime was down 26 percent compared to the same time period in 2024, as property crime fell by 4 percent. The year before (2023-2024), violent crime and property crime dropped by 35 percent and 11 percent, respectively. Between January 1 and August 8 2025, the vast majority of crime incidents in the city were related to property. Out of the 13,884 cases reported, 49.8 percent were categorized under theft (excluding vehicles/auto). In the first seven months of the year, there have been 99 reported homicides (-12 percent year-on-year), 55 cases of sex abuse (-49 percent), 530 cases of assault with a dangerous weapon (-20 percent) and 888 cases of robbery (-28 percent). Crime data has the challenge that not all crimes are reported.”
The Live Calendar is a compendium of local and regional political, civic and cultural events. You can input your own calendar events directly onto the site as you wish them to appear (pending approval of course). To include your event in the Live Calendar, please fill out this form.
August 2025
ESL Bible Studies for Intermediate and Advanced Students
Grace Community Food Pantry on Education Way
Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village
Al-Anon Family Groups
East Flagler Mosquito Control District Board Meeting
Flagler County Commission Evening Meeting
Nar-Anon Family Group
For the full calendar, go here.
What is military newspeak? It is a mumbling, numbing speech by an Al Haig or a George W. Bush. More subtly, it is a TV ad by Boeing – soft music and soothing voices over images of bombers gliding noiselessly through the clouds. Their mission? To defend our freedoms. How? We don’t need to ask. We know. They will soon be dropping bunker busters on un-shown apartment blocks, producing … well … “collateral damage” – all off-screen of course. Military newspeak is, in short, a mèlange of obfuscating euphemisms designed to hide the truth, desensitize our sense of morality, and re-image reality. Like that Boeing ad, it can manifest itself in non-verbal, sometimes subliminal, forms such as that little American flag that keeps flapping in the upper left hand corner of the Fox News screen or the steady drum beat (literally) that opens each CNN newscast, virtually shouting “War, War, War! Terror, Terror, Terror! Fear! Fear! Fear!” It’s all designed to jangle your nerves, disorient you, instill fear … and conflate fear with patriotism. One danger of military newspeak is that it conditions the mental muscles in much the same way that video games do – to react instinctively, violently to perceived threats. Enemies are not to be understood or reasoned with. They are to be bombed – killed – as quickly as possible. No questions, no regrets. The worst danger of all, however, is how it creates obstacles to clear thinking. For clear thinking – critical thinking – is necessary to a well-functioning democracy. And, in the current circumstance, our democracy is crumbling under the weight of military newspeak just as surely as Lebanese democracy has been battered by American-made bombs. Our capacity to resist has been dangerously eroded by the rapidity and thoroughness with which the militarization of the American language has proceeded, and there is no Edward R. Morrow or Walter Cronkite out there to shout “Wake up, America! Before, it’s too late, wake up!”
–From “The Militarization of the American Language,” by Vicki Gray, Truthout, Aug. 30, 2006.
Jim says
If you really care about freedom and want to see our police work to reduce crime, you should be very, very concerned about the Trump administration’s introduction of troops and FBI agents into Washington DC to “reduce crime”. As the chart shows, crime has been reduced. It is completely eliminated? No. But we have crime here in PC yet I don’t see anyone screaming to bring in the National Guard (well, not yet.). And it should concern everyone that Trump says that he’ll do the same thing in other “Democrat lead cities”. You don’t have to use much brain-power at all to see the true reason for his actions. Since the facts show that crime rates are down in virtually all these locations (for those that are willing to make decisions based on facts), the only other reason to send in the troops is to put a military force on the ground in an area where the majority of citizens are not Trumpers. And, as MAGA will tell you, Democrats are evil and need to be eliminated from this country! But what MAGA fails to see is that when any American looses their rights and freedom from tyranny, we all do. It’s just a matter of degrees from attacking Democrat/Liberal Americans to attacking any American that isn’t towing the line as Trump defines loyalty. In this country, loyalty to the President should be way down the list of importance to anyone who supports freedom. I’ve always found that the best solution to any problem comes from lively discussion amongst those with differing viewpoints. Trump stifles dissent (or tries too) and that will always lead to disaster.
And, finally, let me just say that I fully believe that all this use of military and national security personnel to intimidate US citizens throughout the nation is going to lead to a national disaster of some type. Since we’re paying less attention to our external enemies and what sinister plans they have for us, we’ve making it much easier for them to pull off some kind of attack. If I were them, I’d be looking at some kind of pandemic assault. Can you imagine how many Americans will die if we have another pandemic? RFK, Jr. has successfully removed the infrastructure needed for a rapid response. I guess we all should buy plenty of bleach and mini-flashlights to be ready….
Dennis C Rathsam says
[Comment disallowed. Racist and disinforming. Do not use this site to spread disinformation. Thanks.–FL]
Pogo says
@Anyone, anywhere
… occasionally, give thanks for not receiving bombardment.
Laurel says
It was absolutely hilarious that “Big Balls” was beaten up by two teenagers, but then I saw how pathetic it was that Trump had to come to Big Ball’s rescue with storm troopers, police and the National Guard, disrupting the citizens of our Capital, over one incident involving a DOGE baby.
A lot of little balls at play here, at our expense.
Pogo says
@In memoriam:
Actor Terence Stamp, who starred as Superman villain, dies aged 87
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c39d41g7nmlo
RIP, thank you, sir.