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Weather: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 2pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 93. Calm wind becoming southeast 5 to 9 mph in the afternoon. Friday Night: A 30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 8pm. Partly cloudy, with a low around 75.
- 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:
Free For All Fridays with Host David Ayres, an hour-long public affairs radio show featuring local newsmakers, personalities, public health updates and the occasional surprise guest, starts a little after 9 a.m. after FlaglerLive Editor Pierre Tristam’s Reality Check. See previous podcasts here. On WNZF at 94.9 FM, 1550 AM, and live at Flagler Broadcasting’s YouTube channel.
The Scenic A1A Pride Committee meets at 9 a.m. at the Hammock Community Center, 79 Mala Compra Road, Palm Coast. The meetings are open to the public.
The Friday Blue Forum, a discussion group organized by local Democrats, meets at 12:15 p.m. at the Flagler Democratic Office at 160 Cypress Point Parkway, Suite C214 (above Cue Note) at City Marketplace. Come and add your voice to local, state and national political issues.
Acoustic Jam Circle At The Community Center In The Hammock, 2 to 5 p.m., Picnic Shelter behind the Hammock Community Center at 79 Mala Compra Road, Palm Coast. It’s a free event. Bring your Acoustic stringed Instrument (no amplifiers), and a folding chair and join other local amateur musicians for a jam session. Audiences and singers are also welcome. A “Jam Circle” format is where musicians sit around the circle. Each musician in turn gets to call out a song and musical key, and then lead the rest in singing/playing. Then it’s on to the next person in the circle. Depending upon the song, the musicians may take turns playing/improvising a verse and a chorus. It’s lots of Fun! Folks who just want to watch or sing generally sit on the periphery or next to their musician partner. This is a monthly event on the 4th Friday of every month.
| The Latest Jail Bookings |
|---|
| j-260713 |
| Source: Flagler County Sheriff's Office. Note: the Sheriff's Office redacts or censors the names of migrants arrested under authority of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE. The federal agency requires the redactions, according to the Sheriff's Office. |
Readings: Earlier this week, the United Nations Human Rights Council released a commission of inquiry’s report on Israeli actions in Gaza. It found, in the BBC’s summary, that “Israel has deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip, as well as war crimes in the occupied West Bank. […] Israeli authorities and security forces have “deliberately carried out acts inflicting death and severe bodily and mental harm on hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children”, and that the killings continued even after last October’s ceasefire in Gaza.” The report’s summary: “The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel examines violations and crimes against and affecting Palestinian children, including serious physical and psychological harm by the Israeli security forces since 7 October 2023 resulting in the death of at least 20,179 and injury of 44,143 children. The paper describes the deliberate targeting and killing of Palestinian children, including post-ceasefire since the October 2025 Gaza peace plan. The Commission also examines a sharp increase in violence perpetrated by members of Israeli settlers against Palestinian children in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The Commission examines the use of torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, including sexual and gender-based violence, against Palestinian children, particularly during mass arrests and in detention. It analyses pattern of Israel’s targeting of critical infrastructure essential to children, such as healthcare facilities and its short- to long-term consequences, as well as the impact of reproductive violence on newborns, resulting in poor neonatal health and birthing outcomes; attacks on orphanages and schools, impacting the loss of care for orphans and unaccompanied children, and inducing academic harm and learning disruptions for children, respectively. The Commission examines the impact of the conditions of life imposed by Israel in Gaza resulting in preventable mortality of children, exacerbating morbidity, and serious mental trauma from the relentless and widespread attacks by Israel over two years – collectively revealing severe, multi-layered harm to Palestinian children’s survival, health, and development. Further, the Commission examines how Israeli soldiers mock and weaponize symbols of childhood in Gaza, raising ethical, disciplinary and legal questions about the conduct of the Israeli security forces during the ground invasion of Gaza. Lastly, the Commission provides recommendations to diverse stakeholders for the cessation of attacks, reparations, accountability
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.
July 2026
Flagler Beach Farmers Market
Coffee With Flagler Beach Commission Chair Scott Spradley
Democratic Women’s Club
Grace Community Food Pantry on Education Way
Chess Meet-Up At the Flagler Beach Public Library
Random Acts of Insanity’s Roundup of Standups from Around Central Florida
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
Story Time on the Farm at the Ag Museum
For the full calendar, go here.
Israel has targeted Palestinian children in Gaza in two distinct ways: directly by shooting at their vital organs using precision weapons such as quadcopters and snipers; and through use of high impact weapons causing widespread and systematic attacks on residential buildings, schools, and displacement camps crowded with children. Israel is also legally responsible for failing to protect Palestinian children from being targeted by Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and for allowing, enabling and encouraging ongoing settler violence, which serves to entrench settlements, annex Palestinian land and force Palestinians off their land. The killings continued even after the October 2025 ceasefire. After October 2025, children continued being killed and injured in various circumstances, including when approaching the so-called ‘yellow line’, indicating Israel’s flagrant disregard of the terms of the ceasefire. The Commission maintains that a ceasefire that allows Israeli security forces to open fire on children crossing an ill-defined boundary cannot credibly be seen as a cessation of hostilities. The vague markings, absence of clear warnings, and lack of safe corridors have turned the area into a death trap, particularly for children. Egregiously, the ‘ceasefire’ has effectively solidified Israel’s continuous occupation of Gaza, marked by restricted civilian movement and attacks resulting in casualties, including children.
–From the “Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the
Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem,
and Israel,” June 18, 2026.
Pogo says
As stated
Palestinian armed groups, primarily Hamas and its military wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, have been documented by international bodies to have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity. These atrocities include deliberate killings, hostage-taking, and sexual violence.
The most extensively documented recent atrocities occurred during the October 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel. According to findings by Amnesty International and investigations by Human Rights Watch, the attacks involved systematic and widespread violations against the civilian population.
Key atrocities include:
Targeted Civilian Killings: Coordinated assaults on communities, music festivals, and military bases resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 people. The majority of those killed were civilians, including women, children, and the elderly.
Hostage-Taking: Militants seized over 250 individuals, taking them into the Gaza Strip as hostages.
Sexual and Physical Violence: Released hostages and forensic experts have provided credible accounts detailing severe abuses, including torture and gender-based sexual violence perpetrated during the initial attacks and while held in captivity.
Indiscriminate Rocket Attacks: The firing of thousands of unguided rockets into Israeli population centers over a prolonged period has also been classified as a violation of the laws of war.
For a detailed breakdown of the legal classifications and victim accounts, you can review the comprehensive reports available via Human Rights Watch or view the documentation published by Amnesty International.
https://www.google.com/search?q=atrocities+committed+by+Palestinian+armed+groups
EC: File
Will this appear — ever? Will all comments be delayed for 24 to 48 hours?
Who knows, and who cares?
James says
“… Negotiating for space within the phone was always fraught. If engineers had their way, it would’ve been twice as thick. But ID was relentless on the size, forcing the engineers to either compromise or innovate… Caballero the antenna expert, had to practically beg Jobs: ‘I need one inch of plastic.’ … Jobs capitulated. …”
“…The RF components giving the phone cellular, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth capabilities were stuffed in the top of the device, covered by a black plastic housing on the outer metal shell. In that design the tests came back showing the antenna received a good signal. But around four months before the January 2007 unveiling, the engineers ran more tests measuring SAR… the numbers were far too high. The RF team was concerned about how much energy was going to the users head, especially after an academic study found an increased risk of brain cancer from using mobile phones. Caballero’s team spent weeks tweaking the technology to get the SAR numbers down, to no avail. The only move that really helped was to play a Jenga-in-reverse game with the phone’s inner parts: they took the RF components from the top and moved them to the bottom. That created distance between the radiation center of the phone and the user’s ear. From the outside, the solution was elegant; from the inside, it was a fiasco. … Jobs was furious, placated only by the promise that it would be fixed for some future version. …”
From “Apple In China, The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company,” chap. 17, “Project Purple in Asia,” pg. 160.
“… Much later, when production was set up, two-thirds of the line was devoted to testing and validation — an unheard of idea at the time, indicating just how seriously Apple was rethinking the rules of mass manufacturing. ‘Nobody would do that because of the cost,’ one of the engineers says. They were adamant that the thirty millionth unit be identical to the first. A Nokia engineer working within Foxconn in the late 2000s confirms this, recalling that Nokia had one test station for its phones… he was stunned to see fifty test stations. ‘It was incredible micromanagement of the whole process,’ he says. …”
“Apple In China,” chap. 17, pg. 157.
“…The iPhone was such a watershed device that success in the decade following it’s launch was determined by how brazenly competitors copied it. All attempts to do something different failed. …”
“Apple In China,” chap. 18 “The One Device,” pg. 166.
As Ray W. is fond of saying, “make of this what you will.”
Me?
As I’ve commented in the past, in my opinion not all smart phones are created equal. Can one be sure the android phones are held to the same quality control standards of Apples? Does Apple still have such quality control in place? Was moving the antenna to the bottom of the phone effective in reducing cancer risks… all types of cancer? When was the last time you saw someone holding a phone to their head?
Just something to consider.
James says
I should clarify why I mentioned that bit about “test stations.”
Those test stations had highly sophisticated RF measuring equipment, equipment that at the time was quite unusual to find on the manufacturing floor in such quantities and being utilized as Apple had been doing so.
Perhaps, an indication of concern over not just the overall quality of the device, but the RF circuitry in particular?
Just speculation on my part.
Btw, a fascinating read that book is… highly recommended.
James says
Furthermore…
“… For the first iPhone, the percentage of units that came back within twelve months — what Apple calls the TWR, standing for total warranty repair — was around one in seven. There were problems with the home button and the volume controls, and a spare issues that didn’t meet standards from the perspective of field durability. Foxconn wasn’t necessarily building it poorly; it was simply the first consumer electronics product of that complexity to be used multiple hours a day. Apple’s quality standards were high, but they weren’t built to meet smartphone addiction — a concept that hadn’t really existed before. ‘You use an iPod occasionally, but you use the iPhone all the fucking time,” says an executive involved in manufacturing the original unit.”
From “Apple In China,” chap. 18 “The One Device,” pg. 168.
Is this an indication that no one anticipated the exposure levels of RF radiation from the bottom of the unit?
Just another question to consider.
Ray W. says
The Ukrainian army is testing a ground drone capable of carrying up to one metric ton of supplies over a range of up to 20 kilometers with a top speed of up to 60 kph.
According to the RBC Ukraine story, one of the drones, after successfully delivering its cargo, became unnavigable after striking a mine. Another took a direct Russian drone hit and kept going.
Make of this what you will.
Me?
Innovation abounds. Ingenuity amazes. Change beckons. Though no one person among us is so wise as to see all ends.
Ray W. says
From another RBC Ukraine article, a new generation of unmanned sea drones, available in six attack variants, are in the validation stage of development. Some are already operating in combat environments. With an operating time of up to 20 hours, a range of 1,400 kilometers, and a top speed of 65 kph, the new-generation sea drone is claimed to be stable in seas of up to 1.2 meters.
Money for the unmanned naval drone research and development, more than €100 million, is said to have come from NATO grants.
The name of the new program? MOBIDIK.
Make of this what you will.
Me?
Will hard-to-detect unmanned sea drones capable of launching long-range cruise missiles from Russian Black Sea locales soon extend the Ukrainian capacity to strike Russian oil refining infrastructure even deeper into eastern and northeastern Siberia? Could a swarm of sea-launched long range missiles overwhelm defense systems?
From another story, so many Russian anti-air defense systems have been pulled from manufacturing plants and oil refineries across Russia to defend cities that Russian businesses are having to purchase their own anti-air defense systems.
If true, this begs the question? Are Ukrainian missile and drone swarms becoming so numerous and so accurate that Russian air-defense systems are being degraded and repositioned so as to render them partially ineffective or even non-existent?
Some reporters claim that Russia’s sheer size once was thought an asset. Now, it is a weakness.
As an aside, the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board writes that the Trump Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Iran is proving to be weaker than was Obama’s JCPOA. Even FOX News commenters are saying that Trump is losing the war he started, i.e., the MOU is a “bad” deal.
Ray W. says
Windward reports that on June 25th, despite limited available satellite overhead imagery, 18 commercial vessels were detected as entering the Strait of Hormuz, including six tankers. 45 ships exited the Strait, including 15 tankers. One cargo ship bridge was struck by a projectile; it continued outbound from the Strait. Three vessels were observed reversing course after warnings were issued by IRGC radio operators. One more vessel was seen changing course to the northern channel near Iran.
Due to the lack of overhead imagery, no count of IRGC fast-attack boats could be taken, but Windward wrote that the IRGC had surged groups of fast-attack boats on previous days.
At Iran’s Kharg Island, one tanker was observed being filled with oil and 21 more stationary empty tankers seen in the vicinity.
As an aside, Israel has formally agreed to hand over to the Lebanese Army two IDF-occupied areas in Lebanon.
Make of this what you will.
Me?
Iran appears intent on setting the precedent of maritime restrictions on passage through the Strait. Still, 45 outbound ships is a positive marker for international shipping.