Green New Deal Me In

FlaglerLive | June 8, 2019

The Green New Deal may have a hoaky name but at least it’s a beginning, an attempt to push back against a republic of insects and grass, inviting debate in the face of indefensible Republican inaction.

Trump Against the First Amendment

FlaglerLive | May 30, 2019

Julian Assange and Wikileaks are giving Trump a chance to challenge First Amendment freedoms of the press and get a radical ruling from his new buddies on the Supreme Court.

The Firefighters of Notre Dame

FlaglerLive | April 16, 2019

The firefighters who saved the majority of the cathedral, which could very well have collapsed without their heroism, now stand as tall and as anonymous as the architects and masons of Notre Dame. They deserve their own Victor Hugo.

Felons’ Right To Vote and Paul Renner’s Cynical End Run Around Amendment 4

FlaglerLive | April 6, 2019

Paul Renner, Flagler’s GOP representative and future Speaker of the House, is being dishonest and disingenuous in his defense of a bill that would make felons’ right to vote dependent on paying back all financial obligations.

The Familiar Face of White Supremacy

Pierre Tristam | March 24, 2019

The fad of not naming mass killers is deceptive and self-defeating, an act of cowardice that hides more than it wants to acknowledge. Brenton Tarrant, the killer of Christchurch, is an all–too familiar face.

What National Emergency?

FlaglerLive | March 1, 2019

American leader not only genuflecting to autocrats from Turkey to Russia to Saudi Arabia, but behaving like them is a more serious national emergency than what few migrants are still crossing the border illegally.

Anthony Fennick’s Death and The Sheriff’s Green Roof Inn Smear

FlaglerLive | February 17, 2019

Much is unknown in the death of inmate Anthony Fennick, but much is known, including the sheriff’s responsibility for hiring trouble-ridden Armor Health–and for showing inmates contempt from the outset with his “Green Roof Inn” sign.

Trump’s Fabulous Wall Fables

Pierre Tristam | January 25, 2019

We’re in a post-factual presidency where alternative facts are the equivalent of papal bulls. It’s about belief, not reality. For the sake of appearances though, let’s argue the facts about the wall for a moment.

Sheriff’s Sick Building: How To Hire A Savior

FlaglerLive | January 18, 2019

To break out of its leadership lethargy on the future of the Sheriff’s Operations Center, Flagler County government should find an obsessively independent project manager untainted by local politics or current administrations.

Let Craig Coffey Resign. With Severance.

Pierre Tristam | December 23, 2018

Craig Coffey’s loss of credibility has been painful. It doesn’t need to be cruel. Rather than a public flogging on Jan. 14, he should be allowed to resign with a measure of dignity–and severance.

Democrats’ Arafat Complex

Pierre Tristam | December 16, 2018

Early possibilities for the 2020 election–Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton–suggest Democrats aren’t learning lessons but clinging to habits of self-destruction.

Flagler’s Beach ‘Renourishment’ Is Exorbitant Futility

Pierre Tristam | December 9, 2018

Whether it’s the Corps of Engineers’ plan for 2.6 miles of Flagler Beach sands or Flagler County’s ongoing dune-rebuilding over 12 miles, there’s no money to sustain either, yet officials are mortgaging the county’s future on a blank check.

Barbecuing Bing’s

Pierre Tristam | November 30, 2018

With even Captain’s BBQ owners willing to get “back to the drawing board,” there’s plenty of room for Flagler government to fix what remains a dirty deal that hurts all sides.

The Death of WNZF’s Ron Charles, Friend and Colleague, at 56

FlaglerLive | November 7, 2018

Ron ‘Charles’ Gitschier, 56, built Flagler County’s first radio station WNZF as its chief engineer for the past 10 years, was its news director and a man of rare integrity and humility.

Restoring Felons’ Right to Vote:
Why I’m Voting Yes on Amendment 4

FlaglerLive | November 2, 2018

In 46 other states, the right is restored either immediately or on completion of probation. Florida stands out for harshness, accounting for a quarter of America’s disenfranchised.

Trump’s Responsibility

Pierre Tristam | October 27, 2018

Trump can’t have it both ways. He can’t revel in his powers of denigration and incitement then take cover behind a bogus sense of outrage and his usual deflections when the incitement and denigration arm fuses and kill people.

News-Journal Redemption: Krys Fluker Is Paper’s New Editorial Page Editor

FlaglerLive | October 17, 2018

Krys Fluker has just been named editorial page editor of the Daytona Beach News-Journal. FlaglerLive Editor Pierre Tristam cheers the appointment of his old colleague.

Palm Coast’s Shocking Electric Tax Scheme

FlaglerLive | October 15, 2018

Out of nowhere the Palm Coast City Council is about to ram through a large tax increase on residents and businesses with hardly any discussion, no hearings, no public education. No wonder we have tea parties.

Saint Kavanaugh

Pierre Tristam | October 4, 2018

Whether Kavanaugh was confirmed or not is irrelevant: whoever’s next might be less personally sleazy, more temperamentally amoebic, but judicially? Same shill, different name.

Without Fear Or Favor. Or Whining.

FlaglerLive | August 26, 2018

Defending the press against Donald Trump’s “enemy of the people” attacks may have its place, but reporters’ best bet is to shut up and do their job well: it’s the most eloquent response.

Schools Are Safer Than Your Home

Pierre Tristam | August 13, 2018

We’re making fortresses of the safest places in America, out of fear that one of those 120,000 schools might at some point be the target of a shooting.

America’s Pre-Existing Condition

Pierre Tristam | August 3, 2018

Florida is among the states suing to end the requirement that people with pre-existing conditions be covered by insurers. It’s the latest cynical attempt to end Obamacare.

Truth Derangement Syndrome

Pierre Tristam | July 20, 2018

Donald Trump once said he could shoot someone and not lose any votes. He’s right in the sense that he changed the rules of right and wrong, truth and lies, morality and immorality.

Cruel and Usual Trump

FlaglerLive | June 17, 2018

The Trump-Sessions zero-tolerance policy of separating children from their parents at the border has no precedent except in America’s slavery times.

Pious Homophobes Win One

FlaglerLive | June 10, 2018

The Supreme Court in its wedding-cake ruling declared gays once again second-class citizens, at least when their sexuality has to compete with someone else’s more stone-throwing version of Christianity.

“AATITLE” (19XX)

FlaglerLive | May 25, 2018

“TITLE” (19XX) Reading John Updike’s Complete Stories

(Click to order)
This series is a re-reading of John Updike’s short stories in the wake of the publication of “The Collected Early Stories” and “The Collected Later Stories,” the twin-volume set by the Library of America (2013), edited by Christopher Carduff. Updike wrote some 230 stories in five and […]

Israel’s Mass Shootings

FlaglerLive | May 20, 2018

You can always depend on Israel periodically to mass-murder bunches of Arabs in proportions as lopsided and unforgiving as our own mass shootings in the U.S., then scapegoat the bloodletting.

Compromise Over School Deputies in Flagler, But Look Beyond False Security of “Hardening”

FlaglerLive | May 3, 2018

There’s an effective way to end the stalemate between the Flagler Sheriff and the school board over deputies in schools without breaking the bank or compromising security.

Flagler School Board Wants To Snoop on Students’ Social Media, And Maybe Yours. Wrong Move.

FlaglerLive | April 16, 2018

The School Board is set to contract with Social Sentinel, a company that will troll social media accounts across Flagler for $18,500 and issue “alerts” to select officials. It’s an inappropriate move down a slippery slope.