Diane Roberts, formerly BadDebutante on the twixxy thing

$50,000? Did Rage Barbie go to school?

Most of the media, most days:

Morning: "Capitalism must go further! further! further!"

Afternoon: "Oh my God, how did that happen?"

Big Sugar wants Florida lawmakers to make its critics shut up • Florida Phoenix Signs at our state line now welcome visitors to “the Free State of Florida,” but some members of our fine Legislature are working reeeeeally hard to make those signs a lie. They want to take away our ...

Big Shug has always run Florida. Now they want you banned from talking high-calorie trash about them. Free speech: so 2021. floridaphoenix.com/2026/02/12/b...

The daft thing is that with Proportional Representation there'd be no need for this self-destructive war within Labour. It could split into its component parts - left and right - and people could vote for what they wanted. It's only First-Past-the-Post that forces these irreconcilables together.

Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl half-time show review – a thrilling ode to Boricua joy The Grammy-winning Puerto Rican megastar delivered a powerful, detail-packed performance that paid tribute to his history and teased more greatness for his future

Hey kids, what was the first European language spoken in North America? www.theguardian.com/music/2026/f...

He is one dumb cluck.

Epstein survivors released an incredible ad during the Super Bowl.

Do Florida public universities really embrace the Western Tradition? • Florida Phoenix It’s a lousy time to be a kid in Florida. You’re told you can’t read certain books or study certain subjects or discuss certain topics. You’re told you can’t go by your chosen name; you must conform t...

If the DeSantis regime knew much about the "Western Canon," they might not like it so much. But since when are they interested in actual learning? floridaphoenix.com/2026/02/09/d...

Florida legislators try to moooove cattle into state parks and forests • Florida Phoenix There wouldn’t be any Westerns if it weren’t for us Floridians. The Spanish brought the first cattle to America, so the first cowboys were vaqueros tending herds around St. Augustine in the late 1500s...

Cows. In nature preserves. Do y'all know what cows do? floridaphoenix.com/2026/02/05/f...

He's killing a great newspaper. On purpose.

Florida Panhandle residents rally to save a rare coastal dune lake • Florida Phoenix Florida is chock full of amazing phenomena. We’ve got the Lake Wales Ridge, an ancient sand dune stretching down the center of the state, far from the nearest ocean. We’ve got the Devil’s Millhopper, ...

A rare, and welcome, victory for those who love Florida's environment. (Also the first paragraph is one of the best descriptions of Florida's wonders I've ever read.) floridaphoenix.com/2026/01/29/f...

Hey, thanks for posting this!

Monoculture at the Florida Supreme Court • Florida Phoenix The late Justice Joe Boyd used to boast he was the only one on the Florida Supreme Court to have been officially declared sane. In 1975, a utility company needed a small legal favor, so they wrote a d...

DeSantis' pet supreme court: floridaphoenix.com/2026/01/26/m...

Don't be fooled by flamingo debate; Legislature is poised to do great harm • Florida Phoenix It’s the most wonderful time of the year! The 2026 Florida Legislative Session kicks off tomorrow. You psyched? I know I am. We can witness the majesty of democracy at work, the glory of our constitut...

Mockingbird, Flamingo, Flamingo, Scrub Jay--and dirty water: floridaphoenix.com/2026/01/12/d...

Florida lawmaker is back with bill promoting water pollution • Florida Phoenix This is such an exciting time of year for us Florida columnists! The 2026 legislative session begins next Tuesday, and we’re all waiting to see which piece of legislation will win the coveted title of...

Here in Floor-duh, we love our water pollution: floridaphoenix.com/2026/01/08/f...

New Year's resolutions for the state of Florida • Florida Phoenix It’s a new year here in the Free State of Florida and you’re freer than ever! Free to tote guns; free to kill bears; free to drain and pave; free to call ICE if you spy some brown-complected fellows i...

Florida New Year's Resolutions: Gov. needs etiquette lessons: floridaphoenix.com/2026/01/05/n...

MidPoint In-depth state and local coverage, plus national and international perspectives. Everyday Ethics discussion leads off the show.

If you missed my appearance on @wmnf.org's "Midpoint" show this week talking about the Year in Weird #Florida News, here's a recording of the discussion: www.wmnf.org/events/wmnf-...

Happiest Place on Earth

The rest of a very sad story at New College | Editorial A recent New York Times story painted a rosy picture at Florida’s New College in the wake of its hard-right turn. It left out a lot of details.

Editorial: The academic money pit that has become New College of #Florida received kid-glove treatment in the @nytimes.com, but it’s because nobody checked the math. www.sun-sentinel.com/2026/01/02/t... via @sun-sentinel.com

That was a disgraceful story.

What have immigrants ever done for America? • Florida Phoenix Foreigners! What have they ever done for us? I grant you there was that 18th century guy, that Marquis de Lafayette, who convinced the French government to back us against the British and used his own...

Who needs Nobel Prize-winners? floridaphoenix.com/2025/12/22/w...

The Phony War on Christians • Florida Phoenix Remember the War on Christmas, when conservatives worked themselves into a lather over America-hating freaks wishing people “Happy Holidays,” putting on community celebrations called “Winterfest” inst...

The fictional persecution of non-Christlike Christians. floridaphoenix.com/2025/12/15/t...

Zillow Removes Climate Risk Scores From Home Listings

Zillow removes climate risk score from its home listings because that way climate change won't be a factor in real estate at all, right? I'm sure #Florida Gov. Ron DeSastrous suggested this. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/30/c... h/t @mikegrunwald.bsky.social

The Florida Legislature is not your friend • Florida Phoenix Ever get the feeling the Florida Legislature hates you? It does. Unless you’re a developer, a lobbyist, or a fetus. Members are filing hell-born bills for the 2026 session, many apparently designed to...

Your tax dollars at work: floridaphoenix.com/2025/12/01/t...

This Thanksgiving, everyone in Florida should be thankful for alligators • Florida Phoenix The Pilgrims were idiots. If they had just taken a sharp left at Plymouth Rock and sailed southward for another 500 miles, they could have spent that first winter luxuriating at a hotel in St. Augusti...

Florida alligators, iconic, no longer endangered, thanks to laws the Trumpist wildlike-haters want to water down or repeal. floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/27/t...

Florida, where meritocracy went to die Gov. Ron DeSantis’ appointments will shape the state for years.

Column: Under Gov. Ron DeSastrous, #Florida has become the place where meritocracy dies and political cronyism rules. www.tampabay.com/viewpoints/2... via @tampabaytimes.bsky.social

What do you want to bet Rahmanullah Lakanwal, an anti-Taliban fighter thoroughly vetted by the CIA, got radicalized in the anti-foreigner US?

Florida has much to be thankful for • Florida Phoenix It’s the season of Thanksgiving: You know, the turkey before Christmas, the holiday with the Pilgrim hats, the football, and the frenzied online shopping. But let us take a break from stuffing our fac...

Thanksgiving in Florida. An underdone turkey, but with excellent sides: floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/24/f...

Ask the gaggle of gubernatorial wannabes what they’ll do for Florida’s environment • Florida Phoenix Hey Florida, congrats! We’ve just about made it through another hurricane season. But I should warn you that something even scarier is coming: A gubernatorial election. Board up your windows! Batten d...

The Florida legislature is trying to destroy every environmental protection we have left. Ask the candidates for Ron DeSantis' job what they think of that: floridaphoenix.com/2025/11/20/a...

U.S. Coast Guard will no longer classify swastikas, nooses as hate symbols The military service, which falls under the Department of Homeland Security, has drafted a new policy that classifies such items “potentially divisive.”

All the other shoes have dropped. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...