This past Wednesday alert reader, entrepreneur, and local security expert, Bernard Martinage, alerted me to a troubling signal implying that all was not well inside the Fernandina Rehab and Nursing Center’s 1625 Lime Street (Quality Health of Fernandina Beach) facility.
As he was driving past Bernard noticed that the American flag outside the institution flying upside down, a long-recognized sign of distress, requesting immediate assistance.
Bernard’s professional instincts kicked in – he stopped, went in, and asked the attendants what the problem was.
They seemed puzzled by his inquiry and when he explained that their flag was flying upside down signaling distress and requesting help, a nurse responded by asking a co-worker: “Did he put it upside down?”
The other’s response was: “It sounds like it. Is he a fanatic?”
A facility resident overhearing the conversation chimed in adding: “Yes he is.”
It was obvious to Bernard that by their attitude and responses it wasn’t the first time this has occurred. It should be the last.
If the person assigned to raising the flag is attempting to make a political statement, whether on the right or left, this isn’t the place to do it. We all have the right to say & express our side of things no matter which side we are on. But not here. Their primary concern should be the welfare of the residents, not to publicly broadcast their own personal political views that poorly reflect on the facility and its residents.
The most direct and traditional meaning of flying an American flag upside down is a signal of dire distress. This signal communicates that the person or group displaying the flag in this manner is in a situation of extreme danger, often life-threatening, or facing a significant threat to their property.
Most recently those with extreme left-leaning political opinions have perverted this distress signal and flown the flag upside down to protest the current Trump administration and are doing it to indicate their disdain of the administration and possibly to be disrespectful of the flag as well. Doing it here publicly implies that the facility adheres to those views.
The traditional practice is in the United States Code, specifically U.S. Code Title 4, Chapter 1, which states the flag should only be displayed upside down as a signal of dire distress in instances of extreme danger to life or property.
When an American flag is intentionally flown upside down it is a non-verbal communication that bypasses ordinary channels of communication, such as a phone call, or message that might be compromised in certain circumstances. When seeing a flag displayed upside down, immediate action is the required.
The most immediate action here is to immediately meet with the employee assigned flag duties and/or the person supervising that employee. Tell them their jobs at that facility are to provide the best possible care available to their residents, not perform ideological stunts that reflect negatively on the institution.
I’m sure those entrusting their loved ones to the care of this facility aren’t concerned with the employees’ political beliefs. Management needs to demonstrate to employees and residents that their staff is charged with the welfare and comfort of its residents and that does not include political indoctrination.
Ironically the facility is directly next door to the Fernandina Police Department.
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Want Cheap Beer? If you’re looking for cheap beer and don’t mind leaving Florida to load up then Illinois, South Carolina and New York are the states to go to buy low priced brews by the case according to a survey by an outfit called Varonoi.
They say a case of 24 averages $16.43 in Illinois and $16.72 in New York. Florida ranks 36th in the U.S. in their survey at an average of $18.59 a case. I’m not sure where these folks are shopping for beer in Florida, but I’ve rarely seen a case below $22, except clearance sales for Bud Lite and even that much maligned girly brew has gone up in price recently.
Alaska is the most expensive state to purchase a 24-pack, averaging $33.62 per case they say. Wyoming is the second-most expensive state at $28.78. States with higher costs have sparse populations and fewer beer options.
Taxes are a major factor. According to the Tax Foundation, taxes are the single most expensive ingredient in beer—sometimes accounting for nearly 40% of the total cost when both state excise rates and federal levies are included.
On a related topic the top 10 countries by beer consumption per capita are in Europe. Europeans are drowning in beer and have been for years. There are active breweries in Europe older than the United States, one established 1000 years ago.
When living there I purchased beer ladled out of barrels, brewed in monasteries and in people’s homes. I toured a beer museum in Belgium that was in the front rooms of a woman’s house. The 10 oldest European breweries that are still functioning predate the Renaissance, the printing press, and the fall of Constantinople. Folks there take beer seriously. They probably wouldn’t buy beer promoted by some guy sitting in a bubble bath pretending to be a woman.
For 30 consecutive years, The Czech Republic has held the top spot in beer consumption per capita, with the average person drinking more than one bottle of beer daily.
Following in second by a wide margin is Austria, which neighbors Czechia. Overall, there are roughly 350 breweries in Czechia.
Beyond the continent, Namibia stands as the top beer-drinking country in Africa, Panama ranks highest in Latin America, and Cambodia stands at number one in Asia.
By comparison, the U.S. is 31st globally in beer consumption per capita, equaling about a third of Czechia’s beer consumption on a per person basis. Last year, the most popular beer among U.S. Millennials was Heineken, while Guinness ranked first among Gen X and Boomers. Bud Lite is still nursing the high-heeled foot wound where it shot itself and continues its market plunge.
The beer consumption statistic were gleaned from statistics compiled by Ranked: Beer Consumption per Capita, by Country 🍻 – Voronoi
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All Viewers Changing Channels: So far in 2025 Fox News is running circles around the floundering MSNBC and CNN cable news networks says data compiled by Nielsen Media Research last week.
Balanced and accurate reporting and on-air talent are fueling Fox while viewers at MSNBC and CNN have tuned out boring no-talent talking heads that repeat the same talking points as the rest of the discredited legacy media.
Admissions in articles by even some legacy outlets revealing that the Russia collusion was phony baloney, and the Hunter Biden laptop story was real, were factors leading to the loss of credibility and viewers. The coverup of Joe Biden’s mental decline and incompetence that was obvious to most Americans led to viewers changing the channel and not returning. “The king is naked you morons,” Americans shouted but their voices didn’t penetrate the liberal bubble the legacy media live in.
Media experts say it may take a truly generational media talent for either MSNBC or CNN to turn it around. Right now, neither network has found those people.
Rachel Madow, whose show is the only one in the top 15 in 13th place, is it. And her numbers are nothing to write home about. Eight years ago, at the height of the Russia Hoax, she was one of the three highest-rated hosts on cable news, trailing only Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity. Those days are over, and she’s been reduced to one show a week. Barbara Walters or Martha McCallum she ain’t.
The long-term stability of MSNBC and CNN is a question mark.
Actually, reporting the news would do wonders for attracting viewers and not just a small portion of folks that want to be told what they already think. The more viewers the more ad revenue. Fewer viewers equals less revenue. It’s a simple formula. Give viewers what they want, not what some leftwing dingbat thinks they should have.
If they can’t, the networks have essentially three options: 1 – dramatically cut talent contracts, 2 – sell (or spin-off), or 3 – continue to invest in what is becoming a losing financial investment.
The start of 2025 marked the highest-rated quarter in Fox News history among weekday viewers with an average of 2.2 million. Year over year, Fox News saw a 46% increase in total viewers and 63% in the demo during primetime.
This past week, Nielsen Media Research reported the most-watched shows on cable news for the first quarter of 2025. Following is the list in order:
- The Five — Fox News (4,552,000)
- Jesse Watters Primetime — Fox News (4,103,000)
- Hannity — Fox News (3,544,000)
- Special Report with Bret Baier — Fox News (3,503,000)
- The Ingraham Angle — Fox News (3,418,000)
- Gutfeld! — Fox News (3,333,000)
- The Will Cain Show — Fox News (2,591,000)
- Outnumbered — Fox News (2,453,000)
- The Faulkner Focus — Fox News (2,392,000)
- America Reports — Fox News (2,351,000)
- The Story with Martha MacCallum — Fox News (2,338,00)
- America’s Newsroom — Fox News (2,285,000)
- The Rachel Maddow Show — MSNBC (1,981,000)
- Fox News at Night — Fox News (1,907,000)
- Fox & Friends — Fox (1,519,000)
As a whole, experts say the outlook for MSNBC is bleak. The channel is down -18% in total viewers and -21% in the demo during primetime compared to Q1 2024. Parent company NBCUniversal is also planning to spin off the network and other cable channels away from its more valued properties, like NBC and Peacock.
CNN dropped -6% in total viewers and -1% in the demo during primetime compared to the first quarter of 2024. What’s more, during Trump’s first term. The network frequently generated headlines from interviews and original reporting (even if the reporting was inaccurate). Not this time. The only real headlines from CNN these days are from lively debates between conservative pundit Scott Jennings and a few of his raging liberal colleagues. Shouldn’t that send a message to the suits that run the place?
It appears that the individual raising the flag should actually be a resident of the nursing home. Clearly, they have lost their mind.
My mother was referred to Quality Health for rehab after breaking her pelvis. We took the advice and put her in the facilities hands. We were immediately in distress as the conditions were very unfavorable for healing. Perhaps the person in charge of the flag has witnessed the abhorrent conditions. The place should be investigated.
msnbc devolved into a reality show with no objective reporting, especially when Joyless Reid had the microphone. Anybody white, a conservative, or leaned right was deemed racist in her “esteemed” opinion. I hear McDonald’s is hiring …
History lesson… Flying the flag the wrong way up was originally used by the British Navy. If a ship was boarded by pirates, fly the Union Jack up-side-down and any loyal British subject will understand the distress but the pirates will not!
Our local Hoyt House used to fly the Union Jack and got it wrong about half the time. I think they got tired of my emails as they now fly the Florida flag in its place!
Some of the Obama/Biden opposition were also flying the flag upside down during those regimes.
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The best thing about the Obama then Biden years is the self indictment of those regimes, their supporters and the enabling LeftMedia, which is most of the so-called “News” media. This made it possible for Trump to get back in office, Congress to flip and for alternative media to get a foothold, in spite of all the efforts of MSM and leftist elite to delegitimize it. But as bad as they are, the DNC’s Harris/Waltz ticket and Dem federal candidates only barely lost, so beware the mid-term elections.
y’all can flie your flags upside down and its alright with me just so long as y’alls got the Dickse flag of the great state of Flarida up their.
Thanks Bernard !!!!!
Don’t know who is worse, Timmerman, Scott, Knocke, Boelke, Heine and the list goes on and on. Oh my, this little town is full of nut jobs!
Randi, you forgot to include Bernard Martinage in your list.
keep in mind the same rules apply to flag burning.