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Parents get an endless supply of rules and unsolicited opinions about what to do and what not to do with their kids.

But the truth is "there's no handbook," Shari Rogers, a licensed clinical social worker at the Family Institute at Northwestern University, tells TODAY.com. Every child is different, every parent is different and what might work for you may change from day to day, says Rogers, who is the mom of a 16-year-old boy and specializes in working with children and adolescents with eating disorders.

More than anything, "Parents shouldn't feel like they're doing something wrong," Rogers says. "Everything's trial and error... No parent wants to be judged."

But the experts TODAY.com spoke to say there are some tips from both personal experience and research that could be useful for parents.

"Being a child psychologist,I use so many of our techniques with my child," Shannon Dorsey, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Washington and parent of a 9-year-old son, tells TODAY.com. Dorsey, whose research focuses on evidence-based mental health treatment for children, says she's found a few of those strategies particularly helpful.

This tends to come up when kids are locked into a certain behavior and parents need them to do something else. For instance, maybe they need to clean up their toys before going to the park, which a child may not be too excited about.

"But one thing we know from clinical psychology is validating emotion is very important," Dorsey says. "So, you can see your child be upset and you can still expect a behavior, but you can also validate that emotion."

You can say something like, "I see that you're feeling really angry and frustrated, but we still need to clean up the toys before we can leave for the park," Dorsey explains.

If children grow up without feeling their emotions validated including negative emotions, can lead "kids to not trust their feelings, not know that they're valid and not know and not realize that there's a difference between how you feel and what you do with your body," Dorsey says.

For example, those children may have a hard time recognizing that being angry doesn't need to translate to hitting or kicking, she adds.

What exactly is special time? It's just five minutes during which "you play with your child and you focus on what they want to do," Dorsey explains. "You're not giving any instructions and not asking a lot of questions, but really being focused on them."

For example, Dorsey often sits down and lets her son direct them in playing with Legos.

"You're not teaching them something, you're not coaching, you're not tutoring," she says. "It's a different role for parents to play and it pays dividends for your relationship."

Rogers, who often works nights and weekends to accommodate families' schedules, says she really tries to maximize the time she and her son have to spend together.

In fact, the two have them have a nighttime "tea party" routine before he goes to bed during which they'll watch sports or a TV show together, drink tea and talk about their days. "He doesn't seem like somebody who'd sit down and have tea with his mom," Rogers jokes, "butI make a point of being able to talk to him after the end of my day."

Dorsey has three keywords for parents when setting limits: consistency, predictability and follow-through.

When it comes to setting rules for bedtime routines or screen time, it's crucial for parents to be consistent and predictable, meaning the limit or bedtime is the same and "you're not going to sometimes enforce a rule and other times not," Dorsey explains.

Then you need to actually enforce the rule. "You give your kid an expectation and you say there's going to be a consequence (if they don't meet that expectation)," she says, such as losing TV time or not being able to go to the park. Adding reminders, like alerting kids that they have five minutes left before their time is up, often helps, Dorsey adds.

But your mileage may vary especially as kids get older and start wanting more independence, Rogers says.

"I say to clients a lot, like 'You don't want to engage in a power struggle as a parent,'" she says. "Sometimes we're just going to say no." In her own life as a parent, though, it doesn't always work so well, she says, and it might even be more or less successful on different days.

That said, when it comes to rules around screen time, on sick days and when parents dont have childcare, all that goes out the window, Dorsey says, and parents shouldnt judge themselves for that.

Because Ive worked with eating disorders so much, I never talk to (my son) about food in that way, Rogers says. "I never talk about wanting to go on a diet no one in our house does."

In her home, "we don't ever say any foods aren't good foods," she adds. "Seeing people who really struggle so much with (eating disorders), it's just been on my conscience."

Instead, she lets her son make his own decisions about food during the day. And, when they do talk about food, it's Rogers reminds him that skipping meals can trigger his migraines. "I do often say to him, '(Food is) like medicine for you. You can't not eat,'" Rogers says.

"Kids will bring up a lot of things at bedtime that might be important to talk through," Dorsey says, such as friction with other kids at school. But"the more tired a kid is, the less emotional resources they have to bring to bear on a stressful topic," she says.

So, drawing on the other tips she described above, Dorsey will first validate her son's feelings then suggest they talk about it in the morning or after school the next day and then follow through on that promise.

"Iwill often say, 'These are so important. We're going to talk about them, but let's talk about them in the morning. So let's switch the channel in your mind to another topic,'" she explains. From there, they'll read a book or sing a song together and continue their bedtime routine.

"Children are better at addressing problems and challenges if they're well rested, they're fed and it's the time to do it," Dorsey says. Drawing on the power of distraction and redirecting attention at bedtime makes it that much easier to talk through the next day.

Sarah Jacoby is a health reporter at TODAY.

Read more:
I'm A Child Psychologist I Never Do These 5 Things With My Kid - TODAY

The U.S. government will likely run out of money in the first two weeks of June. Thats when the Congressional Budget Office expects the Treasury Department will have exhausted the extraordinary measures it has been taking since Jan. 19 to keep paying the nations bills.

If the debt limit is not raised or suspended before the Treasurys cash and extraordinary measures are exhausted, the government will have to delay making payments for some activities, default on its debt obligations, or both, CBO said in a May 12 report.

This type of warning comes every few years, when the nation reaches its debt limit and Congress needs to pass legislation to raise it.

Here we will review the last 10 times the U.S. hit the debt ceiling and had to rely on extraordinary measures, which are accounting strategies such as suspending payments to retirement, health and disability funds for federal, civil service and U.S. Postal Service workers to manage cash flow and debt.

Congress has raised the nations borrowing cap 78 times since 1960 49 times under Republican presidents and 29 times under Democratic presidents, according to the Treasury Department.

The current debt limit was set at about $31.4 trillion in December 2021, when Congress raised it by $2.5 trillion, as explained by the Congressional Research Service in its report The Debt Limit Since 2011.

At the time, the Democrats controlled the White House and Congress. They raised the debt limit without a single Republican vote in the Senate and with only one Republican vote in the House.

This year, Republicans control the House, and they are demanding spending cuts and new or expanded work requirements for federal aid programs in exchange for raising the debt limit.

The GOP-controlled House narrowly passed legislation on April 26 that would raise the debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion to $32.9 trillion. The bill would also cap discretionary spending over the next 10 years, which would reduce projected budget deficits by $4.8 trillion over that time, according to CBOs analysis of the bill.

Democratic leaders say spending cuts should be addressed in the annual appropriations process; they accuse the Republicans of holding the economy hostage.

President Joe Biden and the Democratic leaders have met twice at the White House with the top two Republican leaders House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to discuss the debt ceiling impasse. The May 9 meeting reportedly resulted in little movement, but Biden and McCarthy were more hopeful that a deal could be reached after a second meeting on May 16.

McCarthy said a vote in the House could come as early as next week, while Biden expressed confidence that neither side would allow the U.S. to default.

Im confident that well get the agreement on the budget, that America will not default, Biden said on May 17 prior to leaving for a trip to Japan. And every leader in the room understands the consequences if we fail to pay our bills. And it would be catastrophic for the for the American economy and the American people if we didnt pay our bills.

Economists agree that a default would disrupt a U.S. economy that has been flirtingwith a recession for nearly a year.

A default would be a catastrophic blow to the already fragile economy, the chief economist of Moodys Analytics, Mark Zandi,tolda Senate subcommittee in March.

Typically, negotiations have dragged on for months and both parties have used the debt limit negotiations to extract budget concessions from the White House. The longest any negotiation lasted during the previous 10 debt limit increases was nearly eight months (2015) and the largest debt limit increase was $6.41 trillion (2019).

Party in power: Split. Democrats controlled the White House and Senate; Republicans controlled the House.

Debt limit reached: May 16, 2011

Deadline to act (estimate): Aug. 2, 2011

The conflict: The Republicans took control of the House in January 2011. On May 9, 2011, House Speaker John Boehner said that any increase in the debt should be matched by spending cuts. Let me be as clear as I can be: Without significant spending cuts and changes in the way we spend the American peoples money, there will be no increase in the debt limit, Boehner told the Economic Club of New York. And the cuts should be greater than the accompanying increase in the debt limit that the president is given. The Obama administration wanted a clean piece of legislation to raise the debt ceiling without conditions.

The agreement: On Aug. 2, 2011, Obama signed the Budget Control Act of 2011. The law sought to control spending by capping all discretionary spending, including both military and non-military spending, to save $1.2 trillion over 10 years, beginning in fiscal year 2012. It also triggered $1.2 trillion in automatic spending cuts, scheduled to start in January 2013, as explained by CRS. The bill passed the Senate (74-26) and House (269-161) with bipartisan support. In addition to the scheduled budget spending caps and cuts, the bill raised the debt limit to $16.4 trillion in three stages. But the Government Accountability Office estimated that delays in raising the debt limit in 2011 led to an increase in Treasurys borrowing costs of about $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2011.And, three days after Obama signed the legislation, Standard & Poors Rating Services downgraded the United States credit rating from AAA to AA+, saying the budget compromise was inadequate. The Budget Control Act of 2011 would factor in future debt limit and budget negotiations, with both parties seeking ways to raise the caps and spend more money.

Debt limit increased: $2.1 trillion. Treasury raised the debt limit $400 billion on Aug. 2, 2011, $500 billion on Sept. 22, 2011, and $1.2 trillion on Jan. 28, 2012, to a new debt limit of nearly $16.4 trillion.

Impasse lasted: Nearly three months.

Party in power: Split. Democrats controlled the White House and Senate; Republicans controlled the House.

Debt limit reached: Dec. 31, 2012

Deadline to act (estimate): Mid-February/early March 2013

The conflict: Once again, Obama insisted on a clean bill to raise the debt ceiling without negotiating budget cuts, while the Republicans sought more spending cuts. Republicans in Congress have two choices here: They can act responsibly, and pay Americas bills; or they can act irresponsibly, and put America through another economic crisis, Obama said in a Jan. 14, 2013, news conference.

The agreement: In mid-January 2013, Boehner proposed a stop-gap measure that would suspend the debt limit for three months, while negotiations could continue on spending cuts. Before there is any long-term debt limit increase, a budget should be passed that cuts spending, Boehner said. The conservative Republican Study Committee agreed to the plan with the understanding that House GOP leaders would support deep cuts in the next budget. The bill, known as the No Budget, No Pay Act, suspended the debt limit through May 18, 2013, and reset the limit at the amount it would be on May 19, 2013. It also required both chambers of Congress to pass a budget resolution by April 15 or have their paychecks withheld and placed in escrow. In late January 2013, the Senate passed the bill 64-34 with mostly Democratic votes, while the House approved the bill 285-144 with mostly Republican votes.

Debt limit increased: $305 billion. Treasury reset the debt limit at nearly $16.7 trillion on May 19, 2013.

Impasse lasted: A little more than one month.

Party in power: Split. Democrats controlled the White House and Senate; Republicans controlled the House.

Debt limit reached: May 20, 2013

Deadline to act (estimate): Oct. 17, 2013

The conflict: The debt limit became part of budget negotiations that included Republican attempts not only to curb spending but also to repeal the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. On Sept. 20, 2013, the Republican-controlled House, with 228 Republican votes and only two Democratic votes, approved a temporary budget plan that defunded Obamacare. On the same day, Obama responded by telling the Republicans that they cant threaten to blow the whole thing up just because you dont get your way. In remarks on Sept. 23, 2013, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi warned the Republicans: Dont mess with the debt limit. The Democratic-controlled Senate rejected the House bill, and the budget stalemate resulted in a government shutdown on Oct. 1, 2013.On Oct. 15, 2013, Fitch Ratings warned that the U.S. credit rating was at risk of being downgraded. The prolonged negotiations over raising the debt ceiling (following the episode in August 2011) risks undermining confidence in the role of the U.S. dollar as the preeminent global reserve currency, by casting doubt over the full faith and credit of the U.S., Fitch said in a statement.

The agreement: The House Republicans gave up their demands and Congress passed a continuing resolution that ended the 16-day government shutdown and averted a possible default. The bill, which Congress passed a day after Fitchs warning, resumed funding the government through Jan. 15, 2014, and suspended the debt limit through Feb. 7, 2014. The House passed the bill 285-144, and the Senate approved it 81-18 without any Democratic opposition. Obama signed it Oct. 17, 2013. We fought the good fight. We just didnt win, Boehner said in an interview after the vote.

Debt limit increased: $213 billion. Treasury reset the debt limit at about $17.2 trillion on Feb. 7, 2014.

Impasse lasted: Nearly five months.

Party in power: Split. Democrats controlled the White House and Senate; Republicans controlled the House.

Debt limit reached:Feb. 7, 2014

Deadline to act (estimate): Feb. 27, 2014

The conflict: The conflict was within the Republican caucus. House Republicans after failing to defund Obamacare, despite forcing a government shutdown this time didnt try to use the debt limit as leverage to end Obamacare and didnt want to shut down the government. There was still a desire to cut spending, but Boehner struggled to come up with a plan that had enough Republican votes to pass.

The agreement: With overwhelming support from Democrats, Congress passed a clean bill without conditions that suspended the debt limit for more than one year through March 15, 2015. On Feb. 11, 2014, the House approved the Temporary Debt Limit Extension Act by a 221-201 vote, with 199 Republicans voting against it. The next day, the Senate voted 55-43 to pass the bill without any Republican votes. A clean debt ceiling is a complete capitulation on the Speakers part, Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of Tea Party Patriots, said in a statement. [I]t is time for him to go. Fire the Speaker. Boehner blamed a lack of consensus in his caucus. When you dont have 218 votes, you have nothing, he said.

Debt limit increased: $901 billion. Treasury reset the debt limit at $18.1 trillion on March 16, 2014.

Impasse lasted: Almost three weeks.

Party in power: Split. Democrats controlled the White House; Republicans controlled the House and Senate.

Debt limit reached: March 16, 2015

Deadline to act (estimate): No later than Nov. 3, 2015

The conflict: Once again, the Obama White House and congressional leaders were faced with the need to both increase the debt ceiling and negotiate a budget deal. The White House wanted a clean debt limit bill with no conditions. We have made it clear that we are not going to let the debt ceiling be used as a way to extract commitments that otherwise would be unacceptable, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told NPR in an early October 2015 interview. Republicans refused to accept a clean bill. They also wanted a budget that would slow the growth of entitlement programs, but rejected a White House proposal to do just that because the White House also wanted to increase taxes and raise spending. In the middle of negotiations, Boehner announced on Sept. 25, 2015, that he would step down as House speaker and resign from Congress. A few days later, Congress passed and Obama signed a short-term spending bill to keep the government funded through Dec. 11, 2015, and prevent another government shutdown. It wasnt until Oct. 22, 2015, that the two sides started to discuss a broader deal that would resolve both the budget and debt limit stalemate.

The agreement: Before Boehner left office, Obama and Republican leaders reached a two-year budget deal the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015. The agreement suspended the debt limit until March 15, 2017. The budget bill also increased the budget caps to allow for more spending on defense and non-defense discretionary programs. On Oct. 28, 2015 Boehners last full day as speaker the House approved the bill 266-167. All 167 no votes came from the Republicans. (Rep. Paul Ryan took over as House speaker on Oct. 29, 2015.) The outcome was similar in the Senate, where it passed 64-35 on Oct. 30, 2015, with no Democratic opposition. Obama signed the bill on Nov. 2, 2015, saying the legislation should finally free us from the cycle of shutdown threats and last-minute fixes.

Debt limit increased: $1.7 trillion. Treasury reset the debt limit at $19.8 trillion on March 16, 2017.

Impasse lasted: Nearly eight months.

Party in power: Republicans controlled the White House, Senate and House.

Debt limit reached: March 16, 2017

Deadline to act (estimate): On or about Sept. 29, 2017

The conflict: The conflict again was among Republicans. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin asked Congress to pass a clean bill before the August recess that would raise the debt limit without any conditions. But conservatives in the House and Senate wanted to tie spending cuts to the debt limit increase. After Hurricanes Harvey, Mnuchin urged Congress to pass a debt limit bill tied to disaster relief. For their part, House Democrats led by Pelosi initially wanted a clean bill, as they did under Obama, but later pushed for a short-term budget deal that would provide hurricane relief and give the party more leverage in the next round of negotiations.

The agreement: Trump agreed to a deal with Democratic leaders in the House and Senate over the objections of Republicans. A stop-gap budget bill the Continuing Appropriations Act, 2018 and Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 2017 passed 316-90 in the House and 80-17 in the Senate, with all 17 no votes coming from Republicans. The bill, which Trump signed Sept. 8, 2017, kept the government funded through Dec. 8, 2017, and provided emergency aid for Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. It also suspended the debt limit through Dec. 8, 2017.

Debt limit increased: $647 billion. Treasury reset the debt limit at about $20.5 trillion on Dec. 9, 2017.

Impasse lasted: More than six months.

Party in power: Republicans controlled the White House, Senate and House.

Debt limit reached: Dec. 9, 2017

Deadline to act (estimate): Feb. 28, 2018

The conflict: Coming off a short-term deal on the budget and debt limit, Congress now needed a longer-term solution. But, for months, Congress could not agree on a budget bill and instead repeatedly passed a series of stop-gap budget bills, known as continuing resolutions, to briefly keep funds flowing except for three days in January, when the government was forced to partially shut down for lack of funding. Both Democrats and Republicans wanted to get out from under the budget caps that were put into place by the Budget Control Act of 2011. Trump sought to end the cap on defense spending, while Democrats wanted more money for domestic programs. House Democrats led by Pelosi also wanted to make the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program permanent. (In the fall of 2017, the Trump administration announced it would begin phasing out the DACA program, which had been created under Obama to temporarily protect those brought into the country illegally at a young age. The program was set to expire in March 2018, but the federal courts allowed it to remain in place.)

The agreement: On Feb. 9, 2018, the House and Senate approved the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. The bill, which Trump signed the same day, raised the budget caps to provide an additional $290 billion for military and non-military programs and suspended the debt limit through March 1, 2019. The bill passed the Senate 71-28, with only 11 Democrats voting against it. The bill passed the House 240-186, with most House Democrats 119 Democrats, including Pelosi voting against it. The conservative Freedom Caucus also opposed the budget bill because it increased spending.

Debt limit increased: $1.53 trillion. Treasury reset the debt limit at nearly $22 trillion on March 2, 2019.

Impasse lasted: About two and a half months

Party in power: Split. Republicans controlled the White House and Senate, while the Democrats controlled the House.

Debt limit reached: March 2, 2019

Deadline to act (estimate): Aug. 7, 2019

The conflict: Pelosi, now House speaker, said she would not agree to raising the debt limit unless the Republicans raised the spending caps imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2011. [W]hen we lift the caps, then we can talk about lifting the debt ceiling, but that would have to come second or simultaneous, but not before lifting the caps, she said.Trump wanted again to significantly increase military spending which ultimately laid the groundwork for another bipartisan budget compromise.

The agreement: House Democrats reached a budget deal with Trump that resulted in the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 a two-year, $2.7 trillion budget that raised the budget caps to allow an additional $322 billion for military and domestic programs. It also suspended the debt limit through July 31, 2021. The House passed the budget bill on a 284-149 vote. The Senate approved it 67-28.

Debt limit increased: $6.41 trillion. Treasury reset the debt limit at $28.4 trillion on Aug. 1, 2021.

Impasse lasted: Roughly five months.

Party in power: Democrats controlled the White House, Senate and House.

Debt limit reached: Aug. 1, 2021

Deadline to act (estimate): Oct. 18, 2021

The conflict: Biden and Democratic congressional leaders wanted to pass a short-term budget bill that would also raise the debt limit. The House did just that on Sept. 21, 2021, when it passed a continuing budget resolution without any Republican votes that would have funded the government through Dec. 3, 2021, and suspended the debt limit through Dec. 16, 2022. The Senate Republicans, however, blocked the measure from coming up for a vote in the Senate. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell wanted the debt limit increase to be included in another Democratic budget bill a $3.5 trillion budget resolution and reconciliation plan, which passed the House along party lines in August. Theres no chance Republicans will help lift Democrats credit limit so they can immediately steamroll through a socialist binge that will hurt families and help China, McConnell said.

The agreement: In a compromise, the Senate Republicans agreed to a clean bill that increased the debt limit by $480 billion without being tied to either a short-term spending bill or the $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation bill. The Senate passed the bill 50-48 along party lines on Oct. 7, 2021. Biden signed it on Oct. 14, 2021.

Debt limit increased: $480 billion, bringing debt limit to $28.9 trillion.

Impasse lasted: A little more than two months.

Party in power: Democrats controlled the White House, Senate and House.

Debt limit reached: Oct. 18, 2021

Deadline to act (estimate): Dec. 15, 2021

The conflict:Four days after Biden signed legislation that raised the debt limit by $480 billion, the Treasury secretary notified Congress that the debt limit had been reached and warned that the U.S. would be unable to pay its bills beyond Dec. 3, 2021 (later estimated at Dec. 15, 2021). The rapid pace of federal spending and the slowed pace of federal revenue collections required elevated levels of federal borrowing, which soon pushed federal debt near its limit in late 2021, the Congressional Research Service explained. But Republicans again did not want to help pass a debt limit increase, because of the Democrats use of the budget reconciliation process to avoid a filibuster in the Senate and pass a House-approved $2.2 trillion spending plan without Republican support. (The $2.2 trillion bill had been $3.5 trillion when it was introduced in August.)

The agreement:The negotiations between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and McConnell ultimately yielded a plan that would allow the Democrats to raise the debt limit without the threat of a filibuster that would block the measure from getting to the floor for a final vote. Not all Republicans supported McConnells approach. Sen. Ted Cruz called it a terrible deal that made the Republicans complicit in the Democrats reckless spending. But on Dec. 14, 2021, the Senate passed a joint resolution along party lines that raised the debt limit by $2.5 trillion and later that night (and into the morning) the House gave the final approval with only one Republican vote. Biden signed the legislation on Dec. 16, 2021.

Debt limit increased: $2.5 trillion, bringing the debt limit to its current level of $31.4 trillion.

Impasse lasted: About two months.

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Excerpt from:
Debt Ceiling Talks Go Down to the Wire - Again - FactCheck.org

More than 160 mothers and daughters attended an afternoon mother/daughter tea hosted by theCity of Lompoc on May 7 at theDick Dewees Community Center.

The gathering enjoyed tea and treats, as well as a a range of activities including a princess sing-along with Kaitlyn Chui (alias Princess Raya) a former Lompoc Flower Festival Queen candidate, games and a photo booth.

Tess McIntyre (alias Rapunzel), who started the Mother/Daughter tea party, also made an appearance.

Lompoc Flower Festival queen candidates dressed as Disney princesses were Yoselin Lopez AYSO alias Disney Princess Aurora; Addison Luette - Pop Orchestra - alias Disney Princess Belle; Jordan Cousins - Elks alias Disney Princess Jasmine; and Zyann Jackson- Kiwanis alias Disney Princess Tiana.

Chui and McIntyre were the emcees for the program along with current Flower Festival queen candidates.

Special thanks is given to several city employees for their support in bringing special hors doeuvres and desserts. They are Gabe Garcia, Lesa Keasler, Lori Agdobike, Candace Justice, Marcy Webb, Vicky Moncada, Jessica Fabing, Wendy Rubio, Kristin Worthley, Connie Berroteran, Sue Slavens and her amazing rec workers.

Additional thanks to Lali Taporco for the handmade center pieces, Shandee Vega and Alma Lopez for selling tickets, and Samantha Scroggin for social media advertising. Also, special helpers Mattie Koff, Shalyn McMillan, Olivia and Elizabeth Fabing, Charity Agdobike, and Harmony Doody.

Proceeds from the event was split among the Flower Festival candidates in attendance.

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More than 160 turn out for Lompoc mother/daughter tea event - Lompoc Record

Is censorship acceptable if it is well-meaning? Can changing the content of a writers or artists work be excused for so-called woke ends? The first few months of 2023 have seen these questions debated as publishers have edited out or rewritten objectionable content from writers as diverse as Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl to P G Wodehouse and Ian Fleming. The debate between morality (or whatever the name given to self-righteous zeal) and free speech will, of course, continue. But the argument for the right to speak and offend has been buttressed by its most prominent champion.

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The idea that James Bond could be made politically correct is almost comical, Salman Rushdie said, while accepting the Freedom to Publish honour at the British Book Awards earlier this week. Rushdie mentioned state censorship in several non-Western countries, including India, as a problem. However, in the West, things are no better and the attack on free expression is not coming directly from the state: here in the US, I have to look at the extraordinary attack on libraries and books for children in schools; the attack on the idea of libraries themselves. Its quite remarkably alarming, and we need to be very aware of it and fight against it very hard. Rushdies prescription is as simple as it is unheeded: Dont try and remake yesterdays work in the light of todays attitudes.

Last year, Rushdie was nearly killed for words he wrote. It is no small thing, then, that he sees the threats to speech today coming from attempts to bowdlerise works of writers like Dahl and Fleming by those who claim that political correctness is an excuse to censor. His words and the price he has paid for them hold a lesson for those who believe that they are entitled to mutilate works of art: Free speech is worth protecting, even and especially in the face of claims to virtue.

The Indian Express (P) Ltd

First published on: 19-05-2023 at 06:33 IST

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Express View: Rushdie isnt woke - The Indian Express

MIAMI Donna Deegan, a Democrat, was elected mayor of Jacksonville on Tuesday, shaking up the politics of Floridas largest city, where Republican mayors have been in power for all but four of the last 30 years.

Ms. Deegan, a former television news anchor, defeated Daniel Davis, a Republican endorsed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, who had been seen as the likely favorite in the traditionally Republican stronghold. In recent years, Jacksonville had been the most populous city in the country with a Republican mayor, Lenny Curry, who is term-limited; that distinction now goes to Fort Worth, Texas.

Ms. Deegans victory is a rare bright spot for Florida Democrats, whose losses have mounted in recent elections to the point that the party has little sway in the State Capitol and a thin candidate bench.

But while Florida has become decidedly more Republican and while many have viewed Mr. DeSantis, a likely 2024 presidential contender, as all-powerful in state politics Jacksonville has emerged as a swingy corner of the state. A majority of voters in Duval County, which shares a consolidated government with the city of Jacksonville, voted for the Democratic nominee for governor in 2018, for the Republican mayor in 2019, for President Biden in 2020, for Mr. DeSantis last year, and now for Ms. Deegan, who will be the citys first female mayor.

We made history tonight, Ms. Deegan told cheering supporters Tuesday night after Mr. Davis conceded.

Ms. Deegan campaigned as a change candidate, leaning into the relationships she had made in the community as she overcame breast cancer three times while working on television and as she later created the Donna Foundation, a nonprofit organization that helps people diagnosed with breast cancer.

I made a decision when we got into this race that, no matter what happened, no matter what the landscape was like, we were going to lead with love over fear, Ms. Deegan said Tuesday night. We would not go with division. We would go with unity.

Mr. Davis, the chief executive of the local chamber of commerce, out-raised Ms. Deegan by a margin of four to one and seemed like the sort of business-friendly Republican that has long dominated elections in Jacksonville, a Navy and shipping town. Mr. Curry, the outgoing mayor, was previously the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida.

Mr. Davis was known as more of a moderate when he was a state lawmaker, and as the leader of JAX Chamber he supported positions such as protections for the L.G.B.T.Q. community. But as a mayoral candidate, he campaigned from the political right, promising to promote causes espoused by the conservative group Moms for Liberty, which is closely aligned with Mr. DeSantis. He also pledged to be tough on crime in a city that has struggled with stubbornly high crime rates for years, including under Republican leadership.

In advertisements, Mr. Davis and other Republicans cast Ms. Deegan as radical for backing demonstrators after the murder of George Floyd in 2020 though Mr. Curry and other local Republicans also supported the protests at the time.

On Tuesday night, Mr. Davis said he would be willing to help Ms. Deegan for the good of the city. Im going to do everything I can to make sure Mayor-elect Deegan is successful in making Jacksonville the best Jacksonville it can be, he said. The city has a strong-mayor form of government, giving the mayor broad administrative powers.

Mr. DeSantis, who won Duval County by an 11 percentage-point margin in November, did not endorse Mr. Davis until late March after Mr. Davis had already been forced into Tuesdays runoff against Ms. Deegan.

Beyond his lukewarm endorsement, which took place via Twitter on a Friday afternoon, Mr. DeSantis offered Mr. Davis little support. The governor did not visit Jacksonville to campaign, unlike one of Floridas other top Republicans, Senator Rick Scott, who spent last weekend knocking on voters doors.

In 2020, Ms. Deegan lost a congressional race by 22 percentage points. On Wednesday morning, unofficial results showed she had won about 52 percent of the vote, compared with Mr. Daviss 48 percent, a difference of about 9,000 votes. Turnout was about 33 percent.

Though 39 percent of Duval County voters are registered Democrats, compared with 35 percent registered Republicans and 24 percent registered without party affiliation, Republican voters outnumbered Democratic ones by about 3.5 percentage points on Tuesday meaning that Ms. Deegan won independents and crossover Republican votes.

Five other Jacksonville Democrats were elected on Tuesday, one as property appraiser and four to the City Council.

Ashley Walker, a political consultant for Ms. Deegan, said that campaigning on local issues and with a candidate who connected well with voters were key to flipping Jacksonville from red to blue.

Democrats in Florida have to eat the elephant piece by piece, she said. We have to go win in these local areas that are purple and get down to the base of some local campaigns to have any chance of coming back statewide.

Nicholas Nehamas contributed reporting.

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Democrat Donna Deegan Wins Jacksonvilles Mayor Race in Florida Upset - The New York Times