Weather: Sunny with a slight chance of thunderstorms. A slight chance of showers in the morning, then a chance of showers in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 90s. East winds around 5 mph, increasing to around 10 mph in the afternoon. Chance of rain 50 percent. Friday Night: Mostly clear. A chance of showers with a slight chance of thunderstorms in the evening. Lows in the mid 70s. East winds 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40 percent.
A tropical wave over the central Tropical Atlantic is producing some disorganized showers and thunderstorms. Environmental conditions appear conducive for gradual development of this system, and a tropical depression could form by early next week while it moves westward at 10 to 15 mph and approaches the Lesser Antilles. The system is then forecast to move westward to west-northwestward across portions of the eastern Caribbean Sea during the middle part of next week. Formation chance through 48 hours…low…near 0 percent. Formation chance through 7 days…medium…40 percent.
- 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. David and his guests talk about the recent election and what’s next. See previous podcasts here. On WNZF at 94.9 FM and 1550 AM.
Fall Horticultural Workshops at the Palm Coast Community Center, 305 Palm Coast Parkway NE., 6:30 p.m on Tuesdays, 10 a.m. on Fridays. Join master gardeners from the UF/IFAS Agricultural Extension Office for these workshops that cover a variety of horticultural topics. $10 a workshop.
The Blue 24 Forum, a discussion group organized by local Democrats, meets at 12:15 p.m. at the Palm Coast Community Center, 305 Palm Coast Parkway NE. Come and add your voice to local, state and national political issues.
Notably: Le Petit Journal was once one of France’s most-read dailies, reaching 2 million readers at one point, the world’s biggest circulation. It was also a reactionary, at times anti-Semitic paper, always anti-immigrant. It is entirely archived at Gallica, the great online version of France’s national library. I clicked on a date at rando: January 24, 1935. There it was above the fold, an article about migrants from Germany creating an “immigration problem” for France: “Should they be welcomed with suspicion, or, instead, should they be helped to become good French citizens?” The question is itself suspicious. The article isn’t more reassuring: “The most enduring prejudice against migrants is a sort of fear of being conquered or exploited by them.” It’s replacement-theory bunk almost 100 years ago. Little has changed there. The prejudice has not quite been a French export: the United States has always had a love-hate relationship with its migrants (see America For Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States, by Erika Lee). But now it’s more front-page here, the way it was in France in 1935. The eeriness of the year is unnerving. Germans were evading Hitler, and many of them would end up getting shipped right back to their death in concentration camps once Nazis occupied France and used collaborators to make the trains to Auschwitz run on time. Over here the aim on the reactionary side is to recreate what Eisenhower did with his wetback program in the 1950s, “the largest mass deportation in American history,” on a larger scale. “Fascism a la Mode: In France, the far right presses for national purity,” read the headline to an article by D.Z. Mairowitz in Harper’s in 1997. Of course it was a la mode in 1935, too. That headline is now perfectly American, at least in some circles, just as whites are verging on becoming the country’s largest minority. Their agony will not be pretty, or safe for many of us.
—P.T.
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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.
NAACP Flagler Branch General Membership Meeting
Rotary’s Fantasy Lights Festival in Palm Coast’s Town Center
Rotary’s Fantasy Lights Festival in Palm Coast’s Town Center
For the full calendar, go here.
As long as I’ve covered Republican campaigns, there has been racial fearmongering: Dark-skinned people are coming to hurt you. Be very afraid. With Reagan, it was “welfare queens” glomming onto tax-free cash income. With George H.W. Bush, it was Willie Horton. Liberals would give more criminals like Horton furloughs, so they could break into your house and rape your girlfriend. With George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, it was Arab terrorists. Democrats would let them invade America and kill us. With Donald Trump, it was migrants swarming over the border from Central and South America with the intent to rape and kill, as well as the racist “birther” conspiracy about “Barack HUSSEIN Obama.” Trump, who adopted his father’s view that some bloodlines are “superior” to others, has slipped into the usual Republican race-baiting by purposely fumbling Kamala Harris’s name, mispronouncing it different ways and christening her “Kamabla.”
–From Maureen Dowd, “Trump By the Numbers,” New York Times, Aug. 11, 2024.
Ed P says
Todays cartoon amplifies how hypocritical the left can be when describing what is vile and distasteful. The incident was between Trump staff members not Trump.
The image of 2 “ladies” on Trump’s arms when they were actually gold star families is very rich.
Sure the buck stops at his door step, however, it is reported that someone’s family member requested a photo. Mistakes were made and acknowledged but the derangement continues.
Come on down off the high horse and just be real for a change.
Pierre Tristam says
Thumbs up. At graveside, of course, as we play Taps for master dissemblers.
Ed P says
Hookers on his arm in cartoon that you chose to print?
Look who is finger pointing.
Gold star families and Arlington Cemetery.
Poor taste to say the least.
Pierre Tristam says
Poor taste. Absolutely. A former president whoring his campaign at Arlington. Thanks for finally getting it.
Laurel says
Thank you Pierre Tristam. I was about to respond that Ed P missed the symbolism that Trump was doing the whoring to engrandize his own self image.
Ah, yeah, let me go ahead.
Yes, Trump’s yes men pushed a cemetery worker out of the way when she was doing her job, as she was supposed to do. Trump’s campaign followed that incredible breach of etiquette with a comment that the cemetery worker was mentally unstable.
We know where the mental instability is.
Does Ed recall the time when Trump blamed Gold Star families for supposedly giving him Covid, even though all involved were tested negative before the event? He claimed they all “wanted to hug and kiss” him.
Come on, people!
As for “The incident was between Trump staff members not Trump” as I recall, the same could be said when Trump had soldiers push peaceful protesters aside so he could pull off the same stunt in front of a church while holding a bible.
He cares about soldiers, and he cares about Christ, right? Is that what his past comments have told us?
Well, there was the time when he, himself, physically pushed people aside to get to the front of a group at a NATO summit, to get a photo op. In Arlington, the idiot stands behind a fallen soldier’s headstone with his thumb up, and photographers all around.
In all my years, I have never, ever seen someone get so many excuses from people for his bad behavior, and poor judgement. Excuses, excuses, excuses! Endless excuses.
So, we want a President who is a notorious, habitual liar…and an eternal victim?
WTF?
Sherry says
Thank you Pierre! Whoring is the perfect metaphor. . . especially for a “adulterer’ (with a porn star) who was found guilty of sexual assault.
That is, of course, unless you mindlessly and passionately believe that trump is a completely innocent victim of a massive witch hunt. All of his crimes will magically disappear if only maga can get him elected. No accountability= No crime to begin with. . . its just the maga way.
Laurel says
Sherry: Ha! Now Trump claims he might have to escape to Argentina if he is not elected! Interesting that he picked the same country that the Nazi high rankers picked when they had to escape prosecution at the end of the war in Germany! Great choice, Trump!
Sherry says
Hi Laurel. . . Don’t ya just shake your head when trump does his act. I’ll give him this, he is a master of manipulating the weak minded. He saw how ole Rupert Murdoch’s FOX (garbage) empire created mush for brains by whipping up the fear, hate, and paranoia of millions. Like any good circus side show snake oil salesman, trump swooped in and quickly had them in his power.
As a pathological narcissist he is a natural when it comes to influencing others because he had to do it his entire life in order to keep the spot light on himself. . . always on himself! He, like many of his ardent followers, is never, ever wrong. . . never apologizing only “doubling down”. . . no matter what.
THE DANGEROUS CASE OF DONALD TRUMP, twenty-seven psychiatrists, psychologists, and other mental health experts argue that, in Mr. Trump’s case, their moral and civic “duty to warn” America supersedes professional neutrality. They then explore Trump’s symptoms and potentially relevant diagnoses to find a complex, if also dangerously mad, man.
Philip Zimbardo and Rosemary Sword, for instance, explain Trump’s impulsivity in terms of “unbridled and extreme present hedonism.” Craig Malkin writes on pathological narcissism and politics as a lethal mix. Gail Sheehy, on a lack of trust that exceeds paranoia. Lance Dodes, on sociopathy. Robert Jay Lifton, on the “malignant normality” that can set in everyday life if psychiatrists do not speak up.
His madness is catching, too. From the trauma people have experienced under the Trump administration to the cult-like characteristics of his followers, he has created unprecedented mental health consequences across our nation and beyond.
It’s not all in our heads. It’s in his.
Jim says
WHAT mistakes were “made and acknowledged”???? Please enlighten me.
Trump went to the Arlington National Cemetery with the clear intention of making a political statement and recording it so he could use it in his campaign. Where was that mistake “made and acknowledged”?
Trump’s goons pushed and shoved a FEMALE employee of the cemetery when she attempted to stop this from occurring. Then Trump’s “team” reported that SHE instigated the incident and that she was apparently suffering a mental problem. Please, where was this mistake “made and acknowledged”?
But on to your main concern… DJT is shown in the cartoon with “ladies” on his arms. How distasteful to you. I can understand that. After all, this is the guy who said “grab’em by the —–” and the guy who said dating in New York was “his Vietnam”, was convicted of rape, had sex with a porn star while his wife was at home with his youngest son (just born). So I can see where the “ladies” would insult you. DJT is sitting at the right hand of GOD, right?
And let’s discuss those Gold-Start families. They have suffered horribly and I hold absolutely no malice for any of them. But they invited Orange Guy there and they are actively campaigning for him. And, they have absolutely no say in the rules and regulations for ANC. So they are not an excuse for this incident.
Finally, I’m glad the “ladies” upset you but a fat guy standing on top of dead soldier’s graves smiling and giving a thumbs up is perfectly fine.
Might I suggest you take a look at your own sense of right and wrong. “Vile and distasteful” seems to accurately describe Trump and his team’s behavior. But you can’t see that, can you????
Ed P says
Jim,
During an election year, when has any politician running for reelection ever done anything that isn’t for a photo op or campaign event? I acknowledge yours and Pierre’s point.
Onto your enlightenment request.
I no longer try to enlighten any progressive because you are right and I am wrong. I get that.because you are all so busy trying to be offended by everything any Republican does, you can’t ever slow down and entertain maybe there is two sides to every coin. Nope it’s heads.
That was my point of the first and second comment. I certainly understood the cartoons meaning, I was simply drawing out the constant droning on about Trumps personal faults and total lack of discussion of policies. There’s much bigger issues at stake.
Can Kamala go toe to toe with the dictators of the world or will she have to prep for years before an actual meeting? The world demands a strong world leader, remember the Dems controlled the White House 12 of the last 16 years and the world stage isn’t looking good. Appeasement and glad handing is failing. Joy and laughter is the answer?
Laurel says
Vice President Harris has already had four years of training, and as top prosecutor for our largest state, by population, yeah, I believe she is no pushover. She is certainly not smitten with Putin.
Trump tried to tell us that Putin, an ex KGB agent, was more reliable than our own agencies. You figure that’s a good idea? He isn’t outsmarting Putin, quite the contrary; he admires Putin, as he does all authoritarian leaders. He has made that very clear. He has stated that Putin can do whatever he wants with democratic Ukraine.
I don’t believe, for one moment, that Trump is a strong leader. He is a bully, and bullies are weak. How can he be so damned strong, and cry victim all the tedious time? He’s the biggest crybaby yet!
Yeah, I’ll take the joy. Beats the shit out of revenge and retribution. He has no retribution for the little guy, the vast, vast majority of whom would never make it past the service entrance at Mar a Lago.
Ed P says
Laurel,
Are you really voting for Kamala, or just against Trump?
Laurel says
Ed P. Both. However, I believe that Trump is the worst thing that has happened to this country since the burning of crosses in front of American homes. A time Trump, and his supporters, apparently want to go back to.
Trump, in my opinion, is a foul individual not deserving the back office of an abandoned garage. Narcissism is a mental disorder, not something to be constantly excused. There are plenty of evil people who could replace Trump. Unfortunately, I’ve been seeing a lot of them lately, as supporters, preferring their personal promotion over the country’s well being. There have been many cult leaders throughout history, and Trump does excel at that.
I know you know I don’t have to list all his offenses.
Are there other good, competent people like Harris? Yes, there are several good people, who are capable of doing a good job representing us in the world. Harris has intelligence, experience, strength, and has to have a quick mind to be a successful prosecutor. I do have confidence in her abilities. Harris talks like a normal human being, I don’t see a need for “alternate facts” with her. I see actual discussion, without silly, baby name calling. Name calling is not policy! She is willing to work across the isle instead of demonizing half of Americans. Yes, I do prefer laughter, hope and freedom over “retribution” and misogyny. So, Harris is the one I will vote for; she is the adult in the room.
If Trump is so good, why must he and his sycophants lie day in and day out? Why must they always excuse his behavior, and must always explain to us what Trump supposedly really meant? Why must he continuously cry “rigged” about every, single time he doesn’t get his way? Why don’t facts matter? Why doesn’t evidence matter? Selling gold sneakers and digital cards of him in superhero suits is really appealing? Cult.
Make of it whatever you want. What’s your reasoning? Please don’t tell me about the economy, I’m here too and can see very well what it is now. Please don’t tell me about Trump’s boogeyman immigrants. That’s stuff I know better not to fall for.
Ed P says
Laurel,
Trump nor any one who is not a radical lunatic wants to return to cross burning. Ridiculous.
Anyone who believes they have the ability to be President of the United State possess an enormous ego and hopefully a healthy dose of narcissism. Both can prove to be good traits in the right balance and dose for an effective leader. I’m not debating who’s better.
Neither presidential candidate is perfectly suited for the duty of President of the United States. Not Harris nor Trump.
Every individual voter must decide which one is maybe better or less worse, but only a fool ( or as Ray W says, gullible) would debate either was the best.
It’s hard to understand how it’s even possible that Harris and Trump are the “best” this county has to offer when you consider all the great minds.
The reality is the swing states will cast the deciding votes.
Sherry says
Thank you, Laurel and Jim! Very well said, and right on! As they say “Denial isn’t just a river in Egypt”.
Jim says
ED P,
I’ll just point out to you that no where in your response did you enlighten me on anything. I would have hoped you might have found some fact to point out in support of your position but, no, just condescension . I’ll say it straight to you: If you are not offended by Trump going to Arlington National Cemetery solely for politics and his goons pushing an employee just trying to do her job and then trying to paint that employee as the aggressor and someone with mental issues, then, sir, I suggest you might be the one with the problem here.
As for your statement: “…constant droning on about Trumps personal faults and total lack of discussion of policies. There’s much bigger issues at stake.” Again, I guess you think that someone with the lack of morals, empathy or ability to think of anyone or anything but themselves is somehow suitable for the Presidency. If that’s an accurate assessment of your position, then you are most correct, we can not have a discussion that would result in anything positive.
Why are you saying Kamala Harris can’t go “toe to toe” with dictators? Other than Fox talking points, where is the factual support for that statement. It appears to be just your opinion. And, do I have to point out to you that DJT has kissed the ass of every dictator in the world and did so throughout his presidency. Please don’t act like Kamala Harris can not improve on that!
Democrats have controlled the Presidency for 12 of the last 16 years. We agree on that fact. But I would argue more damage was done on the world stage by Trump’s four years than you care to admit. Do you not remember that he was laughed at during his speech at the General Assembly? I guess they were just showing respect for his steady leadership. And his submissiveness to Putin helped fuel the current Ukraine war.
And, just for your amusement (or maybe mine), I’m a registered Republican and mainly voted Republican until the Orange Man was elected in 2016. And I respect the few Republicans who have stood up to Trump. Those folks represent the Republican party I always supported. Not the bunch of sycophants that call themselves Republicans now. I guess I just like to make my political choices based on the character and behavior of the candidate as well as their positions on policy when I make my political choices. I prefer that to just looking the other way and excusing the candidate just because he has an “R” by his/her name on the ballot.
If you polish up your position with some facts, I’d love to see them.
Ed P says
Jim,
Did you miss Pierre’s piece on the fact that Harris’ simple meeting with CNN’s Dana Bash should not have been a special news event. And she has returned to the safety of her cocoon?
Sherry says
Thank you Jim!
As a gal who was a registered Republican in the past, but always voted for the most “qualified” candidate. . . I have a tremendous respect for anyone for whom “character matters”. Respect for those who have the ethics to do the “right thing” even when no one is looking. Respect for men who see women as equals. Respect for those that believe in accountability and in law and order. Respect for those that still live in a “fact based” reality, and who communicate in a logical and reasonable manner.
Your comments are always well attended by me because you are a man of intelligence, honor and integrity. Thank You!
Ray W. says
Hello Ed P.
I think I see the problem. You are trying to be right. I do not try to be right. I concede that if someone claims that the Biden administration is the cause of high gas prices, I point out their flawed and possibly gullible thinking, but only because I know better. OPEC took advantage of the pandemic and cut production for profit. Over three years later, OPEC is still manipulating the world’s energy marketplace.
Where I am wrong, and I am commonly wrong, I change my thinking. I try to be intellectually honest, with limitations. I cannot possibly take on every issue raised on this site. I cannot tilt at every windmill. I choose to oppose the malicious among us, plus those who seek to misinform and disinform in support of the malicious among us.
I do post ideas for debate. I try to follow reason to wherever it takes me. I ask questions. I use terms like “possibly” or “maybe.” I use phrases like “it seems to me” or “it could be.” I ask people, anyone, to become the conservative voice of reason on the FlaglerLive site. I have asked you to prove me wrong. I don’t bother with people calling me names. I don’t even click on the box that notifies me of new postings. If I see something? Good. If I miss it? Good.
Please consider the possibility that if you were to stop focusing on being “right”, you might find it easier to argue your points.
I repeatedly state that I live in a good, better, best/bad, worse, worst world. That allows me to change at will, through reason based on the exercise of intellectual rigor. If one lives in a perfect or bad world, there can be only one right answer and everyone who opposes that answer is automatically bad.
If the North Carolina Republican nominee for governor tells rallygoers that “some people need killing”, I will oppose him and anyone else who stands for what he stands for.
If a local Republican figure goes on the radio to ask just when will it be time to begin beheading Democrats, I will oppose him and anyone else who stands for what he stands for.
If our governor promises to “slit throats” on day one, were he to be elected, I oppose him and anyone who stands for what he stands for. Within several weeks of that comment, a young man murdered his father, a long-time federal employee. He then cut off his father’s head, wrapped it in plastic, and held it up during a video posting while telling followers that all federal employees need killing.
If a presidential candidate promises to “crush vermin” and uses a double-entendre to predict that there will be “blood in the streets” if he loses the election, I will oppose him and everyone who stands for what he stands for.
When an Arizona Senate candidate tells her followers to strap on a Glock before leaving to vote, I will oppose her and anyone else for stands for what she stands for.
When a Republican Senator tells disgruntled drivers who are delayed by protestors to get out of their cars and throw the protesters off bridges, I will oppose him and anyone else who stands for what he stands for.
Ed P says
Ray W,
I concur that I do strive to be “right “ when I post. I too am wrong often.
I am not walking in lock step with the majority of Flagler Live commentators, and usually in opposition to blindly following a leader when the leader doesn’t know where to go.
Would you concede that the following comments were not meant to be literal but metaphorical? And we all accept their walked back explanation?
1) “ I want to tell you Gorsuch, I want to tell you Kavanaugh. You have released the whirlwind and you will pay the price. You won’t know what hit you if you go forward with these awful decisions.”
2)”let’s make sure we show up wherever we have to show up. And if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gas station, you get out and you create a crowd. And you push back on them. And you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere.”
3) “it’s time to put Trump in the bulls eye”
4)” I have been practicing…I bowled 129. It’s like…it was Special Olympics, or something.”
Just a sampling, but unlike you I do not oppose Schumer, Waters, Biden, or Obama based on using indelicate metaphors but rather on their ideology. I drill down on issues. I don’t imply hearing dog whistles or mind reading.
During an election, I would and have voted for many Democrats.
I live in REALVILLE, and understand that a policy’s economic impact, or security concerns, drug and human trafficking, world stability, and terrorism can take priority at various times.
My metaphor for this is “ when you are up to your ass in alligators, you don’t worry about getting your feet wet”
I’m aware that there is never going to be a perfect choice and I might have to overlook personality traits and hold my nose when I vote.
I find it incredulous that in a country as great as ours with all the great minds that our choices for President are Harris and Trump.
Ray W. says
Hello Ed. I just saw this. I read this as evidence of a marked change in your commenting style. Thank you. Again, the point is not whether I agree with you or not, or whether you agree with me or not. I want to present reasoned arguments, and I want others to present reasoned arguments. Let us all decide for ourselves, through the three forms of persuasion. Of course, those who engage in disinformation or misinformation should always be opposed.
An early life lesson, as were so many of my life’s lessons, came from Churchill. In his second volume on WWII, titled “Their Finest Hour”, Churchill wrote of a memorandum he issued on July 19, 1940:
“Let it be very clearly understood that all directions emanating from me are made in writing, or should be immediately afterward confirmed in writing, and that I do not accept any responsibility for matters relating to national defense on which I am alleged to have given decisions, unless they are recorded in writing.”
Churchill was warning all his subordinates that there would be people who would tell them that Churchill had orally said he wants this or that. Unless the subordinates checked and found a written directive, he relied on another’s word of Churchill’s intent at his or her peril.
Churchill explained his thoughts on governing thus:
“Although the awful battle was now going on across the Channel, and the reader is no doubt impatient to get there, it may be well at this point to describe the system and machinery for conducting military and other affairs which I set on foot and practiced from my earliest days of power. I am a strong believer in transacting official business by The Written Word. No doubt, surveyed in the after-time, much that is set down from hour to hour under the impact of events may be lacking in proportion or may not come true. I am willing to take my chance at that. It is always better, except in the hierarchy of military discipline, to express opinions and wishes rather than to give orders. Still, written directives coming personally from the lawfully constituted Head of Government and Minister specially charged with Defense counted to such an extent that though not expressed as orders, they very found their fruition in action.”
To me, then and now, Churchill believed in persuasion rather than force. as a style of government. Sometimes, however, force was required.
Would that our own leaders acted this way.
As for ideologues vs. pragmatism, I’ll take pragmatism nearly every time. To me, trying to be “right” interferes with being able to recognize another point of view. Long before I went to law school, I had reasoned that my goal should not be to be right, but rather to engage in excellence. But that temperament was then drilled into me over 30 years of practice. I participated in hundreds of trials, hundreds of hearings, thousands of pleas, and on and on. Every single time, I knew that I was supposed to be a zealous advocate for a client’s position. I knew that I had the role of presenting a point, but not once did I have the power to decide the point. I argued. Judges decided. The only way I knew I had been right was when someone else told me I had been right. Can it be argued that this is why I am cautious in my comments? Why I use terms like “maybe” and “possibly”? Why I use phrases like “it could be” and “it might be?”
The dude says
Someone explained that certain things were not allowed by law there. They shoved the explainer aside and did it anyways.
This was not a “mistake”.
This is just another example of how MAGA simply doesn’t believe the laws apply to them… even as they step up to mic daily and scream about all “those people” breaking laws.
Yes, there’s a metric $hit ton of hypocritical going on here. Please step away from Faux News and stop.
Ray W. says
In May 2019 my uncle, Joseph Warren, was laid to rest in Arlington, which is nearly full today. Many deserving veterans are turned away from this high honor.
A 26-year veteran who retired with a rank of Lt. Colonel, he flew 90 combat missions during WWII, mainly in P-47 fighter-bombers. Two of his planes were deemed no longer airworthy after he landed the badly shot-up planes. He received the highest honor the Belgian government could bestow on a foreign soldier for his actions during the Battle of the Bulge. On reconnaissance during the battle, he spotted a hole in the cloud cover over a Belgian railroad marshalling yard in a valley in the hill country. Flying low in heavy weather amidst hills is dangerous enough. Alone, he attacked the heavily defended choke point. He scored a direct hit on the turntable. Out of bombs, he repeatedly strafed the surroundings, hitting fuel storage tanks and destroying an ammunition dump. These actions were recorded on his wing cameras. On one run, a 20 mm cannon shell blew off his canopy. His plane had over 200 holes, yet he made it back to base.
Uncle Joe retired after 26 years of service. My father commonly said Joe declined promotion because he loved to fly. Lt. Colonels fly. Most of the rest of his career was flying heavy refueling tankers. He commanded the first transatlantic helicopter flight, the first round-the-world jet flight.
I have to think that if he were alive today and running as a Democrat for prominent office, my uncle would be branded a coward by the “pestilential” among us.
Full military honors, with caisson. When the entire family was called into a briefing room prior to the service, we were specifically briefed on what we could and could not do. We had parked our cars and entered the building. I watched family after family enter the briefing room until we were called. We travelled as a family to and from the burial site. No one got to the site without being briefed.
I can’t help but infer that the photographer was briefed and that he knew he was not supposed to be doing what he planned to do. I concede that I don’t truly know what happened in the Trump entourage. But if the members of that entourage went through what my family went through, the photographer is in the wrong and no lies will ever change that.
As an aside, who in their right mind demeans a public servant for doing her job. Having a mental episode? Really! What type of “pestilential” does one need to be to say that!
Ray W. says
More economic reports dropped yesterday.
While monthly economic reports are generally considered as less important than longer-term studies, due to the volatility of the data, the Fed does watch closely the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index. Forecast by economists to rise by 0.2%, it rose 0.2%. Annualized, that would mean a 2.4% inflation rate. The 12-month inflation rate was 2.5%.
A second statistical report, the “core inflation” component, which strips out the highly volatile food and energy components, also reflected a 0.2% monthly inflation rate. The 12-month “core” inflation rate was 2.6%.
The Reuters article lead off thus:
“U.S. consumer spending increased solidly in July, suggesting the economy remained on firmer ground early in the third quarter and arguing against a half-percentage point interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve next month.”
In another report released earlier this week, the preliminary GDP report released in July was updated, as it always it. Sometimes upwards. Sometimes down. Often, it remains the same. The 2.8% GDP growth rate reported in July was increased to 3.0%.
Make of this what you will. Me? Our economy remains strong. It remains the strongest in the world since the pandemic. It has not been destroyed. We are better off now than we were four years ago.
The dude says
Reality to MAGA is what their orange Fat Elvis tells them it is.
Ray W. says
Per The Cool Down, Colorado-based Forge Nano began selling an innovative lithium-ion battery in July that can charge in 10 minutes.
The innovation? Forge Nano calls it “Atomic Armor.” A nanocoating process “prevents harmful chemical reactions that can cause performance problems.”
The battery’s component parts are roughly 90% sourced from American parts manufacturers. Manufacturing costs are reduced by 20%.
The target customers include electric trucks, off-highway vehicles, motorcycles, and aerospace and DOD machines.
Per The Cool Down, “[t]his is just the latest in a regular stream of headlines from around the world documenting fascinating battery innovations.”
Make of this what you will. Me? America lost some 20 years of innovation to the mass political hysteria and resulting economic stupidity caused by the Solyndra episode. How could we as a nation be so dumb? We could be leading the world in battery manufacturing, but politics held back the economic gains that could have been realized.
I will say this over and over again. As a youth, I first read about the Japanese government sponsoring five motorcycle races in the 50s. The personal transport industry, demolished in the bombing of WWII, was struggling. Roughly 150 different motorcycle manufacturers came and went. Bankruptcies were commonplace. People invested life savings and lost everything. Banks failed due to business loans going unpaid.
The five highest scoring companies received government grants to build or upgrade their factories. We know these five winning companies today as Honda, Suzuki, Kawasaki, Yamaha and Bridgestone. Private enterprise, aided by government grants during a time of struggle, meant all the difference.
Only the ignorant claim that governments don’t create jobs. Yes, private industry is commonly more efficient, but less efficient is not always bad. Sometimes, two things can be good at the same time.
Ray W. says
Last October, OPEC+ nations announced a 2.2 million barrel per day cut in oil production. Earlier this month, OPEC+ announced plans to begin slowly reversing the production cuts. This, coupled with weakening crude oil demand from China, explains in part why local gasoline prices have been dropping lately.
“Despite heightened geopolitical tensions, oil prices have been trading below $90 per barrel so far this year, as weak crude intake from China and Europe has offset the bullish impact of still-curbed OPEC supplies”, per a senior analyst at Kpler, a data and analytics firm.
Just another day in the incredibly complex international energy marketplace.
Pogo says
@And so it goes
As stated
https://www.google.com/search?q=ghosting