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Weather: Sunny, cooler with highs in the upper 70s. North winds 5 to 10 mph. Wednesday Night: Clear. Lows in the lower 50s. East winds around 5 mph in the evening, becoming light and variable.
- 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:
In court: Sentencing is scheduled at 9 a.m. in the case of Michael Jennelle, 53, of Palm Coast, who was found guilty on all charges of raping his granddaughter in a March trial. He faces mandatory life in prison. Jennelle was convicted on a capital felony, three life felonies and a second degree felony, all related to the alleged abuse of a girl–his granddaughter, whom he adopted as his daughter–from the time she was 7 to when she was about 10. The prosecution did not seek the death penalty. See: “As Trial Is Set for Man on Charges of Raping His Granddaughter, Judge Asks: “You Want To Put Her Through That?’” and “Michael Jennelle, 53, Guilty on All Charges of Raping Granddaughter; He Faces Life in Prison.”
In Court: Jayden Jackson Sentencing, 10 a.m. before Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols. Jayden Jackson, the 22-year-old son of a Flagler County Sheriff’s deputy, is sentenced on a hit-and-run with death, in the crash that killed Shaunta D. Cain, 51, as Jackson drove north on U.S. 1 in November 2022. The prosecution is seeking at least four years in prison. The defense is seeking less. It’s an open plea. See: “Flagler Cop’s Son in Hit-and-Run Death on U.S. 1 Rejects 4-Year Prison Deal and Risks Worse.”
The Palm Coast Planning and Land Development Board meets at 5:30 p.m. at City Hall.
The Flagler County Contractor Review Board meets at 5 p.m. at the Government Services Building, 1769 East Moody Boulevard, Bunnell. Staff liaison is Bo Snowden, Chief Building Official, who may be reached at (386) 313-4027. For agendas and details go here.
Flagler County’s Technical Review Committee Meeting at 9 a.m., first floor Conference Room, at the Government Services Building, 1769 East Moody Boulevard, Bunnell. The Technical Review Committee (TRC) is a quality control committee that provides technical review of project plans. Staff Liaison is Gina Lemon, 386-313-4067.
Flagler Tiger Bay Club Guest Speaker: Brian London on tourism economics and destination marketing. 11:30 a.m. at Hammock Dunes Club, 30 Ave Royale, Palm Coast. $35 for members, $40 for guests. Tourism is the lifeblood of Florida’s economy, driving billions in revenue, creating jobs, and shaping public policy. As the industry evolves, so do the challenges and opportunities. From government regulations and infrastructure funding to the rise of AI-driven marketing strategies, this presentation will examine how tourism influences state and local decision-making, and what the future holds for one of Florida’s most vital industries.
Separation Chat, Open Discussion: The Atlantic Chapter of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State hosts an open, freewheeling discussion on the topic here in our community, around Florida and throughout the United States, noon to 1 p.m. at Pine Lakes Golf Club Clubhouse Pub & Grillroom (no purchase is necessary), 400 Pine Lakes Pkwy, Palm Coast (0.7 miles from Belle Terre Parkway). Call (386) 445-0852 for best directions. All are welcome! Everyone’s voice is important. For further information email atlanticcoastau@gmail.com or call Merrill at 804-914-4460.
Weekly Chess Club for Teens, Ages 9-18, at the Flagler County Public Library: Do you enjoy Chess, trying out new moves, or even like some friendly competition? Come visit the Flagler County Public Library at the Teen Spot every Wednesday from 4 to 5 p.m. for Chess Club. Everyone is welcome, for beginners who want to learn how to play all the way to advanced players. For more information contact the Youth Service department 386-446-6763 ext. 3714 or email us at childrens@flaglercounty.gov
The Circle of Light Course in Miracles study group meets at a private residence in Palm Coast every Wednesday at 1:20 PM. There is a $2 love donation that goes to the store for the use of their room. If you have your own book, please bring it. All students of the Course are welcome. There is also an introductory group at 1:00 PM. The group is facilitated by Aynne McAvoy, who can be reached at CAT9201@aol.com for location and information.
Juxtapositions: The Library of America recently delivered the Walker Percy novels from 1961 to 1971. This line in the opening pages of The Moviegoer made me think of the photo above of our beloved Epic (where I haven’t set foot in about a decade):”It reminds me of a movie I saw last month out by Lake Pontchartrain. Linda and I went out to a theater in a new suburb. It was evident somebody had miscalculated, for the suburb had quit growing and here was the theater, a pink stucco cube, sitting out in a field all by itself. A strong wind whipped the waves against the seawall; even inside you could hear the racket.” If you’re a Percy fan or would like to be, the volume also includes The Last Gentleman and Love in the Ruins, and his speech on accepting the National Book Award for The Moviegoer.
—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.
May 2025
Free For All Fridays With Host David Ayres on WNZF
Friday Blue Forum
Murder at Shivering Timbers Murder Mystery Dinner Show Fundraiser
RockabillieWillie At City Repertory Theatre
Flagler Beach Farmers Market
Coffee With Flagler Beach Commission Chair Scott Spradley
Grace Community Food Pantry on Education Way
Second Saturday Plant Sale at Washington Oaks Gardens State Park
American Association of University Women (AAUW) Meeting
Peps Art Walk Near Beachfront Grille
Murder at Shivering Timbers Murder Mystery Dinner Show Fundraiser
RockabillieWillie At City Repertory Theatre
For the full calendar, go here.
The writing of The Moviegoer came about as a consequence of the happy conjunction of several unhappy circumstances. These circumstances included exhaustion, disgust, failure, surrender, boredom with writing in general, mine in particular, and the first inklings of an important discovery. The discovery was that no law of God or man required me to write otherwise than it pleased me to write. It did not matter what Faulkner had done. It did not matter what Dostoevski had done. It did not matter what critics said. It did not matter what rules of composition had been laid down. Not even good advice mattered–and I had gotten some very good advice from some very generous and competent writers: do this, do that, for God’s sake don’t do the other. The best thing to do with advice, even good advice, is to listen as hard as you can, take it to heart, then forget it.
–From Walker Percy’s “Special Message to Readers of the Franklin Library’s Signed First Edition Society Printing of The Moviegoer.”.
Jim says
In just the latest installment of “How We Voted MAGA MAN into the Presidency and Ruined the Country”:
– Putin kills 30+ Ukrainians in an attack on civilians and DJT responds – “it’s Zelensky’s fault; Russia just made a mistake”.
Today, Bloomberg reported that the US would not endorse a statement from the G7 condemning the deadly Russian strike on Sumy, Ukraine, because US officials feared it would harm ongoing negotiations with Moscow.
– A man charged with no crimes; living legally in the US, is sent to and imprisoned in El Salvador. The courts (Supreme) say he must be brought back as he was given no due process. DJT sits in the White House with the El Saladorian president and says he can’t come back and calls him a terrorist. And his DOJ sycophant Moody agrees.
– Not to be outdone on immigrants, Homeland Security is busy sending emails to people telling them they have seven days to self-deport or else. Among those so notified, a lawyer who is an American citizen. Normally, you could ignore that as simple government inefficiency (where is DOGE when you need them?) but DJT is telling us now he wants to deport American citizens who break the law (and I assume offend him in some way).
– Trump freezes $2B in grants to Harvard because they refuse to allow his government to dictate what they will teach and who they can hire. This is because Harvard allegedly allows antisemitism on campus. No proof; no due process. Just do was I say or get punished because DJT is King.
– The Tariff Wars continue. All countries in the world are “kissing my (DJT’s) ass” wanting to make a deal. It’s going over so great that he had to pause them for 90-days because he crashed the markets and all his rich buddies laid into him for it. And, if we’re lucky, maybe we’ll get by with just a recession and higher inflation. Boy, this 4-D guy is a genius!!!
– Trump has blackmailed law firms into providing “free” legal assistance as DJT directs in order to continue to be allowed in government buildings and continue with their current legal cases.
All this is just a snapshot of the activities of this administration to make America great again in the last few days. If I were to try to capture all the other goodies since January 20th, it would take another week or so and would definitely be too long to put in a comment to Flagler Live!
And, as the cartoon shows, the Republicans in office are too afraid to say or do anything that might upset the orange tyrant. They turn a blind eye, avoid reporter’s questions, hide from constituents and issue statements of support for any and every moronic move DJT makes. We’ll see how that plays in the mid-terms. Not every district is as thoroughly dense as Florida’s 6th district. I think Republicans may end up paying an awful price nationwide.
But MAGA continues to support this idiot as if he’s actually doing good for us. Even thought MAGA seems to be bearing a lot of the fallout from his wonderful policies. And I’m fine with that. The term “FAFO” came out after DJT was elected and that will continue for the next four years. If you’re too stupid to see how destructive DJT is and continues to be, any hardship that falls on you is well-deserved. And Social Security is in the cross-hairs now so those suffering may expand exponentially soon. But it appears there is not enough pain and suffering to deter MAGA from it’s goals (mysterious as they seem to be).
I never thought I’d see this county in this shape. I wonder what it will like in four years (assuming we make it).
And for the MAGA faithful, please take my points and refute them. I’d love to see your thoughtful, well-reasoned counter-arguments. Also, fact-based statements would be wonderful. But I don’t expect that. MAGA likes to scream “America First” but has a tough time providing common sense arguments for this administration’s actions. In a sane world, that would make most people rethink their position.
Ed P says
Trump resistance fatigue is starting to materialize.
Maybe apathy? Maybe common sense?
Maybe restoration of core beliefs? Maybe lack of oppositional solutions that would be better for American?
Maybe intellectual honesty? Maybe gullibility?
Regardless, it’s happening.
Dennis C Rathsam says
That’s right, Trump,s lighting a fire on the jackasses in Washington! The party,s over for them…Look at all the wasted tax money, & kick backs, the democrats have been hiding for years.
Pogo says
@trump
… no cure in sight.
Now this:
Pogo says
@Is this all a dream
… or much less?
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/technology/bill-gates-says-ai-is-coming-for-2-kinds-of-jobs-that-once-seemed-tech-proof/ar-AA1D0rgP?ocid=nl_article_link
Good night, and good luck.
https://www.google.com/search?q=good+night+good+luck
Pierre Tristam says
I don’t know where EdP gets his delusions from but it must be a nice dispensary I’d like in on. Anyway, in the real world the Economist just ran this little graph, which doesn;t even require intellect to grasp.
Ray W, says
Earlier today, Fed Chair Jerome Powell spoke at an Economic Club of Chicago event, according to a CNN article. Also today, Cleveland Fed President Beth Hammack spoke at a Columbus, Ohio event. Last week, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee spoke to a New York event audience.
Here are some of the bullet points from their three speeches:
– Addressing recent policy moves by President Trump, Powell said:
“These are very fundamental policy changes. … There isn’t a modern experience for how to think about this. … [T]he level of the tariff increases announced so far is significantly larger than anticipated. … We may find ourselves in the challenging scenario in which our dual-mandate goals are in tension.”
– The reporter wrote in context of the Fed’s dual mandate:
“The Fed is responsible for promoting full employments and keeping inflation in check, but Trump’s tariffs threaten both of those goals. For now, however, the US economy remains in decent shape, according to the latest data.”
– Chairman Powell went on to speculate that if theoretical stagflation becomes real, “… we would consider how far the economy is from each [of the dual-mandate goals], and the potentially different time horizons over which those respective gaps would be anticipated to close. … We understand that elevated levels of unemployment or inflation can be damaging and painful for communities, families, and businesses.”
– Fed President Hammack said:
“This is a difficult set of risks for monetary policy to navigate. … Given the economy’s starting point, and with both sides of our mandate expected to be under pressure, there is a strong case to hold monetary policy steady in order to balance the risks coming from further elevated inflation and a slowing labor market. … When clarity is hard to come by, waiting for additional data will help inform the path ahead.”
– Fed President Goolsbee likened imposition of tariffs to the stagflation of the 1970s and early 1980s, which was the last time the U.S. economy experienced a bout with stagflation:
“A tariff is like a negative supply shock. That’s a stagflationary shock, which is to say it makes both sides of the Fed’s dual mandate worse at the same time. … Prices are going up while jobs are being lost and growth is coming down, and there is not a generic playbook for how the central bank should respond to a stagflationary shock.”
– The reporter added that given a deterioration in the “closely watched” University of Michigan survey of consumer perceptions of the economy, “several Fed officials has said that the central bank should keep a close eye on people’s perception of prices.”
– The reporter added that “[i]t’s unclear at what point rising inflation expectations would prompt any action from the Fed and what those moves would be.”
Make of this what you will.
Me?
For years, I have been commenting that the enormous unfunded stimulus money packages passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump and President Biden were in amounts never before witnessed by either economists or the American people. No one knew in the beginning what the outcome would be. That the measures taken turned out better than most economists predicted at the outset was a gift to the Trump administration.
So, here we are, leaping into an economic unknown once again five short years later.
It’s been a century since we have seen the breadth and percentages of the tariffs imposed by President Trump, not to mention the level of flip-flopping. Trump imposes tariffs, then announces delays. He then raised many of the tariffs in “retaliation”, then more delays. Many tariffs were just withdrawn due to “exemptions”, but there are statements that the exemptions may be only temporary.
The professional lying class at the top of one of our two political parties say that Trump is playing three-dimensional chess. Maybe he is. Then again, maybe it is only a set of emotional reactions without any coherent plan at all.
Many of the best economic minds in the country state in unison: Because we have no true economic explanation for today’s wide-ranging set of tariff policies, we don’t know what will happen in the near turn, so we better stand back and watch, listen and wait until we get better data.
Hmmm! Listen to the professional liars or listen to the economists.
Since I consistently advocate for economic caution, I argue that it is wisest to wait until healthy glimmers economic clarity reveal themselves, or vice-versa.
America entered 2025 with the strongest economy in the world. The job marketplace remains strong, even if slightly less strong now than before, and the most recent string of economic reports holds that inflation, for the most part, is still slowly trending down, as it has for more than two years.
The pandemic-precipitated economic destruction of 2020 has yet to be fully repaired, with structural weaknesses still in place, but America is not yet in a bad economic space.
Ray W, says
There is a literal slew of changes coming in the international automobile industry.
Here are a few bullet points from a recent Autoblog article about U.S. and Chinese car prices:
– According to Kelley Blue Book, the average cost of a used car in the U.S. at the beginning of March was $25,006.
– And the average cost of a new car in America at the beginning of March was $47,962, down from $49,958 in December 2022.
– The cheapest car available to American consumers, at $18,330, is the Nissan Versa.
– BYD just reduced its Chinese market price for a new base-model Seagull four-door hatchback that is about the size of a Chevrolet Spark, a vehicle no longer manufactured in the U.S., to $7,800.
– Last November, the Seagull passed Tesla’s Model Y as the overall best-selling model in the Chinese marketplace, regardless of category.
– During the first quarter of 2025, overall BYD sales of what China calls “new energy vehicles,”, i.e., BEVs and PHEVs, a category that includes plug-in and hybrid vehicles, passed the one million mark, up 60% from a year ago.
Make of this what you will.
Jim says
Ed P and Dennis C. Rathsam, if you guys think that Americans are just rolling over and accepting Trump’s dictatorship actions, you really ought to get some news from somewhere other than Fox!
You’ll note the graph that Pierre Tristam put in this chain for your perusal. All is not well in Trump’s “kingdom”. In fact, I’d say it’s far from it.
What bothers me about your comments is that you clearly do not see any of Trump or Trump’s administration’s actions as anti-American and I find that quite amazing. Trump sends an innocent person to a horrible jail in El Salvador and that doesn’t bother you? By the way, just because Trump’s people call him a “terrorist”, it doesn’t make him one. Please find some facts to support Trump’s team claims about this guy and then we can talk. And, yes, he’s not a citizen but he was here legally and, in the USA, that should count. Also, he got sent to that prison with no due process. That doesn’t both you either?
Trump puts tariffs on everyone and everything and the markets collapse. Yet you think he’s playing “4D” chess when the rest of the world is playing checkers. Well, bad news, what Trump is playing isn’t “4D” anything. He doesn’t have a clue and his financial “team” has not and can not provide coherent arguments for what he’s done. They just say he knows what he’s doing. In my experience, that’s the line used when even those closest to the King have absolutely no clue as to what is going on. Can’t you see that they can not provide logical arguments based in reality to support this?
I could go on and on but it’s pointless. I recognize that you only look at what’s happening through a heavily filtered lens and refuse to see the anti-American actions Trump continues to take. Investigating people who he has a grudge against with absolutely no evidence of any criminal activity. Just do it because you can and your DOJ is totally compliant with your wishes.
I just hope that despite people like you, this country can survive this assault on our basic rights and liberties and make it until the mid-terms. Then we can all find out how happy everyone is with Trump. I know you think it’ll all be fine and you may be right! But I’m willing the bet that Trump has done so much damage that he will not (in fact, can not) recover.
Ray W, says
According to InsideEVs Global, Chevrolet just announced the release of its latest battery design, which battery is intended to replace the Ultium liquid-state lithium-ion battery chemistry package.
The new technology, based on a lithium-ferrous-phosphate chemistry (LFP), is said to cut $6000 in production costs per battery pack over Chevrolet’s previous battery production cost, via “simpler and cheaper pack production by slashing the number of modules in each pack by up to 75%.”
According to Bloomberg Businessweek, GM has experienced struggles in making all of its EV batteries in-house, but it is now approaching profitability in its EV line of vehicles.
The first vehicle recipients of the new style of batteries, according to GM battery division executive Kurt Kelty, will be a redesigned Bolt SUV and the Chevy Silverado EV truck.
Make of this what you will.
Ed P says
The Economist is a good publication.
When did a popularity contest (approval rating) mean the same as fatigue with a political party?
Could the delusional moniker be manifested in frustration and fatigue?
WSJ, CNN, USA Today, Yahoo, MSNBC, AP News and numerous other outlets have and are currently recognizing TRUMP FATIGUE….but I’m delusional?
Ray W, says
According to InsideEVs Global, a study by ADAC, Germany’s version of AAA, shows that “[e]lectric cars made in the last five years have a much lower breakdown rate than their combustion counterparts.”
Remember, this is a study of vehicles covered by ADAC to which the company responds after a report of a breakdown, not a study of all automobile repairs.
On average, 4.2 per thousand EVs built between 2020 and 2022 break down each year. Combustion vehicles break down at a rate of 10.4 vehicles per thousand per year.
For both types of vehicles, the most common reason for breakdown is “low-battery voltage.”
The lowest rate of reported breakdowns per EV belongs to the 2022 Tesla Model 3, at 0.5 cars per thousand. The Model Y, at 0.9 cars per thousand, was next fewest. Volkswagen’s ID.4 had 1.0 reported breakdowns per thousand.
According to the ADAC study, “many of the initial problems and weaknesses that electric vehicles had in the early years have now been resolved through the manufacturers’ learning process.”
Make of this what you will.
Ed P says
Jim,
The innocent Boy Scout deported to his home country isn’t who the media portrayed.
I urge you to go to the 4:45 p.m press conference held at the White House today to get the rest of the story.
Senator Van Hollen is on the wrong side of this issue.
Sherry says
Although the “Supreme Court” has ruled that the government must facilitate the return of Abrego Garcia from the El Salvadoran prison to the US:
This from Politico:
Government lawyers openly admitted that Abrego Garcia had been deported in violation of federal law earlier this month, as an immigration judge in 2019 had determined he faced legitimate fear of persecution in El Salvador and could not be deported back to his country of origin. He was among the hundreds of men deported by the administration last month to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT mega-prison.
Trump says he wants to deport American ‘homegrown criminals’
Xinis said Tuesday that her court would launch an “intense” two-week inquiry into the Trump administration’s attempts — or lack thereof — to bring him back to the United States. She said the Supreme Court’s order was “very clear” that the government was obligated to work to secure his release.
Sherry says
@ Jim. . . although you are most certainly “Right On”. . . when it comes to comments from the Maga Cult, sometimes you just need to “consider the source”.
Sherry says
DOGE Dangerous Security Breach!
This just in from NPR. . . A MUST READ:
But according to an official whistleblower disclosure shared with Congress and other federal overseers that was obtained by NPR, subsequent interviews with the whistleblower and records of internal communications, technical staff members were alarmed about what DOGE engineers did when they were granted access, particularly when those staffers noticed a spike in data leaving the agency. It’s possible that the data included sensitive information on unions, ongoing legal cases and corporate secrets — data that four labor law experts tell NPR should almost never leave the NLRB and that has nothing to do with making the government more efficient or cutting spending.
DOGE says it needs to know the government’s most sensitive data, but can’t say why
Meanwhile, according to the disclosure and records of internal communications, members of the DOGE team asked that their activities not be logged on the system and then appeared to try to cover their tracks behind them, turning off monitoring tools and manually deleting records of their access — evasive behavior that several cybersecurity experts interviewed by NPR compared to what criminal or state-sponsored hackers might do.
White House senior adviser Elon Musk walks to the White House after landing in Marine One with President Trump on March 9.
White House senior adviser Elon Musk walks to the White House after landing in Marine One with President Trump on March 9.
Samuel Corum/Getty Images
The employees grew concerned that the NLRB’s confidential data could be exposed, particularly after they started detecting suspicious log-in attempts from an IP address in Russia, according to the disclosure. Eventually, the disclosure continued, the IT department launched a formal review of what it deemed a serious, ongoing security breach or potentially illegal removal of personally identifiable information. The whistleblower believes that the suspicious activity warrants further investigation by agencies with more resources, like the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency or the FBI.
The labor law experts interviewed by NPR fear that if the data gets out, it could be abused, including by private companies with cases before the agency that might get insights into damaging testimony, union leadership, legal strategies and internal data on competitors — Musk’s SpaceX among them. It could also intimidate whistleblowers who might speak up about unfair labor practices, and it could sow distrust in the NLRB’s independence, they said.
Ray W, says
On October 7, 2024, Goldman Sachs released a transportation note to investors titled: Electric vehicle battery prices are expected to fall almost 50% by 2026.
Here are a few bullet points from the note:
– In 2022, in part due to high lithium prices, global average battery manufacturing prices were $153 per kilowatt-hour. Some 60% of the manufacturing cost at the time came from buying the metals used in the batteries. In part, then, battery prices were dependent on high prices for refined lithium and cobalt metals. Since that time, over 40% of the decline in the cost of battery manufacture has come from dropping commodity prices for the two metals.
– By the end of 2024, global average battery manufacturing prices were expected to fall to $111 per kilowatt-hour.
– By 2026, global average battery manufacturing costs are expected to drop to $80 per kilowatt-hour.
– As of 2024, the dominant battery chemistry was lithium-nickel, with an almost 60% share of the battery marketplace.
– The second leading battery chemistry was lithium-ferrous-phosphate (LFP), at 35-40% of the battery marketplace, with its share expect to rise to 45% by 2025. One advantage to LFP batteries is the ability to eliminate modules from battery packs, thereby saving space within the battery pack.
– An emerging, albeit small in share, battery technology, sodium-ion has yet to scale up in production.
– The future remains solid-state, according to the note. Goldman Sachs once expected solid-state batteries to comprise 5-10% of the battery marketplace by now, but delays in scaling up the manufacturing process have delayed implementation of the new chemistry.
– One issue delaying battery development is the estimated 10 years between initial research and development and actual first battery production, not counting delays due to ensuring high quality control.
– Currently, five companies control 80% of battery manufacturing. Each of the five are over two decades in age and each is investing heavily in research and development, making it difficult for new manufacturers to break into the sector.
– Goldman Sachs hypothesizes that today’s EV owners are seeing significant resale value drops because new EV buyers may be waiting to buy the latest version of battery technology. Potential EV buyers anticipate that brand-new EVs will be far less expensive in the near future.
Make of this what you will.
Me?
I have read that refined lithium prices per ton had climbed to $80,000 in 2022. Since then, so many different countries located lithium reserves that the price for the refined metal is now under $10,000 per ton, despite an ever-increasing amount of the metal’s use in battery manufacturing. Too me, that means the law of supply and demand still works. Just as American energy producers will drill when crude oil prices are above $90 per barrel, and they will stop drilling when prices drop below $65 per barrel, lithium prospecting jumped when prices were at or above $80,000 per ton.
LFP batteries, too, use far less lithium, and zero cobalt, than do liquid-state lithium-ion (LiB) batteries. LFP batteries are claimed to cost some 30% less to build than LiBs.
The Goldman Sach note, crucially, averages the manufacturing costs of all types of batteries all over the globe, not just LFP batteries. If the average global cost per kilowatt-hour drops to $80 in 2026, then LFP batteries, costing 30% less per kilowatt-hour, should be in the $55 per kilowatt-hour range. In another post, Chevy just announced a battery pack cost drop of $6000 per vehicle battery simply because GM switched away from LiB technology to LFP technology.
Laurel says
Jim: I see that it never matters to maga what this man does to our country. The denial and lies are the most significant I’ve seen since reading a copy of “Imperial Wizard” my friend and I, as kids, snatched off a stranger’s lawn. It was abhorrent. That abhorrence is back. When watching Fox Entertainment, I see some of the dumbest, damn shit ever, while knowing that there are Americans tuned in to it all day long, and buying it.
There can only be one explanation: It’s a mind altering cult. You cannot reach the maga; there would need to be a mass intervention. There are Republicans, however, who feel that Trump is a step too far, and they will turn away. Therein lies the “common sense.”
Sherry says
Why is Starlink (owned by musk) SECRETLY attached to The GSA?
WASHINGTON (AP) — On the rooftop patio of the General Services Administration headquarters, an agency staffer recently discovered something strange: a rectangular device attached to a wire that snaked across the roof, over the ledge and into the administrator’s window one floor below.
It didn’t take long for the employee — an IT specialist — to figure out the device was a transceiver that communicates with Elon Musk’s vast and private Starlink satellite network. Concerned that the equipment violated federal laws designed to protect public data, staffers reported the discovery to superiors and the agency’s internal watchdog.
The Starlink equipment raises a host of questions about what Musk and his efficiency czars are doing at GSA, an obscure agency that is playing an outsized role in the Trump administration’s quest to slash costs and bring the federal government to heel.
Sherry says
Here is the actual “Polling Data” from several major polls. The vast majority shows trump’s disapproval by the majority of those polled. This is factual “data” verses media “opinion”:
https://www.realclearpolling.com/latest-polls
But then again, Maga never cared for facts!
Jim says
And, I’d just like to add for Dennis C. Rathsam and Ed P, the IRS has been gutted of the people they hired under Biden to go after the rich and big corporations with complicated returns.
From NBC, “A Yale Budget Lab study found that if the IRS staff cuts endure for the next 10 years, tax revenue will fall at least $160 billion over the next decade. Other reports estimate the lost revenue at over $500 billion this year alone. Former IRS agents and tax attorneys say the specific nature of the recent cuts will have an outsized impact on collections from the wealthy — and therefore a larger impact on overall revenue collection.”
Now, I know that both of you are among the rich (top 10%) in the country so I’m sure you are glad that this is happening. You will be able to keep more of your money! But for the vast majority of us regular folk, all it means is that the IRS will definitely be looking at our relatively simple returns while Trump, Bezos, Musk, Zuckerburg and the like will skate. Not to worry though as I’m sure each and every one of them is a diligent tax payer.
So keep singing Trump’s praises as he stomps on the regular folk at the expense of the rich. I can’t wait until Congress passes the new tax cut bill to further help out the rich.
Ed P says
Jim,
I will tread lightly on a response to your comment of the Congress passing a new tax cut for the rich. (Note: Pierre didn’t correct you)
I believe, that the republicans are simply going to extend the 2017 Tax cuts and Jobs act via a permanent extension. Nothing new as you stated, unless you mean “no tax on tips”, “overtime pay”, and “Social Security Benefits”- that will really help the rich!
If the 2017 tax cuts aren’t extended, it will be one of the largest tax increases Americans faced year over year. The average family of 4 will see a $1700 tax hike. The child tax credit will be cut in half for 40 million American families. Nearly 26 million small businesses will realize a massive tax.
Jim speculating on my financial status is ridiculous. Hate the game not the player.
Pierre Tristam says
What a master of obfuscation by omission and intellectual dishonesty this Ed P can be. I did not correct Jim because nowhere Jim wrote that Congress was preparing a “new” tax cut for the rich. Jim wrote: “I can’t wait until Congress passes the new tax cut bill to further help out the rich.” Somehow Ed P changed that to “a new tax cut for the rich.” But if he insists: Jim’s line is not only accurate in every regard, it understates what’s ahead, though he illustrated it in a previous comment. As the Economic Policy Institute notes, “Republicans in Congress are considering financing the $4 trillion needed to extend Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) through either deficit spending—like they did in 2017—or through massive spending cuts, including to key social safety net programs like Medicaid. Unlike previous rounds of Republican tax cuts in 2001, 2003, and 2017, there is no way to finance these extensions without causing noticeable economic pain to the majority of U.S. households.” But the disingenuous Ed P will continue to bait, switch, gaslight and propagandize. I’m beginning to think he’s getting royalties for spreading misinformation–and now going so far as to mischaracterize other commenters’ words.
Ed P says
Pierre,
What’s left for me say except that you will parse anything, in a lame attempt to prove a non point. The extension of the 2017 tax cuts would most likely have been continued by the Dems had they won.
Happy Easter
Sherry says
Ah. . . but, Pierre, that’s what trolls do. You can always count on Maga Cult members, so very reliable in their musical “Trollin’ and Twisting”! To borrow from Laurel : “Let’s do the Twist! It goes like this! Round and Around”. . .
James says
All this talk of battery technology by Ray W. reminds me of a TV show on new car tech I happened upon a few years ago.
At one point in the show they presented an EV concept car by a Chinese manufacturer (don’t recall which) that was rather impressive… but what was even more impressive (to me at least, which is why I remember it to this day) was their approach to the long-haul battery problem.
They had incorporated into their design a readily REPLACEABLE battery compartment. That is, the battery could easily (and quickly) be “dropped” from the bottom of the chassis, enabling an already recharged one to be swapped out in minutes by a technician.
I was indeed impressed!
And how obvious a solution… when a child’s toy car battery runs down, one replaces the battery just as easily, and the child continues playing with the toy car.
Looking at the problem in this way certainly might require a change of mindset.
Thinking about it forces one to consider that when you go to full your tank with gasoline, you’re purchasing the energy content that that gasoline happens to provide, in an odd way not really the liquid itself. And the cars tank is just a vessel, a container.
So one should consider the battery just as disposable, or replaceable, as the gasoline… not as a permanent part of the vehicle like the gas tank is on a conventional car… even though it does seem a more tangible vessel than that gasoline tank in the mind of a car owner.
Nevertheless, standardization is the main stumbling block to this simple, yet impressive solution to the problem.
Just an opinion.
Pierre Tristam says
Again, can’t help yourself but fabricate, fabricate, fabricate. No, the shah’s taxes, which have exploded the national debt and the budget deficit, would not have been continued as they are had Harris been elected. Her plan made that clear. And Harris (or any Democratic Congress) would have never committed the self-inflicted economic suicide of the shah’s moronic tariffs. You’re entitled to your opinion. You’re not entitled to any facts you make up. To repeat: keep it up, and your comments will end up in the trash.
Ed P says
Pierre,
Help me understand why the Dems left the 2017 tax cut/jobs act virtually imtact for nearly 5 years?
Should they have changed it if it was such an unsound policy?
James says
Btw, “the battery as energy vessel” concept is the key to understanding the problem… I think this is of what Ray W. writes in his sometimes, somewhat, long-winded comments.
Thinking of the battery as a vessel and comparing it with a gasoline tank… another energy storage vessel… one notes another fundamental advantage of gasoline as a fuel source. Beyond just the intrinsic potential energy per unit volume of that liquid. That as it is consumed, leaving the hollow (light weight) thin-shell storage tank behind, it also reduces the weight of the vehicle. Perhaps not substantially, but a few pounds over the course of a long trip.
This is not so with a battery as a vessel of energy storage… its weight remains fixed, regardless of the potential energy that remains.
In other words (for the sake of argument, I’m not using real data here) two combustion engines might use less energy than three or four EVs over their usable lifespan, just considering this “carry weight” problem.
Just an observation.
James says
Btw, I’m not saying that EVs are a sham. There are other advantages to adopting the technology.
That “weight” of the fuel that is consumed is “conserved” in the form of byproducts… many of which are harmful (for example, benzo[a]pyrene for one). And of course, there is a whole chain of energy using processes in producing gasoline… and its distribution… with their own efficiencies and inefficiencies.
In other words, one can’t just consider one aspect of the problem in isolation.
Just considering the “carry weight” problem again for another moment. The combustion engine is a “heat engine,” it generates heat and is not to be considered in isolation. Its efficiencies are based on the system (environment) in which it operates… in which it is embedded. As the external environments temperature changes (to the upside) so too the efficiencies of the combustion engine within the environment.
Which might offset the carry weight savings of gasoline.
Just another observation… and clarification.
Pierre Tristam says
Ed P, here’s something you guys clearly do not understand: the 2017 tax cut was (is) the law. Democrats are law-abiding. You have trouble understanding the concept. (Of course you do: fellating a felon’s presidency says it all). Most law-abiding people do not. When it sunsets is the time for change. Or not, for the reckless and obtuse. You do need help. I’m not it.
Sherry says
While “Thumbs Up” not working. I just want to say a HUGE “Thank You” Pierre!