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Today at a Glance:
The Palm Coast City Council meets in workshop at 9 a.m. at City Hall. It’s going to be a long one, with numerous items back on the agenda for discussion, including commercial vehicles parked in residential zones, dredging saltwater canals, and a lot more. For agendas, minutes, and audio access to the meetings, go here. For meeting agendas, audio and video, go here.
The Community Traffic Safety Team led by Flagler County Commissioner Andy Dance meets at 9 a.m. in the third-floor Commissioner Conference Room at the Government Services Building, 1769 East Moody Boulevard, Bunnell. You may also join virtually by computer, mobile app or room device. Click here to join the meeting. Meeting ID: 276 236 998 121 Passcode: CyEKoW [Download Teams | Join on the web]
The St. Johns River Water Management District Governing Board holds its regular monthly meeting at its Palatka headquarters. The public is invited to attend and to offer in-person comment on Board agenda items. Note: meeting start times vary from month to month. Check here to verify the time. A livestream will also be available for members of the public to observe the meeting online. Governing Board Room, 4049 Reid St., Palatka. Click this link to access the streaming broadcast. The live video feed begins approximately five minutes before the scheduled meeting time. Meeting agendas are available online here.
The Flagler County School Board meets at 3 p.m. in workshop to go over the items on its upcoming school board meeting two weeks hence. The board meets in the training room on the third floor of the Government Services Building, 1769 East Moody Boulevard, Bunnell. Board meeting documents are available here.
The Flagler County Planning Board meets at 5:30 p.m. at the Government Services Building, 1769 East Moody Boulevard, Bunnell. See board documents, including agendas and background materials, here. Watch the meeting or past meetings here.
The Flagler Beach Library Book Club meets at 5 p.m. at the library, 315 South Seventh Street, Flagler Beach.
Random Acts of Insanity Standup Comedy, 8 p.m. at Cinematique Theater, 242 South Beach Street, Daytona Beach. General admission is $8.50. Every Tuesday and on the first Saturday of every month the Random Acts of Insanity Comedy Improv Troupe specializes in performing fast-paced improvised comedy.
Notably: The Trump administration’s Cambrian explosion of corruption. Clay Jones sums up Trump’s latest bribe, which may yet be not that big compared with his grifting in crypto and his million-dollar-a-plate “fundraisers” (fundraisers for what? He gets to pocket the money after his presidency.) Actually $1.5 million was the latest cost. “The purpose of the fundraiser,” USA Today reported, “was unclear as the Constitution’s 22nd Amendment bars him from seeking a third term. Still, last month, the Trump Organization began selling “Trump 2028” caps.” Bribery paves the way to autocracy, though we’re already there. Alistair Horn in his book on Napoleon wrote of the obscenities of Napoleon’s grifting, too, and his whole family: “As is so frequently the story with autocratic regimes, with the passage of time, corruption set in. At the top, starting from a zero base, all the Bonaparte family amassed considerable fortunes either from loot obtained abroad or by other means. Napoleon’s sister Pauline Borghese was able to acquire one of the most sumptuous houses in Paris, on the Faubourg Saint-Honoré. To the lasting benefit of Britain, the Duke of Wellington bought it after Waterloo. He gained the respect of Parisians when, as the victor, he could have grabbed it for nothing, but insisted on paying the full market price. It remains the British embassy, grandest of all the embassies. Josephine, the penniless Creole, in 1809, the year before Napoleon divorced her, could count hundreds of different dresses; Cambacérès, Napoleon’s chancellor, could afford to strut around the Palais-Royal dressed like a millionaire peacock, an early-day Field Marshal Goering; Talleyrand, also a self-made man, as we have already seen, had no hesitation about playing the markets with insider trading to amass vast wealth.” As for Qatar, corruption there is as much a currency as sand. See below.
—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.
June 2025
In Court: John Cascone Probation Violation Hearing
Flagler Beach Library Writers’ Club
Flagler Beach Planning and Architectural Review Board
Palm Coast City Council Meeting
Bunnell Planning, Zoning and Appeals Board
Random Acts of Insanity Standup Comedy
Palm Coast Code Enforcement Board Meeting
Separation Chat: Open Discussion
Flagler Beach Library Book Club
The Circle of Light A Course in Miracles Study Group
Weekly Chess Club for Teens, Ages 9-18, at the Flagler County Public Library
Flagler County Republican Club Meeting
Flagler Beach Parks Ad Hoc Committee
For the full calendar, go here.
In terms of money, the terms in which corruption is usually measured, Robert Moses was not himself corrupt. He was, in fact, as uninterested in obtaining payoffs for himself as any public servant who ever lived. In the politicians’ phrase, he was “money honest.” But in terms of power, Robert Moses was corrupt. Coveting it, he used money to get it. And because he had so much money (in his fields, far more than the city) and so much freedom (in his fields, far more than the city) in spending it, within the city he became the locus of corruption: money corruption.
–From Robert Caro’s The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York (1974).
Jim says
Please read @Sherry says, May 12, 2025 at 11:13 am comment to yesterday’s cartoon. The facts in that comment from Robert Reich are dead on and everyone needs to be aware of the facts before commenting. Thanks, Sherry.
This is blatant bribery at it’s worst and it’s being done right out in the open for all of us to see. If you’re a Trumper and even this doesn’t bother you, you really need to re-evaluate your morals and ethics. You may even want to read the Constitution and see if that document is the one guiding the leaders of this country.
Trump is nothing but a grifter and crook. He’s no genius. If you look at his “trade deals”, of which he only has part of one, he’s agreed to 10% tariffs on China. If you think that’s going to push manufacturing back into the USA, you just don’t understand business. What’s going to happen is all of us are going to be paying 10% more for those goods and they will still be made in China. Congratulations, Trump. And Britain? So far, we’ve agreed to let Rolls Royce go tariff free and, well, that’s all that’s been agreed to. Everything else is pushed down the road. But, thank God for that as I will not get my RR on order and delivered before Trump changes his mind again.
I guess it was worth it to tank the markets and piss off our allies just to get a 10% tariff on China.
And what about the rest of the world? Here we are a month down the road from Trump’s great tariff announcement and there is one deal. At this rate, Trump will get this all done by 2028 – maybe…..
MAGA, keep swallowing the Kool-Aid, it’s amazing how much incompetence you all can absorb as “genius”.
Pogo says
@Sieg Heil the golden slob
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/trump-is-finally-getting-his-parade-and-it-s-only-going-to-cost-taxpayers-tens-of-millions/ar-AA1EBAai?ocid=nl_article_link
Party like it’s 1939
Itolduso says
Your cartoons on here helped get him elected again, thanks for all your hard work.
Laurel says
Just unbelievable! Okay, maga, explain how this should even be considered.
Ask any city worker, and they will tell you they are not allowed to take even a small gift. It’s made clear to them through mandatory classes. The King, however, sees no issues with this bribe.
Are you seeing yet?
Ray W, says
The Associated Press reports that egg prices have dropped to the lowest point since last October.
Here are some bullet points from the article:
– “Bird flu has killed more than 169 million birds since early 2022. Any time a bird gets sick, the entire flock is killed to help keep the virus from spreading. Once a flock is slaughtered, it can take as long as a year to clean the farm and raise new birds to egg-laying age.”
– Due to the sheer flock size on some egg farms, an outbreak can affect millions of birds. “Outbreaks on two farms in Ohio and South Dakota in April affected more than 927,000 egg-laying hens.”
– According to the USDA, 59 outbreaks occurred in February 2025, with twelve in March and three more in April. Average Grade A egg prices hit $6.23 per dozen in March but dropped to an average of $5.12 per dozen by the end of April.
– The April 2025 average price for a dozen eggs is 79% higher than it was 12 months ago.
– A Michigan State University professor of food economics and policy, David L. Ortega, told the AP that demand for eggs normally falls after Easter each year, so prices may continue to fall in May and June, absent new outbreaks.
– During the first three months of 2025, egg imports rose 77.5% compared to the first quarter of 2024. South Korea, Turkey and Brazil, among other foreign nations, have ramped up exports of eggs this year.
– Cal-Maine Foods, the nation’s biggest egg producer, saw profits triple in its most recent quarter to a net income of $508.5 million. The anti-trust unit of the Department of Justice opened an investigation into Cal-Maine’s pricing practices.
Make of this what you will.
Me?
Profiteering by egg producers (and retailers) affects us all. Twice each year, wild bird flocks migrate, with many flocks flying over American egg farms. Bird droppings containing the highly pathogenic avian influenza virus that fall on those farms can infect the domesticated hens. Outbreaks on American egg farms tick up in the late winter and in late fall each year, so summer might bring short-term relief from outbreaks.
A number of reporters addressing the complex issues impacting supply and demand write that when egg prices reach a threshold individuated for each consumer, demand for eggs begins to slacken. It no longer is solely a supply issue. Dropping demand issues begin to influence egg prices. It may be that $6.00 (fifty cents per egg) is the tipping point at which certain egg consumers begin to look for egg alternatives.
Ray W, says
Interesting Engineering posted another article about the future of sodium-ion (salt) batteries for EVs.
Here are some bullet points from the story:
– CATL’s low-cost, innovative salt battery, developed to the point of an energy density of 175 Wh/kg, has prompted three of Korea’s top battery makers, LG Energy, Samsung SDI, and SK On, to reassess their battery development strategy.
– For some time, the three Korean firms focused on a nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) battery chemistry, but they now intend to turn to a lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) chemistry in an attempt to remain competitive on battery prices.
– CATL, in its effort to reduce fire and explosion risks, among other risks, decided to use sodium instead of lithium in its newest battery design. Salt batteries also offer better cold weather performance.
– Before widespread release of LFP battery technology, and long before CATL released its salt batteries, NCM batteries held a 93.3% share of the EV battery sector.
– This does not mean development of NCM chemistries will stop. “High voltage mid nickel NCM batteries”, a variant of NCM technology, will continue to see research and development. Reducing nickel content of these types of batteries to between 50% and 70% and “optimizing voltage” may offer an energy dense, cost effective style of battery.
– NCM battery share dropped in 2024 to 46.7%, but projections to 2030 have NCM battery shares rising back to 60.9% by 2030.
Make of this what you will.
Me?
Ford’s CEO is right. EV battery development is still at the Model T stage, with gains in multiple fields of battery chemistry being published almost daily. The pace is dizzying in scope. Energy density per kilogram keeps rising, which means that battery packs can be made lighter and lighter. Manufacturing cost per kilowatt hour of storage plummets, which means that battery packs are cheaper and cheaper.
New and cheaper chemistries emerge.
I posted a comment many months ago that CATL had over 100,000 engineers on its payroll devoted to developing newer and better batteries. Ford recently announced a Nickel-Manganese Rich (NMR) battery technology, in which press release Ford claimed that it had over 100 engineers working on battery development.
Focusing on internal combustion engines means to look backwards. The future is electric.
Ray W, says
Per a Verge reporter, General Motors, in partnership with LG Energy Solution, plans to release a version of a lithium-manganese rich (LMR) battery chemistry that is “safer, more energy dense, and less costly” than other battery types. GMs existing EV battery chemistry uses “high-nickel” content batteries. GM says it began development of LMR battery technology in 2015.
GM’s VP for batteries, Kurt Kelty, told the reporter that GM intends to source battery materials locally to ensure a more stable supply chain.
Ford announced last month that its own version of an LMR battery will be available by 2030. GM says its version will be released by 2028. Some 300 GM prototype LMR packs are already in testing.
In a previous comment, I pointed out that CATL’s new salt battery had an energy density of 175 Wh/kg and a relatively low manufacturing cost.
Industry-standard NCM battery chemistries have a reported energy density of between 165-185 Wh/kg.
GM claims its version of the NMR battery will have a much higher energy density that will offer 400 miles of range, with the batteries being “denser, with greater space efficiency due to their prismatic space. … Prismatic cells are packed flat in rigid cases and are generally thought to be less complex to manufacture than cylindrical cells.” But GM admits that one yet to be solved challenge will be to reduce “capacity loss” over time. Another issue is “thermal stability degradation.”
Tesla, according to the reporter, is also “racing” to develop its own version of a “cobalt-free” LMR battery pack.
One of the main advantages of an LMR battery, compared to an NCM battery, is that no cobalt is used in the chemistry. A higher percentage of manganese, considered a “dirt cheap” resource, replaces the much more expensive cobalt that is dirty to mine and often mined using child labor.
Make of this what you will.
Me? Some publications report that LMR batteries will theoretically have twice the energy density of current NCM and salt batteries. It may very well be possible to see far cheaper LMR batteries with far greater energy storage densities in the near future.
I remain cognizant of a growing trend in Chinese production of EVs that come with an “extended range” option of a tiny gas engine that does not turn on until the battery charge depletes to a certain level. This permits smaller battery packs, many with a range of no more than 100 miles, and a gas engine that extends the overall range of travel by hundreds of more miles.
I will type this over and over again.
Some 90% of daily drives do not exceed 40 miles. An EV equipped with a tiny battery pack offering a 100-mile range will suffice for almost all daily drives, with plug-in battery charging each night restoring enough stored energy capacity for the next day’s drive.
It is only when a driver’s plan is to drive more than 100 miles at a time that a tiny gas range-extending engine will turn on to generate electricity sufficient for the longer drive. These extended-range engines do not have transmissions; their sole purpose is to keep the tiny battery charged. The engines are designed to run at their most efficient RPM. Some extended range EVs sold in China have total ranges in excess of 800 miles before refilling of their gas tanks is needed.
Ray W, says
According to data gathered by Autopost, Chinese automaker, BYD, sold more than 350,000 EVs in March in the “global electric vehicle market.”
BYD’s export totals rose from 10% of total sales in March 2024 to 21% of total sales in March 2025.
BYD aims to sell 5.5 million units worldwide in 2025, with 800,000 units being export EVs. Other industry reports have BYD selling just over 4 million units in calendar year 2024.
Last December, BYD surpassed Tesla in annual production of EVs, again, according to other articles.
Tesla’s March 2025 sales are claimed to have dropped 10% year-over-year to 151,000 EVs.
Make of this what you will.
Ray W, says
Geely, one of many Chinese car makers, has a sub-brand called Lynk & Co. The sub-brand plans to release a full-sized sedan, called the Z10, later this year.
Known specifications for the Z10, as reported by Interesting Engineering three days ago, include a wheelbase of 118.3 inches, a length of 197.9 inches, a width of 77.4 inches, and a height of 57.8 inches.
The Z10 comes with an extended-range option, utilizing a 2.0-turbocharged ICE. There are three electric motor options. A rear-wheel-drive 268-HP motor; a rear-wheel-drive 416 HP motor; and a dual-motor AWD option producing 778 HP.
Electric range will be between 374 and 501 miles, with an 800V fast-charging system taking 15 minutes to add 356 miles of range. A 400V charging system will also be available.
“Key features of the 10 EM-P sedan include the Nvidia Drive Thor-U chip delivering 700 TOPS, the Snapdragon 8295 processor, and a high-end air suspension system.”
No prices listed yet.
Make of this what you will.
Ray W, says
According to an April Deutsche Welle story, two Chinese e-freighters ply a 300-kilometer inland route on the Yangtse River between Shanghai and Nanjing, with multiple stops in between. The freighters carry 16 swappable battery packs capable of providing 57,000 kWh of power.
Two barges based in the port of Rotterdam have battery packs that can be swapped out with fresh batteries in 15 minutes.
The Saint-Malo, a hybrid vessel that crosses the English Channel twice per day, uses battery power while in port or near-shore; it uses an LNG-powered engine while in the open sea.
Along Norway’s 1,100-mile western coastline, 199 ferries operate in its many fjords. Over 40% of the ferries are now electric. A large electric car-carrying ferry (200 cars and 600 passengers) has been in operation between cities south of Oslo since 2020.
The non-profit Norwegian Maritime Battery Forum estimates that more than 1,000 either fully electric or hybrid ships, not counting boats, currently operate worldwide, with at least 460 more under construction.
Norway plans to equip offshore wind turbine platforms with charging stations to increase the range of offshore e-vessels.
The 60-year-old German-owned Mondorf ferry that repeatedly makes a two-minute Rhine crossing during a 14-hour working day was recently retrofitted with electric motors, using government aid to assist in the conversion. Its 1,000-kWh battery pack does not need recharging during the day. The vessel uses renewable energy to recharge overnight.
The German retrofitting company has already converted some 20 passenger vessels that travel the Rhine River in and around Bonn to electric power.
The world’s largest e-ferry (225 cars and 2100 passengers), a high-speed catamaran, launches this month to cross the 50-kilometer-wide Rio de la Plata between Argentina and Uruguay.
Make of this what you will.
Sherry says
Thank you Jim! Robert Reich speaks TRUTH! What a concept! Greetings from Yellowstone everyone!
Sherry says
This from Robert Reich:
Friends,
Trump is overplaying his hand.
Not just by usurping the powers of Congress and ignoring Supreme Court rulings. Not just abducting people who are legally in the United States but have put their name to opinion pieces Trump doesn’t like and trucking them off to “detention” facilities. Not just using the Justice Department for personal vengeance. Not just unilaterally deciding how much tariff tax American consumers will have to pay on almost everything they buy.
Polls show all these are tanking Trump’s popularity.
But one thing almost all Americans are firmly against — even many loyal Trumpers — us bribery. And Trump is taking bigger and bigger bribes.
Yesterday it was reported that he’s accepting a luxury Boeing 747-8 plane worth at least $400 million from the Qatari royal family, for use during his presidency and for his personal use afterward.
Trump just can’t resist. He’s been salivating over the plane for months. It’s bigger and newer than Air Force One — and so opulently configured that it’s known as “a flying palace.” (No report on whether it contains a golden toilet.)
Apparently he’s been talking about the plane for months. In February, he toured it while it was parked at Palm Beach International Airport.
He’s tried to redecorate the White House into a palace but that’s not nearly as satisfying as flying around the world in one, especially once he’s left the White House (assuming he will).
Attorney General Pam Bondi said it’s perfectly legal for him to accept such a bribe, er, gift.
Hello?
The U.S. Constitution clearly forbids officers of the United States from taking gifts from foreign governments. It’s called the “emoluments clause.” (See Article I, Section 9.)
Anyone viewing Bondi as a neutral judge of what’s legal and what’s not when it comes to Trump can’t be trusted to be a neutral judge of Bondi. Recall that she represented Trump in a criminal proceeding. Presumably he appointed her attorney general because he knew she’d do and say anything he wanted.
Oh, and she used to lobby for Qatar.
So, what does Qatar get in return for the $400 million plane? What’s the quid for the quo?
This week Trump takes the first overseas trip of his second presidency. He’ll land in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, followed by a visit to Qatar, and then to the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E).
That’s a big boost for Qatar right there.
Trump also just did what Qatar has been wanting done for years — announcing that the Persian Gulf (as it’s been known since at least 550 B.C.) will henceforth be known as the Arabian Gulf.
Trump’s company has just announced a new golf resort in Qatar, reportedly partnering with a company owned by the royal family.
Qatar is also pushing the Trump regime to lift sanctions on Syria.
The payback could be any number of things. The only certainty is that you and I and other Americans won’t necessarily benefit.
This week’s trip to Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the U.A.E. is as much a personal business trip for Trump and his family businesses as a diplomatic trip.
Eric Trump, who officially runs the family business, has just announced plans for a Trump-branded hotel and tower in Dubai, part of the U.A.E.
The Trump family’s developments in the Middle East depend on a Saudi-based real estate company with close ties to the Saudi government. Saudi Arabia has a long list of pressing matters before the United States, including requests to buy F-35 fighter jets and gain access to nuclear power technology.
Trump’s family crypto firm, World Liberty Financial, announced that its so-called “stablecoin” — with Trump’s likeness all over it — will be used by the U.A.E. to make a $2 billion business deal with Binance, the largest crypto exchange in the world. The deal will generate hundreds of millions of dollars more for the Trump family.
I had assumed that Trump’s undoing would be his unquenchable thirst for power. It may yet be, but I’m beginning to think his insatiable greed will do him in. America’s Grifter-in-Chief knows no bounds.
Ray W, says
My first e-mail exchange with Mr. Tristam, some 20 years ago or more, involved the issue of habeas corpus, which means “you should have the body” in Latin, per the HuffPost.
Habeas corpus, at English common law, meant that all persons are able to physically appear before a judge if detained for any reason.
Historically, suspension of the right of habeas corpus is rarely invoked by democratic governments, either in England or in America.
The last time the English Parliament passed a bill, referred to at the time as 18B, granting to the executive the limited and emergency power to suspend habeas corpus, was in the early days of WWII, around the time that English resistance in France had collapsed in May 1940, after which over 340,000 soldiers were miraculously evacuated from Dunkirk.
Imagine my surprise when I read of Steven Miller’s statement this past Friday, as reported by HuffPost, that the Trump administration was considering suspension of the right of habeas corpus. I describe it as a surprise, because federal law, passed by Congress long ago, makes crossing the border into the U.S. without documentation a misdemeanor offense. Somehow, the Trump administration is trying to determine whether a person who commits a misdemeanor can also be a part of an “invasion” so severe as to be worthy of suspending one of our Constitution’s most basic rights, that of habeas corpus.
Mr. Miller stated during a press conference:
“The Constitution is clear — and that of course is the supreme law of the land — that the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus can be suspended in time of invasion. … So it’s an option that we’re actively looking at.”
My immediate thought upon reading the statement steered toward the intentional lie uttered by Mr. Miller. Habeas corpus is a right, not a privilege. Is this not further proof that the modus operandi by the professional lying class that sits at the top of one of our two political parties is to lie in hopes that the gullibly stupid among us will launder the lie.
To provide context, in May 1940, Germany had just driven the French Army to near collapse and had pushed the Belgian and British Armies into the sea. Almost all of England’s military transport and mechanized armor had been left behind on the continent. After the rescue, the British Army lacked sufficient rifles to equip those saved by evacuation, much less to arm the Territorial Guard. The only unsquandered strength remaining to the British people was the Royal Navy and some 50 squadrons of fighter pilots and aircraft. Hitler was openly boasting that he would invade Great Britain by early autumn.
A strong domestic Nazi element existed in Great Britain at the time, in large part because the royal family, for some 230 years, directly descended from the Hanoverian King George I. One of the first families swept up after Parliament gave the executive the power to suspend the right of habeas corpus during extreme emergency and round up British Nazi sympathizers were the Mosleys, who were politically active and powerful pro-Nazis.
As the war progressed, the extreme emergency posed by threat of actual German military invasion receded. Drawn from Appendix A, Book Two of his fifth volume of The Second World War, by October 1943, Churchill wrote that “a domestic issue of Constitutional importance … came to a head.”
Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill, having delegated certain limited executive political powers to the wartime coalition government’s Home Secretary, wrote on October 6, 1943:
“Let me know what is the report of the Medical Commissioners upon Sir Oswald Mosley’s state of health. I have received privately some rather serious medical reports about him, but they are of course unofficial.”
The Medical Commissioners officially confirmed Sir Mosley’s poor state of health, so Churchill wrote to his Home Minister on November 23, 1943:
“I expect you will be questioned about the release of the Mosleys. No doubt the pith of your case is health and humanity. You might however consider whether you should not unfold as a background the great principle of habeas corpus and trial by jury, which are the supreme protection invented by the British people for ordinary individuals against the State. The power of the Executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him judgment by his peers for an indefinite period, is in the highest degree odious, and is the foundation of all totalitarian governments, whether Nazi or Communist. It is only when extreme danger to the State can be pleaded that this power may be temporarily assumed by the Executive, and even so its working must be interpreted with the utmost vigilance by a Free Parliament. As the danger passes, persons so imprisoned, against whom there is no charge which courts and juries would accept, should be released, as you have been steadily doing. until hardly any are left. Extraordinary powers assumed by the Executive with the consent of Parliament in emergencies should be yielded up when and as the emergency declines. Nothing can be more abhorrent to democracy than to imprison a person or keep him in prison because he is unpopular. This really is the test of civilization.
Thus ends the first instalment of Churchill’s description of the British debate, first within the Executive and then within Parliament, over the right to habeas corpus.
Make of this what you will.
Me?
There is no form of “extreme danger” to the State posed by undocumented immigrants who cross the border to work, regardless of number. In fact, we have needed every immigrant we can get to fill the labor needs of businesses all over the country. The executive suspending the right to habeas corpus without legislative oversight does not answer the issue of extreme danger; it is a ploy posed to satisfy the desires of the gullibly stupid among us to wreak vengeance upon the many hard-working immigrants among us. It will never justify the “odious” removal of their right to be bodily brought before a court. This, as Churchill put it, really is a test of civilization.
Ray W, says
Part two of Churchill’s description of Great Britain’s “test of civilization” during WWII.
Among the wartime British coalition Cabinet, difference arose between Cabinet members. Churchill, preferring to address the issue as a whole instead of by individual detained member, again wrote to his Home Minister, this time on November 25, 1943:
“I am convinced 18B should be completely abolished, as the national emergency no longer justifies abrogation of individual rights of habeas corpus and trial by jury on definite charges. I doubt very much whether any serious resistance would be made to this. There are of course a number of totalitarian-minded people who like to keep their political opponents in prison on lettres de cachet (a letter signed by the French king and signed by his Prime Minister, used to imprison people without charge), but I do not think they constitute a majority. I have already on more than one occasion expressed in Parliament my distaste for these exceptional powers, and my hope that success and security would enable us to dispense with them. However, as these views conflict with the line you have adopted I shall not press them at this stage.
“Any unpopularity you have incurred through correct and humane exercise of your functions will be repaid in a few months by public respect.”
On the same day, Churchill wrote a second letter, this one to both his Home Secretary and his Deputy Prime Minister:
“In case there is a debate on an amendment to the Address to terminate 18B, I would strongly counsel the line that we very much regret having to be responsible for such powers, which we fully admit are contrary to the whole spirit of British public life and British history. These powers were conferred on us by Parliament because of the dire peril of the State, and we have to administer them in accordance with the principles of humanity, but all the time we desire to give back these powers from the Executive to Parliament. The fact that we have gained great victories and are in a much safer position makes the Government more desirous of parting with exceptional powers. The time has not yet come when these can be fully dispensed with, but we can look forward to that day.
“2. On no account should we lend any countenance to the totalitarian idea of the right of the Executive to lock up its political opponents or unpopular people. The door should be kept open for the full restoration of the fundamental British rights of habeas corpus and trial by jury on charges known to the law. I must warn you that departure from these broad principles because the Home Office have a few people they like to keep under control by exceptional means may become a source of very grave difference between us and the totalitarian-minded folk. In such a quarrel I am sure I could carry the majority of the House of Commons and the mass of the nation. Anyhow, I would try. It seems to me you have a perfectly good line in deploring the fact that such powers are thrust on you and in proclaiming your resolve to us them with the utmost circumspection and humanity. Do not quit the heights.”
In time, the Cabinet agreed to support the Home Minister in his decision to release the Mosleys, but certain elements in the House of Commons agitated against the decision.
On November 29, 1943, Churchill wrote to his Home Secretary:
“Considering you are supported by the Cabinet, and by me as Prime Minister, you have no choice whatever but to fight the matter through, and you will no doubt be supported in any direct issue by a very large majority.
“2. There is no hurry about the general question of 18B. I certainly recommend however that you express your distaste for such powers and your regret that dangers of the country have forced you to assume them, and your earnest desire to return to normal. This is a becoming attitude in a democratic Minister.”
At this point, Churchill, years after the fact, summed up his view of ministers who quail in the face of national duty:
“Mr. Morrison (Home Minister) showed firmness and courage in resisting the storm that threatened him, and, as is often the case, it dispersed. People who are not prepared to defy clamour are not fit to be Ministers in times of stress.”
On December 2, 1943, the final Churchill letter to his Home Minister read as follows:
“I congratulate you on the strong support given to you by the House of Commons. Your courageous and humane discharge of your most difficult and disagreeable functions will gain its reward in the respect of the British nation.”
Make of this what you will.
Me?
There was once a style of democratic governing that respected the separation of powers that was the gift of the British Parliament to its people after Parliament successfully drove King James II out of the country. Academia recognizes this era as the founding era of the modern Conservative Movement.
When one reads Churchill’s letters to his Home Minister, one can understand his championing the idea that his ministers, upon assuming Cabinet position, held in their hands alone all political powers delegated to their positions, and that Churchill, even as Prime Minister and President of the War Counsel, could not order his Cabinet members to do what he wanted them to do. He could strongly suggest, he could attempt to persuade, but he could not exercise political power to overrule decisions made by his ministers. Persuasion, not command, was the order of the day.
Laurel says
Didn’t someone here comment that the bribe was actually a gift to the Defense Department? I’m trying to figure out how the Defense Department could use a “flying palace.” Hmmmm…
I’ve gotta hand it to the Grifter in Chief. The more blatant his disrespect for our country, and we the people, the more they cover and make excuses for him. It’s an opportunity for a psychological study of the human ability to deny what’s right at the tips of their noses.
Pogo says
@Welcome to 2025
… and its golden calf.
Obey. Period.
James says
Well Pogo, he might have heard of the golden calf… since it was, well, “golden” and that does seem to catch his attention. Perhaps also of the golden fleecing… eh, I mean fleece.
But what of the story of the Trojan horse?
Just say’n.
Pogo says
@James
I don’t play chess by mail, or respond to this version of a conversation, much; but here it is: first, yes, certainly, and obviously, the plane is a Trojan horse, and the entire world is doubled over laughing at president dumb ass.
trump IS the golden calf (in his feeble mind) and that of the gullible who worship it.
Laurel says
Trump’s birthday is also “No Kings Day.” https://www.nokings.org/