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Weather: A 20 percent chance of showers after 1pm. Partly sunny, with a high near 77. Calm wind becoming southwest 5 to 9 mph in the morning. Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 56. South wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
- 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: Flagler Home Builders Association v. Palm Coast: A 9 a.m. hearing that may last all day is scheduled before Circuit Judge Sandra Upchurch in Courtroom 301 at the Flagler County courthouse where the judge will hear a motion by the association for a temporary injunction of the city’s relatively new impact fee schedule, and a motion for summary judgment in the association’s favor. The association–along with four builders and a resident–want the court to invalidate the significantly higher impact fees Palm Coast approved last year for fire services, parks and transportation.
Drug Court convenes before Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols at 10 a.m. in Courtroom 401 at the Flagler County courthouse, Kim C. Hammond Justice Center 1769 E Moody Blvd, Bldg 1, Bunnell. Drug Court is open to the public. See the Drug Court handbook here and the participation agreement here.
Town of Marineland Commission Meeting, 6 p.m. in the main conference room at the GTMNERR Marineland, 9741 N Oceanshore Boulevard, St. Augustine. See the town’s website here.
Flagler Tiger Bay Speaker: Dave Sanderson of ‘The Miracle on the Hudson’, 11:30 a.m. at the Hammock Dunes Club, 30 Ave Royale, Palm Coast. $45 for members, $50 for non-members. Event Topic: Leadership When It Counts, Turning Crisis Into Clarity, Courage, and Community Impact. Dave Sanderson is a nationally recognized leadership speaker, accomplished author, and inspirational survivor of what is known as “The Miracle on the Hudson.” As the last passenger off US Airways Flight 1549, which had to ditch into the river, he took the lessons he learned from that profound experience in the frigid water and emerged from the wreckage with a mission to encourage others to do the right thing and share coping skills to address any adversity they may face. Dave is now convinced that everyone has their own defining moment, whether it be personal or professional, but that most people do not know how to take that first step to find opportunities out of their own uncertainty.
Story Time for Preschoolers at Flagler Beach Public Library, 11 to 11:30 a.m. at the library, 315 South Seventh Street, Flagler Beach. It’s where the wild things are: Hop on for stories and songs with Miss Doris.
Model Yacht Club Races at the Pond in Palm Coast’s Central Park, from noon to 2 p.m. in Central Park in Town Center, 975 Central Ave. Join Bill Wells, Bob Rupp and other members of the Palm Coast Model Yacht Club, watch them race or join the races with your own model yacht. No dues to join the club, which meets at the pond in Central Park every Thursday.
The Palm Coast Democratic Club holds an “After Dark” Recap Meeting (previous daytime business meeting) at 6 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month to accommodate working Democrats. We will meet at the Flagler Democratic Party Headquarters in City Marketplace, 160 Cypress Point Parkway, Suite C214, Palm Coast. Hope you will join us. This gathering is open to the public at no charge. No advance arrangements are necessary. Call (386) 283-4883 for best directions or (561)-235-2065 for more information.
‘Social Security,’ At the Daytona Playhouse, 100 Jessamine Blvd., Daytona Beach. Call 386-255-2431. 7:30 p.m. except on Sunday at 2 p.m. Domestic tranquility for two married art dealers is shattered when a goody-goody sister and her uptight CPA husband arrive to save their college niece from the horrors of free love. Jewish Grandma arrives and wants to make whoopee with the art dealers’ best client! Tickets are $15 to $25. Book here.
Flagler Beach United Methodist Church Food Pantry: Flagler Beach United Methodist Church‘s food pantry is open today from 9:30 a.m. to noon at 1500 S. Daytona Ave, Flagler Beach. The church’s mission is to provide nourishment and support in a welcoming, respectful environment. To find us, please turn at the corner of 15 Street and S. Daytona Ave, pull into the grass parking area and enter the green door.
Free Tax Preparation Services in Flagler County: The AARP Foundation’s Tax Aide provides free tax preparation services at six locations in Palm Coast, Flagler Beach and Flagler County through April 15, but you must make an appointment first and fill out paperwork. To do both, go here.
Notably: For two years I am Scrooge to the Olympics, thinking, as that Super G of a writer Robert Lipsyte did in a 1998 column, that “Once, justifiably or not, the word had an Olympian ring to it. Now, it is mostly a litigiously guarded brand name, and the five rings are another sports logo, battling for the public’s recognition with the swoosh and the Major League Baseball batter’s silhouette.” But when the Olympics begin, it is the only time–well, no: the World Cup and the Euro are the other times–when I turn on a television screen in the background, without sound, keeping it on for as long as there’s a broadcast even though I can’t spare even a minute to really watch or listen. Just knowing the images are there is enough. And sometimes when I look up from the keyboard, I’m awed, as when I see a drone following a skier downhill at 75 miles per hour and think back to the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, when everything was placid (except for whoever called that game on ice between Team USA and the Soviets, which had even me whooping it up, until the Reagan years turned that “USA, USA, USA” chant, born in Lake Placid, into yet another obscene display of jingoist patriotism. Can you imagine Learned Hand at I Am an American Day in 1944, in Central Park, even speaking the letters USA?) Other moments that catch the attention are those silky whooshes on the curling ice, the precision of biathlon athletes as they shoot guns in the one venue guns look elegant, and the ridiculously, hilariously impressive bumps down the moguls. Lipsyte was upset in 1998 that the Olympic ideal, never as ideal as it or anyone pretended it to be, had abandoned amateur sports to accept professionals. I think the sport has only benefited from that. Who wants to see athletes at less than their absolute best? When can we possibly see them all in one place, every two years? I do Scrooge louder and more meaningfully through the competitions when they’re held in abject places–China, Russia. I am glad, these days when they are not in the United States, with those USA chants always ready to assault the senses. Europe seems to be a perfect middle ground. Western Europe, preferably, which makes the last two Olympics, Paris and Milan, extra frothy.
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.
April 2026
ESL Bible Studies for Intermediate and Advanced Students
Grace Community Food Pantry on Education Way
Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village
“My Fair Lady,” at Daytona Playhouse
Al-Anon Family Groups
“Godspell,” at the Limelight Theatre
Free Tax Preparation Services in Flagler County
Flagler County Commission Morning Meeting
Beverly Beach Town Commission meeting
Nar-Anon Family Group
For the full calendar, go here.
[O]n July 28, 1984, Reagan traveled to his adopted hometown, Los Angeles, to open the Summer Olympics. The Soviet bloc boycotted the games to retaliate for the US boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics. But that simply allowed the US team, led by sprinter Carl Lewis and gymnast Mary Lou Retton, to top the medal count for the first time since 1968. That, in turn, created a patriotic frenzy that carried over into the Republican National Convention in Dallas in August. Country-music star Lee Greenwood sang “God Bless the USA,” and the delegates interrupted Reagan’s acceptance speech with Olympic-style chants of “USA! USA! USA!” “First the Olympics, now this,” one delegate told a reporter. “I’m just OD’ing on pride in America.”
If Reagan needed any more help, it was provided by Mondale himself.
–From Max Boot’s Reagan: His Life and Legend (2004).
Dennis C Rathsam says
EPSTIEN, The destruction of prominent Jackasses in America! Funny, Biden was too busy destroying our country, too investigate this man. WHY????? Now that TRUMPS the president, their all ears. TRUMPS name maybe mentioned, but he,s the one who turned him in. As we see the all the democrat men caught up in this scandal, we know now why Biden & co let sleeping dogs lie, Biden protected his Democrat buddies. The jackass hatered of TRUMP, continues…. They are losing at every turn. TRUMP has done an amazing job, prices dropping, wages going up the border is closed, & the invaders are being deported at a record pace. Harris & the democrats ran on TRUMP HATE, nothing more. She had no plan, no ideas, no way to do what TRUMP did in a year. Lookie here now TRUMPS THIS TRUMPS THAT…. Same ole lame story! AGAIN….The only hope the jackass party has is Epstien. If they fail to prove, their hopes & dreams. TRUMP wins again.Surely we can all agree, Bill Clinton looks great in a dress!
Skibum says
… and your “information” comes straight from the mouths of those same conspiracy consumed fools who continued the lies about the Clintons and other democrats who were supposedly running a child sex ring from the basement of a NY pizza parlor!!!
I know actual FACTS have never mattered to you, but here goes anyway… there was an open federal criminal investigation going on into the Epstein criminal conspiracy when Biden was president. DOJ could not legally release ANY of the Epstein files until that investigation concluded, which it did last year during this convicted felon’s presidency. Does that answer your ridiculous question?
The convicted felon prez you support has lied to Americans about drug traffickers, wanting us to believe blowing up boats in the ocean off of South America’s coast was supposedly to prevent illicit drug smugglers from bringing drugs into the U.S. But then he PARDONS the head of an international drug carte who was prosecuted and imprisoned for a 45-year prison term by our own federal justice system after he helped import 400 tons of cocaine into the U.S.
So it has NEVER been about the convicted felon prez being against drug traffickers! He pardons them instead and lies to all of us, like usual.
The convicted felon prez you support has lied to Americans about his close friendship and involvement with Jeffrey Epstein. He has done everything he possibly could to block the release of the Epstein files, including trying to coerce Lauren Boebert from signing on to the House petition, and ordering His lap dog, Pam Bondi, to withhold millions and millions of pages of known documents and to completely black out entire pages of the partial, limited released documents in violation of federal law that specifically prohibits such redactions not made for the purpose of only protecting the many victims who don’t want to be named.
So it has NEVER been about transparency or identifying child sex predators who victimize little girls, because this massive coverup has been orchestrated by the pedophile protector-in-chief himself in order to either protect him or other wealthy and powerful individuals while denying justice to actual victims of child sex abuse.
STOP making excuses for child molesters and their protectors… you are only revealing yourself as just another pedophile protector!!!
Laurel says
Skibum: He isn’t paying any attention, which is why I’m convinced Trump uses cult tactics. That, and Fox Entertainment, and other far right media, are not telling the whole story. If they suck up to Trump, maybe he’ll give them a job in his cabinet that they are sorely incompetent to handle.
“Funny, Biden was too busy destroying our country, too investigate this man. WHY?????”
Bondi blames her predecessor and Trump blames his predecessor, and they somehow believe that exempts the two from doing their jobs. Very immature responses.
“TRUMP has done an amazing job, prices dropping…”
I just got back from Publix. Chocolate bars are $4.50 a piece, on sale, “$1.00 off,” two for $9.99, even flipping Hershey’s. Boars Head London top broil sandwich meat $20.79 lb. Boars Head precooked bacon, one box, 2.29 ounces $9.20.
So, this is “affordability” according to Trump supporters. Every time I go there, I walk away stunned. I wonder what the food bill is for a working couple with kids.
I wish a reputable psychiatrist would explain to us what happens to the human brain that makes them completely bypass reality.
Laurel says
Have y’all seen the new Publix commercial? A pretty woman walks through the isles with tulips aiming at her, 🦋🦋🦋🦋 butterflies fluttering around, and cookie sprinkles falling from above. No mention of the prices, but back to “Where shopping is a pleasure.”
Winn Dixie has a billboard that states “High prices are not a pleasure.”
Since Aldi purchased Winn Dixie, the chain has improved.
Samuel L. Bronkowitz says
lmao people in other countries are resigning en masse or being dragged off to jail over this release and people like Dennis here are going “who cares if he fucked all those children, I’d be happy if he railed a few of my grandkids.”
Skibum says
This morning, news media outlets, journalists, talk show hosts and social media all seem to be asking the same questions after former prince Andrew was arrested and jailed in the U.K. for misconduct in office relating to his involvement with Jeffrey Epstein and the accusation that he had raped an underaged Virginia Dupre years ago at one of Epstein’s arranged sex parties.
Well known wealthy and powerful international figures have either been under investigation or forced to resign overseas, and many are asking the million dollar question here in the U.S., which is why is there such a huge disparity between the fallout for prominent Epstein associates and accomplices in other countries, but NOT here in America? The answer is that really is a rhetorical question because we all have seen with our own eyes the presidential orchestrated coverup that has rocked the convicted felon’s administration, led by convicted felon in the WH’s loyal puppy, Pam Bondi.
Despite the federal law ordering ALL of the Epstein files to be released with very limited redactions allowed almost exclusively to protect the privacy of Epstein’s many victims, there are still millions and millions of files that the complicit administration is now refusing to release. Even Congress, which was supposed to be able to view the UNREDACTED files in that special, confidential meeting at DOJ about a week ago walked away shaking their heads in frustration and anger after seeing still redacted documents or missing, previously known documents from the files.
The felon president was already informed that his name is mentioned in the Epstein files thousands and thousands of times, and he has been a close friend and confidant of Jeffrey Epstein for decades. He badgered, cajoled and pleaded with member of Congress Boebert to not sign the petition demanding the release of the Epstein files, trying to ward off any of those files becoming public, why???
Either the convicted felon is a pedophile himself and trying to keep the public and Congress in the dark about his own sordid and criminally liable sex crimes with underage girls secret, or he is protecting other rich and/or powerful men, probably for $$$ bribes or underhanded deals with them in return for his silence, because he values protecting criminals over victims. He cares for creepy, felonious sex fiends who prey on young girls, some of those Epstein victims were as young as 9 years old!
The files that were released by Bondi and the DOJ did not fully comply with the law because millions of pages had redactions, some entire pages, that clearly were far more than simply protecting victims’ names!
This entire corrupt, criminal presidential administration is complicit in this coverup. No effort by this nation’s DOJ has been made to sit down and interview Epstein’s victims who have publicly come forward, and have been trying for a long time to tell their stories to federal investigators who seem much more interested in continuing with the dog and pony show of calling former president Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton before Congress to distract from the incompetence and orchestrated coverup to protect the real pedophiles.
The anger of the American public continues to grow, and the cracks in this coverup are getting larger every day now. The con man in the WH is not only underwater in poll after poll in general, but when the question is about his handling of the Epstein files, about 2/3 of this country, including a majority of republicans and independents alike say he has FAILED in his responsibilities and disapprove of the ongoing coverup, which may prove to implicate the president himself in criminal behavior.
So be it! This is NOT going away! In the end, Epstein’s victims will be victorious one way or another because the vast majority of Americans want total transparency, not secrecy, not redactions, not this coverup, which will doom the current presidency and already shows this convicted felon president is a monster, a vile, repulsive predator or one who protects child sex predators over victims of child sex abuse.
That is his legacy.
Pogo says
Give us Barabbas — trump 2024
Making Britain great again…
https://www.google.com/search?q=andrew+arrested
Next.
Sherry says
Yes, Olympic champions are “WOKE”. . . deal with it!
https://www.publicnotice.co/p/us-olympians-speak-out-trump?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=501423&post_id=188177803&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=3ytnjf&triedRedirect=true&utm_medium=email
Ray W. says
Per a Raw Story article, last month, a portion of a roughly 60-year-old, 54-mile-long sewer pipe located on land under federal control for the past century collapsed. As much as 240 million gallons of wastewater flowed into the area around the break and ultimately into the Potomac River.
Yesterday, the White House blamed Maryland and Virginia and DC Democrats for the spill.
Initial incident cause is thought to be that pressure from too large a wastewater flow exceeded the pipe’s design capacity, i.e., too much crap was flowing out of Washington (my snark).
Make of this what you will.
Me?
As an old broken-down motorcycle racer, I have long been aware of structural fatigue. Sometimes, old things under normal pressures just break. A city can examine an aging wastewater pipe and it can collapse a week or a month later. For that matter, crude oil pipelines commonly rupture under the pressure needed to pump oil through the pipeline.
I haven’t forgotten from many decades ago reading about a steel strap affixed under an overpass roadway that suddenly dropped onto the roadway below decapitating a married couple as they drove. Solely blaming Democrats or Republicans for the chemical process of rusting would have been asinine.
As an aside, I immediately thought of Dennis C. Rathsam. If anyone would launder the White House’s lies, he would.
As a second aside, ask any public works field worker how often pipes fail. Water pipelines, fresh or waste, old or new, burst or collapse or otherwise fail more often than many people know. Cities struggle to adequately fund repair and replacement, given the vast number of infrastructure needs.
Only professional liars would blame one or the other of our two political parties for something like this. Only the gullibly stupid would believe the lies. Only the pestilential would launder them.
Tony Mack says
Let’s clear this up with the facts, not political speculation and hyperbole: (Despite the rant and distortions from a certain Mr. R — who never will see the truth)
From LEGALUNITEDSTATES…
Why Didn’t Biden Release the Epstein Files?
The issue is not simply political — it’s rooted in law, confidentiality, and the independence of the Justice Department. Despite public perception, a U.S. president does not have unilateral authority to declassify or release evidence from criminal cases, especially when such material includes grand jury testimony or victim information protected by federal privacy statutes.
Here are the primary reasons the Biden administration did not release the Epstein files:
1. Federal Grand Jury Secrecy Laws
Under Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, grand jury information cannot be made public unless a federal judge authorizes its release. This means all testimony, transcripts, and exhibits from grand jury proceedings related to Epstein are legally sealed — and not even the President can order their disclosure without a court order.
Violating grand jury secrecy laws can result in criminal penalties for prosecutors or officials involved. This legal protection exists to safeguard witnesses, ongoing investigations, and the integrity of the justice system.
2. Victim Protection and Privacy Laws
Epstein’s crimes involved minors and young women whose identities are protected under federal victim privacy laws, including the Crime Victims’ Rights Act (CVRA). Releasing unredacted documents could expose those survivors to public scrutiny, harassment, or retraumatization.
In multiple statements, the DOJ emphasized that protecting victim confidentiality was a top priority. Many victims gave statements under assurances that their names and personal details would never become public. Revealing the full files could legally and ethically violate those agreements.
3. Ongoing Civil and Criminal Proceedings
Even though Epstein died in August 2019, litigation involving his associates, his estate, and institutions tied to him continues today. Civil suits against financial firms, such as JPMorgan Chase and Deutsche Bank, remained active during Biden’s presidency, and those cases referenced sealed documents from Epstein’s investigations.
Releasing those materials prematurely could have interfered with active proceedings. In 2023, for example, the U.S. Virgin Islands settled with JPMorgan Chase for $105 million, alleging that the bank enabled Epstein’s trafficking operations. The DOJ argued that public release during litigation could have compromised due process.
4. Independence of the Department of Justice
Since his campaign in 2020, Joe Biden repeatedly promised that his administration would not interfere with DOJ investigations — a sharp contrast to the politicization of the department seen in previous administrations.
That promise meant that Attorney General Merrick Garland had full autonomy over decisions involving sensitive cases, including Epstein’s. The DOJ determined that most Epstein files could not be disclosed under current law, citing the ongoing need to protect uncharged individuals, witnesses, and victims.
The White House therefore did not intervene or direct any release, leaving the decision entirely within the DOJ’s jurisdiction.
5. Legal Limitation on Presidential Power
Contrary to popular belief, the President cannot simply declassify or release evidence gathered during federal criminal investigations. These are governed by separate branches of government — the judiciary and the Justice Department.
Even if Biden had publicly requested their release, the courts would still have to approve. The files are not “classified” in the national security sense — they are sealed legal evidence, which falls under judicial authority, not executive control.
Additionally, simply because Donald Trump and members of his Administration continue to ignore Court orders, defy current laws imposed by Congress and use the Department of Justice to assign his “retribution” does not and should not imply that another President might consider a similar course of action.
Skibum says
Thank you for elaborating on the legal issues that prevented any earlier release of the Epstein files… not that the law is of any concern to the maga mush brains who have specifically supported the convicted felon in the WH due to his penchant for ignoring or thumbing his nose at the law and the courts when they don’t align with his desires.
Your response was much better than my reply!
Keeping Secrets says
I wonder if maybe Trump has found a way to monetize the Epstein Scandal. Seems like a lot of billionaires have out of the goodness of their hearts began to pledge or donate huge sums of money to some of projects that Trump says will be funded by donations. I suspected before that it was more pay to play, but now I wonder if they are paying to keep their names redacted?
Laurel says
Trump is transactional. He has proved that of himself many times over. Republican politicians turn a blind eye because they are afraid of him. Trump stated, on Truth Social, that Senator Mark Kelly was guilty of sedition and should be executed. Sen. Kelly, and his wife Gabby Gifford, who was already shot in an assassination attempt, both get death threats weekly.
Ray W. says
The Associated Press reports that 2025 U.S. import and export figures are in.
The overall U.S. trade deficit for 2025, in both goods and services, dropped from 2024’s $904 billion to $901 billion.
The services surplus rose from $322 billion to $339 billion.
The goods deficit rose 2% to $1.24 trillion.
Make of this what you will.
Ray W. says
The Hill reports that President Trump claimed this past Wednesday that the nation’s trade deficit was down 78%, with credit due to his tariff policy.
At around the same time, newly released government data showed that the nation’s trade deficit was down 0.2%.
Make of this what you will.
Gina says
The British police on Thursday arrested Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, formerly known as Prince Andrew, over suspicions of misconduct in public office after accusations that he shared confidential information with Jeffrey Epstein while serving as a British trade envoy.
Follow live updates: https://nyti.ms/4tFtaGV
Ray W. says
The writer of an Interesting Engineering article points out that, because their instant discharge quality, capacitors today power many things ranging from medical defibrillators to camera flash bulbs. Capacitors charge and discharge electrostatically. Batteries charge and discharge electrochemically.
Current capacitor technology, per the reporter, involves the use of long-chain polymer molecules that degrade at 212 degrees F, a temperature at which the molecules crystallize and fracture.
A Penn State research team combined two commercially available long-chain polymer molecules, PEI and PDPBA, into a nano-structure polymer alloy capable of powering devices at temperatures between negative 148 degrees F and 482 degrees F without degradation. Neither PEI nor PDPBA has a dielectric constant above 4 volts.
The bonus was that the new polymer alloy has a dielectric constant of 13.5 volts and the new capacitor hold four times the energy.
Make of this what you will.
Me?
American innovation continues to excel. Energy densities bound, this time by a multiple of four. Operating temperature ranges increase. Voltages increase by a multiple of three. All because researchers took two commercially available polymers and alloyed them into a new polymer.
The field of electrostatic energy storage (capacitor) is rapidly growing. The field of electrochemical energy storage (battery) is growing. The field of petrochemical energy storage (gasoline) is not. That field is near its theoretical maximum.
Chemists long ago figured out how much energy is contained in a measure of regular gasoline per kilogram. Each company has its own blend of long-chain molecules its version of regular gasoline, so weights per kilogram differ, but roughly 13 kWh of energy per kilogram of gasoline is accepted. Since very few engines convert more than 40% of gasoline’s energy into usable power, some 5.2 kWh per kilogram actually moves a vehicle.
No matter how much money is spent on further ICE research, this is very near the theoretical maximum power density of gas engine technology.
Here’s today’s math. A 17 gallon gas tank, alone, holds 40 or so kilograms of gasoline, or 210 kilowatt-hours of energy. Add to the weight of a full gas tank, the weight of the engine, transmission, cooling system etc., and the total ICE weight removed by a EV, which doesn’t use such things, commonly comes to some 250 kilograms or more. At 40 mpg, the best of such cars available today, that means 680 miles of range out of 250 kilograms of weight.
EVs, with as much as three times the equivalent mileage as gasoline, are getting over 200 watt-hours per kilogram out of an average EV battery, but the theoretical maximum energy density is over 1.2 kWh hours per kilogram, six times as much as today’s batteries.
Multiply that 200 watt-hours per kilogram by three and you get 600 watt-hours per kilogram. A 250 kilogram battery times 600 comes to 150 kilowatt-hours of energy storage, not that much less than the 210 kilowatt-hours of energy stored in the 17 gallon gas tank of an ordinary gas car.
Bottom line? Today’s EV battery needs to weigh about 35% more, give or take, than today’s normal gas engine, transmission, cooling system, full gas tank combined weight to go the same distance. Yes, the weight of the motor is not considered here.
But if battery energy density doubles, as solid-state batteries promise to do, gas engine energy density will be left behind in the dust, never to catch up.
Ray W. says
According to a MarketWatch story, Goldman Sachs says that 375 million barrels of crude oil sit stranded in tankers awaiting purchasers. I am surprised. Just a few weeks ago, another news outlet reported the figure at a much lower 120-125 million barrels.
AI reflects that 290 million of the stranded barrels came from Russia and Iran.
Make of this what you will.
Me?
If I misled any FlaglerLive readers, I apologize. Maybe my first source used different categories. There are tankers currently under power and tankers idle, and tankers idle for more than seven days, with the numbers constantly changing.
Ray W. says
From my early adult years onward, story after story about the grocery industry held to a maxim that earnings of 1-2% on revenue was acceptable; it was a very competitive type of business.
A few years ago, a FlaglerLive commenter, claiming decades of business experience in the grocery industry, repeated the maxim.
I checked with Publix. In its first nine months of 2025 filings, $3.6 billion in net earnings against $46.8 billion in revenue, several multiples higher than the industry maxim.
Make of this what you will.
Me?
Maybe there is a new industry maxim? Maybe orange is the new black? Maybe Trudenflation persists? Maybe greedflation lingers?
Ray W. says
Morning Overview covered a subject that seems to engender many misperceptions, that of solar power in far northern climes.
In remote sub-arctic Northwest Territories communities, Canadian research involves installing small solar generating systems where communities have long relied solely on diesel-powered generators.
In fall, winter, and spring, muddy roads often cut these communities off from diesel fuel resupplies, often causing electricity rationing. Even in the best weather conditions, extremely long supply chains drive up delivery costs. Electricity costs per kilowatt-hour of diesel generation can be double those costs for other more southern and more efficiently powered Canadian communities.
Preliminary results are that solar panels produce sufficient power at a competitive price even in near-arctic conditions, except in winter. Sensitive to heat, solar panels work efficiently in these conditions. Solar panel support poles are less susceptible shifting ground due to melting permafrost than are concrete support pads for diesel generators.
The as-yet unresolved hypothesis is whether solar, with battery backup, can supplement diesel for some of the year and displace diesel in significant other times of the year sufficient to justify the installation cost of solar, plus battery backup.
Make of this what you will.
Me?
Electricity generation is a complex industry. Many misconceptions persist. Experience teaches that combined cycle gas turbine plants shut down on average four months per year for maintenance and repair, which makes the gas industry quite unreliable, yet gas proponents argue that solar and wind farms are too variable, even though battery backup solves that issue.
Dennis C Rathsam says
CRY ME A RIVER!!!!
Laurel says
See, I told y’all he wasn’t listening. To him, facts are “Cry me a river” tears.
Reality avoidance.
Laurel says
Meanwhile, Bondi should be removed from office, and disbarred for not upholding the law, which is solely the job.