Living in a Free and Dangerous Country is Better than Living in a Restricted and “Safe” Country

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Living in a Free and Dangerous Country is Better than Living in a Restricted and “Safe” Country

"Democrats — never ones to let a tragedy go to waste — immediately began pushing the gun control narrative before the bodies were cold. And why not? People just witnessed the largest mass shooting in modern American history. The atmosphere is rife with fear and anxiety, and the need to do something to make us all feel safer is on the lips and at the fingertips of everyone with an outlet."

"The mob is ready to move, or so too many in the business of restriction and regulation hope. They’ll stand on the graves of the slain, wheel out the family members of victims willing to cooperate with their narrative, and talk about how their woke kids are asking poignant questions about today’s society."

"Those who resist the mob in order to keep their freedom will be accused of having the blood of the innocents on their hands. They will make super-villains out of anyone who speaks against the buzzword of “common sense” reforms or gun laws."

"But a large swath of us are not in this mob. We want our freedoms more than we want this “safety.” We cherish free will and liberty over restriction and regulation."

"We do this in full understanding that freedom comes with risks, and no guarantees. Freedom is being able to possess available firearms for self-defense, while also meaning someone else can legitimately, or illegitimately get it for nefarious purposes."

White House wants to end Social Security numbers as a national ID – Ars Technica

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White House wants to end Social Security numbers as a national ID – Ars Technica

"Rob Joyce, the White House cybersecurity czar, said on Tuesday that the government should end using the Social Security number as a national identification method."

"I believe the Social Security number has outlived its usefulness," said Joyce, while speaking at The Washington Post's Cybersecurity Summit. "Every time we use the Social Security number, you put it at risk."

Examining Carter’s ‘Malaise Speech,’ 30 Years Later

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Examining Carter’s ‘Malaise Speech,’ 30 Years Later

"Mattson says the fact that Americans responded positively to a speech that berated their way of life suggests that they don't mind having their values called into question. In that way, he says, the malaise speech had the potential to effect a significant cultural change.

"[Carter] did blow the opportunity," Mattson says. "But I think the original success that the speech had symbolizes the fact that Americans will listen when they're being criticized and when they're being called out to their better selves."

Average Highs

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Average Temperatures

This table shows the average high, median, and low temperatures for the next year. Previous year values are shown in parenthesis. Today marks the first day of autumn season when the average high is typically only 65 degrees, although today is much warmer then that.

Date High Median Low
Tuesday, October 3 65 (72) 55 (65) 44 (57)
Sunday, October 15 60 (63) 50 (46) 40 (28)
Saturday, October 28 55 (47) 46 (41) 36 (34)
Friday, November 10 50 (50) 42 (40) 33 (29)
Wednesday, November 22 45 (37) 38 (34) 30 (30)
Monday, December 4 40 (36) 33 (30) 26 (23)
Sunday, December 17 35 (35) 28 (28) 21 (20)
Monday, January 8 30 (23) 22 (16) 15 (9)
Thursday, February 15 35 (39) 26 (36) 17 (32)
Sunday, March 4 40 (23) 31 (16) 22 (8)
Saturday, March 17 45 (40) 35 (28) 26 (16)
Wednesday, March 28 50 (51) 40 (45) 30 (38)
Saturday, April 7 55 (46) 44 (42) 34 (37)
Wednesday, April 18 60 (58) 49 (49) 38 (40)
Tuesday, May 1 65 (74) 54 (62) 43 (49)
Wednesday, May 16 70 (77) 58 (61) 47 (44)
Sunday, June 3 75 (72) 64 (59) 53 (45)
Friday, June 22 80 (81) 69 (67) 59 (53)
Saturday, August 18 80 (86) 70 (75) 60 (64)
Saturday, September 8 75 (89) 65 (77) 55 (65)
Friday, September 21 70 (80) 60 (69) 50 (58)

How DOE’s baseload power rule ‘would blow the market up’

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How DOE’s baseload power rule ‘would blow the market up’

Subsidizing baseload power makes absolutely no sense, especially as more renewables come online. If you can't produce power economically at non-peak times, you shouldn't be on the grid.

That said, we need more peaking and mid-load plants, to make the sure ramp can be met affordably, especially on hot days. The ramp is going only to get steeper in coming years, especially as hot weather becomes more common -- and renewables slack off by mid-afternoon as the sun angle falls and wind becomes still. Grid operators have to ensure they always have enough spinning reserve to meet whatever demand is put on the grid.

Coal right now doesn't ramp well, but that's where coal supporters should be putting their money -- researching how to make coal ramp up and down quickly (and cleanly). They ramp up and down coal plants to a certain extent in wind-heavy parts of country, but it's tough on equipment that doesn't take well to temperature and pressure changes, and is actually making air pollution worse, as coal plants tend to pollute the most when they're being ramped up and down.

October 3, 2017 Morning

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Good morning! Happy Tuesday. Five weeks to Election Day 2017. Local elections this year, so not so many big campaigns. Sunny and 46 degrees in Delmar, NY. Calm wind. Pretty decent October morning.

Nice morning but a lot of delays heading downtown due to a crash on 787 and one on Southern Boulevard. It really slowed traffic heading into the city and made the bus a few minutes late at the Park and Ride. Still beats taking the local downtown.

Today will be sunny, with a high of 73 degrees at 3pm. Eight degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 49 at 1pm. Light south wind increasing to 5 to 9 mph in the morning. Fairly warm and nice this morning. A year ago, we had mostly cloudy skies, clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 72 degrees. The record high of 83 was set in 1967. There was a dusting of snow in 1974.

The sun will set at 6:32 pm with dusk around 7:00 pm, which is one minute and 44 seconds earlier than yesterday. At sunset, look for clear conditions and 68 degrees. The dew point will be 49 degrees. There will be a south breeze at 9 mph. Today will have 11 hours and 36 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 52 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly clear, with a low of 45 degrees at 6am. One degree above normal. South wind 5 to 8 mph. In 2016, we had mostly cloudy skies. It got down to 53 degrees. The record low of 26 occurred back in 1948.