Census Change 2018
NPR
American politics has arrived at a remarkable place. The country and its leaders are growing more partisan, fewer people are persuadable in elections, and Republicans and Democrats view each other with an increasingly nastier edge. Americans are surrounding themselves with people who look like, agree with and even pray like them — a sorting that's changing the country and ripping at the fabric of what it means to be American. Sign Up For The NPR Politics Newsletter
There are a lot of reasons why America now has this degree of partisanship, from partisan redistricting and a lack of moderate participation in primaries to a lack of leadership and the fracturing and siloing of how and where Americans get their news. Maybe it's no surprise that Democrats and Republicans can't even agree on who started it — and certainly don't agree on the solutions.
A Winter Walk
Is this odd-looking wind turbine the most efficient you can buy? – The Washington Post
Field tests, conducted in collaboration with Pusan University in South Korea, demonstrated that, given average wind speeds of 5 meters a second, the device can yield up to 1,500 kilowatt-hours a year, enough to supply about a third to half the electricity a typical home consumes. Mind you, he’s basing the estimate on the average usage of those living in the Netherlands. On average, Americans have residential footprints in the range of 11,000 kilowatt-hours.
And not having spacing between blades, he adds, also makes the structure a lot less susceptible to the kind of vibrations and turbulence responsible for what some who’ve resided near wind have reported to be turbine-induced noise pollution. “Measurements of noise levels near the turbine show a reading of about 42 decibels,” he says. “That’s quieter than the sound of people talking.”
Sounds great like so much of this greenie technology until reality strikes in .... On the usage side, the average American household uses 10,909 kWh per year (it's higher in south because they use electricity for air conditioning, while in the north they burn natural gas or propane rather then electricity for heat -- it's actually much more energy intensive to heat then cool). On the generation site, 1,500 kWh per year is only 171 watts per hour as there are 8,760 hours per year. And that assumes a constant wind speed of 5/m a second or 11.5 mph. But the average wind speed in Albany, 5.5 mph in winter and 3.3 mph in summer. Plus wind turbines are mechanical devices that need maintenance and repair (bearings wear out), compared to solid state devices like solar panels.
Cass Hill / Helederg Mountains
Looking from the south-view from Bennett Hill, which is pretty much in shadow at this hour. In the valley in County Route 312, which goes up by where I grew up.
Taken on Sunday December 19, 2010 at Bennett Hill Preserve.How to butcher chicken outdoors
Today..we're gonna put 400lbs of meat in our freezer!! Come with me and learn how to butcher chickens. I'll show you some great tools to streamline the operation, show ya gutting ..cutting and more! Hope you all enjoy this fun and educational video on processing meat birds!
Having been reading Adam Danforth's book about Butchering, this kind of an interesting video to watch in practice. Those pluckers are neat but not super cheap.