September 7, 2020 Night

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Good evening! Partly cloudy and 69 degrees in Delmar, NY. ⛅ There is a south breeze at 14 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 58 degrees.

It’s good to be home 🏡 and sleeping in my bed 🛏. Sure nights are fun in the woods but I also like a good shower 🚿 and the ability to wake up clean. Plus it’s going to be a busy day at work tomorrow with lots of Zoom Meetings do I’m going to need the Wi-Fi to get work done. Maybe if I was in the Adirondacks and near the Spectulator Library I would have stayed a few more days 🖥 but I’m back home.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy 🌥, with a low of 61 degrees at 5am. Six degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around August 13th. Maximum dew point of 60 at 4am. South wind 7 to 14 mph. In 2019, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 52 degrees. The record low of 34 occurred back in 1978.

Tonight will have a Waining Gibbous 🌖 Moon with 71% illuminated. The moon will rise at 10:05 pm. The darkest hour is at 12:54 am, followed by dawn at 5:59 am, and sun starting to rise at 6:28 am in the east (81°) and last for 2 minutes and 56 seconds. Sunrise is one minute and 4 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 The golden hour ends at 7:05 am with sun in the east (88°). Tonight will have 11 hours and 9 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 49 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 82 degrees at 3pm. Seven degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around August 9th. Maximum dew point of 63 at 11am. South wind around 8 mph. A year ago, we had mostly sunny skies. The high last year was 73 degrees. The record high of 94 was set in 2015.

Going to be hot for September tomorrow 😰 but nothing like a few months ago. I will probably work from the park 🏞 or maybe the library although I do also need to get to the laundromat. 👚 Another big long Zoom Meeting but sitting in the park with a lawn chair makes it not so bad. I also have a Pine Bush meeting tomorrow 🌲🌲🌲 and plan to go over to John Wolcott house on Wednesday. 🔎 📄

In four weeks on October 5 the sun will be setting in the west (264°) at 6:29 pm,🌄 which is 49 minutes and 31 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2019 on that day, we had sunny skies, patches of fog and temperatures between 59 and 34 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 64 and 43 degrees. The record high of 91 degrees was set back in 1941.

Looking ahead, Columbus Day ⛵ is in 5 weeks, Cyber Monday 🛍️ and Beaver Moon 🌕 in 12 weeks, First Day of Winter ☃️ is in 15 weeks, 4:30 PM Sunset 🌆 is in 16 weeks, Winnie the Pooh Day 🍯 is in 19 weeks, Martin Luther King Day 🖤 is in 19 weeks, 5 PM Sunset 🌆 is in 20 weeks and February 🌧 is in 21 weeks.

Kunjamunk from the Boat Launch

One thing that really bothers me is that government agencies are tax exempt. 🏛️

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One thing that really bothers me is that government agencies are tax exempt. 🏛️

I don’t like the idea that government doesn’t pay its fair share of taxes – if there were more taxes on government then there would be a greater incentive to economize and would help level the playing field with the private sector. I think it makes sense to assess on government all of the same taxes that any private sector entity pays.

Taxes on government could also raise an enormous amount of revenue – in most communities government is one of the most wealthy institutions often ranking in the billions in income and spending each year. Governments have massive payrolls, land holdings, buildings, bridges and property. It would greatly increase fairness by taxing these most successful of entries.

Taxing government is just like taxing power plants or railroads. While it’s true that power plants and railroads benefit all, and we all pay into them, we tax them because they are source of wealth and because it’s a way to encourage economy and efficient use of resources.

Government agencies do pay payroll taxes nowadays but not sales tax, property taxes, franchise or corporate income taxes. I think they should like any other corporation. If they have to cut services it sell property to cover their tax bills then so be it. At the same time, many agencies would benefit by increased revenue by other agencies paying them tax. I think government paying taxes would be a more effective and efficient government.

NPR

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California Roasts As Record Heat Wave Exacerbates Devastating Fire Season : NPR

At 121 degrees, Los Angeles County hit its highest temperature ever recorded this weekend, as the state swelters in a heat wave that has helped intensify the most devastating wildfire season California has experienced in years.

The record temperature was measured in Woodland Hills, northwest of downtown Los Angeles.

The "kiln-like" heat was exacerbated by a high-pressure system and a weak sea breeze, according to the National Weather Service.

NWS Meteorologist Dave Bruno told The New York Times that these factors "allowed basically the entire region to roast." Several other locations in the state also faced scorching temperatures.

What Is Fascism? What to Know About Its Brutal Origins | Time

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What Is Fascism? What to Know About Its Brutal Origins | Time

When Benito Mussolini debuted the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, the precursor to his fascist party, on Mar. 23, 1919, in Milan, he wasn’t inventing the idea of violent authoritarianism. But he put a name on a new and terrible breed of it. Under his leadership, squads of militants attacked, beat and killed fellow Italians; later, once he had become the authoritarian ruler of Italy, he oversaw brutality in Ethiopia, an alliance with Hitler and the persecution of Italy’s Jewish population and others, among other crimes.