KunstlerCast 339

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KunstlerCast 339

1/5/21

Web player: https://podcastaddict.com/episode/117388740
Episode: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/kunstlercast/KunstlerCast_339.mp3?dest-id=14822

Adam Ellwanger is a professor of English at the University of Houston – Downtown, where he teaches rhetoric and writing. In addition to those topics, his varied research interests include popular culture, political philosophy, media studies, and the American Mess writ large. Check out his dangerous new book on the modern politics of identity, entitled Metanoia: Rhetoric, Authenticity, and the Transformation of the Self. You will also like his essay on the Human Events website: Toward a Woke Metaphysics. Recently, he authored an open letter signed by over 180 professors that outlines forms of non-compliance that signatories will undertake in an effort to resist the current ideological trends on campus. Ellwanger also offers regular commentary at sites like Human Events, New Discourses, American Greatness, Quillette, and more. In his free time, he writes, plays guitar, drinks beer and ruby port, and listens to music. Follow him @DoctorEllwanger on Twitter. The KunstlerCast theme music is the beautiful Two Rivers Waltz written and performed by Larry Unger.

We Just Witnessed the Dangers of the Autocratic Disinformation Playbook – Union of Concerned Scientists

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We Just Witnessed the Dangers of the Autocratic Disinformation Playbook – Union of Concerned Scientists

We have seen those same tactics employed by President Trump and those in his administration to bury evidence about the dangers of COVI-19 and fuel distrust in election integrity. The goal of disinformation, regardless of its source, is the same: to confuse the public and control the narrative for financial, political, or ideological gain.

rom the start of President Trump’s term, he actively worked to erode trust in the wheels that turn our democracy: the free press, science-based agencies, state election boards, even the Postal Service. By giving his audience no hope in the integrity of our institutions, he positioned himself as the only hope, an autocratic ruler, rather than the person who governs three branches of government and does the bidding of the electorate.

Shots – Health News : NPR

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Tennessee Isn’t Really ‘Carding’ Seniors For Covid Vaccine : Shots – Health News : NPR

In ecember, all states began vaccinating only health care workers and residents and staffers of nursing homes in phase 1A, but since the new year began some states have also started giving shots to — or booking appointments for — certain categories of seniors and essential workers.

As the states start to widen the eligibility for who can get a COVI-19 vaccine, health officials are often taking people's word that they qualify, thereby prioritizing efficiency over strict adherence to their own distribution plans.

"We are doing everything possible to vaccinate only those 'in phase,' but we won't turn away someone who has scheduled their vaccine appointment and tells us that they are in phase if they do not have proof or I," says Bill Christian, spokesman for the Tennessee epartment of Health.

January 10, 2021 Morning

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Good morning! Happy Sunday. Next Sunday is the start of the Coldest Week of the Year 🌬 . Partly sunny and 22 degrees in Delmar, NY. 🌅 There is a northwest breeze at 7 mph. 🍃. There are 2 inches of snow on the ground. ☃ ️Things will start to thaw out at Tuesday around 11 am. 🌡️

It was sunny for a while 🌞 and then it got cloudy ⛅. They are talking about more sun later but it seems like lately the forecasts have been over promising. I am going to hike at Holt Preserve and go out to the folks house 🏡 later on for Sunday dinner 🍲.

Today will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 34 degrees at 2pm. Four degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around February 11th. Northwest wind 5 to 7 mph. A year ago, we had cloudy skies in the morning, which became light rain by afternoon. The high last year was 47 degrees. The record high of 55 was set in 2016. 7.3 inches of snow fell back in 1984.❄

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:04 pm with sun having an altitude of 25.5° from the due south horizon (-45.3° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 12.6 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 3:58 pm with the sun in the southwest (233°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-southwest (241°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 4:42 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 20 seconds with dusk around 5:13 pm, which is one minute and 5 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 5:49 pm. At sunset, look for mostly sunny skies 🌃 and temperatures around 31 degrees. There will be a north breeze at 5 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 17 minutes of daytime, an increase of one minute and 22 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be partly cloudy 🌃 , with a low of 19 degrees at 5am. Five degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical night around February 21st. Maximum wind chill around 22 at 12am; Northwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening. In 2020, we had light rain in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 46 degrees. The record low of -25 occurred back in 1968.

🌹🌻🌼Only 69 days remain until the first day of calendar spring!🌹🌻🌼 Day by day, spring is coming.

As previously noted, next Sunday is Coldest Week of the Year 🌬 when the sun will be setting at 4:49 pm with dusk at 5:20 pm. On that day in 2020, we had mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 24 and 10 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 30 degrees. We hit a record high of 62 back in 1889.

Hedge Row