Government

Median Property Tax By County

|

A major cost of living in New York State is taxes. We have very high property taxes, but then again does much of New England. The median property tax bill in Albany County, NY is $4,200, while the median property tax bill in the mountain country of Webster County, WV is $268. In much of the south, especially away from the oceans and metropolitan areas, property taxes are much lower then in our area. You can understand why many people, especially seniors to choose to move to lower tax states.

Data Source: MORTGAGE STATUS BY AGGREGATE REAL ESTATE TAXES PAID (DOLLARS). Universe: Owner-occupied housing units, 2011-2015 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ACS_15_5YR_B25090&prodType=table

The Very Drugged Nazis

|

The Very Drugged Nazis

The drug-fueled escapism of the Weimar years helped turn Berlin into what Alfred Dublin called the “Whore of Babylon,” while the collapse of the currency in 1923 contributed to the collapse of liberal and conservative institutions and values. For both Communists and Nazis, the impression of total dissolution offered an obvious target. The Nazis seized the opportunity to imply that Jews were behind every aspect of the Weimar Republic, which they called the “Jewish Republic.” Jews were equated with toxins, bacilli, and pathogens.

The Shadows of the Constitution

|

NPR’s Throughline: The Shadows of the Constitution

11/26/20 by NPR

Episode: https://play.podtrac.com/npr-510310/edge1.pod.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/npr/nprpolitics/2020/11/20201125_nprpolitics_112620politicspodcast-76888a1b-b20b-4801-96b1-c2a301950334.mp3?awCollectionId=510310&awEpisodeId=938990227&orgId=1&d=2680&p=510310&story=938990227&t=podcast&e=938990227&size=42788576&ft=pod&f=510310

In this special episode NPR’s Throughline explore the constitution with Heidi Schreck and her play, What the Constitution Means to Me. They discover what the document is really about – who wrote it, who it was for, who it protected and who it didn’t.

Thanksgiving Proclamation, 3 October 1789 | Thanksgiving Episode 2020

|

Thanksgiving Proclamation, 3 October 1789 | Thanksgiving Episode 2020

11/26/20 by Matt Brechwald

Episode: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/offincome/Thanksgiving_Proclamation_3_October_1789___Thanksgiving_Episode_2020.mp3

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you this year. 2020 has been unbelievable between the pandemic, the politics and the polarization of our society. I thought that it might do us all a little good to hear the original proclamation of thanksgiving by President George Washington to remind us where our priorities should be. I hope this strikes you the same way that it did me, and that you have peace at your table for this great, American, holiday.

While I am posting this about a week after Thanksgiving, I really like Matt Brechwald’s podcast and his observations as a farmer and small town police officer and landlord piecing together a life on his rural land.

The CIA’s Secret Mind Control Experiments

|

The CIA’s Secret Mind Control Experiments

11/20/20 by NPR

Web player: https://podcastaddict.com/episode/115506371
Episode: https://play.podtrac.com/npr-381444908/edge1.pod.npr.org/anon.npr-podcasts/podcast/npr/fa/2020/11/20201120_fa_fapodfri1120-618ba06b-e1ef-44f6-93eb-02aaf1e296de.mp3?awCollectionId=381444908&awEpisodeId=937010023&orgId=1&d=2920&p=381444908&story=937010023&t=podcast&e=937010023&size=46614721&ft=pod&f=381444908

Stephen Kinzer’s book, ‘Poisoner in Chief,’ exposes how CIA scientist Sidney Gottlieb worked in the 1950s and early ’60s to develop mind control drugs and deadly toxins that could be used against enemies of the U.S. government. Gottlieb believed the key to mind control was LSD, and is credited with bringing the drug to the U.S. He also experimented on unwitting people in prisons and detention centers in Japan, Germany, and the Philippines. (Originally broadcast Sept. 2019)

Coronavirus Updates : NPR

|

Supreme Court Blocks New York’s Coronavirus Limits On Houses of Worship : Coronavirus Updates : NPR

The U.S. Supreme Court has temporarily barred New York from enforcing strict attendance limits on places of worship in areas designated coronavirus hot spots, in a decision released late Wednesday.

The court ruled that Gov. Andrew Cuomo's executive order violated the First Amendment's "free exercise" clause, and actively discriminated against religious institutions.

"The restrictions at issue here, by effectively barring many from attending religious services, strike at the very heart of the First Amendment's guarantee of religious liberty," the unsigned majority decision read.

Democrats Hold Senate Majority, All of State Government; Here’s What’s on Their Agenda

|

Democrats Hold Senate Majority, All of State Government; Here’s What’s on Their Agenda

This means the party will have the opportunity, however dominated by the coronavirus public health and socioeconomic crises the state faces, to build on its long list of liberal legislative action from the 2019-2020 session, the first with full Democratic control of state government in a decade.

Though they appear set to continue intra-party bickering and more substantive debate between moderates and those further to the left, the continued dominance of state government may embolden Democrats to pursue additional legislative priorities. And a new crop of progressive legislators, some members of the Demcoratic Socialists of America, will join both the Assembly and Senate, with plans to pull those majorities further left.