RT America Torched in Witch Hunt ’17

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RT America Torched in Witch Hunt ’17

"In one of the most horrendous blows to press freedom since the anti-communist witch hunts of the 1950s, the U.S. Department of Justice has forced the news broadcaster RT America to file under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA)."

"The assault on RT America, on which I host the show “On Contact,” has nothing to do with the dissemination of Russian propaganda. It is driven by RT America’s decision to provide a platform to critics of American capitalism and imperialism, critics who lambast a system of government that can no longer be called democratic. And it is accompanied by the installation of algorithms by Google, Facebook and Twitter that divert readers away from left-wing, progressive and anti-war websites, including Truthdig. The World Socialist Web Site has seen its search traffic from Google fall by 74 percent since April. Google, in a further blow, this month removed RT from its list of “preferred” channels on YouTube. Twitter has blocked all advertising by the channel."

"Put the censorship campaigns together and the message is clear: Left-wing critics, already marginalized by the state, must be silenced."

November 13, 2017 5 PM Update

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Good evening! We have made it through the Monday work day. One day down. Mostly cloudy and 36 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a north breeze at 7 mph. Listening to Punky’s Dilemma, I’m a Citizens for Boysenberry Jam fan. I’ve never had Boysenberry Jam before. I wonder what it tastes like. 

Definitely pretty dark this evening for the commute. Traffic is moving slowly but that’s pretty much the norm during rush hour. It will be less during the holiday season between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Probably cook up something for dinner, maybe pasta, then head down to the library for a while. 

Tonight will be mostly cloudy, with a low of 29 degrees at 6am. Three degrees below normal. North wind around 6 mph. In 2016, we had clear skies. It got down to 25 degrees. The record low of 12 occurred back in 1996.

Tonight will have a Waning Crescent Moon with 17% illuminated. The moon will rise at 2:38 am. The New Moon is on Friday night with a chance of rain/snow. The Cold Moon is on Sunday, December 3rd. The sun will rise at 6:45 am with the first light at 6:15 am, which is one minute and 15 seconds later than yesterday. Tonight will have 14 hours and 12 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 12 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will be mostly cloudy, with a high of 40 degrees at 1pm. Eight degrees below normal. North wind around 6 mph. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies, clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 58 degrees. The record high of 70 was set in 1973. 14.4 inches of snow fell back in 1972. I bet that was pretty awesome. I’m not ready for road salt season yet, already saw a pickup truck covered with it when I was out waiting for the bus. 

Not a particularly nice weekend on tap. Saturday, rain and snow showers likely, becoming all rain after 1pm. Cloudy, with a high near 46. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Sunday, a chance of rain and snow showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 42. Chance of precipitation is 30%. Typical average high for the weekend is 47 degrees.

Maybe a will take off Friday. It certainly looks like I could from the coverage calendar, and the weather looks nice. The weekend forecast right now kinda sucks. Maybe it will improve. I probably made a mistake in staying home this past weekend. 

On Saturday I dropped off my blazers for dry cleaning, as it will be legislative session time before you know it and I’ve heard that there may be a special session or at least conference before the end of the year. My attitude is just get through all of that crap and bring summer back once again. 

In four weeks on December 11 the sun will be setting at 4:22 pm, which is 11 minutes and 49 seconds earlier then tonight. Not that much of a difference and by that point each night the sun will be starting to set a little later each night. In 2016 on that day, we had snow, mist, cloudy skies and temperatures between 31 and 13 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 37 and 23 degrees. The record high of 61 degrees was set back in 1952.

Looking ahead, Christmas is in 6 weeks, January 1, 2018 is in 7 weeks and 35th Birthday is in 11 weeks.

Global CO2 Emissions to Hit Record High in 2017

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InsideClimate News: Global CO2 Emissions to Hit Record High in 2017

"The world is on its way to record-high carbon emissions in 2017, after three straight years in which human-caused emissions appeared to be leveling off, new research shows."

"The projected 2 percent increase in emissions this year adds urgency to the UN climate talks this week in Bonn, where 197 countries are negotiating how to implement the 2015 Paris climate agreement to slow global warming."

"There's not much time left to cut emissions and keep warming below 2 degrees Celsius, let alone 1.5 degrees," said Corinne Le Quéré, director of the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research at the University of East Anglia, who led the emissions research presented Monday in Bonn. The aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep global temperature rise to well below 2 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial times. For that to happen, studies have shown that emissions must peak within the next decade and then decline to net zero."

November 13, 2017 9 AM Update

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A dark and cloudy morning, with the mercury around the freezing point at least of water. It was remarkable how thick the ice was on the quiet sections of the Vlomans Kill. It’s been a cold November after a pretty warm October. It’s supposed to warm up by the end of the week so don’t be counting on an early hard water season. Maybe some clearing late, probably after dark, maybe we will reach forty in the city by midday. 

The sun will set at 4:34 pm with dusk around 5:04 pm, which is 57 seconds earlier than yesterday. At sunset, look for mostly cloudy conditions and 38 degrees. There will be a north breeze at 7 mph. Today will have 9 hours and 48 minutes of daytime, a decrease of 2 minutes and 12 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will be mostly cloudy, with a low of 27 degrees at 5am. Five degrees below normal. North wind around 7 mph. In 2016, we had clear skies. It got down to 25 degrees. The record low of 12 occurred back in 1996.

In an effort to get enough sleep and not feel drowsy in the morning, I took a sleeping pill but evidently not as early as I should, so I was pretty drowsy by the time I woke up. The gray skies didn’t help. I guess I’m better rested then I would have otherwise been. I should use the red light more. Hopefully I will get the concept version of led driver I’m building working by the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. 

I may hold off on getting an SSD drive for my laptop a bit longer. I was thinking of getting one during the Black Friday sales on the internet to speed my laptop and make more room with all the videos I’ve been cutting for the blog. But it’s another expense for something I don’t really need. Maybe if I can find a 512 GB one for closer to $100 then $200. After all, I was good this year and I didn’t but myself anymore firearms. That said, I need a smaller soldering iron, electronics solder, solder wick, cases and perf board for permanently wiring up my Arduino projects. And more electronic components. That stuff ain’t expensive but it ain’t free either. 

I am still thinking about taking off Thursday and maybe Friday off for a road trip. It all depends on the forecast and if I can get those days off. A lot of people are taking time off around the holidays. 

Looking ahead, there are 6 weeks until Christmas when the sun will be setting at 4:27 pm with dusk at 4:59 pm. On that day in 2016, we had drizzle, mostly sunny skies and temperatures between 43 and 21 degrees. It was fun camping on Irish Hill that day. Typically, the high temperature is 33 degrees. We hit a record high of 66 back in 1889, although I think 2015 also was pretty warm.

November 13, 2017 Morning

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Good morning! Monday’s come back around again. Next weekend is Thanksgiving week. Six weeks to Christmas. Cloudy and 30 degrees in Delmar, NY. There is a north breeze at 5 mph. The skies will clear around 9 pm.

Today will have a slight chance of rain and snow before 11am, then a slight chance of rain between 11am and noon. Cloudy, with a high of 39 degrees at 1pm. 10 degrees below normal. North wind 5 to 7 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies, clearing in the afternoon. The high last year was 58 degrees. The record high of 69 was set in 1964. 6 inches of snow fell back in 1886.

Kind of a cold and gray day but no rain or snow has fallen yet and it may not happen because the air is too dry. Have a great day and have fun watching those conservatives blasting and burning their Kuerig machines on the YouTube. 

House Fire in Cumberland

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Looks like it was a controlled burn of an old house right on Main Street. You could see the smoke for miles but it's clear from the video that the fire department wasn't trying to put it out just to keep other structures nearby from getting too hot.