August 11, 2018 10 PM Update

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Good evening! Cool and damp with some occasional drizzle and 69 degrees in Delmar. ☔ I’m sitting out back because it’s I’m bored with laying in bed or working on my computer inside. Calm wind. The dew point is 66 degrees. The skies will clear Wednesday around 10 am.

Today has been a pretty quiet day. In the morning I worked on an electronics project for a while then went down to the library for a bit to get on the internet then took a nap,💤 listened to some podcasts and then went for my evening walk. 🎧 Sitting out back now as some light rain came down. Finished off the last of the orange juice I had. 🍊 While I wish I was camping, this would not have been a good weekend as midday it just poured for a while.

Today I noticed my starting battery was a bit low so I switched it to hook to the solar panel but there really wasn’t any sun to charge it up. ⚡I think I’m fine. I checked and added a bit of oil to the truck and added windshield washer fluid. I do want to get my ladder and climb up on my truck to clean off the solar panel which has gotten mud on it from the kayak.

Tonight will have a chance of showers. Cloudy ☁, with a low of 65 degrees at 3am. Four degrees above normal. Maximum dew point of 66 at 10pm. Light northeast wind. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch possible. In 2017, we had mostly cloudy skies. It was somewhat humid. It got down to 63 degrees. The record low of 46 occurred back in 1987.

Tonight will have a Waxing Crescent Moon 🌒 with 1% illuminated. The moon will rise at 7:16 am. The First Quarter Moon is on Friday night with partly cloudy skies. The Strugeon Moon 🌝 is in 2 weeks. The sun will rise at 5:58 am with the first light at 5:28 am, which is one minute and 4 seconds later than yesterday. 🌄 Tonight will have 9 hours and 57 minutes of darkness, an increase of 2 minutes and 28 seconds over last night.

Tomorrow will have a chance of showers, with thunderstorms also possible after noon. Some of the storms could produce heavy rain. Mostly cloudy ☔ , with a high of 79 degrees at 3pm. Two degrees below normal. Maximum dew point of 69 at 4pm. North wind around 5 mph becoming east in the afternoon. Chance of precipitation is 50%. New rainfall amounts between a tenth and quarter of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had cloudy skies. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 81 degrees. The record high of 99 was set in 1944.

Tomorrow does not look like a really nice day but I’ll do some cleaning up around the house and then go shopping and then out to my parents house for Sunday dinner.🍝 Probably head out fairly early so I’m not driving home in the rain after dark.

In four weeks on September 8 the sun will be setting at 7:16 pm,🌄 which is 45 minutes and 18 seconds earlier then tonight. In 2017 on that day, we had rain, mostly cloudy skies and temperatures between 68 and 49 degrees. Typically, you have temperatures between 75 and 55 degrees. The record high of 94 degrees was set back in 2015.

Looking ahead, Sunset Before 7:30 PM 🌆 is in 3 weeks, Autumn 🍂 is in 6 weeks, Average High is 60 🍂 is in 9 weeks, Northern Zone Regular Season 🦌 is in 10 weeks, Veterans Day (Sunday) 🇺🇸 is in 3 months and Regular Deer Season in Southern Zone 🦌 is in 14 weeks.

Why Don’t We Have a Crown in America?

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One of the things I don’t like about America is how it’s democracy is vaulted and talked about in lofty terms, but in reality exists far less then what people suggest with the language they use. In America, we talk about our government doing “the people’s business”, government workers being “public service” and our police and firefighters “serving a noble cause” and our military, “serving a cause greater then themselves”. Criminal cases brought by the government are said to be brought by “the people”, that police are “law enforcement” rather then “state enforcers”.

Most parliamentary systems such as those in Canada and Great Britain use a very different, and I would argue more accurate words to describe the state. Laws in parliamentary countries are “enforced by the crown”, properties owned by the government are “owned by the crown”, all power goes through the “crown”. Parks and national forests in parliamentary countries are called “crown lands”. The crown is the king or queen that rules the country, their power limited by the people which at one point in their country’s history got together, revolted, and limited the power of the crown.

Words matter a lot. They help determine how the people view the state and those who are employed by the state. Government power should be viewed skeptically, people should believe that most who are involved in the governing process are primarily there for a paycheck, to help their family, their friends, and maybe the people who are closest to them in their community. Government workers – be it the police, the firefighters, the military, the legislature, or even the health inspectors – are primary there to get paid their salary, succeed in their chosen careers and collect a retirement check in their later years for leisure.

To be sure, every country needs a crown, they need laws and the enforcement of such laws. Democracy plays an important role in creation of the laws, but just because a country has a democratic process and a set of courts with extensive procedure and precedence, does not mean those laws are fair or just. It doesn’t mean your voice or even your community’s voice is heard in the legislative process. There are many ways elections are manipulated in America – from the laws that govern them to favor one party over another – to gerrymandering – to institutional hurdles that make even popular changes by the masses impossible.

A more skeptical view of the state in America, and those who are employed by the state would be better for our country. People should not assume that any particular law is the will of the people, or that laws are a result of a well-reasoned debate, representing popular or even a long-standing opinion of an intellectual elite. Instead, most law making and elections are a messy process, and most enforcement action on behalf of state enforcement agents, is not based on law, but are justified by law.

Committed activists do often succeed in making changes. Democracy can be made fairer, laws can be adjusted to be more representative of the people. Many government workers do a good job. These are all true points. But the worshiping of our democracy through our choice of language to describe the actions of government is really serving no one’s interest.