NRA-ILA | News Flash: Legally Buying a Gun Isn’t So Easy After All
U.S. in Danger of Chinese-Style Social Credit System
Communist China's massive internet surveillance system is coming to the United States, and conservatives should be worried.
Since 2014, the Communist Chinese government has been perfecting its internet monitoring system, which spies on its citizens' online activity. Using the data, the Chinese can "blacklist" various citizens whose online comments they deem undesirable and lower their credit rating, restricting them from traveling, being barred from better schools, jobs and even from getting a loan.
Beijing is now applying its system to foreign businesses in China in the ongoing trade war with the United States.
Paranoid rhetoric from a far right-wing website? Yeah, probably. But we shouldn't discount that possibility of an arbitrary social score system coming to America, possibly put forward by social media companies or maybe something like a credit rating bureau. Their might be push back from the civil libertarians, but it's hard to stop something like that if it's not put forward by the government and big businesses want it. I could also see it being tied in with the Red Flag Laws or the right to vote -- people who are viewed as too dangerous might have their voter files flagged and their voting records deleted by the government. Sometimes it's impossible to stop the procession of dangerous technology.
Do No Harm? — Furbearer Conservation
Hiking, cross-country skiing, forest photography, wildlife watching - all activities that take place in the open realm of nature. These activities are engaging, promote health and well being, and can be, for many, down right medicinal. While I fully support and even encourage more people to partake in these kinds of activities, their recent spike in popularity has created a rickety, wobbly soapbox for some individuals to stand on with regard to who should have "control" of the woods. As usual, I'm here - with a handful of nails which used to hold said soapbox together.
A few weeks ago I discussed society's growing need to hoard and stockpile wildlife in an attempt to turn our wild places into a suburban petting zoo. The denouncing of regulated hunting and trapping activities by some is just the latest tactic attempting to further remove man from nature. One of the ideological principals anti-hunting groups have used to sell a narrative, that hunting is somehow no longer valid or needed, is the fact that hunting activities have generally seen a gradual participation decline in recent years. Anti-hunting groups point to a rise in "wildlife watching" and a decline in hunting activities as the smoking gun for why the latter should be dissolved and outright banned from the woods.
Thunderstorm
The KKK-Fueled Peekskill Riots, 70 Years Later – The Forward
Yet Peekskill’s accomplished natives are only part of its history, one of the most notable parts of which was a stain on post-war America. There are probably not many people alive today who remember it; perhaps long-time, aging residents or scholars of American social or musical history. It is a story of terror, a cautionary tale for an America in which vituperation barely tries to pass for civilized discourse.
It happened exactly 70 years ago, beginning on August 27, 1949. The prominent black singer and actor Paul Robeson, along with other artists such as Woody Guthrie, Lee Hays and Pete Seeger, was scheduled to give an open-air concert in Peekskill. This was not the first time that Robeson was to appear in the Peekskill area. Indeed, it was to be the fourth Robeson concert in as many summers. The nearby Mohegan Colony, a cooperative community that served as an experiment in egalitarian living and child rearing, had hosted the concert in 1946. In 1947, the site was Peekskill Stadium, and in 1948 it was in nearby Crompond.
Island on Bourne Pond
September 4, 2019 Morning
Good morning! Happy Back to School Day 🎒! It’s a Hump Day although so far traffic hasn’t been too bad. Taking the express in today. 🚌 Wednesday is September 11th 🇸. Hard to believe 18 years has passed since then. A child born after September 11th can vote this year. ☑ I was 18 when the attacks happened, I’m twice that now.
Mostly cloudy and 66 degrees at the Elm Ave Park & Ride – CDTA. ⛅ There is a south breeze at 13 mph. 🍃 wit. There is a touch of humidity with the dew point around 60 degrees. The skies will clear around 4 pm. Not a terrible walk but brisk because I was a little bit late.🚶
Today will have showers and thunderstorms likely, mainly between 1pm and 4pm. Some of the storms could produce small hail and gusty winds. Mostly cloudy ☁ , with a high of 79 degrees at 1pm. Two degrees above normal, which is similar to a typical day around August 27th. Maximum dew point of 65 at 3pm. Southwest wind 13 to 16 mph, with gusts as high as 28 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. A year ago, we had partly cloudy skies in the morning with some clearing in the afternoon. It was somewhat humid. The high last year was 89 degrees. The record high of 97 was set in 1929.
The sun will set at 7:24 pm with dusk around 7:53 pm, which is one minute and 43 seconds earlier than yesterday. 🌇 At sunset, look for rain 🌧 and temperatures around 72 degrees. The dew point will be 59 degrees. There will be a west-northwest breeze at 13 mph. Today will have 13 hours of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 47 seconds over yesterday.
Tonight will be scattered showers and thunderstorms before 7pm, then isolated showers between 7pm and 8pm. Patchy fog after 5am. Otherwise, partly cloudy , with a low of 54 degrees at 5am. Two degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around September 9th. Maximum dew point of 59 at 6pm. Northwest wind 8 to 13 mph becoming light after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 30%. New precipitation amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms. In 2018, we had mostly clear skies in the evening, which became mostly clear by the early hours of the morning. It became very sticky as the night progressed. It got down to 65 degrees. The record low of 37 occurred back in 1974.
Yesterday was a busy day as expected 💼 but what got needed to be done got done. I ended up going to the library for a while last night to work on a work project that I had fallen behind schedule somewhat.📚 I was going to work on the blog and some other stuff down there, but the work stuff consumed all my time, and then it was time to go home. Then I ended up going home, and just watching a video I downloaded on my laptop.📼 I also put away my camping gear. I misplaced my Bluetooth adapter — I think it’s in my truck but it was getting dark and I couldn’t find it last night.
Still looks like this weekend will be sunny but cool. 😎 Saturday, mostly sunny, with a high near 73. Maximum dew point of 55 at 7pm. Sunday, mostly sunny, with a high near 71. Maximum dew point of 55 at 6am. Typical average high for the weekend is 76 degrees.
This weekend I am thinking I’ll get a hair cut, 💈and maybe then on Sunday go hiking 🚶 before I go out to my parents house, maybe down in the Catskills. Or maybe I’ll head up to Partridge Run and do some hunting, hiking, and fishing. Not totally sure. 💭 I don’t want to plan a big adventure to save money, and also because I have a lot of things I need to do around the house, including getting the Save the Pine Bush Map Pyramid Properties Map printed at a print shop before next week. Next Tuesday I’ll be down in New York City, so that will take up most of my day in the evening. The hearing is Wednesday.
Two weeks from Saturday is the Pine Bush Bird Watching Hike 🐦🕊 so I will probably stay in town that weekend, and then there is only one more weekend in September — and the first week of October I’m leaving for West Virginia. 🚘 So who knows how many more times I’ll get out this month. I do think I want to do a fall trip up to Piseco-Powley Road, although sometimes those campsites get snapped up quickly during hunting season. 🐿️ That said, my West Virginia trip is early enough in October this year so I might be able to do a late October trip.🍂
I’ve been continuing to research the various Python and Javascript libraries available for interacting with Renology Rover MPPT controller. 🔳 I am increasingly thinking that’s what I will get around Christmas this year, when sales are available, and I want to hook up the Raspberry Pi to use it to broadcast battery status information to my phone using Bluetooth, and then also read data from the starting battery, and dumping excess current into the starting battery to keep it topped up. Using a Raspberry Pi and the MPPT controller could minimize the amount of wires and components I need to build my smart relay, reducing the chance of failure.💻
Today in 1970, Salvador Allende is elected President of Chile. 🇨🇱 Only three years later on September 11th, he would be assassinated with the help of the United States by one of the most notorious tyrants Augusto Pinochet. ✊ The Price is Right went on CBS for the first time in 1972, and over the past five decades hasn’t changed much.🤑 I used to like watching it on my grandfather’s TV some 30 years ago.📺
Also, in 1949 The Peekskill riots were anti-communist race riots directed against African Americans and Jews attending a civil rights benefit concert. 🎷 The catalyst for the rioting was an announced concert by black singer Paul Robeson, who was well known for his strong pro-trade union stance, civil rights activism, communist affiliations, and anti-colonialism.⚖ The concert, organized as a benefit for the Civil Rights Congress, was scheduled to take place on August 27 in Lakeland Acres.
As previously noted, there are 2 weeks until 7 PM Sunset 🌆 when the sun will be setting at 6:59 pm with dusk at 7:27 pm. On that day in 2018, we had rain and temperatures between 84 and 68 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 71 degrees. We hit a record high of 91 back in 1891.
