Saturday, January 20, 2007

The Curse™ is foiled!

Did I say 'inexact' science?

By damn, I did. And so was The Curse foiled, and the weather weenies shown to be such. Details follow:

Last night it was said that it would start with a bit of rain, then change to snow with probably an inch or two here by morning. Then there would be periods of moderate to light snow throughout the day and into the night, possibly as much as eight inches throughout central OK. Thus was the Snowpocalypse of the Curse predicted to strike.

I go to bed expecting to have another nasty drive to work. I wake up to a little light rain: a few bits of ice on the porch rail and nothing more. I get to work and check the latest 'forecast': they're looking a little tight around the eyes as they push the time of the snow arriving back a few more hours yet and revise the expected totals down.

By the time I get off work it's still about 32F, it's still raining lightly with a bit of sleet mixed in. About an hour or so later it flurried snow- lightly- for a bit, and now it's stopped completely. And it ain't starting again.

And thus was the Curse foiled, and the weather weenies made to look like idiots. Again.

I this case, I'm glad they were wrong(again) as I was not looking forward to getting home tonight and to work tomorrow through multiple inches of white stuff again, but it's a bit upsetting to have everyone from the National Weather Service to the local tv meteorologists blow it this big twice in less than two weeks: the first time on where and how much of the frozen stuff(we got very little freezing rain instead of 1-2", east of here got 1-2" instead of the 1/2" or so forecast) would fall; the second time on the snow. I haven't dug for details but I don't think anywhere in the state got all the snow predicted.

Which brings me to my next item: idiot meteorologists who can't predict the next days' snowfall, but think they can predict what the whole bloody climate will be in fifty to one-hundred years time. Tim Blair has this roundup of one of the latest pieces of bullshit from one of these. I'm sure you've heard about it, the Weather Channel idiot who wants the AMS to yank the Seal of Approval from any meteorologist who doesn't toe the pc-acceptable concensus-'science' view on globular warmering. She got called on this 'burn the heretics' bullshit and proceeded to claim
"The point of my post was never to stifle discussion. It was to raise it to a level that doesn’t confuse science and politics. Which is flatass false: you don't threaten to ruin someone's career and take away their livelihood in order to 'raise the level of discussion', and her desire dropped a big political anvil on the foot of anyone who disagrees with her. Or that was what she planned, but in true Wile E. Coyote(Super Genius) fashion it landed on her own head.

Now if it had just been a real anvil...

Additional: let us not forget this crap noted at It Comes in Pints?:
Scott Pelley, CBS News 60 Minutes correspondent, compared skeptics of global warming to "Holocaust deniers" and former Vice President turned foreign lobbyist Al Gore has repeatedly referred to skeptics as "global warming deniers."
and
In addition, Cullen's December 17, 2006 episode of "The Climate Code" TV show, featured a columnist who openly called for Nuremberg-style Trials for climate skeptics. Cullen featured Grist Magazine's Dave Roberts as an eco-expert opining on energy issues, with no mention of his public call to institute what amounts to the death penalty for scientists who express skepticism about global warming.

Go check it out, links and all. With Senator Reid wanting to basically put yellow stars on bloggers who dare to criticize politicians and these clowns wanting to put me on trial, maybe I should invest in more ammo...

Friday, January 19, 2007

Motion to hold Nagin and Riley in contempt

Not like we've been doing, but in the legal sense:
BELLEVUE, WA – Frustrated by repeated failures to meet court-appointed deadlines, and a pattern of disregard by the City of New Orleans, the Second Amendment Foundation has filed a motion to hold Mayor Ray Nagin and Police Superintendent Warren Riley in contempt of federal court.

Now if this would just include a long term in jail AND a big fine, that'd be a start.

More readiness followup

I've thought about a generator, but haven't gotten one for the simple reason I might need it for a day or two every three years. Maybe. So I haven't made that investment. If I do, I'll pour a slab and build a small shed for it in back, and have it wired into a switch. Which'll mean an electrician because that's a type of wiring I'm not comfortable with trying.

Gerry suggested one of the made-for-indoors kerosene heaters, which wouldn't be a bad idea. I think the gas heater would be ok, but for a situation where gas service goes out this'd take care of it.

For light and heat, he also mentioned something I hadn't thought of in years: the Aladdin lamp. My folks have one like this one that came from Dad's parents. They put out a lot of light, and a fair amount of heat, and will burn for hours on one fill. They work kind of like a propane lantern, in that the burning fuel heats the mantle and it glows. Hell, I'd like to have one of these of my own just to use sometimes.

As people pointed out, when storing water do not use milk jugs, it's almost impossible to clean them thoroughly enough.

However:
At least one 100+ lb dog. Dogs have a normal body temp of over 104F, sleep quietly, and don't need chocolates. They get more excited to see you the later you get home, and like you just as much whether you're drunk or sober.
I have two dogs, neither near this size and they prefer it outdoors. Though they don't care if I'm drunk. And Security Staff(junior) seems to have a taste for scotch.

He didn't have good luck with a crank radio, does anyone know of one with a record of actually working the way it should?

I do have a 5-gallon can of gas treated with Sta-Bil set aside(I used to have two, but one sprung a leak, need to either replace or find something that actually works to seal it and doesn't cost as much as a new can).

Something that struck me as I was looking through a knife & accessories catalog, just for general use: something to sharpen knives. I think it might be a good indication if someone has made any preparations for problems- or has any skills for such- if they have(or have not) sharp knives and the skills/tools to keep them that way. How many people have you known who had 'the sharp knife' in the kitchen? You know, the only one that'll cut anything harder than peanut butter? Until it gets dull, and they either buy a new one or pay someone to sharpen it. If you told them they could touch up the edge on the bottom ring of a plate they'd think you'd gone over the edge, and if you handed them a steel or stone...

More thoughts to come. After the Curse* gets through with us.


*The Curse Of du Toit

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Emergency readiness

Weather-related in specific, and the review I mentioned. I wasn't going to do this until the weather problem had passed but with the Curse Of du Toit about to whack us again, I thought I'd go ahead and do it now.

Number one, I need to pay more attention to forecasts this time of year. If I had, a couple of things would have been taken care of with no problem. As it was, I found out about the "We're going to die in the dark!" change of forecast for the ice storm after, oh, just about everybody else. Which was a wakeup I didn't expect: having spent a lot of time growing up in farm/ranch country, I used to watch this very carefully; I've really slipped on this.

Number two, heat and light sources. I've got two bottles for my grill, and neither one is full. Between them, I'd guess about one-and-a-quarter; I should have had the one I'm not using full, and could have filled the other as soon as I heard about the ice predictions.
I've got a twin-mantle propane camping lantern. If you're not familiar with these, they put out a lot of light and heat: if the power had gone off for a long period I could have set this up in the utility room(in all but severe cold the one place I'd really worry about the pipes) and kept it on low. That would've kept the pipes safe and some heat going to the rest of the house. I only had two mostly-full bottles that fit it(and my torch head), which wouldn't have lasted long enough. Again, on general principles I should have had a couple more bottles minimum, and if I'd paid attention to the forecast could have bought more before they evaporated from the shelves. I do have a set of spare mantles for it.

I've got two oil lamps in the living room that put out light & heat both, a gallon of lamp oil and a gallon of kerosene in the shed. I've also got a bunch of candles and holders, including a pierced-tin lantern that works quite well, but when I looked for the bag of tealight candles I couldn't find them. I need to keep this stuff in one place so I don't lose track of it.

Number three, vehicle. Anti-freeze and so forth was ok, but I should have put the bucket of coal dust and the shovel in the back as soon as I got the word: coal dust under the tires does a very good job of giving you traction in ice and snow.
I did have the 'get home' pack in it, and did throw in the wool blanket I keep for travelling in cold weather. I'm thinking I need to put some kind of extra 'layer' clothing in, like a set of polypropylene long underwear or sweater or sweats in a bag: extra layers are always nice in really cold weather. And one other thing: a hat that'll fit over my knit cap AND have a brim to keep rain/snow/whatever off my glasses for cold weather; for warm weather just a hat to keep the sun out of my eyes or rain off the glasses.

Food at the house, I was fine: canned goods, a case of MREs and a half-dozen extras. A camping stove that runs off propane, even a little single-burner type, would be good to have, so as to avoid having to use the grill for all cooking. Which would be very nice, as standing in the teens temperatures with, as Dr. Fever put it, a gentle wind wafting out of the north at about a thousand miles an hour while trying to cook would not be fun.

Number four, house heat. I have a gas dryer hookup in the utility room, so I'm thinking get a free-standing gas heater that, in event of real need, I could hook up. It wouldn't keep the house toasty-warm, but it'd beat the hell out of nothing.

There's a number of other things, both taken care of and not. I've got a couple of battery-powered radios and enough batteries for a few days of use, I've got flashlights(and batteries), and I've got the crank-charge flashlight my folks gave me a while back: it's not real bright, but plenty to see by in a dark area. I want to get one of the good crank radios the gentleman at Random Nuclear Strikes wrote about a while back(it's late and I'm tired, I'll find the spot for a link later). I've actually wanted one of these for a long time, but it keeps being pushed back.

Home-defense arms & ammo, let's just say I'm good there. And unless I cannot legally carry somewhere I'm going, I've always got a sidearm either on me or in the vehicle for a 'get home in bad circumstances' situation.

Still thinking about this, but that's the list for now. Suggestions, ideas and constructive criticism welcomed.

Driving on ice for idiots

You know the people I'm speaking of: the ones who think they're the greatest thing to guide wheels since Andretti and can safely do so over anything. They're usually either the first to wind up in ditches or front yards or crashing into somebody else; or the ones who cause the worst accidents.

Once upon a time I was a dispatcher for a LE agency. Two nights running one winter we had conditions that we hated worse than an ice storm(traffic-wise, that is): just a touch of mist, and the temperature was just right to cause every elevated surface in the central OK area to freeze over. And this was such a thin layer you couldn't see it, you just discovered it when you realized you had no steering control in the middle of a bridge or overpass. And then, as they say, hilarity ensued. Including the one OCPD unit that was hit three times in one evening, each time while working a different accident, and so forth.
In the middle of all this, I answered the phone and- close as I can recall- this conversation ensued:
"-, can I help you?"

"Yeah, how are the roads?"

"Icy and hazardous all through central Oklahoma, we're discouraging all travel."

"But how are they really?"

Pause.

"Sir, they're icy and hazardous."

"Look, I know you have to say that for people who can't drive, but I've driven in Colorado and New Mexico in the mountains, and I know how. So how are they really?"

Considering I'm sitting there listening to various agencies on the radio calling for wreckers and ambulances and help to clear or block off a multi-car crash in between phone calls, I really didn't need to go through this- again- so I put a touch more 'formal and "I ain't gonna argue this crap with you" in my voice. "Sir, they really are icy and hazardous, and we're telling everyone to stay home."

"Come on now, I really do know how to drive on ice if there's really much out there, so how are they?"

At this point I have gone beyond a touch annoyed, so "Sir, every bridge and overpass around here has a coat of ice on it you can't see and we've got accidents all over the place."

"I've got studded tires and I'm used to driving on ice and snow, I'm not like these people around here who can't."

At which point I didn't really care about being polite any more. "Sir, we've got units that've been hit two or three times working accidents and it's not getting any better. And I don't care how good a driver you are, you hit a dime's worth of ice at the wrong time and you're dead."

Pause, followed by the click of him hanging up.

I came to hate that job.

To quote Raj Whitehall,

"How truly joyous."
...HEAVY SNOW AND SLEET LIKELY THIS WEEKEND...

.A WINTER STORM TAKING SHAPE ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST UNITED STATES
WILL MOVE EAST AND NORTHEAST TONIGHT AND TOMORROW... AND BEGIN
AFFECTING THE REGION FRIDAY. THIS STORM IS LIKELY TO BRING A
SWATH OF HEAVY SNOW TO PARTS OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL OKLAHOMA ON
SATURDAY WITH PROGRESSIVELY LIGHTER AMOUNTS TOWARD SOUTHERN
OKLAHOMA AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS... WHERE SLEET AND RAIN ARE ALSO
LIKELY TO OCCUR. THE STORM IS EXPECTED TO EXIT THE REGION LATE
SATURDAY NIGHT OR SUNDAY MORNING.

BECAUSE THIS STORM IS STILL EVOLVING...SOME UNCERTAINTY STILL
EXISTS REGARDING THE STORM`S PATH...AND WHERE THE HEAVIEST SNOW
WILL FALL. ADJUSTMENTS TO THE FORECAST SHOULD BE EXPECTED AS NEW
INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE. DO NOT WAIT. TAKE STEPS NOW TO
PREPARE FOR THE WINTER STORM.

Allow me to translate part of the above to true language: THIS BIG DAMN MESS IS GOING THROUGH SOMEWHERE, BUT US HIGHLY-TRAINED WEATHER PEOPLE HAVE NO REAL IDEA WHERE EXCEPT 'SOMEWHERE THROUGH HERE'. SO SOME OF YOU ARE GONNA DIE, AND THE REST WILL BE PISSED AT US FOR SCARING HELL OUT OF THEM, BUT WE'RE NOT GONNA PREDICT WHERE BECAUSE THEN WE'LL BE WRONG AND EVEN MORE OF YOU WILL BE PISSED." End of translation.

...WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM FRIDAY TO 6 AM CST
SUNDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORMAN HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 6 PM FRIDAY TO 6 AM CST SUNDAY.

PRECIPITATION IN THE FORM OF SLEET AND SNOW IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP
ACROSS WESTERN OKLAHOMA FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING BEFORE
SPREADING EASTWARD OVERNIGHT. THE SNOW WILL BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES
DURING THE DAY ON SATURDAY. SOME LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE MAY ALSO
OCCUR SATURDAY NIGHT. SNOW ACCUMULATIONS WILL AVERAGE MORE THAN 4
INCHES NORTH OF INTERSTATE 44...WITH AMOUNTS UP TO 8 INCHES
POSSIBLE IN AN AREA FROM NEAR I-44 NORTHWARD TO AN ERICK... TO
TALOGA... TO ENID TO PONCA CITY LINE. THIS WILL INCLUDE CLINTON...
THE OKLAHOMA CITY METRO... AND STILLWATER. SLEET WILL ALSO BE
POSSIBLE ACROSS AREAS SOUTH OF I-40. THIS WILL LIMIT THE TOTAL
ACCUMULATIONS WITH 3 TO 6 INCHES OF SLEET AND SNOW LIKELY FROM
I-44 SOUTH TO DUNCAN... PAULS VALLEY TO TECUMSEH.

A WINTER STORM WARNING MEANS SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW AND
SLEET ARE EXPECTED. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR
IMPOSSIBLE. THE WEIGHT OF THE SNOW WILL ALSO LEAD TO POSSIBLE
STRUCTURAL FAILURES... ESPECIALLY ON LARGE FREE SPAN AND FLAT
ROOFS.

Thus we observe a warning of the possible full weight of the Curse Of du Toit™. Observe ye, and be afraid.

More on the Curse Of du Toit™

the bastard.














Weather Synopsis...A strong winter storm will approach the region Friday, leading to widespread moderate to heavy snow over the weekend. Accumulating snows could begin as early as late Friday across western north Texas and southwest Oklahoma, then spread northeast. Portions of south-central and southeast Oklahoma, along with north Texas, will likely see a mixture of sleet and rain with the snow. Although the forecasted snow amounts will likely fluctuate as new date becomes available, we are fairly certain that this winter storm will have severe impacts on travel and commerce for portions of Oklahoma and western north Texas.

And look down south a bit:
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...GAINESVILLE...SHERMAN...DENISON...
BONHAM...PARIS...DECATUR...BRIDGEPORT...DENTON...LEWISVILLE...
FLOWER MOUND...THE COLONY...PLANO...GREENVILLE...COMMERCE...
COOPER...SULPHUR SPRINGS...MINERAL WELLS...WEATHERFORD...BRIAR...
FORT WORTH...ARLINGTON...DALLAS...ROCKWALL...TERRELL...KAUFMAN...
FORNEY...WILLS POINT...CANTON...GRAND SALINE...VAN...EDGEWOOD...
EMORY...POINT...EAST TAWAKONI...CISCO...EASTLAND...RANGER...
GORMAN...STEPHENVILLE...DUBLIN...GRANBURY...OAK TRAIL SHORES...
GLEN ROSE...CLEBURNE...BURLESON...WAXAHACHIE...ENNIS...
MIDLOTHIAN...GLENN HEIGHTS...COMANCHE...DE LEON...GOLDTHWAITE...
HAMILTON...HICO...CLIFTON...MERIDIAN...VALLEY MILLS...HILLSBORO
434 AM CST THU JAN 18 2007

...WINTER STORM WATCH NOW IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY EVENING THROUGH
SATURDAY AFTERNOON...

.A STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE FROM BAJA TO THE
CENTRAL PLAINS THROUGH THE WEEKEND. AT THE SURFACE...A COLD FRONT
WILL SLIDE ACROSS THE REGION LATE TODAY AND RESULT IN A REINFORCEMENT
OF COLD AIR. TEMPERATURES WILL INITIALLY REMAIN ABOVE FREEZING
BUT WILL BEGIN TO FALL TO FREEZING OR BELOW FRIDAY NIGHT. THE SUB-
FREEZING TEMPERATURES...COUPLED WITH MOISTURE AND ENERGY MOVING
ACROSS THE REGION...COULD RESULT IN MIXTURE OF FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET
FROM LATE FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON. ICE
ACCUMULATIONS UP TO 1/4 OF AN INCH WILL BE POSSIBLE BEFORE THE
WINTER PRECIPITATION ENDS SATURDAY NIGHT.

A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT
SNOW...SLEET...OR ICE ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY IMPACT TRAVEL.

$$

I hope you're happy, Kim. And the rest of us have to suffer so you can have your fondly remembered 'Chicago weather'.

There are troops out there

who are not only the general run of brave, intelligent and capable, we might consider buying them reinforced underwear for their outsized balls. And keep in mind these are not all of them, just the onces that actually get written notice. God knows what some troops have done that we'll not hear about.

And found this through Ace of Spades just now about some British Marines:
Unwilling to leave behind one of their number following a retreat, the commandos strapped themselves to the small stabiliser wings of two Apache helicopters and returned into the midst of a fierce gunfight with the Taliban in southern Afghanistan.

Think about that for a minute. Think about those small wings, then think about strapping yourself onto one- on a gunship that going to draw fire like blood draws sharks- and flying in.

Damn.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Jimmy Carter, how do we despise thee?

Number 689

From the full article: To wit: "It is imperative that the general Arab community and all significant Palestinian groups make it clear that they will end the suicide bombings and other acts of terrorism when international laws and the ultimate goals of the Roadmap for Peace are accepted by Israel." (Emphasis added.)

You don't have to read between the lines here.

Carter isn't calling on the Palestinians to give up terror and murder now as a way to convince Israel they are serious about peace. Rather, he says they can wait until they've achieved their goals at the bargaining table. No need, says Carter, to give up terrorism until then."


Could there ever have been a sorrier example of ex-President than this bozo?

I've figured out the weather

Cold, sleet and ice, and now they're predicting 4-8" of snow this weekend in this area. Like we need that with the secondary/side streets still sheet ice in many cases. But I know what's causing this.

It's du Toit's fault.

Yes, I mean you, Kim. You and your "I miss the weather in Chicago", and your "I miss snow and ice" crap. And just to wrap it up, that "I'm an athiest" stuff just to round it off. And God heard you , Kim. So we're freezing our collective ass off and sliding around like Michelle Kwan on speed and you're about to get some of your 'winter season' weather to cheer you up.

And I don't think the Biblical quotes are going to help.

Remember the girl sentenced to death

for defending against a rapist? Well, it appears that some in the Iranian 'justice system' don't have their head completely up their backside:
TEHERAN - An Iranian court has cleared of murder charges a 19-year-old woman who was originally sentenced to death for killing a man she said tried to rape her, the press reported Monday.

Mahabad Fatehi, known as Nazanin, was cleared by a Teheran provincial court of premeditated murder but still ordered to pay blood money of 260 million rials (30,600 dollars) to the victim’s family, the Etemad newspaper reported.


So she's ordered to pay blood money, but no longer under a death sentence. Which is a definate step up. Even better would be a "Clorine In The Gene Pool" medal, but we'll have to take what we can get.

If you like Gerber folding knives,

check out Smoky Mountain Knife Works site, they're having a clearance on a bunch of them. Like the Paraframe II for $6.99. And a medium grit diamond sharpener.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007

The street crews actually did accomplish something

Major streets were- mostly - pretty good, and sometime today they finally put a blade down the street by my house. I'm not just picky about that because of my location, this street gets a lot of traffic. It's still sheet ice out there, but not the deep sleet on top that it was when I went to work this morning.

And apparently enough people screamed about having a foot or two of ice piled up in front of their driveway that after the did a section they went back and cleared- mostly- the driveway entrances. Much better than in the past.

The various electric companies are working their butts off getting power back on in the areas with damage; I think they said earlier there's only about half as many without today as yesterday at this time.

As to the wonders of weather forecasting, last night it was supposed to be 8-10 degrees here under the clear skies I mentioned: instead it clouded up some and was 15-18. So now they're saying 8-10 tonight. We'll see.

Now if you'll excuse me, after more breaking/digging/clearing today I need to give my hands a rest. And the rest of me.

Monday, January 15, 2007

The streets suck,

but this part of the state got off easy. Despite the predictions of doom, we got several inches of sleet and a little freezing rain.

Take Oklahoma east of I-35; now cut off the bottom, oh, thirty miles. What's left got really heavy freezing rain and a little sleet. Something like 100,000 people without power; not just lines down but utility poles down. And trees down, etc.

And to add to the joy, the skies cleared overnight, so we have
Cold temperatures,
No cloud cover,
Winds have dropped to nothing,
Lots of white stuff on the ground
all of which adds up to lots of radiational cooling. It's supposed to range from around zero in the northwest to mid-teens southeast the next couple of nights, with highs only in the twenties. Gonna be an uncomfortable next week or more for a lot of people.

The OKC road crews were out today, but not exactly everywhere. Some major roads are in pretty good shape, but a lot of primary and secondary roads that get a lot of traffic got no attention, including busy intersections that are solid ice with not even any sand thrown out. A few years ago the city made a big deal of putting up signs on a bunch of these streets that said something like 'Primary Snow Route', the idea being that since these streets got so much use they'd be the first ones either bladed or sanded. The first actual heavy snow/ice situation came and guess what? The city didn't do squat to most of them. And all those signs mysteriously disappeared(wonder how much that crap cost?)

It got up to 23 degrees, which means with traffic some roads melted partially to largely clear, although as soon as the sun went down they froze over. I've got a very pretty spinner hanging out that caught some of the drips which gives you an idea of the temp: the sun was low but still up and shining on it when I got home to find this


















It's supposed to hit about 27 tomorrow, which combined with the normal workday traffic should do a lot toward clearing the streets. And if the wind stays down should help the people working on the power situation out a bit.

I got my sidewalk and part of the driveway cleared, aided by the partial melting and refreezing allowing me to use a mattock to break off slabs and shovel them aside; that ought to help the sun clear more of the driveway tomorrow. Damn near froze my fingertips, got so busy didn't notice how cold they were getting until I realized I couldn't feel them. Note to self: those gloves were not intended for work like this in these conditions.

I'm not looking forward to getting to work in the morning. What made today no problem was the holiday meant almost no traffic to get through, whereas tomorrow will be a pain in the ass if a lot of these people drive the way they usually do in conditions like this.

Sunday, January 14, 2007

At this point, Romney shouldn't be allowed near the Oval Office

I couldn't care less about him being Mormon: being a two-faced jerk is a whole 'nother matter.
"We do have tough gun laws in Massachusetts; I support them," he said. "I won't chip away at them; I believe they protect us and provide for our safety."
and
But perhaps the most significant gun legislation Romney signed as governor was a 2004 measure instituting a permanent ban on assault weapons. The Legislature mirrored the law after the federal assault weapons ban, which was set to expire. According to activists at the time, the bill made Massachusetts the first state to enact its own such ban, and Romney hailed the move.

That was then, and now?
Today, as he explores a presidential bid, Romney is sending a very different message on gun issues, which are far more prominent in Republican national politics than in Massachusetts.

and
Romney appears to be stepping up his efforts to portray himself as a gun-friendly candidate, though some gun-rights activists in important primary states say his past positions will hurt him politically.

On Wednesday, Romney said on an Internet podcast, "The Glenn and Helen Show," that he hopes states would continue to ease regulations on gun owners, and he expressed enthusiasm for guns and hunting. "I have a gun of my own. I go hunting myself. I'm a member of the NRA and believe firmly in the right to bear arms," Romney said.


Wonderful, one more jackass who'll stick his finger up to check the wind and say whatever he thinks will get him votes.

Winter storm roundup

For the central part of the state it pretty much ended a little after noon. Again, despite various predictions of freezing rain, the most of it here was sleet with just enough freezing rain toward the end to put a crust on it. A good 2-3" of sleet on the ground, mind you, but much better than a glaze of ice an inch thick.

Speaking of predictions of doom, the last I saw of tv news this morning they were saying things like "This last round may be the worst". Which is what they said about the mess we were supposed to get overnight and didn't. What really, really pissed me off was this one weather/news weenie(not sure which), just before I turned it off, finished his prediction of freezing rain and sleet and possible disaster(degree not specified) with "So maybe those disaster supplies won't be a waste after all" with almost- not quite but almost- a little smile. You could almost see the thoughts chasing around his empty head. "We scared hell out of people telling them there'd be ice an inch or two thick around here and power lines down everywhere and sent them off buying everything in sight and it didn't happen. And they're pissed. Just maybe there'll be enough disaster to get us off the hook." Friggin' idiots.

I know that weather prediction is a very inexact science(hell, with some good meteorologists it's almost more of an art) and you can't believe everything that comes out. I know predictions will be off one way or the other many times. But you'd think they would have the honesty to say "Ok, we were wrong about when/how much, thank God, but we still have a dangerous situation that could get pretty bad", instead of basically repeating the same words but downgrading the amount of ice expected with absolutely no reference to any hows or whys the original "WE'RE GONNA DIE!" was wrong.

Further east and south they did get worse, there's a lot of downed power lines and broken utility poles and all the wonderfulness that comes with no power and sub-freezing temperatures and strong north winds. I don't know if they got the amount of ice predicted, just that it was bad enough for serious problems. Cold and no power is worse than hot: if it's hot you can at least go outside and hope for a breeze, if you're cold not only are you freezing but you have to worry about your pipes. And the stuff in the pantry.

Ah well. The dogs are good, I'm home and dinner's started. I just hope the street crews are going to do some major work starting early in the morning, 'cause they haven't done squat today.