Clipfile - March 27, 2013

Posted by: Old Grouch in Clipfile at 21:29:05 GMT | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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Yeah, it snowed...

...and we’re dealing with it. (Some better than others!)

Took me 15 minutes to get the car broomed off (Someday I’ve GOT to get the garage cleaned out!), and an additional half hour to clear the drive sufficiently to make it up the hill to the street. Streets, by the way, were amazingly clean, especially compared to the typical ‘‘snow removal^[1]’’ the city usually provides.

Tam and Roberta have pictures.


LATER:

Note that 15" blip over near Springfield!
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Posted by: Old Grouch in Dear Diary... at 17:53:58 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Still a lot of work to do

The Hill:

Senate votes 53-46 to stop US from joining UN Arms Trade Treaty

And why only 53 votes?

UPDATE:

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 18:59:38 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Of course we don’t hear *anything* about this over here...

Nile Gardiner, blogging at The Telegraph:

It is simply astonishing that the leader of the free world would agree to speak against a backdrop of a murderous terrorist with American and Israeli blood on his hands...

(Well, not so much this leader, but, pray, continue...)

It projects a clear signal that Washington is weak in the face of terrorism, and it is an insult to the memory of those who died at the hands of Arafat’s terror network.

(Yes, it does. That’s probably why he did it...)

While the Obama White House prides itself on having an extremely slick campaign operation, its ineptness and insensitivity in government, not least on the world stage, can be staggering. President Obama, for example, could not even pronounce the name of Burmese freedom fighter Aung San Suu Kyi on his recent visit to Rangoon... He also famously called the Falkland Islands ‘‘the Maldives’’, and succeeded in offending the whole of Poland when he referred to a ‘‘Polish death camp’’ in World War Two... President Obama’s first term was littered with embarrassing gaffes abroad...

Any one of which would have been a nine days’ wonder among our progressive chattering classes, provided (of course!) the president involved was Republican.  As is, silence.

...and it looks like his second term will be more of the same.

This is in many respects an amateurish presidency, headed by a president who is frequently out of his depth on the world stage, and all too willing to appease America’s adversaries.

Oh well, all must be forgiven, then!


Elsewhere:

Posted by: Old Grouch in The Press at 18:44:58 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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So now they’re saying ‘‘late this afternoon’’

Late news from the Rialto:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
1003 AM EDT SUN MAR 24 2013

SIGNIFICANT LATE SEASON WINTER STORM TO IMPACT CENTRAL INDIANA

A STRENGTHENING LOW PRESSURE WILL LIFT NORTHEAST ACROSS NORTHEASTERN KENTUCKY TONIGHT IN RESPONSE TO A STRONG UPPER LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVING EAST FROM THE MIDDLE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.  THIS WILL PRODUCE STRONG LIFT THAT WILL INTERACT WITH DEEP MOISTURE AND RESULT IN A SIGNIFICANT SNOW STORM FOR THE REGION.  THE SNOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY WITH THE HEAVIEST SNOW EXPECTED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.  THE SNOW WILL MIX WITH RAIN AND POSSIBLY SLEET OVER SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF CENTRAL INDIANA DURING THE LATE MORNING AND AFTERNOON BEFORE CHANGING TO ALL SNOW THERE BY EARLY EVENING.

SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 6 TO 10 INCHES WITH LOCALLY HIGHER AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF CENTRAL INDIANA THROUGH MONDAY MORNING. GUSTY NORTHEAST AND NORTH WINDS WILL ALSO CAUSE SOME BLOWING SNOW ESPECIALLY ALONG WEST TO EAST ORIENTED ROADWAYS.
...
• TIMING: LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH MID AFTERNOON.  SNOW WILL INCREASE IN INTENSITY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT, BECOMING HEAVY AT TIMES.  WHILE SNOW IS EXPECTED TO LIGHTEN MONDAY MORNING, IT IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR ADDITIONAL LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS.

...and here’s the map:

We had a dusting this morning, but it didn’t stick.  Right now (1:50 EDT) there’s nothing on the ground, nothing coming down, and temperature is just above freezing.  Will it Really Happen?  Guess we’ll find out, one way or t’other...

Posted by: Old Grouch in Dear Diary... at 18:00:43 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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12 hours away...

NWS:

URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
1048 AM EDT SAT MAR 23 2013
WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM 8 AM SUNDAY THROUGH 12 PM
MONDAY

STRENGTHENING LOW PRESSURE WILL LIFT NORTHEAST FROM THE TENNESSEE VALLEY TO THE OHIO VALLEY SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT WHICH IS EXPECTED TO RESULT IN A SIGNIFICANT SNOW STORM FOR THE REGION.  THE SNOW WILL START OVERNIGHT TONIGHT AND CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY WITH THE HEAVIEST SNOW EXPECTED LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT.  THE SNOW MAY MIX WITH RAIN OVER SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF CENTRAL INDIANA THROUGH LATE SUNDAY AFTERNOON BEFORE CHANGING TO ALL SNOW.

SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 9 INCHES ARE EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF CENTRAL INDIANA THROUGH MONDAY MORNING, WITH LOWER AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 6 INCHES SOUTH OF A SULLIVAN TO BLOOMINGTON TO COLUMBUS LINE WHERE RAIN IS LIKELY TO MIX IN WITH THE SNOW ON SUNDAY.

On the map, it looks like this:

Don’t forget the beer, toilet paper, and cat litter!

Elsewhere:

Posted by: Old Grouch in Dear Diary... at 16:43:53 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Spring is Here!

Seems that Gaia might have Other Thoughts:

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
957 AM CDT FRI MAR 22 2013
...
A LATE SEASON WINTER STORM WILL LIKELY BRING SIGNIFICANT SNOWFALL THIS WEEKEND.

A STORM SYSTEM WILL ORGANIZE OVER THE SOUTHERN PLAINS EARLY THIS WEEKEND, THEN LIFT NORTHEAST INTO KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE BY EARLY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. PRECIPITATION IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN SPREADING INTO PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS SATURDAY EVENING, REACHING AREAS NEAR I-74 TOWARD MIDNIGHT, THEN OVERSPREADING THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA LATE SATURDAY NIGHT. THE PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MUCH OF SUNDAY BEFORE BEGINNING TO DIMINISH SUNDAY NIGHT.

CURRENT INDICATIONS ARE THAT A BAND OF HEAVY SNOW- IN EXCESS OF 6 INCHES- IS POSSIBLE IN A LARGE AREA FROM NORTHERN MISSOURI EASTWARD INTO CENTRAL INDIANA, WITH TEMPERATURES NEAR OR JUST ABOVE FREEZING MUCH OF THE TIME...THE SNOW IS EXPECTED TO BE VERY WET, MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO SHOVEL.

So, should we lay in supplies for the weekend?

(Al quote: Thanx to rdbrewer in the Award-Winning currently-holding-his-fund-drive so give already AOSHQ sidebar.)

Posted by: Old Grouch in Dear Diary... at 18:52:05 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Watch what they do, and act accordingly.

Glenn Reynolds:

If I were a Republican in Congress, I’d introduce a bill — tomorrow! — banning, and, in fact, criminalizing, such seizures in the United States.  That would be popular, and if the Democrats were dumb enough to oppose it, it would make people wonder what they were up to.

Bill Quick:

Neither Boehner nor McConnell would ever permit such a bill to reach the floor.

It might be too embarrassing to their Democrat friends.  And we certainly wouldn’t want anything to interrupt the ongoing GOP cave to the Democrats.

Concern over ‘‘embarrassing Democrats’’ is only a small part of it.  Such a bill will go unintroduced, let alone unconsidered, for the same reason that Rand Paul couldn’t get a straight answer out of Eric Holder about using drones to kill American citizens on American soil.

It’s called ‘‘keeping options open.’’  Because always remember, if the choice is between doing what’s right for the country and doing what’s necessary to maintain privilege, establishment Republicans and progressive Democrats are as alike as peas in a pod.

Tyler Durden:

This should leave any individual in Europe under no illusion that the political elite will enact whatever it deems fit to protect their positions in the name of the euro and their own positions of power.

MORE:
Sheila Bair^[1] whistles past the graveyard- loudly:

This would never happen in the U.S. because we respect the rule of law and we have a very strong agency called the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that stands up for insured depositors and protects them.  And so having not just a single deposit insurance that’s in place, but a strong agency handling that program and standing up for insured depositors -- I think that is really crucial and this really underscores why they need that in the eurozone.

‘‘Rule of law,’’ huh?  Like this...?
Inverstors Business Daily:

Already Congressional Democrats are plotting the expropriation of Americans’ private 401(k) and IRA retirement savings accounts in favor of ‘‘a guaranteed income.’’  If bank accounts can be casually expropriated in Cyprus to pay for big-spending governments and bailouts, there is no reason a nice slice of the $19 trillion in retirement accounts [held by Americans] can’t get the same treatment.

If it happens, it will signal the end of individual freedom and the return of feudalism.

Another UPDATE (130322 16:50):
Instapundit reader Mark Jones:

Rep. Billy Long’s introduced resolution against a Cyprus-like raid on bank deposits is nice–certainly a lot better than no resolution on the point at all.  But it’s only a resolution.  Which means exactly nothing, legally speaking.  Congress passes resolutions all the time, on matters both profound and frivolous.  We need legislation, not resolutions...

Related:

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Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 18:00:43 GMT | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Biased by omission

Ira Stoll:

Sometimes the bias in Times news articles isn’t in what they say, but in what they leave out.

Mark Tapscott:

1,130 - Number of results for search term ‘‘Koch Brothers’’ on The New York Times web site.

64 - Number of results for search term ‘‘The Tides Foundation’’ on The New York Times web site.

It’s called protecting friends and punishing enemies.  And speaking of ‘‘friends,’’ recall that the Times holds that Pulitzer Prize for not reporting Stalin’s genocides.

LATER (130312 02:00):
Ace:

The media and supposedly ‘‘non-partisan’’ groups like Common Cause (actually bought-and-paid-for liberal front operations to give a ‘‘nonpartisan’’ veneer to liberal politicking) say that Big Money in Politics is bad.

Well, that sounds neutral, doesn’t it?  They’re not favoring a particular party in claiming that; there’s Big Money on the left as well as on the right.  Presumably they’re against all of it; that’s what makes this neutral.  Right?

...Given that Tides Foundation, a leftwing group founded by radicals, is donating five times as much [to political causes] as the Koch Brothers, we’d expect at least as many mentions of Tides, right?

But of course not.  Tides is permitted to operate in secret, with scarcely a mention; the Koch Brothers have the Scare Campaign ginned up against them.

The ‘‘Neutral’’ goal here is a lie.  The agitation is not to drive Big Money out of politics.

It’s about stopping money from supporting conservative initiatives and candidates only.  Soros & Ilk are to be exempted...  After all, Soros and Tides aren’t really even funding ‘‘politics’’ -- they’re just funding Common Sense Practical Solutions^(TM).

Yep.

Posted by: Old Grouch in The Press at 16:16:02 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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Here we go again...

(via Insty ‘‘It would be better P.R. to schedule these only in July’’, via Washington Examiner)

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 17:14:02 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
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