Clipfile - May 2, 2013

Posted by: Old Grouch in Clipfile at 15:50:01 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 21 words, total size 1 kb.

Clipfile - May 1, 2013

Posted by: Old Grouch in Clipfile at 17:41:02 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 43 words, total size 1 kb.

No, we don’t.

Glenn Reynolds:

...Ignorance and incompetence are on regular display among our political class.  Its members are good at what they do — but what they do, really, is raise money and win elections.  There’s no particular correlation between those skills and any other kind of competence.  In fact, given their record of passing increasingly dumb laws, if there’s any correlation at all, it’s a negative one.

So let me get this straight:  Our problem is that we have an ineffective government run by idiots, and the fix is an effective government run by ‘‘smart’’ people?

Um... I don’t think so.

Think about the kinds of people who are attracted to the levers of power.
Then think about the horror that a truly ‘‘effective’’ government might be.


Gratuitous Snark Dept.:

‘‘...The number-one job facing the middle class... happens to be, as Barack says, a three-letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S, jobs.’’ - Joe Biden

Posted by: Old Grouch in In Passing at 15:59:35 GMT | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 158 words, total size 2 kb.

Clipfile - April 7, 2013

Posted by: Old Grouch in Clipfile at 18:18:40 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 31 words, total size 1 kb.

Clipfile - March 27, 2013

Posted by: Old Grouch in Clipfile at 21:29:05 GMT | Comments (2) | Add Comment
Post contains 76 words, total size 1 kb.

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!
-----

Posted by: Old Grouch in Dear Diary... at 17:53:58 GMT | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 88 words, total size 2 kb.

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
Post contains 32 words, total size 1 kb.

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
Post contains 279 words, total size 4 kb.

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
Post contains 259 words, total size 3 kb.

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
Post contains 179 words, total size 3 kb.