Wednesday - February 12, 2014

Its The Only Thing I Can Do

There’s only one thing I can do.

Mix up a double Manhattan, and fire up the grill.

Ok, we had to shovel off the patio, and break about 5” of ice off the grill cover first. But she’s heatin up now, and I’ve got a nice thick sirloin oiled up and warming on the counter.

We did loads of shopping and getting ready. I even went to the library and got a couple of classics out to read. So if the storm whacks us arse over teakettle for half a week or so, it won’t matter. Heck, I even found raw shaved coconut so I can make spicy marinated coconut shrimp. Good. To. Go.

As much as 14 inches of snow could hit New York City and the surrounding area tonight, as the storm that has gridlocked the Southeast comes north.

AccuWeather Meteorologist Tom Kines says the snow will begin to fall around midnight and last through most of Thursday. The latest National Weather Service forecast map shows that the city will likely get between 10 and 14 inches, depending on whether precipitation changes over to rain during the day.

People in New Jersey and Long island will be much luckier, Kines said. He expects they’ll receive just a few inches.

“The commute [Thursday] is going to be slow. Well, it’s always slow, but it will be slower,” he said.

Kines also warns that winds will be heavy Thursday — with gusts approaching 40 mph — so people can expect a lot of snowdrifting.

The storm has brought more devastation to the South. States including Tennessee, the Carolinas, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia have received sleet and freezing rain, which has kept everyone off the roads.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie closed state offices Thursday, in advance of Winter Storm Pax, which is expected to dump 6 to 10 inches of snow and sleet on the region Wednesday night into Thursday. Accumulation of up to 14 inches is possible in some areas.

“[Thursday] does not look like a good day in New Jersey,” Christie said in a statement. “We want to keep people off the roads and safe.”

Dozens of schools have already cancelled classes Thursday, with more closings expected.

It started snowing just a short while after I got the cover back on the grill. I am really getting tired of this nonsense, let me tell you. Unless you’re dying of thirst out in California, this has been one major suck winter just about everywhere. Damn that Man Made Climate Change!!

The steak was great though. A nice micro-marbled slab o’ beef, dusted with Greek Seasoning and Adobo, then forked full of holes and wet down with olive oil. Seared up crispy and brown outside, medium rare and super juicy inside, yum. And I captured half a cup of juices off the cutting board, so there will be proper one pan Yorkshire pudding tomorrow. 

Posted by Drew458     on 02/12/2014 at 08:03 PM   
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   Tuesday - February 11, 2014

and so it goes, and so it snows, and snow it’s woes

More than 1,000 flights were canceled across the U.S. as a winter storm moved into the South on Tuesday, just two weeks after Atlanta became a national punch line when a few inches of snow crippled the city.

The storm could be a “catastrophic event” reaching “historical proportions,” the National Weather Service said in its warnings. Rain was falling Tuesday morning in Atlanta, with snow in north Georgia, and schools were canceled. Forecasts call for sleet and freezing rain Wednesday.

Downed power lines and icy roads are a major worry. Salt trucks, snow plows were ready to roll and the National Guard has 1,400 four-wheeled drive vehicles to help anyone stranded.

Before a single drop of freezing rain or snow fell, crews with Atlanta’s Department of Public Works were already pre-treating roads and city officials said they were working with state and county officials to coordinate a joint emergency response plan ahead of the storm.

Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal declared a state of emergency for nearly a third of the state on Monday, as schools announced early that they would close Tuesday, and tractor-trailer drivers were handed fliers about the weather and a law requiring chains on tires.

Nah, na nah na ... once bitten twice shy baby ...
But they’re getting some extra help from above, so to speak ...

President Barack Obama declared an emergency in Georgia, ordering federal agencies to help with the state and local response.

The quiet streets were a stark contrast to the scene just two weeks earlier when downtown roads were jammed with cars, drivers slept overnight in vehicles or abandoned them on highways. Students camped in school gymnasiums.

”It looks like this time it’s not going to be bad until everyone’s home,” said Dustin Wilkes, 36, of Atlanta, who was one of the few people headed to the office.

Atlanta has a painful past of being ill-equipped to deal with snowy weather. Despite officials’ promises after a crippling ice storm in 2011, the Jan. 28 storm proved they still had many kinks to work out.

...

In their warning, National Weather Service forecasters cited potentially crippling snow and ice accumulations as much as three-quarters of an inch for Atlanta. Wind gusts up to 25 mph could exacerbate problems.

Aaron Strickland, emergency operations director for Georgia Power, said the utility is bringing in crews from Florida, Texas, Oklahoma and Michigan. Strickland, who has spent 35 years with Georgia Power, said he’s never seen an inch of ice in metro Atlanta.

“I’ve seen people forecast it, but it’s never come,” Strickland said. “And I’m hoping it don’t this time.”

And then ... and then ... and then

CBS DC: Major Winter Storm ‘Could Be Biggest Of The Season’

A major winter storm is expected to barrel up the East Coast mid-week, bringing a potentially significant snowfall to the already winter weary Washington region.

The powerful Nor’easter will blow into the mid-Atlantic region sometime after dark Wednesday is forecast to dump between 6 inches and a foot of snow on the area before blowing north Thursday afternoon.

“There’s even a chance of more than a foot, especially just north and west of the District,” meteorologist Bill Deger said.

... and then ...

Winter Storm to Take Aim on Northeast by Thursday

A storm set on bringing heavy ice and snow to the interior South Tuesday and Wednesday will reach the Northeast Wednesday night and Thursday with disruptions to travel and daily activities.

A swath of heavy snow is projected by AccuWeather.com to reach from portions of western and central Virginia, the West Virginia mountains and northern Maryland to southeastern and central Pennsylvania, northern New Jersey, southeastern New York and central New England.

And if the storm shifts just a bit to the East or West, we could get hammered even worse. Gee, wonderful.

So this could be one of the biggest dumps of the season ... and this storm doesn’t yet have a name? Whassup, the weather guys on vacation or something?

meanwhile ... somewhere ...

Posted by Drew458     on 02/11/2014 at 01:06 PM   
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   Sunday - February 09, 2014

crivens not again

Oh joy. It’s snowing again.

Forecast is for the snow to continue at least until dawn. I have no idea how much we’ll get this time. Half a foot maybe? An inch? Bleh.

update, many hours later ...
And it’s over. A mere 2”, just enough to keep the old snow from looking stale. Nice fine stuff that makes a good dense layer. We’ll let it settle in with a mercury dip tonight that just might touch the single digits, then rally for some “big heat” tomorrow when we hit a sweltering 24 ( -4° C). Where did I put that SPF 50 suntan lotion??

Posted by Drew458     on 02/09/2014 at 05:01 PM   
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   Wednesday - February 05, 2014

bent but not yet broken

The big storm seems to be over for now. Everything has a thick rime of ice on it, but so far no trees or branches or wires have come down. Bent, yes. Hanging down to the ground, yes. But not broken. Not yet.

We might have lucked out and had a few hours of warmer when it wasn’t storming to melt things off a bit before it gets cold tonight. So we’re catching a break for once I think. Fine by me. I’d be perfectly happy to wake up tomorrow back in the Bahamas and realize the last 90 days have been a bad dream.

Posted by Drew458     on 02/05/2014 at 06:51 PM   
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   Monday - February 03, 2014

I wasnt Kidding

Looks like 5-6” so far, and it’s still coming down hard. Not a puff of air moving either. Yesterday all this was clear except for old snow on the ground. Those are 8x8 timbers alongside the steps.

Schools closed, businesses delaying opening, traffic a freakin mess. Forget the airports: brought to a standstill. SLAM.  Episode eleventy nine of The Winter That Would Never Quit.

Winter Storm Maximus, the 13th named storm of the winter season in the U.S., is bringing one last wintry swipe to the East Monday.

This storm has brought multiple waves of snow, sleet and freezing rain from west to east across the country.

Snow will be heavy along parts of the I-95 corridor including the New York City metro area, and any early rain will change to snow farther south including Philadelphia, Baltimore, and the north and west suburbs of Washington, D.C.

Snow will also pick up early Monday morning in Boston.
...
The heaviest additional accumulations Monday will be in a stripe from northern West Virginia and southwest Pennsylvania into northern New Jersey and the New York City metro area, with over five inches of total accumulation expected.

a couple hours later here ...

Still snowing some, and now the wind is kicking up a bit.

Ruh-roh.

Posted by Drew458     on 02/03/2014 at 10:15 AM   
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   Thursday - January 30, 2014

Ice Capades, Southern Style

Rescue efforts are under way Wednesday after thousands of schoolchildren and hundreds of drivers in the Deep South spent the night stranded at schools and along ice-covered highways following a rare winter storm that brought freezing rain, snow and bitter cold to the region.

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed says “a lot of people” are still stranded in their cars on the highways nearly 24 hours the storm slammed the city, but he is not sure of exactly how many people.
...
In Hoover, Ala., school superintendent Andy Craig said 4,500 students spent the night in facilities there, MyFoxAL.com reports. In nearby Birmingham, Mayor William Bell said Tuesday around 1,200 students would be staying overnight in area schools, with access to food and water.
...
Overnight, the South saw fatal crashes and hundreds of fender-benders. Jackknifed 18-wheelers littered Interstate 65 in central Alabama. Ice shut down bridges on Florida’s panhandle and the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, one of the world’s longest spans, in Louisiana. Some commuters pleaded for help via cellphones while still holed up in their cars, while others trudged miles home, abandoning their vehicles outright.
...
As of Wednesday, Georgia State Patrol responded to 1,254 accidents, according to Commissioner Mark W. McDonough. He said 130 injuries were reported along with one weather-related death.

Alabama State troopers have also identified three people killed in traffic accidents that they say may have been weather-related. And in Mississippi, four people were killed in a mobile home fire blamed on a space heater.

Deep South in chaos: Vicious winter storm leaves hundreds of cars abandoned on icy roads littered with pile-ups - as thousands are stranded and forced to sleep in schools, offices and grocery stores
More than 9,000 students camped out with teachers in school gyms or on buses and commuters abandoned cars along the highway to seek shelter in churches, fire stations - even Home Depot - after a rare snowstorm left thousands of unaccustomed people in Georgia and Alabama frozen in their tracks.

Tuesday’s storm deposited mere inches of snow, barely enough to qualify as a storm up North. And yet it was more than enough to paralyze Deep South cities such as Atlanta and Birmingham, and strand thousands of workers who tried to rush home early only to never make it home at all.

Doctor Robert Avossa, the superintendent for Fulton County Schools in suburban Atlanta, says his district had 90 buses full of schoolchildren stuck overnight and a handful still stuck at 7.30am on Wednesday.

Georgia Governor Nathan Deal responded to criticism over the handling of the crisis at a press conference on Wednesday, blaming inaccurate weather forecasts for the chaos.

Kind of makes me wonder how closely related GA Gov. Deal is to former NOLA Mayor Ray “Chocolate City” Nagin. Inaccurate my buttocks, Forest. Everybody knew at least 48 hours ahead of time that a snow and ice storm was coming, and pretty much exactly where the lay down was going to be. And when.

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat,” Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew. “I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in.”

Local Chik-Fil-A feeds and shelters the masses during storm

... when the first snowflakes began to fall, no one paid all that much attention. But then, the flakes kept falling. Before too long folks in places like Hoover and Inverness realized it was much more than a dusting. By that point, it was too late for anyone to do anything.

Icy interstates and highways soon became clogged with cars and trucks. Thousands of motorists soon found themselves stranded with nowhere to go – including many stuck on Highway 280.

But a good number of those stranded motorists were able to find shelter in the storm thanks to the kindness and generosity of Chick-fil-A restaurant employees and the restaurant’s owner, Mark Meadows.
...
Some of the drivers had been stuck in their cars for nearly seven hours without any food or water. So the staff of the Chick-fil-A decided to lend a helping hand.

“We cooked several hundred sandwiches and stood out on both sides of 280 and handed out the sandwiches to anyone we could get to – as long as we had food to give out.”

The staffers braved the falling snow and ice, slipping and sliding, as they offered hot juicy chicken breasts tucked between two buttered buns. And Chick-fil-A refused to take a single penny for their sandwiches.

The meal was a gift – no strings attached.

For the frozen drivers, it was manna from heaven.
...
It’s no secret that Chick-fil-A was founded by a Christian family. And it’s no secret that they run their business on biblical values. What happened in Birmingham is an example of how those biblical values are played out.

“We just wanted to be able to help,” Audrey said. “Yesterday was such a hopeless situation. We wanted to do something to make people feel a little bit better. We were here. We had food and there were people outside who needed food. So it just made sense to do something for them.”

But Chick-fil-A’s generosity didn’t stop there.

“We opened up our dining room to anyone who wanted to sleep on a bench or a booth,” Audrey told me. And this morning, the weary staff members fired up their ovens and began preparing chicken biscuits.

The only thing that is closed – is Chick-fil-A’s cash register.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/30/2014 at 12:54 AM   
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   Wednesday - January 29, 2014

Meanwhile in Florida

Look for orange and orange juice prices to rise…

Posted by Christopher     on 01/29/2014 at 06:59 PM   
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   Tuesday - January 28, 2014

time to brrrr-burrow under the covers

Sorry if I keep posting about the freezing weather. I wouldn’t, except ... it’s freezing!! Everywhere!!

-45 in Chicago.

Snow in Southern Alabama and Georgia? Road crews in the South racing to spread salt and sand, trying hard to remember which end of the work truck the plow gets attached to? Gulf Coast highway I-10 about to become ice rink??

Record setting low temps and record setting coldest periods all over the country. Schools closed or delayed, thousands of flights canceled, frozen pipes bursting, bodies lost under the ice from fire hoses when the old folk’s home went ablaze ... and it keeps right on coming!

Second Round of Below-Zero Temps Arrives in Chicago Area
Wind chill values could sink to -45 degrees Monday night

They’re baaack!

Another cold weather system has ushered in below-zero temperatures and dangerous wind chills, three weeks after the frigid weather phenomenon broke Chicago’s record low, for that time period, of -16 degrees.
...
Chicago’s average temperature for the winter season so far sits at 20.3 degrees, making it the 13th coldest winter since 1872, according to the National Weather Service. But it could move up in the rankings after this week’s cold spell.

The “good” news is that it’s still relatively warm in Chi-town, compared to the 3 year slam they got 1976-1977-1978-1979. As if.

And here we go again ...

A blast of frigid air will grip most of the eastern two-thirds of the United States through Wednesday and could yield the lowest temperatures so far this winter in some communities.

The impending polar plunge will rival the frigid days from earlier this January for the coldest daytime highs and nighttime lows so far this winter. This does not include South Florida.

The arctic air first plunged into the Upper Midwest, northern Plains and northern Rockies on Sunday and is continuing to press to the Gulf and Atlantic coasts through Tuesday.

The magnitude of this cold blast will be enough to produce a far-reaching threat of frostbite, hypothermia, frozen pipes and water main breaks.

Spring seems to be an awfully long way away right now.  Winter got here early this year and is hanging on with a vengeance. Our white Christmas was the 3rd or 4th snow of the season, and after a slight melt off / rainy weekend in early January, it’s been below freezing the whole time since.  Time for a hot cuppa, then back under the nice thick pile of blankets. Old Mr. Groundhog ain’t got nothing on me.

Crivens!!!!

Posted by Drew458     on 01/28/2014 at 04:12 AM   
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   Saturday - January 25, 2014

36 or 37 years, who cares it still sucks

I am still sick. Much better, thanks, but still a hacking chestful of mucus. Could be worse; I still ain’t dead. Actually, if it weren’t for trying to breathe, I’d be just fine. Or trying to hear; the moment the Prednisone presecription wore off, I lost my hearing. Most of it anyway. Gee, swell.

I think I’ll go back to the doctor and glare at him until he gives me another batch of medicine.

So to make things more wonderful, it’s snowing again. Snowing pretty well actually. It’s been coming down all day, and I guess by now we’ve had at least 2” of the crap. Yee ha. In theory, it’s going to warm up a bit for tomorrow ... all the way up to sub-freezing ... then drop down to the 1s and 2s again and hit us with another storm system on Tuesday.

Today is the 36th anniversary of the historic Ohio Blizzard of ‘78, which dropped record setting amounts of snow while bringing hurricane force winds. A few days later a massive snow-i-cane slammed the New England coast and brought the world there to a halt for more than a week.

The winter of 1976-1977 may have been a touch colder in the NY Metro area I grew up in, ( I recall ice skating on the local pond the week after Halloween ), but 1977-78 brought us more snow, more ice, more drifts ... more BRRRR ... than even the fabled winter of 1959-60 (when cars needed to put flags on their antennas so see each other at intersections because there was just so damned much snow on the ground). 

Either way, both years were terrible, long, brutal winters. And both were indicative of Global Cooling, because We’re All Gonna Die and it’s All America’s Fault ^™. Right. The new Ice Age.

Winter this year has generated MORE SNOW so far in the Ohio area than either of those historic seasons. The cold days got here earlier, have been colder, and have brought more snow to many areas.

The latest reports tell us how the Arctic Vortex is going to stay with us for some time, bringing freezing rotten weather all the way to Alabama and Florida, and keeping us on ice for weeks more.

And this time around, it’s all the fault of Global Warming, because We’re All Gonna Die and it’s All America’s Fault ^™. Right. The new Tropical Age.

I’m sick of it, and I’m sick of being sick.

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/new-york-cold-snap-rival-horrible-winters-1970s-article-1.460241

http://back-spin.blogspot.com/2010/12/blizzards-now-evidence-of-global.html

http://www.blizzardof78.org/

http://www.toledoblade.com/Police-Fire/2014/01/22/Snowfall-tops-January-total-from-famous-Blizzard-of-78.html

http://www.13abc.com/story/24533599/blizzard-78-anniversary-is-sunday

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/ourhistory/2011/01/19/2-winters-for-the-ice-ages/

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/cle/wx_events/Blizzard78/blizzard/blizzard78.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeastern_United_States_blizzard_of_1978#Aftermath_and_recovery

http://www.weather.com/sports-rec/super-bowl-weather-forecast-snow-cold-wind-new-jersey-20140125

http://deadspin.com/there-will-be-no-tailgating-at-the-super-bowl-1479757203

And now folks are getting all worried about the Superbowl, set to be played in Giants Stadium (aka MetLife stadium) here in New Jersey next week? Dummies ... this is why they built the Astrodome. Hey stupid: it’s winter. Go somewhere warm ya daft scroobie!

Besides, right now I’m all pissed off at the Superbowl people; there won’t be any parking lot parties going on at all, everyone is going to have to take a bus to get to the game (which will call a monstrous screw-up, guaranteed), and no even NOT under the official profit-making thumb of the NFL will be allowed to say Super-anything. And there won’t be any parties anywhere near the game itself. Certainly not in the parking lot. Because. Terrorist Security. And Money. Probably mostly money.

I’m about fed up with all of this crap, from one end to the other.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/25/2014 at 03:07 PM   
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   Tuesday - January 21, 2014

And Away With You, You Immodest Blurt

Winter Storm Janus heads up the coast after paying us a 16 hour visit.

And dumping a foot of white stuff on the ground.

And bringing another round of damn bloody cold along behind it.

You bastard!!

Winter storm set to ‘go bananas’ across Northeast

A wintry double whammy has descended on the Northeast, bringing as much as a foot of snow and another blast of arctic air.

The latest blow to a weather-beaten region has snarled airports and interstates, closed schools and shuttered much of the nation’s capital. Initially forecast to be a modest blurt of cold weather, the system is now packing a real punch.

“Every once in a while these little winter storms go bananas, and we think this might be the one,” said Kevin Roth, a lead meteorologist with the Weather Channel.

Governors in Delaware, New Jersey and New York declared states of emergency as blizzard conditions hit along the heavily populated Interstate 95 corridor.
...
The heaviest snow is expected in the later afternoon into the evening. Overnight lows could reach the single digits with the wind chill making it feel like 5 below.

The storm has already led some school districts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut, Virginia, West Virginia and Kentucky to send students home early Tuesday or cancel classes ahead of time.

It has also forced New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie to scrap a party Tuesday night on Ellis Island in celebration of his second inauguration.

You think that’s bad? They actually cancelled bowling league tonight. Cancelled. Bowling league. Horry Clap!! That NEVER happens. Not never.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/21/2014 at 10:09 PM   
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   Saturday - January 11, 2014

now what?

I guess our deep dark super freezing period is over. It’s wobby out. Just a bit below freezing this morning, so we had 2” of snow. Dry and sunny all day, getting warmer, so we had the fogs by mid afternoon. Wet and drippy by later on, it rained on and off all evening. Looked like it might be another freezing rain/ice storm, so we made sure to spread plenty of those little white pellets of not-salt ice melter around. Now, in the early part of the Middle of the Night, we’re gettting big fat drops of rain. Sounds like summer rain on leaves outside. Plop plop plop. But it’s just above freezing.

Maybe tomorrow will be less of a borderline day.





Hey, we won 5 ouf 7 in Cheap League. And the ladies saved our skins for once in Game 3. Yay, them! This team in this 16 team league is somewhere in the middle of the pack, floating around about 8th place. That’s a good place to be for a social league.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/11/2014 at 01:25 AM   
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   Wednesday - January 08, 2014

Late Night Thanks etc

It’s 4am.

It’s 4° out. Down here at the PC, it’s 67°.

Thank you New Jersey Central Power & Gas.



In Good Omens, the wonderful book he co-authored with Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett opines that the central focus of thousands of years of civilization has been to get as far away from nature as possible. On nights like this, I happily agree.

We took 5 out of 7 in Greed League tonight. We needed a sub, and some guy BJ just walked up to us and volunteered. He was pretty drunk, but he sure could bowl. First game he threw a 233. So we bought him a beer; second game he threw a 277. So we bought him another beer; third game he threw a 216. Good enough! We had a fun time, and we’ll call him again next time. 

Posted by Drew458     on 01/08/2014 at 04:03 AM   
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   Tuesday - January 07, 2014

brrrr

We’re getting our piece of the “Polar Vortex” today. Where do they get these names from??

Anyway, it’s a whacking great 1°F out there this morning, with a nice steady 25 mph breeze going, giving us a mellow wind chill of something like ... 18 below. -18!

And the fun news is, that while the bright and sunny day warms us up to a basking 11° by later today, the wind speed will also increase, keeping us in the -10 to -20 zone all day. And then tonight, it gets cold again.

Crivens.

The good news is that we had a 36 hour break where it hit the low 40s with a bit of rain, so all the snow and ice and yech on the roads melted away and they dried clean. So driving is fine, as long as the wind doesn’t blow you off the road.

The not so good news is that the original forecast had us getting a one day “Jersey Blip” bit of Vortex and then bouncing right up to the upper 40s for a week. Um, not so much anymore. Our icy blip now is going to last until Thursday, although somehow the Weather Wienies are still calling for 55 on Saturday. Must be that Global Warming finally coming through. Woo hoo!!!

The coldest, most dangerous blast of polar air in decades gripped the country on Tuesday, closing schools and day care centers, grounding flights and forcing people to pull their hoods and scarves tight to protect exposed skin from nearly instant frostbite.

Central Park in New York City broke a 118-year old record on Jan. 7 when the temperature dropped to 5 degrees.  Strong winds pushed the wind chill well below zero.  Central Park had a record low temp of 6° since 1896.  The Tuesday temperature was 50 degrees lower than was recorded on Monday.

...

Amtrak stopped running trains into New Jersey out of New York’s Penn Station on Tuesday morning because of signal problems caused by the cold weather.  The railroad didn’t have an estimate for a service resumption time.

Monday’s subzero temperatures broke records in Chicago, which set a record for the date at minus 16, and Fort Wayne, Ind., where the mercury fell to 13 below. Records also fell in Oklahoma and Texas, and wind chills across the region were 40 below and colder. Officials in states like Indiana already struggling with high winds and more than a foot of snow urged residents to stay home if they could.

“The cold is the real killer here,” Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard said Monday as he asked schools and businesses to remain closed another day. “In 10 minutes you could be dead without the proper clothes.”

Highs in the single digits were expected in Georgia and Alabama, and wind chill warnings stretched as far south as Florida, with forecasts calling for minus 10 in Atlanta and minus 12 in Baltimore.

But wait, there’s more! Your snow could be radioactive

Readings taken from snow blanketing St. Louis, Missouri contains double the normal radiation amount, once again stoking concerns that the ongoing Fukushima crisis is now firmly impacting areas of America.

“The radiation return from the snow precipitation is returning DOUBLE the normal background amounts. Normal background in this area is approximately 30CPM,” writes YouTube user DutchSinse, alongside a video documenting the readings.

“This means small particles of radioactive material are indeed coming down in the precipitation. Past tests show around 30CPM in the same spot on a nice day with no precipitation,” he adds, noting that snowstorms in 2012 also showed alert level radiation readings.

link with videos

Posted by Drew458     on 01/07/2014 at 08:40 AM   
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   Friday - January 03, 2014

Just Pissing It Away

American taxpayers spent $7.45 billion to help developing countries cope with climate change in fiscal years 2010 through 2012, according to a federal government report submitted to the United Nations on a subject that Secretary of State John Kerry described as “a truly life-and-death challenge.”

That sum of $7.45 billion, which reached more than 120 countries through bilateral and multilateral channels, met President Obama’s “commitment to provide our fair share” of a collective pledge by developed nations to provide a total of nearly $30 billion in “fast start finance” (FSF), the report stated.

The pledge was made at a Dec. 2009 U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen, and the FSF funding aims to support developing countries adapt to and cope with phenomena blamed on climate change, such as droughts and rising sea levels.

Except that the sea levels aren’t rising, and droughts are keyed to a weather cycle more than any overall climate shift, and ... oh, never mind. What do facts and reality have to do with this administration anyway? Zilch.

Plenty more at the source, but please. This is just another way to Spread The Poverty around, and to pay off various shadowy supporters around the globe.

I just came in from sweeping the snow off our cars. All that terrible Global Warming stuff has managed to bring Winter more than a month and a half early, and right now it’s something like 12°F outside. Such warming.

Posted by Drew458     on 01/03/2014 at 03:05 PM   
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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
3. Use every legal means to defend yourself in the event of real internal trouble, and, most importantly:
4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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