I grew up in cities like Syracuse, NY, Pittsburgh, PA and Cleveland, OH.  I learned to drive in Cleveland in January.  I know how to drive in wintery weather.

Now, part of that ability to drive was partially contingent on the snow removal equipment of those cities.  They got lots of snow and had the plows and salt to deal with it.  Even with that, though, sometimes you still wouldn’t see the lines on some major roads in Cleveland for a couple of months.  In some years, the plows kept the mounds of snow off to the side and the streets level, but the only lanes were those made by the tire tracks of previous travellers, so it wasn’t always asphalt you were driving on.  You had to learn how to navigate in the snow.

But driving on snow and driving on ice are quite different, and driving on ice requires quite a bit more care.  If the roads were snowy, and the temps low, you could generally get around up north.  Still, snow tires were always a good idea.  If the roads were icy, snow tires or not, you had a decision to make; stay home or brave the ice.

I say "up north" because nowadays I’m down south.  This past weekend, the weather folks knew that the perfect snowstorm was coming our way.  A low pressure system was throwing moisture up our way, and frigid temps were coming down from the north, and, depending on where you were, you could get 7 inches of snow (extreme northeast Georgia).  In the metro Atlanta area, the Sunday afternoon before it hit they were predicting 2 to 3 inches.  At 9pm, on cue where we were, the flakes started coming down.

One hour later, by 10pm, we had those 3 inches already, and the snow continued to come.  Three inches an hour is serious even by northern standards.  By the morning, we measured the snow on my deck at 5 inches.  And later that morning, sleet put a nice crust on the snow.  And the streets.

Now, up north, the trucks would’ve been out in force and things might have returned to almost normal.  But down here, there are a few things working against a quick return to normal.

Plow and salt trucks are very expensive to maintain.  A huge majority of that money would be wasted if the city of Atlanta had the same size fleet as Pittsburgh or Syracuse.  Thus, for something that used to happen once every 5 years (according to native Atlantans), it made no fiscal sense. 

The temperatures down here don’t stay significantly below freezing for any length of time.  Two things come from this.  First, the snow and ice usually melt away pretty quickly, so after one day or so it’s typically all gone anyway.  But if it’s not gone, the temps will stay close to freezing and thus melt during the day and freeze during the night, turning the streets into ice rinks.  And like I said, even northerners rightly think twice about driving on that.

And you typically can’t buy snow tires for any price down here.  Tire stores have no reason to take up warehouse space with them.

So generally, it takes a much smaller amount of snow down here to shut the city down than it does up north.  This particular snowstorm has been particularly tough for a few reasons.  In addition to the speed at which the snow fell, and thus putting our ‘fleet’ of snow removal equipment at an immediate disadvantage, there was a layer of warm air in the upper atmosphere that developed and gave us the morning sleet, coating snowy roads and making travel extremely dangerous.  Cars have mostly stayed off the road, but trucks have had to continue, and the number and locations of so many jack-knifed 18-wheelers have essentially shut down interstate 285, the circle around Atlanta.  At one point yesterday, I-285 from about the 3 o’clock position to the 8 o’clock had half a dozen problems, many of them shutting down the highway in one direction or the other.  Trucks who’s destination is not inside 285 are normally required to take 285 around the city.  Today, they’re telling everyone to stay off 285 because it’s such a parking lot, and allowing trucks through the city.

And of course, not a snow tire to be had, so people will stay off the roads.  Salt and sand on the roads get the clearing started, but actually, traffic over those roads help those elements do their job.  But there is precious little traffic out there because we have neither the properly equipped cars, nor (in the case of many native Atlantans) the skill to navigate the roads.  And those of us who can navigate would rather not be out there anyway.

Compounding this is the fact that, between now and Saturday, the number of hours that the temperature will be above freezing can be counted on two hands, and overcast skies will keep the Sun from helping out today.  We’re stuck with this situation, in one form or another, until the weekend.

Needless to say, the local TV stations been plastered with weather and traffic news.  The news of the recent apparent assassination attempt on a US Congresswoman has only barely peeked through that.  The usual busy roadways are virtually silent at rush hour.  We’ve been getting the most out of our first free month of streaming movies on Netflix. 

And so please understand the tweet by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution Sunday editor when he wrote, "Dear northern transplants, we don’t care how much snow y’all got back home. 5" is a lot for here. Love, Atlanta."  I’ll admit, I had a bit of that attitude when I first moved here.  I understand it now.

Oh, and by the way.  Just today, our company president, based in Boston, sent out a warning to employees in the northeast US that they may want to work from home tomorrow.  They’ll be getting twenty inches and wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour.  Hey, there are storms that even Boston folks stay home for.

Good morning.

1. The fantasy in Obamacare noted.
2. Gun control in the context of AZ.
3. Something a bit lighter. I’ll admit to, in my wilder days in school, cat bowling with a stressed out roommate. To be fair, the cat had claws and got its fair share of hurt in on us.
4. Wise words for pundits talking about the shooter.
5. And from the same source, the problem with calling for better screening of kids like him … the problem is there are tens of thousands of them … and your screening problem (false positive/negative) is going to bite you big time.
6. The political environment, or getting the blame wrong.
7. Solzhenitsyn and his remarks regarding the West.
8. Rule and meta-rule. In college we tried playing variants of chess in which one could alter movement rules as one’s move instead of a piece movement. If I remember our initial attempts weren’t interesting enough to develop meta-rules to make that very playable.
9. Beauty and the world. So few today seek to witness and express beauty.
10. 3% is not insignificant in the context of today’s 9%+ unemployment.
11. And the unfortunate problem of the death panel discussion is that the basis of it (a) is real and (b) needs to be talked about. Health care will be rationed, supply is less than the demand (and if anything Obamacare’s regulatory burdens works most to decrease supply). The pro- vs con- Obamacare position boils down to whether you trust the government. The oddity is of course, that those who trust the government never seem to notice that the same government invaded Iraq … a far much more straightforward decision and implementation (and have ignored their own Administration’s willingness to use their power to exempt for insurance requirements of the new laws companies and groups to curry political favor). 

Good morning.

A lot of talk about events in AZ.

1. The “is he right wing theme” gets a lot of play. Seeing as one of his two favorite books was the Communist Manifesto, that seems a bit far fetched.
2. Another concise rebuttal of the “right winger” theme here.
3. Demographics.
4. Some praise for abstractions.
5. His real political alignment … nuts.
6. A question for those the pundits pushing the right-wing theory.

Elsewhere

1. Whence the anger or “America where the poor are rich too.”
2. Krsna Slava.
3. Person or not? Mr Solzhenitsyn offered that which separates man from animal is repentance not cognition. Ms Delsol noted that the move to see man as not-exceptional is one of the unlearned lessons from the tragedies of the 20th century.
4. Addiction. When they find a procrastination vaccine … that might be of more general use.
5. Heh.
6. Praise of Muslim interaction with Christians … to bad this is newsworthy and not more automatic.
7. A lay introduction to String Theory by the master.
8. Work.
9. My next economics book to be read.
10. Why the fixes in place won’t work.
11. The USS Enterprise captaincy.

I noticed a remark yesterday to the effect of “taxing the rich more still polls well” as an argument for the Democrats being for higher taxes “on the rich.”

Long ago I noted that “conservative/liberal” for many people tend to mean “more conservative/liberal” than I because most people view themselves as somewhat average. I’d offer that the tax the rich notion follows that same suit. That is to say, “the rich” means “people who make substantially more than I ever expect to earn.” In that sense, “tax the rich” is just another “tax somebody else” please and is to my view very suspect in that it really is just a way of trying to get free stuff/money by putting the hurt on some other fellow. 

The American virtue of self-reliance (as celebrated by Emerson) is fading fast. Why does the left hate it so? 

Haven’t found much to expound upon this week, or perhaps my blogging muse took an extended (if you’ll pardon the expression) Christmas vacation.  But indeed, I still have been perusing the ‘net, and have found a few interesting links.

If you’ve ever wondered why the ACLU seems to regularly side with organizations and issues that seem to oppose traditional American values, this collection of unearthed letters between the ACLU founder, Roger Baldwin and the American Communist Party should shed some light.  (Hat tip: Holy Coast)

Y’know that phrase, "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it"?  Here’s you’re chance to learn from it.  If you want to find out how ObamaCare will turn out, just look at the broken promises and escalating costs of RomneyCare in Massachusetts.

An impressive new invention from Germany; heat balls! 

Chavez currently has dictatorial powers in Venezuela, and is currently in a stand-off with American diplomats.  So he wants the US to change the envoy to Caracas to one of his choice of useful idiots; Sean Penn, Oliver Stone or Bill Clinton.  Talk about gall.

So many liberal blogs got this absolutely wrong, you wonder if poor civics or history classes in public school lead to liberalism.  Talking Points Memo illustrated this perfectly.  When reading the Constitution in the House chambers yesterday, Republicans read what amounted to the amended Constitution, skipping parts that were superseded by later amendments.  This included counting only 3/5ths of the slaves.  Evan McMorris-Santoro writes:

It’s fairly likely that no elected politician wants to stand up and read aloud the Founder’s vision of African Americans as equaling three-fifths of a white person, so the GOP has decided to leave that part, and others, out when the Constitution is read today.

This was no "vision" of discounting African-Americans.  In fact, the "Three-Fifths Compromise" did two things when it was written into the Constitution.  It gave us a "united" states, which would have been impossible if slave states would not agree to the new Constitution, and it kept slave states from gaining too many representatives in the House (by simply importing "constituents") to keep slavery from ever being abolished.  It was a compromise, not a "vision", and it paved the way for the abolition of slavery.  A good explanation is here.

The federal debt is certainly cause for concern, but there’s also the problem of individual cities who have been financing all sorts of things with municipal bond debt.  This, too, has gotten out of control, leading us to another bailout-or-bankruptcy issue.

And finally, the roll of homeschoolers has grown to 2 million, 4% of all school-aged children.  Thanks, public schools.  Couldn’t have done it without you.

Good morning.

1. Another take on the Twain edits.
2. And yet another here.
3. Old Believers in Siberia (HT).
4. History, Bayes and the Resurrection.
5. Authority is not the problem, only if its implementation requires coercion. 
6. An interview noted.
7. Some curious remarks from an IPCC author.
8. Mr DeLong needs a saddle.
9. An interesting use of Obamacare, which practice with a future GOP President will bite the Democratic hand that birthed it.
10. Minorities and their status.
11. A principle key to the Christian life.
12. Behind the woodshed (HT).

Good morning. I’ll be brief today, two word taglines — max.

1. Creation/Evolution.
2. Hybrid.
3. Tiny.
4. Knot.
5. Character.
6. Tradition.
7. Epiphany/Theophany.
8. Chinese?
9. Housing.
10. Love/God.
11. Gigapixels.
12. Talent.
13. Discovery (HT).

Good morning.

1. Seeing as climatology depends crucially on computer aided story telling … alas the left these days seems firmly convinced the answer is theology.
2. A closet left.
3. An odd statement by Mr Obama noted.
4. A ban lifted in name only is still a ban.
5. Democracy and Israel.
6. Verse and the Coptic Queen.
7. Medicinal cabinetry spotted.
8. Questioning the use of the word “culmination.” 
9. US manufacturing trends.
10. “Greatest” art work? Really … but more to the point it is great and the comment may be apropos. I wonder how he feels about Muzak. 
11. In praise of allegory and mythopoetic fiction.
12. Praise for Ms Rand.
13. I think the poster is looking for outrage as a response to Mr Scalia’s words, but I find them quite reasonable.
14. Faint praise for Mr Obama.
15. A career to not seek.

Well, if they aren’t the government-approved type of hospitals, that is.  Catering to lobbyists, ObamaCare™ cuts off Medicare funding to new or expanded hospitals owned by doctors. 

This little-noticed but particularly egregious aspect of Obamacare is, by all accounts, a concession to the powerful American Hospital Association (AHA), a supporter of Obamacare, which prefers to have its member hospitals operate without competition from hospitals owned by doctors.  Dr. Michael Russell, president of Physician Hospitals of America, which has filed suit to try to stop this selective building-ban from going into effect, says, "There are so many regulations [in Obamacare] and they are so onerous and intrusive that we believe that the section [Section 6001] was deliberately designed so no physician owned hospital could successfully comply."

Competition drives down costs, but with this and all these insurance mandates, it’s sure to do precisely the opposite.  That’s government for ya’.

Best laid plans and all. Anyhow, good morning all.

1. Yah think? Ditto.
2. In a Paul Harveyish voice, “The rest of the story, err, bailout.
3. Government and (a) movement.
4. Legal correspondence (HT: MM).
5. One definition of libertarian principles. 
6. Another smart guy comes out of the closet.
7. Financial crises and government.
8. Eastward.
9. What the left wants for the US, or more accurately … the unintended consequence of the other things the left wants for the US.
10. Place and distance.

More tonight.

A longer list this time.  I took a vacation from blogging during — if you’ll forgive the expression — Christmas vacation, and this video comes out.  Nina Totenberg apologizes for using the term "Christmas party".  Is this really a taboo among liberals?  Or are liberals in the press really this out of touch with the rest of America?

Here are six good reasons why embryonic stem cells will never make it out of the lab and into the bodies of sick people.  But money will still pour into it because, hey, it’s money!

Palestinians fired a Qassam rocket at a kindergarten, hurting one teen passing by.  I didn’t watch much news over vacation, but I’m sure this was all over it.  Right?  I mean, it would have been if Israel had done it, so I’m just supposing.

It’s amazing how stark the double standards are regarding leaks.  Julian Assange didn’t mind dumping data that is life-or-death to some of our Afghani informers, but hated it when leaks about his own legal troubles came out.  Really?  And there are other news reporter groups that hate it when they get leaked. 

Iran is shipping missiles to Venezuela.  Hey Hollywood, this is just fine, right?  (Chavez blames all the failures of socialism on others, and so this paranoia is bound to give him cause to use such weapons.  So, no, it’s not al right.)

No, the polar bear is not endangered.  So says the Obama administration.  Really.  And Bruce McQuain notes that, really, endangered status is more about power than it is about the environment.

The (Democrat-controlled) Congress blocked the transfer of Guantanamo detainees to the US.  I guess Obama has no one to blame for this other than … Bush.

Twenty years ago, and continuing as recently as 2009, it was predicted that global warming would bring much milder winters with less snow because of the temperatures.  Ski slopes would be barren and snow would vanish from places as far north as Scotland. Now, however, they’re saying that all that snow we got, even in the deep south, is because of global warming.  The link has a good round-up of weather vs predictions.

More power to this guy, who quit his job, got some legal education, and started suing e-mail spammers.

Why do atheists whine about not being invited to a prayer event?  Hey, you don’t like an inauguration that includes a prayer service?  Go out and win an election, and run your inauguration any way you want.

Good day.

1. Recycling done right.
2. Some quotes as inspiration.
3. Gitmo as recruiting tool is a unexamined truth for the left, alas.
4. I’m not lawyer, but that doesn’t seem like a very parallel example to me.
5. Badging.
6. Keynesian economics and an example. This is a similar article, and the study noted should be important for upcoming budget/tax discussions (behind subscription wall alas). As a quick summary, a good number of studies of countries over the last 30 years and their strategies between taxation and cost cutting were examined in light of whether they were successful in controlling deficits and budgets. The upshot is cost cutting needs to be the primary tool and raising taxes doesn’t work well.
7. As to that study, it’s what we aren’t doing, alas.
8. Icon and the East.
9. Watch tech.
10. Poetry in motion.
11. A book noted.
12. A comparison of religion and harmful practices.
13. Libertarianism doesn’t need to be caricatured to be called Utopian. One just has to point out that the actual libertarian society in the US, namely the Western/backwoods folkway of the 18th and early 19th century as noted in Albion’s Seed is horrifying to most of those who claim to be Libertarian. And if you are repelled by the actual examples of a political philosophy you espouse, that seems problematic.
14. East vs West.

Good day. Just a few today.

1. Patterns found.
2. St. Stephen the protomartyr.
3. Narnia and Nativity.
4. Zooom.
5. Repurposed head tube.
6. Calculus?
7. Bank bailouts.
8. Cricket races of sorts.
9. It occurs to me that is a relationship for which I have little to no understanding, one in which a spouse turns to legal redress for such a thing is not a marriage which has any common ground with mine.
10. A trend.
11. Brandon provides some good links for winter reading.

Good day.

1. Israel and Islam.
2. Somebody still thinks that conservatives dominate the media. Whatta jamoke.
3. A gift suggestion. Another here.
4. Zoom juice.
5. Mr Obama and detention.
6. Cinema noted.
7. Music appreciated … and it got our puppy barking.
8. Christ is born … 100 short stanzas.
9. That’s right. It doesn’t have to be partisan. It needs to be personal. 
10. Shadowing the Nativity.
11. Breaking silence?
12. Verse. And more verse.
13. A SCOTUS brief.
14. Do like the challenge/response “Christ is Born/Glorify Him” better than Merry Christmas/Happy New Year.
15. On Prayer.

On Christmas Eve, we have a number of traditions that are a combination of things from my family, from my wife’s family, and some we started.  There’s typically a Christmas Eve service at the church.  This year my 3 youngest are reciting Luke 2:1-20 — the Christmas story — while kids from the children’s choir are acting out story itself.  When we return, we’ll open up one gift each, although which gift is usually determined by other — you don’t get to pick yourself — so it’s not going to be that big thing in the corner.

This year we’re reading a portion of the sermon that our pastor preached this past Sunday called "The Fullness of Christ".  The question is asked over and over, "Have you received from Him lately?"  It starts out this way:

He is full of grace.  He is full of compassion.  He is meek and lowly of heart.  He is a friend of sinners.  He is familiar with suffering.  He is a wonderful counselor.  He’s a father to the fatherless and a husband of widows.  He is the father of compassion and the God of al comfort.  Yes, He is full of Grace.  Have you received from Him lately?

Each paragraph highlights a characteristic of God from which we can receive from His fullness; His provision & care, His wisdom and revelation, His forgiveness & redemption, and His full life.  But the question always is; have you received from Him lately.

In this world we’re often asked, "so what have you done for me lately?"  God wants us, desires us, to ask ourselves, what have we received from Him lately?  He has so much for us that he wants to give us if we’ll only ask.

The last thing we do before heading to bed is play Mannheim Steamroller’s "Silent Night".  Before I play it, I ask folks to think about those who are far from home on this night; missionaries, soldiers, people on the road.  Also, think about those we may be missing on this particular night; family and friends that are away from us.  It’s a time to remember those not present on this night, and to ask God to watch over them wherever they are.

Enjoy your Christmas traditions.  Sometimes they’re silly (e.g. my previous Christmas Adam post) and sometimes they’re sacred.   Enjoy your time with your family and friends, and make sure that Jesus is there with you in everything you do, silly or sacred.  He’d love that.