While we won't see temperatures as low as seen at International Falls, Minnesota (-46ºF) the other day, we expect to see at least -10ºF here at The Manse before Wednesday rolls around.
Such cold weather puts the Official Weekend Pundit Woodstove to the test. It isn't capable of keeping The Manse warm when it gets that cold, so we usually have to turn up the thermostat on the propane furnace to help it along. This is a deficiency we hope to correct before next winter.
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Seeing the frigid temps on their way to New Hampshire I spent a good portion of Saturday afternoon snowblowing, shoveling, and scraping to make sure the driveway was clean to the surface and allowing the sun to melt the snow and ice I couldn't remove easily. We still have the decks to shovel, but other than it being really cold outside it shouldn't be a problem...I hope.***********
Speaking of being really cold, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) was forced to withdraw a global warming paper from the Universal Ecological Fund that claimed we would see an increase in global temperatures of 2.4ºC by the year 2020, something even other AGW proponents see as impossible.***********
And since I'm piling on the AGW folks, I have to add this:Analysts predict freezing winters in Europe will be the norm for the next 20-40 years.
I've been in touch with my ex-fiancee who lives in the UK and she told me she hasn't seen such winter cold since she was here in New Hampshire with me 14 years ago.
(H/T Maggie's Farm)
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Tom Bowler has some links and thoughts about Keith Olbermann's departure from MSNBC.My thoughts on the matter? Good riddance to bad rubbish.
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David Starr points out a Wall Street Journal writer who is obviously not an engineer writing on a topic about which he doesn't really know much.Unfortunately this happens far too often in the media, even in the WSJ.
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Gee, could there be a link between the declining level of investment in plant and equipment, heavier regulation by government, and the leveling out or decline in jobs in the US over the past decade?I'd have to say the answer is “Yes”.
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By way of Instapundit comes two Americans from history breaking down the definitions of political parties, each reducing them to two: Those who think the people must be controlled in all aspects of their lives and those who don't.Like Heinlein, I am far more comfortable with the latter.
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I caught a bit of both the NFC and AFC Championship games today, but didn't watch more than a few minutes of either.What I find ironic is that of the four teams playing today, the New England Patriots beat all of them during the regular season.
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You know it's not going well for Democrats when even their own pollsters are telling them it's time for them to shed their public-employee union ties or risk becoming a permanent minority party.The question is whether the Democrats can shed themselves of their incestuous union entanglements? At the moment the answer appears to be No.
In the November midterm elections, the Democratic Party lost its congressional majority. The far graver threat to the party, though, is that its base is made up disproportionately of public-employee unions, liberals, trial lawyers and other special-interest groups.
Working-class families are fleeing the Democratic Party en masse, a trend that is likely to continue if their own economic situation remains weak in the face of ever-higher taxes, deficits and debt. These working-class voters see that public employees are continuing to receive more generous benefits and enjoy greater job security than they are. Support for the Democratic Party is now well below 40% with working-class voters who are unionized, and as low as 33% with whites who are not college educated.
(H/T Granite State Pundit)
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Chris Christie on Chuck Schumer's claim his decision to cancel the Trans-Hudson train tunnel project was “ a terrible, terrible decision”:In the long run it was cheaper to cancel the project and pay $200 million in fees and penalties than to cough up over $5 billion New Jersey doesn't have to pay for a project that is already almost 50% above the original cost estimates and likely to go even higher.
In response to Schumer, Christie noted the difference between a governor and a senator. “Their job is easy,” he said of lawmakers like Schumer. “They get to sit in front of microphones and bloviate. I’ve got to balance budgets.”
I'm liking Christie more every day.