philly

Snow?

On Monday it was about 80°F. I wore jeans and a t-shirt to work. No thermals underneath. No woolie cap. No jacket. No gloves.

Forty-eight hours later, while I'm walking from the train station to work in my jeans, t-shirt plus winter coat, woolie cap and gloves, it was snowing.

This is nuts.

Sell Forests for Education Dollars?

Last week, W announced his new budget plan of $2.77 Trillion. Included in that new budget was a 6.9% increase in military spending. That translates into a $28.35B increase to $439.3B in the military's discretionary budget. Where did that extra money come from? Well one of the programs that took a huge hit was... Education, duh.

Last year's budget called for $56.54B in Education spending. It was downgraded 3.8% to $54.4B, barely double the budget increase the Military got. It will continue to fund the failing Every Child Left Behind at All Costs initiative. Laura must be a hit in all those inner city schools she visits. Maybe she's relieved, there will be less money with which to cart her around.

And another place that almost $30B will come from? W wants to sell the fucking forests off!!!!!

The Bush administration Friday laid out plans to sell off more than $1 billion in public lands over the next decade, including 85,000 acres of national forest land in California.

Most of the proceeds would help pay for rural schools and roads, making up for a federal subsidy that has been eliminated from President Bush's 2007 budget.

Congress must approve the plans, which several experts said would amount to the largest land sale of its kind since President Theodore Roosevelt established the U.S. Forest Service in 1905 and created the modern national forest system.

...

The Forest Service's proposed budget for 2007 is $4.1 billion, down about $160 million from 2006. The public will have 30 days to comment after maps of the lands proposed for sale are published, which the agency expects to do by the end of the month. Some parcels might be removed if they are deemed too valuable to lose.

Some more info on this bullshit via the USDA Forest Service.

Snow and Thundersnow

Haven't seen this much snow in forever. I don't recall seeing half as much snow as what we got yesterday here in Philly in all of 2005. Something like 18" was dumped in the Philly metro area. NYC got something like 27" and it all accumulated after midnight here in Philly. I was out just before midnight when it was just starting to stick. It would stick on some patches of sidewalk while leaving whole blocks uncovered and wet. Cars started to become big white puffballs earlier since they get colder quicker.

Lady and I went sloshing across town yesterday to see how Philly looked under a nice blanket of the white stuff. It was crazily quiet. Even Rittenhouse Square was quiet. It looked like maybe fifteen people milling about at around 4p.

Someone's gotta invent a way to plow the streets and somehow clear a path for the crosswalks on the sidewalks. That two foot tall mound of slush is no good for nobody.

I need new boots. The eight year old Tims I have now are rather prone to letting water seep in. Not so fun. 10% off at City Sports with my gym membership. And there's always the 10% off coupon for those who don't belong to a Philly area gym [I think they all have a deal with City Sports].

The thundersnow on Saturday night was crazy. That's the second time in a couple weeks it has done so. I was out in the thick of it the first time a few Tuesdays ago. That's some weird shit to see. Snow falling and thunder and lightning in the sky.

Rouge en Hiver

Rouge is a schmancy joint on 18th St on the east side of Rittenhouse Square. I was lucky enough to have a lunch there over the summer. The food is yummy as is their raspberry iced tea. Try to get that table the furthest north by the window, great view.

When I think of Rouge, I think of warmth. I think of the windows wide open. I think of people sitting at the tables on the sidewalk clogging it all up with their lap dogs.

I normally don't think of it in a night setting. Nor in the winter. But I was walking by it last night and there it was. Dead of winter. But they still had some tables outside at 11p, February 7th. So I snapped a photo, to remember it.

Some Evangelicals Get Global Warming

When I first read the headline to this NY Times article: "Evangelical Leaders Join Global Warming Initiative" I was like, holy shit, those fuckers came around on this! And then I thought, wait, this isn't a 'religious thing' like being gay or god forbid letting said gays be married! This is about the planet getting warmer and us having some effect on speeding up that process.

Among signers of the statement, which will be released in Washington on Wednesday, are the presidents of 39 evangelical colleges, leaders of aid groups and churches, like the Salvation Army, and pastors of megachurches, including Rick Warren, author of the best seller "The Purpose-Driven Life."

Eighty-six signers in all to this initiative.

But twenty-two evangelical leaders who signed a similar, and by similar, I mean the absolute opposite, letter, are probably not too pleased. In January, they made their own declaration

"Global warming is not a consensus issue." Among the signers were Charles W. Colson, the founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries; James C. Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family; and Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Unfortunatly, it basically is. By everyone. Except those twenty-two people and the Bush administration. Great minds think alike. Feeble minds puddle together.

Snowy in Kashmir

On this 54°F Springtime dead of winter afternoon here in Philly, let's discuss Pakistan. This NY Times piece jolted me.

Three months after the devastating earthquake leveled every house in this mountain village in Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, the newlyweds Zaheer and Shazia found themselves sleeping once more in the open, this time in the snow. Their cotton tent had collapsed on top of them in the night under a heavy snowfall, so for four nights, they huddled in the open on a rope bed by a fire.

"It was very cold, the snow fell on our faces," said Shazia, 19, with a shy smile. "We need a shelter, food rations and bedding."

Despite an enormous aid effort over the three months since the Oct. 8 earthquake, rescue workers are still finding new villages in need of the most basic assistance to hope to survive the harsh winter snows. Two heavy snowfalls in the last month have hampered the relief operation and tested the population of this mountainous area, still traumatized by the quake, which killed 73,338 people, seriously injured 69,000 and left an estimated 2.5 million homeless.

I just threw in $25 to World Vision's effort for the Asian Earthquake SAVE Fund.

Listed on the right pane are some more charities, foreign and domestic, that do good things.

A Beautiful Spring Day

It was gorgeous outside today! It still is! I just walked outside to grab a breath of fresh West Philly air. But there's one problem. IT'S JANUARY 30TH.

The UK Government has a looksie and I'm sure the British have a funny [to my American ears] saying for it, but I don't know it.

Über Hybrid

330 miles per gallon.

Now that's some fuel efficiency. This Wired post on an über hybrid concept car gives a peek into a car that could get you coast to coast on a single tank of gas.

Sure, the thing's a one-seater, but it's a nice step to some serious efficiency.

Crazy Weather

60° on Friday. Then pouring rain all Saturday. Then snow Saturday night [for the 124th straight January]. And Sunday, ~30mph winds for a temperature [with wind chill] of around 15°.

Snowing!

The white stuff is coming down now pretty good. It's sticking too. Which means that Philly drivers will be all over the place. I will be underground away from the craziness only to pop up to walk a short distance here and there as I do a few errands before heading home.