The Blizzard of 2010

The "paralyzing" storm predicted for this weekend lived up to the hype. Frederick got 30". But, unlike previous storms, Frederick, usually a champion on the high end of snowfall totals, fell short of points east of here. Elkridge got 38" to take the "prize" for worst hammering.

Thankfully, the winds weren't as strong as the '03 storm, so drifts weren't nearly the issue that they were with that storm.

One more picture for your enjoyment - the storm from the perspective of a 4 1/2 pound dog.

Paralyzing storm

Well, it's a first for me. The Weather Channel website has predicted that the major snow storm headed my way is not simply a "disruptive snowfall", as is forecast for areas west of here. No, it is a "paralyzing" storm.

I have visions of the Blizzard of '03 in my head. In '03 we got over 30" of snow over a 2 day span, with drifts of over 6'. It took 3 days for my youngest son and I to shovel out. Deadeye and oldest son were stranded in South Carolina because all highways into and out of Maryland were closed. It was, in a word, epic.

Will this storm also turn out to be 'epic'? Stay tuned to this Bat channel.

A job opening for TxBluesMan?

Tip of the hat to Tizona Group's "token American", Angus Dei, for this beauty.

The Civil Rights Division encourages qualified applicants with targeted disabilities to apply. Targeted disabilities are deafness, blindness, missing extremities, partial or complete paralysis, convulsive disorder, mental retardation, mental illness, severe distortion of limbs and/or spine…

The Department of Justice welcomes and encourages applications from persons with physical and mental disabilities.

What's that? The DoJ is looking for retard lawyers? I have just the guy for the job. What's that? He's OVERQUALIFIED? Can't say I'm surprised...

BTW, Tizona -- if you're looking for another American to add to your stable, I'd be honored.

The kitty of death

When one imagines the Grim Reaper they seldom conjure up the image of a cute, fuzzy kitty. But in one Rhode Island nursing home that appears to be the case -- Death is a cat.

A cat with an uncanny ability to detect when nursing home patients are about to die has proven itself in around 50 cases by curling up with them in their final hours, according to a new book.
[...]
The tortoiseshell and white cat spends its days pacing from room to room, rarely spending any time with patients except those with just hours to live.

If kept outside the room of a dying patient, Oscar will scratch on the door trying to get in.

When nurses once placed the cat on the bed of a patient they thought close to death, Oscar "charged out" and went to sit beside someone in another room. The cat's judgement was better than that of the nurses: the second patient died that evening, while the first lived for two more days.

The doctor who wrote the book detailing the cat's "uncanny gift" believes the cat to be gifted with an amazing predictive ability. I, however, have a different take.

I believe that this filthy vermin is preselecting victims and, once the staff is out of the room, the Kitty of Death administers the Kiss of Death.

I always suspected that cats were evil! Now we know just how evil they can be! *

* This post is entirely tongue-in-cheek. I don't really believe the cat is killing people. And I don't really hate cats - I just hate that they love to climb all over me to trigger full-blown asthma attacks -- as if they know that they're causing me distress.

Is The Vulture irresponsible?

Notwithstanding that the question can be answered in the affirmative regarding SOME aspects of my life, I think, on balance, I'm a fairly responsible person. I mean, if there's a stream of f-bombs emanating from my work area, you can be sure I'm responsible.

[Cue rimshot]

All joking aside, I'm a little taken aback at being accused of irresponsible behavior by a spokespuke from the World Health Organization for simply speaking my mind on the farce that is the attempted fear mongering of that organization and a number of national government organs regarding the H1N1 virus.

The World Health Organization on Monday slammed as "irresponsible" critics who claim swine flu is a fake pandemic created for the benefit of drug companies.

The U.N. health agency said the outbreak of a new strain of H1N1 influenza in North America last year had all the scientific characteristics of a pandemic, adding the WHO was never improperly influenced by the pharmaceutical industry that has benefited from huge government orders for vaccines and anti-viral drugs.

"The world is going through a real pandemic. The description of it as a fake is wrong and irresponsible," the WHO said in a strongly worded statement Monday.

A WHO spokesman declined to spell out who the World Health Organization was responding to in its statement, saying only that "this applies to anyone who believes it is not a real pandemic."

I'm so hurt! [/sarcasm]

Lest you succumb to the temptation to fall for the spokesmonkey's rhetoric, let me show you some numbers -- THEIR numbers -- on the "toll" of this "pandemic".

According to a WHO tally dated Jan. 17, more than 209 countries and territories have reported laboratory confirmed cases of swine flu, including at least 14,142 deaths. This is far fewer than would be expected to die each year from seasonal flu, but the figure is likely to exclude many unreported cases, according to WHO.

So, we have a "pandemic" that doesn't even rise to the level of a "normal" flu season...and we who are simply pointing out this fact are the "irresponsible" ones. Riiiiiiiiiight.

Welcome to the surreal world of the One World Socialist Utopia dimwit bureaucrat.

TSA - the 'A' stands for ?

Apparently, at least in this case, it stands for "A-hole".

In the tense new world of air travel, we're stripped of shoes, told not to take too much shampoo on board, frowned on if we crack a smile.

The last thing we expect is a joke from a Transportation Security Administration screener - particularly one this stupid.

Rebecca Solomon is 22 and a student at the University of Michigan, and on Jan. 5 she was flying back to school after holiday break. She made sure she arrived at Philadelphia International Airport 90 minutes before takeoff, given the new regulations.

She would be flying into Detroit on Northwest Airlines, the same city and carrier involved in the attempted bombing on Christmas, just 10 days before. She was tense.

What happened to her lasted only 20 seconds, but she says they were the longest 20 seconds of her life.

After pulling her laptop out of her carry-on bag, sliding the items through the scanning machines, and walking through a detector, she went to collect her things.

A TSA worker was staring at her. He motioned her toward him.

Then he pulled a small, clear plastic bag from her carry-on - the sort of baggie that a pair of earrings might come in. Inside the bag was fine, white powder.

She remembers his words: "Where did you get it?"

Two thoughts came to her in a jumble: A terrorist was using her to sneak bomb-detonating materials on the plane. Or a drug dealer had made her an unwitting mule, planting coke or some other trouble in her bag while she wasn't looking.

She'd left her carry-on by her feet as she handed her license and boarding pass to a security agent at the beginning of the line.

Answer truthfully, the TSA worker informed her, and everything will be OK.

Solomon, 5-foot-3 and traveling alone, looked up at the man in the black shirt and fought back tears.

Put yourself in her place and count out 20 seconds. Her heart pounded. She started to sweat. She panicked at having to explain something she couldn't.

Now picture her expression as the TSA employee started to smile.

Just kidding, he said. He waved the baggie. It was his.

And so she collected her things, stunned, and the tears began to fall.

Another passenger, a woman traveling to Colorado, consoled her as others who had witnessed the confrontation went about their business. Solomon and the woman walked to their gates, where each called for security and reported what had happened.

A joke? You're not serious. Was he hitting on her? Was he flexing his muscle? Who at a time of heightened security and rattled nerves would play so cavalierly with a passenger's emotions?

Can you believe this? She cried - I would have messed my pants! What in the name of God's green earth would possess this mendacious jerk to single out this poor young woman - hell, to single out ANYONE - for that kind of stress when going through a TSSA checkpoint is stress enough for anyone?

There's more.

When she complained to airport security, Solomon said, she was told the TSA worker had been training the staff to detect contraband. She was shocked that no one took him off the floor, she said.

"It was such a violation," the Wynnewood native told me by phone. "I'd come early. I'd done everything right. And they were kidding about it."

I ran her story past Ann Davis, regional TSA spokeswoman, who said she knew nothing to contradict the young traveler's account.

TSSA (two S's, because you can't spell Schutzstaffel without the second S) wouldn't come out and say what sort of punishment this tool was given for this patent violation of...well, if nothing else, the laws of human decency. But a TSSA spokestool did say that the individual was no longer associated with the agency.

Hey, how 'bout that? [/sarcasm]

And people ask me why I'm so anti-TSSA.....