Posted on 12/06/2003 7:29:58 AM PST by BigWaveBetty
People walk down a snow covered sidewalk on New York's Fifth Avenue, December 5, 2003. The New York area is expected to get up to eight inches of snow in the next two days. REUTERS/Jeff Christensen
Northeast this season was threatening near whiteout conditions from New Jersey to Maine on Saturday after burying Pittsburgh under 7 inches of snow, delaying flights from Boston to Washington, D.C., and creating hazardous driving conditions blamed for at least five deaths.
As much as 2 feet of snow was forecast for Massachusetts by the end of the weekend, and northern Pennsylvania was bracing for as much as 20 inches.
"We're hoping the forecasters are wrong, but if they're not, we're trusting that people will be staying home with their families and off the road so we can get our job done," said Anna Farneski, spokeswoman for the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
Drivers on Friday braved slick highways, and commuters shuffled along frozen sidewalks as they tried to make their way home through the wind and snow. In New York City, traffic slowed to a crawl.
"The salt is here, the trucks are ready, the chains are on, and New York is prepared for the assault," New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday.
The storm was blamed for at least five traffic deaths, including the 74-year-old driver of a van that collided with a school bus in Pennsylvania. None of the three dozen children on the bus was hurt. Two people were killed in Virginia and two in New Jersey.
More than 80 fender-benders were reported on the New Jersey Turnpike, where the speed limit was reduced from 65 mph to 35 mph because of dangerous conditions.
The storm brought several inches of snow to Virginia and Maryland on Friday, and road crews were preparing for a second onslaught with flurries overnight expected to turn to heavy snow. Four to 8 inches was expected in the Baltimore region.
Dave Martin, a National Weather Service (news - web sites) Meteorologist in State College, Pa., said the two-day storm was dumping a large but not overwhelming amount of snow on an area stretching from the Carolinas to New England.
"What's unique is the fairly big accumulation, but what's making it relatively easy is that it's over two days," Martin said Saturday.
Forecasters predicted accumulations of up to 20 inches in northern Pennsylvania, up to 15 inches in New Jersey, and 12 to 18 inches in New York City and its suburbs by the end of the weekend.
Flights were delayed or canceled early Saturday at Logan International Airport in Boston, where wind gusts were at 35 mph, an airport spokesman said. Cancellations and delays also were expected Saturday at New York's La Guardia and John F. Kennedy airports and New Jersey's Newark Liberty International, according to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
About 100 flights were canceled at Philadelphia International Airport on Friday, and some flights were delayed at Washington Dulles International Airport.
While the storm disrupted or postponed outdoor plans — including Frederick, Md.'s downtown Kris Kringle parade, which was delayed for a week — some people embraced the seasonal weather.
"We're loving it," said Tana Graham, visiting New York City from Jackson, Miss. "It's putting us in the Christmas spirit."
Others were dismayed at the prospect of digging out. Sucie Stevenson looked dejected while inspecting a shovel she had just bought at a home and garden center in Orleans, Mass.
"I love storms, but I don't like shoveling," Stevenson said.
Many schoolchildren got an early start to their weekend when dozens of schools closed early on Friday. Some high school students got a lucky break when several schools canceled Saturday's scheduled Scholastic Aptitude Tests.
For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting medical studies.
1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
3. The Japanese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
4. The Italians drink excessive amounts of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans.
CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.
Al Gore's eldest daughter vehemently defended the 2000 Democratic nominee yesterday from presidential candidate Joe Lieberman's allegations that Gore blindsided him with his surprise endorsement of rival candidate Howard Dean. ...
Yesterday Karenna Gore Schiff told me her dad "really wanted to make calls not only to Dean's opponents, but also to his own longtime friends and supporters. But the news leaked before he had a chance to do that."
"I was with him that night as he was trying to get Lieberman on the phone the whole night. He was calling literally every few minutes. He definitely called many times, and he was told that there was a Lieberman event and the senator wasn't with a staff person, and he couldn't get him on the phone."
Schiff, 30, added: "My father behaved incredibly honorably in his own process, in his own thinking and on his own terms. [I'm sure this is supposed to mean something in her puny mind] The timing of the leak was, of course, the only thing that was a disappointment. He would have liked very much to have talked not only to Senator Lieberman, but to everyone else."
A top Lieberman aide angrily disputed Schiff's account, noting that news reports said Gore informed Dean last Friday.
"If Gore called Dean to tell him that he was endorsing him, that means he just as easily could have called Lieberman and extended him the courtesy of letting him know what his decision was," the Lieberman aide told me. "The bottom line is this: Gore could have called anytime after Friday but did not. Basically, Gore and Dean made a political calculation to maximize the surprise of this announcement, and it is disingenuous for anyone to now suggest otherwise."
Contrary to speculation that Schiff, wife of New York physician Drew Schiff, was "a guiding hand" in her dad's decision, she insisted: "I was shocked when my father initially said he was going to endorse somebody. He made up his mind pretty much on his own, and, it's safe to say, very recently."
She added: "I think it was a bold move. Any time you make a bold move, you ruffle some people's feathers. But if you've paid attention to my father's speeches for the last year, particularly his foreign-policy speeches, the natural choice for him was Dean." NY Daily News
That pretty much says it all.
Texas countryside
MoveOn.org's soaring national visibility and exponential growth has Republican strategists concerned. This is especially the case as the group has linked up with the almost limitless deep pockets of billionaire financier George Soros. Soros, who is loudly and repeatedly expressing his determination to help drive Bush out of office, announced in mid-November, along with Progressive Insurance founder Peter Lewis, that they would match contributions to MoveOn.org's Bush-basing ads on job losses in the targeted cities. ... complete article
I was just considering what will happen if Howard Dean just happens to pilfer the election in November 2004.
First, President Dean will immediately start evacuating all military personnel from Iraq and Afghanistan. President Dean will instantly offer his heart-felt apology to Sadam and Osama, if they are still alive. Howard Dean will be honored by the entire Muslim world as their new idol. He will go down in the history of the world as the greatest simpleton since Bill Clinton.
Second, President Dean will set forth a plan for a total elimination of the United States military. He knows that all other nations will follow this worldwide disarmament initiative and, for the first time in the history of the world, will live in total peace and harmony without having to worry about some rogue nation's aggression.
Third, President Dean will immediately insist that the congress raise the taxes back to the point where they are generating a substantial surplus. When the economy starts to falter there will be a massive outcry for major government unemployment benefits programs. This will require even more tax increases. If all goes as planned, the federal tax rate should level off at 90%.
Fourth, President Dean will demand that Senator Kennedy and Clinton be allowed to write a new social medicine and security program for the nation. They will spend several months studying the national programs of France and Switzerland and make sure that these programs are properly adapted for the United States. Just think, anything over two hours' work in a day will not be allowed.
Fifth, President Dean will immediately promise to subordinate the United States to the United Nations so that, never again, will this great, deliberative world body, ever make a stand on anything. Therefore, proving once and for all that you can talk all problems to death if you can talk long enough.
I am sure that you will want to join me in November showing Howard Dean how much we appreciate his efforts on our behalf. Remember, the Democrat Party belongs to those who support it. Make sure that you vote early and repeatedly in each election.
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