No Pigs. No Potomac.

But Policy, Yes.

I can't recall how many Super Bowls the Vikes have lost (sometimes active memory suppression works), but I can recall the exact moment I quit being a Vikings fan-- it was during the playoffs for the 1980 season. I was driving along Packard (west-bound ) in Ypsilanti, MI, and listening to the Vikes on the radio, last minutes of the game. They were behind by one TD, driving the field, only to be intercepted (or was it a fumble?) letting the Eagles put it out of reach. Haven’t watched or listened since. Thirty years, 15 games a year, three hours a game, pushing 1500 hours—three-quarters of a work year!

Why It's a Good Thing to Read the NYTimes Opinion Pages Every Day

Thomas Friedman

“I am reluctant to sell China short, not because I think it has no problems or corruption or bubbles, but because I think it has all those problems in spades — and some will blow up along the way (the most dangerous being pollution). But it also has a political class focused on addressing its real problems, as well as a mountain of savings with which to do so (unlike us).”

Thomas Friedman in NY Times, 13 Jan 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/13/opinion/13friedman.html?em


Nicholas D. Kristof

“It has been dispiriting to see America’s banks apparently stand for nothing more lofty than plunder. It has been demoralizing to see President Obama hiding from the Dalai Lama rather than offend China’s rulers.
So all that makes Google’s decision to stand up to Chinese cyberoppression positively breathtaking. By announcing that it no longer plans to censor search results in China, even if that means it must withdraw from the country, Google is showing spine — a kind that few other companies or governments have shown toward Beijing.”

Nicholas D. Kristof, NYTimes, 14 January 2010
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/opinion/14kristof.html?ref=opinion

Climate Change

At Last, It’s Over!!!

It has been long (23 days, by my count), cold (as low as 15 degrees one morning), and annoying (24 inches of snow); but I am very pleased to report that the cruel DC winter is over.

But, please do not take my word for it; let me cite data.

• First noon time walk of the season, bright, sunny, about 40 deg
• Fountains again running at National Gallery and Native American Museum
• Sirens blaring with a crispness not heard since late November
• Burlapped trees being planted on National Mall
• Flowers sold outside without special protection
• Terrorists sunning themselves in the Botanic Gardens (let me clarify, I speak of the amateur terrorists, not the professionals (GOP and Lieberman) sunning themselves and preening higher on Capitol Hill)
• Forecast of 40s again tomorrow and 50s on Friday (let’s have a picnic)

Do not be swayed by Punxatawny Phil (Phyllis, really) nor the Farmer’s Almanac, not even historic data. Congress comes back this week—need I say more?