It looks like even coastal New England might catch a break as far north as Boston.

Interior New England will receive some snow, but, considering the temperatures across the country behind the storm, it might melt within 48 hours. The snow will be mostly wet and heavy. I would worry about ice as the sun goes down. The Governors were very smart to clear the roads. The winds alone dictates extreme caution. Roofs and trees.

It is a concentrated storm with high velocity. It may move fairly quick off shore. Let's hope. If the snow hangs around and it is wet and heavy, roofs come into play. Same for trees. Trees are high velocity wind issues, too.

I think this might blow through with a lot of rain and snow depending where one is, but, I remain optimistic it will be okay within 36 - 48 hours. Power outage is a given and a reason I never understand why those lines aren't underground. Winds are a new permanent issue these days and that should be considered in infrastructure planning.

Flooding is a given. Flooding is rough when colder temperatures keep people cold and wet. Hypothermia if people are exposed to the water. They need to stay home, high and dry and warm. BODY HEAT if the power fails and blankets and reading material and flashlights. Good family time. Kids love tents. Howling winds make for spooky stories. Local police need to be vigilant for areas without power. 

Ya know, there should be a common emergency sign people could place in the window of their home facing the street in front of the home when the power goes out. A placard with a color police could recognize as a family in need of help. We don't have that common idea in the USA. It could save lives. It would help emergency responders. I suppose cell phone towers are fairly dependable even with high wind. People often don't have land lines so when the power goes out their phone doesn't work. A placard would provide a means of communication.

February 8, 2013
2130:19z (4:30 PM EST)
UNISYS North and West Hemisphere Satellite (click here for 12 hour loop)

This does not happen at the Kentucky Derby.

Horses are hoisted in the air by a crane as they're being transferred from a cargo ship onto a truck upon arrival at a port in Surabaya, East Java, Indonesia, Feb. 8, 2013. Hundreds of horses and cows arrived at the port from West Timor to be distributed to various cities on the main island of Java. (Trisnadi/AP Photo)

German Shepherd Dog Tracking in Snow

If Mr. Dorner believes he has a reason to exonerate his name, then he needs to come forward and surrender to authorities. He needs to tell a jury of his peers exactly why be believes he is guilty. His attorney(s) can present all the evidence he has on corruption and why his life became defined as a justified murderer.

Christopher Jordan Dorner’s (click here) 11-page Facebook manifesto warns of more killing unless his charge of corruption in the Los Angeles Police Department is acknowledged to have been correct.

No footprints? Is it time to think outside the box?

Staff Sgt. Paul Willey (click here), an instructor at the Army's Northern Warfare Training Center, in Alaska, inspects a student's equipment during the Basic Mountaineering Course. Willey has taught arctic warfare, survival and mountaineering courses at the school for the past three years.

...A steady snowfall (click here) in the region, about 100 miles east of Los Angeles, was slowing the search Friday morning, with more in the forecast....

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United Corporations of America and to the Republicans for which it stands, one nation under the Greenback, indivisible with Liberty and Justice for all that can afford it.” 

Congress needs to act. This is not a realistic outcome for the United States Post Office.

Leelanau County, Michigan has a population of aporoximately 21,000 people. There is a significant tourism industry in the area. There a post office in Suttons Bay. It has Saturday hours of 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM.

Saturday is their busiest day of the week. At least it seems that way. The employees there are great. They never waver in their commitment to the community. Primarily two women.

There is commerce at the Post Office during the week, but, for many people Saturday is the day to get things done and unlike any other day of the week the line to the busy counter goes all the way to the lobby where the postal boxes are and to the door to the outside. 

The US Post Office in Suttons Bay, Michigan makes a fair amount of money on Saturday. If they close their doors on Saturday they will lose a great deal of money into their operations. 

Ending post office hours on Saturday will send USPS into intractable debt it will not be able to recover from. The demise of the United States Postal Service in unconscionable. The PEOPLE of the USA need relief for the outrageous demands of their Post Office. It is time for Congress to reverse the drag on the US Postal Service and allow them to compete on a fair and level playing field. 

Enough, already. This is a draconian plot concocted by the Republicans to close the US Postal Service, immobilize the rural communities, place a financial burden on impoverished individuals and CREATE a demand for the USA to reach into its treasury to finance expansion of private industry to take over the activities and services of the US Post Office.

This insanity has to stop.

Oh, yes there will be monies taken from the very pension fund now being paid into by the USPS to finance expansion of UPS, Fed Ex and any other private package and mail service. The USA will be financing Wall Street when USPS finally ends its services forever.

What has occurred to the PUBLIC sector in the USA by Republican legislators is some of the most corrupt legislation to back private industry with GOVERNMENT MONEY. It is corrupt to the corp and it needs to stop.

The legislation that passed to create the demise of the United States Postal Service has huge ethical implications. It is immoral. It hacks away at the USA infrastructure and ends a tradition in this country that dates back to the writing of the US Constitution itself.

The Constitution and the Post Office (click here)

In June 1788, the ninth state ratified the Constitution, which gave Congress the power “To establish Post Offices and post Roads” in Article I, Section 8. A year later, the Act of September 22, 1789 (1 Stat. 70), continued the Post Office and made the Postmaster General subject to the direction of the President. Four days later, President Washington appointed Samuel Osgood as the first Postmaster General under the Constitution. A population of almost four million was served by 75 Post Offices and about 2,400 miles of post roads.

The Post Office received two one-year extensions by the Acts of August 4, 1790 (1 Stat. 178), and March 3, 1791 (1 Stat. 218). The Act of February 20, 1792 (1 Stat. 232), continued the Post Office for another two years and formally admitted newspapers to the mails, gave Congress the power to establish post routes, and prohibited postal officials from opening letters. Later legislation enlarged the duties of the Post Office, strengthened and unified its organization, and provided rules for its development. The Act of May 8, 1794 (1 Stat. 354), continued the Post Office indefinitely.

The Post Office moved from Philadelphia in 1800 when Washington, D.C., became the seat of government. Two horse-drawn wagons carried all postal records, furniture, and supplies.

The beginnings of the US Post Office began the establishment of roads in the USA. It literally was an instrument of transportation and ultimately commerce that still exists today. Which private letter and package service is going to continue to build the infrastructure of the USA so the mail reaches the people of the USA? What corporation is going to maintain the roads and how will all that be funded?

The United States Post Office is a vital service to this democracy and it's economy. The fact there was deliberate legislation to end this vital service of the USA is an attack on the country and could easily be viewed as a treasonous act to end the USA as we know. Without effective infrastructure the USA does not exist in any meaningful way. This is not an exaggeration, it is the truth. I cannot believe this is happening to my country and those responsible should be impeached.

If citizens think they pay a lot for mail services now, wait until the USPS fails. It will leave the entire nation disconnected from each other and in many instances stranded. This is more than outrageous, this is an attack on the sovereign state of my country.

Whatever.