Forecasters are calling for yet another winter storm to hit Columbus today, with total expected accumulation of another 8 inches of snow. From this morning’s stroll it appears that the leading edge of the storm is already here, with a brisk wind flinging little icy bullets against the intrepid walker. So, we will batten down the hatches, leave for work a little earlier, and drive a little slower today.
As a former D.C. resident who remembers how the Nation’s Capital freaked out over even a few inches of snow during the early ’80s, I’ve been wondering about how D.C. residents are dealing with the aftermath of the historic storm that dumped some 30 inches of snow on the area last weekend. It sounds like some things haven’t changed; I’ve heard a few news reports of worried residents binge-buying milk, bread, eggs and bottled water from local grocery stores upon reports of this new storm approaching. So, no matter what happens, they’ll be able to enjoy a hearty brunch.
Every year, when the Super Bowl rolls around and the Browns aren’t in it, the sharp-edged Roman numerals are like a knife to the ribs. I think of how the Browns lost to the Vikings and the Colts in back-to-back NFL championship games in the late ’60s, of how Brian Sipe threw the Red Right 88 interception on a cold day at Municipal Stadium, and particularly of how John Elway and the Broncos gouged the heart out of the Cleveland faithful in the back-to-back championship games that will forever be recalled simply as The Drive and The Fumble.
NHTSA is a federal agency that focuses on motor vehicle safety. Its NHTSA Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Overview, in PDF form, is available 
It turns out that there are eight different grant programs, as well as administrative expenses for these programs, which in 2010 is budgeted for $25 million. To get more information about the grant programs, you need to go to the NHTSA Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Estimates, which also are available in PDF form 
Another $139 million is budgeted for Alcohol Incentive Formula Grants, which are designed, according to page 48 of the PDF’d document, to “to encourage States to adopt incentive grants to states for the implementation of effective programs to reduce impaired driving and its tragic consequences.” The largest grant program, the Section 402 Formula Grants budgeted at $235 million, is intended, also according to page 48, to “support State highway safety programs designed to reduce traffic crashes and resulting deaths, injuries, and property damage,” and under that program “[a] State may use these grant funds only for highway safety purposes; at least 40 percent of these funds are to be expended by political subdivisions (i.e. communities) within the State.”
The scientists quoted in the article link the decline in the wolverine population to diminished snowpacks in the wolverines’ natural habitats, which they surmise would reduce the food supply for wolverines. The scientists apparently didn’t address the possibility that the carrion-consuming, rat-eating wolverines are dying of embarrassment because they are the unfortunate mascots of the recently underachieving University of Michigan sports teams.
Groups have expressed concern that the popularity of the Il Duce app might presage a resurgence of the Fascist movement in Italy. I suppose that is possible, but I think it is equally plausible that young people just downloaded it because it is new, shocking, and a bit of a razz to watch black and white footage and listen to speeches of the comically strutting ex-dictator with the out-thrust jaw. I’m not an iPhone owner, but my perception is that many people with iPhones seem obsessed with “apps” and showing everyone what unusual “apps” they have. The Mussolini app may just feed into that obsession.
On 24, there’s always some gang of international bad guys — one year it was Mexicans, another year Middle Eastern, last year it was Africans, and this year it is Russians. CTU’s security, as usual, is abysmal. CTU’s offices have been bombed, gassed, and routinely infiltrated over the years. This year some ex-felon with a fake name and identity has managed to rise to some high-level position, where she is being easily blackmailed into aiding and abetting criminal acts by an ex-boyfriend who has simply threatened to expose her deep, dark past. I don’t think she’s the kind of resolute person you’d want in the foxhole with you. As seems to be true every year, we have a new tactical squad guy, a new techie guy, and a new CTU head; we don’t really know enough about them to care much. Former FBI agent Renee “Freckle Face” Walker has returned from last season, but she has been badly traumatized and is now a robotic character with a death wish who doesn’t blink when she saws off the thumb of a nameless bad guy. The normal complement of random 24 characters have been quickly introduced and then just as quickly knocked off.