The Weather Gods are pissed.

We definitely got the 12 inches of snow predicted.  And the wind is still blowing it all over.  The major highways are closed here and barely passable in Chicago proper.  You can imagine what the lesser roads and side streets.  Our governor and the state police are advising everyone to not travel at all.  [update:  we have a state of emergency declared for this area.]  The temps are in the negative teens with wind chills around -40F.  Anyone out in this weather is insane.  Having said that I can remember when I was much younger and definitely insane.  But I have gained some sense with my years.  Nothing short of a life or death emergency will get either of us outside for most of this week.

Talk about insanity: for most of yesterday, while school districts all around were canceling classes for today, the Chicago school system was planning to hold classes while urging parents to use their own judgement whether to send their kid out in this mess.  After the teachers' union issued a very critical comment which questioned the board's "concern" for students' and teachers' welfare, they finally decided to stay closed.

Hope you all are staying safe and warm.

What is old is new again.  Unfortunately the bosses "boss-napped" aren't the ones driving company policy.

I thought, when I heard the news, the General Mills' move to market a GMO-free original Cheerios that the effect would be very limited and largely a PR move.  This article supports my view.  General Mills had to find non-GMO sources for its sugar and its corn starch.  That is a bit of a problem given that more than 95% of the beets (source of the sugar) and corn are GMO crops.  If you eat anything made from corn, wheat, or soy, it is almost certain you will eat a GMO product.  General Mills needed a year to find new ingredients and get them into production.

I can only say "AMEN!!" to this one.

I saw numerous stories over the last several days which claimed that North Korea's Kim Jong Un executed his uncle by throwing him (literally) to the dogs.  As with so many stories in the news I consider them with a whole lot of salt and enormous amounts of skepticism.  With good reason as this shows.