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We've reached the halfway mark for winter. "What," Blondie cries, "You mean that we have as much misery in front of us as we have behind us?"

Yes, Virginia, there is a nasty forecast in your future. I'm told that there was snow last week in 49 of the 50 states, Florida being the sole exception. Even Hawaii got some snow, although admittedly, it was at the peaks of their mountains.

I remind her that there are people who like snowy weather, and not just those who supplement their income by plowing the white stuff. They like winter sports like skiing, and sledding and skating, and as Eddie Rendell reminds us, football used to be a cold weather sport. She is more concerned about getting out and taking walks with Marie, although Marie likes this weather just fine. She sticks her nose into the snow and roots around like a hog in a muddy pasture.

Seasonal Affective Disorder

We previously criticized the cable so-called-news channels for doing such a pathetic job of covering the events in Egypt. The Pew Charitable Trust people came up with this survey that says that viewers really don't give much of a hoot about what's happening there.

I don't know whether that's because of the events, or because of the coverage. One of the important factors in determining whether something is "news" is how much something affects you. That's why local news is news locally, but not news nationally - but we all know that a flea burping in New York, Washington, Atlanta or Los Angeles (where the broadcast news organizations are headquartered) gets more news coverage than 20 people dying in a small town in the Great Flyover.

The Donald Revelation

It's 3 AM and there's freezing rain - it should be frozen rain since it's 28F out, but it's not - spitting out of the sky. The snow out back is getting a good wet surface, and I imagine it will be fun in the morning to go skating down the streets.

They called off the Groundhog's Day activities in Dover, PA for inclement weather, long before it became obvious that it wasn't going to be nearly as bad as envisioned. Unlike the movie, there were no plans to keep trying, over and over, until they get it right. Sometimes, I feel like that's Variations On A Theme, not by Erik Sartre, but by me. I keep trying different things, and they never work out.

But if the groundhog sleeps in, does that mean an early spring? If he gets up and sees his shadow, that's six more weeks of winter, but doesn't an early spring require that he get up and not see his shadow?

"Looking for your glasses?"

I hate looking for my glasses, because I can't see to find them. The last time I bought glasses, it was a two-fer price, so in theory, I should be able to wear one pair to search for the other pair, but about two weeks after getting the two pair, I ended up lying down on one pair, and bent them so that they aren't very comfortable, and at this point, I don't know where the other pair is, which seems to be what usually happens when I buy a spare of anything.

Learning The Wrong Lesson

You'd think I'd learn, but it seems I learn the wrong lesson. Mark Twain pointed out that it's a great problem for many people, and not just people, either. A cat, having once jumped onto a hot stove, learns not just not to jump on a hot stove, but not to jump on a cold one as well. That story isn't as useful today, in a world of central heating, as it was when heating stoves were common, as in my youth, but I suppose you have an imagination, else you wouldn't be reading this drivel, you'd be reading some other drivel instead.

When the ruling party's building was on fire in Cairo, Reuters and CNN were reporting that it was on fire. Fox News and MSNBC, on the other hand, were featuring talking heads, those of professors who haven't been in Egypt in 30 years, discussing how this will affect our relations with Israel.

Al-Jazerra, though was covering the fire. They had a live video feed.

Fox News proclaims that they deliver the news, and allow us to decide. MSNBC says, "Like hell, they do, they deliver false facts," and they deliver opinion based on facts which may not be deliverately incorrect, but which are based on inevitable mischaracterization and analysis based on a warped world view. And CNN's Twitter-centric universe talks about the news, but doesn't deliver the news itself.

But Al-Jazerra offers the unblinking stare of a live camera feed.

They Aren't Perfect