Global warming?

I don't understand why some Republicans continue to live under the myth that there's no such thing as global warming. To me and most other people who are native to the Midwest, it's obvious that the weather has changed drastically from even 5 years ago.

When I was little, I remember heavy snowstorms and super-cold temperatures being common phenomena during Iowa winters. There were days when school would be cancelled because the wind chill was so low. Or because another storm had dumped a pile of snow across the state. And people who are older than I am will say that in the 60s and 70s, the snow was even more prolific, with drifts piled high throughout the winter.

And now? In Iowa, Minnesota and South Dakota, not a single flake of snow so far this winter, and it's almost January. Not that there hasn't been precipitation. We've had several "storm" systems go through and dump a great deal of rain across the area – rain that would have been snow had the temperature been below freezing. It's happening again today – we would be getting snow, but instead it's raining because the temperature remains well above freezing.

Now, I don't exactly mind the mild temperatures, but it is scary when you think about how much the winter weather has changed during my lifetime. And the GOP and right-wingers still will say it's just natural climate patterns or whatever their BS line is about global warming now. And, I actually do like snow, but I'm seriously wondering whether there will be a major snowfall at all this winter. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if there's not. And yet, the TV weather people will continue to talk about the jet stream or whatever, and everyone will ignore the giant elephant in the room – i.e. why the hell is it always too warm for snow to fall?????

Crazy days in the newsroom

It's been a stress-filled past couple of days at work, with the unexpected brain surgery of South Dakota Sen. Tim Johnson. When I got into work Wednesday, I knew I was designing page 1A, but I didn't realize that Johnson had had a stroke – or stroke-like symptoms, as it was reported. Then we got the word from some inside sources that he'd had a "severe" stroke, and we weren't sure if he was going to live or not. And I started hyperventilating because I'm still a rookie, and here I was quite possibly going to have to design the front page for the biggest story of the decade in South Dakota.

And, I realized later, not only was this a huge story in South Dakota, but a huge story nationally because of the razor-thin Democratic edge in the Senate. Anyway, it all ended up turning out pretty well. I had quite a lot of input on how to design the page on both Wednesday and Thursday. And now I can add both to my portfolio and say, "Hey, look how calmly I handled this huge breaking-news story." Even though at the time, I felt like I was going to have a stroke.

Now, fortunately, it looks like Senator Johnson is doing pretty well. I'm hoping and praying for his recovery – not because he's a Democrat but because he's a human and, from what I've heard, a genuinely good guy.

I love posting photos

OK, there's nothing too interesting about this photo, but I like posting pics. My mom decided that we needed to have family portraits taken by the same guy who did my sister's senior pics. It was supposed to be part of the celebration for my dad's 50th birthday last week. Even though my dad was less than thrilled about celebrating his birthday by sitting for a bunch of pictures.

But it was OK, because later on we had a big party for him at the Elks lodge with free Amber Bock, which really helped take the edge off the picture-taking. Altogether, it was a pretty good time, even though the DJ at the party was playing ridiculously old music – we're talking pre-rock 'n roll. But that's to be expected at the Elks, where the average age of the members is about 85.