And so it goes.
These blizzard-like conditions are bringing record snow levels to Washington and Philadelphia and a huge blast of snow to the New York area. And they're causing lots of discussions about the state of our weather, and what's causing all this. El Nino, La Nina, global warming, or perhaps just Mother Nature's fickleness. I'm not sure it really matters. What we know is that these bad-weather systems have a remarkably leveling effect on our otherwise stratified society. We are all in this together. And that's a good feeling.
And have you noticed that, with the economy still mired in the doldrums, you don't hear about how much these storms are costing us in terms of lost productivity, but only in terms of how local governments have already spent their budgets for snow removal?
My how times have changed.
The worst of the weather hits tonight. At this writing, about 6,000 flights have been canceled, and there's no telling when the airports will be up and running at full speed. Lee Goldberg is tracking the storm and he leads our coverage tonight at 11. And we have a crew of reporters out in the elements, as we expect the conditions to keep getting worse through the night.
There are several other stories we're following that, if it weren't for this storm, might lead our 11 p.m. news.
There's a new military offensive in Afghanistan. Iraq has ordered hundreds of former and current employees of Blackwater to leave the country within 7 days - this after a U.S. judge dismissed criminal charges against several Blackwater guard accused in the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqis in 2007. Iran has cracked down on protestors - there are reports of some executions and jailings - in anticipation of tomorrow's anniversary of the Iran revolution. And did Toyota hide evidence of safety defects? That's the claim of a former top attorney with the giant automaker.
We'll also have any breaking news tonight, plus Scott Clark with the night's sports. I hope you can join Liz Cho and me, tonight at 11.
BILL RITTER
