The News-Gazette.com: Reporter's Notebook: Slowly warming up to the task

WASHINGTON – Friends and family back home have been asking what the weather's like here.

Not quite as cold as in Illinois, yet it's frigid, with biting winds, yet sunny with clear skies. Invigorating, but whenever I try to take notes outside with my KrannertCenter.com pens, the ink barely flows.

On Saturday morning, as I write this, the temperature is 4 degrees, with an expected high of 27.

...I also hope to witness a shoe-throw protest against Bush policies and attend the Green Inaugural Ball. Al Gore is its honorary chair.

I hope to catch a glimpse of him and, better yet, over the next few days, one of Obama, the holy grail.

Carbon Tax vs. Cap-and-Trade: Don’t Forget Neither — MasterResource

The option of unpriced carbon dioxide (CO2) has several good arguments for it.

Boehner Outlines GOP Views on Obama's Stimulus Plan

[HOUSE MINORITY LEADER JOHN BOEHNER] But the president understands that we need to stimulate the economy, not stimulate our government. And, if you look at the over $500 billion worth of spending, a lot of it's going to fix up federal buildings, and -- and $6 billion to community action programs to do weatherization programs.

It's just more of the same kind of wasteful spending that we have seen in the past. I was really -- I was shocked.