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eyes on the U.S.

Snow Storm Nemo Halts East Coast Travel Even Before It Starts

AP, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, NEW YORK TIMES, REUTERS

Worldcrunch

NEW YORK- Even before the first flake has fallen, the tabloid New York Daily News had already declared Friday that winter storm Nemo was "a pain in the butt."

With a major blizzard predicted to begin later in the day, Newark, Boston's Logan and New York's La Guardia Airports had cancelled hundreds of flights by early Friday, according to FlightAware. United Airlines canceled 900 flights in advance of the storm and Delta Air Lines crossed off more than 135. Breaking News Storm tweeted last night that 1550 flights had been canceled Friday in New York and Boston; the system-wide total is past 1,900 and climbing.

The northeastern U.S. cities are preparing to be smothered by a blanket of up to 45 centimeters (18 inches) of snow, as well as strong winds, meteorologist Joe Pollina told the New York Times.

"This has the potential for being a dangerous storm, especially for Massachusetts into northeast Connecticut and up into Maine," said Louis Uccellini, director of the National Weather Service, according to the AP.

"Accumulation is expected to be swift, heavy and dangerous," said Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, according to Reuters. The National Weather Service said winds could gust as high as 120 kilometers per hour (75 mph) as Friday progresses.

Jerome Hauer, commissioner of New York’s division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, made his warnings clear: “This is a dangerous storm with a lot of blowing snow, and very significant winds that will make travel Friday night into Saturday almost impossible,” Reuters reported.

We're ready for #Nemo: We have 250,000+ tons of salt on hand, 350 salt spreaders & plows ready to be put on 1,800 Sanitation trucks

— Mike Bloomberg (@MikeBloomberg) February 7, 2013

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food / travel

Legalizing Moonshine, A Winning Political Stand In Poland

Moonshine, typically known as “bimber” in Poland, may soon be legalized by the incoming government. There is a mix of tradition, politics and economics that makes homemade booze a popular issue to campaign on.

Photo of an empty vodka bottle on the ground in Poland

Bottle of vodka laying on the ground in Poland

Leszek Kostrzewski

WARSAWIt's a question of freedom — and quality. Poland's incoming coalition government is busy negotiating a platform for the coming years. Though there is much that still divides the Left, the liberal-centrist Civic Koalition, and the centrist Third Way partners, there is one area where Poland’s new ruling coalition is nearly unanimous: moonshine.

The slogan for the legalization of moonshine (known in Poland as "bimber") was initially presented by Michał Kołodziejczak, the leader of Agrounia, a left-wing socialist political movement in Poland that has qualified to be part of the incoming Parliament.

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”Formerly so-called moonshine was an important element of our cultural landscape, associated with mystery, breaking norms, and freedom from the state," Kołodziejczak said. "It was a reason to be proud, just like the liqueurs that Poles were famous for in the past.”

The president of Agrounia considered the right to make moonshine as a symbol of "subjectivity" that farmers could enjoy, and admitted with regret that in recent years it had been taken away from citizens. “It's also about a certain kind of freedom, to do whatever you want on your farm," Kołodziejczak adds. "This is subjectivity for the farmer. Therefore, I am in favor of providing farmers with the freedom to consume this alcohol for their own use.”

A similar viewpoint was aired by another Parliament member. “We will stop pretending that Polish farmers do not produce moonshine for their own use, such as for weddings,” the representative said, pointing out the benefits of controlling the quality. “Just like they produce slivovitz, which Poland is famous for. It's high time they did it legally.”

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