[paulk]

How many of us were busy using the internet in 1991? Making Accuweather the sole arbiter of what information we should have does not sound like us getting what we (the taxpayers) have paid for. The NWS position on this issue is pretty clear. To paraphrase the head of the NWS: You have to know about all the weather in order to tell when some of it might be severe. It''s sure nice on a summer weekend, right up to when the thundercloud forms. The NWS should only be able to alert us when the thundercloud shows up on the radar? Don''t think so.

Accuweather may not charge for generic weather reports on the internet now, but what happens when they''re the only show in town? Will it take ten minutes of pop-up ads for suntan lotion or chapstick, or bathing suits, or ski clothes, before we can find out what we want to know? If we have paid for this information that the government is now providing directly to us, why do we need Accuweather to prevent them from doing this? Should we have Fedex prevent the Post office from delivering mail, because they want to make money doing the same thing?