Gur orfg cneg bs gur rkcynangvba, va zl bcvavba, vf "lbh unir fbzrguvat V arrq". Zl urnqpnaba vf gung Craa jvgubhg gur Fvzhetu vf n cngebavmvat frkvfg perrc, ohg jbhyq'ir unq gur oenvaf abg gb hayrnfu nyy gung ba Avgn. Gur Fvzhetu tnir uvz gung srryvat bs arrqvat fbzrguvat sebz ure- uvf creprcgvba bs "arrqvat uryc" nf vanqrdhnpl naq uvf ernpgvbaf gb gung ner nyy uvf bja. Vs ur unqa'g unq gur bhgevqre, ur'q fgvyy or n wrex (ybbx ubj ur gerngf uvf tenaqsngure)- gur cneg ur'f abgvpvat hcba pbzvat bhg bs vg vf gung ur jnf n wrex gb fbzrbar jubfr inyhr ur pbhyq erpbtavmr.

Spoilers for Interim Errantry 2: On Ordeal, specifically Znzivfu'f fgbel:

V unir n arj vqrn nobhg jung Znzivfu zrnaf ol "pregnva ercebqhpgvir riragf va zl fcrpvrf", naq V QBA'G YVXR VG. (Nqzvggrqyl "guvf jbhyq or n terng jnl gb rapbhentr bgure Gnhjss gb rng zl obql naq tnva zl xabjyrqtr naq novyvgvrf" qbrfa'g fdhner jvgu ure vavgvny "penpxref ner n cneg bs lbhe nangbzl?" vzcerffvba (hayrff fur nffhzrq Xvg jnf orvat ernyyl trareny jvgu gur cerfrag grafr), fb gung'f cebonoyl abg npghnyyl jung fur zrnaf. OHG FGVYY. V yvxrq vg orggre jura gur bayl vzcerffvba V tbg jnf "lbh unir pubpbyngr-syniberq Ivnten?".)

Nyfb V'z abg fher jurer fur tbg gung yvar nobhg rtt-qnzf, fvapr fur arire zrg uref, naq gur qrfpevcgvba bs Jvzfg nf n jubyr vzcyvrq gung cnerag-puvyq eryngvbafuvcf ner abg zhpu bs n guvat sbe ure fcrpvrf. Zl thrff vf fur cvpxrq hc vzcerffvbaf bs gur cebprff va ure geniryf nf n jvmneq, naq vf onfvpnyyl snxvat univat crefbany rkcrevrapr va na rssbeg abg gb trg gbb jrveq jvgu Xvg (abgnoyl, nsgre naabhapvat ur'f whfg tvira ure pubpbyngr-syniberq Ivnten...). Vs fb, fur'f n ybg orggre ng abg-ylvat-va-gur-Fcrrpu guna Xvg vf. :C

V rfcrpvnyyl rawbl Znex'f vzcerffvba gung fbzrguvat greevoyr vf nobhg gb unccra, orpnhfr gur jubyr cerzvfr vf gung fbzrguvat greevoyr vf nyernql unccravat; jr'er whfg abg ng gur pragre bs qrnyvat jvgu vg sbe bapr. :C Gur cneg bs guvf vagreiragvba jurer fbzrguvat tbrf harkcrpgrqyl jebat naq arrqf rzretrapl znantrzrag unccrarq qnlf ntb (vg jnf pbirerq va gur bevragngvba zngrevny! <3), naq gur rkpvgvat, pyvznpgvp, hapregnva-fheiviny cneg vf fgvyy tbvat ba, obgu sbe gur jvmneqf ubyqvat Gurfon gbtrgure naq gur Grinenygv fgvyy ba gurve jnl gb fbzrjurer fnsr. Ohg "nyy unaqf ba qrpx" qbrfa'g zrna rirelobql trgf gb fgrre, naq V erfcrpg QQ n ybg sbe jevgvat n fngvfslvat fgbel nobhg punenpgref ba gur bhgre rqtrf bs n cebwrpg yvxr guvf. Fgngvfgvpnyyl, gurer bhtug gb or n ybg zber bs gurz...

I think I wasn't very clear about my objection, sorry!

I'm not saying a government isn't capable of keeping secrets. To rephrase my initial point: a government representative who isn't very effective at the day-to-day struggles of their position (driving policy changes, negotiating and resolving disputes, crafting a message) may still be very effective at making sure a damaging secret doesn't get out, because the threat of losing their job may drive them to try things that they wouldn't do in the course of solving more ordinary problems.

(Those desperate measures may involve doing things that the person can't officially do as a government representative- destroying evidence, offering bribes, or worse- but may nonetheless be available. Just because the government needs it done doesn't mean that only the techniques in the government's official repertoire are allowed.)

There certainly ARE logistical issues with executing a cover-up, but the difficulty of solving them (and by extension, the possibility that a successful cover-up exists) varies wildly with the size of the cover-up.
If the people you need to keep quiet number in the thousands, and their home addresses are spread over a hundred square miles, it'll take a LOT of work to stop that information escaping. If they have Internet access and a reason to share the information as soon as possible, you may already be too late no matter how much power you have available.
If there are only a dozen of them and they all live on the same block, that doesn't take as much work.
If there are only two or three of them, and they're in the same room with you, and you have the authority to call for armed backup and subsequently order a legitimate-looking search of their homes and businesses... you may be able to wrap this up in a matter of days.

I am not a journalist and I don't have any concrete examples of successful cover-ups to point out. (To the extent that they were successful, I wouldn't know about them.) All I'm saying is that "nobody could cover X up and get away with it" doesn't always apply.

I always doubt government cover-up stories, just because if the government was so capable at that, why haven't they applied that level of competence to everything else?
This line of reasoning doesn't work for me, at least if the cover-up story proposes a sufficiently controversial hidden truth. The first rule of organization is that no organization can accomplish anything if it doesn't exist anymore; if you don't prioritize keeping your job over doing your job, you're likely to be replaced by someone who did.

The line that does work for me, most of the time, is "if the government covered it up, how does [the person telling me this story] know about it?" :P Though more often my question is "why would the government DO [the thing they've supposedly covered up] in the first place?"...

Nf nyjnlf, gur frevrf vf xvaq bs bofrffrq jvgu gur vqrn bs fnpevsvpvat gur bar (veeryrinag) sbe gur tbbq bs gur znal (eryrinag), naq jurgure gung'f ernyyl n fhccbegnoyr cebcbfvgvba. Gung dhrfgvba vf uvg cnegvphyneyl uneq va guvf rcvfbqr, juvpu znxrf frafr sbe bar gvgyrq "Eryrinapr."

Funj oryvrirf gung vg vf n fhccbegnoyr cebcbfvgvba, rira jura fur'f gur bar.

(S4 spoilers) Lbh xabj, V arire erzrzorerq guvf va gur pbagrkg bs ure nep fgnegvat jvgu Vs-Gura-Ryfr, ohg vg'f na rkpryyrag cbvag. Funj jbhyq unir orra gbgnyyl ba obneq jvgu gur Znpuvar nfxvat gur grnz gb fgbc sbphfvat ba fnivat ure naq trg onpx gb fnivat gur jbeyq.

I don't know how similar the systems are (here's the Wikipedia article from that side of the Atlantic: Winter of 2010-11 in Great Britain and Ireland, but Ronan says there's a foot of snow on the ground with more coming, and the airports are shutting down. The line about the origin is "Trust me, we don't need your help to cause major snow events! We've got Siberia."

As for how typical the westward trajectory is- no idea. A good question for DD! (I definitely trust her research on the origins of this system, though, since she was living in Ireland when this story took place.)

Ronan said Ireland had its own storm(s) coming from Eurasia. This may help with the puzzling.

The Machine is Commissioner Jim Gordon- the vigilantes' main ally within the system, who has the insider perspective to identify trouble spots and sends our heroes a signal when they're needed.

I see where you're coming from- the unspoken obligation would irritate the hell out of me, too- but I think what Nita and Carmela are doing is less about obligation ("I have assumed you'll come, so be here or you'll hurt my feelings") and more about preparation ("I have assumed you can come, so feel free to show up without advance notice").