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Guest Post by Willis EschenbachI do love tracing down how numbers kind of ricochet around the web. This investigation started when I ran across a book review in the South China Morning Post of a book called “Overheated: The Human Cost of Climate Change“, by Andrew T Guzman.Figure 1. Andrew T. Guzman, law professor and environmental activist.I’ll pass on linking to the book, TWDR, too wrong, don’t read. The book review quotes the obviously overheated author as saying: Guzman anchors his doom-laden case in statistics. The 10 warmest years since 1880 have all happened since 1998, he says, and cites...

More than 200 people crowded into the Monticello High School auditorium on February 7 for a public hearing on the proposed designation of endangered species status for the small population of Gunnision Sage Grouse in San Juan County. Representatives from the US Fish and Wildlife Service faced a mostly hostile but mostly respectful crowd. They were there to explain the rationale behind the proposed designation and how it may affect the area. Two rules are proposed: one would designate the bird as an endangered species and the other would designation large swaths of land as critical habitat. San Juan County...

The White House press corps is expressing frustration over its lack of access this weekend to President Obama, who was on a golfing vacation in Florida.

This page allows you to tell the entire membership of both the New Mexico House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee and the House Judiciary Committee (18 representatives) to oppose House Bill 402 with one mouse click. HB 402 is an "all-out assault on law-abiding gun owners" in New Mexico. The bill is "one of the worst gun control bills filed in the entire country," as it would ban "the future possession and transport of a so-called 'assault weapon' or 'large-capacity ammunition-feeding devices.'" The legislation would mean that "Ownership of the affected firearms and magazines could not be transferred AT ALL....

Scientists working on Nasa's Messenger probe to Mercury have shown off a stunning new colour map of the planet. It comprises thousands of images acquired by the spacecraft during its first year in orbit. This is not how we would see Mercury, which would look like a dull, brownish-grey globe to our eyes. Rather, the map represents an exaggerated view of the planet that is intended to highlight variations in the composition of its rock. "Messenger's camera has filters that go from the blue to the near-infrared of the spectrum, and we are able to use computer processing to enhance...

Video of 2-year old water feature installed by Aquascape at a private residence in Crown Point, Indiana. The 500-foot long waterfall, stream and ecosystem pond incorporates a constructed wetland filter to keep it clean and is paired with a 50,000 gallon RainXchange System to capture stormwater run-off that feeds the water feature. Approximately 120,000 gallons of water are pumped per hour over the waterfall.

George Soros 'makes $1.2bn betting against yen' Hedge fund billionaire bet against Japanese economy in the last three months, according to report The Guardian, Friday 15 February 2013 15.10 EST Billionaire investor George Soros. Photograph: Pascal Lauener/Reuters George Soros, the hedge fund billionaire known as "the man who broke the Bank of England" for his $10bn (£6.4bn) bet against the value of the pound in 1992, has reportedly made more than $1.2bn betting against the yen. Soros' $24bn family investment fund bet against the Japanese economy in the last three months, sources close to the tycoon told the Wall Street...

For me, one of the most perplexing moments (out of the many) of President Obama’ State of the Union address last week was when he insisted that “as long as countries like China keep going all-in on clean energy, so must we.” So… because China is doing it, we must also relentlessly throw money we do not have at politically favored technologies now so awash in superfluous supply that its all they can do to keep their heads above water? China’s solar and wind industries are a hot mess of overcapacity, after the government got into the business of creating...

~~Come on in and shoot the breeze~~ Gun Talk Radio 2/17/13~~07:00 CST Listen to the podcast Here Or the KIDO 580 stream Here

I previously wrote about how BuzzFeed Politics has combined “the culture” and savvy crafting into a highly effective tool for undermining Republicans with subtle and not-so-subtle mockery.  “Look at the goofy cat, look at the goofy celeb, look at the goofy Republican” is more dangerous to us than a 5000-word article in The New York Times Sunday Magazine.To follow up on that theme, I happened upon a website called Upworthy, which had one its posts run at HuffPo, Elizabeth Warren Asks The Most Obvious Question Ever, Stumps A Bunch Of Bank Regulators.The post was so wrong on substance, I just...

  Our Troops Rock!  Thank you for all you do!   For the freedom you enjoyed yesterday... Thank the Veterans who served in The United States Armed Forces.   Looking forward to tomorrow's freedom? Support The United States Armed Forces Today!     ~ Hall of Heroes ~ Arthur Wermuth "The One Man Army of Bataan" Info from here.(Thank you to DeaconBenjamin for bringing this hero to our attention!)             Arthur Wermuth didn't look like a U.S. Army officer. Sporting a mustache and Vandyke beard, the former football star from South Dakota endured his baptism of...

Barack Obama is a terrible president. That's obvious to everyone who isn't chronically ignorant or incurably liberal. By "liberal" I don't mean the classic definition of the word which has to do with being open-minded and objective. I mean the modern version of liberal: self-centered, emotional, illogical, and void of reason. Unfortunately, in 2012 ignoramuses and liberals represented the majority of those who voted. I'm not worried about offending them with my harsh words. My very existence offends them, and so does yours if you don't buy into their worldview. From economic policy to energy policy to environmental policy to...

As the final deadline for creating state health insurance exchanges passed Friday, New Jersey, Tennessee and Florida said they would not work with the federal government on establishing insurance markets required under ObamaCare. Exchanges are online markets required under the federal health care law where consumers will be able to buy individual private policies and apply for government subsidies to help pay their premiums. In his announcement Friday, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said his administration is committed to complying with ObamaCare, but "only in a manner that is the most effective and efficient for the residents of New Jersey,...

The backbone of President Obama’s health care law is taking shape, with 26 states choosing to let the federal government run the online insurance markets mandated by his signature reforms instead of keeping the job in-house or partnering with the feds. The Department of Health and Human Services had encouraged states to run their own markets, or “exchanges,” that help the uninsured find coverage. Only 17 states and the District of Columbia took on the task, while seven states decided to split the duty with the Obama administration, according to a breakdown by the Kaiser Family Foundation... State leaders who...

Forget Wal-Mart and skip your local gun show. The murderers of tomorrow will not be found wearing orange vests at your local sporting goods store. They won’t have NRA memberships or trophies on their walls. You won’t find them in America. Look for them in Obamerica. 67% of firearm murders took place in the country’s 50 largest metro areas. The 62 cities in those metro areas have a firearm murder rate of 9.7, more than twice the national average. Among teenagers the firearm murder rate is 14.6 or almost three times the national average. Those are the crowded cities of...

I don’t know if you will see this in your volume of email, but you might. I am deeply into studying the impact of Obamacare on employers, and I have been communicating with highly sophisticated ERISA lawyers who are advising employers, from Fortune 50 companies to small firms under 50 employees, on whether to keep or drop or modify their employer group health plans. It has become very clear to everyone involved who is analytical and not ideological that the rational strategy, for both large and small firms, is to cease providing health care insurance to employees. No company wants...

Racial resentment is increasing, and it plays a major role in how Obama—and the Democratic Party—is perceived. Thomas Edsall has a fascinating column in today’s New York Times on the persistence of racial resentment in the Obama-era. For those not familiar with the term, “racial resentment” is defined as the convergence of anti-black sentiments with traditional American views on hard work and individualism. It’s measured using questions that focus on race and effort. People who answer in the affirmative to questions like this—“Irish, Italian, Jewish and many other minorities overcame prejudice and worked their way up. Blacks should do the...

After backlash from customers, the producer of Maker's Mark bourbon is reversing a decision to cut the amount of alcohol in bottles of its famous whiskey. Rob Samuels, Maker's Mark's chief operating officer, said Sunday that it is restoring the alcohol volume of its product to its historic level of 45 percent, or 90 proof. Last week, it said it was lowering the amount to 42 percent, or 84 proof, because of a supply shortage.

Another TCM alert: tonight at 8PM it's airing "Doctor Zhivago". Definitely worth seeing as Hollywood film that actually showed how terrible life was in Soviet Russia. The only thing I don't like about it is its hero cheating on his cute wife with Lara. Otherwise, a truly great film with Rod Steiger stealing the show as the opportunistic lawyer Komarovsky.

"With only seven episodes before The Walking Dead comes to what's expected to be an epic Season 3 finale, the war between the prison group and Woodbury is ramping up in a big way.......As Rick is descending into madness, the rest of his group will need to take steps to ensure their safety, which is made more difficult since Daryl decided to leave with his brother Merle, Rick kicked out Tyreese's group and he wants Michonne gone. Can the prison really survive an assault from Woodbury in this state? TVGuide caught up with the cast of the AMC series to...