Real Climate Science

When lefties say that they want an honest debate, what they are really saying is that they will run away from any situation where a debate could actually occur.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, noting that Vice President Joe Biden reportedly plans to revive a legislative push for gun control,  challenged him to a debate about policy responses to gun violence.

“I would like to invite the vice president to engage in an hour-long conversation and debate, ‘How do we stop crime’,” Cruz said at the National Rifle Association Leadership Forum today. “If Vice President Biden really believes that the facts are on his side … then I would think he would welcome the opportunity to talk about the sources, the causes of violent crime, who is carrying it out, and how we can do everything humanly possible to stop it.”

Cruz indicated that he doesn’t regard Biden as a formidable opponent, noting that Biden’s home defense advice — firing a shotgun twice into the air — “is very useful, if it so happens that you’re being attacked by a flock of geese.”

Ted Cruz challenges Joe Biden to debate about gun control | WashingtonExaminer.com

The US Apologizer In Chief went to Mexico yesterday and told them that most Mexican guns came from the US. While it is true that Obama and John Holder have given thousands of guns to Mexican drug lords, the fact is that the vast majority of Mexican guns are from Eastern Europe.

You’ve heard this shocking “fact” before — on TV and radio, in newspapers, on the Internet and from the highest politicians in the land: 90 percent of the weapons used to commit crimes in Mexico come from the United States.

— Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said it to reporters on a flight to Mexico City.

— CBS newsman Bob Schieffer referred to it while interviewing President Obama.

— California Sen. Dianne Feinstein said at a Senate hearing: “It is unacceptable to have 90 percent of the guns that are picked up in Mexico and used to shoot judges, police officers and mayors … come from the United States.”

— William Hoover, assistant director for field operations at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, testified in the House of Representatives that “there is more than enough evidence to indicate that over 90 percent of the firearms that have either been recovered in, or interdicted in transport to Mexico, originated from various sources within the United States.”

There’s just one problem with the 90 percent “statistic” and it’s a big one:

It’s just not true.

In fact, it’s not even close. The fact is, only 17 percent of guns found at Mexican crime scenes have been traced to the U.S.

The Myth of 90 Percent: Only a Small Fraction of Guns in Mexico Come From U.S. | Fox News

Looks like he is headed out on his second term apology tour. He appears determined to destroy the Bill of Rights before the 2014 election.

YearTDeptUS.png (688×531)

Crack experts from the Navy, as well as the US Secretary of State have forecast that the Arctic will be ice-free this summer. Currently the ice extent is almost exactly at the 1979-2000 mean.

COI | Centre for Ocean and Ice | Danmarks Meteorologiske Institut

http://trove.nla.gov.au/

Jeff Masters says that droughts and floods on the Mississippi River didn’t used to happen.

Continue reading →

The Pittsburgh Press – Google News Archive Search

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof

The Columbus High School Mighty Cardinals had won the 4×100-meter relay–by seven yards, no less–and had a shot at the state championship. That was until Junior sprinter Derrick Hayes pointed to the sky. Hayes’s father, K.C., said that his son made a gesture of thanks to God, but raising a hand to the sky is considered excessive celebration according to the state scholastic rules. And with that, the team was disqualified.

“It was a reaction,” K.C. Hayes said. “You’re brought up your whole life that God gives you good things, you’re blessed.”

Many interviewed around town said that this was a violation of freedom of religion rights. Columbus High School said that religious gestures are not banned, but they must be done off of the competition field or court.

High School Track Team Disqualified When Runner Gestures Thanks to God

Other witnesses also emphasized the principle of damage and risk mitigation. Dr. Katharine Hayhoe, a director of the Climate Science Center at Texas Tech University, asked legislators to think about the ways society depended on current climate conditions.

“We have built a civilization on the assumption of a stable climate,” she said. “If we were still living in tents, climate change wouldn’t be as big of a problem. But we can’t move Houston 100 feet uphill.”

House Panel Hears Testimony on Climate Change | The Texas Tribune

The US is experiencing the coldest spring on record, and the quietest year for tornadoes. Experts say this is due to an overheated atmosphere caused by your failure to purchase a Prius.

Updated 2 May 2013 to correct typo on date of previous low tornado count

The 12-month period from May 2012 to April 2013 was remarkable for the absence of tornado activity and tornado impacts in the United States.

We can start by looking at the number of EF1 and stronger tornadoes during that period. A final count is available through January 2013 and we have a pretty good estimate of how many occurred in February through April, although final numbers won’t be available until July. Although the 12 month total may change a little bit with the final data, it’s unlikely to change enough to affect the results here.

From May 2012-April 2013, the estimate is that there were 197 tornadoes rated EF1 or stronger. Where does that stack up historically? Well, we have pretty good data back to 1954. During that time, the previous low for (E)F1 and stronger tornadoes in a 12 consecutive calendar month period was 247, from June 1991-May 1992. The next lowest (ignoring the overlapping periods, such as April 2012-March 2013) was 270 from November 1986-October 1987. The lowest non-overlapping 12 month counts on record from 1954-present, with the starting month, are:

197 May 2012 (preliminary)
247 June 1991
270 November 1986
289 December 2001
298 June 2000

Low Tornado Numbers and Low Tornado Deaths, May 2012-April 2013 – NOAA Weather Partners

America is finally fed up. New surveys by Public Policy Polling and Quinnipiac University confirm Clinton’s view that the public has cooled to the NRA.

Opinion: GOP, ready to turn your back on NRA? – CNN.com

Ahhh.  That explains why Americans have been buying guns and ammunition at a record pace, and manufacturers can’t keep up with demand. Because they are fed up with guns.

What Americans are really fed up with is the Communist News Network and the White House working to destroy the Bill of Rights.