The Top Seven Global Warming Alarmist Setbacks in 2013

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Photo Credit: REUTERS/Japan Meteorological Agency/MTSAT/Handout via Reuters

Photo Credit: REUTERS/Japan Meteorological Agency/MTSAT/Handout via Reuters

Hold your champagne glasses high this holiday season, because the end of 2013 marks the 17th year without global warming.

This year has been trying for climate scientists and environmentalists who have been trying hard to explain away the 17-year hiatus in global warming and link “extreme weather” to rising greenhouse gas emissions — despite strong evidence to the contrary. There has been a breakdown in the manmade global warming consensus, and some even argue we are headed for an ice age.

In honor of the 17th year without global warming, The Daily Caller News Foundation has put together seven setbacks for global warming alarmism.

1) Studies show that the world was warmer than it is today during the Roman Empire and when the Vikings were plundering Europe and North America. In fact, even in the 19th Century, there were discussions surrounding the fact that the Vikings could settle the northernmost reaches of Greenland and North America because there was less ice coverage.

2) During the second week in December, the U.S. saw more than 2000 record low temperatures and record snowfalls, according to the National Weather Service and HamWeather records center. There were 606 record low temperatures, 1,234 low maximum temperatures and 285 record snowfalls across the country. In the meantime there were only 98 high temperature records and 141 high minimum temperature records.

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Judge: Obama’s DHS Facilitating Drug Cartels’ Human Trafficking

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Photo Credit: AFP

Photo Credit: AFP

By Matthew Boyle.

A United States federal judge has accused President Barack Obama’s Department of Homeland Security (DHS) of being complicit in helping Mexican drug cartels and felons inside America smuggle illegal aliens into the country.

In a court order he signed on Dec. 13, 2013, U.S. District Judge Andrew S. Hanen of the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Texas wrote that four times in the last four weeks he has heard troubling cases involving the DHS’s complicity in helping smuggle people across the border to their final destination.

This particular court opinion involved a case where Mirtha Veronica Nava-Martinez attempted to smuggle a ten-year old El Salvadorean female, whom Judge Hanen referred to only by her initials Y.P.S. to protect the minor’s identity, into the country. Nava-Martinez pled guilty and has been sentenced; Judge Hanen wrote after the case:

On May 18, 2013, Nava-Martinez, an admitted human trafficker, was caught at the Brownsville & Matamoras Bridge checkpoint. She was trying to smuggle Y.P.S. into the United States using a birth certificate that belonged to one of her daughters. Nava-Martinez had no prior relationship with Y.P.S. and was hired by persons unknown solely to smuggle her into the United States. Nava-Martinez is a resident alien and this was her second felony offense in three years, having committed a food stamp fraud offense in 2011. She was to be paid for smuggling Y.P.S. from Matamoras to Brownsville, although the identity of her immediate payor and the amount are unknown. The details as to how Y.P.S. got to Matamoros, Mexico from El Salvador, and how she was to get from Brownsville to Virginia, were also not disclosed to the Court.

Hanen noted that the “conspiracy” began when Y.P.S.’s mother, Patricia Elizabeth Salmeron Santos, “solicited human traffickers to smuggle” her daughter from their home country of El Salvador into the United States and onward to her residence in Virginia.

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DHS Helps Drug Cartels Get Rich Off Human Trafficking Of Children

By INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY.

Border: A federal judge finds that the Department of Homeland Security, instead of arresting cartel members and the clients who pay them to smuggle children into the U.S., helps the drug lords complete the transactions.

Read more from this story HERE.

‘MUZZLED’: EPA Silenced Scientists that Challenged their Agenda

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Photo Credit: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Photo Credit: REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

The Environmental Protection Agency silenced scientific advisers who expressed concerns over the agency’s proposed carbon dioxide emissions limits for coal-fired power plants, House Republicans claim.

Republicans on the House’s science committee wrote a letter to EPA administrator Gina McCarthy expressing concern that the agency ignored scientists charged with reviewing carbon emissions limits for new power plants. Scientists said that the agency rushed through the regulatory process and that the underlying science of the rule lacked adequate peer review.

“We are concerned about the agency’s apparent disregard for the concerns of its science advisors,” the Republican lawmakers wrote. “Science is a valuable tool to help policymakers navigate complex issues.”

“However, when inconvenient facts are disregarded or when dissenting voices are muzzled, a frank discussion becomes impossible,” the lawmakers continued. “The EPA cannot continue to rush ahead with costly regulations without allowing time for a real-world look at the science.”

Republicans previously asked the EPA about how it responded to the scientific reviewers’ concerns, but agency officials distanced themselves from their own advisers, according to the letter. Specifically, lawmakers questioned the agency’s requirement that coal plants must install carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology in order to be built. The agency, however, said that their new power plant rule does not need to address such concerns about CCS.

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Judge Strikes Down Utah’s Gay Marriage Ban as Unconstitutional

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Photo Credit: REUTERS

Photo Credit: REUTERS

A federal judge struck down Utah’s same-sex marriage ban Friday in a decision that brings an increasing nationwide shift toward allowing gay marriage to a conservative state where the Mormon church has long been against it.

U.S. District Judge Robert J. Shelby issued a 53-page ruling saying Utah’s law passed by voters in 2004 violates gay and lesbian couples’ rights to due process and equal protection under the 14th Amendment.

Shelby said the state failed to show that allowing same-sex marriages would affect opposite-sex marriages in any way.

“In the absence of such evidence, the State’s unsupported fears and speculations are insufficient to justify the State’s refusal to dignify the family relationships of its gay and lesbian citizens,” Shelby wrote.

Late Friday, the state filed both a notice of appeal of the ruling and a request for an emergency stay that would stop marriage licenses from being issued to same-sex couples. It’s unknown when the judge will make a decision on whether to grant the stay.

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Hunters, Fishermen Targeted by Feds for Local Violations

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Photo Credit: peteSwede

Photo Credit: peteSwede

U.S. law enforcement agencies are conducting thousands of investigations using a law that makes violating state wildlife statutes a federal crime, often ensnaring hunters and fishermen for seemingly minor infractions.

Some even suffer stiff federal prison sentences.

Special agents and wildlife inspectors for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conduct about 2,500 investigative cases a year of violations of the Lacey Act, a 1900 law meant to combat illegal trafficking of wildlife. Additional probes of Lacey Act violations also are conducted by other federal agencies, as well as state and local governments.

Though a small percentage of the Lacey Act cases result in prison time, a high percentage plead guilty, consistent with a federal system in which 97 percent of cases end in plea deals.

But for those imprisoned, ensnared in costly investigations, or who pleaded guilty to reduced charges, the horrible repercussions can have a devastating impact on their livelihoods.

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U.S. Postal Service: First Class Bribery

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Photo Credit: AP

Photo Credit: AP

The U.S. Postal Service steered millions of dollars in contracts to companies that bribed employees or had relationships with them that violated ethics laws, according to an inspector general report released on Wednesday.

The IG identified eleven instances of employees at USPS vehicle maintenance facilities accepting bribes from contractors, receiving kickbacks for steering work to certain companies, or awarding to contracts to family members.

The report attributed many of the procurement problems to poor oversight of USPS contract awards.

“As a result, Postal Service agreements with suppliers completing vehicle repairs and maintenance are at risk of fraud, including potential conflicts of interest, bribery, and collusion,” the IG said.

More than $13 million in contracts were awarded to two companies, both owned by the same person, after he paid “cash and noncash bribes” to vehicle maintenance facility employees, the IG found.

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Duck Dynasty: Can’t Imagine Show Going on Without Phil

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

By Todd Starnes.

Duck season may soon be over for A&E.

The Robertson family released a statement late Thursday that raises doubts about the future of one of the most popular shows on cable television.

“We have had a successful working relationship with A&E but, as a family, we cannot imagine the show going forward without our patriarch at the helm,” the Robertson family said in a prepared statement. “We are in discussions with A&E to see what that means for the future of Duck Dynasty.”

The family said it has “spent much time in prayer” since learning A&E had suspended Phil Robertson, the patriarch of the Louisiana family, over comments he made about homosexuality.

Robertson sparked a national debate on religion and tolerance in an interview with GQ magazine. The writer asked him what he considered to be sinful behavior.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: LifeNews

Photo Credit: LifeNews

Like Phil Robertson, It’s Time for Christians to Speak Up Against Sin

By Bryan Kemper.

Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty was fired because of the cowardice of Christians to speak the truth about sin.

The irony of this news is that last night I sat down and watched my first episodes of Duck Dynasty to see what all the buzz was about and why my kids wanted Duck Dynasty stuff for Christmas. I was pleasantly surprised to see the prayer led by Phil Robertson at the end of each episode, and how he talked about his wife of 50 years.

This morning on Facebook I saw a post from my friend Troy Newman of Operation Rescue about Phil Robertson getting fired. He was fired from network for speaking about homosexuality. Phil simply stated his views about homosexuality and sin; he quoted the Holy Scriptures to support his Christian belief.

Why was he fired for practicing free speech? Why was he fired for stating his own opinion on a subject? Why was he fired when people like Bill Maher can rant about Christians and be celebrated for it?

Why was he fired? He was fired because Christians have retreated into a state of “I don’t want to offend anyone” attitude about sin. Christians would rather send a fluffy love message than proclaim that abortion is murder or that homosexuality is a sin. We have become pansies.

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Top 10 Broken Obamacare Promises

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Photo credit: The Wolf/Flickr

Photo credit: The Wolf/Flickr

By Alyene Senger.

Since the passage of Obamacare in 2010, many of the President’s famous promises have been routinely broken. As he so ironically threatened in 2009, “If you misrepresent what’s in this plan, we will call you out.” To that end, here are 10 promises of Obamacare that have already been broken.

1. “If you like your health care plan, you’ll be able to keep your health care plan, period.”

Reality:

Millions of Americans have lost and will lose their current coverage due to Obamacare.

4.7 million reported health insurance cancellations or changes of existing policies in 32 states.

2. “[T]hat means that no matter how we reform health care, we will keep this promise to the American people: If you like your doctor, you will be able to keep your doctor, period.”

Reality:

Many Americans might not be able to keep their current doctor without paying extra.

Many plans offered on Obamacare’s exchanges have very limited provider networks.

Read more from this story HERE.

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Photo Credit: White House Photo

Photo Credit: White House Photo

Obamacare timeline: what did Obama know and when did he know it?

By Wynton Hall.

The White House and the Health and Human Services (HHS) Department claim President Barack Obama and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius held “countless” one-on-one private meetings to work together on Obamacare.

They have, however, stonewalled requests by reporters to release the dates of the alleged and undocumented meetings–none of which appear on the official White House calendar.

On Tuesday, Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA) sent Sebelius a letter requesting a detailed list of the days she alleges to have met privately with Obama and blasting her “lack of transparency and disregard for straight answers.”

The reason for Obama and Sebelius’s obfuscation over the President’s level of executive leadership, oversight, and management of the Obamacare debacle is simple. If the Obama administration’s list of alleged one-on-one meetings between Obama and Sebelius contains a single meeting between April 4, 2013, and October 1, 2013, the White House is in danger of revealing President Obama to have been dishonest during his now-infamous November 14, 2013, press conference wherein he uttered this curiously worded phrase:

I was not informed directly [emphasis added] that the website would not be working as—the way it was supposed to. Had I been informed, I wouldn’t be going out saying, ‘Boy, this is going to be great.’ You know, I’m accused of a lot of things, but I don’t think I’m stupid enough to go around saying, ‘this is going to be like shopping on Amazon or Travelocity,’ a week before the website opens, if I thought that it wasn’t going to work. So, clearly, we and I did not have enough awareness about the problems in the website.

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Administration Announces New ObamaCare Exemption

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

The Obama administration, in an 11th-hour change just before the holiday break,announced a major exemption in ObamaCare that will let people who lost coverage and are struggling to get a new plan sign up for bare-bones policies.

The move Thursday to allow potentially hundreds of thousands of people to sign up for “catastrophic” coverage plans was blasted by the insurance industry as a shift that would cause “tremendous instability.”

The administration downplayed the sudden change, saying they expected it to impact fewer than 500,000 people.

Health and Human Services spokeswoman Joanne Peters said, “This is a common sense clarification of the law. For the limited number of consumers whose plans have been cancelled and are seeking coverage, this is one more option.”

An administration official confirmed to Fox News that Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius sent a letter to Capitol Hill saying the administration was expanding the definition of catastrophic plans to deal with people who have not been able to get a new plan.

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Death Penalty in the United States Gradually Declining

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Photo Credit: CNN

Photo Credit: CNN

A shortage of lethal injection chemicals has contributed to declining use of capital punishment in the United States with a new report on Thursday noting only 39 executions this year.

It is only the second time in the past two decades the annual number of inmates put to death has dropped below 40.

The total represents a 10 percent reduction from last year. No further executions are scheduled in 2013.

“Twenty years ago, use of the death penalty was increasing. Now it is declining by almost every measure,” said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, and the author of the report.

“The recurrent problems of the death penalty have made its application rare, isolated, and often delayed for decades. More states will likely reconsider the wisdom of retaining this expensive and ineffectual practice.”

Read more from this story HERE.