As you've no doubt heard, the threat of Natural Global Colding is already showing signs of occurring, like it snowing in May in the midwest — in the middle of a drought, no less — and now the Oklahoma tornadoes being extra-violent because of the extra-cold wind sheer.  The following Newsweek article was written before the current rage of twisters, so the author was, indeed, prescient in what he says about them and how, unlike global warming, global colding actually will cause tornadoes and hurricanes to increase in both number and intensity, as his numbers verify.

Pic: This week's issue of Time also covers the subject in depth

There are ominous signs that the earth's weather patterns may have begun to change dramatically and that these changes may portend a drastic decline in food production — with serious political implications for just about every nation on earth.  The drop in food output could begin quite soon, perhaps only ten years from now.

The evidence is support of these predictions has now begun to accumulate so massively that meteorologists are hard-pressed to keep up with it.

Last April, in the most devastating outbreak of tornadoes ever recorded, 148 twisters killed more than 300 people and caused half a billion dollars' worth of damage in thirteen U.S. states.

...

Trend: To scientists, these seemingly disparate incidents represent the advance signs of fundamental changes in the world's weather.  The central fact is that after three quarters of a century of extraordinarily mild conditions, the earth's climate seems to be cooling down.  Meteorologists disagree about the cause and extent of the cooling trend, as well as over its specific impact on local weather conditions.  But they are almost unanimous in the view that the trend will reduce agricultural productivity for the rest of the century.  If the climatic change is as profound as some of the pessimists fear, the resulting famines could be catastrophic.

Reid Bryson of the University of Wisconsin points out that the earth's average temperature during the great Ice Ages was only about 7 degrees lower than during its warmest eras — and that the present decline has taken the planet about a sixth of the way toward the Ice Age average.

Climatologists are pessimistic that political leaders will take any positive action to compensate for the climatic change, or even to allay its effects.  The scientists see few signs that government leaders anywhere are even prepared to take the simple measures of stockpiling food or of introducing the variables of climatic uncertainty into economic projections of future food supplies.  The longer the planners delay, the more difficult will they find it to cope with climatic change once the results become grim reality.

So that's about as sobering as it gets, folks.  Ten years really isn't a very long time.

I originally spotted this alarming article on a very cool AGW site called Real Science.

The original article is here.

Newsweek.

April 28.

1975.

Dear Maggie's Valued Female Reader™:

I have tremendously good news.

It must be awful constantly being treated as a second-class citizen in a male-dominated society.  We all know about the inequalities in the job market, corporate structure and politics, but it's exceptionally cruel when even something as simple as sports needs an official Act of Congress (Title IX) just so a college can have a girls softball team.

But perhaps the biggest reminder of your lowly status is that even your clothes are regulated.  Wear this, don't wear that.  Do you see men going through any such restrictions?  Of course not.  Your being told what to wear based on your gender is the moral equivalent of being told which bathroom you can use based on the color of your skin.

And the great progressive city of New York has decided to address this hideous injustice, once and for all.

No longer will you be castigated and restricted and confined merely because of your gender.  No longer will you be forced to wear the shackles that the male-dominated society has placed upon you.

Because of the grand farsightedness of the great city of New York, you no longer have to wear the shackles at all.

Topless Women in Public Not Breaking the Law, Says NYPD

See, guys?

Progressivism isn't always bad.

BD's in the delightful midwestern hamlet of Ohio this weekend, so I'll be doing today's morning links.  He didn't tell me where he was going, but I'm guessing it's that big Two-Seed-In-The-Spirit Predestinarian Baptist revival they're having when they ordain the new ministers.  Given all the pomp and circumstance, I think you'll admit, a two-day visit would be hard to turn down.

Interesting News

In the old days, an article on how to avoid an IRS audit would be titled, "How To Avoid An IRS Audit".

But in light of recent events, we have...

How to Tell If the IRS Is Eyeing You

Ah, but I know what you're thinking.  You're thinking, "But where can I get $14 million dollars, Doc?"

No problem!  Simply follow these five easy steps and you'll be rolling in clover before the day is done!

How I 'Stole' $14 Million from a Bank: A Security Tester's Tale

If you haven't paid any attention to Google Glass yet, you might want to check out this article and video:

Google Glass: Limited and Clunky, but the Future

Much like drone technology and printed guns, Glass will be used in both directions, good and bad.  A number of casinos and bars have already banned them — and they're not even on the market yet. At some point, sure enough some Congressman is going to have his career ruined because someone innocently wearing Glass accidentally caught him using a hideous, derogatory word like macaca.  It was on YouTube a minute later and that was that.

On the other hand, picture a fireman fighting inside a massive blaze and having his Glass direct him to the room the children are cowering in.  So it'll be interesting to see what springs forth.

I mentioned in my little diatribe on marijuana that, while D.C. Congress has been dragging its feet, individual states have been taking the initiative.

Individual states like the one D.C. Congress is actually in:

Marijuana Movement Plants Flag on Capitol Hill

The movement to legalize marijuana has arrived at Congress' back door.

Later this month the first medical cannabis dispensaries are expected to open in the nation's capital, including one just eight blocks from the Capitol dome.

Which isn't to say that D.C. is the only one joining in the fun:

‘High’ Tolerance: NYC on the Road to Decriminalizing Pot

And back to those numerous health benefits (lumbago, gout, heart disease, athlete's foot, cancer) we keep hearing about...

Smoking Marijuana Linked to Lower Diabetes Risk in Study

And then there's one of everyone's favorite oxymorons, scientific liberal.

'Scientific' Liberals Should Accept Results of Science

For two decades, progressives have castigated those questioning global warming as "deniers."

But the Economist, once firmly in the alarmist camp, recently acknowledged that global temperatures have remained stagnant for 15 years even as greenhouse-gas emissions have soared.

This may be because existing models have overestimated the planet's sensitivity. Or because the heat generated is sinking to the ocean bottom. Or because of something else completely.

How should a scientifically inclined liberal react to this trend? By inhaling deeply and backing off on economy-busting mitigation measures till science offers clearer answers.

And how have liberals reacted? By sticking their fingers in their ears and chanting la-la-la.

Uh-yup.  We've shown this over and over again on this site.  Even when these same great scientific minds claim that global colding is the real menace here, they turn a blind eye and continue their hearty endeavors.

Cicadas Swarming U.S. East Coast Are Climate Change Veterans (1 week ago)

On the Brink: Climate Change Endangers Common Species (4 days ago)

How Climate Change Could Affect Seasonal Allergies (yesterday)

Under the heading of "Damn!", I was hoping the new Star Trek 'prequel' would be as good as the first.  But it ain't worth dogshit according to this reviewer:

Movie Review: ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’

On the other end of the spectrum, I thought 'Django Unchained' was the best movie I'd seen in a year.  I'll do a review on it sometime.  There's an interesting connection to make between it and 'Blazing Saddles'.  Any guesses?

On the 'NCIS' front, I watched the last five episodes of the season the other day.  I sat there petrified the entire time, worrying that they'd dig up (not literally this time) good ol' Pedro Hernandez — Gibbs' nemesis from his NIS past.  They did, but thankfully moved on, and I was left just as bewildered at the end as anyone.

'NCIS' Season Finale Post-Mortem: Gary Glasberg Answers Burning Questions!

One thing I didn't think through were the other three team members.  I would have half-figured they'd picked their badges back up when Gibbs went rogue (?), but the article indicates that they held true and resigned en masse, so we should get some interesting background stories about their 4-month escapades this fall.  There's a recent interview with Mark Harmon here.

I have a number of articles about this great show here.

Political News

Politically, I thought the most touchingly poignant moment of the week was when renown historian James Douglas Muir Leno recalled the Obama early years and our fondness for Joe Biden at the time, and how sad it is how V.P. Biden's glory has faded over the years.

Take it away, James Douglas Muir Leno!

We all remember how presidential candidate Barack Obama promised that his government would be the 'most transparent' in history.

Well, while there have been a few instances in recent years where it could be argued that total transparency was not forthcoming, here we are on the edge of three major political scandals where transparency must be forthcoming: the IRS targeting the Tea Party and specific Republican donors, the Justice Department illegally wiretapping AP reporters, and the shame of Benghazi and claiming the violence was merely a YouTube video review gone bad, a story they perpetrated for three weeks.

But there's good news on the horizon.

Because, with the incredible public scrutiny these stories are garnering — at least, after the press, itself, was targeted — it seems fairly obvious that key players like Department of Justice head Eric Holder and White House Press Secretary Jay Carney will open up to the American public and finally tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help them God.

Here's Mr. Holder finally putting to rest some of the key questions that arose at the recent congressional hearing:

Mr. Carney also elaborated on a number of details in a stalwart effort to clean the slate:

What's that?  You think they seemed a bit "evasive"?

You're obviously missing the point.

Compared to the past five years, this is being transparent!