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WUWT reader Warren Smith writes in with this quiz: TEST YOURSELF: What is your knowledge of how fast the polar ice caps are melting? 1) According to data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center, as of the end of December 2014, the extent of Arctic sea ice coverage, when compared to the year-end averages from 1981 through 2010, was: A) About 90% below normal B) About 75% below normal C) About 50% below normal D) About 25% below normal E) Less than 5% below normal F) About 33% above normal 2) According to data from the National Snow...

Evgeny Buryakov, Igor Sporyshev and Victor Podobny allegedly conspired to gather intelligence on behalf of Russia and to recruit Americans. Federal prosecutors in New York have unveiled criminal charges against three men for their alleged involvement in a spying scheme for Russia’s foreign intelligence service. According to a criminal complaint, Evgeny Buryakov, Igor Sporyshev and Victor Podobnyy conspired in the United States to gather intelligence on behalf of Russia and to recruit New York City residents to help. The conspiracy ran from 2012 to the present, and during that time, Buryakov worked at a bank, Sporyshev was a Russian trade...

Sen. Murkowski: “I cannot understand why this administration is willing to negotiate with Iran, but not Alaska.” Fifty million Americans who live in the northeast will experience what is predicted to be a historic blizzard from Monday evening through Tuesday. Cities and towns will virtually or literally close down. People will be told to stay indoors for their safety and to facilitate the crews that will labor to clear the roads of snow. In other words, welcome to Alaska, a place that is plenty cold most of the year and which is no stranger to snow and ice. Alaska, however,...

(CNN) - Forget the bread and milk. Some snowbound New Yorkers are seeking a more, er, intimate kind of nourishment. With the Northeast U.S. bracing for a massive storm that's expected to drop up to 3 feet of snow before it ends Tuesday, a flurry of New Yorkers are placing online ads seeking "blizzard buddies" for companionship, snuggling and, in so many words, sex. A search of Craiglist's recent personal ads for "snow" or "blizzard" turns up scores of New York-area listings -- many not safe for work -- from city dwellers looking for someone to hook up with while...

(Newser) Seniors had better brace themselves: Some US hospitals are now administering the "death test," which estimates their chance of dying over the next 30 days. Invented in Australia, the test weighs 29 different criteria—including blood pressure, respiratory rate, and medical history—to determine whether hospitalization is worthwhile or the patient should return home or go to a hospice, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The idea is to prevent needless and expensive procedures while allowing patients to spend their last days with loved ones. "Most terminally ill people want to die at home, but in fact three quarters end up dying...

At some point Sunday night, someone flew a small drone onto the grounds of the White House. White House press secretary Josh Earnest told reporters that the drone -- or, to remove the ambiguity of that overly broad term, the small quadcopter -- posed no threat to the building or its inhabitants. The incident raises the question: Could a small unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) pose such a threat? To answer that, we need to know the answer to three other questions. How far can a UAV fly? How is it controlled? And: What can it carry? Could a larger drone...

(Newser) Brad Deery's billboard idea got plenty of attention for his car dealership but not quite the kind he had in mind: The Iowa man took down a mannequin from the sign after numerous motorists thought it was a person preparing to jump and called 911. The sign next to US Route 61 in Des Moines County read "I can see Deery Toyota, Nissan, Mazda from here," with the mannequin appearing to be gazing at a distant car lot, reports Reuters. Deery says police told him that the mannequin not only alarmed drivers, they were worried somebody might climb up...

But we won't.Today, we are not going to talk about "Deflategate", the green lipstick woman that most normal people have never heard of, the unfounded controversy about an American hero portrayed in a movie, the administration being ticked off that Speaker John Boehner actually did something constructive to maintain our relationship with Israel, or a State of the Union speech that was so out of touch with reality that even liberal Obama stalwart Chris Matthews said so.None of those distractions will do a thing to stimulate the economy, increase the income of working Americans, create jobs, reduce the national debt,...

I have my friends and family members trained not to call between 11 and 2 lest I have to miss Rush. But last week I had phone calls with customer service representatives from Comcast and Verizon plus an issue with the main sewer line which required the city's Utility Department to come and dig up part of my yard. Since I have no control over these CSRs or the city's Utilities Department, Murphy's lousy law always seems to kick in when I have to deal with these kinds of situations causing me to miss a lot of Rush's show. When...

The head of the Russian Orthodox Church has called upon MPs to begin a campaign against abortions, starting with canceling state sponsorship for the procedure and aiming at a total nationwide ban. “If we manage to cut the number of abortions by 50 percent we would have stable and powerful population growth,” Patriarch Kirill said, speaking before the Lower House on Thursday. This was the first ever speech of the head of the Russian Orthodox Church before the State Duma. “The argument that a ban would cause an increase in the number of underground abortions is pure nonsense. People have...

It has been argued that Obama's cognitive dissonance is demonstrated by His dealings with Iran and His other disruptive efforts in the Middle East.  Perhaps the contrary is more accurate. Basis of His foreign policies? An article at Front Page Magazine by Bruce Thorton is titled The Dangers of Obama's cognitive dissonance. It argues that Obama mistakenly believes that Iran and "we" want many of the same things and that He acts on that belief. The heart of this mistake is the belief that whatever their professed beliefs, all peoples everywhere are just like us and want the same things we want. Since...

Mitt Romney, you're an honorable and accomplished man. You would have been a good president and infinitely better than Obama as a steward of the economy and national security. But, Mitt, we need to talk. You don't get it. You don't really get the basic proposition that freedom works better than government by experts. Sure you believe the concept generally, but there are all those details and exceptions. You hired Jonathan Gruber to guide your health plan. You believe global schemes to reduce carbon will help the climate rather than enrich and empower global elites. You endorsed raising the minimum...

Last Wednesday, President Obama gave his latest installment of the big lie – his State of the Union address. Saturday marked the 50th anniversary of the death of one of history's true giants – Winston Churchill. Obama would need stilts to achieve pygmy stature. Could two democratically elected leaders provide more of a contrast? Churchill was in office for most of four decades before becoming Britain's wartime prime minister – including serving in the House of Commons, as Chancellor of the Exchequer, First Lord of the Admiralty (in both World Wars) and Colonial Secretary. Obama spent less than two years...

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RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court has approved former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell’s request to remain free while he appeals his corruption convictions. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond said McDonnell’s appeal raises a substantial question of law or fact that could warrant reversal or a new trial. Special coverage: The McDonnel corruption trial The court also ordered that briefs in the case be filed by March 2 and set a May 12 hearing. A jury last year found McDonnell and his wife, Maureen, guilty of taking gifts and loans from a vitamin executive in...

Super rich hedge fund managers are buying 'secret boltholes' where they can hideout in the event of civil uprising against growing inequality, it has been claimed. Nervous financiers from across the globe have begun purchasing landing strips, homes and land in areas such as New Zealand so they can flee should people rise up. With growing inequality and riots such as those in London in 2011 and in Ferguson and other parts of the USA last year, many financial leaders fear they could become targets for public fury. Robert Johnson, president of the Institute of New Economic Thinking, told people...

Featured Term selected at random:RELIQUARY Any repository in which a relic is sealed and kept. Reliquaries vary in size, according to the relic, from very small ones that can be easily carried to larger caskets for whole parts of a saint's body. Relics are never exposed for public veneration unless enclosed in a reliquary. Some reliquaries are famous for their exquisite design and value. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

<p>DES MOINES — Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) collapsed at an event Monday in the Des Moines suburbs and is currently receiving medical attention, according to an aide.</p> <p>“Gov. Branstad fell ill at an event today at DuPont Pioneer,” said Jimmy Centers, a Branstad adviser. “An ambulance was called and he was transported to Methodist Hospital in Des Moines. The governor was conscious and alert during the transport to the hospital. The governor had been suffering from the effects of a cold for a couple of days.”</p>

Reacting to the news that the Supreme Court will take up a case concerning Oklahoma's lethal injection protocol, the state Attorney General on Monday said he will ask the Justices to temporarily postpone the scheduled execution of three death row inmates involved in the challenge. Attorney General Scott Pruitt said that he thought the Supreme Court will ultimately uphold the constitutionality of the protocol, but that while the case is under consideration, he would ask the justices to grant a stay of the executions. "The families of the victims in these three cases have waited a combined 48 years for...

Video at link of Pelosi's comments. (CNSNews.com) – Responding to statements made by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi--who would not say at her press briefing last week if a 20-week-old unborn child is a "human being"--Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco said that it is a “scientific fact that human life begins at conception” and that “no Catholic can dissent in good conscience” from Church teaching on the sanctity of life. At her Jan. 22 briefing Pelosi said she had "great standing" to speak on the issue of abortion, noting that she was a "Catholic and a mom of five"...