Tuesday, January 07, 2014 Published Weekday Mornings   To see the full version of today's cartoon, click on the preview graphic of the cartoon (below the Commentary) to be taken to the full version in your favorite web browser. Frozen In Place Cold weather snap fuels misinformation over climate change The polar vortex in no way disproves climate change Everything You Wanted To Know About The 'Polar Vortex' Senator James Inhofe Rejects The 'Global Warming Thing' Because It's Cold Outside Chris Mooney: Winter Does Not Disprove Global Warming Brad Plumer: Can global warming be real if it's cold in the U.S.? Um... yes! Eric Holthaus: How global warming can make cold snaps even worse Eric Holthaus: Thank Global Warming for Freezing You Right Now Meanwhile, Australia swelters after record hot 2013; farmers slaughter cattle, bushfire warning Congress: AWOL on UI Showdown set on unemployment bill in Senate Unemployment insurance extension still lacks enough GOP support On jobless benefits vote, Democrats appear to be one vote short GOP's "sense of disdain": Republican Senator co-sponsoring unemployment benefits bill sounds off on his own party Inequality In America Kevin Drum: America Could Do a Lot More to Fight Poverty If We Wanted To Detroit City Manager Keyvn Orr freezes pensions for Detroit workers, ends cost-of-living adjustments Center on Budget and Policy Priorities Chart Book: The War on Poverty at 50 Susan Page: 50 years later, war on poverty has new battle lines The Spying Game Richard Cohen: It's time to make a deal with Snowden FBI Drops Law Enforcement as 'Primary' Mission Immigration: Reform Coming? For Obama, Congress, a last grasp at immigration Marriage Equality Paul Strauss: The Fight For Marriage Equality Is Far From Over Nations In Turmoil Dozens killed in air assault on Iraqi city Violence in Iraq threatens to undo previous U.S. efforts 5 questions: What's currently going on in Iraq? Al-Qaeda-linked group 'kills' Aleppo captives in Syria Iran not invited to Syrian peace talks UN warns Central African Republic on brink of catastrophe The War Over There Afghanistan: Violence Against Women Hits Record High International News Antarctic ships escape from ice trap as weather changes Captive Goodyear bosses holed up at French site Lindsey Vonn: Injured Olympic champion out of Sochi 2014 for U.S. China suspends ban on video game consoles after more than a decade Money in Politics Matthew Yglesias: How Koch Bros. Overspending Produces Windfall for Conservative Operatives Charlie Pierce: The Koch Brothers Political Network - Two Unaccountable Guys, All The Power Midwest Roundup Extremist GOP Senate candidate Ben Sasse Wants To Move The Federal Capital To Nebraska Ed Kilgore: Is GOP Senate Candidate Ben Sasse A Communist Mole in Nebraska? Race for Iowa's 3rd Congressional district heats up Weather conditions tough for firefighters in western Iowa Frozen In Place While the Senate appeared almost frozen in place at times on Monday, at least they showed up and did some work, voting to make Janet Yellin the first female head of the Fed. Many other places across the nation were already in a state of closure on Monday, like the city of Indianapolis, which made it illegal to drive anywhere unless it was an emergency. JetBlue airlines grounded flights for 17 hours at four of the busiest airports in America on Monday, and firefighters lost a battle with a house fire in Iowa after their hoses froze. In short, thanks to a phenomenon known as a 'polar vortex,' much of America became frozen in place yesterday and today as the temperatures across most of the United States are colder right now than any of us have seen in several decades - and that isn't even counting the brutal wind chills. Not surprisingly, the Fightin' 101st Keyboard Kommandos of the Climate Change Denier Brigades scurried to their 'battle posts' online, throughout the right-wing corporate-controlled media, to denounce and poke fun at both scientists and reality. By their "reasoning" (for lack of a better term), the fact that much of North America is bitterly cold right now negates the possibility that the overall temperature of the planet has been on a constant warming trend for decades. Their oversimplified view of the world also conveniently ignores that while North Americans are freezing our backsides off, Australia is experiencing a record summer heat wave. In other words, local weather and worldwide climate aren't the same thing... To continue reading... click here. And now, for your Daily Felltoon preview for January 07, 2014 (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) Jobs & The Economy U.S. Economic Growth Continues, But the Pace Slows a Bit U.S. trade deficit now smallest in four years; imports still weak Wall Street Watch JPMorgan to pay $1.7 billion to settle Madoff case Irwin: The biggest challenge Yellen will face as Fed chair? Congress.  Health Care Checkup U.S. healthcare spending growth remains low for fourth year in a row Jason Furman: ObamaCare Is Slowing Health Inflation Jonathan Cohn: National Healthcare Spending Down Again, Shrinks as Percentage of GDP Dylan Scott: The Price of GOP Obamacare Sabotage In One Chart Ezra Klein: Has Obamacare really signed up 10 million people? Likely, yes. | Maggie Mahar: Anatomy of a right wing Obamacare 'horror story' Jonathan Chait: Correcting a Misinformed Conservative About Obamacare Ends Just As You'd Expect Ed Kilgore: Will ACA Make Medicaid a Middle Class Entitlement? Schieber: How Obamacare Actually Paves the Way Toward Single Payer Klein: Medicaid is Obamacare's biggest success. But neither side wants to talk about it. Communications Breakdown Brian Fung: Did AT&T just create a pay-for-play mobile Internet? Ethics & The Media Ta-Nehisi Coates: Melissa Harris-Perry, Smartest Nerd in the Room Energy, Climate & Environment Expert Featured On 60 Minutes Exposes How CBS Show Knowingly Ignored Facts About Clean Energy | Colorado River Drought Forces a Painful Reckoning for States And now, for your Weekly OK Gazette Toon preview for January 07, 2014   (Click the preview cartoon above to see the full version of the cartoon) White House Update White House To GOP: If You Want Troops In Iraq, You 'Should Say So' Gene Sperling to continue as top WH economic adviser through February News From Capitol Hill Yellen confirmed by Senate as first female Federal Reserve chairperson Senate Confirms Janet Yellen To Chair The Fed - Now the Hard Part Begins Judicial Brief Justices' Halt to Gay Marriage Leaves Utah Couples in Limbo | Federal Judge: Chicago's ban on gun sales unconstitutional On The Left State-Level Democrats Face Uphill Battles In 2014 Milbank: Senate missing liberal lion to roar about unemployment benefits Greg Sargent: How 'polarized' is the American electorate, really? On The Right Report: RNC Chairman Moves Annual Party Meeting For Pro-Life March GOP's Jim Gerlach not running again in Pennsylvania in 2014 Bill Press: Republican Darrell Issa exposed on Benghazi lies We hope you enjoy "The Daily Felltoon" every business day. Thanks for continuing to be a member! Paul Fell Shawn "Smith" Peirce Paul Fell Cartoons, Inc.