THE BIG FREEZE: Cold Weather Across Europe, Asia Kills Hundreds.

Cold weather in the past few days has sadly gone from severe to deadly. While unusually high snowfall has disrupted the travel plans of millions of Americans, freezing temperatures have taken the lives of hundreds of people from Central Europe to South Asia. The BBC reports that in Poland, 49 people have died; in Ukraine, 83; in Russia, 88; and in India, at least 93. The majority of those dead are the elderly and the homeless.

Besides being an obvious tragedy for many across the world, this is a reminder that “weather” is not “climate,” unless it suits the needs of environmental hotheads to claim that it is. When there’s a hot spell or a dry spell or a wet spell that can somehow be connected with the climate change narrative, the media resounds with panicky warnings. But when people die of frostbite in Punjab and temperatures hit -58F in Russia, the silence of the alarmists is deafening.

In the past few years we’ve seen climate change blamed for hot weather, for floods and for droughts. It’s been blamed for both the presence and the absence of storms. It’s been blamed for excessive snow as well as for the absence of snow. We don’t blame the smart greens for these recurring epidemics of media foolishness, but we wish they did more to focus the public discussion on practicalities and realities.

For the record, Via Meadia accepts the scientific evidence pointing to rising temperatures around the world. But we remain deeply skeptical that the nostrums proposed by green activists offer much in the way of practical steps, and the more green policies we see that fail due to ‘unexpected’ complications the less confidence we have.

More significantly, we’ve seen how the press selectively conflates weather and climate to advance a predetermined narrative. As they do in so many areas. I think it’s because they’re insufficiently diverse, like the all-white New York Magazine.

ORIN KERR ON LINDA GREENHOUSE ON THE INHERENT ILLEGITIMACY OF PEOPLE WHO DISAGREE WITH HER.

LAW, JOURNALISM, AND DOUBLE STANDARDS: David Gregory, Meet James O’Keefe.

Howard Kurtz dismisses the legal concerns. Gregory may have violated the law, but he was just engaged in a media stunt. ”I don’t think Gregory was planning to commit any crimes,” Kurtz writes — no crimes other than violating D.C.’s gun laws that is. But who cares if it was illegal, it was good TV! Tell that to James O’Keefe who, Kurtz may recall, was prosecuted for his own legal indiscretions when trying to film some stunts of his own. Prosecutors wisely allowed O’Keefe to plea to a minor charge, but he wasn’t let off the hook just because he was attempting act of journalism. Why should David Gregory and his NBC colleagues be held to a different standard?

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t recall Kurtz springing to O’Keefe’s defense.

UPDATE: This is all over Facebook.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Guns And Posers: Why Isn’t David Gregory In Jail?

MORE: The David Gregory meme started at Legal Insurrection with this post: Feds and media jump to David Gregory’s defense as race card goes missing.

LEGAL EDUCATION UPDATE: Subjecting Law School Officials to Professional Discipline for Deceitful Marketing to Prospective Students. “Law schools have misled prospective students for years about the value of legal education. In some cases, law school officials have engaged in outright deceit, knowingly spreading false information about their schools. More commonly, they have presented statistics—especially those concerning the employment outcomes of law graduates—in ways nearly guaranteed to confuse readers. These deceptions and sharp practices violate the norms of the legal profession, a profession that scrupulously regulates the advertising of legal services. The deceptions also violate ethical rules prohibiting lawyers from engaging in dishonesty, misrepresentation, and deceit.”

AT AMAZON, End-Of-Year Markdowns In Hunting, Fishing, And Tactical Gear.

Also, up to 60% off on Swiss Army Knives.

INSTAVISION: Cult of Perfection: How Women’s Magazines Make Women Feel Ugly and Worthless. I talk with Verily magazine editor-in-chief Kara Eschbach about women’s media and her new magazine.

WALTER RUSSELL MEAD: We Still Need A Comprehensive Libya Policy Review. “The Benghazi attack was one small chapter in an an expensive and still unfolding tale of policy failure, in which U.S. forces were committed to Qaddafi’s ouster without proper assessment of risk, analysis of policy costs, or preparation for consequences.”

According to a State Department spokesperson, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was unable to comment because of “a really bad eczema outbreak.”

MICKEY KAUS: Is Starbucks A Cult?

Isn’t there something creepy about Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz having [in Politico’s words] “asked his Washington-area employees to write ‘Come Together’ on each customer cup today, tomorrow and Friday, as a gesture to urge leaders to resolve the fiscal cliff”? Did Schultz take a poll of his employees–sorry, “partners,” he calls them–before ordering pressuring asking them to join in this lobbying effort? What if he were, say, the CEO of Chick-fil-A and he “asked” his “partners” to write “Preserve the Family” on the outside of cups and containers?

That would be evil and political.

TODAY ONLY: Kindle Romance Novels, $1.99 or Less.

UH OH: D.C. police: Illegal for David Gregory to show empty gun magazine on TV.

An ATF official tells POLITICO that the information the D.C. Police official provided to the ATF, which the ATF then provided to “Meet The Press,” was inaccurate.

The D.C. Police official cited in the TMZ report incorrectly told the ATF that it would not be illegal for Gregory to show an empty gun magazine on Meet The Press.

As D.C. Police Officer Metcalf told POLITICO earlier today, it was illegal.

The ATF official, who spoke to POLITICO on the condition of anonymity, said the bureau regretted that the misunderstanding had created these issues.

See, the gun laws are so confusing even the gun bureaucrats can’t get them right. Maybe Gregory can argue that as a defense. . . .

BYRON YORK: Journalists rush to take sides in gun debate. Well, actually they don’t take “sides.” They just take one side.

Should journalists be advocates for tougher gun control measures? It’s a question worth asking as more and more reporters, commentators, and TV anchors are openly promoting stringent gun policies in the wake of the school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut.

It’s not just the ranters on the left, like MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell, who recently called National Rifle Association chief Wayne LaPierre “the lobbyist for mass murderers.” O’Donnell is a controversialist who says things like that all the time. So is CNN’s Piers Morgan, who told the Gun Owners of America chief Larry Pratt, “You are an unbelievably stupid man” and “You shame your country.”

More notable are the ostensibly straight-news journalists who have come down on the side of stronger gun control. For example, when a Republican congressman, Georgia’s Jack Kingston, argued on MSNBC recently that tough gun control laws haven’t prevented mass shootings in some European countries, the network’s anchor, Thomas Roberts, responded, “So, we need to just be complacent in the fact that we can send our children to school to be assassinated?”

Earlier, while reporting from Connecticut, a CNN anchor, Don Lemon, burst into an impromptu appeal for action. “We need to get guns and bullets and automatic weapons off the streets,” Lemon said. “They should only be available to police officers and to hunt al-Qaeda and the Taliban and not hunt elementary school children.”

Also on CNN, anchor Soledad O’Brien sought a promise from Florida Republican Gov. Rick Scott to take action on guns. When Scott declined, a clearly frustrated O’Brien said she hoped the gun conversation would become “meaningful” before she was forced to “cover another tragedy.” A few days before, when a conservative academic told O’Brien he believes having more guns among law-abiding citizens would reduce crime, she responded, “I just have to say, your position completely boggles me, honestly.”

It’s not just television. Twitter conversations among print journalists commonly include passionate denunciations of Second Amendment defenders, especially the NRA.

Don’t be surprised, journalists, if many Americans view you as the enemy as a result. Don’t blame them. You’ve taken sides. When you act as agents for the apparat, don’t be shocked when people think of you as apparatchiks.

TAXES: Facebook Shifted $700 Million to Cayman Islands in ‘Double Irish’ Tax Reduction Strategy.

HOME FOR CHRISTMAS: 9 Flattops At Norfolk.

UPDATE: Brian Dunn remembers Pearl Harbor. “The world’s largest target-rich environment, eh? . . . Remember, they’re called ‘surprise’ attacks because we don’t expect them.” I wonder how well-defended those ports are?

LIVE FREE OR DIE. LITERALLY. “The impact of economic freedom on average life expectancy is the most striking aspect of the data shown in the above Table.”

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR: Sharp criticism after New York newspaper publishes names of local gun owners. “The Journal News in White Plains, N.Y., used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain information on registered handgun owners in the area. Many owners and other critics are outraged that criminals now know where the guns are – and aren’t.”

These people don’t see themselves as journalists. They see themselves as political and cultural warriors. But, you know, sauce for the goose and all that.

C. BRADLEY THOMPSON: The New Abolitionism: Why Education Emancipation is the Moral Imperative of our Time.

FRANK J. FLEMING: Math Is Coming. “Math is remorseless, and it will eventually balance its numbers, not caring who is hurt in the process.”

UPDATE: Reader D.J. Schreffler writes: “Math is one of the Gods of the Copybook Headings, it appears.” Mathematics is the language of nature. So, yeah.

GENERATIONS: Millenials want to kick back at Washington for fiscal mess.

A NEW PRACTICE AREA FOR LAWYERS: California man sues Ford on C-MAX Hybrid EPA mileage claim. “Richard Pitkin of Roseville, CA., has filed suit in the federal court for the Eastern District of California against Ford Motor Co. after buying a Ford C-Max Hybrid and discovering the vehicle does not achieve 47 mpg fuel economy in all driving conditions. He is represented by McCuneWright, LLP, a Redlands, CA-based law firm that has been actively involved in litigation againt automakers, including Toyota and Lexus in cases of alleged unintended sudden acceleration, and General Motors, Ford and Hyundai for misleading advertising based on EPA fuel economy figures.”

Related: Firm that filed C-Max MPG suit against Ford has Democratic ties. “Richard D. McCune of the Redlands, CA-based McCuneWright LLP law firm representing a California man in a suit against Ford for allegedly fraudulently advertising its C-Max Hybrid is a deep-pockets contributor to Democratic presidential and congressional candidates and campaign committees.”

IN NEW HAMPSHIRE, fear and loathing of the Free State Movement. Plus, a push for “unwelcoming” legislation.

UPDATE: Reader Kristo Miettinen emails:

Your recent link to “Fear and loathing of the Free State movement” brings to the fore a belief that I have held for some time, namely that annoying nanny-state legislation is not intended to promote safety, or health, or any other such objective sort of well-being, rather it is intended to select desirable neighbors (and for Dem politicians, to select a reliable blue electorate).

Thus gun restrictions drive gun owners (and those who sympathize) to move from blue states to red; restrictions on soda serving sizes drive fast-food consumers out of cities whose power class would prefer to associate with more refined palates, etc.

My personal anti-favorite (neologism needed – brother can you spare a term?) is New York’s selective retirement tax exemption, where pensions are tax-free if they were earned working for government (state, local, or federal) but taxed if they were earned in the private sector. Retired schoolteachers are welcome to stay and vote in their sunset years, but
retired engineers are welcome to pack up and leave as soon as their economically productive years are at a close.

It is no accident that as blue states lose population to general internal migration, they also get bluer. It is deliberate demographic tinkering, designed to select for the right sort (i.e. the left sort) of people.

Interesting thesis. By this token, people in red states who don’t want to be flooded by blue-voting refugees from places like Illinois or California should be adopting laws — open carry of firearms, say — that will tend to scare those people away.

DAVID DAVENPORT: Ignore The Pundits, Conservatism Doesn’t Need An Extreme Makeover.

DEMOCRATS APPOINT WHITE MALE TO FILL SENATE SEAT long held by a minority.

ACROSS THE UNITED STATES: “Echo Housing Bubbles.”

UNEXPECTEDLY: U.S. retailers scramble after lackluster holiday sales. “The 2012 holiday season may have been the worst for retailers since the 2008 financial crisis, with sales growth far below expectations, forcing many to offer massive post-Christmas discounts in hopes of shedding excess inventory.”

GOOD QUESTION: So how does Journal–News reporter Dwight R. Worley rate a NYC pistol permit?