Climate alarmists conjured a world where nothing was certain but death, taxes, and catastrophic global warming. They used this presumed scientific certainty as a bludgeon against the skeptics they deemed “deniers,” a word meant to have the noxious whiff of Holocaust denial.

All in the cause of hustling the world into a grand carbon-rationing scheme. Any questions about the evidence for the cataclysmic projections, any concerns about the costs and benefits, were trumped by that fearsome scientific “consensus,” which had “settled” the important questions.

RealClearPolitics – A Leap Backward for Climate Alarmism.

I’ll take Senator Bayh at his word that he is sick and tired of partisan politics in Washington, D.C. Still, I do think that his electoral situation had a great deal to do with his decision to retire. Whether he was bound to win or lose in November, he was sure to face a nasty reelection fight, one that would have focused squarely on him. That’s a tough prospect for anybody – and if your heart is not in it, it’s a good time to retire.

And I do think it’s a retirement, not a preparatory move for the presidency. First, you don’t tell people you’re sick of politics if you plan to run for President. Second, I think it’s highly unlikely that Bayh could ever actually win the Democratic nomination – and I think he knows it. He has been in Indiana politics for a quarter century. That requires a level of political moderation that would make him a tough sell for progressives and labor unions.

RealClearPolitics – HorseRaceBlog – On Evan Bayh’s Retirement.

President Obama may have to go back on his campaign promise against raising taxes on Americans making less than $250,000 a year in order to reduce the country’s record budget deficit.

But a new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that even if the president and Congress raise taxes to reduce the federal deficit, 58% of voters think they are more likely to spend the money on new government programs.

Just 23% believe they are more likely to use the new tax money for deficit reduction, and another 19% aren’t sure.

58% Say New Tax Money More Likely To Go To New Programs Than To Deficit Reduction – Rasmussen Reports™.

Republican candidates lead Democrats by nine points in the latest edition of the Generic Congressional Ballot.

The new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows that 45% would vote for their district’s Republican congressional candidate while 36% would opt for his or her Democratic opponent. Voter support for GOP congressional candidates is up one point from last week, while support for Democrats held steady.

Generic Congressional Ballot – Rasmussen Reports™.

Forty-three percent (43%) of U.S. voters rate the performance of their local government as tops compared to its counterparts on the state and federal level.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 14% think the federal government does a better job. Nineteen percent (19%) say state government is better than the other two.

43% Say Local Government Better Than Feds, States – Rasmussen Reports™.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Don’t be shocked if you can’t find your favorite salad dressing or mouthwash on your next trip to Wal-Mart.

Large retailers — including Wal-Mart (WMT, Fortune 500), the world’s biggest — are wrestling with having too many types of brand-name products. At the same time, shoppers are buying less and looking for bargains.

Product overload: Stores are threatening to dump brands – Feb. 15, 2010.

MOSCOW (AP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday his country is not planning a war with Iran and that Tehran’s concerns over such a conflict are the result of the threat of additional international sanctions.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Tuesday he believes Israel or its allies are considering a military strike against his country, which has thus far failed to prove that its nuclear program is peaceful.

Netanyahu: Israel not planning war with Iran.

Without specifying whom would be targeted, Ahmadinejad said: “According to information we have they (Israel) are seeking to start a war next spring or summer, although their decision is not final yet.”

Israel mulling a spring or summer war: Ahmadinejad – Yahoo! News UK.

MARJAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) – U.S. Marines leading one of NATO’s biggest offensives against Taliban Islamic militants in Afghanistan are facing fierce resistance in some areas, bogged down by heavy gunfire, snipers and booby traps.

Marines face fierce resistance in Afghan assault – Yahoo! News.

The Taliban’s military commander for Afghanistan has been captured in a joint CIA-Pakistani operation.

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, who ranks below only Taliban founder Mullah Mohammad Omar, was held in the southern Pakistani port of Karachi.

Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar ‘held in Pakistan’ | Mail Online.

WASHINGTON, Feb 16 (Reuters) – The White House is working hard to advance climate change legislation in Congress and hopes an announcement to jumpstart the nuclear power industry will appeal to Republican skeptics, a top adviser to President Barack Obama said.

Reuters AlertNet – INTERVIEW-Nuclear power aids White House climate push.

Information Technology Services administrators plan to join with Google Apps for Education to bring students, faculty and employees the Gmail e-mail service by the end of this month, said an undergraduate member of the Student Technology Collaborative who asked to remain anonymous because of ITS policy. The service, tentatively called “Bulldogs,” will also offer users a suite of tools for communication and collaboration — including Google Calendar, Google Talk and Google Docs. The new interface will look like the standard Gmail layout, but without advertisements, the student said.

Yale Daily News – Google to run Yale e-mail.

CNN Has Lowest Viewer Night in 4 Years; Lowest Demo Night in Nearly 9 Years – mediabistro.com: TVNewser.

A new mini-series about John F. Kennedy’s presidency that is being prepared by the History channel does not yet have a cast or a premiere date. Not a frame of footage has been shot. It does, however, have prominent critics who want it brought to a halt.

Loyalitsts Try to Block Mini-Series on Kennedys – NYTimes.com.

44 percent of all Americans said they would vote to reelect the president in two and a half years, less than the slight majority who said they would prefer to elect someone else.

Obama faces a 44-52 deficit among both all Americans and registered voters, according to a CNN/Opinion Research poll released Tuesday. Four percent had no opinion.

CNN poll: 52% say Obama doesn’t deserve reelection in 2012 – The Hill’s Blog Briefing Room.

Trouble is brewing over United States ice hockey goalie Jonathan Quick and the “Support Our Troops” slogan on his helmet. Slogans of this sort are banned under Olympic rules and Quick will be told to remove it, the International Ice Hockey Federation has told Reuters.

“Support Our Troops” slogan falls foul of Olympic rules | Analysis & Opinion | Reuters.

Republican politician Mitt Romney was physically threatened by a violent passenger on an Air Canada flight leaving Vancouver this morning.

Mr. Romney, who has been in Vancouver since Friday for the Olympic Winter Games, did not respond to the attack. Instead, he allowed the airline crew to deal with the incident, according to his spokesman Eric Fehrnstrom.

Romney threatened on flight out of Vancouver – The Globe and Mail.