The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.

image1292News of the Tautological
“Winter Could Break Record for Most Lows Below Zero”–headline, Chicago Tribune, Feb. 9

Out on a Limb
“Rep. Peter King: New Snowden Revelations Show NSA’s Internal Security Was Weak”–headline, CBSNews.com, Feb. 9

Cause and Effect

  • “Editorial: Texas Holds Breath During Armstrong Saga”–headline, Dallas Morning News, May 25, 2011
  • “Rand Paul Warns Texas Could Turn Blue”–headline, Politico.com, Feb. 9, 2014

Problem and Solution

  • “Giant Rats Could Take Over Earth in the Future”–headline, News.com.au, Feb. 10, 2014
  • “Aspartame Causes Cancer in Rats at Levels Currently Approved for Humans”–headline,U.S. Department of Health and Human Services press release, Nov. 23, 2005

Question and Answer–I

  • “Rand Paul Keeps Attacking Bill Clinton. Why?”–headline, Washington Post website, Feb. 7
  • “Polls: Clinton Still Ahead, GOP Field Wide Open”–headline, CNN.com, Jan. 30

Question and Answer–II

  • “The End of Snow?”–headline, New York Times, Feb. 8
  • “Cities, Towns Ponder Where to Put All That Plowed Snow”–headline, Chicago Sun-Timeswebsite, Feb. 9

Baby, It’s Cold Outside 
“The contentious ‘pause’ in global warming over the past decade is largely due to unusually strong trade winds in the Pacific ocean that have buried surface heat deep underwater,” London’s Guardian reports. This is supposed to explain away the absence of warming:

The findings should provide fresh certainty about the reasons behind the warming hiatus, which has been claimed by critics of mainstream climate science as evidence that the models are flawed and predictions of rising temperatures have been exaggerated.

But wait. Why are the Pacific trade winds so strong? An Australian climate scientist “said it was unclear what has caused the increase in Pacific trade winds, although warming in the Indian Ocean has been cited as a potential trigger.”

Another way of formulating that hypothesis is that global warming causes global cooling, which has canceled out global warming. In other words, maybe the world’s climate regulates itself in ways the climate scientists have yet to figure out.

For more “Best of the Web” click here and look for the “Best of the Web Today” link in the middle column below “Today’s Columnists.”