We’ll get to the polls momentarily, but first let’s continue counting down the top 50 most-viewed posts at Hot Air in 2013.  As I’m writing this (on Sunday morning), it’s about -2 outside my window, so it’s appropriate to kick off the Top 20 with …

• #20: Global warming cleverly hides itself with 1 million sq miles more arctic ice – Not only did the Arctic ice increase, but so did the Antarctic ice — so much so that this week a global-warming researcher was among those stuck on a Russian ship awaiting rescue. Its rescuers also ended up stuck in the ice.
• #19: Did Eric Holder lie in Congressional testimony last week? – At the same time we started asking this question about James Clapper and Keith Alexander, the question came up in regard to Holder’s denial of knowledge regarding prosecuting reporters in leak probes. Unfortunately for Holder, his signature on a warrant naming Fox’s James Rosen as a potential prosecution target made it into the light. Unfortunately for the rest of us, we haven’t heard much about it since.
• #18: Fine print: State can seize your assets to pay for care after you’re forced into Medicaid by Obamacare – A fine post from Mary Katharine a couple of weeks ago, which inspired my column later that week on “unintended consequences” of massive legislation. When Medicaid is no longer a choice, it’s interesting what states can do with your assets, huh?
• #17: Video: The battery that might change everything – We haven’t heard much about it lately, but Graphene could really change how we store and use electrical energy — and possibly greatly reduce or eliminate our disposal issues with chemical batteries. And this week, we learned that power storage may be just the start of its applications.
• #16: Open thread: FBI press conference on Boston bombings; Update: Photos and video added; Update: Do cops have the names? Update: New pic discovered? – One of the more interesting intermediate posts on the Boston Marathon bombing, where we can read as the dots are getting connected. The first images showing the Tsarnaevs came out during this presser, and the picture linked at the end clearly shows a smirking Dzokhar strolling away from the bombing.
• #15: CBS News: Someone was pulling data from Sharyl Attkisson’s computer; Update: CBS report added – This story mysteriously dropped off the radar after this week in June. I wonder why?
• #14: MSNBC ratings “unexpectedly” take a turn – “Unexpectedly” is meant in the Reuters-economic-reporting sense, of course. The news didn’t get much better as the year wore on after this June report, either. This post got more than 106,000 page views, though, which is better than some MSNBC shows get.
• #13: Evening thread: Cops continue to hunt Tsarnaev; Update: Seven IEDs recovered; Update: FBI interviewed older brother two years ago about possible “extremist ties”; Update: Tsarnaev went to … campus party on Wednesday night? Update:Cops take Tsarnaev alive – The final open thread of the story, if memory serves, and one in which the breaking-news aspect of the case decrescendoed, although not quite to an ending.  It’s the first hint that the US may have missed some significant opportunities to prevent the Tsarnaevs from conducting their terrorist attack, too.
• #12: WaPo: Yeah, Morgan got pwned last night – I’m surprised that the follow-up ranked this far ahead of the actual video of the event, which came in at #34 for the year. Maybe we all love consensus more than we know … at least when it comes to Piers Morgan.
• #11: 10 crazy things the IRS asked Tea Party groups – Oh, those crazy tax collectors! Read through it all, and think again about how we can extricate the IRS out of political speech altogether — maybe by going with a flat tax rather than the current nonsensical code we use.

Tomorrow, for New Year’s Eve, we’ll be back with the top 10 most-viewed posts of the year! At least three of them were big surprises for me — and will be for you, too. Stay tuned!

All right, let’s get to the polls. First, let’s choose the top four among these nominees for 2013’s biggest story. We’ll hold the finals tomorrow, and announce the winner on New Year’s Day:

Now, let’s also pick the year’s most under-reported stories. That may be the same as the biggest story, depending on definition, so don’t be shy in your vote:

Come back tomorrow to see the Top 10 posts of 2013, and vote in the finals!