Run out of other people’s money? Not a problem;
Taxes on property or other assets would mark a significant change in Europe’s approach to funding bail-outs for eurozone members. Until now, the cost of rescue packages for countries like Ireland, Greece and Portugal has fallen largely on people who invest money in either those countries’ bonds or – in the case of Cyprus – bank accounts.
After examining hundreds of thousands of gas extraction operations, the scientists found only three instances where resulting shocks could be detected by residents above ground.
In contrast, they found other man-made activities, such as mining and waste-disposal, are much more likely to trigger noticeable seismic activity.
Lead researcher Professor Richard Davies from Durham University’s Energy Institute, said the risk of fracking resulting in seismic activity that could be felt on the surface is ‘not significant’.
‘In almost all cases, the seismic events caused by hydraulic fracturing have been undetectable other than by geoscientists. It is also low compared to other man-made triggers,’ he said.
‘By comparison, most fracking-related events release a negligible amount of energy roughly equivalent to or even less than someone jumping off a ladder onto the floor.’
h/t EBD
This evening we bring you a double-feature of delightful videos, designed to bring deliriously appealing eye-candy to widely discriminating tastes. So grab a hot beverage of your choice, slow down your mind, and watch both full-screen.
Those who love nature will enjoy this glorious view of people in New Zealand watching the moon. Those who more prefer technology will enjoy this longer video of a Lufthansa aircraft flying over San Francisco and eventually landing at SFO.
Your interesting reader tips are welcome and appreciated, as always, in the comments.
Justin T. has won the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada with 80% support in a preferential voting system. His sycophants are clearly brimming with near orgasmic joy over at CBC News. Here’s a sampling from that bubble chamber:
I really hope that after the results the Liberals will continue to garner support from a broad section of Canada and then wipe out the Cons. I would be happy with a Liberal or NDP government and either other one as opposition. In 2015 Canadians need to put the CPC into 4th place status.
Many Conservative supporters must have seen the light. The numbers supporting Harper are much lower on these blogs than they used to be. If you consider at least half are paid Harperites and the others are Americans trying to disrupt our political system, doesn’t leave many true Harper supporters.
Heave Harper – Canada for Canadians – Save our Country
As a British Columbian, I can finally see a light at the end of the very dark tunnel we’ve been down: Mr. Trudeau as PM and Mr. Dix as premier of our province. Finally people who care about people and not just their corporate buddies.
…now I’m staring at the March employment report in dazed bewilderment, because this is a truly BAD report. As you work through it the badness just keeps growing.
The best of it is in the Establishment report, but at 88K nonfarm jobs that isn’t much of a best. And then I look at the details, and I become uneasy. Wholesale trade and retail trade both racked up significant negatives. Transportation and warehousing is negative. Temporary help services are a big plus, which at least keeps one from drinking bleach.
The aforementioned title is an apt description of what existed in Soviet-era totalitarian states and what Ayn Rand railed against in her novels. It was therefore sad to read this missive from Allen West on his Facebook page about America in 2013:
I was just hoping to have a relaxing Sunday here in South Florida before catching a flight this evening back to LA, but my day took a turn after an outing at the shooting range, when I encountered the long arm of the law. Coming off the Florida turnpike at the PGA Blvd exit I pulled into the lane to pay my $1.10 charge. However, the fella had closed, so I looked in the rearview mirror and since I was the only one there, I backed up and shifted one lane over to pay my turnpike ticket. And then it happened, at 1:07pm, FHP Trooper M.A. Mickens flipped on his lights and pulled me over. He informed me what I did was illegal and I told him I just wanted to pay my ticket and there was no one else coming through any of the lanes. I figured this would be a warning since I did not see any danger presented, but to my surprise, he wrote me a citation for $166.00. I asked Trooper Mickens if I had placed anyone’s life in danger and he responded “no, but you did something illegal.” I asked him if he saw any other cars when I backed up, he responded, “no, but that was not the point.” I explained to Trooper Mickens that I had served in the Army and this just did not seem like it passed a common sense test and why could I not be given a warning. He responded, “you have to get a citation and it explains your options.” I am sure Trooper Mickens has served the Florida Highway Patrol with distinction in his 27 years, yeah, I asked. But this is what perplexes me, where has the ability to make a judgment call gone? Are we now just a nation of unthinking robots which cannot assess a situation in and of itself? I have a perfect driving record that will be tarnished because Trooper Mickens did not think I could make a decision on my own, which threatened no one. I have 30 days to pay the citation of $166.00 to the Clerk of the Court of Palm Beach County. Lastly, no, I never said who I was because I do not deserve any special treatment. This is obviously how we treat law-abiding citizens.
Related: Adam Carolla rants about frivolous tickets in Los Angeles (language warning)
In what B’nai Brith called a “precedent setting move,” the University of Manitoba Students Union voted Thursday to strip the group Students Against Israeli Apartheid (SAIA) of official club status.
The motion bars SAIA from receiving student union funding or using activity space in student-union controlled buildings.
[…]
The two-page resolution justified the delisting of SAIA under the terms of the Manitoba Human Rights Code, claiming that the group was guilty of “discrimination” and “harassment.”
The document also claimed that certain student union members “being Zionists, experience fear for their safety during ‘Israeli Apartheid Week.'”
h/t Kevin B
During Obama’s two terms, the Espionage Act has been used to prosecute more alleged leakers than all former presidential offices combined.
Goodale said journalists don’t seem to consider this much of a problem. “They don’t believe it,” he told CJR. “I actually have talked to two investigative reporters who are household names, and I said, ‘Do you realize what’s happening to you if this goes forward?’ And I talk, I get no response, and the subject shifts to other parts of the book.
h/t Bob
Durkin’s film not only offers a useful history lesson, it’s also a nimble shredding of quite a few leftist myths. Its highlights include contributions from Madsen Pirie, who really ought to be on TV more often, and some comically disingenuous squirming by Mary Warnock and Neil Kinnock. During the Kinnock interviews, pay close attention to Durkin’s right eyebrow. A lot can be said with an eyebrow.
Watch it here. Update and an apology – the video seems to be unavailable in Canada. I’ll replace the link if I find another source.
Live tweeting a funeral, That’s not too creepy… @janetaber1yfrog.com/obh6qiuj
— Kevin Sinclair (@unclemeat80) April 13, 2013
Still waiting for spring? Is the unseasonably cold weather starting to get you down? Cheer yourself up with the Fischer-Chöre’s musical celebration of Wochenend und Sonnenschein.
The comments are open, as always, for your Reader Tips.
They are starving, when miraculously they find a box filled with canned food. What to do? They consider the problem, bringing their collective lifetimes of study and discipline to the task.
Being the practical, straightforward sort, the engineer suggests that they simply find a rock and hit the cans until they break open. “No, no!” cry the chemist and economist, “we would spill too much food and the birds would get it!”
After a bit of thought, the chemist recommends that they start a fire and heat the cans. The pressure in the cans will force them open and the food will conveniently already be heated. But the engineer and economist object, pointing out correctly that the cans would likely explode and splatter the food all over the beach.
The economist, after carefully studying the cans and reading the labels, starts scrawling a series of equations in the sand, which eventually cover the entire beach. After much pondering, he excitedly announces, “I’ve got it! I’ve got it!” as he points to the final equation. They ask him to explain, with their visions of finally getting a meal causing them to regard the economist with a new sense of respect.
The economist clears his throat and begins, “First, assume a can opener …”
Canada’s NDP has historically been reticent to speak the full truth about their plans for the Socialist Utopia they wish to enslave impose on us all. Thomas Mulcair might want to look stateside to MSNBC’s new genius, Melissa Harris-Perry, for some useful talking points:
Is the End in Sight for America’s Biofuel Boondoggle?
Another animal rights group is shopping for drones it will use to watch for animal abuse — and gun owners are setting their sights in anticipation.
After what it calls “an unduly prolonged period of reflection,” the British medical journal The Lancet has reconsidered an obituary of Dr. John Snow that it published on June 26, 1858, and apologized for other attacks on the work of the physician, who’s been dead for 155 years.