h/t Adrian
It’s Probably Nothing
Royal Dutch Shell is pulling some of its funds out of European banks over fears stirred by the euro zone’s mounting debt crisis…
Reader Tips
I Can’t Get Past The First Six Words Without Laughing, Either.
If Quebec politicians are not careful in this upcoming election, they could call into question the fiscal union that underlies the market’s expectation of potential federal support. The recent Italian experience should be a cautionary warning to Quebec politicians: Policies and rhetoric that undermine international investors’ confidence can quickly lead to higher bond yields, starting the vicious cycle of austerity and lower growth that could lead to fundamental questions of solvency.
h/t RB
Chicken Offsets
First there were carbon offsets. Now the latest in Guilt Removal Devices for Gullible Leftists has become available: Ted Frank’s Chicken Offsets
Hiroshima, Japan: 67 Years Ago Today
History revisionists state that the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima & Nagasaki was immoral and unnecessary. They purport that the Japanese government was ready to surrender before this, albeit with little to no evidence to support this supposition.
Had American troops been forced to fight conventionally on the Japanese mainland, earlier battles in 1945 provide a vivid reminder of the facts that President Harry Truman was dealing with:
Battle of Iwo Jima – 21,844 of 22,060 Japanese troops killed
Battle of Okinawa – 95,000+ of 120,000 Japanese troops killed
Update: Jon Stewart vs. Bill Whittle h/t Sooke
We Don’t Need No Stinking Sparky Cars
One interesting trucking note that you probably didn’t know, because you are not the kind of idiotic nerd that reads trucking news – our supremely wise government is paying outfits to buy electric trucks and covering the costs.
Reader Tips
Uh-oh, it looks like Jo Stafford is plumb out of boyfriends because of all that darned Feudin’ and a Fightin’ — and if they don’t stop shootin’, she’ll be plumb out of neighbours next week.
The comments are open for your Reader Tips.
Some Stuff You Might Like
The Decline And Fall Of The American Empire
You can laugh and say it’s just a joke, but through a war of inches, Hollywood continues its assault to define deviancy down and to normalize destructive behavior. Humor is an excellent way to get us used to and to take the shock value out of something hideous and immoral.
If you don’t think there’s an agenda behind this, you haven’t been paying attention the last 40 years.
Climategate 2.0
“The secret letter UEA and CRU doesn’t want us (or anybody else) to read…”
On Feb 26, 2010, as part of their first response to Climategate, Thomas Stocker, a Climategate correspondent of Phil Jones and by then Co-Chair of AR5 WG1, sent a still secret letter to all WG4 Lead Authors, Coordinating Lead Authors and Review Editors under the letterhead of WG1, purporting, it seems, to represent the parent IPCC organization. The existence of this secret email came to light as a result of David Holland’s persistence in trying to cut through IPCC authoritarianism and secrecy. After learning of its existence, David submitted an FOI request, which has been refused, and which is now under appeal at the Tribunal.
Sometimes A Banana Is Just A Banana
Reader Tips
“One of the benefits of living in the British countryside is the large variety of birds you can see in the wild….”
h/t Neek
The comments are open, as always, for your Reader Tips.
Flame
I don’t normally do cat blogging, but then, I don’t normally do cat portraits, either.
I’m making an exception tonight. This is for Jay and “Flame”. They’re going through a tough time.
You Are Asked, And Then You Weren’t
“The only people on Twitter for politics are people who want to hurt you.”
This Is Not Your Grandma’s Humane Society
Animal Rights: The Final Solution
Domestic animals are neither a real or full part of our world or of the nonhuman world. They exist forever in a netherworld of vulnerability, dependent on us for everything and at risk of harm from an environment that they do not really understand. We have bred them to be compliant and servile, or to have characteristics that are actually harmful to them but are pleasing to us. We may make them happy in one sense, but the relationship can never be “natural” or “normal.” They do not belong stuck in our world irrespective of how well we treat them.
[…]
[If] there were two dogs left in the universe and it were up to us as to whether they were allowed to breed so that we could continue to live with dogs, and even if we could guarantee that all dogs would have homes as loving as the one that we provide, we would not hesitate for a second to bring the whole institution of “pet” ownership to an end.
We regard the dogs who live with us as refugees of sorts, and although we enjoy caring for them, it is clear that humans have no business continuing to bring these creatures into a world in which they simply do not fit.
What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
“Do you remember that thing about how the banks wouldn’t lend to blacks and Hispanics because they were racists? And do you remember how they passed the Community Reinvestment Act so that banks were forced to reduce down payments practically to zero and lend to a lot of people they knew were bad credit risks? And do you remember how Wall Street bundled all these risky subprime mortgages and sold them to investors around the world so that when it became clear that those people weren’t going to be able to pay their mortgages banks everywhere were left holding the bag and all five of the Wall Street investment houses either went under or had to be bailed out by the federal government?”
Those days are over, right?
h/t john g
CWB: Not Dead Enough
“The Liberals have always supported jailing farmers who resisted the old and unjust Wheat Board monopoly, so it’s no surprise they don’t approve of doing the decent and just thing now that the Wheat Board monopoly has been abolished,”
Reader Tips
Gracie Fields may be in the shadows on a grey and weary day, but she’s sticking out her chest, hoping for the best, and Looking On The Bright Side.
The comments are open for your Reader Tips.