Quebec bans fracking, for now

Since we now know that fracking is linked to earthquakes, at least some politicians are doing the sensible thing and pausing the process while tests are run. What good is it for a community if the process is ruining the community?

The province of Quebec has moved from a de facto ban on shale gas development to a "complete and total moratorium," lamented Calgary oilpatch executive Michael Binnion on Tuesday, following news that a review on hydraulic fracturing won't include any demonstrations in the province.

A committee named by Quebec Environment Minister Pierre Arcand to determine whether shale gas can be extracted while respecting the environment released plans Tuesday for further study and recommended the minister not authorize hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, even for research purposes during an ongoing halt in development.

Arcand, in announcing the strategic environmental assessment last May, had said fracking would be allowed for research purposes. Committee chair Robert Joly said in his report that Quebec could rely on laboratory experiments on fracking.

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US Coast Guard sinks Japanese ghost ship

The boat was swept out to sea during the tsunami last year and had been approaching the west coast of North America. There was no way an unmarked ship drifting into a busy shipping area was going to continue. MSNBC:

The Coast Guard says the fishing vessel set adrift by the tsunami in Japan has sunk in the Gulf of Alaska after a cutter fired at it.

Petty Officer David Moseley told msnbc.com that the vessel caught fire and took on water after the Coast Guard Cutter Anacapa fired its 25mm cannon at the derelict ship on Thursday, aiming to sink what it called a threat to shipping.

Citing a Coast Guard spokesman, the Associated Press reported the firing began after a brief delay caused by a Canadian ship that wanted to salvage the Ryou-un Maru -- but then quickly found it it wasn't able to tow it back to shore.

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Romney's "hero" Scott Walker repealed WI equal pay law

Romney already has a problem with women and now he will have the opportunity to defend his friend Scott Walker. In this day and age, why would anyone want to repeal equality? Huffington Post:

A Wisconsin law that made it easier for victims of wage discrimination to have their day in court was repealed on Thursday, after Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) quietly signed the bill.

The 2009 Equal Pay Enforcement Act was meant to deter employers from discriminating against certain groups by giving workers more avenues via which to press charges. Among other provisions, it allows individuals to plead their cases in the less costly, more accessible state circuit court system, rather than just in federal court.

In November, the state Senate approved SB 202, which rolled back this provision. On February, the Assembly did the same. Both were party-line votes in Republican-controlled chambers.

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Video: Bird befriends paper airplane

Thrown from an 18th floor window in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India.  I'm not so sure the bird is befriending the paper airplane.  You have to watch to about halfway through before the bird gets involved.

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Retiring Congressman Barney Frank will not agree to disclose negotiations for future jobs

This is just too easy, but it has to be said. In general, if a Congressperson is negotiating for a job prior to leaving office, it's the very definition of the "appearance of impropriety" — if not the fact itself.

It's the reason I've been calling Congress (almost all of it) the "House of Retainers" — as in paid retainers of the Top 0.01%. They take the cash and do the bidding.

Now comes Barney Frank, who's retiring shortly. Lee Fang has covered this kind of story before, as explained below, and had a request to make (my emphasis and some reparagraphing):

Selling out pays. We looked at just a dozen Members of Congress who became lobbyists and other advocates for special interests after they left office and found that they received an average of a 1,452 percent raise.

So we here at Republic Report sent a letter to all 36 retiring Members of Congress asking them to commit to disclosing any job negotiations they have with anyone during the rest of their time in office. That way, we at least know who they’re potentially selling out to, and we can watch out for signs that, while still in office, they are working to please a future employer. ...

The most powerful Wall Street lobbying group, the Financial Services Roundtable, which represents the big investment banks like Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, and Bank of America, is now seeking a new chief lobbyist.

On Friday, Politico Influence, an insider’s publication, floated Rep. Barney Frank’s (D-MA) name as a top recruit after he leaves office this year.

This is real investigative reporting, folks. Note the activist approach, sending out letters that put people on the spot and on the record.

I myself find Congressman Frank's record filled with some "triangulation" of the public's interest, as well as evidence of banker-backed funding. Indicative but not dispositive, as some might say.

But let's go back to Mr. Fang, who spoke with the Congressman:

[Mr. Frank] told me that he does not need to sign our letter because he is not having job negotiations nor does he plan to have any negotiations while he is still in office.

When pressed to sign anyway, however, Frank demurred. I'll let you read why.

Is Frank currently negotiation with future employers? He says No, and there's no reason not to believe him. Will he pledge to disclose if he does? Again, he says No.

What's a person to think? Congress is a sea of iniquity, some might say. A pledge of clean living is not an inappropriate request.

But let's be generous and side with Mr. Fang, who requests only that Frank provide "leadership [that] could go a long way toward inspiring others to make this commitment to the American people" — by signing the pledge.

Fair enough. I add my small voice to the other Smalls, making the same request. Over to you, Mr Frank.

Sir?

GP

(To follow on Twitter or to send links: @Gaius_Publius) Read the rest of this post...

Mike Signorile to President Obama: "Come Out of the Closet on Gay Marriage"

Mike Signorile has a must-read post over at Huffington's Gay Voices with a very clear, concise and important message for the President on marriage:

it's time for Obama to now kick down the closet door.

Read the post -- and people at the campaign HQ should read it, too (not that those geniuses ever listen to anyone.) We posted this at AMERICAblog Gay, too.

Mike outlines very clearly why this matters to the President's reelection:

And there are two things happening now that will make the president seem more disingenuous, fearful and weak if he does not come out for marriage equality. His own party is moving at light speed on the issue, with pressure mounting to include marriage equality in the Democratic Party platform. This week four former Democratic National Committee chairs joined the Democratic National Convention's chair, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, in calling for the platform to include full equality. As Greg Sargent explains, this makes the issue unavoidable for Obama at this point.

Secondly, Mitt Romney is now emerging as the sure Republican nominee, a man who supports "gay rights" but not "gay marriage" -- in other words, in the broad brush of politics and the media, having the same position as Obama. And you better believe, just like his buddy Chris Christie did, Romney will say that. Yes, of course it's not true when you look at the details. And true, Romney has veered far to the right in the primaries. But Romney is whipping out the Etch A Sketch as we speak, and our media can't be counted on to stop him from erasing the past and keeping the details submerged.

I've heard from caller after caller to my radio program, people from all across the country who describe themselves as gay Republicans and gay independents, or as straight, socially-liberal independents or moderate Republicans, who voted for Obama in 2008. They're experiencing Obama fatigue and were never really that loyal, voting for Obama mostly because the GOP had hit rock bottom under Bush. They're looking for reasons to vote for Romney, or, rather, against Obama. The president has got to clarify every blurry line between him and Romney, and on this issue, relevant to many of them, one way to do it is to come out for full equality.

Some people ask, If everyone assumes Obama secretly supports marriage, why does he need to say it? Because staying in closet makes him look scared and dishonest. It keeps him on the defensive and far behind his party -- not to mention behind Dick Cheney and Laura Bush. And it depresses energy. The campaign surely wants to tap into the youth vote it galvanized in 2008, and certainly an issue like this, a civil rights issue of our time and one that is a driving force on college campuses, is the way to go.

Obama and his campaign need to stop the fretting and the fear -- the cowering in the closet -- and get back to the bold message of, "Yes, we can!"

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Airline offering kids-free section. Should they?

It's an interesting offer for long haul flights. As much as I always feel bad for parents who have to try to ease the misery of long flights for their young ones, I also want to try to rest myself. It's not the worst thing in the world and usually any crying (or screaming, from the pressure change) usually only lasts for a few minutes so it's not such a big deal. Beyond the screaming during takeoff, it's never been an issue that I can remember over 20 years of long haul flying.

The new A380 is big enough to offer something like this since the upstairs is mostly business and premium economy, with just a handful of rows for cattle cart. (I just flew back to France and sat upstairs on an Air France A380 in cattle cart, which was certainly less than 20 rows, maybe less.)

If this service is popular, it's probably only a matter of time until it's yet another premium offer with a fee. Is an offer like this fair?

Malaysia Airlines is declaring a kid-free zone on the upper deck of its Airbus A380 – and it's not in business class, but in the economy cabin.

An advisory issued to travel agents reveals that children under 12 will not be allowed to sit in the upstairs economy section of MAS' superjumbo, which will make its debut between Kuala Lumpur and London on July 1 with Sydney-KL to follow on September 25.

The move is aimed at ensuring a more restful and enjoyable trip for business travellers who have to fly in economy.

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Spring in DC photo essay (my pics)

DC is the land of azaleas.

Springtime, even when it's still dipping down to 40F at night, is a flowery pollen-filled time in Washington, DC.  This town, and northern Virginia (and I assume Maryland too), is just covered with azaleas everywhere you look.  They used to drive me allergies insane, but the shots have helped a lot these past few years. (These are iphone pics.)

Even more azaleas.

I tried growing an azalea on my balcony in a pot, it looks more like the Charlie Brown Christmas Azalea.  It's getting donated to my condo's rooftop some day soon.

My sad two year old encore azalea.

DC also has a lot of trees that may, or may not, be cherry trees.  They all bloom at the same time, and while we usually think they're all cherry, I suspect many are not.

I'm assuming cherry blossoms.

More cherry blossoms?

I'm a big fan of Japanese Maple trees.  I have one on my balcony that does surprisingly well, other than in August when it burns. I get too much light, and there's really nowhere to protect it.  Am hoping my bamboo will grow big enough to help some year.

Mini Japanese maple.

And my bignonia is finally starting to bloom.  This will be stunning when it stretches across my entire balcony railing in a few years.

My bignonia.

These are quite fun.  They're trees at a local foundation, cut in the French way.  They're pruned every fall in a way that makes the ends of the branches scar into this knuckle looking thing. I love them.  You'll see them all over France. I remember once, when I was 19 and living in France, being told that they're called "Grandma's knuckles."

Grandma's knuckles

And finally, Sasha is ever vigilant in the park, waiting for the ducks to come back this summer.

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Chris Dodd claims Obama brokering back room deal to pass SOPA

The poster child for everything that's wrong about American politics is back in the news again. Much like JP Morgan's CEO Jamie Dimon, former Democratic Senator Chris Dodd never knows when to shut his mouth. In this case, it's a good thing because Chris Dodd has once again helped bring SOPA and the MPAA's bad policies back into public view. And Dodd, incredibly, claimed that President Obama is working behind the scenes to do everything Dodd wants on SOPA.

TechDirt:

Ah, Chris Dodd. It seems like every time he opens his mouth, he makes things worse. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, he responds to a series of questions about SOPA by trying to tiptoe around the issue, but basically admits that there are backroom conversations going on between a small number of people, and that "between now and sometime next year," Hollywood and the tech industry will "come to an understanding." He's asked specifically if there are conversations going on now, and if the White House is pressuring folks to come to such "an understanding."

THR: Are there conversations going on now?

Dodd: I'm confident that's the case, but I'm not going to go into more detail because obviously if I do, it becomes counterproductive.

THR: Did you feel personally blindsided by Obama over SOPA?

Dodd: I'm not going to revisit the events of last winter. I'll only say to you that I'm confident he's using his good relationships in both communities to do exactly what you and I have been talking about.

President Obama is using his good relationships to do "exactly" what Chris Dodd, number one paid SOPA lobbyist, is talking about?  Really?

We need people to continue speaking out against the excesses of the MPAA and the corporate world. Consumers are supposed to be an important part of the US economy, so Washington needs to wake up and start treating consumers with the respect they deserve. This should not be a one way street. Read the rest of this post...

Not good econ figures, US added only 120,000 jobs last month

What sounded like good news a few days ago has turned out to be bad news. It's both under the number of incoming job seekers as well as well under the forecast.

U.S. payrolls rose far less than expected in March, keeping the door open for further monetary policy support from the Federal Reserve, even as the unemployment rate fell to a three-year low of 8.2 percent.

Employers added 120,000 jobs last month, the Labor Department said on Friday, the smallest increase since October.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected nonfarm employment to increase 203,000 and the unemployment rate to hold at 8.3 percent.

As Roubini tweeted today, the only reason the unemployment rate looks like this is because the participation rate dropped. Many workers have stopped looking. Read the rest of this post...

"Global economic collapse... by 2030" because of overpopulation, study says

I hate "downer" stories like these; they're depressing. But they keep stacking up in my browser tabs, and I feel it's my duty to (a) release tabs so others can use them, and (b) at least tell you this stuff is going on. After all, it is a news blog.

Bottom line — You're gonna die. The good news? You would have anyway. The bad news? It may not be the way you thought. What'dya gonna do? (Look at the nice kitty; that might help as you read on. See, there really is good in the world.)

In a nutshell, I've seen a steady run of stories like those below that just can't be ignored — unless the google releases more cool new glasses like these; then death can wait.

■ First up, we have an MIT study updating a controversial 1972 academic report called The Limits to Growth. That study looked at various outcomes of human population growth and resource consumption. The Smithsonian magazine reports on the updated study as presented to the think tank, Club of Rome:

Recent [MIT] research supports the conclusions of a controversial environmental study released 40 years ago: The world is on track for disaster. So says Australian physicist Graham Turner, who revisited perhaps the most groundbreaking academic work of the 1970s, The Limits to Growth.

Written by MIT researchers for an international think tank, the Club of Rome, the study used computers to model several possible future scenarios. The business-as-usual scenario estimated that if human beings continued to consume more than nature was capable of providing, global economic collapse and precipitous population decline could occur by 2030. ...

Turner compared real-world data from 1970 to 2000 with the business-as-usual scenario. He found the predictions nearly matched the facts.

No highlighting from me; facts like these can just go highlight themselves. The key chart is here, by the way.

Of course, the Smithsonian offers this disclaimer:

However, the study also noted that unlimited economic growth was possible, if governments forged policies and invested in technologies to regulate the expansion of humanity’s ecological footprint. Prominent economists disagreed with the report’s methodology and conclusions. Yale’s Henry Wallich opposed active intervention, declaring that limiting economic growth too soon would be “consigning billions to permanent poverty.”

Which is a happy-face rewrite of this, from the Club of Rome website:

Most scenarios resulted in an ongoing growth of population and of the economy until to a turning point around 2030. Only drastic measures for environmental protection proved to be suitable to change this systems behaviour, and only under these circumstances, scenarios could be calculated in which both world population and wealth could remain at a constant level. However, so far the necessary political measures were not taken.

See? It's either a near-certain disaster or a wonderful global opportunity (maybe even a floor wax). As Stan Freberg once put it:

Christopher Columbus (to natives he encountered): Which reminds me, I want to take a few of you guys back on the boat with me to prove I discovered you.

Native: What you mean, you discover us? We discover you.

Columbus: You discovered us?

Native: Certainly. We discover you on beach here. Is all how you look at it.

"Is all how you look at it." Levity. I'm trying, folks. (Steve Hynd alerted me to this one; you can thank him here.)

■ And from New Scientist, this "climate" news (called global warming news in the real world):

Arctic sea ice may have passed crucial tipping point

The disappearance of Arctic sea ice has crossed a "tipping point" that could soon make ice-free summers a regular feature across most of the Arctic Ocean, says a British climate scientist who is setting up an early warning system for dangerous climate tipping points.

Tim Lenton at the University of Exeter has carried out a day-by-day assessment of Arctic ice-cover data collected since satellite observation began in 1979. He presented his hotly anticipated findings for the first time at the Planet Under Pressure conference in London on Monday.

Up until 2007, sea ice systematically fluctuated between extensive cover in winter and lower cover in summer. But since then, says Lenton, the difference between winter and summer ice cover has been a million square kilometres greater than it was before, as a result of unprecedented summer melting. These observations are in contrast to what models predict should have happened.

Yes, it's one study, and there are yes-buts throughout. But still, what do you do with a story like that? How, as a news/opinion writer, do you handle it?

I could even add this, from Scientific American (my paragraphing):

The world is close to reaching tipping points that will make it irreversibly hotter, making this decade critical in efforts to contain global warming, scientists warned on Monday.

Scientific estimates differ but the world's temperature looks set to rise by six degrees Celsius by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions are allowed to rise uncontrollably. As emissions grow, scientists say the world is close to reaching thresholds beyond which the effects on the global climate will be irreversible...

If you put these stories together — the population story and the global warming story — you get a happy toxic mash-up of "Oh my god" and "What'dya gonna do?"

As a writer, I'm boggled. (And yes, those really are cool glasses, even though the google is very likely part of the State. What'dya gonna do?)

GP

(To follow on Twitter or to send links: @Gaius_Publius)
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Murdoch's Sky News admits hacking emails for stories - how is this different than Wikileaks and Assange?

It's different because Assange and Wikileaks have a heck of a stronger moral high ground to stand on than Murdoch media.  More on that in a moment.

Obviously we're well past the point where anyone can say the hacking was an isolated incident on just one part of the Murdoch media empire. The excuse being offered by cable news channel Sky News is that they stand by their crimes because they were in the best interest of the public.

"We stand by these actions as editorially justified and in the public interest," the head of Sky News, John Ryley, said in a statement.

Now that's contrition.

Maybe evidence acquired illegally in the UK will hold up in court, but that presents some serious problems in the US.  Not to mention the ethics, and overall creepiness, of it.

It's interesting that the Murdoch media network has been so hard on Julian Assange and Wikileaks yet surprise, surprise, they have a great excuse for themselves. After all, what's more important: someone lying about a death to get the insurance money (the Murdoch paper's excuse) or an administration's lies about the justification for war (Wikileak's excuse)?

Huh? What's that answer, Rupert? Speak a little louder so we can all appreciate the full difference.

CNN:

UK news channel Sky News said Thursday it had authorized its journalists to hack into the e-mail of individual members of the public on two occasions.

John Ryley, head of Sky News, said the instances involved suspected criminal activity.

"We stand by these actions as editorially justified and in the public interest," he said in a statement. "We do not take such decisions lightly or frequently."

Now that Sky has admitted to breaking the law, when will Scotland Yard arrest someone?

NOTE FROM JOHN: Now that we know that the culture of corruption permeated a number of Murdoch's media ventures, it's fair to ask whether Murdoch's other media ventures, including FOX News and the Wall Street Journal, bit from the same fruit of the poisonous tree.  And the nerve of Sky News to puff up its chest and suggest that illegal domestic spying by a newspaper is "editorially justified."  Really, is that how it works now?  We no longer go to the authorities in order to hack into someone's email, we simply ask our editor.

And why is this man John Ryley still the head of Sky News, and not sitting in jail somewhere? Do Fox News and the WSJ agree with Murdoch's man Ryley that it's okay to hack someone's email if it's "editorially justified" and in the public interest?  I'm sure some would argue that it's editorially justified and in the public interest - especially after all of this - to know what's in the email files of Murdoch and his senior staff at Fox and the WSJ, if only to know how far this conspiracy goes.  Does that make it right? Read the rest of this post...

Anonymous hacks government sites in China

It's a new trend for Anonymous that may stick around for a while. Al Jazeera:

On a Twitter account established in late March, Anonymous China listed the websites it said it had hacked over the last several days. They included government bureaus in several Chinese cities, including in Chengdu, a provincial capital in southwest China.

Some of the sites were still blocked on Thursday, with English-language messages shown on how to circumvent government restrictions. In a message left on one of the hacked Chinese sites, cdcbd.gov.cn, a home page for Chengdu's business district, the hackers expressed anger with the Chinese government for restrictions placed on the internet.

"Dear Chinese government, you are not infallible, today websites are hacked, tomorrow it will be your vile regime that will fall," the message read. "So expect us because we do not forgive, never. What you are doing today to your Great People, tomorrow will be inflicted to you," one of the messages read.

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Greek universities may be forced to close due to crisis

Considering the comfortable position of the bankers, this is sickening. It's bad enough that the crisis is crushing an entire generation who have limited employment opportunities, but taking away education which will only limit their chances even more is immoral.

Six of the country's universities say they face immediate closure after the recent bondswap reduced their assets to zero.

An emergency meeting of university rectors on Tuesday heard that only 33m euros remained of 120m euros that 17 Greek universities had deposited with the Bank of Greece for their operating expenses, while six university accounts were now completely empty meaning they would soon be unable to stay open.

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