Iceland Volcano Erupts, "No Immediate Effect"

These days, whenever I hear that phrase - "no immediate effect" - I tend to assume there is longer-term effect...

Here's a screen capture from Reuter's video footage:


The Reuters' article is here.

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Iceland May Ban Mastercard and Visa Over WikiLeaks

Iceland, on the way to economic recovery since it decided to let its troubled lenders fail two years ago, is considering taking away the operating licenses from Mastercard and Visa in the country over their ban on donations to WikiLeaks.

From Raw Story on 12/13/2010:

Credit card companies that prevented card-holders from donating money to the secrets outlet WikiLeaks could have their operating licenses taken away in Iceland, according to members of the Icelandic Parliamentary General Committee.

Representatives from Mastercard and Visa were called before the committee Sunday to discuss their refusal to process donations to the website, reports Reykjavik Grapevine.

"People wanted to know on what legal grounds the ban was taken, but no one could answer it," Robert Marshall, the chairman of the committee, said. "They said this decision was taken by foreign sources."

The committee is seeking additional information from the credit card companies for proof that there was legal grounds for blocking the donations.

Marshall said the committee would seriously review the operating licenses of Visa and Mastercard in Iceland.

(Full article at the link)

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Uh Oh... Iceland's Katla May Go Off Soon...

2nd Iceland volcano issues warning: Scientists say powerful Katla is ‘close to failure’ (5/27/2010 MSNBC)

"LONDON - A second, much larger volcano in Iceland is showing signs that it may be about to erupt, scientists have warned.

"Since the start of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption, which caused cancellations of thousands of flights in Europe because of a giant ash cloud, there has been much speculation about neighboring Katla.
"An initial research paper by the University College of London Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction said: "Analysis of the seismic energy released around Katla over the last decade or so is interpreted as providing evidence of a rising ... intrusive magma body on the western flank of the volcano."

""Earlier seismic energy release at Katla is associated with the inflation of the volcano, which indicates it is close to failure, although this does not appear to be linked to seismicity around Eyjafjallajökull," it added.

""We conclude that given the high frequency of Katla activity, an eruption in the short term is a strong possibility," the report said. "It is likely to be preceded by new earthquake activity. Presently there is no unusual seismicity under Katla."" [Emphasis is mine. The article continues.]

Natural (like these Icelandic volcanos) or man-made (Gulf of Mexico oil spill, 'flash crash' of the US stock market, euro crisis), when things go out of control they seem to do so all at once. Not a gradual, orderly disintegration but a sudden, violent dislocation.

These events are 'complex systems' where the whole is more than its parts. Such a system tends to go haywire seemingly all of a sudden, as chaos theory predicts.

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