HAARP destroys another country: Massive 8.8 earthquake in Chile

Tsunami warnings across Pacific region.

Where is Jesse Ventura when you need him?

Why would the US Government target Chile's second largest city for destruction so soon after destroying Haiti? Could it have something to do with the new regional organization being formed by Cuba and Venezuela?

These are questions that mus be answered before this fearsome weapon is deployed upon a helpless world again.

The quake downed buildings and houses in Santiago and knocked out a major bridge connecting the northern and southern sections of the country.

It struck at 3:34 a.m. local time and was centered about 200 miles southwest of Santiago, at a depth of 22 miles, the U.S. Geological Survey reported. The epicenter was some 70 miles from Concepcion, Chile’s second-largest city, where more than 200,000 people live.

Phone lines were down in Concepcion as of 7:30 a.m. and no reports were coming out of that area. The quake in Chile was more powerful than the magnitude 7.0 earthquake that caused widespread damage in Haiti on Jan 12, killing at least 230,000, earthquake experts reported on CNN International.

...

Eyewitnesses on Facebook and Twitter reported that the quake was felt from Japan to Argentina. The quake struck at the end of the Chilean summer vacation, with hundreds of thousands of people expected to be traveling back home this weekend.

Seriously, this is a huge quake. Historically it would be about the 4th most powerful ever. The most powerful being a 9.5 quake in the same area back in 1960. That killed 1700 people. So far the death toll is low compared to Haiti. I believe that is due to lower population density and better building codes. That doesn't mean the quake won't be devastating. If you are a prayer keep them in your prayers in you are a donater the Red Cross will probably have something set up soon, so will World Vision and Doctors without Borders I'm sure.

Posted by: chad98036 at 10:16 AM | Comments (7) | Add Comment
Post contains 331 words, total size 3 kb.

The Climategate Story Is About To Get Very, Very Interestinger

I don't know how much this will accomplish, or if Attorney General Holder will indeed allow an investigation, but when a U.S. Senator calls for an investigation into Climategate, things should get interesting.

The released CRU emails and documents display potentially unethical, and illegal, behavior. The scientists appear to discuss manipulating data to get their preferred results. On several occasions they appear to discuss subverting the scientific peer review process to ensure that skeptical papers had no access to publication. Moreover, there are emails discussing unjustified changes to data by federal employees and federal grantees.

These and other issues raise questions about the lawful use of federal funds and potential ethical misconduct. Discussed below are brief descriptions of the statutes and regulations that the Minority Staff believe are implicated in this scandal. In our investigation, we are examining the emails and documents and determining whether any violations of these federal laws and policies occurred.

Heh. Game. Fucking. On.

Posted by: eddiebear at 09:42 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 168 words, total size 1 kb.

Haig RIP

Alexander Haig is dead. (link via Ace, but I saw the news on TV)

He did some truly great things, but he will always be remembered for his statement that he was in control when Ronnie Raygun was shot.

I'll always remember that, I saw it on TV and I laughed my ass off.
I have to admit, it was a bit of hilarity on a not so pleasant day.

I understand why he did it, but it was still just funny.

Posted by: Veeshir at 09:54 AM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
Post contains 84 words, total size 1 kb.

Have you seen this article - Climategate U-turn as scientist at centre of row admits: There has been no global warming since 1995

Sounds like a win right? Read the article carefully, I'm not quite sure that's waht he actually said:

He also agreed that there had been two periods which experienced similar warming, from 1910 to 1940 and from 1975 to 1998, but said these could be explained by natural phenomena whereas more recent warming could not.

He further admitted that in the last 15 years there had been no ‘statistically significant’ warming, although he argued this was a blip rather than the long-term trend.

I don't know who wrote this, but that first paragraph is misleading as hell. What it says is that Jones is now ascribing the 1975 to 1998 warming to natural rather than AGW causes. That is incorrect. 1975 to 1998 is the main period in which AGW is supposed to have occurred. The second paragraph is also misleading as hell. A quick read and it appears he is admitting global warming has stopped, but that isn't what he is actually say. He is actually claiming that the process is continuing we just are seeing an output from it at the moment.

The other major mistake in the article is the claim that he is admitting the medieval warming period could have been global. Read the article carefully. That is not what he says:

Professor Jones departed from this consensus when he said: ‘There is much debate over whether the Medieval Warm Period was global in extent or not. The MWP is most clearly expressed in parts of North America, the North Atlantic and Europe and parts of Asia.

‘For it to be global in extent, the MWP would need to be seen clearly in more records from the tropical regions and the Southern hemisphere. There are very few palaeoclimatic records for these latter two regions.

‘Of course, if the MWP was shown to be global in extent and as warm or warmer than today, then obviously the late 20th Century warmth would not be unprecedented. On the other hand, if the MWP was global, but was less warm than today, then the current warmth would be unprecedented.’

What he says is there is no data to show that the MWP was global, but if there was and the temps were less than they are today than AGW would still be the main cause.

I would be very careful in referencing this as an anti-AGW victory.

source added

Posted by: chad98036 at 12:50 PM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
Post contains 423 words, total size 3 kb.

Pew pew pew pew pew

Air Force uses airborne laser to knock down ballistic missiles.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 11:56 AM | Comments (36) | Add Comment
Post contains 15 words, total size 1 kb.

Notes from #PA12

Some developing info on the Murtha seat to bring people up to speed:

There will be a special election to fill the vacancy.  This special election is almost certainly going to be held on the same day as the spring primary election, May 18th.  Candidates for the special election will be chosen by the parties, NY23-style. 

Because the special election is held coincident with the primary, voters will be voting both for the interim Congressman and also for the nominees for the November election -- voting for two elections for the same Congressional seat.  Nothing precludes the party-nominated interim candidate from seeking the primary nomination, so one candidate might be on the ballot twice.

Previously declared Republican candidates for the seat are Bill Russell (Army vet, 2008 challenger) and Tim Burns (businessman).  Other primary candidates may now emerge as well.  The petition period to get on the primary ballot in PA is Feb 16 to March 9.

Some other potential GOP candidates (either for the interim position, or I suppose for the "real" full-term election) might be:
- Jeff Pyle (State Rep.)
- Diana Irey (County commissioner and 2006 candidate)
- Mark Pasquerilla (business owner, hotels; regionally recognized last name)

A lot of eyes are probably on Russell.  He has demonstrated massive fundraising ability, though unfortunately it has been done through the inefficient direct-mail process, and he's not actually sitting on a ton of cash right now.  Some are out there exaggerating how "close" Russell came to unseating Murtha in 2008.  The vote was Murtha 57.9% to Russell 42.2%, a difference of 15.7%.  In my book, that's pretty bad, though in fairness it was a marginal improvement over Irey in 2006, and it was done in the worst possible environment for GOP candidates.  The "close" claim comes from one or two polls (iirc, media polls) that had the race at high single digits a few weeks out from the election.  If you want to call that "close", then go ahead, but I wouldn't.

Posted by: JoeCollins at 11:20 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
Post contains 336 words, total size 2 kb.

John Murtha Has Died

He was 77

Posted by: eddiebear at 02:44 PM | Comments (14) | Add Comment
Post contains 7 words, total size 1 kb.

The Zero Rupee Note

Frustrated people in India are paying bribes... with worthless fake currency.

Behold, the zero rupee note:



I have no idea what sort of group the 5th Pillar is, and their website seems to be hosed at the moment, so don't count this as an endorsement.

From the World Bank blog:

Fed up with requests for bribes and equipped with a zero rupee note, the old lady handed the note to the official. He was stunned. Remarkably, the official stood up from his seat, offered her a chair, offered her tea and gave her the title she had been seeking for the last year and a half to obtain without success.

Culture is a bitch, because this makes no sense to me, but I'm glad it seems to work.  Hopefully some sort of tipping point against official corruption is being reached.  Shame and fear are powerful social weapons.

Posted by: JoeCollins at 08:51 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 151 words, total size 1 kb.

Massive explosion in CT industrial plant

Keep these people in your thoughts and prayers.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 01:57 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
Post contains 14 words, total size 1 kb.