ipad?

Yes, compatible with iPad too. Arkansas had another quake today too. According to the news they've been having a swarm of them.


Some think it might be from hydraulic fracking so they're looking at that possibility too. For the moment, they have placed a moratorium on new injection wells.

Just found this,

See this article although caveat emptor applies here. Definitely something to be examined. If hydraulic fracking is responsible for quakes, fish deaths and bird deaths, then there is a distinct possibility it will result in human deaths (imagine a large release of gas hitting a farm house--folks in the area can already light fires from their tap water). The priceless line, "It's not...uh...supposed to do that".

QuakeWatch shows a 6.3 earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. There have been three more quakes in the area since then, the last one just over an hour ago at 4.4.

Saw some video on the morning news--what a mess!

Here's an interesting chart from The Economist (I hope the link works...) showing which countries devote the most acreage (they use hectares) to GMO farming. I knew the USA led, but was surprised by the margin, and by how little land European countries dedicate. [Disclosure: I personally try to avoid GMO products if the price penalty isn't too high. As a vegetarian, soybean products have to be watched very carefully, that crop being extremely heavily modified.]

"I was reading this page and I thought you would be interested in it (what countries grow the most GM crops):
http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychar...ps&fsrc=nwl
Shared using Apture (www.apture.com)"

That is interesting. Next highest is Brazil, then Argentina and Canada is way down the list. I thought various countries in Europe would be considerably higher.

In the FWIW department, sometime last fall, I was talking to a fellow who used to work on GMOs. He said if they take a single known gene from one organism and put it into a plant so that it will produce a product that they want, it must be listed as a GMO.

If they take seeds and plants and then irradiate* the heck out of them, scrambling the DNA, trying to produce mutations that are favourable, then they don't need to list that as a GMO.

He asked me, What would you rather eat? A plant in which we know exactly what gene was altered and know exactly what it does, or a plant that we don't have any idea what the DNA has done and what products are now being created? He said GMO are statistically safer than mutated veggies. I think we should list both as GMO, but have a subcategory explaining how they were modified--Mass Mutation or Gene Implant.

(*not to confuse irradiation to mutate with irradiation to sterilize so food doesn't spoil as fast--maybe they use a different term for the mutation in the literature, but that was the term he gave me).

A quick overview of the Japan quake debunking some of the nonsense that has been spawned here. e.g. supermoon

A more indepth look at the so-called supermoon promoted by an astrologer who doesn't actually know any astronomy.

For a look at some stats on earthquakes and the ever asked, if not original question, are quakes increasing, see here. Just an overview with a lesson on check the sources of anyone who puts up a graph. Love the quote


btw, folks were saying the endtimes were near in 1920s,40s, 1960s...there was a big spike in huge earthquakes (e.g. 1964 Alaska) where 2 of the top five quakes occurred (info in links above). Or was the imminent end expected in the 70s, or 80s, or the 90s, or the nougties. No wait, it is this decade...this time they're right for sure.

hmm, maybe I'm thinking of the 1860s when Europe was undergoing revolution, quakes, famines, pestilence, wars on a massive scale....

Any word on the danger to the Japanese nuclear facilities? I mean, beyond what you can get from the wire services.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Meltdown-threat-rises-at-apf-368415316.html?x=0

So the meltdown threat rises. Two areas of speculation: first, what will this do to the nuclear option in the U.S.? second, what will these tragic events do to the world economy?

Dr. Phil Plait has some evidence-based analysis, points out best and worst case scenarios, points out what is know and unknown and what conclusions can be derived (good and bad), and also has links to lots of other rational analysis (and he keeps updating it). Haven't had time to read it all yet...on the road right now.