There seems to be a heightened amount of earthquake activity around Japan.

If you look at the quakes from Feb23-26, they are relatively small. On Feb 26, a 6.1 occurs near Taiwan. After that, the quakes register higher than before that on the richter scale, and they seem more frequent. Any thoughts?

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/quake_local_index.html

Too funny -- Actual headline from Birmingham, Alabama:

Feb. 24, 2012
POLL: SANTORUM COMES FROM BEHIND IN ALABAMA THREE-WAY

http://weldbham.com/secondfront/2012/02/24/poll-santorum-comes-from-behind-in-alabama-three-way/

Did they do that on purpose???

CA Gov Jerry Brown SCHOOLS Right-Wing Reporter: "Are you a Moonie?"

Sun Feb 26, 2012 at 06:58 PM PST
CA Gov Jerry Brown SCHOOLS Right-Wing Reporter: "Are you a Moonie?"
by Shane Hensinger

I haven't seen anything about this posted, so I thought I'd share with you the illuminating back-and-forth between CA Governor Jerry Brown, in DC for National Governor's Conference, and Washington Times reporter Kerry Picket, which took place today.

For background: The Washington Times is a right-wing propaganda rag run by the Reverend Sun Myung Moon - head of the Unification Church. The political reporter for the Washington Times, Kerry Picket, thought she could spring a "gotcha" on Governor Brown and his press secretary, Gil Duran, today after Brown's meeting with HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. She was wrong.

Here's the transcript:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/california-politics/2012/02/jerry-brown-takes-on-washington-times-reporter.html

Reporter: Gov. Brown, you’ve gotten criticism that you’ve ceded…

Brown: I’ve gotten criticism? Only from the Washington Times…

Reporter: I understand that you’ve gotten some criticism that you’ve ceded way too much to the unions.

Brown: Give me an example.

Reporter: As far as the education, teachers unions, and just as far as some of the contracts that have been negotiated, that you could be making the same mistake that you made in your last administration...

Brown: Which one was that?

Reporter: … Back in the day.

Brown: When California had a $6-billion surplus and was leading America, if not the world, in many different fields?

Reporter: Well, right now it’s going bankrupt.

Brown: That’s untrue. I’ve reduced the deficit that was left to me by a Republican governor from $26 billion to $9 billion and I have a plan to reduce it to zero.

Reporter: So you’re saying that the reason that California is going bankrupt is...

Brown: No, that’s not true. We’re going far. I mean, we’re doing quite well.

Duran: You need to ask a question that’s based on the truth.

Brown (to Duran): You don’t have to argue with her…

Duran: No, S&P just upgraded to positive. That’s not bankrupt.

Reporter: No, actually, because when Reagan came in later on, things actually changed.

Brown: No, Reagan came before me. Reagan came after my father and then I came after Reagan.

Reporter: And then you actually lost your term thereafter, no?

Brown: No, I’m the only Democratic governor in history to serve three terms. In fact only two governors have ever served a third term.

Reporter: So why is it then, that we’re seeing from the bankruptcy though...

Duran: There is no bankruptcy. That’s a lie. You’re lying.

Brown: California has a $2-trillion economy.

Reporter: Why am I a liar?

Brown: Last year… Are you a Moonie by any chance?

Reporter: Sir…

Duran: And your facts are totally wrong. I can prove it to you.

Brown: Because your incisiveness is kind of suspect. Anyway. California, the economy is doing better, it’s coming back. The private economy added $90 billion, and that feeds into the public sector as well. There are deficits because there’s been excesses in the last decade, brought on principally by the mortgage bubble and breakdown. And we’re now cleaning up after that mess. It does take a while to do that. I’d say we’re on a very positive course. Not as rapid as I would like, but the trajectory is all in the right direction.

Reporter: Thank you, sir.

TOM TOMORROW: Sex Talk with Rick Santorum

Mon Feb 20, 2012 at 06:50 AM PST
Sex Talk with Rick Santorum
by Tom Tomorrow



http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/20/1065550/-Sex-Talk-with-Rick-Santorum?detail=hide&via=blog_792316

Earthquake map -- Focus on Japan

Recently I posted an OP titled "Scientists:'Big One' Building Beneath Fukushima" http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002316346 .

I have been keeping a very close eye on events at Fukushima. Today, I ran across two excellent earthquake maps from 2011. One is worldwide and the other focuses on Japan. They are astounding. Watch what happens after March 11, 2001. Unfortunately, neither contains any data from 2012. In the last 6 weeks, the seismic activity around Fukushima has been remarkable. Just today, there was a report of 4 quakes near Fukushima within 90 minutes -- 2 of them registered at 5.1: http://enenews.com/4-quakes-90-minutes-fukushima-began-several-hours-after-intensity-5-quake-ibaraki. All of the reactors at Fukushima are of concern, but especially Reactor 4 which is already leaning and ready to collapse.

In any case, watch the maps...They are incredible.

A rising tide lifts all... oh, never mind...

Sun Feb 19, 2012 at 05:30 AM PST
A rising tide lifts all... oh, never mind...
by MattWuerker

Chosen Panel

Rolling back the clock

Fri Feb 17, 2012 at 06:50 AM PST
Rolling back the clock
by Matt Bors



http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/17/1065532/-Rolling-back-the-clock?via=blog_1

Scientists: 'Big One' Building Beneath Fukushima

Wed Feb 15, 2012 at 12:28 PM PST
Scientists: 'Big One' Building Beneath Fukushima
by JoieauFollow

Last week the temperature in Fukushima Daiichi's #2 reactor vessel - as measured at the "0" position gage - began rising in an erratic manner. Over the weekend the gage shot over 80ºC, causing TEPCO to have to report that if the reading is accurate, the #2 reactor can no longer be considered to be in a state of "cold shutdown..."

SNIP

...Today the "0" level gage at unit-2 is still hovering around 250ºC, after having gone as high as 275.9ºC on Monday. TEPCO has been issuing reassuring statements that they 'think' the gage is broken because two other temperature gages in the vessel aren't reading that high, although at least one of them has behaved as irregularly as the "0" gage has. TEPCO employees at the site say they doubt the gage is actually broken, and have increased the water being added to the vessel as well as injected boron to help prevent criticality. Analysts have suggested that recent changes in the coolant flow due to changes made when the endoscopy was done may have affected the amount of water reaching the molten corium (wherever it may be), causing it to crack or shift, thus possibly going critical again for short periods to cause the temperature rise. Also over the weekend [Feb. 11 & 12] cesium levels measured around unit 2 jumped from single digits to 98.2 MBq/km2 for Cesium 134 and 139 MBq/km2 for Cesium 137.

SNIP

Some of us will recall the many reports during the fall of rising groundwater underneath the nuclear reservation, including boiling water and steam 'erupting' from the ground around units 1 and 2 through the extensive ground fissures and cracks that riddle the ground and widen with every 'aftershock' of the great earthquake that initiated the disaster nearly a year ago. In the last couple of days a new danger has reared its head with the release of a new study from the European Geosciences Union which issues the warning that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reservation is at increased risk of suffering a big earthquake epicentered essentially right underneath it, and that rising groundwater is an ominous sign that it could come very soon...

SNIP

...In the Iwaki area ~25 miles south of Fukushima Daiichi, where a magnitude 7 'aftershock' last April 11 occurred, Japan's seismic monitoring network recorded more than 24,000 tremors in the seven and a half months after March 11. There were a mere 1,300 quakes in the same area over the nine previous years. The research paper notes that Daiichi sits atop fractured crust with the same traits as Iwaki's, and that the fault under the plants can be weakened and "lubricated" by the same rising fluids. The conclusion of these geophysicist?

"Therefore, much attention should be paid to the FNPP (Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant) seismic safety in the near future..."

Slowpoke: Fallopitarians protest health care law

Wed Feb 15, 2012 at 06:50 AM PST
Fallopitarians protest health care law
by Jen SorensenFollow for Comics



http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/15/1064698/-Fallopitarians-protest-health-care-law?via=blog_1