Friday, March 11, 2011
Earth's Axis MOVED 10 INCHES & Japan's Coast MOVED 2.4 METERS!
USGS Dr. Dave Applegate says the Japan earthquake ruptured a 180 mile long by 50 mile wide section of the Earth's crust.
Scientists from the United States Geological Service answered questions from the public this afternoon, with some startling revelations made.
* The first tsunami wave in Samoa was reportedly one foot tall, but the seventh wave was much larger, indicating coastal areas shoudl remain on tsunami advisory well after the first wave hits, even if that wave appears small.
* 100+ aftershocks have rated 5.0 magnitude or more in Japan since the initial shake.
* Earth's axis has reportedly shifted ten inches as a result of the quake, and Japan's coast is said to have permanently shifted 2.4 metres.
82 Percent Of U.S Schools Could Be Labeled "Failing"
The number of schools labeled as "failing" under the nation's No Child Left Behind Act could skyrocket dramatically this year, Education Secretary Arne Duncan said Wednesday.
The Department of Education estimates the percentage of schools not meeting yearly targets for their students' proficiency in in math and reading could jump from 37 to 82 percent as states raise standards in attempts to satisfy the law's mandates.
The 2002 law requires states to set targets aimed at having all students proficient in math and reading by 2014, a standard now viewed as wildly unrealistic.
"No Child Left Behind is broken and we need to fix it now," Duncan said in a statement. "This law has created a thousand ways for schools to fail and very few ways to help them succeed."
Duncan presented the figures at a House education and work force committee hearing, in urging lawmakers to rewrite the Bush-era act. Both Republicans and Democrats agree the law needs to be reformed, though they disagree on issues revolving around the federal role of education and how to turn around failing schools.
A surge in schools not meeting annual growth targets could have various implications. The most severe consequences — interventions that could include closure or replacing staff — would be reserved for those schools where students have been failing to improve for several consecutive years.
Duncan said the law has done well in shining a light on achievement gaps among minority and low-income students, as well as those who are still learning English or have disabilities. But he said the law is loose on goals and narrow on how schools achieve them.
"We should get out of the business of labeling schools as failures and create a new law that is fair and flexible, and focused on the schools and students most at risk," Duncan said.
Russ Whitehurst, director of the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institute, said some states and districts have dug themselves into a hole by expected greater gains in the final years.
"The reality is coming home that you can't essentially demonstrate very little progress for ten years and then expect all of your progress to occur in the last two or three years," Whitehurst said.
He said some states believed improvement would accelerate as students advanced, creating a "snowball effect," while others put off the heavy lifting to avoid the consequences.
Daria Hall, Education Trust's K-12 policy director, said it was also important to distinguish between schools that don't meet the annual growth benchmark for one year, versus those who have failed to do so for two consecutive years and are labeled as being "in need of improvement."
Both distinctions could mean vastly different outcomes in terms of how many schools are subject to which interventions. The Department of Education was not able to provide data breaking down how many of the 82 percent would be failing to meet yearly goals for one year, versus consecutive years.
Hall said there are many ways states can meet their annual achievement benchmarks, and questioned whether the 82 percent figure took them all into consideration. Amy Wilkins, Education Trust's vice president for government affairs and communications, also noted that schools which are struggling are given various options — contesting Duncan's assessment that the law is tight on means and loose on goals.
Lawsuit To Remove "In God We Trust" From U.S Currency Rejected By Supreme Court
(03-07) 17:12 PST WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Supreme Court turned aside a challenge to "In God We Trust" on the nation's coins and currency Monday, refusing to consider a Sacramento man's claim that the national motto is a government endorsement of religion.
Michael Newdow, an atheist, has filed numerous lawsuits against government-sponsored religious invocations, including the words "under God" that were added to the Pledge of Allegiance in 1954.
The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco agreed with him in 2002 that the phrase was religiously motivated and that it sent a message to nonbelievers that they were outsiders. But the Supreme Court dismissed the suit in 2007, saying Newdow lacked standing to represent the interests of his daughter, an elementary school student, because the child's mother had custody of her.
Newdow refiled the suit on behalf of a local parent. But in a 2-1 decision in October, a different appeals court panel said "under God" was a historic, nonreligious recognition of the faith of the nation's founders in a higher power as the source of all rights. Newdow has appealed to the Supreme Court.
In the currency case, Newdow argued that the inscription of the motto on money makes him an unwilling bearer of a religious message. He was turned down in October by the same appeals court panel that ruled against him in the pledge case.
Judge Carlos Bea wrote that the court recognized in a 1970 ruling that the motto has a "patriotic or ceremonial character" and "has no theological or ritualistic impact." The Obama administration and the conservative Pacific Justice Institute had opposed the lawsuit.
The Supreme Court denied review Monday without comment. Newdow said he was disappointed but would refile the suit elsewhere.
30,000 Bibles Detained by Malaysian Gov't, Claim Christian Leaders
Christian leaders in Malaysia are sounding off against the government’s latest detention of imported scriptures, reporting that some 30,000 were recently being held.
The Christian Federation of Malaysia – which comprises the nation’s largest ecumenical, Evangelical, and Roman Catholic Christian bodies – announced Thursday that it is “greatly disillusioned, fed-up and angered by the repeated detention of Bibles written in our national language, Bahasa Malaysia.”
“Since March 2009, all attempts to import the Bible in Bahasa Malaysia, i.e. the Alkitab, whether through Port Klang or the Port of Kuching, have been thwarted,” the umbrella organization stated, suggesting that the detentions are linked to the widely-publicized 2009 row over the translation of “God” in Bibles and other Christian publications.
In Malaysia, Christian publications were not allowed to use the word “Allah” to refer to God. The government contends the word “Allah” is exclusively for Islam and that the use of “Allah” in Christian publications could confuse Muslims and make Christian ideas more appealing to them.
Church officials, however, argue that Allah is not exclusive to Islam because it is an Arabic word that existed before the religion. They say "Allah" has been used for centuries to mean "God" in Malay.
On Dec. 31, 2009, two years after a lawsuit was filed against the government over its “Allah” ban, a Supreme Court judge agreed with members of the Malaysian Church, declaring that the word “Allah” is not exclusive to Islam and that the government’s Home Ministry is “not empowered” to ban non-Muslims from using the word.
U,S Govt Handouts Make Up For One-Third Of U.S Wages
Government payouts—including Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance—make up more than a third of total wages and salaries of the U.S. population, a record figure that will only increase if action isn’t taken before the majority of Baby Boomers enter retirement.
Even as the economy has recovered, social welfare benefits make up 35 percent of wages and salaries this year, up from 21 percent in 2000 and 10 percent in 1960, according to TrimTabs Investment Research using Bureau of Economic Analysis data.
“The U.S. economy has become alarmingly dependent on government stimulus,” said Madeline Schnapp, director of Macroeconomic Research at TrimTabs, in a note to clients. “Consumption supported by wages and salaries is a much stronger foundation for economic growth than consumption based on social welfare benefits.”
The economist gives the country two stark choices. In order to get welfare back to its pre-recession ratio of 26 percent of pay, “either wages and salaries would have to increase $2.3 trillion, or 35 percent, to $8.8 trillion, or social welfare benefits would have to decline $500 billion, or 23 percent, to $1.7 trillion,” she said.
Last month, the Republican-led House of Representatives passed a $61 billion federal spending cut, but Senate Democratic leaders and the White House made it clear that had no chance of becoming law. Short-term resolutions passed have averted a government shutdown that could have occurred this month, as Vice President Biden leads negotiations with Republican leaders on some sort of long-term compromise.
“You’ve got to cut back government spending and the Republicans will run on this platform leading up to next year’s election,” said Joe Terranova, Chief Market Strategist for Virtus Investment Partners and a “Fast Money” trader.Terranova noted some sort of opt out for social security or even raising the retirement age.
But the country may not be ready for these tough choices, even though economists like Schnapp say something will have to be done to avoid a significant economic crisis.
A Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll released last week showed that less than a quarter of Americans supported making cuts to Social Security or Medicare in order to reign in the mounting budget deficit.
Those poll numbers may be skewed by a demographic shift the likes of which the nation has never seen. Only this year has the first round of baby boomers begun collecting Medicare benefits—and here comes 78 million more.
Social welfare benefits have increased by $514 billion over the last two years, according to TrimTabs figures, in part because of measures implemented to fight the financial crisis. Government spending normally takes on a larger part of the spending pie during economic calamities but how can the country change this make-up with the root of the crisis (housing) still on shaky ground, benchmark interest rates already cut to zero, and a demographic shift that calls for an increase in subsidies?
Iowa reps pass bill limiting collective bargaining
Friday, March 11, 2011; 3:41 PM
DES MOINES, Iowa -- The Iowa House approved a bill Friday limiting public workers' collective bargaining rights and requiring them to pay more for their health insurance.
But while similar legislation reducing the power of unions has passed in states like Ohio and Wisconsin, it is unlikely to become law in Iowa. Democrats who control the Senate there have said they won't allow debate on the bill backed by Republican Gov. Terry Branstad.
Republicans who control the House insisted the measure was needed to help address a state budget shortfall estimated at between $500 million and $700 million.
"The state can no longer afford, and the taxpayers can no longer support, health care insurance which does not require the employee to at least contribute something to their own health care coverage," Rep. Ron Jorgensen, R-Sioux City, said in a statement after the vote.
But Democrats say the bill is a political attack on the public employee unions that traditionally support their party.
"Like Wisconsin, Republicans in Iowa will stop at nothing to take away rights from police officers, firefighters, state troopers, teachers, correction officers and other hard-working Iowans," said House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, D-Des Moines.
Extreme Super Moon Could Cause Chaos
Mar 1, 2011; 7:54 AM ET
Coming up later this month (March 19 to be exact) the moon will make its closest approach to Earth (called lunar perigee) in 18 years. A new or full moon at 90% or greater of its closest perigee to Earth has been named a "SuperMoon" by astrologer Richard Nolle. This term has been recently picked up by astronomers. An extreme "SuperMoon" is when the moon is full or new as well as at its 100% greater mean perigee (closest) distance to earth. By this definition, last month's full moon, this month's and next month's will all be extreme "SuperMoons".
Please visit Richard's website by clicking here.
I have read several "new age" forecasts that go something like this: "Extreme SuperMoon this month (March 2011) will bring strong earthquakes and storms and/or unusual climate patterns." Google the term 'extreme SuperMoon March 2011' and see for yourself what comes up. The validity of these types of forecasts can be debated ad nauseum.
There were SuperMoons in 1955, 1974, 1992 and 2005. These years had their share of extreme weather and other natural events. Is the Super Moon and these natural occurences a coincidence? Some would say yes; some would say no. I'm not here to pick sides and say I'm a believer or non-believer in subjects like this, but as a scientist I know enough to ask questions and try to find answers.
We obviously know that there are scientific laws that say the moon affects the Earth (i.e. tides). There are also less proven theories that propose that the moon affects the Earth in other ways (i.e. abnormal behavior during a full moon). Can the Super (full) Moon contribute to extreme weather and other natural phenomenon?
AccuWeather Facebook fanpage member Daniel Vogler adds, "The last extreme super moon occurred was on January 10th, 2005, right around the time of the 9.0 Indonesia earthquake. That extreme super moon was a new moon. So be forewarned. Something BIG could happen on or around this date. (+/- 3 Days is my guess)"
So what can we expect this time? Earthquakes? Volcanic eruptions? I guess we can only wait and see.