A speaker at the SCEC meeting a couple of weeks ago mentioned the "P" and "F" words as such....and that maybe progress could be/was being made on prediction and forecasting (I get them a bit mixed up). Volcanic eruptions can certainly be predicted with adequate monitoring, as we just saw. Earthquakes are a tougher beast...I'll be interested what was learned at Parkfield.
Thought I'd bring up the "D" words:
deficit and dept. Most of this earthquake research is done with Federal funds. I make some sort of living, as does my wife, writing proposals, and maybe once in a while getting them funded. But, with tax breaks to the rich, compounded by the war in Iraq, the not-so-hot economy, partly related to the war in Iraq and related high oil prices, we have a huge deficit and a rapidly growing national dept. There simply is not going to be enough money in the future to do a lot of things, and I'm afraid this includes things like my research. People...the deficit and the debt matter! Choose wisely!
Chris