CN in paradise reports that there were no precursors that he knows of to date for the Parkfield earthquake. So, the "P" word, Prediction, did not do so well. IMHO this does not mean that somewhere else you might have a precursor...we know that there are foreshocks for some fraction of quakes. So, is Parkfield now the right place to be drilling into the San Andreas fault, at substantial expense? I'm posting a lot today because I am having trouble focusing on work. Maybe that is because I have so much to do that I'm just blanking out. Speaking of blanking out...I was using seismic reflection data to map very complex faults offshore Pt. Conception, California,15 years ago, and found it was so difficult that I was blanking out. They found out that if they made the controls for fighter jets too complicated the pilots would blank out, crash, and die. Luckily for me, seismic interpretation is rarely fatal. I work on my own computers from my home office, and my desktops are very simple. When I go to the university, there are all kinds of people, the computer desktops were full of junk, and if I did not watch it, I would blank out. By the way, don't get your shorts all in a knot...I am only paid half time, so if you are worried that I am wasting taxpayer money on a non-productive day like today (or, this week), this week is my time. Speaking of tax payer money, my town/school taxes have gone up, so that 1/2 of this is more than I am paid. When Federal taxes are cut, state and local taxes go up. Poor people pay property taxes if they happen to own a house, and they pay property taxes indirectly if they rent. If they can not pay their property taxes via rent or ownership, I guess they are homeless. Then, they annoy Bush supporters by being visably non-rich. John made a good point, but I'll add that dividends and capital gains, that only well-off people have a lot of, are taxed at a lower rate...and the far right would love to eliminate these taxes completely. I make more of my living from dividends and captital gains than from salary, and I think not taxing this is immoral. So, in Dave Barry style, I should revisit the start of my post...but dinner is ready, and then there is the debate, so I'll have to try that next time...
Chris