J.

I was on the Syzygy boards for three or four years, so I am well acquainted with JOB's methods. Don't forget Kathy Gori's headaches for Santa Monica radii EQs and all the posters who have stomach aches, toe aches, leg cramps, nasal congestion, anal itching, hot flashes (get an estrogen patch), athlete's foot, and imaginary brain tumors twice a month, not to mention those who see Ragnarok around every rock or think very, very hot peppermint tea (it has to be really hot) will lessen their symptoms. Arrrggggghh!

While I admire Jim's wit and general good nature, I have trouble with his monthly forecasts that rarely vary and always include a M7 somewhere in the Ring of Fire, a probability that I think would tend to skew in his favor his self-proclaimed 75% hit rate. Were he to drop all three other areas he regularly predicts for, he might boost his hit rate into the ninetieth percentile.

Given this, what do you make of his documented prediction for Loma Prieta? I've seen him make so many other similarly scary predictions for the Bay Area and L.A. to no avail and for so long, that I no longer give them credence. But Loma Prieta, if I'm not mistaken or just believing the hype, was a direct hit. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) So what gives with that?

At first I thought JOB might be on to something until I learned the statistically minuscule gravitational effects of the sun and moon, even in conjunction, on semi-monthly amplitudinal tidal variances. And yet, I do recognize a slightly higher propensity towards large earthquakes during and around eclipses, and especially along any paths of totality, as was the case with the devastating EQ in Istanbul.

So what's your take on all this? I value your input.

C.