Michael:

I got the 180 postion on that.... That his plan is the forward articulation of said unknown theory to within the grasp of known theory as manifested through variously discussed (disgust) statistical tests and whatnot to ascertain the reliability and usefulness of said theory mentioned formerly herein and justified by brute force head strong resilience into the face of uncertainty to tie down, ellucidate and otherwise propose or suppose that said such wanton act of proposing such a system may at some time reach such a reasonable and fruitful position such that others of the athwartship ilk will likely be forced to retreat and retrace in order to be in compliance with said system which may, might, or heretofore reach a level of justification, existence, and statistical exactness that one must therefore conclude that said individual, though deemed quite unlikely to succeed, may have by force of will and with the help of others did in fact create, amass, such a preponderance of evidence that the perceived lack of substantive existence did in fact not conclusively manifest itself but rather indeed that it be a reality as attested to by just about every man, woman, and assorted animal so inclined to have partcipated in said quake detective work to therfore have then brought it out of the mist of the unlikely and into the realm of a working reality...saving an untold number of unborn.

In other words, I think he was proposing it as a way to move the state of the art forward and not as a known reliable method.

Thx for your question...as I do like to indulge, on occasion, in lawyer gooblygook! (Can you believe thay get paid $200 an hour to talk like that? ...No wonder people want to "kill all the layers"....:)

-cheers,

mark