Last weekend, there was an editorial in the Wall Street Journal which mentioned Japan's early-warning system for earthquakes installed in late 2007 -- the world's most sophisticated. It "was credited with signaling Tokyo's residents - via TV. radio and cellphone - that a quake was coming. The warning system gives industrial, energy and transportation facilities time to shut down before a quake hits." Nuclear power plants shut down automatically as the quake hit.

So after I read that, I wondered just how much warning time did that give the people? I got my answer today in an article on www.foxnews.com (see attached link). Ten seconds for those in northestern Japan -- a full minute for those in Tokyo.

But the article is really about government funding being cut off for a similar early-warning system here in the U.S. Although the federal government has funded the effort for the past four years, "Obama's 2012 budget provides no money for the quake warning system."

To me, this is totally wrong. A quake warning system could save lives. It's one of those projects like the interstate highway system, that I referred to in an earlier post, that only the federal government could do, could fund and should fund -- for the common good, for defense aginst a natural disaster.

If they need money for the project, take money away from other non-essential projects, e.g. don't fund NPR or ACORN. (How and why did the government ever get into supporting NPR or ACORN in the first place?) The government shouldn't be in those anyway,

Just my opinion.

Barbara

• U.S. Earthquake Warning System