Earthquake or Hurricane??

The east coast experienced an earthquake on Tues, 8/23 and a hurricane on Sat/Sun, 8/27-28. Quite unusual events for the east coast, DC, Phili, NYC, and New England. Both events came and went quickly, leaving some damage and minimal loss of life. All is well. All was well. And all continues to be well. However, the media coverage of the hurricane was relentless (more so than the hurricane itself!). And the politicians couldn't resist instructing us about every little detail and ensuring us that they were there to 'help us'. The earthquake came without warning, had limited impact, and was actually pretty cool for those who felt it. We didn't have days-upon-days of 24/7 media coverage speculating about what could happen. We didn't have politicians assuring us that they are 'there for us' and will provide everything we need (implication: we are too stupid to take care of ourselves). But after both events, we will have politicians proposing programs and more spending somehow related to 'protecting us'. Enough!

Today's technology is wonderful. Would it have been good to have warning of the earthquake? Maybe. Would it have changed the outcome? No. Was there an overreaction to the hurricane? Yes. Should we have backed off? Probably not. Better to be careful than careless.

A retrospective look at the earthquake informs us that east coast events are different from west coast events for a variety of reasons (see excerpts below). Therefore, our earthquake was felt from NC to NH. Interesting stuff. Let's take the opportunity to learn something new.

Given a choice between experiencing an earthquake or a hurricane again, one might choose the earthquake simply to avoid the overblown media onslaught as well as the political parenting we experienced in the lead up to Hurricane Irene. Thanks, but we're adults, and we can take care of ourselves. Seems pretty logical to me...

Tuesday's quake was felt across a wide swath of the region because the rock formations deep beneath the surface are old and cold, and so transmit seismic waves more efficiently than thick layers of ancient sediment.

While the strength of the quake was unusual, the wide spread of the shock waves was common for the East Coast, according to Peggy Hellweg, a research seismologist at the Berkeley Seismological Laboratory in California. This is largely due to the difference in the terrain, Hellweg said in a telephone interview. "Our ground is all of this chopped-up stuff ... like a pile of marbles," Hellweg said of California's geology, which means that the waves from a quake don't spread out all that far. In the Eastern United States, she said, "What you've got there is gorgeous bedrock and ... the waves propagate beautifully."

Another difference between the East and West U.S. coasts is that the West Coast is over the boundary between two active tectonic plates, the North American and the Pacific, and the force of these plates sliding against each other generates quakes regularly, Fisher said. In the East, she said, "There's no driving engine in terms of the two plates sliding past each other ... so that's why it's much more unusual."

They STRENUOUSLY object...

OK, now that the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the indivicual mandate in Obamacare, the White House issued a brief statement, part of which states: "We strongly disagree with this decision and we are confident it will not stand." Well then...I guess it won't stand. Hardly the case! The decision written by Judge Vinson of the Federal Appeals Court in FL was impeccable and worth the read (see second link below). He lays out the case that the individual mandate is inextricably linked to the rest of the legislation, and therefore one can't move forward without the other. The mandate IS unconstitutional. Let's hope the Supremes keep the two issues linked and overturn the entire mess.

11th CIRCUIT OF APPEALS: “We have not found any generally applicable, judicially enforceable limiting principle that would permit us to uphold the mandate without obliterating the boundaries inherent in the system of enumerated congressional powers,”
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/61218.html

JUDGE VINSON: "Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire act must be declared void."
http://www.lifeandhealthinsurancenews.com/News/2009/1/PublishingImages/vinson-1-31-2011.pdf