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vendredi 26 août 2011

Earthquake Facts & Earthquake Fantasy

Read the whole article :
Earthquake Facts & Earthquake Fantasy

Highlights:
Earthquakes are sudden rolling or shaking events caused by movement under the Earth’s surface.
FACT

Can “Mega Quakes” really happen?
THEORETICALLY, YES. REALISTICALLY, NO.

Earthquakes only occur on the West Coast in the United States.
FICTION

The 1906 San Francisco earthquake was the deadliest ever.
FICTION

California has the most earthquakes in the United States.
PARTIALLY FACT

Earthquakes can occur just below the surface or deep below the surface.
FACT

The ground can open up during an earthquake.
FICTION

California will eventually fall into the ocean.
FICTION

An “Aftershock” can be greater than the initial earthquake.
PARTIALLY FACT

Two major earthquakes occurred on the same day, so they must be related.
NOT LIKELY

People can cause earthquakes.
PARTIALLY FACT

People can stop earthquakes.
FICTION

Nuclear explosions can start or stop earthquakes.
FICTION

You can prevent large earthquakes by making lots of small ones, or by "lubricating" the fault with water
FICTION

We can predict earthquakes.
FICTION

Animals can predict earthquakes.
FICTION

Some people can sense that an earthquake is about to happen.
MAYBE

It’s been raining a lot, or very hot--it must be earthquake weather!
FICTION

The Golden Gate Bridge, Seattle Space Needle and other buildings will all eventually fall during an earthquake.
NOT LIKELY

Earthquakes don’t kill people, buildings and their contents do.
FACT

During an earthquake you should head for the doorway.
FICTION

Everyone will panic during the Big One.
FICTION

You can’t plan ahead for an earthquake.
FICTION:

USGS is a worldwide leader in earthquake hazard research, information and mitigation.
FACT

But more can be done.
ABSOLUTELY

samedi 20 août 2011

mardi 16 août 2011

Fake Alien Invasion Would End Economic Slump

Paul Krugman is so frustrated by the lack of support for another round of stimulus spending that he's now calling for a fake alien invasion of the United States to spur a World War II-style defense buildup.

Krugman was a guest on CNN's "Fareed Zakaria GPS" on Sunday. Speaking with Zakaria and Harvard economist Ken Rogoff, he made the same case he has been making for years--that deficits are not the top economic concern of the day. Krugman noted that the effort of World War II helped end the Great Depression, and joked that something similar was needed today.

"If we discovered that, you know, space aliens were planning to attack and we needed a massive buildup to counter the space alien threat and really inflation and budget deficits took secondary place to that, this slump would be over in 18 months," he said. "And then if we discovered, oops, we made a mistake, there aren't any aliens, we'd be better--"

"We need Orson Welles, is what you're saying," Rogoff cut in.

"There was a 'Twilight Zone' episode like this in which scientists fake an alien threat in order to achieve world peace," Krugman said. "Well, this time, we don't need it, we need it in order to get some fiscal stimulus."

Of course, Krugman is just using a space invasion as an example. But that hasn't stopped some people from framing his comments as part of a giant conspiracy by a shadowy group of elites to enslave the world through a fake alien attack.

WATCH:

huffingtonpost

lundi 15 août 2011