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This was locked on Reddit. The_Donald's fanboys must have had an attack of the vapours
Magnitude 4.2 earthquake hits near Belfair
Theres little doubt in local seismologists minds that the numerous tremors recorded in the Puget Sound region over the past several days are related to a phenomenon that some say increases the risk of a major earthquake.
Earthquake Warning System passes test in Belfair earthquake
Just how much the event increases the risk of a mega-quake is up for debate, but one thing is for sure, the tremors are spreading.
Just over a week with strong tremor[s] every day and spreading mostly north, the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network wrote on its blog.
About every 14 months, the Cascadia Subduction Zone that stretches from Northern Vancouver Island to Cape Mendocino, Calif., experiences an episodic tremor and slip, or slow slip for short. During these events, the Juan de Fuca Plate moves westward and adds stress to the Cascadia Subduction Zone some. Some scientists believe the 620-mile subduction zone is at slightly higher risk for a major earthquake.
The last slow slip event was recorded around the end of December 2015 through January 2016.
http://www.kiro7.com/news/local/strong-tremors-recorded-for-the-past-week-under-hood-canal/498251255
Kelsey Plum dropped 57 points on Utah
today to become the all-time leading scorer in women's NCAA basketball.
"the blob,... was the most unusual meteorological event we've had in decades"
"Ultimately, it all links back to the blob, which was the most unusual meteorological event we've had in decades," says one of the team, Dan Jaffe from the University of Washington Bothell.
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The vast, warm patch has been linked to several mass die-offs in the ocean during 2015, including thousands of California sea lions starving to death in waters more than 3 degrees Celsius (5 degrees Farenheit) above average, and an "unprecedented" mass death of seabirds in the Western US.
In April 2015, the effects could also be seen on land, with a bout of strange weather in the US being linked to the higher ocean temperatures, and the increased temperatures saw a massive toxic algal bloom stretch along the entire US West Coast.
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Jaffe and his team have been monitoring ozone levels over the US since 2004, and happened to noticed a bizarre spike in 2015. They wondered if the crazy events linked to the blob that year could also have been driving this massive boost in ozone.
http://www.sciencealert.com/a-massive-blob-of-abnormal-conditions-in-the-pacific-has-increased-ozone-levels
Democrats cant cherry-pick their way to a 24-seat gain
There's some heavy lifting to be done
At the end of January, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee released an ambitious list of 59 Republican-held districts, followed by the National Republican Congressional Committees ambitious list of 36 Democratic-held districts just more than a week later.
More than one-third of the targeted House races sit in five states: California, Florida, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania.
After Democrats expanded their majority in the 2008 elections, they held a 90-51 majority in districts in those five states. After the 2016 elections, the Democratic advantage in those states has slipped from 39 seats to 17 seats (78 Democrats to 61 Republicans).
Democrats cant cherry-pick their way to a 24-seat gain to retake the majority in 2016. Since the electoral landscape has shifted, a new Democratic majority doesnt need to look exactly the same, geographically. But the party still needs pick up handfuls in at least a few states.
- See more at: http://www.rollcall.com/news/gonzales/fight-for-the-house-centers-on-five-states#sthash.XSKAk5Fu.dpuf
You can't win elections without contesting
Josh Marshall thinks all elections matter.
There are two elections I want to focus on today.
First is the Montana at-large district currently held Rep. Ryan Zinke, who Trump has nominated to be Secretary of the Interior. Montana is a red state. So winning this seat would be a challenge. But it's not impossible by any means. We'll have to wait on Zinke's confirmation to have a date called for an election.
Second is Georgia's 6th congressional district, represented until days ago by Rep. Tom Price (R), before he was confirmed as the new Secretary of Health and Human Services. The Governor has called a special election for April 18th. This is the district I really want to talk about.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/edblog/focus-people--2
In 64 days the fight to recapture the House begins in Georgia
Its absolutely possible for a Progressive to win this seat, and right now, weve got the momentum on our side. Georgias 6th district, which encompasses a suburban area outside Atlanta, was won by Donald Trump by a mere 1.5 points this November. Thats a tiny margin. Its a far cry from a safe Republican district, so lets get to work right now.
Georgia will hold a primary election on Tuesday, April 18. Thats in 64 days. But theres more you need to know: All candidates from all parties will be on the same primary ballot only the top two will move on to the next round. That means that the special election could be between two Republicans, unless we turn out to support a progressive candidate.
There are a handful of candidates from both parties, and I encourage you to read about them. Personally, I believe our best hope lies in Jon Ossoff. Ossoff is a Democrat, an investigative filmmaker, and former staffer for Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Hank Johnson.
Congressman Lewis has endorsed Ossoff, saying: We should unite behind Jon and send a clear message that Donald Trump does not represent our values.
...
If you live in Georgia go knock on doors, talk to your friends.
If you live in the district, make sure you vote!
Folks in the US can donate.
And if youre a progressive anywhere else in the world, post on Twitter and Facebook.
Midterms have extremely low turnout numbers, and special elections in off-years are even worse. I hate to say that its all about momentum and ground game, but races like this are. And have you been watching the news lately? Weve currently got the momentum. If youre serious about creating a progressive Congress by 2018, then we have to start now. Every seat counts, and this one is actually within our grasp.
C-Span is polling whether Jeff Sessions should be confirmed
No link. It was a twitter feed. on edit: 58% opposed when I voted.
Coal is the key to the worldwide structure of energy
Interesting factoid: the Titanic burned 825 tons of coal per day while under way.
The ten leading countries based on hard coal production
China is the chief coal producer while the United States comes in second. Other major coal producers are India and Australia. Five countries, namely China, the United States, Russia, India and Japan accounted for over 75% of worldwide coal consumption. Despite the swift deployment of renewable energy, mainly in the background of debates around climate change, it is coal that is responsible for the largest upsurge in energy requirement of all energy sources.
Approximately 90% of the total global coal is produced by ten countries with China running in the lead. The statistics below show countries that have substantial coal resources.
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Coal is proving critical in the world's energy growth. The need for coal is ever increasing, and ever larger percentages of electricity produced in the world is becoming reliant on power plants that use the resource. Regardless of the enormous distribution of coal reserves worldwide, these amounts are proving to not be enough. Furthermore, the ecological harms that come as a result of activities related to coal activities are grave matters and, thus, proper actions have to be taken. Consequently, it is essential for governments to discover innovative technologies for improved mining and coal processing, while also taking into account efficiency and the importance of environmental sustainability. It is paramount for policy makers come up with long-lasting technological solutions that look into future, hence putting the coal sector on a path that would allow it to respond better to future global challenges.
The Top 20 Coal Producers In The World
Rank Country Coal production (million tonnes)
1 China 3,874.0
2 United States 906.9
3 Australia 644.0
4 India 537.6
5 Indonesia 458.0
6 Russia 357.6
7 South Africa 260.5
8 Germany 185.8
9 Poland 137.1
10 Kazakhstan 108.7
11 Colombia 88.6
12 Turkey 70.6
13 Canada 68.8
14 Ukraine 60.9
15 Greece 49.3
16 Czech Republic 46.9
17 Serbia 44.4
18 Vietnam 41.2
19 Mongolia 33.2
20 Bulgaria 31.3
http://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-top-10-coal-producers-worldwide.html
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