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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: i-node who wrote (783228)	5/3/2014 12:40:28 PM
From: bentway	Respond to of 1583991

Seismological Society of America: Fracking causes earthquakes By CleanTechnica rawstory.com Saturday, May 3, 2014 9:30 EDT When the Seismological Society of America says that fracking earthquakes are a real thing, then it’s a good bet that they are. The annual SSA meeting last Thursday featured a daylong session on “Induced Seismicity” that featured new research indicating that oil and gas fracking, and the practice of disposing wastewater underground, can alter the state of an existing fault. The result is to spread the range of seismic hazard farther out from the faultline than previously thought. While we’re waiting for Fox News to find a seismic denialist to let the public know that this is all just a bunch of hooey, let’s take a closer look at that research. Fracking Earthquakes: Who’s Minding The Store? It’s worth noting, first off, that given the thousands of fracking and disposal wells already in operation, and the thousands more that are drilled every year, the number of wells directly linked to seismic activity so far is miniscule. Part of the reason for that involves a shortfall in research and monitoring resources, absence of a regulatory structure for self-monitoring, and the fact that induced seismic activity is a relatively new field of research. More to the point, given the potential for significant damage and the fact that manmade earthquakes are virtually 100 percent avoidable, fracking earthquakes are a risk that needs to be defined and managed. However, currently there is no platform for the US Geological Survey to include fracking earthquakes (or any other induced earthquake, for that matter), into its estimates of seismic hazards. Seismologists have to come up with a new way to account for changes in seismic activity that covers all earthquakes regardless of whether they are manmade or not. That work is currently under way at USGS. Let’s also note up front that while fracking (an oil and gas drilling method that requires pumping massive amounts of chemical brine underground) itself has not been directly linked to many seismic episodes so far, evidence is mounting that the disposal of fracking wastewater into wellbores is causing a significant number of manmade earthquakes. The Latest Fracking Earthquake ResearchNow for the meat of the matter. SSA cites significant increases in seismic activity linked to increased fracking and wastewater operations in Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas and Ohio among other states. To give you an idea of how significant, the average rate of earthquakes above 3.0 was 21 from 1967 to 2000 according to the US Geological Survey, but it was about 100 per year between 2010 and 2012. Those numbers are already jumping up. As of last month, in Oklahoma alone more than 100 3.0-and-up earthquakes have been recorded. The Induced Seismicity session at the SSA meeting featured case studies in the aforementioned US states as well as locations in Spain and Italy (abstracts are available here). One new study under discussion at the SSA meeting was conducted by Canada’s Western University in Ontario. It details how fracking wastewater disposal and other new sources of seismicity can create new hazards that are not accounted for in existing building codes and infrastructure planning: …the hazard from induced seismicity can overwhelm the hazard from pre-existing natural seismicity, increasing the risk to structures that were originally designed for regions of low to moderate seismic activity. When we say infrastructure planning, that includes dams, nuclear power plants, underground pipelines, and other features of the built environment that become damage multipliers when affected by earthquakes. A key issue that seismologists are identifying is that the seismic hazard caused by fracking or related activities can have an impact much farther away from the fault line than previously thought. That’s the finding of a joint study by Cornell University and the Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University, which covered the 2008 earthquake swarm near Oklahoma city. Researchers found that for some wells, seismic activity migrated up to 50 kilometers away. Perhaps in an attempt to avoid the political spotlight, seismologists with the US Geological Survey are extremely hesitant to link increased seismic activity to a specific well. However, the agency does point out that the recent increase in seismic activity is not in dispute, and that poses an additional risk regardless of the source. As USGS geophysicist Justin Rubinstein puts it: In some sense, from a hazard perspective, it doesn’t matter whether the earthquakes are natural or induced. An increase in earthquake rate implies that the probability of a larger earthquake has also risen. Earthquakes In Your BackyardAlthough some of the linkage identified so far involves quakes too small to be felt on the surface, a growing number of US communities are not waiting around to feel the earth move under their feet. Seismic hazard featured in a recent decision, for example, by the City of Los Angeles to prohibit fracking and related activity within city limits (there are actually quite a few wells in LA, who knew?). Other fracking issues, including the toxicity of the wastewater and significant health impacts related to air quality, are also coming into play for hundreds of other local bans on fracking. Although local communities do not normally have the authority to regulate oil and gas activities specifically, they can deploy their zoning authority to prevent new industrial activity, including fracking. Communities in New York State have been taking the lead to ban fracking through local zoning, and Pennsylvania communities have just had their zoning rights reaffirmed by the state’s Supreme Court after challenging a new state law that would have overridden them.

To: i-node who wrote (783228)	5/3/2014 12:42:50 PM
From: bentway	Respond to of 1583991

Arkansas judge rules voter ID law unconstitutional By Reuters rawstory.com Saturday, May 3, 2014 9:50 EDT An Arkansas judge ruled unconstitutional for the second time in about a week a new law requiring voters to show a photo ID, but said on Friday there was not enough time to prevent officials from applying the law at primary elections this month. Pulaski County Circuit Court Judge Tim Fox said he was staying his order because to do otherwise would create “turmoil” in thousands of precincts. Last week, he said the law was “void and unenforceable.” Nearly three dozen U.S. states have voter identification measures, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Many Republicans have maintained that the laws are aimed at preventing voter fraud, but several Democrats dismiss the claim, saying no such problem exists and the measures are actually a way of trying to prevent low-income people and minorities, who typically vote for the Democrats, from casting ballots. The Arkansas attorney general on behalf of the state’s election board and the election commission of Pulaski County, the state’s most populous, filed separate briefs with the Supreme Court on Friday. Attorney General Dustin McDaniel’s office, representing the state board, said the law protects the integrity of the ballot. But the brief filed by the county election commission asks for the ruling from Fox to remain. Early voting begins on Monday for the state’s May 20 primary. Arkansas’ Republican-led Legislature approved the law last year. Democratic Governor Mike Beebe had vetoed the bill, but the state House and Senate overrode the governor. (Reporting by Suzi Parker; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; editing by Gunna Dickson)

To: i-node who wrote (783228)	5/3/2014 1:50:20 PM
From: bentway	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1583991

The U.S. Sends 2 Million Kids to Prison Every Year. Congress Is Trying to Change That.That's the average, and 95 percent of the children never even committed a violent crime. nationaljournal.com When Justin Bodner was 12 years old he had a problem with swearing. Big time. His mother had tried to curb the habit, but as Bodner was walking his brother to school one day he ended up in a screaming match (which can't be transcribed here) with another child's mother. The argument didn't land him in the principal's office or a time-out. Instead, it landed him in prison. Bodner ended up spending nine years in juvenile detention centers where he smoked marijuana and tried heroin for the first time. His cellmates even taught him how to steal a car. And Bodner missed his entire middle-school and high school career. Hillary Transue was luckier. When she was 14, Hillary created a fake MySpace page mocking her assistant principal and, to her surprise, was arrested and sent a juvenile prison. Thanks to quick thinking by her mother, Hillary's case was referred to the Juvenile Law Center, sparking a broad investigation that took down two Luzerne County, Pa., judges and lead to Hillary's release just three weeks after she was arrested. Both children were convicted of so-called "status offenses," crimes that would not be punishable under the law if committed by adults. Status offenses run the gamut from drinking alcohol to truancy to running away from home to "incorrigible behavior," according to the American Bar Association. As evidenced in the cases of Bodner and Transue, the definition is often broadened by judges. These small-time offenses can land children in jail for years, putting them in contact with violent offenders and keeping them out of schools. Sixty-six percent of youths who are detained in juvenile prisons never return to school. And Congress is beginning to act to change that....