Chamblee54

Tom Dispatch has an audio feature about Afghanistan, and the many unanswered questions about our war there. It is apparent to PG that we invaded Afghanistan to get revenge for 911, and looked for a reason later.
Tom begins the monologue by discussing the prospects for Gen. Petraeus (spell check suggestions:Petroleum, Perpetrates ), and how a success there may actually be worse than failure. If we “conquer” Afghanistan, we will hold “the fifth poorest country on earth, the second most corrupt country, the world’s premier narco state.”
At the 3:06 mark on the tape, when Tom makes the comment about narco (spell check suggestions: Narcissus) state, PG had a flash of understanding, and a possibility for the reason behind this war. This may even have been powerful enough for the powers that be to ignore the reports about a terror strike in September 2001, and passively let 911 happen.
The rumors of CIA involvement in drug trafficking are wide spread and long term. When planes went to Central America in the eighties to bring arms to the contras, they came back to the United States loaded with cocaine. There are stories of collusion with the government in Cuba. There are many, many more stories about connections between the US government and the drug trade.
When the Taliban took over Afghanistan, they cracked down on the poppy farmers. Much of the raw opium for heroin/morphine/opium is grown in Afghanistan. This was not a pleasing  for the CIA.
Could it be that the real reason for our involvement in Afghanistan is to ensure the flow of narcotics into the hungry world? This would be a big cash cow for the CIA, although not enough to justify the amounts of money being spent on the conflict.
Pictures for today are from the ” Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”.

PG was waiting to comment on the Georgia Governors race. Before today, he was, reluctantly, supporting Karen Handel as the lesser of many evils. Today, Sarah Palin endorsed Mrs. Handel.
To begin with, the Georgia Governor’s race is none of caribou barbie’s business. We have enough problems without that idiot telling us who to vote for. In her endorsement of Ms. Handel, Mrs. Palin
said “She’ll balance budgets and help spur Georgia’s economy.” In Georgia, a balanced budget is required by state law .
What about the other candidates? It is a sorry bunch. The front runner, and likely runoff contestant, is John Oxendine . Mr. Oxendine is the state Insurance commissioner. He is alleged to receive campaign contributions from companies that he regulates. There was also a tacky fued which pitted Mr. Oxendine against a 15 year old blogger.
The next candidate to consider is Eric Johnson. . As a longtime legislator, Mr. Johnson possibly has ethical issues, but that pales before his involvement in the Genarlow Wilson affair.
Mr. Wilson is a young man sent to prison for having sex with a 15 yo, when Mr. Wilson was 17. Eric Johnson thought prison was appropriate for Mr. Wilson. State Attorney General Thurburt Baker, a democratic candidate for Governor, is also involved in the Genarlow Wilson affair..
The last two republicans we will consider are Humbert Humbert Ray McBerry and Nathan Deal. Mr. McBerry is a former educator, with an convincing reason for leaving the profession. Nathan Deal is a former congressman, who resigned before a house ethics investigation could take place. If you type “Nathan Deal ethics” into google, you will have 102k results.
The democratic side is hardly any better. Former governor “King Roy” Roy Barnes is running for another chance. One of his opponents is Attorney General Thurburt Baker. Mr. Baker was involved in the Genarlow Wilson affair..
Mr. Baker is an African American, which can be a disadvantage in redneck Georgia. Mr. Baker does not help himself with the commercial that is embedded above. White people are not impressed when a black man is said to not know his father.
Pictures are from The Library of Congress.

Uzi called PG just as he was coming back to the computer with a sandwich. Even though it was Georgia July hot, Uzi wanted to get out and walk. Before long the old people’s favorite place to walk was suggested…the mall. PG put clean pants on, and went over to Perimeter Mall.
Walking into the capitalism cathedral, PG began to think that he was the only white man without a tattoo. The lady at the tea shop did not mind, and offered PG a sample of some product. The two teas the teased PG had a lovely taste, and many fine benefits for good health. The terminally frugal PG said thank you, and headed to the food court to meet Uzi.
Neither PG nor Uzi was ever a heavy duty shopper, and have slacked off more and more as time goes by. The number of massage and chiropractic kiosks in the mall was a bit surprising. Another asian in the mall promoted a show by Chinese acrobats, that is coming to Cobb County in August.
On the upstairs part of the mall (where fans blow the aroma of the food court) was the apple store. The merchandise was beautiful, and since PG can’t afford it, he didn’t ask what it costs. One computer had a screen the size of a living room TV, and the cutest keyboard. The sales staff was attentive, even the one with the tattoos. As PG left, the young lady at the door said “have an excellent day”.
Before long, it was time to hit the food court. First, you go for a slow walk around the facility, taking samples from anyone foolish enough to offer one. Then a decision is made, and in the best food court tradition, PG went to one vendor and Uzi to another. PG got a fine meal of chicken, rice, greens, water, and styrofoam, and paid $5.87. While the food court lacked the ambiance of Piccadilly, it was a nice change of pace.
After being satisfied that nothing had been missed, Uzi walked out to his car. A discussion was had about the struggle of old fogeyness(spell check suggestions:fogginess, forgiveness) , and how there has to be something else to do. PG walked back inside, took a few more pictures of mannequins, and went home.

While PG was taking mannequin pictures, Uzi suggested pasting head shots of Sarah Palin on top. This may yet happen, as both are plastic air heads. Getting a head picture that fits on the body is a bit tricky, and may be more trouble than it is worth.
While editing the pictures, PG listened to a segment of Bloggingheads. To no ones surprise, the show was about Sarah Palin and religion. The hottest ex-governor is on a lot of minds these days. At the end of the show, PG looked through the comments, and gave up after about forty.
The day before, bloggingheads ran a show about the Congo. There has been a ghastly war there, with millions reported dead. ( The real toll is unknowable.) Compared to the concern about “liberating” the people of Iraq, the slaughter in the Congo has gotten little attention in the USA. Compared to the outpouring of thought about Palinoid (spell check suggestions: Palindrome, Palimony ) religion, the diavlog on the Congo got one comment.

Last week, the results of an investigation into “climategate” was released. The scientists of the E.C.U. at U.E.A. were cleared of any wrongdoing , i.e. doctoring data to prove a preconceived point. Even hotel freebie favorite USA Today featured this report.
Some of the players felt that the theft of internal emails was a crime . This matter was not dealt with in this report.Also, there was some criticism of the scientists for not being more “transparent” about their data.
In other energy news, Germany is planning to get 100% of it’s energy from renewable sources by 2150. Fossil fuels might not be the only game in town after all.
Pictures for this feature from The Library of Congress .

There was this message on facebook… “I BET you CAN’T stay on this page for 30 SECONDS without LAUGHING!” Now PG is opposed to gambling, but worries about his sense of humor sometimes. Even though the bet did not specify odds or a point spread, this was one to look into.
The facebook application quandary was easy to bypass. Just highlight the message, right click, and choose the google search.
Sure enough, the original page was easy to find. The phrase at the top…See the hidden content on Facebook pages without the hassles…was troubling, but not enough to stay away. After all, that virus scan last night didn’t show any problems, so the site might be ok.
The can’t laugh bet is based on a youtube video. The entertainment did not make PG laugh. There was an animated dancing banana that was shown twice. The good news is, the commenters agreed that the video was not funny. A person called Jesus said “God doesn’t love the creator of this video…” PG worries that his funny bone is broken sometimes, but enough people agree that the video in question is lame.
The bypass page has an ad on top from LaQuinta Inns. There is a story about a woman going to a hospital to have her baby. She drove past a LaQuinta Inn, and named her baby girl LaQuinta. If she has a brother named LeBron we have problems. ( Does anyone note that the initials of LeBron James are LBJ?)
As your reward for reading through this, here area a couple of jokes. A TRUE SOUTHERN LADY………..A very gentle Southern lady was driving across the Savannah River Bridge in Georgia one day. As she neared the top of the bridge, she noticed a young man fixing to jump. She stopped her car, rolled down the window and said, “Please don’t jump, think of your dear mother and father.””Mom and Dad are both dead; I’m going to jump.””Well, think of your wife and children.””I’m not married and I don’t have any kids.””Well, think of Robert E. Lee.” ”Who’s Robert E. Lee?””Well bless your heart, just go ahead and jump, you dumb ass Yankee.”
This hair color joke is courtesy of yellowdoggrannie.A blind man and his guide dog enter a Bar and find their way to a bar stool. After ordering a drink, and sitting there for a while, the blind guy yells to the bartender, “Hey, you wanna hear a blond joke?”The bar immediately becomes absolutely quiet. In a husky, deep voice, the woman next to him says, “Before you tell that joke, you should know something. The bartender is blond, the bouncer is blond and I’m a 6′ tall, 200 lb. blond with a black belt in karate. What’s more, the woman sitting next to me is blond and she’s a weight lifter. The lady to your right is a blond, and she’s a pro wrestler. Think about it seriously, Mister. You still wanna tell that joke?”The blind guy thinks a moment and says, “Nah, not if I’m gonna have to explain it five times.”

JoemyG-d reports today on a proposal in San Francisco to ban the sale of pets. The proposal has little chance of passing. There is even less chance of this measure being enacted in Georgia. But maybe it should.
According the California source “The real problem, staff said, is hamsters. People buy the high-strung, nocturnal rodents because they’re under the temporary impression that hamsters are cute and cuddly. But the new owners quickly learn that hamsters are, in fact, prone to biting, gnawing through expensive wiring and maniacally racing on their exercise wheels at 2 a.m.
So the animals end up at the shelter. Just about every species has its own rescue group in San Francisco, but no one seems to want hamsters. Hamsters are the No. 1 animal euthanized at the city’s shelter, said San Francisco Animal Care and Control director Rebecca Katz.”(Katz?)
Here is an animal euthanasia provider who supports the ban. People get pets as an impulse, or as gifts. When they get tired of them, the pet is often murdered. There is also the issue to the excess reproductive capacity of many animals.
When PG took speech and drama in high school, one of the cheerleaders started a speech by saying “you are going to think I am a monster”. Her proposal was to outlaw pets. The amount of food used to feed companion animals could be used to feed humans. Ditto the medical resources used to treat sick animals.
People sometimes are so in love with their pets, that they do not see the harm they do to others. A dog that will not stop barking is an infringement on the rights of others. A pit bull that gets loose can ruin the life of someone unfortunate to get in the way.
PG lived for 23 years in a duplex, and had a wide variety of neighbors. He was fussed at for closing the gate to the back yard by one household. Another neighbor threatened a lawsuit for leaving the gate open.A Florida import dumped his catbox eighteen inches from where PG opened his car door. There was the little black dog that PG became friends with, only to be poisoned by enemies of the owner.
The United States is entering a period of austerity. It is well known that the pampered pets of the wealthy live much better than many human children. Maybe this money needs to be spent on people.
Pictures are from The ” Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”

UPDATE: The following comments were left at JoemyG-d about this matter: There was nothing said about gerbils.//It is already illegal to purchase, import, or keep a gerbil as a pet in the state of California. It’s been the law for many years.//Where did Richard Gere get his?//New Hampster.

It is possible that prayer can, at the least, have psychological benefits. There are numerous stories about the power of prayer to heal the sick. A study was recently done. It that indicates prayer might not be that great after all.
In the study, patients receiving bypass surgery were divided into three groups. One group was prayed for, after being told they may or may not be prayed for. The second group was not prayed for, after being told they may or may not be prayed for. The third group was prayed for, after being told they would be prayed for.
After the procedure, 52% patients in the first group suffered complications from the surgery, while 51% of the patients in the second group suffered complications. In the third group, 59% of the patients, who were told they would be prayed for, suffered complications.
What does this prove? Nothing. The quality of the surgical work, and the work of the recovery team, and the condition of the patient prior to the surgery would obviously have an impact. Also, the quality of a prayer offered as part of a secular experiment might differ from that of prayer offered freely by a loving congregation.
There is a difference between prove and indicate. The study indicates what it says it does. It proves nothing. A look at the methodology shows possible flaws in the study. Without a look at the raw data, it is also hard to tell if the statistics were tweaked. (As if PG  could tell the difference.)
HT to Andrew Sullivan for the above story. The second part of this feature is a repost.

Prayer is not always a good idea.
That is up there with G-d and Motherhood, but somebody has to say it.
Many of my objections are in the phrase, ” Prayer is talking to G-d, and Meditation is Listening.”.
In our culture, we love to talk and don’t have time to listen. Talking is yang, active, power. Listening is ying,receptive, passive, and indicates respect for the person you are paying attention to. This is difficult for many.
Of course, no one ever says ” I am going to meditate for you”. Although maybe you should.
Prayer is used as an aggressive weapon. “I am going to pray for you” is the condescending conclusion of many a religious argument. I have had it shouted at me like a curse.
There is the matter of prayer as entertainment. While this may be cool to those who are on the program, it can be repulsive to others. Once I volunteered to lead the prayer before a dinner. Here is the story, with some more cool pictures.
Now, prayer is not a completely bad thing. One of the cherished memories of my father is the brief, commonsense blessings he would give before meals. In the context of a church service, prayer plays a useful function. Some famous prayers are beautiful poetry. In Islam, the daily prayers are an important part of the observance. Who am I to say it is wrong? ( A note to the Muslim haters…We are all G-d’s children)
When someone is in a bad way, people want to think they can help. Arguably it does not hurt to pray for someone, but it is nothing to boast about.
My problem is when people are proud of their prayers. There are few as prideful as a “humble servant”. While it may mean something to you, not everyone is impressed. And in a religion obsessed with converting others, you should care what man thinks. .

There was an incident involving a high profile official at the University of Georgia. The official was caught DUI, with a woman…not his wife…in the car. He had red panties between his legs. He no longer holds the high profile position.
Today, an even higher profile position…head football coach…made a few comments about the incident. The last paragraph of the PR piece article went like this: And on speculation about how a new athletics director might affect Mark Richt’s future: “I don’t worry about those things, I really don’t. My focus is to do my job, and my focus is to be obedient to my Lord and Savior. That’s kind of what I do. And if that is good enough, great.”
This rubs PG the wrong way. To begin with, it is already well known that Mr. Richt is a super duper Jesus worshiper. A substantial number of the football fans in Georgia are Jesus worshipers. Mr. Richt is telling people what they want to hear. If his religion of choice were Buddhism or Islam, he would probably keep this to himself.
Second, PG has had a miserable experience with Jesus. This hideous religion has put a hurtin on PG. Having an overpaid jock motivator prattle on about his opinions does not help.
The third commandment says not to use the name of G-d in vain. To PG, this includes talking about religion when it is not appropriate. Statements like this cause ill will for Jesus, all for the benefit of the Football program at The University of Georgia.
The fishwrapper allows comments in the online edition. PG made this comment, using a familiar pseudonym. In the tradition of free speech, and brains for lease, others followed. chamblee54-5:53 pm-“and my focus is to be obedient to my Lord and Savior”. Mr. Richt is talking about his disgraced ex boss…a drunkard and adulterer, with lousy taste in panties. This is not a good time to drag in your religion. richt rules-5:54 pm- Chamblee- you are a complete JOKE!! GO DAWGS!!! Dawg 1-6:04 pm-Not even going to read what I am sure is some garbage in front of this post. You  have to love CMR. He means it – he does the best he can and does his best to do right for the Lord. John-6:06 pm- Hey “Chamblee54″ – Richt isn’t “dragging his religion” into anything. He is, as are all genuine born-again believers, answering questions based on his Biblical world-view. It is relevant to the subject matter and (rightfully so) is a proper response given defining quality of his life. Agree or disagree, he is being consistent with his identity as a follower of Jesus Christ. So back off!!! Big D Dawg-6:21 pm-Chamblee 54, if you knew what obedience to the Lord and Saviour is/was you wouldn’t make such a comment. Kevin-6:24 pm-John, good post. I was looking through the comments to see if anyone responded appropriately to Chamblee 54. You did so I don’t have to. Well-said. For followers of Jesus, He is PRIORITY and everything else has to line up under that. Fire Mark Bradley-6:39 pm- I guess you can mumble a few useless words and use the name of Lord and Jesus Christ and all will be ok. I view religion as serious but very personal. Georgia is an evangelical State. CMR and most Georgia fans are a match made in heaven. Pardon the pun. I guess the weedeater bowl doesn’t matter. God, Guns and Political Hate-6:41 pm-and religious intolerance. Can you say the new Georgia Bulldawg nation!!!! Pictures for this feature are from The Library of Congress.

The following is a repost . It was originally published in a red, white, and blue font. As a service to the readers, today’s posting will be in green. Yellowdoggrannie is going strong, and has not forgiven W.
I read an item at yellowdoggrannie’s place this morning. It was a link to a video about the writing of the Star Spangled Banner. YDG said it made her cry. It set off my BS detector. I am not a history buff. I do know that the War of 1812 was not the most glorious part of American History.
In 1812, Napoleon was on a rampage, but about to screw up. He invaded Russia on June 24, just six days after the U.S. Congress gave approval to “Mr. Madison’s War”. According to St. Wikipedia, the declaration passed by the smallest margin of any war declaration in American History.
The War was caused by several things. The British were “impressing” sailors for duty in their Navy. Among the deserters and British subjects were some Americans. The British were supporting the Native Americans who were fighting the white man. There was also some talk ( in Washington) about annexing territory in Canada, either to keep, or to use as a bargaining chip with the British.
On the East side of the Atlantic, England had a change of government at this time, towards a regime that wanted peace with America. This being the early nineteenth century, word of this development did not make it to America in time to stop the War.
The War went on for a couple of years. It distracted the British from fighting Napoleon, and was a strain on the young American republic. In the Summer of 1814, negotiations were underway to end the conflict. The British launched a few military campaigns to put pressure on the U.S.A. Washington D.C. was captured and burned. The next move was the capture of Baltimore.
This is where the video begins its tale. Where the video said hundreds of British ships, Wikipedia says 19. An attorney, Francis Scott Key, was negotiating the release of an American POW. He secured his release, but they could not leave until the bombardment of Fort McHenry was complete.Here is an account of the story:At Fort McHenry, some 1,000 soldiers under the command of Major George Armistead awaited the British naval bombardment…. The attack began in the evening of September 13, as the British fleet of some nineteen ships began pounding the fort with Congreve rockets (from rocket vessel HMS Erebus) and mortar shells (from bomb vessels HMS Terror, HMS Volcano, HMS Meteor, HMS Devastation, and HMS Aetna). After an initial exchange of fire, the British fleet withdrew to just beyond the range of Fort McHenry’s cannons and continued to bombard the American redoubts for the next 25 hours.Although 1,500 to 1,800 cannonballs were launched at the fort, damage was minimal.
After nightfall, Cochrane ordered a landing to be made by medium boats to the shore just west of the fort, away from the harbor opening on which the fort’s defense was concentrated….Operating in darkness and in foul weather, the diversionary attack failed. On the morning of September 14, the 30 ft (9.1 m) × 42 ft oversized American flag, which had been made a few months before by local flagmaker Mary Pickersgill and her 13 year old daughter, flew over Fort McHenry, and Cochrane and Brooke knew that victory had eluded them
Mr. Key saw the flag the next day. He wrote a poem to the tune of a British drinking song, “To Anacreon in Heaven”. The song was made the National Anthem in 1931, and has been (badly) sung ever since.
On September 24, the Treaty of Ghent ended the conflict. The verdict was “status quo ante bellum”. In other words, nothing was changed by the death of those men. The war was, in effect, over when the Battle of Baltimore was fought. The word of the treaty did not reach America for a few weeks. (The Battle of New Orleans was fought after the end of the War.)
The video said the Flag at Fort McHenry was held up through the night by men, many of whom died. This might be true. It is also true that the negotiations were about to yield fruit. It would take a few weeks for word of the Battle of Baltimore to reach Europe, at which point the War was already over. Status Quo Ante Bellum.

In chapter 109 of “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues”, Sissy has returned to the Rubber Rose Ranch, and is sharing a tender moment with a friend. The friend says I love you, and Sissy flinches. The friend says it is your problem, Sissy replies that it is our problem, and began to talk about confusion. This got PG to thinking.
Confusion has only the slightest relationship to Confucius . The chinese rendering of his name is a bunch of squibs and squirms, and must be transliterated into 26 letter english. When words are transformed from 2000+ characters into 26 letters, compromises are made. The system for transliterating changes from time to time, and Peking becomes Bejing.
Confusion apparently is a French word, which was once a Latin word. The noun form would seem to be taken from the verb confuse, which is an interesting word to dissect. Con means with, and fusion means to combine. In the atomic sense, fusion usually unleashes a lot of energy, mostly in the form of heat.
Con is also the opposite of pro. Could this all be a profusion of confusion?

Readers of Chamblee54 will be relieved to know that the concierge has finished reading “Even Cowgirls get the Blues.” Soon, the May 2003 Bantam trade paperback reissue will be back in the stacks at the Chamblee library. The picture on the cover shows a lady riding a crescent moon. A whip is cracked over her head, while the right hand holds a skull and crossbones. Three white birds fly at a fifteen degree angle underneath the traveling cowpokette. The illustration recalls the Proctor Gamble logo that has fundies atwitter.
On page 365, the plot lines of the book are tied up. This is fitting, as 365 is the number of days in a non leap year. As December 31 buys alka seltzer to prepare for the indignities of the new year, ECGTB presents a “special bonus parable”. As is well known in Spain, if you want more than one bullfight, you will need a pair of bull.
In this story, three avatars encounter a jar of vinegar. In a story that celebrates matriarchy, and is funded by female hygeine products, there is a cruel irony in three male avatars dealing with a jar of vinegar. Maybe the author, himself a male, intended this as a last celebration of his manhood. And so it goes, as a former cigarette smoker liked to say.
Getting back to the parable, Confucius tasted the vinegar, and noted an unpleasant taste. This can be used for cooking and cleaning.
The next avatar to sample the fluid was Buddha. Yuck, this will cause suffering. It should be disposed of at once.
To no one’s surprise, the next vinegar taster is Jesus. This tasteth foul. So that no man shall drink this, I will drink it all by myself.
Is it any wonder that modern american culture is dominated by the spirit of a man who drank all the vinegar by himself? Selah.

It is apparent that the Gulf of Mexico Holocaust is far worse than the authorities want to admit. Almost everything said by BP and the US government is either underestimated, or an outright lie. When people don’t know the facts, the scare mongers come in.
PG is not a scientist, and upon editing, the scenario below seems a bit unlikely. It is based on water rushing into the cavity left after all the oil in that reservoir has exited. Isn’t it more likely that some kind of earth core liquid has replaced the oil as it comes out? While there may be lava/water contact, with steam resulting, the tsunami described in this story seems a bit unlikely.
The thing to remember when reading this is, we have not seen the worst of this disaster yet. The final impact may be worse than what is described below.
The document below was originally posted by aimlow. Pictures are from the ” Special Collections and Archives,Georgia State University Library”
Everyone has the right to read what I have just written in this article, as well as to what is written below by the scientists who the Obama administration and BP are trying to shut up. Please share with as many as you can. –Dr. James P. Wickstrom
The estimated super high pressure release of oil from under the earth’s crust is between 80,000 to 100,000 barrels per day. The flow of oil and toxic gases is bringing up with it… rocks and sand which causes the flow to create a sandblasting effect on the remaining well head device currently somewhat restricting the flow, as well as the drilled hole itself.
As the well head becomes worn it enlarges the passageway allowing an ever-increasing flow. Even if some device could be placed onto the existing wellhead, it would not be able to shut off the flow, because what remains of the existing wellhead would not be able to contain the pressure. ( It has been estimated by experts that the pressure which blows the oil into the Gulf waters is estimated to be between 20,000 and 70,000 PSI (pounds per square inch). Impossible to control.)
The well head piping is originally about 2 inches thick. It is now likely to be less than 1 inch thick, and thinning by each passing moment. The oil has now reached the Gulf Stream and is entering the Oceanic current which is at least four times stronger than the current in the Gulf, which will carry it throughout the world within 18 months.
The oil along with the gasses, including benzene and many other toxins, is deleting the oxygen in the water. This is killing all life in the ocean. Along with the oil along the shores, there will be many dead fish, etc. that will have to be gathered and disposed of.
At some point the drilled hole in the earth will enlarge itself beneath the wellhead to weaken the area the wellhead rests upon. The intense pressure will then push the wellhead off the hole allowing a direct unrestricted flow of oil, etc. The hole will continue to increase in size allowing more and more oil to rise into the Gulf. After several billion barrels of oil have been released, the pressure within the massive cavity five miles beneath the ocean floor will begin to normalize.
This will allow the water, under the intense pressure at 1 mile deep, to be forced into the hole and the cavity where the oil was. The temperature at that depth is near 400 degrees. The water will be vaporized and turned into steam, creating an enormous amount of force, lifting the Gulf floor. It is difficult to know how much water will go down to the core and therefore, its not possible to fully calculate the rise of the floor.
The tsunami wave this will create will be anywhere from 20 to 80 feet high, possibly more. Then the floor will fall into the now vacant chamber. This is how nature will seal the hole.Depending on the height of the tsunami, the ocean debris, oil, and existing structures that will be washed away on shore and inland, will leave the area from 50 to 200 miles inland devoid of life. Even if the debris is cleaned up, the contaminants that will be in the ground and water supply will prohibit re-population of these areas for an unknown number of years.
(End of scientists information release.) From Tom Buyea FL News Service

One of the themes of “Even Cowgirls Get The Blues” is time. A character, the Chink, is rescued by a band of native americans ( then known as Indians), after escaping from a WWII internment camp for the Japanese. ( Yes, calling a Japanese person Chink is like calling Malcolm X a redneck. There is no shortage of irony in ECGTB. (spell check suggestions:ECG, ECSTASY)You need an irony board handy at all times.)
The faux tribe that rescued the Chink was known as the clock people. They left San Francisco after the fire of 1906, amazed that anyone would rebuild on that shaky land. The clock people had an outpost in the mountains, with something they called the clockworks. The function of the clockworks is part of the story that is a bit fuzzy. The bottom line is, the clock people resisted the white man’s ideas about time. They even considered 13 to be a sacred number, and based what time calculations they made on the bakers dozen.
In time, the Chink got tired of the clock people, and settled onto a ridge overlooking the Rubber Rose Ranch. He became friends (with benefits) with a select few cowgirls, and Sissy H. Gitche. The Chink ran his mouth when the mood stuck/struck. One of the things he discussed was time.
Early on in this second reading of ECGTB, PG had jury duty.One thing you absolutely need on a day of waiting in the jury room is a fun book. At one point, PG looked behind him at the clock, and saw that it was 10:09 am. This is the time shown on all timepieces when they are photographed for advertising.
It occurred to PG that this was standard time ( or daylight savings ), and how standard time was universally accepted without question. If PG only knew he would be reading about the clock people soon, he would smile at the irony. His eyes had passed over the words about time during the previous reading of ECGTB. In his eagerness to read about carpet happy cowgirls, PG missed the lesson.
Standard time is the invention of the railroads. If they were going to make the trains run on time, the time needed to be the same at both point a and point b. This got started in England in 1847, with something called Greenwich Mean Time adopted as the national standard. America had to fight a war between the states, and wait twenty years, before the railroads said we need this. Benito Mussolini would not appear for another forty years or so, to make the trains run on time.
According to wikipedia (which is not universally accepted) : “On October 11, 1883, the heads of the major railroads met in Chicago at the former Grand Pacific Hotel to adopt the Standard Time System of four standard time zones for the continental U.S.A.. The new system was adopted by most states almost immediately after railroads did so. At noon on November 18, 1883, the U.S. Naval Observatory changed its telegraphic signals to correspond to the change.”
The truth is, there are numerous advantages to using standard time, and almost no disadvantages. Like measurements of longitude and latitude, the freezing point of water, and the death of Francisco Franco, standard time is accepted without question. It is one of the stepping stones to civilization.
And yet, doubts remain. If you see a person looking at a watch, ask them what time it is. They will look at the watch again before giving you an answer. And lets not forget the girls of “The Catcher in the Rye”. No matter how many times they were told the time, they never quit asking.