[sunnykerr]

Strong magnitude 6.3 quake rattles New Zealand's North Island WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- A strong earthquake rattled New Zealand's lower North Island including the capital Wellington on Monday, although there were no immediate reports of major damage or injuries. The United States Geological Survey reported the magnitude 6.3 quake struck at 3:52 p.m. local time, about 38 kilometres northeast of the town of Masterton. Many Wellington residents were at home because it was a public holiday in the region. A giant eagle sculpture in Wellington's airport, placed there to promote director Peter Jackson's movie trilogy "The Hobbit," fell from its overhead perch to the floor. New Zealand lies on the Pacific's "Ring of Fire," an arc of earthquake and volcanic activity that stretches around the Pacific Rim. An earthquake in the city of Christchurch in 2011 destroyed much of the downtown and killed 185 people.

I suppose we would have heard about it by now, if there was a death toll.

[GardenSirens]

I LOVE THE NAME!!!! you rock on somany levels!


Goodness, that's a big earthquake and for so far no death...very good news. HOpefully that means the damage wasn't too expensive, too.

[sunnykerr]

Well, we haven't heard about untold devastation in the area, so I suppose that's a good sign that the damages will be manageable.

I don't think the country could survive another Christchurch... and that's a super melodramatic thing to put out there.

I just mean that they've already had their share of devastation in the recent past, so I'm glad there isn't more for them to tackle at present.

[quaist]

Thanks for the new thread

[sunnykerr]

You're welcome.

[GardenSirens]

Polar Vortex is back. It's -25 Fahrenheit outside right now with wind chill. The snow drifts from the wind are freezing thus making huge ice slides. My back yard and deck are a nightmare to navigate when I take my dog out. Over 600 schools in my area were closed Friday.

[Opalcat]

Am I the only one who finds it interesting and disheartening that with all of the extreme weather the United States the past few years on all of the news reports and panic stories on the news about these weather events, there is little to no discussion of how much recent manmade climate change is behind these events?

[GardenSirens]

I don't know...all those people talking about global warming and we have some of the coldest temperatures in 100 years in some places and at least 20 years in other. Not much warming there, lol. Climate change talking manmade is a useless conversation because it's not as backed up by facts as pollution problems...which is the real environmental issue. First world countries aren't balancing needs vs wants.

[sunnykerr]

Pollution problems is what leads to climate change, though.

If it didn't, why would we care exactly?

And it may not be 100% man-made, but it has been proven that man has vastly hastened the problem.

Yes, the ebb and flow is natural, but that ebb and flow is speeding up.

And that's pollution, car exhaust, animal husbandry on a mass scale, etc.

[quaist]

Originally Posted by Opalcat (View Post) Am I the only one who finds it interesting and disheartening that with all of the extreme weather the United States the past few years on all of the news reports and panic stories on the news about these weather events, there is little to no discussion of how much recent manmade climate change is behind these events?

That's a very good question, I'd assume it's a mixture between climate change denialism, helplessness and head-in-the-sand policy.

[GardenSirens]

Pollution leads to so many problems. Look at all the spread of disease that hasn't been as bad. Seems like everyone is getting sick now and allergies to everything. Pollution is a huge part of it. I can't point it to climate change as our climate is just fine..we're in a cycle. People compare it to 100 years ago and point to industrialism and what not to it. Which i'm sure adds to it....but we're in perfectly normal weather cycles according to real scientists who look at the periods in time. By that, we're due for extinction soon, lol. If everyone stopped driving a car, we shut down coal and nuclear plants, unplugged all our refrigerators, everyone stopped smoking and we stopped cutting down the rainforest, we'd still have exactly the same rate of decay with stuff like the ice caps. For another ice age to begin, the last one must end.

[sunnykerr]

Persons of interest identified in connection to dog's death near Taber RCMP are investigating a case of suspected animal abuse after two teenage girls located a lifeless dog near a southern Alberta town on Friday afternoon. The teenagers were riding ATVs on private property at a location outside of Taber, Alberta when they made the grisly discovery. The girls found the remains of a dog which had baling twine wrapped tightly around its neck. The other end of the twine was fastened to a fence post. The dog appeared to have been beaten to death and had suffered a gunshot wound. The offender, or offenders, may have struck the animal with a steering wheel which was found next to the dog’s remains. Cheri (last name withheld), the mother of one of the teenagers, is outraged by the actions of the assailant and fears the lack of respect the attacker had for the animal could lead to future attacks. “First of all, it was just disgusting that anyone could do that to an animal,” said Cheri in a phone interview with CTV Calgary. “What I really want out of this is for the person who did this to be caught. If they did this to an animal, what would they do to a human?” Vauxhall RCMP officials say they are investigating the case and have transported the dog’s remains to a veterinary clinic for a necropsy. Officers have identified persons of interest in relation to the dog's death.

Cruelty to animals being a precursor for sociopathic tendencies in adult life, I find that actions of the RCMP quite justified in this matter.

They should investigate and find the individuals responsible for this poor creature's demise.

[GardenSirens]

horrible story to read. Makes me want to cry.

On the weather front: Polar Vortex numero tres is here. It's -15 fahrenheit and the snow is icky. We just got almost 3 inches overnight on top of a couple yesterday and with the winds causes snow drifts so deep that my deck in my backyard has snow up to my waist (i'm exactly 6 feet tall). So crazy.

[sunnykerr]

I do find it encouraging that the girls who found the dog had the courage and the wherewithal to report it.

That tells me there's still a lot of good people in this world.

And the province's solicitor general is looking into tougher animal cruelty laws. So that's encouraging as well.

It usually gets quite a lot to get Alberta to move in any sort of "rights" direction.

[GardenSirens]

Still on weather, lol.....it's almost -30 here again....police are out giving people tickets for being out of their house if they're not on the way to work or emergency. I don't know how they're profiling people to pull over for this but to get an alert from the police saying to stay in, ******* is serious. Almost 800 schools cancelled in my area (Detroit is huge).