The epicenter was Mineral Virginia in the district of Republican Congressman Eric Cantor. You may recall Cantor’s effort to slash the budget of the United States Geological Service (USGS).
It is well known that you don’t mess with seismologists who are known throughout the world as the bad boys of the geek world. Indeed, I recall that after Canter’s cuts, the lead USGS seismologist walked up and gave him the il colpo di grazia or the kiss of death. Being part Italian, I shuddered at the time but Cantor’s aides just assumed it was a pharmaceutical lobbyist.
My greatest concern is that Cantor also defended cuts in the National Weather Service and NOAA — and there is a hurricane approaching Washington.
OS,
Heck, the lesson of Vesuvius was lost on them.
Well OS,
If they wish to eliminate funding…then they must go live by them….
Roco, yes meant Mt. St. Helens, not Mt. Hood, thanks. However, both Mt. Hood and Mt. Rainier bear watching. If Mt. Rainier ever let go in the same way Mt. St. Helens did, it could obliterate Seattle and Vancouver. Mr. Rainier is considered to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world.
It would be criminal to eliminate funding for volcano monitoring, but that is exactly what Congressional Republicans have been advocating recently.
This story reminds me that their is justice in the world.
And so goes the “Cantorbury” Tales of Cuts in Government Spending.
Carol,
I had a Mother in law named Irene….I can attest to the damage….or was her name Ilene….and she worked at IHOP…..
AY,
🙂
Think he was the one also wanted to cut FEMA, better hope Irene does no damage……
Elaine M.,
That was funny….
But he does refuel by putting a fan to his one ear and holding a finger in the other one…..
OS:
“The lessons of Mt. Hood are lost on these people. ”
What happened at Mt. Hood? Apparently it is lost on me as well.
Do you mean Mt. St. Helens?
Rep. Cantor, I hope just your house was hit!
OS – yes, one of the previous ‘saviors of the GOP presidential contenders’, Bobbie Jindal gave the response to the SOtU address & specifically mocked the volcano program just days before the eruption in Alaska. Further proof that God Hates Republicans!
“Quake sensors removed around Virginia nuke plant due to budget cuts
A nuclear power plant that was shut down after an earthquake struck central Virginia Tuesday had seismographs removed in 1990s due to budget cuts.
U.S. nuclear officials said that the North Anna Power Station, which has two nuclear reactors, had lost offsite power and was using diesel generators to maintain cooling operations after an 5.9 earthquake hit the region.”
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/08/23/virginia-nuclear-plant-had-quake-sensors-removed-due-to-budget-cuts/
Bette,
There’s a lot of “atmosphere” in Cantor’s cranium.
In the tradition of Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell I can have no other conclusion than to believe this was a display of God’s unhappiness with Cantor. Notice how many natural disasters have befallen the Bible Belt lately?
Don’t mess with NOAA– they control the ocean AND the atmosphere.
Cantor has great ideas for cutting government spending!
As I recall, they also wanted to defund the USGS Volcano observation program as well. Note on the map how many volcanoes we have near heavily populated areas. The lessons of Mt. Hood are lost on these people.
This guy is the poster boy for the phrase, “Penny wise and pound foolish.”
http://volcanoes.usgs.gov/
One might also be mindful of the margarine advertising campaign slogan of a few years ago, “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.”
Wow… I just saw this on tweeter (I’m your follower) and retweeted this il colpo di grazia creepy stuff. 🙂