Yesterday I added a new link to the site for the ModernSurvivalBlog.com. I am extremely impressed with their section on earthquakes and their excellent documentation. We also share the belief that earthquakes and volcanoes are increasing in magnitude and frequency, and the ModernSurvivalBlog.com has done an excellent job in documenting those changes that the USGS refuses to acknowledge.

There have been strange activity in the United States these past few weeks and not all in the location(s) that I anticipated. Yesterday the ModernSurvivalBlog published this post on Oklahoma’s recent quake:

Earthquake In Oklahoma rattles Norman

A magnitude 4.3 shook up residents around Norman Oklahoma during the morning of 13-Oct-2010, while the number of higher magnitude 2010 earthquakes continue to rise well above averages.

There is currently some discrepancy regarding the magnitude of the event. The USGS quickly rated a 4.3, IRIS has it rated 4.5, while the Oklahoma Geological Survey rated a magnitude 5.1

The Norman earthquake in Oklahoma, originating 5 miles underneath Lake Thunderbird, was one of the strongest ever felt in the state. The strongest was a magnitude 5.5 located in El Reno during 9-Apr-1952 when chimneys fell and plate glass windows were shattered.

Earthquakes in Oklahoma are not rare with between 50 and 150 recorded each year. However this year during 2010, more than 200 have rattled the state, while at the same time people around the world have been sensing a higher number of earthquakes.

The Oklahoma Geological Survey, Leonard Geophysical Observatory, verifies the 2010 earthquake increase in the following statement: MUCH MORE

The earthquakes in Oklahoma do concern me, however, of the greatest concern for me is the Mid-Western United States and the recent activity on the New Madrid Seismic Zone. There has always been some “background noise” emanating from this extremely dangerous fault zone, but like the West Coast of North America, those quakes are beginning to increase in frequency and magnitude. At 05:20:19 AM (EST), a 4.4 quake struck in Arkansas at a depth of 3.1 miles. This area is a portion of the Cooperative New Madrid Seismic Network which appears to waking-up to some degree, which is not good news. If you’re not familiar with one of America’s most dangerous fault zones please click on the link. This does not mean that a Great Quake is imminent; it is an area of concern, and like anyone who resides on a dangerous fault zone, especially one with a dark history as the New Madrid Seismic Zone, caution and disaster preparedness should be carefully observed.

There have been many times when I stated that earthquake activity was rising only to hear from the USGS that such “claims” were not correct. Please visit the ModernSurvivalBlog and examine their charts and statistics. The USGS is full of, er, propaganda…  Collectively, the Continental United States has been extremely fortunate to live in times when none of our major fault lines have experienced 7.8 quakes or above since the Great San Francisco Earthquake in 1906. We do live on the Ring of Fire, almost all of our major quake zones are overdue for huge events, and even if you don’t believe in “Earthquake Trends” then you have to believe in raw statistics – and there is a reckoning coming to our nation and the government, state and local officials are woefully under-prepared to respond to any quake of a magnitude larger than 7.8 that could hit the West Coast at any given time. (The San Francisco Earthquake was a magnitude 7.7)

Our belief is that being prepared offers you and your family the best chance of survival, and to put off preparation for one of these major events is akin to boating without flotation devices. BTW, when I speak of “Background Noise” I am referring to the many small magnitude quakes that are a constant throughout the world. Even so, the Background Noise is increasing at an alarming rate, as are higher frequency and magnitude quakes, and that has to be indicative of something; I believe it’s simply another trend that we’ve been tracking for over six years now, and call it what you will, earthquakes are increasing in frequency and magnitude. Be prepared and examine the Background noise for yourself:

Now, on to the Site Update!

Unfortunately, the “Most Popular Article” feature on the right-hand side of the site does not work correctly. For those who are interested in finding the most popular articles which constantly receive “hits” on a daily basis, we have compiled our internal statistics and listed below are the most popular articles for the past 30 days (I am only listing the Top 20. Please note the one article which is in bold; for reasons I am unaware of, this article has been the most popular since it was written and still dominates the statistics as our most popular Op-Ed.):

Like everyone it seems, we are struggling with a tough economy and any donations or simply visiting our advertisers would be greatly appreciated and will help to offset the costs of running this site via an extremely high-speed server. This is a large site and according to Alexa.com, we are faster than 51% of other sites that they document. Our traffic is beginning to build again and my health issues have been resolved. Another huge thanks to Mitch Gurney for his great work while I was absent – and everyone wants more! Mitch – are you listening???

It’s time to end this update as I’m feeling ill; no, not from an illness, but from our government which couldn’t find their butt if they used both hands while sitting on them as they do in Congress. I just read where Social Security recipients will not receive a cost of living adjustment for 2011 because inflation is low. I can’t speak for others who are on Social Security, but I know that my drug deductibles doubled this year, and like most people, I carefully watch the prices of food and fuel – both which are rising, but especially wheat, and everything else associated with wheat!

Did someone forget to tell our lamebrain Congress that this year was the hottest in recorded history. For you idiots in the White House and Congress, that means that our electricity bills this summer were the highest I have ever witnessed, and everyone I know of has not recovered from trying to catch-up with power bills that were absurdly high. That is environmental, however, the government is aware of these facts and it is extremely disingenuous to claim that because inflation is low, we don’t receive a cost of living raise – just as we didn’t last year either…

I’m curious – do the corrupt politicians in Congress ever penalize anyone other than Social Security or Medicare/Medicaid recipients? How is it that our nation chooses the poorest segment of our population to make budget cuts while our Congressional vultures are constantly raising their wages? Perhaps it’s time that the millions of Social Security recipients raise holy hell and just maybe, someone in Washington will listen. Everyone in the United States that lived in areas where the temperature was at an historic high are aware of the strain it has had on buying other items, like food and medicine, and perhaps Obama can get his head out of the Corporate World he lives in and offer the common man/woman a break – but I doubt it.

Social Security: No 2011 increase

By Jeanne Sahadi, senior writerOctober 15, 2010: 9:44 AM ET

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Social Security beneficiaries will see no increase in their benefit checks next year, the federal government said on Friday.

For more than 58 million seniors and other Social Security beneficiaries, 2011 will mark the second year in a row without an inflation adjustment.

inflation has been low in the past two years because of the recession. The Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday morning reported prices were up only slightly over last year.

The last Social Security inflation adjustment was in 2009: Beneficiaries got a higher-than-normal 5.8% increase because of a temporary spike in energy prices in the third quarter of 2008.

Soon after, however, energy prices plummeted. Then the bottom fell out of the economy and by the third quarter of 2009 overall price levels had fallen 2.1% from the same period a year earlier. That meant no increase in 2010 Social Security benefit checks. MUCH MORE

(Please note that CNN also failed to mention the extremely high energy prices all of us had to pay because of living through the hottest year in recorded history; how could something that important escape the Presidency, Congress, and the News Media? (Heavy sarcasm intended.)