It's one of the more outrageous stories I've seen in a while. An Italian court has convicted seven scientists and other experts for failing to predict an earthquake! Are you kidding me? The court said they failed to adequately warn citizens before an earthquake struck central Italy in 2009, killing more than 300 people.

Each got six years in prison. Lucky for them, convictions aren't definitive until after the appeals process so it's unlikely any of them will serve any time, any time soon.

Get this, these weren't just some guys off the street holding down these jobs. These were some of Italy's most prominent and internationally respected seismologists and geological experts.

So here's the deal. What kind of chilling effect does it have on anyone wanting that job? Also, those holdng the job are going to predict earthquakes all the time now just to cover their rear ends. If it doesn't happen, no harm no foul.

Now imagine for an instance, meteorologists in this country having to live under that kind of threat. So a severe storm pops up and a tree topples in the wind and someone is killed. Or how about the onset of a tornado out of nowhere? Half the weather people in this country would be in jail.