The media is still on FEMA's case. Now it is the response in Florida. Seemingly FEMA and the (Jeb) Bush administration failed again by not having ice, water and electricity immediately available to people in Florida.
Nevermind that they had a week's warning to evacuate.
Nevermind that the people who didn't leave had a week's warning to prepare water, food and other necessities for three days.
Nevermind that any fool would have topped off with gas before the storm hit.
Nevermind that some people are angry that every wish they had wasn't fulfilled immediately.
Nevermind that the people on Florida have had lot's of practice at hurricanes.
Nevermind that people are standing in line for water in Miami when the city water works and is drinkable.
Nevermind that hurricanes are big winds and typically knock down power lines.
The media carries these tales of woe about people who are out of food and water within 24 hours of the hurricane. And the media is generally sympathetic to their pathetic plight and their righteous anger.
I have great sympathy for the people whose property was damaged by the storm. I have not so much sympathy for those who elected not to evacuate and on top of that, chose not to prepare enough basics to last a day.
I hope most of the media get's trapped in the next one and all the residents leave. TV would be much quieter and saner.
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
What I learned from the media-Part 1
In the past two days, I've learned that the media can spend more time giving learned answers to something they know nothing about. In this case, the so-called "plamegate" investigation. They don't know what the prosecutor will do since he has refused to indulge in the Washington tradition of leaking. Undeterred, as usual, by the facts, every news program is devoted to uninformed speculation. Chris Matthews takes the prize. He seemingly devoted the entirety of Hardball on Tuesday summing up what he knows about plamgate. Which is nothing, yet he managed to cram no information into an hour of programming. Absolutely amazing.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
FEMA, Mules and Journalists
Tonight John Gibson carried on the media charade that FEMA is the first responder of record. He evan carried it over to asking the acting FEMA chief about FEMA's role in restoring electricity. The media has decided that (a) the locals and states have no first responder role; (b) FEMA is responsible for everything; and, now, (c) the electric utilities are no longer responsible for repairing electrical failures. Gibson did back off moaning about the fact that people were having to stand in line for ice and water less than 24 hours after the hurricane hit when the FEMA chief reminded him that it had been less than a day and expressed his dismay at the people in Florida knew about hurricanes and had been encouraged for years to have 3 days supply of food and water.
Despite the repeated corrections that Florida is not like Louisiana, the state has an excellent emergency response, the national guard does not work for federal government, the state has the first responder role and is prepared, and, now, that FEMA doesn't do electrical wires, Gibson, like all the rest, doesn't seem to get the message. Better to continue the myth that the Feds are responsible for everything.
The difference between a mule and a journalist is that when you hit the mule between the eyes with a two by four, you get her attention. When you hit a journalist between the eyes with the board, you just waste good wood.
Despite the repeated corrections that Florida is not like Louisiana, the state has an excellent emergency response, the national guard does not work for federal government, the state has the first responder role and is prepared, and, now, that FEMA doesn't do electrical wires, Gibson, like all the rest, doesn't seem to get the message. Better to continue the myth that the Feds are responsible for everything.
The difference between a mule and a journalist is that when you hit the mule between the eyes with a two by four, you get her attention. When you hit a journalist between the eyes with the board, you just waste good wood.
Monday, October 24, 2005
Sad Day for us State Grads
abc11tv.com: N.C. State Distances Itself from Instructor
"North Carolina State University has distanced itself from comments made by an occasional instructor who recently said blacks must "exterminate white people off the face of the planet."
Kamau Kambon, an author who taught in N.C. State's Africana Studies program as recently as this past spring, made the comments Oct. 14 during a conference at Howard University in Washington, D.C., that was televised nationally by C-SPAN. "
The real question is how they hired someone like him in the first place even though it was part time "as needed" in the Department of Africana Studies. Is all of this really "with it" emphasis on special studies(black, women's, etc.) nothing more than a haven for people like him? What happened to Sociology, anthropology, history and the like? I guess "multiculturalism" and "diversity" just can't fit under the umbrella of real cirricula and they need special Departments. What does one do with a BA in "Africana Studies" anyway?
I have three degrees from NCSU and am deeply saddened and offended that a once fine University could stoop so low in its hiring and cirricula.
"North Carolina State University has distanced itself from comments made by an occasional instructor who recently said blacks must "exterminate white people off the face of the planet."
Kamau Kambon, an author who taught in N.C. State's Africana Studies program as recently as this past spring, made the comments Oct. 14 during a conference at Howard University in Washington, D.C., that was televised nationally by C-SPAN. "
The real question is how they hired someone like him in the first place even though it was part time "as needed" in the Department of Africana Studies. Is all of this really "with it" emphasis on special studies(black, women's, etc.) nothing more than a haven for people like him? What happened to Sociology, anthropology, history and the like? I guess "multiculturalism" and "diversity" just can't fit under the umbrella of real cirricula and they need special Departments. What does one do with a BA in "Africana Studies" anyway?
I have three degrees from NCSU and am deeply saddened and offended that a once fine University could stoop so low in its hiring and cirricula.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Another day in the Twilight Zone
The Miller Case: A Notebook, a Cause, a Jail Cell and a Deal - New York Times
Ms. Miller decided to go to jail to protect the confidentiality of a source who had given her permission to testify a year earlier.
Ms. Wilson's notes indicated that she couldn't even get Plame's name right.
Ms. Wilson doen't recall, nor does she have written records, of the person who suposedly "outed" Plame. Perhaps she elected jail rather than reveal her sloppy record keeping. Do you get a Pulitzer for these kind of notes.
The Times spent millions defending her, for nothing it seems. The Times still wants to try to protect her.
Ms. Wilson, if one believes the news, was not a covert agent at the time, had not been one for 5 years and did not reside in a foreign country. So, "outing" her was not a crime.
So we have a two-year investigation by a special prosecutor covering something that wasn't a crime, a reporter who can't take yes for an answer and then can't remember nor has any record of the details of whom supposedly leaked the information; and the NY Times is supporting her. Rod Serling might have come up with this story but would have shelved it for being too unbelievable.
Ms. Miller decided to go to jail to protect the confidentiality of a source who had given her permission to testify a year earlier.
Ms. Wilson's notes indicated that she couldn't even get Plame's name right.
Ms. Wilson doen't recall, nor does she have written records, of the person who suposedly "outed" Plame. Perhaps she elected jail rather than reveal her sloppy record keeping. Do you get a Pulitzer for these kind of notes.
The Times spent millions defending her, for nothing it seems. The Times still wants to try to protect her.
Ms. Wilson, if one believes the news, was not a covert agent at the time, had not been one for 5 years and did not reside in a foreign country. So, "outing" her was not a crime.
So we have a two-year investigation by a special prosecutor covering something that wasn't a crime, a reporter who can't take yes for an answer and then can't remember nor has any record of the details of whom supposedly leaked the information; and the NY Times is supporting her. Rod Serling might have come up with this story but would have shelved it for being too unbelievable.
HoustonChronicle.com - DeLay's prosecutors lack a key document
HoustonChronicle.com - DeLay's prosecutors lack a key document
The key document is the "list of Texas Republican Candidates" who supposedly received TRMPAC laundered money. I have no idea whether DeLay is guilty or not, but this Travis County kangaroo court run by Earle is a joke. One wonders just how long the Democrats can keep up with their "DeLay is evil" propaganda in the face of Earle's buffoonery. One also wonders just how much longer the good citizens of Travis County will put up with being made a national laughingstock.
The key document is the "list of Texas Republican Candidates" who supposedly received TRMPAC laundered money. I have no idea whether DeLay is guilty or not, but this Travis County kangaroo court run by Earle is a joke. One wonders just how long the Democrats can keep up with their "DeLay is evil" propaganda in the face of Earle's buffoonery. One also wonders just how much longer the good citizens of Travis County will put up with being made a national laughingstock.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
NY Times Intelligence test for reporters
The Miller Case: A Notebook, a Cause, a Jail Cell and a Deal - New York Times
From Drudge
Quite an interesting story about Ms. Miller, who spends 85 days in jail to protect a source whom she can't remember. Let's see.
Plame was not, by law a covert agent. "Outing" her was not illegal because she was not outside the US and had not been a covert agent for 5 years. Miller, had her name in a notebook, but apparently didn't write the source's name in the book. Miller was given permission to testify by Libby, who turned out not to be the source, then decided to protect him for 3 months until she was told personally and in writing a second time "GO FORTH and TESTIFY." Then she couldn't remember the source's name.
In a companion piece on Drudge, Miller is apparently not held in high regard by her co-workers.
Does the time give an intelligence test for its reporters, and if you score too high, you aren't hired?
This thing gets sillier and sillier.
From Drudge
Quite an interesting story about Ms. Miller, who spends 85 days in jail to protect a source whom she can't remember. Let's see.
Plame was not, by law a covert agent. "Outing" her was not illegal because she was not outside the US and had not been a covert agent for 5 years. Miller, had her name in a notebook, but apparently didn't write the source's name in the book. Miller was given permission to testify by Libby, who turned out not to be the source, then decided to protect him for 3 months until she was told personally and in writing a second time "GO FORTH and TESTIFY." Then she couldn't remember the source's name.
In a companion piece on Drudge, Miller is apparently not held in high regard by her co-workers.
Does the time give an intelligence test for its reporters, and if you score too high, you aren't hired?
This thing gets sillier and sillier.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
A Tale From New Orleans-Read this and Tell Me About FEMA Failures
E-RESPONDER
The article is short and covers the startup of the New Orleans Emergency Operations Center a week after Katrina.
New Orleans did not have a working EOC or ICS on September 8 when Mr. Deno and others from North Carolina, New Jersy and northern Virginia Arrived. They had to assemble a working Emergency Operations Center, install equipment, train Louisiana personnel and make things happen. This was a WEEK after Katrina hit.
Positives: Good work ethic by most of the New Orleanians. NOLA managed to evacuate 300,000 people before the storm.
From a talk before the Wilson County Commissioners
Negatives: No Leadership, no one to tell them what to do. Nagin holed up in a hotel and wasn't around. The staff there had no leadership. The staff had not coordinated with other parishes. The staff didn't know how to get things. In fact, this person, handled some items for Ophelia while in NOLA and the NOLA people were surprised that he could do it with a phone call. They were amazed that North Carolina counties had a mutual assistance network that could be activated by phone calls. New Orleans, and probably Louisiana, hadn't practiced that. NOLA folks weren't familiar with their plan.
One wonders where all the money went in New Orleans, when an Emergency Director from small town and rural county in North Carolina (along with others) can walk in, set up an EOC in a large city they hadn't been to, give ICS classes, work together and become a functioning team in a couple of days when NOLA couldn't do it for years.
One other message from his talk: FEMA isn't there to do things the city and state should do. They are there to assist and provide for things that the locals don't have.
Very positive comments on Honore.
For all the negatives about FEMA, it seems that NC, VA, NJ and other states knew how the system works. LA and the media didn't. People may have died because the leadership in New Orleans and Louisiana did not do their jobs for years before Katrina.
The article is short and covers the startup of the New Orleans Emergency Operations Center a week after Katrina.
New Orleans did not have a working EOC or ICS on September 8 when Mr. Deno and others from North Carolina, New Jersy and northern Virginia Arrived. They had to assemble a working Emergency Operations Center, install equipment, train Louisiana personnel and make things happen. This was a WEEK after Katrina hit.
Positives: Good work ethic by most of the New Orleanians. NOLA managed to evacuate 300,000 people before the storm.
From a talk before the Wilson County Commissioners
Negatives: No Leadership, no one to tell them what to do. Nagin holed up in a hotel and wasn't around. The staff there had no leadership. The staff had not coordinated with other parishes. The staff didn't know how to get things. In fact, this person, handled some items for Ophelia while in NOLA and the NOLA people were surprised that he could do it with a phone call. They were amazed that North Carolina counties had a mutual assistance network that could be activated by phone calls. New Orleans, and probably Louisiana, hadn't practiced that. NOLA folks weren't familiar with their plan.
One wonders where all the money went in New Orleans, when an Emergency Director from small town and rural county in North Carolina (along with others) can walk in, set up an EOC in a large city they hadn't been to, give ICS classes, work together and become a functioning team in a couple of days when NOLA couldn't do it for years.
One other message from his talk: FEMA isn't there to do things the city and state should do. They are there to assist and provide for things that the locals don't have.
Very positive comments on Honore.
For all the negatives about FEMA, it seems that NC, VA, NJ and other states knew how the system works. LA and the media didn't. People may have died because the leadership in New Orleans and Louisiana did not do their jobs for years before Katrina.
Saturday, October 08, 2005
Reporter turns over notes in CIA leak case - Yahoo! News
Reporter turns over notes in CIA leak case - Yahoo! News After two-plus years, a stay in jail, and all the other stuff, Judith Miller suddenly finds (remembers) a conversation in June 2003. Pardon my cynicism, but it certainly sounds a bit fishy.
Scare de jour
I'm getting overloaded with the latest scare and the media hype. I can't be terrified of everything all at once. After the minute-by-minute coverage of the non-news from New York concerning 19 supposed train bombers, I need to organize my terror. So, here's the plan:
8A-12 noon: terror bombings
12noon-4p: flu terror or any other natural disease
4p-8p: terror nuclear, chem bio attack
8p-12M: terror economic terror
12M-4A: weather terror
4A-8A: local terror (robbery, murder, etc)
It may take some refinement, but if I organize the things to be terrorfied by, I can do a better job of paying attention to them.
8A-12 noon: terror bombings
12noon-4p: flu terror or any other natural disease
4p-8p: terror nuclear, chem bio attack
8p-12M: terror economic terror
12M-4A: weather terror
4A-8A: local terror (robbery, murder, etc)
It may take some refinement, but if I organize the things to be terrorfied by, I can do a better job of paying attention to them.
Why Mier Disappoints Conservatives
If you listen to the anti-Mier noise from conservative thinkers it is not hard to come to the conclusion that the main reason they are disappointed is that she will not give them the apocalyptic battle with liberals they are lust after. Many of the names tossed about would, almost assuredly, create a lengthy fight in the mold of Thomas and Bork. The conservatives believe that this battle is winnable and should be fough now.
Blood lust forms the basis of not likig her. It pops up in the form of a bit of snobbery about which law school she attended. It also shows in the sniffs that she hasn't spent most of her life planning to be on the court and, thus, becoming a great constitutional scholar.
The conservative yowlers seem to want someone in the mold of the sitting justices who have made some absolutely apalling rulings. Maybe it's time to get someone who will actually look at the constitution and listen to the arguments within the framework of the constitution, rather than a group of ivy-league types. Maybe then my house will be safe from theft by our city fathers. Maybe then my second amendment rights will be protected.
Blood lust forms the basis of not likig her. It pops up in the form of a bit of snobbery about which law school she attended. It also shows in the sniffs that she hasn't spent most of her life planning to be on the court and, thus, becoming a great constitutional scholar.
The conservative yowlers seem to want someone in the mold of the sitting justices who have made some absolutely apalling rulings. Maybe it's time to get someone who will actually look at the constitution and listen to the arguments within the framework of the constitution, rather than a group of ivy-league types. Maybe then my house will be safe from theft by our city fathers. Maybe then my second amendment rights will be protected.
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Saving the environment?
Spent a while tonight explaining to my son the absolute importance of me driving about 10 hours for a quart of water and how the environment would be much more protected by me doing this. My company is putting a plant in Maryland. We will dischage water from three cooling towers at a reate of about 1 gallon per minute (less than you use to take a shower). The water will come from a well that is yet to be drilled, and I must characterize the water for the discharge permit. Since the well that will be the source for this water is not yet drilled, I found a well nearby and am driving about 500 miles round trip to get a sample for analysis.
The cooling towers are not treated, so the only thing discharged will be the well water. 80% of the water is evaporated in the cooling tower, so what-ever is in the water will be 5 x the concentration of the well. I've found a well nearby that is probably in the same aquifer and am going to get a sample. I'll also map and take pictures of the 1-2 miles this water must travel to get to a "pond" then to a river and then to the Chesapeak bay. Although the water will never get there, unless there is a heck of a rainfall, this is still very important.
Maryland rules say water discharged in any quantity must be permitted. I feel safer knowing that a 1 gallon per minute flow is just as important as a 5000 gallon per minute flow.
Nothing in the regs that allow applying logic or common sense. And you wonder why industry complains about environmental rules?
The cooling towers are not treated, so the only thing discharged will be the well water. 80% of the water is evaporated in the cooling tower, so what-ever is in the water will be 5 x the concentration of the well. I've found a well nearby that is probably in the same aquifer and am going to get a sample. I'll also map and take pictures of the 1-2 miles this water must travel to get to a "pond" then to a river and then to the Chesapeak bay. Although the water will never get there, unless there is a heck of a rainfall, this is still very important.
Maryland rules say water discharged in any quantity must be permitted. I feel safer knowing that a 1 gallon per minute flow is just as important as a 5000 gallon per minute flow.
Nothing in the regs that allow applying logic or common sense. And you wonder why industry complains about environmental rules?
The Dobbs-Miller Laughin
The media heroine, Judith Miller, had a really warm and fuzzy interview with Lou Dobbs tonight. Dobbs was all agush with praise for her bravery and the support the NYT gave her. He was very sympathetic about the trials and tribulations she bravely faced, a real martyr to the holy order of journalism. It could have been a parody, but I don't think Dobbs and CNN have that much of a sense of humor.
Either Miller won the first two places in a dumb contest with a post by needing not one, but two, releases to testify by Libby plus advice from a judge that her source had released her from the holy vows of silence, or Miller had other motives for her brave stay in jail. My money is on the latter. Miller said on Dobbs' show that she wanted to make a political point. Also, since, after the second release, which included a personal phone call, Miller still had serious negotiations with the prosecutor, my money is on the ulterior motives.
Dobbs missed a great chance to demonstrate that he is not always a political hack, but certainly failed to grasp the brass ring on this one.
Either Miller won the first two places in a dumb contest with a post by needing not one, but two, releases to testify by Libby plus advice from a judge that her source had released her from the holy vows of silence, or Miller had other motives for her brave stay in jail. My money is on the latter. Miller said on Dobbs' show that she wanted to make a political point. Also, since, after the second release, which included a personal phone call, Miller still had serious negotiations with the prosecutor, my money is on the ulterior motives.
Dobbs missed a great chance to demonstrate that he is not always a political hack, but certainly failed to grasp the brass ring on this one.
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Judith Miller-the martyr
The only thing sillier than Judith Miller's jail term for refusing to divulge a source, who, a year ealier, had given her permission to divulge, is the media's coverage of her as a heroine. The "I didn't think he really meant it" story seems pretty weak.
Miller was simply looking to make a name for herself as a brave journalist withstanding the onslaught of an avenging government trying to destroy the constitutional right of the press to protect sources. I also believe she supports the creation of a federal shield law to protect journalists from such grievious invasions by the government.
The media touts itself as a branch of government envisioned by the framers of the constitution established to keep the other three in control by the light of disclosure. Nice line if you can get the gullible to buy it.
Journalist aren't elected.
No formal education from a certified institution is required to be a journalist.
Journalist do not have to pass certification exams by some regulating body. So there are no qualifications they have to meet.
There are not boards who monitor and enforce standards of ethics and performance by journalists.
So, we have a group who set themselves up as a priesthood whose sacred duty is to keep the government in line and the group has no standards, codes of ethics and performance or anything to enforce the standards. We require that of lawyers, doctors, priests, nurses, automechanics, sewage plant operators, pilots, truck drivers, and on and on. Yet the self-appointed fourth branch of the government doesn't?
I'm sure brighter minds than mine can explain it to me if they use small words and speak slowly.
Miller was simply looking to make a name for herself as a brave journalist withstanding the onslaught of an avenging government trying to destroy the constitutional right of the press to protect sources. I also believe she supports the creation of a federal shield law to protect journalists from such grievious invasions by the government.
The media touts itself as a branch of government envisioned by the framers of the constitution established to keep the other three in control by the light of disclosure. Nice line if you can get the gullible to buy it.
Journalist aren't elected.
No formal education from a certified institution is required to be a journalist.
Journalist do not have to pass certification exams by some regulating body. So there are no qualifications they have to meet.
There are not boards who monitor and enforce standards of ethics and performance by journalists.
So, we have a group who set themselves up as a priesthood whose sacred duty is to keep the government in line and the group has no standards, codes of ethics and performance or anything to enforce the standards. We require that of lawyers, doctors, priests, nurses, automechanics, sewage plant operators, pilots, truck drivers, and on and on. Yet the self-appointed fourth branch of the government doesn't?
I'm sure brighter minds than mine can explain it to me if they use small words and speak slowly.
Bennett's Bruhaha
The moral outrage by some on the left about Bennett's comments on abortion leave out the following sentence in which he said the idea was morally reprehensible. It wouldn't make as good a story. However, Bennett has been around long enough to know that sentences like his would be totally taken out of context. Next time he will parse the sentence more carefully so it cannot be so used. He should have known this time.
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