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Refugee Radio Station Blocked by Red Tape
Zathrus writes "According to a Wired story, a volunteer organized low power FM radio station is being blocked by local administration and red tape. They've already won the classically big battles -- securing FCC licenses, obtaining the broadcast equipment and radios, getting the manpower, and having some big name backing -- only to be blocked at the last minute by some lower level administrators who don't think information is a worthwhile resource." From the article: "According to KAMP, Royal claimed the Astrodome was not able to provide power to KAMP's low-power FM transmitter. When KAMP offered to bring in enough batteries to power the equipment off the Astrodome's grid, they were still denied. Obey, speaking to Wired News, explained that the JIC couldn't see a use for the radio station when they had the ability to communicate via the loudspeaker system and newsletters. "
From the Villiage Voice:
"Speaking the Truth in times of universal deceit is a revolutionary act." -- George Orwell
George Bush had been trying to get the local government to declare a need for federal assistance.
You might want to check Snopes before you try to repeat urban legends as fact, lest we think you're a part of the current administration (who all seem to be so media illiterate that they probably can't spell snopes let alone look up to see if their information is accurate before spreading it).
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
Who's "facts" do you believe?
Well, let's see the options. A well known website that debunks or supports urban ledgends based on sound research, or "news" programs well known for actually buying stories from the government. I think I'll take the first.
I heard on a news broadcast that GWB was trying to get the local officials to declare a need for federal aid.
And if you check snopes, that urban legend has been debunked. Yes, the administration itself has been trying to put forth that image to make a very bad excuse for not showing up sooner- and yes, elsewhere on Snopes you'll actually find support for such things as underwater buses and other mistakes made by local officials- but the point is to try to tell the truth, otherwise you do more harm to your side than is needed. And repeating stuff you heard on a single news program with no colaberation for the story? That's just drinking the kool aid without checking it for poison first.
And you don't care to comment on the other parts of my post?
No, because the other parts of your post were mere logical extensions of a fact that did not exist to begin with, and thus were invalid by extension.
The actual meat of the comment?
The actual meat of the comment seemed to be that local officials needed to call for federal aid before federal aid would be offered. The link to snopes in my message shows the real timeline that was recorded- and that it was actually 3 days between the local officials asking for a mandatory evacuation, declaring a state of emergency, and formally asking for federal help, all of which were done BEFORE the hurricane hit; and the federal government actually responding at all. It was an additional 2 days before NBC broke the news in an interview to the head of FEMA that there were people in the convention center- something that the entire rest of the country knew the entire time.
I'm sorry- the basic excuse of "but we couldn't go in until the local governments asked us to" falls completely flat on it's face- and that is obvious from the Snopes article on the subject that I linked to.
Like I said the first time- next time check snopes before you repeat urban legends you heard on the "news".
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
The mayor of New York called almost immediately for federal aid.
Yeah, but the Gov. of LA called for aid before the disaster. There is no way the mayor of New York called for federal aid before that disaster! Check the date of her memo. Asking for Federal Aid the day before the disaster is not enough time? Please explain your illogic.
Also Washington sat on a request for New Mexico's national guard to help out in LA: So why do you think it is not GW and the fed's fault?
Check out the date on this picture of our "wonderful" leader. (answer: 1 day after the huricane hit)
And don't get me started on the crony he picked to lead FEMA. If you pick someone you know is incompetent to fill a role, then you are to blame when their incompetence leads to lives lost.
They're cheap enough that someone could buy a thousand of them and distribute them to everyone in the Astrodome.
Indeed, they had already arranged a donation of 10,000 radios, so that there would be plenty for all.
Very true, but that doesn't diminish the fact that it WILL help people.
Indeed. A psychiatrist was mentioning somewhere that one of the worst things for people who have been through disasters is to sit around with nothing to do and nothing but the disaster to think about. For people developing PTSD, it can intensify and lengthen their problems.
And there's a lot to be said for community-building and morale. Heck, just the music alone would help. Imagine you're on a long road trip and the radio breaks. How sad would you be? And now imagine somebody else is driving, you don't know where you're going, and you're not sure when you'll get there.
What I want to know is, why don't they just use low power AM? You need *NO* license at all to do low-power AM broadcasting, and your signal should be strong enough to cover the 'Dome no sweat.
DRM 'manages access' in the same way that a prison 'manages freedom'
From the Red Cross web site: (emphasis mine)
Direct angry calls about FEMA bumbling to the White House, c/o Prez "Mumbler" Bush, and calls about the Red Cross being blocked to the LA Gov Mansion, c/o Gov "Crybaby" Blanco.
If a job's not worth doing, it's not worth doing right.
A "refugee" is someone who is fleeing persecution from other people. Who are the "refugees" of which you speak and why did they go to the hurricane-damaged area seeking asylum?
If you meant victims of the natural disaster hurricane, that's another word entirely.
Bottom line, "normal" societial issues in the damaged area will be suspended until things are under control. That's the way it has always been and the only way thing work. These "volunteers" want to place braodcasting equipment in a damaged building from which they will broadcast whatever they want to people in the damaged area? How incredibly selfish of them. They would not only increase physical security issues for their equipment, as noted above, they'd bring confusion to the people and create more things for the authorities to try to watch. What absolute guarantees are there that these folks wouldn't broadcast erroneous information? This is not a time for civics 101, it's a time for survival.
If these people truely wanted to help, they'd offer themselves and their services are actual volunteers, not prima donnas who want a competing power during emergency times.
or 2004 DNC (boston) where protestors were segregated to "free speech zones" locked behind a fence. under a freeway ramp. down the street from the convention center.
Free speech has never meant that you have a right to be heard. The only people who would argue for that are telemarketers. Do you also think that coke employees should be able to muscle their way into paid pepsi ads?
That said, I have a real problem with the way NO is being handled. If people want to provide some service, why not let them? Same thing with the boaters who tried to get in day one with chainsaws and provisions but were turned away. It seems as if whoever was/is in charge thinks that only "official" response is acceptable and good.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
The equipment you need to feed a radio signal is somewhat bulky and expensive.
Not so. You can fit a transmitter that will broadcast to the entire Astrodome, and several city blocks around it, in the palm of your hand.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/07/2 6/145248
YHL, HAND
Finkployd
Let's not be so hasty: "FEMA can trace its beginnings to the Congressional Act of 1803. This act, generally considered the first piece of disaster legislation, provided assistance to a New Hampshire town following an extensive fire. In the century that followed, ad hoc legislation was passed more than 100 times in response to hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters." http://www.fema.gov/about/history.shtm
She's asking for federal assistance which is exactly what i said.
Who cares about michigan? What about the federal ok on the New Mexico guardsmen you ignored?
This is a better story for some of the reasons behind the delays. Best quote of the article: "Nobody told me that I had to request that,
Yeah, she is talking about ACTIVE duty military troops. The pentagon was saying that wednesday and thursday they were hesitant to send active duty troops in the area for law enforcement purposes. In the same article "While combat troops can conduct relief missions without the legal authority of the Insurrection Act, Pentagon and military officials say that no active-duty forces could have been sent into the chaos of New Orleans on Wednesday or Thursday without confronting law-and-order challenges."
Wednesday and thursday is a little freaking late.
Also, are you telling me that the Administration didn't tell her that they won't send troops until she asked? You think they were waiting silently for her to say the magic words without letting her know what the magic words were?
Here is the rest of the quote you convienently left out: In an interview, she acknowledged that she did not specify what sorts of soldiers. "Nobody told me that I had to request that," Ms. Blanco said. "I thought that I had requested everything they had. We were living in a war zone by then."
Yeah, if i wanted to be an asshole i'd quote head of FEMA Brown when he said "Paula, the federal government did not even know about the Convention Center people until today (sept 1st)."
Right after Paula Zahn asks him "ZAHN: Sir, you aren't just telling me you just learned that the folks at the Convention Center didn't have food and water until today, are you? You had no idea they were completely cut off?"
But i won't do that, because maybe that miscommunication that makes Brown look like an ass isn't his fault? It's hard to believe but maybe it's not.
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/07/2 6/145248
You really shouldn't trust the press/media for news, nor leftist websites (Kos et al). They have a habit of not pointing out things Democrats do, and obsessing over Republicans when they do the same thing. The fact that two thirds of journalists across the USA, and nine tenths of journalists in Washington DC, self-identify as Democrats in confidential polls probably has something to do with this.
FYI, I am a foreigner living in the USA, and find it rather sad the way people cleave to identity politics in this country. The free pass Democrats get in this country also irritates me. From my point of view, you need to cut politicians open with a tree saw and count the rings to tell the difference in party.
I made the mistake of deciding to read the transcripts of White House press meetings, since Sept 2001. The end result is that I'll never trust any journalist again. I really feel sorry for any president, regardless of party.
You, fairly obviously, are trusting someone you shouldn't.
Good luck.
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