Slashdot Mirror
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. "
Or a newspaper, or a volunteer AM station, or a loudspeaker.
It sounds like these people were hell-bent on starring in their own FM radio DJ fantasy and were not open to other flexible ideas.
I'm also QUITE SURE that FEMA and the Military did not want one voice of resistance telling the people in the dome anything that would be off-message. Why allow some conduit for politics or whatever? It would just add chaos.
"Typeical govt workers, corrupt to hell."
fuck you.
I have never seen any goverment employee* do anything corrupt, not once.
as a government emplioyee I must repeat:
Fuck you.
*as opposed to elected official.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
I had to think about this for a minute, and I concluded you may be right. Just because the White House is being hypocritical doesn't mean that the state and local governments are blameless. So it is a bit of a straw man argument. But that also doesn't make Bush any less of a failure.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
...even though Texas and Houston have gone completely out of their way to assist in any way possible.
Out of their way?!? What the Fuck?!? You make it sound like the displaced should be grateful that their countrymen came to their aid. Isn't that what being part of a country is all about? All working together for the common good and to overcome tragedy?
I guess a lot of people can and do look a gift horse in the mouth
People like you make me sick. Where is your compassion for your fellow man? Oh, I forgot, compassion is some crazy left wing ideology that has no place in modern corporate America. Fuck You! I just hope that you are never in need of the kind of help that these victims are.
Shitdrummer.
Speaking of racism, the use of the term refugee is offensive, inaccurate, and racist.
If they were mostly white, everyone would be calling them EVACUEES, not refugees, which has negative connotations.
People had and have respect for the September 11 victims, both those who survived and did not.
Many people fail to extend that same respect to the New Orleans evacuees, and I believe a lot of that is because they are mostly Black. Which also figures into why things were done slowly and so little is still being done. They wouldn't warehouse rich white people in a place like the Superdome you can be assured of that.
If NOLA was mostly white, people would be settled in comfortable places around the country within 24 to 48 hours of evacuating the city.
Who am I kidding - if NOLA was mostly white the city would still be dry - the politicians wouldn't have said NO to upgrading the leeves.
They KNEW anything above a Category 3 storm would do severe damage. They KNEW that had Ivan hit NOLA the disaster would have come then - they IGNORED the warning - then Katrina came YEARS later.
They ignored the warning. They took forever to act. They took inappropriate actions (Superdome) and they refused and refuse to take command of the situation. They refused to use public transit and school buses to get people out. Etc. Etc.
If the Democrats can find someone reasonable to have run in 2008 they very well may win. Of course, putting up Kerry in 2004 was stupid. They picked the WORST person for that, except maybe Howard Dean.
Sam Nunn would be a good choice.
Just because it CAN be done, doesn't mean it should!
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.
The difference is that the Democratic Party did this at a convention whereas for the Republicans, this kind of censorship/information control is standard policy on everything from "public" appearances by Bush (your either pro-Bush or not allowed) to photos of coffins returning from Iraq to a low power radio station in the Superdome.