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FEMA Sorry for Faking News Briefing
theodp writes "The Federal Emergency Management Agency's No. 2 official apologized Friday for leading a staged news conference Tuesday in which FEMA employees posed as reporters. All the while, real reporters listened on a telephone conference line and were barred from asking questions. In the briefing, Vice Adm. Harvey E. Johnson Jr., FEMA's deputy administrator, called on questioners who did not disclose that they were FEMA employees, and gave replies emphasizing that his agency's response to this week's California wildfires was far better than its response to Hurricane Katrina in August 2005."
Baloney. Saying that California wildfires "happen every year, almost like clockwork" is like saying the same for hurricanes hitting the gulf coast, and discounting Katrina as a minor, typical event. Wildfires may be common, but fires that burn down hundreds of homes (many of them track homes, not out in the wilderness somewhere), shut down the greater part of a county, and force the evacuation of a half million people, are another thing altogether.
That said, I do agree with the poster above you that pointed out that the devastation caused by Katrina was probably far greater and that much harder to manage than the CA fires. FEMA had a relatively small role in this one. Evacuations were coordinated by the county and city. Firefighting was coordinated by Cal Fire. And FEMA did what exactly? Oh yes, they had news conferences. At least that's what I got from watching it on the news for 2-3 days non stop.
The military offered helicopters for dropping water on the fires, but they weren't allowed to because California State Department of Forestry rules required that a CDF fire spotter ride in each aircraft. Not only did it take more than 24 hours to get the fire spotters to the choppers, but there weren't enough spotters to man all the available aircraft.
Some official allowed an exception to the rule to allow just one spotter for each squadron of three, but by the time this was all sorted out, the high winds proved to be too dangerous, and so the aircraft were grounded.
Had they been able to take off when first called upon, the winds wouldn't have been so severe and they might have been able to contain the fire.
What's worse is that the military has several C-130 transport planes on call for dropping very large amounts of water from the air. I saw one of these at the Big Bear Lake fire in 1985, and it was a truly awesome sight to behold.
However, it was determined that their tanks were unsafe, so several years ago they were taken out of service until a new tank could be designed. The first try at a new tank didn't fit in the planes - yes, you read that right - so they went back to the drawing board.
It's been four years since then and they still don't have a new tank design.
Let me find you a link.
Request your free CD of my piano music.
looks to me like the last time this happened (with the fake VNRs) the GAO put every agency on notice that faking a news report and not disclosing it was blantantly illegal
here's the relevant letter from the GAO: http://oversight.house.gov/documents/20050222093810-51492.pdf
any FEMA administrator that knew that fake reporters were asking the questions needs to immediately resign or be indicted if they try to avoid responsibility for this propaganda
This comment is fully compliant with RFC 527.
It's just the Barbarians in charge (the so called CEO leadership style as influenced by Enron) - the rule of law hasn't entirely vanished and will return after a few technical difficulties.
From the end of the TFA:
O. M. G.
About 72 hours apparently. Oh well, looks like they learned SOMETHING from Katrina. Not necessarily what one would have hoped they would learn ... but something.
You can't see ANYTHING from a car, You've got to get out of the goddamned contraption and walk...Edward Abbey
Its not so much the government nuking its own people as much as it is the security infrastructure that is holding those nukes would break down. Just imagine if some screwball goes out to fight the immigrants with "the big one".
... well, that might actually solve the illegal immigration problem as long as he uses one of the really big ones.
Ha
Seriously though, when the security infrastructure breaks down (as it did in Russia) those weapons become available to any fruitcake with an agenda. What amazes me is that we haven't been hit with an ex-Soviet-era nuke yet. Of course, the things do require continual maintenance and if just left to themselves tend to become useless, so it's possible they don't have one that still works. On the other hand, just having the nuclear material means you could roll your own, I suppose.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
For a good example of how a truly oppressive state can successfully crush an attempt of the "color revolution", read on the Andijan massacre in Uzbekistan. It should be noted that Putin did openly back Karimov in the media when it happened.
FEMA is very likely sorry that they were caught. The question of whether they're sorry they did it in the first place is still up for debate. Available evidence points to "not a fucking chance."
"This Video Is No Longer Available."
Do not listen to ScrewMaster, who is a Fox News shill. The video is indeed still available. Do not be afraid to view it.
How much they paying you, guy?
I don't understand why you say the peace movement stopped with the killings at Kent State. I remember outrage, but not stopping. What precisely do you think stopped? What stopped was the Vietnam War.
There is even a peace movement today with a lot of the same people involved that were involved in the 60's.
Since when did the Kent State Massacre put an end to the anti-war movement? That's not how I remember it, and I've never even seen anyone claim this. The movement continued, the war became increasingly unpopular, and the US withdrew.
Incidentally, four students were killed at Kent State, not two: Alison Krause, Jeffrey Miller, Sandra Scheuer, and William Schroeder. Only the first two were participants in the protest; the second two were bystanders.
In reality, you'd probably end up wishing that what the gov't called it was treason. The trend is clear; a person who is resisting, advocating resistance, or doing anything contrary to the will of the State is a terrorist. Terrorists are not to be considered human, and it's expected that any action that involves the treatment of the terrorist is not only acceptable, but it will not even be questioned.
The first step to oppressing a people is to stop believing that they are human. That's why they're called insurgents, which is defined in Webster's as "a rebel not recognized as a belligerent" (with belligerent meaning "belonging to or recognized
Of course, that's also why the people who live in the USA are 'consumers', not people. I was at a party last night; it was not an extremely large gathering, there was drinking but no noise problems, and there was nothing disruptive about it. 4 police cars pull up, no less than 6 officers get out and talk amongst themselves. 2 of them walk up to the entryway to a patio (clearly belonging to the apartment). I ask what the problem is, and (non-belligerently) tell them that this is private property and that they're not welcome. One of the officers looks at me, and says (direct quote) "What are you going to do about it?" and walks into the patio area and begins questioning and demanding ID from everyone in sight. (Everyone was over 21.) We're losing this battle rapidly, and the trends in other areas work against us.
Freedom was nice while it lasted.
From the article you cite:
Why do you think you'd hear about a freedom fighter killing "innocents"? He won, remember? You also don't hear about how General Patton decided to level towns in Upper Austria which clearly and unmistakenly surrendered. Probe Google for "third army war memorial", and wonder if you'd maybe get more than 4 entries if Patton wasn't on the winning side. No, there's no wikipedia entry for it. Wonder why.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.