More sad state of affairs with U.S. Government in general.
Article speaks for itself
to those that lost their lives due to the failures of U.S. Government
I can't comment other than to say more sadness:
10-29-2007 Former FEMA spokesman loses spy job
The man who staged a fake Federal Emergency Management Agency news conference has lost a chance to be National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell's top public information officer.
John P. "Pat" Philbin, FEMA's former external affairs director, who had been scheduled to move into the new job at the director of national intelligence office on Monday, will not be getting the job. The staged question-and-answer session was harshly criticized by both the White House and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, whose department oversees FEMA.
"We do not normally comment on personnel matters," DNI spokesman Ross Feinstein said Monday. "However, we can confirm that Mr. Philbin is not, nor is he scheduled to be, the director of public affairs for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence."
Feinstein said earlier that Philbin's job change had been put on hold while McConnell reviewed his record.
Philbin, who previously worked for the U.S. Coast Guard and the Anteon Corp., was involved with a hastily called televised FEMA news conference last Tuesday on the California wildfires.
The session was announced on short notice and featured questions for FEMA's deputy administrator, Vice Adm. Harvey Johnson.
No genuine journalists attended, although they were given a conference call number they could use to listen in ? but not ask questions. A half-dozen questions were asked at the event ? by FEMA staff members posing as reporters.
Philbin was among the six questioners, according to The Washington Post. The questions included: "Are you happy with FEMA's response so far?"
"I think it was one of the dumbest and most inappropriate things I've seen since I've been in government," Chertoff said later.
FEMA later apologized for the phony news briefing and said it was reviewing its procedures for dealing with news organizations.
====================================================
10-25-2007 As wildfires were charging across Southern California, nearly two dozen water-dropping helicopters and two massive cargo planes sat idly by, grounded by government rules and bureaucracy.
===================================================
10-25-2007 Calif. fires may be at turning point
SAN DIEGO - A massive aerial assault and a break in harsh winds helped firefighters make their first major progress against Southern California's firestorm, raising evacuees' hopes of returning home for good. But flames were still drawing perilously toward thousands of homes.
The hot, dry Santa Ana winds that have whipped the blazes into a destructive, indiscriminate fury since the weekend were expected to all but disappear Thursday.
====================================================
A previous OP attempted to start a thread that normally frequents OT mainly and immediately joked that this is Bush's fault.
Let's keep the leadership on the oval office out of this and focus on responses by FEMA and California leadership.
The Terminator has said he will follow this through till the end.
Does he mean he will personally see that all 1,200 homes burnt so far are re-built?
This is massive destruction.
The city of SanDiego is in fact affected. Many employees that work in that city have lost their homes including employees that work for the company I am a sub-contractor for.
Here is the letter that went out from one of the company officers:
To all employees,
Due to a number of fires burning in the San Diego area, we have advised all San Diego Area employees to leave the office and go home. As a result, any meeting involving corporate staff should be been cancelled.
Many San Diego employees will be working from home if they are not in an evacuation zone, so if you need to reach someone, you can email them.
At this time, a number of employees have been evacuated who live in the affected areas. Our thoughts are with those individuals and their families.
The Corporate Office is not in any danger, and the notification for employees to go home is a precaution as the Mayor has asked all non-affected residents to stay off the highways if possible.
We will provide further updates from Corporate as necessary.
If you have any questions, please email me and I will do my best to get you information.
========================================================
10-23-2007California fires destroys over 1,200 homes
By day three, the dozen wildfires had burned more than 1,200 homes and businesses, and the destruction may only be the start for the region. With forecasts calling for hotter temperatures and fierce wind gusts, the flames were proving nearly impossible to fight.
At least 346,000 homes were evacuated in San Diego County alone, sheriff's officials said. But the total number could be much higher, and state officials were still struggling to estimate how many people had fled.
Deputies arrested two men for looting in the community of Ramona, and there were a handful of other looting cases reported, said San Diego Sheriff's Lt. Mike McClain.
San Diego County was ablaze from its rural north to its border region with Mexico, where the wildfires that started Sunday claimed their only fatality to date: Thomas Varshock, 52, of Tecate, a town on the U.S. side of the border southeast of San Diego. His body was found Sunday afternoon, the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office said.
Touring an evacuee camp at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pledged to do everything in his power to assist the firefighting effort and help those who have lost their homes.
"I will be relentless all the way through this," Schwarzenegger said
Article speaks for itself
I can't comment other than to say more sadness:
10-29-2007 Former FEMA spokesman loses spy job
The man who staged a fake Federal Emergency Management Agency news conference has lost a chance to be National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell's top public information officer.
John P. "Pat" Philbin, FEMA's former external affairs director, who had been scheduled to move into the new job at the director of national intelligence office on Monday, will not be getting the job. The staged question-and-answer session was harshly criticized by both the White House and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, whose department oversees FEMA.
"We do not normally comment on personnel matters," DNI spokesman Ross Feinstein said Monday. "However, we can confirm that Mr. Philbin is not, nor is he scheduled to be, the director of public affairs for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence."
Feinstein said earlier that Philbin's job change had been put on hold while McConnell reviewed his record.
Philbin, who previously worked for the U.S. Coast Guard and the Anteon Corp., was involved with a hastily called televised FEMA news conference last Tuesday on the California wildfires.
The session was announced on short notice and featured questions for FEMA's deputy administrator, Vice Adm. Harvey Johnson.
No genuine journalists attended, although they were given a conference call number they could use to listen in ? but not ask questions. A half-dozen questions were asked at the event ? by FEMA staff members posing as reporters.
Philbin was among the six questioners, according to The Washington Post. The questions included: "Are you happy with FEMA's response so far?"
"I think it was one of the dumbest and most inappropriate things I've seen since I've been in government," Chertoff said later.
FEMA later apologized for the phony news briefing and said it was reviewing its procedures for dealing with news organizations.
====================================================
10-25-2007 As wildfires were charging across Southern California, nearly two dozen water-dropping helicopters and two massive cargo planes sat idly by, grounded by government rules and bureaucracy.
===================================================
10-25-2007 Calif. fires may be at turning point
SAN DIEGO - A massive aerial assault and a break in harsh winds helped firefighters make their first major progress against Southern California's firestorm, raising evacuees' hopes of returning home for good. But flames were still drawing perilously toward thousands of homes.
The hot, dry Santa Ana winds that have whipped the blazes into a destructive, indiscriminate fury since the weekend were expected to all but disappear Thursday.
====================================================
A previous OP attempted to start a thread that normally frequents OT mainly and immediately joked that this is Bush's fault.
Let's keep the leadership on the oval office out of this and focus on responses by FEMA and California leadership.
The Terminator has said he will follow this through till the end.
Does he mean he will personally see that all 1,200 homes burnt so far are re-built?
This is massive destruction.
The city of SanDiego is in fact affected. Many employees that work in that city have lost their homes including employees that work for the company I am a sub-contractor for.
Here is the letter that went out from one of the company officers:
To all employees,
Due to a number of fires burning in the San Diego area, we have advised all San Diego Area employees to leave the office and go home. As a result, any meeting involving corporate staff should be been cancelled.
Many San Diego employees will be working from home if they are not in an evacuation zone, so if you need to reach someone, you can email them.
At this time, a number of employees have been evacuated who live in the affected areas. Our thoughts are with those individuals and their families.
The Corporate Office is not in any danger, and the notification for employees to go home is a precaution as the Mayor has asked all non-affected residents to stay off the highways if possible.
We will provide further updates from Corporate as necessary.
If you have any questions, please email me and I will do my best to get you information.
========================================================
10-23-2007California fires destroys over 1,200 homes
By day three, the dozen wildfires had burned more than 1,200 homes and businesses, and the destruction may only be the start for the region. With forecasts calling for hotter temperatures and fierce wind gusts, the flames were proving nearly impossible to fight.
At least 346,000 homes were evacuated in San Diego County alone, sheriff's officials said. But the total number could be much higher, and state officials were still struggling to estimate how many people had fled.
Deputies arrested two men for looting in the community of Ramona, and there were a handful of other looting cases reported, said San Diego Sheriff's Lt. Mike McClain.
San Diego County was ablaze from its rural north to its border region with Mexico, where the wildfires that started Sunday claimed their only fatality to date: Thomas Varshock, 52, of Tecate, a town on the U.S. side of the border southeast of San Diego. His body was found Sunday afternoon, the San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office said.
Touring an evacuee camp at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger pledged to do everything in his power to assist the firefighting effort and help those who have lost their homes.
"I will be relentless all the way through this," Schwarzenegger said
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