tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30495643273000847592024-03-12T23:43:33.002-04:00Waiting for the Next Disaster"Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing." President Teddy Roosevelt, NY State Fair, Syracuse, New York 1903Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.comBlogger1002125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-81848018908892760622009-04-09T12:05:00.000-04:002009-04-09T12:06:32.474-04:00TIME: Wikipedia for Spies: The CIA Discovers Web 2.0<span style="font-style: italic;">There's a quiet revolution underway at the CIA and its sister agencies. A new generation of analysts, determined to drag their Cold War–era colleagues into the world of Web 2.0 information-sharing, have created Intellipedia, a classified version of Wikipedia they say is transforming the way U.S. spy agencies handle top-secret information by fostering collaboration across Washington and around the world. Rolled out in 2006 to skeptical veterans at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., Intellipedia has grown to a 900,000-page magnum opus of espionage, handling some 100,000 user accounts and 5,000 page edits a day, according to the CIA and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. </span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-69204898683581738882009-04-09T12:03:00.001-04:002009-04-09T12:05:18.134-04:00YAHOO/AP: FBI joins effort in hostage standoff with pirates<p style="font-style: italic;">NAIROBI, Kenya – <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239286887_0">FBI hostage negotiators</span> joined <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239286887_1">U.S. Navy efforts</span> Thursday to free an <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239286887_2">American ship captain</span> held captive on a lifeboat by <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239286887_3">Somali pirates</span>. A U.S. destroyer and a spy plane kept close watch in the high-seas standoff near the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239286887_4">Horn of Africa</span>.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">The pirates took Capt. Richard Phillips hostage Wednesday after they hijacked the U.S.-flagged <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239286887_5">Maersk</span> Alabama, then fled the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239286887_6">cargo ship</span> as the vessel's crew overpowered them. It was the first such attack on American sailors in about 200 years.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">Kevin Speers, a spokesman for the Maersk ship company, said the pirates have made no demands yet to the company. He said the safe return of the captain is now its top priority.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">The USS Bainbridge arrived near the Maersk Alabama and the lifeboat with the pirates, he said.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-15198923181309729702009-04-09T11:58:00.000-04:002009-04-09T12:03:27.493-04:00YAHOO/AFP: British police chief quits over terror blunder<p style="font-style: italic;">LONDON (AFP) – Britain's top anti-terror police chief has tendered his resignation following a security blunder, <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239265684_0">London Mayor Boris Johnson</span> said Thursday.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;"> Johnson told BBC radio he had accepted <span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239265684_1">Assistant Metropolitan Police Commissioner Bob Quick's resignation</span> with "great reluctance and sadness," after the blunder triggered premature anti-terror arrests Wednesday.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;"> "I have this morning with great reluctance and sadness... accepted Bob Quick's resignation as head of counter terrorism," he said, adding that <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239265684_2">Assistant Commissioner John Yates</span> would take over from him.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;"> Quick was photographed Wednesday as he arrived at <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239265684_3">Prime Minister Gordon Brown's Downing Street office</span> for talks on <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239265684_4">police reform</span> with a sensitive document clearly visible.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-35636278364615556222009-04-09T11:56:00.000-04:002009-04-09T11:58:04.519-04:00FIRE RESCUE 1: Mo. firefighter sues agencies, colleagues<span style="font-style: italic;" class="text">ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Cindy Schuenke, the firefighter-paramedic who was severely burned in a fire three years ago in north St. Louis County, has filed suit against three fire agencies and numerous firefighters who responded to the blaze with her.<p>Schuenke, 44, suffered severe burns March 29, 2006, while searching for the mother of a fellow firefighter in a burning house in Vinita Terrace. Her suit, filed last week in St. Louis County Circuit Court, alleges that firefighters at the scene, and their commander there, made mistake after mistake. The suit also alleged that two fire chiefs had failed to train their fire personnel to properly handle such situations.</p><p>The suit also names Grace Industries Inc., the maker of a personal alert safety system (PASS) device that Schuenke wore into the fire. The suit says the device failed to sound, therefore failing to alert rescuers to her predicament and location. </p></span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-87125664480463511842009-04-08T20:14:00.002-04:002009-04-08T20:16:45.467-04:00DepictionFROM THE WEBSITE:<br /><br /><h2>Product Highlights:</h2> <ul><li>When you create a depiction with an internet connection, Depiction automatically downloads <b>free public data</b> about your community.</li><li><b>Import</b> your information from spreadsheets (CSV format), GIS shape files, elevation data from DEM files, and digital images such as JPG and BMP.</li><li><b>Avoid the clutter</b> of information layers with Depiction's Revealers: intelligent data windows that let you see what you want to see where you want to see it.</li><li>Make your map elements <b>interact</b>: for example, place a road barrier to <i>reroute</i> an evacuation, or <i>hold back</i> water by making a levee with a water barrier.</li><li>Receive <b>live reports</b> from anyone in the world via email and have them appear immediately in your depiction.</li><li>Depiction works on virtually any <b>Microsoft Windows XP and Windows Vista</b> machine: laptop or desktop.</li></ul><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-42393351403553617072009-04-08T20:14:00.001-04:002009-04-08T20:14:29.243-04:00DHS: DHS Announces Nearly $970 Million in Preparedness Grant Final Allocations<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-41971829732167807462009-04-08T20:13:00.002-04:002009-04-08T20:13:57.376-04:00CDC: Video: Screening People for External Contamination: How to Use Hand-held Radiation Survey Equipment<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-79253624713958563562009-04-08T14:53:00.000-04:002009-04-08T14:56:13.813-04:00EXAMINER: Windsor SWAT team nabs man who evaded border units<span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-style: italic;">DETROIT (Map, News) - Police in Windsor, Ontario, say they arrested a 25-year-old Detroit man who rammed a stolen car through Canadian customs at the Ambassador Bridge and led officers on a chase. The bridge links Detroit and Windsor.<br /><br />The Windsor Star says a U.S. border guard fired at the car when it refused an order to stop. Windsor police Staff Sgt. Stefan Kowal tells the Detroit Free Press his department's SWAT team and other officers arrested the man at 4:40 p.m., soon after they learned of the border breach.</span><p></p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-38581273967113364172009-04-08T14:52:00.000-04:002009-04-08T14:53:46.719-04:00YAHOO/AP: Santa Barbara County reverses oil drilling stand<p style="font-style: italic;">LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Months after making national headlines for supporting offshore oil drilling, the county famous for spawning the modern environmental movement reversed course Tuesday and voted to oppose the drilling.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">The <span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239167252_0">Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors</span>, citing a need to preserve its coastline, voted 3-2 for a resolution to oppose <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239167252_1">oil exploration</span> and extraction in the county.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">The resolution, which will be sent to <span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239167252_2">President Barack Obama</span> and <span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239167252_3">Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger</span>, is largely symbolic because the board lacks authority to allow or prevent drilling. However, drilling critics said the vote was timely because the Department of Interior is scheduled to discuss oil and gas leasing next week.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-22679100687873464752009-04-08T14:50:00.000-04:002009-04-08T14:52:17.206-04:00YAHOO TECH: FCC gets going on national broadband plan<span style="font-style: italic;" class="newsdateline">NEW YORK - </span><span style="font-style: italic;">The </span><span style="font-style: italic;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239201730_0">Federal Communications Commission</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> is launching its effort to encourage the expansion of </span><span style="font-style: italic;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239201730_1">high-speed Internet connections</span><span style="font-style: italic;"> in the country.</span> <p style="font-style: italic;">The <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239201730_2">FCC</span> was ordered to create such a plan as part of the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239201730_3">economic stimulus package</span> passed this year.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-64533114911986696122009-04-08T14:49:00.000-04:002009-04-08T14:50:45.980-04:00CNN: NY gunman fired 98 shots in about a minute, police chief says<b style="font-style: italic;">(CNN)</b><span style="font-style: italic;"> -- The gunman who killed 13 people at an immigrant services center fired 98 shots in a minute or so, the police chief in Binghamton, New York, said Wednesday.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-1933075496373324152009-04-08T14:47:00.001-04:002009-04-08T14:49:19.945-04:00YAHOO/REUTERS: U.S. electrical grid penetrated by spies: report<p style="font-style: italic;">WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Cyberspies have penetrated the U.S. electrical grid and left behind software programs that could be used to disrupt the system, the <span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239211004_0">Wall Street Journal</span> reported on Wednesday.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;"> The spies came from China, Russia and other countries, and were believed to be on a mission to navigate the U.S. electrical system and its controls, the newspaper said, citing current and former <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239211004_1">U.S. national security officials</span>.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-39587411884619964442009-04-08T14:46:00.001-04:002009-04-08T14:47:54.082-04:00YAHOO/AP: Helicopter pilot in sex act denied license<p style="font-style: italic;">GARDENA, Calif. – A judge says a commercial helicopter pilot videotaped in a sex act while flying over <span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239137502_0">San Diego</span> committed gross negligence and cannot have his license back.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239137502_1">National Transportation Safety Board</span> <span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239137502_2">administrative law Judge William</span> R. Mullins upheld a <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239137502_3">Federal Aviation Administration</span> order revoking the license of <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239137502_4">David Martz</span> after a hearing Tuesday.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">Martz had no comment after the ruling.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">A passenger was videotaping when Martz let an adult film actress perform a sex act on him during the 2005 flight, and an edited version eventually became public.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-69356480494072742662009-04-08T14:45:00.000-04:002009-04-08T14:46:19.825-04:00YAHOO/AP: Death toll in Italy quake reaches 260<p style="font-style: italic;">L'AQUILA, Italy – Aftershocks from the earthquake that has killed at least 260 people in <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239201702_0">central Italy</span> sent new fears through the tent camps that shelter thousands of survivors, and <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239201702_1">Pope Benedict XVI</span> said Wednesday that he would visit the shocked and injured people of the area as soon as possible.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">As rescue teams pressed ahead with their searches in the crumbled buildings, some of the almost 28,000 left homeless emerged from tents after spending a second night in chilly mountain temperatures.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">"I slept so badly because I kept feeling the aftershocks," said Daniela Nunut at one of the tent camps set up across the city of <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239201702_2">L'Aquila</span>. The 46-year Romanian-born woman said she and her companion plan to stay in the tent for now. "What can you do? You can't go into the building."</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">The magnitude-6.3 quake hit L'Aquila and several towns in central Italy early Monday, leveling buildings and reducing entire blocks to piles of rubble and dust.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-38649150461618525292009-04-08T14:44:00.000-04:002009-04-08T14:45:23.778-04:00YAHOO/AP: Binghamton officials defend response to massacre<p style="font-style: italic;">BINGHAMTON, N.Y. – Even if <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239001202_0">police officers</span> had immediately entered the immigrant center where a gunman had just shot down 13 people, the victims' injuries were so severe that none would have survived, a county prosecutor said Sunday.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">The shooting at the American Civic Association stopped shortly after the first <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1239001202_1">911 calls</span> came in at 10:30 a.m. Friday, but police didn't enter the building until nearly 45 minutes later.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-87074361651478206982009-04-08T14:43:00.000-04:002009-04-08T14:44:24.913-04:00YAHOO/AP: Fight over urinating dog got police to Pa. ambush<p style="font-style: italic;">PITTSBURGH – A 911 call that brought two <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1238987264_0">police officers</span> to a home where they were ambushed, and where a third was also later killed during a four-hour siege, was precipitated by a fight between the gunman and his mother over a dog urinating in the house.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">The Saturday argument between Margaret and Richard Poplawski escalated to the point that she threatened to kick him out and she called police to do it, according to a 12-page criminal complaint and affidavit filed late Saturday.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-6827018618034994752009-04-06T12:36:00.004-04:002009-04-06T12:48:19.340-04:00WFTND Blog UpdateYes, WFTND regular readers, you may have noticed that blog entries recently went from about every day to about every week. My attention has been focused on making arrangements for my new job. I will be with FEMA Region VII in Kansas City starting next Monday. Until I can get settled, WFTND will be updated about every week. As soon as I can get into the groove in the new digs, we will go back to the daily entries. Thanks for all your support, and as always, thanks for your comments.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-54970256061697856672009-04-03T21:24:00.001-04:002009-04-03T21:30:02.060-04:00CHICAGOIST: City Building Back-up 911 Center on the Sly<span style="font-style: italic;">While Mayor Daley has spent most of the last several months huffing and puffing about the Olympics, Al Sanchez, and conflicts with the police, the City has quietly been building a back-up 911 center at O'Hare meant to be used if a terrorist attack or natural disaster renders the current West Loop 911 center useless.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-82622130335667913662009-04-03T21:22:00.001-04:002009-04-03T21:24:43.771-04:00NAMIBIA ECONOMIST: EU emergency experts assess flood-hit areas<span style="font-style: italic;">A team of European Union (EU) emergency experts brought together by the Community Civil Protection Mechanism arrived in Namibia last week to assess the flood-hit areas.</span><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">The team comprises six experts in various areas of emergency management from Denmark, Sweden, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and the European Commission.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-74264584161115848032009-04-03T21:20:00.000-04:002009-04-03T21:22:04.146-04:00MOSNEWS.COM: Powerful bomb defused near supermarket in south Russia<span style="font-style: italic;">A bomb has been found near the Metro supermarket in </span><st: style="font-style: italic;" city="" st="on"><st city="" st="on">Ulyanovsk</st></st:><span style="font-style: italic;"> city on the </span><st: style="font-style: italic;" st="on" place=""><st: st="on" placename="">Volga</st:> <st: st="on" placetype="">River</st:></st:><span style="font-style: italic;">, Interfax informed.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-62556425174510870062009-04-03T21:19:00.000-04:002009-04-03T21:20:53.904-04:00WASHINGTON TECHNOLOGY: Watchdog group questions FEMA appointment of contractor<span style="font-style: italic;">A government watchdog group is raising concerns about a possible conflict of interest related to the appointment of a former contractor for the Federal Emergency Management Agency to serve as FEMA’s chief of staff. </span><br /> <br /><span style="font-style: italic;">Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano named Jason R. McNamara as FEMA’s chief of staff March 4. He previously served as associate vice president and director of emergency management and homeland security at Dewberry LLC since 2005. The planning, engineering and management firm is based in Fairfax, Va.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-78096065939947346322009-04-03T21:14:00.002-04:002009-04-03T21:19:31.121-04:00NJ.COM: Berkeley Heights police chief receives one-time payment of $65,264<p style="font-style: italic;">BERKELEY HEIGHTS -- A last-minute resolution, introduced and passed while two Township Council members were on vacation, will provide the police chief with a one-time payment of $65,264.<br /></p> <a style="font-style: italic;" name="more"></a><span style="font-style: italic;">Police Chief David Zager's salary will be adjusted retroactively to $138,306 for 2007 and $152,137 for 2008. The total of the retroactive salary increases amounts to $33,319.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-30893547883262918472009-04-03T21:14:00.001-04:002009-04-03T21:14:52.789-04:00HIGHLANDS TODAY: Arrest Made In Sebring Powder Scare<span style="font-style: italic;">SEBRING - The Highlands County Sheriff's Office has arrested a 20-year-old man in connection with Thursday's white powder scare that shut down a hospital and a town hall in this small community 90 miles southeast of Tampa.</span><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-37958271802457418172009-04-03T20:59:00.000-04:002009-04-03T21:00:30.789-04:00YAHOO/AP: Calif. nut plant: Kraft found salmonella in 2008<p style="font-style: italic;">FRESNO, Calif. – A company at the heart of a nationwide pistachio recall said Friday that <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1238800165_0">Kraft Foods Inc</span>. detected salmonella in its pistachios more than six months ago but didn't report the finding until last week.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">Lee Cohen, a New York plant production manager for Setton Pistachio of Terra Bella, Inc., said Kraft told them on March 24 that the tainted nuts were found in a mixed snack blend that also contained salmonella-tainted cherries.</p> <p style="font-style: italic;">Kraft spokeswoman Susan Davison said manufacturer Georgia Nut Co. first found the bacteria in its Kraft <span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1238800165_1">Back to Nature Nantucket Blend</span> trail mix in September 2008, but it took more than six months of testing to determine what caused the contamination.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3049564327300084759.post-60687731238407169532009-04-03T20:58:00.000-04:002009-04-03T20:59:33.820-04:00HOMELAND 1: Fargo resisted FEMA recommendation to evacuate<span style="font-style: italic;">FARGO, N.D. — With floodwaters rising around them, Fargo officials and the Federal Emergency Management Agency faced an agonizing decision: Should they order a mandatory evacuation of the entire city?</span><p style="font-style: italic;">FEMA thought the best course of action was to evacuate and not leave anything to chance. Fargo officials disagreed, saying they knew what it would take to hold back the Red River. The conversation turned heated at times, and Fargo ultimately won.</p><p style="font-style: italic;">Now that the Red River is receding and leaving only relatively minor damage, that decision looks smart. The city began returning to normal Wednesday as people went back to work, stores reopened and the river dipped to only slightly above 37 feet.</p><div class="blogger-post-footer"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
google_ad_client = "pub-1436811669899886";
/* 728x90 11/11/08 */
google_ad_slot = "5405657867";
google_ad_width = 728;
google_ad_height = 90;
//-->
</script>
<script type="text/javascript"
src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
</script></div>Michael Gregoryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05295215258593109233noreply@blogger.com0