CDC tests confirm FEMA trailers are toxic

From an article in MSNBC.COM

By Mike Brunker
Projects Team editor
MSNBC
updated 6:23 p.m. CT, Thurs., Feb. 14, 2008

More than two years after residents of FEMA trailers deployed along the Mississippi Gulf Coast began complaining of breathing difficulties, nosebleeds and persistent headaches, U.S. health officials announced Thursday that long-awaited government tests found potentially hazardous levels of toxic formaldehyde gas in both travel trailers and mobile homes provided by the agency.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which requested the testing by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said it would work aggressively to relocate all residents of the temporary housing as soon as possible.
Levels of formaldehyde gas in 519 trailer and mobile homes tested by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Louisiana and Mississippi were — on average — about five times what people are exposed to in most modern homes, the CDC reported. In some trailers, the levels were nearly 40 times customary exposure levels, raising fears that residents could suffer respiratory problems and potentially other long-term health effects, it said.

'Sugar dust' blast tears through factory

From the Fairfax Digital

Friday, February 8, 2008

February 8, 2008 - 5:02PM
A massive explosion has ripped through a sugar refinery in the US state of Georgia, with 38 people rushed to hospital, most in critical condition. At least six people remain unaccounted for, authorities said, although no fatalities had been reported so far. A fire has taken hold, apparently started by a blast in a bagging room at the Imperial Sugar company plant in Port Wentworth, a suburb of Savannah, police said. (Click here for video)

Sadness in Kirkwood, Missouri

CNN News
Friday, February 8, 2008

Gunman kills 5 at City Council meeting
A gunman killed five people and wounded two at a City Council meeting in suburban St. Louis on Thursday night before officers shot and killed him, police said. Two of those killed were police officers.
(click here for a link to video)

How do we mitigate such a thing from happening (before it happens) and maintain an individuals civil rights? There are early warning signs to this type of potential reaction. I believe that is just what it is...a reaction to years, sometimes decades, of personal issues that haven't been dealt with by productive and postivive measures. I submit Timothy McVeigh as the ultimate example - U.S. citizen, military service, raised in this country, educated in this country, and full of angry issues that were privatley held until one day those issues erupted into the bombing in Oklahoma City. Is it possible that we will never be able to completely prevent assassinations like this? With determination, I believe we can.

FEMA Responds To Support Communities Struck By Tornadoes

Release Date: February 6, 2008
Release Number: HQ-08-013

The Federal Emergency Management Agency situation report is found at this link. It's been a wild week, weatherwise, all across the country. Our hearts, thoughts, and prayers go out to all those affected. NIMS compliance and EMAC assistance is crucial during this time. Here is what the U.S. government is bringing to the table....
http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=42479

Another source of information on the disaster is here:

News Alert 10:09 a.m. ET Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Dozens Killed as Tornadoes Rip Through South Crews search debris for more victims of deadly tornadoes that tore across five states, killing dozens and injuring hundreds.

Bring Your Tired, Your Hunger, and Your Stranded!

What a wonderful example of Midwestern hospitality when disaster strikes and is looking like a serious candidate for a crisis. Only one went to the hospital for personal reasons. With over 800 vehicles on the freeway, streching for 19 miles, and no one ends up seriously injured or dead. That is a miracle.

Link to an article describing the emergency response effort

But, there is always two sides to a story like this. Here is a link to the Wisconsin State Journal that speaks to the emotional side of an event like this.
Stranded Interstate motorists enraged
By MATTHEW DeFOUR and PATRICIA SIMMS Wisconsin State Journal

Of All The NERV

From Cisco Systems Inc.;
The NERV is a mobile communications vehicle that can act as a command center for your on-the-ground disaster management, as well as a central processing center for all communications. The NERV works using many different Cisco technologies including IPICS technology, which allows disparate radio systems to communicate with each other through IP, TelePresence, which allowing person around a virtual table and communicate as if it were in person, video surveillance, Wi-Fi, satellite communications, and IP telephony.

Here is a link to a video of the vehicle
http://webmail.gotoltc.edu/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7Yw3WqQOSE

He's Not Chicken To Cluck About the War On Terror

Here is a link to a Washington Post article regarding not everyone is sold on the "War Against Terror".

In War on Terror, Md. Farmer One of Many Skeptical Recruits
By Mary Beth SheridanWashington Post Staff WriterSaturday, September 1, 2007; Page A01

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/31/AR2007083102114.html

I thought the article really captured what most people in America really believe (and feel). My thoughts are whether or not a person is gathering and keeping up with honest and accurate information on a regular basis before making this kind of decision. It's like believing in a vehicle that can attain 60 miles per gallon of gas, but yet it never materializes. Understanding reality is one thing. Losing hope is, sadly, another.