http://dailycaller.com/2012/11/07/fema-centers-in-new-york-city-closed-due-to-weather/
(photo courtesy of DNAinfo.com)
Many New Yorkers likely think Craig Fugate, who runs the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is doing a “heckuva job.” But he may have some explaining to do after FEMA disaster centers in several sections of New York City suddenly closed up shop Wednesday.
Another storm — a dreaded nor’easter — is on its way, and FEMA’s response was to shutter the relief centers that have been some Hurricane Sandy victims’ sole source of food, water and other supplies. The Red Cross has also cut back on relief services as New York City braces for the next wintry wallop.
Salon reported that Fugate told reporters on a Wednesday conference call that some post-Sandy FEMA facilities and services “had to be secured or postponed during the [current] storm. … We are going to resume when weather permits.”
DNAinfo.com New York visited several FEMA disaster centers and found “Closed due to weather” signs.
A FEMA facility on Coney Island was among those affected.
“The storm is coming. We don’t know how hard it’s going to hit us,” Jenny Cartagena told DNAInfo outside that FEMA site. “I need some help now.”
Non-FEMA volunteers handing out supplies on Staten Island said FEMA buses disappeared Wednesday, and were no longer available as places for New Yorkers with no electricity to get warm.
“FEMA packed up and left,” volunteer Louis Giraldi told the website.
“We don’t know where they are, so there’s nothing here but us.”
The piece below is a hoax but a believable one - fooled a few places like Daily Kos and some other blogs..... I guess it was just too good to check !
Election 2012
George Bush Accidently Votes For Obama
Former U.S. president George W. Bushaccidentally voted for Barack Obama today at a polling place near his Crawford, TX home.
According to local reports, the two-term Republican was confused by the instructions on his electronic voting machine and mistakenly cast a ballot he intended to discard.
Witnesses say Bush argued with poll workers for several minutes afterwards in a effort to redo his vote, but in accordance with state law they ultimately denied his request.
The embarrassing incident may have gone unnoticed if it weren't for a local newspaper reporter who happened to be voting in the next booth. Suzanna Everett, a politics correspondent for the Waco Times witnessed the entire ordeal and crafted a cunning scheme to make it public.
Left On Red
Barred by ethics rules from using knowledge gained within a polling station, Everett waited for Bush to leave the facility and ambushed him with a trick question designed to fool him into revealing the news himself:
"Mr. President Fox News is reporting that you've accidentally voted for Barack Obama. Would you care to comment?"
Thinking that his mistake had already been found out, Bush sought to minimize the damage:
"Yes unfortunately because of the incompetence of the folks who designed the ballot, my vote counted for the other guy," Bush responded. He then attempted to explain exactly how the mishap occurred:
"First of all, everything was very mismaladjusted on the screen. You shouldn't put the senators and the congresspeople and the presidents all jumbled together like that. It's too crowded. Just confuses folks."
Bush then explained that after marking the wrong candidate, he sought to correct his error by clicking the red "Cast Ballot" button, thinking that it was designed to 'cast away' the ballot and bring up a fresh one:
"Usually red means stop and green means go. I thought I was stopping"
A New Legacy
Bush is no stranger to election day controversy, having been pushed into office himself by the Florida fiasco of 2000. In that election hundreds of votes intended for Democratic rival Al Gore went to protest candidate Pat Buchanan instead due to poor ballot design.
In an official statement released shortly after the event, former President Bush said his experiences today have inspired him to make electoral reform the signature cause of his post-presidency:
"Laura and I will be dedicating the next few years to fixing our electoral system. Every American deserves a clear, simple ballot when they go to the polling place."
However, the system Bush used has been deployed successfully around the country with little incident. A spokesperson for the company that manufactures the machines says they stand by their product:
"Until today we have never had a single instance of someone confusing the "cast ballot" button for a "cast away ballot" button. This is a problem unique to Mr. Bush, and we have no plans to change our machines."
And observing how the Pols in Japan think and act , I'm shocked Prime Minister Noda didn't jump on the Fukushima Disneyland idea............
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/views/AJ201211070050
POINT OF VIEW/ Genichiro Takahashi: In praise of 'extreme' and 'outrageous' opinions
Philosopher and writer Hiroki Azuma made a seemingly flippant and irreverent comment in the Sept. 4 online issue of the weekly Shukan Playboy magazine by suggesting that the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant be turned into a tourist attraction: a theme park, no less.
He must have shocked and outraged many readers.
Yet, I felt that Azuma made an excellent point and must have given his proposal a great deal of thought.
He envisioned iPhone-toting tourists being treated to a realistic re-enactment of the explosions that occurred at the nuclear power plant in March last year. Dense smoke roils and billows, and the ground on which the visitors stand rumbles and shakes. A geiger counter beeps incessantly as radiation levels keep rising, and young people cry out in alarm.
Azuma was surely aware that his proposal would upset a lot of people. But he went ahead and voiced it anyway--because he understood all too well that the last thing Japan needs is to forget the Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear crisis it spawned.
We Japanese are experts at forgetting. True to the old adage of "danger past and God forgotten," we are quick to forget unpleasant things--like the horrors of war and environmental pollution--so we can get on with our day-to-day lives.
I have no doubt that it will only be a matter of time before the Fukushima disaster and the killer tsunami fade into oblivion. And that, I believe, is why Azuma wanted to position Fukushima right in the heart of our consumption-driven society. I repeat, Azuma had it all figured out.
Recently, territorial disputes over the Takeshima islets and the Senkaku Islands have dominated discussions in opinion magazines and the mass media. Most of the discussions focused on how Japan should deal with South Korea and China in order to protect "our territory." Some even seemed eager for a war with China.
One opinion that stood out came from Ukeru Magosaki, a former chief of the Foreign Ministry's Intelligence and Analysis Service. Magosaki argued that the United States will not protect the Senkakus for Japan. He also cited ample evidence to discount the premise that the Senkakus have always belonged to Japan.
Outrageous and extreme as his assertions may appear, it so happens that Magosaki is one of Japan's foremost authorities on territorial issues.
How did Germany, Japan's Axis partner in World War II, handle its loss of territory following its defeat in the war? What Germany lost was not a bunch of uninhabited rocky outcrops in the ocean. The Germans lost a big chunk of their territory that was home to German-speaking people.
"Germany found a new way of life in history," Magosaki pointed out. "Instead of seeking to recover lost territory, Germany chose to be a full-fledged member of Europe and eventually won a position of leadership."
It's kind of sad that what was Germany's postwar "national goal" would be considered outrageous in present-day Japan.
INDECISIVE POLITICIANS
Everybody in Japan knows there is something seriously wrong with our political system. In the October issue of Sekai (The World) magazine, political scientist Atsushi Sugita argues that Japanese politics is "indecisive" today because politicians wouldn't dare to ask the "majority" to make sacrifices. That's because they know it would cost them their next election. So, they stick the tab to "outsiders," namely the future generation.
In the October issue of Chuo Koron opinion magazine, economist Fumio Otake discusses whether elections correctly reflect the will of the people. He notes, "Politicians whose chances of re-election are dicey are influenced by the tendency of the majority of voters to be swayed by words they like to hear and want to believe."
I agree with both Sugita and Otake. But why is it that nothing changes in Japanese politics? I believe it's because politicians have no intention of changing anything. After all, it's probably asking for the impossible to expect politicians to change, when they can't even reduce a seat or two in electoral districts.
Morihide Katayama, a music critic and political philosophy researcher, has come up with a drastic reform plan to limit the term of office for legislators to one year and allow only proportional representation balloting.
His reasoning is that lawmakers cannot adequately deal with the complexities of contemporary society unless their term of office is limited to one year.
He argues that proportional representation (which is based on the premise that no candidate will change their campaign promises as they are not allowed to switch parties once they have been elected) is the only system that will stop the people's elected representatives from arbitrarily changing their policies while in office.
Katayama's "extreme" argument, which makes perfect sense to me, by the way, actually echoes that of Tatsukichi Minobe (1873-1948), a noted constitutional scholar who advocated what is considered the "most extreme opinion ever presented in the history of Japanese politics"--the theory of the emperor as an organ of government. That Minobe had such thoughts 70 or 80 years ago is truly amazing.
Incidentally, Katayama once proposed an "all-female Cabinet," noting that "the society dominated by men who never think seriously about bearing and raising children" is to blame for the dire consequences brought upon our country.
In my opinion, this, too, is a perfectly sound argument that is anything but "extreme."
INHERENT RESISTANCE TO CHANGE
Lastly, let me discuss education. In the October issue of Chuo Koron, sociologist Asao Naito proposes "intervention by the law" and the "abolition of class divisions in schools" to stem the spread of peer-bullying among children. At the same time, he admits it would be extremely difficult to realize his proposals.
This reminded me of the time I spoke with Shinichiro Hori, principal of Kinokuni Children's Village, a unique school that has successfully eliminated bullying by doing away not only with class divisions, but also divisions by school year, tests, homework and report cards. Because his philosophy of education was so radical (and therefore extreme), Hori told me he was surprised that it won the support of the education ministry.
"The people who resist change are (not central government bureaucrats, but) local administrative officials, teachers and parents," he said.
In other words, there is something within ourselves that makes us want to resist change.
| and The Donald calls for Revolution - no , this really isn't from The Onion.... |
Trump calls for revolution after electoral college gave Obama second term (Video)
After Donald Trump called for a revolution on Twitter when the electoral college gave President Barack Obama a second-term, his rant tweets mysteriously vanished. When the2012 elections results showed Mitt Romney would lose the presidential election despite having a strong popular vote, Trump went ballistic. His legal team likely warned him of the implications.
Wednesday after the Election Day results, theDaily Mail noted how the "Celebrity Apprentice" boss backtracked on his calls for a revolution after labeling Obama's victory in the 2012 elections a "sham."
Trump called for a revolution to Twitter followers all Americans after it was clear Mitt Romney would not unseat Barack Obama, based on the electoral college process.
TV Personality Donald Trump attends the 'Celebrity Apprentice All Stars' Season 13 Press Conference at Jack Studios on October 12, 2012 in New York City.
Photo credit:
(Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images)
Early on, media chatter and exit polls indicated the GOP candidate had a larger share of the popular vote. However, California and the West Coast had not completed ballot counting.
Donald Trump began his rant against Obama's presidential 2012 victory in a string of scathing comments. Then, he sent out a stunning tweet that likely showed his angst over the election results:
"He lost the popular vote by a lot and won the election. We should have a revolution in this country!"Then, he attacked the electoral college and its process of electing a president even when he or she is behind in the popular vote.
A short time later, Trump's call for a revolution tweet was deleted from his timeline. However, the damage was done. Here is a copy of Donald Trump's Twitter rant against Obama.The real estate mogul and prolific tweeter, is known for sharing his opinions in politics, especially those against the Democratic establishment. Furthermore, it's no secret The Donald has a beef with the president, his ideologies, handling of the economy and the place of birth.It's like he's obsessed with taking down the president by any means necessary, including inciting a revolution. However, even Trump at this point knows what this could do for him legally. Perhaps, it's time for the wealthy billionaire to put a sock in it and allow the country to move "Forward!"
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