This was coming eventually, and it's most likely only the start(or actually, I doubt it's the start) of how many lives are going to be lost because of their attempt to use a chainsaw as if its a...
This was coming eventually, and it's most likely only the start(or actually, I doubt it's the start) of how many lives are going to be lost because of their attempt to use a chainsaw as if its a scalpel.
We have so much infrastructure nowadays that people take for granted. And to an extend, I can get that it's difficult to appreciate. But that you then think you can just... crush things away without any costs is insane.
Food? Checked for microorganisms. Prevents so many deaths, some are particularly nasty especially for pregnant woman. Planes? Well, we've already seen that last airplane accident season how important that is. Or is it by this point so common it's not even a news item anymore? Fuck knows anymore. Water? The way we purify water nowadays is extremely impressive, even if PFAS and medicine has made it challenging. And so, so much more...
I really hope that Europe will at least watch and learn before shit gets too bad here too, though I wish we could learn lessons like this without blood being spilled for a change.
Just one thing to add. What DOGE and republicans are doing was never about efficiency, so it really isn’t using a chainsaw instead of a scalpel. They are trying to dismantle the competent...
Just one thing to add. What DOGE and republicans are doing was never about efficiency, so it really isn’t using a chainsaw instead of a scalpel. They are trying to dismantle the competent government completely and replace it with one stacked with loyalists and lacking regulation. So it’s not just about how dumb they are. It’s about how evil they are. These are the rich and powerful who would kill millions to be a little more rich and powerful.
Using a chainsaw because that's their intended goal while claiming that they're using a scalpel to make things more efficient. Related: The best deepfake of all time
Using a chainsaw because that's their intended goal while claiming that they're using a scalpel to make things more efficient.
DOGE is also about data gathering and surveillance. Anecdotes and actual reports have shown they pull databases at every opportunity they get when they infiltrate an agency. There's been no chain...
DOGE is also about data gathering and surveillance. Anecdotes and actual reports have shown they pull databases at every opportunity they get when they infiltrate an agency. There's been no chain of custody and no audit trail of where this data is going, and it's fairly plausible that foreign states have some of this data now due to sloppy security practices, use of personal email, DOGE employee laptops already being rooted, etc.
The sad thing is the precedent this sets for replacing people when administrations change. These loyalists they are installing either have to be replaced or you risk them doing what Trump was...
The sad thing is the precedent this sets for replacing people when administrations change. These loyalists they are installing either have to be replaced or you risk them doing what Trump was claiming was happening to him (projecting his move ahead of time of course, just like when he claimed the election was going to be stolen from him before the election even started), which is that they can potentially use their positions to sabotage administrations they are against. Since they were installed into these positions that are normally not appointed as a political move, that's a reasonable expectation now that they are there to serve political motives more than they are to do a job for the people.
At least 27 people are dead, with more still missing, across Missouri and Kentucky.
Tornado warnings were delayed because of reduced staff. Those critical moments — a midnight warning to your phone waking you up, giving you precious seconds to find shelter — came too late for some.
The risk of these cuts creating this exact problem was known before last night.
Just one day before the disaster, on May 15, the New York Times ran an investigative piece about how DOGE cuts were undermining weather forecasting improvements.
The piece specifically included the Jackson, Kentucky NWS office as one targeted by DOGE for layoffs.
It's not the solution, just a stopgap, but I recommend checking out the Ryan Hall Y'all youtube channel for weather emergencies - especially tornadoes. It can be super stressful if it's a bad...
It's not the solution, just a stopgap, but I recommend checking out the Ryan Hall Y'all youtube channel for weather emergencies - especially tornadoes. It can be super stressful if it's a bad storm night and there are a lot of tornado warnings. But they will sometimes call things as "likely" to be called by NWS ahead of time by looking at radar and via storm chasers. And they're pretty good at calling out areas in advance. I know one of the meterologists that works with them personally.
(As criticism, their YouTube thumbnails are clickbaity and when I say it's stressful, it's because the sound effects for every warning can be non-stop on a bad night)
Like I said, not a replacement, not the solution, just something that can be helpful.
Come to that, if anyone wants to learn how to read weather radar better, let me know. In particular, it's worth learning how to read the velocity radar, as that generally has the clearest...
Come to that, if anyone wants to learn how to read weather radar better, let me know. In particular, it's worth learning how to read the velocity radar, as that generally has the clearest indication that a tornado is likely present in a cell. And if you're in the path, that's what you care about - is there something there I should take shelter from?
Personally, as a weather enthusiast, I've found it worth it to pay the $15/mo for a full Radarscope subscription. I purchased the app for Windows and Android both.
That's "regular" radar on the left, and the velo on the right. I'll use this when I next see rotation to contrast that with this, but this is a storm with no major storm-level rotation (mesocyclone) going on.
I'll update this later, and welcome any other armchair weather folks to chime in when I do. :)
I'm pretty comfortable reading the regular radar for storm systems and tornadoes at least (the hook, it's always the hook) but I don't have the energy/time to turn it into a larger hobby. I do...
I'm pretty comfortable reading the regular radar for storm systems and tornadoes at least (the hook, it's always the hook) but I don't have the energy/time to turn it into a larger hobby.
I do also have every signed up alert on my phone and follow our county EMA where they share their threatening weather forecast. But there's a point at which of the NWS isn't staffed we'll start missing things.
(A separate fun tool that Illinois has for winter road conditions is Getting Around Illinois, a website that tells you how bad the roads are. )
We just had a power outage here following the dust storm/haboob in Illinois and our battery that's part of our solar install worked wonderfully. The only thing I wish I had was a basement - the crawl space is not wheelchair accessible.
This blogger is spreading misinformation because they relied too much on circumstantial evidence. It turns out that the office wasn't unstaffed: Short staffing at NWS in Kentucky did not affect...
This blogger is spreading misinformation because they relied too much on circumstantial evidence. It turns out that the office wasn't unstaffed:
As a severe weather outbreak became increasingly likely Friday, meteorologists at the National Weather Service office in Jackson, Kentucky, made the decision to call everyone in and staff the overnight shift, according to Tom Fahy, who represents the NWS Employees Union.
...
“Recognizing the threat of a big severe weather outbreak days in advance, the (Jackson) staff knew they’d have to bring everyone in to save lives with warnings and decision support to local officials,” said a NOAA employee who requested anonymity for fear of reprisal.
What DOGE is doing is terrible, but it doesn't mean every story you read about them is true. A lot of people are biased to believe the worst about them, but "it sounds plausible" isn't good enough when reporting the news.
Journalists are usually a better news source than bloggers because unlike the rest of us, they will make phone calls to try to confirm things. It's always a good idea to do a Google News search to see if a story has been debunked.
For clarity, the office is still understaffed - they normally would have had someone on the overnight shift, and not needed to call people in and there are warnings that understaffing will worsen...
For clarity, the office is still understaffed - they normally would have had someone on the overnight shift, and not needed to call people in and there are warnings that understaffing will worsen and staff will burnout, especially with back to back nights of storms or other weather emergencies.
Reporting on whether there was a delay in the warnings has gone back and forth, with many locals saying they didn't recieve alerts in time, and others saying they'd heard sirens/ gotten alerts. It's possible that there were other reasons for this discrepency, but panic, fear, anger and tragedy are reason enough.
If the reported delay between spotted rotation, touch down, and alert was not abnormal, how much worse will it be when staff cannot be shuffled around the country, or cannot effectively stay awake for another shift?
That said, everything reported about DOGE itself here is true AFAICT, it's whether those actions were directly related to the deaths and whether there was a delay at this office. It would also be true that there would have been a full time staff member on-site from jump, without needing to be called in, without cuts. I still believe the worst about them, because they're still doing the worst shit. It's just not directly causing the results claimed here even as it indirectly contributed.
I don't understand who called them in if the overnight shift wasn't staffed. Were some of them watching the weather from home, or is the issue that it wasn't fully staffed?
I don't understand who called them in if the overnight shift wasn't staffed. Were some of them watching the weather from home, or is the issue that it wasn't fully staffed?
Without knowing their exact procedures, likely management called in staff to work the night shift due to the incoming weather they were tracking during the day. Whether that's mandatory OT, part...
Without knowing their exact procedures, likely management called in staff to work the night shift due to the incoming weather they were tracking during the day. Whether that's mandatory OT, part of a salaried role, or voluntary OT idk their contract. (My on call in a different field was salaried but I also didn't have to work a full shift for my on-call response)
There wasn't someone scheduled and planning to be in the office that night due to the staffing. I don't think they waited until they were into that shift to bring people in
It'd be an odd way to do it! But if that was their practice then there's a system for it. There'll always be a plan to bring folks in in emergencies for necessary jobs like this.
It'd be an odd way to do it! But if that was their practice then there's a system for it. There'll always be a plan to bring folks in in emergencies for necessary jobs like this.
This was coming eventually, and it's most likely only the start(or actually, I doubt it's the start) of how many lives are going to be lost because of their attempt to use a chainsaw as if its a scalpel.
We have so much infrastructure nowadays that people take for granted. And to an extend, I can get that it's difficult to appreciate. But that you then think you can just... crush things away without any costs is insane.
Food? Checked for microorganisms. Prevents so many deaths, some are particularly nasty especially for pregnant woman. Planes? Well, we've already seen that last airplane accident season how important that is. Or is it by this point so common it's not even a news item anymore? Fuck knows anymore. Water? The way we purify water nowadays is extremely impressive, even if PFAS and medicine has made it challenging. And so, so much more...
I really hope that Europe will at least watch and learn before shit gets too bad here too, though I wish we could learn lessons like this without blood being spilled for a change.
Just one thing to add. What DOGE and republicans are doing was never about efficiency, so it really isn’t using a chainsaw instead of a scalpel. They are trying to dismantle the competent government completely and replace it with one stacked with loyalists and lacking regulation. So it’s not just about how dumb they are. It’s about how evil they are. These are the rich and powerful who would kill millions to be a little more rich and powerful.
Using a chainsaw because that's their intended goal while claiming that they're using a scalpel to make things more efficient.
Related: The best deepfake of all time
DOGE is also about data gathering and surveillance. Anecdotes and actual reports have shown they pull databases at every opportunity they get when they infiltrate an agency. There's been no chain of custody and no audit trail of where this data is going, and it's fairly plausible that foreign states have some of this data now due to sloppy security practices, use of personal email, DOGE employee laptops already being rooted, etc.
The sad thing is the precedent this sets for replacing people when administrations change. These loyalists they are installing either have to be replaced or you risk them doing what Trump was claiming was happening to him (projecting his move ahead of time of course, just like when he claimed the election was going to be stolen from him before the election even started), which is that they can potentially use their positions to sabotage administrations they are against. Since they were installed into these positions that are normally not appointed as a political move, that's a reasonable expectation now that they are there to serve political motives more than they are to do a job for the people.
Doge also wants all the data from every database in the federal government.
Archive: https://archive.is/iRDSK
It's not the solution, just a stopgap, but I recommend checking out the Ryan Hall Y'all youtube channel for weather emergencies - especially tornadoes. It can be super stressful if it's a bad storm night and there are a lot of tornado warnings. But they will sometimes call things as "likely" to be called by NWS ahead of time by looking at radar and via storm chasers. And they're pretty good at calling out areas in advance. I know one of the meterologists that works with them personally.
(As criticism, their YouTube thumbnails are clickbaity and when I say it's stressful, it's because the sound effects for every warning can be non-stop on a bad night)
Like I said, not a replacement, not the solution, just something that can be helpful.
Come to that, if anyone wants to learn how to read weather radar better, let me know. In particular, it's worth learning how to read the velocity radar, as that generally has the clearest indication that a tornado is likely present in a cell. And if you're in the path, that's what you care about - is there something there I should take shelter from?
Personally, as a weather enthusiast, I've found it worth it to pay the $15/mo for a full Radarscope subscription. I purchased the app for Windows and Android both.
Just looked to see what's out there, and so I can refer back to this, I see a severe thunderstorm in Texas: https://ieh.im/s/ApplicationFrameHost_zdEefjTpEL.png
That's "regular" radar on the left, and the velo on the right. I'll use this when I next see rotation to contrast that with this, but this is a storm with no major storm-level rotation (mesocyclone) going on.
I'll update this later, and welcome any other armchair weather folks to chime in when I do. :)
I'm pretty comfortable reading the regular radar for storm systems and tornadoes at least (the hook, it's always the hook) but I don't have the energy/time to turn it into a larger hobby.
I do also have every signed up alert on my phone and follow our county EMA where they share their threatening weather forecast. But there's a point at which of the NWS isn't staffed we'll start missing things.
(A separate fun tool that Illinois has for winter road conditions is Getting Around Illinois, a website that tells you how bad the roads are. )
We just had a power outage here following the dust storm/haboob in Illinois and our battery that's part of our solar install worked wonderfully. The only thing I wish I had was a basement - the crawl space is not wheelchair accessible.
This blogger is spreading misinformation because they relied too much on circumstantial evidence. It turns out that the office wasn't unstaffed:
Short staffing at NWS in Kentucky did not affect tornado warnings for deadly storms, union says (CNN)
...
What DOGE is doing is terrible, but it doesn't mean every story you read about them is true. A lot of people are biased to believe the worst about them, but "it sounds plausible" isn't good enough when reporting the news.
Journalists are usually a better news source than bloggers because unlike the rest of us, they will make phone calls to try to confirm things. It's always a good idea to do a Google News search to see if a story has been debunked.
For clarity, the office is still understaffed - they normally would have had someone on the overnight shift, and not needed to call people in and there are warnings that understaffing will worsen and staff will burnout, especially with back to back nights of storms or other weather emergencies.
Reporting on whether there was a delay in the warnings has gone back and forth, with many locals saying they didn't recieve alerts in time, and others saying they'd heard sirens/ gotten alerts. It's possible that there were other reasons for this discrepency, but panic, fear, anger and tragedy are reason enough.
If the reported delay between spotted rotation, touch down, and alert was not abnormal, how much worse will it be when staff cannot be shuffled around the country, or cannot effectively stay awake for another shift?
That said, everything reported about DOGE itself here is true AFAICT, it's whether those actions were directly related to the deaths and whether there was a delay at this office. It would also be true that there would have been a full time staff member on-site from jump, without needing to be called in, without cuts. I still believe the worst about them, because they're still doing the worst shit. It's just not directly causing the results claimed here even as it indirectly contributed.
I don't understand who called them in if the overnight shift wasn't staffed. Were some of them watching the weather from home, or is the issue that it wasn't fully staffed?
Without knowing their exact procedures, likely management called in staff to work the night shift due to the incoming weather they were tracking during the day. Whether that's mandatory OT, part of a salaried role, or voluntary OT idk their contract. (My on call in a different field was salaried but I also didn't have to work a full shift for my on-call response)
There wasn't someone scheduled and planning to be in the office that night due to the staffing. I don't think they waited until they were into that shift to bring people in
I hadn't considered that. I think you're probably right.
It'd be an odd way to do it! But if that was their practice then there's a system for it. There'll always be a plan to bring folks in in emergencies for necessary jobs like this.