Train vs. tornado

Guess who won.  Be sure and watch to the end.

Trashy neighborhood

The path of refuse below is not a rubbish-strewn road, but rather a floating mess that has choked a creek in an impoverished section of Manila, Philippines.  See more trashy pics at Deputy Dog.

[Via TYWKIWDBI]

NYC 747 panic

Most folks have heard by now of the 747 from the Air Force One fleet that flew low over NYC this week for a staged photo op with an F-16.  Not very smart.  This was the reaction on the ground from some New Yorkers.  Skittish or justified?  You decide.

[From YouTube user davchip, Via Woosk]

An awful mess in Detroit

Photos of abandoned public schools rotting in Detroit are a stark reminder of that city’s systemic decline.

Photo: James Griffioen

[Via Andrew Sullivan]

Saying bye to Bush

The Economist delivers the best farewell in a balanced critique of 43’s presidency.

The fruit of all this can be seen in the three most notable characteristics of the Bush presidency: partisanship, politicisation and incompetence. Mr Bush was the most partisan president in living memory. He was content to be president of half the country—a leader who fused his roles of head of state and leader of his party. He devoted his presidency to feeding the Republican coalition that elected him.

Hint: never travel with this couple

Or at least check their itinerary before you travel.  The “world’s unluckiest tourists” were on vacation in Mumbai during the terrorist siege, as well as in New York on 9/11 and London when the tube bombings occurred.

[Via Arbroath]

Xmas tree fire

This is an oldie, but it bears repeating.  Dry trees indoors are a serious fire hazard.  Everyone have a safe holiday!

James Lee Witt to return to FEMA?

Word is that FEMA may become an independent agency once again, and it’s possible that former director James Lee Witt could be tapped to return and run the agency, at least for a while.  I have enormous respect for Witt, whom I met on several occasions when I worked for the agency in the 90s.  He rightly receives accolades for transforming FEMA into a first-class government agency that effectively managed disaster operations and implemented programs to reduce disaster losses.

However, this seems an odd choice for both the Obama administration as well as for Mr. Witt himself.  Given the significant work that his company James Lee Witt Associates has done for the government, including $40 million in post-Katrina services in Louisiana (which is unlikely to be paying for the work without some level of funding from DHS), it’s a tad unseemly for him to come back and manage FEMA.  There’s also professional risk involved for Witt to roll the dice on a second turnaround of the agency, when one overwhelming disaster could permanently tarnish his reputation in public service.

A year is unlikely to be enough time to usher in the rebirth of the FEMA that once was, if that’s even possible.  What the agency needs is continuity of leadership.  It’s been on a bureaucratic roller coaster since it was folded into DHS, and I’m not convinced that bringing on an interim director, even one with Witt’s experience and clout, is the way forward.

I’m particularly concerned about the prospect of Mark Merritt, one of the associates in James Lee’s firm, being groomed for the position to succeed Witt.  Merritt has a solid background in managing disaster bureaucracy, but he lacks the experience of running an entire emergency management agency at any level of government.  A party to the same business dealings as Witt, Merritt would also raise eyebrows by taking the helm of a major client an agency that indirectly funds some of the firm’s work.

If FEMA is about to start with a clean slate once again as an independent agency, why not find an experienced state emergency management director (or even a talented local director) who can stick around and see the agency through what hopefully will be its last major transition for a while.  That formula seemed to work fairly well when Witt, then a little known state emergency management director from Arkansas, was brought in to aid the new Clinton administration.  But FEMA is not the same agency it was in 1993, or even in 2001 when Witt left the agency after eight years of service.  While it’s tempting to think of what might have been had the Bush administration retained Witt, I prefer to focus on what needs to be, and that is a FEMA that is up to the task of managing 21st century disasters.  James Lee Witt is likely the best director the agency has ever had, but it’s time for new blood in FEMA.

[Via Kevin Drum]

Cruise ship, meet cyclone

Imagine yourself dining in a cruise ship restaurant when you see the indoor palms begin to sway, then your cup slips off the table, then you, all your friends, and every loose stick of furniture are sliding down the tilted floor and back again.  The fun begins about a minute into the video.