Tuesday - February 15, 2005

Bottom Feeders Arrive

Q: What’s the difference between a lawyer and a maggot?
A: None

Flashback to Chrismas, 2004. An earthquake is triggered somewhere in the Indian Ocean. The National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) which operates buoys and sensitive detection devices in the Pacific Ocean to protect America’s shores, picks up the echo of the undersea quake thousands of miles away ....

NOAA geophysicist Stuart Weinstein was on duty Christmas Day when he saw that there had been a major earthquake. Colleague Barry Hirshorn raced to the center to join him. Common sense told them there would be a tsunami. But with no measuring equipment in the Indian Ocean, they were unable to detect it. Even worse, they had no idea who to call and warn in the region.

NOAA scientists are developing new technology that will not only improve the Pacific warning system, but could make a global tsunami warning system more affordable. Current cost estimates are in the billions. NOAA’s tsunameters cost $250,000 a piece to put into the ocean.

From National Geographic: Next month more than 50 nations will meet in Brussels, Belgium, to finalize plans to link up each country’s environmental antennae—a fleet of orbiting satellites and other Earth observation technology.

Earlier this month the Bush administration announced plans to expand tsunami detection and warning capabilities as part of the GEOSS program.

“This plan will enable enhanced monitoring, detection, warning and communications that will protect lives and property in the U.S. and a significant part of the world,” announced John H. Marburger III, President Bush’s science advisor.

“World attention has been focused on the vulnerability of those near the edge of oceans, and we have the responsibility to respond,” Marburger added. NOAA will deploy 32 new Deep-ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART) buoys, extending coverage throughout the entire Pacific and Caribbean basins. DART buoys record sea surface heights, with data transmitted via satellites.

Now we come to the real kick-in-the-nuts part of this little bedtime story. The lawyers have arrived in full force and are set to blame the United States, and particularly NOAA, for not doing enough to warn the fat, bloated European tourists who were sitting on the beaches around the Indian Ocean when the recent tsunami hit. So now, the US and NOAA have to waste thousands, if not millions, in a lawsuit to defend our government and our technology from being blamed for not being omniscient and all powerful.

The suit will be filed on behalf of 15 Austrian and four German victims of the disaster.

The targets are the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Washington and its Hawaii-based tsunami warning centre; the Accor group of hotels where some of the victims stayed; and the Thai government.

The NOAA is accused of having registered the earthquake but failed to alert Indian Ocean countries of the impending tsunamis as the Hawaii centre covered only the Pacific.

C’mon, admit it! You just knew these bottom-feeders would get in there eventually didn’t you? Well, there’re here and already filing suit in a New York court this week.

Q: What do you call a bajillion lawyers sunbathing on the beach when the next tsnuami hits?
A: I don’t care, just tell me where I can buy a ticket to watch.

Posted by The Skipper     on 02/15/2005 at 11:38 AM   
Filed Under: • Judges-Courts-Lawyers •  
• Comments (4) • Trackbacks(0)  Permalink •  

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Not that very many people ever read this far down, but this blog was the creation of Allan Kelly and his friend Vilmar. Vilmar moved on to his own blog some time ago, and Allan ran this place alone until his sudden and unexpected death partway through 2006. We all miss him. A lot. Even though he is gone this site will always still be more than a little bit his. We who are left to carry on the BMEWS tradition owe him a great debt of gratitude, and we hope to be able to pay that back by following his last advice to us all:

1. Keep a firm grasp of Right and Wrong
2. Stay involved with government on every level and don't let those bastards get away with a thing
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4. Keep talking to each other, whether here or elsewhere

It's been a long strange trip without you Skipper, but thanks for pointing us in the right direction and giving us a swift kick in the behind to get us going. Keep lookin' down on us, will ya? Thanks.

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