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Shunning Facebook, and Living to Tell About It

Wed, 2011-12-14 21:56 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Samuel Bendett

December 13, 2011

by Jenna Wortham - The New York Times

Tyson Balcomb quit Facebook after a chance encounter on an elevator. He found himself standing next to a woman he had never met — yet through Facebook he knew what her older brother looked like, that she was from a tiny island off the coast of Washington and that she had recently visited the Space Needle in Seattle.

“I knew all these things about her, but I’d never even talked to her,” said Mr. Balcomb, a pre-med student in Oregon who had some real-life friends in common with the woman. “At that point I thought, maybe this is a little unhealthy.”

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Report: Child Homelessness Up 33% in 3 Years

Tue, 2011-12-13 09:33 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Marisol Bello - USA Today

One in 45 children in the USA — 1.6 million children — were living on the street, in homeless shelters or motels, or doubled up with other families last year, according to the National Center on Family Homelessness.

The numbers represent a 33% increase from 2007, when there were 1.2 million homeless children, according to a report the center is releasing Tuesday.

"This is an absurdly high number," says Ellen Bassuk, president of the center. "What we have new in 2010 is the effects of a man-made disaster caused by the economic recession. … We are seeing extreme budget cuts, foreclosures and a lack of affordable housing."

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America's Youngest Outcasts 2010 (124 page .PDF file)

http://www.homelesschildrenamerica.org/media/NCFH_AmericaOutcast2010_web.pdf

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Add Quakes to Rumblings Over Gas Rush

Tue, 2011-12-13 09:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Henry Fountain - The New York Times - December 12, 2011

Stephen Thornton for The New York Times

UNLOADING Workers disposing of hydraulic fracturing waste near Guy, Ark.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Until this year, this Rust Belt city and surrounding Mahoning County had been about as dead, seismically, as a place can be, without even a hint of an earthquake since Scots-Irish settlers arrived in the 18th century.

But on March 17, two minor quakes briefly shook the city. And in the following eight months there have been seven more — like the first two, too weak to cause damage or even be felt by many people, but strong enough to rattle some nerves.

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Local Towns Signing Up for Twitter and Facebook for Emergency Comm.

Sat, 2011-12-10 10:51 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Samuel Bendett

Homeland Security News Wire - December 7, 2011

Following the lead of several other cities and federal agencies, the town of Wilton, Connecticut recently launched a Facebook page and Twitter account to help communicate with residents and share information during a disaster

Following the lead of several other cities and federal agencies, the town of Wilton, Connecticut recently launched a Facebook page and Twitter account to help communicate with residents and share information during a disaster.

Two major storms, including Hurricane Irene, left many Wilton residents without water or electricity for up to a week and sent a strong signal to emergency officials that they needed to improve disaster communications.

To that end, the town created an official Emergency Facebook Page as well as a Twitter account.

Speaking before the Wilton Board of Selectman, Fire Chief Paul Milositz, who is also the town’s emergency response director, said, “We have to get better at [communication with residents].”

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EPA Says Fracking May Be Polluting Groundwater

Fri, 2011-12-09 00:37 — Kathy Gilbeaux

(AP)

CHEYENNE, Wyo. - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday for the first time that fracking — a controversial method of improving the productivity of oil and gas wells — may be to blame for causing groundwater pollution.

The draft finding could have significant implications while states try to determine how to regulate the process. Environmentalists characterized the report as a significant development though it met immediate criticism from the oil and gas industry and a U.S. senator.

The practice is called hydraulic fracturing and involves pumping pressurized water, sand and chemicals underground to open fissures and improve the flow of oil or gas to the surface.

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Level 3 Crises Addressed as Level 1 Crises

Sun, 2011-12-04 23:33 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The Collapse of Sensemaking in Organizations-The Mann Gulch Fire

submitted by "Anonymous"

This is a useful thread. Several of you might be interested in the link to the famous article "The Collapse of Sensemaking in Organizations:The Mann Gulch Disaster," by Karl E. Weick (http://www.cs.unibo.it/~ruffino/Letture%20TDPC/K.%20Weick%20-%20The%20collapse%20of%20sensemaking.pdf) about the 1949 Mann Gulf fire in Montana where 13 firefghters died in a wildfire. The section beginning on p. 11 "From Vulnerability to Resilience" and from pp 17-23 on "Structures for Resilience" may be particularly applicable.

Some of the comments in the thread also are worthwhile, like input on "Community Involvement."

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Detroit in a Hostile Takeover Bid?

Sun, 2011-12-04 18:57 — Kathy Gilbeaux

CBS News - December 4, 2011

The Detroit skyline is seen in this 2008 file photo. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

(AP)

DETROIT - The idea is extreme, even in a city accustomed to fighting for survival: Should the state of Michigan step in to run Detroit?

The governor has taken steps in that direction, proposing an unprecedented move that could give an appointed manager virtually unchecked power to gut union contracts, cut employee health insurance and slash services. But city leaders bristle at the notion. Said the mayor: "This is our city. Detroit needs to be run by Detroiters."

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CDC Confirms Cases of New Swine Flu Virus

Sat, 2011-11-26 19:35 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Liz Szabo - USA Today - November 24, 2011

H1N1 strain of the swine flu virus Photograph: Photographer: C. S. Goldsmith an/AP

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed three cases of a new flu virus, which originated in pigs but apparently spread from person to person, in three Iowa children.

However, there's no reason to fear the beginning of a new pandemic, says Arnold Monto, a flu expert and professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

"I don't think this is anything to worry about for the moment," Monto says. "We have known that swine viruses get into humans occasionally, transmit for a generation or two and then stop. The issue is whether there will be sustained transmission (from person to person)- and that nearly never happens."

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