Earthquakes and One-dimensional Planning
Download Earthquakes and One-dimensional Planning April 2011
Tsunami Fallout: Lost Wealth
Here's one of those "gee, I never thought of that" problems that surface after a disaster. It seems that the Japanese police are having to deal with hundred of metal safes found in the debris after the recent tsunami. Apparently many Japanese keep cash in their home or business. Add to this money found in […]
Social Media and the Japanese Earthquake
The use of social media in disasters is a hot topic for emergency managers these days. I suspect that at the heart of this debate lies the fact that, while we see the potential, we really don't understand it. Judging from the websites I've seen, we certainly haven't grasped the concept that social media is […]
Japan’s Radiation Levels: Crisis Communications Without Context
It's hard for the average citizen not to feel concern over the news coming out of Japan about harmful radiation. After all, a reading 100,000 times higher than normal background radiation, as was recently reported, has to be of concern, right? Actually, you can't really tell from the information available in the news stories. […]
Triangle of Life: Is it a reality?
In Bram Stoker's classic novel, Dracula, the vampire hunter Van Helsing gives specific instructions for how a vampire must be dealt with to prevent it from continually rising from the grave. I sometimes wish there was a similar ritual one could perform to remove bad information from the Internet. Case in point is the "Triangle […]
Japan’s Nuclear Reactors: Another Over-rated Doomsday Scenario?
There's an article making the rounds on the Internet purported to be from an MIT scientist that offers a very lucid explanation of the crisis at the Japanese nuclear plants and why they do not pose a major hazard similar to the meltdown at Chernobyl. While I am no expert on nuclear reactors, my colleagues […]
Emergency Warnings – Could They Be More Effective?
Had an interesting morning here in San Francisco. After staying up late following the recent earthquake in Japan, I was awoken early by a text message from a good friend in the neighborhood concerned about calls and texts she was receiving from friends about a tsunami. She lives on the top of a hill located […]
Social media and transparency in government
There are several criminal investigations under way in San Francisco regarding the activities of undercover narcotics officers. The officers are alleged to have conducted illegal searches of suspects' residences and falsified police reports to cover up their actions. Unfortunately, at least four incidences of alleged misconduct were caught on closed circuit surveillance cameras. The public […]
Disaster Preparedness Video Series
In 2008 I was asked by the Golden Gate Regional Center in California to serve as the adviser on a series of preparedness videos for the developmentally disabled community. It was one of the most rewarding and enjoyable projects I have had and I'm delighted to learn that this series of videos is now available […]