Stormy Weather

August 29, 2011

It’s been a pretty eventful week. Last Tuesday, we experienced a rare and slightly unnerving earthquake, immediately followed by the biggest hurricane to hit this region since Isabel in 2003. I’m glad it’s too early for a blizzard, but the way things have been going, I may be over-optimistic.

I used multiple media sources to keep an eye on Irene. One of the best is the National Hurricane Center (NHC), which provided (and as of 5 a.m. this morning still was providing) the latest on the storm’s present and future movements. NHC is the source for much of the data re-disseminated by national, regional, and local weather outlets, so using its Web site really gets you right to the heart of forecasting when you really want the latest and most authoritative information on hurricanes, tropical storms (TS), and tropical depressions (TD). At first glance, I did feel a certain depression myself when I checked in with the NHC this morning – the first thing I saw was a map showing TS Jose and TD Twelve. Fortunately, Jose seems destined to zip off into the further reaches of the North Atlantic and dissolve, while poor TD Twelve, lacking even a cool name beginning with K, hasn’t shaped up into anything much – yet. Things could change, though, so I think I’ll keep on checking…

Although most of us around the DC area escaped any major damage, the reports of heavy going along the coast and flooding in Vermont should remind us to take hurricane warnings seriously. I read a news story quoting a former NHC head, who said his worst case scenario is a hurricane that does much less damage than advertised, followed by a really deadly one – because the public will refuse to take the warning seriously the second time around. We tend to forget quickly in these multimedia news-saturated days, but we should remember the colossal disaster that was Katrina. If you need a reminder, reports from the White House and Congress are still available online – and in print, here and here.

I, for one, plan to keep a wary eye on both the NHC and Earthquake Hazard Program Web sites.  That way, I’ve got earthquakes, hurricanes, tornados, blizzards, ice storms, and heat waves covered. After the events of the past week, I’m convinced that anythingcan happen!

 

 

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Whole Lot of Shaking

August 26, 2011

We here at Government Book Talk like to keep up with current events. It was really easy to do so on Tuesday, because the event conveniently came to us. Since I work at the Government Printing Office, where the movement of heavy equipment is not all that uncommon, I first thought that the vibrations I was feeling derived from a web press or other behemoth being shifted around downstairs. When my office began to shake, however, I was willing to reconsider my hypothesis – seriously reconsider it.

Today, back at GPO (which, by the way, was built to last for the ages, as anyone who works here will testify), it occurred to me that a Government publication about earthquakes might be a timely subject for a blog post. I checked in with the U.S. Geological Survey’s Earthquake Hazards Program. Very cool! There are links for reporting an earthquake,  “shake maps” (left) for depicting shaking intensity (and now I know what that shaking feels like!), and best of all, a page about our very own 5.8 Virginia special, which occurred at 01:51:04 PM at epicenter (I admit it – I didn’t look at my watch).

My favorite page, though, is a tectonic summary of the quake with a link to earthquake information about the Old Dominion that includes lots of resources. After all, I live in Virginia and like to keep up with the happenings, especially when those happenings make things fall off my shelves. Also, if you have a plotter, you can print out a poster and hang it on a wall – as long as you’re confident that another “event” will let it stay there.

Well, time to start thinking about this weekend’s hurricane – National Hurricane Center, here I come!

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Sometimes Friends Just Seem Hard to Come By!

August 19, 2011

Guest Blogger Matthew Brentzel looks at relations between the law enforcement and intelligence communities.

I think all of us can agree that sometimes inter-organizational communication can be difficult.  Working with others just doesn’t always seem to work out in the end.  Issues can arise―such as misinterpretation of information, withholding information, and biased opinions―which in turn can lead to difficulties between two organizations.

That’s why I chose to write a blog post on Can’t We All Just Get Along?: Improving the Law Enforcement-Intelligence Community Relationship, from the National Defense Intelligence College.  Not only does it involve my interest in intelligence analysis, but it also brings in aspects of the work I currently do.  Although I have seen how hard it can be to come to an agreement sometimes, it can be done.  This is the main message the authors of Can’t We All Just Get Along? try to get across. “When the relationship between these communities works, it works very well.”  The authors set out to prove this theory with a series of essays that show the nature of this relationship.  One article in particular really shows what happens when a successful relationship occurs.  It focuses on the likelihood of domestic terrorism possibly developing in the U.S. prison system.  It goes on to explain the relationship between the Federal Correctional Intelligence Initiative and the U.S. Bureau of Justice Administration.  This relationship has allowed the Bureau of Prisons to evolve successfully into a network that shares gang and terrorist intelligence data.

This book brought to my attention a topic that I had never really thought about before.  I look forward to some day entering into the field of intelligence analysis, but never really thought about how the intelligence community interacted with law enforcement agencies. If I ever thought about it at all, I probably imagined that these conflicting agencies would cooperate easily with each other and supply the information each needed.  This publication revealed real differences, such as their relative willingness to divulge intelligence and their ideas about what intelligence actually is.  Finally, it covers the history of these two communities and how this history impacts their relationship today.

I would highly recommend this publication for anyone in the law enforcement or intelligence field.  In addition, I would recommend it to anybody interested in collaboration between Government agencies.  Feel free to visit the GPO bookstore and take a look at this publication here, or check out the online version via PDF format here.

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The Remarkable Stories of Women in Congress

August 11, 2011

When I was a kid, I would read from an old set of encyclopedias – just randomly, but with a predilection for famous and not-so-famous people. As a result, I still remember at least something about the lives of the Roman-era scholar-king Juba II of Mauretania, the Seneca chief and orator Red Jacket, the World War I field marshal August von Mackensen, and scads of other people.  It’s useless knowledge, I suppose, but it entertains me and is tolerated (mostly) by friends and family members.

Given my fondness for small-scale biographies, a hefty reference work like Women in Congress, 1917-2006 could put me out of action for days. These meticulously researched biographies, including sources for further reading and a photograph of each Senate or House member discussed, are a treasure trove for fans of American politics and history and trivia buffs alike. Jeannette Rankin, the first woman elected to Congress and a life-long pacifist, voted against going to war withGermany in 1917, didn’t get elected again until 1940, and promptly voted her conscience again by opposing the declaration of war againstJapan after Pearl Harbor. Like the others in this book, Rankin was more than just a source for a Jeopardy question – in the 1960s, she was still marching for the causes she held dear.

Although many of those discussed in Women in Congress, especially prior to the 1960s, arrived via the “widow’s mandate” – succeeding their deceased husbands in office – many of them stayed to make significant careers on their own. Take Edith Nourse Rogers, for example. After being elected to her husband’s seat in the House of Representatives, this self-proclaimed “Republican by inheritance and by conviction” served 18 terms, noted for her advocacy on behalf of veterans, steadfast opposition to fascism in Nazi Germany andItaly, and dedicated anticommunism during the Cold War.

After World War II, Helen Gahagan Douglas, a former movie actress, was labeled “The Pink Lady” by an opponent targeting her liberal political views. She, in turn, enriched the language of American politics by dubbing her final opponent, Richard M. Nixon, “Tricky Dick.”

Millicent Fenwick, a fiscally conservative but independent Republican of the 1970s and 1980s, was the inspiration for the Lacey Davenport character in Garry Trudeau’s long-running Doonesbury comic strip)

Okay, I’d better stop or this post will never end. Every one of the entries in Women in Congress is worthy of mention, and I know a lot of you have your own favorites, but I just can’t do it all. Happily, you can browse as much as you want right here, get your own copy, or find it in a library.

Oh, and did you know that King Juba II of Mauretania married Cleopatra’s daughter?

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Health Information the Easy Way

August 9, 2011

Guest blogger Nancy Faget lets us know about a great resource delaing with women’s health.

I’m a lazy reader.  Yes, I am primarily a scanner more than a reader.  (I hope this doesn’t put me in danger of losing my status as a librarian!) I appreciate a lot of white space and concise writing, which is exactly what the HHS Office of Women’s Health (OWH) has achieved in this new publication:  A Lifetime of Good Health:  Your Guide to Staying Healthy. 

This publication provides reminders, highlights, and checklists for any female at any stage of life (immunizations through Medicare services). The checklists beginning on page 6 are great tools to help you keep up with tests and immunizations.  Did you know, for example, that they recommend a TDP vaccine every 10 years? 

OWH has produced a slick new publication hitting all the high points.  It’s worth having  available in any family’s stash of medical reference material. You’ll find it to be a great handy reference  and an easy read – I promise!  To read (or scan!) A Lifetime of Good Health, or for more great information on any health issue, contact your local Federal depository library for assistance.

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New Caledonia and the New Yorker?

August 4, 2011

From time to time I’ve talked about the little World War II-vintage booklets produced to familiarize Army and Navy personnel with various places around the world that the fight against the Axis might compel them to go. Some of those places are still hot spots, like Iraq. Others were obscure then and remain so today, unless you’re a specialist or someone with an inordinate curiosity about things in general (me).

For out of the way places, you can’t beat New Caledonia. This large island in the Southwest Pacific, a French territory only now looking towards a future referendum on independence, is populated by Melanesian Kanaks and French settlers and has an economy centered on nickel mining. During the war, however, it was the island’s strategic position that made it the subject of a Pocket Guide to New Caledonia. Not long after the fall of France in 1940, the French colonials on the island revolted against their pro-Vichy governor and declared for the Free French, so the island and the harbor at Noumea, the colony’s capital, became a huge naval repair, troop transit, and logistical nexus for America’s armed forces. TheU.S. presence had a huge and generally positive economic, political, and cultural impact on the Kanak population, but stimulated an almost paranoid reaction among Free French officials, who saw the American “occupation” as a threat to their colonial dominance. Clearly, our soldiers and sailors needed some guidance on how to handle these complicated crosscurrents!

Pocket Guide to New Caledonia does a very good job of outlining New Caledonia’s history and cultures, with an emphasis on tolerance and understanding of the customs and faiths of others, whether French or Kanak. It also manages a light touch when discussing some topics, to wit:

“People living in the tropics or subtropics are likely to be exposed to       hookworm and other intestinal parasites, and to be bothered by dysentery. To check this latter ailment, the natives eat a certain grass which is called ‘dysentery grass’ and is supposed to have a herbaceous effect. Our troops have made not a few noble experiments with this particular variety of hay, and up to date nobody has been hurt, though the record is confused as to whether anybody has been helped. So if you see a creature eating grass inNew Caledonia, don’t shoot! It may be the corporal.”

Like other wartime publications, this booklet also benefited from the work of a well-known artist. While Dr. Seuss handled malaria prevention, the great New Yorker cartoonist George Price drew theNew Caledonia short straw (see left) and provides a comic glimpse at GI life in the tropics.

I enjoyed browsing through Pocket Guide to New Caledonia. The Government did a good job of prepping folks for trips to places that most of them never imagined going, and now we can make the same visit thought these little time capsules. You can read it here or in a library.

13 Comments | U.S. Army, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Marines, U.S. Navy, World War II | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
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