White House Strategy In The Case of a Massive Solar Flare Disaster

Introducing the National Space Weather Strategy, which is a product of the National Science and Technology Council.

The NSTC’s work is organized under 5 (five) committees: Environment, Natural Resources, and Sustainability (CENRS); Homeland and National Security; Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education; Science; and Technology. Each of these oversees subcommittees and working groups that are focused on different aspects of science and technology. More information is available at www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/nstc.

You may hear the acronym, SWORM Task Force.  This is the group.

This was drafted to "enhance" national preparedness for space-weather events.

"This Strategy and the associated Action Plan will facilitate the integration of space-weather information into Federal risk-management plans to achieve preparedness levels consistent with national policies."

"The Executive Office of the President will coordinate the execution of the Action Plan and will reevaluate and update the Strategy and Action Plan within 3 years of the date of publication, or as needed."

This is part of The Grand Challenges for Disaster Reduction, a ten-year strategy crafted by the National Science and Technology Council's Subcommittee on Disaster Reduction.

This is a link to the Space Weather Prediction Center.

Obama's New Campaign Stop. Campaign Speech at FEMA Headquarters.

As you can clearly see, or in the way that Obama would put it, "Let me be perfectly clear", Obama has taken the opportunity to finally "act" like a president as he places himself in front of (the pinned up edge, to make it visible) of an American flag in front of FEMA officials at the National Response Coordination Center at FEMA Headquarters to speak to the American people about the incoming super storm called Sandy that may be mixing with a Winter storm in a state near you.

I am not downplaying the behemoth storm.  That is not what this post is about and there will be follow-up posts on the severity of the storm and on storm tracking.

If you don't realize that this action is rare, you have been living under a rock or under the Obama spell.  Obama has not been in front of a camera, visiting a FEMA center, caring for the American people, or even acting presidential, telling the truth about something during his entire presidency, other than the casual photo-op type visits since August 2011, which have been post-storm visits.  This is definitely a campaign move that his staff must feel is going to touch more of the nation than a regular campaign stop using a stump speech.

Here is his, oh so presidential, appearance at FEMA.





What do you think about this appearance? The only other appearances he has made at the FEMA Command Center have been since August 2011, which obviously spells 

C A M P A I G N   S E A S O N   S T R A T E G Y 

and also makes me want to barf. Why can't we have a president that acts like a president even prior to being elected...hint, hint. Such as Romney addressing Libya for what it was and what the administration is still covering up.  Anyone else see something else with this?

Incentive Anyone?

Companies who are looking for qualified candidates need to change their strategy if they are not finding the qualifications those jobs require.  By doing so they will gain, not only great employees, but loyal employees as well.

"In a brutal job market, here's a task that might sound easy: Fill jobs in nursing, engineering and energy research that pay $55,000 to $60,000, plus benefits.

Yet even with 15 million people hunting for work, even with the unemployment rate nearing 10 percent, some employers can't find enough qualified people for good-paying career jobs.

Ask Steve Jones, a hospital recruiter in Indianapolis who's struggling to find qualified nurses, pharmacists and MRI technicians. Or Ed Baker, who's looking to hire at a U.S. Energy Department research lab in Richland, Wash., for $60,000 each.

Economists say the main problem is a mismatch between available work and people qualified to do it. Millions of jobs with attractive pay and benefits that once drew legions of workers to the auto industry, construction, Wall Street and other sectors are gone, probably for good. And those who lost those jobs generally lack the right experience for new positions popping up in health care, energy and engineering.

Many of these specialized jobs were hard to fill even before the recession. But during downturns, recruiters tend to become even choosier, less willing to take financial risks on untested workers." -- Associated Press

So, you can see, a strategy shift is in play. Why don't these companies, who are looking for qualified candidates, pay a lower wage in the beginning, utilizing the rest of what they were going to use in salary to educate and train the employee(s) they need, in the way they need. They ought to utilize a contract and the incentive of higher pay following the education and/or training to entice those prospectively fabulous employees?