Anchordesk Commentary on EAS and new tech

[Tony Abruzzese <abruzzese@biochem.bumc.bu.edu>]

This past Friday's Anchordesk had a commentary by David Coursey on the 
state of Homeland Security.

http://www.zdnet.com/anchordesk/stories/story/0,10738,2913319,00.html

Coursey has referred, in the past, to his membership in one or two 
volunteer rescue organizations.
 A couple of telling quotes from the article regarding EAS and NOAA radio:

"... These are all good programs, with great people working on them. But 
our elected officials,
broadcasters, and regular folks like you and me don't take the risks of 
disasters seriously enough
to make these systems work as well as they could. And no one is willing 
to enforce such seriousness
through regulation and law."

"...we must depend on commercial broadcasters. That would be OK, except 
that those broadcasters
are guided more by greed than public spirit. A former president of the 
California Association of
Broadcasters once told me he had a "First Amendment right" to not 
broadcast tornado warnings
for his station's viewing area. "

The article goes on to discuss some alternatives to EAS dependency, as 
well as some new initiatives
and and technologies addressing issues of public safety and emergency 
notification.

Tony