Osterholm Speaks About Empty Shelves in Mexico City and Media's Failure to Discuss Preparedness

by: Into The Woods

Tue Apr 28, 2009 at 20:05:11 PM EDT

http://minnesota.publicradio.o...  (Starting at about 20:15)

Something I think he intended but did not explicitly state is that the panic-buying and resulting shortages being experienced in Mexico City, might be prevented (or at least reduced) here if a larger portion of the citizenry has prepared by stockpiling some critical food and supplies.

He certainly is suggesting that the media should begin a discussion of individual and family preparedness.

Possible Trucking Strike?

by: Readymom

Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 10:03:06 AM EDT

(March 19,2008- Idea is beginning)

Truckers 'going broke' and threatening to strike
By Barb Ickes | Wednesday, March 19, 2008
http://www.qctimes.com/article...

What started as a small, online grassroots effort now appears to have the potential for something bigger.

Dan Little, the owner/operator of a livestock hauling company in Carrollton, Mo., estimated Tuesday that at least 1,000 other truckers from across the United States have committed so far to joining him in a strike on April 1.

Although none of the truckers interviewed Tuesday at the Iowa 80 Truck Stop, Walcott, which is just off Interstate 80 west of Davenport, has heard of the intended strike, some said they would shut down, too.

Weldon Kinnison, a Virginia trucker who was hauling soft drink from Indiana to Denver, heard about the plans for a strike for the first time Tuesday while stopping at Walcott.

"I'm an owner/operator with the American Truckers Association," he said. "I'd park my truck for a week with the cattle haulers.

"The fuel is too high, and there's no reason for it. I don't listen to the CB (radio) that much, but I guess I'll start now."

At issue is the rising cost of diesel fuel, which has reached or exceeded $4 per gallon in at least 17 states. But Little does not expect his strike to bring down the per-gallon price of gas, nor does he expect to have any effect on the oil companies.

"What I would personally like to see is our federal and state governments, until our economy recovers, suspend federal and state fuel taxes," the 49-year-old said. "The second thing I'd like to see is an oversight committee for truck insurance, which is part of what's taking us down.

"The average owner/operator is paying $600 to $800 a month for truck insurance. It's based on personal credit, which means the monthly cost is going up for a lot of truckers because their credit is going down.

"Everything in the world is going up (in price), except for what we do. I lose money if I start my truck, and that truck is paid for - free and clear."

Mike Hills, a driver from Wyoming, Iowa, said he also would shut down to support Little and the others - if he could.

"I can't strike with them because I'm company," he said while at the Walcott truck stop. "If I owned the truck, I'd strike with them. As far as I'm concerned, the gas prices are driving the economy.

"It might be a good thing if the drivers strike. They can't make payments. Maybe if the oil companies bought all the trucks, things would change. Everything in this country is trucked."

Hills then removed his wristwatch, using it to explain his point of view: "Every piece of this watch was trucked from somewhere. If you can't keep up with the trucks, we're all screwed - not just this country, but the world."

Keith Deblieck, the owner of a trucking company out of Geneseo, Ill., said that, for many drivers, the time for a strike has come.

"They ought to strike," he said. "We all ought to. They lose money every day they go out."

But officials from the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association are encouraging truckers to find options to a strike. The trade group represents the interests of more than 160,000 small business trucking companies and drivers.

"If we told our operators to shut down, we'd be slapped with a lawsuit because of anti-trust," said association spokeswoman Norita Taylor, adding that a poor economic outlook and rising fuel prices are creating "a lot of emotions" among truckers.

"It's hurting these people who are living paycheck to paycheck," she said. "People are upset. What can we do?"

One thing the association is trying to do is talk to lawmakers and truckers about making sure that surcharges being charged to shippers are getting back to the people who paid for the gas. Surcharges are supposed to compensate for high fuel charges, but they must be negotiated with each shipper, and the truckers who pay at the pump aren't always first in line to receive the surcharges.

Even when the surcharges do make it back to the driver, they are not enough.

"I turn down loads every day," Little said. "The loads aren't the problem - never have been.

"It's the only thing I know how to do, driving a truck. But I sold my trailer the other day, and I'm not buying another one until something gets done.

"In no way, shape or form do truckers want to hurt this country. My whole deal on this thing is that I'm shutting down on April 1. Call it a strike, a shutdown or just flat-ass going broke."

Jim Johnston, president of Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, warned that a strike "is not the answer," saying, "Calling for a strike without the support of the majority would show weakness rather than strength, and the result would be increased economic hardship to the small percentage of truckers who do participate in the shutdown with no gains to justify their sacrifice."

Little said he has no other choice.

"Our federal government is subsidizing railroads, airlines, banks and farmers," he said. "Meanwhile, we're being taxed to death."

Barb Ickes can be contacted at (563) 383-2316 or bickes@qctimes.com.  
---------------------------
(March 29,2008- Idea is growing)

Truck drivers' strike picks up speed

By Barb Ickes | Saturday, March 29, 2008
http://www.qctimes.com/article...

It evidently took a few days to sink in.

When my story from last week about plans for a truckers' strike appeared Monday on the high-traffic Drudge Report Web site, the calls and e-mails poured in.

I heard from CNN in Atlanta as well as small-time radio stations across the nation. I hung up the phone after listening to a dozen new messages and had four more come in during the few minutes I was tying up the line.

The potential impact of this thing is tremendous, and people are beginning to notice.

The call for a drivers' shutdown started small - with an owner/operator who hauls cattle in Missouri. The trucker, Dan Little, posted his plans to shut down on his Web site, and someone brought it to our attention at the Times.

Now it's been brought to the attention of thousands, and Little's plan to park his rig, beginning April 1, has truckers lining up across the nation to join him.

Several non-truckers wanted to know how they could help the drivers, and some people said they would park their passenger vehicles in a show of

solidarity.

A clear majority of the people I heard from were sympathetic to the drivers. They said that they understand it is increasingly difficult - impossible, in many cases - to continue to operate a trucking business when most or all of the profits are going into fuel.

Here are just a few readers' comments:

"I'm all for capitalism and free trade, but not reckless profiteering by oil

companies."

"Everyone should call in sick April 1."

"(The drivers) should park for a week or two and see if Congress and the president come up with any ideas when there's no bread on the shelves."

"Are the rich having some sort of contest to see just how much they can squeeze from each and every one of us?"

"I just drive a pick-up, but on April 1, I won't use it."

"Shut 'er down!"

But not all readers were sympathetic to truckers. Several called the plans for a shutdown "irresponsible." Others pointed out that everyone, not just truckers, is paying the high fuel costs.

A few said that truckers who aren't making it are failing because they're lousy business people.

But those in the driver's seat - independent drivers like Dan Little - are further frustrated by the naysayers who he says don't seem to understand how badly the pump prices are hurting them.

For instance, Little pointed out, our $50 fill-ups may seem intolerably high to many of us, but consider what it's costing him: more than $1,200 to fill his truck, which then gets about

5 miles to the gallon.

Other truck-driving critics say it's time to shut down the trucking industry, anyway. They say that trucking is a poor way to transport goods, and America should rely instead on railroads.

Little would like to know how that might happen.

"Where is this magic set of railroad tracks, leading to every grocery store and Wal-Mart in the country?" he asked. "Even if you could ship everything on the rail system we have, which would be impossible, how does it move from there?"

Little has said that the last thing he wants to do is hurt the country that he loves. Truck drivers are some patriotic folks, he pointed out. But many feel backed into a corner by the threat of bankruptcy.

"All I know is that I have to take a stand," he said. "My livelihood is at stake."

As I was finishing this column, Betty Cornette called from Louisville, Ky., and said that her truck-driving brother has had to call it quits because of fuel and insurance costs.

She made this prediction: "Everybody's going to have to suffer before they understand what's happening to these truckers."

Barb Ickes can be contacted at (563) 383-2316 or bickes@qctimes.com.

Media asleep at the wheel on huge international story

by: Snowy Owl

Sat Mar 01, 2008 at 18:21:09 PM EST

Dr. Michael T. Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota and a frequent writer on such topics as avian flu and bioterrorism, said the media's failure is that it does not put such topics in context.

While the media have done lots of immediate reporting on Asian bird flu, bioterrorism and other such issues, it has largely failed to understand the terrifying consequences of such matters, he said.

For instance, an avian flu pandemic might claim relatively limited number of lives directly, Osterholm said. But the fallout from a pandemic could well be catastrophic.

"Just because these are small numbers, anyone who shrugs off the seriousness of this is a fool of history," Osterholm said.

The fallout from a flu pandemic, he said, could include massive energy shortages around the world, a surge in other deadly infectious diseases, uncounted associated deaths due to shortage of medical supplies and treatment and more.

The relatively fragile world health system could collapse, he said.

Why the possibility of these catastrophic side-effects of a flu pandemic?

It is, Osterholm said, in part because the world is vastly more interconnected today than it was years ago during previous pandemics. What happens in one place will inevitably impact another.

It is also because the world economy has developed a "just in time" approach to commodities, from medical supplies and food to energy.

Resources are short and they can't be easily moved around, because everyone will be in the same (sick) boat," he said.

"Energy, food, water, transportation, communications, equipment parts, security - all will be in short supply," he said.

Even corpse management will be at risk. "Cremation is a just-in-time industry," he said.

These shortages will have an impact on human life and welfare that far outstrips what the flu itself will accomplish, Osterholm said,.

"Planning is poor. People just assume business will run as normal. Which it won't!" he said.

"And no one, including the media, is paying attention."

Under a pandemic, with people sick and not at work around the world, container shipping will shut down, power plants will close for want of fuel, hospitals will run out of medical supplies and even staff, he said. The human cost of all that will be enormous.

"People just don't understand the implications of a just-in-time economy," he said.

One example: Japan is the biggest importer of coal and natural gas (for energy) in the world. If a pandemic causes an interruption in shipping, which is likely will, "the lights are going out in Japan within a matter of days of a pandemic, and that will have a ripple effect around the world."

Osterholm acknowledged that telling such stories is difficult. It takes time, money and space to tell the story in context. That's tough in today's media climate, he admitted.

No one in the current U.S. presidential campaign is talking about these issues, Osterholm said, and "guys like me are too easy to write off."

But he urged journalists at the conference to find ways to make the story happen. One approach might be to note that for all the gloom and doom, there are positive things that can be done and can be reported.

-Use resources now devoted to war to improve health and sanitation conditions in rural villages, Osterholm said. This will improve lives today and have a direct impact on overpopulation as better health conditions translates directly into lower birth rates.

-Focus on better business preparedness, so that critical supplies are produced and readily available.

-Stress conservation as the best response to climate change.

Will the media be up to the task and will the world wake up? Osterholm is not so sure.

"The last time there was a commitment of sufficient time and energy was in World War II," he said. "We don't have that kind of commitment any more."

http://forum.eastwestcenter.or...

Global Risk Report - 2008

by: Into The Woods

Wed Jan 23, 2008 at 19:52:15 PM EST

The Who's Who of the Who's Who gathering to talk about what's what.

I am always interested in their annual Global Risk Report.  It never fails to provide some real insight, even if it's focus wanders from where I would like it to be.

After just a quick skim, I think this year is a mixed bag. While pandemic risk is not highlighted, important aspects of a pandemic are discussed.

Jane's sandbox/draft of pamphlet/any comments?

by: Jane

Tue Oct 16, 2007 at 21:42:07 PM EDT

Did you know about this?  Do you have children that you want to protect?   Did you know that schools may be closed for up to three months during a pandemic?

In 1918 there was an influenza that spread across the world and killed millions.  It was a horrible experience for those around at the time, so horrible that most survivors wouldn't discuss it.  It's now called the Great Forgetting.  There were towns where every family had some members die.  Pandemics happen a few times in a century.  The pandemics that happened in midcentury weren't as severe as the one in 1918, but 1918 is not the worst that can happen. 

Just in Time Delivery Disruptions

by: History Lover

Thu Jul 12, 2007 at 10:21:19 AM EDT

A secondary issue on spinning this subject concerns those small towns/mid-size cities that really don't have a history of severe weather emergencies.  In other words there are areas that don't experience hurricanes, blizzards, tornadoes, earthquakes, or other horrendous acts of nature.  How do we approach this population?  How do we convince these people to store even two weeks of supplies?

Any suggestions on how to spin these topics?

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Just-At-Home vs. Shelter-In-Place

by: anon.yyz

Sat Jun 09, 2007 at 16:08:06 PM EDT

Why is this important?