Refugee Radio Station Blocked by Red Tape

Zathrus writes "According to a Wired story, a volunteer organized low power FM radio station is being blocked by local administration and red tape. They've already won the classically big battles -- securing FCC licenses, obtaining the broadcast equipment and radios, getting the manpower, and having some big name backing -- only to be blocked at the last minute by some lower level administrators who don't think information is a worthwhile resource." From the article: "According to KAMP, Royal claimed the Astrodome was not able to provide power to KAMP's low-power FM transmitter. When KAMP offered to bring in enough batteries to power the equipment off the Astrodome's grid, they were still denied. Obey, speaking to Wired News, explained that the JIC couldn't see a use for the radio station when they had the ability to communicate via the loudspeaker system and newsletters. "

Sounds similar to my experience in Dallas...

[ThinkComp]

For anyone who's interested...

http://www.aarong.thinkcomputer.com/essays/index.h tml?id=6 [thinkcomputer.com]

Information Control

[cerberus4696]

I'm wondering whether this has something to do with the fact that loudspeaker announcements and newsletters can be controlled by the officials in charge of the Astrodome, wheras a volunteer-run radio station can't.

Re:

[account_deleted]

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Re:Information Control

[CDMA_Demo]

It is ironic that in a country that goes to war against other under the colours of freedom (much like Constantine used Christianity for) attempts to segregate the very people who claim the right given by the constitution. We had seen similar hypocrisy in New York during the 2004 RNC, when protesters were forbidden from meeting in central park and were arrested for using loudspeakers. Makes you wonder who gets to excercise their rights and who doesn't.

For anyone interested in the FSRN broadcast about Katrina here is the link [fsrn.org].

Re:Information Control

[Baricom]

Couldn't this conceivably be a logistical problem? The equipment you need to feed a radio signal is somewhat bulky and expensive. Perhaps the people in charge don't want to provide security for the equipment, and don't want to be blamed if it gets stolen.

Re:Information Control

[pyser]

The equipment you need to feed a radio signal is somewhat bulky and expensive.

Not so. You can fit a transmitter that will broadcast to the entire Astrodome, and several city blocks around it, in the palm of your hand [ramseyelectronics.com].

Re:Information Control

[zippthorne]

or 2004 DNC (boston) where protestors were segregated to "free speech zones" locked behind a fence. under a freeway ramp. down the street from the convention center.

Free speech has never meant that you have a right to be heard. The only people who would argue for that are telemarketers. Do you also think that coke employees should be able to muscle their way into paid pepsi ads?

That said, I have a real problem with the way NO is being handled. If people want to provide some service, why not let them? Same thing with the boaters who tried to get in day one with chainsaws and provisions but were turned away. It seems as if whoever was/is in charge thinks that only "official" response is acceptable and good.

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[account_deleted]

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Re:Information Control

[Catbeller]

I am humbled. O Monkey Jesus, save us from both of these damned parties. There's no difference between the DLC and the GOP.

The Bush team originated these "First Amendment" zones. I doubt we'll find a judge, after this flurry of installations these past five years, who''l put a stop to this.

Forget about the Supreme Court. They'll probably put their stamp on executing anyone who speaks outside the designated "free speech" zone.

And the peeple won't care. That's the core, the crux, the whole damned problem. Wha

Re:Information Control

[87C751]

We need a new political party.

Close. We need a new political system. The one we have now is irreparably broken.

Re:Information Control

[Nurf]

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/07/ 2 6/145248 [democracynow.org]

You really shouldn't trust the press/media for news, nor leftist websites (Kos et al). They have a habit of not pointing out things Democrats do, and obsessing over Republicans when they do the same thing. The fact that two thirds of journalists across the USA, and nine tenths of journalists in Washington DC, self-identify as Democrats in confidential polls probably has something to do with this.

FYI, I am a foreigner living in the USA, and find it r

Re:Information Control

[stfvon007]

If armed looters ransacking those 100 houses kill 2 people, then yes.

Re:No, that's incorrect

[lspd]

This is just a bunch of geeks that got told, "No, your idea won't actually help anyone", so they went and complained to /.

Exactly

Re:No, that's incorrect

[Vellmont]

If there are important things to say that the refugees need to hear over the radio, why not get one of the dozens of existing radio stations in the area to broadcast it. If your message is really that crucial, it shouldn't be a problem finding someone to play it.

I think you're missing the point of a micro broadcast radio station. Is a local station that serves the needs of the entire Houston area going to broadcast a message like "lunch of the day for the astrodome is cheeseburgers" If you really think that, you're just naive. This isn't about broadcasting ultra-important messages to everyone, it's about keeping people informed about the resources available to them, giving them something to do, etc.

This is just a bunch of geeks that got told, "No, your idea won't actually help anyone", so they went and complained to /.

Very true, but that doesn't diminish the fact that it WILL help people. This isn't some wild crazy techno geek idea of giving out free Wi-Fi internet access to people that don't have laptops or computers in the first place. Radios are dirt cheap, and anyone that has a few dollars can buy a portable one. They're cheap enough that someone could buy a thousand of them and distribute them to everyone in the Astrodome.

Re:No, that's incorrect

[temojen]

They're cheap enough that someone could buy a thousand of them and distribute them to everyone in the Astrodome.

s/could/did/

Re:No, that's incorrect

[dubl-u]

They're cheap enough that someone could buy a thousand of them and distribute them to everyone in the Astrodome.

Indeed, they had already arranged a donation of 10,000 radios, so that there would be plenty for all.

Very true, but that doesn't diminish the fact that it WILL help people.

Indeed. A psychiatrist was mentioning somewhere that one of the worst things for people who have been through disasters is to sit around with nothing to do and nothing but the disaster to think about. For people developing PTSD, it can intensify and lengthen their problems.

And there's a lot to be said for community-building and morale. Heck, just the music alone would help. Imagine you're on a long road trip and the radio breaks. How sad would you be? And now imagine somebody else is driving, you don't know where you're going, and you're not sure when you'll get there.

Re:Low-Power AM

[tylernt]

What I want to know is, why don't they just use low power AM? You need *NO* license at all to do low-power AM broadcasting, and your signal should be strong enough to cover the 'Dome no sweat.

Re:"We are still in hurricane season,"

[SpaceLifeForm]

Not anymore. The bush administration spun and spun, but the political pressure got to them, and they had to move him out of the way.

Google news [google.com]

Re:Insightful!

[EnderWiggnz]

freedom of the press.

freedom of speech.

these american citizens have every right to set up their own radio station.

Unfortunate

[Da_Biz]

I understand the need for the Red Cross and other shelter organizers to promote a good atmosphere (well, as good as possible), but sheesh, I fail to see the harm done by a microtransmitter.

I am of the opinion that, overall, the American Red Cross is well organized and operated (I'm speaking with over six years of experience with EMS, SAR and Disaster Relief here). However, I have to sigh at the bureaucracy and lack of "out-of-the-box" thinking that sometimes crops up when I'm volunteering with them.

The politically-unfriendly truth will be told.

[CyricZ]

The harm is that some people who were directly affected by this disaster might exercise their freedom of speech and freedom of expression. They might question why their federal government failed them so badly in so many different ways. And a lot of people may hear such objections and questions. That won't bode well for the administrators who are blocking the survivors' most basic freedoms.

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[account_deleted]

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Quit playing the blame game

[spun]

I love how the White House and its supporters speak out of both sides of their mouth.

Don't play the blame game, but it's all the state and local governments' fault.

Re:Quit playing the blame game

[Jim_Callahan]

Uh, could you scootch over a little bit? All that straw is making my neck itch.

Re:Quit playing the blame game

[Dun Malg]

I love how the White House and its supporters speak out of both sides of their mouth. Don't play the blame game, but it's all the state and local governments' fault.

What? Nobody's absolving the Feds. There's plenty of blame for everyone. It just seems that in some people's rush to skewer our favorite mumblemouth whipping boy, they're holding up the state and local officials as a bunch of innocent victims. Problem is, they're as much a knot of corrupt, inept fucktards as the feds and they ought to be ske

Re:

[account_deleted]

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Re:The politically-unfriendly truth will be told.

[MightyMartian]

I'm an equal opportunity condemner. Here's the lesson, American taxpayers are getting ripped off by greedy, incompetent political hacks at every level from the guys that run cities right up to the buffoon who sits in Washington DC by the grace of massive political contributions. The US has been swindled by liars, morons and self-congratulatory recipients of every low kind of favoritism. Your governments don't give a damn about you until they realize that the jig is up and they've been caught behaving in

Re:Unfortunate

[Lally Singh]

Remember that DHS blocked the red cross for a while from getting into NOLA.

The whole radio thing, however, is part of a larger press blackout. If you can't fix it, try and cover it up and hope people forget.

Re:Unfortunate

[kingsquab]

Surely you're aware that it was the Louisiana Homeland Security Department [redcross.org] that kept the Red Cross out, right?
 
The Feds are certainly not blameless in this affair, but let's give credit and blame where it is actually due.

Re:Unfortunate

[Dun Malg]

Just so we're clear, it was not the federal DHS, but the Lousiana State DHS that did it.
From the Red Cross web site: (emphasis mine)

The

state Homeland Security Department had requested--and continues to request--that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city.

Direct angry calls about FEMA bumbling to the White House, c/o Prez "Mumbler" Bush, and calls about the Red Cross being bl

It's all about....

[Philip K Dickhead]

Control.

From the Villiage Voice:

FEMA Nixes Grassroots Radio Station for Hurricane Evacuees

Bureaucracy KO's info source at the Astrodome

by Sarah Ferguson
September 8th, 2005 5:04 PM

Although the effort was http://?www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la -na-radio8sep08,1,6993197.story?coll=la-headlines- nation [slashdot.org]>trumpeted in the media as an example of grassroots ingenuity in the face of disaster, local officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency have nixed an attempt by Houston activists to set up a low-power radio station at the Astrodome that would have broadcast Hurricane Katrina relief information for evacuees.

The project was unplugged even though it had key support. On Monday, the Federal Communications Commission quickly granted temporary licenses to broadcast inside the Astrodome and the adjacent Reliant Center. The station was also backed by the Houston Mayor's office and Texas governor Rick Perry. But local officials said FEMA bureaucrats KO'd the station--dubbed KAMP "Dome City Radio" [evacuation...rvices.org]--because of "security concerns."

"They wanted unlimited access to the buildings, which we could not give to anyone in the media," said Gloria Roemer, a spokesperson for Harris County, which has jurisdiction over the Astrodome complex. Currently reporters are allowed in only on 15-minute guided tours.

According to Roemer, FEMA officials also believed they could not allocate "scarce" electricity, office space, and phone and Internet access to the volunteer station--even though activists say they offered to run the station on batteries and use their own cellphones.

Supporters of KAMP, which was set to launch at 95.3 FM, blame red tape and bureaucrats seeking to "manage the news."

"I'm very disappointed," said Councilmember Ada Edwards, who represents a mostly black district in central Houston and had issued a letter of support for the station. "One of the real challenges of this big tragedy has been access to communication--open and honest communication. I really hoped this would be an open outlet for people to get information that was unscripted and that would really address their needs.

"But it seems par for the course in terms of how this whole thing has been rolling out with FEMA and the Red Cross trying to keep tight control and manage the news," Edwards complained. "It's really sad when these people feel they have to sanitize all the time."

Activists with Houston Indymedia [indymedia.org] and Pacifica radio first brainstormed the idea over the weekend when they visited the Astrodome and spoke to swamped relief workers and survivors desperate for information about emergency services and news from back home.

"People were asking things like how can I get my FEMA check, do my kids need shots for school, can I get a free cellphone, how do I get out information about missing family members," says Jim Ellinger, a freelance radio consultant from Austin. "This is complicated stuff that you can't really address on a booming public address system. The mainstream radio stations are more focused on broadcasting to the general public about where to donate to hurricane relief, so there was no place for survivors to go to get what they need. "

"We talked to cops, volunteers, church groups--everyone said it was a good idea," Ellinger added.

But Astrodome officials were apparently more concerned about evacuees fighting over the radios. "They were worried about noise and people stealing them or that people would be tuning in to gangsta rap on other Houston stations, which they said could incite violence," says Tish Stringer, a graduate teacher at Rice University and organizer with Houston Indymedia. After several days of back and forth, activists agreed to provide 10,000 cheap, Walkman-style radios with batteries.

Re:It's all about....

[Marxist Hacker 42]

volunteers say they plan to begin distributing them anyway in hopes they can set up some kind of station in the Astrodome parking lot, or else partner with KPFT to provide news for hurricane survivors.

That seems to be the right idea in this case- if you can't broadcast from inside the astrodome, then get the FCC to increase the power of your license and broadcast from *outside* the astrodome.

Re:It's all about....

[Philip K Dickhead]

I love the worry about "Gangster Rap".

There's the basis of your racist bullshit from FEMA, right there. Someone got their whole family drowned, has been starved, dehydrated, literally dragged through shit, kept in a stable under the conditions of a hog farm feed-lot... Listening to Kurupt is gonna' put 'em over the edge.

Re:It's all about....

[Marxist Hacker 42]

There's the basis of your racist bullshit from FEMA, right there. Someone got their whole family drowned, has been starved, dehydrated, literally dragged through shit, kept in a stable under the conditions of a hog farm feed-lot... Listening to Kurupt is gonna' put 'em over the edge.

Just as bad as right here in Portland. The Multnomah County Sheriff has a brand new jail that was built right before the recession. It's a minimum security facility- 535 beds, no bars, full service medical hospital, kitchen, Internet Access (both Wifi and brand new cubicles with two-year-old but never used computers in them on the wired network), flat screen TVs everywhere. He offered it as a shelter when it was thought that we'd get 2500 refugees here- hey, it's better than a cot in a gym of an abandoned high school, which is the other two sites offered. But because it's a J-A-I-L, the Red Cross got all racially and southern culturally sensitive and turned him down. I say, when or if refugees arrive- the Sheriff should make his pitch directly to those involved- it's a damned sight more comfortable in the barracks of the Wapato Correctional Facility than in a disused gym.

Re:It's all about....

[cei]

I would think KPFT or KTRU would be all over this idea. I'm surprised it hasn't happened already... get the 10,000 radios distributed inside the dome by any means necessary, then use existing radio towers with good wattage and valid licenses whose charters are expressly about serving the community.

Re:It's all about....

[Marxist Hacker 42]

I take it that these are the local nonprofits? Yeah, you'd think they could find say, 5 minutes out of every hour to read off an information sheet or something.

My thoughts exactly.

[Vellmont]

If you lose control over information, you could lose control over the mass of people. I'm sure what they're worried about is the radio station broadcasting anything that's no in line with the message that the officials want heard. It's sad to imagine that our government has become more like China in this whole matter, caring more about saving face, and keeping the serfs in line than actually providing assistance.

Re:My thoughts exactly.

[Vellmont]

Settle down Beavis. The word "activist" is indeed a political bullcrap used by mostly fanatics to describe themselves or by people who which to demonize "the other side". See "Activist judges".

"Reach for my revolver" is a reference to German playwright Hanns Johst's play Schlageter, which has in it the (translated) phrase "Whenever I hear the word culture... I release the safety-catch of my Browning!" The last part is more often translated as "I reach for my revolver." Often the quote is attributed to

Re:My thoughts exactly.

[Vellmont]

The problem isn't so much the singular focus, it's the lack of seeing things in context, and magnitude. Many of the clean water people are obsessed about "saving" every last gallon of water from being dirty. I used to know someone who would turn on the super-water-saver mode of the dishwasher, despite the fact that the dishes wouldn't get clean and would later have to re-done by someone else. (ignoring the dishwashers don't really use that much water to begin with).

Where singular focus becomes a problem

Re:It's all about....

[moosesocks]

        FEMA Nixes Grassroots Radio Station for Hurricane Evacuees
        Bureaucracy KO's info source at the Astrodome
by Sarah Ferguson

Since when has the dutchess of york been a journalist?

Re:It's all about....

[lspd]

"They wanted unlimited access to the buildings, which we could not give to anyone in the media," said Gloria Roemer, a spokesperson for Harris County, which has jurisdiction over the Astrodome complex. Currently reporters are allowed in only on 15-minute guided tours.

Now this makes perfect sense... If you're a refugee forced to live in a room with 10,000 other people do you really want reporters taking pictures and invading what little privacy you have?

Re:It's all about....

[Moofie]

Right, because you see lots of photographs on the radio. Good call.

Re:It's all about....

[Zangief]

Now this makes perfect sense... If you're a refugee forced to live in a room with 10,000 other people do you really want reporters taking pictures and invading what little privacy you have?

Yes, so the world can know about the conditions you are living in, and can press the authorities about it.

Re:It's all about....

[lspd]

Yes, so the world can know about the conditions you are living in, and can press the authorities about it.

These [flickr.com] people [flickr.com] deserve [flickr.com] privacy. [flickr.com]

If a group of refugees want to hold a press conference about mistreatment, that's a different story.

The New FEMA

[Daedala]

You know, it looks like the entire disaster operation is being run on the premise that it's very, very important that minor officials be allowed to be officious.

Re:

[account_deleted]

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Re:The New FEMA

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Well, Congress seemed to think so in 1803- long before the Red Cross was thought of (bet YOU didn't know FEMA was that old). And it did a damned good job for us on September 12, 2001. It's just that in 2003, the buracracy took a spin into the Dilbert Principle when our bonehead President appointed a horse show judge to be the head of FEMA, instead of say, promoting somebody with emergency management experience.

Re:The New FEMA

[evilviper]

the buracracy took a spin into the Dilbert Principle when our bonehead President appointed a horse show judge to be the head of FEMA

I vote for "horse show judge" as the new euphamism for any incompetent unexperienced individual.

Re:The New FEMA

[Da_Biz]

Welcome to Disaster Relief. The one thing I've learned is that, to be an effective volunteer, you have to shelve your ego frequently, smile and nod when the politicos and the power hungry come by, and then get back to doing the business of helping people.

I was at a meeting yesterday for an organization interested in providing some housing options for evacuees, and I recall one idealistic young woman who spoke up who insisted that her idea (not a very practical one, to be honest) be used, because she really

Re:The New FEMA

[Daedala]

Yeah, that happens (though marshing someone's mallow sounds completely obscene, ok?).

But they seem to be getting off on _preventing_ people from being helpful. The Red Cross. Other nations. National guard units for other states that keep mobilizing and having nowhere to go. Now this radio station.

Politics in the way

[kid_oliva]

it is really sad when people organize and work hard to help their fellow man, just to be stopped by bureaucracy. Obey should be helping the cause and not trying to put the kabosh on it. Maybe this why you don't see more people going out on a limb, because they think it will just get shot down?

Indymedia? Village Voice?

[winkydink]

C'mon these guys make NPR look like Fox News. How about a little balance?

Haha, now you know how the left feels

[spun]

Of course, Faux News is a media behemoth while Indymedia and the Village Voice preach only to the choir. Left wing media my ass, corporate media and invisible fringe, that's all there is. Freedom of the press only applies if you own a big enough press.

Indymedia's sole purpose . . .

[wsanders]

. . . is to taunt police until they get their asses kicked.

It's a lousy job but somebody's got to do it.

Fascists Out in Force

[SirChive]

Wars, Depressions and Natural Disasters always bring out the Fascists. They gravitate to any venue where they can make the case that control triumphs freedom.

Re:Fascists Out in Force

[Buran]

It's fascist to point out where the government has fucked up when it was supposed to be out there helping? In that case ...

Sieg heil!

Re:Fascists Out in Force

[Jim_Callahan]

Because control is necessary to survive in hard times. In times of abundance, you can hand people all the freedom you want. Republicanism (not the party, the political system that the US has) is tweaked to, among other things, a particular set of resource distributions. Control-heavy styles are twinked toward another.

That said, the bureaucrats involved were most likely just as stupidly bureaucratic before last week. That's why they were in a position that wasn't at all urgent at the time-- it wasn't a

Public Safety Bah!

[Hategiants]

This is absurd, what year is this again? Newsletters and loudspeakers to distribute safety information but no radio? Need to inform thousands of people of imminent danger, please wait while we print newsletters and distribute them one at a time to inform people of the matter. Failure to use technology to properly distribute information is one of the many reasons this disaster occured in the first place. Lets just repeat that mistake again.

Re:Public Safety Bah!

[damiam]

What the fuck? Are you trying to say people can't have food or wear clothes not provided by FEMA? What's the difference between that and radio?

This damage control isn't for you.

[RyanFenton]

The first priority of damage control for the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is not to save lives. It's to mask blame. Not that there isn't blame to go around - but the talking points going around are built to make all blame seem equal. To make it seem like any one of the politicians involved in this disaster had the same ability to help save people, and Republican politicians who did not help did nothing wrong compared to everyone else.

Having a radio stations where people affected could speak their minds openly, or even potentially openly would hurt this damage control.

Ryan Fenton

Re:This damage control isn't for you.

[Thing 1]

Having a radio stations where people affected could speak their minds openly, or even potentially openly would hurt this damage control.

Agreed. But, aren't they kinda shooting themselves in the foot, by letting their management of the news become news?

WOW (Sarcstic)

[Karaman]

Communists used to ban BBC in our country that way :) I guess the history is repeating itself in different context :)

Why?

[Red Flayer]

"On Thursday, Obey explained the decision to ultimately refuse the low-power FM station request.

'With limited resources, you err on the side of FEMA and the Red Cross over entertainment.' "

First, the station was going to be providing more than entertainment.

Second, who from the Red Cross opposed to the station? Why?

Third, who from FEMA opposed the station? Why?

If it cost FEMA and the Red Cross nothing, they have no reson to oppose. If either believes it will cost them something, I'd like to

Re:Why?

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

You forget one possibility: what if the situation this station would describe, the straight dope gathered right where shit happens down there, emphasizes Washington's ineptitude faced with this crisis even more?

A bit of "unexpected" red tape to force the new radio station to shut the hell up, at least temporarily, might be very welcome by the administration and the FEMA...

Put itin a van

[wiredlogic]

Why do they have to be stationed in the Astrodome? I'm sure the authorities in charge don't want to be responsible for the cable runs out to their tower.

They can just put their equipment into a van and broadcast from the parking lot like regular pirate radio. They can still do interviews within the dome using portable radios and cell phones.

Re:Put itin a van

[Punboy]

Dunno if you noticed, but they're trying NOT to be a pirate organization. They're attempting to get it all done legally. So please don't make statements that could people to believe they are "pirate radio"

Do it anyway?

[chill]

How about just having volunteers walk in and hand out all the radios, then set up OUTSIDE the Astrodome and use a directional antenna.

Tell the JIC to go fuck off and broadcast anyway.

  -Charles

Not a real issue

[SpaceGhost]

As someone directly involved with this effort (as a member of the Amateur Radio Emergency Service), I can assure my fellow slashdotters that this is simply not an issue, much less worthy of a slashdot story. Although this sounds like a great idea on the surface, I can understand where the JIC or for that matter the Incident Commander would chose to deny this request.
What is not apparent to anyone outside Reliant City (as the astrodomain is now being called) is that it is utter CHAOS in there. It's not that the guests are anything but orderly, that the volunteers are anything but helpful, or that the involved agencies dont care, but there just isnt time for the responsible parties to even think very hard about it. Keep in mind that this is a gargantuan effort on the part of almost everybody involved - every agency I've come in contact with has expressed amazement at the vastness of the task and the speed with which it is being accomplished. And by now they are all pretty much exhausted. Sunday there were 25,000 guests on the ground - today it's far less than half of that. Meeting immediate needs is pretty much all that they can do. I alone have worked over 40 hours on this event since last wednesday, in addition to my regular full-time job.
It would certainly be wonderful if the guests were being entertained, or even efficiently informed. And when I first heard about this effort I thought it was a great idea. But providing a communications channel without professional guidance as to content and application could just as easily cause more harm then good. After the event there will be a great deal of effort to review procedures and decide what went right and what went wrong, and I really hope that this specific option is included in future plans. I think it is awesome that the organizers of this effort did so much, this option has a great deal of potential. But please dont assume that some "lower-level official" just decided to be mean or felt power-hungry - it is just as likley that they thought it was a good idea, but just didnt have the time to give it a chance or make sure it was done right.

Wayne Barker AD8A
Amateur Radio Emergency Service
Emergency Coordinator, SouthWest Harris County, Houston, TX

Re:Not a real issue

[geekoid]

mod +1 "informative", -2 "not what we want to believe cause we all know it's the 'man' keeping the people down".

eep

[dlefavor]

But providing a communications channel without professional guidance as to content and application could just as easily cause more harm then good.

Why does this statement make my blood run cold?

Re:Not a real issue

[dtobias]

"...providing a communications channel without professional guidance as to content and application could just as easily cause more harm then good..."

Sounds like just the sort of thing the Communist Chinese government says when they censor the Internet, jail dissident journalists, run tanks over protestors, and so on. It's shameful to have anybody in the USA express such a position.

Re:Not a real issue

[evilviper]

It's shameful to have anybody in the USA express such a position.

No, it would be shameful for someone in the USA to be unable to express such a position.

I can't say I completely disagree with him, either. With access to public airwaves comes public responsibilities. Should some half-assed radio station start spewing out false information, with thousands of people listening and believing them, they quite literally could cause a lot of harm. Proverbially shouting "fire" in a crowded theatre.

I have no idea

Re:Not a real issue

[Hatta]

And if the federal government didn't have its head so far up its butt expecting people to rely on poorly organized "faith" based "inititives" you wouldn't have to

The federal government is a faith based organization. You give them your money, and have faith that it'll be spent wisely. You cast your vote and have faith that your candidate will speak for you and not big business. This faith is about as well founded as the faith other religions are based on.

Information wants to be controlled

[carcosa30]

Sounds to me like they think information is such an important resource that they want to control it. This radio station sounds like it might not be run by Clearchannel, and it might put out some information that might sound bad, so they have to clamp down on it right away to limit media outlets to government controlled spin.

Kind of like how the National Guard is preventing people from photographing the reportedly huge number of corpses in East NOLA.

http://organicwarfare.blogspot.com/ [blogspot.com]

Fed vs. Local... or is it?

[BrianRaker]

Uhm, correct me if I'm wrong (and I know that someone will) but a local governmental body (city or county, or even state) can't block a radio station that already has FCC approval (i.e. a broadcaster's license). Right?

The only problem I could see is if the owner of the LPFM station was trying to use the infrastructure of the stadium (power, physical plant, etc) to run the station. That can be blocked by the entity responsible for the building without any recourse.

Re:Fed vs. Local... or is it?

[Detritus]

They can keep you off the property by declaring you a trespasser. If the FCC temporary station license specified a location that can't be accessed due to bureaucratic intransigence, you're screwed.

Re:Fed vs. Local... or is it?

[Jim_Callahan]

Aye that's what happened. "What? A radio station? Bugger off, we're trying to keep people fed here. No, I'm not going to let you fuck with the electrical system, go cook some soup or something if you need something to do." If they provided their own equipment in entirety, they could set up in a van in the parking lot and no one would care.

Illegal to block it

[HermanAB]

As far as I understand the rules, local authorities do not have the legal power to stop a radio transmitter, since that is a federal matter.

So the officials that are refusing to allow it, are overstepping their authority and sooner or later someone else will come down on their heads like ton of bricks.

Re:Illegal to block it

[Jim_Callahan]

A refusal to supply the resources to set up a radio station is in no way illegal, as local authorities are not responsible for handing you equipment every time you want to do something. I'm licensed to carry a concealed firearm, but that doesn't mean I can file a complaint when the local sherrif's office doesn't provide me with ammunition. If the radio folks set up in, say, a van on their own property, with their own equipment, there wouldn't be a problem.

Set It Up Next Door?

[reallocate]

I know nothing about the range of low-power transmitters, but would the same results be achieved if the station was relocated just outside the Astrodome?

While there are obvious advantages to being inside the dome -- access to information -- being next door might be better than nothing.

Houston IndyMedia?

[daveschroeder]

Um, come on, guys.

You want a radio station catering to the evacuees run by people who literally believe things like the Bush administration is not only responsible for the poor response[1], but is actually responsible for the hurricane itself [huffingtonpost.com]? Or who would invite those who believe the levees were blown up by the government as a plot to remove all of the black people from New Orleans so the rich whites could take it over [laweekly.com]? (After all, they needed more room!)

Yeah, that'll really help the situation!

Bullshit. In

What is required for me to do this? (FM station)

[JPriest]

This might make a great ask.slashdot question and maybe a cool home project. What do I have to go through to broadcast from AM or FM from my home? What equipment (HAM?) would you suggest using to do so?

Is there additional requirements to broadcasting non-royalty free music? If I do decide to broadcast music then how much do I pay and to whom? I would LOVE to learn more about this.

"Refugee"? How about using proper English.

[FredThompson]

A "refugee" is someone who is fleeing persecution from other people. Who are the "refugees" of which you speak and why did they go to the hurricane-damaged area seeking asylum?

If you meant victims of the natural disaster hurricane, that's another word entirely.

Bottom line, "normal" societial issues in the damaged area will be suspended until things are under control. That's the way it has always been and the only way thing work. These "volunteers" want to place braodcasting equipment in a damaged building from which they will broadcast whatever they want to people in the damaged area? How incredibly selfish of them. They would not only increase physical security issues for their equipment, as noted above, they'd bring confusion to the people and create more things for the authorities to try to watch. What absolute guarantees are there that these folks wouldn't broadcast erroneous information? This is not a time for civics 101, it's a time for survival.

If these people truely wanted to help, they'd offer themselves and their services are actual volunteers, not prima donnas who want a competing power during emergency times.

Remove Tinfoil Hats

[serutan]

Low-level administrators are usually fearful of saying YES to anything that they can't control. I don't think you have to look for a more elaborate motive than that. It just seems to go with the personality type, which I refer to as "hall monitors." They are good at carrying out decisions made by higher-ups, but when asked to authorize something on their own initiative their default response is NO.

go back to sucking GWB

[cheekyboy]

So how efficient is the lighting at the dome? using 5000000 watts?

These guys arent asking for power to use 1000 laptops.

The smegs in charge want to do it their way so they can up their career, and not be upshowed by some amatures.

Typeical govt workers, corrupt to hell.

Re:go back to sucking GWB

[geekoid]

"Typeical govt workers, corrupt to hell."

fuck you.

I have never seen any goverment employee* do anything corrupt, not once.

as a government emplioyee I must repeat:
Fuck you.

*as opposed to elected official.

You must be joking

[spun]

Please, my sides are hurting! Beaurocratic goverment employees are just as corrupt, if not more so, as elected officials. My step dad was very high up in the FAA, head of US security for all Central and South American airports that US airlines fly into. He told all kinds of stories of graft and corruption. To be fair, most government employees are merely lazy and incompetant, not actually corrupt, but there are enough really bad apples to spoil the bunch.

Tell me, when was the last time your department spent

Re:go back to sucking GWB

[HungWeiLo]

I've worked in organizations big and small, both public and private sectors, and there is no difference in inefficiencies or corruption.

In fact, my fiancee's 3 coworkers (normal bankers) at a bank just racked up $150 in a bar tab for "business expenses" and that's after they booked a client meeting next week at the Bellagio. I don't think typical government employees get away with doing stuff like that for very long.

Re:FEMA was voter approved, hippie radio was not

[RentonSentinel]

So FEMA was constructed and put in place using the Presidency, the Congress, and under the watchful eye of the Judiciary.

They will be the final arbiters of what can and cannot happen in the dome. If you do not like it, you need to elect representatives who can change the system.

A rag-tag group of washed up hippies cannot be alowed to over-ride federal control or military control.

I'm sorry, but this is the harsh reality of life.

Everything is not about your pleasure.

It is about a chain of command.

Re:FEMA was voter approved, hippie radio was not

[cosmol]

I hear what you are saying. but....

This wouldn't be such a big deal if the dome-dwellers were kept informed of what was going on by FEMA or whatever agency in the first place. But from what I glean from the press, the people were getting absolutely no information on what was going on.

If you do not like it, you need to elect representatives who can change the system.

Part of electing representatives is voicing your opionions. Free speech is vital to the process.

If it is about chain-of-command then s

Re:Sheesh, just get a CB...

[Dhaos]

I'm also QUITE SURE that FEMA and the Military did not want one voice of resistance telling the people in the dome anything that would be off-message. Why allow some conduit for politics or whatever? It would just add chaos.

Whoa whoa...whoa!

The military and FEMA should have NO business telling people what to say over the radio in Houston. New Orleans may be a disaster area and under de facto martial law, but the military telling you what you can and cannot do elsewhere is a troubling idea.

IF the

Re:Sheesh, just get a CB...

[shitdrummer]

I'm also QUITE SURE that FEMA and the Military did not want one voice of resistance telling the people in the dome anything that would be off-message

What, like how to enrol your kids at school? How to apply for aid? What's happening to their homes etc? Or maybe the officials are worried that the people will find out that the leaders of their nation let them down at their most desperate time of need?

Can't have anyone questioning the nations leadership. Everyone repeat after me, "The leader is good,

Re:black people

[Marxist Hacker 42]

George Bush had been trying to get the local government to declare a need for federal assistance.

You might want to check Snopes before you try to repeat urban legends as fact [snopes.com], lest we think you're a part of the current administration (who all seem to be so media illiterate that they probably can't spell snopes let alone look up to see if their information is accurate before spreading it).

Re:black people

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Who's "facts" do you believe?

Well, let's see the options. A well known website that debunks or supports urban ledgends based on sound research, or "news" programs well known for actually buying stories from the government. I think I'll take the first.

I heard on a news broadcast that GWB was trying to get the local officials to declare a need for federal aid.

And if you check snopes, that urban legend has been debunked. Yes, the administration itself has been trying to put forth that image to make a very bad excuse for not showing up sooner- and yes, elsewhere on Snopes you'll actually find support for such things as underwater buses and other mistakes made by local officials- but the point is to try to tell the truth, otherwise you do more harm to your side than is needed. And repeating stuff you heard on a single news program with no colaberation for the story? That's just drinking the kool aid without checking it for poison first.

And you don't care to comment on the other parts of my post?

No, because the other parts of your post were mere logical extensions of a fact that did not exist to begin with, and thus were invalid by extension.

The actual meat of the comment?

The actual meat of the comment seemed to be that local officials needed to call for federal aid before federal aid would be offered. The link to snopes in my message shows the real timeline that was recorded- and that it was actually 3 days between the local officials asking for a mandatory evacuation, declaring a state of emergency, and formally asking for federal help, all of which were done BEFORE the hurricane hit; and the federal government actually responding at all. It was an additional 2 days before NBC broke the news in an interview to the head of FEMA that there were people in the convention center- something that the entire rest of the country knew the entire time.

I'm sorry- the basic excuse of "but we couldn't go in until the local governments asked us to" falls completely flat on it's face- and that is obvious from the Snopes article on the subject that I linked to.

Like I said the first time- next time check snopes before you repeat urban legends you heard on the "news".

Re:black people

[Marxist Hacker 42]

Ah, I see now. Marxist, you believe quoting web site links as factual, informative, or justification for you "beliefs"?

Actually, it was just a convient story link for something I also saw elsewhere- including a big story back on August 27th in my local paper about the mandatory evacuation and declaration of State of Emergency.

And those were reports from some "reporter" analyzing said events out in Florida?!

Not only- partially, but there has been a lot more written on the subject than just that.

Hmm.

Re:black people

[blueskies]

I'm going to assume you are just ignorant and get your talking points from conservative news.

The mayor of New York called almost immediately for federal aid.

Yeah, but the Gov. of LA called for aid before the disaster. There is no way the mayor of New York called for federal aid before that disaster! Check the date of her memo [louisiana.gov]. Asking for Federal Aid the day before the disaster is not enough time? Please explain your illogic.

Also Washington sat on a request for New Mexico's national guard to help [yahoo.com]

Re:black people

[blueskies]

She's asking for federal assistance which is exactly what i said.

Who cares about michigan? What about the federal ok on the New Mexico guardsmen you ignored?

This is a better story for some of the reasons behind the delays. Best quote of the article: "Nobody told me that I had to request that,

Yeah, she is talking about ACTIVE duty military troops. The pentagon was saying that wednesday and thursday they were hesitant to send active duty troops in the area for law enforcement purposes. In the same

Re:black people

[Beryllium Sphere(tm)]

>What part of "The local government must call for federal aid before federal arrives." don't you understand? The mayor of New York called almost immediately for federal aid.

The part where it contradicts the National Response Plan [dhs.gov]. By the time you get to the second page it talks about "proactive" Federal responses to rare, mass-casualty events.

>George Bush had been trying to get the local government to declare a need for federal assistance.

I can't find a cite for this offhand but I did read that

Re:why not set up outside the dome?

[Jim_Callahan]

Unless they were broadcasting "let's rise up and kill all of teh bureaucrats, and burn down any remaining structures with their owners locked inside" i doubt FEMA would care much. This seemed more of a "we're not going to waste any more resources on you, we have people to feed, bugger off" deal than a "you're a dangerous man that needs to be silenced" deal. Refusal to provide resources is not the same thing as actively inhibiting a project.

Re:very simple reason...

[cduffy]

depleted uranium, which has a half life of millions of years

Uhh.

Depleted uranium isn't dangerous because it's radioactive; it's dangerous because it's poisonous. The level of radioactivity given off by DU is completely insignificant -- hence "depleted" -- the problem is that breathing in DU dust causes cancer, for reasons completely and totally unrelated to radioactivity. Conclusion: the half life is completely irrelevant.