disaster response is all about logistics.
The main reason the Katrina response failed was logistics. Part of that logistics failure was driven by people not caring enough, but part of it was cost-cutting and restructuring, a lot of it related to the establishment of Dept Homeland Security.
A big part of the reason that the Japan tsunami response wasn't worse was because of the voluntary and proactive contributions of private logistics actors - local trucking associations, national shipping companies.
Local trucking associations often had a seat in the prefectural crisis center. Some places had agreements in place for assistance BEFORE disaster happened. FEMA, otoh, was trying to negotiate trucking contracts after Katrina hit and finally handed off wholesale to the DoD
Major logistics companies like kuroneko (similar to DHL) offered their services to hard-hit municipalities. And even they found it a challenge, because humanitarian logistics are different from commercial logistics - read Holguín-Veras on that: transp.rpi.edu/~jhvweb/index.…
which is also why there is an entire profession of logisticians working in international response. There is an international @logcluster.

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More from @m_older

31 Dec 20
I'm reading @JincyWillett's very funny Amy Falls Down, which includes a lovely fantasy segment about someone paying for a bunch of writers to train their way across the US doing events with prosecco and some of these writers do not even have books about to come out, AND
I AM STILL MAD that we didn't get an arts stimulus package that, in addition to streaming plays and museum talks and remote concerts, would fund nightly talks and discussions by a wide range of writers and artists. I appreciate all that theaters and bookstore owners have done but
why should they (and we, because I've done lots of unpaid as well as paid events this past year) do it for free?! yes I realize that while the so-called govt is squabbling over the most basic of disaster assistance for stupid reasons we could not expect this but nonetheless we
Read 20 tweets
30 Dec 20
Module 2 moves on to an offshoot, or symptom, or maybe cause of quantification, as we consider the disproportionate role of economic thinking in how we consider the future, and the ways in which economics and sci-fic are similar. (Hint: lots of economics is imaginary too)
(Reminder: you can read the full syllabus here malkaolder.wordpress.com/2020/12/17/syl… I'm making minor edits as I review for the lectures, such as adjusting discussion questions)
Read 35 tweets
28 Dec 20
1st come-1st served is the worst way to do this, especially when it involves people physically arriving and waiting, because it means the most vulnerable people, who need it the most, cannot get it. Appalling, given all the other possible approaches.
The is NO REASON to make seniors -or anyone- wait outside for long periods of time. If you MUST do it 1stC-1stS, do it with some kind of remote registration, or register & go away. They know how many doses they have, how long it takes. NO REASON for that effort & uncertainty. BUT
THERE IS NO REASON TO DO IT FIRST COME FIRST SERVED. They have records of the people living in their county and their ages, and if they don't, now is a great time to have people register so that they do. There are organizations who can access people that might not be registered,
Read 24 tweets
23 Oct 20
Population is power, borders are arbitrary, and citizenship is an invented category with invented rules that can change at any time. #Infomocracy #Microdemocracy
Imagine if US followed this up, offering a path to citizenship for all Chinese citizens. Boss move in the power struggle, no? Imagine if China retaliated with the same. Then Russia offers citizenship for anyone but has to sweeten it: no taxes 1st 10years! #SpeculativeResistance
Then countries worried about falling populations like Japan decide to chip in a reimbursement for shipping costs if people come as residents on a path to citizenship. Brain drain becomes more of a concern, so countries try to cushy up their educated #SpeculativeResistance
Read 6 tweets
8 Oct 20
"Believes in democracy" should be the absolute minimum qualification for serving in public office in our aspiring democracy.
As I wrote for @ForeignPolicy, democracy is a principle of government that we should be able to come together around, far more powerful and near-universal than some sort of shared reality foreignpolicy.com/2020/09/25/bui…
But this comemierdería from someone who supposedly got his power from a supposed democracy is not a new argument. Opponents of democracy have long argued that you can get better outcomes if you just let someone - them - be in charge without all the fiddly voting & other people
Read 29 tweets
6 Oct 20
I'm building the syllabus for the new course on predictive fictions I'm teaching at @ASU_SFIS next semester and there are soooooooo many cool potential readings how am I going to winnow it???
That said, anyone with further ideas is welcome to share them! More cool stuff! More!
The course is going to be sociology + scifi. So far I've got readings on futurism, meteorology, economization (by @epopppp), college rankings, economic forecasts, cost-benefit analysis...
Read 4 tweets

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