In Case Of Emergency, Read Blog

The big show business news of this past week was that the three “American Idol” judges — Jennifer Lopez, Steven Tyler and Randy Jackson — have been officially announced.
So, what’s the angle for this blog? It’s the family emergency preparedness pamphlet from the Children’s Health Fund that the show helped pay for, which was developed [...]

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I recently watched a review copy of Harry Shearer’s new documentary “The Big Uneasy,” which examines the underlying reasons for the Hurricane Katrina disaster. The movie was particularly striking to me in that it takes a rare non-partisan approach to the topic.
In fact, Shearer — the actor, comedian, activist and a New Orleans resident – said he was [...]

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FEMA and the Ad Council today are releasing a new series of bilingual PSAs aimed at encouraging Americans to prepare for emergencies. The Spanish PSA’s direct viewers to Listo.Gov, the Spanish version of Ready.gov and the English to Ready.

One of the FEMA/Ad Council Listo.Gov Spanish PSAs.

One of the FEMA/Ad Council Ready.Gov English PSAs.

These icons link [...]

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As the U.S. marks the ninth anniversary of 9/11, I wanted to post some ideas that I think would help raise citizen preparedness and engagement. The recommendations come from discussions that I have had with people involved in all aspects of the issue, my own experiences as a parent and CERT member in New York [...]

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As the U.S. marks the anniversary of 9/11, I wanted to mention the Preview Site for the National September 11 Memorial for readers who live in the New York area or are planning a visit here.
The Preview Site provides a sense of the forthcoming National Memorial and Museum, which is scheduled to open in 2011. It [...]

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The New York City’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) and the Ad Council have just released a new public service announcement in which top City officials are asked, “What would you do in an emergency?”
The City Council President, Deputy Mayor, the commissioners of OEM, Fire, Health Department and Immigrant Affairs all give their quick answers in [...]

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The U.S. State Department and the Ad Council have just released tv and radio public service announcements asking Americans to contribute to Pakistan flood relief. In one of the video PSAs, Secretary of State Hilary Clinton says:
Currently more than 20 million Pakistanis have been affected by the worst natural disaster in Pakistan’s history. The pictures we see [...]

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FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate interviewed earlier today on “Good Morning America” (below) warned residents of the eastern seaboard to “make sure you have a plan today, You may not have time later on this week if the storm moves in your direction.”
He told Robin Roberts that people who live in evacuation zones need to plan [...]

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As the nation marks the 5th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, I wanted to post a terrific list of preparedness tips and lessons learned from the disaster survivors that was collected by the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
The Times-Picayune, which did such heroic coverage during and after Katrina, solicited these ideas from readers in 2006 and printed [...]

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I was recently sent a screening copy of a compelling new documentary, “Countdown To Zero” about nuclear proliferation. Featuring interviews with a who’s who of world leaders and nuclear experts, the movie traces the history of the atomic bomb through the current nuclear threat.
Nine nations now have nuclear weapons and the movie argues that number could [...]

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