Yes, as fucking unbelievable as this sounds, especially in the wake of Katrina, Bush is cutting NOAA.
Of course, he's upped their PUBLIC RELATIONS expenditures! Gotta look good!
The new director is none too happy; guess he's not a true Bushie (and will soon be gone).
The frickin' quotes after the fold.
From here we find the new director a tad unhappy.
Over the past week public comments from the new director of the National Hurricane Center criticizing plans to rename his center and accusing his parent agency of wasting millions of dollars on a public relations campaign while cutting vital research funding, were followed by the unexpected departure of two top weather service officials. Now following these public accusations and earlier reports that the new budget contains no money for research flights, NOAA has confirmed that it is cutting funding to the famous 'Hurricane Hunters' based in Tampa, FL.
From the St. Petersbug Times:
Federal officials plan to significantly reduce the number of "hurricane hunter" flights from Tampa's MacDill Air Force base this year, even though predictions call for a busy hurricane season.
Crews will fly fewer hours because some of their missions can be combined for efficiency, said Philip Kenul of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
For example, some reconnaissance flights in which pilots aim directly into the eye of a storm can be combined with other flights aimed at research purposes. That way, the crews can accomplish two goals with one flight, he said.
Safety will not be compromised, Kenul said. *** Safety for crews, but what about safety for our towns and citizens??? ***
"We're just trying to be a little bit smarter about the way we spend federal dollars, " he said. *** Oh, please!! Stop! My sides are hurting from laughing about THIS one!!! ***
But Kenul's comments came only days after the new director of the National Hurricane Center, Bill Proenza, criticized the NOAA for failing to put enough money into research programs and equipment.
Dan Sobien, president of the National Weather Service Employees Organization, said Friday he would like to know more about the reduction in hours.
If you want to read the rest of the article, about 150mg of Valium should be taken first, unless you want to burst a blood vessel in your brain.