I keep trying to write a letter in defense of the National Weather Service

[Nikki Stone 1]

(because of Rick Santorum's attacks on it) and I can't--I keep cracking up.

Some opening lines:

"I am a big fan of the National Weather Service"

"I would like to speak up in support of the National Weather Service"

"Of all the government agencies, my favorite is the National Weather Service."

Actually, I am a noaa.gov geek. I love watching the hurricanes and looking at their satellite photos. I have friends and family in three different hurricane prone areas, and I normally keep track of hurricanes headed toward LA, FL and NC every fall using the National Weather Service website.

But for some reason, I can't get a serious line down. Please help!

[HeeBGBz]

1. NWS blows me away

NWS you're the Wind Beneath my Wings...

Sorry, I give up.

[Nikki Stone 1]

3. Why is it so hard to be serious? (I do love the National Weather Service)

:loveya:

[HeeBGBz]

7. Sorry, I love them too. They are getting scapegoated

In reality, they are the only ones who did anything right.

[Nikki Stone 1]

13. The ONLY government agency who got it RIGHT. Yes.

:applause:

[GOPFighter]

2. You made my day

I work for NOAA (not in for the Weather Service though) :toast:

[Nikki Stone 1]

9. Really? You guys have the COOLEST website

I'm not usually obsessed by natural disasters. But there's something about actually being able to watch satellite images of storms as they form and change and move. I have no fewer than 10 images of Katrina at various stages that I printed out.

[GOPFighter]

25. NOAA's probably the most interesting gov. agency to work for

Weather, Oceanography, envoronmental protection, hydrographic surveys. We have a number of research and survey ships that go everywhere in the world. NOAA has a lot of science geeks working for us.

[SoCalDem]

10. I actually wrote a letter to NoAA about some water I have in a bottle

It was collected from Veradero Beach in 1952.. I thought they might be interested in what it might contain from way back then..compared to what's in the water these days.. i guess they thought I was nuts..I nevfer heard back :) Still have the water..

[Lochloosa]

19. Yeah, your nuts...

[SoCalDem]

20. ...

:P

[longship]

4. Frame what you want to say first.

If need be outline it, if only to help organize your thoughts.

Flesh out the body, looking for a theme on which to focus. Use a metaphor, a useful occurence you've experienced, something else close to you, or a historic context of which you are knowledgeable. Lead in with that and transition to your body. Wrap it up with a return to your original theme (with a clever tag line, of course).

[Nikki Stone 1]

11. There is one serious theme that keeps coming back to me:

The National Weather Service is one of the best working agencies in the US government. Like FEMA used to be, like Social Security is until they "privatize" it. It's as if the Bush administration is picking the BEST government agencies and destroying them. But that sounds so tin-foil-hat.:tinfoilhat:

[longship]

22. That'll work.

Find a statistic about the success of NWS from Google. Lead in with a flat statement of fact.

You might want to itemize the federal, state, and local agencies which depend on NWS for their information and flesh that out.

The NWS is an essential government service on which so many people depend... blah, blah, blah.

Just some suggestions.

[electron_blue]

5. well how about instead of focusing on how great they are

point out that getting an accurate weather forecast shouldn't depend on having enough pocket change to pay for it.

Or pilots deciding to just fly bcs they think they can predict the weather well enough, rather than paying for another look-see.

Or that privatizing the weather forecast will only bring up terrible conflict of interest issues between big business and the public.

Or that if the private weather forecasters (like accuweather) can't compete with the NWS, then that's their problem, not the NWS. Use the USPS and fed-x, UPS, DHL as a counter-example of successful privatized companies competing with a federal one.


Just off the top of my head. I'm sure there are even better arguments that can be made.

[Nikki Stone 1]

12. YOU should be writing this letter.

Those are all excellent points.

[xxqqqzme]

6. yet another victim of the

norquistian crusade.

[ThoughtCriminal]

8. Thanks NOAA

Saved my bacon more than once.

[Gman]

14. So you admit you love the weather and hate America

You're either with the weather or your with the USA. You hate the troops in NOLA. You probably love all the MSM bad news out of NOLA. You hate the good things being done in NOLA.

USA! USA! USA!

[Nikki Stone 1]

15. I love ALL weather, foreign and domestic

:)

[Gman]

18. Traitor!

We've got to fight the weather in New Orleans or we'll be fighting it all over America. You're either with the weather or you're with the USA!

USA! USA! USA!

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. "I have a tremendous amount of respect for the NWS....."

then state all the reasons why.


------------------------------------------------------
Ditch Bu$h and save the Gulf: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=106&topic_id=22507&mesg_id=22507

Then save the nation!
http://www.geocities.com/greenpartyvoter/electionreform.htm

[Nikki Stone 1]

21. How about this to start? (please advise and edit)

I have a great respect for the National Weather Service. They provide
timely and accurate information to all Americans, regardless of income level. Their forecasts are accurate and have certainly saved lives. A case in point is Hurricane Katrina. The NWS was accurate about the position and path of the storm and its growing strength. The 75-80% of New Orleans that was able to evacuate did so because of predictions from the National Weather Service. The NWS cannot be absolutely perfect because weather can change and storm paths can shift slightly. But the NWS is as accurate as weather forecasting gets.

That is why Rick Santorum's ridiculous attack on the National Weather Service must be addressed. Santorum (which must be Latin for "of the insane") contends that the NWS was not accurate about Hurricane Katrina and blames the aftermath of the storm on inaccurate forecasting. If Santorum were not hell bent on privatizing the NWS, his remarks would be on the lunatic fringe, about as credible as Pat Robertson's remarks about assassinating Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. But Santorum represents the neoconservative movement's unending goal to "privatize" (ie, destroy) government agencies that are actually working. Of all the government agencies involved with Hurricane Katrina, the National Weather Service was the only one that got it RIGHT.

Then again, other agencies that "get it right" have been and continue to be targets of neoconservative ideology. The once professional and efficient FEMA has been turned into a running joke, thanks to the current administration's treatment of the agency as a poor stepchild of DHS (Department of Homeland Security) where terrorism is the focus and natural disasters, far less important.

[GreenPartyVoter]

23. Who are you writing this to? I ask because the second and third paragraphs

make excellent factual points but have the slightly snarky tone I would expect in a blog piece. So as a blog piece this is great, as a letter to a government agency or a newspaper, it needs to be more formal sounding.

I am off to bed. Will check in on your revisions again tomorrow.

:hug:

[Nikki Stone 1]

24. Thanks. It does get snarky.

Let me fix it.

[eallen]

17. The NWS was the real hero...

Their tracking was dead on days before the hurricane made landfall. They warned in the direst terms about the hurricane's intensity and likely damage. Director Max Mayfield personally called the mayor, governor, and president. The NWS performed above and beyond.