National Weather Service to offer early retirement to 1,000

[finecraft]

I mean, it's not like we need veteran, experienced hurricane forecasters or anything.....:sarcasm:

http://www.tampabays10.com/news/news.aspx?storyid=25367

ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (AP) -- The National Weather Service has drafted a cost-cutting plan that could offer early retirement to as many as one-thousand of its employees, including veteran hurricane forecasters in Florida.

A voluntary retirement plan would qualify approximately one-thousand of the National Weather Service's four-thousand-seven-hundred employees for early retirement.

Positions left vacant by retirements would either be filled by junior staff members or left vacant, according to a report published today.

In Florida, 68 employees would qualify for the plan, including 13 of the 42 staff members at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

[MadMaddie]

1. This is unreal...Just when you think that they can't do any more damage...

Is it that they are going to gut the organization so they can put their cronies in..So instead of having knowledgable people in these positions you put in people that hem and haw and get more people killed....

When is the madness going to stop?

:mad:

[Bluebear]

2. The whole fucking country is being dismantled.

Pardon my French.

'Positions left vacant by retirements would either be filled by junior staff members or left vacant'

Oh I just wonder what the ratio of THAT factoid is!

[CrazyOrangeCat]

5. yes, dismantled.

and use any language you choose. this is so fucking unbelievable. welcome to the Dark Ages.

[Coexist]

3. Its because of Rick Santorum's ridiculous idea:

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0429-25.htm

Santorum Wants to Privatize Weather Forecast
by David Rossie
<snip>
In other words, American taxpayers, whose dollars support the NWS, would not, if this wacky legislation were to become law, be able to obtain weather information from that source, because the same or similar service is provided by private weather forecasting companies such as AccuWeather, and the Weather Channel.

And here the plot thickens. The Tribune-Review notes that Joel and Barry Myers, founders and executives of AccuWeather, which has its headquarters at State College, Pa., have donated to Ricky's election campaigns.

[MadMaddie]

6. Could you imagine privatizing the Weather Bureau

They would follow the same process they have with dismantling all other government agencies....

They will pick and chose what cities they inform of impending disasters. They will stop sending funds to the weather bureau for new technology.

Honestly, I think it's getting to the point that states are going to have to band together to protect themselves, kind of like coalitions to defend themselves against impending dissasters: weather, nukes etc.

The neocons in 6 years have dismanttled and have broken so many of these agencies that it would be easier to start over then trying to fix them..

If the dems get back in power I am hoping they have a plan to get the fired, whistle blowere, retired out experienced personell back. We are in some serious trouble!!

[suffragette]

4. This makes an interesting companion piece

with the disclosure that NOAA has been censoring researchers who study global warming.
See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x386633

Guess "minding" scientists wasn't enough so now they'll just get rid of them.

Gag the researchers, say goodbye to the forecasters, say hello to what, that the NWS isn't performing (because of the cuts) so it will need to be privatized?

Rotten, just rotten.

[MnFats]

7. and NWS was the ONLY agency that performed adequately during KATRINA!

perfect, just perfect.
multiple outrages every day now.....used to be just about one a day...

[MadMaddie]

8. The Neocon mantra...

If it is a functioning organization they must tear it down and break it, and then claim that it never worked that well anyway!!:grr:

[finecraft]

9. I totally agree with you

I'm suffering from "Outrage Fatigue".