A life-long buddy sent me the following today. while I have been trying to conform it through "official" sources, it seems to be something that is going around the Blogosphere as though the Corliolis Effect was driving it:

The Senate Commerce Committee held hearings this afternoon on Katrina. The House Science Committee will be holding hearing Wednesday morning (9/21). Sen. Ben Nelson (Florida) asked Max Mayfield whether it was true that Secretary Chertoff (the head of homeland security) & Department of Homeland Security (DHS) used Accuweather for hurricane forecasts of Katrina and he confirmed it. The National Infrastructure Command Center in DHS prepared an "overnight summary" for secretary Chertoff on Katrina that was based on Accuweather hurricane predictions rather than hurricane forecast information from the National Hurricane Center. This dates from when former PA. Governor Ridge was Secretary of homeland security. What's even most shocking is that the "NOAA Desk" in the DHS Ops Center, staffed by a primary & two backup NWS meteorologists, prepared forecasts for Secretary Chertoff based on the National Hurricane Center; however, it is unsure that this ever made it to the Secretary. To make matters worse & even more confusing, FEMA relies solely on NWS products, which includes those issued by the National Hurricane Center. So FEMA (which only uses NWS) and the DHS (which uses Accuweather) are not even looking at the same forecasts! The NWS NHC's track for Katrina was significantly different & more accurate than Accuweather's. Just recently, Accuweather's track for Ophelia brought it across Florida & into the Gulf. In both cases, Accuweather's forecast was dead wrong. The end result is that the head of homeland security & DHS & FEMA received conflicting forecasts. Sen. Bill Nelson also asked Max Mayfield about consolidation and downsizing of WFOs and Max Mayfield unequivocally said it was a very bad idea, and that he hopes that it doesn't happen and that the local WFOs are an essential part of NWS. Senator Nelson also trashed Accuweather and, without naming Santorum, blasted those who would try to take NWS off the air and off the internet to help commercial interests.

Well... Accuweather, large ($$$) donor to Senator Rick "Box Turtle" Santorum, affectionately AKA Rick Santorectum... What a surprise. DHS relies on commercial for-profit weather forecasting. Instead of the home-grown product. Now, besides the question of accuracy and timeliness of the "product", can somebody tell me WHY my tax dollars are going to line the pockets of a Wingnut Senator's money tree, when we have a perfectly GOOD forcasting service available in the person of NOAA? Isn't that like buying tomatoes from the guy down the road, when you have a perfectly good tomato patch in your own back yard, just because you wanna get next to his daughter? How much IS that Accuweather contract with DHS, if it does indeed exist? Huh? And who is Harriet Mier? The woman Shrubb-a-dub-dub has nominated to the SCROTUS? Wonder if "Fat Tony" and "Long-Dong" Clarence are gonna be as pissed over this as they SHOULD be over getting passed over in favour of The New Kid? Never sat on a bench before. Shoot, with THAT kind of benchmarking, would MIT please contact me next time they have a vacancy for their EE department Chair? I'm interested, and JUST as quallified as "Judge" Miers... Hell, Judge JUDY would be more qualified, IMO... What interesting times we are cursed to live in!

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