Crash of Symbols
Does anyone besides your faithful, if occasional, correspondent see the very strange irony in what befell the world of scouting last week?
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Experts: Scouts Unprepared for Jamboree
BOWLING GREEN, Va. (AP) - Their motto is: ``Be prepared.'' But as the disaster-riddled National Boy Scout Jamboree carries on following five deaths and hundreds of heat-related illnesses, event planners from across the country are wondering just how prepared the Scouts were.
``That's the part that breaks my heart - there are things you can avoid and
things you can't,'' said Phyllis Cambria, an event planner from Boca Raton, Fla., who has written several books on the subject. ``This one sounds like it was an avoidable one.''
______________
Those aware of the large follies of our war-happy rulers may see in the fatal scouting debacle at Fort A.P. Hill, signs, portents and lessons writ in a smaller hand. (We will pass on historical irony. Hill was a Confederate general, a good one, killed for an unwholesome cause)
_______
On Monday, four Scout leaders were electrocuted in front of several Scouts after they lost control of the towering metal pole at the center of a large, white dining tent, sending it toppling into nearby power lines. The day before, a volunteer was taken to a hospital where he died of an
apparent heart attack.
On Wednesday, 40,000 Scouting enthusiasts waited hours in the stifling heat for an appearance by President Bush, who ended up postponing his visit due to the threat of severe thunderstorms. Sun-sick Scouts began collapsing and more than 300 people were treated for heat-related illnesses.
``I don't think it's wise to make judgment on things that could've,
should've, would've been done,'' Jamboree spokeswoman Renee Fairrer said.
________
Yeah, no sense in looking back to see how we screwed up, how so many people got hurt or died. We had a plan going in and, you know, it was a damn good one.
_________
The troops involved in the electrocution accident hired a contractor to set
up the dining tent. The contractors asked the Scout leaders for assistance
in erecting the structure - directly below a set of power lines.
__________
But really, aren’t contractors supposed to ease the burden of our troops - ehh - scouts and let them concentrate on, on .... earning their merit badges?
__________
Scouting teachings dictate that tents not be erected under trees or power
lines, a Jamboree spokesman said. And potential Scout leaders go through rigorous safety training before they join the organization, said Scout leader Kevin Rudden, 51, of Mendon, Mass.
``It's the most safety-conscious, risk-averse organization I've ever met in
my life - there's a policy for everything,'' Rudden said. ``That's why it's
just surprising that this happened. I mean, it's just counterintuitive to
all that you're trained. You can't explain it.''
___________
I can explain. It’s called the myth of competence. Then there is the cult of personality:
__________
What could have prevented the heat illnesses is another question.
``You'd like to say the cool heads should have recognized the potential for heat-related illness, but it's so extraordinary - I suspect the president's
security precautions really were the driver,'' Waltz said.
Indeed, White House security rules dictated that the Scouts go through
lengthy security checks and be waiting inside the arena two hours before
the president's arrival, Fairrer said.
``The White House security rules ... are certainly in place to make sure
the president and his entourage are protected and we certainly respect
that,'' she said. ``But at some point, we have to say this just jeopardizes
the health of the youth too much.''
____________
Our chief executive is no stranger to jeopardizing the health of youth, American or Iraqi. Not in a specifically intended way, mind you. No his calculation is always in another direction, the weather eye on his own prestige and his party’s grasp of power. If kids get hurt as a result that’s very sad, but there are big, big issues at stake, right?
Which brings us around to the Shuttle Discovery, and what we have discovered is that a huge government, quasi military, program when faced with a terminal situation hunkers down with its can-do, achievement-oriented, keep-’em-flying attitude and proceeds to crawl even further out onto the cracking limb.
The Challenger disaster, itself a marvel of delusional engineering, came hard before the glorious Iraqi adventure was joined and that failed mission was quickly enough neglected by the public mind. First off we had a dictator to topple and then American power to advance and no one likes to meditate upon American failure, especially when our finest causes - exploration and freedom - are engaged by the best we have available.
Alas ‘best available’ can sometimes be not good enough, a lesson every soldier and most citizens who’ve held jobs understand completely. Problems fester and multiply when ‘best’ is drawn from a narrow range of ‘available’ .
_________
Even NASA officials acknowledged that they erred. "We decided it was safe to fly as is. Obviously, we were wrong," Bill Parsons, manager of the shuttle program, said Wednesday.
_________
“Obviously, we were wrong.” One marvels at the candor; so clear, so off-message, so rare. More in line is this from yesterday:
_______
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA chief Michael D. Griffin reaffirmed his commitment to the shuttle program Friday and took personal responsibility for the foam problems that have a put a damper on the Discovery mission.
"I think we're going to fix it in short order, and we're going to get back flying," Griffin said, reacting to the loss of foam from the shuttle's external fuel tank during launch Tuesday. "We don't expect this to be a long, drawn-out affair, to be honest with you."
The administrator also defended the agency's efforts during the past two years to improve the shuttle tank, saying the work was not a failure. He said Discovery has suffered less damage to its fragile heat-protective tiles than most shuttles.
"Discovery is the cleanest bird we've seen," said Griffin in a conference call from Washington.
________
Now all we have to do is get it down....
_____________
Experts: Scouts Unprepared for Jamboree
BOWLING GREEN, Va. (AP) - Their motto is: ``Be prepared.'' But as the disaster-riddled National Boy Scout Jamboree carries on following five deaths and hundreds of heat-related illnesses, event planners from across the country are wondering just how prepared the Scouts were.
``That's the part that breaks my heart - there are things you can avoid and
things you can't,'' said Phyllis Cambria, an event planner from Boca Raton, Fla., who has written several books on the subject. ``This one sounds like it was an avoidable one.''
______________
Those aware of the large follies of our war-happy rulers may see in the fatal scouting debacle at Fort A.P. Hill, signs, portents and lessons writ in a smaller hand. (We will pass on historical irony. Hill was a Confederate general, a good one, killed for an unwholesome cause)
_______
On Monday, four Scout leaders were electrocuted in front of several Scouts after they lost control of the towering metal pole at the center of a large, white dining tent, sending it toppling into nearby power lines. The day before, a volunteer was taken to a hospital where he died of an
apparent heart attack.
On Wednesday, 40,000 Scouting enthusiasts waited hours in the stifling heat for an appearance by President Bush, who ended up postponing his visit due to the threat of severe thunderstorms. Sun-sick Scouts began collapsing and more than 300 people were treated for heat-related illnesses.
``I don't think it's wise to make judgment on things that could've,
should've, would've been done,'' Jamboree spokeswoman Renee Fairrer said.
________
Yeah, no sense in looking back to see how we screwed up, how so many people got hurt or died. We had a plan going in and, you know, it was a damn good one.
_________
The troops involved in the electrocution accident hired a contractor to set
up the dining tent. The contractors asked the Scout leaders for assistance
in erecting the structure - directly below a set of power lines.
__________
But really, aren’t contractors supposed to ease the burden of our troops - ehh - scouts and let them concentrate on, on .... earning their merit badges?
__________
Scouting teachings dictate that tents not be erected under trees or power
lines, a Jamboree spokesman said. And potential Scout leaders go through rigorous safety training before they join the organization, said Scout leader Kevin Rudden, 51, of Mendon, Mass.
``It's the most safety-conscious, risk-averse organization I've ever met in
my life - there's a policy for everything,'' Rudden said. ``That's why it's
just surprising that this happened. I mean, it's just counterintuitive to
all that you're trained. You can't explain it.''
___________
I can explain. It’s called the myth of competence. Then there is the cult of personality:
__________
What could have prevented the heat illnesses is another question.
``You'd like to say the cool heads should have recognized the potential for heat-related illness, but it's so extraordinary - I suspect the president's
security precautions really were the driver,'' Waltz said.
Indeed, White House security rules dictated that the Scouts go through
lengthy security checks and be waiting inside the arena two hours before
the president's arrival, Fairrer said.
``The White House security rules ... are certainly in place to make sure
the president and his entourage are protected and we certainly respect
that,'' she said. ``But at some point, we have to say this just jeopardizes
the health of the youth too much.''
____________
Our chief executive is no stranger to jeopardizing the health of youth, American or Iraqi. Not in a specifically intended way, mind you. No his calculation is always in another direction, the weather eye on his own prestige and his party’s grasp of power. If kids get hurt as a result that’s very sad, but there are big, big issues at stake, right?
Which brings us around to the Shuttle Discovery, and what we have discovered is that a huge government, quasi military, program when faced with a terminal situation hunkers down with its can-do, achievement-oriented, keep-’em-flying attitude and proceeds to crawl even further out onto the cracking limb.
The Challenger disaster, itself a marvel of delusional engineering, came hard before the glorious Iraqi adventure was joined and that failed mission was quickly enough neglected by the public mind. First off we had a dictator to topple and then American power to advance and no one likes to meditate upon American failure, especially when our finest causes - exploration and freedom - are engaged by the best we have available.
Alas ‘best available’ can sometimes be not good enough, a lesson every soldier and most citizens who’ve held jobs understand completely. Problems fester and multiply when ‘best’ is drawn from a narrow range of ‘available’ .
_________
Even NASA officials acknowledged that they erred. "We decided it was safe to fly as is. Obviously, we were wrong," Bill Parsons, manager of the shuttle program, said Wednesday.
_________
“Obviously, we were wrong.” One marvels at the candor; so clear, so off-message, so rare. More in line is this from yesterday:
_______
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - NASA chief Michael D. Griffin reaffirmed his commitment to the shuttle program Friday and took personal responsibility for the foam problems that have a put a damper on the Discovery mission.
"I think we're going to fix it in short order, and we're going to get back flying," Griffin said, reacting to the loss of foam from the shuttle's external fuel tank during launch Tuesday. "We don't expect this to be a long, drawn-out affair, to be honest with you."
The administrator also defended the agency's efforts during the past two years to improve the shuttle tank, saying the work was not a failure. He said Discovery has suffered less damage to its fragile heat-protective tiles than most shuttles.
"Discovery is the cleanest bird we've seen," said Griffin in a conference call from Washington.
________
Now all we have to do is get it down....
posted by Will Divide at 7:17 AM
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