Future tsunami warning system stalled by international bickering

From Nature (subscription required)

A plan to set up a tsunami warning system for the Indian Ocean — and eventually the whole world — received enthusiastic support in Kobe, Japan, last week. But observers cautioned that the job is being made harder by a lack of coordination and data sharing between countries.

Coordination is necessary both to ensure that resources are not wasted and to avoid potential confusion from conflicting warnings, says Laura Kong, director of the International Tsunami Information Center in Honolulu, Hawaii. “Instruments in the Indian Ocean are currently owned and used by a number of countries. We must ensure coordination and sharing of data,” she says.

But so far coordination has been seen as lacking. One US representative, for example, noted at the conference that he had learned more about Germany’s technical plans by talking to the press than from meetings with German representatives themselves.

India has also been criticized for not sharing tide-gauge data that are essential for understanding the ocean’s dynamics, and for refusing access to some researchers keen to study the country and its islands in the wake of the earthquake.

As we’ve sadly witnessed, tsunamis are inherently international disasters. UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission should play the pivotal role in international disaster prediction and detection in this regard and bring all contributor nations to the same table to coordinate their efforts constructively.

Paul Martin’s strategy for Gomery

Below is a figure that presents a straightforward black and white look at the Gomery inquiry and what it should be able to accomplish

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Gomery Inquiry – Click to Enlarge

and here’s the sheet off of which Paul Martin (and other Liberals) have most likely been taking strategic advice

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Liberal strategy – Click to Enlarge

Paul Martin takes the stand in a few hours, it should be interesting to watch.

Golf Clap for Warren Kinsella

Jane Taber had to write about it, but you didn’t have to go to Jane to read it. Every newspaper reported it; to them it was the highlight of Chretien’s testimony. Like him or loathe him, Jean Chretien upstaged his testimony yesterday by criticizing Judge Gomery’s small town cheap comment and signature golf balls by pulling out the golf balls of other ‘small town cheaps’ such as Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and even the law firm of Gomery’s daughter. There’s no doubt that he hijacked the inquiry with his political stunt and it is infuriating that it detracts from the pursuit of the truth, yet it was “the best political theatre of the season”.

It accomplished three important objectives for Chretien

  1. It parlayed perfectly into the embattled ex-PM’s sordid strategy of tearing down Gomery’s image of objectivity.
  2. It dominated the news cycle instead of the very fact that Don Teflon Jean was finally on the stand for his potential role in the largest government corruption scandal in Canadian history.
  3. It was funny, adding an air of likeability to Chretien’s character in the eyes of the public (whom are generally not paying as much attention to this inquiry as they ought to be).

It’s rumoured that Warren Kinsella orchestrated the entire event and for his part in what he does best, I say “Bravo”. Well played.

Theatre aside, this is also about justice and if Chretien gave political direction in defrauding Canadian taxpayers for partisan political gain, I hope that Gomery tees him up.

Fore!