Hurricane Dorian "Sharpiegate" Violated Integrity Rules

Last year's Sharpiegate scandal was a warning that "alternative facts"
over real science could have dangerous consequences. We certainly
learned that this year.

Yes, I'm back to Sharpiegate, that moment last year that seems so long ago when President Trump falsely said Hurricane Dorian would affect Alabama, and later showed a map altered with a Sharpie that falsely suggested the hurricane had been forecast to hit that area.

New reporting this week shows that NOAA officials violated science integrity rules when scrambling to incorrectly back up Donald Trump's wrong statement last year that Hurricane Dorian would blast Alabama, among other things.

In the grand scheme of things, Sharpiegate seems so insignificant now with the nation's botched Covid-19 response killing people and the Black Lives Matter movement highlighting the stain of racism and police brutality in the United States.

However, Sharpiegate is important in a way because it shows how Trump's sycophants prioritize the "need" to massage Trump's super needy ego at the expense of truth, sound policy, and in this case, science.  As we've learned since, ignoring science can be deadly.

This whole thing with what happened last year should have been a small forgettable gaffe that all presidents make.  In the run up to dangerous Hurricane Dorian, Trump included Alabama in a list of states that could be affected.

Very early forecasts had suggested just that, but in the days leading up to Trump's' words, Alabama was off the table. That state would escape Dorian scot-free.

Due to panicked messages they were receiving after Trump spoke, the Birmingham office of the National Weather Service issued a statement saying that Dorian would not affect the state.

A normal president would have then said, "Oopsie, I had bad information. Turns out Alabama's fine," then dropped the whole thing. From there, everybody would have moved on.

But no, not Trump. He always seems ready to waste lots of precious time, resources and reputation to claim he is always right, evidence be damned.

So we had Sharpiegate

The latest report, via Gizmodo and many other media outlets, is this:

"Internal documents supposedly showed that Tim Gallaudet, NOAA's deputy administrator, nor Neil Jacobs, the acting NOAA administrator, had authorized the press release backing Trump - instead, the order apparently came from Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, who issued threats to fire Jacobs and other top NOAA officials. Per the Washington Post, an inquiry conducted on NOAA's behalf by the nonprofit National Academy of Public Administration now finds Jacobs and NOAA deputy chief of staff/director of communications Julie Roberts committed at least two violations of scientific integrity rules in issuing the statement claiming NWS Birmingham was wrong. 

The report also concluded that neither official commited a violation when they issued media guidance that limited NOAA scientists from speaking openly to the media about the matter. But Jacobs and Roberts 'intentionally, knowingly or in reckless disregard,' violated conduct and ethics sections of the NOAA Scientific Integrity Policy twice: First by refusing to let scientists in Birmingham review the statement pre-publication, and then sending it out and "compromising NOAA's integrity and reputation as an independent scientific agency."

Of course, this won't matter very much for the people involved, since apparently nobody is facing consequences for these violations. Typical in this administration.  Everybody seems to do whatever they want, regardless of legality and ethics. No wonder there are howls of protest against this administration echoing across the United States.

When Sharpiegate first erupted last year, I said this would erode trust in science, facts and policy when more serious issues came along.  And sure enough, Covid came on the scene, and once again, people who should know better are creating "alternate facts" to appease Trump's little mind.

This time, though, unlike Sharpiegate, millions of lives are at stake and there have already probably been thousands of needless deaths.

Sharpiegate was a warning to the nation about how dangerous this administration is.  We should have listened.

Your Yearly (Scary) Reminder Not To Be An Idiot On Snowy Highways

Aftermath of that big highway pileup in Iowa Monday. Photo
via the Des Moines Register

We get these videos every winter. A snowy and icy Interstate highway.  A minor accident ahead causes people to brake.

But some people are distracting. Others, who have four wheel drive, think that allows them to stop on a dime.  Still others are panicking, and stopping right in the path of the cars and trucks behind them.

The inevitable big pileup then happens.

Such was the case yesterday, as you can see in the video at the bottom of this post from television station KCCI.  Interstate 80 was snow covered and slick.  A minor accident happened. Then, boom! Everybody piles into each other.

The Des Moines Register reports that luckily, only one person suffered serious injuries in the 50-vehicle pileup near Altoona, Iowa, which is east of Des Moines.

One side note:  Why do big tractor trailers go so fast in the snow?  I've regularly been nearly forced off the road by truckers blasting by me at top speeds on Interstate 89 in Vermont during icy snowstorms.

My cynical side says they stir up so much blowing snow that they know they won't be caught if they cause a crash. Who cares if somebody dies?  They have a schedule to make!  It might not be precisely the truck drivers' fault.

Most of them probably do care if they kill someone in a icy highway crash. But the trucking companies put pressure on the drivers to adhere to schedules, no matter what. It's some of the trucking companies, who believe the bottom line is much more important than peoples' lives. That's not all the trucking firms, but some of them.

Notice how many tractor trailers were involved in the crash you see in the video below.  This wasn't the fault of all of 'em, but perhaps some of them.

It's certainly not just the truck drivers.  A lot of people ignore this, but you need to greatly increase the distance between you and the car in front of you in case you have to hit the brakes. Granted, this is hard to do, because when I try this, somebody inevitably passes me and then cuts in front of my truck just inches from my headlights. But you have to try, I guess.

This should be obvious, but slow the hell down!  And no, your four wheel drive vehicle will NOT enable you to stop in a shorter distance without skidding.  Four wheel drive is good for traction, but it does not give you a license to speed.

It seems like most people don't understand this. I drive a four-wheel drive pickup truck, and I certainly get the evil eye from speed demon pickup drivers because I'm driving so "slowly" on the ice.

What should you do if you're caught up in a pileup?  Accuweather says at least initially, you should stay in your car, even as more collisions are happening around you.  At least your car, or the remains of it, provide some structure to protect you for oncoming cars and trucks. That's better than getting run over or smooshed when you're getting out of your car.

Accuweather says once things calm down a bit, you can get out, but then stand behind a guardrail or tree.  If you're not hurt call 911 and see if anybody else needs help.

It was warm in Vermont this morning, but a cold front is on our doorstep. That means temperatures will rapidly fall this afternoon and evening. Icy patches will develop on the roads. Will you be the cause of the next pileup when this happens? Don't be that person.

Here's footage of the Iowa pileup on Monday: