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Definition: “Resilience – The Capacity to Bend Without Breaking”

2023-03-01T20:51:31+00:00

Definition: “Resilience - The Capacity to Bend Without Breaking” By Jim Mullen Emergency Once Removed My favorite English professor at Western Washington, Arthur Hicks, taught Shakespeare. He administered daily, graded 10-minute snap exams on some aspect of the previous day’s reading - if you did well, he would write on your paper “so far, good…but” and he would then point out additional insights (channeling Shakespeare, I presume) the student might have incorporated into the exam response. When I asked why he did that, he said there was always something more to learn, something more to uncover - “so far, good” [...]

Definition: “Resilience – The Capacity to Bend Without Breaking”2023-03-01T20:51:31+00:00

And Another Thing… (notes from a grumpy septuagenarian) – Dec 2022

2023-01-03T23:32:12+00:00

And Another Thing (notes from a grumpy septuagenarian) By Jim Mullen Emergency Once Removed As our nation lurches into a worrisome and contentious period in our history, I’ll share some less-than-earth-shaking thoughts I have had recently (if you open your window, you may hear me shouting). I’m inclined never to take any drug advertised on TV where disclaimers of negative effects take many times longer to describe than the singular positive impact. I’ll make do with my ailment. How come whenever I switch to a Premier Soccer League telecast, no matter what point in the game I tune in, the score [...]

And Another Thing… (notes from a grumpy septuagenarian) – Dec 20222023-01-03T23:32:12+00:00

Education = National Security

2022-12-15T18:55:36+00:00

Education = National Security By Jim Mullen Emergency Management Once Removed As a student financial aid director at a struggling private college in Illinois in the early 1970s, I had the responsibility of ensuring that students could finance their college educations without incurring loan obligations that would inhibit their personal and professional futures while assuring that the institution itself survived. Angst over student loan debt is not a new development. During the Cold War, improved access to higher education for all Americans became a national security issue. Soviet Union successes (launching “Sputnik” in 1957, Gagarin’s sub-orbital flight in 1961) persuaded [...]

Education = National Security2022-12-15T18:55:36+00:00

Emergency Management: Tough to Do, Tougher to Teach

2022-10-20T19:50:31+00:00

Emergency Management: Tough to Do, Tougher to  Teach by Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed During the Great Depression, a young Lyndon Baines Johnson (LBJ) interviewed for a teaching position in Texas. During his interview, when asked, “Is the world flat or round” – he replied, “I can teach it either way!” He was hired. It’s not easy for those that teach emergency management in the 21st Century. The integration of the four primary elements of emergency management - mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery already are tough but critical concepts for people immersed in day-to-day issues of government (or life) [...]

Emergency Management: Tough to Do, Tougher to Teach2022-10-20T19:50:31+00:00

“You don’t need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows…” (Bob Dylan.et al.)

2022-09-13T20:01:33+00:00

“You don’t need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows…” (Bob Dylan.et al.) by Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed In this era of increasingly dangerous weather events, among the most dangerous are those slow-moving storm systems that pause over an area for an extended period before moving on or dissipating. It’s prudent to be alert to the potential for devastation and tragic consequences from such storms. Years ago, emergency managers developed a partnership with the National Weather Service (NWS), encouraging scientists to provide the earliest possible worst-case weather scenarios that might occur to aid us in preparing the public. A different [...]

“You don’t need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows…” (Bob Dylan.et al.)2022-09-13T20:01:33+00:00

Studying the Past, Confronting the Present, Shaping the Future

2022-07-26T19:20:16+00:00

Studying the Past, Confronting the Present, Shaping the Future by Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed The epidemic of mass shootings (defined as incidents where four or more persons are injured) in our country are emotionally draining tragedies for which thoughts and prayers are insufficient while rational solutions seem out of reach. Those who train and educate emergency managers and homeland security professionals pursuing certificates, degrees, or advanced education in emergency management must not avoid analyzing and discussing current, controversial public safety issues. But what we may or may not be teaching adults who are exploring the emergency management /homeland [...]

Studying the Past, Confronting the Present, Shaping the Future2022-07-26T19:20:16+00:00

Just in Time – June 2022

2022-06-21T23:14:27+00:00

Just in Time by Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed For years, emergency managers have lamented the public’s tendency to delay the acquisition of essential supplies. Food and other daily necessities are typically not maintained beyond a brief time frame. That quick run to the store at 5pm is just one manifestation of this tendency. People put off preparing their wills as if they must see the end coming before they lock in the disposition of their assets. This is not a particularly new phenomenon. In fact, it’s a human reaction to put off for tomorrow what you could proactively [...]

Just in Time – June 20222022-06-21T23:14:27+00:00

Recovery in Advance – May 2022

2022-06-21T23:14:04+00:00

Recovery in Advance by Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Emergency Management Once Removed periodically has cited the need for a systematic recovery process to enable appropriate and comprehensive restoration of the social equilibrium following a major or catastrophic disaster.    No matter how much assistance pours in after the fact, and no matter how long the attention span of the nation fixates on a region’s issues, it ultimately will be the advance planning and actions of the “home team” that determines if recovery and restoration meet community expectations. With your indulgence, I shall once more make the case I first [...]

Recovery in Advance – May 20222022-06-21T23:14:04+00:00

Musings in the 21st Century USA – April 2022

2022-04-13T19:49:01+00:00

Musings in the 21st Century USA by Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed The other day I was driving to the store on a narrow side street, headed downhill. A car headed up the hill toward me pulled between two other cars to let me pass. I simultaneously had pulled aside to let the other driver pass. We both paused, motioning for the other to proceed; finally, I waved and smiled and went first – I got a smile in return. I noticed a bumper sticker contrary to my own political beliefs as I passed that driver. I had no [...]

Musings in the 21st Century USA – April 20222022-04-13T19:49:01+00:00

TACTICS or STRATEGY? – March 2022

2022-03-11T00:32:26+00:00

TACTICS or STRATEGY? by Jim Mullen Emergency Management, Once Removed Tactics are knowing what to do when there is something to do. Strategy is knowing what to do when there is nothing to do.” Savielly Tartakower (professional chess player). While I lacked the patience or even the inclination to play chess, Tartakower’s observation struck a responsive chord when I stumbled upon it recently. Over the course of my career, I attended - mostly through compulsion – many formal strategic planning sessions/exercises/workshops. Now, they were not all bad, but most resembled exercises in “group write,” with attendees debating alternate phrasings of the [...]

TACTICS or STRATEGY? – March 20222022-03-11T00:32:26+00:00
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