On this day in history the Cuban Missile Crisis began, bringing the United States and the Soviet Union to the brink of nuclear conflict. Photographs taken by a high-altitude U-2 spy plane offered incontrovertible evidence that Soviet-made medium-range missiles in Cuba—capable of carrying nuclear warheads—were now stationed 90 miles off the American coastline.
Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union over Cuba had been steadily increasing since the failed April 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, in which Cuban refugees, armed and trained by the United States, landed in Cuba and attempted to overthrow the government of Fidel Castro. Though the invasion did not succeed, Castro was convinced that the United States would try again, and set out to get more military assistance from the Soviet Union. During the next year, the number of Soviet advisors in Cuba rose to more than 20,000. Rumors began that Russia was also moving missiles and strategic bombers onto the island. Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev may have decided to so dramatically up the stakes in the Cold War for several reasons. He may have believed that the United States was indeed going to invade Cuba and provided the weapons as a deterrent. Facing criticism at home from more hard-line members of the Soviet communist hierarchy, he may have thought a tough stand might win him support. Khrushchev also had always resented that U.S. nuclear missiles were stationed near the Soviet Union (in Turkey, for example), and putting missiles in Cuba might have been his way of redressing the imbalance. Two days after the pictures were taken, after being developed and analyzed by intelligence officers, they were presented to President Kennedy. During the next two weeks, the United States and the Soviet Union would come as close to nuclear war as they ever had, and a fearful world awaited the outcome.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Article from "The Hill" Constituent Communication
Released Tuesday Oct. 4, 2011, “Communicating With Congress: How Citizen Advocacy is Changing Mail Operations on Capitol Hill” finds that most congressional offices have seen a 200 to 1,000 percent increase in constituent communication volume in the past decade.
Of the 260 report respondents, 95 percent of those on the Senate staff and 89 percent of those on the House staff said that responding to constituent communications was a high priority in their offices. More than half of staffers surveyed also reported spending more time on such communications than they did two years ago.
But staffers in offices embracing technology early on were much more likely to report that they had sufficient resources to manage constituent communications than those offices that were considered late adopters of technology.
One significant factor in technology helping to tackle the load is offices responding to constituent letters via email rather than a reply letter, said Fitch. Those that don’t are operating at a disadvantage.
“In many cases, they’re seeming to apply the 20th-century paradigm of responding to a letter with a letter,” he said. “And that means, ‘OK, let's work weekends and let's work nights,’ and that’s their solution, as opposed to, ‘Wait a minute, this is an entirely new paradigm.’ ”
Additional ways to tackle increased communication include identifying efficiencies and streamlining processes, said Fitch. Offices are also encouraged to create robust websites with greater issue content information, which will reduce the need for constituents to contact lawmakers.
Michael Pagan, communications director for Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), has seen first-hand the benefit of technology in his office. “Yes, our office has definitely seen an increase in constituent communications over the past several years and we do indeed take advantage of technology as much as possible, especially email and social networking sites, to deal with the increase,” he wrote in an email.
While congressional offices continue to labor under restricted staff sizes — looking to technology to fill the gap — the increase in constituent communications could be viewed as a good thing, said Fitch.
“There’s a positive general note in here, in that more people are contacting Congress at a time when cynicism is rising and certainly their approval ratings are going lower,” he said. “They still are the go-to guys, they still are the people that citizens want to interact with and want to communicate with.”...The Hill
To read the entire article go to http://thehill.com/homenews/house/185197-constituent-communications-up-nearly-1000-percent-congress-turns-to-technology
Of the 260 report respondents, 95 percent of those on the Senate staff and 89 percent of those on the House staff said that responding to constituent communications was a high priority in their offices. More than half of staffers surveyed also reported spending more time on such communications than they did two years ago.
But staffers in offices embracing technology early on were much more likely to report that they had sufficient resources to manage constituent communications than those offices that were considered late adopters of technology.
One significant factor in technology helping to tackle the load is offices responding to constituent letters via email rather than a reply letter, said Fitch. Those that don’t are operating at a disadvantage.
“In many cases, they’re seeming to apply the 20th-century paradigm of responding to a letter with a letter,” he said. “And that means, ‘OK, let's work weekends and let's work nights,’ and that’s their solution, as opposed to, ‘Wait a minute, this is an entirely new paradigm.’ ”
Additional ways to tackle increased communication include identifying efficiencies and streamlining processes, said Fitch. Offices are also encouraged to create robust websites with greater issue content information, which will reduce the need for constituents to contact lawmakers.
Michael Pagan, communications director for Rep. Steve Cohen (D-Tenn.), has seen first-hand the benefit of technology in his office. “Yes, our office has definitely seen an increase in constituent communications over the past several years and we do indeed take advantage of technology as much as possible, especially email and social networking sites, to deal with the increase,” he wrote in an email.
While congressional offices continue to labor under restricted staff sizes — looking to technology to fill the gap — the increase in constituent communications could be viewed as a good thing, said Fitch.
“There’s a positive general note in here, in that more people are contacting Congress at a time when cynicism is rising and certainly their approval ratings are going lower,” he said. “They still are the go-to guys, they still are the people that citizens want to interact with and want to communicate with.”...The Hill
To read the entire article go to http://thehill.com/homenews/house/185197-constituent-communications-up-nearly-1000-percent-congress-turns-to-technology
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