The sirens sounded over the weekend announcing the hiring of the first communications director for the City of Richardson.  Abysmal failure in attempts by the management staff to present a cohesive, consistent rendition of many episodes in public business has so damaged the credibility of enterprising individuals on the public payroll that it considered necessary, in the face of economic hardship, to centralize the command and control of the City's public information in a newly-created official City administrative staff position.  As Mark Steger, in his aptly submitted unsolicited blog consultancy says Mr. Sowell will have his hands full dealing with the fallout of years of abuse.  And, might we add, surely be faced with (we hope) morally-challenging dilemmas in the process.  As citizens cautiously and optimistically await the first words from on high, the pessimism cultivated from countless incidents of misbehavior weigh heavily on the hearts and minds of the citizens in the community. 

Pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), the explosive Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to detonate aboard Northwest Airlines flight 253, is among the most powerful of explosives in the world and was widely used to blow up airplanes in the 1970s and 1980s. The only reason the passengers of Flight 253 are still alive today is because Mr. Abdulmutallab’s syringe detonator failed for still unknown reasons.