The Myth of Panic | Palladium Magazine

The Myth of Panic | Palladium Magazine

The year is 1950. A dead body floats along the New Orleans waterfront. The coroner who examines him realizes something terrifying: this nameless man died sick. The corpse is infected with the pneumonic plague. The city authorities now have 48 hours to find and inoculate every person who came in contact with the man before his death or New Orleans will become the epicenter of a terrible epidemic. At a crisis meeting of the city council, one councilor argues that the only way to save the city is to announce to the public what has happened and seek their cooperation. But the local public health officer—the hero of this story—begs the mayor not to go public with the news. The citizens of New Orleans must be kept in the dark. The press must be kept quiet. The title of the film reveals what he fears will occur if the public discovers the truth: Panic in the Streets.

The story beats charted out in the 1950 film Panic in the Streets have been repeated in every disaster film that has followed it. Experts discover a looming catastrophe of incredible proportions. They race to solve the problem as covertly as possible; to do otherwise would invite a panic more disastrous than the disaster itself. If they fail, audiences get to see images of an unnerved public up close. Society descends into a Hobbesian scramble for resources or open riot against the powers that be. The lesson is clear: the key to disaster response is ensuring the public does not feel fear. Normal citizens who understand the danger they are in will pose a threat to everyone else in calamity’s path. Panic is the true disaster. Disaster management is thus, at its core, a problem of narrative control.

This year, a quiet summer week in Finger Lakes

This year, a quiet summer week in Finger Lakes

Last summer was naturally a bit of a toned-down summer due to COVID-19 on my vacation, as social distancing was a necessity with no vaccine available at that point to make travel and exposure to strangers safe once again. But I actually kind of liked the toned-down week, staying in the same campsite and several days spent with my truck parked, hiking around the National Forest exploring the woods and having a few drinks while reading a book, rather then the go-go nature of so many vacations past. I also intentionally camped where I wouldn’t have good cell service, to keep off the phone.

This summer I can kind of want to do the same thing, with an emphasis on what I did last year that I found memorable – exploring new places and doing new activities. That doesn’t mean necessarily traveling long distances but instead just hiking trails and kayaking places I hadn’t been to before. There are some gorges in Ithaca I haven’t hiked, and several different trails I haven’t done. They call Watkins Glen “Trail Town”, at least in the downtown where the Finger Lakes and North Country Trail Intersect, there are many trails I haven’t done. If the wind is good and calm, I want to paddle up more of the shore of Seneca Lake, and there is much more time I want to spend at the Big Bad Indian Swamp observing the birds and wildlife and fishing.

South from the observation platform

Towards Seneca Lake

Big fire ? to close out the trip

Burnt Hill

 

Streeter Lake Road Campsites πŸ•

Outside of Aldrich on Streeter Lake Road – Coffin MIlls which is somewhat near Fine/Cranberry Lake in the Northwestern Adirondacks there is an old railroad grade, which has been converted to a seasonal use road that has designated campsites. Below is an interactive map, printable map and coordinates of campsites along Streeter Lake. There also is an accessible lean-to on Streeter Lake that can be accessed via an old woods road that is gated.

Interactive Map of Streeter Lake Campsites

Printable Map of Streeter Lake Campsites

 Streeter Lake Road

Coordinates of Streeter Lake Campsites

Site Name Latitude Longitude
South Creek Lake Campsite 44.11950576 -75.21758162
Streeter Lake Road Campsite #3 44.13290699 -75.11651895
Streeter Lake Road Campsite #4 44.13166278 -75.11586181
Streeter Lake Road Campsite #5 44.12453565 -75.11668416
Streeter Lake Road Campsite #6 44.12242374 -75.10600006
Streeter Lake Road Campsite #7 44.12080268 -75.1057593
Streeter Lake Road Campsite #8 44.11675172 -75.10559364
Streeter Lake Road Campsite #9 44.11621594 -75.09286154
Streeter Lake Road Campsite #10 44.11594906 -75.09336638
Streeter Lake Road Campsite #11 44.1159473 -75.09263011
Streeter Lake Road Campsite #12 44.11395065 -75.07568443
Streeter Lake Road Campsite #14 44.1139566 -75.0752919
Streeter Lake Road Campsite #15 44.11426673 -75.07316784

Streeter Lake Road

Heading Out on Streeter Lake

Ext4

The ex4 file system has a maximum file size of 16 terrabytes or 16,000 gigabytes and can accommodate hard drives up to 1 extabyte or 1 million terrabytes with the standard 4 KB sectors.