In less than two weeks, on Wednesday November 9, 2011, the national level of the EAS system will conduct its first ever nation wide media interruption toy. I call it the "One Button Wonder".
In less than two weeks, on Wednesday November 9, 2011, the national level of the EAS system will conduct its first ever nation wide media interruption toy. I call it the "One Button Wonder".
The whole thing reminds me of a Star Trek Original Series episode where Kirk and the crew visit a planet that turned itself into a Nazi Germany style society, and its leader was a Federation citizen. When Kirk and crew arrived on the planet, they were walking around and suddenly this huge flat screen drops down and low and behold the der leader appears and is seen and heard on every screen and speaker all over the planet.
Predictive programming has a long history.
1984 anyone?
THX 1138 perhaps?
Since Part 15 operations are not required to participate in this fancy "alert" system, I plan to stay on the air and play the theme song from M.A.S.H. "Suicide Is Painless"...both instrumental and with lyrics.
A sort of protest. There is no need to conduct a test of a system right in the middle of a programming day. These tests could be conducted during overnight hours. I see this silly thing as nothing more than an show and tell of the government's new intrusion toy.
The current system is filled with flaws to begin with. With stations running skeleton crews and automation, even a train derailment with box cars filled with toxic chemicals spills all over a small community, the current EAS system failed in warning the local residents because no one was at the local station to accept a phone call from the local authorities to spread the word on air about the train derailment.
So what good will a national level alert system be when Washington has no idea whats going on in little town USA...unless they are going to integrate the new "Smart Street Lights" system where every street light features a camera and mic and speaker. That way Washington can peep and snoop and monitor everything and everyone...then maybe such a system as a nation wide EAS might be useful.
IMO..this is nothing more than a demonstration in government's serious drug habit of poking its nose into private matters and controlling our lives. This is NOT the America I came to know when growing up..much less the America I was born in.
Trust me...this will not end at simple weather warnings or terrorist threat warnings. Where are the terrorists?.....they are sitting in positions of power so they can tickle their fancies while telling the people it is for their own safety.
This country was in more of a threat of an attack back in the cold war era than it ever has been since, or will be. Does anyone remember that our military is the best and most well equipped in the world? So why do we need big brother holding our hand and interrupting our lives?
What happened to the land of the free and home of the brave???
"He went looking for America....He could not find it"...Easy Rider 1969.
RFB
Paul Thurst has some good things to report on his engineering blog website. including a video giving a simulated test so we can at least know what it will be like.
I agree with you RFB that this "intrusion of official hardware toys" is, at the most, something to jeer and mock. Most people will never know there is an "alert" because they will be using other media.
I watched a 15-minute aerial view showing a succession of California hiway patrol cars moving into Oakland the other night. It looked like "The Stupid Pride Parade."
For the streetlight microphones consider that everyone has a barking dog and is allowed "30-minutes of barking" before the dog becomes a "nuisance." I foresee installing our own loudspeakers with .mp3 dogs so we can bark back for 30-minutes anytime we want.
"Here MP3! Time for your leash!"
I find the sales pitch of these "Intelligent Street" systems a bit disturbing. It makes it sound like your everyday friendly iPhone.
Heck of a way to convince the masses that its alright and good to be constantly under scrutiny.
"Ain't that America...something to see ya....Ain't that America...home of the freeeee....little pink smart street lights for you and me".
RFB
What is wrong with all the voyeurs who plan to watch us?
Voyeurism is a crime for the general public, but the many dictators behind the street lights are drooling over the prospect of zooming and panning our little lives.
What's wrong with them?
What is wrong is that those that make the law consider themselves as above and beyond the law they create for the rest.
There is no other explanation. When a mass public pays no attention to what is going on in the corridors of power of a democratic system...that system becomes corrupt and morphed into something that appears to be legit. As long as it appears legit, no one investigates. And when someone does investigate, they are scrutinized and called conspiracy nuts by those corrupt individuals in power and thereafter, the blind and deaf follow without question.
A damned if you do and damned if you don't situation.
Isn't part of being patriotic and standing up for one's own nation to pay close attention to these (s)elected officials that take advantage of their position? Does not the Constitution say that it is our duty as citizens of the United States to take action and prevent the overtaking of our government and way of life?!!
I believe it does. As far as I know, that part of the Constitution has not been scratched out or amended out.
What is more ironic, is that these corrupt people have convinced the public that anyone who protests against the corrupt entities in government, or even preaches about Constitutional rights, are to be considered as "Domestic Terrorists". WTF!!!!
Talk about twist and turn, switch and bait eh!
Sometimes I wonder what our founding fathers would be saying if they were around today. It would not surprise me if they were to begin another independence movement against a repressive government. Hmm...didn't they do that once before?!!
This national linking of radio and tv and multi-media devices with the "One Button Wonder" could be of benefit to the entire population...that is if it is used in a good way. Think about it...why does every citizen need to be watched and monitored? Does this mean that even those inside the corrupt entities of government have no faith in their own intelligence gathering activities? Are they trying to tell us that they can not protect the country without throwing everyone into the same pot labeled "threat"??
Sounds paranoid to me. Shouldn't it be about bravery and not yellow belly?
RFB
The public serpents, uh, servants, issue themselves license plates that do not show up on red light cameras, they have stickers on their vehicles that mark them as "official" and thus escape traffic stops. They do not gather intelligence on each other.
Why is it that gathering intelligence makes them stupider?
When the dramatic EAS Test goes out, what will happen to all the people who are out of range?
Remember when it used to be "To Serve And Protect"?
It is now "To Survey And Suspect".
What will happen to all those who are out of range?
They will be spared the ridiculousness of the pretense of being safe from the created false flag boogie man.
Or they will be accused of refusing to listen or have their tv or radio turned on and probably thrown into the "no fly list".
Go along to get along only results in self mass destruction.
As does paranoia.
"Paranoia Self Destroyer"
The system is so out of whack they cant even tell the difference between a real threat and a 5 year old child trying to board a flight with his mother to visit family.
Now that IS pathetic as well as paranoid.
RFB
Well I am sure all of this fancy play things will require more paperwork on the broadcaster's end.
A set up for more violations and fines. As I pointed out, with stations an auto pilot and barely even a rat around the basement junk rooms, I foresee many more additional entries over there on the lower right in the field notices column to come.
I won't be watching, or listening, or anything. In fact, I plan to turn off everything that day..except for my stations playing Suicide Is Painless.
Well now that I think about it..I plan to hook up my o-scopes and analyzers to scan the audio and video of this test and see if there is any unusual waveform patterns being sent out...just in case this so called test is more than meets the eye...and ear.
Think about it...a perfect way to implant subliminal suggestion via audio tones and video pulses...and they could not have picked a better date. 11/9/11. Na....just a coincidence. Nothing to see or hear here...move along.
RFB