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4 posters

    Don't panic

    Kitkat
    Kitkat

    Don't panic Empty Don't panic

    Post by Kitkat Mon 01 Oct 2018, 19:54

    From BBC News today:

    Every American with a mobile phone will receive an emergency message from their president at 14:18 EDT (19:18 BST) on Wednesday.

    Why is it important?

    It's just a test, but it's still important. It's to make sure that it is possible to send a nationwide alert to millions of citizens during a major emergency or catastrophe.

    The text message, headlined 'Presidential Alert' will say: "THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed." It will override whatever people are doing on their phones at that time.

    Some people, not exactly thrilled that this particular president has the means to reach them directly by phone, have vowed to switch off their devices at that time.
    Feather
    Feather

    Location : Scotland

    Don't panic Empty Re: Don't panic

    Post by Feather Mon 08 Oct 2018, 11:04

    "Big brother" is afoot.
    Whiskers
    Whiskers

    Don't panic Empty Re: Don't panic

    Post by Whiskers Wed 10 Oct 2018, 11:53

    Scarey! pale
    Peter254
    Peter254

    Job/hobbies : Watching, playing football

    Don't panic Empty Re: Don't panic

    Post by Peter254 Fri 12 Oct 2018, 07:08

    I am freaking out! Lol!!
    Kitkat
    Kitkat

    Don't panic Empty Re: Don't panic

    Post by Kitkat Fri 12 Oct 2018, 11:48

    Actually, looking further into this (indeed, checking out the possibility that it may have been just an example of 'fake news'), I found this:

    from Wired  www ( https://www.wired.com/ )

    'The Long, Strange History of the Presidential Text Alert'
    ...
    The test alert—which has already spawned numerous jokes about President Trump’s Twitter habits—is actually a rare public display of the classified side of FEMA’s daily work. The agency best known as the public face of the federal government’s response to major natural disasters originally started as—and continues to be—its secret doomsday planner, overseeing the so-called “continuity of government” efforts that would ensure the evacuation of key officials to mountain bunkers and airborne command posts after a catastrophe.

    In fact, Wednesday’s test of the Wireless Emergency Alert System—the fourth nationwide test of the Emergency Alert System, and the first to use texting—is only the latest in the country’s odd history of national doomsday alerts, plans that over the years have included everything from special radio stations to pink balloons to TV entertainer Arthur Godfrey to, at least for the cable network CNN, the song the band played as the Titanic sank.
    readmore  https://www.wired.com/story/presidential-text-alert-fema-emergency-history/

      Current date/time is Tue 19 Mar 2024, 10:16