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How to reject Trump’s dystopian effort to text every American

phands

phands

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I'll be doing this for sure.

Here’s what we know: according to FEMA, all major mobile carriers are participating in this new Wireless Emergency Alerts program. Since CREDO Mobile service is provided through these major carriers, we are unable to prevent the emergency message test. We have asked our carrier partners for the ability to control this functionality and will continue to escalate our requests.
Currently, members can opt out of all message types with the exception of the presidential alerts. We understand there will be an initial test of the presidential alert system on October 3, 2018 at 2:19 pm EDT and 2:20 pm EDT. The FEMA site confirms the details as we understand them today.
What can you do? Join us in protesting by turning off your phone during the alert.
Presidential Alert message tests are currently scheduled for:
October 3, 2018 at 2:19 pm EDT and 2:20 pm EDT.
This administration has been overt about its racism, xenophobia, misogyny and corruption and I know that for many of us this message and test is unwanted, intrusive and potentially triggering.
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https://blog.credomobile.com/credo-...uesday_tips_presidential_alert_em_learn_panel
 
I'm not particularly bothered by this test. Generally I think that FEMA should have a way to get messages out to the population for true emergency situations such as 911 and the grounding of all flights across the country.

What I worry about is what controls will be placed on it's use. Trump is such an unethical lowlife, without controls I could see him using it to blast out lies and propaganda of a political nature as if this system was just an extension of his Twitter account.

ETA: I do think that the system needs controls at the user end. Thinking about my comment about 911, as opposed to 2001, now in 2018 a lot more kids have phones these days and I do worry that sending national emergency alerts to kids would would cause more harm than good when you consider that kids are far less likely to be able to absorb any alert in context. I'd expect mass panic and trauma coming from sending these things to kids.
 
crazyfingers said:
I'm not particularly bothered by this test. Generally I think that FEMA should have a way to get messages out to the population for true emergency situations such as 911 and the grounding of all flights across the country.

What I worry about is what controls will be placed on it's use. Trump is such an unethical lowlife, without controls I could see him using it to blast out lies and propaganda of a political nature as if this system was just an extension of his Twitter account.

ETA: I do think that the system needs controls at the user end. Thinking about my comment about 911, as opposed to 2001, now in 2018 a lot more kids have phones these days and I do worry that sending national emergency alerts to kids would would cause more harm than good when you consider that kids are far less likely to be able to absorb any alert in context. I'd expect mass panic and trauma coming from sending these things to kids.
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I am bothered by it...for all the reasons you state.

Trumpo and the goptraitors are so crooked now, that I wouldn't put it past them to use this to sway elections. Imagine if a targeted message was to arrive in a certain geographic area where, say, a lot of brown people were about to vote, saying that the polling place(s) were closed due to a hurricane???? We live in a time where that possibility is no longer paranoia.
 
Timeline strongly suggests that this was proposed during Obama's presidency, if not GWB's, as a sort of emergency system. We have these already for emergencies like severe local weather, and I think Amber Alerts as well.

Like crazyfingers, I don't trust Dolt 45 as far as I can spit, so having him in charge is...not good.
 
I'm another that has no problem with the system, I just don't trust him not to abuse it.
 
Supposedly there are safeguards against the fuckwit from texting bullshit at us directly using this system:

Secondly, the actual process of sending one of these alerts is far more complicated than just firing off a string of tweets as Trump likes to do. Skimming this protocol document (check out page 34 in particular) gives you an idea of exactly how complex putting together these messages can be. Point being, there are going to be layers between Trump and the actual message. Trump's not going to be the one typing out the message and hitting send.
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Protocol document PDF: http://www.eas-cap.org/ECIG-CAP-to-EAS_Implementation_Guide-V1-0.pdf

Third, there's actual law that would prevent any president from using the alert system like a personal Twitter feed. The Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Modernization Act of 2015 specifically says:

Use of System.—Except to the extent necessary for testing the public alert and warning system, the public alert and warning system shall not be used to transmit a message that does not relate to a natural disaster, act of terrorism, or other man-made disaster or threat to public safety.
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In other words, if Trump were to use this system for anything other than a 9/11-style terror attack or a large scale natural disaster, he would literally be breaking the law. Of course, given the current state of things, that may not be much comfort.
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https://mashable.com/article/trump-emergency-alert-text-message/#nVTuTW1azgq8

Oh, and as much as I hate to disappoint anyone, turning off our phones tomorrow at 2pm EST won't help. We will simply get the message as soon as we turn our phones back on.
 
Well, Trump is a man-made disaster and a threat to public safety. Therefore, it sounds like he's free to use it as much as he wants.
 
RavenSky said:
Supposedly there are safeguards against the fuckwit from texting bullshit at us directly using this system:
...if Trump were to use this system for anything other than a 9/11-style terror attack or a large scale natural disaster, he would literally be breaking the law.
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Breaking the law??? LITERALLY??? Ooooh nooooes! I'm sure the consequences would be horrible for him. Like it always is, right?
The whole problem with this administration starts with Cheato's disdain for the law and his history of breaking it and getting away with it. At this point he is utterly fearless in his firm belief that no law applies to him.
 
Elixir said:
RavenSky said:
Supposedly there are safeguards against the fuckwit from texting bullshit at us directly using this system:
...if Trump were to use this system for anything other than a 9/11-style terror attack or a large scale natural disaster, he would literally be breaking the law.
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Breaking the law??? LITERALLY??? Ooooh nooooes! I'm sure the consequences would be horrible for him. Like it always is, right?
The whole problem with this administration starts with Cheato's disdain for the law and his history of breaking it and getting away with it. At this point he is utterly fearless in his firm belief that no law applies to him.
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I agree with you 100% on that one. I'm more hoping this part will prevent him from abusing the system:

there are going to be layers between Trump and the actual message. Trump's not going to be the one typing out the message and hitting send
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RavenSky said:
I agree with you 100% on that one. I'm more hoping this part will prevent him from abusing the system:

there are going to be layers between Trump and the actual message. Trump's not going to be the one typing out the message and hitting send
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Yes, one would hope. The real reason Trump's tiny finger won't be on the "send" button is that he can't string together a single sentence without spelling errors, factual errors, punctuation errors and self-aggrandizing false claims about himself.
 
phands said:
I turned my phone off.
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I'll do you one better: my everyday device doesn't have a working cell radio. So no alerts for me...
 
I do think that the issue of age appropriateness and the example of 9-11 is a valid concern. If this system was in place for 9-11 then an alert might have looked like this:

"Due to the assumed terrorist attacks today in New York City and other locations, until further notice all air travel within the United States will be grounded. No flights will take off and all flights currently in the air are ordered to land immediately".

9-11 was a traumatic time. It was especially traumatic for kids. Supposing it happened tomorrow instead of 17 years ago. I don't think that kids in elementary school should learn of a national emergency in this way.
 
Another good reason to move Election Day: hurricanes.

Here's one reason to hate these alerts from trumpo: as I pointed put earlier in this thread, I have zero confidence that the gop and trumpo wouldn't misuse this to affect election results...


America’s longstanding practice of holding elections on the first Tuesday after November 1 has faced mounting criticism in recent years, due mostly to its outdated rationale and negative impact on low-income people. But there might be another reason to change the date—and it’s playing out in North Carolina.
As the Raleigh-based News & Observer reports, thousands of state residents have been displaced by Hurricane Florence and the catastrophic flooding in its wake. For those people, it may now be much harder to meet their voter registration deadline, vote in person, or meet absentee ballot requirements in time for the election.
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https://newrepublic.com/minutes/151496/another-good-reason-move-election-day-hurricanes
 
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