Presidential Alert

Today, Oct 3 between 2 and 3 pm Eastern time, you should receive an emergency presidential alert message. Presidential alerts cannot be turned off. The only way you can stop it is by switching off your  phone.

The alert may be very loud, an alarm. So, please, don't be distracted when driving.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/10/03/millions-cellphone-users-are-about-get-presidential-alert-heres-what-know/

wow, something is not right about this.  hmm

this has been in the works for a long time.  I just hope Trump doesn’t confuse it with his Twitter account. 

I thought maybe this was an alert that the President might be in your area and that you should hide your women and children.

Everyone should immediately call the White House and tell them that the real emergency is....choose your topic.  Kavanaugh, tax cuts for the wealthy, environmental degradation, Puerto Rico response, etc.  Clog the phone lines.

jamie said:
wow, something is not right about this.  hmm

Sweetsnuggles said:
this has been in the works for a long time.  I just hope Trump doesn’t confuse it with his Twitter account. 

 These were also my immediate thoughts when I heard about this.   There is something very wrong about these alerts being called "Presidential".   It's very creepy.

I don't know. The alert is intended to quickly notify as much of the population as possible about a national emergency. The kind of thing the office of the President should be notifying us about.

Think about Presidential addresses in the past (Cuba Missile Crisis for instance). Network T.V. was the fastest way to reach the largest amount of people.

I think a lot of people are uneasy about these alerts because of who sits in the oval office. But it seems like the system doesn't lend itself to abuse the way it's structured. 

mrincredible said:
I don't know. The alert is intended to quickly notify as much of the population as possible about a national emergency. The kind of thing the office of the President should be notifying us about.
Think about Presidential addresses in the past (Cuba Missile Crisis for instance). Network T.V. was the fastest way to reach the largest amount of people.
I think a lot of people are uneasy about these alerts because of who sits in the oval office. But it seems like the system doesn't lend itself to abuse the way it's structured. 

aside from scaring people, what would a national alert system actually accomplish.  Even on 9/11, if you weren't in NY, DC or PA, what would you have done with instant information on your phone that three locations had been hit by airplanes?

I got mine.

As my phone was buzzing, both people on the split screen on CNN held up their phones to show that they were getting the alert.

Just got mine.

Now's the time to rob that bank. 911 will be overwhelmed. 

mrincredible said:

I think a lot of people are uneasy about these alerts because of who sits in the oval office. But it seems like he system doesn't lend itself to abuse the way it's structured. 

Yet, no preceding administration felt the need to send test this alert type.

How does this system not lend itself to abuse? If Trump decides to send a Presidential alert who would be there to gainsay him?

Trump is going to be super anxious to use this system.

Just got the amber alert.  Be on the lookout for older male suspect about 6'2", orange hair, orange skin.

tjohn said:
Just got the amber alert.  Be on the lookout for older male suspect about 6'2", orange hair, orange skin.

 with the biggest brain.  and the smallest hands.

I am a contrarian. I turned my phone off for 15 minutes.

I can see reasons for testing a nation-wide alert system, but calling it Presidential is weird. I'd rather it came from FEMA.

ml1 said:

mrincredible said:
I don't know. The alert is intended to quickly notify as much of the population as possible about a national emergency. The kind of thing the office of the President should be notifying us about.
Think about Presidential addresses in the past (Cuba Missile Crisis for instance). Network T.V. was the fastest way to reach the largest amount of people.
I think a lot of people are uneasy about these alerts because of who sits in the oval office. But it seems like the system doesn't lend itself to abuse the way it's structured. 

aside from scaring people, what would a national alert system actually accomplish.  Even on 9/11, if you weren't in NY, DC or PA, what would you have done with instant information on your phone that three locations had been hit by airplanes?

Good question. 

In 2001 I was working for my company at Overlook hospital. I could not leave my area, and there was a radio where we could barely get reception, so we had little idea what was going on.

I went to the roof of the parking deck later from which I could see lower Manhattan. There was a woman up there insisting that ten planes had been crashed into places like the Capitol, which was destroyed. I didn't know what to believe, but she was positive of her story. I might have appreciated a more definitive alert with facts.  

Would this system have made a difference? I don't know. Nobody had smart phones where you could instantly go to cnn.com and see what was happening.

I'm glad that it's hard to imagine a scenario where this was necessary. Maybe a coordinated series of attacks releasing a chemical agent where you would just want to warn people to stay inside and seal their windows and doors. Something like that. 

I’m hoping he’s testing it so see if his announcement of resignation will reach far and wide.  

BG9 said:

mrincredible said:

I think a lot of people are uneasy about these alerts because of who sits in the oval office. But it seems like he system doesn't lend itself to abuse the way it's structured. 

Yet, no preceding administration felt the need to send test this alert type.
How does this system not lend itself to abuse? If Trump decides to send a Presidential alert who would be there to gainsay him?

From the article it sounds like his role is to authorize a message, not compose and send it. I see your point for sure, though. 

I wonder if he used it to send a political message if that would actually turn people against him. All the other crap he's pulled, but people might get annoyed if it looks like he is breaking into their smart phone.

https://www.npr.org/2018/10/02/653736464/this-is-only-a-test-why-your-cellphone-will-buzz-wednesday-afternoon

mrincredible said:

ml1 said:

mrincredible said:
I don't know. The alert is intended to quickly notify as much of the population as possible about a national emergency. The kind of thing the office of the President should be notifying us about.
Think about Presidential addresses in the past (Cuba Missile Crisis for instance). Network T.V. was the fastest way to reach the largest amount of people.
I think a lot of people are uneasy about these alerts because of who sits in the oval office. But it seems like the system doesn't lend itself to abuse the way it's structured. 

aside from scaring people, what would a national alert system actually accomplish.  Even on 9/11, if you weren't in NY, DC or PA, what would you have done with instant information on your phone that three locations had been hit by airplanes?

Good question. 
In 2001 I was working for my company at Overlook hospital. I could not leave my area, and there was a radio where we could barely get reception, so we had little idea what was going on.
I went to the roof of the parking deck later from which I could see lower Manhattan. There was a woman up there insisting that ten planes had been crashed into places like the Capitol, which was destroyed. I didn't know what to believe, but she was positive of her story. I might have appreciated a more definitive alert with facts.  
Would this system have made a difference? I don't know. Nobody had smart phones where you could instantly go to cnn.com and see what was happening.
I'm glad that it's hard to imagine a scenario where this was necessary. Maybe a coordinated series of attacks releasing a chemical agent where you would just want to warn people to stay inside and seal their windows and doors. Something like that. 
 

But it's now 2018.  Unless you're in the middle of nowhere or in a concrete bunker, you can get media access on your phone instantly.  Frankly, if something really major happened, I doubt that FEMA could get all the sign offs necessary to send out a "presidential alert" to our phones any quicker than I'd get a CNN alert on my phone.

and even your example of coordinated chemical attacks would require local alerts, not national.  Why would people in Billings, Montana need to be alerted if there were chemical attacks in NY, DC, Chicago and LA?

It would be interesting to know the necessary process. Then I suppose it would be easier to assess the likelihood of Trump abusing this power.

kthnry said:
I can see reasons for testing a nation-wide alert system, but calling it Presidential is weird. I'd rather it came from FEMA.

 Exactly.

I did not receive the alert on my cell phone.  Mine is a phone only with no internet connection.  I am concerned about whether there will be alternative means of communication that will reach non-smart phone users in the event of a real emergency.

joan_crystal said:
I did not receive the alert on my cell phone.  Mine is a phone only with no internet connection.  I am concerned about whether there will be alternative means of communication that will reach non-smart phone users in the event of a real emergency.

 Joan, I doubt that lack of a wifi connection has anything to do with your phone only device.  My smart phone gets stuff 3 different ways: cell signals, data from data towers or maybe satellites (cannot remember technical name,perhaps relates to 3G, 4G, etc.  When I talk to husband about this I call it data from the sky and wave my hands towards the sky.), and wifi. If they were making the announcement via wifi I would have gotten it on my pc at the same time and I didn't.  My guess is that it should have come via the " cell" system, but this time it didn't work for everyone.

BG9 said:

mrincredible said:

I think a lot of people are uneasy about these alerts because of who sits in the oval office. But it seems like he system doesn't lend itself to abuse the way it's structured. 

Yet, no preceding administration felt the need to send test this alert type.
How does this system not lend itself to abuse? If Trump decides to send a Presidential alert who would be there to gainsay him?

The system wasn't fully built out until recently. This has nothing to do with Trump other than hes in office when the next wave of technology is being implemented. It's basically the same system to provide emergency information the feds have had since the 50's. In the past, the best way to reach the public was announcements on radio, then TV, now you can add smart phones to that list.

wedjet said:
I am a contrarian. I turned my phone off for 15 minutes.

 You are not the only one.

imagine the Conspiracy theories on the Right if this happened when Obama was President.

See what I mean.

https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a23585540/presidential-alert-deep-state/

LOST said:
imagine the Conspiracy theories on the Right if this happened when Obama was President.

 Or Hillary Clinton.

I'm not sure which would have given more of them the vapors.