Seen any references to "Feds will temporarily cut off all TV ...

[prole_for_peace]

and radio broadcasts on 11/9"?

My repug cousin posted this on Facebook today with a link to a conservative site.

I googled it but can only find reference to this "abuse of power" on conservative sites.

Personally I think it is bullshit but can't find definitive evidence to debunk

[arcane1]

1. Sounds paranoid.

If there is any truth to it, it's probably something innocent like a 30-second test of the emergency broadcast system.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. FCC web page says it will be an alert test.

"simultaneously at 2:00PM EST to complete the first ever test of the national Emergency Alert System (EAS)."

http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/emergency-alert-system-nationwide-test

http://transition.fcc.gov/pshs/services/eas/

[Davis_X_Machina]

3. Exactly what it is...

...though our PUMA friends seem to think that the problem isn't the shut-off, but who's doing it.

Apparently if it's done by some other entity than the executive branch, it would be ok. Big business? A House committee? It's not clear. Or maybe it's that it's a Democratic-led executive branch?

These people are very hard to understand.

[ebayfool]

21. Lordy, lordy. lordy ... that was a dip into an insane mind!

I gotta take a walk to shake off the cobwobblies that place gave off just skimming it.


Or not. There's some really weird people out there!

[The Wielding Truth]

4. Okay. Looks like a national emergency test. I don't see why it would be

wise to centralize this. I think it would be smarter to have a chain of connections maybe short wave. I can see how this would skittle the right.Oh well, thank goodness there are smarter brains out there than mine.I trust, that's the difference in the right and left opinions.

[Tunkamerica]

26. That's how EAS works. One station sends a test signal to a list of other local stations.

We have weekly and monthly tests. I don't think anything is different except all the tests will happen at once.

[The Wielding Truth]

30. Oh. Then it's not such a big deal. Sounds like just and extended normal test.

Thanks.Tunkamerica.It's so good to have some background on these things.

[Rex]

5. LOL!

:rofl:

And people call ME crazy!

[prole_for_peace]

32. No shit!

When I saw that ALL the references to this were on con sites I figured it wasn't a big deal.

[Ezlivin]

6. Conservatives would wander around like mindless zombies

Without their Limbaugh & Fox News lifeline they'd be unable to function.

"What should I think now?"

[Davis_X_Machina]

8. The shutdown is brief, on the one hand....

....but then there's so little actual content to RW talk radio that a two-minute interruption if unfortunately timed, would essentially silence the movement.

[Davis_X_Machina]

17. It leads to chaos...

...and the end of a free society every Armistice Day in the UK. They shut the frickin' country down for two minutes.

That was all it took for Tony Blair's Socialist coup to commence.

Oh, wait...

[Motown_Johnny]

7. maybe that is the new rapture date and they don't want it televised

[dragonlady]

25. The rapture was yesterday

Are you still here? :hi:

[KT2000]

9. We had a test tsunami

warning a couple weeks ago. They had a siren and someone talking on the loudspeaker!!! Other than mixing up the before instructions with the after instructions, it went well. No one confiscated the guns or made anyone swear allegiance to ANYTHING! It did freak out my cat though.

[xmas74]

29. We have a test on the first Wednesday of every month.

When you live near an air force base in an area with tornadoes it's always a good idea. The sirens sound, a prerecorded message is broadcast on the tv and over the siren speakers and that's it-under two minutes.

[appleannie1]

10. It is simply a test of the emergency alert system. What a group of paranoids.

[NYC_SKP]

11. 9 November I'll be in Command of FEMA Camp #72 in Clovis, California.

One of the bigger camps, near Fresno.

Tell your cousin to be afraid.

:evilgrin:

[Rex]

13. Yep all command protocols will be met at that time!

Sequence...initiate Rex 74/84...troops will be home for crowd pacification. I, of course, am in control of the Langley-Virgina camp.

[Codeine]

14. Hey! Get your own camp, ya jerk!

That's been mine since the inaugural FEMA Camp Draft!

[Critters2]

28. !

:spray:

[prole_for_peace]

33. I should reply to him "Crap, how did you find out about our plan?"

It was supposed to be a secret way to take down Fox News

[Motown_Johnny]

12. just repost it on 11/10, after it doesn't happen

no use arguing with a delusional mind now

[pinboy3niner]

15. It's a 3-minute test of the emergency system

See the links in Post #2.

[HereSince1628]

22. I wonder how they settled on 3 minutes? n/t

[pinboy3niner]

23. Normal state/local test time of 2 minutes is too short to obtain national results

From dixiegrrrrl's first link in Post #2:

How long will the test last?

We anticipate that the test will last approximately3 minutes. While state and local EAS messages are limited to 2 minutes, there is no time limit for national EAS alerts. To evaluate whether the system properly interprets the national message code in the national EAS test, the message duration must be longer than two minutes.

[Tunkamerica]

27. Our tests are 45 seconds approx.

[Politicalboi]

16. I would think that would make

The Occupy protests even bigger. People with nothing to watch just may stroll outside to see what is going on, and get caught up in a protest.

[SoutherDem]

18. What would the story be if it were President McCain?

The repugs would be reporting on how great it is that President McCain was making the unprecedented step of first testing the nationwide EAS to protect us. They would remind us how courageous President Bush was in setting up the Department of Homeland Security. That after the successful test, if a 9/11 event ever occurs again (unlikely, remember President McCain is in office) they could alert the entire country at once.

[spanone]

19. don't tell him the world didn't end yesterday.....

[pinboy3niner]

20. You got left behind, too?

:rofl:

[FarCenter]

24. Just so long as they don't interrupt YouTube and Spotify...

[Warren DeMontague]

31. It's a chance for SATAN to be transmitted through that latent hi-def signal!!111!!!

You'll notice that the PORN on the INTERTUBES will still be working! HELP ME JEEEEEEEBUS!!!!

[snot]

34. Given the ownership & content of most radio and tv media, the respite will be welcome.