Posted on 09/15/2018 7:44:51 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Trump administration will send a message to all U.S. cellphones on Thursday to test a previously unused alert system that aims to warn the public about national emergencies.
The messages will bear the headline "Presidential Alert", the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) said in a statement this week. Phones will make a loud tone and have a special vibration, said FEMA, which will send the alert.
The test message, scheduled for 2:18 p.m. EDT on Thursday, will read: "THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed."
The test has been scheduled to ensure that the alert system would work in the event of a national emergency. U.S. cellphone users will not be able to opt out.
Former President Barack Obama signed a law in 2016 requiring FEMA to create a system allowing the president to send cellphone alerts regarding public safety emergencies.
Since the wireless emergency alert system began in 2012, it has issued over 36,000 alerts for situations such as missing children, extreme weather and natural disasters, but never a presidential directive. Cell phone users can opt out of natural disaster or missing children alerts.
FEMA said in a statement the alerts can only be used for national emergencies. The president has sole responsibility for determining when the national-level alerts are used.
In the event of widespread severe weather or another significant event on Sept. 20, the test will be pushed back to Oct. 3, FEMA said.
The administration announced in July that it would schedule the test alert for September. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on its role in planning the test alert.
(Excerpt) Read more at yahoo.com ...
Talk about deja vu...
In a weird confluence of fate, I ended up buying my first house next door to my squad leader from boot camp. That was some 8 years earlier for us.
Very weird, but we were SoCal boys.
Anyway, he was a LA fireman. Spent lots of overtime. His wife was an attractive Mexican girl.
She told me about all the offers she got from other firemans to come over and keep her company while husband worked his double overtime shift.
Sleazy bunch..............Your tax dollars at work.
“This is a great testing opportunity to see if your smartphone is able to be used by the NSA. I am going to take out my SIM card and also turn it off to test if this message will broadcast.”
You were always able to make emergency calls without a SIM so I assume messages will go through too. Does not mean jack about surveillance.
Checking the backdoors on the phones, right?
Trump’s cell phone message on Thursday - “Hello democrats - this is your overlord.You will dragged kicking and screaming to prosperity. Resistance is futile.”
GWU stands ready to run the regression analysis!
(((Trump’s cell phone message on Thursday - “Hello democrats - this is your overlord.You will dragged kicking and screaming to prosperity. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE.”)))
LOL - Your comment wins! :-)
I’m interested to find out if my antique cell phone will get the message. I doubt it.
What are the chances the Feds can or will actually get this right if we ever need a warning? They never have warned us about any national security event. They miss everything. Japanese, 9/11, fall of the Soviet Bloc. The next attack will be a shock to the people who worry more about spying on us. I voted for Trump, but he is at the mercy of a bunch of intel idiots.
Actually a family member has a local community warning system that ‘beeps’ loudly on his cellphone.... which did so when a tornado was approaching.
Actually a family member has a local community warning system that ‘beeps’ loudly on his cellphone.... which did so when a tornado was approaching.
After Thursday you're not going to any sales on cell phones. There will be a lot of progressives out to buy new phones because they stomped on their current ones.
All of the ones happening on thursday at 2:18 pm.
Bookmarking.
Then the hunt is on like donkey kong.
Yeah especially for the wets that have lived here 20+ years and can still not speak or understand American. Die biotches
I can just see him disrupting the keynote speaker at the DNC 2020 convention by making every phone in the hall to off at once.
Liberals love to hear their phone. It annoys me.. a Constitutionalist. There is no freedom to turn it off. Think about the millions killed by “its for your safety, its for your own good”.
Seriously won’t save a single life, but it will remind us that freedom has left America... the singularity draws ever closer.
Or Maria coming back to get them!
Only in AMERICA!
That’s why I will also turn it off!
No Sim! Off
I here the only way is to place it into DFU mode
Some reported to have removed sim
Powered off then taken it with them on a trip
Returned back plugged it into some secret sauce application which pulled data of their whereabouts. So,these are spy phones
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