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Bill Collins
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Joined: 26 May 2005
Location: England
Posts: 11245
Posted: 15 January 2018 at 1:55am | IP Logged | 1 post reply

When i worked in the steel industry,on my machine there
was a guillotine that would cut steel up to 7mm thick,to
operate it,you had to press two buttons
simultaneously,the buttons were placed top right and top
left of the control panel a full arm span apart,when you
pressed the buttons,the guillotine would only operate
after you pressed both buttons twice,the second press
you had to hold the buttons down,so you could NOT
operate it by mistake.It seems ridiculous that there are
no failsafe routines on such an important button in
Hawaii.
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Eric Sofer
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Posted: 15 January 2018 at 9:22am | IP Logged | 2 post reply

There is a subtle distinction between reporting a blizzard coming in three days and a nuclear attack in thirty-eight minutes. If my local weather broadcasters show something on the eleven o'clock news about a bad storm system coming our way, we have enough time to evacuate (if it's bad enough), to stock up if we're going to ride it out, or to say, "Oh, four inches? I better put away my sandals, then." (Well, this IS Greater Cleveland. Carolinians, Georgians, Virginians, etc. will react differently.) There's no need for quick verification with some other agency or reporting venue to confirm; while it could be deadly, time is not of the essence, and we are used it it; we can handle it.

There has never been a nuclear attack on U.S. soil - and realistically, the U.S. is so isolated that it's much harder to attack than, say, Russia attacking the U.K. So we might be somewhat inured to it, although the events of 9-11 show us that we're are definitely NOT immune.

But a ballistic missile attack is not a terrorist act; it is an act of war. Since the U.S. happens to be at diplomatic pseudo-collapse with a nuclear power, ANY such warning has to be considered deadly serious and for-real until it can be verified or not-verified. And on the same hand, because of the realistic chances of such an attack, ANY report should be verified before an alert is triggered.

To this end, an alert should not be able to released until it is confirmed by a reliable agency and then verified by two people who release that alert. One person should not be able to hit a button and issue the alert. This is the fault of the system in Hawaii. Imagine if, after President Reagan's comment to a "dead" mike that NORAD had taken it seriously.

The system MUST be verifiable unless the emergency is so dire that a warning will cause less damage than a non-warning. Submarine launched missiles might allow two or three minutes' warning (and at that, I might be generous.) That's a crisis that needs an immediate alert.

I'm no expert on this, but it seems kinda obvious to me that we need such situations confirmed before we release public warnings.


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Eric Sofer
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Posted: 15 January 2018 at 9:35am | IP Logged | 3 post reply

Oh, and as for President Fucking Moron... we heard NOTHING from Washington. Same issue as when President W. was reading a book to schoolchildren on Sept 11, 2001. An attack on the United States, while demanding confirmation, means that the president must act IMMEDIATELY. 

On 9-11, while there were terrorist threats, I rather have to believe that there were a lot of them every day and week. Threats and warnings cannot deter the president from his duties. But current conditions and situations must be taken into consideration.

The confirmation of a plane flying into the Trade Center should have been the cue to get the president up, out of that school, and to a safe location - PERIOD. I do not know every detail of that day, and what the president's security detail heard (as none of us ever will) and possibly - possibly - that confirmation was occurring while the president kept reading. Okay... I don't think it was the case, but it might have been.

Hawaii happened while our diplomatic relations are at an all time low internationally, and especially with a nuclear power who the president has been taunting and challenging. Thanks to the Moron-in-Chief, ANY report of any possible nuclear attack has to be treated as at least possible. Knowing M-i-C, I can't imagine he wouldn't have reported that he was on it, that we were perfectly safe, and that we could only be protected by him (and him alone... God damn him.)

He kept playing golf? He wasn't evacuated to a safe location immediately? Who the hell is RUNNING this government, anyhow?!?!? Or was Pence notified and sent airborne? The whole damned situation is a moron's theatre.
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John Byrne
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Joined: 11 May 2005
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Posted: 16 January 2018 at 10:28am | IP Logged | 4 post reply

And now another false alarm, this time in Japan. "Human error" again, but I'm just paranoid enough to wonder if we're seeing a pattern of NK hacking.

Cry wolf enough times......

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Charles Valderrama
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Posted: 16 January 2018 at 11:26am | IP Logged | 5 post reply

I thought the same thing, JB.... scary to think that this is ALL A CHESS GAME to these governments... and we're all just pawns.

-C!
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Bill Collins
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Posted: 16 January 2018 at 12:10pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply

Hacking or the authorities testing our responses?
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Brian O'Neill
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Posted: 16 January 2018 at 2:52pm | IP Logged | 7 post reply

NK hacking into Japan's computers? Could happen.
NK hacking into Hawaii's computers? In this case, it sounds like their system was lame enough in its 'natural' state, without any outside interference. North Korean hacking didn't make that guy click on two 'wrong choices' on his screen.


Edited by Brian O'Neill on 16 January 2018 at 2:53pm
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Neil Lindholm
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Posted: 16 January 2018 at 3:20pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply

"Do not push here if you do not want to not have to not issue an alert."
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