FEMA Just Might Turn Off Everyones Cars

Years ago I read a book called "UFOs, JFK, and Elvis: Conspiracies you don't have to be crazy to believe." by Richard Belzer... otherwise known as ATS's very own "The Belz".... and in it he states that in the event of a national emergency FEMA(Federal Emergency Management Agency) would have control over quite a few important areas of our lives, with one of them being control over the nation's transportation. That's railways, air travel, waterways, and highways.
And with nearly all automobiles and trucks being computerised...they of course have the ability to disable any of them for however long they feel necessary. That car you think you bought could turn out to be just a really big paper weight.
Oh, and also according to Wikipedia FEMA is responsible for ensuring "continuity of government"... whatever that entails.
I shudder to think. But pretty much any thing you own with a computer is subject to outside control.

a reply to: MissSmartypants

But pretty much any thing you own with a computer is subject to outside control.

Not if it's not connected to anything.
My 2003 vehicle has a computer but it doesn't talk to anyone but itself. An EMP might kill it, but control it? Nope.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: MissSmartypants

But pretty much any thing you own with a computer is subject to outside control.

Not if it's not connected to anything.
My 2003 vehicle has a computer but it doesn't talk to anyone but itself.

Ok...so that makes about five of us who won't be affected, then.
But everyone else is really gonna get it.

a reply to: MissSmartypants

Worse for you, is what they will do with your smart phones.

I don't have one of those either.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: MissSmartypants

Worse for you, is what they will do with your smart phones.

I don't have one of those either.

And the conspiracy theorist in me was thinking just that as I was typing out my post on my smartphone.

But seriously... how about that 'control over transportation' thing? That has broad, far-reaching implications. That's control over our food supply...access to medical care and medications...

Bubble memory may have a future again.
And EMP's have little effect on batteries, unless it is really close.

a reply to: charlyv

It's not so much the RAM and ROM, as it is the CPU.

Damn things do make engines work really well though. Better than a distributor. But then, a distributor is pretty well immune to EMP as well.

a reply to: Phage

Got that.. MILSPEC hardened CPU , EMP Proof,would be quite an invention...

originally posted by: charlyv
a reply to: Phage

Got that.. MILSPEC hardened CPU , EMP Proof,would be quite an invention...

Just keep a spare CPU in a Faraday cage.

Synthetic EMP’s are essentially “one and done”.

originally posted by: charlyv
a reply to: Phage

Got that.. MILSPEC hardened CPU , EMP Proof,would be quite an invention...

EMP was the only part of that I understood. But would I be wrong to think that pretty much anything with an internal antennae could be accessed...as long as it had power... but I wonder if they could even get around that.
Oh....military specifications.

a reply to: MissSmartypants

I drive a late 90s model land cruiser, I almost got rid of it recently but decided to spend money on it instead, perhaps I made the right decision.

originally posted by: hopenotfeariswhatweneed
a reply to: IsbtMissSmartypants

I drive a late 90s model land cruiser, I almost got rid of it recently but decided to spend money on it instead, perhaps I made the right decision.

Isn't that basically the quintessential "prepper"mobile, anyway? You could catch your own game just by running it down.

a reply to: MissSmartypants

It's tough alright, reliable as well. I've bashed it around Fraser island a couple of times, driving past brand new cars stuck in the sand.

A few modifications and yes it would make one hell of prepper mobile.

originally posted by: hopenotfeariswhatweneed
a reply to: MissSmartypants

It's tough alright, reliable as well. I've bashed it around Fraser island a couple of times, driving past brand new cars stuck in the sand.

A few modifications and yes it would make one hell of prepper mobile.

Yeah, as long as it's comfortable for you it's worth replacing a few parts now and then. You're supposed to do that.

a reply to: MissSmartypants

Sure maintance is needed, still though I'm tempted to get something newer but it just works so well I can't bring myself to let it go...perhaps I should just buy another vehicle, something fast and fun and keep the cruiser for traveling.

a reply to: MissSmartypants

None of my family's vehicles have any kind of external connection. You need to pop the hood and plug a cable in. It's the same with most people where I live. We have older or simpler models with only basic onboard system that don't have wireless communications. We tend to use our phones as sat nav, and don't have expensive on board entertainment systems.

There are a lot of communities like mine, and I mean a LOT. We only just got rid of a minivan from 1978. And that went to somebody who plans to use it regularly.

The idea of a group like fema shutting down personal transport is laughable while so many communities like mine depend on older model unconnected vehicles. It's going to be at least 20 years before older unconnected vehicles naturally disapear, and even then trucks, motorbikes and related vehicles will still be being manufactured without wireless connections.

originally posted by: MissSmartypants

originally posted by: charlyv
a reply to: Phage

Got that.. MILSPEC hardened CPU , EMP Proof,would be quite an invention...

EMP was the only part of that I understood. But would I be wrong to think that pretty much anything with an internal antennae could be accessed...as long as it had power... but I wonder if they could even get around that.
Oh....military specifications.

it's one thing to have an antenna, but your need to access the software and every manufacture has different software, even different models have different software. That would mean the need to maintain a database of thousands of different disabling hacks. It's just too cumbersome to be believable.

a reply to: Phage

I agree with Phage's faith in the ol' air gap method.

a reply to: MissSmartypants

With enough RF energy, you can actually induce power into another device via an antenna, even if that device is turned off.

I've actually witnessed this (on several occasions). The most egregious and dangerous example was, one time I was driving down a road in Detroit. I had a VHF radio in my truck, and it was turned off. I pulled up to a stop light and there was a pickup truck in front of me. I saw the guy put a mic up to his face and start talking (on a CB radio). The signal meters on my VHF radio lit up and pegged, and I could hear sound coming through my speaker on the radio. Again, my radio was turned completely off. The next block the guy pulled into a convenience store, so I pulled in behind him. When he went in, I got out and looked in the bed of his truck. He had a linear amplifier bolted in the bed which took half of it up, and he had about 8 car batteries wired in series to a transformer which was then wired to the RF amplifier. The net result was probably several thousand watts of radiated power.

I'm sure the guy thought his radio was really cool, but he had no idea how much (dangerous) RF energy he was subjecting his body to by using that amplifier!

He's probably dead now...but hey, he had a cool (illegal) radio, right?