Is the government covering up something here? You decide

I find it interesting that I stumbled upon something, while using some leisure time and watching TV on a basic network program. I could be opening a Pandora Box here, but I thought I would make this a discussion. I remembered watching a commercial and thinking, “Ok what was the point of that?” Again, I saw this saw commercial a few days later on the fox channel. It then hit me on the purpose behind it. The commercial was by ready.gov, a government sponsored site or company that prepares people for the worst.

Now, with all the recent warnings being pronounced by certain sources, including the recent news articles flying and causing buzzes around the America nation. I then slowly re-watched the commercial that was displaying on multiple basic televisions “high-rated” programs. The commercial was of a random man, woman, and kids. The man said, “If my cell phone and lan phones were down what would I do?” The woman than repeated and said the same comment. The meaning behind the commercial was simple, stating after the commercial was finished that, “These people don’t have a plan if something were to happen, do you? “; “Make sure to have an emergency backup plan” with the ending of the commercial.

This being the second time I saw this commercial it hit me. The first time I pondered the point behind the commercial, but decided it was irrelevant. Next, after seeing it again, I wondered who would sponsor a commercial stating nothing more than your average day person to prepare in case of an emergency was to happen. Visiting the site, www.ready.gov... it then dawned on me, while doing further research this is directly funded by the U.S government. On top of, the funds being derived from homeland security themselves. Why would homeland security directly fund a commercial like this? One could argue, well they simply wanted to get a simple message out. Once again it would draw too much suspicion if homeland security themselves were to make such a commercial. So why not sponsor with someone and start getting the word out? Let me also remind everyone, to my knowledge there has never been such a past event such as homeland security directly funding an act like this.

I than sat down and thought, with the upcoming events like Hollywood releasing a big movie 2012, such a commercial will only draw suspicion at that time. So I am proposing, is it possible the government knows something they aren’t releasing? This could fall into anything really, but with all the media attention around the upcoming solar storms and 2012, my only conclusion is this is focusing towards this. Lastly, if you visit their website there “kit” is of the following: (A basic 3 day survival kit) I trained with the United States military doing survival classes years ago and I can tell you some items on this list are not for a 3 day survival.

• Water, one gallon of water per person per day for at least three days, for drinking and sanitation
• Food, at least a three-day supply of non-perishable food
• Battery-powered or hand crank radio and a NOAA Weather Radio with tone alert and extra batteries for both
• Flashlight and extra batteries
• First aid kit
• Whistle to signal for help
• Dust mask, to help filter contaminated air and plastic sheeting and duct tape to shelter-in-place
• Moist towelettes, garbage bags and plastic ties for personal sanitation
• Wrench or pliers to turn off utilities
• Can opener for food (if kit contains canned food)
• Local maps
Additional Items to Consider Adding to an Emergency Supply Kit:
• Prescription medications and glasses
• Infant formula and diapers
• Pet food and extra water for your pet
• Important family documents such as copies of insurance policies, identification and bank account records in a waterproof, portable container
• Cash or traveler's checks and change
• Emergency reference material such as a first aid book or information from www.ready.gov
• Sleeping bag or warm blanket for each person. Consider additional bedding if you live in a cold-weather climate.
• Complete change of clothing including a long sleeved shirt, long pants and sturdy shoes. Consider additional clothing if you live in a cold-weather climate.
• Household chlorine bleach and medicine dropper - When diluted nine parts water to one part bleach, bleach can be used as a disinfectant. Or in an emergency, you can use it to treat water by using 16 drops of regular household liquid bleach per gallon of water. Do not use scented, color safe or bleaches with added cleaners.
• Fire Extinguisher
• Feminine supplies and personal hygiene items
• Mess kits, paper cups, plates and plastic utensils, paper towels
• Paper and pencil
• Books, games, puzzles or other activities for children

So in conclusion, once again I could be opening Pandora Box for anyone with an imagination behind this. What are other people thoughts behind this? Am I just being paranoid, or not? I only wonder what the government is hiding, if anything. If they are hiding something, what they are hiding.

Well no it isnt the first time Homeland Security has sponsored commercial announcements. They did so right after its formation back in 2002 about having certian things in case of attack, loss of utility due to attacks, having certian items in case of an Anthrax attack, etc etc.

Im not sure I see this as some sort of coverup. And is it necessarily some coverup because movieland is about to get another film from Hollywood that just so happens to be titled 2012?

For how long now has Hollywood been putting out doom and gloom films? A good number of years, including all those years of movies about war and fighting the bad guys. Its typical of Hollywood these days as it has been for the last 10 years to make movies that mirror real life situations, I think they got that idea from all those made for tv movies about real life events. Its been a fad trend ever since, it sells movie tickets and DVD's.

When I would start wondering if there was some conspiracy going on, is if the government doesnt say anything at all.


Cheers!!!!

reply to post by Johnathanrs


That is a very good list of things you would need. But it is not my any means complete. Several firearms and ammo among others.

I am not sure how old you are.......but back a few years ago we got all hyped up for Y2K.......and nothing happened. The government told us to be prepared for the breakdown of life as we know it. The only ones that benefited was government......spending billions of dollars of our money to construction underground facilities in every large city for their survival for some coming event. As far as 2012......it will be nothing......civil unrest due to the collapse of the dollar and the worlds economy, most likely.
Take a look and see what the PTB are preparing for........don't worry about what is going to happen in 3 years start thinking and preparing for what is going to happen in the next 2 to 6 months, why do you think they have announced taking trained US troops out of Iraq and bringing them back for operations WITHIN the USA.

Don't worry about what they say.......worry about what they are doing.

You may be on to something. However, after Katrina and what happened to Galveston, some people really do need tips on being prepared for any kind of unforeseen disaster. Should the government be the one doing the teaching is a different story.

Originally posted by jam321
You may be on to something. However, after Katrina and what happened to Galveston, some people really do need tips on being prepared for any kind of unforeseen disaster. Should the government be the one doing the teaching is a different story.

You hit the nail on the head there except for the last sentence I don't prefer a corporation to help clean up over a government. With increasing populations there are increasing chances that more people are affected when natural disasters pass through.

Be Prepared!

reply to post by RFBurns


Site your source. I only stated to my knowledge that homeland security has directly funded such a commercial. Show me these commercials you’re talking about. I do remember seeing commercials in the past, but once again they were all based around a purpose of chain of events. Read key words in my post before you attempt to defile what I say. Also, cite your source of what you are addressing so I can answer your statement question.

You seem to miss the idea regarding Hollywood. I was only using this as a basic reference of something I was simply thinking about. I have no clue why you went spouting stuff regarding Hollywood movies, tv, exc. I am in no form or fashion stating anything regarding accusing the government in this sense, I am simply bringing a topic of debate.

Ahhh I love that website!
No, I don't think it's a cover up. Well, it is, in that it lists the types of things that could happen to us and how to prepare, but not how likely say, a regular bombing is compared with a nuclear bomb or disease outbreak...

Will it really make us ready?! Will it save us?!!!
Nope.

Edit- Ready.gov has been around since about December 2001, I think.. I know they started planning for it in late 2001. So this is nothing really new.

[edit on 1/13/2009 by ravenshadow13]

reply to post by omega007


Omega, with all due respect you don't know what you are talking about. I already made a post regarding Y2K make sure you know your facts before stating anything. Here is a link to my post regarding it, in fact I will simply copy and paste it for you.

That’s interesting what you pointed out about MSM, I didn’t know that. Regardless of what happens, I do agree with you in the sense it will be an interesting time frame. People seem to have the wrong idea about this time. They try to bring up past events like Y2K, not being able to comprehend the difference between these situations.

Y2K is a man-made disaster, known as human made. Y2K actually did happen, but most people didn’t realize this. It was brought about the science and computer industry that bad scenarios were possible if they didn’t re-calculate computers, programs, exc. News got wind of the story and blew it up into a big story. (Which is their job, that is what they are paid to do sell stories. What they stated was the truth, though they went above and beyond on some cases. In the end, they accomplished their goal and told the truth. How people perceived this was on them.) People began planning for the worst, but anyone who worked in the field already knew about this scenario and fixed it. (Hence a man-made disaster) Looking back in some retrospect, it’s actually a good thing it go such publicity, because it probably prevented a lot of disasters from happening. In all truths, some companies did have to re-set some of their programs, or software that they forgot, so in truth this really did happen. Just not on the scale that was intended to your average, gullible, citizen that was listening to the news, whom was spouting nothing but worst case scenarios. (To sell the story)

Furthermore, the difference between these two is nothing was prophesied regarding Y2K. There are multiple bibliographic sources that are spouting prophecies regarding this time era. Also, science is starting to find things that are matching the time frame of these scenarios. I guarantee you the same thing will happen in regards of Y2K. Things like power companies will get wind of this and try to re-support their power grids to help prevent some situations from happening. They will also have a back up disaster plan, which is resulting in the media exposure of this. This will be oblivious to your average day person, not realizing the outcome being changed thanks to media exposure. Lastly, this isn’t a man-made disaster. When I say that, let me emphasize the word man-made. This is a natural event that is possible of happening on multiple scales, depending upon what you’re believing.
In truth, we have nothing that can prevent the outcome of the chain of events. That is if it happens in the first place and if it does how much can we minimize? In order for someone to understand a concept, plan, or theory, one must look at the entire picture including past, present, and future in order to calculate the entire projected situation. Like stated by multiple people on this website, this time period will be interesting regardless of what happens. Keep in mind, this is the year 2009 all the evidence hasn’t sprouted yet, or been developed yet. Once the year 2011 comes around, then you can start basing Fact from Fiction, based upon the present state of the Earth, preparation, and past scenarios. If there is a possibility of the worst happening, than hope for the best but plan for the worst.

reply to post by ravenshadow13


I never stated anything regarding it being new. From past events, this has always been used for broadcasting scenarios by homeland security. Keep in mind; homeland security is spending millions of dollars on commercials, out of the blue for no apparent reason. Anything homeland security does is based around a chain of events that is currently happening. Maybe like I stated, I am being paranoid for nothing? I just thought this was interesting and wanted to see other peoples view upon it. In no way am I trying to uncover some conspiracy based around a commercial.

reply to post by jam321


I agree with you, but that is exactly my point. Why is the government spending millions of dollars to fund this commercial? That is what I am trying to bring around discussion. There is nothing out of the blue going on that is a threat to our homeland security. (That hasn’t been around already) So why spend the money to tell people to prepare for an emergency for no apparent reason? This is what I find proplexing, I have no clue if I am onto something or not. I just want to see peoples view upon it. One could argue they were planning this for years and it so happened to fall on this date. That is a possibility, but I was simply trying to link it towards the recent news broadcast regarding solar storms.

reply to post by Johnathanrs


I seem to remember seeing Ready.gov commercials, as well as billboards, many times in the past. It doesn't seem out of the blue to me, but perhaps they are increasing the number of commercials. In the past two years they did complete the kid's section of the site, perhaps they want to get kids more involved now that the site is complete. Also, maybe the new administration is placing more effort on combined preparedness.

Maybe they want more companies to be ready (corporate preparedness) so that more money won't need to be spent bailing out industries and companies, since the country is in so much debt already.

It's not a bad stance to take.

Personally, I do not think that this is a cover-up of any kind. I mean seriously, people really do need to know what to do if something were to ever happen. They seem to be great guidelines, for survival and other such things. Not everything or everyone in the government is corrupt and personally I think that this is an honest organization trying to get people prepared if something ever happened. And lets face it, someday that "something" will happen.

I am glad that they are trying to make people aware, I wish they had always done this from the beginning of television and radio. They did somethings on radio as well but not a whole lot as they do now, which I think is an amazing idea.

9/11 people were scared to death and looked for guidence, what did the government do, prepare people by telling them what to do in case of another attack, especially with the anthrax spores in the envelopes at the time.

Hurricane Katrina, which I stayed for (which was my first mistake in life..lol), I followed what they told me to have to survive, I did so and it kept me alive for 2 weeks until I was bale to leave the city. That website saved my life, seriously.

I think the government did well in those commercials to get people aware of the events that may come.

[edit on -06002009-01-13T16:21:24-06:00312009bAmerica/ChicagoTue, 13 Jan 2009 16:21:24 -0600, 1 by TheMythLives]

reply to post by ravenshadow13


Hmm, that is an interesting possibility. To be honest, this is a possibility that I considered. The thing that I was discussing though, was the commercial not the website though. I just found the recent chain of events being introduced by leading professionals in their industries interesting. On top of seeing that commercial, I just found it fascinating. Seeing how this commercial is brand new and is introducing a commercial with the theme, “Prepare a emergency backup plan”.

reply to post by Johnathanrs


Because the fact of the matter is that people are not prepared. When the hurricanes flew thru Texas last year i heard a lot of people complaining about not having the necessary survival gear. Add to that all the flooding and tornadoes and other natural disasters that hit America. At some point people have to start being responsible for their own survival, at least till government can step in to assist them. Now if there is a surprise in the picture, I don't think they would tell us. Just better to be prepared.

reply to post by TheMythLives


I do agree with you, I just found the timing of their theme of this commercial fascinating. I am really not stating anything regarding the website, or any past events. The only thing that I am aware of is homeland security only sponsored commercials that had a point like this, if something was going to happen. For example: Hurricane Katrina was expecting to hit landfall in America, they introduced a commercial in that area regarding this. From my knowledge, until someone shows something disproving this, they have never funded a commercial with a theme for no reason. So with that in mind, with their new theme of “Prepare an emergency backup plan” I just found this intriguing. I guess, I stand alone in this

reply to post by Johnathanrs


My guess, then, since you seem to be thinking on the same lines is thus:
The government wants everyone to be as prepared as possible, so that they could dish out as little money as possible.

reply to post by jam321


Well you see that is exactly my point. This does in fact exist for that reason that you stated. So my point is what exactly is the reason behind this commercial? “Have an emergency backup plan” Nothing else in the commercial, but this meaning. I just found that interesting. On top of the current news events regarding solar storms. So if their job is to prepare people for something, what is this point of this commercial? A random commercial to bring around a message of, just have a backup plan? According to past events, they have always broadcasted a commercial with a backing theme. Once again there no evidence to support this, just correlation I found that I found interesting.

I am not sure if this is relevant but I skimmed through it and it tells a little bit about the funding of the Homeland secruity Funds.

Homeland Secruity Funds (PDF File) About 3 or 4 down

Originally posted by Johnathanrs The meaning behind the commercial was simple, stating after the commercial was finished that, “These people don’t have a plan if something were to happen, do you? “; “Make sure to have an emergency backup plan” with the ending of the commercial.

First off, I have been soooo ignoring this whole 2012 nonsense.
However, there is something to be said for emergency preparedness. 5 years ago we had that blackout up here...well, the whole NE of the continent. We were lucky it only lasted...what...3-4 days? We all ate well as we recovered the stuff in our freezers and BBQ's it, and nobody I know was particularly put out. Mind you, it was high summer. And I had a wood stove in that house, which would have been handy had the blackout been in the winter.

But the truth is we are pretty vulnerable to any scenario that knocks out power for a few days, let alone any of the disaster themes that we get hit with. Preparedness is smart...the fact that I am not 'ready', yet aware, is stupid. These commercials are a good thing as long as they are not instruments to needlessly spread fear.