Great Central U.S. Shakeout! .... really?!? Kinda cutsy for such a terrible possibility.

So I catch an ad on CNBC last night at about 1:30AM EST from FEMA. It's for this website:

www.ready.gov...

The spot was all about being prepared, having a kit at the ready, etc. All good advice on the surface. What put me at a real level of unease was the fact that they are running national spots on this. It seems less like good, basic advice, and more like either a forewarning, or worse, fearmongering. The topper was it ran against a show CNBC was broadcasting about 2012 and survivalists.

So, out of curiosity, I decide to check out the site. There, I found a colorful, cute graphic for a "Shakeout!" (exclamation point is theirs.)

www.shakeout.org...

This is all about the New Madrid earthquake drill. Again, it seems awfully cutsy and "clever" for something that could be very terrible and devistating. I don't know, I think that it seems rather flip.

Anyway, has anyone seen these? Either the TV spots or the sites? What have been your impressions? How about the impressions of others in your life who may not quite be tuned into the ATS mindset?

reply to post by larphillips


Agreed, it seems more of a kick than a nudge.
Oh well i'm definately good beyond 72 hours.
I'll just wait and see, but if we are looking at a cataclysm event, there is no preparations against Mom Nature.

Yeppers.... these ads are popping up everywhere. Not just along the New Madrid either. Here is a link to the one I heard about on talk radio this morning.

mynorthwest.com...

I find it Ironic that they would want you to post a picture of yourself with your supplies to show that you are ready, since that is one of the things that the Government flags as potential domestic terrorism. See link...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

To add to this, I just heard talk about our Terrorism alert level system undergoing a change in format. This is no bs..... They are planning on changing the terror alert statuses from colors to a new system which labels the terror alert either ELEVATED, or IMMINENT.

content.usatoday.com...

A lot of changes taking place with such convenient timing I must add...

The word IMMINENT seems a bit promising, yeah?

reply to post by larphillips

I took a gander at this Shakeout. I think it's just fema trying to look like they are doing their duty. My first memories of fema were back in the 70's. I lived in the San Francisco East Bay Area. Fema had put out an evacuation plan in case of a nuclear attack on San Francisco. The plan was to drive east over the hills, through the Livermore Valley and keep heading east.

Of course, thought I, if someone is targeting SF with an intercontinental missile a first target would be the Lawrence Livermore Radiation Lab, located where? Right. A mile or two from the evacuation route planned by FEMA. That's when I quit paying attention to fema.

Originally posted by forall2see
To add to this, I just heard talk about our Terrorism alert level system undergoing a change in format. This is no bs..... They are planning on changing the terror alert statuses from colors to a new system which labels the terror alert either ELEVATED, or IMMINENT.

content.usatoday.com...

A lot of changes taking place with such convenient timing I must add...

The word IMMINENT seems a bit promising, yeah?

Yeah, I saw this headline on the Fox News crawl yesterday. Apparently, they are linking up with Twitter and Facebook on this and it is due to be rolled out by the end of this month.

Seems like a lot of things are lining up. Yes, I'm paranoid and I probably qualify for FEMA's "watchlist" but it really looks like they're getting their ducks in a row for something to go down late spring or early summer of this year.

I really hope nothing happens and it's all just fearmongering with no real danger. I have friends in Maine, North Carolina, Florida and Illinois and I'm unable to warn them if something were to happen without making myself look nuts.

Originally posted by curious7
I really hope nothing happens and it's all just fearmongering with no real danger. I have friends in Maine, North Carolina, Florida and Illinois and I'm unable to warn them if something were to happen without making myself look nuts.

The best you can do is to educate when and where you can. Point out headlines and allow them to start to draw their own conclusions. Show them the historic charts on commodities, ask them if they've noticed a real difference in the fuel and grocery bills, suggest websites and books to them to allow them to try to be informed, ask them to open their eyes to things that the media spits out as us which seem mundane and unrelated, point out to them when the media attempts to distract us (wall-to-wall coverage of the next missing blonde girl, celebrity hijinks, the upcoming royal wedding, etc.), and point out to them when the media seems to refuse to cover (or take seriously) news items that really matter.

I share your hope, but at the same time I try to be ready. I also try whenever I can (and as gently as I am able) to inform, educate and warn my loved ones.

I think it is certainly possible the FEMA is used towards nefarious means, to enforce plans in place -- but FEMA is truly in a no-win position. If FEMA does hold drills which are likely necessary to work out the huge logistical issues of dealing with cataclysmic events, then the drills are seen as foreshadowing of some immediately future planned disasters.

But if FEMA doesn't do these drills, then how are they at all to be helpful at all if any of these events did happen?

I bet a lot of NOLA residents wish they had done a lot of evacuation drills before Hurricane Katrina.

I live in NYC, and I'm glad that the police here are grappling with the real possibility that this city could be a target as it has in the past.

Originally posted by jpkmets
I bet a lot of NOLA residents wish they had done a lot of evacuation drills before Hurricane Katrina.

I don't think they needed to do region-specific drills in order to handle what happened after Katrina. I think what went down there proved that what FEMA does out in the open is nothing more than a smokescreen. Even if they didn't have a formal plan (which they should've as a hurricane in New Orleans was towards the top of FEMA's disaster possibility list) nearly anyone could have "winged it" with more effectiveness and efficiency than was shown down there.

You can only view FEMA in one of two ways... utterly and completely incompetent, or evil and working against the common good. Either way, it's a frightening thought.