Slog
News & ArtsWednesday, November 9, 2011
TV This Is Only a Test (So Don't Freak Out When Your Teevee Gets Interrupted Later This Morning)
Posted by Eli Sanders on Wed, Nov 9, 2011 at 6:00 AM
- Creatista / Shutterstock
- FEMA says: "Don't stress. It's only a test."
Local elected officials are asking us to remind you of the most urgent threat facing our nation this morning.
It is this:
Television programming will be interrupted today at 11 a.m. for the first-ever nationwide test of the Emergency Broadcast System.
This. Is. Only. A. Test. Even though it's happening on every TV channel and radio station all at once.
“We want to make sure the public knows the test is happening and what to expect,” Mayor Mike McGinn said in a statement. “So no one is caught off guard, we’re asking everyone to join us in spreading the word. Tell your neighbors, coworkers, friends and family.”
So. Please do not run into the street screaming when today's 11 a.m. programming—The Young and the Restless, Matlock, Swift Justice with Jackie Glass—screeches to a halt for 30 seconds while the government makes strange sounds that President Obama will use to get your attention should a real national emergency, like the actual cancelling of The Young and the Restless, transpire.
Thank you. And God Bless America.
4
I wonder if this article in the New York Times from a couple of days ago, questioning the very reason for the system to exist, has anything to do with it:
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/21/nyregi…
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/21/nyregi…
5
It sounds like some diabolical plot that the Brain is using to try and take over the world! Luckily, Pinky will probably trip over a cable and we'll all be spared his nefarious doings.
6
This would be a perfect time for the alleged god or gods to take over the media and proclaim they exist. They can do anything, right?
11
Nationwide emergency alert...what's the point? Nuclear strike? What a stupid thing to spend money on. Maybe it could pay for itself through advertising revenue.
12
I love the extreme 1970-ness of this technology. The last one I saw, last week, was a EBS announcement of an Amber Alert, telling me to look for a brown Chevy in, uh, I didn't catch the name of the state. I look forward to the day when every single weather event and minor crime committed anywhere in the country is broadcast this way, meaning a continuous ERH ERH beeping.
And they resolutely believe that these messages reach "98% of the population". What a Monty Python script the US has become.
And they resolutely believe that these messages reach "98% of the population". What a Monty Python script the US has become.
14
What is with Stranger writers all using "teevee" instead of "TV"? Is it supposed to clever or funny or something? If so, how?
15
There were about 80 cops all packed into a parking lot this morning 10-ish in the U. District (corner of 11th and 45th). Is that related to this somehow? They looked like mostly bike cops? It seems like a weird spot for a briefing or training of some sort, unless the plan was to mobilize in some way as a test as well?
17
Someone just told me there's some kind of rally/march on the UW campus today, but I can't find anything about it. Maybe that's what the cops were all here for??
19
@13, a separate channel would kind of defeat the purpose, since you'd have to be watching it. The whole point of EBS is that it takes over EVERY channel (except of course for the nearly infinite "channels" that most people are looking at now, like their phones).
Advertisement
Most Commented on Slog
-
Hating People Doesn't Make Them Thinner by Jen Graves
-
Los Angeles Gay Bar Bans Bachelorette Parties Until Marriage Equality Is Attained by David Schmader
-
Fill in the Blank by Grant Brissey
-
This Reminds Me of the Great Calculator Scare of the Late '70s/Early '80s by David Schmader
-
Idiot Tries to Defend Bigoted Anti-Gay-Marriage Preacher on Anderson Cooper by Paul Constant
-
The Sunday Morning News by Unpaid Intern
-
Six Moms with Too Much Time on Their Hands and a Shitty Website Decide to Fight Gay Superheroes by Paul Constant
-
The Saturday Morning News by Unpaid Intern
-
What the Hell Is Wrong With Seattle's Pride Parade? by Dominic Holden
-
Why Mayor McGinn's Wife Canceled Her Family's Seattle Times Subscription by Eli Sanders
RSS
Facebook
Twitter
Comments (19) RSS