Hello ROss,

On Fri 2038-Jun-18 00:23, Ross Sauer (1:123/789) wrote to TIM RICHARDSON:

RS> No wonder you left off where this article appeared.

RS> "prisonplanet.com"


The source of this may present a lot of dubious material,
but i wouldn't pooh pooh this one just yet.  Your government wants to be
able to exert control of information flow from a disaster such as a Katrina
at a moment's notice.

Consider for a few moments what you might find if you were
displaced from your home by disaster to one of those Red
Cross shelters, or, worse yet, as in NEw ORleans, whisked a
thousand miles from your home with few resources except
whatver cash and credit cards you might have had in your
pocket at the time.

A decade and more ago:  YOu would have found a friendly ham, or group of
ham radio operators ready to take messages for
you to send to your family and friends advising them of your whereabouts
and continued safety.

Today:  THough there may be some hams working with the REd
Cross they are actively discouraged from taking any messages from you or
anybody but REd Cross officials and government
types.  IF they're kindly disposed toward their
"beneficiaries" they might deploy additional cellular
resources, or maybe a bank of pay phones for you to use,
should you have the resources to take advantage of them.
THe hams, otoh asked for nothing except the name address and telephone
number of the recipient of your message.

OUr government's new motto in any type of large scale
incident is "spin control is job #1."

Remember during Katrina you were probably hearing about
looters and folks wandering around the city armed.  I'm sure you do.

From our hospital location we noted more than once people on the freeway
overpass a couple blocks distant.  Such folks
were not in uniform, but were carrying a variety of arms.
THese are now said to be "the national guard."

I'm sorry, but a  National Guard soldier does not have pants with the
crotch around his knees, and does not wear a ball
cap backwards.  HE'd also not be carrying a Chinese assault
rifle.

YOur government would love to have a "kill switch" on
information flow outward from such an event.

Regards,
           Richard
... Amazing how much tape is on a 10" reel when it's not.
--- timEd 1.10.y2k+