Giant Voice System IPAWS
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The state can't agree on what the missile alert interface actual - Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL
Wed, 17 Jan 2018 13:26
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - On Monday night, the governor's office released an image of what it said was the interface used to send a false missile alert to Hawaii smart phones.
The confusing and seemingly rudimentary design quickly grabbed headlines nationally.
But a day later, the state's emergency management agency is disputing that image '-- and has released a different one.
Officials from the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency said the first image was sent in error, but declined to provide an actual photo of the interface.
Instead on Tuesday, they gave Hawaii News Now something they said was similar to the actual interface, and it included a drop down menu '-- not a list of possible real and test alerts.
The revelation was another chapter in what some have called a frustrating (and, at times, downright bizarre) response to Saturday's false alarm about an inbound ballistic missile.
Richard Rapoza, emergency management agency spokesman, said of the newly-released image: "This is a close facsimile. The operator should have selected the 'DRILL-PACOM (DEMO)' option, but instead clicked on the 'PACOM (CDW)' option."
The first image was released Monday, just before the governor held a rare, statewide address to again apologize for the false alarm blunder.
The image, provided to the governor's office by the emergency management agency, showed a screen with a list of options for alerts.
The governor's office said it was nearly identical to the one the employee who inadvertently sent out the false alert would have seen. The biggest difference? The image included the option to send out a false alarm correction alert to phones, if a mistake is made again.
When asked Tuesday why the image was different than the one provided by Hawaii Emergency Management, the governor's office directed Hawaii News Now back to the agency.
And the agency said an employee who wasn't authorized to provided the first photo.
One thing is for certain: There is no physical button to press that triggers a ballistic missile alarm and the "False Alarm BMD (CEM) - STATE ONLY" option was not there on Saturday '-- when it was needed most. Officials implemented that option soon after Saturday's mistake.
Separately, the emergency management agency continues to maintain that in order for the false alert to be triggered, the employee '-- who has since been reassigned '-- had to click "yes" on a second confirmation page.
The false alert went out to Hawaii's 1.4 million residents and hundreds of thousands of visitors on Saturday morning, triggering widespread panic.
Since Saturday's false alarm, Gov. Ige has vowed a false alert "won't happen again." He has also assigned Brig. Gen. Kenneth S. Hara, the state's deputy adjutant general, to review the emergency management system and implement improvements.
' 'After false missile alert, some Hawaii businesses threw customers out
' Here's what to do in the event of an actual nuclear attack
' Fearing inbound missile, many uttered what they thought might be their last words
' Terrifying': False ballistic missile threat sends Hawaii into panic
' WATCH: Ige says false missile threat alarm was result of someone pushing wrong button
This story will be updated.
Copyright 2018 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
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Hawaii missile alert: How one employee 'pushed the wrong button' and caused a wave of panic
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 13:43
Post Nation
By Amy B Wang
January 14, 2018 at 4:15 PM
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Hawaii residents received emergency alerts warning of a ''ballistic missile threat'' in the early morning of Jan. 13. Officials said the warnings were false. (Victoria Walker/The Washington Post)Shortly after 8 a.m. local time Saturday morning, an employee at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency settled in at the start of his shift. Among his duties that day was to initiate an internal test of the emergency missile warning system: essentially, to practice sending an emergency alert to the public without actually sending it to the public.
It was a drill the agency had started with some regularity last November '-- around the time Hawaii reinstated its Cold War-era nuclear warning sirens amid growing fears of an attack by North Korea '-- and so, while the tests were not yet routine enough to be predictable, they were not entirely new either, according to an agency spokesman.
Around 8:05 a.m., the Hawaii emergency employee initiated the internal test, according to a timeline released by the state. From a drop-down menu on a computer program, he saw two options: ''Test missile alert'' and ''Missile alert.'' He was supposed to choose the former; as much of the world now knows, he chose the latter, an initiation of a real-life missile alert.
''In this case, the operator selected the wrong menu option,'' HEMA spokesman Richard Rapoza told The Washington Post on Sunday.
Related: ['BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII,' the alert screamed. It was a false alarm.]
Around 8:07 a.m., an errant alert went out to scores of Hawaii residents and tourists on their cellphones: ''BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.'' A more detailed message scrolled across television screens in Hawaii, suggesting, ''If you are indoors, stay indoors. If you are outdoors, seek immediate shelter in a building. Remain indoors well away from windows. If you are driving, pull safely to the side of the road and seek shelter in a building or lay on the floor.''
The false warning sparked a wave of panic as thousands of people, many assuming they had only minutes to live, scrambled to seek shelter and say their final goodbyes to loved ones. The situation was exacerbated by a 38-minute gap between the initial alert and a subsequent wireless alert stating the missile warning was a mistake.
Hours afterward, Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) apologized for the ''pain and confusion'' the wayward alert had caused and said it had been ''a mistake made during a standard procedure at the changeover of a shift and an employee pushed the wrong button.'' But one day after the debacle, more details are emerging about how such a mistake occurred, amid growing calls for accountability and for a close reexamination of the wireless emergency alert system.
Cars drive past a highway sign that says ''MISSILE ALERT IN ERROR THERE IS NO THREAT'' on the H-1 Freeway in Honolulu on Saturday. The state emergency officials announced human error as cause for a statewide announcement of an incoming missile strike alert that was sent to mobile phones. (Anthony Quintano/Civil Beat/AP)On Sunday, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai called the false alert ''absolutely unacceptable'' and said a full investigation was ''well underway.'' At least initially, Pai seemed to cast blame on state-level officials for the error.
''Based on the information we have collected so far, it appears that the government of Hawaii did not have reasonable safeguards or process controls in place to prevent the transmission of a false alert,'' Pai said in a statement. ''Federal, state, and local officials throughout the country need to work together to identify any vulnerabilities to false alerts and do what's necessary to fix them. We also must ensure that corrections are issued immediately in the event that a false alert does go out.''
Pai did not elaborate on what safeguards or process controls were lacking in Hawaii that might typically be in place elsewhere. Wireless emergency alerts are dispatched during critical emergency situations '-- to warn the public of dangerous weather, missing children and security threats '-- and are a partnership of the FCC, FEMA and the wireless industry. While the FCC establishes rules and regulations surrounding emergency alerting, responsibility for sending those messages typically falls to emergency management officials.
Part of what worsened the situation Saturday was that there was no system in place at the state emergency agency for correcting the error, Rapoza said. The state agency had standing permission through FEMA to use civil warning systems to send out the missile alert '-- but not to send out a subsequent false alarm alert, he said.
Watch more!
Hawaii Gov. David Ige (D) said a false wireless emergency alert that a ballistic missile was headed for Hawaii was "unfortunate and regrettable." (Reuters)Though the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency posted a follow-up tweet at 8:20 a.m. saying there was ''NO missile threat,'' it wouldn't be until 8:45 a.m. that a subsequent cellphone alert was sent telling people to stand down.
''We had to double back and work with FEMA [to craft and approve the false alarm alert] and that's what took time,'' Rapoza said.
That has since been remedied, he said, with a cancellation option that can be triggered within seconds of a mistake.
''In the past there was no cancellation button. There was no false alarm button at all,'' Rapoza said. ''Now there is a command to issue a message immediately that goes over on the same system saying 'It's a false alarm. Please disregard.' as soon as the mistake is identified.''
Related: ['Is this the end of my life?': False alert of missile attack sends Hawaii scrambling]
The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency said it has also suspended all internal drills until the investigation is completed. In addition, it has put in place a ''two-person activation/verification rule'' for tests and actual missile launch notifications. On Saturday, Ripoza said, the employee was asked in the computer program to confirm that he wanted to send the message. In the future, a second person will be required for confirmation.
The agency said it would issue a preliminary report of findings and corrective actions next week. The employee in question has been temporarily reassigned, Rapoza said, but there are no plans to fire him.
''Part of the problem was it was too easy '-- for anyone '-- to make such a big mistake,'' Rapoza said. ''We have to make sure that we're not looking for retribution, but we should be fixing the problems in the system. .'.'. I know that it's a very, very difficult situation for him.''
The errant alert had sparked angry responses by state and federal officials for more accountability over the emergency alert system. On Saturday, Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) blasted the false alarm as ''totally inexcusable'' and called for the process to be fixed.
''This system failed miserably and we need to start over,'' Schatz tweeted. On Sunday, he indicated he would be open to drafting legislation to change the notification system if necessary.
Other Hawaii leaders focused not on the alert system but on the growing tensions between the United States and North Korea that had fueled fears of a nuclear strike in the first place. On CNN's ''State of the Union'' Sunday, Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) criticized President Trump for not taking the threat of nuclear war seriously enough and urged him to engage North Korean leaders in serious negotiations to denuclearize.
The mistaken alert was sent Saturday while the president was at Trump International Golf Club near his vacation home in Palm Beach, Fla., although it was not clear whether he was on the golf course at the time.
A White House official said Trump was quickly briefed by deputy national security adviser Ricky L. Waddell, who accompanied Trump from Washington. He later discussed the episode with National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster and White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly, the official said.
The federal government keeps track of North Korean launches through several means, including satellite surveillance, and officials around Trump would have known that no missile was detected.
Trump was not seen in public Saturday, and he issued no statements about the incident.
The only public mention of the incident came from deputy White House Press Secretary Lindsay Walters, who made clear that the federal government was not involved.
''The president has been briefed on the state of Hawaii's emergency management exercise. This was purely a state exercise,'' Walters said.
Walters also accompanied Trump to Florida.
While there is no protocol that applies directly to such a mistake, past presidents have often weighed in to reassure the public at times of stress or threat. '
Anne Gearan, Todd C. Frankel and Brian Fung contributed to this report.
Read more:
CDC postpones session on 'preparing for the unthinkable': a nuclear blast
'Is this the end of my life?': False alert of missile attack sends Hawaii scrambling
What to do in case of a nuclear attack
Perspective:A bomb is just minutes from destroying your world. Now what?
Amy B Wang is a general assignment reporter for The Washington Post.
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Feds say state didn't need to wait on them for missile-alert correction '' KHON2
Tue, 16 Jan 2018 23:01
The state said Saturday that waiting for federal approval was one of the reasons it took so long to issue a cancellation message on the same system that had carried the false alarm. But Always Investigating learned directly from the feds that wasn't true.
FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, told KHON2 not only is their permission and approval not needed for messages, but that it's been that way ever since the state applied to use the wireless emergency alert system about six years ago. Now the state tells us it was really seeking FEMA advice, not approval, before sending out the all-clear to all cell phones 38 minutes later.
FEMA provides a system called IPAWS '-- the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System. Think of it as a backbone that local authorities, like the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) then latch on to, but first have to build or buy their own software interfaces to write and broadcast alerts directly to your cell phone.
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That's how messages, whether things like tsunami warnings or Saturday's false missile threat, blare on your cellular handset.
But what about retractions or all-clears? The state said Saturday, and wrote on their timeline of false-alarm events, that they had to wait for federal approval to text false alarm through the same IPAWS mass alert system that carried the first alert.
Here's how Vern Miyagi, HI-EMA administrator, described it Saturday: ''At 8:45 a.m. after getting authorization from FEMA's IPAWS Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, HI-EMA issued a civil emergency message that verbally alerted people that this was false. a missile was not incoming. This was false alarm.''
KHON2 went directly to FEMA documentation of the IPAWS system and found messaging is locally, not federally, controlled. So we checked directly with FEMA whose spokesperson told Always Investigating: ''FEMA approval was not required to send the retraction message.''
FEMA told us Hi-EMA didn't have to wait.
''The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency possesses the authority to cancel or retract Hawaii Emergency Management Agency-initiated warnings, without intervention or approval from FEMA,'' Eileen Lainez, FEMA spokesperson, told Always Investigating.
Approval was not needed per FEMA, yet that's where the state told us Saturday they lost a lot of time. We showed those responses to U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz who said, ''This is deeply frustrating. That's quite bad, but even if there were some rule that required you to go back to FEMA, somebody should have used their judgment to just go ahead and retract it.''
KHON2 asked HI-EMA, why the discrepancy?
''I'm not going to say it was needed,'' HI-EMA spokesperson Richard Rapoza said. ''At this point that's part of our investigation to see if it was absolutely required, but the answer wasn't clear to us at the time.''
KHON2 asked, why cast it as an authorization and approval needed on Saturday?
''I think there was actually some confusion at the time,'' Rapoza said. ''When Vern and the governor and various people spoke Saturday, we were right on the heels of a big event. And so getting all of our information straight, making sure everybody understood exactly what was going on, was a bit of a challenge. So people might have used words, they may have used nomenclature, that may have characterized things in a way that was fast or convenient as opposed to absolutely carefully worded.''
HI-EMA now tells Always Investigating they called FEMA for guidance on how to distribute the all-clear, asking for help, not permission, on how to send a correction.
''Because it wasn't built into the system it wasn't absolutely clear what appropriate channel of IPAWS was to send the message out,'' Rapoza said.
KHON2 asked: Why even take the time to even ask what's ''appropriate'' again when the most inappropriate thing had just happened?
''At that point there's an argument made that we didn't want to add insult to injury and start running around just trying one thing after another,'' Rapoza said. ''It's important to do it properly.''
''The state called us that morning to discuss the false alert and to ask for technical guidance, which we provided during that call,'' FEMA's spokesperson told KHON2.
''Confidence is close to zero, so the only way you're going to be able to rebuild confidence is to be totally truthful about what happened. There are no excuses there is no way to make this sound better than it really is, we just have to work on fixing this,'' Schatz said.
FEMA tells me they are ''in contact with the State of Hawaii, FEMA Region IX, and the FCC, gathering more details to understand how this occurred, and how to prevent such occurrences in the future.''
FEMA tries to head these kinds of mistakes off with standard guidance, such as a 2015 field guide for states and agencies to build their front-end interfaces with an ''easily accessed 'Cancel' function. Yet despite that advice from FEMA in black and white, dating back years, HI-EMA had no cancel button before Saturday.
''It's outrageous the idea they had difficulty retracting this message that caused everybody to panic shows that they hadn't really thought this thing through,'' Schatz said. ''FEMA instructed our state agencies on how to set this thing up, they were not ready for prime time, and that's what this thing was.''
As to why other agencies here who knew it was false couldn't just trigger an IPAWS correction while HI-EMA waited?
We found out Hawaii is one of only a handful of states and territories that have only one agency signed up to use IPAWS. In the vast majority of states, the counties, police, sheriffs, even some private agencies can use the FEMA IPAWS system to write and send alerts to all of their region's cellular handsets.
Online resources:
January 13, 2018
The cause of the false alarm was human error.
January 13, 2018
''It was a procedure that occurs at the change of shift where they go through to make sure that the system is working and an employee pushed '...
January 11, 2018
The number of people missing since mudslides engulfed this wealthy coastal town surged to 48 Thursday as hundreds of rescue workers slogged '...
January 14, 2018
The agency continues to deal with public backlash, and employees have been receiving death threats.
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Japan fugu blowfish meat scare sees Gamagori city turn to emergency loudspeaker system for recall - CBS News
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 14:02
In a June 5, 2012 file photo, a blowfish, known as fugu in Japan, is seen on a chopping board before its toxic internal organs are removed at a Japanese restaurant in Tokyo.
Getty
TOKYO -- A city in central Japan used its emergency loudspeaker system in an attempt to recall four packages of blowfish meat after discovering a fifth one contained the potentially deadly liver.
No one has died. The fish, known as fugu, is an expensive winter delicacy but requires a license to prepare because of the dangers of mishandling. The fugu's liver is mostly toxic and banned.
Regional health officials said Tuesday a supermarket in Gamagori sold five packages of assorted blowfish meat on Monday. The inclusion of the liver in the package could have contaminated the other meat with the fugu poison.
In a June 5, 2012 file photo, Japanese chef Shigekazu Suzuki cuts and trims a pufferfish, known as fugu in Japan, to remove toxic internal organs at his restaurant in Tokyo.
Getty
Health authorities found that the store had been selling the liver of the particular kind of blowfish, called "yorito fugu," or blunthead puffer, for years because it's nearly non-toxic, health ministry official Yohei Ohashi said. No health problems have been reported from past consumption of the liver sold at the store, he said.
The illegal sales surfaced Monday when a buyer of one package took it to a health center. With four other packages sold but unaccounted for, city officials alerted residents via the emergency loudspeakers normally used for earthquakes and other disasters. Two packages have since been returned.
The health ministry ordered the store to recall all the blowfish packages and suspend their sale, but the store told officials that it will no longer sell blowfish, Ohashi said.
(C) 2018 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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TV stations in Guam accidentally broadcast civil danger warning - BNO News
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 23:33
The incident happened at about 12:25 a.m. local time on Tuesday when a woman working at local radio station KSTO AM activated the Emergency Alert System (EAS), resulting in the broadcast of a Civil Danger Warning.
"Emergency Alert System: Civil Danger Warning," said the message that appeared on all of the island's TV channels. "An EAS Participant has issued a Civil Danger Warning for the following Guam counties: Guam. Effective until August 15, 12:40 AM ChST."
A real warning would normally include information about the threat and the recommended course of action, but a Civil Danger Warning is a rare type of alert which is used to warn of danger to a significant civilian population. Examples include an imminent or in-progress military or terrorist attack.
The mistake startled many viewers, prompting some of them to call police or the Office of Homeland Security in an attempt to get information. Guam Homeland Security Advisor George Charfauros said the agency had received "a lot" of phone calls.
There were conflicting reports on whether the message was also broadcast on local radio stations, but Charfauros said the island's emergency sirens had not been activated. "Many people were asleep, fortunately," he said.
"The unauthorized test was NOT connected to any emergency, threat or warning," Guam Homeland Security and Civil Defense (GHS/OCD) said in a brief statement. "GHS/OCD has worked with KSTO to ensure the human error will not occur again."
Homeland Security Advisor Charfauros said an unauthorized employee at KSTO AM had caused the system to be activated, but he provided no further information, except to say that the action is not believed to have been intentional.
Guam has been at the center of attention for days after North Korea threatened to launch missiles towards the U.S. territory, which is home to 162,000 Americans and the Anderson Air Force Base. Although the North's threat is to launch missiles into the water, it has nonetheless raised tensions.
"Residents and visitors are reminded to remain calm, even with the continued unconfirmed reports throughout the media," Charfauros said in a statement. "Remember there is no change in threat level, we continue business as usual and know there are U.S. Department of Defense capabilities in place."
Charfauros added: "We continue communication with our federal and military partners and have not received official statement warranting any concern for imminent threat to Guam or the Marianas."
Guam radio stations spark terror by ACCIDENTALLY broadcasting nuclear missile warning just days after North Korea threatened to attack island
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 23:33
TWO radio stations on the Pacific island of Guam are in hot water after accidentally broadcasting a missile warning klaxon - sparking fears of a North Korean nuke attack.
The civil danger warning message was mistakenly broadcast because of "human error" just after midnight today by both the KTWG and KSTO radio stations.
Alamy
The emergency alert was broadcast on two the island's radio stationsKim has threatened to fire four Hwasong ICBM towards GuamThe broadcast alert came just days after noisy neighbour Kim Jong-un threatened to fire four Hwasong nuclear missiles in the direction of the American island territory.
The alarm read: "A broadcast station or cable system has issued a civil danger warning for the following countries/areas: Guam; at 12:25 a.m. on Aug. 15, 2017, effective until 12:40 a.m. Message from KTWGKSTO."
However the worrying test was not connected to any emergency, heightened threat or warning, BNO news reported.
George Charfauros, Guam Homeland Security Advisor, said in a statement: "Remember there is no change in threat level, we continue business as usual and know there are US Department of Defense capabilities in place.
"We continue communication with our federal and military partners and have not received official statement warranting any concern for imminent threat to Guam or the Marianas.''
Kim has revealed he has delayed a decision on firing towards Guam while he watches US actions a little longer, the North's state media said on Tuesday.
The chilling government leaflet was distributed on FridayAP:Associated Press
One worried local fills his trolley to the brim with bottled waterThe island last week issued residents with a chilling 'what to do in case of nuclear attack' leaflet amid fears of an imminent strike from North Korea.
The Pacific islanders were put on red alert after the local government issued the emergency fact sheet with the message "don't look at the fireball."
Titled "In Case of Emergency... Preparing for an Imminent Missile Threat", it says: "Do not look at the flash or fireball '' It can blind you."
It goes on "Take cover behind anything that might offer protection".
The island's 160,000 residents were put in the cross-hairs after it was revealed North Korea is now armed with nuclear warheads able to be fixed to its intercontinental missiles.
The flier also offers guidance on removing radioactive material: "When possible, take a shower with lots of soap and water to help remove radioactive contamination."
But don't scratch or scrub skin and "do not use conditioner in your hair because it will bind radioactive material to your hair."
Guam is just over 2,000 miles from North KoreaReuters
News that the island is on nuclear alert has panicked thousandsAfter the leaflet was distributed, many residents hit their local stores to stock up on food and drink ahead of what they fear could be the start of World War Three.
Some were seen leaving shops with shopping trolleys overflowing with canned food and bottles of water.
However, others went about their everyday lives as usual -with many hitting the beach to chill out.
Officials haven't raised the US territory's threat level even after Pyongyang laid out plans to strike near the island in the coming weeks, Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo said.
He noted that Guam has many buildings made to withstand powerful typhoons, but acknowledged that nothing can protect against a thermonuclear attack.
A war of words between US President Donald Trump '-- who said North Korea would be met with "fire and fury" if it stepped out of line '-- and officials under despotic leader Kim has brought the prospect of open and devastating warfare closer than ever.
Reuters
Guam has been threatened with a missile attack from North Korea by 'mid-August'Reuters
Kim cackles during a test launch of a long-range Hwasong-12 missile in MayPropaganda chiefs for the North Korean regime issued a statement saying four rockets would sent to Guam by "mid-August".
Squaring up to Kim again on Friday, President Trump said the dictator would "regret it fast" if he followed through on his threats.
Earlier the President warned that military plans are "locked and loaded" and urged Kim to ''find another path''.
North Korean state-run tv delivers statement berating Donald Trump and announcing missile launch plans in GuamGuam hosts large US military bases where regular air and sea sorties towards the Korean peninsula are launched.
Seeking to assure his citizens, Guam Governer Eddie Calvo told reporters on Friday that the island is "safe and sound".
"There are no changes," Calvo said. "Everyone should continue to live their lives."
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The island's administration is holding regular meetings with US Homeland Security '-- who provided the information contained in the chilling fact-sheet.
It recommends islanders to prepare by building emergency supply kits and figuring out where the nearest concrete shelter or "protected space" is.
Schools and public buildings are recommended as suitable places of refuge in the event of a nuclear attack.
Guam Homeland Security spokeswoman Jenna Gaminde said the island would sound all 15 of its All Hazards Alert Warning System sirens and emergency broadcasts would be published on TV and radio.
President Trump says North Korea will be met with 'fire and fury' if it threatens the USWe pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.
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Sonoma County Officials Opted Not to Send Mass Alert on Deadly Fire
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 23:32
(TNS) - As fires that would prove devastating burned across the North Bay late Sunday, Sonoma County considered sending a mass alert to cell phones in the region to warn of the rapidly spreading flames. But county officials decided against it, worried that doing so might create widespread panic and hinder the ability of first responders to combat the blazes.
It's unclear how much that decision might have affected area residents' responses to the deadly wildfires, particularly since many cell phone towers were destroyed in the blaze, making such messages undeliverable. But it adds to concerns that some in the fires' paths were not alerted about the danger, leaving them little time to flee.
As of Wednesday evening, 13 people were confirmed dead in the Sonoma County fires, and officials expected the total to rise.
In the early hours of the blaze, officials at the Sonoma County Fire and Emergency Services Department discussed sending something similar to an Amber Alert to cell phones in the area, but chose not to since it would have gone to tens of thousands of people not in immediate danger.
The type of warning, called a Wireless Emergency Alert, can only target phones in large geographic areas, according to Sonoma County Fire and Emergency Services Coordinator Zachary Hamill, who made the decision not to send the wireless alert together with the county's emergency manager, Christopher Helgren.
''If I had done the Wireless Emergency Alert I would have been notifying Petaluma, Cotati, Rohnert Park, Sebastopol, Sonoma '-- all of the cities and unincorporated areas in the county,'' Hamill said. ''And I didn't need to do that, I needed to focus on who specifically needed'' help. Jennifer Larocque, a spokeswoman for Sonoma County, said that sending such a widespread warning could have made it hard for first responders to combat the fire and help those in need.
''Providing mass information to people not affected could have caused mass traffic backups, which could have impacted emergency service providers and delayed emergency response,'' Larocque said.
The Sonoma County Fire and Emergency Services Department is one of dozens of California agencies that can send Wireless Emergency Alerts, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which administers the service. All major cell phone carriers have the technology, and everyone targeted by the alerts receives them unless they have actively opted not to get them.
Use of the alerts '-- in which only 90 characters can be transmitted '-- has seen mixed success in California when used for wildfire warnings.
Although there have been few instances of the alerts being deployed in situations similar to the Wine Country fires, on at least one occasion the technology seemed to create more confusion than help. In June, a swath of Southern California was ordered to ''evacuate now'' as crews battled a fire in Riverside County. Neighboring police and fire departments took to social media to explain the order did not apply to their areas.
Rather than deploy the wireless alert system, Sonoma County emergency officials tried to warn residents and issue evacuation orders through multiple avenues, including broadcasting on the radio, robo-calling residents, sending email and text alerts and physically knocking on doors or announcing orders through P.A. systems.
Still, many people, some in areas decimated by the fires, said they never received an official warning and fled only after being awakened by the smell of smoke, the sound of sirens, or neighbors pounding on their doors.
One of the warnings was a ''reverse 911'' call, which went out to all landline telephones in unincorporated parts of Sonoma County. ''We can circle this neighborhood, and it will call all those houses,'' Sonoma County Sheriff Rob Giordano said at a Wednesday news conference.
Along with automated calls to landlines, the county has other alert systems for cell phones, but they are available only to those who register to receive them. ''If you don't sign your cell phone up, you don't get that service,'' Giordano said.
One system, called Nixle, is widely used by law enforcement. Joel Rosen, chief marketing officer of Nixle's parent company Everbridge, said that prior to the fires, about 300,000 people in Napa, Sonoma, Mendocino and Lake counties were signed up to receive the alerts, about a third of the total population. Since the fires began, the number of people signed up for alerts has sharply increased, Rosen said.
Another emergency notification system in Sonoma County, SoCo Alerts, had 10,557 people signed up in mid-June. Just 7,658 of those were in Santa Rosa '-- a city of more than 175,000 that was devastated by the fire.
Santa Rosa Fire Department spokesman Paul Lowenthal helped make the call to evacuate parts of the city early Monday morning as the Tubbs Fire raced toward residential and commercial neighborhoods. When emergency responders arrived to help residents, smoke was already choking the air, embers were falling, and cell service was out, he said.
''During your typical California wildfire you craft messages, get evacuation plans, run them through law enforcement and operations and everyone agrees on them and works out sheltering needs,'' Lowenthal said. ''This was not that type of incident. ... This was nothing like anything I have ever experienced around here.''
Hamill, emergency coordinator of the Sonoma County Fire and Emergency Services Department, said the county will review its decision not to issue a Wireless Emergency Alert when they are no longer fighting the blaze.
''It's possible we could have said, 'Hey, be on the lookout, if you feel like your life is in danger, please evacuate,' but we didn't obviously,'' Hamill said. ''We've never done an evacuation to this scale ever before, so this will have to be one of those after action items we review and determine how we can do this better next time.''
(C)2017 the San Francisco Chronicle
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The Broadcasters' Desktop Resource
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 23:31
Information on EAS - CAP - IPAWS - FEMA
The idea is to bring some clarity to the issues and answer your questions. Definitions and
a fair amount of historical info is below, including air checks from the National EAS Test.
(Last update 1/13/18)
1/13/18 - Hawaii Emergency Management issued a false alarm about a missile attack this morning, declaring it was not a drill (image here). So far, reports have confirmed it hit the EAS, WEA, and local sirens. Apparently it took over a half an hour to issue a retraction, after a Hawaiian Congresswoman (Tulsi Gabbard, D-HI) initiated calling the EM HQ. There are currently no reports why a retraction was not issued immediately, nor exactly how it happened, but officials are conferring.
1/8/18 - The FEMA reports that the RWT for today did not happen for the Central Time Zone. FEMA engineers are "looking into the matter," to try to determine the problem.
12/14/17 - The FCC has approved adding the BLU code to the EAS. Stations will be voluntary users, manufacturers will be expected to include BLU in their next updates.
12/8/17 - The FCC has released its initial review of the 2017 NPT in September. The Public Notice is here.
12/6/17 - Alabama's EMA sent out an RWT with a CEM header by mistake. (Yes, a second time.)
11/21/17 - The IPAWS system server went off-line for about 11 hours between Monday night and Tuesday AM. It was re-booted and restored at 10AM EST.
11/19/17 - Alabama's EMA sent out an RWT with a CEM header by mistake.
11/14/17 - The FEMA RWT of the IPAWS was delayed for several hours in the Eastern and Central time zones. Additionally, a mal-formed alert that should not have gone through the system was sent to some stations in the Central time zone.
11/9/17 - The FCC requires all stations to file Form Three by November 13th.
11/2/17 - The FCC mandated deadline for sending your multilingual plans is November 6th, based on the FCC's Compliance Guide in August. Check the top of page 3. The SECC is to report to the FCC next year. Some SECCs have said they are willing to accept reports after the 6th. It is best to contact them to be sure!
10/13/17 - This is sort of an FYI: authorities in Sonoma CA last week did NOT use EAS or WEA for alerting people in the fire zone of Sonoma County (Santa Rosa) that has devastated that area and killed more than 40 people. They said it was an intentional decision. Observers noted the decision came after many cell sites were destroyed. This puts more pressure on stations to step up and serve, as did KZST Santa Rosa. Other reports note KSRO and its cluster were working hard, too.
9/27/17 - The NPT came and went. For those of you who had trouble doing Form Two, it has been extended. A summary is here.
9/20/17 - The FCC does remind you that you need a new 2017 EAS Handbook to be customized and printed. The download link is here.
9/20/17 - The FEMA has announced the 2017 NPT date: September 27th at 2:20 PM EDT, with a rain date of Oct 4th. Here is the official notice. The FCC's Public Notice is here.
Deadlines of note:
1. All EAS Participants are required to register with ETRS and must complete the filing of Form One as soon as possible.
2. The 2017 EAS Handbook must be customized, printed, and posted at the EAS Control Point.
3. The "day of test" information sought by ETRS Form Two must be filed at or before 11:59 PM EDT on September 27, 2017.
4. The detailed post-test data ETRS Form Three must be filed on or before November 13, 2017.
8/28/17 - Partially due to the effects of Hurricane Harvey on SE Texas (and likely partially due to the problems with the CORES and ETRS web sites), the FCC has extended the August 28th deadline for filing Form One; later filings will be accepted - but stresses for stations to do it as soon as possible.
8/16/17 - The FCC released a "Small Entity Compliance Guide" repeated the requirement for SECCs to submit reports on how stations are handling multilingual EAS alerts. They are required to submit to the SECCs their plans by November 13th.
8/15/17 - An EAS test on the island of Guam went awry when a station employee practicing how to send an alert hit "send" instead of "cancel."
7/25/17 - The ETRS is now open and operative. Reminder: You must register and complete Form One prior to August 28th. Trouble? Contact Austin: 202-418-1462
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7/11/17 - The FEMA has named 44 individuals to the latest IPAWS subcommittee, calling it one of its highest priorities for 2017. The subcommittee will first meet August 8/9 in Washington DC and is tasked with bringing recommendations forward to improve the public alerting system.
6/22/17- The FCC adopts the BLU alert for Law Enforcement
4/21/17 - The FEMA released its report on the 2016 EAS NPT in September. A copy can be seen here. A test is expected to be announced during the NAB Show for this Fall, likely September.
3/24/17 - The FCC's latest order requires, among other things, for stations to submit plans for multilingual EAS operations to the SECCs for reporting to the FCC.
12/28/16 - The PSHSB (Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau) of the FCC has released its first look at the 2016 NPT in September. 94% of 21,000+ stations reported reception of the test, with 85% successfully relaying it. Over 2/3 reported no problems at all - all in all an improvement from 2011.
12/15/16 - The FCC abruptly called off the plan to vote on a number of EAS changes, including a multilingual requirement on stations. It appears that there will be no EAS action until after the inauguration of President Trump next month, and clarification of what he will do with the FCC's vacant chairs.
11/7/16 - A test by a US Cellular tech in the IPAWS test and development lab leaked onto the WEA system beginning around 1PM CST. The test went over the entire live US Cellular network and the WEA somehow was repeated as many as a dozen or dozen and a half times over a couple of hours. One report says US Cellular was involved (see screen shot). Apparently, any cell phone that "talked" to a US Cellular tower would have been affected.
9/28/16 - The 2016 NPT went off pretty much as expected - a lot of success - it was a test, after all, and there is nothing wrong with failure, as it helps improve the EAS for future use as stations handle the few issues that were highlighted today. More information is here.
9/27/16 - With a day to spare, the FCC has denied the request for wavier by Gorman-Redlich, so that older EAS boxes (which do not recognize 000000) might still be used. The FCC really wants the 000000 to be recognized. (On the other hand, footnote 51 does seem to indicate a possibility that individual stations may seek a wavier, but this might not have a certain result.)
9/19/16 - Monroe-Electronics has released a short (6 page) illustrated application note for Version 3.0 users to help stations be sure they have got the necessary options set and ready for the NPT on September 28th. (Stations using Version 2.x should use this one.)
9/19/16 - Today's RMT from the FEMA was only sent in three groups, much like the coming NPT next week. PDT, Alaska, and the Pacific islands were sent along with MDT (AST was with EDT).
9/14/16 - Check your logs! The FEMA ran an RWT with 000000 at 2PM EDT today. This is a great opportunity to see how your receiver responds to an "All US" test. This is not a worry for anyone - it does not have to be logged officially. Rather, it is a chance to check your filters and see if your machine recognizes 000000, and what it does. If you did not get this test, contact your manufacturer's support line - or the instructions you got on the last update. Unfortunately, there was also an invalid certificate issue - but the FEMA says this now has been fixed until 2019.
9/12/16 - Sources at the FEMA note problems with this morning's CAP test. It appears to have been centered on the certificate, which went out of date again. Some EAS receivers which have been set to ignore a bad certificate have received the test. Others did not. The FEMA is working on the problem.
9/6/16 - In the aftermath of a botched EAS alert on Long Island, NY, the local County Executive first blamed the FEMA, then an EAS machine, then "the system" for an alert that included a truncated evacuation of Fire Island which could have been interpreted as ordering evacuating all of Suffolk County on the East end of Long Island.
8/26/16 - This is when all stations are supposed to be registered for the 9/28 NPT. What happens if you do not get it done? The FCC says they are more interested right now in getting folks in the ETRS and getting their stations registered, so they can report on the NPT, than in issuing citations. So, according to the FCC, do it now, even if you are late.
7/11/16 - The FCC added by Report and Order three new EAS codes on July 6th, effective on January 6th, mandating that manufacturers add them to their system and any upgrades made by stations after one year must include them. The new codes are: Extreme Wind Warning (EWW), Storm Surge Watch (SSA) and Storm Surge Warning (SSW). (As with "normal" codes, these are all voluntary.)
6/20/16 - The Reply Comment period on the FCC's EAS NPRM is well along now, ending on July 8th. If you want to make a comment easily, just go to the EFCS to comment on Docket number 15-94. You can read the existing comments, or add yours.
3/30/16 - The FCC has issued a Multilingual EAS Order. So far, the upshot is the FCC is telling to SECCs to provide data on multilingual EAS usage. It does not yet require multilingual broadcasts by EAS participants.
3/24/16 - The EAS NPRM was published in the Federal Register this morning. Comments are due on or before May 9, 2016 and reply comments are due on or before June 7, 2016. One key point, the docket number has changed from 04-296 to 15-94. So be sure to use 15-94 on the ECFS.
3/3/16 - The FEMA announced through the Alabama Broadcasters' Association that an NPT will be sent to that state, in lieu of the cancelled one from last week. It is scheduled for March 10th at 11:15AM.
2/25/16 - How did things work out on the recent NPT? Like any test, one might call it a success, in that many stations got the test and either forwarded it or discovered some problems in settings - there were many reports on non-forwarding.
The biggest problem seems to have come from the FEMA and state broadcast associations in the South that cancelled the test at the last minute - but did not see fit to notify stations in any way.
Other issues included some AES settings caused the audio to be slowed dramatically - or no audio at all.
2/23/16 - The FEMA announced the next National EAS Test - it will be conducted on Wednesday. September 28 at 2:20PM ET. It appears to be an IPAWS-only - not using the PEP stations via legacy EAS. Meanwhile, the FCC expects the ETRS (Electronic Test Reporting System) to be up and running by mid-year so EAS Participants can "sign up" before the test.
11/23/15 - The FCC advisory committee, CSRIC will meet on December 3rd to discuss ways to improve the reliability and security of the communications infrastructure. The meeting will be streamed at www.fcc.gov/live.
11/19/15 - The FEMA NPT went off well according to reports. Reports from the various states indicate that most stations got the NPT.
In fact, even a non-advertised function went well. Users of the DASDEC EAS receivers reported the ability to get Spanish language versions of the test cleanly and clearly. This demonstrates that it is possible to send language specific alerts to areas of high concentration of various language speakers.
We asked Ed Czarnecki, Monroe Electronics' senior director for strategy and global government affairs, about the multilingual aspect of the test. He said "The NPT was a single CAP message with two information blocks - one in English and the other in Spanish. Each info block contained the full expanded text of the Emergency Alert in each respective language. The CAP message also contained two audio files embedded in the message itself - again English and Spanish.
DASDEC multilingual users have the option to configure their systems to play either language or both.
If the audio file was damaged or unplayable for whatever reason then the DASDEC would utilize fully featured text to speech. However all the multilingual - DASDECs played the original audio file perfectly.
The successful completion of this test gives us and our broadcast partners confidence that we have a flexible and workable path forward to support multilingual public alert and warning in this country.''
11/17/15 - The FEMA continues to roll out regional tests of the IPAWS system. This time, on November 17th at 4:20 EST, the NPT test sequences will be sent to stations in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada. The location code PEP code will also be part of the test, although the 000000 apparently will not be used as it is not required until next year. There will again be several online seminars available to answer questions. Check with fema.gov for details.
8/10/15 - The FEMA is planning an New England IPAWS test in September (16th), in coordination with state broadcast associations in CT, ME, MA, NH, RI, and VT. The test, at 2:20PM EDT will test the NPT code. There will be an online seminar on September 3rd at 10 AM EDT to answer questions.
7/13/15 - The IPAWS CAP RMT did not run today in the EDT Zone.
6/30/15 - The clock has stared on the R&O items below, as the FCC published them in the Federal Record. There is already some pushback on the ETRS and audio follow video crawl. It remains to be seen if the equipment can be put in place on the the FCC's timeline. FYI: Monroe Electronics (DASDEC) EAS boxes are already programmed for the 000000 and NPT. And, both Gorman-Redlich and TFT have stated that their CAP converters handle the 000000 and NPT.
6/2/15 - Only 3.5 years after the National EAS Test, the FCC has released four proposed improvements to the EAS, in its 6th Report and Order. Among the FCC's proposals:
Within 12 months: designate 000000 as the code for a National Alert (EAN) - and require the use of the code.
Within 12 months: require the ability to use NPT for future national tests, such as the one the FEMA says they are planning.
Within 60 days: Require use of an FCC website to report test data, which would be used in a mapbook to visually demonstrate the propagation of tests.
Within 6 months: Require TV stations to standardize and use tones and crawls to make sure all viewers/listeners can understand any emergency information, even outside of EAS.
Sometime: require the FCC and the FEMA to cooperate.
5/18/15 - The Enforcement shoe has dropped on iHeart Media for the false EAS tones (a repeat of the National EAS Test) run on the Bobby Bones Show in October 24, 2014. The Order for $1 Million in civil penalties (plus a compliance plan) was agreed to by iHeart Media to conclude the matter. It is worth noting that part of the reason for the large settlement was that the program was more than just on locally in Nashville (WSIX) - it was on satellite and carried in a number of markets.
However - it is also worth noting that none of the other radio/TV/cable stations that ran the EAN were - or will be fined. Officially, under the current - non-new-rewritten Part 11 that the FCC has been promising for years - Rules, an EAN must be relayed, but header information was to be observed. That would have prevented the fake EAN from running. But, in typical bureaucratic manner, in reaction to a slight delay at some stations in the 2011 National Test caused by a programming error at the FEMA, a more recent Policy statement and part of the NPRM for Part 11 now says stations are to run an EAN immediately, regardless of the timestamp.
This will need to be sorted out in the - eventual - new Part 11.
5/5/15 - The CAP RWT for the American Samoa time zone was not sent this week.
4/1/15 - Are you ready for the National Public Alering System (NPAS)? No, this is not an April Fools' joke. The NPAS - or "Alert Ready" - is the Canadian system that is now in full operation as of today.
Similar to the EAS rules in the US, the Canadian regulatory agency (CRTC) requires most all radio/TV/satellite/cable/video-on-demand stations to participate in NPAS and broadcast alerts where there is danger to life or property. (There is a one year extension of time for campus/community/ native broadcasters and "radiocommunications distribution" services to comply with the requiremen.)
You can listen to the Canadian Alert Tone here.
Receiver and alerting gear similar to that in the US will be in use, however it appears that broadcasters will have less option in relaying alerts. There is even a national message aggregator, similar to the US IPAWS. The government plans to spend about $2 million on a national marketing campaign to inform the public and encourage them to visit the Alert Ready site, which contains explanations, video examples, and links to agencies that can help during emergencies.
Complete information - including the new rules - on the Canadian NPAS can be found here. Among the interesting facts are that there are 153 event codes (approximately three times as many as in the US) and that SGC (geo-codes) are used which, unlike FIPS, are able to zero in on a very tight localized area, or wide regional spread, as needed.
3/31/15 - "Something" happened with the IPAWS CAP RWT this week. Details are sketchy, but someone from the PSHSB noted it was apparently confined to Comcast cable systems. The official word was: "Yesterday [Monday] at 11am EST Comcast inadvertently released a FEMA [IPAWS] EAS Test Alert to a limited number of its devices. This was not a national issue and affected only certain states." It appears mostly in some Eastern states, but also some as far away as California and Nevada TV stations received and broadcast an odd RWT.
3/24/15 - The Part 11 re-write is coming RSN.
2/9/15 - If you are in the Eastern Time Zone and did not receive an RWT from IPAWS, do not worry. The FEMA did NOT send a CAP RWT this week. Just mark your EAS log appropriately. (The other zones appear OK.)
2/4/15 - IPAWS will do a live test of the NPT code for broadcast and cable operations on Wednesday, March 18th at 2:30PM EST in the following four states:
Michigan - Ohio - Kentucky - Tennessee
The FEMA has planned a tech webinar for participants. It is scheduled for next Wednesday 2/11, at 12 Noon, EST, to go through device configuration. Here is the link
For DASDEC/One-Net owners, an application note on configuring the autoforward for the NPT event test can be found at this link.
1/20/15 - The FCC has issued yet another warning not to play with the EAS tones. Perhaps you remember early last year when the FCC fined NBCUniversal, Disney/ESPN, and Viacom about $2 million for violations, primarly in regards to a commercial for the movie Olympus Has Fallen, run with unauthorized tones in them. NBCUniversal paid their half million, but the others wanted to have the fines reduced or waived. Instead, the FCC has stood fast, and issued an NAL for $1.4 million against Viacom and ESPN, as well as a Public Notice on the matter.
1/5/15 - The first IPAWS CAP RWT for the new year seems to be a double shot. The Eastern and Central time zones are reporting two RWTs about 30 seconds apart.
11/17/14 - The weekly IPAWS CAP RWT was not transmitted to the Mountain time zone today. This has been confirmed by the FEMA and will appear on their end-of-month report.
11/7/14 - The FCC finally said something about the false repeat of the 2011 National EAS Test. They issued a Public Notice late Friday afternoon. They want to alert stations about the possibility of a "Sunday Surprise" and collect comments on the impact of false alerts, as well as how it happened.
11/6/14 - The false repeat of the 2011 National EAS Test may leave a little "Easter Egg" for unsuspecting stations: an EAN could launch on November 9th, if your EAS receiver is "holding" the alert tones sent out by WSIX last week until the date matches. Ed Czarnecki of Monroe Electronics, makers of the DASDEC EAS receivers suggests that "just in case," stations that ran the Bobby Bones Show should check to ensure the fake EAN is not being held in the alert queue. He has provided a detailed instruction sheet to ensure your station will not have a nasty surprise. The Field Service Bulletin is available here. DASDEC really is trying to help: they are working on calling all the stations they know have their units.
On another issue: the call to "set your receivers for 'strict time'" or otherwise ignore EANs with defective timestamps, remember the FCC stated multiple times that "immediately" is the rule: 11.51(m)(2) and 11.52(e)(2). MORE TO THE POINT: only one manufacturer has this menu setting, you will waste your time if you go looking for it on non-sage receivers.
11/3/14 - The FEMA advises the RWT from IPAWS was not sent to the Pacific time zone today.
10/29/14 - Reflecting on some of the issues raised by last week's fake EAN, Richard Rudman discusses some key issues raised and his view of the best way forward.
10/24/14 - An EAN (rebroadcast from the National EAS Test in 2011) was launched this morning. The Tennessee Association of Broadcasters (TAB) reported the source was a board operator a Nashville FM station, relayed by satellite to other markets, including Atlanta GA, Detroit MI, and Austin TX. (Some screen shots of TV alerts can be seen here.)
The tones from the test were dated November 9th and from "COMCAST" ... but it originated, as you can hear here, on the "Bobby Bones Show." On the audio track, the "talent" is making some comment on the previous night's baseball game, but goes way off the reservation with the tones. Curiously, if he had done as he said, replayed a local area test, it would not have gone very far. But the FCC has said that EANs should be carried immediately.
(Note: The FCC has stated that EANs must run "immediately," regardless of time-stamp. We would remind our readers of 11.51(m)(2) and 11.52(e)(2), among other statements.)
This story will continue!
10/20/14 - The RWT from the FEMA IPAWS: Today's test missed the Central time zone. Reports of "normal" reception have come from the East and Mountain time zones. Reports from IL, IN, MN, and WI all say no RWT was received. An acknowledgement from the FEMA confirmed. (One report indicated that the Eastern time zone got two tests: 11:01A and 11:03A.)
10/3/14 - Today, the FEMA announced that they missed the RWT for Alaska on September 15th.
9/17/14 - The test in West Virginia seemed to go off pretty well. The first reports in are that most of the decoders got the test OK, and the text to speech worked just fine. (As expected, a few filters were not set correctly, but that is fixable.) As intended, the test appears to have stayed in WV.
9/12/14 - When will we see the next National EAS Test? Likely in late 2015 or early 2016. The FCC has to adopt the NPT code some additional rules (like mandated reports - the bureaucrat's delight) and ensure cooperation between it and the FEMA.
9/6/14 - West Virginia will be the test bed for the FEMA IPAWS CAP system. A sort of "National" test using the NPT code is scheduled to be done on Wednesday September 17th, except it will be only sent to stations in WV. At least that is the plan. A rebroadcast of the meeting about the test is here. The WVBA posted this message.
Test Info: 2:00 PM EDT on September 17. Event Code: National Periodic Test (NPT)
Originator Code: Primary Entry Point (PEP). Location Code: All of West Virginia
8/13/14 - Some stations using Sage gear are reporting problems with statewide tests using audio files unless they are updated to firmware version 89-8. (Otherwise you get Text-to-Speech only.)
7/14/14 - The NPRM for the long-awaited Part 11 rewrite has finally appeared. The FCC is soliciting comments on changes that need to be made to the EAS Rules. Not every rule is in this NPRM, 14-93, which is probably good, as it will speed this action up. Among the items in this NPRM are the location code for EAN, that the EAN must be immediately aired, some new header codes (NPT = National Test), mandating reporting of NPT coded tests (the ETRS), visual crawl and audio accessibility, and a six-month deadline to replace non-conforming equipment. Comments are open through August 14th (Docket 04-296), with 15 more days for Reply Comments.
5/22/14 - The FCC has extended by 18 months the waiver it issued regarding the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) PSAs that have been distributed by the FEMA. These PSAs contain WEA EAS tones - which has become a rather lightning rod for fines of late. The FCC says these PSAs may run: The waiver is available here.
DC Attorney Cary Tepper says: "PROCEED WITH CAUTION -- the FCC did not grant an unconditional waiver. The waiver applies only to announcements that 'mak[e] it clear that the WEA Attention Signals are being used in the context of the PSA and for the purpose of educating the viewing or listening public about the functions of their WEA-capable mobile devices and the WEA program.' The FCC warned that 'leading off a PSA with a WEA Attention Signal, without warning, may be an effective attention-getting device, but it would violate the conditions of this waiver because of the effect that it could have on the listening or viewing public.'"
Tepper urges folks "to screen all FEMA PSAs containing an emergency tone to ensure it is a WEA (and not an EAS) tone, and that the PSA meets the FCC's waiver conditions and therefore does not pose a risk of confusing the public as to whether an emergency is actually occurring."
4/21/14 - Tthe IPAWS CAP RWT did not run in the CDT zone. Information from the FEMA indicates that this time zone was missed during the test this week.
4/14/14 - From comments at NAB: The FCC plans the NPRM on the Part 11 rewrite to actually happen later this year. Stations should make sure their EAS gear is behind a firewall, to reduce possibilities of hacking. There has been some discussion with the NWS over message flooding. And, they will be more aggressive on the use of EAS tones and soundalikes in spots.
4/6/14 - DASDEC EAS firmware has been updated to Version 2.5-0. It is available at: digitalalertsystems.com
3/11/14 - Still waiting for the Part 11 re-write? You may need to wait longer. The FCC released a Public Notice today, seeking comment on EAS issues such as supporting multilingual information matters. If you desire to comment, you can do it on line, on the ECFS. (The Cocket number is 04-296)
3/7/14 - This has been a real strange week for EAS. "Leaking" Live Code tests, fake EAS tests, and even a couple that no one can account for in public. The latest news is that Kingsford Charcoal is planning to release an ad on Monday that contains EAS Tones. It is the advice of the NAB, among others, not to run this spot!
3/5/14 - Today's live code test in IL appears to have "leaked" somehow into parts of Indiana - both on broadcast stations and cell phones. There is no complete explanation as yet, but it did surprise a number of stations - and likely listeners. Rreports (Yahoo, Fox, jconline.com) suggest it was an old alert from Nov 17th last year. A few folks are trying to trace this back,
Live code (real, regular EAS Codes, not DMO) tests have been announced for a number of states. Currently:
On March 4th, KY, IL, and SC had a TOR test. (Some stations in NC reported the alert)
On March 6th, MO plans a TOR test. (moved from 3/4)
On March 11th, VA will do a TOR test.
On March 27th, AK will do a TSW.
On April 24th, WI will do a TOR.
If you are in or near these states, you will want to be aware and careful, lest it panic your listeners.
(Alaska, Indiana, and South Dakota also have plans for live code tests. AK sends a TSW on March 27th, and a CAE later in the year.)
3/3/14 - OK, one more time: it is illegal to use EAS tones for anything but EAS activations. No movie trailers, no news reports, no silliness. The FCC is not amused. This NAL for $1.9 million to Disney, Viacom, and NBCUniversal push off all excuses - include weasel-wording from lawyers saying it was not "transmitted," or it was not false, or it was "obvious." Broadcasters, cable networks, anyone who transmits or causes to be transmitted the EAS tones will find themselves in hot water. That is the FCC's strong message. Got it?
2/19/14 - Yes, some stations still do not understand the need for an EAS receiver. KBDX-AM in Dallas, TX received an NALF for $9k for not having an operational EAS receiver nor logs.
1/13/14 - The IPAWS CAP RWT was not received by some stations. Reports do say tests were received in EST, CST, MST, and PST. A software issue with the SAGE endec caused users to miss reception. A common comment was:
Jan 13 18:00:33 VerifyCap: verify_cap exited with error 114
Jan 13 18:00:33 Validation error for 68628 (114), alert ignored
IPAWS did issue a statement that there was a problem. Sage now acknowledges there is an issue - a security certificate used to authenticate IPAWS messages has expired in the ENDEC - and a software 89.6 and separate certificate update is pending on the sage alerting systems site.
Checking with other companies: Digital Alert Systems (DASDEC) confirms no certificate issues are forseen for their products. TFT has also indicated no issues are anticipated.
1/8/14 - The FEMA IPAWS office issued a statement to try to resolve some of the comments recently about a proposal floated by FEMA that appeared to indicate a desire to privatize or outsize the IPAWS CAP services. Antwane Johnson wrote that IPAWS "does not anticipate that there would be any changes to the IPAWS-OPEN alert input or output interfaces and no impact to our alert origination and alert dissemination partners beyond normal planned functional improvements."
12/10/13 - The FEMA CAP Server apparently has been operating without major issues over the past month. All time zones report receiving all the scheduled RWTs.
12/1/13 - Several states are now experimenting with voice messages attached to the CAP RWTs. The initial reports are the the audio files are clearer than Text-to-speech. However, clearly this will depend upon the conditions where the audio is recorded.
11/20/13 - Chairman Tom Wheeler has announced his choice to head the PSHSB (Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau) and replace RAdm Jamie Barnett. The new Chief will be RAdm David Simpson.
11/5/13 - The FCC finally has issued more than a mere Public Notice regarding the use of EAS tones (and sound alikes) in ads, promos, and programming. Bottom line: it is illegal. A rather large fine has been proposed for Turner Broadcast for violating this rule. And a Bowling Green, KY station agreed to make a $39k 'voluntary contribution' to clear them running EAS tones in a commercial.
10/21/13 - Sage has released a firmware update: V89.6 to solve a problem with text to speech. Other recent updates involve issues such as IPAWS polling. The update. And some information on updates. (Thanks to: Todd Hausser)
10/14/13 - As reported, the FEMA decided the RWT was not "essential" during the partial federal shutdown, and did not run it. Nothing official will be offered until the end of the month, but all time zones reported no RWT this week.
10/7/13 - Thus far reports indicate FEMA ran the CAP RWT this week as scheduled, despite the other silliness going on in Washington, DC this week. We must give credit when due!
9/25/13 - Richard Rudman says: "It is a good thing when the National Weather Service (NWS) warns the public when bad weather threatens life and property. Yet,some EAS participants are wondering if there can be too much of a good thing. Some parts of the country are experiencing many NWS EAS weather warnings in very short periods of time that, despite their good intent, may be excessively disrupting programming and driving listeners and viewers away. The Broadcast Warning Working Group (BWWG) wants to find out if EAS participants are cutting back on the number of NWS EAS events they relay. They have created a short survey to find out. Here's the link to the survey:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/RC62CGC
The BWWG will report back with the results of the survey.
9/24/13 - The FCC has issued a Public Notice inviting comments on equipment and operational issues related to the first National EAS Test in November 2011. Comments are due by October 23rd. The Docket Number 04-296. The Public Notice is located here.
9/23/13 - We have reports of missing CAP RWTs today. On good authority we can tell you that the scheduled RWTs seem to be missing for the Eastern, Mountain, and Pacific time zones today. Apparently FEMA sent only Guam, Atlantic, Central and Alaska time zones thus far. Any missed CAP RWTs will be listed in the monthly summary provided by FEMA. (You do not get the monthly summary? Sign up here.)
9/17/13 - Nebraska conducted a CAP text-to-speech test through IPAWS. Most stations reported success. A number of states are now running with CAP tests through the IPAWS server. Stations are cautioned to check the logs carefully to see where the tests come from - as it is no longer always the national FEMA folks.
9/2/13 - Perhaps in honor of Labor Day it was a day off at the FEMA. They have now confirmed that they did not issue an RWT as has been the custom on Mondays.
8/9/13 - Interested in a summary of the state of EAS in mid-2013? Richard Rudman presented this information to the Texas Association of Broadcasters this week.
8/9/13 - The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) has come out with a "quiet hours" directive for AMBER alerts for WEA between the hours of 10 PM and 7 AM.
7/22/13 - This week's FEMA CAP RWT failed to connect in Connecticut due to an incorrect FIPS code. Apparently a digit was left off the state code.
7/15/13 - The FCC has rejected waiver requests from three companies for not having installed new EAS Receivers (CAP Compliant) by the June 30, 2012 deadline. Each appeared to have waited too long to get their receivers ordered in time for delivery before the deadline. There was no specific fine nor indication of when/if the FCC would issue such a fine, but it was made clear that waivers have to meet a very high standard to succeed.
7/15/13 - Reports this morning indicated the Weekly test in the EDT zone went missing due to a programming error. The IPAWS CAP Server was up, but the EDT test was not sent. This has been confirmed with the FEMA folks.
7/9/13 - Several publications, including ZDNet and Wired have reported security holes in DASDEC EAS boxes. This is old information, as DAS had released firmware in April to resolve any issues. More information is here. All DASDEC units should be updated to V2.0-2 at the DAS site.
6/10/13 - There are widespread reports from around the country that there have been glitches in the IPAWS CAP Server this morning during the overnight hours and at 8:45AM, 9:09AM and 9:46AM EDT. Several stations in the CDT time zone reported not receiving the weekly test.
6/6/13 - Monroe Electronics/Digital Alert Systems released an advisory to remind stations about ensuring security for their EAS codecs - and to be sure they have the latest software update. A discussion of the "Zombie Alert" and related issues is located here.
5/31/13 - The FCC PSHSB has rather rapidly released an Order which permits playing the FEMA/Ad Council ads for cell phone alerts. The waiver is for a year.
5/30/13 - It really is hard to know how to react to this one. Remember the FEMA web page with "useful advice" on what to do in an emergency (How checking local radio stations was at the end of the list)? Well, then you may be non-plussed to see this new PSA (there are similar radio spots) that the FEMA expects broadcasters to run, telling people that they can rely upon cellphone alerts to make them secure. (The people in Norman, OK will be glad to tell you how useful cellphones were after the tornado hit. And, even when they work and the cell companies transmit - which many do not - the WEA message is limited to 90 characters. Then what? )
But if that were not enough, included is a free violation of the FCC Rules (11.45). Although some reports indicate the tones have been made shorter and lower in level, several state associations have already told their members to pull any such spots that they have in house. We will leave it to you to ponder this one.
5/29/13 - There is another software update for the Sage digital EAS boxes; 89.5. This update is to correct some issues with CAP Audio, especially when over one minute in length. Those of you on DASDEC boxes can get their 2.02 update here. If you have not updated your EAS boxes, you should, to ensure good connection to the FEMA server.
5/28/13 - The FEMA IPAWS OPEN CAP Server was done this morning from approximately 02:57 to after 9AM EDT. It appears there were differing times in different time zones.
5/14/13 - A number of stations reported intermittant CAP service today. It was across the country, but it appeared that only a portion of stations were affected.
5/2/13 - The PSHSB (Public Safety and Homeland Safety Bureau) of the FCC has issued a statement encouraging the SECC's to update their state plans and monitoring assignments. An outgrowth of the recent report on the National EAS test, the FCC wants SECCs to review Section 11.21 and ensure it is up-to-date. Some changes may only need informal latters.
5/2/13 - The FEMA and Premiere Networks are working on a plan to provide an additional data path to stations from the IPAWS OPEN server. A date for implementation has not yet been announced, but most observers see any additional options for receiving the CAP messages is good for the industry.
4/18/13 - The IPAWS CAP server was down today from 7:59 to 8:16AM EDT
4/12/13 - You may breath again! All those of you who have been holding their breath, waiting for the FCC's report on the National EAS Test. It was released Friday - just after the NAB Spring Show.
Highlights:
The FCC called the test an overall success.
Audio quality was poor due to a FEMA connection issue.
13,787 broadcasters reported - and 83% said they got it and relayed, even though the audio was poor.
Three PEP stations did not get the test, and those regions missed it.
The abrupt shortening of the test made it less useful for diagnostics.
Some EAS boxes did not perform as expected, but did as mandated.
Another national test is needed.
Additional audio paths need to be explored.
A number of monitoring assigments were apparently not correct.
The FCC needs to move to get Part 11 updated, and receive updated State and Local plans filed.
The FCC suggests initiating a web-based reporting system for EAS tests.
3/13/13 - Monroe Electronics and Digital Alert Systems have delivered the first CAP-enabled receivers for Canada's multilingual NAAD (Net Alert Aggregation and Dissemination) system. Fully functional in English and French-Canadian, the DASDEC and R189 One-Net systems can provide CAP-driven audio announcements for weather alerts and civil emergencies. The DASDEC now handles English, Spanish, and Canadian-French.
3/11/13 - The IPAWS CAP server was reported up and down this morning, for example: from 8:25 to 9:22AM EDT and 9:31 to 9:42AM EDT.
3/7/13 - This past Monday's RWT from the FEMA was not received by some users with DASDEC EAS receivers. The focus on what happened is on a minor issue with the scheduled software update that was made to the IPAWS aggregator last week.
If you did not get the test, just note it "failed" and determined that it was not a local problem.
Broadcasters should not be unduly worried at this point, as a software update will certainly be forthcoming to fix things. Whether or not everyone will receive next Monday's RWT from the IPAWS CAP server as usual will depend on how things are handled. More information will be posted as available.
3/6/13 - TFT has received Certification from the FCC on their new EAS911+ CAP-enabled EAS receiver. The unit has also complete FEMA compliance testing for CAP decoding. TFT will be showing the product at the NAB Spring Show next month.
3/5/13 - Another movie trailer - for "Olympus Has Fallen" - is running around the country with EAS tones included. While the tones have not yet been reported to contain any useful information, it is a violation of 73.1217 - it may be worthwhile to inform your traffic/sales/management. (The producer is supposely doing a remake without the tones - but check which version you may be airing!)
2/28/13 - The FEMA has finally responded to many requests by the BWWG and others for delivering information on the IPAWS OPEN server status and the occasional issues. They have set up a mailing list which also will inform users of the status of the weekly tests, so users can compare with their local logs, and information on when problems occur. To sign up, go here.
2/26/13 - A web seminar has been scheduled for Wednesday, March 6th to discuss the state of the public warning systems and how to improve them, especially on the state and local level. The time for the broadcast is 2PM Eastern time. The link to the broadcast is here.
2/26/13 - NPR is in the midst of a study to see how stations can better serve deaf persons with EAS messages. Methods may include strobe lights or vibrators actiivated by RDS signals.
2/26/13 - A scheduled outage of the IPAWS OPEN CAP Server has been announced for Wednesday 9:30 to 10:00 AM EST tomorrow (Wednesday) 2/27. There is to be a software upgrade.
2/25/13 - The FCC has renamed CMAS as WEA - Wireless Emergency Alerts.
2/12/13 - Here is a bit more of what facts we know about the fake EAS event Monday:
Of the six stations affected, all were either without firewalls or using improperly provisioned firewalls.
Of the six stations affected, all were still using the default password.
A threat by "Anonymous" to disrupt the President's speech on the Internet drove a lot of high level activity.
The vast majority of stations are not in any danger of attack in the same way.
SECCs, LECCs, the FCC, and the FEMA need to consider what other adjustments need to be made to provide a higher level of security to the entire EAS, and prevent a cascade "prank."
The main threat has been - and will continue to be - to the Internet connectivity of any business. If your company has not previously looked at the logs of "attempted entries" to your system, do so, and be enlightened. Remember: most stations now have some sort of IP connection for remote control, consoles, processors, and more. All of these need protection.
2/12/13 -
The intrusion was not a "general hack."
It was not an exploit of a known vulnerability.
It was a penetration into a station's network and then a logon into their EAS receiver.
It appears a YouTube video from 2009 (note the comments), was the source for the mp3 that was uploaded to the EAS box.
Key point: The unauthorized EAS device access and subsequent alert happened because the system was still using the factory default password. While no one has admitted to not having a working firewall, one station did claim that their attack was launched from another continent.
To repeat: While it has be indicated the event developed from a breech of a company LAN, the resulting on-air issue was due to the failure of stations to change the default passwords.
Please check your EAS box now and verify that the password has been changed!
It would also be a smart thing to check your firewall to ensure it is operating properly to keep non-authorized personnel out of your LAN.
Do not connect your EAS box directly to the Internet.
If at all possible, do not place your EAS box on the same network as used by any air talent. All it takes is one Trojan Horse, and it is as good as having no protection.
If you are unsure of the above, the FCC recommends you unplug your EAS box until it is fixed.
Another problem popped up today. Several stations, and apparently NBC Today played the audio on the air, including the databursts. There have been scattered reports of stations relaying this. It is a good idea to ensure filters are set correctly (fips codes), and the relay time window does not accept outdated alerts.
2/11/13 - Have you changed the passwords on your EAS receivers from the default? If not, please be aware that hackers have managed to penetrate EAS CAP receivers in at least two states and put out a fake alert. Other stations caught it and blocked it in at least three states. Do not operate with your default password! A few sites have video/audio of the event.
2/11/13 - The FEMA advises us that the IPAWS OPEN Server still is intermittantly up and down at 6AM EST. It has been reported to be back up at 9:33AM EST, although some areas reported problems until 2:30PM EST
2/10/13 - The IPAWS OPEN CAP Server went down at 10PM EST.
1/16/13 - Lamar Smith (KDWN Las Vegas) was the latest to be added to the PEPAC (Primary Entry Point Advisory Committee), The ten member committee helps bridge the FCC and the FEMA with the PEP (Primary Entry Point) stations in each state.
1/10/13 - The FCC report on the Derecho storms last year have a couple of interesting points. While they "like" what the broadcast community does, the writers also appear to think 911 and other alerting methods like CMAS are the future.
1/10/13 - A presentation at NAB by the FEMA's Wade Witmer and representatives from NOAA and the cellular industry discussed the state of alerting, especially the current CMAS rollout. Some of the topics included the rather difficult time the cellular industry is having getting the right messages to the right subscribers.
1/9/13 - EAS ALERT : If you were wondering when the FCC was going to enforce the requirements for stations to monitor IPAWS OPEN CAP feeds, wonder no longer. An NOV was issued to KPRI, San Diego for not having records of monitoring the CAP feeds nor reasons why tests were not received.
12/31/12 - Another IPAWS OPEN outage has been reported, starting around 9:30 AM EST. It appears to have been completely restored by 2:30PM. The outages seem to be different in some areas. e.g. The MST Monday test was received normally.
12/24/12 - The FEMA IPAWS OPEN server was reported to be up and down approximately 8:32PM - 12:20 AM EST
12/20/12 - Another "rolling restart" was apparently done successfully.
12/17/12 - The FEMA plans a "rolling restart" of the ATOM server at 3 PM EST today.
12/14/12 - The IPAWS OPEN server is reported down at 4:24PM EST. Restoration appears to be at approximately 5:22 PM EST. What was described as a "rolling restart" process did not, and a manual restart happened. The FEMA is looking into what happened.
12/12/12 - The IPAWS OPEN server went down today, but without any advance notice, at 11:23AM EST. Complete restoration was finally at approximately 12:45PM EST.
12/11/12 - The FEMA has been doing an upgrade on the IPAWS OPEN server. It was supposed to take a few hours today (Tuesday), but late at night, there was information that there was a snag, and the installation of a mirror server would have to be done another time. The plan for an "active-active" system with rollover, is hoped to prevent any systemic outages in the future - one of the two servers always being active and an automatice "failover" going into effect in case of problems.
(Prior known outages of the FEMA IPAWS OPEN server are located here.)
10/29/12 - Hurricane Sandy smashed into the East Coast today. Few EAS messages were sent, as it was pretty clear this was coming and the wall-to-wall coverage on the TV nets and many "full service" radio stations pretty much informed everyone. On the other hand, the FCC and FEMA have other ideas on how you may wish to communicate - or at least some might think the priorities are a bit upside-down. At least they got to radio. Broadcasters should feel "special."
10/26/12 - The New Jersey Broadcasters' Association reports that the state's EAS systems suffered a major outage after a lightning strike caused major issues with new EMnet system. A backup trunked radio system also failed at the same time, prompting calls for more periodic testing to ensure both the EAS and backup systems were always ready.
10/15/12 - For those of you who wonder how tests of emergency alert systems work in other countries, perhaps it will provide a small sense of perverse comfort to know that having problems during national tests is not confined to the US.
IPAWS OPEN CAP and the RWT
The FEMA has listened to requests from the BWWG and the broadcast community and announced the IPAWS OPEN RWTs will continue TFN.
These tests - scheduled for Monday at 10 AM local standard time (11 AM DST) for the main time zone in each state - will be initiated by the IPAWS OPEN CAP server each week
Exactly does it mean for a station to be "compliant?"
Each station must purchase, install, and make operative an EAS receiver capable of receiving CAP/EAS messages. The most important change from previous operation is that a station must be connected to the IPAWS CAP server and receiving data. That, of course, requires the new generation of decoders and a wideband Internet connection. At this time, none of the various state/area aggregator tests are required. This will change as state and local plans - or amendments - are filed with the FCC but, as of now, in most places, you are only adding the CAP/EAS to your existing state plan.
Do you have to log the tests from the IPAWS server?
Yes. ALL TESTS FOR YOUR AREA that are received - and decoded - should be logged, according to the FCC. Tests from other states/areas that are not in your decode chart are not required.
If there is a problem with the IPAWS RWT tests, what should be done?
The FCC currently says that stations may just put "Did not receive RWT from IPAWS" or some such notation. If you know why there was a problem, add that. However, there is no urgent need to search out and log the reason. If we know of any IPAWS OPEN issues, we will note them above.
Will the FEMA have a web page to explain problems/errors?
According to the FEMA, not at this time. Their main concern is that you have a "connected" status. Beyond that, they will distribute information as available, but not necessarily on any schedule.
How often should you poll the IPAWS server?
Some suggestions range from every 30 seconds, to 60 seconds, to as long as 5 minutes. At this time it is up to the station. A slide on a FEMA presentation says 30 seconds. Some receivers default to 60 seconds. In the future, when state and local alerts may be transmitted by CAP, some may feel there is a need to be on the slower end of the scale, but many system experts say 30 seconds is too often.
IPAWS OPEN SERVICE CONNECTION TIPS
The three most common problems for those installing new EAS receivers:
1. Make sure you have the most current software. (Especially Sage owners)
2. Have the IPAWS server name (FQDN) entered in the setup.
3. Ensure your firewall will allow you to poll the server.
If you still have issues, contact your receiver's tech support line.
7/9/12 - Sage owners: there is a software glitch that causes the receiver to lock up. It may be related to momentary loss of connection with the IPAWS or CAP server. A reboot usually resolves the problem. Sage has indicated they will have a software update to try to resolve this issue (Version 89.2).
12/22/11 -The FEMA has released a new online course designed by Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), for emergency managers and others. The course, IS-247, is designed to support and test skills needed to draft more appropriate, effective, and accessible warning messages and to teach practices for the effective use of Common Alerting Protocol (CAP).
Anyone can go through the course and file the test, seeking certification. (It will also give broadcasters an idea of what local EMs are expected to know.)
The FEMA expects to require this training for all emergency warning centers before they are permitted to upload warnings to the FEMA OPEN aggregator server. Completion of IS-247 will also be required for any alerting official to send an alert via IPAWS, and is also to be made part of the NIMS (National Incident Management System), and certification being required in order for agencies to get federal funding.
EAS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
Definitions (if all those abbreviations and acronyms confuse you) back to the top
Questions:
Q: What is now required to be on the EAS Log each week?
A: Each station must receive an RWT each week from each monitoring assignment (LP1, LP2, NWR, IPAWS OPEN, etc) as required by the FCC or as noted in the current State Plan. Each station must send an RWT each week. Once each month an RMT must be received and relayed.
If a test is not received or sent, a notation must be made in the EAS log acknowledging the failure and the reason for the failure, after the Chief Operator investigates.
Q: Is it true that the FCC requires that OTA (over the air relay) must be used when crafting EAS local and state plans, and will continue that requirement when Part 11 has been re-written.
A: Nowhere in Part 11 is it stated that EAS plans must use OTA systems to propagate EAS messages. Wireless state and local relay networks (LRN's) can (and in the opinion of the BWWG should) be used as point-multi-point distribution means for EAS from warning centers to as many broadcast and cable entry points as possible. There will be exceptions, but OTA Relaying of EAS messages (Daisy Chain) is a carry over from EBS and is (and should only be) only used by those who choose to continue to do so in their EAS plans because there is no other alternative.
Washington state and some other areas are already implementing various forms of LRN's for CAP (Common Alerting Protocol) EAS. At the Federal level the need for relay using CAP should end when all entities subject to Part 11 have their CAP boxes installed and have programmed in IP addresses so they can poll CAP message aggregators. OTA Relaying of EAS messages (Daisy Chain) is a carry over from EBS and is only used by those that choose to continue to do so.
Q: Does CAP automatically play embedded audio files for the voice portion of CAP-EAS messaging for broadcast?A: No. At TV stations the CAP Text Message data stream generates a video screen crawl. The data stream also generates audio from a text-to-speech feature built into the EAS box. Radio uses the text-to-speech feature. This completely eliminates the problems with poor audio quality for "Classic EAS". Yes, CAP messages can carry embedded audio files, but to get around payload/throughput problems they can be posted for download and referred to by putting their URL's in the CAP message.
Q: What about the CAP Converters?A: Several manufacturers have produced add-on boxes that will decode the CAP transmissions and feed them to an existing EAS receiver. At this moment, that seems to satisfy the FCC's requirements.
Q: What has been settled?A: CAP V 1.2 has been adopted by FEMA. The CAP is a very powerful tool that can really improve warnings. (Want to know more about CAP? CAP V 1.2 is described here, 3rd entry from the top.) Q: Will there be changes in Part 11?A: Yes. This is one reason some manufacturers have held back in production of EAS boxes, until the all Part 11 changes are known. The FCC has called for comments and promises to release the Part 11 changes "real soon now."
There still remains a big missing link in Part 11 - there is still no firm connection to local emergency management to make sure that warnings and tests originate properly from the people who have the real responsibility to warn -- i.e., the emergency managers. It is doubtful Part 11 will ever have this included without Congressional action for any number of reasons.
Q: Who is in charge of EAS: the FEMA or the FCC?A: A very good question. A fair part of the controversy right now is that FEMA IPAWS was originally designed to cover only federal issues geared to federal government continuity, not local/state warnings, mandatory governor level and governor-designee messages, or even AMBER Alerts.
IPAWS scope was extended to the state/local level after prodding by the BWWG, NAB and NASBA, but all the pieces to make this a reality are not in place yet. The FEMA's work to date also does not take into consideration all the elements of state and local concerns that are definitely part of the FCC's Second Report and Order on EAS. This disconnect needs to be worked out.
Q: Something else you'd like to know? Ask and we shall try to find the answers. Use the contact form below.Definitions:
CAP - Common Alerting Protocol
IPAWS - Integrated Public Alert and Warning System
OPEN - Open Platform for Emergency Networks
SOAP - Simple Object Access Protocol
CSRIC - Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council
ECIG - EAS-CAP Industry Group
STATE PLANS
For those worried about the requirements in Part 11 about the State Plan and State Map, the FCC is not expecting new State Plans. At this point, they are asking for "Amendments" to existing plans - and the maps are for a future time.
WEA .... CMAS
2/25/13 - The FCC has renamed CMAS as WEA - Wireless Emergency Alerts.
6/28/12 - National Weather Radio is now sending out weather alerts to mobile devices that are enabled to receive the CMAS. These alerts - various warnings - announced on the NWS Home Page are in CAP and will include Tornado and Flash Flood Warnings, Hurricane, Typhoon, Dust Storm and Extreme Wind Warnings Blizzard and Ice Storm Warnings, and Tsunami Warnings. More information is on the NWS site here. A chart of the warnings is here. News reports indicate some alerts have already been sent/received in different parts of the US.
THE 2011 NATIONAL EAS TEST
More info on the National EAS Test is archived here.
1/26/13 - The FCC still has not finished its study of the November National EAS Test.
10/15/12 - For those of you who wonder how tests of emergency alert systems work in other countries, perhaps it will provide a small sense of perverse comfort to know that having problems during national tests is not confined to the US.
11/29/11 - FEMA held a web broadcast to officially announce the National EAS Test was a success. Diagnosis for the problems with the audio during the National EAN Test - the output of an EAS encoder being backfed into the conference bridge - placed blame on the failure of the FEMA Failsafe (... see the item dated 11/12/11 below).
During the discussion, which saw a number of questions raised and discussed, FEMA and FCC representatives said they learned a lot from the test - and after they finish reviewing the reports, plan to issue the new Part 11 Rules.
The three-minute delay experienced by some EAS receivers holding the test until the time programmed in the headers (2:03 PM) was explained as an incorrect setting on the FEMA encoder.
A highlight of the discussion was when Suzanne Goucher of the Maine Assn. of Broadcasters revealed that Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) plans to introduce legislation in the US Senate to direct FEMA to officially authorize the IPAWS program created by President Bush in 2006, but never made into law. The Bill would create an advisory committee to direct EAS training by FEMA would be incorporated into the National Incident Management System (NIMS); all entities wishing FEMA funding would have to be trained on EAS operations. FEMA funds would be allocated by law for this, to ensure some Congressional oversight of the IPAWS program.
Other information mentioned during the broadcast included mention that another National Test will be planned, likely next year; the need to deal with the sociology of warnings where people tend to ignore them; the need to deal with the TV/Cable issue where systems force-tune viewers to one feed, rather than letting viewers stay with local stations; and suggestions that future tests have clear goals and a definition of success or failure set out before the next test.
A Note to everyone: We could sit here and give you paragraphs of quotes from people who thought the National EAS Test was "the best ever" or "a total failure" - and everything inbetween. We could relate some of the finger-pointing that has gone on, from bureaucrats to the Congress - and our opinion of that. However, we are not sure that helps anyone.
If the test had been run by broadcasters, you would have known the problems and solutions within hours. Unfortunately, things do not run quite that fast inside the Beltway. So, until the web broadcast where the FEMA says they will discuss their extensive post-test testing, you may find the explanations below sufficient. When there is a clear narrative of the path ahead, you will find it right here. (Feel free to bookmark this page, we will post something as soon as we know it.)
11/15/11 - Following the National EAS Test, Rep Greg Walden, R-OR, has announced he plans "bipartisan hearings" on Thursday at the House Communications Subcommittee to question the FCC and the FEMA. Noting that most of Oregon did not receive the test, Walden's sub-committee will ask "what worked, what didn't and where we can go to fix it."
11/14/11 - A hacker in San Francisco has given Anonymous code that could place a fake EAS message on the air.
11/12/11 THE ANSWER to the audio mess!
After analyzing the EAN audio, it has been confirmed that a hardware failure related to the FEMA Bridge at a PEP station - WCCO - was the cause of the audio loop back to the FEMA sending source - a conference bridge. That affected most everyone who got their test via a path from the FEMA PEP bridge and explains why the audio from sample points around the country are very similar.
If you follow the stations in the chart below, there seems to be some correlation between the decoders that worked and those that did not. There were two aspects that appear to be involved:
The headers. A receiver needs to decode two of the three data bursts to initiate a valid alert. If the signal or audio is marginal, this could cause only one data burst to be "recognized" ... which on some machines (the digital Sages, for example) would cause whatever was on the air to be stopped - then silence until the EOM was received.
The audio levels. It seems like some receivers were very touchy on audio levels, causing distortion that might make it harder for the bursts to be decoded. Previous tests had shown most EAS receivers could decode bursts with significant distortion, but some of the newer digital machines apparently had trouble if the levels were not in a narrow range.
Reports also indicate that some with DASDEC receivers got the audio and WAITED
until 2:03 EST to play the EAN, just as the receiver was designed - to react to the time stamps on the alert. One state was late into their test as the feed from FEMA was unexpectedly lost, and that or something similar may be part of the lack of audio in two other states. Oregon Public Broadcasting was said to have had technical issues, preventing most stations in the state from getting the test.
We are still chasing down what happened in the places where no audio was received at all. It does seem that some EAS receivers, upon receipt of a header, mute audio. If, it is postulated, the rest of the header was not decoded properly, it could have left the stream with no audio. More answers are expected, as the bureaucrats say, RSN.
In the meantime, we will try to offer some more diagnostic info for any of you who want to do more analysis. Here is some other audio,as recorded around the country (if you can add to the information, please let us know!):
EAN Source
Encoder
Receiving Station
Decoder
NotesKIIM, Tucson, AZ KOHN, Sells, AZTFT2
KFWB, Los Angeles - PEPSageKNX, Los AngelesSage-D5
KNX, Los Angeles KLTX, Long Beach, CASage-D5
KFI, Los Angeles KXLA/KXOL, Los Angeles 5
KCBS, San Francisco KQED, San FranciscoSage-D1
NPR Squawk KQEI, SacramentoSage-D5
KCBS, San Francisco - LP1 KTRB, San FranciscoSage1
WTAM - Cleveland WHBC, Canton OH 1
WQXK, Salem, OH 5
WHKO, Dayton, OH - LP1 WSWO-LP, Huber Heights, OHDASDEC II5
WASK, Lafayette, IN WBAA, West Lafayette, INTFT5
WHO, Des Moines, IA - PEP 1
WRKO, Boston 1
WICY, Canton, NYBurk4
NPR - PEP WMRA, Harrisonburg, VABurk4
NPR Squawk WUVT, Blacksburg, VASage-D5
KORD, Richland, WA 1
KPTZ, Port Townsend, WA 3
KLBJ, Austin, TX (TSN?)SageKUT, Austin, TXSage2
KJXJ, Franklin, TX KUTX, Somerville, TX 5
KNOW, MN Public RadioSageKVSC, St Cloud, MNSage-D3
WRVM, Suring, WI 4
KNOW, Mpls/St. Paul, MN 1
WJR, Detroit - PEPSage NPR WKAR - State PrimarySage
WKAR - State PrimarySageWCSG, Grand Rapids, MI 1
WKAR - State PrimarySageWHMI, Howell, MITFT5
WKAR - State PrimarySageMichigan Radio NetworkTFT Michigan Radio NetworkTFTWTCM, Traverse City, MITFT5
KFYR - PEP KDLR, Devils Lake, NDDASDEC II1
WSM-FM - PEP, Nashville, TN WFCM, Murfreesboro, TNDASDEC II1
WQDR, Raleigh, NC - PEP WVJD-LP, Raleigh, NCSage-D5
WDCG, Raleigh, NC WQDR, Raleigh, NCSage1
WJGH, Jacksonville, FL - LP1SageWYRE, St. Augustine, FLSage4
WFBC-FM - LP1 WCKI, SCDASDEC II2
Notes:
Looped Audio, but understandable
Looped Audio, very difficult to understand
Completely unusable audio - truncated
Completely unusable audio - feedback
Silence aside from databursts and/or a few words (often affected by processing)
TV AND SATELLITE VIDEO:
Twin Cities Public Television, Minneapolis, MN
Don Heppelmann says: "The bottom four boxes are KSMQ-DT in Austin Minnesota.
TCPT provides their master control, but they do their own EAS.
The Four middle boxes are Comcast, DirecTV, Dish, and Comcast.
The rest are Twin Cities Public Television over the air services."
WAS THE NATIONAL EAS TEST DOOMED AT THE SOURCE?
FIRST OF ALL: It was a test! It was only a test! No matter what the national media or Lady Gaga lovers say, it was a test. It was largely, in that sense a success, because if nothing else, most every receiver got the header and opened. If nothing else, it is much clearer what needs to be fixed. And, since most of the EAS is volunteer, it gives some impetous to make some changes in the relationship between mandated broadcasters and the feds.
Audio from NPR shows that the "echo" and the looping may well have started at FEMA. There is some thought that the way EAN works is that when the header came around again, the receivers grabbed it and "overrode" the first test. That would explain the tones on top of the message.
Some other audio from around the country (the calls may be
AND SO IT GOES!
Reports from around the country indicate a lot of things need to be worked on.
There were tones over audio, low level audio, echo, aborted audio, and more. Some stations only got the EAS tones and no audio. Others got six words and then silence.
It appears that Oregon mostly did not get the EAN, those that got anything only got tones. This was also reported in Minnesota.
However, here is the bright side: in most cases, the EAS boxes did receive and decode the EAN headers. Perhaps it is time now to address the audio chain..... perhaps put some broadcasters on to it???
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Course Summary
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 23:11
Table of Contents:
Course OverviewThe goal of this course is to provide authorized public safety officials with:
Increased awareness of the benefits of using IPAWS for effective public warningsSkills to draft more appropriate, effective, and accessible warning messagesBest practices in the effective use of Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) to reach all members of their communitiesLesson OverviewThis lesson provides an overview of IPAWS, its operation and benefits.
Upon completion of this lesson, you should be able to:
Define Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS).Identify the benefits of using IPAWS for generating warnings.Describe IPAWS operation.
IPAWS OverviewThe Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) is a comprehensive, coordinated, integrated system that can be used by authorized public officials to deliver effective alert messages to the American public.
IPAWS is the nation's next-generation infrastructure of alert and warning networks. IPAWS ensures the President can alert and warn the public under any condition. Additionally, IPAWS will provide Federal, State, territorial, tribal, and local warning authorities the capabilities to alert and warn their communities of all hazards impacting public safety and well-being via multiple communication pathways. FEMA is upgrading the alert and warning infrastructure so that no matter what the crisis, the public will receive life-saving information via at least one path.
IPAWS Architectural DiagramIPAWS allows alerting authorities to write their own message using commercially available software that is compliant with open standards. The message is then delivered to the IPAWS Open Platform for Emergency Networks (OPEN) where it is authenticated, and then delivered simultaneously through multiple communications pathways reaching as many people as possible to save lives and protect property.
The graphic below summarizes IPAWS architecture. We will go over it in detail later in this lesson.
IPAWS BackgroundClick on each link below to learn more about the background on IPAWS.
Presidential vs. Local Alerting: IPAWS ensures that under all conditions the President of the United States can alert and warn the American people in situations of war, terrorist attack, natural disaster, or other hazards to public safety and well-being. However, it also recognizes that most alerts and warnings are issued at the state and local level, allowing authorized users to create location-specific alerts that are scaled to cover areas as big as their entire jurisdiction or a much smaller area within their jurisdiction.Executive Order (E.O.) 13407: E.O. 13407 established as policy the requirement for the United States to have an effective, reliable, integrated, flexible, and comprehensive system to alert and warn the American people. FEMA is designated within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to implement the policy of the United States for a public alert and warning system as outlined in E.O. 13407 and has established a program office to implement IPAWS. FEMA and its federal partners, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA's) National Weather Service (NWS) and the DHS Science and Technology Directorate are working together to transform the national alert and warning system to enable rapid dissemination of authenticated alert information over as many communications channels as possible.FCC Orders: The FCC's role includes prescribing rules that establish technical standards for the Emergency Alert System (EAS), procedures for EAS participants to follow in the event the EAS is activated, EAS testing protocols, and approving state EAS plans. Additionally, the FCC issues rules establishing requirements for the Commercial Mobile Alert System.Common Alerting Protocol (CAP): The Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) is a simple, flexible data interchange format for collecting and distributing ''all-hazard'' safety notifications and emergency warnings over information networks and public alerting systems. CAP provides compatibility with all kinds of information and public alerting systems, including those designed for multilingual and access and functional needs populations. FEMA has adopted CAP and the IPAWS CAP Profile to ensure compatibility with the requirements of existing and emerging dissemination systems.
FEMA IPAWS Federal PartnershipsFEMA has partnered with recognized government and industry leaders and technical experts to ensure that the IPAWS program incorporates the latest technology and is practical for prospective users including local broadcasters, emergency responders and the general public. FEMA's partners in the development of the IPAWS program include:
Federal Communications Commission (FCC): The FCC establishes the rules for broadcasters, cable system operators, and other participants regarding the technical requirements of the Emergency Alert System (EAS) and the rules for commercial mobile service providers who opt to participate in the voluntary Commercial Mobile Alert System.National Weather Service (NWS): The NWS provides emergency weather and tsunami information to alert the public of dangerous local weather conditions and other emergencies. Go to http://alerts.weather.gov/ for more information on the NWS implementation of CAP.
IPAWS Benefits''One Input, Multiple OutputsDo you recall the IPAWS architecture diagram reviewed earlier? Recall that IPAWS allows authorized alerting authorities to write their own message using commercial software that is compliant with OPEN standards. A message only has to be input once, and once authenticated; it is delivered over multiple communications pathways, including the Emergency Alert System, commercial mobile services, Internet services, NWS services, state and local alerting systems, and alerting technologies for persons with access and functional needs.
IPAWS Benefits''GeotargetedIPAWS will ensure that the President can reach the American people, but it also recognizes that most alerts and warnings are issued at a state and local level. Alerting authorities can create location-specific alerts that are scaled to cover areas as big as their entire jurisdiction or a much smaller area within their jurisdiction, depending on the delivery capabilities of the system used for public dissemination.
For example, alerts relayed via EAS and broadcast by a local TV station will cover the entire viewing area of the station. Alerts relayed by CMAS are required to be delivered to an entire county although some cellular service providers may opt to broadcast to smaller affected areas.
IPAWS Benefits-Standardized Messaging FormatThe Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) is an open, non-proprietary digital message format for all types of public and private emergency alerts and notifications, which can be delivered across multiple communications pathways such as:
Broadcast TV and radioCable and satellite TV and radioMobile/cellular and wireless devicesSignageEmerging technologiesYou will learn more about CAP in Lesson 3''Common Alerting Protocol Message Composition.
IPAWS Benefits''Rich Content (Multimedia)In addition to emergency alert-required data, CAP alerts delivered by IPAWS may carry rich information such as images, audio, video, geospatial data, etc., that alert originators may include and disseminators may utilize to provide supplemental information to their audiences.
The photo at the right is a picture of Amber Hagerman, for whom the national America's Missing: Broadcast Emergency Response (AMBER) alert system was named.
IPAWS Benefits''Reliability, Redundancy, Security and AccessibilityIPAWS uses redundant alerting paths (TV, radio, cell phone, etc.) to increase the chance an alert will reach the public. IPAWS hardware and software components are designed to be reliable. The digital signature capability ensures message integrity and authenticity. Finally, CAP provides compatibility with public alerting systems, including those designed for multilingual populations and those with access and functional needs.
IPAWS Architectural Diagram and OperationFederal, State, territorial, tribal, and local warning/alerting authorities are in charge of alerting their communities of all hazards using IPAWS-compliant alert origination tools.
Alert origination tools are software products used by emergency managers, public safety officials, and other alerting authorities to create and send critical life saving messages to the public.
The centralized alert aggregator/gateway receives CAP alert messages from various message origination/authoring tools, authenticates the sender, and sends the alert messages to IPAWS-compliant dissemination systems.
Multiple alert dissemination systems will have access to IPAWS:
IPAWS alerts can be delivered by the Emergency Alert System, using AM, FM, and satellite radio as well as broadcast, cable, and satellite TV. Equipment used by Emergency Alert System participants (broadcasters, cable TV operators, etc.) monitor IPAWS to retrieve CAP alerts intended for their geographic area. CAP is converted to legacy EAS format in accordance with manufacturer guidelines and is relayed to the public.Alerts can be delivered via the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) that allows customers who own a CMAS enabled mobile device to receive geographically targeted messages alerting them of imminent threats to safety in their area (including Presidential and AMBER alerts). Participating cellular mobile service providers receive and route IPAWS alerts to cell towers in the affected area. IPAWS is the sole means of accessing CMAS.The National Weather Service operates the All-Hazards Emergency Message Collection System (HazCollect) to deliver ''Non-Weather Emergency Messages'' (NWEMs) through NOAA Weather Radio and other NWS dissemination services. IPAWS is the sole automated system for routing alerts to HazCollect.Alerts will be available on the Internet through web based applications, email, instant messaging, social media, and RSS/ATOM feeds. Both public and private sector services may monitor IPAWS and disseminate alerts.State, local, territorial, and tribal alerting systems such as emergency telephone networks, sirens, and digital road signs may also be configured to retrieve alerts from IPAWS once they are IPAWS/CAP compliant.Finally, CAP and IPAWS make it possible to integrate future alerting technologies and systems.
ResourcesFEMA IPAWS Website: For more information on IPAWS, view the FEMA IPAWS website (https://www.fema.gov/integrated-public-alert-warning-system).Executive Order (E.O.) 13407: Complete text of E.O. 13407 is available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/pdf/06-5829.pdf.FCC Orders: To access FCC EAS rules and regulations, go to http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr&sid=75127c72007aa6a3f1ce8fda8cb814e2&rgn=div5&view=text&node=47:1.0.1.1.11&idno=47. For access to a list of state EAS contacts and plans go to http://transition.fcc.gov/pshs/services/eas/chairs.html.CMAS: go to http://www.fema.gov/pdf/emergency/ipaws/cmas_factsheet.pdf to learn more about CMAS.FCC rules pertaining to CMAS:http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2010-title47-vol1/pdf/CFR-2010-title47-vol1-part10.pdfNOAA/NWS HazCollect System: go to http://www.weather.gov/os/hazcollect/ for further information about HazCollect.OASIS Emergency Management Technical Committee: go to http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/tc_home.php?wg_abbrev=emergency for further information about activities of OASIS relating to emergency management.EAS-CAP Industry Group: go to http://www.eas-cap.org to access the EAS-CAP Industry Group website.
Lesson SummaryThis lesson provides an overview of IPAWS, its operation and benefits.
You should now be able to:
Define Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS)Identify the benefits of using IPAWS for generating warningsDescribe IPAWS operationIn the next lesson, you will learn about and apply the criteria for creating appropriate, effective and accessible alert and warning messages.
Lesson OverviewThis lesson provides an overview of creating appropriate, effective, and accessible alert and warning messages.
Upon completion of this lesson, you should be able to:
Identify the basis for determining who is authorized to send IPAWS alert and warning messagesApply criteria for sending appropriate alert messagesIdentify the components of effective alert and warning messagesApply criteria for creating accessible alert and warning messagesDescribe factors that influence public response to warning messagesDiscuss the myths associated with public response to warning messagesWho Can Send IPAWS Alerts and Warning Messages?Designated Alerting Authorities at the Federal, State, Local, Tribal and Territorial levels are authorized to send alerts and warning messages to their respective communities. After successfully completing this course, Designated Alerting Authorities may apply to FEMA for access to IPAWS on behalf of their jurisdictions.
There are a number of government programs with written plans that may indicate specific alerting authorities, including:
State/Regional/Local Emergency Alert System PlanState/Tribal/Local Emergency Operations Plan (Warning Annex)State/Regional/Local AMBER Alert PlanRadiological Emergency Preparedness Program PlanChemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program PlanOther hazard specific emergency plans or interjurisdictional agreementsCollaborative Operating Group (COG)A Collaborative Operating Group (COG) is a term used by IPAWS to designate an organization that is responsible for coordinating emergency management/incident response activities and public alerting. It typically consists of public safety officials who need to coordinate actions, communicate and exchange information in a collaborative environment. Examples of organizations that may constitute a COG include state, regional, county, or municipal emergency management/incident response organization, state law enforcement agency, Federal agency, military unit, public health department, fire services organization, mutual aid partners, etc.
A COG is established when a sponsoring organization executes a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with FEMA. A Federal, State, territorial, or local organization (as defined by the Stafford Act https://www.fema.gov/library/viewRecord.do?fromSearch=fromsearch&id=3564), a federally recognized Native American Indian tribe, or other private nonprofit organizations eligible under the Public Assistance Program may apply for authentication.
Applying for Alerting AuthorityIn addition to executing an MOA, the COG must also apply for specific alerting authorities, including the geographic extent of authority (e.g. county) and types of alerts (event codes, e.g. CAE - Child Abduction Emergency, discussed later in this course).
Before submitting to FEMA, the application must be reviewed by a state authority to ensure that the request is consistent with state Emergency Alert System, AMBER, other emergency operations plans and current practice. Further details regarding the application process may be found on the IPAWS website (https://www.fema.gov/integrated-public-alert-warning-system).
Criteria for Issuing WarningsDeciding whether to issue a public warning can be a difficult decision. Ultimately it will be a matter of local judgment; however, it will be helpful to have an outline of decision criteria to assist you with the process. When deciding whether to issue a public warning, the following criteria can be applied:
Does the hazardous situation require the public to take immediate action?Does the hazardous situation pose a serious threat to life or property?Is there a high degree of probability the hazard situation will occur?Your State or Local EAS Plan or other emergency plans may provide criteria for issuing public alerts, including activating the Emergency Alert System, and if so, should be incorporated into your local procedures.
Application of Criteria for Appropriately Issuing Alert MessagesYour alert authoring software will provide fields that correspond to the previous three questions. Each field will provide a list of values to select from. In order to be routed to the Commercial Mobile Alert System, the alert must contain certain values for these fields, reflecting ''Imminent Threat:''
Urgency: Immediate or ExpectedSeverity: Extreme or SevereCertainty: Observed or LikelyAlthough not currently required, these values may also provide a good rule of thumb for relaying public alerts via the Emergency Alert System. An example of the application of these criteria by the National Weather Service for a Tornado Warning is shown in the adjacent graphic.
Alerting Criteria Derived from EAS Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME) ProtocolAssuming you are starting from an occurring or impending potentially hazardous event, the first question is whether or not the event meets the appropriate definitions for warning or emergency, as defined by the SAME protocol.
Warning messages: These are issued for those events that alone pose a significant threat to public safety and/or property, probability of occurrence and location is high, and the onset time is relatively short.Emergency messages: These are issued for those events that by themselves would not kill or injure or do property damage but indirectly may cause other things to happen that result in a hazard.Your State or Local EAS Plan or other emergency plans may provide criteria for issuing public alerts, including activating the Emergency Alert System, and if so, should be incorporated into your local procedures.
Appropriate Event Names and Event CodesNow let us look at the various event names and codes used for disseminating warning messages. All three major public dissemination services''EAS, CMAS, and HazCollect''use the same hazardous event names and corresponding event codes that are derived from FCC rules.
The following factors should be considered in the selection of appropriate event codes. Click on each link below to learn more about the factors:
Hazardous weather and coastal events: Event codes relating to hazardous weather and coastal events are reserved for the National Weather Service.State/Local Emergency Plans: State or local EAS plans may limit the types of codes which EAS participants (e.g., broadcasters) are assigned to monitor for EAS broadcast.Relevant hazards: Certain types of hazards may not be relevant to the risks in your community. For example, volcanoes or avalanches may not be present in your part of the country.Event codes specified in your application and implemented in IPAWS: The event codes that are specified in your application and implemented in IPAWS will determine which types of alerts are relayed to the dissemination services.Local knowledge: Finally, the selection of event code may determine what is displayed in a television "crawl" and your selection of event code may depend on what members of your community will understand based on local practice.Appropriate Use of Hazard-specific Event Names/CodesThe following list of event codes and names are generally related to the type of hazardous situation:
Warnings:
Avalanche Warning (AVW)Civil Danger Warning (CDW)Earthquake Warning (EQW)Fire Warning (FRW)Hazardous Materials Warning (HMW)Law Enforcement Warning (LEW)Nuclear Power Plant Warning (NUW)Radiological Hazard Warning (RHW)Volcano Warning (VOW)Emergencies:
Avalanche Watch (AVA)Child Abduction Emergency (CAE)Civil Emergency Message (CEM)Local Area Emergency (LAE)911 Telephone Outage Emergency (TOE)Appropriate Use of Instruction-specific Event Names/CodesIf you wish to focus more on the instructions to the public than the particular hazard, there are two instruction-specific event names/codes available:
Evacuation Immediate (EVI): This event name/code is most appropriately used to instruct the public to evacuate for imminent events. For longer lead times, (e.g. several days), other methods of communication may be more appropriate such as media advisories.Shelter in Place Warning (SPW): This event name/code may be appropriate for hazardous materials, radiological, law enforcement, or other types of events; however it is more effective if your community has been educated as to its meaning in advance.Components of Effective Warning MessagesEffective warnings are those that result in members of the public taking recommended actions to protect themselves. To help ensure that warning messages are effective, they must be issued in a timely manner and the following components should be included:
Specific Hazard: What is/are the hazards that are threatening? What are the potential risks for the community? Location: Where will the impacts occur? Is the location described so those without local knowledge can understand their risk?Timeframes: When will it arrive at various locations? How long will the impacts last?Source of Warning: Who is issuing the warning? Is it an official source with public credibility?Magnitude: A description of the expected impact. How bad is it likely to get?Likelihood: The probability of occurrence of the impact.Protective Behavior: What protective actions should people take and when? If evacuation is called for, where should people go and what should they take with them?Accessible Alert and Warning MessagesHow you write an alert/warning message is nearly as important as what you write. Poorly written warnings can undermine both understanding and credibility.
''Style" refers to how you write. Here are some style elements to consider when writing accessible and usable alert and warning messages. Be:
Specific: If the message is not specific enough about the ''Who? What? When? Where? Why? How?,'' the public will spend more time seeking specific information to confirm the risk. If necessary, be specific about what is or is not known about the hazard.Consistent: An alert/warning should be internally consistent, that is, one part of the message should not contradict another part. It should be consistent with messages that are distributed via other channels. To the extent possible, alerts/warnings should be consistent from event to event, to the degree that the hazard is similar.Certain: Avoid conveying a sense of uncertainty, either in content or in tone. Confine the message to what is known, or if necessary, describe what is unknown in certain terms. Do not guess or speculate.Clear: Use common words that can easily be understood. Do not use technical terminology or jargon. If protective instructions are precautionary, state so clearly. If the probability of occurrence of the hazard event is less than 100%, try to convey in simple terms what the likelihood of occurrence is.Accurate: Do not overstate or understate the facts. Do not omit important information. Convey respect for the intelligence and judgment of your public.Accessible Alert and Warning Messages for Persons with Access and Functional NeedsAs the message originator, you should keep in mind the needs of persons with access and functional needs.
Clear and simple language: A general guideline to follow is to use clear and simple language whenever possible, with minimal use of abbreviations. The most important information should be presented first.Text-to-speech conversion: Care must be taken in composing text that is converted to audio by text-to-speech equipment. Consult your NWS Weather Forecast Office for local guidance regarding NOAA Weather Radio requirements.Consistent audio: IPAWS and CAP can accommodate pre-recorded audio files that may be used by Emergency Alert System participants (e.g., broadcasters) and that assist the blind or those with low vision. The audio should be as consistent as possible with the text and should ensure that any abbreviations are spoken as full words.Ample text and audio to explain images/maps: Since IPAWS OPEN provides the capability to deliver multimedia messages, ample text and audio should be provided to explain images or maps, so that message recipients can understand the meaning of what is being conveyed graphically.Screen reading and text-to-speech devices: Some mobile devices and currently available software provide screen reading and text-to-speech conversion capabilities for alerts delivered via Internet technologies. When considering these and other translation technologies, craft messages that avoid non-standard language formats and terminology.Accessible Alert and Warning Messages for Persons with English as a Second LanguageNon-English-speaking persons may not understand warnings that are provided in English. Communities with high percentages of non-English-speaking people should issue warnings in the primary language(s) of the population as well as in English.
IPAWS does not provide translation services, but it is capable of accepting and relaying alerts in multiple languages as composed by the alert originator.
Your alert authoring or other software programs may provide automated translation, but you should validate any automatically translated text with a speaker of the language to avoid errors. The use of pre-translated templates may serve to minimize the amount of information requiring translation for actual alerts.
Features of modern communication devices owned by end users can also provide translation of IPAWS alerts to the targeted language supported by the device.
Good and Bad Warning Message ExampleReview each of the messages below and decide which a good and which a bad message is.
Message (A): 50 percent chance of dam failure. People in Ogdenville should consider evacuating.
Message (B): A dangerous wildfire is moving towards North Haverbrook and is expected to reach the north edge of town within the next hour. All persons remaining within the hazard area must evacuate now to a safe location to the west or east. A shelter is now open at Waverly Hills High School Gym. Pets are permitted.
Message (A) is an example of a bad message. It lacks certainty which may not motivate action. It does not give clear protective action by saying "consider evacuating" vs. "evacuate."
Message (B) is an example of a good message. It clearly states what the threat is, what area is threatened, and what specifically to do.
Best Practice Example'--Using Planning TemplatesThe use of templates, tailored to those hazards likely in your warning area, can help prevent errors or omissions that can occur in moments of urgency. Using a template that incorporates pre-approved language can reduce delays in issuing alerts and warnings. Finally, if you need to use a language in addition to English, your templates can be translated in advance.
Your alert authoring software may provide the capability to create and reuse templates. If not, you can use word processing software to store your template and create your message to copy and paste into your alerting software. It is recommended that if you do utilize templates, customize them for the types of hazardous events that may occur in your area. The adjacent graphic shows an example of an evacuation warning template.
Sample TemplateDisasterville Template for Emergency Alert System Message
Immediate Evacuation Order (EVI)Replace all bracketed text below
(Headline field)
Immediate Evacuation Ordered for [geographic description of area to be evacuated]
(Description field)
Effective immediately, and extending until [further notice or expiration time], the Mayor of Disasterville has issued an evacuation order for all persons living, working, or travelling in the vicinity of [geographic description of area to be evacuated]. This area is at immediate risk from [brief description of the hazardous conditions].
(Instruction field)
To protect yourself and your family from this dangerous situation, the following actions are strongly urged:
*Leave your home or workplace immediately for a safe destination outside the hazard area via [specify recommended route(s) of travel].
*Take only pets and essential items such as medications with you.
[*Instruction related to school children if applicable, e.g. Do not pick up your children from school. They are being evacuated by school officials.]
A shelter operated by [organization, e.g. the Red Cross] is available at [address of public shelter]. If you need evacuation assistance, call 555-10009. Do not call 9 1 1 unless you have a serious personal emergency. For further information, tune to radio station KKKK.
Factors Influencing Public Response to a WarningAccessibility of alert and warning messages refers to whether individuals hear and understand them. An appreciation of the multiple social factors that influence accessibility is useful. The primary response factors that influence the public's response to a warning are:
Interpretation of message: When different people listen to the same message, there may be a variation in what they hear, leading to different interpretation and response.Previous experiences: Often people will rely on their previous experiences with the hazard to determine what actions they initially take (or don't take).Observations: Individual responses to warnings vary, but most people will seek some form of confirmation. For example, some people will look for more information through environmental cues, while others will seek to contact from other trusted sources. Optimism bias (thinking that ''disasters happen to other people'') is overcome with confirmation.Level of community interaction: People who have more contacts in the community will receive more warnings and are more likely to act; also, they are more likely to trust officials.Perception of risk/proximity: People tend to make a rapid assessment of the relative safety of their location, producing an emergent perception of risk. If their perception of personal risk is high, people will act quickly. When the perception is low, they will delay acting.Length of residency: Transients, tourists, and newcomers to the area lack knowledge of local hazards and the history of local disasters, so they may react differently.Family composition: Families, more than individuals, tend to heed evacuation warnings. Research indicates that people tend to confer with family, extended family, and friends prior to making a decision. They do this to ensure that their loved ones are safe and also to determine whether they may need to provide protection for their loved ones. Their decisions are based on the following factors related to family composition:Family network: People are more likely to act if they have relatives nearby who may warn them and offer them short-term shelter.Presence of children: Concern for children's safety will elicit quicker response from parents.Presence of pets: People often view their pets as they would their children and will take action to protect them. However, whereas families with children usually act more quickly to take precautions, in emergencies requiring evacuation, people with pets may endanger their own lives by refusing to evacuate, because many public shelters do not allow pets.Access and functional needs: Individuals with access and functional needs may need alerts in accessible formats and additional time and assistance for evacuating.Additional Factors Influencing Public Response to a WarningThe following additional social factors also influence the extent to which warnings and alerts are received, comprehended, and heeded:
Age: The very young and the elderly may not be able to receive and/or respond appropriately to alerts and warnings. Many in this group may also need assistance.Language: Non-English-speaking persons may not understand warnings that are provided in English. Communities with high percentages of non-English-speaking people should issue warnings in the primary language(s) of the population as well as in English.Individuals with access and functional needs: Alternative alert and warning methods are needed for individuals with access and functional needs such as the blind or low-vision and deaf or hard of hearing. Both audio and equivalent text messages should be available.Type of community: Residents of rural communities may have more difficulty receiving warnings than those living in urban areas.Level of individual preparedness: People who have taken the time to prepare for hazards (i.e., they have a plan and disaster supply kit, and have exercised the plan) are more likely to heed warning and act appropriately. Getting the preparedness buy-in is often the challenge.Myths Associated with Public Response to Warning MessagesThe following are popular myths associated with public response to warning messages:
People usually panic in response to warnings: People DO NOT panic in response to warnings. People do not go running wildly through the streets when they hear a warning. Rather, they seek additional information to make a response decision.If you false alarm or ''Cry Wolf'' with your warnings, the public will tune you out: While there is a limit to the public's trust, ''Cry Wolf'' syndrome is NOT a problem IF ''false alarms'' are well explained and understood; people do take into account that officials are making difficult decisions to protect them from harm.An effective warning message is a simple one, with as little detail as possible: The 'less is more' principle does not apply for public warnings. Research has shown that people need sufficient information to validate their risk and spur them to take appropriate action.People usually understand what the sounding of various siren signals mean: People DO NOT always understand what the sounding of various siren signals mean. The best use of outdoor warning sirens is to alert people to immediately seek additional information about an imminent threat.ResourcesApplying for IPAWS Access: https://www.fema.gov/integrated-public-alert-warning-system for more information on how to apply to FEMA for access to IPAWS.Event Codes: http://www.weather.gov/os/eas_codes.shtml for more information on event codes.Planning Templates: For more information on use of Planning Templates, http://www.fema.gov/pdf/about/divisions/npd/CPG_101_V2.pdf, view page 3-9 of FEMA's Comprehensive Preparedness Guide.Warnings Research:http://orise.orau.gov/CSEPP/publications/files/CommunicationFinal.pdf for a discussion of research findings.Writing Accessible Alerts and Warning Messages: For more information on writing accessible alerts and warning messages, http://ncam.wgbh.org/invent_build/analog/alerts/information-requirementsalerts.Lesson SummaryThis lesson provided an overview of creating appropriate, effective, and accessible alert and warning messages.
You should now be able to:
Identify the basis for determining who is authorized to send IPAWS alert and warning messagesApply criteria for sending appropriate alert messagesIdentify the components of effective alert and warning messagesApply criteria for creating accessible alert and warning messagesDescribe factors that influence public response to warning messagesDiscuss the myths associated with public response to warning messagesIn the next lesson, you will be introduced to the Common Alerting Protocol and various channels used for disseminating IPAWS alert and warning messages.
Lesson OverviewThis lesson provides an introduction to the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), its component elements, and their associated values. It also identifies how a CMAS message is mapped from CAP.
Upon completion of this lesson, you should be able to:
Define CAPIdentify some of the commonly used CAP elements and their associated valuesIdentify how a CMAS message is mapped from CAP
What is Common Alerting Protocol (CAP)?The Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) is an XML-based data format standard for exchanging alert data among many different technologies and systems. CAP allows a warning message to be sent simultaneously over many CAP-compliant warning systems to many different outlets (such as radio, television, cell phones, Internet).
CAP is a well established international technical specification developed by the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). The concept grew out of an earlier effort of the Partnership for Public Warning.
CAP Data ElementsThis lesson describes some of the commonly used data elements and their corresponding values that the alert originator either selects or composes using CAP-compliant alert authoring software. Note that your software may provide slightly different labels for these data elements:
Urgency: Available values for the urgency element are:''Immediate'' - Responsive action should be taken immediately''Expected'' - Responsive action should be taken soon (within next hour)''Future'' - Responsive action should be taken in the near future''Past'' - Responsive action is no longer required''Unknown'' - Urgency not knownOnly those alerts with an urgency of immediate or expected meet the requirements of the Commercial Mobile Alert System ''imminent threat'' alert.
Severity: Available values for the severity element are:''Extreme'' - Extraordinary threat to life or property''Severe'' - Significant threat to life or property''Moderate'' - Possible threat to life or property''Minor'' - Minimal to no known threat to life or property''Unknown'' - Severity unknownOnly those alerts with a severity of extreme or severe meet the requirements of the Commercial Mobile Alert System ''imminent threat'' alert.
Certainty: Available values for the certainty element are:''Observed'' - Determined to have occurred or to be ongoing''Likely'' - Probability is greater than or equal to 50%''Possible'' - Probability is less than 50%''Unlikely'' - Not expected to occur''Unknown'' - Certainty unknownOnly those alerts with a certainty of observed or likely meet the requirements of the Commercial Mobile Alert System ''imminent threat'' alert.
Event code: Alerts intended for the Emergency Alert System, the Commercial Mobile Alert System, and/or the NWS HazCollect system must use one of the three letter codes discussed in the previous lesson. Typically, authoring software will provide a pick list of event names for the user (e.g. Civil Emergency Message) and assign the corresponding code (e.g. CEM) to the CAP alert.
Event Category: Available values for the category element are:''Geo'' - Geophysical (including landslides)''Met'' - Meteorological (including floods)''Safety'' - General emergency and public safety''Security'' - Law enforcement, military, homeland and local/private security''Rescue'' - Rescue and recovery''Fire'' - Fire suppression and rescue''Health'' - Medical and public health''Env'' - Pollution and other environmental''Transport'' - Public and private transportation''Infra'' - Utility, telecommunication, other non-transport infrastructure''CBRNE'' - Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear or High-Yield Explosive threat or attack''Other'' - Other eventsThese values are used by the Commercial Mobile Alert System if the event code is missing or does not match the required event codes.
Expires: The expires element contains a date/time value specified by the originator. For EAS, CMAS and HazCollect, all messages are deemed to be effective from the time they are sent to IPAWS. Although the expires element is optional per the CAP specification, it is a required element for all messages relayed to IPAWS for routing to these three systems.
Headline: This is a text element defined as a ''brief, human-readable headline'' that is composed by the alert originator. For the NWS HazCollect system, the headline must be no longer than 160 characters including blank spaces. Internet services may use the headline value to populate Short Message Service (SMS) text, intended for subscriber-based, non-CMAS mobile systems, in which case the number of characters may be limited to 140.
Description: This is a text element defined as ''an extended human readable description of the hazard or event that occasioned this message'' that is composed by the alert originator. The value of this element is not used by the Commercial Mobile Alert System, but should be used for all alerts routed to the Emergency Alert System and HazCollect. This is where you place the important information (who, what, when, and where) about the hazardous situation.
Instruction: This text element is defined as ''describing the recommended action to be taken by recipients of the alert message'' that is composed by the alert originator. The value of this element is not used by the Commercial Mobile Alert System (see Response Type below), but should be used for all alerts routed to the Emergency Alert System and HazCollect. This is where you place the important information (how and why) of your protective behavior instruction. Broadcast EAS messages are limited by FCC rules to two minutes. For HazCollect, the total number of words for the description and instruction combined should not exceed 160 words, and this is a good rule of thumb for all EAS messages.
Response Type: Available values for the response type elements that are used by the Commercial Mobile Alert System are:''Shelter'' - Take shelter in place or per instruction''Evacuate'' - Relocate as instructed in the instruction''Prepare'' - Make preparations per the instruction''Execute'' - Execute a pre-planned activity identified in instruction''Avoid'' - Avoid the subject event as per the instruction''Monitor'' - Attend to information sources as described in instructionThese values are used by IPAWS to convert to message text that is routed to CMAS.
Area Description: The area description element is defined as a ''text description of the affected area'' composed by the alert originator. The value of this element is not used by the Commercial Mobile Alert System.
Geocode: IPAWS messages intended for EAS, CMAS and/or HazCollect should contain one or more location codes, usually corresponding to the county or counties for which the alert has been issued. If you have been authorized through the application process to issue alerts for more than one county, your software may present you with a pick list of county names and assign the corresponding FIPS code to the CAP alert.
Polygon/Circle: Your authoring software may provide a map interface that allows you to draw a polygon or circle to define the affected area of the alert message and assign corresponding values to the CAP alert. Dissemination services that include a mapping component can then retrieve and display the more precise warning area. Cellular mobile service providers may opt to use the boundaries of the geospatially defined area to activate specific cell towers.
Resource: The optional resource element and related sub-elements offer the ability to incorporate multi-media such as images, audio, video, etc. Your authoring software may reference these files as attachments.
"Mapping" between CAP and CMASThe primary purpose of a CMAS message is to briefly alert the recipient that a hazardous event is occurring (or will occur) in the geographic area in which the recipient is located. The CMAS specification limits the message to not more than 90 characters.
As noted in the previous section, CMAS does not use any values from the CAP description, instruction, or area description elements for ''imminent threat'' alerts. Instead, IPAWS generates text derived from other CAP elements to compose the message using a specific format.
CMAS Message Format:
''[Event name corresponding to event code element]
in this area until
[Expiration time in local time zone derived from expires element].
[Assigned value derived from instruction-specific event code (EVI, SPW) or response type element per below].
[Sender Name value, typically associated with the alert originator log in ID]''
Assigned Values
The assigned values are as follows:
EVI/Evacuate=''Evacuate now''SPW/Shelter=''Take shelter now''Prepare=''Prepare for Action''Execute=''Execute Action''Monitor=''Monitor Radio or TV''Avoid=''Avoid Hazard''
CAP to CMAS Message Conversion ExampleUsing this format for generating a CMAS message from CAP elements, here is an example of a message converted to CMAS.
CAP Message
CMAS Message
Event Code: FFW
Flash Flood Warning
Geocode: 006109
In this area
Expires: 2003-06-17T16:00:00-07:00
until 7:00 PM PDT
Response Type: Avoid
Headline: FLASH FLOOD WARNING ISSUED FOR TUOLUMNE COUNTY
Description: THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSONVILLE HAS ISSUED A
* FLOOD WARNING FOR URBAN AREAS AND SMALL STREAMS IN NORTHERN TUOLUMNE COUNTY
* UNTIL 700 PM PDT
* AT 523 PM PDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF STRONG AND SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. THESE STORMS HAVE ALREADY PRODUCED RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 5 TO 7 INCHES...WITH ANOTHER 2 TO 4 INCHES LIKELY THROUGH 700 PM PDT THIS EVENING.
Instruction: PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.
Avoid hazard.
ResourcesNWS CAP 1.2 Wiki: https://wiki.citizen.apps.gov/nws_developers/index.php/Category:Common_Alerting_Protocol.OASIS CAP 1.2 Standard: http://www.oasis-open.org/committees/download.php/14759/emergency-CAPv1.2.pdf.NWS Warning Criteria Reference Chart: This is a spreadsheet used by NWS listing various types of alerts with urgency, severity, and certainty. It can be accessed only as part of this course in Lesson 3.Local Codes:http://www.census.gov/geo/www/ansi/countylookup.html
Lesson SummaryThis lesson provided an overview of the commonly used Common Alerting Protocol elements and their associated values. It also identified how a CMAS message is mapped from CAP.
You should now be able to:
Define CAPIdentify some of the commonly used CAP elements and their associated valuesIdentify how a CMAS message is mapped from CAP
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THE MESSAGE IS NOT OFFICIAL LANGUAGE-''This Is Not A Drill'': False Emergency Alert Warning Of Ballistic Missile Threat To Hawaii Terrorizes Citizens Across The State
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 22:57
In a scenario that has caused widespread outrage, citizens across Hawaii received a startling message on their phones from the Emergency Alert System (EAS) that told them that a ballistic missile was incoming and to seek immediate shelter.
That's right, all across Hawaii residents believed that they were under attack, presumably from North Korea, with the apparent false alarm not being fixed for upwards of 37 minutes for any resident who wasn't spending the morning on Twitter.
''The emergency alert claiming a ballistic missile attack was inbound was sent at 8:08AM. It took until 8:45AM to state it was a false alarm. 37 minutes where anyone in Hawaii who doesn't sit on Twitter dot com all day thought their island might be incinerated. Fire people. Fix it,'' noted Twitter user Jerry Dunleavy.
Breitbart News also reported:
White House Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters later implied the false warning stemmed from a state, rather than federal, mishap. ''The President has been briefed on the state of Hawaii's emergency management exercise. This was purely a state exercise,'' he said in a statement
According to the Associated Press (AP), Hawaii Emergency Management Agency spokesman Richard Repoza confirmed a false alarm.
''Hawaii Emergency Management Agency spokesman Richard Repoza said it was a false alarm and the agency is trying to determine what happened.,'' the AP reports.
The message, initially thought authentic, spread quickly on social media, prompting some panic, as Fox News reported Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) estimated over one million Hawaiians received the erroneous alert. The EAS protocol should only be available to government officials.
Interestingly, the location of the false alarm was also particularly worrying when you consider the public threats from North Korea which now, ''possesses ballistic missiles reportedly capable of reaching the Aloha State.''
To recap, over a million people in Hawaii were given a warning that claimed that they were about to be hit by a ballistic missile. One has to wonder how on earth this could possibly happen and whether or not there was actually a missile threat that is now being covered up?
Click here to subscribe: Join over one million monthly readers and receive breaking news, strategies, ideas and commentary.Please Spread The Word And Share This Post
Author: Alex Thomas
Views: Read by 4,696 people
Date: January 13th, 2018
Website:www.SHTFplan.com
Copyright Information: Copyright SHTFplan and Mac Slavo. This content may be freely reproduced in full or in part in digital form with full attribution to the author and a link to www.shtfplan.com. Please contact us for permission to reproduce this content in other media formats.
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FEMA's Emergency Alert System Hacked: Warns of Hazardous Materials Disaster
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 22:53
Yesterday we covered the first ever nationwide test of the FEMA IPAWS integration into the Emergency Alert System; while there were a few random glitches, at first it looked like everything went well. But last night, in Utica, New York, Television viewers started seeing weird messages pop up on their screen warning of a pending Hazardous Materials disaster somewhere in the United States.
The odd warning was sent over WKTV News Channel 2 in Utica, New York. The station quickly sent out a message on their Facebook page saying there was no emergency and blamed the message on FEMA test codes that were not intended for public broadcast. But hours later, concerned viewers reported seeing the message pop up on their screens again.
The Emergency Alert Broadcast ended with part of a line from the Dr. Seuss book, Green Eggs and Ham. It Read:
''Would you. Could you. On a Train? Wait for further instructions.''
The Station then posted another update to their Facebook Page saying:
Another warning message was sent out in error at 10:38 p.m.
There is no emergency. This message originated from FEMA as a test and had the National Location Code in it. Tests should not have that code as it is automatically re-transmitted. We apologize for any inconvenience.
We have contacted New York State Broadcasters Association who administers the Emergency Alert System in NY. We are working with FEMA to resolve this.
In a comment on that same Facebook Post, the KTNV then claimed that the EAS alert was hacked by an outside source saying:
FEMA replied that they did not send this out. They will launch a full investigation into how their codes were hacked. WKTV seems to be the only target of this hack. For now, we have disabled the codes in our decoder that trigger this alert. If there is a real National Alert, we will still receive it from the local radio stations we are assigned to monitor. WKTV will cooperate fully with FEMA, providing information about our hardware, software and internet access, and will provide log files from our devices. This information will be helpful to FEMA to track down the source of this hack.
People Reporting FEMA IPAWS Sending Out Large Number of Emergency Alerts
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 22:52
We are receiving hundreds of reports from people throughout the country who are saying their phones are freezing up, some after receiving over 20 FEMA IPAWS Emergency Alerts on their phones.
Back in September, FEMA conducted a nationwide test of their EAS Integrated Public Alert & Warning System (IPAWS), but that test was announced well ahead of time and did not include the IPAWS WEA integrations that allows these types of messages to be delivered to smartphone devices. Today's message was not announced by FEMA, so it was either a technical glitch or the system may have been hacked like back in September '' then again FEMA just might need to get their shit together!
Most of the reports say the message reads:
''TEST:IPAWSTester- Area Emergency Test #1'' Integrated Public Alert Warning System
A number of law enforcement agencies and 911 call centers have been inundated with calls from panicked people who have no idea what these messages mean. The fact that these emergency response agencies are puzzled by the messages suggests that this was not a regularly scheduled test since they would have been informed.
Others have taken to Twitter, trying to figure out how to disable the alerts and stop their phones from freezing up, something that would be a problem during an actual emergency. We are all for being able to alert people during times of crisis, but someone over at FEMA really needs to figure this system out!
FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) is an internet-based capability Federal, State, territorial, tribal, and local authorities can use to issue critical public alerts and warnings.
According to FEMA, IPAWS was built to ensure that under all conditions the President of the United States can alert and warn the American people. IPAWS allows alerting authorities to deliver alerts simultaneously through multiple communications devices reaching as many people as possible. These communication pathways include Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) that send messages directly to smartphones, even when cellular networks are overloaded and can no longer support person-to-person calls, texts, or emails.
Passwords Blamed for Fake Zombie Attack Alert
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 22:52
Broadcasters are being urged to change the passwords on their Emergency Alert System (EAS) units in light of several reports of EAS hackings that resulted in phony EAS alerts being issued. It appears someone figured out the factory-default password of certain encoders, and sent a fake zombie attack alert via EAS.
It's only been recently that EAS devices have been accessible via the internet when the FCC and FEMA led EAS participants to convert to a system that uses the web and the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) to help facilitate delivery of a single message through multiple means. Richard Rudman, an expert and advocate for EAS, told Radio World magazine's Leslie Stimson that the hacks were not related to CAP, nor to FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System's (IPAWS) system for facilitating EAS delivery called IPAWS-OPEN. FEMA issued a statement saying IPAWS was not hacked, and that the incident did not interfere with FEMA's ability to activate EAS.
Rudman says the hacker knew what he was doing, but EAS systems would not be vulnerable if the units are placed behind a firewall, and strong passwords are used. He suggested use of Gibson Research site for testing password strength.
There is a bright side, at least according to Karole White of the Michigan Association of Broadcasters. She's quoted by TVNewsCheck as saying, "...this minor attack, while it may have confused or frightened people, uncovered some weaknesses that we can look at fix, and adjust to."
All the best,
Rick
Galain Solutions, Inc.
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FEMA Names Members of New IPAWS Subcommittee | TvTechnology
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 22:50
WASHINGTON'-- To ensure the nation continues to adopt the best standards and operating procedures when it comes to emergency alerting, the Federal Emergency Management Agency recently announced the names of 31 individuals that will be serving on the IPAWS subcommittee, which is part of FEMA's National Advisory Council.
The first IPAWS subcommittee meeting will be held Aug. 8 and 9 in Washington, and will meet up to four times per year (two in person and two by video conferencing).
Among the subcommittee's responsibilities are providing recommendations for new alerting protocols and operating procedures for the nation's public alert and warning system, as well as submitting a recommendation report on the overall system to the NAC. Any subcommittee report will be submitted to other government agencies, including the House and Senate committees on homeland security.
NAC itself is tasked with advising FEMA's administrator on all aspects of emergency management.
The new club of 31 members joins eight federal leaders and five members from the NAC to create a total group of 44 that include broadcasters, emergency management agencies, emergency response providers and consumer advocate groups, among others.
In addition to expected representatives like state officials and emergency management agencies, a FEMA selection panel requested participation from national tribal organizations, organizations representing individuals with disabilities, those representing individuals with limited English proficiency and the elderly (although only one organization is included from the later three: a representative from a center for the deaf/hard of hearing in North Carolina).
The subcommittee will also include chairman of the Federal Communications Commission or someone that Chairman Ajit Pai designates to serve.
It was back in September 2016 that FEMA called for applications to this subcommittee as part of its modernization efforts. The committee will disband by April 2019.
When contacted by Radio World, one new committee member, Ed Czarnecki with Monroe Electronics, said he's most looking forward to the collaborating with colleagues across the government and within different industries to further advance the capabilities of FEMA IPAWS.
The complete IPAWS subcommittee list:
State and Local Governments; Emergency Management Agencies; Emergency Response Providers
Samantha Brear, Alert Iowa Program Manager and E911 Program Planner
Iowa Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management
Benjamin Krakauer, Assistant Commissioner, Strategy & Program Development
New York City Emergency Management
Francisco Snchez, Liaison and Public Information Officer
Harris County (Texas) Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management
Art Botterell, Senior Emergency Services Coordinator
California Governor's Office of Emergency Services
Michael Sprayberry (NAC Member), Director
North Carolina Emergency Management, North Carolina Department of Public Safety
Gerard Dio (NAC Member),(Retired) Fire Chief
Fire Department City of Worcester (Mass.)
Federally Recognized Indian Tribes and National Indian Organizations
Robert Deleon, Emergency Manager /Emergency Operations Director
Gila River Indian Community
Michael Fila, Emergency Manager/Public Health Officer
Office of Emergency Management, Cocopah Indian Tribe
Communications Service Providers
Thomas Crane, Senior Solutions Consultant
Everbridge Inc.
Don Hall, Government Solutions Director
OnSolve LLC
Vendors, Developers and Manufacturers of Systems, Facilities, Equipment and Capabilities for the Provision of Communications Services
Edward Czarnecki, Senior Director, Strategy and Government Affairs
Monroe Electronics Inc.
Harold Price, President
Sage Alerting Systems Inc.
Mark Demski, Senior Client Services Manager
WebEOC Intermedix Corp.
John Lawson, Executive Director
AWARN Alliance
Hutch McClendon, CEO and President
Advanced, Computers and Communications LLC
Third-Party Service Bureaus
Richard Strack, Chief Engineer
Boise State Public Radio
Broadcasting Industry, Including Public Broadcasting
Suzanne Goucher, President and Chief Executive Officer
Maine Association of Broadcasters
Sam Matheny, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer
National Association of Broadcasters
Dana Golub, Senior Director, Public Programs
Public Broadcasting Service
Commercial Mobile Radio Service Industry
Brian Josef, Assistant Vice President Regulatory Affairs
CTIA
Cable Industry
Craig Saari, Principle Video Engineer II
Charter Communications
Andy Scott, Vice President of Engineering
NCTA '' The Internet & Television Association
Satellite Industry
John Archer, Vice President and General Manager Operations
Sirius XM Satellite Radio
Steven Hill, Chief Executive Officer
Satellite and Broadcast Communication Association
National Organizations Representing Individuals With Disabilities; Blind, Deaf and Hearing-Loss Communities; Individuals With Access and Functional Needs; Elderly
Donna Platt, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator
North Carolina Division of Services for the Deaf and the Hard of Hearing
Bryen Yunashko, Owner
Access256 Productions LLC
Consumer or Privacy Advocates
Harold Feld, Senior Vice President
Public Knowledge
Organizations Representing Individuals With Limited-English Proficiency
Lillian McDonald, Managing Director Emergency Response Services
Twin Cities PBS
Jacqueline Nguyen, Senior Project Specialist
CalOptima
Other Stakeholders and Interested and Affected Parties
Dennis Mileti, Professor Emeritus, Director of the Natural Hazards Center
University of Colorado at Boulder
Frank Mark Lucia, Independent Telecommunications Professional, and Consultant
Georgia Tech Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center
Tafaimamao Tua-Tupuola, Director of University Center for Excellence on Developmental Disabilities
American Samoa Community College
Darrell Darnell, Senior Associate Vice President for Safety and Security
George Washington University
Dr. Meloyde Batten-Mickens(NAC Member), Interim Chief/Director of Public Safety
Simmons College
Capt. William ''Brett'' Bailey (NAC Member), Investigations Commander
Tulsa Police Department
Jeanne-Aimee DeMarrais (NAC Member), Senior Director U.S. Emergencies
Save the Children
Senior Federal Leaders (or Their Designees)
The Deputy Administrator for Protection and National Preparedness of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission
The Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the Department of Commerce
The Assistant Secretary for Communications and Information of the Department of Commerce
The Under Secretary for Science and Technology of the Department of Homeland Security
The Under Secretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate
The Director of Disability Integration and Coordination of the Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Chairperson of the National Council on Disability
This story originally appeared on TVT's sister publication Radio World.
EAS Hack has Engineers on Alert | TvTechnology
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 22:49
MULTIPLE CITIES '' A hack into the nation's Emergency Alert System this week that coincided with a threat by Anonymous to disrupt the State of the Union Address on Tuesday has broadcast engineers buzzing.''They aren't just trying to get in through the Web interface!'' one engineer wrote on an online EAS forum. ''As we speak - all of our 'exposed' boxes have a bot knocking on them, trying to access the root or NOUSER passwords to the shell/terminal'--not just the Web interface! So far on our boxes'--they have been unsuccessful, as we've changed our root passwords, and they aren't based on a dictionary word.''
He said the bot knocks were coming through a Tor network, which disguises the physical location of actual IP addresses.
''It seems from their fingerprints that they are not from a single person [or] source,'' he said.
KRTV-TV in Great Falls, Mont., WBKP-TV, WBUP-TV and WNMU-TV in Marquette, Mich.; and KNME/KNDM in Albuquerque, N.M. were reported to have carried a bogus EAS message about zombies rising from graves on Monday. Stations in Utah and California may also have received the alert. Greg MacDonald, president and CEO of the Montana Broadcasters Association, said preliminary reports indicated the attacks were initiated overseas, according to KRTV.
Broadcast engineer Barry Mishkind is reporting that at least six stations were affected, and that none had changed default passwords on EAS equipment, or had firewalls between the equipment and the Internet. He noted that the attacks followed an 11-hour outage of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System server managed by the Federal Emergence Management Agency.
IPAWS is the relatively new, IP-based emergency warning network that broadcasters now monitor for alerts from a variety of sources, including the Emergency Alert System. FEMA administers the system. Outages were reported in mid-December, due to complications from an upgrade.
A FEMA spokesman told Radio World's Leslie Stimson that the zombie attack did not breach or compromised the IPAWS, and that it had ''no impact on FEMA's ability to activate the Emergency Alert System.''
The EAS typically is used for severe weather warnings, AMBER Alerts and other public-safety messages. It also can be activated by the President of the United States to issue a nationwide warning carried simultaneously by all cable TV systems, radio stations and broadcast television stations. The zombie attack came a day before President Obama delivered a State of the Union Address issuing an executive order to increase cybersecurity. Hacker group Anonymous had threatened to disrupt streaming coverage of the speech, but failed to do so, CNET reported. No president has ever activated the EAS to issue a message.
EAS expert Richard Rudman added that no EAS hack attacks were reported during the Tuesday evening address from Washington, D.C.
The zombie thread on the EAS Forum indicates that engineers are busy identifying and closing security holes. Remote monitoring of EAS equipment should be done only through a secure network, one writes. Another said IP addresses attempting brute-force logins could be blacklisted. Encoders/decoders may need to be updated to newer versions of operating software, for example. All seem to agree that changing passwords and setting up firewalls are imperative to start.
The Federal Communications Commission said as much Tuesday in an urgent advisory that was passed on to the membership of the National Association of Broadcasters. Other than the advisory, the FCC has not commented on the hack. FEMA has said only that it is supporting the FCC and other federal agencies'--which many assume to be the FBI'--in investigating the incident.
In the meantime, the source of the hack remains unknown. Mishkind cited a 2009 video from YouTube (below) as the possible source for the zombie warning. The type of tones in the video can trigger EAS gear and are illegal to record or reproduce, but they occasionally make it into a news broadcast. EAS tones appeared in a piece on NBC's ''Today Show'' in 2011 when broadcasters were preparing for a nationwide test of the new system.
On Tuesday, a radio station in La Crosse, Wis., replayed the zombie alert and triggered another downstream station's EAS receiver, according to the La Crosse Tribune. The station, WKBT-TV, wound up issuing the zombie alert.
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The false alarm in Hawaii revealed an abdication of leadership by Trump - The Washington Post
Tue, 16 Jan 2018 13:49
Hawaii residents received emergency alerts warning of a "ballistic missile threat" in the early morning of Jan. 13. A follow-up message 38 minute later confirmed the warning was a false alarm. (Victoria Walker,Elyse Samuels/The Washington Post)
On a normal day, there aren't many people heading to Google to figure out how to survive a nuclear strike. But Saturday was not a normal day.
Shortly after 2:30 p.m. Eastern, searches for ''how to survive nuclear'' peaked in the U.S., from being almost nonexistent to being almost twice as common as ''how to make pasta.'' The increase was centered in Hawaii, where about 90 minutes earlier, a warning had gone out over the state's emergency alert system: ''BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL''.
You can see when that alert went out on this graph.
It was wrong.
According to a timeline released by the state, the alert was triggered at 8:07 a.m. local time when, during an internal drill, an employee hit the wrong button. For 13 minutes it went uncorrected, until the emergency management agency sent an update on social media.
Over the ensuing hours, a number of people have relayed their experience after receiving the incorrect message. Near panic. Comforting children while worrying about loved ones. Confusion and uncertainty from officials. In the absence of other information, cobbling together what evidence they could for whether they would survive the day.
Many reported first hearing that the alert was a mistake from the Twitter account of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii).
Her tweet went out within about 15 minutes of the false alarm to her 174,000 followers. She was probably the first well-known authority figure to inform the public that there was no need to panic. News outlets picked up that clarification and spread it widely.
This, by contrast, was President Trump's first tweet after the incorrect alert went out.
It was sent more than three hours after the alert went out. As you can see, it has nothing to do with the alert. Those who follow Trump on Twitter '-- 46.6 million of them '-- haven't been given any information about what happened on Saturday at all.
The White House did release a statement, well after the alert was revealed to be incorrect.
''The President has been briefed on the state of Hawaii's emergency management exercise,'' it read. ''This was purely a state exercise.''
At the time the incorrect alert went out Trump was finishing up a round of golf at Trump National Golf Course in Florida.
Consider his responses. First that statement, which has one obvious aim: To assure the American people that it wasn't his fault that the false alert went out '-- it was Hawaii's. Then, that tweet, which shows what was preoccupying the president at the moment. Not that one of the 50 states had been briefly wracked with terror after a mistake was made by the people whose job it is to keep them safe. Instead, an insistence to the American people that the media is ''fake news,'' which was probably a response to the reports that trickled out bolstering a story from the Wall Street Journal that Trump had allegedly paid hush money to a porn star with whom he'd had an affair.
That was the thing that Trump urgently wanted to clear up: The media couldn't be trusted when it reported on him.
Trump could have tweeted as soon as possible that the alert was a false alarm, sharing that information with millions of Americans immediately. He could have additionally shared information about what went wrong, and assured people that he would work to make sure that no such error happened again in the future. He could, at the very least, have sought to offer some emotional support to the people of Hawaii. He did none of these. He has, as of writing, done none of these.
Since the beginning of his presidency, Trump has rarely assumed that traditional leadership role of the presidency. He's always taken a hostile attitude toward those who opposed his candidacy, certainly, but he's also been apathetic about stepping up more broadly to inform, guide and assure the American public. The primary concerns Trump conveys to Americans are about Trump: About how he's being treated, about how well he is doing, about the media and his opponents and how he just wants to make America great again. The White House releases statements and, as he did on Friday in recognizing Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Trump will read them or tweet about them. But it's clearly not where his heart lies.
Perhaps that the incident occurred in Hawaii plays a role. It seems odd to have to note that, but it's certainly defensible. From his attorney general at one point dismissing the state as ''an island in the Pacific'' to Trump's general focus on states he won to, we have to note, the gulf between his responses to the hurricanes that struck Texas and Florida and the one that nearly wiped Puerto Rico clean '-- there is plenty of evidence that can be cited for Trump's not necessarily having the state of Hawaii at the forefront of his thoughts. Normally, one wouldn't even assume that a president might be indifferent to one of the 50 states; here, it's impossible not to wonder if it's the case.
This is not a high hurdle for a president to face. Should a state be informed that a missile is inbound, it seems self-evident that the president should be made aware of this as rapidly as possible '-- even if golfing '-- and act quickly to confirm or rebut the claim. To then quickly inform the public that the story is not true and insist that a review will be undertaken nationally to prevent such a thing from happening again. Perhaps a photo of the president, stern look on his face, speaking with the governor of Hawaii.
An assurance that the government recognizes that a mistake was made and that it is handling things. That didn't happen.
It's also hard to imagine that Trump didn't make the situation more stressful in another way. His constant prodding of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has dramatically increased the sense that a missile might actually be launched at Hawaii from that nation. During the past 12 months, we've learned a lot more about what North Korea can do, and we've heard experts describe Trump's response as exacerbating, not lessening, the possibility of conflict.
The result is that there was actually one message Trump sent to Hawaiians on Saturday.
You're on your own.
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BOOM!-Incident Management and Communications '' Everbridge.com
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 21:51
Without the right message templates, time can be wasted and responders can send confusing or inaccurate notifications, when seconds count.
To improve the effectiveness of your incident communications, Everbridge provides access to pre-built message templates designed with clear & concise words, customized details based on the incident type and dynamic selection of recipients based on severity, location, required skills, on-call status or any variables you choose.
Active Shooter "All Clear" 'ª Evacuation 'ª Conference Bridge Activation 'ª Emergency Operations Center (EOC) - Activation 'ª Internal Emergency - Evacuation 'ª Office - Delayed Opening, Closed, Open 'ª Severe Weather 'ª Shelter In Place 'ª Staff Recall 'ª System Testing 'ª Work At Home / Alternate Site
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Gomez, Inc. | Crunchbase
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 21:33
Number of Acquisitions
3 Acquired Organization Name
Announced Date
Price
Transaction Name
Jan 11, 2011
'--
BEZ Systems acquired by Gomez, Inc. Sep 30, 2002
'--
Porivo Technologies acquired by Gomez, Inc. Number of Past Team Members
14
Yuan Cheng, Senior Vice President of Engineering - Everbridge
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 21:32
Yuan Cheng is the senior vice president, Engineering at Everbridge. In this role, Cheng is responsible for overseeing the worldwide development of Everbridge solutions.
Most recently, Cheng was the founder and CEO of Hypersun Group Ltd. which was acquired by Everbridge in 2012. Previous to Hypersun, Cheng was general manager of Gomez China Operations, establishing an offshore engineering team for that company. Prior to joining Gomez, Cheng managed the BroadVision Commerce product at BroadVision. He holds two US patents (7,765,295 and 8,095,650) for his work in methods and apparatus for real user monitoring.
Cheng received his Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Information Science from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2000 and his Bachelor of Engineering, Precision Instruments from Tsinghua University in 1994.
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Federal Signal Partners with Everbridge to Provide Critical Communications | Federal Signal
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 20:05
University Park, IL., March 17, 2015 '--Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE: FSS), a global leader in environmental and safety solutions, has formed a strategic partnership with Everbridge, the worldwide leader in unified critical communications. This alliance will provide an industry leading unified platform integrating Federal Signal's SmartMsg mass notification solution, powered by Everbridge, to enable communication with Federal Signal's physical devices such as indoor and outdoor sirens, panic buttons, digital signage, and two-way radios to trigger emergency notifications, along with other communications.
''Communities rely heavily on outdoor warning systems and multimodal communications to ensure that the right message is sent to right people at the right time,'' said Matthew Brady, vice president of the Integrated Systems Division of Federal Signal. ''As technology advances, it is imperative to integrate hardware driven warning systems with multimodal communications software. This integration will enhance efficiency and safety by providing a single easy-to-use interface on desktops, smart phones and tablets. We are excited to partner with Everbridge to provide a solution that integrates with our market leading indoor and outdoor warning solutions to meet our customer's critical communication needs.''
The strategic partnership between Everbridge and Federal Signal is the first of its kind in the market for emergency warning and critical communications solutions. The integration between the two companies will enhance efficiency and safety by providing a single interface to control all emergency alerting tools and communications simultaneously.
''This is a game-changing partnership between Everbridge and Federal Signal. Now, Federal Signal's customers can connect audible and visual devices to the Everbridge platform to deliver real-time contextual communications during critical events,'' said Jaime Ellertson, CEO of Everbridge. ''We are very excited to provide customers with the ability to harness The Internet of Things to improve critical event preparedness and response.''
The integration enhances efficiency and safety by providing a single interface to control all emergency alerting tools and communications simultaneously. According to a recent report from Gartner, titled The Internet of Things Will Shape Smart Cities, ''The best-case scenario is for cities with centralized emergency response and safety systems where they can connect the city infrastructure and assets and provide a data stream between the infrastructure and city's centralized management systems.''1
Customers can now utilize either Federal Signal's Mass Notification Platform or the Everbridge Suite interface to activate physical devices. Examples of the integration in action include:
' Following a hazardous chemical spill, businesses and local governments can activate emergency sirens to deliver notifications that alert individuals to evacuate their nearby homes and facilities
' Warning systems for cities, municipalities, universities, industrial sites and nuclear power plants can now be activated to broadcast national weather service storm warnings or lockdown situations directly from the new Federal Signal Mass Notification solution.
1 Gartner, The Internet of Things Will Shape Smart Cities, Alfonso Velosa, Refreshed: 19 September 2014 | First Published: 28 March 2014.
About Federal Signal Integrated Systems Division
Federal Signal's Integrated Systems Division is a leader in designing and implementing integrated safety and security solutions for communities and facilities around the world. For more information regarding the Federal Signal SmartMsg product line visit http://www.alertnotification.com/products/mass-notification
About Federal Signal
Federal Signal Corporation (NYSE: FSS) provides products and services to protect people and our planet. Founded in 1901, Federal Signal is a leading global designer and manufacturer of products and total solutions that serve municipal, governmental, industrial and commercial customers. Headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill., with manufacturing facilities worldwide, the Company operates three groups: Safety and Security Systems, Environmental Solutions and Fire Rescue. For more information on Federal Signal, visit federalsignal.com.
About Everbridge
When every second counts, Everbridge connects the right people, devices and the Internet of Things (IoT), whether around the corner or across the globe, with the right information and context. By connecting over 70 million devices during critical events'--public safety incidents, IT service disruptions, healthcare code alerts and more'--Everbridge's Unified Critical Communication Platform delivers secure, compliant and automated communications when they are needed the most. More than 2,700 global organizations rely on us to manage these critical communications. For more information about Everbridge, visit www.everbridge.com, read the company blog, http://www.everbridge.com/blog, and follow on Twitter and Facebook.
Media Contact: Gabriella Churchill | 708-534-7644 | gchurchill@federalsignal.com
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Mass Notification Software, Mass Text Notification System Software | Federal Signal
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 19:59
Looking to be an Expert in our warning and mass notification products, services and solutions? Our Training Academy offers hands-on courses that will certify you in our products. Contact us at Training@federalsignal.com for more information.
FIND OUT MORE TODAY
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9-1-1 Magazine: Complete Emergency Communications Overhaul for Hawaii Emergency Warning System
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 19:57
Complete Emergency Communications Overhaul for Hawaii Emergency Warning SystemDate: 2013-07-02Federal Signal Alerting & Notification Systems, a leader in mass notification solutions for communities and facilities around the world, has completed the first phase of a statewide emergency warning system upgrade in Hawaii. The project replaces existing VHF and trunked radio networks with redundant satellite and cellular communications for controlling and monitoring the sirens throughout the state, and replaces aging siren equipment. The first fully integrated statewide siren network, Hawaii's new emergency warning and communications system covers the largest geographical area of any U.S. system.
''Working with a state like Hawaii poses unique geographical and logistical challenges,'' said John Von Thaden, vice president and general manager for Federal Signal. ''The system will cover four counties and six islands spanning over 300 miles and provide the state with a common communications infrastructure. The new system provides the state with the ability to monitor every siren from a centralized location. Our job was to integrate the islands through an efficient and redundant method using connected, streamlined technologies.''
For more than 60 years, Federal Signal has worked with Hawaii to provide alerting systems across the state. Through this project, Federal Signal will simplify maintenance of the warning system, create a single, statewide communication infrastructure for integrated monitoring and control, and allow for a backup activation network, should one ever fail.
''The existing sirens in Hawaii are comprised of a variety of product ages and versions, with varying capabilities. This coupled with the vast communications distances and varying terrain and heavy foliage poses a number of integration problems. We knew that we needed to create a modern, hybrid system that didn't just rely on a singular network,'' said Scott Cassidy, director of engineering for Federal Signal. ''The new system takes existing warning sirens and updates them with an activation network that allows customized communication '-- from statewide alerts to local community notifications '-- at the touch of a button.''
Previous warning systems in Hawaii relied on radio transmissions, most of which didn't allow for two-way communications or error messaging when a siren or communications path failed. Federal Signal's satellite and cellular hybrid system includes an array of speakers made up of drivers that can communicate through voice, text-to-speech and pre-recorded audio. Electronic controllers can manage messages, continually monitor readiness of the sirens, quickly confirm activation, and alert operators about system operational status.
''Given the geographic complexity and diversity of existing warning equipment in our state, we needed a partner who could pull a mission critical system together and manage the integration of software, communications, and siren equipment for a mission critical system,'' said Tom Simon, Systems Engineer for the State of Hawaii. ''After working together for many years with Federal Signal, we knew we shared the common goal of establishing an outdoor siren warning system to support our residents and visitors for years to come.''
The first phase of the Hawaii project included the rollout of a new system on the island of Oahu and consisted of 144 siren upgrades. Federal Signal plans to complete a second island upgrade during summer 2013, with the other islands coming soon after.
For more information on Federal Signal, visit: http://www.federalsignal.com.
- Corporate News/9-1-1magazine.com (via Federal Signal, 6/25/13)
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Emergency Alert System: What To Know After Hawaii's Missile False Alarm
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 19:37
Around 8 am local time on Jan. 13, Hawaiians received what will probably (hopefully) amount to the scare of their lifetimes. ''BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL'' came through the emergency alert systems on cell phones all across the islands.
The good news is that this was a false alarm. But the bad news is that the ambiguity surrounding the alert isn't the most comforting for a section of the country on edge over the escalating tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.
Hawaii Gov. David Ige claimed Saturday that alert was the result of an official simply ''[pressing] the wrong button'' during an employee shift change, but broader questions remain. Why didn't I get the notification here in San Diego, well within the range of intercontinental ballistic missiles that North Korea has tested in recent months? And assuming you weren't lucky enough to be on a beach in Hawaii when the alert went out, why didn't the average U.S. citizen receive one where they live?
The emergency alert received by hundreds of Hawaii residents falsely alerting them to an incoming ballistic missileTo understand today's scare, it's important to understand how our national emergency alert system functions. The National Incident Management System (NIMS) is the systematic approach laid out by the federal government for departments and agencies at all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector to prevent, respond to, recover from, and mitigate any and all kinds of incidents, no matter the size or scope. NIMS dictates that the initial authority for disaster response resides at the county level, so that's where most Mass Notification Systems that participate in the Emergency Alert System network reside.
The Emergency Alert System network is layered between federal, state, county, and local authorities through a system called the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) and controlled through the IPAWS Program Management Office at FEMA. The IPAWS PMO encourages partners to regularly test public alert and warning systems; in fact, the IPAWS Modernization Act of 2015, ratified in April 2016, requires IPAWS PMO to test the system not less than once every three years.
All systems compatible with IPAWS use the Common Alerting Protocol, an international standard, to send public alerts and warnings between systems and jurisdictions. State and local agencies, like Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA), have their own systems, produced by a variety of manufacturers, to alert the public when a natural or manmade disaster is occurring or imminent. These mass notification systems use a variety of mediums to communicate danger to wide (or very narrow) swaths of people: they're capable of desktop alerts, text messaging, reverse 9-1-1, email, Wireless Emergency Alerts, announcement or siren over a loudspeaker, and more. All systems in use on bases, municipalities, and other agencies are IPAWS compatible but not all can send information two-way; most of the bases operate in a receive-only manner.
Related: Ballistic Missile False Alarm That Sparked Panic In Hawaii Caused By Wrong Button, Officials Say >>
These systems, the modern version of the CONELRAD (Control of Electromagnetic Radiation) method of emergency broadcasting established in 1951 at the outset of the Cold War, are powerfully effective in their ubiquity and power. Mass notification systems happen to be excellent tools for public awareness, and required testing can take any form. On many military bases, for example, the systems are tested each morning and night by using loudspeakers to play colors. Pretty smart, eh?
The specific kind of alert that Hawaiians received while they slept in or ate breakfast this morning was a Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA). WEAs use a different technology than voice calls or text messages and can only be used in three situations: 1. Alerts issued by the President; 2: Alerts involving imminent threats to safety or life; or 3: Amber Alerts. Participating carriers may block all but Presidential alerts.
The good news about WEAs are that they are location specific: even if you happened to be a tourist visiting Hawaii this morning, you would've received the alert (so long as your carrier participates). Carriers who do not participate are required to notify consumers, but the major carriers have all opted in. But the big problem, obviously, is that they're more subject to human error than their military counterparts.
Now, civilian agencies probably don't have the capability to detect ballistic missile launches, so in a real-life incident that message would have to come from the military, likely U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) headquartered right there in Hawaii. PACOM would notify their base Emergency Operations Center (EOC) who would pass it up to the Regional EOC. Of note, the bases usually don't have control of the WEA tech and can notify only those registered in their systems (but can receive all IPAWS notifications). Because of that, the base or regional EOC would have to notify Hawaii EMA for transmission. That didn't happen today because there wasn't a ballistic missile inbound.
A medium-range ballistic missile target is launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii, during Flight Test Standard Missile-27, Event 2. The target was successfully intercepted by SM-6 missiles fired from the guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53).The governor of Hawaii claims that during a shift change, an operator simply hit the wrong button. Well, it doesn't exactly work that way. These alerts are not actuated by physically pushed buttons because the number of buttons that would require, for all of the different types of alerts, would be unwieldy. An operator would either type in the desired alert (or select from canned messages), select which communications mediums they'd like to use and the populations they'd like to alert, and then hit ''send'' and then again confirm that they really want to send that message. The canned messages might be available as electronically selectable on a computer screen (like a Windows button) but a ''confirm'' dialogue would still be required.
Time will tell what really happened, but as a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) who helped set up the Mass Notification System for a major military base, I know that what likely occurred was a serious breach in procedure at Hawaii EMA. The authority who issued today's alert and then took 40 minutes to send a retraction on WEA. PACOM immediately released a message saying that there was no threat, so why didn't Hawaii EMA immediately send a retraction via WEA? There are serious implications associated with false alerts. What happens when an alert about a tsunami, wildfire, or active shooter are real and people ignore them?
Maybe we were hacked, as some have alleged , but probably not. No matter what happened, someone must be held accountable for this egregious breach of professionalism '-- and that person is almost definitely sitting at HI-EMA. Let's hope that this scare motivates agencies across the nation to take a look at their own procedures. And let's hope Gov. Ige holds his team accountable.
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Integrated Public Alert Warning Systems (IPAWS) OPEN Developers | FEMA.gov
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 19:24
The IPAWS-OPEN Developer List includes the names of third-party organizations that have executed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for the purpose of gaining access to the IPAWS-OPEN Test Environment to support interoperable software development. Additional information is provided regarding planned system functionality.
What You Should Know About Hawaii's Ballistic Missile False Alarm, According To A Former Navy Emergency Manager - The VABA
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 19:13
Around 8 am local time on Jan. 13, Hawaiians received what will probably (hopefully) amount to the scare of their lifetimes. ''BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL'' came through the emergency alert systems on cell phones all across the islands.
The good news is that this was a false alarm. But the bad news is that the ambiguity surrounding the alert isn't the most comforting for a section of the country on edge over the escalating tensions between the U.S. and North Korea.
Hawaii Gov. David Ige claimed Saturday that alert was the result of an official simply ''[pressing] the wrong button'' during an employee shift change, but broader questions remain. Why didn't I get the notification here in San Diego, well within the range of intercontinental ballistic missiles that North Korea has tested in recent months? And assuming you weren't lucky enough to be on a beach in Hawaii when the alert went out, why didn't the average U.S. citizen receive one where they live?
The emergency alert received by hundreds of Hawaii residents falsely alerting them to an incoming ballistic missile
To understand today's scare, it's important to understand how our national emergency alert system functions. The National Incident Management System (NIMS) is the systematic approach laid out by the federal government for departments and agencies at all levels of government, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector to prevent, respond to, recover from, and mitigate any and all kinds of incidents, no matter the size or scope. NIMS dictates that the initial authority for disaster response resides at the county level, so that's where most Mass Notification Systems that participate in the Emergency Alert System network reside.
The Emergency Alert System network is layered between federal, state, county, and local authorities through a system called the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) and controlled through the IPAWS Program Management Office at FEMA. The IPAWS PMO encourages partners to regularly test public alert and warning systems; in fact, the IPAWS Modernization Act of 2015, ratified in April 2016, requires IPAWS PMO to test the system not less than once every three years.
All systems compatible with IPAWS use the Common Alerting Protocol, an international standard, to send public alerts and warnings between systems and jurisdictions. State and local agencies, like Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA), have their own systems, produced by a variety of manufacturers, to alert the public when a natural or manmade disaster is occurring or imminent. These mass notification systems use a variety of mediums to communicate danger to wide (or very narrow) swaths of people: they're capable of desktop alerts, text messaging, reverse 9-1-1, email, Wireless Emergency Alerts, announcement or siren over a loudspeaker, and more. All systems in use on bases, municipalities, and other agencies are IPAWS compatible but not all can send information two-way; most of the bases operate in a receive-only manner.
Related: Ballistic Missile False Alarm That Sparked Panic In Hawaii Caused By Wrong Button, Officials Say >>
These systems, the modern version of the CONELRAD (Control of Electromagnetic Radiation) method of emergency broadcasting established in 1951 at the outset of the Cold War, are powerfully effective in their ubiquity and power. Mass notification systems happen to be excellent tools for public awareness, and required testing can take any form. On many military bases, for example, the systems are tested each morning and night by using loudspeakers to play colors. Pretty smart, eh?
The specific kind of alert that Hawaiians received while they slept in or ate breakfast this morning was a Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA). WEAs use a different technology than voice calls or text messages and can only be used in three situations: 1. Alerts issued by the President; 2: Alerts involving imminent threats to safety or life; or 3: Amber Alerts. Participating carriers may block all but Presidential alerts.
The good news about WEAs are that they are location specific: even if you happened to be a tourist visiting Hawaii this morning, you would've received the alert (so long as your carrier participates). Carriers who do not participate are required to notify consumers, but the major carriers have all opted in. But the big problem, obviously, is that they're more subject to human error than their military counterparts.
Now, civilian agencies probably don't have the capability to detect ballistic missile launches, so in a real-life incident that message would have to come from the military, likely U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM) headquartered right there in Hawaii. PACOM would notify their base Emergency Operations Center (EOC) who would pass it up to the Regional EOC. Of note, the bases usually don't have control of the WEA tech and can notify only those registered in their systems (but can receive all IPAWS notifications). Because of that, the base or regional EOC would have to notify Hawaii EMA for transmission. That didn't happen today because there wasn't a ballistic missile inbound.
A medium-range ballistic missile target is launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Kauai, Hawaii, during Flight Test Standard Missile-27, Event 2. The target was successfully intercepted by SM-6 missiles fired from the guided-missile destroyer USS John Paul Jones (DDG 53).
The governor of Hawaii claims that during a shift change, an operator simply hit the wrong button. Well, it doesn't exactly work that way. These alerts are not actuated by physically pushed buttons because the number of buttons that would require, for all of the different types of alerts, would be unwieldy. An operator would either type in the desired alert (or select from canned messages), select which communications mediums they'd like to use and the populations they'd like to alert, and then hit ''send'' and then again confirm that they really want to send that message. The canned messages might be available as electronically selectable on a computer screen (like a Windows button) but a ''confirm'' dialogue would still be required.
Time will tell what really happened, but as a Certified Emergency Manager (CEM) who helped set up the Mass Notification System for a major military base, I know that what likely occurred was a serious breach in procedure at Hawaii EMA. The authority who issued today's alert and then took 40 minutes to send a retraction on WEA. PACOM immediately released a message saying that there was no threat, so why didn't Hawaii EMA immediately send a retraction via WEA? There are serious implications associated with false alerts. What happens when an alert about a tsunami, wildfire, or active shooter are real and people ignore them?
Maybe we were hacked, as some have alleged , but probably not. No matter what happened, someone must be held accountable for this egregious breach of professionalism '-- and that person is almost definitely sitting at HI-EMA. Let's hope that this scare motivates agencies across the nation to take a look at their own procedures. And let's hope Gov. Ige holds his team accountable.
WATCH NEXT:
The post What You Should Know About Hawaii's Ballistic Missile False Alarm, According To A Former Navy Emergency Manager appeared first on Task & Purpose.
Executive Order 13407
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 18:52
Executive Order 13407 of June 26, 2006Public Alert and Warning SystemBy the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. 5121 et seq.), and the Homeland Security Act of 2002, as amended (6 U.S.C. 101 et seq.), it is hereby ordered as follows:Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to have an effective, reliable, integrated, flexible, and comprehensive system to alert and warn the American people in situations of war, terrorist attack, natural disaster, or other hazards to public safety and well-being (public alert and warning system), taking appropriate account of the functions, capabilities, and needs of the private sector and of all levels of government in our Federal system, and to ensure that under all conditions the President can communicate with the American people.Sec. 2. Functions of the Secretary of Homeland Security.(a) To implement the policy set forth in section 1 of this order, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall:(i) inventory, evaluate, and assess the capabilities and integration with the public alert and warning system of Federal, State, territorial, tribal, and local public alert and warning resources;(ii) establish or adopt, as appropriate, common alerting and warning protocols, standards, terminology, and operating procedures for the public alert and warning system to enable interoperability and the secure delivery of coordinated messages to the American people through as many communication pathways as practicable, taking account of Federal Communications Commission rules as provided by law;(iii) ensure the capability to adapt the distribution and content of communications on the basis of geographic location, risks, or personal user preferences, as appropriate;(iv) include in the public alert and warning system the capability to alert and warn all Americans, including those with disabilities and those without an understanding of the English language;(v) through cooperation with the owners and operators of communication facilities, maintain, protect, and, if necessary, restore communications facilities and capabilities necessary for the public alert and warning system;(vi) ensure the conduct of training, tests, and exercises for the public alert and warning system;(vii) ensure the conduct of public education efforts so that State, territorial, tribal, and local governments, the private sector, and the American people understand the functions of the public alert and warning system and how to access, use, and respond to information from the public alert and warning system;(viii) consult, coordinate, and cooperate with the private sector, including communications media organizations, and Federal, State, territorial, tribal, and local governmental authorities, including emergency response providers, as appropriate;(ix) administer the Emergency Alert System (EAS) as a critical component of the public alert and warning system; and(x) ensure that under all conditions the President of the United States can alert and warn the American people.
(b) In performing the functions set forth in subsection (a) of this section, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall coordinate with the Secretary of Commerce, the heads of other departments and agencies of the executive branch (agencies), and other officers of the United States, as appropriate, and the Federal Communications Commission.(c) The Secretary of Homeland Security may issue guidance to implement this order.Sec. 3. Duties of Heads of Departments and Agencies.(a) The heads of agencies shall provide such assistance and information as the Secretary of Homeland Security may request to implement this order.(b) In addition to performing the duties specified under subsection (a) of this section:(i) the Secretary of Commerce shall make available to the Secretary of Homeland Security, to assist in implementing this order, the capabilities and expertise of the Department of Commerce relating to standards, technology, telecommunications, dissemination systems, and weather;(ii) the Secretary of Defense shall provide to the Secretary of Homeland Security requirements for the public alert and warning system necessary to ensure proper coordination of the functions of the Department of Defense with the use of such system;(iii) the Federal Communications Commission shall, as provided by law, adopt rules to ensure that communications systems have the capacity to transmit alerts and warnings to the public as part of the public alert and warning system; and(iv) the heads of agencies with capabilities for public alert and warning shall comply with guidance issued by the Secretary of Homeland Security under subsection 2(c) of this order, and shall develop and maintain such capabilities in a manner consistent and interoperable with the public alert and warning system.
Sec. 4. Reports on Implementation. Not later than 90 days after the date of this order, the Secretary of Homeland Security shall submit to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, a plan for the implementation of this order, and shall thereafter submit reports from time to time, and not less often than once each year, on such implementation, together with any recommendations the Secretary finds appropriate.Sec. 5. Amendment, Revocation, and Transition.(a) Section 3(b)(4) of Executive Order 12472 of April 3, 1984, as amended, is further amended by striking ``Emergency Broadcast System'' and inserting in lieu thereof ``Emergency Alert System''.(b) Not later than 120 days after the date of this order, the Secretary of Homeland Security, after consultation with the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, shall issue guidance under section 2(c) of this order that shall address the subject matter of the presidential memorandum of September 15, 1995, for the Director, Federal Emergency Management Agency, on Presidential Communications with the General Public During Periods of National Emergency, and upon issuance of such guidance such memorandum is revoked.(c) The Secretary of Homeland Security shall ensure an orderly and effective transition, without loss of capability, from alert and warning systems available as of the date of this order to the public alert and warning system for which this order provides.Sec. 6. General Provisions. (a) This order shall be implemented in a manner consistent with:(i) applicable law and presidential guidance, including Executive Order 12472 of April 3, 1984, as amended, and subject to the availability of appropriations; and(ii) the authorities of agencies, or heads of agencies, vested by law.
(b) This order shall not be construed to impair or otherwise affect the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budget, administrative, and legislative proposals.(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any rights or benefits, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by a party against the United States, its agencies, instrumentalities, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.[signed:] George W. Bush
THE WHITE HOUSE,June 26, 2006.
Integrated Public Alert & Warning System | FEMA.gov
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 18:44
This section contains general information about the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS), the nation's alert and warning infrastructure.
During an emergency, alert and warning officials need to provide the public with life-saving information quickly. IPAWS is a modernization and integration of the nation's alert and warning infrastructure, and will save time when time matters most, protecting life and property. Watch a video about IPAWS.
Federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial alerting authorities can use IPAWS and integrate local systems that use Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) standards with the IPAWS infrastructure. IPAWS provides public safety officials with an effective way to alert and warn the public about serious emergencies using the Emergency Alert System (EAS), Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radio, and other public alerting systems from a single interface. View a list of IPAWS Organizations with Public Alerting Authority Completed in each state.
To learn more about WEA, click here. To view previous webinar recordings, please visit https://femaipawslab.webex.com and choose the "View Event Recordings" link located at on the top right hand side of the page.
FEMA's Emergency Management Institute offers independent study courses online to authorized public safety officials and the American people:
Japan public broadcaster falsely reports N. Korean missile launch '-- RT World News
Tue, 16 Jan 2018 12:04
Japanese media outlet NHK has apologized for issuing a false report of a North Korean missile launch Tuesday evening local time.
An apology was issued on the Japanese language version of NHK's website and later shared on its social media platforms.
"Around 6:55pm earlier we reported on the NHK's news site and NHK's news disaster prevention application 'Pattern of North Korean missile launch' but this was incorrectly issued. J alert has not appeared. I must sincerely apologize,'' the news outlet wrote.
The incident comes just four days after a public warning was issued to residents in Hawaii to ''seek immediate shelter'' from an alleged incoming ballistic missile which had been launched.
That alert was issued in error by the Hawaii Civil Defense, which apologized profusely and sparked debate online about US President Donald Trump's rhetoric regarding his country's nuclear capabilities and the threat posed by the North Korean regime.
READ MORE: 'This is not a drill': Hawaii gets ballistic missile alert 'by mistake'
Porn site saw spike in traffic after Hawaii missile threat
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 13:02
Residents in Hawaii received a text message alert at 8:07am on Saturday, January 13, stating that a ballistic missile was headed towards the islandPorn website Pornhub revealed that in the time after the text was sent, the site saw a huge decline in traffic as people were seeking shelter At 8:45am residents were alerted that it was a false alarm and Pornhub shared that just 16 minutes after the second alert, there was a huge surge in viewsHawaii's false alarm missile threat caused an almost unbearable amount of tension for residents - so much so that it sent some of them searching for relief in a rather risque place: a porn site.
Porn website Pornhub has revealed it saw a huge spike in traffic in the minutes after it was revealed the incoming ballistic missile warning had been a false alarm - with views in Hawaii coming in at nearly 50 per cent more than usual.
ADVERTISEMENT
Unsurprisingly, this leap in numbers followed a dramatic decline, which took place after residents received the first text alert at 8.07am on Saturday 13 January, warning them that a ballistic missile was heading their way.
Seeking relief: Pornhub revealed that traffic skyrocketed after residents of Hawaii were notified that the missile threat was a false alarm and pageviews were 50 per cent higherAt this point, pageviews plummeted as people sought shelter from what they thought a severe threat to their lives, with traffic reaching 77 per cent lower then usual during the 20 minutes after the warning went out.
At 8.23am exactly the website experienced its lowest numbers, with views beginning to climb up into normal range once again after 8.45am, when residents were told that the warning had in fact been a false alarm.
But far from just returning to normal, Pornhub's statisticians were fascinated to learn that the site's numbers then soared in quite the opposite direction, shooting up above average and ranging at a peak 48 per cent increase in its average Saturday morning numbers.
The all-time high came at 9.01am exactly, just 15 minutes after the second message was sent out - no doubt having given people time to return to their homes (and, apparently, their computers) after seeking shelter.
Pornhub's Hawaii trend analysis comes just after a few months after it was revealed people are - on the whole - watching far less porn that they did ten years ago.
Pornhub reveals it saw a 50% spike in traffic minutes after the Hawaii missile threatResidents of Hawaii received a text message alert at 8:07am on Saturday, January 13, stating that a ballistic missile was headed towards the island
Pornhub revealed a steep drop in traffic at 8:07am, immediately after the text was sent out
By 8:23am, traffic was a massive -77% below what a typical Saturday got
At 8:45am, residents were then notified that the alert was a false alarm
The site reports that traffic went back to normal after the false alarm
By 9:01am, just 16 minutes after the false alarm, traffic surged to +48% typical levels
...
In honor of its ten year anniversary in May, the pornography purveyor has released 10 years worth of information about who is watching porn, how they're watching, and what they're watching.
While some of the survey results were unsurprising - 'MILF' was one of the sites most enduring categories, for example - some of the statistics were less predictable, such as the fact that Kim Kardashian was the most popular porn star of 2008 (her infamous sex tape was released one year prior).
One of the most notable results from the survey, however, was the way that technology has impacted how society views pornography.
When Pornhub launched in 2007, a mere one per cent of viewers tuned in on a mobile device. By May 2017, that number has soared to 75 per cent.
The site also revealed that it saw a huge increase in the amount of content available - with more than 1.5 million hours worth of footage available to stream. That amounts to more than 173 years of content.
ADVERTISEMENT
Despite such a massive increase in content, the average viewer actually spends less time watching porn today than they did ten years ago. In 2007, a visitor to the site spent an average of 13 minutes on the site, clicking through a total of 14 pages.
These days, the average viewer spends an average of four minutes less, and browses fewer total pages. In 2017, PornHub visitors spent nine minutes clicking through just nine pages.
...
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Clips And Docs
VIDEO - Sam Zell: BlackRock's Fink hypocritical to push social responsibility
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 14:06
BlackRock's Larry Fink and other CEOs are "extraordinarily hypocritical" to push companies for more social responsibility, billionaire investor Sam Zell told CNBC on Tuesday.
The New York Times reported Fink will tell business leaders in a letter on Tuesday that their companies need to do more than just make profits. Companies need to contribute to society as well if they want to receive support, Fink argues in a draft letter obtained by the Times.
Fink's BlackRock manages more than $6 trillion in investments through 401(k) plans, exchange-traded funds and mutual funds.
Fink and seven partners founded BlackRock in the late 1980s, and the firm has grown to the largest asset manager in the world.
"They talk about the fact that they're in effect going to do exactly what market does," said Zell, the founder and chairman of property specialist Equity Group Investments. "And then they put up public policy statements that suggest that they're going to advocate the market doing things other than what happens every day."
"Either they're a passive fund that follows the market or they're a leader that's setting the tone," Zell said in an interview on "Squawk Box," adding BlackRock can't have it both ways.
Zell questioned whether America is ready to have BlackRock "in charge of the NYSE," saying "I didn't know Larry Fink had been made God."
Zell made his fortune in the real estate business over a decadeslong career. He describes himself as a social liberal and a fiscal conservative. He's also an active philanthropist with a focus on entrepreneurial education.
He chairs five NYSE-listed companies, including three real estate investment trusts.
BlackRock did not immediately respond to CNBC's request for comment.
VIDEO - California Homeless Problem - YouTube
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 13:47
VIDEO - White House Holds Daily Press Briefing '-- Tuesday, Jan. 16 2018 | CNBC - YouTube
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 13:40
VIDEO - Lindsey Graham calls Mexico a hellhole in 2013 - YouTube
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 13:33
VIDEO - JW President Tom Fitton: The Clinton Gang Has Been 'Looting and abusing' Haiti for Decades - YouTube
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 13:27
VIDEO - Facebook, Google tell Congress how they're fighting extremist content
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 13:18
Facebook, Google and Twitter told Congress Wednesday that they've gone beyond screening and removing extremist content and are creating more anti-terror propaganda to pre-empt violent messages at the source.
Representatives from the three companies told the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation that they are, among other things, targeting people likely to be swayed by extremist messages and pushing content aimed at countering that message. Several senators criticized their past efforts as not going far enough.
"We believe that a key part of combating extremism is preventing recruitment by disrupting the underlying ideologies that drive people to commit acts of violence. That's why we support a variety of counterspeech efforts," said Monika Bickert, Facebook's head of global policy management, according to an advance copy of her testimony obtained by CNBC.
Bickert said that in addition to using image matching and language analysis to identify terror content before it's posted, the company is ramping up what it calls "counterspeech."
Facebook is also working with universities, nongovernmental organizations and community groups around the world "to empower positive and moderate voices," Bickert said.
Google's YouTube, meanwhile, says it will continue to use what it calls the "Redirect Method," developed by Google's Jigsaw research group, to send anti-terror messages to people likely to seek out extremist content through what is essentially targeted advertising. If YouTube determines that a person may be headed toward extremism based on their search history, it will serve them ads that subtly contradict the propaganda that they might see from ISIS or other such groups. Meanwhile, YouTube supports "Creators for Change," a group of people who use their channels to counteract hate.
VIDEO - Apple awarding $2500 RSUs: Tim Cook email
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 13:04
Apple continued a blitz of investment announcements on Wednesday with a stock-based compensation award for some employees.
The iPhone maker will grant $2,500 in restricted stock units over the coming months. Restricted stock units are valued in company stock, but vest over time. Apple's stock hit an all-time intraday high of $179.39 a share on Tuesday.
Bloomberg previously reported the news, citing anonymous sources. An email obtained by Axios said the stock awards would be available "to all individual contributors and management up to and including Senior Managers worldwide, [b]oth full-time and part-time."
It's not clear exactly how many employees that includes, or if new employees would be included. Nor is it clear when the award would vest, or whether the $2,500 sum is more or less than would usually be awarded to employees at that level. But the RSUs are likely to apply to most employees worldwide, including retail.
The stock awards follow Apple's announcement of a large-scale commitment to the U.S. economy, albeit thin on details. The company said it will add $350 billion in support of the U.S. economy over the next five years, with contributions from a new campus, payments to suppliers, job creation, capital expenditures, and taxes on overseas cash.
Apple has 84,000 U.S. employees, out of 123,000 full-time equivalent employees worldwide, as of September 2017. The average Apple salary is $101,000, according to third-party data source Paysa.
Here's an email from CEO Tim Cook, obtained by Axios:
Team,
This morning we announced a new set of investments Apple will be making over the next several years, including expanding some of our existing campuses and establishing a new one. We're also extending our efforts in support of coding education, ConnectED and STEAM programs. I encourage you to read about these announcements on AppleWeb.
I'm excited to let you know that we're also increasing our investment in our most important resource '-- our people. You are the heart and soul of Apple and we want you to share in the success made possible through your efforts. Your dedication helps Apple make the best products in the world, surprise and delight our customers, and ultimately make the world a better place.
To show our support for our team and our confidence in Apple's future, we'll be issuing a grant of $2,500 in restricted stock units to all individual contributors and management up to and including Senior Managers worldwide. Both full-time and part-time employees across all aspects of Apple's business are eligible. Details are available on AppleWeb.
We also know how much our employees value giving back to the communities where we all work and live. I'm happy to announce that starting immediately and running through the end of 2018, Apple will match all employee charitable donations, up to $10,000 annually, at a rate of two to one. In addition, Apple will double the amount we match for each hour you donate your time. Last year, your generosity helped people around the world through causes that are important to you. I'm proud that this year we'll be able to build on that tradition of giving.
Apple's success comes from our people and I am proud to work alongside each of you. On behalf of the Executive Team, thank you for your hard work and dedication.
Tim
VIDEO - Barry Callebaut reveals the fourth type in chocolate: Ruby | Barry Callebaut
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 12:59
Today, 80 years after the launch of White chocolate as the third type after Dark and Milk, Barry Callebaut, the world's leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, reveals the fourth type in chocolate 'Ruby' which is made from the Ruby cocoa bean. Ruby chocolate has an intense taste and characteristic reddish color.
The Ruby bean is unique because the fresh berry-fruitiness and color precursors are naturally present. The cocoa beans are sourced from different regions of the world. The bean has a specific set of attributes, which Barry Callebaut managed to unlock through an innovative process that took many years to develop.
According to quantitative research performed by independent international market and consumer agency Haystack, Ruby chocolate meets a consumer need no chocolate ever did before. It's expected that Ruby, like Dark, Milk and White chocolates will be introduced in different product categories.
The invention of Ruby chocolate is the work of global R&D centers of Barry Callebaut, based in France and Belgium - part of a global network of 28 R&D centers- , the Jacobs University, and over 175 years of expertise in sourcing and manufacturing.
The fourth type in chocolate offers a totally new taste experience, which is not bitter, milky or sweet, but a tension between berry-fruitiness and luscious smoothness. To create Ruby chocolate no berries or berry flavor, nor color, is added.
Ruby chocolate has been tested and validated through extensive consumer research run by independent global research agencies Haystack and Ipsos in the UK, US, China and Japan.
As part of these studies, Ruby's consumer appeal and purchase intent have been tested, indicating consumers would buy Ruby chocolate at different price points.
Peter Boone, Barry Callebaut's Chief Innovation & Quality Officer, said: ''Barry Callebaut has established itself as a pioneer and innovator in chocolate and cocoa, globally. Consumer research in very different markets confirms that Ruby chocolate not only satisfies a new consumer need found among Millennials - Hedonistic Indulgence - but also high purchase intent at different price points. We're looking forward to working with our partners on introducing this innovative breakthrough to the market and making the new Ruby chocolate category available to chocolate manufacturers and consumers around the world as the fourth reference next to Dark, Milk and White chocolate.''
Ruby chocolate was revealed at an exclusive launch event in Shanghai, China, on September 5, 2017.
VIDEO - CNN: Trump 'borderline obese' - predicts heart attack in '3-5 years' - The American MirrorThe American Mirror
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 12:20
Despite President Trump's positive health exam results, CNN simply won't accept the White House doctor's assessment.
Pundits who have not examined Trump parsed the results and drew conclusions likely intended to scare viewers.
Host Alisyn Camerota and medical analyst Sanji Gupta declared Trump to be ''borderline obese,'' predicted he would have a heart attack in ''3-5 years'' and Gupta concluded the president has heart disease.
Camerota held back laughs over Trump's height, which the exam found to be 6'3'". He had reportedly been 6'2'" in the past.
''Somehow he has grown while being in the White House,'' she snarked.
Because of Trump's weight of 239 lbs., she said his Body Mass Index is ''two-nine point nine.''
Gupta conceded the BMI ratio is ''not a perfect ratio by any means,'' but nevertheless, went on to declare Trump ''borderline obese.''
''So he's point-one away from being in the obese category,'' Camerota emphasized.
After Vice President Joe Biden's doctor panned CNN's hysteria, Camerota went back to Gupta.
Because of Trump's calcium score, CNN predicted the president will have a ''heart attack or heart disease'' in ''3-5 years.''
But Gupta was more aggressive.
''So the president has heart disease,'' he declared.
Yesterday, CNN host Brian Stelter didn't accept Dr. Ronny Jackson's findings, either.
''Here's how the next few hours will go,'' he sniffed. ''Trump supporters will say 'Concerns about Trump's mental health were always absurd. Case closed now.'
''The obvious response: 'The Q's about fitness for office are serious. Someone could be sharp as a tack, but still unfit,'' he tweeted.
VIDEO -Paul Begala: Trump is an autocrat, he wants to be like Assad or Stalin
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 05:04
VIDEO - Rand Paul tells a surprising story about Trump and Haiti long before he was president '' TheBlaze
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 03:20
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VIDEO - The Existential Threat of Big Tech | Franklin Foer | RSA Replay - YouTube
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 02:01
VIDEO - Support Project Veritas '-- Anedot
Thu, 18 Jan 2018 00:42
Project Veritas exposed the shocking tactics Twitter uses to silence opponents and chill free speech.
But the mainstream media has done all they can to ignore and snuff out yet another Project Veritas investigation.
The only way to make sure this story is heard by the American people -- the only way to make sure Twitter is held accountable for their shocking attacks on free speech -- is by getting the word out ourselves.
Will you help Project Veritas get the truth out once more?
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VIDEO - Incredible: Professor's Defense of Free Speech Leaves Regressive Leftist Literally Speechless >> Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!
Wed, 17 Jan 2018 13:33
A clip in which Professor Jordan B. Peterson explains why his free speech is more important than the risk of a transgender person being offended is going viral.
Peterson was previously embroiled in a controversy as a result of his refusal to comply with Canada's draconian Bill C-16, which makes it a hate crime to not use someone's preferred gender pronouns.
The video features Peterson, who is currently doing a series of lectures in London, being interviewed by far-left UK broadcaster Channel 4.
The host asks the professor, ''Why should your right to freedom of speech trump a trans person's right not to be offended?''
First of all, the idea that someone has a right to not be offended is hilarious. No such right exists.
Peterson's comeback is brutal.
''Because in order to be able to think, you have to risk being offensive '' I mean look at the conversation we're having right now '' you're certainly willing to risk offending me in the pursuit of truth '' why should you have the right to do that?''
''You get my point, you're doing what you should do,'' Peterson continues. ''Which is digging a bit to see what the hell's going on and that is what you should do, but you're exercising your freedom of speech to certainly risk offending me, and that's fine, more power to you as far as I'm concerned.''
The host is dumbfounded, stammering, ''So you haven't sat there and'....I'm just trying to work that out'' before she falls silent and completely loses the ability to speak.
Peterson leans back and takes a sip of water having achieved a simple yet crushing victory.
Respondents to the video expressed their glee.
''They should probably go back to smearing him on their clickbait blogs. Debating him probably wasnt a very smart idea,'' commented one.
''Absolutely demolished,'' added another.
''This is legendary,'' remarked another.
Channel 4 is obviously not too keen on seeing the clip go viral. It's completely blocked on Facebook.
Given the utter embarrassment Peterson just inflicted upon their entire narrative, you can see why.
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Paul Joseph Watson is the editor at large of Infowars.com and Prison Planet.com.
VIDEO - The state can't agree on what the missile alert interface actual - Hawaii News Now - KGMB and KHNL
Wed, 17 Jan 2018 13:26
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - On Monday night, the governor's office released an image of what it said was the interface used to send a false missile alert to Hawaii smart phones.
The confusing and seemingly rudimentary design quickly grabbed headlines nationally.
But a day later, the state's emergency management agency is disputing that image '-- and has released a different one.
Officials from the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency said the first image was sent in error, but declined to provide an actual photo of the interface.
Instead on Tuesday, they gave Hawaii News Now something they said was similar to the actual interface, and it included a drop down menu '-- not a list of possible real and test alerts.
The revelation was another chapter in what some have called a frustrating (and, at times, downright bizarre) response to Saturday's false alarm about an inbound ballistic missile.
Richard Rapoza, emergency management agency spokesman, said of the newly-released image: "This is a close facsimile. The operator should have selected the 'DRILL-PACOM (DEMO)' option, but instead clicked on the 'PACOM (CDW)' option."
The first image was released Monday, just before the governor held a rare, statewide address to again apologize for the false alarm blunder.
The image, provided to the governor's office by the emergency management agency, showed a screen with a list of options for alerts.
The governor's office said it was nearly identical to the one the employee who inadvertently sent out the false alert would have seen. The biggest difference? The image included the option to send out a false alarm correction alert to phones, if a mistake is made again.
When asked Tuesday why the image was different than the one provided by Hawaii Emergency Management, the governor's office directed Hawaii News Now back to the agency.
And the agency said an employee who wasn't authorized to provided the first photo.
One thing is for certain: There is no physical button to press that triggers a ballistic missile alarm and the "False Alarm BMD (CEM) - STATE ONLY" option was not there on Saturday '-- when it was needed most. Officials implemented that option soon after Saturday's mistake.
Separately, the emergency management agency continues to maintain that in order for the false alert to be triggered, the employee '-- who has since been reassigned '-- had to click "yes" on a second confirmation page.
The false alert went out to Hawaii's 1.4 million residents and hundreds of thousands of visitors on Saturday morning, triggering widespread panic.
Since Saturday's false alarm, Gov. Ige has vowed a false alert "won't happen again." He has also assigned Brig. Gen. Kenneth S. Hara, the state's deputy adjutant general, to review the emergency management system and implement improvements.
' 'After false missile alert, some Hawaii businesses threw customers out
' Here's what to do in the event of an actual nuclear attack
' Fearing inbound missile, many uttered what they thought might be their last words
' Terrifying': False ballistic missile threat sends Hawaii into panic
' WATCH: Ige says false missile threat alarm was result of someone pushing wrong button
This story will be updated.
Copyright 2018 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.
VIDEO - Democrat Andrew Stein: Trump is not a racist - YouTube
Wed, 17 Jan 2018 13:13
VIDEO - DHS Sec Nielsen says she didn't hear Trump make vulgar comment, says he used 'tough language'
Wed, 17 Jan 2018 12:23
VIDEO - Press Sec: If Trump is Racist, 'Why Did NBC Give Him a Show for a Decade?'
Wed, 17 Jan 2018 12:22
VIDEO - Cory Booker explodes at hearing over Trump's reported 's---thole' comments: I had 'tears of rage'
Wed, 17 Jan 2018 12:22
VIDEO - Stunningly Rude and Disrespectful Conduct by CNN's Jim Acosta'... | The Last Refuge
Wed, 17 Jan 2018 12:21
CNN Chief White House Correspondent Jim Acosta has a history of rude journalistic behavior and disrespect that has never before been allowed in the White House.
Today during an oval office meeting between President Trump and President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan the CNN journalist exhibited a level of disrespectful behavior that should lead to his White House press credentials being revoked permanently.
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VIDEO - Aziz Ansari: Everyone is picking sides over his story - CNN
Tue, 16 Jan 2018 20:06
That's the debate currently raging in the wake of the "Master of None" star responding to an allegation of sexual assault by a woman he went out on a date with last fall.
There are two sides that are drawing supporters.
Some are saying the allegations against Ansari assault weakens the #MeToo movement.
The other side: This is the kind of conduct that has given rise to movements like #MeToo and #TimesUp and that just because it happens a lot doesn't make it right.
The story has all of the ingredients of one that begs controversy: sexual politics and power, and comes at a time when Hollywood and the culture is grappling with the treatment of women.
In a 3000-word story published on Saturday by the website Babe, a 23-year-old photographer, who shared her account anonymously (the publication used the name "Grace" to identify her), described a date with Ansari in which she alleged he pressured her to have sex.According to the woman, she was repeatedly "pressured" by Ansari to have intercourse, which they didn't, and to perform oral sex, which she says they did.
The woman told Babe she used verbal and non-verbal cues to communicate she was "distressed." Following the encounter, Ansari arranged for an Uber to pick her up, she said.
"I cried the whole ride home. At that point I felt violated," she said, telling Babe she felt her experience with Ansari amounted to sexual assault.
CNN does not know the identity of the woman.
Ansari released a statement saying he went on a date with the woman and engaged in sexual activity "which by all indications was completely consensual."
"The next day, I got a text from her saying that although 'it may have seemed okay,' upon further reflection, she felt uncomfortable," Ansari wrote in a statement obtained by CNN on Sunday. "It was true that everything did seem okay to me, so when I heard that it was not the case for her, I was surprised and concerned."
In a Sunday column for the Atlantic, contributing editor, Caitlin Flanagan defended the actor and said he was being professionally "assassinated" by "Grace" and the writer of the Babe report."The clinical detail in which the story is told is intended not to validate her account as much as it is to hurt and humiliate Ansari," she wrote. "Together, the two women may have destroyed Ansari's career, which is now the punishment for every kind of male sexual misconduct, from the grotesque to the disappointing."
"I am a proud feminist, and this is what I thought while reading Grace's story, " Weiss wrote. "If you are hanging out naked with a man, it's safe to assume he is going to try to have sex with you."
On Monday night, HLN host Ashleigh Banfield read an open letter to "Grace" in which she accused her of damaging the #MeToo movement and called her actions "appalling" for going to the press with "a story of a bad date."
"You have chiseled away at a movement that I, along with all of my sisters in the workplace, have been dreaming of for decades," Banfield said. "A movement that has finally changed an oversexed professional environment that I, too, have struggled through at times over the last 30 years in broadcasting."
It's similar to a sentiment shared by Sonny Bunch in an opinion piece written for the Washington Post.In it Bunch argues the allegations against Ansari are "nothing like the ugly tales of sexual abuse that have wafted out of Hollywood over the past six months or so" which have given rise to the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements.
"The #MeToo movement's story has been a relatively straightforward one that garners support from both sides of the aisle and all decent people, because it is a tale of how powerful people humiliate and subjugate those who want nothing more than a chance to chase their dreams, " Bunch wrote. "The babe story is not about this. It is about a date that went badly, one that did not live up to the expectations of the woman involved."
But there are those who see such rallying around Ansari as just the thing that has given rise to the need for such movements.
Noted feminist author Jessica Valenti tweeted on Sunday, "A lot of men will read that post about Aziz Ansari and see an everyday, reasonable sexual interaction. But part of what women are saying right now is that what the culture considers 'normal' sexual encounters are not working for us, and oftentimes harmful."
Los Angeles Times opinion contributor Jamil Smith tweeted, "I was finally able to read the account of the date with @azizansari. From the described events, he appears to have no understanding whatsoever of sexual consent. Nor do his defenders, it seems. It is appalling to see some shift attention away from his coercive and violative acts."
In an interview with CNN's Brian Stelter, Joshi Herrmann, editor in chief of Babe's parent company, Tab Media, defended the publication of the story by Ansari's accuser.
"It's newsworthy because of who he is and what he has said in his standup, what he has written in his book, what he has proclaimed on late night TV," Herrmann said. "Her account is pointing out a striking tension between those things and the way she says he treated her in private."
VIDEO - Muslims fear backlash over hijab hoax as school takes heat for press conference | CTV News
Tue, 16 Jan 2018 17:32
After Toronto police concluded that an 11-year-old girl in a hijab was never attacked by a stranger wielding scissors, critics are questioning her school's decision to hold a news conference where she told reporters her story.
Surrounded by her family, the Grade 6 student appeared in front of TV cameras and answered questions from a throng of reporters at Pauline Johnson Public School in Scarborough late last Friday, hours after she claimed the incident occurred, and after the Toronto District School Board contacted police and her family.
Police initially announced they were investigating the incident as a hate crime, sparking outrage in Canada and abroad as several political figures weighed in, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who declared: ''That is not what Canada is.''
However, upon further investigation, Toronto Police Service spokesperson Mark Pugash announced on Monday that the incident ''did not happen.''
After that revelation, psychologist Dr. Oren Amitay was among those questioning the Toronto District School Board for giving the media access to the girl.
''I've been involved in a number of issues where the school board, acting with the best of intentions but being driven by political correctness and virtue-signalling, has made some wrong calls,'' he told CTV News Channel on Monday.
Amitay suggests the story may have been pushed forward by an overeager school official who wanted to do the progressive thing, but didn't take the time to properly vet the girl's account.
''This was definitely the wrong call,'' he said. ''And whoever allowed it to go forward should be held accountable in some capacity.''
Crime specialist and former Toronto police officer Steve Ryan suggested the news conference put the girl in over her head.
''You're paraded out in front of all these cameras and what is an 11-year-old to do?'' he said. ''Now she's committed to this story. How does she now go back on that story when you're facing all these cameras, and you're facing all these questions?''
The Toronto District School Board says it did not organize a formal press conference for the girl.
''Our motivation for commenting on the issue at the time was out of compassion, care, concern and support,'' the TDSB said in a statement on Monday. The school board said it was doing the same as ''many elected leaders'' at all levels via interviews and on social media.
Digital media strategist Mark Blevis says the story's initial popularity, as well as its harsh turn after it was revealed to be false, shows just how quick people are to jump to politically-motivated conclusions.
''With outrage culture there's this big movement towards piling on,'' he told CTV Ottawa.
The revelation touched off a second wave of outrage from critics, with some targeting the girl with hateful comments online.
The backlash has sparked fears among Muslims that it will inspire more discrimination in the future.
''This will probably be used as an opportunity to downplay all the times that Muslims come out and speak out against Islamophobia,'' Sabrine Azraq, of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, told CTV National News.
Azraq says it's important to push back against the anger generated by the false story, saying it should not be allowed to ''derail the very serious matters that are happening in this country.''
Human rights activist Amira Elghawaby echoed Azraq's concerns, adding that she hopes it does not discourage hate crime victims from reporting real incidents.
''When someone feels that they've been victimized they should not be afraid to come forward to the police,'' Elghawaby told CTV News Channel.
She added that the Muslim community is feeling particularly sensitive at the moment, with the anniversary of the Quebec City mosque massacre approaching on Jan. 29.
''People are thinking about that,'' she said. ''Unfortunately, we do have true cases that have occurred and this really came at a time when there's a lot of anxiety.''
Elghawaby also pointed out that the girl is quite young, and children have made up such stories in the past.
''She's just an 11-year-old girl,'' Elghawaby said. ''And that's also something that we have to remember as we try to understand.''
Sabreena Ghaffar-Siddiqui, of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women, also urged people to take the girl's age into account. She pointed out that the incident was fabricated by an 11-year-old, not an adult leader in the Muslim community.
''We need to keep reminding ourselves that we are talking about a child here,'' told CTV Toronto.
With files from CTV Toronto and CTV Ottawa
VIDEO - Kevin Spacey accused of racism on set of House of Cards | Daily Mail Online
Tue, 16 Jan 2018 13:34
Disgraced actor Kevin Spacey now accused of racism and refusing to acknowledge black employees on first season of House of Cards, DailyMailTV has exclusively learned from a former security boss.
Aziz Ansari is denying a woman's claims over the weekend that the Master of None star left her feeling 'violated' after a date. In a statement to Variety, the star said he thought their evening was 'completely consensual.'
Sarah Palin's son, Track, was accused of assault twice last year. In this DailyMailTV exclusive, his ex speaks out about the alleged physical abuse that led her to file for sole custody of their son and what she thinks fuels Track's rage.
It's the ninth anniversary of the 'Miracle on the Hudson' when famed Capt. Sully Sullenberger crash landed a plane to safety in the water. DailyMailTV is speaking exclusively with one of the 155 survivors, Adir Freilich, with a chilling account of the crash and how it's changed his life. For more from Adir Freilich, check his podcast StartUpCamel.com.
The sons of some of Hollywood's finest took over the runway this weekend at the Dolce & Gabbana fashion show in Milan. Daniel Day Lewis, Piers Brosnan and Jude Law's sons represented Millennials at the splashy event.
And, there will soon be a new generation of celebrity babies. DailyMailTV takes a look at who's expecting this year. Kim Kardashian's surrogate could be the first to give birth, followed by a few stars set to join the five-timers parenting club, including Alec Baldwin.
VIDEO - Fever outbreak in Africa CONFIRMED by Ugandan health ministry | Daily Star
Tue, 16 Jan 2018 12:54
HEALTH bosses have confirmed they are facing an outbreak of the ''eye-bleeding fever'' after four people died of the suspected disease in weeks.
Uganda's health ministry has today finally admitted it is facing the risk of a large-scale explosion of the viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF).
VHF causes victims to suffer a burning fever before beginning to bleed from orifices including their eyes, anuses and mouths.
It comes after a girl, nine, was reportedly killed by the infection Uganda, and three people died in neighbouring South Sudan of similar symptoms.
Uganda health minster Sarah Opendi confirmed emergency response teams are now being deployed to the districts of Nakaseke and Luweero.
She also identified the mystery disease, saying tests have revealed the infection is Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever (CCHF).
Worldwide epidemic diseases Recent outbreaks of Chloera, Yellow Fever and the Zika Virus have swept the globe. Here are some of the most recent epidemics.
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Getty Images Ebola: Victim Pauline Cafferkey was transported to a London Hospital in an isolation tent for the third time
Today, health minister Opendi said: "Results from Uganda Virus Research Institute tested positive for the Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever and negative for other viral Hemorrhagic Fevers like Ebola, Marburg, Rift Valley Fever and Sosua.''
The confirmation comes after just two weeks ago the Ugandan Health Ministry denied there was an outbreak.
Positive tests for CCHF came from samples taken from a 9-year-old paitent Kihwoko Hospital.
NTV
VICTIMS: Disease control agents investigate the home of a suspected patient in Uganda NTV
SARAH OPENDI: Uganda's health minister confirmed a patient had tested positive for CCHF ''Results from Uganda Virus Research Institute tested positive for the Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever''
Sarah OpendiExperts from the World Health Organisation (WHO) have already said they were monitoring for an outbreak after reports in South Sudan.
CCHF is spread to humans via tick bites or contact with raw meat and infected animal blood immediately after slaughter.
"CCHF outbreaks constitute a threat to public health services because of its epidemic potential, its high case fatality ratio (10-40%), its potential for nosocomial outbreaks and the difficulties in treatment and prevention,'' WHO's description of the virus reads.
MILLIONS dead: the last major flu pandemic The last major outbreak of the deadly H1N1 flu virus was in 1918 at the close of WW1. It is estimated that 50-100 million people died '' a total of 2-3% of the world's entire population '' with 500 million more infected by the lethal strain. To this day, nobody knows what caused the pandemic.
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UIG via Getty Images Image shows warehouses that were converted to keep the infected people quarantined.
WHO first raised fears of a VHF outbreak in central Africa with a report of a number of deaths in South Sudan.
A pregnant woman, and two teenagers all succumbed to a mystery infection along with a number of animals.
However, it is not confirmed whether these deaths are also from CCHF or a separate similar strain of VHF.
Outbreak in the nation could be catastrophic '' with South Sudan bordered by Sudan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, the Congo and the Central African Republic.
GETTY
OUTBREAK: World power mobilised when Africa was hit by an Ebola in 2014 Deadliest epidemics in history From Ebola to the Black Death, here are the deadliest epidemics in history
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Getty Malaria: Between 350 to 500 million cases of malaria are diagnosed each year in sub-Saharan Africa, though fortunately there is a good survival rate
Related videosDeadly pig disease: African Swine FeverOrigins of African Swine Fever.
Distinguishing whether a fever and vomiting is a sign of a serious illnessDistinguishing whether a fever and vomiting is a sign of a serious illness
St John Ambulance explain how to treat a feverSt John Ambulance trainer shows you how to treat someone with a fever
There were fears up to 60 people could be infected, and are each undergoing analysis by a team from the Sudanese health ministry and WHO.
In a recent report, WHO wrote: "The outbreak of suspected viral haemorrhagic fever in South Sudan could rapidly evolve, and critical information including laboratory confirmation of the etiology of disease is needed to direct response efforts.
"Strengthened surveillance in affected human and animal populations is needed to facilitate rapid detection of human and animal cases and response.
''Strengthened capacity to clinically manage any new cases is also needed in the affected area.''
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VIDEO - The Bodies That Went Viral '' EverChangingHorizon_
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 12:31
Hello friends! I'm back with more exciting events to share (yes, even the bodies that live forever)!
This week I was able to be a part of the biggest technology conventions in Las Vegas. We are so lucky to be living in a culture with such great technology.
As a millennial (a term I hate) I thought I was up to date on the latest technology, but boy oh boy was I wrong.
For starters I have a disclaimer'...I do not know all there is to know about these products, nor am I a representative of any of the businesses that were at the convention. I am just a spectator who is sharing what I witnessed, and sharing my personal thoughts on the products from the 2018 CES Convention.
I was working the convention as a Brand Model Ambassador for a local company in Las Vegas. This was my first experience with the CES convention. The first few days at the convention, I didn't get a chance to walk around much or honestly care too. I didn't think that there would be anything more than new tv's and home appliances, but I was mistaken. On day 3 I decided to walk around because I saw a friend of a friend post something about bodies of the future, and that really piqued my interest.(I missed day two because of the black out. )
As I started to walk, I began to realize technology was coming along so much faster than I had realized. VRs (virtual reality) were definitely a big part of this convention. You couldn't walk more than 40 yards without seeing the ''newest biggest VR''. Now I am not a huge fan of VRs and I say this because I would rather travel and experience something in real life rather than see it with a virtual reality product. But with physical and/or monetary limitations, I could see how this would be beneficial, at least you could experience it in that way. In addition, if I was a huge fan of video games I could see how a VR would be something cool to have to enhance the experience of it all.
Having a ''smart house'' is coming to life, now you can have a smart, well'... everything. A smart kitchen, a smart laundry room, and a smart living room. Any household appliance or entertainment system is now ''smart''. Out of the entire household electronics that I was able to see the one that blew my mind was the new ''wall paper'' TV and the ''roll up'' TV. Crazy thin and portable!
On top of having smart appliances you can now have household robots that have different functions. I won't touch a lot on what they do because there were so many different types and I wasn't able to stop and look at all of them all. The one I did see that I enjoyed was a robot that was a ''teaching robot''. And, as a person who loves to google to learn more things that is something I would definitely love to have in my home. Oh and don't let me forget about the robot dog! They introduced it as a dog that plays, barks, snuggles and the best part is you don't have to clean up after it!
Polaroid is also making a comeback. They basically re-invented themselves, they are still the good old instant printable pictures that you know and love but have now added new types of film with different types of filters. For example, the filters can make your pictures colored or look old. It was a fun booth to visit. I enjoy the simplicity of Polaroid, reminding me of the fun I had as a kid.
Kodiak was also cool to visit. They demonstrated a 3D printer. Just like on the Big Bang Theory, they were able to make little ''action figures'' of whatever they scanned. Wouldn't you love to have a miniature version of yourself?
Drones are honestly just getting better and better. There were drones for everyone, to many to mention here. I am going to start a travel vlog soon and a few of the drones featured at CES would be perfect to use. As an avid lover of travel vlogs I cannot wait to see where drones take us. Also, drone races are here and who doesn't love a good drone race. Drones can do some amazing things such as carry medical supplies, go under water, and follow you with facial recognition (the selfie drone). Pretty exciting!
So, everything is already blowing my mind, when I am introduced to the new and improved automobiles. Man oh man were they slick and futuristic looking. Wait'...I think I am living in the future! Anyway, self-driving cars have come a long way. I am only going to talk about the car that I looked at (if I talk about all of them we will be here forever). The brand new Nissan car was honestly the coolest car! I wasn't even planning on going to see the cars at the convention because let's be honest I am too broke to be doing anything but dream of buying any of the new vehicles. But, when I heard that there was a car that could ''read your mind'' I had to go see what it was all about. I posted the video I took of the presentation explaining the car because it's going to be less confusing than it would be if I tried to explain it to you.
I could go on and on about all of the things that I saw at the convention but now on to what you are all here for'...''the Bodies that live forever''.
I thought the presentation at this booth was for real. Spoiler Alert'...it's not.
I had no idea the body lying there wasn't real. I did not see a sign posted anywhere that it was fake. And, after seeing all the new technology at the convention, it wouldn't surprise me if it wasn't. The body looked real!! I touched it!! And, after watching the video presentation, I was freaking amazed! I believed. I wanted to live forever, apparently so did a lot of people that saw my video on Facebook. It went viral! I quickly came to find out that my videos about the bodies had gone viral and had already had over 30,000 shares. Now at over 100,000 shares. After watching my video's wouldn't you believe it was true?
Anyway, the real reason the booth of the bodies was simply to promote a new Netflix show coming out on February 2nd. Bummer huh? Would you want to live forever? I'm not sure'...
I added my snapchats I took at the convention below, if you want to take the time to watch them. I am no videographer and I did not expect to reach this many people. Like, I said I was just expecting some friends and family to see them. If you have any questions feel free to ask, I will be answering as many of them as I can.
Here's to a life of spontaneity!
Everchanginghorizon_
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VIDEO - Liam Neeson Warns That #MeToo is Turning Into a 'Witch Hunt' [VIDEO] - DANGEROUS
Mon, 15 Jan 2018 12:29
Posted on January 14, 2018
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Taken and Star Wars actor Liam Neeson expressed views critical of the #MeToo movement on Irish television's The Late Late Show, stating that the culture of accusing men of sexual harassment and the subsequent assumption of guilt may be harming innocent people.
''There's some people, famous people, being suddenly accused of touching some girl's knee, or something, and suddenly they're being dropped from their program or something,'' he said, adding that the accusations'--some of which are baseless'--are tantamount to a witch hunt.
Neeson cited the case of Garrison Keillor, who was dismissed from Minnesota Public Radio after allegations that he sexually harassed a woman were made public. He relayed Keillor's claim in the Star Tribune that his ''inappropriate behavior'' was limited to touching a woman's bare back after she told him a sad story and he offered her a hug without asking first.
Neeson explained how Keillor, in his version of the events, apologized for the faux pas and was told by the alleged victim that it wasn't an issue'--until he was contacted months later by her lawyers when the #MeToo movement first kicked off.
The actor condemned Kevin Spacey, who is facing multiple accusations of sexual misconduct and attempted child rape, but said he was undecided on the claims against fellow actor Dustin Hoffman.
''The Dustin Hoffman thing, I'm on the fence about that,'' Neeson said. ''When you're doing a play and you're with your family '' other actors, technicians '' you do silly things and it becomes kind of superstitious if you don't do it every night you think it's going to jinx the show. I'm not saying I've done similar things to what [Hoffman] apparently did but it's childhood stuff.''
Hoffman has been accused of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and exposing himself to an underage girl. The accusations stem from incidents that occurred during a theatrical production in the 1980s, in which he allegedly groped a young woman's breasts.
Photograph courtesy of Getty Images/Francois Durand.
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Thu, 18 Jan 2018 04:35
In the magazine this week (out tomorrow) I have written a piece about the Canadian Professor Jordan Peterson. He has been in the UK over the last week to talk about his new book 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos. Among many other things '' much more of which I go into in the piece '' his visit showed up the UK's broadcast media in a very bad light.
On Saturday morning, Peterson made an appearance on Radio 4's Today programme. They gave him a hurried four minutes at the end of the show. They could have quizzed him on almost anything and got a point of view different from almost any other they had ever allowed their listeners to hear. Instead they decided to treat him in an alternately jocular and hostile manner. First: 'Look at this whacky Canadian from out of town'. Then: 'warning signs: heretic'. The Today programme wasted the opportunity.
But they scored a veritable home-run compared to the interview Cathy Newman did with him yesterday for Channel 4 News. The full half-hour interview is available online. If I was Channel 4 I would take it down. If I was Cathy Newman I would sue or seek a super-injunction. I don't think I have ever witnessed an interview that is more catastrophic for the interviewer.
Whatever else anybody might think of him, Professor Peterson is a man of remarkable learning and experience, and does not appear to have arrived at any of his views by the now common means of 'I reckon'. Yet Newman, who approaches the interview with the trademark sourness she employs for everyone she expects to disagree with, treats this is just another chance to burnish her own social justice credentials and expose her guest as a bigot. Big mistake.
Storming straight in with the differences between the sexes, in the opening minutes it is clear that Professor Peterson is willing to back up all his views with references, data and calm analysis. By 4 minutes in Cathy Newman is saying 'What gives you the right to say that?'. One answer to which is 'Because you invited me on your show.' Another being 'Because I have years of experience in these fields as a psychologist and academic as well as being a human being with eyes.' Peterson is too polite to say this. But it becomes clear that in the face of the facts Channel 4's prize interviewer has nothing more than stances. And not even especially intelligent stances.
By 11 minutes in she is saying ' I think I take issue with (that)', before demonstrating that she can't. Soon she is reduced to dropping the bombshell observation that 'all women are different'. By 16.45 there is a palpable win, as Peterson points out that Newman has exactly the disagreeable and aggressive qualities that allow certain types of people to succeed. By 19.30 she is having to throw out things to him that he hasn't even said, such as 'You're saying women aren't intelligent enough to run top companies'. A minute later and she is reduced to countering empirical evidence with anecdote. Peterson presents the data about men in general and Newman responds with the 'I know plenty of men who aren't (like that)' card. Shortly after that (at 22.25) Newman is reduced to spluttering and then silence. She tries to pull herself together. But she can think of nothing to say. She tries to whip herself back up to a fever of indignation, but that doesn't work either. And then finally she tries to finish off the interview in the same way the Today programme did by taking up a half-humorous evolutionary case-study Peterson has written about (lobsters) and used it to try to present him as some kind of madman or imbecile.
The general British broadcast media treatment of Peterson was not just ignorant and parochial (and aren't some 'internationalists' just the most parochial people of all?). It showed that it has become acceptable for an interviewer to go in with nothing other than an ambition to demonstrate their moral superiority at the expense of the interviewee. This may be fun and help burnish the sense of moral preening of the presenter. But it allows the audience to learn nothing. Indeed the only thing it does do is to replace serious discussion with an embedding of existing prejudices. It is in places like this that the 'division' that we hear so much occurs. If you happen to share Cathy Newman's views then you want her not only to show them but to crush or expose any and all enemies. But if yesterday's interview is anything to go by, all she has is attitudes. And lazy attitudes at that. In the face of facts she is reduced to talking about people she knows.
That isn't news. It isn't even interviewing. It is grandstanding. This nation's broadcasters should feel ashamed.