SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
You, and Everyone Else in the Whole Country, Just Got an Unsolicited Text From President Donald Trump
So what the hell is going on?
Oct 03, 2018
Editor's note: If you read this article after 2:18 PM EDT, the headline has been changed from its original version. Earlier it was: "You, and Everyone Else in the Whole Country, Are About to Get an Unsolicited Text From President Donald Trump"
Some have filed suit to stop it while others have argued there's nothing to worry about, but whether you like it or not at 2:18 PM EDT your phone buzzed an irritating sound and vibrated as you received an unsolicited text message from none other than President Donald Trump himself.
Minutes later, at 2:20 PM EDT, for those listening or tunied in, the radio and television versions of the same alert system will be launched.
So what the hell is going on?
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is in charge of the new system, the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) text message "will appear on consumers' phones and read, 'THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.' Phones will display this national test using the header 'Presidential Alert.' These nationwide alerts, established pursuant to the WARN Act of 2006, are meant for use in a national emergency and are the only type of alert that can be sent simultaneously nationwide by FEMA."
According to Popular Mechanics:
The first ever "Presidential Alert" alert is similar to the Amber Alert and flood warnings you might receive in the wake of extreme weather events and the like, with one minor exception: It's the first ever to come with a "Presidential Alert" moniker. In a press release, the agency says the test will ensure "the operational readiness of alerting infrastructure" and identify any hiccups in its national emergency alert systems. It is no way a cause for alarm.
No cause for alarm?
As Common Dreams has previously reported, plenty of people are concerned that President Donald J. Trump will now have at his disposal as system that allows him to send an unsolicited and unblockable message to every American with a smart phone.
"I'm not sure that the system would protect us from rogue announcements by a president who has exhibited the kind of behavior President Trump has over the last two years," Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, told Vox in an interview last month. "I personally would not give this microphone to Donald Trump."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Editor's note: If you read this article after 2:18 PM EDT, the headline has been changed from its original version. Earlier it was: "You, and Everyone Else in the Whole Country, Are About to Get an Unsolicited Text From President Donald Trump"
Some have filed suit to stop it while others have argued there's nothing to worry about, but whether you like it or not at 2:18 PM EDT your phone buzzed an irritating sound and vibrated as you received an unsolicited text message from none other than President Donald Trump himself.
Minutes later, at 2:20 PM EDT, for those listening or tunied in, the radio and television versions of the same alert system will be launched.
So what the hell is going on?
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is in charge of the new system, the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) text message "will appear on consumers' phones and read, 'THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.' Phones will display this national test using the header 'Presidential Alert.' These nationwide alerts, established pursuant to the WARN Act of 2006, are meant for use in a national emergency and are the only type of alert that can be sent simultaneously nationwide by FEMA."
According to Popular Mechanics:
The first ever "Presidential Alert" alert is similar to the Amber Alert and flood warnings you might receive in the wake of extreme weather events and the like, with one minor exception: It's the first ever to come with a "Presidential Alert" moniker. In a press release, the agency says the test will ensure "the operational readiness of alerting infrastructure" and identify any hiccups in its national emergency alert systems. It is no way a cause for alarm.
No cause for alarm?
As Common Dreams has previously reported, plenty of people are concerned that President Donald J. Trump will now have at his disposal as system that allows him to send an unsolicited and unblockable message to every American with a smart phone.
"I'm not sure that the system would protect us from rogue announcements by a president who has exhibited the kind of behavior President Trump has over the last two years," Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, told Vox in an interview last month. "I personally would not give this microphone to Donald Trump."
Editor's note: If you read this article after 2:18 PM EDT, the headline has been changed from its original version. Earlier it was: "You, and Everyone Else in the Whole Country, Are About to Get an Unsolicited Text From President Donald Trump"
Some have filed suit to stop it while others have argued there's nothing to worry about, but whether you like it or not at 2:18 PM EDT your phone buzzed an irritating sound and vibrated as you received an unsolicited text message from none other than President Donald Trump himself.
Minutes later, at 2:20 PM EDT, for those listening or tunied in, the radio and television versions of the same alert system will be launched.
So what the hell is going on?
According to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which is in charge of the new system, the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) text message "will appear on consumers' phones and read, 'THIS IS A TEST of the National Wireless Emergency Alert System. No action is needed.' Phones will display this national test using the header 'Presidential Alert.' These nationwide alerts, established pursuant to the WARN Act of 2006, are meant for use in a national emergency and are the only type of alert that can be sent simultaneously nationwide by FEMA."
According to Popular Mechanics:
The first ever "Presidential Alert" alert is similar to the Amber Alert and flood warnings you might receive in the wake of extreme weather events and the like, with one minor exception: It's the first ever to come with a "Presidential Alert" moniker. In a press release, the agency says the test will ensure "the operational readiness of alerting infrastructure" and identify any hiccups in its national emergency alert systems. It is no way a cause for alarm.
No cause for alarm?
As Common Dreams has previously reported, plenty of people are concerned that President Donald J. Trump will now have at his disposal as system that allows him to send an unsolicited and unblockable message to every American with a smart phone.
"I'm not sure that the system would protect us from rogue announcements by a president who has exhibited the kind of behavior President Trump has over the last two years," Irwin Redlener, director of the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University, told Vox in an interview last month. "I personally would not give this microphone to Donald Trump."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.