HILLARY HOLDS FIRST-EVER MASS MEETING OF US AMBASSADORS

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called top envoys from U.S. embassies to gather in Washington on Monday (feb1) for a wide-ranging foreign policy meeting. Ambassadors from almost all 260 U.S. embassies, consulates and other posts in more than 180 countries are expected to convene at the State Department for what’s being billed as the first meeting of its kind. Officials say the meeting will include discussion of foreign policy priorities for 2011, The Associated Press reported, as well as an assessment of the fallout from the release of secret diplomatic cables by WikiLeaks. Clinton will meet individually with diplomats working in unstable countries...

The ambassadors will also hear from Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen on civilian-military operations in the 21st century, and USAID chief Raj Shah will speak on results-based development. New Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Budget Thomas Nides will discuss the budget for 2011 and beyond. But on that point, one official questioned why “every ambassador in the world was required to come back to the States for a group of lectures when this could have been done virtually,” noting that almost every ambassador flies business class, so costs could quickly add up. The diplomatic powwow wraps up Friday (feb4), when the ambassadors fly back to their missions.
read more at http://beforeitsnews.com/story/403/280/hillary_holds_first-ever_mass_meeting_of_US_ambassadors.html
http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=E97AF8D5-48E8-4439-825E-AFA9E475A883

monday, february 07, 2011
from emergencymgmt.com: The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has made it official. It has released an order that requires participants in the Emergency Alert System (EAS), namely broadcasters, cable operators, and certain satellite providers, to participate in the first-ever national test of EAS. The test will differ starkly from the monthly EAS tests the public knows so well. In this case, the White House will actually activate the test as if the President wanted to take over the air waves to address the nation. Although EAS-type capabilities have existed since the early 50's, no President has ever used it. Now, we're going to find out how well it actually works.

The FCC order found here lays out how the test will be conducted. It will use what many emergency managers know as the EAN code. That's "Emergency Alert Notification", the code reserved for the President to activate EAS. The EAN code kicks in the process where video and audio content will be interrupted by EAS participants monitoring the Primary Entry Point (PEP) stations that receive the message the White House originates. Stations, cable outlets and some satellite programming providers are to interrupt their content to allow the White House to take over the air waves. No specific date for the test was set, although as it stands, a two-month notice will be provided. The FCC gave its staff ability to extend the notice period if necessary, and to work with stakeholders to determine the right time of the day for the test. In a live web broadcast on EAS recently, senior FCC and FEMA officials indicated the test would be conducted in the latter part of 2011. (EAS is part of FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System - IPAWS.) It's an open question about the length of the test message.

http://mediamonarchy.blogspot.com/2011/02/fcc-announces-nationwide-presidential.htm
http://mediamonarchy.blogspot.com/l

Presidential Emergency Alerts: What is our government preparing for?
By: Milo Nickels
www.fivecentrevolution.com
People need to open their eyes. We are heading down a dark path, and the final destination is tyranny. There was a story today on FederalNewsRadio.com that I had to share with all of you. Apparently the FCC will be upgrading their tests of the Emergency Alert System to include "presidential announcements"--to be used in times of national emergency. Here's the story:
FCC: Presidential emergency alerts to be tested

By Suzanne Kubota
Senior Internet Editor
FederalNewsRadio.com

Everybody has heard the national Emergency Alert System (EAS). Those familiar "duck calls" that reassure listeners "THIS is a test...this is ONLY a test..."

The FCC is planning an upgrade to the tests by including presidential announcements in the system.

Lisa Fowlkes, deputy chief of the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau of the FCC, explained to the Federal Drive the Presidential Alert isn't new.

"The primary goal is to provide the President with a mechanism to communicate with the American public during times of national emergency," said Fowlkes. The change, she said, is that prior to last week's order there was no rule in place to call for or allow a test from top to bottom.

Fowlkes said, "There's never been a test from top to bottom where it's issued by FEMA and it goes straight down to all the different levels of EAS to the American public. So this is a way for us to glean, okay, if there were an actual emergency and the federal government needed to activate the Presidential EAS, making sure that it actually works the way it's designed to."

Now that there's a rule in place, the next challenges are going to be working with all the stakeholders on timing of the test and to reach out to the public so they understand it's a test and not a real emergency, Fowlkes said.

"We want to make sure that it works the way it's designed to," Fowlkes said. "If there are things that work well, great. If there are things that don't work well, we can work with EAS participants and with state and local governments as well as our federal partners to correct or improve what doesn't work."

At the same time, said Fowlkes, the FCC is looking at how wireless broadband could also enhance the EAS as part of a recommendation that was in the FCC's National Broadband Plan from last year.

The idea is to leverage broadband and the Internet for emergency alerting with the "Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) being developed by FEMA and the wireless industry."

CMAS would allow three kinds of text messaging or wireless alert to be sent, said Fowlkes:

* Presidential Alerts - "Which would be the same as what the president might issue or FEMA might issue through the EAS system,
* Imminent Threat Alerts - Which Fowlkes said would warn when "there's a hurricane coming or a tornado coming," and then the
* Child Abduction Emergency/AMBER Alerts - Alerts related to missing or endangered children due to an abduction or runaway situation.

Fowlkes said the CMAS is slated to begin deployment in April 2012

On the surface, these tests seem innocent enough. I mean, shouldn't the president have a means of reaching the people in case of emergency? Who wouldn't be happy to have Obama's happy voice interrupt their regularly scheduled programming? Here is my question: Why is our current government suddenly so concerned with preparing us for disaster? It's all you hear about. They want to have the power to shut off the internet (in case of disaster), they want to grope our genitals at the air port (to prevent disaster), they want to raise the debt ceiling (to prevent disaster), they are training the police that it's ok to put people in FEMA camps (in response to a disaster), the military is helping with security at the super bowl (to prevent disaster), FEMA is stockpiling food and body bags (in case of a disaster), and now EAS is preparing a system where Obama can reach us (after there's a disaster).

Our government is acting an awful lot like Noah when he was working feverishly to build an ark. I just wonder how bad of a storm they are expecting...

http://beforeitsnews.com/story/403/084/Presidential_Emergency_Alerts:_What_is_our_government_preparing_for.html