Okay, what's really going on?

A test warning for a tsunami went out this morning, but without being clearly marked as a "TEST."

[...]

"The NWS warning also later appeared on other sources such as The Weather Channel and it even appears on some pages of the NWS own website as a real warning. The NWS is the original source of the information and displayed it as a real warning," the statement said.

  ABC News

We're getting hacked, aren't we? There wasn't a hapless Hawaiian employee who pushed the wrong button twice in a row, was there?

In an explanatory tweet today, National Weather Service of New York officials said the warning, which was received at least along the East Coast and in Texas, "did have TEST in the message.” But users would have had to open the alert to see it.

Wow. Another great system.

The official Twitter account for the Miami branch of the National Weather Service sent out a clarification on its feed at 9:04 a.m., saying an app made a mistake.

At least they didn't try to blame it on some poor schmuck, who may not even exist.

"We're currently looking into why the test message was communicated as an actual tsunami warning, and will provide more information as soon as we have it," the statement reads.

Some of us won't believe you.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Hawaii Emergency Alert saga continues

During the investigation, Oliveira said the employee, who had worked at the agency for more than 10 years, had a history of confusing drills and real-world events. In fact, the worker had made similar mistakes twice before, officials said.

  Fox

Yeah, that's not good. Any real consequences this time?

The head of Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency has resigned and the employee who issued a ballistic missile alert to residents -- causing mass panic for nearly 40 minutes earlier this month -- has been terminated, officials said.

[...]

One employee also resigned prior to disciplinary actions being taken and authorities are in the process of suspending another worker without pay, Logan said.

I think every has agreed on that. And I still can't understand how that employee had the authority to send out the alert. Even if that employee had never had any problems before, wouldn't it be a good idea to have to clear such an action with at least one other person?

After the mistake was realized, the employee reportedly “froze” and “seemed confused,” forcing another worker to take over and send a correction, Oliveira said.

That I can believe.

“I do want to say it is astounding that no one was hurt in this accident,” FCC Commissioner Mike O'Reilly said. “This could have been a catastrophe.”

In a way, Hawaiians were lucky. They were getting warning. (Even if that warning, like Orson Welles' infamous radio show, might have led to some traumatic experiences and maybe even deaths.) Arkansans in 1980 didn't get such consideration. Watch Command and Control some time if you want to see what catastrophe this kind of situation could really precipitate. You'll never feel secure again. Never mind North Korea, it's a wonder we haven't blown ourselves up.

 ...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

That Hawaii security employee who wasn't cooperating...

He thought it was really happening.

The worker said in a written statement that he had misheard a recorded message as part of an unscheduled drill. The FCC's investigation is still under way, but the agency reported that a combination of human error and improper safeguards led to the confusion that resulted in the erroneous message [that a missile was inbound for Hawaii] being disseminated statewide via text message and other means. It took 38 minutes for officials to correct the mistake.

  CNET

Even if he thought it was real, did he have authority to just send out the alert on his own decision? Something doesn't smell quite right.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Uh-oh...what's going on in Hawaii?

Why not?  Lawyered up?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Japan issues false missile launch warning

So what's going on?

Japanese media outlet NHK has apologized for issuing a false report of a North Korean missile launch Tuesday evening local time.

[...]

"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.

  RT

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Wow. That's all I've got for this.

My mind just tilted.

First off, when pressed by reporters, Trump finally addresses the Hawaiian bomb scare.....and brushes it off.

"That was a state thing, but we are going to now get involved with them," Trump told reporters in Florida. "They took responsibility. They made a mistake."

  Politico

I wouldn't feel too secure even then.

Trump's Cabinet has yet to test formal plans for how to respond to a domestic missile attack.

So, during all this time that The Most Notable Loser has been poking a stick into the hornets' nest that is Kim Jung Un, the administration doesn't know how it's going to respond if Kim actually does fire a missile. Brilliant!

"We hope it won’t happen again," Trump said Sunday. "Part of it is people are on edge, but maybe eventually we will solve the problem so they won’t have to be so on edge.”

Good fucking god.

UPDATE:

Oh, my

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway!!

Insane

Hawaii missile alert:

Hawaii media reported that the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency website was overwhelmed and unresponsive. Hawaii News Now reported:

Soboroff said the state's EMS has staff on duty 24 hours a day inside a command center at Diamond Head Center. He said based on what he heard from Emergency Management officials during his reporting, the time that it would take to confirm a missile was on the way and then alert locals would be a matter of minutes.

Elsewhere, Hawaii News Now collected reactions from tourists and locals who were at a farmer’s market when the alert pinged phones. Local news websites included a video of a man stuffing a child in a manhole.

[...]

Though the error confirmation was sent within about 15 minutes on Twitter, it took emergency management officials nearly 40 minutes to send out a 'false alarm' alert to cell phones — using the same mechanism that sent out the emergency warning in the first place.

  Poynter

Good grief.

The Centers for Disease Control planned to meet next week to talk about America's response to a nuclear attack. On Friday, the CDC said the conversation was postponed.

[...]

The focus of next week's meeting now is " the flu."

What in hell?

And still nothing from The Most Notable Loser?

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Impeach!

Hawaii has just had the scare of a lifetime, mostly due to him, and this is what he's tweeting:






Did no one even tell him about the missile scare, or is he just that unconcerned and self-centered?

Unfit.  Unfit.

What channel is he watching?  Hasn't the tell-all book passed on from news programs?  He's not even on the latest scandal - the hookers.  WTF?

I think we all know just who is mentally deranged.

Impeach this asshole.

UPDATE:  Apparently, he was told.

Hawaii

In my last post on the Hawaii debacle, I mentioned the unlikely possibility that there actually was a missile launched, but that it crashed, and the authorities didn't want to cause further panic. While that was kind of tongue-in-cheek, ever since I watched "Command and Control" about the nuclear missile accident in Arkansas and the completely bungled aftermath, most of which was because the Strategic Air Command didn't want to panic people - they risked the alternative, which was letting tens of thousands of people die - I've come to realize just how fortunate we are that we haven't blown ourselves up, much less the world.

“The story of the Damascus accident is one that nobody really knows, and I’m not sure anybody’s supposed to know,” said American Experience executive producer Mark Samels. “As safe, secure, well-designed, and well-operated as our nuclear weapons system may be, it’s subject to the X-factor—human fallibility. The most powerful weapons that we’ve ever created have a threat built into them. And that threat is us.”

  Fast Company

It could be just a matter of time.

UPDATE:

The alert also went out on TV.

The "Mistake" in Hawaii

There are two different excuses for that emergency alert warning Hawaiians that a missile was on its way.  One is that someone going off shift accidentally hit a button - which makes no sense, unless the alert system is so badly drawn that it doesn't at least have a Microsoft type button that says, "are you sure?" The other excuse, which seems more plausible, is that it was a drill gone wrong.  The push alert actually said, "This is not a drill", though, so maybe for drills, they should have the "not a drill" message blocked so it can't accidentally be sent out.

Perhaps the most plausible explanation is that the emergency services site was hacked, which is not something anyone would want to get out, and they're making up excuses quickly, so people won't know how easy it is to fuck our shit up.

Or...least likely, there actually was one, but it crashed and they're trying to keep a lid on it. 

At any rate, it wasn't a joke to people in Hawaii.

Okay, maybe it was a joke to some.

I got sent to a university hall basement one time visiting my son for a musical program because of a tornado warning.  I'm used to tornado warnings, so it didn't bother me, but there were a lot of people there who were really frightened.  I can't imagine what people would be experiencing if they thought there was a missile on the way.

At least no one told Trump on the Miami golf course.  Although, in a way, it's not good that you don't - or maybe in this case can't - tell the president when a ballistic missile is heading for US land.

Have to agree.  And some day (probably during the next big hurricane) I'll complain about how newscasters scare the shit out of everybody unnecessarily.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

Now THERE'S an emergency alert you don't want to see on your phone

But, so far, they're not saying how it got sent in the first place.  Russia, if you're listening...

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

UPDATE:

Hmmm.  For a message like that, maybe you ought to have to push two buttons.  One to confirm it.

UPDATE:

That's much more believable.  But still.  Shouldn't there be a block on that message for drills?  Of course, it could have been a hacking job, and they're making up excuses so we hopefully won't realize how easy it would be to fuck our shit up.

UPDATE:

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway!!