The latest creepy radio PSA: If you see something, say something. Call 911.

[Stinky The Clown]

Is there even one person above the age of reason who doesn't know to call 911 in any sort of emergency? Even one?

So that isn't the thrust of the message.

If that's not it, then what is?

It is simply a softer, gentler way of doing what John Ashcroft asked of us shortly after 09.11.01. You all remember that, don't you? Total Information Awareness. It became a hot button issue at the time and eventually - remarkably, given the nation mood then - was disappeared.

But now its back. New packaging. New management. Same Orwellian creepiness.

The hits just keep on coming. Go team.





Yeah, I know. Its innocuous.

Spin this.

[piratefish08]

1. you're 100% correct. and yes, it will be spun.

feel safer yet?

[hobbit709]

2. My mother tells me how the kids in school were told to report their parents

This was in Austria 1938-45.

The Soviets had similar programs

Orwell was a Prophet.

[GoCubsGo]

3. Do you remember Kitty Genovese?

She was a woman, who, back in 1964, was stabbed to death in the streets while people watched from their windows--and did NOTHING. People then knew how to dial the police, but they didn't. They just sat there and listened to her scream. Been hearing too many stories like that lately, even though people have no excuses with 911 and cell phones. The rates of shootings, robberies, murders, and other crimes in my area have doubled over the past year. How many of them could have been prevented if bystanders had actually called 911, but didn't, even though they know how to? I'm not trying to spin this. Just pointing out what I've been seeing. Whether they are fearful, or just plain stupid, a lot of people apparently just aren't calling. Or, quite possibly, they just don't care enough to call.

[Mimosa]

4. GoCubsGo, Dept of Homeland Security isn't about local street crime.

This is something strange. An odd distraction meant to instill suspicion and fear among the US populace.

[GoCubsGo]

8. Distracting? I hadn't even heard about it until you pointed it out.

No commercials, nothing in the paper, or on the local or national news. Zip. Zilch. Nada. According to the DHS web page, this campaign has been going on for five months. You think people are actually paying attention to those monitors? I don't. Especially not around here, where anything coming from the current administration is ignored or derided. This isn't a distraction. It's preemptive CYA.

As for this not being about street crime, yes, that's true, to a large extent. But, y'all said "People know how to dial 911." I'm just pointing out that even though they know, they don't always do it.

[hobbit709]

5. That's not what Homeland Security wants you to report.

"Terra, terra, terra" is what they want you to get fired up about.

[Mimosa]

6. Report to the police..or your Wal-Mart store manager! LOL!!!! n/t

This is hilarious.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czoww2l1xdw&feature=player_embedded

[Frank Cannon]

14. I thought you were kidding. Holy Crap.

Have we really gone this far down the rabbit hole?

[Stinky The Clown]

16. No, we haven't.

We've gone further than you can imagine.

[madokie]

15. Whens that train for Canada leaving?

what gate is it? Last question, can I go too?

[GoCubsGo]

9. From the DHS web page...

"...This partnership will help millions of shoppers across the nation identify and report indicators of terrorism, crime and other threats to law enforcement authorities."

http://www.dhs.gov/ynews/releases/pr_1291648380371.shtm

It's not about "terra, terra, terra." More likely, it's about "Protect corporate profits" from shoplifters, armed robbers, and the bad publicity they bring."

[hobbit709]

10. Do you believe everything the Government tells you?

[Stinky The Clown]

17. The most orwellian phrase ever uttered is "For your protection . . . "

You're right. It is about protecting them from us. Not the other way around and certainly not about terrorists.

[ET Awful]

7. I thought that the entire "did nothing" story had been debunked long ago.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kitty_Genovese

There were calls to the police, one witness intervened verbally (after which Kitty Genovese disappeared into the building and out of sight of any witnesses) and the perpetrator also disappeared for a time (and returned unseen later).

The police didn't give any priority to the calls and the newspapers spread the same type of hyper-sensationalized tripe that Fox News serves up.

I mean . . . the stories differ, but people DID say something.

[notesdev]

13. Ah but do you remember the aftermath?

The aftermath of the Kitty Genovese incident was a city that was repulsed by its own indifference, and changed dramatically as a result.

It's preposterous to suggest that had these Orwellian security messages been ubiquitous at the time, that someone then would have made the 911 call that wasn't made.

[WinkyDink]

11. Napolitano is a paranoid FREAK.

[ipaint]

12. If we look at each other as potential terrorists or criminals then

the values of community and solidarity with one another pretty much take a back seat. The aim is to make sure everyone views themselves as individual islands selfishly attending to our own needs above all else. What perfect place to spread the poison than where the majority lower working class shops.

If Walmart is in on it then it increases shareholder profits, period. Encouraging connections with our neighbors is dangerous. The only power people have when they have little to no money is in numbers. Nip that right in the bud.