Shutting Off the Internet

POSTED BY: AnthonyT
UPDATED: Tuesday, February 8, 2011 19:28
VIEWED: 2540
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ANTHONYT

Thursday, February 3, 2011 5:36 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/web/02/03/internet.shut.down/index.html?h
pt=Sbin

Hello,

"It's as if there were a government order to close every McDonald's -- all at once."

I just read this article on CNN. It tries to show how difficult it would be for the United States to shut off the internet. But the example they give of 'close every McDonald's' does not illustrate any great difficulty to me.

I think such a shutdown is very possible. And if it doesn't technically happen in a simultaneous instant, but rather over a 12-24 hour period, is the thing any less shut down?

--Anthony

Assured by friends that the signal-to-noise ratio has improved on this forum, I have disabled web filtering.

WULFENSTAR

Thursday, February 3, 2011 6:06 PM

Look what happened in Egypt.

Our government can, and will, if there is reason enough to do so.

Must plan for that contingency.

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"

DREAMTROVE

Thursday, February 3, 2011 6:29 PM

People are. That's what CNN is worried about, hence they want to convince you that it's not a threat.

Can't stop the signal. The internet will find a way. As long as something is being broadcast from somewhere. I think at this point, you'd have to reduce us to the stone age, and I'm not sure that would help, if we could still import solar powered meshware.

NIKI2

Thursday, February 3, 2011 6:58 PM

Yeah, I saw that article this morning, too. In my opinion, it's truly become a global village now, with the internet and satellite and all. They weren't able to shut down Egypt, even by shutting down the internet AND cell phones, word was getting out in quantity. I don't see it being possible, especially not here. The ability to get news out has gone too far, and as is obvious by Egypt, it's impossible to totally shut down news getting out.

The thing I can see happening is censorship, where, just like Egypt, demonstrations happen in a few places and news of it isn't given to other areas of the country. That seems more likely, tho' cutting off TV would, I think, TRULY cause a revolution!

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

WULFENSTAR

Thursday, February 3, 2011 7:49 PM

Funny that you would talk of censorship...

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/02/03/2-senators-2-house-rep
s-to-take-part-in-first-ever-tea-party-town-hall/

So. Let me be the first to ask. The Tea party has been more than "astro-turf", more than the "fringe", more than the "crazies".

So why is such a "respected" news source as CNN saying:

"But as the Tea Party movement flexes its political muscle, it appears it has sway with some lawmakers - even as some Americans express reservations about the movement."

"According to a recent Gallup poll, only 47% of Republicans have a positive view of the Tea Party movement, with 42% saying they do not like it. But the same poll also revealed that nearly 90% of Republicans want lawmakers like Paul, Lee, Bachmann, King and others to give significant weight to Tea Party ideas."

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"

THEHAPPYSOCKPUPPET

Thursday, February 3, 2011 8:05 PM

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NIKI2

Thursday, February 3, 2011 9:12 PM

What the hell is your point, Wulf? Are you saying CNN reporting this is "censorship"? Or that CNN quoting a poll which shows that fewer than 50% of REPUBLICANS have a positive view of the Tea Party is somehow "censorship"?

So four legislators are going to hold a Tea Party town hall. I can't help wishing they'd ALLOWED the real town halls to take place, rather than orchestrating their disruption, but that's another story. I'm sure THEIR town hall with be treated with respect.

Nobody I know of has said the Tea Party is made up entirely of astroturf, fringers or crazies; but all three exist aplenty within the movement.

As to astroturf, the Tea Party Express, for one, was started and funded by corporate interests:

Quote:
While promoted as a spontaneous "grassroots" movement, many of the activities of Tea Party groups were organized by corporate lobbying groups.

The billionaire brothers David Koch and Charles Koch, owners of Koch Industries have been linked to tea party movement funding. The anti-government fervor infusing the 2010 elections represents a political triumph for the Kochs. By giving money to “educate,” fund, and organize Tea Party protesters, they have helped turn their private agenda into a mass movement.

The Tea Party Movement benefits from millions of dollars from conservative foundations that are derived from wealthy U.S. families and their business interests. It appears that money to organize and implement the Movement flows primarily through two conservative groups: Americans for Prosperity and FreedomWorks, two "lobbyist-run think tanks" that are "well funded" and that provide the logistics and organizing for the Tea Party movement from coast to coast.

David Koch of Koch Industries was a co-founder of Citizens for a Sound Economy (CSE), the predecessor of FreedomWorks. David Koch was chairman of the board of directors of CSE. CSE received substantial funding from David Koch of Koch Industries, which is the largest privately-held energy company in the country, and the conservative Koch Family Foundations, which make substantial annual donations to conservative think tanks, advocacy groups, etc. The Koch family has given more than $12 million to CSE (predecessor of FreedomWorks) between 1985 and 2002.

Additional sponsors of the Tea Party Express were revealed to include FreedomWorks, the conservative advocacy group headed by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey of Texas and Americans for Prosperity.

Sourcewatch

The facts are easy to find, if you care to bother.

As to crazies, there are numerous ones. If you don’t think Bachman is crazy, with her statements like the founding fathers “worked tirelessly” to get rid of slavery, you’re deluding yourself. emember she wanted Congress investigated to see how many legislators harbored “Anti-American feelings”. There’s just too much of her nutspeak to bother typing it all, it’s easily found with a search of “Michelle Bachman crazy quotes”.

Another tiny example of a crazy Tea Partier:

Quote:
A protester at Saturday's Tea Party on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. made clear that she was afraid, saying 'We are losing our country, we think the Muslim's are moving in and taking over.'

There’s O’Donnell, who has made MYRIAD crazy statements, including “''You know what, evolution is a myth. Why aren't monkeys still evolving into humans?” (later asked if she really believed evolution was a myth, she replied “What I believe is irrelevant"), “What's next? Orgy rooms? Menage a trois rooms? ... [Coedness] is like a radical agenda forced on college students”, “A lot of the money that we're spending goes to things that we know will not prevent AIDS, but indeed will continue to spread the disease.” I could quote her all day.

There are so many examples of Tea Partiers making crazy statements, so many crazies claiming to be Tea Partiers, it’s impossible to say they’re not there.

As to fringers, yeah, of course they’re there—-and in bigger numbers than the rest of Ameri

WULFENSTAR

Thursday, February 3, 2011 9:21 PM

I would love to see CNN/MSNBC/FOX say these things about either party.

Maybe I'm wrong, it happens. But the Tea Party seems to get nothing but bad press, and labeled as crazy, astro-turf etc by ALL the mainstream media sources.

Trying to control the discussion much?

No, the Green party, the anarchists, the rent-is-to-damn-high party don't receive much attention either.

But yet, the Tea Party... which, despite its detractors is actually a real grounded party, seems to get nothing but vitriol.

Why is that?

Yes, its principals are very conservative, but they are conservative like the Democrats USED to be. They also hold to very strange ideas like CONSTITUIONALITY, like the Republicans used to be.

Is that it?

That the mainstream hates the Tea Party because it actually represents us?

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"

NIKI2

Thursday, February 3, 2011 10:17 PM

Now you're getting downright crazy! Fox, for one, has said FAR worse things about "the other party" than what you quoted! How does saying that a poll shows X percentage of Republicans feel negative about the Tea Party consist of ANYTHING but quoting that a poll shows X percengtage of Republicans feel negative about the Tea Party?! It's insane to say it's anything else, much less CENSORSHIP!

The Tea Party gets attention because it calls attention to itself on a grand scale. None of those others you mentioned went out and caused disruptions, put out commercials talking about guns and revolution, fomented hatred to anything LIKE the degree the Tea Party did, were financed by businesses pretending to be grass roots, let their people CONSTANTLY say things the MSM couldn't resist mocking, and on and on. Anything the Tea Party gets, it's made happen itself. And don't think they didn't do a lot of them just TO get attention. A lot of what seem like "crazies" are, just as I quoted about Ahmadinejad, well aware of the truth, they're just politicians utilizing the tools they know are effective. Which makes it even more unconscionable.

Those groups got their share of vitriol; if you don't know that, you're deliberately being blind. They just didn't make as big a fuss and they didn't choose divisiveness and stoking of fear and hatred, so they didn't get the attention.

Dear gawd, if reporting on a town hall held by legislators and a poll is censorship, you've gone right off your NUT! At the very least, DO try to find something which backs up your point, not something which isn't even slightly connected.

Slanting things and picking which facts to report (which all MSM does, and Fox does more than any other) isn't censorship, dear, it's journalistic tradition, and they stated absolutely nothing untrue...

weird...where you get your ideas sometimes...

Let's get back to the original topic, if that's possible.

Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
Contracted Agent of Veritas Oilspillus, code name “Nike”,
signing off

WULFENSTAR

Thursday, February 3, 2011 11:05 PM

So... lets just give Obama who is President right now... and ALL Presidents here after, the right to turn off the internet, the phones, the radio, tv etc ANYTIME they feel that the people are getting too

Crazy.

Suuuuure.

Lets also allow those self same folks to confiscate our guns when a crisis happens.

After all, they are the ones with authority and best know how to handle it right?

Why, just look at what happened after Katrina in New Orleans.

GREAT idea! Lets ALL put our full faith in government.

After all, they know whats best.

"Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies"

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