The purpose of Poetslife is to promote the art and discipline of American Tactical Civil Defense for families and small businesses and to contribute practical American civil defense preparedness guidance for all Americans through my articles in the The American Civil Defense Association (TACDA.ORG) Journal of Civil Defense and leadership as the volunteer Vice President of TACDA.

4/07/2022

Mountaineer BBQ and American Patriotism

Mountaineer Meat Smokers BBQ Cafe and Catering in Martinsburg, WV is a phenomenal eatery, veteran and active duty gathering place, and patriotic display case establishment. And they do BBQ fund raising that benefits veterans.

It is very close to the Martinsburg Air National Guard base and caters to many active duty military. They serve at the Shepherd Field Air National Guard Base with the 167th Airlift Wing at the Eastern West Virginia Regional Air Wing nearby.

Mountaineer Meat smokers, 45 Monroe Street, Martinsburg, WV 25404, 304 901 5296, www.mountaineerbbq.com, "Handcrafted Wood-Fired Texas-Style Barbeque"

The owner, Travis Bishop, Pitmaster, has many stories to tell about how he founded the establishment. 

I encouraged him to write them down, but he said he was too busy, that he would tell me and I could write them down...so here goes.

(For other stories about the positives of the pandemic, see my earlier blog post The Positives of the Pandemic.)

When having difficulties with the prior business he owned, one day in 2018 his friend said, "Why don't you open a restaurant? Your BBQ is out of this world! People will pay for it!"

Austin replied, "I don't have the money for that."

In Silicon Valley Angel Investor style but with generosity rather than their avarice, his friend handed him his Discovery Card and said, "Here. There is $25,000 on this. Use it to get it going."

So Travis did. 

He returned to the space of his former, set up a kitchen, began grilling meat, and customers began to show up.

Then the Communist Chinese Virus struck and the Governor of West Virginia ordered all restaurants in the state to close.

Travis defied the governor. 

He posted a sign stating he was a free American and he would continue to serve food to customers who did not have to wear a mask in his restaurant. 

Customers, especially Vets, began to show up in droves. 

Travis was a Vet who had created the remarkable military display case you see in the photos below. They appreciated his American spirit and gave him business.

Then, the Martinsburg VA Hospital closed down a double-wide trailer that disabled Vets used to meet for therapy sessions. 

When one of them visited Travis and said they had no place to meet, he offered his restaurant. They began to meet there every Wednesday from 11 am to 1 pm.

After the "emergency pandemic" was declared over by the state and VA, those Vets were invited to once again return to the VA. 

Wise now to how quickly the VA had abandoned them, they said no thanks and continue to meet at Steve's place.

For lunch, I had the Texas cheese steak. It was loaded! They give you abundant, tasty, rich, nutritious food at a fair price. 

The staff is friendly and the service is fast.

Met a fellow Vet while we waited for our food and shared my TACDA civil defense work with them. 

A Marine...he got it. 

After the Marines, he did security work and then was a country Sherriff. 

Solid guy. 

Built like a Mack truck

He had quiet a few insights on the military and the state of the nation.

He said he just came from a yearly physical exam at the Martinsburg VA and always stopped at the Mountaineer on his way home.

We shared stories.

One of the marvels of West Virginia is that it has the highest number of Veterans of any state in the nation. It is one of the primary reasons we moved to West Virginia. 

Safe, secure, patriotic, and inhabited by citizens who will fight for their families as fiercely as Ukrainians.

One of his best was that he had to accompany Senators Graham, Schumer, and McCain on a Congressional junket to Greenland so they could "witness" the polar ice caps "melting."

As you can see, they honor Americans who have sacrificed so much in service to this nation, be they military, police, fire fighters, search and rescue, or emergency medical technicians.

Visit them soon with your family for an eating and patriotic adventure. 

Every Saturday night the Mountaineer BBQ offers live music.

The crowd is family oriented, fun, and lively. 

If you are a Mom and Dad who needs a night out, or who wants to bring your kids along, both are seen in the audience.

I provide photos here to give you a flavor of the Mountaineer Meat Smokers BBQ Care and Catering restaurant experience. 

It's a special place.

Travis is a Vet's Vet. 

The patriotic display case he built is physical evidence of his labor of love to the sacrifices of American service members. 

Many customers in line to order food do not even see this magnificent patriotic American display case.

Do not be one of them.

Look into the case and see the love and sacrifice of these military members. 

And then appreciate what Travis has created.

His service continues through his food his service to the American people.

Bon Appetit!!!






















4/04/2022

Stock Up Now for CCP Move on Taiwan

NOTE: I first wrote this analysis in 2021 after the last national election. I have updated it to account for recent developments.
For a number of strategic reasons, the Communist Chinese Party (CCP) may make a move on Taiwan to control the world's chip supply and, thereby, better control the world.
Now that the CCP has successfully backed the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, the lesson they learned is that the Biden Administration is weak and incompetent.
The CCP will now move on Taiwan sooner than they would have otherwise.
Mobilization is tantamount to war, and the CCP is mobilizing to take over Taiwan.
Stock up.
My admiration is off the chart for the Taiwanese people. 
They blunted the Wuhan virus attack and the CCP assault on their people and island. 
Can they hold out against a full CCP/PLA attack?
Time will tell.

They are a lessons Americans Need to Learn

See Wolf Warrior Diplomacy strategy explained here.
Despite Xi's clear statements that he was going to invade Taiwan, he was surprised to discover that the Taiwanese did not react to his provocation.
Thus, he had no "justification" to attack.
The CCP has been penetrating Taiwan's airspace, seas, and has also activated their sleeper agents in hopes of getting the Taiwan government to respond to their provocations so the the CCP has an "excuse" to attack Taiwan (Formosa).
Formosa was never part of China but the CCP lies and says it was. 
As the majority of Americans know little of their own history and even less about Chinese history, and with the legacy corporate media, Hollywood, Wall Street, ANFIFABLMCNNABCCBSFBIDOJCIA and university academics willing to push this BIG Lie, the CCP since 1949 has stated it can take Taiwan and suppress the native Formosan population as they have with the Tibetans, Muslims, Fulon Gung, and other minorities on the Chinese Asian mainland.
Taiwan has not taken the bait but instead shown remarkable restraint and discipline and not responded to the CCP provocation. 
The CCP lost its opportunity by not going kinetic in the first 100 days of Uncle Joe's chaos.
Therefore, the CCP will have to go to Plan B. And they always have a Plan B, Plan C...and on and on. 
Just read The Coming War with America that PLACCP general wrote in 2000. 
He stated the CCP would take out the U.S. via cyber without firing a single shot.

How to Prepare for Calamity

Buy a Go Dark Bag to keep the CCPFBICIADOJ from tracking your every movement and regain your Constitutional right to privacy and to be left alone from government coercion. 
Buy an EMP-hardened thumb drive and back up your company, personal and family data. Most small businesses go out of business not from the fire, chemical, flood, hurricane, wildfire or other event, but from loss of data. Back up your data NOW!
Buy Reflectix and line your attic and basement ceilings. 
Buy steel paint cans at your hardware store as you can store your cell phones for safety there before, during and after an EMP event. 
Yes, get your Faraday cages. 
Buy WaterBricks to store pure water, bullets, guns, grains, silver, gold, codes, etc.

Background Analysis and Resources

"If the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led like sheep to the slaughter."
George Washington
The CCP owns much of the U.S. Treasury Department and much of your 401(k). Details here.
The Epoch Times on Wednesday, April 7, 2021 agrees with my analysis. See their article Beijing Accelerating Timeline for Possible Taiwan Invasion, Expert Warns.
Update: Lest you think I was incorrect with my analysis that the CCP will seek to takeover Taiwan and worse, likely succeed due to the CCP Utopian Socialists now running America, you don't take my word for it.

Take Kerry Gershaneck's word. Read his new book Political Warfare.
What is even more valuable about his analysis is he outlines the CCP plans for Americans and the entire world once they do take Taiwan.
As Hitler and Stalin cooperated to carve up Poland, Putin and Xi will cooperate to tie up the United States before we can react...if we do not act now.
I believe the CCP is clever enough to tie us up in Ukraine (through Putin) so they can attack Taiwan. 
Why Ukraine, which is not in NATO, is for us to defend, is bizarre. I will never understand why we went to war for a non-NATO country. Money laundering? Illegal Biolabs? The Rabbit Hole on that one is endless.
AGAIN...American families should stock up now (water, food, medical supplies, etc.) for when the CCP retakes Taiwan. Be wise. 
The CCP has never been shy about proclaiming that they will retake Taiwan. Most recently, having taken full measure of the chaos, confusion, incompetence, military disdain, and unawareness of global realities of the current White House at the conference in Alaska, the CCP repeated that goal to the current Administration very clearly. 

The CCP was also clear that they do not believe the United States is in control of the global system anymore and that they intend to move into the vacuum...as in the South China Sea where they will incorporate Taiwan under their rule.

We need to take them at their word.

My mentor global affairs expert believes it will happen in days or a week, but either way, you need to stock up NOW.

At the beginning of the Biden Administration, at the Alaska conference, aware of their bribe to Hunter Biden and all it bought them from the Biden family, the CCP lectured and mocked the Biden representatives in a way they dared not to with President Trump.

Here are the phases of the CCP attack on the United States so far.

1. Data War --- They have won (TikTok, hacking, etc.)

2. Information Influence Dominance War --- They have won.

3. Supplies Chain War --- They have won...shop at Wal-Mart.

4. International and U.S. Media Corporate Influence War --- They have won...Tucker is gone.

5.  Deep State Influence War --- They have won.

What is stunning is how fast the CCP has gotten the Federal Government, major "American" corporations, Hollywood, Big Academia, and Wall Street to do their bidding on multiple fronts. Maybe not so surprising when their influence vehicle is named the United Front.

Major League Baseball (MLB) getting a deal with the CCP the day before MLB attacked Georgia's new voter ID law, and getting MLB to pull out of the state in retaliation, is just the most recent of hundreds of examples of the CCP influence in the United States now.

For evidence of the success of the 5 phases of the CCP attack on the United States, see my earlier analysis on my Subscribstar website and in my earlier blog post CCP and POW James Robins "Robbie" Risner.

Also see Victor Davis Hanson's analysis here.

6.  Shooting War --- They have not started it, but they do not need to because they were clear at the Alaska Conference they consider the current President, his team and appointees, incompetent and easily defeated. 

7. CCP Purchasing American Farmland --- There is a reason the CCP has increased its purchase of American farmland by 5,000% in the past 5 years. Their 100-year plan states that Australia, Canada, and the U.S. will supply their huge population with food and buy their products.

The CCP has purchased thousands of acres next to USAF secret bases all over the country for a reason.

As well, the CCP now runs the Canadian government and the top of our government for a reason.

Taiwan will be their first shooting war. If they succeed there, they may up their game and go kinetic worldwide.

It is not hard to analyze a likely scenario shortly for how the CCP will isolate Taiwan and take it over before the United States (the rest of the world will do nothing) can react and present it as a fait accompli, as they are daily sending us signals they intend to do just that.

The signs are everywhere.

The CCP has built over 500 military hospitals on their coast.

Their fishing fleet is now fully armed with heavy weaponry as a backup to the Chinese Navy, now much bigger than the U.S. Navy.

1. They are penetrating Taiwan's cyber, space, air, land, and sea assets to test them for vulnerabilities to exploit when they launch their takeover.

2. Using the coronavirus, they have weakened the world and the United States sufficiently that neither will be able to react to their takeover in time to save Taiwan or damage the CCP sufficiently to counter its initial move.

3. The CCP is cracking down harshly on their internal opponents (especially the Christians) to ensure there is no domestic opposition when they begin their attack.

4. They have mobilized their cyber, kinetic, and propaganda forces to overtake Taiwan in a blitzkrieg pincer movement on a scale we have not seen since WWII. Mobilization is tantamount to war, and the CCP has mobilized all it's forces toward this takeover.

5. They control enough world and U.S. debt they can call in their loans and cause worldwide financial, economic, and fiscal panic. They were clear in Alaska that they believe they now control the world's financial system. We may disagree or it may not be true. Does not matter. They believe it.

6. They will launch their cyber forces using their highly skilled People's Liberation Army (PLA) officer corps who are paired with common Chinese street criminals to penetrate world and United States cypher capabilities. They will shut down our cypher forces before we can make any countermoves.

7. They will activate their spies and influencers in the West, and especially in the New York and Washington, DC media, the Hollywood movie industry, Silicon Valley, universities etc. to justify the reuniting of the ancient Chinese bond.

8. The CCP will block the Suez Canal and add the Panama Canal and other choke points like the Straits of Malacca to control worldwide shipping. 

Just as American grocery stores are on a 3-day resupply chain, the entire world is on a 3-week shipping supply, and the CCP controls it...and they know it. 

There is a reason they have loaned governments worldwide money they cannot pay back and then takeover their ports and infrastructure as payment.

When they first strike, the CCP will launch a cyber Pearl Harbor and enjoy the initial success the Imperial Japanese Forces enjoyed from 1941 to 1944.

I wrote a White Paper in 1998 to a friend who worked at the White House about how inadequate their security was to counter a coordinated terrorist attack. When the official passed it on to the Secret Service and the intel agencies, they dismissed it as impossible. 

Yet, in the next 30 years they have taken 95% of my recommendations in my paper and implemented them. 

The main one was to close down Pennsylvania Avenue to mitigate the risk of explosives being parked in front of the White House and destroying it, the Old Executive Office Building, Treasury HQ, etc. in one move.

One month into Desert Shield I sent a suggested strategy to the White House for how to save American lives by engaging in a "Desert Island Hopping" strategy in our attack. 

General Norman Schwarzkopf somehow got a copy and liked the strategy. Here is the story. 

See also Frank Curley's story for more background.

Sadly, only 1% of American's prepare for natural and manmade disasters. When the CCP takes over Taiwan, that gap in preparation between the Chinese and Americans will be on full display. 

When the CCP attacks Taiwan, everything will change, even more than when they released the coronavirus on the world.

Please prepare now for this event. 

Even if I am wrong, your family is prepared for the next hurricane, flood, fire, chemical spill, financial panic, Red Chinese bioweapon release, riots, chemical spills, fires, and the full threat matrix.

I have a beautiful grandson. He means the world to me. I love him more than life itself. I have another grandson on the way. I want them to enjoy the innocence of childhood, and to grow up in a safe world and a safe America. Millions of other Americans believe the same. 

We are the remnant. We know our history. And we will work to make this American experiment continue.

It is time to contain the CCP/PLA threat so and all our grandchildren have a future.

2/27/2022

Hawaii Ballistic Missile Alert Fail and Fix

The primary threat to the American people's Life, Liberty and Pursuit of Happiness is the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the people they own in the United States.

Our dependence on the CCP is costing us money, our freedom, our American civilization's and our children and grandchildren's future. Fortunately, American manufactures are leaving Red China like rats off a sinking ship. So are many other nations' manufacturers.

I analyze the CCP threat below using the accidental 2018 inbound ballistic missile threat.

Note: Every primary natural or manmade disaster has a secondary threat. You can find out about secondary's here and here.

Given the reality of the possibility of nuclear war due to:
  1. Red China seeking to pretend they do not have a failing economy by attacking Taiwan as a diversion and to control Taiwan's resources, especially computer chips
  2. Failed Dystopian leadership from Washington, DC that is of Biblical scope of destruction on the world stage
  3. Bad actors like Russia, Iran, North Korea about to exploit the failed leadership in Washington, DC
  4. The always present threat of human error and miscalculation and the Law of Unintended Consequences that surrounds the possibility of nuclear war
We all need to prepare for the possibility of nuclear war. 
Go to TACDA.ORG for multiple resources to prepare.

Here is a case study of why we need to prepare for nuclear war.

The state of Hawaii was as unprepared for the nuclear war on Saturday, January 13, 1918 as they were for the Imperial Japanese attack of 1941.

We need to gain a deeper understanding of what happened the day over a million Hawaiians were horrified to discover their state emergency operations center falsely informed them a ballistic missile strike was imminent.
The bad news is that with the mega failure of the the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) one employee broadcast of an incoming ballistic missile on January 13, 2018 we suffered a catastrophic failure in our national security.
A good summary of this event can be found here and here.
For an excellent analysis of the technical issues of the false alert, see Here's how Hawii's emergency alert design led to a false alarm on The Verge.
Serious software and hardware design issues also contributed to this disaster. Scott Robertson has an outstanding human-centered design (HCI) article for how to fix that part here.
For what an actual ballistic missile strike on Hawaii would look like, see here.
The GOOD NEWS is that there is a simple fix: ONLY HIRE COMPETENT EMPLOYEES TO DO THAT JOB.
For the Congressional Research Service analysis of the false alert, see here.

You Can Survive a Nuclear Ballistic Missile Strike

What if the false incoming ballistic missile warning in Hawaii had been real? 
As long as North Korea, Red China, Russia, Iran and other nations have missiles, the reality is they could be fired at Hawaii or the continental United States at any time...with 20 minutes warning. 
We survived the Imperial Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and the jihadi 9/11 attack because we're Americans.
We can survive a nuclear hit and the fallout.
There are so many things you can do to to increase your, and your family's, chances of survival. 
The Provident Prepper provides an excellent guide to just how many common sense steps there are.
Here, I will only list the top four steps (and a bonus step if you have the resources) to surviving a nuclear strike.

Water: Store a years supply of fresh water in Waterbricks
A daily clean water water is absolutely essential to life. 
Often people store water in milk jugs that are contaminated or thin water bottles. Both are inadequate for long term storage. Use Waterbricks, 1011 Crown Park Circle, Suite 100, Winter Garden, FL, 877 420 https://www.waterbrick.org/shop/
Food: Store a years supply of packaged food to which you only need to add water to have a nutritious meal. One good source is MyPatriotSupply, PatriotPantry.com in Muncie, IN, 866 229 0927.
Military Grade Medical Kit: You will need to be able to attend to the medical needs of yourself and your family. A military-grade medical kit like those at North American  Rescue are essential. All their products are first rate, but the Combat Activation Tourniquet (CAT) is combat proven and will stop bleeding to preserve a body before it bleeds out. To any father's reading this, save a life. Get a few CAT's for your car and home.
https://www.narescue.com/military-products/casualty-response-kits
Anti-Radiation Tablets: K103 Anti-Radiation Tablets to block radiation fallout absorption by your body, and especially the thyroid. Fake anti-radiation tables were sold to many in California after the Fukushima disaster. Only order the real ones here: K103-USA.com, 800 537 1339,, Medical Corps, 410 Front Street, #3, OH 45750.
Here is an excellent description from the K103 website about the importance of REAL K103.

"If there is a nuclear event, and you are down-wind, you need to take KIO3 or KI before the radioactive plume reaches you. If you do not have KIO3 or KI at the time of the event, then it is most likely too late to take a thyroid blocker unless the authorities can reach you with the proper dose during fallout conditions. Both KIO3 and KI are thyroid blockers and are used world-wide to help prevent radioactive damage to the thyroid in the event of a nuclear incident. If a nuclear bomb detonates or a nuclear power plant is compromised or has a melt-down, then radioactive iodine is always released into the air and environment. 
Radioactive Iodine (I-131) can destroy the thyroid of humans and animals. Even small amounts of I-131 can cause cancer of the thyroid. By taking KIO3 the thyroid becomes saturated with "good iodine" and cannot absorb the "bad iodine" I-131. 
Yes, animals or pets can take KIO3 too."

Underground Shelter:  You can build your own. Or, for those with the resources, use a company, that has done it for years whose owners are experts on nuclear radiation fallout. 
Even if you can afford them, beware of the companies who have been building luxury shelters for billionaires and millionaires lately.
Utah Shelter Systems has been building the best, least expensive, and most trusted shelters for decades.  Contact them if you want a good shelter that works.
Office: (801) 380-2932
Paul: (801) 631-7684
Sharon: (801) 380-2932
Fax: (801)606-7064 
Physical address:
2236 So. 3270 W. #2
West Valley, UT
84119 

Civil Defense Redux

Study history. Civil defense has been critical from the beginning of time. If you don't prepare, protect, defend and practice, you don't last long.
For most people in this nation when you mention civil defense, they think of the "duck and cover" training from their childhood.
Civil defense is far more than that.  
To get a good understanding of civil defense issues, see Michael Mabee here and here.
For a quick review, see my 2005 Civil Defense Redux post here.
Here is one important quote from that article:
"Disasters happen, and taking steps to be prepared is common sense.
Fires, floods, earthquakes, windstorms, power outages, and now terrorist attacks happen. It's a story as old as the Bible. 
Do you and your family and neighbors a favor and make sure you are prepared. Even if it never happens, it's like insurance. 
You never know you need it until you need it and then it is too late to get it. Mitigate and smile."
Sadly, there is nothing to smile about with the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency incoming ballistic missile attack.
It never should have happened.
It did not need to happen.
It must never happen again.
As there were no initial reports of panic other than the father who stuffed his children into a sewer manhole in a video that went viral that day, I first wrote "That there was not mass panic, mayhem and accidental injury and death is a miracle." Update: There was.

The Real Cause of the Hawaii False Nuclear Alert

Like other state and local Emergency Operations Centers (EOC's), the people working there are often not hired due to their aptitude, skills and experience in the field of civil defense. 
Rather, they know someone, usually a politician, who appoints them to the position as a favor.
How do I know this?
In the 1980's I visited multiple EOC's in numerous American states. In places like North Dakota, Florida, California, Florida and Georgia, they were extremely professional operations run by true professionals. Managers and line employees all had decades of experience in emergency management, civil defense, and disaster preparedness.
Then there were the others. 
It was obvious to me when interacting with them that they were appointed by politicians and did not earn their position. 
Their work ethic was nonexistent. 
This was a problem then and it is a problem now.
Proof? 
The employee who pushed the wrong button refuses as of 1/27/2018 to cooperate with the FCC investigation and STILL has a job.
"We are disappointed however that one key employee, the person who transmitted the false alert is refusing to cooperate with our investigation," said Lisa Fowlkes, bureau chief of the FCC's Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau. "We hope that person will reconsider."
I also taught at the Emergency Management Institute. There, the students who came in from all over the country were first rate, mostly because they were first responders.
But attending those classes there were also the multiple incompetents who had been appointed by politicians.
Now I live in Carroll County, MD and am blessed with an EOC filled with competent, experienced, dedicated professionals. 
(For more information, see here.)

Tragically, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency did not have competent people on site that day.
The proof is that this false alarm went out at all.
What has been revealed since reinforces the point.

1.  One person alone was able to send out the alert that caused panic state-wide. There was no second check on the alert message being sent. There is a reason the U.S. Air Force always has TWO officers with the key to launch thermonuclear weapons in missile silos and BOTH have to agree and act in concert. So, the most basic two-tiered decision process was not in place.

2.  The alert was sent to many...but not all who needed to receive it. This indicates to me that HEMA did not prepare thoroughly in years past to create a comprehensive list of ALL who needed to be notified. Make a comprehensive list NOW.

3. Those who make HUGE life and death decisions MUST KNOW THEIR PASSWORDS. The Hawaii Governor, the decision maker responsible to immediately reach all the panicked Hawaiian citizens that the alert was false, did not know his password
So, what could have been corrected in seconds or a few minutes took 38 minutes. I kid you not.
"But one Twitter account was deafeningly silent for 17 minutes: that of Hawaii Gov. David Ige. Though Ige was informed by the state’s adjutant general that the alert was false two minutes after it was sent, he waited until 8:24 a.m. to tweet, “There is NO missile threat. 
On Monday, after he gave the State of the State address in which he avoided the subject of the missile alert fiasco, reporters demanded an explanation for that long silence. Ige’s answer: He couldn’t log in to Twitter. “I have to confess that I don’t know my Twitter account log-ons and the passwords, so certainly that’s one of the changes that I’ve made,” Ige said." (The Washington Post, Travis Andrews, 1/23/2018.
Here's the reality. Ever since Sully's U.S. Airways Flight 1549 went down on the Hudson River on January 15, 2009 and a guy on Twitter sent out a photo of the plane with passengers hanging onto the wings a half hour before the New York media, people search Twitter for clues in a crisis. Anyone involved in emergency management or civil defense, and especially a governor, must be able to communicate immediately using Twitter. Forgetting your Twitter password is not an excuse. It is a a firing offense.
Immediately after the event when reporters visited the HEMA they discovered yellow Post-It notes on employee computers with the ID and Password in open site. That is such a fundamental security fail. North Korean or Chinese hackers, and even your run-of-the-mill basement dwelling black hat hackers could have used those IDs and passwords to compromise the system. Worse, the HEMA system connects to Pacific Command and other systems that, and other local, state, national and international secure systems could be compromised.

The Government Self Reviews

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and other governmental agencies are reviewing what happened at the HEMA.
That's good, but limited.
No doubt they will identify the systemic failures and recommend changes. Some of those changes will happen. But, based on my prior experience, I am not confident that the most important change, the firing of the incompetent employees and replacing them with professional and competent employees, will happen.
And the Federal Communications Commission and Congress are investigating. What will really change in Hawaii's EOC and the other EOC's?
Having read the Presidential 911 Report and remembering how most recommendations to correct that disaster were ignored, I'm not hopeful
The Governor of Hawaii, the same person who employed the incompetent employee who caused this mega national security failure, assures us that this will never happen again. 
Not having examined the breathtaking failures that let to this event, he has no facts on which to base a statement like that.
For starters, Governor, redesign your control panel. Here is an outstanding analysis of the problem with your current "Alert Button."
Implement this fix (along with hiring competent employees, instituting a  two-tier emergency alert alert process, thorough and vigorous training and so forth) you are well on your way to ensuring that this never happens again.
And for a good primer on civil defense and how it is critical to your family, see here.

We Can Do Better

Here is a link to a worthwhile civil defense primer to help prevent this kind of tragedy in the future. 
The United States has been blessed to not have a real test of its civil defense capability on the scale of incoming ballistic missiles. 
In that sense, this Hawaii false alarm can be a catalyst to take action BEFORE it is too late.
I have been involved in civil defense for 40 years, the past 15 on this Poetslife blog. Here are links on this Poetslife blog on various aspects of civil defense that offer policy, practical photo, and procedures to create robust civil defense options for all the threat matrix in America.

Emergency Exercise
Civil Defense Redux
Emergency Exercise Tornado
Emergency Management National Disaster Medical Exercise
Emergency Management Study Scholarships
How to Prepare for a Natural Disaster
Business Continuity Disaster Recovery Plan Outline
How to Handle a Huge Hurricane
CBRNE - Low Probability, High Impact
EPLEX Emergency Plan Exercise
Church Emergency Evacuation and Lock Down Plan
Roll Up ISIS Social Media Weapons
When State Hackers Take Aim at the Power Grid
Church Emergency Plan Template
Emergency Preparedness Expo
Nuclear Weapons Effects
Volunteer Mobilization Center
Idiot's Guide to Disaster Preparedness
Active Shooter
America Rising - Charity
America Rising - Hope
America Rising - Faith
1983 Salt Lake City Great Flood Reflections

Lack of Action by the Trump Administration on Civil Defense

I was optimistic the Trump Administration would see the wisdom of an outstanding American civil defense program, maybe one on par with Switzerland, but so far I have not seen action on that front.
As Vice President of the Board of Directors of The American Civil Defense Association (TADCA), three times I have sent the Trump White House several issues of the recent issues of Civil Defense Journal of the American Civil Defense Association and not even gotten a note back to say they received them...so who knows.
Maybe one day we can come close to the civil defense program in Switzerland.
The Trump Administration has, at least, offered a brief paragraph in their 2017 national security policy to promote "a culture of preparedness." It's a first step.
For an excellent analysis of how long Hawaii has been unprepared for a nuclear strike, see here.
Michael Mabee, author of the Civil Defense Book, has more faith in the Feds to get it right. 
On his blog, he summarizes the goal well:
"What we should take from the Hawaii false missile alert? It is unacceptable that in the U.S. we have an emergency alert and “nobody knew what to do.” We must fix this. Building a culture of preparedness – a civil defense culture – is a critical task for the national security of the country."

My Twitter Tweets the Day of the Hawaii Catastrophic Alert Failure

I was on Twitter when I read this Tweet from Emily Batty. 
After my heart stopped racing, I posted a hope that it was fake news. 
As the story unraveled that day and the next, the Tweets below show my thoughts.
Note: Unfortunately, I was not able to copy many of these posts to this blog.

  1. Hope this is fake news.




Hawaii releases timeline of what transpired after false ballistic missile warning via y

  1. Hawaii's so-called fix for the Emergency Management alert Fiasco is to close down the system. Wrong. My guess is that office is filled with political hacks sadly.
  1. Hawaii has a creepy voice announcing incoming ballistic missiles. Just lame. They need to record another version of this message with a HUMAN, not a computer, voice. Get your act together,



For anyone who due to the Hawaii ballistic missile threat emergency alert woke up to the need to do civil defense prep, here is one resource:
  1. Hawaii has a creepy voice announcing incoming ballistic missiles. Just lame. They need to record another version of this message with a HUMAN, not a computer, voice. Get your act together,




    1. But has practiced it over and over so the same mistake does not happen again?

    Bruce Curley @brucecurley Jan 15
    Hawaii has a creepy voice announcing incoming ballistic missiles. Just lame. They need to record another version of this message with a HUMAN, not a computer, voice. Get your act together,

  1. Emergency Operations Centers often have political hacks (employees with connections, not skills) working there, as my guess is the case in . Many steps must be taken to correct that fatal error. Here is one:

  1. Hawaii releases timeline of what transpired after false ballistic missile warning via
I said on the day of the fake incoming missile alert, "Hawaii's so-called fix for the Emergency Management alert Fiasco is to close down the system. Wrong. My guess is that office is filled with political hacks sadly." I stand by my statement.


The Hawaiian government released the following timeline of what transpired that day.
Approx. 8:05 a.m. – A routine internal test during a shift change was initiated. This was a test that involved the Emergency Alert System, the Wireless Emergency Alert, but no warning sirens.
8:07 a.m. – A warning test was triggered statewide by the State Warning Point, HI-EMA.
8:10 a.m. – State Adjutant Maj. Gen. Joe Logan, validated with the U.S. Pacific Command that there was no missile launch. Honolulu Police Department notified of the false alarm by HI-EMA.
8:13 a.m. – State Warning Point issues a cancellation of the Civil Danger Warning Message. This would have prevented the initial alert from being rebroadcast to phones that may not have received it yet. For instance, if a phone was not on at 8:07 a.m., if someone was out of range and has since came into cell coverage (Hikers, Mariners, etc.) and/or people getting off a plane.
8:20 a.m. – HI-EMA issues public notification of cancellation via their Facebook and Twitter accounts.
8:24 a.m. – Governor Ige retweets HI-EMA’s cancellation notice.
8:30 a.m. – Governor posts cancellation notification to his Facebook page.
8:45 a.m. – After getting authorization from FEMA Integral Public Alert and Warning System, HIEMA issued a “Civil Emergency Message” remotely.
The following action was executed by the Emergency Alert System (EAS):
1. EAS message over Local TV/Radio Audio Broadcast & Television Crawler Banner.
“False Alarm. There is no missile threat to Hawaii.”
“False Alarm. There is no missile threat or danger to the State of Hawaii. Repeat. There is no
missile threat or danger to the State of Hawaii. False Alarm.”
2. Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA)
“False Alarm. There is no missile threat or danger to the State of Hawaii.”
9:30 a.m. – Governor makes initial media notification.
9:34 a.m. – Governor’s message posted to his Facebook and Twitter accounts.