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Homeland Security Messages Coming to Wal Mart, etc.
- lkjhgfvhjk 16y agoThe morning hate + insincere greeters = a perfect picture of modern America
- yock 16y agoAs a model for predicting the future through science fiction, will life in another decade more closely resemble cyberpunk or utopia? I'm beginning to lean further from Star Trek and closer to Blade Runner.
- lkjhgfvhjk 16y agoSo an optimist then ;-)
- pyre 16y agoTrue, Star Trek only had a handful of androids.
- lkjhgfvhjk 16y agonone of which were 'your basic pleasure model'
- SpacemanSpiff 16y agohttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz-MepaJCM4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz-MepaJCM4
- jdp23 16y agoi'm usually pretty hesitant to use the world "Orwellian" -- but this makes the bar
- mortenjorck 16y agoThe dour face on the always-present screen is such an enduring image of totalitarianism in our culture -- the first thing I thought of was Dr. Breen. More than likely, though, this will be softened with animated graphics, music, and special guests in between the dour headshots of the Secretary.
- SkyMarshal 16y agoWe have always been at war with the terrorists.
- lavezzaf 16y agoI love how America is turning into a police state. "Lets have fear mongering pushed onto the stupid masses at Walmart so we can keep the public afraid so we can take away their civil liberties with less resistance!"
- tc 16y ago100:1 odds that this won't be gracing the aisles of Whole Foods, or the galleries of fine theatres, or the elegant lobbies of ritzy hotels and restaurants, or anywhere else that the politicians and power-brokers who run this increasingly insane government might expect to be found. -- [1] As as aside.... There must be some serious arm-twisting going on here. I cannot fathom a reason, outside of garnering favor with an increasingly powerful and arbitrary government, that a profit-seeking business would allow fear-mongering within their premises. This cannot be good for retail. Amazon must be licking their lips. [2] It's doubly unlikely that this will ever appear at Whole Foods, as the founder seems to be a libertarian. If he was interested in political favors he wouldn't have posted that WSJ op-ed on health-care. [3] Orwell parallel: in 1984, only the members of the Inner Party could turn off their telescreens... though they also left the proles more or less in peace. [4] Regarding the suggestions below that this could be good business for Walmart... there's truth in what you say, but I doubt it applies in this case. A fearful message such as, "It's hurricane season. Stock up!" would likely be effective (in certain geographies). Reminding people that gathering at your particular establishment might be dangerous, though, seems less likely to engender repeat business. "There may be terrorists lurking in our parking lot. Beware!"
- icey 16y agoRegarding your aside: A fearful populace is probably significantly more likely to stockpile.
- rdtsc 16y ago> A fearful populace is probably significantly more likely to stockpile. In general, they are also more susceptable to suggestions (advertising messages). Related paper by Wheatley and Oshikawa. http://www.jstor.org/pss/3149511 http://www.jstor.org/pss/3149511 The Relationship between Anxiety and Positive and Negative Advertising Appeals (Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 7, No. 1, Feb 1970). [sorry publishing paywall, anyone can find the full version?] In addition to certain segments of the population Walmart will seem more American, more patriotic, and more trustworthy. I hate to say it, but it is an excellent business choice on Walmart's part.
- mattmillr 16y agoRegarding similar programs in the Bay Area: "none of the five agencies analyzed for this study measures the effectiveness of their campaigns. Whereas they all have a similar goal—to increase passenger awareness about security issues—little evidence therefore exists confirming whether they are achieving this goal." [http://incaseofemergencyblog.com/2010/09/17/new-study-indicates-difficulty-in-evaluating-effectiveness-of-see-something-say-something-like-citizen-tips-campaigns/ http://incaseofemergencyblog.com/2010/09/17/new-study-indica...] Shneier doubts it's effective either [http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2010/05/if_you_see_some.html http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2010/05/if_you_see_som...]
- napierzaza 16y agoThe problem with Homeland Security is that they're a bunch of people sitting in an office thinking: What can we do to promote Homeland Security? This means that they're just out there to promote their mission statement of FUD and spend whatever money they get to do it. Like the TSA forget about slowing down the message or decreasing it. They're all about expanding. They'll continue so far as they're able to convince the people that allow them the money and the access.
- bioh42_2 16y agoThe problem with Homeland Security is that they're a bunch of people sitting in an office thinking: What can we do to promote Homeland Security? That's pretty much true for every organization, be it a private company, the catholic church, or NATO. In the case of government we refer to this natural tendency to grow as bureaucratic inertia. I am saddened that the people working for DHS are so unimaginative that this is the best they could think up.
- richcollins 16y agoBut not every organization has the power to throw you in jail with impunity if you resist their growth.
- motters 16y agoCreepy. It seems to me that we really are living in the kind of dystopian cyberpunk future which I read about as a teenager.
- brudgers 16y agoIf you want to see suspicious, go into Walmart's meat department.
- barmstrong 16y agoThis story is disturbing, but after looking at their homepage I'm not sure I trust the source: http://www.rawstory.com/ http://www.rawstory.com/ Any confirmation of this?
- callahad 16y agohttp://www.dhs.gov/ http://www.dhs.gov/ links to http://www.youtube.com/user/ushomelandsecurity http://www.youtube.com/user/ushomelandsecurity which links to the videos mentioned for Wal-Mart (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czoww2l1xdw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czoww2l1xdw) and the Mall of America (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stsRfx5-3EQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stsRfx5-3EQ), amongst others. Looks legit to me.
- yequalsx 16y agoI heard one report say that these videos will play at checkout lanes. What is the reason that Walmart is doing this? Have they determined that their customers want this? Is DHS paying them? I have a hard time believing that Walmart's customers want this. I can't see DHS paying for it. Do they have enough money to make it worth Walmart's time?
- pigbucket 16y agoMy guess is that Walmart is more concerned about finding a cheap way to deal with its parking-lot crime problem, for which it has taken a lot of flak, than it is with national security. Finding a way to encourage vigilance on the part of customers while deflecting attention from the real threat (robbery, assault) seems as clever as it is cynical.
- f1gm3nt 16y agoThere's already a blog devoted to showing suspicious peoples: http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/ http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/
- AndrewMoffat 16y ago$100 says this doesn't go a year before some hacker makes those displays play out the V for Vendetta broadcast monologue. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chqi8m4CEEY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chqi8m4CEEY
- philwelch 16y agoAt my college, they installed computerized projector media systems in some of the buildings. On November 5, this video played every hour, at :15, between 9 and 5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnF8FvXNozc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnF8FvXNozc
- PedroCandeias 16y agoWe had similar "programs" in Portugal 30 years ago. We were a fascist dictatorship back then, and fear was almost a form of currency. Like tc says, this is fear mongering. Now, if the purpose of HS is to fight terrorism, shouldn't they be making people feel <i>less</i> afraid? It's ridiculous.
- orangecat 16y agoNow, if the purpose of HS is to fight terrorism, shouldn't they be making people feel <i>less</i> afraid? Absolutely not. If we felt safe, we'd start asking intelligent questions about why we're groping children in airports and spending billions of dollars on DHS. Disturbingly, both terrorists and governments share the goal of making you afraid.
- joshes 16y agoThis is frightening. The biggest threat to the United States is the actions of the United States. Who the hell thought that this was a good idea? In what way does this curb terrorism? It is far more likely to encourage and enhance false positives, unwarranted fear, stereotyping, etc. This is a triple threat: it wastes money, instills a culture of fear and mistrust and makes yet another step toward the erosion of freedoms and the destruction of personal privacy.
- stretchwithme 16y agohomeland security is an auto immune disorder
- grantbachman 16y agoWow, this really makes me want to start leaving briefcases and bags around the areas with these PSAs broadcasting. I'll also make sure to leave either a note or a copy of 1984 in the cases.
- blhack 16y agoThis type of thing comes almost directly out of George Orwell's 1984. It's been years since I've read it, what did they call the kids that were instructed to turn in traitors, even if those traitors were their parents? The most frightening thing about this is what it implies: "Well, if there are all these warnings and advisories and soforth, there must be an active threat! People in my town must be terrorists! I'll go find them!" It's insane.
- p858snake 16y agoA quick way to mass de-sensitize people to these videos.