Homeland Security Messages Coming to Wal Mart, etc. | Hacker News Reader

Homeland Security Messages Coming to Wal Mart, etc.

rawstory.com

57 pointsjcromartie36 comments

100:1 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!"

Regarding your aside: A fearful populace is probably significantly more likely to stockpile.

> 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

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.

Here's the paper for those who are interested: http://www.scribd.com/doc/44864540/The-Relationship-between-...

Looks true from my experience. During the period of transition from Soviet Union to Russia, whenever people were anticipating any news from the government, salt, sugar, coffee, matches disappeared from the shops very quickly. Every family had a stash of canned foods for the so-called "black day" (hard times).

If you think about it for a minute, the vast majority of suspicious activity likely to be reported in a Walmart is related to shoplifting. That doesn't make this move by the government any less creepy, but it does explain why Walmart would go along with it.

We 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.

Now, 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.

I 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!"

I 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?

My 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.

i'm usually pretty hesitant to use the world "Orwellian" -- but this makes the bar

The 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.

We have always been at war with the terrorists.

Creepy. It seems to me that we really are living in the kind of dystopian cyberpunk future which I read about as a teenager.

As 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.

So an optimist then ;-)

True, Star Trek only had a handful of androids.

none of which were 'your basic pleasure model'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vz-MepaJCM4

Regarding 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-indica...]

Shneier doubts it's effective either [http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2010/05/if_you_see_som...]

There's already a blog devoted to showing suspicious peoples: http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/

This 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.

This story is disturbing, but after looking at their homepage I'm not sure I trust the source:

http://www.rawstory.com/

Any confirmation of this?

http://www.dhs.gov/ links to http://www.youtube.com/user/ushomelandsecurity which links to the videos mentioned for Wal-Mart (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czoww2l1xdw) and the Mall of America (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=stsRfx5-3EQ), amongst others. Looks legit to me.

If you want to see suspicious, go into Walmart's meat department.

This 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.

homeland security is an auto immune disorder

Wow, 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.

A quick way to mass de-sensitize people to these videos.

The 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.

The 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.

But not every organization has the power to throw you in jail with impunity if you resist their growth.

$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

At 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

The morning hate + insincere greeters = a perfect picture of modern America

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