US government report recommends blocking popular websites during pandemic flu outbreak

Natural News ^ | 10-29-09 | Mike Adams

[mlizzy]

(NaturalNews) The US government has issued a new report that recommends blocking access to popular websites during a pandemic outbreak in order to preserve internet bandwidth for investors, day traders and securities clearing house operations. The concern is that a pandemic would cause too many people to stay at home and download YouTube videos and porn, hogging all the internet bandwidth and blocking throughput for investment activities, thereby causing a stock market meltdown.

This isn't an April Fool's joke. It's all based on a public report issued by the Government Accounting Office (GAO), available from their website at http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d108.pdf

In this article, I'm going to explain how a pandemic outbreak could theoretically bring down Wall Street. But to get to that, you'll first need to find out what the GAO said in its curious report (see below). Parts of this article are presented as satire, but the underlying facts quoted here are all true and verifiable (links are provided to all sources).

This report in question is entitled, "GAO Report to Congressional Requesters, INFLUENZA PANDEMIC" and includes this subtitle: Key Securities Market Participants Are Making Progress, but Agencies Could Do More to Address Potential Internet Congestion and Encourage Readiness.

[mlizzy]

As the report explains ... In a severe pandemic, governments may close schools, shut down public transportation systems, and ban public gatherings such as concerts or sporting events. In such scenarios, many more people than usual may be at home during the day, and Internet use in residential neighborhoods could increase significantly as a result of people seeking news, entertainment, or social contact from home computers. Concerns have been raised that this additional traffic could lead to congestion on the Internet that would significantly affect businesses in local neighborhoods, such as small doctors' offices or business employees attempting to telework by connecting to their employers' enterprise networks.

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

Please stop by the FReepathon thread and give it a bump. If you haven’t donated yet, please give it some thought.

Thank you!

[HiTech RedNeck]

What idiots calculated that everyone will be youtubing rather than sick in bed?

This is only an excuse for the gummit to get its sticky fingers on the likes of Fox and FR.

[Soothesayer9]

Why are these morons still around when all they seem to do is create heaps of paperwork and fail?

/picardfacepalm

[OneWingedShark]

Never allow a crisis to go to waste, eh?

[blackbart.223]

"Why are these morons still around when all they seem to do is create heaps of paperwork and fail?"

Because a large block of morons vote for them. Who is the moron is the question you should ask.

[swheats]

bump for later

[Freddd]

CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta tonight said, the Swine flu is LESS virulent than the seasonal flu!!!

And the prime season was earlier this year!

This whole thing has been a deception, hyped again by the media, and a failure and another theft from the American people.

[MamaDearest]

a new report that recommends blocking access to popular websites during a pandemic outbreak in order to preserve internet bandwidth

If they do this, its likely to have an ADVERSE effect on the stock market and cause real panic and civil chaos and distract us from the financial quicksand we're currently mired in.

It is becoming more and more apparent they want 100% CONTROL of the internet, by hook or by crook.

[DannyTN]

I can see the concern.

But if they do something like this. It should require:

• the approval of a judge, just like a warrant.
• a limited timeframe.
• be limited to only the peak hours. And in no case non-working wall-street hours.
• have a specific list of sites identified for the judge to approve and the category of site, (porn, gambling, youtube, online games, etc.
• news organizations such as Fox must not be blocked.
• a quick appeal process for any site that is "miscategorized" or critical to any business process.
• and government should reimburse non-porn and non-gambling sites for lost revenue. based on normal non-pandemic volume.

[goodnesswins]

CNN let that doc say that!? WOW. Not only that, but they are not even really testing for Swine flu....they do NOT know what kind of flu people have!

[SwedeBoy2]

So Now it is Bandwidth Rationing for the Good of the Bankers?

Has anyone thought that maybe there are a lot of Businesses that are not Brick and Mortar that depend upon online sales.

So, You’ve read “Unintended Consequences” and “Enemies Foreign and Domestic”?

[SwedeBoy2]

Beware of Mission Creep!

[airborne]

Helping businesses isn’t part of the master plan.

[GloriaJane]

Shut down popular sites like twitter? The site the Iranian people used when they were standing up to Ahmadinejad?

[~Kim4VRWC's~]

Fyi!

[goodnesswins]

YEP...if they are talking about PORN sites...go ahead....sheesh....anything else...give me a break!

[~Kim4VRWC's~]

Ping

[USFRIENDINVICTORIA]

“The US government has issued a new report that recommends blocking access to popular websites during a pandemic outbreak in order to preserve internet bandwidth ....”

Doesn't this amount to the exact opposite of what the “Net Neutrality” legislation would be intended to do?

[Mr_Moonlight]

The US government has issued a new report that recommends blocking access to popular websites during a pandemic outbreak in order to preserve internet bandwidth for investors, day traders and securities clearing house operations. The concern is that a pandemic would cause too many people to stay at home and download YouTube videos and porn, hogging all the internet bandwidth and blocking throughput for investment activities, thereby causing a stock market meltdown.

Oh, nonsense! There was a time, not too long ago, when the Internet was somewhat 'fragile', that even having a text forum chat with a famous celebrity was a big deal and would lock out many users due to limited bandwidth. Since then its bandwidth backbone has grown in leaps and bounds and can now support high bandwidth content such as video and live streaming.

And besides, from a cultural perspective, isn't that exactly what the policy wonks in DC have always wanted? For us all to be opiated by mindless entertainment while they chip away at our God given freedoms?

What a bunch of bunk!

-- MM

[MaxMax]

In this case they're creating a crisis "strawman" and exploiting it before it happens.
Next they'll need our guns to keep us safe during an outbreak.

[LucyT]

.

[Sun]

This is not one bit surprising. Any excuse to stop our free speech. I have a shortwave radio in case they ban talk radio, too.

[Nachum]

Thanks for the heads up Kim!

The list, ping

[LachlanMinnesota]

HOw bad could the flu be if they can sit at home and watch porn? They could do that at the office like they always do!

[SuziQ]

Bump for later Friday reading

[LachlanMinnesota]

This means that for three hours each day during Rush’s show, there will be too much band width being used, so they will cut his show off...

[Vendome]

I have been sick for two days and I have curtailed my bandwithy thingy.

Been sleeping and didn’t feel like being online much.

[~Kim4VRWC's~]

It sounds like they’re scared to death of non sick people freaking out and communicating with each other while the sick ones are incapacitated. Do they think communication on the net would be worse than during and after 9/11 or what?

[~Kim4VRWC's~]

That’s what I’m saying, this isn’t directed toward those who are sick..it’s preventing the healthy from communicating. (But why?)

[1_Rain_Drop]

If they shut down YouTube videos and porn wouldn't that start the real pandemic?

Seriously now, I think all this and the man made swine flu is just a betta test. One day, when they fix all the glitches, they'll hit us with everything all at once.

[Vendome]

I had a little bit of pork for dinner in celebration.

Hopefully, feel better in the morning and will have a BLT, even though I don’t really eat swine. I am doing so in protest and in hopes that it will cure me.

[Ticonderoga34]

That’s what I’m saying, this isn’t directed toward those who are sick..it’s preventing the healthy from communicating. (But why?)

Because they intend to declare martial law during a pandemic? I don't know, that's the only thing I could think off.

[~Kim4VRWC's~]

I hope not... I just can’t believe internet traffic would be worse than 9/11.

[sloop]

anyone that is stoopid enough to rely on the internet for a critical function of their business is a fool

build you own private network if its that important

[bamahead]

This isn't an April Fool's joke. It's all based on a public report issued by the Government Accounting Office (GAO), available from their website...



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[Fred Nerks]

Indicates fear and desperation, IMO. Create an emergency and block communication. Must be frustrating that the ‘swine flu’ won’t co-operate. What’s next? A ‘terrorist’ attack maybe?

[Allegra]

I have been sick for two days and I have curtailed my bandwithy thingy.

I had it a couple of weeks ago...I was hardly on the computer at all for a few days. I was too puny, sleepy, achy and prone to chills to want to sit at the keyboard.

[BobbyT]

Well, the rationale they’re using is for the entirety of the world’s financial markets, so basically anything produced.

But it’s a straw man on top of a straw man. All that goes on on separate networks. I’m a US treasury trader, and we have a completely separate fiber connection to the exchange.

So even if you could flood the internet, it wouldn’t affect the exchanges. I might not be able to log on to my Ameritrade (Scottrade, etc) account from my home internet connection to sell Google or whatever, but the vast majority of trading doesn’t touch the internet.

And of course, the image of this incredibly fragile and crowded internet is a joke. Iphones might lag if everyone jumped on the 3G cell networks at once, but the communications companies laid so much fiber from the 90s up until now that we’re not going to run out of capacity because people are home sick.

[SwedeBoy2]

Thank You for the Information concerning the Net.

I had thought that the Net was deliberately designed to be Decentralized and self healing in that if there was a disruption in service in one location It would automatically reroute.

There may be temporary overloads going through Hubs and switches but it would eventually dissipate.

We sometimes have overloads on the Intranet at work But it does not last very long.

[meyer]

The US government has issued a new report that recommends blocking access to popular websites during a pandemic outbreak,...

Substitute "conservative" for "popular" and you'll get their real goal. Just declare a "pandemic" and then use that to shut down dissent. It's so simple, even a caveman could do it.

[Safetgiver]

This whole thing has been a deception,.....It’s win-win for Obama. If there is NO large outbreak, we will hear “WE kept it from happening.” If there is a large, uncontrollable outbreak we will hear “It would have been worse if 0Bama hadn’t prepared us.”

[houeto]

[azishot]

The concern is that a pandemic would cause too many people to stay at home and download YouTube videos and porn, hogging all the internet bandwidth and blocking throughput for investment activities, thereby causing a stock market meltdown.

What liars! How many *sheeple* out there really believe this? Don't answer...I know there are too many lemmings that are happy to have the govt. LEAD them off the cliff.

[Dr.Zoidberg]

(But why?)

To limit organized resistance to martial law.

Some of us know hamthrax to be no worse than the normal flu. If bammy's stormtroopers make their move using the pretext of flu, we'll fight.

[mlizzy]

CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta tonight said, the Swine flu is LESS virulent than the seasonal flu!!!

Do you have a link perchance to this information?

[danamco]

Who is the moron is the question you should ask.

Probably 62% of the American people who didn't use their computers BEFORE the election 2008???

[danamco]

I can see the concern.

The only concern you should have is to tell guvernment the stay the hell out of our business and life in general!!!

[IrishPennant]

Thanks for the “I need to buy a ham radio” ping!