Threats To Military Families

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I tend to tune out Fox News as well, but this story doesn't seem to be a conservative/liberal battle, but something that service members and their families should be aware of.
 
Stopped caring at Fox News.

If you trust anything these days..... you're suspect.

When the U.S. federal government made the decision to bring back the first two Ebola cases to the U.S., we were told "Emory is equiped to handle Ebola... it's one of a few hospitals with the facilities and the training to handle this level virus."

Now, with selective memory, possible Ebola cases show up at how many other hospitals? Howard? I wouldn't trust Howard University to draw my blood.... but it can handle a possible Ebola case?

If it's coming from an Obama administration official, whether it be State Department officials talking about Benghazi or Syria or Iran or Iraq or North Korea or Egypt or Ukraine......

or if it's a Secret Service official (read "Department of Homeland Security official") talking about fense hoppers in Washington or the border situation in Texas/Arizona/New Mexico.

or if it's Justice Department officials talking about "gun walking" or polling threats or racism in America

or if it's Department of Health and Human Services officials talking about the Affordable Care Act.

I have never seen an administration so hell-bent on controlling information at all levels for political reasons.

Last I checked (around December of last year) DHS component agencies had to clear news releases through DHS staffers. These are GS-9s or GS-10s, working for the Assistant Secretary of Public Affairs for DHS, with little no no PR experience clearing releases for agencies with PR pros who have 20-30 years of non-partisan experience, all to ensure the administration isn't embarrassed by the truth.

This transformation took place in the first term of Obama's presidency. That was the state of things when I left the Coast Guard in 2011. And, according to my DHS friends at CBP, ICE, USCIS, the Secret Service and the Coast Guard, nothing has changed in the last three years.

So you want to trust what you read in the papers or see on TV? What source do you think most media outlets have? Official sources. And when they want to get information "on background" or "off the record" or unattributed.... who do you think THAT info is coming from? Sometimes the same folks, and sometimes the non-political PR pros who are tired of being dragged through the mud to achieve some temporary DC residents political objectives.

Don't trust Fox News, fine. But I do know I received a Facebook message from a female whose location was, I believe Syria, who said "hi" and nothing more. She wasn't connected to me in any way. And she wasn't connected to any of my friends. Was it a search for "Coast Guard" or "Coast Guard Academy"? I don't know. I don't really care. But lets not minimize threats either, either because we're used to sleeping on a secure base or because we're used to being shot at. If military families are vulnerable to fraud cases, are they any less vulnerable to being targetted? And if you're serving overseas, is that something you want in the back of your mind?
 
Don't trust Fox News, fine. But I do know I received a Facebook message from a female whose location was, I believe Syria, who said "hi" and nothing more. She wasn't connected to me in any way. And she wasn't connected to any of my friends. Was it a search for "Coast Guard" or "Coast Guard Academy"? I don't know. I don't really care. But lets not minimize threats either, either because we're used to sleeping on a secure base or because we're used to being shot at. If military families are vulnerable to fraud cases, are they any less vulnerable to being targetted? And if you're serving overseas, is that something you want in the back of your mind?

Our cadet parents FB group is getting requests from some parents asking that it be moved from a "closed" group to a "secret" group because of this threat. Of course, the problem with that is that it would mean that we wouldn't be able to reach those parents of new cadets coming into the program for the spring new freshman class. How serious is this threat? Is there some other way to make the group somewhat less vulnerable without changing from "closed" to "secret"?
 
Folks- I don't really mean to minimize your fears, but a personal threat analysis will tell you that while there are a lot of threats in the world- do you really think this is one you should really lose sleep over? Earthquakes when you live on the San Andreas fault- you should worry about that. If you live in Pahoa, Hawaii - you have a real worry from Lava.If you just climbed off a plane that originated in Monrovia and you feel like you are coming down with something- you should be scared. If you are in Syria or Northern Iraq or Syria and are a Westerner- you have something to truly worry about. If you are the parent of a kid in a military college in the US and you are worried because you are in a Facebook parents group- Personally I think you can relax and sleep ok. Now you might be in danger from a hacker because you responded to an email offering to share a fabulous fortune from a long lost uncle- but physical danger? I believe you can sleep well and keep your parents group open. And honestly- take stock here and put your concerns in perspective- if you are spinning out over a throw away threat from admittedly bad guys 7000 miles away- how are you going to react when young "Stashu" gets deployed to Afghanistan?

It's just a personal opinion, but IMHO-You can only worry about so many things & I don't believe this should be one of them.
 
Folks- I don't really mean to minimize your fears, but a personal threat analysis will tell you that while there are a lot of threats in the world- do you really think this is one you should really lose sleep over? Earthquakes when you live on the San Andreas fault- you should worry about that. If you live in Pahoa, Hawaii - you have a real worry from Lava.If you just climbed off a plane that originated in Monrovia and you feel like you are coming down with something- you should be scared. If you are in Syria or Northern Iraq or Syria and are a Westerner- you have something to truly worry about. If you are the parent of a kid in a military college in the US and you are worried because you are in a Facebook parents group- Personally I think you can relax and sleep ok. Now you might be in danger from a hacker because you responded to an email offering to share a fabulous fortune from a long lost uncle- but physical danger? I believe you can sleep well and keep your parents group open. And honestly- take stock here and put your concerns in perspective- if you are spinning out over a throw away threat from admittedly bad guys 7000 miles away- how are you going to react when young "Stashu" gets deployed to Afghanistan?

It's just a personal opinion, but IMHO-You can only worry about so many things & I don't believe this should be one of them.

Thanks for putting into words exactly what I was thinking.
 
Folks- I don't really mean to minimize your fears, but a personal threat analysis will tell you that while there are a lot of threats in the world- do you really think this is one you should really lose sleep over? Earthquakes when you live on the San Andreas fault- you should worry about that. If you live in Pahoa, Hawaii - you have a real worry from Lava.If you just climbed off a plane that originated in Monrovia and you feel like you are coming down with something- you should be scared. If you are in Syria or Northern Iraq or Syria and are a Westerner- you have something to truly worry about. If you are the parent of a kid in a military college in the US and you are worried because you are in a Facebook parents group- Personally I think you can relax and sleep ok. Now you might be in danger from a hacker because you responded to an email offering to share a fabulous fortune from a long lost uncle- but physical danger? I believe you can sleep well and keep your parents group open. And honestly- take stock here and put your concerns in perspective- if you are spinning out over a throw away threat from admittedly bad guys 7000 miles away- how are you going to react when young "Stashu" gets deployed to Afghanistan?

It's just a personal opinion, but IMHO-You can only worry about so many things & I don't believe this should be one of them.

I think that's the first time the name "Stashu" was ever used on these forums. :biggrin:
 
I think some of the fear being experienced is because so much is unknown, and so much is out of "personal" control.

There are many people out there whose child's attendence at an SA is their first experience with the military. So much is unknown and misuderstood. The one thing that breeds fear better than anything else is ignorence. There is nothing worse than feeling helpless and not knowing what to do in order to improve/change a situation or make things more secure.

So all the public knows and understands is
There was a pilot and his son who were threatened on facebook. The threat was taken seriously.

The public is also aware of random/unexpected violence in the public sector:
Beheading of employee at work
Newtown Sandy Hook Gunman
Boston Marthon Bombings
9-11
(to name a few of the larger publicly known ones)

Most people don't understand how to assess a threat or the most effective means of minimizing the threat or being targeted. So they react in the only way they know how. And in some cases, it may result in an over reaction or the wrong reaction. In the case of social media this can result in making a facebook group secrete but not securing your own personal facebook account. Believing a change in status means that all the current memeber have been properly vetted, and thus it is safe to share anything in that group.

There is nothing like taking something for granted, only to realize it isn't as safe a place as you once thought it was.
 
Folks- I don't really mean to minimize your fears, but a personal threat analysis will tell you that while there are a lot of threats in the world- do you really think this is one you should really lose sleep over? Earthquakes when you live on the San Andreas fault- you should worry about that. If you live in Pahoa, Hawaii - you have a real worry from Lava.If you just climbed off a plane that originated in Monrovia and you feel like you are coming down with something- you should be scared. If you are in Syria or Northern Iraq or Syria and are a Westerner- you have something to truly worry about. If you are the parent of a kid in a military college in the US and you are worried because you are in a Facebook parents group- Personally I think you can relax and sleep ok. Now you might be in danger from a hacker because you responded to an email offering to share a fabulous fortune from a long lost uncle- but physical danger? I believe you can sleep well and keep your parents group open. And honestly- take stock here and put your concerns in perspective- if you are spinning out over a throw away threat from admittedly bad guys 7000 miles away- how are you going to react when young "Stashu" gets deployed to Afghanistan?

It's just a personal opinion, but IMHO-You can only worry about so many things & I don't believe this should be one of them.

Completely wrong! No-one is losing sleep over anything that they can not control. People 7,000 miles away?

People are more aware of their surroundings and should be. Don't down play that.

Anyone heard about the 10 ISIS caught at the border? Can anyone post it? Gonna lose sleep?

How about General Kelly's concerns? Gonna lose sleep? How about that post?

Stashu's and the parents will be fine with a healthy concern for their children but don't down play it. It's a new era in this country and people need to be informed like Momba stated.
 
Completely wrong! No-one is losing sleep over anything that they can not control. People 7,000 miles away?

People are more aware of their surroundings and should be. Don't down play that.

Anyone heard about the 10 ISIS caught at the border? Can anyone post it? Gonna lose sleep?

How about General Kelly's concerns? Gonna lose sleep? How about that post?

Stashu's and the parents will be fine with a healthy concern for their children but don't down play it. It's a new era in this country and people need to be informed like Momba stated.

Someone is drinking the kool-aid. Ten ISIS did not cross the border, its lies from Rep Hunter among the other tripe parroted by FoxNews.

And US infections of Ebola don't spread in country among the normal population. When you aren't drinking water from a river or living with first world sanitation, Ebola doesn't spread. More fear mongering. Not losing any sleep and I live right on the border!

There's no new era. It's another group of Arab terrorists to replace one before it and another pandemic of disease rolling through the third world as happens.

Military members should abide by recommended social media guidelines but there's no reason to expect some Ebola stricken ISIS fighter to role up to our doors. :rolleyes:
 
Someone is drinking the kool-aid.



There's no new era.

Military members should abide by recommended social media guidelines
:rolleyes:


SOCIAL MEDIA! Very Nice!

Keep your kool-aid comments to yourself. Understand!
 
Someone is drinking the kool-aid. Ten ISIS did not cross the border, its lies from Rep Hunter among the other tripe parroted by FoxNews.

And US infections of Ebola don't spread in country among the normal population. When you aren't drinking water from a river or living with first world sanitation, Ebola doesn't spread. More fear mongering. Not losing any sleep and I live right on the border!

There's no new era. It's another group of Arab terrorists to replace one before it and another pandemic of disease rolling through the third world as happens.

Military members should abide by recommended social media guidelines but there's no reason to expect some Ebola stricken ISIS fighter to role up to our doors. :rolleyes:

There are truely frightened people out there. You have the benefit of military training and a background which enables you to handle and asses the situation. Most people do not. Can you put yourself in the place of a civilian parent with no military background, whose child is now at an academy which was listed on a top 10 terrorist target list (this came out before parents weekend at the usafa)? Many parents would do anything they could to protect their children, adult or not. Parents let go, but they never stop worrying or caring. This situation is beyond their experience, their knowledge and their ability to do something proactive. Most are looking for direction. They want to do whatever they can to keep their families safe. Some things may sound or seem silly. But it is all some people have to help them keep fear at bay.
 
There are truely frightened people out there. You have the benefit of military training and a background which enables you to handle and asses the situation. Most people do not. Can you put yourself in the place of a civilian parent with no military background, whose child is now at an academy which was listed on a top 10 terrorist target list (this came out before parents weekend at the usafa)? Many parents would do anything they could to protect their children, adult or not. Parents let go, but they never stop worrying or caring. This situation is beyond their experience, their knowledge and their ability to do something proactive. Most are looking for direction. They want to do whatever they can to keep their families safe. Some things may sound or seem silly. But it is all some people have to help them keep fear at bay.

More importantly, I have the willingness to seek knowledge and information - much of it is readily available. Using Ebola as a terrorizing story only works if you make sure not to understand the disease and how difficult it is for it to spread in a first world country. I'm also not willing to sit back and give the fear mongers a pass who perpetuate the fear and lead others to believe a fleeting threat is more grave. cga82 falls into that fear monger category.
 
I didn't read anything about an Ebola threat, I read about the Air Force pilot whose son was tracked down by supposed Islamic terrorists via Facebook and was threatened.

The Army intelligence bulletin, obtained by Fox News, had warned that Islamic State militants were calling on supporters to scour social media for addresses of U.S. military family members and “show up [at their homes] and slaughter them." The assessment urged U.S. military personnel to be vigilant.

The source said that in late September, Islamic State sympathizers harassed an Air Force member who had posted pictures online from a flight over Iraq during a recent bombing campaign.

The source, who is familiar with the incident, said ISIS found the servicemember’s social media profile, and then linked it to his son’s Facebook account. The son is believed to be in his early teens. The ISIS sympathizers first saw the servicemember's pictures after they were posted to a military website, and then tracked them to his Facebook page.
 
More importantly, I have the willingness to seek knowledge and information - much of it is readily available. Using Ebola as a terrorizing story only works if you make sure not to understand the disease and how difficult it is for it to spread in a first world country. I'm also not willing to sit back and give the fear mongers a pass who perpetuate the fear and lead others to believe a fleeting threat is more grave. cga82 falls into that fear monger category.

Ebola is off topic..having said that, this is the basic information
It is a category level 4 as categorize by the cdc.
It can survive outside the host for 48 hours or maybe even longer. This is why the blanket being brought to the hospital by the Dallas Liberian patient was so concerning. This is also why there was an effort to get the family out of that apartment.
We have never had such a disease loose in our country. So while we should handle it better than a third world nation, it won't be a picnic if it spreads.
So far, this variation is not known to exist in other animal species. This is a good thing. But the concern it could jump species is why the dog was put down in Spain. There are variations that can jump between pigs and monkeys.
We know far less about Ebola than we do about other contagious disease. One of the reasons why we don't know as much is because it has never been a problem in the US before. First world nations focus on first world issues.
It has an incubation of up to 21 days. This is highly differnt from other strains. Most other variations, within 48 hours you are very ill, thus limiting the travel ability. The fact the incubation is so long is One reason why it was able to spread as far and wide as it did.
I won't get started on the new travel checks...it is a look busy like we care so they vote for us but won't really accomplish anything measure.

By no means should people panic. However, to be little the potential of this disease is not good either.
 
More importantly, I have the willingness to seek knowledge and information - much of it is readily available. Using Ebola as a terrorizing story only works if you make sure not to understand the disease and how difficult it is for it to spread in a first world country. I'm also not willing to sit back and give the fear mongers a pass who perpetuate the fear and lead others to believe a fleeting threat is more grave. cga82 falls into that fear monger category.

Hey buddy-I guess you're a guy. Did the General say this?


KELLY: The Ebola issue. There's no way you can keep Ebola in West Africa. If it comes to the Western Hemisphere, many countries in the Western Hemisphere have about no ability to deal with an Ebola outbreak. So, much like western Africa, it'll rage for some period of time. If Ebola breaks out in Haiti or in Central America, I think is literally, "Katie, bar the door," in terms of the mass migration of Central Americans into the United States. These populations will move to either run away from Ebola, or -- in the fear of having been infected -- to get to the United States where will be taken care of.

Duncan Hunter maintains that he was told what he reported. I would watch who you call a Liar with your great 2010 experience in life.

Don't put me in any category or this will spiral down hill fast.

Your name calling is a smoke screen that all liberals use to cover up logic and to find the truth. Keep with your Social Media friends.
 
Ebola is off topic..having said that, this is the basic information
It is a category level 4 as categorize by the cdc.
It can survive outside the host for 48 hours or maybe even longer. This is why the blanket being brought to the hospital by the Dallas Liberian patient was so concerning. This is also why there was an effort to get the family out of that apartment.
We have never had such a disease loose in our country. So while we should handle it better than a third world nation, it won't be a picnic if it spreads.
So far, this variation is not known to exist in other animal species. This is a good thing. But the concern it could jump species is why the dog was put down in Spain. There are variations that can jump between pigs and monkeys.
We know far less about Ebola than we do about other contagious disease. One of the reasons why we don't know as much is because it has never been a problem in the US before. First world nations focus on first world issues.
It has an incubation of up to 21 days. This is highly differnt from other strains. Most other variations, within 48 hours you are very ill, thus limiting the travel ability. The fact the incubation is so long is One reason why it was able to spread as far and wide as it did.
I won't get started on the new travel checks...it is a look busy like we care so they vote for us but won't really accomplish anything measure.

By no means should people panic. However, to be little the potential of this disease is not good either.

-We have, and currently do, face worse diseases than Ebola.
-Ebola was transmitted from wild animals to humans, in fact, fruit bats are natural ebola hosts. Humans first contracted ebola from close contact with the fluids of infected animals (and it isn't just pigs and monkeys). It originated with animals in the rain forests of central Africa.
-You can only contract the virus through direct contact with an infect person's (or animal) bodily fluids or a surface that contains those fluids.
-Yes, it does have an incubation period of 2-21 days. However, you are only contagious once you begin experiencing symptoms.

As long as you do not plan on messing around with ebola infected fluids, you will be fine. The countries in west Africa that are experiencing the outbreak lack decent healthcare, are still recovering from conflict, and many people there are simply not educated on how to prevent the spread of these diseases.

I spent a few months in Africa this summer in a country that borders where the disease originated and ebola dominated the news there. From everything we saw, the disease wasn't spreading because it was simply so bad, but instead because people weren't taking necessary precautions from infected people. A family would have a kid or two become infected with the disease and instead of having the kids isolated and given medical care, they would prefer that the family stay together and the kids pass at home. Then when they go to bury them, everyone else becomes infected from handling the body if they hadn't become infected already.

Couple that with sanitation practically being non-existent and no access to quality medical care, it spreads. Hell, people were raiding hospitals taking their family members back home because they only knew that their family member got sick, went to a hospital, and they never saw them again.

Yea, it's a nasty disease. But you currently face higher risks from driving down the highway.

*Those facts came directly from the WHO
 
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