Talk:Homeland Security Advisory System

Current Event?
Is this really a "current event"? Shouldn't the CE template be removed? --Tysto 2005 July 8 19:35 (UTC)
 * I've removed it. The excitement in London seems to be over. --Carnildo 8 July 2005 21:58 (UTC)

=i just wanted to know how home land sec department is planning to deal with religious extremists specially once their is no check on spread of muslim fundamentals. why can the spread of mosques and beard persons stopped and discouraged

Court Decision
Did anyone catch this page being cited in the 11th Circuit case about the School of the America's protest? Pretty cool.

Here's the decision -- 84.129.121.164 10:54, 18 Oct 2004 (UTC)


 * Actually, given that Wikipedia can be edited by anyone at anytime, I think it's quite scary. 69.58.249.133 2 July 2005 14:44 (UTC)
 * Wow, I've just read that, and I have to agree. What a joke.


 * Interesting, the court case citation said it's been raised to high six times, while the current article states five. Which is right, I wonder? Crisco 1492 18:44, 7 September 2006 (UTC)

Threat Grading
What is it with the USA and it's use of colour grading systems that don't follow the natural order found in the optical spectrum? One would expect ROYGB (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue) not ROYBG. The NOAA is similar in that its map's hurricane strike probability zones run ROGY instead of the natural ROYG.


 * I don't know about the NOAA scale, but with the Homeland Security scale, blue is below green because it's considered a "cooler" color than green, and thus should be further from the "hot" end of the scale: red. --Carnildo 04:04, 22 October 2005 (UTC)


 * Yes, but blue is NOT below green on the HSAS scale, and the point you mention (blue being cooler and furthest away from hot red) is exactly the reason I'm questioning the scales ordering - I'm glad we agree. =P  I should really email both organisations and see if they have a reason for the ordering...


 * It's because green is the opposite of red. Red means stop, green means go. Red is bad, green is good. These are pretty common mnemonics anymore. 71.98.94.170 00:41, 26 October 2005 (UTC)


 * Yeah, from a logical point of view, blue should be bottom. From a "green is a really friendly looking colour" point of view, green should be bottom. As Colbert would say, it just feels like the right thing to do. Also, I'd bet a good amount of money this thing is never going below yellow.--Headcase 06:00, 27 May 2006 (UTC)


 * From a logical point of view, there's no reason the system should follow the order of the optical spectrum. It's not the terror alert rainbow. That would get confused with the gay pride rainbow.--69.241.225.103 13:32, 28 September 2007 (UTC)

This article needs to discuss the process of deciding what the colour of the day should be. --snoyes 02:40, 8 Dec 2003 (UTC)
 * Hey, it's an American system, use an American spelling: COLOR. There, was that so hard?

Or at least describe what the various risk levels mean in concrete terms; what is the difference between "guarded", "elevated", and "severe"? User:Wiml
 * I don't even think Homeland Security has figured out the differences in concrete terms ;-) Karmafist 17:34, 16 July 2005 (UTC)

I don't want to sounds "partisan" or "biased," but surely the public's perception of this device should be mentioned? Given it's supposed importance, it is openly mocked by journalists, entertainers, and some government officials. --Feitclub 21:11, Sep 5, 2004 (UTC)


 * By some journalists, some entertainers, and some politicians. The public in general seem to be split by it, so there should be something about it, but not to give the idea that the public are deadset against it.

Redirect
I believe that anyone who searches for "terror alert", "terrorism alert", or "US alert level" should be redirected here. Trying to find this page I first had to go to the US Department of Homeland Security article and then read until I found the reference to the color coded alert level article. I mean seriously, how many will search for "homeland Security Advisory System" when searching for information?

Retardedity??
Although I am a critic of the terror alert system, lets keep the information here objective and useable. The editorial in the first two sections should be edited or moved. I would do it, but I am not sure how to move anything less than a whole page.--Mirokudesign 05:16, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

Did you pick the title to this category? I only ask because if you in fact did come up with "Retardedity", I would almost have to insist that any statements, advice or input by you be completely dismissed as suspect, questionable with a high probability of being brazen and inflammatory.Griessinthewood (talk) 01:56, 27 September 2016 (UTC)

History
Please see the end HSPD-5 which cleans up some old parts of HSPD-3.

"The Homeland Security Act of 2002 assigned the responsibility for administering the Homeland Security Advisory System to the Secretary of Homeland Security."

Changes in the alert is made in consultation with others (including Justice and the White House), but is the responsibility of the Secretary.

Other resources:

HSPD-5 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/02/20030228-9.html

HSPD-3 http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2002/03/20020312-5.html

The Homeland Securiyt Act of 2002 at http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c107:h.r.5005.enr: or http://www.dhs.gov/dhspublic/display?theme=46&content=41070.61.22.110 16:35, 16 August 2007 (UTC)Gwynne

I'd give a lot to see a citation or link of a formal, governmentally-issued historical chart of threat levels.70.61.22.110 16:35, 16 August 2007 (UTC)Newt

For anyone who doesnt know
What level is this then?


 * $$\sqrt-7$$ --Carnildo 00:44, 21 December 2005 (UTC)

Referring by Colors
Please... DO NOT refer to the Homeland Security Advisory System by colors. That is why they have names. It is not Code Red, it is Severe. And the only Code Blue's there are involve crash carts. --Signed and Sealed, JJJJust (T C) 11:03, 10 August 2006 (UTC)
 * Why in the world would they assign colors to the levels if you aren't supposed to us the color names???


 * This is not intended as a meaningful discussion for change, just an observation for wiki purposes.


 * From the Homeland security site "Code Red or Severe" and "Code Orange or High" are used to describe current levels. It would seem that a code in reference to a color could reference any use of a word(s) as cross organizational standard has not been set. Otherwise, if standards where set, color codes would be limited to four or five uses. So if a government entity required the use of visual aids to describe action levels not relevant to an emergency room use, the government would have no choice but to move down the color spectrum to find a new color, henceforth they would have to use code colors such as ox blood instead of red and code sky blue instead of blue.


 * I might note that, as far as I could tell on my most recent visits to US airports (which was today and yesterday), out of all the repetitive announcements coming out of the PA system about the Homeland Security Advisory level, I heard zero of them ever referring to "high" as the current level; they all said "orange" only. Just as another data point.  --Drake Wilson 00:44, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

^ I'm with Drake. ~signed...paul. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.194.37.144 (talk) 09:36, 27 December 2010 (UTC)

Added HSAS-based template
I created this template for your convenience at the right. If you liked it, please contact me. -- Big  top  01:48, 11 August 2006 (UTC)

David Cross joke amusing but pointless
The whole paragraph about the David Cross joke about the President eating a baby may be amusing, but it doesn't contribute anything useful to the article. It only seems to be there to promote the comedian and/or make the article longer, and the "humor" affects the NPOV of the article. 64.169.12.26 22:20, 7 December 2006 (UTC) SKR

¶ Here is as good a spot as any to express the thought that was shared by many people: The color coding was pointless because (1) the media ALWAYS explained (and had to explain) the significance of the current color code and what the change in codes represented, and (2) even with explanations the various levels meant nothing to people - does yellow mean I can leave my car at the curb unlocked with the motor running? Does red mean I should shoot my neighbor when he walks his dog? Which color means my family all should hide in the attic? Sussmanbern (talk) 08:11, 19 January 2014 (UTC)

Color order
Is anyone else bothered in an OCD way that it goes yellow blue green? Is there a source out there that says this isn't the normal way colors are ordered?69.12.143.197 03:22, 20 April 2007 (UTC)
 * Well, first off you have to consider the people who designed the system were idiots. Then you have to consider that green and blue are never used because Bush doesn't want people to know that our chances of getting attacked by terrorists is pretty close to 0, because it helps his rating among crazy people. Unfortunately, this has the net effect of everyone else completely ignoring it. It doesn't really matter what order the last two colors are in for that reason. Titanium Dragon 21:38, 8 May 2007 (UTC)


 * They were idiots? So they aren't anymore? And BTW this has already been discussed on this talk page. It's not a rainbow, or hot/cold. The reason why green is below blue is this: green is a universal "OK" symbol; red is a universal "Danger" symbol. -- 12.116.162.162 20:13, 4 July 2007 (UTC)
 * I'm not sure I agree with your logic. Blue could be said to be a universal "relaxed" symbol, while green is a universal "ready" symbol. Any 4th grade art student can tell you the logical progression (by color order) would be blue, green, yellow, orange, red. The current layot just feels "wrong". But this is all academic because I doubt the threat level will ever be lowered to green, nor do the threat levels really indicate anything meaningful.--Eion 18:10, 9 July 2007 (UTC)


 * I know I'm joining this discussion a year and a half late, but... Green is the most non-threatening color out there, and I don't think anyone will disagree that red is the most threatening. Plus, the most common and well-known color-coding system out there is traffic lights, where green is the "opposite" of red. I see your point, but this way feels much more intuitive to me (that the whole alert system is scaremongering bullshit is another matter). -- MQ Duck 03:30, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

Alert level history
Is anyone aware of a history of the alert level changes? I can't find anything at the official DHS site, but perhaps some interested observer might have kept track of changes since the system's inception? Thanks. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.241.198.109 (talk) 14:07, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

Alerts and real stories they covered up
[http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/story/18056504/truth_or_terrorism_the_real_story_behind_five_years_of_high_alerts/print Truth or Terrorism? The Real Story Behind Five Years of High Alerts] - which headlines were buried by alerts —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.36.29.71 (talk) 20:46, 25 February 2008 (UTC)
 * Great. This isn't a discussion about the HSAS.  Go find a form for that. 209.180.155.12 (talk) 13:29, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

The Rolling Stone website no longer offers the article mentioned above, but (at least for the moment) the full text is at:  You're welcome. Sussmanbern (talk) 08:25, 19 January 2014 (UTC)

Blue and Green
Why even have blue and green? It'll never be used. And if it ever is used, it's like saying "hey, our security level is low right now. attack us". Retarded... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.137.169.123 (talk) 06:26, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Thats just unconstructive. Itfc+canes=me (talk) 12:51, 11 August 2008 (UTC) —Preceding unsigned comment added by Itfc+canes=me (talk • contribs)

Umm
I looked for this article to find out what the current threat level is. But it doesn't say anything about that. Nor does it mention the September 11th attacks.Abce2 (talk) 16:54, 5 January 2009 (UTC)Abce2


 * It helps if you read..."The system was created by Homeland Security Presidential Directive 3 six months after the terror attacks of September 11, 2001" and "The threat level has stood at Elevated (Yellow) for most of its existence" (25 December 2008 revision). -- 97.113.116.173 (talk) 19:09, 20 April 2009 (UTC)

Ever Been Lower Than Yellow?
The article mentions the the history of alerts for yellow, orange, and red but there is no mention of blue or green. Has the alert system ever gone below yellow? I've been on many flights since 9/11, and I've never seen it lower than yellow. In fact, the system seems to hover at orange at all times. It kind of reduces the credibility of the system in my mind.
 * Well, if you look at the history of the alert levels, and don't see blue or green there, it's a good bet that it's never been blue or green. Do people RTFM before asking questions here? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.113.116.173 (talk) 19:12, 20 April 2009 (UTC)
 * This isn't a discussion about the HSAS. Please do research or ask questions elsewhere if you want to learn more about it.  Also, other guy, don't bite the newcomers.  RTFM is a bit inflammatory. 209.180.155.12 (talk) 13:28, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

Other terror warnings
I flagged this as incomplete. It is a hopeless list. It needs to perhaps include the word "major" and have criteria for being included —Preceding unsigned comment added by Touchdown Turnaround (talk • contribs) 22:37, 2 June 2009 (UTC)

The whole system is under review by DHS
According to a July 14, 2009, press release from the DHS, the whole system is under review. Also, this release contains a complete timeline that can be used to confirm and reference the timeline as presented in the article. I include the link below in a convenient cite template for easy insertion into the article by a motivated editor. - Dravecky (talk) 10:15, 18 July 2009 (UTC)

Brigitte L Nacos Study
Columbia University academic Brigitte L. Nacos has published a study identifying a correlation between increases in terrorism alert levels and Bush's popularity.

The above text was removed from the main page. There is a study, but the reference link is to an article _about_ the study, rather than the study itself. I was going to correct the sentence to provide information about the correlation (which is suspected to be cause, and which effect), but it is not possible to do so with any rigor with the reference available. Given this, this sentence does not add anything useful to the article. If a proper reference can be added, this is definitely relevant. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Nightsmaiden (talk • contribs) 06:14, 30 September 2009 (UTC)

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