What does a Government Shutdown look like?

Source: The Green Dandelion

With the holidays passing, a government shutdown is underway.  One might actually forget about the shutdown if social media were not around (and assuming that you do not pay attention to the news).  Anyways, I was perusing Instagram (a social media site) and found the following image shown below:

Source: NOAA

Remember, this is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration -- whose mission is to inform and update on conditions relevant to the atmosphere, oceans and major waterways.  Where else would one go for information?  After noticing this message, I wondered about other Federal agencies.  Just out of curiosity, what does a government shutdown look from an internet perspective?  Below are a few images:



1) The first federal agency site I decided to look at was the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) which is shown below:

Source: USDA

The message "Update: This website will not be updated during a lapse in federal funding. Content on this website will not be current or maintained until funding issues have been resolved." That is reassuring for anyone interested in updates -- NOT.



2) Next up was the Department of Homeland Security which is shown below:

Source: Department of Homeland Security

The message was hidden in the center title "INFO: Due to the lapse in federal funding, this website will not be actively managed. More info".   What was strange was that each of the agencies had a different way of presenting a discomforting message -- which is that the government is shutdown and services will not be available (except emergency or life threatening during that time).



3) After looking at the Instagram account for the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, I had to visit the website to check for updates.  This is what I found:

Source: NOAA

The message along the top of the web page reads: "Parts of the U.S. Government are closed. This site will not be updated; however NOAA websites and social media channels necessary to protect lives and property will be maintained.  See weather.gov for critical weather information."



4) Last but not least, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) website appeared as follows:

Source: FEMA

The message across the top of the web page read: "Due to the lapse in federal funding, this website will not be actively managed. More Info."   Apparently, there will be no natural disasters during the shutdown that FEMA would have to deliver information/funding/relief toward.  Wow.  The government must have great predictive powers to be able to defund (shutdown) such an important agency anytime.



Take home message: Any time that the government services are not available, one realizes just how important the services are for them.  Maybe not during this particular shutdown, but there could be a natural disaster (hurricane, wildfire, torrential rain, etc.) to deal with.  Then what?

What about State Department?

The last federal agency site which I visited (besides the FBI - which was absent any notice -- thank goodness) was the State Department.  I was relieved to find out that the services were still being offered.  Here is an update to the State Department's Twitter feed shown below:

Source: State Department



The subject matter contained in the Tweet above is regarding a rare disease known as Lassa Fever.  The alert (message) was directed toward State Department employees or American citizens traveling in the region of Benin  -- which is in West Africa.  For more information regarding the rare disease - check out the information contained on the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) website.  For this exact warning, the importance is critical in certain cases that the government keep open certain federal agencies.  By the way, the State Department did issue a Christmas letter on Facebook despite funding issues.

Conclusion...

No one wants to be without government services.  Especially when the services are available to protect the loss of human life.  Regardless of partisan position, each of us should be able to agree that the services offered are important and need to be funded.  I was disappointed and felt uneasy viewing the messages above -- regarding the funding issues leading to closures.  Lets get the government working again -- those parts which are shut down.  Happy Holidays!



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