[Frithiof Andreas Jensen]

That era wasn't too bad, but what I want is the current era
as imagined by SF authors in the 50's and 60's. Secret
agents with shoe phones, Pan-Am flights to the Hilton on
the moon, interstellar navigation via slide
rule, etc.

4 years ago I screamed out from my cubicle, "WE'RE
SUPPOSED TO BE RULED BY A GIANT MONOLITH
FROM OUTER SPACE, AND ALL WE'VE GOT IS THE
STUPID US CONGRESS!" Everybody ignored me then,
too.

Tim.

I would settle for the monolith falling from Outher Space and landing on
Congress ;-)

 

[Tim Shoppa]

and he said, "We ARE the Cops".

The correct response is 'Thank you, SIR, for
your corroborating evidence.'(;-)

Back in the CB days the police did a good job not only of monitoring
Channel 9 (emergency channel) but also of listening to the other
channels for suspicious stuff.

I'm not claiming that truckers never speed or try to figure out which
weigh stations are closed/open, but they're better than 99% of the
drivers on the road, and they know when something's just not right.

Tim.

 

[Tim Shoppa]

No, the public noise pollution would be unacceptable
[...]
So, how would you go about it?

The DARPA/Army tech people are generally very interested in ultrasound
techniques for beaming vocal messages straight into a crowd's head.

Lightning displays at the same time don't hurt either.

Lotsa activity by the Tesla coil people along these lines the past few
years, and a good article in Sunday's Washington Post magazine too.

Tim.