Lisa

Strategic consultant. Researcher. Critical thinking needs a comeback.

Always. Ask. Why.

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

Part 16 - The Warning Window. In November 1979, a simulated Soviet missile attack was accidentally introduced into America's operational warning system.

For a brief period, it appeared that an actual attack might be underway.

When the information is incomplete and the consequences could be catastrophic, how do leaders know when to act—and when to wait? #EmergencyPreparedness

@the_irascible @DangerThinking

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

BREAKING NEWS: FAA ORDERS NATIONWIDE GROUND STOP
Friday, November 13, 2026

The Federal Aviation Administration has ordered all departing flights across the United States to remain on the ground, citing extraordinary circumstances and safety concerns.

WHAT WE KNOW: Air traffic control communications problems are affecting regional control centers across the country. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy confirms FAA technicians are investigating. Aircraft already airborne are being permitted to land, while international arrivals are being handled individually.

WHAT WE DON'T KNOW: What caused the communications failure, which systems are involved, how long the disruption will last, or whether the problem resulted from equipment failure, human error, or malicious interference.

HAS THIS HAPPENED BEFORE? Yes. On January 11, 2023, a nationwide ground stop followed the failure of the FAA's NOTAM pilot-alert system. Investigators ultimately attributed that incident to files unintentionally deleted by contractors, with no evidence of a cyberattack. Before 2023, the previous nationwide grounding occurred on September 11, 2001.

WHAT THE PUBLIC NEEDS TO KNOW: Travelers should verify flight status directly with their airlines. Even after a ground stop is lifted, delays and cancellations can continue as aircraft and crews are repositioned.

And here's why I'm paying attention.

We've spent the past several days examining unexplained telecommunications outages, a major Microsoft disruption, and vulnerabilities in the infrastructure we depend upon.

Now America's aviation system has experienced a nationwide communications failure.

There is currently no evidence connecting these events or establishing sabotage.

But the question remains: What failed, why did it fail, and what safeguards prevented—or failed to prevent—a nationwide disruption?

I'll be watching for the FAA's root-cause explanation.

Remain curious.

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

Part 15 - The Warning Window. When NATO's Exercise Frightened Moscow. Could a perfectly legitimate NATO exercise be mistaken for preparations to launch a nuclear war?

In November 1983, something disturbingly close to that concern emerged. NATO's Able Archer. Historians still debate how close the episode came to actual war. #emergencypreparedness

@the_irascible @DangerThinking

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

@An89390Anglo @EYakoby Ahkenazi Arabs?!

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

Bonus 2 - The Warning Window. What if someone really were attacking the infrastructure we depend upon, but we'd become so accustomed to outages that we wouldn't recognize the warning signs? #emergencypreparedness @the_irascible @DangerThinking

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

Part 14 - The Warning Window. Who Really Controls American Industry? Modern supply chains can distribute ownership, production, financing and technological control across several countries. A domestically assembled product may depend on imported components. When a government promises economic independence, should we be asking where products are made - or who controls the relationships that make production possible? #emergencypreparedness

@the_irascible @DangerThinking

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

Part 13 - The Warning Window. Could Bringing Jobs Home Make Us Less Secure? A country might reduce foreign dependence while inadvertently concentrating risk somewhere else.

That led me toward a much larger question about ownership, financing, supply chains and who ultimately controls essential industries.

If bringing manufacturing home doesn't automatically eliminate dependence, what would genuine economic independence actually look like?
#EmergencyPreparedness

@the_irascible @DangerThinking

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

Part 12 - The Warning Window. Can an Ally Become a Vulnerability? The United States and Canada have one of the world's most deeply integrated industrial relationships. How much national-security planning should depend on the assumption that today's dependable partner will remain equally dependable tomorrow? #EmergencyPreparedness @the_irascible @DangerThinking

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

Part 11 - The Warning Window. Canada supplied more than eighty percent of American electricity imports in 2025. That's not eighty percent of American consumption, which is overwhelmingly supplied domestically. What happens when a dependable ally remains an ally, but the systems you've relied on for decades are no longer assumed to be politically frictionless? #EmergencyPrepare @the_irascible @DangerThinking

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

Part 10 - The Warning Window. In February 2024, American cybersecurity agencies warned that Chinese state-sponsored actors associated with Volt Typhoon had established access to critical infrastructure systems.

If an adversary can interfere with the civilian systems supporting military logistics, where does the battlefield actually begin? #emergencypreparedness @the_irascible @DangerThinking

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

Part 9 - The Warning Window. Remember in 2023 when President AutoPen let a Chinese spy balloon cry our country? The balloon was visible at least - now consider a foreign operation that creates no visible sign at all. Say hello to cyber warfare. #emergencypreparedness @the_irascible @DangerThinking

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

@DangerThinking You on your way back to the states, sir?

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

I agree - get the whole series!! 😍

[Dangerous Intellectuals Podcast @DangerThinking]

Book available now at Amazon!

Get the whole How We Got Here Series!
@LisaPohovich

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

Part 8 - The Warning Window. What exactly are we protecting when we talk about national security?
Is it enough to ensure that military operations continue? Or does sustaining those operations also depend on keeping the surrounding civilian community functioning? #emergencypreparedness @the_irascible @DangerThinking

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

Part 7 - The Warning Window. Late-October reporting described a ninety-day sustainment objective drawn from internal planning materials.

But I asked retired Brigadier General Blaine Holt to help me understand what that actually means.

And his military perspective changes the way you should read the number. @the_irascible @DangerThinking #emergencypreparedness

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

Part 6 - The Warning Window. Governments routinely prepare for multiple risks because natural disasters, equipment failures and hostile operations don't politely arrive one at a time. But if the consequences of separate crises can look coordinated, how would we ever know whether coordination was actually involved? #emergencypreparedness @the_irascible @DangerThinking

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

Part 5 - The Warning Window. Iran, China, Russia... nothing in these public warnings establishes that these countries are preparing a joint attack in November.

But what happens when several adversaries recognize the same vulnerability, even if they never agree to exploit it together? #emergencypreparedness @the_irascible @DangerThinking

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

@docjayacu @the_irascible @DangerThinking Dr Wuji, that's great - I hope some of the insights I shared gave you some great material for that conversation :)

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

Part 4 - The Warning Window. Deliberately using an exercise as cover to hide operational preparations from an adversary is something different.

Blaine calls that Cover for Action. #emergencypreparedness @the_irascible @DangerThinking

[Lisa @LisaPohovich]

Part 3 - The Warning Window. What if I told you that NATO and the European Union really are coordinating emergency exercises - and you don't need a leaked document to prove it?

They've published the arrangement themselves. #emergencypreparedness