Free Republic

Anti-drunk driving technology may become standard on all cars in the next few years under one of the provisions baked into the $1 trillion federal infrastructure bill. The 2,702-page bill under negotiation also includes a provision that would require manufacturers to equip new vehicles with an alert system to let drivers know that kids or other passengers have been left in the backseat after the engine has been turned off. The new technologies would target alcohol-related car crashes and increasing incidents of kids dying in hot cars. The bill defines the preventative technology for impaired driving as anything that could...

So at 5:00 Eastern we just got our cell phones buzzing loudly. We figure it's an Amber Alert. Annoying as those are....

Jane Addams Tollway (I-90) drivers can expect those inscrutable black gantries towering over the roadway to get chatty this summer. The Illinois tollway has completed installation and testing of 29 digital message signs between Barrington Road and O'Hare International Airport. The displays will provide real-time traffic updates and safety advisories and direct drivers to shift lanes when crashes occur. The system will go live around the end of July or early August, Chief Engineer Paul Kovacs said at a Wednesday committee meeting. "All the construction is done and we've completed the testing so we know it's operational. Now we're training...

The threat level for the Belgian capital of Brussels has been raised to the highest possible level, the interior ministry reports, citing a “severe and imminent threat” in connection with last week’s terror attacks in Paris. (more)

This is a new low. Obama SPENT money to close natl parks but shut down the Amber Alert website. Look for yourself: http://1.usa.gov/190aIeP

Not only is Big Brother President Obama watching you, he’s going to start messaging you if you own an iPhone with AT&T service. AT&T subscribers with an iPhone 4S or 5 using iOS 6.1 or higher are going to start getting presidential alerts on matters of “national importance” whether you want them or not. As part of AT&T’s new Wireless Emergency Alerts, once a user updates their operating system, AMBER and Emergency alerts are automatically sent to the phone. However . . .

Just in case you want more Obama in your life… AT&T is loading iPhones with emergency alerts from Barack Obama… That you can’t switch off. AT&T has begun rolling out Wireless Emergency Alerts updates for iPhone 4S and 5, so you won’t be the last folks to know if the entire northern hemisphere is about to be covered in ice à la Day After Tomorrow. You’ll receive a notification from the carrier when your update is ready, but only if you’re using iOS 6.1 or higher. Once installed, AMBER and Emergency alerts are automatically sent to your phone unless you...

Executive Summary Getting the national homeland security enterprise right is among the most difficult challenges in Washington because the problems in protecting the homeland are rooted in overcentralization, pervasive complacency, and entrenched politics—problems that often cause Washington to not work properly. This report marks a path through this obstacle course.The recommendations in this report are essential steps in establishing the right type of homeland security for the United States—one that is enduring and efficacious. The experience of the past decade is a better guide to the future than what was thought in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. These recommendations are...

WASHINGTON – The U.S. government's new system to replace the five color-coded terror alerts will have two levels of warnings — elevated and imminent — that will be relayed to the public only under certain circumstances for limited periods of time, sometimes using Facebook and Twitter, according to a draft Homeland Security Department plan obtained by The Associated Press. Some terror warnings could be withheld from the public entirely if announcing a threat would risk exposing an intelligence operation or an ongoing investigation, according to the government's confidential plan. Like a gallon of milk, the new terror warnings will each...

Security experts: Homeland Security faces hurdles in replacing terror alertsBy Jordy Yager - 01/30/11 12:27 PM ET National security experts applauded the decision to end the color-coded threat advisory system, but said the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) needs to ramp up information-sharing and messaging efforts if a new system is going to succeed. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced last week the agency’s plan to drop the Bush-era advisory system that used colors to indicate the level of threats to the U.S. In its place, DHS plans to deliver “formal, detailed alerts” about “a specific or credible terrorist threat”...

TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 521 PM CST TUE FEB 5 2008 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEMPHIS HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... DESOTO COUNTY IN NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI... NORTHERN FAYETTE COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE... SHELBY COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE... * UNTIL 600 PM CST * AT 521 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR WALLS...OR ABOUT 7 MILES WEST OF HORN LAKE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH. * OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO LYNCHBURG...SOUTHAVEN...WHITEHAVEN... SOUTHWEST MEMPHIS...DOWNTOWN MEMPHIS...OLIVE BRANCH...MIDTOWN MEMPHIS...SOUTHEAST MEMPHIS... FRAYSER...GERMANTOWN...COLLIERVILLE... BARTLETT...ELLENDALE... MILLINGTON... LAKELAND...EADS...ARLINGTON...

A network is being created to help illegal immigrants avoid that dreaded knock on the door in the wee hours. In a recent two-week sweep touted as the largest of its kind, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, arrested 1,300 illegal immigrants in the Southland at their homes, in jails or at work. Antonio Bernabe, an organizer for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, hopes to prevent ICE from ever again rounding up that many people during its large operations. "The raids are supposed to be targeting the criminals but they are breaking up families,...

70 MILLION MORE GUNS.38% LESS VIOLENT CRIME NRA-ILA ALERTS Data released by the FBI on Monday showed that in 2005, the nation's total violent crime rate was 38% lower than in 1991, when violent crime hit an all-time high. Rates of the individual categories of violent crime were also much lower in 2005 than in 1991. Murder was 43% lower, rape 25% lower, robbery 48% lower, and aggravated assault 33% lower. The FBI's report came on the heels of a Bureau of Justice Statistics crime survey that found that violent crime was lower in 2005 than anytime in the survey's...

National Emergency Alerts To Ping Cell Phones, PDAs Government Updating Cold-War Era Alert System   POSTED: 11:52 am EDT July 12, 2006  WASHINGTON -- We interrupt your cell phone call with this important announcement: The government will soon be sending warnings of national emergencies on wireless phones, Web sites and hand-held computers. The new digital system will update the emergency alerts planned -- but never used -- during the Cold War in the event of a nuclear strike. More likely, these 21st-century technologies will carry warnings of natural disasters and terrorist attacks. The Homeland Security Department, through the Federal...

Has anyone noticed how Fox News Channel has oscillated wildly out of control this summer with their Fox News Alerts? It seems that the alerts are being used for everything from legitimate breaking news events (shuttle landing safely) to events that no one in their right mind would classify as breaking news (President Bush signs the Energy Bill--what a shocker that is!). Not only that, but they are now being used over and over again during a two-hour period to announce the same news event and it seems like every prime time show is started with a Fox News Alert...

A 27-year-old electrician, de Menezes was by all accounts totally unconnected to terrorism. But through his behavior and cruel coincidence, de Menezes gave police good reason to think he might be planning to detonate a bomb. In the age of terrorism, police can kill an innocent man and still be doing the right thing. This strange new reality makes us all players in a film-noir existence. Film noir refers to the eerie postwar movies in which characters grope through a world of dark menace and unanswered questions. They don't know what's going on, only that danger hovers. Here in Grand...

Compiling a list of suspicious incidents nationwide, including train derailments, chemical/oil refinery fires and or explosions, etc. Don't forget to include news link for source. Please send to my attention.

http://news.myway.com/top/article/id/415877|top|07-19-2004::15:07|reuters.html Man Sought for Photographing Texas City Refineries Email this story Jul 19, 2:57 PM (ET) HOUSTON (Reuters) - Law enforcement officials said on Monday they are looking for a man seen taking pictures of two refineries in Texas City, Texas. Texas City, located on the Texas Gulf coast about 30 miles south of Houston, has three refineries including the largest U.S. plant operated by BP Plc., which is the third-largest U.S. refinery, processing 470,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The man, described as white with dark hair, was seen taking pictures outside the refineries, all located on the...

(Newark-WABC, October 14, 2004) — He looked like any student attending college in New Jersey. But in reality, FBI officials believe he was sent here by Osama bin Laden to scout out possible targets for a terrorist attack. Eyewitness News' Kemberly Richardson reports. Sources tell Eyewitness News they are making headway with this investigation. They say as they canvas the area showing people a picture of Dhiren Barot they are getting confirmation he was here. He was seen at tourist areas, universities, and perhaps the most unsettling place: Right in front of the Prudential building. A senior FBI agent tells...

The latest disclosures of al Qaeda's plans for another major attack in New York City in hopes of disrupt ing the election should finally put the lie to those who claim the recent terror alert was a politically timed sham. Like Howard Dean, the defeated White House hopeful and now surrogate for John Kerry who charged that "every time something happens that's not good for President Bush, he plays this trump card, which is terrorism." In fact, far from being a campaign ploy, the alert declared by Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge was based on new, specific information that was...