Free Republic

I fear for the loss of our freedoms and liberties under the Obama administration. We expect our government to be run by people we elect. If they don't perform well, we have the opportunity to throw them out. But with the proliferation of "czars" appointed by the president, we are out of the loop when it comes to controlling our own destinies. They are in charge of such areas as borders, Medicare, manufacturing, electronic health records, faith-based initiatives, workplace issues and so on. The list now contains about 35 czars, whose names, backgrounds and goals we know nothing about. Van...

New Law To Require 'Black Boxes' In All Cars New Law Mandates Black Boxes In All Cars By 2015 By Bailey Johnson A recently passed bill will require all cars to come equipped with "black boxes" that record vehicle data. These Event Data Recorders (EDR), similar to their airplane counterparts, will record data such as speed, brake force and electrical systems monitoring. The days of a car crash being one driver's word against another look to be history. Senate Bill 1813 (known as Map-21) mandates that automakers install EDRs in all new vehicles starting in 2015.

A new controversial measure could potentially impact every American who owns a car. Beginning in 2015, all cars will be required to be fitted with a black box data recorder, known officially as “event data recorders” or EDRs. These black box recorders work much like the ones on airplanes, capturing data related to a crash. In some cases, authorities can tap into a car’s EDR to check vehicle speed, airbag deployments, and pedal application a few seconds before and after impact.

Black boxes in cars? We’ve reported on it before, but a bill requiring such devices has recently passed the U.S. Senate and is expected to fare the same in the House. If it goes all the way, cars built after 2015 will all have tattlers to give specific information on a car’s activity. If implemented, the devices are meant to be used by emergency responders during an accident, but the applications are far from limited to those incidents. Some are worried that installing such devices offer unprecedented invasions of privacy, bordering on big brother level surveillance of everyday citizens. Going...

[Snip]...As part of Senate Bill 1813 (known as MAP-21), Congress has inserted language that would oblige the Secretary of State to revoke or deny a passport to any U.S. citizen who the IRS Commissioner deems as having "seriously delinquent tax debt."...For starters, in what may be one of the most depraved Big Brother moves on record, section 31406 of the bill makes it mandatory for "black box" event recorders to be installed in every new passenger vehicle starting with model year 2015.

France has found what could be the first concrete clues to the location of black boxes missing from last year's Atlantic jet disaster, but warned on Thursday there was no guarantee the breakthrough would lead to their recovery.The defense ministry said the boost had come through detailed follow-up analysis of sonar readings taken in the first few weeks after an Air France jet crashed into the Atlantic killing 228 people on June 1 last year. Finding the black boxes is seen as essential to help crash experts and relatives understand exactly what caused flight 447 to plunge into a remote...

Regarding our current political climate and my discussions on this blog, I try to keep my focus on the major issues–health care, environmental extremism, immigration, general Government encroachments–and stay away from Obama’s citizenship status and other such diversions, though there have been times where I couldn’t resist. However, two stories this weekend raised red flags for me, and, at the risk of being labeled a “kook” or “paranoid extremist,” I’ll relay the stories and my concerns with them. First, out of the Washington Post. In the fallout of the Toyota brake “crisis,” we have the introduction of a bill that...

All new cars would have to be equipped with "black boxes" that record performance data and federal safety regulators would be granted the authority to order immediate recalls under newly proposed auto-safety legislation being considered by Congress. The draft of a bill was released Thursday by one of the House committees investigating Toyota's massive recalls for unintended acceleration in its vehicles.

It's all in the name of research on finding a better way to tax motorists, and the pay is $895. Wanted: 250 Maine drivers willing to let a stranger put a black box under their dashboard. The reward: $895 and the opportunity to speak their minds about the highway tax experiment to a researcher. University of Iowa researchers are seeking 250 motorists in Cumberland, York and Sagadahoc counties willing to have a computer tracking system installed in their cars for 10 months. The system could someday be used to tax drivers according to the number of miles they drive, rather...

Investigators have recovered the black box of downed “King of Pop” Michael Jackson, just hours before the search was to be called off. The pop singer’s voice and data recorder is designed to emit signals with an infectious beat for 30 days after an accident.

Perhaps more analysis is needed on the merits and methods of grass roots democracy - for conscience votes. Mechanisms exist (speaking as an engineer) to make it possible if the will of the people were there to support it - for conscience issues. As salt and light in the checker/reversi board of life, the most we can do is preserve and inform/educate so nothing would be lost by it. Conservative and liberal constituencies might have their preference shown as a group using those mechanisms if necessary, a little like with other forms of voting - for conscience issues. Either a...

Tired of being treated like a baby? Tired of being lied to? Tired of water carriers? Tired of all the BS? Come join us on the SAVAGE NATION, where the truth is not sugar coated, topics are presented by the most exciting talkshow host in the nation!

BRUSSELS, Belgium — International regulators must ban the public release of cockpit voice recordings from fatal accidents since their sole purpose is to assist accident investigators, the main international pilots federation said today. The London-based International Federation of Air Line Pilots' Associations also denounced the publication in Vanity Fair magazine of audio clips of an executive jet and a Boeing 737 involved in a deadly collision over Brazil two years ago. The association said in a statement it was "outraged to learn that once again the cockpit voice recordings of aircraft involved in a fatal accident have been leaked and...

"The numbers from the cartridges that print out vote tallies and the paper-tape backup didn't match..."

. . . The results of the accident investigation contradict the original account the state police gave in the first 24 hours. Colonel Fuentes himself said Thursday night that “speed was not a factor” in the accident. When asked Tuesday whether he now believed that speed played a role in the accident, Colonel Fuentes replied: “What do you think?” “Speed is always a contributing factor in any accident,” he added later. “It goes to the heart of what damage you may have on the vehicle.” . . . It now seems clear that Mr. Corzine’s own vehicle was responsible for...

44 minutes ago Between every registered voter and the voting booth is The List. And if you're not on it, you might not be able to cast a ballot. One of the biggest changes wrought by the Help America Vote Act is the mandate that every state must have a voter registration database up and working by the Nov. 7 general election. But a dozen states missed the Jan. 1 deadline for finishing their databases, which produce lists of registered voters for every precinct. And four states have been sued by the Justice Department. That leaves a confusing array of...

Beginning in 2011, the National Highway Safety Administration is going to require the automobile industry to inform buyers via the owner's manual that an event data recorder, or "black box," has been placed in the vehicle. Currently, approximately 64 percent of the 2005 model year vehicles already have this equipment installed, even though it has only been recommended, but is not yet required. However, most purchasers are totally unaware of its placement. General Motors Corporation and Ford Motor Company have installed the "black boxes" in almost all of their new vehicles. Privacy issues are being challenged, especially since most people...

WASHINGTON: The U.S. government will not require recorders in autos but has said that car makers must tell consumers when technology that tracks speed, braking and other measurements is in the new vehicles they buy. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regulation standardises recorder content and sets guidelines for how the information should be disclosed. It also requires recorders to be more durable. Privacy experts complained that consumer interests are not fully protected and information captured by recorders can be exploited. Safety experts, consumer groups and insurance companies have long pressed the agency to mandate recorders in cars, but industry...

The car has become a snitch, capable of spilling the beans to police about motorists' driving behavior. Police are tapping into the so-called "black boxes" in late-model vehicles to help solve traffic crimes. In South Hampton Roads, police now have the tools and software to tap into the hidden vehicle computers for information such as drivers' speed, direction of travel and seat belt usage. "I think everyone pretty much has it," said Richard Jensen, a police officer with Norfolk's fatality team. "The technology has been around for quite some time. We have only gotten on board in the last year."...

We used to fingerprint felons -- now, we're "inking" traffic scofflaws. Run a couple of mph over the speed limit in the state of Kansas (or even fail to "buckle up for safety") and you'll be duly entered into the Kansas Bureau of Investigation's electronic fingerprint database -- a privilege once reserved for actual criminals, not ordinary citizens who commit minor violations of the motor vehicle code. KBI, authorized by the state government, will be "testing out" 60 automated fingerprint readers throughout the state beginning this month -- all of it funded by a $3.6 million grant from the Department...

In what is becoming a familiar scene in courtrooms nationwide, information collected from a car’s “black box” was used to convict a motorist of criminal charges. On June 30, a Peabody, Mass., District Court jury found Michelle Zimmerman guilty of misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide in the death of her front seat passenger, Kenneth Carlson. The jury concluded Zimmerman was driving negligently when she skidded out of control and struck a tree on Jan. 4, 2003. Information collected from the event data recorder (EDR), or black box, in her GMC Yukon reported that Zimmerman was driving 58 mph in a 40...

(AP) - BISMARCK, N.D.-Insurance companies would be barred from using data from vehicles' "black boxes" to set drivers' rates, under legislation that won final approval Monday in the North Dakota Legislature. The bill is aimed at computer chips that record a car's speed, braking and steering efficiency, and whether the driver was wearing a seat belt. The chips are common in newer vehicles, and typically store information that can be used to investigate an accident. "If you were in a car accident, and if this information had been downloaded ... the insurance companies could not use this information for...

So-called "black boxes" for passenger cars are rare, but are becoming less so all the time. That concerns a North Dakota state senator who wants to banish Big Brother from the backseat by banning computer chips that collects information on speed and seat-belt usage in the vehicle. While most cars on the road today don't have black boxes, most vehicles now being manufactured do, according to the National Highway Transportation Administration. What is disturbing, state Sen. Ray Holmberg frets, is that the vast majority of drivers have no idea they are there or that what's recorded might be used against...

BISMARCK, N.D. -- Raymon Holmberg didn't know his new sedan came equipped with the long arm of the law. The dealer hadn't bothered to mention the "black box," a computer chip that stores information on speed and seat belt use. "When I bought my car," he said, "I didn't realize I was also buying a highway patrolman to sit in the back seat." Holmberg, a state senator, believes his privacy was violated and is taking aim at black boxes. Lawmakers in 10 other states are also hoping to regulate black boxes, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today proposed a series of significant upgrades to aircraft "black boxes" that will increase the quality, quantity, and survivability of recorded data. Stronger cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder standards that require newer recording technology and greater recording frequency will ensure that more valuable data is retrieved from aircraft incidents and accidents, FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey said. Under the proposed rules, all voice recorders must record the last two hours of cockpit audio instead of the currently required 15 to 30 minutes. Also, a 10-minute independent...

Yesterday many of us were lucky enough to hear Randi Rhodes SLAMMING Bev Harris on Err America after shilling for Bev for weeks. When I heard about this I was all excited to listen to the Randi Rhodes show rerun which is played every morning on 940 AM radio here in South Florida. However, when I listened in this morning, that interview was mysteriously GONE. I checked in on the online Randi Rhodes archives and that interview segment was also mysteriously GONE. A couple of other archive searches and the same result. The interview was edited OUT. Obviously Randi Rhodes...

UN scandal back in spotlight after sex grope revelation UNITED NATIONS UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was embroiled in a new scandal after it emerged that he cleared a top official of sexual harassment despite an internal enquiry which backed the victim`s claims. Annan cleared Ruud Lubbers in July after a woman on his staff claimed she had been groped by the ageing Dutch former prime minister, who has been the UN`s High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Geneva since 2001. But red-faced UN officials were forced to admit on Thursday that an investigation by the Office of Internal Oversight...

The Black Box and the Indestructible Passport: - by Sam Youssef All four Black Boxes were supposedly destroyed and rendered unusable in spite of the fact that they are designed specifically for plane crashes which result in insurmountable conditions...yet one of the hijackers' passports supposedly survived fire and heat of over 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit and is found in perfect shape in the rubble around the WTC towers. How indestructible are the so-called "Black Boxes"? Each airplane is equipped with a Flight Data Recorder and a Cockpit Voice Recorded. The term "Black Box" is used for these pieces of equipment. The ...

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - A retired U.N. official who received a flight data recorder possibly linked to a plane crash on the eve of Rwanda's 1994 genocide said Friday that he tried to get the black box analyzed but no one responded and it was "put on a shelf." The recorder was discovered at the United Nations on Wednesday in a filing cabinet in the department's Air Safety Unit - 10 years after it was sent by diplomatic pouch to U.N. headquarters. It was a major embarrassment for the United Nations and Secretary-General Kofi Annan. There was speculation the recorder...

U.N. Finds a Black Box Sent From Rwanda After 1994 Plane Crash That Unleashed Genocide Mar 11, 2004 By Edith M. Lederer/ Associated Press Writer UNITED NATIONS (AP) - In what Secretary-General Kofi Annan called a "first-class foul-up," the United Nations said Thursday it has discovered a black box sent from Rwanda after a 1994 plane crash that unleashed a genocide in the east African nation. The device was found Wednesday in a locked filing cabinet in the U.N. Peacekeeping Department's Air Safety Unit. Aviation experts put it there apparently in the belief its "pristine condition" ruled out the possibility...

New York (dpa) - A day after denying possession of the flight recorder of a plane that crashed in April 1994, killing the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi, a United Nations spokesman said Thursday that a ``black box'' was found in a locked file drawer. Fred Eckhard said that an investigation was ordered and apologized for the misleading information on Wednesday, but he said the existence of the box was ``unknowingly'' denied. He said that ``a pristine black box'' had been found Wednesday in a U.N. office across the street from U.N. headquarters. The existence of the flight recorder, which...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A red-faced United Nations acknowledged on Thursday that an aircraft black box possibly linked to an air crash that triggered the 1994 genocide in Rwanda had turned up in a U.N. filing cabinet. The Paris daily Le Monde reported this week that a black box from the Falcon 50 shot down by a rocket on April 6, 1994, killing the presidents of Rwanda and Burundi, had been sent to U.N. headquarters in New York and was never seen again. The newspaper accused the United Nations of obstructing a French investigation into the crash, which was widely...

Tapes May Unlock Macedonia Crash Mystery Fri Feb 27, 2004 12:42 PM ET By Nedim Dervisbegovic ROTIMLJA, Bosnia (Reuters) - Instrument and cockpit voice recordings from the plane in which Macedonian President Boris Trajkovski died are being examined to determine the cause of the mystery crash, officials said on Friday. The accident in the mountains of southern Bosnia on Thursday was at first attributed to aircraft failure, but Macedonian officials said there were signs other factors were involved. They gave no further details. "They've found two black boxes and those black boxes were taken away by the (Bosnian) civil aviation...

One of the two black box flight recorders from a plane that crashed early this month off the Egyptian coast, killing all 148 people on board, has been recovered, a French source told AFP. It added that the box would be officially handed over to Egyptian authorities at 0900 GMT. The Flash Airlines Boeing 737 crashed shortly after take-off for Paris from this Red Sea resort, killing 134 French tourists and a Moroccan as well as 13 Egyptian crew members. The black boxes are expected to reveal the exact cause of the tragedy, which Egyptian and French experts believe...

Egyptian jet's black box found on seabed French search teams have located one of the black boxes from a crashed Egyptian plane and are working on lifting it from the Red Sea floor. Shaker Qilada, chief of the Egyptian investigation committee, said it was not yet known whether the box was the voice or data recorder. "The box will be handed over to the Sharm el-Sheik port authorities on Saturday," Qilada told reporters. He said the box would immediately treated with chemicals to remove any salt build-up so that the data inside would not be damaged. Egyptian and French officials...

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt Jan. 6 — Searchers have located one of the "black box" flight data recorders from a crashed charter jet but it was too deep to be immediately retrieved, a French official said Tuesday. Rear Adm. Jacques Mazars told reporters at the popular resort that more advanced equipment was needed to retrieve the box, which was believed to be 1,970 to 2,620 feet below the sea's surface. "What is important for us is to retrieve one of the boxes," he said. A robot submarine sent by the French can operate no deeper than 1,320 feet. The seabed in...

French Find Possible Egypt Crash Black Box Signal By Opheera McDoom SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - French divers may have detected a signal from the flight recorder of an Egyptian plane which crashed into the Red Sea, but French sources could not confirm an Egyptian report that the device had been found. Reuters Photo (Reuters Video)   The "black boxes," which record technical data about the flight and conversations between pilots, should help explain what caused the crash, which killed all 148 people on board, including 133 French tourists. Once they are sure of the location, French salvage experts plan...

<p>Imagine you're in your car driving to the grocery store. You're accelerating away from a stop sign when suddenly -- BANG! -- you're hit from behind by a speeding car that never even slowed down. Badly shaken, you stumble out. The police arrive on the scene just minutes after the crash. Plus, they already seem know that you stopped, and the other guy -- who's being arrested -- didn't.</p>

Black Box Voting Blues Electronic ballot technology makes things easy. But some computer-security experts warn of the possibility of stolen elections By Steven Levy NEWSWEEK Nov. 3 issue — After the traumas of butterfly ballots and hanging chad, election officials are embracing a brave new ballot: sleek, touch-screen terminals known as direct recording electronic voting systems (DRE). States are starting to replace their Rube Goldbergesque technology with digital devices like the Diebold Accu-Vote voting terminal. Georgia uses Diebolds exclusively, and other states have spent millions on such machines, funded in part by the 2002 federal Help America Vote Act. Many...

Drivers face automatic speeding fines without being caught by the police or roadside cameras under a proposal being studied by the Government to fit all cars with satellite tracking devices for road tolls. Under the anti-congestion tolling plan being examined by the Department for Transport, all vehicles would be fitted with a 'black box' to charge drivers according to the type of road they are using and when they are driving. But transport experts believe the equipment will pave the way for 24-hour monitoring of drivers to see if they break the speed limit. It could also be used to...

There's a new device on most automobiles these days that you don't see listed in the owner's manual. If it works properly, it can save your life. But to accomplish that task, the small computer chip needs to know information about your car and how you drive it. Police and insurance companies are now able to get their hands on that information.

Is There a Black Box in Your Car? Debate rages on whether devices are lifesavers or privacy invaders. By Becky Worley, Tech Live Black boxes in airplanes sometimes help investigators figure out what caused a crash. Black boxes in cars could do the same. If you're one of the nation's 190 million drivers, you may be carting around a passenger you aren't aware of. The event data recorder (EDR) -- a collection of sensing and diagnostic modules -- employs relatively new technology. As "Tech Live" reports tonight, some say the device will save lives, but the EDR is raising serious...

OK, people -- it's taken longer than I thought, but my story on Flight 93 is finally running tomorrow. It will the lead news story in the Philadelphia Daily News -- hopefully we can get some other media to pick it up. Here's the full text -- I'll put up a link early tomorrow when it's available. I guess this means I'm officially out of the closet LOL!By William Bunch Philadelphia Daily News (bunchw@phillynews.com) The final three minutes of hijacked United Flight 93 are still a mystery more than a year after it crashed in western Pennsylvania — even...

(Adds black box false alarm, body found by Chinese fishermen, crash site details) By Benjamin Kang Lim TAIPEI, May 27 (Reuters) - Investigators sifted through wreckage of a China Airlines jet on Monday to try to find out why it broke apart at 30,000 feet over the Taiwan Strait, but hopes of clues from the plane's flight recorders were dealt a setback. Investigators lost signals thought to be coming from flight CI 611's two "black box" recorders under the sea. "Signals from the black boxes have totally disappeared," Kay Yong, managing director of the cabinet's Aviation Safety Council, told Reuters...