Blog Heap o'Transport Links 27 May 2011
Blog-Heap links regarding transportation and related infrastructure,
also energy, because it takes energy to transport,
and virtuality, because telepresence saves on transpresence.
Transport Future
dailymail.co.uk Fri 2011 May 27, 10:11am
"By next month, every driver in the U.S. will be required to have a black box in their vehicle... in order to monitor driving habits..." Somehow, I completely missed this one sneaking up on us in the rear-view mirror. It's one thing to have a crash monitor, but with just the addition of transmitters -- and you know, if they aren't there already they soon will be -- any cop (or robocop automated traffic monitoring device) will be able to look inside your car and pull out everywhere you've been, every turn you took, whether you unbuckled your seat belt for a moment, and anything about your body that can be remotely monitored. If laws were reasonable, this would be offensively invasive. Since cops have increasingly become "[you name it] warriors" instead of peace officers, traffic cops are increasingly required (and some delight) to be unforgiving, and citizens are increasingly seen as "revenue enhancement" sources, this is FRIGHTENING TYRANNY.
Transport Rights
prisonplanet.com Fri 2011 May 27, 5:20pm
Utah looks likely to be the next state to follow the example set by Texas in attempting to make TSA grope downs a felony. Rep. Carl Wimmer, R-Herriman has introduced a bill into the Utah House of Representatives that would ensure TSA agents would have to abide by the same Fourth Amendment limits that police do when performing searches on Americans.
prisonplanet.com Fri 2011 May 27, 5:19pm
Two injured US military veterans traveling to a ceremony to honor the lives of fallen friends who gave their lives to protect the rights enshrined in the Constitution were harassed by TSA thugs, with one of them having his crotch grabbed... The TSA agents responded to the men having set off metal detectors by interrogating them about what they were hiding in their bodies. "What are you hiding in your face?" screamed one. "My friend told me that one TSA agent came up to him and asked what he was hiding in his leg, but before my friend could answer he said that the TSA agent grabbed him, without notice, right in the crotch area as if trying to find something hidden," writes Bellow. When the TSA goon grabbed his crotch and didn't let go, the veteran felt inclined to lash out violently but was somehow able to control his fury.... But it's not just airports that are being manned by this cadre of cretins — sports stadiums, prom nights, highways, bus terminals and train stations are all being patrolled by this literal occupying army that is turning America into a checkpoint-festooned police state....
Transport Disaster
reuters.com Fri 2011 May 27, 5:14pm
In a passage likely to attract particular scrutiny, the BEA said the pilot "maintained" the nose-up command despite fresh stall warnings 46 seconds into the four-minute emergency. "The inputs made by the pilot flying were mainly nose-up," the report added. The Airbus jet climbed 3,000 feet to 38,000 feet despite the crew having decided earlier against a climb, and then began a dramatic descent, with the youngest pilot handing control to the second most senior pilot a minute before impact. The captain returned after "several attempts" to call him back to the cockpit but was not at the controls in the final moments, according to information gleaned from black boxes. By the time the 58-year-old returned, just over a minute into the emergency, the aircraft was in serious trouble: plunging at 10,000 feet a minute with its nose pointing up 15 degrees and at too high an angle to the air to recapture lift.
reuters.com Fri 2011 May 27, 4:55pm
Aviation industry sources told Reuters pilots appeared to have acted contrary to normal procedures in raising, rather than lowering, its nose in response to an alert that the plane was about to lose lift or, in technical parlance, 'stall'. But they said information from black boxes hauled up from the Atlantic floor earlier this month was still incomplete. The 2009 emergency began with a stall warning two and a half hours into the Rio-Paris flight and nine minutes after the captain had left the cockpit for a rest period. Shortly before, a junior pilot had told flight attendants to prepare for a "little bit of turbulence"
Just random links galore, along with snarky comments 
probably to be regretted later.
Transport, infrastructure & tech from
