photo by Rock Arsenault https://www.flickr.com/photos/arsenault/with/55481466829
Monday, October 12, 2026
Automated surveillance cameras now blanket most of Pittsburgh, generating a record number of tickets and tens of millions of dollars for the city.
Artificial intelligence-directed license plate readers are mounted on enforcement cars, surveillance cameras peer down from overhead and there are red-light cameras at intersections.
Pittsburgh Parking Authority Executive Director Dave Onorato has made the authority a nationwide leader in the deployment of AI to enforce parking laws, having spent millions of dollars on state-of-the-art surveillance technologies.
And it's paid off, at least monetarily. The authority is now issuing about 30,000 tickets a month, and in the last three years, revenues have risen from $48 million to $53 million.
Pittsburgh Parking Authority Executive Director Dave Onorato has made the authority a nationwide leader in the deployment of AI to enforce parking laws, having spent millions of dollars on state-of-the-art surveillance technologies.
And it's paid off, at least monetarily. The authority is now issuing about 30,000 tickets a month, and in the last three years, revenues have risen from $48 million to $53 million.
An Army AH-64 Apache helicopter arrived late to an Ozark, Alabama, car show Saturday, hovering over the show’s display cars, pummeling vehicles and spectators with trash and dirt kicked up by rotor wash as it landed.
Officials at Fort Rucker, where the AH-64 is based, issued a statement confirming that they were aware of damage caused by the helicopter and encouraging car owners to contact base authorities for a claim regarding their vehicles.
Tyler Williams, founder of Wiregrass Carshows, which organized the car show as part of the town’s Claybank Jamboree festival, told Task & Purpose that the Apache was scheduled to arrive before the events opened, but weather delayed the helicopter and most of the car owners had taken up spots in the show’s parking area when it pulled overhead.
“This time, the helicopter landed around the time our registration was wrapping up, and landed in a location closer to our parking area than it was supposed to be at,” said Williams, who added that the Army had provided helicopters as static displays at other shows. “In every other event, the helicopters have landed either before the car show or not at all.”
how can people be so damn stupid? Do they practice?
North Stockton put a circle of parking barriers in the middle of an intersection, like the thinking was: A circle breaking up the big open area of pavement would stop people from smoking tires and spinning around there.
Unfortunately they inadvertently built a mini drift course (or, at least, a perfect skidpad).
The CBS station set up a camera at the intersection to test its effectiveness, and a lone drift-missle E36 BMW was spotted hanging a pretty nice sustained slide around the barrier just days after it went up.
B-29 plane at the bottom of Lake Mead more accessible due to low water
While the plane's altimeter read that the plane was 400 feet above the water, it was incorrect. At 230 miles per hour, the B-29 struck Lake Mead, quickly sinking. Fortunately, all crew members were able to safely evacuate and were rescued.
In the nearly 80 years since the crash occurred, the plane has remained at the bottom of Lake Mead. Its location was unknown until the early 2000s, when processing map data showed "a plane-shaped mass" under the water.
A floating World War Two roadway of the type used during the D-Day landings as a portable harbor wall, to facilitate the rapid offloading of cargo onto beaches during the Allied invasion of Normandy in June 1944, has been unveiled following preservation works,
Associated British Ports (ABP) used cranes to lift the structure, known as a whale, from Town Quay in Southampton last year after it had spent decades partially submerged.
The unveiling of a plaque at its new home outside Solent Gateway at Marchwood, Hampshire, was carried out by the Lord-Lieutenant for the county, Nigel Atkinson, with the local MP, local council leaders and veterans in attendance.
Mulberry Harbours, as they were known, were built in the UK and used overseas to help transfer Allied troops and equipment as they began the liberation of France.
Port director Richard Parkinson said: "The Mulberry Harbour was a brilliant piece of British engineering in the Second World War to create the harbour that enabled Operation Overlord and the D-Day landings.
"It was absolutely a battle-winning, innovative British engineering invention."
The whale is one of only two known surviving examples in England that are not submerged.
The Mulberry harbours solved the problem of needing deepwater jetties and a harbour to provide the invasion force with the necessary reinforcements and supplies, and were to be used until major French ports could be captured and brought back into use after repair of the inevitable sabotage by German defenders. Composed of floating but sinkable breakwaters, floating pontoons, piers and floating roadways, this innovative and technically difficult system was being used for the first time.
The Mulberry B harbour at Gold Beach was used for ten months after D-Day, while over two million men, four million tons of supplies and half a million vehicles were landed before it was fully decommissioned. The partially completed Mulberry A harbour at Omaha Beach was damaged on 19 June by a violent storm that arrived from the northeast before the pontoons were securely anchored.
KJ Apa portrays James Stewart on the big screen in 'Jimmy', and he’s earned the approval of the late actor and military aviator’s daughter.
Written by Justin Strawhand, Jimmy tells the story of when Stewart, fresh off his Oscar win for The Philadelphia Story, enlisted as a combat pilot in the U.S. Army Air Force at the beginning of World War II. The film traces his experience through the war before returning home and playing George Bailey in It’s a Wonderful Life.
Margaret Horton was in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) during World War II. Her duties included sitting on the tail of Spitfires to prevent them from tipping over in rough weather when they taxied. (not making that up)
...and hang on she did—a decision that would lead to one of the most thrilling rides of her life. As the Spitfire roared down the runway, Horton quickly realized the gravity of the situation. She flopped across the tail cone, demonstrating quick thinking and agility, held in place by the vertical fin. Her legs dangled to the right, while her torso clung to the left. Meanwhile, another WAAF, who had witnessed the unfolding drama, dashed off to alert a flight sergeant, who in turn sprinted to the control tower. Orders were given for Cox to make a quick circuit and land, though he was not informed of the reason. Between Horton's death grip on the elevator with her left hand and the Spitfire's tail-heaviness, Cox could tell something was off, but he couldn't see as far back as his airplane's empennage. The Spitfire soared through the sky with Horton hanging on for dear life, the wind whipping past her as she clung to the tail cone.
The world below became a blur, and the adrenaline coursing through her veins made her feel more alive than ever. It was a wild ride she would never forget. After what felt like an eternity, the Spitfire finally touched down. Horton, relieved to be back on solid ground, announced with a cheeky grin that after a change of panties and a cigarette, she'd be ready to return to work. Her daring escapade quickly became the stuff of legends within the squadron.
However, her adventurous spirit did not go entirely unpunished. Horton was later fined for losing her uniform beret during the short, thrilling trip around the pattern. But the story of her wild ride on the Spitfire would live on, a testament to her bravery and quick thinking in the face of unexpected challenges.
At Hibaldstowe, where I was working as a WAAF flight mechanic in 1945, it was a flight order for one of the ground staff to sit on the tail of each Spitfire as it taxied from the dispersal to the distant runway in rough weather, to prevent the wind from tipping the machine over on its nose.
On this occasion my pilot did not receive the order ‘Rough Weather Procedure,’ which was issued from flying control, and, not having seen me jump on the tailplane while the other mechanics were removing the chocks, he took straight off instead of waiting for me to descend upon reaching the runway.
The violently increased rate at which we were taxiing first told me that something was wrong, and I flung myself across the fuselage and grasped the elevator in an attempt to attract the pilot’s attention. I was unable to move it.
Events move fast with a Spitfire, and there seemed only a panic-stricken moment before the cessation of the rushing sensation of travelling along the runway told me that we were airborne.
All hope gone
Newbolt knew what he was writing about when he described the traveller, doomed to certain death from the brigands into whose hands he had fallen, as spending his last hours “in a dream untroubled of hope.” At that moment I was not merely in great danger. I was, to all practical purposes, already dead.
I had no hold other than that of three fingers which I had managed to get round the cutaway portion of the tailplane, there was no possibility of attracting the attention of either the pilot or anyone on the ground, and it seemed so certain that I must roll off the fuselage the first time the aircraft banked that I did not even trouble to wriggle farther across it to balance the weight of my heavy boots.
It was at this moment of realization that fear left me. My first coherent thought was, “I’ve muffed it for the last time – better me than most people, but I wish it hadn’t happened!”
Nothing much stronger than that. The grimness of any sudden severance from a normal routine, a passing regret – you may laugh if you like, but it’s true – that my NAAFI cigarettes and chocolate rations would be wasted, and a deeper regret that I could not leave a message to tell my mother how easy death had been.
Strangely, although I realized that my family would feel my loss, there was no feeling that I was leaving them. Of anxiety for what was to come there was none, though I was never any braver than the next person, and am in a funk when it comes to climbing ladders or riding bicycles.
Black-out sensation
The force of the slipstream must have been terrific, for there was nothing but that and the precarious hold of my finger-tips to prevent me rolling forward, though the fin made it impossible to slip over the tail of my mount. Before many minutes there was a sensation of blood rushing to my head, a feeling of something pressing me down, and a blackness before my eyes, and I thought with a mild sense of gratitude that death was coming in the easy form of a ‘black-out’.
There was never any sensation of the mist clearing. My next recollection is of a perfectly clear head and an entirely fresh line of thought. The doctrine that good is the source of all power, and evil a figment of our imagination, had long appealed to my reason – now, my own voice seemed to be saying in my ear, was the chance for me to prove it.
Steadily, the idea that there was nothing to harm me took possession of my mind, helped by the clear serene sky, and I knew I was safe whether the flight was to last ten minutes or a couple of hours.
Shortly afterwards I felt the machine drop – so gently that I did not realise the cause until the returning sensation of speed proclaimed that we were back on the runway.
As we slowed down I slipped off the tailplane, ran back for my beret which had remained faithfully on my head until we reached the ground, and made my way back across the grass to the dispersal, while the pilot taxied home round the perimeter road, still unaware why his controls had refused to function.
How, in the circumstances, he achieved that perfect landing I have never understood, but he must have had a harrowing ten minutes in the air. On leaving the runway he had found his elevator almost unserviceable, and after struggling round the circuit at 600 feet had radioed for permission to land.
The flying control officer, who had only that moment been informed by the flight office of my predicament, judged it safest not to tell him of the presence of a passenger, so it was not until he walked indignantly into the flight office to report his aircraft unserviceable that he learnt he was the victim of an unusual case of ‘parasite drag’.
Whatever his feelings, he was off with the next detail, and I should have accompanied him – to the beginning of the runway only – if he had not implored me, as I prepared to scramble up: “I know you don’t want to lose your nerve, but please don’t come on my tail again!”
Ever heard of the Jeep Cowboy? (thank you Steve! ) Just when you think history has been over processed, all revealed, and boring... then comes this!
Powered by the AMC 258 cu. in. inline six and did NOT have four wheel drive.
And that was the precursor to the AMC Cowboy... with 4 wheel drive, which later went into the Eagle
a unique marketing display at the 1932 New York Automobile Salon, a luxury Lincoln was entirely wrapped in Kodapak, presenting the vehicle as a giant, transparently gift-wrapped package.
Kodapak was a brand of transparent cellulose acetate sheeting newly developed by the Eastman Kodak Company (specifically its Tennessee Eastman division). Similar to cellophane, it was marketed for its clarity, flexibility, and protective qualities, and it was used during this era for everything from product packaging to novelty applications like this eye-catching automotive showcase
Cellulose acetate, was much slower to burn, making it a safer "safety plastic"
Kodapak was developed to compete directly with DuPont's ubiquitous, wood-derived transparent film brand, Cellophane
In the early 1930s, transparent sheeting was an industrial novelty. Automobile manufacturers, dealerships, and high-end garages experimented with early transparent protective covers made from cellulose acetate sheets to shield showroom or storage cars from moisture and dust while keeping the vehicle completely visible to buyers. However, because 1932 cellulose acetate formulations became brittle when exposed to prolonged outdoor UV sunlight and temperature changes, these early clear covers were strictly limited to temporary indoor storage or display use.
the Jalisco and Sinaloan Mexican cartels are increasingly renting thousands of U.S. trucks and cars each year, driving them across the border to keep top capos in the latest model BMWs and Cadillacs. (sure would be easy to stop each vehicle heading south, get an scan for rental car's trackers before allowing them out of the country, if Border Patrol gave a damn) thank you Don!
Each year, about 2,000 vehicles stolen from California end up in Mexico, according to the California Highway Patrol. LAPD Sgt. Juvey Mejia, a member of the Task Force for Regional Auto Theft Prevention, said the cartels love heavy-duty pickup trucks and Jeeps.
“Anything that can drive through tough terrain to get away from Border Patrol so they can move dope,” Mejia said.
Along with Chevy Suburbans, Ford Raptors and Toyota pickups, the vehicles of choice include Cadillac Escalades and BMW SUVs, according to people whose job is to recover them. To battle rival cartels or authorities, criminal groups sometimes convert the trucks into mutant tanks, adding heavy ballistic-proof steel plating, firing ports and gun mounts.
The thefts don’t require much stealth: vehicles are rented in the U.S. by cartel operatives and then driven across the border.
Unlike other states, California requires that rental agencies wait to turn on GPS tracking until the vehicle return deadline has passed and the renter has been contacted by the company. By then, most stolen vehicles are deep in Mexican territory.
“California allows criminals to take advantage of the fact that we are not allowed to see where the vehicle is until it’s too late,” Laguana said. The American Car Rental Assn., a trade group, said in a statement that California laws make it harder to recover vehicles.
this year, thieves stole six 2026 model Jeep Wranglers from Oakland and Las Vegas. Four have been recovered so far. Private investigators believe the vehicles were destined for the Sinaloa Cartel.
The same investigators received requests last week to recover a dozen Ram trucks tracked to Sinaloa and seven more in Durango state.
“For the cartel, it is the cheapest way for them to do business,” said Kevin Carter, owner of Collateral Consultants, a rental car recovery company in Texas. “There’s no sense in them buying a car when they could rent one for a few hundred bucks, and it’s theirs forever.”
Along with California, Texas and Arizona are the other top targets for Mexican criminal groups.
Many vehicles are never registered in the U.S. stolen car database. Carter, from Collateral Consultants, said that of the approximately 1 million cases he has seen in his 15 years recovering rental vehicles in the U.S. and elsewhere, fewer than half made it into the U.S. database.
In 2024, the Colorado attorney general’s office indicted 17 people associated with the Sinaloa Cartel, accusing them of stealing 190 new Ford F150s and luxury suburbans near the Denver airport. The cartel operatives drove the stolen vehicles, valued at nearly $10 million, to Mexico, according to court documents, and exchanged them for cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine.
In the Texas border city of Laredo, Deputy Police Chief Timothy Tubbs said he has seen a 50% increase in the theft of rental vehicles — about 10 a month.
“Anything that can drive through tough terrain to get away from Border Patrol so they can move dope,” Mejia said.
Along with Chevy Suburbans, Ford Raptors and Toyota pickups, the vehicles of choice include Cadillac Escalades and BMW SUVs, according to people whose job is to recover them. To battle rival cartels or authorities, criminal groups sometimes convert the trucks into mutant tanks, adding heavy ballistic-proof steel plating, firing ports and gun mounts.
The thefts don’t require much stealth: vehicles are rented in the U.S. by cartel operatives and then driven across the border.
“California allows criminals to take advantage of the fact that we are not allowed to see where the vehicle is until it’s too late,” Laguana said. The American Car Rental Assn., a trade group, said in a statement that California laws make it harder to recover vehicles.
this year, thieves stole six 2026 model Jeep Wranglers from Oakland and Las Vegas. Four have been recovered so far. Private investigators believe the vehicles were destined for the Sinaloa Cartel.
The same investigators received requests last week to recover a dozen Ram trucks tracked to Sinaloa and seven more in Durango state.
“For the cartel, it is the cheapest way for them to do business,” said Kevin Carter, owner of Collateral Consultants, a rental car recovery company in Texas. “There’s no sense in them buying a car when they could rent one for a few hundred bucks, and it’s theirs forever.”
Along with California, Texas and Arizona are the other top targets for Mexican criminal groups.
Many vehicles are never registered in the U.S. stolen car database. Carter, from Collateral Consultants, said that of the approximately 1 million cases he has seen in his 15 years recovering rental vehicles in the U.S. and elsewhere, fewer than half made it into the U.S. database.
In 2024, the Colorado attorney general’s office indicted 17 people associated with the Sinaloa Cartel, accusing them of stealing 190 new Ford F150s and luxury suburbans near the Denver airport. The cartel operatives drove the stolen vehicles, valued at nearly $10 million, to Mexico, according to court documents, and exchanged them for cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine.
In the Texas border city of Laredo, Deputy Police Chief Timothy Tubbs said he has seen a 50% increase in the theft of rental vehicles — about 10 a month.
Sunday, October 11, 2026
this looks a lot like a tire track
Spotted this in front of me in traffic last week... very odd looking mark through the dust on the back window
Mutts comic strip by Patrick McDonnell (one of my favorites I've collected the annual collections of, for about 20 years)(was a student of Will Eisner) has just released the first of several Sunday annual collections, here are a couple of the car strips
You might know of Will Eisner, https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2018/04/will-eisner-originator-of-graphic-novel.html
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