but was there really a helicopter in the courtyard? Because I would suppose not many people are going to risk hitting a helicopter.
Saturday, December 20, 2025
motorists could decide for themselves what a decent velocity was in Michigan, until 1956. And the very lucrative business of passing out speeding tickets was born.
This day in Michigan history, 1956 :
Michigan Motorists Can No Longer Determine Their Own Speed Limit!
On February 3, 1956 highway speed limits of 65 miles per hour by day and 55 by night went into effect in Michigan.
Prior to this motorists could determine what was safe and reasonable.
interesting new law in California on Jan 1st
a major consumer protection law giving buyers
a 3-day, no-questions-asked return period for used cars (with mileage/fee limits) and
forcing dealers to provide clear, upfront pricing,
ban "junk" add-ons (like EV oil changes),
transforming car buying by adding transparency and a crucial cooling-off period against high-pressure tactics.
Friday, December 19, 2025
can wood pulp be turned into fuel for planes and other aircraft?
Starting this year, airports within the European Union must use at least 2 percent of what’s known as Sustainable Aviation Fuel, or SAF, within their fuel mix. The United States does not currently impose such requirements, but the EU is set to increase its mandated SAF percentages in coming years.
SAF is an alternative to fossil fuel, and the goal of those requirements is to cut back on carbon emissions. SAF can include biofuels, such as energy made from pulped wood.
“There is going to be an increasing demand for this type of fuel, and we are right at the forefront here in Wisconsin,” Felzkowski said during a Monday morning news conference at the state Capitol.
A German company called Synthec Fuels is looking to run the plant in partnership with Wisconsin-based Johnson Timber, sponsors of the legislation said.
I had a job interview a couple days ago... this was my idiot light of doom
Because the temps dropped to 50, and that was enough to bring down all the tires to 25 psi.
It stressed me out for a minute though, of course. No one wants to have Murphy's law show up on the morning you are heading to a job interview and put a nail in a tire.
However, ALWAYS take a photo of a flat tire or indicator light, you never know when you'll need it to excuse your showing up late to ANYTHING
On September 30, 2025, the EEOC announced a lawsuit against El Paso-based company Fat and Broke, Inc., doing business as Gamer Logistics for firing older trucker and refusing to hire drivers over age 65
According to the EEOC, Gamer Logistics fired a 69 year old truck driver in March 2024. The driver had worked for Gamer Logistics for four years but was let go because the company’s new liability insurance policy did not cover drivers aged 65 or older, according to federal authorities.
Officials also allege that in July 2024, the company refused to hire a 68 year old truck driver due to his age.
Both the fired truck driver and the applicant held commercial driver’s licenses and met the physical requirements to operate commercial motor vehicles.
Officials also allege that in July 2024, the company refused to hire a 68 year old truck driver due to his age.
Both the fired truck driver and the applicant held commercial driver’s licenses and met the physical requirements to operate commercial motor vehicles.
1970 twin-engined Margay Cheetah go-kart
Margay Racing was founded in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1964 by Elmer Freber – it initially operated under the name Mar-Kart. The company’s early success came from a patented quick-change gearbox that allowed racers to swap gears more efficiently – a key advantage allowing racers to switch out gearboxes and match their ratios to the specific track where they would be racing.
Not long after this, Margay acquired the assets of King Kart, a move that instantly expanded its chassis lineup significantly and boosted its production capacity.
Power comes from a matched pair of McCulloch MC-91/B two-stroke singles, each fitted with flat-back carburetors, starter pulleys, GEM-style mufflers, and centrifugal clutches feeding individual drive chains that power the rear axle.
The kart sits on staggered 5-inch Margay split-rim wheels with black spokes and polished lips, shod with racing slicks with white Bridgestone lettering. Stopping power comes from a rear-mounted Hurst Airheart hydraulic disc brake with a left-side master cylinder.
a off-duty detail coordinator in the Sanford PD’s Professional Standards unit, was charged with 79 counts of official misconduct, as well as organized fraud, for faking 79 off-duty shifts for which he was paid more than $12K
A 23-year veteran, off-duty detail coordinator, former spokesperson for the Sanford Police Department, and investigator in SPD’s Professional Standards unit, was charged with 79 counts of official misconduct, and organized fraud, after swindling taxpayers of $12,640 for fake off-duty work shifts between October 2023 and July 2024, for off-duty work at Lofts at Eden apartments.
In the course of the investigation it was determined that Lofts at Eden never had a contract with the police.
“He also was … our lie detector guy,”
https://www.police1.com/officer-misconduct-internal-affairs/fla-officer-charged-after-allegedly-faking-79-off-duty-shifts-for-which-he-was-paid-more-than-12k
He had resigned Dec. 10, but the Chief reversed it and instead fired him from the agency once a warrant was issued for his arrest.
"Rogfast" will be the world’s longest and deepest undersea road tunnel.
That highway runs for about 1,100 kilometers from Trondheim in the north to Kristiansand in the south. Today, the journey takes around 21 hours and requires seven ferry crossings. Rogfast alone will remove one of the longest and most vulnerable gaps, cutting about 40 minutes from travel between Stavanger and Bergen, Norway’s fourth- and second-largest cities. The project is supposed to be completed in 2033.
Honda has announced that it will suspend production at several sites in Japan on January 5 and 6, with reduced operations until January 9., and close three factories in China from December 29 through January 2. Honda had to reduce or halt its operations because of the lack of supply of legacy chips
The trouble began in mid-October when the Dutch government seized it from Wingtech, its Chinese owner, following concerns of illegal technology transfers from the Netherlands unit to its China-based parent company.
This move led to an ongoing spat, which involved Beijing, as it blocked the export of certain Nexperia products, negatively impacting the global automotive supply chain.
It was also revealed that Washington may have had a hand in the takeover, especially as Wingtech was put on its entity list since 2024.
As the weeks rolled by, the Japanese automotive industry said that the conflict could lead to disruption, especially as it can take time before they can either receive components from Nexperia again or find new chip sources.
Seventy-five years after a USAF C-54 Skymaster disappeared into the Yukon with 44 people aboard, a team of volunteers and investigators plans to use artificial intelligence and satellite technology to find it.
Two hours into the flight, the crew radioed that ice was forming on the wings but conditions were otherwise normal. The plane never made its next check-in and vanished without a trace.
After an extensive but unsuccessful search, the Air Force dropped all efforts to find the plane.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency only searches for service members lost in combat, but no federal agency handles operational accidents or peacetime incidents.
The Air Force conducted a massive search in February 1950, only days after the crash, mobilizing thousands of American and Canadian troops and more than 25 aircraft in Operation Mike, named after one of the crew members. In the first three days, search planes covered 88,500 square kilometers in brutal winter conditions. Four search aircraft crashed during the operation, though all crew members survived.
The Yukon has over 500 documented aircraft wrecks. Only a handful remain unaccounted for—and the Skymaster is the largest.
The Civil Air Search and Rescue Association and volunteers have searched for decades, using the case as a training exercise and conducting aerial searches over the rugged terrain between Snag and Aishihik—an area of approximately 4,500 square miles.
After an extensive but unsuccessful search, the Air Force dropped all efforts to find the plane.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency only searches for service members lost in combat, but no federal agency handles operational accidents or peacetime incidents.
The Air Force conducted a massive search in February 1950, only days after the crash, mobilizing thousands of American and Canadian troops and more than 25 aircraft in Operation Mike, named after one of the crew members. In the first three days, search planes covered 88,500 square kilometers in brutal winter conditions. Four search aircraft crashed during the operation, though all crew members survived.
But on February 14, 1950, a B-36 bomber carrying a nuclear weapon went missing over the Gulf of Alaska—the first "Broken Arrow" incident in U.S. history. All search resources were redirected, and the military never returned to the Yukon after the snow melted.
The Yukon has over 500 documented aircraft wrecks. Only a handful remain unaccounted for—and the Skymaster is the largest.
The Civil Air Search and Rescue Association and volunteers have searched for decades, using the case as a training exercise and conducting aerial searches over the rugged terrain between Snag and Aishihik—an area of approximately 4,500 square miles.
The team's new approach combines synthetic aperture radar, multispectral satellite imagery, and LiDAR, analyzed by artificial intelligence trained to recognize aircraft wreckage—a method far superior to ground searches across 4,500 square miles of wilderness.
"First thing we have to recognize is this is a huge search area," Luers said. "In the last few years, the size of pixels in multispectral imaging has gotten down to 15 centimeters. If this crash is in a bunch of pieces, the technology now exists to pick up small pieces of aluminum and four engines."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950_Douglas_C-54D_disappearance"First thing we have to recognize is this is a huge search area," Luers said. "In the last few years, the size of pixels in multispectral imaging has gotten down to 15 centimeters. If this crash is in a bunch of pieces, the technology now exists to pick up small pieces of aluminum and four engines."
thanks to Robert L for sending me the link to this photojournalists article on motorcyclists!
American Motorcycling Culture by Jack Lueders-Booth
a time out for a racing story
Ken Gillanders of Temple City CA, drag raced a TR-2 in the sixties and seventies.
He made his own oversized cylinder liners out of high pressure gas pipe and had forged pistons made for it. He smashed out the combustion chambers in the head and had Cyclone Excelsweld create new chambers, into which he installed huge valves sourced from Hercules industrial engines.
It ran a pair of 45 DCOE Webers.
Lining up at Irwindale Drag Strip he staged against a 396 Chevelle. The announcer got the crowd stirred up by asking who thought the funny little foreign car could beat the Chevy.
Of course the crowd cheered for the Chev, until the Christmas Tree lit up and spotted the Chevelle two lights head start!
Ken smoked the Chevelle.
Later he became the Mayor of Temple City.
a mangled propeller is about all that remains of a B-17 bomber that crashed by the Porcupine Mountains (Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the Yoop!)
On April 18th, 1944 the B-17 was on a training mission when it left Sioux City Iowa headed to Marquette. During the flight an engine caught fire and they were ordered to land in Duluth Minnesota for repairs. Unfortunately, the underpowered airplane was not going to make it. Fortunately, the crew bailed out and landed safely on the ground.
The bomber crashed in the trees somewhere south of the Lake In The Clouds
Thursday, December 18, 2025
how freaking outraged would you be if you were at a race track (probably not covered by your insurance company) and some construction equipment the track owns was driven into your race car? (At about 20-30 mph)
a worker driving a telehandler crashed into two Nissan Skyline GT-Rs, an R32 and a R34, while they were stopped on the track’s front straight.
ON THE TRACK! Not hiding! Not on a corner!
The lawsuit alleges that “the telehandler operator proceeded without maintaining a safe and clear line of sight ahead and without taking adequate measures to ensure the path of travel was clear,” and that he “failed to perceive both of Plaintiffs’ stopped vehicles in front of him in sufficient time to avoid a collision.” It asserts that the machine was operated in a “grossly negligent manner,” and that precautions of “appropriate communications,” as well as spotters and guidance, were not employed.
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