GM is launching what it calls the "GM Automotive Service Technicians 30 Under 30" program, which places a spotlight on technicians that started out at a young age, and aims to encourage others to follow the same sort of career path.

 Those that wish to nominate a current GM technician can do so - so long as they're under the age of 30 - or techs can put their own name in the hat for potential recognition.

GM will contact the selected techs later this year, and in January, will announce the winners publicly. 

The techs will receive some swag including a custom Packout toolbox, a special service jacket, AI glasses for diagnostics, and professional tools. They'll also be recognized for a number of things - customer service, ongoing education, leadership, and willingness to mentor others. Essentially, they'll be ambassadors for GM, too.

“Service technicians are on the front lines of innovation as our vehicles become more complex,” said GM President Mark Reuss. “With the GM Automotive Service Technicians 30 Under 30 program, we will recognize exceptional young talent and foster a robust pipeline of skilled service technicians to support both the industry and this important part of the business for years to come.”

https://fordauthority.com/2026/09/gm-follows-ford-in-addressing-technician-shortage-with-new-program

This idea didn't come from marketing. It was proposed by Jamie Durnin, an Aer Lingus cabin manager.

Starting October 25, Aer Lingus's Dublin-to-Nashville service will fly as EI95, a nod to "9 to 5." The return flight to Dublin becomes EI92. On approach to Nashville, the crew will identify themselves to air traffic control as "Shamrock 925."

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1046696048363993&set=a.100311819669092

In another historic first, Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 will take to the rails this November for a limited holiday tour in support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Nov. 21 from Cheyenne to Denver, it's first-ever holiday tour (thank you George!)

The public is being offered a rare chance to purchase tickets for the holiday tour and ride in vintage passenger cars pulled by Big Boy as it travels from Cheyenne to Denver. 

 The trip will support the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America and include a donation from Union Pacific’s Community Ties Giving Program. 

Ticket sales for patrons of the Union Pacific Railroad Museum will begin Oct. 16. Any remaining tickets will be available to the general public Oct. 19.

https://www.up.com/press-releases/heritage-steam/big-boy-holiday-tour-260917

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is moving to stop auto insurers from using marital status when setting rates. I think when this changes (lowers) car insurance rates for the unmarried (50% of drivers) we'll see it change rates across the nation, probably the world, as we've been scammed too long

"The price of your auto insurance should be based on how you drive, not whether you're married," said  Insurance Commissioner Lara. 

"For 30 years, insurers have been allowed to use marital status when setting rates. Today, we are taking action to end that outdated practice and reinforce a simple principle: insurance rates should be grounded in actual driving risk, not personal circumstances that have nothing to do with how someone behaves behind the wheel."

Unmarried drivers pay about 200 dollars more a year, compared to married drivers

https://abc7.com/amp/post/california-begins-process-eliminate-marital-status-based-auto-insurance-rates/19848808
 

Governor Newsom signed Jay Leno’s Law, creating a phased in smog check exemption for qualifying collector cars built between 1976 and 1985, AND the Lowrider specialized license plate program to honor a uniquely Californian tradition

Newsom signed Senate Bill 1392, known as "Leno's Law," at Jay Leno's Garage in Burbank.

California currently exempts vehicles made before the 1976 model year from the state's regular smog-check requirement. Under the new law, qualifying collector vehicles made before 1981 will become exempt beginning Jan. 1, 2028.

One additional model year will then be added annually, eventually reaching 1985 model-year vehicles in 2033.

To qualify, vehicles must either be insured as collector vehicles or be driven less than 1,000 miles per year, according to the governor's office. The restrictions are intended to limit the exemption to cars preserved for occasional use rather than everyday transportation.

Newsom also signed two other car-related measures at Wednesday's event, including a bill creating a specialized California lowrider license plate and another aimed at speeding up state review of aftermarket vehicle parts.

https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/california-lenos-law-classic-car-smog/

The FIA is in the process of digitizing for public viewing more than two million documents and pictures from its boxes of archive stored in Valleiry (thank you Paul!)

Its collection relating to the land speed record is one of the first projects to be undertaken and will be made public shortly.

Alongside the documents and pictures are hand-written notes, letters and official records, annotated by those witnessing or taking part in the record attempts, a distinct, human element reaching back through the years.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2026/aug/13/at-any-moment-i-might-fade-out-archives-reveal-fearless-era-of-land-speed-record-breakers

once again, a federal circuit court of appeals has weighed in on "are personalized license plates (“vanity plates”) government speech or private speech" (1st amendment protected free speech the govt can NOT interfere with) Thank you Capt Doug!

In the case of Whateley v Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals 

"Does Virginia speak for itself through the character combinations on the personalized plates it issues – in which case, it is entitled to express the views of its choice? 

Or do Virginia’s personalized plates convey the private speech of drivers like Whateley – in which case, government restrictions on that speech must pass muster under the First Amendment?"

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Virginia’s personalized license plate messages ARE private (free) speech subject to 1st Amendment protection the govt may not censor

And of course, the starched shirts in state govt won't have any free speech go uncensored, and immediately replied that this will be appealed to the Supreme Court

“The commonwealth has a responsibility to ensure that state-issued license plates are not profane and do not promote dangerous hate speech or incite harm,” said RaeAnn Pickett, a spokeswoman for Jay Jones, the state’s attorney general.

Seemingly ignorant, or deliberately overlooking the implication that the govt by this rationale, has the responsibility of not promoting and inciting harm, which, clearly no govt entity I'm aware of operates with any concern about promoting hate and inciting harm/riots (see history of US Govt, and state govt, and police departments, operating with racism and prejudice against blacks and native Americans (2/3rds vote, slavery, police tactics in the March to Selma, pepper spray on nonviolent protesters during the past decade https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/search?q=pepper+spray etc etc ad nauseum )

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/06/us/politics/the-docket-vanity-plates-speech.html?unlocked_article_code=1.4FA.PNfA.kZNIQSZJC6Q7&smid=nytcore-android-share

https://www.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinions/251751.P.pdf

good news on the bridges and roadkill issue, in the Amazon, "Zero roadkill as Amazon canopy bridges secure 15,000 crossings"

Project Reconecta installed eight rope bridges in a municipality in Brazil, and a 15-month study used camera traps to document thousands of arboreal wildlife adapting to new aerial crossings.

Reconecta’s creator, biologist Fernanda Abra, a National Geographic Explorer and winner of the Whitley Award, is now expanding these low-cost conservation tools to other Brazilian biomes and neighboring Suriname.

Brazil’s federal transport department has officially designated the rope bridge design as the recommended national standard for highways to curb the millions of wildlife deaths recorded on roads annually.

https://news.mongabay.com/2026/07/zero-roadkill-as-amazon-canopy-bridges-secure-15000-crossings

The pres signed a memo to get the EPA to end the CARB bottleneck, and end persecution of Americans who fix their own cars

President Trump signed a presidential memo directing the EPA to end one of the more absurd overreaches of the Biden era: the prosecution of Americans for fixing their own vehicles.

The memo goes further than just ending the arrests. It targets a California-specific bottleneck that has been quietly choking the aftermarket parts industry for years. 

The only federally recognized third-party certification body for aftermarket auto parts was CARB, the California Air Resources Board,  a notoriously backlogged and slow process that gave Sacramento effective veto power over auto parts sold nationwide.

 The presidential memo ends that monopoly. “𝘕𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘊𝘈𝘙𝘉 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴,” Zeldin said.

https://x.com/EricLDaugh/status/2071678109619773515

a Pennsylvania Republican and an Illinois progressive plan to introduce an amendment in today's House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee markup hearing to prohibit federal highway funding for states using automated license plate readers for any purpose other than tolling

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will mark up the underlying bill—a $580 billion, five-year reauthorization of federal surface transportation programs—at 10 am ET on Thursday.

The amendment runs a single sentence: “A recipient of assistance under Title 23, United States Code, may not use automated license plate readers for any purpose other than tolling.”

The amendment is brief, but its reach would be vast. Title 23 funds roughly a quarter of all public road mileage in the US, including most state and county arteries and many city streets where ALPR cameras are becoming ubiquitous. Conditioning that funding on a ban of the technology would, in practical effect, force any state, county, or municipality that takes federal highway money (essentially all of them) to either remove the cameras or restructure their use around tolling alone.

https://www.wired.com/story/a-bipartisan-amendment-would-end-police-license-plate-tracking-nationwide/

Sir George Dowty designed the hydraulic landing gear for the World War II Lancaster bomber, and a statue of him and the gear will be officially unveiled at the International Bomber Command Centre (IBCC) in Lincoln on Wednesday 27 May..... not many people get a statue for suspension!

The undercarriages and landing gear of the Lancaster bomber were "faultlessly designed and manufactured" and "instrumental to safe landings for our crews at the completion of their flights"

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgjpd1jd5q3o

one step closer to a terminator robot... but - is this also one step closer to robots being used as bomb defusers, deep sea welders, and other high dollar and high danger work (but it's not likely, as human labor is often dirt cheap... robots like this will never clean hotels)

Japan Airlines will introduce the robots for trial run at a Tokyo airport amid country’s surge in inbound tourism and worsening labour shortages, with a view to deploying them permanently as a solution to the country’s chronic labour shortage.

The Chinese-made humanoids will move travelers' luggage and cargo on the tarmac at Haneda, which handles more than 60 million passengers a year.

The president of JAL Ground Service, Yoshiteru Suzuki, said using robots to perform physically demanding work would “inevitably reduce the burden on workers and provide significant benefits to employees”, according to the Kyodo news agency.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/apr/28/humanoid-robots-baggage-handlers-japan-airports

a Marine lcpl developed $10 solution to $5,600 antenna problem

A junior Marine’s 3D-printed fix for a fragile communications antenna is saving the Marine Corps hundreds of thousands of dollars and slashing months-long supply delays across the fleet.

When Schule joined the Marine Corps in 2022 as an engineer equipment operator, he was assigned to be an armory custodian. But his superiors quickly realized he had untapped technical skills.

They learned he had previously worked as a computer numerically controlled, or CNC, machine operator at an industrial machining company and had an interest in 3D printing and design.

In April 2025, Schule attended a basic additive manufacturing course at the II Marine Expeditionary Force Innovation Campus, where he learned to reverse engineer and print replacement parts.

The campus, a 3D printing hub focused on solving equipment and supply challenges, recently received a Defense Department award for education and workforce development.

Through trial and error, Schule refined the process and ultimately produced a replacement mast that passed durability testing and held up during a month-long field exercise.

During a joint exercise, Pine observed antenna masts breaking across multiple units. Replacements cost more than $5,600 each and took over 220 days to arrive. He estimated more than $1 million in damaged equipment across the fleet.

Since then, the II MEF Innovation Campus has produced more than 100 replacement masts at roughly $10 a piece, saving an estimated $600,000 while eliminating years of cumulative supply delays.

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2026/03/20/marine-lance-corporal-develops-10-solution-to-5600-antenna-problem/

stamps celebrate the lowrider car were unveiled here in San Diego, then released nationwide

Let the Good Times Roll/Soy Como Soy: A blue 1946 Chevrolet Fleetline
Eight Figures: A blue 1958 Chevrolet Impala
El Rey: A red 1963 Chevrolet Impala
The Golden Rose: An orange 1964 Chevrolet Impala
Pocket Change: A green 1987 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme

The stamps were designed by art director Antonio Alcala using existing photographs snapped by Humberto “Beto” Mendoza and Philip Gorden, while artist Danny Alvarado added the designs’ pinstriping. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/las-iconic-lowriders-featured-new-usps-lowrider-forever-stamps-rcna263355

(standing ovation time!) Staff Sgt. Billy Scafidel, an armory chief with the 7th Engineer Support Battalion in the 1st Marine Logistics Group, received the Navy and Marine Corps Medal, the service’s highest non-combat award, for saving another Marine’s life following a motor vehicle accident

he heard a loud splash in the ocean, discovered a truck lying on its side, half submerged in the water, quickly enlisted the help of a nearby Corpsman 2nd Class Andrew James, then grabbed a hammer before smashing out the windshield to get out the trapped driver, shredded his hands without noticing, and succeeded in creating an egress and getting the driver out before the cab was filled with enough seawater to kill the driver, who was in imminent danger of drowning. 

The driver was stuck in the seat, the doors were locked and the driver’s side of the vehicle was quickly filling with water. 

 Before ensuring the driver received medical attention, Scafidel dived back into the water to confirm no other passengers were in the truck.

The driver was transported to a nearby naval hospital, where he made a full recovery.

“In the face of adversity when a life was on the line, Staff Sgt. Scafidel, without care for his own safety, put himself in a position to make a difference,”

https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2026/02/09/marine-earns-services-highest-non-combat-award-for-vehicle-rescue/

Good news on the Rockford Files reboot, they've picked a really good actor, who LOOKS the part!

Boreanaz's first paid acting job was in a JC Penney commercial with Bryan Cranston. His first important role as Kelly's boyfriend in the series Married... with Children 

I really enjoyed Bones, until they killed off Sweets. They had to in order to hit the audience in the guts. That's what really sticks with a fan forever... the actors that carry off a role of grief, unrequited love, or unexpected death. 

The official logline of the pilot states, “Newly paroled after doing time for a crime he didn’t commit, James Rockford returns to his life as a private investigator using his charm and wit to solve cases around Los Angeles. It doesn’t take long for his quest for legitimacy to land him squarely in the crosshairs of both local police and organized crime.” 

There have been various attempts to reboot “The Rockford Files” over the years, including a failed 2009 NBC pilot starring Dermot Mulroney that was produced by Steve Carrell. Universal Pictures also developed a feature film version that was to star Vince Vaughn, though it never moved forward.

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1260520795938746&set=pb.100059425124329.-2207520000

standing ovation for LVPD Officer Deb Rinkovsky, who was patrolling near Charleston and Decatur boulevards in November when she saw a person in a motorized wheelchair being splashed by passing cars, and stopped to help (finally a cool cop!)

Rinkovsky stepped into the rain and offered the person her own poncho in a moment that a bystander captured in a photograph.

https://news3lv.com/news/local/las-vegas-police-officer-gets-recognition-for-help-person-in-wheelchair-soaked-in-storm

good news for disabled vets, and it's news to me, a VA benefit I've never heard of.... a Department of Veterans Affairs automobile grant

The Advancing Uniform Transportation Opportunities for Veterans Act, known as the AUTO Act, allows veterans with qualifying service-connected disabilities to receive an automobile grant from the Department of Veterans Affairs every 10 years instead of just once in their lifetime.

https://www.military.com/benefits/veterans-health-care/veterans-can-now-get-va-auto-grants-every-10-years-heres-what-changed.html

500 good people in South Bend Indiana pitched in and got Mo a new truck!

Standing ovation to the B52 maintenance crew that invented a better, safer, faster pylon-loading fixture tool! It cuts pylon-loading time from four hours to about 30 minutes while reducing the risk of injury and aircraft damage.

Airmen who maintain B-52 Stratofortress bombers won the Air Force’s top innovation prize after designing a simple adapter that makes one of their most dangerous maintenance jobs faster and safer. 

The team from Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana took first place at Air Force Spark Tank, the service’s championship round for innovators, for a work platform that cuts pylon-loading time from four hours to about 30 minutes while reducing the risk of injury and aircraft damage.

“We just had to create an adapter … to basically fix it to the lift truck, so it would interface between the pylon and the lift truck,”

“The ALE 25 Pylon Loading Adapter was born out of real-world challenges faced by maintainers,” the research lab release said. “By cutting task times from four hours to just 30 minutes and eliminating risky manual lifts, it’s transforming safety and efficiency for B-52H Stratofortress operations.”

Another finalist, Tech. Sgt. Tylar Cravens, a C-130J Super Hercules engine mechanic at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, represented his team at the competition. His project, Star Forge, uses advanced 3D printing to produce full-scale composite engine models, allowing maintainers to train without removing aircraft from service.

Star Forge reduced training equipment costs dramatically — in one case from $89,000 to $1 — and is expected to improve training for about 2,300 aircraft maintainers, according to the research lab.

https://www.stripes.com/branches/air_force/2026-01-05/air-force-spark-tank-b52-repair-20303218.html