cars & trucks category
It wasn’t known where the man got the deer, which had been dead for some time
A man reported missing from a Florida hospital was found in North Carolina dressed like a doctor and driving a stolen ambulance with a dead deer wedged in the back.
‘You get justice in the next world, in this world you have the law.’ —William Gaddis
A local news investigation has found that the city of Dallas, Texas depends upon short yellow timing to maximize red light camera profit. Of the ten cameras that issue the greatest number of tickets in the city, seven are located at intersections where the yellow duration is shorter than the bare minimum recommended by the Texas Department of Transportation. (…)
“For 30 miles per hour, if your yellow time was less than three and a half, you would not be giving that driver enough time to react and brake and stop prior to getting to the intersection,” TxDOT Dallas District office transportation engineer supervisor Chris Blain told KDFW.
A small change in signal timing can have a great effect on the number of tickets issued. About four out of every five red light camera citations are issued before even a second has elapsed after the light changed to red.
related { Six US cities tamper with traffic cameras for profit }
We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we continued to fall
A San Rafael man is facing felony drug and traffic charges after ramming other vehicles in what he called a secret government experiment for Area 51.
Antonio Patrinostro, 43, was charged Tuesday with driving while intoxicated and causing injuries, reckless driving and hit-and-run with injuries. He was arrested Sunday evening after his car bumped into three other vehicles in 55-mph traffic, said Officer Mary Ziegenbein of the California Highway Patrol.
Patrinostro “told the officer that the vehicle could fly if he went fast enough, and basically just started bouncing off of cars,” Ziegenbein said. “He was under the influence of cocaine, Valium and marijuana and stated that it was a top secret experiment with his doctor for Area 51 and the government. He also stated that he was working for a cure for AIDS by taking the drugs.”
Area 51 is a secretive military base in southern Nevada thought by UFO buffs to be a hub of extraterrestrial activity.
Cruisin’ down the boulevard, treated like a superstar
The following line of thought started with my observation of how efficient the human body is at converting food into energy. A marathon runner can eat a pork chop and run 26 miles. Your car can’t do that.
Then I thought about how scientists created a heart out of human cells grown in a lab. It’s a muscle that actually works. So how much of a leap is it to imagine vehicles powered by lab-grown muscles, with artificial digestion systems, powered by your leftovers from dinner? All it would take is a small electrical stimulation to make the muscle contract in time to pedal a generator attached to a motor.
We probably wouldn’t want to use human cells to create those muscle cars. Other creatures have more efficient muscles. Maybe a huge muscle made from an ant’s leg would be good. Those tiny bastards can lift many times their own weight. I want my car powered by giant ant muscles.
The great thing about a muscle car is that the more you use it, the stronger it gets from the exercise. The downside is that you’d have to keep the muscle warm enough so it didn’t freeze, and not so hot it died. But I think science could figure that out. Maybe the muscle would be part ant and part polar bear.
photo { Merkava Tank }
Don’t need no credit card to ride this train
Things happen when you own a DeLorean, the sports car turned ultimate time machine in the “Back to the Future” films.
The car was larger than life. Its creator, John Z. DeLorean, was a self-promoting swinger in tailored suits who dated models and Hollywood starlets. He was caught in an F.B.I. sting with 55 pounds of cocaine, which the authorities said he planned to sell to prevent the collapse of his company. Though he was acquitted, the trial further cemented his name and his car as irresistible emblems of pop culture.
“Having a DeLorean is like 5 percent being a rock star,” said Lauren J. Reilly, a bubbly 31-year-old producer at the Deutsch advertising agency who owns a 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 — the only model DeLorean built (and for just two years). (…)
Though known as an exotic car — its body was sheathed in unpainted stainless steel — the DeLorean was a failure as a performance car. Its engine, a 2.8-liter V-6 developed jointly by Peugeot, Renault and Volvo (known as the PRV6) was too flaccid to rival any Ferrari. It went from zero to 60 miles an hour in 8.8 seconds, slower than a Mazda RX-7 at the time. “Back to the Future” definitely helped the car rise above its merits.
photos { Delorean.com }
previously { Back to the Future II }
Comparisons are not always useful and can be dangerous
photo { Fire Station 10 | more }
related { Paris protesters force Olympic torch onto bus }
related { What would happen if North Korea nuked South Korea? }
For all you suckers, with your cheap dragsters
I’m going to Albany on Saturday for their law school open house! (…) I went on line to find a bus ticket but apparently the ‘Hound has raised their prices and a roundtrip ticket is $80. Hey Bus Driver, no thanks. If I wanted to ride for three hours with ex-felons and deadbeat dads I could probably find a way to do it for free.
So then I listed an ad in the rideshares section of Craigslist and like three seconds later I received a response from a guy that I’m guessing is a speedfreak, because it was in all capital letters and there was absolutely no punctuation except for tons of exclamation points. It was like “I’LL GIVE YOU A RIDE!!!!!!!!! WHERE DO YOU NEED TO BE PICKED UP!!!!!!! LET’S DO IT!!!!!!!!!”
I guess what I’m asking is this: if I accept a ride with him, what are the odds that I’ll end up hacked to bits in a shallow grave behind a rest area bathroom?
We’re gonna have an orgasm that you can’t even comprehend
{ Nikki and Paris Hilton }
related { Abstinence clubs | Not all young people who are virgins on purpose are dum-dum religious nuts }
Cash rich and time poor
{ OJ Simpsons, Bronco Chase, LA, June 17, 1994 }
Muscle cars in North Hollywood
{ George Barris’ Batmobile | The sleek black vehicle, one of two original Batmobiles that have survived, started out as a 1955 Lincoln Futura. Barris also created the DeLorean Time Machine from the film Back to the Future. | LA Times }
