Interstate 95 Electronic Surveillance And Ticketing Becoming A Reality

It was while I was partaking of of one of my YouTube guilty pleasures – dash-cam videos – that I came across the video below that informed us of new traffic enforcement means that includes a host of electronic. I will admit that at first glance it seems much more ominous than the reality of what’s happening. However, the reality isn’t all that great as I can see a number of legal problems these new measures may have , including constitutional issues, specifically in regard to the Sixth Amendment.

First, the video:



The first thing I am going to mention right up front that this video was made with AI assistance. (You’ll notice that eye blinks and head motions do not seem natural, a giveaway that the ‘talking head’ we’re seeing is AI generated.)

The video gives the impression the entire length of I-95 from Maine to Florida will have these systems installed and being used. That’s what drove me to dig in a little deeper to find out how all of these diabolical electronic surveillance systems were going to be used and who would be controlling them, and just as importantly, who would be issuing and collecting fines. From the video it sounded like it would be the Feds running the show. However, that is not the case. Not that it makes it any better.

It turns out the individual states which I-95 passes through will be using these systems. But that doesn’t mean there won’t be legal issues to address.

To get an idea about what some states have planned there’s this small primer from factually that looks at some of them:

Automated enforcement on I‑95: speed cameras in Delaware and civil penalties

Delaware’s work‑zone cameras on I‑95 near Churchmans Marsh moved from a warning phase into active fines after a trial period, issuing civil penalties (no license points) for vehicles exceeding the limit by 11 mph or more, with early data showing thousands of high‑speed violations including dozens over 100 mph and a top recorded speed of 139 mph. The policy calculates surcharges from the posted limit even though the citation threshold includes a built‑in tolerance; the program’s immediate stated aim is work‑zone safety, but automated systems also generate steady revenue and raise civil‑liberties concerns among enforcement skeptics—an implicit tension present in the reporting [2].

--snip--

The broader 2026 context: a nationwide push toward hands‑free, automated enforcement and higher penalties

Across states in 2026 there is a clear trend to restrict hand‑held device use, expand automated enforcement, tighten roadside protections and adjust speed policy, with commentary from driver education and insurance outlets urging adoption of hands‑free tech and attention to changing signage [7] [8] [9]. Legislative variations matter — for example, Florida legislators debated raising some highway limits to 80 mph even though many I‑95 segments remain at 70 mph today — underscoring that I‑95 drivers will encounter a patchwork of rules and should consult state and local DOT updates for specific corridors [10].

The above are just a couple of excerpts of what’s changing in general. However you can find a list of the I-95 states that have basically the same law, i.e. “Keep Right” requirements - here.

For the first three states on that list – Maine, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts – the “Keep Right” laws have been tacitly ignored...sort of. I have seen in all three states where you’ll see a slower moving vehicle in the left lane(s) and other cars and truck will pass them on the right. On the other hand, I have experienced staying in the right lane(s) even though I am traveling at 75 or 80 mph...because I am traveling slower than all the other vehicles doing 80, 85, or even 90 mph. This has become more common than it was in the past, though I am not sure why. I guess people are in a bigger hurry than they have been before.

Will all of the measures listed in the video actually come to into use? How many of them will end up failing to pass constitutional muster? That might explain why more of these laws are assessing a fine as a part of civil law versus criminal law which might not be protested under the Sixth Amendment. On the other hand I have seen motorists beat tickets issued by automated speed radar systems on Sixth Amendment grounds, so who knows?

If nothing else it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Friday Funny - Hall Pass

Thoughts On A Sunday

The roar of motorcycle engines can be heard day and night now that we’re in full swing of Laconia Bike Week. While there’s a pretty good crowd here already, a lot more will be showing up starting this coming Wednesday to finish out the week. We also expect a lot of motorcycle traffic in my town on Wednesday as that’s when the hill climb event will be taking place at our local ski resort. It usually draws a pretty big crowd.

One nice thing is that the weather is cooperating this year with warm (if not toasty) temperatures, plenty of sun, and any rain forecast to occur during late evening. Yes, I know forecasts can change but so far things are looking good. That will certainly bring in a lot more motorcycle enthusiasts.

The downside to all of this is that there are going to be a lot of motorcyclists around until the end of next weekend. The roads will be full of them and that means taking a lot of extra care when out on the road. While that means I may not be out and about as much as usually am, I will be out. But that will mostly be for going to and from work and two town-related meetings at the beginning of the week.

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Now that the New York Knicks have won the NBA Championship, we can pay attention to all the World Cup matches taking place across the US.

Our ‘local venue’, Gillette Stadium located in Foxborough just south of Boston, was temporarily renamed Boston Stadium. I am assuming that was done to either reduce the confusion of soccer fans attending the game being played there, or to reduce the “crass commercialism” of how we name our stadiums. Maybe it was a little of both.

In any case, it hosted Haiti vs. Scotland yesterday, the first World Cup match being played there. Scotland won that match 1-0.

If nothing else it will give we Americans a chance to meet a lot of folks from across the world and vice versa.

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Just when I thought I couldn’t dislike the delusional Left any more than I already do they come up with something else I have to roll my eyes about. Mike Solana certainly sums it up about the Left’s hatred of Elon Musk:

[L]sten up, we have to vote for the man with the nazi tattoo so he can stop the man landing rockets and curing the blind from making any more money, otherwise we’ll get fascism.

[Y]ou see how stupid you sound, yes?

I’m not sure who they hate more, Musk or Trump. Not that it really matters in the end.

==++++++==

Yup, this sounds dead on target.

Socialism is the merger of envy and government.

Just ask Bernie Sanders…

==++++++==

It seems a new study is confirming what I’ve known for a long time and is backing up the conclusion of similar studies in the past.

“Conservatives are happier than Liberals.”

As one commenter put it:

My wife spent her career as a licensed clinical psychologist and confirmed this for me repeatedly. The majority of her patients over decades, including the unhappiest, were overwhelmingly white, leftist women. Many left her care when she wouldn't agree with them or justify their complaints. Those were immediately replaced with more just like them, all complaining about how unhappy life had made them. They were mainly overweight, single and childless.

What’s even worse are the AWFLs, Affluent White Female Liberals.

==++++++==

It’s not like this is news by any means.

The Breakdown of Civilization in California

This latest bit of savagery perpetrated in the Pyrite State has become far too common. It doesn’t help that the state seems to be ‘legalizing’ crime. We certainly see that with the shoplifting mobs that hit stores, cleaning them out in moments. Even when they are caught they aren’t jailed, being released under California’s reformed bail laws where they can go on to commit more crimes. Even violent criminals are released. And of those, how many actually go to trial? Considering how many of the DA’s are so-celled “Soros DA’s” I’m surprised if any of them make it into a court. But then, that’s what Soros and so many of the lunatic Leftists want.

This is what the globalists want, the complete breakdown of civilization. This is the end-stage of toxic empathy, giving people what they say they want (e.g. drugs) and not what they need (i.e. help). 37-year-old man stabbed to death after violent dog attack on Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The unprovoked attack happened on May 20 as Berry Henderson, 37, was standing at a bus stop near Hollywood Boulevard around 3 p.m.

Surveillance video showed Henderson running into the street as a dog was seen chasing him and aggressively biting him.

That’s when a group of four men, one of whom was the dog’s owner, rushed over to attack Henderson. A suspect who was armed with a machete was seen stabbing and punching Henderson.

The guy with the dog was known to law enforcement, and so was the dog.

So did this miscreant and his friends do something similar to this before? Is that how he and his dog are known by law enforcement?

Let us hope that barbaric ‘custom’ doesn’t make its way outside of the blue states. On the other hand, in a lot of the non-blue states the citizens have the right to keep and bear arms. If something like that had happened here in New Hampshire it is likely the dog, the dog’s owner, and the machete wielder would have been shot by the victim, a number of bystanders, or both.

I have to wonder if California might be heading towards a Death Wish scenario?

==++++++==

I have been seeing more YouTube videos that tout other YT videos made by Europeans who have been touring the US, both prior to and during the World Cup matches. What’s been surprising to me (and others) has been how positive they have been about the US. It seems many Europeans think the US has no culture, no heritage, and that we are all like the images of people they see in the movies and TV shows from the US. Many have been pleasantly surprised about the American people and where they live. More than a few have expressed the desire to relocate to the US, particularly the British visitors. (Gee, I wonder why?)

I’ll keep an eye open to see if this shifts as the World Cup matches continue and people are expozed to more of America.

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where the weather has been more humid than expected, where heavy showers/thunderstorms are expected overnight, and where Monday’s return is refusing to “harsh my mellow”.

Brown Eggs Versus White Eggs - Part Deux

In last Sunday’s TOAS I mentioned the nonsense about brown chicken eggs having a larger carbon footprint than white eggs. It seems that a poultry farmer sees it for the nonsense it is and is debunking the claims made.

I am a poultry Breeder. The hens that lay white eggs (Amberline/White Star) DO NOT have a lower carbon footprint.

Yes they eat a bit less and produce roughly the same amount of eggs as the Brown egg layers (Bovan/Lowman/ISA Brown) but they live shorter lives, are prone to dying suddenly when startled, a flighty and nervous and because they live shorter productive lives (12 -18mnths) vs brown 18/24mnths (both commercial farmed), you have to incubate more which is increased (Electricity/gas costs) and their eggs are not the same quality.

I breed and keep 20+ different breeds, including: ISA Brown hens and White Stars. All my hens are 100% free range, Not a single barn kept bird, I have ISA browns that are 5yrs old and still laying beautiful Brown eggs, I have not seen a White star live beyond 3yrs and certainly none have laid eggs past 18-24mnths.

--snip--

You want to know about eggs, come talk to someone like me, Don’t rely on some hairbrained imagination of a buyer who’s trying to squeeze the profit margin for a few extra pennies at our expense and to the poor hens detriment.

The comments made in the second linked post certainly support the disdain from the poultry farmer in question.

And the climate cultist BS continues.

Friday Funny (A Little Late) - When Movies Get Science Wrong

Sorry for the delayed posting as I was distracted by the arrival of thousands of motorcyclists for Laconia Bike Week...and a lengthy Internet outage in my area due to a traffic accident.

But now that we have Internet connectivity again...

Thoughts On A Sunday

It was a 50:50 day yesterday being a mix of clouds, spotty rain, and occasional sunshine. It was a good day for running errand because I certainly didn’t miss any of the better weather activities. I did spend a couple of hours at two different banks during the morning, making a few changes to my accounts there. I wish I could say I was depositing a couple of million dollars in each bank, but it was something more mundane along the lines of modifying the accounts.

Probably the most ‘exciting’ thing I did yesterday was watch a couple of episodes of History Channel’s new World War II series. It reminds me a bit of the BBC’s old World At War series that we used to watch on PBS. The one big difference between the new series and World At War was the original series included interviews with a lot of people who fought in World War II from both sides. I will say that I like what I have seen in the new series so far as it does cover things the original World At War did not, digging deeper into the politics before and during the war.

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When I saw this a few days ago my first thought was “Can they really be this dumb?”

It turns out they are...or at least this one is.

You wanna hear something funny?

Lemme tell y’all what Rep. LaMonica McIver just said to Secretary Mullin during the hearing. Paraphrasing but you get the gist…

“You wanna talk about racism and everything… tell me why every person locked up in Delaney Hall is a foreigner?”

Who’s gonna tell her that ICE facilities ONLY house illegal aliens?

GOOD LORD! Democrats are truly the stupidest breed out there.

The comments in the Instapundit post are brutal...and rightfully so. So are the over 4000 replies to the post in X.

Note: According to some of the Instapundit comments, it is possible Rep. McIver was not the one who made this comment. However, the sources for this refutation are suspect...at least to me.

==++++++==

I have to wonder when the exodus of the British will begin from the UK?

Seeing how they are being treated by their government and the increasing abuses being heaped upon them by “innocent” migrants that seem to have no problems committing heinous acts. And then they lay the blame on the victims with the police supporting the narratives.

3 days after his son was murdered, Mark Nowak had to fight tooth & nail to stop the police from issuing a statement claiming Henry had racially abused Vickrum Digwa.

They had no evidence of any racial abuse from Henry. The police are trained to side with foreigners by default.

What’s worse is that these foreigners are the antithesis of British culture and are in the UK to tear it down and replace it with 7th century barbarism. They are already acting like run the country.

Hmm. Maybe they already do.

That might explain why I have been seeing more and more Brits on YouTube talking about moving to the US.

==++++++==

Seeing what’s been going on in the UK, one has to ask a follow-up question: Is Saving Europe Still Possible?

Considering just how wishy-washy some of the other European countries have been when it comes to allowing ‘enemy’ migrants into their countries by the millions, I’d have to say they are teetering on the brink. If they don’t get the Muslim immigrant problems squared away they will go the way of so many other nations and empires and cultures that didn’t stop similar problems cold: extinction.

It doesn’t help that European birthrates have plummeted while Muslim immigrant birthrates in Europe are much higher. All they have to do is wait a couple of generations and the white Judeo-Christian culture will be outnumbered and doomed to dwindle away. And what’s worse is that the Europeans have been doing it to themselves. It’s not much different here.

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From the “Just When I Thought They Couldn’t Get Any Stupider” Department comes this climate change nonsense:

Brown Eggs Canceled for Offending the Climate

The advantage of a totalitarian ideology is that it can be applied to everything. For example, global warmism dictates even what color eggs should be offered for sale.

An assessment by SAC Consulting for Sainsbury’s found that brown eggs have a 12.7% higher carbon footprint than white eggs, as the hens that produce brown eggs are larger and eat more food.

Next comes the government ban on brown eggs. Next after than come restrictions on how large a hen can grow. If this fails to perfect the weather, tighter regulation will be required.

Hmm. I would have thought larger hens would be a good thing because they have more “meat” on them. Did anyone take into account the ratio of the amount of feed versus the amount of meat on the chicken carcass? What good are smaller chickens if you need more of them to provide the same amount of meat if it also means in total they’ll eat just as much if not more that the larger “brown egg” hens?

And so it goes.

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You can’t tell me there won’t be a federal investigation about the voting in Los Angeles as it seems that just about every mail-in ballot was for Nithya Raman which moved her from a a distant third place to a solid second place. This means she’ll be running against fellow communist Karen Bass for mayor of Los Angeles.

To quote Dan McLaughlin, “The machine wins. Absolutely nothing will change in LA.”

Statistically, the split in the mail-in votes should have approximated the results seen from ‘regular’ voting. But against all odds, the mail-in votes heavily favored one candidate.

If this holds up the only thing I can do is quote Ed Koch: “The people have spoken. Now they must be punished.”

I figure the exodus from LA is going to accelerate going forward and will resemble what’s been happening in New York since fellow communist Mamdani became mayor. I do have to wonder how long it will take either of those cities to look more like Detroit when it hit rock bottom.

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And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where now that the weekend is over the good weather will return, the roar of motorcycles will start to be heard by Wednesday, and where 300,000+ bikers will be arriving to take part in Laconia Motorcycle Week.

D-Day - June 6, 1944

It was 82 years ago today that the Allies invaded Normandy.

It was the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany.

It was brilliant. It was audacious. It was daunting. It was a gamble.

It worked.

I remember when I saw Saving Private Ryan with a friend, his father, and his father’s friend. I didn’t know until after we finished watching the movie and leaving the theater that both of these elderly men were veterans of D-Day. As we drove back to my home my friend’s father stated that the movie-makers had captured D-Day perfectly. His voice shook as he said this. His friend merely nodded, and I could see he was fighting back tears.

It was a few years ago when I saw this video of John Williams’ Hymn For The Fallen and even today it brings tears to my eyes. As such, I felt I had to post it here, today of all days.

It is only fitting.

Friday Funny - Immediate Regret

Thoughts On A Sunday

Looking at yesterday’s weather one might have thought we were back in mid-April with overnight temps at or below freezing, snow in the mountains, and heavy rain and winds until early afternoon. It wasn’t all that warm around here with high temps in the low 50’s late in the afternoon.

The wet weather did allow me to test out the new tires I bought for the trusty RAM 1500 on Friday. The old tires had definitely outlived their usefulness with the wear bars just barely starting to show. My only complaint about the old tires is that they didn’t wear nearly as well previous tires I’ve had on the pickup. They had been a compromise as the tires I wanted to put on the trusty RAM weren’t available at the time. I got around 30,000 miles out of those before they were worn out. The previous set to those lasted me about 50,000 miles.

One of the first thing I noticed with the new tires is that they were quieter than the old ones and the ride was much better. I also noticed it felt like there was better traction in the rain than I had been experiencing. (Not surprising considering how little tread was left on the tires.)

Things are still gearing up for summer around here, with some of the road construction on one of the main highways going on around the clock. With Laconia Motorcycle Week coming up starting June 13th, they wanted to get all of that work done prior to the 300,000+ bikers arriving. (Truth be told, the bikers will start arriving on the Wednesday before the start, meaning we’ll be hearing the roar of motorcycles starting on June 10th.)

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I promise that this was pure happenstance.

It seems that yesterday’s post about how vehicle touchscreens are awful has now been backed up by a YouTube video that I found just this morning. (The first 2:50 covers that issue.)



So far it’s only a few carmakers making the change back to more traditional controls, but I have no doubt others will follow.

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The Left is continuing to “harsh our mellow” when it comes to celebrating America’s 250th birthday, threatening celebrities who want to participate in celebrations.

What do you expect from people who have no problems coming right out and stating they hate the country of their birth, the country that hasn’t silenced their hatred by means the Left would have no problems using against those who “Are Not One Of Them”.

One of their excuses for doing so?

The ‘bad’ economy.

Writes Cynical Publius:

Anyone who claims the lack of joy about the 250th is a function of a rough economy was not alive in 1976.

The country rocked in its 200th celebration and the economy was a FREAKING MESS.

There is this Gen Z misconception that the '70s and early '80s were some sort of economic golden age of readily available, well-paying jobs, low cost housing and an all around sense of prosperity.

WRONG.

Google "Stagflation." Google "gas lines." Google "mortgage interest rates in the 1980s."

Our economy today is a golden age by comparison, without exaggeration.

Yet somehow in 1976 we could gleefully celebrate our nation's birthday without Democrats turning it into a Howard Zinn-inspired anti-history hatefest.

I remember the “bad old days” of the 1970’s and particularly during the Bicentennial. The economy was in the dumper. There were jokes about the “last people leaving Massachusetts turning out the lights” because the economic problems were particularly harsh there. Yet nobody had any problems with celebrating America’s 200th birthday.

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For anyone who’s been paying attention, the following won’t really be a surprise.

Minimum Wage Wipes Out Jobs in California

What did the people running California think would happen when the minimum wage was boosted way above a reasonable level?

Not everything Democrats do is ineffectual. Consider minimum wage hikes — via Yahoo Finance:

Carl’s Jr. is staring down the potential loss of dozens of California locations after a franchisee and its affiliates filed for bankruptcy protection — blaming the state’s staggering minimum wage. …

Friendly Franchisees Corporation CEO and Founder Harshad Dharod said the state’s $20 minimum wage in the fast-food sector contributes to the chain’s financial distress ahead of bankruptcy filing under subsidiary Sun Gir, according to Restaurant Dive.

Fast food franchises cannot stay solvent while paying teenagers $20/hour to flip hamburgers. No one expects them to. The objective of ever higher minimum wage is to saw off the bottom rung of the ladder, resulting in more government dependence and thereby more votes for Democrats.

Carl’s Jr. isn’t the only fast food franchise that has been hit hard by the $20/hour minimum wage. We saw when Pizza Hut laid off delivery drivers because of the new minimum wage. How many others like McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and others have installed ordering kiosks to replace workers because they’re cheaper?

And let’s not forget the minimum wage hike for hospitality workers, with L.A. raising the minimum wage for them to $30/hour and San Diego raising theirs to $19/hour. You can’t tell me there won’t be a fallout in the hospitality industry like that seen in the fast food industry.

Like so many others have already found out, the real minimum wage is $0/hour when businesses start shedding workers because of the now much higher wages. Everyone will feel these wage increases as they will drive up costs.

It will be interesting to see how this is going to work out for Californians.

==++++++==

And that’s the news from Lake Winnipesaukee, where we’re waiting for summer weather and temperatures to return, the heavy rains we did receive over the end of last week and into Saturday helped reduce the rainfall deficit, and where Monday is returning again to interfere with the weekend.

New Isn't Always Better

I have mentioned more than once my dislike of modern automotive design, specifically when it comes to things like the multifunction touchscreen displays in almost every new vehicle over the past few years. Functions that used to be controlled by switches, buttons, knobs, and sliders have migrated over to the LCD touchscreens that take up a portion of the dash, mostly in the center. Some have gone so far as to replace the gauges – the speedometer, tachometer, fuel gauge, temperature gauge, oil pressure gauge, battery voltage, odometer, trip meter, and so on.

Is it that I am an “old faht” that doesn’t like all the new doodads and gizmos that has me writing this? Considering that I am a techie and have been one since the 1970’s, it isn’t that at all. It all comes down to the fact that some user interfaces, in this case for motor vehicles, really don’t lend themselves to LCDs and touchscreens. The newer technology, while really cool and cool looking, has one major downside to them:

The driver has to take their eyes off the road in order to use them.

It appears the UI/UX (User Interface/User Experience) designers, also know as “Buttons And Stuff Engineers”, have forgotten that distracted driving is a Bad Thing^TM. Any time a driver has to take their eyes off the road means they aren’t paying attention to their driving which in turn can lead to accidents. If they have to take their eyes off the road to handle functions that used to be controlled by physical controls, the aforementioned switches, buttons, knobs, and sliders, they are driving distracted. Drivers could control many functions without having to take their eyes off the road because muscle memory let them do so without having to look at them. The fan speed control, temperature setting, and vent controls were always in the same place. The same for headlights, windshield wipers, radio volume, radio station selection, and so on. But with the new LCD touchscreens muscle memory doesn’t work.

That could be why automakers are reversing course, at least partially, bringing back those switches, buttons, knobs, and sliders that control common functions used every day by motorists, even if it is the onboard vehicle control modules that still drive those functions. They have come to understand why their customers detest using touchscreens for these functions.

This begs the question “Why did automakers switch over to using touchscreens?” The answer is simple.

Costs. Touchscreens are cheap.

They can control numerous functions from a single interface depending upon the programming and the design of the systems in the vehicle. A single data connection to a vehicles control module(s) can control all of the usual functions. There’s no need for separate wires or cables for each of those switches, buttons, knobs, and sliders. And while those touchscreen interfaces are cheap, replacing them is not. You know the dealerships and repair shops will charge a fortune for a replacement. All told, the cost of that touchscreen interface including its associated electronics is probably less than $100. But they’ll hit you for up ten times that much plus labor if it ever needs to be replaced.

And there’s also this: If the touchscreen fails your vehicle just became very dumb. You won’t be able to use any of the functions it controls. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?

Now about the crappy engines the automakers have been putting in their new vehicles...

Friday Funny - Baby Weight Or...