Tuesday, June 9, 2026

Columbus is using AI to track your movements & Hans the Clever Horse.

Found a photo

I mentioned last time the Columbus dump nobody knew about and how they want to build houses on it now  - here is a shot of it from 16 years ago.  When I contacted the city they did not really care to hear about it -not their problem.  This was 16 years ago before it became Enerpac hill and buried it all underneath and in front the hill.  

This next part is Information only - not passing judgement . you are on your own journey. 

Columbus is using AI to track your movements from AI-powered cameras that capture and analyze images of all passing vehicles, storing details like your car's location, date, and time.

They also capture your car's make, model, color, and identifying features such as dents, roof racks, and
bumper stickers, often turning these into searchable data points.  

10+ years ago Columbus squad cars had these in all their cars and would watch you as you drove by but now every time someone drives into Columbus you are tracked, cataloged and put into a database. 

These cameras collect data on millions of vehicles regardless of whether the driver is suspected of a crime or not.

I just thought I would inform people what THESE new little cameras were doing.  If you don't mind big brother always watching your coming and goings you are fine. But seriously, it's not Big Brother I worry about, it's the millions of Little Brothers. NOT THAT I'M ACTUALLY WORRIED!   I'm sure the excuse will be "just being proactive" as it always is.  My ass! 

HOWEVER - on the other side of the coin - Nancy Guthrie's killer would probably be in jail by now if their AI cameras would have been functioning - so there is that.

Many MANY cities around the U.S  have rejected Big Brother watching them - in Wisconsin . . . . . 

Appleton, WI Contract Canceled
Dane County, WI Contract Canceled
Oshkosh, WI Contract Canceled
Verona, WI Contract Rejected
Sturgeon Bay, WI Contract Canceled

SO - if you don't mind having everything about your car put into giant database tracking you  - it's fine.  

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CHEM TRAILS?  Seriously?  COME ON - did you miss that decade of education? 

Being retired and not wanting to just sit in the dark all day doing nothing (as when I was young I assumed retired people did all day) we tend to sit on the deck with a beer on nice days and with an app we try to guess where the planes are coming from and going too as they fly over Columbus. Normally West coast to NYC.  We're getting good-ish on the west to east flights but - the BIG ones are North to South and vice versa that fly RIGHT OVER Columbus . . . and THEN there was this one that I posted on Wisconsin in Pictures.

Singapore to JFK at 44,000 feet taken with an iPhone 17Pro.  

One comment was "Any given blue sky day these f*ckers flying around spreading those chem trails.. believe it or not I counted 8 yesterday in manitowoc county!! Please tell me whats so important that they have all the money for fuel to fly back and forth making trails? Killing us slowly. " 

Another one I need to stop following this group as stupid Fu*** continue to post pics of chem trails and talk about how beautiful the sky is. Open your frickin eyes.

SIGH!!  

I had to respond  “Those lines behind airplanes are contrails, not ‘chemtrails.’ They form when hot jet exhaust hits cold, humid air and instantly creates ice crystals—basically man‑made cirrus clouds. Their appearance changes with temperature and humidity, not because anything is being sprayed. There’s no evidence of any chemical‑spraying program; it’s just normal physics and atmospheric science.”

FUN FACT - the first documented appearance of Chemtrails was in the cover of a 1990 Air Force Academy introductory chemistry textbook titled Chemistry 131. It had nothing to do with spraying, conspiracies, or aircraft — it was literally just a pun combining “chemistry” and “trails” for a course title.

HOWEVER -  Richard Finke and William Thomas pushed the idea in Art Bell’s ( a  paranormal-themed radio program late‑night radio show amplified it starting in 1999.

ANYWAY - If you see a large jet flying N to S it's probably from Asia and ALWAYS landing in Dallas.  

We did see a HUGE plane fly over a few weeks ago, an Antonov An‑124 “Ruslan.  The largest
Russian‑built cargo aircraft currently flying for Ukraine. The An‑225 Mriya was the absolute largest built but Russia destroyed it in the early part of the war.  The one we saw had no departure and unknow destination. SECRET! 

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Clever Hans the Horse and a True Story

In the late 1800's Wilhelm Von Osten was riding his horse and mulling over scientific stuff in his brain. He was into phrenology  the now discredited theory that a persons intelligence, character, and personality can be derived based of the shape of his or her head.

But he had other thoughts. He was interested in animals and how smart they were. He started testing cats, a bear and his horse in the skills of numbers. The cat did not care (surprise) the bear just got angry but the horse was different.

Wilhelm taught the horse to tap his hoof 3 times when he wrote the number 3 on a black board. In fact the horse could go all the way to 10 and repeat this many many times.

Then he started doing simple addition and subtraction and after a while the horse was able to give the correct answer. In fact it got to a point where his horse could do fractions and basic square roots.

He started showing the horse off and the horse kept learning more and more. "If the first day of the month is a Wednesday," Von Osten would ask Hans, who had learned to respond to verbal questions, "what is the date of the following Monday?" Six hoof-taps would follow.

"What is the square root of sixteen" 4 taps would follow. Hans even learned the alphabet, 1 tap for A, 2 taps for B and so forth. He made mistakes but was 89% right.

The New York Times had an article about Hans and scientists from around the world flocked to test Hans. They tested with and without Wilhelm in the room.

Following extensive testing which finished in 1904 it was concluded that there was no trickery, Hans was for real.

Then they noticed something, when Wilhelm asked a question and was far away Hans had problems, and when Wilhelm was behind a curtain Hans rate went to 0%.

So instead of watching Hans they started watching Wilhelm or whoever was asking the question.

IT SEEMS that Hans could tell stress levels and would tap his foot until he noticed that the stress had passed. Even when the questioner KNEW this was what Hans was watching and would try to trick Hans. Hans was perfect. This proved that while Hans was not the math genius we thought, he was pretty smart in ways we could not see. He could tell exactly when stress left a human through body language that no one else could see. Hans was smart in other ways.

Hans and Wilhelm continued to tour Europe and lived a happy life.

Hans would have been a GREAT poker player.

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My first post card from the making of Public Enemies the movie.  I was literally the first to photo Johnnie Depp and sold it to Japan's largest Movie magazine 


Remember when the entire downtown was closed? 



Wednesday, June 3, 2026

Columbus Water Tower ground cover (FREE) and Mullins

Couple things need to be clarified about The Columbus Police and the 200ish pullovers - this was a combined city/County effort and they did this in a few cities not just Columbus. Pull'm over look for drugs and let them go.  At the time the CPD refused to give City Council any real data on this so the actual number is  ????  . 

This was also the time when the police had the demerit point system for bars and they were the accuser, judge AND jury for closing a bar and it was also when they gave out MANY Easter Day tickets because of Winter Parking rules (we changed the rules after that) and it was over 50 degrees outside.  

They are fine now in my book - this was a decade ago. 

************************** On to the real blog

First off - From Wisconsin Road Trips page.  SADLY #9 Mullins Short Stop was posted on a Wisconsin page with the WRONG city name. 

Up in Cumberland at 1398 2nd Avenue, (in the REAL world it would say Up dare in Columbus at 641 N Ludington St) Mullins Short Stop Drive In represents everything great about small-town Wisconsin dining. This isn’t a place trying to be hip or trendy, it’s a straightforward, honest drive-in that’s been serving the community with pride and consistency for years.

The building looks like it could have been here since the golden age of drive-ins, with that classic architecture and signage that immediately tells you what kind of experience you’re about to have.

The burgers at Mullins are hefty and satisfying, made with quality beef that gets cooked just right every single time. They don’t skimp on the patties, giving you substantial portions that actually fill you up instead of leaving you hungry an hour later.

The toppings are fresh and plentiful, with crisp lettuce, ripe tomatoes, and tangy pickles adding layers of flavor and texture. Everything gets assembled with care, wrapped up tight, and handed over still hot from the grill.

Their milkshake game is strong, with thick, creamy versions of all the classics that taste like they were made in someone’s kitchen rather than a restaurant. The vanilla lets you appreciate the quality of the ice cream without any distractions, while the chocolate satisfies those deeper cravings for something rich and indulgent.

The strawberry strikes a nice balance between fruit flavor and creaminess. French fries come golden and crispy, perfect for eating alongside your burger or saving to dip in your shake if you’re feeling adventurous with your food combinations.


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It's that time of decade again when I remind everyone that the Columbus Utilities Water Tower has the best ground cover EVER and its free for your pickings.

Blooming sedum at the tower.

 Blooming sedum at the tower.

Ten years ago when I was a Columbus Water and Light Commissioner I decided the hideous looking  water tower needed beautification. There were beer cans, cig butts Frito packages and garbage and a lot of weeds. Nobody was taking care of it. 


 WELL - it seemed that after the 20 volunteers I rounded up to paint the inside of the Amtrak Station it was time for this monstrosity to be fixed. 

I asked Erik the Commissioner at the time if he could supply a friend and I two cubic yards of dirt we would fix it up. 

I was a HOT HOT day when we started in the morning.  First clearing out the junk.  My noon we were at this point.    


Erik delivered a backhoe of dirt - not good dirt - this ground cover does not like GOOD dirt, and we started filling all he crevices.  SO SO many crevasses - more then we anticipated. 

Then over the next few weeks we harvested sprigs from my house and repurposed them to the tower.  

Here is how to do it.

Put your hand into the sedum and pick a sprig at the base  



Then the easy part.  Put a scratch in your dirt 


Lay the sedum in it


And cover 


That's it. You CAN water it but its not needed. We have NEVER watered the tower.  It will not allow weeds to grow. We have it in shade as well as full 100% sunlight. 

We have NEVER weeded it, watered it and have basically ignored it for 10+ years.  Someone (Columbus Utilities? the City?) used to kill the weeds on top and below but never in the rocks.  

And seriously - each crevice had ONE sprig, it grows and fills out but it's very shallow and if you HAVE too - just pick it and discard. ZERO problems.  

When not flowering it looks like this from my house  


Name?  Sedum kamtschaticum, commonly known as Kamchatka sedum or Kamchatka stonecrop if you are wondering. 

I want to thank Columbus Water and Light for allowing us to beautify the the ignored Water Tower.  

NEXT week - why is Wild Tomato in Door County suing Wild Man Pizza 20 miles away.  You can't have the word WILD in a restaurant?  HEY - Columbus attorney (love you man) want to chime in? 
and other mindless drivel.    

Where ya all coming from?