In America, car bloat continues to kill us. Unfortunately, few manufacturers seem inclined to offer smaller vehicles, which means few consumers can purchase them. As the average vehicle gets bigger and bigger, we all suffer from reduced safety, increased road wear and tear, and even crunches in parking availability.

So I was excited when Fiat recently introduced the Topolino to America. It’s a tiny electric vehicle that could be perfect for cities. At just 99.6 inches long, it’s far shorter than almost anything you’ll find on the road. Though the Smart Fortwo is no longer sold in America, I still see them frequently around Boston. Those are 106.1 inches long, close to the Topolino. As far as new cars go, the smallest right now seems to be the 2026 Mini Cooper. At 152.6 inches long, that’s more than four feet longer than the Topolino.

When I first heard about the Topolino, I hoped it might be a solid Fortwo replacement. Alas, at least in Boston, the vehicle is a non-starter. Here’s why, right from the Topolino FAQ:

When properly equipped with the Street Legal Conversion Kit, the FIAT® Topolino has an estimated top speed of 25 mph. Without the conversion kit, the Topolino cruises at a top speed of 19 mph.

Boston’s default speed limit is 25 MPH, but multiple arterial roads (including the infamous Storrow Drive) require higher speeds. A car that maxes out at 25 miles per hour is just not viable for use around Boston, nor most anywhere in the country.

Given that reality, it seems to me that this USA Today story about the Topolino drastically undersells how impractical this vehicle is for most people. The article states “it may not be appealing for every driver” and “Fiat’s new electric vehicle is cheap, but its performance specs could deter some potential buyers”. I would say that it may not be appealing for any driver, and its specs could deter nearly all potential buyers. As alluded to in the title of this post, this seems like a car for approximately no one.

Thanks to advances in batteries, micromobility options have proliferated in recent years. Every day, I see countless e-bikes, electric cargo bikes, scooters, and more. Those options can cost as little as a few hundred dollars, though. Perhaps there’s a market for this vehicle, but to me, it’s just a very disappointing $15,000 golf cart.

Watch just about any traffic light in the Boston area until the signal changes, and you’ll almost certainly see one or even multiple cars blatantly running a red. It’s endemic, and it’s awful, yet nothing is done about it. The police have abdicated their responsibility for enforcing traffic laws and drivers know it. Everyone is less safe because of it.

As a result, I find myself supporting the legalization of automated enforcement technologies like red light cameras. I don’t like it, but I like it more than the current reality on the ground. On a very related note, there’s been a lot of discussion about the enormous potential for abuse in automated license plate readers (LPRs). The privacy hawks at the ACLU of Massachusetts have written a useful piece contrasting LPRs against speed and red light cameras.

Dolly Parton died on Tuesday, but the legacy of her Imagination Library will live on. It’s the best of humanity.

Dolly herself was from a hollow in East Tennessee, and understood that any attempt at equity would begin with the alphabet. Dolly’s father never learned to read or write, a fact that always bothered her because she could see how intelligent he was. When she started the Imagination Library in 1995 in Tennessee, it was an act of retroactive love for a man who didn’t get to dream as big as his world-famous daughter was able to…At the time of her death, the Imagination Library had expanded to mail 270 million books to children in five countries.

Andrew Carnegie built libraries. Dolly Parton did too.

Adak Island is 1,200 miles from Anchorage, and all but deserted since its naval base closed in 1997. Nevertheless, it receives government-subsidized internet service at a cost of over $340,000 a year. And it seems not a single person is using it.

We know this because we flew to the island in June and visited every building the company itself told regulators it serves. We knocked on every door. Talked to every person we could find.

Not a single one told us they subscribe to the island’s subsidized internet service.

What an incredible waste of money.

I’ve been quite horrified by the rapid spread of gambling in American society in recent years, but even still, betting on weddings seems like a tacky new low to me.

Recently, comedian and TV host John Oliver has made guest appearances on two different soap operas. For his “Days of Our Lives” stint, he even brought his own wig, and it is magnificent:

[Photo credit: Days of Our Lives]

I like to think that if I were a celebrity, this is the kind of nonsense I’d get up to.