Long drive home from a pleasant visit at ABC’s up north, although the traffic was damned hellish and the entire state of Pennsylvania is under construction. Also, Massholes are the Ohio drivers of the Northeast, the difference being Ohio drivers are in the passing lane doing ten miles under the speed limit in an uninspected chrysler whose turns signals don’t work, while Massholes are in a brand new BMW X5 in whatever fucking lane they want doing whatever fucking speed they want and not using their turn signals because they don’t have to because TOM BRADY or some fucking bullshit. Fuck the Wahlbergs.
At any rate, here was the playlist on the ride home (DougJ ignored the last one, maybe he will come in and grief me on this one):
Allman Brothers: Eat a Peach
Beatles: Rubber Soul
CCR: 20 Greatest Hits (again)
Grateful Dead: disc 1 of Hundred Year Hall
Michael Jackson: Thriller
Led Zeppelin: III
Led Zeppelin: II
Yonder Mountain String Band
Frampton Comes Alive (disc 1)
The Police: Zenyetta Mondatta
Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream
Litle Feat: Waiting for Columbus
I am going to take a nap. Also, fuck you people for not recognizing my genius.
The title of this post is not getting the god damned recognition it deserves.https://t.co/jIHFTVx3mv
— I'm So Over This (@Johngcole) June 1, 2017
This shit ain’t easy, people.
This picture of me has been making the rounds with my friends on FB, so I thought I would share. Me in 1991 in Germany.
Sums up my mood about now.
rikyrah
Glad that you got back safe, Cole.?
Roger Moore
I can’t believe there hasn’t been a “We’ll Always Have Paris” title yet.
Omnes Omnibus
Rubber Soul is a good album.
Corner Stone
When do they come by to pick you up for your mandatory shift at the cole mine?
? Martin
I thought Il Duce and Gabbana was inspired, but I might just be a suck-up.
DCrefugee
Frampton Comes Alive?
I thought all copies of that album had long ago, and properly, been destroyed by fire after the same kind of week-long celebration I intend to have when the last Republican enclave exists only in the swampy backwaters of Mississippi…
Steve in the ATL
I’m in Massachusetts at the moment, though I didn’t get a “kah” because I’m staying in downtown Boston. Regardless, when I look at the window of my hotel room I see them driving like Massholes and find myself pouring a shot of whiskey without even realizing it.
Spanky
You have friends?
Hungry Joe
In my experience — I visit frequently — Ohio drivers are (generalization ahead) oblivious tailgaters. On a two-lane highway, speed limit 45 or 55, they cruise happily 1.5 car lengths behind me even though there’s a broken yellow line and nothing for a good mile in the oncoming lane. On a four-lane freeway it’s the same: I’m in the right lane, doing 60, with a car right up my hatchback. Slowing down just confuses them: “Why are you making me go so slow?” These are the same people who get stuck on broken escalators.
Gravenstone
What the fuck were you on when that pic was taken? Seriously, no one alive has pupils that fucking dilated outside of an ophthalmologist’s office.
lamh36
Micheal Jackson “Thriller”…HMMMM…
? Martin
We need to make it a requirement that all US drivers spend a week traversing southern California freeways before they’re allowed on the interstate system. The El Toro Y is 26 lanes at one point, and nobody drives under the speed limit. When you can navigate multi-lane metered onramps, HOV lanes, crossing 9 lanes of traffic for your exit, and cars ranging in speed from 70 to 90 MPH, along with motorcycles lane-splitting (legal in CA) then you’re ready for the Pennsylvania Turnpike.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Omnes Omnibus: Revolver’s better.
?BillinGlendaleCA
I’m convinced that BMW’s and Benzes don’t have factory installed turn signals, at least that’s my experience driving here in Glendale.
? Martin
The CA Senate has passed a bill that will eliminate most cash bail in the state. It’s expected to be passed by the Assembly and signed by the governor. NJ’s similar law went into effect this year. It should have a massive effect on the number of people in jail and the ability for low income individuals to keep their jobs while awaiting a court date.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@? Martin: That would certainly cut down on the number of drivers in the US. Either they’d be scared shitless by the experience or they’d be dead.
Mike J
@lamh36: I would have gone with Off the Wall.
John Revolta
JOHN COLE: “GAWRSH!!”
jimmiraybob
Decades ago I was taught how to drive like a Masshole when visiting Framingham. There really is an art to it. Of course, the truly great have a special something. A few years after that I discovered that driving in MA, or DC for that matter, was much easier when driving a rusted out 20-year old VW Van with no way to determine my insurance status without an engagement. They do care about their vehicles and I got wide, and I mean wide berth. Might want to consider buying a “traveling” vehicle.
JPL
@? Martin: Good. I wish GA would follow suit, because of the number of people in jail because they can’t afford the bail. They won’t, but I wish they would.
different-church-lady
FUCK YOU RIGHT BACK ASSHOLE!
The Dangerman
@? Martin:
Almost complete agreement, although I will add one more condition; they have to do it at rush hour with a President or Presidential Candidate in town (alternatively, they will have to do the 405 from the Valley to the Airport, over and over again).
Bad drivers in LA exist, but typically their insurance rates are so high (because of so many accidents) they are riding the bus.
frosty
@?BillinGlendaleCA: Revolver’s my favorite too, although Rubber Soul is very close behind. Sgt Pepper is way down on the list, below all the early albums.
Obviously, YMMV.
different-church-lady
Yeah, pretty much nailed us.
Rosalita
Ah, Massholes…either standing on the gas or standing on the brakes…no in-between
jl
In the spirit of the first tag for this post (directed at Mr. Trump), states responsible for 25% of US GDP will abide by Paris climate agreement.
Governors of New York, California, and Washington announce the formation of the “United States Climate Alliance”.
https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/870394672274952196
different-church-lady
DAMMIT PEOPLE, LISTEN TO THE MONO SGT. PEPPER BEFORE PASSING JUDGEMENT!
different-church-lady
@Rosalita: Third state: overturned on the shoulder.
JPL
The latest poll has Ossoff up a point, but well within the margin of error. It appears that the terrorist ads against him and her lack of specific policies has helped.
David Anderson
@different-church-lady: just drive with unmitigated aggression and it works out fine
frosty
@? Martin: True story: after living in SoCal for 9 years, a friend from PA came out to look at some schools. I was in Irvine and she wanted to see some place near downtown LA. I got ready for work, gave her the keys to my spare car, said something like “Take the 5 to the 101 and go west to exit XX.” She looked at me and said “I’m not driving those roads!” I took the day off and chauffered.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@frosty: Abbey Road’s my favorite with Revolver second.
The Pale Scot
Ok, so I can admit I’ve been listening to Frampton, and it’s really amazing how well the the Beatles hold up. The BBC sessions, mono recording in a dinky room, those boys were tight!
My current job allows me to load up the iPod everyday as long as I’m not deciphering blueprints. I’m going thru my collection el rapido. By next month I’ll be down to Tito Puente, Tony Allen and my Nigerian High Life collection. One of my coworkers softly sings whatever he’s listening to. Which seems to alternate between Tupak, Techno and Journey. Swear to dog, middle-aged black dude was singing Streetlight People, I turned off Lou Reed to make sure.
different-church-lady
@David Anderson: See, that’s the weird thing about crazy-ass, aggressive Masshole driving: we can be completely tranquil when doing it.
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
Is there going to be a debate?
Omnes Omnibus
@?BillinGlendaleCA: It wasn’t on Cole’s list, now was it?
ruemara
@lamh36: Cole is secretly a Jackson brother
@frosty: I’m sorry but 80 in sac freaks me out and the mere idea of driving on the 101 or the 5 in LA gives me heebies. I take the 505 to get to SD.
p.a.
drive the masspike into boston, 70mph bumper to bumper, look over and guy in next lane has the globe (obvious spreadsheet, not tabloid) open across the steering wheel, reading it. (pre cellphone era)
Patricia Kayden
Are any drivers as rude as the ones in Miami? Or am I just a bad driver so I deserved all the honks? Miami driving is why I play loud music when I drive — drowns out the honking from irate drivers.
hovercraft
@? Martin:
Pah! Until you are fluent in Manhattan driving or at the very least have mastered borough driving, you are not a seasoned driver.
? Martin
@jl: California will launch its own damn satellite!
That’s a pretty good start. Our beloved Gov Moonbeam is going to lead us through this.
danielx
Frampton Comes Alive? Seriously?
Patricia Kayden
@JPL: Devastated to hear this. Hope he’s pushing back with ads linking her to Trump.
low-tech cyclist
Smashing Pumpkins, eh? Good to see something on your playlist that is <30 years old.
ETA: Fuck ‘classic rock.’ Seriously, fuck all that stuff that’s been overplayed to the point where I can’t stand to hear even the really great stuff from my g-g-generation, let alone the mediocre crap.
Now excuse me while I go listen to some Cage The Elephant.
Mike E
@frosty: both albums are great for traveling tho the lack of Stones is disturbing, frankly
p.a.
@different-church-lady: if you expect the aggressive move from a mass driver you’ll have no surprises and no ulcers.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
Macron is trolling trump so hard he’s gonna strain his trolling muscles
The President of France has made a video reassuring the American people that the world supports them in this difficult time, and that they do not blame the American people for the acts of their government. We live in interesting times.
different-church-lady
@p.a.: It has definitely gotten to the point when I can inuit exactly when that car will be cutting me off before it moves over. I think I know what they’re doing before they do now.
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: The debate will take place Tuesday, June 6, from 8 to 9 p.m. The debate will air LIVE on WSB-TV and will be livestreamed on WSBTV.com and the official WSB-TV Facebook page.
I know there will be others, and early voting has been strong. Last time, he didn’t get the vote out in DeKalb and hopefully he uses Lewis to improve those numbers.
frosty
@hovercraft: My brother had a Maverick in Manhattan in the 70s. He’d drive up Broadway so fast between the lights I’d swear only one wheel was on the ground at a time, since the potholes kept us airborne.
hovercraft
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
I find that here in Jersey turn signals and pedestrian crossing are cosmetic items placed in the car and on the roads to add visual interest to your drive. I think perhaps living in a state that generally doesn’t allow left turns doesn’t see the need for turn signals.
danielx
I thought Cole was mellowing somewhat under ABC’s civilizing influence, but clearly it’s all a put on.
In this uncertain world, it’s good to know there are some things you can count on.
different-church-lady
@Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Idiot, THEY’RE THE DAMN PROBLEM IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!
Longtime Lurker John-o
F**k you too, John. We love you.
The first time I drove in Massachusetts, I… no, that’s wrong. The first time I drove in Massachusetts I was sure I was going to die. The SECOND time I drove in Massachusetts, I looked in the rearview mirror, signaled, got over to the left to pass, and was instantly tailgated by some hammer-toed old veteran in a white Cadillac who waited til he saw me look at him in the mirror, and flipped me a slow, magnificent bird.
And I’ve lived there ever since.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Omnes Omnibus: Cole’s not perfect.
John Revolta
@? Martin: Meh. Two words: double roundabout. Also too: left handed stick.
Fine. Five words.
motorcycles lane splitting (legal in CA)
Now THAT……….that is just wrong. Lordy.
different-church-lady
Old Steven Wright joke:
“I drove across country with a friend last year. The whole week we only had one tape to listen to. … I can’t remember what it was…”
JPL
@Patricia Kayden: He has stayed away from attacking Trump except in mailers to democrats, in order to attract moderate republicans. I don’t think that works. The district went for Trump but by a small margin, and surely he’s lost some supporters since then. Price won by twenty points.
He should do well in the debates so we will see, but the undecided vote was only three percent. She really has to flub. Conservative turnout in a runoff like this has always been strong. Democrats can win overwhelmingly initially but if they don’t reach 50 percent and have a special election like this, turnout is so low, the republican wins. It is the way it is. Now I’m not all doom and gloom, because he mailed out requests for absentee ballots.
The key is DeKalb county since the turnout there was low, and that area went for Hillary.
CaseyL
Hey, I thought the title was great! But I was fresh back from out of town myself, in a peaceful land where I didn’t have a computer or a TV or any access to news for a week.
Returning and catching up (not to mention returning just in time to see Dolt say we’re outta the Paris Accords) made me need to wait a bit before commenting. Wanted to get the sick rage under control.
Omnes Omnibus
@?BillinGlendaleCA: You can say that again.
JMG
Driven in Massachusetts for 40 years. The difference between us and other states with bad drivers (they all have ’em) is that those drivers fall into a pattern in other states, New York, everyone is hyper aggressive. Florida, old people go below the speed limit in the fast lane (note: I am old). And so on. Here it’s wheee! Long time ago a friend of mine compared it to the old arcade driving games where obstacles and hazards popped up at random without warning. Still works.
lamh36
Uh huh…can’t wait to bring this up to my coworkers in the lab who are quiet Trump supporters…
GOP Senators Weigh Taxing Employer-Health Plans
SiubhanDuinne
@?BillinGlendaleCA:
WHAT THE FUCK!?
JPL
@Patricia Kayden: WSB TV is going to stream it online also, and you should listen.
He is far more soft spoken than I like but he is unflappable and really smart. Karen is accomplished, but doesn’t have the education background he does. I hate to sound snotty, but she didn’t go to college. She has strong sound bites, Nancy Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi.
hovercraft
@frosty:
The speeding and sudden stops, aggressive drivers, the double parkers, and then the pedestrians, it really is a constant test of your reflexes.
I haven’t even mentioned the psycho’s out on Long Island, god I hated it, I swear driving home on the LIE everyday is what drove me to drink, it is a lie that it’s an expressway.
different-church-lady
@JMG:
Otherwise known as “Boston pedestrians.”
SiubhanDuinne
@JPL:
Thanks for that. I don’t have TV so will try to find a way to stream it.
? Martin
@hovercraft: I learned to drive in NYC, but I’m also of the view that Manhattan should not have private vehicles, so out of practical consideration I went with SoCal which is massive enough to handle the volume.
Manhattan driving is quite different, though. It’s mostly about learning to filter out all of the formal driving regulations (lights, lane markers, etc) none of which apply, and instead substituting the unwritten but mostly agreed upon rules of urban driving. It’s a bit like looking at the code and seeing the matrix, but there’s relatively few things to keep track of by comparison.
SoCal driving is more like trying to herd 100 cats. The formal rules mostly apply, but the sheer volume of vehicles you need to keep track of as you snake across a hojillion lanes and the ability to evaluate in a split second the likelihood of each vehicle wanting to crash into you is the real skill to be learned.
JPL
@lamh36: The tax plan allows the mortgage interest deduction, but not property taxes. I just got my tax bill, which I’m hoping to challenge because it’s a fifty percent increase. That is far more than I pay for my mortgage. Talk about double taxation.
JPL
@SiubhanDuinne: The local station is going to stream online, as well as on facebook.
Frankensteinbeck
@Hungry Joe:
I have done most of my life’s driving in Kentucky. If you understand that someone merging ahead of you is the greatest insult a Kentuckian can receive, you understand their traffic. Everyone tailgates, all the time, and if you find a spot to merge into, they speed up to stop you, then yell at you when there’s almost an accident. Driving in LA is heaven compared to Kentucky.
Patricia Kayden
@JPL: Will look up the debate.
Gin & Tonic
@p.a.: Southeast Expressway, same thing. Guy goes by me in the left lane doing 80+ and reading the paper.
DougJ
All sounds good except Smashing Pumpkins, whose leading singer is regular on Infowars
jl
@John Revolta: CA now recently adopted traffic laws to govern motorcycle lane splitting. The highway bloodshed, smashed gray matter, and splintered bones are now well regulated.
Edit: my understanding is that until the madness was regulated, motorcyclists who lane split were exploiting a loophole in the law. It was supposed to only happen in stalled traffic. No one bothered to enforce the resulting stunts in the legal gray area.
NeenerNeener
The entire Waiting for Columbus cd has always been my favorite music for exceeding the speed limit, followed closely by “Jessica” by the Allman Brothers and Pat Metheny’s “It’s for You”. Oh, almost forgot Van Morrison’s “Caravan” too.
Zoey2020
My sister and I drove through the mountains of the Southwest with nothing to listen to but each other and Pieces of the Sky (cassette) by Emmylou Harris. Somehow, it was just a perfect road trip.
jl
@different-church-lady: When I drove in Boston, the pedestrians weren’t random things popping up,they were like very super slow motion ballistic missiles that set course on the most direct line between A and B, and then plodded onward, regardless of what was in between or emerging events.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Gin & Tonic: In addition to the lack of turn signals on high end cars, I’ve also been surprised at the lack of bluetooth capabilities on these automobiles unlike my older model Prius. Every time I see one of the cars, the driver has their cell phone up to their ear.
PrahaPartizan
@Steve in the ATL: You’re pouring a shot of whiskey? What do you think those Masshole drivers are doing? I live in CT and, swear to God, I was driving back down from MA with a Masshole driver in front of me and his rather smokey vehicle which every now and then would belch an enormous cloud of smoke — from the driver’s side window. Upon closer examination, it was clear the inside of the vehicle looked like a shot form a Cheech’n’Chong movie. For medicinal purposes only, I’m sure.
Origuy
@ruemara: Driving in Sacramento is tough because it’s a big city in the middle of farming country. You get people coming in who usually drive on two-lane roads. They do things like stop on the onramps! LA drivers are pros. It’s scary as hell if you’re not used to it, but most people know what they’re doing. San Jose is almost as congested but I think there are more lousy drivers.
Driving in San Francisco is a lot like driving in Boston, only more hills.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@jl: Another example of the nanny state.
Redshift
All of Pennsylvania is always under construction. Years ago, we were on our way to a wedding in a town on the western border of Pennsylvania. A while after crossing into Pennsylvania, we saw signs for a tourist “welcome center” and decided to stop in and get some maps. (For the youngsters: there was a time before GPS.) Conversation with staff person:
Us: We wanted to find out if there’s construction on our route…
Staffer: Yes.
Us: But we haven’t told you where we’re going!
Staffer: Doesn’t matter.
Cacti
I wish the zombie lie would go away forever that “Eat a Peach” was named because Duane Allman hit a peach truck with his motorcycle.
It’s so tasteless and thoughtless.
PrahaPartizan
@Frankensteinbeck: I remember once driving in KY on the Kentucky Turnpike or whatever it’s called (the toll road) and passing a driver who was reading a paperback being held at the top of the steering wheel. We decided to move on quickly.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
Here’s another photo of Cole making the rounds of facebook (photo)
Redshift
@JPL:
Special elections are extremely difficult to poll, so I’d advice against getting too excited our depressed by any poll of the race. I don’t opinions are shifting that much. Turnout is probably the only thing that matters.
donnah
@Hungry Joe:
Okay, folks, enough dissing the Ohio drivers. I’m an Ohio driver who travels all over the country and I’ve driven a lot. Yes, there are bad Ohio drivers, but trust me when I tell you that shitty drivers know no state boundaries. I’ve gotten behind ridiculously bad drivers in South Carolina, Kentucky, West Virginia, Missouri, Tennessee…essentially anywhere with people behind the wheel.
Driving home to Dayton from a teaching gig in St Louis just today I got stuck a thousand times behind semi truck drivers who feel constrained by staying in the right lane and so they pass each other even when traffic doesn’t allow, leaving car drivers stuck by two semis running side by side for fifteen minutes. Ugh.
So, idiots abound no matter where you drive.
schrodingers_cat
Why do you have red demon eyes?
jl
@Redshift: Alaska, come summer time, they rip out whole sections of roadways and put them back together. They don’t seem to want to mess with doing half the road at a time. They rip out the whole thing and the drivers are supposed to pick their way through the construction machinery. Sometimes they have a couple of flagpeople scattered around. Sometimes the people on the machines do double duty waving cars through, when they notice them. The construction zone can go on for miles, and usually does.
You can count on this routine for every route, except those running along the mountainsides that are over bedrock.
Omnes Omnibus
@DougJ: No shit?
@schrodingers_cat: He is a red demon. Obvs.
Louise B.
@? Martin: Unless it’s raining hard – then they drive WAY under the speed limit, but still just as crazily.
p.a.
Rage: Masspike cash tollbooth, 2nd in line (inside the dividers, no way to change lanes), fucking New Yorker ahead of me looking on the floor and between the seats for change.
Jager
@p.a.:
Or the woman driving 70, steering with her knee, putting on fucking makeup.
Steve in the ATL
@Frankensteinbeck:
Also:
LA is heaven compared to Kentucky
lollipopguild
@Frankensteinbeck: Throw in all of the morans who have no idea of a speed limit or how a 4 way stop works. The ones who pull in front of you in order to come to an immediate stop so they can take 5 minutes to do a right hand turn.
jl
@Origuy: The Sacto freeway interchanges that make suicidal merges almost impossible to avoid don’t help much. The city streets seem fine to me.
Also seems, when I’ve been there, that drivers are very reluctant to get off the freeway if there is a problem. So, when there is a jam, and I get off, doing the surface streets is quick and easy. But to do that, you need to know where to get on and off, and the city, or Caltrans, seems to want to keep that info top secret.
Lavocat
John Cole, the Millennials’ version of Alfred E. Neumann. Instead of “What, me worry?” it’s “Hey, go fuck yourself!”
Marcopolo
So this is totally OT (but then my timing w/ threads has never been great): seeing some businessmen (Musk, Iger) using the Paris Accord announcement to ditch their participation on Trump Admin boards/advisory committees. My take is they see this as much an ideal opportunity to disentangle themselves from a ship that’s going down than asserting their purity. Not sure how many more chances to hit the off-ramp before shite gets real. Thoughts?
efgoldman
@Steve in the ATL:
Unless you’re looking out the window at three ayem, there are way too many kahz on the streets just outside your hotel to drive any speed above 25.
jl
@Lavocat:How about “What, not worry!? Go fuck yourself!”
I think that motto suits Cole very well.
Edit: or it did, he has mellowed somewhat lately. Sporadically, kind of sort of, more or less. In a loose manner of speaking.
Edit2: so, in other words, no, I guess not.
lollipopguild
@Marcopolo: They never should have been on these boards to begin with but I understand why they are jumping ship at this point. (Pun intended)
The Simp in the Suit
@Patricia Kayden: Nah, that would be too smart.
JPL
@Redshift: That’s what I am afraid of. Since they passed the 50 percent rule, democrats have lost in special elections, but Jon was smart in mailing out applications for absentee voting. That should help.
I haven’t campaigned at all for him, because I campaign for local elections, and have to appear to be bipartisan. It allows me to walk away, and call them assholes under my breath, though. The local mayor is such an ass and if he is allowed to run again, I’ll be door knocking in the fall. Maybe your heard of him, since the New Yorker did a nice article about him. He’s in trouble again, for allowing a picture of Clinton saying Trump got Melania and look who I got.
danielx
@Lavocat:
And the problem with this would be what, again?
FlyingToaster (Tablet)
@OP:
Huh? We were driving like this long before Brady.
The staties put up lightboards reading “USE YAH BLINKAHS”, for all the good it does.
Or ignore them. Works for me.
Marcopolo
@lollipopguild: While I agree w/ the sentiment that they should have never signed on in the first place they didn’t get to where they are by bypassing opportunities that would benefit their companies or themselves. In Trumpland it’s probably better to have a seat at the table. But with all the smoke blowing around now best to head for the exits.
David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch
@JPL: It’s not a swing district. The repubicans have held the seat for 40 years, since 1978. In the last 20 years, the republicans won each election by at least 30 pts.
In 2008, McCain won Georgia by only 5 pts, but at the same time he won this congressional district by 25 pts.
The fact that it is close is remarkable and portends poorly for republicans who don’t have 30 pt cushions to shield them.
manfrommadras
Love that post! Looks like the old John Cole that I knew and loved when Bush II was in town, is back!!
Steve in the ATL
@efgoldman:
Oh yes indeed. What is so impressive, however, the the ability to drive so assholishly at speeds of 0-25MPH.
And yes, I just made up a word.
debbie
@different-church-lady:
Just listened to a 40-minute interview with George Martin’s son who remixed Sgt. Pepper. I have to say it sounds really good.
CaseyL
Oh, and I meant to ask John: How’s the new ride? Was this its first longish road trip?
frosty
@? Martin:
Your split seconds are shorter than everyone else’s, too. I recall reading (when I was a transportation engineer) that LA drivers ran on 2-second headways* and the norm for everywhere else was 3-seconds. On the freeway, you have to be watching the driver 2 cars ahead of you.
* headway = the time between when the front bumper of the car ahead of you crosses a point and when you cross the same point. The old rule of maintaining one car length per 10 mph was a way to manage headways.
JPL
@David ?Canadian Anchor Baby? Koch: That is so true, but the news media won’t report it that way.
Mnemosyne
@Marcopolo:
Rumor has it that Iger was already getting a lot of internal pressure to drop off those boards, so supposedly he already had his parachute on and was just waiting for the right excuse to bail out.
efgoldman
@jl:
I worked in downtown Boston in the 90s, when the Big Dig was being Big Dug. Parades of those huge 18-wheel construction dump trucks ran down the city streets. People jaywalked in front of them. You could hear the brakes screech for blocks.
I got a jaywalking ticket in Copley Square in the 70s, probably the last time they gave them out. One dollar. Never paid it.
MoxieM
If you use yah blinkah, you’ll give away where you’re going (bangin’ a louie, or otherwise). Wicked Pissah! That’s the explanation… even people still driving Chevettes and Pintos don’t do it.
And for the record, I do believe that Rhode Island drivers are waaay worse.
Quinerly
@different-church-lady:
Did you listen to “Fresh Air” today? Fantastic show!
rikyrah
GOP Senators Weigh Taxing Employer-Health Plans
Updated June 1, 2017 6:57 p.m. ET
Senate Republicans set on reworking the Affordable Care Act are considering taxing employer-sponsored health insurance plans, a move that would meet stiff resistance from companies and potentially raise taxes on millions of people who get coverage on the job.
The move could raise billions in revenue that could be used to help stabilize the fragile individual insurance market. But it could be politically risky, since it could expand the impact of GOP health proposals from Medicaid recipients and those who buy insurance on their own to the roughly 177 million people who get coverage through their employers.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/gop-senators-weigh-taxing-employer-health-plans-1496350662
frosty
@Zoey2020:
I drove across the country (twice!) in a Triumph TR-3 with no radio. Listened to the engine. And sang to myself.
SFBayAreaGal
Love CCR. I’ve said it before, Cosmos Factory is my favorite album by them.
schrodingers_cat
@Jager: I have seen a guy brushing his teeth on the DC beltway, while driving. Not kidding, it was in the evening rush hour traffic. Late to a date?
Omnes Omnibus
@frosty: TR-3 or 3A?
efgoldman
@Jager:
She needs special makeup for that?
different-church-lady
@FlyingToaster (Tablet):
But there’s hundreds of them!
frosty
@Redshift:
First time I drove from Baltimore to the Thousand Islands in 1981, I-81 was under construction. In the 30-odd years that followed, some part of I-81 was always under construction.
PS Loved your story! My wife LOLd.
schrodingers_cat
@Omnes Omnibus: My kittehs sometimes get lasery eyes like that in photos. Scary.
SFBayAreaGal
@frosty: My driver’s ed teacher told us we are actually driving five cars. Our car, the car to the left and right, and the car in front an behind.
schrodingers_cat
@frosty: In snow country we have 2 seasons, winter and road construction.
different-church-lady
@efgoldman: Last week a Boston.com writer deliberately attempted to get a jaywalking ticket. Failed.
?BillinGlendaleCA
@Mnemosyne: Had to look up who Iger was, your uberboss.
efgoldman
@Steve in the ATL:
No you didn’t. I’ve seen it before, in this very blog.
Omnes Omnibus
@schrodingers_cat: Construction season is also known as mosquito (and tick) season.
lamh36
Of course Megyn Kelly is interviewing Putin…I’m sure he likes her intellect and not her blondness, or Fox News past…smh…
Prediction: Megyn gonna giggle, her blond hair will be all curled and sparkling and she’ll lob soft ball azz questions for Putin to answer…
And everyone on NBC/MSNBC from Joe Scar to Chris Hayes to Maddow will slobber her with praise for a bullshit interview…
Lavocat
@danielx: Not a thing. And he’s got the gap in his teeth for the added gravitas. And when you fold the back of him, he becomes a giant middle finger.
frosty
@Omnes Omnibus: 1961. TR-3A, or maybe 3B, since the last year had a few differences which I can’t recall, like disc brakes maybe?
Great car when it ran – I loved having my elbow on the window almost at road height. And easy to fix when it didn’t. I rebuilt the engine twice and swapped the tranny. You could pull it out between the seats without needing to put the car on a lift.
efgoldman
@different-church-lady:
I’m sure the ordnance is still on the books. It’s a relic of Kevin White’s time.
rikyrah
Kushner Story Doesn’t Match What Russian Bank Says
June 1, 2017
The White House and a Russian state-owned bank have very different explanations for why the bank’s chief executive and Jared Kushner held a secret meeting during the presidential transition in December.
The bank maintained this week that the session was held as part of a new business strategy and was conducted with Kushner in his role as the head of his family’s real estate business. The White House says the meeting was unrelated to business and was one of many diplomatic encounters the soon-to-be presidential adviser was holding ahead of Donald Trump’s inauguration.
The contradiction is deepening confusion over Kushner’s interactions with the Russians as the president’s son-in-law emerges as a key figure in the FBI’s investigation into potential coordination between Moscow and the Trump team.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/explanations-for-kushners-meeting-with-head-of-kremlin-linked-bank-dont-match-up/2017/06/01/dd1bdbb0-460a-11e7-bcde-624ad94170ab_story.html?utm_term=.e53bce88227f
Frankensteinbeck
@Steve in the ATL:
Holy shit, you are so right.
rikyrah
Ari BermanVerified account @AriBerman
More states have restricted voting in 2017 than in 2015 & 2016 combined. 99 bills introduced in 31 states this year
Marcopolo
@debbie: That was a good listen, except it reminded me that Sgt. Pepper came out 50 years ago. Time, it flies. I also liked Tuesday’s program w/ Al Franken–decided to get his book.
Marcopolo
@rikyrah: Only way they can keep their seats.
Jerry
My disc selection for a recent road trip from Raleigh to Knoxville:
– The Church “Heyday”
– The Smiths “Hatful of Hollow”
– The Railway Children “Reunion Wilderness”
– Flying Burrito Brothers “The Gilded Palace of Sin”
– AC/DC “Powerage”
– Redd Kross “Neurotica”
For the trip back to Raleigh:
– The Go-Betweens “16 Lovers Lane”
– The Feelies “The Good Earth”
– The Byrds “Sweetheart of the Rodeo”
lamh36
@lamh36: May Joy Ann or Lawrence O might…I say MIGHT…not praise her, but they are just as likely to focus on Kelly at all, just Putin answers, even if the questions are horrible
different-church-lady
@lamh36: How dare you insult our president like that.
Davebo
Damn John
My gal’s been out of the country for almost 3 weeks and I’m guessing you go longer without seeing ABC.
Suffice to say, I’ll be in a much better mood in a few days than you are now!
The Dangerman
Since we are talking driving music, Live’s Throwing Copper is my favorite of all time; not a bad song on the disk. Also, a good Disk for traffic jams due to the several gratuitous F and MF bombs dropped here and there in the mix.
Steve in the ATL
@efgoldman: you comment very assholishly!
JPL
@Steve in the ATL: If you drop the ly, it would be more effective. It’s difficult to say three times quickly. just sayin
efgoldman
@Steve in the ATL:
Just doing my job!
Did you start drinking right after you checked in? Or did you stop in the bar first?
lamh36
Oh and “Sitdown Sunday with Megyn Kelly” or WTF it’s called sound like a stupid idea…guess NBC hoping idiot Fox News viewer will tune in
sure NBC News, sure…
SFBayAreaGal
@Origuy: When I was in Boston visiting many years ago, I felt right at home driving there. I agree driving in Boston and San Francisco is similar.
debbie
@lamh36:
60 Minutes counter programming.
rikyrah
Bette MidlerVerified account @BetteMidler
There has never in US history been such a destructive megalomaniac in the WH. Thank you to US press and other numbskulls who put him there.
Mike J
@Jerry: Driving to Knoxville you should play the Judybats and Jagstar. To Raleigh, the Connells and Corrosion of Conformity.
JPL
@efgoldman: lol If his flight home is delayed, I hope that he meets up with the horsy lady. That was fun, because you discover how lucky the rest of us are. At least we don’t have to listen to the trials and tribulations of the one percent.
tobie
@JPL:It sounds like the Senate’s healthcare plan and Trump’s tax plans are middle class tax hikes. Tax on employer provided health insurance–check; tax on property tax–check. The latter will hit cities in blue states really hard. That’s their purpose, I guess. Hit the Democratic base in the pocketbook. Man, I hate the Republican party.
PaulWartenberg
raging tonight about trump’s spiteful actions.
He’s quitting the Paris accords not because of logic or facts or “jobs” as his excuse has been, he’s doing it because he got his fee-fees hurt by NATO leaders and he’s swinging back at them like a wounded 8-year-old schoolyard bully.
lamh36
@debbie: the prize demo, 18-35 does NOT watch 60 minutes…the ones who do, likely are old and watch Fox News already…and considers NBC a “liberal”” net…
But hey…old white folks seem to like hearing their news propaganda from attractive blonde white women, as Fox has proven.
Still, I don’t think Sunday news programs like 60 minutes will be viable as social media and online news comes through even more.
Still think it’s a stupid idea for nbc
TenguPhule
@rikyrah:
And guess who gets to select the federal judges that decide these cases?
TenguPhule
@rikyrah:
Of course they do.
And the sun sets in the west.
jl
@lamh36: Saw a news item that News News is no longer top cable news broadcast, and recently came in third. Losing out to better coverage of the Trump administration and associated dropping shoes. Not sure who is dropping out of Fox News audience.
Trump scandals have outrageous loons and thugs, intrigue, money, spies. No hot white blondes as of yet, and no sex. But probably spies are worth half a sex.
Bond films probably helping here. Where spies go, viewers figure, sex and smoking hot babes are sure to follow, sooner or later.
Edit: I dunno of NBC’s idea is so bad. If Kelly hints she’ll deliver some dish on the Fox News (sex!) scandals, and is willing to cover Trump shenanigans, it might work.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
It’s definitely the politics of spite, but he’s been heading this way since long before he met any of the Euro-pols
jl
@jl: Sorry, Meant to type ‘Fox News’ not ‘News News’
Though if Fox News did cover the news it would be news news.
ellie
@p.a.: Once I was driving up the mountains on I-70 West outside of Denver, it was raining and slippery out. Visibility was bad. I look over and the guy passing me was speeding and looking at his phone. Lunatic.
rikyrah
I told you that THIS is the reason that the world chucked up DEUCES.
Shrub was Shrub, but he did surround himself with professionals.
Dolt45 is surrounded by incompetent clowns.
After Putin Visit, Tillerson Snubbed Top EU Official
Another day, another diplomatic blunder as U.S.-EU relations take a turn for the worse under Trump.
01 JUN 2017 AT 14:54 ET
The European Union’s director of foreign policy Federica Mogherini — considered an essential partner in U.S.-European relations — was denied information she requested in the form of a briefing from Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, says a report in Foreign Policy magazine.
Sources close to Mogherini told FP that the minister is “really pissed off” that after an April meeting between Tillerson and Putin, Tillerson declined the EU’s request for a briefing ahead of an impending meeting between Mogherini and Russian officials.
“The sources told Foreign Policy that Tillerson’s office rejected Mogherini’s request for a call and instead kicked it down to a lower-level State Department official. That move infuriated her and came against the backdrop of an already strained U.S.-EU relationship under Trump, whose scandal-plagued White House is still reeling from investigations into the president’s campaign ties to the Kremlin,” said Foreign Policy’s Robbie Gramer.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/06/01/after-putin-visit-tillerson-snubbed-top-eu-official-russia-moscow-mogherini/
p.a.
How does the R’s plan to tax employee health insurance differ from the ACA’s Cadillac tax? No value floor?
Also too, while the tax is political trouble (suicide?) I figure the R spin will be : we’re taxing you to help pay for the takers’ healthcare. WEDGE ISSUE, trying to push the healthcare politics back to 2009. A real gamble, but their plans are all such bs and so unpopular they may feel a hail mary is in order.
Gravenstone
Since there’s a musical subtext to this post, here’s a little something that should be right up the alley of more than a few here. Just released today.
Prophets of Rage – Unfuck the World
Omnes Omnibus
@frosty: Cool.
Mayim
@MoxieM:
I’m pretty sure drivers with Maine plates are just as bad as Boston drivers ~ but the traffic density is so much less that any stupidity is much less likely to cause harm.
We won’t talk about out of state drivers on Maine roads. Not pretty :-(
Sandia Blanca
@Roger Moore: I read that quickly, thought it said, “We’ll always have PANTS”–that would be an equally appropriate John Cole post.
efgoldman
@JPL:
But Steve is the one percent.
Mike in NC
@Mayim: I’m a Boston-trained driver who ended up in California while in the Navy, who then transferred me to Bath, Maine while my ship was being overhauled at BIW. One day I made a very illegal u-turn in the downtown area and when somebody noticed my license plates they yelled, “Go back to California!”.
hilts
@jl:
Megyn Kelly is a useless tool and NBC execs are assholes for hiring her.
@rikyrah:
Not surprised to see that Jared Kushner is a lying scumbag just like his father-in-law.
kindness
Excellent drive tunes.
My compliments to the chef.
Steve in the ATL
@efgoldman:
We upper tier medallion flyers get complimentary cocktails on the plane. And while I was checking in, my wife paid $20 at the hotel bar for a Jameson. Luckily, she paid for it in Confederate scrip.
Steve in the ATL
@Mike J:
No love for the Unitz?
Steve in the ATL
@JPL: FYI her horse finished 14th in the Derby!
psycholinguist
Son Volt’s Trace is the best trip album ever recorded. You’re welcome.
Vhh
@rikyrah: and it is a tax increase on ordinary working americans. The ads write themselves.
Bonnie
For Mr. Cole: I worked in Rockville, Maryland, in an office building with 18 floors. The 18th floor, of course, had all the bosses up there, including the head of the FDA. I was told when I first arrived that the 18th floor was known as West Virginia. I dutifully asked why and was told because “it is almost heaven.”
Mart
I never play CCR top 20 hits until I do; then need to hear it about once a month for three months. Might start now…
gruniepig
Any female voices on that playlist?
Citizen_X
What a fucking hippie shirt.
Duane
That’s a damn good playlist cole.