Unnecessary lane-switching in heavy traffic causes accidents, also gridlock.

Aggressive lane-switching
is a deadly driving game
 
By David Maril
 
Do you want to know how to eliminate rush-hour traffic jams, drastically reduce accident rates and conserve on gasoline use?

Here’s a simple but not so easy solution:

Find a way to convince the growing army of “I’m the only one who counts” drivers who have turned aggressive lane-switching into a deadly game, to stay put. If they remain in their lanes during heavy traffic and allow a smooth steady flow to develop, minutes will be shaved off arrival times for everyone.

These self-centered and reckless lane-switchers, who are oblivious to everyone else on the road, are even worse than the clueless legion of slowpokes who block traffic up in the passing lanes, going 10 miles per hour under the speed limit when traffic is light.

You see lane-switchers in action all the time on highways like Interstate-95.

Four lanes will be crammed with cars, creeping along at slow speeds. Just when one lane of cars gets up to about 30 mph, one vehicle from a slower lane finds a way to force itself into the flow.

Usually it’s done without use of the directional signal. The abrupt, discourteous maneuver forces brake lights to flash on as cars, trucks and buses have to stop on a dime to avoid rear-ending the vehicle they are trailing.

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NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS — For Friday Jan. 31

[Scroll down for full week’s compendia]
 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY — IN BRIEF
 
A Voice of Baltimore compendium, local and beyond.   Your weekday morning look  (with links)  at late-breaking news, current events, and what will be talked about wherever you may go on Friday:

The Carnival Pride will reinstate Baltimore as its home port in 2015.

•  CARNIVAL REVERSES DECISION
TO DEPART BALTIMORE PORT

The passenger cruise line’s Carnival Pride will return to Baltimore in March 2015 after briefly moving its home port to Tampa.

Read More at:  Baltimore Sun

•  UNDER ARMOUR STOCK SURGES
IN WAKE OF STRONG SALES

The Baltimore-based sports apparel giant’s stock price jumped nearly $20 a share, for a gain of almost 23 percent Thursday, to over $100.

Read More at:  Maryland Daily Record

•  GANSLER, MIZEUR DEBATE HEALTH EXCHANGE FIX

However the candidate who is being widely blamed for the flawed health care rollout, Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, was unable to attend the Thursday evening forum in Silver Spring because his father died earlier in the day.

Read More at:  WBFF Fox45-TV

•  JOHNSON, CONTI VIE FOR ARUNDEL COUNTY EXECUTIVE

George F. Johnson 4th and Joanna Conti, both of whom were defeated in different campaigns by former County Executive John R. Leopold, are running in the Democratic primary in hopes of replacing Republican County Executive Laura Neuman, who is being opposed for the GOP nomination by State Del. Steve Schuh of Gibson Island.

Read More at:  The (Annapolis) Capital

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Publishers and pundits alike conspire to make books like former Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates’ recently published memoir seem far more controversial than they actually are, by releasing & commenting on juicy excerpts.

CONSUMERS WOULD BE BETTER SERVED
IF JOS. A. BANK & MEN’S WEARHOUSE
REMAIN  AS  SEPARATE  ENTITIES

WBAL-Radio should expand Bill Vanko’s airtime

BUSH/OBAMA SECDEF ROBERT GATES
PUBLISHES CONTROVERSIAL MEMOIR
 
By David Maril
 
While wondering why President Barack Obama doesn’t have time for regular White House media press conferences but is able to schedule a Tonight Show appearance with Jay Leno, it’s interesting to note the following:

  Another sign of our short-attention lifestyle is the way commentators react every time advance excerpts are released from soon to be published books.

Far too many draw conclusions based on only a selected few controversial excerpts, delivering inaccurate and misleading judgments about the publication. This plays into the strategy of publishers simply trying to stir up interest to sell more books.

The latest example is the publication of Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War, by former George Bush and Obama Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates.

The book, nearly 600 pages long, is, for the most part, respectful of Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. You’d never, however, get that impression from the coverage the book has received.

After reading the reviews and listening to the network news commentators sound off, you’d think Gates had produced a juicy, tell-all, shoot-from-the-hip trashing of the White House and most of our major political figures.

All of this hype will definitely boost book sales. It will also mean a number of disappointed readers when they discover Gates’ memoir is much more subdued than advertised.

  With rising concern about loss of privacy because the government compiles so much personal information in the name of national security, when will the public begin questioning why automakers design vehicles that can be used as spy machines?

A recent government report reveals the carmakers are stockpiling data from vehicle navigational systems. Most car owners don’t even know this information is being kept or what it is being used for.

  Why is there so much cheerleading going on for Men’s Wearhouse and Hampstead, Md.-based Jos. A. Bank to buy each other out and merge into one giant clothing retailer?

Read more »

 
NEED-TO-KNOW NEWS — For Friday Jan. 24/big>

[Scroll down for full week’s compendia]
 

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY — IN BRIEF
 
A Voice of Baltimore compendium, local and beyond.   Your weekday morning look  (with links)  at late-breaking news, current events, and what will be talked about wherever you may go on Friday:

Martin O’Malley autographs supporter’s baseball during his last reelection campaign three years ago (Nov. 2010). The governor delivered his final ‘State of the State Address’ Thursday.  (VoB File Photo/Alan Z. Forman)

Declaring he’ll be leaving Maryland better off than when he took office seven years ago, the prospective presidential candidate promoted his years as governor and argued in favor of policies to help the middle class. O’Malley’s second and final term as governor concludes at the end of 2014.

Read More at:  Maryland Daily Record

•  GANSLER MAKES CANDIDACY OFFICIAL, PUSHES SATURDAY VOTING

The Maryland attorney general officially announced his candidacy for governor Thursday, lamenting low voter turnout and promising that if elected he will open polls on the Saturday prior to elections in order to increase participation in the election process.

Read More at:  WBAL-Radio (1090AM)

•  WEDNESDAY’S 15-DEGREE HIGH
A RECORD CHILL

The previous record for lowest high temperature for Jan. 22 recorded at BWI Marshall Airport was 19 degrees, set in 1961.

Read More at:  The (Annapolis) Capital

•  MD. PRE-K PROGRAM COULD EXPAND TO FULL DAY

That’s if Governor O’Malley has his way and gets to spend more than $4 million on full-day prekindergarten.

Read More at:  WBAL-TV (Channel 11)

•  NEW TRANSGENDER WEBSITE OPENS IN MARYLAND

The site will provide specific resources for transgender youth in Maryland and assist them and their families in dealing with the state’s legal system.

Read More at:  Baltimore Sun
 

Read more »

‘Seinfeld’ gets a phone call:   ‘Hi. Would you be interested in switching over to TMI long-distance service?’ the telemarketer asks. ‘Oh, gee, I can’t talk right now,’ Jerry responds, ‘Why don’t you give me your home number and I’ll call you later?’ To which the telemarketer replies: ‘Well, I’m sorry, we’re not allowed to do that.’ (For remainder of the conversation — and Seinfeld’s punchline — click beneath caption of photo below.)

FUNDRAISERS FOR NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
DESERVE SLIGHTLY BETTER CONSIDERATION,
ALTHOUGH THEY CAN BE ANNOYING ALSO

Never pledge money  over the phone;
resist giving out credit card numbers;
don’t cave-in to salesmen’s pressure

DONATIONS SHOULD NOT BE LIMITED
TO FINANCIAL CONTRIBUTIONS ONLY
 
By David Maril
 
Even though it’s a new year and tax deductions for 2013 are history, the phone calls for giving continue to arrive early and often.

It’s gotten to the point where it seems the only reason landline phones have not been completely replaced by smartphones is they are needed to deliver pain-in-the-neck marketing and fund- raising calls.

“How much can we count on you to pledge?” the voice on the other end of the telephone asks.

The do-not-call list, which seems to be losing its effectiveness in protecting us from unwanted solicitations, never did apply to nonprofit organizations and political campaigns.

Many nuisance marketing clowns duck around calling restrictions by claiming you have a prior business connection with their company or organization.

Those companies that tie up phone lines with recorded messages about bailing you out from paying off high interest rates should be locked up for credit fraud. The same goes for the companies that deliver crazy messages about expiring vehicle warranties to some people who don’t even own a car.

We should be a little more tolerant of nonprofit fundraisers. But often, calling between 5 and 7 p.m., they can be annoying and misleading as well.

Are they really who they say they are?

The phone will ring and you’ll be greeted by hearing the pronunciation of your name, butchered — even if it’s Smith. And at the end of the sales pitch, a “Can we rely on your support for $50 or $100? For $300 you are a ‘gold-circle member’ and receive special recognition.”

If you are a college graduate, fundraising pleas have become a condition of receiving a degree. Some of us are even bombarded by fundraising efforts from our high schools. Calls also come in for support of charities, research to cure diseases, youth organizations, police associations, animal welfare and political causes.

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