# Omnibus Stupid MFers in the news thread (Part 2) **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 5, 2024, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657 "2024-01-05T16:15:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 177
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3521 "2025-01-10T02:39:50Z")
Sure, but that zone is congested because so many people want to go to businesses or other places within the zone. The guy we’re talking about doesn’t want to go anyplace in the congestion zone, he’s just forced to by circumstance. There’s a parking garage near me. I hadn’t been there for years. Last time I went, you’d drive up to the gate, take a ticket, park, and then pay to get out. I was there a few years ago. Pulled in, and then I found that they’d changed it so I needed an app to pay for parking. I had an old, very full, very slow phone, and I didn’t think I could install another app on it. I went up the ramp, turned around, and left. A few weeks later I got a bill in the mail. I assume the garage had license plate readers. I protested the charge, saying I shouldn’t have to pay for parking at a place I hadn’t actually parked. They said they’d forgive it just this once. Maybe that’s why I sympatize with this guy. As things were, I didn’t want to go into the garage, but by the time I found that out, I was already in the lane and I couldn’t back out. I don’t begrudge the garage for charging people to park, or New York for charging people who travel to the busiest part of the city. But I don’t think they should charge people who want to avoid it, but can’t. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3522 "2025-01-10T03:14:15Z")
Wait a minute, reasonable arguments in the Pit? We can’t have that! You are summarily eschewed! ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3523 "2025-01-10T03:17:58Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Isn’t the _whole point_ of charging people to drive into a congestion zone to reduce the number of vehicles in the congestion zone? > [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Sure, but that zone is congested because so many people want to go to businesses or other places within the zone. Nobody goes there anymore, it’s too crowded. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3524 "2025-01-10T05:49:14Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > But I don’t think they should charge people who want to avoid it, but can’t. That approach to taxation in general could result in inadequate government revenue. ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3525 "2025-01-10T06:19:09Z")
I’m sure there are people with much more legitimate gripes than this guy, like a disabled woman who works the night shift at a phone center and commutes from the Bronx to 58th Street, but can’t use public transport or walk a few blocks due to legitimate mobility and/or safety concerns. But that’s kind of the nature of legislation, it can’t be completely fair to everybody. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3526 "2025-01-10T06:38:01Z")
> [@Thing.Fish](#): > > I’m sure there are people with much more legitimate gripes than this guy, like a disabled woman who works the night shift at a phone center and commutes from the Bronx to 58th Street, but can’t use public transport or walk a few blocks due to legitimate mobility and/or safety concerns. Here in the relatively podunk hamlets that line the shores of Puget Sound, the transit authorities operate a service called “dial-a-lift” where seniors and disabled people can make a reservation on-demand for a small bus or van to pick them up at home and take them directly to their destination and back for things like work, grocery shopping, doctor’s visits, or similar errands, all fully funded by state and local sales tax (here in Olympia) or for the same price as a senior bus fare (in the Seattle area and adjacent). Surely they have a similar system in The City That Never Sleeps? ---
**Author:** ![Thing.Fish](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thing.fish/32/9168_2.png) [@Thing.Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thing.Fish)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3527 "2025-01-10T07:17:50Z")
No idea. Sounds suspiciously socialistic to me. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3528 "2025-01-10T13:34:35Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > Surely they have a similar system in The City That Never Sleeps? Most cities or burbs I’ve lived in have that same basic system by one name or another. The problem tends to be that the supply is about 10% of the demand. So it can’t really be relied upon to get you anywhere where your arrival time matters. Like work or a medical appointment. Said another way, the system is just big enough to be a fig leaf that “something is being done”, but it relies on its sheer inconvenience and inadequacy to limit the number of people trying to use it. Sorta the opposite / inverse of the “nobody goes there anymore; its too crowded” jape. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3529 "2025-01-10T14:21:47Z")
> **[Canadian ‘Super Scooper’ plane grounded after hitting civilian drone over Los...](https://www.cnn.com/2025/01/10/us/super-scooper-drone-collision-la-fire-canada-hnk-intl/index.html)** > > A Canadian “Super Scooper” aircraft fighting the Palisades Fire in Los Angeles had to be grounded after it hit a drone flying in restricted airspace over the devastating blaze on Thursday, the local fire department said. Because the drone ‘pilots’ are too stupid to understand that violating airspace is stupid. At least that’s only six to a dozen 1,500 gallon water drops per hour several hours a day. Nobody’s going to lose their house or their life over it, right? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3530 "2025-01-10T15:43:35Z")
> [@susan](#): > > but as the child of a Manhattanite with many NYC friends, I have known no one with a car in the city. I guess that means there are no cars in Manhanttan. “I don’t know how “X” got elected; no one I know voted for him!” ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3531 "2025-01-10T15:47:33Z")
Okay, add “anecdote based on personal observation” before my comment. My point is that there are plenty of people without cars in NYC who somehow manage. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3532 "2025-01-10T15:57:02Z")
> • Just over half (53%) of New Yorkers personally own or have access to a car > • Car ownership and access is highest in Staten Island (86%) and lowest in Northern Manhattan (35%) and Manhattan Core/Southern Bronx (36%) > **[nycdot-citywide-mobility-survey-report-2018.pdf](https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/nycdot-citywide-mobility-survey-report-2018.pdf)** > > 3.38 MB ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3533 "2025-01-10T16:01:12Z")
> [@Capn\_Carl](#): > > It’s much like crossing the Darien Gap in Central America. Bandits, jaguars, and alligators, oh my! When I was in grade school and the Pan-American highway was in the news a lot my geography teacher (natch) who was an avid fisher said when he retired he wanted to travel the length of the highway from Alaska down to wherever it wound up in South America stopping to fish at every likely spot along the way. Poor guy’s likely long dead by now. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3534 "2025-01-10T16:20:03Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Poor guy’s likely long dead by now. Probably mercury poisoning. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3535 "2025-01-10T16:53:53Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > When I was in grade school and the Pan-American highway was in the news a lot I STILL would like to drive it! The idea fascinates me. Also, the ever-changing political and criminal situations in some of the countries probably would stop it more than the unfinished Darien Gap. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3536 "2025-01-10T19:07:29Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > When I was in grade school and the Pan-American highway was in the news a lot my geography teacher (natch) who was an avid fisher said when he retired he wanted to travel the length of the highway from Alaska down to wherever it wound up in South America stopping to fish at every likely spot along the way. Poor guy’s likely long dead by now. When I was in grad school one of the other grad students had a shirt commemorating his goal of driving the Pan-American Highway all the way to the end after finishing his bachelor’s degree. He was surprised to find that there are large portions where the highway doesn’t exist (notably the Darien Gap) – you _couldn’t_ drive from one end to the other. They ha to find other ways to get the car around the gaps. They didn’t even _think_ of driving back. According to Wikipedia, no current ferries exist for getting around the still-open Darien Gap. And none has operated for decades. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3537 "2025-01-10T19:20:56Z")
He could attempt it with a surplus amphibious jeep. Australian Ben Carlin tried to go around the world in one, though his ultimate destination proved to be divorce court [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/diuiv5iCAw4/hqdefault.jpg "The 'half Safe' (1955)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diuiv5iCAw4) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3538 "2025-01-10T20:08:43Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > I STILL would like to drive it! The idea fascinates me. > > Also, the ever-changing political and criminal situations in some of the countries probably would stop it more than the unfinished Darien Gap. Read “[Road Fever](https://www.amazon.com/Road-Fever-Tim-Cahill/dp/0394758374)” by Tim Cahill. He and a partner did it, or as close as possible considering. 23.5 days from bottom to top. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3539 "2025-01-10T20:09:50Z")
I remember when Nissan introduced its Pathfinder SUV, their ad campaign centered around a couple who drove down to South America. ---
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2025, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657/3540 "2025-01-10T20:24:29Z")
What you really need is a Chevy Corvair. > **[Why There's A Chevy Corvair Abandoned Deep In The Jungle Of The Darién Gap](https://jalopnik.com/why-theres-a-chevy-corvair-abandoned-deep-in-the-jungle-1847027807)** > > The Chevrolet Corvair may be best known for catching Ralph Nader’s ire in his book, Unsafe At Any Speed. Less well known known is a stunning feat that a group of the cars accomplished: traversing the infamous Darién Gap without major modifications. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657.md?page=176) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/omnibus-stupid-mfers-in-the-news-thread-part-2/995657.md?page=178)