Notes from the edge of civilization: Dec. 24, 2023
Travel hazards. Government waste. And hard-hitting journalism from The New York Times.
More than 115 million Americans are set to travel at least 50 miles over Christmas and New Year's this year, according to estimates from the AAA.
Road warriors may want to change lanes to get away from any Ram trucks they see, based on the results of a new LendingTree analysis of 30 brands (using insurance quote data). The analysis found that Ram has the worst drivers, with 32.90 driving incidents (accidents, DUIs, speeding, and citations) per 1,000 drivers. (Given the size of pickups these days, no mention was made about Ram drivers ramming people, but that’s not outside the realm of the possible.)
On the car front, Tesla had the worst drivers in the country, with 31.13 driving incidents per 1,000 drivers. Subaru came in third, with 30.09 driving incidents per 1,000 drivers. Collectively, Ram, Tesla and Subaru were the only three brands whose drivers had incident rates above 30.00.
Gift idea! For these drivers (and for those sharing the road), give the gift of survival: driving school!
Meanwhile, airline travelers may be interested in a new Wall Street Journal interactive story looking at the “rise in narrowly averted airline crashes at U.S. airports this year.”
The story reports:
The Federal Aviation Administration identified 19 serious runway incursions this year through October, the most since 2016. Officials have traded theories about the near misses, including staffing issues in air-traffic control towers, a lack of experience among newer pilots and a need for better technology.
“Every piece of the system is under stress,” said Ed Sicher, president of American Airlines’ pilot union, in a closed-door meeting of senior aviation industry officials convened in March by the FAA, according to a recording reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.
A lack of staffing and fatigue among air traffic controllers are among the reasons for the increase. The FAA says controllers at many facilities are working mandatory overtime and six-day work weeks to cover for staff shortages. Earlier this week, the agency said it is naming a panel of experts, including a sleep expert, to address air traffic controller fatigue.
Might we suggest the novel approach innovated in 1997 by George Costanza? The under-desk nap!
Meanwhile, over at the New York Times, a crack team of seven highly-paid journalists (median salary ~$81,000) took a deep dive into a very different subject.
The team analyzed 424 holiday movies from Hallmark and Lifetime networks to… well, we’re not actually sure why they did it. Let’s allow them to explain:
The Hallmark and Lifetime networks are known for their prolific output of made-for-television holiday movies each year. Even in the age of streaming, they bring in impressive cable television ratings, perhaps aided by how easy they are to leave on while, say, baking several batches of gingerbread for a tree lighting ceremony.
They also have something of a reputation for following a very specific story line: A recently dumped, high-powered female executive from the city finds new love, purpose and appreciation for Christmas in a small town with the help of a handsome local fellow.
But how much does that formula hold up across the hundreds of holiday movies released since 2017 by Hallmark and Lifetime? Based on data from IMDb, internet recaps and our own viewing, our answer is quite a bit! With some caveats. Here’s what we found.
This week on Collapse Life:
NYC just added height and weight to the list of protected classes in employment, housing, and public accommodations, giving plus-sized dancers some weighty ammunition if they were inclined to test the scales of justice.
A quick history of the longest night of the year. ‘Yule,’ now associated with the Christmas season, likely has its roots in the Persian feast of ‘yalda.’
Happy Birthday, Creature from Jekyll Island!
You don’t look any less ugly now than you did when you were born 110 years ago.
We can’t help but feel the bitter irony of big bankers and elitists dropping this abomination on the free world two days before Christmas. Hey, at least we can combine gifts.
Cheers! to 110 years of plunder.
It’s hard to resist referencing Seinfeld — a show about nothing that was at once entertaining yet excessively silly back in the day. Not only are the show’s themes and characters incredibly meme-worthy today, they actually border on prescient. Even Senator Rand Paul gets into the spirit; he just issued his annual Festivus Report, detailing the worst government waste of the year. We suggest reading it with a well-spiced, heavily boozed glass of egg nog. Merry merry!
BONUS: Catch up on highlights from 10 episodes of the Collapse Life podcast: