@Lynx for the last time, if someone floors the accelerator to keep you from changing lanes, then don't do it. You, as the driver moving into another lane, have the responsibility to make sure that it is safe to do so before you move, having signaled ahead of time long enough to give other drivers a chance to observe and react. You would rather "sneak" in front of a driver without signaling who is so aggressive that he would maneuver to block you out? You're taking a dangerous situation and making it worse. I stand by the obvious point that it is never safer to make unsignaled maneuvers, even if "most" of the time it doesn't help you complete the maneuver. If the guy guns the accelerator, then you abort your lane change and have safely avoided a collision with an aggressive driver that might have resulted if you cut him off--since he will still try to floor it and keep you out if you make an unsignaled lane change, you'll just have less time to react. You don't seem to get the fact that signaling isn't about getting your way, it's about driving safely. This is different from driving at 55 versus 60 when the prevailing rate is 65-70 mph, where if the conditions are good it may well be as safe or safer to keep up with the flow.

As for "reckless driving," I have heard a number of instances of people being pulled over and warned for driving significantly under the limit when the prevailing rate was much faster, but not known anyone firsthand who has been cited for going at the limit. You obviously think otherwise but having driven for many years in the NY/NJ/PA metro areas I think it's distorted hearsay bunkum or at least extremely rare, unless it's a police pretext for some other offense (such as Driving While Black). The only time I've ever been pulled over was when I was speeding in the passing lane and deserved the ticket.

I'm not going to be all holy and pretend that I always drive exactly at the limit and come to a complete stop at empty intersections, but your defense of race-to-the-bottom aggressive driving is weak.

@RedPen, I see what you're getting at but if you're at 65 mph at the end of the merge lane in dense traffic operating on pure faith that space will be created "when the road runs out" you're risking a near-miss or a side-swipe. There is nothing Zen at all about driving. It's simple machinery operation, requiring some basic training, attention and good habits. Not to mention patience and courtesy, which are all-to-lacking.

Prosecutors are supposed to use their discretion. These guys are not exactly getting off easy with federal gun and drug charges--they'll be doing hard time. Those charges will be pretty much a slamdunk, whereas proving that each of these guys actually intended to kill Obama would be risky and much more difficult. It may well make sense to go for the lesser charge when the perps are judged to be less dangerous, even if they are no less guilty.

That said given this is Bush's DoJ I wouldn't rule out the possibility that politics are involved.

You can't rely on "what someone said," even if it's "what someone said" in some driver's ed class. Were they a lawyer? Did they even cite to authority? No.

One quick google and 20 seconds later, Tennessee Code section 55-8-154(a):

"(a) No person shall drive a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, except when reduced speed is necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law."

So, not only is there not any flat 15 mph standard (it's just impeding normal and reasonable movement of traffic, whatever that happens to be), but it doesn't apply if you would be going over the posted limit, because that would not be complying with section 55-8-152 on speed limits.

You folks are writing as if these guys got off easy.

They are facing FEDERAL gun and drug charges! In case you don't know, federal sentencing guidelines are about the toughest in the nation. Moreover, all the circumstances of the crime, including the assassination plot, will be taken into account by the judge in sentencing. In other words, these guys are not going to be paroled in a couple of years. The judges will sentence them at the top of the range, or even adjust above it. They are not going to see the light of day anytime soon.

As for you conspiracy theorists, when Obama is president, he will OWN the Secret Service; they report to the president. If he couldn't even manage his own agencies then he would hardly deserve to be president. Let's be serious here.

Again, I'm not writing off the fact that given this is now BUSH'S DoJ there could be political and racial considerations at work (even though the career prosecutors at work are ethically bound to be neutral), but the idea that this is a setup for future assassinations is asinine, ignorant drivel.

Whoops, wrong window. That post was supposed to go to the obama-meth head-assassin article.

To all the people saying that we should just cultivate the pigweed, no, you can't eat it. Unlike what Roomba says, amaranth grain is nutritious and tasty, but the amaranth family have four genera and seventy species, only a handful of which are cultivated, and certainly not including A. palmera.

To say that "oh it's amaranth just eat it" would be like saying Queen Anne's lace is a carrot so you can eat it, or nightshade is an eggplant and therefore edible.

How about, "is a hoax."

Any particular reason this internet hoax is worth noting?