Among the Green Leaves

i really despise political hypocrites. i don't give a rat's ass which party they belong to 'cause they all do it. but damn, these guys need a good spanking.

i keep seeing this status posted on facebook.

Jane/John Doe asked Jesus how much do you love me? Jesus replied this much and stretched His arms on the cross and died. If you believe in God put this in your status. 97% of you won't put this in your status. While Jesus was on the cross, He was thinking of you! 3% of you will stand up for Him and put this in your status.

who came up with this statement using what analysis? what is the basis for the statistic cited? how was it determined that if the status is posted only 3% of friends will put it in their status?

been a day of being irked about a number of things. this is just one little item that has bugged me.

updated 12:15pm: and so it begins. new restrictions - SF Gate and new restrictions - NY Times

Air Canada:
passengers not permitted out of seat an hour before landing.
passengers not permitted to access overhead compartments.
passengers not permitted to have anything in lap such as laptop computer, pillow, etc.
passengers not permitted carryon luggage, or limited to a single item if absolutely necessary

American Airlines:
passengers not permitted out of seat an hour before landing.
passengers not permitted to access overhead compartments.
passengers not permitted to have anything in lap such as laptop computer, pillow, etc.
passengers not permitted carryon luggage, or limited to a single item
passengers and lugggage (if permitted) rescreened at the boarding gate before allowed onto airplanes


original post, 10:28am gee thanks, motherfucker.

In what was described as an act of terrorism, a Nigerian passenger attempted to ignite an incendiary device aboard a Northwest Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Detroit on Friday as the plane began its approach for landing, federal officials said. Other passengers overpowered the man and the plane landed safely.

this motherfucker had some powder in a vial strapped to his leg. then then injected some liquid into it with a syringe. it combusted.

remember the shenanigans regarding absolutely, positively no carryon liquids after the incident a few years ago. there were trash bins full of bottles of shampoo, wine, perfume, body lotion, etc. in the news for weeks as people were made to throw items away before going through security. then finally being permitted to carry 3oz containers in quart baggies in carryon luggage. however do not dare bring a bottle of water through ever you terrorist, you. buy some on the other side now that you can. remember when no liquids not even water could be bought in the stores on the secure side of the security screening so you could take a multi-hour flight parched. ah yes. those were the days i look forward to returning to.

so, now i expect we will not be permitted to carry anything in a suitcase on a plane that are toiletries. nothing. nada.

gah!

frakking idiot

well isn't this just peachy?

a few months ago i located a deli/grocer which specialises in indian food. i was specifically looking for some spices for cooking that aren't available in a regular grocery. i was happy to have found some of the more esoteric spices called for in indian cooking.

i decide today to make chana masala which calls for a pinch of hing (asafoetida) powder. this is a pretty pungent spice which means a little gets you a lot of flavour.

i get all my ingredients out and begin cooking only to discover the damn bottle of hing i bought has been opened and is half empty.

yeah.

when i opened the flip cap i saw foil. alrighty then. i unscrew the lid to remove the foil. i discover that someone has removed the foil seal and pushed about half the crumpled remainder beneath the shaker holes to make it appear that the bottle was sealed. the bottle is empty down to just above the bottom edge of the label that covers the full way around the bottle. wtf?

into trash the bottle goes, unused by me. and it isn't like it is a small bottle either like those dinky ass bottles of spices from McCormick or Spice Islands from the regular grocery. i bought 3.5 ounces of the damn powder as that was the smallest bottle there was.

peachy. just peachy.

auto bailout talks collapse

the washington post is reporting that there will not be a bailout for the automakers. seems the UAW wasn't willing to cut pay for its members to parity with the nonunion workers on US soil for toyota and honda.

i wonder just how far stocks are going to fall tomorrow. 500 points? 750? 1000?

~sigh

i was finally getting a little of my previous losses over the last four months back. i suppose i shall wave goodbye to it when the bell rings in the morning.

stupidity has resulted in the death of a nineteen year old

19-year-old man was swept out to sea after he and a friend went to the end of a 100-foot jetty to look at the waves generated by the storm

heh. go figure.

and, yeah, people were injured trying to rescue this guy whose body has yet to be recovered.

at the moment i am listening to the dulcet sounds of road construction.

why do cities spend the money and the time to inconvenience the citizens with paving the
roads in preparation for the rainy winter months to then turn around less than two months later to cut trenches in them to lay water lines/fiber optic/electric?

why not cut the trench, lay the water lines/fiber optic/electric, then repave? now there will be patches over the trenches which will catch water in the seams to create pot holes. surely in the planning and permit process (which isn't something that takes a couple days, rather it can take months) didn't someone say, "hmmm... why don't we delay the paving of XYZ Street so that the new water lines/fiber optic/electric trenches can be cut and the utilities laid before we repave the entire stretch?"

makes no fucking sense.

*sigh

ah... awakened at 1:00 a.m. to the dulcet sounds of metal thieves stealing a very large aluminum sign. the type of sign commercial property real estate companies post across two 4x4s with "FOR LEASE" written upon them.

the reverb from two men kicking said sign off of the 4x4s is exceedingly loud. similar to the sound of gunshots.

they were laughing as they did their deed of stupidity. no, wait, any metal scrap yard that buys the sign is even more stupid. it will be obvious it was stolen. no one with any level of intelligence is going to believe two guys just happened to find an 8x6 aluminum sign just laying alongside the road or by a dumpster.

i noticed two of the people who live in the complex peering over the wall with a cellphone. one was on the phone a good five minutes. i hope she was making a call to the police. i suppose i should make a list of phone numbers so i could make such a call. i was firing up the computer to do a lookup for the police department when i noticed the neighbors in the parking lot stealthily approaching the wall.

adrenalin is going to keep me from sleep for awhile.

*sigh