It was the obvious use case (TechTalk)

One of the first things I did when I got wifi working in my parents' house back in 2001 was send an email from the can. People acted like I was some kind of weirdo, but now it has become socially acceptable. Ah, progress. The only hazard is hot laptops on naked flesh...

The bathroom is where it's at. Once I get the F out of the DC area and accumulate enough money to get a house built, my bathroom is going to be a funland. HDTV, DVD, iFraud dock, surround sound, internet access, refrigerator/kegerator, etc.

Flawed Security Model?

Season's Greetings from Down Under!

Last Monday, I flew from Sydney to Cairns (a city on the Eastern coast of Australia near the Barrier Reef). My dad had previously booked the flight using some frequent flier miles, so I just needed to check in. In the US, I have had some difficulties in the past using the automated check in when the flight was not booked by me. I decided to try the machine anyway and see what would happen. The only information that I was prompted for was my name. Once I supplied that, the machine spat out my boarding pass and all I had to do to check my luggage was show a Qantas representative the boarding pass. At no point during the process was I required to show a photo ID of any kind. Fast forward to this past Saturday (Christmas Eve) and I was on my way back to Sydney from Ayer's Rock. At the Ayer's Rock airport, not only did I have to show a photo ID to get my boarding pass, I also got 'randomly selected' (1 brown guy with a little stubble and 74 whitefolks, and the brown guy gets selected - go figure) for an explosives test.

Let's examine the two cities. Sydney is Australia's most populous and well known city - an ideal terrorist target. Also, many international flights pass through Sydney daily (a good entry point for terrorists). Ayer's Rock is a town in the Northern Territory that sprang up because of Uluru and Kata Tjuta. There's really nothing to it besides a few hotels and the airport. The nearest notable city, Alice Springs, is 445 kilometers (~276 miles) away with only a single diesel gas station on the way.

Given the current security procedures, it appears that the Australians are worried about a terrorist attack originating from the middle of Outback. Apparently, they weren't notified that the planes used in the September 11th attacks on the US took off near the cities they attacked. As evidenced by the train bombings in Spain in March of 2004 and the London Underground attacks this year, any country participating in the 'coalition' in Iraq needs to be wary of terrorist attacks. Sydney's security seems woefully lacking.

Election Daaay!

In the state of Virginia, we had a few elections. Like any good procrastinator, I did more or less nothing to learn about any of the candidates until pretty late in the game. OK, really late in the game, like... today. Now, that doesn't mean that I haven't been paying attention. I simply have been doing my preliminary assessments purely on flyer design, TV commercials, and the best campaign phone number I get called from (I decided it was 888-888-8888). Not really the best, but I've just never seen all the same number before outside of the movies (555-xxxx, etc.).

So I did some cramming on actual issues considering we do live in that pesky thing called a representative democracy. So as it turned out after all the issue digging and soul searching (about 30-45 minutes =)) I probably could have not read a word or seen a flyer and voted the same way. Now this doesn't particularly float well with Smurf of course, going party line and all. I did feel a bit better by researching and attempting to develop a feel for the candidates. But personal experience and those two annoyingly unsatisfying parties definitely make for decent tie-breakers. Take Leslie Byrne. She seems nice enough. I spent more time thinking about the governors race and our district state delegate race than the LT. governor (so little that as I was writting this post I had to go back and check out who she ran against; William "Bill" Bolling).

~~~ by the way: Note to the Washington Post. You don't have to put Bill as his quoted name like its Jimmy "no legs" Hoffa. His name is William, we can take it from here folks ~~~

Okay sorry about that. The real confession here is I didn't really read up much on the race at all. I looked at Byrne's picture and got sidetracked by the fact that she is the Chief Financial Officer of Byrne Consulting (which her husband runs apparently). First of all, if my wife runs a company I am NOT going to be the CFO unless it stands for the Chief Fun Officer (there are a few more to think of here). Second of all, I guess I didn't really get much out of the fact that she been some sort of Assistant professor @ Mt. Vernon College and is the CFO of a family owned business. Big whoop! Anyway at the end of the day I didn't have a clue what she was all about...and all I know about Mr. Bolling was that his name was really "Bill".

So what happenned in the voting booth? Well, tie goes to the runner, and Leslie Byrne got the vote. Call it brand loyalty I guess. Should I have simply not voted? Probably, seeing as she lost anyway. But I do feel like a cheated a little bit. But why was voting for a Democrat simply because she's a Dem. the end of democracy? As inadequate and incomplete as the Democratic party has been for me, the Republican party pales in comparison. So the Democratic solution was my 80% solution. Nothing revolutionary, nothing original, but at least I know what I'm getting. Oh God, or political process in America has turned into the fast food industry!
~Gama

Quick Note

I found this 'how to become a republican' clip on AndrewSullivan.com, its pretty hilarious.

Technology is grrrrreatt!!

I've been getting into podcasts lately. I'm still trying to find good ones but in the process I found a song I really like by a band I would have never heard of called De La Vega. The song is called "Wait Too Long", it's catchy. You can download all their songs if you want.

~gama

The Truth is fun!!!

With my affection for Tucker Carlson already documented, I have to wholeheartedly with The Machine's ;) assertion that I would much rather argue with someone who has his own ideas, however much I believe them to be moronic. Is the truth in the middle though? I'm not sure. There are pretty definitive lines. Federalists vs. Republicans (no, not those republicans, the other one really is...uh...well...here and here).

It simply comes down to the role of the government and where. Battles on this ground have historically ridden along federal government specifically, but as in Smurf's post notes, the political parties in this country (which represent ideologies) have permeated down to the local level. Looking back at where our country started with political parties like the Know Nothings sprouting up and disappearing, it makes a citizen feel frustrated that there is no real ability to voice your opinion (as idiotic as the know nothings may have seemed) in a truly public forum. Most people have personal philosophies that vary, contradict, and are in some ways probably based on illogical conclusions through the knowledge we gain in life. However, we are not given clear options to express those views in a real effective political way. The two party system has been the mainstay in this country for at least 150 years and before that there was a 2 party rule as well.

So where is the truth? Well, MY truth is probably all over the place. Some shit here, some shit there, some shit I just haven't figured out, some shit I just don't care about. But at the end of the day we are all (if we care about participating in our democracy) forced to essentially choose between Dems and Reps just like Smurf in his story. PepsiCoke PepsiCoke PepsiCoke PepsiCoke. Well at the end of the day I pull out my TI-82, plug in all the numbers, maybe graph some parabalas, play that snake game, and Mr. Calculator says "You Are a Democrat". ugh...The Myers Briggs was more satisfying!!

I guess at the end of the day we are all stuck in the system we live in.

So are you philosophically attached to your ideas, regardless of party (which is harder in everyday life) and want to organize, voice your beliefs and only purchase/vote/donate/participate only in efforts that support your beliefs? Man that seems hard just writing it.

Or option 2 (a.k.a. the "pseudo-sellout option"). Buy into the idea that you should vote locally with your heart (aligned with your personal philosophies) and vote nationally with your head (with what outcome would most benefit your interests in supporting the majority of those interests).

OOORRRR option 3 (a.k.a. the "super-sellout option" aka the "puppet option" aka the "playbook" option a.k.a. the Fox News option hiyoh!!!). I think you get the idea. Exactly what Smurf was complaining about.

None of those seem wonderful and the first two are much more work (we all know we're lazy folks), so the good ole' option 3 rears its ugly head far too often.

wow that wasn't much fun. :)

The Machine

Ninjax has offline dubbed PeonSmurf a 'machine' so I a nominating a name change or addition to our beloved PeonSmurf. There is no doubt in my mind PeonSmurf has at least 5 child laborers slamming at keyboards night and day. Hey I admire that, politically/environmentally astute child laborers are pretty hard to find these days.


Annnnyway...He definitely deserves some recognition for churning out (legally or not) posts while somehow keeping a full time job. Not only that, Mr. Smurf is moving back to the East coast to the fine shores of Northern Virginia. He's had enough of the harsh San Deigo weather and can't stay away from the Gama. This is a very big moment in the swing of the 'Power Triangle' back to the East coast. One request though...please leave your pillows in California, or at least take them to New Jersey because they belong in landfills!!!

So back to the name...I was thinking something like 'Peon Machine', 'Blog Machine', or simply 'The Machine'. Even better, the Smurf Machine!

I need feedback and suggestions!!!
~Gama

Bow ties and recipes

I don't know what's wrong with me. Tucker Carlson gets on my nerves but for some reason I like it. I used to hate this guy when he was on Crossfire but now I actually find myself listening to what he says and being entertained by it. His new show, The Situation, is actually very good other than the fact that they totally took a bite off of PTI with the whole topic list thing. But then I think lots of shows do that now. Anyway I can't believe I'm saying this but I recommend at least checking it out. They get on a few strong personalities to debate the liberal side and it at some level turns out to be a good, balanced show at the end. Well, other than the fact that the star is still Tucker Carlson so the finishing touches are always of a conservative bent. Critical to my appreciation for his sense of humor is more that he isn't some blind Bush apologist and seems to actually stand by a conservative point of view. When people you don't agree with actually have a logical position, it makes it much more tolerable, and even interesting to listen to them. The thing is, I swear he used to be one of those hard-line-read-from-the-administration-playbook-pundits. What could have happenned? Does this all stem from John Stewart's confrontation and the subsequent dismantling of Crossfire?


The second person out in TV land who's irritating mannerisms make me smile is Rachael Ray. I am sure everyone at least knows who she is... She's the giggling little girl trying to pretend she is a cook on the Food Network. She is originally known for the show 30-minute meals and now has like 14 shows, including the most interesting and annoying -- 40 Dollars a day. Now, ninjax swears that this is bullshit because he could live on $5 dollars a day. He's a moron. It's not Survivor...the point isn't to spend the least amount possible in any given city! But I digress...
Anyway she really is obnoxious and no one could not get on my nerves anymore than she does. The real thing is, she's developed her own language of annoying phrases and sayings. The worst of which is "YUM-O!".

Okay so there is a point to all of this. Is this entertainment? Being generally irritated to the point of that laughter only mad scientists and otherwise insane people make can't be good for you. Or maybe I'm just too proud to admit that I like it...I like her little giggles and I love his little bow-tie. Hmmm...That is really hard to swallow, there must be another explanation!
~Gama

Top Ten Reasons that Sam hasn't been posting

10) Getting worked like a rented mule at new job.
9) Petey and Ellie won't let him near the mouse (ohhh!).
8) Spending all his time online looking for jobs in Austin.
7) Mismanaging fantasy football team.
6) Training for a triathlon on a mountain bike.
5) Too much celebrating volleyball victories.
4) Catching up on Felicity episodes.
3) Watching 'The Notebook' again.
2) Stalking Lance Armstrong.
1) Designing a viable hydrogen car and the necessary infrastructure.

Chai & Kanye

Over the last year or so, I have developed an addiction to chai lattes. Since it's impossible to ever be more than a mile from a $tarbucks, I normally end up getting my fix at one of their locations. Occasionally I'm near a small chain, like Greenberry's, and I would like to support them, but their chais just don't measure up. Greenberry's, for example, make their chai lattes too sweet and without enough spices. Oftentimes, it tastes like frothy syrup. Other chai drinkers I've talked to have echoed similar sentiments. I think Tazo makes the syrup that Starbux uses, so unless Tazo and SB have some exclusive deal, these other shops should just get Tazo syrup and undercut SB a little bit.

A well done remix of Kanye West's Gold Digger, "George Bush Don't Like Black People."

Apocalyptica

Design on Apocalyptica's chairs (stolen from some guy's site)


Picture from Omesh's camera phone.

So apparently I'm old. I just went to an Apocalyptica concert at the 9:30 club. Apocalyptica is made up of some European dudes playing cellos. Basically, Apoc's claim to fame is covering Mulletica songs, but they do have some pretty money songs of their own. Anyway, I spent the entire concert up at the bar drinking Bourbon and Cokes with the rest of the old folks. In the past, I'd be down on the floor where the action was. Oh well, it happens to us all...

Power Plant Panacea?

I was in my friend's bathroom the other day reading reading a Fortune magazine, when I stumbled across an interesting article on how to address the nation's growing electricity demands. The basic idea is a line of underground air-cooled nuclear power plants stretched across the country at 100 mile intervals. The plants would be interconnected with superconducting materials, and power could be shifted to wherever there was demand with very little loss. All the radioactive material could permanently be stored underground. One requirement of superconductors is that the material be kept at a very low temperature (not far from aboslute zero). This is where things get neat. The superconductor lines could be kept cool with liquid hydrogen that was produced by electrolyzing water (passing current through it). The electricity required for the electrolysis and liquefying the hydrogen could be obtained from the power plants. Furthermore, when the power lines emerge from the ground, the liquid hydrogen could be collected and used to power hydrogen vehicles. This could help solve the distribution problem facing hydrogen powered vehicles.

Clearly, there are many many issues to address before such a power grid could be implemented, but I thought it was an interesting idea to share.

P.S. It looks like I avenged my fantasy football beatings last year at the hands of Sam, 82-62.

my non-blogger-itus

Okay I think I'm going to start biting things from other pseudo-writers that I've come to admire. Two of which are Jim Anchower and Jerry Seinfeld. Two of the finest literary geniuses of our time. I will now start all blog posts with some variant of "hola Amigos...It's been a while since I rapped at ya, so what's the DEEAAALL with..." My lawyers are still trying to work out some copyright issues but as soon as the law suit is over, that will be my new trademark (all rights reserved). So all future posts until then will be cited...
So it's a new beginning for me. My new salutations are geared to bring joy and fill all readers' hearts love and a little espanol knowledge.
We'll call the previous period of time before I made this 'reengineering effort' b.c.g. (Before the Cool-ass-you-love-our-blog-so-eat-it Greeting). The new term, strictly for calendaring purposes of course, will be a.d.g. (After Dogpoop-nostyle-got-no-nunchuck-skills-havin' Greeting).

Alright, here goes my first post in the adg.



"hola Amigos...It's been a while since I rapped at ya, so what's the DEEAAALL with..." asked a combination of Jim Anchower and Jerry Seinfeld. So what's the deal with fucking everything!!!?!?! I swear the last five years has been off the fucking wall. First of all, 311 albums have consistently gotten worse (no I have not listened to the newest one). This is kind of disappointing but not really tragic I suppose. I mean reality shows, I pray, are on their way out. Has this just been a serious strech of artistic drought? I mean I obviously can't not watch TV so I really wish they'd put something better on. If this keeps up, I might have to go outside and that would really be embarassing since I don't own underwear anymore.

My wife and I watched a movie today which was called Children of Beslan. It is about the terrorist attack that occurred in 2004 when these Chechen terrorists took over a school for a few days and it ended with tons of people (parents and kids) dying. The movie just makes you go what the fuck is wrong with those fucking fuckers??!! It is a documentary and it is more or less completely told by some of the children who survived. It is on HBO and there really isn't much to say about it but it is one of the saddest movies I've ever seen. Really has to be watched though. The real tragic thing about this was how little coverage it received considering you would think it would just be so newsworthy and given there were kids involved, the greedy bastards @ the TV news companies wouldn't pass that up.

We've got hurricanes in record numbers. In the most industrialized, technologically developed country in the world...ever, a hurricane takes out an entire city. I mean, seriously wtf is going on? Tons of people are dead, it seem like it has become politically correct to quietly argue over the numbers because somehow that makes a difference whether someone did their job wrong/right. As it turns out now the death toll looks to be lower than originally expected. That is good. Period. It isn't good because the Republican administration would have to explain the fumbles more if their were more deaths. It's just good. The real question is how (an estimated 1 million) all these people who were pushed out of their homes and lost their jobs (an estimated 400k jobs to be lost) go on with their lives. I understand that now everyone's needs are survival. Everyone just wants to see each other alive, hopefully healthy, and trying to recover. That doesn't even begin to tell the story of how the lives of these people are changed. CNN and FOXNEWS are going to stop covering this story in a week, maybe 3. Lots of the victims of this disaster will still be living in San Antonio or Houston...looking for jobs, trying to start new lives. I can't even imagine what that must be like to go through. If I don't have whole milk or cream for my coffee in the morning, I'm really not pleasant to be around. So we all try to do what makes us feel better about what happenned, maybe give money or blood, and go on with our lives (which is all everyone can, and should do). Those people can't do that though. It just fucking blows.


Alright I'm going to have to cut it off here (the post get your mind out of the gutter) so I don't take up the whole front page. I think I finally figured out why I stopped posting for so long. There is just too much shit going on. Too much shit my mind has been trying to process. That + fantasy Football and I'm full of shit to think about. But if you have questions about your 3rd receiver or TE in a head to head league, I'm your man. Anyway, I could never think of one topic to rant about because there were just too many. Well its ADG time baby, and its a brand new day!!!

~Gama

Media biases

Okay, so by now we've all heard the comments that Kanye West made last weekend, and while it may have not been the best venue, I'm glad that someone addressed the media bias with respect to looting.

Furthermore, to all the jackasses saying "I don't see any white people looting," you need to look at the demographics of the people who did not or could not evacuate New Orleans. It is well documented that the majority were black. Anybody of any race put in the position of those in New Orleans would look wherever they could for water and food. Also, in any large group of people, there are always going to be jerkasses who will take advantage of a situation to steal tvs and clothes. So, given the fact that the majority of people left in New Orleans were black, it stands to reason that there will be more footage of blacks looting.

After reviewing that last paragrah, I realize that I need to clarify some terminology. These days, 'African-American' is the PC term for people of African descent. I have some issues with this label. First, the Sammy Sosa's children argument. Sure, Sammy's ethnically African, but he's from the Dominican Republic where they speak Spanish and have a culture considerably different from his African ancestors. I suspect his children would feel more comfortable putting down Hispanic on their SATs. I'm probably more sensitive to this distinction than others, because I'm in a similar situation. I'm ethnically Indian, but my parents were born in South America and raised in a Caribbean culture. I don't necessarily want to be lumped together with Indians just because my skin happens to be brown. Another 'broken' case is Dave Matthews who is from South Africa. Technically, he is African-American! Until enough mixing occurs such that asking someone's ethnicity is meaningless, I, personally, don't have any problems with using black, white, brown, etc. as labels.

A few weeks ago, shortly after Peter Jennings death, ABC ran a documentary on his life and career. About halfway through the program, the subject of Jennings' alleged pro-Palestinian bias came up. Prior to watching this segment, I was not aware that some individuals viewed Jennings as having such a bias. It has always seemed to me that most news outlets and politicians in ths country have a pro-Israeli bias, and it always seemed that I was more sympathetic to the Palestinans' plight than the average American. I was not sure where this came from until I saw the documentary. From pre-school until around sixth grade, I watched ABC news every night with my parents. I think I absorbed Peter Jennings viewpoint on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, whether it be biased or just more objective than other journalists.

not going...

...to san Diego. I don't have the balls to actually make the phone call to announce it to my friend. So its going on a blog. It's not you, its me PeonSmurf. Let's be friends :)

Missing the point

Okay I'm hoping this note will act as a springboard for my writing on this blog. My initial reaction to PeonSmurf's post is not that its a bad idea, nor that helping some small country isn't a useful way to develop the next generation of technology that will eventually cleanly fuel my Escalade (or Accord as it may be) . The problem is the assumption that the people you want to bend over backwards for and convince this idea is a great solution, just don't see a problem. The fact is that whether the loyalties to fossil fuels are because of economic reasons or simply skepticism, your Joe "oil man" American doesn't think this 'environment' thing really needs consideration. If you can't agree on the problem statement, you really can't argue about the solution.

It reminds me of the animal rights movement. Animal rights activists will tell you that animals deserve to be treated humanely and given the right to live an meaningful (or more meaningful) life. Unfortunately their adversaries see nothing more in the purpose of the animals' lives than to serve whatever purpose man has in store for them. So the premise (that the word humane applies to animals) is not agreed upon and there becomes no basis for a true argument.

And we all know that if there is no coherent argument then all those lawyers in congress can't moan and groan about it (yielding to the congressman from Kentucky,etc.). If there is no moaning and groaning, I think we all know that good ole' Cape Verde is not getting a McDonald's let alone a renewable energy plan. One question would be why our compatriots @ places like the World Bank or U.N. don't seem to have any interest in investing in things like this. If that could be a way for countries to be self-sufficient, then why exactly wouldn't everyone throw money their way?

I think Smurf's idea is pretty brilliant, though. That is the tragic thing. I'm really not sure how to approach this problem (the environment) so it is both effective and the other side would listen.

Okay this wasn't the most entertaining post in the world but after a 4-6 month hiatus it's a start.
~Gama

Apparently the world is ending...

Evidence.

Oh the irony...

U.S. says Syria 'must stop meddling' in Lebanon

(see previous post)

Bush Calls Democracy Terror's Antidote

Well, Iran had their chance, but we managed to botch that pretty good.

What am I talking about? Time's Man of the Year from 1951. Doesn't ring a bell? Maybe seeing the cover will jog your memory. Still puzzled? Maybe his name will help: Mohammed Mossadegh. If his name doesn't ring any bells, you're not alone. Until a couple of weeks ago, I'd never heard of him either. Mossadegh was the democratically elected prime minister of Iran until he was outsted with the assistance of MI-6 (British Intelligence) and the CIA. The CIA's meddling is one of the sources of the Iranian people's resentment towards the United States.

I've been sitting on this post for a while, because I wanted to do some research so I could put together a detailed chronology. I haven't gotten a chance to read the books I checked out, so I'll just post a summary here.

Our story starts with the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company (AIOC) which had a monopoly on refining and distributing Iranian oil. As with most British companies involved in 'uncivilized' countries, the AIOC was exploitve of Iranians while lining the coffers of the British. The AIOC became quite an issue amongst the Iranian people and Mossadegh gained popularity due to his strong anti-British stance. He helped get the AIOC nationalized, and rode the wave of popularity to the office of prime minister. Clearly the Britsh were upset at losing their most profitable business, and they responded with an embargo and blockade of Iran. They attempted to draw the United States into the conflict, but President Truman was unsympathetic. However, after Eisenhower became president, the British tried a new ploy, and convinced the US government that Mossadegh had Communist ties. Being that it was the 1950s, this was quite an effective tactic, and the CIA soon put operatives into play. The lead operative was Kermit Roosevelt, grandson of Theodore Roosvelt. After one botched attempt, Kermit and the rest of the muppets managed to get Mossadegh overthrown and installed the western-friendly monarch, Mohammad Reza Shah. The Shah turned out to be a debacle of a leader and with him at the helm, Iran spiraled into poverty and corruption culminating with the Islamic revolution of 1979.

These events are a good demonstration of why meddling in the affairs of other countries is not advisable. It may seem like a good idea at the time, and might even yield desirable results in the short term, but there can be diastastrous consequences 30-40 years down the road.

It's interesting that my 9th grade World History class spent a period or two discussing Xerxes, Darius, etc., but we didn't spend five minutes discussing US/Iran relations in the 20th century. In light of current events, I hope this is being remedied.

Invitation

I would like to cordially invite surfsamsurf to our writing team. Its obvious that Ninjax and I are too busy smoking camels to write on a consistant basis and I think we need a little fresh meat to stir up the conversation. So lets do it. come on Jam master J.
~Gama

America the ugly...

44 percent of Americans queried in Cornell national poll favor curtailing some liberties for Muslim Americans.

This poll was actually released last December, but I don't remember hearing anything about it, and everyone I send the link to seems to be seeing it for the first time. It backs up my theory that watching televison news (especially Fox News) is a bad idea. I need to get out of this place.

Fear is your only god.

Sanitarium

is what I heard on DC101 as I got into my car at 9:15 tonight. This is why DC101 is still a rock station and WHFS is now 'El Zol.' On a typical night at 9:15, HFS was usually playing some whiny emo song that apparently no one wanted to hear. Hopefully, the demise of HFS will spur the remaining 'rock' stations to actually play some rock. Can the chevelle/nickelback crap and bring back some Rush, Pink Floyd and Zeppelin. Also, it wouldn't kill them to play some Pantera once in a while. I mean, come on, Dimebag died a month ago!

Too many @$#%& people!

I live 2 miles from work. Today it took me over half an hour to get home. That works out to 4 mph. I'm not paying Tysons-style rent so that someone walking backwards could beat me home. There are just too many cars on the road, and too many assclowns blocking intersections and deciding at the last possible second that they want to turn left too. I definitely felt like this guy.

Then, I decided to go to the gym a little early today at 8pm. I hate having to wait until 9pm to go, because I don't finish until nearly 11. When I got upstairs, all 5 benches were taken by Hans and Franz types who were doing 20 set progressions. Harrible.

My lease is up in May and as of today, here is how I see my options:

a) Buy a condo in NoVA
b) Use the down payment that I would have used on a condo to buy a ranch in Montana where I can watch my M*A*S*H DVDs in peace
c) Return to my roots and buy a hovel in Guyana. I may get attacked by a gang wielding cutlasses, but at least they still cook plantain the right way down there.

Most regular people would say it’s hard...