In-flight Safety

Oh great, now they are going to allow screw drivers (7" or less) on board commercial fights as well as some other items. What is the matter with these people...both the screeners and the passengers who feel the need to bring such things on board? We don't need such items on board a commercial aircraft in the first place and if a passenger actually needs those items at his or her destination, why weren't they placed in the checked luggage in the first place? Such idiots! And all in the name of speeding up the screening process. Yuck! I would prefer not to have to remove my shoes. Do those really present that big of a problem now? Huh? Really?

Locally we have a mystery in Oakland where the City Council has decided to uproot 300 trees at Lake Merritt as part of their beautification project of the lake area. Huh? 300 trees? How is that loss supposed to help beautify the area? Something is not right there. I have never counted the trees there but after living in the area for over ten years, I would guestimate that there are just about 300 trees total lining the banks of the lake. How many years will it take to grow news ones? If city officials think that little of the lake, why not just fill it in and build some more of Jerry Brown's housing units for downtown Oakland there?