Multi-Modal in Raleigh: Leading by Example #BikeRaleigh

Over at her Multi-Modal in Raleigh blog, Kristy blogged about Friday’s Bike To Work Leadership Ride around downtown Raleigh. Kristy even got a pic of me at the bottom of her post, too.

Thanks, Kristy!

A perfect Bike to Work Day in Raleigh, NC. We rode a loop from Centennial Mall around downtown Raleigh to raise awareness for cyclists and promote bicycling as a valid form of transportation. It felt really good to be among such great leaders in Raleigh and to show support for this nationwide movement to promote bicycling as safe, sustainable, healthy, and well – easy.

via Multi-Modal in Raleigh: Leading by Example #BikeRaleigh.

Mortgage junk mail

Official-looking mortgage junk mail


We recently refinanced our home with a new mortgage and that, as expected, triggered a flood of junk mail. Most of these letters are deceptively designed to look like they came from your mortgage company, mailed in an official-looking envelope. Some even include the name of the legitimate mortgage company on the front.

Some of the companies include:

Mortgage Protection Center
PO Box 9001
Burlington, NC, 27216-9925

Mortgage Protection Insurance
PO Box 619056
Roseville, CA, 95661-9978
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High Speed Rail at Pullen Park

My buddy Reid Serozi has dreamed up an amuzing alternative universe where high-speed rail replaces the Pullen Park choo-choo. That Matt Furner character hits close to home, too.

There is confidence that compromises between city planning and local park goers can be worked out in the years to come, and the hope is to have high-speed rail running around Pullen park by 3080.

Matt Furner, the city’s parks board chairman and a community organizer in East Raleigh wasn’t available for comment due to his "open source email solution" being accidentally blacklisted, but rumors suggest the high speed rail idea originated after a Furner Family visit to Disney Land.

via Reid Serozi – Open Raleigh: High Speed Rail at Pullen Park.

Raleigh CAC meeting ends on time

Tonight was a milestone of sorts as the Raleigh CAC meeting I chaired actually ended ahead of schedule. In the four years I’ve been on the board I can’t recall a single night where this has happened.

When I was elected chair, I pledged to my fellow boardmembers that I would run an efficient meeting and not waste everyone’s time. While the first few meetings were a bit longer than I would’ve liked, tonight we actually ended a minute or two early.

One of my first big moves was to make the meetings end at 8:30 PM instead of 9 PM. I thought we should be able to get done what we need to get done in that time and so far it’s worked out well. So with the switch to the earlier time, it’s probably safe to say that no RCAC meeting has ever ended before 8:30 until tonight.

One of the reasons I consider this a milestone is that I conducted the meeting fairly, sought input from the CAC chairs, and moved things along when they needed moving. Another notable thing is that the CAC chairs actually listened to me! When I first joined the RCAC board years ago, the RCAC seemed like the epitome of herding cats. Being chair looked like a thankless job that I accepted only with trepidation. Instead, meetings like tonight show that I may be able to effectively lead this organization after all.

I came home feeling psyched, energized, and actually looking forward to the next meeting. It’s a pretty good place to be!

Raleigh to involve public sooner in parks planning

I was quoted in this morning’s Midtown Raleigh News on the new Public Participation Process for Raleigh Parks.

After a string of park projects beset by opposition battles and lengthy delays, the city’s parks and rec department will soon overhaul the way it works with the public during planning for future parks, ballfields and gyms.

The proposed guidelines, laid out in exhaustive detail in three documents totaling 89 pages, are intended to pinpoint areas of disagreement and bring together citizens groups to give suggestions, particularly when controversial projects are involved.

The idea is to resolve disputes early and not let them fester, said City Manager Russell Allen.

“The hope is that if you take time up front, you don’t get snagged later in the development of the project and run into an element of the public that never bought in,” Allen said.

via Raleigh to involve public sooner in parks planning – Raleigh – MidtownRaleighNews.com.

Vote for the winner

As I picked up my dry cleaning yesterday, a man smelling of alcohol wandered into the store and leaned forward to me.

“Hey man,” he said as he extended his fist for a fist bump, “you vote?”

“Beg your pardon. Am I broke?”

“No,” he mumbled, trying to focus his eyes on me. “Do you vote?”

“Yes, I do,” I said.

He nodded. “Well, I vote, too!”
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Amendment One passes

I was disappointed that a majority of North Carolinian voters voted to enshrine discrimination to the state constitution Tuesday. Many pointed to the Bible as their justification.

The way I see it, God gave some people blue eyes and some people brown eyes. God made some people black, some white, some Asian, and so on. Likewise, God made some people straight and some people gay. It is not for us to question God’s wisdom! I’ve always wondered how some can claim to know God better than God Himself. Let he who is without sin …
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NC Democratic party votes to keep Parker

I have to say I’m totally flabbergasted by the North Carolina Democratic Party’s SEC vote to reject David Parker’s resignation. It’s a total farce.

As my friend Perry pointed out, never before has the party held a vote to reject a resignation. On the face of it it seems to me that the motion would be out of order.

I am concerned that Parker appears not to be keeping his word to step down. I’m also concerned that the vote of 269-203 show a deep division in the party. How could anyone in the party choose to support such a divisive leader (and I use that term loosely)?

As time passes, my thoughts on Parker’s trainwreck of a press conference have only been reinforced. As I said before, I have no idea whether or not sexual harassment took place. What I do know is that Parker’s explanation was so much bullshit. At best, he’s an aloof leader who failed to properly vet and supervise his employees. At worst he’s a baldfaced liar, a loose cannon who perhaps even protected a sexual predator. Neither option evokes confidence.

And for the Parker supporters to claim that others are attacking him is ridiculous. He’s the boss of the party; the buck stops with him. He’s the captain of the ship and with that authority comes responsibility. If the ship wrecks, it doesn’t matter whether he was paying attention or not, it’s his fault, period. There is no one else to blame.

Tackles and tassles

As a Wolfpack fan and an alum of N.C. State, it might be easy for me to gloat about the academic scandal taking place with UNC’s football and basketball players. The vaunted “Carolina Way” that Carolina people love to preach has turned out to be amusingly hollow. It seems that academic performance takes a back seat to winning. It would be amusing under most circumstances.

Then I hear what N.C. Athletic Director Debbie Yow says about the Wolfpack teams and it makes me wonder: what’s to stop the Wolfpack from falling into the same trap? I don’t question Yow’s dedication to N.C. State at all but there’s more to winning than the win and loss counts. Is Yow equally dedicated to academic performance? If it came down to winning or looking the other way when academic shenanigans take place, what would Yow do?

The kind of money being thrown around in college sports is in doubt corrupting. I can only hope my school is strong enough to resist the urge to cut corners.

Wikipedia’s article on the USS Iowa turret explosion

USS Iowa's turret two explodes


My meeting General Shelton got me researching some flag officers I’ve known. On the way I happened to land on the Wikipedia article about the 1989 turret explosion aboard the USS Iowa. The article is one of the best I’ve read on Wikipedia. It’s as riveting as a novel. The book about the incident, A Glimpse of Hell: The Explosion on the USS Iowa and Its Cover Up, is equally compelling, as this excerpt shows.

I was in the Navy at the time and I remember well this incident and the subsequent whitewash. It was a lesson to me that the term “military justice” will always be an oxymoron.

The USS Iowa turret explosion occurred in the Number Two 16-inch gun turret of the United States Navy battleship USS Iowa (BB-61) on April 19, 1989. The explosion in the center gun room killed 47 of the turret’s crewmen and severely damaged the gun turret itself. Two major investigations were undertaken, one by the Navy and then one by the General Accounting Office (GAO) and Sandia National Laboratories. The investigations produced conflicting conclusions.

via USS Iowa turret explosion – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.