Time for a new drug war strategy

I was surfing WRAL’s webpage the other day and, like many of their web visitors, got stuck in their gallery of arrest photos. Like the “rate me” sites like Am I Hot Or Not?, the parade of suspect photos pulls you in, making you want to click just one more time to see what’s next.

Anyway, I was clicking away one afternoon when I noticed a pattern. Of the suspects arrested for drug violations, the overwhelming majority of them were arrested for the possession or sale of marijuana. While there were some arrests for other drugs, marijuana was far and away the drug most often cited.

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Taking a u-turn on the one-way street

City of Raleigh Transportation guru Eric Lamb shared this story of one successful conversion of a one-way street to two-way in St. Catharines, Ontario. It provides hope that East Raleigh may also enjoy a renaissance once it banishes its one-way streets.

Two years ago, city crews went to St. Paul Street — the one-way spine of downtown St. Catharines, Ont. — took down the “no entry” signs, painted new lines and opened up the street to two-way traffic. According to planners, it would slow cars down, make the downtown more pedestrian friendly and spur retail development.

People, especially businesspeople, didn’t like it. And then they did.

“A prominent local businessman came up to me the other day and said, ‘I didn’t support it from the start, but this is the best thing you’ve ever done.’ ”

via Taking a u-turn on the one-way street | News | National Post.

Astronomers see more planets than stars in galaxy

The continuing discovery of exoplanets – planets outside of our solar system – is one of the most astonishing yet underreported advances in our understanding of the universe and our place in it. The number of known planets has more than doubled since 2008 to 700 and far more are waiting to be verified.

Astronomers are in agreement that at least 100 billion planets exist in our galaxy alone. That blows my mind. The universe is littered with planets, and life in one form or another is certain to exist on some.

“We’re finding an exciting potpourri of things we didn’t even think could exist,” said Harvard University astronomer Lisa Kaltenegger, including planets that mirror “Star Wars” Luke Skywalker’s home planet with twin suns and a mini-star system with a dwarf sun and shrunken planets.

“We’re awash in planets where 17 years ago we weren’t even sure there were planets” outside our solar system, said Kaltenegger, who wasn’t involved in the new research.

via Astronomers see more planets than stars in galaxy – Boston.com.

Pullen Park train, now with no waiting?

Pullen Park Train


There have been many positive news stories about the newly-remodeled Pullen Park and the plaudits are rightfully deserved. The renovations brought new life to the park and attracted huge crowds to what was already a popular park. There is one issue with the park that wasn’t addressed by the renovation. In fact, the renovation has made it a bigger problem than ever.

I’m talking about the line for the train. It’s often way too long, trapping families when they could be enjoying the park.

I’ve been pondering a solution to this and I think I’ve found one. It occurred to me that boarding the train is what it used to be like boarding a Southwest Airlines flight: you buy your ticket and wait in line for eventual “open seating” boarding.
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New Citizen Advisory Councils to kick off with first meetings

I was quoted in today’s Midtown Raleigh News, discussing the city’s new CAC boundaries.

Chelsea Kellner wrote a great, concise story which explains CACs perfectly. I love how this turned out!

“The new CACs provide one cohesive community organization for neighborhoods that were right on the boundary of the old CACs, to bring people together and focus more on the needs that are specific to that area,” said Mark Turner, chairman of the Raleigh Citizens Advisory Council.

via New Citizen Advisory Councils to kick off with first meetings – News – MidtownRaleighNews.com.

Good things on the way

I just had an insight that some amazing, exciting things are on the way for me, things that will make my full, already-exciting life seem dull by comparison. Life-changing stuff. Perhaps even world-changing stuff!

I’m not sure what it means but I’m curious (and brave enough) to find out.

Zombiehead

I woke up from a fitful night of sleep at 3 AM and never fully went back to sleep. I’ve thus felt like a zombie all day, especially this evening when I had to help coach Travis’s basketball team.

It’s now book time and then bedtime for me. ‘Night all!

Highlights of 2011: blogging milestones

This year marked a few milestones for my humble blog: my 5,000th post as well as ten years of owning my domain, markturner.net! The official ten-year anniversary of my first blog post happens next week, so that doesn’t count towards a 2011 highlight.

I’m proud to say that I’ve since blown past my 5,000th post. This entry marks my 5,289th, which means that at this rate sometime in 2013 I will reach my 6,000th post.

A few of my fellow bloggers have said that their blogs are dead or dying. While my blog’s visitor count may have already peaked, I don’t really care. I write it because I love to write it, not because I expect anyone to gain any value from it. I’m not obsessed with the page counts or anything like that. It is what it is.

Certainly there are other distractions out there and each has its appeal, but I don’t see myself ever giving up blogging. I love the fact that this is my voice on the web and that I own it 100%. I love that it’s open to anyone who wants to visit, not just to “subscribers.” I also love that I have nearly unlimited space to express my thoughts, rather than being limited to 140 characters or some other arbitrary limit. I believe in an open and free exchange of information.

Thanks for joining me in the conversation!

Even Flipper thought this was dumb

The kids watched the very first episode of the dolphin-pet TV show Flipper on NetFlix today. I used to love watching the show as a kid, so I was sorry to see that it didn’t hold up too well 35 years later. At least the first episode didn’t hold up well.

In this episode (called “300 Feet Below”), Ranger Porter Ricks and his son Bud get a distress call from a shark-bitten boater whose boat is 12 miles offshore. For some reason the Coast Guard is of no use so Porter and son decide to rescue him themselves. They pick up the boater’s girlfriend to lead them to the boat.
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Family mountain biking

The weather was a beautiful, balmy partly sunny and 70 degrees, so we took advantage of it by heading out for the mountain bike trails at Lake Crabtree for a little exercise. We had an absolute blast!

Travis had impressed me earlier this week with the way he was riding the hills around the “creek” area after school. That showed me he might be ready for some off-road biking. Turns out not only he was ready, but Hallie as well!

We hopped off our bikes to watch people play in the field and soon found ourselves wrapped up in an impromptu soccer game with a kid and his family. Before we knew it it was approaching 5 PM and we had biked and run far longer than we ever expected we could!

It was a fantastic family day and a great antidote to the brutally-cold start we had to the week. Gotta love winter in North Carolina!