I’ve been meaning to write about the remarkable comments made last week by outgoing Joint Chiefs chairman Admiral Mike Mullen regarding Pakistan. In unusually frank terms, Adm. Mullen pointed the finger at Pakistan’s ISI secret service as being a “veritable arm” of the terrorist group the Haqqani network, which is accused in the bombing the American Embassy in Kabul. Retiring soon or not, Admiral Mullen wouldn’t dare make this accusation if there wasn’t solid intelligence backing it up.
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Aging drivers
Yesterday afternoon I watched as an elderly woman driving a Mercedes stopped completely in the left lane of Six Forks Road, put her turn signal on, and then (waiting for traffic to clear) drove right through two lanes of traffic to get into Costco (no, it wasn’t that lady). As I followed her car in the parking lot, I watched as she approached a crosswalk where a couple were waiting to cross. She slowed down to the point where the people began to walk through the crosswalk, only to have to back up when the woman kept driving on through. The couple angrily stared at her as she drove on, inching up to the next row of cars and stopping for 20 seconds before slowly rolling to the next row.
She was obviously no longer able to drive safely. I shook my head and remembered the moment it became obvious to me how elderly drivers in Raleigh are completely screwed when the day comes that they are no longer able to drive safely. So much of Raleigh was built in a car-centric manner that these poor folks have no alternative than to drive beyond their ability to do so safely.
I was wishing there was a way I could alert the drivers’ loved ones that she was a danger to her herself and others. There are a few services out there but nothing that seems to exactly fit my needs. If anyone finds one they like, let me know.
Naturally, I’ll say it’s the wine
I was in the Costco checkout line today when the older woman in front of me casually looks over my purchases.
“Is that Ménage à Trois?” she asks.
I gulped. What did she just ask me?
“The wine,” she said. “Is that Ménage à Trois?”
Ah, the wine! I turned the bottle around to show her the Chilean label.
For an instant there I thought she was hitting on me!
Redmond still standing by her sweetheart deal
As part of the N&O’s profiles of candidates for Raleigh Mayor, the newspaper ran another story taking another look at Billie Redmond’s dealings on Wake County’s Citizens’ Facilities Advisory Committee, a citizen’s committee tasked with deciding how to spend bond money. As you recall, as co-chairperson of the board Redmond enthusiastically supported a proposal to overspend $4 million of taxpayer money on property for an Apex school, knowing the deal would net her company a cool quarter-million in commissions. Fortunately, the Commissioners torpedoed the deal and put a new policy in place that all property must be appraised first.
In today’s article, Redmond inexplicably still thinks that was a great decision:
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About those solar panels
Raleigh's going solar
I spent some time Friday at a dedication ceremony for the City of Raleigh Parks Department’s new greenhouse. One might think that a greenhouse wouldn’t be exciting but this is no ordinary greenhouse. It’s got energy-efficient features, it’s fully automated, and for the first time it provides the City the ability to grow any type of plant during any season. Raleigh’s parks, streets, and highways look so sharp because of the work of the Parks and Recreation Department’s horticulture and landscaping teams, who keep Raleigh looking beautiful through the careful stewardship of our trees, plants, and flowers.
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Perdue and offshore drilling
Now let me get this straight. Governor Bev Perdue supports offshore drilling even though:
- North Carolina’s coast is almost entirely dependent on tourism.
- Governor Perdue comes from New Bern, a coastal town.
- The Outer Banks make up a sensitive ecosystem which supports a huge variety of wildlife.
Un-CERT-ain future
Remember that great, free, emergency training I received earlier this summer? It’s now an endangered species. The Raleigh-Wake CERT team is imploding, with the organization’s officers resigning left and right due to lack of funding. It’s a real shame for a program that could provide so much good in the event of a disaster (and did provide so much good in my neighborhood following the April 16th tornado).
From an announcement on their website:
Our organization is all-volunteer and has been sponsored by Raleigh Department of Emergency Management. Unfortunately, we have not had access to ANY funds for about a year now and our volunteers have provided all materials at their own expense. In addition, we were informed recently that our sponsor at Raleigh EM is now providing advisory support only.
Consequently, the President, Secretary/PIO, and Logistics officer of Raleigh-Wake CERT have resigned and as of September 26, 2011, the only standing officer will be the Planning Section Chief.
I’m trying to get some time together with Fin Cert, RWCERT’s former PIO, to find out what happened and see if I can help the org get back on its feet.
Recalibrating
Just got politely turned down for what would’ve been a great position. Now I’m wondering if I’m going about it all wrong.
Ultimately, I want nothing less than to change the world for the better. It’s a pretty high bar, true, but I want to join a team that aims equally high and is equally passionate about that goal. I’m tired of making money for money’s sake. Money’s nice, but that’s not what motivates me. I want to know at the end of each day that I’m making a positive difference for someone. I want to work with with passionate people. I want to leave a lasting impression. This isn’t the kind of role one finds on the job boards.
It’s time to reevaluate my approach and plot a new course for the place I want to be.
Neutrino particle traveling faster than light?
Every now and then, a scientific discovery delivers to us smug mortals a healthy kick in the head: reminding us that for all our bravado we still don’t know squat about how the universe really works!
Neutrino particle traveling faster than light? Two ways it could rewrite physics.
European scientists are shocked by an experiment that showed neutrino particles moving faster than light. The result, if confirmed, could challenge Einstein’s signature theory on relativity or point to a universe of more than four dimensions.
via Neutrino particle traveling faster than light? Two ways it could rewrite physics. – CSMonitor.com.
Smartphone speed-detecting apps
I was walking the kids to school the other morning when I saw a few cars driving faster than they should’ve been driving through the school zone. It made me wonder if anyone has written a smartphone app that can calculate the speed at which a car is traveling via the smartphone’s video camera.
Another app I thought would be useful (or not) is an app which uses the internal gyros, accelerometers, and/or GPS to detect when the phone is in a moving vehicle. It could then either activate “car mode” or, to become more restrictive: locking the keypad so that texting could not be done while driving.
The latter app would’ve been useful had it been on the phone of a driver in front of me on Wade Avenue this morning!