Wake County Schools superintendent Del Burns put in his resignation yesterday. This is the best thing to happen to Durham in a long time.
The N&O’s long slide towards the right is bearing fruit. I hope John Drescher is happy when growth in the county screeches to a halt.
The story of the ten Americans arrested in Haiti on charges of child trafficking is very, very disturbing. There is a huge story here. Now news comes that lawyer Jorge Puello who volunteered to represent them is wanted on child trafficking charges himself – in multiple countries.
I know the whole innocent-until-proven-guilty thing, but the evidence here isn’t looking good. Some of the kids who the group tried to “rescue” were not even orphans. It sounds to me that at the very least the alleged ringleader, Laura Silsby, had some mental problems, crying when no orphanage would give her kids. Perhaps a bit fanatical?
Regardless of this groups guilt or innocence, I hope this case shines a light on the underworld of child trafficking and causes some real changes in how kids in these poor countries are treated.
Bonus: Salon’s Glenn Greenwald has some commentary on the hypocrisy of those who decry the group’s Haiti detention but who had no problem with the U.S. jailing Muslims in squalid, hidden prisons without charges or representation.
Snowbraham Lincoln
We got about 2.5 inches of wet, fluffy snow overnight. Unlike the last snow and-sleet combination which made for good sledding but not much else, this one was the perfect consistency for snowballs and snowmen (and left the streets untouched, I might add)! To build our snowmen all we needed to do was get a football-sized snowball rolling in the yard. It would roll up all the snow underneath it. It was like rolling up a snow rug it was so easy!
The snow began on Friday, Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. Hallie’s working on a school project about Honest Abe, so I joked this morning that I’d build a “Snowbraham Lincoln,” rather than the usual plain snowman. When one of my friends on Facebook requested pictures of this feat, I was on the hook to do it. So above, I present Snowbraham Lincoln: a 1/4 scale replica of the Lincoln Memorial, rendered in snow. The model is Hallie Turner.
It was eerily quiet when I went on my morning walk today. There were no buses lumbering by and few cars on the road. I had to check my watch to make sure that I either didn’t get up too early or that it wasn’t Saturday!
I’m not sure why it was so quiet. It was a little unusual.
Beverly Hills
Weezer (get a Snuggie with their new CD!)
Where I come from isn’t all that great
My automobile is a piece of crap
My fashion sense is a little whack
And my friends are just as screwy as me
I didn’t go to boarding schools
Preppy girls never looked at me
Why should they, I ain’t nobody
Got nothing in my pocket
Continue reading
I was sad to read tonight that former congressman Charlie Wilson (D-TX) died of a heart attack today at the age of 76. Wilson represented east Texas in the U.S. House and was instrumental in funding the Afghan mujahedeen in their fight against Soviet occupation.
I was just reading his Wikipedia entry two weeks ago to learn more about him. Sorry to hear that a man who was so full of life lives no more.
The announcement today of Google Fiber to the home was covered in today’s Washington Post:
The company said it will build fiber-to-the-home connections to a small number of locations across the country that will deliver Internet access speeds of 1 gigabit per second. It will take bids from municipalities beginning through late March to determine what areas would be part of its experiment. Google said access prices for consumers would competitive and that its network would reach at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people. A source who spoke on the condition of anonymity said the company doesn’t currently have plans to expand beyond the initial tests but will evaluate as the tests progress.
Having one’s city wired for blazing-fast Internet access would be a huge shot in the arm for a municipality. I sure hope it comes to Raleigh!
I’ve started a grass-roots effort to help Google identify where to set up it’s 1Gb fiber Internet trial run. Check out Google To The Home.
Too subtle?
Today Google announced that it will be stringing fiber around a few lucky cities to study how ultra-high-speed Internet service might be used. Speeds of up to 1Gb will be offered and competitively-priced with fiber being deployed directly to the home.
I think the Triangle would be ideal with its concentration of networking companies (Cisco), storage companies (EMC, NetApp), software companies (IBM), and pharmaceutical companies. Raleigh was one of the North Carolina municipalities to oppose Time Warner’s efforts to close off competition, so I would hope the city would be looked upon favorably.
Google expects interested municipalities to respond to the RFI via the web, but you don’t have to be a city official to express interest. Google provides a link for interested residents to nominate their city.
Let the jockeying begin!
Word has it that Wake county library officials are considering closing the Southeast Regional Library in Garner due to budget cuts. What a shame that would be. When Kelly and I lived in Garner the library was one of our favorite places to go. It was and is the only library close enough that we could bike to it. With no bookstores in Garner (at the time, anyway), the library was one of the few things that kept Kelly and me sane.
I sure hope the county comes up with another way of saving money because closing that library would be a huge blow to the people of Garner and surrounding areas.
