February 2010

There were 34 posts published in February 2010 (this is page 4 of 4).

Things heating up in Iran again

I was stunned to read the extraordinary words of Iranian opposition figure Mir Hossein Mousavi today, where he essentially called for a new revolution. Mousavi said that tyranny was not rooted out during the 1979 revolution, implying that the current government is corrupt.

“Stifling the media, filling the prisons and brutally killing people who peacefully demand their rights in the streets indicate the roots of tyranny and dictatorship remain from the monarchist era. I don’t believe that the revolution achieved its goals,” Mr Mousavi added.

This guy is begging the authorities to arrest him, or worse. With the anniversary of the Iranian Revolution coming up on February 11th, Iran could be in for another round of civil unrest.

Writing in the background

I spent some time this evening writing some of my next installment of Where I’ve Worked, this one about my choosing to enlist in the Navy. It’s already longer than I anticipated but I want to get it right. That means unlike most of my posts here I’m actually putting these through a couple of drafts before posting them.

It also means I’m beginning to get intimidated by these posts because of the need to get them right. Like the saying goes, the longest journeys begin with the smallest step, and simply putting something down about my Navy days has helped considerably in getting this huge topic organized in my mind.

Enough for tonight, though. I may have something ready to read in the next night or two. Or not.

Chinese switch to cadmium as poison of choice

Remember how I said there was no Chinese word for OSHA? It turns out safety-conscious Chinese toy manufacturers continue to poison our kids, this time with cadmium:

In the study, the AP analyzed cadmium content in commonly available children’s jewelry and found most of the pieces had significant cadmium content. One of the pieces contained 91 percent cadmium. That’s not parts per million; that’s percent. That’s toxic waste.

This just goes to further my view that Chinese culture encourages one to cheat, just as long as one doesn’t get caught.

High speed rail gets even closer

I’ve been following the Southeast High Speed Rail project for quite some time now Last week, President Obama announced that $545 million is on its way to North Carolina to kickstart the rail project. That’s great news for the state.

The majority of the money will go to improve the track between Raleigh and Charlotte, which is the most used rail route in the state. There’s also $25 million to go to the project to revive the tracks between Raleigh and Petersburg. All in all, it’s a great investment in the future of transportation in North Carolina: rail travel!