January 2011

There were 62 posts published in January 2011 (this is page 5 of 7).

Highlights of 2010: politics

The year 2010 was one full of more political stuff for me, and by that I mean the stuff outside of my Parks board and East CAC activities. With these two Raleigh civic activities I do my best not to lobby or persuade for one decision or another. I simply try my best to represent my “constituents.” There were a few notable legislative issues where I was an active proponent or opponent last year: all of them above the city level.

First up was a trip to Washington, DC to the Clean Energy, Jobs, and Security Forum as part of the Operation Free group of veterans who are pushing for changes in America’s energy policy. In January I flew into DC with other vets for a day of media training. I spent the following day in the Dirksen Senate building, starting off with speeches by Sen. John Kerry, Sen. Lindsay Graham, and other leading clean-energy advocates.
Continue reading →

China Tests Stealth Fighter

With China’s supreme understanding and adherence to face there is absolutely no way this was a coincidence. This was a deliberate slap in the face to Secretary Gates.

In a show of force that seemed aimed at the United States and visiting Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, China apparently conducted the first test-flight of its new stealth fighter jet on Tuesday, only hours before Mr. Gates was to meet with President Hu Jintao.

Mr. Gates said he directly asked Mr. Hu why it was conducted during a three-day trip that is meant to smooth over rocky relations between the U.S. military and China’s increasingly assertive armed forces.

Mr. Hu replied, Mr. Gates said, that it “had absolutely nothing to do with my visit.” Asked if Mr. Gates truly believed that, Mr. Gates said yes, but acknowledged he had questions about whether the Chinese military was acting independently of the political leadership. “I’ve had concerns about this over time,” Mr. Gates said.

via China Apparently Tests Stealth Fighter – NYTimes.com.

Red Hat stays (relatively) put

There were rumors over the past few weeks that Linux pioneer Red Hat was shopping around for new office space, including digs in Massachusetts, Austin, and Atlanta, among others. Today, Governor Purdue announced that Red Hat would be staying in Wake County (though she didn’t say Raleigh, specifically).

A month ago when rumors started swirling I predicted Red Hat would stay, posting this on the WRAL story about the office search:

Red Hat would have a hard time finding anyplace with a better quality of life than it has right here. The company’s executives are savvy enough to know that.”

Sure enough, the first thing out of CEO Jim Whitehurst’s mouth when explaining Red Hat’s choosing to stay was this area’s quality of life. Now, Red Hat just needs to vacate the overpriced Centennial Campus space and hang their hat in downtown Raleigh and then they’ll be in business!

Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior

Here’s an insightful look at the marked differences between Chinese parenting and Western parenting.

In one study of 50 Western American mothers and 48 Chinese immigrant mothers, almost 70% of the Western mothers said either that "stressing academic success is not good for children" or that "parents need to foster the idea that learning is fun." By contrast, roughly 0% of the Chinese mothers felt the same way. Instead, the vast majority of the Chinese mothers said that they believe their children can be "the best" students, that "academic achievement reflects successful parenting," and that if children did not excel at school then there was "a problem" and parents "were not doing their job." Other studies indicate that compared to Western parents, Chinese parents spend approximately 10 times as long every day drilling academic activities with their children. By contrast, Western kids are more likely to participate in sports teams.

via Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior – WSJ.com.

Making Sense of SunSense

Photo by Gray Watson

I called up Southern Energy Management (SEM) yesterday to learn more about the incentives offered by the State of North Carolina and the new SunSense rebates offered by Progress Energy.

In what might be considered too much of a good thing, incentives abound with many agencies pitching in – so many that it gets confusing quickly. What’s easy to forget is that a photovoltaic installation is essentially a power plant. There are many variables, like which incentives apply, the size of the installation, what equipment to buy, how much of the power might be sold to the power company, and other things. It’s not as easy as just calling up the power company and having them drop a cable to your house. Fortunately, solar vendors like Southern Energy can help guide its customers through the process.
Continue reading →

The coming oil crisis

After thinking over yesterday’s announcement that Southwest is changing it’s Rapid Rewards frequent-flyer program, I was reminded of Southwest’s savvy negotiating of its oil contracts. Its keen ability to manage its fuel costs helped Southwest remain profitable through our last recession while its rivals collapsed into bankruptcy.

I also thought of last week’s analysis saying the surging worldwide demand for oil, driven by China’s voracious energy appetite, would likely result in nearly doubled gasoline prices by 2012. This is after gasoline prices doubled over the past two years. This week the average price of a gallon of gasoline on the East Coast is $3.07, whereas the price two years ago was $1.65 (and yes, I am fully aware that these prices will one day seem hilariously low).
Continue reading →

Ah, the price of fame

After making my list of highlights of my community service from the past year I have to mention a strange new phenomenon of late: lots of people now know me and I don’t always know them.

I’ve went down to the municipal building for something earlier this year and gave my name to one of the staffers I had just met. “Oh, so you’re Mark Turner! We’ve heard all about you,” came the cheerful reply. Some treat me like some kind of celebrity. Even cops. City staffers have told me they read my blog on a regular basis, too. It’s a little unnerving knowing that people are talking about me, even if it’s good stuff. (At least, I hope it is!)
Continue reading →

Highlights of 2010: helping out the community

It was a productive year for helping out in the community.

The biggest and most rewarding thing I did as the CAC chair was help organize the first East Raleigh Community Day event along with Ronneil Robinson, Raleigh Police, Raleigh Parks, WakeMed, and others. It was so much fun seeing everyone out and having a good time. I had a silly grin on my face all day long.

Part of the Community Day celebrations included the grand opening of the Police Department Field Office in the Raleigh Boulevard Food Lion shopping center. This was the result of an initiative I took two years ago to work with the city and the property owner to get it done. Now the shopping center is thriving, new businesses moving in, and the neighborhood has a nice local place to shop.
Continue reading →

Southwest Airlines screws the pooch

In a single, boneheaded move, Southwest Airlines just lost me as a loyal customer. The airline’s simple rewards program just got a lot more complicated.

Fans are hopping mad and are burying Southwest’s Facebook page with their comments. It’s sad, considering how much cheerleading I’ve done for them over the years.

The Baltimore Sun’s Consuming Interests blog has a good breakdown on what the changes mean.

Southwest Airlines Co. overhauled its frequent-flier program to add rewards with no black-out dates and redemptions for international flights on other carriers.

The first major revamp of the Rapid Rewards loyalty plan since it began in 1987 should add “several hundred million” dollars a year in revenue, Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said yesterday at a briefing at Southwest’s Dallas headquarters.

Southwest, the largest low-fare airline, spent almost $100 million on the project and aims to win new customers and deepen ties to existing business travelers, who generally pay higher prices. The carrier unveiled a related website for passengers today to explain the changes, which take effect March 1.

“If we get our fair share of frequent fliers, the opportunity is huge,” Kelly said. “We’re very confident this is a good investment.”

via Southwest Loyalty Program Gets First Revamp in 23 Years to Boost Traffic – Bloomberg.

25 years of compact discs

Photo by Arun Kulshreshtha

This past Christmas marks the 25th anniversary since I got my first compact disc player. I don’t remember exactly what brand it was. Maybe a Teac. [Update: It was a JVC.] It was the single-disc variety and didn’t do much error-correcting, if I recall. It lasted for years, though. I remember it still spinning discs into 1995 or so.

Word when they came out was that CDs would become as affordable as albums were (~ $10) once their manufacturing reached a certain scale. Like a lot of things the music industry says, it turned out to be lies. The suits in the industry chose to maintain the high prices of CDs even as their manufacturing costs dropped through the floor.
Continue reading →