Why Generation Y Yuppies Are Unhappy | Wait But Why

This Huffington Post repost of a Wait But Why post draws an unflattering picture of Generation Y:

Say hi to Lucy.

Lucy is part of Generation Y, the generation born between the late 1970s and the mid 1990s. She’s also part of a yuppie culture that makes up a large portion of Gen Y.

I have a term for yuppies in the Gen Y age group — I call them Gen Y Protagonists — Special Yuppies, or GYPSYs. A GYPSY is a unique brand of yuppie, one who thinks they are the main character of a very special story.

So Lucy’s enjoying her GYPSY life, and she’s very pleased to be Lucy. Only issue is this one thing:Lucy’s kind of unhappy.

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N&O switches to Facebook comments

The News and Observer switched to Facebook comments for its online stories today. I suppose that’s a good thing, since the previous comment system was frequently the target of spammers.

It will be interesting to see if the N&O follows through on its belief that if it’s worth saying, one should sign one’s name to it. Can we expect the newspaper to start putting names on its editorials?

We’ve always wanted our story forums to be places for robust, but civil, exchanges of opinion on the issues of the day. But too often, they become pits of mudslinging and abuse that scare off folks who want a rational conversation.

The biggest reason: Our systems have allowed readers to use screen names that hide their identities.

We believe that if you have something to say, you should be willing to put your name on it.

via Why we’ve changed how you comment on our site | Local/State | NewsObserver.com.

Latest Casualty Of NSA Spying Revelations: Web Advertising Based On Tracking Users

I’m so trendy.

As we’ve noted before, Edward Snowden’s revelations about the globe-spanning spying being conducted by the NSA are have all sorts of interesting knock-on consequences. Here’s another: people are starting to worry about being tracked by online advertisers, and taking action to avoid it,

via Latest Casualty Of NSA Spying Revelations: Web Advertising Based On Tracking Users | Techdirt.

Born on the Bayou

Now when I was just a little boy standin’ to my Daddy’s knee
My Poppa said “son don’t let the man get you do what he done to me
’cause he’ll get you ’cause he’ll get you now now.”

I can remember the fourth of July runnin’ through the backwood bare.
And I can still hear my old hound dog barkin’ chasin’ down a hoodoo there
Chasin’ down a hoodoo there.

Born on the bayou
Born on the bayou
Born on the bayou.
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Fourteen years

Wedding_Day

Today marks fourteen years from the day that I became the luckiest man in the world. On that beautiful September day, in front of family and friends, Kelly Swanson became Kelly Swanson Turner. Fourteen years later, she still amazes me with her grace. Recently, after we had each upped the ante on some joke, erupting into fits of laughter, I have to stop.

“You know,” I said, “there’s just not another woman like you.” I mean, I say that once I catch my breath again.

And it’s true. There’s only one Kelly Turner, and today I celebrate fourteen years of love and laughter.

NSA job rejection letter

My NSA job rejection letter

My NSA job rejection letter

I was reminded I had this scrap of paper today after reading week after week about the NSA. It’s a polite job rejection letter I got from the NSA in 2001, after I offered to dust off my security clearance and help catch some bad guys. I find it amusing now, now knowing just how far off the mission the NSA has wandered since then.

Hallie’s IMatterYouthNC video ad

Frank Eaton films Hallie

Frank Eaton films Hallie


Friday afternoon, we spent a few hours with Raleigh documentary filmmaker Frank Eaton at the N.C. State Arboretum. Frank volunteered to make an informational video for Hallie’s IMatter Youth NC climate-change march she’s organizing for Sept. 28th in Raleigh. Along with our friends the Maugers, we set up a shooting location among the greenery of the arboretum while Hallie recited her lines for the camera.

Frank is an expert videographer and a fun guy to be around. He really connected with the kids, too, making it a fun experience.

The video came out beautifully and Hallie’s climate change rally is quickly generating attention. We hope the momentum continues to build through 28th!

If you’d like to know more, check out the IMatter Youth NC website. And if you’d like to look good on camera, check out Frank’s Bully Documentary Company.

Dogs in parks

This month, the Raleigh Parks, Recreation, and Greenway Advisory Board (PRGAB) votes on a proposed ordinance prohibiting dogs from certain areas of parks. There are plenty of proponents and opponents for this new ordinance and it’s been difficult finding the right balance.

One of the PRGAB’s committees, the Greenways and Urban Trees Committee (GWUT), is recommending the ordinance be passed in its entirety. Dog owners have pleaded to continue being able to use athletic fields to exercise their dogs.

Everyone agrees that Raleigh has a shortage of dog parks. Until we can add more, I think it’s fair to make allowances for dog owners who have no other place to go. Therefore, rather than recommend restricting dogs from certain areas of all city parks, I will recommend the board allow for staff to allow dogs on fields where posted signs specifically allow it. As the city phases in more dog parks, we can move dogs to those parks and off athletic fields.

Incidentally, I had forgotten the extent of the role I played in bringing this about. A friend in the Oakwood neighborhood had a frightening encounter with an unleashed dog in Oakwood mini-park in April 2012 and it was I who brought it to the attention of Parks staff, who promptly added it to our work plan:
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N&O still miffed about closed sessions

I sure do wish the News and Observer would let the Raleigh City Council do its due diligence in hiring a city manager. Saturday’s front-page teaser about a closed session last week made me mad:

nando-front-page-council-blurb-2013-09-07

McFarlane holds closed City Council session

Raleigh Mayor Nancy McFarlane presides over a non-public session that raises questions about compliance with the state’s open meetings law.

Um, no it doesn’t. It pertained to the city manager hiring process and the mayor was correct in calling for a closed session.

I’ll say it again: making job candidates public puts them in a precarious position with their current employers. Raleigh has had dozens of candidates respond to the city manager listing. Each of them might be fired from their current job if word got out that they were looking.

I’ll say another thing again: if the media expects city officials to respect the parts of Open Meetings that benefit them, they must also respect the parts of Open Meetings which allows city officials to conduct their personnel procedures in private.

Hiring a city manager is the most important decision a city council can make. The city manager is only one of two direct reports to the council. Why can’t the News and Observer leave the city council alone and let them pursue the best person for the job?