What Caught My Eye Today - Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Arctic, Potpourri

Turkey - Kurds in Turkey are now allowed to use the letters Q, W and X - not found in Turkish - to spell their names. Interestingly, there are more than a handful of both boy and girl Kurdish names that start with one of these letter, to say nothing about the number of names that contain one of these letters (click here to see what I mean). The change is part of a package of reforms announced by the Turkish government that gives more rights to Kurds, including the right to use Kurdish spellings of their names and towns on official documents. The Islamist-leaning government also lifted a decades-long ban on women's headscarves in public offices, in what is seen as a step away from Turkey's rigorous separation of mosque and state. I find it curious that a movement by the government to provide more personal freedoms is seen by some as blurring the lines between church and state, or in this case mosque and state. On a completely different note, what do you think are the chances that the Turkish government's decision to allow these letters to be used will inspire the Hawaiian language to to expand beyond its current use of 5 vowels and 8 consonants?

Saudi Arabia - I've read this story multiple times and still cannot get my head around these guys were thinking. Saudi religious authorities are resorting to scare tactics to deter women for participating in a driving protest. Feminists are calling on Saudi women to defy the country's ban on women driving cars by getting behind the wheel on October 26. In addition to shutting down the campaign's website and Facebook page, religious officials are warning that driving hurts women's child bearing prospects. Prominent clerics say that driving "affects the ovaries and pushes the pelvis upward resulting in children with clinical problems of varying degrees."  Saudi women must shroud their faces and bodies entirely in public and many not travel without a male companion. When I think of scare tactics, the first thing that comes to mind is violence. In fact, none of the things that I can think of come remotely close to the absurdity of what these officials are saying. One questions the logic of such a ploy. Think about it. The women who are likely to participate in this protest are probably somewhat progressive thinking. I doubt such nonsense, even if it comes from "prominent clerics," will have any significant influence on these women.

Arctic - The Northwest Passage is open for trade.  Carrying a heavy load of coal the Nordic Orion became the first large cargo vessel to transport goods through the Arctic from Vancouver to Finland. The ship can carry 25% more coal on the Arctic route than it could if it had to pass through the shallow Panama Canal, and the route - more than 1,000 nautical miles shorter - saves 4 days. Global warming has made the passage possible. Cause for celebration? I find it ironic that the example cited, involves one of the materials most responsible for global warming in the first place.

Potpourri

• Life Expectancy - According to the Department of Health and Human Services, over the last 30 years, the difference in life expectancy between the poorest and richest 10% of Americans has grown. The richest 10% live more than 4.5 years longer than the poorest 10%. Lovely. Not only is the wealth gap getting wider, but now those greedy bastards have even more time to rub our noses in it.
• Fast Food - McDonald's posted its slowest ever drive-through times, an average of 189.5 seconds, more than 9 seconds longer than the industry average. The slowdown is attributed to increasingly complex recipes for fast food. Mind you, that complex doesn't necessarily mean the food tastes better, and it certainly doesn't mean that the food will be any healthier. On the contrary. My guess is that it takes longer to pack all those extra calories into the food.
• Profit - Computer maker Apple's 2012 profits outpaced the combined net profits of Coca-Cola, Google and IBM.  The company's cash reserves of $147 billion accounts for 10% of all non-financial corporate cash in the United States. I wonder what the life expectancy for Apple executives is?