Population Charts

Cartograms show the size of geographic areas in proportion to certain statistical measures. Above, a cartogram of world population.

Fascinating cartograms of world statistics here.

Cartograms of US electoral results here.

Sustainable Livin'

Had the idea to create this nifty magazine holder out of cardboard the other day. I sketched it out while on the bus, drew the template onto a large cardboard sheet (from our new screen door) and cut it out with a box cutter. Works great! Re-using existing resources makes it even more cool.

On the same note, we have created a vegetable garden! In the course of 24 hours we purchased compost and 12 plants, tilled a flower bed (shovel and elbow grease only) and planted tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, cucumbers, and squash. We're looking forward to the results. It seems to us that food will continue to become more expensive as oil/gas prices continue to rise and that being able to grow one's own food is valuable skill. I even pondered the possibility of starting a farm.

(soil preparation)

(planted vegetables!)

One last note - these snack bars are great! Larabars contain only 3-7 ingredients such as dates, almonds, figs, cinnamon, and pecans. They come in 15+ flavors. Minimally processed (they say "unprocessed"), I find them outstanding.

(pecan pie and lemon bar are shown here)

The Real South Will Rise Again

The South has a stereotypical reputation for being racist, trailer-dwelling, uneducated, and slow-witted. Many reasons could probably be cited for these assertions, some based in fact (South Carolina leads the country in % of population living in trailers, Mississipi brings in the lowest % of population with advanced degrees). I can't back it up, but I am confident that the dual economy which existed during the inhumane slavery era (one being progressive and increasingly industrialized, the other being agriculturally-based) and the subsequent collapse of slavery (proper though it was) led to the economic disparity we now see between North and South.

The Real South will rise again - the people of the South are more than these unfortunate stereotypes. They are valuable and strong but sadly overlooked.

The above chart shows that almost all Southern states (including all 3 deep South states of Louisiana, Mississipi, and Alabama) rank in the top 13 in terms of percentage of population living below poverty. Contrast this to the top group:

Virginia stands out as the lone Southern exception, but my guess is that the gaggle of well-paid DC suburbanites looking to avoid the minority throngs of DC streets (see note below) skews its percentage.

A note about Washington DC: Ranks #1 in percent of population with advanced degrees and #2 in highest percent of people living below poverty. Something to ponder. A glut of highly educated kids just out of school trying to make it in government? I'd instead bet that the suit-and-tie folks of the DC professional set are rubbing elbows with the downtrodden minority population being overlooked by the nearby officials and institutions that promise to care for them. DC blows away its nearest competitor (Mississippi) with a whopping 55% of its population being African American. This all says much more about racism and the direct aftereffects of slavery than it does about the subtler economic effects of slavery's collapse, but it's worth noting.

For a more detailed breakdown of poverty data: http://www.censusscope.org/us/map_poverty.html

For more state ranking data: http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/GRTSelectServlet?ds_name=ACS_2006_EST_G00_&_lang=en_sse=on

I welcome comments, as usual.

Dubai's Growth Engine

 

Migrant workers in Dubai living 6 to a room (room pictured).  American Public Media's Marketplace (marketplace.publicradio.org) did a series last week on the exploding city-state Dubai, which is part of the United Arab Emirates.  I posted a slideshow from the website showing the fantastic buildings and development taking place there.  In this slideshow (http://marketplace.publicradio.org/standard/display/slideshow.php?ftrv_id=65105&slide=1) you can see who made those buildings happen.  It makes one wonder - what kind of conditions/situations did these people leave to take this opportunity? 

 

A Crude Awakening

This movie looks excellent. Someone in my office today spoke at a lunch about peak oil and how experts are projecting us to run out of oil sometime between now and 2030. When peak oil hits, the price of oil will begin to skyrocket as production slows and demand continues to grow exponentially. Oil production won't end immediately, but the prices will make so many things more expensive to do. How will we move around, make stuff, harvest food, build buildings, etc. by using oil costing $200+ a gallon? We'll have to get around with less oil/gas and buy less stuff. We might not be so concerned with everything looking so pretty, nice smelling, or convenient (e.g., disposable goods). Are you ready? It's coming.

Scenes of Dubai: A Desert Urban Explosion

These photos must be seen.  Absolutely amazing.  According to the radio program, gasoline runs 70 cents per gallon in Dubai.  It looks like a cross between Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Manhattan.  The wealth is mindblowing. 

 

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/middleeast/ss/dubai_aerial/

Where Hitler Went to Retire

 

According to Yahoo, this is an aerial shot of a retirement home in Decatur, AL.  Ridiculous.  The designers should be stripped of their professional designations.  My guess is that heads will roll on this one now that a Jewish activist has complained to the government agency which funds the home. 

Bat Speed

 

Okay, so you may not play softball like I do or follow baseball and therefore may not care about bat speed.  However, I found this web page (http://www.batspeed.com/research10.html) explaining some of the physical principles of powerful hitting very interesting.  Plan to test them out in my game tonight.  The image above shows the forces exerted by average hitters.  The second frame shows forces exerted by great hitters.  Great hitters don't just move the bat in a straight line through the hitting plane; they also use their hands to enact a dual pendulum effect on the bat.  Read the site for more info.

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo!

 

It took me about 15 minutes of focused thinking to understand that the sentence "Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo" is actually a grammatically correct sentence.  I don't think it even requires punctuation.

 

For more, visit mentalfloss.com (http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/13120).

Founder v. Flounder

 

From bartleby.com (http://www.bartleby.com/64/C003/0135.html)

 

People often confuse the verbs founder and flounder. Founder comes from a Latin word meaning “bottom” (as in foundation) and originally referred to knocking enemies down; people now use it also to mean “to fail utterly, collapse”: The business started well but foundered. Flounder means “to move clumsily, thrash about” and hence “to proceed in confusion.” Thus if John is foundering in Chemistry 1, he had better drop the course; if he is floundering, he may yet pull through.

Excellent Article on Race and Gender

Highly readable and informative article on the power of gender bias over race bias: http://boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2008/02/17/black_man_vs_white_woman/