Day: July 1, 2009

Lincoln’s virtues

“I defy anyone to read just the last two chapters of ‘President Lincoln’—a passionate exegesis of the Second Inaugural Address and a straighforward sampling of the national and (surprisingly) global grief that followed the assassination—without tears. (Of course, it helps to have read the preceding nine hundred pages, as a reminder of the profundity of the loss.)”

Hendrik Hertzberg referring to Lincoln’s Virtues: An Ethical Biography and President Lincoln: The Duty of a Statesman, both by William Lee Miller.

We’re 34th

New Census estimates for cities are out today.

Albuquerque had an estimated 521,999 residents as of last July 1st. That makes this the 34th largest U.S. city (by population).

Albuquerque grew by 6,603 people compared to a year earlier (up 1.28%). 26.3% of all New Mexicans live inside the city limits of Albuquerque.

Only three other cities in New Mexico have more than 50,000 residents:

Las Cruces 91,865
Rio Rancho 79,655
Santa Fe 71,831

Crazy is as crazy does

[Rep. Michelle] Bachmann [R-Looney Bin] talked to Sean Hannity on Fox News last night about her anti-census crusade, and returned to one of her favorite arguments: “Sean, you know the one question they don’t ask? They [don’t] ask, ‘are you an American citizen?’ … [T]hey could at least ask if we’re an American citizen? They don’t bother to ask for that. That’s why I think people need to read this census for themselves. If you go to my website, michelebachmann, you can read it.”

Good idea. If you take Bachmann’s advice, visit her website, and read the census, you find the American Community Survey put together by the Census Bureau. Question #7 reads: “Where was this person born?” Question #8 reads, “Is this person a citizen of the United States?”

The Washington Monthly

10 more citizenship questions

1. The idea of self-government is in the first three words of the Constitution. What are these words?

2. How many amendments does the Constitution have?

3. The House of Representatives has how many voting members?

4. If both the President and the Vice President can no longer serve, who becomes President?

5. When was the Constitution written?

6. Who was President during World War I?

7. Before he was President, Eisenhower was a general. What war was he in?

8. Name one American Indian tribe in the United States.

9. Name one of the two longest rivers in the United States.

10. Name one U.S. territory.

Glastonbury 2009

Over the weekend, approximately 190,000 people made their way to Worthy Farm in western England to attend the 2009 Glastonbury Festival. Attendees came to see performances at what is billed as “Europe’s largest open-air music festival” on many stages over four days – headliners included Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, and a reunited Blur. Rainy weather did little to dampen the mood, as attendees enjoyed themselves in tent cities, concert performances, dance tents, and the surrounding countryside of Somerset, England. Collected here are a handful of images from this year’s festival. (33 photos total)

The Big Picture – Boston.com

We are an interesting lot, us humans.

We should start the holiday now

July 1st is the birthday

… of Olivia de Havilland, 93 today. Miss de Havilland was nominated for an acting Oscar five times, winning for To Each His Own and The Heiress. She lost the best supporting actress Oscar for Gone With the Wind to Hattie McDaniel.

… of Cpl. Klinger. Jamie Farr is 75.

… of Famous Amos. Wally Amos is 73.

… of hockey great Rod Gilbert, 68.

… of Twyla Tharp. The choreographer is 68.

… of one-time Oscar nominee for best actress Geneviève Bujold. She’s 67. The nomination was for Anne of the Thousand Days.

… of Deborah Harry of Blondie. She’s 64.

… of Louis Winthorpe III. Canadian-born Dan Aykroyd is 57. Aykroyd was nominated for the best supporting actor Oscar for Driving Miss Daisy.

… of Olympic gold medalist Carl Lewis, 48.

… of Pamela Anderson, 42.

… of Arwen. Liv Tyler is 32.

Diana, Princess of Wales, should have been 48 today.

Today is Canada Day, a holiday celebrating its independence from Britain on this date in 1867. The holiday was called Dominion Day until 1982 (in Quebec Le Jour de la Confédération). Three British colonies were joined to form Canada — Canada (which included Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

F as in Fat

Mississippi had the highest rate of adult obesity at 32.5 percent, making it the fifth year in a row that the state topped the list. Four states now have rates above 30 percent, including Mississippi, West Virginia (31.2 percent), Alabama (31.1 percent) and Tennessee (30.2 percent). Eight of the 10 states with the highest percentage of obese adults are in the South. Colorado continued to have the lowest percentage of obese adults at 18.9 percent.

Mississippi also had the highest rate of obese and overweight children (ages 10 to 17) at 44.4 percent. Minnesota and Utah had the lowest rate at 23.1 percent. Eight of the 10 states with the highest rates of obese and overweight children are in the South. Childhood obesity rates have more than tripled since 1980.

The Trust for America’s Health has much more.

Could you become a citizen?

Ten questions from the 100 on the U.S. citizenship test. You must score sixty percent or better to pass.

1. What is the supreme law of the land?

2. What do we call the first 10 amendments to the Constitution?

3. What are the two parts of the U.S. Congress?

4. How many justices are on the Supreme Court?

5. Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

6. What ocean is on the East Coast of the United States?

7. What are the two major political parties in the United States?

8. We elect a U.S. senator for how many years?

9. Who was the first president?

10. Who is in charge of the executive branch?

Answers in first comment.

People don’t believe me

… when I tell them about the New Mexico whiptail, so I thought I’d publish this again. (It first appeared here in 2005; the citation has been updated.)

How come having a New Mexico whiptail lizard in the utility sink in the garage is so much more pleasant than say finding a tarantula or mouse there would be? I scooped her (and they are all females) into a coffee can and released her outside.

[T]he New Mexico Whiptail, as well as several other all-female species of whiptail lizard, does reproduce, and all of its offspring are female. Moreover, it reproduces by parthenogenesis — its eggs require no fertilization, and its offspring are exact and complete genetic duplicates of the mother.

Scientists understand only partially how this reproductive mode developed, and it raises many questions. One of the most intriguing is how this cloning affects the lizard’s ability to adapt to environmental changes. Since there is no genetic variation except that which occurs through mutation, the New Mexico Whiptail cannot evolve as other species do.

American Museum of Natural History

The New Mexico whiptail (Cnemidophorus neomexicanus) is the official reptile of New Mexico.

Bad day to drive

I read several years ago that traffic fatalities were not particularly more significant on holiday weekends than any other days. Safety advocates just had us all thinking they were with their public service advertising campaigns and police check points.

A new study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety confirms this. For the period 1986 through 2002 there were an average of 117 traffic fatalities a day in the United States. And, while July 4 was the worst day of the year with an average of 161 fatalities, 158 people were killed on any given Saturday. July 4 is the only date in the year less safe than any given Saturday.

The worst dates:
July 4 — 161
July 3 — 149
December 23 — 145
August 3 — 142
January 1 — 142

Days of the week:
Sunday — 132
Monday — 96
Tuesday — 95
Wednesday — 98
Thursday — 105
Friday — 133
Saturday — 158

This year, July 4th, the worst day of the year, is on Saturday, the worst day of the week. Be careful out there.