My favorite North American mountain ranges

Sutter Buttes – Source: sacredland.org

A minimum of 2,000 foot elevation was required for consideration. Some of these listed below are part of larger mountain ranges. Enjoy!

• Cascade Range (California, Oregon, Washington and British Columbia)
• Blue Ridge (North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania)
• Grand Tetons (Wyoming)
• Big Horn Mountains (Wyoming)
• Sutter Buttes (North Central California near Yuba City- known as the world’s smallest mountain range)
• Black Hills (Western USA and Canada)
• Canadian Rockies (Alberta and British Columbia)
• Sierra Nevada (California and Nevada)
• Wrangell Mountains (Alaska)
• Sierra Madre Oriental (Mexico)
• Appalachian Mountains (USA Eastern States)
• Pacific Coast Ranges (California, Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia)
• Great Smoky (Tennessee and North Carolina)
• Adirondacks (New York)
• White (New Hampshire)
• Ozarks (Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma)

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Images of Crater Lake National Park – Oregon

Phantom Ship

Phantom Ship in the foreground and Mt. Thielson in the background

Crater Lake Lodge

Vidae Falls

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“This land is your land” – a 2012 eco-version

Source: mallmemories.com

Saturday, July 14th will be the 100th anniversary of Woody Guthrie’s birth. To honor him and express this eco-bicyclist”s concern beyond those expressed his original lyrics, here is a modified version of Woody Guthrie’s classic folk song This Land is Your Land. The original lyrics written by Mr. Guthrie may be seen through this weblink.

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This land is your land, this land is my land

From Car-lifornia to Wall Street canyons

From clear-cut forests to oil-stained waters

This wasteland was allowed by you and me

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As I was pedaling – a crowded highway

I saw above me – a concrete skyway

I saw below me – more golden arches

This wasteland was made by you and me

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Chorus

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I’ve roamed on cell towers  – and taken exits

To sprawling cities - paved over deserts

And all around me – neon signs were shouting

This wasteland was made by you and me

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Chorus

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The sun dawns hazy - as I was rolling

Weeds were waving  – and dust was falling

As the smog now settles - voices start shouting

This wasteland was made by you and me

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Chorus

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As I tried walking – no sidewalks for me

As I tried biking – drivers scowl right at me

Few remaining places - of peace and safety

Those are the ones for you and me

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Chorus

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Throughout  our cities – empty seas of asphalt

Are clearly saying – whose really’s at fault

And some are grumblin’ – and some are wonderin’

Why this wasteland was allowed by you and me?

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Chorus x 2

(Lyrics based on original song by Woody Guthrie)

Happy 100th Birthday, Woody!

Source: en.wikipedia.org

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Mapping costly climatic disasters in the USA

Here is a fascinating map depicting those areas of the United States with the most and least billion dollar disasters since 1980.  If you want to avoid destructive weather and climate related disasters, the south is not the place to be. On the other hand, Hawaii, Alaska, Wyoming, Michigan, New England, and Puerto Rico appear to be the safest. Sadly, with the recent glut of monstrous wildfires, Colorado may no longer be among the safer places.

Source: blog.cleanenergy.org

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Diploma versus dunce cap states

The 2010 data below shows the ten states with the highest percentage of residents who have a bachelor degree or higher, followed by the ten states who have lowest percentage of residents with at least a bachelor’s degree. With the exception of Colorado, all of the states with the best percentages are located in the Northeast, while eight of the 10 states with the lowest percentage are situated in the South.

Source: AARP Bulletin, June 2012.

Top 10 diploma states

1. District of Columbia – 50.1
2. Massachusetts – 39.0
3. Colorado – 36.5
4. Maryland – 36.1
5. Connecticut – 35.5
6. New Jersey – 35.4
7. Virginia – 34.2
8. Vermont – 33.6
9. New Hampshire – 32.8
10. New York – 32.5

Top 10 dunce cap states

1. West Virginia – 17.5
2. Arkansas – 19.5
3. Mississippi – 19.5
4. Kentucky – 20.5
5. Louisiana – 21.4
6. Nevada – 21.7
7. Alabama – 21.9
8. Indiana – 22.7
9. Oklahoma – 22.9
10. Tennessee – 23.1

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Indiana votes to give itself the chaff

My home state of Indiana continues to confound me. Incumbent U.S. Senator Richard Lugar was defeated yesterday in the Republican primary. While I am in no way a Republican and do not agree with him on many issues, I respect and admire Richard Lugar. Why, you might ask?

Because he is a good person and has his heart generally in the right place most of the time. Unlike hollow Tea Party and neo-conservative politicians whose only goal is self-serving, vain, uncompromising rigidness, Mr. Lugar was willing to cross the aisle to find common ground. That is an admirable quality that should be respected and revered not chastised and ridiculed. It is what civics and civility are all about, folks!

I will tell you another reason I admire Richard Lugar. When he was Mayor of Indianapolis, I was in high school. He was kind enough to meet with me in his office on a Saturday morning for several hours to answer questions for my Government class term paper. Not every politician is so gracious and kind. That is what sets him apart from the chaff.

A leader seeks solutions and will resolve disputes through discussion and compromise. A coward imposes their uncompromising will on others because their arguments are too weak to be convincing. Where Richard Lugar was the wheat, I am afraid what voters in Indiana did yesterday was to give themselves the chaff.

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Reasons why English Premier League outshines the NFL

Below are my primary reasons why the English Premier League far outshines the NFL. By the way, with my father’s ancestors came to America in the mid-19th Century from Greater Manchester (Stockport and Aston-under-Lyne). Personally I am a Manchester City fan, but it is hard to deny the historical significance and importance of Old Trafford and Man U.

Suspense – some uninitiated people may say soccer is boring. Pish-posh! The suspense at a soccer match builds up throughout the match until a team scores. This is particularly dramatic in the latter stages of a match or in a tightly contested game.

No commercials – EPL has none other than prior to the match, halftime, and afterwards. The NFL has become an elongated advertisement with some occasional football plays in between to break up the monotony. College football is better than the NFL, but even there the number of commercials can be a bit much.

Celebrations – the No Fun League has taken far too much of the fun and spontaneity out of the game.

Endurance – NFL players are winded after only a few plays, while soccer players are running nearly constantly for 90 minutes.

Fortitude – There is no doubt that NFL players endure a lot and head injuries are particularly important to guard against. But, they endure nothing quite like the impacts, slide-tackles, and other mistreatment that unprotected soccer players receive during a match. In many cases, soccer players play through the pain, while NFL players are sidelined even for minor of injuries.

Skills – some of the ball skills of soccer players are just amazing.

Rowdy stands – the crowds at English Premier League matches always seem to be having a jolly good time, despite the weather or the score. In addition, an English soccer crowd is devoutly loyal to their hometown team no matter their ranking. However, I should note that rowdy fun is fine, destructive and mean behavior is not.

Tradition – I believe this to be self-explanatory, but the fight songs, many of the historic venues, the history of the game itself, the rivalries, and the overall atmosphere all combine to ooze great and long-standing traditions.

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BEER – my current favorite brewski’s (UPDATED)

I enjoy a great tasting and refreshing beer and especially like finding new ones. My own taste buds tend to prefer traditional lagers, pilsners, reds, and wheat beers. I will drink pale ales and India Pale Ales, but prefer beers with a less “hoppy” taste. Here is my current list of my favorite beers:

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Lagers (regular and/or light)

• Yuengling’s Traditional and Light – (Pottsville, PA)
• Heineken – (Netherlands)
• Amstel Light  - (Amsterdam, Netherlands)
• Labatt - (London, ON, Canada)

Pale Ale

• Duvel - (Belgium)

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Pilsner

• Penn Pilsner – Penn Brewery (Pittsburgh, PA)

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Red Ale  

• Steelhead Red - Grizzly Peak Brewing (Ann Arbor, MI)
• Riptide – Casco Bay Brewing (Portland, ME)
• Firehouse Red – North Country Brewing (Slippery Rock, PA)
• Red Ale – Rock Bottom Brewing Co. (Indianapolis, IN)

Wheat

• Celis White – Michigan Brewing (Greater Lansing-Webberville, MI)
• Oberon Ale – Bell’s Brewery (Kalamazoo-Galesburg, MI)
• Highway 22 Wheat – Marzoni’s Brick Oven & Brewing (Altoona-Duncansville, PA)
• Winter White – Bell’s Brewery (Kalamazoo-Galesburg, MI)
• Sunset Wheat – Leikenkugel’s Brewery (Chippewa Falls, WI

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My favorite stadiums

Last night I watched a very interesting and entertaining program on PBS about the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park in Boston. I highly recommend the special.

The show got me to thinking about what my favorite stadiums are (or were) and what was likeable about them. I certainly cannot claim to have visited or seen very many, but here’s my list of the one’s that impressed me the most, primarily from their outward aesthetic appearance, location, and compatibility/context sensitivity with the surrounding neighborhoods. This list includes stadiums used for American football, soccer, cricket, rugby, and baseball. Also, here is a weblink to a cool website called world stadiums.

• Wrigley Field – (Chicago) – when you are a diehard Cubs fan, this place is heaven.
• Stamford Bridge (Chelsea -London, England) – you hardly know it is there until you walk up to it.
• Old Trafford Cricket Ground (Manchester, England) – very nice and quaint – tea anyone?
• Oldsmobile Park (Lansing) – excellent center city baseball stadium, though I prefer this name to its new one – Cooley Law School Stadium
• Michigan Stadium (Ann Arbor) – sunken bowl, except the press box and suites.
• Fenway Park (Boston) – two words – Green Monster – nuff said
• Spartan Stadium (East Lansing)
• Lambeau Field (Green Bay)
• Old Trafford (Manchester, England)
• Orioles Park at Camden Yards (Baltimore)
• Comerica Park (Detroit)
• Ford Field (Detroit)
• Murrayfield Stadium (Edinburgh, Scotland)
• Louisville Slugger Stadium (Louisville)
• Victory Field (Indianapolis)
• Easter Road (Edinburgh, Scotland)
• Crew Stadium (Columbus, OH)
• Ross Ade Stadium (Purdue-West Lafayette)
• PNC Ball Park (Pittsburgh)
• Notre Dame Stadium (South Bend)
• People Natural Gas Field (Altoona, PA) – the name alone deserves recognition as an unintended bad pun. A very nice facility though.
• Lane Stadium (Virginia Tech-Blacksburg)
• Municipal Stadium (Hagerstown, MD) – small but loads of fun for baseball fans
• Soldier Field (Chicago)
• Lucas Oil Stadium (Indianapolis)
• Canad Inns Stadium (Winnipeg)
• RCA (Hoosier) Dome (Indianapolis) – no longer with us
• Heinz Field (Pittsburgh)
• Kauffman Stadium (Kansas City, MO)
• Memorial Stadium (IU- Bloomington) – should have been named “lean forward stadium” the way the upper seats make you feel like you could fall onto the field.

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Write in “none of the above” in the GOP primary

Tomorrow is primary day in Michigan. To this progressive, all of the GOP candidates are a very sorry lot. Mitt turned his back on his home state two years ago and needs to be resoundingly reminded of that fact. Santorum is just plain scary. If I were a woman, I would emigrate to Canada and fast, if he is elected. Newt is….well, Newt. He is way too full of himself and his smile always reminds me of the sneaky and snotty Cheshire cat from “Alice in Wonderland.” Lastly, Ron Paul. I simply cannot agree with (or comprehend) his ultra-libertarianism.

So, my biased suggestion would be to skip the primary altogether or write-in “none of the above.” Perhaps, if enough people do that, the GOP might wake up from its 19th century delusion. Yes, I know that is wishful thinking, but someone’s got to do it.

Q: How many GOP candidates does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

A: None, for they are still stuck in the Dark Ages.

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