“See ya Red States,” and a paean to Texas

October 16, 2008

You’ve seen it before — the letter saying toodle-oo to the red states, as the blue states muster the courage to let them go.  Somebody passed it along, I forwarded it to a few people I thought hadn’t seen it.

A discussion broke out.  Part of the discussion centered on Texas’s second secession from the U.S., and how nasty things can be in Texas (“It’s not the heat and humidity; it’s the hate and stupidity”).

A couple of exchanges in, I started to wince.  God knows Texas has its problems.  I haven’t even started in on the latest three months of lunacy at the State Board of Education where Creationist-in-Chief Don McLeroy is loosening his belt to drop his pants (figuratively, of course) and moon every kid in Texas before he eviscerates science education.

But — you know? — Texas has a couple of things going for it, reasons to smile while you’re stuck here.

Below the fold, the “So long, Red States” letter — but before that, a modest defense of Texas, as I wrote back:

I do regret that [y’all have] had such a difficult and unhappy time in Texas.  Texas is far from my ideal place, especially for the weather and lack of mountains (I appear to be losing the retirement fight – I wanted Jackson Hole, Kathryn wants Kanab.  Red rock wins with the family.)

And Yellowstone is a part of my soul, especially after we (probably illegally) scattered my brother’s ashes there in the last great family reunion before this past summer.

But, you know, Texas has some fine points that shouldn’t get overlooked. Especially, it doesn’t deserve to get every redneck.

Here are some of the great things about Texas:

It’s been a rather miserable 21 years in Texas for us, for a lot of reasons.  There are good things and good people in Texas.  It ain’t all gloomy.

Wildflowers not only do blossom where they grow:  They must blossom there.

Which reminds me, there are a dozen other wildflowers better than bluebonnets, and we haven’t even started on the magnificent grasses like big bluestem, little bluestem and side-oats grama.

(More humor below the fold.)

Read the rest of this entry »

2 Comments | Botany, Education, Fiesta de Tejas!, Geography - Economic, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, History, Humor, Molly Ivins' Ghost, Museums, Politics, Science, Texas, Texas history, Texas Music, Travel | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Chuck Yeager/BOOM! Day

October 14, 2008

I won’t let the whole day go by without a nod to one of my heroes, Chuck Yeager.  On October 14, 1947, Yeager pushed the Bell X-1 just a little faster than the flight plan called for, and broke the sound barrier, over Edwards Air Force Base, California.

Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager, recipient of the Congressional Silver Medal of Honor. MedalofHonor.com

Chuck Yeager and a modern aircraft -- yes, he's flown it, too.

 

Last year, belatedly, I got around to posting on the flight, and on Yeager, and on the deeper meaning of flight records and the space race on the psyche of America in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.  More details and sources there.  It’s a year later, Yeager is 85, but the story still gets me the same way.  Just over a year ago, Yeager flew in a fighter and broke the sound barrier again, one of the oldest people ever to do that.

You could fly your flag in his honor.  If there’s a stiff breeze when you do, the ends of the flag will snap in the wind — they break the sound barrier, and you hear the report.  Wonderfully appropriate, don’t you think?

Here’s a salute to you, Chuck Yeager!

1 Comment | Airplanes, History, Invention, Science, Space Race, Technology, Travel | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Railroad maps!

September 30, 2008

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, 1899 - from the Library of Congress

Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad, 1899 - from the Library of Congress

American Memory at the Library of Congress features dozens of historic railroad maps of U.S. railroads.

This is a great collection for U.S. history presentations on development of the railroads, or on settlement of the west, in particular.

The Railroad maps represent an important historical record, illustrating the growth of travel and settlement as well as the development of industry and agriculture in the United States. They depict the development of cartographic style and technique, highlighting the achievement of early railroaders. Included in the collection are progress report surveys for individual lines, official government surveys, promotional maps, maps showing land grants and rights-of-way, and route guides published by commercial firms.

Heck, if nothing else, these make great backgrounds for PowerPoint presentations.

Bookmark the site — kids working on projects specific to a state or region should have a field day with these things.

2 Comments | Education, Geography - Economic, Geography - Political, Historic documents, History, History and art, History images, Maps, Railroads, Transportation, Travel | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Lookin’ good, for 4.28 billion years old

September 25, 2008

New candidate for “oldest rocks on Earth,” from Canada.  They come in perhaps as old as 4.28 billion years.

They’re older than John McCain!

1 Comment | Bell Ringers, Creationism, Evolution, Geography - Physical, geology, History, Science, Travel | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Yeah, I wondered the same thing

September 20, 2008

“Bong Recreation Area?”  In Wisconsin?

Sign pointing to Bong Recreation Area, in Wisconsin. Named after Richard Bong, the pilot.

Sign pointing to Bong Recreation Area, in Wisconsin. Named after Maj. Richard Bong, the pilot.

The Walrus covered it pretty well, three years ago. It’s not what you feared, or hoped.

It’s a recreation area made from a closed U.S. Air Force Base.  Maj. Richard Bong, a native of Wisconsin, was the top fighter ace for the U.S. in World War II.  He is a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor.

1 Comment | Congressional Medal of Honor, Geography - Political, Humor, Travel, World War II | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Technology that doesn’t work – yet, or well

September 20, 2008

Episode One:  Finding a Toyota Dealer with misdirection from Verizon Wireless

We dropped the rental car off at O’Hare, and immediately I noticed the blower in our Toyota Camry wasn’t performing (2002, 128,000 miles, thank you).  We tried to live with it, but as the coolness of Wisconsin gave way to 80 degrees in Chicago, we thought we’d better get it fixed.

I’ve been faithful to Verizon Wireless, hoping to boost their stock and hoping that will benefit me as a former employee (but nothing yet).  I called their 411 service to find a Toyota dealer in Bloomington, Illinois, so we could get a quick check up on the blower motor, or whatever.  I should have been alert when the area code they gave me was 708, but I didn’t catch it.  The dealer was on Joliet Road.  I called them for directions, and they seemed perplexed, but gave me directions.  We steamed to Bloomington.  Literally.

Our atlas maps didn’t show Joliet Road in Bloomington.  We called for further directions, exit number, and landmarks.  When we entered the Bloomington area, we just couldn’t find it.

Did you know you can drive from Texas to Milwaukee and eat at Panera Bread outlets almost the entire distance on I-35?  We got lunch at Panera, gassed up the car, and then I had a fascinating conversation with a woman at the BP station, trying to get directions to Joliet Road.  She said she’d never heard of it.  We checked the maps.  No luck.  No listing in the index.  Then I had the good sense to ask what the area code of Bloomington is – it’s not 708.

Armed with the new information, we found Dennison Toyota in Bloomington (great place – see forthcoming post).  Joliet Road is near Chicago.  The dealer Verizon Wireless linked us to was miles behind us.

Technology 0, Humans 1.

Episode 2:  Walgreen’s automated prescription service

Kathryn came down with a doozy of the cold while fighting the remnants of Tropical Depression Ike, and when I spoke with her on Tuesday, she sounded nearly dead.  I feared sinus infection, but she refused to treat it like that.  So I flew up to help her drive back on time.

Wednesday afternoon, I started to get symptoms of a cold.  Since my sinus misfortunes while flying with American Airlines in a past life, most of the the time when I get a cold, I get a roaring sinus infection.  I call the physician with symptoms, he prescribes antibiotics.  Only once in the past ten years have we disagreed.

By Friday morning it was clear my work to keep the cold from becoming an infection had failed (I’ll spare you the specific clinical description).  From Wisconsin, I checked with my local Walgreen’s in Texas about picking up a prescription on the road.  Then I called the physician.  It was 1:00 p.m. before we got all the ducks lined up, and Springfield, Illinois, was the next major city.  I had to rely on Verizon Wireless again, but they at least got me to a Walgreen’s.

Walgreen’s’* people were most helpful.  I took the first available listing.  That store referred me to one just off the freeway.  Alas, my prescription had not yet shown up on the computer.  We had almost two hours to Springfield . . .

I confirmed the physician had phoned in the prescrip.  Then I checked with my local drugstore.  It didn’t show on their system.  We passed Springfield, Illinois, and focused on St. Louis.  Again, Walgreen’s’ people came through.  But the prescrip still didn’t show on the national computerized system.

One more check with the local, Texas pharmacy, and the technician let slip the problem:  While prescriptions are phoned in all day, the pharmacist doesn’t take them off the answering machine until the shift ends at 5:00 p.m.  Nothing would happen, technologically, until the humans intervened.

Walgreen’s found an outlet on the south and west side of St. Louis that would allow time for the prescription to show up in the system, and it was right off the freeway.  We got the prescription.  I’m on the mend.

Technology 1, Humans 2 more.

Final Score:  Technology 1, Humans 3.

*  What the heck is the possessive form of “Walgreen’s?”

3 Comments | Business, Business Ethics, Customer Care, Technology, Travel | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Road trip!

September 19, 2008

A bit unexpectedly, I’m in the wilds of Wisconsin at the moment and on the road the next couple of days.  Posting is likely to be sparse.

But the American open road is, as always, very interesting.

For example, according to the billboards, somewhere in Wisconsin there is a restaurant named Brisco’s (after Brisco County, Texas?), which claims to feature cuisine (a French word) of a “southwestern” flavor.  What does that mean?

Their billboard features a Wyoming-style cowboy, a saguaro cactus (from 800 miles south of Wyoming) in front of Delicate Arch, the signature arch of Arches National Park, near Moab, Utah, (well out of cattle company and still at least 400 miles from saguaro country).  Only on a billboard in Wisconsin . . .

3 Comments | Administrivia, Botany, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, Natural history, Travel, Weblogs | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

September 17, 490 B.C.: Athenians triumph at the Battle of Marathon

September 17, 2008

A smaller, less-highly regarded force of Athenians faced a larger, better trained, more experienced army of Persians.  Sparta’s promised reinforcements had not yet arrived.

And yet the Greeks triumphed over the Persians at Marathon.  How?

Historian Jason K. Fosten described the tactics, and the battle, in the February 2007 issue of Military History:

Two Greek generals followed the dictates of Santayana, whose ghost couldn’t exist because his corporeal existence was nearly 2,500 years in the future — they studied history, and they made plans to avoid the errors others had made in the past.

The two Athenian commanders, Callimachus and Miltiades (the latter having fought in the Persian army himself), used their knowledge of Persian battle tactics to turn the tide further in their favor. As the clatter of spears, swords and shields echoed through the valley, the Greeks had ensured that their best hoplites (heavily armed infantry) were on the flanks and that their ranks were thinned in the center. Persian battle doctrine dictated that their best troops, true Persians, fought in the center, while conscripts, pressed into service from tribute states, fought on the flanks. The Persian elite forces surged into the center of the fray, easily gaining the ascendancy. But this time it was a fatal mistake. The Persian conscripts whom the Hellenic hoplites faced on the flanks quickly broke into flight. The Greeks then made another crucial decision: Instead of pursuing their fleeing foes, they turned inward to aid their countrymen fighting in the center of the battle.

By then, the Persians were in a state of utter confusion. Their tactics had failed, their cavalry was absent and their archers were useless. Their more heavily armed and armored opponents, who could sense that victory was close, were attacking them from three sides and pushing them into the sea. The Persians fled back to their ships. Many of the Athenians, buoyed by their success, dragged several of the Persian vessels to shore, slaughtering those on board.

When the day was over, the Greeks had won one of history’s most famous victories, claiming to have killed about 6,400 Persians for the loss of only 192 Athenians. The Spartans eventually arrived, but only after the battle was long over. To assuage their disbelief in the Athenians’ victory, they toured the battlefield. To their amazement, they found the claim of victory was indeed true. The Athenians had defeated the most powerful empire in the Western world.

It was a great victory.  The Athenians had been so certain of defeat, however, that they had made plans to burn Athens and have Athenians left behind commit suicide rather than be captured by the Persians.  In order to prevent the plans from going through, they needed one more tremendous piece of history, and they called on their runner:

With time of the essence, the Athenians dispatched Pheidippides to inform Athens’ populace of their victory before the troops arrived. The tale goes that after running the 26 miles from Marathon to Athens, Pheidippides exclaimed: “Rejoice! We conquer!” then died from exhaustion. Whether true or not, that is the source of the modern-day marathon race; the distance of the modern race reflects the distance Pheidippides ran.

I opened world history this year asking how many had seen the movie “300.”  It produced some excitement, which I was glad to see.  Not enough students knew that it was based on a real battle.  We recounted the story of the victories at Thermopylae and Salamis, and then told the story of the set up for that war, the Greek victory at Marathon.  It was just after the Olympics closed — tying the battles to the last event of the Olympics, in honor of Pheidippides, made for a great class, for me.  For the students?  I hope so.

One of my intended learning points was that history is about the stories, not about memorizing dates and places.  Stories, they like.  Dates and places, not so much.

Another point:  History is all around us, even when we play couch potato and just watch the Olympics.

I knew I’d scored when a student asked me after class whether I knew when this year’s marathon would be rebroadcast, so she could watch it.

2 Comments | A Good Story, Education, Famous Battles, Greece, Heroes, History, Leadership, Lessons of history, Teaching, Travel, World history | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Disaster in Yellowstone Park: 20 years after the fires, it’s healing

September 17, 2008

High school students weren’t alive when Yellowstone burned in 1988. Do you remember?

NASA infrared satellite photograph of Yellowstone fires in 1988

NASA infrared satellite photograph of Yellowstone fires in 1988

It was a conflagration that made hell look like good picnicking. 1988 was a particularly dry summer, and hot. Lightning and human carelessness ignited fires across western North America. Five huge fires raged out of control, and burned huge swaths out of forests in Yellowstone National Park that probably hadn’t seen fire in 80 years, maybe longer.

The Salt Lake Tribune featured several stories about the fires and Yellowstone’s recovery today, “Yellowstone: Back from the ashes,” how wildland firefighting changed, a great chart on fire succession stages, and another chart on the effects of the fire on larger animals in the Yellowstone system.

Old Faithfull erupts against background of smoke from 1988 fires - NPS photo by Deanna Marie Dulen

Old Faithfull erupts against background of smoke from 1988 fires - NPS photo by Deanna Marie Dulen

The 1988 fires made history in several ways; it was the first time so many fires had burned simultaneously. Ultimately some of the fires merged into even greater conflagrations. The fires forced the shutdown of tourism and other activities in the Park. Inadequacies in fire fighting equipment, staffing and policies were highlighted and displayed in newspapers and on television for weeks, forcing changes in policies by cities, states and the federal government.

Some good came out of the fires. Much undergrowth and dead wood had choked off plant diversity in some places in the Park. The fires opened new meadows and offered opportunities for some species to expand their ranges.

Scientifically, a lot of information came out of the fires. The mystery of when aspen would seed out was solved — new aspen seedlings appeared in areas where the fires had sterilized the ground with extremely high temperatures that seemed to trigger the seeds to germinate.

Our visits in 1989 offered a lot of opportunities to look at very bleak landscapes.

Yellowstone National Park in 1989, a year after the big fires - Copyright 1989 and 2008, Ed Darrell

Yellowstone National Park in 1989, a year after the big fires - Copyright 1989 and 2008, Ed Darrell

Recover of the forested areas began rather quickly, but will take time to cover over all the scars of the fires.

Other resources:

3 Comments | Biology, Botany, Disasters, History, Natural history, Natural resources, Science | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

September 16, Independence Day: The Grito de Dolores

September 16, 2008

An encore post:

It’s amazing what is not available on video for use in the classroom.

Texas kids have to study the “Grito de Dolores” in the 7th grade – the “Cry from Dolores” in one translation, or the “Cry of Pain” in another (puns in Spanish! Do kids get it?). Father Miguel Hidalgo y Castillo made the speech on September 16, 1810, upon the news that Spanish authorities had learned of his conspiracy to revolt for independence. The revolution had been planned for December 8, but Hidalgo decided it had to start early.

This date is celebrated in Mexico as Independence Day. Traditionally the President of Mexico issues an update on the Grito, after the original bell that Father Hidalgo used is rung, near midnight.

Hidalgo himself was captured by the Spanish in 1811, and executed.

It’s a great story. It’s a good speech, what little we have of it (Hidalgo used no text, and we work from remembered versions).

Why isn’t there a good 10- to 15-minute video on the thing for classroom use? Get a good actor to do the speech, it could be a hit. Where is the video when we need it?Father Hidalgo issues the Grito

Statue of Father Hidalgo in Dolores, Mexico.

Update for 2008: Glimmerings of hope on the video front:  Amateur videos on YouTube provide some of the sense of what goes on in modern celebrations.

And, see this re-enactment from Monterrey:

4 Comments | Education, Famous quotes, Freedom - Political, Government, History, History audio sources, History images, Mexican War, Mexico, Politics, Texas, Texas history, Travel, Video and film | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Ike, armadilloes, and a Texas send off

September 14, 2008

Younger son James is on his way to Wisconsin and college.  Assuming Texas is as sad as his mother about it, it has some odd ways of showing it.

Some time Wednesday or Thursday an armadillo, the quintessential Texas critter,  crawled into the bushes and undergrowth outside the front door, and died.  By Thursday night it had made its presence known.

James mowed the lawn in one last show of good deeds before he left, but in order to survive that section of the yard the ‘dillo influenced, he had to find and dispose of the corpse.  A dead armadillo (wounded by an auto?) isn’t the same as a horse’s head in your bed, but it makes you wonder.

Then, James and his mother drove out Saturday morning, just after the first arms of Hurricane Ike reached our area.  They drove in rain all day, but most of the rain was from a Pacific tropical depression.  They had left Ike behind, they hoped.

This morning they awoke in St. Louis to discover Ike had caught up with them.  For most of their drive to Appleton, Wisconsin, they’ll have Hurricane Ike cleaning the windshield for them.

James is the only native-born Texan in the family.  What is Texas trying to say?

4 Comments | Family, Personal, Texas, Travel | Tagged: , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Happy birthday, H. L. Mencken

September 12, 2008

Born in Baltimore, Maryland, September 12, 1880:  Henry Louis Mencken.

H. L. Mencken at his piano, 1942. Photo from the Library of Congress collection

H. L. Mencken at his piano, 1942. Photo from the Library of Congress, via Gibbons

Mencken is the guy who invented the Millard Fillmore bathtub hoax.

As a quintessential curmudgeon, Mencken took a cynical pose on many issues.  Why?  His creed explains:

Mencken’s Creed

I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind – that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking.
I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in intent, can be anything but vicious.
I believe that all government is evil, in that all government must necessarily make war upon liberty…
I believe that the evidence for immortality is no better than the evidence of witches, and deserves no more respect.
I believe in the complete freedom of thought and speech…
I believe in the capacity of man to conquer his world, and to find out what it is made of, and how it is run.
I believe in the reality of progress.
I – But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply. I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.

The Mencken Society in Baltimore plans a commemoration of Mencken at the Enoch Pratt Free Library, on Saturday, September 13, 2008, starting at 10:00 a.m.

It would be a great day to be in Baltimore.

1 Comment | H. L. Mencken, History, Hoaxes, Millard Fillmore, Travel | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Frozen North economics: Where supply, demand and distribution are important problems

September 6, 2008

Especially you economics teachers, look at this very carefully:

Six cans of juice, at a store on Baffin Island - photo from Tales from the Arctic

Six cans of juice, at a store on Baffin Island - photo from Tales from the Arctic

How much do you pay for juice at your local market?

“The High Cost of Northern Living” at Arctic Economics points to Tales from the Arctic and “Believe me now?”

How much per ounce?

Kennie (at Tales from the Arctic) features a bunch of unbelievable prices.  Getting goods to towns in the far north of North America, in Canada and Alaska, is a major production.  Transportation and handling kick prices up a bit.

We’ll find out how alert Sarah Palin is when somebody asks her the price of a gallon of milk . . .

More seriously, economics teachers might find some object lessons in these photos, and a good presentation on supply and demand, and the costs of distribution.

Milk at $8.50 a gallon? Even in Canadian currency, that burns.

I wonder:  Do prices like these make economics any easier to teach to high school kids?  Does the urgency of high prices make the subject more relevant?

Tip of the frozen scrub brush to Arctic Economics, of course.

6 Comments | Economics, Food history, Freedom - Economic, Geography - Economic, Geography - Physical, Maps, Personal finance, Transportation, Travel | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Lost expedition? Where’s the photos of the “new” Peruvian waterfall?

August 28, 2008

You’d think someone like National Geographic Society would hustle down there to find it.

Whatever happened to the expedition that took off on the trek to photograph what was rumored to be a world-class waterfall newly discovered in Peru?  The cataract was rumored to be among the world’s tallest.

Perhaps a reader who reads Spanish might find some news in the South American newspapers.  Has anyone seen any news?

1 Comment | Adventure, Conservation, Environmental protection, Geography - Physical, Geography - Political, Natural history, Natural resources, Science, Travel | Tagged: , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

Typewriter of the moment: Will Rogers

August 25, 2008

Will Rogers and his typewriter, WillRogers.com

Will Rogers and his Remington typewriter, Will Rogers Memorial Museums, Claremore-Oolagah, Oklahoma

Caption from the Will Rogers Museums:

Daily writing
It didn’t matter where Will Rogers was when it was time to type his daily telegram. He just pulled out his trusty typewriter — in the car, on the movie set or in his home office overlooking the mountains of his Santa Monica ranch.

Rogers’ newspaper columns were carried by newspapers across America — 500 of them. His influence as an observer of the American condition was wide and deep.

See also this previous post about Will Rogers, for more resources.

Leave a Comment » | History, Museums, Newspapers, Technology, Travel, Typewriters | Tagged: , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by Ed Darrell

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