Not Intent on Arriving

Sad, but true. I do respond, but really slowly. Once again, The Oatmeal nails it.

Eric Fischer has made a lot of really cool maps recently. DCist gave him a shout out for his map of the racial division in the District of Columbia (a topic of particular interest to me).

Now, he’s mapped a series of world cities, by the most photographed areas in each. Areas in red are photographs taken by tourists and areas in blue are photographs taken by locals. Yellow areas are photographs by unknown people (Fischer says these images are “probably” tourists). The methodology is not flawless, but the results are pretty stunning.  You can see how spread out touristy spots are in some areas, and how central they are in others.

Map of London

Today’s is being called WAnina, or Snowpocalypse III by me. I think snow is following me.  Yes, more snow in my life. Today, for the first time in more than 20 years, it snowed in Seattle before Thanksgiving. Traffic was snarled, buses didn’t run and the city ground to halt.

That’s the Mullen’s dog, Cinnamon, outside the house. She loved the snow.

In case you’ve forgotten, these are other snowstorms I’ve seen this year.

The Christmas Blizzard of 2009— Snowpocalypse I

The Blizzard of 2010— Snowpocalypse II

OK, not the same amount of snow. But, it is equal to the other storms in terms of being abnormal for the area of the country and time of year.

A Middlebury Snow Day

At Burlington Airport in Early December

This Occurred Three Weeks Before Graduation on April 27

Enough freak snowstorms for the year already!

That’s a question being raised more frequently these days. A recent television advertisement, entitled “Consequences,” has generated more than 1 million YouTube hits in just weeks and links fast food to death directly.

Author John Robbins has written an excellent, well-reasoned article about the ad, but expands his discussion to the broader food debate. Some of the facts about food and health in our nation that I found shocking:

1. In 2010, we will spend $2.5 trillion on health care. In 1950, we spent $70 billion (adjusted for today’s dollars).
2. 36 other nations are healthier than the United States.
3. 50 to 70 percent of today’s health care costs are preventable.
4. Nine out 10 American children eat at a McDonalds each month.
5. One out of 3 children born today will have diabetes in their lifetime.
6. You would have to walk for 7 hours without stopping to burn off the calories of a Big Mac, Coke and order of fries.

Not convinced about the harmful, grossness of this food? Maybe I should offer you some soft serve.

Oh, that’s actually mechanically separated chicken that will go into chicken nuggets?

McDonalds and the other food chains are not responsible for the health epidemic by themselves. We do ultimately decide what we put into our bodies. But, the harms are now pretty well-established. Think twice.

Good news! I have some work lined up. Well, through the end of the year anyways. Then, I’ll have to find something else to do. But, it’s a start.

I’m actually really excited. Starting October 11, I’ll be working with the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project. Here’s an excerpt from their mission statement.

Northwest Immigrant Rights Project promotes justice for low-income immigrants by pursuing and defending their legal status. We focus on providing direct legal services, supported by our education and public policy work.

Essentially, my work will consist of interviewing incoming immigrants to see if NWIRP can assist them. If we can, I may refer them to another branch of the organization (asylum, housing, etc.). The really exciting part is that this opportunity will expose me issues faced by immigrants and offer some practical legal experience. I’m not sure what I’ll be allowed to do, but legal issues are a main part of the group’s work. Also, it should give me the chance to practice my spanish.

This runs through the end of the year, and then I’ll have to find something else to do. But, I’ll give myself a week to enjoy this before worrying about the future.