Land O Links
"The degree of one's emotions varies inversely with one's knowledge of the facts" --Bertrand Russell, 20th century British philosopher.
* A CBS reporter this month said that no person born in the U.S. circa 1985 and after has ever experienced "normal" weather -- at least as defined by average 20th century conditions. Since 1985, the nation's been on quite a run of warmth -- summer and winter. One way to help alleviate the heat, at least in urban areas, is to have plenty of trees. Alas, the likelihood of trees in a city is tied to, yep, the city's economic health:
http://persquaremile.com/2012/05/17/urban-trees-reveal-income-inequality/
* Richard Florida, of "Creative Class" fame" has taped a series of videos on the them of "Detroit Rising." In the intro, he writes, "Yes, urban renewal devastated parts of the city, and yes, it’s true that there are too many empty lots and abandoned buildings. But a walk through and around the urban core evidences a fabulous urban fabric with fantastic historic buildings of the very sort that Jane Jacobs was talking about when she said that old buildings give rise to new ideas":
http://www.theatlanticcities.com/jobs-and-economy/2012/05/how-detroit-rising/1997/
* Did you know there are officially designated U.S. bicycle routes across the land? Me neither. They just added some, including BR 35, which runs from New Buffalo, along the Lake Michigan coast, all the way to Sault Ste. Marie:
http://bridgemi.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/usbr35_statewide_2012-5-4.pdf
* A former mayor of Kansas City explains the need to broaden the dialogue between local governments and residents/taxpayers. He mentions enthusiastically a listening session on fuel taxes. The Center for Michigan has been doing listening sessions, we call them "community conversations," for years. Right now, the Center is involved in a year-long listening effort on K-12 education.
* In 1991, the carcass of a sturgeon washed ashore from Lake Erie. Scientists subsequently determined the female sturgeon had lived for more than 150 years. To get a perspective on how long that was, read on:
http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/23/2813436_the-life-and-times-of-a-grand.html#storylink=addthis
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