What Caught My Eye Today: Geography, Twitter, Soccer

Geography - If it's related to history or geography, you know I'm all over it, even if the story is a bit dated...in this case dated by 41 years. In 1973, California State University geography professor George Pearcy suggested that the U.S. redraw its antiquated state boundaries and narrow the overall number of states to 38 (see below). His proposed state lines were drawn in less-populated areas, isolating large cities and reducing their number within each state. Pearcy argued that if there were fewer cities vying for a state's tax dollars, more money would be available for projects that would benefit all citizens. I don't know about this dude. All this talk of a more equitable distribution of money sounds suspiciously like an elaborate socialist plot.  Because the current states were being chopped up beyond recognition, part of his plan included renaming the new states by referencing natural geologic features or the region's cultural history. I guess there are worse ways to name a state but, honestly, who wants to live in "Bitterroot"? While he did have a rather staunch support network—economists, geographers, and even a few politicians argued that Pearcy's plan might be crazy enough to work—the proposal lost steam in Washington due primarily to all the work that would have to be done to enact the plan: re-surveying the land, setting up new voter districts, new taxation infrastructure—basically starting the whole country over. Isn't that always the case? Logic and practicality always seem to take a back seat to institutional inefficiencies.

Twitter - The FBI has released an 83-page manual containing a list of almost 3,000 acronyms to decipher Twitter slang intended to help agents navigate the world of social media after a freedom of information request. This is what my tax dollars pay for? Are you kidding me? It includes common shorthand like LOL -- laugh out loud -- and FMTKFYTFO -- for me to know, for you to find out. Beyond the basics, the list features many acronyms that few people have ever seen and, with some level of certainty, an FBI agent never will either.

1. ALOTBSOL (“always look on the bright side of life”)
I'm okay with this one. I like anything that traces its origins to Monty Python
2. BFFLTDDUP (“best friends for life until death do us part”)
3. BMGWL (“busting my gut with laughter”)
For those times when LOL (or some variation thereof) just doesn't capture the sentiment.
4. BOGSAT (“bunch of guys sitting around talking”)
5. BTDTGTTSAWIO (“been there, done that, got the T-shirt and wore it out”)
6. BTWITIAILWU or BTWITIAILWY (“by the way I think I am in love with you”)
If this doesn't "seal the deal" with the target of your affection, I'm not sure anything will.
7. DFLA (“disenhanced four-letter acronym”)
Huh?
8. DWISNWID (“do what I say not what I do”)
9. FMDIDGAD (“frankly my dear I don’t give a damn”)
10. IITYWTMIWHTKY (“if I tell you what this means I will have to kill you”)
11. IOKIYAR (“it’s okay if you are Republican”)
12. NALOPKT (“not a lot of people know that”)
I'm thinking even fewer people are familiar with this acronym.
13. OOSOOM (“out of sight out of mind”)
14. PHAT (“pretty hot and tempting”)
Who know that "phat" actually meant something?
15. QWERTYUIOP (“bored”)
Doesn't an acronym that is twice the size of the actual word sort of defeat the purpose of using the acronym?

My favorite part of of this news item, was the reaction of the author. In conclusion, AYFKMWTS? (Are you f---ing kidding me with this s--t?) I couldn't agree more.

Soccer - The group stage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup is in the books. Besides defending champion Spain getting eliminated from the tournament, the other big headlines include the U.S. managing to advance out of the "group of death" along with Germany (Portugal and Ghana were sent packing) and Uruguay's Luis Suarez getting handed a lengthy suspension and fine for biting an opposing player (The scary thing is that this was the third time he's been caught chowing down on another player).  Eight of the final 16 teams come from the Americas (5 from South America and 3 from North and Central America). Asia didn't manage to send any of its 4 teams into the next round and Europe also took quite a beating with only 6 of 13 teams making it through.  Given that my original prediction of a Brazil / Spain final is obviously not going to happen, my revised pick for the final match up based on the teams that remain is Brazil vs. Argentina.  I'd love to see the Netherlands make it, but the South American countries look really good. Next up for the Americans is Belgium. On paper, this should be a slightly easier match up, what with Belgium only being ranked 11th (Germany is ranked 2nd and Portugal 4th, while the US is 13th).

Did You Know #58?

How much water does it take to produce the beef from one cow?

According to The Pacific Institute it requires 40,000 liters of water to raise a cow. 

Here are some other items and the water it takes to make one of:

• Beer - 300 liters
• Orange Juice - 850 liters
• Wine - 960 liters
• Coffee - 1,200 liters
• Bread - 1,300 liters
• Corn - 1,400 liters
• Rice - 3,500 liters
• Chicken - 4,600 liters
• Cotton Textiles (clothes) - 11,000 liters
• Microchip - 16,000 liters

What Caught My Eye Today - Food, Air Travel, Texas, Soccer, Potpourri

Food - A Silicon Valley engineer has developed a new powdered meal replacement drink called Soylent that could replace traditional food. Pray tell why? Described by the engineer as "Ensure on steroids," Soylent contains 35 essential ingredients - protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals - in one 1,500 calorie packet. Mix it with water and oil and you have a meal that you could live on forever. I presume boyfriend subscribes to the "eat to live" line of thinking as opposed to "live to eat" which camp which I proudly belong to. The beige goo, which tastes like unsweetened cake batter, costs about $4 per meal. Dude, its called goo and tastes like Silly Putty. Why on earth, would someone voluntarily ingest this stuff?

Air Travel - According to surveys, 33% of Americans fantasize of joining the "Mile High Club" while only 4% have succeeded in doing so. A bit of a tangent, but can anyone enlighten me as to how I can get on one of these surveys?  They sound far more entertaining that the political surveys I'm usually subjected to. While the process of entry is straightforward (find a willing partner, wait for the plan to rise to 5,280, then go for it), the logistics of waiting for the right time -- free from turbulence and vigilant flight attendants -- can be frustrating. Hey, if membership was easy, then everyone would be a member. Not exactly an exclusive club if that were to happen. Then there is the issue of moving within a coffin-size bathroom, to say nothing of the mandatory task of sanitizing the toilet seat. Yeah, right.  People wanted to do the nasty in an airplane lavatory really care about sanitation. A handful of private airlines -- Flamingo Air (Ohio), Erotic Airways (Australia), Mile High Flights (England), Love Cloud (Las Vegas) -- are now making it much easier to join this league of sexual adventurers without facing the typical obstacles. While amenities vary by carrier, most offer a short flight (usually 60 minutes), complete with champagne, chocolates and a "discreet" pilot. If I understand the rules correctly, there is nothing that says you can't take one of these "special" flights to "do your thang". Still, it does strike me as taking the easy way out, as it were.

Texas - Texas Republicans adopted a party platform for 2014 that includes support for so-called reparative therapy, which proponents claim can turn gay people straight. I've lost count of the reasons why I don't live in Texas. Suffice it to say, that now I have another reason not to. The American Psychological Association has condemned such "conversion" counseling, and the practice has been outlawed in the treatment of minors in both California and New Jersey. Under the new plank, adopted at the Texas GOP Convention, the state party will now recognize the "the legitimacy and efficacy of counseling" for patients who seek "healing and wholeness from their homosexual lifestyle." How positively humane of them.  Now if you will excuse me, I'm going to go hurl now. The party will also oppose any laws that seek to limit access to the treatment. In fairness, what with me being the lunatic progressive liberal that I am (a.k.a. I voluntarily choose to live in the San Francisco Bay Area), I'm pretty sure the Republican party in Texas wasn't planning on getting my vote any time in the foreseeable future.

Soccer - This just in from the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. Hell apparently has frozen over, at least in Rio de Janeiro. World #1 team and defending World Cup champion, Spain is the first team to be eliminated from the tournament after losing its first two group stage games. Spain lost its opening match to the Netherlands, 5-1, then lost in shocking fashion to Chile, 2-0. Meanwhile, the United States won its opening fixture 2-1 over nemesis, Ghana (which held the distinction of booting the U.S. out of the last two World Cups) in the dreaded Group of Death. A win over either Germany or Portugal (and possibly a draw) could see the U.S. advance into the group of 16.

Potpourri

• Twitter - The Central Intelligence Agency has joined Facebook and Twitter. The agency's first tweet was "We can neither confirm nor deny that this is our first tweet." It's official. Twitter and Facebook are no longer cool.
• Fat - According to a recent study, 30% of the world's population -- about 2.1 billion people -- is obese. The United States has 87 million obese people, more than any other nation. Pretty impressive if you think about it. I mean China and India have well over a billion people each, and yet we still manage to have more weight-challenged people than they do.
• News - The median age of the average Fox News viewer is 68.8. For MSNBC the median age is 62.5 and for CNN, 62.8. Show of hands...who is actually surprised by these age demographics?
• War - Only one American soldier was classified as missing in action during the 13-year Afghanistan War -- Sargeant Bow Bergdahl, who was recently release by the Taliban. 73,547 U.S. troops are still unaccounted for from World War II, 7,883 from the Korean War, and 1,642 from the Vietnam War. I'm not sure what is more shocking--that after 13 years of conflict, the U.S. managed to have just one (and now zero) MIAs or that 70 years after the fact, there are still more that 73,000 missing soldiers from World War II? 
• Wealth - According to Credit Suisse's latest Global Wealth report (2013), Americans' median net worth was $44,900 per adult, placing the United States in 19th place, behind Japan, Canada, Australia, and much of Western Europe. Australia tops the list at $219,500 per adult. Australia, huh?  I was totally thinking Monaco or Luxembourg.

Did You Know? #57

How many bubbles are there in a 750ml bottle of sparkling wine?

According to Popular Science magazine, someone did the math and calculated the estimated number of bubbles to be 100 million.