Nice Views Across Our backyard Pond the Last Two Days

Short Video of the Blue Heron

Short Video of the Sunset

The Geography of Car Deaths

       Interesting article by Richard Florida.

The Geography of Car Deaths in America

The U.S. is a nation divided not just by how people get around, but by how fast they drive.

•                    RICHARD FLORIDA
 
• @Richard_Florida
 
• Oct 15, 2015

America is famously divided along many lines: red and blue states, high-income and low-income areas, educated and uneducated cities—the list goes on. But, startlingly, America’s political and economic divide extends to fatality rates as well, and specifically to where people are killed in their cars.

The map above shows America’s Car Death Belt, made up of two distinct parts: the Deep South and the Great Plains states.

Click to read the full article on City Labs.

citylab.com/commute/2015/10/the-geography-of-car-deaths-in-america/410494/?utm_source=nl__link1_101615

Around the World - Trip Just Completed

Angkor Wat

We just completed an around the world trip.

  Photos and report at ruhu12.com

Angkor Wat Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjRCfrJvHC4

Subscribe to Governing Magazine & Newsletters Follow us on Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn FEATURED STORY Albuquerque Gives Panhandlers Day Jobs, Not Tickets BY J.B. WOGAN Twice a week, a city van rolls through downtown Albuquerque, N.M., stopping at popular panhandling locations. The driver, Will Cole, asks panhandlers if they want a day job. Work pays $9 an hour, higher than the state's $7.50 minimum wage. The city's public works department can employ up to 10 people a day for beautification projects, such as pulling weeds and picking up litter. The van has been in circulation since September, and while "we get a couple no's here and there," said Cole, he's usually finds 10 people willing to trade panhandling for a day job. The van initiative is part of a larger effort in Albuquerque to reduce homelessness and panhandling. In May, the city started posting blue and white signs at intersections that list a 311 phone number and a website. Panhandlers can call the number to connect with services. At the same time, motorists can visit the website, managed by the United Way of Central New Mexico, to donate to a local shelter, food bank or an employment fund to pay panhandlers' wages. Branded "There's a Better Way," the point of the campaign is to encourage more effective charitable giving to help the homeless. Not only does the van provide some income to panhandlers, but it drops them off at the end of the day at St. Martin's Hospitality Center, a nonprofit that connects people with housing, employment and mental health services. To support the program, the city has directed $50,000 to St. Martin's, which pays Cole's salary and his driving-related expenses, plus additional money to cover the wages of the panhandlers. Keep reading >>

Balls and Marbles

INTERESTING OBSERVATION 1. The sport of choice for the urban poor is BASKETBALL. 2. The sport of choice for maintenance level employees is BOWLING. 3. The sport of choice for front-line workers is FOOTBALL.               4. The sport of choice for supervisors is BASEBALL. 5. The sport of choice for middle management is TENNIS. And... 6. The sport of choice for corporate executives and officers is GOLF.

CONCLUSION:

The higher you go the smaller your balls.

Small Ball

There are many politicians in Washington. When elected they are issued a bag of marbles. At each crisis a marble is removed. No marbles are ever added. 

After a while they lose their marbles.

Unfortunately they have been causing us to lose our marbles.  Lets lose them. Throw the rascals out.

Nice Videos of Chicago

https://vimeo.com/soaringbadgerproductions

CHICAGO — Talk about a rousing farewell.

A gorgeous new video uploaded online shows Chicago in the final days of summer.

Vimeo user Soaring Badger Productions uploaded the video this weekend. The roughly three – and-a-half minute video shows Chicago from above. From dusk ’til dawn, from the United Center to Shedd Aquarium and everything in between, drone footage captures the city in a beautiful light.

Soaring Badger Productions had made a name for itself capturing the city, namely with its “Chiberia” footage in winter and its previous videos depicting summertime in the city.

http://wgntv.com/2015/10/04/beautiful-new-video-captures-chicago-in-final-days-of-summer/

Murders

A number of my friends have been posting the graphic above on Facebook.  It shows that the gun murder rate is much higher in the United States than in Europe. A sad set of facts.

The graphic below compares the US to all nations in the world.  This is total murders by all causes, not just guns. The US is lower than many other countries, although higher than other advanced countries.

The graphic below shows murders by continent. Europe and Asia are low while North and South America and Africa are high.

Source:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentional_homicide_rate


The graph below breaks out homicide deaths in the United States by Black, White, and Hispanic victims.

Source:  http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/black-americans-are-killed-at-12-times-the-rate-of-people-in-other-developed-countries/


I don't know the accuracy of the data in any of the graphs above or in their analysis.