Twelve Mile Circle
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Hawaii is Closer than you Think
Oh those intrepid Googlers, the source of so much amusement and adventure. I encounter them as I relentlessly review their keyword searches captured in my access logs. What would a weekend morning be without a cup of coffee and a pile of raw statistical data to mine through? Some people prefer the New York Times’…
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Need a Time Waster?
I come across all sorts of interesting resources and reference tools as I flesh-out my story ideas. Some are useful or stimulating, or simply entertaining. I wade through a lot of trash, too but I toss those aside. Fortunately that’s not the case today. Here are a couple of sites that are — dare I…
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Glasgow or Madrid?
Think quickly: Which city is further west, Glasgow, Scotland or Madrid, Spain? If you’re a cynic like me you’d guess Madrid. Of course, you’d figure it was a trick question whether you “knew” the answer or not. You’d also be wrong. Glasgow is indeed further west than Madrid. However, if I substituted Edinburgh, Scotland for…
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Nasty Commutes
The Washington Post published a recent article on bad commutes, “A Dubious Distinction: The Longest Ride in U.S.” This was considered so significantly newsworthy that it appeared on the front page of their print edition on February 3, 2009. They determined that the sufferers of the worst average commute in the United States live in…
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Mysterious Plum Island
Plum Island sits off the northeast coast of Long Island, New York. Throughout the last two centuries it has vacillated between civilian and government use. Colonists began settling here in the late seventeenth and into the eighteenth centuries, and named it for the abundant native plum trees. British raiders bedeviled the island during the Revolutionary…
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Junk Drawer
This isn’t a real entry. I have some random topics that I need to empty from the junk drawer. None of these would be sufficient to stand alone but you may find the collected results somewhat interesting. Statue of Freedom Did you ever wonder about the statue at the top of the United States Capitol…
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Bolivia’s Landlocked Navy
Bolivia meets the definition of landlocked. Its South American neighbors, Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile, and Peru, completely surround it. There is no way for Bolivia to reach the sea without crossing through the territory of one of its neighbors. Yet, somewhat inexplicably, Bolivia has a robust Navy with upwards of 5,000 sailors. It’s not all…
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(West) Wendover: What Time? What State?
It’s my lucky day. I found both a time zone anomaly and a (potential) border anomaly all wrapped up into one neat little package. Even more exciting, if the border does change then the two anomalies will occur in opposite directions! Those of you who have spent any time on the Twelve Mile Circle realize…
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Lockdown
Twelve Mile Circle is getting ready for Inauguration Day, January 20, 2009. Everyone is excited. Even one of the local brewpubs is getting in on the action. The Looming Traffic Nightmare I’ve watched in amazement as officials have leveraged the local geography to establish a security perimeter. From Virginia it’s a simple a matter of…
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what is the total population that lives now in the land given back to Virginia should it be part of…
Great post. Did you ever notice interesting architecture? I remember seeing some styles reminiscent of the imperial palaces when I…
It’s not so much a matter of independence for the Hopi as it is the geographical reality of the Hopi…
Park ranger at Chalmette (New Orleans) Battlefield let me pull up the Union Jack 20 years ago. My dad would…
The Arlington portion is easy, ~245,000. Alexandria is more difficult because it annexed a lot of land outside of the…