I’ve moved to www.20millionminutes.com July 6, 2006
Posted by stevelavey in Breaking News, The City.add a comment
I’ve migrated to my own website — come check it out and learn more about bloggers, the Tour de France, life in the fast lane, and the great city of Chicago.
Check it our now! Go to 20MillionMinutes.com
Census Bureau: Facts and Figures on 4th of July July 4, 2006
Posted by stevelavey in Breaking News.add a comment
I love the 4th of July. It is such an ingrained institution here in these United States and the holiday holds great memories for me, growing up in West Bloomfield, Michigan. Each 4th of July we would have a big subdivision cookout BBQ, root beer floats and, if you can picture it, lawnmower races. The site of grown men driving their “machines” at three miles an hour….ah what a picture!
I came across the following and thought the facts and figures were worthy of sharing:
INDEPENDENCE DAY INFO FROM THE US CENSUS BUREAU
On this day in 1776, the Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress, starting the 13 colonies on the road to freedom as a sovereign nation. As always, this most American of holidays will be marked by parades, fireworks and backyard barbecues across the country.
2.5 million
In July 1776, the number of people living in the colonies. (1776 population from Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970.)
300 million
On this July 4th, the population milestone our nation soon will be closing in on.
Fourth of July Cookouts
150 million
Number of hot dogs (all varieties) expected to be consumed by Americans on this holiday. (That’s one frankfurter for every two people.) There’s more than a 1-in-4 chance that the hot dogs made of pork originated in Iowa, as the Hawkeye State had a total inventory of 15.2 million market hogs and pigs on March 1, 2006. This represents more than one-fourth of the nation’s total. North Carolina (8.5 million) and Minnesota (5.8 million) were the runners-up. (Data on hot dog consumption courtesy of the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council.) Data on hogs and pigs at <http://www.nass.usda.gov>.
7.3 billion pounds
Total production of cattle and calves in Texas in 2005. Chances are good that the beef hot dogs, steaks and burgers on your backyard grill came from the Lone Star State, which accounted for over one-sixth of the nation’s total production. And if they did not come from Texas, they very well may have come from Nebraska (4.5 billion pounds) or Kansas (4 billion pounds). <http://www.nass.usda.gov>
6
Number of states in which the revenue from broiler chickens was $1 billion or greater between December 2004 and November 2005. There is a good chance that one of these states — Georgia, Arkansas, Alabama, North Carolina, Mississippi or Texas — is the source of your barbecued chicken. <http://www.nass.usda.gov>
Better than 50-50
The odds that the beans in your side dish of baked beans came from North Dakota, Michigan or Nebraska, which produced 60 percent of the nation’s dry, edible beans in 2005. Another popular July 4th side dish is corn on the cob. Florida, California and Georgia together accounted for 51 percent of the sweet corn produced nationally in 2005. <http://www.nass.usda.gov> (more…)
Go Chestnut Go! July 4, 2006
Posted by stevelavey in Breaking News.add a comment
Today is the Fourth of July….With that comes all the pageantry and hoopla associated with the celebration of our country’s founding. It also brings with it an annual event that many tune in for…………………yes, the Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest arrives for its annual 15 minutes of fame later today, and if we go down to defeat again, our national self esteem may not be able to handle the blow.
The winner for the past five years — in the sport that we invented — has been Takeru Kobayashi of Japan. Last year, “The Tsunami” Kobayashi, claimed his fifth straight Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest title, downing 49 hot dogs in 12 minutes, short of his personal best of 53-1/2 hot dogs.
The 5-foot 7-inch, 144-pound Kobayashi, also known as “The Prince,” was the clear winner, scarfing down 12 more hot dogs than the runner up, 5-foot 5-inch, 100-pound American Sonya “The Black Widow” Thomas. The highly overrated 420-pound Eric “Badlands” Booker did not place in the top three. We need to find a champion! That someone just may be Joey Chestnut, a 6-foot-1, 230-pounder from San Jose, Calif., who holds the U.S. wiener-eating record of 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes. So the stage is set for the Fourth of July. We cannot lose again. So eat, Mr. Chestnut. Eat for all of us. But from a strategy point of view, hold the ketchup!
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY TO EVERYONE — TRY SOME DAKOTA BEEF 100% ORGANIC BURGERS, AVAILABLE ON-LINE AND AT COSTCO
To wear yellow or not to wear yellow July 3, 2006
Posted by stevelavey in Tour de France.add a comment
At the Tour de France today, I watched intently to see if George Hincapie would exert the required effort to hold onto the yellow jersey, or whether he felt the longer race was more important. To my delight (and using good racing strategy), he forsook the short term reward to concentrate on the long term prize.
That is how life is ………..yet, many of us exert all of our efforts on the short term win, rather than the long term prize. Why is that? We know life is a long race, yet we always use huge bursts of energy and focus on short term things…. What do you think?
As an aside, I am feeling less confident about Floyd Landis and Levi Leipheimer (maybe its early and I am expecting too much in the first two stages) – can either of these guys win?
Chicago – Nation’s Best Bicycling City? July 2, 2006
Posted by stevelavey in The City.1 comment so far
Chicago has become quite bike-friendly in the last few years and we are working to make our new church building bike-friendly as well. Park Community Church’s 1,200 people are mostly a group of energetic folks in their 20′s, 30′s and 40′s who love Chicago and its parks and lakefront, and love to bike all around the city. Being bike-friendly is an important value to them and to us.
Mayor Richard Daley is solidly behind initiatives to create a 500 mile network of bike paths and bicycle-friendly streets in Chicago. He wants chicago to be the most bicycle friendly city in the United Stwates. The Bike 2015 Plan is the City of Chicago’s vision to make bicycling an integral part of daily life in Chicago. The plan recommends projects, programs and policies for the next ten years to encourage use of this practical, non-polluting and affordable mode of transportation. The Bike 2015 Plan has two overall goals:
- To increase bicycle use, so that 5 percent of all trips less than five miles are by bicycle.
- To reduce the number of bicycle injuries by 50 percent from current levels.
These are the sorts of steps that need to be taken by all global cities to ensure that the city continues to remain livable. There are a number of environmental benefits to bicycling, including: (more…)
OK, I’m a Tour de France Fanatic July 2, 2006
Posted by stevelavey in Tour de France.add a comment
I admit it…I love the Tour de France. Each year, I prep my wife and kids that July means “the Tour” and I need to have my 2.5 hours each night to stoke up the Tivo, and get ready for the world’s most grueling race. I love to bike around Chicago and the lakefront.
However, at the Tour de France, I marvel at the pure physical punishment that these riders take day after day for the 21 days of the race. To think that Lance Armstrong won this race 7 times in a row is unbelievable — all the potential pitfalls, (sickness, heat, nutrition, bad tire (think about Floyd Landis today)
The Americans started very well yesterday and the Tour should be wide open this year — George Hincapie has the lead after the first stage and it should be an exciting first week. Maybe it’s time to
Take a look at some awesome Tour photos, already loaded to the web! I also found an excellent historical perspective on the Tour from the 1930′s-2006! Check it out.
Illinois and Chicago Cranking out Jobs July 2, 2006
Posted by stevelavey in Items to Ponder, The City.add a comment
Did you know that Illinois added more jobs–23,100–in April than any other state in the nation? I was reading some economic data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics this weekend and am proud that Illinois has risen to the top (albeit likely for one month) as a job creation center. In April, Chicago added 13,300 jobs and this is the first month since January 1995 in which Illinois led the nation in monthly job growth. This has now brought to 43,600 the number of new jobs created in February, March and April.
