These United States

Our nation has 50 states,¹ which an nice round number to memorize. Plus it makes for a symmetrical flag that features a star for every state.

However, there are a few recent developments that complicate that symmetry.

• North Dakota: It turns out that North Dakota might not be a state after all. There's a growing belief that Article XI, Section 4 of North Dakota's state constitution is in conflict with the federal constitution, which would make the statehood invalid.
• California: Republicans are pushing a plan to break California into two states. The new South California would be, basically, the Republican counties. California Gov. Jerry Brown (D) opposes the proposal, saying there's already a choice for Republicans who are upset with California's Democratic majority. "If you want to live in a Republican state with very conservative right-wing laws, then there's a place called Arizona," Brown's spokesman Gil Duran told the Los Angeles Times.
• District of Columbia: The so-called D.C. retrocession plan got some attention though the publication of an op-ed in the Washington Post earlier this month suggesting that Maryland annex the district.
  
• Puerto Rico: President Obama visited Puerto Rico last month and promised to support whatever the island decides in its two-step plebiscite – whether that means remaining a protectorate, becoming a proper state or becoming fully independent.
  

What do you think? Despite these developments, are you confident that we'll end the decade with 50 states and the same flag?

¹Plus some other territories like Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands, Palau, Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands. Oh and the District of Columbia, where 600,000 people live and pay federal taxes without federal voting representation.

Today in invasive species news

(Flickr Creative Commons photo by Ugod.)

In order to help control the unabated population growth of invasive species, environmentalists are urging Americans to eat them.

In her article today, Elizabeth Rosenthal of the New York Times reports that restaurant demand for, say, Asian carp ceviche and braised lionfish filet with soft-shell European green crabs could serve two purposes: it would cause fishers to kill those invasive fish while protecting other tasty species that are threatened and endangered.

Then again, it could exacerbate the problem instead. That's because a commercial market could lead fishers to grow large populations of the invasive species.

Soooooo, this new push could either help or make things worse.

Meanwhile, a book on invasive flora called "Weeds" makes the case that we should allow invasive plants to have their way. Reviewing the book in today's Washington Post, Amy Stewart summarizes the views of author Richard Mabey: "He makes a case for allowing invasive plants to remain in cities, which represent a relatively new kind of ecology anyway, one to which tougher, more aggressive plants might be well-suited."

In conclusion: Taking action against invasive species may help. Or not. And invasive species are very bad. Unless maybe they're not.

Ye old parking

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. – If you want to park the old-fashioned way, just follow the arrow to the right to the historic Northampton parking.

Essence Fest

NEW ORLEANS – Click the photo of Usher to see the rest of my photos from Essence Fest 2011. Highlights include:

• Chaka Khan rocking the house wearing only a garbage bag
• Usher dropping from the ceiling
• Kanye West stealing the show, but not before causing me to compare him (in the captions) to Sarah Palin

The Wisconsin hurricane

NEW ORLEANS – When you think of the inventor of the cocktail with fruit juice and rum called "the hurricane," you might think about tavern owner Pat O'Brien.

You'd especially be prepared to credit him if you visited the Pat O'Brien outpost on Bourbon St., which boasts to be the home of that drink.

But according to the Southern Food and Beverage Museum, the hurricane cocktail may have originated at the Hurricane Bar in Wisconsin, which Pat O'Brien visited before returning to New Orleans to declare himself the drink's creator.

I'm not saying that without this bar in Wisconsin, no one would ever have thought about mixing rum and juice, but it's time we give Wisconsin its due.

Ronald McDonald hasn't slimmed down

NEW ORLEANS – McDonald's has many new "healthy" offerings such as salads, oatmeal and smoothies. But Ronald himself could stand to keep dialing up the healthy. Maybe he doesn't get enough exercise. Oh and he's a terrible rapper.

Always remember oil and gas

NEW ORLEANS – Thanks to Patrick F. Taylor, low-income students have a path to attend college tuition free.

He deserves a lot of credit for this initiative. Then again, the Patrick F. Taylor Foundation wants you to know where his philanthropic money comes from: oil and gas.

The plaque on this statue in the foundation's lobby reads: "Always Remember – Oil and Gas Funded this Foundation."