U.S. maps: When is Ohio not Ohio?

THE SHAPE OFTHE U.S. is attracting interest in odd ways as depicted by a couple of maps that have shown up of late. One that appeared on Andrew Sullivan's home page, the Daily Dish, listed each state's best quality. Some may surprise you. Shown within Ohio's borders was credit for the "highest library usage," which may put to rest those critics who insist that only a small portion of Buckeyes can read anything except the scoreboard at Ohio State football games.

South Carolina was credited with the most "golf holes per capita" and Texas's honor was "the most wind power production" - a leadership role that is likely to stay that way so long as Rick Perry is the governor. Oregon had the most "breast-fed babies" while Illinois was the most "average" and Kentucky the "best armed". By now, you get the drift. And in a contentious nation, none of the above is likely to go unchallenged.

The other colorful U.S. map appeared on the cover of the Economist magazine and was headed "State of the Union". In this map, each's state's name inspired a play on words. Ohio, for example, morphed into "Ohno". Some others: New Jersey, "Nojersey"; California, "Califoreclosia:; Idaho, "Doh" and Washington "Washedup". Michigan was renamed "Muchgone" and Alabama was shown as "Alabania."

You can probably do better, but in the whipsaw of winter, we grasp at some lighter banter to counter the side-slapping antics on Capitol Hill. Or is that "Culpable Hill"?