Many blogs listed on Catholicgauze Reads... deal with general geography and maps. Long War Journal and Coming Anarchy are geopolitical while regional geography is represented by the Middle East-focused blogs of Michael Yon and Michael J. Totten.
There are two more blogs that need to be added to the list. Both Scraps of Moscow and New Eurasia do a great blog of following the post-Soviet states in Europe and Central Asia. Great recent posts include Scraps' look at language in Moldova and travels to Abkhazia as well as New Eurasia's detailed examination of minorities in Turkmenistan and their photojournalism of Roma in Kyrgyzstan.
Check out these two great websites for more regional geography from the post-Soviet world!
Sunday, October 04, 2009
Saturday, October 03, 2009
United States Hands Over Control of the Internet
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers （ICANN) is the corporation in charge of web address like .com, .net, .org, and the various country codes. ICANN had much of its authority because of backing from the United States government. This combined with the United States' role in establishing the internet made it the de facto controller of the internet.
This is about to change as the United States is allowing ICANN to go its own way in some matters. While the details are not entirely clear, what is assumed is that ICANN will still be recognized by everyone as the internet arbitration body for the sake of smooth transition. What will change; however, is that other countries will use this to gain sway over ICANN and make it more of an international body.
There are pros and cons to this probability. What concerns me are the cons. The major con is that most countries are not free. While giving Ireland more say would not be a problem, for every Ireland there is several Cubas, Sudans, People's Republic of Chinas, and Russia. The in vogue thing right now for governments to shut down critical presses like in Venezuela and, unfortunately, Honduras. Giving say or control of their own domains to these dictatorships will only harm freedom and peace worldwide.
This is about to change as the United States is allowing ICANN to go its own way in some matters. While the details are not entirely clear, what is assumed is that ICANN will still be recognized by everyone as the internet arbitration body for the sake of smooth transition. What will change; however, is that other countries will use this to gain sway over ICANN and make it more of an international body.
There are pros and cons to this probability. What concerns me are the cons. The major con is that most countries are not free. While giving Ireland more say would not be a problem, for every Ireland there is several Cubas, Sudans, People's Republic of Chinas, and Russia. The in vogue thing right now for governments to shut down critical presses like in Venezuela and, unfortunately, Honduras. Giving say or control of their own domains to these dictatorships will only harm freedom and peace worldwide.
Friday, October 02, 2009
Pravda's Prediction of a Broken Up United States
Early this year, a KGB spy turned academic named Igor Panarin received fifteen minutes of fame for declaring that the United States would break up into smaller countries in 2010. Unfortunately for Dr. Panarin, it is clear he did not take into account geography when dividing the United States. Having Kentucky align with the European Union, Utah with California and the People's Republic of China, and Georgia with Mexico makes no sense. At first I thought Panarin wanted revenge for the Ralph Peters maps but later interviews have revealed he is just a bad geographer.
Now the former Soviet Union propaganda newspaper of Pravda has taken a swing at dividing North America. This effort shows a bit more geographic knowledge of locations and ties but makes the critical mistake of thinking different societies cannot survive together in America.
Pravda's has divided North America into several states:
Republic of Alaska: Russian nationalism has lead Pravda to think Alaska would be a natural ally of Russia. This ignores most Alaskans are the descendants of American colonialists who see Russia as a competitor.
People’s Democratic Republic of Western North America: Left Coast Hippies
Republica Del Norte: Pravda foresees Mexico taking back (and then some) America's southwest. A main question is would other Hispanics like Salvadorans go along with Mexican imperialism. At least Pravda realize Del Norte would be a corrupt oil state.
Soviet Zapatista Union: Southern Mexico is to gain independence from a Mexico more pleased with northern expansion.
New Mormon Zion Kingdom: Mormons are to unite and take over the Mountain West. This ignores the fact that less than half of Salt Lake City is Mormon and that all Mormons desire a return to theodemocracy.
Lakota Tribal Confederation: "Covering the ancestral lands, this traditional but libertarian loose confederation of Indian clans and whites who share their culture, has already declared its independence, making it official in 2008." By this they mean terrorist turned oddly Republican Russell Means and a few of his anti-Sioux Reservation government Indian pals. Plus, any one from this part of the country knows race relations between Whites and the former American Indian Movement terrorists is anything but well.
Republic of Texas: Required for any breakup of the United States scenario.
Confederate States of America: Ditto. However, now Blacks have the right to vote and are in positions of power.
Cuban Commonwealth: Cuba is to annex the "colonized" Florida Keys. Problems: 1) Little Havana is not in the Keys 2) Cubans in Florida are overwhelmingly anti-Castro 3) The Keys have a high proportion of homosexuals (something the Castros have historically hated).
New England Commonwealth: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and much of upstate New York, as well as Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward’s Island. So welfare state meets fishing provinces who desperately need welfare. People’s Democratic Republic of Western North America on the East Coast.
Republic of Quebec: Can the French hold back an alliance of English Canadians, immigrants, and American Indians who do not want a free French Quebec?
US Federal Government + Canada: Left overs.
Russia is hurting. There are several wars in the southeast where ethnic Muslim groups are fighting a civil war over independence. Ethnic Russians are dying off in droves without leaving enough children behind. Meanwhile, Whites in the United States are only keeping even. The big difference; however, is America can make more Americans. Race and ethnicity can be overcome if everyone agrees being American means holding the same ideals. Russia is stuck being an ethnic Empire. Jealousy is ugly.
Now the former Soviet Union propaganda newspaper of Pravda has taken a swing at dividing North America. This effort shows a bit more geographic knowledge of locations and ties but makes the critical mistake of thinking different societies cannot survive together in America.
Pravda's has divided North America into several states:
Republic of Alaska: Russian nationalism has lead Pravda to think Alaska would be a natural ally of Russia. This ignores most Alaskans are the descendants of American colonialists who see Russia as a competitor.
People’s Democratic Republic of Western North America: Left Coast Hippies
Republica Del Norte: Pravda foresees Mexico taking back (and then some) America's southwest. A main question is would other Hispanics like Salvadorans go along with Mexican imperialism. At least Pravda realize Del Norte would be a corrupt oil state.
Soviet Zapatista Union: Southern Mexico is to gain independence from a Mexico more pleased with northern expansion.
New Mormon Zion Kingdom: Mormons are to unite and take over the Mountain West. This ignores the fact that less than half of Salt Lake City is Mormon and that all Mormons desire a return to theodemocracy.
Lakota Tribal Confederation: "Covering the ancestral lands, this traditional but libertarian loose confederation of Indian clans and whites who share their culture, has already declared its independence, making it official in 2008." By this they mean terrorist turned oddly Republican Russell Means and a few of his anti-Sioux Reservation government Indian pals. Plus, any one from this part of the country knows race relations between Whites and the former American Indian Movement terrorists is anything but well.
Republic of Texas: Required for any breakup of the United States scenario.
Confederate States of America: Ditto. However, now Blacks have the right to vote and are in positions of power.
Cuban Commonwealth: Cuba is to annex the "colonized" Florida Keys. Problems: 1) Little Havana is not in the Keys 2) Cubans in Florida are overwhelmingly anti-Castro 3) The Keys have a high proportion of homosexuals (something the Castros have historically hated).
New England Commonwealth: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and much of upstate New York, as well as Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward’s Island. So welfare state meets fishing provinces who desperately need welfare. People’s Democratic Republic of Western North America on the East Coast.
Republic of Quebec: Can the French hold back an alliance of English Canadians, immigrants, and American Indians who do not want a free French Quebec?
US Federal Government + Canada: Left overs.
Russia is hurting. There are several wars in the southeast where ethnic Muslim groups are fighting a civil war over independence. Ethnic Russians are dying off in droves without leaving enough children behind. Meanwhile, Whites in the United States are only keeping even. The big difference; however, is America can make more Americans. Race and ethnicity can be overcome if everyone agrees being American means holding the same ideals. Russia is stuck being an ethnic Empire. Jealousy is ugly.
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Halloween Geography: Incomplete and Way Too Short List of Geographical Development of Monsters
During October Catholicgauze likes to have a little fun and wright Halloween-related posts. This is not really a series and I do not know how many I will write or repost this month.
The nature, identity, and traits of monsters have changed over time. One element that has only partially been examined is the geographical location of monsters in stories. By examining various cultural stages of developments one realizes there is a correlation with where monsters are found. This list is by no means complete but is based on my cultural geographic observations and readings of myths.
Barbarian, Rural (Semi-civilized) Society: As Western Europe festered in the Dark Ages and the outskirts of still bright Eastern Europe were Roman Byzantine in name only, a new geographic relationship with monsters began. Society was settled and so was the monster. Humans had conquered their own little patch of territory but where the gates ended the terrifying wild world began. The story Beowulf tells how the Danish barbarian king’s settlement was attacked by its neighbors which were a demon, the demon’s mother, and a dragon. Meanwhile, Adobe-dwelling Indians in the American Southwest had stories of skinwalkers, people who left their villages but lived nearby to turn into flesh-eating monsters.
From Dark Age to Modern Age: As cultures conquered the nature of their homes monsters were pushed to the edges of the map. "Here be monsters" was used term on maps. It was easy to dismiss monsters at home but the frequent arrival of descriptions of places like Arabia, Africa, China and elsewhere led to even scientific minds to accept the possibility of monsters still existing in far off lands. Thomas Jefferson himself wondered what sort of animals would be found by Lewis and Clark on their journey through the poorly documented American Interior.
Early Globalization: The first truly global culture was Victorian England. Nature was firmly conquered on Great Britain and local monster stories faded away expect in the most rural areas. What came into being was the idea of a foreign monster invasion. This mirrors the rise in invasion literature which was popular in the time. Also, there were still black/blank spaces on the map which allowed people’s supposedly scientific mind to run wild with all sorts of imaginative ideas, including monsters. The Lost World is a great example of the scientific world allowing itself to believe in blank spots where monsters could exist. However, the early globalization monster is best personified by Dracula. A foreign creature from the dark spot of Transylvania utilized the global system to invade England itself, establish itself in the English system, and run amock.
Modern, Urban Cultures: Modern cultures have treated monsters in two different ways: by demonisterifying the monsters and by pushing the creatures to the outer most limits. Instead of the classic monsters like werewolves and vampires we have moody teenagers ala CW, Twilight, and their related ilk. What remains are extraterrestrials and other cosmic being that live in no particular place, at least in the physical sense. That was not always true as the first extraterrestrials were claimed by the contactees to be from nearby places like Venus, the Moon, and Mars. However, as probes become better aliens were forced off these planets and implanted in our minds to space’s outer most rim and beyond. Besides aliens there are inter-dimensional beings of various sorts like shadow men who can pop in and out of our universe.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Hawaii versus Hawai'i
For the last few years Catholicgauze has noticed an increasing use of the spelling of the fiftieth-state as "Hawai'i" instead of the standard "Hawaii." After a while of putting it off I decided to look into it.
Unlike other geographic confusions like England versus Great Britain versus the United Kingdom, Netherlands (Holland) versus the Netherlands, or nation versus state versus nation-state, this is a battle over the same place using a different spelling.
The choice of Hawaii or Hawai'i seemed to make no sense. The official seal of the state has "Hawaii" and "Hawaii" is also found all over the state's official website. Other state websites like the governor's use "Hawai'i" while the tourism department uses both.
Looking into why there is an apostrophe revealed something that does not surprises me: ethnic geopolitics. Both the English language and the missionary-inspired Latin alphabet for the Hawaiian language have the islands as "Hawaii." All documents dealing with the kingdom, republic, and territory have the spelling as "Hawaii." The same holds true for early documents of the state until the 1990s. However, in the 1980s 'Okina, apostrophes in words to stress sounds, was introduced into Hawaiian. Now, "Hawai'i" is preferred by ethnic Hawaiian nationalists who wish to stress the native aspects of the island. In a puritanical way they have adopted an invention to separate themselves not only from "outsiders" but also traditional Hawaiian culture. A cultural wave has supported the spelling of "Hawai'i" to emphasize the native, exotic quality of the state. The backers of "Hawai'i" have strong sway right now and are pushing hard for Hawaiians to be considered a native race like American Indians; giving them the power to establish race-based sovereign governments.
Now, to decide what is what. The US Board on Geographic Names, the government body in charge of deciding what a place's official name is, has declared the following.
Unlike other geographic confusions like England versus Great Britain versus the United Kingdom, Netherlands (Holland) versus the Netherlands, or nation versus state versus nation-state, this is a battle over the same place using a different spelling.
The choice of Hawaii or Hawai'i seemed to make no sense. The official seal of the state has "Hawaii" and "Hawaii" is also found all over the state's official website. Other state websites like the governor's use "Hawai'i" while the tourism department uses both.
Looking into why there is an apostrophe revealed something that does not surprises me: ethnic geopolitics. Both the English language and the missionary-inspired Latin alphabet for the Hawaiian language have the islands as "Hawaii." All documents dealing with the kingdom, republic, and territory have the spelling as "Hawaii." The same holds true for early documents of the state until the 1990s. However, in the 1980s 'Okina, apostrophes in words to stress sounds, was introduced into Hawaiian. Now, "Hawai'i" is preferred by ethnic Hawaiian nationalists who wish to stress the native aspects of the island. In a puritanical way they have adopted an invention to separate themselves not only from "outsiders" but also traditional Hawaiian culture. A cultural wave has supported the spelling of "Hawai'i" to emphasize the native, exotic quality of the state. The backers of "Hawai'i" have strong sway right now and are pushing hard for Hawaiians to be considered a native race like American Indians; giving them the power to establish race-based sovereign governments.
Now, to decide what is what. The US Board on Geographic Names, the government body in charge of deciding what a place's official name is, has declared the following.
- The state is: Hawaii (made official by congress during entry into statehood, USBGN cannot change this)
- The main island chain is: the Hawai'ian Islands (changed in 2001 from "Hawaiian Islands")
- The big island is: The Island of Hawai'i (was Hawaii from 1914 until 1999)
- The leeward islands are: Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (made official in 1987)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Interview with Dr. Reardon-Anderson of Georgetown University
Dr. James Reardon-Anderson of Georgetown University is making an effort to bring geography into his foreign service class. Sadly, some students oppose this move because they do not see the purpose of geography in the "Map of the Modern World Class." Not one but two Facebook groups have even been established to give voice to the protesters.
Dr. Reardon-Anderson has taken time out of his busy schedule and allowed himself to be interviewed by Catholicgauze. Here below are the questions and answers.
Catholicgauze: What convinced you to add geography to the Map of the Modern World class?
Dr. Reardon-Anderson: I have long believed that physical geography has been both important and neglected in the study of international affairs -- as well as other areas of human behavior. I consider this neglect a major short-coming of education at SFS (and other institutions of higher learning) and think it is time to introduce it into the curriculum.
CG: You have encountered some public opposition by students to the change. Why do you think that is?
DRA: There has been considerable negative reaction to the announced change in the content of the course, "Map of the Modern World." The reasons are varied. It is better to let the critics speak for themselves.
CG: Do you know of any other efforts by Georgetown to integrate geography into other classes?
DRA: I believe geography is included in some courses in the major on 'Science, Technology and International Affairs,' but not in other parts of the curriculum. That is why I have taken this initiative myself.
CG: What does geography mean to you?
DRA: The course in question focuses on physical geography, which include land forms, climate and the resultant life forms and their impacts on human behavior. This is a particular take on "geography" and does not represent the discipline as a whole.
I would like to personally thank Dr. Reardon-Anderson for taking time out of his day to be interviewed for this blog.
Dr. Reardon-Anderson has taken time out of his busy schedule and allowed himself to be interviewed by Catholicgauze. Here below are the questions and answers.
Catholicgauze: What convinced you to add geography to the Map of the Modern World class?
Dr. Reardon-Anderson: I have long believed that physical geography has been both important and neglected in the study of international affairs -- as well as other areas of human behavior. I consider this neglect a major short-coming of education at SFS (and other institutions of higher learning) and think it is time to introduce it into the curriculum.
CG: You have encountered some public opposition by students to the change. Why do you think that is?
DRA: There has been considerable negative reaction to the announced change in the content of the course, "Map of the Modern World." The reasons are varied. It is better to let the critics speak for themselves.
CG: Do you know of any other efforts by Georgetown to integrate geography into other classes?
DRA: I believe geography is included in some courses in the major on 'Science, Technology and International Affairs,' but not in other parts of the curriculum. That is why I have taken this initiative myself.
CG: What does geography mean to you?
DRA: The course in question focuses on physical geography, which include land forms, climate and the resultant life forms and their impacts on human behavior. This is a particular take on "geography" and does not represent the discipline as a whole.
I would like to personally thank Dr. Reardon-Anderson for taking time out of his day to be interviewed for this blog.
Geography Battle at Georgetown University
All Points Blog has a short blurb (below) about one professor's effort to introduce geography into a foreign service class at Georgetown University.
Clearly politics needs to have a very high perch in an international affairs class. However, too often these types of classes only do international politics. They ignore deeply powerful varables like physical geography, cultural differences which determine the end goals for various parties, religion, and so much more. If done correctly, Dr. Reardon-Anderson can open up many minds to the factors deeper than politics in international studies. Good luck to him!
Map of the Modern World is the name of a course in the Georgetown School of Foreign Service. It's being reshaped per James Reardon-Anderson, director of the Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service program. The new version focuses on physical geography and its role in international affairs.The blurb has a link to the Georgetown Voice article on the matter.
Per the school paper: "The changes will be embodied by three lectures on the fundamental forces that shape physical geography at the beginning of the course and a final lecture on global climate change. Reardon-Anderson, who will be teaching the class, acknowledged that the changes are part of the SFS’s effort to increase its students’ exposure to the sciences."
Students are not pleased. A protest group has sprung up on Facebook with more than 300 members. Some feel political issues will take a backseat to geography.
Clearly politics needs to have a very high perch in an international affairs class. However, too often these types of classes only do international politics. They ignore deeply powerful varables like physical geography, cultural differences which determine the end goals for various parties, religion, and so much more. If done correctly, Dr. Reardon-Anderson can open up many minds to the factors deeper than politics in international studies. Good luck to him!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)