Maps Uncommon on 2012 Presidential Campaign Websites

In 2007 I remarked on how both French presidential candidates used interactive maps on their websites.  In the same post I pointed out only Wesley Clark, among all the 2008 American presidential candidates, had an interactive map on his campaign site.  Now in the 2012, interactive maps are not to be found.  What is somewhat worse though is that anysort of map on a presidential campaign website is rare and those to be found are likely to have noticeable errors.

Republicans

Among the Republicans Rick Perry, Jon Huntsman, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich, Buddy Roemer, and Michele Bachmann all lack a map on their main page.

Both Mitt Romney and Herman Cain have a map of the 48 contiguous states, no Alaska nor Hawaii, serving as a link to subpages.

Ron Paul has a map of all fifty states on his homepage; however, the map also has Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Lake Huron as states as well.

Ron Paul's America has a gold currency and 53 states (Lake Erie and Lake Ontario apparently are Canadian provinces)

Only Garry Johnson, the alternative to Ron Paul libertarian candidate, has all fifty states (and only fifty) on a map on his homepage.

None of the maps are mashups though and they all serve as merely links to other subpages.

Democrat

Barack Obama's 2012 website has a "choose your state" map which includes Alaska and Hawaii.

Growing Jobs Market for Geographic Minded People

Not everyone is meant to be a geographer is a geography degree a must.  However, spatial knowledge (the understanding what is where, why there, and why care) and skills to not only "map" out what needs to be studied but also being able to analyze are needed skills in many jobs.  ESRI, the United States Department of Labor, and the British Royal Geographical Society (PDF) are all emphasizing how businesses need not necessarily "geographers" but people who can do geography to improve business.  The Department of Labor even predicts the geospatial technology field will continue to be a "high growth industry."

So if you or someone you know is educating themselves for a future career, consider taking geography courses that will emphasize spatial thinking.  You never know who will look at your resume and see spatial thinking as a plus.

Syria Civil War Maps Batch Two - Syrian Air Defenses

Libyan War Maps 
Syrian Arab Spring Protest Maps - Batch One
Syria Civil War Maps Batch Two - Syrian Air Defenses 
Syria Civil War Maps Batch Three - Twitter and News Update Maps 
Syria Civil War Maps Batch Four - The Soccer Map  
Syria Civil War Maps: Batch Five - Ceasefire Violations
Syria Civil War Maps: Batch Six - Houla   
Syria Civil War Maps: Batch Seven - June 2012    
Syria Civil War Maps: Batch Eight - Battle of Damascus 
Syria Civil War Maps: Batch Nine - September 2012 
Syria Civil War Maps Batch Ten - October 2012 
Syria Civil War Maps Batch Eleven - Propaganda Maps
Syria Civil War Maps Batch Twelve - First Quarter 2013
Syria Civil War Maps Batch Thirteen - Chemical Weapons Attack?
Syria Civil War Maps Batch Fourteen - Israel Strikes Again
Syria Civil War Maps Batch Fifteen - Second Quarter 2013
Syria Civil War Maps Batch Sixteen - The Coming Western Intervention
Syria Civil War Maps Batch Seventeen - Al Qaedastan in Iraq and Syria

The protesters, now turning into rebels, in Syria are desperately trying to copy the success the rebels of Libya.  First, the Libyan rebels established a republic by founding a National Transition Council so the Syrian rebels setup on Sunday the Syrian National Council (SNC).

Now the SNC realize that a NATO-led air war in the model of Libya is needed to stop the tide of the Baath Party's Syrian Arab Republic's war machine.  The SNC has not only learned the lessons of Libya but also the need to establish easy to reach information like in Tunisia and Egypt.  To accomplish this SNC has published maps of the Syrian Arab Republic's air defenses!  This pretty much says "bomb here to establish air dominance."  Unlike Iranian protesters, it seems Syrians have no problem with foreign intervention right now.  (Hat tip: Foreign Policy)

October 2011 Travel Photo: Justice Square, Riyadh

From Saturday to Thursday Justice Square in downtown Riyadh, Saudi Arabia is a normal courtyard in front of the Ministry of Justice building.  Children play in the water fountains and men play soccer in the vast openess while women gather and chat.

Then Friday comes around.  On Friday thieves who were caught for the third time and murders are drained of blood to lower their resistance.  They are then brought to the square where the fountains do not run, children and men do not play, and women do not chat.  Instead the square is filled with people who want to see what some call "chop-chop square."  A Saudi police man has a sword while an imam gives prayers.




Non-Muslims are actually highly encouraged to go the front of the crowd.  Saudis like to show off what "true justice" is.  Meanwhile, as a Saudi told me, the government likes to tell the condemned that the last thing they will see is an infidel looking at them.

The deed is done and the crowd disperses. The fountains begin to run again.  The water helps wash the blood into the drains.  The kids, men, and women return to Justice Square to talk and play.

Extreme Weather Killing Less People

The libertarian but acknowledging human impact on climate Reason Foundation has published a detail report documingtin how extreme weather is killing less people since 1900.  Extreme Weather Events Are Killing Fewer People Than Ever Before states that deaths from extreme weather events are down 98%!

The decline is deaths is due to much more than warmer weather killing less than colder weather.  Death from droughts, which caused 60% of extreme weather deaths, is down 99.9% since the 1920s.  Meanwhile deaths from floods is down 98% and deaths from storms such as hurricanes and alike are down 55%.

Less deaths are happening due to extreme weather, according to the study

Interestingly though is the dramatic increase in events despite the drop in deaths.  The study states "the average number of extreme weather events recorded increased from 2.5 per year in the 1920s to 8.5 in the 1940s to 350 per year for the period 2000-2010."  The reason given for the contradiction is better communication and scientific reporting giving warning of events as well as economic development which gives better sheltering infrastructure.

Help Scientists Discover Extrasolar Planets

The explorers of old dreamed of new, strange lands beyond the reach of ancient ships.  The explorers of yesteryear dreamed of overlooked lands, the territories which we knew of but remained blank on maps.  Both these types of explorers wondered about lands which they could not see but could visit if only they knew the way.

But today's explorers can dream about lands which we can see but cannot visit due to the great space between them.  I am talking about planets beyond our solar system.

When I was born there was no scientific consensus on whether or not there were planets beyond our solar system.  Many thought there were but no one could prove it.  Now extrasolar planets are scientific facts and there are new planets found every month.  I have repeatedly blogged about the new discoveries and wealth of information available on these planets.

Now the discoverers of extrasolar planets need your help in finding these worlds.  Planet Hunter, a joint venture by Yale University and Zooniverse, is allowing anyone to look over sceintific data for signs of extrasolar planets.  The user is shown light intensity from stars.  If the intensity drops dramatically it is possibly from a planet eclipsing the light.  The user, once they identify the drop in light intensity, can simply drag and drop a box around the data to call for further scientific review.

Crowd sourcing technology is allowing for any computer user to become a geographer (astronomy was once part of the classic science of geography).  Whether one is helping National Geographic look for Genghis Khan's lost tomb or finding alien worlds, this is a great time to help explore the universe.

United States of [Insert Region Here]

When one thinks of the "United States" one most probably thinks of the United States of America.  The namely "translates" to "the union of countries on the American continent."  The name is that way because the original idea when founding the country was a federal system where highly autonomous units, basically their own country in terms of domestically, while united in international and interstate matters.

However, the United States of America was not the only country to be called "the United States."  There were others which shared federalism and in some cases freedom.

United States of Belgium

Both founded and collapsed by 1790, the United States of Belgium was the first sense of independence Austrian Netherlands (present-day Belgium) had.  The Enlightenment republic rebelled against the Holy Roman Empire's effort to centralize political control in the region.  The rebels modeled their republic on the Dutch Republic and the United States of America.  However, Austrian troops of the Holy Roman Empire managed to crush the rebellion within months.

Republic of the United States of Brazil

Unlike other United States, the Republic of the United States of Brazil was never a true democracy.  The elections were rigged and the republic was little different from the Empire of Brazil which the republic replaced in 1889.  The federal system was meant to give states freedom from the central government but the federal government was quickly usurped by oligarchs from the most populaces coastal states.  The republic eventually fell into control of President Getúlio Vargas who in the 1930s turned the country into the quasi-fascist New State.  The Republic of the United States outlasted Vargas, however, and existed until the military coup of 1964.

The United States of Colombia

This United States was the first iteration of Colombia to be called "Colombia."  The system was meant to give each Colombian state more autonomy in order to limit the amount of civil wars in the country.  However, the United States, which lasted from 1863 until 1886, was unable to stop the on-again, off-again fighting and was reformed as the Republic of Colombia.

The Republic of the United States of Indonesia

The Republic of United States of Indonesia was an effort by the Dutch to save face in the late 1940s after their defeat in quelling Indonesian rebels.  The United States were a combination of Sukarno's Republic of Indonesia, liberated Java and Sumatra, and various other islands which were established as states by the Dutch.  However, the states did not care of the Dutch established boundaries and dissolved themselves into the Republic of Indonesia within the first six months of 1950.

The United States of the Ionian Islands

The United States of the Ionian Islands were a British protectorate which was located off the western coast of Greece.  Originally a republic, it was first a Ottoman then French protectorate where Greeks enjoyed the first freedom from Turkish rule since the Ottoman conquests.  A British commissioner oversaw a local Parliament.  The United States lasted from 1815 until 1864 when they were absorbed into the Kingdom of Greece.

The United States of Venezuela

The United States of Venezuela was founded out of the Conservative versus Liberal war of the 1850s and 1860s.  The Liberals won out defeating the land-owning Conservatives and issued in an initial wave of land reform and decentralization, hence the United States.  However, like most Liberal parties of the old Latin America, the Liberals of Venezuela eventually became the new oligarchs.  The United States of Venezuela lasted until 1953 when military dictator Marcos Pérez Jiménez renamed the country to the Republic of Venezuela as an emphasize to his centralized control.

The United States of Stellaland

The United States of Stellaland was the union of two Boer, Africans of Dutch descent, republics: Stellaland and Goshen, formed in 1882.  The United States based much of its laws off the major Boer republic the South African Republic.  The United States was forcibly annexed by the United Kingdom in 1885 and eventually became part of Botswana.