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Category Archives: Geography

Michael Totten again, this time On the Road to Kosovo

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“Lippmann…argued in his best-selling book called Public Opinion that democracy was fundamentally flawed. People, he said, mostly know the world only indirectly, through “pictures they make up in their heads.” And they receive these mental pictures largely through the media. The problem, Lippmann argued, is that the pictures people have in their heads are hopelessly [...]

Food riots in a city near you?

The Telegraph had a grim story this week:

Food riots. Scores of panicked people protesting, burning effigies and chanting. Shops being ransacked, supplies running out as soon as they come in, and stricken communities stockpiling rice, bread and water for fear of going without. These have happened in Haiti and Egypt in recent months as the [...]

And now for somewhere completely different

 The Financial Times has great story about that profoundly strange and beautiful country, Japan:
In Japan, the trees are blue. So are the traffic lights, even though they look decidedly green to uninitiated outsiders. The Japanese do have a word for green, but when it comes to foliage and traffic signals, blue is the preferred term.
Blue [...]

The city and its impact on our genes

INSTANT EVOLUTION: The Influence of the City on Human Genes by Howard Bloom, Visiting Scholar, New York University.
Howard Bloom is a genius. I rate him as one of the most interesting living intellectuals. He is an intellectual idol of mine, king of the The Omnologists, polymath, gentleman and scholar.
Just look at any of his [...]

Tornado Chaser Car

Behold the worlds first purpose built Tornado chaser car. It is a long-wheelbase 1997 Ford F-450 diesel dually pickup.
Looks like an elongated Dalek to me. Owner describes it as “just a big mobile tripod for the camera”. MORE

Where is the Gandhi of Islam? By Charles Moore

Absolutely superb article by the veteran UK journalist. I was going to try and quote some of it. No point. Read it all.

Excellent new American Scientist Newsletter

From July 12 2005 Issue:
Cardinal’s Op-Ed on Evolution Redefines Church’s Position
Last week, Roman Catholic Cardinal Christoph Schnborn penned an op-ed in the New York Times that pulled back from the church’s position on evolution, denying that chance plays any role. “Evolution in the sense of common ancestry might be true,” he wrote, “but evolution [...]

Sharpest ever global Earth map

Press Release

Google Maps hits the UK

The supremely cool Google maps is now available for the UK. Seems to be missing some of the US functionality (like Satellite map overlays) but it is still in Beta.
http://maps.google.co.uk./

HOW-TO: Make your own annotated multimedia Google map

Incredible fun with Google Maps hacking. Pity is US only at present. I particularly love uses like the live Seattle 911 incidents map.
Several years ago after reading about then Mayor Giuliani ’s CompStat crime tracking system, I wanted to plot crime incidents onto a live map of London. The idea was scotched by the non-availability [...]