The Anti-Statue of Liberty

Thomas Friedman, New Times columnist, writing in a recent column, makes a motion to only support those candidates that unite Americans around "a common purpose, not a common enemy." I second that motion.

For the last six years, our country's leadership has developed an extremely myopic view of American policy, whether it is domestic or foreign. As a result, we have become, as TF states in his column, "The United States of Fighting Terrorism." I would argue that we are not winning that war on any front. Our civil liberties have been soundly thrashed by the continued Executive Privilege power and Justice Department complicity. Not only have U.S. citizens been victimized by this, but we continue to rob others of their human rights. And our leaders continue to admonish others for their human rights abuses.

All the while, China surges every day. China is in Africa, working economic deals, pledging dollars, people, equipment, and support to African states – building relationships. China is in South America, doing the same, building relationships. China is in Southeast Asia, guess what, doing the same thing – building relationships. Not relationships based on fear mongering, but relationships based on mutually agreeable economic terms.

The U.S must live by example of the ideals that have made this country the model against which all other countries are judged. We cannot lead duplicitous lives, saying one thing, "we support freedom," while we repress people at home, or abroad.

The best way to fight terrorism is not by fighting terrorism. Fighting terrorism is not best accomplished by Guantanamo Bay, a void in the world's legal system where du jour rules apply, a hallmark that stands in stark contrast to our Statue of Liberty. Guantanano Bay: The Anti-Statue of Liberty, as labeled by TF.

The best way to fight terrorism is by living right in the first place, by building consistency into our lives, into our actions. By showing the world that not only do we care about our own, but we care about you, too.

Global GDP Comparison

What if we renamed some of our states using the name of the country whose GDP most closely matches the state GDP?

That is the idea behind this map. The idea is not unique to me. I saw a similar map on another blog whose link I have lost. But having a mapping background I decided to obtain my own data and construct my own map.

I could not determine an analog for all states, which I found interesting. I am initially attributing the lack of an analog to the derth of "middle-income" countries that could potentially match-up with our "middle-income" states. If someone else dives into this, please let me know about your findings.

Who Fears Berserkistan?

Lesser Berserkistan, of course!

Sorry, Gary T. I didn't get your permission to post. I do think that your treatment of these events hit home, however.

Let's form a sub-committee to investigate the deaths of hundreds, thousands, millions of people, e.g. Sudan/Darfur, Rwanda. Particularly while it is happening. Oh, yeah, while we are at it, I think we need a sub-committee to investigate human-trafficking, as well. We could probably have a 700-1,000 page report out in about 3 years. Then, we could engage Congress to act, and maybe in a couple years, have a resolution to oppose human trafficking. Over the course of the next decade or so, we could put out posters, emails, radio and TV blurbs encouraging people to cut down on their human-trafficking. In 50 years or so, human-trafficking might be as wide-spread as polio is today.

Whose the Greater Destabilizer?

In geography, we talk about devolution. Devolution is the breakdown of a state [country/nation] due to internal division. Some other terms that are also associated with devolution are Balkanization, Shatterbelt, and Failing/Failed States. When people within a region, whether that region be a state, nation, or realm, become disenfranchised with their government or method of governance, conditions are ripe for devolution.

The United States is embroiled in a process of nation-building in Iraq. We are encouraging Iraqi people to reduce their cultural ties to their tribes or larger family units and increase their identification with the greater Iraqi state. However, admirable this action might seem, the United States has not proven to be the Great Unifier.

I begin my argument by submitting that the current state of U.S. affairs in Southwest Asia can be traced to 1953. In reality, the creation of the state of Israel might be the birth of the modern era of conflict in Southwest Asia. I choose 1953 as my baseline due to the U.S. support of the Iranian Coup that overthrew the democratically-elected government of Mohammed Mossadeq. The British petroleum company, BP, was the private oil industry in Iran at the time. The Iranians, weary of seeing their oil and oil profits siphoned off to the West, nationalized the oil industry. The West, namely the United States and Great Britain, saw this as a threat. Operation Ajax was born out of the desire to regain control of oil resources in Iran.

Eventually, this would lead to the overthrow of the Shah of Iran, Reza Pahlavi, in 1979, beginning the theocratic rule still in place today.

Let us not forget that Iran was once Persia, which was once the Persian Empire, and is a nation and a people whose history pre-dates that of any European nation.

In 1982, the United States threw their support behind Saddam Hussein in his war 8-yr war against Iran. At that time, the war was turning against Iraq, and the U.S. did not think that it was in its interests for Iraq to lose.

In the meantime, during the decade of the 1980's, the United States cast its lot with the Muslim Afghan rebels in Afghanistan. The effort to help the Afghans against the Soviet march resulted in the most successful covert action in the history of the CIA. We also helped train those we are at war with now, in Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

In 1990, two years after its war with Iran, Iraq found itself at war with its former weapons supplier, the United States.

In 2002, the United States instituted a policy of regime change in Afghanistan, a nation that we were the benefactor of for almost a decade.

In 2003, the United States implemented regime change within Iraq. The coup in Iran in 1953 might also be termed, "regime change."

Currently, the United States has engaged both Syria and Iran in helping resolve conflict within Iraq. Both Syria and Iran have been marginalized through the "Axis of Evil" label. Both the United States and Iran have engaged in finger-pointing - "You're responsible for making this worse!"

Iran is being accused of providing more sophisticated IEDs and other weapons to Iraqi insurgents. In April 2007, ABC News ran a story about our secret efforts in Iran.

Lebanon had parliamentary elections the other day. A predominantly Muslim nation, but with sizable Christian and Armenian minority populations, by the way. The candidate supported by the United States - lost. The former president, Amin Gemayel was trying to win the seat vacated by his son. Analysts believe that the support by the Bush Administration doomed his election.

In closing, I offer this. Destabilization of this region cannot be attributed to any single nation. Russia, China, France, Great Britain, the United States, Iran, Israel, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Libya - who am I leaving out? - are all responsible. Destabilization may have a core cause: Oil.

One thought I do have is this: discounting Oil, the basis for this destabilization is founded on the inherent disrespect that nations have for each other. Nations, and administrators of those nations, lack fundamental respect for differences among themselves, the people they government, and the lives in the far-flung reaches of our global that their policies directly or indirectly affect.

Islam and Democracy

Can Islam and Democracy co-exist? Or, in other words, is a democracy the best form of government for Iraq, or for any other nation in the region, for that matter? Iraq is not the only example of U.S. regime change within the region, only the latest.

To answer this question, I wanted to find evidence that Islam and Democracy were co-existing currently within our global neighborhood. I turned to the CIA World Factbook, the source of all things true.

Indonesia> Most muslims do not live in the Muslim World, in the Arab World, or in the Middle East. They live, among other places, in Indonesia. Over 200 million Muslims live in Indonesia, along side Christians, Buddhists, and Hindis. Indonesia is a republic, not a dictatorship or monarchy, but a representative-style governmental system.

Pakistan> Technically, Pakistan is also a republic. However, Pervez Musharraf in an army general who took over the government. Benazir Bhutto was once Prime Minister of Pakistan, the first woman president of Pakistan, the first woman president of a Muslim nation, and also democratically-elected. She was removed from office for corruption, further evidence that a democracy works. Pakistan is 97% Muslim, or about 159 million Muslims.

India> India? Yes, India is the 3rd most populous Muslim nation, having about 143 million Muslims. The former president of India was Muslim. The new incoming president of India, Pratibha Patil, is a 72-year old woman. India is also the largest democratic nation on the planet.

Egypt> Egypt, technically, is a republic. Egypt has elections (once in a while), and has a representative-style government. Egypt is also home to 80 million Muslims, coming in a #4. Also, living in Egypt are about 8 Million or so Christians, both Coptic and otherwise.

Turkey> Turkey is a republic, and has recently experience national elections, where the former president Erdogan was elected once again. The military got a little excited over his election as Erdogan leans toward mainstream Islam, and the military, forged from Ataturk's legacy, is very wary of people too expressive of Islam. Turkey is almost 99.8% Muslim, or 7o million Muslims.

Iran> Iran is a theocratic republic. Now, this is interesting. The Council of Ministers elects the president (Mahmoud Amadi-Nejad), and the Council of Experts elects the Supreme Leader, Ali Hoseini-KHAMENEI. The Council of Experts is a popularly-elected body of 86 religious scholars. So, Iran is a democracy of sorts, although it is run by religious tenets rather than secular laws. Iran is about 98% Muslim (64 Million Muslims).

Saudi Arabia> We have to traverse seven other nations before we reach the nation that supplied most of the 9/11 hijackers. SA is home to about 27 million Muslims. SA is NOT a democracy; SA is a monarchy and there is little chance that will change anytime soon.

At this point, I have an arguement to make.

I would argue that monarchys encourage radical Islam. I base this argument on two ideas. One, there is no "buy-in" of the local population, that is, they have no representation, they have no stake in the affairs of their government. They do not get to decide where money gets spent, how it gets spent, or even if it gets spent. Secondly, monarchys control the wealth and foist policies onto populations that may be unpopular or unfair. The majority of the populations see the monarchy get richer, build new homes, drive expensive cars, while they toil and work. The hope to change the system, to elect a new leader, to vote or decide on policies does not exist. Thusly, an environment of hopelessness ensues that provides a breeding ground for discontent. Enter: Radical Islam to stir the nest.

Our government is preparing to sell $30 billion dollars worth of military equipment to a monarchy whose people have no vested interest in their government.

The question is not whether or not Islam and Democracy can co-exist.

The question is how can we increase economic opportunities for primarily Muslim nations, and encourage populations to become more active in their governments.

America's Fastest-Growing Dystopias

America's fastest-growing suburbs

The migration to the Sunbelt continues. Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and southern California comprise the Sunbelt. The Sunbelt area has fewer cloudy days than many other areas of the country, hence the moniker, "Sunbelt."

Granted, the community of Lincoln, CA., is located on the fringe of the Sunbelt, but its growth seems to be due to emigrants of southern California. Lincoln grew by 236%, which amounts to almost 30,000 people. Gilbert, AZ., grew by almost 115,000 people.

The Sunbelt, while being a beautiful place to live, if you like arid conditions, and that is just it - arid, is also a DESERT. And the population density (the number of people per unit area) of the area continues to grow. Water resources are already stretched beyond recharge rates for the region (the ability of the hydrologic cycle to recharge or replenish itself). The increase in population also requires more schools and improved infrastructure. Growth seems to be happening so fast that it is outpacing the bureaucracy designed to manage the growth.

Sprawl is another issue associated with this growth. Sprawl is the encroachment of urban areas into rural space. Rather than grow "up" urban areas grow "out." The outward growth can consume farmland, which rarely returns to farmland, essentially lost. In a desert environment, this might be less of an issue. However, sprawl can consume flora and fauna habitats. Sprawl also requires an increase in capacity and transmission distance. Utilities must be pulled farther out into the urban hinterland.

Another interesting note is the tone of relativity. Housing is more affordable and there is more housing. People seem to be growing weary of the press of humanity around them in southern California. The value they receive for their property also seems an issue. In other urban areas, people receive a better value for the same dollar. An recent article in The New York Time's, "In Silicon Valley, Millionaires Who Don't Feel Rich" several people mentioned in the article, whose net worths are in excess of $2 million dollars, feel as if millions of dollars in the bank is not enough to maintain their standard of living. One comments that they could live elsewhere and "live like a prince." The cost of keeping up with the Jones', when the Jones' are millionaires, creates an environment whereby having more than enough seems like not having enough, and, as a result, people lose contact with the "real" world around them.

Distopia.

Oil: The Criminal Crutch

Oil retards growth. The presence of oil retards growth. This flies in the face of conventional wisdom. This idea is not unique to me but I see validity within it. Let's see if I can explain.

Currently, as I write this, oil is priced about 76$/barrel, according to Bloomberg.com. A gallon of regular unleaded gas pumped in the town in which I am located runs about $2.76/gallon (Speedway).

Oil is supposed to be a wonderful benefactor for the countries in which oil is the primary industry (or is a primary industry). But lets look at some of those countries.

Iraq: Oil made it USA's friend, until Iraq's Saddam Hussein began causing trouble. He did not invest in the oil infrastructure nor did he seek to provide economic opportunities by diversifying his economy. Iraq is geographically positioned to be a source of industry, commerce, knowledge, and agricultural products. There is no reason why it could not be a self-sustaining economy.

Iran: Has to import fuel because profits from its own oil sales have not been used to build more refineries. In fact, many Iranians are curious to know where the money has really gone.

Saudi Arabia: Led by a monarchy, one family. While it has attempted to diversify the economy, 75% of its budget revenues come from oil, and 90% of its export revenue is oil-based (CIA.gov). Almost 50% of the Saudi Gross Domestic Product comes from oil. Not a particularly diversified economy. Now, they are instituting some reforms; but they have been pumping oil from SA for decades and only now they have decided that they might want to pass along the benefits to their own people. Women still fall well short of men in terms of literacy; 30% of women 15 years and older cannot read or write (CIA.gov).

Nigeria: Is a mess. The government is fighting a civil war over control of its oil fields. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta is fighting for control of the oil fields. In recent months, they have attacked foreign oil workers, oil equipment, taken hostages, and shot journalists covering the war. Nigerian oil exports are well off past production numbers. Oil accounts for 20% of Nigeria's DGP and 95% of its foreign exchange. Again, oil is nothing new to Nigeria, and government corruption and mismanagement has prevented growth in Africa's most populous country, where 40% of women above 15 years of age cannot read or write (CIA.gov).

Venezuela: Another country run by a dictator; well, okay, Hugo Chavez was democratically elected, but since then he was able to get his government to agree to let him rule by decree which is essentially electing him king. Now, he is trying to change Venezuela's constitution so that he might reign in perpetuity. Otherwise, he would have to give up his post in 2009. Venezuela is the third largest exporter of oil to the United States, behind Canada and Saudi Arabia. President Chavez has apparently funneled oil profits into social programs, helping to build houses, provide medical care, creating neighborhood food programs, job training, and literacy programs. Venezuela has suffered from years of oil-profit mismanagement, however, military coups, and corruption. Almost 90% of export earnings are from oil sales, and oil accounts for 30% of its GDP.

These countries stand on one leg - oil. They have relied on oil to support themselves, and in doing so they have stagnated. Oil, and reliance on oil, has retarded their growth by retarding their collective imaginations.

Take their oil away and where would these countries be? Would these countries have the innovation, the dreams, the desires, the imagination to develop and evolve in absence of oil? Would their governments try to encourage and promote economic opportunities, encourage and promote education, encourage and promote global investment?

Our current administration seems bound to continue limiting these countries by continuing to emphasize our reliance on these oil-producing nations and by not promoting economic diversification, but by providing them the means to make war on one another. Selling weapons ensures the continued economic divide that exists between the rich and poor, and reinforces the cultural divide between the Shia and Sunni. Weapons ensure that the powers that be within these governments remain in power, maintains the status quo, and contributes to the continued cultural and economic stagnation of these nations.

Thomas Friedman's Flat World

"The World Is Flat" should be required reading for every incoming college Freshman in the United States. We, the United States, is in BIG trouble. One, we are ignorant of the global forces at work around us. We are arrogant and see ourselves as The Bastion of Hope and Democracy. We are not. An arguement can be made that we are Exporters of Fear and Aggression. Our government focuses on the War on Terrorism, closing our borders, fencing us in, denying access to those that would come here to work, to help, to learn. We are the largest weapons merchant on the globe. Our government currently proposes to sell $30 billion worth of weapons to Egypt and Saudi Arabia to counter Iran.

We do not have to be in BIG trouble. We are also a country with a wealth of knowledge and ample opportunites for people to learn, live, grow, and to set forth the example of Hope and Democracy upon which our way of life was founded.

Unfortunately, our current administration suffers from paranoid delusions and uncontrollable fear.

The World Is Flattening

In 1960, Walter Rostow postulated that all countries pass through five stages of economic development. All countries initially begin as traditional agricultural societies, then build up and out. As their agricultural base evolves and diversifies, population grows, they will eventually reach preconditions for takeoff. Takeoff arrives when the country has a diversified economy, with industrial, commercial, agricultural activities, and a service sector that provides support and administrative capabilities. As these activities continue to grow and expand, coupled with an expansion of foreign investment opportunities, and the country becomes more entrenched within the global economy, the country drives to maturity. The final stage becomes that of high mass consumption. Now, the country and its people have reached a stage where incomes are high (generally speaking), industry, commerce, and technology have attained world-class recognition, and the government both oversees activities at home and promotes its national interests abroad.

Technology is helping countries leap-frog some of these stages. Global fiber optic cables are providing Internet access to locales once too remote or underdeveloped for telephone. Cell phones and associated towers encourage communication again in areas perhaps too remote or lacking land-line infrastructure. These technologies are being used by people to both push information into places and pull information and opportunities into places.

And that is what it is about: opportunity. Providing people opportunities to make their lives better, to improve upon what they already have. These technologies are equalizers, aka levelers, aka flatteners.

It is this freedom that is perhaps the greatest tool in the so-called "War on Terrorism." Terrorism thrives where hope and opportunities are restricted.

Provide opportunities, not $30 billions dollars in weapons sales, and see how terrorism spreads.

Fareed Zakaria & David Ignatius

Fareed Zakaria provides analysis and insight unlike all others. His articles and essays are favorites of mine. The price of Newsweek for his commentary alone is worth it.

I am less familiar with David Ignatius, but as Dr. Zakaria (he has a Ph.D in Political Science from Harvard) has partnered himself with David to host the PostGlobal blog website, I am sure that David's musing are just as insightful.

Make sure and check out Dr. Zakaria's articles and his article archive. "Does the Future Belong to China?" essay is one of my favorites, and I use it in my World Geography every semester.

Muslims Speak Out

But why did this have to take five years?

The Washington Post website, On Faith, is a fantastic website dealing with the issues of faith. Coverage includes most Christian faiths, though also includes some Judaism. Currently, On Faith is hosting several Muslim scholars who are entertaining questions regarding Islam and Arab faith. Controversial and challenging, the forum is much appreciated.

FT.com / Home UK / UK - US takes China to task over Iraq and Afghan arms

FT.com / Home UK / UK - US takes China to task over Iraq and Afghan arms

Arms: their use, distribution, and manufacturer have a definite geographic character. Many countries are net weapons exporters. France, Great Britain, China, North Korea, Iran, Syria, Germany, and, of course, the United States. The United States is the world's leader in weapon's production and export, according to FAS.org, Foreign Policy in Focus, and the World Policy Institute.

Sometimes, I wonder how long it will be before we are attacked with our own ordinance. A widely-reported fear is that our own military or commerical aircraft will be shot down with a Stinger missile.

Recently, the US has scrapped many of its own F-14 Tomcats so replacement parts will not fall into the hands of the Iranian Air Force. We sold a few of those to the former Shah of Iran, before The Great Revolution.

Iran has recently been accused of helping manufacturer IEDs used recently in Iraq. Now, China has been targeted by our administration, as Chinese-made armor-piercing munitions are finding their ways nto Afghanistan and Iraq.

Please note the Pentagon official's name. The irony should not be lost.

Foreign Policy: The List: Six Reasons You May Need a New Atlas Soon

Foreign Policy: The List: Six Reasons You May Need a New Atlas Soon

Without a doubt, this is a great bit of geography!

Devolution and Failed States, these are the topics. What can make a new state successful, and what can kill a state in its infancy.

Kosovo - yes, I foresee Kosovo as standing on its own, one day. For how long is another matter ...

South Sudan - geez, this is a hard one. The southern part of Sudan is the oil-producing region, and, like the article states, the government in Khartoum is not likely to see this division as a positive. A Velvet Divorce this will not be. I would imagine that as soon as South Sudan decrees independence, North Sudan will invade. Korea, anyone?

Somaliland - This needs to happen sooner than later, so that some people can begin living better lives, and so that the region can experience some semblance of normalcy.

Kurdistan - See South Sudan above, except it won't be the Sunni attacking, well, at least not the Iraqi Sunni. The Turkish Sunnis have other ideas. Turkey may have no choice but to accept a Kurdish homeland if it wants to become more enmeshed in the European Union.

Palestine - Inevitable. Israel needs to grow beyond the opposition. Secondly, The Palestinians themselves need to hold each other accountable for their actions and learn to govern themselves in rational ways.

Taiwan - Not likely. China wants to bring Taiwan into the fold and they have time and patience on their side. Eventually, as China institutes democratic reforms and as its economic prowess expands, the Taiwanese leadership will eventually soften. The United States and Japan would be the only Taiwan supporters. The United States doesn't recognize Taiwan currently, anyway, so why would that change? Finally, no one would want to upset the global applecart buy slugging it out over Taiwan. That would be a no-win, everyone loses, confrontation.

Leica & TITAN

I downloaded, installed, and played with TITAN the other day. Honestly, I cannot see the utility of this, but it sounds like a cool tool.

TITAN is like Google Earth with an Instant Messenger and P2P built-in, and you have the ability to share your local imagery with others in your contact list. So, I guess, imagine that your are chatting online with a partner, client, collaborator, whoever, and you want the other person to see your data. Essentially, you would drag-and-drop your imagery (more-or-less) onto your chat client, and, wah-lah, your chat buddy can see your imagery, correctly referenced, on a viewer on his/her/its desktop.

You can build your own world, MyWorld, which you can share with your chat buddies. Want to see what others are doing? Search other MyWorlds to see what others are up to.

I hope I have this correct. I have interviewed a person at Leica and if you follow the link above, you can find out more.

ESRI:More Waves in the Ocean

The ESRI UC2007 conference is over. I did not attend this year. The conferences are tiring. And too big. Too big to be really helpful. Previous experience at the conference has shown me that spending time at the Doctor's Office is the biggest aid of all. The rest is just too overwhelming. I will attend in 2008.

Not only is the conference become too bloated but also, in my opinion, is their software. ESRI was once the largest wave in the ocean of spatial products. That environment is changing, due to the likes of Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and a few others. I ran across a statistic a while back that only a small percentage of users really want to do anything other than put a marker on a map. That is easily done today without paying for anything.

I work everyday in an environment where our students have all ESRI products accessible to them. I teach as much of those products as I know. My frustration easily mounts when I want them to constuct a 3D choropleth map but first I have to walk them through 3D Analyst first. This is a huge drawback in my mind. Needing an additional software extension, at a cost, to produce a cartographic product that should be part of the base software is mind-boggling.

I am stunned at how challenging the software is for the novice user. And the software is not getting easier. Stunned at how difficult producing visually pleasing map products has become. ESRI maintains a Mapping Center that everyone who maps with ESRI products needs to visit. There are some good tips at getting what you want out of ArcMap.

The difficulty of using their products, I predict, will lower their market share. Oracle will eventually challenge ESRI head-to-head. They have the spatial database and tools in development that will allow them to use their established user base for grabbing a portion of ESRI's market.

Leica Geo-systems, with its recent acquisition of ERMAPPER and IONIC, will probably see its relationship with ESRI sour. Imagine is a good raster-based GIS system, and with its newly-acquired image-processing competitors, their capability will only become better. ESRI is trying to make strides into a realm where it has little experience, being a vector-based GIS system. The early bird has collected the worms...

I personally have used ERMAPPER and found it to be easy-to-use and faster in many cases than its new parent, Imagine. ESRI is going to find that keeping its lead into the future more challenging, as the gazelle feels the nips at its heels from the hungry lions.

Response: The destiny of bad geography - Salon

Letters: The destiny of bad geography - Salon

A good opportunity to discuss the Geography of Africa.

By all measures, the slave trade had an enormous impact on Africa. To place the responsibility of Africa's lack of economic development solely on the slave trade greatly oversimplifies the forces at work on the continent, however.

Several cultures existed for thousands of years prior to European involvement. Humans, by some accounts, evolved on the continent and migrated elsewhere. The Cradle of Humanity, Africa is sometimes referred to. The question really should be: for as long as humans have occupied the space of Africa, why is it not more developed?

We must examine the climate, for it plays a great part. Seasonal rainfall, drought, hours of daylight, seasonality are all parts of the calculus in deteriming climates role. Climate plays a part in disease, and disease is another variable in our equation. The tropics are notorious for their infections, and not just Africa. We can look to our own hemisphere, in Middle and South America for examples.

The role of culture is another input into our equation. As expressed in combat in Somalia, the mentality seems to be "me against my brother, we against our family, our family against our tribe, our tribe against your tribe, our tribes against the foreigner." That mentality does not necessarily breed cooperation.

The Europeans were not the Great Benefactors that perhaps they thought. While introducing railroads and bureaucracy, they also played different factions against each other. They had already reduced the populations in Middle and South America, through smallpox, and needed a new labor force. Europeans focused what development took place towards the coast in order to move not just future slaves but also gold, silver, and timber to the coast.

I look forward to reading the actual paper. Here is the link to the source, and more of Diego Puga's interesting work.

More Typing, Less Griping

I haven't posted in a long while. Several reasons for that, the biggest is laziness, outside of family, coaching basketball and baseball, committee service, updating my website, getting computers to cooperate, and teaching World Geography.

I am going to endeavor to improve this. Also, I will try to stick to more geographic-related rantings and less griping. Lots of changes are in store for the GIS and Remote Sensing fields, globalization is finally becoming a household word, and my wife and I finally made it to England!

Please visit me at http://www.constantgeographer.com as I could use the feedback and am using Google Maps to enhance the communication of geographic knowledge.