Street grids of necessity.
See on www.theatlanticcities.com
Placeholder for the Pew Global Indicators Database
Seth Dixon‘s insight:
This is a fascinating chart…the link will show charts and maps of those who consider the United States as a partner/enemy. The historical data goes back to 2008.
See on www.pewglobal.org
LONDON – Escalating the fight against secession, the British government warned Thursday that Scotland would lose the right to continue using the pound as its currency if voters there say yes to a historic referendum on independence this fall.
Osborne’s stark warning, delivered in a speech in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, represented a new willingness by unionists to take a hard line in persuading Scottish voters to shun independence in a September plebiscite. A thumbs-up would end Scotland’s 307-year-old marriage to England and Wales and cause the biggest political shakeup in the British Isles since Ireland split from the British crown nearly a century ago.
Sturgeon predicted that “what the Treasury says now in the heat of the campaign would be very different to what they say after a democratic vote for independence, when common sense would trump the campaign rhetoric.”
Seth Dixon‘s insight:
This is an intriguing strategic move by the UK as Scotland considers independence.
Tags: devolution, political, states, sovereignty, autonomy, Europe, unit 4 political, currency, economic.
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See on www.latimes.com
Agreement aims to ease tension on their contested border, as the two countries try to break a decades-old stalemate
China and India signed a deal Wednesday aimed at easing tension on their contested border, as the two countries try to break a decades-old stalemate on overlapping claims to remote stretches of the Himalayas. Beijing lays claim to more than 55,000 square miles disputed by New Delhi in the eastern sector of the Himalayas. In turn, India says China occupies about 24,000 square miles of its territory on the Aksai Chin plateau in the west. Under the provisions of the new deal, the two sides will give notice of patrols along the ill-defined border to reduce the chance of confrontation, and will exercise “maximum self-restraint” should the two sides come face to face in areas where the line of control is unclear.
See on america.aljazeera.com
“Many good things are happening along a sliver of land that cuts through a crowded corner of Aguascalientes, a city of 1.3 million people. Fields strewn with garbage and a haven for criminals, followed the narrow path of an underground oil pipeline that traverses one impoverished neighborhood after another. In the past three years, the city has reclaimed almost all of this passage for the 300,000 people who live near it. The result is a 7.5 mile linear park that is one of Latin America’s most extraordinary urban green spaces: La Línea Verde — The Green Line.”
Seth Dixon‘s insight:
The term “LULU” for city planners stands for local unwanted land use. LULUs are necessary (prisons, landfills etc.) to the society at large but nobody wants to be close to the negative and undesirable aspects they bring to a community (“NIMBY”-not in my backyard). Consequently, LULUs are usually concentrated in poorer neighborhoods with limited political capital and disproportionately bear the localized burdens of these sites. Inspired by the urban transformations in Curitiba Brazil (see this TED talk from Jaime Lerner of Curitiba discussing sustainable urbanism), this is a great example of how an urban renewal project that was able to mitigate the negatives and even make a LULU a positive for a community.
See on www.theatlanticcities.com
At a new restaurant, expats find a taste of home and locals try foreign treats like fortune cookies.
Imagine living in China and missing Chinese food. It happens. American expatriates who grew up with popular takeout dishes like General Tso’s chicken can’t find it in China because it essentially doesn’t exist here. Much of the Chinese food we grew up with isn’t really Chinese. It’s an American version of Chinese food. Chinese immigrants created it over time, adapting recipes with U.S. ingredients to appeal to American palates. Now, Americans living in Shanghai can get a fix of their beloved Chinatown cuisine at a new restaurant.
Seth Dixon‘s insight:
This NPR podcast is just one more delicious example of how globalization impacts cultural products. Globalization flows in many unexpected directions. For more, see this TED talk embedded below on the search for the origins of General Tso’s chicken.
Tags: food, globalization, culture, China, East Asia, podcast.
Will China win its 65-year war with Taiwan — without firing a shot?
Seth Dixon‘s insight:
As one analyst quoted in this article says, the whole point of China’s policy is to try to create an environment where the people are Taiwan want to be unified with mainland China. China has opened up economically towards Taiwan to foster this in “an offer they can’t refuse.” What would your position on this issue be if you were advising China, Taiwan or the United States?
See on www.foreignpolicy.com
“You’ve no doubt already come across some interesting finds on Google Earth. The post below attempts to compile the most fascinating sites other have stumbled upon browsing Google Earth. From natural formations to human structures, the world is a different place when viewed from above. If you’re interested in seeing any of the places yourself, I’ve included the coordinates for every image shown below. Just copy and paste into Google Earth/Maps and explore for yourself!”
Seth Dixon‘s insight:
My grandparents bought me my first globe and subscription to National Geographic when the sensed an insatiable desire in me to explore strange places. They subsequently took me to Yellowstone (Grand Prismatic Spring pictured above) and many other landmarks of in the West. These sights still fills me with wonder; this fantastic list gives you the ability to digitally explore strange and exotic places. There are some real teaching gems in the the list for both physical and human geography.
See on twistedsifter.com
The top image is a mangrove forest in New Caledonia, Glaslyn (Blue lake) in Northern Wales and a cave in the 4 corners region of the United States.
Seth Dixon‘s insight:
Happy Valentines Day! I decided to compiles some heart-shaped landforms from a Google search. Like love, some were artificially manufactured and others were purely natural. If you don’t want cutesy heart pictures but prefer a sociological critique of Valentines Day, this is for you.
See on www.google.com
GEOGRAPHY EDUCATION 