maps of Baghdad's sectarian violence

Really good tool to understand what's going on; very similar to a map you could make of German cities in 1929-1933.

From the Petraeus/Cocker pony show this week on the Hill. Shows "ethno-sectarian violence" in neighborhoods - but also the ethnic composition of neighborhoods. And so as Matthew Yglesias writes, this actually means that violence is going down because the neighborhoods are becoming less mixed. Put that together with the fact that violence dropped *before* the surge and you have your explanation - not American troops, but the success of ethnic intimidation in getting people to re-locate into clan neighborhoods.

maps and democracy

Maps have always been elitist and controlling. But now thanks to google, peoples around the world can fill in Conrad's "white spaces" with their own information, rather than waiting for the (colonial? imperial? elitist?) mapmakers to do it for them. AS comments on this development here, citing a Wired story here.

Strange Maps

Title of a blog I newly discovered. Very cool collection of maps historical, fictional, and analytical. Examples include:

The Jirecek line - cultural spheres of Greek and Roman influence

also:
Poland in 12th century
US states as labeled by what country's GDP they match
projected European climate in 2060
first map of "the true north"