An Unpromising Future?

Our seemingly perpetual state of warfare based on a misguided and exploited paranoia is causing me to become progressively disenchanted with the current state of our political system. Our government and the acquiescent mainstream media have successfully shifted the public’s focus away from the country, which is literally crumbling before them, to terrifying and cruel criminals in faraway foreign lands that contain huge supplies of oil.

President Obama has been an improvement over his predecessor, but just barely. It appears that he also is going to bear the legacy of leaving the country in another military quagmire. And the leading presidential prospects, as of this writing, promise more of the same.

I've lived through some tumultuous times, Vietnam, Watergate, and 9-11. But I must admit that, right now, I’m having the most pessimistic feelings about the United States I've ever had during my 57 years of life.

Some Interesting Maps

I just love maps! While indiscriminately surfing the net last night, I came across a site called Rich Blocks, Poor Blocks. It's a site that can generate color-coded maps of every neighborhood in every city in America based on income and rental prices. Since I grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, I thought I'd produce a map of my old stomping ground based on income.




Really no surprises here! I'm quite aware of the wide disparity of income in the St. Louis area. One can find some of poshest mansions just mere miles from some of the most blighted slums in the United States. Actually this map, in my opinion, doesn't quite do this huge gap justice. But you can get the idea from it.

Since my current residence is Terre Haute, Indiana, I thought I'd add an income map of it as well. (Hey, it's my blog! lol)


Terre Haute also has an income gap, but not quite on the level that one sees in St. Louis. For the record, I live in an orange shaded area.

In another visualization project involving mapping, so to speak, I found an intriguing 'YouTube' video that mapped New Yorkers' bus usage in a randomly selected day. The video is called, 'New York transit (MTA): one day of activity'.



Finally, I leave you with some information about the border between the United States and Canada that I bet you weren't previously aware.



I love maps! What can i say?

Picture It!

Visual design most definitely has a persuasive component. In fact, I believe many governments, including ours, have been successfully using persuasive visual design in documents for many years. Perhaps, the most famous example of persuasiveness came in the old army recruitment poster with “Uncle Sam,” representing the U.S. government, saying, “I want YOU.”



Uncle Sam personified the United States. The figure made the government’s need for military recruitment, a somewhat abstract concept, much easier to understand for the typical American. In addition, the way Uncle Sam pointed directly at the reader increased the poster’s persuasiveness.

AND SO THE MYTH CONTINUES…

Republicans still seem to have most Americans convinced that their way is the path to austerity and fiscal responsibility. Despite a contrary record of governance during nearly the last four decades, the GOP continues to campaign by boxing progressives into a corner using the old name calling, sucker punch tactic: calling Democrats “big spenders”.

But now this image has grown to be so entrenched, the 44th President of United States, who was elected just two years ago on a left-of-center mandate of change, has allowed himself to be portrayed as one. While yielding to yet another Republican talking point, President Obama has offered to freeze the pay of civilian federal workers for two years.



A federal pay freeze isn’t the worst idea on the table. At least it’s better than federal job cuts, which is what many in the GOP want.

But what’s so troubling about this latest effort at bipartisanship isn’t so much the nuts and bolts behind the idea, but the consequences it will have on public perception. Obama’s federal pay freeze idea reinforces this false notion that Democrats are ‘big spenders’.
Why has Obama ceded this argument when the record clearly shows that the GOP has been the party that’s run up biggest deficits?

And what makes this idea so depraved is that it’s an ineffective and unnecessary gimmick that puts undue hardship on many hardworking Americans who aren’t exactly rolling in the lap of luxury. It’s a penny-ante, symbolic debt reduction measure that totally ignores areas where huge cuts could be made, such as two needless and seemingly never-ending wars.

President Obama is in a lose-lose situation. He’s allowing his foes to frame the debate by inaccurately manipulating the public’s perception of him and his party. Plus, he’s appearing weak and spineless to his political base.