iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 22/09/2026

Maybe you also heard that only the US voted "no" on the UN's #maps resolution, and #Ukraine abstained. But we doubt you got the whole truth about why. And what about the other 5 abstainers? It's all here: www.polgeonow.com/2026/09/un-n... #Crimea #geopolitics #Africa #UnitedNations

polgeonow.com

US, Ukraine, and More: Which Countries Criticized the UN’s World Map Vote, and the Truth About Why

It's not exactly what you think. Learn the truth about the US and Ukrainian objections, and which other countries were skeptical too.

011

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 06/09/2026

On the face of it, it looks like they've fallen for exactly the kind of map-convention-based misconception that they're campaigning against...

010

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 06/09/2026

Some news for cartographers, from the highly-sensationalized #CorrectTheMap campaign (Their mission to get rid of #Mercator-projection illustrative world maps is a good fight, but a lot of their rhetoric is very ill-informed/misleading.) #cartography #geography #GIS #worldmap #Africa #maps

Screenshot of text:

5. What should we look for in a good world map?

There are two key rules:

Preserve area: Countries should appear in their correct size relative to one another.
Roundedness: The map should still look like a globe flattened gently—no wild stretching.

No map is perfect, but some are fairer. The Equal Earth, Gall-Peters, and other equal-area projections do a better job at showing the world truthfully.
6. How can I spot a misleading map?

Look out for these clues:

Does Greenland look as big as Africa? That’s a red flag.
Is Africa near the center of the map, or pushed to the side?
Are countries near the equator unusually small?

010

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 30/08/2026

Still normal in much of the world! No question that it would feel weird on LinkedIn though...

010

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 30/08/2026

Whew! That's my go-to.

010

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 30/08/2026

Subscribers: New, current #Syria map is out now, with in-depth report on #SDF integration/dissolution, situation in #Israel occupied areas, status of #Sweida #Druze paramilitary zone, " #ISIS" trends, and much more: www.polgeonow.com/2026/08/map-... #mapping #map #Kurds #MiddleEast Menasky #ISIL

polgeonow.com

Syria Control Map & Timeline: The End of the SDF - August 2026 (Subscription)

Integration of the Kurdish-led SDF into the Syrian government has been misleadingly declared complete. Druze forces, Israel, and ISIS remain defiant.

000

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 25/08/2026

Yikes! Good to know! Aware of any risks with PNG?

110

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 25/08/2026

Yes - being able to read Arabic script has been very helpful for locating places during conflict mapping research!

010

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 24/08/2026

Always interesting to be reminded that UN peacekeepers are soldiers from specific, faraway countries. Here's a recent UN map of the (former) #GolanHeights buffer zone in #Syria, now mostly held by #Israel, with #UNDOF peacekeepers mostly relegated to observation and liaising. #MENAsky #geography

000

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 17/08/2026

Yeah, I agree. Interesting to think about what gives us the feeling of the convex surface. Seems like on Google Earth it's mostly seeing that actual circular horizon to clarify that things are disappearing around the edge. I've seen some other globe images that use a bit of shadows too.

000

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 13/08/2026

There are also cartographic projections that approximate the way it looks when looking at a globe. In Google Maps on a desktop browser you can turn on "globe mode" with a little checkbox at the bottom of the "More" panel in the layer selector.

110

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 12/08/2026

Obvious solution to #4 is not to ask people to do silly mostly-useless things like delete their emails or pee in the shower either. We need to get serious and focus on large-scale change to the biggest sources of climate change. Planes as a symbol are drawing attention away from where it's needed.

000

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 12/08/2026

Hard to imagine that emissions plane manufacturing or construction of airports are an especially big share of overall manufacturing and construction emissions. I have seen estimates that take into account radiative forcing from contrails and other factors, which only added a couple percent.

000

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 11/08/2026

But most of our focus shouldn't be on aviation, because that only accounts for a few percent of the world's carbon emissions - if everyone stopped flying tomorrow, it would make only a very small difference to global climate change.

100

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 10/08/2026

And this is despite living in a place where things cost a lot less than in the US or much of Europe. That also means your contribution helps more than you might realize.

000

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 10/08/2026

PolGeoNow fans: If you've ever thought, "I hope these guys are getting paid enough for all this work", this would be a great time to buy us a coffee or two through our new Ko-fi page (ko-fi.com/polgeonow). Struggling to cover living expenses right now.

100

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 10/08/2026

Is it strangely deformed, or is it just supposed to look like a perspective view of the globe?

100

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 10/08/2026

Okay, what am I missing? Is there Fox News connection to this thread that I don't about?

000

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 09/08/2026

Seems unreasonable to equate Piker defenders with AES supporters as a whole.

120

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 09/08/2026

Yes, I saw that. I haven't read the whole article, but the headline and summary are a little misleading.

000

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 09/08/2026

Maybe, but not nearly as well, to my ear.

000

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 09/08/2026

Just something I might have liked to know if I was him and trying to make clever word-play that would land well.

001

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 08/08/2026

When did he ever claim to be a liberal? I've always heard him call himself a conservative.

140

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 08/08/2026

Sorry to burst your bubble, but he pronounces it "DOWTH-at" (rhymes with "south-at")

220

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 08/08/2026

The main players trying to manipulate and exploit Somalia right now are Turkey, Qatar, the UAE, and maybe China. Maybe the US too, but US government acts more like barely cares, except for the counterterrorism-industrial complex that wants a neverending techno-war against Al Shabaab.

100

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 08/08/2026

I spend a lot of my time listening to Somali voices from Somalia. I'm not arguing in favor of the drone strikes. But they're not being done by the US to "punish Somalia", unless your vision of a free Somalia is one ruled by Al Shabaab. As for Israel, I've seen very little evidence of that.

210

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 07/08/2026

Posts claiming Trump is "bombing Somalia" in a new war are EXTREMELY misleading. He's only ramped up a program Obama and Biden already had, and importantly, the strikes are in COOPERATION with the country's intl-recognized govt, not against it. Campaign is against Al Qaeda-affiliate rebels.

020

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 07/08/2026

Glad someone noticed. Dominant narrative on Bluesky right now is "Trump launched a new war against Somalia". It has increased drastically under Trump's watch though.

000

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 07/08/2026

Quite a few of these, including all of those in Somalia, were done with the approval of those countries' governments. Not really the same thing as bombing those countries.

000

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 07/08/2026

He's bombing Al Qaeda rebels in Somalia with the approval of Somalia's government, in an expansion of a campaign started under Obama and continued under Biden. It's not random. It's probably more about the counter-terrorism industrial complex than about Trump's personal whims.

110

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 07/08/2026

Jamaame is controlled by Al Shabaab, the Al Qaeda affiliate group that both the US and the Mogadishu government are fighting against. But the other power in this area is the Jubaland state government, which isn't cooperating with the Mogadishu government (but is on the same side against Al Shabaab).

000

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 07/08/2026

The strikes aren't in the city of Kismayo, which is controlled by US allies. They're on Al Shabaab (Al Qaeda affiliate) positions in the surrounding countryside.

000

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 07/08/2026

And the strikes aren't on the Port of Kismayo. They're on Al Shabaab (Al Qaeda affiliate) positions in the countryside of Kismayo district.

000

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 07/08/2026

"Airstrikes on Somalia" makes it sound like they're targeting the country's government, whereas actually the Mogadishu government is in favor of and cooperating with the campaign. Main issue is how many civilians are getting killed.

100

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 07/08/2026

Many Somali kinship networks traditionally consider themselves to have lines of descent stretching back to Arab historical or legendary figures.

030

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 07/08/2026

I study Somalia. This is not remotely close to the truth.

100

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 07/08/2026

Always wonder which towns the headline-writers would consider NOT to be "strategic".

010

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 07/08/2026

The US military is cooperating with Somalia's internationally-recognized government. The airstrikes there are against the Al Qaeda affiliated rival government.

000

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 07/08/2026

He's bombing the Al Qaeda affiliated rebel group Al Shabaab in Somalia, in cooperation with Somalia's government. Obama and Biden were doing it too, but it's ramped way up under Trump.

110

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 07/08/2026

The headline also makes it sound like a war against Somalia, but it's being doing in cooperation with the country's internationally-recognized government, against the Al Qaeda affiliate rival government of Al Shabaab. The logic of it is very questionable though, and at least some civilians are dying

000

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 07/08/2026

This bombing is done in cooperation with the official government of Somalia - that government is being helped, not punished. And it started long before Israel recognized Somaliland.

100

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 07/08/2026

This particular one was already going on under Obama and Biden, though Trump has increased the number of bombings by a lot.

000

PolGeoNow @polgeonow.com · 07/08/2026

It's not "new" at all, and the reason Americans aren't talking about it is that no Americans are dying.

100