All 50 states mentioned in movies

I'm not sure how anyone could have enough free time to create this, but I'm glad they did. If you are studying state capitals in school, or just curious, here are all 50... through snippets in movies.

Hiatus

Real life is ramping up—so I'm going to have less time for this blog in the coming months. It's a bit of a bummer, because creating a new map every day has been a lot of fun. But, alas, my family needs me to do stuff that actually pays the bills. I'll try to post occasionally... but the daily geographic curiosity... well, that's going on hiatus. MIKE

Weekly World News - flag "fail"

I put "fail" in quotes, because, of course, everything in Weekly World News is a silly joke. After all, this is the paper that once defended itself in a libel case by telling the judge that no one actually believes anything they write. So I wasn't all that surprised by an article that claims Mexico will be the 51st state. It's all in good fun. But what was surprising was the flag they used to illustrate the story (above). It has 140 stars! I could understand a 51-star flag, or maybe a flag with 81 stars.... adding in the 31 states of Mexico. But a 140 star flag? Does no one at the paper know how many states we have? Or did they think their audience is stupid enough to think that 50 + 1 = 140. Oh.

Young state riddle

Just four US states are less than 100 years old. Can you name them? Two are so easy, I included them on the map above: Alaska and Hawaii. But can you name the other two youngsters? The answer is here. 

County named after killer

So an outsider comes to town and shoots one of the locals dead in cold blood. The shooter is then hailed as a hero, and the townfolk decide to name a county after the killer. This is the true story of Louisa County, Iowa.

In the 1830s, William Smith wanted a mining claim owned by the Massey family. So Smith and his son shot and killed Woodbury Massey... and then rode through town proclaiming that they'd kill any other Masseys they could find. At this point, Woodbury Massey's brother, Henry, took preemptive action and killed William Smith. Then the story gets interesting. 16-year-old Louisa Massey, sister of Woodbury and Henry, arrives in town and cooly proclaims she's just doing some shopping. But when she spots the younger Smith in the store, she pulls out a gun and shoots him dead too.

Louisa became an instant hero. Newspaper reports wrote: "The upper river county went wild with her praise. No war hero was ever welcomed with greater enthusiasm... cheering throngs greeted her at every stop." What is the moral of this story? I have no idea. Certainly, no one today wants 16-year-old girls involved in revenge killings. It might be one thing to exonerate Louisa, but to make her a hero, and name a county after her? It all seems very strange. You might explain it by saying that times were different then; but after Lincoln was shot, nobody was clamoring to create John Wilkes Booth county. About the only explanation I can come up with: the Smiths must have been some really mean and nasty dudes.

You can read contemporaneous news reports about Louisa Massey here. And a book here. (Another great story for a screenwriter. But who to play Louisa? Hailee Steinfeld? Dakota Fanning? Selena Gomez?)  Tweet

Sitcom quiz - Packerland version

You expect TV sitcoms to be set in Los Angeles or New York. But Wisconsin? Sure enough, at least five major sitcoms have been set in the Dairy state. Why is Wisconsin so popular? I have no idea. But as a Wisconsinite, I do get a laugh every time I see mountains in the background on one of these shows. Or actors who try to have a Wisconsin accent, but invariably sound Chicago-ish. Anyway, you can see the  5 shows identified here. And if you can think of any others, let me know...

Why is this street sign illegal?

Can you guess why the top sign is illegal and the bottom one is not? It's because he Federal government just doesn't like all caps—and it was forcing cities to rip down perfectly good all-cap signs and replace them with mixed-lettering signs. Until last week, that is—when common sense prevailed, and the Feds backed off on their demand. New York City alone projected the cost of changing the signs to be $27 million. Milwaukee would have needed $5 million. Even if the all-cap signs are harder to read, there is a sane way to handle this. Just replace the all-cap signs with mixed signs when they wear out. Is that so hard? Apparently it is, because it took our Federal government many months to capitulate. At the same time, I do understand that you want uniformity in traffic signs—you wouldn't want red stop signs in Iowa and purple ones in Minnesota. But ripping down a street sign only because it's all-caps? That's just bizarre. The only people in favor of that would be the sign manufacturers... hmmm.. better check their campaign contributions.Tweet

Our government's geography test: full of bias and errors

The National Association of Educational Progress is a government organization that tells us how our kids are doing in many subjects, including geography. But digging into the actual standardized test questions reveals some biased politics and bizarre geographic ideas. Let me give you one sample question that our American kids have to answer:
2010 ACTUAL QUESTION: Tropical forests are being destroyed at the rate of at least eleven million hectares each year, an area the size of Pennsylvania. About half of all tropical forests are already gone. Discuss two major reasons for this high rate of tropical deforestation.
OK, this is wrong on so many levels. Let's break it down:
"11 Million hectares destroyed" 
No serious scientist today would validate this number. It dates back to a rough estimate made by a single Brazilian scientist looking at satellite photos of fires in the Amazon—in the 1980s! Yeah, it's a 30-year-old number based on sketchy information. Scientists today put the number at one-tenth that figure.
"...each year."
This implies there is a steady onslaught of rain forest destruction. Not so. There were some bad years in the 1980s, but things have changed radically since then. A report from last year showed a 90 percent drop in lost forest area.
"About half of all tropical forests are already gone"
Why is this sentence here? Seriously; it is absolutely unnecessary. The only reason to include this sentence is to make a political point.
"Tropical Forests"
This seems like an innocent phrase, but it's actually very tricky. Note how the test uses the term "tropical forest" not "tropical rain forest" That's because the test writers know full well that most deforestation in the Amazon is taking place in the chaco (dry forest) which is not an area of biodiversity. The wet tropical forests have a much slower rate of deforestation than chaco land.
"already gone"
Another subtle bias here: The word "already" is unnecessary, added to create a sense of urgency. In truth, deforestation has been going on in the Americas for hundreds of years.

Don't misunderstand—I'm not in favor of deforestation. But a standardized test isn't the place to push a point of view. And this wasn't the only question that had an obvious agenda. You can read through the questions on your own here.Tweet

One letter wrong

Yesterday I was driving through Tichigan. Yes, you read that right. There is a small town on Wisconsin named Tichigan. Passing through, I wondered: how many times do they have to say, "It's Tichigan, not Michigan"? It must be exhausting. That made me think there must be other places that are one letter off from famous locations—causing endless confusion. Like the beleaguered folks from Milwaukie, Oregon... or residents of The Dalles, Oregon (who at least have that weird "The" at the beginning to prevent complete confusion with Dallas, Texas). My personal favorite is a small town in Wisconsin named Arkansaw... yeah, with a "w" (above). Of course, the biggest example of this problem is Iran and Iraq; Tim Pawlenty embarrassed himself badly mixing up the two recently. Maybe that's why he left the race. See, geography really is important!

Forgotten secession: when the original 13 tried to split.

In 1812-13 there was a movement in the original thirteen states to secede from the rest of the nation—an idea first championed by a guy named John Lowell of Massachusetts. You have to admit there was some logic to this. As the United States expanded, the original 13 states had less and less influence. Even a third grader can do the math: in the late 1700s, the two Massachusetts senators made up nearly 8 percent of the US Senate. Today, it's just 2 percent. Lowell thought his state had less and less control of its own affairs, so he advocated expelling the western states from the Union. The governors of both New York and Maryland liked the idea. Lowell laid out his argument in a tract with the less-than-snappy title: Thoughts in a series of letters, in answer to a question respecting the division of the states. By a Massachusetts farmer. The idea was popular in certain influential circles, but eventually it died out. Maybe if Lowell had come up with a more catchy title... like "Think Small." You can read more about it  here  or read all of Lowell's original tract here.

Italian guy creates his own nation

Italy has always been a land of micronations, city-states, and enclaves. Even today, San Marino and Vatican City are tiny independent nations surrounded by Italian soil. So why not one more? That's the idea of Luca Sellari, the new mayor of the Italian city of Fillettino. When the Italian government decided to save money by forcing towns of less than 1,000 to merge with neighboring cities—that was enough to hatch Sellari's plan. He wants to make Fillettino (pop. 598) an independent kingdom. And who will be the monarch? Sellari thinks he'd do the job just fine. He even started printing up money with his face on it.

Sellari isn't the only mayor in Italy trying to save his city from annexation. Some towns on the bubble are inviting displaced Libyans to come and live. Others have pointed out that the cost savings of merging the small cities is actually less than the Italian Parliament spends on catering. It's not likely Fillettino will succeed, but politics in Italy has never been predictable. (You can read more here.)

Worst geography blunder in a movie?

What movie has the worst geography error? Steven Seagal's Submerged is is classic—portraying Uruguay as mountainous (it's actually flatter than Kansas). Then there's the goof in Armageddon, where people all over the earth simultaneously celebrate the asteroid exploding—but it's not nighttime anywhere (That's a Michael Bay movie... he is notorious for this stuff). And there's Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull which consistently confuses Mexico and Peru. But my personal favorite is the 1969 disaster movie Krakatoa, East of Java that actually won an Academy Award. The problem: Krakatoa is west of Java. Ooops. (More movie geography errors here)

The Rodney Dangerfield nation

"I don't get no respect" ...that was the catchphrase of comedian Rodney Dangerfield. And it might as well be the slogan of the new nation of South Sudan. 48 days after independence... and it's still not on Google Maps. These things take time, you might think. Not really. When rebel forces took control of Tripoli this week, Google changed names on its Libya map within hours. Yes, hours. But South Sudan is still waiting.  There's an excellent article about all this at Mashable. Maybe South Sudan should just change it's name to South Dangerfield. At least then it would get some attention.

Obama's secession secret?

There's been a lot of criticism of Rick Perry's talk of Texas secession, but at least he's not giving his vacation dollars to a government that recently voted to secede—like President Obama is. OK, it's a stretch, I admit... but it is kind of funny that Obama is vacationing on Martha's Vineyard—one of the only places in the north that actually voted in favor of secession. And it wasn't centuries ago... it was 1977. The people of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket were so mad at Massachusetts, they actually voted to leave the state. There was some talk of forming a new country, but most of the proposals had Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard joining Vermont. Or perhaps Hawaii. Yeah, Hawaii offered an invitation. Wait a minute, that's where Obama's from! Conspiracy theorists, start your engines!

OK, nobody actually believes that President Obama sides with Martha's Vinyard's lingering secessionists.  So if secession came up, on say, a political talk show, I'd expect Obama's spokespeople to deny any silly secessionist talk. Wait a second! Obama's campaign advisor Robert Gibbs can't seem to stop talking about secession! And press secretary Jay Carney is no better.  Yes, I know they are poking at Perry, but it strikes me as odd to point the "He's a secessionist" finger when their man is actually staying on Secession Island.

Criminal Corner - Another spot for the perfect crime?

Yesterday we laid out the case made by legal scholar Brian Kalt that major crimes committed in the Idaho portion of Yellowstone National Park can not be prosecuted because of a legal loophole. Reader DanV wisely wondered why the same situation wouldn't also apply to the Montana portion of the park.

It does, sort of. Remember, the reason criminals would go free in Loophole Land is because a jury could not be formed from residents of the required location (the Idaho portion of the park) because no one lives there. But the Montana portion of the park does have residents... about 40 of them. That said, a sharp lawyer could argue that 40 people isn't enough of a pool from which to draw a jury, but a judge could reasonably disagree.

But if your heart is set on committing the perfect crime in Montana's "Criminal Corner" you do have one other option—get your buddies to do the same thing. While 40 residents might be enough for one jury, it wouldn't be enough for 3 or 4 simultaneous trials. So if you and your friends commit multiple crimes... and draw straws... only the loser would likely face a trial. That's because—by the time the 3rd or 4th trial could be scheduled—too much time would have passed for the "speedy" trial required by law.

But again, don't try this at home. Crime is bad. Prof. Kalt agrees... he just wants the loophole closed.

Loophole land—where crimes can't be prosecuted. Really.

According to a law professor from Michigan, there is small section if Idaho where major crimes can not be prosecuted—thanks to a giant blunder by Congress.

The problem begins with the boundaries of Yellowstone National Park. Yellowstone is mostly in Wyoming, but a sliver of the park extends into Idaho and Montana. When Congress created the U.S. District Court of Wyoming it included all of Yellowstone National Park. Big mistake.

Stay with me here.... so let's say you commit a murder in the portion of Idaho that's in the park (The red "Loophole Land" on my map). You'd be arrested and bound over for trial in the US District court in Cheyenne, Wyoming. But Article III of the Constitution states that the trial must be held in the state where the crime was committed—in this case Idaho. So you are sent to Idaho for trial. No problem there. But the Sixth Amendment also says that the jury must be drawn from the state and District where the crime was committed. The state is Idaho... but the District is the Wyoming District (which includes the sliver of Idaho that's in the park). So the jury would have to be drawn from residents who live in the portion of Idaho that lies in the park.

And that's where it gets interesting: nobody lives in that patch of Idaho. Nobody. No jury pool means no trial, means you go free.

This curious loophole was discovered by Prof. Brian C. Kalt, a respected legal scholar from Michigan State University. Georgetown Law Journal is reporting on the matter in an upcoming issue. (You can read Kalt's full article here)

Of course, committing crimes is bad. Don't do it. But if you're a screenwriter, this is great stuff! Maybe Dick Wolf will start a new series Law and Order: Idaho just to take advantage of this legal anomaly.

And if all this wasn't bizarre enough, Idaho's "Loophole Land" is just a few steps from another patch of American soil that also fell outside the law. Dubbed "Lost Dakota" it was a few acres of land that—erroneously—were not part of any state and thus, theoretically, outside the reach of law enforcement. (Much more on this in my book Lost States) Eventually that situation was fixed when Lost Dakota became a part of Montana. But Loophole Land remains an unsettling, well, loophole. If your nemesis suggests a camping trip near the Idaho/Wyoming border.... don't go!!!

When Hawaii was Russian

Hawaii became a U.S. state 52 years ago yesterday. One long-forgotten chapter in Hawaii's history is when the Russians tried to take control of the islands. Back in the early 1800s, Hawaii was a coveted port for whalers. So, in 1816, the Russians began building a fort on Oahu, hoping to control the islands. King Kamehameha I would have none of it, and forced them off the island without any bloodshed. But the Russians didn't go home. Instead, they tried to build their fort on nearby Kauai. When Kamehameha found out, he took more severe action—deporting the Russians to California. This ended Russia's plans in Hawaii, opening the door for the United States a few decades later.

(There's a terrific article about the statehood struggle of Hawaii (and the possibility of a 51st state) in yesterday's Buffalo News—written by Alexander Heffner.)

The place that's name shall not be spoken

I'm not going to write the name of this place, because I fear Google will put up some weird ads. Hey, this is a family-friendly site! Still, it's a real place in Macon County, Georgia—between Mooney Gap and Bearpen Gap. You have to admit that it's kind of funny that there is a place with that name. If fact there are several. The term means an "abrupt, broken off end of a ridge or mountain." OK, sure. Your can read about this and other odd place names here.

The Northwestern Confederacy

Secession-talkers like Rick Perry get a lot of heat these days, but the truth is, America has always had leaders who advocated leaving the Union. And I don't just mean in the Civil War era. There were secessionists at the very beginning—and we still have them today. We'll look at several of these stories in the coming weeks.

Above is a map of a little known secessionist chapter in American history, called the Northwestern Confederacy. Southerners hoped the northwestern states (which then was Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and Iowa) might also secede from the United States and form their own nation; or join with the south. There was actually a very practical reason for the northwestern states to do this. Many of their goods traveled down the Mississippi to market. Since the Confederacy controlled the southern half of the river, the Northwest needed good relations with the south in order to avoid economic hardship.

The idea was centered in Indiana, where even governor Thomas Hendricks said in 1862, "The first and highest interest of the Northwest is in the restoration and preservation of the Union but if the failure and folly and wickedness of the party in power render a Union impossible then the mighty Northwest must take care of herself and her own interests." So the idea of a Northwestern Confederacy had the support of many farmers—but they weren't alone. The northwest also had its share slavery proponents, and people who just wanted to end the war any way possible. Certainly, the creation of a Northwest Confederacy would have weakened the north and almost certainly ended the war.

Then again, the idea was considered treasonous.... which may be the main reason support didn't grow to any sort of tipping point.

Is Kansas flatter than a pancake?

Scientists at Arizona State and Texas State have focused considerable research energy on one of the great questions of our time: Is Kansas really flatter than a pancake? Of course, they used the standard measure of flatness: The length of an ellipse’s semi-major axis A is compared with its measured semi-minor axis B using the formula for flattening, f = (a – b) / a.  Of course.

Using a standard IHOP pancake, the team calculated a flatness of .957, which is flat, but shy of perfect flatness (which would be a 1.0). Applying the same formula to the topography of Kansas, the scientists came up with .9997, which is much much flatter than a pancake. So it's not really right to drive through Kansas and say, "This place is as flat as a pancake." However, if you ever went to IHOP and got a particularly flat pancake, you would be OK in saying, "This pancake is a flat as Kansas."

Thank university scientists by Mark Fonstad, William Pugatch, and Brandon Vogt, for solving this vexing question.