Mappy Hour

The Washington Post today reported on an awkward cartographic flub on a map of the U.S. by Carson’s staff. The graphic was meant to identify the states whose governors are opposing immigration by Syrian refugees. Not sure whether this goal was achieved, but we did learn from Dr. Carson’s new geography that:

• Maine has invaded Canada,
• “Vermont and New York now have hundreds of miles of new beachfront property,”and
• Massachusetts apparently wants to be much closer to the Canucks up north, as well.

Carson’s poorly assembled jigsaw map of the states was only mildly humorous. The far funnier element of the article is this link at the end to “27 hilariously bad maps that explain nothing” compiled by Vox. The absolute best of the bunch is this Aussie’s attempt at labeling American states:

More maps! What could be better?

Seasonal applicability, that’s what.

As a contrast to our more typical random interest in intriguing maps, this post features cartographic insight that’s particularly applicable in August, the last month to fit in some beach time during summer vacation.

Ever wonder what’s out there when you gaze out at the ocean while laying out at the beach? Of course not! You just want to relax, not answer asinine questions.

Nonetheless, the friendly folks at The Washington Post‘s Wonkblog have now answered this question that no one was asking (but that we now find intriguing).

Here’s a quick view of the East Coast:

Boston – home to a record-breaking 110.6 inches of snow this season – is across from . . . balmy Spain. Who knew? The other maps present additional perspectives, both globally and by continent (and the West Coast).

The full article is available here. The coolest figure provides the “across the ocean” view for the entire Western Hemisphere: