Issue 30

Final game of the Rugby World Cup 2023 is today! Go All Blacks! Of the 4 teams I was cheering for (nice to be a US rugby fan), they’re the only ones left.

Archive issues can be found at: https://geocraic.com/

World

US

Race isn’t real, so why do we keep tracking it in the Census? Habit? Racism? I’m a data guy so it pains me to “lose” data. Plus, the only gerrymandering the current Supreme Court disallows is racial gerrymandering. So, how do we keep Alabama from doing it without it in the Census? Carlos Hoyt has alternative suggestions that the Census could use such as “racialized black” which characterizes the effect of a racial categorization. This is a really interesting article and may be a way forward for the Census to change. “To recognize that race … is a false concept but to keep doing it anyway, there’s something intellectually problematic about it.” — Carlos Hoyt, psychotherapist and educational consultant

• The WP article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/10/16/census-race-eliminate-race-box/
• Carlos Hoyt’s website: https://www.carloshoyt.com/
• There are books referenced but they must be used as textbooks because they’re all over $50. This has bugged me forever.

Geography of Inequity

• The Father of Environmental Justice Exposes the Geography of Inequity. Robert D. Bullard reflects on the movement he helped to create: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-father-of-environmental-justice-exposes-the-geography-of-inequity/

Cities on the Tech Frontier

Ewert, this could be useful for you Economic Geography Class

• https://www.geekwire.com/2023/seattle-ranks-no-1-in-new-report-measuring-u-s-cities-on-highly-valued-tech-skills/

Bering Sea - Biogeography

Billions, that’s Billions with a B, Snow Crab die-off in the Bering Sea. Now we know why. Marine heat waves.

• https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/second-snow-crab-season-canceled-as-researchers-pinpoint-cause/

Bering Sea Marine Heat Waves.

Big Pharma’s lasting impact.

• Here’s the WP story, and county level map, one of our local paper’s references: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/interactive/2023/opioid-epidemic-pain-pills-sold-oxycodone-hydrocodone/
• The Source article with specific context for Oregon: https://www.bendsource.com/news/big-pharmas-lasting-impact-on-oregon-20015197

South America

Other articles on the Amazon drought.

• FT: https://ep.ft.com/permalink/emails/eyJlbWFpbCI6ImI3MGJmZTkwYWJjMWQ0NWRkZGEwYjhiOGExYzY1OWJiY2RjZDJmIiwidHJhbnNhY3Rpb25JZCI6Ijg0NTE1ZTIwLTkwNzEtNGEzYy04M2Q4LTEyYmM0MzcxM2M5MCJ9
• CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/17/americas/amazon-river-lowest-levels-drought-climate-intl/index.html
• NYT: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/17/climate/amazon-rainforest-drought-climate-change.html