It’s no surprise that the United States is facing an alarming obesity problem (no surprise because most people can name the location of every fast food joint in town, but hit a wall when asked about the times and locations of their local farmers markets). It would be too quick and easy to blame individuals for eating too much and exercising too little, mainly because the causes are complex and involve many sometimes complex factors. [Read more...]
When you visit the Craigslist website, the first thing you usually do is select the region you want to search within. Those Craigslist defined boundaries are sometimes pretty broad, from the San Francisco Bay Area to the entire state of Maine. A while ago, John Nelson of IDV User Experience created a very intriguing map based on those boundaries which is both useful as a window into what the Craigslist folks view as our local regions and as a targeted marketing reference. Now, Nelson has created an even more useful map, this time visualizing the nations zip codes which fall within the Craigslist boundaries. [Read more...]
Death and Taxes is a behemoth graph of the federal budget. Containing 500 of the largest programs and departments, nearly all that receive over 200 million dollars each year, the graphic gives us a revealing look at where the U.S. puts its financial priorities.
Created using data from the president’s 2012 budget proposal, Jess Bachman spends a few months each year creating a new edition to keep us up to date. All of the program circles are proportional in size to their funding levels and for comparison the percentage change from both 2012 and 2002 is included so you can identify trends. For a full sized, zoomable view, or to purchase the yearly poster, head to deathandtaxesposter.com [Read more...]
In the past 20 years, the U.S. economy has grown a staggering 60 percent, yet workers salaries have not kept pace. The country that once claimed “the best standard of living in the world” now has a workforce that rarely sees anything more than a 7 day vacation each year… if those workers choose to take time off. This infographic done in collaboration with Column Five and GOOD, looks at the U.S. workforce and how it stacks up compared to other western countries. [Read more...]
Since the war first began in 2001, many soldiers of the almost 50 nations in Afghanistan have survived on pre-packaged meals filled with as many calories as possible and seasoned with the unique tastes of home. Called an MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) in the United States, these hardcover book sized packages serve two functions: to nourish the hard working troops and to give them a happy reminder of home. Each country’s MRE includes staple ingredients to fill the belly, along with tasty dessert items and the obligatory moist towelette. [Read more...]
With ever increasing rates of cancer in the world, there are very few people who’s lives have not been affected by the disease. This powerful new interactive graphic, Geographic Awareness of Cancer, is a great way to see how your area of the US is being affected. The graphic displays the percentage by county of major cancer types and related factors such as the percentage of obesity and smoking in the area. [Read more...]
Just how long do people in your country live and how long do they take for retirement? Life expectancy varies from country to country as does the length we reserve towards the end. This side by side comparison reveals that Austrians can expect many free twilight years, while many Mexicans are getting none.
With the recent radioactive leakage from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant, many are wondering what a similar situation would look like in the US. The 65 operating nuclear plants in the country, with their 104 reactors, place tens of millions of people within close proximity of such plants. For an interactive map of the US and to see which power plants are closest to your area, see Zeit Online.
Have you ever had your tap water catch on fire? This and other strange signs of massive pollution are hitting the United States as the largest natural gas drilling boom in history sweeps the country. Using a Halliburton developed technology called “fracking,” or hydraulic fracturing, companies across the nation are tapping into a “Saudi Arabia of natural gas” just below the surface of many states. But is fracking safe? Legislation in 2005 literally abolished any need for industry to follow the standards of the Safe Drinking Water, Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, so when filmmaker Josh Fox was asked to lease his land for drilling, he set off across the country to find out the consequences of this new technique. [Read more...]
If you still think the Internet is free, un-policed and safe from being turned off, think again. With the recent shut down of Egypt’s Internet amidst the countries mass riots, the sobering idea that our Internet world is more fragile than expected becomes more apparent each day. In the case of Egypt, the Internet was almost entirely shut down in only a matter of hours as this analysis by Ars Technica explains. These 4 informative infographics from yuxiyou.net put the current state of freedom on the net in perspective:
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