Google Maps in the US Will Change to Gulf of America and Mount McKinley

Post by pjc50 » Tue, Jan 28, 2025, 11:50 AM UTC

GJim wrote: post #32

docdeek wrote: post #23

It’s nothing special. If I visit Google Maps (France) then the channel of water between France and the UK is labelled ‘Manche’. If I visit Google Maps (US) the same body of water is labeled ‘English Channel’. The real notable event is the official change of name by the US government, not the follow on regionalization of maps.

> The real notable event is the official change of name by the US government Correct. Also this is a very politicised name change. Ergo, in the USA it will be embraced by supporters of the orange one, whilst everybody else in the USA will continue to call it "Gulf of Mexico". As this was clearly done to stir up controversy, I can't think of anything more ridiculous. The job of a head of state is to unite a people, no…

Post by nailer » Tue, Jan 28, 2025, 12:00 PM UTC

viciousvoxel wrote: post #46

nailer wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ergo, in the USA it will be embraced by supporters of the orange one, whilst everybody else in the USA will continue to call it "Gulf of Mexico". Most Americans support ‘the orange one’. There was a poll conducted on this quite recently.

This is actually not true: just under 50% of votes went to GOP. Additionally, only 64% of the voting-eligible population voted, so it was more like 32% of the adult population voting GOP. "Everybody else" represents a larger population.

Post by GJim » Tue, Jan 28, 2025, 12:36 PM UTC

pjc50 wrote: post #51

GJim wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The real notable event is the official change of name by the US government Correct. Also this is a very politicised name change. Ergo, in the USA it will be embraced by supporters of the orange one, whilst everybody else in the USA will continue to call it "Gulf of Mexico". As this was clearly done to stir up controversy, I can't think of anything more ridiculous. The job of a head of state is to unite a people, no…

> The job of a head of state is to unite a people, not divide them "Head of state" is very much a job where you get to define your own mission and duties, including "sell cryptocurrency to suckers" and "sow division to exploit". Defining internal and external enemies is a very effective technique for retaining power.

Post by danaris » Tue, Jan 28, 2025, 1:19 PM UTC

glimshe wrote: post #48

idle_zealot wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't want Google naming things, but I don't want a President naming them either. My preference is for things to be named by the people who live there/use the thing, but failing that at least I would want my mapping software to present the fact that there are multiple names/borders and let me pick which I want to view.

The president was given this power by the people. Crowd sourcing this is a particularly bad idea as countries already have working institutions that map and name things. One alternative would be for Congress to create more barriers for name changes.

Post by pjc50 » Tue, Jan 28, 2025, 1:24 PM UTC

GJim wrote: post #55

pjc50 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The job of a head of state is to unite a people, not divide them "Head of state" is very much a job where you get to define your own mission and duties, including "sell cryptocurrency to suckers" and "sow division to exploit". Defining internal and external enemies is a very effective technique for retaining power.

> "Head of state" is very much a job where you get to define your own mission and duties King Charles III, all his modern predecessors and all other European Royal heads of state would rather disagree with that statement! As would the constitutionally elected presidents of most other countries of the world. The citizenry would get rid of them if they thought otherwise. Royals included.