This year’s annual update to World BEYOND War’s Mapping Militarism project uses a completely new mapping system developed by our Technology Director Marc Eliot Stein. We think it does a better job than ever of displaying the data of warmaking and peacemaking on maps of the world. And it makes use of new data reporting on the latest trends.

When you visit the Mapping Militarism site, you will find seven sections linked across the top, most of which contain multiple maps listed down the lefthand side. Each map’s data can be seen in map view or list view, and the data in list view can be ordered by any column you click on. Most of the maps/lists have data for a number of years, and you can scroll back through the past to see what’s changed. Every map includes a link to the source of the data.

The maps included are as follows:

While we can applaud many of President Biden’s domestic efforts—from repealing the Muslim ban to tackling broken infrastructure to pushing for swift COVID relief and an American Families Plan, his foreign policies keep us up at night as “The Return of the Neocons” plays in our head like a bad B movie.

 

To Biden’s credit, during the first 100 days of his term we rejoined the Paris Climate Accord, extended the START arms control treaty with Russia another five years, restored aid to the dispossessed Palestinians, reversed Trump’s Executive Order criminalizing cooperation with the International Criminal Court, and appointed experienced negotiator Robert Malley special envoy to Iran.

 

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Jack Barns hung up his phone with a finger tap on the desk. He loved his desk, just like the one in the first Tron movie.

Screen, keyboard, phone, all touchscreen through the desktop glass. The only thing on the desktop was a bottle of mescal and a small glass, which Barns filled.

He grabbed the glass and walked to the floor to ceiling window of his office, looking out over Philadelphia. Louise entered the room, carrying some papers.

“Did you eat anything today?” she mothered.

“Those chicken wings at the lunch meeting, they were pretty good,” he said.

“Marilyn is here. Do you want to see her?”

“No. Send her in,” he said. Marilyn entered the room.

“Are you it? I thought we were having a meeting,” she said, heading to one of the few comfy seats in the room. She pulled out some papers and dropped her briefcase loudly on the floor, kicking it a few extra inches.

“Like a drink?” Barns said, tapping his desk.

“Can you get Ms. Ece a …” he got out before Louise entered and interrupted.

Simply Living is excited to announce a partnership with solar developer Art Yoho on the People’s Solar Project, a demonstration community solar and microgrid that will generate 5 MW of solar energy to power 80 homes, five churches and two city schools in a 300-acre area on Cooke Road. Eventually the Cooke Road Solarhood will include a resilience hub with energy storage, an attractive solar park, and an Energy Academy.

Currently in Ohio, community solar is difficult to set up in territory served by an investor-owned utility such as AEP, because the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio has not clarified regulations and Ohio has not passed enabling legislation. However, municipal utilities are not subject to the same limitations and can do community solar projects.