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Just Where Is The Lincoln Memorial, Anyhow?
John3 writes "Searching Google Maps for the Lincoln Memorial is returning the location of the FDR Memorial instead. Conservative bloggers smell a conspiracy since Glenn Beck is holding his 'Restoring Honor' gathering at the Lincoln Memorial tomorrow (August 28). Notes for the map listing on Google state 'This place has unverified edits'; so, did someone claim the listing and edit the location?"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_monument It redirects to Lincoln Memorial. While wikipedia is not the arbiter of all proper names, Lincoln Memorial is the preferred term there too.
Get off the Metro at Smithsonian. You're probably facing the Capital. Turn the fuck around and go straight.
It's actually "Glenn"... not "Glen."
If you look for the Jefferson Memorial, the same thing happens. The Washington Monument and the White House work fine though.
For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
You can still get there (google still knows where it is, and that it's still the Lincoln Memorial):
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Abraham+Lincoln+Statue,+Washington,+DC
If you live in the US and/or have ever seen a picture of the National Mall, reflecting pool, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument or a map of DC, you'd know where the hell the Lincoln Memorial is.
It's out by the UFO. You get the lincon repeater there too.
Yes, now click the button marked 'Search Maps' and see what all of the fuss is about.
Hint: You will now be looking at 'Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial'
i read about it in a blog once
Glenn Beck is a national talk show host, trying to encourage out-of-towners to go to his rally this weekend. That's why this Google flaw is relevant to geeks nationally... it's showing how a political event can be disrupted by those who disagree with the event's sponsor with a simple misinformation attack on Google Maps.
You are correct, Wikipedia is not the arbiter of names, but in this case I would have to say that the US National Parks Service, which runs and maintains all of the federal memorials, is the one who would set the official name. According to the US National Parks Service it is indeed the "Lincoln Memorial".
anybody trying to find the rally with an iPhone will get the wrong directions if this is allowed to stand
uh no. dc resident here. you can see the lincoln memorial from the FDR memorial. while this google thing is odd, yes, if you can't find the lincoln memorial while you are standing around confused at the FDR memorial.. you have bigger problems to worry about.
aEN
I googled for Lincoln Memorial circle, the drive that the Lincoln Memorial is on. Apparently they haven't moved that. Looks like the Lincoln Memorial is still there. Good luck!
---jstlook ---For that is the way of Elves, for they say both yes AND no, and mean every word of it. --- J.R.R.T.
Interestingly enough since I started reading this story it seems to have been corrected. Then I searched for "FDR memorial" and it moved to bridge.
I searched for "Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial" and it then found it. Now when I search for FDR Memorial it is also in the correct spot.
Either Google search in the area is buggered or there is a war afoot. :D
There isn't a conspiracy here. People ARE vandalizing the Google posting. And they've also vandalized the FDR Memorial posting as well (Who knew FDR's memorial was a bridge?) :D
Before the night is out I'm sure the Lincoln Memorial will be in Washington State and the White House will be in Manhattan.
You do realize that they aren't censoring Chinese search results, right?
They were originally, like everyone else, but currently they are not. Google.cn just links you back to Google.hk for searches, and Google.hk is unfiltered. You still have to contend with with the Great Firewall, of course, so having uncensored results doesn't mean you can access censored material -- but at least you know what you aren't being allowed to see.
Allow me to respond to your inquiry with youtube links!
Glenn Beck on 9/11 victims:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ruzvmqbTpPI
That pretty much sums up the ridiculousness of his message. Also may I point you to the Daily Show link which basically rips the "WHO IS FUNDING THIS TERRORIST MOSQUE!?!?" to shreds:
http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/mon-august-23-2010/the-parent-company-trap
And here's a few more of The Young Turks on Glenn Beck:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bbgsYV9DXk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-aBUoO7aSA
TYT frequently rips open arguments with facts - and they do it to "both sides" [sorry if the links I posted don't have a lot of fact checking in them. I've been very critical of TYT but past clips do have plenty of facts to back up their claims]. Though lately it has been a lot of Fox News and republican bashing (can't really say there isn't a good reason for it lately).
Completely off-topic but your sig should read "Did you exchange a walk on part in The Wall for a lead role in a cage?". Look up the lyrics.
No, it's definitely "war" not "The Wall". That wouldn't even make sense, anyway. Not that Pink Floyd always made sense...
That's the current definition of "concervative" in the US. Most of his viewers probably define themselves this way.
Wtf? Informative.
The UFO is way north of the Lincoln memorial.
You get the Lincoln repeater in the Museum of American History.
Europe is bigger than the USA. The European Union is smaller than the US.
The contiguous US is 770 million hectares and Alaska is 150 million hectares. That makes Alaska less than 20% the size of the contiguous US which is hardly "almost half the size".
Some of what I say is fact, some is conjecture, the rest I'm just blowing out my ass...you guess.
Your comparison of total area is correct (continental Europe and the US are of similar size), but you really need to start looking at better maps. Alaska is under 670K square miles. The contiguous 48 states (aside: Alaska is part of the mainland) are over 3100K square miles, about 4.7 times the size of Alaska. Maybe you've been looking at too many Mercator-projection maps, which exaggerate the size of northern areas? Also, the map you link to doesn't include eastern Europe, which not only includes all of those er... eastern-European countries you hear about all the time, but also a chunk of Russia.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
You know, you can submit map bug reports to Google, and they respond. I've fixed two already, and they've replied about a third.
But I suppose submitting a Slashdot non-story is more fun.
They're quite good at making potatoes.
Doing the things a hypotenuse can.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/3742/new-poll-gauges-americans-general-knowledge-levels.aspx
The Washington Monument was started while Washington was still alive, thus, it is a monument, NOT a memorial.
THAT IS AN ABSURDLY MULTIFACETED FALSEHOOD
The semantic difference between 'monument' and 'memorial' is wrong and work on the Washington Monument (which is a National Memorial) did not start until long after Washington's death in 1799.
While a nearby location (now the location of the Jefferson Pier) was specified for a monument featuring Washington in L'Enfant's 1791 city plan, that monument (an equestrian statue) was never built. A different plan for a monument (in the Capital itself) was authorized in 1799, but that one was also never actually started. The monument that actually exists today was the result of a quasi-private project that started in 1832 and spent 26 years in corrupt clusterfuckery. That fiasco got the obelisk part of their design 1/3-built between 1848 and 1858 before running out of money and credible public figures to sully by association. It sat untouched as an eyesore for 18 years, and the work done 1854-58 was such crap that it had to be dismantled before completion of the monument (with a slightly different color of stone and a simpler overall design) could continue.
Your study only samples people 18-24, and also concludes that 50% can't find friggin' New York State on a map. That study doesn't exactly help your cause as much as you'd like to purport, especially when the detailed findings say:
However, it is concerning that one in ten of those with up to a high school
education cannot identify the U.S., and one in five cannot find the Pacific Ocean.
Page 26.
Canada: The US's more awesome sibling.