I hope the US Armed Forces use GPS

In an utterly appalling article today, CNN reported that 87% of Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 cannot find Iraq on a political map in a survey administered by National Geographic. How utterly disgraceful to be prepared to go to war with a country and not have any idea where it is, especially considering we have already had one war with them 10 years ago. On a map of the world, I have marked Afghanistan and Iraq with a little fez hat if any of those people happen to be reading this.

My parents always subscribed to National Geographic Magazine which often came with maps and always had pictures of exotic places I would fantasize about seeing in person some day. Daddy bought me a National Geographic political globe for Christmas when I was 8 that had a really cool plastic guide for tracking the position of the sun over the course of the year. I can't fathom such a profound ignorance of geography as it is not only who you are but where you are and where everyone else is. For those with kids it's never to early to subscribe to NG Mag or get an Atlas of the World to foster an interest in what lies outside and around the world. Jarkko and I have at least 12 of them :)