11/18/2011 Are Maps Dangerous?

In the November 14-November 20, 2011 issue of Business Week, the article on the drug war in Mexico (“The Drug War in Mexico, Now on the Blogosphere”, page 45) states that “The editors at Nuevo Laredo en Vivo recently compiled [Twitter] reports to create a map of drug sale locations and suspected lookouts.”
article link
The map was published in a blog on September 25, 2011
blog link

It is good that the blog published this map, because it is now unavailable:
link to map page

I do not speak Spanish, and I have not contacted the website to ask why the map was taken down. All I do know is that “The site’s contributors included Maria Elizabeth Macias, the beheaded victim”. It seems that yes, maps are dangerous, and the results can be fatal.

Congressional Redistricting follow-up
Regarding my Nov 8, 2011 blog, there have been some updates/corrections. Unfortunately for Texas, on Sept 19 the U.S. Department of Justice said that their Congressional redistricting map does not comply with Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, and a court challenge was filed on Sept 23. An excellent discussion of the Texas situation may be found here
blog link

In Arizona, on Tuesday Nov 1, the Chair of the Independent Redistricting Commission was impeached by Governor Jan Brewer and the Arizona Senate, because the Governor did not like the maps that the Commission was generating. Unfortunately for the Governor, on Thursday Nov 17, the Arizona Supreme Court reinstated Colleen Mathis as chair of the Commission, ruling that the impeachment was not lawful. This is fascinating, but a little like watching a train wreck in progress.

Further sources on redistricting:
Michael McDonald, a redistricting expert at George Mason University in Virginia
Jennifer Steen, Assistant Professor of Political Science, Arizona State University
Meredith McGehee, Project Director, Americans for Redistricting Reform
Keesha Gaskins, New York University’s Brennan Center for Justice