# “Terrible Maps” **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 31, 2020, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946 "2020-07-31T22:40:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2020, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/21 "2020-08-03T17:54:03Z")
Yes, the first one is pretty bad, the Apache location is way off. John Denver also seemed to think that western Virginia and West Virginia are the same thing, clearly WV is bigger than we thought. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/22 "2020-08-04T00:14:10Z")
Folsom is a California state prison which only houses prisoners convicted of state crimes in California. Nevada is outside the jurisdiction of California courts. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/23 "2020-08-04T00:18:12Z")
I thought that was what you meant. But then I kind of wondered if every state even had a federal facility, or if once someone was tried somewhere had to stay in state for a federal crime - could not be transferred to another state. Still, very clever. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/24 "2020-08-04T00:58:28Z")
If you are convicted of a federal crime in a federal court, you can be confined in any federal prison in the country. However, the vast majority of run-of-the-mill crimes such as murder cases are not within the jurisdiction of federal courts. It would be very odd for someone who committed murder in Nevada to be held in a California state prison. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/25 "2020-08-04T01:11:22Z")
I figured out the right interpretation, but as a Canadian am a bit naive about US Justice. The US has a huge prison population so presumably has accommodations everywhere. To me, a run of the mill crime is shoplifting. Most crimes in Canada are federal; provincial crimes being things like driving offences. I don’t even know if provincial/state and federal facilities are always different buildings. Clearly I am overthinking things. But maybe so was the mapmaker. It’s a good thing we didn’t drag San Antone into this. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/26 "2020-08-04T01:21:34Z")
[How to lie with maps](https://www.amazon.com/How-Maps-Third-Mark-Monmonier/dp/022643592X/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=how+to+lie+with+maps&qid=1596503939&sr=8-1) I’m in GIS, a cartographer and spatial analyst, and no, I don’t have this in my office. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/27 "2020-08-04T02:17:16Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > Folsom is a California state prison which only houses prisoners convicted of state crimes in California. Nevada is outside the jurisdiction of California courts. Nowhere does it say he was convicted of murdering the guy in Reno. He could have killed someone in California, too. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/28 "2020-08-04T02:46:48Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Nowhere does it say he was convicted of murdering the guy in Reno. He could have killed someone in California, too. That’s what I assume. Shooting a guy just to watch him die isn’t an entry level crime. It’s a pretty good bet that the guy has done some other bad stuff and CA is close enough that some of those crimes could have occurred there. ---
**Author:** ![Meltdown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Meltdown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meltdown)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/29 "2020-08-04T03:00:01Z")
There’s a reason the illegal immigration map is so wrong — it’s fictional: [Snopes](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/america-colonization-map/) ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/30 "2020-08-04T16:41:40Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > To me, a run of the mill crime is shoplifting. Most crimes in Canada are federal; provincial crimes being things like driving offences. I don’t even know if provincial/state and federal facilities are always different buildings. Hmm … I didn’t know this about Canada. Federal crimes in the United States are generally very specifically tied to federal laws and federal officials, such as murdering a federal meat inspector or fraud committed through the postal system. Most crimes, like murder of a person (who isn’t a federal official), are state crimes. Things like driving offenses are generally state or even local government matters, and many of them aren’t even classified as real crimes, just citable offenses. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/31 "2020-08-04T17:04:57Z")
A good example of a terrible map is the time that Enbridge pipeline wanted to show how easy it would be to bring tankers into Kitimat BC to load diluted bitumen. People were a tad worried about a maritime disaster, particularly since a BC Ferry, Queen of the North, had recently run smack dab into a large island and sunk. So the Enbridge map showed a nice clear passage from Kitimat out to the open ocean. Unfortunately, they removed a large number of islands in the map, and the difficult to navigate Douglas Channel miraculously became non-existent. > **[Islands disappear off Enbridge map | Georgia Straight Vancouver's News &...](https://www.straight.com/blogra/islands-disappear-enbridge-map)** > > Aug 15, 2012 - The pipeline company is under fire from environmentalists for presenting what they say is a misleading image of Douglas Channel. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/32 "2020-08-04T17:48:42Z")
I’m not sure I understand the premise of that article. I wouldn’t have described those as “terrible maps”. Terrible maps in my mind involve a whole heap of incompetence. Like a cartography “epic fail” list. Most of those were clearly intended as jokes or specifically trying to make a point. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/33 "2020-08-04T18:10:30Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > Terrible maps in my mind involve a whole heap of incompetence. In that category, I once saw a route map from one of the big Middle-Eastern airlines like Emirates or Etihad, that showed Frankfort, Kentucky as one of their destinations. As far as I can tell the person who created that map had no knowledge of world geography and confused Frankfort with Frankfurt, Germany. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/34 "2020-08-04T18:36:44Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > I’m not sure I understand the premise of that article. Me either. A lot of those were very good/interesting maps. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/35 "2020-08-04T19:35:48Z")
> [@"WildaBeast](#): > > In that category, I once saw a route map from one of the big Middle-Eastern airlines like Emirates or Etihad, that showed Frankfort, Kentucky as one of their destinations. As far as I can tell the person who created that map had no knowledge of world geography and confused Frankfort with Frankfurt, Germany. Maybe the oil men do their banking at Fort Knox, which is near Frankfort, KY. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/36 "2020-08-04T19:46:17Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > I’m not sure I understand the premise of that article. I wouldn’t have described those as “terrible maps”. Apparently, all of those maps originated on a social media page/group/whatever called “Terrible Maps.” At first I missed the link to the earlier collection: > **[52 Terrible Maps That Are So Bad They’re Good](https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-terrible-maps/)** > > Maps, you gotta love 'em! As a kid in the pre-internet age I spent many an hour poring over my precious atlas, memorizing countries, their capital cities, rivers, mountain ranges, flags...Dreaming of visiting them all, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. ---
**Author:** ![Driver8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5a626/32.png) [@Driver8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Driver8)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/37 "2020-08-04T20:01:24Z")
The earlier and original list doesn’t change my questioning of the premise though. While a number of those jokes or points don’t really interest me, the maps themselves do their job of making them successfully enough. I guess “adequate maps” just doesn’t have the same ring to it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/38 "2020-08-04T20:16:32Z")
It’s Bored Panda. They, IMO, do a better job of compiling interesting thing, but the headlines are always clickbait ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/39 "2020-08-04T20:20:39Z")
The website’s job is basically to produce click bait, although of higher interest than most. Although the name of the website is dubious, presumably they thought it sounded snappier than “really cool maps” (is learning cool?) or “different ways to see the world” or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2020, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946/40 "2020-08-04T20:28:26Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Although the name of the website is dubious, presumably they thought it sounded snappier than “really cool maps” (is learning cool?) or “different ways to see the world” or whatever. Although _some_ of them, especially from the earlier page, genuinely are terrible, in some way (egregious error, egregious pun, etc.). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/terrible-maps/916946.md?page=3)