Thursday marked Afghanistan's second-ever presidential election. At least 26 people were killed in scattered attacks, but overall the threat of violence did not keep people from voting. Preliminary numbers show that voter turnout was about 40-50 percent. That's not as good at the 70 percent voter turnout in the 2004 elections, but still good considering the threats and violence.

What remains to be seen is how the results will play out. Both of the main candidates are claiming a victory at this point. Many fear that voters of the losing candidate will dispute the results as being fraudulent and start riots. Officials are warning candidates to help keep tensions down.

Preliminary results should be announced Saturday night, though official results are not due for about two weeks.

Also, here is an interesting video done by Democracy International showing what they did to keep the voting and results from being tampered with.

For more information and updates as the election results move forward here are some links for you:

- Brookings Institute's Afghanistan page has plenty of new information that gets updated regularly.

- Election Guide's Afghanistan page - provided by IFES, an international nonprofit group dedicated to the building of democratic societies. They are one of the best sources of online updates for the election.

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Want to know more about this country?
Well, I've got info, links and a News Illustrated page. Download the page that ran in the Sun Sentinel.

FOR INFO ON NORTH KOREA or pretty much anywhere else.

GlobalSecurity.org and GlobalFirePower have a wide range of information, statistics, maps and lists of current events.
Also, there are North Korean maps to download and print.

Look to the CIA World Factbook to find a country's flag, maps, information about their people, economy, communications, transporation or military.

INTERACTIVE MAPS
National Geographic has an interactive map, with roads and satellite view.
The Professional Travel Guide has information on top destinations, hotels, interactive map and geography.

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The United States and other countries are fighting over who can claim the Arctic Circle, including oil and fishing rights. Billions may be at stake.

Researchers at Durham University in the UK developed a map last year that shows the major claims and disputes.

You can see a simplified version in Sunday's Sun-Sentinel, as well as a map of potential oil fields.

The United Nations Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf will meet August 10, 2009 to decide who owns the those chilly northern reaches, including the North Pole.

And Santa Clause may need a Russian passport.

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It is refreshing to see democracy alive and kicking in Iran — a country known for its ultra-strict religious political structure. The aftermath of the June 12 elections is really taking a toll on Iran's government (and I'm not just talking about its image).

Reading between the lines, a major (yet unspoken) concern is over the country's stability and the safety of Iran's nuclear and missile facilities.

To understand the scope of the situation, one must brush up on Iranian history first. Here are a couple of wire graphics to help you out. And then you can check out my News Illustrated page (coming out Sunday) to understand the political hierarchy and why there is growing international concern.

If you want more, the New York Times has a nice page filled with stories and summaries that I used as reference. Or you can visit Global Security or the Federation of American Scientists to get more information about Iran's nuclear and missile programs.

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How long will it take me to get over the first black president being elected by these United States? I have no idea, but I am happy to be alive for this historic moment in American history. Take a look at other historic African-American firsts on blackpast.org.

		FOR MORE INFORMATION Download my News Illustrated page from this Sunday's Sun-Sentinel.

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January 23, 2009

January 16, 2009

Shaping a community Economic and politics have helped boost Cuban immigration for almost 50 years, helping shape South Florida's image.

The birth of a revolution Fulgencio Batista ruled Cuba through a succession of puppet presidents and then seized power in 1952. His regime provoked years of violent opposition that propelled Fidel Castro to power.

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The death penalty has been around since 1608. Since then, changes have constantly been made to laws to ensure that the death penalty is carried out in a way that is constitutional and doesn't fall under cruel and unusual punishment. While it once enjoyed days where it was pretty popular, it now seems to be losing support. There have been a lot of developments in the past few years that suggest the death penalty is on its way out. For example:

- A number of states, including Maryland, Connecticut, Nebraska, Virginia and Alabama, introduced bills to abolish the death penalty this year. To date, none of these have passed, but it is obviously on lawmakers' minds.

- The number of death sentences handed down has decreased steadily from 306 in 1998 to an estimated 111 this year.

For more on the death penalty, its potential fate and its costs, check out my News Illustrated page on the back of the Outlook section on Sunday.

There are also some videos about the experiences of those who have been exonerated and about exploring the death penalty on the Death Penalty Information Center's website.

Also, to find facts about the death penalty by state, use this map on the Death Penalty Information Centers' website . Below is the information on Florida.

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My name is Alex Bordens and for the past five months or so I have had the pleasure of being the graphics intern. The position has allowed me to learn and try new things, including the interactive graphic below explaining Governor Crist’s trip to Europe (click the image to open the feature) The graphic on the governor’s spending shows how tons of information can be displayed at one time, yet in a simple manner.
 

A professor from college told me that design either needs to be blatantly complex or so simple someone would think, hey I can do that. In this case simplicity is king. There is so much information that it was important not to over emphasize the small things. Let the numbers be what the reader remembers not the design.
 
The project may have looked simple but it was very complex to develop­­ — at least for a beginner programmer. It was one of those projects that when it is over you feel like you accomplished something. Although there may have been an easier way to build some of the components, it was worth the struggle. Together they made the project seamless. They made the project simple.

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Download News Illustrated, a full-page graphic that shows how the nation voted.

To give you a clear picture of the election we pulled together voting stats and built interactive maps of Florida and Broward County. Come see how your neighbors voted.

Millions of Americans encountered a new voting method on election day as more than 125 counties have changed their voting equipment, most of which have moved away from electronic machines. I thought this was very interesting. I had no idea that so many people voted on paper.

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So the last of the three presidential debates was on last night. Did you see it? Was there a clear winner?

If you didn't watch but still want to know what went down, here is a great interactive piece from the New York Times. There is a timeline that you can scrub along to different topics of the debate and it will take you directly to that place in the video and the transcript. You can read, hear and see what was said and decide for yourself who did best and hopefully learn something about who they'd be as president. You can also type in a word and see how many times it was used in the debate by each candidate.

And if you missed the earlier presidential debates or the vice presidential debate, those are there also.

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Well, the state is down to the wire on elections and now we find out that more than 30,000 felons are illegally registered to vote in the upcoming election. Florida's elections chief, Secretary of State Kurt Browning, says that his staff has failed to remove thousands of ineligible felons because of they are short of workers and swamped with new registrations.

To give you a better scope of the issue we put together an interactive map that shows the number of felons registered to vote by zip code.

Read more on this story.

Credit for the interactive: Lindsay Dubois, Alex Bordens, Dana Williams

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Are you curious about how different states' electoral votes could affect the outcome of the presidential race in November? Well, we have a handy interactive that will do the math for you. You can click on a state, select a winner and see who would win overall as a result. You can also compare it to the electoral winners from the 2004 election. It's pretty cool. Click here to check it out.

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Our country is teetering on the edge of a financial crisis, and what do I find? A graphic from the MCT wires showing 10 of the major banks that are involved in this mess and how much money they've shelled out to both political parties and presidential candidates since 2001.

The amount is staggering: A whopping $64 million!

And the Democratic party made out like bandits, receiving $34.1 million to the Republican's $29.8 million. Check out what each presidential candidate received, and you'll see it's the same thing.

At this point, all I can say is hindsight is ...

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Who says you can't have fun with politics?

If you recall, last week I posted a graphic word cloud (or is that graphic cloud??) of sorts summarizing the Democratic National Convention. This week, I have a word cloud summarizing both conventions (sorry, there wasn't one specifically for the Republican convention — I checked).

Based on the number of times certain words were said in the presidential and vice-presidential candidate speeches, one set focused more on issues than the other.

Still can't get enough? Check out these word clouds generated by 10000words.net for the GOP and DNC conventions. Or, as I said last week, try making your own!

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I love word clouds. You know what I'm talking about: the little graphic made up of different sized words, based on the number of times they're spoken in a speech.

Well, already we're seeing word clouds circulating on the Democratic National Convention. In fact, here's an analysis I found on 10000words.net.

But I found this today as I was poking around in the Associated Press' graphics wire, and I love, love, love their take. Check it out, and if you have time ... make your own!

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Above is an interactive that I did which allows you to go through the voting process in Broward and Palm Beach counties. New optical scan machines will be used in Florida this year, but the machines and ballots do not all look the same.

There always seems to be some kind of voting process issue surrounding election day. Use this simulator to help prepare yourself for voting day so that there will hopefully be no confusion this year.

Also, check out our elections page to view other helpful information and articles about voting and the candidates.

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The Olympics is just around the corner. Athletes from around the world will test their skills in Beijing. But with all the excitement surrounding the games, China's relationship with Tibet has become a big issue. Protests have sprung up around the world and human rights leaders and journalists have been detained.

The News Illustrated takes a look at the history behind the conflict. You can download it here.

You can find out more at freetibet.org.

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Now that the death penalty has started up again in Florida, here is a glance at past executions and some of those who are on death row. For more, visit the Florida Department of Corrections.

Here are two men on death row. They are from Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Click on them to learn more. To search for others, click here.

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Learn more about amendments and past constitutions. Read on.


PAST CONSTITUTIONS
The 1885 Constitution, pictured above, was the fifth constitution in Florida. The Florida's Early Constitutions site at the Florida State Archives has info on all of them, including scans of the original documents. Image courtesy of the State Archives of Florida.

UPDATE: DOWNLOAD THE GRAPHIC My News Illustrated page in Sunday's South Florida Sun-Sentinel discusses different ways initiatives can be made and key amendments in the Florida constitution. In case you missed it you can download the pdf.

SEARCH INITIATIVES FROM 1978
The Division of Election's database has information on initiatives including vote totals for those that made it to ballot.

READ AMENDMENTS FROM THE 1838 CONSTITUTION
The Florida's Constitutions: The Documentary History, within the Florida State University, has constitutional amendments and revisions from 1838 to 1998.

READ THE CURRENT CONSTITUTION
The Florida Legislature has the full content online.

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Now that the presidential horse race between McCain and Obama is under way, it's time to get yourself on over to Pollster. Yeah, Yeah, we know...

Don't polls have a huge margin of error? Sort of.

Don't polls talk to ridiculously small groups of people? Not really.

How do I know which poll is right? You can't know for sure, but Pollster can help...

Pollster simplifies things by charting results from many polls to show a general trend. It doesn't make them right. It just makes a lot of sense.

Here are two examples:

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Governor Crist flipped on drilling oil off Florida's coast. Here is a map of the current Florida buffer zone in the Gulf of Mexico.

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So we're trying something new. We're offering up some of our graphics as widgets you can add to your web site, Facebook, MySpace, etc. First one out of the gate is a small version of the Crist-O-Meter, a graphic we posted a little while back. Editors monitor news stories and update Charlie's chances of being McCain's running mate.

To get it, click on the "get and share" button on the bottom of the graphic. All the necessary code will be provided.

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The HBO movie Recount premiers this weekend.

We expected to find a better explainer of the infamous Palm Beach County Butterfly Ballot on their Web site but didn't. Fortunately for you, we reproduced the actual ballot back in 2000 to let readers see if they would have voted correctly. Try it out, if you dare.

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Who said politics can't be fun? Our Crist-O-Meter, an idea from Managing Editor Sharon Rosenhause, ranks Chuck's likelihood of becoming McCain's running mate. It's updated by Sun-Sentinel editors based on breaking news.

Is he getting closer to snagging the job? The Crist-O-Meter will let you know when his fortunes change!

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May 3rd was a disasterous day for Myanmar. Cyclone Nargis has left over 43,000 dead and over 27,000 are still missing. The strict military rulers are not making things easy. Borders closed off to the relief efforts and aid organizations are still waiting for visas.

Look for my News Illustrated page this Sunday in the Sun-Sentinel to learn about the country's troubled history.

Also check out United Nations to get more info or if you want to pitch in and help out, Red Cross is taking donations.

Photo: AFP/Getty Images

UPDATE: The cyclone's official death toll has surpassed 78,000 with another 56,000 missing. The United Nations continue to pressure the govenment to let in more aid workers. Survivors are in great need for help as they are faced with diseases and malnutrition.

In case you missed Sunday's Sun-Sentinel, you can download my News Illustrated page.

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May 1 is Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is a national day of commemoration to remember the World War II victims. The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C. is responsible for leading the country in the May memorial, and they even have a handy calendar that marks every holiday until 2016. However, this is not to be confused with the international holiday that is celebrated in January, with yearly events organized by the United Nations.

So to commemorate, I'm offering you a copy of the 2005 News Illustrated page I worked on to coincide with a special project about 13 Holocaust survivors who live in South Florida and shared their survival stories. My full-page graphic shows where the concentration camps were located and the number of survivors after the war.

Also, we ran a four-week series a few months later on the history and future of Israel and even put together a multimedia package that encompasses both series. This includes audio of the powerful stories told by the 13 Holocaust survivors themselves.

And since the 60th anniversary of Israel's statehood is coming up on May 14, check out our special coverage in this Sunday's Outlook section. The same reporter, Tim Collie, who did the Survivors and Judaism series, interviewed local veterans of the Israeli War of Independence. And I built a News Illustrated that shows how Israel fought six Arab armies to claim most of the land they have today.

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Hello and welcome to one of the Sun-Sentinel's newest blogs. Rather than bore you with who we are and why we're here (check About This Blog if you really want to know), here's some examples of what we do and what you can expect.

You may have seen the Florida property tax calculator before. We struggled to explain how portability would affect individuals (including us — we have homes, too). So Karsten Ivey built a calculator to figure it out. It made his brain bleed a little, but the end result is simple to use and informative.

Some graphics just work better when you can play with the information. This Lake Okeechobee water level graphic lets you scroll on a timeline and watch lake levels change.

A Broward County and Palm Beach County home foreclosures graphic lets you investigate detailed information in your neighborhood. Go ahead, we'll wait.

You're back? Excellent! Did watch you the lunar eclipse in February? Well, we produced a total lunar eclipse graphic to help you plan your viewing.

Political junkie? We have you covered. We built a Florida primary election results map for the January primary. It updated every two minutes on election night. Look for more of these in November.

But we're not afraid to have fun.

Are you a snowbird? Did you come down and forget to leave? Well, we know there are somethings you can't help but miss. So check out our South Florida snowman builder. It's good for what ails you.

Or check out our Paper Airplane Garage. That's right, we actually got paid to play with paper airplanes so that you could too. Choose from several different models, customize their appearance then print them out and build 'em.

Well, now you've got an idea of the things we do.

Be sure to let us know what you think. And give us your ideas and requests. We'll try to so something with the best of them.

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