JimmyGow4Torrance

09/07/2026

What would happen if you could just “unfold” a globe?
Wrap your head around the Buckminster Fuller Projection Map or Dymaxion Map!

09/07/2026

🌍 THE UN BACKS A NEW WORLD MAP

On September 4, 2026, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution encouraging the use of world maps that represent the relative size of continents more accurately.

The initiative, led by Togo and supported by the African Union, promotes the use of the Equal Earth projection, an equal-area map projection developed in 2018. The resolution was approved by 164 votes in favor, 1 against, and 6 abstentions.

🗺️ So, what changes?

The traditional Mercator projection, developed in the 16th century, remains extremely useful for navigation because it preserves certain directional relationships. However, it can significantly distort the apparent size of land areas, especially at high latitudes.

For example, on a Mercator map, Greenland can appear comparable in size to Africa, even though Africa has roughly 14 times the area of Greenland.

🌎 The Equal Earth projection, on the other hand, preserves the relative proportions of land areas. Africa, South Asia, and other regions are shown with areas that more accurately reflect their actual size, while high-latitude regions are no longer visually enlarged to the same extent.

⚠️ But this does NOT mean the UN has banned the Mercator projection.

The resolution is not legally binding, and it does not prohibit the use of Mercator. Instead, it encourages governments, international organizations, schools, media outlets, and digital platforms to consider equal-area projections when accurately comparing the size of territories is important.

🧭 Why does this matter?

Because no flat map can perfectly represent the curved surface of Earth. Every map projection involves compromises: some preserve area, others preserve shape, distance, or direction—but no single projection can preserve everything perfectly.

The debate, therefore, goes far beyond the appearance of a map.

For centuries, certain ways of representing the world became so familiar that they were sometimes perceived as objective or natural images of the planet. The growing attention to Equal Earth highlights an essential geographic principle:

Maps are constructed representations based on mathematical, technical, and historical choices.

🌍 The initiative also reflects a broader effort, particularly among African countries, to challenge long-established ways of representing the world and to promote a more accurate understanding of Africa's geographical scale.

In the end, Earth hasn't changed. What is changing is the way we choose to represent it.

📌 One essential lesson from geography:
Every map is an interpretation of space—and different projections can give us different views of the same planet.

09/07/2026

In observance of Labor Day, City Hall, City offices, and all Torrance Libraries will be closed Monday, September 7. Monday refuse and recycling will be collected on Tuesday, September 8. There will be no street sweeping on Labor Day. Normal street sweeping will return on Tuesday, September 8.

09/04/2026

Happy Birthday from the city on your Western border!

09/04/2026

In 1963, a New York ad promised young women $200–$300 a week at the Pl***oy Club. Glamour. Easy money. A velvet-rope life. Hundreds lined up.
One of them wasn’t chasing sparkle. She was chasing proof.
Gloria Steinem—28, a freelance writer in a profession that barely took women seriously—went undercover for Show magazine. She applied under her grandmother’s name, Marie Ochs, and stepped into the fantasy America was buying.
What she found wasn’t fantasy. It was control.
The costume fitting revealed enforced body standards—padding required to hit a “perfect” shape. Then came the shock: mandatory gynecological exams and blood tests, described as legal requirements. They weren’t. They were Pl***oy rules, dressed up as law.
Bunny School followed. A rulebook. Supervisors policing posture, smiles, conversation. How to bend. How to pour. How to exist without spilling a drink—or offending a man.
For eleven days, Steinem lived the brand.
The money was a lie. Wages were docked through a demerit system for minor “infractions.” The hours were brutal. The heels constant. The harassment routine. Groping hands. Degrading remarks. Smile through it—or pay.
The women weren’t starlets. They were students, single mothers, women scraping by in an economy that sold “opportunity” and delivered exploitation.
When Show published “A Bunny’s Tale,” Hefner cried fake. But the facts held. And within weeks, Pl***oy quietly ended the forced medical exams.
The story should have opened doors. Instead, it closed them. Editors treated Steinem as a stunt—more disguises, more costumes—anything but serious work. The exposé that exposed exploitation became the excuse to diminish the journalist who wrote it.
Then something shifted. Listening to women speak publicly about abortion and autonomy, Steinem saw the pattern clearly. It wasn’t about proving herself inside a broken system. The system itself was the problem.
She helped build something new—Ms. magazine. She testified before Congress. She reshaped how America talked about women’s work, bodies, and freedom.
Years later, asked about the Bunny costume, she didn’t regret it. The article changed policy. It told the truth. It cost her. And it mattered.
The costume faded. The evidence didn’t.
Lesson: Telling the truth about injustice is never a career mistake—even when power tries to make you pay for it.

Gloria Steinem, “A Bunny’s Tale,” Show magazine (1963, Parts I & II).

09/04/2026

Registration is now open!

Each participant must register individually. Registration and waivers are now completed online.
Register at www.healthebay.org and complete the waiver included in your registration confirmation. Please save your waiver confirmation, as you will need to show it at check-in.

Torrance Beach is recognized as a zero-waste site. We encourage all volunteers to bring their own:
- Reusable bag or bucket
- Gloves
- Reusable water bottle

Students can earn up to 3 hours of community service!

Thank you for helping us keep Torrance Beach clean and beautiful. We look forward to seeing you there!

09/04/2026

Happy Birthday!

09/04/2026

09/04/2026

Tan suits?!? You can get in trouble for that!

Great minds… dress alike! Good taste in clothing, Councilmember Asam Sheikh !