US most gerrymandered Congressional districts

Gerrymander is alive and well in America. The "compactness" vs. "irregularity" of the shape of a district is used as the measure of Gerrymandered-ness. Districts with lots of "squiggles...offshoots and tentacle-like protuberances" are scored highest on the gerrmander scale this author uses.

Maryland and North Carolina rank at the top of the list as most gerrymandered.

America's most gerrymandered Congressional districtsby Christopher Ingraham, Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/05/15/americas-most-gerrymandered-congressional-districts/?hpid=z1

Qatar

Qatar has the world's highest per capita GDP but some Qatari citizens say they are "crowded out" by foreigners, who outnumber citizens. A similar situation exists in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Qatar: Tiny country asserts powerful influence - 60 minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_ZuXbOtBbo

Affluent Qataris Seek What Money Cannot Buyby Michael Slackman, NY Times

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/14/world/middleeast/14qatar.html?_r=3&

Keeping track of China's megaprojects

China's megaprojects are so numerous they are hard to keep track of sometimes. Here is a list in progress:

domestic:
-moving large populations to the western Uyghur regions
-creating new cities from scratch including the world's largest city
-world's fastest train (completed)
-world's largest dam (completed - Three Gorges Dam)
-loess plateau watershed rehabilitation project
-destruction of the hutongs ancient dense urban neighborhoods
-south to north water diversion project - largest water pipeline project in history
-You could throw in the ancient Grand Canal

foreign:
-building new East African Railway
-hydroelectric dams across SE Asia ex. Cambodia
-"string of pearls" bases, routes, and ports to control trade across southern Asia
-new silk road across Central Asia
-Nicaraguan canal - twice size of Panama canal
-natural resource extraction all over Africa

future:
-world's longest undersea tunnel - Dalian to Yanti
-potential undersea train to America, crossing Bering Strait to Alaska

America's dwindling water supply

The amount of water Americans use every day is staggering. In particular, certain areas like Arizona built in natural deserts have used up huge percentages of their underground aquifers, which are non-renewable "fossil water."

CBS News: America's Dwindling Water Supply
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/americas-dwindling-water-supply/

Good explanation of hotspot volcanic processes

This video by the IRIS consortium does a good job of explaining clearly the details of how hotspot volcanoes form.

What is a hotspot?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhSaE0omw9o

Fargo, North Dakota

Fargo, ND "has been enjoying a sutained boom for over a decade" and now has 200,000 people. It is one of many midwestern farm towns that has re-invented itself including industry and technology.

No Joke: It couldn't get much better in Fargo
http://www.forbes.com/sites/joelkotkin/2014/04/11/no-joke-it-couldnt-get-much-better-in-fargo/

See also Kotkin's book The Next Hundred Million.

Red Cross logistics in Haiti

After the 2010 earthquake logistics are extremely challenging in Haiti: getting supplies and food across rubble, muddy roads, busted landscapes.

American Red Cross in Haiti
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GclgheBsnbA