Brian Gongol
Costs of flood damage likely to get worse with time
Future Scale update for November 20, 2007
How the future looks based on what we know right now. Updates include the construction of the first "vertical farm", Jamaica's arrival at "developed nation" status, and the first Indian-made fighter jet.
CNN is investing in expanded international news coverage
This at a time when US public diplomacy programs (like the VOA and Radio Free Europe) are being pressured by the White House in unfortunate ways. We need more international broadcasting, and it has to remain independent from political control -- people in places like China are eager consumers of international broadcasting, but if a given outlet loses credibility (that is, if it seems like a propaganda wing of the government), then it won't do much good.
"I'd like to know what those damn things are worth"
That's Federal Reserve chair Ben Bernanke's observation on the trouble with mortgage-backed securities, which was a comment that led Paul Samuelson to worry that "nobody, including him [Bernanke], is able to guess how near to bankruptcy the biggest banks in New York, London, Frankfort and Tokyo might be." There's no doubt that speculation has been feeding too much financial-market activity for too long. And the timing isn't good -- especially with energy prices climbing with no end in sight.
BBC integrates online, TV, and radio operations into one "multimedia" organization
Ejection seats in the B-52
The B-52 has been flying since 1955 and is supposed to remain in the US Air Force inventory until at least 2040. That means it was part of the year 2030 war games conducted by the Air Force in October.
Could Kurdistan become the next Dubai?
It doesn't seem particularly likely right now -- especially given tensions between the Kurdish part of Iraq and Turkey -- but anyone who wants to take a pro-development approach to easing tensions in the Middle East is at least on the right track.
The coming Congressional reapportionment looks bleak for the Midwest
Related: Florida is about to bump New York out of third place among the states
The 102-year-old nude model
Former postmaster in an English town poses nude for a charity calendar to raise money for the local soccer team. Imagine being one of her great- or great-great-grandchildren and seeing her as Miss November.
