Tulare: California's Intermiitent Lake 2026 Aug 4    sfchronicle.com
Until maybe 1878, the San Joaquin Valley's Tulare Lake was possibly "once considered largest body of water west of Mississippi," although flying over the region now you'd be hard pressed to see any evidence left. Here's a photo I shot July 30, 2026: The main inflow had been the King's River, although even as far back as the 1870s that was being diverted into the farms of European immigrants evicting native Yokut People from the land.

The lake returns on odd occasions, however, since it is where waters gather during periods of heavy precipitation. This last occurred in 2023, effectively a flood of agricultural land.

A lot of population numbers are fake 2026 Jan 29    davidoks.blog
Linked is a compelling argument that we don't really know how many people there are in the world. Countries with weak central governments, difficult terrain, and politicized incentives to adjust population numbers make for wildly unreliable population counts. Some countries don't even attempt to collect census data and yet report population numbers anyway.

The map continues to not be the territory.

Part of Europe is in Canada 2025 Mar 17    newfoundlandlabrador.com
The islands Saint Pierre and Miquelon are 20km off the coast of Newfoundland and 4000km off the coast of France, but part of France they are. You can spend your Euros visiting this distant part of the European Union and the 5000 Frenchfolks living there in a day trip, but official advice is to "take your time," and be sure to bring your Passport, as the islands are not part of the Schengen.