Goodbye, copper wires?

I'm really hoping someone takes this on in my upcoming Rural Issues class, because I think it's an interesting topic. Major telecommunications companies are phasing out copper-wire, landline telephone lines, in favor of Internet and fiber optics, despite the fact those landlines were lifelines during Hurrican Sandy.

The 50 most Democratic and Republican exurban/rural counties

Via the Daily Yonder, here's a list of the most Democratic non-urban counties in the U.S., at least in terms of the recent presidential election. And here are the Republicans.

Finding info on your topics

Here's a go-to website from the National Agricultural Library that may just send you where you need to go in your research.

The Dust Bowl on PBS

Quite a cautionary tale. Required viewing, I think. One of the more interesting tidbits is the role a journalist played in the naming of the entire calamity: From the American Experience website:

The Dust Bowl got its name on April 15, 1935, the day after Black Sunday. Robert Geiger, a reporter for the Associated Press, traveled through the region and wrote the following: “Three little words achingly familiar on a Western farmer’s tongue, rule life in the dust bowl of the continent – if it rains.” The term stuck, spreading to radio broadcasts and publications, in private letters and public speeches.