The Other Biological Clock : How Old Will Your Kids' Grandparents Be?

The Other Biological Clock : How Old Will Your Kids' Grandparents Be?:

A few months ago I was sitting in the vast dining room of an assisted-living home in Washington, D.C., watching my 5-year-old niece bounce like a pinball between tables of seniors. It was a startling sight–that small, smooth blond blur amid a hundred crinkly faces. via Pocket

Charlatans, Cranks, and Cooling

Charlatans, Cranks, and Cooling:

Branko Milanovic notes Lee Kwan Yew’s explanation of the success of Singapore and other Asian economies; partly Confucian culture, partly air conditioning. If you’ve ever tried to walk around Singapore, you know whereof he speaks. via Pocket

Trillion Dollar Fraudsters

Trillion Dollar Fraudsters:

By now it’s a Republican Party tradition: Every year the party produces a budget that allegedly slashes deficits, but which turns out to contain a trillion-dollar “magic asterisk” — a line tha via Pocket

When Liberals Blew It

When Liberals Blew It:

Fifty years ago this month, Democrats made a historic mistake. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, at the time a federal official, wrote a famous report in March 1965 on family breakdown among African-Americans. via Pocket

Can One Union Save the Slumping U.S. Postal Service?

Can One Union Save the Slumping U.S. Postal Service?:

Let’s begin with the bad news. The U.S. Post Office, the oldest, most respected and ubiquitous of all public institutions is fast disappearing. In recent years management has shuttered half the nation’s mail processing plants and put 10 percent of all local post offices up for sale. via Pocket

Building the First Slavery Museum in America

Building the First Slavery Museum in America:

Louisiana’s River Road runs northwest from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, its two lanes snaking some 100 miles along the Mississippi and through a contradictory stretch of America. via Pocket

The qualified 'miracle' of Minneapolis

The qualified 'miracle' of Minneapolis:

A recent article in the Atlantic magazine — “The Miracle of Minneapolis,” by Derek Thompson — brought out the anticipated reactions. via Pocket

Who Decides?

Who Decides?:

Who decides? Conservative Republicans in Texas are split on the issue. Darren Hodges, a Tea Party councilman in the West Texas city of Fort Stockton, fiercely defends his town’s recent decision to ban plastic bags. via Pocket

The Miracle of Minneapolis

The Miracle of Minneapolis:

No other place mixes affordability, opportunity, and wealth so well. What’s its secret? If the American dream has not quite shattered as the Millennial generation has come of age, it has certainly scattered. via Pocket

Unconscious Racial Bias Taints the Legal System

Unconscious Racial Bias Taints the Legal System:

In the wake of the deaths of Michael Brown and Eric Garner, angry demonstrators and subdued academics alike have charged that the American legal process is tainted by racism. But polls suggest most white Americans don’t see things that way, leading to something of a standoff. via Pocket

Dying To Be Free

Dying To Be Free:

The last image we have of Patrick Cagey is of his first moments as a free man. He has just walked out of a 30-day drug treatment center in Georgetown, Kentucky, dressed in gym clothes and carrying a Nike duffel bag. via Pocket

Why chicken is making so many of us sick

Why chicken is making so many of us sick:

This content is made possible by the generous sponsorship support of UCare. Foodborne illness is a huge health problem in the United States. According to the U.S. via Pocket

The case for mandatory vaccinations

The case for mandatory vaccinations:

Should vaccinations be mandatory? Measles outbreaks and recent remarks by presidential hopefuls Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie that they should be voluntary have thrust this question into the center of American politics and policy debate. via Pocket

Smart Guns Save Lives. So Where Are They?

Smart Guns Save Lives. So Where Are They?:

BOULDER, Colo. — JUST after Christmas, Veronica Rutledge of Blackfoot, Idaho, took her 2-year-old son to a Walmart store to spend holiday gift cards. via Pocket

Fake Engine Noise Is the Auto Industry's Dirty Little Secret - Slashdot

Fake Engine Noise Is the Auto Industry's Dirty Little Secret - Slashdot:

I don’t know why, but I find the idea of pumping in engine noise fascinating. Good discussion about whether external noise is a safety issue for pedestrians, and whether silence in cars is golden.

Kicking Dodd-Frank in the Teeth

Kicking Dodd-Frank in the Teeth:

The 114th Congress has been at work for less than a week, but a goal for many of its members is already evident: a further rollback of regulations put in place to keep markets and Main Street safe from reckless Wall Street practices. via Pocket

Save the Honeybee, Sterilize the Earth

Save the Honeybee, Sterilize the Earth:

A decade ago, people started panicking about the collapse of the honeybee population and the crash of our food supply. But today there are more honeybees than there were then. We have engineered our way to a frenzied and precarious new normal. via Pocket

Social Programs That Work

Social Programs That Work:

WASHINGTON — HARDLY anyone knows it, but since its earliest days the Obama administration has been pursuing the most important initiative in the history of federal attempts to use evidence to improve social programs. via Pocket

The Radical Case for Cities Buying Sports Teams, Not Sports Stadiums

The Radical Case for Cities Buying Sports Teams, Not Sports Stadiums:

And this isn’t an uncommon scenario. The city of Miami and Dade County spent more than $800 million in 2009 on a new stadium for the Marlins… via Pocket

The Science of Why Cops Shoot Young Black Men

The Science of Why Cops Shoot Young Black Men:

"You’re not, like, a total racist bastard," David Amodio tells me. He pauses. "Today." I’m sitting in the soft-spoken cognitive neuroscientist’s spotless office nestled within New York University’s psychology department, but it feels like I’m at the doctor’s, getting a dreaded diagnosis. via Pocket