* Fema uses its own "Waffle House index" as an informal way of measuring the impact of a disaster. * Government experts warn tornado victims could face deadly fungal infections caused by airborne molds usually found in dirt and decaying wood. * John Cassidy's brief history of austerity in
* Q&A with a tornado chaser. * Riots break out in Stockholm suburbs over racism-fueled police brutality. * Conspiracy theories also seem to be more compelling to those with low self-worth, especially with regard to their sense of agency in the world. * As the world's population continues
* In 2011, American households spent more on their pets annually than they spent on alcohol, landline phone bills, or men's and boys' clothing. * Stunning cellphone footage shows Oklahoma tornado beginning to form, starting to wreak havoc. * See also: Time-lapse video of the Moore tornado as seen
* China’s new-home prices rose last month in 68 of 70 cities, with average annual wages for urban private company employees jumping 14 percent. * Japanese researchers figure out why babies respond to patting and being moved: to avoid existential threats. * On the comeback trail, hallucinogens are being tried recreationally
* Fashion models are almost twice as likely as computer programmers to get visas to enter the U.S. * Era of private space travel begins within the year, with more than 800 people signed up to blast off from New Mexico. * America's collective sense of shock over Oklahoma'
* If we take the future at all seriously...then we need to leave a big percentage of the planet's coal and oil and natural gas in the ground. * Working-class white citizens in South Africa face levels of deprivation as bad as black South Africans faced under apartheid.
* After Tennessee Rep. Debra Maggart, a lifelong NRA member, voted against a pro-gun bill, her onetime allies destroyed her. * Vertical timeline of congressional leanings on gun control. * If you have a famous ancestor far enough back that finding out about them is a surprise, you share them with a
* According to the Congressional Budget Office, the deficit crisis is solved for the next decade, and sequestration is dumb. * If you can't get a cast like that together, you can forget changing anything in a great big way. * Boston Marathon runners—two wheelchair-bound—return to cross the
* Russia ships sophisticated anti-ship missiles to Syria, fulfilling order placed in 2007. * Putin installs helipad at the Kremlin to appease Muscovites' fury over politicians skirting traffic laws. * Business booming in “Gun Valley,” aka "the swath of Western Massachusetts and Connecticut where industrial gun making in America began.
While it’s easy to think of the United States as either New York (urban) or Los Angeles (sprawl) with nothing but Mayberry in between, the truth is that there’s a lot of character to be found between the coasts of these United States. Exhibit No. 1: the Mark
