* U.S.-Israel ties strained over Iran accord. * Where the United States does stand out is in the level of inequality after taxes and transfers. * The eruptions of Indonesia's Mount Sinabung volcano, now active after 400 years of dormancy. * French newspaper goes image-less in support of photographers,
* George Zimmerman's history of violence against women, like OJ Simpson's, should have been a red flag for murder. * So was the America of 1947–1974...the great exception in the nation's economic history? * Walmart blames Obamacare for poor financials, but given its workforce and
Lincoln’s speech at Gettysburg was short: only three minutes long, following a moving, two-hour performance by famed orator Edward Everett. It also was nearly meaningless.
* Five decades ago, JFK faced the same quagmire as Obama regarding Medicaid and socializing medicine. * Novelist and Nobel winner Doris Lessing, who wrote The Golden Notebook, dies at 94. * Atwood: "If there were a Mount Rushmore of 20th-century authors, Doris Lessing would most certainly be carved upon it.
* The worst job in DC: Obama cabinet member. * Science may find cures for rare childhood diseases—but for parents, eventually isn't soon enough. * Why do we ban cigarettes to minors [when] it’s OK to have 12-year-olds getting nicotine poisoning in the fields? * China is ending
In training centers around the world, American soldiers are taught to kill at close range—a “personal kill.” Pictures of the places where soldiers practice, and a discussion of the US military’s increasing reliance on machines.
* Neuroscientists say creativity and mental illness share a similar degree of vulnerability, called "cognitive disinhibition." * Argentina's central bank is losing more than $1B a month, with a reserve less than those of Romania, Nigeria, Angola, or Lebanon. * "China's cake millionaire at home in
* Aid goes unseen in many parts of the Philippines; officials post death toll of 4,000 in Tacloban alone. * Police commander in the Philippines fired for his estimate of 10,000 dead from the typhoon. * In the midst of a "robbery epidemic," rich neighborhoods in Oakland, Calif., hire
* When gun ownership decreases other methods of suicide increase. * Healthcare.gov's numbers prove little. * White House analysis disproves Healthcare.gov's claim that 50% of young adults are eligible for deep discounts. * So far the Rolling Jubilee has purchased and abolished $15M of Americans' personal debt.
* Poverty and political conservatism move out of America's cities and into its suburbs. * How to use math and game theory to win at nearly every game on The Price Is Right—except Plinko. * Britain to try outfitting staircases at three public buildings with signs stating calorie-burn counts.
