The Week: Most Recent :

The oil lobby's shared profession, and more

The Week — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:07:00 -0400

The oil lobby's shared profession
Three out of four lobbyists who represent oil and gas companies previously worked for the federal government, more than twice the usual “revolving door” rate. The industry’s lobbying roster includes 18 former members of Congress and dozens of their former aides.
The Washington Post

90 percent of Florida’s beaches are free of oil
Even though 90 percent of Florida’s beaches remain untouched by the BP oil spill, tourism throughout the state is down 25 percent or more. “When national media lumps together all four of the Gulf states...

Big Oil's big subsidies, and more

The Week — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:34:00 -0400

Big Oil's big subsidies
Oil production is among the most heavily subsidized businesses, with tax breaks available at virtually every stage of the exploration and extraction process. BP, for example, was getting a tax deduction of $225,000 a day for renting the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig.
The New York Times

Prohibition's continued hold
In the Bible Belt, the fight over Prohibition goes on: One in nine counties in the U.S. still prohibits the sale of alcohol, but in Texas, Tennessee, and Kansas, dozens of “dry” counties have voted to go “wet” in recent years.
USA Today...

The cost of lobbying the feds, and more

The Week — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 11:42:24 -0500

The $3.47 billion lobbying bill

More than $3.47 billion was spent lobbying the federal government in 2009, a 5 percent increase over 2008. “Lobbying appears recession-proof,” said Sheila Krumholz, the executive director of the Center for Responsive Politics, a watchdog group.
The Hill

Heading West for happiness

Eight of the top 10 cities in a survey of Americans’ satisfaction with their lives and optimism for the future are in Western states, with Boulder, Colo., coming in first. Huntington, W.Va., was last.
Gallup

Our snowy nation

Thanks to an unusual combination of weather...

Turnout for the 2008 presidential election, and more

The Week — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 03:07:31 -0400

Turnout for the 2008 presidential election
For all the attention generated by the historic 2008 presidential election, the percentage of eligible voters who actually cast ballots declined for the first time in 12 years, new census figures show. About 63.6 percent of eligible voters cast ballots; while turnout among blacks was up 5 percentage points over 2004, turnout among the much larger pool of whites was down 1 percentage point.
Associated Press

Why obesity is hard to fight
Public-health officials battling an epidemic of obesity have a difficult task. The average American eats 16 pounds of French...

More adults living with parents, and more

The Week — Thu, 21 May 2009 05:59:40 -0400

More adults living with parents
Eleven percent of the U.S. population between ages 35 and 44—traditionally years in which wage-earners come into their own—is now living with parents or in-laws, according to a survey by AARP.
The New York Times

Co-pilot in Buffalo crash earned about $16,000 a year
The co-pilot of the regional air carrier Colgan Air that crashed in Buffalo in February was making about $16,000 a year. An average truck driver makes $40,660 a year and a city bus driver, $31,720.
The Buffalo News

Fewer people emigrated from Mexico in 2008
About 226,000 fewer people emigrated...

Emma surpasses Emily, and more

The Week — Thu, 14 May 2009 04:40:42 -0400

Emma surpasses Emily
Emma ended Emily’s 12-year reign as the No. 1 baby name for girls in 2008, the Social Security Administration reported, while Jacob was the top boy’s name for the 10th straight year. For some reason, the name Barack moved up a record 10,126 spots on the list, to No. 2,409.
Associated Press

Cell phones gain over land lines
New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that for the first time, more U.S. households have only cell phones—about 20 percent—than only land lines, at 17 percent. About 60 percent still have both, but the trend...

People with ordinary sore throats and fevers flood ERs

The Week — Thu, 07 May 2009 05:18:57 -0400

People with ordinary sore throats and fevers flood ERs
People with garden-variety sore throats and fevers are flooding emergency rooms nationwide, convinced that they have the swine flu. At one Bakersfield, Calif., hospital, none of the record-breaking 188 patients who came to the ER one day last week had the virus. “It’s a major drain on resources,” said hospital official Jarrod McNaughton.
The New York Times

Troops in Iraq more likely to die in accidents
American troops serving in Iraq are now more likely to die in accidents and other “nonhostile” incidents than at enemy...

Reducing the federal budget by 0.0029%, and more

The Week — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 05:24:08 -0400

Reducing the federal budget by 0.0029%
The $100 million President Obama has ordered cut from his $3.5 trillion budget represents a reduction of 0.0029 percent. If a family with an income of $100,000 cut a comparable amount from its budget, it would spend just $3 less over the course of a year.
The Christian Science Monitor

Fewer Americans are moving
Stung by falling housing prices and economic uncertainty, fewer Americans are moving, the U.S. Census Bureau reported. Some 35.2 million Americans changed residences from March 2007 to March 2008, the lowest number since 1962, when the nation had 120 million...

No profits for YouTube, and more

The Week — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 11:04:43 -0400

No profits for YouTube
YouTube will lose $470 million this year, even though visitors to the site will download about 75 billion videos, according to an estimate by Credit Suisse. YouTube has to pay for a massive broadband connection and expensive licensing fees, while few advertisers want to be associated with goofy, lewd, or bizarre videos.
Slate.com

Canceled raids boost medical marijuana dispensaries
Applications to open medical marijuana dispensaries in California have soared since the Obama administration said federal agents would no longer raid operations that are allowed under California law...

It pays to lobby Washington, and more

The Week — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:19:21 -0400

It pays to lobby Washington
Lobbyists spend $3 billion a year in Washington, D.C., and they get their money’s worth. A University of Kansas study found that a single corporate tax break in 2004 enabled 800 companies to save a total of $100 billion.
The Washington Post

The evolution of the tax code
When federal income tax was first established, in 1913, the tax code was 400 pages. Today the tax code is 70,320 pages.
USA Today

Bra makers see boom in demand for DD cups
Bra makers say there’s been a boom in demand for bras with DD cups. The popularity of larger cup sizes is being fueled...

Digital information's explosive growth, and more

The Week — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 05:08:26 -0400

Digital information's explosive growth
In 2006, the world produced 161 “exabytes” of digital information—3 million times the amount of information contained in all the books ever
written. Next year, the world will produce 988 exabytes of data.
Columbia Journalism Review

"Drowsy driving" accidents surge
As Americans have been cutting back on sleep, there has been a surge in traffic accidents caused by sleep deprivation. “Drowsy driving” is now a factor in more than 100,000 accidents a year, resulting in 1,500 deaths and 40,000 injuries.
USA Today

Boat owners hit...

Abortions and vasectomies increase

The Week — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 11:55:39 -0400

Abortions and vasectomies increase
Planned Parenthood clinics are reporting big increases in the number of abortions and vasectomies because recession-battered couples feel they cannot afford another mouth to feed. “They’re telling us, ‘I’ve already put off paying my rent, my electric bill,’” said Stephanie Poggi, whose organization helps women pay for abortions. “They’ve run through all the options.”
Associated Press

Pets cause 86,000 emergency room visits a year
More than 86,000 Americans go to the emergency room each year because of falls caused...

Too fat for the armed services, and more

The Week — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 10:45:03 -0400

Too fat for the armed services
One in five military-age Americans is too fat to join the armed services. Though recruiters are scrambling to fill quotas, the military has turned away 48,000 overweight applicants since 2005—a number greater than all the U.S. troops fighting in Afghanistan.
ABCnews.com

Seniors winning entry-level job race
The recession has sparked intense competition between young and old for entry-level jobs in stores, supermarkets, and fast-food restaurants—and the seniors seem to be winning. The number of employed Americans ages 16 to 24 has fallen by 2 million over the...

Landfills receive 30% less trash, and more

The Week — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:45:14 -0400

Landfills receive 30% less trash
Due to the sputtering economy, landfills are getting up to 30 percent less trash. People are buying fewer new consumer items, so there’s less packaging to discard. Manufacturers are creating less waste, and a stagnant housing market means less construction debris.
The Washington Post

1 million applicants for Census Bureau jobs
More than 1 million people have applied for the first 140,000 jobs offered by the U.S. Census Bureau to help conduct the 2010 census. “We’re getting a very highly qualified group of applicants,” says agency spokesman...

Janitorial job brings in 700 applications, and more

The Week — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 11:01:07 -0400

Janitorial job brings in 700 applications
With unemployment soaring, nearly 700 job seekers have applied for a single janitorial job at a junior high school in Massillon, Ohio. The position pays about $15 an hour, plus benefits.
Associated Press

Daylight savings increases incidence of heart attacks
The incidence of heart attack rises 5 percent during the first week of daylight saving time. Some experts suspect that losing an hour’s sleep may make people more susceptible to an attack. Heart attacks decline slightly when daylight saving time ends, in the fall.
US News & World Report

Average...

A “pole tax” for the adult-entertainment business?, and more

The Week — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 10:51:23 -0500

A “pole tax” for the adult-entertainment business?
With the adult-entertainment business one of the few bright spots in the economy, several states and municipalities have been moving to raise taxes on dirty magazines, sex toys, and strip clubs. In Texas, a proposed levy on strip joints was dubbed the “pole tax.”
Associated Press

CIA now briefs White House on global economic crisis
Underscoring the official anxiety over the risks that the economic downturn poses to international stability, the White House now receives a daily CIA briefing on the global economic crisis, in addition...