Very rich and very poor in California
California is now home to 111 billionaires, by far the most of any state, and they personally hold assets worth $485 billion, more than the entire GDP of all but 24 countries in the world. Yet the state also suffers the highest poverty rate in the country (adjusted for housing costs), at 24 percent.
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The TSA's “behavior detection officers”
The Transportation Security Administration has spent some $1 billion training thousands of “behavior detection officers” to look for facial expressions and other nonverbal clues that would identify terrorists. But more than 99 percent of the 30,000 travelers identified and detained as suspicious by TSA officers each year are let go without any charges, and not one has been linked to any terrorist plot.
The New York Times
No winners for Warren Buffett's challenge
None of the millions of fans who submitted brackets will beat the 9.2-quintillion-to-one odds and win Warren Buffett’s $1 billion prize for perfectly predicting each winning team in the NCAA college basketball championship tournament. All entries, in fact, got at least one game wrong in the first round of 32 games.
CNN.com
High suspension rates for black preschoolers
About 8,000 toddlers were suspended from U.S. preschools in 2011–12, and 42 percent were black—even though black children make up only about 18 percent of children enrolled in preschool programs.
Politico.com
The popularity of book clubs
An estimated 5 million Americans now actively participate in book clubs throughout the country.
The New York Times
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Facial recognition vans and policingThe government is rolling out more live facial recognition technology across England
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Dive in! The best children's books to spark a love of readingThe Week Recommends These gripping stories will keep kids hooked until the last page
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Sudoku medium: August 13, 2025The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
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Arctic cold kills tree insects, and morefeature This winter’s arctic temperatures have had at least one beneficial impact: They’ve killed ash borers, gypsy moths, and other tree-eating insects.
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Congress's poor record, and more
feature The 113th Congress is on course to pass less legislation than any Congress in history.
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Gender differences in employment, and more
feature
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A first for West Point, and more
feature For the first time, two male graduates of West Point were married at the military academy’s chapel.
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A God given land?, and more
feature More white evangelical Protestants than U.S Jews believe that Israel was “given to the Jewish people by God.”
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Jailing the mentally ill, and more
feature American prisons have replaced state mental hospitals as a place to warehouse the mentally ill.
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Treating Internet addiction, and more
feature Treating Internet addiction; Freshman virgins at Harvard; A salary handicap for lefties; Prices for vintage automobiles soar; Gun permits for blind people
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Congress's war record, and more
feature Congress has not formally declared war on any country since June 5, 1942.