$900 billion in tax breaks
The 10 biggest tax breaks will save American taxpayers more than $900 billion this year, with 51 percent of the benefits going to the richest 20 percent of households, according to a new report by the Congressional Budget Office. The wealthiest 1 percent—those with at least $327,000 in annual income—got 17 percent of these tax benefits.
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Terrorism's death toll
In 2012, 11,098 people were killed by terrorism globally, according to a new report by the U.S. State Department. Ten were Americans.
The Wall Street Journal
Hurricane Sandy leaves a baby boom
New York City hospitals are bracing for a 10 to 30 percent increase in births in late July/early August, nine months after Hurricane Sandy left much of the city without electricity for several days. “This is just old basic physiology,’’ said Dr. Jacques Moritz, director of gynecology at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center. “There’s no Internet and no cable. What else is there to do?’’
The New York Times
Global poverty rate is halved
The global poverty rate, measured by how many people live on less than $1.25 a day, has halved from 43 percent in 1990 to 21 percent in 2010. Economic growth in China, India, and other developing nations has driven that reduction in poverty.
The Economist
The Third Reich's “miracle drug”
Methamphetamine, or “crystal meth,’’ was first mass-produced by a Berlin pharmaceutical maker in 1938 and adopted by the Third Reich’s military as a “miracle drug” to keep weary soldiers and pilots awake. Millions of tablets were distributed to German soldiers, many of whom became addicted and debilitated.
Der Spiegel
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Jasveen Sangha and the ketamine 'Wild West' of HollywoodIn The Spotlight Arrest of the 'ketamine queen' accused of supplying Friends star Matthew Perry with deadly dose has turned spotlight on a showbiz drug problem
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Confessions of a Brain Surgeon: an 'exceptional' documentaryThe Week Recommends Retired neurosurgeon Henry Marsh reflects on his pioneering work with exquisitely 'raw honesty'
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A new subtype of diabetes was found and it may require different treatmentUnder the radar It is prevalent in Black Africans and Americans
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Very rich and very poor in California, and morefeature California is home to 111 billionaires, yet it also suffers the highest poverty rate in the country.
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Arctic cold kills tree insects, and more
feature 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