Fewer households own guns
Despite reports of surging gun sales, the proportion of U.S. households in which a gun is present has fallen from about 50 percent in the 1970s to 34 percent last year, according to the General Social Survey. The decline in household gun ownership over that period has been most marked among those under 30, where it has dropped from 47 percent to 23 percent.
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What the rich and poor spend on food
The poorest 25 percent of Americans spend 16.1 percent of their income on food, while the wealthiest 25 percent spend just 11.6 percent. The wealthiest, however, spend five times as much money as the poorest on dining out.
Bloomberg Businessweek
In France, nostalgia for horsemeat
The sale of horsemeat in France has jumped about 15 percent in recent weeks, as news about horse being found in frozen prepared meals rekindles interest among French men and women who ate horse in their childhoods. There are about 700 remaining horse butcher shops in France.
The Wall Street Journal
Common surgical mistakes
Up to 6,000 patients a year leave U.S. operating rooms with surgical sponges, forceps, and other surgical tools mistakenly left inside them. The error is usually not detected until the patient develops a life-threatening infection.
USA Today
Forced marriages for girls
Every day around the world, some 39,000 girls under the age of 18 are forced into marriage, with their families often selling them off for dowries—often, to much older men. Associated Press
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August 9 editorial cartoonsCartoons Saturday's political cartoons include snake oil salesmen, Ghislaine Maxwell's new residence, and more
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5 hastily redrawn cartoons about redistrictingCartoons Artists take on Donald Trump's draughtsmanship, the White House ballroom, and more
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Bonnie Blue: taking clickbait to extremesTalking Point Channel 4 claims documentary on the adult performer's attention-grabbing sex stunts is opening up a debate
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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