Understanding the tax code
In the course of the last decade, there have been 4,428 changes to the federal tax code, or more than one per day. As a result of the code’s growing complexity, Americans spent a total of 7.64 billion hours in 2010 negotiating tax-related paperwork—more than twice the working time of all the elementary school teachers in the U.S.
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Tax day is bad for driving
The number of fatal car crashes is 6 percent higher than average on tax filing day, according to a new study of 30 years of accident data. Researchers blame distraction in stressed-out drivers.
CNN.com
The expense of prom night
The high school prom has become an expensive milestone. Between the dress, flowers, a limo, and hair styling, the average family of a teenager is expected to lay out $1,078 on prom this year, up from $807 last year.
USA Today
Veteran suicides surpass battlefield deaths
For every U.S. soldier killed on the battlefield this year, about 25 veterans will commit suicide. About 6,500 veteran suicides are reported every year—more than the total number of soldiers killed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The New York Times
The Harvard-Yale streak at the White House
Since George H.W. Bush was elected in 1988, every president has been a graduate of either Harvard or Yale. If Mitt Romney takes on Barack Obama in November, it will be Harvard vs. Harvard, and the streak will continue. Eight Harvard grads have served as president so far.
CNN.com
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How Israel's 'Legitimisation Cell' is justifying journalist killings in GazaThe Explainer Evidence suggests a secret intelligence unit is portraying Palestinian journalists as Hamas operatives
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Why the world is going mad about Taylor Swift's weddingThe pop star unveiled diamond ring in cosy snaps with fiancé Travis Kelce earlier this week
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Hostage: Netflix's 'fun, fast and brash potboiler'The Week Recommends Suranne Jones is 'relentlessly defiant' as prime minister Abigail Dalton
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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