Sometimes it’s nice to remember that older people have always been shocked by the habits of the young. One hundred years ago, in 1911, Tilden Pierce turned 100 years old and talked to the New York Times (not the Onion) about why he didn’t think the younger generation would be able to achieve his longevity:
Continue reading …A new study of nearly 20,000 middle schoolers has found that kids who attend schools that sell junk food such as soda and doughnuts do not gain more weight than students who attend schools where that type of food isn’t available. The study, published in this month’s issue of Sociology of Education, contradicts earlier research
Continue reading …A retired LAPD deputy police chief asking about marijuana legalization has ranked first among the videos in the White House’s “Your interview with the president” YouTube contest. “From my 20 years of experience I have come to see our country’s drug policies as a failure and a complete waste of criminal justice resources. According to
Continue reading …A new study based on interviews with more than 200 North American Muslims over four years concludes that a recent spate of state laws banning “sharia law” from the court system may be an overreaction to a non-existent threat. Oklahoma, Tennessee and Louisiana each passed laws or referendums to ban state judges from considering sharia
Continue reading …Some U.S.-born children with parents who are illegal immigrants have been denied food stamps under Alabama’s new immigration law, Southern Poverty Law Center President Richard Cohen told Yahoo News on Monday. Five people have called into the group’s Alabama hotline to say they were denied food stamps because they couldn’t prove they were legal residents,
Continue reading …The 9th Circuit Court in California struck down as unconstitutional the state’s voter-passed ban on gay marriage Tuesday, ruling 2-1 that it violates the rights of gay Californians. [View a slideshow of demonstrations around Prop. 8 here] “Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity
Continue reading …Federal and state officials announced Thursday the largest agreement yet to address the effects of the housing crisis, in which five of the nation’s largest banks will pay $26 billion to help current and former homeowners. The deal aims to hold banks accountable for abusive foreclosure practices and to give a boost to the still-struggling housing
Continue reading …How serious is Congress about ending insider trading among members? On Thursday, the House passed legislation intended to crack down on the practice. And that turned out to be the very day the congressman in charge of regulating the nation’s banking and financial-services industries acknowledged he’s being investigated for possible insider trading. Since late last
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