The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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As he prepared recently to sign a bill requiring public schools, colleges and universities to display a state-approved version of the Ten Commandments in classrooms, Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry made it clear he was spoiling for a fight. "I can't wait to be sued," he told attendees at a GOP fundraiser. The 74 reports that within days, nine families with children in Louisiana schools delivered. Represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church & State and...
When summer starts with a stifling heat wave, as many places are seeing in 2024, it can pose risks for just about anyone who spends time outside, whether they're runners, people who walk or cycle to work, outdoor workers or kids playing sports. Writing for The Conversation, Susan Yeargin, an associate professor of athletic training at the University of South Carolina and an expert on heat-related illnesses, explains what everyone should think about before spending time outside in a heat wave...
The glitz and glam of Hollywood captures the attention of Americans starting from an early age. Beyond celebrities' Instagram Stories and red carpet poses, there are actors out there paying their dues and honing their craft in pursuit of a sustainable career or a fulfilling sideline. Submitting to casting calls is a big part of that journey. Whether you're a working actor or an aspiring one, you might be curious to know which movies and TV shows are casting roles near you. Backstage compiled a...
Trine Krebs is sometimes called "the leek woman," or even Miss Dry-Legume, of Denmark. The 48-year-old has for decades traveled around the country as, in her words, a "food inspirer," proselytizing about all things vegetables. "It's very important to have locally grown food," says Krebs, who has a 12-hectare farm replete with 50 different vegetables on the outskirts of Copenhagen. "It's something that I'm concerned about; what is seen in our landscapes." So when, in October 2023, the Danish gove...
In an era of cupcake wars, crazy creations from cake bosses, and never-ending experimental combinations—think cronuts, brookies, or PieCaken—you might wonder whether the only desserts that matter these days are ones that go viral on social media. But the idea of eating sweets dates back to ancient times and is linked to many culinary practices, like the Romans and Greeks partaking in honey-drizzled pastries. Then, there's the aristocrats' influence of eating sweets after a meal and medieval nob...
The average cost for a gallon of gasoline hasn't budged in at least a week nationwide. That story looks slightly different, however, in Midwestern states surrounding the Great Lakes region, where a refinery outage is pushing prices upward. The ExxonMobil refinery in Illinois suffered a power outage in a storm two weeks ago, which has kept it offline ever since. Exxon has yet to say when the facility might be back in operation. The company previously said the earliest it could be restored was by...
The glitz and glam of Hollywood captures the attention of Americans starting from an early age. Beyond celebrities' Instagram Stories and red carpet poses, there are actors out there paying their dues and honing their craft in pursuit of a sustainable career or a fulfilling sideline. Submitting to casting calls is a big part of that journey. Whether you're a working actor or an aspiring one, you might be curious to know which movies and TV shows are casting roles near you. Backstage compiled a l...
Many families around the country have traditions involving restaurants, whether it's returning to the same spot year after year for birthdays, Sunday morning brunches at a favorite local diner, or Friday night pies at a neighborhood pizza place. While plenty of diners like to visit the same restaurants every year, every month, or even every week, others also want to try something new. Consumers today are "looking for new flavor experiences that excite their palates and provide a respite from...
Amid a Supreme Court term that broadly diminished tools for holding powerful corporations accountable for their actions, one decision could have the opposite effect. The Marshall Project reports that the justices' ruling in Harrington v. Purdue Pharma raises the bar for companies trying to shield their wealth by filing for bankruptcy when faced with lawsuits alleging harm. Bankruptcy is a complex legal maneuver filed in federal bankruptcy court that allows a person or entity to seek relief from...
The mere thought of barbecue's smoky scents and intoxicating flavors is enough to get most mouths watering. Summer is here, and that means it is barbecue season for many people in the U.S. While cooking on a grill may seem simple, there is a lot of chemistry that sets barbecue apart from other cooking methods and results in such a delicious experience, writes Kristine Nolin, an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Richmond in Virginia, for The Conversation. Cooking with fire...
Historically, drug discovery has been characterized by high costs, lengthy timelines, and considerable uncertainty. Traditional methodologies often rely on trial and error, involving extensive laboratory research, animal testing, and multiple phases of human clinical trials. This painstaking process can span over a decade and requires significant financial investment. Yet, the success rate for drugs to make it from discovery to market remains low, with only 10 to 15 percent of drugs actually...
Preterm births in the U.S. are on the rise—and experts aren't entirely sure what's driving the increase. Northwell Health partnered with Stacker to explore the rising rate of preterm births in the U.S. using CDC data. In 2022, 1 in 10 babies born in the U.S. were premature, an 8% increase since 2014 after a steady decline in the early 2010s. Babies born at less than 37 weeks of gestation are considered preterm; early term births, or those between 37 and 38 in utero, increased by 20% during t...
The graduating class of 2024 may have the most trouble finding a job postgraduation compared to the last five years of graduating classes before them. JobTest.org analyzed survey data from the National Association of Colleges and Employers to show how hiring projections for recent college graduates this year compare to previous years. NACE conducts a survey on hiring intentions for full-time and internship positions annually. Today's college graduates are entering the workforce as the labor...
When the air conditioning broke in a Terrebonne Parish school, it sometimes got so hot that kids fainted or had asthma attacks, and the school had to call an ambulance. More often, the school sent kids home early. In the best-case scenario, students packed into classrooms with working AC or relocated to the gym or cafeteria to escape the southeast Louisiana heat. So when the school district got its final federal COVID-19 relief package in 2021, school officials made fixing the AC a top...
Research sends mixed signals. How real is summer learning loss? Summertime can mean many things: vacations, lazy days at home, and ice-cold sweet treats, but definitely not schoolwork. Many kids eagerly await summer during the school year, hungry to take an extended break. Parents, too, might feel the same, excited about extra time with their children, but not without worrying all the free time could lead to the dreaded summer slide, also called summer learning loss or summer setback. "What if m...
Summer 2024 has already been record-meltingly hot, and it's not over yet—meteorologists predict that August is going to be even warmer. Part of the extreme heat this summer has to do with a long period of El Niño. These are conditions that make the surface waters in the eastern Pacific warmer—and bring with it warmer land temperatures, too. Though El Niño subsided earlier in the season, the transition to cooler La Niña conditions won't happen until late summer or early fall. Coupled with alread...
A regular habit of saving and investing is critical for financial independence; however, the practise of regularly setting money aside in a savings account or investment account can be hard. Enter the concept of automatic investing, or auto-investing. The concept isn't new with many cryptocurrency traders quite familiar with the advantages of auto-investing and many tech-savvy traders using scheduled transfers and execution orders to set up automatic trading strategies. However, for many...
Pets provide comfort and companionship, but they can also be a big financial responsibility. Emergency veterinary surgery can run anywhere from $1,500 to $7,000, according to 2024 data from Yelp; pulling a tooth can cost $500 to $3,000. Pet insurance can ease some of the worry of pet ownership by helping cover the cost of veterinary care if your pet gets sick or is injured. To see how pet owners feel about pet insurance, Experian recently surveyed more than 1,200 consumers. Nearly 1 in 3 Pet Own...
Traveling abroad can be an expensive proposition. But with international travel rates up and economic factors favoring American travelers, many global destinations are more affordable than domestic travel for U.S. jet-setters—especially now. Four years after international travel ground to a halt during the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 285 million tourists in the first quarter of 2024 traveled internationally, 97% of 2019 levels, according to the United Nations. That metric results from a strong...
The American sports betting boom is a freight train hurtling down the track. Despite increasing calls for regulation, there's no sign it will slow down as states in on the action continue raking in absurd sums. With climbing revenue, tax revenues climb too. According to the American Gaming Association, in the first quarter of 2024, gamblers wagered a record $36.86 billion on sports, creating $3.33 billion in revenue—and $804.5 million in tax revenue. Sports betting behemoth New York tops the l...
Which U.S. counties are most likely to be impacted by hurricanes? With a hectic hurricane season forecasted for this summer, LawnStarter ranked 2024's most hurricane-vulnerable counties. The rankings considered hurricane risk assessments and anticipated financial loss from hurricanes according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). It also included the past 10 years of historical storm data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and access to national...
A new report from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, or FAO, has found that more fish were farmed worldwide in 2022 than harvested from the wild, an apparent first. Last week, the FAO released its annual report on the state of aquaculture — which refers to the farming of both seafood and aquatic plants — and fisheries around the world. The organization found that global production from both aquaculture and fisheries reached a new high — 223.3 million metric tons of anima...
While the median sale price of U.S. homes is just shy of $421,000 in Q1 2024, homes in some areas more than doubled that average. These expensive places may prevent hopeful first-time homebuyers from investing in the area, making renting – or even moving to a less expensive area – a better alternative. In some cases, high wages and demand keeps the pressure up on a lackluster supply of homes. With this in mind, SmartAsset ranked the 100 largest metro areas based on the average home sale pri...
In a recent episode of her "Women & Money" podcast, personal finance expert Suze Orman provided key insights into the benefits of inheriting a Roth IRA compared to a traditional IRA, emphasizing how the former can simplify the lives of beneficiaries. One listener had a question about the best strategy for an inherited Roth IRA, asking for clarification on whether it was best to wait until the 10th year to withdraw funds to allow the money to grow tax-free for that entire period. Orman confirmed...
As governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz relied on his experience as a former high school teacher and football coach to champion education in his home state. Now, he may have the opportunity to impact education policy from the White House as Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris' running mate. Harris on Aug. 6 picked Walz, 60, as her choice for vice president, according to The Associated Press. As BestColleges reports, Walz, who earned a bachelor's degree from Chadron State College in...
