Raising The Minimum Wage By $1 May Prevent Thousands Of Suicides, Study Shows
Between 1990 and 2015, raising the minimum wage by $1 in each state might have saved more than 27,000 lives, according to a report published this week in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. An increase of $2 in each state’s minimum wage could have prevented more than 57,000 suicides.
How Singapore Solved Housing
Because 80% of the population lives in one of its one million public apartments, they carry no social stigma and are enjoyed by the rich and poor alike. Singapore has adopted such a unique set of policies that the usual measures fail to accurately capture just how far ahead it is.
The Tricky Economics Of All-You-Can-Eat Buffets
For a small fee, you’re granted unencumbered access to a wonderland of gluttony. Is it possible to out-eat the price you pay for a buffet? How do these places make money? We looked at the dollars and cents behind the meat and potatoes.
The True History Behind ‘The Plot Against America’
Philip Roth’s classic novel, newly adapted by HBO, envisions a world in which Charles Lindbergh wins the 1940 presidential election. Roth’s account of a celebrity-turned-politician winning the presidency on a platform of fearmongering and “othering” proved more prophetic than he could have predicted.
The Radical Plan To Save The Planet By Working Less
The degrowth movement wants to intentionally shrink the economy to address climate change, and create lives with less stuff, less work, and better well-being. This new accounting of economic success would focus on access to public services, a shorter work week, and an increase in leisure time. But is it a utopian fantasy?
A Cutting-Edge Brain Surgery For Tremor, Without The Cutting
Essential tremor is the first condition the Food and Drug Administration has approved for noninvasive surgery with focused ultrasound. It might help people with Parkinson’s, brain cancer, and even ALS.
Social Distancing? You Might Be Fighting Climate Change, Too
“Any time you can avoid getting on a plane, getting in a car or eating animal products, that’s a substantial climate savings.” Many people trying to avoid the coronavirus are already two-thirds of the way there.
Nine Trillion Dollars: Global Trade Hi-Jacked By Criminals
Global Financial Integrity (GFI) analysts have identified a global trade ‘value gap’ of $8.8 trillion between what states declare as the value of trades with other countries – and what their trade partners declare for the same deals.
The 8-Hour Workday Is A Counterproductive Lie
The eight-hour workday started its life as a socialist dream. “Eight hours labor, eight hours recreation, and eight hours rest”. There’s just one problem: It’s all but impossible to actually work for eight hours a day in the jobs so many of us now have.
Inside China’s Massive Surveillance Operation
Xinjiang, northwest China, is in a state of surveillance lockdown. Every message, word and movement is monitored for its extremist potential. A million Uyghur muslims are being held in concentration camps.
I Escaped the Cult. But I Couldn’t Escape the Cult Mentality.
After leaving the Children of God, I was so proud to join the Army. But then I had to ask myself: Was I trading one culture of blind obedience for another?
The Psychology Of Time And How The Interplay Of Spontaneity And Self-control Mediates Our Capacity For Presence
Presence means becoming aware of a physical and psychic self that is temporally extended. To be self-conscious is to recognize oneself as something that persists through time and is embodied.
What If Russia Invaded The Baltics?
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Baltic region has strengthened economic integration with the West and all three nations have become increasingly prosperous as a result. However, the Baltic success story also highlights NATO’s vulnerabilities in the region.
The Danger Of Fast Carbs
The average American eats more than 1,000 calories of rapidly digestible starches and sugars every day, and gets 500 more from the fats and oils added to many of these products. Starch serves as the carrier for much of the fat, sugar, and salt that we ingest, and like sugar, it is converted into rapidly absorbable glucose.
What Happened To Donald Trump’s $365 Million Airline?
For a short time in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, Donald Trump owned an airline. In 1989, Trump raised $365 million to purchase the Eastern Shuttle. Within 18 months, the airline lost over $125 million, and by 1992, Trump decided it was time to walk away.
Need A Happiness Boost? Spend Your Money To Buy Time, Not More Stuff
A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests that when people spend money on time-saving services such as a house cleaner, lawn care or grocery delivery, it can make them feel a little happier. By comparison, money spent on material purchases — aka things — does not boost positive emotions the way we might expect.
People With Extreme Political Views Have Trouble Thinking About Their Own Thinking
Your super liberal and super conservative relatives might all have one thing in common. Radicals can’t question their own ideas the same way more moderate individuals can.
Letting Slower Passengers Board Airplane First Really Is Faster, Study Finds
Commercial airlines often prioritize boarding for passengers traveling with small children, or for those who need extra assistance, before starting to board the faster passengers. It’s counter-intuitive, but it turns out that letting slower passengers board first actually results in a more efficient process.
Why Is There Still Poverty In America?
In America almost 40m people—one eighth of its population—live in poverty. Why does the richest big country in the world still have so many people living in profound need?
What The Psychedelic Drug Ayahuasca Showed Me About My Life
For four consecutive nights, a group of 78 of us here at a retreat center in Costa Rica have been drinking a foul-tasting, molasses-like tea containing ayahuasca, a plant concoction that contains the natural hallucinogen known as DMT.
Why Do We Even Listen To New Music?
Listening to new music is hard. Not hard compared to going to space or war, but hard compared to listening to music we already know. Our brains reward us for seeking out what we already know. So why should we reach to listen to something we don’t?