Josh Harkinson

The suburban poor now far outnumber the urban and rural poor. Their ranks grew by 64 percent during the aughts to 16.4 million—a rate of increase more than twice that seen in America’s cities.

Why the internet is awesome

motherjones:

thedailywhat:

Purple Squirrel of the Day: A purple squirrel caught by a couple in Jersey Shore, PA, has cryptozoologists scratching their heads.

Connie Emert says she told her husband Percy that a purple squirrel had been getting into their bird feeders, but he didn’t believe her. Sunday around noon he checked their rodent trap, “and sure enough, there it was.”

The Emerts claim they had nothing to do with the animal’s unusual color. Several theories have been put forth, including the possibility that the squirrel fell into a port-a-potty or got into some ink or paint.

But Lock Haven University professor Krish Pillai suggested that something more sinister might be afoot.

“That color looks very much like Tyrian purple,” Pillai said. “It is a natural organobromide compound seen in molluscs and rarely found in land animals. The squirrel has too much bromide in its system possibly from all the bromide laced frack water it’s been drinking. I would raise the alarm. This could mean bladder cancer for humans down the road.”

A similar squirrel was spotted in the UK in 2008.

[accuweather / dpaf.]

Um. Yeah. So this happened.

(Source: thedailywhat)

Dark money, explained: As corporations give more money to political candidates, the amount of information that they provide about their political activities plummets. In the chart above, the Baruch Index represents political transparency (100=most transparent)

One easy reference guide for why people don’t care about climate change anymore.

During his decade in office, Texas Gov. Rick Perry has named Sarah Palin, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck as “honorary Texans.” He may be the first Lone Star State governor to use the award to such brazen political ends, but he’s sure not the first to use it to get attention. Here’s the lowdown on 10 of the most interesting honorees.

General George MacArthur
Shirley MacLaine
Christi Worthington
Deng Xioping
Bob Hope
William Hague
Bob Dylan
Russel Crowe
Glenn Beck 

brokeymcpoverty:

via britters_43

It might make sense for a small business to pay its top brass more than it doles out to Uncle Sam in taxes, but what if that company has tens of thousands of employees and billions of dollars in profits? Well, this is America folks. Here is a list of 25 mega corporations that paid one guy—their CEO—more money than what they spent on their entire federal tax bills last year. The same companies averaged $1.9 billion each in profits—money that was earned, in many cases, by cutting thousands of American jobs.

In recent years, the term “nanny state” has become a favorite putdown on the Right. Conservatives routinely trot it out to defend their freedom to eat trans fats, inhale tobacco, or blaze incandescent light bulbs. Even the administration of Arnold Schwarzenegger fell prey to the label in more ways than one. But can the meme last? Dissing big government is one thing, but why bring nannies into it? Somebody’s bound to get spanked. And that’s pretty much what happened on the floor of the Texas House yesterday when a Democratic state Representative discovered that one of her bills was being opposed by a flyer depicting a baby nursing a bare breast beneath the words: “Don’t expand the nanny state.”

Incredibly striking and awful:

centerforinvestigativereporting:

Unbelievable. 

thedailywhat:

Before And After of the Day: Missourian Aaron Fuhrman — a self-taught landscape photographer — has been traveling around Joplin, photographing heartrending panoramic shots of the devastation left in the aftermath of Sunday’s tornado.

Fuhrman lined up one of these panoramic photos with a Google Street View screencap of the same intersection to illustrate the comprehension-challenging extent of damage caused by the twister.

[buzzfeed.]

(Source: thedailywhat)

Live free or die. Oh wait…

motherjones:

ryking:

“If Housepets Were Libertarians.”

This is the thing we’re most in love with today.

(Source: diadoumenos)