Minimal benefits
This is what the minimum wage means: There’s not a state in America in which a full-time worker making minimum wage could afford the average one-bedroom apartment. Not one. In Colorado, according to a report released by the Low Income Housing Coalition, a minimum wage worker would have to work 75 hours to afford that one-bedroom place. Via Vox.
Big dig
So far ISIS has not destroyed the storied ancient ruins of Palmyra in Syria. What they’ve done instead is fix the power station, turn on the water pumps and hand out free bread. They have also left dozens of bodies of dead Syrian soldiers in the streets. Via The New York Times.
Actually shocked
This time Washington actually is shocked by bad behavior. Everyone is confused by how former House speaker Dennis Hastert came to be indicted by the FBI for lying about payments made for what appears to be blackmail. Via The Daily Beast.
Impossible dream
Peggy Noonan explains why Hillary Clinton’s bid to become president is inevitable or impossible. Or neither. Or both. That’s why Noonan calls it a paradox. Via The Wall Street Journal.
Fishy science
So a “young-earth” creationist walks into a basement to find a fossil of a fish that is not exactly young. It’s 60 million years old, according to the scientists. The Canadian creationist who found it is an avid fossil hunter. He sees the 60 million year old fossil and believes it fits neatly into the belief that the earth is only 6,000 years old. Via The Washington Post.
Negative charge
It’s pretty clear that the dozens of Republican presidential candidates are pretty much united on one thing: that whatever Barack Obama is doing on Iraq, Iran and Syria is wrong. They’re also, though, pretty much united on not exactly having a plan of their own. Via Eugene Robinson at The Washington Post.
Left turn
Martin O’Malley is about to kick off his campaign for the Democratic nomination. So far he trails not just Hillary Clinton in the polls, but everyone else, including all the people who aren’t running. But that’s not his problem, writes Brian Beutler in The New Republic. The former Maryland governor’s problem is that he has to run to Clinton’s left, and whatever room there is to the left, Bernie Sanders seems to have already taken.
New technology
The latest from Google technology: They’re testing a way to buy your food at McDonald’s without taking out your wallet. Or without taking out your phone. Now if they could just figure out how to take the calories out of McDonald’s fries. Via Time.
Photo credit: Denis Bocquet, Creative Commons, Flickr.
