Final Links Round-up

Election
The Electoral Map - Presidential Race Ratings and Swing States - Election 2012 - NYTimes.com:

9 Swing States, Critical to Presidential Race, Are Mixed Lot - NYTimes.com


Politics
Obama’s Watershed Move on Gay Marriage - NYTimes.com


Environment
How Green Are Electric Cars? Depends on Where You Plug In - NYTimes.com
-includes this map of the amount of greenhouse gases (in mpg equivalent) released by driving an electric car in various cities across the country

U.S. Slaps Tariffs on Chinese Solar Panels - NYTimes.com
-Good for manufacturers, but bad for installers and consumers


Economics
Coming - ‘Taxmageddon’ - NYTimes.com
-excellent graph of tax rates by income percentile from 1960-2004

Easy Useless Economics - NYTimes.com
-Krugman argues that a lack of jobs, not debt, is our biggest economic problem

Northeast and Mid-Atlantic States Most Upwardly Mobile - NYTimes.com
-A new report finds that NY, NJ, and MD had the most upward mobility over the past 10 years while LA, OK, and SC had the least

Free exchange: Zero-sum debate | The Economist
"Economists are rethinking the idea that capital should not be taxed"




Health
Do We Need More Advice About Eating Well? - Room for Debate - NYTimes.com

Medicare To Tie Doctors' Pay To Quality, Cost Of Care - Kaiser Health News
-here's a related sample physician feedback form on their use of patient services and the associated costs

Why French Parents Are Superior (in One Way) - NYTimes.com
-"I think North American parenting at its best is, largely, better for kids. But there is one exception: food."

Nashville Mobile Market's message spreads | The Tennessean | tennessean.com

Food Deserts and Obesity Role Challenged - NYTimes.com

Childhood Obesity
-the official HHS report

Study Finds Wide Variations in Salt Content of Fast Food - ABC News
-the same menu items at the same chains contain more salt in the US

A Mathematical Challenge to Obesity - NYTimes.com
-Mathematicians say the main reason obesity has risen is that food is cheaper and more plentiful



Education
Mayor Dean to be called to testify in Metro schools redistricting trial | The Tennessean | tennessean.com


How ‘early warning systems’ are keeping kids in school - The Answer Sheet - The Washington Post




Poverty
The Power of Nursing - NYTimes.com
-discusses the remarkable results of the Nurse-Family Partnership program and the intermittently successful attempts to replicate it

Poor girls aren't condemned to pregnancy, poverty - CNN.com
A new study finds that pregnant teenagers who miscarry don't end up any better off than those who give birth, but one commentator responds that doesn't mean teen pregnancy doesn't hurt girls


Other
Unauthorized Immigrant Population: National and State Trends, 2010 | Pew Hispanic Center
-the population of unauthorized immigrants declined from 2007 to 2010

Rapid Construction Techniques Transform Infrastructure Repair - NYTimes.com
-after the MN bridge collapse (focusing event), MA and other states began examining their own bridges more closely, but the also didn't want to close down roads for months or years at a time . . . the solution in some areas are pre-fabricated bridges/roads that can often be installed in one weekend


Life after College
What They Don't Tell You at Graduation - WSJ.com
by Charles Wheelan (hint: that name should ring a bell)

The Downside of Cohabiting Before Marriage - NYTimes.com