"It's all about the kids"

Pious platitudes about children are a mainstay of American politics, although in this as well as other things there's generally way more to the talk than the walk. This is especially true when it comes to children in poverty, which can have lifelong affects.

This item comes from Wired Science:

The biological legacy of childhood poverty may linger for decades, leaving adults who grew up poor more likely to get sick.

Genome scans of 103 adults found altered patterns of stress-related gene activity in those from low-income backgrounds. The patterns persisted even when poverty was left behind.

The findings, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could explain why heart disease, cancer and other diseases of aging appear to be unusually common in adults who grew up poor, regardless of their current income or lifestyles.

The best response, however, isn't pity. As William Blake put it,

Pity would be no more
If we did not make somebody poor...

A BOOST. The Economic Policy Institute argues that the coming increase in the federal minimum wage will provide a real stimulus to the economy.

SPEAKING OF WHICH, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities corrects misconceptions about the stimulus.

BLINDED BY THE LIGHT. Here's a personal reaction to President Obama's pledge to eliminate nuclear weapons by a survivor of Hiroshima.

FORECLOSURES are still increasing.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED