It’s no secret that the US has a weight problem, but do you know how fast the country got fat? I’ll be honest, when I first saw this map animated by The Atlantic, my jaw literally dropped when it reached the 2000s… many states explode from around 20% obesity to over 30%. In just my lifetime (I was born in 1980) the whole US has gone from a relatively thin country to a place where the norm in many areas is to be overweight to obese. [Read more...]
Black and white photographs always seem to be stuck in the past, giving us an often unrealistic perspective on how long ago events really were. Think about it, most of us know someone who was alive during the 1940s, many of them fully grown members of society. For them life during World War II was a vibrant one full of memorable experiences, both challenging and enjoyable. These images, taken by photographers working for the Farm Security Administration (FSA) and later the Office of War Information (OWI), make the war years look much more recent using one rare tool of the time: color film. [Read more...]
Often one of the great mysteries of owning a business is something we don’t want to deal with at all: taxes and regulatory fees. These unavoidable facts of life can be an intimidating source of stress and confusion for many entrepreneurs and, as this graphic from ChamberofCommerce.com clearly illustrates, there are some surprisingly unfair burdens put on those least equipped to handle this: the smallest businesses in the United States. [Read more...]
A wave of change is hitting the nation. Last June, New York became the largest state to legalize same-sex marriage under the Marriage Equality Act, making a precedent setting move and bringing further attention to the much discussed and debated issue. Now, just this Wednesday, President Obama became the first leader of the country to endorse legalizing same-sex marriage, stating “At a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married” (ABC News interview, May 9, 2012). According to an ABC Political Analysis, some advisers “pointing to rapidly changing public views of gay rights, say Obama has more to gain than lose by the move.” [Read more...]
When you visit the Craigslist website, the first thing you usually do is select the region you want to search within. Those Craigslist defined boundaries are sometimes pretty broad, from the San Francisco Bay Area to the entire state of Maine. A while ago, John Nelson of IDV User Experience created a very intriguing map based on those boundaries which is both useful as a window into what the Craigslist folks view as our local regions and as a targeted marketing reference. Now, Nelson has created an even more useful map, this time visualizing the nations zip codes which fall within the Craigslist boundaries. [Read more...]
With all the talk about the 1% in recent months, it’s been pretty common to wonder where we all measure up compared to that famous percentage of wealth. To help answer the question, the New York Times has put out two graphics analyzing what the wealth distribution of the nation really looks like. The first is a detailed interactive graphic allowing you to directly compare your household income to the national average, state averages and even your local county. By inputting your household income, the graphic generates your percentage compared to the area you select. The second graphic, a colorful grid, examines which professions hold the highest percentage and number of 1 percent-ers in that field in the nation. [Read more...]
Until 1989, the USSR was a dominant world superpower, however their communist system kept tight reigns on what could go in and out of the country. Starting in 1957, the space race between the USA and Russia had the two countries competing for supremacy in space exploration. This competition led both countries to push innovation and science in education. [Read more...]
Since the war first began in 2001, many soldiers of the almost 50 nations in Afghanistan have survived on pre-packaged meals filled with as many calories as possible and seasoned with the unique tastes of home. Called an MRE (Meal Ready to Eat) in the United States, these hardcover book sized packages serve two functions: to nourish the hard working troops and to give them a happy reminder of home. Each country’s MRE includes staple ingredients to fill the belly, along with tasty dessert items and the obligatory moist towelette. [Read more...]
If you thought an omelet for breakfast was a good low cost option, you’d be right, but last year you would have saved 7% more. This very readable graphic by Nathan Yau of FlowingData.com, lays out the sobering fact that in just one year the people of the U.S. are paying on average 2.7% more for goods and services. [Read more...]
Homeless Man / Real Estate Developer, 2002 / 2005
Mark Laita says that the gap between the rich and poor, the conservatives and liberals and even the good and the evil of America is growing. These images from his excellent book, “Created Equal,” show that regardless of how different we may be in this world, how ever much the test of time has molded us into whatever we have become, we are still individuals worth respect and dignity.
Laita photographed his subjects over an 8 year period, visiting 48 U.S. states.
![manila-cemetery-15[2]](http://cdn.visualnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/manila-cemetery-152-125x125.jpg)