A majority of Americans still support capital punishment, the polling shows, even though they are more likely to back life sentences in murder cases. When asked to decide between the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole, six in 10 people chose life sentences, the Gallup poll found. By comparison, 36 percent of people selected the death penalty. Another 4 percent said they had no opinion. (Berman, The Washington Post)
Read MoreA look back at what we watched, heard, read, liked and shared. (The New York Times)
Read MoreInsurance regulators across the country are taking action against a Georgia-based company that markets and administers programs on behalf of health care sharing ministries. Those violations include failing to make its religious affiliations clear and selling plans outside the markets allowed by statute. (Bookman, NPR)
Read MoreSwift broke the record for most victories for an artist, formerly held by Michael Jackson. Over the years, the songstress had racked up 23 AMAs, and Sunday she surpassed Jackson's collection of 24 with wins for artist of the year and favorite pop/rock album for "Lover." She now holds the record for wins with 25. (USA Today)
Read MoreEnglish-speakers spent enough time discussing a "climate emergency" that the phrase was awarded Oxford Dictionaries' word of the year on Wednesday. The word of the year is "a word or expression shown through usage evidence to reflect the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of the passing year, and have lasting potential as a term of cultural significance." (Smith-Schoenwalder, U.S. News)
Read MoreAmericans spend 390 more hours at work a year today than did 30 years ago. The average worker, whose wages have not, on average, risen with the costs of inflation, responded in kind by working more for less, hoping that responding to manager’s concerns about visible work ethic might make their hard work pay off. So far, it hasn’t. (Francis, Fatherly)
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