IN LIBERAL-LEANING CITIES, MINIMUM WAGE FIGHT PUT SOME BUSINESS OWNERS IN A BIND: The fight to increase the minimum wage has found some unlikely critics: Small business owners who may hold other liberal views but say they can’t figure out a way to pay workers more and stay in business. It highlights the uncomfortable way in which cheap labor fuels many businesses, particularly restaurants with razor-thin margins. Read more
STUDENT LOAN DEBT DRAGGING DOWN MANY HOUSEHOLDS: Nearly four in 10 households headed by someone under 40 now have student loan debt – a record high – and those households have far more debt overall than college grads without student loan debt. That could be because student loan debt is making it harder for young people to make financial strides elsewhere, or it could be because of the nation’s widening wealth gap. Read more
THE FUTURE SOLDIER WILL BE PART HUMAN, PART MACHINE: Special Operations Command (SOCOM) has been developing a program called the Tactical Assault Light Operator Suit (TALOS) for a few years now, the idea of which is to provide special ops troops with a kind of exoskeletal suit of armor that also enhances their strength, stamina, and other physical attributes. It’s colloquially known as the “Iron Man Suit,” and SOCOM wants it working by 2018. A look at the wearable devices that the future infantryman will be wearing into the war zone. Read more
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