“A world without pasta seems inconceivable. Mac-and-cheese-loving children across the United States would howl in protest. Italy might suffer a cultural heart attack. Social unrest could explode in northern China, where noodles are the main staple. But if humans want to keep eating pasta, we will have to take much …

“Susana Trimarco was a housewife who fussed over her family and paid scant attention to the news until her daughter left for a doctor’s appointment and never came back. After getting little help from police, Trimarco launched her own investigation into a tip that the 23-year-old was abducted and forced …

“More House staffers are coming forward with cautionary tales of their members-only elevator rides with Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.). ITK last week brought you one tipster’s claims of Foxx laying the verbal smackdown on a female staffer for taking a ride on a members-only elevator. The congresswoman’s office said the …

“Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) urged state lawmakers Tuesday to pass more restrictions on abortion, and proclaimed that his end goal is to outlaw the procedure entirely. “To be clear, my goal, and the goal of many of those joining me here today, is to make abortion, at any stage, …

“It was a lonely farewell for Joe Lieberman. When the senior senator from Connecticut stood to give his parting address Wednesday afternoon, just one of his colleagues, Delaware Democrat Tom Carper, was with him on the Senate floor. As Lieberman plodded through his speech, thanking everybody from his wife to …

“The Kansas City Star, in a yearlong investigation, found that the beef industry is increasingly relying on a mechanical process to tenderize meat, exposing Americans to higher risk of E. coli poisoning. The industry then resists labeling such products, leaving consumers in the dark. The result: Beef in America is …

“New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told ABC’s Barbara Walters that even though he is “more than a little” overweight, it’s “ridiculous” to think that he is too heavy to be president of the United States. Walters said she was “very uncomfortable asking” Christie about his weight, but she did so …

“I was thinking of writing a lengthy post about climate change denial being completely unscientific nonsense, but then geochemist and National Science Board member James Lawrence Powell wrote a post that is basically a slam-dunk of debunking. His premise was simple: If global warming isn’t real and there’s an actual …

“Cathie Adams, former Texas GOP chair and current Texas Eagle Forum president, gave a pre-election address earlier this year, claiming that a “Marxist” President Barack Obama had “fried his brain on drugs.” In a speech at a Grassroots America We The People “Call To Action” event, first reported on by …

A group of gun violence prevention advocates happend to be visiting Washington, D.C. the morning of the Newtown, Connecticut elementary school shooting and decided to organize a vigil in front of the White House. Read the full story: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2012/12/watch-white-house-attracts-gun-law-reform-advocates Produced by Brett Brownell & Dana Liebelson Subscribe to Mother Jones …