* Disaster: more than half of all the counties in the US are affected by the drought.
* Our aging power grid points to a grim future. (See also.)
* Former Florida Republican chairman admits that they worked to suppress the black vote.
* By the numbers: how the poor, the middle class, and the rich spend their money.
* Follow-up: Rick Perry isn't Texas's favorite son anymore. Bonus: this is the candidate the Tea Party loves.
* Author Jared Diamond isn't a fan of how Romney is talking about his book.
* Parsing out how cancer cells multiply.
* Nice: what Peter Jackson is adding to his Hobbit trilogy to fill three movies.