Forty-seven million Americans — that’s one in seven of us — receive food stamps. Starting today, they’ll be receiving less. A stimulus bill that had added federal money to what’s called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, back 2009, has expired, and Congress has declined not to reauthorize the funding. For a family of five with no other income, this could cut food stamps by $43 a month. For low income people who are working, the cut would be less, but it will still bite.

At long last, the Federal Aviation Authority announced this week that we can use personal electronic devices all the way through our plane trips — even during takeoff and landing– as long as we’re not actually talking on the phone.