Millions of packages of Polly-O and Kraft string cheese that came from a plant in upstate New York have been recalled after complaints that the cheese was discolored and spoiled too soon—enough to cause a devastating string cheese shortage all across the U.S.

A new report finds that between 365 and 988 million birds die annually from crashing into windows in the United States alone. That's 10 percent of the bird population of the entire country, according to the Washington Post.

In an attempt to salvage its remaining relevance, the U.S. Postal Service has hit on what might be an interesting possibility: digital currency. On January 29, the organization hosted a webinar with experts discussing how it might make use of Bitcoin. Coindesk has a recap.

Whether still or sparkling, if a waiter at a restaurant in New York City has ever presented you a glass of water without asking if you wanted it first, they were breaking the law—until now.

Suspicion started when viewers noticed that none of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' instruments were actually plugged in during their frenetic Super Bowl performance last Sunday. Now, the bassist Flea admits in a post on the band's blog they knew their instruments weren't on.

New York Observer editor Ken Kurson recently decided to solicit “more than two-dozen” New York Times staffers, past and present, for their opinions of the paper of record’s disastrous editorial page—the misty realm where Tom Friedman is considered an intellectual heavyweight and David Brooks knows exactly what it’s like to be poor. The results are in!

The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford, an unmarried 58-year-old and Republican candidate for governor, took an unprecedented number of international trips with his 28-year-old assistant, Joshua Lanning. Both men, pictured above in Israel, drew taxpayer-funded salaries during their overseas adventures. Now Rutherford is facing sexual harassment charges from a mystery (and male) staffer.

Starting with "Head northwest on West 47th Street toward 7th Ave," the Berlin artist Gregor Weichbrodt has translated Jack Kerouac's On the Road into Google Maps directions. The entire route totals 17,527 miles, for those who want to follow along in Street View.

An entire terminal in Laguardia, America's worst airport, was evacuated today after a baggage handler reported smoke coming from a piece of luggage. Nothing to worry about, folks. Just a smokin' bag.

Mayor Bill de Blasio plans to skip New York's St. Patrick's Day parade, due to the parade's perennial ban on marchers identifying themselves as gay. One-man right-wing publicity shop William Donahue responds: "I do not want to march with a public official who does not want to be associated with Irish Catholics."

A new Grand Jury indictment for Ross Ulbricht, the alleged founder of Silk Road, includes one count each for narcotics conspiracy, running a criminal enterprise, conspiracy to commit computer hacking, as well as money laundering, but nothing about murder-for-hire.

Millennials are shitty money managers.

Papers and pundits screamed it today, in massive headlines. The conservatives cackled it. "OBAMACARE WILL MEAN 2 MILLION FEWER FULL-TIME WORKERS." It was bullshit, born of the media's oversimplification and the right wing's malicious stupidity. The truth is good news.

The head of the National Jewish Democratic Council is "astounded" that the Republicans' new tech startup shares a "fatalist and violent" name with a gun used by Germans in World War II: "The RNC should immediately repudiate the name of this venture, denounce the approach it suggests, and apologize," he said.

The thing about Dylan Farrow's open letter accusing her father, Woody Allen, of sexual abuse is: There was not much really new about it. It was new that Dylan Farrow herself was signing her name to the accusations, but Vanity Fair had covered the case, in grim detail, more than two decades ago.

Leith, North Dakota, was once a ghost town. But recently, there's been a population boom: white supremacists have begun moving into the small town in an effort to take it over. Now, No Weather Productions is making a documentary about the town, its people, and its new tenants.

1) Person Under Age 30 Writes About Dating Life or Lack Thereof.

Budweiser was one of the consensus winners of Super Bowl XLVIII's ad spree, partly on the strength of this tribute to a soldier returning home. But the tear-jerker also might be a rule-breaker: It violated some sacred military edicts, and the beer-maker needed special permissions to pull it off.

A former Motown Museum employee made an unusual—and very valuable—discovery after he returned from the estate sale of a Detroit musician: Inside a record, which he'd purchased for just 50 cents, the man found Marvin Gaye's 1964 passport.

Now that the third season of Sherlock has aired, Benedict Cumberbatch has some free time. So he did what anyone in his position would do: He stopped by Sesame Street to help "solve" a math problem.