news.yahoo.com | The first U.S. multi-family condo built of used shipping containers is slated to break ground in Detroit early next year.

Strong, durable and portable, shipping containers stack easily and link together like Legos. About 25 million of these 20-by-40 feet multicolored boxes move through U.S. container ports a year, hauling children's toys, flat-screen TVs, computers, car parts, sneakers and sweaters.

But so much travel takes its toll, and eventually the containers wear out and are retired. That's when architects and designers, especially those with a "green" bent, step in to turn these cast-off boxes into student housing in Amsterdam, artists' studios, emergency shelters, health clinics, office buildings.

usnews.com | The Food Stamp Challenge, which challenges higher-income families to live as if they are on food stamps, estimates that a person on food stamps has a budget of about $1.25 per meal. In other words, a family on food stamps must buy an entire meal per person for less than the cost of an average cup of coffee.

Usage of food stamps among low and no-income families has spiked since the collapse of the U.S. financial system four years ago. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, average participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamp program, has increased 70 percent since 2007. And economists have warned that usage of food stamps won't go down until unemployment improves.

boston.cbslocal.com | It’s one of the most highly anticipated deliveries of the year, the turkeys at Pearl Street Cupboard and Café in Framingham. But three days before Thanksgiving, the food pantry is coming up short of turkeys for everyone who walks through the door.

It’s the first time Criseida Hernandez has asked for one. “It’s a little hard because I’ve been able to get one myself without going any place to ask for it. But I’ve been unemployed for the last year,” she said.

It’s the busiest time of year for food distribution and at Pearl Street, requests for help are up 400 percent over last year. “These are folks you wouldn’t normally expect to be needing help, on top of those always in need, it’s a big group and a big deal,” said Paul Mina president of United Way Tri-County, which runs the food pantry.

www.foxnews.com | The final monthly jobs report before Election Day offered a mixed bag of economic evidence that quickly became political putty for the presidential candidates, with the unemployment rate ticking up to 7.9 percent but the economy adding a better-than-expected 171,000 jobs. 

At the same time, the number of unemployed grew by 170,000, roughly the same amount -- to 12.3 million. 

www.weeklystandard.com | According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the biggest change in employment over the last month affected black workers. In September, the unemployment rate for blacks was 13.4 percent. In October, that number jumped to 14.3 percent, an almost a full percentage point change, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Unemployment for whites remained steady at 7 percent.

www.weeklystandard | With the latest jobs report, it is now the case that "Under Obama, Food Stamp Growth [Is] 75 Times Greater Than Job Creation," according to statistics compiled by the Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee. "For Every Person Added to Jobs Rolls Since January 2009, 75 People Added To Food Stamp Rolls."