Dec 2007
Fertility Rate
23/12/07 17:37
Well, I lost
the link to the article I read yesterday, so I'm
going to have to wing it a little bit. But, good
news! The US fertility rate rose 2% to 2.1 children
per woman. Who cares, you ask? Well, 2.1 is
apparently the rate that sociologists claim allows
the younger generations to fully replace the older
ones, keeping population steady. Of course, the
environmentalists weren't very happy about this. But
they're not happy about very much, anyways.
The US's fertility rate is much higher than most modern countries, especially Italy and Japan. Italy's fertility rate is currently 1.29 children per woman, which is horrendously low. I read somewhere once that if the trend in Italy continues, its population will be cut in half by 2050 (don't quote me on that, though). Crazy.
A lot of scientists are puzzled about the US's relatively high rate. Most agree that the US's strong religious traditions promote child-bearing, more so than secular Europe. Some attribute the recent rise to the inflow of Latin Americans, who tend to have more children. Finally, some say that the ability for women in the US to have children while continuing a career helps to keep the rate high. All interesting.
The US's fertility rate is much higher than most modern countries, especially Italy and Japan. Italy's fertility rate is currently 1.29 children per woman, which is horrendously low. I read somewhere once that if the trend in Italy continues, its population will be cut in half by 2050 (don't quote me on that, though). Crazy.
A lot of scientists are puzzled about the US's relatively high rate. Most agree that the US's strong religious traditions promote child-bearing, more so than secular Europe. Some attribute the recent rise to the inflow of Latin Americans, who tend to have more children. Finally, some say that the ability for women in the US to have children while continuing a career helps to keep the rate high. All interesting.
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Words
18/12/07 14:22
So the
Washington Post did a pretty good "Learn about the
candidates" section over the past few weeks. It's a
pretty interesting section of their website for the
time being. Above all the personal stories, poll
numbers, etc., I found the section that listed common
words used to describe the candidate most intriguing.
The Post called just over 1,000 randomly selected
Americans and asked them to describe a given
candidate in one word. They then compiled the most
frequently used words, scattered them around the
page, and proportionally enlarged the words depending
on how often they were used. Assuming that the
polling was done in a statistically-okay manner,
these word pages should really show people's first
thoughts of the candidates, who are always working so
hard to shape their images.
Here a few examples:
John McCain
Hillary Clinton
Mitt Romney
Barack Obama
Here a few examples:
John McCain
Hillary Clinton
Mitt Romney
Barack Obama
Just kidding
12/12/07 18:16
Alright,
so I lied. I will blog on something a little more
substantial that I just found online. Check out the
article below about the now twice-vetoed SCHIP bill.
Bush says that he vetoed the bill because instead of
working to put needy children on health insurance, it
moves children who have private insurance to public
insurance. Also, it allows adults to be a part of the
"childrens" health bill. So, it's pretty much just a
stepping stone to European
government-over-your-shoulder healthcare. Now, Bush
has said he's willing to increase the spending on
SCHIP more than the original $5 billion if a few,
simple, conditions are met. This is one of them:
"A
major point of contention with the White House was
Bush's demand that nearly all poor children eligible
for the program be found and enrolled before any in
slightly higher-income families could be covered. He
originally proposed adding $5 billion to the program
over five years but later said he was willing to go
higher as long as his conditions were met."
What's so unreasonable about this? If the Democrats were really worried about insuring needy children rather than scoring points for their so far utterly unimpressive Congressional term, they would stop fighting over points that aren't meant to serve the neediest in this country. Typical.
"Lata" SCHIP
What's so unreasonable about this? If the Democrats were really worried about insuring needy children rather than scoring points for their so far utterly unimpressive Congressional term, they would stop fighting over points that aren't meant to serve the neediest in this country. Typical.
"Lata" SCHIP
The end
12/12/07 17:14
Boston
09/12/07 22:24
Haha this
is a great article. It reminds me of how much I miss
driving! And even more- Boston driving!
Boston Globe Driving Article
Boston Globe Driving Article
Romney's Speech
06/12/07 20:27
I don't
know if anyone else saw Mitt Romney's Mormonism
speech today, but I was pretty impressed. The message
was an important one. It's important that a candidate
not be ashamed of his religion and not be ashamed to
say that that religion guides him/her in principles
and values. Being guided by your religion doesn't
violate separation of church and state. Liberals' and
the ACLU's obsession with eliminating all religion in
the public square is more of a violation of church
and state than anything else. Nevertheless, he looked
very presidential today and I look forward to him
speaking like that in 2008.
(Exhale)
04/12/07 01:54
I'm free!
For the past two weeks my life has been dominated by
three subjects:
1) The negative effect of commodification, introduced during the East Asian Miracle, on the Korean family with regards to divorce, fertility, and family traditions.
2) The failed Bruce Invasion of Ireland, when the King of Scotland, Robert Bruce, invaded Ireland in 1327 AD and failed to capture the island due to he and his military general brother's shortsightedness in foreign and military policy.
3) The controversy surrounding Florida's decision to move its primary, against the rules of the RNC and DNC, up to January 29th from its former March position, leading to the loss of important delegates. Florida now holds virtually no power in determining the party nominees for the 2008 election, unless the chosen candidates bail out the state at the national conventions later in 2008.
So, there you have it. I have been owned and deprived of sleep by these three different subjects for the past few weeks. Make my time worth it and ask me a question about them!
12 days 'til home!
1) The negative effect of commodification, introduced during the East Asian Miracle, on the Korean family with regards to divorce, fertility, and family traditions.
2) The failed Bruce Invasion of Ireland, when the King of Scotland, Robert Bruce, invaded Ireland in 1327 AD and failed to capture the island due to he and his military general brother's shortsightedness in foreign and military policy.
3) The controversy surrounding Florida's decision to move its primary, against the rules of the RNC and DNC, up to January 29th from its former March position, leading to the loss of important delegates. Florida now holds virtually no power in determining the party nominees for the 2008 election, unless the chosen candidates bail out the state at the national conventions later in 2008.
So, there you have it. I have been owned and deprived of sleep by these three different subjects for the past few weeks. Make my time worth it and ask me a question about them!
12 days 'til home!
Islam
01/12/07 00:31
Ahh
yes...Islam, the religion of peace. I love
continually reading these stories about mass numbers
of Muslims marching to kill a British teacher for
allowing her STUDENT to name a teddy bear Muhammed.
Oh yea, the articles about Muslim women being
arrested for being raped are great images of Islam,
too.
Where's the public outcry from all of those 'moderate' Muslims in the world? What about the U.S. feminist groups who see everything wrong with Catholicism and the U.S.? I'm still waiting to hear about their protests in support of these poor women.
God bless America
Thousands of Muslims March in Support of Killing British Teacher
Where's the public outcry from all of those 'moderate' Muslims in the world? What about the U.S. feminist groups who see everything wrong with Catholicism and the U.S.? I'm still waiting to hear about their protests in support of these poor women.
God bless America
Thousands of Muslims March in Support of Killing British Teacher