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2008 AMERICA'S FAITH BASES AP - People are keeping their cars and trucks longer as quality improves and the uncertain economy makes new purchases less appealing, according to a study released this week by automotive consulting firm R.L. Polk & Co. Polk said the median age of cars on U.S. roads was 9.2 years in 2007. That ties the previous year's record high. In 2007, 41.3 percent of all cars were 11 years or older, compared with 40.9 percent the year before. . . Purchases of new cars fell 3 percent in the U.S. in 2007 as a combination of factors, including high gas prices and the housing crisis, weighed on consumers and led many to put off buying new cars. MEN GIVING UP GOLF NY TIMES - The men gathered in a new golf clubhouse here a couple of weeks ago circled the problem from every angle, like caddies lining up a shot out of the rough. The total number of people who play [golf] has declined or remained flat each year since 2000, dropping to about 26 million from 30 million, according to the National Golf Foundation and the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association. More troubling to golf boosters, the number of people who play 25 times a year or more fell to 4.6 million in 2005 from 6.9 million in 2000, a loss of about a third. The industry now counts its core players as those who golf eight or more times a year. That number, too, has fallen, but more slowly: to 15 million in 2006 from 17.7 million in 2000, according to the National Golf Foundation. MOST YOUNG SINGLES NOT ACTIVELY LOOKING FOR ROMANTIC PARTNERS PEW RESEARCH - Most young singles in America do not describe themselves as actively looking for romantic partners. Even those who are seeking relationships are not dating frequently. About half (49%) had been on no more than one date in the previous three months. These findings emerge from a national survey conducted last fall by the Pew Internet & American Life Project. The survey found that dating in America is, indeed, affected by online matchmaking activity. But in analyzing our findings, we discovered another story: Large numbers of single Americans are not actively looking for relationships and even significant numbers of those looking for partners are not that active on the dating scene. While the majority of American adults (56% or 113 million people) are not in the dating market (they are married or living as married), the number of potential romance-seekers is still huge. Fully 43% of adults (87 million people) say they are single. About a quarter of unmarried Americans (26% or about 23 million adults) say they are in committed romantic relationships. Single men are more likely than single women to report being so situated. Yet among the uncommitted, relatively few say they are in the market for relationships. Among all singles, just 16% say they are currently looking for a romantic partner. That amounts to 7% of the adult population. Some 55% of singles report no active interest in seeking a romantic partner. This is especially true for women, for those who have been widowed or divorced, and for older singles. Yet even among the youngest adults, the zest for romance is somewhat muted: 38% of singles ages 18-29 say they are not currently looking for a romantic partner, compared to 22% in that age cohort who are looking for partners. No doubt many reasons underlie the relatively small size of the active dating population. One suggested by this survey's findings is the type of community in which singles live. When singles who are actively looking for partners were asked about the dating scene where they live, a majority of those actively seeking dates (55%) said it was difficult to meet people. Only 43% said it was easy, while 2% said they didn't know. Moreover, when asked to describe the dating possibilities where they live, a plurality, 47%, said there were very few single people in their town they would be interested in dating. Another 41% said there were lots of single people in their town that seemed interesting but 10% said they didn't know much about the local singles scene. 57% of city dwellers who are looking for dates say there is plenty of dating potential in their communities compared with 38% of date-seeking suburbanites and only 21% of date seekers residing in rural settings. Whatever the reasons, few of today's seeking singles describe themselves as active on the dating scene. Asked how many dates they had been on in the past three months, singles who said they were in the dating market reported the following: - 36% said they had been on no dates in the previous three months. - 13% had been one date. - 22% had been on 2-4 dates - 25% had been on 5 or more dates. In our sample of internet users, we found that those who are in serious long-term relationships or marriage are equally as likely to have met through friends or in a work or school setting. Still, bars remain a relatively popular place for long-term relationships to begin. Here is a rundown from the survey of how the internet users in marriages or long-term relationships first encountered each other. - 38% met at work or school. - 34% met through family or friends. - 13% met at a nightclub, bar, café, or other social gathering - 3% met through the internet. - 2% met at church. - 1% met by chance, such as on the street. - 1% met because they lived in the same neighborhood. - 1% met at a recreational facility like a gym. - 1% met on a blind date or through a dating service. 2007 ABOUT A QUARTER OF WOMEN, 11% OF MEN REPORT SUFFERING DOMESTIC VIOLENCE 61% OF WOMEN WHO HAVE ABORTIONS ARE ALREADY MOTHERS AMERICAN HUNTING, FISHING & CAMPING DOWN SHARPLY U.S. HAS MOST NEW BABIES IN 45 YEARS BLACK VIEWS How often blacks say they face frequent discrimination in: Applying for jobs: 67 percent Renting an apartment or buying a house: 65 percent Dining out or shopping: 50 percent Applying to college: 43 percent   How well blacks say they get along with whites: Very well: 20 percent Pretty well: 49 percent Not too well: 20 percent Not at all well: 4 percent   Percentage of blacks who'd like to see: More neighborhood integration: 62 percent (versus 44 percent of whites) More school integration: 56 percent (versus 23 percent of whites) http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0118/p20s01-usgn.htm ABOUT 82% of Americans in 2007 told Gallup interviewers that they identified with a Christian religion. That includes 51% who said they were Protestant, 5% who were "other Christian," 23% Roman Catholic, and 3% who named another Christian faith, including 2% Mormon. Because 11% said they had no religious identity at all, and another 2% didn't answer, these results suggest that well more than 9 out of 10 Americans who identify with a religion are Christian in one way or the other. Sixty-two percent of Americans in Gallup's latest poll, conducted in December, say they are members of a "church or synagogue," a question Gallup has been asking since 1937. In the 1937 Gallup Poll, 73% of Americans said they were church members. That number stayed in the 70% range in polls conducted in the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s. By the 1970s, however, the number began to slip below 70% in some polls, although as recently as 1999, 70% said they were church members. Since 2002, self-reported church membership has been between 63% and 65%. http://www.gallup.com/poll/103459/Questions-Answers-About-Americans-Religion.aspx?version=print BLACK CHILDREN LOSING GROUND COMPARED TO PARENTS JULIA ISAACS, BROOKINGS INSTITUTION - Median family incomes have risen for both black and white families, but less so for black families. Moreover, . . . analysis reveals a significant difference in the extent to which parents are able to pass their economic advantages onto their children. Whereas children of white middle-income parents tend to exceed their parents in income, a majority of black children of middle-income parents fall below their parents in income and economic status. These findings are provided in more detail below. Median family income for both black and white families has increased over the last 30 years, but income gaps still persist. - Between 1974 and 2004, white and black men in their 30s experienced a decline in income, with the largest decline among black men. However, median family incomes for both racial groups increased, because of large increases in women's incomes. Income growth was particularly high for white women. - The lack of income growth for black men combined with low marriage rates in the black population has had a negative impact on trends in family income for black families. - There was no progress in reducing the gap in family income between blacks and whites. In 2004, median family income of blacks ages 30 to 39 was only 58 percent that of white families in the same age group ($35,000 for blacks compared to $60,000 for whites). - Black children grow up in families with much lower income than white children. - White children are more likely to surpass parents' income than black children at a similar point in the income distribution. - Only 31 percent of black children born to parents in the middle of the income distribution have family income greater than their parents, compared to 68 percent of white children from the same income bracket. http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2007/11_blackwhite_isaacs.aspx   PARENTS TAKING MORE ACTIVE ROLE IN CHILDREN'S LIVES CENSUS - Parents are taking a more active role in the lives of their children than they did 10 years ago, according to data by the U.S. Census Bureau. For example, in 2004, 47 percent of teenagers had restrictions on what they watched on television, when they watched, and for how long, up from 40 percent in 1994 According to this latest look into the lives of children, about 68 percent of 3- to 5-year-olds had limits on their television viewing, an increase from 54 percent in 1994. More children 6 to 11 found they, too, were living with restrictions on television: 71 percent in 2004 compared with 60 percent 10 years earlier. In 2004, 53 percent of children younger than 6 ate breakfast with their parents every day. That compared with only 22 percent of teenagers who ate breakfast with their parents each morning. Those percentages increased at the dinner table, where 78 percent of children younger than 6 ate dinner nightly with their parents, compared with 57 percent of teenagers. Seventy-four percent of kids younger than 6 were praised by their mother or father three or more times a day. The same was true for 54 percent of children 6 to 11 and 40 percent of 12- to 17-year-olds. Children 1 to 2 were read to an average of 7.8 times in the previous week of the survey (Table 9), while children 3 to 5 were read to an average of 6.8 times in the previous week. About half of all children 1 to 5 are read to seven or more times a week; 53 percent for 1- to 2-year-olds, and 51 percent for 3- to 5-year olds. The percentage of children participating in lessons, such as music, dance, language, computers, or religion, went up for 6- to 11-year olds, from 24 percent in 1994 to 33 percent in 2004. From 1994 to 2004, the percentage of children who changed schools went down for 6- to 11-year-olds, from 30 percent to 26 percent. For 12- to 17-year-olds, the percentage of children who changed schools dropped from 52 percent to 42 percent. From 1994 to 2004, the number of children 12 to 17 who repeated a grade declined from 16 percent to 11 percent. For children 6 to 11, the rate remained the same at 7 percent. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/children/010850.html NEWLY MARRIEDS HAVE LESS THAN A 50% CHANCE OF MAKING IT TO SILVER ANNIVERSARY NY TIMES - More than half the Americans who might have celebrated their 25th wedding anniversaries since 2000 were divorced, separated or widowed before reaching that milestone, according to the latest census survey, released yesterday. For the first time at least since World War II, women and men who married in the late 1970s had a less than even chance of still being married 25 years later. . . About 80 percent of first marriages that took place in the late 1950s lasted at least 15 years. Among people who married in the late 1980s for the first time, however, only 61 percent of the men and 57 percent of the women were married 15 years later. Among currently married women, non-Hispanic whites were the only group in which a majority had marked their 15th anniversary. NON-THEISTS AROUND THE WORLD Nbr Country Non-Theists 1 Sweden 46-85% 2 Vietnam 81% 3 Denmark 43-80% 4 Norway 31-72% 5 Japan 64-65% 6 Czech Republic 54-61% 7 Finland 28-60% 8 France 43-54% 9 South Korea 30%-52% 10 Estonia 49% 11 Germany 41-49% 12 Russia 24-48% 13 Hungary 32-46% 14 Netherlands 39-44% 15 Britain 31-44% 16 Belgium 42-43% 17 Bulgaria 34-40% 18 Slovenia 35-38% 19 Israel 15-37% 20 Canada 19-30% 21 Latvia 20-29% 22 Slovakia 10-28% 23 Switzerland 17-27% 24 Austria 18-26% 25 Australia 24-25% 26 Taiwan 24% 27 Spain 15-24% 28 Iceland 16-23% 29 New Zealand 20-22% 30 Ukraine 20% 31 Belarus 17% 32 Greece 16% 33 North Korea 15% ( ? ) 34 Italy 6-15% 35 Armenia 14% 36 China 8-14% ( ? ) 37 Lithuania 13% 38 Singapore 13% 39 Uruguay 12% 40 Kazakhstan 11-12% 41 Estonia 11% 42 Mongolia 9% 43 Portugal 4-9% 44 United States 3-9% 45 Albania 8% 46 Argentina 4-8% 47 Kyrgyzstan 7% 48 Dominican Rep. 7% 49 Cuba 7% ( ? ) 50 Croatia 7% Source: Cambridge Companion to Atheism MOTHERS SPEND MORE TIME WITH KIDS THAN 40 YEARS AGO DES MOINES REGISTER - According to a University of Maryland study, contemporary mothers spend more time tending directly to their kids than mothers did 40 years ago, even though more women work outside the home today. In 1965, for example, mothers spent 10.2 hours per week focused directly on kids (feeding them, playing with them, etc.). Now they spend more than 14 hours a week, the study reported. The findings are included in the book "Changing Rhythms of American Family Life." Using time-diary data from 40 years of surveys of American parents, researchers explored changes in how American families spend their time. The most notable change in those years was women entering the work force in unprecedented numbers. But that doesn't mean children have lost time with their mothers. Today's women sacrifice housework, free time and sleep, and they "multitask." They should find comfort in the findings, "but they won't," predicted Suzanne Bianchi, the study's lead author and a native Iowan. "No matter what, they still feel guilty." Why? They hold themselves to high standards, and they feel nostalgia about the past - nostalgia that isn't quite accurate, she said. http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070328/OPINION03/703280338/1035/OPINION A PROFILE OF THE YOUNG SHARON JAYSON, USA TODAY - The views of young people today on politics, social attitudes and life goals are far different from their baby boomer parents', a national survey of 18- to 25-year-olds suggests. More than two-thirds (67%) believe immigrants strengthen American society; a quarter favor increasing legal immigration. . . While young people are split over gay marriage (47% in favor, 46% opposed), those over 25 are not: 64% oppose same-sex marriage; 30% favor it. . . The findings that this generation's top life goals are to be rich (81%) and famous (51%) contrast with a 1967 study of college freshmen in which 85.8% said it was essential to develop "a meaningful philosophy of life," while 41.9% thought it essential to be "very well off financially.". . . Among other findings: 48% identify more with Democrats; 35% with Republicans. 36% have a tattoo and 30% a body piercing in a place other than an ear lobe; 25% have dyed their hair a non-traditional color. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-01-09-views_x.htm PEW RESEARCH - About half say they sent or received a text message over the phone in the past day, approximately double the proportion of those ages 26-40. A majority of Gen Nexters have used [a] social networking sites, and more than four-in-ten have created a personal profile. Generation Next is less critical of government regulation of business but also less critical of business itself. And they are the most likely of any generation to support privatization of the Social Security system. They maintain close contact with parents and family. Roughly eight-in-ten say they talked to their parents in the past day. Nearly three-in-four see their parents at least once a week, and half say they see their parents daily. One reason: money. About three-quarters of Gen Nexters say their parents have helped them financially in the past year. One-in-five members of Generation Next say they have no religious affiliation or are atheist or agnostic, nearly double the proportion of young people who said that in the late 1980s. And just 4% of Gen Nexters say people in their generation view becoming more spiritual as their most important goal in life. Voter turnout among young people increased significantly between 2000 and 2004, interrupting a decades-long decline in turnout among the young. Nonetheless, most members of Generation Next feel removed from the political process. Only about four-in-ten agree with the statement: "It's my duty as a citizen to always vote." When asked to name someone they admire, they are twice as likely as older Americans to name a family member, teacher, or mentor. Moreover, roughly twice as many young people say they most admire an entertainer rather than a political leader. http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/300.pdf GENERATION NEXT AP - The young adults of Generation Next are more optimistic, more tolerant and more likely Democratic voters than their predecessors, according to a new study. The group's tilt toward the Democratic Party is far different from the previous younger generation, known as Generation X, which grew up during the Reagan administration of the 1980s and was more inclined to support Republicans. . . Forty-eight percent of young adults age 18 to 25 said they were Democrats or leaned that direction while 35 percent said they were Republican or leaned that way in 2006, according to Pew polling. The study also found a great acceptance for same-sex marriage. Forty-seven percent of those age 18 to 25 favor allowing gay men and lesbians to marry while 30 percent of those 26 and older favor same-sex marriage. . . Asked about their generation, most say getting rich and being famous are top goals. The study found that the young adults: - Are less inclined to vote than older generations, though young voter turnout was up significantly in 2004. About 54 percent of those from 18 to 24 voted in 2004, and 74 percent of those 25 and over voted, Keeter said. - Have more liberal views than other generations on questions of race, homosexuality and immigration. - Read the newspaper and follow the news on TV and radio less than those in older generations. - Keep in close touch with their parents, both for advice and for financial help. http://uk.gay.com/headlines/10873 CHARLES STORCH, CHICAGO TRIBUNE - [A] report by the Johns Hopkins University Center for Civil Society Studies found that U.S. charities had 9.4 million paid workers and another 4.7 million "full-time equivalent" volunteers, for a total workforce of 14.1 million as of mid-2004, the latest date for such information. That paid employment represented 7.1 percent of the country's total. . . The report also found that employment at non-profits grew by an average 5.1 percent in the U.S. from 2002 to 2004. http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/chi-0612270459dec28,1,3598713.story?coll=chi-leisuretempo-hed OLDER WOMEN FACE AMPLIFIED RETIREMENT PROBLEMS JONATHAN PETERSON, LA TIMES - To a degree, the retirement security of women is jeopardized by the same trends affecting men, such as cutbacks in corporate pensions. But experts say the threat to women is amplified by a confluence of factors, including: - Higher overall rates of divorce and singlehood. Record numbers of women are heading toward later life without the backup of a partner's savings and income. Unmarried, older women have higher poverty rates than their male counterparts and much higher poverty rates than married women, government data show. - Interrupted working years. Although baby boom women generally have more education and work skills than their mothers, many quit jobs or work part time to care for children or ailing relatives. Such efforts may be cherished by family members, but they slash retirement benefits. - Long lives. At age 65, women are expected to live an average of three years longer than men. This greater longevity magnifies several risks to retirement security, including raising the danger that a woman will outlast her savings or incur costly medical bills without help from a spouse. In addition to these factors, women overall still earn less than men and have less in the way of retirement benefits for old age. "The bottom line is that women are subject to a double whammy: They need more but have less," said Alicia H. Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College and a former member of the White House Council of Economic Advisors. "This problem is widespread - even many baby boom women with college degrees face the same issues. " http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-women28dec28,0,7446902.story?coll=la-home-headlines 2006. . CENSUS BUREAU - Adults and teens will spend nearly five months next year watching television, surfing the Internet, reading daily newspapers and listening to personal music devices according to the Census Bureau's Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2007. People will spend 65 days in front of the TV, 41 days listening to radio and a little over a week on the Internet in 2007. Adults will spend about a week reading a daily newspaper and teens and adults will spend another week listening to recorded music. Other items: - Among adults, 97 million Internet users sought news online in 2005, - 13 million created a blog. - The majority (79 percent) of freshmen in 1970 had an important personal objective of "developing a meaningful philosophy of life." By 2005, the majority of freshmen (75 percent) said their primary objective was "being very well off financially." - Americans drank 23.2 gallons of bottled water per capita in 2004. Consumption was only 2.7 gallons of bottled water in 1980. - U.S. airports screened 738.6 million passengers in 2005, confiscating 9.4 million lighters. http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/miscellaneous/007871.html GENDER WAGE GAP CLOSING BECAUSE MEN ARE LOSING GROUND DENVER POST - Women are closing in on men when it comes to wages, but not for the reasons anticipated . . . The pay gap has been narrowing not because women have made great strides, labor experts say, but because men's wages are eroding. The disparity in median hourly pay between men and women narrowed to 18.3 percent in August from 21.5 percent five years earlier, according to census figures. In fact, the U.S. Labor Department noted recently that the wage differential in 2005 was the smallest since the department began tracking it 33 years ago, when it was 36.9 percent. Even when men's and women's work patterns are taken into account - men tend to work more hours - the pay gap is narrowing. The difference between men's and women's median annual earnings shrank from 26.3 percent to 23 percent between 2000 and 2005, with women earning an average $31,858 and men $41,386.. http://www.denverpost.com/ci_4766864?source=rss WHAT AMERICANS ARE UP TO SAM ROBERTS, NY TIMES - Americans drank more than 23 gallons of bottled water per person in 2004 - about 10 times as much as in 1980. We consumed more than twice as much high fructose corn syrup per person as in 1980 and remained the fattest inhabitants of the planet, although Mexicans, Australians, Greeks, New Zealanders and Britons are not too far behind. At the same time, Americans spent more of their lives than ever about eight-and-a-half hours a day watching television, using computers, listening to the radio, going to the movies or reading. This eclectic portrait of the American people is drawn from the 1,376 tables in the Census Bureau's 2007 Statistical Abstract . . . For the first time, the abstract quantifies same-sex sexual contacts (6 percent of men and 11.2 percent of women say they have had them) and learning disabilities (among population groups, American Indians were most likely to have been told that they have them). The abstract reveals that the floor space in new private one-family homes has expanded to 2,227 square feet in 2005 from 1,905 square feet in 1990. . . Taller, too. More than 24 percent of Americans in their 70s are shorter than 5-foot-6. Only 10 percent of people in their 20s are. Adolescents and adults now spend, on average, more than 64 days a year watching television, 41 days listening to the radio and a little over a week using the Internet. . . Meanwhile, the national divorce rate, 3.7 divorces per 1,000 people, was the lowest since 1970. . . From 2000 to 2005, the number of manufacturing jobs declined nearly 18 percent. . . Employment in textile mills fell by 42 percent One thing Americans produce more of is solid waste 4.4 pounds per day, up from 3.7 pounds in 1980. College freshmen described their primary personal objectives: In 1970, 79 percent said their goal was developing a meaningful philosophy of life. By 2005, 75 percent said their primary objective was to be financially very well off. . . As recently as 1980, only 12 percent of doctors were women; by 2004, 27 percent were. AMERICANS HAVE FEWER FRIENDS IN WHOM TO CONFIDE JANET KORNBLUM, USA TODAY - Americans have a third fewer close friends and confidants than just two decades ago - a sign that people may be living lonelier, more isolated lives than in the past. In 1985, the average American had three people in whom to confide matters that were important to them, says a study in today's American Sociological Review. In 2004, that number dropped to two, and one in four had no close confidants at all. . . The study finds fewer contacts are from clubs and neighbors; people are relying more on family. . . The percentage of people who confide only in family increased from 57% to 80%, and the number who depend totally on a spouse is up from 5% to 9%, the study found. "If something happens to that spouse or partner, you may have lost your safety net," Smith-Lovin says. The study is based on surveys of 1,531 people in 1985 and 1,467 in 2004, part of the General Social Survey by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-06-22-friendship_x.htm?csp=34 WHAT AMERICANS ARE UP TO SAM ROBERTS, NY TIMES - Americans drank more than 23 gallons of bottled water per person in 2004 - about 10 times as much as in 1980. We consumed more than twice as much high fructose corn syrup per person as in 1980 and remained the fattest inhabitants of the planet, although Mexicans, Australians, Greeks, New Zealanders and Britons are not too far behind. At the same time, Americans spent more of their lives than ever - about eight-and-a-half hours a day - watching television, using computers, listening to the radio, going to the movies or reading. This eclectic portrait of the American people is drawn from the 1,376 tables in the Census Bureau's 2007 Statistical Abstract . . . For the first time, the abstract quantifies same-sex sexual contacts (6 percent of men and 11.2 percent of women say they have had them) and learning disabilities (among population groups, American Indians were most likely to have been told that they have them). The abstract reveals that the floor space in new private one-family homes has expanded to 2,227 square feet in 2005 from 1,905 square feet in 1990. . . Taller, too. More than 24 percent of Americans in their 70s are shorter than 5-foot-6. Only 10 percent of people in their 20s are. Adolescents and adults now spend, on average, more than 64 days a year watching television, 41 days listening to the radio and a little over a week using the Internet. . . Meanwhile, the national divorce rate, 3.7 divorces per 1,000 people, was the lowest since 1970. . . From 2000 to 2005, the number of manufacturing jobs declined nearly 18 percent. . . Employment in textile mills fell by 42 percent One thing Americans produce more of is solid waste - 4.4 pounds per day, up from 3.7 pounds in 1980. College freshmen described their primary personal objectives: In 1970, 79 percent said their goal was developing a meaningful philosophy of life. By 2005, 75 percent said their primary objective was to be financially very well off. . . As recently as 1980, only 12 percent of doctors were women; by 2004, 27 percent were. AMERICANS PREFER LIVING ROOM SCREEN TO NATIONAL PARKS JON HURDLE, REUTERS - Americans are less interested in spending time in natural surroundings like national parks because they are spending more time watching television, playing video games and surfing the Internet, according to a study for The Nature Conservancy, [which] found per-capita visits to national parks have been declining for years. National park visitation data starting in 1930 peaked in 1987 at 1.2 visits per person per year. But by 2003 it had declined by about 25 percent to 0.9 visits per person per year, said Oliver Pergams, an ecologist at the University of Illinois who analyzed the data for the study. . . Researchers tested more than two dozen possible explanations for the trend and found that 98 percent of the drop in national park visits was explained by video games, movie rentals, going out to movies, Internet use and rising fuel prices. Since 1999, the Postal Service has removed more than 42,000 collection boxes. As of last year, about 295,000 mailboxes remained in use. Along with mailboxes, the Postal Service is facing a drop in jobs. In the past five years, it has reduced staff through attrition by more than 80,000 employees. The current postal work force stands at about 700,000. http://www.baltimoresun.com/technology/bal-te.pray13oct13,0,1569415.story?track=rss ROBERT PEAR, NY TIMES - Despite the surge of women into the work force, mothers are spending at least as much time with their children today as they did 40 years ago, and the amount of child care and housework performed by fathers has sharply increased, researchers say in a new study, based on analysis of thousands of personal diaries. . . The researchers found that "women still do twice as much housework and child care as men" in two-parent families. But they said that total hours of work by mothers and fathers were roughly equal, when they counted paid and unpaid work. Using this measure, the researchers found "remarkable gender equality in total workloads," averaging nearly 65 hours a week. The findings are set forth in a new book, "Changing Rhythms of American Family Life," published by the Russell Sage Foundation and the American Sociological Association. The research builds on work that Ms. Bianchi did in 16 years as a demographer at the Census Bureau. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/17/us/17kids.html?_r=1&ref=us&oref=slogin.htm WOMAN-OWNED FIRMS GROWING AT TWICE THE RATE OF COMPANIES OVERALL US NEWS & WORLD REPORT - Over the past nine years, the number of woman-owned firms grew at twice the rate of companies overall, according to a recent analysis of the latest census data by the Center for Women's Business Research. . . The number of companies whose ownership is at least 51 percent female now stands at 7.7 million, up from 5.4 million in 1997. Firms owned by women now account for some 30 percent of the nation's 25.8 million companies. http://www.usnews.com/usnews/biztech/smallbizscene/061106/womanowned_firms_show_rapid_gr.htm?s_cid=rss:site1 FOX NEWS - A new survey by Parks Associates shows that teenagers are less likely to communicate via e-mail than any other demographic. According to the study, less than one-fifth of the 13-17-year-olds surveyed profess to using e-mail to communicate with friends, compared to 40 percent of adults aged 25-54. The study shows that instant messaging is the dominant form of communication for teenagers, with one-third of teens relying on the messaging system, compared to only 11 percent of adults. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,227721,00.html JOSH GETLIN, LA TIMES - The average amount of time that U.S. households had a television set on each day during the yearlong 2005-06 TV season that ended last week increased by three minutes from the year before, to a record of eight hours and 14 minutes, the report said. Viewers ages 12 to 17 watched 3% more television during a full day than they had the year before, Nielsen said. Younger children, ages 2 to 11, increased their viewing by 4%. . . In 1995-96, for example, the average household was tuned in to television for an average of seven hours and 15 minutes per day; that figure grew by nearly an hour during the 2005-06 survey period. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-fi-tv22sep22,1,2130673.story?coll=la-headlines-entnews CNN - 36 percent of Americans age 18 to 29 [have] at least one tattoo, according to a survey. NEWSWATCH 50 - The buying power of Hispanics in the United States will exceed that of blacks in 2007, a university study indicated Friday. Hispanics' buying power will draw even with African-Americans, at $780 billion this year and shoot ahead in 2007, the study by the University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth found. Hispanic buying power will be $863.1 billion in 2007, up 8.1 percent from 2006, whereas black buying power will reach $847 billion in 2007, up 6 percent, the study said. "Hispanic economic clout will likely reach nearly $1.2 trillion in 2011," said center director Jeff Humphreys. "But African-Americans' buying power will continue to be much stronger than Hispanics' in most states because Hispanics are much more geographically concentrated than African-Americans," Humphreys said. California alone accounts for 27 percent of all Hispanic buying power in the U.S. Hispanics surpassed blacks as the nation's largest minority group in 2001. http://www.newswatch50.com/business/story.aspx?content_id=4DB91B2D-1F36-417C-9E71-DA5A4304E7FA MORE THAN HALF OF AMERICA LIVES IN COASTAL COUNTIES JOEL K. BOURNE, JR. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC - Every week more than 3,300 new residents land in southern California, while another 4,800 hit Florida's shores. Every day 1,500 new homes rise along the U.S. coastline. More than half the nation's population now lives in coastal counties, which amount to only 17 percent of the land in the lower 48. In 2003 coastal watersheds generated over six trillion dollars, more than half the national economy, making them among our most valuable assets. Yet two blue-ribbon bipartisan panels-the Pew Oceans Commission and the U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy, convened by the Pew Trusts and the U.S. Congress, respectively-recently issued disturbing reports that found the coasts are being battered by an array of pollution and population pressures. Former Secretary of Energy Adm. James D. Watkins-not exactly a wild-eyed environmentalist-chaired the U.S. commission and laid it out for Congress: "Our failure to properly manage the human activities that affect the nation's oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes is compromising their ecological integrity . . . threatening human health, and putting our future at risk." http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0607/feature2/index.html MOST POPULAR SPORTS EVENTS BOATING Percent of all powerboats that are registered in the eight Great Lakes states: 49% [Boat US] RURAL AMERICA - Six percent of the country lives in deep rural counties - One percent of the population consist of farmers and ranchers. - Farmland is disappearing at the rate of two million acres a year. - There are four states where a majority of the population lives in rural places: Maine, Mississippi, Vermont andWest Virginia. - The latino population is growing faster in rural areas and is responsible for 25% of all rural population growth. - Rural household income is about 25% less than that of metropolitan households. - Consumer demand for organic food is growing about 25% a year and now accounts for 2% of the market. - More than 3100 farmer' markets operate in the US, a 79% increase since 1994. - There are more than 1,000 community supported agricultural programs with the largest number in California, Wisconsin and New York. - Less than 10% of rural employment is farm related. - There are 2.1 million farmers, down from 6,8 million in 1935. - One third of all farms are located in metropolitan areas. - 90% of farm household income comes from off-farm sources. - More than two thirds of England's famers rely on tourist income of some kind to maintain their way of life. Ten percent take in overnight guests. - One third of farms in Vermont are engaged in agri-tourism. - 244 of the nation's 250 poorest counties are rural. [National Trust for Historic Preservation: Rural Development Trends & Opportunities for Historic Preservation] AMERICANS STILL NOT TURNED ON BY SOCCER STEVE JAMES, REUTERS - Despite a doubling of television ratings for the first-round matches this month, before the U.S. squad failed miserably, soccer still ranks below televised poker tournaments in a land where baseball, basketball and American football rule. ABC-TV's average rating of 2.5 for the first eight matches it aired represents barely 8 million viewers in a nation of just under 300 million. Only 3.9 million Americans watched the 2002 World Cup final, which had an audience of 1.1 billion worldwide. By comparison, nearly 91 million viewers watched this year's Super Bowl, the glitzy climax to the season for North America's home-grown form of football. Nearly 39 million watched the Academy Awards, Hollywood's big night, in March and 36 million tuned in for May's finale of "American Idol," a television talent show. . . A poll by the Global Market Insite market research service found that only 11 percent of Americans surveyed were "definitely" interested in the World Cup, compared with 45 percent of respondents world-wide. RATE OF VOLUNTEERING 1. Utah: 48.0% 2. Nebraska: 42.8% 3. Minnesota: 40.7% 4. Iowa: 39.2% 5. Alaska: 38.9% 6. Wyoming: 38.8% 6. South Dakota: 38.8% 8. Kansas: 38.6% 9. Vermont: 38.1% 10. Montana: 37.9% 11. Wisconsin: 37.0% 12. Washington: 36.8% 13. North Dakota: 36.5% 14. Idaho: 35.5% 15. Oregon: 33.6% 16. Maine: 33.2% 17. Colorado: 32.8% 18. Michigan: 32.1% 19. New Hampshire: 32.0% 20. Missouri: 31.9% 21. Connecticut: 30.8% 21. Pennsylvania: 30.8% 21. District of Columbia: 30.8% 24. Ohio: 30.7% 25. Maryland: 30.3% 26. Oklahoma: 30.0% 27. Kentucky: 29.8% 28. Illinois: 29.7% 29. Indiana: 29.5% 30. North Carolina: 29.1% 31. Virginia: 29.0% 32. Alabama: 28.9% 33. New Mexico: 28.5% 34. Texas: 28.3% 35. South Carolina: 28.0% 36. Massachusetts: 27.0% 37. Delaware: 26.7% 38. New Jersey: 26.5% 39. Mississippi: 26.4% 40. California: 26.1% 41. Georgia: 25.9% 41. Tennessee: 25.9% 43. Arkansas: 25.6% 44. Hawaii: 25.4% 45. Rhode Island: 24.9% 45. Arizona: 24.9% 47. West Virginia: 24.6% 48. Florida: 24.1% 49. Louisiana: 22.7% 50. New York: 21.3% 51. Nevada: 18.8% [Corporation for National and Community Service MIDDLE EAST NEWS - The most recently seen statistics on the Jewish population of the US place it at about 5.2 million, and state that it declined by about 5% from what it was 10 years previous to that. At 7 million, with a +6% annual growth rate, the Muslim population is fast outpacing the Jewish one in the US HAYA EL NASSER, USA TODAY - Home buyers with names such as Rodriguez, Garcia and Hernandez bumped Brown, Miller and Davis down the list of most common buyers' names in 2005, reflecting Hispanics' rapid advance into the middle class. A Data Quick Information Systems analysis of deeds and county assessment data shows a dramatic rise in the number of Hispanic and Asian home buyers since 2000. Smith and Johnson remain the two most popular, but Rodriguez has replaced Brown in third. Four Hispanic names are in the top 10, compared with two in 2000. Hispanic surnames made up 14.6% of all home buyers' names, up from 10.3% five years earlier. . . Asians also are bigger players. Nguyen, a common Vietnamese name, moved from 23rd to 14th. In California, almost 28% of home buyers are Hispanic, and the five most common surnames are Hispanic. Only one was in the top five in 2000. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-05-10-hispanic-homeowners_x.htm?ord=4 SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION RICK ROSS, CULT NEWS - Scientology is ranked lower than Islam as one of the most, unpopular religions in America. Even Islam, despite Muslim terrorists and radicals making headlines, is seen better. . . CBS found that amongst Americans 45% said they have an unfavorable view of Islam, a rise from 36% in February reports Daily Times in Pakistan. Only 19% of had a favorable view of Islam, compared to 30% in 2002. But only 8% of the American public view Scientology favorably . . . 58% had a favorable impression of Protestantism, 48% of Catholicism, 47% of the Jewish religion, 31% of Christian fundamentalist religions and 20% of the Mormon religion. http://www.cultnews.com/index.php/2006/04/15/has-tom-cruise-damaged-scientology/ UPI - A USA Today/Gallup Poll says nearly half of the Americans it surveyed feel the United States should mind its own business internationally. . . The newspaper said public opinion now is reminiscent of the Vietnam War. In 1964, only 20 percent said the United States should "mind its own business" but by 1972, the percentage had nearly doubled. http://insider.washingtontimes.com/articles/view_upi.php?StoryID=20060414-120724-1329r ELWIN GREEN, PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE - The report, "Survey of Business Owners: Black-Owned Firms: 2002," says that between 1997 and 2002, the number of black-owned businesses in the United States rose 45 percent to 1.2 million, while the combined revenue increased 25 percent to $88.8 billion. . . New York City had more black-owned firms than any other city at 98,076, followed by Chicago (39,424), Los Angeles (25,958), Houston (21,226), and Detroit (19,530). Among states, New York had the greatest number of black-owned firms with 129,324, followed by California (112,873), Florida (102,079), Georgia (90,461) , and Texas (88,769). These five states accounted for about 44 percent of all black-owned businesses in the United States. Pennsylvania had 24,757. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/06108/682889-28.stm FOUR OUT OF TEN CITY KIDS HAVE SEX BY AGE 14 BILL HUTCHINSON NY DAILY NEWS - A new survey shows four out of 10 city kids say they have had intercourse before age 14, and have engaged in oral and even anal sex by 17. "This study makes clear that urban young adults engage in a variety of sexual behavior beyond vaginal intercourse," said Dr. Danielle Ompad, who authored the survey for The New York Academy of Medicine. . . The study, published in The Archives of Sexual Behavior, examined the sexual habits of 2,311 Baltimore youths. But Ompad said, "I don't think other cities would be too different." The study showed that 42% had engaged in vaginal intercourse by the age of 14. About 14% of kids said they had sex before the age of 13, a 9% jump from a similar survey by the Centers for Disease Control in 1995. http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/406126p-343777c.html   IMMIGRATION MATH Annual immigrants as a percent of U.S. population 1850: 1.6% 1900: 0.6% 1950: 0.02% 2000: 0.03% Number of immigrants who would have been allowed to enter in 2000 based on the 1900 standard: 4.73 million Number actually allowed in 2000: 849 thousand. INS estimate of annual increase in undocumented immigrant population: 500 thousand Total number of legal and undocumented immigrants entering in 2000: 1.35 million. Additional immigrants who would have been permitted to enter in 2000 if 1900 standard had been used: 3.38 million. Total number of undocumented immigrants in 2000: 7 million. Number of years it would have taken, using 1900 immigration standards, to make all these immigrants legal: 2 years and 2 1/2 days. BLACKS DECLINING IN NEW YORK CITY FOR FIRST TIME SINCE THE CIVIL WAR SAM ROBERTS, NY TIMES - An accelerating exodus of American-born blacks, coupled with slight declines in birthrates and a slowing influx of Caribbean and African immigrants, have produced a decline in New York City's black population for the first time since the draft riots during the Civil War, according to preliminary census estimates. An analysis of the latest figures, which show the city with 30,000 fewer black residents in 2004 than in 2000, also revealed stark contrasts in the migration patterns of blacks and whites. While white New Yorkers are still more likely than blacks to leave the city, they are also more likely to relocate to the nearby suburbs (which is where half the whites move) or elsewhere in the Northeast, or to scatter to other cities and retirement communities across the country. Moreover, New York remains a magnet for whites from most other states. In contrast, 7 in 10 black people who are moving leave the region altogether. And, unlike black migrants from Chicago, Philadelphia and Detroit, most of them go to the South, especially to Florida, the Carolinas and Georgia. The rest move to states like California, Ohio, Illinois and Michigan with large black populations. CENSUS JORN BARGER of Robot Wisdom has produced a remarkable collection of maps showing the density by county of religions ranging from Catholic to Quaker. This map shows shows the density of religious adherents as reported by 149 religious bodies. Note the large number of counties (two shades of tan) where less than half the population belongs to a religious group. MOVIES TANKED WORLDWIDE LAST YEAR AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE - Hollywood movie ticket sales around the world dropped by 7.9 percent last year to 23 billion dollars, with the US box office accounting for nearly 40 percent of the haul, a study showed. Movie ticket receipts in North America dipped by six percent in 2005 to nine billion dollars, according to a study by the ratings statistics firm Nielsen Entertainment/NRG that comes as movie-goers increasingly stay out of cinemas. . . The total number of films released in the United States increased by 5.6 percent from 2004. . . Most movie-goers in 2005 went out to catch family films, with movies rated PG-13, meaning that children under 13 must be accompanied by an adult, accounting for 85 percent of the most watched films in 2005. http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/03/09/060309211938.c3imi3s8.html 2005. . WOMENS ENEWS - Census Bureau statistics released Jan. 25 indicate that women started businesses at double the national rate between 1997 and 2002. The number of female-owned companies increased by 20 percent during this five-year period. By 2002, 6.5 million, or 30 percent, of all non-farm businesses in the U.S. were owned by women. The majority of these businesses were single-person enterprises but the number of mid-size and large companies owned by women also rose. WOMENS ENEWS - Only 5 of the 119 athletic directors of Division 1A universities and colleges in the United States are women, the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at the University of Central Florida reported Jan. 25. http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm?aid=2616 MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS COME TO BE WITH FAMILY, GET BETTER PAYING JOBS RACHEL URANGA, LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS - Most Mexicans do not cross the border because they are destitute and penniless, but because they have family in the U.S. and want better-paying jobs, a study found. The report by the Washington, D.C.-based Pew Hispanic Center found that many recent immigrants had held steady jobs in their home country and were not simply unemployed or farm laborers who pursued life in the United States as their salvation. . . The study, which surveyed 4,836 immigrants in seven cities including Los Angeles, New York, Fresno and Atlanta, said newer immigrants have more schooling than those who arrived 15 or more years ago. And 38 percent of those in the U.S. for less than six months were high school graduates or had some junior college or even university experience, compared with 27 percent of those arriving 15 years ago. And once those immigrants have crossed the border - regardless of their immigration status or ability to speak English - they quickly snap up jobs in factories and fields, at construction sites and in retail stores. "It's significant that the immigration status has little to do with the likelihood of employment in the United States," Kochhar said. . . About 54 percent of those who answered the 12-page questionnaire currently lived with a relative and about 80 percent knew a relative here before arriving. . . About 45 percent found jobs by talking with friends or family. Poor English skills or the lack of U.S. government identification, such as a green card or a driver's license, had little influence over whether they found a job. http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_3285291 IMMIGRATION HITS RECORD USA TODAY - Despite tougher border scrutiny after 9/11, a total of 7.9 million immigrants have come to the USA since 2000, more than in any other five-year period in the nation's history, figures released Monday show. Almost half, or 3.7 million, entered illegally, according to an analysis of Census data by the Center for Immigration Studies, a Washington, D.C., group that advocates controlling the flow of legal and illegal immigrants. . . The nation's immigrant population hit a record 35.2 million in March 2005, 2½ times the number at the peak of the last great immigration wave of 1910, says Steven Camarota, author of the report. Immigrants make up 12.1% of the U.S. population, compared with 14.7% in 1910, the report says. The analysis shows that 31% of adult immigrants have not completed high school. A third lack health insurance. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-12-12-immigration JUDITH WARNER, NY TIMES - Last month, an Associated Press-Ipsos poll found that nearly 70 percent of Americans said they believed that people are ruder now than they were 20 or 30 years ago, and that children are among the worst offenders. (As annoyances, they tied with obnoxious cellphone users.) In 2002, only 9 percent of adults were able to say that the children they saw in public were "respectful toward adults," according to surveys done then by Public Agenda, a nonpartisan and nonprofit public opinion research group. In 2004, more than one in three teachers told Public Agenda pollsters they had seriously considered leaving their profession or knew a colleague who had left because of "intolerable" student behavior. . . BUSINESS WEEK - Spanish-language radio is at an all-time high, with more than 678 stations across the country, according to Arbitron Inc. "That number could double in two years," said Mike Henry, a Denver-based radio consultant. In 2000, the U.S. census counted 35.6 million Hispanics and that number has grown to 41.3 million. Estimates of Hispanic purchasing power now top $630 billion, up nearly threefold from $233 billion in 1990, and it's expected to reach $926 billion in 2007, according to Denver marketing firm Heinrich Hispanidad. "When the population is over 40 million, people take notice, including advertisers and broadcasters," said Alfredo Alonso, a Clear Channel official hired to convert 20 to 25 of its 1,200 English-language radio stations to Spanish formats. http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8BOGML81.htm?campaign_id=apn_home_down&chan=db MOST AMERICANS THINK 'OLD'BEGINS AT 71 ZOGBY - A poll by the Met Life Mature Market Institute conducted by Zogby International finds that 60% of Americans believe "old" is age 71 and over, but that 65% also wish they were under 40. The study indicates that even younger people, those between 18 and 24, have adjusted their idea of old. A majority, 59% in that age group, refers to old as someone over 60. Furthermore, though most people over 35 say they wish they were younger and there is a clear desire to be young, there are a significant number of older people, 31% of those over 70, who are content with their current age. Thirty-two percent of respondents to the poll say the ages between 71 and 80 are old. Eighteen percent say 81 to 90 is old and 12% say old is between 41 and 60. Respondents living in the west (37%) were the most likely to say old is 71 to 80, while southerners (23%) were most likely to put "old" in the 61 to 70 range. Whites are slightly more likely than African Americans and Hispanics to choose a younger age as old. In general, single respondents are more likely than married ones to choose a younger age as old, while those who are married are more likely to choose an older age. And, displaying a distinct difference between the sexes, men are more likely than women to say an age under 60 is old (22% of men vs. 8% of women). Eighteen-to-29 year-olds are the most satisfied with their current age, or close to it, as 62% say they would like to be 21 to 30. Two in five (40%) 30-to-49 year-olds wish they were in their twenties, nearly twice as many of that age group who wish they were in their thirties. Fifty-to-64 year-olds are closely divided between wishing they were 21 to 30 (24%) or 51 to 60 (21%) and respondents 65 and older are closely divided in wishing they were 21 to 50 and 61 to 80. http://www.zogby.com/news/ReadNews.dbm?ID=1012 TEN WORST PLACES TO BE BLACK BRUCE DIXON, BLACK COMMENTATOR - About half the nation's 2.2 million prisoners are black. With only 36 million of us, that's an astounding 3% of African Americans, counting all ages and both sexes, languishing behind bars, with a roughly equal number on probation, parole, house arrest or other court supervision. Almost one in three 18-year-old black males across the board is likely to catch a felony conviction, and in some communities nearly half the black male workforce under 40 have criminal records. A felony conviction in America is a stunningly accurate predictor of a life of insecure employment at poverty-level wages and no health care, of fragile family ties, of low educational attainment and limited or no civic participation, and a strong likelihood of re-imprisonment. Each month, tens of thousands of jobless, skill-less, stigmatized and often anti-socialized ex-prisoners are released back into communities that lack job and educational opportunities, where intact families are more the exception than the rule, and where upward social mobility is a myth. . . So if you want to know where black families fare the worst, where the lowest wages and life expectancy are, where to find the highest unemployment and the greatest number of single parent households among African Americans, you don't need an online survey. You certainly don't count the black businesses or the black elected officials. You count the black prisoners, and the former prisoners, and the ruined communities they come from and are discharged into. That's what BC did, and here are the results. Wisconsin leads the nation in the percentage of its black inhabitants under lock and key. Just over four percent of black Wisconsin, including the very old and the very young of both sexes, are behind bars. Most of the state's African Americans reside in the Milwaukee area, and most of its black prisoners are drawn from just a handful of poor and economically deprived black communities where jobs, intact families and educational opportunities are the most scarce, and paroled back into those same neighborhoods. So Wisconsin, and in particular the Milwaukee area justly merit the invidious distinction of the worst place in the nation to be black. Iowa, with only a small black population, is not far behind. The crime control industries in Wisconsin and Iowa seem to have learned to make the most efficient use of the preferred human material available to them, locking up the few black inhabitants of those states at a rate 11.6 times higher than whites. Texas, the nation's second largest state, is the third worst place to be black in America, and is in a class by itself, first because its extraordinary rate of black incarceration affects such a large population. Only New York has more African Americans than Texas, and only the two relatively small states previously mentioned lock up a higher percentage of their black citizens. Though California has 50 percent more people, Texas has a slightly larger prison population and only a 5 to 1 ratio between its black and white rates of imprisonment. We may safely assume that since very few of its wealthy Texans are behind bars, Texas is just a very bad place to be poor, whether you're black or not. The List PERCENT OF THOSE OVER 21 DRINKING BEER IN PAST MONTH Milwaukee, WI 54% Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN 53% Denver, CO 51% St. Louis, MO 50% Buffalo, NY 50% Albany/Schenectady/Troy, NY 50% Boston, MA 50% San Francisco/Oakland/ San Jose, CA 49% El Paso, TX 49% [Scarborough Research] WORKERS SAY THEY WASTE TWO HOURS A DAY REUTERS - U.S. workers say they squander over two hours a day at the workplace, with surfing the Web, socializing with co-workers and simply "spacing out" among the top time-wasting activities, according to a survey. Most U.S. companies assume about an hour of wasted time. . . Of 10,044 employee respondents, 33 percent said they engaged in time-wasting activities because they didn't have enough work to do. Nearly a quarter of those surveyed said they squandered their work hours because they were underpaid. ABORTION All the money spent to support or oppose abortion over the past three decades has been of little avail. The public simply hasn't changed its mind. These Gallup poll figures show the support in percent for always legal and sometimes legal over the years: 1975 21-54 1980 25-53 1990 26-56 2000 26-56 2005 23-55 FATHERS MISSING IN CHILD REARING BOOKS RICHARD MORIN, WASHINGTON POST - Psychologists Linda M. Fleming and David J. Tobin can't tell you where to look for today's fathers. But they do know where not to look: on the pages of modern books on child-rearing. . . Daddies who change diapers, cart the little one to the pediatrician or help cook for Baby Dearest rate barely a mention in the typical child-care book, Fleming and Tobin of Gannon University in Pennsylvania claim in an article for the journal Psychology of Men & Masculinity. Instead, they found that recently published guides to raising babies, when they mentioned dads at all, typically perpetuated outdated stereotypes that portray fathers as being little more than what these researchers termed the "parenthetical parent." To measure what child-raising experts were saying about dads, Tobin and Fleming identified every child-care book published in English during the 1990s that was still in print in 2001. Then they selected books that concentrated on general issues of child-rearing in children from birth to age 6. From the resulting list of 66 books they randomly selected 23 for analysis and scanned the pages of each into a computer. Then they scrutinized each of the 56,379 paragraphs in these books, counted those that mentioned father's roles in child-rearing, and performed additional analyses to determine how dads were portrayed. They found that only 4.2 percent of the paragraphs in these books referred to fathers -- and nearly a third of these references were negative. (Because references to mom were so numerous and the tallying so labor intensive, the researchers did not do specific tallies for the maternal side of the partnership.). . . WHITE MEN WITH ARREST RECORDS CAN GET JOBS EASIER THAN BLACKS WITH CLEAN SLATE NY TIMES - White men with prison records receive far more offers for entry-level jobs in New York City than black men with identical records, and are offered jobs just as often - if not more so - than black men who have never been arrested, according to a new study by two Princeton professors. The study, the first to assess the effect of race on job searches by ex-convicts, also found that black men who had never been in trouble with the law were about half as likely as whites with similar backgrounds to get a job offer or a callback. Black men whose job applications stated that they had spent time in prison were only about one-third as likely as white men with similar applications to get a positive response. For every 10 white men without convictions who got a job offer or callback, more than 7 white men with prison records also did, the study found. But the difference grew far larger for black applicants: For every 10 black men without criminal convictions, only about 3 with records got offers or callbacks. "It takes a black ex-offender three times as long to receive a callback or a job offer," said Devah Pager, an assistant professor of sociology and one of the study's two authors. Top Ten Girls' Names Emily Emma Madison Olivia Hannah Abigail Isabella Ashley Samantha Elizabeth Top ten boys' names Jacob Michael Joshua Matthew Ethan Andrew Daniel William Joseph Christopher. Social Security Administration http://www.ssa.gov 2004 AMERICA TURNING INTO FUNDAMENTALIST STATE? SEVENTY-NINE PERCENT of Americans believe that, as the Bible says, Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, without a human father, according to a new Newsweek poll on beliefs about Jesus. Sixty-seven percent say they believe that the entire story of Christmas - the Virgin Birth, the angelic proclamation to the shepherds, the Star of Bethlehem and the Wise Men from the East-is historically accurate. Twenty-four percent of Americans believe the story of Christmas is a theological invention written to affirm faith in Jesus Christ, the poll shows. In general, say 55 percent of those polled, every word of the Bible is literally accurate. Thirty-eight percent do not believe that about the Bible. 93 percent of Americans say they believe Jesus Christ actually lived and 82 percent believe Jesus Christ was God or the Son of God. Fifty-two percent of all those polled believe, as the Bible proclaims, that Jesus will return to earth someday; 21 percent do not believe it. Fifteen percent believe Jesus will return in their lifetime; 47 percent do not, the poll shows. Sixty-two percent say they favor teaching creation science in addition to evolution in public schools; 26 percent oppose such teaching, the poll shows. Forty-three percent favor teaching creation science instead of evolution in public schools; 40 percent oppose the idea. AMERICANS DON'T BELIEVE IN EVOLUTION http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/22/opinion/polls/main657083.shtml [From a CBS poll] CBS - Americans do not believe that humans evolved, and the vast majority says that even if they evolved, God guided the process. Just 13 percent say that God was not involved. But most would not substitute the teaching of creationism for the teaching of evolution in public schools. Support for evolution is more heavily concentrated among those with more education and among those who attend religious services rarely or not at all. There are also differences between voters who supported Kerry and those who supported Bush: 47 percent of John Kerry's voters think God created humans as they are now, compared with 67 percent of Bush voters. Overall, about two-thirds of Americans want creationism taught along with evolution. Only 37 percent want evolutionism replaced outright. 60 percent of Americans who call themselves Evangelical Christians favor replacing evolution with creationism in schools altogether, as do 50 percent of those who attend religious services every week. EDITOR & PUBLISHER - A Gallup Poll released this morning reveals that the average American owns 1.7 guns, with the average gun owner possessing 4.4 of them. . . One out of three American women say they own a gun. That's not much below the overall mark of 40% for all American adults. . . More than half (53%) of Republicans own guns, compared with 36% of political independents and 31% of Democrats. Whites are more likely than nonwhites to own (44% and 24%, respectively), according to Gallup. Residents of the South are significantly more likely than those living in other regions to report owning a gun. More than half of those living in rural areas (56%) own a gun, compared with 40% of suburbanites and 29% of those living in urban areas. From 1959 through 1993, an average of 47% of Americans reported having a gun in their homes. Since that time, household gun ownership has dropped to an average of 40%. FOOTBALL MORE POPULAR THAN BASEBALL BY 2 TO 1 HARRIS SURVEY - For the second year in a row, professional football leads baseball by 2-to-1 (30% to 15%) as the nation's favorite sport. Nineteen years ago, in 1985, when the Harris Poll first asked this question, professional football and baseball were in a virtual tie (24% to 23%) for first place. With a few small wobbles in the numbers, football (up six points since 1985) has steadily increased its following at the expense of baseball (down 8 points since 1985). While baseball (15%) has slipped badly, it is still ahead of college football (11%), men's pro basketball (7%), auto racing (7%), and men's college basketball (6%). Pro football has more fans among those aged 28-39, (42%), those with household incomes of $15,000 to under $25,000 and $50,000 to under $75,000 (both 40%), in the East (38%) and among African Americans (38%). Baseball does best among U.S. adults who follow more than one sport with household incomes of between $35,000 and under $50,000 (22%) and with matures, aged 59 and over (20%). College football is particularly popular in the South (19%), among college graduates (19%) and adults in more households with incomes of $75,000 or more (16%). Auto racing (which includes NASCAR) does best in the two lowest income groups with incomes of $25,000 or less (each with 12%) and those who never went to college (11%). STATE OF AMERICA'S CHILDREN [From the latest report of the Children's Defense Fund] CHILDREN'S DEFENSE FUND - One in six children in the United States continues to live in poverty. One in eight children have no health insurance. Three out of five children under six are cared for by someone other than their parents on a regular basis. Only 31 percent of fourth graders read at or above grade level. An estimated three million children were reported as suspected victims of child abuse and neglect. Almost one in ten teens ages 16 to 19 is a school dropout. Eight children and teens die from gunfire in the U.S. each day. Three out of four poor children live in families where someone worked and one in three poor children lives with a full-time year-round worker. More than 5.1 million children live in extremely low-income households spending at least half of their income on housing. The richest one-fifth of households made 10.7 times as much in median income as the poorest one-fifth, the widest gap on record from the U.S. Census Bureau. Child Health 9.3 million children lack health insurance. Infants born to black mothers are more than twice as likely to die before their first birthday as infants born to white mothers. The number of overweight children has more than tripled since 1980. Almost nine million young people are overweight over 15 percent of children and adolescents under age 19. Sixty-four percent of mothers with children under six and 78 percent of mothers with children ages six to 17 work outside the home. In 48 states, the cost of center-based child care for a four-year-old is greater than tuition at a four-year public college. The number of children participating in Head Start has more than doubled during the past three decades, but currently the program only serves three out of five three- and four-year-olds. Seven out of ten fourth graders cannot read or do math at grade level. Children in the poorest families are six times as likely as children in more affluent families to drop out of high school. Three-quarters of the nation's public schools are in need of repairs, renovations, and modernization. The average school building is more than 40 years old. Yet states spend on average almost three times as much per prisoner as per public school pupil. Three million children in a year are reported abused or neglected and referred for investigation or assessment; close to 900,000 of them are confirmed as victims of child maltreatment. The 51,000 children adopted from foster care in 2002 is almost double the number adopted in 1995, but more than 126,000 children in foster care continue to wait for permanent families. Two-thirds of youths in the juvenile justice system have one or more diagnosable mental health disorders. Girls are the fastest growing segment of the juvenile justice population: The arrest rate for females under age 18 increased more than 14 percent between 1993 and 2002, while the rate for males under age 18 decreased. More than six million school-age children are left alone after school without supervision. The average child watches 28 hours of television a week and by age 18 will have seen more than 200,000 acts of violence and 16,000 simulated murders depicted on the TV screen. WIRELESS FLASH - According to a poll by Sears and Structure clothes, 12 percent of men admit they spend "no time" figuring out their wardrobe while 25 percent need only 60 seconds to decide. An additional 16 percent need about two minutes of indecision before deciding on an outfit. But while most guys don't spend the time on their attire, 87 percent insist they don't need a makeover. However, 31 percent of women say their man "isn't style savvy" and 24 percent confess their man needs a visit from the "fashion police." Finally, the average guy spends $713 on clothes annually but one out of five is a tightwad spending less than $200 on their outfits. Rank 1999 Rank 2003 Rank 2004 New York Yankees 2 1 1 Chicago Cubs 3 7 2 Atlanta Braves 1 2 3 Boston Red Sox 8 6 4 Detroit Tigers 10 15 5 Philadelphia Phillies 16 12 6 San Francisco Giants 26 9 7 Baltimore Orioles 9 18 8 Los Angeles Dodgers 7 8 9 Pittsburgh Pirates 18 18 9 Houston Astros 22 20 9 Cleveland Indians 5 4 9 MOST POPULAR BASEBALL TEAMS ACCORDING TO HARRIS 90% OF IMMIGRANT FUNDS STAY IN U.S. JOEL MILLMAN, WALL STREET JOURNAL: Much has been made of the economic lifeline provided to Latin America by the billions of dollars transferred home by immigrant workers each year. But according to a new study, more than 90 cents out of every dollar earned by immigrants stays in their adopted communities, creating a huge boost to local economies. The study, scheduled for release today by the Inter-American Development Bank and titled "Sending Money Home," estimates that the 16.7 million U.S. workers born in Latin America had a combined gross income of $450 billion last year, of which 93% was spent locally. . . Guest workers in the top six states --- California, New York, Texas, Florida, Illinois and New Jersey --- remit well more than $1 billion home annually from each location, while remittances from North Carolina and Georgia fall just short of the $1 billion-a-year mark. SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION'S LIST OF TOP CHILD'S NAMES [FROM FARK] CHICAGO SUN TIMES - Twenty-five percent of the 2,500 people Orbitz surveyed leave wet towels on the ground [at hotels]. Nine percent eat in bed, and 13 percent keep the television on when they leave. . . Among the items that "mistakenly" make their way into guests' luggage are towels (18 percent), ashtrays (14 percent), bathrobes (2 percent) and bathmats (2 percent). More than 60 percent of those surveyed say they take the toiletries supplied in the bathroom, but about one in three men ages 18 to 34 admits to raiding the housekeeper's cart in the hallway when the attendant isn't looking. . . Only about 70 percent of travelers dare touch the minibar, the $5 for a bag of nuts being just too steep. MORE CELL PHONES THAN LAND HOOKUPS IN MAINE BANGOR NEWS - While the number of wireless phone subscribers continues its climb in Maine to 519,000 in January, the number of land-based phones is dropping. Cell phone subscribers in the state now exceed the number of Verizon telephone lines running into Maine homes, according to spokesman Peter Reilly. Cell phone use in Maine is increasing rapidly even though it is one of the least-covered states for cell phone use. Only Alaska, Vermont and North and South Dakota had less mobile phone coverage, according to a Federal Communications Commission checkup at the end of 2002. PESSIMISM WIDESPREAD IN U.S. SAYS POLL USA TODAY -Americans are increasingly gloomy about the state of the economy and the direction of the country, a Gallup Poll has found. That state of mind is a warning flag for President Bush as his re-election campaign begins in earnest. In the poll, 60% said they were dissatisfied with "the way things are going in the United States at this time." Except for a survey two weeks before the invasion of Iraq a year ago, that is the most negative reading since 1996. ~~ Most of the survey had been completed before the terrorist bombings in Madrid on Thursday. AP - By 2050 minority groups will be 49.9 percent of the population, the Census Bureau says. Asians and Hispanics will see the most dramatic increases between now and mid-century, when the U.S. population will have grown by almost 50 percent to reach 420 million, according to bureau projections being released Thursday. America will get older, too. Nearly 21 percent of its residents will be age 65 or older, compared with 12 percent now. Whites now represent 69 percent of the population, but their growth is slowing because of low rates of birth and immigration. Their total will grow 7 percent to 210 million, or 50.1 percent of the population, in 2050. . . Between 2040 and 2050, the Census Bureau expects the non-Hispanic white population actually will decline slightly because of a large number of expected deaths of baby boomers, who by 2040 will be at least 76. . . The Asian population is expected to more than triple to 33 million by 2050. Hispanics will increase their ranks by 188 percent to 102.6 million, or roughly one-quarter of the population. . . The bureau expects the black population will rise 71 percent to over 61 million, or about 15 percent of the population, compared with nearly 13 percent now. Blacks would remain the second-largest minority. Asians would comprise 8 percent of the population in 2050, compared with 4 percent now. STATE OF THE UNION SCORECARD TOM PAINE - 44 million Americans, 15 percent of population, including 8.5 million children, don't have health insurance. Two million fewer jobs than when Bush took office. Tax cuts promising 300,000 new jobs a month never reached one-third of that goal. In December 2003, only 1,000 new jobs created. New jobs pay less than those lost. No Child Left Behind law $7 billion short. Landmark environmental laws weakened. Allowable levels of mercury from power plants tripled. Superfund clean-up costs shifted from polluters to public. Clean Air Act rules for dirtiest power plants relaxed. States face largest budget crises in decades. Federal deficit has hit a new high. $87 billion spent on Irag as U.S. non-defense domestic spending plummets. Meanwhile, White House pushing for new space program, costing estimated hundreds of billions. No WMD found. No link between Iraq and Al Qaeda found. Osama bin Laden still at large. Rebuilding Iraq marred by terrorism, corporate profiteering and failure to restore basic services. THE REAL STATE OF THE UNION INDEPENDENT, UK - 232: Number of American combat deaths in Iraq between May 2003 and January 2004. . . 0: Number of American combat deaths in Germany after the Nazi surrender to the Allies in May 1945. . .. . . 0: Number of funerals or memorials that President Bush has attended for soldiers killed in Iraq 100: Number of fund-raisers attended by Bush or Vice President Dick Cheney in 2003. . . 2: Number of nations that Bush has attacked and taken over since coming into the White House 9.2: Average number of American soldiers wounded in Iraq each day since the invasion in March last year 1.6: Average number of American soldiers killed in Iraq per day since hostilities began 16,000: Approximate number of Iraqis killed since the start of war 10,000: Approximate number of Iraqi civilians killed since the beginning of the conflict. . . 92%: Percentage of Iraq's urban areas that had access to drinkable water a year ago 60%: Percentage of Iraq's urban areas that have access to drinkable water today. . . 10: Number of solo press conferences that Bush has held since beginning his term. His father had managed 61 at this point in his administration, and Bill Clinton 33. . . 28: Number of days holiday that Bush took last August, the second longest holiday of any president in US history (Record holder: Richard Nixon) 13: Number of vacation days the average American worker receives each year $10.9 million: Average wealth of the members of Bush's original 16-person cabinet 88%: Percentage of American citizens who will save less than $100 on their 2006 federal taxes as a result of 2003 cut in capital gains and dividends taxes