New Hampshire Polling Problems

You Racist Bastards!


It turns out that the polling information about the New Hampshire primary was not wrong. It was the voters who were wrong. It wasn't flawed methodologies or undecided voters, it was racism. You see, whenever the polling turns out to be wrong, it is inevitably the fault of racist pigs. And we all know how racist New Hampshire is.

Please don't get confused. It wasn't racism when the polls got it wrong in 2004. That was just everyone's super duper love for Commander Guy. And it wasn't racism in 2006. That was everyone just voting for a change--albeit a confused, drug-induced vote for change.

But in New Hampshire, it was racism, pure and simple. What evidence do I have other than Chris Matthews' man crushes and rants? Well, let's just take a look at the facts.

New Hampshire is almost 97% white.
Only 1% of New Hampshire is Jewish.
New Hampshire is home to the White Mountains.
The capital of New Hampshire is Concord. The Concorde was a white jet.
The largest city in New Hampshire is Manchester. Melissa Manchester is a white singer.
The highest point in New Hampshire is Mt. Washington. Washington owned slaves.
The McDonald's brothers were from New Hampshire. Black people love McDonalds. They get fat and die. McDonald's hates black people.

The evidence is overwhelming. Barack Obama lost in New Hampshire not because 20% of the electorate was undecided, but because those cross-burning, black-hating, lynching-loving bastards of New Hampshire couldn't bring themselves to vote for a Negro.

I hope you're proud of yourself, New Hampshire!

New Hampshire State Fair

by Blanca DeBree
[images: Blancasphere;thinkorswim]
Source: You Racist Bastards!

Other New Hampshire posts from the Blancasphere: * New Hampshire Primary, Part Tredici * New Hampshire Primary, Part 0011000100110000 * New Hampshire Primary, Part viii * New Hampshire Primary, Part V

Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Today In History: January 1, 2008

WAR!, TERRORISM, DISASTER, LABOR, SMOKE NAZIS, CIVIL RIGHTS, MAINSTREAM MEDIA, WATERGATE, PRISONS, POPULATION, SPORTS, NANNY STATE, TAXES, MUSIC, COMICS, COMPUTERS, MONEY, VITAMINS, DAREDEVILS, BORN, DEATH



1922 Vancouver BC starts driving on the right side of road

WAR!

1944 General Clark replaces General Patton as commander of 7th Army.

1950 Ho Chi Minh begins offensive against French troops in Indo-China.

1951 Massive Chinese/North Korean assault on UN-lines.

1959 Castro leads Cuba to victory as Fulgencio Batista flees to Dominican Republic.

DISASTER

1926 Rhine flood strikes Cologne.

1978 Air India B747 explodes near Bombay killing 213.

1987 60 bodies recovered in Dupont Plaza Hotel fire in Puerto Rico.

LABOR

1911 Belgian Mining law introduces 9�-hour work day.

1966 12 day transit worker strike shuts down New York City NY subway.

SMOKE NAZIS

1966 All US cigarette packs have to carry "Caution Cigarette smoking may be hazardous to your health".

1971 Cigarette advertisements banned on TV.

1993 Cigarette advertisements are banned in New York City NY's MTA.

1998 All California bars, clubs & card rooms must be smoke-free

2008 Colorado bans smoking in casinos. Anti-smoking advocates argue that any tents or enclosures to make it more comfortable to smoke outdoors are illegal also.

TERRORISM

1965 Palestinian al-Fatah organization forms.

1980 Mob storms Russian embassy in Teheran.

CIVIL RIGHTS

1916 1st issue of "Journal of Negro History" published.

1990 David Dinkins sworn in as 1st black mayor of New York City NY.

MAINSTREAM MEDIA

1935 Associated Press inaugurates Wirephoto.

1936 1st newspaper to microfilm its current issues, New York Herald Tribune.

1974 NBC radio begins on the hour news 24 hours a day (following CBS lead).

1976 NBC replaces the peacock logo.

WATERGATE

1975 Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell & Mardian convicted of Watergate crime.

PRISONS

1934 Alcatraz officially becomes a federal prison.

POPULATION

1960 US census at 179,245,000.

1998 US Census Bureau estimates population at 268,921,733.

NANNY STATE

1985 US's 1st manadatory seat belt law goes into effect (NY).

SPORTS

1916 1st football game in Rose Bowl (Washington State-Brown).

1929 Roy Riegels runs 60 yards the wrong way with Rose Bowl fumble recovery.

1935 1st Sugar Bowl & 1st Orange Bowl.

1942 Rose Bowl played in North Carolina due to Japanese threat-Oregon 20, Duke 16.

1944 Army defeats Navy 10-7 in football "Arab Bowl", Oran, North Africa.

1954 Rose & Cotton Bowl are 1st sport colorcasts.

1969 Jack Kent Cooke, owner of NHL's Los Angeles Kings, fines each player $100 for "NOT" arguing with the referee.

POPE

1982 Pope John Paul II prays for an end to martial law in Poland.

TAXES

1862 1st US income tax (3% of incomes > $600, 5% of incomes > $10,000).

1941 Netherlands begins taxing wages.

MUSIC

1956 Elvis Presley records Heartbreak Hotel for RCA in Nashville.

1960 Johnny Cash plays 1st of many free concerts behind bars.

1962 Beatles' Decca audition is unsuccessful.

1966 Simon & Garfunkel's "Sounds of Silence" reaches #1.

1985 VH-1 made its broadcasting debut.

COMICS

1995 Last "Far Side" by cartoonist Gary Larson (started 1980)

COMPUTERS

1946 ENIAC, US 1st computer finished by Mauchly/Eckert.

MONEY

1961 Largest check issued, National Bank of Chicago to Sears ($960.242 billion).

FIRSTS

1914 1st scheduled airline flight, St Petersburg-Tampa (Tony Jannus pilot).

1928 1st US air-conditioned office building opens, San Antonio.

1944 1st feature-length foreign movie, African Journey, shown on TV, New York City NY.

VITAMINS

1996 After 27 years, Betty Rubble debuts as a Flintstone vitamin.

SCIENCE

1957 International Geophysical Year begins; ends 6/30/1958 (18-month year).

DAREDEVILS

1968 Evel Knievel fails in his attempt to jump Caesar's Palace Fountain

BORN

1449 Lorenzo de' Medici [The Magnificent] of Florence
1729 Edmund Burke British author/famous Whig (Philosophy & Inquiry, Reflections on the Revolution)
1735 Paul Revere silversmith/US patriot (British are coming)
1745 "Mad" Anthony Wayne General
1854 Sir James Frazer Britain, anthropologist/author (The Golden Bough)
1863 Pierre de Coubertin France, baron (revived Olympic games)
1867 Charles Edward Montague English author/critic (Fiery Particles)
1879 E[dward] M Forster London England, novelist (Howard's End, Passage to India)
1895 J Edgar Hoover Washington DC, Director of US Fedreal Bureau of Investigation
1900 Xavier Cugat [Francisco de As�s Javier Cugat Mingall de Brue y Deulofeo] Tirona Catalonia Spain, bandleader (married Abbe Lane, Charo)
1909 Barry Goldwater (Senator-R-AZ, 1953-65, 69- )/Presidential candidate (R) 1964)
1911 Hammerin' Hank Greenberg Hall-of-Fame 1st baseman (Detroit Tiger)
1912 Kim Philby British spy/Soviet mole
1912 Victor Reuther Wheeling WV, labor leader
1919 J[erome] D[avid] Salinger New York City, NY, novelist (Catcher in the Rye)
1938 Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard Queen of Netherlands (1980- )
1943 Don Novello [Father Guido Sarducci], Ashtabula OH, comedian (SNL)
1958 Grandmaster Flash [Joseph Saddler], New York City, NY, rocker (Message)
1967 Derrick Thomas NFL linebacker (Kansas City Chiefs)
1986 Alexa Ray Joel daughter of Billy Joel & Christie Brinkley

DEATH

1557 Jacques Cartier French explorer (Canada), dies at 65
1782 Johann Christian Bach German composer/Mozart's tutor, dies at 46
1787 Arthur Middleton US farmer (signed Declaration of Independence), dies at 44
1953 Hank Williams country singer (Cold Cold Heart), dies at 29
1972 Maurice A Chevalier French actor (Can Can, Gigi), dies at 83

January 1, 2008, the first day of the year. New Years Day, there are 365 days left in the Year.

compiled by Mondoreb
[image: hatrickpatrick]
Source: Today in History





Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

U.S. Fertility Rates: Americans Are Reproducing Like Bunnies

A stark difference between the United States and Europe.

For the first time in 35 years, the U.S. fertility rate has climbed high enough to sustain a stable population, solidifying the nation's unique status among industrialized countries.

The overall fertility rate increased 2 percent between 2005 and 2006, nudging the average number of babies being born to each woman to 2.1, according to the latest federal statistics. That marks the first time since 1971 that the rate has reached a crucial benchmark of population growth: the ability of each generation to replace itself.

"It's been quite a long time since we've had a rate this high," said Stephanie J. Ventura of the National Center for Health Statistics. "It's a milestone."

Of course, if you are the sort of person who creams in their jeans at the sight of Mother Earth, the American fertility rate is a disaster.

More people mean more waste products, less "green spaces", and more problems.

In short: in the world of the such environmentalists, the only good human is a dead human.

While the rising fertility rate was unwelcome news to some environmentalists, the "replacement rate" is generally considered desirable by demographers and sociologists because it means a country is producing enough young people to replace and support aging workers without population growth being so high it taxes national resources.

"This is a noteworthy event," said John Bongaarts of the Population Council, a New York-based think tank. "This is a sign of demographic health. Many countries would like to be at this level."

Mark Steyn has pointed out the falling fertility rates in Europe and been called a racist for his troubles.

Modern humans are the only species threatened with eventual extinction because of a lack of reproduction.

Europe, Japan and other industrialized countries have long had fertility rates far below the replacement level, creating the prospect of labor shortages and loss of cultural identity as the proportion of native-born residents shrinks in relation to immigrant populations. In contrast, many developing nations' birthrates far exceed the replacement rate, fueling poverty and social unrest.

"Over the long term you can't have significant continued growth or continued decline," said S. Philip Morgan, a Duke University sociologist. "Neither one is sustainable."

What are the reasons for high American fertility?

Around DBKP, the answers ranged from "Lot of hot chicks right now," to "Girls just wanna have fun," to "Nothing good was on TV all last week." The coffee boy voted for "You can't buy good porn anymore."

Experts elsewhere differed.

The reasons for the unusual U.S. fertility rate are the focus of intense interest. Experts can only speculate, but they cite a complex mix of factors, including lower levels of birth control use than in other developed countries, widely held religious values that encourage childbearing, social conditions that make it easier for women to work and have families, and a growing Hispanic population.

"It's not clear which of these factors is most important," Bongaarts said.

The nation's total fertility rate hit a high of nearly 3.8 in the United States in 1957 during the postwar Baby Boom. But it fell sharply through the 1960s and 1970s with the introduction of the birth control pill and other trends, including women delaying childbearing to attend college and pursue a career. The rate dipped below replacement level in 1972 and hit a low of 1.7 in 1976, but it started rising again in the late 1970s. It climbed steadily through the 1980s, hovering close to but never hitting the replacement rate throughout the '90s. The population rose steadily nevertheless, however, because, in part, of immigration.

The fertility rate finally surpassed the replacement threshold again in 2006, according to a preliminary analysis of birth data released by the government this month. When the report was published, attention focused on a jump in the teen birthrate for the first time in 14 years, but the statistics show that was part of an increase in birthrates across almost all ages.

"The teenagers may have had some impact, but the birthrate went up for every group, including women in their 20s, and they account for a huge percentage of the childbearing in this country," Ventura said.

Some have speculated that one small factor for the rise may be an increase in births in families of military personnel being deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, Ventura said.

"Maybe they came back and didn't know when their next deployment may be," Ventura said. "That's very interesting, but it's anecdotal at this point."

Some of the increase is explained by immigration. Hispanics have the highest fertility rate -- about 2.9 -- followed by blacks (2.1), Asians (1.9) and whites (1.86). But Hispanics do not represent enough of the population to fully explain the trend, and the fertility rate of U.S. whites is still higher than that of other developed countries.

"It's hard to say any one factor is responsible. It's frustrating when you can't put your finger on what's going on," Ventura said.

For developed countries, a replacement-level fertility rate is considered vital for keeping retirement programs such as Social Security solvent by supplying new workers to pay into the system to support retirees.

"A low birthrate results in an old society. It will be hard to support social systems when you have so few people relative to older people," Bongaarts said. "The Europeans are very worried and are turning to all sorts of measures, including giving incentives to people to have children."

The slowdown in the fertility rate can be offset by increasing immigration, but that has caused a backlash across Europe.

"It's a real crisis for some countries," Morgan said. "If you're talking about replacing the births you are not having with migrants, that would lead to fundamental societal change for the receiving country."

Although many European countries offer women incentives to have children, such as providing lengthy paid maternity leave, guaranteeing their jobs and subsidizing child care, the efforts have had limited impact.

"It's widely accepted in the United States that women can have this balance," said Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau, a Washington research organization. "I'm not sure that's true in some European countries, such as Germany, where there may still be more of a stigma attached to women working and having families."

Finally, the report closes by saying the the modern American woman may be the reason for the fertility jump.

Huh?

The habits of the modern American woman, rather.

While being a mother who works outside the home is far from easy for many American women, many experts said the United States is in many ways more amenable to the practice than many other developed countries. The high-octane consumer economy, for example, helps women run households more efficiently in a number of ways, including making prepared foods more widely available, and weekend and late-night shopping possible. American men are also helping more with their children than in the past, experts say.

"We also have a relatively high percentage of part-time jobs available," said Ronald Rindfuss, a sociology professor at the University of North Carolina. "There's also more shift work outside the normal nine-to-five, Monday-through-Friday schedule that enables parents to share child care."

The nation's religiosity also contributes to the higher fertility rate, which varies geographically, experts said. Red states tend to have both more religious people and higher fertility rates.

"Americans are much more religious than Europeans: They believe in God more. They go to church more," said Charles Westoff, a Princeton University demographer. "That sort of religious attitude or set of values is strongly correlated with fertility."

Whatever the cause, the fertility rate combined with increased immigration is likely to continue to fuel growth of the U.S. population, experts said.

"We have a lot of population momentum in this country because we have so many young people who themselves are going to soon be having 2.1 children," Mather said. "We're going to be growing for quite some time at a fairly fast pace."

But not everyone sees that as encouraging, given that the United States remains a leading consumer of increasingly scarce natural resources.

"The world is now consuming resources faster than the Earth can sustain over the longer term," said Lester Brown of the Earth Policy Institute. "Forests are shrinking. Fisheries are collapsing. Water tables are falling. Large parts of the world's grasslands are deteriorating. The U.S. is already disproportionately responsible for that because of our very high consumption levels."

We were trying to think of a snappy closing, but all that came to mind was the Biblical injunction.

"Go forth and multiply."

by Mondoreb
[image:milkandhoneyfarms]
Source: U.S. Fertility Rates Hits 30-Year High



Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.