Archive for December, 2016
California’s Birthrate Falls to Lowest Level on Record
December 22nd, 2016Via: Los Angeles Times: California’s birthrate dropped to its lowest level ever in 2016, according to data released by the state’s Department of Finance. Between July 2015 and July of this year, there were 12.42 births per 1,000 Californians, the agency said this week. The last time the birthrate came close to being that low […]
Percentage of Young Americans Living With Parents Rises to 75-Year High
December 22nd, 2016Via: Wall Street Journal: Almost 40% of young Americans were living with their parents, siblings or other relatives in 2015, the largest percentage since 1940, according to an analysis of census data by real estate tracker Trulia.
The Thousands of U.S. Locales Where Lead Poisoning is Worse Than in Flint
December 21st, 2016Via: Reuters: A Reuters examination of lead testing results across the country found almost 3,000 areas with poisoning rates far higher than in the tainted Michigan city. Yet many of these lead hotspots are receiving little attention or funding. … Flint is no aberration. In fact, it doesn’t even rank among the most dangerous lead […]
Berlin Attacker’s Wallet Found in Truck
December 21st, 2016Mmm hmm. Via: USA Today: German authorities scoured the country Wednesday for a Tunisian asylum seeker who is being sought in the truck rampage through a Christmas festival here that killed 12 people and injured 48. Investigators don’t know if there is more than one perpetrator at large. The new suspect emerged after police found […]
Moscow: Senior Russian Diplomat Shot Dead Hours Before Assassination of Ambassador in Turkey
December 20th, 2016Via: Independent: A high-ranking Russian diplomat has reportedly been found dead from a gunshot wound at his Moscow home. Local media reported a senior civil servant in the Foreign Ministry was found dead at his home in the Balaklavsky Prospekt apartment block with a bullet wound in the head. The victim has since been named […]
It’s ‘Digital Heroin’: How Screens Turn Kids Into Psychotic Junkies
December 20th, 2016My sons, aged 9 and 6, get 30 minutes of video (that I’ve approved) per day and then 1.5 hours of gaming on Saturdays and Sundays, assuming all homeschool lessons are completed. As little screen time as this is, I’ve found that they have become obsessed with the stuff they encounter in the small windows […]
Donald Trump Wins Electoral College Vote
December 19th, 2016Via: MarketWatch: Donald Trump was easily affirmed the winner of the 2016 election after the Electoral College met in state capitals across the country Monday, ending last-ditch attempts by activists in both parties to deny him the presidency. A vote of Texas’ 38 electors in Austin gave Trump the necessary Electoral College votes to become […]
Russian Ambassador to Turkey Andrei Karlov Shot in Ankara
December 19th, 2016Via: CBS: A gunman attacked Andrei Karlov, Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, in the capital of Ankara on Monday. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement he was hospitalized with a gunshot wound. She added that the ministry would soon comment on “the attack on the Russian ambassador in Turkey” Private NTV news […]
Babies Made from Three People Approved in UK
December 16th, 2016Via: BBC: Babies made from two women and one man have been approved by the UK’s fertility regulator. The historic and controversial move is to prevent children being born with deadly genetic diseases. Doctors in Newcastle – who developed the advanced form of IVF – are expected to be the first to offer the procedure […]
World Energy Hits a Turning Point: Solar That’s Cheaper Than Wind
December 16th, 2016Disclosure: I sell solar power systems in New Zealand. — Via: Bloomberg: Emerging markets are leapfrogging the developed world thanks to cheap panels. A transformation is happening in global energy markets that’s worth noting as 2016 comes to an end: Solar power, for the first time, is becoming the cheapest form of new electricity. This […]
