Sightings

In 2013, a record-high 12% of newlyweds married someone of a different race, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of census data. Looking beyond newlyweds, 6.3% of all marriages were between spouses of different races in 2013, up from less than 1% in 1970. Some racial groups are more likely to intermarry than others. Of the 3.6 million adults who got married in 2013, 58% of American Indians, 28% of Asians, 19% of blacks and 7% of whites have a spouse whose race was different from their own.  more »

About one third of Earth's largest groundwater basins are being rapidly depleted by human consumption, despite having little accurate data about how much water remains in them, according to two new studies led by the University of California, Irvine (UCI), using data from NASA's Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites. Editor's Note: We would just interject the word, GULP! but we actually fail to see any humor in this subject. more »

Issues Covered: A bill to provide that human life shall be deemed to exist from conception; a bill to protect pain-capable unborn children; a bill to strengthen the provisions relating to child labor; a bill to provide grants to eligible local educational agencies to encourage female students to pursue studies and careers in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology; a bill to establish a permanent, nationwide summer electronic benefits transfer for children program; a bill to ensure timely access to affordable birth control for women. more »

Julia Sneden wrote: Pronouns, pronouns, pronouns: does no one these days teach youngsters how to use them? The other day a bemused friend quoted from a sweet letter she had received: "Just seeing your face at Mike and I's wedding..." Unbelievable, you say? Even more unbelievable is the fact that the writer is a graduate student at a major university. The child obviously doesn’t lack brains;what she lacks is proper training in the use of her native tongue. And, perhaps, an introduction to the word "our," which would have been a quick rescue as well as referencing what the ceremony had been all about. more »