Ethnic and racial minorities will comprise a majority of the nation’s population in a little more than a generation, according to new Census Bureau projections, a transformation that is occurring faster than anticipated just a few years ago. The census calculates that by 2042, Americans who identify themselves as Hispanic, black, Asian, American Indian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander will together outnumber non-Hispanic whites. Four years ago, officials had projected the shift would come in 2050. The main reason for the accelerating change is significantly higher birthrates among immigrants. Another factor is the influx of foreigners, rising from about 1.3 million annually today to more than 2 million a year by midcentury, according to projections based on current immigration policies. ‘No other country has experienced such rapid racial and ethnic change,’ said Mark Mather, a demographer with the Population Reference Bureau, a research organization in Washington. The latest figures, which are being released on Thursday, are predicated on current and historical trends, which can be thrown awry by several variables, including prospective overhauls of immigration policies and sudden increases in refugees. A decade ago, census demographers estimated that the nation’s population, which topped 300 million […]
MOSCOW — The past week’s events in South Ossetia are bound to shock and pain anyone. Already, thousands of people have died, tens of thousands have been turned into refugees, and towns and villages lie in ruins. Nothing can justify this loss of life and destruction. It is a warning to all. The roots of this tragedy lie in the decision of Georgia’s separatist leaders in 1991 to abolish South Ossetian autonomy. This turned out to be a time bomb for Georgia’s territorial integrity. Each time successive Georgian leaders tried to impose their will by force — both in South Ossetia and in Abkhazia, where the issues of autonomy are similar — it only made the situation worse. New wounds aggravated old injuries. Nevertheless, it was still possible to find a political solution. For some time, relative calm was maintained in South Ossetia. The peacekeeping force composed of Russians, Georgians and Ossetians fulfilled its mission, and ordinary Ossetians and Georgians, who live close to each other, found at least some common ground. Through all these years, Russia has continued to recognize Georgia’s territorial integrity. Clearly, the only way to solve the South Ossetian problem on that basis […]
The Bush administration has consistently opposed providing funding for international birth control programs, but until now has not tried to limit the use of contraceptives inside the United States. That could change in the president’s final months in office. Health and Human Services officials are considering a draft regulation that would classify most birth control pills, the Plan B emergency contraceptive and intrauterine devices as forms of abortion because they prevent the development of fertilized eggs into fetuses. The rule, which does not require congressional approval, would allow health care workers who object to abortion on moral or religious grounds to refuse to counsel women on their birth control options or supply contraceptives. It would forbid more than half a million health agencies nationwide that receive federal funds from requiring employees to provide such services. Pharmacists could use the rule as a justification for refusing to fill birth control prescriptions, and insurance companies could cite it as a basis for declining to cover the costs. An existing regulation allows health care providers with objections to abortion to abstain from providing it to patients. By extending the definition of abortion to cover contraceptives, federal officials are attempting to […]
WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is proposing to reduce the environmental reviews federal agencies must undertake as part of the Endangered Species Act. The proposal could speed up commercial development, but environmentalists said the changes could threaten the protection of wildlife. The draft rules also would attempt to limit the use of the Endangered Species Act as a tool for fighting climate change. They would state that agencies don’t have to consult one another in cases where a project would have only an indirect effect on a threatened or endangered species. Bush administration officials described that aspect of the proposal as a way to prevent the act from becoming a ‘back door’ for regulation of greenhouse-gas emissions. Polar Bears were listed as a threatened species in May. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne cited such concerns in May when he announced his decision to list the polar bear as a threatened species under the act, following evidence that the loss of sea ice is threatening polar bears’ Arctic habitat. The draft rules would be subject to a 30-day public comment period before being finalized by the Interior Department, giving the administration time to impose them before the […]
Two out of every three United States corporations paid no federal income taxes from 1998 through 2005, according to a report released Tuesday by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress. The study, which is likely to add to a growing debate among politicians and policy experts over the contribution of businesses to Treasury coffers, did not identify the corporations or analyze why they had paid no taxes. It also did not say whether they had been operating properly within the tax code or illegally evading it. The study covers 1.3 million corporations of all sizes, most of them small, with a collective $2.5 trillion in sales. It includes foreign corporations that do business in the United States. Among foreign corporations, a slightly higher percentage, 68 percent, did not pay taxes during the period covered - compared with 66 percent for United States corporations. Even with these numbers, corporate tax receipts have risen sharply as a percentage of federal revenue in recent years. The G.A.O. study was done at the request of two Democratic senators, Carl Levin of Michigan and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota. In recent years, Senator Levin has held investigations on […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
