Wednesday, June 1st, 2011
Kathryn Kattalia, Writer - Daily News
Stephan: This is who we are. If we could acknowledge this, and develop policies consistent with reality, life would be so much easier.
Fewer Americans are walking down the aisle today than ever before.
Statistics from last year’s U.S. census show that for the first time married couples are the minority in America, accounting for 48% of all households, the Daily Mail reported. That figure is down from 52% 10 years ago.
That doesn’t mean Americans fear commitment. Couples today may not be as quick to say ‘I do’ as they were a decade earlier, but census reports revealed that the number of opposite-sex couples who opt to live together rather than get married is at 7.5 million, up 13% from 2009.
Still, many young couples have put off tying the knot for fear of not being able to keep a job while starting a new family, experts said. The average age of people getting married for the first time has risen dramatically since the 1960s, with men waiting until they are 28 and women 26.
Those couples who do choose marriage today are taking their vows seriously. According to census statistics, three in four couples who got married after 1990 celebrated a 10-year anniversary, the Washington Post reported. That number is up 3% from the early 1980s, when the country’s divorce rate hit its peak.
It’s a […]
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Wednesday, June 1st, 2011
SARAH ELKS, - The Australian (Australia)
Stephan: More on the coming food crisis. Note that once again the problem is a sequence of extreme weather events.
Thanks to Steve Hovland.
Sky-high banana prices are set to surge again as the shortage of the fruit reaches extreme levels.
Australian Banana Growers Council chief executive Jonathan Eccles said yesterday heavy rain and a cold snap since Cyclone Yasi wiped out 75 per cent of the crop in February had slowed banana growth and cut production.
‘We’ll certainly see wholesale prices increase because of the supply and demand market,’ Mr Eccles said. ‘What happens at a retail level will depend on the individual retailer.’
Industry experts predict the high prices will not start to ease until August, when cyclone-affected plantations in north Queensland begin to harvest again.
The major supermarket chains have already raised their prices to $12.98 a kilogram for Cavendish bananas and some independent fruit shops are selling the fruit for nearly $17/kg.
Mr Eccles said bananas were selling at wholesale for $10/kg but would probably rise to $12/kg at the height of the shortage.
Sydney Market Reporting Service fruit surveyor Chris Cope said the markets usually received up to 160,000 cartons of bananas weekly at this time of year.
He said currently it was fewer than 20,000 cartons. ‘In the next couple of weeks, we’ll see an extreme shortage,’ Mr Cope said.
Tristan Harris, director of buying and […]
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Wednesday, June 1st, 2011
AMY GOODMAN and JUAN GONZALEZ, - Democracy Now
Stephan: I believe Vermont is going to succeed in spite of everything that will be done to sabotage its program. The Illness Profit System will do everything it can to protect its profits. Vermont's success will show the dysfunctionality of the old model, and the correctness of the state's decision to convert to a model placing the people's health first.
Vermont made history last week by becoming the first state in the nation to offer universal, single-payer healthcare when Gov. Peter Shumlin signed its healthcare reform bill into law. The Vermont plan, called the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, will attempt to stem rising medical care prices and provide universal coverage. We speak with Dr. Deb Richter, president of Vermont Health Care for All. She moved from Buffalo, New York, to Vermont in 1999 to advocate for a universal, single-payer healthcare system in the state. Gov. Shumlin calls her the ‘backbone
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