Jay Ross's Blog, page 9
June 5, 2015
Five Interesting Things About Summer��
Woo-hoo! Summer vacation is here! Here's some interesting numbers and a link to the best site I've found.
1. About 45% of Americans will take a vacation this summer, traveling an average of 284 miles each way. (Over 90% will drive.)
2. Last year, only 25% of Americans used all of their vacation time, and 15% had no vacation time at all.
3. The average American kid has a summer vacation of 2.5 months (11 weeks). Kids in Australia, Hong Kong, and the UK get 6 weeks. Kids in Kuwait get 16 weeks!
4. According to research, "most students lose about two months of grade level equivalency in mathematical computation skills over the summer months." Low income students lose MORE than two-months in reading, while their peers actually make GAINS in reading. (More than half of the achievement gap between lower and higher income kids can be explained by summer learning.)
5. Despite having all day to run and play, kids actually gain weight 2-3 times faster in the summer.
Summer vacation will be over before you know it. Want to make the most of it? Check out these 50 suggestions.
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
1. About 45% of Americans will take a vacation this summer, traveling an average of 284 miles each way. (Over 90% will drive.)
2. Last year, only 25% of Americans used all of their vacation time, and 15% had no vacation time at all.
3. The average American kid has a summer vacation of 2.5 months (11 weeks). Kids in Australia, Hong Kong, and the UK get 6 weeks. Kids in Kuwait get 16 weeks!
4. According to research, "most students lose about two months of grade level equivalency in mathematical computation skills over the summer months." Low income students lose MORE than two-months in reading, while their peers actually make GAINS in reading. (More than half of the achievement gap between lower and higher income kids can be explained by summer learning.)
5. Despite having all day to run and play, kids actually gain weight 2-3 times faster in the summer.
Summer vacation will be over before you know it. Want to make the most of it? Check out these 50 suggestions.
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
May 23, 2015
Five Interesting Things About Memorial Day
This Monday marks my 148th Memorial Day. Originally established as Decoration Day to honor fallen Union soldiers (and decorate their graves), it now honors all of my fallen heroes. Since the Revolutionary War, over 42,000,000 brave Americans have risked their lives for me in the 97 wars and armed conflicts I've gotten myself involved with, and nearly 1,500,000 brave Americans have died in just my "major" conflicts alone. That's a lot of sacrifices. So, before you strap on your white summer pants and light up the barbecue, let's look at some numbers.
1. My five deadliest wars were: 1. Civil War (1861-65): 618,222; 2. World War II (1941-1945): 405,399
3. World War I (1917-1918): 116,516; 4. Vietnam War (1965-73): 58,177; and 5. Korean War (1950-53): 36,568.
2. Families of soldiers killed in a war zone receive a "death gratuity" of $100,000 and a few other things.
3. In 2012, my military's suicide rate surpassed combat deaths.
4. Fifteen years ago, Congress established a National Moment of Remembrance where each American is supposed to take for one minute at 3:00 on Memorial Day to build unity and "put the memorial back in Memorial Day."
5. This Memorial Day, over 200,000 soldiers will not be able to see their families because they are overseas protecting us.
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
1. My five deadliest wars were: 1. Civil War (1861-65): 618,222; 2. World War II (1941-1945): 405,399
3. World War I (1917-1918): 116,516; 4. Vietnam War (1965-73): 58,177; and 5. Korean War (1950-53): 36,568.
2. Families of soldiers killed in a war zone receive a "death gratuity" of $100,000 and a few other things.
3. In 2012, my military's suicide rate surpassed combat deaths.
4. Fifteen years ago, Congress established a National Moment of Remembrance where each American is supposed to take for one minute at 3:00 on Memorial Day to build unity and "put the memorial back in Memorial Day."
5. This Memorial Day, over 200,000 soldiers will not be able to see their families because they are overseas protecting us.
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
May 17, 2015
Five Interesting Things About GMOs
Genetically modified foods are crops that have been altered by scientists to either produce their own pesticides or to be resistant to herbicides and diseases, and despite NO long term independent studies, they have been approved by my FDA, allowed to go unlabeled by my Congress, and even given the green light to be patented by my Supreme Court--proving yet again that governmental protection is a joke. Let's look at some numbers.
1. GMOs are in 70% of packaged food in North America and compose about 90% of my sugar, canola, soybeans, corn, and cotton crops. Which means they are also in all of the animals that consume them.
2. Over 90% of consumers wish that they were labeled...but they're not (because biotech companies want them not to be labeled more than we want them to be labeled).
3. Despite GMOs stated purpose of reducing pests, pesticide use rose 404 million pounds from 1996 to 2011, and 1/3 of the pests GMOs were designed to target have already become resistant to them.
4. While GMOs produce huge yields the first few years, a 30 year study shows that GMO fields and organic fields ultimately produce the same amount of food.
5. There are severe restrictions or outright bans on GMOs in over 60 countries, including Australia, Japan, and most of Europe.
Whether these toxins are dangerous or not is still up for debate, but it does seem crazy that our food supply is now controlled by the same company, Monsanto, that created Agent Orange. Visit this site for seven ways to fight the power.
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
1. GMOs are in 70% of packaged food in North America and compose about 90% of my sugar, canola, soybeans, corn, and cotton crops. Which means they are also in all of the animals that consume them.
2. Over 90% of consumers wish that they were labeled...but they're not (because biotech companies want them not to be labeled more than we want them to be labeled).
3. Despite GMOs stated purpose of reducing pests, pesticide use rose 404 million pounds from 1996 to 2011, and 1/3 of the pests GMOs were designed to target have already become resistant to them.
4. While GMOs produce huge yields the first few years, a 30 year study shows that GMO fields and organic fields ultimately produce the same amount of food.
5. There are severe restrictions or outright bans on GMOs in over 60 countries, including Australia, Japan, and most of Europe.
Whether these toxins are dangerous or not is still up for debate, but it does seem crazy that our food supply is now controlled by the same company, Monsanto, that created Agent Orange. Visit this site for seven ways to fight the power.
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
May 8, 2015
Five Interesting Things About Mother's Day
Happy Mother's Day, everybody. Almost 100 years ago (in 1918), President Wilson declared Mother's Day a national holiday, and it was celebrated by going to church and writing a letter to Mom. It's now celebrated by going to Denny's and buying 120 million greeting cards. Let's look at some fun numbers.
1. There are 85.4 million mothers here. And we will spend $20.7 billion on them this Sunday.
2. According to Insure.com, the stuff the average mom did at home last year would have been worth $62,985 in the professional world.
3. According to Guiness, the greatest officially recorded number of children born to one mother is 69 by Feodor Vassilyev in Russia. The average American mom will have 1.9 kids.
4. The average unmarried American adult lives 15 miles from Mom. The average married American adult lives just 25-30 miles from Mom.
5. And finally, 73% of American mothers think they are doing an "excellent" or "very good" job (78% of working mothers and 66% of stay-at-home mothers).
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
1. There are 85.4 million mothers here. And we will spend $20.7 billion on them this Sunday.
2. According to Insure.com, the stuff the average mom did at home last year would have been worth $62,985 in the professional world.
3. According to Guiness, the greatest officially recorded number of children born to one mother is 69 by Feodor Vassilyev in Russia. The average American mom will have 1.9 kids.
4. The average unmarried American adult lives 15 miles from Mom. The average married American adult lives just 25-30 miles from Mom.
5. And finally, 73% of American mothers think they are doing an "excellent" or "very good" job (78% of working mothers and 66% of stay-at-home mothers).
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
April 30, 2015
Five Interesting Things About the NFL Draft
Hope springs eternal tonight with this year's NFL draft. (For those looking to get excited, this site actually breaks down the best draft class in the history of each franchise.) For the rest of you, here's five interesting numbers...
#1. The Colts have had the #1 overall pick 7 times--most of any team (and have arguably made three of the best picks ever with Luck, Manning, and Elway). Next is the Rams (6) and Patriots (5), followed by a bunch with 4.
#2. The host city's Chicago Bears pick seventh. No player selected seventh has ever made the Hall of Fame.
#3. Since the year 2000, no team has had the #1 pick more than once...except the Houston Texans, who have had the #1 pick 3 times since 2002. (The Texans are also the only team since 2001 to take a defensive player--and they did it twice. Quarterbacks have been taken first 12 of the last 17 years)
#4. First round picks have about a 33% chance of being a bust, and the typical 7 round draft produces 2.3 starters per team.
#5. According to Harvard number cruncher Robert Bedetti, the safest picks in the first half of the first round are linebackers and offensive linemen (QBs and RBs are the most risky). In the second half of the first round, the safest picks are offensive linemen and defensive linemen (QBs and LB are the most risky).
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
#1. The Colts have had the #1 overall pick 7 times--most of any team (and have arguably made three of the best picks ever with Luck, Manning, and Elway). Next is the Rams (6) and Patriots (5), followed by a bunch with 4.
#2. The host city's Chicago Bears pick seventh. No player selected seventh has ever made the Hall of Fame.
#3. Since the year 2000, no team has had the #1 pick more than once...except the Houston Texans, who have had the #1 pick 3 times since 2002. (The Texans are also the only team since 2001 to take a defensive player--and they did it twice. Quarterbacks have been taken first 12 of the last 17 years)
#4. First round picks have about a 33% chance of being a bust, and the typical 7 round draft produces 2.3 starters per team.
#5. According to Harvard number cruncher Robert Bedetti, the safest picks in the first half of the first round are linebackers and offensive linemen (QBs and RBs are the most risky). In the second half of the first round, the safest picks are offensive linemen and defensive linemen (QBs and LB are the most risky).
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
April 25, 2015
Five Interesting Things About Standardized Tests in America
Well, state testing is over for many of my public school students, and this year things. got a little interesting. Katy ISD in Texas voted to eliminate high stakes state testing. At a Seattle school, all of the 11th graders decided to skip the test. And last month, a whopping 4% of Americans thought standardized tests were an excellent way of measuring student achievement--which, perhaps explain why President Obama sends his daughters to a school where these tests are not required. Well...let's look at some numbers.
#1. Seven years after the passage of No Child Left Behind, I slipped from 18th to 31st in math (in world rankings) and made no change in reading.
#2. In 2013, my national high school graduation rate of 81% was my highest rate ever.
#3. In 2011, half of my schools were failing according to testing and state standards.
#4. The average American kid will now take 113 standardized tests between Pre-K and 12th grade.
#5. In 2000 when TAKS started, Texas's contract with the testing company Pearson was worth $9.5 million. Now, Texas's contract with the company is worth nearly half a billion dollars.
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
#1. Seven years after the passage of No Child Left Behind, I slipped from 18th to 31st in math (in world rankings) and made no change in reading.
#2. In 2013, my national high school graduation rate of 81% was my highest rate ever.
#3. In 2011, half of my schools were failing according to testing and state standards.
#4. The average American kid will now take 113 standardized tests between Pre-K and 12th grade.
#5. In 2000 when TAKS started, Texas's contract with the testing company Pearson was worth $9.5 million. Now, Texas's contract with the company is worth nearly half a billion dollars.
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
April 18, 2015
Five Interesting Websites That Every American Should Try
Pretty slow news week this week, so let's just take a minute to look at (a little more than) five websites that every American should try.
1. Do you have a list of sites that you always visit? Do you like the idea of them but get a little bored with them? Try similarsites.com.
2. Wanna know what time you should be going to bed to get the best sleep? This site calculates sleep cycles (as well as time it takes to fall asleep) to tell you the optimal time(s). Try www.sleepyti.me
3. Want to watch something in particular? CanIStreamIt.com tells you where you can get it and for how much. If you're not sure what to watch, try AGoodMovieToWatch.com. If you're not sure what to read, try YourNextRead.com.
4. Feeling nostalgic? YouTubeTimeMachine takes you back to whatever year you want with videos and commercials and more. (TheNostalgiaTimeMachine also has some good videos.)
5. Got stuff to get rid of? Want something for free? Freecycle.org lets you search and post by zipcode.
And, of course, if you're looking for early literacy stuff, check out BeABrainyYak.com. Thanks!
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
1. Do you have a list of sites that you always visit? Do you like the idea of them but get a little bored with them? Try similarsites.com.
2. Wanna know what time you should be going to bed to get the best sleep? This site calculates sleep cycles (as well as time it takes to fall asleep) to tell you the optimal time(s). Try www.sleepyti.me
3. Want to watch something in particular? CanIStreamIt.com tells you where you can get it and for how much. If you're not sure what to watch, try AGoodMovieToWatch.com. If you're not sure what to read, try YourNextRead.com.
4. Feeling nostalgic? YouTubeTimeMachine takes you back to whatever year you want with videos and commercials and more. (TheNostalgiaTimeMachine also has some good videos.)
5. Got stuff to get rid of? Want something for free? Freecycle.org lets you search and post by zipcode.
And, of course, if you're looking for early literacy stuff, check out BeABrainyYak.com. Thanks!
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
April 11, 2015
Five Interesting Things About Major League Baseball
The boys of summer came back this week! Let's take a look at five interesting numbers...
1.. MLB brings in $9 billion per year. The average team makes $237 million with Yankees making the most at $461M (and the Marlins making the least at $159M).
2. The average player will make $4.25 million this year (up nearly $300K from last year). Four of the five highest paid players in baseball are starting pitchers, with Clayton Kershaw leading MLB at over $32M/yr.
3. According to Forbes, the teams with the most loyal fans are 1. Cardinals, 2. Phillies, 3. Red Sox, 4. Braves, 5. Giants. The least loyal fans belong to the Astros.
4. The Yankees have the all-time best winning percentage at .569. The Padres have the worst at .464.
5. Vegas likes the Nationals (6/1), Dodgers (8/1), and Cardinals (9/1) best this year. It likes the Phillies least (500/1).
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
1.. MLB brings in $9 billion per year. The average team makes $237 million with Yankees making the most at $461M (and the Marlins making the least at $159M).
2. The average player will make $4.25 million this year (up nearly $300K from last year). Four of the five highest paid players in baseball are starting pitchers, with Clayton Kershaw leading MLB at over $32M/yr.
3. According to Forbes, the teams with the most loyal fans are 1. Cardinals, 2. Phillies, 3. Red Sox, 4. Braves, 5. Giants. The least loyal fans belong to the Astros.
4. The Yankees have the all-time best winning percentage at .569. The Padres have the worst at .464.
5. Vegas likes the Nationals (6/1), Dodgers (8/1), and Cardinals (9/1) best this year. It likes the Phillies least (500/1).
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
Five Interesting Numbers About Abortion in America
Rand Paul has gotten abortion back in the headlines this week. Between listening to him and the chair of the DNC, it's tough to figure out what exactly the state of abortion is in America today. So...let's just look at some numbers.
1. In America, about half of all pregnancies are unintended, and about 4 in 10 of these are aborted. About 21% are for financial reasons, 3% are for possible health reasons, 1% are because of rape and incest, and the 75% are other.
2. I have had nearly 58 million abortions since Roe v Wade in 1973 and over 300,000 this year, accounting for a little less than 3% of abortions worldwide (with the highest rate of any industrialized western nation). One in three American women will have one.
3. In the latest Gallup poll, 47% of Americans consider themselves pro-life and 46% pro-choice. (Incidentally, 19% need a candidate to agree with them, 48% factor it in, and 28% don't care.)
4. About 33% of my abortions occur within the first six weeks of pregnancy. About 5% are after the sixteenth week. (Here is what that looks like.)
5. About 54% of women having an abortion used contraception.
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
1. In America, about half of all pregnancies are unintended, and about 4 in 10 of these are aborted. About 21% are for financial reasons, 3% are for possible health reasons, 1% are because of rape and incest, and the 75% are other.
2. I have had nearly 58 million abortions since Roe v Wade in 1973 and over 300,000 this year, accounting for a little less than 3% of abortions worldwide (with the highest rate of any industrialized western nation). One in three American women will have one.
3. In the latest Gallup poll, 47% of Americans consider themselves pro-life and 46% pro-choice. (Incidentally, 19% need a candidate to agree with them, 48% factor it in, and 28% don't care.)
4. About 33% of my abortions occur within the first six weeks of pregnancy. About 5% are after the sixteenth week. (Here is what that looks like.)
5. About 54% of women having an abortion used contraception.
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
April 4, 2015
Five interesting Things About Easter in America
Happy Easter, everybody! As we celebrate the resurrection of Christ, let's look at some numbers.
#1. About 86% of Americans will do something to celebrate Easter.
#2. Almost 58% of folks will spend time with family and friends, 51% will attend church, 42% will watch TV, and 31% will have an Easter egg hunt.
#3. Americans will spend $14.6 billion on Easter-related goods, including 16 billion jellybeans and 90 million chocolate bunnies. (It is the second biggest candy holiday after Halloween...and 76% of people will eat their chocolate bunny ears-first. )
#4. When searching for Easter movies, Wikipedia lists more horror movies than spiritual ones.
#5. According to Goodreads and the Worldview Institute, the top books for believers this time of year are: 1. Mere Christianity, 2. Knowing God, and 3. How Should We Then Live?
Looking for inspiration? Click here for a link to the top 40 worship songs (and videos) of 2015.
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
#1. About 86% of Americans will do something to celebrate Easter.
#2. Almost 58% of folks will spend time with family and friends, 51% will attend church, 42% will watch TV, and 31% will have an Easter egg hunt.
#3. Americans will spend $14.6 billion on Easter-related goods, including 16 billion jellybeans and 90 million chocolate bunnies. (It is the second biggest candy holiday after Halloween...and 76% of people will eat their chocolate bunny ears-first. )
#4. When searching for Easter movies, Wikipedia lists more horror movies than spiritual ones.
#5. According to Goodreads and the Worldview Institute, the top books for believers this time of year are: 1. Mere Christianity, 2. Knowing God, and 3. How Should We Then Live?
Looking for inspiration? Click here for a link to the top 40 worship songs (and videos) of 2015.
DiaryOfAmerica@gmail.com
