Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

Legalizing Marijuana


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    Political Extremism (At Home and Abroad) Dominates the Blogosphere

    Bloggers and social media were consumed with two events in the last week that triggered an online debate about political extremism—one in Europe and one in Washington D.C. And the most-viewed news video on YouTube was the start of a feud between David Letterman and Sarah Palin.

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    About One-in-Six Americans Are Baptist

    Two of the largest Baptist denominations in the U.S. — the Southern Baptist Convention and the American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. — will hold national meetings in late June. The U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, finds that Baptists represent the largest Protestant denominational […]

  • report

    Employment News Seen As Overwhelmingly Bad

    Summary of Findings Americans by a wide margin say they are hearing mostly negative news about the nation’s job situation, though they are more likely to sense a mix of good and bad news about other elements of the economy. With the jobless rate climbing, seven-in-ten (71%) say they are hearing mostly bad news about […]

  • report

    No Story Dominates, But Iran Fascinates

    The economy, a hate crime, health care and Detroit’s problems all competed for attention in last week’s news landscape. But a presidential vote in Iran commanded much of the late-week coverage, as the press focused on a nation it often tends to ignore.