Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

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Short Reads

Short-form data and analysis from Pew Research Center writers and social scientists. To view all our reports and publications, visit our main Publications page.

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    US: Castro Was Bad for Cuba

    Fully two-thirds of Americans (66%) think that Fidel Castro, who resigned as president of Cuba this week, has been bad for his country.

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    Lincoln’s Ranking Among U.S. Presidents

    That’s the score tallied by President Abraham Lincoln in a nationwide 2007 Gallup poll that asked respondents to name the “greatest United States president.” In Gallup’s 2005 survey on the issue, two recent presidents, Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, outpolled the Civil War president who was born on February 12, 199 years ago.

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    Praying Every Day

    Six-in-ten Muslim Americans (61%) say they pray every day, somewhat fewer than the 70% of U.S. Christians who say they pray daily.

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    Embarrassing Posting Problems

    Just 4% of all online adults say they have had bad experiences as a result of embarrassing or inaccurate personal information being posted on the internet.

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    News Not Views

    Two-thirds of Americans (67%) say they prefer to get news with no particular point of view, while just 23% say they like getting news that reflects their political views.

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    Say Bush Administration Failures Will Outweigh Accomplishments

    A 59%-majority of Americans believe that, in the long run, the failures of the Bush administration will outweigh the accomplishments, up from 53% a year ago; half as many (28%) say Bush’s accomplishments will outweigh his failures.

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    Internet as Source of Campaign News

    That’s the percentage of those ages 18 to 29 who now say they regularly learn about the campaign from the internet, the highest percentage for any news source.

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    Think Decision to Use Force In Iraq Was Right

    Negative views of the decision to take military action against Iraq are at their highest point since the war began almost five years ago; slightly more than a third of Americans (36%) now say the decision to use military force was right, while 56% see it as wrong.

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    Rate Rap Low

    More than seven-in-ten among the U.S. public, including nearly equal majorities of both blacks and whites, agree that rap’s societal impact is bad.