A new study by Angus Deaton (Princeton University) uses Gallup World Poll data from 146 countries to analyze the relationship between being religious and one’s health. He concludes that religious people – especially men – are healthier than those who are not religious. In fact, there are some “startling differences in health outcomes and health behaviors by religiosity.”
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This week we had all 13 grandchildren (and a few of their parents) over for Sunday dinner. The oldest is just over eleven and the youngest 3 months. After dinner, while the adults finished preparing dessert, we sent the kids outside to play. On a whim I suggested we try an experiment. The results surprised us all. Anyone with kids has heard “It’s not fair!” – and the unconvincing parental rejoinder of “Life’s not fair” – more times than anyone cares to count. Children seem to catch on, at a very early age, to a very American idea –life should be fundamentally ‘fair’. To a child, this means they should be allowed to stay up as late as a sibling who just happens to be several years older – and it’s unfair when they cannot. Or it means “I should get the same size brownie as everyone else” – which is the subject of the test I proposed. Recent news stories suggest the social security number (SSN) has been ‘decoded’ and that this ‘discovery’ increases your risk of identity theft. It’s mostly hype and exaggeration. Still, there are precautions you can take. Your social security number is often a gateway to your private life. Bank records, medical records, etc all rely on those magic nine digits. If your number is compromised, it’s much easier to get to your private life. The Wall Street Journal reported “a new study says that mundane information like birth dates and hometowns on social-networking profiles can be used to accurately predict a user’s Social Security number, a key to identity theft.” According to the article, “researchers correctly guessed the first five digits of a person’s Social Security number about 40% of the time, just by knowing his or her hometown and birth date.” Is it really an invention that will change the internet forever as one British news site proclaims? Or is it, as others have described it, the newest and most important golf blog research tool in the history of humankind or the magical search engine that will channel all kinds of data to give you coherent [...] When the grandchildren are small and birthdays or holidays roll around, Grandma (and it usually is Grandma) makes sure the little ones get something – usually clothes or a toy. And tucked in with the gift itself there’s almost a card and a note expressing love. As the grandkids get older and family gets spread out [...] The Social Security Death Index (SSDI), available free from Rootsweb, can help you trace your family tree. It will tell you the month and year a person died, their birth date, where they were living when they died, and the state where they got their social security card. But with over 83 million records, finding [...] Tracing your roots? You’re not alone. Genealogy (or family history) is apparently one of the fastest growing hobbies. (Of course, if you Google “fastest growing hobby” you’ll see that some beg to differ. They suggest everything from scrapbooking to competitive eating to collecting beer cans!) If you need help starting your family history, you may want [...] |
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Copyright © 2010 Walter Bristow - All Rights Reserved
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