Times Are A-Changin'

It really does get better, according to The Economist!

Still... nothing beats atheists and agnostics...

Phallic Polls

The picture really is worth a thousand words in this case.

Immigrants & National Pride

The chart below, taken from The Economist, shows pride in one's country. Australia and Canada top the list. (Flip of the middle finger to you Canada scorners!)

This second chart taken from Think Progress shows the percentage of foreign-born individuals in the top three countries with foreign-born population. Australia and Canada once again top the list—and in that order, too!

Whaddya know?! Immigrants are not detrimental to 'trust, admiration, respect and pride in [one's] country,' to use the language of The Economist.

Suck it, Xenophobia!

Religion in France

A recent poll conducted by the Institut Français d'Opinion Publique (IFOP) and released as a .pdf document shows that Catholicism is an aging and decaying breed in France. More than a quarter of the population identify as 'non-religious', while those who identify as 'Catholic' have declined since the end of the Second World War.

The graph below shows not only a decrease in people who identify as 'Catholic,' but also a decrease in church-going Catholics that is disproportionately greater than the overall decline.

The study also found that a majority of Catholics in France tend to vote for the UMP, the center-right party currently in power.

Americans on Gay Issues

Nate Silver of fivethirtyeight.com has analyzed data from 1994 until 2008 about Americans' attitudes on gay issues.

His post on his website shows people's stance on questions such as gay marriage and laws protecting gays, while trying to relate them to whether the individual personally knows a gay person or not.

Some surprising results and attitudes, I must say....

And What Are You Watching?

According to this poll, 12% of those polled watch Fox News, 15% watch CNN, at 6% watch MSNBC on a daily basis. The numbers are slightly different for weekly and monthly viewership.

The numbers also appear to show a geographic bias. Fox News appears to be extremely popular in the South and extremely unpopular in the Northeast. MSNBC reverses that trend. CNN seems to be the more mainstream one, as well as the most trusted source of news overall. I don't know why... they kinda suck. And we all know how I feel about Fox News.

Americans and Abortion

This blog posting compares Americans' view on abortion between May and August of this year. Back in May, there was a 'Pro-life' majority of 51-42% across the nation.

In a new poll that came out last week, that majority has been whittled down to a virtual tie of 47-46% with the 'Pro-life' still on top.

Honestly, it matters little what the majority of the population thinks. The decision belongs to the individuals involved directly in the situation and, ultimately, to the pregnant woman. The law is right to allow her a choice and say over her body and reproductive rights.

On Sotomayor

I have not really written about Sotomayor or her hearing and confirmation because because it's been talked about ad nauseum in the media. I was, however, taken aback by the inverse correlation between the percentage of the Latino population in certain states and the 'Nay' vote on Sotomayor of the senators representing those states.

This is made especially striking by the different polls showing that Latinos overwhelmingly approve of Sotomayor. Apparently, they are not getting good representation from their senators in Congress.

Geography Matters

The so-called 'birthers'—those who doubt that Pres. Obama is a natural-born citizen of the United States—find greater backing in the South, according to this poll. Surprise, surprise!

Torture Around the World

The Economist published results from a poll on torture today. Apparently, almost half of Americans think that some degree of abuse should be allowed, bringing its acceptance slightly higher than in Russia. Meanwhile, only about 10-15% of Spaniards, Brits and French seem to want it.