Free Republic

California is in the middle of a far-reaching demographic shift: Hispanics, who already constitute a majority of the state’s schoolchildren, will be a majority of its workforce and of its population in a few decades. This is an even more momentous development than it seems. Unless Hispanics’ upward mobility improves, the state risks becoming more polarized economically and more reliant on a large government safety net. And as California goes, so goes the nation, whose own Hispanic population shift is just a generation or two behind. The scale and speed of the Golden State’s ethnic transformation are unprecedented. In the...

The assumption? Young adults are moving away from the region in large numbers due to the high cost of living, particularly housing prices. So, the story goes, the suburban pattern must be broken, and small, high density housing units must replace detached, single-family homes as the dominant urban form if young adults are to be retained.

Europe is dying. The Washington Post, among others, reports that, within a hundred years, there will be the rare German in Germany or Italian in Italy. Some demographers believe it is too late to correct Europe's plunge into extinction. "The fall in the population can no longer be stopped," reported Walter Rademacher of the German Federal Statistics Office. Replacement fertility rates are 2.1 children per woman in developed nations. No nation in Europe can claim that rate, and most fall under 1.6. At those levels, each generation is barely half the number of the preceding one. The working-age population is...

In 2010, a surge in the Israeli Jewish fertility rate is a long-term, unique, global phenomenon, while fertility rates decline sharply in the Third World in general and in Muslim countries in particular. In 2010, there is a 66% Jewish majority in 98.5% of the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean (without Gaza) – and a 58% Jewish majority with Gaza. That Jewish majority benefits from a demographic tailwind and from a high potential of aliyah (Jewish immigration) and of returning Israeli expatriates.

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The American Red Cross says a plan to bring 45,000 evacuees from Haiti to Florida, and 4,000 of those to Orange County, is not set in stone. The Red Cross clarified Friday who could be involved in a plan to move people out of Haiti. The Red Cross is preparing for two things: the repatriation of Americans living in Haiti and the possibility of a mass migration of Haitian nationals. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VIDEO REPORT: Haitian Refugees Could Come To Orlando HELP OUT: Local Organizations | National Organizations SPECIAL SECTION: Quake Recovery Updates, Donation Info -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The American Red...

Just as the world at large is experiencing an unprecedented collapse of demography, the UN Population Division reports a sharp decline of fertility rates (number of births per woman) in Muslim and Arab countries, excluding Afghanistan and Yemen. The myth of "doubling population every 20 years" has been shattered against the cliffs of demography. The director-general of UNESCO, Koichiro Matsuura, stated, during a UNESCO conference on "Population: From Explosion to Implosion," that "there is an abrupt slowdown in the rate of growth... also in many countries where women have only limited access to education and employment... There is not the...

(IsraelNN.com) The demographic threat has always been and continues to be the most persuasive argument of the pro-territorial compromise camp. The left claims, in short, that Israel, as a democratic country, cannot rule for long over a large population that lacks political rights. Those in the pro-withdrawal camp say that if Israel continues to hold on to Judea and Samaria, it will be forced to grant Israeli citizenship to the Arabs living there. This, together with higher population growth among Arabs than among Jews, will soon lead to an Arab majority west of the Jordan River. The resulting Arab political...

Regular readers will recall that we are on the verge of a population problem. Fertility rates have been falling across the globe, and in nearly every industrialized country are already below the replacement rate of 2.1 children per woman. Despite the appearance of a world bursting at the seams with an ever-greater number of people, the current growth rate is slowing and the world's population is likely to peak about nine billion and then begin contracting - precipitously - by 2080. Regular readers also will recall that there are convincing, if not certain, reasons to suspect that population contraction could...

In recent years, two demographic issues have captured headlines: whether and how demographic trends between Israelis, Palestinians and the neighboring countries affect the strategic balance; and whether demographic trends, perhaps a little differently, influence the existence of Jewish communities in the world and the nature of Israel-Diaspora relations, thereby again affecting Israel's strategic balance. Interestingly, the deeper the demographic processes have been investigated, and the better recent research reports have provided insights on the causes and consequences of population change, the more disagreements and polemics have emerged about the substantive thrust of Jewish demography. It has been maintained, for example,...

Center for Data Analysis Report #06-09 The current findings show that the demo­graphic characteristics of volunteers have contin­ued to show signs of higher, not lower, quality. {snip} Given the nature of the military rank structure, most enlisted recruits do not have a college edu­cation or degree. Members of the armed forces with higher education are more often commis­sioned officers (lieutenant and above). In 2004, 92.1 percent of active-duty officer accessions held baccalaureate degrees or higher.[5] From 2000 to 2005, between 10 percent and 17 percent of active-duty officer accessions held advanced degrees, and between 35 percent and 45 percent of...

BERNBURG, Germany (Reuters) - Helmut Rieche, the proud mayor of this struggling east German town, likes to focus on the positive when describing the changes that have occurred here since the collapse of communism. The old state-run cement company that polluted the river and turned the town gray with fumes has been closed down, he says. And the elderly of Bernburg, who Rieche says seemed hidden from view under the communists, are out on the streets again. "We have about 250 citizens that are over 90 years old. The people are living longer and that is a sign that they...

American boomers now a $2 trillion market From stocks to sex, marketers target a big-spending demographic Every day in the U.S., 10,000 baby boomers celebrate their 50th birthdays. Their generation spends $2 trillion a year. Mindful of that spending, every marketer worth his or her MBA is pitching to them -- everything from new makeup lines for women who burned their bras, to age-friendly technology, to "active adult" communities, to sex. In the coming week, CNBC will take a look at the businesses and industries that are targeting this market segment -- and how well they're faring. Some 78...

Immigration has become a great crisis in the United States and Europe ...Nowhere is the situation more critical, however, than in Russia, which is being flooded by hordes of illegals. To put it mildly, Mother Russia has an empty womb... Her population is sinking precipitously, thanks to unrestricted abortion and financial hardships ... there were officially 1.6 million abortions (and probably many unreported) in 2005, while 1.5 million children were born. ...Meanwhile... Russia is finding itself under increasing pressure from numerous illegal immigrant groups – particularly from Islamic groups from Central Asia and from the Chinese. ...[Even]worse, Russia has been...

Mexico immigration wave sweeps Northeast ERIN TEXEIRA Associated Press NEWBURGH, N.Y. - Sunday morning in this small, Hudson Valley city: More than 1,000 parishioners, most from Mexico, pack Spanish-language Masses at St. Patrick's Catholic Church. Afterward, many families flock to El Azteca for its authentic tacos. If somebody needs a ride home, there are at least a dozen local taxi companies catering to newcomers born in the Mexican states of Puebla and Jalisco.New residents from Mexico have, in the last four years, opened dozens of businesses that have begun to reinvigorate the ailing downtown district; they are the region's fastest...

Until the 18th century, there was basically only one kind of Judaism, that which is now called Orthodox. It meant living by the religion's 613 laws, and doing so suffused Jews' lives with their faith. Then, starting with the thinker Baruch Spinoza (1632-77) and moving briskly during the Haskala, or "enlightenment," from the late 18th century, Jews developed a wide variety of alternate interpretations of their religion, most of which diminished the role of faith in their lives and led to a concomitant reduction in Jewish affiliation.These alternatives and other developments, in particular the Holocaust, caused the ranks of the...

The Jewish population is approaching zero growth, warned a new study on the global state of Jews which will be presented to the cabinet this Sunday by the Jewish People Policy Institute (JPPI). According to the study, "the survival of the Jewish people is not assured, though there are great opportunities for a thriving future." Among the dangers listed in the report, entitled "The Jewish People 2004: Between Thinking and Decline," are assimilation, anti-Semitism, and the proliferation of weapons of mass killing in the hands of anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli elements. To understand anti-Semitism one has to look at the connection...

THIS WEBSITE - CLICK ME This website is intended for use as a resource, so that you can continually obtain the facts as you require them. Because we don't offer any narrative, we are able to pack a lot of information into a small area. For example, our facts about China make reference to over 55 sources. This website is different from reading the paper in that conclusions and implications are not made for you. Here, you are left to connect the dots for yourself. In order to get the most from your reading, you will find it helpful to...