The State of Small Business

The 2010 edition of The Small Business Economy documents the 2008 recession’s effects on small business as well as the changing economy at the end of 2009. In 2009, after weathering a deep recession that began in late 2007, the American economy began to stabilize. For small businesses, one of the biggest remaining challenges was the lack of sales adequate to grow employment. Many economic indicators began to show improvement by year’s end.

For example, in the first three quarters of 2009, small businesses accounted for almost 60 percent of the net job losses, with the greatest losses in the first quarter. By the third quarter, net small firm job losses were one-third what they had been in the first quarter. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and other policy actions added between 1.5 percent and 3.5 percent to real gross domestic product in fourth quarter 2009 and projected an employment increase of 1.0 million to 2.1 million more than it would have been without the stimulus. In the first half of 2009, as the economy continued to experience the challenges that began in the last two quarters of 2008, credit markets were constrained by both demand and supply factors. In the midst of a challenging year for small business owners, there was reason for optimism as commercial bank profitability improved and nominal interest rates remained low.

The research summary can be found HERE.

Domain Age Tool

Consider using the Domain Age Tool to research that factor when investigating a website. The tool's quite simple to use. Just plug in a URL (or several at a time), click the "submit" button, and you should get back a page showing the site's exact age in months and years.

sba.gov 13 years 7 months old
nyssbdc.org 11 years 2 months old
whitehouse.gov 14 years 1 months old
microsoft.com 14 years 3 months old
mcdonalds.com 14 years 2 months old
pg.com (Proctor and Gamble) 14 years 3 months old
timesunion.com 12 years 1 months old
nytimes.com 14 years 2 months old

Yet there are some, such as ibm.com, walmart.com, and state.ny.us that it is Unable to Determine.

Which countries match GDP and population of America's states?

IT HAS long been true that California on its own would rank as one of the biggest economies of the world. These days, it would rank eighth, falling between Italy and Brazil on a nominal exchange-rate basis. But how do other American states compare with other countries, in terms of GDP (above) and population?

Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission report

How did it come to pass that in 2008 our nation was forced to choose between two stark and painful alternatives — either risk the collapse of our financial system and economy, or commit trillions of taxpayer dollars to rescue major corporations and our financial markets, as millions of Americans still lost their jobs, their savings, and their homes?

The Commission concluded that this crisis was avoidable—the result of human actions, inactions, and misjudgments. Warnings were ignored. “The greatest tragedy would be to accept the refrain that no one could have seen this coming and thus nothing could have been done. If we accept this notion, it will happen again.”

Get the Report

Public Debt

This entry, from the CIA Factbook, records the cumulative total of all government borrowings less repayments that are denominated in a country's home currency. Public debt should not be confused with external debt, which reflects the foreign currency liabilities of both the private and public sector and must be financed out of foreign exchange earnings.

The list is of 131 countries. The number to the right of the country is % of GDP.

1 Zimbabwe 241.60 2010 est.

2 Japan 196.40 2010 est.

3 Saint Kitts and Nevis 185.00 2009 est.

4 Lebanon 150.70 2010 est.

5 Greece 144.00 2010 est.

6 Iceland 123.80 2010 est.

7 Jamaica 123.20 2010 est.

8 Italy 118.10 2010 est.

9 Belgium 102.50 2010 est.

10 Singapore 102.40 2010 est.

36 United States 58.90 2010 est.

112 China 17.50 2010 est.

122 Qatar 10.30 2010 est.

123 Russia 9.50 2010 est.

124 Uzbekistan 9.00 2010 est.

125 Estonia 7.70 2010 est.

126 Chile 6.20 2010 est.

127 Wallis and Futuna 5.60 2004 est.

128 Azerbaijan 4.60 2010 est.

129 Oman 4.40 2010 est.

130 Equatorial Guinea 4.10 2010 est.

131 Libya 3.30 2010 est.

How Does Age Affect Web Use?

From SiteJabber:
Sure e-commerce and social networking are growing at breakneck paces, but have you ever wondered how trends vary between age ranges? According to a recent study by Pew Internet, the differences may not be that dramatic in all cases. In fact, the biggest difference tends to be how the various age groups access the internet, with of course, millennials leading in mobile Internet usage. However, that is not to say that there weren’t number of interesting facts found within this study; in fact, there are.

The Top 20 Most Frugal Cities of 2010

For the second year in a row, Atlanta takes the top spot on the ‘Most Frugal U.S. Cities’ list, according to the 2010 Savings Index released this month by Coupons.com, the premiere Web destination for coupons and savings. On average, regular users of Coupons.com in Atlanta printed more than $1000.00 dollars in coupon savings from the site in 2010. That is almost twice as much as during 2009, when they printed $531 in savings.

Tampa cashed in with coupons and maintained its position as the city with the second most savings. On average, regular users of Coupons.com in Tampa printed $863.00 in savings. Following on the savings heels of Atlanta and Tampa are, in order, Cincinnati, Saint Louis and Minneapolis, according to the Index.

ETA publishes new Guide to State and Local Workforce Data

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has published its Guide to State and Local Workforce Data: For Analysis and Informed Decision Making. The guide provides links to a wealth of State and local employment and economic data from government and private sector sources.

New webpage highlights digitized Census of New York volumes

Here's a recent news release by the New York State Library about its digitized copies of the statistical censuses that where done by New York State in the years in between the federal ones. In many cases if the publication was long we have split it into separate volumes. For example, the 1875 Census was split into 5 volumes. The last one ever done was in 1925.

The New York State Library has a new web page that highlights and links to digitized materials relating to the Census of the State of New York. The State Census volumes that have been digitized are the published statistical schedules compiled from the original returns under the direction of the Secretary of State which describe the population and economy of counties, cities and towns in New York State. Instructions for the enumerators taking the census have also been digitized, as well as, other related documents. These documents are freely available online as PDF documents on the State Library's website.

Note - Information in the Instructions for enumerators can sometimes be helpful when using the State census schedules that list acutal names.

For example, this paragraph below is from page 19 of the Instructions for Taking the Census of New York in the year 1855 ......

8. Color.1 the person be white, no entry is to be made, but if mulatto, write M. ; or if black, B. opposite to the name. In like manner if the person be an Indian, living apart from any tribe, and not on any reservation, write Ind. The number of Indians of this class is probably extremely small. Special marshals will be appointed for taking the census of Indians residing together in settle ments, and the marshals appointed for taking the census of the election districts of towns will have no duties to per form in relation to such Indian settlements. Special marshals will be appointed to take the Allegany, Cattaraugus, Oneida, Onondaga, St. Regis, Tonawanda, and Tuscarora Indians. All others should be taken by the town marshals.
***
If you're interested instead about the original returns with the names, the New York State Library's holdings on microfilm can be found HERE.

A broader list of some of the items digitized by the New York State Library can be found HERE.

Conservative commentary on the ACS

I was sent this article under the header YOUR PAPERS, PLEASE…
Census 2010 lives on with new mailings - Document demands 'very personal information about my household'.

The Manassa, Va., tea party chairman Dan Arnold, is alarmed because he just got the Census Bureau's American Community Survey. "Apparently being forced to fill out the census was not enough," said Arnold. "I now have to fill out – under threat of legal penalty – a 28-page survey giving the Commerce Department very personal information about the inhabitants of my household! It's nothing but an insidious attempt to gather private information on all citizens."

In 2009, WND senior staff writer Jerome Corsi interviewed Rep. Ted Poe, R-Texas, about his bill to make most of the survey's answers voluntary, which, of course would make the survey statistically invalid.

It goes on that way, full of misinformation, or perhaps disinformation, along with the truth that the data are confidential. To paraphrase one demographic expert, how does one decide how to spend finite fiscal resources sans adequate data?

5-Year Release Details

The 2005-2009 ACS 5-year estimates are available in multiple ways:

Most tables are available on American FactFinder—Census Bureau’s online data access tool

•Most detailed tables*
•All data and narrative profiles
•All subject tables
•All geographic comparison tables & thematic maps
•Estimates available to the Census Tract level

*The list of detailed tables not available on American FactFinder are listed here

ACS Summary File

USDA Releases 2010 Honey Bee Colony Collapse Disorder Progress Report

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture (Agricultural Research Service)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released the 2010 Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) Progress Report highlighting current research on this still mysterious disease affecting the nation's honey bees.

The report, which was mandated by Congress in 2008, summarizes research by federal agencies, state departments of agriculture, universities and private organizations to find the cause of CCD and how to stop or mitigate its impact. The report was produced by USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
...
CCD, a syndrome characterized by the sudden disappearance of all adult honey bees in a colony, was first recognized in 2006. Since then, surveys of beekeepers indicate that the industry is suffering losses of more than 30 percent annually. Before the appearance of CCD, losses averaged 15-20 percent annually from a variety of factors such as varroa mites and other pests and pathogens.

During the past three years, numerous causes for CCD have been proposed and investigated. Although the cause or causes of CCD are still unknown, research summarized in the report supports the hypothesis that CCD may be a syndrome caused by many different factors, that work individually or in combination. The sequence and combination may not even be the same in every case, explained Kevin Hackett, ARS national program leader for pollination and co-chair of the USDA CCD Steering Committee.

Simpler Path to 2010 Census Data

The U.S. Census Bureau debuts a reinvented American FactFinder today, making online access to 2010 Census data -- and many more statistics -- easier than ever.

The new American FactFinder offers a fresh look, new tools and easier access to a wide range of Census Bureau statistics. Online today, you will find population estimates for 2008 and earlier years and findings from the 2000 Census. When fully implemented, the new FactFinder is projected to have about 250 billion data cells in more than 40,000 tables.

"Our goal is to give users a simpler path to 2010 Census data," said Census Bureau Director Robert Groves. "With this new and improved incarnation of the American FactFinder, the American people will be able to really understand the value of their participation and learn from it."

The 2010 Census form was one of the shortest in our lifetime, asking just 10 questions and taking about 10 minutes to complete. After conducting a census intended to be so easy for every household, the next step was making the results easy to access.

"By April 1, the American people will have 2010 Census data for more than 9 million census blocks and more than 74,000 census tracts across the country right at their fingertips," Groves said.

The launch of this revamped tool was timed for the release, starting in February, of local-level 2010 Census data on race, Hispanic origin and the voting-age population that state governments use to redraw the boundaries of their congressional and state legislative districts. Eventually, it will also be the primary means of accessing data from other major data sets, such as the American Community Survey, the economic census and population estimates.

Users should note that American Community Survey, 2007 Economic Census and other economic survey data are not in the new version of American FactFinder at the present. These data sets can be accessed from the American FactFinder homepage and will be loaded to the new American FactFinder during the coming year.

The Census Bureau plans to run the new and old versions of American FactFinder in parallel until fall 2011. You can access 2009 American Community Survey and 2007 Economic Census data from the old system until the conversion has been made.

Among the enhanced features and functions of the new version are:

-- A more robust, powerful search engine, making searches for statistics simpler and more topic-driven. Users can select predefined topics, geographies, population groups or industry codes and then quickly obtain search results, including tables to view or download.

-- Enhanced table manipulation features, allowing users to quickly modify a table, permitting them to show or hide rows or columns, collapse or expand groups of data in the table, rearrange the rows and columns, sort rows in ascending and descending order, and filter rows of a table.

-- Advanced mapping capabilities, permitting users to see geographic patterns in the data by viewing the data on a map, manipulating the map with a zoom tool and personalizing the map by changing colors, displaying boundaries and features, and adding points or text to the map.

-- Enhanced address search functions, allowing users to enter a street address and see all the data available for that area.

2010 Airline Rankings

From the Wall Street Journal

Big was bad when it came to airline service last year. Delta, American, United and its merger partner Continental placed last in the annual Middle Seat customer-service rankings of major domestic carriers in 2010.

Best among major airlines: smaller carriers. Alaska Airlines and AirTran Airways had the highest percentages of on-time flights and generally lower rates of lost bags, cancellations, passengers bumped from oversold flights and complaints filed with the Department of Transportation. Those two airlines were the only two majors to decrease their complaint totals in 2010—the rest shot higher.

Airline Scorecard: Which Carriers Were Best in 2010?

One source of the data was Flight Stats, which is a useful site for tracking flight status and airport delays on a regular basis.

Webinar-Jan 20, 2011: Using 2005-2009 ACS 5-year Data

Invitation to a Webinar - January 20, 2011: Using the 2005-2009 American Community Survey 5-year Data to Study Small Areas and Change Over Time

In December 2010, the U.S. Census Bureau released the first-ever 5-year estimates from the American Community Survey (ACS). Totaling more than 11 billion individual estimates, the new release includes the first full set of small-area estimates provided since Census 2000. The 2005-2009 ACS 5-year estimates make it possible for researchers to characterize and compare small areas, and—in some cases—to investigate how characteristics have changed since Census 2000. This webinar will provide background on the American Community Survey, a brief demonstration of how to get the different data products, and a discussion of best practices in using the data to study small areas and change over time. The webinar will consist of a 40-minute presentation followed by a 20-minute question and answer period.

Register Now

2008 ACS, Census Data on the Foreign Born by State

From the Migration Policy Institute, "an independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank in Washington, DC dedicated to analysis of the movement of people worldwide."

While the immigrant population of the United States increased by 6.9 million between 2000 and 2008, the impact of this growth varied considerably from state to state in terms of population size and characteristics.

A sampling of the types of data included in each of the four fact sheets for each state-
Demographic and Social: top countries of birth, geographic mobility, children in immigrant families;
Language and Education: rates of limited English proficiency and levels of educational attainment, rates of linguistic isolation, and adult English literacy;
Workforce: immigrants’ share among all, low-wage, and high-wage workers, top occupations and industries, skill underutilization of college-educated immigrants;
Income and Poverty: average incomes, income distributions, poverty rates.

USFA Releases Provisional 2010 Firefighter Fatality Statistics

The United States Fire Administration (USFA) announced this week there were 85 on-duty firefighter fatalities in the United States as a result of incidents that occurred in 2010, a 6 percent decrease from the 90 fatalities reported for 2009. The 85 fatalities were spread across 31 states. Illinois experienced the highest number of fatalities (9). In addition to Illinois, only New York (8), Ohio (8), Pennsylvania (7), and Kansas (5) had 5 or more firefighter fatalities.

IRS Kicks Off 2011 Tax Season with Deadline Extended to April 18

Who Must Wait to File

For most taxpayers, the 2011 tax filing season starts on schedule. However, tax law changes enacted by Congress and signed by President Obama in December mean some people need to wait until mid- to late February to file their tax returns in order to give the IRS time to reprogram its processing systems.

Some taxpayers – including those who itemize deductions on Form 1040 Schedule A – will need to wait to file. This includes taxpayers impacted by any of three tax provisions that expired at the end of 2009 and were renewed by the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act Of 2010 enacted Dec. 17

. Those who need to wait to file include:

Taxpayers Claiming Itemized Deductions on Schedule A. Itemized deductions include mortgage interest, charitable deductions, medical and dental expenses as well as state and local taxes. In addition, itemized deductions include the state and local general sales tax deduction that was also extended and which primarily benefits people living in areas without state and local income taxes. Because of late Congressional action to enact tax law changes, anyone who itemizes and files a Schedule A will need to wait to file until mid- to late February.

Taxpayers Claiming the Higher Education Tuition and Fees Deduction. This deduction for parents and students – covering up to $4,000 of tuition and fees paid to a post-secondary institution – is claimed on Form 8917. However, the IRS emphasized that there will be no delays for millions of parents and students who claim other education credits, including the American Opportunity Tax Credit extended last month and the Lifetime Learning Credit.

Taxpayers Claiming the Educator Expense Deduction. This deduction is for kindergarten through grade 12 educators with out-of-pocket classroom expenses of up to $250. The educator expense deduction is claimed on Form 1040, Line 23 and Form 1040A, Line 16.

In addition to extending those tax deductions for 2010, the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act also extended those deductions for 2011 and a number of other tax deductions and credits for 2011 and 2012 such as the American Opportunity Tax Credit and the modified Child Tax Credit, which help families pay for college and other child-related expenses. The Act also provides various job creation and investment incentives including 100 percent expensing and a two-percent payroll tax reduction for 2011. Those changes have no effect on the 2011 filing season.

The IRS will announce a specific date in the near future when it can start processing tax returns impacted by the recent tax law changes. In the interim, taxpayers affected by these tax law changes can start working on their tax returns, but they should not submit their returns until IRS systems are ready to process the new tax law changes. Additional information will be available at www.IRS.gov.

For taxpayers who must wait before filing, the delay affects both paper filers and electronic filers. The IRS urges taxpayers to use e-file instead of paper tax forms to minimize confusion over the recent tax law changes and ensure accurate tax returns.

Top Banks in Europe

Ranked by total assets, as of June 30, 2010

Some familiar names to US consumers.

America’s Most Literate Cities

Drawing from a variety of available data resources, the America’s Most Literate Cities study ranks the largest cities (population 250,000 and above) in the United States. This study focuses on six key indicators of literacy: newspaper circulation, number of bookstores, library resources, periodical publishing resources, educational attainment, and Internet resources.

Top 10, 2010

Washington, DC 1
Seattle, WA 2
Minneapolis, MN 3
Atlanta, GA 4
Pittsburgh, PA 5
San Francisco, CA 6
St. Paul, MN 7
Denver, CO 8
Portland, OR 9.5
St. Louis, MO 9.5

Finding an Organic Farm

The USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service through the National Organic Program (NOP) accredits private businesses, organizations, and state agencies to certify producers and handlers of agricultural products according to the NOP regulations. One can narrow the search by geography and the farm's primary scope.

Information contained in this database reflects operations that were certified to the National Organic Program regulations, during the 2009 certification year. Some of the data related to the operations listed could be out of date. For more up-to-date information concerning certified organic operations that are listed in this database, the certifying agent associated with the operation may be contacted.

Currency Forecast

I don't know how one forecasts the value of currencies - but the Bank of New York has done so. It comes with this caveat: "The following currency forecasts are provided on a quarter-end basis and are updated monthly. Forecasts are for informational purposes only and should not be viewed as investment advice. Major currency pairs are forecast based upon economic and capital flow fundamentals, while cross-rates are synthetically derived from the majors. Forecasts for emerging markets currencies incorporate currency regime parameters including purchase power parity and linked nominal depreciation."


BTW, if you're looking for current or historical currency trends, try XE.com or OANDA, although Google and Yahoo do much the same.

NARI Remodelers

Remodelers from National Association of the Remodeling Industry.

A Visual Effects, Computer Graphics, Computer Animation Timeline

This timeline is being compiled by Barbara Flueckiger, a professor of film studies at the University of Zurich (suggestions welcome).

Entries contain:
+ Year
+ Technology
+ Persons
+ Company/Institution
+ Film
+ Publication/Award

A PDF version (15 pages) is also available.

States Gaining Congressional Seats have More Hispanics

From Hispanic Busainess:

States set to gain congressional representatives have larger Hispanic populations than other states, the Pew Hispanic Center said Wednesday.

The center analyzed 2010 Census data. Researchers found the percentage of eligible voters that are Hispanic in states gaining seats is 15.2 percent. Those states that are losing seats or remaining flat average 5.4 percent...

United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database

UN COMTRADE is the pseudonym for United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database. Over 170 reporter countries provide the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) with their annual international trade statistics data detailed by commodities and partner countries. These data are subsequently transformed into the United Nations Statistics Division standard format with consistent coding and valuation using the UN/OECD CoprA internal processing system.

The UN COMTRADE is the largest depository of international trade data. It contains well over 1.7 billion data records for 45 years and is available on the internet!

All commodity values are converted from national currency into US dollars using exchange rates supplied by the reporter countries, or derived from monthly market rates and volume of trade. Quantities, when provided with the reporter country data and when possible, are converted into metric units. Commodities are reported in the current classification and revision (HS2002 in most cases) and are converted all the way down to the earliest classification SITC revision 1. Therefore, if data is received in HS 2002 version, it is converted to HS1996, HS1988, SITC rev. 3, SITC rev. 2, SITC rev. 1 and BEC. The data are permanently stored in the UN COMTRADE database server.

State Govt Revenues Decline Nearly 31 Percent

Total state government revenue dropped to $1.1 trillion in 2009, a decline of 30.8 percent from $1.6 trillion in 2008, according to the latest findings from the U.S. Census Bureau. The large decrease in total revenue was mainly caused by the substantial decrease in social insurance trust revenue.

State governments received nearly $1.5 trillion in general revenues in 2009, a decrease of 1.4 percent from 2008. General revenue does not include utility, liquor store or insurance trust revenue.

Total taxes collected in 2009 ($715.1 billion), which accounted for 47.9 percent of general revenue, fell by 8.5 percent from $781.6 billion in 2008. This is the first year-to-year decline in tax revenue since 2002. Federal grants ($477.7 billion) increased 12.9 percent from 2008 to 2009 and accounted for nearly one-third of general revenue.

“The annual survey began in 1951, and every year since has provided state governments with a complete look at their fiscal condition and how their financial activities stack up against other states,” said Lisa Blumerman, chief of the Census Bureau's Governments Division.

These findings come from the 2009 Annual Survey of State Government Finances, which reports revenues, expenditures, debt, and cash and security holdings for each state as well as a national summary.

Research on the Supplemental Poverty Measure

The Census Bureau is releasing the research paper, Who is Poor? A New Look With the Supplemental Poverty Measure, plus a number of other technical working papers on the topic. The research paper applies methodology recommended by a federal interagency technical working group to present supplemental poverty estimates. The supplemental poverty measure is based on a more comprehensive definition of poverty and provides an additional look at the impact of federal policies on those in or near poverty. These estimates do not represent the actual supplemental poverty measure because they use 2009 income data combined with 2008 poverty thresholds. Also, these estimates do not replace the official poverty measure released by the Census Bureau in September 2010.

Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2011

Now available: U.S. Census Bureau's tatistical Abstract of the United States: 2011. The Abstract is perennially the federal government's best-selling reference book, but is also available online at the link. When it was first published in 1878, the nation had only 38 states, people usually got around using a horse and buggy, Miami and Las Vegas did not yet exist, and Franklin D. Roosevelt had yet to be born. The Abstract has been published nearly every year since then.

Contained in the 130th edition are 1,407 tables of social, political and economic facts that collectively describe the state of our nation and the world. Included this year are 65 new tables, covering topics such as insufficient rest or sleep, nursing home occupancy, homeschooling, earthquakes, U.S. Border Patrol apprehensions, organic farmland, honey bee colonies, crashes involving distracted drivers and cities with the highest transit savings.

The statistics come not only from the Census Bureau but also from other governmental agencies and private organizations. The data generally represent the most recent year or period available by summer 2010. Most are national-level data, but some tables present state- and even city- and metropolitan-level data as well.

Some highlights include:
•Nationally, lottery revenue totaled $75.9 billion in fiscal year 2007. West Virginia collected the highest amount of any state, at $14.5 billion, followed by Delaware ($7.9 billion) and New York ($6.6 billion). (Table 447).
•Nationally, 76 percent of workers 16 and older drove alone to work in 2008, with 11 percent carpooling and 5 percent using public transportation. In New York, however, the distribution was far different: 54 percent drove solo, with 27 percent utilizing public transportation and 8 percent carpooling. (Table 1099).

Every edition of the Statistical Abstract dating back to 1878 is available in PDF or zip files on the Census Bureau's website.

Seven Billion People

Read the special National Geographic January 2011 issue about the seven billion people people on our planet.

National Bureau of Statistics of China

This is a great source of business stats in China, including:

Monthly Data on
Growth Rate of Value-Added of Industry by Region and by Sector; Investment in Fixed Assets by Industry and by Region; Sales Price Indices of Buildings in 70 Medium-Large Sized Cities; Consumer Price Index (CPI) by Category and by Region; and more.

QUARTERLY data on
Output Value of Farming, Forestry, Animal Husbandry, and Fishery by Region; Producer's Price Index of Major Agricultural Products; Per Capita Cash Income and Cash Expenditure of Rural Households by Region; Income of Urban Households by Region; and more.

1 in 7 adults do not wear a seat belt on every trip

From CDC Vital Signs

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for people age 5 – 34. Adult seat belt use is the single most effective way to save lives and reduce injuries in crashes. The percentage of adults who always wear seat belts increased from 80% to 85% between 2002 and 2008. Even so, 1 in 7 adults do not wear a seat belt on every trip. Primary enforcement seat belt laws make a big difference in getting more people to buckle up.* In 2010, 19 states--where 1 in 4 adult Americans live--did not have a primary law.

* A primary enforcement seat belt law means a police officer can pull someone over and issue a ticket to the driver just because someone in the vehicle is not wearing a seat belt. A secondary enforcement law allows a police officer to issue a ticket for someone not wearing a seat belt only if the driver has been pulled over for some other offense.

2010 3Q Summary of State,Local Govt Tax Revenue

Tax revenues grew in the third quarter, marking the fourth straight quarter of positive growth. Property tax, general sales tax and individual income tax revenues increased, while corporate income tax revenue declined. The decline in corporate income tax revenue is the third consecutive quarter of decline. This summary shows quarterly tax revenue data on property, sales, license, income and other taxes. Data are shown for individual state governments as well as national-level estimates of total state and local taxes, including 12-month calculations. This quarterly survey has been conducted continuously since 1962.

2011 Salary Tables and Related Information

View the latest federal pay tables from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

See also Fact Sheets on Salaries and Wages.

Top Languages Spoken by English Language Learners

Source: Migration Policy Institute

While ELL students nationwide speak more than 150 languages, Spanish far outranks others as the most common first -- or home -- language. At the same time, although it is spoken in 73 percent of ELL students’ homes, Spanish is not the top language spoken by ELLs in every state.

New York 229,260

Spanish 146,702
Undetermined 12,821
Chinese 6,974
Arabic 5,915
Bengali 5,048

Percent ELL Students Speaking the Top Language 64.0
Percent of ELL Students Speaking the Top Five Languages 77.4

The World Renowned Information Resource for Research Participants

The FREE On Line Directory Service for Study Volunteers

I came across this site which says "Get Paid to Volunteer for Medical, Clinical, Drug Trials and Various other Research Studies, Throughout the UK, US, Canada and Europe."

Are you 18-85 years of age ? Help yourself financially by volunteering to be a subject in medical trials, paid clinical trials and various other research studies! Healthy persons of either sex are urgently needed. Volunteering for strictly regulated and ethical approved studies can be an excellent way to help to pay educational costs, supplement your income while working, or fund your travels while spending time in foreign countries. Healthy people who are eligible and comply with the study requirements, are always well informed of the significance and conditions of each study. Most clinic facilities provide a comfortable atmosphere where you can read, study, work on a project, relax, or watch TV and videos. Want to learn more? Follow the links on the menu bar and benefit from many years of experience as a study volunteer in the US and Europe.

Clinical trials, Medical trials ($100-300/day US, £70-150/day in UK.)
Sleep deprivation
Time isolation
Bed rest studies - simulate the effects of prolonged space travel.
Alcohol, caffeine & nicotine studies
Exercise, diet & nutrition studies
Psychology studies (personality, perception, etc.)
Cognitive studies (memory, concentration, etc.)
Sensory studies - testing taste, smell, etc
Visual studies
Vaccine studies
Dermatological (skin) studies
Brain wave studies
Brain imaging studies
Blood & plasma donation
Egg & sperm donation
Consumer product testing - sample new products (food, cosmetics, etc.) and evaluate them.


It APPEARS legit. Anyone have any experience with this?

Federal Statistics in the 2011 Budget

Source: Council of Professional Associations on Federal Statistics

Statistics produced by the federal government serve as a base for research in a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines. Population and vital statistics are central to the work of political scientists and demographers; employment, financial, and production data are essential for economists; and information on education and crime is used by sociologists and psychologists. Responsibility for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of federal statistics is spread throughout the departments and independent agencies of the executive branch; each of some 70 agencies and departmental units annually spends $500,000 or more on statistical activities. Within this decentralized system that generates statistical information, a more limited number of agencies have the creation of statistics as their principal mission. It is these agencies that are responsible for producing statistics on major economic, demographic, and social developments and trends...