GDP by Industry

Gross-Domestic-Product-(GDP)-by-Industry Data includes:

Value added, gross output, intermediate inputs, the components of value added, and employment by industry
Intermediate energy, materials, and purchased services inputs by industry
Gross output by industry

The Future of County Nursing Homes in NYS

Most Homes Are in Jeopardy & Changes Are Essential.
The 2013 report from CGR.

Which U.S. States Have the Most (and Least) State Pride?

Don’t mess with Texas, Montana, or Alaska—the residents of these three states are among those with the most state pride, according to a new Gallup poll.

The research company interviewed at least 600 residents in each of the 50 states and asked whether their home was “the best possible state to live in,” “one of the best possible states to live in,” “as good a state as any to live in,” or “the worst possible state to live in.” Montanans and Alaskans responded with the most enthusiasm, with 77 percent of the participants in both states saying theirs is the best, or one of the best, places to live. Utah, Wyoming, and Texas followed with 70, 69, and 68 percent of residents answering the same way.

On the other hand, not every state’s citizens were quite so positive about their home. Leading the states with the lowest levels of pride were Rhode Island (only 18 percent of participants said the Plantation State is the best or one of the best spots to live in America), Illinois (19 percent), and Mississippi (26 percent)>

More from PARADE.

Email Greetings In Multiple Languages

When communicating with people from around the world, it's a nice touch to mix in a greeting or two in the other party's native tongue.

The Munson-Nixon Line: Up Close on Baseball’s Borders

From the New York Times:

Steve Rushin of Sports Illustrated has called the line running through Connecticut that separates Yankee fans and Red Sox fans the Munson-Nixon line. Mr. Rushin came up with the name — in honor of the late Yankee catcher Thurman Munson and the retired Red Sox right fielder Trot Nixon — in 2003, and he had to guess where the line ran: “north of New Haven but south of Hartford, running the breadth of central Connecticut.”

We don’t have to guess anymore.

Fans may not list which team they favor on the census, but millions of them do make their preferences public on Facebook. Using aggregated data provided by the company, the New York Times was able to create an unprecedented look at the geography of baseball fandom, going down not only to the county level, as Facebook did in a nationwide map it released a few weeks ago, but also to ZIP codes. We can now clearly see that both Hartford and New Haven are in fact Yankee outposts. We can also determine the precise Chicago neighborhoods where White Sox jerseys stop being welcome and the central California town where the Dodgers cede fan favorite status to the Giants.

U.S. Economy Added Nearly 245,000 Nonemployer Businesses in 2012

The number of businesses without paid employees in the U.S. reached 22.7 million in 2012, up 1.1 percent from 2011, according to statistics released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. This marks the third straight annual increase in nonemployer businesses, which are businesses with no paid employees, annual business receipts of $1,000 or more ($1 or more in the construction sector) and are subject to federal income taxes.

Nearly all industry sectors that make up nonemployer businesses experienced growth in the number of establishments and receipts, according to findings from the report released this week. Nonemployer Statistics: 2012 includes data on nearly 450 industries in metropolitan areas, counties, states and nationwide.

“Nonemployer businesses represent entrepreneurship in perhaps its purest form, including the classic ‘mom and pop’ shops and people running businesses out of their homes,” said William Bostic Jr., the associate director for economic programs at the Census Bureau.
This release covers 19.6 million sole proprietorships, 1.4 million corporations and 1.7 million partnerships, which account for the total number of nonemployer businesses.

Florida had the largest increase in nonemployer businesses, with 57,978 added in 2012. California (39,051), Texas (38,504) and New York (15,207) had the next highest increases. California still had the largest number of nonemployer businesses with 2.9 million.

2010-2011 Migration Data and 2010 Controlled Foreign Corporations

The trends data page for the Cornell Program on Applied Demographics now includes data from the latest IRS release, HERE.

Within the section on IRS migration flows, there are two sub sections that you can expand by clicking. One concentrates on moves between NY counties (empty for NY state as a whole), the other is an attempt to create “rates” that are comparable over time and between counties.

This shows some maps that can be made using this data.

US Is an Oligarchy Not a Democracy, says Scientific Study

A study, to appear in the Fall 2014 issue of the academic journal Perspectives on Politics, finds that the U.S. is no democracy, but instead an oligarchy, meaning profoundly corrupt, so that the answer to the study’s opening question, "Who governs? Who really rules?" in this country, is:

"Despite the seemingly strong empirical support in previous studies for theories of majoritarian democracy, our analyses suggest that majorities of the American public actually have little influence over the policies our government adopts. Americans do enjoy many features central to democratic governance, such as regular elections, freedom of speech and association, and a widespread (if still contested) franchise. But, ..." and then they go on to say, it's not true, and that, "America's claims to being a democratic society are seriously threatened" by the findings in this, the first-ever comprehensive scientific study of the subject, which shows that there is instead "the nearly total failure of 'median voter' and other Majoritarian Electoral Democracy theories [of America]. When the preferences of economic elites and the stands of organized interest groups are controlled for, the preferences of the average American appear to have only a minuscule, near-zero, statistically non-significant impact upon public policy."

The authors of this historically important study are Martin Gilens and Benjamin I. Page, and their article is titled Testing Theories of American Politics. The authors clarify that the data available are probably under-representing the actual extent of control of the U.S. by the super-rich.

More from Common Dreams

See also:

CEO Pay Soars, Workers Toil in Capitalism's New Gilded Age

Krugman: Worried About Oligarchy? You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet

Alternativ​es to Westlaw

For federal court cases, including bankruptcy courts, one can get court filings online at www.pacer.gov. One has to register for it,, though there is no registration fee. However, all registered users will be charged as follows:
•Use of web-based PACER systems will generate an $.10 per page charge.
•Audio files of court hearings retrieved via PACER will generate a $2.40 per file charge.
It is not as easy to search as Westlaw, and many times you need to have a case number.

For actual reported court opinions - appellate cases for the most part, including the New York Court of Appeals, the state's highest court - you can find a lot of those on the professional site for Findlaw at http://lp.findlaw.com/. This site is available on the free Internet.

Since most trial court opinions are not reported or published, one should look for news stories in newspaper databases in
the region where the case took place.

USASPENDING.gov

Learn About USAspending.gov:

The Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) of 2006 requires that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) establish a single searchable website, accessible to the public at no cost, which includes for each Federal award:

the name of the entity receiving the award;
the amount of the award;
information on the award including transaction type, funding agency, etc;
the location of the entity receiving the award; and
a unique identifier of the entity receiving the award.

USAspending.gov was first launched in December 2007 to fulfill these requirements. Prime award information shown on the website is provided by Federal Agencies through four main source systems. USAspending.gov receives and displays data pertaining to obligations (amounts awarded for federally sponsored projects during a given budget period), not outlays or expenditures (actual cash disbursements made against each project).

USAspending.gov has been updated in October 2010 to display of first-tier sub-award data (subcontracts and subgrants). Sub-award information shown on the website is provided by FSRS. The latest guidance documents pertaining to sub-award reporting can be found under News.

Public Mapping Project, for the drawing of electoral districts

The drawing of electoral districts is among the least transparent processes in democratic governance. All too often, redistricting authorities maintain their power by obstructing public participation. The resulting districts embody the goals of politicians to the detriment of the representational interests of communities and the public at large.

Members of the Public Mapping Project seek to change this power balance by making it possible for the public to draw the boundaries of their communities and to generate redistricting plans for their state and localities -- through their web-browsers. The Public Mapping Project is developing District Builder, an open source software redistricting application designed to give the public transparent, accessible, and easy-to-use on-line mapping tools.

This technological innovation will enable greater public participation where redistricting authorities solicit public input. Where redistricting authorities are not responsive to the representational needs of the public, plans drawn by the public may be used as a yardstick by which to compare a redistricting authority’s plan against. And where the courts must step in when the regular redistricting process breaks down, judges will have a greater menu of options to consider.

Census Bureau overhauling how it counts uninsured

The New York Times is reporting a change in how the census is going to count the uninsured, asserting that the bureau "is changing its annual survey so thoroughly that it will be difficult to measure the effects of President Obama’s health care law in the next report, due this fall, census officials said." This story has all the potential to give ammunition to the law's opponents with more "cooking the books" allegations.

An internal Census Bureau document said that the new questionnaire included a “total revision to health insurance questions” and, in a test last year, produced lower estimates of the uninsured. Thus, officials said, it will be difficult to say how much of any change is attributable to the Affordable Care Act and how much to the use of a new survey instrument.

The indispensable Sarah Kliff has the whole story, a story that really clarifies this change in the survey instrument and what it could mean for estimating the numbers of uninsured.

More from The Daily Kos>

This Is Us: Portrait of a Changing America

A nation in time, in seven charts, from The Atlantic Monthly.

THE MEATLESS MONDAY PHENOMENON

Going meatless on Monday has become a phenomenon in the U.S. and 29 other countries. We worked with Health Perch to create this Infographic about Meatless Monday, the health effects of meat, and the future of meat of consumption.

Did you know that cutting back on meat one day a week will reduce your saturated fat intake by 15%? Try going meatless on Mondays to start living a healthier life.

SEE THE INFOGRAPHIC.

Census Reporter

Census Reporter is a Knight News Challenge-funded project to make it easier for journalists to write stories using information from the U.S. Census bureau. Place profiles and comparison pages provide a friendly interface for navigating data, including visualizations for a more useful first look.

How the Feds Blind Us To Our Malaise

Though we seldom think of them this way, America's statistical agencies are the very eyes and ears of our democracy. When they are functioning properly, they provide essential information to help the public and its elected representatives see what is going right in our country-and what is going wrong. Such information is crucial for forming a more perfect union.

Without timely and accurate information on our domestic problems, our government cannot hope to address these swiftly, much less effectively. Whether you are a progressive or a conservative, in favor of more government or less of it, you need good data to inform your own efforts to make our country better.

America was the first government in the modern era to recognize the importance of evidence-based public policy. Our Constitution mandated a decennial census-a truly revolutionary notion back in the late eighteenth century. And for most of our history, the U.S. statistical system has been well ahead of the curve, if not a virtual wonder of the world.

No longer. Today our government statistical services are failing at some vital missions-and they have generally been falling away from the global forefront for at least a generation. In key fields we see not only stagnation, but even retrogression. The painful truth is that our statistical services are currently incapable of providing some of the basic facts and figures we need for confronting our most pressing domestic social troubles.

More from HERE.

Homeownership in 2013

The nation's homeownership rate fell to 65.1 percent in 2013, according to annual statistics released by the Census Bureau. The 2013 homeownership rate was down from 65.4 percent in 2012 and the all-time high of 69.0 in 2004. By age, 2013 homeownership rates (and the percentage point change since 2004) look like this...

Under age 25: 22.2% (-3.0)
Aged 25 to 29: 34.1% (-6.1)
Aged 30 to 34: 48.1% (-9.3)
Aged 35 to 39: 55.8% (-10.4)
Aged 40 to 44: 65.0% (-6.9)
Aged 45 to 54: 71.2% (-6.0)
Aged 55 to 64: 76.6% (-5.1)
Aged 65-plus: 80.8% (-0.3)

If homeownership rates by age were the same in 2013 as in 2004, then the overall rate would be a much higher 70.3 percent rather than 65.1. The United States would have nearly 6 million more homeowners--81 million rather than the 75 million of 2013. Among households headed by 30-to-39-year-olds, there would be 2 million more homeowners.

The Centenarian Population: 2007-2011

Centenarians have lower education levels, are overwhelmingly women and are more likely to live in poverty than the 65-and-older population, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released this week. The report, The Centenarian Population: 2007-2011, analyzes characteristics of centenarians and how they compare with those 65 years and older.

"Centenarians are a small group who are a significant indicator of American life," said Brian Kincel, a statistical analyst in the Census Bureau’s Age and Special Populations Branch and the report’s author. "By living a century or more, they have seen great changes in the American landscape and their education levels reflect social and economic conditions in the 1920s and earlier. Today, their situations may vary based on many factors, and the statistics in this report begin to tell their story."


The report, based on results from the American Community Survey, compares social and economic differences between the 55,000 centenarians in the U.S. and the 40 million people 65 and older.


Major findings from the report include:

· Of centenarians, 57 percent received at least a high school diploma compared with 77 percent of the 65-and-older group.

· Women made up 81 percent of centenarians and 57 percent of those 65 and older.


· 17 percent of centenarians lived below the poverty line, and 9 percent of the 65-and-older population were in poverty.

· Among women, 3 percent of centenarians were married as opposed to 41 percent of women 65 and older. Among men, 23 percent of centenarians were married compared with 71 percent of men 65 and older.

· Of centenarians, 83 percent received Social Security income compared with 88 percent of the 65-and-older group.

· 24 percent of centenarians received retirement income, while 38 percent of the 65-and-older population received it.


About the American Community Survey


The American Community Survey provides a wide range of important statistics about all communities in the country. The American Community Survey gives communities the current information they need to plan investments and services. Retailers, homebuilders, police departments, and town and city planners are among the many private- and public-sector decision makers who count on these annual results.


Ever since Thomas Jefferson directed the first census in 1790, the census has collected detailed characteristics about our nation’s people. Questions about jobs and the economy were added 20 years later under James Madison, who said such information would allow Congress to “adapt the public measures to the particular circumstances of the community,” and over the decades allow America “an opportunity of marking the progress of the society.”

Wives Are Better Educated than Husbands

Among the nation's married couples, wives are more educated than husbands 20.7 percent of the time. This figure exceeds, for the first time, the 19.9 percent in which husbands are more educated than wives, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of census data.

Among newlyweds, the trend is even more pronounced, with 27 percent of wives more educated than husbands and only 15 percent of husbands more educated than wives. Despite their greater educational attainment, says Pew, only 39 percent of better-educated newlywed wives earned more than their husbands. The 58 percent majority earned less.

From the New Strategist.

Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability

Human interference with the climate system is occurring, and climate change poses risks for human and natural systems... The assessment of impacts, adaptation, and vulnerability... evaluates how patterns of risks and potential benefits are shifting due to climate change. It considers how impacts and risks related to climate change can be reduced and managed through adaptation and mitigation. The report assesses needs, options, opportunities, constraints, resilience, limits, and other aspects associated with adaptation.

Climate change involves complex interactions and changing likelihoods of diverse impacts. A focus on risk, which is new in this report, supports decision-making in the context of climate change, and complements other elements of the report. People and societies may perceive or rank risks and potential benefits differently, given diverse values and goals.

Compared to past reports, the WGII AR5 assesses a substantially larger knowledge base of relevant scientific, technical, and socioeconomic literature. Increased literature has facilitated comprehensive assessment across a broader set of topics and sectors, with expanded coverage of human systems, adaptation, and the ocean.

Summary for Policymakers
Final Drafts Downloads

See where every execution has taken place since 1977, in one map

From the Washington Post, where the graphic resides:

A majority of Americans support the death penalty, but their ranks have been shrinking for 17 years, according to a new Pew Research Center poll.

As of 2013, 55 percent of adults say they back the death penalty for convicted murderers, while 37 percent say they do not. That’s a sizable difference from two years earlier, when support won out with 62 percent with 31 percent opposed. A majority of whites, Republicans and independents support the death penalty, while majorities of Hispanics, blacks and Democrats do not.

PeopleForBikes

PeopleForBikes is the movement to improve bicycling in the U.S. By collaborating with millions of individual riders, businesses, community leaders and elected officials, it is uniting Americans to boost bicycling on a national level for results that can be seen locally. Here’s what the organization has accomplished in 2013.

Don't Be Fooled: Beware of Washington State Mudslide Charity Scams

In the wake of the deadly mudslide in Washington State, the Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, reminds consumers that scams often follow disasters. If you’re asked to make a charitable donation to help people in disaster-affected areas, before you give, be sure your donations are going to a reputable organization that will use the money as promised.

Unfortunately, legitimate charities face competition from scammers who either collect for a charity that doesn't exist or aren't honest about how their “charity” will use the money you give. Like legitimate charities, they might appeal for donations in person, by phone or mail, by e-mail, on websites, or on social networking sites. For more information, read the FTC consumer blog post, Helping victims of the Washington State mudslide — Make sure your donations count and, for a list of groups that can help you research a charity, go to Charity Scams.