From: Bill Roh (billroh@churchofvirus.com)
Date: Wed Jan 16 2002 - 17:21:45 MST
sorry for all the typos - oops
bill
Bill Roh wrote:
> I'm sorry Walter - but this guy is not on the level. Maybe on some things he
> is, but it seems he has left out info that would harm his article. The
> marriage aspect in Reno "The marriage capital of the world". He forget to
> say why Reno and Vegad are the marriage capitals - people go there to elope
> and on vactation. That tourism to these destinations fell by 10 to 12% at
> the last I heard, I would expet that drop in their business, wouldn't you?
> It looks to me, in this case, like he just picked numbers that supported his
> ideas from a couty or two that he could find that fit his needs.
>
> I'm not saying he is wrong, just that this article seems to have been
> written for the purpose of espousing his ideas - not actually being
> accurate. I don't even really disagree with him - the flaws simply seem to
> obvious.
>
> Bill
>
> Walter Watts wrote:
>
> > Facts Find Sept. 11 Myths Misleading
> >
> > 01/16/2002 2:04 AM EST
> >
> > By RON KAMPEAS
> >
> > WASHINGTON (AP) - Call this particular illusion the "after" effect.
> >
> > After Sept. 11, says Laura Bush, divorce is down, weddings are up and
> > "families have come together."
> >
> > In fact, fewer folks are taking vows and more are splitting up, says the
> > available data, and hounds are twice as likely as husbands to get wifely
> > attention.
> >
> > After Sept. 11, says Colin Powell, secretary of state and once the
> > nation's top soldier, more Americans want to be all they can be.
> >
> > Maybe, if they can be right where they are. Enlistment figures haven't
> > budged.
> >
> > After Sept. 11, are more Americans finding religion? Definitely, people
> > tell pollsters. Are they going to church more? No, say the same
> > respondents.
> >
> > After Sept. 11, says just about everyone, Americans got a little nicer.
> >
> > Except for that murder spike in Washington, D.C.
> >
> > And the shoplifting in Denver.
> >
> > And the looming crisis at the charities.
> >
> > And the baby boomlet? Urban mythlet.
> >
> > Hope, it turns out, is the thing without legs.
> >
> > First, Mrs. Bush's wedding-divorce inversion.
> >
> > "Divorce cases have been withdrawn at higher rates, and more people are
> > buying engagement rings and planning weddings," the first lady told a
> > group of New York women.
> >
> > Mrs. Bush was referring to a news report out of Houston that was
> > retracted four days before her talk. In fact, the federal government
> > hasn't tracked divorce and marriage on a monthly basis since 1995. The
> > only information is on the county level.
> >
> > In Reno, Nev., the self-proclaimed "marriage capital of the world,"
> > Washoe County Clerk Amy Harvey rattled off numbers showing an 11 percent
> > drop in marriage applications after Sept. 11.
> >
> > "The numbers don't lie," Harvey said, launching into a sales pitch.
> > "We're available and accessible from 8 a.m. to midnight, 365 days a
> > year."
> >
> > No wonder she's anxious. "This is our industry," she said. "I field
> > calls from wedding chapel owners every day, asking us for numbers. The
> > lobby's empty. My staff are taking breaks!"
> >
> > In Leon County, Fla., divorces for the September-December period
> > increased from 389 in 2000 to 415 in 2001.
> >
> > After Sept. 11, "maybe people understand the importance of staying
> > together a little better," said Richard Albertson of the Tallahassee
> > Community Marriage Policy, a Christian counseling service that monitors
> > its success by counting divorce dockets in the county courthouse each
> > month. "That doesn't mean they have the tools. It takes more than a
> > crisis for that."
> >
> > Are families that are staying together coming closer together?
> >
> > Maybe, if you count Fido as a dependent. Market research conducted by
> > advertising network Euro RSCG found that, post-Sept.
> > 11, 36 percent of American women who have dogs said they were spending
> > more time with them. Less than 20 percent were spending more time with
> > their husbands.
> >
> > "We've got children, we've got pets," Euro RSCG's Marian Salzman said as
> > she reviewed her most recent polling, which has a margin of error of 3
> > percentage points. "I don't know who's enjoying time with spouses."
> >
> > And don't even talk about the baby boomlet. Hospitals and doctors are
> > ethically bound not to give out that information until about June 11.
> >
> > What about the call to arms? Powell said last month that "people are now
> > stepping forward to join the military in greater numbers."
> >
> > Not quite. It's true more people are asking, but once they learn details
> > - the conditions, the salary, the lifestyle - the same number are
> > signing up.
> >
> > That's OK, says Douglas Smith of Army recruiting - the idea has always
> > been to recruit what the branches set as their need, and that has yet to
> > rise appreciably.
> >
> > "The level of success prior to Sept. 11 continues after Sept. 11," he
> > said. For the Army, that's between 6,000-7,000 recruits a month.
> >
> > More religion? A November poll by the Pew Forum found 78 percent of
> > Americans - the highest in four decades - believed the role of religion
> > was increasing, more than double the number who said the same thing in
> > March. Yet the same respondents, only a month after the terror attacks,
> > said their church attendance had not changed from four in 10 Americans
> > going once a week.
> >
> > "When you settle back down into what people are doing, measurements have
> > more in common with what there was before the attacks," said Melissa
> > Rogers of the forum, which monitors belief patterns. The surveys have a
> > margin of error of 3 percentage points.
> >
> > What about the America two in three respondents told a Washington
> > Post-ABC News poll had "changed for the better" after Sept. 11?
> >
> > Consider these changes: In Washington, D.C., the murder rate spiked 47
> > percent after Sept. 11; in Denver, shoplifting went up by 12 percent.
> >
> > The National Association of Convenience Stores sent its members a
> > crimestoppers tip sheet, anticipating a steady increase in crime, and
> > the Chronicle of Philanthropy reports that many charities anticipate
> > shortfalls when 2001 numbers are crunched by the end of this month.
> >
> > No one is blaming any of those phenomena on the attacks - the busted
> > economy presaged an upturn in crime and a downturn in giving months
> > before September.
> >
> > It's just that the conditions creating the bleaker outlook are beyond
> > the influence of the attacks and their aftermath.
> >
> > "A lot of shoplifters are stealing for specific purposes, like drugs,"
> > said Diane Stack, the detective who runs Denver's shoplifting unit,
> > where the sharp rise reflects national trends. "Those are old habits."
> >
> > ---
> >
> > EDITOR'S NOTE - Ron Kampeas writes on national affairs for the
> > Associated Press.
> >
> > --
> >
> > Walter Watts
> > Tulsa Network Solutions, Inc.
> >
> > "To err is human. To really screw things up requires a bare-naked
> > command line and a wildcard operator."
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