Autism in the United States

Autism is a disorder of neural development, it is characterized by impaired social interaction, and sub-par verbal and non-verbal communication. Sometimes these signs will not show until the child is three years old or even older. The disorder effects information processing in the brain, but it is not fully understood how. Autism rates climb in the U.S. but this could be due to better diagnosis than previous years. Below I have some facts that relate to the disorder in the United States.

• 1% of children ages 3-17 have Autism.
• It is estimated 1 out of every 88 births will result with a child that has Autism.
• Fastest growing developmental disability in the U.S.
• Expect to grow 10-17% annually.
• 5 times more common in boys than girls
• Average medical expendatures exceed $4,000 for a person with Autism
• On 56% of students with Autism finish high school

Sources:
"Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders — Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network, 14 Sites, United States, 2008." Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Morbitity and Mortality Weekly Report, 30 March 2012.

Rosenberg RE, Law JK, Yenokyan G, McGready J, Kaufmann WE, Law PA. Characterisitics and concordance of autism spectrum disorders among 277 twin pairs. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2009; 163(10): 907-914.

Based on the autism prevalence rate of 1 in 110 (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2009) and 2000 U.S. Census figure of 280 million Americans.

Radioactive Waste in the United States

As one can assume radioactive waste is waste that contains radioactive material. This is often a by-product of of nuclear power generation, and of other nuclear technology. Radioactive waste is hazardous to the environment, and regulated by government agencies such as the EPA. The purpose of this blog is to present some of the facts and statistics of radioactive waste in the United States so one can form their own opinion on the topic.

• As of 2005 54,000 tons of radioactive waste was stored in the U.S.
• By 2015 that number is projected to be over 72,000 tons
• 32 states (Including Iowa) have agreed to house radioactive waste
• Over 20,000 have licenses to posses radioactive materials
• Exposure to radiation can change blood chemistry
• Exposure to radiation can cause nausea, and fatigue
• Long term exposure to radiation can cause cancer and other potentially fatal diseases

Sources:
http://www.uvm.edu/~vlrs/Energy/NuclearWaste.pdf
http://www.nrc.gov/waste.html
http://www.nei.org/Knowledge-Center/Nuclear-Statistics/On-Site-Storage-of-Nuclear-Waste
 http://assets.sbnation.com/assets/1148410/yuccamtn_waste_locations.jpg (image)
http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2011/ph241/madres1/
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Safety-and-Security/Radiation-and-Health/Nuclear-Radiation-and-Health-Effects/
http://www.epa.gov/radiation/understand/health_effects.html

Racial Profiling Statistics

In the movie My Name is Khan, we see an example of racial profiling. A man with brown skin murmuring words in a foreign language is stopped by security for those 2 reasons alone. When I saw this scene I decided I wanted to know more about racial profiling from a statistical perspective. After a search of some reliable sources I have this information:

A study from the Department of Justice in 2007 reveals:

• Blacks and Hispanics are 3 times more likely to be searched at a traffic stop.
• Blacks are twice as likely to be arrested.
• Blacks are 4 times more likely to experience the threat or use of force when arrested.

Other studies State and Federal studies:

• "A February 2009 study of traffic stops and searches in West Virginia found a similar pattern of racial profiling. The data reveal that African-American motorists were 1.64 times more likely to be stopped than White drivers. Hispanics were 1.48 times more likely to be stopped. After the traffic stop, non-Whites were more likely to be arrested, yet police in West Virginia obtained a significantly higher contraband hit rate for White drivers than minorities.
• In Minnesota, a statewide study of racial profiling during 2002 found that African-American, Hispanic, and Native American drivers were all stopped and searched more often than Whites, yet contraband was found more frequently in searches of White drivers’ cars. Had all drivers been stopped at the same rates in the 65 local jurisdictions reporting data, 22,500 more Whites would have been stopped, while 18,800 fewer African Americans and 5,800 fewer Hispanics would have been stopped.
• In Illinois, data collected after the 2003 passage of the Illinois Traffic Stops Statistics Act, sponsored by then-Illinois State Senator Barack Obama, shows similar patterns of racial profiling by law enforcement authorities. The number of consent searches after traffic stops of African-American and Hispanic motorists was more than double that of Whites. The consent searches found White motorists were twice as likely to have contraband.
• A 2005 study analyzing data gathered statewide in Texas reveals disproportionate traffic stops and searches of African Americans and Hispanics, even though law enforcement authorities were more likely to find contraband on Whites."-http://www.civilrights.org/publications/reports/racial-profiling2011/the-reality-of-racial.html

The question must be raised why is this the case? Is it a case of racism? Or are non-white citizens more likely to be doing illegal activities? The truth is in 2011 69.2% of all arrested people were white, 28.4% were black, and 2.4% were other races.Yet, 72.4% of Americans are white while only 12.6% of Americans are black. By these numbers it is a fact have a higher ratio of arrests to total population than whites. This could be because of the fact they are searched more often as you can tell from the studies above. Or this could be a case of the fact that around 25% percent of blacks are below the poverty line and feel they must do illegal activities to support themselves. .

Sources:

https://www.aclu.org/racial-justice/department-justice-statistics-show-clear-pattern-racial-profiling

http://www.civilrights.org/publications/reports/racial-profiling2011/the-reality-of-racial.html

http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/overviews/tab43overview_final.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_United_States

http://www.census.gov/prod/2013pubs/acsbr11-17.pdf

The Hunger Games and the United States

The Hunger Games is a series that I enjoy and personally do not think that the author was trying to make a specific correlation to the United States. I can see where some might get some of these ideas and I will explain why some think so.

One reason that a relationship between the Hunger Games and the U.S. is the aspect of the Capitol. In the Hunger Games the Capitol is the top 1% who have massive amounts of wealth mostly coming from poorer people in the other districts. Some could take this and put it into modern society and relate the U.S. to the Capitol. The United States has a lot of wealth and power. With this wealth and power the U.S. benefits from buying from poorer countries that have workers being paid cents on the dollar. Not to mention that, but the

U.S. even treats some countries such as Ghana as a garbage can.
Another correlation is the fact that the U.S. government is becoming a form of who is the highest bidder and not necessarily who is best for our country. In the 2012 election over 5.8 billion dollars was spent on campaigning, and since 1998 over 8 billion dollars was spent by lobbyists. It's almost to the point (if it isn't already) that if you have the money you can make sure what you want to happen will happen.

There are more analogies people can make. These are the 2 most prevalent I have found by search of the web and using more sources to find numbers that could support these inferences.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-11/who-spends-most-dollars-lobbying-washington-dc
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2012/10/2012-election-spending-will-reach-6.htmlhttp://www.americanthinker.com/2012/03/the_unseen_message_of_the_hunger_games.html
http://tsl.pomona.edu/articles/2012/4/6/lifeandstyle/2755-the-hunger-games-provides-commentary-on-american-society
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Weekend/story?id=8215714