By Christy Barritt

Marriage Declines in America

According to The State of Our Unions, a joint publication of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia and the Center for Marriage and Families at the Institute for American Values, 44 percent of children born in Middle America are born outside of marriage.

The term Middle America applies to those who have completed high school but do not have a four-year college degree. This group makes up approximately 60 percent of Americans.

Many are concerned about the statistic because most experts agree that children do best when raised by their married, biological parents.

“Marriage in Middle America is at a tipping point, with unwed childbearing threatening to become a new norm,” the report’s coauthor Brad Wilcox wrote.

The State of Our Unions has been published annually since 1999 and offers a picture of the health of marriage and family life in America.

Islamic Extremism Killed 11,000 in 2012

A new report by “The Religion of Peace,” a Jihadist-monitoring site, said that in 2012, 11,267 people were killed in 2,459 different terror attacks by Islamists.

The group chronicled each attack on their website, including the siege on the American outpost in Benghazi where Ambassador Chris Stevens, two Navy SEALs, and another civil servant died.

Those primarily targeted in the attacks include Christians, Jews, rival sects of Islam, and those of other religions.

Only attacks that resulted in deaths were documented. Other attacks by Islamic extremists where no lives were claimed were not listed.

Israelis killed by Hamas rocket attacks and suicide bombings were also included on this list.

Banished Words of 2013

Lake Superior State University has released its annual List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse, and General Uselessness.

The 2013 list was compiled by the university based on nominations submitted from around the world. The list began as a public relations ploy. Since then, it’s generated tens of thousands of nominations.

A dozen words or phrases made the list, including fiscal cliff, passion/passionate, YOLO (You only live once), spoiler alert, bucket list, trending, and superfood.

Last year’s list included amazing, man cave, occupy, ginormous, and the new normal.

Hammers Killed More People Than Guns

With talks of gun control following the shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, a new report from the FBI shows that guns may not be the most dangerous or most used weapon in America.

According to the FBI’s annual crime statistics, the number of murders committed each year using hammers and clubs is greater than the number of murders committed with a rifle. This statistic has remained consistent for the past seven years.

In 2011, 323 murders were committed by rifle, while 496 murders were committed with hammers and clubs.

Also according to the statistics from the FBI, nearly twice as many people are killed by hands and fists each year than by rifles.

The FBI did note that the “murder by rifle” numbers could be adjusted slightly higher when taking into account murders with non-categorized types of guns.

Christy Barritt is an award-winning author, freelance writer, and speaker living in Chesapeake, Virginia. She and her husband Scott have two sons. 
www.christybarritt.com