#U.S. Population

[gwydionmisha]

If it's a concern, we could just stop being assholes to immigrants. Just saying.

[minnesotafollower]

Immigrants Dominate U.S. Population Growth

For Fiscal 2024, ending June 30, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that  the U.S. population grew by about 1% to 340.1 million, which was  the fastest growth since 2001. This includes 2.7 million net arrivals of immigrants. This was fueled by a surge in legal and illegal arrivals, a falling birthrate and a death rate propped up by an aging population.”[1] This net arrival figure is after the…

[boringkate]

Somehow still continually trippy to remember that the United States isn't just a fascist country in a "truly none of us are free under capitalism" type of way (just like us fr) or a "the horrors inflicted upon the world by western imperialism are unending" type of way (just like us fr), but ALSO in a "their incarceration rate is higher than North Korea's" type of way (I knew it was bad, but wtf lol).

[princesssarcastia]

aside from the fact that I think israel's stated reasons for attacking iran—liberation, lmao okay dubyah, pull the other one—are disingenuous at best; aside from the fact that the last time an outside power toppled the iranian government it went horrifically for many iranian people; aside from the fact that if it would make you uncomfortable if the u.s. government did it then you probably shouldn't be cheering on the israeli government doing it...

aside from all of that. what do you imagine the israeli armed forces starting a war with the goal of regime change in iran will do for israel? what do you imagine will happen there. because history tells us, tells me, an american, that what israel will do there is create more of their own demons, leaving them less safe in the long run than they were before.

how many iranians, if israel invades and destroys its government and military, will join extremist groups in the region targeting israel? a shit ton. hell, they might even form a whole new militant extremist group of their own. that's what pulling out "liberation" as a justification means they aim to do, by the way.

we see in gaza how effective israel is at creating or propping up ostensibly separate governments: not very. invade iran, dissolve its government and military, put a puppet government or a government incapable of governing at all in place, and you have a breeding ground for the poverty and violence that will see a new generation of hatred rise.

oddly enough, fellas, the key to ending the cycle of violence is still not, "more violence."

it's also especially stupid for israel of 2025 to be pulling this one, because boy, what do you imagine might unite a country with fractured internal politics? do you think it might be an external violent threat? because i think it might be an external violent threat.

from al jazeera's opinion section:

"What began as a calculated strike on military targets may be achieving the opposite of its intended outcome. Rather than weakening the regime’s hold on power, Israel’s actions risk reinforcing it – by rallying national unity and silencing dissent. The attempt to engineer revolution from outside may not only fail – it may backfire. "If Israel’s ultimate aim was to catalyse [sic] a regime collapse, it may have underestimated the historical resilience of Iran’s political system and the unifying power of national trauma. As bombs fall and generals die, Iran’s social fabric does not appear to be fraying. Instead, it may be stitching itself back together."

or a more journalistic piece from reuters:

"But with the Iranian opposition fragmented and no signs of divisions within the powerful Revolutionary Guard (IRGC), which has nearly 250,000 fighters including its Basij militia volunteers, there is scant prospect Iran’s ruling elite will collapse easily. "There have been no major protests on the streets of Tehran, and many Iranians profess anger towards Israel for the attacks. Without a ground invasion or domestic uprising, regime change in Iran is a distant prospect, the officials said."

[neechees]

THERES A HOCKEY PLAYER CALLED TUCKER BAYLEY & HE SAID HIS HOCKEY TEAM MATES CALL HIM "TUGUY" & HE SAYS IT MEANS "BRAVE WARRIOR"

[have-you-been-here]

Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest

(Shuh-WAH-muh-guhn)

Park Falls, Wisconsin, United States

[minnesotafollower]

Wall Street Journal Editorial: U.S. Needs More Immigrants

The Wall Street Journal on July 24, 2023, published an editorial calling for increased U.S. recruitment and admission of immigrants.[1] Here are its reasons for that conclusion. “The U.S. has a people problem. The birth rate has been sliding for years, and it’s about to translate into a shrinking labor force. By 2040, according to a study out this week, America could have more than six million…

[ausetkmt]

Homeless population across U.S. on the rise Homeless population across U.S. on the rise: Wall Street Journal review 04:36

Two years after pandemic aid ended, homelessness in cities and states across the U.S. is on the rise.

Organizations that count homeless people have seen increases in the number of unsheltered individuals compared with 2022, the Wall Street Journal reported. 

Roughly 421,400 people were homeless in the U.S. last year, and 127,750 of them were chronically homeless, meaning they didn't have a place to stay for a year or more, according to National Alliance to End Homelessness data. Homelessness rates have been climbing nationally by about 6% every year since 2017, the alliance said. 

The increase in the number of people without a place to live comes amid soaring housing costs and rising prices for essentials like food and transportation. The federal government sent $817 billion in stimulus payments to Americans, according to a New York Times estimate, but that lifeline ended in March 2021. 

"There's no cash coming in from the government anymore," Amy Quackenboss, executive director at the American Bankruptcy Institute, told CBS MoneyWatch in February. "There are several people who haven't been able to weather that storm." Evictions on the rise in several U.S. cities, new data shows 05:38

Difficult to count 

To be sure, the official 2023 homeless tally won't be exact because people who are homeless don't gather in one setting for an easy roll call, Wall Street Journal reporter Shannon Najmabadi told CBS News.

"It's very difficult to count the number of people who are unsheltered, living in cars or couch surfing, in the woods or on properties that's difficult to access," she said. 

Major cities avoided a tidal wave of homelessness during the pandemic because the federal government offered emergency rental relief, eviction moratoriums, stimulus checks and other pandemic-era aid. However, with those protections now vanished, financially challenged Americans face daunting housing prices, with the national median sales price at $441,000 and the median rental costing $2,000 a month as of May.  Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl barbecues for 24 hours at Los Angeles shelter 00:33

Homeless crisis in California

California has dominated most the national conversation about the rise in homelessness. An estimated 171,000 Californians — or 30% of all unsheltered people in the U.S. — are homeless. San Diego County alone saw its homeless count rise to 10,264 — a 22% increase from last year, the Journal reported.  

A University of California, San Francisco study released Tuesday found that high housing costs and low income are fueling the homeless crisis in the Golden State. California's homeless problem is so intense that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass this week announced plans to eliminate L.A. street homelessness by 2026, first by declaring a state of emergency and then by moving unsheltered individuals into hotels and motels. 

"My goal would be, really, to end street homelessness," she told CNN on Sunday. "There'll still be people in shelters and interim housing, but at least we'll not have people dying on our streets."

[socialistexan]

Uhhhhhhhh that seems bad

[this-is-just-for-organising]

.... a quick search for what percent of (adult) u.s. citizens have traveled outside of the u.s. suggests it's closer to 3/4 of the population (at least once) (participants were "recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses. This way nearly all U.S. adults have a chance of selection.", so it seems like it's not sample bias)

since moving here ive noticed europeans have no concept of how few americans ever leave USA. every american tourist youve met is of an economic crust that is vastly unobtainable to the other like. 85% generously. no matter what you have believed i can guarantee this. even getting to canada isnt really a possibility and the mexico-US border is highly controlled and militarized.

to put it into perspective. a ~2 hour flight from london to warsaw is like. 30 to 45 USD?

and a 2 hour flight from one US city to another would be about 130 USD

it was very cheap to fly here. i make over 100k USD now and i dont know if ill ever be able to afford leaving. if that gives you an idea of how prohibitive travel is here. i havent even touched on how the US has Zero guaranteed holidays by the govt. many people here go years without ever having an entire week off of work

this has had a like. massive impact on American Brain and they dont even know it because travel isnt even a consideration economically. they dont even know how much more vacation time european countries have guaranteed

[legebinge]

How JFK Changed American Politics

[insightfultake]

The Declining U.S. Birth Rate: A Demographic Shift with Far-Reaching Implications

For decades, the United States has relied on a steady birth rate to sustain its population and economic growth. However, the latest data from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) paints a different picture—one of steady decline in birth rates across various demographics. This shift is not just a statistical anomaly; it reflects deeper societal and economic trends that could shape America's future in significant ways.

[yiddish-american-princess]

anywho

mahmoud khalid deserves due process and the right to a fair trial because he is a permanent resident and green card holder. those rights are guaranteed by the constitution. i do not agree with him AND he has rights.

more than anything, the trump admin making an example out of him is deeply immoral and deeply evil. they are citing “jewish safety” so they can set us up to be scapegoats for his fascism. they’re parading around his arrest with “shalom” to make us scapegoats. he wants the people to blame us for his fascism. cause after all if the people are angry at the jews and hating the jews, he can keep being evil while everyone is distracted.

this is state sponsored antisemitism in the united states. do not get it twisted. he’s not promoting “jewish safety” he is setting us up for the next bloodbath

you don’t have to agree with him or be an apologist for his cause to see what this admin is doing and how dangerous things are about to get here

[reasonsforhope]

"The substances behind the slimy strings from okra and the gel from fenugreek seeds could trap microplastics better than a commonly used synthetic polymer.

Texas researchers proposed in 2022 using these sticky natural polymers to clean up water. Now, they’ve found that okra and/or fenugreek extracts attracted and removed up to 90% of microplastics from ocean water, freshwater, and groundwater.

With funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, Rajani Srinivasan and colleagues at Tarleton State University found that the plant-based polymers from okra, fenugreek, and tamarind stick to microplastics, clumping together and sinking for easy separation from water.

In this next stage of the research, they have optimized the process for okra and fenugreek extracts and tested results in a variety of types of water.

To extract the sticky plant polymers, the team soaked sliced okra pods and blended fenugreek seeds in separate containers of water overnight. Then, researchers removed the dissolved extracts from each solution and dried them into powders.

Analyses published in the American Chemical Society journal showed that the powdered extracts contained polysaccharides, which are natural polymers. Initial tests in pure water spiked with microplastics showed that:

One gram of either powder in a quart (one liter) of water trapped microplastics the most effectively.

Dried okra and fenugreek extracts removed 67% and 93%, respectively, of the plastic in an hour.

A mixture of equal parts okra and fenugreek powder reached maximum removal efficiency (70%) within 30 minutes.

The natural polymers performed significantly better than the synthetic, commercially available polyacrylamide polymer used in wastewater treatment.

Then the researchers tested the plant extracts on real microplastic-polluted water. They collected samples from waterbodies around Texas and brought them to the lab. The plant extract removal efficiency changed depending on the original water source.

Okra worked best in ocean water (80%), fenugreek in groundwater (80-90%), and the 1:1 combination of okra and fenugreek in freshwater (77%).

The researchers hypothesize that the natural polymers had different efficiencies because each water sample had different types, sizes and shapes of microplastics.

Polyacrylamide, which is currently used to remove contaminants during wastewater treatment, has low toxicity, but its precursor acrylamide is considered toxic. Okra and fenugreek extracts could serve as biodegradable and nontoxic alternatives.

“Utilizing these plant-based extracts in water treatment will remove microplastics and other pollutants without introducing additional toxic substances to the treated water,” said Srinivasan in a media release, “thus reducing long-term health risks to the population.”

She had previously studied the use of food-grade plant extracts as non-toxic flocculants to remove textile-based pollutants from wastewater and thought, ‘Why not try microplastics?’"

-via Good News Network, May 10, 2025

[nyxelestia]

There is a good argument for increasing the usage of trains and fighting back against car dependency, but trains also require you to somehow get to and from your home to the station, then from the station to your destination. Not everyone can walk that distance, nor can everyone live in a place without that distance. Cars don't fix everything, but neither do trains.

please god above can someone explain to me why we're still working on self driving cars when trains exist