Microsoft has introduced a new weblog service called MSN Spaces. Presumably, it’s easy to use, but only offers limited customization.
Since these new “spaces” have comments, I wonder if this move will egg on the comment spammers (if that’s possible).

Perhaps I’m leading a trend:

Census Bureau figures for 2003 show one-third of men and nearly one-quarter of women between 30 and 34 have never married, nearly four times the rates in 1970.
. . .
Data from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey released this week show the age at which someone typically marries for the first time increased from 20.8 for women and 23.2 for men in 1970 to 25.3 and 27.1, respectively, last year.
In 1970, about 6 percent of women 30 to 34 had never married; the figure was nearly 23 percent in 2003. The rate for never-married men in the same age group increased from about 9 percent to 33.1 percent.

On the other hand, there’s this:

Census figures also show fewer Americans at older ages who never have been married. In 1970, 8 percent of people 65 and older never had married; now it’s 4 percent.

There are several trends at work here, and your results may vary. I’m a little intrigued when I hear about people getting married in their teens or early twenties; seems like many people’s lives don’t settle down until they are in their mid-twenties. But perhaps that’s just me.

I’m watching the evening news to see Tom say good bye. I rarely watch NBC news, but want to see if he strips down or does something crazy as he leaves the set.
I understand the attachment viewers gain toward the major news personalities, but I’m not sure I get the big brouhaha about how this may change network news. For the most part, these guys just read what other people provide, right?
Anyway, the program lead with almost breathless report about how Pentagon sources are claiming that the offensive on Fallujah may be a “turning point” in the war against the insurgency.
Oh brother.
How many times have we heard that one before? Let me count the ways.
–Fall of Baghdad
–Killing Saddam’s son’s
–Capture of Saddam
–Transfer of “sovereignty”
And I’m sure we’ll be turning the corner again whenever they have elections.
Anyway, best wishes to Brokaw. Brian Williams will do just fine as his replacement.

I see the plastic container of grapes in the refrigerator sports a sticker promoting a recent DVD release.
How long will it be until someone is selling advertising on the toilet paper used in public restrooms? Or are they already doing that?

The last couple nights C-SPAN has been broadcasting the CBC news program The National. They’ve had a few segments playing up the differences between Canada and America. Canada is becoming a more diverse, tolerant, government-funded, European-type society. And we’re becoming something else.
A couple interesting factoids from one of the reports:
–Q: Do you think the father should be master of the house?
Canada: 21% agree
U.S.: 52% agree
Moreover in the U.S. that percentage is on the rise, while in Canada the number has been dropping from 43% in 1983.
–Weekly church attendance:
U.S.: 50%
Canada: 20%
In the 1950s a higher percentage of Canadians claimed to attend church weekly.
–A greater percentage of the Canadian population is concentrated in urban areas. Forty percent of the population lives in the Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver metro areas. That’s 60% if you throw in Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa.
I think it’s safe to say that if the U.S. population were similarly concentrated in major cities, President-Elect Kerry would be getting ready to submit his proposals to the Democratically-controlled U.S. House and Senate.
–To some extent, Quebec is credited with being a driving force in the divergence between U.S. and Canadian values.
–Canadian “conservatives” would likely be Democrats if they were in America.