42% of Americans say they personally know someone who is transgender and about 26% say they know someone who prefers to use gender neutral pronouns such as “they” instead of “he” or “she”.
50% of Americans say they would feel very or somewhat comfortable using a gender-neutral pronouns if asked to do so. 48% say they would feel very or somewhat uncomfortable doing so. Not surprisingly, age is a big driver of whether a person is comfortable or uncomfortable.
Those who are comfortable:
- 61% of those age 18-29
- 53% of those age 30-49
- 46% of those age 50-64
- 41% of those age 65+
- 31% of those who are Rep/Lean Rep
- 67% of those who are Dem/Lean Dem
56% believe that whether someone is a man or woman is determined by the sex they were assigned at birth, with 41% saying that a person’s gender can be different from the sex assigned at birth. [PEW Research 7/27/21]
Since 2007, The Supreme Court of the United States has released opinions in 1062 cases. It reversed a lower court decision 751 times (70.7%) while affirming lower court decisions 303 times (28.5%).
During its most recent term, SCOTUS issued opinions in 69 cases. It reversed 55 lower court decisions (79.7%) and affirmed 14. 16 of the of the cases this term originated in the 9th circuit. 15 of those cases were reversed.
Since 2007 the 9th circuit has had 164 cases reversed and 43 cases affirmed.
That is the most in both categories of any other circuit court. [SCOTUS 7/16/21]
The estimated number of drug overdose deaths reached 93,331 in 2020. More than 900,000 people have died of overdoses since the U.S. drug epidemic began in about 1999. Opioids continued to drive the death toll as they have for years; 69,710 deaths in 2020, up from 50,963 in 2019. [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – WP 7/15/21]
The following percentages of U.S. adults get news from:
Facebook – 36%; YouTube – 23%; Twitter -15%; Instagram -11%; Reddit – 6%; Snap Chat – 4%; LinkedIn – 4%; TikTok – 3%; What’s App – 3%; Tumbler – 1%; Twitch – 1%. [PEW 8/3-9/7/21]
There will be an estimated 2.5 million weddings in 2022, which is the most the United States has seen since 1984. There were about 2.1 million weddings per year before the pandemic and just 1.2 million weddings in 2020, due to cancellations. [Wedding Report, a market research firm]
In Memoriam: Albert Eisele
Born – June 28, 1936
Died – June 29, 2021
Funeral Service – Saturday, September 11, 2021
10:30 a.m.
Holy Trinity Catholic Church
3513 N Street NW
Washington, DC 20007
Reception to follow at the National Press Club
529 14th St NW
I don’t recall when Al and I met. I assume it was when he came to Washington as a correspondent for the Ridder newspaper chain, which he joined following the start of his career at the St Paul Pioneer Press and Dispatch.
Regardless of when we met, I got to know Al particularly well when he signed up to be Vice President Mondale’s Press Secretary and I was Mondale’s Counsel and Deputy Chief of Staff. There is no way to measure the number of hours we interacted with each other over the next four years.
We were in touch thereafter but never as frequently as during the four years in the VP office.
In 1981, Al helped found the nonpartisan Center for National Policy.
From 1983 to 1989, he served as assistant to the CEO of Control Data Corp.
In 1989 he founded Cornerstone Associates, an international consulting firm that helped bring former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to Minnesota in 1990.
In 1972, Al published a dual biography of Humphrey and McCarthy entitled, “Almost to the Presidency.”
In 1994 he helped to start The Hill newspaper, a venture he undertook with former New York Times reporter Martin Tolchin and publisher Jerry Finkelstein. He became the editor of The Hill, which became known as a must-read for Washington Insiders. As a founding editor of The Hill, he frequently provided political commentary on C-SPAN and other media outlets.
When he retired Al told the Hill, “Journalism is still about people more than it is about process and policy. In Washington, it is about the interaction, about how people vie for power, seek power, misuse power, accumulate power and sometimes lose power, and the reluctant letting go of power.”
Bob Cusack, The Hill’s editor in chief, said, “Al was an institution at The Hill.” “I can’t tell you how many lawmakers asked about him over the years. He was a mentor to so many journalists and one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. We will all miss, Al.”