June 2009 - Page 5 of 6 - Ramblin' with Roger

U is for the United States

I was thinking of the changes that the USCIS has made in the citizenship test to become a U.S. citizen. Just based on this sampling, the new test seem more vague.

TEST before October 1, 2008 – Sample U.S. Citizenship Test Questions:
1. How many stars are there on the US flag?
2. How many states are there in the Union?
3. What color are the stars on our flag?
4. What do the stars on the flag mean?
5. How many stripes are there on the flag?
6. What date is the Day of Independence?
7. The US achieved Independence from whom?
8. What country did we fight during the Revolutionary War?
9. Who was the first President of the United States?
10. What do we call a change of the Constitution?
All pretty straightforward, I think. (If you need the answers, e-mail me.)

REDESIGNED TEST – Sample U.S. Citizenship Test Questions:
1. Name one war fought by the United States in the 1900s.
OK, pretty easy. Well, unless you get all technical about it. If Congress is supposed to declare war, are the armed conflicts the US has had after WWII actually wars?
2. What did Susan B. Anthony do?
Well, I’m sure she DID lots of different things, such as eating breakfast. I know that fighting for women’s suffrage is the answer, but it feels awkwardly phrased.
3. What is one thing Benjamin Franklin is famous for?
Would philandering be an acceptable answer? Yeah, they want the almanac, electricity, the stove, eyewear, diplomat to France and that type of thing, but again, pretty open-ended.
4. There were 13 original states. Name three.
Pretty easy – just stay on the east coast and don’t pick Maine, Vermont or Florida.
5. What is one responsibility that is only for United States citizens?
Huh? Is this a reference to voting? If so, other people vote in their own countries and lots of people here don’t. If it’s serving on juries, lots of people get out that. Non-citizens serve in the military, and most citizens don’t.
6. What does the judicial branch do?
I get a lot of right-wing literature, so if someone wrote “make law”, they might very well think they’re right.
7. Name your U.S. Representative.
Now, THAT’S a good question. Mine’s Paul Tonko, freshman Democrat.
8. Who makes federal laws?
Unless you answer The Supreme Court, easy one.
9. What does the Constitution do?
Well it DOES a lot of things, including setting terms of government officials. Another amorphous question.
10. What is the supreme law of the land?
Ah, a tough but knowable question. Article VI of the Constitution of the United States contains the “supremacy clause,” which establishes that laws passed by Congress, treaties of the United States with other nations, and the Constitution “shall be the supreme Law of the Land.”

Here’s another sample test; looks rather old school, though. For new test guides, I’d go to the USCIS site.

I recently took one of those Could you pass the U.S. citizenship test? things on Facebook and got 19 out of 20; don’t know what I missed. Being an American, and hearing how some of my fellow citizens interpret things, I’ve long believed that non-Americans might well fare better on the citizenship test than those born in the USA.
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Curious thing: I was riding my bike to church a week and a half ago and, as usual, checked out the license plates. understand that church is only 1.6 miles from my house, according to Mapquest. I saw plates from the states of MA, NJ, and VT; not at all unusual. I also saw plates from PA and FL, not rare. (Folks from Florida often come north for the summer.) But I also saw CA, DE, MD, MI, OH, RI, SC, TX, VA, and WI. It was not a college graduation weekend. Most peculiar.

ROG

The Name Game

No doubt you saw the story a few weeks ago about how Emma supplanted Emily as the most popular name for a baby girl, while, on the boys’ side, Jacob held steady.

There’s much more at Social Security’s Popular Baby Names site such as the names of twins born in 2008, by rank:
1 Jacob, Joshua 69
2 Daniel, David 59
3 Jayden, Jordan 56
4 Ethan, Evan 50
5 Taylor, Tyler 43
6 Gabriella, Isabella 42

Interesting stuff. The problem I have with most of the the stories is that it doesn’t tell you the change in the nature of naming children.

For instance, below are percentages of boys, girls born with these names:
1880
1 John 8.1541%, Mary 7.2381%
2 William 8.0511%, Anna 2.6678%
3 James 5.0057%, Emma 2.0521%
4 Charles 4.5167%, Elizabeth 1.9865%
5 George 4.3292%, Minnie 1.7888%
6 Frank 2.7380%, Margaret 1.6167%
7 Joseph 2.2229%, Ida 1.5081%
8 Thomas 2.1401%, Alice 1.4487%
9 Henry 2.0641%, Bertha 1.3523%
10 Robert 2.0404%, Sarah 1.3196%

1930

1 Robert 5.5021%, Mary 5.4969%
2 James 4.7781%, Betty 3.2794%
3 John 4.6417%, Dorothy 2.6064%
4 William 4.1855%, Helen 1.7076%
5 Richard 2.8491%, Margaret 1.5743%
6 Charles 2.8197%, Barbara 1.5683%
7 Donald 2.5723%, Patricia 1.3507%
8 George 2.0155%, Joan 1.3280%
9 Joseph 1.8579%, Doris 1.3250%
10 Edward 1.5346%, Ruth 1.2804%

1980
1 Michael 3.7039%, Jennifer 3.2811%
2 Christopher 2.6531%, Amanda 2.0132%
3 Jason 2.5994%, Jessica 1.9064%
4 David 2.2600%, Melissa 1.7776%
5 James 2.1205%, Sarah 1.4464%
6 Matthew 2.0417%, Heather 1.1223%
7 Joshua 1.9454%, Nicole 1.1189%
8 John 1.9018%, Amy 1.1148%
9 Robert 1.8475%, Elizabeth 1.0972%
10 Joseph 1.6285%, Michelle 1.0743%

2008
1 Jacob 1.0355%, Emma 0.9043%
2 Michael 0.9437%. Isabella 0.8941%
3 Ethan 0.9301%, Emily 0.8377%
4 Joshua 0.8799%, Madison 0.8199%
5 Daniel 0.8702%, Ava 0.8198%
6 Alexander 0.8566%, Olivia 0.8196%
7 Anthony 0.8442%, Sophia 0.7729%
8 William 0.8438%, Abigail 0.7250%
9 Christopher 0.8268%, Elizabeth 0.5748%
10 Matthew 0.8061%, Chloe 0.5692%

In 1880, two boy names were used by almost one-sixth of the population, while Mary was nearly thrice as popular as the next most popular girl’s name. By 2008, the #1 names was considerably less dominant than the #10 names in 1980.

I decided to pick out some boys’ and girls’ names not entirely at random to note their trends.

Male

Roger
1880-349
1930-57
1980-134
2008-463
highest year-22 in 1945 (unsurprisingly)

Darrin
not in top 1000 until 1959
1980-505
not in top 1000 since 2004
highest year-102 in 1965

Gordon
1880-233
1930-77
1980-345
2008-946
highest year-70 in 1935

Rex
1880-519
1930-233
1980-488
2008-799
not in top 1000 in 1999-2002
highest year-171 in 1951

Arthur
1880-14
1930-23
1980-147
2008-363
highest year-14 in 1880-1884, 1886-1899, 1901

Norman
1880-133
1930-40
1980-286
not in top 1000 since 2005
highest year-36 in 1931

Leslie
1880-167
1930-139
1980-354
not in top 1000 since 1997
highest year-81 in 1895

Female

Carol
1880-685
1930-54
1980-232
not in top 1000 in 1883
not in top 1000 since 2006
highest year-4 in 1941

Lydia
1880-77
1930-233
1980-287
2008-120
highest year-75 in 1883

Gertrude
1880-25
1930-96
not in top 1000 since 1965
highest year-22 in 1906

Marcia
1880-614
1930-231
1980-414
not in top 1000 in 1992
not in top 1000 since 1994
highest year-74 in 1951

Gladys
1880-370
1930-48
1980-628
not in top 1000 in 1998
not in top 1000 since 1999
highest year-11 in 1901

Karen
1880-not in top 1000 until 1881
1930-687
1980-54
2008-183
not in top 1000 in 1882-1884, 1888, 1891, 1895-1905, 1907-1911, 1913-1917, 1919-1923, 1925, 1925, 1927
highest year-3 in 1965

Leslie
1880-655
1930-601
1980-61
2008-147
highest year-56 in 1981

Note that the specific spelling matters. For instance, on the boys’ side in 2008, Arthur is #363, but, separately, Arturo is #352. Similarly, on the girls’ 2008 list, Leslie is #147 and Lesly, #447; Lesley fell off the chart in 2008.

Having spent all this time on FIRST names, you may want to check out this database which allows you to search a last name and see how it ranks nationally, with racial demographic breakdowns (provided by U.S. Census Bureau).

Finally, I’m in the mood for a little Shirley Ellis:

Just don’t try Chuck.

ROG

First Meme

From SamuraiFrog:

First Job: Among other things, my father arranged flowers for weddings and events such as debutante balls. Sister Leslie and I always got sucked into working on that.
But another choice would be when I’d sing at my father’s gigs. Eventually Leslie joined us, certainly before I was 14, and we did get paid, albeit usually not much.

First Real Job: Newspaper delivery of the Evening and Sunday Press when I was 12.
Or alternatively pick being a page at the Binghamton Public Library when I was 16.

First Favorite Politician: Bill Burns. He was mayor of Binghamton, a Democrat, when I was 16. He had succeeded his brother John, who was more naturally suave politician. Bill was now what you’d call a wonk and looked the part. I remember blowing up balloons at his headquarters. Unfortunately, he lost in 1969 (I think) to Al Libous, who I despised politically. When Libous ran for Congress in 1974, I worked hard for his opponent, Matt McHugh, who fortunately beat Libous.

First Car: It was always someone else’s car, like the Okie’s Volvo; I never remember car stuff.

First Record/CD: Beatles VI and other Beatles LPs, plus Daydream by the Lovin’ Spoonful; it was from the Capitol Record Club.

First Sport Played: Almost certainly baseball or softball; it depends whether it was on the school playground (softball) or at Ansco field (baseball), which we got to by walking through Spring Forest Cemetery.

First Concert: Seals & Crofts, November 12, 1971 in NYC; I’m convinced that J. Geils opened for them and was booed; the band may be a false memory, but the booing of the opening act was not.

First Foreign Country Visited: Canada. Niagara Falls, Ontario. I was…10?

First Favorite TV Show: Captain Kangaroo. Featured Mr. Green Jeans. Also, Bunny Rabbit, Grandfather Clock, and the bizarre cartoon Clutch Cargo.

First Favorite Actor: Dick van Dyke from his eponymous show.

First Favorite Actress: Mary Tyler Moore, “The Dick van Dyke Show” Capri pants!

First Girlfriend/Boyfriend: I suppose how you define it. I suppose Martha when I was 15 or 16.

First Encounter with a Famous Person: For some reason, I was on the sidelines at a Boston Celtics-New York Knicks game and almost literally ran into Willis Reed, the Knicks center.
Actually shook Nelson Rockefeller’s hand twice while I was in high school.

First Brush With Death: I was about seven and I had a knit hat on. I thought I could see through it, so I put it over my head. Unfortunately, it cut off my peripheral vision and I almost got hit by a car while crossing the street in the middle of the block.

First House/Condo Owned: Well, technically, the house Carol bought, which we moved into when we got married. But I prefer to think of that as her house, and our current house, which we bought in May 2000,.

First Film Seen: I’m thinking State Fair; don’t know which version.

First Favorite Recording Artist: Probably, from my father’s singles, the Everly Brothers.

First Favorite Radio Station: WENE, 1360 (I think) AM, Top 40 radio in Endicott, NY.

First Book I Remember Reading: Probably some Dr. Seuss book, such as Cat in the Hat or Green Eggs and Ham.

First Meme You Answered on Your Blog: This one from Tosy in November 2005. ROG

Sweet Hitchhiker

Something Jacquandor cited reminded me of this: my primary form of transportation during my college days in New Paltz in the Mid-Hudson Valley of NYS was hitchhiking. I lived in Binghamton in the Southern Tier of NYS my first year in college, 150 miles and at least three highways away (Route 17, and then there were options). Even when I moved to New Paltz, there were friends to visit back in my hometown.

The easiest hitch I ever had involved me trying to get from New Paltz to Binghamton. Somehow, I found a large metal orange and white sign, perhaps cast off from a gas station. It said 17. I put it out on the outskirts of town and got picked up by a guy from the CIA who dropped me off at the Binghamton exit maybe a half mile from my grandmother’s house. Oh, the CIA is the Culinary Institute of America.

I lived briefly in Kingston, maybe a dozen miles away from New Paltz, and hitched back and forth on Route 32 as well.

But my regular hitch in my freshman year was with my buddy Jay Rose. It was exceedingly easy to thumb a ride to New York City; just stand at the Thruway entrance. What was more difficult was hitching back to New Paltz. I discovered that the best way was to take the subway #4 line as far north as possible, take a commuter bus as far north as it would go on 90 cents, and THEN start seeking rides.

For four months in 1977, I lived in Charlotte, NC, a place that I did not much enjoy. It had lousy mass transit and I was broke. Ultimately, I hitched out of Charlotte to Binghamton; it took about 24 hours. Hitching in the South in 1977 might not have been the wisest move, but it was an incident-free trip, though I was stuck outside of Harrisburg, PA seemingly forever.

I stopped hitching in 1979, not out of any sense of real danger, but because it just took too long. A 150-mile trip from Binghamton to Schenectady took over six hours on old Route 7, pre I-88.

The trip I remember best I did with my friend Alice. Friends of ours were in a terrible car accident; a couple died and the rest were in a hospital in Hornell, NY, pretty much in the middle of the state. We got through Binghamton OK, but had slow going past there. Then one guy finally picked us up. He wanted to save our souls, and surely our souls needed saving, for we appeared to be a mixed race couple, and miscegenation was a sin according to his interpretation of the Word. (His basis for this theory was the OT prohibition against Jews intermarrying, I’m guessing.) However, he was otherwise harmless and let us out when he got to where he was going.

Alice and I never did get to Hornell, since this involved traveling on a rural road, Route 34, and we may not have met the appropriate demographic profile to get picked up. Instead, we went back to New Paltz, in record time, considering it was the middle of the night by then.

We always wondered what that guy would have said if he had found out that Alice was a lesbian.
***
In honor of John Fogerty’s birthday late last month, Sweet Hitchhiker – Creedence Clearwater Revival

ROG

The Sotomayor QUESTION

Patrick J. Buchanan called Sonia Sotomayor a “Quota Queen for the Court.” Newt Gingrich called her a racist, then backed off; of course, Newt also said, “No group has benefited more from impartial justice than the less fortunate.”

Her controversial quote: “I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.”

My initial reaction was well, a non-reaction. I knew what she meant. When people who are the “other” in this society succeed, they’ve often learned to navigate both the majority culture as well as their own. For instance, I know there are things that I don’t have to endure because I’m a male. I don’t always know what they are, but I surely know they exist.

Lanny J. Davis in the Washington Times makes the case that in the “3,000 decisions in which Judge Sotomayor participated and the more than 400 opinions that she signed during her 12 years on the appeals court…in case-after-case, she has voted based on applying the law to the facts — even where the result is contrary to the expected ‘liberal’ ideological position…” He says further, “As to Judge Sotomayor’s statement…: The obvious answer is to view the statement in the broader context of what she meant — similar to what Judge Samuel A. Alito said during his confirmation hearings, i.e., that his background coming from an immigrant family would inevitably be ‘taken into account’ as he made his judicial decisions.”

So her “controversial” remark bothered me not at all. The use of the word “better” will be written off as a gaffe, which, politically, it was. She appears to be well-qualified and I imagine she’ll be confirmed.

But that’s what I think. What says you?

ROG