Why you need to learn to speak Spanish

From 2000 to 2010, America’s Hispanic population jumped by 43%, while our total population increased by just 9.7%. Or, to put it another way, from 2000 to 2010, America grew by 27.3 million people. Fifteen million of those faces​—​more than half of those new Americans​—​were Hispanic.

If you extrapolate those trends, the numbers get even more eye-popping. In 2008, the Pew Research Center projected that, at current rates, by 2050 there would be 128 million Hispanic Americans, making the group 29% of the American population. The census projection is a little higher; they guess the total will be 132.8 million, 30% of a projected total population of 439 million.

Where do these numbers come from? It’s not rocket science. Demographers depend mainly on two variables: net migration to the United States by people from Spanish-speaking countries and the fertility rate of Hispanic Americans.

In 2000 alone, 770,000 people came from Mexico.

As of the 2010 census, there were 308.7 million people in America, 50.5 million of whom (16%) were classified as being of “Hispanic origin.” Of that 50 million, about half are foreign-born legal immigrants. Another 11 million or so are illegal immigrants. A few other facts, just to give you some texture: 63%  of American Hispanics trace their origins to Mexico, 9.2% to Puerto Rico, and 3.5% to Cuba. And more than half of the 50 million live in just three states, California, Texas, and Florida.

In the most recent years there’s been a net flow of zero immigrants from Mexico.   Economists who have noted this sudden shift are quick to explain it as a byproduct of the recession and the bursting housing bubble, which dried up jobs​—​particularly in the construction industry​—​causing prospective immigrants to stay put and pushing many illegal immigrants already in the country to head home. The implication of this argument is that as soon as our economy goes back to “normal,” the patterns of migration will, too.

Projections suggest that America add another 38 million Hispanics by 2050 just through immigration alone.

Hispanics have the highest fertility rate of America’s racial groups, around 2.7.

http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/nation-singles_664275.html

Jonathan V. Last is a senior writer at The Weekly Standard. His book What to Expect When No One’s Expecting: America’s Coming Demographic Disaster (Encounter) is forthcoming in February.

The Islamic Caliphate

At least, these guys give an honest answer as to the true aims of the Islamists.  

After capturing Libya, Syria, Egypt, and Jordan, they plan to destroy Israel. 

Then there will be no stopping them as they head to Spain to reestablish the Islamic Caliphate.

 

Syria’s Islamist Rebels Threaten to Conquer Israel and Reestablish Muslim Caliphate in Spain

In a revealing on-camera interview, Islamist militants in Aleppo, Syria, are offering a glimpse into their grander goals after they rid themselves of President Bashar Assad’s rule.

In the interview translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), one fighter says that “Allah willing,” the next goals are to invade Israel, Turkey, Iran, Iraq and – most intriguingly – Spain.

Tellingly, they refer to Spain as Andalusia, the once heartland of Muslim rule in Spain after Muslim forces invaded in the year 711. They also express a desire to capture Cordoba in Spain, the site of an Islamic Caliphate during the Middle Ages. This will likely raise further concerns about what Syria may look like post-Assad.

As is typical of Islamist extremists, they never say the word “Israel,” instead referring to sites in the Jewish state including Jerusalem.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/robin-hood-brigades-syrias-islamist-rebels-threaten-to-conquer-israel-and-recapture-muslim-caliphate-in-spain/

Two Courageous Young Men

We Dare You Not to Get a Little Emotional Watching This 7th Grade Wrestling Video.

A heartwarming video of a 7th grade wrestling match in Tennessee has gone viral on the Internet, with more than 100,000 “shares” on Facebook since being uploaded roughly one week ago.

The video shows Jared Stevens, described by the Tennessean as “an extrovert with cerebral palsy,” and his opponent Justin Kievit, in an usual pairing.

Stevens, who reportedly has the physical abilities of a 6-month-old but an intellectual ability close to his age level, is laid on the ground, unable to stand on his own.

Kievit bends down to shake his outstretched hand, and begins fake wrestling with Stevens as the match begins.

As the crowd cheers, Kievit pulls Stevens’ arm over himself, struggling all the while, and allows a beaming Stevens to win the match.

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/we-dare-you-not-to-get-a-little-emotional-watching-this-7th-grade-wrestling-vid/

Could Texas Really Secede From The Union?

Could Texas succeed in seceding from the United States of America?

Here are some very valuable facts on the matter . . .

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/could-texas-really-secede-from-the-union-the-answer-is/

Saint Nicholas Is Coming To Town

You Better Watch Out – St. Nicholas is Coming to Town

Seldom Told Stories of Saint Nicholas the Wonder Worker

“Everyone loves jolly ol’ Saint Nicholas. There is something romantic and cozy about telling Santa stories around the crackling fire. He is an icon of the Christmas season. But not everyone agrees about the real Santa Claus.  Some like to picture Santa as the early-19th century, pipe-smoking elf with a bucket full of coal for naughty boys who don’t eat their cauliflower. Others prefer Santa as an emasculated, overweight consumer who gets bossed around by Mrs. Claus and thus flees the North Pole once a year to relive the glory days. Then there is the wiry bishop who pulled Arius’ beard and punched him in the face for teaching heresy. Maybe they’re all the same guy. A 1,700-year-old hero can’t be expected to fit into just one old Santa suit . . .”

http://www.catholicworldreport.com/Item/1787/You_Better_Watch_OutSt_Nicholas_is_Coming_to_Town.aspx

Saint Nicholas Day- December 6

Happy St. Nick Day.

Be sure to celebrate by punching a heretic in the face!

And here is the story of when Saint Nicholas punched a heretic in the face:

While at the First Ecumenical Council that condemned Arianism, St. Nicholas punched Arius in the face and was censured by the Fathers of the Council for behavior unbecoming a Bishop. His bishop’s mantle and gospel were taken away from him. But at that moment, an apparition occurred with the appearance of Christ and His Mother on either side of Nicholas, bearing a bishop’s mantle and a gospel-book. The Fathers then immediately reinstated Nicholas, and icons of him to this day celebrate the miraculous event . . .

http://cantuar.blogspot.com/2011/12/saint-nicholas-allegedly-punched-this.html

Happy Santa Claus Day

Saint Nicholas – Nikolaos the Wonderworker

A third-century bishop who was known as a miracle worker and a giver of secret gifts. 

Born: 270 – Died: 6 December 343

He had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him.  Not only is he recognized by the Catholic Church, holidays honoring St. Nicholas' works of charity are celebrated by more than forty countries.

St. Nicholas was born in Greece and became a fourth-century bishop of Myra, in southern Turkey when that area was under Greek influence.

One legend  tells how a terrible famine struck the small Turkish island of Gemile  and a malicious butcher lured three little children into his house, where he slaughtered and butchered them, placing their remains in a barrel to cure, planning to sell them off as ham. Saint Nicholas, visiting the region to care for the hungry, not only saw through the butcher's horrific crime but also resurrected the three boys from the barrel by his prayers. Another version of this story, possibly formed around the eleventh century, claims that the butcher's victims were instead three clerks who wished to stay the night. The man murdered them, and was advised by his wife to dispose of them by turning them into meat pies. The Saint saw through this and brought the men back to life.

Perhaps the best-known story about Nicholas concerns his charity toward a poor man who was unable to provide dowries for his three daughters of marriageable age. Rather than see them forced into prostitution, Nicholas secretly tossed a bag of gold through the poor man’s window on three separate occasions, thus enabling the daughters to be married. Over the centuries, this particular legend evolved into the custom of gift-giving on the saint’s feast.

Today, Saint Nicholas is still celebrated as a great gift-giver in several Western European countries. According to one source, in medieval times nuns used the night of 6 December to deposit baskets of food and clothes anonymously at the doorsteps of the needy. According to another source, on 6 December every sailor or ex-sailor of the Low Countries (which at that time was virtually all of the male population) would descend to the harbor towns to participate in a church celebration for their patron saint. On the way back they would stop at one of the various Nicholas fairs to buy some hard-to-come-by goods, gifts for their loved ones and invariably some little presents for their children. While the real gifts would only be presented at Christmas, the little presents for the children were given right away, courtesy of Saint Nicholas.

Our American Santa Claus custom descended from a secularized St. Nicholas tradition. The name Santa Claus actually comes from the German Sankt Nikolaus, a tradition brought here by German immigrants.  In the English-speaking countries, St. Nicholas became, by a twist of the tongue, Santa Claus—further expanding the example of generosity portrayed by this holy bishop.

In 1087, about half of his bones were furtively moved to Bari in southeastern Italy; for this reason, he is also known as Nikolaos of Bari. The remaining bones were taken to Venice in 1100.

The evolution of Saint Nicholas into the more commercially lucrative Santa Claus—which took centuries in Europe and America—has recently been re-enacted in the saint's home town of Demre, Turkey. The modern city is built near the ruins of ancient Myra, and attracts many Russian tourists as St. Nicholas is a very popular Orthodox saint. Restoration on Saint Nicholas' original church is currently underway, with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in 2007 permitting Divine Liturgy to be celebrated at the site, and contributing 40,000 Turkish Lira to the project.

In 1993 a grave was found on the small Turkish island of Gemile, east of Rhodes, which historians believe is the grave of Saint Nicholas.

On 28 December 2009, the Turkish Government announced that it would be formally requesting the return of St Nicholas's bones to Turkey from the Italian government.  Turkish authorities have cited the fact that St Nicolas himself wanted to be and actually got buried at his episcopal town. They also state that his remains were illegally removed from his homeland.