Gangs, Opioids, crimes, tv violence

Opioids, Suicide and the Future

Wednesday Ratings

The series debut of “Big Brother: Celebrity Edition” was the number one show of Wednesday night, according to Nielsen overnight data.
Airing at 8 p.m. on CBS, “Big Brother: Celebrity Edition” drew a 1.8 rating in adults 18-49 and 7.3 million viewers, making it the top-rated and most-watched show of the night pending updates. It led into a two-hour episode of “The Amazing Race,” which averaged a 1.1 and 5 million viewers.
For Fox, “The X-Files” (0.9, 3.7 million) was even. “9-1-1” (1.7, 6.6 million) nearly doubled its lead-in from “The X-Files” and was the second-highest rated show of the night.
On NBC, “The Blacklist” (1.0, 6.4 million) was even. “Law & Order: SVU” (1.3, 6.7 million) was up over 20 percent in total viewers. “Chicago PD” (1.2, 7.2 million) was even.
ABC aired the movie “Inside Out,” followed by “Match Game” (0.6, 2.6 million), which was down in both measures.
On The CW, “Riverdale” (0.4, 1.3 million) slipped in the demo to a season low. “Dynasty” (0.2, 0.66 million) was even.

Fox and CBS tied for first in the demo with a 1.3. CBS was second in total viewers with 5.8 million. Fox was third in total viewers with 5.2 million. NBC was third in the demo with a 1.2 but first in viewers with 6.7 million. ABC was fourth with a 0.7 and 2.9 million viewers. The CW averaged a 0.3 and 975,000 viewers.

Art Museum Attendance Decline

Art and culture museums may be in trouble. Statistical evidence coming out of the scene in Baltimore, which seems to be finding corroboration nationwide, conveys a narrative of museum visiting being on the downtrend. Mary Carole McCauley, a reporter for the Baltimore Sun has recently written about precipitous declines in attendance, citing drops in annual attendance at the Baltimore Museum of Art of 12.7% in the last 15 years, at the Walters Art Museum of 24.1% from a peak of 195,000 visitors in 2008, and at the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture, which has seen attendance sink 53% from the opening-year high of 104,500 visitors.

These are sobering numbers; however, this report does arrive with a few caveats. The Baltimore Museum is actually recovering from a sharp fall in visits after closing 60% of its galleries for a renovation project which began in 2011. The full museum only reopened about three years ago evincing a 36% decrease in attendance since 2002. But the end of the 2017 fiscal year, attendance had climbed to 246,100, commensurate with the levels for 2005, though still not as robust as earlier years. National Endowment for the Arts report that shows that 18.7% of US adults visited an art exhibition in a museum or gallery in 2015, as opposed to 26.5% in 2002 — which is a drop of only 7.8% not 16.8%. I queried McCauley via email and she insisted that the fall in attendance occurred between 2002 and 2015, that she had investigated two, separate reports, had examined the data tables herself, and consulted NEA researchers. However, I was not able to independently verify these numbers. (Note: subsequent to publishing this article it was pointed out to me that I had not properly considered the rise in population between 2002 and 2015 in making my calculations; given population growth it seems to be most likely that the decline in audience is actually in the 20% range.)

Still, there is evidence that people are becoming less inclined to visit museums and galleries, and for those of us (like me) who are invested these institutions as one of the key bulwarks against the encroaching colonization of civic space and engagement by the relentless commodification of experience, this is dispiriting news. To help make the argument for the value of museums McCauley conferred with Elizabeth Merritt, director of the Center for the Future of Museums. Merritt says, “Society has a vested interest in preserving our culture, our historic heritage and our art. That is part of what defines who we are. Museums help create society. They fuel innovation.” I mostly agree with Merritt here. Museums are indeed one of the key institutions that are constitutive of civic culture, that space where we as citizens of a community come together to extend and deepen our knowledge and capacities, to make meaning and make ourselves meaningful to others outside of the family or employment circles. The museum is where private experience can become subject to public judgment. But then, there is that “fuel[ing] innovation” proviso.

Traffic Deaths High

WASHINGTON (AP) — Traffic fatalities rose 5.6 percent last year, with the biggest spikes in pedestrian and motorcyclist deaths, the government said Friday.

There were 37,461 people killed on U.S. roads in 2016 as Americans continue to drive more, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said. That's the highest number of deaths since 2007.

The fatality rate was 1.18 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled, a 2.6 percent increase from the previous year.

Traffic deaths have been increasing since late 2014, as gas prices have fallen and people started driving more. In 2016, the total number of miles driven in the U.S. rose 2.2 percent.

Last year's increase in deaths follows an 8.4 percent surge in deaths in 2015. The last time the U.S. had similar back-to-back increases of that magnitude was more than five decades ago.

Pedestrian deaths last year hit their highest level since 1990, with 5,987 people killed. That figure represents a 9 percent increase from the previous year.

Motorcyclist deaths were up 5.1 percent, reaching their highest level — 5,286 killed — since 2008.

Together, they accounted for more than a third of the increase in fatalities compared with 2015.

Pedestrians "are unprotected and, in most cases, outnumbered," said Deborah Hersman, CEO of the National Safety Council.

"We must not forget that the risks we are all facing extend to the sidewalks, too," she said. "Everyone deserves safe passage, and these numbers are yet another indication that we must do more to keep each other safe."

Bicycle deaths increased only slightly, 1.3 percent, but were at their highest number — 840 killed — since 1991.

Deaths related to distracted and drowsy driving declined. Those declines were more than offset by other dangerous behaviors, including speeding, alcohol impairment and not wearing seat belts, the safety administration said.

Data on fatalities attributed to distracted or drowsy driving have limitations. The information is drawn from police reports, but it's not always obvious to police if a driver was distracted or fell asleep. Also, if it's clear that a driver was at fault in a crash, police may not investigate further to determine if the driver was distracted or drowsy.

Traffic deaths declined significantly during the Great Recession and during the economic recovery as Americans cut back on their driving. Increased seat belt use, reductions in alcohol impairment, and improved auto safety equipment like air bags and electronic stability control also contributed to the decline.

The large increases in fatalities of 2015 and 2016 eliminated more than a third of the progress over the past decade in reducing the number of people killed on the roads each year.

FIVE STATS This Week

The percentage of Russians who identify themselves as “non-religious” has fallen from 75 percent in April 1989 to just 19 percent in November 2013.

Latinos are the fastest-growing U.S. voting bloc. But more than 60 percent of House GOP members represent districts where Latinos make up less than 10 percent of the vote. That disparity makes the 2014 legislative agenda more predictable but the 2016 GOP presidential debates much more interesting.

Venezuela, a country with fewer than 30 million people, suffered nearly 25,000 homicides in 2013, according to the Venezuelan Observatory of Violence, a consortium of seven universities. The Venezuelan government, which has not published crime stats since 2005, denies these figures. For more context, there were 14,827 homicides in the United States in 2012 (the latest year for which nationwide stats are available)—a country of about 314 million people.

In January, the United States’ labor-force participation rate for all ages was 63 percent—that’s within 0.2 percent of its lowest level since March 1978. Historically, the long-term unemployed have usually comprised between 10 and 20 percent of total unemployment. Today the number is 35.8 percent.

Last week, China and Taiwan held direct talks for the first time since 1949. Since his election and the easing of mainland travel restrictions in 2008, Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou has put his preference for closer ties with Beijing on full display. Last year a record three million Chinese traveled to Taiwan. Cross-strait trade has nearly doubled, reaching $197 billion last year. But Ma’s approval ratings have dipped as low as 9 percent; it remains to be seen if improved relations will end along with Ma’s presidential term in two years. 

OLDER DADS

New dads may sport a few more gray hairs than in years past, a U.S. study finds.

The average age of new fathers has risen in recent decades, research shows, raising questions about the possible social and public health impact.

The study, which analyzed federal birth records, found that fathers of newborns are now 3.5 years older, on average, than their counterparts in the early 1970s.

And the percentage of births to fathers older than 40 has more than doubled -- from about 4 percent in 1972, to 9 percent in 2015.

The pattern is not surprising, since it parallels what's been seen among U.S. women.

But much less research has explored the changing demographics of American fathers, according to senior researcher Dr. Michael Eisenberg.

"I think it's important for us to pay attention to these demographic shifts and what their implications could be for society," said Eisenberg, an assistant professor of urology at Stanford University in California.

On one hand, he said, older fathers are more likely to have kids affected by certain health conditions, such as autism and schizophrenia.

Plus, couples who wait to start a family will likely have fewer kids, Eisenberg noted. And that could mean a shrinking pool of working people supporting older, retired Americans.

"I'm not trying to sound alarmist," Eisenberg stressed. "But these are issues to think about."

The aging of U.S. parents also has potential benefits, though.

Older dads, Eisenberg said, tend to have better jobs, more stability, and be more involved in their children's lives.

Does that mean the trend in fathers' ages will translate into growing ranks of involved, caring dads?

"That's a hard question to answer," said Richard Gallagher, an associate professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the NYU Langone Child Study Center, in New York City.

It is true that men who are more-educated and in stable relationships tend to become fathers relatively later, said Gallagher, who was not involved in the study.

"And from a psychological perspective," he said, "older parents are likely to be more mature and less impulsive in their behavior."

But, Gallagher noted, age alone does not guarantee good parenting skills. "Older age does not mean everything will work out well," he said.

Surveys do show that "older" dads -- those ages 35 to 44 -- are more likely to be living with their kids, and therefore more involved in raising them, according to Eisenberg's team.

And there's evidence that kids benefit from fathers' involvement, Gallagher said: On average, they tend to do better at school, and have more self-esteem and better emotional regulation.

Having two involved parents "is like a double-dose of caring," Gallagher said.

The findings, published online Aug. 30 in the journal Human Reproduction, are based on records for nearly 169 million U.S. births over the past four decades.

In 1972, fathers of newborns were just over 27 years old, on average. By 2015, that average age stood at 31, the researchers reported.

The pattern was seen among fathers of all races and ethnicities, though the average age varied. By 2015, Asian men were the oldest (34 to 36 years), and black, Hispanic and Native American men were the youngest (29 to 30 years).

Few men older than 50 are becoming new fathers; they account for 0.9 percent of all births, the study found. But that is up from 0.5 percent in the 1970s.

Since men have a much longer reproductive life than women do, there is no clear definition of what an "older father" is, Eisenberg said.

"The oldest father on record was 96 years old," he noted, referring to a man in India who had children with a wife in her 50s.

However, men do have their own biological clock of sorts. Their fertility declines with age, Eisenberg said, as does their sperm quality.

It's been estimated that men acquire, on average, two additional mutations in their sperm each year, Eisenberg said. Plus, older fatherhood has been tied to increased risks of certain chromosomal abnormalities, autism, some pediatric cancers and schizophrenia.

The risks to any one man, however, would be small, Eisenberg pointed out. "Those are not common conditions. So even if the relative risk were increased, the absolute risk would still be low," he said.

Still, he added, additional cases of child health conditions could have a bigger impact on a societal level.