Land of (the lack of) Opportunity

Just found out that Mississippi now reigns as the state with the highest teen birth rate.

Pleasantly surprised to learn that Oklahoma wasn’t in the top 3 – that honor being held by New Mexico and Texas respectively.

Annoyed to read the following quote from Dr. David Landry:

“It’s more costly for youth in the Northeast to have a teen birth than for youth in the South, in terms of opportunities they’ll miss.”

I couldn’t disagree more! Teen births are equally costly, with respect to opportunities postponed or lost, to each adolescent parent – no matter where s/he resides.

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To learn more:

Here’s a link to the full CDC report:
Births: Final Data for 2006

And a link to the report published by Guttmacher Institute (yes, the place of Dr. Landry’s employ – didn’t say he wasn’t a nice guy or apt reasearcher):
U.S. Teenage Pregnancy Statistics

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Bizzaro Stress Relief

© Dan Piraro

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New Header

In addition to a more readable format and the ability to add and edit widgets, I chose the current template because the default header could be replaced with a photo file of one’s own choosing. The panorama I chose to upload was taken early this July in the high desert mountains of New Mexico. The amount of precipitation that has fallen there over the past several months has served to transform this normally arid environment to one of exceptional verdure. 

I dare not name the peak on such a public forum, as I selfishly want to keep one of my favorite hiking spots as pristine as possible for as long as possible. However, I will divulge the identity of the photographer: he is my uncle and favorite hiking partner, who—despite the fact that he recently celebrated his seventieth birthday—continues to climb both up and down mountains as if he were part mountain goat. In this, and many other respects, I consider him both mentor and role model.

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